Next Step Fantasy Football Podcast
Here at Next Step Fantasy Football, we aim to help you take the next step in your fantasy football journey. Every week, join Jake, Adam, and Jordan as we give a detailed breakdown of a new fantasy football topic.
Next Step Fantasy Football Podcast
Season 4 EP2: Dealing With Lag/Impress or Regress
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Today, Jake and Adam atempt to talk about which players will continue to impress or which will regress during the 2026 season. We also deal with some bad internet due to storms in the area.
https://www.youtube.com/@nextstepfantasyfootballpodcast/featured
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/273061708307921
Discord: https://discord.gg/hFXaSangpv
Welcome back to Next Step Fantasy Football Podcast. My name is Jake. I'm once again joined by my friend Adam. And Adam, this is round two of us trying to record this. You would know this if you were watching live on Facebook at our Facebook page, Next Step Fantasy Football Podcast. Come join us. Anyways, Adam, how's it going?
SPEAKER_00Good man. Had a snow day today, out of routine, but it was a nice rest day. Got a workout in a semi-productive day, but you know, I don't like being out of routine. I just feel lost.
SPEAKER_01Adam, it was it was you had a snow day, and I had I'm currently having tornadoes. So and we're we're only like two hours apart.
SPEAKER_00No, it's either way, it's a it's a wild, wild state we live in. It's a wild state.
SPEAKER_01Uh Adam, I believe you had some news, correct?
SPEAKER_00I I do. It's it's not like big news yet, but it's picking up traction. Um does that mean. You know how the NFL and and like other news sources have rumor mills that start, and no one knows where the rumor started, but it picks up traction, right?
SPEAKER_01Correct, yes.
SPEAKER_00So NFL memes a few days ago. My cousin John sent me a text, and it was NFL memes, and you know, they do a good job with funny stuff. You know, I don't agree with all their content, so it's stupid. Um, but they they posted a picture of Aaron Rodgers, and it said, rumor is the Broncos are interested in signing Aaron Rodgers, and I'm like, if NFL memes it doesn't matter. Today I go on my Facebook and I'm just scrolling and I follow like Fox Sports Denver. Yeah, and there was a report that said Broncos seriously considering in a rumor mill signing Aaron Rodgers for next season. Okay, and I'm like, I'm reading through the comments, and people are like, April Fools is yesterday, good one, ha ha ha. But I'm like, it's April 2nd. They waited intentionally to post this after April Fool's, and I'm sitting here thinking, is this real? Is this honestly a possibility that no one is is privy of except a few people? And there's one analyst in Fox Sports, or he writes for The Athletic, which is a very verified source. I like the athletic, you should go read them if you don't, people. But one of the analysts said he's heard the rumor as well, and he's a Broncos beat writer for the athletic, but he's like, There's no way in heck this happens unless Bo Nicks's ankles are as bad as people think they might be.
SPEAKER_01Like he would have to be super messed up.
SPEAKER_00Yes, you'd have to be like, okay, the history's worse than we think. And I'm sitting here though, like, what the heck? What are we doing here?
SPEAKER_01You're like, please, God, no.
SPEAKER_00So anyway, it's not big news yet. I'm like, I'm a Broncos fan. I'm freaking out a little bit. I love Bo. I love him as the franchise guy. I'm like, this can't be real. But if anything would be surprises me nowadays, and I know. So yeah, just sitting here and there, there were a bunch of comments like Bo's our guy, get Aaron Rodgers and his ayahuasca out of here. They were very adamant.
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, I'd be pretty shocked if that happened. Pretty shocked.
SPEAKER_00Just interesting. I don't know. Sure, it's we'll see what happens with the rumor mill. But you know what happens with rumors in the media though? This is wild, like when politicians do stuff too. Like, it starts as a rumor, and then people start to like manifest it into reality sometimes, and it happens. So I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Um, yes. If that when that happens, we can go nuts, okay? Um great. Let's talk about two quick things in the news. One, Kirk Kirk Cousins signs with the Raiders. Thoughts.
SPEAKER_00Welcome to the AFC West, Kirk. And you know what a Raiders. Turkey Book guy, tons of money. Tons of money. A guy that is in the twilight of his career. He's no Peyton Manning. This is not a Peyton Manning signing. And they expect him to tutor probably Fernando Mendoza, but they gave him starter money. You know what's funny? Guaranteed 20 million. It's basically a year signing with 20 million, but what's funny?
SPEAKER_01I love the idea of Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza carpooling to work in Las Vegas. Just going down the boulevard and just seeing like, you know, some maybe not suitable for children or for school work type of things, and just being looking down upon the city of Vegas.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they're blessed in like uh either Christian tunes, which again more power to them, but or they're like singing on the boardwalk by the Beach Boys. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's either like 40s or nothing. Um fantasy-wise, I don't think it really matters. Oh, they don't no. Oh, they they shopping, they got some Kohl's cash that they want to use.
SPEAKER_00Oh, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Um, absolutely fantasy-wise, I don't think it really matters. I think Mendoza still starts uh the majority of the games. I will say though that I mean this makes it so Mendoza might not start week one, right? So um use them in and it's a good men mentorship though, because they're just essentially the same person.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, it's worth Kirk's a good guy. I like Kirk, but welcome to the AFC WAS buddy, it's gonna be miserable.
SPEAKER_01All right, and then let's go ahead and we'll talk about this when we play our listener question. If you want to uh have your have your question played uh on the podcast, put uh go to speakpipe.com slash next stepf, or you'll find our link on Facebook as well. Um last week this didn't come through for the people listening on the podcast side. Not quite sure why. So I'm kind of figuring it out. If it doesn't come through, it's only a few seconds long. Um we'll just kind of repeat the question and answer it that way. That way you guys can still understand what's happening. Um this one comes from our friend Joey. All right, the question was best wide receiver for next year? Puka Nakua or JSN. That brings us into some news. Uh Puka Nakua currently or was and currently is in rehab. Uh he got in some trouble. He's currently being sued for biting a woman uh at like on like a bus, like a party bus. Um and then apparently he's been in rehab and is currently as of February or April 2nd still in rehab. Um wishing him the best. Let's just put that part to the side. It's good for someone to acknowledge that maybe I need a little help and to go get that help, right? Um, but especially at a young age, you know. Yeah, especially at a yeah, I mean, geez, he's tw 22, 23. Um but we should mention that like we have to talk about the fantasy side of things. So who would you rather have next year? Adam. You.
SPEAKER_00Uh give me JS on. I I just think yeah, here's the deal. I I just can you hear me? Yeah, we can hear you. Can you hear me? Yes. Oh, okay. Gotcha. Um, just because it's uh it's one of those things like again, hope, hope. I hope I hope Puka gets the help he needs, but ultimately I I just think JSN's the guy because he doesn't have the off-the-field issues. Um if the news didn't break that Puha Puka was going to rehab, then yeah, Puka's in the conversation, but JSN all day. I think even without the news, Puka's probably second in my book, uh, because JSN is just at the prime of existence, probably the best receiver in the NFL.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. They they should be they should be wide receivers one and two this year. Um, but you know, when you're drafting this high, if you're drafting early, I mean this is not good news for Puka, you know. Who knows how the legal stuff goes and or ends, and then you know, rehab's scary, you know. So I sure I'll put my money on JSN, but it's super close. Like I'd be pretty happy with either of them. I'd still think that Stafford's the better quarterback between him and Darnold, so I'd rather have Puka, I think. But when you look objectively and you're like, well, one guy's in rehab, one guy got paid to be the highest paid receiver ever. Who would you rather have? It's probably Jason. So um, I think this upcoming year is gonna be really interesting with wide receivers because there's three of them, four of them, that you could feel really good, right? So there's those two Jamar Chase, Amon Ra. Um, and then that's not even counting what your thoughts on Justin Jefferson are, CeeDee Lamb coming back from injury, George Pickens. So it could be a very wide receiver heavy first round, in my opinion. All right. Do you have anything else to say on that? No, we're good. Wonderful. Look at us just agreeing and stuff. Um, excuse me. So today we are gonna pop through some. We're gonna pop through some guys. Uh sorry, I received a text from my wife. I had to look at it. We got all these storms right here, so we have to make sure that there's no tornadoes coming. So I apologize for looking at my phone during the show, Adam.
SPEAKER_00Hey, this is a good good point for our listeners. Family first, you know.
SPEAKER_01Family first, man. They're fine. They're fine. Daddy's working. Uh um, so today we're gonna do a play a little game. Let's go. Uh, we're gonna play a little game. Um, I did see this on the you know, the number one fantasy football podcast of all time, the fantasy footballers. God, wouldn't it be cool to just have us be a sliver as popular as them? Um maybe someday. We'll see. We already got great fans, but um they played a game called Impress or Regress. So I have a list of some guys. I'll I have their uh 2025 finished for their positions, and you are going to tell me are they going to continue doing well? Are they gonna continue impressing, or are they going to regress from what they did this past year? So I tried to do a little mix of like big name guys and then guys who um are more middle of the road guys. Um so I got what is it, one, two, three, four, five, seven, about ten guys. We'll see how much quick we can get through these. Uh, friendly reminder, we you know, we're trying to keep these down to 30 minutes. So are you ready? Are you just nodding? Ready. You're just nodding? Are you really just people need to hear you, Adam? I'm ready, man.
SPEAKER_00My mic is lagging very much, I think.
SPEAKER_01We I want you to know that we hear you perfectly fine.
SPEAKER_00Okay, yeah, I'm ready. Let's go. I I'm really excited about the lists.
SPEAKER_01All right, let's start with two quarterbacks.
SPEAKER_02Let's turn it up a minute.
SPEAKER_01Hey, lock in. Um, all right. First up, we got Jack, we got Jackson Dart. Jackson Dart, uh, quarterback for the New York Giants, had quite the rushing ability last past year, finishes quarterback 15. I for full transparency as well, I did try to find ADPs, but it's still so early. They were so funky. Like at one point, there was a running back who wasn't even on a team, and on sleeper, he was like running back seven. So um don't really have the ADPs here. But quarterback 14 for Jackson Dart. He said you we saw some stuff we liked, saw some some stuff we didn't like. What are your opinions? Where are we gonna go? Are we impressing or regressing this upcoming year?
SPEAKER_00If there was a button in front of me, I'd be hammering the impress. I love Jackson Dart. I think that he is the next big thing. I think he's going to have a lot of good years in in front of him in the NFL. I'm I'm saying he he could probably finish top 10. You know, he's he's gonna have a healthy season, I think. He's going to be paired with a coach that knows what the heck he's doing as a head coach. And I think that that they're gonna get neighbors back, they're gonna get scataboo back. I I think just ultimately impress for sure. I I don't think he regresses unless he gets hurt or something. I'm just very high on Jackson Dart.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that that is that I would agree with. Um last year, I for me, I was super high on Drake May going into fantasy, and he was like one of those guys you could take as your backup quarterback, and then maybe he turns into something, right? So for me, I like in my home league, I took Lamar and then Drake May, and then later on in the year I was able to trade Lamar because Drake May was so good. I think we could see the same thing here. The rushing ability is great, assuming he doesn't get hurt, which is what is scary with him. Um I think he could do better than top ten. I think we he could top seven, top six. I mean, why not? You know, especially with getting Malik Neighbors back. Everything about him I love. I love. So, yes, I think he's going to no, I do not. Mainly because I have so many screens on my computer open right now, I don't want to get over there. But yes, I love him. I think he's gonna be great.
SPEAKER_00I think, by the way, very much.
SPEAKER_01Why do you keep saying that? Can you hear me? I don't understand. I don't understand. The people hear you, you sound fine.
SPEAKER_02Keep going.
SPEAKER_01Okay, fine. I think he's going to do better than the next guy, and that is Caleb Williams, who finishes quarterback five this past year. For me, that is an easy regress. Losing DJ Moore matters. I know DJ Moore wasn't nuts this past year, but it matters losing him. Um, you know, I think we'll see more Colson Loveland, which is great, but I think that quarterback five is a hefty to try to continue going up, and I just don't see it. I think he's still a top 10 quarterback in fantasy. If you want him as your quarterback one, that's fine. But I'd rather take the upside on Jackson Dark.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. I hate to agree with you twice on the podcast, but here we are. I think that Cale Williams will regress. I think he could have a drop off, um, depending on who his number one target is. Um maybe it's a dunze, who knows? But but ultimately he's gonna regress for sure for all those bear fans out there. That sucks.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's fine. I'm okay with it. He was just so lucky. Like, I sound like a Packer fan. I know understand that. But so many of his throws were just like these crazy things that just somehow scored. Yeah, the Iceman. Yeah. Uh, all right, I got a few more. Let's pop through them quickly. Yeah. Uh we got Treyvion Henderson, finishes running back 19. Impress or regress, Adam.
SPEAKER_00You know, I hate the Patriots. I just think it's abysmal talking about good players for them again. I'm just I'm trying here. I'm really trying. But impress! Impress, impress, impress. I think he's going to impress. I think he's gonna be really good in their offense. I think that they're gonna ride him until they die, and I think that he's gonna get high volume carries, and it's really killing me to be positive about a Patriot. But here you go, he's impressing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, I think he's impressed. I think he could be. It'll be really interesting to see where his ADP is this upcoming year, along with Marion Hampton. That's another guy I almost did. Like, where are we putting these guys who didn't play very well? Or they played fine, I guess. They were okay, right? But we expected a little bit more. Uh, with Trayvon Henderson, I don't think Ramondre Stevenson goes away, though. Right? They went to the Super Bowl using these two this way. Why change it? Um you know what I mean? I I think he's a running back too. I think he finishes better than 19. So I guess if that's what I'm pressing is, sure. But I don't think it's by much. I think he's running by 15, 14, somewhere in there. Um, so yeah, I we'll talk more about Travan Henderson later on, but I'm not very I'm just kind of on him, which is kind of a shame because I want to be a lot higher on him.
SPEAKER_00I'm uh I'm a big yeah, and I'm a big Stevenson disbeliever, so disbeliever.
SPEAKER_01Alright. Next up, I got I got RJ Harvey. Your boy from the Broncos. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00Hate to do this to my boy regress.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, running back 21.
SPEAKER_00Um here's white. Uh it's uh I know, regress. Uh I think JK Dobbins is gonna be top five running back, so I'm gonna stand by what I said last week on the pod. And I think RJ Harvey's carries are gonna be hurt by it. I don't think he's gonna be used in the passing game as much. I just I think he's gonna be a fine running back too for the Broncos depth chart, but regress, don't reach on him.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm gonna go impress, I think. I think that he is the better running back in this backfield. So I think he will finish better than 21. All right, we'll have to book that. I will book it that RJ Harvey finishes better than Dobbins. How about that? Okay. I just think I think it's more likely. I think it's more likely.
SPEAKER_00That's fine, we're going to war. I love it. I love it. Good for viewership, good for the listeners.
SPEAKER_01Here's another one. Cam Scattaboo for the Giants. Regress or impress, he was running back 39. I think we both can agree that he will be better than running back 39 because it took him a while to get going. And then he got hurt. So when we saw him, it was great. I mean, that like we've mentioned it before, we'll say it again, that man's brain is scrambled eggs at this point. But man, can he hit. So I think that he does better than running back 39. I just don't know if he is healthy enough to truly be an impressive person. What are your thoughts?
SPEAKER_00Hey man, uh, shout out to Mike Allstott because Cam Scattaboo made Mike Allstott highlights relevant again, I think, because they're very similar. Um, I just I love Cam Scattaboo. Uh unfortunately for me, he was it was I think it was the same week Chuba Hubbard got benched for Dowdle. I also had Scataboo get hurt, and so that really hurt because he's my third running back in the flex, and he was so good. And I love everything about him. I think he's a high touchdown volume guy, and uh I hope he comes back. I don't care those brain scramble digs. I mean, I hope he gets back. Yeah, just I think he's gonna be a stud. So uh yeah, impressed for sure.
SPEAKER_01All right, uh, let's move on. Let's go just do a few receivers to wrap this up today. Quick episode, which is fine. But um Michael Wilson for the Arizona Cardinals finishes.
SPEAKER_00We're messing around the back here.
SPEAKER_01It's okay. We don't we have a lot of them. We don't have to do everybody. Uh Michael Wilson finished as wide receiver 13 this past year. This is an easy one. This is an easy one. Adam. Regress or impress on this one?
SPEAKER_00Regress. I don't like Michael Wilson. I I don't think uh I don't think he's uh all that in a sack of potato chips, and again, Jacoby Bersett's as quarterback. I love Jacoby locker room.
SPEAKER_01Garner Minshew could be five.
SPEAKER_00I I think he regresses. I could see him being anywhere from oh, another locker room guy. Nice. Uh 20 20 to 35, somewhere in there. He's gonna regress.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I just don't see how he could finish as wide receiver 13 again. Like, I just don't see how that could happen. So easy regress, an easy one. Uh Adam, why don't you pick one more to do here off the list? You decide.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna go with Zay Flowers because I've been very adamant that I'm not a Zay Flowers believer either. I think people uh people really like uh Zay Flowers, and that's fine. My buddy Nate loves Zay Flowers. I don't like them, I think he's overhyped too. Regress, regress, regress. I don't think he's gonna be a wide receiver one on many people's teams by the end of the year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't know how he finished as wide. Yeah, we'll get that. I don't understand how he finished as wide receiver seven. I just don't get it. Like I see the stats, that's fine, but there's no way he does that again. There's no way. And if he does, then fine. We were wrong. But I just can't see it. You know, Lamar hopefully will get more, more uh more weapons and more guys to throw to. I there's just no way say flowers does it again. I know that's not really some really interesting take just by saying no, there's no way, but I just can't see it repeating. I think that is a that his high finish has to do with the fact that other people got hurt. Your CeeDee Lambs got hurt, your Justin Jefferson didn't have the year that you were thinking, and I think he's gonna get pushed down to right around wide receiver 15, which is fine. That that's where I like him. I think he'll be very overdrafted this year if they go based off of where he finished this past year. Let's do one more. Sorry, because I think we might disagree on this one. DJ Moore for the Buffalo Bills. Regress or impress on DJ Moore Adam?
SPEAKER_00Oh boy. Oh, I could you got a coin on you? Um could go either way. I think he's going to impress, and here's why. I think that Josh Allen is Josh Allen. He he's he's a guy that spreads the ball around uh to multiple receivers and tight ends, so I guess he doesn't really use number one receivers the way that he should sometimes. But I think DJ Moore impresses just a little bit into the 20s.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean he finishes wide receiver 32 this past year, so I he will impress in that I think he will be better than that, but I don't think it's by much. So I'm gonna say he is going to regress in that in that way. He'll be better than 32, but I just don't see it being very fruitful. I think he'll be drafted higher because he's Josh Allen's new toy, but I think people are going to be disappointed. If you're taking him as your wide receiver, too, I think it's gonna be disappointing for him. Alright. So there you guys have it for some regress or impress. I will like to say we understand there's some serious lag going on. It has to it has to do with both of us dealing with storms. The internet stinks right now, so we apologize for that. But we appreciate you sticking around. So, Adam, I'm just gonna cut you off here because every time we wait for you to say something, there's a giant pause. So we'll be back next week. We're live on Facebook at NextF Fantasy Football Podcast. Um, hopefully, all this lag will be figured out. If not, then you're along with the ride with us. So until then, we will see ya and have a good week. Take care, be good. Holy guacamole!