🚩 Red Flag Players to Target in Fantasy Football + Kyle Soppe’s 2026 Hot Take | ESPN Fantasy

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
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**Liz Loza** (0:30)
I'm going to list a bunch of names. You tell me what they all have in common. Tim Boyle, Trevor Simeon, Tarad Taylor, Joe Flacco, Mike White, Zach Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, and Justin Field. Hey, I'm Liz Loza. This is Facts vs. Feelings. Today's fact is that red flags can be fun.
Hey, Dopp in a Box. Welcome back. I'm so glad you decided to return.

**Daniel Dopp** (0:56)
Hey, Liz Loza. Thank you for letting me return. I'm very excited about it. We're doing a show on red flags today. I don't think I have any red flags, do I?

**Liz Loza** (1:05)
Oh, no, girl. You are all green and beige. No problems here.

**Daniel Dopp** (1:08)
Okay, I appreciate that. Because when I was telling Mom, Dopp, that's what our show was today, she said you had enough red flags for both of us, which I didn't really understand what that meant, but I assumed that you were just bound to full in that region for some reason. So congratulations.

**Liz Loza** (1:19)
I mean, I am bound to full, but I don't know about those red flags. I guess that just makes me more fun. Should we also have fun on this episode? Let's have some fun today.

**Daniel Dopp** (1:27)
Yes. Let's dive into some players that may have some red flags. We'll start at the quarterback spot with Jayden Daniels. Looking to prove last year's injury history is behind him, and that that rookie season where he was a top five guy was not a fluke. Liz Loza, it's 2026
Are you in on Jayden Daniels this year?

**Liz Loza** (1:44)
I'm confident that he is going to prove that it was, as you said, not a fluke. Obviously, the expectations for Daniels were massive heading into his sophomore effort last year. He was the third quarterback coming off the board, and then he got hurt early, and hurt again, and hurt again. In fact, he was limited to just four fully healthy games. But the injuries didn't stop at the quarterback position. They extended to the entire offense. Terry McClure and Austin Eckler, Zach Ertz all went down and missed significant time with injury. But things are better now.
Everybody's better. There's been a refresh. Daniels himself is better and back to health. Terry McClure in better and back to health. Austin Eckler has been replaced by Rashad White. Zach Ertz replaced by Chigo Conquo. Also, the team has added via the NFL draft, Antonio Williams, who I think has the potential to light up the slot. So now it is a new year. It is a new dawn. And Daniels can prove that he is legit.

**Daniel Dopp** (2:44)
Liz, and obviously we don't just have that on the field replacements. We have an off the field replacement to David Blau taking over as the play caller and offensive coordinator for Washington here. Does that give you any more confidence in Jayden Daniels with Blau taking over as that guy?

**Liz Loza** (2:58)
Excellent point. It does, in fact, make me more confident because Blau was promoted internally. He was formerly last year the quarterback's coach in Washington. So there's some familiarity with Daniels, both personally and professionally in terms of his playing style. And Blau has promised to put forth a positionally friendly scheme that protects Daniels. Now I know people are going to say protects Daniels. That means a likely dip in rushing opportunities. That's not good for Fantasy. Well, number one, it is if it keeps your elite talent actually healthy and on the field. And number two, even if Daniels rookie rushing season stats were halved, he would still finish as a top five producer at the position. So it is okay to take a little bit of volume away in order for him to actually remain on the field.
So yes, are the injury concerns legitimate? Yes, this is the NFL, people get hurt. This is what is going to happen. But I think that given the discount of Daniels going in the sixth round, it is a perfectly reasonable spot to lean in on a player who has proven to be a quick learner, an electric talent and offer top five positional upside.

**Daniel Dopp** (4:12)
All right, let's look at the wide receiver position, Liz Loza, Rashee Rice.