Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Starts of the Week + It’s Football Time! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/7

Episode Date: September 7, 2023

Week 1 is here! On today’s fantasy football podcast, Andy, Mike, and Jason preview a handful of Week 1 matchups! Plus, Starts of the Week, NFL News, and Jason’s Boom Boom Kicker! It’s football time! Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for September 7th, 2023. Connect with the show: Subscribe on YouTube Visit us on the Web Support the Show Follow on Twitter Follow on Instagram Join our Discord Check out today's sponsors: News & Notes presented by USAA. Visit https://USAA.com/Insurance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by McDonald's. Monopoly is back at McDonald's, everybody. This is an alert. It's time to get back to Mickey D's. Monopoly Double Play is back at McDonald's, and it's easy to get into the win. First, you peel on pack, and then again in the app. There are millions of prizes to be won,

including a new chance to win cash every minute in the app. Get into the game with Monopoly Double Play at McDonald's. While supplies last, one in five chances to win game piece prizes at outset, chances to win Double Play prizes based on time of code entry, and draw prizes based on number of entries in each draw. See rules in the app. Get a credit card annual fee waiver and earn C-plus points faster with the Scotiabank Ultimate Package and bank more entertainment. Learn more at scotiabank.com slash banking packages. Conditions apply. Scotiabank. You're richer than you think. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.

Welcome in. It's football time. Woo! Hey! Oh, yeah! We did it! We're back, baby! We're back!

It's here! It's football time. Welcome in one and all, the party lights. They're shining. They're blinding. We're here. Thursday, September 7th. Andy, Mike, and Jason back with you.

Life is good again. I woke up happy. Yeah. For the first time since last season. Oh, man. Is there a pep in your step? And I don't know why. We did it. We got here oh man game one of the 2023 season

fantasy points will count tonight this is incredible do you see what show number we're on oh what is it 1 400 and it's all coming together. This is a great day, guys. Oh, boy. Thank you to the Deucers for participating in that introduction. It's football time. We've got NFL news, a quick question, matchup previews, starts of the week, the boom boom kicker, and a lot to talk about. I have emerged from the fetal position in the corner of the office where I spent most of my time weeping from the Travis Kelsey knee scare.

And I'm here to tell you, it's going to be a great year. We've got tons of free resources for you on the website, the fantasy footballers.com. All of our expert rankings every single week. We've got the start sit tool available to you. All the in-season articles. We've got the,

a reminder, the DFS embedding podcast is back at it. So if you participate in DFS, which I've got some showdown lineups tonight, because I find that to be extremely fun, mostly due to having won one of those. And I'm trying to get that high again. It's a real shot of dopamine. When you win the Millie Maker?

Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty good. And then Sunday Live. Don't forget about this. Go to ballerslive.com on Sunday morning, and the Fantasy Hitman will be there with you tilting his bearded face right off. No face. No face left. And look, it's time.

So follow us on socials. A lot of good content going up there lately at the FFBallers. We have a free Discord channel. You can get there by going to the website, and then the icons in the upper right. I'm hitting you with a lot of info, but it's regular season time. You need this info. That's the point.

Yeah, I mean, it's time to win. It's time to win, baby. And the community, if you want to step up, become an official supporter of the show, a Foot Clan member, I checked it out. There's 31,000 of you right now. Tons of in-season perks. That's jointhefoot.com. And you end up with all the premium Discord channels.

You get an extra episode of the podcast every week. You get the premium tools, including the Stream Finder tool, the consistency charts. It's going to be a great year, and I am excited for Travis Kelsey to play tonight. Guys, I'm calling my shot. I think he's out there. So we have moved. We're

moving through the stages of grief. We're on to denial. I am not grieving, and I believe he plays. Okay. Mike, you are in the camp of no? I lean that he will miss week one i don't i mean not a doctor then there's not a whole lot of information but it's travis kelsey is a superstar if travis kelsey tells the team that he's going to play i imagine that the team goes okay travis

you go play but it also is a really really long season and the chiefs are trying to win a super bowl so sitting them down for week one if the knee is still swollen it makes so much sense because they can beat the lions without i'm sorry lines but they can beat the lions without travis kelsey that kind of logic will not be tolerated here we are looking at trust me the uh while we were reveling in the fact that you, in the two main leagues, League of Record and our big Dynasty League, you have Kelsey.

That's correct. However, in the Dino Junior where we are champ, champ, champ, I realize, uh-oh. Hey, how's it feel? The team of old men could be crumbling in week one as we will be playing Trey McBride. Should Travis Kelsey miss week one? All right, let's help the listeners.

A lot of Travis Kelsey managers out there freaking out. If he's active and they say something like, he'll be on a snap count. You play him no matter what. I mean, no one has the option out there of saying, oh, should I play Travis Kelsey or TJ Hawkinson? You know, it's... Right.

Your options are off of the waiver wire right now. Maybe, like, there's interesting guys, but it's Sam Laporta tonight, a rookie making his debut. It's Jake Ferguson, the first time he's ever really being a starter for the Dallas Cowboys. It's Gerald Everett. It's Cole Komet. Which I don't hate Gerald Everett. But I would play Travis Kelsey.

It's Travis Kelsey unless they put him on the bench and then strap him there. Travis Kelsey could finish this game with five yards and three touchdowns. That is in the range of outcomes, yeah. Yeah, but, like, maybe he plays, and that's another thing. If they say Travis Kelsey is active, I'm playing him for fantasy football, and if they go out there and snap one, he's not on the field, don't freak out just yet. They could say, we're going to save Travis Kelsey for the red zone.

Like, we're going to use him on the really, really important snaps, and he can still make an impact for you. So, if he's active, I'm playing him. Going down with that ship. Yep. All right, quick question of the day. It's an over-under question from the website. Matt submitted this one.

He said, hey, guys, when looking at the over-under score for an upcoming game, what is the score threshold that either makes you excited or worried about who you are playing that week? And that's going to be part of our matchup breakdowns every week. You know, historically, 50-plus over-under games are gold mines. Yeah, they're delicious. They get us very hot and bothered on the matchup shows. But there haven't been a lot of those.

In week one, there are only two of them. One is Detroit-Kansas City. It's one of the reasons why I'm actually okay with Laporta tonight as your pivot. That's why I'm okay with Gerald Everett. Yeah. Well, the other one's Miami-Los Angeles, so the Chargers. Last year, 10% of regular season games closed with a 50-plus point total. A game total under what worries you?

Certainly under 40. Yes, yes. Those terrify. Unless you're wanting to stream a defense. If you're wanting to stream a defense, that's kind of what you look for. You look for a favorite in a really low scoring or a low over under. We took a look back, anything over the 45 point threshold is, that's perfectly fine. And a game total under 42 is worrisome, but also you need to be looking at not just over under, but team implied points.

Because an over under could be, you know, in the high forties, but team-implied points. Because an over-under could be in the high 40s, but then you look, oh, well, the team that's favored, they're favored by 10 points. So saying that the team on the other side is not actually going to be scoring that many points. So there's a lot of things to look at, which will help walk you through all that when we're doing matchups. All right, anything else to add there, Mr. Moore?

All right, let's to add there, Mr. Moore? No. Let's hop in the news. News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance. While we discuss the Travis Kelsey situation, we will be monitoring that news. We will be breaking whatever news comes through or anything we hear on socials at the ff ballers rams head coach sean mcveigh ruled out cooper cup for sunday's regular

season opener and he did not yeah rule out the possibility of placing him on the injured reserve we uh we were saying from the get-go here when he re-aggravated it when they said it's not a big deal it's a minor thing we said right off the bat he's missing at least a month that is the most probable outcome just based on the history of his age and this injury as a re-aggravation yeah and so it's it really sucks um but you know it hopefully our advice was was helpful for people thinking about how do you handle Cooper Cup if you're drafting later. We did our Megaloball draft. Andy, you did take him in the second.

That was, I think, just before this news came out. Would you have still taken the risk? No, I wouldn't have. Okay. Yeah, I mean, that was a gamble. It's one that could pay off later. I had to stack up, I believe, four or five consecutive wide receivers later in the draft to essentially account for the fact

I knew I wasn't going to have him early. Right. Ultimately, they don't have to make the IR decision yet. They're trying to get all the information possible. Jason made the argument yesterday here in the studio that a second-round pick for Cooper Cupp could still totally be worth it if he missed four games. It could.

If he's the number one receiver from week five on, of course it's worth it. Yeah, but just really, really high risk that he comes back and he's turd again. Did you say turd again? It sounded like it. It sounded like you said turd again. Well, it's all one and the same. It is, I guess.

Mark Andrews returned to a limited practice okay this is great news i have limited no excitement this is good news great news is is for full practice he get the limited practice i will absolutely take it we'll be watching him over the next couple of days mark andrews is, it's good because you spent the high draft capital pick on him. Seeing him at practice, what's not fantastic is the Baltimore Ravens are heavy, heavy favorites this week against the Texans and CJ Stroud. So there is a chance that Mark Andrews plays like half a game, similar to Travis Kelsey's. So those concerns are not out of here. But again, if Mark Andrews plays, I'm playing Mark Andrews. I don't know if Houston scores 10.

It's going to be really, really tough. Christian Watson and Romeo Dobbs both missed practice on Wednesday due to hamstring injuries. Yesterday we were talking up Christian Watson with Dobbs's injury Watson felt insecure about the pressure and decided to cast a shadow of doubt over the weekend this is tough because Watson would have been in start of the week contention yeah he was he was listed there to be my starter early this week. The matchup is brilliant for him. The injury being a little bit more long-term for Romeo Dobbs made it seem like Christian Watson is completely wheels up, ready to go.

I still think if he is active, because he's missed very, very little time, if he actually plays this week, then he is an okay start. You always worry about re-aggravation, but it's still a matchup worth putting Christian Watson in your lineup, so I'm not afraid of that. But wide receivers that miss a Wednesday practice for a hamstring injury, slightly more than half the time miss that week's game. All right, two rookies I want to report about, and if you took chances on them in the draft, you were rewarded. Jackson Smith and Jigba, wide receiver for the Seahawks,

will play in the opener. Devon A-Chain has been removed from the injury report. Woo-hoo! And so A-Chain and Smith and Jigba should make their debuts on Sunday. It's very exciting. Opportunities for both to make an impact early. Both very talented players. Please no more suplexes on Devon A. Chain.

That's going to be hard not to do. I mean, if you've got the chance to suplex someone in the NFL, you take it. Oh, I would do it. I'm just saying, please don't. Could he? No, he doesn't want to wear like a weight jacket or something. That would hurt.

He needs to Darren Sproles. Yes, he does. He needs to learn how to use his speed to get to where he's going and then don't fight for extra yards. No. Go down. Yeah. Dalvin Cook full go for week one against Buffalo. Man.

He could have a nice start to the year for your fantasy team. Matchup's not great, but, you know, every down there getting receptions from Aaron Rodgers, we know what he did for Aaron Jones at times. Brees Hall is just going to dominate. Matchup's not great, but every down there getting receptions from Aaron Rodgers, we know what he did for Aaron Jones at times. Brees Hall is just going to dominate. Week one? Just right out the gate.

Okay. Which would be your biggest fear, if I recall. That would be my biggest fear-sire. It's like a desire that I'm afraid of. A desire you're afraid of. Fear-sire? And if you just had courage to draft him everywhere, it would just be your greatest joy. Yeah.

Yeah, but you were a coward. I was a coward, and that's what I'm afraid of. You're afraid of being proven. My biggest fear is that my cowardice comes back upon me. That is my fear. Okay, we got there. Hollywood Brown limited in practice on Wednesday with the hamstring. That's not great. Josh Dobbs is expected to be the starter

for the Cardinals. That's right. That's right, Arizona. You're still sitting on your information like big fat dummies, but we got it. And guess what? No one's afraid. No one is afraid. No one is afraid. No one is worried that Josh Dobbs is the secret starting quarterback.

Washington is like, oh, Dobbs? Okay, cool. So to start the offseason, to be clear, it was Kyler Murray, Colt McCoy, Clayton Toon, David Blau. Yes. And the starter for the season is Josh Dobbs, who wasn't on the team. Correct. Well, to be fair, he wasn't on the team two weeks ago,

but he just got at it. There was an article that came out, I believe, on ESPN, and it was the best because the only reason I clicked it was it said 32 teams, 32 cases for them to win the Super Bowl. And, of course, they rank them in order of odds. And they make the case for the Cardinals. And it was just an enjoyable piece of fiction. Oh, they didn't just be like, no.

I mean, it was basically like Kyler comes back early. The division, the case for the Cardinals was the division is so bad that they win their final game of the year, putting them at 7-10, which wins them the division, and then Kyler goes nuclear in the playoffs. Okay, we can do it. Totally believable. It was fun because I knew that article had to make the case. Nope.

George Kittle returned to a limited practice. And there you go. Game preview on today's show. That was today's News and Notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com slash insurance. Fantasy forecast. Fantasy Forecast. All right, we're diving into the first Fantasy Forecast of the year. We're previewing the games. We're looking at those Vegas lines, the trends.

We're potentially discovering some stupid nicknames along the way. Potentially. We try not to spend too much time on the elite options, just to be clear. If you listen to the matchup shows and then on Twitter you're like, man, they did not talk about McCaffrey a lot. That's because we're helping you make start-sit decisions, not necessarily telling you whether or not to start the player you're starting. And so just keep

that in mind. You're starting CMC, you're starting Jefferson, starting Jamar Chase. These are players that we're never going to tell you to sit. If there is a storyline about them, we will certainly bring it up if there's an injury. But we want to focus on tougher start-sit decisions, the trajectory of these teams. We're at the information-gathering stage of the season. Like a lot of the premium tools on Join the Foot

are gathering data right now. Without two or three weeks' worth of real information on the defenses, like, you know, our starts of the week this week are, are based on what we've known of these teams and what happens in camp, but you don't have, you know,

they don't have defensive numbers for this season. So we're going to get more and more information, which will help make the predictions more accurate. Yeah. Everything that we're talking about when we, when we talk about defensive ranks on today's episode, we are using what is a really good metric, which is a schedule-adjusted defensive rank from last year

because we have the entire year of data. Now, obviously, that's last year's teams, and this year's teams are going to be wildly different. We see a lot of change over year after year, so you can't really go by that entirely. Starting next week and for a couple more weeks, we're just going to be able to use what has happened for one week at a time. But come week four, week five, we will start using the schedule-adjusted data. That stuff will be our default on all the join-the-foot tools.

It's really powerful stuff. And don't forget, if we do not talk about your favorite player long enough, there is the rankings that you can lean on and the Start Sit tool on the website and a whole lot more resources specific to those players. Let's begin. The Carolina Panthers. They traveled to Atlanta to take on the Atlanta Falcons.

The DK Sportsbook line here, Atlanta minus three and a half. Remember what we said scared us? Yep. Over under is 39.5 points. That is what you get when you match up Desmond Ritter and Bryce Young making his debut. Both teams have, I could see both teams 100% winning the division. I really can't.

The Panthers had such a great end to the season. The division is not intimidating. They're not who I'm picking, but I think both teams have a path. I think the Falcons, in my opinion, have one of the chances to be the best record that we didn't see coming. Sure. Because they have a running game. I think their defense will improve.

If Desmond Ritter is competent, they were in a ton of games last year. The implied point total, though, for this game, 21.5 points. The Panthers at 18. Frank Reich is 0-4-1 historically as a head coach in week one. He is the inverse Andy Reid. Not all losses, though. Did have a tie. Thank you.

You also have Bryce Young, where the number one overall quarterback pick has not won in their first week, game one, since 2002. 21 years. Yeah. That's wild. Yeah, it was David Carr. Makes sense. If you're the number one one pick it's because your team sucks they do have a shot this week against atlanta sure um desmond ritter the storyline with the rushing falcons offense is that he only averaged 18

completions per game in his starts last year it's why there's concern around dra London Kyle Pitts, Matt Collins any receiving options in Atlanta I felt like in our draft and correct me if I'm wrong much like the David Montgomery thing I said yesterday where people were just hesitant to take him there wasn't excitement and he just kept falling Kyle Pitts kept falling in the draft

nobody went after Kyle Pitts I was a little shocked, a little surprised yeah we talked about it on the show. Mock drafts is really where you want to have him. Real drafts, you got to play him. You missed that moment of the show. I did. We talked about both Jason and I have drafted Kyle Pitts in one of our leagues.

And we both said the minute we drafted him, we went, oh, nope, that was a bad pick. What have I done? The problem is, okay, let's take 18 completions and let's distribute that. You know, Bijan's going to be a huge part of the passing game. That didn't exist last year. You've got a low over-under. You've got Kyle Pitts needing to have targets on target. And one of the things their head coach came out and talked about

was how he became a more complete player last season. But that meant that he was involved in the running game, which is the fundamental part of this offense. And last season, Kyle Pitts, let's not forget, I know he got hurt. In 10 games, he had 356 yards. So it's not to say he's not going to have his games. He will absolutely have his games this year. Is this going to be one of them?

I don't think this is where I would project it. This matchup against Carolina Panthers, who had last season a pretty good rush defense against an Atlanta Falcons team that wants to establish it, wants to run the ball, wants to use the new shiny tool in Bijan Robinson. I just don't expect a ton of points. Obviously, DraftKings Sportsbook does not either. So this isn't where you would project the big breakout game for Kyle Pitts. Yeah, I do. I do expect that the passing volume will go up for Atlanta. The I mean, yes, Desmond Ritter, 18 completions, but Desmond Ritter was also thrown into the fire there at the end of the season.

We only saw four starts. An entire offseason building the team offense around Desmond Ritter because it was very early on in the process they said, this is going to be our guy. I mean, if I drafted a Falcon, I'm playing – like Bijon will be an automatic start every week. If I drafted Drake London in the fifth round, I'm, I'm going to play him. I'm not trying to look at a later round option. And the same goes for, for Kyle Pitts. I think the, the more

interesting questions are on the other side for Carolina. They're pretty easy answer, but I think they're more interesting. Yeah. Let's start with the running back situation. Last year the Falcons were not good against the running back. The Panthers were. They were 10th in the league. They gave up 17.4 fantasy points. Is Miles Sanders set up to have a good first game here? I mean, if he's set up for a whole bunch of volume,

we did get a quote kind of recently because Sanders had his groin injury that was widely reported, and he said, I mean, it was really just a couple days. This wasn't a lengthy groin injury that he had suffered. He is capable of catching the ball. His draft stock soared after Frank Reich threw her. I think it was Frank Reich. They were talking, saying they threw out there,

we want to get you back to 50-plus catches. So Miles Sanders is in. Adam Thielen was limited at practice with an ankle. So I'm already hurt. He's limited is actually his permanent status for the remainder of his career. Which – and DJ Chark not practicing with a hamstring. Don't expect to see him. So that takes me to the rookie, Jonathan Mingo,

who I think is a must-watch player this weekend. And depending on the size of your league, I think that stashing him at the back of the bench, because there's a chance that Mingo wasn't drafted in your league. I think a Sunday ad, should you have someone like Romeo Dobbs or one of these players that they get marked out put them in the ir and who are you going to stash jonathan mingo is very interesting who you're going to stand jonathan mingo yeah but you're not starting any receiving option for the carolina panthers

correct you're going to wait until further notice bryce young does yeah not in this over under nope yeah all right quick break Back with the next matchup. Whether in the game or in life, the right coverage can make all the difference. Securian Canada gives you that coverage. For more than 65 years, Securian Canada has been helping Canadians build secure tomorrows. Their insurance solutions are designed to help protect you and your loved ones financially, giving you the peace of mind to focus on what truly matters. Find their products through banks, credit unions, and associations, or visit SecurianCanada.ca.

Securian Canada, insurance designed for life. Here we go. Yeah, this one looks better. Cincinnati travels to Cleveland to take on the Browns. The DraftKings Sportsbook line here, Cincinnati minus 2.5. The over-under is 48.5. More excited about this. 48.5, that's a good line.

Joe Barrow said, I'm good to go. Yep. Yeah, he's good to go. They had him on a secret regiment to recover, and he got there. And they split the series last year. Cleveland won at home. They smashed the Bengals. Oh, was that the Halloween game?

It was. Yeah, where Evan McPherson did not have two field goals. Jason lost some money in that game. I lost a lot of money on that game. That's why I remember it. I remember walking around Halloween night watching my phone going, kick a field goal.

That's right. Kick a field goal. No, they did. Oh, they missed it. So Joe Burrow, Deshaun Watson. Watson was one of the last picks in our draft. He's also on several of my teams

because he's the quarterback I've gone with when all the others are snagged up at the top. I generally pair him with an Anthony Richardson later or an Aaron Rodgers later just to kind of hedge against the fact that what if he doesn't put it together? But I think he will. Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore, David Njoku, Nick Chubb, this offense has the capability of being pretty good, and I like that they're at home in week one.

If this game was in Cincinnati, I'd be pretty cautious about all their offensive pieces. It's not the greatest matchup with Cincinnati's defense being pretty stout, but for wide receivers last year, there were opportunities. So I think Amari Cooper could start the year pretty strong. Amari Cooper to me is a must start. He's just where he was drafted and his talent, where he is in the pecking order of the offense,

he's an in no matter what to me. I think the real question is Deshaun Watson. Like you said, you've got him in a couple leagues and you usually paired him. I did the same exact thing. I have him in a couple of leagues, and most of the time I've got him paired either with Tua or with Geno. Personally, the way that I'm approaching week one, both of those players I would play over Deshaun Watson.

I agree. I want to see what Deshaun Watson is, and this isn't a great matchup for him, whereas Tua has the Chargers at home, high over under, and Geno is a great start this week against the Rams. So if you've got the option, even on waiver wire. What about Dak, who ended up on the waiver wire in our league? Dak against the Giants in New York or Watson at home? I think I would take the shot on Watson there personally.

They're about even to me, same tier. I'd go Dak. Would you? Yeah. Okay. I do remind folks that Watson was the number eight and number six quarterback his last two games last year. So we'll see what happens.

The rubber meets the road this year for Watson. It's either the worst financial investment in the history of team sports or it works out. Well, yeah, the rubber meets the road, but the rubber will keep burning no matter what because he will be the quarterback for multiple years. All right, Joe Burrow, if he's in there, you play him.

Jamar Chase, of course. T. Higgins, yep. Joe Mixon, the Cleveland Rush defense was bad last year. 24 points a game, giving up. Joe Mixon, he's their guy. Yep. We made it to week one. It was a wild and bumpy ride with Joe Mixon of legal troubles,

salary cuts, who knows what they're doing, but he sits alone at the top of the depth chart. We still don't even know who the backup is. There was a time when his football card for the Cincinnati Bengals said, on the front, it said, star running back Joe Mixon. And now they just put T-I-N-G at the end. It's starting running back Joe Mixon.

He is not what he once was, but he's also good enough to give you, I think, a lot of consistency on a really good offense. A name that has not been uttered. Irv Smith. He is going to be the tight end for the Bengals who has had – their tight ends have had some games. They have.

Keep your eyes on it. Absolutely. Are you digging deep on Elijah Moore? Just a final question here. If you're in a full PPR flex decision, like Van Jefferson or Elijah Moore? Van Jefferson. Elijah Moore? Van Jefferson. Yeah, I would go Van. He projects to be the one right now.

All right, Jacksonville. Oh, man. I drafted Van Jefferson and did not think about that Cooper Cup news in relation to the longevity of success that Van Jefferson might have. Oh, and he plays against you this week. Oh, fantastic. Are you flexing on me with Van Jefferson might have. Oh, and he plays against you this week. Oh, fantastic.

Are you flexing on me with Van Jefferson right now? It's all I have. Is this a Van Jefferson flex? It's all I have. That's like the little, that's the nine-year-old flexing at me, going like, look how strong, or squeezing my arm as hard as he can. Like, I'm going to show you. Thanks, bud.

Hey, before we move on from the Browns, I do want to really quick discuss david nojoku because i love him you love him yeah and that's great so you're just in you're starting him you're keeping him i am more of the mindset with some of these later round tight ends that i drafted like for instance in our league of record i i grabbed greg dulcich i love greg dulcich i think he's good but i am playing the streaming matchup with this tier of tight end personally. So if Tyler Higbee was out there, I would rather start Tyler Higbee than David Njoku against the Bengals. If Juwan Johnson, for me personally, I think the matchup is great.

I would rather do that. And so the question is – Saints tight end. Yes, Saints tight end. Yeah, the question is are you willing to drop David? That's exactly what I'm – And I'm not. No, I think Njoku is one of the few tight ends that has the ability

to give you top five weeks. And so I'm going to ride him with this offseason of Deshaun Watson and this offense. I'm going to play him. I'm going to play him until I am proven wrong about David Njoku just because of upside potential. That would be my take. Although the Higby situation is very tempting.

If you're in a full PPR, I would be willing to make that statement. That one I'd be willing to do. I will admit that. Jacksonville, Indianapolis. Games at home for Indy. The DraftKings Sportsbook line, Jacksonville minus five, the over-under is 45.5. I'm so excited about the storylines in this game. This will be a game that I have my eyes on both sides of the ball.

I can't wait to see what happens with Anthony Richardson. He gets the benefit of starting at home. The Jacksonville Jaguars gave up a decent amount of points to the opposing quarterbacks last year, and he gets to show what he's got. And look, Anthony Richardson does not have to be the most polished NFL quarterback by any stretch of the imagination to deliver a wonderful fantasy week for you. So I can't bring myself to start him in any of the leagues where I took him, but I'm excited to watch it.

Yeah, if you're in a position where you have to start him, I don't think you need to be looking to the waiver wire to pivot. I think he's an okay start. I do expect him to get off to a slow start in his NFL career. First half of the year versus second half of the year, I think it's going to be much better later. So if you did already pair him with those quarterbacks we were talking about earlier, Ageno Smith, Atua, I would play those guys over Anthony Richardson

and wait and see. But he has a matchup here where he could be good right out of the gates just by running the ball. Would you go Sam Howell against Arizona? No. I would go Anthony Richardson. Sam Howell's value a lot of times will come on the ground. It won't be as much as Anthony Richardson.

And I think similar to what we saw with the Houston Texans last year, where even though they had a bad secondary, you never had good games for your wide receivers or your quarterback because teams just ran the ball on them. I think that's the second half against the Cardinals. I just expect Sam Howell does not need to do much other than say, here, take this ball and run with it. Yeah, brand-new head coach for Indianapolis this week,

and we'll have Jonathan Taylor. You're going to have Deion Jackson getting the start. Zach Moss is not expected to play. Should be back week two or week three. Deion Jackson is a player getting started against me in a league. I know that. Congratulations, man.

It's a one-week start. Jacksonville's defense was pretty good against running backs last year, but it'll come down to receptions. Like if he gets the ball thrown his way, Deion Jackson had some good games last year. Yeah, there are worse things than starting Deion Jackson this week, but do keep your eye on the news.

Zach Moss not expected to play, but I believe he was limited on Wednesday. So who knows by Sunday if Zach Moss is in. And if Zach Moss is active, then I'm bailing out. But if Moss is inactive, I think Deion Jackson, it could be a lot worse. He had 10 receptions on 10 targets game last year and six receptions on eight targets game. I'm not excited about it. It's just not happening from Anthony Richardson, though.

That's not the style of quarterback that's going to give him six even. Especially when Evan Hull is kind of the pass-catching specialist. I'm O-U-T on this personally. First game for Evan Hull as a rookie. If Moss is out, I expect Deion Jackson is going to get like 70-plus percent of the snaps. Michael Pittman. Michael Pittman, by the time drafts came around i thought was a value the whole off season i was like he was being drafted as like the wide

receiver 20 wide receiver 18 and i'm like no take me out of that graphic for those not watching i take me out get put it back to Mike. He drafted him. I had no choice. I think he's okay. He was a value. He was a value. 99 receptions last year for Michael Pittman. He's being drafted in a place where I think wide receivers are probably averaging 60 to 70 receptions. So in a PPR format, Michael Pittman's going to be a steal. This was the pendulum being swung out of frustration. A bunch of angry people swung it.

And it makes sense because it was very frustrating. He was catching passes that seemed to be behind the line of scrimmage. I mean, it was kind of like what happened to Deontay Johnson. And I think people see the path for Deontay Johnson to have a good year. And I think there's a path for Pittman. If Anthony Richardson comes out and he's a better quarterback than people give him credit for, Michael Pittman will be the reason why. Even if he's not, if he comes out and throws for 199 yards,

I think the target share, the market share that Pittman's going to have of this offense, he's going to be a fine play. This matchup is good. You expect him to be throwing it the whole game long. Yeah, you do. Are you playing Drake London against Carolina? Or are you playing Michael Pittman? Because the passing volume could be similar. I would play Drake London. I'd play Pittman. The way I see it is I think Pittman has a higher floor than Drake London, but Drake London has a higher ceiling. So depending on the rest of your roster,

if you need upside, if you're going up against a juggernaut, I'd go London. If you need safety, I'd go Pittman. Sky more tonight or Pity City? Pity City. Did you fix the graphic? Did you fix it? Thank you. Hey, okay.

If something good happens, I'm taking it all. It's all yours, Mike, and I bought the ticket right out. I hopped on a train. But no, I'm taking it all. It's all yours, Mike, and I bought the ticket right out. I hopped on a train. But no, I think he's sneaky. Michael Pittman is a good wide receiver. He is the number one wide receiver. Will he be usable or will he be, Jason, what did you call him? Wide receiver won't?

Won't? Yeah. Yeah, he did fit the bill where the wide receiver won for a team with the bottom five pass rate under expectation is usually not a good wide receiver. We'll find out.

On the Jacksonville side, you're starting your stars. Lawrence, Ridley. Very excited to see his debut. ETN, of course. Christian Kirk? I think Christian KirkN, of course. Christian Kirk? I think Christian Kirk is a fine start. Ingram? Yes.

Evan Ingram. Yeah, you drafted Evan Ingram to start. So Evan Ingram is in. Christian Kirk is a fine flex option. I would play him behind Michael Pittman. And Tank Bigsby I'm so excited to see, but I'm going to have him on my bench. The coaching staff said they're going to bring him along a little bit slower.

I don't necessarily believe it, but where you drafted him, he doesn't need to be in your starting lineup. I want to just take a look. And Travis Etienne should be a smash play. Tampa heads to Minnesota to take on the Vikings. The over-under here is 45-and-a-half. The DraftKings Sportsbook line has Minnesota as six-point home favorites. That's exactly what we were talking about at the top.

So this is an over-under of 45. That's fantastic. But the implied team total for Tampa Bay is actually lower than the Indianapolis Colts. Correct. Yeah, because Minnesota is heavily favored. Correct. They were 8-1 at home last year. We get to see Alexander Madison with the backfield to himself for the

very first time. That's right. We get to see Alexander Madison with the backfield to himself for the very first time. Let's ride. We get to watch Jordan Addison make his debut. Is there a world where you're playing Jordan Addison this week? There's a world where he's in my lineup right now. There's a world where I'm forced to. So it's the world you're living in. I will say this.

I would much prefer. I love Addison. He's one of my guys. I think he's going to have a phenomenal year. I would much prefer to be able to sit him. In this matchup, he could have a good game, but you just don't know how much snap percentage he's going to play, whether he's going. The way that we've seen this Minnesota staff kind of handle some other rookies is not necessarily throwing them out there week one to the fire. So, if you have to, like I do, okay. I think you could have a good game, but I would rather

take a wait-and-see approach. All right. Justin Jefferson, you should play him. Hawkinson, yep. How about the Buccaneers? Are we watching with some curiosity here? We've got Baker Mayfield, starting quarterback of Tampa Bay for the very first time. He is a chuck or check down type of quarterback, which could be okay. I mean, just throw in some interceptions and you've got Jameis Winston in that recipe.

He's really interesting. If you're playing in a super flex league and maybe you don't have the strongest options, I think Baker Mayfield could surprise this week against a putrid pass defense from the Minnesota Vikings with a high over-under where they're going to need to throw and he's got weapons to throw to. He's someone that I think should probably crack super flex league rosters this week. All right. Mike Evans. Off the injury report. All right. Mike Evans.

Off the injury report. Yeah, he's healthy. He's good. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are great plays. Kate Otten or David Njoku? David Njoku. Yeah. Tennessee takes on the Saints.

Also, we've brought his name up a lot, but the player that I'm really watching is Sean Tucker, running back of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Let's see if Rashad White is good. Let's see how much they split because Sean Tucker, I believe, is actually good. Yeah, I'm going to be watching that. Yeah. And Rashad White has an opportunity.

I don't know how it's going to get broken down in week one. I'm playing Rashad White, but I'm saying I'm watching Sean Tucker with, you know. Excitement? Yes. All right. The Tennessee Titans take on the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans. The DraftKings Sportsbook line here, New Orleans minus three. The over-under is 41.

Okay. Okay. The implied point total would give the Saints 22 and the Titans 19. These are two teams that played very slow last year. Andy Dalton, Malik Willis, thank you for that. And, you know, Derek Carr gets to make his debut. And it's a great matchup. I'm excited.

I mean, last year the Titans' defense against quarterbacks, wide receivers, and Titans, not too good. It's pretty exciting for the entirety of the New Orleans Saints side. Derek Carr, a fine quarterback, too. Fine streamer this week. Olave, absolutely. Jason already brought up Jawan Johnson. Are you talking about him later? I am.

Ooh, spicy. And then Jamal Williams with the Alvin Kamara three-game suspension. Here we go again. Kendra Miller as the ultimate recoverer. It's going to be Jamal Williams getting a ton of volume yet again. Goal line opportunities if here's a question for you. Jamal Williams or Deion Jackson

should Zach Moss not play? Jamal Williams. Jamal. Okay. I agree. I think it's pretty easy. Olave, yes. You play him. Michael Thomas, we'll see what he has left. It's been an up and down situation. The reports in camp, sometimes they're good.

Sometimes they're not so good. And we'll get to find out how. To me, it's about involvement in the offense. Is he out there every snap? Does he become one of Derek Carr's favorite targets? Or does he get lost in the non-Olave options and the pile of tight ends that they have to throw out there on the field? Yeah, the way that I see this game going is it's going to be really, really good for the Saints if they can stop Derrick Henry, because what the Titans want to do is really make this game ugly. They want to slow it down. They want

to control the clock, run it slow, and just keep the ball out of the Saints' hands, and I could see that happening in this game. So I have a little bit of fear that it will not go as happy as it should be with the matchup for the Saints. But the fact that the Saints are at home I think is very, very helpful here. I'm putting my bet that the Saints will produce a lot of fantasy points this week, but my fear is that Derrick Henry just controls the clock a lot. Well, the Saints defense is one of my favorite plays this week. So if I was targeting defenses and drafts and I didn't want to take any of the kind of top actual defenses,

which the Saints kind of are, but this matchup specifically, this and the Commanders, they were my week one targets. Tennessee on the road. If you look at the Saints end of season and the points they gave up to end last year, it was like 10 points, 10 points, 10 points, 10 points, 10 points. Win or loss. Sometimes they lost those games because they couldn't score. But they were a really high-performing defense to end the year, and I think they win this game.

Hopkins, you play him? Sure. And that might be the end of the receiver list for this roster. It is. Chica Conquo. No. Kind of. Yes, I agree.

But kind of a tight end darling of the offseason. Oh. Thank you. Oh, no. Yeah. But with Hopkins coming in, it kind of cooled that off, and the matchup is not great. So I'd prefer not to play him.

49ers going to Pittsburgh, taking on the Steelers and Kenny Pickett, the DraftKings Sportsbook line here. San Francisco minus two on the road, over-unders 41-and-a-half. It's getting nasty. You've got Tomlin sitting at 16-4-3 against the spread as a home underdog. This game's going to be very interesting. Yes, it's going to be a bloodbath. For who?

I'm just saying for football. These are two physical teams that play so violently. I really think this is going to be just an angry, mean-spirited game, and I love it. There was a point here where we didn't think maybe Nick Bosa would be available. He got p-p-paid. Oh, yes. Sorry, p-p-picket.

Yeah, Kenny Pickett, unfortunately, will have to face the number one rushing defense, so handing the ball off to Najee and Warren is going to be trepidatious. They're just a great defense defense overall so you're going to have all these offseason expectations of this new found picket offense and the first week they're going to have to get it done against the San Francisco team and it's going to be hard and it's going to make it's going to make the draft investments in Harris and Deontay Johnson and Pickens uh and Pickens and Pickett and Friar Muth, very – like you might have some bad games.

Not all of those guys, but you might have a few that make you go, oh, no. But it might not be indicative of the rest of the season. Yeah, you could say that in both directions here because I think that the Steelers' defense, they've been so much better with Watt on the field. Watt should be available. And this is a defense that could really throw some stuff at Brock Purdy. We've brought it up very, I think maybe once before, maybe twice, but it's been a long time. Brock Purdy, who was just so great, you know, he was,

he was a revelation. You got to also be a little honest with the teams he was beaten last year. You know, he, he beat the commanders and the Raiders and the seahawks and the buccaneers and the cardinals like yeah he won those games that's great but he hasn't faced a team like this yet so uh with watt bearing down i think this could be really a defensive game where you're disappointed with a lot of the fantasy assets but obviously where you drafted some of these guys like like nagi and debo and christian Christian McCaffrey you're just yeah they're all in but you might be disappointed are you what are you doing with George Kittle because he was limited Wednesday he you know it's been an ongoing groin injury for at least a few weeks now you if

you if you drafted George Kittle you did it with like a fifth or a sixth round pick are you playing him or you you start him if he's active. It's similar to Kelsey in the sense that there's just pivot options at tight end are all garbage, and a bad game from Kittle can be just as good. Debo, Ayuk, McCaffrey. Yep. McCaffrey, over the last four years in games with 40-plus percent of snaps,

has averaged 22.6 fantasy points i i read that i'm gonna i'm gonna i've been talking in a dynasty league about trading mcafree we're going back and forth all morning on trade offers oh okay i read that stat and clicked withdrawal not a joke i mean it's it was dangling out there to be accepted. In Dynasty. I'll take one year, McCaffrey. In Dynasty, we always talk about be out one year too early on running backs. That is historically the way to go. Christian McCaffrey feels like you might just go down with the ship.

Just let him be a superstar until he's not and when then when he is eventually not a superstar you just you salute him and you thank him for his years of service yeah I clicked withdraw uh Kenny Pickett here there's a good example of a matchup where I think most people because of where they were drafted you'd you'd be starting in two quarterback leagues Kenny Pickettett, over Baker Mayfield, and I wouldn't. I would flip those. I would start Baker Mayfield because of the matchup here. And Howell?

Howell scares me. I really, I love Howell. You know I'm all in on Howell. I think he wins the game, but I- How in are you? I'm, was that a Howell in? Yeah, I don't know. I was just trying to-

I thought you missed it. That's not in there enough. I'm not very in this week against the Cardinals. That's a sad wolf. Yeah, I know. Not the breakthrough performance this week, huh? I think he'll have a good first half. I think Dotson's going to have a good game, but you want a whole game.

You don't think Arizona's even going to score. Let's talk about that game. Cardinals take on the Commanders. DraftKings Sportsbook line, Washington, minus seven. The over-under's just 38, which means the Cardinals are projected for 15 points. Oh, mercy. That's what I'm talking about.

Cannonball! Oh, nice. Nice. So, wait. You're telling me the sportsbooks don't know for sure who the starting quarterback is because it's top secret, really advantageous information for the Cardinals to hide, and they have Washington favored by seven in the over-under at 38, which if you've been around sportsbooks,

when a starting quarterback is not known, they often don't even put numbers up because they don't want to risk anything. But they're saying we do not care, just like the commanders. Well, let's see if the NFL does what it does, which is surprise the heck out of us sometimes. The way the commanders lose this ballgame, I can tell you it right now. It's Sam Hill. If Sam Hill comes out and commits a couple turnovers,

then that's the direction the game could go. Like they lose 3-0? No, I mean, look. Because of turnovers? Sam Hill turns the ball over six times and they lose 3-0. Oh, boy. Oh, I mean, look. Because of turnovers? Sam Howell turns the ball over six times, and they lose 3-0. Oh, boy. Oh, I dare you. No.

I dare you. Oh, do it. Do it. Do it. I dare you. Your eyes got big. Push that button. That's so.

He's reaching. Don't use the magic. Oh, this is not good. Oh, no. Andy's almost upset of the week. Homer. No, no, no, listen. All right.

This is not a Homer pick. I want us to lose every game. I want the first pick. It would be bad. But this is a seven-point line with a quarterback making his, you know, starting the season as the starter for the first time. I think you could say that about Josh Dobbs. You absolutely can.

And I wish I didn't hit the button. Trust me. It's going to probably be wrong. But the game might be closer than you think. It's an almost upset. James Conner, you're playing him. James Conner, you are playing him. But you're nervous. Yeah, the matchup isn't good, but

the matchup is pretty irrelevant. The matchup's gonna be bad for the Cardinals every single week. James Connor's the only guy in the backfield that's... Yeah, don't wait for a good matchup for the Cardinals. Yeah, the... James Connor's gonna get a ton of volume and probably five or six receptions.

It's one of those things where he's not like a smash start, oh, I've got to get him in there. There are other players that I would play ahead of him, like Raheem Mostert I would play ahead of him. But James Conner is – What about Jamal Williams? I think I would stick on the James Conner side. Oh, yeah, me too.

Brian Robinson. Yeah. Starting running back for the the commanders on the other side Antonio Gibson I'm willing to start Gibson if the game script goes as Jason and I are projecting

of Washington having a nice lead in the second half Antonio Gibson is going to get plenty of work do you believe that you should play Terry McLaurin if he's active under all circumstances? All circumstances, no. I mean, it's going to depend on who you have on.

Van Jefferson or Terry McLaurin? I would probably go Terry there. Okay. Is there a lower tier option? Christian Watson? I would go Christian Watson over Terry McLaurin. If they're both active, they're both dealing with injuries. I'd go Terry.

Really? Yeah. John Dotson? My guy. Yeah. Dotson, I think, is a great start this week. Terry McLaurin, even if he's active, we just don't know how much he's going to be hampered by that.

We've heard about how difficult it is for a wide receiver to play through a turf toe, not just difficult from a pain standpoint, but from a performance standpoint. You're having to plant and cut and burst off of your foot. So I think Dotson projects no matter what to be the wide receiver one for this matchup. I am absolutely fine playing Jahan Dotson.

There's no cornerback that can cover Dotson on the Cardinals. Hollywood Brown. Is he just a player you play because he's everything they have right now on offense? In general, yes, I do worry about the hamstring issue. Obviously, he'll either be active or inactive, but given the fact that

he was still not practicing Wednesday... What about... Sorry, go ahead. I'm not sure he's going to be active. Are you playing Dotson over him? Yes. Oh, for sure. Dotson's actually seven of the top ten start-sit questions on the website right now are Dotson-related. Interesting.

People are debating because they got value on him, and they're debating whether this matchup is great, like Sky Moore tonight or Dotson. I would go Dotson. I would play Dotson. Addison against Tampa Bay or Dotson? I would go Dotson. I would play Dotson. Zay Flowers against Houston or Dotson? I would go Dotson. Addison against Tampa Bay or Dotson? I would go Dotson.

Zay Flowers against Houston or Dotson? I would play Dotson. That was very interesting, but I would go Dotson. And then we said Hollywood. Anybody else you're even whispering in Arizona? No. I'm going to keep my eyes on Michael Wilson. He might end up being the one if Hollywood

is inactive. That's the rookie wide receiver from the third round this last year. And I want to see what happens with Trey McBride slash Zacherts. I don't think Zacherts is going to play. If he doesn't, I'm really interested to see how they use Trey McBride. I'm not going to start him. Well, we might start him if Kelsey's out. Trey McBride, I mean, this is your dumpster diving. And I really can't advise to do it.

But just watching, if Hollywood is out, I mean. What if Zach Ertz starts? No. Are you saying would I play Zach Ertz? Yeah, you said your dumpster diving. Zach Ertz would be the starter if he's active. Yeah, but even if he is active, if he's active, I think it just destroys everything. The whole

world? Yeah. I don't see Zachary's playing a full allotment of snaps, and then you're not going to feel comfortable playing him, and you're not going to feel comfortable taking the low, low percentage chance on Trey McBride. Okay. And then the other thing, keep your eyes on

Cole Turner's involvement. Washington's tight end uh logan thomas has missed most of camp with a calf injury i believe he's playing though isn't he all right that that's what i say just keep your eyes on update there i think logan thomas is practicing we'll look it up okay okay i thought you were full time on cole turner related news kyle i thought this was like you knew that world like the back of your hand. Is that not true? I'm just glad we get to talk about him. Yeah.

We shouldn't have. Moving on. Starts of the week. All right. We're digging into our starts of the week. What are these? These are our confidence picks. Players that you might be on the edge of. Do you sit this guy down? Do you pivot away? I mean, it's

week one. It's very difficult in week one. In week one, you are playing the players that you drafted. Generally, in the order you drafted them. Otherwise, you would have taken somebody else ahead of them. We're not going to tell you that CMC is the start of the week. I might. I might.

Eventually. He is. He's mine. But, yeah, so let's kick it off with the quarterback position, and I'm going to go a little bit deeper here. I love the matchup. I'm going to send it in. Send in the car.

Yeah. Send in the car. Here we go. Derek Carr, new home, new uniform. The Titans were a plus matchup last year for quarterbacks, and they allowed the most passing yards per game. Chris Olave is a monster, and I love the Saints at home. I think Derek Carr is – I think he's got a chip on his shoulder,

and I think week one is the matchup. A bulging, very muscular shoulder. Oh, I thought you said like a bulging disc. No, no, no. No, I'm saying that he's – Yeah, he's very strong. He's yoked. He's yoked.

And, you know, the Tennessee defensive front was number one against the run. You have Alvin Kamara, no Kendri Miller. Like Jamal Williams, he's a dog around the goal line, but he's not going to be the guy that's moving the chains all game long. I think it's going to be Derek Carr. So I think you're going to get low-end QB1 numbers with some upside here in this dome game. Yeah, I don't mind that at all. I can easily see the path.

Also, Logan Thomas is totally fine. Is he? He's finally back? Looked good at practice. All right. Off the injury report. Never mind. Cole Turner, take a seat. Yeah, dreams are dead.

All right, I'm going to go with Geno Smith. To me, Geno Smith is the must-start outside of the obvious guys. There's eight obvious guys that were drafted as the top eight quarterbacks off the board that you're clearly going to start. If you don't have one of them, I'm starting Geno. I'm starting him over Kirk, over Dak, over Watson, Daniel Jones, Russell Wilson, Anthony Richardson. The matchup here for Geno is very, very good.

You waited for this opening matchup against the Rams. Next week, it's at Detroit, so he'll probably be my start of the week next week. They have a 25.5 point team implied total. That's the fifth highest this week. Geno was already a top 12 quarterback two times against the Rams last year. And now, JSN. He's ready to go. It looks like he's going to play week one.

So now he just gets a better offense, plus Zach Charbonnet out of the backfield that he can dump off passes to. Sounds like a shopping network. JSN? Oh, that does sound like a shopping network. Or at least news. Okay. But yeah, I think Geno Smith, really good start this week.

And where you drafted him, you might have questions. I'm going with Tua. Oh, I like that. Outside of the Thursday night game, Dolphins-Chargers, it is the highest over under the week, again, besides the Thursday. Chargers defense, they give up explosive plays. First and 31st in explosive pass rate allowed. That's 15-plus yard plays.

Second highest passer rate allowed on 15-plus yard attempts. And the guys for Tua, that would be their specialty. A crazy stat. Tua led the NFL in passing yards on play action last year, despite missing four games and being knocked out of a few more because if anyone bites just a little nibble on play action, that's a free huge play for Tyreek or Waddle, and Tua's going to keep throwing.

Last year, Miami ranked fourth in pass rate while leading. Don't underestimate the passing value of Devon Achain for Tua out of the backfield. Last year, the Chargers had no receivers for a period of time, but Austin Eckler still helped Herbert put up record-setting passing numbers. All right, Brian Robinson is my running back start of the week. Yeesh. It's not the sexiest pick, but it is going to be delicious for Brian Robinson.

He is coming into his second season without the recovery process But it is going to be delicious for Brian Robinson. He is coming into his second season without the recovery process that he had last year. He's going to see 18-plus touches. Even if my stupid, almost upset pick comes true, this game's going to be kind of a dogfight on the ground. Connor Robinson and, yeah, this was the commitment Ron Rivera has shown to Bryan Robinson and the fact that Antonio Gibson's come out and said, hey, I'm the J.D. McKissick.

Bryan Robinson's going to get it done this week. I'm going to downgrade myself. I completely agree. I was telling Mike I think he's a great draft pick for where he's going, like ninth round. Bryan Robinson. I take him everywhere where he's going, like ninth round. Brian Robinson. I take him everywhere. He's going to come out.

He's going to have 25 carries, 100 yards, two touchdowns in week one, and I am shipping him out. It's going to be hard to do after that game, but I'm going, hey, who wants a bell cow running back? You wouldn't play him over like Kenneth Walker this week against the Rams. I wouldn't go that far, but he is up pretty high, and I think should be in most people's starting lineups, at least in your flex.

My running back is a smash play this week. It's J.K. Two Legs. Yeah, baby. Two healthy legs, J.K. Dobbins against Houston. Guys, Houston, I know we know that they were bad last year, and they are better this year, but here's how bad they were. Okay, 17 games. Here's what bad they were. Okay, 17 games. Here's what the teams did against them in 17 games.

They ran the ball 573 times for 2,894 yards and 25 rushing touchdowns. That is the most rushing yards allowed by an NFL team in over 40 years. Teams ran the ball. 5.05 yards per carry. Yeah. They ran the ball. 5.05 yards per carry. They ran the ball 34 times a game versus them. Even though Baltimore is going to be faster and more pass happy, when Baltimore

who is 10 point home favorites are up by a ton, they are just going to hand this ball off a lot because they're an NFL franchise. They're not trying to break passing records. They're trying to win games. J.K. Dobbins. Oh, no. The Gus bus could be involved, but I do think that J.K. Dobbins has an outstanding week one. There's no situation where I'm not starting him. My week one start. We've been waiting

for this all year, baby. It's Alexander Madison time starting running back for a team that is a six point home favorite. Jason bringing that up for JK2L. Looking at odds of scoring a touchdown, DraftKings has Eckler, Chubb, Derrick Henry, and Tony Pollard. Those are the only running backs who have a higher percentage chance, according to DraftKings, of scoring a touchdown than Alexander Madison, the defensive front for the Buccaneers. Maybe they're better this year, but again, last year over the final seven games,

a top 12 running back in four of those games. It's Madison time. All right, I'm pairing my wide receiver start of the week with my quarterback, Chris Olave. Oh, yes. It's time to get him out there and get him going. Pairs with the car start of the week, going against the Titans defense that allowed the most fantasy points

to wide receivers. Wide receiver ones averaged 18.4 fantasy points a game against them last year. Let's get this rocket ship off the ground. Agreed. Yeah, I'm going with Jahan Dotson at wide receiver. We talked about it in the matchup. I don't need to go over it too much,

but he projects to be the wide receiver one for this team, no matter what, even if Terry McLaurin is out there for week one. He's got great hands. He's just a good ball player. And while I think that the second half they'll be throwing the ball less, Dodson gets a touchdown in the first half of this game. All right, Mike. I'm going to pair with Jason's quarterback start of the week.

I'm going to take wide receiver, my guy, Tyler Lockett. It's hot Lockett time. Hot Lockett. Thank you. Against the Rams last year, we had 9 for 128 in a score, 4 for 54 in a score. That's week one. It's hard to pick a guy. So, Tyler Lockett, he's going to crush in week one.

Okay. My tight end start of the week is Tyler Higbee. No Cooper Cup. Obviously, if you're without Travis Kelsey because he doesn't play tonight, George Kittle because he doesn't play, Mark Andrews, surprise, he doesn't play, please pivot to Higbee. He is a great play in a PPR league. He will get volume, and they don't have a lot of options.

It's not like Van Jefferson. They're going to have to throw. Van Jefferson is not a proven one one he's a proven not one he is a proven it's like josh palmer taking over exactly as the number one and in offense you don't have an established uh go to like he stafford's going to go to higby more uh frequently than i think he'll go to van jefferson jefferson's targets may be more valuable, but he had 108 targets last year. Higby did.

And so you're looking at a game where they are going to be behind. You may have some garbage time, and that's where I'm going to go. Tyler Higby. I'm going back to pair with another quarterback here, Derek Carr. I think that tight end, Jawan Johnson, is a really good start this week. When you look at the camp buzz around Jawan Johnson and how he's been involved, there are beat reporters saying if you're going to draft someone from the Saints in fantasy football, Jawan Johnson's the one you want.

And now you look at the matchup, the matchup is good against wide receivers, good against quarterbacks, but it is great against tight ends. Schedule adjusted last season, they were the second worst against the tight end position. They got eaten alive there. So you put that all together, I think Juwan Johnson is a good bet for a big game. I mean, whenever you're looking at these kind of waiver wire type of tight ends, they've got a lot of things that work out. It's probably 60-40 that it'll work out, but know it's it's probably 60 40 that it'll work out but if it works with juwan johnson um it's going to be good i mean he had seven touchdowns last year and four top five finishes i'm going with a lower end potential streaming type of an option gerald everett who has

not really been talked up on this podcast i mean because you keep talking of gerald everett and then he kind of keeps letting you down. You've got to keep it quiet. He's in a really good position. Chargers tied with the Ravens for the second highest team implied total. Miami allowed the fourth most fantasy points to the tight end position. That's what we want.

A team where at least we have last year's history of they gave up points to the tight end. We got a high over under. I think that he can end up as a low-end tight end one in the week. All right. Well, a reminder, all the rankings in the Start-Sit tool on the website, thefantasyfootballers.com. I was going to end the show, but then I remembered.

We got something special. We got something special. Jason Moore's Ironclad, locked and loaded, 100% guaranteed boom-boom kicker of the week. Last year on Boom Boom, I declared myself the true boom-boom, and I'm coming after you kickers this year, because you're all nonsense. Like Patrick Swayze, boys, I i may go crazy i wonder if i will

hit my point break kickers are dirty when they're dancing past 30 they will make my tummy ache but this year i ain't regressing boom boom's not messing for i will vanquish every kicker like a ghost from the dead i shall fill them with dread first goes the chargers cameron dicker so we're up to full quatrains now just wait for next year right next year this show's gonna be real long next year it's gonna be a separate podcast it used to just be like a nice like a quick run nice two-line rhyme. People have expectations. Yeah, of a two-line, keep it a short brief. They think that, but now they know.

Now they know that we always top ourselves here at the Fantasy Footballers. All right, we'll close with one little bit of news for you that we'll continue to mention in the weeks to come. But the rankings, the start set tool, the articles, the podcast episodes, fantasy player news, they are all available on a new free in-season app. So if you search for the Fantasy Footballers on the App Store or the Google Play Store and you download the new app, it has been upgraded.

It is a brand new app for your pocket. And all of those things, everything on the website is available there. So please go grab the app. Enjoy. It's just going to make life a little bit easier for you. All right. Tomorrow, more matchups. Reaction to Kelsey's big night.

And a whole lot more, including the fantasy face-off. Back again. Talk to you then. Enjoy the game everybody goodbye thank you for listening to another episode of the fantasy footballers podcast join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on twitter at the ff ballers