Fantasy Football Sleepers no one talks about. The Counselor is joined by Rish from the FFAstronauts to give you 3 sleepers that are great late-round pickups!
Joseph Robert:
I’m excited to have you on. We’re going to tell everybody a little bit about you, about your podcast, how long it got started before he gets out. We got to tell everybody what the show is about.
Rish:
Oh yeah.
Joseph Robert:
This show is three sleepers nobody will tell you about. I’ve got three, he’s got three. We’re going to go back and forth. Some really interesting names here we’ve got for you. These guys could be league winners for you guys. You never know, right? I’m excited to get into this show. We’re talking fantasy football sleepers 2020. Also, before I get into these guys, make sure you guys get the 16-round draft solution. I want to emphasize this to you guys. There is a link here below, pinned comment. Pinned comment. 16-round draft solution. Also, head on over to TheFantasyFootballCounselor.com. If you’re listening in the car, first-ever and only video training, optimal players in each round. 16 rounds. Get it. All right, so let’s talk, Rish, man.
Rish:
Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
Tell me a bit about yourself. This year I kind of made a point to try to get as many people on as I can on the podcast and especially guys that are kind of just getting into it a little bit. I’ve been at this for over four years, going into my fifth year, so I’m kind of a bit of a veteran now. I want to give the opportunity for other people to kind of share my platform, leverage my followers a little bit because I think everybody’s got some value to add and get a different perspective.
I really liked what you guys were doing, especially with the whole astronaut theme. At first, I thought it was kind of corny, but when I think about it, I actually like it. I’m going, to be honest with you. There are other names I don’t like. But at first, I’m like, okay, this caught my attention. Number one, it’s good for catching attention. Number two, I think there’s a lot of play on stuff you could do like your picks are out of this world, and stuff like that. It caught my attention because of the logo and the branding. I’m like, who are these guys? Then I reached out and you guys are very knowledgeable. Rish, I’m going to let you take the stage for like two minutes. Just tell us a bit about yourself, why you started, how long have you been going and who else is involved?
Rish:
Yeah. Actually, I appreciate all that. The name is something that we were, me and my two buddies that played college football together, we thought, you know what? We all love fantasy football. Let’s just create something. Let’s create a podcast. We don’t really care who listens, but we want to have fun with it. So we’re thinking of different names and like there’s so many of like the Fantasy Football Bros or Friends or whatever. We’re like, what’s something that nobody does and is a group of people and something that’s highly technical. We’re like, why not the astronauts? We’re exploring new worlds. We’re taking you into new levels in fantasy football. That was just like a fun brainstorming thing. It didn’t really mean anything to us at the time but has been a lot of fun kind of, yeah, taking that brand while we’re blasting off. Taking you to different planets and stuff. That’s been fun. I personally got into fantasy football because I played college football. I was a defensive back and then a football was done and I really needed something to fill my time with. I dabbled in fantasy football a little bit before, but I was terrible. I finally started diving in 2015 and just fell in love. I’ve been really playing fantasy football for my fifth year now. I played a little bit before that, but wasn’t any good. Yeah, that’s kind of my background.
I’m also a chiropractor, so I do a lot of work with sports injuries. Anytime there’s an injury, I love to analyze that and love to kind of tell you the outlook and the recovery and all that.
Joseph Robert:
I need an adjustment. I’ve been cracking my neck as we speak, man. I could use one. I love the chiropractor, especially when he goes up the middle of the back. It feels great. It feels amazing. Love it.
Rish:
That’s the best.
Joseph Robert:
I need one right now, man. I might just go roll on one of those balls. You know those foam rollers?
Rish:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Exactly.
Joseph Robert:
I usually roll on one of those and I get a crack out of it.
Rish:
Crack your own back.
Joseph Robert:
Yeah, man, make sure you guys check them out. Guys, there is a link here below to their podcast. Subscribe to them on YouTube and also check their podcast, I think available everywhere, iTunes, Spotify, all that stuff. Let’s get into this, man. I’m excited. Three sleepers nobody will tell you about. Yours, after we talked a little bit about it before the show, we didn’t analyze, he just kind of gave me his name and I gave him mine. I think a couple of these guys are deep. You’ve got a super-deep sleeper. We’ll save that one to the end. But maybe I’ll start with your first one. You’re the guest. Why don’t you give us a sleeper that nobody’s really talking about and telling you about and could have a huge upside this year for fantasy football 2020.
Rish:
Yeah. My first sleeper is Diontae Johnson. The first thing that sticks out to me is his ADP. He’s going around the 11th round, which for me is just insane value at that spot. This is a guy that’s going into his second year. He finished with 92 targets last year and 680 yards, and that’s without Big Ben. For those of you that don’t know, he’s a wide receiver for the Steelers and he was just really, really good with the ball in his hands. When he was going in the pre-draft process, I kind of compared him to a Stefon Diggs, Antonio Brown-type player. They have the same skillset. He’s the type of guy, when you’re looking at that offense, Big Ben loves to throw the ball, he’s coming back, he’ll be healthy this year and he’s got a type of player that he really likes. He likes JuJu. Did not like throwing to James Washington.
I think when you have a high-powered offense and you have a guy that loves to throw the ball like Big Ben, Dontae Johnson going in the 11th round has definite upside for a top-20 wide receiver, that’s totally realistic. If he does better than even I expect, he could finish top-10. In that offense, that’s totally within his realm of outcomes. He’s a guy that I’m trying to get everywhere. You’re not going to hear a ton of them because that offense was so atrocious last year and that really decreased his value.
Joseph Robert:
That’s great.
Rish:
Dontae Johnson’s a guy I’m super-excited about.
Joseph Robert:
That’s great. That’s one of the things I teach in 16 rounds, a lot of my content, is a lot of people play off the recency bias. Now if you go back to 2018, both JuJu and Antonio Brown finished in the top-10 amongst wide receivers. 168 targets for AB. 166 for JuJu. A ton of volume. Okay? If you look at it, Big Ben led in most attempts. I can’t remember the number. It was like 5-600. It was a lot of attempts.
Rish:
Yeah. Tons.
Joseph Robert:
He comes back healthy. You’ve got a really, really good offense there. I’m excited. I love that pick, and I’m going to add something to it right now. This is a really cool strategy that I’ve been implementing. This is one of my tactics in 16 rounds is I go robust RB, I come back, I get myself, let’s say a Hilton or Cooks or a Diggs. My RB, or sorry, my wide receiver two is let’s say Diontae Johnson. Then I believe it or not handcuff in with the guy I have. My sleeper is Chase Claypool. I love the upside because the way I envisioned this is this: You know that JuJu plays well in the slot. You know you got Dontae, you got Claypool lining up outside. Washington sucks. Forget about him. They’ve got Switzer, they got all these other guys nobody cares about. It’s going to be Claypool and it’s going to be Dontae on the outside. JuJu where he plays best in the slot. Then at that point, one of these guys is going to emerge either, as crazy as it sounds, as a wide receiver one potentially even. That’s how big the ceiling is for these guys. Why not have all the stock? That’s a similar way I feel if you’re going TY Hilton. You can get him at value. Fourth, fifth, six-round, you get TY, and then you come back and get Michael Pittman.
This is a huge strategy. This is huge value for you guys right here because literally you’re waiting on wide receiver loading up on the running backs because there’s only a handful with minimal committee and then you get yourself some ace wide receivers. You’re covered at wide receiver. You’re more than covered. I love Chase Claypool. That’s the guy I love. He had Megatron size and Megatron [crosstalk 00:08:12].
Rish:
Crazy. Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
Great numbers at the combine, thiis guy is exciting. I know he’s young. They’re kind of comparing him to Martavis, but I think he’s got a better head on his shoulders. Hopefully, he can stay on the field, obviously. There’s a ton of upside here. I’m excited about both Dontae and Claypool, an absolutely huge, huge amount of sleeping on these guys. I can’t even believe how far they’re falling. I mean because everyone’s thinking JuJu, but what if JuJu just ends up being the slot guy? What if he doesn’t get that volume that everybody thinks? Who knows? Maybe these two guys emerge? Why not have both of them? And you can for 2020.
Rish:
Right. I think the thing that’s a little bit underrated about Claypool is he’s so big and so fast that they could line him up, they could transition him to some tight end slots, right?
Joseph Robert:
Right.
Rish:
We’ve seen players transition their player tags in these leagues midway through the season. I actually had him higher as a tight end, and so if Chase Claypool automatically is getting tight end and wide receiver looks, you don’t know how that’s going to play out mid-season. He could be a guy that maybe you slot into a tight end role if they happen to change his position in this fantasy …leagues. I forget. The platforms.
Joseph Robert:
Funny you say that. I’m glad you made that point because I’ll tell you something, I follow a bunch of Steelers pages and I just found out recently, because there was a buzz about the tight end, but they’re saying he’s going to play as a wide receiver.
Rish:
Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
But yes, I liked the diversity and the transition depending on the platform and where you slot him if you have an extra flex spot, if you need a tight end only or two tight ends, you got a diversity of doing that. I think Claypool’s an absolute steal late round. Steal. Just take him. [crosstalk 00:09:53].
Rish:
He’s basically free.
Joseph Robert:
He’s free. I mean it’s crazy. You go Diontae. I go Claypool.
Rish:
Absolutely.
Joseph Robert:
Let’s get off of the Steelers train. Who’s your second sleeper that nobody, nobody will tell you about?
Rish:
This one hurts me. I’m a Bears fan. This one hurts me to say, but Alan Lazard is a sleeper that I mean nobody’s talking about him. Everyone’s disappointed that the Packers didn’t draft a wide receiver, and rightfully so. I think Allan Lazard’s a guy that can step in and have fantasy relevance because you’ve seen Aaron Rodgers have success with two wide receivers, two top-20, two top-12 wide receivers in the past, and Alan Lazard is a monster target. He’s six-five, 227. That’s a guy that Aaron Rodgers started to rely on at the end of the season. You saw the last two games that Green Bay had, he had nine targets in one, eight targets in another. He had a game over 100 receiving yards. This is a guy that I think is going to start to see more targets, more volume and he’s got big playability because he is so big. Aaron Rodgers is great with that deep ball. You can just throw it up to your six-five wide receiver.
Really that wide receiver two job is wide open. Geronimo Allison’s gone. Marquez Valdes-Scantling did not do anything last year. I think Alan Lazard is in role, or inline for those targets, those number two targets. He’s even cheaper than Dontae Johnson. He’s not going until the 14th round.
Joseph Robert:
Crazy.
Rish:
When you think about getting Aaron Rodgers’ number two target in the 14th round, that’s nuts. That’s bonkers.
Joseph Robert:
I know, it’s crazy. He stepped up last year. Actually, we talked before this, when you told me Allan Lazard, I got upset because that was one of my sleepers. I absolutely love him. I’ve been preaching this guy a lot. I call him The Lizard. Everyone calls him Lizard.
Rish:
Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
I’ve been watching this guy. It’s kind of creepy how I follow these guys. I’m obsessed with knowing more about them for my fantasy team. I want to know what they’re eating, if they’re sleeping, if they’re bike riding late at night in case they get injured.
Rish:
Absolutely.
Joseph Robert:
I watch everything these guys do because if they’re on my team, they better be performing on their best potential. Okay, so, yeah, I’ve been watching him and he’s got this lizard thing on his Instagram. I’m excited about him. Tons of upside, tons of ceiling.
Joseph Robert:
Again, they did not address the wide receiver position, and you got to understand that if Aaron Rodgers stays there and everything goes as planned if he should start, Love’s breathing down his neck, they drafted Love. Is this Roger’s backup or is he going to be his replacement? We don’t know. But if I’m Aaron Rodgers, everyone’s talking down on me, the haters, it’s time for me to step up. They got to throw the ball because they ran it a lot last year. You can only get so far. They got to throw it. Adams was hurt. Adams comes in, draws the double coverage, opened things up for Lazard. I’m excited. It’s going to be a very interesting offense to get. Lazard is going to be an absolute steal. I love him as well.
Rish:
It hurts me though as a Bears fan.
Joseph Robert:
Yeah, yeah. I know it hurts. Yeah, that’s a whole other topic here. Let’s go off on a side tangent. We’re not talking sleepers, but people are sleeping on this guy because I’m getting him in the sixth round. He’s a steal. Here’s the deal. I want to talk to you about this, Rish, here because I got a vent here. When you look at running back, you got to look at guys that have a minimal committee and a ton of volume. The guy I absolutely love this season, he didn’t look electrifying last yeah, is David Montgomery. 242 attempts.
Rish:
Absolutely.
Joseph Robert:
I’m like a fantasy encyclopedia here. 242 attempts, 3.7 yards per carry, 889 yards, and six touchdowns on the ground. Am I right? I think it’s about that.
Rish:
Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
Anyway, that’s all I do is study this crap. Montgomery is the guy that I love creating holes when holes weren’t there. Nagy is on a short leash. They’ve got to run the ball. And you’re getting an RB one with upside who’s going to get over 1,000 yards at least, a floor of 8 to 10 touchdowns. You’re getting him in the sixth round. I mean, fifth round at least.
Rish:
Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
What do you think of Montgomery? Yes or no? Boom, bust? Trust? Bust? What do you think of Montgomery being a Bears fan?
Rish:
That’s actually really funny you say that. One of the gyms that I work out of, I also do some training there. David Montgomery works out there and he’s my guy like in real life. Love David Montgomery. I’ve actually gotten to see some of his training this off-season. A big thing that that people knocked him for was his speed, his top-end speed and his acceleration. I can tell you, I’ve seen the before and after videos, he has gotten better acceleration and his top speed is better.
Joseph Robert:
Good.
Rish:
I’ve already seen that on video, so I’m 100% in on David Montgomery. If you look at the last several games of the season, I think maybe the last four or five games of the season, his yards per carry jumped up over four. On the whole season it was rough, but you’re still looking at a guy that was top-15 in the league in touches and in carries. He definitely gets the ball a lot, and he’s a better receiver than people give him credit for.
Joseph Robert:
He’s actually better than Tarik Cohen because Tarik Cohen, I believe, if I’m wrong, tell me, I think he led the team in dropped passes.
Rish:
I believe so. Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
He was terrible. Terrible. Yeah, they’ve got to believe in him. Again, we had to go off on that side tangent.
Rish:
Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
Draft David Montgomery, he’s value.
Rish:
A quick thing for you, if you do want to go look at my Instagram, I just posted a video of me working with him.
Joseph Robert:
What? Where?
Rish:
A little plug to the personal one.
Joseph Robert:
What’s your Instagram? Hold on. I’m going. I’m going right now.
Rish:
Look me up. It’s-
Joseph Robert:
What’s your Insta?
Rish:
It’s DR dot Michael dot Tal dot Risher. Dot Michael. M-I-C-H-A-E-L.
Joseph Robert:
Yeah?
Rish:
Dot Tal. T-A-L. Dot Risher. R-I-S-H-E-R.
Joseph Robert:
I’m right here.
Rish:
Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
Okay, guys, there it is right there.
Rish:
That first video.
Joseph Robert:
Oh my goodness. Right there. Do you know David Montgomery?
Rish:
Yes, sir.
Joseph Robert:
Do you have his phone number?
Rish:
He’s my guy. Yeah. I can’t say too much without giving up-
Joseph Robert:
Is that you training with him? Are you guys in his house? What is this?
Rish:
Yeah. Yeah. He gave me permissions to do that.
Joseph Robert:
You’re training with David Montgomery. Can we get him on the show?
Rish:
Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
I want to get him on the show.
Rish:
I don’t know. I don’t know.
Joseph Robert:
Quiet guy.
Rish:
That’d be something you’d have to take up with him.
Joseph Robert:
Can you just tell him The Counselor loves him? Can you do that for me?
Rish:
I will.
Joseph Robert:
I’m going to post this on my Instagram. This is crazy. We’re going to talk about this. All right, so I love Dave Montgomery.
Rish:
Me too.
Joseph Robert:
He definitely knows who I am because I tag them a lot on my stuff. No, ask him. Say The Counselor says what’s up.
Rish:
All right.
Joseph Robert:
And that he believes in him. I believed in him from day one. Nagy’s got to pull his head out of his ass because I think that’s the issue here. It’s a coaching thing. It’s not a Nagy thing. Yeah, it’s not a Montgomery thing.
Joseph Robert:
All right, let’s move on. My sleeper here, I think you went with yours, right? Did you go with your other one? You went Lazard, yeah.
Rish:
I did, yes. I’ve gone Diontae Johnson and Lazard so far.
Joseph Robert:
Okay. My next one here is, and again, there’s a ceiling here, but he’s going to be boom or bust. Trust me, this guy’s going to give me my wide receiver four, but I love his ceiling because I think Tyreek Hill gets hurt again and there’s so much volatility. Yes, there’s a lot of mouths to feed, but he’s a clearcut number two. The guy that I’m talking about is Mecole Hardman. I love him. Again, not as much as I feel warm and fuzzy about Dontae, Lazard, I like those guys a little bit more. But Mecole Hardman’s talented, he’s a speedster. He’s got a ton of upside and you never know, man. I can imagine this guy getting more volume. The only problem is Robinson came in, they had walk-ins there. There are just so many targets. But if some guy gets injured, this is the kind of the go-to guy. Again, a guy you can plug and play, especially some big weeks if he’s got some good match-ups for DFS, huge target. What do you think of Hardman? He’s boom or busty, right?
Rish:
Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
It doesn’t make you feel warm, but it makes you feel like, “Whoa. If Hill goes down, this guy could step up.” Right?
Rish:
He’s a guy that in college was not, he transitioned to wide receiver. He’s still newer to the position. I mean, honestly, I want all pieces of that offense. I think if any of them go down, he’s a guy that could step up and take a good role. I love Mecole Hardman. I think he’s going to be a really good DFS play this year and that’s where I’ll have a lot of him is in DFS. But I love him as a stash on my dynasty rosters because you never know who’s going to get injured and you want every single piece attached to Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.
I think for redraft, he’s going to be very cheap because likely what’s going to happen is he’ll get drafted and then he’s not going to see a ton of targets in week one or two. He’s going to be a guy that’s going to get dropped after week one or week two and then mid season is where he’s really going to hit if he hits this season. He’s a guy that you’re going to be able to get off of waivers in week two, week three and I love that because that’s someone else that you get to draft then I think. If you’re taking him, you get them in a super-late round, and if you didn’t actually get to draft him, he’s a guy that you get a second chance off waivers. I love Mecole Hardman. He’s for sure boom/bust, but he’s got a lot of potential value.
Joseph Robert:
Well, here’s the problem. Okay? With Tyreek, he’s going early, first, second round. I’m not investing that in Tyreek Hill. I’m just not. A guy that’s also volatile, who has really good production when you look at it from a year point of view. But then, but then game by game he has these boom-bust games. He’s had his off-field issues in the past and you’ve had the volatility and then the injuries and stuff like that. If I can not get Tyreek in the first round but I can get this guy in like the 14th round and pay literally nothing, then I’m going to just get Mecole Hardman and just squat on him. Then maybe if Hill goes down, that’s good because I load up on RBs early. I think Mecole Hardman’s a sleeper, man. I mean there’s just [crosstalk 00:19:37] there.
Rish:
Absolutely.
Joseph Robert:
I’m going to roll with him. Let’s hear your third one. When you told me your third one, I was like, who? Because I’ve kind of cut off the Arizona Cardinals offense completely. Maybe Drake’s got a high ceiling. Love Kyler. Drake and Kyler an exception, but I don’t know if I want to pay the Drake price there. They’ve got Eno Benjamin now. They’ve acquired. He could come in. You never know. The Cardinals have zero integrity in regards to who their starter is. They may cut you. They don’t care. That’s why I don’t trust anybody here. Then they’re going to line up four wide. They’ve got a guy who maxed out at 109 targets last year, Fitzgerald maxed out at 109 targets. Now you’re telling me Hopkins is going to come in, who needs 150-plus targets to be a top-five receiver where he’s sitting right now.
Again, this is the same type of thing, Rish, stick with me. Last year, everyone’s like, “Odell’s a top-five wide receiver.” I’m like, “How? Landry’s the wide receiver one. Landry’s more talented. Landry’s got the rapport with Baker. Landry maxed out at 149 targets in 2018. How is Odell now going to come in and get 150 to 170 targets with Landry still there?” That’s the same way I feel with Hopkins here.
Joseph Robert:
When you told me this guy, I was just like, “He’s not on my radar.” I’m going to knock you. I’m going to come at you. I’m going to say [crosstalk 00:20:52].
Rish:
Absolutely.
Joseph Robert:
I think this is a terrible sleeper, but nobody’s telling you about him, so it fits the show. Okay, so who is this guy, please?
Rish:
First of all, it’s Dan Arnold. Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
Who?
Rish:
If you’ve ever heard of him, I don’t blame you. He actually gets the wide receiver and tight end tag in a lot of leagues, and so that’s kind of what makes him appealing there. You have multiple different slots you can put them in. Granted, he’s not going to be one of your top wide receivers that you’re going to start, but you never know. It’s just versatility. Dan Arnold only played three games with the Cardinals last season. They got them late. In those three games, he had a combined over 100 yards and two touchdowns. This is a guy that came on. Yeah, you’re right, that’s an offense that’s very hard to predict and there’s not going to be a ton of targets to go around. You have the law of the conservation of targets, so you know that there’s a ceiling and you know that the guys that are already there are going to get those targets.
Dan Arnold I think is a guy that I found while I was in my tight end premium league and so he’s got a little bit more value there, but he’s someone that you really don’t know. He is free. For me, when I’m drafting tight ends, if I don’t get one of the top three guys, and I’m usually not a tight end early guy, I’m going to wait as late as I can to get my tight end. He’s someone that if I’m looking at the potential tight ends to draft, he’s someone that everyone’s going to go on that tight end run and you can just stock up on the good wide receivers and the good running backs and load up there and then get a really, really high ceiling. You saw what he did in three games, you saw how valuable he was in those three games. It’s a very low-risk guy as maybe a tight end two or a waiver add, or however, you want to do it. It is a volatile offense, but the way that I play the tight end position, he makes a lot of sense for my rosters because I want high-upside guys that could boom every week because I don’t go after those-top five tight ends.
Joseph Robert:
Neither do I. I never waste an early pick on a tight end. I remember years ago people were really coming at me when I said, “Wait, get George Kittle in the 10th round and do not grab, do not.” I emphasize this. I wanted to tattoo it on my chest here. Do not draft Gronkowski round one, and everybody, the mainstream sheep were saying, “Hey, you got to draft Gronkowski round one. That’s what you got to do.” That’s what everyone said. Said, “No, no. Just wait. Get a couple of wildcard tight ends, a couple of rookies, whatever, and you do well.” I do well every single year. Last year, not the greatest with my tight end, I had Hockenson, but I think it’s not all his fault. That goes into my last sleeper here, guys. Again, make sure you guys subscribe. Leave a thumbs up, leave your comments below. Let me know what you guys think. Are you more interested in Dan Arnold? No. Nobody cares. Or Hockenson, that’s who my sleeper is.
I can get him late as a backup. I could go Higbee be a little bit earlier, a little safer maybe and maybe back them up with the Hockenson or a Fant or someone like that. But I think Hockenson because if you look at his first four games, I think he had like two touchdowns, first four games. Stafford went down and so did everything else. There was so much uncertainty with that offense, with the different quarterbacks. I don’t know who the heck they were. Driscoll or whatever the hell they were.
Rish:
David Blaugh.
Joseph Robert:
Yeah. Who cares about those guys? You got TJ Hochenson I’m so shallow, man. All I care about is fantasy. Everybody else doesn’t matter. I could care less. I could care less, man. You can bring me flowers, bring me chocolates, you can buy me whatever. If you’re not putting up fantasy points, I don’t care about you. That’s it. Flowers and chocolates was a terrible example. But you know what I mean?
Rish:
I know.
Joseph Robert:
All right. All right, so TJ Hochenson is my sleeper no one’s talking about. Again, because he had a bad year last season, but I was seeing a lot of red-zone targets. He missed a couple of passes. They were deflected, blocked, whatever it was. I think he’s going to be a huge red zone target for these guys. I think he takes a step up this year. I think they improve their O-line maybe. I think they did. They’ve got Swift there, so I think they’re going to get decent pass protection.
Rish:
Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
He may not have to line up as a blocker as much. Maybe they’re going to use him as a receiver. I like him.
Rish:
Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
I’m all in on Hochenson. Again, they invested what? A first-round pick on him, did they not?
Rish:
They did. He was like number eight or something overall.
Joseph Robert:
They’re going to use him.
Rish:
Yeah.
Joseph Robert:
He’s going to be used. I don’t know where he is going, I did this mock draft and I actually got him, yeah, this is me. I drafted second in this mock draft. I ended up getting them in the 12th round and I bet you he would have fallen like farther. Honestly. I got him in the 12th.
Rish:
Probably.
Joseph Robert:
Yeah.
Rish:
My only concern is Matt Stafford’s historical non-use of tight ends.
Joseph Robert:
Right.
Rish:
I call him TJ Gronkenson because I think he’s just such a good talent, but that’s literally my only concern. There’s a lot of different mouths to feed, but when guys go off, they go off it. It may be Marvin Jones, it may be Kenny Golladay, it may be TJ Hockenson. If you are drafting me as your second tight end, that’s huge, because if Marvin Jones gets injured then all of a sudden you have the number two target on the team.
Joseph Robert:
Exactly.
Rish:
I love that. Yeah, I had a TJ Hockenson a lot last year. I drafted him as my tight end two. There was a good amount of hype around him so I didn’t actually get to start them in a ton of places, but I have him on a lot of dynasty rosters. He’s going to be good in redraft this year I hope. Yeah. I’m all in on that one as well. Just the one concern.
Joseph Robert:
There you have it, guys. There are some sleepers nobody, well the mainstream, I should say. We should rephrase that. The mainstream won’t tell you about it. They just kind of go for big named guys, that’s what I don’t like. They go for the name and the names don’t always win you, leagues. This is what I saw, years of watching fantasy football is like people say, “Oh you got to draft Frank Gore.” Why would I put Gore on my team? But they’ll put them on because here’s what happens, that’s why I created 16 rounds, is because a lot of people after the six-round are kind of lost and confused. They’re kind of going for names and they’re not going for guys. They don’t look at the depth chart. They don’t live and breathe it like us. I think they’re at a disadvantage by getting guys that are just names.
I’ll give you an example right now. Okay? I see Tarik Cohen going in the 11th round. Who did I get? See, I would rather go for a guy with more upside, like a Joshua Kelly or someone like that. Right? I like to take risks later on. All the other people here, Marlon Mack, I wouldn’t even touch Marla Mack because I always aim top of the depth. I’ll give you a couple of other names. Another guy that got drafted 11th round in this mock draft, Nyheim Hines. Why?
Rish:
All of a sudden you have three running backs from the Colts that are drafted in the first 11 rounds. There are not enough carries, there are not enough targets to go around for all those guys.
Joseph Robert:
Exactly. Exactly.
Rish:
Take the best one.
Joseph Robert:
Another guy that went here, Desean Jackson, Blake, Jarwin, Boston Scott. These are all 12th round guys. Guys, go for the guys that have the higher ceiling. This is what I emphasize in 16 rounds. A couple of other guys here that went later here that I wouldn’t touch. I don’t know who else there is. I can’t. You guys get the point. That’s what I’m trying to say. Don’t aim high on the depth chart, guys. You’re going to dominate. That’s a fantasy football draft strategy for you guys.
I mean that wraps it up. Rish, I’m excited. David Montgomery, you got to get him a message for me. Tell him I’m his best buddy. He might think I’m a little creepy because I always tag him. Right?
Rish:
I’ll do my best. I love that. He’s an awesome dude. If you go read the posts, you can just see how hard he works. He’s continuing to put in work this off-season. I think he’s going to be a beast this year.
Joseph Robert:
Well, that’s what actually attracted me to him is the work ethic. I always look for those guys that are out there grinding, hustling. I’ll give you a quick example before I let everybody go. Last year, everybody, it was Debo Samuels and Pettis. Everyone was saying Pettis in the round, I don’t know what it was, three or four. He’s the wide receiver one. I’m watching the tape, I’m watching social media. I’m literally watching Debo Samuel and he looked like Mr. T, like in Rocky III. He’s out there grinding. Guys, go watch Rocky III if you haven’t yet. He looked like Mr. T when he was training and then you see is Pettis going like … like doing all these GQ poses and like in suits like he was a king.
Rish:
Primadonna.
Joseph Robert:
Yeah, I’m watching this guy and I’m watching this guy. I’m like give me Debo Samuel in like the 50th round instead of a fourth, fifth-round pick on Pettis all day. That’s what you’ve going to look at. You’ve got to think outside the box. You got to spot the talent. You got to stalk them on social media. I don’t care what you do, as long as you make sure that the right players on your team. Trust me, I give these players crap. One day I saw Todd Gurley on a bicycle cruising. I’m like, “Dude, you’re going to get hurt. Get off the bike.” Do you know what I mean? In my best interest, I care about their best interest and their health. That’s what I do. Absolutely.
Rish:
Absolutely.
Joseph Robert:
All right, well thanks for coming in. How do they find you again, please?
Rish:
Thanks for having me on. You can find me on Twitter. It’s @FF_Rish, and then check out our channel on YouTube, The Fantasy Football Astronauts. We’re on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube. All of those. Yeah, go find us.
Joseph Robert:
All right, well thanks for being on, Rish. appreciate it. Guys, smash thumbs up, get 16 rounds, leave a comment below. Let me know which sleeper you like. We are out of this world, Rish.
Rish:
Thank you.
Joseph Robert:
We’re out. Talk soon.
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