Fantasy Football Today - BONUS: The Antonio Brown Saga and Julio Jones Help (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: September 5, 2019

Our reaction to a possible suspension for Antonio Brown and what it means for Josh Jacobs, Tyrell Williams, Darren Waller and anyone else who may be affected. Also, should you start a GB or CHI WR tonight over Julio Jones?  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. Bonus pie!

Man, we're doing a lot of these lately. A lot of breaking news out there, Dave Richard. A lot of breaking news these days. Indeed. It is that time of year, after all. We don't do a lot of them in the middle of the offseason when there's no training camps or mini camps or anything like that. But week one, stuff is happening. Stuff is hitting the fan.

Yeah. But this is unusual. Just the last few days. McCoy getting cut, McCoy getting signed, Carlos Hyde getting traded, Laramie Tunsil getting traded, Jadeveon Clowney getting traded, now Antonio Brown possibly getting suspended. What is

going on around the NFL? What is going on in Oakland? And also, what's going on with Julio Jones? We're doing this for you now in case you have to make a lineup decision regarding Julio Jones versus a receiver in tonight's game. But we do have – well, you know what? Let's just knock that out of the way. Would you start Allen Robinson, Geronimo Allison,

Marquez Valdez-Scantling over Julio Jones? Well, the report from The Athletic is that Julio Jones said he wasn't sure if he was going to play on Sunday. He wouldn't clarify if it was contract related or if it was injury related. And I don't know how serious to take it. I guess if you're if if literally your only choices are Julio Jones and a player playing on Thursday and you can't make another move, then play the player on Thursday, I guess. But I think there's still a pretty real chance

that Julio Jones ends up playing week one. Okay, so Antonio Brown is not looking like he's going to play week one. Reports that he could be suspended, that they could look to void his contract. Just, it's crazy. What do you do right now? And we waited

several hours to do this show because we were hoping to get some type of clarity. We've got nothing. Nobody's commenting on it. So what do you do right now if you're the Antonio Brown owner, Tyrell Williams owner? Should you be picking up Hunter Renfro? What's the reaction here? Well, I think the reason why we haven't gotten any clarity is because the Raiders are trying to figure out what their options are and what works out best for them.

That might be best served to talk about on a different podcast but for now i would assume that antonio brown is not going to play in week one and shoot maybe we should just talk about on this podcast i think there's a chance he doesn't play for the raiders this year or ever i think tyrell williams is now in play as someone that you could pick up there's going to be another player from the Raiders that I think is going to be a better ad than Tyrell Williams. I bet you could guess who I'm going to say, Adam. I hope you're not going to say Hunter Renfro. No.

Jordy Nelson. By the way, Tyrell Williams is 62% owned. I have no idea who you're going to say. You really have no idea? Wait a minute. Really? What? That I don't know?

A player on the Raiders that I would recommend everybody run up to. You really have no idea? Wait a minute. Really? What? That I don't know? A player on the Raiders that I would recommend everybody run up and add off waivers now. Because you didn't draft him after I told you to draft him. And now you're getting one last chance. Yes, Darren Waller would see a mucho uptick in targets if there's no Antonio Brown there. Because Antonio Brown, that might be eight, nine targets a game. Now that's going to be dispersed throughout to Tyrell Williams and Hunter Renfro. And I think J.J. Nelson could be in play in the deepest of leagues.

But Darren Waller could end up being a monster for them as a short area target for Derek Hart to check down to because he's too scared to throw way downfield to Tyrell Williams and J.J. Nelson. And he's available in like 50 percent of CBS Sports leagues. And I told you earlier, Adam, I can't tell you how many leagues I have Darren Waller in. There's a bunch of leagues where I have George Kittle and Darren Waller. I don't care who your tight end is. I don't care what your tight end situation is. Darren Waller needs to be on your fantasy bench to begin the year. All right, so what about Tyrell Williams?

Again, 62% on, which surprises me. He's a must-add right now, right? So should we give like a sigh for Heath? Oh, where's my iPad? I'm sorry I don't have my iPad. But I did do an Acer sigh earlier in the show, and I already have plans to clip it. Okay, nicely done.

Heath has been talking about Tyrell Williams all offseason long. He's been a fan of Tyrell Williams' game for many years. In some ways, he's like, I was going to say he's like Waller, but not exactly. He's like Marquez Valdez-Scanlick. Tall, kind of lanky, very fast. And now he's on the cusp of being the number one receiver for the Raiders, which would normally be a good thing, but it's just an okay thing because Derek Carr is the quarterback.

I think you still should go out and try and get him, especially if you're thin at wide receiver. He's a good get at this point, especially if he's free off the waiver wire, worth 10% of your fab if you're going to pick him up before Monday night's game. Is there a chance that Antonio Brown comes back

and he's the number one guy for 15 games this year? Yeah, I think there's a chance. But I also think there's a chance that he doesn't play like I told you. There's a lot of money at stake. The Raiders are probably tired of his BS. Raiders are also not exactly the richest franchise in the world, so they might think of better ways to spend their money than on a malcontent and a hothead. If they can get a lot of it back, sure. Tyrell Williams, available in almost 40% of leagues as of right now, as of 4.30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday night.

And he played one year without Keenan Allen, 2016. And Tyrell Williams was the number 13 wide receiver in non-PPR, number 18 in PPR. He was really good. 69 catches, 1,059 yards, seven touchdowns on 120 targets. I don't think any of us would project him to be a top 20 wide receiver, but he'd be certainly a must-own and possibly a must-start. And then what do you think about Hunter Renfro?

Worth adding? Worth adding because he would also see a nice uptick in targets as the slot guy. That's a role he had at Clemson. Could end up catching four or five passes per game. Again, go back to Derek Carr's history. He's not known as being an aggressive downfield gunslinger. He's much more of a check it down type of quarterback. That's what John Gruden wants him to be.

Gruden wants him to get the snap and get the ball out quick. Well, Gruden also said he wants him to throw the ball downfield more this year. Yeah, you know, that's him talking out of both sides of his mouth because the entire genesis of John Gruden's offense is being accurate with the football, taking high-percentage throws, and then going on to the next play. It's not about going downfield and attacking

and stretching defenses that way. Now, with Antonio Brown on the field, there was going to be an element of that, both to AB and to the other guys that we've talked about, especially Tyrell Williams, but I don't think it would have been as consistent as some people might have hoped or expected. I think the way that they wanted to use Antonio Brown

was as a short mid-range target and let him make plays after the catch. That is the name of the game in the West Coast offense. Okay, let's talk about the running backs. I don't like it for Josh Jacobs as a Josh Jacobs owner in several leagues. Yeah, I mean, like it for Josh Jacobs as a Josh Jacobs owner in several leagues. Yeah, I mean, if it were a situation where he was going to pick up the slack with the passing, then that's one thing, but I don't know that's going to be the case.

Does it hurt Josh Jacobs? Does it help Jalen Richard? I haven't really thought about it helping Jalen Richard. Maybe it does give him some more opportunities. I think Jacobs could still get a lot of targets and a lot of catches just in general. And so taking away Antonio Brown, I said it would be spread around. It'll help everybody, including Jacobs in that regard. So when Andrew Luck retired, we obviously downgraded Marlon Mack. Does this have a similar effect? Team won't be as good.

They're going to be playing from behind. He might come off the field for Jalen Machado. They want to use him on three downs. They do want to use him on three downs. It's been one of the reasons. Let's say we were drafting again. Let's say we were drafting. Would you drop Josh Jacobs?

It wouldn't be as drastic as Mack. I get that. Would you drop Jacobs in your rankings? I think I would try and get him in round four more often than not. But if I saw that there was a shortage of running backs in late round three, of course I was going to take them. And I did take them. Would you rather have Mark Ingram or Josh Jacobs?

I think I'd still rather have Jacobs. Would you rather have Sonny Michel or Jacobs? PPR, that's easy. I think in non-PPR, it's easy too, just because I'm worried about Sonny's health. All right. So it sounds like he's mostly staying in the same range. Yeah, the one name that I keep thinking back to is Montgomery.

Is there really a chance for David Montgomery to be better than Josh Jacobs this year? Does what happened in Oakland help push Montgomery ahead of Josh Jacobs? I can't pull the trigger on that. Also, you know, we're doing this podcast as if there is a chance that Antonio Brown never

plays for the Raiders. There's also a chance he misses one game. There's also, there's also a chance none of this matters, but you still need to most actionable items right now. You need to pick up Tyrell Williams. You try, you should try to get Darren Waller on your team.

And Jalen Rashard is really not a bad option. If they need to throw the ball more, if they're trailing more, if this just makes them worse overall, I'm not a huge Jalen Rashard fan, but some people are. So I think he could benefit from this for sure. And let's hope it doesn't

hurt Josh Jacobs. Saquon Barkley, he played four games without Odell Beckham. He had two games where he was terrible running the ball. So Joe Mixon without A.J. Green, it was really more wins than losses, as I've outlined. Six fewer fantasy points per game in losses than wins, and they were five and three with A.J. Green,

and I don't know if they won one or two games without him. So it could make a difference. It could hurt a running back. It definitely matters. And just one last point I want to make. If you can only pick up one Raider, I still say Waller. A, because

he's more available. That's certainly going to help. B, because he's at the thinner position and everybody wants to try and get that stud tight end. Are you kidding? You would take Waller over Tyrell Williams? Well, let me give you point number three. What happens if Antonio Brown comes back? Then both ads don't mean anything.

Then we're back right to where we started. I disagree. I still think that Darren Waller can have value. But you thought that beforehand. I mean, it's not like Antonio Brown coming back. It's not like him getting suspended for a game and coming back. Helps Darren Waller. It's the same situation before.

You've got an opportunity to get the number one wide receiver on the Raiders, a guy who's been a top 20 wide receiver before. That's the guy to get. And you're telling me that there's no chance that you're getting a top 12 tight end in Darren Waller? I do. I don't think you can get a top five tight end. And what position is more scarce between wide receiver and tight end? I think if Antonio Brown is out, personally, I think that Tyrell Williams will be better at his position than Waller will be at his. I disagree. What's the best case scenario for Waller? You think he could really be like Kittle?

Volume and breaking plays after the catch. He might be a more difficult cover for defenses than Tyrell. And that's saying something because Tyrell's got speed and height, but so does Waller. All right, Dave. Final thing. I just made a trade in one of our leagues. You did? You're going to have to grade it. It's our IDP league. Hold on. Let me get my

handy dandy fantasy trade chart. Well, it's not really going to work on your trade chart because it involves a handcuff. Deep league, PPR, three receivers and a flex. I traded I have Ezekiel Elliott, by the way. I traded Sterling Shepard for Tony Pollard and I think Marquez Valdez-Scantling. It was either him or Allison.

I think it was MVS. Yeah, I don't love it. Why? I have to lock up that Cowboys backfield. I'm screwed if Zeke gets hurt. I needed to get Tony Pollard. Yeah, and you paid for it. I did by giving him Sterling Shepard. I'm screwed if Zeke gets hurt. I needed to get Tony Pollard. Yeah, and you paid for it. I did by giving him Sterling Shepard.

He's not even a starter for me. Well, that's good. Guess who's not going to be a starter for you either? Who? Mark Westveld and Scantling? Tony Pollard and Mark Westveld and Scantling. I was willing to overpay a little bit to get Tony Pollard. Okay.

Well, I guess that was worth it to you. Congratulations on a very not good trade. Thank you, Dave. Okay. Thanks to Dave for hopping on this bonus episode. Don't forget to listen to start or sit for the AFC home games. But of course,

when you listen to our Raiders preview, things have changed. Oh, are you starting Tyra Williams this week? You could look at him as a flex this week. Yeah. It's not, it's not a good matchup

against denver but yeah if you need somebody okay cool thanks dave thanks to all you for listening talk to you on friday show starter sit nfc home games and recapping the 26 21 16 bears win