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Late-Round Perspectives: Nathan Jahnke artwork

Late-Round Perspectives: Nathan Jahnke

The Late-Round Fantasy Football Podcast

December 20, 2024

Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus joins the show to talk about PFF's processes, a way he finds an edge in fantasy football, Deebo Samuel's season, and so much more.

Speakers JJ Zachariason, Nathan Jahnke

TopicsFantasy SportsSportsFootball

JJ Zachariason (0:00)

Nathan Jahnke is the lead fantasy football analyst and a senior software engineer at Pro Football Focus. He once served as the Director of Analytics at PFF too. He's one of the best rankers in the game, he's got a degree in actuarial science, so he's mathematically smarter than all of us. These are his late-round perspectives.

This episode is sponsored by Underdog. Underdog is the easiest place to play fantasy sports, and they give you a ton of different games and contests to choose from each week. If you think drafting is over because the season started, you'd be wrong. You can draft teams over there each week in literal minutes. Right now, if you sign up on Underdog with promo code LATEROUND, you not only get a deposit offer of up to $1,000, but you also get access to my rest of season rankings. Those will be emailed to you once you sign up. But when you sign up, you have to use promo code LATEROUND. Head to underdogfantasy.com or download the app to do so. Again, that's promo code LATEROUND. Now back to the show. Yeah, man. So what's the jersey you're wearing today? I know that you're a big... Do you have a big jersey collection?

Nathan Jahnke (1:15)

Yeah, I've got about one or two for every team. I've got Austin Eckler on right now. Typically when there's one game a night, I try to wear a jersey of a team that I think is going to win the game. I've got the Chargers winning.

JJ Zachariason (1:27)

So you've got the Chargers getting the dubs. Just so people know, this will be released on Friday. We will not hold you to the result of that game.

Nathan Jahnke (1:39)

We'll just cut this out. If the Broncos win, it'll be fine.

JJ Zachariason (1:42)

Right, exactly. I love hearing about jersey collections. I'm a big, or at least I was, I feel like in the last five, seven years or so, I haven't been collecting as much as I used to, but I was very, very into, especially in my 20s, I was very into getting obscure players. As many, I have, dude, I kid you not, I have a Selvin Young jersey in my closet right now. Just the most random, obscure, like what's the craziest one that you've got?

Nathan Jahnke (2:16)

Well, like the ones that I've been getting a lot recently are either Walter Payton, Man of the Year winners or nominees, since I got some earlier in life and then find out some of the things some players did off the field and I'm like, I don't want that jersey, so I'm thinking if I get Walter Payton, Man of the Year either winners or nominees, those are generally players that are well representation of the league.

JJ Zachariason (2:39)

That's an incredibly logical and thoughtful way to buy jerseys, honestly. You more than likely won't be burned by them, like you said, doing something stupid. I never even thought of doing something like that. I'm sitting here and I remember I took a trip to Seoul, South Korea to visit a friend 12, 13 years ago, a really long time ago, and I'm sitting there and I'm like, oh man, that's where I got Selvin Young. I got a Dwayne Bowe jersey there, like I got an Archie Manning, Dwayne Bowe and Selvin Young. It was my hall from South Korea when I went on that trip. I think another random one I have is a Jeff Blake Bengals jersey.

That's like a last era or two eras ago basically, a player there. Speaking of Cincinnati, you're in Cincinnati, right?

Nathan Jahnke (3:30)

Yes, I'm in Cincinnati. Once Chris Collinsworth bought Pro Football Focus, they wanted me to move, so I've been in Cincinnati for about a decade now.

JJ Zachariason (3:37)

Yes, I was there. I think when I left was about when you guys all started migrating and moving there, because I was there for about four years and I lived in Covington, so I was right there, right across the river. I know the city well.

I always struggled with it because I'm from born and raised Pittsburgh. I live in Charlotte now, but born and raised Pittsburgh. I always, it was like, because the two cities are comparable just as cities and as cultures and stuff like that. So I would always tell people because you have pride in the city that you grew up in, that Cincinnati was literally just a worst version of Pittsburgh. That's the best way to describe what Cincinnati is like.

Nathan Jahnke (4:15)

Yeah, I've always like when I'm wearing the jersey is that fits a Steelers game, and I think they're going to win. I'm like, okay, don't go out with this jersey on, just wear it while I'm on the inside. So I don't get the wrong idea about me or something.

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