Scouting the 2024 WR Prospects: Part 2 + Age Old Questions - Dynasty Fantasy Football

Published Feb 28, 2024, 10:00 AM

Deep dive look at the 2024 WR rookie class! On today’s dynasty fantasy football podcast, Borg, Betz, and Jason discuss the next tier of incoming wide receivers. Film evaluation, production profiles, and fantasy football outlooks for dynasty leagues! Ladd McConkey, Xavier Legette, Adonai Mitchell, Roman Wilson and others! Join Borg, Betz, and a Baller each week to take your Dynasty fantasy football game to the next level and dominate your league -- Fantasy Football Podcast for February 28th, 2024.

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Welcome to the Fantasy Footballer's Dynasty Podcast with Borg Bets and a Baller.

Welcome in.

It's Wednesday, February twenty eight. We're back Fantasy Footballer's Dynasty Podcast. I'm joined by Matthew Betts, Jason Moore.

I'm Kyle Worganoni.

I am happy to be here. Let me just say that because I have not been on the last two episodes. Two episodes ago, we were in Vegas for the Fantasy Sports Gaming Association Conference and you guys held it down with quarterbacks. Last week we had the top end UH prospects at wide receiver with Mike. I've listened to both of those shows. They were outstanding, excellent episodes, and I was so jealous to not be able to talk about all of these prospects. So I'm I'm thank thank you guys for letting me be here today.

Well, do we made sure that everyone knew that you wanted everyone to know? Troy Franklin is the dude? So do you want to say anything on truy because we were I think we all gush Joe.

It's it's scary when you really love a prospect that has ways that it can go wrong. You know, he's so skinny. I think Mike was like, eh, you know, Dunzel moons, and I was, and then I started to, you know, poop my pants just because look that happens. Sometimes you love a prospect that doesn't hit. But I I love him. I mean, he's just he's so fast and fluid for his size. He's got traits that you know, you you look around the NFL and you just see certain guys that have a trump card, you know, Tyreek Hill and his speed or Debo and his strength. You know, you just go like, there's just certain guys where it's like, man, you can't replicate that. Well, that's Franklin has that. To me, Franklin has like world beater attributes. That's like his height speed combination is very very rare. If he can get that to translate in the NFL, it will be monstrous for fantasy.

Right now, he's kind of on that fringe first round in a lot of grades, in a lot of mock drafts. So the one that we talked about last week was him going pick thirty two to the Chiefs, which we're pretty happy, pretty happy about that.

So that would that would make me very excite. Although in my main Dinosa league, I've got Rushie Rice, So I'm like, maybe don't get a wide receiver.

I don't know, you don't want to double up eat go to the.

Bills, you know what I mean, go a couple of picks earlier.

I take that.

This this is episode fifty of the Dynasty podcast. People, So we're we've gone places over the years. Over the year, I will say.

And multiple years.

I know it's been exactly one calendar year.

We're hitting the one point one. That's what we're going for. Like in the age, you know, we talked about prospects, but scouting wide receivers. We're going to continue the conversation. Jason's going to get in on the fun and talk about some players that you know, I think we're gonna have some disagreements on some players that I can see them work in the NFL, but I have a really hard time seeing them work for fantasy. And that's kind of like the crossroads that I think this conversation needs to be is this is what we saw on tape, is what the analytics say, here's you know, what they did against zone all of these things, and then when I look at fantasy I'm like, will it even matter? And we'll find that out with the draft capital, But I'm worried about some of these guys just even mattering at all a year or two from now.

One hundred percent. There are a couple guys that I really like, think they're very good prospects where I go like, I'm a Cardinals fan and I'm like, oh, I hope we draft that guy now. I'm not gonna draft him in fantasy because I don't think he will score fantasy points, but I think he'll help an NFL team. There are those type of prospects today. And one of the craziest things is that the players we're talking about today, we're starting at what like wide receiver six or seven on our you guys covered I think six last episode. Yes, for me, on my personal rankings, we're gonna be starting with my wide receiver six. The difference between my wide receiver six and wide receiver twelve is it's it is one tier to me, like they are the exact same tier. That is the widest largest tier that I can remember, where it's like I I really, you know, I really could sort these guys in almost any order. So obviously every year, draft, capital matters, landing, spot, location, system fit, all those things matter. But this year it's going to organize my rankings for me within the giant tier of players. You know, when you sprinkle in how you want to bet on fantasy, because sometimes you might draft one guy over another guy simply because of your own roster needs and how they fit what you're looking for, if you need consistency or you need explosiveness or those those type of attributes.

I'm kind of interested to get y'all's take before we get two in the Navy gritty here, because a lot of big boards have ten, you know, ten plus wide receivers in the top fifty of overall players, and that is not normal for what we've seen in the NFL. And I will just say that's not probably gonna happen on the NFL draft. Like things will change, there will be other prospects, but to me, that's a it's just a bit alarming to see that there's gonna be wide receiver. Ten wide receivers taken in the first fifty picks, is you know, kind of like a lot more than what we're seeing. I mean, there's not a lot of premium players at other positions that we've seen in the past. I mean, you have quarterbacks at the top. No running backs we're going to talk about at all really in that top forty, top fifty overall boards. But I don't know, bets, was that alarming to you when you're seeing the kind of consensus, like we're at this point now we're getting group think, and I don't know, that just seems like a lot of wide receivers for the NFL to deem worthy of a top fifty pick.

Yeah.

I think it's one of those things where it's like it's kind of exciting because you know, when you see all these guys get not just round one, but probably round two or three, you know, Day two draft capital, immediately you're like, Okay, these guys have a better chance of hitting. But then you also have to remember, like they're going to situations where they have to step on the field and produce as a pro, which is not easy to do, especially when they go to situations where there's other guys there that can already do it. So a lot of the guys that we're gonna talk about today, I think you're gonna miss, you know, and the consensus around this class is Oh, it's so deep.

These guys are so great.

There are so many guys on this list that I'm like, I don't get it. I'm not as high on as may other people or the market. Lots of red flags and a lot of these guys' profiles. So even though like some of them will go you know, round two, round three, it just feels like it's one of those situations where we kind of could be looking back in a year and we're like, remember that class that was supposed to be so great, Yeah, well there was a lot of misses there too, So that's kind of how I see this this group going today. I think this is gonna be kind of where rookie drafts are won and lost, so to speak, where like, if you find kind of the one or two guys that might emerge from this group that we're gonna talk about, you're gonna be happy. But I think there's a lot of landmine set.

I agree with what you're saying in concept, but I do think this year is better than most years. I don't think it is weird or bad or alarming. Doesn't put up any red flags to me. For ten wide receivers school in the top fifty of the NFL draft at all now. I think there will be plenty of busts. But the reason why this draft class is excited is highly touted, and why I think ten will go in the top fifty picks is because even though there are red flags two guys like you guys talked about Keon Coleman last episode. So many red flags there, but also so much potential. The guys that are in this year's class, they're big, amazing athletes that you know. It's like if the team that drafts them can mold them to their potential, they are much better than what most years have in the second and third round or as the ninth, tenth, twelfth wide receiver taken in a draft class. It's this year to me, is all about potential. So you're right, bets this year is like you're gonna win and lose your rookie drafts based on basically the scouting and your personal beliefs of trying to make the right bets as to who hits versus you know, who misses. But the potential for this year is I think extraly high.

And for the NFL purposes, I mean, you want to take swings at this position. It's not you know, I can look at the data and I have a love looking at like, oh, well, you know, based on just first round picks alone, there's probably at least two of them that are gonna bust based on historical rates. But it's worth taking the swing at because if you get that hit, even somebody in the second round like Rashi Rice last year, it's like, oh, you have a wider seer for years to come that fits your system that you know how to work. So I'm excited to talk about these guys, but I need to make sure before we go any further, because time.

Is of the essence people. For the UdK plus.

If you go to udkplus dot com, our twenty twenty four Dynasty pass is here is loaded with content. The rankings we're gonna talk about today, I mean, Jason and even messaged me this morning like we updated them for this show from when we started doing the research a couple weeks ago to yesterday and the day before, Like this is an evolving thing. So if you want rookie rankings, startup rankings all of our production profiles. When we talk about this player, you know, not hitting this metric or this dominator rating or hey, he's a little smaller than you know, what we're used to seeing. You can get all of that in the UdK Plus and the Dynasty Pass, which is live right now.

Yeah, and I think it's also important to note we have a big contest going where if you buy the UdK Plus before March first, which is quickly approaching as of this recording, you are automatically entered into the chance to play with us in the twenty twenty four Listener League, to play amongst us, so unk plus dot com. It's the quickest, easiest place to buy it. People are always like, where where is there a resource where we can get like everything at a glance, you know, see the the usage and the measurables and the production and some It's all there for every single one of these rookies, So UdK plus dot com.

Yeah, and next week we will have a post combine updates, So the combine is happening this weekend. We will get a brand new, fresh update for the Diners Pass, even a brand new rookie mock draft. So get all of that at udkplus dot com. Let's talk about these wide receivers.

Hi, rookie Welcome to the NFL.

Last week we talked about a couple of benchmarks, not as this is the end all be all, but there are certain thresholds we like to see in prospects. And we've done some deep, deep look at some datea of Round one wide receivers and then wide receivers that were taken on Day two. And when we refer to their targets per oute run of the yards per out run, we're not just stating in number to say here's a cool metric. It's this is kind of what we've seen that works in the NFL. No, it's not perfect, but a round one wide receiver, the guys we talked about last week, we said we want to see them average twenty eight percent on their targets per out run and three point one six on their yards per out run for day two wide receivers, which is going to be a lot of the guys we talk about today. We need that number to be about two twenty eight percent and then their yards per out run is around two point seven. And I give those numbers to say that each of these players we talk about today, there's gonna be things we say, man, this is really really good or they're really good against zone, or they could really fit a scheme as a salt wide receiver. But we're also kind of looking at the film, looking at the hit rates and trying to figure out how do they translate to the NFL. I mean, that's the whole conversation with Keon Coleman is I can see it, but I also could see how he could not translate to twenty twenty four's NFL, which is very different. Like, would you guys say Keon Coleman would have been one of those players ten years ago, fifteen years ago, It's like, oh, that dude is locked in round one. I mean, it just felt like a player.

He's already kind of getting round one buzz right now, isn't he He's.

Yeah, but I know what you're saying, Kyle, Like he you know, old school, big bodied, you know, yeah, absolutely.

He's just fallen out. I just looked at grinding the box.

He's like at thirty four, so he's just outside of first round now he's kind of slid. But yeah, I think we're starting to understan this more. And I talk a lot about, you know, how does a player do against zone? Because that's what the NFL does. So those are some of the things we'll bring up. But last week, if you want to go back to that episode, Marvin Harrison Junior, Malik Neighbors, Roma Dunza, Keon Coleman, Brian Thomas Junior, and fire Troy Franklin.

But hold on, you said that like he needs to lose his job. Okay, you know what I mean. Like we're not firing Troy Franklin. Here, we're saying get.

Him out of the league. Dude's not even in the league.

Yeah, like the hotness Troy Franklin.

There you go, he's got the after burners.

I we're gonna start off with the prospect that I think could be polarizing I think as a whole. I know Jason and Andy, you guys are very excited to talk about this young lad, but I just need to say on the front end, I think people, a lot of people are just so curious why this guy shows up so high, not only in our rankings, but in a lot of pre draft boards. So it's Lad McConkey out of Georgia right now in a rookie rankings, he's now at wide receiver six, which I feel terrified to even say that, but Jason, I will let you start talking about Lad because when he came to Georgia, he wasn't highly recruited. But he's a two time national championship winner. But the sample size is really really small, and I'm scared.

Oh Lad to mcconkee. Look when I first started watching him the first half of the first game, because Andy had kind of claimed him as his dude. Andy loves Lad. McConkey is very confident in his ability, in his skill set, says, you know, he's a great wide receiver. So I start watching him, and the first half of the first game, I'm like, I don't know, he looks a little undersized, he's you know, I didn't like the production profile. He didn't you know, he never had a thousand yard season, didn't do a lot that I want to see on paper. Then I watched, and I watched more, and I watched more. I watched basically every single one of his routes for the entire season this year because I wanted to be sure on him. Was a lot of routes. No, No, it was much easier than a lot of players to watch every single route. But he's good, He's fast, he's got very good hands. He's an excellent route runner. He knows how to make space and get separation. There wasn't much to dislike. I mean, I wish, I wish it was two hundred pounds. If he had another fifteen pounds on him, I think he would be, you know, a sure fire first round pick. He's right now still probably he's probably a middle of the second round pick according to you know what we're seeing out there right now. I worry fantasy value wise that he will be a slot wide receiver and be one of these players that is good for the NFL and not great for fantasy. It will depend on where he goes, where his location is. Right now, I'm trying my best to rank these guys three NFL draft based on do I think they're good, what's the likelihood that they're going to hit? Mixed with if they hit, how high will it go? But lad, he's good. I mean, he's just a He's just a solid wide receiver. There's not much outside of strength that you're going to criticize him for production and strength. But I think he's a very very smart wide receiver. He played a lot of different positions in high school. Which you know, I like that. I like when I see you know that Travis Kelsey played quarterback because he sees the entirety of the game, and so you know, he was great against zone and that Kyle, you know, that's your that's your big buggaboo. You say the NFL plays so much zone, Now you've got to be great against zone. Well, he is. He's going to find the open spots and he's going to sit down and if he's got a good quarterback, he's gonna be catching a lot of open passes. Yeah.

Lad's he's so interesting, right because in today's game, where people like Kyle are dominating us with their spreadsheets and their models, Ladd is not your guy, right if you play the game that way, and that's just the guys you take, Lad is not the guy. Didn't really break out, not a ton of production. Some of that this past year was due to injuries dealt with back, knee, and ankle injuries, so it was a very limited sample size this past year. But I agree with Jason just the tape is good. And if you're someone that follows tape more than the other stuff, then you probably are really gonna like Lad mccackey. What's interesting about him and kind of the way we've been talking is, you know, we're concerned is he only slot widers here at the NFL level, which I do. I do share that concern, But when you watch him on tape, he might think, Okay, is he only running these little dinky kind of whip routes or little out routes. He's not, especially two years ago in twenty twenty two, he was running a bunch of stuff down the field. So he does have that in his game. But overall, I think he's just a really solid, good wide receiver. I will say I'm worried about that. Just this feels like one of those guys where like everyone is like in on lab mccackey, but it's like something about it just feels wrong, right when you look at a guy that just didn't produce that much in college, and usually those kind of guys are decent bets against. Again, not saying he can't work out, just saying there are some yellow to red flags in his profile, But I love the tape. I think he's pretty good.

Yeah, nine games sample size for twenty twenty three is is not a lot to go off of. But Bets mentioned like only twenty seven percent of his targets were in the slot, so he's playing all over the field. I love getting to watch him. George Boyce, so gotta give him a shout out. But man, it's like they could use him in so many different ways. It wasn't just little out stuff. The underneath trailing stuff is like what the RAM figured out with Cooper Cup, Like, let's get this guy moving underneath. I wish I saw more slants, Like there's only two slant targets of the entire year that I could even look at on film. So I just I just worry when I can see seventeen routes a game and that's it. But I can also see an NFL team saying, hey, I don't care about any of this stuff. I don't care about break out age. Just let's move forward so he can work against zone. My question for you moving forward is what is his ceiling in fantasy? Because I have a hard time envisioning a route where this guy is going to be a dominator in the next LF. I think he's gonna be a good NFL player, But like one of my comps that I got for him was the highest end, he could be Golden Tate who was used down the field early in his career and then became kind of this slot PPR option. But I mean I also see the low end. I have Dante Pettis as a comp on the low end, So I'm just wondering where he fits in. Yeah, I know that was disgrace Man's I.

Mean the high end comps that he gets sometimes and I don't ever want to just tell people, oh that, you know, get people too hot and bothered with what I believe is a Hall of Fame caliber name. But you know, Cooper Cup has dominated and they're they're not too different in size, in style of play, just really smart guys that know how to find the right area, have you know, pretty good athleticism, and so I think there is a ceiling he could reach where he is an every week starter in fantasy, not necessarily an every week dominator, but I do think he can get to where he's just like kind of one of those guys that's locked in your lineup as your wide receiver too, and then you move forward. But we'll have to wait and you know, obviously see where he lands.

Yeah, he's going to be an interesting name, because we've all kind of loved the film and then it's just, you know, comparing that to this sample size is kind of the hardest thing for me to look at. But crazy things have happened in the NFL. But Lad McConkey, I think this is higher than what most people have. I think Lad kind of ends up at nine to ten for a lot of people, so.

We're definitely higher. And I assume, I really do assume that after the NFL Draft, Lad will take a Ladd will take a tumble. So maybe it's worth trying to project now for people that happen to be doing rookie drafts right now, which is so stupid just throwing that out there. Don't do your rookie drafts for the NFL draft. Don't do it. And ninety five percent of leagues do not do that. But I know some they just get too thirsty and they're like, ah, let's do it now, I want to do it. That's dumb. Don't do it. You got to have more information on these players. So but after the NFL Draft, Lad will probably fall down a little bit, is my guess, unless we're surprised by some great draft capital.

All right, let's take a quick break and we'll be back. All right, we're back, and we're gonna talk about texasays Xavier Worthy, who originally committed to Michigan, had some nil issues, but super young. I mean, his breakout age is the youngest in this class. It was eighteen point four and he's not even twenty one years old. So Xavier Worthy had a ton of production. But when I look at where he was lined up on the field, where they threw to him, it was different for every single year at Texas. Now they had the same exact offensive staff because it was Steve Sarkegian, and yet you know, one year it was kind of like intermediate stuff. In twenty twenty two it was a lot of deep stuff, even though he had an injury, and then last year it was a lot shorter. So I'm trying to figure out how he was used there and how he could translate the NFL. He six ' to one, but super thin, one hundred and seventy two. And we've seen players like this that can work in the NFL. You know, Jordan Addison's kind of the most recent one. But my favorite comp for him is he's just a taller Hollywood Brown, and I think Hollywood has bigger top end speed. But Worthy is an interesting player because the production is awesome, and I think he can work at the NFL level and bets. I'll let you start first, because you really liked his tape in terms of like pure speed.

Yeah, this is interesting. You and I were talking before a couple of days ago, before this show, so I'm interested to get your take. But you're like, I don't see him as like as fast as everyone thinks. And my first note was, this dude has speed for days. His first one of his first games at Texas, they get him on just a quick hitter on the sideline. Dude blows by everyone and you can see the track speed. And actually, in little side note here, in the betting markets which you can bet on the NFL combine this week kind of year for one of those people at Kyle, he is the betting favorite to lead the wide receivers in forty time. So just for reference, that's kind of how he's viewed as just this speed guy.

That is a.

Little bit of a pigeonhole. I think when you think about Worthy, where you're like, Okay, is he just a downfield speed guy where you're like hoping for a long bomb. I don't know where I land on that yet, quite honestly, because, as Kyle said, his year over year kind of evolution as a player was just so different with each system that he played, where like sometimes he was that guy, but other times it was like little quick hitters and screens and.

Just yak stuff.

So I don't really know how he truly wins in the NFL. I don't know if it's a nuanced route runner. I don't think he has that, but I mean, you think about what he can do. He's lightning fast. In my opinion, his breakout age is awesome. He's young, as Kyle said, So I think all those things combined with you know, we're gonna see early ish draft capital right in the second round, most likely for xavier' Worthy. I'm a little higher on him than most, I think, but I'm willing to see a scenario where it certainly goes south with a guy like Worthy.

So I want to talk about his name Xavier because I haven't seen production guides yet. They're not in the NFL yet, or pronunciation guides. But when I would listen to the commentators, they always call them Xavier, and they pronounced the x you know, the Xavier, but it's Xavier. It's an e Xavier. Leget is how the announced there's two Xaviers in this year's class, and one is Xavier and one is Xavier Ears. So I'm really curious for that pronunciation guy to come out. You know, Xavier worthy is? I mean he his his worst season was basically as good as the best season that Lad McConkie ever had. When it comes to production, breakout age is excellent, his speed is great. I have spent the majority of my fantasy career, uh completely discounting the fantasy relevance of undersized two light players. It's shifted obviously over the last couple of years. And when there is a talent that is completely worthy of discounting that. So, for instance, a couple of years ago, Davante Smith really broke the mold his BMI. Oh my gosh, if you were on Draft Winner, people were out because of BMI on DeVante Smith, and I'm like, what are Davanti Smith is a world beater. He's like, he's like everything you want in to prospect except weight. Get over it. And then Jordan Addison was obviously a my guy for me last year, So I'm I am totally willing when I see someone that is that special to say I don't care about the weight Tankdll just proved it last year. I'm not sure with Xavier Worthy. I think he's really really good. I like this tape, but there were a couple things on tape that made me fear. And it was always basically the weight, the strength. You know, when he had not drops, they certainly would not be classified as drops. But when he had opportunities to make tough catches, you know, contested catches, contacts come and things like that. I saw him not come down with that ball too often, and it made me a little bit worried that in the NFL, you know, when you're dealing with bigger, stronger, faster, heavier defenders, whether or not he'll be able to succeed at his weight. I did like the tape overall, you know, he's my wide receiver nine in my rankings, and overall I like him better than his Texas teammate, which I know. I believe both of the other guys here, Andy and Mike have it the other way. He's a quality He's he is really a quality wide receiver that I hope can overcome the strength and weight issues. But obviously his speed is his trump card. And I think what might have happened to answer the question of like why did he stop being used so much downfield and go shorter and shorter on like the depth of target. Sometimes when you've got like your dude for your team, where you're like, that's our best player, that's our playmaker, they're just trying to manufacture touches for him, like we got to get the ball in his hands. And I think as he you know, went into his third year for Texas, they're like, let's just find ways to get the ball in his hands. So he had a lot more screens, and I think that is a testament to his playmaking ability rather than a detriment to his, you know, his ability down the field.

I like Worthy a lot.

I like him more than Mitchell, like you, Jason. I love the production early on. I love you know, he had a monster game against Oklahoma, which at the time it was like, you know, as a freshman, he just looked like the best player on the field. This past year against Alabama, like he showed out in you know, an NFL style defense, just some great plays, including like a Willie Mays over the shoulder kind of catch. I found him to be tougher after the catch than I thought for his weight. I'm not saying he's gonna run over anybody, but just like, oh, this is a tough dude. And so I can see what you're saying, Jason, like that won't work at the NFL level because the dudes are way bigger than the college whoever's you're playing against. But when I mix in the early production and however he tests like, I think he's going to be a solid pick in rookie drafts, Like I could see him creeping up kind of as a fringe first round rookie pick to early second round that I would be happy to have on my team.

I agree completely my comp for him, and I don't know if you guys will agree. He's not quite as fast and the size isn't there. But I see Jerry Judy to me where he's talented. And I'm not sure when he gets the NFL if it's going to meet the hype or not, but Jerry Judy is still relevant.

Yeah.

Can I say one more thing about Worthy before we move on. I know that the drops are a big factor him and I saw that too. I was just curious, Jason, if you notice that more and maybe you don't remember exactly, but if it was his twenty twenty three tape or his twenty.

Twenty twenty two tape, because he didn't know, so.

I was gonna say he did play with a broken hand in the back half of twenty twenty two, and you saw the numbers like he had his worst season as far as his drop rate. Worst season is catch right, So I definitely saw a lot more of that. But I agree there was some flashes of that stuff on twenty twenty three.

Or me, and this is just you know, everyone can agree or disagree, but I make the active choice. I only watch the latest season unless there is an injury reason where I need to go back, like with Blake Koram, I wanted to go back and watch twenty twenty two because of his ACL injury and maybe who's slowed down in twenty twenty three. Something like that will will make me look back, But I have I think I've fallen away from traps that other people have fallen into. So wait, I didn't fall in. I avoided the traps the college guy's Like, I'm not a college guy. I don't watch college football on Saturdays. I don't know most of these players. You know, you always know the big names, the Bejon's, the Marvin Harrison's and the neighbors all those, but I don't follow college football. What I do is when the when the end of the NFL season is over, I start scouting the NFL headed prospects, you know, the guys headed to the NFL and sometimes the real draft guys, the guys that live in the college prospect world, and that's there, that's their predominant, you know, job. They've known these guys for years, and so they get caught up on someone who is supposed to be special a couple of years ago, the case, you know, the the Kishan Bhutz and the you know, the the guys that well I came in with so much hype or or broke out really young, but then trailed off, and I feel like I only want to see what did what have they done lately? Now that they now that the rest of college football knows, oh they broke out, they're a star. Now we're gonna actually try to defend him as opposed to have him be some secondary option on the team that we're not really caring about. How did they perform in their last year. So for me, it's always twenty twenty three tape.

I you know, I take the exact tops. I want to go to preschool. See what they did, you know early on? Watch the film, see middle school? You know what were they?

Like?

Is there any Derek Henry comps that we can just throw around just to fart around.

I love watching high school tape, man, I love it. I don't scout it, don't. I don't watch it to scout, like to be like, oh look how good he was. I just love watching human beings that don't belong dominate little boys that like I mean, it's it's just so much fun to watch these guys that like they're unstoppable, the speed when you've got a speedster, an NFL speedster back in their high school days. Oh man, it's just so fun to watch all these guys like it looks like they're jogging. Well, one guy is a rocket ship going down the sideline.

I will say.

I like to mix in like for Worthy, okay, like his breakout age. I want to see what he did, you know, his freshman year why he did that, But I agree, we want to see the most recent thing, and that's what the NFL cares about. I'm interested in this. Next player's Roman Wilson from Michigan, a little bit older, and the story's kind of gotten passed around that when he was in high school in Hawaii, he would like get on a plane and get up super early in the morning, and he's got that dog in him and they just won the national championship. I just want to say, from on the outset, this is an old prospect who broke out really late. But then I throw that outside and I watched the tape and I go, I get it. I get why he would work in the NFL. But I'm also still worried the same thing we talked about Lad McConkey, is this just the player from a really good program who could work in the NFL, and yet for fantasy doesn't really matter. So Betts, do you have some early because you liked Roman Wilson tape and you were, you know, messaging me, and I was like, dude, I just I don't know, but I feel like I understand how he could work in the NFL. But I also could see a limited ceiling, like I wrote down, is this what sky Morett was supposed to be?

Oh? No, don't do that to us. Man, Come on.

He feels like like kind of in the same idea as like lab McConkey, where it's like, you know, the production profile as far as the breakout age, his current age, that sort of stuff is not great. But again you put on the tape and you're like, this guy's good. This guy wins in different levels of the field, in my opinion, all three levels. I really thought he was a pretty good route runner, a variety of different routes on tape, so he's not just a one trick pony. What's interesting though about him, and it's kind of like the JJ McCarthy discussion we had where again, Michigan just won every game. They're always winning in the fourth quarter or third quarter, so they're just giving it to play Korm every time. So you don't have a huge sample of him being just this alpha on the field. But when he got the ball thrown his way, he was very productive. So I struggle a little bit with him because of like you said, the four year player, late breakout, older guy, that those generally are not things you want to bet On. But just like Lad mcconkaye, you watch the tape and you're like, this guy's pretty good. I will say maybe some of this too is like recency bias, because if you follow the Senior Bowl stuff, everyone was talking about Roman Wilson at the Senior Bowl. I was not there, but that's what everyone talked about, was like this guy won, you know, every rep, he caught everything. He really had a great week. So I think his stock has really taken a big step forward because of that. So just pointing that out there, that's that's worth mentioning. But yeah, I think I'm a little higher than consensus on him. But I'd be lying if I said there weren't things in the profile that I was definitely worried about that.

At Michigan, I felt like every game that I watched, I was like, he's always in the right spot when they need him, when they needed a first down to move the chains. Was it felt like you were watching, you know, like a movie, almost like this is the player that they count on in this dude's you know, not even two hundred pounds. So I get it when people kept saying this is a hard working, undersized slot guy who's always open, Like, yeah, it makes sense, like it actually matched the film when people talked about it, and he wasn't just getting little dinky screens like they were real routes.

Yeah, so I as well am higher on Roman Wilson than consensus. I believe he is a very very good wide receiver. When I watch the tape, he doesn't seem to have elite athleticism, and but he ran a four to three seven coming into college, like he does have it. And I like that combination where a guy just kind of glides. It doesn't look like he's almost trying too hard to have his speed, which he uses very well to get open. I also think he has personally from my scouting, he's got the best hands in the class. To me, I think his hands are absolutely incredible. You throw the ball to him, he's going to catch it. I mean, if you've got four to three seven speed, which obviously we don't have the combine results yet coming into the NFL. But if you've got whatever four to four, you've got elite speed and great hands, that's enough. Like what more do you know? If you've got you know, usually the real crazy fast speed guys, they don't have shot fire hands, but Roman Wilson has short fire hands. I don't like a four year player, or we'll talk about a fifth year player. That blows my mind here in a minute. You know, I don't like older wide receivers. That's obviously a huge negative. We've been talking about it this year with all the prospects. The COVID year kind of throws a little bit of differentiation because these guys still dealt with that missed season. So I forgive it. I don't like the lack of production, but like you talked about with JJ McCarthy and Michigan, basically being up twenty points in every fourth quarter, you're not throwing the ball much. He's a really, really good prospect. And if you are a four year player, if you are a senior and you're not coming out early, I want you to go be the buzz at the Senior Bowl like Cooper Cup was, like Deebo Samuel was, And there is no doubt everybody that was there unrelated to one another, not just echoing, you know. Lit while it was happening, everyone was talking about how Roman Wilson dominated the Senior Bowl. So I'm in on him, you know, what's his high end. I don't know if he could be a Tyler Lockett type where yeah he's a slot guy. Yeah he's undersized, but with that speed and with his just ability as a good wide receiver, he also is very he plays fearless, which I like for an undersized guy. Yeah.

I had Random Cobb as kind of the high end who was just oh yeah, I'd see that whatever they needed. I will say for targets per out run, it's under twenty three percent, which wasn't great, but like I said, every time he got the ball, it felt like it was like an amazing play, moving the chains. First downs, twelve touchdowns is pretty awesome for someone his size in their final year. So a lot to like, We'll just see what what scheme he's in. Like could he be a PPR option, Sure, but it kind of matters where he goes.

I will say this, We've talked about Lad McConkie, Exavier Worthy, and Roman Wilson, three very good quality wide receivers that I think will have a good NFL career. These guys do not have the seat. These aren't the ceiling top three wide receiver overall type of fantasy assets that some of the guys were talking about the rest of the show have in their you know, outrange of outcomes.

Yes, And I wonder in rookie drafts when we get there, you know, there's kind of a blend on. You know, I already have a pretty safe team. I want to shoot for the moon. It's like, yes, that makes sense if you want to shoot for some of these guys who have a really high ceiling. But there's nothing wrong with adding a player who just has a really good college profile like Roman Wilson also returned kicks and so he's getting a lot of Jadan Reid comps. Like, Yes, when I looked at Jayden Read last year, I wouldn't have said, man, this guy is a massive steiling. But this could be a good NFL player for your team that slides in as a wide receiver two flex for a couple of years, as opposed to a player that Jonathan Mingos. You know, like I think we would have said Mingo, he could be the one in the offense. Look at the size. They took him early, and I don't know, as the ship sailed on Jonathan Mingo, Yeah, I think so too. Yeah, I think it's I think it's gone. So oh man, sitting next to the Titanic right now, just next to Huge, next to Leonardo DiCaprio, just the bottom.

Yeah. Cool.

Uh, let's take one more break and then we'll talk about these other guys. Our next player we're going to talk about is Aden I Mitchell out of Texas. He was at Georgia the first two years, so no big deal. Just won two national championships and then made it to another college football playoff at Texas, So pretty good college career.

On a lot of boards.

He's kind of like the sixth seventh wide receiver, Like I just saw him go in a couple of mocks at the end of the first round and I get it, six ' four. There's a lot of red flags when you look at the metrics. So his yards per out run this past year one point seven to two. That is not good. His zone yards per out run one point seventy five, also not good. So when I look at his tape, I can see it. And then when I wrote this down is just there is so much erratic play here that I just have no idea that the range of outcomes for him is massive. But I think the best compliment I can give is he's diet T Higgins, and that's about as high as I could see him go. But I could also see a lot more downside here. So I'll let you guys talk first and then I'll come around and give my final thoughts. But bets I, I saw flashes.

Did you see those same things.

There's definitely flashes on tape. It's just so inconsistent rep to rep, where like one play he looks like a dude and the next play he's just a guy out there. So I am not a huge ad Mitchell guy. I get it from the size, kind of traditional X receiver thing that the NFL probably is looking for. But you mentioned some of the red flags. This is one of the guys that never posted a two plus yards per team past attempt. That's been a sticky metric. So you have a guy who didn't really produce, you have a guy with a late breakout age, and you've got a guy that just hasn't been efficient with his opportunities. You mentioned a career best one point seventy two yards throughout run. Quite terrible, honestly. So this is a guy that I think could sneak into like the back of round one that helps the NFL more than fantasy or early round two. And I think people know the name, they know the you know, Georgia situation, National champion, kind of like with Blake kornmer I mentioned, I feel like his name and kind of the situation might be overvalued. I'm probably gonna let my league mates take him personally. From where I'm at with him, I don't see it. I'm not a huge Ady Mitchell guy.

I am so genuinely upset, Like I was upset when you said that you aren't a big fan and you didn't like his tape because you know it's nice. It's nice to dis I can't stand at Ni mitchell I. I was. I wanted to. I wanted to just I wanted to hear the other side. And it sounds like we're all in a green I watched this guy, and it is we're saying like I I I mentioned it earlier. I don't know for sure about Mike, but I know Andy has Mike has him high two. Okay, So I so I was right. Both of those guys have him above Xavier Worthy, his his teammate, Andy Comp's uh Ad, Ni Mitchell to and Kwan Bolden. He he really liked the tape. I did not. I mean I really did not. I kept I kept like checking the you know, the like NFL mock draft database, and I mean, he is so high, he's like almost guaranteed to be a first rounder. The movement that has happening with him, it's trending where it's like and I just while I'm scouting him, and I didn't. I don't know. My process. A look at the production and the measurables. Then I go watch film, and I watch enough film, good games, bad games or whatever games I can find, really as many games as I can find for twenty twenty three, try to do the all twenty two, you know, wherever I can. Then I'll go look at the other metrics, and sometimes I'm surprised. I'm like, oh, I thought this guy was killing zone and it looks like he's bad a zone or whatever. I was disappointed to see that. I mean, his behind the scene metrics, like you talked about, they're all trash. And I thought his play, he can't track the ball, he doesn't create great separation. Now, unfortunately, there were plays where he did have separation down the field where he wasn't really he didn't get a catchable pass. So you can't knock him on that all the time. But I was just really really surprised. Now, maybe I am. Maybe it's like when you're hyped for a great movie and it's getting all this buzz and then you go see it and it was average, and so then you hate it because are like your expectation was too high. Maybe that's going on for me with Adanai Mitchell. If if I scouted him as my you know, twentieth wide receiver, I'd be like, hey, he's got some good traits because he does. He's fluid, he can move his body well for being six ' four. But ironically you want big wide receivers. But once you get to like that six or four threshold, there's not a ton of actual hits. The hits are great, like high high, high end. But you know, this is a guy. I don't think he's gonna I don't think a world exists where he helps an NFL team but doesn't help for fantasy. Based on his body, size, weight, athleticism, all of that, he's either succeeding for both or failing for both. I'm going to personally be bypassing at an im Mitchell. I don't think I'll have almost any of him because I assume he will be much higher in ADP than where I'll have him ranked. Yes, I do see the path. He's tall, he's athletic, he's fast. You know, he's not a He's not just a bad wide receiver. He's a first round graded wide receiver. But when I look at do I believe this guy's going to work? My notes? You know, I said, it seems like a good college athlete, but doesn't seem like a special athlete for the NFL is tracking seems mid, doesn't seem overly fast or special yards after the catch. So to me, I just I didn't see. I kept going like, why why does everyone have a first round grade on this guy? I feel like I'm missing something, and I was really hoping to hear what I was missing. But I'm not a big fan of ad A I Mitchell.

Yeah, I'm I'm pretty much out. I mean, if you look at wide receivers taken in the first two rounds, which I think we would say he's probably gonna.

Go there, He's definitely taken in the top ten.

Forty pick against zone, it's the second worst number of any player since twenty fourteen. So it's just not as it would be really really bad if he was taken there. My film notes were, you know, I see some contested catches, but he still doesn't attack the ball that well. He's a body catcher a lot of the times and just doesn't seem very fluid. In the Alabama game, you're like, oh, sweet, he caught two touchdowns against Alabama. They were wide open, just completely work white.

Yeah.

So and that, Jason, I feel like that's a point that we joke about sometimes. But there are certain players that just what are what are college defenses? They're just not even covering people. And I'm kind of mean sometimes because these guys aren'tna be playing in the NFL. So it's really hard to look at certain touchdowns and go, that's something like that.

But last week, I don't know if you caught it, Jason Kyle called college defensive back's future community just hanging out, which is just that's the most mean thing you could say about.

Some future community members.

I like, just nondescript. They don't even have jobs, just in the community.

My low income for him was a player that teased way back in the day, justin Hunter from Tennessee. He was thirty fourth overall, which is kind of where I think aighty Mitchell might go. But let's go to the next name.

Just in case people are listening. They're like, wait, I thought the top of the show you said like from wide receiver six to twelve, it's all the exact same tier ad and I is my wide receiver fourteen? Yeah?

You you bodied him?

Yeah, this is Xavier Leggatt, I believe.

Is how the X is pronounced.

I believe. So that's what the commentators. I mean, I'm right now, I'm just going from listening. So yeah, they they usually said Xavier Legette.

He is a fifth year senior, so a late bloomer. He's listed at six three two twenty seven on South Carolina's website.

That's a lie.

There's no chance that dude comes in at six three. He's gonna be around six to one, yes, six one and a half, so.

But he's big. He will come in probably two twenty. Yeah.

My notes were with pads on. He looks like he's two forty.

Yeah, and I'm this is really deep notes here, people, but it says in my notes he builds up speed like bows DK because like if you're playing Mario Kart, because he did hit twenty two miles per hour on a play this past year. I mean DK metcalf that was the fastest this past year hit twenty two. So it's like you build up the speed and you can just go. So I get it. And this past year he wasn't just like a let's throw him a screen, give him yack stuff.

It was okay.

They gave him a little bit more, they trusted him more, but only one year production and he's pretty old, over twenty three years old. That's not a good thing. He was not bad against the zone. His yards per out run his two point nine to nine and it was in the SEC. So there's a lot to like about a guy in the NFL. I also think it's very easy to make the comp of there was once a wide receiver from South Carolina who's a yak guy. Nobody can tackle him. He's big named Debo, but this isn't Debo. This is this is a different player. So I think leget It was a good college player and that's as far as I think he will go.

But bets, I'll let you go.

Was he for one year he could college for one years. That's what I'm saying is like, just if you just blindly bet against fifth year breakout players that only did it once, you're gonna be right way more often than you're wrong. So he's a guy that, like I get the hype and excitement because you're like, yeah, that dude is fast and he's big, and just reference, he did measure at the Senior Bowl. Wasn't even six to one at the Senior Bowl, so the six to three measurement that's out there is very funny, so not quite as tall, but still once he has the ball in his hands, You're like, oh my gosh, this dude is super explosive. So uh, I like that aspect of it. I hate everything else. I just don't see it personally. This is a guy that I will say too, when you think about kind of when guys breakout and how they perform in their career in college, context is important. He was a dual threat quarterback in high school, so he's only been playing wide receiver for a handful of years. But again, just in general, the profile is not good and if you bet against those guys more often than not, you're gonna be bring it.

Jason Oh man, this is the player I wanted to talk about on this episode more than anyone. More than anyone. I want to talk about him. I talk about him at lunch, I talk about him everywhere because it's so wild. It's impossible what he did. I can't wrap my head around this dude. His twenty twenty three tape is as good as almost anyone out there. This guy's hands, Oh, his athleticism. I'm telling you, dude, this guy was a monster. You can't tackle him. You're not gonna get the ball away from him. His hands are fantastic. Maybe he jumps to catch the ball a little bit too much, but we saw that with Lad McConkey as well, and oftentimes he had to jump because the pass was over his head and he would jump and he would snag it out of the air. He had some of the greatest catches this season. He had some of the most athletic plays this season. He was used everywhere on the field. He can break tackles. He's the yards after the catch guy. He's good catch. He's got an NFL ready body and athleticism. I'm telling you, this dude's legit. I loved him. It's impossible that he was in college for four years for this program and never had two hundred receiving yards. That can't. I that can't. It's not impossible. And I'm like, Okay, well he was injured, No, it wasn't. He played twelve games a year prior, didn't get two hundred receiving yards. He played? He played in twelve games? How was he? How? What? How was he actually? How did he do twelve hundred yards this year but couldn't get two hundred yards the year prior? Twelve games each? I know he was more of special teams and and you know what your wrong bets about the he played quarterback in high school thing. That's a narrative. I have gone sleuthing on this guy, Okay. I have gone because I wanted to figure out why, how does this exist? How did a guy with that athleticism, that ability, those hands not do anything for what is usually longer than an NFL wide receiver career. Four years of doing nothing? It's impossible. And so I went back and I researched. I'm like, what were the injuries? He wasn't injured? Oh, okay, I got the narrative. He was a he was a quarterback in high school. Well he was. He was a quarterback in high school after his quarterback got injured and they put the most athletic guy there to use him as quarterbacks. So yes, he played quarterback a little bit. But he was also a four year wide receiver in high school. So he's not learning the position. What in the heck man? What?

Well that's not good.

So no, it's not good. I'm not being I'm not like banging the drums saying Xavier Lagette is going to be a star. I'm not saying you have to draft him. I'm saying his twenty twenty three film athleticism, the things that I look for, he dominated for me. And I love the tape. But the red flags are I mean they're maroon, They're deep, they are I mean, I just cannot understand how he had so little production for four years and then all of a sudden was a man among boys and a monster who was as great as what I saw him this last year. If I have to bet, obviously Landing Spot and all that's gonna come through bets is one hundred percent right. If you close your eyes and you just say I'm gonna bet against fifth year late breakout, single season production wide receivers. You're almost all in, and you bet against them, you're almost money. Always gonna be right. I mean, if you're betting money and you've got enough opportunities to make that bet, always bet against him because you will print money. I'm gonna bet on him. I'm I'm I am, I am actually gonna bet on him. Gambling man, I'm a gambling man.

He's sticking up for the thick boys.

He did.

You were just in Vegas.

I see him right this. I mean, we'll see how far, how high, or how far he drops in the draft because his profile is wild. I've never seen anyone that's unproductive for that long. And I don't think there is an example. If someone out there can give me an example of a four year, four year on the field player doing nothing and then in the fifth year breaking out to this level, I don't think it's been done. And not even a change of teams. There's no reason for it. I was telling the guys, I actually think he like this has to be a cave of wonders situation where he found he found the lamp and was like, I wish that I am a good wide receiver and then he became one because he couldn't have been. I don't know, man, I just I don't get it worth noting at the Senior Bowl he had some good days and he had some bad days. He was talking about he needs to be more concensed days. I know, I know, I know, I know there's a lot of red flies. I do not blame anyone for turning their back on Xavier. Look at I'm gonna beat on him because I do think if what we saw in twenty twenty three, if he did level up, if he did figure it out, and and with his athleticism, if he works, his ceiling to me is enormously high, like wide receiver one high to me. So I think he could be a touchdown machine in the NFL. Yeah, I saw Steve Smith was talking about how he's like he's DK Metcalf and Steve Smith great wide receiver in his own right. But also I think he's a really good wide receiver scout as well. He's He's been right on a lot of these guys that people are down on. So I'm in what does he think of Jerry Judy. He's not a fan, He's just a guy.

I My last notes on him is just he's just not as explosive as the line as I want him to be. And he's lumbering and huffing and puffin sometimes just is a big dude to.

Carry around a lot of way.

I I just think that bully ball doesn't work in the NFL. It just doesn't work the same way. So the comps are not as kind either. Dante Moncrief was one of his uh four year player but without the forty times. I mean Dante monte creef ran a four to four big dude, had a couple of touchdown years.

But man, a fifth year breakout. I'll do some reason. Got you gotta bet against that. Don't listen to me. Let's let's I am going to bet on him. I'm gonna have a lot of him in.

My Dice drafts, but bet against me.

I'm betting on him. This is where I'm like, I already know I'm gonna be wrong, but the heart wants what the heart wants. I I appreciate you, Yes I will.

The next player is a player that I want things to work out in my heart, and yet it is slowly turning in a way where I go I just this usually is something you bet. Again, it's tes Walker from North Carolina. It's kind of hard to understand his current age because he started somewhere but then the season got canceled with COVID as well. Went to Kent State and then un C this past year, and because of that they ruled him a two time transfer. So his production looks smaller because he wasn't allowed to play the first four games. But production wise, I have no complaints about this past year. I do have some complaints about how he was used because it's a lot of deep stuff. Thirty five percent of his targets this past year from Drake May were twenty plus yards down the field. It's either a hitch route or a go route. Those were his two things he did.

Miami.

He did have a hat trick where he had three touchdowns against them, where it was working, the timing with Drake May, the deep shots they were working. But there's also a lot that goes okay. There's not a lot of separation here. There's not a lot of nuance. It's like okay, go and you know at sick two two hundred like that can work in college. I think that it's tough for me seeing a player that did this in college down the field and then go, Okay, what else can you do in the NFL?

So I really want him to work because he was a.

Fun college player, But I'm starting to see that like he's probably gonna slip to late day two in the draft.

So that's what do you think about your U and C boy?

Yeah, I wish I had like a strong different take on him.

I just don't.

I see a lot of Alec Pierce ish vibes in his game where it's like, Okay, it's a deep sideline shot, did you catch it or not? And if he catches it, great, But in the NFL, I'm not sure that's gonna work. Just not a lot of separation, not a lot of nuanced route running in his game that I saw, And you know you mentioned it was a smaller sample size because he didn't play the whole season, but he is gonna you know, when Drick may and here's his name called, it's either one, two or three most likely in the NFL draft, probably two or three. He played with that guy in college and Bill wasn't just dominating, right, so he had a quarterback advantage over a lot of other players and still just was like a deep ball hope for the best. So I'm lower than a lot of people on him. I get the excitement of kind of what it could be, but again just there's a lot of downside here. And like I said, I see a lot of Alec Pierce no separation type vibes, and we mentioned with Kean Coleman it's like, man, he doesn't really separate, but his ball skills and his athleticism are off the charts. With Kean Coleman, there's nothing close to that with tes Walker. So I just don't see it personally. Not a huge fan.

Yeah, I can see how it works out with tes Walker. There were games that he looked really really good, just you know, a ton of production and had the speed, had you know, everything you want to see, the foot speed. The problem is he plays like an X to me. You know, he's obviously an outside guy, but he plays like a classic X. But he's not strong enough. He It was weird because I feel like I never once saw him break a one on one tackle like when you was when there was a chance. You know, he gets a little you know, crosser across the field, gets the ball and it's like, Ooh, he's just got one guy to beat and he can go, oh, that guy just got him. He as he always almost beats the guy, but never does uh in the one on one situation. I think he's just he didn't. He's not as strong as he needs to be at six ' two, so that's something that maybe can change. You know, he comes in, puts on a little bit of weight. You know, that would be good, But the problem is he's already has a late breakout age at twenty one point two that this is a guy where I can see this is another boombust, one of those prospects that's like, I don't think it's either gonna work and if it works, it's gonna work really really well for fantasy and for the NFL. Or he's not going to be able to put the tools together against NFL defenders and he'll be a bust out of the league. I don't think he's gonna end up being one of those players that has, you know, an eight nine year NFL career of just being that wide receiver three for a team and a great you know teammate, you know those you know, Kendrick Bourne type of player. He's either going to succeed or fail, and I do see how it can't succeed. There was enough on the film to me that I that I really really liked he. I have so many notes and this is really inconsequential, but you want to talk about a guy that wasn't guarded. I don't know if they were afraid of speed or whatnot, but I feel like I could not find more than two plays. I wanted to see how he did off the line, like with press coverage, because I feel like he was a little weaker. Never saw it never. I mean maybe I just didn't watch enough film. Every one of his defenders was ten yards down the field to start, nine eight nine, ten yards every play for his life, so it was a little difficult to be confident in how he gets off the line. In the NFL, I think I'm fifty five forty five if I'm betting whether he's going to make it or not, and I'm on the not gonna make it side, And yes, I did say fifty five.

Kyle just wanted to make sure. Yeah, I mean it was hitch it was go routes, so they were just sitting back there the comps. I got if you look at a size, skill and whatever is draft capital is going to be. I have Michael Gallup as a comp who got a second contract in the NFL, is taking eighty first overall. But then I also have Quees Watkins, who's been just the dude for the Eagles. A couple more players here. We're going to go through a little faster. Jalen Polk of Washington. He's a red shirt sophomore and I use that in air quotes for those people because he had COVID. He had an injury year where he broke his collarbone. But you know, it was a really fun Washington team that you saw a lot of awesome productions and a production across the you know, a Doonsay Polk, McMillan and the highlights. If you just want to look at polk highlights really really fun. If you just want to look at that on YouTube, go for it. But man, there's some highs and there's some really really low lows. His stuff against zone is not good, and that's usually a player I just already fade from the get go. If you're bottom fifteen percent in zone yards per outrun, I mean, that's Jonathan Mingo kind of stuff. I usually just move on from there. But I get why he would work in the NFL against Michigan State. He has some awesome film usc. You can look at his production go oh, look at those touchdowns. They're all wide open too. So it's it's hard for me to look at this player and look at a college system and say this is going to translate. He's just someone I'm gonna be a lot lower on than consensus, and I think the NFL will probably give him third round draft capital, and that to me says like Okay, that's enough.

Yeah, Jalen Polk to me, was a really solid wide receiver that I see as an unspecial fantasy asset where if this is a guy I do think works in the NFL, I do think he's gonna stick around and have a place. He was a very productive player from from his entire life, from high school, productive in in college. He'll be kind of that bigger slot wide receiver in the NFL. I could see him. You know, it's one of those things where like if he hits, if it all comes together for him and you know he hits his ceiling, that's like you're getting Tyler Boyd. To me, or something like that, which is like Tyler Boyd has a place that's that's not bad.

That's I put Josh Reynolds as my as my comp.

So it's like there's a place for that. And and this is this is like the quintessential guy that I'm saying, like, I don't and if my NFL team drafts him, I don't think he's ever gonna be someone that's really dominating for fantasy purposes in my lineup. Uh So, you know, the chance that he is in the NFL in six years to me is much higher than Devon's Tez Walker. You know, six years from now, if I'm gonna bet one of them is in the NFL, Jalen Polp, but I'm gonna draft Ted Walker over Jalen Polp because if Tz hits, he's gonna be much more special for fantasy.

I think you guys laid it out perfectly. It's I don't know if Jason and if you and I just have this kind of mind melt right now, but you were talking and I was like, he's kind of like Tyler Boydy to me, where it's like, yeah, he's stuck around your dynasty roster for six or seven years, Blake, did he actually really help you alt me?

I'm so. I've had toymy boyd on my Dynasty roster pretty much his entire career, and I have used I have had, you know, eight really necessary games for my lineup, you know what I mean, Like you know where I played him. I put him in and he came through and it was good. It was all okay. Yeah, you know, it's like he's got a place. He's not irrelevant, but it's also not something that's winning me a championship.

Yeah, I think, and Kyle mentioned it too, like he does have some really fun acrobatic catches on tape. I also I think he has really good like late hands to kind of like get a little extra separation. But that's kind of where the excitement for me ends. Again, I don't really see anything special, Kyle. I would love for you to read the list of names your you have since twenty eighteen prospects with less than twenty three percent targets throughout run and bottom fifteen percent yards per out running his z own. These names were.

Terrified Jonathan Mingo, Van Jefferson, which is just hilarious that he was drafted in the second round, George Pickens, Jalen Rager, Josh Palmer, so guys that can be in the NFL. But you know, other than Pickens, no one really has a ceiling here. I think with Polk two, that whole team had a really good season on contested catches, like a Doonesday was off the charts on those in terms of what was it seventy five percent was his catch rate and then you know Polk's at fifty six per Those are just up and down stats that we don't really, you know, look at too much. So we'll see probably round three is where he ends up. But one more player I want to talk about. It's Malachi Corley out of Western Kentucky, and I snuck him in there because he's been getting some buzz kind of moving up charts. It's really hard to figure out who this guy is apart from screens because that's a lot of what he's doing. And you know, he's kind of been dubbed the Yack King. He has a chain. I watched about five interviews with Malachai Corley saying like this is my game. But I came to the Senior Bowl because I wanted to show people that I have a nuanced route tree, because if you watch Malachi Corley film from Western Kentucky, the dude didn't run routes. I mean, he just kind of turns around and kind of, you know, fades across the formation, but there's really not much there. But after the catch you can see it like he's rocked up. He's two ten, and I think that there's enough there for an NFL team that could work if he's in the right system as a thick slot wide receiver. But he just never ran the traditional routes. He's more of an athlete though, and he came into college listed as a cornerback and in interviews he was pissed because he was like, I never played cornerback. I don't know why teams thought I was that because I was a running back slash wide receiver. So you get some Antonio Gibson vibes from him. But the end of the day, like the right team could use him as somebody who after the catch as a slot wide receiver could work. But also there's so many of these guys that are just in the slot and I should share this list with Betts. But seventy five percent of the players that see their targets in the slot as a rookie. If they're there, they're pretty much Jamison Crowder, and he's a rocked up version of that. Like he's big, big dute, he's not a little slot wide receiver. But it's so hard to make a big impact, so Corley, I needed to mention him here. But he could be Lynn Bowden, just Lviiscus Chanal, just a guy that's a gadgety whatever player that doesn't really matter. That's that's the range of outcomes for him.

Yeah, I'm I'm happy you brought up some of those comps because you can't go anywhere, whether it's Twitter or any other podcast or YouTube or wherever you are, everyone's like I see Deebo Samuel, I'm.

Tired of it.

Okay, Deebo Samuel is one of one. But he could also be a Mari Rodgers right, like everyone is just like making the straight line comparison to Debo, which I get it from, like the size, tackle breaking ability, But they didn't ask him to run routes in college, so I just don't know if he can actually do it next level. I will say again, the NFL seems to really be into this guy. Getting a lot of like love on like top fifty lists for a lot of NFL Draft community members.

Yeah, I think he's on data like it is top fifty, isn't he?

Yes, Yeah, yeah, I think he's in the forty somewhere there. But yeah, I'm just not sure where I stand because, like you said, all of his production is yards after the catch, and it was all just quick stuff at the line of scrimmage and then let's get you the ball and go. And you mentioned the size, like he's built like a running back, and they kind of used him as an extension of the run game in that way. I will say he's got juice when he has the ball in his hands. He is fun to watch, but I'm just not sure if he can be an NFL wide receiver.

Yeah, that's I'm pretty out on my Malachi Corley. He's got juice, he's got athleticism. I mean, he's he is a running back. He was a running back and then they started using him his wide receiver. But like with a wink, it was like, well, we're just gonna throw to this running back, you know, still behind the line of scrimmage, and whether or not he has the time to really transition to develop route running. You know, I remember kind of somewhat similar Tyreek Hill in college was kind of that running back used behind the line of scrimmage. A lot people said it didn't have great routes, but he he actually was a decent route run I remember we had Harriman and reception perception, as you know, back in the day as part of the team here. And you know, he liked Tyreek. He said, you know, the routes, the routes were better to me. Malachi is too unpolished. And it's one of those where I saw the comp. PFF had a great comp and when I saw it, I can't use leviscous chanol. It's like, yeah, yeah, there's a really good athlete, a really good yards after the catch guy that's just this block of of muscle, but irrelevant, not a good enough wide receiver. And that's what we're drafting here. So irrelevant. Yeah.

And with with Twitter, Twitter world is all we love these players, and Shannett was one of those players coming into the draft. Was like, oh, this guy could be used a Swiss army knife. You know, I think that's what's gonna happen with Corley. Unfortunately, I'm rooting for him like I want him to be a thing. I love watching all his interviews and watching his his tape. But it's it's gonna be tough from there, all right. We talked about the main names. You can get all of them in the UdK plus Dynasty Pass, but I do want to.

Go even deeper.

Take it or leave it.

I mean, this is a.

Quick throw at the very end, but I mean people are here for the deep, deep dive, and you know we've got some names here that we're not gonna get into. Malik Washington from Virginia. Mike kind of likes him. Jermaine Burton, you can get all of these. Brendan Rice from USC j Rice's son. I needed to mention bubb Means because I like his name out of Pittsburgh.

But Jason, you.

Got Luke McCaffrey. That is a McCaffrey.

There you go, Jason.

I'm gonna let you start first with Ricky pearsall out of Florida, which I'm just gonna say, I can't see it.

No, I'm not a fan.

Oh wow, that's that's actually surprising to me because I don't see much I don't like on tape. Yeah, I mean, okay, he's a little older. His Florida tape from twenty twenty three was really, really good. He's got phenomenal hands, has one I think maybe the best catch of the year. Yes, you know, that was just unbelievable. But he's he's shorthanded in traffic. He can make contested catches. I see him with space, I see him get open. I see good route running there. I mean, there's not a lot I don't like about Ricky Piersoll. So I'm I'm in on him as someone that is a little bit down on some boards. You know, he's all over the place. He is really all over the place. Like you said, Kyle, you don't see it. You don't like him. He's not, like consensus a top prospect. But then there are some people out there that are like, this dude is a top prospect. So I'm on that side. I'm I'm in on Ricky pearsall.

Yep, he's a bigger slot wide receiver. Bets.

You got the anybitty baby boy of the slot wide receivers.

Oh man, this is one that like you got to put it out there and you say, okay, there are things in this profile that I'm intrigue, but I'm gonna take a step back and be realistic. I don't see a super high ceiling with Jacob Cowing. But when you look at just some of the stuff, we look for early breakout age. We look for guys that can earn targets, guys that have a good production profile.

He has it.

The red flags are he's twenty three years old. He played five years, three of those right UTEP and the last two years Arizona he transformed into just slot only and short targets. But like at UTAP, he was used on the field. So I don't really know this guy's game. I just know that the production profile is there. And when you watch him, like he just looks like he knows how to play football. He gets the soft spot in zone, he kind of knows where he's going. He'll also throw out a quick, little hot stack. Kyle loves the hot sets. There are two wide receivers in this class with a career targets throughout run above twenty eight percent, Marvin Harrison Jacob Cowing. The other thing, it's such a Jerry big story. The other thing about him I had to throw it in there is that and we can get really stuck doing this kind of stuff. But if you look at his kind of career production as far as yeah yards are with the catch yards for outrun that kind of stuff, it's like creepy how close it is to Tank Dell. And I'm not saying he's tanked Dell because they win first. He is guaranteed to be tan tanked Dell. One hundred percent hit rate coming for Jacob Cowing. I just like this his game. I think he's an interesting guy. And we were kind of talking Kyle too about like I mentioned, I was like, what if he turns into like a Josh Downes kind of guy, and you were like, dude, Josh downs we don't like him. It's like, well, yeah, but if you get him in like the fourth round of your rookie draft league, yeah, you want Josh downs for that price, right. So that's what I'm saying about jac Cowing. I think he can play in the NFL. I think he's probably gonna go early day three, somewhere in like round four. So hit rate is not great, but there's some stuff out.

The same height, same weight, same breakout age, same basically everything as Josh downs He's Josh Downs, and that's not a terrible thing, but it's funny on this show. Last year, I was like, I kind of like Josh Downs, and Jason's like, I don't like Josh Downs.

Season I was out on Josh, didn't like him, wanted to bet against his weight primarily, and then in the season he he got me back. He got me back, not by being great, certainly not. I mean, he was actually not that good this season at all.

He had a run, right, Oh.

Yes he did, Oh yes he did. He had a four week stretch where he was very good and I was like, oh, I'm eating my crow. And then I signed him, and then I had him, and then I didn't make a trade for Michael Pitman because I had Downs on my team and it looked like he was gonna be, you know, a one B and then he disappeared. The rest of the season. Did absolutely Jack squat, but he had a four game stretch where he was on pace for thirteen hundred yards and eight and a half touchdowns, and then I decide not to trade for him. And then the rest of the season, which was the majority of the season, in nine games, he was on pace for five hundred and sixty two total yards if it was a full season. Yeah, his zero touchdowns.

I remember for dfs, not better bets. He was always like, ah, Josh downs. He might get some targets. You know. He had a good little run there for a little bit, and no, he was nothing. I'll give one more player just at the very intakeular leave it. Javon Baker out of UCF originally went to Alabama, transferred out. He's one of five wide receivers in this class to have above three yards per out run against man and zone. Melik Neighbors, Marvin Harrison Junior, Troy Franklin, Malik Washington who I mentioned in Javon Baker. I think there's some interesting stuff there, but just know the name he might get. You know, day three draft capital could be nothing, but definitely some intriguing stuff in his profile.

And do not forget everyone out there about the Ultimate Draft Kit and by March first, if you want to get in on the Listener League, make sure you pick it up by March first and you will be automatically entered. If you already got it earlier in the offseason when we launched it on the Super Bowl, you're already entered into it. But all of our draft rankings, all the production profiles, the use of metrics, everything we talk about on this show, it's all easy to see at a glance. Our rankings are there blurbs on these guys. The dynasty pass is awesome. Go to udikplus dot com.

Boys, that's gonna do it. Eighty minutes of dynasty talk and wide receivers. Next week, we'll be doing a mock draft two rounds right after the combine, so we'll see you again next week. Goodbye.

Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. If you want to take your dynasty skills to the next level, check out the Fantasyfootballers dot Com

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