Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (AFC Home Games); Lineup Philosophies (09/08 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: September 8, 2022

It's Opening Day and we couldn't be more excited! Let's watch (and talk) some football, finally! Jamey and Heath will give you some lineup philosophies to consider (2:40): How much should your opponent's team influence your lineup decisions and how much do matchups matter in Week 1 and throughout the season? Then we'll give you our Super Bowl predictions (6:35), players we love this week (7:50) and players to avoid (11:15). Trey Lance is the Start of the Week. Antonio Gibson is set up for success. Beware of the Seahawks! ... Injuries, news and notes (16:35) with updates on key wide receiver injuries, One Question for Each Game (24:45) as we evaluate Juju Smith-Schuster, Dameon Pierce, Derek Carr, Treylon Burks and more ... Start or Sit for Broncos-Seahawks (29:05), Chiefs-Cardinals (37:30), Texans-Colts (46:00), Steelers-Bengals (51:00), Patriots-Dolphins (55:20), Raiders-Chargers (1:02:00), Giants-Titans (1:07:00) and Ravens-Jets (1:11:00) ... Email us at [e-mail] Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ 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

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Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. A lot of excitement in the air today. I see it in the YouTube chat already. What's up, everybody? Welcome to your Thursday show. Start or sit for the AFC home games. Plus two NFC home games. There are not quite enough AFC home games this week.

Adam Azer, Heath Cummings, Jamie Isenberg. We're going to be breaking down eight games for you today, including Chiefs and Cardinals, the Seahawks hosting the Broncos and the six AFC home games, which is Giants, Titans, Ravens, Jets, not in this order, by the way, Raiders, Chargers, Patriots, Dolphins, Steelers, Bengals, Colts and Texans. All right. People are fired up. It is football day.

This is, you know, opening day in baseball. It has all the pageantry and everybody's so excited. But this is our opening day. We love it. Heath, what do you get excited for on opening day? Oh, just everything. Every single part of it. I really like it when we do our season predictions, Super Bowl winners, MVP, all that stuff. That's lots of fun. Oh my gosh, we didn't do that yesterday. I just thought of that, and so I thought, you know, it'd be a fun thing to throw in That's lots of fun. Oh, my gosh. We didn't do that yesterday. I just thought of that.

And so, you know, it's a fun thing to throw in Adam's lap right now. Yeah, we're going to have to do that. Might just simplify to make it Super Bowl predictions instead of every division. Jamie, what do you get excited for this time of year? No more auction salary cap rankings. Not having to update that every time we hit publish on the rankings. I mean, everything. You know is this is what we wait for you know i think it's what 207 days since the last real football game since the super bowl wow and so you know it's it's fun to see all the

all the analysis the research all the stuff that we've been doing for the last few months finally start to see how it pays off. Or doesn't. Yeah, exactly. What am I supposed to do when none of my matchups are going to be decided until Monday night when Cortland Sutton plays? Do I even pay attention on Sunday or just watch? You really don't pay attention on Sunday, guy, aren't you?

You don't check your scores, right? I try not to check until maybe Sunday night. I get a little tempted sometimes. You check. No, I really don't. I really don't. It stresses me out too much. I don't want to be... No, it's not fun.

I'm so competitive. I hate losing and I don't want to be... If I'm having a bad fantasy day, I don't even want to know about it. I don't check my opponent's teams, which leads me to my next question. Starting lineup philosophies, do you care about your opponent's team when you are setting your lineup, Jamie?

Not now. I mean, you know, there might be some strategy in playoffs, but not now, no. Heath? No. Yeah, start the players that you think are going to score

the most points. For week one, how much do you care about matchups? I care about it every week. I mostly care to the extent that it impacts the Vegas numbers. I'm not saying this team's good against this position or bad against this position. If it's a really good defense and the defense has the advantage in the matchup, then that should be reflected in the team's implied point total. And if it's not, then I'm not changing it.

Yeah, and I think you're going to get different philosophies on this show. I think some of us are going to care more about matchups than others. So, you know, Jamie, how much of your week one starts at rankings? How much did you look at last year, what these teams did against certain positions? Obviously, we have to keep in mind the additions and subtractions on their defenses. But how much... Well, you told me the other day there were no defensive additions. That was off the air, and it was tongue-in-cheek. Yeah, it was.

Yeah, it was. You didn't have that conversation on the air? No, we had it like backstage before we went on the air. Yeah, yeah. It's all been a blur. Sorry. That's okay. No, I mean, like, for example, I'm hopeful and excited for what Brees Hall will be.

But given the circumstances, along with the matchup, I'm going to take a wait-and-see approach. You know, I'm going to take a wait-and-see approach if I can with the Seahawks, because I think they're going to struggle. I'm going to take a wait-and-see approach with some of these, you know, scenarios, like, you know know to your question um how much do you care carry over you know from last year uh when there's a history especially when the coach is the same like mike isek he's been terrible against the patriots the patriots have been very good against tight ends you know there's there's stuff like that you know so those things kind of you know i think you have to take into consideration you know the bills are very good against tight ends also, you know, so, you know, just looking at some, some of the things that stood out to me this week. I thought it was interesting looking at Justin Fields and he's

a guy who's moved a lot in my rankings. And I, I got right now, I don't have him ranked as a starter, um, at all, or, but like his best game last year might've come against San Francisco, ran for a hundred yards against them. and they were susceptible to running quarterbacks. It wasn't just because they faced a lot of good ones. On a yards per carry basis, they gave up a ton. All right, so we'll talk to you about some of the defenses that have changed a lot. Maybe we should just throw out, like Baltimore. Baltimore was one of the worst defensive teams in the NFL last year.

They are much healthier this year. They gave up the most yards per play. In fact, they faced the Jets this week. Those two teams gave up the most and the second most yards per play in the NFL last year, but don't expect the same type of thing from Baltimore. They should be much much better. They have one of the better secondaries in the NFL, and last year they had the worst

secondary in the NFL, basically, because everyone was hurt. So some things might carry over. I still love Elijah Moore this week. You do? Okay. Let's see. Don't start a Thursday night guy as a flex, right? May not be so obvious to people, but it gives you less roster flexibility

if you're dealing with some type of injury or whatever after Thursday. You don't want to start your Thursday guy as a flex. You don't want to tie up your flex early in the week. Okay, then, Heath, thanks for doing this. Super Bowl predictions. I have not even thought about this. Who are the Giants going to play? Give me time to think about that.

You give me your Super Bowl predictions, Heath. Yeah, I mean, I think every other media establishment has already given the title to the Bills, so I can't choose the Bills. And I don't think the Bengals will be back either. I'm not choosing the Chargers. It's just getting tough. Just say the Chiefs already.

Yeah, I think the Chiefs will probably beat the Buccaneers in a rematch from two years ago. Okay. I feel like that was your prediction last year. I don't know, but I feel like that was your prediction. I actually looked at the Chiefs' schedule and didn't even think the Chiefs were going to win their division. Last year? No.

Oh, this year. It's the most difficult schedule I've ever seen. Chiefs, Bucs. Jamie, how about you? I'm going to go Bills and Vikings. Oh. Okay. I'll take the Chargers.

And I, I mean, I, I fear the Eagles. I think they are. I don't know how much of a sleeper they are, but they could be terrific. But I'll take the Chargers and the Buck. Now. Chargers and, oh gosh, and the Packers. Yeah, the Packers. How about that?

Okay. Who's a player you love this week, Jamie Eisenberg? Player that I love this week? A star or an off-the-radar guy? Whatever. Start of the week. I guess I'll just start of the week. Trey Lance.

Trey Lance will start of the week. Elijah Moore. I guess I'll just start the week. Trey Lance. Trey Lance will start the week for this week. Don't love that George Kittle's not 100%, but I don't know how much that'll matter, to be honest with you, in terms of what he should still be able to accomplish. Clearly, not having Kittle might hurt his ceiling, but I'm excited. The setup is there.

The Bears defense is transitioning to a 4-3, so we'll see if there's some growing pains. Clearly no more Khalil Mack. And so I did find it interesting. This was a fun stat for this game, that the Bears were among the league leaders in rushing touchdowns allowed. And I know you brought this up a lot, Adam, in terms of how Trey Lansing scored rushing touchdowns.

Obviously in play as much, you know, as you would like to see. But two of the five touchdowns that they allowed on the ground to quarterbacks last year were scored by Jimmy Garoppolo when they met last year. Ironically enough. So he's a tough call, though. Who are you starting Trey Lance over? Me? Yeah.

Oh, I'm starting him over Rodgers. I'm starting him over Stafford. I'm starting him over Cousins. I'm starting him over Rogers. I'm starting him over Stafford. I'm starting him over Cousins. I'm starting him over Burrow and Dak. I think, you know, this is an opportunity. You know, look, if he struggles, we know the story. That's looming. You know, you blow it.

They have a guy that they trust. You know, so I think this is the coming out party for him. You know, I wish it was a home game. I wish it was on a better surface because that field has typically been not so kind. They got new grass. They did? They got brand new grass. There was just a tweet about it yesterday or before.

Oh, good. Yeah. Yeah, but I think the setup is there for him. I think we'll see. Love the setup for our Uke. I think we'll have a big game. I think people will have a big game, especially if there's no kittle and you know we're gonna see him run you know we just haven't seen in the preseason i think you know he averaged over 53 yards per

game in his three main appearances you know he gets that on top of what he should do as a passer you know he's gonna be a top 10 guy all right he's give me a player you love this week antonio gibson got him as a borderline top 12 running back. I think he's going to get probably 18 touches against a Jacksonville team that we don't, I still don't think is very good, should have a lead, excellent chance at getting into the end zone, and he'll catch a couple passes as well. All right, Trey Lance for Jamie, Antonio Gibson for Heath. Would you start Antonio Gibson or Damian Pierce? Oh, Gibson. Gibson. I have a tough call.

And so we did our draft last night, and I appreciate all the people that sent their entries in terms of the FFT HQ, the screen grab. Thank you so much for sending those in. We chose, I think, about six or seven of you guys. And again, very, very overwhelmed with how many of you sent those screen grabs. But we did a draft last night 14 team league and I drafted um I uh Alvin Kamara Travis Etienne Antonio Gibson and Miles Sanders are my four running backs in the 14 team PPR league and I have a tough call this week between Etienne and Gibson well James Robinson apparently is full go.

So we're going to talk about that a little bit. To be honest with you. All right. By the way, Jamie said, take a screenshot, send it in to fantasyfootballatcbsi.com and get in the HQ Podcast League or the HQ League. He got 202 submissions for that. So that was impressive.

Good stuff. Player to avoid this week, Heath. Who are we avoiding? I'm going to go in two wide receiver leagues. I would really like to avoid Michael Thomas. I don't understand. It's very optimistic, and everybody says he's going to play. He was limited again yesterday. The guy is still apparently not 100% healthy.

They're playing a Falcons team that I don't think is going to score very many points against that Saints defense. In the last two years, whenever they've played a game like this, they've barely thrown the ball. And now they've got Chris Olave and Jarvis Landry. And so I don't trust his target share. I don't trust the pass volume. I don't trust his health.

Okay. Michael Thomas, would you start? So you'd start, obviously, I think everybody will start Gabriel Davis over Michael Thomas, Alan Robinson. Michael Thomas, uh, would you start? So you'd start obviously, I think everybody will start Gabriel Davis over Michael Thomas, Alan Robinson over Michael Thomas, but well, I've got Gabe Davis. No,

you wouldn't. Alan Robinson. I would, but like, well, Robinson, I'm sorry, uh,

Thomas, they haven't even confirmed that he's going to play. Right. So you might have to, then as Alan said, we'll see. Right. So if it comes down to that, it would depend on who I am start. Then as Alan said, we'll see. Right. So if it comes down to that. That would depend on who I have on my other wide receiver on my bench, yes.

Okay. Would you start Adam Thielen over Michael Thomas against a very good Packers secondary? I would. Okay. All right, Jamie, who are you avoiding? I don't want to start any Seahawks if I can avoid it. I just don't trust the setup.

I feel like, you know, Penny is the probably closest to being, if you want to say safe, because of his whole full workload. But I could just see a scenario where they're down, down big, down big early. And we see a lot more Travis Homer than we're, you know, anticipating because of how the game flow will be. And so Penny's not somebody that I love.. And so Penny's not somebody that I love. DK Metcalf's not somebody that I love. Tyler Lockett is obvious at this point.

And so you can avoid the Seahawks. Avoid the Seahawks. We'll see if Patrick Sertan, Broncos cornerback, becomes more of a household name this year. I hope he locks up on DK Metcalf. Would love to see that. But this could be, the Broncos defense could be one of the best in football for sure. All right.

So start Trey Lance. That's the start of the week for Jamie. Antonio Gibson. Heath loves him. Players to avoid. Heath says Michael Thomas, especially in a two-wide receiver league. Yeah, I mean, I have him in a bunch of three-wide receiver PPR leagues, and I don't think I can get away from him as at least a flex.

But definitely see what you're saying there. And Seattle, Seattle, basically, Jamie would like to avoid if possible. And that's one of the games we'll look at today. I think it's the first game we're going to look at today. So we'll get to that. We have a mailbag episode that's going to air on Saturday on an Apple podcast and Spotify,

wherever you listen to your podcast. We're going to record it on Friday podcast. We're going to record it on Friday afternoon. We're going to do that every week. So you can email us at fantasyfootball at cbsi.com

but also leave your Apple podcast questions. Leave us a five-star review on Apple podcast with a comment on why you like the show, please, and then you can ask

your question. We also have CBS Sports HQ. So if you don't know what HQ is, download the CBS Sports app. You can watch HQ for free right there. You can go to CBSSportsHQ.com just to check it out. It is 24-7 sports content. It's what you grew up loving about sports coverage. It's not the talking heads screaming about stupid topics all day. It's really smart and just great coverage. There's gambling talk, there's fantasy football talk, and there's fantasy football today, which is live noon Eastern, Monday through Friday on HQ, and 10 a.m. Eastern on

Sunday, right up until kickoff to get you ready for your lineup decisions, basically. For those of you that are new or just forgot, here's how the Start or Sit episodes work. We pride ourselves, or at least I do. I mean, I love the way we do Starter Sid. It's very extensive and we try to leave no stone unturned, but that's not possible. But I do the AFC home games on Thursday and the NFC home games on Friday, except it's never a balance. So I have to kind of pick and choose to make the shows a little bit more balanced. The key info I try to get to early on in the episode in case you can't listen to the entire show. But there are time codes in the episode description on YouTube and on Apple Podcasts or on any podcast. For the podcast time codes, please understand I cannot make them exact. They are approximate because of the ads that sometimes play and the ads are different lengths and those things.

So use those time codes to skip ahead to games that you want to hear about if you want. But we'd prefer you just listen to the whole episode. And I'd like to think we officially have the best game previews in the business. That is unofficial because this is the only podcast. Wow. Best male podcast host right there. I mean, I wouldn't know, but I'm going to say they're the best.

I didn't realize that you were you had 11 foot wingspan. Reach around and pat yourself on the back on that one. That was pretty big. No, it's not. It's not me. I'm not the one previewing the game.

I pride myself on how I build this show. No, no. I pride myself on the analysis you give. Look at me and how I put this show together. The analysis that you give. Oh, yeah, very complicated. Hey, here's the game. I'm just saying that we

are not just, oh, stardom sit-em. We have the best in the business. There's nobody better than us. I mean, we're the best podcast that I listen to. One of one. That is very true. All right. News and notes. Alan Lazard mispracticed. He was... It's all because of you. He was...

Stop it. I never said that. I never even insinuated that. I can't wait to text Nando after this. Good. Good. Go. You guys can go crazy. I mean, it is all because of me. But anyway, news and notes.

Alan Lazard mispractice. He was stepped on last week. I hope he plays. Christian Watson practice in full. Christian Watson is 33 percent rostered. Who's going to be your highest ranked Packers wide receiver if Lazar does not play at Minnesota Aaron Jones Sammy Watkins now I'll really answer you uh Aaron Jones your highest ranked Packers wide receiver

I don't think I will have anybody in the top 40 probably but it would probably be Sammy. I think we can all... Would you rather stash Romeo Dobbs or Christian Watson at this point? Dobbs. Dobbs. Michael Thomas... I think it's really interesting, just to tie in Lazard and Michael Thomas, and I still

think Chris Godwin, despite the fact that he's practicing in full. And even Jalen Waddell. These guys that are coming off of injuries are still dealing with injuries. How to approach them. Deontay Johnson too. The shoulder injury. There's a lot of question marks.

It's not fun. It's not fun when you draft these guys with the hope of them being starters in at least three receiver leagues or in the case of some of these other guys, two receiver leagues. To not potentially have them available is going to be frustrating for week one. Yeah. Deontay did not commit to playing George Pickens is 88% roster.

Chase Claypool is 77% rostered. Chase Claypool has been very good when Deontay Johnson has not played or has left games with injuries. There was only one instance last year, but it was against the Bengals who that's their opponent this week. And Claypool had 15 targets and he had 96 yards. Nine catches for 96 yards. He might be a sleeper. Pickens might be someone, if Deontay Johnson doesn't

play, that people might start a lot. Chris Godwin did practice in full, as Jamie mentioned, but we expect him to play I guess at this point. Is he a top 20 wide receiver for you this week, Chris Godwin did practice in full, as Jamie mentioned, but we expect him to play, I guess, at this point. Is he a top 20 wide receiver for you this week, Chris Godwin? No. No. He's in the 25 to 30 range. Yep.

J.K. Dobbins was limited at practice, and this is a tough one here. We just don't know. I mean, are you even going to... Well, there was a Lamar Jackson quote, like just off the cuff. Hopefully, he'll be out there in a couple of weeks. Yeah. Okay.

So we should probably not plan on not starting him. We don't have a ranked. So who's your highest ranked Ravens running back? Drake, but in the 30s. Did you say Aaron Jones? Canyon Drake, but I've 30s? Did you say Aaron Jones? Kenyon Drake, but I've got him 40th. So, yeah, I don't want to. Here's a good stat for you.

Last year, if you looked at Latavius Murray and Devontae Freeman. Not Mike Freeman, but Devontae Freeman. Devontae Freeman. I almost said Mike Davis. When you look at their yards per carry and their big plays, their 20-plus yard carries, they did better last year than Joe Mixon did, which is somewhat of an indictment of Mixon,

but also just tells you how good that system is for running backs. George Kittle missed practice. Here we go. And he's uncertain for week one at chicago but james robinson could get a big workload in week one apparently all right jamie you're sort of uh poo-pooing it for travis etn what do you make of this james robinson situation i think it's great you know he's somebody i definitely want to see how he's going to look and how he's going to perform um you know the uh the injury is

still something you got to keep in in the back of your mind you know how explosive is he going to be you know when when the the lights are on but it's great it's great that he's back you know and and clearly it's uh it's a frustrating situation i think for travis etm but i still think his role in the passing games is is going to be defined and when we see some of these explosive plays from him i think you're going to be impressed i don't worry so i mean i didn't like the quote was was basically if james robinson feels okay he's not going to have any limitations um now i think travis etn could be a limitation if he's just better than james robinson but i think an interesting question because i've only got him projected for like seven or eight touches in this game. How many touches can James Robinson get

and Travis Etienne still be a must-start running back? That's going to be a good question all year. Would you start a Jaguars running back or a Thursday night running back? I'd start Etienne over all of them.

I might start Etienne over two of them. All right, so what about Robinson? I might start ETN over two of them combined. What about Robinson? No, I'm not trusting Robinson. Okay. All right. Let's fly through the rest of the news and notes here. J.C. Jackson will be a game-time decision. Not looking great, though, for him.

That's Chargers cornerback J.C. Jackson. Doesn't look like he's going to play. Big offseason addition. Zach Ertz is going to be a game-time decision against the Chiefs uh Chase Edmonds for the Dolphins he was limited with a groin injury looks like he's going to play I mean limited is good but uh not good that Chase Edmonds already hurt Raheem Mostert is not hurt but Chase Edmonds is right and there will be millions of limiteds and not practices on Wednesdays this year, so it's going to be okay. Zach Wilson is out until week four

at the earliest, so it's going to be Flacco against the Ravens, Browns, and Bengals to start the year. Patrick Mahomes said it's going to be a different player every week, talking about the wide receivers. That's exactly what we want to hear, Patrick Mahomes. Thank you very much. Maybe you can tell us who,

you know, which week. That'd be nice. Drake London was limited, but looks like he's on track to play for the Falcons. Brian Robinson is off crutches. Swelling in his knee has gone down. We know Brian Robinson is out for at least four games. Miles Sanders practiced in full.

Get the Lions this week. They gave up the second most points to running backs last year. And then fun autocorrect for the Lions, their center, Frank Ragnarok, was limited. It's Rag now, but we'll call him Frank Ragnarok. I like that nickname. Buffalo signed Dawson Knox to a four-year contract extension.

Ty Montgomery practiced for the Patriots. And the Giants' top two pass rushers are unlikely to play at the Titans. All right. Get in shape with the best instructors. Get yourself a Peloton. This is a true story. I was just at my sister-in-law's house the other day and I said, oh, you have a Peloton. She said, yeah, she loves it. She raved about it. She said it was a great purchase. Everyone I know who has a Peloton loves the Peloton, including Jamie Eisenberg. Take it away.

Yeah, it's fantastic. You know, I can't wait to, actually, I'll probably do a ride tonight while I'm watching the game. It's just an easy way to, you know, get your workout in at home. Get a good sweat. You know, listen to some good music.

The instructors, like you said, Adam, are fantastic. My wife and I, we fight over when we're gonna get you know get a chance to use it uh we got our kids involved you know they they like to take a ride every now and then my older two uh 10 year old actually it's my eight-year-old's birthday today happy birthday so he loves it also but uh like i said before you know it's not just the bike it's also the app the app is great you know we use the meditation for putting our kids to sleep. They love it. My wife does a lot of yoga classes through the app. I do from time to time when I have time, the band workouts, they're fun. So Peloton is just a great way to get your workout at home and certainly, hopefully, you know, take advantage of it. You know, for me, for example,

it's a no brainer,brainer, especially during football season. Motivation that moves you anytime, anywhere. Try the Peloton bike or tread risk-free for 30 days. Learn more at 1peloton.com. That's 1-P-E-L-O-T-O-N.com. For the record, we've had

a number of people say, Jamie really sold me on the Peloton. Start the Peloton. Start the Peloton. Start of the week. And they've gotten one. So thank you, Jamie. And thank you all for supporting our sponsors. All right, I'm giving you one question for each game.

Seattle and Denver, which Seahawk do you have the most confidence in? Penny. Yeah, Penny. Kansas City and Arizona, Clyde Eberziler or Juju Smith-Schuster? Who would you start in a flex? Juju.

I've got Clyde. That's one where the projections are just going to have to be proven wrong because the Chiefs now have the highest implied point total, and it's quite a bit higher than most teams. And he's the starting running back, and so that guy's going to project pretty well. I was a little surprised by the spread. Six-point favorites on the road at Arizona. I think they have almost up to 30 now for an implied point total.

One thing about them is that they often, defensively, they get off to slow starts, and they're going to be starting at least two rookies. We'll talk about this more when we break down the game, but I thought that was a big spread. Colts and Texans. Is Damian Pierce a must start against the team that allowed

the fourth fewest fantasy points to running backs last year? Is Damian Pierce a must start? I would say yes based on the volume and he would be a monster if Shaquille Leonard does not play. We saw that last year with Chase Edmonds and what he was able to do in the one game

without Leonard on the field. It could be fantastic if he's still limited with the back injury. I think Leonard was a full, though, yesterday, wasn't he? I'm not sure. I don't know if he was full. If Leonard's there, then he's not must start, but he's a borderline number two.

I'm not trying to get away from him. All right. How would you compare him to Clyde Edwards-Ziller and Juju Smith-Schuster to Damian Pierce? I'd go Clyde, Pierce, Juju. Pierce, Juju, Clyde. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati. I think this is...

I don't know if this is an easy game. It depends on Deontay Johnson. But you're going to start your Bengals. You're going to start Najee. But what about Pat Fryermuth? Would you start Pat Fryermuth or would you go to the waiver wire? I'm going to start him. Yeah, I would start him.

He scored in both games against the Bengals last year. He did. New England and Miami, would you sit all Patriots? This used to be, when you faced the Patriots, it was like you sit the other team, but would you sit all Patriots in this matchup? Yes. I would really like to.

If Ty Montgomery doesn't play, does that make Ramondre Stevenson a significantly better start? Yes. Yes, he'd be a flex. Okay. Do you trust Raiders and Chargers? Do you trust Derek Carr this week against an improved Chargers defense that probably, though, will not have JC Jackson?

Yes. Yeah, I'd start him over Cousins and Rogers. Would you start him over Trey Lance, Derek Carr or Trey Lance? Lance. I think I have Lance one spot higher than Carr. Giants and Titans.

Is Robert Woods a must start? Is Traylon Burks a sleeper? No. They're both sleepers. Ravens and Jets. Start all Ravens, sit all Jets? No, I like Elijah Moore.

I think Moore and Carter and Hall are all flexes. Moore's a number three if you start three wide receivers. Moore and Bateman are almost inseparable. And you don't start the Ravens running backs if you can help it yeah I I think Moore wins in a big way with Joe Flacco starting he threw 42 passes last year in over two games 13 of them went to Elijah Moore in those two games

we saw Elijah Moore have 10 catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns on those 13 targets. Right, and those numbers weren't over two full games. No. Right, it's not like divided by two. He had one huge game with Flacco starting

and Flacco came out in relief in another game. Ravens, PFF has them at the number one secondary in the NFL. Smart football analysis has them fifth, but more at a big game against the Eagles last year at a big game against the dolphins last year. Those teams had terrific cornerbacks.

So, you know, that's, that'll be good. It's just a matter of, can the quarterback play, help them maximize the potential and Flacco. I think at this point is,

is better for him than Zach Wilson. All right, let's rock and roll with Denver and Seattle. Broncos on the road on Monday night. Russell Wilson back to Seattle. I mean, you don't say, let's ride? Let's ride? Let's cook. Let's let Russ cook.

Six and a half point favorites on the road. Over-unders 44. Stat of the game. This one's fun. Maybe it changes now, but over the last four years, the Seahawks have been so bad against pass-catching running backs. Four straight years, they've been

at least bottom nine in terms of yards allowed per game, receiving yards allowed per game to running backs. And last year, they allowed the most by a wide margin by like 12 more than any other team, basically. So that could be a nice way for Javante Williams to rack up some yards.

I don't know if that's going to change anything for your start-sit decisions. They also have a new defensive coordinator, so maybe that changes, because the last four years were all Ken Norton. All right, so as we look at this game here, is it, you know, lay it out for me, Jamie. Is it a bunch of easy decisions here

with Denver and Seattle? What do you think? I don't think it's easy when you have Rashad Penny by himself without Ken Walker and you have DK Metcalf and what his potential is. But like I said, for me, I would try and sit those guys. I think this is going to be a lopsided affair. You have Russ coming back to Seattle, his first start with the Broncos. I mean, it's a recipe for disaster for the Seahawks,

knowing what their talent level is with what Russ should be able to do. And so, you know, Jordan Brooks, Brooks has banged up, you know, for the Seahawks, their linebacker replacing Bobby Wagner or at least, you know, filling that role as the defensive leader in the middle there. I think the Broncos are going to have their way with this team, you know? So if the score is out of whack, it just makes me concerned about Penny. You know, Gino Smith is not going to be the greatest of starting quarterbacks. this team. If the score is out of whack, it just makes me concerned about Penny. You know Geno Smith is not going to be the greatest of starting quarterbacks.

This Broncos defense, I think, is legit. I think the Broncos offense is going to be among the best in the NFL. I just think Seattle, if this game was in Denver, I don't know if they'd score. Heath, it's interesting. The Seahawks were 12th in scoring defense last year, 16th in yards per play. It seems like everyone thinks they're going to have a pretty bad defense. I shouldn't say everyone, but this is not viewed as a tough matchup. Do you see any reason to be hesitant

on any Broncos? And Jerry Judy, I guess, would be the one that would be the most toughest call, I guess, for fantasy managers. Yeah, I think the Judy versus DK conversation is a pretty interesting one. I would slightly favor DK. You're starting Sutton as a number two. You're starting Gervonta. Russ

is a low-end starter. Vegas doesn't have it quite the way we might think in our head. Six and a half point line, I think, and 44 and a half over under. That's not a huge number for the implied total for the Broncos. So I don't know if that's Russ in his first game in a new system or emotions of going back to Seattle or any of that stuff. But I mostly agree with what Jamie said.

I think I'm just a little bit lower on the Broncos. Yeah, you called Wilson a low-end starter. You have him 11th. I think that's... Yes, that's 100% correct. And Jamie and Dave have him 6th. So that means Trey Lance would be a guy that you'd...

I have Wilson over Lance. So there's really nobody that people are going to have with Russell Wilson in most leagues that you have ahead of him. You do have Stafford and Burrow ahead of him. You know, like most people aren't going to have Russell Wilson and Dak Prescott, for example. Not going to have to make that decision. But you're a little lower on Russell Wilson.

All right. So how about Jerry Judy? And I saw in the chat, Jerry Judy or Juju Smith-Schuster? Who would you guys rather start? I'd go Judy in PPR, Juju in non, and half. I've got Judy. Would you go Jerry, Judy, or Damian Pierce? Judy.

Judy in PPR. I think in non, I'd go Pierce. Okay. Anything else in this? Oh, I guess more Metcalf. Metcalf, let's see some running backs that you might be favoring over DK Metcalf. How about Metcalf or Penny? You said Penny is your most confident in him, right? Right. AJ Dillon or DK Metcalf? Full PPR. Dillon. Dillon. Dillon or DK Metcalf? Full PPR. Dillon.

Dillon. Dillon. Miles Sanders or DK Metcalf? Metcalf PPR. Yep. Sanders the rest. All right. Listen, last year, Denver held Hunter Renfro twice, Terry McLaurin, Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, Mike Williams once, Tyreek Hill, Tee Higgins, and Jamar Chase to fewer than 40 receiving yards. They allowed the ninth fewest fantasy points to wide receivers.

So, tough matchup there. How about Albert O? Any interest in Albert O in this game? Seahawks were not good against. They were really not good at all against tight ends last year. I like him as a low-end starter. I think this is most likely the third option in the passing game right now. With Dolchich hurt and with no Tim Patrick.

For me, it's all systems go with the Broncos. I just think they're going to do whatever they want to. It's his first game. It's national TV. He's going back to Seattle. This is Russ's moment, and I think he's going to have it. And that's the interesting thing is do they want to throw to Alberto is the thing we're going to find out because the way they behaved

in the preseason, I'm just not sure. But he's definitely in that group. If he was my only tight end, I'm probably not going to make a waiver ad. But I would prefer to start Evan Ingram or Gerald Everett or Friar Muthukmet. How about this question from Dubb Jr. Elijah Moore or Jerry Judy? I'd go Judy.

Bank on the quarterback. Yeah, I've got Judy two spots higher. Okay, well, it's a little inconsistent, Jamie, because you like the Russell Wilson revenge narrative, but not the Joe Flacco revenge narrative. Well, I mean, I do like the Joe Flacco revenge narrative I mean well I mean I do like the Joe Flacco revenge narrative but I also like the town a little better all right it's very

interesting there's a lot of revenge games this week what else we got oh we got Baker you got Baker you got Flacco you got Russ you got three quarterbacks as he pointed out we could have had a fourth if Drew Locke was starting in this game you have Noah Fant in the same game revenge game for him yeah You have...

There's one more. Put Drew Locke in. Come on. Oh, Devante Parker. Oh, okay. I'm sorry. I totally overlooked Rashad Penny. We definitely have to talk more about him. He was on pace. In his last six games, he was on pace for exactly 2,000 rushing yards. We know how he finished.

He finished with a flurry. 2,000 rushing yard pace. Incredible. Was so good. He finished with a flurry. 2,000 rushing yard pace. Incredible. It was so good. And this was the weakness of the Denver defense last year. They gave up 4.36 yards per carry to running backs. They were eh against running backs. They did sign DJ Jones, run stuffer from San Francisco. That should help their

run defense here. Heath, how much confidence do you have in Rashad Penny? Where do you have him ranked? He is 22nd, just ahead of Ezekiel Elliott, David Montgomery, and in full PPR, just ahead of Damian Pierce. In non-PPR, is he higher? Yeah, he's 15th for you in non-PPR. Okay.

I think he's probably going to get 18 carries. I do think there's a possibility the Broncos run away from this game, but Pete Carroll's not going to stop running the ball until at least halfway through the third quarter. Okay. And Jamie, you're a little lower on Penny. Yeah, not by much in PPR. Certainly

by a lot in non-PPR. I have him in a relatively similar range. I just fear the narrative that they're chasing points. And yes, he's still going to try to run the ball, but you know, this guy's battled a groin injury, a hamstring injury, and just recently got off, you know, the COVID lists, you know, how much are they going to overwork him knowing that Ken Walker may not play. And so they might, it's be Carol. You absolutely see that. I don't disagree with what he said, but we saw a lot of Travis Homer in the

preseason. We've certainly seen over the last couple of years when they've had only one guy, they've used a second guy that we've kind of not expected in certain situations. Homer could easily be on the field more than we think. Would you start Kareem hunt or Rashad Penny? I like cream hunt a lot this week. So, okay. I'll get into that later.

Penny for Heath and Kareem hunt for Jamie And Denver's DST is top two for everyone. Start them. Kansas City at Arizona. The Chiefs are six-point favorites. The over-under is 53.5. Stat of the game, a running back had 17 or more carries against the Cardinals in six of their last seven games. And a running back rushed for 79 or more yards

against the Cardinals in five of their last seven games. And this Cardinals defense looks pretty suspect right now. Cornerback looks like a weakness for them opposite Byron Murphy. They don't have Chandler Jones anymore. He's on the Raiders. And here's a fun fact. These two teams, the Chiefs and Cardinals, they allowed the fewest rushing touchdowns per game to running backs,

but it kind of masks they were both pretty bad against running backs. They just kept them out of the end zone somehow. All right. With that said, let's get into it here with the Chiefs. We're going to start Patrick Mahomes. We're going to start Travis Kelsey. Heath, who else is going to be good on the Chiefs this week? That's the question.

These two other players. And if we knew who those were, we could make some money in DFS this week, that's for sure. My two favorites are Clyde and Juju. I think MVS would probably be the third bet. Pacheco would probably be the fourth bet. Then maybe McKinnon. Then maybe Skymore or Meikle Hardman. There's a lot of options.

You heard what Mahomes said, and I don't know if that will totally be true, but it does seem like this is an offense that's going to be less concentrated than it's been in the past. of options. And you heard what Mahomes said, and I don't know if that will totally be true, but it does seem like this is an offense that's going to be less concentrated than it's been in the past. That was one of the things that I always loved about the Chiefs was that you knew it was Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelsey with 50% of the targets, the same way that's been with the Vikings in the past as well. I don't think we get that anymore. So I still like Clyde quite a bit. I think this is a good enough matchup that he should just be good and if he's going to lose his job i don't think it'll be this week jamie your thoughts who's

who's oh i i i agree i the one thing i would say though if you're playing a chiefs player in dfs you got to play mvs i mean it's just it's a no-brainer that he can have a two touchdown game almost weekly until we start to see you know know, things go awry for him, which could, could obviously happen. I think that kind of plays into the narrative as well, that if he doesn't make plays and Juju does, or Mikko Hardman does, you know, while Patrick Mahomes is going to say they'll spread the ball around, he'll start to find his reliable options. We all hope it's Juju based on how we drafted,

but they're not going to be afraid, you know, and they've kind of told us that with their running backs, Andy Reed're not going to be afraid, you know, and they've kind of told us that with their running backs, Andy Reid, you know, the last, you know, two plus seasons that if a player struggles, that's not a superstar. And I don't think anybody right now, and that includes Juju, qualifies as a superstar in the receiving core, that they'll go to whoever, I mean, Justin Watson was somebody that they were using the preseason. If he's making plays from a home, believe me, he's going to be on the field. So it could be Sky Moore. It could be Mecole.

It could be Juju or MVS, which is what the hope would be for the way, again, the drafts have gone. But I do think that we'll see Juju make plays. I do think this is also one of those show off the new toy type of game as well. So it could be MVS. It could be Sky Moore. It could be Juju because they're all new. But I also think this is a game where Mahomes

and his week one, I saw somebody tweeted this this morning, his week ones in his career have just been amazing. That he's going to basically, I think, do whatever he wants. And so it's just a matter of who's the beneficiary of it. And I think it's just going to be whoever's open.

Does this matter to you at all? Last year, the Cardinals had this weird thing. They gave up the third most points to wide receivers, but they were the one team that, they were one of the teams where it seemed like the number two guy or the unheard of, the looked over guy always did better, right? So Cooper Cup, for example, last year, including the playoffs, he had two games all season in which he had fewer than 92 yards,

and they were both against the Cardinals. The Cardinals also held the following players to 65 or fewer yards. Listen to this list. A.J. Brown, Justin Jefferson, Cooper Cup twice, Deebo Samuel twice, Brandon Cooks, DJ Moore, DK Metcalf twice, Darnell Mooney, Amari Cooper, and C.D. Lamb.

Some of the best wide receivers in fantasy, 65 or fewer yards. Whereas K.J. Osborne, Van Jefferson, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Brandon Ayuk, Robbie Anderson, Tyler Lockett in both games against Seattle,

Michael Gallup. These guys were better than the number one guys. Does that matter at all? Do you feel like that carries over? And would that mean bad news maybe for MVS as an outside receiver? I was wondering if it meant bad news for Kelsey as a DFS player. It could be.

Yeah, I mean, look, if they're trying to take away an opponent's best player, they're doing a good job of it. They're having another guy step up against them. And I think that's kind of where this team comes out right now for the Chiefs is that, okay, you're going to take away this guy. I mean, what have we been saying about Brady with Mike Evans for the last two years? The top guy will still get his numbers. But the quarterback is smart enough to go to the open receiver,

right? That's where my homes is evolving to, you know, and we're gonna find out for sure. Because like he said, it used to be okay. He's forcing the ball into the hands of Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelsey, which has worked because those guys are amazing. But now it's going to be okay. You want to take away Juju? I'll go to MBS. I'll go to I'll going to be okay. You want to take away Juju? I'll go to MBS. I'll go to, I'll go to Skymore. You want to take away Kelsey? I'll use my receivers.

You know, I'll throw it to my backs. You know, he'll figure it out. Andy Reid will figure it out. You know, so if that's what happens this week, that's just what you have to sort of take your lumps with.

If you're trusting Juju or, you know, one of the other receivers to be must start guys. From a DFS standpoint, Chavez, Kelsey, you know, look,

Arizona allowed the fewest fantasy points to tight ends last year. They faced garbage tight ends for most of the season. George Kittle had 100 yards and a touchdown. Dalton Schultz had 54 yards. They just didn't face anyone good, really. You're going to, of course, start Kelsey. Heath, have you given a thought to DFS?

My first run of projections had Kelsey as my favorite tight end. I think my second run had Andrews. Okay. Kyler Murray. For the Cardinals, I think it's pretty easy. Start Kyler, start Connor. Marquise Brown, for sure, right?

Yes. Yeah, you guys have him as a top 17 wide receiver. Dave's a little lower in non-PPR, but he has him top 18 in full PPR. Marquise Brown is a must-start. The Chiefs allow the fifth-most fantasy points to wide receivers. If Rondell Moore plays, I assume it's a wait-and-see approach here.

What about Zach Ertz? I think he's in full. Okay, good. Well, then I should ask you about him. This could be a shootout. It's a high-point total. Is Rondell Moore a sleeper? It's tough to ask this question in week one. There are no buys. There aren't that many injuries.

I'm not going to start over Michael Thomas or Chris Goblin, but for a deeper league, any thoughts on starting Rondell Moore? Yeah. 14-team league? Yeah. I think I have him ranked ahead of all of the rookie wide receivers, and I drafted a lot of rookie wide receivers. Okay.

It'll also depend on Ertz and his status. Yeah. Do you think Ertz and his status. Yeah. Do you think Ertz is a good start if he plays? The Chiefs did not allow 12 PPR fantasy points to a tight end in any of their last

14 games. 14 in a row holding a tight end of fewer than 12 PPR fantasy points to end the season. Starter said Zach Ertz if he plays. I think I'm going to

start him over Cole Komet if he does play. I have both of them in a league, but that's the kind of lower-end options we're talking about. Yeah, I wouldn't do that. I would start Komet. I have him over Komet if he plays, but he's in that group of I'm not that excited about it. I mean, you say 12

PPR points. I've got six guys projected to score 12 PPR points this week. But nobody got there. It's not like everybody was at 11. I mean, it's like nobody got there. But okay, fair enough. Everybody else got 11. Nobody else got 12.

Sit the DSTs. We're going to take a break. When we come back, Colts and Texans. We'll talk about Damian Pierce. And hopefully the game script goes a little bit better than it did last year for the Texans. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football today. In 2021, the Colts and the Texans played twice, and the combined final score was 62 to 3. Colts won both games, 31 to 3 and 31 to nothing, and they threw 42 passes in those two

wins. Jonathan Taylor was amazing. He had four rushing touchdowns. Okay, Heath, break down the Colts and the Texans. Is this basically one tough call and that would be Damian Pierce and we know what to do with everyone else? Yeah, I mean, it may be a little bit tough in terms of Nico Collins as a flex decision because he's in that

flex conversation at wide receiver. I may want to start Nico. I think Pete Prisco said yesterday it was going to be his coming out party. He expects this game. What do you say? Get loose, Jamie? I think so. Now, I like Collins as a top 40 wide receiver.

So he's the tough decision along with Pierce. Pierce is an easier start as a number two running back for me and non-PPR and full PPR. I think this could be the week where we see more Rex Burkhead than we want to on passing downs. But he's still a top 25, 26 running back, so it's not like I don't like Pierce this week. I think the thing you want to see is,

will they use him on passing downs at all? Because we haven't seen that. And he's capable of it. Will the Texans trust him? There are three receivers I want to watch. I don't want to start. I want to watch what Nico Collins does with Brandon Cooks on the field and how many targets he gets.

I want to watch what Alec Pierce does for the Colts because I think he could be another guy that we talk about, you know, beat the waiver wire if he has a strong performance. And Paris Campbell. You know, I mean, this is a guy that we've been waiting to see stay healthy. If he does, he's going to have a chance to be a playmaker for the Colts because they need it. There's another tough call, too. It's Naeem Hines.

This game is certainly not the one that you would say game script is in his best interest. I also think, just to tie in Campbell and Alec Pierce, that he is going to be in the conversation to be second in targets for the Colts this year.

And so it's not necessarily, you know, we say this a lot about these pass-catching running backs. Oh, they're great in the two-minute drill. They're great in hurry-up situations. They're great when the team is trailing. I don't think that's going to necessarily be the case for Hines. I think they're going to try and feature him a little bit more than we saw from a year ago. And I do think that he's a decent flex play and a potential starter in PPR. The really interesting thing to me is how many times do they throw if it's

another game where they're clearly ahead the whole time? Because Frank Reich's talked about being more pass heavy this year. Do they want to kind of show that a little bit or at least, you know, work on that? I've got Heinz right now just barely ahead of this trio that I think Adam might disagree with all three in full PPR. Devin Singletary, Damian Harris,

and Tony Pollard. I would start them over all of you. Yeah. I don't want to start any of them, but, uh, I think I would start, I would start Damian Harris over him.

Just a better chance for a touchdown. Uh, PPR. Oh, in full PPR? No. Probably not, because Hines probably has three or four more catches than him. So then you need the touchdown. Yeah.

Actually, I mean, we're going to talk about the Patriots-Dolphins, but the Dolphins could have just a sick defense. They could have a great run defense. So, okay. Yeah. Okay. Naeem Hines is a flexible player. I'm starting him over Breece Hall on PPR.

Okay. Would you start Damian Pierce or A.J. Dillon this week? Dillon. Dillon. Most of your A.J. Dillon questions, I think you just need to move A.J. Dillon up in the question part of this. Okay. He's not in the flex discussion. We're the low end number two. You're laughing at me. We were doing two drafts last night and the

second one I was doing, I was so excited. It was a half PPR league and I was like, please let AJ Dylan fall to me. It was the end of round five. Yeah, it was the end of round five. It was 59th overall. Please let AJ Dylan go. I drafted him in one second. He was inth overall. I drafted him in one second. He was in my queue.

I drafted him in one second. I was so pumped. And then I looked at us. I forgot I drafted Aaron Jones in round two. I was like, oh, God. My starting running backs are the two Packers. Hey, 2017 worked out for the Saints. You get the same production.

Could be. You saw what they did against the Vikings last year, right? That's one of the games I have not gotten to. I have four games I haven't gotten to. The last time these two teams met, Dylan scored two touchdowns. Aaron Jones had 15 PPR points. Okay.

They were both great. There you go. Finishing up this game here, I had some concern, I guess, about Brandon Cooks versus Stephon Gilmore, but I think let's see that Stephon Gilmore is back to being a great cornerback before we anoint that. And I think that's pretty much it. Okay.

Colts DST is top five for you guys. 19th for Dave. I'm going to have to figure out what that's all about. Pittsburgh at Cincinnati. Stat of the game. This is from Sharp Football Analysis. Stat of the game number one. The Steelers allowed 5.2 yards per play with TJ Watt on the field

and 6.2 yards per play without TJ Watt on the field. So he's that good. He will be on the field for this game against the Bengals. Bengals are six and a half point favorites and it's a pretty low total of 44 and a half. All right. So the Bengals are easy. Any interest in Tyler Boyd, though though let's throw that out there 14 team league if you're concerned about michael thomas or chris godwin or you know uh

deontay johnson in this game you know mostly those guys don't play then he's not a bad pivot just knowing that he's going to play a lot and he scored three straight touchdowns last three regular season games so he's not going to go away yeah i've got him at wide receiver 49 so almost in my rankings the steelers were horrible against the past last year and are not expected to have a good secondary this year. So, you know,

this could be a good matchup. I, how do you guys feel about burrow? I mean, I'm starting him over Lance Jamie. You are not starting him over Lance Heath. Where do you come out on that? Um,

I am starting burrow over Lance. All right, Jamie, that new, is that more about your enthusiasm for Lance or hesitation for Joe burrow? Both. Um, you know,

burrow, I, I anticipate him being at full strength, but you know, you are still talking about him still, as he said, working his way back from the appendicitis. And he was not great against Pittsburgh last year.

You know, he did have three touchdown game, but he averaged under 190 passing yards per game in the two matchups against them. And so, you know, you take away a touchdown and he had a rushing touchdown in the second matchup.

He might not have a great performance this week. He threw 18 and 24 passes, Heath. I was going to say, like, in terms of what Joe Burrow did when they allowed him to do things, he was awesome. He completely shredded the Steelers. It's just that the Steelers didn't score any points, and so he didn't get to throw any passes. I think he threw 42 passes in the two games combined. We're hopeful that the Bengals are not going to be

like that so much this year. I don't know about that this week though. Yeah, I mean they are, what did I say, six and a half point favorites. So that could be a concern most people are starting burrow for sure all right so let's talk about the pittsburgh wide receivers because obviously the running backs are a go in this game you guys already said start pat fry me would you start tyler higby or pat fry me by the way fry me i would start higby but i wouldn't drop either to pick up the other. All right.

Low end starter, Pat Fryman. So how about these Pittsburgh wide receivers? The Bengals got a lot better against receivers later in the year. They allowed 80 or more yards to 12 wide receivers in their first 11 games. In their last nine games, including the playoffs, they allowed 80 or more yards to two wide receivers. So they got better as the year went on.

So what do you think like who's a start this week for the steelers at receiver and let's heath why don't you give us the dionte plays and dionte sits scenarios i'm starting dionte if he plays um and if he plays pickens over clay or i've actually got claypool over pickens this week in week one um in full ppr just of some of the slot stuff. But they're both in the 40s. They're both flexes. If there was no Deontay, then Pickens and Claypool would both be

boom bust number three wide receivers. Okay. Boom bust number three wide receivers. Would they be ahead of Michael Thomas and Chris Godwin? Probably not for me. Okay. That's it. Do you like either DST in this game? Steelers. And Bengals. Yeah, I think they're both in play. I don't think I have the Steelers ranked very high.

Would you be looking to stream? Would you be going Titans or something like that over them? You can go Titans or Dolphins over them, yes. I strongly prefer the Titans. I got the Bengals 12th,

so they're fine. Steelers 18th. Patriots are at the Dolphins. Dolphins are three and a half point favorites. Total is 46. Stat of the game, Jamie alluded to this earlier, in seven career games against the Patriots are at the Dolphins. Dolphins are three and a half point favorites. Total is 46. Stat of the game. Jamie alluded to this earlier.

In seven career games against the Patriots, Micah Siki has never had more than 34 yards, and he has scored one touchdown in seven games against the Patriots. He is rostered in 82% of leagues. Is this a guy, Micah Siki, that you drop for Higby or something like that? Or Irv Smith? Or do you just ride it out?

I mean, I have those guys ranked ahead of him for the season. Gerald Everett, I'd take over him. Evan Ingram, I'd take over him. Yeah, I wouldn't trust Mike a second. Wow, look at Heath. Heath is struggling over there. What happened, man? You all right? Yeah, yeah.

I think that the voice is not quite in mid-season form. All happened, man? You all right? Yeah. I think that the voice is not quite in mid-season form. All right. It's okay. All right. So this game here, I guess the... Jamie, the Patriots. Discuss. I mean, I would not want to start them. You alluded

to this, that if there is no time in Montgomery, which it doesn't sound like that's going to be the case, sounds like it's going to play, that it's kind of hands-off. You know, I mean, Jacoby Myers maybe has a fourth receiver or a third receiver in a deeper league, PBR, at best. But the offensive line has had issues, according to all reports in training camp. The receiving core is just so all over the place.

And the backfield could just be messy. And so Damien Harris actually had two good games against Dolphins last year. He ran for a hundred yards in the opener. He had a four catch game and the second one scored a touchdown. I think it was over 90 total yards. So he's had success, but you said it.

I mean, this, this run defense can be good. And I think the pass rush will be a problem for Mac Jones. I would just try and stay away from them altogether if I can. The one thing where they could surprise you is Byron Jones is out for Miami. He's on short-term IR. And Igbenogany has been terrible.

And so, you know, if you throw away from Xavier Howard, if they can find Parker over there, then maybe there's some success that way. But I just don't want to trust any of these guys. And what about the revenge narrative, though, with Devontae Parker? If Howard plays him with this quarterback play, I don't think he's going to have success. If he can find him open away from Howard, then he might.

Okay. And so how are you ranking? I don't think the Parker revenge narrative is something you should buy into week one. I mean, look, it's a DFS play. I don't know. But how are you ranking the running backs? Because we're going to get a lot of Damian Harris

and Ramondre Stevenson questions. Damian Harris was a guy who was going in, I think, the fifth round in CBS Sports League. So he's going to be a starter for a lot of guys. And the Dolphins, Zach Seiler and Christian Wilkins, were top six, basically, defensive tackle grades by PFF last year. They're in their run defense. But they weren't that good against the run, which was surprising to me. So anyway, like, you know, Heath, you already said you'd start

Naeem Hines over Damian Harris, but what should Damian Harris and Ramondre Stevenson managers be doing this week? Trying to find someone else to start. Um, I would start Melvin Gordon against Seattle over Damian Harris. I would start Cordero Patterson over Damian Harris. I would start both Jets running backs over Damian Harris. Let's go over to the Dolphins side, and I assume you'd start Chase Edmonds over Damian Harris. Would you start Raheem Mostert over Damian Harris,

assuming Edmonds plays? I would not. It's close. Very, very close. I'm going to check the roster percentage on Raheem Mostert. 70. Oh. I think it's probably around 70.

It's 71. You lied to us, Jamie. 71. Okay. Mostert is in the what? He's like a number three running back? Yeah. I mean, I think as long as he's healthy,

he's going to potentially lead the team in carries, just based on how the splits might go. So the fact that Edmonds, like I said, I wouldn't be opposed to starting Mostert over Damien Harris, just how game flow could be. Is Edmonds a start or a sit? I think he's a definite start in PPR. He's a flex and none.

Yeah, I'd feel a lot better about him if we could get a full practice designation by Friday. Is Edmonds going to be ahead or behind of Damian Pierce? I would start Pierce for sure and non-PPR, and I would probably still start him in PPR. I would go Edmonds in PPR, Pierce in non. Rashad Penny or Edmonds and PPR. Pearson, none. Rashad Penny or Edmonds. Penny and non-PPR, Edmonds and PPR.

Almost every running back ranked between 15 to 20 is going to be that answer with Chase Edmonds. Josh Jacobs or Chase Edmonds? Jacobs and non. Edmonds and PPR. Okay. And Jalen Waddle.

You want to go AJ Dillon next? No, I think I lured my lesson on that. Jalen Waddle, how do we feel about him this week, Heath? You know, I was moving Chris Godwin down, and I was moving Alan Lazard down because we just don't know yet.

And Jalen Waddle was kind of the stopping point. I wasn't going to move them down below Jalen Waddell because I got a little bit of concern about him as well. He's a number three wide receiver. I'd start DK over him. I would start Mooney and McLaurin over him. But I'd start Waddell over Michael Thomas. The Dolphins DST, much higher for Jamie and Dave.

They have the Dolphins top six, I believe. Heath has them in the teens. They're 60% rostered with New England this week. They do not have good matchups going forward. Baltimore and Buffalo and Cincinnati in their next three games. But if you want a week one streamer, Jamie and Dave would say the Dolphins are a good option

and they're 60% rostered. Are we bringing back the why are you so low on this defense thing we did last year? That was fun. Yes, who was it? Was it always the team that played the Jets? Six weeks in a row. Was it a particular team or was it the team that played the Jets?

It was the team that I had way too low compared to everybody else. I don't think there was one. I think it was a rotation. Sure, we can do that. I don't know who it is yet. We'll start that maybe next week. Las Vegas at the Chargers.

Any sits in this game? Any players that you would ordinarily start that you're not starting this week? Nope. I think I'm lower. It doesn't qualify what you just said, but I think I'm lower on Renfro maybe. I don't know where everybody else has him.

I don't know if he's a must-start guy, though. No. No, no, I'm saying for what Adam's question is. Okay, yeah. Waddle or Renfro? Waddle. Waddle. Edmonds or Renfro?

Edmonds. Edmonds. Renfro or... Ah, forget it. I think we've covered Renfro? Edmonds. Edmonds. Renfro or forget it. I think we've covered Renfro. Elijah Moore or Renfro? Moore.

Elijah Moore. Okay. So Derek Carr, is he a top 12 guy this week? He's 13th for me. I'd start him over Burrow. He is 14th for me. I'd start him over

Cousins, Rogers and fields. How do you feel about Josh Jacobs? The chargers were terrible against the run last year. Jacobs put a nail in their coffin in weeks, uh, 18, maybe the best game of the season,

by the way, went to overtime, nearly ended in a tie. It was insane. Both teams would have made the playoffs had it been a tie. Uh, but, uh,

Jacob said 26 carries for 132 yards and a touchdown in Week 18, plus two catches. How do you feel about him, Jamie? Josh Jacobs against the Chargers. I think he's an okay starter. You know, I don't think this is one of the weeks you want to get away from him. You know, this is kind of a – I want to see what they do with Amir Abdullah, mostly.

You know, how much is he going to come off the field in those obvious passing situations, especially a game that feels like it's going to be a track meet you know so I think this is not must start territory for him but if I drafted him you know in that fourth fifth round I'm not benching him for you know a lot of the flex guys that you probably drafted behind him Dylan or he's one of those guys that I have ranked higher than where I had him ranked in draft season I think he'll be better this higher than where I had him ranked in draft season. I think he'll be better this week than maybe will be rest of season.

Josh Jacobs? Yes. Okay. So who do you have Jacobs ranked ahead of? I actually do have Jacobs ahead of Dylan in full PBR. Okay. Yeah, I would take Dylan. Real quick on the Chargers DST,

and we'll talk a little bit about the Chargers side of the ball. They're 71% rostered. They were pretty terrible last year defensively, but high hopes this year. They have the Chiefs next week, so are they worth hanging on to, the Chargers? Do you play them this week? Do you go to the waiver wire, get the Dolphins or the Titans or something?

Yeah, I did that exact move. I drafted chargers and then when like i was i was actually because i drafted um jameson williams in a keeper league so knowing that i was going to have an extra roster spot i thought i might just carry two dsts because it's a very heavy scoring dst league i'm like yeah screw it i'm just going to go to titans and just stream but the charges i think week three right they have a very good matchup jag Jaguars and then Texans. Yeah, or potentially good matchups. And then Browns. So you can go back to them then, but yeah, for the first two weeks,

don't love it. Would 100% drop them for the Titans. And we're going to start Herbert, Eckler, Allen and Mike Williams, even though I don't think this was a good matchup. Yeah, now, Keenan Allen struggled twice against the Chargers, who allowed the third fewest fantasy points to wide receivers.

I mean, you're starting them, but if they don't... Well, I don't think it's fair to Justin Herbert, because when he's playing against the Chargers, Herbert doesn't know which guy to throw at him. Oh, sorry, the Raiders. The Raiders allowed the third fewest fantasy points to wide receivers last year. However, they did lose their top cornerback, and that might have been a little fluky last year anyway, but...

I do like Heath critiquing you on that when he said Josh Jacobs and AJ Dillon. Yes, he did. That is true. Gerald Everett, what are your thoughts on Gerald Everett? You know, Jared Cook was the Chargers tight end last year and he had his two highest yardage games against the Raiders who were dreadful against tight ends. Jamie, your thoughts on Everett this week?

He's in the streaming conversation. You know, if you're the Zach Ertz manager or the George Kittle manager, you know, you're looking for a replacement. He's available in a lot of leagues, so you can go pick him up to hopefully help you if you're stuck. This is another thing.

You know, a lot of things that we're going to find some answers on, and this is one for this team, is that who's going to be the third option in the passing? Is it going to be Everett, or is it going to be Josh Palmer? You know, and that who's going to be the third option in the passing game? Is it going to be Everett or is it going to be Josh Palmer? And we're not going to get the full answer clearly this week, but Justin Herbert threw 137 targets through. He had 137 targets from his tight end group.

Jared Cook had 83 of those. And so if he's somewhere in the 100-target range for the season, he's probably going to be the third option to pass the game. Because I don't know if Josh Palmer without an injury will get to 100 targets. But if it is going to be Palmer, then the tight end group, including Everett, is going to be bad. Now Parham could be their red zone threat because we saw Parham certainly involved in that past year, last year, for the end of the season before he had the concussion. So it's just something to keep an eye on.

And so I'm very curious to see how this third receiving scenario unfolds for the Chargers this week. So Everett's in the streaming conversation, but not a must-start guy by any stretch. Let's go. We got two more games, and they are the two teams that play in New Jersey and are the worst teams in the world. The Giants at the Titans and the Jets hosting the Ravens. Giants at Titans. Titans are five and a half point favorites. You guys like Derrick Henry this week?

A little bit. I was thinking, why do I have Jonathan Taylor in my FanDuel lineup when I could just save some money and go to Derrick Henry, who's just, you know, an older version of Jonathan Taylor.

He'll shred the Giants. All right. Barkley start, Henry start. Who's the best wide receiver in this game? Tony. Yeah, I think I have Tony just ahead of Woods. I think the Giants could be so bad on defense, especially this week where they're not going to have

their top two pass rushers most likely. But how does that manifest itself in this game? Can Robert Woods take advantage of that? Is this more just DFS plays and we don't want to trust them in a regular 12-team league? How does it work for the Titans? Volume, I think, is the problem for the Titans receivers. You know what I mean?

Is Ryan Tannehill throwing 25 passes in this game? I would probably say no, just how this game can unfold. So is Robert Woods going to get five targets, eight targets? Traylon Burke, how many targets for him? Kyle Phillips, how many targets for him? Austin Hooper is going to be involved. We don't really talk much about his potential production. So I just feel a volume situation for Woods could be a problem. That's why I would probably lean toward avoiding him. Whereas I think

the Giants probably chasing points. And who knows what Shepard's role will be? How much will Rondell Robinson, he's played a lot in the preseason when Daniel Jones has been on the field, but how much will they use him because they didn't really do that. And so Tony, to me, when healthy, I think is going to be a potential borderline starter, certainly in three receiver leagues, and that's how I would approach it.

I feel more comfortable with him. He is 70% rostered, so even if you're not comfortable starting Kadarius Tony, if you have a roster spot and he's available, it's a good player to stash. He's got the talent. And the one thing about Sardar Kachop is that I agree with Heath. The Titans are a good DST play, but they just lost Harold Landry.

We don't know how that's going to impact things from a pass rush standpoint. It's clearly a good situation and a matchup to trust them because Daniel Jones has been so turnover prone, 38 career games, 49 career turnovers. You know, he just makes it easy for the opposing defense sometimes. But, you know, they are missing a key piece of this. And if the Giants and, you know, this is always one of those situations when you have a bad team with a new

coach. I don't want to say this is their Super Bowl, but this is kind of like their Super Bowl. You know, like come out and make a splash and throw all your crazy ideas at the wall and see what sticks. And so it would not be surprising if we see a wacky Tony play or Wondell Robinson play, something that

the Titans are just like, whoa, what happened? And this is one of those games where we could look back and say, how did the Giants beat the Titans? No. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but this is like one of those games. You look back at the season and you go, how did the Saints beat the Packers by that much in Week 1?

Yeah, that's true. You're starting Saquon Barkley, but I think this is an excellent test for is he back because this defense, and it's not the same defense, but they were the best in the NFL against running backs last year. They did allow the fewest fantasy points to running backs. Only two running backs all season had more than 64 rushing yards against the Titans. James Robinson, who had 149,

and Jonathan Taylor, who had 70 yards. And only one running back caught a touchdown pass against them all year. Oh, wow. How about that? So, yeah, tough test for Barkley. Also, Sterling Shepard looks like he's going to play and could throw a wrench in things. All right.

That's it for that game. Throw, could throw a wrench in things for the giants receivers. I mean, Baltimore's at the jets last game we'll talk about here. And you guys like Elijah Moore established that. What do we do about, Oh,

by the way, Bateman or more, more for me, um they are separated by 0.01 points in my projections like it's tied flip a coin yeah like you don't expect rookie cornerbacks to be immediately great but the jets are very high on Ahmad Sauce Gardner. See what kind of impact he has in this game. They had basically the worst defense in the NFL, but it should be better this year.

You're starting Jackson, and then you're avoiding the Ravens running backs if Dobbins does not play. Is that right? Yeah, I think if you're desperate and you want to take a flyer on one of the two, good luck trying to figure out which one's going to be. I would lean Drake just based on talent but you know it's not like he's the most talented player in the world at this point of his career so it's probably a situation that you want to avoid if you can unless we get some report that running back x is going to get the majority of

touch you know it wouldn't be surprised that happens you know you hear something from schaefter or rapaport that dobbbins will be inactive. Game plan is to feature Mike Davis. You get that type of news and he's a flex. How do you feel about the Jets running backs? I don't want to start them.

I like them more than the Ravens running backs. Do you like them more than the Patriots running backs? No. I do. It's not a good situation. No. It's just not. So try to avoid if you can.

And then in terms of Rashad Bateman, would you rather? To be honest, I would just love to see one of them. Hopefully, Brees Hall. Just dominate touches, play in the pass game. You know, just say, okay, we're not great this week, but it's my job. Go away to the other guy. So at least we know. Would you start Rashad Bateman or Jerry Judy?

Judy. I think he is like the guy right there with Moore and Bateman. I have Judy one spot ahead of, basically tied with him still, but Judy, Bateman, Moore. Flip a three-sided coin. Bateman or Devante Smith? Bateman. That's it for today's show.

Start the Ravens DST. And we will come at you tomorrow. Oh, we have a live stream at 2 p.m. Eastern on YouTube. 2 p.m. today, live stream. Start or sit. We'll help you out with your lineup decisions. Thanks so much, and we'll talk to you on Friday with the NFC home games and a recap of Thursday Night Football. Enjoy the game, everybody. Enjoy football. It is back. Let's go. We'll talk to you tomorrow on Fantasy Football Today.