Welcome to the Player Hater’s Ball (hate, hate, hate, hate, hate)! If you missed my “5 Coachspeak Fantasy Football Targets” article, you can find that here.
The following are five fades for the 2025 season, based on coachspeak I’ve pulled from the Coachspeak Index Discord.
Fantasy Football Coachspeak Index Fades
Kyren Williams (RB – LAC)
Before we begin, let the record reflect that I was on the correct side of the 2024 Kyren Williams “Punt ReturnGate.”
What has changed between 2024 and 2025 is the difference in how the Rams are talking about their offense and their backfield.
After Los Angeles drafted Blake Corum in the 2024 NFL Draft, general manager Les Snead stated the intention behind the pick was “so we don’t just totally run down Kyren.”
Following the selection of Jarquez Hunter this year, Snead explained that “We do think the way this NFL season’s going – the amount of wear and tear that goes into playing running back – that having a committee, and a committee with different skill sets, only helps us continue being able to run the football like we want to run it.”
And if you go back to January, you’ll find head coach Sean McVay envisioning “a little bit more versatility” in his 2025 offense, as he gushed about the run scheme that Liam Coen was able to pull off in Tampa Bay last season.
Hunter brings a change-of-pace home run speed to the Rams’ backfield that they’ve been lacking.
As far as Corum is concerned, McVay said in a press conference on August 10 that “We anticipate him being a big part of what we’re gonna do this year.”
Make no mistake that the Rams love Kyren Williams. McVay will often mention him, unprompted, which is a bullish sign for a player. I believe Williams is still the clear RB1 in the City of Angels, but he needs his traditional bellcow role to pay off his mid-3rd round ADP, and I think this is the year that we see other running backs get into the mix more.
Javonte Williams (RB – DAL)
Some of the coachspeak:
HC Brian Schottenheimer (August 11): [on whether Javonte Williams is the starter]: I’m not gonna name the starter right now. Javonte’s having a great camp. I’m not gonna say he’s the starter, but Javonte’s having a hell of a camp. I love his professionalism, I love everything he does, he’s so smart.
OC Klayton Adams (August 11): [on how Javonte Williams has stood out amongst the RB room]: I think experience and wisdom. He’s had really good years. He’s a mature guy that has good wisdom.
When a coach is asked how a player is standing out, and the answer is basically, “he’s been alive for a while and would make a great Dalai Lama,” that’s less than ideal.
In a July 31 presser, Schottenheimer said it was still too early to tell whether the Cowboys would employ a backfield by committee. Eleven days later, he had the chance to commit to Williams as the starter and declined that option.
Think what you want of Miles Sanders, but it’s hard to argue that there’s a noticeable talent gap between he and Williams. Then there’s rookie Jaydon Blue, whose speed may be the only differentiator possessed by anyone in this running back room. Additionally, the underrated storylines of KaVontae Turpin getting backfield snaps and Schottenheimer’s unhealthy obsession with Hunter Luepke just serve to complicate matters further for Williams’ prospects of paying off his ADP.
Trey Benson (RB – ARI)
Some of the coachspeak:
HC Jonathan Gannon (May 28): James Conner is getting himself ready to carry the load for us.
OC Drew Petzing (July 28): [on whether James Conner is still the workhorse back] “Absolutely. I think James has proven that over the last couple years. Just the way he carries the ball and what he brings to the offense. I think that’s always gonna be the case.”
[on whether Petzing anticipates Trey Benson having a bigger role than last year]: “Yes and no. I think a lot of that is gonna be predicated on what we’re doing in a given game, what we’re trying to accomplish, and, again, what we’re seeing on defense.”
Gannon (August 5): [on whether the message from the coaching staff to James Conner and Trey Benson has been that the Cardinals have two RB1s]: “Not from me. It’s compete for your role… Probably what they’re alluding to – both of those guys – is they both want to play, and they both think they can impact the game in a positive way, and I agree with them.”
That August 5 Gannon quote came after James Conner stated on August 2 that “We’re both RB1, [Trey Benson]’s gonna play a lot this year.”
The Benson truthers glommed onto that Conner quote like Chet Hanks to a patois accent.
I’ve got some news for you, though. Chet Hanks isn’t Jamaican, and James Conner isn’t the Cardinals’ playcaller. The people who are actually in charge of the offense are telling you that James Conner will once again be a workhorse.
If you want to make a bet that Conner gets hurt, fine (just don’t look up which of the two backs missed more games due to injuries last year). However, the idea that Benson is going to be splitting this backfield with Conner is Ja-makin’ you sound crazy.
Marvin Mims Jr. (WR – DEN)
The preseason snap count actuaries are back at it again. “Marvin Mims Jr. stayed on the field with the starters in the preseason! That means he’s the Broncos’ locked-in WR2!”
Copy-and-pasting preseason usage to regular season usage is horrible process. Every head coach and team has a different agenda in the preseason. We saw the Bears and Seahawks treat their officially unofficial games like a dress rehearsal. The Raiders ran an extremely vanilla operation, because Pete Carroll didn’t want to put out any tape on what their offense will actually look like this season.
Denver head coach Sean Payton likes playing his guys in phases during the preseason, starting with one group, and then switching them out en masse like a hockey line change. Which player occupied the WR2 spot means very little. Tim Patrick ran as the clear WR2 with Denver’s starters last preseason. By the end of the month, the Broncos had released him.
During the regular season, Payton prefers utilizing rotations, which he recently pointed out – specifically about the WR2 spot.
Mims’ skill set may lead to him providing a couple of spike weeks in best ball, but the takes that he’s now a full-time starter based on his preseason snaps are misguided, and he’s going to be a nightmare to roster in redraft.
Kyle Pitts (TE – ATL)
Some of the coachspeak:
OC Zac Robinson (May 21): “For Kyle, it’s just, how can he take that next step of the next level of details, the next level of consistency – all those things that we’ve talked about, kinda, with him and have talked about in the past.”
We’re looking for that next level of understanding of the offense and just the intent of what we’re trying to get done, and playing fast.
Is it good or bad that a fifth-year tight end is being talked about like a rookie UDFA? I’m gonna say it’s bad.
I can’t help but be reminded of Raheem Morris’ comments about Pitts in a postgame presser on December 1, 2024, where he said the following: “I would like to see Kyle get more production. I would like to see him have more opportunities. And whether that’s us getting it to him, or him doing a better job, we’ll figure those things out as we go.”
Pitts’ snap percentages after those games went as follows: 78.4, 39.7, 44.8, 46.9, 44.4. That first game where he played on 78.4% of offensive snaps was a blowout loss. The next four games consisted of three one-score contests and a blowout win, and that’s what I believe the Kyle Pitts experience will be once again this year. He’ll be involved when the Falcons are trying to play catch-up, but he’ll be a ghost in games where Atlanta needs a tight end who can block.
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