Transcription
You know, Jake, sometimes stealing can get you eight to life, but when it comes to fantasy football, when you're stealing these late-round sleepers from your league mates, the only number you're getting is one for fantasy championships. Yo, what's going on, Headliner Nation? Today, we are going to be talking about several guys that we can absolutely steal from our league mates later on in your draft. So, make sure that you're locked in right now, and the good news is is no one's going to be calling 911 on you when you're stealing these guys.
Yeah, and this is like these are the type of guys, Kyle, that people are probably going. They're so used to the big names, right? But, we got to find the guys later on. We're talking after pick 100, right? When you're trying to round out your team, when you're trying to find some upside, when you're trying to find some hidden gems, those are the players that are really important fantasy football that you definitely got to try to steal for sure.
And a guy that we've probably talked about quite a bit the last couple of offseasons. Yes. Is going to kick off this show once again. And it's Wan'Dale Robinson, who to me just continues to be a guy that maybe he doesn't get a ton of love, but he's just good. He's going at 104.3 overall right now, and he's got a new home in Tennessee.
And that's what's a lot of people don't really understand, right? Is okay, we see all the production from his last 2 years in New York, the 140-plus targets, 90 reception type totals, right around 1,000 yards, but Jake, he's going to Tennessee. He's not going to be getting that much volume. I would almost agree with you, except for the fact of who the hell is the offensive coordinator in Tennessee? It's Brian Daboll, who started the whole Wan'Dale Robinson experiment anyway. So, I'm not overly I'm not overly worried, Kyle. I think they brought him in to use him. I think he's going to be their weekly slot guy. He's going to become the binky of Cam Ward.
I agree. And last year, Chimere Dike is the one who led Tennessee in those slot snaps. He had 300 last season. Wan'Dale Robinson had 399 snaps in the slot last year. And Dike, 44 less receptions, 591 less receiving yards in that role that Wan'Dale Robinson likely coming in. And also, another aspect of Wan'Dale Robinson and the type of playmaker that Cam Ward needs is a guy that forced 16 missed tackles in the slot last season. That was tied for seventh most among wide receivers. And on top of that, his contract $70 million over 4 years, 38 of that guaranteed. Sign me up for that all day long. No Tennessee wide receiver had more than 89 targets last year.
No, sure. Obviously, Carnell Tate is probably going to be the alpha guy there. He's probably going to be the number one, but that's a. They're still going to have to throw the ball a lot. And you don't pay a player $70 million to to a basically just a slot wide receiver unless you plan on using him there. With Dike, I wouldn't be surprised if we see him take some snaps at tight end with Gunner Helm. Like he's kind of one of those types of players, a big-bodied guy that can kind of fill in the Chig Okonkwo role. But man, Wan'Dale Robinson at that point of the draft, especially if you play in PPR leagues, is not somebody you're reliant on, but in bye weeks and injury situations, you can throw him in there, and I would not be surprised if he's worth 10 fantasy points almost every week.
Now, we've got a lot of players in this video that you can absolutely steal from your league-mates, but the biggest steal of the offseason has to be our 2026 fantasy football draft guide because at the price that we currently sell it at, it basically is a steal.
Uh yeah, I mean, the you for the amount of information we have in our draft guide, uh, a lot of other sites charge a lot of extra money, but we are not about the inflation life over here. Head over to get yours right now. It is jam-packed full of information. I actually showed a little bit of it in our rankings video earlier in the week, so be sure to go check that out if you want to get a little behind-the-scenes look, but the links are down below.
Yeah, the street of Headliner Nation is always open. Nothing going on here where we're charging any fares or tolls to make your way to Fantasy Championships. We're going to move on. Kenneth Gainwell, we've talked about him quite a bit this off-season. I don't think we've really dove into him too much though. It feels like every time we talk about running backs or sleepers or guys that you can get later on, Kenneth Gainwell's name comes up. Let's dive a little bit deeper into a guy coming off a career high in rushing attempts, rushing yards, targets, receiving yards, and total touchdowns last season.
Yeah, and another guy on a new team, right? He's no longer in Pittsburgh. He did all of that in Pittsburgh. But, then he left to go to to Tampa Bay and fill a role that is already available, right? Ronald White is gone. We've seen Ronald White at times, and I know last year, not the case, right? But, Ronald White, and we'll probably talk about him a little bit more later on in the show, foreshadowing uh, skosh, uh, has produced in this backfield before, and Kenneth Gainwell was not brought into Tampa Bay to not be utilized at least in the pass-catching game. The issue here is we don't know if Bucky Irving is going to be a yearly injury headache, or if he last year was just a one-hit type of thing, where hey, it was a bad year, we're going to chalk it up due to injuries, and then we're going to move on, and he's good. If he misses any time, Kenneth Gainwell, based off of the career highs we saw last year, has the ability to lead this backfield if he needs to if Bucky Irving were to go down and that gives him ridiculous upside.
Yeah, absolutely. Mike Evans is gone, Sterling Shepard is gone, Rashad White is gone. That's 62, 53, and 45 targets. All vacated, ready for Kenneth Gainwell, who we've talked about probably taking over that passing game role. So, Bucky Irving can be the guy on the ground. They don't have to over utilize them. Irving's been pretty good in the passing game, but with those yearly injuries, if it is a thing, they're going to want to limit the touches. One other note, we've talked about this guy a few times as well. The Bucks new offensive coordinator, Zach Robinson, was the offensive coordinator the last two seasons in Atlanta. Bijan Robinson, I understand that he's just a dynamic playmaker and not even close to being anywhere near the guys that we're talking about right now. However, last season, over 100 targets and 72 targets the year before under Zach Robinson. Kenneth Gainwell probably going to see some targets this year.
Yeah, not as well.
Not comparing Bijan and Kenneth Gainwell, like you said, but it's just so much the fact that his offense accounts for passing work to the running back and that's the important part of it right there. It's not just something where they're never going to use the guy. He's already had that in the past. He'll just incorporate it here in the future.
I feel like I've heard this guy's name as a sleeper for basically everybody the last couple of seasons. And it's Josh Downs from Indianapolis, going at 106.3 overall right now, but I feel like this is truly the first opportunity for him to be a sleeper now that Michael Pittman is gone.
I mean, I when I was diving into Josh Downs yesterday, I didn't realize, Kyle, maybe you did, I don't know. I didn't I didn't pay attention to it. Michael Pittman played 31% of his slots snaps in the slot and I was like, "Really?"
Moved him around.
I mean, Josh Downs still dominated his slot snaps in Indianapolis last year. Let's not, you know, get ahead of ourselves here, but he's going to have an even bigger opportunity this year. No Michael Pittman, that's 111 targets that are gone. With what looks like Daniel Jones' resurgence of his career, he could be the week one starter. He's on pace for that. Plus, we know that Alec Pierce is coming off of an ankle injury. He's not 100% healthy. He's not practicing at 100%. Josh Downs in a contract year has the probably the biggest opportunity he's ever had in his career. And at 106.3 overall, I feel like it's I feel like it's too good to pass up, right? If if at that point you're like, "Man, I just need a wide receiver that maybe has some some safe floor weeks," Josh Downs is probably going to fit that role.
Yeah, and for where they're going right now based on their ADP and the price that you would have to pay, I almost feel like I would rather take a shot on Josh Downs at this point. He's going to be a little bit cheaper, but I also have to wonder, is he going to be a little bit more consistent in this offense? We know Alec Pierce is the big play guy. He's led the league in yards per reception the last couple of seasons, but we also have to wonder, is he going to turn into that all around type of guy that he's being paid to be, or if that role will stay similar similar? It almost feels like Josh Downs is a little safer to bet on right now.
I I mean, we've always seen Alec Pierce reliant on the big play, right? Reliant on that big 40-yard catch. Make that big contested catch. Josh Downs could just rack up six receptions for 60 yards every single week and get you right around 10 fantasy points. I mean, he's not got to do anything huge. He just has to be a bye week filler, an injury replacement, and there's probably not going to be very many guys at this point of the draft that maybe have the safe type of floor that Josh Downs will have.
Now, we have talked a lot about this guy's teammate this season, and that's Mike Evans. But, I don't want to forget about Ricky Pearsall, [snorts] currently going at 107 overall. The addition of Mike Evans, I believe, doesn't create a ton of competition for targets because there's 143 vacated targets from this team from last year. Plus, George Kittle is still returning from injury. So, the fact that Mike Evans could still get his, Ricky Pearsall could still get his, and potential efficiency upgrades for Pearsall, he just needs to stay healthy.
That's the only thing. And last year, I was atop the Ricky Pearsall mountain. I was planting the flag. And last year hurt, right? I was I'm all on board with Ricky Pearsall from a talent perspective and then offense he has in San Francisco. I love the overall like the dude just has to stay on the field. And if he stays on the field with Brock Purdy under center, I don't care who else is there, either. I don't care if it's Mike Evans and George Kittle. I don't care how healthy they are. Ricky Pearsall is still going to be a large portion of this offense as long as he is healthy. I think the only reason that I would prefer Downs over Pearsall is just like we said before, that safety factor, right? Where Pearsall, we haven't seen him stay healthy. We have We know he's got others to split targets with. And those that combination just adds a little bit more risk.
And there's one thing that I just want to clarify when it comes to health because I see people argue this. When someone talks about Ricky Pearsall's health, there's always a couple arguments about, well, some of the time he missed was because he got shot. No, I I get that. I understand that.
that one against him.
Yeah, we're not that's not the one that we're holding against him. But, there has been some nagging injuries. Like, even after he came back from the gunshot wound, there was a couple of games where he had nagging injuries in 2024. Last year, missed significant time, came back, and still had some nagging injuries. I will say though for Ricky Pearsall, he's done well in short spurts. For instance, last year from weeks 1 through 4 to begin the season before he got hurt, he caught 20 of his 29 targets for 327 receiving yards. That was the fourth most receiving yards among wide receivers last season to start the year. So, 2025 looked like it was turning out to be an absolute banger, and then it didn't.
Over the last 2 years, Kyle, literally the injuries, non-gunshot wound-related that he's had. He's dealt with a thigh hamstring strain/pull. He's had that on two separate occasions. Excuse me, three separate occasions. He's He's another one of the soft tissue guys. We've also had a PCL sprain in his knee that he has missed time for three separate times. So, it's not We're We're never going to hold the whole gunshot thing against him. Well, that's that's not the I think we all understand that's not something we bake in to these analyses of players, but the the soft tissue stuff, the knee sprains, like those are the things that are just like, man, they're when they're nagging and you just never know what you're going to get, it can be a headache. And we've had them for the last 2 years. So, let's not look at the big injury and with the one that everybody knows about, look at the smaller stuff. That's the stuff that kind of just gets a little bit hard to handle when it comes to fantasy football.
Absolutely. The next guy just feels like he's been forgotten. He's going 123 overall right now. And you know what? I can even be a little guilty of this as well. I loved Matthew Golden last year. It did not work out the way that I wanted it to, but they got rid of Dontayvion Wicks, they got rid of Romeo Doubs, they paid Christian Watson a buttload of money, and I've been a little bit on the Christian Watson bandwagon this year more than normal. But yeah, we shouldn't forget about Matthew Golden, the former first-round pick.
And that's the thing. He's He's first-round draft capital, and they parted ways with two guys. Like that just on the you don't even have to go any deeper than that and just say, "Okay, the guy should have a a bigger opportunity this year." He has 429 speed. He was ninth overall in the NFL last year in target separation at 2.07 yards. Kyle, that is 6 ft between him and the closest defender at the time of the target. The guy can get open. That's not the problem. We saw it in the playoff game. He had four catches, 84 yards, and a touchdown. We know that Tucker Kraft is coming off of torn ACL and with all those targets available, sure, Christian Watson and his massive contract are going to absorb some of those, but if Matthew Golden can absorb 60 to 70 of what we lost from Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks, it's going to put him in that 100 to 120 category and with his type of game-breaking speed, he may not be the most consistent, but he could have some of that upside swing that could win you matchups when you need it most later on in the season.
And that separation point is a great point because that's really where he's going to win down the field is being able to create that separation. And, you know, obviously, it doesn't matter if it's 6 ft or 6 in, it's all about how you use it. So, hopefully, Matthew Golden uses it to the most of his potential this year.
Next.
We've got a couple of rookies that we need to throw out here real quick though and the first one is going to be Antonio Williams out of Washington and going at 177.7 right now.
It's it's all about they're going so late, right? Like there's just like it's so cheap at this point. It's almost free. It's one of your last picks of your redraft drafts. I mean, Antonio Williams was drafted to a spot in Washington where they have an immediate need. Right now, the wide receiver two in Washington is Treylon Burks and Treylon Burks hasn't been good since since ever. Kyle, I don't know if Treylon Burks has ever really been good since college, right? But we know Deebo.
I thought he was supposed to be A.J. Brown 2.0.
Yeah, that's what everybody told us. Everyone lied. He was not that good. But Deebo is gone. We know that Terry McLaurin is going to draw the top defensive attention. Antonio Williams can win on all three levels. Right now, he's projected to be the starting slot wide receiver on week one. He has huge yards after the catch upside. But I kind of like it going to a David Blow offense and not a Kliff Kingsbury offense. I think that's going to open up things a little bit more to allow them to spread it around. And I feel like Antonio Williams could be sneaky 100 target territory as a rookie.
Another rookie, but in Atlanta, going 190.7. I know we've mentioned him briefly a couple of times, but diving into it a little bit more is Zach Branch. Could he be the number two target instead of Kyle Pitts this year?
Just just throwing it out there.
he's the ultimate what if, Kyle, because not a lot of people know much about Zach Branch because he barely ran a route in college. He was always getting the ball behind the line of scrimmage and just trying to make things happen. But what if they turn him into a slot wide receiver that sees 60 to 70 targets. Dude has ridiculous speed. As of right now, you're right. All they have is Drake London and Kyle Pitts. Somebody else is going to have to catch some footballs there. But what I really keyed in on is earlier in the off-season, they did an interview with Tua, and he said that Branch really reminds him of Jaylen Waddle on the field, which is a great compliment to Zach Branch. Now, obviously, he has a ways to go, but what really drew Tua to him, and this is so stupid, Kyle, but this is how this is how I look at the minute details. They wear the same damn number, so he feels like he's still throwing to Jaylen Waddle. I mean, I mean, it's something stupid. It's a little advantage, though. He's a he sees 17, he goes there. Like he's just he's trained because of his days in Miami. So if it's Tua, he's got a speedy slot guy like he's had in the past with some similarities. And it's not like Zach Wright Branch wasn't just some like flash-in-the-pan. Did you know that he was a higher-rated recruit than Casey Costeption coming into college?
He's got lots of potential. And if anything were to happen to Drake London after his injuries last season, hopefully that doesn't happen again. He's got an even bigger opportunity as well. Now we dove into a few guys that we wanted to give you some more details about. But if you've missed some of our off-season videos, there are some guys that you could still still steal super late, but we've included in other videos before. So we would encourage you to go check those out. And we're going to put these guys up on the screen right now. We've talked about Jonathan Brooks and Malik Washington both in deep sleepers videos. Their ADP is still putting them way late where you could end up stealing them and they could be great assets to your fantasy team. And then Isaiah Likely and Rashad White. Both of these guys can be stolen super late as well, and they were in our league winners videos. And now those two videos are going to be linked down in the description below, and we've got the thumbnails next to the pictures of these guys on the screen too so you can see exactly which videos you should be looking for.
Yeah, we we've we've dove into these guys before. We wanted to make sure we brought them up again. We know not everybody watches all off-season videos. So trying to include some of this information so you know where to go back and look at. We figured it'd be a little bit helpful for you. There's some there's some great information on these guys. I mean, I remember when we talked about Rashad White, Kyle and I talked about how he reunited with Jayden Daniels and we kind of like I totally forgot they were together at Arizona State. Like there's a there's some keys in there with some of these guys that it would very it would very much behoove you to go watch these videos.
Yeah, absolutely. Go check out the deep dives on these players that we've already done. They're still going this late, so it means not a lot of people are paying attention to them yet. So, if you can get on the bandwagon now, then you're absolutely going to be stealing them. Well, leave a comment down below. Let us know what player right now you think you can steal towards the end of your drafts. And don't forget, if this video gets 1,000 likes, Jake and I will pick somebody from the comment section to win a free draft guide. But more importantly than any of that, if you have any hype points left for the week, please use them on this video. It helps it out a ton. It gets the video out there to more people, and it helps us keep doing what we love, which is helping all of you win fantasy championships. For Jake and myself, we're going to get out of here. Stay safe, stay healthy, and we'll catch you on the next episode of the Fantasy Headliners.
Analytics, all changed. Full of challenge, [music] not the same. Jake and Kyle, you know the name. Headliner nation, we running the game.