Fantasy Football Today - FFT on CBSSN! Preseason Week 1 Injuries, Winners & Losers, Position Battles, & More! (08/11 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

Bid on Draft-A-Thon items here! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://tiltify.com/@cbs-sports/fft-draftathon-2025⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ We break down the biggest fantasy takeaways (0:00) that matter. We start with key injury updates to Tyjae Spears (2:30), Rachaad White (4:33), and Jayden Reed (7:40), Matthew Stafford (9:40), and what their absences could mean for players like Tony Pollard, Bucky Irving, and Puka Nacua. Then we dive into the most important backfield battles, including (13:46) RJ Harvey’s surprising usage in Denver, the Patriots battle between (17:20) Treveyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson RB roles, and whether the Jets (19:40) are heading toward a three-man committee. Rookie WRs like (28:24) Travis Hunter, Tetairoa McMillan (30:38), and Emeka Egbuka (33:00) are making early noise, and we highlight who’s climbing depth charts and earning targets. Did anything from preseason actually change your mind about major fantasy players like Jerry Jeudy (39:13), Justin Jefferson (41:20), or (42:38) Marvin Harrison Jr.? Finally, we wrap things up with your #AskFFT questions (45:45) 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

Summer is Tim's Ice Latte season. It's also hikes season. Pool season, picnic season. And, yeah, I'm down season. So drink it up with Tim's ice lattes, now whipped for a smooth taste. Order yours on the Tim's app today at participating restaurants in Canada for a limited time.

Book Club on Monday. Gym on Tuesday. Date night on Wednesday. Out on the town on Thursday. Woo! Quiet night in on Friday. It's good to have a routine. And it's good for your eyes too.

Because with regular comprehensive eye exams at Specsavers, you'll know just how healthy they are. Visit Spexavers.cavers.cai to book your next eye exam. Eye exams provided by independent optometrists. The first week of preseason action is in the books, and we have you covered with all the fantasy football knowledge that you need to help you dominate your leagues. Welcome to fantasy football today, presented by BetMGM,

the sports book Born in Vegas. I'm Jamie Eisenberg. That's Dave Richard. That's Heath Cummings. We have a lot of preseason action to cover, and unfortunately a lot of injuries to deal with. We got news today that Matthew Stafford not practicing. He was expected to practice,

so I thought we're going to have some good news to talk about. We have some bad news to start with the injuries to a couple of running backs. Not so bad in the situation in Tampa. a little bit worse with the situation in Tennessee. So Tizier Spears, we'll start right there, dealing with a high ankle sprain left in the second quarter of the game in Tampa Bay. Expect it to miss probably several weeks.

We don't have the full diagnosis of how long he's going to be out. I'll start with you, Dave. What does this mean for this Tennessee backfield with Spears and Tony Pollard? Well, I'll tell you what it meant last year because there were five games last year that Tige Spears missed, and Tony Pollard was the main guy. He averaged about 14 PPR points per game. He had three games with at least 14.7.

PPR points per game. Certainly a guy who can carry the workload for Tennessee. And I wonder a little bit about Taisier Spears and how effective he'll be when he does come back. We've seen so many players with a high angle sprain when they return. They're not the same guy. So this could be the pathway that Tony Pollard needs to finish the year as maybe even like a top 15 fantasy running back. And it's a guy that battled a lot of injuries last year. And so we've heard from the Titans all off season. We want to share the work between these two more. We want more touches for Tijey Spears. At some point, they make it the impression, you know, maybe we shouldn't give this guy more touches. It's such a hard time staying healthy.

I think Pollard has kind of existed right on the edge of that RB2 range, a high-end flex, or just inside the top 24. For now, I've got him solidly as an RB2 and someone that I think quite a discount if he's going to get 60% of the touches there in Tennessee. I was a little nervous about Pollard, you know, prior to this, just based on everything you said, Heath, that we were expecting to see this. And last year we saw when Pollard and Spears were healthy, Pollard was not as the best. You know, you gave the numbers of what the five games were. He actually had seven games where he played at least 73% of the snaps. And in four of those, he had some pretty exceptional games for those being of the five.

That's in line for that again. And so, again, it does not mean Spears is out for the rest of the season. It does not mean that Spears is going to miss even week one at this point. But just something to consider when we're factoring in what Tony Pollard could do. Let's go to the situation in Tampa Bay where we have Rashad White. Considered day to day with the groin injury. He actually got injured. on the carry before he left the game.

So he got hurt on a 12-yard run, then stayed in the game, had a three-yard run, came off the field and obviously he's now dealing with his groin injury. Todd Bolsoned over the weekend, he was going to get more tests, met with the media today, and said day-to-day. So, Heath, when you look at Bucky Irving,

Rashad White, and Sean Tucker, who they've been talking up quite a bit, how do you factor in all these three guys for Tampa Bay's back? I don't think for the injury purposes I'll probably make any adjustments for at least a week. If Rashad White could be back in the next week

and if he is, I'm sorry you heard his groin, but it probably doesn't matter for the football season. The interesting thing is how every time it seems like they talk about the running backs, the name Sean Tucker comes up. Because we saw Bucky Irving kind of take this job from Rashad White last year, and White was still active on passing downs, but not very effective as a rusher. Tucker has been exceptionally effective as a rusher the few times he's touched the football.

So I've gotten more of the feeling that maybe we're not going to get a top five season from Bucke Irving. Still a good, low-end RB1, White and Tucker both were picking in the double-digit rounds. Do you remember the game last year at New Orleans? Week six. Big blowout game for Tampa. Sean Tucker had a monster game. He had almost 200 total yards, two touchdowns in the game. You know what he did the rest of the season?

Nothing. Well, I mean, he scored one touchdown the rest of the season, but basically nothing. Didn't help anybody in fantasy football. Instead, this coaching staff made the decision to stick with Bucky Irving, and he went up to the moon. He was outstanding. And so I see Bucky Irving the exact same way that you do, Heath.

I'm nervous about taking Sean Tucker. I love the town. I think he's great. I don't know how much he's going to play. Rashad White's no better than a bench guy for me. I do think the value for Rashad White prior to the injury. So if he is okay, is round 10 based on his ADP. And so they've been talking up still using him.

He's been the third down back. He's got three straight seasons of 50 catches, two straight seasons of nine total touchdowns. So there's still a lot to like about what his role can be. Now, granted, the end of the season versus the beginning of the season last year, totally different. So Rashad White was a big part of the offense, phased out as they went to their playoff run. I think the big concern would be, though, is does Sean talk? get some touches well i think the other side of that might be like we're talking about a rashad white getting dinged up right now but if something happens to bucky irving yes i don't think we see

rashad white become a workhorse running back i wouldn't be surprised if sean tucker takes the majority of the bucky irving and rashad white stays in his so in a deep league if you've got bucky irving you're not getting rashad white you're getting sean tucker with a pick even later than you would get rashad white is that what you're doing that's what i would do before we move on to some other positions just one note alexander madison suffered a season ending neck injury. So the Dolphins are working out. Jamal Williams. We'll see how that goes. But Devon H.N., firmly locked in as a potential number one, a first round pick, maybe even for Heath, and number one overall pick, but a first round pick for sure for Devon H.N.

Certainly if you're getting him in round two, that's a great value. And Jalen Wright looks like he's going to be locked in as the number two guy there for the dolphins. Jaden reads in a walking boot. So we found out this news over the weekend, did not play in the preseason game for the Packers. Could be out until week one. So Dave, when you hear this, Matthew Golden's had a fantastic camp so far. Romeo Dobbs quietly has had a fantastic camp so far. We know Dante Vian Wicks is there. Christian Watson is trying to come back.

Savian Williams, another rookie that they drafted in the third round. Golden was in the first round. How do you sort of view the Packers' wide receivers right now with this news about Jane Reed? Golden is the one I want the most. And it looked good in the preseason game. He was getting away with speed. He was certainly running good routes. He drew a penalty on Sauce Gardner.

Gardner couldn't contain him. And when you see Sauce Gardner running after somebody, that's a good sign that you know what you're doing. doing out there and that you've got the speed to play in the NFL. So it looks like we're getting the Matthew Golden from his last 10 games at Texas. And that's a different guy than what we saw when he played at Houston and his early time in Texas. And if that's who the Packers are getting, then fantasy managers should target this guy because I think he's got a chance to have a really good year. Maybe finish, I don't want to say top 20, but could be close to there if he's

the true number one guy. Jane Reid, I'll still draft, but it's going to be for my bench in the double-digit rounds. I've actually moved Dobbs ahead of Reed for now. And it's, it was kind of a back and forth last year, Reed's so much more exciting, but Dobbs is the guy they want to have on the field all the time, and that really does matter. It seems like Jaden Reed, even when he's healthy now, locked into that slot-only roll, and it's probably going to be Golden and Dobbs when it's two-wide receiver sets.

So I think I'm looking at Dobbs early in round 10, Reed late in round 10. Yeah, in terms of Golden, like I haven't taken him right now over Chris Godwin. I'm taking him over Chris Olobbing. Like the upside right now for what he could be and the way Jordan Love has looked, And we know they want to throw the ball a little bit more. Last year, loved dealing with two separate injuries, which really impacted their pass attempts.

So there's a lot to like about where Matthew Golden can be. Hopefully, Jane Reed can be as well. But we'll see what happens in terms of his injury. You're saying round seven on Golden? I'm almost there. Yeah. I'm there. I think it's just at that point.

And then in case of Matthew Stafford, so we were expecting him to be back in practice there. We're going to tell you all these glorious things about the Rams passing attack being okay, Pukkah, fine, no issues with DeMonte Adams. I'm still a little bit concerned because if Stafford went through a workout on Saturday, apparently through 60 passes, no complaints, no issues. Now, maybe he's just maintenance, making sure he's okay, but we know he's got this aggravated disc in his back.

How are you guys approaching really the Rams receivers? Because Stafford hasn't been over 20 fantasy points since 2021, so he's really just an afterthought. I don't laugh, but I think the nice thing is they've got Jimmy Garopplo. I got the difference at this stage in Matthew Stafford's career and Jimmy Garoflo is smaller than the difference between most good starting quarterbacks and their backup. So I did move Pukanakua behind Maliki.

neighbors. So Nukua is now down to my wide receiver 5. I haven't moved Adams that much because we're already kind of discounting him based on the fact that he's a 32 year old wide receiver and we worry about that. These guys have the potential when Matthew Stafford's healthy to both be top 12 wide receivers. This has always been an extremely concentrated passing attack. So a ton of targets for both of them and maybe it's a 10% decrease in fantasy production if they drop from Stafford to Garoppel for a few weeks. Would it ease either of your concerns if you knew that Jimmy Garoppolo torched the Cowboys

in a joint practice and Devante Adams was his top target and the Cowboys could not cover Devante Adams that make you feel a little bit better

about DeVante? It makes you feel a little bit better about Puca? I think the fact that he's Garapolo is where he is much more comforting

than where he was and meaning in Las Vegas with that coaching staff was tough to deal with and Devante Adams will tell you that. And then to see him go through potentially

the Rams car wash which has been great similar to the Vikings car wash You know, anytime you go through these situations where you've been better coached, better system, better players around you, obviously the Adams-Garapolo relationship is going to be something we have to keep an eye on. But, yes, Heath, your point, I think that Carapolo is in one of the better situations, and hopefully that will benefit, obviously, all of the Rams. I am with you, though. I'm a little bit more concerned about Puka just because where he's coming from. I'm not avoiding him.

I'm not trying to not draft him. But he's right there with Nico Collins and Malik Neighbors and Amonra St. Brown and A.J. Brown. And all these high-end wide receivers that could easily be better than him. And Adams, I think, brings him down a little bit. So he's actually a late round one pick for me. Not as much concerned about the Stafford injury, more so about the Adams situation and just what he can become. So we'll hopefully get Matthew Stafford back to practice,

but to not practice, at least according to reports, on Monday. Before we take a break, got a new studio. What do you guys think about our new dig so far? I love it, dude. We've got our trophies from some of our fantasy leagues. Heath is psyched about the Chiefs helmet in the back, right next to the Super Bowl trophy where it belongs. We're going to be doing a lot of shows from here

I don't think it belongs there this past year Well, you know, two out of three ain't bad We're excited about our new studio We're excited about the rest of our show Stay tuned to us right here on Fantasy Football Today on CBS Sports Network Toronto There's another great city that starts with a tea

Tampa Florida Fly to Tampa on Porter Airlines To see why it's so terrific On your way there, relax with free beer, wine, and snacks, free fast-streaming Wi-Fi, and no middle seats. You've never flown to Florida like this before, so you'll land in Tampa ready to explore. Visit flyporter.com and actually enjoy economy. Welcome back to fantasy football today, presented by BetMGM, the sports book Born in Vegas. I'm Jamie. That's Dave. That's Heath. We're talking about some running back battles that may give us some clarity, may give us some more confusion based on what we saw in the preseason, at least the first preseason week worth of action. Let's talk about the Broncos. They played the San Francisco 49ers. And we saw prior to the game, it was R.J. Harvey, fifth on the depth chart. He was going to be behind Audragesstime, behind Julio McLaughlin, behind Blake Watson. Whoever that is, nobody knows.

I know Blake Watson. Behind J.K. Dobmans as well. But he ended up starting playing 67% in the snaps, and he got 100% of the rush attempts with the first team offensive. defense. J.K. Dobbins played on obvious passing down. So, Dave, since you know everybody in the Broncos backfield well, how do we sort of take this information and use it moving forward? Is it clear now Harvey is the guy? And how soon would you draft him over Dobbins? First of all, he's going to go like five rounds ahead of J.K. Dobbins, in my opinion. I was nervous about J.K. Dobbins taking a lot of rushes away from R.J. Harvey. And this preseason game kind of invigorated me to be more excited about R.J. Harvey. And he could dominate first and second downs, and then J.K. Dobbins plays third downs, and that makes a lot of sense. There was a play

in this game where he bounced outside, and he literally outran every 49ers defender to the edge to win the edge. Did you like that, though, because that made me a little. Or didn't he hit the hole. Yeah. The hole was taken away from him. I like it, but I didn't like it. I mean, like, I don't like I don't like, I think I didn't mind that he bounced outside. I love the speed. And I think that Sean Payton loved the speed. And sure, maybe he's got a little bit of war too. I think that offensive line for Denver really didn't play their best game. I think that will get better because we expect them to be one of the best offensive lines. RJ Harvey is a round five pick for me. I like him better than Trayvion Anderson. I think he's going to be an outstanding back who's going to get

a lot of work in this Denver offense. So I don't think anybody should have taken anything at all from the death chart. It was meaningless. Of course. They're always meaningless. We didn't care. I'm also not sure how much we should take from the first preseason game when we're talking about a rookie running back that they want to get a look at versus a veteran who's had an extensive history and they pretty much know who he is. I kind of feel like the extensive use of Harvey was more, let's get the young guy in there, see what he does, see what

maybe we can coach out of him in the next couple of weeks. So I'm still expecting a pretty good split in this backfield, but definitely Harvey first and by several rounds. I would take Harvey in end of round four, start of round five, still behind Henderson and Hampton. He's a round four pick for me now.

And I think just, you know, you guys are probably taking the more cautious approach. Harvey was my second favorite rookie running back when he was drafted. So I liked him better than Hampton because of the situation. Now obviously Hampton with Najee Harris and how that's all unfolded and then the addition of J.K. Dobbins. So I'm kind of right back where I was following the NFL draft if this is going to be the potential usage.

And I think there's a world based on how Sean Payton's offense operates, and we've seen this once upon a time, where both Harvey and Dobbins can be good. But you have Dobbins with the injury history, and if we get that stretch of games where Harvey is the featured guy, Obviously it goes the same the other way, if Harvey misses any time. But this could be exceptional. And the fact that he didn't play on passing down is not make me nervous

because this is an offense, especially with Bo Nix and Sean Payton, they'll throw their running backs on first and second down. So I love RJ Harvey. I'm with you. I like him slightly ahead of Henderson. But Henderson also is very exciting as well. We saw that preseason game against the commanders. Now, Dave, you spent some time in practice, joint practice between the Patriots and commanders.

But Stevenson still handled 83% of the carries. Henderson, however, the 100-yard kickoff return. He had 60% of Drake May's pass attempts in terms of the targets going to players. That's where 60% of them went to was to. Well, if he keeps that up, then he's probably going to be RB1 for the season. Probably so. But in terms of your estimation of Henderson, are you over-excited based on what you saw because of the speed, or are you just sort of dialing it back based on what you saw in practice?

I'm actually dialing it back based on what I expect this Patriots run game to look like, and it's the entire track record of Josh McDaniel's 17 seasons as a play caller. in the National Football League. And most of that time, he's used a running back that's around 220 pounds to lead the charge. He does have a second running back that he uses in the past name. Think of James White. Think about Dionne Lewis.

Those guys could be the role that Trevionn Henderson fills at the beginning of the year. But we know that Remodre Stevenson, as decent as he looked in the preseason game, and he looked decent enough in the practice, too. He's got a fumbling issue. And if he starts to fumble too much, two times might be too much in New England.

Trayvion Anderson can make inroads on being a three-down player in that offense, and that's something worth getting exciting about. The talent is undeniable. He's fantastic. But I get nervous about trusting him in an offense where Josh McDaniels has never really veered from this 220-pound running back, this physical between the tackles running back, leading the way. If that changes, all systems are going, and Trayvon-Henderson could end up being a top-12 fantasy running back by the time the season ends.

But there's a couple of ways that you can overcome not being. that 220-pound pack who gets all of the early-downs touches, and that is handling 60% of the team's passing work, and it won't be that, but it could be six or seven targets a game for the running back. We've seen that before. And so... Nothing weird happening behind you right now, by the way. The other thing is... God didn't like your Treveon head of the day. God's taking Trevion in round one maybe. No, no, he's not. I'm sorry, you didn't notice, but like the screen was behind. The other thing is, it's not just passing game work, which is huge in PPR, obviously, but it's explosive

plays. Yeah. And it's the 100-yard kickoff return. It's the one carry for 18 yards. True. Like, he might just be so good that, no, he's not stylistically the exact type of running back Josh McDaniel likes to lose, use, but touches the ball 12 times a game and turns it into 15 fantasy points.

It looked, it feels, it could be like what we saw Jimere Gibbs as a rookie, where it just was, all of a sudden he just started building momentum momentum, then Montgomery missed that time, and it was like, we're not taking the guy off the field. You know, so he just has that much explosiveness. The thing that I like, you said this today, and I'm

total agreement with you, you moved Henderson ahead of James Cook. I have Henderson and Harvey ahead of James Cook at this point. His holdout situation, hold in situations, making me nervous. I put both rookies ahead of Alvin Kamara at this point, ahead of James Connor at this point. Like, I'm all in. So round four for me,

for both these guys, I'm excited, and I also put them ahead of Bruce Hall, who I'm very nervous about because we saw Hall in what looks like a full-blown committee as the Jets took on the Green Bay Packers here. It was they were rotating Brise Hall and Braylon Allen. Now Heath, I know you're not as concerned yet, but this

has been the narrative all off season since the owner's meeting. Aaron Glenn, the new head coach for the Jed says, we're going to use multiple guys and you've heard just this constant drumbeat of Braylon Allen, Braylon Allen, Braylon Allen, and we know that Detroit coaching staff offensively is here, and it could be hopefully Hall in

the Jemir Gibbs role, but almost certainly Braylin Allen in the David Montgomery role. So touchdowns could be a problem, receptions could be a problem, I'm nervous about Breesall. I am, like, nervous about how we used to view them as a potential top five running back, maybe. But I do think the receptions will not be a problem. Josh Reynolds is the number two wide receiver on this team.

Mason Taylor, who made a huge splash at camp, is now on the shelf for probably the next couple of weeks. So he's not going to make the strides he needs to. I think there's a decent chance that Breeshole is second on this team in targets this year. But just in terms of that, I think when people hear that, and I get it, They may think what we saw year two for him when he was a 70 plus catch guy. I don't think you're meaning that. No, but in today's environment, and then running back catches just seem to go down year after year after year.

I think he could be a top five guy in terms of receptions of the position. Justin Fields is the running quarterback, which isn't great for past catching running backs, but Justin Fields also checks down more than just about any running quarterback we've ever seen. And they don't have a good number two wide receiver. So when teams double team Garrett Wilson and take that away, I'm not sure you're going to have a better option than dumping an off. off to Hull. And another thing is, like you mentioned, Trevion Anderson could be Jamir Gibbs. And it's not the Detroit Lions who score 75 touchdowns a year. So it'd be

Jamir Gibbs with fewer touchdowns. That's kind of what I'm hoping for for Brice Hall is that Jamir Gibbs' role, just not as many touchdowns. I think Breil and Allen outshine Breast Hall in the preseason game. And it's one game and it's a preseason game and you don't want to overreact because when people do that in your fantasy league and they overreact to stuff, like that's when you're going to find good value in your draft. So let them overreact. You should not overreact. I don't think we should overreact.

But, man, Braylon Allen did look good. And the thing that really came true is, like, Aaron Glenn's been talking about using three running backs all offseason long. Isaiah Davis was working third downs. So they could really see a split between Brees Hall and Braylin Allen. The more I think about, the more I absolutely do not want Brees Hall on my fancy team. I haven't been in round four right now. I think that's too soon.

I'm going to have to make a move. I'm sure you've got him in round five. He's a round five back. You know, I've been nervous the entire offseason because of fields. and the rushing touchdowns that he could take away from from Bresol. The receptions, again, I think the ceiling just comes down a little bit because I do think people, when they're drafting

and they're drafting it to be that 70 plus cash guy. And then this Braylon Allen, Isaiah Davis, which I didn't expect it to be as maybe prominent as it could be. I thought Aaron Glenn was just more coach speak. I think to your point, though, about overreacting in preseason, when we hear something and hearing something and then seeing something, that's another. And that kind of is problematic.

Now that goes to our next one, which is Jacksonville, which all we heard for the last few weeks, or at least the first couple weeks, is Tank Biggsby working with the starters. Bigsby looks like the guy. And then we get to the preseason game for them as they take on the Steelers, and it's Travis E.TN playing the entire time

with the first team offense with Trevor Lawrence. And Bigsby comes in with the second team. Now, you said on our Fantasy Football Taday podcast, you still like Biggsby better than ETN. I do. You never changed it. Right. I did change it.

I put Bigsby ahead of E.N. At this point, I don't want to touch the two, the first two guys. I'd rather just take Bachel Tootin with a late round pick because I think by the middle of the season he could be a little bit more of a factor than we expect. So, Dave, you speak for Biggsby, you speak for ETN. Bigsby was hyper-efficient last year,

way more efficient than Travis E-TN. I know that E.T.N. played with the first team offense. Let's see if that happens again this preseason. And if it does, then, of course, I'll make the switch because then you can't deny it. It looks like Travis E.E.N.'s role is what it is. But they could also end up just doing it where E. E.T.N. gets a drive.

Bigsby gets a drive. Tutton gets a drive. Now it's a mess, and I don't know if I want any part of that. You mentioned that round eight might be too soon to take any of these running backs at this point in time. But I like betting on talent when we're talking about the back half of a fantasy draft, and somebody like Bigsby, just the way that he ran last year. And I thought he ran okay in the preseason game. That's somebody that I think fantasy managers could look at and say,

that's a good value in the second half of my draft. And then at E.N, he misses time. I don't think it'll be tooting right away that gets shot up into the first team offense. I think it'll be at best a split at maybe in Bigsbee's. case, he ends up just dominating touches, and that's somebody I'd love to have on my team if I'm getting him in round 8 plus. I mean, if E.T.N gets hurt, it might be the Quint Allen in his role, because that's the one thing that he has on Bigsby and Tutin so far is that he can handle work in the passing

game. If you take a look at the totality of targets for Tanks Biggsby in the NFL, it's way more of a blooper reel than it is a highlight reel. And so even when Biggsby was going to be the league lead rusher, and I still haven't projected for more rush attempts than Travis Eton. In PPR leagues, the catchers really matter. And I don't think there's any doubt that as long as ETN's healthy, he's going to have that role. Yeah, I just, the way I adjusted it was, I just kind of kept ETN where he was and just moved Bigsby slightly behind you, just because, again, I think it's going to be

messy across the board. So if you're going to try and get a piece of this offense, which could be very good, just maybe take the one that's last. We say this is about several back throughout the course of the last several years. And Tutin is the guy that this regime drafted as opposed to inheriting the other two. All right, last one we're going to talk about, and we all have to really spend a lot of time on it. Unfortunately, is the Steelers,

because Caleb Johnson, I think a lot of us were hoping maybe he would be the lead running back for Pittsburgh this year. He comes behind Kenneth Gainwell, and Jalen Warren didn't play in this game. So that's a little concerning that he's not maybe competing for the top job. He may be competing for the third job at this point.

Now, I would just say Gainwell, veteran, getting the opportunity to start, as we talk about, don't really look at depth charts, but Johnson also did not look good in that game against the Jaguar. So, Heath, how are you approaching the Steelers' backfill at this point? I am drafting Jalen Warren just ahead of Travis E.N. and Tank Bigsby, and I'm drafting

Caleb Johnson right in the middle of Travis ETIN and Tank Bigsby. So I I do think, and again, most of the stuff I'm talking about is, of course, PPR-related. And non-PPR, you probably take Johnson over Warren because Warren's big advantage is he's going to do most of the work in the passing game. We've seen the past few years, Najee Harris and Jalen Warren live in that high-end flex range. And I think that's what this is here. The difference is that when Najee was doing that, he might still catch 30 or 40 passes and he still had the ability to play on third down when they need him to. Early in the year, I'm not sure that's the case for Johnson.

Yeah. Remember how I said five minutes ago about we shouldn't overreact to anything in the preseason? I freaked out when I saw Caleb Johnson not doing his job very well. It goes beyond the pass that bounced off his hands. He wasn't explosive. I really got cold feet on Caleb Johnson in that preseason game. And he had a decent amount of work in the game. If we see it again, I'd have to move him even further down.

For now, Caleb Johnson, it's like two spots ahead of Jalen Warren, even in full PPR. But I'm thinking like round seven, eight turn. Heath's right, like in the same neighborhood as where you would take your favorite Jaguars running back. Yep, there was a chance that Caleb Johnson could have been a number two running back for, at least for us, based on prior to the preseason action and he kind of... I mean, it could still happen,

but yeah. Need to see a little bit more. And obviously did not do that with Aaron Rogers, so keep that in mind. All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back and get into some rookie wide receivers who did well in the first preseason action, who may be a little bit concerned or are we concerned about. We'll talk about that next year on FFT. Welcome back to fantasy football today, presented by BEDMGM.

I'm Jamie, that's Dave, that's Heath. We talked about some running back battles that we're looking at from the preseason. Now let's talk about some rookie wide receivers who may have impressed us or may have maybe changed our mind a little bit positive and negative from the preseason action. And obviously, all eyes in Jacksonville on Travis Hunter. He played 88% of the snaps on offense. He played 100% of the snaps that he was out there on defense. Heath, what did you see from what Travis Hunter did with Trevor Lawrence that may have changed your mind?

Maybe he's a little confirmation bias. Maybe he's took you the other way. Like, did he impress you enough that you're still comfortable taking him as a number two receiver? No, the thing that if I was going to be optimistic about something that didn't go well, is I'm not sure how well Travis Hunter is going to tackle NFL players. Like, it might be better to just leave him on the offensive side of the football. Well, there wasn't really anything that happened on offense that changed my mind. Like, this guy is just better than almost everybody at almost everything

when it comes to playing those two positions. And I love the fact they're giving him a chance to play almost all the time. But I think a low-in wide receivers too is where he belongs. It's a preseason game, but he confirmed a lot of my priors. There were eight routes that he ran, including a play where he was penalized. Only two of them did he go further than 10 yards downfield? That means he's going to certainly begin his career. It's more of a short and intermediate era guy.

He did. He did do that. It was still a little bit more outside than in the slot. But Brian Thomas Jr. was in the slot, too, a little bit. That happened a lot last year, too. It was. But just continuing to see them learn all the spots, it's only going to make their offense that much more exciting. I think Travis Hunter's already locked into a role where you could see as many as seven targets per week.

And they're all going to be short area targets. They're not necessarily going to be a lot of downfield throws. But that can still add up over the course of a game. And fantasy managers are going to be excited. to draft him. I think he's right on that border between a wide receiver two and a wide receiver three. I don't mind taking him like right around 60th overall.

If that bleeds into early round six, all the better. I don't think. I think by the time more people start drafting, like the hype on Travis Hunter, it's going to be, you're going to have to take him early in round five or you're not going to get him. I think three receiver leagues, that's 100% for sure. Two receiver leagues, he may go middle to the end of round five, but I think top 60 overall

we're going to see Travis Hunter off the board. And he might be the second wide receiver from the rookie class off the board because Tedaro McMillan, is getting a lot of hype as well. And I don't think he did anything to sort of get away from that. Now, he didn't have a lot of catches, obviously, with playing with Bryce Young, but he should have had a touchdown for the Panthers. Dave, when you look at McMillan right now,

like he could be a top 20 fantasy receiver by the time we get to a lot of drafts in terms of where he's getting selected. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's there for me already. And I think he's got potential. Like Bryce Young's got to stay on point like he did at the end of last season, like he did in the preseason game. But he could be top 12.

Like, he could creep in there toward the end of the year. I am excited about him and what he's capable of doing. Every single contested catch is going to go his way. We know that he's going to get a lot of targets in this offense. He should have had a touchdown in the game. He turned his head around just a little bit too late. Bryce Young was on target. This is going to be the big connection in Carolina.

This is a team that's going to have to throw a decent amount. I like the way they're using Bryce Young. And McMillan's going to end up getting a lot of passes. I'd easily take him at Travis Hunter as far as those two wide receivers go. I don't know if I mind that much going into round four to get McMillan in full PPR. Yeah, we've seen Bryce Young hyper focus on one target. If he's going to do that this year, this is going to be the guy he's done it with. I think people see the body type maybe coming in and didn't recognize how effective he could be on the underneath routes and the intermediate

routes. He looks like a true number one wide receiver. Now, you say that, though, about the focusing on one guy. Adam Thielen's still there, and that was the guy he focused on last year. Jalen Koker, they seem to have a very good rapport going right now. Yeah. Still Xavier Lega, who got thrown out in this game for fighting. getavion Sanders has had some good moments like there's a lot of different mouth to feed here so you say they're going to make the offense interesting I do think there's still going to be a run

centric offense too so you say they're going to be more pass friendly maybe because as Bryce Young develops are there too many mouths to feed for McMillan to get to his high end potential I I don't think so I don't think any of the other names that you said if he is who Tedroa McMillan is you're not going to have a choice

but to give that guy eight to nine targets a game there's no guys out there that are as tall as Andre the Giant but not as fast or not as slow as Andre the Giants. He's pretty fast for a guy who's 6'5. I think he's going to get a ton of targets. I just think he's going to be a red zone threat, third down threat. They're going to use them all over the place.

And the game's not too big for him already. Tampa's got a lot of receivers that they have to get the ball to as well. And one guy is still dealing with an ankle injury. That's Chris Godwin. We don't know when he's going to return. Hopefully he's back early in week one. But Emeka, Abuka has obviously made a lot of play so far in training camp and did have the 21-yard catch from Kyle Trask.

Baker Mayford to not play. in the Bucks game there against the Titans. So when we look at Emeka Abuka and the whole big picture of this Tampa Bay passing game with Mike Evans and Godwin and Jalen McMillan, how are we sort of making this work for fantasy managers where they're all going to be potentially successful because they're all going to be drafted maybe in the first seven rounds?

Not McMillan, the first three guys in the first seven. Yeah, yeah. McMillan's not going to touch around seven unless something really bad happens. I saw them practice against the Titans. Mike Evans looked amazing. He was separating. It's Titans, cornerbacks, and it's a practice, so take that for what it's worth. But he looked great.

I'm in on him in round four. That's amazing value because it's not even close to his ceiling. I don't want to reach for Abuka, but he's another one of these receivers. It's just so exciting. He's really, really a great route runner. He's slippery against defensive backs. He's got great hands. And you saw it in the preseason game.

There were a couple of routes he ran where he had some really good speed. And I think if Chris Godwin comes back. And I said if, if he comes back and is his old self, you're going to see Abuca line up. This is going to be an interesting case for him because he used to play wide. He didn't really do it at Ohio State. He told me that. I think that Abuka, though, does have potential to bust a little bit if Godwin comes back and needs himself. But if Godwin isn't himself, or if it takes him a while to come back,

Abuka's going to be second on this team in targets, and he's going to end up battering for fantasy as like a number three receiver. And if you're drafting that in round eight, it's a tremendous gamble worth taking in the eighth round of your fantasy draft if you need a receiver. You said on our fantasy football today podcast that you have them very close. right now in terms of Godwin and Abuka. I don't think anybody's drafting Abuka ahead of Godwin yet. Again, the majority of our drafts haven't happened.

So the longer Godwin sits, that might be the case. But are you ready to do that now? Well, here's what's going to happen is we're going to do a mock draft this week, and we're going to get to round seven. And Chris Godwin's going to be the top wide receiver in my cue, and I'm going to look at it and say, I'd rather have my back of Abuca. I'm going to take him, and then I'm going to move him ahead. I think the one place I might disagree with Dave a little bit is if if Chris Godwin's

on the pup to start the year and not there, the first four weeks, I'm not sure Ibuka is going to be second on this team in targets. Mike Evans has been a guy who produces a ton of fantasy points, generally on a kind of slightly above average number of targets. We saw it last year Godwin was the clear top target in the offense. I think what Godwin did the first six games of last year is what the ceiling is for Abuka until Godwin gets back. And once Godwin gets back, I don't know if they'll put the genie totally back in the bottle.

So you're thinking that while Godwin's out, Abuka will lead the team. I think he has the potential to, certainly. He could have a game where he does. That's fair to say. I think just the one thing to keep in mind is we have not seen all four guys together. And even going back to last year, Jalen McMillan did not become Jailin McMillan. Until the end of the season. Well, it was also when Mike Evans was hurt.

You know, we sort of forget that. Mike Evans missed four games with a hamstring injury last year, too. So you have McMillan potentially being a factor. You have a boot cut now maybe a significant factor. They did give Godwin a three-year contract extension coming off the year that he had pre-ancle injury. And Evans is still, you know, putting together his whole. Hall of Fame resume, which gets 1,000 yards every season. So is there enough mouth defeater?

And you guys have made the case, admirably so, about Baker Mayfield's regression. Right. So either Baker's going to be amazing. I think everybody's going to eat or somebody's going to get disappointed here of this for. I don't think Jalen McMillan matters if everybody's healthy. I think that it's... Bucks might tell you something different, though.

They might. Because he can fly. But I do think, and I just think there's too many malice to feed because of that. Like maybe he has two or three targets a game, and one of those two. turns into a touchdown on occasion. Right. But he's not going to be a prominent part of the offense of the other three guys are healthy.

And what we may get is the first month of the season. McMillan is a full-time player because Chris Godwin's not ready. And then Godwin comes back. And McMillan becomes that fourth wide receiver who plays 30% of the snaps. I also think it's worth thinking about what Heath said. If you're in a draft this weekend, Godwin's still on the Pup list, people aren't going to be excited to draft him. If he falls in drafts.

Oh, yeah. It's amazing value. And even if he starts here on the Pupp list, if you've got an IR spot, you just stuff him in there. And then you see what he's like? when he comes back. That's the problem. If he's on the Pup list

and it's week five or week six where you find out oh, this is like the last time Chris Godwin came back from injury and we're going to get two months of him

not quite being himself then I don't know that round seven is a great value. No, I'm thinking more around eight, round nine but even then you're right that that is a possible outcome here and if that happens

then Evans awesome Ubukha awesome McMillan DFS guy maybe a bi-week guy Chris Godwin, nothing. Last guy real quick. Luther Burden, fifth on the depth chart, behind DJ Moore, behind Romo Dunzei,

behind Devin DuVernay, behind Tyler Scott. Are you concerned? Not yet, no. I think the whole Luther Burden play, and he's always available in round 10, so it's not like you're having to invest very much. It's all about the potential upside. If you're drafting Luther Burden in round 10 or 11,

you should recognize it like every player in that range, there is no floor. You may not get to start him. He's got to prove it to Ben Johnson, but the reason it's worth taking him there is if he does prove it and if he earns that slot roll, then he could, I mean,

I wouldn't go so far as he could be the best rookie wide receiver, but he could maybe be the best rookie wide receiver. He certainly could be one of the best surprises. You know, based on value, like you said, he's going to go after McMillan, after Hunter, after Abuka, and maybe some of these other guys, you know, creep ahead of him just based on the usage.

But Luther Burden could be the slot receiver for Ben Johnson, which is something that we like. All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back to Fantasy Football, I'm going to do some. Did this change your mind? Did Sjorda Sanders play Maybe make you feel a little bit better

About Jerry Judy? Did Cam Ward's performance Make you feel a little bit better? Calvin Ridley. We'll talk about some scenarios That play next year on F50. We were safer in space. FX's Alien Earth, an original series streaming Tuesday on Disney Plus.

Sign up today. 18 plus subscription required TNCs apply. Welcome back to Fantasy Football today, presented by BEDMGM. We're going to play out some scenarios here because we like to. not overreact to the preseason, but there may be some things that happen in the preseason that could help us make some decisions with some things that are not necessarily related

just to that particular player. And what I'm talking about is, we'll start with scenario number one. Heath, I'll come to you on this. So Shador Sanders played very well. He did that with the second and third team players on the Brown's offense. There was no Jerry Judy. There was no David Nogoku.

There was no Cedric Tillman. We like those guys to various degrees as fantasy options. And the reason we like them is because Joe Flacco and what he might do for this offense. But after watching Sanders, composed, poise, making plays, led two touchdown drives, if he becomes the starter at some point during the season, does that make you feel better about drafting Judy, Najoku, and Toman in their respect to fight? I mean, I'm still going to feel terrible if Joe Flacco is not starting.

So I don't think there's a bigger gap between Flacco and anything else I might have seen. I thought that Sanders looked more like a round two rookie than a round five rookie. So I wouldn't necessarily expect me to be good this year, but I do think it makes me feel just a little bit better. I'm still not entirely sure if they replaced Joe Flacco, that Sanders is the one they'll go with. But there's strength in numbers. So if somebody's now better than Shador Sanders looked in that game,

then that makes me feel even better about it. So, yeah, a little bit safer floor for those guys that I'm pretty much too high on across the board. Right, because we don't know maybe how long Flacco may start for Cleveland. Cam Ward was looking for Calvin Ridley a lot. So after watching Cam Ward's performance, do you feel better about Calvin Ridley? And especially after watching in the joint practice

because the only guy that he was on the same page with in practice against Tampa. And that's a good defense was Calvin Ridley. And those two were making plays in practice. You saw it in the game. I think it's going to continue. And it's been a while since we've seen Calvin Ridley be a good fantasy-wide receiver. I think he's got the quarterback that will connect with him. I talked earlier about Travis Hunter getting seven targets per game.

That feels like the floor for Calvin Ridley. I think he could hit eight targets per game because Tennessee is going to be playing from behind quite a bit this year. I think Calvin Ridley is somebody that fantasy managers should consider even in round five. I think he really can bring back some good value in full people. Yeah, it's a great spot. He's going to be one of the better value because I don't think you have to draft him in round five based on ADP. And so he could actually return a lot of good production based on what his role is for the Titans.

J.J. McCarthy did not have Justin Jefferson. He's not going to have Jordan Addison for the first three games of the season. But McCarthy was looking for Addison and looked composed in his first preseason action since coming back from the injury. So watching J.J. McCarthy, you feel a better. about Justin Jefferson and better obviously about Jordan Addison when he does return. I feel better about the entire Vikings offense after watching J.J. McCarthy because I was

fairly confident that he was going to be an acceptable passer after what they were able to do with Sam Darnold last year, but just that little bit of action showed me yes, he's competent. Now could he be good or even great? I think that's still a possibility but this fixed the

floor for me a little bit. I still have Justin Jefferson as my number three wide receiver behind Jamar Chase and CD Lamb, but I might get Jefferson a little bit closer to those two wide receivers instead of back with the pack. And then I think it's also a good thing for T.J. Hawkinson, who has a chance at a very fast start with Addison suspended for the start of the year. And just something, I bringing this up on our podcast a lot. So Addison's out for the first three games of the season. Week four, they get Pittsburgh, which is not going to be an easy matchup, especially we don't know what McCarthy will look like. He's looked good, but we'll see what that

means. Week five, Cleveland should be a spot where you might want to use Jordan Addison. Then we they have their buy week. You may not get the best of Jordan Addison until week seven, and it stinks because McCarthy was looking for Addison quite a bit in this preseason game. Dave, Kyler Murray, had one incompletion. It was an interception. Ugly incomplete. It was very ugly. He was weird

against Kansas City in that game. But watching him against the Chiefs, and we're getting a lot of questions still about Marvin Harrison, does watching Kyler Murray's performance make you feel better about Marvin Harrison or a little bit worse about Martin? This is another player that I don't want to overreact to. He said after the game

that he maybe was just a little too amped up. And after the interception, he did cool off. And he looked like Kyler Murray. Well, good Kyler Murray. Not this wacky Kyler that we saw in the preseason game. So, no, I'm not ready to bail on Kyler. I still think he's a top 12 fantasy quarterback. And I'm not ready to bail on Marvin Harrison.

He's a top 18 type of fantasy wide receiver. I do hope that the Cardinals use Harrison closer to the line of scrimmage a little bit more because he just doesn't have that speed that you look for. So it's a little weird for a receiver that has so many accolades. He can do almost everything else that you ask, but I don't know how many times he's going to run away from defensive coverage. But that target volume should be there for him this year. It should be better than it was last year. Scored eight touchdowns last year.

Maybe there's a chance he finishes as the top 15 to 20 type of wide receiver. So we talked about Chirdre Sanders, and if he does have the chance to start for the Browns, we're basing a lot of our evaluation on Joe Flacco. For the Giants, we're basing a lot of our evaluation on Russell Wilson's and Malik Neighbors. But Jackson Dart looked pretty good coming in. When you look at Malik Neighbors, I know you're a big Giants guy. When you look at Malik Neighbors, you feel. better about his situation based on how

Dart looked in case there's a quarterback change at some point during the season? Yeah, because I think that Russell Wilson's going to be the unquestioned starter of this team for as long as they can fool themselves into believing they have some chance at contending. But when that goes out the window, then Jackson Dart may get a chance and that there was, there's a little bit of risk

that if you're week 13, week 14 heading into the fantasy playoffs, and then this new guy takes over and all a sudden Leak neighbor sees his fantasy points per game fall off. So it was encouraging from Dart. I still think it's a little bit of a risk, but it's not as big a risk for me as Pooka Nakua situation with Matthew Stafford right now. So I'll still take neighbors ahead of Nakua.

But I was encouraged by what I saw from Dart. He looked good. You know, again, you want to see poise. You want to see confident. You want to see some big boy throws. He had the one on the touchdown. You know, so Dart, hopefully, we'll just do what Russell Wilson will do is throw the ball to Malik neighbors as much as possible.

All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back, it's all your questions. Ask FFT, send them to us on X using that hashtag. Any social media platforms use that hashtag, Ask FFT. We're going to help you with your fantasy decisions next here. on CBS Sports Network. With its delicious combination of big, crunchy, salty peanuts covered in creamy caramel and chewy fudge with a chocolatey coating. Swing by a gas station and get an O'Henry today.

Oh, hungry, oh Henry. Welcome back to Fantasy Football Today, presented by BetMGM. It's your questions the rest of the way. And hipster Dufus 21 wants to know is Bowersworth is ADP with how deep wide receiver appears to be this year or would it be better to wait for Hawkinson or Ingram and grab a top tight end in the second round? Heath, I told you this before the show, that on CBS sports, Bauer's ADP is 25th overall. I take that all day, but I know you take him at the back end of round one beginning of round two. So would you rather have Bowers or receiver and take Hockinson and Ingram?

I would rather have Bowers. I would like to really have Brock Bauer's or Trey McBride this year and then just not think about tight end ever again. Yeah, Hockinson, a little bit safe for Ingram a little bit more concerning. So if you have the chance to get Bowers again on our site, do so at the back end of round two for sure. Marshall wants to know 10 team Superflex half PPR keeping Nico Collins and Chase Brown

the third keeper would be Trey McBride in the 9th or Drake May in the 14th Dave Richard Oh my goodness I love both of these guys in a Superflex

I think I'm still going to take McBride ahead of May but it's close give me McBride I would like to know what value Nico Collins and Chase Brown have

because I would like to keep Drake May in the 14th round of a Superflex league and keep McBride in the ninth round as well, and then depending on where Nico and Brown are. But yeah, I would probably go with McBride also just because it's 10 teams. All right, next question. Josh wants to know, Keeper PPR League,

Bucky Irving for a 16th round or Chase Brown for a ninth round, already keeping Jamar Chase for a first round pick. So high on Chase Brown, though. So Heath, when you look at it, would you rather have both bangles at the cost of Chase Brown or Jamar Chase and Bucky Irving? Well, I have Bucky Irving ahead of Chase Brown, and so if you can get him seven rounds, later, I would definitely take Becky Irving.

They're very similar backs in that they were kind of surprises last year. We got half the season sample sizes where they were elite. We're hoping they'll be elite again. I'm going with Bucky. Bucky at that cost does make a lot more sense. Andy wants to know, 10 team PPR Keeper League. Would you keep neighbors in the fifth

round, league neighbors in the fifth round, Dave? Jay and Daniels in the seventh round or Brian Thomas Jr. in the 11th. And you can only keep them for one season. I would keep neighbors in the fifth. I know that there's better value for Brian Thomas Jr. in the 11. but Neighbors has wide receiver one overall upside. It's a great deal either way.

I would keep Brian Thomas just based on the value, but again, it's hard to argue because Neighbors is great. Brian Thomas, though, six rounds better, could be just as good, and the cost would be that much better. All right, great show, guys. Make sure you send us your questions. We'll be answering them on our social media platforms. We answer them on our Fantasy Football Today podcast.

You can find us over a podcast are available. We're on YouTube as well. Check out the QR code there. We are helping you dominate your fantasy leagues better than everybody else. For Heath Cummings, for Dave Richard, I'm Jamie Eisenberg. Thanks for watching, Fantasy Football Today.