Fantasy Football Today - FFT Express: Preseason Week 1 Risers, Injuries & Must-Watch Players! (08/08 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: August 8, 2025

Bid on Draft-A-Thon items here! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://tiltify.com/@cbs-sports/fft-draftathon-2025⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Preseason Week 1 is here, and we’re breaking down the biggest storylines every fantasy football manager needs to know heading into 2025! We start with the unfortunate injury to Anthony Richardson (2:22) and what it means for the Colts. We dive into (4:15) Ashton Jeanty's limited preseason action — is it cause for concern? Keaton Mitchell (5:58) is drawing buzz as a potential Derrick Henry handcuff — we break down the role and upside. Then, Shedeur Sanders (7:00) is set to start for the Browns. We look at what to expect from the Chiefs (7:49) this preseason and which players to keep a close eye on. Chase Brown's outlook (8:12) gets the full treatment — did he carve out a legit RB1 role? One of the most anticipated debuts of the week: Travis Hunter (8:45) finally takes the field, and we talk expectations for the two-way phenom. Finally, we try to untangle the messy Broncos backfield (10:12) — who’s leading, and who’s worth stashing? Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts Watch FFT on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop our store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shop.cbssports.com/fantasy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FFT Dynasty on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE to FFT DFS on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dfs/id1579415837⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FFT DFS on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5zU7pBvGK3KPhfb69Q1hNr?si=1c5030a3b1a64be2⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FFT team on Twitter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @FFToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @AdamAizer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @JameyEisenberg⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @daverichard⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @heathcummingssr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FFT newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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

Your eight-minute guide to preseason week one right now on FFT Express. What's up? And welcome to Adam and Jamie here. So we're going to talk about Thursday's preseason action and look ahead to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Is their game Monday? We don't. Why not, Jamie? Let's get a game on Monday.

You can play flag football. Okay. All right. So let's talk about Anthony Richardson, who looks like he dodged a bullet with a dislocated finger, but didn't really look great. So thoughts on the Colts? I mean, obviously, it was bad across the board. You know, defensively, offensively, they just looked awful, but special teams. But it's preseason, so no reason to panic.

I think in the case of Richardson, like you said, day to day, according to reports on Friday, we'll see how, you know, once they get back on the practice fields and how much they'll actually get him out there. but it's a benefit to Daniel Dones to maybe try and steal the job. At this point, I think it's really the only cult you should be targeting is Jonathan Taylor. And then if Tyler Warren falls to the right spot, you take a shot on him. You know, he's in the top 10 mix. But Josh Downs and Michael Pittman could really be in for a struggling season because I don't think Daniel Dones coming in offers the same upside as Gardner Minchu two years ago or even Joe Flackle last year. like this could just be a very, very bad passing attack. I like it better.

At this point, I feel like it, you know, I feel like it's going to be Jones. It's just a guess. But the reason I feel that way is because it's, if you can't get the simple protection, right, and you get lit up like that. And just before that, he almost threw an interception. I just feel like Richardson is not doing, did not do the basic things right yesterday. But whoever it is, I like Jones better for Jonathan Taylor because, two reasons. One, he'll throw to Taylor more, and two, he won't be nearly as much of a goal line threat as Anthony Richardson.

I think Taylor had 40% of the goal line carries, which I just, you know, just personally, I use one to three yard line for that. 40% of the goal line carries when Anthony Richardson was healthy. Okay. Ashton Genty, I mean, we were doing a show last night, and there were people in the chat, like, not panicking, but concerned about, gentie on three carries. Come on. What do you think? I mean, drive down the price. You might get him in the middle of round two. You know, so I'm still buying. You know, I don't want to judge anything based on less than a quarter of football. One of those drives was without Gino Smith.

So if you're going to judge stuff like that, then you're drafting Keaton Mitchell over Derek Henry and you're drafting Will Shipley over Sequin Barkley. Like, come and come on. Like, it's, it's no reason to get concerned now if the report's in camp were bad and we were worried about a lot of things for Genty to begin with. You know, you want to nitpick him compared to McCaffrey and H.N. and Henry and those guys at the top of the running back list based on last night. Okay. I think there are already questions about comparing those guys to being with. But if you're judging it based on one, you know, quarter of preseason action and two drives, like, no, that'd be a mistake.

Don't do not change your opinion at all on Genti based on three carries, whether they're regular season, preseason, whatever. Even if they were great carries. Yeah. Don't do that. Well, I think that would have gone the other way, though. I think if he would have, you know, three for, you know, 75 and a touchdown, like, you know, oh my God, I'm taking him fifth overall.

You know, like that might have happened. I mean, Amar and Hampton didn't have amazing numbers, but he looked very good on his carries. He was eluding tacklers. He was breaking tackles. But even that, don't change your opinion based on three carries in a preseason game. Okay. So Keaton Mitchell, you did mention, I definitely think he's worth talking about.

Is there anything else that sit out to you from Thursday night's games? I think just in the case of Mitchell, don't necessarily assume he's the number two running back for Baltimore. Justice Hill did not play. So they kind of put those two guys on the bench in terms of Derek Henry and Justice Hill. But I do think Keaton Mitchell offers much more upside than Justice Hill. So should something happen to Henry, we're probably seeing both those guys play. I would be much more interested in Keaton Mitchell, but I don't think you should just all of a sudden say,

okay, should I now be drafting? If I'm looking at a handcuff, is it automatically Keaton Mitchell? That might not be the case. But if you're drafting them, I would still draft Mitchell overhill. So, Jamie, what are we looking forward to seeing or at least crossing our fingers to see

in preseason week one? We'll talk about it after this break on Fantasy Football Today Express. Welcome back. Anyone that you have your eyes on this weekend? I do want to see what the Browns look like. You know, a lot of hype, clearly with Chodor Sanders starting.

You know, you're going to see him with the backup, so I don't know how much that will make anybody feel better or worse about him individually, but we know what the narrative is with the Browns. What happens when they bench Joe Flacco, who comes in who's going to be the number two quarterback at some point during the season if that happens? And so if Sanders looks competent right now with Kenny Pickett

and Dylan Gabriel dealing with injuries, you might feel better about Jerry Judy. You might feel better about David and Junk and better about Cedric Tillman. I want to see what Dylan Samson looks like, you know, because he's going to have potentially a prominent role with the Quichon Judkins in off-field situation still uncertain. And I want to see what the Chiefs look like. I know we don't get a lot out of preseason action when it's sometimes first team

against second team or third-team guys. But man, you cannot watch the Bengals and be like, I don't want to get a piece of that. You know, I want to get a piece of that offense, right? You know, you get excited when you see what Jamar Chase look like. You know, a lot of people were saying, okay, I'm sold. He's one overall. If there was any questions, Joe Burrow. all look great again backups but

I like to see the chiefs come out and throw the ball all over the place and look like maybe Mahomes and that receiving core is going to be actually absolutely legit and based on what we saw from the Bengals last night you should probably expect fewer snaps for Chase Brown than what we saw

after the Zach Moss injury who's on the field almost every snap 85% of the stats whatever it was they're going to use they use P. Ryan on third down but it doesn't matter I mean Brown was so involved he's going to catch the ball on first and second down It matters a little bit. It matters a little bit.

But I could see, I don't know if he's going to play again the rest of the preseason. But that was the kind of performance where people go, okay, you know what? He's their guy. It's obvious. I'm going to take him in round two. Right now he's a round three pick. We got to pay attention to Travis Hunter. It's the most compelling storyline to me in this preseason.

The Jaguars, they play the Steelers on Saturday at 7 o'clock. How close are you going to be watching that one? Very closely. You know, I mean, what's the snapshot going to be? It's not going to be a fair indictment. of what his season's going to look like because he's not playing the whole game. But can he get some opportunities,

can he get enough opportunities offensively that you're like, oh, okay, if I'm Liam Cohen, I'm throwing every target in his direction, just to make people think. Like, this is why we moved up in the draft and then let him go line up on defense and see if you could shut somebody down.

I put him on D.K. McCaff. That would be awesome. And I wonder, I don't know who's going to play but rookies pretty much always play, right? So I wonder if Brian Thomas Jr. and Trevor Lawrence and Travis Hunter are out there for two drives

and Thomas has one target and Hunter has three or four. What that would do to Brian Thomas Jr.'s ADP It would be interesting. I hope nothing or actually I hope a lot because I like to draft Brian Thomas. Right, we'd want to take advantage of that. You mentioned this when we were discussing what should we talk about for the show.

The Broncos backfield. You know, will they stick to their depth chart and not use RJ Harvey until both Julio McLaughlin and Blake Watson come off and Audrey Gassim may come off the field because we know Dobbins will start

so will they will they go to Harvey with the starters whoever plays for them or will they sort of just lean on the back I don't even know if they're playing Dobbins so I shouldn't say it but will they lean on

Harvey in garbage time which I hope not and what's is the Harvey was fifth on the tenth chart Yep. Don't worry about it. Don't let that bother you.

Jamie, thank you very much. Enjoy preseason football. The rookies, if you're interested, I mean, I'm obviously interested to see Jackson Dart because I do think his time is likely to come at some point this year. And we'll catch up on everything you need to know from preseason week one. If you just want to enjoy your weekend and not watch backups play football, I'd understand that too. So Monday's show will tell you everything you miss and everything you need to know. For Jamie Eisenberg, I'm Adam Mazer.

Have a great weekend. See you Monday on FFT Express. Paramount Podcasts.