Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Starts of the Week + Week 3 Breakdown, Akers Reaction! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/21

Episode Date: September 21, 2023

Get ready for week 3 fantasy football! Starts of the Week, Cam Akers trade reaction, and more on today’s fantasy football podcast! Week 3 matchup previews, injury updates, and Jason’s Boom Boom Kicker! Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for September 21st, 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 Starts of the Week presented by Purina Pro Plan. Visit https://www.purina.com/pro-plan/dogs/sport-dog-food?utm_campaign=prp-sport2023&utm_medium=display&utm_source=youtube_spotify_callout&utm_content=cr-fantasy_football_podcast_sponsorship_pt-na&utm_term= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hey, this is Patrick Mahomes, quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome in. Hey, it's football time. Yes, it is. We're back already. Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to complain about it. Nope.

Welcome into the show, the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Mike Wright, Jason Moore, Andy Holloway. It is football time. We've got a Thursday night game. Previewed it yesterday. We've got a Thursday night football shillakin' on the way. I was going to say, sometimes we've been surprised. Yes, that is true, especially on Thursday night games. In the past, Thursday night games, a lot of times they can seem exciting.

I'll tell you this. And then the game happens, you go, oh, that was kind of crappy. I took a more traditional route to all of my showdown lineups tonight, though. I didn't bet on a surprise. Let's put it that way. I think you're right. I think there could be a shellacking on the way. I hope not.

And that's just because the Giants didn't score for six quarters until the Cardinals executed the plan we put into place, which was accomplish the number one pick. Yeah, you combine that with losing Saquon and the San Francisco 49ers defense. It doesn't have a rosy outlook, but, you know, come on, Giants, surprise us. The left side of your offensive line. Oh, yeah, they're missing that. Now, is that where that bosa guy is or

i imagine they tonight it will be they will figure it out but uh lots to talk about that is yeah they will and uh we have we've got a lot on today's show deuces are here we got backwards cap alley today oh we're backwards hat well brooks Brooks is. The other guys weren't. It's because he's an American bad boy. Yeah, he is. I mean, when I think of Brooks, I think they named him Brooks for the alliteration because bad boy was coming. Yeah, bad boy Brooks.

What you going to do? Oh, boy. Is that a pack of smokes rolled up in your sleeve? Oh, yeah, it is. When you think of Brooks, you think of bad boys. I wish he was in a leather jacket. He's like, can I push the button to leave Deucer's Alley, for goodness sake, so he can hop on his bike and ride off into the sunset.

Oh, boy. All right, we've got stuff going on. Head over to FootClanGiveaway.com. We're giving away a signed CMC jersey. Big news here, and what better day to announce it? But by popular request, we have created... It's football time. And it's football time t-shirt that is available.

The shirt. Yes, the shirt. Shotballers.com. Andy Schneider, our designer extraordinaire, put up a shirt today. So you can pick up your It's Football Time. I've got two of them on the way already. I have no doubt. Both of them black, Jason?

Oh, yes. I need to keep that closet consistent. All right. And you can follow us on Twitter at the FFBallers on Instagram, Instagram.com slash FantasyFootballers. And you can watch the show on YouTube, YouTube.com slash, is it FantasyFootballers, Brooks? The.

It's the? The FantasyFootballers. He took that out of the dock, and you need to put that back in for me. What else do we have going on? We got news. News and notes from around the league presented by usaa insurance oh do we have news yes we do cam acres has been traded to the minnesota vikings it was a sixth round pick swap no i'm sorry it was a sixth seventh swap uh but also please state

the year yeah is is it it's next year, right? It's 2024? Or did they just push it all the way out to 2025? Keep going. Wait, they wanted a 2026? A 2007 pick swap? A 2026, 6-7 swap. So congratulations, LA.

You did it. You got something. You got something. You got one pick better than the seventh round three years from now. That is crazy. So when people are like, hey, the Vikings traded for Cam Akers. Did they? Right. Not really. So I will jump in because I imagine everyone is waiting for my reaction to Alexander Madison.

Boston! Number one, no, it's definitely not a positive move for Alexander Madison of Cam Akers coming in. But I do believe that this is far more of an indictment of Ty Chandler and the backup running backs. Go back to the preseason, and the Vikings kept saying over and over, we don't know who our second running back is.

We know our starter is Madison. Who's number two? And then Ty Chandler, he had himself a really big preseason performance, and we all assumed, oh, whoa. Okay, clearly Ty Chandler's the number two on this team, and they still didn't immediately say, this is our guy. But Ty Chandler's not getting on the field.

That's where it's interesting to me. Of course, the fantasy football community wants to immediately say, the Vikings have bailed on Alexander Madison. Well, I'm looking at the larger story of this coaching staff had Madison last year. Like they've been around him for an entire season. They gave him the contract knowing that Dalvin Cook is going to walk saying we are comfortable moving into next year with you as the starter and are they really going to give up on that plan in two games? Maybe.

I mean Alexander Madison has been incredibly inefficient but he's also not getting opportunities. Is he not getting opportunities because he's inefficient or is he inefficient because he's not getting opportunities? That's a real chicken or egg thing to me but there when I go is,

yes, he's being inefficient. Why wouldn't you try Ty Chandler out? Why wouldn't you put the backup running back on the field to see what they can do? And they never did it. It's been all Alexander Madison. So that's what leads me to believe that this is more of a replacement for Ty Chandler. But now that Cam Akers is going to be there over time, you have a guy who could actually take over Madison's job, but I still think it's Madison's job. I don't necessarily agree with that. I is Madison the one? Sure. I think certainly to start, they're not going to bring Cam Akers into the new system on short notice and throw him ahead of Alexander Madison. Cam Akers is not someone that you could possibly think have a competent backup or someone that the Vikings are talking up

as a very confident backup. You know, their press conference today was talking about how excited they are to have him there, the downfield runner. They've also said we have not lost confidence in Alexander Madison. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the thing is, so yesterday, hopefully this news broke around you before making the trade. I talked about if you're one of those teams that lost multiple running backs and you've got nobody, maybe go try to trade for Alexander Madison on the cheap.

Hopefully you found out this news before you pulled the trigger on any of that. Because right now, I'm kind of hands off both of these players. Madison wasn't great on his own and he was playing 75% of snaps. Now I expect him to go to 60% of snaps and not get better. And again, I guess I disagree with Mike. I think this is terrible for

Madison. I mean, I think it puts him in the category of, I mean, he needed massive volume to maybe help you. He was one of only two running backs to fail to record a single missed tackle forced through two games in the NFL. Minimum 15 attempts. Yeah.

I don't think it's a surprise. They were dead last in EPA per rush. They needed help. They flirted with some guys in the offseason. I don't think you can have any confidence. I mean, they say they haven't lost confidence in Alexander Madison. I have as a fantasy player because you're looking at him as a volume play. So, I mean, if you think about some other volume situations in the NFL

and how would you approach them if Madison was added to those backfields? You know, if – I'm sorry, i'm sorry if acres was added to tampa sure would your confidence be decreased in rashad white of course yeah yeah i mean unquestionably it would be so uh you know i don't think that you can argue anything that it would be good for madison it's just a matter of what do you do with him now i don't think you can trade him for anything. I think running backs are hard to come by. If he was on the waiver wire, you'd pick him up. It's just one of those things where you're going to have to wait, watch. I think people want to know what to do with Cam Akers.

Cam Akers is going to be a viable player for your roster at some point in time, and the odds are probably low there too. Because they're throwing the ball so much. They're throwing the ball at the highest clip of any team in football. That's great. The other point of, I mean, again, are they not running because they can't run? Or are they not running because they've been so successful passing the ball? It's both.

I mean, it's absolutely both. And so I'm not saying that this is positive for Alexander Madison. I'm not on that side.'m like oh no he's he's super secure I just I think it's more of a we got to get another running back in here besides Madison and Ty Chandler is not that guy for this team so but if he if Madison's dropping down to 60% of the snaps and the play the approach to the offense doesn't change, then it's catastrophic for Madison. Like if you're saying, we're going to take our 10 rushing attempts and we're going to split those between Madison and Akers,

and Akers can be out there for passing work as well. I think Akers is a better running back and he'll win the job. It is certainly possible. I agree completely that Ak acres is the better running back this staff has used madison as a complete backup in the past when they had dalvin cook this is also you talk about adding somebody to fix chandler kevin o'connell is familiar with cam acres he pursued cam acres because he'd worked with him in la yeah so to me uh the prescription here for fantasy football players is you're going to hold

on to madison you're going to hold on to acres you're probably going to be not excited and not wanting to play either for a while but in a couple weeks hopefully there is clarity to one of them winning the job and the other being relegated to simply uh a backup on the on you know on the depth chart i think you can still play Madison. I don't think Akers is playing this week. So if you were going to be playing Madison this week, I think it's still the same plan. Which the game this week is a – it should be a shootout game.

Derek, we'll preview it today. I will echo Mike there. Since we disagreed with Mike on his total how much this hurts Madison take I do think you can play Madison this week Derek Henry was limited in practice with a toe injury Wednesday but first time I've heard anything about that yeah that that that is not good I will look up their last year's practice reports I don't remember off the top of my head if they were listing him as injured you know as as a specific injury last year's practice reports. I don't remember off the top of my head if they were listing him as injured, you know, as a specific injury last year when he missed Wednesday practices.

This is bad because I think the matchup is just so juicy for him this week. Austin Eckler did not practice on Wednesday. Get healthy. Any other thoughts? No, I just need him so bad. I've lost quite a few i i started let's go uh justice hill dealing with turf toe yeah keep him out this week he was my he was my eclair replacement well actually he was my jk dobbins replacement but i lost uh zach moss was my

eclair replacement oh man yeah i don't have a running back. I'll still win. Bryce Young mispractice again. Second straight day. Ankle injury. Something to watch. They play Seattle. I was picking up the Seattle D anyways. The funny thing here is that I think

a backup could be better for their offense. That's often the case with a rookie as they acclimate. So we'll see. Isaiah Pacheco didn't practice. Hamstring injury, something to monitor. Kadarius Toney, wouldn't you know, missed practice with a toe injury. And Odell Beckham didn't practice.

We'll see if he's available this week. And Saquon officially out for Thursday night. Brandon Ayuk will be a game-time decision for this one. Jason, did you say yesterday you believed he'll probably fight his way onto the field? So I was not listening to you at all. I'm trying to find last year's Derrick Henry practice reports, which apparently is very difficult to find one-year-old practice reports.

But why don't you tell me again what the question was? I was just asking if Ayuk you thought would be out there tonight. I do think Iuke will be out there, and again, I wouldn't play him. Also, Aaron Jones did not practice. Aaron Jones didn't. Christian Watson looked like he might be getting back. Yeah, he was, I think, doing more of an individual drill thing. But again, missing a Wednesday practice

because of a lingering hamstring injury is... Not a good sign. It's not a good sign for the weekend. They did say it was a minor hamstring injury when it happened, but you might be without him for another week. That was today's News & Notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com slash insurance.

Fantasy forecast. Well, let's give Jason a few more minutes to figure these practice reports out. Yeah, I'll be back by the end of the show, fellas. As we hop into the Tennessee matchup. The Titans, they take on the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland. You have a DraftKings Sportsbook line, Cleveland minus three and a half. The over-under is 39 and a half. Gives the Browns about 22 points and the Titans 18.

You have a banged up Derrick Henry. You have no Nick Chubb anymore for the Browns moving forward, so we'll get to see the Jerome Ford situation. It's a bad, bad week to validate the pickup of Jerome Ford. Bad, bad. And Burrito, all the pickups have just had such bad matchups. I mean, you can be pretty assured Jerome Ford's going to have a bad week yeah the Titans have been great against the running back and it's been a long time multiple

years in a row they pick up right where they left off last year they they have looked great against running backs and part of why they are so good at shutting down the running backs it's not just like they've got a good rush defense but part of it is also they've got such a putrid secondary that teams are like huh do I want to have a hard time running the ball or should we just easily throw on them? And that's kind of what the game plan plays out. And then you lose Nick Chubb. I think this is going to be a pass-happy approach.

I think, yeah, I think you're right. Deshaun Watson I think is going to have a big game. Yeah. I've totally softened from the reaction visually of that last game and moved into the matchup phase, and I think this is going to be a good game for Watson. If he's going to have a good game, he'll have to throw it 60 times because he's completing about half his passes.

Well, I will say this. I think he's going to have a good game at home here. Deshaun Watson looked like straight putrid garbage last week Justin Fields looked worse but when you're talking about fantasy versus reality these are mobile quarterbacks that can put up big games in the right matchup this is a right matchup I almost made Deshaun Watson my start of the week I didn't because of how bad he looked but I still think you you absolutely can play him week one against Cincinnati he was the quarterback five he still didn't because of how bad he looked, but I still think you absolutely can play him. Week one against Cincinnati, he was the quarterback five. He still didn't look great, but this matchup is very good for him,

very good for Amari Cooper, very bad for the running game. Tennessee's rush defense has not allowed a running back to hit 60 rushing yards since week three of last year. Impressive. You're asking Jerome Ford to do a lot in that situation. It's a pass funnel D, and that puts... I mean, Ford can still get it done in the passing game. That puts Elijah Moore on the map

with the target share. It puts Amari Cooper squarely in the must-start category, in my opinion. And then David Njoku haven't liked the involvement over the last two weeks. So I have, in leagues where I took the shot on him or stacked him at Deshaun Watson, I've moved to the Zach Ertz category.

I've moved to the Laporta. I've moved to other options. I don't know if you guys are in the same boat. Yeah, I think Njoku has proven through two weeks that he's a streaming option. You play him in the right matchups. This matchup isn't bad. So I don't think that you need to move on from Njoku this week. We just talked up the passing game,

and I think Njoku could have a decent week. Right now you're averaging 12.7 fantasy points for the first two weeks given up by the Titans at the tight end position. So if that goes mostly to Njoku, you'd be very happy with that. It's not an almost upset pick. It's something different but i think cleveland crushes tennessee this week really i really do at derrick henry's banged up their defense to me cleveland's defense has impressed me tremendously through two weeks they lost last

week but it was on the back of two pittsburgh defensive scores they're number two in the league in terms of fancy points given up to quarterbacks. It's 11 points they're giving up. They're number four against fantasy wide receivers, which does not give me confidence. Like, we've watched Ryan Tannehill play football. He looks terrible. We've watched Hopkins. Looks pretty terrible. The chicken kong quote, not really.

If he doesn't get the big play, he's invisible. I just don't think they can score this week. So here's my... Do you have a different view? I do have a slightly different view. My counter-argument to that would be that last season we saw the Browns really, really bad at stopping the run. Now, through two weeks, they've looked okay,

but they played against Najee Harris, and they played in a rainy game in week one. So I don't think their run D has been tested this year, and if you want to test a run D, you put up King Henry, and you say, hey, Derek, why don't you take the ball 30 times and see if the Cleveland Browns can stop you? They probably can't. And here's something I found out this morning. I had no idea.

I told Mike to double-check my work because it just seemed really surprising. Derrick Henry, four consecutive years, year after year after year after year, has been significantly better on the road than at home. I don't – it's surprising. Usually, you know, you want your running backs in home favorite winning games. But when they go on the road, they give the ball to Derrick Henry. So this is going to be a real test for the Cleveland Rundy. Yeah, and, well, the toe is going to be something to monitor as well. He's got nine more.

Because the snaps have been, you know, we've seen Tajay Spears' involvement. And, by the way, I was reading you the numbers for the Browns defense last year, inadvertently, where they were number two against quarterbacks and number four against wideouts. This year they're number one against quarterbacks. They're giving up seven fantasy points a game to the quarterback position through two weeks and number two against wideouts, just 16 points. So they've been stout, and I think at home, that's just my take.

I think they're going to dominate. I could see that. I 100% could see them dominate. It's just a matter of Vrabel slash Henry usually surprised. Are you, with what we know of the Tennessee defense, they don't give up running back yards.

Are you taking all of that fab you invested in Jerome Ford and are you willing or courageous enough to set that down on the bench and play somebody like Zach Moss against Baltimore, play somebody like Javante against Miami or Madison, who you talked about earlier against the Chargers in a high over-under. Because this game, it's got a low over-under.

It's a Blarf game, as Mike would say. Yes. If I did the fab dump for Jerome Ford, I imagine I don't have those options. You could have Moss for sure. yeah Moss is is a possibility it's true like usually if you go and look at your leagues someone paid insane amounts to you know everyone went out and put 25 35 40 and then there was one person every league that was like 65 or 85 on Ford. And the reason they did that is because they have nobody to start. So you're probably forced to start him. But specific to those other names, I would start Alexander Madison ahead of him this

week. The Falcons are 2-0 taking on the 1-1 Detroit Lions in Detroit. Lions are three-point favorites. The over-under is 46-1. You've got Dan Campbell and the mustache in this one. And the testosterone be flowing. Oh, man. And who's going to outwork.

Right. Who's going to fight harder? Who wants this win more? Here's what I'm excited about in this matchup, the running backs. I'm excited about the Bijan Robinson, Jameer Gibbs, top selections in the draft, rookies with a ton of upside and potential. I'm excited to see them on the same field. Falcons defense, it's been bad against the run. I think this is a huge opportunity for Jameer Gibbs.

I don't want to sound like a broken record projecting the breakout for Gibbs, but it should come this week. David Montgomery is going to miss this game. Jameer Gibbs had nine targets last week. If you repeat the involvement and the progression that you see in Gibbs, it's inevitable you're going to have a big game. And look, at home, with Amon Ra hurting, with no Montgomery, I think we're going to be talking about Jameer Gibbs. So Amon Ra is a really important thing for Gibbs. If you look at where wide receivers are used on the field, we talked about this a little bit with the correlation last season between the injuries of the Chargers. Austin Eckler and Keenan Allen really affected one another.

When Austin Eckler misses a game, misses a game like last week, Keenan Allen was the wide receiver one. And when Keenan missed games last year, Eckler went bananas with his targets. That's because, but it didn't happen with Mike Williams because they're kind of that same timing route, short, get it out, call this play designed for him. And so if, if Amon Raw is at 75 percent they know that then I do think Gibbs is more involved in the passing game I mean you have injuries up and down this offense Josh Reynolds missed practice with a groin injury Amon Raw missed with the toe Montgomery missed with the thigh we're building a whole anatomy situation here. Okay, so let me ask you this. Sam Laporta, their rookie tight end,

or the previous matchup and a good matchup as well, David Njoku. I'll take Laporta. I don't blame you there. I'm going to get five catches from Laporta. I just am hoping that he's got some yards and he's in the end zone. Yeah. Yeah. I don't blame you.

I worry a little bit. That's how I would do it. So this will be really interesting to me my my worry with the Falcons they've done such a good job controlling the clock controlling the plays their defense is not a great personnel grouping but the way that Arthur Smith is handling these games his offense is part of his defense like it or not that's why he wants to run the ball so much, take the ball out of the other team's hands,

give them fewer scoring opportunities, and he's succeeded with it. Now, the Lions last year were so good at stopping the run. And even this year, while they've given up a little bit more than they did last year, it is their strength. You throw on them, it is very similar to the Titans. So I'm just really interested to see if this will hit the over. Or I could see it being a lower scoring game and being really depressing. Arthur Smith is stubborn.

Arthur Smith is not going to look at the Lions are better at stopping this or stopping that. He's just going to run his game plan. And it always works. And they're always in the game. And Bijan is so good that you can give him the ball in this matchup. And I don't, I don't believe you're going to see it unless Detroit puts up big, big points early. I don't think you're going to see any kind of game plan change. Desmond Ritter is one of the most annoying players in football to me because i have to give

them credit for winning the ball game and yet when i watch desmond ritter he makes me want to stab my eyes out sometimes 7.6 percent of his passes are deemed turnover worthy by pro football focus which is the highest in the nfl and yet this is like nick foals magic there's only one he only has one interception there's no quarterback that I think the ball's been tipped from that isn't tipped more than Desmond Ritter. Are you talking about top 10 fantasy quarterback last week, Desmond Ritter? Oh, please no. Yeah, he was the quarterback 10.

Did he throw any touchdowns? Just snuck in. He did throw one. He threw a touchdown. The Drake. Oh, to Drake London. He also rushed for a touchdown? The Drake. Oh, to Drake London. He also rushed for a touchdown. I don't imagine that you would ever start Desmond Ritter,

even in a two-quarterback league. No, not right now. But the matchup is good for all receiving options. So if you're talking about Drake London, if you're talking about – Are we talking about Mr. Pitts? We shouldn't be. But I think we are. Eight targets through two weeks.

We'll make a bet later or something. Yeah, I'm sure we will. Jake London bounced back weeks six for 67 last week. The fact that Vegas has this game at 46.5 despite all of those variables. It is strange. It's encouraging to me because you know i i don't think that detroit's gonna have a problem scoring even with the the fact that they're missing some players so just a matter of whether bijan goes to work did you

mention the detroit is 31st and pass right over expectation and atlanta is dead last as i mean this going to be just... It could surprise, but I'm expecting a yawn fest. Really? So you'll take the under there? Yeah, I would. All right, quick break. Back with another matchup.

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Securian Canada..ca Securian Canada Insurance designed for life. The 2-0. Division leading. New Orleans Saints take on the Green Bay Packers who just tied. They're tied for the lead. They're division leading. I'm just saying.

It's a juggernaut. They couldn't have done anything else to be ahead of the other team. They could have scored more points. The Packers are 1-1 after blowing that game against Atlanta last week. Who we, they did. The DK Sportsbook line, Green Bay minus two. The over-under is 42-1. When you talk about players that have kind of outperformed the numbers,

Jordan Love, we talked about it yesterday on Unsolved Mysteries, 11.6% touchdown rate. That's insane. I want to say that, like, Lamar was around 9 or 8 on his super year. Yeah, the league average is about, like, 4.6%. But credit where credit is due. He's looked very competent through the first two weeks. This game's at home in Lambeau.

The Saints' defense is legit. It's going to be a big test for Jordan Love. It's going to be an even bigger one if he doesn't have Jones and Watson back in this game. Jaden Reeds looked good. Rookie wide receiver for the Packers through a couple weeks. 34% target per outrun in those two games that's exciting uh I am pretty concerned about a snooze fest in this one so here here's something that's surprising um I like I like the Green Bay Packers I like what I've seen this year

I think Jordan Love is going to be legitimate I believe this team could very, very easily win this division, be a playoff team. By the end of the season, we are going to be wanting to start Packers all over the place. I don't think I'm starting a single one. I really don't know any Packer this week that I want to start. I don't want to start Dobbs. I don't want to start Jaden Reed off his great game. I'll never start A.J. Dillon. You're telling me your running back team wouldn't be starting A.J. Dillon? Okay. My running back team isn't a want. That's not a desire. These are just who exists. I mean, yes, I would start A.J. Dillon when I currently am trying to start Austin Eckler, J.K. Dobbins. I'm with you. I'm not starting a Packer. The Saints defense is very, very good.

A.J. Dillon is the opposite of that word. It has been very bad, but you've had 16 opportunities both of week one and week two. Seems like Aaron Jones. 16 times two is 32 yards, I'm guessing. I'm guessing about 32 yards. Right around there. 37 yards. No, that's his average. I'm guessing about 32 yards. Right around there. 37 yards. No, that's his average.

Oh, that is his average. Okay. Wait, was that a correction to the positive? Yeah, so 74 total yards. He's averaging 2.6 yards per attempt. And he's not catching the ball. I mean, he's got three catches on the year and picked up 25 yards on those. Yeah, I'm saying.

And the Saints are good. I'm laying out the case for Dylan. I'm not excited about it but the volume will be there and the that touchdown percentage that we talked about for jordan love that will bounce back and running backs will start scoring for the packers so that's that's all you're hoping for is if you're playing aj dylan i mean i'm forced to like jay it's like who do you have as an option can we talk you out of this no i don't have another option really you don't no which league is this dynasty this is league of record

baby league of record yeah you have no choice yeah screw them running backs all they do is bring you pain you and i should talk trade i got a couple on my bench you might be interested in uh jamal williams expected to miss this game Kendra Miller is a full practice Tony Jones Jr. to me this is my opinion I don't think Kendra Miller can take this backfield over in one week off of an injury I think Tony Jones, the fact that Derek Carr talked about his pass protection

the fact that Miller is a rookie and rookies are generally not trusted in pass protection I am concerned about look DFS, you won't take the shot. The kindred just breaks something off on the first and second down. We don't know for sure that he's playing in this game. We think he is. Yeah, it does appear to be trending that he will be active for this. I mean, he was a full participant in practice on a Wednesday.

So you would expect him to have, he'll be active. He will be active this game. Of that, I am fairly confident. I'd put it at 90%. I would agree with you, Andy. He's not going to come in and just get everything. You don't have the first time you've ever had a rookie step on the field that's, I believe, a third round rookie pick who missed a lot of, if not almost all of training camp. He's not going to come in and just be the dude. He is going to come in and be talented. And so I'm going to try to bet a little bit on the talent winning out, having a couple big plays, you know, the explosive nature of him. And maybe you see if the Packers do struggle against this

Saints defense, I could see at the end of the game, him kind of winning out in the four minute drill and, and getting a lot of work when I'm, you know, considering whether or not I start Kendra Miller. I mean, would you rather start Kendra Miller or AJ Dillon? AJ Dillon is guaranteed far more work, but he's playing against a really tough defense, and if he doesn't get a touchdown, I mean, right now, he's averaging 5.7 fantasy points a game. A.J. Dillon is. And so it's like... Yeah, I'd play Kendra Miller if I knew who he was playing.

Yeah, that's where I lean as well. Just because I want the possibility of being happy today. Maybe. Like, if you said, who's going to score 18-plus fantasy points? I don't see how Dylan gets there. I agree. But I also understand. I don't see how Kendrick Miller gets there.

18? A 70-yard touchdown run. On the other side of the ball, I want to talk a little bit about what we're seeing in the passing game. Chris Olave last week, would you say that 11 targets, 6 for 86, was a good game? Yes. Very, very good., was a good game? Yes. Very, very good. Not as good as Kenny Pickett or George Pickens. Yes, that is a good game.

Last week that was good enough for wide receiver 35, which is wild. But he's been getting 10 targets, 11 targets. It's been good. He has not scored. But then you have Michael Thomas. And Michael Thomas, through two weeks, kind of getting targeted a lot. He is. It's not really helping you for fantasy.

He's a really, really strong flex option if you're in a PPR league. Michael Thomas is going to get his targets be right around 10 fantasy points. And you're just hoping he can follow into the end zone. But yeah, I mean, he doesn't have a high ceiling anymore. He's not the explosive athlete here. That's Chris Olave. Derek Carr has one passing touchdown. Yeah.

Two games. He's going full Matthew Stafford plan. He has 533 passing yards and one passing touchdown. Olave, it's going to happen. And that wasn't his fault. That was Olave's fault. That's a fair point. Because of the shoe choice.

Should have been wearing ice skates. My biggest concern for Tony and Kendra is Taysom, where it was 9 for 75 on the ground last week. Yeah, it's not a two-headed backfield. It's a three-headed backfield.

That's a good point. I'm not overly excited to play Taysom Hill in my tight end slot, but I'm not excited to play any of these running backs. I think that I'm not in on Tony for fantasy purposes. You have to get a touchdown from Tony Jones for it for you to get anything Kendra Miller I guess is if you're in a deep league and you're forced into it I'm okay with it but just remember that Taysom Hill will probably make you sad that you started a running back Taysom Hill or Sam Laporta uh Laporta because like because it's either nine for 75 or five 5 for 50 when I get points for catching the ball.

Juwan Johnson's been disappointing. He has. Super disappointing. You need to move on if you took a bet there. But that's unfortunate. Taysom Hill just keeps – he's a wrench everywhere. Yeah. He hurts Derek Carr because all those snaps he comes running off the field.

Yeah. So, yeah, I'm not expecting big, big things in this game. No. I mean, you can expect a big thing from Chris Olave. That's it. Denver is 0-2, and they take on the 2-0 Miami Dolphins in Miami. The DraftKings Sportsbook line, Miami minus 6.5. The over-under is 48.5.

Got to like that. That's a high over-under miami almost 28 points they've looked really good this year maybe the best in the afc i think you could argue that yeah i think you could denver jason you tweeted something about russell wilson oh just how he's awesome. I mean, right now on the season, he is ahead of Jalen Hurts in fantasy points. He's ahead of Patrick Mahomes. Josh Allen. Josh Allen.

Wait. Yeah. Because of that one play? Because of a 50-yard Hail Mary. This is why I said, try to trade high on Russell Wilson. So in this matchup, yeah, Russ is. It's a QB5. Yeah, Russ is.

Get out of here. He did. He has five passing touchdowns. Yeah, he does. And they talked this week about simplifying the offense more. Did you see those comments? I did not. They said the verbiage was too complicated because they were getting late to the line of scrimmage again.

But, you know, I saw one of the more frequently dropped players this week has been Samajeh Pirine. I've seen Pirine being swapped, you know, in waiver wires. Javante Williams, where's your confidence level through two weeks? It's pretty high for me. Yeah, this is a wonderful, wonderful matchup. Miami is dead last in expected points per rush attempt. If you're ever going to throw Javante in there with confidence,

it's got to be this week. It hasn't turned into fantasy points yet. Running back 33, running back 29, but it's the amount of work that he's getting because drafting Javante, you're always hoping early season.

He's going to be ready to go. But he's still returning from the catastrophic injury. The fact that he's getting this level of work in the backfield and he's going to get stronger as the season goes along, very positive vibes. Yeah, I think the second half is going to be good. In the next two weeks, the matchups say maybe it'll start earlier than expected. So if you want to go and

kick the tires on trading for a player who has been pretty disappointing so far, disappointing in what you hoped, but actually he's been pretty much exactly what we expected through two weeks, I would go test the waters. Should be a very good

game for the Miami offense. That's the way Vegas sees it as well. They're heavy favorites at home. I've heard a lot of criticism from the Broncos fans right now about Vance Joseph's defense, and for good reason. They're 23rd against running backs, 25th against tight ends, 19th against quarterbacks, 20th against wideouts. So they've been a bottom-half defense thus far through two weeks. And the opposite can be said about the Miami offense.

I mean, two has a good start this week most are coming off the big game you can put them right back out there and then tyree kill jaylen waddle if waddle is there yep waddle is in the concussion protocol as of this moment we will i haven't seen a thursday practice report if he is missing today i would my expectation would be that he probably does not play this week uh that's not what i'm seeing mike no no wait the broncos defense oh i'm sorry i thought you said the i in my head i thought you were talking about the dolphins i apologize no that's okay mike was over here throwing some shade on my numbers no i was just like trying to keep me honest yeah yeah yeah that's my bad do you mess around with pass catching options on this uh russell wilson train it's the dolphins i mean courtland sutton is the best at leading the team in statistics that are not directly

corollary to fantasy numbers things like routes right targets, percentages, and stuff like that. But Jerry Judy, are you willing to play him after last week? I don't think so. I mean, no. I want him. I'm going to hold on to him. I'm going to wait and see for this offense to connect. But right now, I'm holding on to Judy.

I'm holding on to Sutton. I'm holding on to Mims, and I'm hoping that clarity emerges and that one of these guys gets in sync. I'm hopeful that it's Marvin Mims and that he gets on the field, runs more routes. He obviously had a big game last week but ran, what, five or six total routes in the game? Judy or Michael Thomas from the last matchup.

I would take Michael Thomas. I'm more confident in him getting 10 points. Judy or Drake London? Drake London. Great matchup. All right. Durham Smythe. Durham Smythe.

Durham Smythe or Durham Smythe? They're all Smythe. Adam Troutman? That's what I'm saying. It's the Dolphins. Don't play the tight ends, I don't think. It's the Dolphins. The Dolphins have been just egregiously bad against tight ends.

This is why we targeted Hunter Henry last week. Well, who were their matchups? Let's think about this. Hunter Henry. You had week one. Parham. Parham go ham. Yeah.

We hoped it was Gerald Everett. So it was touchdowns in both weeks is really what that number was. Both weeks saw the tight ends. But it's not just. It's last year. It was last year last year last year yes that's you will have to target Troutman for him to score though you will Troutman is is definitely going to be in a uh DraftKings lineup or two I'm not going to pick

him up to start him in my home league as I just don't want to roster I agree with that can we talk about a game with an over under of of 54 points? Oh, can we? Finally. The Los Angeles Chargers at 0-2 take on the Minnesota Vikings, who are 0-2. So, you know, both of those teams had pretty good years last year. And one of them is coming out of this game 0-3. Out of the playoffs.

And with the low odds of making the playoffs, the DK Sportsbook line is Minnesota minus one at home. Wow. Which, I mean, look, if the Chargers can lose by one, that's like their dream. I saw – it's true. That is what's going to happen. Chargers will have a big lead, somehow lose by one.

I saw a Chargian Minnesota man say that if Minnesota wins this week, they're number one in the division. What? Yeah, I didn't vet it because I trust him as a, you know, as the – Is that assuming that – As plugged in as possible. Like the Packers lose? Well, I don't think that's a plugged in thing as much as looking at the standings.

Yeah, so it's just that they can be top of the division this week. Let me go ahead and glance at the standings for you. That's probably what the verbiage was. Yeah, the Packers are... They have a chance to be number one in the division after this week, after their terrible start. Yeah, because Packers are 1-1, Lions are

1-1. If either of those teams win, obviously, that wouldn't be the case. But that is a wild thing to think about. You're 0-2. You can win a game and go back to first. Well, Kirk Cousins is the number one quarterback for fantasy right now through two weeks. Justin Jefferson has put up over 150 yards for two consecutive weeks.

Jordan Addison is bringing an explosiveness to the offense that they did not have. And it's wheels up in this game. I mean, 27.5 for Minnesota, implied point total, 26 for the Chargers. Both teams have been able to move the ball. I think the only kind of bittersweet thing about this matchup is if we were missing Eckler because that would only raise the bar for fantasy. Certainly.

And at this point, I think you have to assume that you will be missing Eckler. That is, be prepared to be without him. I will be surprised if he's there. Last week, and I did not realize this until moments ago, but last week Mike Williams, do you know how many targets he had? I am not aware. I know he had a really great game. You wouldn't be able to guess.

Holy crap. Okay, I'm going to 13? He had 13 targets. Missed that. He finishes the quarterback or wide receiver 30. 8 for 83. 13 targets. Missed that. He finishes the wide receiver 30. 8 for 83. 13 targets, that's nothing. Talk to Puka.

Talk about Puknukum? Puknukum. Yes. Yes, baby. Puknukum. Shout out to the 90s kids. Yeah, the 90s kids who played Duke Nukum. Puknukum.

I love it. 20 targets. He loves it. 20 targets. He loves it. 13 targets. He's never had that few in his career. Yeah. That's a fact. I did not know that Mike Williams had that many targets last week.

That's very interesting. If Mike Williams is 8 for 83, you're not expecting that he had 13 targets. No, and it's just maybe the lack of Eckler really impacted both those guys because Keenan Allen was dominant. He's been dominant for a while now. What are we doing with Josh Kelly this week? You'd still play him. Yeah, this is –

Do you play him over Madison? I would play him over Madison. Assuming Eckler is gone, I'd play him over Madison because of the depth chart. It was – he had 79% of the snaps. His opportunities actually went down from week one from 17 to 14 and maybe it's the passing game i guess week one he only had one target didn't catch it week two he had one target didn't catch it so perhaps they just they don't prefer joshua kelly in in that role for the offense but he's's going to get a bunch of kills.

Also, we just talked about Jerome Ford with the matchup against the Titans, how difficult, how bad. You pick him up off of waivers and you go, man, this sucks. Every time we pick someone up, they're playing a good matchup. That was last week. That was the Tennessee Titans. That's what Joshua Kelly had to play against. Playing against the Minnesota Vikings, I think he'll be fine.

Would you play Josh Kelly or Jerome Ford? Josh Kelly. I would be in the Josh. Would you play Josh Keller or Jerome Ford? Josh Kelly. I would be in the Josh Kelly camp as well. That's very close. These are two backups that have been thrust into prominent roles. I'm going to take the one in a better matchup.

The backup matchup. TJ Hawkinson, you play him. He's been great. It's tough to have confidence in gerald everett he looked good last week i wish he'd get more targets but he doesn't he's splitting a lot with parham right now yeah he had three targets in each of the last two weeks and that's no you got to bail out and the snaps dropped significantly well that's that's disappointing 41 of snaps yeah please know you want to talk about disappointing?

Quentin Johnston, first-round rookie wide receiver who was really going to help elevate Herbert, has been very disappointing. He started week one at 27% of the snaps. Week two went down to 15% of the snaps. I think it was only up to 27% because Mike Williams missed a portion of the game. I think he was getting a concussion check. So Quinton was in there for that. He should not be rostered right now

in redraft leagues. It's going to take an injury ahead of him right now. Let's put it to the test though because the number one names that are kind of out there that people are dancing around with is stuff like Robert Woods. You'd rather have Robert Woods on your roster than Quentin Johnson? If I need someone for my roster.

But if I'm looking at my starting roster and I'm feeling pretty strong about it, then Johnson can be on your bench. It's disappointing that obviously Josh Palmer is much higher in the depth chart. He's playing 50%, 60% of snaps. So, yeah, I think unless it's a luxury addition, you're probably moving on. It's what we saw from preseason on when they were resting Joshua Palmer, not playing him in the

preseason while Quentin Johnson was getting the work. He is clearly behind him. Patriots 0-2 taking on the Jets in New England. This is the, just take the last game and inverse the optimism. This game is one of – How do these teams score?

How do these teams score? From what I understand, some of the prison system will be airing this game for some of their worst – Yeah, as punishment for some of their worst inmates. The DraftKings Sportsbook line is New England minus 2.5, but the over-under is 37 points. That puts New England winning the game like 19-17. No way they score that much.

You know who the best two plays in this game is? I sure do, and they're great plays. Defenses. The Jets defense and the Patriots defense. Like, genuinely? When I said, no way they score 19 or 17 points, immediately my brain went, oh, sure they could. Defensive scores will happen in this game.

And what's been crazy about the Mac Jones situation is that, and by the way, Zach Wilson, lowest QB rating in the NFL. Surprise, surprise. What? Mac Jones has thrown the ball a ton, but Mac Jones is not completing passes down the field. He's completed like one of 11 throws over 20 yards, and they've been ugly watching

every pass it's like he goes there's a matchup I like I'm just gonna launch it and see what happens it's not it's never a situation where he is I don't know remember when he's yelling at Patricia about throwing downfield maybe partition knew what that meant I don't I can't figure out if it's Mack being really bad, which it might be, or if it is the fact that his wide receivers have no separation. He doesn't have one that gets separation. No, Parker's historically just

a contested catch guy. Yeah, Bourne can separate. A little. Yeah. But the primary wide receiver is davante parker and this is a he's a 50 50 guy if you had to start one player from both teams it's going to be romandre yeah and it's probably i'm still going to be breeze hall but look let's be honest here what happened last week was terrifying for breeze hall managers and making decisions on starting him. If four carries is in the range of outcomes for Brees Hall,

and those carries are very unlikely to be on the right side of the 50 based on Zach Wilson, it's concerning. I mean, you're hoping the Jets' defense gives him a short field and he can go into the end zone. But, look, they're probably going to correct the four-carry situation. The problem is it's going to be against the Patriots defense, who if I were the Patriots and Bill Belichick's a smart human being, he's going to stop Brees Hall.

That's going to be one of their goals. Do you want to play Brees Hall or – I don't want to play this game. Or Tyler Algier against Detroit. Algier in the matchup with the high over under breeze hall or damian pierce against jacks i won't make you answer jason thank you breeze hall or damian pierce andy damian pierce that's houston jacksonville yes houston and they deleted their offensive line right they just don't even put one out there? Correct. I mean, I guess I go Brees Hall from what I saw in the first week

because he did that damage with Zach Wilson in that game too. And Brees? But, yeah, it's not exciting. Last one, Brees Hall or Najee? Well, you know my policy there. Okay, Jason, you have to answer this then. That one. My policy, by the way, is that I will never play Najee Harris.

Najee's playing against the Raiders. He is. He's getting volume. I have to answer this one? Yes, because he has a policy. I can't violate the terms of the policy. If these two guys were on my roster, I think I'd put in Brees Hall. Is Garrett Wilson in the category of you just play him, close your eyes,

turn away, make a sandwich, don't watch the game? No, I don't think he is. I don't think he is this week. You talk about Bill Belichick. He usually takes away your number one option. Now, maybe he says, well, the number one option is a running game. We want Zach Wilson to throw. And I can see Garrett Wilson having a good game. But you could also make the argument that he's just going to say, let's double Garrett Wilson and they will not be able to move

the ball. So he is, to me, someone where, you know, if you're telling me like you could have the world where you've got Jordan Addison, Mike, you have Jordan Addison and Garrett Wilson. I would start Jordan Addison and Garrett Wilson. I would start Jordan Addison over Garrett Wilson in that high over under. There are certain matchups I would be willing to look at and consider, not just auto start, auto lock them in. Now, the talent says you can start them any week, but if you have better matchups, then you've got to bite the bullet and make the best start.

Be courageous. Yeah. Hunter Henry in auto start right now? Yes, he is. Even against the Jets? Yeah, even against the Jets. They haven't been outstanding against. Obviously, they're a great defense, but it's the tight end position.

I think they gave up the Fergie touchdown last week. That probably hurt their numbers. Sure. Buffalo's 1-1, and they take on the Washington Commanders in Washington. Buffalo minus 6.5 on the roadhington commanders in washington buffalo minus six and a half on the road over under 43 and a half which that's not a high number but buffalo's got 25 implied points this is not to me a good matchup for sam how and this passing offense because how has been pressured at the highest percentage of anybody. He's holding on to the ball way too long, too. Yeah, he is. He's holding on to the football,

and Buffalo is going to bring the pressure, and they're going to do it strategically, and they're going to put him into positions where he's uncomfortable, and I think that's reflected in the game line from DraftKings, where you have a six-and-a-half-point road favorite here despite the fact that Washington's 2-0. So to me Vegas says hey we know that this 2-0

is a product of your matchup not a product of your play right now. Right. John Dotson's been disappointing. For some reason his average depth of target is sitting at 9 instead of 15 from a year ago. What are we doing here you can what are

we doing washington you can take a much less athletic less important player and give them an eight out of nine don't take a talent like john dodson and keep him close to the line of scrimmage instead of letting him separate down the field so this is me talking to eric sure You can talk to Ron, too. Yeah, Ron. Ron, you try to talk to Ron, and you know what happens? He gets into this whole altitude discussion with you. Big altitude. He starts talking to you about all these studies he's read. And he won.

I know! No! No, he won the game because the Broncos are terrible. Can I ask a question to you, Andy, that has nothing to do with Mike? Sure. Preferred. Who has a higher chance of scoring a touchdown this week, A.J. Dillon or Latavius Murray?

Latavius Murray. No. You said you had no one on your roster other than A.J. Dillon. I am not playing Latavius Murray over Dillon. You do have Christian McCaffrey. I would keep him in the roster. Mike, do we have permission to enjoy ourselves if Murray outperforms Dillon? Oh, absolutely.

Yeah, thank you, Mike. Yes, you should. We'll have a good time. Having a good time. Yeah, and of course, this is all of – if Aaron Jones is active, Latavius Murray might find his way into my lineup. Well, Josh Allen's in your lineup. Excellent.

James Cook has been great. Yep. So put him in your lineup. The dump-offs, they help a lot. Stevan Diggs, yes. Jason mentioned Gabe Davis, hungry for more. He is always a dart throw that might land on the bullseye well said would you play him over dotson mike gabe davis oh uh yeah i would this week jason uh took a moment to dunk on dalton Kincaid. I do think the breakout is still coming.

Six targets last week. I really do. Five receptions last week. 2024 is going to be a wonderful year. Dawson Knox did not practice Wednesday. Oh, for real? I didn't know that. Shoot.

No, but it's too late. You already said it. No, he needs to. Knox, you're part of my team here on the Kincaid was overdrafted watch. So get healthy. I think Laporte and Kincaid are going to average five receptions a game rest of season. Oh, hold on. Hold on.

We have an update. I agree with you, Andy. And one of them was borderline undrafted and redraft leagues and the other was drafted way too high. We have an update. Dawson Knox did not practice today. Oh, shoot. dadgummit all right well Dalton Kincaid is uh a better play play yeah he's in play yeah I mean I look all right

I I was very very very anti-Dalton Kincaid in the draft season um you know I I don't draft rookie tight ends I think that that never works that being said rookie tight ends. I think that that never works. That being said, rookie tight ends have good games, and they're just not a season-long winner. If you want to say, hey, he's going to be the only guy, Dawson Knox is out. Dawson Knox has had valuable targets each of the first two weeks. So if those go Dalton Kincaid's way and he gets all of it, I mean, yeah, he's got 10 targets through two weeks.

I think you could throw him in this week and i think there's probably a broader better discussion to have about this whole rookie tight end narrative where draft season that's i think a really good approach to take is look statistically at the the historicity of the rookie tight end position and whether they perform but then i think you have to be an independent thinker about the progress of players during the course of the year. And, like, you look at Detroit, you look at Sam Laporta, he's their starting tight end, and he's in on every down. And so at this point in time, you know, and Jason's major argument

was just the draft cost of Dalton Kincaid. Yeah, that was the problem. But at this point in time, it doesn't matter to me that Laporta's a rookie. It doesn't matter to me that Dalton Kincaid's a rookie. What matters is what is the opportunity they're going to receive this week in this matchup and moving forward. And, you know, when I made the joke about Kincaid's performance last week, I didn't even know Knox was missing practice. So I just like six targets.

And I feel like there's going to be those games where Gabe Davis has a down week and Dalton Kincaid's going to have a big week. So Logan Thomas missed practice. Look, the concussion was bad if he's out cole turner should get the passing down snaps with jesse bates getting the blocking snaps in that offense not the worst thing you can do the pass rush is going to produce some ppr like i'm talking draft kings i'm talking okay okay take a shot at somebody like cole turner and draft kings are you staying in the flames with brian robinson who's an RB3 in fantasy? I am. His utilization has been good enough to continue.

You don't expect him to have a monster week this week like he would have against the Arizona Cardinals. It's very predictable. But his volume says, yeah, he's in your lineup. We've talked about some real trash running backs. All right. Anybody else from this matchup that you want to talk about mcclernand i mean just you play him okay yeah this one no almost upset there for me either all right i'm uh i'm ready to move

on let's let's do it welcome to starts of the, presented by Purina ProPlan. All right, my Start of the Week at the quarterback position is Kirk Cousins. Now, I'm playing him in Dynasty. I'm letting you know. It is a concern. It is a statistical concern. But I love this matchup. Oh, yes.

That's why I'm playing him. It's great. He's at home. The Vikings are throwing at a historic rate, whether it's first down, second down, third down. We don't hand the ball off. You're not going to have Cam Akers in this game. You're also probably going to give up a ton of points and need to throw the football.

Cousins has been rock solid at home. He's averaged 275-2. Justin Jefferson is going to be great. It's going to be a fun day. Kirk Cousins. My start of the week at quarterback is Geno Smith, who look at that week two. It was more what we expected. We were really, really worried after he lost his tackles mid game, but it's nice when you can game plan knowing that you're going to be without players versus losing them mid-game. He had 328 passing yards, 78% completion rate, two passing touchdowns, added another 20 rushing touchdowns, looked great. And I'm not worried about the Panthers. You look at the Panthers' stats, you go, oh, they've been really good against quarterbacks. They've played Desmond Ritter and Derek Carr. I've got Geno ranked as

a top 10 quarterback this week at home as six-point favorites. I think you can fire him up. And I've got Dak Prescott taking on the Arizona Cardinals. Yep. Dak, the matchup says they're going to win. They're going to win by a lot. And look, Dak currently third in expected points per drop back. Dak is playing very well.

We highlighted that over the last five years when there is a double digit favorite they average about 30 points a game almost 400 yards of offense so it looked Dak's going to be involved in that Arizona allowing a first down on 55 percent of their opponents completions that is that is just so outrageous and it's the matchup is there. Since the beginning of 2022, opposing quarterbacks averaged about 20 fantasy points per game against Arizona. My running back start of the week is Fat Thor. Oh, man. Josh Jacobs taking on the Pittsburgh defense.

Look, it's been tough sliding for Jacobs so far. Dancing with the devil here. This was the same story last year. This year he started as RB30 and 27. Last year it was RB33 and 25. It's been rough for the first two weeks, but I do think it gets better. And Josh Jacobs gets all the work.

This was the rushing leader last year. Maybe it was a little bit of like could have used some practice. It might have been nice to be in camp. Usage monster, I think he's going to be good. I think he's going to score this week.

Yep. First of all, he's an incredible play, and I completely agree he's going to be great. For my start of the week at running back, I've got Miles Sanders. You might be disappointed with what you have seen the first two weeks from Miles Sanders, but his volume has been there. And I realize that there's a quarterback issue here. You don't know necessarily if he's going to have Bryce Young this week. But against Seattle, they're going to rely on him. He's a volume play through two weeks, 24 and 19 opportunities, including 11 targets.

That's a second most at the running back position. But he played against Atlanta, who kept the ball away. They played against the Saints and their great run defense. Now he's going up against the Seahawks. They're 25th against running backs at the fantasy position. They've allowed the sixth most running back fantasy points, four rushing scores so far this year. They were bad against running backs last year. It's carried over. Miles Sanders, if you've got the volume and you've got the matchup i i'm not sitting him this week i'm gonna say something gross jason it it's probably better for miles sanders if andy dalton's the quarterback yeah like this is what i'm saying like the injury i'm less excited to play seattle's defensive as andy dalton right uh my running back star of the week who's playing the houston texans well it's Travis Etienne, who has been used completely as a workhorse.

We'll see if Tank Bigsby gets more involved as the season goes, but for now it is Travis Etienne. Texans have allowed six rushing touchdowns last year against the Texans in two games. We're talking 114, 140 total yards for Mr. Travis Etienne. Averaging 9.4 yards per carry is going to be fantastic this week. This could be the running back one on the week. And the only reason that

Tank Bigsby is going to be possibly more involved this week is because Travis Etienne is going to be sitting the fourth quarter tired from his three long touchdown runs. Jordan Addison is my wide receiver start of the week, stacking with Kirk Cousins. The matchup is great.

The snaps went up last week. Touchdowns in his first two weeks. This is the passing offense that's going to need to throw the football. I think he's a solid low-end wide receiver to flex option this week. I've got Amari Cooper just as an absolute must start this week against Tennessee. We love hanging with Mr. Cooper. We thought he was going to be out for Monday Night Football. All he did was just get 10 targets, go seven for 90. He's at home this week. We already highlighted the matchup earlier on this show how good it is to pass against the titans and at home

last year he averaged 10 targets 6 for 85 and 15 fantasy points per game marty cooper's locked in zay flowers versus the colts through two weeks it is clear this is mark andrews and zay flowers team flowers has seen a target on 34% of Baltimore's first read targets. Baltimore! Baltimore! Oh, Baltimore's targets. That's per VHC points. But what I'm saying is, like, the first read is Zay Flowers,

and this is a matchup that Calvin Ridley and Zay Jones crushed. Nico Collins, Tank Dell crushed. The Ravens are throwing the ball a lot more. They're heavy home favorites. Zay Flowers is back in a very good spot. All right, Jason, you can skip this one. Tight end start of the week.

I'm going with the Muth. I love this. I went to put the Muth in. He was my favorite middling tight end start. I just loved it. The Muth is going to get Luth this week against the Raiders. I talked about the fact that Pickens

is an option that they need to turn to in the offense for explosiveness. It's not Allen Robinson or Najee Harris. Friar Muth can get it done. Last week, the Raiders were blitzkrieged by the Bills' tight ends. Both of them. When you put Knox and Kincaid together,

it was 12 targets, 8 receptions, a touchdown. I think Pat Faramuth has a huge week. He's running enough routes. The Muth is getting loot this week, and then we'll skip Jay. And then Mike. I don't disagree that the Muth is a good play this week. Do you know how many yards Fairmuth has on the season

through two weeks of football? Oh, I know he had almost none week one. Well, who's his quarterback? It's Kenny Pickens. Oh, that's probably going to hurt. Well, I mean, it didn't hurt George Pickens last week, eh, Andy?

But do you know? I don't know. I'm excited to find out. I'm a little scared. I can count them on one hand. No. Five. Wow.

Come on. The Muth is not Luth at all. The Muth has two receptions for five yards. One was a one-yard touchdown. Oh, man. But it has not been. Oh, my call just became much more bold. It's not been Luth.

It's a great matchup. And here's the thing with tight ends. Tight ends are... Five yards. Five yards or two. I love that. You can count them on one hand. Tight ends are one of the positions.

Like, you know, running backs, you want to target a good matchup. A bad matchup can really be devastating, but you're going to play them through most of them. The tight end position is one where matchups are astoundingly important. Is this the preface? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. You just caught on. This is a disclaimer. Look, I'm supporting your pick because the Raiders are a great matchup for tennis. I'm trying to figure out how much money I want to bet you on yours, so go on.

Alright, we'll go with Benjamin. But we've got to figure out the line here. Oh, the line is Zacherts versus your player. That's what we'll be betting. So my start of the week. Yeah, better get to it. so here so my start of the week yeah this week my start of the week is Kyle Pitts but but Jason you said to drop Kyle Pitts for Zach Ertz and I would I regretted saying it because of the matchup this week, but through the course of the season, I would much rather have Zach Ertz and his targets going forward. But this week, if you have Kyle Pitts,

and I mean every league, like Kyle Pitts isn't on the waivers. Even if he was dropped, he's probably been picked up by now already. People have him on the roster. He's extremely talented. The Detroit matchup is as good as it gets for the tight end position. They just placed cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson on injured reserve. The weakest part of their defense is the middle of their secondary. That's where Kyle Pitts does his little bit of work. They have given up the third most fantasy points allowed to the tight end position. The most tight end receiving yards, and it is from the likes of noah gray blake bell noah fant colby parkinson and will disley big montana kyle pitts can be

started this week kyle pitts is going to have a good game and andy and i are going to put a zackerts versus yeah uh hundred dollar bets hundred dollar bet fantasy points is that what we're doing are Are we doing like... Yeah, standard league fantasy points. Wait, did you say standard league? Yeah. Standard league fantasy points. You didn't say...

The man with the start of the week has to change the format to get the start. I'm not changing the format. That's standard. It's the default, right? Foot clan. This is the confidence he has at the start of the week.

All right. Half PPR. Let's go. All right, Mike. Yours is scary, too. I'm just chasing a touchdown right now. If I'm streaming off the waiver wire, Jake Ferguson, a.k.a. Fergalicious, to stack with Dak Prescott because he's playing Arizona since the beginning of last season.

The Cardinals allowing eight targets per game to the tight end position. We saw Darren Waller this past week get right against the Arizona Cardinals. And why am I chasing a touchdown? Well, Dak Prescott currently has 18 red zone passing attempts on the season. Jake Ferguson has eight red zone targets. That is 45% of Dak Prescott's red zone targets going to Jake Ferguson. That's who he's so far through two weeks. That's who he's looking for when he's getting inside the 20.

So for a good bet for a touchdown for a player that's probably on your waiver wire, Jake Ferguson. So you're thinking Fergalicious, not Turd Ferguson this week. That's what I'm hoping for. All right. Thanks again to our sponsor, Purina Pro Plan Sport.

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I traveled up north for a cage match henceforth under the wrestling name Legbroseph. Moving like Cameron Akers, I used the Minnesota Backbreaker powerbomb the Vikings, Greg Joseph. So to rhyme with Joseph. It's not bad. I mean, if you're ever going to get Greg Joseph in there, it's the only option you got, man. I mean, you rhyme, Joseph. Yeah, that's not.

I'm going to allow it. I mean, I don't have I'm not the one that can regulate this segment anyway yeah but I approve all right that is gonna do it we got to wrap this one up we've got we've got well Mike we can take it out on him wheel of shame tomorrow all right that'll

do it for today's episode more matchups the fantasy face-off wheel of shame all coming tomorrow and we'll talk to you then. Thank you for listening, tuning in. Leg bros of. Goodbye. 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 FFBallers.