Transcript of Week 1 Start/Sit + TNF Preview, Super Bowl Picks - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/3

The fantasy footballers studio is sponsored by Walmart. Welcome to the fantasy footballers podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.

Welcome in.

It's close.

It's almost football time. Wednesday, September third, The Fantasy Footballers podcast. Jason Moore is here. Mike, the fantasy hitman. I'm Andy Holloway, and we are back.

I was pretty upset last night that there was no football game going on.

That's weird because it wasn't scheduled to be.

No, but it's so close.

It was a Tuesday.

Right. You think just if something's close, it might as well be that day, like Christmas is the 21st or something.

All my draughts had completed, and so it was time now. It was like, okay- The league waits on you. Right. Okay, I've got teams. Let's watch them play.

That does make sense. I guess you're not in the Megalable draft going on right this moment.

I am not. I did my Megalable draft last night.

Okay, well, they're all done. I'll ping the league.

We'll see if they can get things going for you. Move up the schedule. Just maybe play tonight.

Just bump that up one night.

Well, you're not going to have to wait much longer. I'm pretty excited about it. And we've got Super Bowl pics we're going to talk about today. I just had to do a little glance here. The first waiver wire of our League of Record ran, and you went out and you got Xavier Lagat because that's what you wanted to do.

I sure did.

I guess it was all additions, and it's perfect timing because nobody dropped anybody. So how did they add people? Well, that's what our first segment of the show is going to be about today. Some players that you can stash on and open up a waiver wire spot for. So we'll get into that momentarily. I want to invite everybody to check out the website. All the week one content is available, all the free content, the weekly rankings, the Start/Sit tool. Tons of amazing articles from Our incredible staff of writers that go up every single week, and they go to bat for you finding insights and analysis and data and stats and things that will help you win each and every week. You can also take The advantage of the Footclan tools and resources, including the ultimate dashboard, which is a weekly lineup optimization tool. It also gives you spot starts and waiver pickups and things like that. We've got the expanded Start/Sit tool available to you a bonus weekly episode of the show. Bonus. We do a bonus mailbag episode for the Foot plan. Bonus. You can learn all about that. The show is less creepy than Mike is right now, I promise.

Still a little creepy, A little bit.

Just less. You're the one who keeps saying bonus.

Yeah, well. Bonus. Join thefoot. Com is where you go for that. If you've purchased a UDK and you want an ultimate membership, we'll give you a dollar for dollar credit for the ultimate draft kit. Just make sure you're logged in. Go to the website, jointhefoot. Com. You'll see the credit right there above the ultimate package, and then you check out, and you're good to go with the ultimate dashboard. All right, let's jump in.

Backup Options, presented by Progressive Insurance.

Oh, that's a really nice drop, Mike.

Sometimes it's spicy. Little bonus drop. Yeah, bonus.

All right. Today on the Backup Options segment, I wanted to focus on a handful of players that I want people to put them on the IR, open up a spot. Maybe they're already on waivers, and you can just go add them off of waivers, put them on the IR, and pick up another player. But basically, everybody that's eligible for IR right now, I'm going to bring up the name. But then I want you guys to tell me also whether you think their return will impact the incumbent, the player that is standing in for them right now, or at least playing alongside them? We'll start with Tajay Spears, running back for the Titans, a high ankle sprain on the pup. Tony Pollard jettisoned up draft boards. Tajay Spears, you can tuck him away. Obviously, Tony Pollard, he's not a young running back. You could get to the point where his efficiency is worse than Spears. Do you think the return of Tajay Spears will affect Tony Pollard?

It'll definitely have an effect on Tony Pollard. The first month of the season, Pollard gets to be a complete workhorse, split very little work, and have an opportunity to be great for fantasy football. When Tajay comes back, they talked all offseason. They wanted it to be a 50/50 split, but they said that last year as well. Then it was like, well, you can't really 50/50 split when one guy is clearly better than the other, and you're trying to win games. I expect that to happen, but they will split the work. Tony Pollard gets a month-long bump, and then Tajay Spears, when he comes back, I think he's a worthy guy to have hidden away. You never know. A month from now, what running back is going to be injured anyways.

All right, I'll go back and forth here, Mike. I'm going to ask you, there are two wide receivers for the Tampa Bay Bucaneers that are going to be on IR. Jalen McMillan, the rookie from last year who had a great end of the season for fantasy, he's on IR for quite some time. He could be a stash if you found him valuable. But also Chris Godwin. Anybody that drafted Chris Godwin, he's not on the IR. No. But he's going to be marked out every week. That might be difficult to manage with your roster if they move from out to doubtful or probable for a period of time. But once he's ruled out in week one, you can put him on the IR, add somebody. When Godwin returns, when McMillan returns, what is your view of Agbuka? Because he's going to have such a huge opportunity to start the year.

I would just throw Kate Otton on that list as well. Another guy who- Who can get some work done. Well, he might be missing this first week.

Oh, that is correct.

I thought he was bad.

Well, they didn't put him on the IR, but it's not known whether he's going to play in week one or not. So it's possible this week, week one, you've got three pass catchers missing for the box.

Got you. All right, Mike.

The way I want it zoomed out is Jalen McMillan. I mean, what was the last thing we heard? Like eight, possibly eight or nine weeks. It's a neck injury, you can't mess around with a neck injury. The nice thing, though, is if he is healthy, he's actually back. Lower body injuries where It takes a while to come back. You would think if he's back, he's back and he's ready to go. But that's just such a long time, and I expect him to be buried. Chris Godwin is far more difficult because I do see the situation shaking out that he won't be marked out. You'll have him in your IR, the week will flip over, and you're going to have to get your waiver moves in, what is it, real quick before before he gets switched back to doubtful or questionable, because they're not going to rule them out until, I don't know what, probably Thursday or Friday every single week. So you're going to have a very tricky roster management situation of not being able to set a lineup, especially it's really going to mess you up with Thursday night players. So I guess that's just thinking through it.

The tip is if you're going to have Godwin, when you're putting your waiver wire moves in, you better set your lineup. You better make sure that your Thursday night players are out of your flex because once waiver's run, he's going to be flipped to not out, and you're not going to be able to make a move.

But then by the end of the week, you can move him into O and add a spot for the week in one of those weekend players.

Yeah, you definitely will be able to do that.

But the question on Igbuka, that's what I wanted the answer on. What do you think of Abuka if he starts strong, are you willing to move him because you know it's going to become more clogged in the passing game?

I wouldn't. If Igbuka were a day two, like a wide receiver three who's just really taking advantage of a lack of targets with the superstar players out. But Abuka was drafted with the plan to be great, as a wise man said, drafted to be great. So I'm not moving Abuka. I'm more concerned, actually, for just Godwin overall. If Mike Evans and Abuka are cooking, and it takes Godwin multiple weeks to get back in, then I think you're going to be holding on for Godwin forever, and it just seems like a really troubling situation.

All right. Well, they did just pay him. That's further complicating it. Yeah, for sure. Is that they want him in the plans. But you're right. He was a slow starter back from injury last time. Jalen Coker, wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers. The feel and trade opened up a spot for him. Then a major quad injury, 4-6 weeks is the expectation. Coker is on a lot of... Major quad. Yeah, his major quad is hurting, not the minor quad. Coker will be on IR. He's on waiver wire in our league of record. You could add him. You could throw him onto the IR spot, and you could wait. Is it worth it? And then how do you look at Xavier Laget. Jason just picked him up in the hopes that maybe he gets more work. Dutavian Sanders, Hunter Renfro, and then obviously, Ted McMillon should start strong. Coker's a name you can throw on IR, but will it affect Laget?

I think so. I don't think it will affect Laget that much because I think they're going to operate in different areas of the field. Hunter Renfro, to me, is the guy that when Jalen Coker comes back, I think Adam Thielen leaving really opened things up for Coker. It was like, Oh, wow. Okay, maybe you want Coker more than L'Aguet. Then Coker had a really serious quad injury, apparently. Major. Major quad injury. This is major quad. I mean, obviously, anytime that someone comes in and can take targets, it could come at the expense of other players. But I think that just the where they're operating on the field, Laguette is going to get his contested catch, deep field stuff, red zone targets. And Coker is going to be more the possession guy that will fight with Renfro for that job.

There was very few players I was less impressed with than Xavier Laguette last year. He was, I think, a terrible... It was a terrible rookie season production-wise. It was terrible catch percentage-wise. He dropped a ton of passes. I do wonder whether he'll be as much of focal point in this offense as I think it's going to be a lot of gadgetry.

Well, he'll have to now. I mean, without Coker and without Adam Thielen. Now, he could still fail. He is necessary to this offense, and then he could go out there and still stink and catch 58% of his passes and not move the needle for you. I didn't pick up Laguette because I'm like, Man, he was so good. He's a year or two wide receiver who was a first-round draft pick who now has opportunity ahead of It's just a pathway.

Remember where Laguette came from? When we were talking about him as a prospect, if you weren't around for us talking about that, we had great caution for him because his production profile, he was just pure nothingness for what? Like four years?

For a whole college career.

The old year five breakout in college, which he was dominant. That one year, it was... How Was this guy not doing anything? He was just so athletic. But it was a major red flag that it took that long for him to break out. He's the older guy beating up on kids. And then Carolina took the risk with the first-round pick. So I still question whether or not he's going to work.

He played 70% of snaps last year, had 84 targets, 49 catches for 497. And he'll get an opportunity to start the year to make a big impact. All right, some other names. Joe Mixon. Obviously, Joe Mixon is an IR stash.

He's playing for 2026?

I know. It's like, Mixon has been such a storyline. It's like, we just don't know. We don't know if he'll be... They say they're going to try him out after four weeks, but he could be out the whole year. That's what the vibes feel like right now. Nick Chubb, Damian pierce, those are the next men up. They didn't add somebody. They haven't added somebody else. If you want to find a possible positive angle for Mixin, it's that they haven't gone and signed another back. Obviously, he's not on year-ending IR or anything like that. So Mixin is an easy player to draft and stash late. But nick Chubb, Damian Pierce- You just got to take a shot.

You just got to take your shot. No one has the inside track as to whether or not pierce is going to be good or whether Chubb is going to be good. I think we all presume that the likeliest outcome is that neither one of these players are going actually be a huge difference maker. I believe myself and Andy are probably on the Chubb side first.

Yeah, I'd start with Chubb.

Part of the reason is that if Chubb is back in any real capacity, it's very, very obviously good for fantasy. It's like he's going to be the goal lineback. He's got a history and a pedigree of being successful. Damian pierce, I feel, will always be in a committee with Chubb. I feel like if Chubb was really good, it wouldn't be the other direction.

No, I agree. That's how I see it. So again, I don't expect Chubb to be great at this stage of his career off the injuries he's had. But if one of them were to have a breakout, I would be surprised if it's Damian pierce.

Brandon Ayuk, who has been drafted in every draft I'm in, I think begrudgingly in some ways, but a superstar and a player that got a huge contract coming off the ACL, not really competition In the wide receiver room. I mean, Ricky Pearsall is an unproven sophomore who should have a successful start to the year. Juan Jennings, yes, he's going to be a role player. He's dealing with a cap of injury, and he wants a contract, so how long will he be there and happy? But What do you think of the 49ers? Brandon, Ayuk, he's an easy stash on IR, but Pearsall, if he has a strong start, are you just sticking with him?

Yeah, I think if Pearsall shows out early on, then he's just leveled up. I could see Brandon Ayuk coming back and Pearsall still being the one over Ayuk. When Ayuk came back last year, he wasn't doing great things on the field. He got the big contract and got paid to do great things, but didn't, and then got injured. I expect a slower start, but obviously everything we love with the 49ers schedule, the offense, the reason we like George Kittle and Juan Jennings and all this is because there's huge opportunity here. So Ayouk could certainly come back and make a difference, but I'm not bullish on him.

One of the most, if not the most, ignored IR stash is Christian Watson, wide receiver for the packers. We have talked at length about Jaden Reid's foot injury. He could get shut down at some point or just be ineffective. Already limited snap counts. I think we can simultaneously respect Romeo Dobbs, but also acknowledge that he's probably a role player who will have maybe a big role in the beginning of the year. Matthew Golden, unproven, a rookie, I think, will be the one But Christian Watson can be tucked away. He will be back from the ACL injury. Do you have any interest in him at all?

That one's honestly just when. When is he back? Because he... When he tore his ACL.

I think I hear four weeks.

I would be surprised. That is real questionable. Because he had the additional damage.

It was the final week.

Yeah, he had the ACL plus additional damage, and those usually take a little bit of time.

I'm seeing early November or mid-October.

Okay, that makes Maybe that's more like six weeks. It's interesting to bring him up because both him and Brandon Ayuk are a destroyed knee, and we were spending the whole offseason. Do not draft Brandon Ayuk in round seven or whatever his ADP is. It's not a good investment of when he's actually going to come back. And meanwhile, Watson is not drafted. I feel like he's just going to clog your IR. If you have two spots, okay, maybe. But if you have one IR spot, I wouldn't be holding him.

Also, if you have IR spots, this is the whole point of this segment, and it's really about strategy, you should have someone on it. You're getting a free player Here. If one of these players is on waivers, you take your bottom guy on your team and drop them and pick them up and put them on IR and take another shot.

Then Marshawn Lloyd, don't forget about him, even though it's easy to do so because he lives on the IR. Yeah. He won't be able to play until week 6 because the packers have a week 5 buy, so four weeks on the pop, week 5. The reality of the situation there in Green Bay is that if something happens to Josh Jacobs, it would be Lloyd that I would want.

He was making waves. After week 5. He was making waves in the camp reports once he actually got... Because he started injured again and then got back out to camp and then was wowing people and then wowed his body too much.

How do you rank staff cashing these players?

Of everyone we talked about? Of all those seven? Yeah. I would say Tajay Spears is the number one. Maybe Jalen Coker sticks out to me high up there. I Duke.

Where are you with Mixin?

Mixin to me doesn't really count because Mixin was drafted in every draft at a place where it's like, he's not on waivers. I'm not going to pick him up. You could say Mixin is probably the most valuable player of all of these. I just don't consider him in the group with Tajay and Coker and Marshawn Lloyd. These guys are probably on waivers in a third of league right now.

Look, I know there's people out there, That's impossible. There's going to be league out there where Mixin will be dropped. Just because home league, crazy stuff happens.

Especially if you don't have an IR. Yeah. Do you pick them up if you don't have an IR?

No.

I would.

I would not.

It feels dumb, but I still would. I don't think I would do it. Rashi Rice is that guy. We didn't bring him up because you can't put him on an IR. He's going to have six weeks of clogging a bench spot. That's going to hurt. Even this morning, I really wanted to pick up a couple of waiver guys, and I just didn't want to drop the players that are on my roster right now. If you have a player not being productive every week, it's going to feel worse and worse with the waiver wire. So yeah, I probably wouldn't on Mixin. Jason would, but you can make the call. All right. That was Backup Option, sponsored by Progressive Insurance. Quote today at progressive. Com. We'll take a break. We'll hit the news. All right, let's talk about some news.

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

It wouldn't be week one without unofficial depth chart overreactions. So let's get into it. Let's bring you those depth charts, and let's just watch you react. I want facial expressions for the YouTube audience. Okay. Bill Crosky. Oh, no. Bill Crosky was listed as Washington's Running Back 4. There's not even a guarantee they dress for, but certainly they could dress Bill and not dress McNickels. It was ordered.

That's the funniest part.

It was ordered in H. I'm just saying. It was Echler, McNickels, Chris Rodriguez, Bill. So overreaction, underreaction, what do you think? Bill, at R before, do you care?

I don't care that much. We see this every year where a lot of times, rookies will start on their unofficial depth charts behind other people, and Then week one comes and it's like, well, that was just literally paper honor. Now with Bill, specifically, we have been saying he is likely behind some people on the depth chart. So this one was not even surprising.

Everything about Bill is, do you believe that the player is special? That's what it seems to come down to. It's like the people that love Bill, love and are impressed with him and think he's on a different level than the other runningbacks. If you don't believe that and you just look at draft capital or depth chart or any of the other, the collegiate stuff, I think you're out. But if you believe in the talent, I get it. I understand why you'd be in that place. It's not like Chris Rodriguez hasn't had years to establish, McNickel's years. And Echler is a good running back, but he's not what he was a long time ago. So committee is at best what he is.

The scariest part, I think for Bill, if you're talking just week one, is the why These guys out there were saying his line is about 24 rushing yards, and that is now gone. As in they are-They got bet the under so much.

They've books pulled it.

So Look, they don't know everything, but they- They just try to limit losses, too. Yeah, they try and limit losses. But I'm saying they have back doors they can go knock on and ask how things are going to go.

Well, that'll be a fun one to watch. Treyvian Henderson listed as New England's Rb3 behind Ramondre and Antonio Gibson. Of course, I don't care. What is this?

This is so dumb.

Well, of course, you don't care because you love Antonio Gibson. Yeah, that's right. You're just like, Well, of course, he's great.

That's right.

Yeah, man, a backfield with Gibson and Henderson. I know. There's so We need to get Ramondre traded for who? Who would be another name that-Oh, to add a third Mike. To add a third Mike Superstar.

Like Ken Bohn?

No, this is Rico.

Oh, it is Rico.

Let's get Hendo at Rb1, Gibson Rb2, Rico.

Mike can answer the joke himself. Yeah. All right, so you don't care about Trevian at Rb3. What about the Bronco situation? J. K. Dobbins is listed as the starter. R. J. Harvey, Rb2. I think at one point in the offseason, correct me if I'm wrong, I think R. J. Harvey was listed at five. And so to me, him moving up in an official capacity to Rb2 is significant that that's where the team obviously sees him, but he's not the one.

His utilization in preseason was great, but obviously Dobbins was... It could be Dobbins being He messed it exactly because he is the clear starter. Right now, I think week one, J. K. Dobbins is still going to be the lead ball toucher. I think he's going to receive catches, targets, and handoffs at a higher rate.

I think the question was, if you have both Dobbins and Harvey, who are you playing?

That is the question. If you had them both, which I know you do in one league, Mike, you'll have to start both in that league. But if you had to choose one in week one, you go out there.

Man, because the reporting was- That's a matchup against Tennessee in week one. Because the reporting was, expect J. K. Dobbins to be the starter, at least for the beginning of the year.

That's where I'd probably go.

It's such a brutal call, because if you spent draft capital on both these guys, you drafted Harvey, where the fourth or the fifth round, and then Dobbins and the eight.

It's funny, too, because let's say we knew the opportunities, right? And we say J. K. Dobbins gets 15 opportunities, and R. J. Harvey gets 11. Who has more fantasy points? Because the explosive rookie- Yeah, that's fair.

Yeah, if it was like that, then maybe I'd... It's really close in week one. Really close.

Both are fine starters, and it's a good match.

I think Dobbins is less risky in week one, but maybe Harvey does have more explosive upside. Etn and Bigsby, listed as co-starters.

Are they running out Two runningbacks?

Zero is the answer. No. Tank Bigsby, Travis ETN, co-starters. Who would you rather have to start in week one?

I'm still on team Tank.

I'm still on ETN. I think he's going to get the pass catching work over Tank, but probably-I think they both get pass catching work. I mean, if Tank Bigsby got pass catching work, he would be the better option because he is a more efficient runner between the tackles. He's a better pure running back. But the passing The teamwork that Travis ETN has always had from Trevor Lawrence, I can't imagine that vanishing.

Over and under. Half a reception for Tank Bigsby.

See, that's a good line, and that's the problem. I will take the over. But if you said one and a half, I would take the under.

I was going to move it again.

Yeah, the hard part with ETN is that if he doesn't score, which he shouldn't, it should be Bigsby around the goal line.

Should.

If not, Tootin, but probably Bigsby. It's like, ETN had 202 opportunities last year and did so little with it.

Oh, yeah.

It just feels like even if you give him more total work, it's going to come down to a countdown. So I lean Bigsby. Caleb Johnson listed as the running back three behind Jalen.

Right where we want him, boys.

Right behind Jalen Warren and Kenneth No one loves the third running back more than Arthur Smith.

With also- Now we can get on the goal line.

Where's our Mike Tomlin quote?

That was pretty brutal.

I don't have it verbatim in front of me, but they- We can find that.

We can find. There's no question. It is a worthy quote. It needs to be known and said. What is shocking, so we did our listener League draft yesterday. I ended up with Caleb Johnson, a player. You did? Yeah, I know. It's shocking. I have no idea. No, but you want to know what will shock you?

I do.

My cue was not Caleb Johnson. I've got the quote. My cue was Jalen Warren, who I was going to take, but he went ahead, so Caleb felt to me. But I mean, right now, Jalen Warren is the starter. I like Caleb Johnson. I still think he can make an impact as the season goes on, but Jalen Warren is the guy right now.

Mike Tomlin on Jalen Warren. His progress has been very evident, and he's to be congratulated. Certainly, he will be our featured runner. Certainly, you'll see Caleb Johnson, Kenneth Gainewell, but at what time and to what degree It will depend week to week.

Yeah, it's Jalen Warren's team to start.

Yep, but that doesn't mean that Caleb can't be relevant.

No, throughout the season.

But I'm just, thank goodness, he's not the backup.

In other words, you buy into that.

I buy in that Jalen Warren will be the featured running back for the first at least month, maybe more.

Excited about this one. Titans have listed Epic Ioomanner as wide receiver, too, ahead of Van Jefferson to start the year. That would be Like, Io manor. And he is the rookie wide receiver for the Titans that I'm paying the most attention to. I have him in every single draft in our dynasty League. Not that he will have some incredible season, but there is the opportunity for him to establish It's a rookie quarterback. It's Kam Ward. It's a team that's going to be playing from behind a lot.

It's Calvin Ridley and Jack Squad. They need another receiver. And so if- And they drafted Jack Squad in the sixth, was it? Right. And Then Restrepo, they signed undrafted. It was just Epik.

And Dike.

I think Epik is the primary wide receiver, too, from week one. If he's good, that's the question. If he's actually good-And he looked good in preseason. Jason in college. Do you care? I care a little bit, yeah, because Kam Ward can actually be something special. So if Kam Ward is-Yes, he can. Okay. Bank. Oh, we got.

You didn't call Swiss.

That's true. So there you go.

I have no problem with the player. I'm the cold bucket of water for the situation.

It's fair.

Roofing quarterbacks can barely support one top wide receiver, and that's back in the '90s.

No, also the odds. Yeah. And also the 10s.

But if you're in a deep league, sure. At least, he'll be on the field.

Also, I believe, and I don't see it on here, but I believe Dante Thornton is also listed as a starter. Yeah.

And he's been a starter from the first second of training camp through preseason.

Throw some cold water on my Dante Thornton because I have him everywhere. I believe he can be the one right out of the gate in Las Vegas.

I believe he could be not the one because that's Brock, not the two because Jacobi is good. He's interesting because he's a size-speed freak. I have questions if it will actually work in the NFL. Once true NFL defenses are playing against him, can he handle Can he handle the press and actually get open?

We are so close to our first- Like the New York Times?

Yeah. What is happening today?

We are so close to our Thursday night preview, guys. Najee Harris Practiced in full. Mike Rable said, Stefan Diggs will play in week one. Isiah likely not expected to play in week one. We have Gabe Davis to the Practice Squad of the Bills.

Mark Andrews has really not been discussed much at all. Where are you guys with Andrews?

I think he should get off to a fine start. Week one, at least, Buffalo, a high over-under, no likely on the field. You're going to score points. Him and Kelsey are- It's so frustrating, but we all know Mark Andrews, he'll be the number one tight in in week one. I think both of those old guys are going to have a real strong start to the season because their competition is going to be absent for the first couple of weeks.

All right, we have a Thursday night preview to get to. That was news and 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. Football. It's finally time.

Thursday Night Breakdown.

Well, Jerry's been spending that Micah Parsons money on some other players. Dallas at Philadelphia.

I cannot with that guy.

Philly is now eight and a half point favorites. At home, the over-unders 47. 5. That gives Oh, by the way, we got some new graphics up on the YouTube. We got some new matchup graphics up on the YouTube. I was not prepared.

Very nice.

And they look real nice. But Philly, 28 implied points, Dallas, 19 and a half. Before the Parsons trade, Philly was seven-point favorite, so it's moved a point and a half. And here we go. No Michael Parsons. Philly coming off of the Super Bowl victory. Like I said yesterday, this would be the greatest statement game ever for Jerry Jones and company and for the Cowboys fans. If they came out in one in Philly in week one, you know that generally the defenses are a little bit ahead of the offenses sometimes when the season starts. Sure. So they probably could have used Michael Parsons.

The fact that this is a divisional game, and the Cowboys are eight and a half point dogs. Divisional games are usually... We're favored by three. Like, Oh, okay. Are you sure? But eight and a half points, it would be a miracle.

This is the beginning of Dack plus CeeD plus George.

Yes.

When Dallas has had Dack as their starting quarterback, offensively, they've been fifth in plays per game, seventh in red zone plays per game, fifth in points per game. It's been a minute since we've got to see that level of Dack CeeD because it wasn't quite cooking to start the year last year, and then Dack went down Or the year prior when they did finish as the number one duo.

Yeah, it was off to a slow start.

Yeah, the first four weeks. But was that when Kelenmore was still there? I believe so. Two years ago? I guess I bring that up because it didn't go well without him to start last year. Then we didn't see the rest of it. We have Brian Schoentheimer. It is something to watch what they do with those two guys. I saw them talking about each other and saying it's not a one and a two situation. It's one and one on both sides. That's the way the wide receiver's talked about it. But let's start with- Wait, CeeD is saying that?

Ceed, yeah. That's real nice of him.

That was super nice. He did wink.

We like George, but... Come on, William. It's something you You know what I mean? Speaking of which, on this show, it's like one and one and one. Yeah.

We're all ones here.

All right, Javante Williams and Company. That's what I'm going to say about the Cowboys when the season starts. Philadelphia was the second best defense against fantasy running backs last year.

How were they against wide receivers?

Were they number one?

No, they were top five. But what about quarterbacks?

Top five. Really good. So So maybe slow start for Dallas.

Yeah, I mean, this was the... So I am very, very in on Dak Prescott, on George, on Seedy. The passing game here for the Cowboys, I'm fully in on this season. But the opening schedule is really tough. If you went and drafted Dak, if you went and got George, you're going to need to do one of two things: have resolve and stay the course, or look at other options to start the year. Dak, if you drafted Dak, I don't mind if you're out there and you say, You know what? Trevor Lawrence is sitting on waivers. I would rather play Trevor Lawrence week one. I have Dak several places. I am not personally doing that, but I could tell you if this was a Sunday morning game, Trevor Lawrence. You're going Lawrence would be in my lineup. I can't possibly watch opening night football and not have the Dax points. I have to have it.

Dak will... So they play Philly, then they play the Giants, then they play the Then they play Michael Parsons in the packers.

Then they play the Jets in New York. Giants of bears might not sound like difficult matchups, but literally, the bears were like 32nd last year. They were the toughest matchup for quarterbacks. The Giants' offense is bad, but their defense is very good.

Maybe the best defensive line in football. You're going to have to show me how strong long you are.

My resolve?

Yeah, a month from now, I'll be sweating. I don't believe in the offense, and I believe it'll be a bad start, and I don't think I'll be buying in, but maybe you have to. Maybe that defense will be so bad that you have the NFC bangles to deal with here.

That is the hope. That is the real hope. Dak is a good player. We know CeeD Lamb is an elite top five wide receiver in the NFL. You're not going to just be able to stop them all the time, and their defense stinks, and they can't run the ball. So they will be throwing. It's just really tough to do here week one against the Eagles.

You would play Dak or Justin Fields, Mike? Justin Fields plays Pittsburgh in week one.

Oh, my gosh. I think I'll still go with Dak.

So Dak, I'm looking at the game log last year. So he was the quarterback, 22, 15, 1, 11, 12, 28, 18, and 22 before the injury. Dack or Trevor Lawrence, we'd answer it. Dack or Drake May in week one?

I'd stick with Dack.

Mike? And then Givante, are you-No.

Just not playing Javante?

Oh, goodness me, no.

Thankfully, Javante was not in an area where you have to play him unless you were like, I'm going zero Rb, and Javante is my hero.

What if you had no second through six-round picks?

Then maybe you drafted Javante. Wait, do you have Javante?

No, I don't. But I would have loved to have had him.

That's where I was. The path forward for Javante is he's a good pass protector.

He was a keeper. In our home. For Josh.

Oh, no.

Oh, Papa Josh. Look at him. I hope you're starting. Look at him, Javante's biggest fan.

The path forward is he should be on the field because I expect them to be trailing. Then If you get four receptions, then you'll be like- Four for five yards.

Jake Ferguson, you're okay in week one?

I like Jake Ferguson for the season, but I would prefer not to play him this week.

A. J. Brown?

You just start your eagles.

Devante Smith, Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hertz.

What about Godert?

Godert's interesting. That's the first time his name has been mentioned in eight months.

Yon.

Yeah, he's had a 19% target share each of the last Four years. That's a great number. That's impossible. If you look at this, I think this is the matchup, right? If you've got Ferguson and Godert is out on waivers, who would you rather have in this specific game? I feel like I'd rather have the team that's going to win.

Last year, Dallas lost 34 to 6, 41 to 7 in the two games against Philadelphia.

They were... I think they're both Dackless.

Neither one was Dack. Yeah.

Is that... Yeah, okay.

When he does a play, that's what they call it.

Yes, they do. All right, we'll take a break. We'll jump into the Mailbag. All right, it's time to answer some of your questions. Into the Mailbag we go.

Mailbag.

Presented by NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV.

All righty, we are into the mail bag. We got a voicemail to start it off. If you have a question, you can go to the website, thefantasyfootballers. Com. Click to submit a question button or dial the voicemail hotline 302464 TFFB. Here we go. Hey, ballers. This is Anthony from New Jersey. Huge fan of the show. My question to you guys is, who would you rather start this week in the flex? Full point PPR. Are, Tyrone Tracy Jr. Or Jerome Ford? Thanks, guys. I would play Tyrone Tracy.

Man.

By a lot.

Really?

Yes.

I think it's difficult. I would love to play A running back against the Cincinnati bangles. That sounds like a real good time in week one. I think the only issue is- He'll be down by 40 by the time he gets a second carry. Well, it's the reporting I think the last thing we heard was Mary Kay was like, No, Jerome Ford is expected to be the starter. But then there's weird back channels. They're like, Don't be shocked if Dylan Samson is the starter. That's the only thing that scares me off of Jerome Ford, is that you put him in there, you love the matchup, the game comes up, and they're introducing the starters, and it's Dylan Samson, and then you're going to have a full panic attack.

Yeah, I mean, both of these players have a day three running back to compete with, whether it's Dylan Samson or whether it's Cam Skatebu. I look at the matchup, and I love the matchup against the bangles. I like the fact that Jerome Ford has had a season of 63 targets. This is a full PPR League. You're going to be down against the bangles. I think Jerome Ford ends up with three or four or five receptions in this game, little check downs from Flacko. I actually lean the Ford side It's a good debate, but the pass catching work, we're not sure if that's going to be Cam Skatebu, who is great at that in college, or Tyrone Tracy.

I would, honestly- Tracy had 53 targets last year, so he can catch the football. Oh, yeah. It's not that he can't. It's that the Skatebu factor is real, where Tracy didn't really have anybody to worry about. I would take this to Sunday. If I got the full clearance that Jerome Ford is definitely starting, I would play Ford. Otherwise, I would probably just put Tracy in there.

All right, we got our first mailback question here. Reveal your Super Bowl picks for the 2025 season, no better time than now, right before the season kicks off. To give a final word on who you think is going to win.

You guys already had yours in, and I didn't want to be boring.

Jason just reacted very- So I went with one where it's like, no, I can see it happening. All right. So then I'll be more boring. I gave this in thought. I think the NFC is maybe easier than- I checked the odds, the top two teams. Oh, are they? Yes. I did not check the odds, but it makes sense. I like Green Bay in the NFC. I like Detroit, but I don't like them as much as Philadelphia. I have Philadelphia repeating and beating Baltimore in the Super Bowl.

I have Baltimore in the Super Bowl as well, but not Philly. I have the Micah Parsons lead packers, unfortunately, Jeremy, losing to the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl.

Yeah, it's really hard for me to not see it being Baltimore as the pick, but to throw a contrarian idea out there, I went with the Denver Broncos over the Detroit Lions. I think that the Bo'Nicks with the 10 and 7 record as a rookie, year two, the Broncos defense is ferocious, and the Lyons defense will be back to being healthy.

That'll be so good for my Bo'Nicks rookie cards, Mike.

You know what I mean? Yeah, I do.

I appreciate that. Sportsfan 101 writing in, Can I trust Amari in Hampton enough to start him in week one? Chargers are three-point underdogs against Kansas City. It's the Brazil game, so they're not really in Kansas City or at home. They're just in Brazil. Kansas City was the best team against fantasy runningbacks last year.

I don't know who you drafted on your roster, where he was going by draft time. He's a third-round pick.

You need to take advantage of any lack of Najee as well.

Well, I think Najee is going to play.

But now, it can't be much if he hasn't taken a practice nap until today.

The line on Hampton, I think it opened at 48 and a half rushing yards, and it's already down. So the matchup stinks, but I think I'm with Jason of, you took him to be a starter, and I don't think I would get cute.

You also believe in the system that Harbaugh is running If any team is going to execute it against the Chiefs, it's going to be them.

And it's Brazil. If they didn't fix the turf, then there's going to be a lot of points.

I would say the only players that you might have where I'd go, okay, I would play James Connor.

I'd play- Oh, I'd play James Connor for sure.

Yeah, James Connor and Alvin Kamara in the same game against each other. Okay, that's fair. If you had those guys where you got to decide between them and Hampton, okay. Otherwise, I'm plugging in the rookie.

Euro writes in on X, Hey, Balerinos, do you guys have any first Sunday of football rituals or traditions to break in for the new year? Do we have any first Sunday football rituals?

Other than the-Food stuff?

Other than the-Food stuff? Set my lineups.

The chanting, the candles. Right. Other than that.

But that's who doesn't have it.

Yeah, that's just regular-The lucky pants. Regular old stuff.

Yeah, Mike doesn't wear pants week one. That's...

Well, we'll see. The first Treyvianne Henderson house call.

So you're wearing Tear-aways?

Of course. Okay. All right. I probably need multiples.

Oh, that's a good idea. Just layer it up. See if you can put the pants store out of business.

I would prefer him to layer it up. Yes. All right. What is the vibe check right now? Zack wants to know. Instagram question. What's a vibe check on Colston Loveland? You know, Loveland, you want to talk about another depth chart reaction type of situation. I mean, Colt Comet is very clearly He's really the starter there right now. Colston Loveland did get some time in the last preseason game where he caught, I think, the first pass and has obviously been drafted to be an explosive weapon. I think it's really hard when it's DJ Moore, Roma Dunzé, Luther Jordan, DeAndre Swift, Colson Loveling, and this whole myriad of options with a quarterback he may or may not trust.

That's why he was a late-round draft pick. However, in the NFL, he was a super high draft pick that every team wanted and people were trying to trade up for. There's been plenty of weeks where I take Colson Loveling with my last pick as a second tight-end, not to start week one, but just to see what if, just to see if there's another breakout. I agree with you, Andy. The pathway for him is very difficult. That's why I Right after the NFL draft, I was much lower on Lovelin than Tyler Warren, because the path is so much more clear, I believe, for Warren.

The most popular Start/Sit question right now on the website so far are two Two rookie wide receivers that are both my guy.

My guy versus my guy.

That are facing defenses ranked 29th and 31st last year against the past against wide receivers. Emeka Agbukha at Atlanta, Teteroa McMillan at Jacksonville.

Man, This is an easy tet to me. Is it? Oh, yeah. I feel like it's more like Teteroa is in the Mike Evans role here. He's the one for his team right off the bat, whereas Emeka is going to be on the field. I'm not saying he couldn't have the better game, but I feel like he is still the two for this team behind Mike Evans. I am very excited for seeing what Teteroa can do. Both of these matchups are close enough to equal where it's not like one of these is great and the other is terrible for Ted. Plus, where you drafted them. I mean, this is an easy, for me, Ted Roa week one.

They're both great starts, but I would go Tet as well.

I would. I just don't call it an easy one. But at the end of the day, I'm starting McNeil.

But there There are additional egg buca questions coming in, including Jamieson Williams against Green Bay or Emeka Igbuka.

My guy versus my guy.

Oh, yeah. So I can't answer. I'd start them both.

Yeah, just start them both. That's a great answer. I like it.

Binch whoever else you have. Right. No. I mean, if I had to choose between those two... I mean, we just talked about the matchup. Igbuka, not a lot of options. If Otton doesn't play, if McMillan is not there, if Godwin is not there, does Bucky Can get it done on the ground against Atlanta?

Probably. Jamieson is going to be on the road in Green Bay.

I'll take a Buka week one.

I think I would as well.

All right. I think the over-under is tied right now. Let's see, Tampa is implied for 25, and the lions are at 22. 5. I think I'd start Jamieson-Williams.

Eddie in Rhode Island writes in, Who is the better stash at the end of a 10-team PPR bench? Ollie Gordon for Breland Allen. I do not have Achan or Hall on my team. So you're looking at just blindly adding one of these for upside.

For me, it's Ollie Gordon.

For me, it's Breland Allen.

I think I'm going with Ollie Gordon.

I don't think I'm going to be surprised in week one that Ollie Gordon is like... I can be surprised if Breland could be the starter for New York. Breland could get more work. He could. And be establishing. So that's where I lean. If I'm going to stash one and I learn something new, I'm not going to learn something new in Miami in terms of the hierarchy of running backs, but I will potentially learn something new in New York. That's why I would pick Alan.

I think you very well could end up learning something new on Ollie Gordon. Not that he would be the lion share over Achan, but if he gets into that most of it role, if he gets the goal line work, if he is really the more involved than you think he is, and he's not just some backup to Achan, but he's actually splitting with Achan, I think he's a better player than Breland Allen.

Oh, I don't. I expect all the things you just said. If that doesn't happen in week one for Ali Gordon, then I would be- Then you would learn something. I would be surprised. He should be, right? I mean, they don't just use 8chan. Ali is the only guy they got. He should do all that stuff.

To me, a lot of it's just offense versus offense. Sure. Whether you want... Who's going to have more shutdown opportunities, the Jets or the Dolphins?

Yeah, and the Dolphins are historically the worst goal-line team with Jalen Wright and with Devon H. N. So if Ollie Gordon somehow had success, that would be relevant, like Moster did a couple of years ago. Who do I target in the bear's backfield? Xavier wants to know on X, behind DeAndre Swift. Who do I target in the Bear's backfield behind DeAndre Swift?

I think it is-Muffing. I think it's Kyle Monunga, which this year is wild. Talking about all these day three runningbacks is hurting my brain of just play of odds and history of what has happened. Day three runningbacks are irrelevant. But the way that they've talked about Mononga, I think he is the R-B-2. It could honestly be nobody. It could be Swift gets a whole bunch of action between the 20s, and Monongai is the backup. And then as soon as they're inside the five, it's Roshan Johnson.

I think Swift is underrated. I think Swift is underrated for draughts. Nobody ever wants to draft them, and I think that's dumb.

I don't know that it's dumb, but I think there's a chance that he is.

I mean, Ben Johnson, if Ben Johnson succeeds, you have to carry that out to its implications for every position group.

Sure.

We haven't done that with Swift. We've done it for all the wide receivers and the tight ends. I don't feel like we've said, Hey, we literally can't decide if it's Roshan who's been bad or Monungai who's never played. But we're sitting here with DeAndre Swift, and it's like, You be a really, really valuable piece. You look great in the preseason. And Ben Johnson, if you carry it out to its end, I feel like DeAndre Swift is a steal.

It comes down to, we've seen Ben Johnson with DeAndre Swift before, and I'm trying to pull- Swift was good per touch.

Yes, per touch. He just didn't get as much.

Per touch, he was.

The thing is- When he was with the Lions?

Yes, when he was with the Lions. The thing about that year, though, is Jamal Williams had 262 2 carries and 17 rushing touch downs.

That's the issue with Swift. To DeAndre Swift's 99 carries, but he did miss a few games.

Deandre Swift- He played 14.

The funny thing about him is no matter what the path is, he's played on three teams. His points per game, 12-8, 13-7, 11-9, 11-2, 11-4.

He can't keep getting away with it, Andy.

He's 11 plus a game. He can't. Everybody has him consensus ranked outside the top 24, but he's finished inside the top 24 for five straight years. Let's I'm saying maybe it's better off putting that emotion to the side and just leaning in.

Never.

Okay, that's another option. Never is another option. Let's go to this question. Adam Stewart in, Ontario, My bench has too many spot or has too many, need to drop one. Jordan Mason or Tank Bigsby?

Oh, that stinks.

I would drop Bigsby.

Yeah, I would, too.

Because I think Mason is a better player.

I mean, that's who you have to drop? There's not a- Well, that's what Adam said.

Tank is a pretty late pick. Yeah.

But there's a, I don't know, it's a late veteran wide receiver who doesn't really have an upside- If you have Adam Thielen, you're saying drop Adam Thielen. Then I'm dropping Adam Thielen. Yeah. Okay. But to drop a... Regardless of how you feel about Tank Bigsby or his talent, he is currently listed as a co-starter for Liam Cohen. So dropping that guy under the waiver wire, I is going to feel bad.

Well, if you had to pick one, which one would you do?

Jordan, Mason, or Tank? No, I would drop tank of the two.

All right, that'll do it for the mailbag. Watch every game every Sunday with NFL Sunday ticket on YouTube TV. Visit youtube. Com/fantasyfootballers. We will have YouTube TV up, by the way. Yes, we will. On all nine screens this week and as we take in week one of the NFL season. Local and national games on YouTube TV. Nfl Sunday ticket for out-of-market games. Based plan required. Excludes digital-only games. Commercial use excluded. No refunds. Tomorrow is starting of the week.

One sleep.

Matchups and football time. So we will be back with you tomorrow. Come along for the ride all season longfoot clan. Join thefoot. Com, the Discord server, thousands of like-minded fantasy football fans wait. Talk to you tomorrow.

Good 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.