Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - PI Fantasy Show: Will Justin Jefferson break out this week?

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

Mike Schopp joins the show for this week's Purple Insider Fantasy Show to discuss the Vikings' season opening win and whether Justin Jefferson will have a break out game against the Falcons this weekend? The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

All right, we welcome into the show, Mike Shope, the Purple Insider Fantasy Shope, ADP chasing, and WGR 550 in Buffalo. I'm sure it's been an interesting day or a couple days of discussion following Sunday night football and a fantasy player's dream, Mike, between the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens. You know, when you said last week about how, you know, these games, we have an idea of how they're going to play out in our heads. Like, I just saw Daniel Jones putting up 33 points. You know, we just kind of envisioned the, the Bills and Ravens was exactly how everyone would have envisioned it. Like, crazy plays back and forth, wild ending. And that was, that was something. And the first ever 4140 NFL game, which is, uh, fun.

to think about too. Yeah, I mean, one thing about the bills and Alan, for all his greatness and we've all sort of enjoyed, to put it mildly, his career so far, he doesn't, he didn't have that before Sunday. He didn't have a comeback from losing to winning in the last few minutes. And in perhaps you might say sort of typical Josh Allen fashion, he did it on a historic level where they were down 15 points with four minutes and nobody had ever been. won quite a game like that before. So it was an amazing night. We're sort of used to that.

It's the last year of our stadium. And what a way to kick it off. Yeah, absolutely. And I think, I mean, partly with the Josh Allen game winning drives, not the most opportunities for that for a guy who is usually winning all the time. Right. That's the same point as the Ravens point I've been hearing about since Sunday night, about, oh, well, they have the most blown leads.

Well, they're never losing. Baltimore is never behind in games. So, of course, they would have the most losses from, you know, a lead of X amount of points. It's sort of a, it's comparable to the Allen point. So I do want to get into, you know, the Vikings and they're not so wonderful fantasy evening. But what are we supposed to make of Derek Henry? I just like, this guy to me is just an all-time outlier.

It's sort of like how Shohay Otani and like, like, somebody could never pitch and hit, right? And then one guy can. So no running back could ever be this old and this successful and have this much mileage on him and be so unstoppable and so consistently great. It just feels like we need to just stop and appreciate it, not even try to really analyze it. And I also think, too, there's no better place for him to show up. And I wonder about from a football and a fantasy perspective, just quarterbacks who run

and how much they impact running backs. Because it feels like Justice Hill can have success with Lamar in there. And, you know, James Cook has had a lot of success with Josh Allen in there. But Henry is just his own, his own monster. Yes. Well, I'm not like the absolute road scholar when it comes to this topic in terms of the quarterback running back correlation when the quarterback is a runner. It's still a relatively new thing in the NFL.

I mean, 20 years ago, we didn't really have, the quarterbacks who could run, you know, in a dangerous way were outliers. But it is said to be positive. If you have a, look at Justin Fields and Breece Hall in week one. I mean, it is thought to be a net positive for the running back if the quarterback is, you know, capable or even dangerous as a runner. I don't know what to say about Henry anymore. I've been coming on shows for five years telling people to fade him because he's getting old and there are exciting

wide receivers. And last year all the running backs like Henry and Saquan Barkley and Jacobs and Camara and Connor and Mixon all stayed healthy. It feels like I'm singing Rudolph or something. Mixon and Donner and Blitzen is Connor and Mixon.

And then so last year happened and what happened in week one is receivers really didn't do anything. Jamar Chase and the Bengals a fancy seven yards in the second half against Cleveland. I mean, Jefferson, Jefferson in your game was one of several players in the league who were saved by their touchdown because there was really no heft. There was no volume anywhere else.

So maybe Derek Henry lives forever. Maybe he tweaks an ankle Sunday. I mean, I'm still the kind of player who bets against the aging running backs. And that has been a huge loss for me in terms of Henry. over the course of his career. And by the way, pitchers who can hit, I highly recommend Minnesota, Joe Posnansky's Baseball 100. Check out the Dave Winfield chapter.

And Posnansky talks to Winfield about whether he thought he could pitch in the majors. He was drafted in the NBA. He was drafted in the NFL. And he was a great pitcher. College World Series. An amazing story of Minnesota Golden Gophers in that tournament many years ago. Just wanted to slip that in. No, you know what?

I think Dave Winfield probably could have played any sport, NBA, NFL, one of the all-time freak athletes. There's probably, it's sort of like how Lamar Jackson, no one thought he could throw the football, and then you think, wait a minute, what if Bo Jackson had been a quarterback? He probably would have been, right? Like, there's, there's got to be 40 players throughout NFL history that ended up playing other positions that actually could have played quarterback. And speaking of Jefferson, if you've ever seen him throw the football in practice, he's incredible. His arm talent is amazing for a wide receiver. And sometimes they try to have him throw the ball. Would not advise. But speaking of him, I want to see him throw the ball on Sunday

night, but who will he throw it to? Jalen Naylor, I guess. There's no other answer. I mean, this game from a fantasy perspective is mostly a nightmare. I mean, unless, I mean, you get a touchdown out of Aaron Jones. And it's a good game for Jordan Mason, doesn't get the touchdown. And even with we spent all the offseason talking about how Kevin O'Connell's going to use Mason at the goal line. They get a penalty that sets up a one-yard two-point conversion. And he still doesn't run the ball to Jordan Mason. And then after the game, he says, you know, I think I probably should have run the ball a little more. Like, well, you know, there were podcasters who did suggest this. But, you know, that's what the heart wants, Matthew.

Right, right, exactly. That game I thought was extremely uncharacteristic of Justin Jefferson, though, especially going back through the tape. He looked like a guy who didn't practice all summer because of the injury, which I really just kind of poo-poohed. I don't think it'll make any difference at all. He's Justin Jefferson, but he has two very surprising drops. He missed some details on an underneath route where he runs four yards on third and six, which you could just hear John. Madden's voice in your head, run past the sticks. But in that one, he really should have. I guess for the first game of the year, we should have thought maybe they wouldn't have everything totally locked in with the offense and J.J. McCarthy. I just think we all expected it to run a little more smoothly and put up a little bigger numbers than what 49 total plays. Yeah.

But what an escape on the road in the division? And, like, that's a really tough division. Detroit gets sort of pounded by Green Bay. So much like Buffalo, you get out of there, prime time week one. You're like, I'm so glad we won. I mean, the bills have a string of games coming up where they're going to be big favorites in all of them. And for Minnesota to win, to get the at Chicago box checked right away is tremendous.

And they had to work for it. I mean, Jefferson, he's still Justin Jefferson. Like there's going to be timing stuff to figure out, as you mentioned. And we saw that maybe on display in week one, but they got away with it. He got the touchdown, four for 44. And with no Addison, with Thielen still, I mean, it was one target. Did he have a catch that was called back? Maybe I was looking at the stats today, but maybe not.

I mean, it was one target. And Naylor was on the field for 88% of the snaps and maybe got, what, three times? targets in the game. I think it was only one. Okay. Like, it's just not, it's not, there's not much else. And we'll see about Sunday night. I mean, Atlanta, if Atlanta loses Drake London, I don't know what they do about it.

I mean, they have other receivers. And that happened pretty late in the game against Tampa Bay. And they wanted to throw the ball a lot. I mean, even Robinson, here's another guy who didn't do anything on the ground, but he got his touchdown. And he had his receiving yards. So fantasy wise, you got away with it. he and Jefferson are both, you know, top of the first round picks.

But with Atlanta losing London could lend itself to a game script where the Falcons just do not have the players. Kyle Pitts, we can talk about him because he finally looked like Kyle Pitts for maybe the first time in his career, almost like here's the athletic freak we were drafting when he came out of Florida. But, you know, it's a kind of game where I feel like if Atlanta is competent, Jefferson will need to be fed. And maybe McCarthy feeds off of the win in Chicago and the comeback and just his touchdown run. What the vibes would be in that locker room after that game? Look at O'Connell on the sideline.

You were there. And then, you know, for a fantasy player, you want Atlanta to be able to keep up. And then you could have the Jefferson banger that you were, you know, you're so used to. I mean, of course you have to start him. Oh, yeah, right. you're not benching Jefferson, but in terms of trying to project it, I do think that the first half of that game for a lot of people, for Kevin O'Connell, for J.J. McCarthy, for Justin Jefferson, will be a little bit of, I hope you guys didn't think this was going to be easy. Like, I think they're going to really have to pick apart in the next couple days some of the stuff that happened there. I was watching JTO Sullivan's QB school. And there were just things from the offense and things from Jefferson that you normally.

only wouldn't see, including the two drops, but also just some details on routes. The other part of it, too, though, I think there's a very big factor for this game is that turf was horrific. And you can see on the tape, and this is why we go back and look at, you know, just to see what actually happened on some of these things, there's a play where Jefferson's running like a deep cut in or whatever, and he just slides. And that takes off the timing and then JJ looks somewhere else. Like, that's not going to happen at U.S. Bank Stadium.

I think that that combination of things, the bears also have a very good defensive coordinator. I don't really think Atlanta has ever shown a capability to be a great defense. Maybe Christian Darrasaw comes back. I think the number one hindrance of the Vikings offense was playing their backup left tackle, who's just not really capable of doing it. So this week screams to me, eight catches, 128 yards for Justin Jefferson, like, pump him the football. And, you know, he kind of snaps back into.

to being who he is. What did you think of the way that they handled the backfield, though, on Monday night? I thought the Vikings, mostly, especially for week one, when we're all really guessing, were pretty much what we expected. Thielen worked in. They didn't have Addison. Hawkinson wasn't much. I mean, he was fine, but just sort of there.

And Naylor ran cardio. So they didn't run that many plays, like low. 50s in terms of plays. I mean, it wasn't that you said even maybe in the 40s. I don't know. It was low. And another similarity with the Buffalo Baltimore game, Baltimore ran 51 plays because they couldn't stop scoring touchdowns. It just, it came so easily. That was not quite Minnesota until late. So backfield wise, you and I have been talking what was expected. Mason with the contract with Jones age was going to play sort of the workmanlike role, the traditional role, goal line. You mentioned the two-point play where they didn't go to him. But I thought he showed

well in the game. And Jones was Jones as somebody that can catch the ball. He broke the touchdown. You know, that was Aaron Jones. Another guy that if you started him saved you because of the touchdown, otherwise there was nothing. So I thought Minnesota came out mostly like we thought they would, which was, you know, maybe they want to be a little bit more run-oriented, but they weren't allowed to be. They were down in this game into the, into the fourth quarter even. And so Jones and Mason, they both become tricky fantasy starts because of each other. I still like the bet on Mason if McCarthy is good and they start to win games and that's sort

of the positive game script, you know, heavy runner kind of outlook. But Aaron Jones, I thought the touchdown in the game in general reminded everybody what he's capable of. As a receiver, I don't think there's too many people who are better in the NFL. And J.J. McCarthy connected with him on that same type of play three, four times during training camp. This is something that we do expect. But Mason ran so well and so explosively. I mean, I feel bad for him with his yards per carry because at the end of the game, they're running out the clock and it's just Mason, Mason. They could have kneeled down for the fantasy community or for his statistics.

And I mean, I guess if you get a first down, the game's over. So you've got to try. But it was not reflective of how dominant he was in the game. And he's just got burst to him for a guy that big. You don't see that very often. I was trying to think of guys that he reminded me of. I came up with Sean Alexander, like this nifty guy who is not super tall, but his strength is there.

And every run seems like it's five yards with Jordan Mason. They hit him at three and he ends up at five. I think that they're going to lean on that more and more, which to me says I'm not sure that Aaron Jones is putting up huge numbers outside of, you know, catching the ball out of the backfield. But I do want to get more into the Atlanta part of this and Kyle Pitts because we wouldn't be a fantasy show if we didn't talk about Kyle Pitts. He is the most, it is the most memed person, the most talked about person. My theory on that is, well, one, quarterback just matters a lot to how your guys perform, and they have not had a solidified quarterback situation for him.

And I know you could take the all 22 and you can pull while he looked lazy on this play, couldn't separate on that play, whatever. And I see, I've seen a lot of that over the last couple of years. But I think circumstances have played a big role in it. I also think that tight end is the hardest position to develop other than maybe, I don't know, center. Like it's, it's really hard for these guys. And if you even look at T.J. Hawkinson, when did his breakout season come. It was like year three, year four, he didn't break out. So I think Pitts is a pretty serious threat in this game to the Vikings and could be a guy for Michael Pennex who's going to stand in the pocket. He's not going to take sacks. He's going to get rid of the

football. And I think he's going to look for Kyle Pitts a ton. Yeah. I mean, if no London, absolutely, 100%. If you'll allow on your show for any number higher than 100%, I would I would say the same. Yeah, I mean, Pitts is athletically what everybody has, the guy we saw on Sunday we've been dreaming about, you know, just sort of waiting for him to look elite. And I think this was that game, eight targets, seven catches, you know, good yardage, still never a touchdown almost with Kyle Pitts. But that should change. And there's really no, there's no history with Pennix and Pitts that would scare you off of him. So I think he's probably a must start this week.

You know, the tight-ed position is evolving. And you get guys like Pitts or, you know, even more recently, Dalton Kincaid, I don't know, Harold Fanon, is it too early to do that? Bowers, you know, guys that are really, they don't have their hand down all that often. They're not playing the tight-end position that it was when 50 years went by and no rookie tight-ends were ever good. It's always the hardest position to, you know, learn as a young player, but they're really slot receivers. You know, Pitts, the game with Pitts in the beginning was, are they going to put him out wide and have him be a receiver, which would be bad for fantasy in his production because he's going to face elite corners? But he's not going to play with his hand down. So what is he?

And I think the league is sort of evolving and learning to figure out what to do with guys like that. and fantasy you're just trying to keep in step. And so Pitts, right now, you talk about how he's been every fantasy shows like sort of an evergreen topic forever. That's right, because it's been, I mean, it's been a big story and a source of frustration for players. And maybe now it's going to get a little bit easier when it comes to him. And we've got to make sure we keep moving forward with some of the rookies, you know, what LaPorter was as a rookie, what Kincaid was. They're really not playing. It goes back to Jimmy Graham for me.

Jimmy Graham was a tight end, you know, in your fantasy lineups, but he was almost never in line. And he took that, you know, to a grievance level where it's like, I'm, I should be paid like a wide receiver. I'm really not playing the tight end position. So don't compare me with, I don't know, John Mackey or somebody, like whoever you want for this. So I think it is changing, but I think Pitts really is a weapon.

And for Atlanta in this game, if they don't have London, it's Pitts and Robinson. That's it. Yeah, I don't see a lot of Mark Brunner in Kyle Pitts. Jim Klein saucer was right there. I should have gone with that. Cock Daddy. I mean, come on. You could, I mean, you really could call it big slot is what.

I mean, they have this on defense when you play a safety who's maybe a little undersized at a nickel corner. And the Vikings do this all the time with Josh Mattelis. and they call it a big nickel. It really is a big slot-wide receiver is what Kyle Pitts is. And then there are true tight ends like George Kittle who can block the heck out of people and gets unfortunately injured all the time. Sorry to all the folks who have George Kittle. That's a tough break for you because I'm sure he was one of the top picks.

So here's what I'd like to do. And if I remember to do this every week, we should. We should call it Fandul Advisors, okay? because the show, obviously, presented by Fandul, where I want us to set a couple props for the Vikings and Falcons game. And then I want to talk about the biggest surprises that we saw and whether it's sustainable or not. There's one wide receiver that I'm extremely curious about elsewhere. But let's play Fandual advisors here on Justin Jefferson. I'm going to set, I'll set a prop.

You give me if it's a good one over under and then you give one for me. Okay. So if I was advising Fanduil on Justin Jefferson's prop, I would go with over under 84 and a half yards for Justin Jefferson for this game. Yeah, like it seems like a good number. In my mind, I've sort of always wanted to have, this is the dream job, is to set lines, but I've never really done it.

I'd have a tough time betting the under on Jefferson. Jefferson, again, though, if it's a game where Atlanta is just, I mean, Minnesota's defense is too much and Atlanta can't function. They couldn't run the ball against Tampa. I mean, London got so much of the target share in that game before he went out. I mean, it was insane. So that might be the only roadblock for Jefferson. I'd have a hard time going under 84 and a half. It seems like a fun number.

But if Minnesota dominates, I'd still. I still feel they've had games like that. Last year there were games like that, and he still got there. So over? Yeah, I would go over. I just, I think that it's going to be a main goal this week to get him back on track. All right, what do you want to go with? Are we, if we're staying in that game, we talked about pits already.

I'm trying to decide if I'm thinking about this as somebody that sets lines, I'd be on the lower end of like what he just did. but the London injury, I mean, London might still play as we talk here on Wednesday. 52 and a half for Pitts, which is a little less than he just did. And, I mean, how many times in his career

has he surpassed that? It's not that many times. But the uncertainty on London as we talk makes that kind of tough. I'd want to be a little bit conservative setting that line. Yeah, I mean, you have taught me over the years under's win.

overs are fun, but unders win. I just don't see where the ball is going, though, outside. I mean, at the end of that game, there's a touchdown there on the field, probably twice, and Pennix can't get a guy to catch the ball. I mean, I think they should have won that. And I don't know, Hodge goes down the sideline. He can't get his head back. The ball lands exactly where he should have caught it.

It was just okay, Atlanta. I thought you were supposed to have a lot of weapons. here. So I feel like he's going to have to go to who he trust. Here's the other thing, too, that Atlanta's offensive line is okay. It's not great. What, McGarry is out. They don't have Dalman anymore. This defensive line for the Vikings was pretty great in that football game. They were chasing Caleb all night. And probably if he's not Caleb Williams, he's got five sacks. I don't think Pennix gets sacked because that's not in his DNA. But I do think, I mean, Bejohn Robinson, Kyle Pitts, are in for eight catches, 10 catches each.

So I would go, I would go the over on that one. Okay, how about one more for me? The Adam Thielen did not have a catch, had, and it wasn't rule to drop by PFF. I think all of us who have watched Adam Thielen play for a long time think he usually catches it, usually hangs on to it and doesn't get it knocked down there. How about over under 24 and a half yards for Adam Thielen? Yeah, that was the feeling a factor. That was the play.

I knew there was some moment in the game where I felt good about Thielen, but that must have been the play. There was not a penalty or one. There was not a play called back or anything. 24 and a half at home, week two, give me the over. I mean, I think I would defer to you on this. I'd ask you this question, but they traded for them. They won.

Naylor didn't really give them anything, but, you know, time on the field. And they're going to meet somebody else. So, again, it's, in my mind is, does Atlanta give the Vikings a fight here? I mean, the line is four and a half and 44 and a half, 24 and a half to 20 would be the game script here. That's a close, close enough game. So, yeah, Thielen, it's usually, what, down the field a little bit, yards per target. I like it. I would go with it as well.

Yeah, Naylor, Naylor is Naylor. He had his one catch for 28 yards, and it was a big catch in the game, but that's who he is on this team. He's not more than that. Kind of like in the ideal Gabe Davis situation, Gabe Davis catches one ball for 28 yards, and it's a big play, and it matters, but you're not asking him to do much more than that. Okay, give me one more,

and then we'll talk about some other stuff. Well, I guess Bejohn is the most important player outside of the quarterback on the Falcons, and he had a big receiving game in the opener. A lot of it came right on the first drive, 50 plus yard, 52-yard touchdown pass. It might have managed to screen. where he got out, rushing-wise, he didn't really, you know, do anything.

And again, split time with Tyler Algear, which is annoying. It's always been annoying in fantasy. I would say with Robinson over under three and a half catches. I'll go over on that. I think they're going to use them a lot. And I think Pennix in his attempts to counter the rush. Because when you think about it's not only the rush and Javon Hargrave looked like a freak. And, you know, they were getting home on blitzes and just.

everything was working there for the Vikings. I think it was 40% pressure rate or something like that. I mean, it was a good game for the D-Line and the outside linebackers. And we didn't even see anything really from Van Ginkle, which, you know, that's kind of coming as well. To me, that that's, if you're Zach Robinson who knows Kevin O'Connell extremely well, he knows all the McVeigh theory. I think you're trying to catch one of those blitzes by surprise.

And you're trying to flip some balls to the flat and have Bijan do something special. because you're not going to have a lot of time. And those receivers are not going to get open quickly. And Drake, London is a guy that you could throw to kind of any time. But if you don't have that, I think I would go with like six or seven. Yeah. It's too low a number, right? Because he's not Barclay.

He's not somebody or Eagles Barkley where like last year for as productive as he was, is he going to get three balls in this game through the air? And Hertz doesn't really do it. The Falcons need him. the quarterback's young, I think that number is too low. Okay, in other places. So would you go, would you pick the Vikings in this game? As you mentioned, on Fanduil, four and a half is the line there. Vikings are favored? Probably, Atlanta's defense didn't have the worst day against Tampa for as used to as we are

to sort of condescend to that unit. So they didn't have the worst day. But yeah, I'm not sure. Like right now, I feel like Minnesota might be a little bit inflated because of the comeback win, but I have loved their roster, and I, you know, the Falcons are still the Falcons at this point. Like, that's a game

they probably should have won against Tampa. And I wouldn't say the Vikings Bears game was a game that Minnesota should have lost necessarily. Like, they get the, Chicago gets the pick six, but really on offense, we're not impressive at all. So I'd have a tough time with this

game at the four and a half, but I love how the Vikings feel right now. And O'Connell, I feel like, you know, I was talking about this in Buffalo yesterday. He might be my favorite coach. I mean, what I saw, I don't know if you picked up on this. You were at the game Monday night, Matthew, but they're showing both teams warm up on ESPN. So you have both teams in their own end zones and the offense, you know, just sort of take the snap and run easy stuff to sort of to get warm. And there's Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams.

They wouldn't even look at each other. Like they're standing right next to each other. It's the first game for Johnson. It's Caleb Williams, it's week one. And it was almost like they were making an effort to not interact. It was really awkward. And then they just right on cute, they flipped to Minnesota. And McCarthy and O'Connell felt like they were brothers.

I mean, it was just sort of smiles and positive, and there was tons of positive energy between those two guys. And then the game started, and I thought it was a huge disappointment that Minnesota, that McCarthy was not more effective, but that changed. So, I mean, maybe I had Tyler Dunn's piece to sort of freshen my mind on Caleb and the Bears. But, man, everything he did and that they were doing Monday night, I was sort of like ready for, okay, that's bad. And Minnesota gives you a very different impression right now. So they got the win, you know, I don't know, they got the win. So I like how this has started for the Vikings, even though Monday did not come easily.

I think that we all with Kevin O'Connell would like to work for Kevin O'Connell. Like somebody who, when you throw a pick six, and the breakdown on that from J.T. O' Sullivan was really good, that it was just a spectacular play by the corner, and he felt like McCarthy went to the right place. O'Connell knew that immediately. Like, if you look at the way he reacted on the sideline, he told McCarthy, and this is what he said after the game, that he told McCarthy, you did everything right there. The guy just made an unbelievable play. Like, forget about it.

Don't worry about it. Like, you did the right thing. And imagine making a massive mistake at work that's not really 100% your fault or something goes wrong. And your boss, instead of yelling at you, says, it's okay, just like you go back and go back to work or whatever um i i think that his positive energy for these quarterbacks at some point you have to say it's showing up in in real tangible things and i think we saw that in how j j mccarthy stayed on track and i think he just communicates so well with them that it makes it a lot easier uh let's

talk about some surprises around the league and just you can just pick random guys who surprised you if you want. But the receiver who has my attention. And maybe, maybe I'm the guy, the guy who gets totally fooled by week one. Oh, remember when that guy had seven catches? Quentin Johnston. Yeah, I thought you might say him. Yeah. Has my attention. You've got my attention. I mean, players are allowed to develop. We were just talking about Kyle Pitts. When they come into the league, everyone just wants every rookie to be the best possible version of themselves right away. Sometimes that doesn't happen. And with two other receivers creating space for him, I think he could get the football a lot. Yeah, I think he should be a priority in that offense. I mean, Keenan Allen also

had a great week one, but he's older and maybe that doesn't hold up. I think Kansas City's secondary. There are questions about that and what they did for Johnson. I mean, some of the biggest, I guess not highlights, but more low lights with him so far in his career have been easy drops but they made they made it easy for him in that game and he gets the second one late so probably not someone you started in fantasy football but somebody that right now you could pick up i don't think it's a lock that he has an important role i still think you know the running element will be big with the chargers it's an interesting week to chargers because if i think if one of those teams really wins easily in that game that'll be a big story

And Kansas City has Philadelphia the day before. Like that, that's not easy. Somebody's very possibly going to have a two-game lead on the Chiefs. And if it's L.A., they've already beaten them. So that'll be a pretty big story next week if it falls that way. I like the idea of Johnston. You're right that it takes time sometimes, but I'm not bending over backwards to pick him up. I think it's okay.

They still have the rookie Trey Harris, who has a little bit of juice, Kandre Lambert Smith in the preseason was also somebody interesting. I don't know what they are at tight end. They scratched Gadsden, another rookie for that game. And, you know, running back wise, it was just okay. Not amazing. So I think Johnston is, you know, somebody I'd want to pick up cheap, but somebody in your league may outbid you.

Yeah, I'm just not totally sold on them relying on O'Mary and Hampton. I didn't love the way that he saw the game. In that one, I think that he's got physical tools, but it might take him some time to figure out where he's supposed to run. That offensive line, I don't think blocks that well for the run either, which is kind of surprising, but they built it around Rishan Slater. So anyway, well, that's that whole situation, I think, is interesting because they might just, Harbaugh might just completely flip a switch and start throwing the football constantly. Let me throw you another one that surprised me. the Seattle Seahawks not throwing the football very much was weird to me that whole game and how it played out Jackson Smith, the Jigba gets every target, Cooper Cup gets absolutely

nothing, they just don't have a lot of success running. I mean, at some point, I'm a little surprised people hire Clint Kubiak to be their offensive coordinator, having seen him as the OC here. I know his last name is Kubiak and he was a little bit, had his hands tied in New Orleans, of the quarterback situation, but I think that one threw up some red flags to me right away on what Seattle is going to be. And if you were a Cooper Cup's going to get all their targets person, I think you should be a little bit concerned today. Well, you and I don't know anybody like that. I'm not even being sarcastic. Like Cooper Cup, I think I have maybe zero percent out of

293 drafts. Probably not zero, but it's almost none. Yeah, Seattle was an interesting team to talk about because they, you know, just saying it, they had a strong preseason. And, you know, sometimes you want to sort of, it's tempting to buy into that. Their offensive line was supposed to be bad and then it was good in the preseason. So what is this? Are we playing backups only? Like what is actually happening here? And against San Francisco, especially in the middle, not great. So I think they will want to get Tori Horton more involved in their offense. I mean, they're going to have to if they're in losing game scripts. I thought Charbonnet looked much better than Kenneth Walker in that game. It's really tough for me,

though, to sort of, that's not an ideal start for them. Home against a sort of a hobbled Niners team, had the lead pretty late, only scored 13 points. You know, JSN was a big story, but that was kind of it for the Seahawks. You talk about surprises. I'll give you one of mine. And, you know, we talk about game scripts a lot and with receivers, how dependent they can be on whether the team's defense is bad. That obviously helped as good as he is. Jamar Chase to the top of the charts last year. We talked about Jefferson for this. I thought Zay Flowers having wide receiver won overall in week one for Baltimore in a game that they dominated for almost the whole thing.

And that's really what it was is pretty interesting. I think in Buffalo, we're sort of maybe everywhere, bracing for a Mark Andrews kind of comeback narrative. He had the drop in the playoff game and a fumble. Isaiah likely was injured, and that really, I mean, it didn't happen at all. One catch was almost invisible in this game, but it was flowers that they kept going to, and they did so successfully.

So I think probably he's somebody that you might not have been that excited about after your draft, but right now you see him on your roster if you have them. in your pretty sight. I was thinking during that game because, well, the bills also didn't cover flowers at all, which I don't fully understand the strategy there, how that ended up working out. Your film analyst there will have to dive into that. But there was just so many times where he was wide open. But also, I think Lamar Jackson over the last couple of years is somebody that Baltimore

maybe should lean into a little more with the. volume game of throwing the ball. Now, he threw like 40 touchdowns last year, so I guess there is that. But it feels like they have gotten there with the volume is probably a better way to frame it, where he was insane high efficiency early in his career, but it was kind of like the Russell Wilson thing, where it's like insane efficiency, but it's played off the play action and that sort of bumps it up. I think with the weapons they have and the way that he throws the ball now at this point, his career, he's sort of hitting that total peak of the cross of physical and the mental part of the game,

if they throw all the time, like they can put up numbers like that, maybe have a sustained drive every once in a while going forward in the season. But I feel like that they're sort of getting to that point where they're going to be okay with volume throwing from him. It's there if they need it. I mean, with Jackson and Henry, they don't often need it. So, you know, that was a game where they, I think they just sort of took for granted that they had it and they didn't have it. But what I want to see more from Baltimore in these big spots where they're kind of famous now for losing is Jackson running because that just they shy away or he does from that.

Like he had a big run in Buffalo Sunday night up eight the play before the Henry fumble. And then they get the ball again and it's just, you know, not not Lamar Jackson time, which every time they lose. It feels like they kind of blew it. That's how good they are. And by the way, in that same game, Kiann Coleman would have to count as somewhat of a surprise. I think here in Western New York, people were sort of certainly optimistic, hoping for Coleman to take a big step. And it was really all in the fourth quarter, and the Ravens kind of let him have his stuff. They get a lucky tip on his touchdown, which it's 40 to 25, it's fourth and two, and the ball bounces off knocks, and Coleman is there to catch it.

I mean, that's to his credit. So it wasn't all, like, ideal. I mean, trying to project going forward. But certainly, I mean, a big stat line for him. And on a team that has branded this Everybody Eats business where we have all these different guys that are going to get a little bit of the work. Sunday night was not at all that for the bills. It was Coleman, you know, and Shakir, too, but having a big role. So fantasy-wise, that was like a ninth or tenth-round pick, usually Coleman.

And that certainly spiked Sunday. They run the play where Josh Allen just waits and avoids all the tackles and then throws it to someone. It's actually funny because what Caleb Williams is doing, we say, well, you just can't play like that. And Josh will do it and he can play like that. But he's also six foot six. So I think that is probably a big difference there that he's very, very hard to sack. How about the Detroit Lions? You talk about surprises, 10 catches for 31 yards for Jemir Gibbs.

Well, St. Brown is kind of a non-factor there. I mean, they just couldn't do anything, really passing-wise. Concerned? Or is that, hey, whatever, they played the Packers who were kind of a buzzsaw. They were so jacked up about Parsons and it's also Lambeau field or whatever. I mean, Detroit, you know, they need to be at home to be at their absolute best. but I think that there's some stuff to be concerned about there.

I do too. So I would go on these shows and they would always ask me for like, what's your hot take or what's your like number one thing? And the best I could do because I'm not that kind of artist was Fade Detroit. I thought that they've been so efficient. They lose both coordinators. They lose two important offensive linemen. They're in a super hard division.

I don't know. I mean, as good as Gibbs is, it's still a timeshare. So I didn't really want that. LaPorta was a touchdown merchant as a rookie last year that came back. James and Williams is very exciting. That's a disappointment in week one. They just gave him the contract, and there really wasn't much there. And then St. Brown is St. Brown, but just not a great date for them overall.

Gough outdoors. I mean, what did I see that without McVeigh or Ben Johnson? He has just a terrible history. This year he gets to prove, he's always in a spot where he's trying to prove critics wrong, and he's there again. I kind of think Chicago is interesting at Detroit this week as an underdog because that's kind of where I planted my flag this year was, you know, not drafting Gibbs at 104 or St. Brown at 111. You know, I have a little bit of those guys, but mostly I stayed away from Detroit thinking that they were overpriced. And, you know, so far, that's been right. Get 10 for 31, you can't even believe that's possible.

Right. Yeah, that if you told me, well, actually, he had a 20-yard loss on a catch where he just kept running backwards, but he didn't. It was just a bunch of two-yard passes. That was pretty wild. I think that the alarm bells should be going off there in Detroit because, well, I still think that they're a very talented team. Those hits that they took in the off-season are no small thing.

And their first impression was, wow, that's pretty rough. And the Bears, if they get their corners back, their defense had a little bit more than I thought it was going to have. And I think they've got a really good defensive coordinator. I don't think it'll be easy for Detroit in that game. And Gibbs is just a guy where when you lose offensive linemen and you lose somewhat of a scheme thing, that's where I just see regression all over. Running backs, I think you can always kind of identify that of like, well, there's major

changes there, and they are the most impacted by environment, I think, of anybody else. And by the way, after the Bears, their next four games at Baltimore, Cleveland, at Cincinnati, at Kansas City. So maybe not all of that is as tough as it might look on paper, but it, you know, definitely could be. All right. How about this before we wrap up? Most intriguing game of the week from a fantasy perspective. I'll give you mine and you can think. I like commanders and packers in this one. The Packers, they also have an everybody-eat sort of thing. Still going on.

Matthew Golden did light up the world in that game, but he did add a little extra flavor for them. And on Washington side, I'm just interested in Jaden Daniels this year against this defense because I think the Giants have a very good defense. And from a real football perspective, he managed that game. I thought brilliantly.

I agree. They had pressure. He looked great. He was throwing the ball to the right people, but he didn't put up crazy numbers. I don't know if you can put it. I mean, if Green Bay can slow down Jaded Daniels, like really slow him down, then they are going to have the world's attention as a really freakish defense, but I think Daniels is really going to test them because his hot, super high IQ, athleticism, playmaking, McLaren's still

coming back to full strength. I just, I just love that game. Yeah, that's good. It's Thursday night, right? So there's that little added wrinkle where we're early in the season. We're not into routines yet. And now Washington has to travel today to Green Bay. And, you know, that's a tough opponent. But it is, I looked at Fanduel. I think it might be the second highest total of the week. So, you know, the Packers are not an easy team to predict when it comes to weapons. Interesting that Jaden Reed, I mean, he scored, another guy who got a, got away with it with his touchdown, but all kinds of questions about his health, his foot, and he played and produced. Golden didn't play as much as I was hoping, so I don't think he's a fantasy starter,

but he's still a weapon. I like the Jaguars Bengals game. It seems a little bit hard to spit out for this question, but is Cincinnati, like sort of they were on brand in week one, just basically inept on offense? Is week two too early for them to get off? against Jacksonville. I didn't see a lot of the game.

It doesn't sound like Jacksonville was impressive at all in the game against Carolina, more that Carolina was just incapable of doing anything. Travis Hunter over Brian Thomas in week one, but Thomas will bounce back. You've got, I mean, Hunter did the thing fantasy players were hoping for. Fingers were crossed. Like, he's going to play a, you know, consistent role in offense. And he absolutely did. Only maybe six snaps on defense in the whole game for,

Travis Hunter. So there's a lot there. They trade tank Bigsby. E.TN broke a big run. I think it's, you know, promising for him. For now, I have more facial tootin in fantasy than any other player. And he moves up to RB2 there, LeQuint Allen. If you're on waivers out of Syracuse right now, could be their past catching back. And then you want to just, you're waiting for the Bengals to be the Bengals again. And maybe we get that big role for Chase Brown. Of course, Chase and Higgins, Borough throwing for like 113 yards or something like that in week one, that should kick back. So I think that's the highest total. And maybe people will be a little bit blind to that game because of what it's Jacksonville, Cincinnati. But it

has the potential to really pop. Hopefully that feels like Joe Burrow throws for 400 yards after what happened last week and Jamar Chase goes off. But it's funny with Travis Hunter, that poor gentleman in Jacksonville who counted all of his reps during training camp and had the whole numbers and this is how he's going to play and everything else. And his defensive role was a deep fake. I mean, it's just like that was not. I, you know, and I think I actually think Jacksonville made the right call there. I mean, the value is going to be for him at wide receiver. And I would not want to get him hurt playing corner and making tackles. I think that's probably the biggest part. Play him, play him in dime where they're passing the ball. And maybe he could go

intercept it and don't play him otherwise because corners get hurt all the time with tackling. I don't want him run gap filling or whatever. So a good choice there from the Jags. 90 with the chance of a thunderstorm in Cincinnati. Will we get over under one and a half lightning delays this week? We have three in week one. Maybe Cincinnati is a candidate. 90 in thunderstorms. I'll have to check on Fanduel if that is possible. I'll take the over. I'll take one. Mike Shope, ADP chasing, WGR, 50 in Buffalo. Great stuff. I mean, it was a really, really fun week one. Tons of storylines, tons of great games. So we couldn't have asked for more. And we'll do it again week

two. So thank you for your time. And I'll be back in the studio the next time we talk. Thanks, Matt. Thanks, Mike.