Transcript of Week 1 Matchups + Fantasy FACEOFF! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/11 New

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.

Oh, welcome in. Here we are again. A Friday episode of the Fantasy Footballers.

We continue to be back.

And we ain't going nowhere.

I mean, I think the thing that made the biggest impact on me last night was Jason saying we haven't even reached the weekend of week 1 yet.

I mean, it's crazy. Well, because you're my guy.

Oh gosh.

In Stribling.

Oh gosh.

Gets hurt. My MVP in AJ Brown gets hurt. And it's like probably same injury, by the way. Yeah, probably both could miss 6 weeks.

I mean, your situation, I'd just say it out of the gate here, is so much better than mine because the number one thing that you need to do as a rookie wide receiver is establish yourself early in the season. And he was getting, he had more wide receiver snaps than any other player on that team and goes down. And now, okay, let's pretend it's 6 weeks because I think Well, for one, Stribling was carted off. He couldn't put any weight on it. There could be other damage. 2, he now as a rookie has to come back in week 7 with Deebo and Evans and Kittle better, well-established. I just think the pathway, while not impossible, is, you know, this was disappointing. This was so disappointing.

It's certainly not good for anybody, but I would say that the draft cost for AJ Brown was high. The draft cost and the age. combination for AJ Brown. They were talking about how it looks like he won't need surgery. And so, oh great, that you don't usually even question that on a high ankle sprain. So it's—

I don't need surgery, guys.

Right. Like, yeah. Oh yeah, you don't know. Oh, that's great. I don't need surgery either. But we don't talk about that out loud because there's no reason to.

It's presumed.

So I do think AJ Brown will take a while. But yeah, I was— we were talking about it. We were lamenting like how sad week 1 has been so tough. And I'm like, We're not 2-1 yet. It hasn't even started. We're 2 games.

Yeah. So 27-7, 49ers over the Rams. A whooping. I mean, really in all respects, the takeaways from this game, I don't, I honestly want to be fair to the listeners here. I don't know. Like obviously Evans looked very good.

I mean, the starting—

Deebo is very involved. And that was, is a headline to me because with Stribling going out, Like Deebo absolutely is just because Shanahan and this offense and Purdy, the familiarity, the way they use him. Like the first half of last year, Deebo Samuel was a top-tier wide receiver for fantasy. I just want to remind people that.

Yeah. With Stribling gone, Ricky Pierce all gone. This is a, this is definitely going to be a big waiver pickup this week. I, you know what? I just can't believe like the 49ers. are so impressive to me. They deserve so much respect. They have dealt with so many injuries year after year after year. They have the most injuries and they, and they, and they had injuries there like right off the bat in the game. They lost Tonjas McBasketball. They lost Stribling right before the season started. They lost a defensive lineman that was pretty core to them and they just go out and they win and they dominated and they dominated the Super Bowl favorite Rams. I was going to say, it's so impressive.

The one, it's the, maybe the 49ers were right to go down a week early.

Yeah, I did feel that way.

The Rams looked slow. And so Andy, I'll just point out, this is a tweet from Adam Levitan, friend of the show. Deebo was 19 of 36 routes. George Kittle was 17 of 36. So I mean, Maybe that sees a bump up for Deebo, almost certainly has to. But there's like, Stribling went down and Deebo was still kind of a halftime—

Well, I mean, DeMarcus Robinson came into the game, but they also—

I think, yes.

If you look at what they did, it seemed very much that they were being protective of their older players in week 1. Christian McCaffrey, limited work. Caleb Black had 4 more carries.

Well, there's talk of that he played the whole game cramped up.

With cramps. But then also, you know, Deebo and Kittle, those are older guys, limited snaps. On the Rams side, it was pretty awful all the way around. You had 155 passing yards for Matthew Stafford, 1 interception, no touchdowns. Blake Corum, 10 for 54. Kyren Williams, 11 for 41 and a touchdown. Kyren was the only of the backs to catch a pass.

I think, I think I saw Corum ran 1 route.

Yeah. I mean, Corum was really great between the tackles. He looked fast.

Both running backs looked great.

They both looked awesome.

Slightly different.

The offensive line looked really good for the Rams. Honestly, they both were so impressive. Corum looked outstanding.

Yeah, he's got juice.

It was, it was kind of what we, I think what we have come to expect. It's perfect.

It's one game of exactly what to expect. Which is Kyren was fine for fantasy.

Kyren was great for fantasy. He's going to be probably an RB1 on the week because he had a touchdown and receptions and, you know, whatever. Corum might have even looked better. Man, he was so fast.

Yeah.

He looked like shot out of a cannon.

But then you look at the snap counts and it was 36 snaps for Kyren to 13 for Corum, 21 routes run for Kyren to 2 routes run.

Okay. So we're seeing 2.

Yeah. So it's like the usage was heavy on the Kyren side. Both are awesome. Both, you know, it's, it's—

Puka had basically one big play. Davante Adams just 3 for 26. The tight end onslaught for the Rams was, it was a distribution of random targets. Davis Allen, Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson. They all caught passes. Ferguson, 1 target, no catches. And mind you, they didn't even activate Max Claire for the game. So I don't know how predictable that's going to be moving forward.

A lot of Twitter bros. I am Mr. Terrence Ferguson from the offseason. Had him on a lot of rosters. Said I'm watching the snap counts, the route rates, the, you know, all of that. A lot of people out there are talking about how he ran, you know, enough routes and this and that. He didn't. He didn't in the game. What I saw from week 1 is enough to move on. And if it changes later on, that was the plan from the get-go.

It's like, see if breakout week, yes or no.

Yeah, exactly. Breakout week. He wasn't playing, you know, 80% of the snaps.

And so that's 53% of the routes while Stafford was on the field.

Yeah.

So, you know, he'll have 4 nice games this year and Parkinson will have 3 and Davis Allen will have 1. And the wide receiver 3 for the Rams last year had 18 catches. So maybe there's not room to go around.

The biggest concern for me from like actual watching the game and trying to take something away was Davante Adams utilization inside the 10-yard line was bizarre. I mean, that's where he was king last year. He was like literally a, you know, a goal line wide receiver, which isn't a thing. And inside they had 7 snaps inside the 10 and he was on the field for one of them.

It was weird because I just feel like it was personnel groupings. That just, you know, you just went in there and they were trying to do, they're trying to use the running game a lot last night and it just, they got stuffed.

I am like, I, for the Rams, I agree that the running backs are, this is probably what to expect. I'm throwing most of this garbage in the garbage for the Rams.

Oh, garbage in the garbage.

Yeah. That's where you do it.

Is that what I said?

No, but that is, it does work because on that.

That's it. They put the, yeah. You really put that garbage in the garbage.

But most of the Rams performances, you just don't even know.

Yeah.

I need to see another week.

This was not an awesome week.

Correct.

Yeah. No, I agree. Miles Garrett had fewer tackles than Puka Nacua.

Yeah.

It's like, does Miles Garrett suck at football all of a sudden? I find that highly doubtful.

No, I think the most encouraging thing out of last night was a healthy Mike Evans as a 3rd down target, a goal line target, the same Mike Evans we've always had. And as long as he stays healthy, he'll be a value in drafts.

It's— and I, what do you guys make of the Kalen Black trade?

Kaylen Black looks pretty—

Is that cramps? Is that— this is the new norm?

I don't think it's the new norm.

Okay.

Kaylen Black looked really good and I think he helped establish himself. Like Jordan James was injured. So Kaylen Black got the backup role. What he did on the field, I think—

But then Jordan James wasn't injured yesterday. He was just inactive.

Right. So I'm saying he— but what he did on the field, like I am now confident Kaylen Black is, you know, has to be rostered everywhere. He's a great insurance back. I would be trading for Christian McCaffrey right now. I think people, if they went out and they said, oh, what's going on? Why is he not on the field so much? Kaylin Black, this is not going to be a 50-50 timeshare. There's no way at the end of the year that we're going to be like Kaylin Black and Christian McCaffrey were in a 50-50 timeshare. That's not happening.

Zero chance. And they, they, the game became a blowout as well. It's Friday again.

Foot Clan Friday.

Alrighty. Here we go. $100 gift card every Friday to a supporter from jointhefoot.com. The $100 gift card goes to fantasychamps.com.

Another $100.

That's right. The winner today is, ooh, hey, D Pickle.

Okay.

That is the username. And we, we are fair people. We choose at random.

We didn't get it.

And so D Pickle gets the $100.

Congratulations.

Makes me want another Mr. Pickle sandwich.

Yeah.

So good.

Yeah, you fell in love with that recommendation.

Yeah.

Let's talk some news.

News and notes from around the league.

De'Jon Stribling did not sustain an Achilles injury.

Which—

That is good news.

I honestly, it— You know, we're not the injury experts. We just know what certain things look like after I've seen many of the same type of injuries. And when he, when he turned and then just went down and the way he grabbed, it was like, oh, well, it was non-contact and it wasn't like he rolled an ankle. It seems like it was in play.

It will take a few days before we find out. Usually we have information a little quicker, but because they are in Australia, you just mean in terms of the severity of what he does. Exactly. He's not going to get an MRI until he's back in the States.

No, but they did say his Achilles was intact, which is good news. Jake Tonjes knee injury does not look good. I heard MCL. That could be season ending. Davis Allen carted to the locker room with a possible concussion was the other news that I was unaware of. The news on AJ Brown, 3 to 6 weeks, high ankle sprain, IR stint is possible. Stay tuned there. Malik Nabers, that situation has been Very weird because the reports are like first, Neighbors is leaving. The Giants are leaving the decision up to him whether he'll play. Then yesterday he's feeling good. He'll let, he says he'll let Harbaugh decide if he's going to play.

What about today?

This morning he said the decision is his and no one else's. I can't put my career at risk, which that says you're not playing. Did you listen to Jeremiah Love's comments about his injury and who's going to decide if he plays?

Yeah, I'm going to do whatever the coach tells me to do. Right.

He said if the coach wants me to play with my ankle at 50%, I'll be out there playing. I want to contribute. 100% and he wants me out there, I'll do that. You know, it was a completely different answer than the neighbors scenario.

But I mean, an ankle sprain versus you destroyed your knee and you spent an entire year rehabbing. This just—

2 words, tempered expectation.

Yeah. This is—

I mean, he might not even start. He needs—

I would try to play somebody else.

He has to get hit.

Really? You would try to play someone else if he starts?

I don't think I would. I mean, we— people drafted George Kittle to be the wide receiver 1. We told them tight end 1. We told people like probably don't play him. He was 2 for 12, by the way. Kittle was not. We didn't talk about it. He, you know, was involved in 43% of the routes or something. It was not a pretty—

I actually left encouraged of like they put him out there and they, they were trying to get him involved early.

He looked good. He passed the eye test, but you know, it's, it's going to be a ramp up period.

Let's discuss the, the neighbors' decision making while we review that game today because we've got matchups. Tua Tagovailoa added to the injury report on Thursday with an oblique injury.

Oh my gosh.

Cooper Rush now taking all first team reps. What's wild is that, bro, I'm the only person on the planet who's actually mad about this in terms of the, from the Falcons outlook, because I was relying on him for 4-yard targets to Kyle Pitts.

Cooper Rush, we've, we've seen him have a Yeah, like he had a short little stint of success for the Dallas Cowboys.

Probably not worse.

He is a backup. Yeah. How much worse than Tua? I'm not sure. I mean, with— I think it stinks for the entire Atlanta team. Like Bijan is awesome, but there is a certain point. There is a point of you just cannot overcome no matter how awesome you are. If your, your quarterback is inept and the defense is just laughing hysterically because they know they don't have to really do much.

We don't like running backs on bad teams.

No.

And I've spent the offseason telling you how much I love De'Von Achane, but you guys and most of the world believe that Miami is going to be a terrible team. We like Ash and Ginty. Most of the world believes that Las Vegas is not going to win a lot of games. That same category has to apply to Bijan, even though he is spectacular if you're on the goal line half as much.

Yep.

If you have, if you're 3 and out and we're, you know, let's say you lose a snap here or there to Brian Robinson and then you're 3 and out and then it's like you never see him out there and it's, you're just going to get frustrated.

If I'm a defense and it's Cooper Rush, I'm just, my game plan is Bijan doesn't beat us.

Right.

Bijan doesn't beat, make Cooper Rush show the defense that we have to respect what he can do.

I will say Cooper Rush back in the day, you talked about that brief stretch just as a reminder with the Cowboys of 2024, he had a 7-game stretch where he basically was the starter for all of the snaps. He would have been on pace for 3,900 yards, 26 touchdowns, 9 interceptions. He did not play poorly.

No, but then the Cowboys were like, no, we don't want you as our backup anymore.

Yeah, it was weird.

That's a pretty strong signal.

A handful of quick updates on the matchups we went over yesterday. Alec Pierce remained limited on Thursday. They still expect him to play. Zay Flowers upgraded to full. He's going to go.

Nice.

Jonathan Brooks remained limited on Thursday. And Rome Odunze limited on Thursday. And we'll, we're expecting, I think all 4 of those guys to be in the lineup, but we will continue to monitor. There is an Injury Blitz podcast, an exclusive Injury Blitz podcast every Friday by Matthew Betz, our injury expert. And that is a perk of the Foot Clan over at jointhefoot.com. If you want to listen to that, he will break it down with, you know, far more detail and acumen than the 3 of us.

Yeah. And I believe he waits for the Friday practice reports so that you've got a little bit more information.

Yes, sir. Let's take a quick break and then we'll jump right into the forecast.

All right.

We're going to jump into the forecast. I should mention also it will be the very first Fantasy Faceoff of the year. The Wheel of Shame returns at the end of today's episode. So stay tuned for that. Let's talk matchups.

Fantasy Forecast presented by PrizePicks.

Yesterday we covered Buccaneers, Bengals, Saints, Lions, Jets, Titans, Ravens, Colts, Falcons, Steelers, Bears, Panthers, Browns, Jaguars, Bills, and Texans. 6 more matchups remaining today. The Miami Dolphins and first-time head coach, my name is Jeff. My name is Jeff. Take on the Las Vegas Raiders and first-time head coach Clint Liar Face Kubiak. Vegas line is Las Vegas minus 3, over-under 40.5. It's pretty low.

Yeah, it's 2 bad teams.

One of these teams, I mean, we just, this is HNV Ginty and it's like one of these teams will not be a losing football team after week 1. Who's it going to be?

Who will be the loser? Yeah.

This is tough. This is, it's really tough. I mean, obviously the Raiders.

Most games you're like, who's going to win? This one we're like, who's going to lose?

The Raiders are favored by 3, probably just because they are the home team. Losing Brock Bowers so close to the season is a massive blow. massive impact on what their offense can do. But the Dolphins defense should be very, very bad. So I think I honestly wonder if could the Dolphins offense be the better, like of, of, of both teams' offenses and defenses is the number one out of those 4 categories, the Dolphins offense? Because that's disgusting.

I would say Vegas. Oh man.

Look, you know what I'm going to say? I'll stay quiet.

Yeah. No, you're—

I'm going to say, do the sound effect for me, Matt.

What?

What? Sorry. The dolphin.

He's not listening to the show.

What are you— oh, I didn't even know what you were trying to do.

I was just trying to— I said, you know which side I'm going to go with? And then I was looking for my sound effect. And looking for dolphin ball. I feel like he deserves the poop trophy for that. Malik Willis, De'Von Achane, Chris Bell, Caleb Douglas, rookie debuts, Malik Washington and company. Greg Dulcich, how involved will he be? You're starting Achane. That's your lock.

Yes.

The rest of it, I mean, most of you are not going to start Malik Willis in week 1, but you're going to watch from the sideline because he's going— his price picks projection, 39.5 rushing yards. That is the highest among all. Quarterbacks in week 1.

That's so juicy.

It's amazing. It's a cheat code.

Although he has never attempted more than 23 passes in a game in his 6 career starts.

I mean, I mean, look, I'm willing to put— I'm willing to come in here and look the fool on Monday morning if Malik Willis falls on his face this week. But I will not be surprised if Malik Willis is one of the biggest talking points this week facing the Raiders in week 1.

I'm with you, man.

So I am looking forward to finding out. Now here's what I don't want to happen. I don't want an injury to ruin our ability to find out whether our predictions are right.

Yeah. Chris Bell goes down again with the knee. I will say this. The problem for Malik Willis is not Malik Willis. He does have the worst receiving core in the league, in my opinion. Like maybe, sure, maybe the 2 rookies turn into a boat. But as of this moment, they are rookies who have not played, who are starting week 1, who aren't first-round draft picks. So that's like not historically successful.

I mean, Malik Washington, Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, or Trey Tucker, Jaylen Naylor, Jack Besh.

Yeah. Well, you take Brock Bowers out and yes, the Raiders become—

Brock Bowers is out.

Yes.

I literally can't take him out this week.

This is the NFL. Come week 1.

Are you just—

what are we doing here?

They're just getting this over with.

Save this for like week 10.

This is great.

This is Ashton Gentry. Get it out of the way. So this is Gentry, Achane, log out, move on.

Yes. From a fantasy start perspective. And then watch Willis and the 2 rookie wide receivers. And also I think it's really important to watch the wide receivers on the Raiders side while you— I think it's going to be several weeks or, you know, a couple of weeks at least for Brock Bowers to get back. And if Jack Besh emerges or Jalen Naylor has 12 targets, you know, That's going to be an important thing for a couple of weeks on spot starts.

I will say in our listener league, which is, it's a 14-teamer double flex. So it is a deeper league. I got Trey Tucker in my lineup right now as a double flex.

I get, I get it.

The matchup is there.

I get it. There's not— who's left?

Yes, exactly.

I mean, you could have started Matt Collins yesterday.

So, so how do you feel about Michael Mayer as the Bowers replacement. Are we looking—

break glass?

I think it could be okay, but there's more than likely other people. Juwan Johnson, Dalton Schultz, those guys I would start over.

I did just send you a quick trade offer in League of Record, Mike, because I want you to have to click reject on it and have done that.

Okay.

Let's— you pull it up because I would love to hear what this is.

I'm going to go check it out.

I just want— I want you to have to reject it here on the air just to have I've clicked the button.

Oh, let's hear it, Mike.

It is unless he doesn't, unless he accepts it.

It is Malik Willis versus Tyler Shuck.

Oh, so he's going to get, he's willing to give you Tyler Shuck.

Yeah, he was.

I bet you rejected it.

I did.

Okay.

I just want him to have rejected it. I love that.

I love that because he has been Mr. Tyler Shuck all offseason.

He just said he's Mr. Malik Willis.

He is.

Yeah.

Actually, I've been on the Malik Willis side. No, what he said was, I don't like Tyler Shaw.

Yeah, that's what he said. Green Bay taking on—

Talk to me in week 5 when Jordan Tyson comes back and leaves after 2 snaps. Okay.

George. Yeah. Why did I say George? Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings.

George Packers against George Vikings.

It's week 1. Oh my God.

George has the line at -12. Where did George come from? It started with a G. Like Green Bay. That's, that's the closest I can help you with.

I saw the first letter. I just kind of filled in the rest.

I made some assumptions.

Packers against the Minnesota Vikings.

Why did I—

this is awesome. I mean, this is the matchup you want. Divisional game. The debut of Kyler as the quarterback. Minnesota minus 1.5 at home.

Yeah.

Over-under 46.5. They split the series last year. Jordan Love. Marshawn Lloyd, Christian Watson. I've seen, I don't remember where the report came from, but it was like an NFL executive poll and Matthew Golden had been picked as the breakout of the season.

Saw that.

Which is interesting.

Was it followed by like, hahaha?

It was the executives of only the Packers. No, to me, it's, that will be so fun to watch. I think they're going to be more pass heavy without Josh Jacobs. I think you're going to see Watson, Reed, Golden, the distribution. That'll be fun. Tucker Kraft, how healthy are you? Where are you guys in terms of like, you know, you had the discussion on Kittle. We kind of said don't start him. With Tucker Kraft, are you in the same boat? Are you, are you think that, you know, if you took Tucker Kraft in the 7th round?

This is why I didn't draft Tucker Kraft. So I need to like recuse myself. I don't have this decision because if you drafted him in the 5th, you have to start him. You pretty much have to start him, right?

I would say you probably do have to play him.

I would not start him.

I mean, we— there is so much pressure on the shoulders of Juwan Johnson this week. He is getting recommended so much. This is— look, I like the Packers. Christian Watson is a my guy. I think Marshawn Lloyd can get it going. We have all— when is Jacobs going to be back? I don't know. But this is about the worst possible first week that we can have.

That's what, that's how I was feeling. It's like, you know, you're on the road against the number 1 quarterback defense, 6 running back, 1 against wide receivers.

You're in, yes, it's division. So, you know, you're going to play them twice, but on the road against Minnesota for week 1 is, they're an excellent defense, an excellent defense. So it, I'm playing Like, I'm playing my normal guys, but I understand what I'm getting myself into.

The only Viking I would play this week is Justin Jefferson. If it's me, I—

yeah, I think that would be the hope. You've got— there's teams that might have to start one of either Aaron Jones or Jordan Mason. And I also would say Tyler is okay as a start.

I don't, I don't like Kyler.

I would, I would, I would prefer to only start Justin Jefferson.

Would you go with Kyler or would you go to Malik Willis?

I think I'd go Kyler.

Okay.

He's got Justin Jefferson, not Chris Bell.

That is a fair argument.

On the other side, Watson, you probably are playing.

Oh, Watson's a great start.

Keep an eye on—

well, he's tough matchup.

It's tough match.

If you had Rico Dowdle, you'd play Lloyd over him this week. even though the matchup's bad?

I would play Lloyd.

Tony Pollard against the Jets or Lloyd in this bad matchup?

Trey Tucker right now, that lineup I talked about, I have him in over Marshawn Lloyd.

Do you?

I do.

I think it could be tough.

The Vikings are terrifying.

It won't only be Lloyd. It really won't.

Right.

No. It will be some Chris Brooks, some Caleb freaking Johnson.

Yeah.

And it will be—

What a world.

I mean, if Lloyd gets in the end zone, you'll be happy with this performance. If he doesn't, I think you'll be disappointed.

I agree with that.

Yeah.

I think it's interesting. 46.5-point over-under. It's not bad, but Minnesota favored.

Yeah. And it is, it is really a good Minnesota defense on the road. I think I changed back to Rico Dowdle and Tony Pollard. I would, I would start them over Lloyd. I'm sorry.

The time has expired. You're locked.

We have to see, you know, what the rotation is there.

Did you see what Kyle threw into the dock for the next matchup? It is the George Washington Commanders against Philadelphia.

In Philly.

So yeah, that's where the George was coming from. Oh, you know what I mean? I was thinking of the George Washington Commanders. Yes.

Yeah.

Games in Philly. Philly minus 6, over-under 44.5. That is, that's a pretty big line for this divisional battle. New offensive coordinators for both teams.

Dang. Philly by 6.

Philly by 6.

Who?

Yeah. The offensive line is a huge question mark for the Washington Commanders. Or as I call them, the George Washington Commanders. And the defensive line for the Eagles is going to be a problem.

Yes.

I mean, that is where this line comes from.

Yeah, it really is. The offensive line for the Commanders was bad and then got much worse this offseason. This is part of— we were talking on the Footcast yesterday, you know, the JCM, Bill Kroski merit. You're hoping that he, you're hoping that he is the one that breaks out because he's got juice and youth, not Rashad White.

He's, he's still growing up right now.

For it, for this matchup, I think that Rashad White is going to be the leader in snaps, maybe even by a wide margin. The fact that he's not growing up and, you know, pass protection leaking out like, you know, You're going to have a real problem here with the, with the Eagles D-line.

I think you're doing a lot of waiting and watching with Washington this week. I'm assuming you'll start McLaurin because you drafted him to be in your lineup and Jayden, of course. But the JCM, Diggs, Okonkwo, keep an eye on how Washington's offense looks this week. It's a tough matchup. I'm not saying overreact if it all goes to crap. It's just, yeah, it might go to crap.

I have Diggs down as like a wide receiver 4.

DeVonta Smith was my start of the week. Again, you're watching Mekhi Lemon's involvement and Dontavian Wicks, I think, could be one of those guys that surprises you in week 1, could be on our waiver show. Dallas Goedert, I like it. I think the most familiar pass catchers for Jalen Hurts are the ones you can rely on the most this week. So Goedert, I would not be surprised if he has an okay week as well. Goedert likely, Goedert, Juwanson, which way are you going?

I'd probably likely. I'm fine with all of them, but I lean likely, especially with Malik Nabers maybe getting off to a slow start in the matchup against Dallas. But I think all 3 are good. The biggest question mark to me in this game is Jayden Daniels, guy that you drafted to start. Is he a must-start? Do you start him over everyone?

If you drafted him, you're starting him.

Yeah, that's our lean.

Yeah.

I mean, Jayden Daniels, Malik Willis, Jason.

That would be Jayden Daniels.

Malik has the highest rushing line of the week.

Yeah, but they're both great rushing mobile quarterbacks. I mean, I, you know, but I'm looking at like Baker Mayfield against Cincinnati, you know, or Jared Goff against New Orleans.

I love Goff. I love Goff. Start of the week.

So yeah, both of those are our starts of the week.

I think that one, That one's tough for me.

Yeah.

Maybe, maybe that's where you go and you just wait and see what this offense looks like. Arizona against the Los Angeles Chargers. Vegas line, Los Angeles minus 9.5 at home.

Oh, look at that.

It's moved towards the Cardinals.

It was dub digits.

Yeah, it was 10.5, I believe.

Over-under 47.5.

Scared, LA?

You got to come through us. You want to go to the Super Bowl? It starts in Arizona.

Well, it starts in Los Angeles.

Yeah. Oh, darn.

Starts with Arizona in Los Angeles.

Yeah.

Starts at home. Only 7 times in the last decade did you have a week 1 team favored by 9.5. Those teams went 6-1, but only 2 covered the spread because this is—

Oh no.

Oh, I was going to make the joke.

I was going to joke. Do it.

Andy's Almost Upset of the Week.

It's a lot of points.

It's a lot of points.

It's a lot of points.

A lot of points. Even though Jim Harbaugh came out and said, look, it's September, it's time to play our first game. And I support no cause, foreign or domestic, other than the greatness of the Los Angeles Chargers. Even though he came out and said that.

I watched him in an interview this morning where he was saying I mean, oh, Harbaugh. He goes, can I call my shot? Can I Babe Ruth this? Can I just predict something? He says at the end of Justin Herbert's career, when it's all said and done, when he retires, he will be known as the greatest quarterback of all time. The greatest quarterback of all time.

I mean, that fits the quote he just said about this one.

Okay.

You see why the Cardinals are going to win? No, I mean, they're up against it. Look, the Cardinals staying in this game, it comes down to an offense that I think will be productive, top half type of offense this year. Brissett, Jeremiah Love's going to play, Tyler Allgeier, Michael Wilson, Marvin Harrison, Trey McBride, all of those guys. This will be a tough one. This is a good defense for the Chargers.

Great defense.

And look, the odds are not in their favor.

No.

So Hampton is the start of the week.

This is good news for you because usually when I am blown away by your start of the— by your almost upset.

Yeah.

It's those ones where you're, you're right when we're shocked.

I need a reason.

It is a lot of points.

I need a reason to root for my home team.

Man, you got one really good defense and one really good offense. Well, and they're both on the same team.

If you're ever going to have a bit of a surprise, I tell you, the defenses are ahead of the offenses oftentimes in week 1. We've seen it through 2 games for the most part. Yeah, I mean, the Chargers should win the game. That's— they're the heavy favorites. Ladd McConkey, my guy. Stay healthy, my friend. Price Picks projection for him, 55.5. There's an extra 5 receiving yards. Yeah, Kyle threw the extra 0.5 in there. But I love Ladd this week. Of course, Hampton, do it.

Herbert?

Sure. Charlie Kohler? Well, well, the nasty boy.

Keep an eye on him. You're not starting Kohler.

Are you playing— we'll just stay in the same matchup. Would you rather play Quge or Michael Wilson?

That is— that's an awesome question.

I lean Quentin Johnston.

I'll go Michael Wilson.

I'll go Quentin.

Okay. And then you pay attention. See what Marv looks like in this game. You know Trey McBride is a lock. Jeremiah Love, how you feeling about that start? We'll finish there.

Yeah, that's, that's, I think the biggest question is, can you rely on him coming back? I mean, to his quote saying, if I, if he wants me to go 50%, 75%, whatever, that implies he's not 100%. And a rookie in his first game back dealing with injury is not going to get a ton of work. He looked electric, but this is a tough matchup. So I think we've really got to just ask some start-sit decisions.

Yeah, one hour ago, just to share it, John Weinfuss, one of the— Josh Weinfuss, sorry, one of the bigger beats for Arizona, one hour ago said that the expectation is Jeremiah Love will play against the Chargers and he received this information with a source familiar with the situation. Not that we're— like you said, maybe it's more about how much, not if he plays.

Yeah. So, you know, Love or Skadaboo, I would go Skadaboo.

I would go Love. I mean, you got, you got the return from injury for Scadaboo too.

Oh gosh.

Yeah, but his injury was, you know, much more significant.

Let me actually consult what I have.

What about Bucky Irving, Andy?

I have Bucky.

I like Bucky this week.

I have Bucky and Cam above both, both above Jeremiah Love.

David Montgomery or Jeremiah Love?

I'll play Love. If I had those choices, that's what I would do. If I had Jeremiah Love, I'm going to still try to play him. The explosiveness of Love, I think, could compensate for the lack of, you know, every down work. The pass catching of Love, you're down, it's a 9.5 point, you know, factor here. The Cardinals should be playing from behind, throwing the ball a ton. Love will be the pass catcher. That's where I lean. But look, those other guys are fine too. And you don't run the risk of a reinjury with them.

Right.

Anything else from this game you guys want to touch on?

Uh, Omari and Hampton, just stay healthy. That's all I'm asking. That's it. You don't even have to play well. Just stay healthy.

Yeah. How about everybody?

I think if he stayed healthy and didn't play well, you would come into—

Oh, I'd be very upset.

Really mad.

But I would not be as upset. So I'm lowering my bar.

Okay.

All right. We'll take a quick break and jump into Sunday Night Football.

I thought more about this Amariyan Hampton situation. And if I— Amariyan Hampton, you need to do well. I will not be— I will not be okay at all if you make it out healthy and perform poorly.

Oh my gosh. My start of the week?

Yes.

You do need to do well. Dallas, New York. This is a fun Sunday night game. It's in New York. Dallas minus 3 on the road. Over-under 47.5. Okay, we'll take that. That puts it at 25 to 22. Last year, Dallas games averaged a 59 combined point total. It was the 6th highest in the last 25 years. Their defense was 32nd in points given up. They will be better than that.

They were 30th in yards per game, 31st in EPA per pass, 30th in EPA per rush. 30th in turnovers. They were so bad.

But this should be a really fun Sunday night game. Dak, Javonte, you got the 2 superstars at wide receiver, CeeDee and Pickens. And because we are the humans that we are, we can't just be satisfied that they have 2 amazing wideouts. We have to be like, this one's better than that one for sure. This one's— Pickens is going to be way better than CeeDee this year.

They're both going to be Awesome.

Yeah. That's the headline. Feel good about Javonte.

Yeah. I love teams like this. I mean, Dak, Javonte, CeeDee, Pickens. That's it. They are going— they're all going to work. They're all going to eat. Check out.

On the other side, Mike had Jackson Dart as his start of the week yesterday. He averaged 41 rushing yards a game in his starts. Every single one of those rushing yards will be terrifying. But maybe he can stay healthy. And are you playing Dak in this game, the favored team, or are you playing Jackson Dart? Your start of the week, Mike.

I would play Dak. Look, I put Dart as the start of the week because he was drafted a little bit later and I love this matchup. I think that Dart can be— he should end up as one of the better fantasy quarterbacks this week. But Dak was outrageously high in my season-long projections. This matchup against the Giants does not scare me. And both wideouts are healthy. So Dak looks— Dak should honestly, I don't want to be over-hyperbolic, but it's like Dak should be a top 5 guy at the end of the year. Yes. If CeeDee and George go, you know, they miss like 1 or 2 games each, Dak is going to be so freaking good.

If their defense is not as bad, I think you're going to see obviously like you're not going to have a historically bad year every year.

No.

And so you could see that tempered a little bit. But yeah, I mean, with weapons like that, you know, very excited. Maybe you answered it sort of already, Jason, but Mike, where are you with the Cam Scadaboo injury, the workload, what you expect in week 1 against Dallas? Sounds like both of you guys are starting him, but yeah, are you expecting to see a committee?

No, I'm expecting that it has been dicey. You know, hard to get the vibes of what's going on with Skadaboo with the injury, with how he's fitting in with the team. You know, reports of training camp of him rubbing people the wrong way, you know, like hitting in practices where the defense can't hit him, hitting the defender and then the defense getting mad. But I do think that it's— I think he will be the premier Or premier running back. Yeah. I just, I just fused 2 words as I am one to do. I think that he is a strong play this week and he'll be their main guy.

Jason, you feel the same way?

I am hopeful. I certainly, I mean, I love Skadaboo and I hope that he is a true 3-down bell cow heavy usage back. I am much more pensive about it whether or not he will work. receive the workload he should get. He's also, you know, I called him as one of my players that I think is going to be better in the second half of the year than the first half of the year. I think the Giants are going to have their hand forced to where it's like, yeah, we've got to give this guy work. He plays better when he's out there touching the ball 30 times, you know, like a Marshawn Lynch or a Derrick Henry type of guy that's just running into you over and over and over. I'm thrilled that the first week matchup is Dallas because I think he can have 5 fewer touches in this game than he'll, you know, than his peak towards the end of the season and still have a great game.

The Denver Broncos take on the Kansas City Chiefs. What a Monday night game we're going to have here in the AFC West. Vegas line, Kansas City minus 2.5, over-under 43.5. Screams defensive battle.

Yeah.

Mahomes will try to return from a very bad knee injury in a very short amount of time. Currently started, at least in terms of the sleeper league lineups, 31% of them. Yeah.

It's wild. And one of them is in our league of record facing yours truly. Yeah. Going into week 1 and there are so many guys I would rather play over Carson Wentz.

He's my quarterback 20. I hope, I hope that what this stat means is that 31% of leagues are super flex, like 19 for me.

Yeah.

I mean, there's no chance I would start him in a single quarterback league. And it's not to say he can't hit on a great deep bomb to, you know, Tyquan Thornton or Xavier Worthy or, you know, Cyrus Allen comes in and surprises on a snap. You know, he's Patrick Mahomes.

He's great.

I noticed you never said Rashee Rice in that whole group.

Well, I said no bombs. Yeah. I said deep bomb. I think he's had one catch of over 20 air yards in his career. Like, are you guys in agreement?

agreement with me that like Tyler Shuck at Detroit, I would play him over Patrick Mahomes.

I play Malik Willis over, over Patrick Mahomes. Man, it's, it's a really good defense. I think that they're going to want to try to establish it with Kenneth Walker. I don't know how much he will rush. When I was, when I was looking at prize picks lines, the rushing attempts were really tempting. Because they were very low on Patrick Mahomes. But then I'm like, I don't know, you know, on that, on that knee, I don't know if he's going to run the ball. And if he does, he's not going to be as effective as he was last year. And that's where a lot of his fantasy points came from last year. So yeah, I mean, obviously should be rostered. Best or second best quarterback all time. But no, for this matchup, week 1 off the knee, I'm just, I'm just holding on to him on my bench.

The defense should be very good for Kansas City as well. Ken Walker should be the main cog in this offense. I'm hoping we see quite a few targets in this game for Ken Walker. That would be exciting. Red zone opportunities. I'll be watching. Like yesterday we talked all about the main focus in week 1 is sometimes it starts at stuff, but not often because you've drafted guys and you're going to play them in week 1. The bigger thing is what are you watching for? Does Rashee Rice look like a good player?

Yeah.

I literally just got that sentence.

And it should be so easy to see because snap 1. Well, snap one's probably like, let's get it to Walker. But as soon as they drop back to pass, it's going to be that little play that they do every time where Rashee Rice just hits a little slant, gets the ball, and then he will either break the tackle like he always does or he won't. And that's, that's all you got to see right there.

Travis Kelce had 19 targets in 2 games against Denver last year. With the offensive line challenges at left tackle, I won't be shocked if Travis Kelce is peppered with what I'll call DeMario Douglas targets. Did you see Douglas was 4 for 20 last night?

Impressive.

4 catches, 20 yards.

I think Kelce in a, in any sort of half or full PPR is fine.

On the other side, J.K. Dobbins is listed as the running back 1 on this team. You'll see plenty of RJ Harvey in the game as well. I don't know if we'll see Jonah Coleman.

That's one of the things that we're watching for is what's the rotation of the backfield there?

Yeah, absolutely.

And we're watching Pat Bryant, aren't we?

We are watching. Yeah, we are. Yes, we are. We're watching, especially because one of my other bench wide receivers, D'Jaan Stribling, is down. Oh, so we need some depth there. But yeah, Jaylen Waddle, we're watching him as well. There was some talk of Pat Bryant being more involved than people are going to believe, but we'll see. And then Bo Nix. I mean, we like Bo Nix over the course of the year. The reason Bo Nix was not in my guy consideration is the first 6 weeks of the year for Denver. is brutal.

Yeah.

From a production standpoint, you're going to go into Arrowhead on Monday Night Football in the first week of the year where again, we've seen defenses be dominant so far and have a huge fantasy game. It's hard for me to believe that that's going to happen in week 1.

Bonix is also coming off of an injury. Yes. Like his, his is kind of lost.

Breaking news.

All right.

I'll let Jason.

Yeah, we knew this was coming. At least I did. The Patriots are placing wide receiver AJ Brown on injured reserve due to his high ankle sprain. So he will be gone for a minimum of 4 weeks. That does not mean he will only miss 4 weeks. He could miss 6 weeks. You know, they were saying 3 to 6. I think that that's the timeline.

And 5 weeks.

And I mean, if you, if, if he misses 6 weeks with the injury, And already ruined your week 1. I don't know where their bye week is off the top of my head, but I mean, this is a guy that— I mean, what a terrible pick.

What a terrible—

what a terrible—

well, I mean, terrible just start to the whole week 11 season for the Patriots.

Okay. Week 11 is the bye week. And even when he comes back, we know that he will have multiple weeks. Statistically speaking, he will have multiple weeks where his production is down.

Yeah. I mean, it is not, we've not even seen it with Drake May. You know what I mean? We have, we haven't got to see it. And now you're going to have limitations potentially when you come back. It's brutal. Fantasy football is so fun. You know, Jay?

It's delightful. And you know, my favorite part are injuries.

Right.

Right. That's just like, it's so cool. What a man's game.

It's part of it.

Has there ever been a league in which like you— I don't even want to start down this road.

Let it go. Let it go.

Dobbins versus Chuba against Chicago. Which one do you like more? Tough matchup.

It— I will never say Dobbins. Or I'm sorry.

Oh man. So Mike's on Chuba. I'm going to take Dobbins.

Give me that in my board.

I disagree with Mike. I'm going to take Dobbins.

We'll never say Chuba.

Lloyd. Marshawn Lloyd or J.K. Dobbins?

Dobbins.

Yeah, I think I would go Dobbins. I will say that Chuba, if for some reason Jonathan Brooks does not suit up, because that's—

because he's still facing corporal punishment from general soreness.

Yes. Corporal.

Corporal.

Yes. Exactly. If Jonathan Brooks doesn't suit up, then I would go Chuba.

Okay. Jalen Waddle, we feel good.

We feel excited.

I'm excited to watch it.

It's a tough matchup, but he should, he should do all right. And this is, you know, this is a Monday night game. These guys are going to hopefully surprise us and go over the 43.5-point line. Because I think, I think I would, I would say that our expectation right now is that this is going to be a very defensive battle. Not a lot of offense, not a lot of points. I'm hoping on Monday Night Football, maybe we get a little sweet surprise, but I'm doubtful.

Jalen McMillan, doubtful for week 1. A little injury update for you. JCM cleared to play in week 1. Mike had said he had been growing up. He is growing down. Yeah. He's doing all right. Let's jump into the face-off.

Fantasy Face-Off presented by PrizePicks.

The Wheel of Shame. The game returns for what I believe is a 6th year.

Oh man.

A 6th season. A reminder for those or those that are coming in for the first time at the end of Friday's episodes, we are building 4-player lineups based on more or less projections in the PrizePicks app. We each make a selection at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and tight end, and the loser spins the Wheel of Shame the following week, which is always a delight.

It's always a good time.

So let's get right into it. My quarterback this week, Baker Mayfield.

Okay.

And he is my Green Goblin. Each of us allowed one Green Goblin pick a week, which is a, just a little nicer.

It's a little easier.

Nicer projection.

A little softer.

More than 161.5 on the passing yards.

That is pretty soft for Baker Mayfield.

Yeah. That seems soft.

That seems pretty achievable. I used my Green Goblin on the quarterback as well. I found that that was the most difficult of the 4 positions for me this week. I am taking Jordan Love more than 2.5 rush attempts.

Okay.

In a divisional matchup, must-win. The running game might not be there. A couple of little scramblies.

The rush attempts ones. I love them.

You do.

You're addicted to them. They're funny to watch for.

They are. They are. Because every single time he goes, it's like, yes, just need 2 more.

I like the new graphics. We see the Green Goblins up there too.

I have joined Andrew on Malik Willis.

Okay.

Passing yards, 179.5 more.

Not a Green Goblin. That's for sure.

That is not a Green Goblin.

My running back is from the same team as my quarterback. I'm taking Bucky Irving Moore. More than 2 receptions. That is the—

I can't believe that's not a dog.

That's my favorite one for the week.

That's a delightful one.

Man, I do worry about Kenneth Gainwell there taking some of those passing downs, but I'm hopeful as the new Bucky Irving truther at heart that he has 50 receptions. I'm taking a running back reception. category as well. David Montgomery, more than 1.5 receptions.

All right.

I still think he's going to be a 3-down back for this team.

That is, that's, that's, I like that.

Yeah.

That seems probably going to happen.

It seems very achievable. Well, all this positivity needs to stop. Okay. It's time to hate. Quinshon Judkins.

Oh, of course.

59.5 rushing yards.

You're taking the less.

Less.

Yeah. Well, I'm, I'm willing to hate.

You ready for this one? Jerry Jeudy. Yeah. Dude.

3 receptions. I'm taking less.

No.

What?

With his best friend, Deshaun Watson?

Look.

That's dangerous.

The amount of physics that has to happen between Deshaun Watson's hands.

I get it.

And Jerry Jeudy's hands. I don't.

I will say.

I don't like it.

targets. So he could still have 10 targets in this game.

That's right.

I think that's where you might, you might be okay here.

Well, that's where I'm going.

I like that. I like that a lot.

Yeah.

I don't, I wouldn't, I'm scared of it, but I like that you did it.

Yeah.

That's going to be fun to watch. I'm taking my, my guy Garrett Wilson more than 60.5 receiving yards.

Okay.

In Tennessee, that's a line that he beats on the reg. And he did that with, with Justin Fields. Now he's got superstar Geno Smith.

Of course, Mike, where are you at?

I got my start of the week, Tedderoa McMillan of the Carolina Panthers. Look, Chicago, their secondary is beatable. 58.5 receiving yards. I will take the more.

Interesting. He is your start of the week. And that means you have a Green Goblin left because you haven't picked one yet.

That is correct.

My final selection here.

You'll, you'll see. I may have ran into an issue.

Oh, I love it.

Dallas Goedert. I talked about him earlier today. 34.5 receiving yards. I'm taking the more. I trust the most experienced pass catchers in that offense. There's my 4.

If you want experienced on a pass catcher, I'm going to take this, someone that is old and forgotten. Completely. We completely forget about this guy. Darren Waller.

Oh, Darren Waller.

Darren Waller. Darren Waller.

In week 1.

More than 17.5 receiving yards.

Okay.

Okay. He doesn't have to do much.

Okay.

Well, but I know he'll do it. Sure.

I like it.

I mean, we all, who doesn't love Cooper Rush, guys? I had this in before. Tua went down with his weird phantom back injury, but it's fine. It's Kyle Pitts. It's 2.5 receptions. Okay.

That's not an issue.

Yeah, we should be fine.

I mean, that one is locked and loaded.

That felt like the most freebie of freebies.

Unless of course, you know, we have injuries like we always do. But that was Fantasy Faceoff presented by PrizePicks.

PrizePicks, they help you out when you have the injuries.

First half injuries.

With Friday Flex, win your flex or get your net loss back in bonus lineups. Lineups, PrizePicks, Run Your Game. Thrilled to have them back for this year because the fantasy face-off is too much fun each and every week. I'm looking up there. That was a lot of, that was a lot of like positivity overall. There's only 2.

Usually plays that way.

There's only 2 less picks up there.

Yeah.

I mean, it's because they're both Browns. It's, it's way more fun.

Go figure.

A vote against Deshaun Watson is a vote against Judkins and Jeudy.

Yeah.

fun to be on the higher side, the more side. But I mean, I have to, we have to, we have to make some statements sometimes. Yeah, we do.

So Monday, don't forget it. Submit your Monday Punday stuff over the weekend. Enjoy the games. And don't forget Sunday morning on YouTube. Oh, Mike, the Fantasy Hitman, will be with you an hour before the games live, youtube.com/thefantasyfootballers. Subscribe, click the bell. The season begins now. We want you along for the ride.

I already know who's dominating Sunday. His name is Juwan Johnson.

Oh, on the start-sit questions.

In terms of the— yeah, not necessarily. I'm not saying on the field.

Yeah.

I hope on the field.

Yeah, we hope.

I just know the questions are going to be all Juwan Johnson.

Just remember, if you remember one thing from today's show, Mike hates Tyler Sutton. Goodbye, everybody.

And Dobbins, I guess. 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 @theFFballers.