Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (NFC) and a Ravens-Chiefs Recap! (09/06 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: September 6, 2024

What a way to start the season! We kick off the show with a Ravens-Chiefs recap and talk about Xavier Worthy's debut, Isaiah Likely's big game, Rashee Rice's value and how to feel about those struggling stud tight ends. Then we've got your news and notes (16:15) as we get ready to preview the NFC home games ... One Question for Each Game (19:40)! Start or Sit Brandon Aiyuk? Can Javonte Williams thrive in what was a good matchup in 2023? Can you trust David Montgomery? ... Start or Sit for Jets-49ers (26:00), Steelers-Falcons (32:00), Broncos-Seahawks (38:10), Commanders-Bucs (45:30), Panthers-Saints (51:45), Rams-Lions (57:10) and Vikings-Giants (1:00:00) ... Email us at [e-mail] 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 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Express on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-express/id1528634304 Follow FFT Express on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qyGWfETSBFaciPrtvoWCC?si=6529cbee20634da8 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 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." Visit the betting arena on CBSSports.com for all the latest sportsbook reviews and sportsbook promos. 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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I had no idea. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races, and he stays on his feet. He's just going to go the distance. Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. That was a pretty fun way to start the 2024 season, the Chiefs 27 and the Ravens 20. Welcome to Fantasy Football Today, presented by BetMGM,

the sportsbook born in Vegas. It's Adam, Dave, and Jamie on Friday. Happy Friday, guys. How we feeling? Happy NFL Friday. We've got a game today. Tonight. In Brazil.

Yeah. I hope we can break yesterday's record. Of? The fastest preview show we've ever done. Yeah, Dave, the pressure's on. We previewed the games in 59 minutes. If there's ever a week to do that, it's week one.

Yeah, I would say that's accurate. Alright, let's get into it. 26 points from Isaiah Likely. Just as we drew it up. And for the other two, for the bums, they combined for nine points.

Noah gray actually outscored both of them. This is non-decimal scoring, by the way, Noah, Noah gray had three more yards than Travis Kelsey on the same amount of catches. And they had a contract. Right.

They just signed him. Yeah. So there are so many storylines in this game, but it was a phenomenal game. Sorry, Baltimore. That was the right call. I don't know why you think it was going to be a touchdown. It was very clearly the right call. But Jamie, what's a big storyline for you here?

Where do you want to start? Like you said, there's so many. I think the biggest thing that fantasy managers can do is pick up one of Isaiah Likely or Justice Hill. And both are available in over 40% of our leagues, 45% of our leagues. Isaiah Likely's roster percentage was 55%. Justice Hill is less than 10%. So looking at those two guys and the opportunities that they have, they could be factors for the rest of the season. Justice Hill.

This year's Ty J Spears. Potentially. If you catch what I'm saying. Yep. I mean, I got a running back on his team. Yeah. Well,

passing down is back for sure. I, I definitely got a lot of 2023,rick Henry vibes from 2024 Derrick Henry. You thought he looked bad? No, I think he's going to not be anywhere close to like an 80% snap share unless the Ravens are just dominating somebody. I don't know. Well, that's the thing, right? They're going to win a lot of games.

They're going to have better game scripts than this for Derrick Henry. Yeah. I'm surprised they didn't run the ball more. They came out throwing. I mean, this was unusual. Maybe this is the new normal for the Ravens. Maybe they're going to be. Offensive line's bad.

Right. That's my biggest takeaway is that the offensive line got exposed. Now they're taking on Kansas City and that's a good defensive line. They've got linebackers that can attack the quarterback too. But next week it's the Raiders. And I know that we look at the Raiders and go, oh, you know, Pasha, it's the Raiders, but they've got Max Crosby. They've got Christian Wilkins. They've got Malcolm Coons. If they look bad next week, it's, it's concerning. It's officially concerning, and that's something that you've got to watch for in week two. All right. I mean, look, at the end of the day, they faced the Super Bowl winners who have a really good defense, and they came a toe away from scoring somewhere between 26 and 28 points. It wasn't that bad. They ran a lot of plays, though.

The Chiefs didn't really have that much. You say that, though. They faced the Super Bowl champs. They were the one seed going into the AFC Championship game at home. Yeah, no, but they weren that bad. They ran a lot of plays, though. The Chiefs didn't really have the ball that much. You say that, though. They faced the Super Bowl champs. They were the one seed going into the AFC Championship game at home. Yeah, no, but they weren't bad yesterday. I don't know. It wasn't like the Scott. I didn't think they were.

Look, their team is not bad. Their offensive line is not the same. It's not as great. And Derrick Henry, this was the concern, is what happens when they're trailing? What happens when he's not on the field in passing downs, and what happens if he doesn't score a touchdown. This is a miserable stat line.

Right, but this is... Your whole argument for Derek Henry, I know you got lower on him, was that look how well he did last year when they won. The Ravens are going to win a lot of games. That doesn't change because they're 0-1 against the Chiefs. Oh, of course not. No, no, no. Look, but 13 for 46 in a win is what? Terrible. Oh, of course not. No, no, no. Look, but 13 for 46 in a win is what?

Terrible. Oh, it's bad. No, no, no. Flip the game script. They're playing with a lead the whole time. What is it going to be? 18 for 70? And if he doesn't score, ugly.

Are you happy that he at least got a couple of targets? I mean, yay, throw a party. No. Yes, I am. Because you look at, yes, but they threw a lot more than I thought they would. They threw over 40 times in this game, so his target share was terrible.

But is there a huge, I mean, is there a huge difference between what Pacheco did and what Derrick Henry did? Pacheco got one more target and caught two of them. I mean, that's the difference. But he also had a terrible rush average. He was lucky he scored. He came off the field for Pirine.

He split third down reps with Pirine. Right, but it was pretty well defined that Pirine got into the third down role pretty quickly. And so there could be situations where if Kansas City happens to to be trailing pacheco gets the game script treatment all right is hey i mean i'm not moving on from either guy i'm i'm not hitting the panic button on anybody no you should know no but the the difference would be is that for me at least youth for pacheco And you know he's going to catch the ball. There's no guarantee that Derrick Henry is going to be a 30-catch guy. Yeah, but nothing has changed since we were talking. No, no, no.

This is exactly what we knew. The only thing that changed is that the offensive line does not look good. For this game, it does not. So, yeah, I wanted to see if Pacheco was going to just be out on third down. He was in on three third-down snaps, third and six, third and nine, and third and ten. That's good. I mean, it's not great. It's not like he's playing every single third down snap.

And as Jamie said, maybe Pirine's third down roll grows. But this is a pretty big deal if you look at Pacheco's production last year when McKinnon was out compared to when McKinnon was in. If he's at least splitting third down reps, and I'm not talking about third and one, third and two. I'm talking about third and passing downs. That's advantageous for him. Now, Mahomes has now scored more than 21 fantasy points

in two of his last 14 games. We'll give him a pass, but let's talk about Xavier Worthy. Let's talk about Rasheed Rice, and then we'll save the tight ends. And let's talk about, say, Flowers. Dave, give me your thoughts on the wide receivers here, and we'll talk about the tight ends next And let's talk about, say, Flowers. Dave, give me your thoughts on the wide receivers here, and we'll talk about the tight ends next. So Rasheed Rice looked great, was dominating the Ravens on inside routes,

a lot of slants, a couple of digs, and then I think he had one short out route to end his game. But seven catches over 100 yards, looked like he had a spark to him, a little bit more burst than I remember him having last year. And he kind of just proved that you can't put a linebacker on him. You can't treat him like he's a tight end in that offense. And I think that teams are going to catch on to that and they're going to start to line

them up with a corner and try and take them away. The Ravens did that a couple of times and it worked after he had like five catches in the first half, something like that. But he's going to be very good. He's a must startstart fantasy wide receiver. His stock went up for sure. And, you know, if that role continues at this pace, then that is bad for Kelsey because Kelsey had that role for a long time

of being that short and mid-range target that was so reliable and dependable for Patrick Mahomes. Now Mahomes is somebody who's a little bit faster than Kelsey. Not a little bit, a lot bit. So that's where I stand on Rice. Worthy is just, he's awesome, but it's an easing in on what he's capable of doing. That being said, two touchdowns in his first game. Everybody's going to take notice of that.

Everybody's going to be in a rush to start him. Boom, bust, flex as of now. Nice job picking him if you got him in your fantasy draft. And he is now seven touchdowns away from matching what Tyreek Hill did in his rookie season in Kansas City. He had nine touchdowns as a rookie. Zay Flowers, what was his A-dot for the game? I think it was like they lost the game by a toe.

I think his A-OT was like one shoe. It was behind the line of scrimmage a ton of times. That's got to change. He's clearly an awesome receiver. The talent is undeniable. He had, he was obviously wide open on the second to last throw of the game. If Lamar makes a better throw, or if they're just really, honestly, if they're just on the same page, they, they score.

And then they go for two on that play. But they're going to get him right. And I just hope that in the games where they're running the ball and Derek Henry does his thing, there's enough there for Zay Flowers to go off and still be a good fantasy option. Could it have gone better for Heath last night with the things that he predicted for the season and his team winning? Well, where did he have Andrews ranked? Because he called Kelsey a bust. last night with the things that he predicted for the season and his team winning well let's see

where did he have andrews right because he called kelsey a bust i don't remember how far down he had him ranked kelsey was his fourth tight end i mean everything didn't go but andrews was his third i assume so um everything didn't go perfect for him mahomes was his number one quarterback he didn't have a huge statistical game but he he did say Rice would break the Chiefs franchise record for receptions. He's clearly on pace to do that. Henry has a bust. Kelsey has a bust. It's too early to call these people.

I'm just saying for one night. Yeah, I know. One night. He looked great. Yeah, I'm actually excited. Like Xavier Worthy had three targets. Let's see what happens with Marquis Brown. Wait a minute.

Who was his number one QB again? That's what I said. It wasn't perfect, but nah. Okay. It's not perfect for any of us. No question about it. It's a long season. Everybody takes a deep breath.

You want to talk about these tight ends or what, Adam? Yes, but I was going to say I'm looking forward to seeing Marquise Brown come back. I think there's a role for him. That's going to be bad for Kelsey and Rice too. Could be. Mahomes talked about how Worthy's presence on the field really helped Rasheed Rice underneath just the respect that the Ravens were showing for his speed.

All right, Jamie. So Isaiah Likely, by the way, Rice was only started in 65% of leagues. So you weren't listening to us on Wednesday, that's for sure. 65% started. Worthy was started in 65% of leagues. So you weren't listening to us on Thursday or on Wednesday. That's for sure. 65% started. Worthy was started in 20% of leagues. Kelsey was started in every league.

Andrews was started in 90% of leagues. He basically played the same amount of snaps, ran the same amount of routes as Isaiah Likely. Likely 55% rostered. Nine catches, 111 yards, one touchdown on 12 targets. Mark Andrews had two targets. Travis Kelsey had four targets. Okay. What are we doing with it? What are you thinking about the tight ends here? You don't panic, you know, and, and these are two teams that know each other very well. They know how much the tight ends are involved. They took away the tight ends,

you know, in terms of the two primary guys. And so that was something that you, you know, certainly saw from Baltimore, you know, they made a concerted effort to make sure Travis Kelsey wasn't going to kill them like he did in the AFC championship game. So I think the thing that you, you know, certainly saw from Baltimore, you know, they made a concerted effort to make sure Travis Kelsey wasn't going to kill them like he did in the AFC championship game. So I think the thing that you just do is see what happens next week. And Baltimore is the more concerning one because now there's another weapon in the passing game. So Zay Flowers, you love the targets. Like Dave said, you don't love the routes necessarily, but they tried to make sure they're getting him the ball and making, getting him opportunities to make plays. And if he catches the touchdown that Lamar Jackson misses him on, we're probably saying he's, he was drafted too late as opposed to where we started

this, where he was drafted too soon, but 10 targets, six catches, something you should sign up for every day in this offense. If they're going to throw the ball 40 plus times, the thing about likely is that we said this coming off of the end of the season. Would they use more two tight end sets? Would they involve him more? And you look at this receiving core and it's very, very barren. It's, you know, Zay Flowers has a chance to be a superstar. Rashad Bateman's never lived up to his draft status as a first round pick.

And then what else do they have? Nelson Aguilar, you know, like they needed to get playmakers on the field. And Isaiah likely is a playmaker. So I don't think this is the norm by far, but he's going to have an opportunity to be probably in the, depending on how many throws they have five, six targets a game. And in the tight end landscape should be added. Don't blow your fat budget on him just because of this one game. But if you're tight end situation, if you didn't get one of the elite guys and you are playing the streaming game or plan to play the streaming game

or, you know, Hawkinson and somebody Brock Bowers and somebody, you know, one of those guys that don't necessarily have the security of being the feature guy on their team or the second guy on their team, at least right now, then you should go pick them up. So just understand that this is probably his best game. And unless Mark Andrews gets hurt, Andrews will be much better. Kelsey will be much better, but they may not live up to their expectations. If they're going to be other guys like this involved for the chiefs rice

and eventually Brown and worthy, which is what we told you. And Andrews, I think we'll still have better days. Who knows how much the car accident played into this too, that, you know, not fully ready to be back to his normal health

and everything that goes with it. To be fair, he played 53 snaps. He ran 38 routes. He ran three more routes than Isaiah likely did. Um, on, on the, on the likely touchdown, Andrews was double teamed on the Zay flowers would be touchdown. Andrews was double team on the likely would be touchdown. Andrews was double teamed. On the likely would be touchdown, Andrews was double

teamed. So it seems clear to me that the Chiefs did what the Ravens did with Kelsey. They tried to take Andrews away. The problem for future defenses that play Baltimore is if you're going to take Andrews away, you're going to get crushed by likely, and eventually you'll get crushed by Flowers, and that's if you don't get crushed by Jackson and Henry, this, this has the potential to be just an exceptionally good offense. So getting pieces of it, if you did it already,

good likely is another chance to get another piece. It's, it's a good idea, but because it's such a good offense and there are so many pieces, there's going to be a little bit more volatility than maybe we anticipated with everybody involved, except for Lamar, man, look at how you're going to have a little bit more volatility than maybe we anticipated with everybody involved except for Lamar. Man, look at how you're going to have to deal with it.

But I don't think Andrews is going to be double teamed much more often anymore. Oh, I don't know. I mean, Andrew's been double teamed his whole career, I'm sure. And he's dealt with it. But likely, look at this. If you're watching on YouTube, that is likely in the back of the end zone. I mean, that game should have been 27-26 going for the two-point conversion, which would have been great.

All right. And look, Andrews is on the C in the Chiefs, if you're watching. And that's, before that, the defender in front of him was like right on him. Yeah. I mean, they rushed four, so they were double-teaming a lot. They were

double-teaming Andrews, and they should have been double-teaming likely, but safety just decided not to participate in that play. All right. That is the Chiefs and the Ravens, and I knew this was going to be a long recap, so we got our work cut out for us if we're going to keep this under an hour, guys. We'll give it a shot. Anyway,

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It's free, it's easy, it's the law. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. Don't forget to join us for our mailbag. We're recording that at 2.30 p.m. Eastern today on Friday, but you can hear it on Saturday. Don't forget to join us at 11.30 a.m. Eastern on Sunday at youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday, youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday,

11.30 to 1 p.m. Eastern, or about five minutes before that. We're going to read dozens and dozens of your questions. Me, Dave, and Heath rocking and rolling on Sunday morning. News and notes, Russell Wilson has calf tightness. Jamie, is this a big deal? It could be a huge deal, obviously. So keep an eye on his practice report today and his status for Sunday.

And if Justin Fields is available in your leagues and you have an opportunity to pick him up, do so. 83% available in CBS Sports League's Fields is. I was surprised that more people didn't pick him up. In my leagues, I think I picked him up in two leagues as a third quarterback. Just to see, because he needs to be rostered. I mean, I talked about that in the preseason. I couldn't think of a backup quarterback that was ever such an obvious must-add

if the starter got hurt. But here we are with Justin Fields. It's so easy to just add him now. And if Wilson starts week one, you cut him before the game. Pick up somebody else. The Rams cornerback Darius Williams is on IR. So more good news for our start of the week.

Jared Goff. Joe Burrow is on the injury report with a wrist injury, but he's going to play. I think I read that one yesterday. Jamar Chase practice again. T. Higgins was limited with a hamstring. He says he's going to play. Kyle Pitts practiced in full, so we can stop flipping out about that. DeAndre Hopkins still limited.

Tommy Tremble for Carolina, tight end. He missed practice. Maybe Jatavion Sanders or Jordan Matthews. Who's their other converted tight end? Matthews. Matthews, yeah. Get some looks there. DJ Chark missediced with a hip injury

for the Chargers. Come on, Quentin Johnson. Josh Palmer has a knee issue now. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, I don't think Palmer's is serious, but he is on the injury report. TJ Hawkinson, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, could be back sometime around week seven,

they're hoping, for TJ Hawkinson. Jordan Addison looks like he's going to play. Any update on Jalen Naylor? I don't know that it matters, but... Okay, whatever. And Matt Gay for the Colts, their kicker. He may not play this week. Don't start him.

Josh Downs mispracticed, so it doesn't look like he's going to play. And left tackle Jedrick Wills for the Browns. He said he's not going to start this week. Oh, boy. Then it was interesting. The Chargers's not going to start this week. Oh, boy. Then it was interesting. The Chargers are apparently going to ride the hot hand at running back. Come on, Evidel. Let's go.

Come on, Evidel. We'll see. I think it might be Dobbins. I hope it's Dobbins. That'd be fun. Ian Rappaport saying that Christian McCaffrey should be fine to play in week one. One question for each game. We've got seven games on the slate.

Jets at Niners. After a long holdout and with a tough matchup, in theory, should we start Brandon Ayuk? No. I've got him as a borderline wide receiver 2-3.

I say in theory about the Jets. You go and look at who they've played last year. They played a very easy wide receiver schedule. Yeah, they suck. They didn't really shut down any good wide receivers, or not many. And they don't move Sauce Gardner around. All those great teams that they faced

scored a combined five touchdowns from their receiving core. I understand that, but did they shut down any good wide receivers? CeeDee Lamb had a big game. A.J. Brown, both Dolphins. Devontae Adams scored 14.6 points. Stephon Diggs had a good game once when he was good. Now, look, the thing is

they don't move Sauce Gardner. And D.J. Reid is like, I don't know, people talk him up, but he ain't Sauce Gardner. Nobody is Sauce Gardner. Oh, Patrick Sertan. I was watching some Patrick Sertan film yesterday. He is so good.

All right, Pittsburgh at Atlanta. How are we feeling about Kirk Cousins? We haven't talked a lot about him. How are we feeling about Kirk Cousins? Don't start him this week. I might consider cutting him for Justin Fields. And then I'm carrying Fields up till Sunday

and if Fields isn't the starter, I cut Fields and either pick Cousins back up or pick somebody else up. Denver at Seattle. Starter sit Javante Williams. This was last year Seattle was one of the best matchups for running backs. Starter sit Javante Williams. Number two running back. Agreter sit, Javante Williams.

Number two running back. Agreed. I still think Seattle's defense is going to be very good, but I think Denver's offense is going to be a little bit better than people expect. He's got a role in the passing game. That's what you look for. So for Javante, we talked a lot about guys like Tony Pollard and Ramondre Stevenson yesterday. Javante or those guys? Javante. Javante, we talked a lot about guys like Tony Pollard and Ramondre Stevenson yesterday. Javante or those guys?

Javante. Javante. Washington and Tampa Bay. Bonanza? That'd be fun. I don't think it'd be fun by you because it's bold. Oh, I don't do that anymore. People think I'm a sorcerer.

But, I mean, based on last year, these were horrible pass defenses. So the run game I'd be a little concerned about, especially the commander's run game. The Tampa Bay seems to be set up to have a very good run defense. But unless you disagree with that, let me know. But, yeah, I could see the wide receivers. Oh, you wanted the stats for that game? All right, hold on.

Let me give you this. We have to get through the game as fast as possible. Well, this is part of the game. Tampa Bay, now going back to mid-season 2022, they've allowed 90 yards or a touchdown to 33 wide receivers in their last 25 games. Washington, in what I call the hold my flavored water

stat of the game, because we don't all drink beer, so hold my flavored water stat of the game, Washington allowed 75 yards or a touchdown to 28 receivers in 18 games last year.

Of all the matchups, this is the best one for wide receivers, I think, this game, these two teams, Washington, Tampa Bay. If it holds. If it holds.

I think Washington's secondary might be the pits. Their best corner could be rookie Mike Sainstrel. I'm not sure if I'm saying that 100% correctly, so I apologize. But I would expect a nice game for Evans, Godwin. Jalen McMillan is another one of those guys. Jamie was on him very early on in the process. He's somebody who could be a decent sleeper, DFS sleeper for sure.

And then McLaurin going the other way. Good start. Yeah. Yeah. I knew I would get killed for the whole, my flavored water, but that's fine. Bring it on,

bring it on. I actually don't drink flavored water. I just, just regular straight up water for me on the rocks. Washington at Tampa Bay is okay. Sorry. Carolina at new Orleans, Carolina,

new Orleans is next. Who's a better flex in this game? Deontay Johnson or Chuba Hubbard? Deontay. Deontay and PPR, Hubbard and half and none. Rams at Lions. Should we start both Lions running backs? Yes.

Especially if it's half or non-PPR. Javante or Montgomery? Montgomery. Montgomery. Montgomery. Okay. By two spots. And Minnesota at the Giants. Very funny thing I read in an article yesterday about this game,

but any sneaky sleepers in this game? Any sneaky sleepers? I don't know if I want to trust Singletary. You going deeper, guys, than that? I got it. No, I was thinking Addison. I'm thinking Sam Darnold. Yeah, I have a DFS lineup that is Darnold, Jefferson, Addison, neighbors.

I want to win a million dollars and retire. You're the only one that will do that in the world. I'll probably lose $5, but this giant secondary is considered to be one of the worst, if not the worst in football. Are they really not projecting high percentage for Darnold? I don't know. I would think that he would be a very popular DFS tournament.

Please do. If it's a low number, Jamie, that you find, uh, I might get in on Darnold. The quote I read from the Minnesota Star Tribune is about how Daniel Jones, the last time he faced the Vikings, he had the great game in the playoffs and it led to the defensive coordinator getting fired and all that.

It said, Jones, meanwhile, landed a giant payday, four years, $ 160 million dollars that surprised the league and played a role in the negotiations that led to the vikings choosing to move on from kirk cousins asking price this past offseason and that is like daniel jones was so good in that game that he got himself paid and he cost the vikings kirk, basically. The Giants' contract was so outlandish that it cost the Vikings Kirk Cousins. Their defense cost them Kirk Cousins, basically. Okay, I'm going to skip Beat the Waiver Wire

because we talked about this on Tuesday's show, or Wednesday's show, I think. Just go listen to the players that we told you to pick up, but now you can add Justin Fields to that. We'll start with the Jets and the Niners. It's the end of the game. The Jets only allowed five touchdowns to a wide receiver last year. All right.

So are there any? McCaffrey, yes. Brees Hall, yes. Garrett Wilson, obviously. Have to start him. Have to. What about Debo? We already said you don't really love an IUK. What about Debo? We already said you don't really love an Ayuk.

What about Debo? You're starting him. Don't necessarily love him, but I'm not afraid of him as much as I am Ayuk. It's not so much just the matchup for Ayuk. It's how much is he going to play? I mean, he missed so much practice time, so he's going

to be out there. They're not going to sit him, but do they risk playing him at not full fully conditioned and ready to go there's there's a little bit concerned of that let me ask you this question because we don't know how much he's going to play but let's say that arnold is rostered more expected to be rostered more than tua than dac then really this is arnold darnell yeah yeah all right but he's behind a lot of quarterbacks okay more than Tua, than Dak, than really that. This is Darnold? Darnold, yeah.

Yeah, all right. But he's behind a lot of quarterbacks. Okay, all right. That's good to know. I might have to. Look, if Ayuk is going to be limited, who plays in his place? Is it going to be just, and Jawan Jennings plays a bunch anyway, especially in their three receiver sets. Pearsall's hurt.

You know, Jacob Cowing had a nice camp. If he's active, that would make some sense. I wonder if the 49ers kind of painted themselves into a corner here, and maybe they have to put IUK out there a little bit more than they would prefer. But anytime we're worried about IUK having a normal game, a normal workload i i would make a beeline with no hesitation to debo and kittle so debo's top 20 for me exactly right that's that's what i was going to say and you look at the look at the jets right in their defense last year i just they really played a very cake schedule but when you look at the road games, they gave up 30 points at Dallas. Road games against good opponents.

30 points at Dallas. 32 points at the Bills. 30 points at Miami. 37 points at Cleveland. Now, having a horrible offense. 37 points at Cleveland. Yeah. Having a horrible offense.

The Flacco led Cleveland, Brad. That was a Thursday night game. Having a horrible offense hurts your defense. But that's what I was saying about the Jets. That was a Thursday night game. Having a horrible offense hurts your defense. But that's what I was saying about the Jets. Like, when they went on the road and faced a good offense, they were bad defensively. The other thing is, it's not so much just Ayuk. It's everybody.

Trent Williams is going to play his full allotment snaps. So that was my – my bringing that up was really about Purdy because you're going to start Debo and Kittle. But what about Purdy, guys? I would try to award him. I mean, you're going to start Debo and Kittle, but, but what about Purdy guys? I think you try to award them. I mean, you're, you're,

you're taking on a very good defense and who knows if they are going to be at full strength. They're obviously on the roster and available to play. I would probably expect Iuke to do a little bit more than Williams from a snap count standpoint, just because he's been in the building. Yeah. All right.

I think if you drafted Jaden Daniels and Brock Purdy, you might have had designs on starting Purdy and just seeing what you have with Jaden Daniels. I would flip it this week. I'd go with Daniels at Tampa Bay. And we've seen the 49ers come up big. Remember week one last year against Pittsburgh? Maybe we were a little nervous about some of those guys

going up against the Steelers. That was also Purdy coming off the elbow. Purdy was not one of our favorites at this time last year. He crushed them. It was Iyuku who crushed them. They played a lot of man coverage and they got destroyed. I don't think the Jets play as much man coverage. I think they play a lot of zone. They only rush four. I think that we'll see. We could end up looking silly for saying start at Jane

Daniels over Purdy, but I think there's more upside. Any quarterback where you think there's more upside than Purdy, go with them. It's also a low projected total too. Caleb Williams? I have Caleb one spot ahead of Purdy. I don't know how comfortable I am with that, but they're both way

outside of my top 12. I'm going to how comfortable I am with that, but they're both... I start Caleb Williams over Purdy. They're both way outside of my top 12. I'm going to ask this, and I think this is a perfectly reasonable question here. If Russell Wilson's out, Justin Fields at Atlanta, or Brock Purdy against the Jets? Fields. I think I would take my chances with Fields, as ugly as it might be.

All right. Purdy in tough matchups last year, he was great against the Cowboys. 34 points. Terrible at Cleveland. That was without Debo. I think there was weather in that game, too. Yeah, no Debo. McCaffrey, I think, left that game with an injury, too.

Baltimore, he was through four interceptions. He was horrible. Yeah. And the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, 16.5 fantasy points. So he wasn't really that good in tough matchups. Okay. It will go through some Debo questions, I think, a little bit later, if anybody has any, or IU questions.

Rogers, one person has a question. Rogers or Purdy? Purdy. I've got Rogers a spot ahead of Purdy. Oh. A couple spots ahead. Okay. So is Rogers approaching your top 12, Dave?

No, but they're all ranked so low. I've got Trevor Lawrence ranked ahead of all three of those guys. When I say all three, Rodgers, Caleb Williams, and Brock Purdy. I've got Baker ranked ahead of those guys. Jane Daniels, obviously. Stafford. DSTs. What are we doing with the DSTs?

I like the 49ers better than the Jets, but this is like we talked about yesterday. These aren't two teams I'm looking to replace. You can't. The only way you should replace the Jets is if you're cutting somebody that you do not care about and starting a different DST over them. Do not cut the Jets DST, please.

Amazing schedule coming up. Yes, they're going to be amazing. Pittsburgh's at Atlanta. Fun, but probably not relevant stat of the game. The Falcons went 14 games to start the season without allowing a rushing touchdown to a running back. And then they gave up five in their last three games. It was pretty weird.

Okay, Pittsburgh at Atlanta. Who do we love in this game other than Bijan Robinson? London. That's it. Dave, do you love Drake London this week? I'm 22nd among wide receivers. Rather start Debo.

I don't love him, but he's a wide receiver too. I'm not saying to sit him. I wouldn't sit Pitts. I would call Pickens more of a flex. I have London over Pickens. Najee is an RB2. Warren in full PPR you could use as a flex if you're struggling a little bit but i'd say i think that's it you'd sit nausea if you can yeah how come the offensive line sucks he's gonna

lose touches to warren who's healthy now and falcons run defense is good i've got giovante over nausea i've got james connor over nausea mostard over over Najee, Aaron Jones over Najee. Yeah, play Jerome Ford over Najee too if you can. I'll go the other way. I'll take Najee over Ford. I think Drake London's start percentage is going to be pretty high no matter what we tell you here and maybe have a great game. There's

this Joey Porter. They use Joey Porter to shadow receivers. I went back and I watched him shadow a couple of receivers and it was really not that good. That was him as a rookie. He showed some promise. It's one of the shadow receivers. I went back and I watched him shadow a couple of receivers, and it was really not that good. But that was him as a rookie. He showed some promise. It's one of the storylines. I think we'll keep an eye on Joey Porter,

cornerback for the Steelers, and how he does. But DK Metcalf absolutely torched him. And then there was one other guy I watched where Porter wasn't very good. Oh, well, that's not exactly true. He shadowed T. Higgins, and he actually did a pretty good job on Higgins. Higgins had a huge game, but it wasn't very good. Oh, well, that's not exactly true. He shadowed T. Higgins, and he actually did a pretty good job on Higgins. Higgins had a huge game, but it wasn't really against Porter.

But Metcalf just destroyed him. But we'll see if he gets better. He had a promising rookie season. So Pickens then. The Steelers are flexy. Pickens, Najee, Warren. If you had all three of them, which no one does. But if you did, who's your favorite flex?

Pickens, Najee, Warren. It's going to be Pickens. Pickens has much more upside than the other two. What about in non-PPR? Would you say the same there? Yes. I think I would. Question in the chat. London or Neighbors?

London. London for Jamie, Neighbors for Dave. What about... How would your rankings on George Pickens change if Justin Fields is the quarterback? Lower. About the same. Where do you have Pickens ranked, James?

Just inside top 24. Okay, and I'm just outside the 24. I'm 29th. How do you feel about the tight ends? I mean, again, similar to the defensive conversation, you're not moving on from Kyle pits yet. So let's see what he does in his first game with Kirk cousins in this new

offense. Uh, Fryer Muth is more of just a flyer. He needs somebody. Agreed. I've got pits over fire. Muth Goddard, Henry Ertz,

Bowers, Andrews, Kelsey, likely over pits. Would you, uh, call himers, Andrews, Kelsey. Likely overpits. Would you call him Pat Flyermuth? So just to get back to Najee Harris and Jalen Warren, since obviously... That was good.

Thank you, thank you. The Falcons gave up the fourth fewest fantasy points to running backs. 3.8 yards per carry to running backs. I already told you, only five rushing touchdowns tos running backs all last season but they were in the last three games of the year so uh Najee let's see would you start uh Christian Watson over Najee Harris and Jalen Warren in PPR yes I might even in non-PPR just because Watson's healthy he's out there has just as much of a shot to score a touchdown as Najee

does. Certainly could get more yards. Who else? How about like Calvin Ridley? Yes. I don't like Ridley's matchup, but I think I'd still PPR. Yes.

Non-PPR little, maybe it's the same story. So yeah. Okay. But you wouldn't start like Brian Thomas over Najee? No. Look, Najee's still going to get probably 15-plus touches unless they're just getting blasted

and Jalen Warren is on the field a ton. I wonder how much they're going to play Warren. Look, he's looked good in the videos that I've seen him running around, so hopefully the hamstring is fine, but they'd probably still be a little bit cautious with him. All right. They'll split. It's going to suck.

We've seen the Arthur Smith story before. I've never seen that movie. It was a CBS afternoon special. Oh, is it on Paramount Plus? Probably. You can probably find it. The Arthur Smith story. Yes, a lot of revenge in this game.

We'll be right back. We'll talk about Denver and Seattle. Seattle, we think, going to have an improved defense. Denver looks rough on paper. We'll be right back on FFT. Okay. Too much belly in that commercial. This shirt tucked in kills me every time.

Well, if the shirt's not tucked in, there's a lot more belly. It's the start of the game for Denver and Seattle. The Broncos allowed the third most fantasy points to running backs, and the Broncos gave up 5.23 yards per carry to running backs last year. By far the worst in the NFL. But hold my flavor water. Seattle gave up the second most fantasy points to running backs last year and the eighth most receiving yards per game to running back.

So do we think these things hold up, but these are going to be good matchups for running backs? I would be a little bit more concerned about the Seattle situation being good as opposed to the Denver situation. As in, you think the Seattle's run defense could be a lot better than it was last year. Yeah.

Yes. They added Byron Murphy to that D line. He's an absolute beast. They changed out their linebackers. Obviously Bobby Wagner's gone. Jerome Baker's there. I don't know if that's a huge upgrade. It might actually be a downgrade because Wagner's so good against the run,

but I think coaching matters and Mike McDonald, the former Ravens defensive coordinator, is now there. It's going to be an aggressive unit, and they're definitely going to have the massive focus of stopping the run in this game. It's a good first test. Listen, if they get totally busted up in the run by Denver, then we know that something is just not right in Seattle.

So is anybody struggling with DK Metcalf this week? Don't love the matchup, but I'm not setting him. You say that, but you have him 23rd. So that's in the sort of sit, you know, range. Dave, you have Metcalf.

No, there's 38 good receivers. That's not a sit. It's not a sit, but it's not like you have him one spot behind Pickens, and you didn't really speak so confidently of Pickens, I'd say. So, you know, it's feasible that people could be sitting DK Metcalf. You certainly could have other players, yes, but I would still start him.

It's not going to be a ceiling game for DK Metcalf because Sertan is probably going to stick to him. This is what happened two years ago. They met early on in the season. It might have been a season opener against Denver and Sertan when he played off coverage, DK got the target every time he got like nothing after the catch. I would expect Seattle's offense to utilize Metcalf differently in this game. I think we'll see him more in the slot. Sertan typically does not go into the slot. It doesn't mean that he won't, but I'm going to bank on an improved passing scheme

to buy DK Metcalf better numbers in this game than he had the last time he went up against Sertan. Got some questions in the chat. Metcalf or Cup? Half PPR. Cup. Anybody in that Rams game, man. Cup for sure. Metcalf or Neighbors? Full PPR.

Neighbors. Neighbors. Neighbors. Okay. And Cup is half full. That's kind of funny. Like in a PPR. It's a PPR joke. Metcalf or DJ Moore?

Metcalf. I've got DK two spots ahead of DJ Moore. Don't love DJ Moore at all this week. Ayuk or JSN sticking with this game? Ayuk. Same. JSN, yeah, I mean, you're probably going to keep them on your bench. Lockett's going to play.

Fant's going to play. So we'll wait and see how this one happens. If I was concerned that Metcalf wouldn't play in the slot at all, I would probably be very excited about JSN. I love JSN's sleeper this week. Great matchup. Aaron Jones or Javante Williams? Aaron Jones.

Adam looks like the kind of guy that still cuts the crust off of sandwiches. How do you spell sandwiches? King Sasquatch? If you're typing on your phone, I'm not sure that there's autocorrect. So I'm okay with this horrible spelling. Sabwich with two H's. Sabwich. I do cut it off my kids' sandwiches, but I'm pro-crust.

I like the crust. I'm cool with it. In fact, if I cut the— If you're going to clip quotes for us, please clip that one. What, I'm pro-crust? Yep. If I would cut the crust off a sandwich for my kids, I will just eat the crust afterwards. That's terrible.

Clipping that one. It's a fat guy move. I have a hard time. If food is in front of me, I just have a hard time. All right, so who's the second best receiver in this game behind Metcalf? Is it Sutton? I think it's Sutton. JSN for me.

It's Sutton for me. By the way, he's in the 40s. Would you start Javante or Metcalf? Javante. I'll take DK. Okay. All right, so let's just, like, who's a start in this game? Metcalf, we've spent enough time on.

Javante, Ken Walker, and then JSN's a sleeper. Sutton, I guess also a sleeper. Geno Smith. Geno, what do you think about Geno? Seattle defense. I like Geno better than Purdy. I do too. I think both sharp football

and PFF hate the secondary. They rate the secondary very low. Denver, you mean? Yeah, the Broncos. Outside of Patrick Soutan, they've got a bunch of questions. I'm wrong about it. PFF has them 16th.

Sharp Football has them 28th. But this is like what's weird about Denver, right? They got off to a historically and literally historically bad start. I think their first five games, they were maybe the second worst defense ever by DVOA. It was awful. Yeah, and then they were horrible against the Bears that game. They were horrible. After that, they really turned things around.

They allowed 19.3 points per game in their last 12 games. So we'll see what happens. Levi Wallace is their other outside corner. Under 56% catch rate allowed over his past two seasons, but he gave up seven touchdowns last year. So maybe a boomer bust type of corner. Maybe the type of corner that if he's lined up against Lockett or JSN or somehow DK, Seattle takes the shot.

A couple more Javante questions. Oh, well, actually DK. DK or Zamir White? Half PPR. White. I'll take DK. DK or Zamir White? Half PPR. White. I'll take DK. And Javante or Montgomery? Montgomery.

Montgomery. And Pat Fryermuth or Noah Fant? Noah Fant facing a team that gave up the most fantasy points to tight ends last year. Are we sure he's playing? No. I'm not sure, but I felt like he and Lockett were both on the positive side of questionable,

but I don't know. If Fant is guaranteed to play, I would take Fant. It is a good matchup. He'll probably be covered by linebacker Alex Singleton if it's ever one-on-one coverage. He gave up three touchdowns to tight ends last year. It's a lot. Just trying to read an update here.

We'll go to our next game. Seattle's DST is definitely worth starting. Top's a lot. Just trying to read an update here. We'll go to our next game. Seattle's DST is definitely worth starting top 10 for everybody. Looking for this Russell Wilson update. The Steelers are unbelievably conservative with calf injuries. And Ian Rappaport says he would not be surprised to see quarterback Russell Wilson off his feet this weekend and potentially beyond. Okay. Washington's at Tampa Bay. Well,

it talks about the wide receivers. Do you like Terry McLaurin or DK Metcalf? Metcalf. Terry McLaurin or Chris Godwin? Godwin. Yes. Godwin. I agree.

Terry McLaurin or a Washington running back? McLaurin or a Washington running back? McLaurin. Scary Terry. Who do you love in this game? Mike Evans. Yes. Rashad White. Yes.

Lawson Eckler? No. How do you feel about Brian Robinson and Eckler? Send him if you can't yeah robinson's just outside my top 24 running backs godwin's outside my top 24 receivers but everything points to him being his old self playing in the slot um it's this is a version of the rams offense so he might be in the Cooper cup role. And that sounds really, really good to me. He'll have that matchup against the cornerback whose name I butchered earlier and a rookie cornerback first game.

I think Godwin could put up numbers against him if, and this is a big, if the commanders play a lot of man, Devante Smith or Chris Godwin half PPRPR? Smith. The guy playing in Brazil. Does Dave have a nickname Jeff wants to know? Belly. That's not my nickname. Sorry. You said it so much like five minutes ago from the workout video. Wow.

That's a terrible nickname. Oh, God, I'm so sorry. Thanks, Stumpy. It was the first. Stumpy McWeakling. I'm so sorry. I feel really bad about that. Let's do your stomach, kid.

No, that'd be hairy. Come on, show us. That'd be hairy. Tony Pollard or Chris Godwin at Flex? Godwin and PPR. That was the most Freudian slip ever. slip no because i was thinking about the workout video i was gonna make a nickname about the workout video that was shown on youtube go with like studs or buff or iron man you said belly you kept saying it i'm really sorry you have to say it i'm

so i'm really sorry i should have said that's okay. I need to work on my weight. By the way, there's a Twix bar behind me. Diamond Dave. All right, we'll go with that. Downtown. All right, which quarterback do you like better in this game, Daniels or Baker Mayfield? Daniels.

Agreed. I can't believe I did that. I'm so sorry. So who would you start Baker Mayfield? I accept your apology. Who would you start Baker Mayfield over? I accept your apology. Who would you start Baker Mayfield over? Purdy, Rodgers, Cousins, Bonix. For those without the benefit of video,

I am nodding in agreement. Okay. And who would you start Jaden Daniels over? Baker, Purdy, everybody else. How about like Tua and Lawrence? No, love Tua and Lawrence this week. Okay. Brian Robinson or, oh, here's one.

Brian Robinson or Brian Thomas, half PPR. Brian Robinson or Brian Thomas? Robinson. You kind of want to say thomas though don't you not really i still want like the goal line back you know he's going to lead the team and carries it is a tough matchup the tampa bay third best against running backs last year in my non-ppr ranks they're six spots apart so i would say it close, but I will take the safe play with B Rob. Okay. I thought Robinson looked good in the preseason

games and in the joint practice and reports were positive about him. And I'll say this again for everybody who might have missed it. Austin Eckler told me that he expects the run game to look a lot like it did with the Chargers when Melvin Gordon was with him. So that means that Brian Robinson is in that Melvin role.

Should mean a lot of touchdowns. Should give him the lead in touches. Eckler playing on passing downs. Okay, so that's pretty much it for this game. Except, Dave, if you want to make the case for Zach Ertz again. I know you did it two days ago, but where did you end up with Zach Ertz in your rankings? Zach Ertz is a borderline starter. He's 13th for me in my tight end rankings.

I'm glad he wasn't my sleeper of the summer. But if you're really stuck at tight end, somehow, some way, maybe you just don't have the guts to go with Friar Muth or Hunter Henry or even Dallas Goddard. Ertz is going to get volume. He's going to be a short area target for Jayden Daniels. Not the easiest matchup, and he is not fast, but he could pick up five catches for 50 yards, and he's going to be a red zone option for Washington. It would not surprise me if he finished exactly 13th among tight ends this week in full PPR.

Here's one more question for this game from our chat. Terry McLaurin or Tank Dell? Dell. I've got McLaurin a few spots higher. And then there's this one. Is Ben Sinnott worth a stash? And I think this is a really good question because Zach Ertz, as I mentioned, 37 tight ends had 40 or more targets last year. Zach Ertz was dead last in yards per target. He's 33 years old. There is obviously a need for someone to catch the ball. They got McLaurin, and then what else? So, yeah, I think Ben Sinnott, if you can afford to stash Ben Sinnott. You got to have a deep bench.

I love Ben Sinnott. I think by the end of the year, he's going to be the best tight end in Washington. And it may start as early as this week. Zacherts, to me, is exactly what Dave said. He's going to get targets, but he's not going to do anything with them. Once the commanders realize that Ben Sennett can do everything, which hopefully, again, will be sooner rather than later, then you won't see Zach Ertz very much.

The problem is that I don't know how close Sennett is to getting a lot of playing time. Correct. The only way, you said it, deep benches, tight end premium leagues, those would be the only leagues that I would consider, or dynasty leagues, obviously. Those are the only leagues I consider having Sinnott. If I've got Sinnott on my bench right now,

it's regular redraft, no bonus points for tight ends. That's a guy you could easily drop for Justin Fields and carry Fields up till Sunday on. Okay, let's move on. We got three games left. Can we do it in 10 minutes? Let's see. Stat of the game for Carolina at New Orleans.

The Panthers, third fewest points allowed to quarterbacks. Second fewest points allowed to wide receivers. They saw the fewest pass attempts per game in the NFL, but they also allowed the sixth fewest passing yards per attempt. These were the six best teams in passing yards per attempt allowed last year. Cleveland, Baltimore, Kansas City, the jets and the 49ers, and then the Panthers. So they had a legit good pass defense last year.

And that was with 27 sacks, I think, which was the fewest in the NFL is weird, but also they were so easy to run on. So anyway, like maybe not, maybe not a DFS day for Olave, but anybody else in the passing game for the Saints other than Olave? I like Jawan Johnson just because, again, I think there'll be target volume there, but not a slam dunk starter, just a streaming tight end.

I worry about volume for anybody in this game for New Orleans other than Olave and Taysom Hill. I don't know how much they're going to have to throw either, so I don't think it's going to be crazy high volume for anybody. I, uh, I think I might be too high on a lobby. I've got them top 15 among receivers and full PPR.

And I just wonder if there's just not enough there. It's a great matchup. No, it's not a great matchup. It's a bad match. Well, I mean, it could be,

it could be a bad matchup because they don't throw. Right. But if they're, if let's say Carolina's offense isn't Carolina's offensive last year, and they find a way to keep it close, then car's going to throw a lot. And a lot of it is going to have a good target share. So I'm going to bank on a lot of it,

having a good target share and hopefully has a chance to score, maybe break a big play. The saints aren't going to have a lot of success running the ball most weeks. Yeah. You think, I mean this, if we're going to do it one week,

you know, based on last year, it would be this week, but so yeah, obviously you're going to start Camara, but, uh, Taysom Hill.

Let me ask you about him. Jamie, you like Jawan Johnson, Dave, you like Zach hurts. Would you guys start tasting Hill over those guys? Yes. Yes.

Okay. And, and look, it's a gamble because we don't know how they're going to use him exactly. Yeah. He could be a trap running back. Doesn't score. Not going to help you.

He's not a traditional tight end, so you're not expecting him to catch five passes and be an Isaiah likely. There's going to be two or three plays where he's going to do something that is helpful to you. And you hope that one or two of those are finding the coaching staff. Remember, it's a new coordinator, Clint Kubiak's there. They like him. I think he could end up having four or five catches and maybe even two or three carries. Okay. Deontay Johnson or Jaden Reed? Calvin Noy fractured his orbital bone. Oh, no.

Let's talk about the passing game for the Panthers here, then we'll talk about Chuba Hubbard. Nicholas wants to know, would you start Deontay Johnson or Jaden Reed in PPR? Johnson. I've got Johnson one spot ahead of Reed. Okay. And what spot is that for Deontay?

36, 37. All right. Deontay Johnson is a borderline start. Chuba Hubbard. I think I asked you earlier, Chuba Hubbard or Deontay Johnson, but how about Chuba Hubbard versus some other running backs? Give me some running backs you'd start Chuba Hubbard, I think I asked you earlier, Chuba Hubbard or Deontay Johnson, but how about Chuba Hubbard versus some other running backs?

Give me some running backs you'd start Chuba Hubbard over. I need to move Hubbard up a little bit. I'd start him over the Bengals guys just because of the uncertainty of who's the better of the two. I would start him over Brian Robinson just because I think he's a better matchup and he's going to get more volume. I would start him over. You're going because I think he's a better matchup and he's going to get more volume. I would start him over... You're going to move him ahead of DeAndre Swift?

I would start him over DeAndre Swift. All right, that's Chuba Hubbard. Yeah, I'm more bearish on Hubbard. I've got him behind all those guys, except for Zach Moss. And you've got to keep an eye on another thing here, which is kind of what's making me feel a little bit better about Hubbard,

is Miles Sanders is hurt, too. And the Saints, they were solid against running backs last year. Yeah, he's not a slam dunk start, but he should be a good flex. Last time he faced them in this role, he had

23 carries. Yes, he did. Yeah, he didn't do a ton with it, but he did have 23 carries. I think Yes, he did. Right. Yeah. I was going to bring, yeah, he didn't do, he didn't do a ton with it, but he did have 23 carries. And I think 25 total touches, right?

You had two catches, 23 catches, 23 carries for 87 yards, two catches for nine yards, 11.6 PPR fantasy points for chubbered week 14 at new Orleans last year. Um, that's it. And this,

and this should be a better offense, you know, with better offensive line. And we saw what, we know what Dave Canales likes to do with his running backs. He likes to involve them in the passing game. So. True.

Saints DST is top seven for you guys. 12th for Heath. Rams are at Detroit. Is that the one you're going to pick on him about? No, it was the Bengals. No, he doesn't have the Bengals one.

You were going to pick on him. There's usually one you find that he's like so low on. Oh, so low on. Right Bengals. No, he doesn't have the Bengals. One. You were going to pick on him. There's usually one you find that he's so low on. Oh, so low on. Right, right. Oh, yeah. One that has an amazing matchup that he's so low on. Yeah. Who would that be?

That's a good question. I don't know. Vikings, maybe. He has them 11th. I don't know. You guys have the Vikings 8th and 5th. Nah, we'll leave Heath alone. Rams at Detroit.

I put this one toward the end of the show because it's pretty easy, right? I mean, are there any tough calls? Actually, I think Stafford and Montgomery are going to be tough for people. My only concern with the Rams is the offensive line. It's not good right now. You know, so Havenstein is banged up.

Hilaric Jackson's out with the suspension. So missing both tackles potentially against this defensive front, not ideal. That said, you're not sitting in these guys. And, you know, you talked about this, Adam, when we were a couple weeks ago about Kyron Williams week one. This is a brutal matchup. Lions were really good against running backs. So not sitting him.

Yeah. But got to be a little cautious. So I'm again, you know, the expected total is the highest of the week. This is revenge games across the board, you know, the two quarterbacks.

So we'll see how, how it all plays out. But you drafted the key options to be starters. The one, like you said, would be, I don't, I don't think's sitting david montgomery unless you just have a great running back core because he was in that group of 18 to 24 uh we talked about a lot in draft season but stafford is is not a slam dunk starter for people not necessarily because they don't want

to play them is mostly because they drafted somebody better so if you drafted purdy and stafford for example you should be playing stafford if you drafted Purdy and Stafford, for example, you should be playing Stafford. If you drafted Daniels and Stafford, that's a tougher call. That's not the one I meant to click. This is from Krana. Montgomery or Zamir White in PPR? I like Montgomery better. Same. So at the end of the year, after

Montgomery returned from injury, Gibbs and Montgomery played 12 games together, including the playoffs. They had five games out of 12 in which they both scored 13.8 or more PPR fantasy points. I was going to try to make it 14, but one of the games was not quite that. 13.8 or more, both of them PPR fantasy points

in five of 12 games down the stretch, which isn't great. They scored a lot of touchdowns, but there should be a ton of points scored in this game. Jamison Williams, we talked about some wide receiver sleepers like JSN and Cortland Sutton. Jamison Williams, Dave, where does

he rank for you? He's a boom-bust flex. I don't know if they're... I think it's pretty obvious. We don't... I can't say for sure that he's going to go off and have an amazing game and all that stuff i would have started worthy ahead of him i would start jsn ahead of him but that's the range that he's in he's outside of my top 36 i hate it's these matchups where you have like this gut feeling

oh this should be a good week for jameson williams but it's week one and nobody's on by and very few people are hurt. So you can't really justify starting him, I guess, but that's why you can play DFS and start Sam Laporta. And what about a Rams tight end? Any interest? No, I would, I would consider Parkinson and DFS. Okay. And we go to Minnesota at the Giants. Our last game. We're just a little over an hour. We'll be okay.

Okay, so tough calls in this one? I mean, I guess you could say Aaron Jones might be a tough call for some people, but why would you sit him this week?

Okay. Aaron Jones versus David Montgomery and Javante Williams. Jones. Jones, Montgomery, Javante. Oh, okay. Addison? Not this week, no.

That might be a tough call for some people, but I think most people drafted Addison to be on the bench anyway. All the guys we talked about with Jameson Williams, I'd rather have over Addison. Yeah. I know it's tough, but like I said, this might be his best matchup of the year.

You just can't justify starting those types of guys. Then, neighbors, any concerns? Week one jitters. Here's a question. Neighbors or Christian Watson? Neighbors. I'm going to start neighbors over a lot of people. Yeah, he's top 15. Yes.

This question isn't relevant to this game, but someone's asked it about 15 times. So Iuke or Christian Kirk? Kirk. Yeah, I think I might lean Kirk in full PPR. Iuke, Neighbors, and Higgins. Who are you sitting? Iuke, Neighbors, Higgins.

Sit one. Iuke. Unless Higgins. Who are you sitting? Ayuk, Neighbors, Higgins. Sit one. Unless Higgins is hurt. Correct. Devin Singletary or Brian Robinson Jr.? Singletary. I'll take Robinson. Yeah, so the Vikings, 3.8 yards per carry allowed to

running backs. That was one of the best in the NFL. Only three running backs scored more than 15.1 PPR fantasy points. That's terrific. Obviously, you take 15 points, but it's just saying there wasn't a lot of upside for running backs last year. Never know what's going to carry over into this year, but I feel like they should have a pretty good run defense. And Johnny Munt, anyone? You know, he's one of those guys that in deeper leagues you should be keeping an eye on.

Because if he does have a good game, this is a tight end friendly offense. Like could be the guy for the short term while Hawkinson is out. And if I made you start one of these quarterbacks, who would it be? Donald. Correct.

Man, Daniel Jones carved this team up in two meetings in 2022 oh what's the bet you and thomas oh thomas what is the bet what do you think i get justin fields if because thomas is justin fields in every league uh yeah i don't know we didn't really discuss this before but this is my revenge game since you guys took down the Gators in week one. Yeah. This isn't a revenge game. It is for Thomas. It's not for you.

The Gators are awful. They are so bad. But the Hurricanes aren't good either. I don't know. They might be good. They might be good, but the Gators are bad. I hope we lose to Stanford and they fire Napier. I know.

You're welcome. We're just starting that process for you. If you wanted him fired. That started a long time ago. Okay. We're kicking. Yeah, we're reigniting it. Vikings DST.

You just turned him into like he can't open a water bottle. What's that? He can't open a water bottle? Did that happen? In the press conference after the game, he couldn't open a water bottle did that happen in the press conference after the game you couldn't open a water bottle jesus he also said there's basements in florida because of all the fans yeah what are you doing you've been in you've been living in florida for like four years there's no basements yeah that was uh that was not a good look. Vikings, DST, or Jets, or 49ers? Vikings.

I might have 49ers higher, but I like the Vikings a lot. But don't drop the Jets for the 49ers. You don't want to lose the Jets, DST. That's it for today's show. We've got a mailbag coming up later. Also, CBS Sports Network at 1 p.m. Eastern, Tuesday, Wednesday, or, and Friday. Today, 1 p.m. And before you guys go on the air on Sunday at 11.30, we'll be on CBS Sports HQ doing a lot of stuff as well.

Excellent. At 10 a.m. Have a great weekend, everybody. Good luck. Let's go 1-0. Talk to you later. Paramount Podcasts.