We're gonna turn our attention to the world of the National Football League. We
have not spoken with our good friend from Fantasypoints dot Com in a while,
and it's great to get him on the air on short notice. It's our
good buddy, the owner and managing editor of that great outlet, Travelers Rest
Own, Joe Dolan. What's up, man, Hey guys, nothing much,
It's it's good to talk to you. Finally, I gotta be honest.
I am I. I am not in Travelers Rest. I'm just south
of Travelers Rest, but closer to Travelers Rest than I am to downtown Greenville.
But just let's just sue a little choir Chorekaton Mayor Slater Marriott. We're
gonna track you down here. We're not gonna doct you, don't worry,
but we are going to get you in studio and football seat. We've talked
about that. I'm gonna follow make that happen because Joe is one of the
best in the business. You can follow him at Fantasypoints dot Com, where
he operates one of the great UH sports sites on the planet. Got a
great team out there, and Joe, it's great to hear from you.
Man, let's talk first of all, just about the story that is getting
probably too much traction this week, but the larger picture with the New York
Jets. Obviously, Aaron Rodgers is not participating, as roberts Heller said,
not unexcused. It's an excuse, inexcuse, subject to fines. Who knows
where Aaron is on that? Do you have anything on that? Do you
want to share? But the bigger picture being your Jets outlook for this season,
Joe go, it gives me a little bit more pause about and I'll
filter this through the lens of fantasy. It gives me a tiny bit more
pause about investing in the team. There are a lot of players that I
really really like and want to and want to invest in for fantasy, most
of which are Brief Hall and Garrett Wilson, both of whom are going in
the first kind of fantasy draft. Now brief Hall is dealing with a minor
injury. Not exactly sure what the deal is there, But look at the
way those guys produce without Aaron Rodgers last year. But I mean look,
Aaron Rodgers' entire persona right now is raising the middle finger at people. That's
literally what he wants to do usually usually in the darkness. I feel like
he wants to do that in every walk of life, you know, like,
oh, you don't like me for this opinion, Well there's your middle
finger. And but I also think that football is part of that too,
right. He didn't get the he didn't get the opportunity to flip the middle
finger at people on the football field last year, So I have to think
he's still motivated in that regard. But but they said they they said that
he had planned this trip. I don't know where he is. Chase Daniel,
the former NFL quarterback, was on Twitter today saying, Man, if
you knew where Aaron was, like your mind would be blown. Did he
say that Joe did? Did Chase Daniel tweet that, Oh my god,
yeah, like something just something like that. Just I don't know, man,
I'm kind of tired. I'm kind of tired of it. Aaron Rodgers
is cheap for fantasy. Uh, he I'm sure, I do. I
think this is much ado about nothing. But I think Aaron Rodgers is at
this point, like when he's not on the football field, he's just a
professional troll. He just wants to control people. He just wants to make
people mad. He wants to be the center of attention, and that's what
he's doing right now. And the Jets, also, by the way,
have the Hassan Reddick situation, so nothing is ever boring when it comes to
the New York Jets. I was going to say, Robert Sala's bald head
is going to start turning gray. He doesn't have any hair, but I
think the baldness is just that the scalp is going to turn gray. There's
times for Bob and I like Sala a lot, but his messaging it was
weird how they messaged this whole thing organizationally, the fact that, oh,
by the way, Hassan Reddick, as you know, is an excuse today
and Aaron's not going to be here this week. He had an event that
was very important to him. You would think there was a way to be
able to get that out to idiots like me and Trey and all of us
who want to speculate in a more reasonable manner. But it's fine, do
what you want. The Jets are a very talented group, Joe, as
you know, And I don't know what to make of Aaron Rodgers other than
he's probably doing a podcast with Rogan or he's probably doing vice presidential prep with
RFK. Who the hell knows, man, it's crazy. And look,
the thing is with the Justin we saw that team win games last year with
Zach Wilson at quarterback. You know, we saw them win games. Trevor
Stitty, you know, just guys who just who aren't competitive NFL players,
And we saw them win games because of their defense and because of their talent.
If you get seventy percent of Aaron Rodgers, that team's going to win
football games. It's because the talent is there. It's just that it feels
like they're one of those teams where if like the dominoes are just waiting to
fall with them. It is such a fragile organization right now. I'll tell
you another operation that feels a little bit like that for different reasons. Joe
Dolan is our guest here from Fantasy Points dot Com that of the Cowboys,
and I don't want to fall into this trap of thinking this is going to
be a bad year for them just because they did not invest in free agency.
I think they had a pretty good draft, at least by what their
measures were there. You can't a draft right after it happens. I've always
said that, but look, they've got some decisions to make McCarthy contract year.
You know what that usually means with a Jerry Jones operation. DAK is
going to cost about fifty billion dollars against their cap next year. They've got
a lot of things to do, they got people to pay. And this
feels like, and we talked with our good friends from PFF last week about
this, it feels like the type of situation this year were not do or
die, but man, if they can't start breaking through and get into a
championship game at least, which they haven't done since ninety four ninety five,
what the hell? Man? What do you make of Dallas from the fantasy
implications this year and the long term implications of what you think they might do
with the mess they're in right now. Well, there's a couple of things.
Number One, I talked to my good friend Marcus Boscher. I've been
doing a podcast There is John by the way, I'll be inviting you on
when we talk pay but I've been doing a podcast that he's breaking down every
team, and I talked to him about Seedee Lamb first and foremost, the
level of concern Ceedee Lamb getting a contract done virtually zero for me that they're
going to sign Ceedee Lamb. It's going to come in underneath Justin Jefferson,
but probably not by a ton. Justin Jefferson's a one of one, and
I don't think Ceedee Lamb is illusional enough to think that he should get paid
as much as Justin Jefferson. But it'll be close. It'll be close,
and Dallas is not going to let Seedee Lamb go. But Marcus was with
the opinion, and I'm starting to feel this way too, that the most
likely scenario is this is Dak Prescott's last year in Dallas, and or at
the very least, Dak Prescott is going to hit free agency now if the
Cowboys advanced to the Championship game for the first time since Tupac Shakor was on
the cover of the New York Times magazine, which by the way, is
one hundred percent true. Yes, it is the very day the Cowboys were
last played in the NFC Championship Game. The New York Times magazine to cover
was Tupac Shakor, Snoop Dogg and Sugar Night. Yes, that was eleven
years prior to us holding an iPhone in our hand too just to use yes
the season. So but if that's the first time that that happens, then
maybe the Cowboys start to talk themselves into it. But I almost wonder if
Jerry is starting to wonder himself if Dak prepped up the right kind to take
this over the finish line. Yeah, if he, If he is,
well, you sure can't help him this offseason. You're one hundred percent right
now. Like the way you put this, don't talk yourself into this being
a bad Cowboys season simply because they didn't invest in free agency, because they
have talent. The thing is, though, that the mist is undeniable,
and even though the most ardent Cowboys fans would agree with this, they would
have to This is one of the least improved contenders in the NFL, if
not thely improved contender, because you can't you can't argue with that. Where
are the improvements? You lost good offensive line in tyrants and time. I
know he's been injured, but you lost them. You're you're a number two
receiver behind Cdee Lamb a year older Brandon Cooks. They don't they're running back
is the guy they cast off last year, the Elliott. So like this
is they don't have to step on Gilmore currently on the roster. So really
like, I'm not really sure what their plan is, but I do know
this from a fantasy perspective. First and foremost, Rico Daddle interesting pick,
but I still think the Conboys are going to pick up a running back number
two. I can tell you one of my most drafted players is they're tight
end Jake Ferguson. The question that the easy question asked myself is besides Ceede
Lamb, who's catching passes on this team? Dat Prescott wants the tight end
Jake Ferguson's back time. But also I asked Marcus most of this question,
what are the chances of Ceedee Lamb breaks the NFL recepting record? It's well
within the range of outcomes. The Cowboys led the NFL and passed at test
last year. Again, they made no significant improvements to the receiving core.
Ceedee Lamb is in his prime. I mean, this is a guy who
bought over a hundred pack last year. Look, you don't bet on people
to break records unless you're getting the long odds, because well, that's why
they're records, right, you remember them forever, but you have an extra
game now compared to the one hundred and forty nine catch record. Like I
feel like, if the time is right, the time is now right.
I mean Michael Thomas, by the way, set the record a couple of
years ago in the sixteen game season. So at the same pace, Ceedee
Lamb breaks the record by like nine catches. So look, I'm not gonna
make that wager, but this is the first time I can ever remember coming
into a season and thinking, man, this player could break the single season
record of this like that. That's how that's how ripe this opportunity is.
Yeah, thanks for throwing that terrible talent me, and we're gonna pivot over.
Joe. We've got a terrible tale draped over one of our Panthers portraits
in the studio. Frey Falco, here is a Steelers fan, and I've
thrown the terrible towel at him, and I'm gonna let him take over here
with some Pittsburgh Steelers question. Take it away. I've got some fantasy questions
because we don't talk a whole lot of fantasy football on here. It is
not your Daddy's Pittsburgh anymore, things are changing, things are removing. We
got can't you pick it out of there? There's a more Matt Candell ride
all right, barring any weird crazy off the wall trades like a Brandon Ayuk
or something. How do you feel about George picking this year? Is he
gonna eat George George Pickens? I have is like wide receiver twenty five,
twenty six, like in that range as a high end wide receiver three for
Fantasy's low wide wide receiver two. And the question I have is is twofold
number one. It's Arthur Smith in general, and I think he's probably gotten
a little bit of humble pie after last year. People just consistently ragging on
him for not utilizing but the absolute wealth of talent that he has to start
playing. In fact, he tried to fight Dennis Allin at the end of
the year. Wasn't But there's no But also when it comes to to Arthur
Smith, first foremost we in the fantasy community think he should have run the
ball a little bit more with Jonn Robinson than he did. He gave Tyler
Algier a bunch of carried but you know you said it's not your daddy Steelers.
I might push back again a little bit because I think the Steelers are
going to run the hell out of the football this year. Look, that's
right, Who's their quarterback going to be? Either Russell Wilson, who hasn't
had a good season with his arm in over two years, or Justin Fields,
who's never had a good season with his arm. So that's that's why
he's a kickoff returner number one. Now it's the fields plan. They have
two really good running backs. I love the way Naji Harris finished last year.
I thought he ran angry, especially after they got rid of Matt Canada.
Jalen Warren is that is has great burst. I let both of those
guys for Fantasy now pickings you like because Pittsburgh like their number two receiver right
now might be Roman Wilson in the rookie of Michigan. So but I just
think this is going to be a runhead eighteen, whether it's Russell Wilson or
Justin Fields a quarterback and Arthur Smith, my problem with him is his player
utilization. I don't have a problem with his play design, and I think
his play design is going to be a breath of fresh air for Steelers fans.
Now do you think this could be, like I guess in Naji Harris
terms a record season for him. You see nause you really cooking, see
a lot more of those angry runs, and of course we're going to see
a lot. I think they're still going to do that duo with Jaylen Warren
Naji Harrison kind of flipping back between the both of them. But what do
you how do you feel about Naji Harris going on CRA's asking you can we
pass it as least amount of times as possible, Russ or justin? Please?
So here's the deal for Dodgy seventy four receptions of the rookie forty one
in his second year, all the way down to twenty nine last year,
and the reason for that that trend is obviously the involvement of Jalen Warren,
who right, it's just the more explosive receiver Naji. If I had to
say, I would say, I think I would think his opportunities to two
hundred and fifty carries in the thirty eight targets, it's going to remain consistent,
And I just think that's only because there's one ball to go around.
But I think both both Naji Harris and Jalen Warren are being drafted inside the
top thirty running backs right now. They're being drafted very close to each other,
as a matter of fact, with Naji Harris going ever so slightly ahead
of Dalen Warren. I'm looking at underdog fantasy right now. Naji Harris's average
draft position is RB twenty two. Jalen Warren's average draft position. Oh and
oh god, let me tell you fantasy players love Jalen Warren. He'd RB
twenty five right now. I actually kind of like them both at eighty P.
I think they both can can pay off at that just based on how
I expect Arthur's fifth playoffs, I think it could be a redo of the
O nine Panthers, where you have two backs with a thousand yards. That's
how desperately Arthur wants to run the ball and might have to run the ball.
But we'll see Mike Tomlin gets the extension. There's your Steelers talk for
the day as we pivot to the homeown Panthers, Joe Dolan joining us here.
Yeah, look, we've cartoon in lampoon this team enough. Let's just
get to the bear facts. It has not been pretty. They have turned
over coach after coach. A lot of that starts at the top, as
we know. But in this position now, for Dave Canalis, his number
one job is to get the most out of this quarterback. But I scoff
at that too, because I hear people telling me that's the most important thing
is make sure Bryce hung is a legitimate first overall pick. It's the chicken
or the egg. It really is about the surroundings environment. And when I
covered this team last year, the separation wasn't there. They had Deontay Johnson.
They obviously go out and they map up the backfield with Jonathan Brooks,
Jatavian Sanders in the draft, leget in the draft. Is there any hope
for this team to show a little progress on offense this year with their coach
combo with the quarterback and more broadly here what defines success for this team this
year? Oh? Look, I know, I know. Mayfield not a
taller quarterback. Okay, Bryce Young make Baker Mayfield look like a professional wrestler.
But Mayfield is not a taller quarterback. And Dave Canal has just coached
a career reviving here Baker Mayfield about one hundred million dollars contract, and he
has Dave Canalis really to thank for that. Here is one of the things
that I like that the Panthers did this offseason because when I view Bryce Young,
I view the biggest concern for Bryce Young being the inability to really see
and process things when he's in the pocket, especially a collapse in pocket.
So I really like that the Panthers invested in the interior of the offensive line.
I think that's where they really can get the games. Obviously, they
went out and they get Robert Hunt on the big contract. They go out
and they signed Damian Lewis. I thought that was really important for the Panthers.
But I think the analog that Panther fans probably want to look at is
not that Frank Grekson but obviously a good and decent man. But on the
field, the comparison you're probably looking for is year two for Trevor Lawrence.
Right, Yeah, that comes to mind. Absolute disaster that was the Urban
Meyer tenure in Jacksonville. And I know Bryce wasn't probably as regarded as well
regarded as Trevor Lawrence, But that's the analog that you're looking for Deontay Johnson.
I think is a good player. He has some injury hit issues.
Adam Feelin's still there. Now here's the thing, and you guys well know
this Adam Feeling. I can't imagine what poor Bryight Young's confidence would have been
like. If Adam Feeln wasn't with the Panthers, life have been a nightmare.
I was there, I saw twenty three. Adam Feeling cannot be your
best player, John, And he taught. He taught every bit of those
thousand yards last year, like every inch he had heard, because as you
well know, you don't separate that well on the flip side of thirty three
thirty four, And you're exactly right, Joe, before we run out of
time here, Joe Dolan is our guests here from Fantasy Points, and I
don't want to lose you again on the phone because the connection is kind of
walking us up in Pinehurst. You've played this track, who's gonna win it?
Who's gonna win it? This week? And what what are they facing?
What are they facing on this course? Uh the like? For instance,
I'm not a good golfer. I consider breaking one hundred of good play
for me it's fine. I played well, like for my standard that Hurst
two and I shot one fourteen fine, and I walked off thinking, man,
I played pretty good, and it's the green complexes that are better challenging,
brutal. Yeah, but look, I'm not betting agains. Scotty Scheffer.
I think the course sets up for him perfectly. Scotty Scheffer, it
is well. Last time I picked scottiy Scheffer when a major, he was
in handcuffs the morning of, so I've out of respect to his family,
I'm going uh with another pick this week. I'm picking Tiger because I'm insane
and I don't gamble, so what the hell. Hey, it's a flat
track, Hey Joe, screw you, Joe, It's a flat course.
If he's gonna come out of hibernation, no better time than this week.
I know it's a terrible pet. I would love if Tiger won, love
like his twenty nineteen Masters is like my favorite sporting event a time. Well.
I would love if he trade pick more Kawa. I like that pick.
I like more Kala in this one. There is going to be a
fascinating season coming up here in the NFL. We're going to follow your work
continue to do that at fantasy points dot com quickly, Joe, promote what's
coming up this summer and into the fall months with your operation there. Yeah.
So we are making a big multimedia push, but our website is still
the heart of our business. If you want to learn how to win at
fantasy football, you can subscribe to our website. You can subscribe to our
YouTube channel, Fantasy Points, and also Fantasy Points Data, our proprietary charted
data. We have a data charting staff. We're going to continue to revolutionize
the data world with some of the most easy to use tools and I really
recommend you check those out. Joe, you've been great man. Our phone
connection is terrible. I think it's an r end, but we got every
bit of that and we'll get you back on here. Uh maybe into the
camp season. Talk a little more Panthers with you. But thanks for everything
you do, Bud One love sim sorry, take any you guys.