Transcript of Week 3 Matchups + Wheel of Shame Returns! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/19

The fantasy footballers studio is sponsored by Walmart.

Welcome to the fantasy footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.

Welcome in. Friday, September 19th. Andy, Mike, and Jason, the fantasy footballers' podcast.

I think we started the show three or four minutes late because we were just ranting about somebody in our league who was really getting under Mike's skin with the trade.

Not just Mike. But then we were talking about co-managers. There's co-managers that help you out, and there's co-managers that get in the way. Are you making deals?

Sure.

I made the point that the co-managers are there to react to the deals that I make. Right. Because- They're not there to necessarily... They're there to consult if I want them. But this is much like a king, and then there's just a member of the court. Yes.

If I want to- I was going to go like a manager and assistant manager.

No, I'm going king. No, it's different for my team. If I examine them to the court- Right, they're allowed. They are permitted. They'll be brought to the court, and I can inquire of the wise man, whether they like the trade that I'm about to offer. But sometimes, look, you need to stay nimble. You need to be able to make a quick move. That part is true.

Yeah, co-managers, maybe that's the problem. Maybe that we're calling it like, you're not really a co-manager.

No, this is a monarchy.

Assistant to Who the manager? Right.

No, everyone approaches it differently. But in this particular case, the co-managers were getting in the way of some real discourse, some real quick nimble trade, counters, and things like that. But look, that is the passion that comes with fantasy football. A welcome into a Friday episode. More matchups today, some news to catch you up on, including a little practice injury that we were not happy to see happen yesterday. We have some things to let you know about. If you are a member of the Footclan and you have the ultimate dashboard, we have a few updates coming your way. We are working hard on a couple of trade tools. So we're looking We're looking at a trade analyzer tool. We're looking at a Trade Partner Finder that we haven't named it yet, but something that's going to- I think that's it, man. The Trade Partner Finder?

The Trade Partner Finder.

The TPF? The TPF. That was like TPF reports. We've got some other updates coming, including the much-requested, never before seen, but will be seen soon, rest of season rankings are coming to the Footclan perks as well. So I wanted to let our Footclan supporters know that We are going to add some cool stuff here very soon. For those that are not apart, you can check out all of the perks at jointhefoot. Com. We had a Thursday night football game.

We did. And you know what?

It was a game.

The Dolphins, tip of the cap, they made it a very A interesting game.

They covered the spread. They certainly did. Still lost by 10. Yeah, but they did cover the spread.

Those people making those spreads are very good at what they do.

Was it 11 and a half? Yeah. It was a close one. You had a touch down each from Tyree Kill and Jalen Waddle. Not big yardage numbers from either one of them. Devon H. N, The Screenman, seven for 29.

Ollie Gordon involved early.

Yeah, nine carries compared to twelve for H-in.

This was one of those hold the course on rookie runningbacks, rookie wide receiver, the slow starts that we talked about already this week. If you had looked and been like, Oh, well, Ollie Gordon is completely uninvolved last week. Well, he's a rookie. He's still trying to figure it out. They came in now to week three and said, Let's try this. Let's get him more involved. It worked early on for him.

I actually thought he looked great.

Yeah.

Ollie Gordon is going to be in the mix. Committeeback, you're desperate for somebody to start. Let's say you're stuck with Ray Davis as your RBC2 or something. You'd love to have Ollie Gordon.

I mean, looking at the Buffalo side, I see a lot of guys with carries. I think the Ray Davis stuff is weird. We It's been notable, I should say.

And the fact that he is not playing?

Yeah, it's not a three running back system, which I think I was expecting. Me too. I expected that Ray Davis and both, Anti-Johnson, would get some opportunities, but so far it has James Cook got paid, and James Cook has looked like the best running back in football.

He's looked like the best running back in football to me.

He slapped all of us in the face and called us nerds with our spreadsheets because we were like, There's no way.

He's not getting a countdown every game.

He can't possibly keep doing this because it doesn't happen.

Unless you're the best running back in football.

James Cook looks incredible, man. But I think it is worth noting going forward. The touch downs, they're not prescriptive, but the utilization, the actual usage of James Cook is different than what we've seen even last year. Last year, the percentage of his fantasy points that came via touch downs was so high that if those went away, the way that they were using him, he didn't have the carries that you really need out of a running back one. But this season, it's his backfield, almost entirely.

The big performer in the receiving game, Dalton Kincaid, Kalia Shaqir both scored. Kincaid, five for 66. Keion Coleman, another slow game, four targets, Three catches, 20 yards. Did draw a pass interference penalty.

What it's looking like for Buffalo is... I mean, we got two games where it's just the ball is going everywhere. Week one, we had some consolidation of targets. And you had some optimism that Keion Coleman was going to be the guy, and it looks like it's just going to be spread around because Dalton Kincaid, he's still not running. He's not running as many snaps as you would hope for. The ball just to find him this time.

All right, it is Friday.

Put Klan Friday.

I Oh, man. We're reacting here. We're in studio. We peel back the curtain often. There have been some noises and sounds happening.

I don't know if it'll come through on our audio because our producers do a great job taking out that background noise, but it's coming through to us right now. It's It's a party on the roof.

I don't know what's going on. Al Borland just said they're installing a new lifetime gym on the roof. I don't know what sounds we're hearing. We thought they were ghosts for a little while.

Yeah, but then they- That was ghosts working out. Oh, for sure. That was a pretty good- A nice set. A nice set because they dropped the weights.

Yeah, they did. All right, we have Footclan Friday every week. On Friday, we give away a $100 gift card to fantasychamps. Com. This week's winner, Macho Tiger 44 from the Footclan. Macho Tiger Tiger 44, the 44th in his name. Yes. All right. We got some news.

News and notes from Around the League, presented by Progressive Insurance.

All All right, we got news yesterday. It was bad, but then not so bad, maybe. Then it got worse. Tucker Kraft injured in practice for the packers after a break out.

Don't worry, it's not looking like it's a season-ending injury. That's what we were told. It's not season-ending, which implies it's a bad injury.

Be careful with our words, Mr. Rappaport.

Be careful Twitter with your words.

I'm not talking to Twitter. I'm talking to Ian Rappaport. You know the power you have as- That's fair. You're the guy. We all admit it. You're the go-to source for NFL news. So just word it a little different. Hey, Tucker Kraft looks like he suffered an injury in practice.

Tests on the way.

Yeah, there's a test, and we're going to bring you news when we have it.

It didn't take him out.

Hold on. Let me argue it for Rappaport.

Let me tell people what happened.

Well, we're not there yet. We're not there yet. People are waiting. Tell me how Rappaport was wrong. It looks like it's not season ending, Mike. You got me. Okay, you got me on your. Now you can...

The quote that I have this morning is that he's believed to be, All good after undergoing tests on a knee injury, he suffered no major catastrophic damage. He is not practicing and is uncertain for this week.

Would you pick up Musgrave?

I thought about it. I actually put a claim in briefly. I took it back. There's other players that I'd probably take this, like Jutavia Sanders. I'd rather just roll the dice with him this week if I had to. Zackerts, I would do that with. Even John Smith. Just because Tucker Kraft leaves doesn't mean you build a game plan around Luke Musgrave. If anything, it makes me feel a little more confident in Golden a breakout campaign or something like that.

The newest quote is-Oh, we got a new one? This is 903 from Shefti.

Oh, this is sending us the other direction.

Matt Lafleur told reporters that he did not think Kraft needed to go on injured reserve, but he's not sure if he'll play this Sunday.

What is happening? Let me change the report. Tucker Kraft got hurt on Friday, and we don't know what's going on.

Sounds like he could miss a couple of games, but not the season.

Right. Anywhere from 1-15 games. Right.

No, not injured reserve Probably, but he also could be. Josh Jacobs, limited on Thursday with the ankle. Okay. A Thursday- It seems a little notable because they were the Thursday game last week.

Right.

Yeah, exactly. Is that what you're going to say?

Well, it's just whenever a Thursday. A Wednesday practice report, I just don't even care anymore. I don't pay attention. Every Wednesday, you're talking about, or really every Thursday, we talk about all the guys that miss Wednesday, and I don't start to care. When they're limited on Thursday, you care a little bit more.

Yeah. Okay. We've got Jaden Daniels not practicing again on Thursday and not seeing it on Friday.

All right. Marcus Mariota, who... I mean, honestly, if you're trying to stream a player, it could be worse.

And what about for Terry? We talked about it a little bit, but now that we have more confidence that it is going to be Mariota, are you-I mean, Terry, you find another option, I think.

I think so. It's tough.

Dj More?

Sure.

That was the end of the list. Okay. All right.

No more questions. It's a DJ More only look.

I don't know if I would play DJ More. She's been so dissapro And better than Terry. Has he really been better than Terry? Oh, he has to. 7.

1 both weeks. Terry is 3. 7 and 7. 3.

Okay.

Emeka Abuka, back at practice on Friday. He hadn't Practice Wednesday, Thursday. They were the Monday night double header game. He had gotten banged up. I had read from Beat Reporters, they thought it was just a contusion, and there was never any alarm from the Beat Reporters. He's back at practice on Friday. I am assuming he's going to play football.

I would assume so as well.

Brock Bauer is limited on Thursday, managing the knee. Tyler Warren returned to a limited practice dealing with a toe injury. You don't want to hear toe injuries right now. No. That's been the bad part of the year.

It's the hotness.

It's like the new posh injury.

Yeah, everyone's getting the toe injury. Oh, man.

So cool. Kyle Pitz added to the injury report with a toe injury. That's not a joke.

Wait.

That's real. No. Yeah, limited with the toe. No. Who else? Is there another toe?

No, I'm sure there will be.

Chad McConkey returned to a full practice. Zack Charbonnay did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. That's a foot, not a toe. But the toe is on the foot.

Charbonnay not practice. Wait, he didn't practice Thursday either? That is of note.

Yeah. Juan Jennings did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. They've been managing this, and then he ends up playing most often. Brock Purdy remained limited toe and expects to be a game-time decision. By the way, they're still installing equipment. What is going on up there? Still installing equipment on the roof. Is that the roof, Al? Can you confirm?

It is definitely the roof.

So it's directly above us, something-Correct. Yes.

I believe they are installing a trap door on the roof, which will, in fact, open to our studio.

Are they going to break through and land on I do.

There's a chance, but we will have it captured on video if it happens. All right.

Jason seems the safest. There's a pretty big bar above him.

Well, unless the bar comes down.

Okay. All right. Fair enough. Yeah, All right. This is super fun.

We need to hurry this up.

I guess we got to get this show on the road. Xavierworthy Limited. We'll see if he's back out there. That was News & Notes sponsored by Progressive Insurance. Quote today at progressive. Com. Progressive casualty insurance company affiliates and third-party insurers. Not available in all states or situations. Coverage subject to policy terms, limits, and conditions. Do we have the proper insurance in place at this facility? I hope so. This facility, Al? I think we do. Okay, that's good. Let's jump into the forecast.

Fantasy Forecast, presented by Prizepicks.

All right. Yesterday, we covered the packers, browns, colts, Titans, bangles, Vikings, stealers, patriots, rams, eagles, jets, Bucaneers, Riders, Commanders. Eight more matchups on the docket today, starting with the one-on-one Atlanta Falcons taking on the O and two Carolina Panthers. The Vegas line has Atlanta minus five and a half. Over and under is 40 Three and a half. Just 19 implied points for Carolina. Carolina did beat the Falcons in a barn burner last year, 44, 38 in overtime. Bryce Young was the quarterback, two that week with five touch downs. Hasn't It's not quite looked that smooth for them so far this year. The numbers in last week's game, I'll bring it up again, garbage numbers. They were completely shut out. It was 27 to three before the Cardinals flipped into prevent and let them pile up the dinks and the dunks. But I would say in the six quarters of real football this year where the Panthers were playing against a normal defense, it's looked really disappointing.

It has, and it's looked really disappointing, especially when targeting Xavier Laguette. He is one for seven with negative- You are on a freaking-negative two yards.

Nobody cares about Laguette, and you are on a- He stopped targeting. You're on a mission to destroy this man.

That guy sucks, man. Calm down.

He seems like a fun guy, though.

Oh, he does seem like a fun guy.

It's not his fault he got drafted in the first.

Yes. No, it's not. But it is his fault that he's not good at playing wide receiver.

Stop. Let's talk about players people actually care about playing. Chuba. And Bégin. Both are in your lineup.

For sure.

Tyler Algier is a desperation, Rb-34 type of guy. If you need a spot, if somebody's hurt. Drake London, target share. We like it. We think Drake London will be fine.

I do. I think that the passing volume... This is going to be we had one game with the Falcons where they passed a lot, one game where they had so much rushing over expectation. And then this week against the Panthers. I think they're just going to do whatever they want.

Teterola-mcmillan has been very good through two bad offensive weeks for the Panthers. He looks the part.

And Atlanta is probably without Ajay Tarroll.

Yes. I don't know how you see this game playing out here. Carolina is at home. Atlanta, five and a half point favorite. It's right on the edge for me. I'm thinking about it. Carolina, man, Atlanta, the defense, the defensive line, that's probably going to cause Carolina some problems.

I will say that the passing game could be pretty nerfed here for the Falcons this matchup. We've seen this a lot. If you're right in what you've talked about with how the Panthers have looked in the six important quarters of their season so far when the defenses are playing legitimately, that you don't have to do a lot to beat the Panthers so far this season. And we've seen that in the past-They're down to O'Lineman. Yeah, with the Panthers, specifically over the last couple of years, where even though you can throw on them, you don't need to. You don't end up throwing a lot by the end of the game. You run all over them. I don't know, maybe nerve expectations a little bit with Drake London the more that I think about this game.

We'll see what Jutavians, the enders, can do. He's run a ton of slots, or slot routes, sorry. He's playing the slots.

I would advise against that. The NFL will not like it very much.

They frown on the slots?

I don't know. It was just a gambling joke.

Oh, okay. I mean, it's fine. Remember that vet joke yesterday?

Oh, yeah. That one was good. Thank you.

I stand by that one. Kyle Pitz?

With the toe injury, we'll see what happens. He is playable, But I'm not super excited about him this week. The only saving Grace is Carolina has struggled tremendously against the tight end so far last year and this year. So that would be your saving Grace if Pitz is out there.

And while the pie was small last week, Kyle Pitz was at 24% of the targets with 19% in week one.

That's encouraging.

Kyle Pitz is so difficult to talk about because he is now just a meme. He is a joke. But it has not started horrifically bad for him.

Houston is 0-2, taking on the one-on-one Jacksonville Jaguars. The Vegas line here, Jacksonville minus one Half, over under is 43. 5. I have been actively trying to acquire Brian Thomas Jr. If somebody's bent out of shape, the target numbers are there. The production will be there. Even last week, what's funny about it is all the The guidelines were, obviously, they haven't been connecting the catch percentage, the Alligator arms. He was still 4 for 49. He was 4 for 49 in a game where he had a brutal drop that was a shutdown. He had 12 targets. I'm less I'm not worried about Brian Thomas than I am A.

J. Brown. Yeah, I think I can agree with that.

And so I tried. I failed to acquire him on the team.

Same as these. I tried to trade A. J. Brown for him.

Travis ETN is my start of the week, and we got word I would say that Bayeshaal Tudin is wearing a red noncontact jersey on Wednesday and Thursday, so we'll see what happens today, but banged up a little bit. And ETN has been great, so it's a good start.

I think that gives more confidence for the ETN start. But does it You had mentioned on the start of the week that you would be fine starting Tooten as well, who looked great, had juice. Does this make it to where you're worried maybe his snaps will be limited? Just from a game plan standpoint, if he is dealing with something that they might purposely give him fewer touches this game, so don't start Tootin if he's active?

It will depend on today and if he gets a full practice in.

Yeah, full practice, I would play him as I was going to, but even limited today, then I would pivot.

All right. I'm looking at the consistency numbers for C. J. Stroud.

Oh, don't do that. So I'm looking at Medusa. 5.

9% of his games over the last 17. That's probably one. 20 or more points. One time. This is yet another reason why Jaden Higgins is not attracted to me or Hutchinson or any of these or Christian Kirk. There's not enough. Like Dalton Schultz, slow as he is, he gets targets. And Nico Collins is the dude. This This is not a good passing offense. It's actually a bad one.

Yeah, it's a bad passing offense. Nico, I think, is a fantastic play match-up-wise, so you're not worried about that. No one's benching Nico right now. I will say that while Stroud doesn't run a lot, and so last year, Stroud threw 242 and a countdown against this Jacksonville Jaguars, but finishes the quarterback 25. Oh, my gosh. Now, earlier in the season, he was 345 and 2, finishes the quarterback five against Jacksonville. So this is a-That was probably his That was good game. That was his last game over 20, yeah.

Yeah, that was week four of last year, the last game over 20 points.

But it was this match.

nick Chubb, if he scores, you'll be happy. He scored two weeks in a row, right?

He is the primary guy Okay. It's a volume four play.

He did not score in week one. I lied. Thirteen for 60 in week one, 4. 6 to carry. He didn't score. Scored last week.

But it's not-In this economy, you can play nick Chubb.

Yeah, you could do worse. But that probably ends it. Where are you at Britain's Strange nine targets in two weeks. It's okay.

He's a break glass in case of emergency type of tight end. If you had craft and you want to pivot, that's the level. That's like you have an injury, you need to start somewhere.

Strange or Muscary?

I play Strange.

Yeah, I'm on the strange side.

Are we going to get a Travis Hunter breakout game at some point? We haven't had an explosive play yet.

I think we will because of exactly that, we'll have the explosive play. But in the meantime, are you starting him while you wait for it, or are you going to wait for it to and then put him in there? Eight targets week one, six targets this last week. That's good enough, but they're short.

He's not in my lineup.

They're short, not valuable targets currently. He's 6 for 33 in week one, 3 for 22 in week two.

Not in my lineup.

Yeah.

I'm trying not to play him. I play Matthew Golden over him.

Really? Yeah. I don't mind that Golden.

It's not the one-play hits.

Yeah. Well, I'm hoping it's more than one play this week for Golden.

Yeah. No Jaden Reid. Very hard right now to run on- No, Tucker Kraft. Cleveland, and they need Golden.

Yeah, they do. I think it'll be an okay week for Golden. All right, we'll take a break. We'll come back with the Broncos Chargers. Broncos, one-on-one. Chargers, two-and-o, divisional matchup. Vegas has Los Angeles as two-and-a-half point home favorites. Over Under is now 46-and-a-half. That's gone up a little bit. Whoever wins will be first in division. So it should be a fun one. This is an exciting game. In 46 and a half, we're getting up there.

And this is really the Chargers' home opener. I know their home opener was in Brazil, but Wink. So this is the first game that they will be playing. Breaking news.

It's official. Marcus Mariota is starting for the commanders. No more Jaden Daniels this week.

It's also official. Marcus Mariota will be guiding my He dropped League this week.

Wait, was Jaden your quarterback? He was. So you made the necessary arrangements? I did. This is the second league that I've seen you.

May God have mercy on my soul.

This is the second league I've seen you make. Like, Jake Browning starting in one of your Leagues, probably, or you picked him up, and then Marcus Mariota. I've got Mac Jones in one of them. Who needs starters when you got backups?

Sleeper and/or Commanders, whoever is at fault, please move him to out. It just broke. Okay, well, do it immediately.

All right, so Jason, you've been the Justin Herbert. You made him the start of the week. You've been talking him for weeks.

You're the conductor.

This train, the Hype train is going. You are the conductor.

The pass rate over expectation for the chargers. A lot of the reason you liked Hampton coming into the season was because the Jero offense with Harbaugh, they want to run the ball, but it appears that what they really want to do is they want to put their best player in charge. With these weapons, When you've got Keenan Allen and Lad McConkey, we've talked about it, they're just so perfect for Herbert, and you have to focus on those guys, and then you've got a huge over the top. It's very difficult to stop that passing attack. They're going to put the ball in the hands of Justin Herbert, and I think they're going to have a lot of success with that.

So far this year, they have not given up a lot of fancy points to the quarterback or wide receiver position. Denver hasn't, but they played Kam Ward in week one. You like Herbert this week at home. Both of these teams are well above the pass rate over expectation, like number one or number seven in the league. Bo Nicks, the problem this year has been pressure. He has tried to look really cool outside the pocket, slinging it around. He's only 4 for 11 on those throws for 21 yards and two picks.

Yeah, he is being protected, and when he has a clean pocket, he is succeeding. But when he is getting pressured, it is a very negative play.

Okay, we have Amari in Hampton. What in the world do people do with Amari in Hampton right now? And talk about both of these backfields because J. K. Dobbins, R. J. Harvey, question marks. Dobbins has scored a couple of times in a row. And Amari and Hampton and Najee Harris, the opportunities were there for Harris, and they're going to probably rise.

And Harris looked okay. Yeah, Harris looked fine. He looked like how he's always looked, a solid NFL running We have mocked that he's-With two eyes. Yeah, both eyes open.

So you got JK two leg, and you got, No, I'm not going to go there.

Honestly, Dobbins looks like someone that You can't not start right now. Correct. I agree with that. He's played very well, and his utilization is really what you're going for the most. You're talking about he's playing half the snaps, but his workload, 73% of the running back rushing attempts in week one, 70% in week two, 33% of the running back targets. So he's just involved enough where you're going to take that opportunity at the running back position.

What about Harvey in a game where they're projected to play from behind?

No, not yet. When Bidae is still getting a bunch of targets and everything, Harvey has to completely take over that role.

I think he will take that over. I think so, too. But you got to stash Harvey on your bench right now and get excited for the future. It not now.

You'd play Dobbins over Hampton?

I think I would.

How out on Hampton are you right now?

I'm not out on Hampton by any means. It wasn't working very well for him. He fumbled, Najee looked okay. They had an even split.

Justin Herbert fumbled Jason.

Justin Herbert was credited- Check the stats.

When that happened, I really quickly wanted to not blame Hampton because of how fast the defensive line-The offensive line. It was like, It was bang, bang. It was like when the handoff happened. So they made the change. I don't know if we talked about it on the show. They made the change for... It wasn't a Hampton- Those always get credited to the quarterback, even when it's not...

It was not Herbert's fault, but the fumble statistically goes to Herbert.

Because they never made the exchange. Correct. Keenan Allen, Lad McConkey, Quentin Johnston, put them all in your lineup?

Yeah. I was going to ask, are you playing huge?

I don't know how you don't play those three guys right now.

Well, I would think that Johnston will get the Sertan treatment of any of these guys.

I mean, he had three catches last week, but he's over 70 yards, two in a row, scored three times. You don't have to force him in if you have a better player. But I mean, are you playing Quentin Johnston or I mean, you're- Or A.

J.

Brown, Jason. No, no. A. J. Brown. That one's easy. I was trying to go lower down, like Debo with Mariota or Quentin Johnston. You're probably still go on Debo.

I I think I'd play Cudes.

Metcalf?

I'd play Metcalf.

Those are the couple of the bigger questions. You'd play Cudes over Debo?

I would.

I think I would be on the Debo side. I'm a little lower- I think he'll just manufacture stuff for Debo. I'm a little lower on Cudes. He's still certainly a normal flex play in most league.

But Keenan over him.

I would play Keenan and Lad over him.

Okay. Are we done with Evan Ingram for right now? Yes. Troy Franklin, 8 for 89 in a Are you chasing? Are you chasing, or are we expecting Coral and Sutton to the target share go back his direction after those first two weeks?

It will go back to Sutton eventually. You don't pay a guy that amount of money and not get something going. I think both are true. I'm willing to chase what's going on with Franklin.

The expectation going in was that you'd see Sutton with the more consistency and the consistent targets, and then Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant.

I think that's still how I view it. I still view it where Coraline Sutton is the one, and we're not 100% sure Franklin will establish that, too. It looks like it so far. Two weeks in, it's looking great, and I've obviously loved the talent of Troy Franklin for a while. They've got the collegiate connection, and things are going well.

And Bo Nicks likes him.

Troy Franklin is a player I think you can throw in in a flex. I would play Quentin Johnson over 83% snaps last week was the big number.

Yeah. And Mims is down in the 30s and 40s where he lives. Is most comfortable. New Orleans at 0-2, the Seahawks in Seattle. They're one-on-one, and they are seven-and-a-a-half point home favorites. Love the defense in this one. Saints only have a 17-point implied point total. The over-under is just 41. 5. So this one seems on the surface like a blowout to me. Spencer Rattler has to leave go on the road, go to Seattle, play a tough defense. Kenneth Walker looked really good last week. Sam Darnold, JSN, they have the connection going. But then Cooper Cup got involved in a pretty big way in week two. For those that came out in week one with Sam Darnold, didn't look great for Cooper Cup, and it bounced back.

Yeah, I agree. I think you bring up an interesting point as well with the Spencer Rattler. This will be his first road game. This is a very loud stadium to play in. The crowd will be a full volume. Rattler has looked better than- Tyler Shuck. Sure, yes, apparently than Tyler Shuck, but better than I expected him to look. Anthony Richardson. I expected him to look. Still, he has not looked great, but he's been playing at home, comfy, quiet environment.

One of the things that you like, one of those don'ts that you want to play in. Yes. Alvin Kamara, yeah, play him. Chris Olave. Lots of targets. I mean, Spencer Rattler, third most total pass attempts in the NFL so far and has not thrown an interception.

Pace of play. Pace of play is a really big deal.

Rasheed Shahid was 4 for 52 on a countdown. Olave and Shahid are doing the same I mean, Olave has got a lot of targets.

I would chase the targets over what Shahid did last week.

Yeah, I think they're lower down for me. On the road, there should be a little bit of rain in this game as well. A little bit of rain? A little bit You look at the Seahawks. So far, only through two games, it's been the tight-end position that's affected them. Juan Johnson should be good here. Olave, man.

Olave, he's turned 13 targets and 10 targets into 8 points and 8 points.

Yeah, 54 yards a week.

Two weeks in, he's the wide receiver 44, so he's the wide receiver 36. Juan Johnson is my start of the week at the tight-end position, and you should be able to count on him in this one. Right now, the Seahawks is giving up the most points to It ends through two weeks. So he's a must start. He's a must start. And I think everything else is pretty simple there. We are waiting to get a couple of secondary members for the Seahawks back onto the field, Devon Witherspoon being one of them, and that will help that defense out.

Is Ken Walker going to be the Rv1 this week?

He might be. Very possible. That's another place I'm failing in the trademark. I've been trying to pick... I would never tell Mike, so just hold on a second.

Mike, earmuffs.

You can't tell me on the teams I got I've been trying to get Ken Walker, Jay.

Yeah.

It's because he's so good.

It's because he's so good. Sometimes he's so good. He's so good sometimes. No, he's a much better runner. He's so explosive and aggressive, and it should be good this week. Dallas, one-on-one, taking on the Chicago Bears who are sitting at 0-2, crying into their hands. Again, I don't know if it gets easier for Bears fans to win the offseason and then lose the regular season.

I don't think so.

We are here on this show just telling you the facts. It's the same old, same old for the bears right now. I would love it to not be the way. I'm focusing on the cool stuff like Roma Dunzé being a really great viable fantasy option. That's cool.

Yeah.

That's really- It is. Unfortunately, I don't get to say that about Colson Loveling or Luther Burden. Or DJ More. Dj More. I had I mean, he may break out and have a great game, who knows? But I was so afraid of him all offseason, just the way that... I don't need more stories of how he's taking handoffs. That does not excite me for DJ More that you have to come up with new creative ways to use him, not as a wide receiver. But in this one, Dallas is favored by one and a half going into Chicago. The over-runer is 50 and a half.

It did open with Chicago as the favorites.

So it's balanced back and forth.

And the people have spoken.

The people have, yeah. I mean, who wins the game then? Who's going to win the ball game? It's basically a toss-up.

I think the Cowboys win. The Bear's strength has been their past defense. And so far this year, that is Is there a weakness? They are very banged up as well. Jalen Johnson, come back. Jalen Johnson did not participate in Wednesday's practice, did not participate in Thursday's practice. His groin is not ready. So this is great news. If you've got CeeDee Lamb, if you're wanting to start Dak. Oh, man. I love when great defensive players are out. I mean, don't we all?

Yeah. On this show, we do.

You also like it if Xavier Laguette was out. That's also another thing that you would like.

He's a great defensive player.

For the other team?

Dallas is easy because everybody is in.

So Dak, Javante, in CeeDee and Pickens, and Ferguson. They are a very easy team. It should be all right. I don't know if Chicago can stop them. What's the over and under? Fifty and a half?

Yeah, it's juicy.

I mean, there's reasons to like both sides. It's not like Dallas's defense has been doing anything.

No, I like Rome a lot. Swift?

He has been limited with a quad injury. He'll play. What do you think his fantasy rank is through two weeks?

Man, I have no clue. I'm going to guess it's where he lives, which is like running back 20.

It is 23.

Okay.

Yeah.

I mean, he's- No one can do less with more than DeAndre Swift. In a world of stashing players, a Mononga is not doing anything right now. He did get more opportunities. Ten of them? Yeah. So he went from 13 % of snaps in one opportunity to 41 % in 10 opportunities. I feel like It's only a matter of time before Ben Johnson with DeAndre Swift is like, Okay, I've had enough. I don't care how fast you are. I'm going to somebody else.

Yeah, the most recent report is that Jalen Johnson might be done and might be having season ending. Oh, no. Season ending Groin surgery.

I don't know what the quote is on season-ending groin surgery, but that must be a real-It's a lot more exclamation points.

That's devastating for the defense.

That is. He's so good. It's worth saying So Roma Dunzé looks like he's having his second-year breakout. That was the hope. He looked awesome this past week. The worse their defense is, the better it is for their offense, for the passing game, for Roma Dunzé's breakout to be successful. If the bears are able to shut guys down and slow the game down and the other team has to run, which runs the clock out more, fantasy points evaporate.

Rome is the wide receiver fourth in two weeks. Arizona, 2-0. The Cardinals, undefeated, so good at football. They go to San Francisco to take on the equally great San Francisco 49ers who are 2-0. Vegas Line, San Francisco minus 3 at home over under 45. 5. San Francisco, heavier favorites now than they were to start the week, probably due-The people have spoken. Well, that's due to-Hey, they're telling the truth. That's due to Brock Purdy may be playing. That's what that is. I know you would like it to believe that everybody just, like us, knows the Arizona Sucks at 2: 00. Yeah.

We We all know.

Who won both games last year, Falcon? Who won the games? I mean, you guys were so good. Who won them? Yeah, the injured Niners. No, the injured Niners actually lost them both. No, they lost them both.

Who won the games? The injured Niners. Incorrect.

Lost the game.

What happens when the microphone turns on for him? I don't know. What happened?

I think the brain stopped.

Do we want to have a conversation with you right now? No, I was distracted. Sorry. Made a trade.

You made a trade? Yeah.

Traded away Henderson and Tootin for Josh Jacobs. In what league? It was my main league.

That is a great deal.

Henderson and Tootin for Jacobs? Yeah.

That's a great trade for you. That's a stupid league.

Yeah. Can I get in? Good trade. Bad talking.

Also, We're working.

Yeah. Do some work. What are you doing?

Only Jason gets to do trades in the middle of shows.

Yeah, right. Own the company, though. You get to work.

All right. Yeah, Arizona one in both last year. The defense with Robert Salah back there, looking pretty good through two weeks. Both these teams got to play the Saints already. Kyler Murray, Marvin Harrison, Mike, are we?

I'm not playing Kyler. Marv is not a must play this week.

He was five for 71 in a countdown in week one. Yay, that's great. Week two, 2 for 27.

Yeah, the way that they are using him, at least in week two, that will be so So it'll be missed more than it hits for fantasy football.

Arizona did. I mean, if I want to find the narrative street of why, maybe don't worry about last week too much. Arizona was up 27 to three. They had a defensive score. They had a short field on another turnover. Maybe you didn't really have an offense trying to do anything functionally in the second half of that game other than not lose.

But you could have had an offense that went and laid it on.

Look at the Detroit lines last week or the Baltimore Ravens last week. They could have pulled their starters at halftime, but they're like, Nope, we are going to keep our foot on the pedal. We're going to keep sharpening these plays. We're going to sharpen our offense. We're not going to sit in turtle.

Yeah, they didn't do that, though.

I think they tried. I don't think they are good enough. They're a real dull knife. James Connor, I still think you start him. He hasn't been very efficient to start the year, but-Yeah, look at those totals at the running game. Yeah, I mean-Look at the rushing yardage for him. For sure. 39 yards, 34 yards, but he had a in both weeks. Double-digit fantasy points both weeks. And so far, we're still very early in the season to know how this version of the San Francisco 49ers defense will be, but they've been very good against the pass.

You're not worried that those touch downs masking a little Connor-Binson committee situation?

I'm concerned about Connor in this matchup.

Yeah, I am, too. Christian McCaffrey is healthy, so you play him.

Correct.

And he is doing work so far. Ricky Pearsall is Mike start of the week. I think people need to hear that. Ricky Pearsall, a little disappointing last week. Wide receiver 13 in week one. We were happy to see it.

Which Joan Jennings did not practice Wednesday or Thursday with an ankle on his shoulder, which- He hasn't really been doing that. By his standards means that he will play on Sunday and he will dominate.

It seems that way.

Any concern for 49ers, regardless of, let's say it's Mac Jones or Purdy?

Are you playing them the- I mean, Pearsall is not a must start for me if it's Mac Jones. If I had to choose Jennings or Pearsall, I would choose Jennings.

Okay.

But I think it's up for debate. That's just the way I would go. I mean, the 10 targets last week, I like that, but I don't know where you'd go, Jay.

Yeah, I think- You look like a man who didn't want me to ask you. I didn't want you to ask that question. I would probably go Ricky Pearsall. I would be more confident in Pierre Saul if it's Brock playing. But that's just... Jennings, he looked good last week, but he's very banged up, and I don't think that he is definitely the one for this team. Either one could be the better guy each week.

Well, you should play Trey McBride.

Yes.

And feel confident doing that. We'll take a break. We'll hit Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, and a renovated, improved fantasy face-off. All right, we've got a pair of winless teams going into Sunday Night Football.

This game, dude, I cannot wait.

The Chiefs are 0-2, and they go to the New York football Giants home stadium. They go on the road, leave Arrowhead.

In the great state of New York, of course. Of course.

The Giants are 0-2. The defense, we'll see what they can do against Kansas City Who is still depleted. Kansas City, six-point road favorites over and under is 45. 5.

This is the Giants' home opener as well. Get juiced, Giants.

Are you-I'm rutin.

We all just are... Look, the Kansas City Chiefs, they've won a lot. They have won a lot. So if they start 0-3, the rest of the world is going to feel pretty good about it.

I think they could.

Could lose?

Yeah.

Oh, no. Oh, no. Is the Fisher opened? Are you in the other dimension?

No, not as strong enough. Okay. I do think that this game is going to be... What was that? I don't know. I don't know. Look, I don't...

Did you hear that? I heard it. That sounds like it came from Andy.

Was it on the roof? Here's the real question. Let me transition from you trying to debate me into an almost subset. Literally, who do you start on the Chiefs? That's a real question right now because Xavier worthy might not play in this game, and you could make the argument you would start him right away if he plays. Hollywood Brown has been terrible.

He was terrible last week. He was awesome in week one.

Okay.

10 for 99 is pretty delightful.

Terrible is not the right word, but unreliable would be a good word. But-isaac Pacheco, terrible. Kareem Hunt, terrible. Travis Kelsi, mediocre. Mediocre. Juju, invisible. Taekwan Thornton, obviously, the only score is when I give him permission.

I think it's back to just how I regularly feel about the Chiefs, which Mahomes is playable. The Giants defense has been atrocious. Last week was the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles are going to hurt everyone's numbers this year. Hollywood Brown as a flex type of a wide receiver, I think he's still in play.

And Kelsey is top 12-ish. We don't know if worthy is going to play, but if worthy plays, I think I start him right away.

They really, I really need him.

Yeah, I would start him right away.

I am terrified of that.

Here's the deal. The Giants played Dallas in their lack of a defense last week. There were tons of performances that made people very excited. Cam Skatebu had a big game. The snaps went up. Very productive. Wendell Robinson, 142 yards receiving. Malik Nabors. Right now, it looks like that's the guy that you're starting no matter what. How do you feel about chasing these against the defense that you know? It's tough. The Chiefs are going to be a dominant runee in this game. They always are.

I love Cam Skatebu. I loved him coming out of college. Loved him week one. I drafted him wherever I could. He went from 12 snaps to 52% of snaps. I think he will take over this backfield and be involved in the pass chasing game. This is not the matchup. I'm not chasing last week's shutdown reception against the Kansas City Chief.

Do you see him in pass protection? Oh, he's a dog. He was blowing people up.

He's just...

I mean- He is searching, and I say this recognizing that they shouldn't be. He is desperate for a concussion.

He wants nothing more than to scramble his brain on another man's brain. Every single play, it doesn't matter if he's got the ball or not. He's a caveman. He is running into anything.

He does seem to have a thicker skull.

Oh, for sure.

Is that good?

That's tremendous for him.

For concussions, I would think so, right?

Yeah, and for inflecting them. I mean, he is a monstrosity. He is the Marshawn John Lynch of this generation where he wants to hit someone over and over and over and over. He just wants to hit someone.

Isn't he wearing the same number as...

He's wearing 4'4. Juice?

Yeah, he is. I was thinking, now his name is escaping me, Browns. Payton Hillis. Payton Hillis. Yeah, I said Paris Hillis. Payton Hillis. He was number 40. Paris Hilton. Oh, he was 40. Okay. They're both just white. That's why I said that. All right. Russell Wilson completed a million passes Last week, Malik Nabors, if you're a fan of his, you're happy to see that much success. Russell Wilson with the deep passes, giving the opportunity to Malik Nabors. You're playing him. Are you chasing Wendell?

If I'm in a full PPR League, I expect them to be down and throwing to Wendell. I will be suspect that he'll get deeper targets like he did last week. That was awesome. He'll probably end up doing what he always does, which is get a lot of targets near the line of scrimage, not a bunch of So if you're in a full PPR, you can put them in there.

Very excited about this one. Monday night football, Detroit one-on-one, Baltimore one-on-one. One of these two Super Bowl contenders is going to drop to one-on-two in this one. Baltimore, four-and-a-half point home favorites. Over-under is 53-and-a Open at 51.

5. That is already humongously high.

I see this one I can do.

Oh, baby.

Andy's almost upset of the week.

Four and a half points, Baltimore? Yeah, I don't know about that. This is going to be a fun one. This is going to be a start your engines for the fantasy football community. Lamar, Henry, flowers, who's been... He may be in the midst of a third-year leap right now.

The way they're using him.

There's a world where it's not Andrews and Likely anymore. The tight-end position isn't as heavily utilized. Where Saab Bayman has been invisible. I mean, DeAndre Hopkins has his weekly countdown attempt.

It's Zé flowers, and then the guys that no one would ever consider starting.

Yeah, that's how it feels. I mean, Zee flowers through two weeks, 20 targets.

Yeah, that's great.

Wide receiver, five.

I'm really curious how much that will change when Isiah likely is back on the field because Mark Andrews seems like he is being used in a different way. He's obviously not the primary receiving target for this team. He's on the field still. He's used around the goal line, and he's a great blocker, so he's an important asset to the team. But for fantasy purposes, for the receiving work, that's not his game. But I do think that they have a plan to get Isiah likely very involved in the receiving game once he's back. So I'm just curious how that'll affect flowers.

I already had an almost Did you get two points at this week, Kyle. You did. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Now, I got two.

You do. But now you get two points if you're right.

Okay. Or zero if you're wrong. You play Henry and Gibbs, play Almonra and flowers. Jamieson Williams, four targets, two for 108 in the He'll do it again. He'll get in the end zone again this week. Sam Laporta, not sure what to do with Sam Laporta right now.

This is the type of matchup where- It seems like you should feel like you got to play. A hundred Yeah. You had a good week one. There's not a lot of tight ends out there that you are just absolutely needing to start. If you've got Sam Laporta, he's in your lineup, especially in a game with 53 and a half.

You picked up any of the week one tight end bros. You picked up Juan Johnson.

I would play Laporta over Juan Johnson. Oh, really?

Okay.

I would.

Jared Goss, my start of the week, was the number one quarterback last week, and I loved that over and under. I think it's going to be good. Now, I think they're going to win.

Do you have any worry of... Last week, the Lions laid it on the bears, but the bears didn't have a lot of their DBs. They had some injuries. The bears haven't looked good so far. But week one, you actually saw this great Lion's offense going up against a very difficult packers defense, and the packers defense They just won. They said, We are better than your great offense. The Ravens did not shut down the Bills, but I do think that the Ravens-No, I gave up 41 points, and then last week was Flacko and the Cleveland Browns.

So I'm in TBD. Tbd, I think it's going to be a lot of points on Monday night. I'm hoping for it. I think all of us fans would like to see that. The game has been bet up on the over-under. It was 51 and a half, now it's up at 53 and a half. So we'll see. The last time these two teams played, Detroit got spanked. That was 2023. I think they got a chip on their shoulder for this one. I think you saw it last week. I think that week one was... This is a team that takes a lot of pride in being that offensive machine and being competitive in those games, and they weren't competitive in that one. It showed last week when they came out and smashed. Any other spot start decisions to be made here?

No, it's pretty easy. But Mr. Campbell, Isaac needs more than 29% of the snaps.

Yeah. I mean, he's the one-handed bandit. He is. He is really good.

He's very fun to watch.

I wonder if he would drop stuff if he tried to use two hands.

No.

He'd probably just crushed the ball.

You think he'd be all right?

Yeah, it would be like, would that be a flag? If you pop the ball- If you load the ball?

No, that's seven points.

Oh, okay. Use two hands.

That's not a delay of a game? They get you if you spike the If it's incidental, it's not.

If you're just too strong, but if you do it on purpose, yeah, it is. All right, away we go.

Fantasy Face-off, presented by Prizepicks.

All right, we have heard you out there. We're going to mix it up a little bit now in the fantasy Face-off. Previous two weeks, we have been picking one more or less each with the loser spending the Wheel of Shame, which we are going to handle today. Because last week, I had Jackson, Smith, and Jigba more than 61. 5 receiving yards on prize picks. He finished 8 for 103. Jason had Zack Charbonet with 12. 5-yard longest rush, and he did not do that.

He didn't even get all of his rushes there.

And then Mike went Russell Wilson.

Don't worry about it.

Less than 217 passing yards, but he had a lot more.

Just a few.

Before we reveal this week's pitch- Russell Wilson. We're going to let Mike spin the wheel.

Wheel of Shame.

All right, spin the wheel.

This is- Delightful. The wheel makes his debut for 2025. Probably be like waterboarding. Probably should be. You'll just accept this. Oh, yeah.

Oh, Groundhog Day?

Groundhog Day, Mike.

Should be pretty simple. It's a real easy one, Mike, if you want to just- It's like you're a Groundhog, bro.

Are we sure this is a Groundhog?

I don't know.

I mean, it is now.

The teeth look like that of a beaver.

Well, you're a groundhog beaver.

It's really not important, Mike. That's what's important right there. That's what's important.

Does it fit on your noggin? Yeah.

That was the worry. Hey, Hey, how are you doing? Is it going to be more winter?

He's trying to decide whether he uses the mouth hole for seeing or for talking.

It's going to be multi-purpose.

I think Papa Josh is really enjoying this. I can hear him back there. All right, here's what we're doing.

You look cute, though.

Oh, thank you.

It's a good look.

You look... Yeah, that's the word. Here's what we're doing now.

How do people do this?

I don't know. What do you mean, how do people do this?

This is not something people usually do.

This is a mask sold to be worn.

It's impossible. Yeah, but manufactured at a low cost, Mike. We have a renovation to this segment now. We're going to be picking a quarterback, running back wide receiver, and tight-end every week, each of us.

We're each building our own lineup to play on the projections that we like the most. I've had so much fun this year with this.

Yeah. So we're going to expand and compete. It's so hot in here. Somebody's getting the wheel every week. Hopefully, Mike. All right, we're starting at the quarterback position. I am taking that Detroit game. Lamar Jackson, more than 222. 5 passing yards.

That's fun, and I like it. I'm going to take one that is not fun. I'm going to look at Jalen Hertz and his passing attempts. His projection is 27 and a half passing attempts. I'm going less than that. Okay. He had 23 three passing attempts week one, 22 in week two, and I think this is going to be a defensive battle.

Mike, what do you got there?

I got... Can you hear me? Yeah, we can hear you.

Yeah, we can hear you.

Sounds like you're up on the roof having a party.

I have C. J. Stroud, more than half a passing touch down.

Okay, well, that seems like a pretty easy one.

I guess what I got. All right.

Cool.

All right. Running back. I'm going Ken Walker, more than 50 54. 5 rushing yards.

Ken Walker more than... Yeah, that's... Man, that's a good one.

Yeah, that feels pretty good right now.

I, too, am going Ken Walker. My running back is going to be Kyron Williams in that same Eagles game that I expect to be defensive. Again, I'm going less than his projection of 63 and a half rushing yards. He's splitting a little bit of work, and it's a very tough run defense.

I'm going with my Jalen Warren, my running back start of the week, I got...

You're starting to sound like an actual groundhog.

The projection is at 18 and a half receiving yards. I am taking the more.

Okay, for Jalen Warren, more than 18 and a half receiving yards.

More than for Warren.

Wide receiver, I'm going Keenan Allen, more than 4. 5 receptions in the matchup against Dembert.

I'm going to take this dude. Very nice. I'm taking more than 38. 5 receiving yards for Troy Franklin.

That's a good one. I have Stefan Diggs. His projection, two and a half receptions. Oh, wow. I said he will do more than that.

Okay, not bad.

That's a good one.

That's a good find. Then at tight in this week, I'm going to go Tyler Warren more than 44. 5 receiving yards. He's been over 70 in both of his starts so far. I want to take Tyler Warren over 44. 5.

Yeah, I'm going to take your start of the week, Jowan Johnson, 38. 5 receiving yards. Feels like a The number that he will- You got 38 and a half? 38 and a half? Yeah. What are you working on over there, loser? 40 and a half. Oh, man. I hope he gets 39. Oh, I hope. Stop at 39, Jowan.

How do you feel in there, Mike?

Slightly like I'm about to lose consciousness.

Okay, all right. Well, we'll wrap it up. There's a lot of carbon dioxide in here. Well, it doesn't look like it's properly ventilated at all. It's not. We have a quarterback running back wide receiver tight-in competition for the week, so we'll see who loses and spins the wheel next week. That was fantasy Face Off presented by Prizepicks. Check out max discounts on the app now, like Patrick Mahomes at more than 0. 5 passing yards for the September 21st game. Use the code footballers and get $50 instantly in lineups when you play $5. That'll do it. We'll get Mike breathing oxygen again. We'll close this show down. Please join Mike on Sunday Live over on YouTube. Make sure you head over there, click the bell. You'll be notified when he's live on Sunday morning. Talk to you then. Bye-bye.

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.