welcome back to the NPR fantasy football podcast
I'm your host. physicaly medical anal fantasy points.com I've been really bad at this whole
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injury prone pod gmail.com if you want in on that League it's superflex League probably make it a
free League just for fun because we're degenerates um or throw a couple dollars down we'll decide
once it's filled lastly but most importantly we have triple D Dalton Dell Dawn here he is of
course with Yahoo sports um my arch nemesis one of my arch nemesis nemeses in our superflex
D at the injury prone Invitational going on the fourth year now I believe um he is hold on I
lost your Twitter Dalton he is oh just Dalton Del Dawn perfect I'm sure that was available when you
looked at it Dalton Del Dawn on Twitter Dalton how are you doing my friend doing well Edwin thanks
for having me also thanks for running this league I enjoy it uh with all the industry folks it's
been a fun draft uh I'm in a home League that's the same exact setup with the superflex with some
high school buddies uh whatever it's been too many years 25 years now in counting um and it's it's
the same exact setup and it's a slow draft and we're like in the same round so you'll forgive me
if I get confused who I'm drafting here because it's uh literally almost that's okay I have it
pulled up here all right let let's talk this it's a fun you say times I was just goingon
to say that um I have implemented different strategies I went Bree Hall early there and I
went uh Richardson quarterback and ours I know we're going to talk about that but man uh trying
to come up with a strategy in superflex is super interesting and it's so dependent on your league
mates like knowing when they're going to draft quarterbacks and whatnot but uh that's exciting
to talk strategy about that yeah no definitely the the strategy is is tough um so really when
it comes to I talked to with uh Rich rebar about this earlier this week too uh just looking back
at the draft from last year it's so funny to see how we drafted what it looked like and how it
ended right for example my first three picks were um well two of my first three I know were were
Garrett Wilson and Tony perul so obviously that did not work out very well for me at all that was
the worst year the worst season I I I've had right um but of course things always work themselves out
there's always waiver wire Darlings superflex like you said keeps it interesting last season we had
the most quarterbacks go down for longer than six games uh since I started you know tracking this
stuff uh so you know the the superflex aspect really makes it interesting now you drafted in
our league and we'll jump right into it out of the three spot and and you said you know you said you
took right off the bat Anthony Richardson I really like that we're going to get to the flaming hot
takes but I want to talk sort of big picture strategy for superflex because man I've been like
we said I've been doing this for four years now with you guys and it it's just a murderous row
it's you it's Matt Harmon it's grah Barfield it's Rich rebar it's JJ zachar I mean there's no value
to be had in these drafts at times when something feels like a reach to me I just I'm just doing
it because I know that I need to either gain some Advantage gain some ground gain some leverage and
you know classified as a reach whatever the case may be and I still don't I I never walk away from
these drafts looking at my team and being totally in love with it and it's just because the these
drafters are just so sharp so out of the three slot you went Anthony Richardson what was your
goal or your intention going into this draft so on one hand in a superflex I want to come away
with the one of the top five or six running backs who run obviously Richardson I love Murray more
than than most this year um but on the other hand it's so deep you you definitely can wait this year
quarterback has never ever been deeper I mean Gino Smith is one-ear remov from leading the NFC and
passing touchdowns and Lord rebs got him in round eight and then followed him up with Bryce young in
round nine I think that's that's the way to go is get Lamar Jackson running quarterback and then if
you can wait eight and nine and get even a third one like that in my home League Gino went in round
six it's like I said very different because you just have to know when your other league league
mates are going to draft those guys like to be [ __ ] and draft three and four quarterbacks and
you know just disord them so I I I love Richardson we'll talk about that I could have easily gone
Bree Hall there in in ra third overall I love him um but I think the mistake I made here is then
coming back with pie in round three I love pie but with no Trent Williams and and Brandon auk I'm
already regretting that pick I think the drop off with real upside QBs the tier is your guy Caleb
Williams I I like getting Josh Allen and Caleb and then after Caleb on the board after I took pry
shortly there after Tua went Lawrence and cousins I don't see a big difference between Gino Smith
Aaron Rogers five rounds later so I think those are the guys that really came away from draft
looking like the winners the guys that got the running quarterback early and then just waited
and then got another guy who to me is the same like goo Smith the same tier as Kurt Cousins for
me yeah and those guys that's pretty flat right and like the other thing is when do you start you
know shifting away from those wide receivers uh when because it is a three wide receiver league
right so you went Marvin Harrison Jr here and then you got lucky enough to where I should have
done this right so again this is me basically this this whole podcast just me let allowing me
to vent about this draft here Dalton so I went Devonte Smith I don't hate it but then two picks
later you went Rashi rice right he's your second wide receiver here I really like that for you
were are you expecting him to be there at that point I'm super thin at wide receiver admittedly
but you're going to be weak somewhere in a super flex but full PPR I don't I don't love it but I
do love getting rice where I did I bumped him up to my wide receiver 20 it's sorry I moved him up
uh to my wide receiver 18 right now it just looks like he's not going to be suspended he was so good
over the second half last last year Hollywood's already injured Kelsey's starring in TV shows and
his you know his age um I do like worthy I would grab him as well but yeah rice there really helped
me for someone who waited on receiver because it it's thin and I didn't get these running backs
kept falling it looked like a boomer in this draft compared to the other guys but I just love
the the price of of Henry and Kenneth Walker and James Cook but um old man Hopkins we'll talk
about can he can he stay healthy I mean I think he can out Target Ridley this year so I thought
in in PPR he was a a boring safer pick later and I definitely considered who you got right after
Watson and Reed they went immediately after so um definitely that was a debate for me usually I'm
after the younger guys with upside but in this case I kind of like safety although it's weird to
say the guy Hopkins is age but in PPR I think the targets would be there yeah you're not known for
to be the safety guy man what's what's going on here you know you're known to be the shoot for the
you know swing for the fences upside guy and here you are drafting you know guys like Derk Henry
drafting guys like um like you mentioned obviously DeAndre Hopkins so I think the Hopkins thing in
particular I think he's going to be fine I don't know what we we're going like you know what we're
going to get at a 32y old wide receiver will L us under Center I think there is some a little
bit of potential there especially where you're getting him in drafts and he does tend to have
this reputation of just not wanting to practice to be 100% there's a little bit of that I can't
prove it I'm I'm not reporting but it just seems like this is one of those situations where um you
know it was an injury but who knows how much how severe it actually was and how long a 32-year
old dude wanted to be in Camp which I don't I don't necessarily blame him so um I think that H
Hopkins could be fine now you waited you know a while to get David and joku and you actually got
I think you got a pretty good decent deal on him in the eighth round is has this been you know do
you count David and joku as one of your top tier guys like are you looking at these these tight
ends in general as top a top six tier a top eight tier how are you separating and delineating yeah
okay we'll talk tight ends I I have Trey McBride as my tight end one so I've been ending up with a
lot of him because obviously leaport and Kelce go ahead of him in most drafts George KD has been a
big Target of mine even full PPR leagues cancade goes like multiple rounds ahead of KD and I get
the upside but man especially with increasingly uh likely chance of maybe no iuk love KD and then
en joku is my next Target um I I think there's about 10 11 if you want to count Bowers and then
maybe 12 GD but there's a gigantic drop off there just massive Tamm Hills my tight end three but
obviously you can wait there HBY Parkinson's my ugly guy like late giving him away here but um
you can get him at the end of drafts and he's just the starting tight end on the Rams and I mean
Higg put up numbers there and and uh Parkinson actually okay in Seattle and they paid him he's
going to be the starter there but en joku has actually been my main target in in most of these
uh most of my leagues don't love the fact in ours that Ferguson um went multiple rounds later same
with Bowers but you look at the numbers he put up last year um even it wasn't just flacko I know
there's splits with Watson and Watson's the guy there but man this is a really good pedigree top
talent and just really impressed if you look at the tape and he put up big numbers with PJ Walker
and DTR throwing to him so I think he can still I'm I'm kind of disregarding those splits with
with Watson and even if Watson goes down then DTR whatever feeds him on those underneath routes
he he'll suffer far less than Amari Cooper will if and when Watson you know misses more games this
year so love and joku he's actually my number one target at the tight end position this year
I have him ahead of and no one would think that and no one will treat him that way after watching
this last preseason game when Ingram caught the touchdowns well guess what he Ingram had Mass
one talk splits look at Ingram splits with uh Christian Kirk on and off the field last year and
Kirk didn't play in that preseason game so I I like inu's upside actually more than Ingram that's
interesting right like I mean obviously David and joku Hyper athletic still super young I'm pretty
sure he's still what 25 24 something like that um he he's a younger guy right he came into the
league when he was super super young um I remember him being shoot dude he was in the league 19 2019
or something like that and so those late those late you know career I guess mid-career breakouts
by by tight ends are definitely something that um you can look especially if you're looking to punt
I'm a coward Dalton I just went Dalton concade uh and I I just stacked him with Josh Allen so I I
I kind of regreted the pick immediately after I mean it was okay right like I'm okay I just
tight end is still never fun for me so what what are you doing in terms of uh Titan strategy
are you still targeting David joku in non- super Flex leagues um yes that has absolutely been my
guy and if you're if even if I'm in the front um and he goes say mid nth in in a lot of NFC leagues
I'll jump them early eth because I just I there's a huge drop off if you miss out in the Bowers uh
top top 11-ish and um It's Tricky you come away weekly you want to build your your wide receivers
early I want one of these athletic quarterbacks you want one of these top tier tight ends I mean
it is tricky but that's what I've been settling is I've been kind of passing on uh going with running
quarterback over McBride and going after in joku in round eight- n and sometimes some leagues he's
falling further I mean he didn't light it up in the preseason and and and it doesn't feel like
he's a guy most fantasy managers are after right I I just think that um yeah I I know we say this
every year but it seems like tight end is a little deeper this year maybe it's just a little top
heavier than usual but I did I definitely wanted to get your thoughts on superflex strategy tight
end strategy so I'm glad we got stuck a little bit of that but now this is what everybody
wants you for dton this is what everybody you're known for your um for your slugging
percentage what do you want to call it right you're you're known for hitting these uh picks
out of the park and and I really am you know you sort of you and Scott Barrett give same ethos of
like you know we want Power law players you know we don't want these just these average ADP beaters
so you have been on board with some pretty Heavy Hitters this year again as expected League winners
and you know one of the things that I think about when I'm drafting right is like is this guy going
to bury me if I don't take some of him if I don't draft some Nico Collins right if I don't draft
some Bree Hall if I don't draft some of those guys that are those power law players like am
I just going to be buried so to me I think that definition is variable amongst a lot of different
people but you're one of the best at actually choosing those guys committing to it and ranking
them that way going for it and obviously you went Anthony Richardson here in the super Flex draft
you know the third overall pick which I have no problem doing I thought I toyed with the idea um
but again I am a coward I toyed with the idea of taking him one overall just to shake the league up
but didn't do it let I let him fall to you so who are your let's go you know we can do three or four
or five how many guys that you think that if if fantasy drafters if listeners don't take at least
some of these guys in some of their drafts they will probably not win their league who are these
guys all right I've strongly considered Breece Hall there even in a superflex I've taken him
number one overall in some high stakes leagues um not superflex but he's the number one player on my
board um entering the year um CD lamb was pretty close in PPR but I moved him ahead of my guy CMC
Anthony Richardson uh so the first three guys I'm going to talk about with you Edwin are are um are
or injury-prone guys so it's feel fittingly I I'm in on these guys that are definitely inter with
heightened risk um although it's got to be noted should be noted that every player in the NFL
enters with significant injury risk what is the project every running back's what is the average
amount of games played like 13.6 or something like that so I do want people to kind of realize
that when when a addressing this um Anthony Richardson yeah he was I'm happy to take him
number three overall here would have considered him number one overall Ironically in superflex
he's he's loses a little value in the sense that there's there's less replacement value so if he
goes down I'm not be able to replace him with a quarterback on the wire where I am easily in any
other one quarterback League that's why I'm like go draft him in the sixth round for sure because
his fantasy upside is equivalent if not higher than Josh Allen losing Diggs and uh Herz with all
kinds of question marks there too um and I think it's a bit of a paradox with Anthony Richardson
will be a better passer in the future two to three years from now but he will not run like he will
this year so we're just getting the fantasy Apex this year behind a top five offensive line a top
three play caller um what if ad Mitchell's really good too to go along with Pitman and Josh Downs
I mean har Harmon loves Downs I mean these could be three legit wide receivers I mean Jonathan
Taylor maybe he takes some touchdowns but it's good that he's really good I think the offense is
going to be good they were top five in plays per game last year with Richardson under CER the most
fantasy points per drop back since Lamar Jackson's historic season so I'm all in on Richardson I get
it he's super raw you can't extrapolate the small sample last year and the injuries what can I say
I mean it was concussion and the shoulder and he needs to protect himself better but I love the
fact he's not going to change his playing style he was on Pace for 26 rushing touchdowns last year
he matched CJ strads top five F weekly fantasy finishes last year and he played 11 quarters yeah
I mean the dude is is going to run the ball I mean they're going to give him the ball uh you know the
RPO obviously they're going to spam the rpos which is going to expand running lanes for Jonathan
Taylor which will then obviously reciprocate back to Anthony Richardson I I think that that offense
is going to be fantasy friendly um you mentioned at the top right the difference between what uh or
I guess how every position or every player comes into the NFL right they're they're all at risk to
some degree and this is actually an the injured prone draft guide this is since 2013 and this
is by ADP right so this is by ADP since 2013 top running backs vers top 12 running backs versus top
12 wide receivers by ADP running backs on average they miss three games per season wide receivers on
average they miss 2.2 games per season right the median for both running backs and wide receivers
have missed games is one the only difference or the biggest difference would be running backs tend
to miss seven plus more games seven plus games more often than wide receivers but the margins
are so so thin and and I remember last year this was really accentuated and like every every player
not just running backs are at risk for injury wide receivers Miss Miss time just almost just as often
as running backs do right Justin Jefferson we saw that last year Jamar Chase was banged up Debo
samels B banged up right these wide receivers Miss time too so you're not necessarily any safer
going the wide receiver route than you are going the running back route um and in terms of Anthony
Richardson specifically yes the data shows there's no real correlation between running quarterbacks
uh and uh injuries but there actually tends to be a bit of a negative negative correlation which
makes sense right because you are um you you're able to evade pressure able to evade contact
but that's the big thing right Lamar Jackson's a master of getting down right Lamar Jackson's
a master of sliding before somebody gets to him and Anthony Richardson does need a little bit of
that in his game I think for me to feel better about it but in terms of him avoiding big hits
I think that he's going to be able to do that um and I I'm not necessarily more concerned uh
from an injury perspective for him this season who's your next guy here D love to hear that
about Richardson he's really good at avoiding sacks pressure to sack ratio too so hopefully
that helps as well okay we'll go running back injury-prone guy Devon Anan just pushing the chips
all in here average the fourth most fantasy points last season despite playing Five snaps or fewer
in two games he never eclipsed 18 carries or 38 snaps healthy full season pace of 1500 yards and
17 touchdowns despite sharing the back field with the running back who led the NFL in touchdowns uh
jir Gibbs averaged 1.1 fewer opportunities with David Montgomery on the field so I just feel like
we're getting Gibbs a round and a half later I'll draft Anan in the middle of round two in in full
PPR leagues because I like him more than Barkley and and Karan Williams so if my build's a wide
receiver first and I want one of these five or six running backs you know that I trust I'll
take aan as early as round round two I get it he's small and maybe we're it's wish casting
for 250 touches even but man this backfield in Miami scored 50 plus more fantasy points than
any backfield had in years last year it's McDaniel I mean it's such a good system such a good player
give me all the hn I actually think this is a good conversation I'd be curious to get your thoughts
you mentioned um Anan right and obviously moster got all the touchdowns last year so in terms of
and Rich rebar is actually who brought this up in terms of touchdown over rushing touchdowns
overexp expected Miami was up there like by a large margin and on one hand you can argue well
of course they're going to regress in the rushing touchdown department overall which would of course
lower the ceiling of everybody in that backfield on the other hand you know when you have Kyle
Shanahan's Run game coordinator as the head coach of a football team how much more regression are
you really worried about in the rushing touchdown Department yeah and I wanted to to give two I mean
maybe Tua should have thrown three or four more I mean definitely was a little unlucky in touchdowns
but he still had like 29 TD passes and what if Hill or waddle get injured or what if moer gets
injured I mean there's contingency upside here and I love that jayen Wright's emerged just use if you
draft hm just go jump right in the round 10 back him up there for insurance and and even moster
Falls because people don't want you know so boring and so old and so not boring but so worrisome
you know at his age but um all these backfields just a gold mine and as you said McDaniel I mean
he was the ners Run game coordinator I mean this is the real real stuff I mean all that motion it
yes they'll regress some next year and hn won't have the highest yards per carry in NFL history
again but man he's going to remain efficient and I love his upside as a receiver I believe he had the
same number of First read targets as Rashad white last year and this is as a rookie and missing a
bunch of snaps first read targets and they've been lining them up out wide in preseason so a ton of
upside through the air here through aan he could be the number one fantasy back or or number two
or three in only 248 touches like he really has that range of outcomes yeah I I I agree with you
there his range of outcomes is absolutely out of this world and the one thing I did want to mention
about him because I know there's a little bit of injury concern with him in particular the thing
you tell me too small bulked up do you like sorry to interrupt do you like hearing the bulking up
that stuff okay now I'll leave the floor to you tell throw some cold water on it if I'm off I mean
I I get it he's I'm more more worried about him than I would say Richardson I mean how they're
built no I I don't think that it's necessarily something I I think it's a good discussion I
don't necessarily think that it's predictive of injury right so if you look at the study where
they there's basically the study they did over 10 years a 10-year period and what they saw was that
there was essentially no difference in injury rates based on BMI between running backs who saw
150 carries or running backs who saw 300 plus carries and I'm not an injuring alarmist right but
I tweeted this in in July we can't predict injury you know but when we look at Devon hn before he
bulked up his BMI was 27.8 I mean he's ever so slightly outside of that quote unquote safe Zone
where where there's no difference in in running back injury where you know but barely right we're
talking like 28 29 you know he's just outside of that what would consider safe zone of a BMI his
BMI is around 28 but again he bulked up that could help we can't necessarily say that he missed
time last year because he was small right because we've seen this injury I mean Nick chub a massive
human a strong human squatting 500 pounds eight months postop from an ACL he has had MCL issues
prior to this major injury that he had in 2023 um big strong running backs get injured just as often
as a smaller one so I don't I think it's what I'm trying to say is I think it's a little overblown
we do like to hear that he bolted up we do like to hear that they're implementing you know a strength
program form that's not a bad thing so you know I think in as we move forward it's tough to project
things that we've never seen before but you know we didn't think Devonte Smith well not we but some
people the collective Wei generally thought oh no way Devonte Smith can be successful right the same
thing happened with tankel no way tankel can be successful I think we're just starting to see that
position lless football really start to take over and if you know they do limit his touches they do
limit his some of his between the tackles carries in ter uh when talking about Devon Anan then I
don't see a reason why he can't be successful in play you know the average 13 14 games so no I
I don't necessarily have cold water poure on you necessarily I I think that it's something that you
look at cautiously but it's not a reason to fade a guy with with the upside that he has and the way
I look at it even he misses three or four games no player in the league is more likely to help
win you're weak those you know other 12 or so he's active so I I think the upside is is worth it
but definitely risk and my next guy not quite the a young guy but another injury-prone absolutely
injury risk is Cooper cup man I just I was in on him throughout summer his ADP is definitely
climbed um but I love the positive reports but we have many many things to go over here first
of all just the best setup in in with the Rams I mean they're wide receivers it's condensed they're
routinely top top three fantasy production every year puka nakua ran more routes last year than
he did all his college career and he enters the season with an injury I know this versus sack is
not supposed to be serious I'd love to hear your opinion um and he's practicing fully Now Greg
Thal from nfl.com was on established the Run pod and basically said like I won't speak speak
anymore but I would avoid ncua I don't know he he seems to know things um so I hope NOA Nika stays
healthy and everything's fine with him but CU matched him in targets last year playing on one
leg do not look at his efficiency yes of course he was bad last year he was completely compromised
normally I'm not after 31-year-old wide receivers but historically entering their eighth year in the
league has not seen their Baseline production drop uh he's supposedly healthy the center piece
of this offense we do need Matthew Stafford to stay healthy as well but um talk to me about
cup because I've been willing to draft him early second round and I actually have him ranked ahead
of NCA so I'm never gonna end up in n on any teams no I mean I think okay so you hit on a couple
different things there number one pukin AA return to practice on Monday with doing individual
drills he's going to have plenty of time to get back by week one I'm not going to deny that
you know these reporters Rosenthal in particular probably has you know information we're not privy
to I get that maybe nothing at the same time no disrespect medical non-med personnel
non-medical reporters they mess things up and misinterpret all the time which is understandable
they're not trained in medicine they're not training in sports medicine that that happens
right an example that I just gave on Twitter last year Adam shter came on his own podcast and
declared that Jerry Judy was going to be out six or seven weeks with his hamstring stram because
he thought it was severe well jry Judy was out like two or three weeks and he was back out on the
field and I said at the time Hey listen let's not get over our skis here if we look at the data
that's not necessarily the most likely outcome and lo and behold that's exactly what happened and
shefter a reliable guy with reliable sources right um not to say that rosenal isn't but again he did
say at the end something rosenal said something along lines of like Vibes right bad vibes so
who knows what he knows but again this pukaa situation I think is being a little overblown
um the thing about those injuries is that they are extremely painful you don't want to rupture
don't you don't want to rupture any sacks but if if if you're gonna rupture a sack you know Bursa
sack is probably the number two I don't want to rupture so you know that's a painful thing it just
takes a little bit of time to get back but it's not going to be something that lingers if you were
going to be concerned about puking a c in his knee prior to this then that's a different situation a
different story he did kind of struggle with his knee through college so that's something that
we're going to have to monitor sort of like AJ Brown in the early parts of AJ Brown's career but
I'm not super concerned with puka AA and I'm I'm not you know super concerned with Cooper cup you
mentioned his history right and I think painting the context is super important last year he was
out for weeks one through four obviously right he was on his deathbed he was you know you know
going to go on his retirement tour and you know it was the end of the world for Cooper cup and I
said at the time probably not likely comes back in week five uh and week five and six he averages 20
points week seven obviously we see Cooper up for 154 cup didn't look so hot Stafford gets injured
in week eight Stafford also misses week nine both of those games puka and cup they both score
fewer than six PPR points right so then they have their bi-week in week 10 week 11 Stafford's
back Cooper cup rolls his ankle scores 1.3 points all right then in week 12 puka and cup again they
both combined to score less than six PPR points what you finally on week 13 to 17 after he was you
know he battled the hamstring he battled the ankle cup averaged 14.8 points per game good for wide
receiver 11 C pukan AOA finished wide receiver three the thing about the the risk with Cooper
cup isn't that he has necessarily fallen off in my opinion the risk with Cooper cup is that there's a
34% risk of reinjuring your hamstring but we said the exact same thing about Cooper about uh Keenan
Allen last year Keenan Allen shoved it down my throat um and from a fantasy perspective you can
say what you want about him as a receiver and harm is not necessarily high on him at this point in
his career but Cooper cup is and this this stuff does matter it's not just conjecture right like he
is one of the hardest workers by all accounts by most reporters different sources will tell you
he is a nut job there's a story about pukan AA working out with Cooper cup and and every morning
you know in the offseason and for the first week pukan AOA was like throwing up in the bushes
because he couldn't keep up with Cooper Cup right t almost you know seven eight years older than
puka so all those things matter and the reason I say that is because those those recurrence rates
that I give uh I like to remind people they're not static it's going to be individual you have to
zoom in and look at the situation at hand and the situation at hand is that we have the last Triple
Crown winner who's 30 you know one years old uh is better than Keenan Allen was at that point
last year is in a better offense with a better play caller in a better situation with a at this
point in their careers with a better pedigree and and body of work I don't see the point of fading
Cooper cup because last year went poorly um if you want a fade Cooper cup because you think that
his role will change atically okay I guess we can have a conversation but people are just scared off
because of his age and the injury history and I I didn't mean to take over the podcast here dton
but I'm not again G to pour water on on this pick I mean in the other super Flex dag that this is
basically a mirror image the other draft that I'm in with other analysts I was at the at the 12 slot
and um I took Cooper cup in the third round right so I'm not afraid to to to shoot for the stars
with Cooper cup so I'm all in there too okay good to hear I know the hamstring is a is obviously
the main concern because that was you know just kind of a unique one to when you don't have all
the information but good to hear that you're not overly concerned other than just in general the
the recurrence rat's pretty high for hamstring it sounds like that's that's uh more so than high
generally speaking yes yes yes High unle sprain actually they don't they don't recur as often as
um as the narratives will tell you uh soft tissue injuries hamstrings in particular can get bad but
I mean another guy who almost tore his hamstring off the bone was Mike Evans and he hasn't had any
issues since 2019 with it so again the recurrence rates you know they happen but if we were going to
see a recurrence for Cooper cup we probably would have seen it at some point last year not to say
that it it can't happen but it's again those those numbers aren't static and if a dude works hard
with their medical staff and their medical staff is sharp which the Rams medical staff is sharp you
definitely can mitigate that risk um and yeah so that that that that's where I stand on cup so I'm
glad that we agreed there who's your next guy here before we go my next guy the last guy I want
to ask you real quick do you have a heightened concern of of Chase in in auk and lamb I know lamb
just signed but do you have a heighten injury risk the guys that are holding out or holding in this
is actually that's actually a good question I talked to Matthew Betts another physical therapist
in the space and um you know he he actually looked at this and they there didn't seem to be much of
an increase in Risk at all um I think it off the top of my head lamb has been on the injury report
with like a groin issue and a calf issue so if any of those guys if I was uh semi- concerned about
any of those guys it would probably be him and auk also has a history of hamstring strain so if they
try to ramp up too quickly too soon then you know I think that there is an increased risk but I mean
we're talking if you're facing you know staring down the barrel of of CD lamb versus Christian
mcaffrey coin flip it I still don't care I I I don't think the risk is um apparent enough I don't
think that it's substantive substantive enough to really make a difference there same thing with
Jamar Chase I guess you have better options with you know Jamar chase that that situation is
getting weirder by the day not sure what's going on uh maybe they're in a group chat Jamar Chase
and brand and Brandon iuk uh to to play chicken and see who's going to report first or get their
deal done first um but no I'm not long story short uh I'm not extremely concerned with either of
those guys I do think that there's a little bit of a risk but overall like those guys are both kind
of monsters in their own right so I think given their ADP I'm not I'm not going to make it you
know use it as a tiebreaker okay that's fair all right before we get to my final guy I'll give you
one more hot take I mov Kenneth Walker in my as my rb10 ahead of etn ahead of Peko after they signed
pyan I think he's going to be a monster in Seattle and I just love I think the Situation's going to
be so much better there uh in Seattle but my final guy is James Connor another injury guy I just
like to talk to you about um I I just have been targeting all Arizona guys I think their offense
is going to be good much better this year it was top 10 last year in the second half before adding
Marvin Harrison and now Murray will be a second year removed from uh his knee surgery um Ian
hardit uh tweeted this games missed over the last three seasons Jonathan Taylor 13 kyen Williams 12
mcaffrey 11 Bree Hall 10 Derrick Henry 10 James Connor 10 so yes he's likely at this stage of his
career to miss another three or four games but I think he can be a top five fantasy back when he's
on the field I mean he last year he was awesome there no guarantee he'll be you know top three in
rush yards of expectation again but this is a good player in a much improved situation I see a lot
of shootouts in the NFC West so uh tell me I'm not being too overly injury optimistic with a guy like
Connor you know an aging back who obviously misses multip two to three two to four games every year
that's really yeah that's an interesting one right so obviously my whole ethos is like injury prone
is a lie right and to a certain degree I I still believe that you know there's a nuance and some
conversation to be had but I'm telling you I don't know I thought James Connor was gonna be out of
the league and injured three years ago I I tweeted I remember about his his connected tissue injur
he even got into like some like an ATV accident or something and he like like broke his collar bone
or something crazy and I was like dude this guy like can't even stay healthy when he's not playing
football so I thought that some connective tissue dysfunctional thing was happening with him not
the case he's still chugging along I think that as he gets older then you know recovering and
bouncing back does get a little tougher so you know he's he's shoved it down my throat the last
three four seasons in a very similar way that that Derrick Henry has and you know ultimately what we
have is James Connor a guy who like you said like his numbers are are are it's almost like he's
aging in Reverse so it's very strange to to see and observe I'm still taking some Trey Benson
when when I when I can get him I still think that you you're still living with that risk of uh not
just necessarily him getting injured but as backs get older there's a reason that their production
falls off as their contract years go on as their age go on because you know these guys I I think
it just goes under it goes under discussed how much split seconds matter and when you get into
that 28 29 30y old type of uh you know type of back then that Split Second that they may have in
their processing time just they can't quite make that cut anymore they can't quite get that step
on the on the competition like that stuff matters and it results that Split Second results in just
like dramatic falloffs so that's still a risk with James Conor right that's the risk that I view
more so you know I guess on top of the injury risk um because it's always something random with him
so I do think that of all the guys you've listed he it's funny because he's the guy that's proved
me wrong so often but he's also the guy that you know has me has me clutching my pearls a little
bit um so that's sort of where I stand on James Conor but I also understand the upside case that
you're making for him I seem to be on on him the wrong year every time the year he gets in is
so it'll probably happen this one and he he's not super super high in drafts um but yeah he uh
you absolutely could be right as far as aging and and he absolutely could decline quickly at that
stage of his career but how I'm kind of treating it is that Benson's more of an insurance policy
and KN not really the more you look into his college career I don't think he's a threat to uh
certainly not a threat to Connor if he plays like he did last year and again he'll probably miss
a couple games but I think there's upside that he's like a really legit top five fantasy back win
on the field per game this year no absolutely and anybody else Dalton who else do these drafters
need to get these listeners need to get on their teams again Kenneth Walker is a guy moving up
my board Malik neighbors I've been a I was in on him before the camp highlights I get that Daniel
Jones is a problem and that pick six has hopefully helped his his ADP but Daniel Jones was a league
league average success rate with dble last year small sample but I think neighbors is gonna
get 160 plus targets if not 180 if he can stay healthy and he's just going to be approach Marvin
Harrison's SE season only a couple rounds later all right there you have it everybody that you
need to draft Anthony Richardson tell me if I miss somebody Anthony Richardson devvon hhan
James Connor Kenneth Walker Malik neighbors who was the other one that I'm missing here that
we talked about oh Cooper cup old man cup Cooper cup of course how could I forget about old man
cup those are the guys dton D Dawn's getting on a squad those are the guys that you should
be getting on a squad Dal before we get out of here where do you want to direct the people
follow me on Twitter at or X Dalton Delon and yeah usually pretty good at getting back at
lineup questions and and whatnot uh the best I can thanks for having me on man good good times
talking injuries because uh I wanted to highlight those guys but those I didn't even have to make
a stretch those really are the guys I'm targeting the most so hopefully hopefully it doesn't
end in heartache because what could go wrong you know relying on Richardson and hn and cup I
mean what that yeah yeah big swings big swings we got to take big swings around here all right
everybody thanks for listening thanks for tuning in make sure you follow him on Twitter at Dalton
Dell Dawn we will catch you on the flip side