Fantasy Football Today - 09/06: Le'Veon Trades, Start or Sit (AFC), Superlatives (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: September 6, 2018

We're all set to preview some games but Le'Veon Bell is occupying our time with his holdout! We start the show discussing Bell's value and James Conner's value as well as we grade some trades our listeners have made ... Does it make sense to tank Week 1 for Waiver Wire priority? Also Fantasy Superlatives including most likely to enter Round 1 in 2019, most intriguing Week 1 player and more ... Finally our Start or Sit begins! We preview the AFC home games: PIT-CLE, CIN-IND, HOU-NE, SEA-DEN, BUF-BAL, TEN-MIA, KC-LAC, LAR-OAK. Fantasy owners will have to make tough calls on Amari Cooper, LeSean McCoy, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Gordon and more .. Your emails 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 fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Here we go! It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Let's go! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. The day has arrived. Football is here. What's going on, everybody?

Adam Azer with Jamie Eisenberg and Heath Cummings. We are here. What's going on, everybody? Adam Azer with Jamie Eisenberg and Heath Cummings. We're going to have Dave Richard on shortly. If you are new to the podcast, we've got the best game previews and we are previewing the AFC home games on today's show. Thursday is always AFC. Friday is always NFC. Guys, are you pumped? I really am genuinely super excited to sit down and watch the game tonight. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, it's time. Yes.

Yes. All right. Yes. There he is. Hey, before we talk about that, we've got an Action News update. Le'Veon Bell Watch, day two since we started the Le'Veon Bell Watch segment. We go to our action news reporters, Heath Cummings and Jamie Eisenberg for the latest on Le'Veon Bell.

What's the latest on Le'Veon Bell? His teammates hate him. Yes, they do. They do. It's getting serious here. It's not great. Not great. This is not...

We've gotten a lot of responses. Why didn't you guys see this coming? There was one thing that I did not really think was possible that I don't really still think is possible that Le'Veon Bell's agent and he seemed to think is possible. And that is, I didn't envision a situation where he sits out 10 games and still gets a contract at the end of this year that is similar to the one he would get if he played all of this season.

There seems to be some thought that they may think that's possible, that sitting out these 10 games won't hurt his contract for next year. Well, I think their hope is don't beat him into the ground, as the Steelers are most likely going to do, because that's what they do, is they beat him into the ground as the Steelers are most likely going to do, because that's what they do is they beat him into the ground. And so I hope it does not come to that. They're not going to give him more money. No, no. I think that's the one thing that's not going to happen. Yeah. And nor should they. I mean, they made their decision and it's up to him to either live with it or not live with it. So the question becomes, I don't know if either of you guys had drafts last night. I was helping two of my friends in drafts and both picked in the back half of the first round.

And we had discussions of if one picked at 9, one picked at 11. If Bell is there at 9 or 11, do you take him? I would have said yes. Yeah, I had the same exact situation except my two friends were picking eighth and tenth. And I told them both take Bell and neither of them had the chance to take Bell. He went earlier. Yep, he went at six in one league

and I don't even know where he went in the other one, but it was before pick 11. The thing that I would have said is just be aggressive with James Conner. That's a number one running back. However you shake it, that situation is a number one running back. It's been proven with D'Angelo Williamss it'll be proven again with james connor so i i think you

you're okay in that regard and if you don't have connor and you're the bell owner look he could still sign his his tender by uh his franchise tag by saturday and he's playing week two yeah the one thing i noticed was if i i don't think there is a guess that i can make that's gonna be more accurate than any other guess. But just thinking about it from kind of a part way, if I take three games off of Le'Veon Bell's projection, he's still the number four running back in projected fantasy points. Heath and I traded – we traded Melvin Gordon and Austin Eckler for Le'Veon Bell and James Conner. We traded the Chargers. Well, I don't know.

I mean we traded the Chargers running backs for the Steelers running backs. And the Chargers' first two games could be just outstanding for Melvin Gordon. So, you know, I don't know. I mean, look, I like it. I'd do it again. But I don't know if it's a – Thank you, Jamie. Thank you for the congratulations.

I appreciate that. I mean, look, you would draft – Right now, you would draft both the Steelers guys over both the Chargers guys. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't, yeah, I would. I think there's a chance that Le'Veon's falling to the second round or third round in some drafts.

And I think if Dave was in here, he would probably say he should. To be clear, we would not draft James Conner over Melvin Gordon. No, you would draft Bell over Gordon, and you'd draft Conner over Eckler right now. Yeah. So let's read a few Bell slash Conner emails, and the inbox is full of them, so we only will get to a few. Also, are you starting James Conner over Jay Ajayi? Yes.

Oh, yeah. Over Devante Freeman. Oh, but is there a chance that Le'Veon Bell plays week one, or do you think it's done? He is not playing week one. Okay. I don't think he is, no. All right, Bell Connor emails here.

Matt Z from a town just southeast of Green Bay. Dave's not in, so we'll hold off on the geography. Should I trade Le'Veon Bell for Odell Beckham and Alex Collins? Should you? Yeah, would you give up Bell to get Beckham and Alex Collins? Should you? Yeah. Would you give up Bell to get Beckham and Alex Collins? I would do that, yes. Okay. That's even a realistic trade

before all this. Right. Yeah. He says also, he says, hey, Tony Boat, KB, and El Mago. That would be apparently Chicago Cubs nicknames. This is from Tim. I traded Le'Veon Bell for Gronkowski. No, Le'Veon Bell and Gronkowski for Todd Gurley.

What do you think of that? Gave up Bell and Gronk for Gurley. Gave up too much. Yes. This is from Steve in a tiny Massachusetts town north of Miami, Florida. That's very specific. Good morning, Bryson, Eldrick, Dustin, and Phil. Heath, you're our only hope.

Yeah, that's the PGA Tour. Okay, those are golfers. U.S. Ryder Cup team. A buddy of mine was getting nervous about Le'Veon Bell. I traded for him. I gave up Dalvin Cook and Royce Freeman. This one's interesting. Would you give up Dalvin Cook and Royce Freeman for Le'Veon Bell?

Yes. I don't know that I would have done that before the suspension. I think I probably would have. Heath? Yeah, I think I'd rather have Dalvin Cook and Royce Freeman. Peyton Skinner says, I got offered Le'Veon Bell for my Christian McCaffrey. I already have James Conner. Would you give up McCaffrey for Le'Veon Bell for my Christian McCaffrey. I already have James Conner. Would you give up McCaffrey for Le'Veon Bell?

Yes. Yeah. I knew you guys were going to say yes. Oh, hey, Dave's here. I'm here. I'm not doing that. Why? Because I don't want Le'Veon Bell right now.

Not for Christian McCaffrey. When would you take Le'Veon Bell if you were drafting tonight? Round two, the absolute early. All right, some James Conner emails. This is from Josh. 10-team PPR league. I picked up Conner. I just received a trade offer.

I give up Conner. I get Alshon Jeffrey. I have Gordon, Kamara, Hyde, and Jamal Williams. Would you give up Conner for Alshon Jeffrey? No way. No. Okay. Would you?

Okay, how about this one? This is from Paul. Dave, Paul's from a medium-sized town in Maryland. Columbia. Dear Ray, Ed, Terrell, and Peter. Hall of Fame? Hall of Famers. Wondering if I should start James Conner over Derrick Henry in my PPR league.

Yes. I'll say no. Yes. Pete from say no. Yes. Pete from a small town in central Wisconsin. Barnstorm. Really? Is that a thing?

No, I just made that up. Dear Farmer, Bitzer, Sean, and Timmy. You know half the cities I say are made up, right? No, I don't believe that. Oh, okay. Sean the Sheep.

I don't know what Sean the Sheep is. You guys have kids. You should know that. I picked up James Conner. I already have Dalvin Cook, Royce Freeman, and Jamal Williams. I am Matt Breida. The bell owner isn't budging. Would it be fair to try and trade Conner for Aaron Jones?

Waste of time. Yeah, no, don't do that. No, we want Conner. You're giving him time. Yeah, no, don't do that. We want Connor. You're giving him away. You're giving away a lottery ticket that's already halfway cashed for a guy that suspended two games. This is from Jeff. Do I drop

Bilal Powell, Tyler Eifert, Godwin, Michelle, or Cole for Connor? Eifert if you don't need a second tight end. Powell if you're okay at running back. I would do Powell anyway. I'd drop Cole before I'd drop Powell.

Me too. I think Eifert's probably the big winner though, right? Yeah, I would drop the Jets starting running back. It'd be interesting if you had Kittle and Eifert. I'd rather have Eifert. This week, but all season. You'd rather have Eifert than Kittle? Yes.

I think Kittle probably scores more you rather have Eifert than Kittle? Yes. I think Kittle probably scores more fantasy points than Eifert does, but if I'm at that level of tight end, I just as soon have the one that I'd rather start this week. Alright, yeah. So if you need to pick up James Conner, dropping a second tight end is not a bad idea. Also not a bad idea,

listening to Ion Fantasy Football. That's our Saturday night radio show, and it's really fun. And we had something strange happen. Heath and I were on, maybe because it was Labor Day. I don't know. It was Labor Day weekend.

We had no calls for the first five minutes. Usually, we start the show, the update goes on at 10 p.m. And the board is full of calls. We had no calls for five minutes. Like, what is happening here? Is everybody away? And then we had calls the rest of the show,

which is great. But we get to hear from you. 855-212-4227. Call us up, Eye on Fantasy Football. It's Saturday nights on CBS Sports Radio. It's on SiriusXM. You can listen on CBSSportsRadio.com. You can listen on your local affiliate sometimes, 10 to midnight Eastern.

Fantasy Football today is live at noon Eastern every weekday, Monday through Friday on CBSSports.com. It is on CBS Sports HQ, which you need to be watching. CBS Sports HQ is awesome. Fantasy Football Today is also at 10 a.m. Eastern until kickoff on Sunday. And awesome content,

fantasy content on Sportsline.com. The promo code is FANTASY. If you want $1 for your first month, go to Sportsline.com slash join and just check it out. Gambling site, fantasy site, sports site, Sportsline.com slash join. Promo code is fantasy. Here's our email of the day, and we will get to start or sit pretty soon.

Email of the day is from Tom in a small town in Connecticut. Hey, Eric. Barnstorm. Oh, Barnstorm. Sorry. I forgot. Why did I not let you give it in? Stanford.

Stanford. It's not a small town. It's a big town. Is it big? Stanford. Stanford. It's not a small town. That's a big town. Is it big? It feels small. It's big? Well, it's small compared to New York. Yeah.

A lot of towns are small compared to New York. That's how I compare. It's got 129,000 people in it. That's big. That's like Coral Springs. About that, like 20 more people. Yeah. We have a studio up there.

And if you watch HQ, you'll see it. It's awesome. It's gorgeous to have like 20 more people. Yeah. We have a studio up there, and if you watch HQ, you'll see it. It's awesome. It's gorgeous. Yeah. The question, and I've gotten this question a lot, have you ever considered taking a dive in week one for the waiver wire benefits? Every year there is a group of high-value players who go undrafted. Why not take a dive and go for dead last

and have the first shot at a week one surprise performer? Well, if you had done that last year, were you picking kenny galladay or i remember it well or who erwin williams oh wow wow it's not worth it don't do it i actually can we look up the week one transactions in the podcast league? I bet we can. Should be able to. Yeah, I'm going to do that right now. All right, hey, as I do that, here's a quick segment. Since we won't be talking about them today, they're on the NFC home games.

Would you start any of the following running backs over Jay Ajayi tonight? Adrian Peterson. Yes, yes. I don't think so. Peyton Barber. Yes, yes. I don't think so. Peyton Barber. Yes. Yes. Mike Gillisley.

No. No. No. A Jets running back. No. Yes. No. Let's see.

So looking, that's all I've got for that. Nelson Aguilar went for $16 after week one. That was a good one. Kerwin Williams went for $24 out of 100. Ew. That was a bad one. Andre Ellington went for $5. Ew.

Mike Tolbert went for $4. I don't remember the circumstances around that. Marquise Lee went for $10. Javoris Allen went for $31 to Jamie. Oh, boy. Good work, Jamie. Chris Johnson went for $4. How about that? That Chris Johnson?

Yeah, Chris Johnson, $4. Because David Johnson got hurt. Danny Amendola went for $21. This is fun. I like this game. Is it fun because you didn't win any of these guys? I don't know if I did. I won Charles Clay for $0.

Well, you know that Jamie got one. How do you know that you didn't get one? I think what we know for sure from hearing this list is there's not a guarantee there's going to be a guy in week one on the waiver wire that's going to change your fortunes. I would rather win week one. And you want to know why Kenny Galladay wasn't one of those guys? Oh, you're right. Yeah. And this is because you owned him already. Because I had him. That's right. I do remember him being a very popular week one waiver wire guy. And if you had been a fortune teller and you had started Kenny Galladay in your fan line up in week one in 2017, he had a good week one, right? I'm not

just making that up. Two touchdowns. Yeah, that's what I thought. 2017. He had a good week one, right? I'm not just making that up. Two touchdowns. Yeah, that's what I thought. You would have had a great day. You would have won a lot of money. FanDuel.com is super fun. First of all, I did submit my pick for the Survivor Contest yesterday. There's a free $250,000 Survivor Contest on FanDuel,

and I'm going with the Ravens this week. You want to pick a team that you're not going to want to use rest of season. You don't want to pick the Packers in week one. So there's that. There's our contest. You can compete against us at fanduel.com slash FFT. Make sure you get in. There are a lot of spots still available.

I imagine that will fill up over the weekend, though. Fanduel.com slash FFT. It's a $5 entry, and we're going to play every single week. Also, if you make your first deposit at fanduel.com slash FFT. It's a $5 entry, and we're going to play every single week. Also, if you make your first deposit at FanDuel.com slash FFT, you will get a $20 bonus, a $20 bonus on your first deposit. FanDuel is the best. Experienced players, inexperienced players, there is something for everyone. We love FanDuel. Can't wait to talk about it. And we'll talk about it on our Saturday Mailbag Show as well. We'll give some DFS content. One more time, the URL is fanduel.com slash

FFT. Get in our contest. Make your first deposit. Get a $20 bonus on your first deposit. News and notes. Marlon Mack did not practice. We are not expecting him to play, right? Nope. Right. What about Eric Berry for the Chiefs? Didn't practice on Wednesday,

but he's the kind of guy that he could get in one day of practice on Friday and be good to go. The Seahawks will be without linebacker K.J. Wright at Denver. That's good for Freeman. Yeah. Earl Thomas did report. Now, remember, this is relevant for Le'Veon Bell. There was a report that Earl Thomas was not going to come back to the Seahawks without a new contract. I think one day later he was back.

Yeah, he did something smart. Bell will probably sign by Saturday. Rashad Penny practiced in full. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Why will he sign by Saturday? Because that's when he needs to. I don't think it makes, I've been wrong so far. I don't think it makes any sense for him to miss games.

I don't think he helps himself in any way. And I think he hurts his future contract. But he's also the one that's turned down contracts from the Steelers already. He's turned down a contract that's bigger than any contract he's ever going to get. Exactly. So he's doing some pretty silly things. I don't know if he

comes back. I don't know when he's going to come back. I think he's being ridiculous, but the only thing I'll say is, I do agree with him that they overwork him. And he has a right, as of going into a free agent year, to say, hey, ease off a little bit. It's not fair to his future. Yeah, I don't have any problem at all with – I think players should try to get as much money as they can. I just don't think that skipping games is going to lead to him getting more money.

Right. That's how you lose money is by skipping games. And he might think, look, I've made a lot of money already in my career. I know I'm going to get another contract when I'm free of pittsburgh and i become a free agent what's what's eight hundred thousand dollars every sunday you know maybe that's what he's thinking i'm not saying it's the right thing to think well it's 8.5 million if he sits out 10 weeks right but if he does that he still gets paid a little bit of the franchise tag when he reports for the last six games of the season he doesn't have 400 touches.

He looks like a selfish idiot. But then, theoretically, he'd be able to hit free agency again in 2019. He will sign Saturday. Alright. I hope you're better at this than Pouncey. Rashad Penny practiced in full, but we're not interested in Penny this week, right? No. No, but

it hurts Carson. Evan Ingram is out of the concussion protocol. I should not have paused after out. Evan Ingram is out of the concussion protocol. I should have paused after out. Evan Ingram is out of the concussion protocol. He is in. He will face the Jaguars. Is it a certainty or just most likely Evan Ingram will play? He'll play. Yeah, I think it's all but certain.

And are there any big injuries that I'm missing? Looks like Sonny Michel is making some progress but still not a certainty. We moved Rashard Matthews into the rankings yesterday. The way he's talking, the way Mariota's talking, and the way that he's practicing, it doesn't sound like he's even questionable. Now maybe they'll come out and say that he's questionable, but so far it looks like he's playing,

which makes me a little more cautious on Corey Davis just until we see that first game with this new offense. And then there was a report that came out today that Josh Gordon will be on a pitch count. Ah, okay. All right, we're going to preview both those games, the Cleveland game and the Tennessee game. Fantasy superlatives. Let's do some quick superlatives, and then we'll get into the games.

Most likely to move into the first round in 2019? Alex Collins. Kenyon Drake. Joe Mixon. I swear I would have chosen one of those three guys makes a lot of sense could it be all three would it be surprising if all three of them were there yes yeah it would shock me actually really all right yeah well because how often are we going to be are like we're going to be right about three out of three running backs in fantasy? But they all have a great chance to do it. Well, that means also, though, if it is those three, that three of Bell, Kamara, Gordon, Hunt, Barkley, Cook, Fournette have fallen out of the first round. They've surpassed those guys.

Not just getting to their level, they've passed them. Most likely to move out of the top 100 in 2019? Adrian Peterson. LaShawn McCoy. Marshawn Lynch. Larry Fitzgerald. I got one. Does he retire?

Demarius Thomas. Maybe. I feel like he's breaking down physically. Yeah. And if Corlin Sutton looks good, they're going to move on from Thomas next year. They are moving on from him and Emmanuel Sanders. Most hit or miss. Yeah, and here's the thing.

That's kind of like a bold prediction for me. I mean, I don't know why I'm putting it out there. It's a chance to look stupid, but let's have some fun with it. I just don't really feel it with Demarius Thomas. Most hit or miss offense in fantasy. This year? Yeah. Like you mean they're going to have

really good games and really bad games? I don't know if my phrase is right. Yeah, what are you looking for? What do you mean? The offense that, okay. So for me, the answer is the Giants or the Browns. The offense that could have the highest outcome potential in fantasy this year.

But also the lowest negative? Yeah, like the most – Like the last some head-scratching weeks, right? The Chicago Bears. The Seahawks. Washington. The Seahawks. Seahawks don't seem safe to you?

They seem – they're kind of risky to you? If they go back to a more conservative approach, they're going to have a lot of low-scoring game. I bet the Titans are one of those teams where one week that this week, I bet they look amazing. I think the Titans and Bears are two of the most interesting teams to watch this week just because they've got something new coming and we've speculated as to what it is. Now we get to see it.

Dolphins too. Most excited to see in week one. There's something in every game that you could pick out. i'm just excited to see football tonight there's only one most i know i got it for me it's dalvin cook and here's why he i mean he dominated our guy you drafted in every league i don't think i have one team maybe one without you do or it was a mock draft yeah it was a mock i've got my my most. Yeah, I mean, this guy, Dalvin Cook, dominated our podcast discussion for like a week. He barely played in the preseason,

and he just sort of maybe fell off the minds of fantasy owners a little bit and us a little bit. He just wasn't trendy in any way. So now I'm super interested to see what they do with Cook on Sunday. For me, it's Andrew Luck. Yeah, that's a good one. Dave? Jamie, yours?

Oh. Or do you want mine? Go ahead. Saquon Barkley. It's not an easy start for him, huh, against the Jags? No, no. No, it's not. Jamie, who are you most excited to watch this week?

I want to see Jordan Wilkins if he can take advantage of the job. And I do, too, but I am firmly rooting against him because I'm all about Marlon Mack. I hope he falls on his face. Hey, football's back. SeatGeek never left. SeatGeek is the smartest, easiest

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We break it down. We tell you who to start and sit. We tell you who we compare them to, and we give a stat of the game. So we start with Pittsburgh at Cleveland. I tweeted this stat last night and nobody seemed impressed. Cleveland was terrible against number one wide receivers last year. Terrible.

But they were terrific against number two wide receivers. Here's your stat of the game only once all season did multiple wide receivers score more than six fantasy points in the same game against cleveland in non-ppr so like the number two receiver six or fewer fantasy points in non-ppr in all but one game the only exception was will fuller and deandre hopkins fuller had 15 fantasy points, and Hopkins had seven fantasy points. Now, people say, yeah, I don't play in non-PPR. I get that. I think for the purposes of what I'm going to be saying all year long,

we kind of look at double digits in non-PPR as like a big game for a wide receiver. I would say maybe like, what, eight fantasy points in non-PPR is a solid game for a running back or a wide receiver. But if you get double digits, you did really well for your team. So that said, what do you make of that as it relates to Juju Smith-Schuster? Do you care at all?

You know, I'm looking at their opponents from last year, and there's not many times that they faced teams that had good pair of wide receivers. Fair. And Juju did have a huge game against them. It was without Antonio Brown.

Yeah, but they played Jacksonville. The only ones that I see that stand out to me are Detroit and Minnesota. And I think they did a really good job against Houston. It was odd that Fuller had the big game and Hopkins had seven points. Right. And that was with Watson as well.

It must have been if Fuller had a good game. It was week six, yeah. So he was there. But yeah, they played the Jets. They played the Ravens. They played the Colts. There's a lot of one-trick ponies in there. The Bengals because John Ross wasn't a thing.

Well, you are the high guy on Smith-Schuster, Jamie. You have him 14th. I mean, with Le'Veon not there, I think the sky's the limit for him because that's just more targets that will go in his direction. As much as they'll still use Conner in the passing game, who knows if James Washington's healthy. I'm expecting Juju to have a monster season and certainly a great start to week one.

And the other thing is that the Browns were really bad against number ones and really bad against tight ends. And really good against number twos. I think they're just really bad against the pass. Yeah, I mean, they're expecting to have a better defense. They obviously drafted a cornerback with their fourth pick. They've got a great, great defensive end. But yeah, we're obviously going to be high on the Steelers. Is Roethlisberger

a good start or a great start this week? I think he's a great start. Number four QB. I think he's sixth for Dave and Jamie, and he's four for Heath. So right around there. Alright, so John Connor, start telling me who you would start Connor over. You have him

ahead of you. James Connor. James Connor, yeah, not the Terminator. He is not the guy that kills the Terminator. Well, he is also a Terminator. All right, who are you starting James Connor over? It might be easier to tell you who I'm not starting him over. Yeah, he's like top 12 for me. Don't start him over Gurley, DJ, Kamara, Gordon, Zeke, Fournette, Hunt, Barkley, or Cook.

Start him over everyone else. Is there another Steelers running back that we should be interested in? I got asked on a radio show this morning about Jalen Samuels. I don't know. We'll see. They're going to give somebody work. It could be. I don't know if they can.

It's going to be him. If you're in a deeper league, that's the one to go get. He's got good hands. He's not fast powerful tight end eligible on some sites that is true jaylen samuels that's kind of interesting yeah maybe he gets some passing downs work uh but connor's the one we obviously want and um all right who's a better flex connor or smith schuster i'll go juju more upside with juju but connor i think is going to touch the ball more so i'll always Lex, Connor or Smith-Schuster? I'll go Juju.

More upside with Juju, but Connor, I think, is going to touch the ball more, so I'll always lean toward touches when it's close. I've got Connor projected for more fantasy points in both formats. And we like him over Freeman tonight? Yep. Yep. No.

This was a good run defense last year, for the record. They allowed the fewest yards per carry to running backs. But we don't care. No. He's going to get a ton of to running backs. But we don't care. No. He's going to get a ton of work. Alright, we're starting Brown and we're starting Smith-Schuster. Although Heath and Dave are lower on Smith-Schuster. They've got him around 20th. Top 24 though.

Yep. Tyrod Taylor. Start or sit? My second favorite streaming quarterback. Who would you start him over? I'll say the name first. Russell Wilson. Then the easy ones. Garoppolo and Mahomes.

I think Tyra Taylor would be better than Carson Wentz this week. For sure. Better than Matt Ryan. Better than Dak. I'm with you on Dak. I'd trust him over Trubisky, Foles, Bortles, Alex Smith. You agree on Mahomes?

No, I do. Garoppolo? No. Yep. Not Garoppolo? No, not Garoppolo. Who scores 20 fantasy points against the Vikings? Almost nobody.

Look, I don't have Garoppolo ranked anywhere close to the top 12. I've got Garoppolo at 19 and Tyrod at 22. It's funny. In our two-quarterback league, I took Brady and then I waited and I got Tyrod and Joe Flacco. And I'm thrilled about having Tyrod this week. In that situation, I would do the same thing.

Yeah, but I'd rather have him than the guys he's set than Garoppolo. I'd rather start in the Mariota, too. How much do you like Carlos Hyde, guys? Good. Number two. Like where he's been Good. Number two. Like where he's been drafted. Number two running back.

Yeah, I mean, I like him more than all those guys, like the Breida, Barber, Carson, Peterson, all those guys that kind of have become things. He's more of a solid number two than those guys. I like him over Rex. I like him over Lamar Miller. The only thing that concerns me about Hyde is game flow. If they're chasing points, you're going to see a lot of Duke Johnson.

I think Duke is a good sleeper this week. Cleveland wide receivers, what are you doing about them? Starting them. Landry's a start for sure. I still think Gordon's going to – I don't care about this pitch count thing. I think he's still going to play a lot. I'm starting Landry as a must-start. Gordon is more of a flex for me that's a boom-bust guy.

I think he could score 15 fantasy points pretty easily, maybe on one play. But if he scores five or less, I'm not going to be that surprised. David Njoku is a decent start this week. Would you rather start Njoku or Eifert? I don't like Njoku this week. I think he's a set. Eifert. Eifert. Well, you have him 14th. That's not so bad. At tight end, that's like

20. At week one, that's pretty bad. Yeah, actually, I should mention Pittsburgh allowed the fewest fantasy points and the fewest touchdowns to tight ends last year. They did face a pretty easy schedule, though. But the good tight ends against them, Rudolph had four points. Kelsey had three.

Jack Doyle had nine yards. Walker had nine points. Gronkowski had 18 points. Do you think he can score? I mean, look, it depends on Josh Gordon, I think, very much so for Njoku. But if they are behind and they're throwing and Gordon's on a pitch. Then he's got a chance, sure. Did they face any good tight ends after Shazier went out?

I don't think so. Yeah, I believe they did. They did in the playoffs. Gronk crushed them. And Shazier's the one who was covering tight ends a lot. They didn't face Gronk in the playoffs. I thought they did. They lost to the Jaguars.

No, you're right. They paychecked before the playoffs then. Gronk crushed them. It was that game that the Patriots won at the last second. I thought Shazier was in in that game, but I don't know. I didn't think – I thought it was late enough in the year that Shazier was out. It was right around then. It doesn't – I mean, Gronkowski doesn't really matter.

No, I mean, that's the one thing is that I don't know if the Steelers – last year the Steelers were great against tight ends. I'm not sure they've done enough this offseason to replace Shazier and to improve at safety. I think he does have a decent chance to score a touchdown. That's why I asked that question. Okay. All right. He's a low-end starter for me.

Is there a sleeper tight end on Pittsburgh that you're interested in, by the way? If McDonald was healthy, but I'm not sure what his health is. So you want to lean toward Jesse James. Go ahead. Jesse James did have two touchdowns in week one against... I mean, that's a total Hail Mary 40-team league. Maybe Jesse James. Go ahead. Jesse James did have two touchdowns in week one against, I mean, that's a total Hail Mary, 40-team league, maybe Jesse James. Pittsburgh DST, you can start him,

although Heath has them 18th. Dave and Jamie have them right around top 12. Cincinnati is at Indianapolis. Stat of the game. And when I can't find a stat of the game, I will tell you something like this. The city of Indianapolis was the first to have sliced bread, according to Trip Savvy. Quote, Wonder Bread of Indianapolis was the first to have sliced bread, according to Trip Savvy.

Quote, Wonder Bread of Indianapolis was the first to publicly market sliced bread, end quote. So when you hear something is the best thing since sliced bread, think about Indianapolis. Which quarterback do you prefer in this one? Luck or Dalton? Luck has more upside, so I'll take him. Alright, we do

like Dalton, though. He's a top 12 guy. They're back-to-back in my rankings. Luck 9, Dalton 10. And we're going to take Dalton over Taylor? Tyrod Taylor? Yep. Mm-hmm. And that's not all.

Dalton over Mahomes, Garoppolo, Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford. Dalton has a great setup this week because Indianapolis' pass rush is very, very ugly. And their secondary is equally ugly. Love Joe Mixon this week. All right, so look. Yeah, Mixon, we'll talk about him. But Hilton's obvious. You're starting him.

A.J. Green's obvious. You're starting him. I mean, I don't really want to start Jordan Wilkins. Do you guys? I lost McKinnon in one league, and my options would be Wilkins or Chris Carson, and it's close for me on those two guys. So I would prefer not to start Jordan Wilkins,

but without Perfect in there, if the game does stay competitive, I think Wilkins has a shot. That's a good point. He's my 40th ranked running back this week. Any interest in Naeem Hines? No. To maybe go to the art store with?

The art store? Okay, and then how much do you like Joe Mixon this week, guys? Top 10. He's top 12 for me, but I understand the sentiment. There's a lot to be excited about with him. Mixon or James Conner? Conner. Mixon, but it's very close for me.

All right. Heath, rank the tight ends in this game. Ebron, Eifert, Doyle. I mean, I feel like we could throw darts to rank the tight ends. Oh, for sure. In this game. And that's one of the reasons I'm so excited to watch the Colts is to find out what the Eric Ebron role is. He's going to be like a receiver.

He's going to be there as Eckerts. Fun fact, both Doyle and Ertz scored against the Bengals last year on different teams, obviously. One on the Colts, one on the Lions. And Eifert is, I'm pretty sure he's my FanDuel tight end. Sure. That's not a bad call.

Alright, so would you start them over Njoku? I would start Eifert and Ebron ahead of Njoku. I'd start both of them over both. Well, there are three, Jamie. All three tight ends. I was looking at something and thinking something else. I would start both Colts tight ends over Njoku.

What about Eifert? Yes. Sorry. Problem. All right. I think we're good there. No DSTs, right? No. No. All right, let's move on.

We've got Houston at New England. What are the chances that the Texans win? They've never won in Foxborough. 48%. Wow. I was going to say 20%. Okay. Stat of the game. The Texans allowed the fourth fewest receiving yards to opposing running backs last year

and three receiving touchdowns to running backs. Not bad. None after week five. They played the Patriots and no Patriots running back had more than 12 receiving yards against the Texans. Does that matter to you guys? No. No, I think part of the thing was last year when everybody was hurt, they couldn't cover any of the receivers.

There was no reason to check down to a running back. Not a bad point. Yeah, I mean the Texans defense, I don't know how much you can even look at last year. They're just a different, healthier, hopefully better defense. But let's start with them. All right, Deshaun Watson. Everybody who's got him is starting Deshaun Watson. Lamar Miller.

So Dave, I think you threw a little shade at Lamar Miller earlier. Yeah, I don't love his track record against Belichick. I think he's a low-end number two running back. I'm starting Conner, Peyton Barber, Carlos Hyde, Derek Henry all ahead of him. I would start Miller over all those guys except for Conner. So you have confidence in him? Or is it just like he's been higher on Miller all along? I've got him ranked right around 16th,

which is right around where I had him ranked in the preseason. Right. Yeah, I think he's in a good spot. He's going to get a lot of work. I think it's going to be an up-tempo, fun, competitive game. Both offenses should perform well here. So I don't think anybody's taking Lamar Miller off the field. And this Patriots defense is still a work in progress.

And so I like what he did when Watson played, and I think he'll be involved in the passing game. So I'm starting him without question. Remember when he was getting you like eight fantasy points a week? And you were happy to a degree? I feel like that's what he can get you this week. I think he can get you eight. Well, he always gets you eight. I mean, that's kind

of the appeal of Lamar Miller. He is pretty safe. Yeah, but he doesn't get you 15. Rarely. Yeah. Patriots allowed 4.6 yards per carry to running backs last year. That's terrible. They did seem to get better late in the year than they struggled in the Super Bowl. And, you know, if you are out there thinking, hey, they got Dante

Hightower, they're always better against the run when Dante Hightower is healthy, and he only played five games last year. I thought the same thing, and it might be true, but last year in the five games with Dante Hightower, they still gave up a ton of fantasy points to running backs in most of those games. Yeah, I like what they did on the defensive line, and I've taken shade for saying that the Texans' offensive line is improved.

It's not that great of a line, and they could get pushed around, and that'll hurt Lamar Miller on his carries. All right. How do you compare Lamar Miller to the Patriots' running backs? I'd rather start him than any Patriots running back. Agreed. Easy. How do you feel about Burkhead this week?

Risky. I think the Patriots are going to use three guys. Burkhead, White, Hill. And if you can tell me who's going to be the best of those three without question... Burkhead. I've got him ranked the highest of the three, but it's not with a lot of confidence. Burkhead was so efficient with his touches. He was their goal line guy.

Hopefully they don't get – like, they would really piss me off if Jeremy Hill got a goal line carry. I guarantee you that's why he's there. I hope not. I mean – Like, that's a guarantee I'm comfortable making. Like, unless it's they're running the no huddle and Burkhead happens to be the running back in the game,

short of that, you're going to see Jeremy Hill in that role. I don't feel confident guaranteeing anything with the Patriots running backs, but I do feel confident starting Burkhead in any league where you need to flex, regardless of format, and starting White in any PPR league where you need to flex. I'm really excited about James White this week.

In PPR leagues, I am too. Would you start White over White or Adrian Peterson in PPR? White. I'd start White over Ajayi. I'd start or Adrian Peterson in PPR? White. White. White. I'd start white over a giant.

I'd start white over Rex in PPR. Okay. Okay. And we love Chris Hogan this week. He's top 20. Gronkowski. Top 12. Oh, he's 12 now.

Did you move him up this morning? Last night. Last night. Okay. I missed that. We love Chris Hogan. We love Gronkowski. We love DeAndre Hopkins. What about Will Fuller?

Same as he's going to be every week. Very good boomer bus play. I'll tell you the only time you won't want to do that is when the Texans have a matchup where they could probably just run the ball. So that's 16 weeks. I mean, I don't know what the defenses are going to look like later on this year, and I don't know what their run game is going to look

like later this year but for now most weeks Fuller is going to be the boomer bus guy. I view Fuller very very similar to Josh Gordon. He can make one play in the first quarter and you're like why didn't I start him? Who would you prefer? I think I'd prefer Fuller.

I would too. i'll take gordon in time gordon's gonna be that guy but limited playing time i'll take it's not gonna be limited playing time i think by the second half it won't be but in the first half it could will fuller or a rams wide receiver all the rams all the Rams. Cooks for sure. In PPR, it's easy to go with the Rams, guys. In non-PPR, you can take a flyer on Fulton. All right, guys. Russell Wilson is going to be interesting. Let's talk about him.

After I tell you about NFL Game Pass, so if you miss any of the games, you can watch them for free for seven days on NFL Game Pass. You can watch them on replay. You can watch the coaches' film, the All-22 Angle. You can get the broadcast version commercial free. NFL Game Pass is great. Every game you can watch

through the Super Bowl. And if you want to sign up for that seven-day free trial, go to NFL.com slash fantasyfootball today. So I do think that you fantasy owners are going to really like this as just a football fan

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NFL.com slash fantasyfootballtoday, a seven-day free trial of NFL Game Pass. NFL.com slash fantasyfootball today. Seattle is at Denver. Here's your stat of the game. This is kind of strange to start with this, but the Broncos allowed the third most fantasy points to opposing tight ends last year.

Is Nick Vanette a sleeper for the Seahawks? What about Ed Dixon? Is Ed Dixon playing? I thought Ed Dixon was on short-term. I think so. I didn't realize they put was on short-term. I think so. I didn't realize they put him on short-term. So that makes Nick Vanette his sneaky play this week. I don't know if I'm starting him,

even over guys that I don't like at tight end. No. I think he's a little bit more of a touchdown or bust tight end who no one knows about, which makes him worse than your typical touchdown or bust tight end. If he scores this week, people are going to pick him up off waivers. We'll put the deep sleeper label on Nick Vanette. All right, Heath, Russell Wilson.

You're the low guy on Wilson. I think you've got him 17th. Dave and Jamie, I'll tell you the updated rankings. Wilson is 13th, 13th, and 17th for Jamie, Dave, and Heath. Take it away. If I felt confident that Brian Schottenheimer wasn't going to muddle up this Seahawks approach, then I'd probably still just start Russell Wilson. But you've just got this confluence of events where he has one good, for sure, good wide receiver who says he's 85%. A running game that doesn't look particularly good to me against a very good defense on the road on opening weekend

with a fired up crowd and possibly an offensive coordinator that thinks if we just run the football 34 times, then we will win this game because that's the magic number. And their defense isn't very good. And so I do think there's a chance as long as Seattle's win this game because that's the magic number. And their defense isn't very good. And so I do think there's a chance, as long as Seattle's in this game, that they think we just play slow on offense, keep our defense off the field, keep it close, we'll be okay. And that scares me.

What was one of the mantras that we had about Russell Wilson in the preseason? If Doug Baldwin's healthy, you've got to like his chances. Well, Doug Baldwin's healthy, but what if he's going to get covered by one of the best slot cornerbacks in the NFL? Makes it, and he's not at 100%, which he said. I will say this about both Wilson and Baldwin.

They had big games against Jacksonville last year. They had big games against Philadelphia last year, against Atlanta last year. They had big games against Philadelphia last year, against Atlanta last year. They were not necessarily shut down in bad matchups. It was also much easier to score through the air on Denver than on the ground.

Denver's pass defense was good. They gave up a lot of touchdowns, and their run defense was incredible, which maybe helps Russell Wilson a little bit. But it is a tough game. There's no question. Like, a tough game for starter sit purposes. Because you guys have Jared Goff ahead of Wilson. You have Andy Dalton ahead of Russell Wilson and Phillip Rivers. So there are reasons to get away from Wilson for sure. Nobody has him in the top 12. Dave and Jamie have him 13th. And then, yeah, what do you think about Chris Carson? This was probably the best

run defense in the NFL last year in the Broncos. What do you think? Don't like him. Yeah, it's hard to get excited about him. I have to start him in a couple of leagues, including our Dynasty League, because I have Le'Veon Bell. He's not going to play, so Carson's the next guy up there. He's my last

RB2, because I couldn't really find anybody that I like better. I would rather start Alfred Morris, Bilal Pal, Jay Ajayi, Matt Breida, Marshawn Lynch.

You would rather start a guy, Alfred Morris, who's splitting carries at an equally tough run defense? I think Chris Carson will be splitting carries. With Rashad Penny? Rashad Penny's going to play. He's not going to get much.

CJ Procise is going to play on third downs. He's their best pass catching back for the quarter and a half that he stays healthy. I don't like this situation at all for Carson. How do you guys feel about Baldwin? Actually, how about this?

Rank the three primary wide receivers in this game. Sanders, Thomas, Baldwin. Actually, how about this? Rank the three primary wide receivers in this game. Sanders, Thomas, Baldwin. Thomas, Baldwin, Sanders. I agree with Jamie. Sanders, Thomas, Baldwin. Why is Sanders ahead of Thomas? You just have to go with what you've seen.

He's favoring Sanders right now, and the matchup's easier for him because Griffin will follow Thomas. I think you see just the way that the secondary is right now for the Seahawks. Sanders has the easier matchup, and he's the apple of Case Keenum's eye right now. Would you start Case Keenum over Russell Wilson? No, I would not. I would not, but I have them back-to-back.

Would you start Garoppolo or Keenum? Keenum. Keenum. I have Keenum higher. Okay. So he's an okay start. And Royce Freeman or James Conner? Conner.

Freeman. Freeman. No, Conner. Close. So, Connor, close So Dave, you must really like Royce Freeman I do I think the matchup is even better than you think Because KJ Wright's not going to play for Seattle You've got Shaquem Griffin

Making his first start in the middle He looked great in the preseason But still, a rookie middle linebacker Making his first start And I think Royce Freeman's going to just get a lot of work. And if the Broncos build any kind of a lead, I think they lean on him in the second half. I think he can score.

Was very tempted to put him in my top 12 this week. Couldn't find the room. I just, I'm glad that he's starting. I've got him for quite a few touches. I think there will be a significant difference in the number of touches James Conner gets and the number of touches Royce Freeman gets. Meaning that Conner gets more than Freeman?

Conner gets six more. Yeah, I agree with that. I have Conner 13th and Freeman 15th. Wow. Buffalo is at Baltimore. Start of the game. Only three quarterbacks last year scored 20 or more fantasy points against the Bills, Jameis Winston, Phillip Rivers,

and of course David Fales for the Dolphins. So we don't really like Joe Flacco, but he's a streaming option. Yeah, well, what do you have him? You have him 17th. Yeah. So most people will probably do better, but he's not the worst option for Jamie. Are we cool with LeSean McCoy? No.

We're sitting him? Define cool. I mean, could you see a scenario where you're sitting LeSean McCoy? Freeman, Connor, number one pick? Yep. I could debate Connor versus McCoy. I have McCoy ranked higher for now. I have McCoy behind Freeman and Connor,

but I have McCoy ranked in a way in which most people are starting him. Where do you have him? 18, 19. Yeah, I've got him 18. McCoy or Jamal Williams? Jamal Williams. Williams. All right, so there are ways you could get away from Deshaun McCoy,

but he's not a terrible start. Would you start anyone in the Buffalo passing game? No. In fantasy football? Yeah. I have a hard time starting most of those guys in real football. I could see Kelvin Benjamin as a volume flex. Alex Collins, we love him.

But the Bills allowed the most fantasy points to opposing running backs last year. They did add star Lotu Lele to their defensive line. That should help. For a few games, yes. Alex Collins is a must start. Collins or Connor? And every time I ask about Connor, Dave is going to take the other guy because he has Connor like 10 spots lower than Heath and Jamie do. Not quite that far. Connor.

Connor in PPR, Collins in non-PPR. Startership Michael Crabtree. Not an easy matchup. He's a number three receiver. Yeah, he's a low-end number three. It's not an easy matchup, and I do worry that there's just not that many pass attempts. Baltimore had a couple of games last year where they got out to big leads,

and they just ran the ball like 50 times. Yeah, that's why Collins is a top-12 guy for me. Crabtree's going to be out of my top 24 before the end like 50 times. Yeah, that's why Collins is a top 12 guy for me. Crabtree is going to be out of my top 24 before the end of the day. Would you start, say, Randall Cobb or Michael Crabtree? Crabtree. Yeah. Who's a better flex, Crabtree or LaShawn McCoy?

McCoy. McCoy. McCoy. Baltimore DSD is top two this week. All right, I like that pace. Good pace. Let's keep it up. Tennessee is at Miami.

Tennessee at Miami. Stat of the game. Only one running back rushed for more than 73 yards against the Titans in their last 13 games last year. 73 yards. Only one running back eclipsed that. That was Todd Gurley. These two teams actually played last year, but Mariota didn't play.

It was an ugly 16-10 win for the Dolphins. But Kenyon Drake, is he a stud this week? Because this is not an easy matchup for him based on last year. I'm very excited about Kenyon Drake this season. I do have him ranked lower for this week than I had him ranked for the full season. Is he in your top 24? Just barely. Oh.

22 in non-PPR, 19 in PPR. I like him. I think he's going to be a number two running back this week. I think this is a game where game flow will help him pretty much no matter what. Jamie, how do you feel about Marcus Mariota? I think he's a good streaming option. I do worry that Corey Davis is going to get taken out of this game by Xavier Howard

because that's what he did at the end of the season last year. He took away number one receivers. But I think this is a Delaney Walker game. I think this is a game where Mariota will use his legs a little bit. He actually did that the last time he faced Miami in 2016. So he's okay. He's not great, but he's okay. I'd start him over Mahomes and Grappler for sure.

So Walker's a must start in this game. The Dolphins allowed 10 touchdowns to tight ends, but he's okay. I'd start him over Mahomes and Grabo, for sure. So Walker's a must-start in this game. The Dolphins allowed 10 touchdowns to tight ends, as Jamie just said. Big game for Walker. Setting up to be a good day for Walker. And Drake's going to get started. I guess we need to talk about the Tennessee running backs. What do you do with them? You start Derek Henry for sure.

And Deion Lewis is a good flex, no matter the format. Close to a starting option in PPR. Yeah, I'd start Lewis and Henry in PPR. I agree with what Jamie said in non-PPR. I mean, based on the preseason, the Dolphins look like they're going to have a terrible defense. So let's see what happens. And anything else here?

Kenny Stills? Danny Amendola? Love Kenny Stills. Like the matchup? More than Corey Davis? Yes. Yeah. Yes. Yes. But I don't mind Corey Davis either.

But I think he's closer to the flex than he is. Number one receivers against the Dolphins last year because of Howard. I think it was like the last five games. No touchdowns allowed. And he's becoming one of the better lockdown corners in the football. Is he going to shadow him? That's what he did last year. Yeah.

I don't know if that's something that the Titans are going to do. They changed defenses and matchups. Dolphins? Dolphins, I'm sorry. I was thinking about that. Well, they have the same defense. The Dolphins have the same defense.

The Titans do not. I was just predicting that Corey Davis was going to play against his own team. My mistake. It's early in the morning, Adam. In that case, move him up the rankings. I do think Howard is a tough matchup for Corey Davis, but I still like his chances to...

Maybe he's a little more touchdown dependent than normal this week. He scored none in the regular season. Yeah, but he had two in his last game. We got Corey Davis or Josh Gordon? Gordon. Gordon. Heath? Corey Davis.

Kansas City is at the Chargers. Here's your stat of the game. This is from mentalfl Davis. Davis. Kansas City is at the Chargers. Here's your stat of the game. This is from mentalfloss.com. How did the film industry end up in L.A.? To get away from Thomas Edison. Edison, who lived in New Jersey, held most of the country's film patents. Filmmakers fled westward to avoid Edison's intellectual property claims. Now you know that.

They also liked the weather. Probably. The weather was much easier to film in in Los Angeles than in the East Coast. If I could just tell you what's happening right now in my house, I have flies swarming me right now. It's because you haven't showered.

I did shower. I showered yesterday. I don't know what happened here. You didn't shower today, you filthball. I showered before I went to bed. This is disgusting. Ew. All right.

Chargers and Chiefs. So we like Rivers more than Mahomes, right? Oh, yeah. Much. Yeah. Chargers were third best against quarterbacks last year. So Mahomes, only two quarterbacks scored 20 or more fantasy points against the Chargers last year. One of them was Alex Smith, but he only scored 22.

Also, Chargers are going to get after him. Alex Smith, but he only scored 22. Also, Chargers are going to get after him. Kareem Hunt had two huge games against the Chargers last year. He killed them. Melvin Gordon's start, Kelsey's start. This game's easy, right? Yeah, the one point I'd want to make on Mahomes, which is why

if you're in a pickle and he's on your team, you can start him. I'm just not expecting top 12 numbers. Andy Reid's track record against the Chargers has been very good. Last four times he's played, I think the worst Alex Smith did was 18 fantasy points. And they don't have Jason Verrett, and they're going to throw a lot, and they've got that deep ball element that's going to be there every week. Like if I've got Mahomes and Garoppolo, which I think a lot of people drafted together,

I'm, I'm starting my homes there. No problem. And if I have my homes in Wentz and I don't want to carry a third quarterback, I'm starting my homes. Okay. Are there any like number two wide receivers or sleepers or like Antonio

Gates, anybody that shows up in this game that is not an automatic start? Oh, I think the guy we should probably talk about is Sammy Watkins. Sure. Nobody's starting Sammy Watkins this week. You should not start Sammy Watkins this week. But people drafted him with a fifth or sixth round pick in some leagues.

They may be planning on starting him. They should not. They should not. John Brown ahead of Sammy Watkins. John Ross ahead of Sammy Watkins. I mean, I do think Gates is kind of interesting. If Barry doesn't play. If Barry doesn't play, yeah, for sure.

He's got a much better chance to score. He's actually scored in two of his last three against them with Barry playing. Or no, Barry missed one of those. Right. I look at Gates a little bit like Vanette, a little bit like Austin Sapirian Jenkins. Right. It'd be more fun if they were bi-weeks.

But yeah, you're right. I mean, 16 teams playing. Would you start Gates over Kittle? No. Right. It'd be more fun if it were bi-weeks. But yeah, you're right. I mean, 16 teams playing. Would you start Gates over Kittle? No. Yes. Dave, break the tie. Gates or Kittle?

I'll go Kittle. Last game is the Rams at the Raiders. Rams at Raiders. Stat of the game. Only three quarterbacks scored 20 or more fantasy points against the Rams last year. And all three of those quarterbacks had huge games.

Brian Hoyer, Dak Prescott, and Carson Wentz. But for the most part, the Rams were great against quarterbacks. Does anybody like Derek Carr? No. And this is a better Rams unit than it was last year. This is actually a sensational matchup for the Rams defense. Because both of their starting corners are very familiar with the Raiders. Because they played in the AFC West.

Tlaib with Denver. Peters with Kansas City. And Wade Phillips is going to come up with some wacky stuff. Now that he's got Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Su. As the front two teeth of his defensive line. They're going to shatter Derek Carr. They're going to limit Amari Cooper. This is going to be an ugly game for everybody in the silver and black.

Well, I guess we should stick with them. Are you starting anybody on this team? On the Raiders? On the Raiders. Not with a smile on my face. I'm stuck with Cooper in a couple leagues I hope that Gruden does what he said he was going to do and moves Cooper around because if he could avoid him facing Peters and Talib because those two guys have really dominated him according to

pro football focus I think he could have an opportunity in some garbage time. We talked about this on FFT yesterday. Just the fourth quarter. I think you said it, right? Blake Bortles. Right. Production. That's what it'll have to take for him. We saw it in that game. I think, was Peters playing that game against Chiefs

Thursday night? The two-touch game? I watched it yesterday. He was playing none of the big plays game against Peters. Yeah, but that was, what, 18 targets that Cooper got that game? Yeah. But Peters in Kansas City stayed to his side. No, but he's going to stay on his side, too. Here. But the problem is

now is that if Cooper stays away from Peters in this game, it's a keep to lead. But if they move him inside, which they didn't really move him in the slot. That's true. And so, excuse me, with the previous regime. So I'm curious if they'll be creative's true. And so, excuse me, with the previous regime. So I'm curious if they'll be creative with him. And I think, look, if you drafted Cooper, it's the same thing you drafted Russell Wilson. It's the same thing you drafted a lot of these guys like McCoy.

I don't love McCoy this week, but you have to have other options. If you don't have other options, you've got to start him. And the hope is that he doesn't just crush your fantasy week by a terrible performance. So it's not going to be pretty, but hopefully the targets are there for him. And if the targets are there for him, then he has a chance. I feel like he's better in PPR than non. And I feel like I'm ranked – I'm 28th right now in non, and I don't like it. I think it's too high. So how about – how many of the Rams wide receivers would you start over Amari Cooper?

Six. Zero. Zero. Cooks for sure. That's it for me. Heath, what's your read on the Rams receivers then? That's the problem. It's a giant shrug emoji. I'd like to see that.

So the problem is we would like to see Brandon Cooks treated like a number one wide receiver in this offense. Adam, that was a very nice shrug emoji. Thank you. Excellent. We got to see it again. My guess is they exploit matchups like they did last year.

How did I injure myself doing the shrug emoji? You hurt yourself? Yeah, a little bit. Your neck? Look at you. You're rubbing your neck. Oh, man? Yeah, a little bit. Your neck? Look at you. You're rubbing your neck. Oh, man. Yeah, it's tough.

So what's the matchup? Who exploits the matchup this week, Keith? Robert Woods. You got to figure it's Cooks. First game with the Rams. Show off that new toy against a bad defense whose pass rush just went from great to blech. Does anyone like Marshawn Lynch?

No. I would hang out with him in a heartbeat. He seems like a lot of fun. I would not start him on my fantasy team. I do not like him. But I would start him over J.J. You would hang out with him? You would start him over J.J., huh?

I would. That's J.J. You would hang out with him. You would start him over J.J., huh? I would. That's an interesting take. Dave, Jamie, Ajayi, or Lynch? Ajayi. I'm going to move Lynch behind Ajayi. And we like Jared Goff in this game. He's top 12 quarterback. So if you hate your quarterback,

you could go for Jared Goff. Ahead of Mahomes. Start or sit Todd Gurley? Sit if you're playing against me. Sit Todd Gurley, yeah. This is just a couple emails. We'll finish the show. From Koa in a tiny town in Maui.

What was the name of that town, Dave? Which one? Springfield. The one you kept saying. Oh, Barnstorm? Yeah, Barnstorm, Maui. Yeah. Keelan Cole or Nelson Aguilar, PPR?

Aguilar. Aguilar. Aguilar. This is from Paul. Dear Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Keith, insert Heath's side here, 14-team PPR league, only need one running back. Would you drop any of these players for Brita? And by the way, he has position limits

for the amount of running backs he can carry. 14-team PPR, would you drop any of these guys for Brita? No, Kenyon Drake, not Jamal Williams. How about Deion Lewis or Kerryon Johnson? I say no. I'd rather have Brita on my team than Kerryon Johnson in a normal league. In a league where I only have to start one running back, and I already have Drake and Williams,

I'd rather have the upside of what if Kerryon Johnson gets that full job. Wouldn't you want that regardless of the league format, though? Because Kerryon does have that high upside. I'm not sure. You cannot start Kerryon Johnson in any format or type of league or anything. Unless you're getting points for yards they got at Auburn. I just wonder, though, if they're blowing him out. Yeah, I'm a sleeper this week.

So do I. He's going to get some late run. Jets win ugly. Nope. Not happening. All right. You want to make our third bet? No, no, I don't.

I don't. I want that to be something I said an hour into the show. How many points? I think it's seven and a half. Is it that many points? That's a lot of points. I would probably take that. I'll tell you right now.

All right. Can we make a gentleman's bet instead of coming up with some crazy? Oh, do it for like two bucks. You buy me lunch next time here. That's good. All right. Jets plus seven and a half. I'll buy you lunch.

Let's just know. We'll see what the line is. Okay, fine. As you do that, I'm going to end the show. I'll tell you. We're going to be back tomorrow to recap some football and to preview seven NFC home games. Get excited. Wait, hold on.

Sorry. Oh, come on. You're killing me. The line is Wait, hold on. Oh, come on. You're killing me. The line is six and a half. Nope. Good. No,

absolutely not. All right. I'll give you, I'll give you seven. Okay. Seven and a half for lunch. All right. Gotta go.

Bye. See ya. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah,

nah.