Fantasy Football Today - 09/07 Fantasy Football Podcast: Week 1 Tough Calls

Episode Date: September 7, 2017

Beginning our Start or Sit portion of the week, let's take a look at the tough decisions Fantasy owners will have to make this week. Do we feel comfortable starting anyone in the JAC-HOU game (7:45)? And why are we excited about using Robby Anderson and John Brown as FLEX options this week (12:00)? ... We play Beat the Waiver Wire (21:50) to give you a jump on Week 2! Should you add Blake Bortles (22:00)? Matt Forte (24:48) may be underowned, and there are a number of WRs we like on waivers ... Tough calls: QBs (32:50) including Drew Brees and Dak Prescott; RBs (39:45) including all of the rookies, Ty Montgomery and Ameer Abdullah; WRs (51:00) including Davante Adams and Sammy Watkins; TEs (57:12) too! ... 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! Get your lineup set. It's time for Start or Sit. Let's go! Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and T. Yeah, it's time to break down some games.

It's time for some Start or Sit. Week one, tough calls. Like everybody in the Jacksonville-Houston game. And maybe some Seahawks or Packers. Who knows? Adam Azer and Heath Cummings here on Thursday. Dave and Jamie are out of the state doing their work on the road because of Hurricane Irma. But they will be back later this week.

What's up, Heath? How we doing? This is the only thing I've had in my mind for the last 24 hours, just getting ready for this Start-Sit. It's the only thing that matters in my world. Everybody in South Florida is preparing for this Start-Sit episode, absolutely. Yes. We want to know, we want to know, you're in Fort Lauderdale. How you doing? Well, there's like four people in the office today. I'm one of them.

And I'm wearing shorts because nobody else is here. Good for you. Which is fitting because it's a beautiful day outside. Sunny. Ironic. Calm. I don't know what the big deal is. Yeah.

Well, I've been glued to the TV and just knowing so many people down there and having still my parents in their home down there, my child at home, I'm a little nervous. You are very calm. I'm very nervous about Irma, and I'm praying for the best. Please, please turn right. Well, the only thing I will say, because I don't want to sound flippant, the reason that I am very calm is because I am very prepared. Good for you. Everybody, please be prepared. I've been through hurricanes.

They can be really boring, and they can be really dangerous. So be prepared. Get some card games. Obviously, like water and all that stuff. But you're going to be sitting there perhaps in darkness for hours. Don't underestimate the boredom that could – I'm just trying to figure out. I'm hopeful that the roof doesn't have any leaks because I want to be able to go upstairs and lock myself in my room at times.

Because, man, sitting there in the darkness in the same room as my kids for like 12 hours? Woof. Yeah, I can see it. I love my kids. And I also am not trying to dismiss it. It was really serious. So please be prepared out there. Bleach a bathtub and fill it with water because you might need water for flushing toilets,

for cleaning wounds, for things like that. Now, fantasy football is back, and that means FanDuel is back. So sign up today at FanDuel.com and click the Join Now button and use our code CBSPOD. New users get free entry into the NFL Sunday Million with over a million dollars in cash prizes when you deposit on Fanduel, when you make your first deposit on Fanduel. Voidware prohibited. Again, the promo code is CBSPOD. I'm going to get the news and notes out of the way, and then I'll explain the format for this show and what we're going to do this season, changing it up from previous years. Odell Beckham did not practice, so he's questionable, let's say, for Dallas on Sunday night.

He could be a game-time decision, which is going to cause all kinds of headaches on Sunday. But we'll worry about that at that point. Sterling Shepard's still available in like 35% of leagues, so if you're desperate, you have Beckham, maybe you pick him up. But do you have to start Chris Hogan tonight and Tyreek Hill if you're nervous about Beckham? And see, this is probably where it gets into how I feel about Chris Hogan. I feel like there's a pretty good gap between Tyreek Hill and Chris Hogan. If I had Tyreek Hill as my backup, then yeah, I probably would. But I like your plan better. And the best part about this week is that we have two Monday night games.

So it's not just Sterling Shepard that you have to pick up to see what happens. There's a lot of different options. You could pick up Ted Ginn. Yeah. You could possibly pick up like Adam Thielen. He's 72% owned facing the Saints. Okay. Yeah, I mean, you can't really go to the chargers well unfortunately or the broncos i mean you're not going to start anyone other than demarius and

sanders no i like in a really desperate situation travis benjamin's not the the worst possible thing okay yeah and tyra williams a little banged up right now but that's the big injury i mean other than that we're pretty healthy going into week one. Miles Garrett hurt his ankle. He may not play. He might miss, I don't know, up to a month for the Browns. They've got the Steelers coming in. That's the number one overall pick, so anxious to see him play.

Khalil Mack dealing with a knee injury for the Raiders. Doesn't seem like he's in jeopardy right now, but we'll keep an eye on it. They're at Tennessee. Thomas Rawls, he practiced in full yesterday. He should be good to go at Green Bay, but he had a high ankle sprain, so it takes a while to come back from those. The Raiders did agree to a contract with Sebastian Janikowski. I still would watch his back if you own Seabass. Buffalo is going to have Tyrod Taylor, Jordan Matthews, and Cordy Glenn this week. Cordy Glenn is their left tackle. So their offense looks healthy facing the Brutal Jets.

Eric Ebron is expected to play. I don't think Eric Ebron is expected to do very well as he is facing a team that gave up the fewest fantasy points to tight ends last year, the Arizona Cardinals. Heath has Ebron a little bit higher than I thought, so we'll talk about that later. And, you know, Jordan Howard, you're going to start him, but might be without offensive guard Kyle Long,

and the Bears might be without Prince of Mookamara, their top cornerback against the Atlanta Falcons. You don't need a cornerback against the Falcons, no big deal. Whatever. So last year we would do the AFC home games on Thursday and the NFC home games on Friday. Want to change it up a little bit. We've been doing that for years.

So what I want to do is the tough calls on Thursday, and then we'll go through every game on Friday, rehash a little bit of Thursday's show, but kind of more quickly go through the games. But let's focus on the risky ones, the ones that we're on the fence about on Thursdays here. And tell me, who are you nervous to start this week? But you're going to have to start them anyway.

It's week one. You drafted them. You're starting them. But you're a little nervous. I guess the very first one, you drafted them, you're starting them, but you're a little nervous. I guess the very first one that comes to mind, it's just a no doubter, but I am nervous about, is Melvin Gordon.

Against the Broncos. And I've got Melvin Gordon on a few teams. People are probably surprised to know that. And yes, the Denver defense was much better against the pass last year than they were against the run. They were susceptible to running back scoring fantasy points, sometimes in unique ways, but still susceptible to it. I'm just afraid, honestly, of the entire Chargers offense. So I'd throw Keenan Allen in there, too, because I'm still starting him. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

The Denver defense is one thing. At the Denver defense is another thing I'm very nervous about the passing game Opening week at Denver On Monday Night Football This could be just awful Yeah, and then For a lot of these answers that we're giving here

Maybe it's going to apply more to Daly They were bad, the Broncos, against the run They were great against quarterbacks About the fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks and receivers, the Broncos, against the run. They were great against quarterbacks, allowed the fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks and receivers. But the Broncos— When you say they were bad against the run, was it fantasy points-wise? Yeah. I mean, running backs did very well against them, and they did add nose tackle, domotop peck-o. That could be big for them.

They should be healthier this year up front. So I think they could turn that around. I really do. Yeah, I feel like when you say—I don't think they're necessarily bad against the run. I know they had a few really bad games, and one of them, I think, was, wasn't there a game with the Falcons where Freeman and Coleman combined for like 150 yards receiving or something? Yeah, that sounds right. So I don't, and that's not something I'd expect from Melvin Gordon.

Okay, fair enough. Now, I am worried about Lamar Miller. Look, I'm worried about guys that we drafted this year higher than what last year would have told us. I don't think – Miller wasn't good last year in my opinion. And he's top 12 in standard for all three of our analysts this week, and he's top 15 in PPR. Jacksonville allowed 3.8 yards per carry last year. They held seven of their last

nine running backs, or in their last nine games, only two running backs scored double-digit fantasy points in standard scoring leagues. I think it helps Lamar Miller that both Deontay Foreman and Alfred Blue are dinged up, but left tackle Dwayne Brown is not expected to play. So Jacksonville's run defense added Calais Campbell and did show signs last year of getting

a lot better toward the last half of the year. I feel like we have to start him. I mean, you and I own Lamar Miller in our 12-team rejects league, half PPR. We're starting him, but I'm nervous. It's kind of a show-me-something week for Lamar Miller and his teammate, DeAndre Hopkins, for that matter. I'm going to start him, but two games against Jacksonville last year. He scored four points on 13 targets. He scored eight points, eight catches for 87 yards.

That was on 17 targets. We know Jalen Ramsey's good, but he is dealing with a hip issue, so that helps. So I'm nervous about both of those Texans guys who people are going to be starting pretty much universally this week, and I get it. But, yeah, I don't know what to expect from Miller and Hopkins. No, I agree with you. I just feel like much like Melvin Gordon, and they're not on Melvin Gordon's level, much like Melvin Gordon, this is not so much a tough call.

It's just a queasy feeling. You're going to start all these guys. You're just not going to feel great about it. I'm also going to start Isaiah Crowell, but I'll tell you something, man. Weeks 5 through 12, Isaiah Crowell had fewer than 30 rushing yards in 6 of 8 games. No more than 63 rushing yards

in any of those 8 games. And they lost all 8 of those games and only 2 were by less than 14 points. So what I'm showing you here is that when they got blown out, Crowell didn't do well. I think they're going to get blown out in this game. Of course I'm going to start Crowell, but against the Steelers, I'm a little nervous.

The Steelers' defense should be really good this year, really good. Yeah, I will say that because we talk about arbitrary cutoffs all the time, and I don't think that's an arbitrary cutoff, but in his last four games of the season, he had two games with more than 110 rushing yards, three out of four with at least 50 rushing yards, and three out of four with at least 12 fantasy points. Right, and that's why he was drafted in the third round, Isaiah Crowell. I guess my point is he showed for a very extended period of time. Crowell could be useless for your fantasy team.

No, I don't necessarily agree with that because week eight against the Jets, he only had 29 rushing yards, but he scored a touchdown and had 34 receiving yards. Yeah, yeah. Week nine against Dallas, he only had four rushing yards, but he had 63 receiving yards. So he had 67 total yards. It's terrible. Well, that's not good. That's not like, man, he just killed me this week.

It's six fantasy points. Now you're going to start him. And the last guy for me is T.Y. Hilton. Do you have any reservations starting T.Y. Hilton? In 2015, he played nine games without Andrew Luck and averaged about three points fewer per game in standard scoring leagues than he did with Andrew Luck. He averaged 7.2 fantasy points per game, faces the Rams on the road.

And, yeah, I mean, the Rams actually allowed the second most fantasy points per game, faces the Rams on the road. And, yeah, I mean, the Rams actually allowed the second most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers last year, so that's good. But Hilton, without luck, is more kind of like a number two receiver. Yeah, a low-end number two receiver for me this week. Of all the guys we've talked about so far, this is the one I'm most likely to bench. So then, yeah, give me some guys you might start over T.Y. Hilton. And I'll just start with guys that you maybe could have possibly gotten as your third receiver. Michael Crabtree, I'd start him over Hilton.

Kelvin Benjamin, Martavis Bryant, Larry Fitzgerald, Sammy Watkins, Stefan Diggs, all those guys. Okay. Watkins is someone we should probably talk about too. Great matchup, but what do we expect his first regular season game with the Rams? So those are players you're nervous about. Who are you sort of excited about as a flex this week? Well, all those receivers I just told you about. I'm pretty excited about them.

John Brown, though, is a guy that we did not draft as a starter. Any week he is healthy and expected to play, I'm going to be excited to start him. There's several of these players. I think Danny Woodhead's one too. I don't really expect these guys to necessarily play 16 games, and I downgraded them in my season-long rankings because of the injury risk of a full 16-game season. But if they're healthy heading into that first game, I'm excited about them.

Let's talk a little more about John Brown. He's one of the guys that I have three guys that I'm sort of excited to use as a flex. Brown is one of them. The Lions allowed touchdown catches to multiple wide receivers in each of their last four games last season. That includes the postseason, and that doesn't necessarily mean much, but I don't know. I mean, he's more likely to see Darius Slay than Larry Fitzgerald is

because Slay isn't going to follow Fitzgerald into the slot all that much. Yeah, I don't think Slay's going to follow Brown either. You're probably going to see him 50% of the time. Sure. So, yeah, Brown, if you – I don't know. I'm having some issues with my lineups this week. First of all, Mike Evans owners, Jacquez Rogers owners, if you were going to use him as a flex, Jay Ajayi owners, Devante Parker owners, Jarvis Landry.

These are good players that we don't have this week. And then there's a lot of good defenses out there in the NFL, and they're all playing this week. So Brown is someone I'm starting. Who are some running backs that you would consider starting John Brown over? That's a good question. I was looking at wide receiver, and my brain was not thinking that way. I was just getting ready to give you some wide receivers that I would start him over.

Marshawn Lynch. Yes. How about Rob Kelly? I like Kelly this week. In PPR, I definitely would. In standard, I think I'd start Kelly. Ty Montgomery against Seattle. No.

You'd go with Ty Montgomery over... Yeah, because I'm worried about Ty Montgomery's rushing stats, but he's going to be heavily involved in the passing game. Based on what we saw the last two times the Packers hosted the Seahawks, by the way, and that's clearly one of the marquee games. Let's call it the marquee game this week. They should be fine offensively. Yeah, it's weird because we know Seattle's got a good defense,

and it got better just before the start of the season with that trade. But I think both teams score a bunch in that game. Man, I wish I could watch that game. I kind of feel like tonight might be the only football game I watch this weekend Until whenever the lights come back on Yeah, that's a good point Yeah, like, you don't shut down the Packers and Lambeau You just don't No, right

Whether or not Russell Wilson will be able to Russell Wilson threw five interceptions at Lambeau last year. They were all over him. Offensive line was terrible. So that's something to watch. But we all like Russell Wilson this week. I'll give you two players I'm excited to start as flexes. And it's so lame because they're like the worst team in football up there.

Two Jets. Blau Powell and PPR. And Robbie Anderson, who's 33% owned. That's another guy you can pick up if you own Odell Beckham and you're nervous. Buffalo has basically an entirely new secondary. It's probably not going to be that good. I'm starting Robbie Anderson over Mike Gillisley in a PPR league. I was just going to say that.

In PPR, I would. In Standard, I wouldn't. In PPR, I would. In Standard, I probably wouldn't. I'd start him over Amir Abdullah and Marshawn Lynch. Yeah, so Anderson's 33% owned. And then, yeah, I don't know what to expect from the Jets running backs. I actually think they both might be all right this week,

which it just doesn't feel right to say, Heath. What do you think? Jets at Bills. Yeah, I have gone back and forth on that because I can't— I don't think Buffalo's really even kind of good. And so it's probably not a blowout. No, I think it's a close game. Bilal Powell was really at his best last year in games where the Jets were behind. Matt Forte was the guy when they were in the game.

Yeah. So I've got Powell rated higher than Forte in both formats. I don't have either of them as a top 26, 27 running back in a standard format. In PPR, I do have Powell top 20. Yeah, and that's what I'm thinking for Powell. It's PPR. Last year, Powell, he caught 58 passes. So he gives you a little bit of a floor.

Only one running back, Heath, caught a touchdown pass against the Bills last year. Do you know who it was? The one running back that caught a touchdown against the Bills, James White. Bilal Powell. Bilal Powell. It was Week 17, and Matt Forte did not play. But the Bills also allowed the fourth most fantasy points to opposing running backs. These two teams might just be great fantasy matchups.

Anybody else who are excited? We mentioned Robbie Anderson. We mentioned John Brown, Powell in PPR. Anyone else you think is a really good flex that people might be on the fence about this week? Well, I don't know if you've heard about this receiver in Baltimore. His name is Mike Wallace. No, just joking. Let's stay there. Let's Mike Wallace. No, just joking. Let's

stay there. Great opportunities. No Pac-Man Jones, no safety Sean Williams for the Bengals. I just don't know what to expect. You know how much I like Macklin, but you made a great point about it. He hasn't caught any passes from Joe Flacco. Flacco just returned

to practice. Flacco has a terrible, terrible history at Cincinnati, as pointed out by Jason LaConfora, and did not play well against the Bengals last year in either game. So if this were mid-season and Flacco had been healthy, it seems like a really good matchup. I'm nervous about the Ravens' wide receivers this week. I don't want to... They're both flexes for me, and I'd rather start Wallace, but that's just because I've always liked Wallace more. I'm not particularly nervous, though, as a flex. No?

Okay. All right. Fair enough. Let's read an email. So here's some other stuff we're doing on today's show. We're going to try to beat the waiver wire. Getting ahead of the game if you want to pick players up for week two. And, yeah, mostly starter sit.

And a new sponsor to tell you about. I'm very excited about that. But here's our email of the day. It comes from Baker from Sycamore, Illinois. And he gave me these greeting names, and I was very embarrassed that I had to Google them, Heath. Oh, no. You did? You got Dear Chris with a K, Anthony, Javier, and Jake.

That's pretty obvious. That's the world champion Chicago Cubs. And he's from Illinois, too. I Googled it, and I was like, oh, come on, Azar. Step it up. I am in a fantasy league with a friend of mine. We were both watching TV together when a bit of injury news popped up on the screen. We both reached for our phones to make the pickup when I conveniently knocked his phone

out of his hand, thus allowing me to pick the player up with ease. Awesome or cheating? Awesome cheating. Yeah, I mean, I guess it stands. I guess it's okay. That's pretty funny. I wonder what the news was. Probably Spencer Ware.

Probably so. No, because then Kareem Hunt was drafted. Who would have been added based on injury? I don't know. But that's very funny. It's awesome. I enjoy it. Yeah, good job.

All right, everyone out there, as long as you're not driving or running or in harm's way in any sense, you're at your desk at work or whatever, close your eyes. I have a visual for you. I want you to imagine something. This is something that I had to visualize last week in Philadelphia. So imagine a wonderful fantasy analyst named Heath Cummings, okay?

The best in the business. You are with Heath. You are face-to-face in the same room. He's telling you who to start, who to sit, and he's doing it in nothing but his underwear. That's right. Harry Chess and all just dispensing fantasy advice in his undies, in his me undies. Yes. And I had, I'm giving this beautiful image to you because Heath wouldn't stop talking about his me undies last week in Philadelphia. So I had that visual, and now you have to have it too.

And Heath, I get it because I got my MeUndies delivered last week, and they're amazing. What an awesome new sponsor. They're the most comfortable thing I've ever had on my body. They might be. That's how they're built too. This is the most comfortable underwear you're ever going to own. So welcome to our new sponsor.

Sorry about the visual, but now you can picture me in MeUndies too, if that helps. I'm sure it doesn't They're really awesome So now we've got some I'm going to get more And I love the product So MeUndies

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If you don't love your first pair, get a full refund. Your pair is going to love it too, Heath. Ha, ha, ha, ha. To get 20% off and free shipping and a 100% satisfaction guarantee, get the best and softest underwear you'll ever own. Go to MeUndies.com slash FFT. That's MeUndies.com slash FFT. A limited time offer. Don't wait. MeUndies.com slash FFT. A limited time offer.

Don't wait. MeUndies.com slash FFT right now. A little risque? A little too risque? I don't know. I'm just trying to decide how I feel. How many days were you envisioning me and MeUndies? Just that night in Philadelphia.

Just that night. Whenever you kept talking about it. Yeah. And the drive home. It stopped after we left the thing. Not like as you were driving home. No, the drive home. That was all I could picture.

Yeah, no. All right, let's play Beat the Waver Wire, and then we'll get back into the tough calls for week one. Who could you pick up for week two? So this is two things. This is good matchups and who might have big weeks that you need to get now before it's too late. So at quarterback, I don't really know that there's much,

but Blake Bortles is kind of interesting because as bad as he is, he's not that bad in fantasy. He was a top eight quarterback last year, and he has Tennessee next week. Bortles is 25% owned. Luck owners, Dak Prescott owners, he's at Denver. Matthew Stafford owners at the Giants. If you are just desperate for a quarterback, Blake Bortles isn't the worst choice.

I don't know that you have to do it now, but against Tennessee next week could be okay. Do you see any other quarterbacks that might have a big week one that could skyrocket next week? I was thinking actually it might be Chad Henney because Blake Bortles might get benched. No. This is going to be bad against the Texans. Oh, yeah. Not good for Bortles might get benched. No. This is going to be bad against the Texans. Oh, yeah. Not good for Bortles. I don't know.

Maybe I expect that Sam Bradford's going to have a very nice week one. Week two, he faces the Steelers, which I don't think is a great matchup, but it's at least going to be a volume matchup because they're going to have to score to keep up. So Bradford might not be a bad option. Now, when I was looking at the most owned quarterbacks, I mean, the guys that you want to own are owned. It's not like there's a ton out there on the waiver wire. So I don't know that it's going to be a big quarterback week.

But, again, the Luck owner, the Dak owner because they're at Denver, and the Stafford owner at the Giants, you want to be looking at quarterbacks. So just, you know just keep it in mind. Running backs. I think we've talked enough about Wendell Smallwood. Yeah. He's at Kansas City, then the Giants next week. At Kansas City week two, Giants week three.

So that's a little bit of a deterrent. Jacquez Rogers still available in 27% of leagues. He has the Bears next week. Jeremy Hill's got a Thursday night game against Houston. You never know. He's 71% owned. Matt Forte, 66% owned at Oakland. Forte got off to a really good start last year and then broke down.

I don't know that Forte should only be owned in 66% of leagues. I know we don't like him, Heath, but he might not be as bad for fantasy as people think. No, I think at this point he should be closer to 80-85% owned but he might not be as bad for fantasy as people think. No, I think at this point he should be closer to 80-85% owned because there is a chance that he has a decent game against Buffalo. I don't think Oakland's defense is any good. And we don't know. We all have Powell ranked higher than Forte. There's a chance they come out in this game

and Forte gets like 65-70% of the work. Yeah, I mean that's what happened at the beginning of last year. They used him as a workhorse, and I could see that happening again. Forte will probably wear down, but, you know, could give you some early success. Rex Burkhead's 42% owned. He's at New Orleans next week, so

if he plays well tonight, and that's the thing, like, if you want someone for next week at New Orleans, you have to speculate on Burkhead, because obviously you can't pick him up after tonight. Right. But it's risky, obviously. That's all I got. There are some others.

Chris Carson with the Rawls situation, I don't know. He's buried. But Procise, too, they're available. Yeah, I don't dislike any of those. We've hammered – like this segment would have really been a great time to start talking about Wendell Smallwood, and we've done it all week. So that kind of took some of the wind out of our sails. Oh, I hope he has a huge week. I do too.

Like we said yesterday, Marshawn Lynch has a bad year. It's going to make our podcast look good. Smallwood having even a good start would be good for us. We love you, Wendell Smallwood. Wide receivers, I mean, John Brown at Indianapolis next week. If you don't pick him up now and he has a good game against Detroit, it's going to be a race for Brown. He should be 100% owned.

You think so? 100% owned. Eight team leagues, he should be owned. I'm not saying he should be started in eight team league, but he should be owned. Okay, John Brown. You can drop him after week four if he gets hurt but these first this opening schedule for him and the fact that he's healthy right now he's going to be a top 25 receiver over the first month of the season all right that's john brown

now dante moncrief heath is 78 owned nobody's starting him until luck gets back nor should you but when luck when luck is back you're you're the low guy on Moncrief. Do you think he should at least be 100% owned? I do not think that Dante Moncrief should be more owned than healthy John Brown with Andrew Luck healthy. But you said Brown should be owned at 100% of leagues. Right. So Moncrief, what do you think?

Like, if you're guaranteeing me that Andrew Luck's back next week, then sure, you can pick him up. But not if John Brown's available in your league, not if Adam Thielen's available in your league. Okay, that was another guy. Thielen is 73% owned. Give me your overall thoughts on Thielen. I'm really interested to see Diggs and Thielen in this first game against New Orleans. It's a great way. Like we have the preseason to kind of try things out.

The second best thing, if you're this, if the Vikings offense, you want to try things out, do it against the Saints defense because you can try just about anything you want to think. I love the idea that they have of putting Thielen in the slot and putting Diggs outside because both of them were more efficient in those places last year. I want to see though, what happens to the targets?

Does this mean that Thielen's going to be a 50-50 split? Does it mean that Thielen's going to get more targets than Diggs? He has the upside to be a top 30 wide receiver, maybe top 25. All right. So Thielen, I don't love week two at Pittsburgh because that could be a very good defense this year if they stay healthy, especially now that they've added Joe Hayden to go with Artie Burns. But after that, Tampa Bay, another team that could have a good defense this year. I don't know that we fear them. Then Detroit at Chicago, Green Bay. It's not that bad of a schedule for the Vikings up until their bye.

Yeah, Thielen and Brown are two guys I definitely think should be at it. Moncrief, whatever. If you want to add him, I understand it. I just don't really trust Thielen. I don't think much of Thielen. I don't own him. I actually think this week, because it's the Saints, fine. But how... I just don't understand. What do we expect from the Vikings?

How is Kyle Rudolph going to be good? Stefan Diggs going to be good? And Adam Thielen going to be good? They're not that kind of team. They drafted Dalvin Cook. They're going to use Dalvin Cook. Their pass blocking is going to be bad. That's from a Vikings beat writer who told us that on Saturday. Well, he said their run blocking will be better than their pass blocking.

And, like, no. They have Sam Bradford. I can't buy into three players in the Vikings pass offense. I got a thought in my head, and so I didn't listen to anything else you said. Did Amphelon just have a better year last year than Danteante moncrief has ever had probably i don't know i don't know what the final numbers were for feeling last year let's 69 catches 967 yards five touchdowns yeah but you're living in the past you're not seeing the future like that's that's a career if dante moncrief does that this year he's's had a third-year breakout. He had a 200-yard game, Adam Thielen. Let's not forget that.

You know what? He had 234 more yards than Moncrief ever had in a season. So take away the 200-yard game, and he's still had a better yardage season Moncrief ever has. All right, fine. So can we make a bet from the time Andrew Luck returns, Moncrief versus Thielen? Let's just make a bet from the time the season starts returns Moncrief versus Thielen? Let's just make a bet from the time the season starts. Moncrief versus Thielen. I'm in.

Okay. I got Thielen. You get Moncrief. If Luck misses more than four games, bet as null and void. More than four? Agreed. Alright. Fine. Thank you. Let's see. Other wide receivers. Keep talking about Robbie Anderson. He's at Oakland next week. And then Miami. So Anderson has a chance to get keep talking about Robbie Anderson. He's at Oakland next week and then Miami.

So Anderson has a chance to get off to a good start. He's 33% owned. I'm just going to say this name because I saw him in a sleeper column somewhere. Nelson Aguilar. Yeah, I'm interested to see their offense. There's so many things that I really want to see, and I'm really happy that I don't get to see any of them. But I want to see the target breakdown for the Eagles this week, because Aguilar's taken over the

slot. That was a high-volume position in this offense last season. My expectation is most of those targets are going outside to Alshon, or they're just going to Zacherts. But we'll see. Alright, he's 5% owned. Cooper Cupp is 35% owned. He's got a chance to get off to a good start, and then he has the Redskins

next week. I think people are too excited about him. You think so? Well, Sammy Watkins is a clear number one, right? Do we think Cooper Cup has already passed Robert Woods, the other guy they brought in, to originally be the number one? I would think so. I expect more targets for Watkins and Woods than for Cup, and I don't want the third wide receiver in Jared Goff's offense, even though I'm kind of excited about him being better. Even though you want the third best pass catcher in Sam Bradford's offense, Adam Thielen. Yeah, I would say he's probably the second best pass catcher.

Good, then that's going to be good for my bold prediction. Kyle Rudolph less than 60% owned by, I don't know what I said, week four. People don't drop top ten tight ends, Adam. Even if he can bust, finish tenth at the position, they don't drop him. No, I would say that the tenth best tight end is somebody that probably got streamed throughout the year. Probably depends on their name. Maybe. All right, tight ends, speaking of which, like Jack Doyle, if you want to stash someone.

If Andrew Luck were playing week one, Jack Doyle would probably be like 90% owned. He's 70% owned, so there's that. Austin Hooper has Green Bay next week. Evan Ingram will be relevant when Beckham's out. If Antonio Gates has a better game than Hunter Henry, he gets the Dolphins in week two. They stink against tight ends. They did

last year anyway. Gates is 27% owned. You know, he could fall into the end zone. I would expect he will fall into the end zone multiple times this season. I'm just trying to look. Who do the Bears play? Ah, the Ravens play the Browns.

So, Benjamin Watson. Somebody to keep an eye on? This week and next week for Ben Watson. Yes. I go back and forth calling him Ben or Benjamin, just depending on how he's played the week before. The Bears get Tampa Bay. I don't think that's

a bad matchup at all for Zach Miller either. And Charles Clay at Carolina. Clay, 22% owned. I'm trying to anticipate guys who might score this week and be

on the waiver wire. Yeah, Charles Clay is still 22% owned. Yeah. Nobody's reading my streaming call apparently. You should pick up Charles Clay

and start him this week. Over who? Over who that you may have drafted? I'd start him over my boy, Eric Ebron. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good one. I'd start him over Martellus Bennett against Seattle. That's interesting.

Martellus Bennett last year was the first time in five seasons he didn't score in week one. Yeah. He's just a week one dynamo. This is his time. All right. Let's get into the tough calls now, Heath. And emails later at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Let's start with quarterback.

This is mostly going to be a running back segment, I think. And I do think that it's week one and most people are just going to sort of start who they drafted in many cases to be their starters. Don't tell my Twitter mentions that. There'll be some cases, but I don't know. All right. All right. Fair enough. Philip Rivers at Denver.

Oh, we're introducing the tough-o-meter. The tough-o-meter. I want you to tell me how tough of a call is it, 0-10? Wait, first, though, on the tough-o-meter, where is Chris Harris on the tough-o-meter? It's not a tough call that I would not want to fight Chris Harris. Because I presume you are a zero on the tough-o-meter? It has nothing to do with the player. It has to do with the call that you have to make.

Right, but I want to know where you would rank yourself on a tough-o-meter. A two. A two, okay. I'm a little bit tougher than you think. Okay. Just a little bit tougher than you think. Okay. Just a little bit. Phillip Rivers at Denver. How tough of a call is this, zero to ten?

Zero. Do not start him. Yeah. There's somebody on your waiver wire you'd rather start. I'd almost guarantee it. Would you rather start Sam Bradford or Phillip Rivers? Bradford. Okay.

All right, next up. Drew Brees at Minnesota on Monday night. Zero. You're starting him. No question. Why? His name is Drew Brees. Yes. We know he's better at home. He throws

600 passes every season. They can't run the ball against Minnesota. They can't run the ball against Minnesota. They can't run the ball? No. I don't know. They're a good running team, and I think they're going to run for a lot of yards this year. They're not going to run on Minnesota on week one at home on Monday Night Football. I don't know that you pass on Minnesota on week one.

Look, Breeze is going to be terrible, but, okay, look. He had four good road games last year, and three of them were, like, epic, 30 or more fantasy points. He's better indoors, so that helps, but it is a road game. His left tackle is Ryan Ramchick, a rookie. First start of his career playing left tackle against the Vikings because Teron Armstead's out. Minnesota, only three quarterbacks scored more than 19 fantasy points against the Vikings last year.

Cousins had 22. Luck had 22. Rodgers had 44. They didn't really face the greatest quarterbacks, but I don't know, man. It doesn't seem like – all right, you want a bold prediction? I'll tell you what. I'm going to make it simple. I agree with you.

If I own Drew Brees, I don't. But if I did, I'd start him across the board. But a bold prediction, Derek Carr will score more fantasy points than Drew Brees. I don't – that's fine. I don't really think of Carr's level of quarterback when I'm thinking about who might be my number two behind Drew Brees. Maybe that's my fault. He just went kind of late in drafts,

so I feel like people might have them paired. But start Brees. But I'll tell you one guy that everybody has ranked ahead of Drew Brees, and that's Mariota. Dave, Jamie, and Heath all have Mariota slightly ahead of Brees. Among others, but guys that you might realistically have with Breeze. Probably not, but

fair enough. Carson Palmer at Detroit. Tough-O-Meter. Zero to ten. This is probably actually like a nine or a ten. Not because I don't want to start Carson Palmer. I do, but you didn't draft Carson Palmer as your starting quarterback.

If you drafted Palmer in luck, it's a zero. But I'm assuming you drafted him as your backup, and you've got somebody like Cousins, Cam, Derek Carr, Dak, Wilson, and he's right there with all those guys. That's the difficult part for me. You've got to start him over Dak, right? I would start him over Dak. I would start him over Carr. I would start him over Stafford. I don't know why you guys don't have Carr higher.

Well, I guess I can understand because there are a lot of good quarterback options this week. Carr is ninth for Jamie, eighth for Dave, and 11th for you. Yes, I have Palmer 10th and Carr 11th. Tennessee's past events shouldn't – I don't think it's going to be good. I don't think it's going to be particularly good. That's moved up from where I had them ranked in the preseason. I had them like 14th or 15th in the preseason. So the thing about Palmer is like there's nothing not to like about this game here except that Palmer just wasn't good last year.

Let's face that. Well, but he has a healthy – it's the same thing I said with John Brown. Yeah. This type of matchup with John Brown and Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson, he's got three good receivers. Fair enough. That's the third time I've said fair enough in the last, like, five minutes. No more fair enough.

No more fair enough. Unfair. Unfair enough. Detroit defensive end Ziggy Ansah, their best pass rusher when he's right. He's a little limited and could be on a snap count. And then there's Dak Prescott, 0-10 on the tough meter. He's facing the Giants on Sunday. Tough-o-meter.

I would say this is like a 7. I don't particularly want to start him. There aren't a lot of guys that were being drafted after him. Palmer, I'd start over him. Cam, I would start start him. There aren't a lot of guys that were being drafted after him. Palmer, I'd start over him. Cam, I would start over him. This one will probably be controversial, but Carson Wentz, I would start over him. No, it's not that controversial, facing the Redskins.

I'll tell you a tough one. If Beckham plays, I think Eli could be better than Prescott. I mean, that is a bad, bad pass defense in Dallas. I'm really down on Eli. I don't know how much your pass defense matters against them. It's because nobody can cover Beckham anyway. It's whether or not you can get to Eli or get close enough to him to where he throws it to the wrong team. Their pass rush is bad, too.

We'll see. Although I think they're getting Tyrone Crawford this week, which is a nice surprise for them, for the Cowboys. We'll talk about that game tomorrow because I do want to see what's going on with Odell Beckham, not that we'll have too much clarity in all likelihood. But Dak is outside the top 12. He's certainly not an automatic start. No, he's 13th for me.

I'd start him over Stafford. I would start him over Rivers. I'd start him over Dalton or I would start him over Rivers. I'd start him over Dalton or Manning. That's about it, though. And you're the high guy on Dak, because Jamie's got him 17th, and so does Dave. Alright, we'll get to running backs

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Promo code CBSPOD. Void where.com. Promo code CBSPOD. Void where prohibited. Now it gets a little more interesting, Heath. Running backs. I want to go through all the rookies, the top five. Leonard Fournette at Houston. TJ Yeldon may not play. That should help.

But Leonard Fournette at Houston. Forget about the tough-o-meter. It's a little confusing. Nine. Okay, fine. Nine. Fair enough, as they say. You don't want to start him?

I would rather not. I think – I mean, obviously, there's no think about it. This Texans defense is elite. Yeah. The Jacksonville offensive line has looked terrible. Their quarterback play has been worse. I don't know how much they have the ball i as far as the rookie running backs go this week i've got him behind alvin cook behind kareem hunt

behind christian mckeffrey i would start him over marshawn lynch but they're in the same category and you'd start for net over joe mixon yes Now, Fournette, this is a Texans defense that has J.J. Watt. Two years ago when they had him, they allowed 3.7 yards per carry and seven rushing touchdowns all year. So it's tough sledding. Would you start Danny Woodhead over Fournette? Definitely in PPR. I don't think I would in standard, but by Sunday morning, I may have bought into it.

I would definitely start Terrence West over him. Rob Kelly, I would start over him. Kareem Hunt is our second guy. We talked about him yesterday, but let's do it again. Tough-O-Meter on Kareem Hunt. I'll say a six. I've got him ranked

high enough to where I'm probably... None of those guys I just said that I would start over Leonard Fournette would I start over Kareem Hunt, so I'm going to start him. So you'd start him over the Ravens guys. Yes. John Brown or Kareem Hunt? Hunt. Okay. Christian McCaffrey and Jonathan Stewart while we're at it.

And let me do some myth busters here. I was actually surprised to see this. The 49ers had Navarro Bowman for four games last year. And their run defense wasn't really all that. Okay, it was a mixed bag. It was a mixed bag. Week one against Todd Gurley, he averaged 2.8 yards per carry and scored four fantasy points against Navarro Bowman and the Niners. But he was bad all year.

Fozzie Whitaker averaged 6.25 yards per carry. Kristen Michael averaged 5.3 yards per carry, had a big game. And then they actually do it pretty well against Ezekiel Elliott until Bowman got hurt in the third quarter. Elliott had 96 rushing yards in the second half alone. But I don't know. I don't know how much of a difference it will make. This was the best matchup in fantasy last year against the Niners

for running backs. So McCaffrey and Jonathan Stewart, how do you feel about them? In standard, I would say McCaffrey's probably a six and Stewart's a seven. As in tough calls? Tough calls. They're right on the edge. I have McCaffrey and standard one spot ahead of Fournette in PPR. They're not that close.

I'd much rather start McCaffrey. McCaffrey's an easy start in PPR, right? Yes. And in Standard, I've got Lynch, like, four running backs in a row, and you can rank these guys how you'd rather start them this week, but it's Leonard Fournette, Marshawn Lynch, Jonathan Stewart, Joe Mixon. In Standard? Yeah.

Mixon is definitely last. I would probably go Man See? I think I would go Fournette second to last actually I think I'd go Lynch, Stewart, Fournette, Mixon I don't want to start any of them But I think Lynch and Stewart have the best chance to score

I see a one yard touchdown run in Jonathan Stewart. But the problem is, like, in a standard, would you start Amir Abdullah over any of those guys? There's no way I would. No? I wouldn't start Gillisley over them. I wouldn't start Paul Perkins over them or Tevin Coleman. I'd start Gillisley.

I'd start Gillisley. Because if we're just – you know what? I think Marshawn Lynch deserves a little more credit because he's their their offseason acquisition. It's early in the year. He's not tired and beat up yet. The Titans did not give up a lot of fantasy points to running backs, but that's because everybody threw on them. So I think they will try to feature Marshawn Lynch probably a little bit more than you think they will.

So I will put him at the head of this class. Not to say I love him, but I'll put him ahead of the questionable guys. And then Abdullah, we'll talk about in a moment. He's interesting. Oh, God. I hate it. I might go wide receiver. There are a lot of good running backs that you feel comfortable starting this week. There are not? No.

Oof. So, Terrence West ahead of these guys. Terrence West is ahead of all of them. Mark Ingram's ahead of all of them. Frank Gore's ahead of all of them. Mark Ingram is ahead of all of them. Frank Gore is ahead of all of them. No. Can't agree.

I know. But they're all the same to me. I see your point with Gore. I hate Gore without Ryan Kelly, their center, and Andrew Luck. No. But Aaron Donald is not there. No Aaron Donald. That helps.

You're just hoping for touchdowns, in my opinion. I don't think you're getting a lot of yards. Except McCaffrey. McCaffrey can get you 100 yards. That seems so optimistic when we're putting Jonathan Stewart in the same group, though. In standard. But in PPR, it's not close. Just you expect if one of them is going to get a short yardage rushing touchdown, you expect it to be Stewart.

Yeah. I'm not starting Joe Mixon. I've got him in one league and I've got to see what happens there with those running backs. Baltimore's defense might be really good this year too. Dalvin Cook, he's got to be the best rookie running back this week. He's the best rookie running back.

He's one spot ahead of Kareem Hunt for me right behind Melvin Gordon. I would start him over Lamar Miller. Dalvin Cook. I don't think I would just because I am a little – and this is not really doubting Cook or doubting the situation or anything. This is going back to a thing that a podcast host that is really smart told me about a month ago is even the really good rookie running back

sometimes get off to slow starts because they've got to share more the first couple weeks of the season while they build their coach's trust. I don't think this one will. I don't think this one. I think they turn them loose. Yeah, I have a hard time believing that they gave Latavius Murray that money and they're not even going to try to get some carries out of him. Oh, they will. But Cook is a good start this week.

Yes, yes. I'm happy with Cook. Ty Montgomery, is he a tough call against the Seahawks? He's a tougher call in standard for me, but I'm still with Cook. Ty Montgomery, is he a tough call against the Seahawks? He's a tougher call in standard for me, but I'm still starting him. I don't think there's anybody else on that team that's ready to help carry the load. And they're going to throw the ball a bunch, but I would anticipate that Aaron Rodgers is going to have to get rid of the ball pretty quickly, and Montgomery can take advantage of that.

Seattle allowed the fourth fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs and added Sheldon Richardson after giving up 3.4 yards per carry last year. But Montgomery did well against them. He had 9 for 41 rushing and 3 for 45 receiving. And pass-catching running backs, seven running backs had more than 40 yards receiving against the Seahawks. Most of them were late in the year. It does coincide with Earl Thomas' absence,

so I don't know that that will continue. Would you rather start Dalvin Cook or Ty Montgomery? Dalvin Cook and Kareem Hunt. I'd put both of those over Montgomery, but I would start Montgomery over West, Ingram, and all those crappy running backs we just talked about. Would you start Kelvin Benjamin or Ty Montgomery? That is a good question

because I like Benjamin okay this week. I think the Packers are going to do whatever they want. The Seahawks went on the road last year to face three very, very good elite offenses. They did not do well at New England, although they held Tom Brady to 10 points, but

LeGarrette Blount scored three touchdowns. Brady threw for 300-something yards. They gave up a bunch of points at New Orleans. They gave up a bunch of points at Green Bay. I respect the hell out of the Seahawks' defense, but I just don't think the Packers are going to have a problem. Yeah, I'm going to go with Montgomery over Benjamin. Tevin Coleman at Chicago. That's a really difficult one for me. problem yeah i'm gonna go with montgomery over benjamin tevin coleman at chicago

that's a really difficult one for me every week yeah it's going to be every week if and i assume when we're talking about this we're talking about as a running back too yeah you're starting tevin coleman as a flex if if you don't have three really good receivers would you start him over balal Powell, Robbie Anderson, John Brown? I would start Tevin Coleman over Anderson and Powell in standard. I would not start him over John Brown. I think Tevin Coleman and PPR might be last in that whole group. Would you start Tevin Coleman or Stefan Diggs?

Diggs for sure. Yeah, I mean, look, the Bears stink. Diggs is a top 15-20 receiver for me this week. Dave is a little low on him. I'm not quite sure why. Dave doesn't like Stefan Diggs. That's true. I don't know where – let me see where Dave has Diggs in PPR.

But he has him 26th in – he has him 18th in P has him 18th in PPR 26th in standard Alright so Coleman Is kind of flexy And Amir Abdullah Alright so yeah I do want to talk about this Because the

The Cardinals Gave up 3.6 yards per carry Third fewest fantasy points To running backs last year They lost Clayus Campbell And I also think Very important Inside linebacker

Dayum Buchanan Is not going to play He's going to be replaced By a rookie Hassan Reddick. With a pedigree, but still a rookie. I don't love it. I don't feel great about Amir Abdullah. But I feel better about him without

Buchanan than I did before. How do you feel about Amir Abdullah? I don't really see a situation. If I'm starting him as my second running back, maybe I've got Jay Ajayi and Doug Martin and Jacquez Rogers. I don't know. I don't really – I might start him as a flex, but I've got him behind Paul Perkins.

Oh, okay. So Amir Abdullah is a sit for you? Yes. So you'd start Pierre Garçon or Amir Abdullah? In PPR, for sure Garçon. Yeah, I might take the chance on the running back in standard. How about Allen Robinson at Houston or Amir Abdullah? Nah, I might go with Abdullah in that situation.

Okay. No, I don't think so. I think I'd go Robinson. I don't... Like, how many carries do we think Amir Abdullah gets if his first 10 go for 12 yards? Yeah. Look, they upgraded their offensive line. They're without Taylor Decker, their left tackle, but the interior of their offensive line, they got TJ Lang.

Maybe they run the ball better this year. It's tough because I like Abdullah so much, but I hate the matchup. Rob Kelly against Philadelphia. I'm starting him. Yeah. It's a decent Eagles defense, but the volume is going to be there and we've talked about like to me he's a lot like lynch stewart all those guys except he's going to get more volume thomas rawls at green bay i don't want to mess with the seattle running back situation i i kind of feel like it's going to be, if Perkins is healthy, it's going to be one of those situations where he's getting two series

and then Lacey's getting a series and neither one of them are getting a third down. Oh, look at you. You love Paul Perkins so much you just put Perkins on the Seahawks. Yes. Well, he'd be their best running back. Yeah, and then Procise comes in for third downs, and, yeah, I don't want to do that. I don't want to mess with the Seahawks running backs. I don't want to have to start either of the Saints running backs or any of the Bengals running backs.

I mean, like, this is week one, and there's only two teams that aren't playing. So you shouldn't have to settle for committees. Agreed. Right? Like, start a wide receiver if that's the case. You deserve better. Yeah. Speaking of wide receivers, any concerns about Alshon Jeffrey,

who is going to most likely be shadowed by Josh Norman? And he has a good history against Josh Norman. No, I'm not concerned about him. He's a start for me. Devontae Adams against Seattle. I know you've got to start Jordy Nelson, but what about Devontae Adams? I don't want to start Devontae Adams. We talked about T.Y. Hilton earlier.

I've got Adams one spot behind T.Y. Hilton. Really? So Adams and Jordy, they played last year, and they both scored 16 fantasy points against Seattle. They combined for three touchdowns. And I looked at the game logs, and good wide receivers did very well against Seattle last year. Now, Earl Thomas did miss half the season.

But I think their you know, their number two cornerback spot might be a little weak. Although I feel like Adams will be lined up against Sherman a lot, based on the side of the field. I'm not positive about that. I think, yes, I know, I think that's completely true. I'm going to start

him. You have Hilton ahead of him, you said? I've got Hilton 23 at wide receiver Adams 24 So you're probably still starting him But I don't feel good about it Are you going to start Mike Wallace over Devonta Adams? No chance Okay

DeAndre Hopkins we already talked about And then Sammy Watkins Indianapolis stinks and they don't have Vontae Davis I get it I just don't know what to expect from Sammy Watkins I think you and I have him in Heathdom, and we'll start him. We'll start Watkins. I wouldn't mind sitting it out.

Do you feel like there's a chance, waiting and seeing what happens? Do you think there's a chance? How good of a chance for Watkins to have a huge game? You said it at the very beginning. It's the Colts, and they don't have Vontae Davis. If Jared Goff can put the ball within six yards of him, he's got a chance of scoring a touchdown. So, yeah, I would start Watkins over Vontae Davis. If Jared Goff can put the ball within six yards of him, he's got a chance of scoring a touchdown. So, yeah, I would start Watkins over Devontae Adams.

You would? Yes. Interesting. I'd start him over T.Y. Hilton. I'd start him over Tyreek Hill tonight. Would you start him over Leonard Fournette, Sammy Watkins, Leonard Fournette? Yes. Here's what I'm a little worried about.

In standard scoring, Golden Tate. Yeah, I feel like I have Golden Tate ranked too high. Where do you have him? So I agree with you. You've got Golden Tate 15th in PPR and 15th in standard. Yeah, Dave and Jamie have him as a number three-ish wide receiver in standard. Yeah, I mean, Golden Tate in tough matchups last year. 7 for 42 at Houston.

11 for 79 on a touchdown at Minnesota, but he got a 28-yard touchdown pass in overtime. 3 for 27 against Jacksonville, who did very well against receivers last year. 5 for 77 against Minnesota. 8 for 122 at the Giants. That was impressive. And 3 for 25 at Seattle. If you notice something, in those tough matchups last year, only they caught one touchdown. So that's why, in standard, I'm a little concerned about Golden Tate.

Yeah, I will probably be dropping him today. But I don't see a situation where I'll drop him below T.Y. Hilton. Dropping him in the rankings, not in leagues. No. And then finally, how about this? How about a guy who played a team twice last year and had negative one fantasy point on 14 targets, I believe, in two games? Dez Bryant against the Giants, week one.

You know, this is probably one of our biggest disputes in our rankings this week. Ooh. And I have had people tweeting at me saying, ask Dave and Jamie this, and I can't ask them anything because they're not here. But I still have Dez as a top ten wide receiver. Jamie's got him 23rd. Dave has Dez. You have him fifth. Dave has Dez 21st.

How about that? Yeah, he got owned by Janoris Jenkins last year. I'm going to give you a prediction. Yeah. Janoris Jenkins just had his best season and will not be as locked down as he was. I think he'll be good. Yeah, I think that's probably true. Corners are a little bit like relievers in baseball like that.

Yeah. Well, not the elite ones. I just – I was shocked that Janoris was that's probably true. Corners are a little bit like relievers in baseball like that. Yeah? Well, not the elite ones. I just – I was shocked that Janoris was that good last year. I'm going to make a prediction. Dez Bryant is going to score a touchdown on Sunday night. I'm more confident in him getting a touchdown than I am in him getting 50 yards. He's going to do both. All right.

That's a big week for Dez. And tight ends. Look, I think with tight ends, you know, you could stream Charles Clay. You could stream Ben Watson if you're really desperate. Can we go back to that wide receiver? And I know this is not what we're doing here, but when you say you've got Dez fifth, it gives me a little anxiety. But then you look at who's behind him and you've got Jordy against Seattle,

Michael Thomas at Minnesota. It's tough, right? DeAndre Hopkins, Alshon Jeffrey, we just talked about them Should Doug Baldwin be a top five wide receiver this week? Maybe Probably I don't know Yeah I think there are going to be some high-scoring games.

Philadelphia, Washington has a chance to give us some top five wide receivers, whether it's Pryor or Crowder or Alshon. Right, but you're not ranking Jamison Crowder ahead of Dez and Jordy. I mean, you could – not ahead of Jordy, no way. But you think Dez – so you're agreeing with Dave and Jamie that Dez should be in the 20s? No. Because in the first game of the year last year, Dez caught a touchdown and it was overturned or he dropped it or something like that. Yeah.

So it would have been like an eight-point game if he had caught that. I think he's got a very good chance to score. Like if I dropped Dez by Sunday, it would not be below seven. I'm not trusting Michael Thomas against Minnesota's defense over Dez against the Giants. As far as tight ends go, Eric Ebron, Arizona allowed the fewest fantasy points to tight ends. Ebron's banged up. He's going to play. I'm surprised you have him 12th for Ebron.

Well, did you happen to look at the tight ends who were after him? Let's take a look. Yeah, because there's not a lot of them that you would be really excited about. And you are starting Clay over him. Yes, my number one tight end sleeper that 22% of people have owned. I would gamble on Martellus Bennett over Ebron. Yeah, I don't think the matchup's any better for Bennett. And just like you said, Arizona's missing a linebacker.

They are, that's true. But they have Tyron Matthew back. Zach Miller, Kobe Fleener, Ben Watson. Watson's really interesting. I'm trying to pull up the stats on Ben Watson. Cincinnati allowed the fourth most fantasy points to tight ends last year. And in two games, Dennis Pitta In two games against Cincinnati

Had one bad game, 3 for 34 But he had 11 for 91 on 16 targets That was last year I guess that's not really so convincing for Watson But it's interesting And no Burfecht, no Jones And one of their starting safety is out too So

Yeah, I don't know. Sean Williams is the name I couldn't get. If you're desperate, Ben Watson. But there are not 12 tight ends that people are going to feel comfortable with this week. Correct? Correct. Absolutely correct. I don't think most – apparently people don't feel comfortable with Charles Clay,

and I don't know 100% that people feel comfortable with Hunter Henry against Denver. So there may only be nine. Let's read some emails. Fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. This is from Jeff. A little worried about Ted Ginn stealing a lot of Snead's targets. In a 12-team PPR with only four bench spots, would you drop Snead for Corey Coleman? That's a good question.

I don't think I would because I'm assuming that's my third or fourth wide receiver. And there's more. I wouldn't do it. No, don't do it. Don't do it. Here's what I would say about being afraid of Ted Ginn stealing Willie Snead's targets. Ted Ginn's 32 years old. He's played in the NFL for this will be his 11th season.

He's had one time in his entire career where he's averaged more than six targets per game. That was 6.1. He's never topped 100 targets in his entire career. He's a deep threat. He's not going to take Willie Sneed's role. Bruce in San Diego, a disgruntled Chargers fan, says, Dear Dave, Jamie Heath, and Adam Too, is owning Derrick Henry a must for the DeMarco Murray owner? I wouldn't – like if you're asking at this point, I feel like he's on your waiver wire maybe.

No. If that's the case, then yes. He could trade Danny Woodhead for Derrick Henry. No. I would do it in a second in standard scoring without hesitation. I'd consider it in standard scoring. I'm not as excited about handcuffing as everyone else is. I am if I feel like DeMarco Murray goes down, Derek Henry would be must-start most weeks.

Right. So I have a different philosophy than Heath. I think we're going to disagree on that one. Fair enough. That's like the sixth time I've said it. Adam in upstate New York. Hey, Hunt, Abdul-Jabbar, Jackson, and McKenzie.

Kareem's. 0.75 PPR. What's the point? Who should I pick? Oh, I'm sorry. This is a Jacquez Rogers question. So that answer was easy for you, Adam. There you go. From Peyton.

Mariota. Oh, this was a Jameis Winston question. Okay. Should have proofread these emails. But we would have gone with Mariota over Winston anyway. This is from Joe. I've been in a league for five years with the same group of people from a restaurant I used to work at. The buy-in for the league has always been $35.

And it's been more about bragging rights than money. But before our draft a few days ago, while we were going over rules and such, the commissioner says we're going to a $100 buy-in starting right now. I didn't say a word because I didn't want to be the poor guy who stands out against everyone, but I'm not happy about this. I had my $35 in my pocket ready to go. Am I right to feel indignant about this? Yes. Yes, you have I right to feel indignant about this? Yes.

Yes, you have every right to be irritated. No one should be shamed for not wanting to spend as much money as everyone else on the league. There's not anything. What are you going to do about it, though? I know. You guys did that to me with the Fantasy Football Today League. They doubled the entry. That's not true at all.

Completely not true. I voted for keeping it the same. I understand, but we had a league-wide vote, and the majority won. This guy, his commissioner, just told him. Okay, but that doesn't really matter that the majority won. If there are three people that don't want to pay more money, you should respect that. They kept pressuring me to vote because it was close, and I said I don't care. You owe me $25.

This is Joe from Illinois. Would you trade Andrew Luck and Martavis Bryant for Tom Brady in a four-point-per-passing touchdown PPR league? So you give up Luck and Martavis Bryant for Tom Brady. I don't think – no, I would not. Finally, would you drop – as the Carlos Hyde owner, this is Dario from outside of Philly. Would you drop any of these guys for Matt Breida? Deontay Foreman, Kenny Britt, Zay Jones, Robbie Anderson, Cooper Cup. Foreman.

Yeah, I think I would Yeah makes sense Good job Heath It was a great great great podcast It's always great doing podcasts with you Thanks man Hopefully I'll do one with you next week You will

We are going to Do our best to be on regularly scheduled programming Which would mean one on Friday One on Saturday one on Sunday night. To everybody that's in the path of Irma, best of luck. Stay safe. Thank you for listening. And we will talk to you with me and Jamie tomorrow on Fantasy Football Today.

It's all right. I've got Le'Veon. It's all right. Not George Le'Veon. It's all right. I've got Le'Veon It's alright Not George Le'Veon It's alright I've got Le'Veon Bell