Draft Sharks Fantasy Football Podcast

In this debut episode of the IDP podcast, I'm tracking down under-reported stories that will shake up fantasy football rankings, impact drafts and uncover defensive sleepers during the season. Should you worry about Rams LB Mark Barron or Texans DE/LB Jadeveon Clowney? Should you draft Lions DE Ezekiel Ansah? Is there a sneaky weekly LB starter emerging in the AFC West? Come find out, and then let me know what you think of the new show in the Comments section below.

Is LeGarrette Blount gonna get cut? Is Jordan Reed ready to perform like his usual self? Is Jared Goff for real?We're almost to the 3rd week of preseason NFL games, which perennially serves as the league-wide dress rehearsal. That means it's time to take stock of what everyone's doing in their practice runs and which headlines we should react to or ignore.Let's sort it all out and discover some undervalued late-round RB options we should have been liking more all along.

Is Blake Bortles gonna make it to Week 1 as the Jacksonville starter? Will it even matter for fantasy football drafts? We're looking over his most recent worst outing, his coach's proclamation that the starting job's in jeopardy and what that means late in our drafts. August has also been a rough month for Bills QB Tyrod Taylor, who has fallen out of favor around DS headquarters. And plenty of other players have already made big moves up or down the ADP rankings in this busiest month of fantasy drafting. We'll pick out some new values and bemoan some players rising beyond of interest range.

Last week's show came just a day before the NFL dumped some major news on us. Ezekiel Elliott got a 6-game suspension. Sammy Watkins got exiled to a land without offense. And Jordan Matthews got ... overshadowed by the other 2.But now it's time to break them all down. All 3 situations drastically changed the fantasy football rankings, and the moves affected more than just the players directly involved. We're breaking it down from all the angles.Then comes the usual spate of injury news and a spin around the league after the 1st full week of preseason games generated some interesting story lines. Whether you play strictly redraft or dynasty as well, you'll want to stick around.

On DraftSharks.com this week, we're featuring our set of articles that annually proves to be the most popular: The Perfect Draft series.Whether you play in a 10-team, 12-team or 14-team league -- PPR or standard -- we've got pick-by-pick, round-by-round analysis to help you prepare for whatever comes your way. And now that we've built and published this year's versions, we're sharing the lessons and revelations we gained from putting them together.

You've already checked out our 2017 projections and rankings. But have you paid attention the ceiling and floor projections on your MVP Board to look at the whole range of possible outcomes?We're opening this 1st show of August by breaking down the impact of early training camp injuries -- Ryan Tannehill, Corey Davis, Jordan Reed, etc. -- but then we're staring at the ceiling.Jared and Matt have draft targets in every range (beyond the 1st 4 rounds) capable of smashing expectations and beating up your fantasy opponents.

Travis Kelce led all TEs in fantasy points in what was a down 2016 season for the position. Rob Gronkowski missed 8 games; Jordan Reed 4; Tyler Eifert 8.How should you treat those guys in 2017 fantasy drafts? When's the best time to target the position? And who are the undervalued guys you should be going after?Let's talk TEs!

If you head into your draft determined to get Aaron Rodgers, then you're helping your league mates. But being too stubborn in waiting for a QB can also freeze you out of value. Let's look back at the recent fantasy trends at the position before we drop back and read our options for 2017.

If you drafted a WR in the 1st round last season, then he might well have let you down. Combine that with some enormous RB performances, and we're seeing some significant early-draft changes in 2017.This week's WR preview show looks at how and when you should target your 1st wideout, and then how the rest of the position shakes out after that. Who's going much later than recent history says he should? Who's getting way too much draft love so far? And which situations leave us with more to learn?

It's officially fantasy football draft season!Well, it has been for a while around here now. Even though we haven't delivered a new podcast for a few weeks, the 2017 player rankings, MVP Board and plenty more have been live on the site since early June.But even now that our projections are out there for the world to see, we're far from finished with them.Besides the obvious challenges of injuries and camp battles, there are simply players and situations that we're still trying to figure out. Should we believe the negative buzz around Carlos Hyde? Is Bilal Powell really ready to become a full-season fantasy contributor? And which Washington WR is worth owning?Those are just some of the questions we're pondering this week -- and will continue to ponder through the summer.

It's projections season. The official DS numbers hit the site Tuesday!But before those puppies go live, Jared and Matt have to mesh their individual ranks. We spent last week's show pointing out some players who landed higher than we expected going into the process. Now it's time for the guys who checked in low.That QB who just delivered a team-boosting, dynamo season? Yeah, he's in for a fall.That NFC North RB you keep wanting to like? Math's not as much of a fan.And the WR group presents plenty of options -- from Round 1 down through WR3 range.Check out our picks and let us know what you think.

If you listen to this podcast regularly, then you know that Matt's not a member of the Amari Cooper fan club. That's why he wound up surprised with how high the 3rd-year Raiders WR landed in his 2017 projections.And that's the theme for today's show. We're less than 2 weeks away from the official Draft Sharks projections, MVP Board, etc. going live. So the boys are putting numbers to the names they've been wondering about all offseason. This always leads to some players landing higher than expected in the rankings, and others checking in lower.After nearly a month away from the podcast, let's go positive to get things going again. Which NFC and AFC North RBs dot the list? Which veteran WR continues to get much less draft love than he deserves? And which young TEs could be set for fantasy breakthroughs in 2017?Let us know who you're most excited about in this early part of draft season ...

Be honest. How familiar were you with Chad Williams and Kenny Golladay before last weekend?We certainly weren't thinking of them as highly as the Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions (respectively) were. But we're definitely not ignoring them after each went in Friday night's 3rd round. Did they land in good spots for their short/long-term value?And what were the other takeaways from Round 2 and beyond? (Round 1 we covered on last week's pod.) How did the weekend shake up our RB rookie rankings -- and potentially change the way that group fits with the WRs for dynasty rookie drafts?Let's run through every position group in this class before we move on to preparing for the 2017 fantasy football season.

Wow.None of us expected the top 3 WRs to go among the top 9 overall picks. All 3 QBs drafted watched teams trade up to get them (and the QB-needy Browns move down away from them).Just 2 RBs left the board.No TE got picked in the 1st half of the round.So what did these first 32 picks do to the dynasty rookie-draft landscape, and will they change this class' trajectory for 2017 redraft leagues?We're breaking it all down, while getting excited for plenty more fantasy intrigue on Friday and Saturday.

With Jared on vacation, Kevin's stepping into the co-host seat and bringing some rankings with him.We're starting out with some more chatter on the incoming rookies, who will finally find their NFL homes next week. Can Matt find someone to join his side on Zay Jones, or is he in for an uphill battle on this WR crush?The redraft rankings bring a little more controversy, starting with a certain Raiders wideout who just might prove to be a rankings hot button for the 2nd straight year. He's far from the only focal point, though.Kevin ranks a couple of rookie backs quite high -- before we even know where they'll land. He's more optimistic for Marshawn Lynch than Matt is. And we're all trying to sort out the Seattle and New England backfields.Listen in and then let us know whose side you're on.