Pine Pony Podcast
Friends arguing about sports
Pine Pony Podcast
2025 Post-Draft Fantasy Football Rookie Rundown
Welcome to another edition of the Pine Pony podcast! In this episode, we dive deep into a rookie roundup and draft review, discussing the recent NHL and NBA playoffs, fantasy football rookies you should keep an eye on. We talk about . We evaluate their team fits, potential production, and strategies for drafting them in dynasty and PPR leagues. Don't miss our insights on underrated picks like Savion Williams and RJ Harvey. As always, interact with us on threads, Instagram, and Blue Sky at Pine Pony Podcast. Enjoy the show!
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Welcome, welcome, welcome to another edition of the Pond Pony podcast. Hey, it's me, the og, and as always got the fancy uncle what's having in version.
Pershin:Howdy, howdy. Glad to be back for another installment, doing some more sort of rookie roundup slash draft review. Talk a little bit about the playoffs going on in the other big sports that That's right, people apparently care about. So yeah, man, there are other
Jason:sports out
Pershin:there. Happy to be back on with you shooting the shit, how you been,
Jason:Just living the dream my friend, living the dream. Well, with that being said. Let's start the show. Alright, so we do have other sports going on. We have what I consider the two best game sevens sports of all time, and that is hockey and NBA. Speaking of game seven in the first series. So, so the Western conference we got the, the number one seed Winnipeg jets versus the number four seed St. Louis Blues and the Jets won this series in a game seven double overtime.
Pershin:Oh nice.
Jason:Yeah. Nice. The crowd went absolutely ape shit for like a solid. This was in Winnipeg? Yes. Yeah, it was, you know that it was nuts. Yeah, that's what I'm saying man. So. Super cool to see. So they got the Dallas Stars next because Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche. Sorry for your abs horse. Puss. Four to two. Four games to two. The Golden Knights knocked off the Nashville Wild. Is that, are they Nashville? No. Nashville's the Predators. Minnesota Wild. Excuse me.
Pershin:There you go.
Jason:Minnesota Wild. Yeah. Three games of two. The Oilers knocked off the Kings. Four games of two, sorry. The Golden Knights was four games of two as well. So it'll be the Golden Knights versus the Oilers. They're playing right now. Golden Knights are winning two, two to zero in the game one, and then tomorrow night the Jets play the stars. And then on the Eastern conference side, we got the maple leaf versus the Senators. They beat them four games to two. The Florida Light Tampa Bay Lightning, the Florida Series, Tampa Bay Lightning versus the Panthers. Panthers won this game, four games to one. Sorry. I was a little confusing in there because they have, it has Florida wins. And I'm like, wait, what? And then the Capitals beat the Canadians four games to one, and the hurricanes beat the Devil's four games to one. So we got the capitals in the hurricanes on Friday.'cause the Carolina already won one game in that series. Let's go Hurricanes man. You know, ever. Yeah. Hometown boys Get'em. I went to a hurricanes game and they, they beat the flyers and after the game they did this, they, they gathered in a circle in, they banged their sticks on the ice and then they. Like a, like a, like a hurricane had just hit and then they all scattered against the walls and, and banged up against the walls.
Pershin:Wow. Wow. I'm honestly shocked. That is ridiculous. Wow. I thought,
Jason:yeah, they call it like, they call it like the tidal wave or something like that, or,
Pershin:wow. That is, I'm sorry, but I would've cringed so hard if I was, if I was there like to, to be there in person, man, I would've, I, I would've needed to get, I would've needed to be drunk for that, bro. Listen, I
Jason:was drunk. Listen. Yeah. The, and the fun best part about it, was it?'cause I was going in thinking it was supposed to be this really cool thing and it just was not, so they also have a, a, a, not very good lagger. Like named after them. I think it, oh, the storm surge, that's what it's called. It's called a storm surge. Oh, okay. I think that's what the beer is called as well. Yeah, it's supposed to be like a hurricane, like a storm surge, you know, hit the players. So yeah. And then back to the game. So tomorrow night the maple leaves have the Panthers in Game two. Toronto leaves that series one to zero. So, you know, I mean, hey, you know, what about NHL though it is accessible. This you can watch. I feel like most of these games, not just on ESPN,
Pershin:they got a lot of Canadian representation this year. I feel like every single Canadian team is in the playoffs and winning.
Jason:Well, the Canadians lost. Ooh. But yeah, otherwise you got, well, the senators lost, but they lost it to Toronto, so
Pershin:Yeah. You said the Maple Leafs were still alive and the Yep. The jets were still alive, so,
Jason:and the Oilers.
Pershin:Yeah. See, you said I, right, that's, that's three teams still alive and two teams that made it to the playoffs. So that's,
Jason:that's pretty good. Yeah, that's a five. That's a five fiver.
Pershin:That's a five banger.
Jason:That's a five. That's a five. Banger. Good. Good job. Canada. Boy, you
Pershin:guys know how to do hockey things.
Jason:They certainly do. And Florida apparently. Yeah, the pants. So, so yeah. Moving over to, moving over to the NBA the Lakers got booted out in the first round, four games to won. Looks like Luca Donit was not very helpful. In fact, the coach called out his conditioning and said that he needed to drop out, drop some weight, and basically he was a fatty.
Pershin:He said that publicly.
Jason:Yeah, essentially. I mean, I'm paraphrasing, but Yes.
Pershin:Yo, that's, it's not every day you hear a coach going off like that. Like this is like behind the scenes, Hey man, scene shit that gets leaked sometimes, but I mean, damn. Just to call him out on his weight, like damn shots fired
Jason:Lu at donates has been coddled like a baby. So, you know, harsh words, harsh words. So the Thunder win their series against the Memphis Grizzly, four games to zero. Denver Nuggets win their series against the Clippers, four games to three Minnesota wins their series against the Lakers. As we just said, four games to one. The surprising Warriors beat the number two seed rockets, four games to three, and then you bury the
Pershin:lead here. My nuggies.
Jason:Yeah. Well, and then the Nuggies, they're beating the thunder one game to zero in the semifinals, and the Warriors are beating the Temporals 30 to 20 right now in game one second quarter. So, you know, as we're filming this on Tuesday night you know, by the time you hear this, that those results will already have happened. So now geese will already be two and, oh no, I should have this out before that game starts tomorrow. So moving on to the Eastern Conference, Cleveland wins their series against the heat, four games to nothing. The Pacers win their series four games to one against the Bucks. There was a Bucks game, like I said, and when I was in Green Bay, almost went to, it would've been a fun game to go to. The, the New York Knicks win their series against the Pistons, four games to two. The Celtics win their series against the Magic four games to one, and then in the semi-finals, the Pacers lead the Cavaliers two games to zero. That's kind of surprising,
Pershin:man. I haven't known the name of a pacer since we're on Artes, bro. I couldn't tell you. He was on the Pacers. I said, Tyree, Halliburton. I, I did, did I, I, I knew Ron Artes and before that I knew Reggie Miller.
Jason:You didn't remember Lance Stevenson? You didn't remember Lance in my pants. He used to blow in LeBron's ear out the free throw line. He would blow in his ear. That's fucked up. That should be a foul or something, bro. And you know, like, you know, like, like so somebody else is shooting and LeBron and Lance Stevenson are standing, you know, on the, on the side of the lane. And Lance Stevenson just looks over and just, you know. It blows, blows into LeBron's a ear
Pershin:just to get him
Jason:shitting.
Pershin:Yeah.
Jason:That's the kinda shit I'm here for.
Pershin:Yeah. I, I, I wasn't familiar with your game, Lance, but now I am.
Jason:Yeah, man, there you go. And then in the final game of the semi-finals game two, the Knicks lead the Celtics one game to zero. Game two is tomorrow. So yeah, you know, we're getting down to nitty gritty in, in these two competitions. Yep. And anyway, so we got some news in college football. Clemson and Notre Dame announced a 12 year schedule that will put them against each other annually until 2038.
Pershin:Wow. Wow. Yeah. 12 years in a row. So they're just straight up saying, all right, we're rivals now. Right.
Jason:Pretty much. I mean, it's a, it is, if you think about it, it is kind of a good thing because Notre Dame's usually always in the mix. So Clemson's scheduling. Yeah. A tough team that could, you know, help them out, but with a win. And then if you look at the rest of their schedule, so they have eight conference games, one game against South Carolina Game, South Carolina, one game against Notre Dame. That leaves three games that they can actually schedule differently every year, except they have a deal with Georgia for a home at home in two years and LSU starting this year with a home at home and Oklahoma doing a ho note. So. Wow. So really they have two games I like it that they can schedule for like the next eight seasons. And those of course are gonna be, you know, Furman and like the Citadel.
Pershin:It's gonna be the two cupcake of the, of the schedule or whatever,
Jason:because I mean you like, otherwise it's a. I just don't want to hear it. I actually think
Pershin:it's, this is a great idea to basically ensure a certain standard for every year of your schedule because, you know, teams like Georgia, Oklahoma, these are not like flash in the pan success thing like this. These are, or well established legacy sort of right. Organizations, particularly Notre Dame that's been a top school for what, a hundred years or something ridiculous. So it's like, you know that for the next however many years you've got these contracts set up that you're going to have more quality opponents in the mix each year. I think it's a smart move because it's not like you won't have any sort of cupcake. You just will have like a more minimal amount of cupcake in your schedule, right? That's going to help you, especially nowadays in the way that people have come to evaluate. Schedules like that. It it seems to hold weight as tiebreaker so often that you never know when it might help you to be like, Hey, we had a tougher road here. So I like it.
Jason:Yeah.
Pershin:It's you know, it's, it is a sort of thing where you just give yourself less opportunities to have bad luck. You, you either beat the, these quality opponents or you don't, you know, so.
Jason:Yep, yep. And, you know, that just, you know, I don't want to hear any complaints about how Clemson doesn't schedule anybody. We, for all intents and purposes, we have scheduled everybody.
Pershin:Yeah, I mean, those list of teams that are Notre Dame for the next 12 years, I mean, that's, that's pretty aggressive, like strength of scheduling right there.
Jason:Right, exactly. Oh shit. One sec. Okie dokie. Moving on to the NFL. We got some, a little bit of news, and then we'll get into the rookie fantasy talk. Justin Tucker finally got the proverbial boot. Pun intended.
Pershin:Yeah. He, here's the thing, man, is, he was but bad last year. Like I was literally in our group chat at times last year complaining about him. And he's not even on the Broncos. I was like, yo, how could they keep putting this guy out there? He keeps missing and I understand he's had a really good career. He has had a, a really, really good career. Okay. I'm not gonna take that away from him. I understand why a lot of people saw him as the top kicker and most reliable kicker in the league, but the results are the results. And so I was actually surprised that they never gave him the boot during last season. And so I was not shocked that they did. When you got that tenure,
Jason:man, you don't
Pershin:do
Jason:it mid-season.
Pershin:Yeah, I guess not. They didn't, so
Jason:he built up enough of that street cred. Yeah. Yeah. So and then this just came out. 2027 draft is slated for Washington DC at the National Mall. Oh
Pershin:I was about to say, aren't they in, in development with a new thing? So it's not even gonna be at the stadium anyway.
Jason:I don't know that all of them are at the stadium.
Pershin:Oh, I thought they were. See, I don't even know.
Jason:No, I don't. I'm not, and I'm not sure on that. Like, don't quote me on that, but I don't know that because like, I don't feel like the Eagles one was at the stadium. Like I feel like the Eagles one was like downtown and could be like, you know, where the steps were, like right around where the steps were, you know, this rocky steps and stuff. But I, I don't
Pershin:remember. It could be, I always, I always just assume that they've like, like have like more than just the stadium, but that the stadium's like the sort of epicenter of it. Well, the stadium always, I don't actually know that that's true. I don't
Jason:in the city. Yeah. Like, you know what I mean? The stadium's not always in the city, so.
Pershin:Yeah, that's definitely true. So,
Jason:I, I think that'll be interesting. I don't know that I would like, my friends are kicking around the idea of going and I was like, I mean, I will probably won't be in the country anyway. But if I were,
Pershin:they're still riding the high off of this year's draft, man. They're like, man, shit, that was fun. Let's do it.
Jason:I'm not gonna lie, man. We are. I, I did say in the group chat that we were addicted to drafts now because that, that stuff was really fun. And it would be, it would honestly be a really cool way to see some of these stadiums and stuff for relatively cheap.
Pershin:Yeah.
Jason:'Cause the event's free, you know, so. Yeah. But this event, it kind of makes me a little nervous man because we, I don't know where we'll be politically at that point in time. Sure. And I don't know that I would want to go to a draft and have Trump be heavily involved because he already has things to say about. The draft and chador and, you know, other Yeah. Who's coming to visit the White
Pershin:House and who isn't, yada, yada, yada.
Jason:So, I don't know, man, although I do do really like the idea. They're, they're saying that they're planning for a million people to be there. But here's the thing. A million
Pershin:at the draft, Jesus. Yes.
Jason:But here's the thing, is those draft numbers are inflated heavily because they count every single person, every single time they walk through. So it's a free event. You can come and go as you please. So every time you walk through, you're being counted. You could walk through four times and be counted four times. That's cheating. Make cheating. You can walk every. And nonetheless, those same people come back maybe the next day in all three days. So theoretically, at minimum, one person could be counted three different times. Just if they went to the event and never left it
Pershin:right all three
Jason:days.
Pershin:That's just the minimum, right? Yeah.
Jason:Right. So I mean, like when you say 600,000 people attended Green Bay, like people were saying Yeah, hotels were not, hotels were not full. Like well you guys were saying there
Pershin:wasn't even like traffic that you were dealing
Jason:with. There wasn't traffic. Like it was crazy. So yeah, every I, we are all assuming like it was, it was just a large amount of people from Wisconsin
Pershin:Dope. Like they just drove,
Jason:they just drove home after the event, you know? Because it was a lot of Green Bay people, like a ton. And then, and then the final piece of news I got for the NFL. Is, it looks like traumatic brain injuries, funding will be cut due to Trump's economic plan. So, you know, CTE, what is that anymore? That's not real fake news. Wow. It, it is because of the dyes. That's all we get rid of the dyes. No more CTE Yeah. Okay. All right, so let's go ahead and talk about some of our fantasy players that, you know, you might be taking in the first round of your dynasty rookie draft this year. I know I got a few that stand out. I mean, my team personally, I think I gotta go quarterback. I, I can't remember where I'm at in the draft. I think it's pretty early. I hope it's early because I desperately need a qb, so I know
Pershin:it's not number one because we have one league mate. I didn't lose who's definitely number one. Yeah,
Jason:I was on the bubble for a while, so I know I'm like middle of the pack.
Pershin:Yeah, you're probably
Jason:third, but I don't, I don't know that he'll need a qb. Maybe Cam Ward will just drop to me. I don't know. Shado, Shado might be there. So let's go through the first round of players on the offensive side of the ball and let's just talk about, you know, their situation and you know, if you like it or not, you know. So
Pershin:do you, do you want me to sort of like rank like. How I would take them in the draft? Or you just want to go through the actual NFL draft, how that went?
Jason:No, no, no. We'll just go through like where you would take them in like a dynasty draft or like in a PPR league, you know, whether they're even worth it. You know, like players like Cam Ward. So it's like Cam Ward, you know, with his situation and his depth chart, you know, he's kind of got some players on there, but his wide receivers are a little Okay. You know, I'm desperate on quarterback, so I would probably draft him early on just to shore up the quarterback room. But what do you think about the Titans and Cam Ward situation?
Pershin:I think that like, stay away. I think that it's kind of a rough landing spot. I think that they got, I. Calvin Ridley, and fuck all else. Okay. And then the offensive line was bad last year. There are a lot of younger pieces on the offensive line, so it is entirely possible that some of those guys take a step forward and that they, the offensive line actually improves. They have. You know, spent a lot of draft capital in that area. Yeah, they did the past few years. So hopefully things will get better in that department. But the thing is that Calvin rude, often injured one year older. I think he's already 30 now, or he is, or he is about to turn 30. And the thing is that, that, other than that, you know, they went and spent money on Tyler Lockett who showed last year that he was done. So, I mean, I, I love Tyler. He's also
Jason:owned.
Pershin:Yeah, I love Tyler Lockett. He's had a great career. But the thing is, man, he's toast Now why are you signing these guys? And you know, so they, they just don't have much there. I think they took Alec Ior like in the fifth or sixth round and it's like, yeah. It's like, man, you guys should have spent more capital on receiving weapons for your new quarterback. You know? So I, I think that he's a decent sort of, like QB Prospect, I don't think he's in the same tier as like Caleb Williams or like Jaden Daniels last year. But I do think he is in a right. I do think he is in a similar ballpark to like Michael Pennix and Bo Nicks who had pretty good rookie years. So I, you know, it's entirely possible that he is pretty good for them, that he pans out. I am somewhat intrigued by his sort of rushing upside. He didn't run a lot in college really, as far as design runs and, and sort of like long scramble plays. But he's really quick around the pocket. He does have speed and so if he wanted to sort of add that to his game design some runs and, and be a little bit more of a scrambler like Kyler Murray, I think that that is obviously a boost to his fantasy production. But I think in his first year, the fantasy outlook probably should be pretty low. Now, of course, what you're talking like. Like in dynasty formats, like you and I like to play that, that you don't have to worry about that so much because you, you're, you're kind of buying the fact that you get to keep him his whole career if you want to anyway. So if you,
Jason:if you're in a dynasty, you're also banking on Tennessee drafting a decent, wide receiver corps.
Pershin:Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I. I, I think that if you are, if you are gonna draft him in Dynasty, I think that's perfectly fine. But I think you, you should probably realize that the year one outlook is not that great. And so you might wanna find another, you know, solution to that problem and sort of keep him on the bench, you know, if he proves to be someone who does run a lot and get you extra points with his legs, you could always put him in your starting lineup. And if you have like a, a third quarterback, you feel like, I don't need three quarterbacks, or well, you could always trade, you know, cool thing about Dynasty is there's always a trade market for things, you know, so it's like it, it, it is not the sort of player, I would say stay away, but it is the sort of player, I would say stay away depending on what you really need. You know, if you need someone who's gonna be able to bring you fantasy production this year, I might choose a different position. Particularly running back is, is got some really big. Hotshot names. You know, for me, my number one actually, if I was to rank'em, I would have Ashton Genty, number one. I would actually take him ahead of like ROA ahead of it. It, the tight ends got drafted really high. I would take him over everyone because not only was he the top like head and shoulders prospect of a really good running back clash this year, but then he went that way in the draft. Also, he went sixth overall, really early for a running back and then he went to a team that is wide open at the position. So I think he is in line for a ton of work, even if that offense isn't the greatest, he's gonna get so many touches that he's going to give you really good production right off the rip. So I actually prefer him over wide receiver and over quarterback, even though in the general sense I love sort of building my team around. Quarterback and wide receiver first.
Jason:Okay, so you like Ashton Genty, huh?
Pershin:Yeah,
Jason:I would
Pershin:take him
Jason:first, so I got out of that. Yeah. So what do you, what do you, what do you, no Cam Ward, no K Ward. Take Ashton. Dante for sure. I mean, well I would definitely take Cam
Pershin:Ward in the first round though. I'm not saying like way back in the draft or anything. I think he's a first round guy.
Jason:Yeah, I mean, I guess maybe in a rookie dynasty and you don't need quarterback. Like if you need someone, like you just said, you just need somebody to produce. So Ashton Gente, you know, is obviously gonna get a lot of work behind, you know, he's gonna be the starter. Raheem Mo's gonna back him up. You know, I mean, this team isn't looking too bad with Brock Bowers, Jack Beck, Trey, Trey Tucker, Jacoby Myers. I mean, they, the wide receivers are okay, so, I mean, realistically, Ashton Gente is going to be the offense there, so that, that, that might trump the need for quarterback. Yeah, we'll see. And I feel like the same way with Travis Hunter and the Jaguars is he'll kinda, you know, I think he could be the, the go-to guy. I mean, outside of him, I'm not loving the wide receivers there. Well, BTJ, he pretty good as
Pershin:a rookie.
Jason:Yeah, I mean, he did. Okay. But I mean, you know, Diami Brown, how do you feel about him? He did okay. I mean, none of these guys, oh yeah. Diami Brown is
Pershin:not very productive. He's a sort of like what you would call sacrificial ex, where he just. Runs wind sprints and tries to stretch the defense, but he doesn't actually get good separation. He is not great at contested catches down the field. He's like, he's more just someone who just runs wind sprints over and over again. I mean, he's well paid for it. Oh. You know, so I'm not, I'm not, I'm not dogging on him. I'm just saying like, it is what it is. He's not, I don't think he's ever gonna be that productive. I do think it was really interesting that they paid so much to move up in the draft and get Travis Hunter. You gotta think that they certainly see him as like an alpha type receiver, you know? Oh, yeah. Hundred percent. They, they moved up just three spots. I think it was from the, from the sixth to the third I think it was. And not only did they give up the sixth. Pick in this year's draft, but then they gave up the second round pick and next year's first round pick. That is a huge amount that they paid to make sure that they got Travis Hunter. And so it, it's an interesting question because he's a, he's a wild card. He really wants to play both offense and defense. I personally believe that he should get that shot to prove that he can
Jason:do both full time and he'll collect those fantasy points, man, those extra fantasy points.
Pershin:The coach comes out right after the draft and he says that he's going to start full-time on offense and get worked into the defense. So that's really great news for fantasy players because that means he should be out there at least the majority of the snaps as a wide receiver right off the rip. And so, I don't know. It's, I really like. Ted McMillan's landing spot and the sort of draft capital that he got as well. But considering how much they paid to make sure they got Travis Hunter and they wanna start him full time as a, as a wide receiver, like would you rather just have Hunter with Trevor Lawrence throwing him the ball Or Tet with Bryce Young throwing him the ball, but really just an aging, Adam Thilan is the only other sort of target competition he's really got there. Right?
Jason:Yeah. Well that's the thing is like, I definitely like, I know Trevor Lawrence can throw the ball, you know, tra Travis Hunter can catch it. Right. I know That'll work out just fine. The problem I have with Tet in that Panthers offense is, you know, they're still questionable at Bryce Young, like he did have a good second half of the season. But I'm, I'm not a hundred percent sold on him as a quarterback. I'm a hundred percent sold that he's the Panthers quarterback, but Right. That's about it. Like, so, and then also t's gonna be fighting that, that, that wide receiver corps of, you know, old, old man, Adam Thilan, Xavier, you know, Kentucky Horse Derby owner Legett hey, Jalen Coker, wild
Pershin:Wild Card. Jalen Coker, man.
Jason:He hit Hunter Rero, Jimmy Horn Jr. Wait, hunter Ro
Pershin:is on the Panthers.
Jason:Yeah, he got scooped up. He just got scooped up after his battle with Crohn's disease for the last year. I think he, I think he said, yo, that back, that is actually a true wild card. I. Yeah. And so we don't know if he's gonna make the team yet or not, but I mean, they just kind of got, I'm not sold on who's gonna be the starting set of wide receivers, like, you know, full season wise. Yeah. And then, you know, at running back, you know, we can go ahead and throw these guys, you know, tuba, hubber, Rico, doddle, and Trevor, ETN, Jonathan Brooks. I mean, that's just their running back situation is like, who's going there? I mean, out of Trevor, ETN is the only rookie out of that. But, you know, is he gonna get a shot to shine because, you know, he's a pretty decent back. Yeah. I don't know that he'll ever be a starter, but he could be a strong number two role.
Pershin:He's a decent prospect and people thought that, you know. One of his sort of detriments on film is that he didn't seem like he could really break the long one. And then he shows up to the combine and he runs a really good 40. And so, you know, he lost a little bit of weight and apparently that has helped him with his speed. So I feel like he's a, a pretty decent prospect and they've got Tuba Hubbard who looked great last year. Rico Doll look good the second half of last year he started to come on. And of course they've got Jonathan Brooks that's probably going to miss the next season, but eventually he'll come back after that. So you, you start to feel like from a dynasty perspective, like they're a little bit, like, they're kind of like you know crowded. It's kind of overcrowded in that backfield.
Jason:Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. All right, two picks that I didn't really like. Well, I like one of the players. I just don't necessarily like the situation. So, and that is the two tight ends that went in the first round. Number one, Colson Loveland, drafted by the Bears. Like, don't, don't like that. Pick for the hym at all. Don't like the bears. Cole Ed's still there, so I'm just like, eh, fantasy wise, i, I, I am staying away from Colston, Loveland, at least in PPR leagues and early on in a, in a dynasty league, depending on how many picks you got. And I mean, he could even potentially be a free agency pickup in Dynasty. Depending on your league and you know, how weird it gets or not. And then Tyler Warren, I like him, the player I'm just not sold on who's the quarterback in Indianapolis for this season? So again, he would be a potential late round pick in a PPR just in case maybe those quarterback situation gets figured out midway through the season. Or the same as Colston, Lovelin and Dynasty. Just a kinda, maybe a pick to see, see if he could turn into something or when it can happen, you know? What are your thoughts?
Pershin:Yeah, I think that these are actually pretty good points. Pretty good guys to consider here. When I was thinking about like the, like who sort of got clunky landing spots, I didn't really even think about the tight ends, but now that you bring it up, it's like, even though they're, there is a wide open, tight end spot in Indianapolis, it actually is not the best offense for that because you're either going to get Anthony Richardson throwing the ball or you're going to get Danny Dimes throwing the ball. And the thing is that like both of them do a lot of design scrambles and less actual passing attempts. And the Cols in particular, Shane Steichen really likes to run the ball. They only average 27 pass attempts per game last year. I think that was second to last in the league. And so. There's not that many pass attempts to go around to get targets to begin with. And then when you think about who do they have as pass catchers, well, you got JT outta the backfield and then you've got Michael Pittman No slouch, you've got Josh Downs, no slouch. Last year they drafted Adam and I, Mitchell, who's got a ton of promise in his own right. So it's like, okay, yeah, you are the starting tight end day one, but what's that actually mean? Like as far as like how much actual sort of targets you're going to get, they're run first sort of team and so he's, he's going to be blocking more than he's going to be running routes, I'm afraid. And I think it's a pretty good point that like, even though he got taken in the first round, this could end up being like a Dalton Kincaid situation where, and you already alluded to this with the coast and Lovelin is is that basically there's gonna be a lot more blocking in your future, not enough actual route running and you know, you, you you already brought this up, but I agree with the point you were making about Cole, the Loveland, which is that Cole Kame is already there. Yeah, sure. They got Ben Johnson. It could be a much better offense than it was last year. But what we saw in that Dalton Kincaid situation is that they had a decent tight end in Dawson knocks, and he didn't just go away. And so I don't think Ed's just going to go away. They, they might use a little bit more two tight end sets, but even then, a lot of times you're the one blocking and the other guys that want running the route or you're even both blocking or something crazy like that. Right. So the, the thing is that K is not just going to go away. He's a decent tight end. So even though he got round one draft capital and he will be one of the focal points. They also got DJ Moore last year. They spent a top 10 pick on Roma Dunay. They even went back and got Tyler burden, or I'm sorry, Luther burden in the second round this year. So it's like, yep, he's going to be in tough competition for targets, even if he is running lots of routes.
Jason:Then we'll talk about some crowded wide receiver rooms. The Buccaneers with Amika Buka. There you go. And you got Godwin, you got Mike Evans and la You got Cade Otten. Last year's rookie. Jalen McMillan looked pretty
Pershin:good when Godwin was out.
Jason:Right. So just kind of crowded there. I mean, I like, I like the player. I think, I think that's a good pickup. But yeah, agreed. I would use caution with his a DP, you know, maybe don't go so gung ho because we also gotta remember, you know, it is Baker Mayfield and he could turn into a pumpkin at any minute. Yeah, right. Also, and then the other wis, go ahead.
Pershin:Also on the Buccaneers point you know, cohen left, you know, they've had a successful offense the past couple seasons. Most people believe because of Cohen and he's gone now. So it, there's a chance that that offense and Baker is just not humming as well altogether. And then when you combine that with the fact that he is going into a crowded wide receiver room there this is a lot like some of the guys we've already spoke about here, but year one expectations should be really low For Amika Buca, we saw what happened when JSN came in, but they, they already had Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf established. We had to wait till, like halfway through his second season before he finally broke out.
Jason:Yeah, good points. Now I, I do like one of these next two wide receivers but the, the, the room is still crowded. So, and that is Matthew Golden and Ion Williams. Now, I, I like them both as a Packer fan, but I'm really liking, I'm leaning a lot towards the Savion Williams and I think he could be a potential sleeper of a pick in, in a fantasy PPR setting.'cause you could probably get him way late or even, even in free agency after the draft. He is very versatile. It can be used very many ways, think like a depot, Samuel type, but in my opinion, bigger, taller, faster, just stronger. He became the first TCU player with a receiving, rushing and passing touchdown since 2017. He's got the size and the speed to, you know, go up and get the ball. I, I could see Jordan Love just like loving this guy'cause he loves to throw those trust my receiver balls. You go up and get it, I'm gonna put it in the vicinity. So I think this could be a really good draft and stash kind of player potentially in a keeper league, you know, pick him up at the end of the year, you know, draft and, and keep him for next season. And then as far as Matthew Golden comes, I, he's gonna be competing for the job with Christian Watson. I think Romeo Dobbs or the two that I would, I could see him competing for. And I just you know, with that many wide receivers, I just don't, his speed is going to have to be lights out in his go up and get, he is gonna have to get the ball. So I, I don't know that, that, that. Position will be solved before the first game of the season, but I think you could see Savion Williams being that sleeper and that, that's all I gotta say about those guys.
Pershin:Yeah, I, I think that the savion thing I really agree with Matthew Golden, I'm a little less bullish on just because he was a first round draft pick, which means like in, in your dynasty leagues, he's going to go high in the draft, and so the cost is night and day. Like Savon Williams, kind of like you already suggested, he might be completely free. He might literally just be hanging out on your, your waiver wire. He's one of those sort of waiver wire type guys that actually has real upside. A lot of people don't realize this guy was scouted by most, most teams, not just as a receiver, but as a running back. He was productive as both a receiver and a running back in college, and most scouts seem to believe that he was. Draftable, meaning that he's NFL caliber at both positions. And so you're talking about one of these sort of joker style guys that LeFlore could move around. He could have him line up in the back field like we're already seeing with Jade Reed. Yeah, exactly. I mean, if anything, this could be bad news for Reed. You know, he could, he might take more of that, that sort of like rushing and end around jet sweep type shit. Like he's a guy that's good with the ball in his hands and he's useful in multiple spots as a receiver as far as like, he could play the slot. He could play flaker, probably not good as an ex, but he could also play all kinds of crazy running back sort of stuff. He's a good blocker. He's the sort of guy who. Has real upside as a fantasy player if he can get a lot of snaps and stay on the field. We don't know that there's, there's a lot of competition there. Obviously they just drafted a wide receiver in the first round, but if things pan out for him, he could get a ton of usage.
Jason:Well, and they picked up Nicole Hardman just picking up a ton. Ride receiver. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. To round out the first round of players that I like or what, whatever, wanna talk about Omar and Hampton? I am really liking in the Chargers. I just, even with Najee Harris there, I, I think he has the potential to beat out Najee Harris as the main feature back there, even though they'll still use it. Probably a tandem with the two. But I mean, just in the Harbaugh offense of scheme anyway, it's, you know, for me it's grounded pound. So I, I would say how, you know, I mean, get crazy. You could handcuff these two and, you know, potentially start'em both.
Pershin:There you go. You took the words outta my mouth. That's what I was gonna say, is I, I was gonna say like what a, a really great way to play this offense is just get both get, get both of those guys. If you're looking at this from a dynasty perspective, like Omar and Hampton is probably my second favorite guy. I, I already talked about Gente, but he's probably like my next, like long-term valuable guy right behind him. The thing about Najee is that, first of all, I think he's just better. I'm not saying Najee chopped liver, but I think that he's just a better talent than Najee. I bet you even year one. It's, it's gonna be like 65 35 in Omar and Hampton's favor. But then on top of that, NAJE signed a two year deal. Only the first year is guaranteed money. So they could just move on from him after this year anyways. And so when you're looking at the long term outlook for these guys, like, like he's not gonna hit the ground running, like touches Wise and Carries and all that the way that Gente is, but the long-term outlook might actually be better because he's on a Harbaugh team that you, where you know, he's always gonna have a good offensive line and he is gonna run the fucking balls. Right? But the times as he as he could possibly muster, it's entirely possible that both he and Najee could both be like like starter level fantasy players. That's not crazy. We've seen teams do this before. You know, the Saints used to do this year after year with Peyton Alvin Kamara plus. Whoever the hell else is back there, you know what I mean? And so I I, I think the, the smartest way is, is that if you can pick up whoever's going first, make them a priority and then scoop up whoever's considered to be the handcuff or the backup, scoop them up later in the draft and have that thing locked down. If, if either one of them gets injured, the other one's worth a ton all of a sudden. So, you know, you, you just gotta love that sort of situation when you got both of them locked in. And like I said, there's a chance both of them are started.
Jason:Oh yeah. A hundred percent. And then let's, let's talk about some quarterbacks. You know, we got Jackson Dart being in the situation and Giants. I don't see him as being draftable this year. And I'm, I'm just not too high on Jackson Dart Outta Ole Miss. I, I. I kind of thought they reached for him anyway. You know, will Howard, you know how much I love him? He was still on the board. Riley Leonard was still on the board. Like speaking of
Pershin:landing spots, that that will ha Howard landing spot was a little bit juicy, right?
Jason:Oh, don't worry. I got him on my honorable mentions list here, buddy. Oh, okay. Okay. So I would probably stay away from Jackson Dart. That's just my opinion, at least for this year. He could be a wait and see, maybe, maybe he'll turn out to be good and, and you need a quarterback for a bi-week and you pick him up in free agency. And then the other quarterback, the Tyler show, I just, my only notes for this was LOL. Like, damn, what a stupid pick by the Saints. Not only that, we, he's not even gonna start like Derek or, I don't even know if Derek Carr's playing. I don't know what the situation is, but Derek Carr might try to play. I don't, there's something weird going
Pershin:on with them, man.
Jason:Apparently
Pershin:Derek is trying to force his way off of the team. He's trying to say that he's too injured to play, but then apparently he's, he's having his agent tell teams behind the, like, other teams behind the scenes. Oh no, he's good. He, like, he, he can play if he, if he comes available. Are you interested? Because he's actually, he's good to go and so it's like, I think he's trying to, oh, just retire. He's trying to play some kind of games where he gets out of, he gets out of new Orleans somehow there's bad blood. They're upset with him and he clearly is upset with them. So.
Jason:Yeah. And then, like I said, my honorable mentions I got Will Howard, I don't, we don't know what the quarterback situation is going to be there at this moment if Aaron Rogers is gonna be there, or Kirk Cousins. It's looking more like, it's Aaron Rogers. So this is more of a like stash, a draft and stash, you know, or pick'em up in free agency. Yeah. Keeper league. Dynasty league. Like this is a draft for the future here. So this, I'm more looking at a dynasty league on this, on this guy. And then we gotta talk about Dylan Gabriel and Shado Sanders. And, and same thing here. It's a little too early to tell which of the 17 quarterbacks is gonna be starting week one. If I had, my guess it's probably gonna be Joe Flaco.
Pershin:Yeah.
Jason:And Dylan Gabriel and Shado Sanders are, are probably gonna be sitting by, but if I was gonna draft one of these quarterbacks, I would draft Shado Sanders. To me, he has more upside than Dylan Gabriel. And that's worth, I wouldn't even touch Dylan Gabriel. I don't want any part of Dylan Gabriel on the Browns offense.
Pershin:Yeah,
Jason:same. By the way, what do you think about this?
Pershin:Yeah, I, I agree with that. The thing is that, like, like Dylan Gabriel was never, like, considered a very good QB prospect. Shado Sanders was, at least by some people. Okay. Right. And the thing is that we understand the problem with Shado. It's his, his personality. Maybe it's the relationship and the sort of relationship that he has with his father and the way that his father interacts with the teams and yada, yada, yada. But the thing is that when it comes to on the field play, there is some actual upside with shado. Okay? He's a accurate quarterback. He doesn't have the biggest arm in the world, but he, he has shown a lot of really good passes on his profile. There's something to work with there as far as on the field play goes, there's some actual upside. Of course he's a wild card, but the, the cool thing about him falling in the NFL draft is mean. That means that he's also going to be cheaper Now when it comes to fantasy stuff, you know, so, right. I said it last week, and I'll just basically repeat it, that I think probably what's gonna happen this year is that Joe Flacco will start the majority of their season and they're actually gonna be back to square one next season where they're gonna be looking for a new quarterback. That I honestly bet that that's the most likely thing,
Jason:but the one that's, you're not that far off because a lot, I've already seen a ton of way too early mock drafts where they've got the Browns like either taking Arch Manning or Cade Club Day
Pershin:picking in the
Jason:top five, right? Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Pershin:Yeah. Yeah. Oh man. You must be excited about the, the next year of Cade Club. Like he, he even proved a lot last year. Right?
Jason:We will see what happens. Man, I've been hopeful.
Pershin:Yeah. But anyway, I, if, if I was going to take a dart throw on one of these guys, it would be Shado. I agree with you. He's the one that at least has some real upside you know, and I, I probably wouldn't bother drafting him like in, in a traditional redraft setting. But when you're talking about Dynasty, I think you, you could draft him probably towards the end of your drafts. Someone's going to draft him. I don't think he'll just be free on the waivers, but you could draft him at a cheaper price and you could just sit him on the bench and just see what happens. Just see what happens because he, he has the potential, at least some upside there. Just kinda like what we're saying with Savion Williams. It might not work out, but the thing is that the price is okay. You're not, you're not risking that much, you know? So I, I think UR is actually worth it.
Jason:Yep. Agreed. And the last couple guys I wanted to bring up, we got two a wide receiver Jayden Higgins. I just like him in Houston because of, I mean, he, he kind, he's kind of got no choice but to kind of play, right? Like he's, he's gonna start,
Pershin:yeah, I mean
Jason:they do
Pershin:a ton of three wide receiver sets and so I expect it's going to be Nico Collins, Christian Kirk and Jayden Higgins, right? Like in those three receiver sets, Christian Kirk will be in the slot. He'll play opposite of Nico Collins. He'll basically just take that tank Dale role rip in piece Tank Dale. You know, they, they got Jalen Noel also. I don't expect Jaylen Noel to beat out Higgins, though. I think Higgins is much more the sort of fantasy priority in this in this offense. It, you know, I don't think any of them was going to overtake Nico or anything like that. But as a second white receiver, I think that Higgins is the one that has the more upside to be that second option. And you know, CJ Stroud proven himself to be an accurate quarterback. I think that's being his second option does indeed have some upside.
Jason:And then the last two guys I would be wrong for not bringing this guy up. One being Quin, Sean Judkins and the Browns. I mean, I know Dylan Sampson's there, but also like, I mean, Jerome fort's not, he's not gonna be viable with the whole season. Nick Chubb's gone. Like this guy is probably going to be the starter at some point. So just, you know, just someone to keep your thoughts on. And then RJ Harvey, the Broncos running back. I, I, I just, you know, someone to keep your, keep your eyes on. I, I'm not saying he's gonna be a first round pick and you should immediately draft him, but, you know
Pershin:Yeah.
Jason:Maybe in the latter keeper. Keeper rounds.
Pershin:Yeah.
Jason:I
Pershin:actually have him like higher in the mix than I think most people would. He wasn't necessarily a big name pre-draft, but he did go in the second round and he went to a team that was, you know, pretty publicly frustrated with their running backs. They wanted to bring in a guy who was going to be better than what they got out of. Avante Williams, who they let go in free agency. And Audrick Esme, who disappointed Jli McLaughlin disappointed. And so I think he, he actually has a clear runway here to just hit the ground running as the starting running back. And the thing about the Sean Peyton offense is that they always throw a lot of passes to the running back, which is just great for fantasy. So I, I, it's a guy that I actually have pushed up. I don't know if he's necessarily a first rounder, but he's at least in the conversation for me.
Jason:Absolutely, man. Well, that's all, that's all the rookies that I had that I wanted to cross and. You know, any other ones out there that maybe we didn't discuss that stand out to you? You know, or,
Pershin:yeah, I think a couple more running backs that, maybe not like week one, but by the end of the season I think are going to have the majority of their backfilled work. And that is Trivion Henderson and with the New England Patriots and that's Caleb Johnson with the Steelers. I think that they've got re Stevenson in New England and they've got Jalen Warren in Pittsburgh. But the thing is like, these are kind of limited backs and in, in the case of re Stevenson, it's a guy that keeps showing fumble issues and that that'll always get you benched at some point. Right. So we've seen Oh yeah. Re get benched. I think every single year that he's been a pro for fumble issues at some point in the season. And so the thing is that now you've got a guy in Caleb Johnson that has had a lot of totes in college and very few fumbles. I think that like the wait, I'm talking about Trayvon Henderson, sorry. I said Caleb Johnson, Trayvon Henderson. I think that he's the guy that's going to be seen as more reliable. And the cool thing about Trayvon Henderson is that he's coming out as a college back who is already really good in the past block game. A lot of times you have to go to the NFL and then clean that up. He's already really good at that. So for a lot of coaches, they'll actually get him on the field even quicker. So I think both of those guys, somewhere around mid-season or certainly by the end of the season, are actually going to be like. The, the one a or, or maybe even like the workhorse guys that are worth keeping your eye on?
Jason:Absolutely, man. Well, I'm excited about the upcoming season. I mean, I need, I need to be here already. I mean, the draft gets me pumped up and ready to go. I know the draft, I'm ready to start making some trades, man. I might have to go into Sleeper and see if I can wheel and deal some first round picks.
Pershin:Hey, yo, I, I always like
Jason:just to get the juices flowing.
Pershin:Yeah. I, I always end up like, at some point during the off season trying to accrue more draft picks. Right? As,
Jason:as we
Pershin:approach our fantasy drafts, I'm like, damn, I don't got enough draft picks. Like, I want, I want all these players on my fucking team.
Jason:I want'em all, I want'em all. Yeah. Well, that's a, that's all the fantasy football rookie scoops we got for you this week. As always, you can hit us up on threads. Instagrams blue skies at Pine Pony Podcast, Vanessa. Audios.
Pershin:Audios populous.
