Fantasy Football Today - 09/01 BONUS ZekeCast & More Fantasy Football News

Episode Date: September 1, 2017

Updating you on Ezekiel Elliott's situation (as of 4:30 PM Eastern on Friday) and how early we would draft him (1:00) ... Touching on Andrew Luck (6:45), why the NYJ running game just got better (9:16) and a couple of rookie WRs and their chances to be great ... Advice on drafting Tevin Coleman and Derrick Henry (16:21), who the best BUF WR is (18:23) and if Patrick Mahomes will see the field this year (20:12) ... Email us at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. Here we go! We're here to help you win the ultimate bragging rights. A fantasy title. Let's go! Now here's Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.

Well, we're going to do our best to let you know as you head into the weekend what you should do about Ezekiel Elliott. Welcome, everybody. Get ready for some fantasy football. Get ready for some FanDuel. Fantasy football is back and FanDuel is back. Fantasy football for everyday fans. Sign up today.

Go to FanDuel.com and click the Join Now button. And our code is CBSPOD. You're going to get a free entry into the NFL Sunday Million with over $1 million in cash prizes. That's big time right there. When you make your first deposit on FanDuel, use the promo code CBSPOD. Void where prohibited. So Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath here. We're just going to do a quick show for you.

And it's going to mostly be about Zeke, maybe some other items. Tell me right now. I'll explain the whole situation in just a second. But tell me right now. Start with Heath, then Jamie, then Dave. Which overall pick are you taking Ezekiel Elliott with? I moved him up to 15. I think that's still the lowest of the group, but I am awfully indecisive about this whole situation.

I don't feel like it's set in stone with what's happened with Ezekiel Elliott as everyone else seems to. Jamie? I'm taking him third overall. I think if you're going to move him into the first round, he's worth taking in the spot that he seems to be trending toward, which it sounds like they're going to have him on the field for week one, and they may in fact have him on the field for the entire season. So I'm going to take him as the third best running back behind David Johnson and Le'Veon Bell.

So PPR, where are you taking him overall? I'm going to take him fifth behind Johnson, Bell, Brown, Julio. Dave? If I was as confident that Ezekiel Elliott was going to avoid any suspension, I would move him up to second overall in any format ahead of Le'Veon Bell, just because Bell's coming back from the holdout. That's something that wasn't the case when zeke got suspended in the first place but because we don't have that crystal clarity yet i moved them to 13th standard 14th ppr okay so here's i'm just going to read directly from cbs

sports.com the nflpa with lawyer jeffrey kessler leading the way filed a petition on behalf of elliott asking the eastern district court of Court of Texas to overturn any forthcoming suspension ruling from Henderson. Henderson being the arbitrator who is overseeing the suspension right now. And we hope to get an answer from Henderson on Monday. So basically, he's facing a six-game suspension. An arbitrator is going to rule on that. And then no matter what the arbitrator decides, unless he says there's no suspension, the NFLPA, on behalf of Ezekiel Elliott, is going to go to court and try to get it overturned.

And we know this is what happened with Tom Brady last year. So as Jamie said, it could linger. Now, he's probably, based on what I heard on the Pick 6 podcast with Jason LaConfora, at some point, there's probably going to be a suspension but this is what how i interpreted it jason said the nfl's record in appeals cases is pretty strong so i took that to mean like brady eventually there's going to be a suspension but it could be a long drawn out process and we just don't know when so what do you guys think what are you expecting go for it the only thing i think you left out is like this is all going to play out in court for sure but we don't know for sure he's filed an emergency request for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction he's asking the courts to say you cannot penalize him until we've

decided this he has to show two things for that to happen he has has to show that this will harm him, which that's pretty easy, and he has to show that he has a reasonable chance of winning. That's the part I don't know. I don't understand how a judge could look at it and say, this player is saying the NFL punished him unfairly. We've ruled multiple times that the NFL can punish people unfairly, and that's part of their collective bargaining agreement, what's Ezekiel Elliott's reasonable chance of winning this case?

It's not necessarily winning the case. It's how long does it take in court, you know? He's going to be suspended at some point. Right, right. Whether it's this year or next year. Right, but you don't get a restraining order if there's no chance for you to win the case. None of us think he has a chance to win the case. Well, here's the two things that are working in his favor,

and we've said this one at least from the beginning. He was never charged illegally, so he has that to stand on from his side of things. The other part, which was the thing that's been revealed, which is why I think their case has become a hell of a lot stronger, is the lead investigator saying that he shouldn't have been suspended to begin with. That's according to them, though, right? Or is that a fact? I think that's – I believe they have that documented.

Yes. I believe that's true. I just – Goodell – Goodell has the right to do whatever he wants. Yeah, it doesn't matter. And so that's the thing. But if the judge rules that it's not – there's not enough evidence to decide this right now, which it doesn't sound like there is enough evidence to suspend. What the NFL screwed up is they shouldn't have made it six games.

What they should have done was made it three games and get it knocked down to two or whatever. They went to such an extreme with the penalty. That's the policy, though. That's the domestic violence policy, right? The first offense is six games. You and I were arguing about that offline. That policy was basically a press release. This is what we're going to do from this point forward.

It's not something that was ever collectively bargained. So there is a chance that they appeal to the district court in Texas and they say, no, I'm not granting this. You're suspended. I don't think that's going to happen. I don't know. But we're guessing. We're guessing at this point. The fact that they filed the lawsuit, I don't know that it changes that much.

I mean we probably should have seen it coming you know this was a predictable step they're they're trying to go the brady combination though it's the lead investigator also saying what okay uh what was that if you were to believe their side of the story then there's then they've got a good case now lawsuits and what one side says, it could be total garbage. But they're painting a good picture of a bad investigation, and the NFL is saying no, no, no. So instead of us speculating, do we have anything else to say about this? I think you guys made yourself pretty clear. Jamie's going early first round, third overall.

Dave, if he gets more clarity, he'll put him up at second overall in standard. Jamie, by the way, will do fifth overall in PPR. But as of now, Dave is thinking late first round, and Heath is thinking 15th overall, right? Yep. Anything else to say, or should we go to our next topic? Let's move on. Moving on here.

So also Le'Veon Bell reported. That's great. Also on the Pick 6 podcast, I recommend it because Lock and and Fora knows a lot more about this than we do. So just take a listen. Andrew Locke not expected to play in week one. But Locke and Fora, he personally doesn't think that Andrew Locke's going to play in September. He thinks that they're playing it like this publicly because they want to sell tickets. They want to give some hope to their franchise.

But he's saying they should just put him on the pup list. So how are you guys operating with Andrew Luck at this point? Well, first of all, he's falling so far in fantasy drafts where you can forget about risk being an issue with him. We're talking about round nine, round ten as the time when people are starting to take a look at Andrew Luck and consider putting him on the fantasy bench. But I think there's a little something to what Jason says, and here's what we know. We're recording this Friday, September 1st, 4.18 p.m. Eastern time. By this time on September 2nd, we will know whether or not Andrew Luck is on the PUP list.

And we'll also know if the Colts are liars or idiots. And they could be both, because if they put Luck on the pup list, then they should have found another quarterback to begin the season with other than Staples. So hopefully your draft isn't until late Saturday night or Sunday or something like that because then you'll be able to know if he's on the pup list to begin the year, you've got to make the choice, do I want to carry him and have him hog up a roster spot for six games? I don't know if a lot of fantasy owners are going to want to do that,

especially since without Andrew Luck on that team, I don't know if they have a chance of winning any of their games to begin the season. Who do they play that they can beat? Maybe the Rams, maybe the Browns, maybe the 49ers. They could go 3-3. The Browns are better than them. I think their defense is terrible. The Browns should be favored.

Yeah, no, they probably will be dogs. If they're 0-6 when Andrew Luck is eligible to come off the pup list, should they take him off? Yeah, because they could. If he starts the year on the pup list, that they just let him rest the whole year? No, why would they do that? What's the point? Look, I just took him 102nd whole year? No, why would they do that? What's the point?

Look, I just took him 102nd overall, like 20 minutes ago. I took him 102nd overall on a mock draft. And I took Derek Carr, and then I took Carson Palmer, because I forgot that I took Derek Carr. So don't do that. So you've got two quarterbacks at least. Yes, exactly. 2.5 quarterbacks.

But I think we've been operating under the loose assumption that Andrew Luck will be ready by week three. That's what was reported in Indianapolis a couple weeks ago. I think that's the way you should approach it, too. Jamie, the Jets acquired Jermaine Kearse from Seattle for defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson. Is this a bigger deal for Seattle or for the Jets? Oh, for Seattle. You can pencil it in right now. Patriots, Seahawks, Super Bowl. Well,

what about the Jets' wide receivers for fantasy purposes? Who's the best one to own now that they have Kers? Phil Robbie Anderson. I think this helps the Jets' running backs more maybe than it hurts their wide receivers. He's a very good blocker. One thing Jermaine Kers can do is block. Okay. And Matt Forte, by the way, said the trade rumors, they're fake news.

He's still there. He made the team. That's great. Yeah. I thought about taking him in round like 11 or 12. He went a couple picks before me in this 12-team standard scoring league that we just did. Tennessee wide receiver Corey Davis will be ready for week one. Meanwhile, rookie wide receiver John Ross is expected to miss

a couple of weeks with a sprained knee. What are the chances that John Ross, top 10 pick, who was only supposed to go later in the NFL draft because of health issues, not because of talent issues, what is the chance he has a mini Odell Beckham rookie season where people just forget about him because he's hurt during training camp, he misses the start of the season, but he comes in, and damn, he's a really good player. John Ross. I think you said it best, the mini Odell Beckham season. Because don't put him in the same conversation as Beckham because that's not fair. And the thing about Beckham was when he took off is when Victor Cruz went down to that receiving core was just bare.

You look at Davis. Look, Eric Decker is still going to be a contributor. Richard Matthews will be a contributor. Richard Matthews will be a contributor. Lenny Walker will be a contributor. But Davis is clearly the best of that bunch. John Ross, John Ross, Jamie. Where did I go? You went to Corey Davis.

I had just mentioned Corey Davis, so sorry about that. John Ross has no chance whatsoever. Yep, 0%. Okay. Mike Williams has a better chance. Oh, that's okay. That's a good one. Houston left tackle Dwayne Brown may not report before week one.

He's been holding out for a new contract. He's an important player for them, Dave, and this is more bad news for the Texans O-line. It is, and so it's just something you've got to keep in mind, certainly with everybody in the Texans, but especially that run game with Lamar Miller and Deontay Foreman. Okay. So is anybody downgrading Lamar Miller based on this news

that Dwayne Brown may not report before week one? No. No, I'm not. And I'm seeing him fall to the fourth round now, and I think it goes from a situation where, man, I'm not excited to draft Lamar Miller in the third round to I'm pretty excited to draft Lamar Miller in the fourth round. too. I'm pretty excited to draft Lamar Miller in the fourth round. Yep.

Team Heathdom took Lamar Miller in the fourth round. Twelve teams, half PPR, two running back, two receiver, and a flex. The 49ers acquired an offensive guard, Laken Tomlinson, from Detroit. Meanwhile, you look at the 49ers and the Ravens. The Ravens cut one of the players who was competing at their center position, who also was cut by the Niners earlier this offseason. These two teams are concerned about the interior of their offensive lines, the Niners and the Ravens.

What does that mean for Hyde and for West? Well, Hyde is the type of running back that can overcome that. He can make people miss. It's more concerning for West, I think. It's definitely more concerning for West, but it's also the scheme in San Francisco that means something. They obviously think that Tomlinson

can fit into the zone blocking and the outside zone that Kyle Shanahan likes to use. Well, are you worried about Carlos Hyde? I mean, they go out and they make this trade for Lake and Tomlinson. Obviously, they want to beef up their offensive line, and he's probably not going to do much for them anyway, or else the Lions would have just given him away.

How worried should you be about Hyde specifically with the offensive line? I mean, it's a little bit concerning, but I'd be more concerned about him still sharing touches with some of those other guys there, just because that's what Shanahan did in Atlanta, and that's what they seem to want to do in San Francisco. Okay. Hyde or

C.J. Anderson? Anderson for me. Hyde for me. The Heath side. Yeah. I think I get it at this point before the season, and I just have an easy answer to that question, wouldn't you? Yeah, right.

Hyde's your guy. Yeah, I'll say Hyde. Hyde or let's make this tough for Heath. Ty Montgomery. No, that's the easiest one. I get to give the Jamie answer. It's the easiest thing in the world. Ty Montgomery PPR.

Okay. Everybody agree? Yeah. I don't know if I'm taking Montgomery. I would take Hyden both. Hyden both. Okay. And Kerwin Williams is Arizona's number two running back as Chris Johnson was cut. It was a fun afternoon

for me. I dropped Chris Johnson for Andre Johnson was cut. It was a fun afternoon for me. I dropped Chris Johnson for Andre Ellington. I was told, no, it's Kerwin Williams by Jamie. I dropped Andre Ellington for Kerwin Williams. This is a deep league, a lot of roster spots. Is David Johnson worth handcuffing with Kerwin Williams? Do you really think Kerwin Williams can do what David Johnson can do? Wait, Dave, please. Are you – really?

Of course I don't think that. Then why would you get Colonel Williams? Colonel Williams in week 17 when David Johnson went down, he played really well. Because I'm not – you draft a handcuff. He doesn't have to exactly replicate what the starter does. He just has to be – No, you said something. I think – where was it?

Was it in Philadelphia? What you draft – what you're taking the guy for? Me or Dave? You. About a handcuff? They said Kenny Galladay is hiding under a table. You said something about what you want the handcuff to be. A number two running back?

A number two running back, I think. Yeah, right? Like a guy you would start. Well, he might be a number two, but it's in a different way than you're talking about. I think the deeper the league, the more likely you should handcuff him. Yeah, no, but of course he's not going to be David Johnson. But okay, so I'm going to be David Johnson But okay So I'm going to tell you real quick about FanDuel

And then finish the show with a couple of Quick questions for you, but FanDuel is starting up This is fantasy football for everyday fans We've got new contests Every single week on FanDuel And we're all going to be playing on FanDuel We're going to be talking about it on the podcast Probably more so on those Saturday, not necessarily

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And we have a radio show tomorrow. Dave and I are on the air 8 p.m. Eastern until midnight Eastern time on CBS Sports Radio. You can go to CBSSports.com. You can go to CBSSportsRadio.com if you want to listen online or listen on the old radio dial. Just check your CBS Sports Radio affiliates. And it's called EyeportsRadio.com if you want to listen online or listen on the old radio dial. Just check your CBS Sports Radio affiliates. And it's called Eye on Fantasy Football. It's a call-in show, and we look forward to hearing from you. It's going to be every weekend, every Saturday night, 10 to midnight. We have a four-hour extravaganza where we're going to be talking to some beat writers tomorrow from 8 p.m. to midnight on CBS Sports Radio.

All right, we'll finish with this. What is your advice on drafting Tevin Coleman and Derrick Henry, two players who have such big upside if there's an injury but also could be not worth starting on a weekly basis? Tevin Coleman and Derrick Henry, what is your advice? I think if you get them at proper values, you'll be okay. I don't think you should target tevin coleman in round five around six i don't think he's worth it freeman has proven over the last two years that he can get a big work

big stats regardless of whether or not he's sharing and so the pricey handcuff i don't think is worth it and derrick henry same exact thing especially since henry's only looked okay this preseason versus last year when he looked like a bull in a China shop, and then he ended up being broken China on the field. I don't know. I couldn't come up with anything better than that. In auctions, it's a lot different because their values are what they are, and you can go ahead and collect them if you get the starters. But in a draft, Derek Henry, round six, you don't have to take him if you take DeMarco Murray early.

And Tevin Coleman, I'm really trying to stay away from. I don't think he'll be as good as he was last year he won't be as good as he was last year he's got a a fourth an adp at the four or five turn and that's ridiculous it's people remembering what he did last year and assuming he's going to do it again but if he's available in the sixth or seventh i don't mind him as a flex even if davante freeman stays healthy i don't really view that as much like a handcuff situation. And if Freeman does get hurt, he's a top five running back. Henry has to have the injury. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm sorry.

It reminds me a little bit of Gio Bernard, who just kind of took up a roster spot because he was too good to drop, but wasn't necessarily good enough to start. He was good enough to start PPR the first two seasons. Yeah, but not universal. Was he? He wasn't great, though. He was good enough to start. He was first two seasons. Yeah, but not – Universal. Was he? He wasn't great, though. He was good enough to start.

He was a top 18 running back in PPR. Again, it's like the girly argument we had yesterday. He didn't really have big games. I don't know how much he helped you win. He was just kind of bleh. You know? I don't want bleh in the middle rounds, in the fifth, sixth round. I don't want that.

I want stud. Are we underrating Zay Jones? We don't talk about him that much, but he looks like a pretty good player, and he's probably going to get a lot of targets, right? Yes. He's a guy I think you definitely look at with a late pick. I think he's Buffalo's best receiver.

I just like saying you're the prettiest girl in a where, Heath? Buffalo. Right? That's right. Our own Hannah Stopchuck is from Buffalo. She would take offense to that.

She's not in Buffalo right now. I meant no offense to anyone in Buffalo. He said that. Zay Jones is a better fantasy option than Robbie Anderson. I'd rather have that nice-looking girl in that ugly city than the other less pretty girl in that other ugly city. Zay Jones is the second best wide receiver in Buffalo. Jordan Matthews is the best wide receiver in Buffalo. And we're selling him short.

Yeah, that's fine. That's true. His first two years in his career, he catches 152 passes, scores 16 touchdowns. You compare him to like a Dante Moncrief, and Matthews has been better at essentially everything related to football than Moncrief. And Moncrief, even as far as he's fallen, is still being drafted before Jordan Matthews. I think Matthews gets 120 targets. In the past, when he's done that, he's been good. However, they're both one Tyrod Taylor knocked to the noggin away from being stuck with Nathan Peterman as their quarterback, and that'll just be bad for everybody.

Sure, but I think at that point, you may as well just—everybody's got risk, so I'm not going to say, oh, their quarterback gets hurt. Well, listen, their quarterback gets hurt. Well, listen, it's not like Tyrod Taylor is the greatest passer who ever lived either. No. And finally, guys, we'll go out on this. Should we be afraid to draft Alex Smith in two quarterback leagues? Because Patrick Mahomes is impressing people in the preseason against the backups.

This is what we're going out with? Did you see those throws last night dave oh he's he was fun to watch but he's got he is not a refined nfl quarterback he is he is still very raw and very exciting i don't know i think it's going to take an alex smith injury in order for him to get on the field this year i mostly agree with with that. I would not be afraid to take Alex Smith as a low-end number two. But, man, Patrick Mahomes is so good. You see Patrick Mahomes. He has that je ne sais quoi.

He's like that fantasy football. Brett Favre plus Aaron Rodgers plus Joe Montana all in one. He's amazing. Heath is le coup. All right, Dave, if that wasn't good enough for you, then what should we go out on? I think we should go out on wishing everybody a happy Labor Day, wishing everybody good luck in their drafts if they're drafting,

and if not, good luck in week one because when this Labor Day weekend is over, we're coming back at you with week one. It's here. It's here. We're podcasting on Monday. We're podcasting on Monday. Don't forget. See, week one, it has it out.

Jamie, by the way, had to go do a radio spot about three minutes ago. That's why you haven't heard him. So, was that? Bye, Jamie, David Heath. So. Was that. Bye. Jamie. David. He. I. It's all right. I've got. It's all right.

Not George. It's all right. I've got. It's all right. I've got. It's all right. I've got. It's all right.

It's all right. It's all right.