Establish The Run artwork

Team-by-Team: Everything We Saw In Week 1, And How To Adjust (Episode 1022 with Evan Silva and Adam Levitan)

STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.

2 hr 3 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 15, 2026
Published
Tue, September 15, 2026
60
Player insights
55
Players mentioned
Topics
A.J. BrownGeorge KittleJake FergusonJavonte WilliamsRomeo DoubsBijan RobinsonBlake CorumBucky IrvingCaleb WilliamsChris OlaveChristian McCaffreyChristian WatsonChuba HubbardColston Loveland
Player analysis

Player insights

60

A.J. Brown

NegativeInjury33:56

AJ Brown suffered a high ankle sprain that is expected to sideline him for four to six weeks. Evan Silva is pessimistic about his rest-of-season outlook, noting that such injuries can linger and affect performance for the remainder of the year.

Insight page
NegativeInjury36:42

Evan Silva advises against buying low on AJ Brown, noting that high ankle sprains can impact a player for an entire season. Brown is expected to miss at least four to six weeks, and his usage prior to the injury was concerning, as he was restricted to the sideline on 94% of his snaps rather than working the middle of the field.

Insight page

Bijan Robinson

PositiveUsage58:38

Bijan Robinson is a high-volume asset in the Falcons' offense, receiving eight of Cooper Rush's 12 completions in Week 1. He is a strong play in full PPR formats.

Insight page

Blake Corum

NegativeUsage54:02

Blake Corum saw 14 snaps and 3 routes compared to Kyren Williams' 39 snaps and 21 routes. While he will be a factor, he did not receive the high-value red zone or goal-line opportunities in Week 1.

Insight page

Bucky Irving

PositiveUsage71:04

Bucky Irving showed positive usage in Week 1, out-snapping Kenneth Gainwell 35-26 and out-routing him 21-13. He caught all seven of his targets, though his eight carries suggest the output may not be fully sustainable. He looked healthy and is a positive takeaway for the Bucs.

Insight page

Caleb Williams

PositiveProjection44:03

Caleb Williams is viewed as a high-end talent in a juggernaut offense, showing elite speed and playmaking ability despite missing some throws in Week 1.

Insight page

Chris Olave

PositiveUsage24:02

Chris Olave remains a focal point of the Saints' passing attack, leading the NFL in air yards in Week 1. He is part of a highly concentrated passing offense alongside Devon Vele and Juwan Johnson.

Insight page

Christian McCaffrey

NegativeUsage61:48

Christian McCaffrey's usage was limited by cramping and the team's decision to rest veterans, but he remains a high-floor asset due to his pass-catching role. His Week 1 usage is considered his floor.

Insight page

Christian Watson

PositiveUsage47:32

Christian Watson played 38 routes on 46 dropbacks and was one of the best players on the field. The Packers' offensive line struggles and reliance on the pass game create a positive outlook for his continued usage.

Insight page

Chuba Hubbard

PositiveUsage67:00

Chuba Hubbard is the preferred back in Carolina, playing 48 snaps to Jonathan Brooks' 13 in Week 1. He is a locked-in RB2 for Week 2.

Insight page

Colston Loveland

NegativeUsage42:12

Colson Loveland is considered a buy-low candidate because his usage was fine (34 routes run), despite only recording two targets in Week 1.

Insight page

D.J. Moore

PositiveUsage82:26

DJ Moore led the team with 8 targets (28% share) and played 75% of snaps. His chemistry with Josh Allen as an off-script playmaker was evident, leading to 5 catches, 100 yards, and a touchdown. He should be viewed as a borderline WR1.

Insight page

D'Andre Swift

PositiveUsage48:25

D'Andre Swift had a dominant Week 1 with 18 carries for 124 yards and three touchdowns. His pass protection has also improved significantly, making him a reliable asset in a run-blocking-friendly offense.

Insight page

Dalton Kincaid

PositiveUsage80:44

Dalton Kincaid saw a massive usage increase in Week 1, playing 74% of snaps and 69% of routes, resulting in 5 catches for 130 yards and a touchdown. Evan Silva notes he was beating elite cornerbacks and is finally seeing the playing time he needs to reach his potential.

Insight page

Davante Adams

NegativeUsage54:43

Davante Adams was not a featured part of the Rams' goal-line offense, as the team shifted to jumbo three-tight-end sets. This is a significant change from his role last year and negatively impacts his fantasy outlook.

Insight page

Derrick Henry

PositiveProjection77:55

Derrick Henry proved his doubters wrong with a dominant performance, averaging 6.0 yards per carry and scoring three times. Evan Silva admits he was wrong to be pessimistic, calling Henry an outlier and a superhero.

Insight page

Drake London

PositiveValue60:42

Drake London is a buy-low candidate because the eventual transition to Michael Penix as the starting quarterback will likely improve his fantasy production.

Insight page

Emmett Johnson

PositiveSleeper11:59

Emmitt Johnson is identified as a high-priority handcuff who should be owned in all league formats. He was the only running back other than Kenneth Walker to touch the ball for the Chiefs in Week 1 and would have a strong fantasy projection if Walker were to miss time.

Insight page

George Kittle

PositiveUsage64:23

George Kittle's usage was limited in Week 1, but he is expected to see a significant increase in volume following an injury to teammate Jake Tongass, forcing the team to rely on him more heavily.

Insight page
PositiveUsage65:54

Evan Silva suggests the team may need to shift to full-blown George Kittle usage immediately in Week 2 against Miami, especially with the team needing him badly following the injury to Tongass.

Insight page

Isaiah Likely

PositiveUsage18:24

Isaiah Likely emerged as a key target for Jackson Dart, particularly on third downs and in the red zone. While his target volume may fluctuate as Malik Nabors' role increases, Likely is considered a top-12 fantasy tight end option entering Week 2 due to his wide-receiver-like usage.

Insight page

Jacoby Brissett

PositiveProjection51:54

Jacoby Brissett was PFF's top-rated quarterback in Week 1, operating a pass-heavy offense that resulted in a win. His continued success is vital for the fantasy value of Cardinals pass-catchers.

Insight page

Jadarian Price

NegativeUsage68:15

Jadarian Price played 48% of snaps and 52% of opportunities in Week 1. Concerns are mounting because Emmanuel Wilson is being used in short-yardage and goal-line situations, while Price is losing passing-down work to George Helani and eventually Zach Charbonnet. Despite looking good on the eye test, his path to a high-ceiling role is blocked by this committee usage.

Insight page

Jahmyr Gibbs

PositiveUsage44:54

Jahmyr Gibbs is seeing an elite, potentially unsustainable workload, recording 34 touches in Week 1. The team lacks a viable RB2 to spell him, and he was leading all running backs in forced missed tackles and rushing before Monday night.

Insight page

Jake Ferguson

NegativeDepth Chart44:26

Jake Ferguson has been relegated in the team's usage, with Luke Schoonmaker and Brevin Spanford seeing significant involvement; fantasy managers are advised to drop him.

Insight page
NegativeDepth Chart73:46

Jake Ferguson is being phased out in favor of Luke Schoonmaker and Brevin Span-Ford, making him a drop candidate.

Insight page

Jalen Coker

PositiveBreakout63:38

Jalen Coker is a legitimate talent who is outplaying expectations and is not far off from Terrace Marshall Jr. in terms of fantasy value, despite being a UDFA.

Insight page

James Cook

NegativeUsage84:01

James Cook lost passing-down snaps to Frank Gore Jr. in the second half of Week 1. There is concern that the team will not expand Cook's role even if Ty Johnson remains inactive.

Insight page

Jameson Williams

PositiveProjection46:26

Despite a poor Week 1 performance with drops, Jameson Williams saw nine targets and a 54% air yard share, which ranked third in the NFL. He is expected to be a strong buy-low candidate in the 'By Leone' model for Week 2.

Insight page

Javonte Williams

PositiveUsage43:51

Javonte Williams saw a positive usage bump with five catches and a touchdown; with Malik Davis out for the year and Amari Di Mercado serving as the backup, the team is committed to a heavy workload for Williams as long as he remains physically healthy.

Insight page
PositiveUsage72:15

Javonte Williams is seeing significant usage in the Cowboys' passing game, staying on the field for passing situations and catching five passes in Week 1.

Insight page

Jayden Reed

NegativeUsage47:53

Jayden Reed's usage was disappointing, running only 63% of routes. The team's preference for using multiple tight ends like Johnny Smith and Tucker Craft over a third wide receiver is a concerning trend for his fantasy value.

Insight page

Jeremiyah Love

NegativeUsage54:00

Jeremiah Love is splitting snaps with Tyler Allgeier while ramping up from a high ankle sprain. He is expected to see more work in games where the Cardinals are trailing.

Insight page

Jonathon Brooks

NegativeUsage66:43

Jonathan Brooks is currently behind Chuba Hubbard in the depth chart and usage, and there is skepticism about whether he will return to his college form this season.

Insight page

Jordan Addison

NegativeUsage57:15

Jordan Addison's usage is concerning after he recorded only two targets and zero catches in Week 1. He was wide open on one play but was short-armed by the quarterback.

Insight page

Justin Jefferson

PositiveProjection56:41

Justin Jefferson remains an elite fantasy asset, recording 8 catches for 92 yards and 2 touchdowns on 9 targets. His production is consistent regardless of the quarterback, provided it is not JJ McCarthy.

Insight page

Kalif Raymond

NegativeUsage45:17

Kalif Raymond led the Bears in targets (nine) in Week 1, but Evan Silva attributes this to the Panthers' soft zone coverage and expects the team's primary studs to see more work moving forward.

Insight page

Kayshon Boutte

PositiveDepth Chart40:39

The Patriots' decision to trade Kayshon Boutte is viewed as a mistake, especially given the current lack of depth and injury issues at wide receiver.

Insight page

Kendrick Bourne

PositiveUsage52:33

Kendrick Bourne is emerging as a significant target earner in the Cardinals' offense, potentially acting as an ongoing annoyance to the target shares of Marvin Harrison and Michael Wilson.

Insight page

Kenneth Walker III

PositiveUsage3:40

Kenneth Walker dominated the Chiefs' backfield in Week 1, handling 29 of the first 32 running back carries and earning a 22% target share (6 targets). He led the NFL in rushing with 173 yards and two total touchdowns, proving to be a 'Kenneth Walker-centric' offense that relies on his elite tackle-breaking ability (14 missed tackles forced).

Insight page

Kyle Williams

PositiveUsage39:18

Adam Levitan argues that Kyle Williams should be utilized more, noting he only ran seven routes on 42 dropbacks despite showing deep-threat ability in the preseason.

Insight page

Kyren Williams

PositiveUsage54:02

Despite concerns about Blake Corum, Kyren Williams maintained a clear lead in high-value touches, including red zone, goal line, and pass-catching work. He remains the primary back for the Rams.

Insight page

Malik Nabers

PositiveUsage13:25

Malik Nabors' return from injury was encouraging, as he commanded a 31% target share (nine targets) despite playing only 52% of snaps and 71% of routes. His ability to produce 69 yards on limited volume suggests he remains a strong fantasy asset as his conditioning ramps up.

Insight page

MarShawn Lloyd

NegativeUsage48:48

MarShawn Lloyd played only 45% of snaps and struggled to produce on his 14 opportunities. He is unlikely to see a significant increase in volume moving forward.

Insight page

Michael Penix Jr.

PositiveProjection59:13

There is high confidence that Michael Penix will take over as the Falcons' starter once his knee is healthy, which would be a significant upgrade for the team's pass-catchers.

Insight page

Patrick Mahomes

PositiveUsage10:57

Patrick Mahomes showed encouraging rushing ability in Week 1, recording seven carries for 23 yards and a touchdown, which exceeded ETR's projections. He appears to be moving well nine months removed from an ACL tear.

Insight page

Rashee Rice

NegativeUsage6:57

Rasheed Rice saw a concerningly low usage in Week 1, recording only two targets for a 7% share. Evan Silva notes that the addition of Kenneth Walker has neutered Rice's role in a more conservative, run-centric Chiefs offense. Additionally, there are lingering concerns regarding the health of Rice's knee, which he was rehabbing during the offseason.

Insight page

Rashid Shaheed

NegativeUsage67:49

Rashid Shaheed saw only three targets (12% share) in Week 1. The offseason narrative that he would be worked in as a first-read receiver appears unlikely to materialize.

Insight page

Rhamondre Stevenson

NegativeUsage39:01

Rhamondre Stevenson played better than his 2.8 yards per carry suggests, as the offensive line failed to open holes. He remains involved in the passing game, catching five balls for 44 yards.

Insight page

Romeo Doubs

NegativeUsage34:11

Romeo Dobbs struggled in the Patriots' opener, playing a 'horrible game' and rotating with Matt Collins, which raises concerns about his consistency and role in the passing attack.

Insight page
NegativeUsage37:10

Romeo Doubs had a terrible game and was rotating with Matt Collins, which is a concerning development for his role in the offense.

Insight page

Sam Darnold

NegativeInjury66:16

Sam Darnold suffered a unique hip injury that may sideline him for three to four weeks. Evan Silva notes that while Drew Locke can hold down the fort, the long-term success of Jackson Smith-Njigba likely depends on Darnold's return.

Insight page

Samaje Perine

PositiveUsage87:11

Samaje Perine remains involved in the Bengals' backfield, recording five carries and three targets in Week 1. While it is Chase Brown's backfield, Perine is not going away and continues to see touches all over the field.

Insight page

Saquon Barkley

NegativeUsage58:46

Saquon Barkley struggled to produce outside of one 42-yard run, carrying 14 times for 41 yards. He was also non-existent in the passing game, catching one of two targets for negative three yards.

Insight page

Terry McLaurin

NegativeMatchup74:28

Terry McLaurin had a quiet Week 1 with only four targets, but Evan Silva is not concerned, attributing the performance to a difficult matchup against the Eagles' elite cornerback trio of Reek Woolen, Quinion Mitchell, and Cooper Dejean.

Insight page

Travis Etienne

NegativeUsage22:01

Travis Etienne's usage is a major concern after he failed to dominate the backfield in the absence of Alvin Kamara. With Kendrick Miller and CJ Donaldson splitting snaps and carries, Etienne's role as a bell cow is in doubt, leading to a downgrade in his rest-of-season outlook.

Insight page

Trey McBride

PositiveUsage55:37

Trey McBride remains a high-end fantasy asset, commanding 35% of the team's targets in Week 1. His chemistry with Jacoby Brissett is a major positive for his outlook.

Insight page

Tucker Kraft

PositiveUsage47:59

Tucker Kraft played 45 snaps and showed impressive yards-after-catch ability. He is becoming a vital part of the offense due to his blocking and receiving utility, with potential for increased usage.

Insight page

Xavier Worthy

NegativeProjection10:36

Adam Levitan expresses skepticism regarding Xavier Worthy's talent level, noting that despite running 30 routes in Week 1, he may simply not be good enough to be a high-impact fantasy asset.

Insight page

Zay Flowers

PositiveUsage77:04

Zay Flowers was highly efficient, averaging 15 yards per route run before exiting with a minor hamstring injury. Evan Silva notes he was on pace for a 200-yard game and remains a key part of the Ravens' offense.

Insight page
Full transcript

Episode Transcript

1,459
0:00Hello and welcome to Episode 1022 of the official Establish The Run podcast.
0:04My name is Adam Levitan. I am one of the co-founders here at ETR.
0:09As always joined by fellow co-founder Evan Silva and week one of the NFL season is in the books.
0:15That means everyone's favorite show team by team is indeed back.
0:19Evan, how was your week one buddy? On Sunday there were a lot of ups and there were a lot of downs
0:26and then on Monday night the avalanche came through with Kenneth the canine walker.
0:31But I want to remind everybody that last year week one the Raiders beat the Patriots.
0:36The Patriots wound up going to the Super Bowl.
0:39The 49ers beat the Seahawks. The Seahawks wound up winning the Super Bowl.
0:44And JJ McCarthy was the NFC offensive player of the week.
0:47So we will have a lot of good takeaways this week because this is actual data, but don't trust everything that you saw on opening day.
0:56Indeed and this will be one of the longest team by teams that we do all year because we learn so much
1:03and I have so many notes on every team and the usage and everything because so many of our questions that we talked about all offseason got answered.
1:13On today's show we are going to go team by team by team through all 32 NFL franchises discussing the most important
1:20things we saw in each and what it means going forward.
1:24Usage, injuries, performance, everything. Reminder for anyone serious about fantasy football or DFS this season.
1:29Clearly I'm biased, but I could not imagine trying to play fantasy football or DFS seriously without our in-season product.
1:35I pour over our projections for every decision that I make.
1:39I read Silva's matchups for his take on every player.
1:42I consult Thorne's rankings for things like knowing to play Jets, DST against the Titans, 32nd ranked offensive line.
1:49Tons more. Plus you get all our premium shows like Silva vs.
1:53Leone, Weekly Man vs. Machine, myself, Silva Wiggins on Friday nights.
1:56So head to the content schedule in the NFL tab for a full list of our in-season product content.
2:03That is the in-season product at EstablishTheRun.com. All right, we're going to start with the five biggest stories of the week here,
2:10Evan, and then we will go team by team in alphabetical order after that.
2:15Number one story of the week has to come from Monday night's game, Kansas City Chiefs.
2:20Oh boy, what a night, Evan, for us Kenneth Walker backers.
2:24I could not have dreamed up a better start.
2:27They were facing what I thought would be one of the NFL's better rush defenses this season.
2:32And Kenneth Walker shreds the Broncos. 23 carries, 173 yards, and a touchdown rushing.
2:37Also caught three passes for 18 yards and another touchdown.
2:40Chiefs blast the Broncos 31-10. The thesis played out exactly as we talked about for much of the offseason here, Evan.
2:47What did you think of Kenneth Walker and Chiefs from last night?
2:51And, you know, they did this with an undrafted rookie left tackle, Kalief Benson, in their starting in place of Josh Simmons.
2:59I got so many messages during the game, in the second half, text, Twitter, whatever.
3:04Thank you for Kenneth Walker this year. So I'm so glad that those people were able to benefit.
3:10A lot of people wound up coming back on Monday night to win their fantasy matchups in week one.
3:16And that's a great feeling, obviously, going into week two, 1-0 with what looks like.
3:21I mean, Kenneth Walker was the best running back in the NFL in week one.
3:26We'll see if he's able to sustain that. But he was the best running back in the NFL in week one.
3:33He broke the 14 missed tackles, led the NFL in rushing in week one.
3:38He looked like an absolute beast out there. So I was really happy for everyone that was able to draft him.
3:45He was a steal, man. He was an absolute steal.
3:48You could get him every single time at the 1-2 turn.
3:52Yep. He handled 29 of the first 32 running back carries.
3:55And this was the point. Why leave Seattle? Seattle, I think, wanted to retain him.
4:00They insulted him by playing Zach Charbonnet too much.
4:03He was like, screw this. I'm going to Kansas City.
4:07I got 29 of the first 32 running back carries before it turned into a blowout.
4:12Kenneth Walker also six targets for a 22% share, really high for the running back position.
4:17The flip side of this, Evan, was the Rasheed Rice stuff.
4:21And, you know, we had a bit of a fade on Rasheed Rice.
4:25I did not think it would be this bad.
4:28Two targets for a 7% share. Now, you could argue that this is not the spot where the Chiefs actually need Rasheed Rice.
4:36They need him against zone. They need him when they are trailing more.
4:40But still, two targets for a 7% share was concerning, I thought.
4:44Evan, what do you think of Rasheed Rice and any of their Chiefs pass catcher thoughts?
4:49Yeah, I had Rasheed Rice in my shy away article this year.
4:53And a lot of the thesis behind it was Kenneth Walker, that adding Kenneth Walker to the Chiefs offense was going to end up neutering Rasheed Rice.
5:02And it looked like that in week one. He did score the touchdown to save face a little bit.
5:09But that was very, very concerning. And the rhetoric now is that the Chiefs, you know, they built this team to be centered around Kenneth Walker.
5:17You know, they have a top 10 offensive line in Brandon Thorne's rankings.
5:22They made Kenneth Walker a guy who's one of the highest paid running backs in the NFL.
5:27You know, this is a Kenneth Walker-centric offense now.
5:30And it makes sense because the Chiefs pass catchers, or this is the weakest pass catching core of Patrick Mahomes' career in this game.
5:38Patrick Mahomes did not complete a single pass of 10 or more air yards.
5:43Really conservative offense built around the running game, a very creative running game, however.
5:48So hopefully, and this is, again, dude, the Broncos missed 28 tackles in this game.
5:5314 of them, again, by Kenneth Walker alone. But 28, how do you, that doesn't even seem mathematically possible to miss 28 tackles in one game.
6:01The Broncos got to go back to the drawing board, but huge win for the Chiefs.
6:07Yeah, we'll get on the Broncos. They just played an awful, awful game.
6:11Last thing for me on Rasheed Rice, I'm not sure that the knee is 100%.
6:16This was the knee issue that he was rehabbing from literal jail.
6:20I'm still not sure it's 100%. So that's just something to monitor.
6:24The routes were there. I mean, Mahomes dropped back 33 times.
6:28Rasheed Rice ran 29 routes. Xavier Worthy, 30. Tyquan Thornton, 24.
6:31Cyrus Allen, everyone's favorite slappy sleeper that got steamed up to like 150.
6:36He ran one route in this game. I do have concerns, though, that Xavier Worthy just is not good enough.
6:42I mean, we've talked about this, and that's why he was going in like the 10th or 11th round.
6:49He just might not be good enough, period, and just is what it is.
6:53Oh, last note from me on the Chiefs. Mahomes rushing.
6:57I mean, this is nine months after an ACL tear, and I thought he was running really well.
7:03Seven carries, 23 yards, and a touchdown. Remains amazing how much faster and better these guys are coming back from ACL tear.
7:10So we under-projected Mahomes rushing last night, to be honest.
7:13And yeah, I mean, he looked fine. I want to do one more shot at Emmitt Johnson.
7:19Yeah. Looked really good with the ball in his hands in this game, and he was the only other running back to
7:26touch the ball in the game besides Kenneth Walker.
7:29Emmitt Johnson, one of the best handcuffs in all of fantasy, should absolutely be owned in every single league.
7:36I don't care. Ten men. Ten men. Down to eight men.
7:39I mean, this is a guy that you put on your bench and stash.
7:44Yeah. So if something happened to Kenneth Walker, Emmitt Johnson would have a very, very nice projection from us on a week-to-week basis.
7:52Okay. Let's go to story two. It is the New York Giants.
7:56Really good win for the Giants. They outplay the Cowboys on Sunday night football, win 28-20.
8:01That wasn't even the biggest news, though, that they beat the Cowboys.
8:05The biggest news to me was the return of Malik Nabors.
8:09So much speculation this offseason about the ACL and meniscus.
8:12Would he be ready? How ready would he be?
8:15I would consider this return a pretty big win.
8:18This was Malik Nabors' first game since September 28th, 2025.
8:21He played 36 of 69 snaps, 52%. He ran 24 of 34 routes, 71%.
8:26So he was clearly limited. That is not a normal Malik Nabors role.
8:30But on those limited reps and routes, nine targets for a 31% share, six catches for 69 yards, and emerged healthy.
8:37So if you drafted Malik Nabors in round three, round four, wherever you got him, I would consider this encouraging.
8:44Evan, what do you think of Nabors and any other Giants thoughts?
8:48Well, it was just such an impressive win for the Giants.
8:52The offense was a well-oiled machine under Matt Nagy, who we've had plenty of skepticism about.
8:57And they got the ball to Cam Scadaboo a ton, and he ran like an absolute madman.
9:03He was adding yards onto the end of his runs.
9:06But yeah, they were a well-oiled machine. They controlled this football game.
9:10The Cowboys only had two offensive possessions in the entire second half.
9:14Jackson Dart looks like he might take a step this year.
9:18He had 134 passer rating in this game in his first game under Matt Nagy.
9:23That's the best passer rating that Jackson Dart has had in his career.
9:27Sissy Maui Noah. Francis Maui Noah, who they drafted in the first round, was an absolute beast at guard.
9:33I mean, they've got the makings of being a team that can control football games with their running game if they can keep all these guys healthy.
9:42And I think that that's the way that the Giants want to play.
9:47That's how the Giants want to win football games this year, is to have Jackson Dart play controlled, not turn the ball
9:54over, run the ball a lot behind a big, powerful offensive line.
9:58Absolutely. And this is the boomer stuff, but it might work because Cam Scadaboo ramming hard up the middle.
10:04He carried it 18 times for 81 yards and a touchdown.
10:08That sets up the play action. I do want to note Cam Scadaboo only 14 routes on 34 Jackson Dart dropbacks, not ideal.
10:16And I should note Najee Harris was inactive for this game.
10:19I don't know exactly why Tyrone Tracy fumbled in this game.
10:23I would expect Najee to be active at the expense of Tracy probably next week, assuming he's healthy, but we will see there.
10:31But yeah, Jackson Dart, I thought I was one of the best late round quarterbacks because of the rushing stuff.
10:37In this game, he rushes 11 times for 54 yards.
10:41It reminds me like so much of the young Josh Allen.
10:44People are like, he's out of control. He's going to get hurt.
10:48He can't run like that. How can you draft him?
10:52If anybody's willing to run at the quarterback position 11 times in a football game, I am going to be willing to draft you.
11:00And now he has Scadaboo. So throw the ball deep, run a lot.
11:04I really like Dart. Isaiah Likely. Yes. That was the other big story here.
11:09So 23 of 34 routes on Isaiah Likely. But man, and like that's fine.
11:13It's not elite. That's fine. But man, every third down, Dart was looking for him.
11:18In the red zone, Dart was looking for him.
11:21That was 878-2 result. How sticky do you think that is going forward for Likely, Evan?
11:27That's a good question. I mean, I think that as Malik Nabors ramps up, then I think that that will eat into
11:34Isaiah Likely's target volume on a weekly basis. However, I think Isaiah Likely can really, really play.
11:40John Harbaugh obviously thinks that Isaiah Likely can really, really play.
11:43There was a bunch of stuff like, I saw people be like, oh, well, the Ravens should have never let him go.
11:51So they should, and they kept Mark Andrews. That was a huge mistake.
11:55Actually, the Ravens are doing pretty well for themselves, by the way.
11:59But it was clear that I think Isaiah Likely wanted to go be the number one tight end somewhere.
12:05And that's obviously paid off right away in week one.
12:09Just absolutely cooking the Cowboys linebackers. The Cowboys have a big problem in terms of coverage at linebacker, which is something that
12:16I'll be writing about probably for the duration of the season in the matchups article.
12:21But Isaiah Likely has always, he looks like a wide receiver out there.
12:25He's used like it. And yeah, very, very promising.
12:28I don't know that he's going to sustain this, again, all season long.
12:33I mean, he was the number one fantasy tight end in week one.
12:37That's going to be tough to sustain when he's not a true, true full-time player.
12:42But he's a fantasy starter. He's absolutely a top 10, top 12 option entering week two, no question.
12:48Yeah, they play the Rams next, do the Giants.
12:51And by the way, in this game, even though Neighbors was extremely limited in his participation, he still had more targets than Likely.
12:59Nine targets for Neighbors, eight targets here, four likely.
13:02Story three, let's go to the New Orleans Saints.
13:05So Saints fell behind 21-0 in Detroit. They stage a pretty impressive comeback, send it to overtime.
13:10They lose 31-30 after a failed two-point conversion. I got to be honest, in the first half, Evan, I was pretty worried.
13:17I mean, Tyler Shuck was really, really bad in the first half.
13:21And the Travis Etienne usage in the first half was really, really poor.
13:26We'll talk more about that in a second. But then Shuck catches fire.
13:30I mean, Alave, Vele, Juwan Johnson, they were shredding.
13:33This is what we dreamed of. So it was a bit concerning at first.
13:38Ended well. Evan, what were your takeaways from Saints' loss in Detroit?
13:42Oh, it was very concerning at first. I mean, speaking of getting messages in-game, we were getting messages like, did the people
13:49that established the run forget to tell us that Tyler Shuck is terrible?
13:53I mean, I was getting all kinds of messages.
13:56And I was concerned about it. And we talked about that being a potential liability.
14:01We had a liability out on Tyler Shuck a little bit.
14:05He had a sort of up-and-down training camp. You know, he really, what did he make, 10 starts last year?
14:12We didn't know for sure. And we didn't know for sure.
14:15It looked bad in the first half. And then in the second half, I mean, Tyler Shuck ripped some insane throws.
14:22He made some of the best throws of any quarterback in the NFL in week one.
14:28From the second half onward through overtime combined, Tyler Shuck went 25 of 34 for 325 yards, three touchdowns, one pick, 120.3 passer rating.
14:36I feel great about Tyler Shuck right now. The same could not have been said through two quarters.
14:42I'm really worried about Travis Etienne. But Chris Olave looked awesome.
14:45He played a badass game. I mean, peeling himself up off the turf.
14:50He's a really tough player out there with the Guardian helmet.
14:53You know, he led the NFL in air yards in week one.
14:57Chris Olave. When you get behind 21-0 to Detroit, it's like the perfect setup, right?
15:02Because they do not have a good secondary. They did not have a good defense.
15:07You're in the dome. They get down 21-0. Tyler Shuck ends up dropping back 63 times in this game.
15:14Obviously, overtime helped that. But just my point is, yes, he played better in the second half.
15:19Yes, we have to adjust that somewhat for the situation.
15:23The best news for me on this was it was extremely concentrated, as we expected.
15:28Again, Shuck's 63 dropbacks, 58 routes for Devon Vele, 55 routes for Chris Olave, 51 routes for Juwan Johnson.
15:34Obviously, those are the three that they're going to go to here until Jordan Tyson gets back.
15:40But yes, the big fantasy story, Evan mentioned it.
15:43The most surprising usage to me in week one out of anybody in the entire NFL was Travis Etienne not dominating usage.
15:50Alvin Kamara was out with a knee injury. And still, Travis Etienne had nine carries.
15:55Kendrick Miller had nine carries. CJ Donaldson had two carries.
15:58Snaps were Etienne, 53. Kendrick Miller, 26. CJ Donaldson, 15.
16:02There were a lot of opportunities for Etienne. He got in there in the pass game late.
16:07Shuck found him for a lot of checkdowns. So opportunities ended up 18 for Etienne versus nine for Kendrick, four for Donaldson.
16:15But yeah, I don't really get it, Evan. They signed him to a huge deal.
16:20I don't think very much of Kendrick Miller or CJ Donaldson.
16:23And they just did not extend Travis Etienne here at all.
16:27So any thoughts on what happened here or what will happen going forward?
16:31Well, I texted Underhill about this and he was like, you should have been reading New Orleans .football because we've been talking
16:39about how Travis Etienne is not going to be used as a traditional bell cow.
16:44Now, the Saints definitely have a higher opinion of Kendrick Miller than we do.
16:48Certainly a higher opinion than Dennis Allen used to.
16:51You know, Kendrick Miller sort of like entered the league with a similar rap as Jaden Blue and they've gone in different directions.
16:59You know, sort of considered like immature, super raw.
17:02Jaden Blue is like now, you know, barely hanging on in the league.
17:06And Kendrick Miller has like a real role, it appears, in New Orleans.
17:11He's always been a really talented player. That was never Kendrick Miller's issue.
17:15It's just sometimes you've got to grow up a little bit.
17:19And also Nick Underhill drafted in his last fantasy draft of the year, he drafted Kendrick Miller in the third round and sent it to me.
17:27And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what does this mean?
17:31You know, maybe I should have read into it more that Kendrick Miller was going to have a real role.
17:37And now you've got Alvin Kamara potentially coming back.
17:40I mean, I'm worried about Travis Etienne. And I have a lot of exposure to Travis Etienne this year.
17:47And I'm worried about it. And I think it's fair for everybody to be worried about it.
17:52The Saints think more of their running back depth than we do.
17:56Yeah, they still gave Travis Etienne on like the first day of free agency, a huge contract, 30 plus million guaranteed.
18:03You know, I get it. First of all, Underhill did not take Kendrick Miller in round three.
18:09That can't be possible. The 13th round. 13th round.
18:12Okay, 13th. Yeah, sorry. Okay. Yeah, you know, I would say I'm worried too.
18:17It just does not make a ton of sense.
18:20But I was encouraged that he was the back that was out there for this comeback.
18:25And he ended up with nine targets in this game on 56 pass attempts.
18:30Now, if Alvin Kamara comes back and he's the passing down back, that would be a problem.
18:35I just think Alvin Kamara, they didn't want him back really.
18:39They don't really care if he comes back. So I still think I'm leaving the light on for Etienne.
18:45He was a fourth round pick. I'm leaving the light on for him.
18:50I'm not totally panicking, but certainly his outlook is worse and we will have him lower in our rest of season top 150.
18:57I know you mentioned Devon Vele, but I just want to put a little bit more of a spotlight on him because,
19:05look, they have the Ravens coming up and it's going to be a lot tougher than Detroit.
19:10We're going to be picking on Detroit's pass defense all year long.
19:14But Devon Vele is a good football player. Did you see the route that he ran and the diving catch that he made on his touchdown?
19:23He goes out there, he catches seven of nine targets.
19:26He's just an efficient possession receiver and he's going to be a fantasy starter until Jordan Tyson comes back.
19:33And oh boy, think about the possibilities when Jordan Tyson does come back for this offense.
19:38Maybe we will get the Saints offense to the point where we were, you know, to see that ceiling that we were
19:45talking about throughout much of the offseason. Yeah. By the way, I mentioned the rest of the season top 150 rankings.
19:52For anyone with DraftKid Pro, those will be out Tuesday night.
19:56Also, the debut of our redraft trade calculator will be late Tuesday night here as well.
20:01Really difficult exercise, but I think an important one.
20:04The rest of the season top 150 for anyone doing trades or stuff like that in their season long league.
20:11All right. Story four, Evan, let's go back to the opener.
20:15This was felt like forever ago, Wednesday night, but story four comes out of New England.
20:20There were some crazy bad decisions from Drake May to choke away this game.
20:25They lose the opener in Seattle 1310. This was one of the worst games that I've seen May play from a mistake perspective.
20:32Three really bad interceptions takes three sacks. But anyways, the big story was the ankle sprain to AJ Brown confirmed through MRI.
20:40This is a high ankle sprain. He's going to miss a month, maybe six weeks.
20:45The latest I saw was four to six weeks on AJ Brown.
20:49They let Kayshawn Booty go, man. Romeo Dobbs played a horrible game on Wednesday night.
20:54And now it feels like the Patriots are back to square one with their pass catching core.
20:59So Evan, thoughts on the Patriots and fallout from the AJ Brown injury?
21:04Yeah. And you know, the Patriots were going up against one of the best, probably the best defense in the league in week one.
21:12However, this was a disaster of an opener. I was watching the game on my TV, but I turned on the radio, Westwood one.
21:20I was listening to Kurt Warner because I really like Kurt Warner talk, hearing him talk about football and hearing him talk about quarterback play.
21:28He was kind of killing Drake May on the radio.
21:31He was talking about how it was a replica of the Super Bowl.
21:36Obviously playing the same defense, but just really late on so many throws.
21:40Some people I saw on Twitter were kind of knocking the arm strength, like it didn't look like Drake May's arm strength was all the way back.
21:49You remember he had that shoulder injury late last season.
21:52The AJ Brown thing. You know, I would like take, I don't want to say anything crazy, but I'm really pessimistic about AJ Brown's rest of season outlook.
22:02Like I saw somebody ask me, hey, should I try to trade by low on AJ Brown?
22:07No, I don't think so. These high ankle sprains are really, really bad.
22:11They can affect the player for an entire season.
22:14We already know that he's out at least four weeks, maybe six.
22:18Um, also the way that he was being used, he was not being used in the middle of the field before he got hurt.
22:26He was stuck to the sideline on 94% of his snaps.
22:30This is worrisome. Romeo Dobbs, as you mentioned, he had a terrible game.
22:34He wasn't even, he was rotating with Matt Collins.
22:37You know, look, I trust Josh McDaniel to devise better game plans going forward.
22:42They need to get Travion Henderson ramped up and he did get back in practice this week, but they're going to need explosive plays.
22:50NFL teams are obsessed with generating explosive plays. Ramondre Stevenson is a solid all around back, but man, they need explosive plays.
22:57And that's what Travion Henderson, I actually think that even though he didn't play in week one and he's got this little
23:05knee injury, it was kind of a win for Travion Henderson, people that have him because it just sort of reinforced to
23:12me that the Patriots are really going to need him despite the areas where he's a liability on the field, including pass
23:19protection and, you know, just trusting him. Like they need the explosiveness of Travion Henderson.
23:24I don't really disagree. And by the way, it's an ankle for Travion.
23:29And as Evan said, he got back in practice.
23:32Felt like he was somewhat close to playing in that opener.
23:35A little close. But yeah, I think we might start with projecting him in this week.
23:41We will see there. I did think Ramondre Stevenson played better than his 2.8 yards per carry suggested in this game.
23:48There was just nowhere to go. I mean, they could not open a single hole for him.
23:53He did catch five balls for 44 yards. They're home against the Steelers next.
23:58Last thing on the AJ Brown thing for me, you got to get Kyle Williams up, man.
24:04He only ran seven routes in this game on 42 Drake May dropbacks.
24:08Kyle Williams was so good in the preseason getting open deep.
24:12If you're going to make someone a sacrificial wide receiver, run down the field and make plays, make it Kyle Williams and let these other guys eat.
24:21But man, I think they got to use him.
24:24Dobbs ran 32 routes. Pop Douglas 33. Matt Collins 25.
24:27That can't be your three wide receiver set and expect to have Super Bowl aspirations again.
24:32So I'd love to hear him go forward. I saw Pat Thorman, the emotional Patriots fan, venting about the Patriots.
24:39And look, in fairness to him, this isn't hindsight because he was killing the Patriots for trading Kayshawn Booty before they traded him.
24:47But yeah, he's especially in a hole now with AJ Brown hurt.
24:51The Patriots could use Kayshawn Booty right now. Never made sense to me either.
24:55You know, I'm not a Patriots homer by any chance.
24:59Just never made sense. Like a sixth round pick when you have Super Bowl aspirations.
25:04Your wide receiver room isn't very good. Do we really need all these guys on the team and active?
25:10It just didn't make any sense. But yeah, I'm sure they regret it now.
25:15All right. Story five. Last one for the top five here.
25:18Oh boy, Evan, the Chicago Bears. Ben Johnson said he wanted to break the NFL scoring record this season.
25:25He is well on his way. The Bears go to Carolina in week one and put 59, 59 points on the Panthers.
25:32Now, it was somewhat of a weird 59 because Colson Loveland airballed on two targets.
25:37Luther Burden underwhelmed. Roma Dunze was bad. Only two catches.
25:40The Bears ran the ball for six touchdowns on the ground.
25:44291 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns in the game.
25:47Evan, what do you think of Bears offensive explosion against the Panthers?
25:51And they were still meat on the bone. I mean, I think the Bears could have put up 75 on the Panthers.
25:59They left stuff out there. And this is not like some terrible Panthers defense either.
26:04I don't think. I mean, they did play in this game.
26:07They played in like a super soft zone with five and six defensive backs.
26:12And Derek Brown really wasn't a factor. And he's one of the highest paid defensive tackles in the league.
26:18And, I mean, you can nitpick the Panthers. But I don't think that this is one of the worst defenses in the NFL.
26:26And the Bears just absolutely ripped them apart with Kalief Raymond and the running game.
26:31And, wow, that was dominant. And Braxton Jones even went out at one point.
26:36It just did not matter. The Bears' offensive line was a destructive force.
26:40And, yeah, I think they could have scored 75.
26:43I mean, and Caleb Williams is so fast, dude.
26:46He hit 20 miles per hour as a runner twice in the game.
26:50Now, they face the Vikings next week. So, we'll see.
26:54But, you know, I think that this Bears offense is the juggernaut that we expected.
26:59Like, Caleb had Colson Loveland open for a touchdown and just missed him by like four feet.
27:04If you look at like his PFF grade, Caleb Williams did not have a great PFF grade because he missed some throws.
27:12It's like they left stuff out there, which is crazy to think that they put up 59.
27:17Are you concerned at all, Evan, with this Kalief Raymond stuff?
27:21So, Kalief Raymond led the team in targets by a wide margin with nine targets, caught eight of them for 84 yards.
27:28I mean, nine targets for Kalief Raymond, two for Colson Loveland, three for Roma Dunze, five for Luther Burden.
27:35That is not what I expected. I hope this is like a one-game flip, but any thoughts on the Kalief Raymond stuff?
27:42Olamidi Zaccheus, who I'm sure I'm pronouncing his name wrong, had a big week one last year as well.
27:48I think that it was a case of like the Panthers kind of sitting back in that zone, not letting the Bears studs beat them.
27:57Also, Kalief Raymond, we talked about like the big perimeter corners, J.C.
28:01Horn and Mike Jackson, kind of being a tough matchup for Dunze and to a lesser extent Burden.
28:07I thought the Burden would get more slot. It was a lot of Kalief Raymond in the slot.
28:13He wound up exploiting that matchup. I'm not worried about that.
28:16I mean, you know, usually Caleb is going to hit Loveland for that touchdown.
28:21Usually the Bears are not going to score all their touchdowns rushing.
28:25You know, so I'm not worried about that really whatsoever.
28:28No, I mean, I think it's sort of what happened last year with Olamidi Zaccheus with Kalief Raymond.
28:34Okay, so Caleb dropped back 38 times. Loveland ran 34 routes.
28:38He's going to appear on every single buy low this week just based on his usage.
28:43His usage was fine. He happened to only get two targets in this game.
28:48I agree he's a buy low, but everybody's going to have him as a buy low here this week.
28:54Luther Burden ran 27 routes on those 38 dropbacks.
28:57Roma Dunze 22, Cleef Raymond 22, Jaday Walker 16.
29:00Some of that was blowout related there late. But oh, one other thing, man.
29:05We talked about DeAndre Swift all offseason. Gets the big contract extension.
29:09I mean, guy looks amazing. 18 carries, 124 yards, three touchdowns.
29:13And then Kyle Monongai, who I didn't even know if he was 100%, he breaks a 61-yard touchdown run outrunning defensive backs.
29:20I did not think Kyle Monongai had that kind of speed to get to the house on that play.
29:26So that was just an absolute shredding. But as Evan said, about to get much tougher.
29:32Vikings and the Eagles next two games for the Bears.
29:35Yeah, also Baldinger, Brian Baldinger was highlighting, in addition to DeAndre Swift having a killer game on the ground, his blitz pickup was just incredible.
29:43Devin Lloyd, he's one of the best blitzing linebackers in the NFL.
29:47The Panthers signed him this offseason. And DeAndre Swift just stonewalling him in the hole so that Caleb Williams could get off throws.
29:55I mean, DeAndre Swift, he used to be considered like an underachiever in Detroit.
30:00And he has made vast improvements throughout his career.
30:03He's such a better player now, just a better football player, than he was when he entered the league.
30:09Yeah, and Thorne talked about how this offensive line is better run blocking than pass blocking.
30:14I mean, this sets up really well for DeAndre Swift and feel good about the position there.
30:20All right, let's go to the NFC now. We will go alphabetical order, starting with the Arizona Cardinals.
30:26Cardinals go to Los Angeles and spring the biggest upset of the week on the Chargers.
30:31Cardinals defense holds Justin Herbert in the Chargers to just 14 points.
30:35But to me, two big things on the Cardinals.
30:38First, it was a new coaching regime. The LaFleur administration is here.
30:42And Jacoby Brissett still dropped back 39 times in a win.
30:46In a win. And this is what we talked about a lot of the offseason.
30:51Would it be sustainable for Brissett to drop back this many times?
30:55He did here. And the team lived in three wide receiver sets.
30:59You know, so 39 dropbacks against 28 runs in a win.
31:02Then the second big note I had, Evan, was the Jeremiah Love ankle stuff.
31:07But yeah, first, what do you think of Brissett and the Cardinals playing a pass-heavy approach here in week one and winning?
31:14Well, I said some things about the Cardinals this offseason that look real, real stupid right now.
31:20So I'm sorry for that. At the same time, the Chargers defense was just totally non-existent in this game.
31:26Jacoby Brissett was PFF's number one rated quarterback in week one.
31:30The Chargers could get nothing in terms of pass rush.
31:33And that's against a not-great Cardinals offensive line that was missing their top two or two of their top three guards in the game.
31:41That's going to be an issue for the Chargers.
31:44The Cardinals had the ball like the entire game.
31:47I think it was like a 39 to 21 time of possession deficit in favor of the Cardinals.
31:53The Cardinals just controlled the football game. Kendrick Bourne, you know, I wrote about him potentially being an annoyance in the week
32:01one matchups article to Marvin Harrison and Michael Wilson.
32:04He was more than an annoyance. He's Mike LaFleur's boy from San Francisco.
32:08And he played with Jacoby Brissett in New England.
32:11And I mean, he's kind of good at football.
32:14I mean, he's a guy who came in the league running like 4'7".
32:18And he's still around making catches. I think he can be an ongoing annoyance, actually, for Marvin Harrison and Michael Wilson.
32:25Kendrick Bourne. I mean, Marvin Harrison, the Nepo baby, Marvin Harrison's son, actually, has never had eight catches in a game in his NFL career.
32:34Kendrick Bourne at age 31 in his first game as a Cardinal has eight catches here for the Cardinals.
32:40What do you think of Jeremiah Love, Evan? I thought he looked really good.
32:45He scored. But he did get out-touched by Tyler Algier, 19-13.
32:48Snaps were 44-32 in favor of Algier. Obviously, the ankle thing was a factor.
32:53But what do you think of Jeremiah Love's NFL debut?
32:56He was coming off a high ankle sprain. He's really good.
33:00He's splitting with Tyler Algier for now. They played a pretty bad Chargers defense.
33:05They got the freaking Seahawks next. So it's probably snapped back to reality next week for Arizona.
33:10But, yeah, I mean, Jeremiah Love's ramping back up from the high ankle sprain.
33:15He played, what, 44% of the snaps? He's still in ramp-up mode.
33:19Yeah. And as they're trailing, and it's not like I think the Cardinals are going to be good.
33:25They have a very difficult schedule. It was an impressive win.
33:29But they're going to be trailing a lot. Those will be more Jeremiah Love games when he has more of the snaps there in that spot.
33:37Last thing, you know, Trey McBride. People were so worried about Trey McBride, and I understood that.
33:43But you were able to get Trey McBride like middle of round three by the end of the process.
33:49And that looks really, really good right now on Trey McBride.
33:5335% of the targets. And again, even in a win, they went with really pass-heavy 39% dropbacks.
33:59So 13 targets, 9-95-1. I mean, if McBride— And the win is big too for Trey McBride because you want Jacoby Brissett to stay at quarterback.
34:07You don't want the Cardinals to change to Carson Beck.
34:11There's obviously chemistry there between Jacoby Brissett and Trey McBride.
34:14You want the Cardinals to stay competitive if you drafted Trey McBride because as long as that happens, Jacoby Brissett is going to stay at quarterback.
34:23That's really, really good for your second or third round tight end.
34:27Agreed. All right. Falcons. So Falcons, of course, no Kirk Cousins.
34:30He's a Raider. No Michael Penix. He's not ready off the ACL.
34:34More on that in a second. No Tua Tukavailoa.
34:37He hurt his back in practice. So their week one starter for the Falcons was Cooper Rush.
34:43They go to Pittsburgh. Muster just 13 points. Lose the game.
34:47I saw Cooper Rush miss Kyle Pitts. And open Kyle Pitts deep down the field for what would have been a big play.
34:54Maybe a touchdown. The Drake London people are very worried.
34:58Evan, what do you think about Falcons right now?
35:01Yeah, this was really rough. It was Bijan and then nobody else did anything.
35:05So we're just begging for Michael Penix. You know, I don't even know what else to say.
35:11Like we need Michael Penix in there. Tua's not the answer.
35:15Cooper Rush is not the answer. We need Michael Penix.
35:18Cooper Rush completed 12 passes in this game. Eight of them were to Bijan.
35:23And shout out to Evan. We talked about this on the Sunday morning show.
35:27I actually did not play any Bijan in DFS.
35:30And Evan was on it and wanted to play him.
35:34And it was in full PPR, like a printing press on Bijan.
35:38Now it didn't help that much because every running back went off.
35:42I talked more about that on the solo. But yeah, Cooper Rush will check down obviously to Bijan.
35:48Clearly. On Tua. So, you know, I don't know if Tua's going to be back this week.
35:53I've never been more confident in anything than Michael Penix is going to make like 12 or 13 starts this year.
36:00If he can get his knee right, they're going to put him in and ride or die with Michael Penix.
36:07I think there was a report from Florio that they could cut Tua when Michael Penix comes back.
36:13I buy that. You know, I mean, what's the point of having Tua?
36:17The vibes that I'm getting from Tua are that I don't think he wants to play football anymore.
36:23I mean, he shows up Thursday before the game and like he's not playing.
36:28You know, I don't get good vibes at all from Tua.
36:32And I agree with PFT that the Falcons could easily cut Tua whenever they have the opportunity.
36:37Yeah. And so like if you want to say, well, everybody's freaking out about this.
36:42I'm going to buy low on Drake London or Kyle Pitts right now because I think Michael Penix can support them.
36:49I think that's fair. If people are totally panicked, that's fair because Michael Penix will be an upgrade for these guys.
36:56There's absolutely no doubt about that. And he seems like he's close.
37:00I mean, he was practicing non-contact leading up to the game.
37:04I think he's close. Panthers. So I already talked about against this wildly high scoring game with the Bears.
37:10Panthers can't keep up. They lose 59-37. Obviously, the defense was a disaster.
37:15Offensively, though, for the Panthers, Evan, really encouraging game from Bryce Young.
37:19This is two in a row because remember, Bryce had a monster game in the playoffs last year against the Rams.
37:26Now, I think it's worth asking when we look back at the end of the season, will this be maybe one of
37:33the best spots Bryce Young has all year? Home against the Bears.
37:37Maybe, but still, it was really encouraging, Evan, what you think of Bryce Young and the Panthers on Sunday.
37:43Yeah, I think the Bears have maybe the worst defense in the NFL.
37:48I mean, Jalen Johnson looked bad in this game.
37:51And he's supposed to be the guys that the Bears can hang their hat on in the secondary.
37:57So I want to take everything with a grain of salt here.
38:01But no question, Bryce Young played well. They do have the Falcons next.
38:05So, I mean, that's something to build on with another good matchup on deck.
38:10I don't know. I want to take it with a grain of salt because it's the Bears.
38:15Okay. What about this, Evan? Over the last eight games, including playoffs, Jalen Coker has 39 catches.
38:21Ted Arroyo McMillan has 26. Did we mess this up?
38:24And by the way, we were a little bit low on Ted Arroyo McMillan in the ranks.
38:30And we were a little high on Jalen Coker.
38:33But in no way did I think we should have them anywhere near each other in rank.
38:39How worried are you for Ted Arroyo with Coker seemingly outplaying him for a big stretch now?
38:44I don't know if I would say I'm worried about Ted.
38:48I just think that Jalen Coker is really, really good.
38:51Yeah. He was like my number one DFS sleeper for week one.
38:55And I was watching this game around a bunch of Bears fans.
38:59And when Jalen Coker scored his first touch, I was like, yeah, baby.
39:04And they thought I was rooting for the Panthers.
39:07So that didn't go over well. I was like, it's fantasy football.
39:11Jalen Coker is really freaking good, period. I don't know what else to say.
39:15He's really, really good. He's not that far off Ted McMillan.
39:19And I know that's crazy to say between a UDFA and the number eight overall pick in the draft.
39:25They also can be used interchangeably. You can use these guys in the slot.
39:30You can use them out wide. They can win.
39:33Jalen Coker did tweak his ankle in the first quarter.
39:36And he kept playing and kept balling. Again, grain of salt.
39:40The Bears might have the worst defense in the league this year, but the wide receiver duo for Carolina is 100% legit.
39:47Yeah, we're going to talk about that for the rest of season 150 because clearly we need to have them tighter than
39:54we had them coming into the season. Ted and Coker here.
39:58Two other notes for me on the Panthers. So we talked a lot in the offseason.
40:03You know, we had this Jonathan Brooks fade on for much of the offseason.
40:08I got scared for a while because it seemed like he was really healthy.
40:13But then he worked off to the side leading up to this game.
40:17Did practice in full for most of the week.
40:20But Chuba Hubbard, 48 snaps in week one. Jonathan Brooks, 13.
40:24Chuba Hubbard, 25 routes in week one. Jonathan Brooks, just five.
40:27So clearly they prefer Chuba Hubbard right now. Do you think that changes, Evan, if Jonathan Brooks can get healthier going forward?
40:35I don't know if I'm really pessimistic now about Jonathan Brooks.
40:38And I know that it's been a roller coaster.
40:41Chuba was hurt in training camp. You know, Jonathan Brooks was getting the hype.
40:46And then Jonathan Brooks got hurt. And then Chuba is healthy.
40:50And Chuba is just he's good at football. He's not he's not anything above, you know, a replacement level talent.
40:56But he's good in all phases of the game.
40:59The coaching staff trusts him health wise. You know, he's got another great matchup.
41:04He had an awesome matchup in week one. He's got another good matchup.
41:08You just ride him in the good matchups. You know, Chuba Hubbard is a good football player.
41:14I said on our freaking worst picks podcast that I didn't want him in the eighth round.
41:20And then literally the next day after that, I was like, what was I thinking?
41:25I hate that we put that on tape, but it is what it is.
41:29Again, I apologize. I was wrong about that. Chuba Hubbard is like a locked in RB2 in week two against the Falcons.
41:37So I think that if Jonathan Brooks can get back to his Texas form, he will turn this into a 50-50 committee.
41:44But the bet that we've always had is that he'll never get back to the Texas form.
41:50And that seems unlikely at this point here anyways.
41:53Last note for me on the Panthers. I was watching Darren Waller just because I know the dude can score fantasy points.
42:0018 routes for Darren Waller on 41. Bryce Young dropped back.
42:04So not enough to start Darren Waller here going forward.
42:07Cowboys. Cowboys dropped their opener on Sunday night to the Giants 28-20.
42:11The offense was really bad here, Evan. I mean, Cowboys 4.7 yards per play in this game.
42:17Their longest run was 10 yards. That was by Dak.
42:20Their longest reception was 17 yards by Flournoy. I don't want to say I'm concerned.
42:25I still think this is a very good offense.
42:28But this was a bad, bad showing, Evan. What do you think of Cowboys on Sunday night?
42:34Yeah, pretty concerning. They also didn't have the ball.
42:37I mean, the Giants controlled this game. Again, the Cowboys only had two possessions in the entire second half.
42:43So, I mean, they were outplayed, outcoached by the Giants.
42:46Again, the Raiders beat the Patriots last week one.
42:49And, you know, I still at least want to believe that the Cowboys have one of the most bankable offenses in the NFL.
42:57They certainly, it certainly doesn't help that they're missing Tyler Smith, maybe the best guard in the NFL.
43:03And he's on IR, so he's going to miss at least three more games.
43:08But, yeah, I mean, it sucked. As someone who has a, you know, a decent amount of Cowboys this year, this was not fun.
43:16Yeah. From a usage perspective, they did what I thought they would do.
43:20They were in three wide receiver a ton. A lot of teams are doing so much tight end stuff.
43:26Not the Cowboys. Dak dropped back 36 times. 32 routes for Pickens.
43:3029 for Lamb. 26 for Flournoy. So a ton of three wide receiver.
43:35And also, I thought it was encouraging. I know Evan was high on Javante Williams before this season.
43:41I thought it was encouraging that Javante Williams stayed on the field when they were trailing for the passing situations.
43:47Routes were Javante Williams 20 and Mari Di Mercado 2.
43:51And that led to Javante Williams catching five balls, including one for a touchdown.
43:55So that was good for Javante. Well, I don't think we ever had an opportunity to cover this, but Malik Davis is
44:03out for the year with hip surgery. He was like shaping up to be a really nice handcuff.
44:09And then they had to go out and get Amari Di Mercado.
44:13And now he's the backup. I mean, it's going to be a lot of Javante Williams, whether or not it's pretty or not.
44:20It's going to be a lot of Javante Williams for as long as he holds up physically.
44:26Also, Jake Ferguson, if you somehow wound up drafting him, just drop him.
44:30I mean, they're using Luke Schoonmaker and Brevin Spanford.
44:33There's no point in rostering Jake Ferguson. Let's go to the Detroit Lions.
44:38Lions did score 31 points at home against the Saints, but it was not a smooth 31.
44:43Like I thought they would play much, much better here.
44:47Jared Goff, just 5.3 yards per attempt. Part of that was Jamison Williams had a really bad game, some really bad drops.
44:54But they saddle up Jameer Gibbs. I mean, my God, this Jameer Gibbs season is going to be so epic.
45:0134 touches here for Jamir Gibbs. Ride him to the win.
45:04Evan, what do you think of Lions' performance in week one?
45:08It's almost too much with Jamir Gibbs. I mean, they've got a short week coming up, and they're giving Jamir Gibbs 34 touches.
45:16One of the issues is that it looks like Isaiah Pacheco is not coming back anytime soon.
45:21So they don't have a number two back. They wound up using Sione Vahki in that role, and Jacob Saylors didn't –
45:29I mean, they just totally have blown off the number two running back position.
45:33So they don't have anybody to spell Jamir Gibbs.
45:36And then they got two offensive linemen hurt in this game, Christian Mahogany and Blake Miller.
45:42And again, they've got this short week coming up at Buffalo.
45:45They're already kind of in a rough spot. But, I mean, yeah, I mean, we want our running backs to get the ball a million times.
45:54And until Kenneth Walker – Kenneth, the canine Walker, came up to bat on Monday night and hit a freaking grand slam,
46:01Jamir Gibbs was leading all running backs in forced missed tackles and rushing in week one.
46:07Yeah. One of the things about the Lions that we talked about for a lot of the offseason, and one of the
46:14reasons I was so excited about them, is because their wide receiver three, Isaac Tesla, cannot earn targets.
46:20He had one target in this game. Evan talked about there's no longer running back two.
46:25No touches whatsoever. No tight end two. I mean, they're going to have better offensive days than they had here, and it's
46:33all going to go to Gibbs, Amon Ra, Laporta, Jamison Williams.
46:36On Sunday, those four guys accounted for 65 out of the 70 offensive opportunities for the Lions here.
46:42So just really, really exciting. Awesome game on Thursday night.
46:46Lions at Bill. I know that Jamison Williams had a terrible week one.
46:50He was like the worst player on the field of any game in week one.
46:55But he had nine targets, and he had a 54% air yard share.
46:59That was third in the NFL in week one.
47:02So does Leone still do the by Leone model?
47:05Yeah, that'll be up Wednesday. And it actually might not be up until after week two, but yeah, so it'll be Wednesdays normally.
47:13Yeah, so I guarantee you Jamison Williams will be in the by Leone model for week two.
47:19Yep. All right. Packers. Packers opened their season on the road in Minnesota.
47:23Played a decent first half. Played a horrific second half.
47:26Ended up losing 39-22. Positives for me on the Packers was Christian Watson and Matthew Golden.
47:3238 routes for Watson, 40 for Golden on 46 Jordan Love dropbacks.
47:36Those guys combined for 20 targets, and both of them balled out.
47:40Especially Christian Watson was just, you know, one of the best players on the field.
47:45So that thesis hit for sure. There were some other stuff that did not hit for Packers that I was on, like Jaden Reed.
47:53But Evan, what do you think of Packers debut this season?
47:56Yeah, I think you summed it up pretty well.
47:59Tucker Craft, also there had been some playing time concerns on him that were actually expressed by him initially.
48:06He played a lot. I mean, he played, I think, 43 snaps in this game.
48:11And they need him to be out there because he can block too.
48:15And they have big problems on their offensive line.
48:18I mean, that was evident in this game. And they knew that.
48:22I mean, Jordan Love was under a ton of pressure.
48:25The Vikings blitzed on something like 80% of their defensive snaps.
48:29Just bring in the house on every snap Brian Flores.
48:32That's, you know, classic Brian Flores. But yeah, I also think that they're going to continue to have to lean into the past.
48:40That's great news for Christian Watson. The Jaden Reed usage was absolutely disappointing.
48:44And then it's not surprising that Marshawn Lloyd was only 45% of snaps.
48:48We talked about that going in, that Chris Brooks was going to get more time because of his pass protection ability against the Vikings blitz.
48:57Yeah. Just on Tucker Craft, he played 45 out of 68 snaps, did Tucker Craft.
49:02I think he can ramp up to more than that.
49:05But the most important thing to me on Tucker Craft was the yards after catch stuff was intact.
49:11Like he looked like a beast in the yards after catch.
49:15And that's what he needs. Yeah. On Jaden Reed.
49:18So I liked all three Packers pass catchers. I certainly liked Jaden Reed.
49:22I expected him to be in three wide receiver sets more than they were.
49:27Jaden Reed was only, Jaden Reed only ran 63% of the routes.
49:31That was because Johnny Smith played 32 snaps. Tucker Craft played 45.
49:35Mark Redman played 21. So they're taking like Johnny Smith and guys I've never heard of at the tight end position and
49:42putting them out there instead of Jaden Reed. And that was very, very frustrating.
49:47It could have been game plan specific, but it also could be a function of the Packers having a bad offensive line
49:54as Brandon Thorne has been on top of since he put out the rankings.
49:59Yeah. Yeah. So a little bit scary there on Jaden Reed.
50:02And yeah, I totally agree with Evan. Like I will say Marshawn Lloyd in this game got 14 opportunities.
50:09He can't handle more than 14 opportunities. Like what did we expect?
50:13He didn't do anything on those 14 opportunities, but yeah, I don't think he's going to get more than 14 in most games.
50:20Let's go to the Rams. So the Rams went to Australia, you know, the travel stuff, whatever.
50:26I don't even want to get into it really, but they went to Australia for the Thursday night game and they laid an absolute egg.
50:34Rams got blown out by the rival 49ers. So much talk about Rams are a super team.
50:40I just thought they looked old. I mean, Miles Garrett couldn't do anything and now he has knee surgery.
50:46Devante Adams was mostly a non-factor. They had a one inch sneak play that Matthew Stafford could not execute.
50:53Just a total mess. Evan, what do you think of Rams debut last Thursday?
50:57Well, we talked about it on the Friday show, but did you see Mike Evans when they asked, when reporters asked Mike
51:05Evans, like, well, what do you think about the Rams travel schedule?
51:09And Mike Evans was like, what about it? You know, he isn't paying attention to the Rams travel schedule.
51:15He's got other things on his mind. And the reporters were like, well, they just got in yesterday.
51:21And Mike Evans was like, what? Like, we've been here for like a week, you know?
51:26So I thought that that was kind of funny.
51:29The thing is that the travel schedule, if you think that that's a big deal, which I don't know, but like the
51:37Rams have a crazy travel schedule period for the first four weeks of the season.
51:42So this is not something that's necessarily going to go away if it is any kind of a concern.
51:48I don't know how much of a concern that you believe it is.
51:52I'll tell you what, it'd be nice if the Rams had used the 13th overall pick in the draft on a guy
52:00who could, they could maybe, I don't know, use in the games, you know, as opposed to a backup quarterback.
52:06And look, Ty Simpson was great in the preseason.
52:09Maybe he'll be good. But also the Rams' second draft pick, Max Clare, he did not play in the game either.
52:16So it would have been nice if the Rams had maybe gotten a little bit more out of their draft class.
52:23But you're right, they did look old in week one.
52:27I did see the Kyron Williams people were big-time victory lapping Kyron Williams in week one when he scored 15 PPR points
52:34and got outplayed in the game by Blake Corum.
52:37I thought that that was a really big victory lap for 15 PPR points in a game where Kyron Williams wasn't even
52:44the best running back on the Rams. But I digress.
52:48I mean, Kyron Williams is going to be fine.
52:51Blake Corum is going to be a big factor all season long, though.
52:55And then the Terrence Ferguson, oh, those people were taking victory laps too because, I mean, what are you going to do during an island game anyways, right?
53:04I mean, that's all you got to talk about.
53:07Terrence Ferguson didn't even get a target. But, oh, he had a 73% route participation in the first half that didn't even continue into the second half.
53:16It was a crazy night all around. I thought the Rams would play a lot better.
53:22But it was kind of like a wonky night from fantasy football to real football in this freaking Australian game, which can
53:29we never have another international game again? Yeah, it's ridiculous.
53:32Keep it in America. Agreed. Agreed. I'll say this on the travel thing.
53:37The reason the Rams did that, or one of the reasons that they did it, is for the backside.
53:43In other words, now they're stayed on California time the whole time.
53:47In theory now, they don't have to adjust back.
53:50They should play better or less jet lagged in week two.
53:54That's at least a theory. I have no idea if that's true.
53:58I would say more encouraged by Kyron than it sounds like Evan was.
54:02Snaps were Kyron 39, Blake Corum 14. Routes were Kyron 21, Corum 3.
54:06Red zone carries were Kyron 4, Corum 0. So again, when you bet on Kyron, and Kyron I thought was a fine round three pick.
54:15When you bet on Kyron, you are betting on high value touches, and he got those in this game.
54:21Red zone, goal line, pass catching, whereas Corum did not.
54:24Doesn't mean that will be sticky, but I kind of think that it will be.
54:29That's just the way that they've done it with Kyron.
54:33Kyron is going to be fine. Everything is going to be okay.
54:37Is it going to be okay for Devontae Adams, who was not a featured part of the Rams scoring position offense?
54:44And that is what his entire fantasy game is built on.
54:47It was not the intention like it was last year.
54:51The intention this year looked like on their goal line plays.
54:54They went three tight end, and the one wide receiver was Puka, not Devontae on those plays.
55:00So I thought it was formational. They wanted to be in those jumbo three tight ends around the goal line.
55:07Last year, Devontae was the first option around the goal line a lot.
55:11So it's certainly a change there, and it's not good for Devontae.
55:15He did end up running 21 routes on 29 Stafford dropbacks.
55:19That was more than Puka, who ran 20. Jordan Whittington, 13.
55:22Mumfield, 11. Xavier Smith, 9. Evan mentioned Terrence Ferguson.
55:25He ran 14 routes on 29 dropbacks. 22 snaps in line.
55:29Three slot. Six wide. He also played on the kick coverage team.
55:33You know, Terrence Ferguson, I thought was a fine, a good late round flyer.
55:38Anyone who was counting on him as like their starting tight end in a room of five tight ends, that was a mistake.
55:45You know, that was a mistake for sure. They play the Giants at home here in week two.
55:51So I think we'll learn, you know, a lot more if they can't bounce back here in week two.
55:58Vikings. Terrible start to the Kyler Murray era in Minnesota.
56:0111 snaps into the game. Kyler takes a shot to the head, a nasty shot to the head at the end of a scramble.
56:09And he's done for the day. I would consider Kyler week to week for now.
56:14We'll see when he can get cleared. So Carson Wentz, not JJ McCarthy comes in.
56:19And Carson Wentz leads the Vikings to 29 points in the second half.
56:23Vikings beat the rival Packers 39-22. Evan, what did you think of Vikings win in week one?
56:29Yeah, it sounds like Kyler is probably going to maybe miss one game.
56:33So we're just taking this, you know, week to week at this point.
56:38Um, Justin Jefferson looked awesome. He's got the freaking Bears next.
56:41You know, Carson Wentz is the perfect example of these Kevin O'Connell quarterbacks that can come in and move the offense at will.
56:49I thought the Vikings offensive line looked, they played really good.
56:53If you look at their PFF grades, like every single dude on the offensive line in week one out, they were playing the Packers.
57:01You don't have Micah Parsons. Okay. But now they get to play the Bears.
57:05So the Vikings offensive line looks really good. Um, yeah, I, I'd, I'd be really optimistic.
57:11I guess the one guy that kind of got left out was Jordan Addison.
57:15Yeah. Jeez. He had two targets and no catches.
57:18Yeah. He was totally absent. But yeah, I mean, you look at the history of Carson Wentz and Justin Jefferson, like they,
57:25they have cooked consistently in about a six or seven game sample together.
57:30Anyone, anyone other than JJ McCarthy cooks with Kevin O'Connell.
57:33I mean, Justin Jefferson had eight 92, two touchdowns on nine targets also converted a two point conversion.
57:39I mean, Justin Jefferson was unreal. And as long as it's Wentz and not JJ McCarthy feel really good about that.
57:46Um, running back snaps were like dead. Even Jordan Mason, 30, Aaron Jones, 29 opportunities, Mason 15, Jones 13.
57:52They only saw one target between them, uh, which was obviously not good, but yeah, it looks like a pretty even split there as of now.
58:01Jordan Addison, two targets is concerning. There were only 30 quarterback dropbacks in this game.
58:06Addison was wide open for a huge play that I saw Wentz kind of short armed it to him, but yeah, I
58:13mean, only two targets is certainly concerning for Jordan Addison.
58:17Um, Justin Jefferson is just such a freak. Yeah.
58:20Yeah. Uh, also one more thing. Juwan Jennings actually got drafted in a decent amount of leagues.
58:25He played 45, 44% of the snaps here. He's, he's a drop.
58:29Yep. Um, okay. Eagles. So the Eagles beat the commanders 24, 22.
58:33I thought it was kind of a concerning win.
58:36I mean, I wanted to see with Kevin Petulo gone a much better performance out of the run game and getting Saquon to the second level more often.
58:46They got him to the second level once he had a 42 yard run.
58:50Other than that, outside of that run, Saquon carried it 14 times for 41 yards.
58:55Also, Saquon did not get going in the past game at all.
58:59Two targets caught one of them for negative three yards.
59:03So, you know, I wanted to see more, I guess in the post Petulo era, Evan, what you think of Eagles first game under Sean Mannion?
59:11Yeah, I would agree that it was sort of a concerning win.
59:15The Eagles along the way also lost Landon Dickerson who could not block anybody.
59:20I mean, his, his body is shot. I remember reading his Bob McGinn scouting report coming out of Alabama and like people
59:27thought that his body was shot coming out of Alabama.
59:31And now, I mean, he, he, and he admitted it like that's the game.
59:35He was like, I don't deserve to be out there.
59:39I need to go on IR, see if I can come back.
59:43And they're going to go with Drew Kendall, I believe at that position.
59:47But we talked about it. You know, the Eagles, they have a high rating in Brandon Thorne's offensive line rankings, but it's, they're like hanging by a thread.
59:56And, you know, now that, you know, they, they can't really afford to lose another guy.
60:02You know, they just lost, you know, a starting guard and, you know, if something happens to 36 year old Lane Johnson,
60:09you know, all of a sudden we're missing two guys.
60:12It's just, they're sort of hanging by a thread.
60:15Devante Smith got caught up in, in Quinn, the Quinn and Mitchell stuff.
60:20Although they did move him into the slot a decent amount.
60:23I'm sorry. We're talking about the Eagles. Yeah. Yeah.
60:26I, you know, I don't know. We'll, we'll, we'll see.
60:30I I'm a little bit discouraged about the offensive line right now.
60:34For sure. And by the way, like there was a lot of talk and I thought that they would play tank Bigsby
60:41more tank Bigsby only got one carry in this game.
60:44Saquon got 15. The other thing that surprised me a little bit, Makai Lemon played more than I thought that he would.
60:52Makai Lemon, 29 routes. Dontavian Wicks, 31. Devante Smith, 33.
60:55Result was really bad for Makai Lemon. Three catches for negative five yards on four targets.
61:00Wicks certainly was more productive, had a 64 yard catch.
61:04Had a touchdown. But yeah, I mean, the Eagles played more three wide receiver than I thought that they would.
61:10Dallas Goddard played a really good game. They played the Titans.
61:14Well, Grant Calcaterra is on IR and now Eli Stowers is on IR too.
61:19Yeah. So actually we should probably adjust for that going forward to expect the Eagles to be more of a three receiver
61:26team because they're short on, on their reserve tight ends.
61:29Yep. Good point. At Titans next are the Eagles.
61:3249ers. I mean, just a really good performance by the 49ers to go to Australia and put a beat down on the Rams 27 to seven.
61:41Two really big fantasy stories here, Evan. You know, the first one we probably could have led with the Christian McCaffrey thing.
61:48I want to get to that in a second.
61:51The other one was the John Stribling injury. At the time that the John Stribling went down in that game on Thursday
61:59night with what is a bad ankle injury. Hopefully he'll be back in a month, but he could miss the season if he needs surgery.
62:07Stribling was in on 21 of 26 plays at that time.
62:11Debo Samuel was in for nine of 26 plays at that time.
62:15And so then it flips and Debo goes nuts and Stribling is ruined.
62:19It's just, I was so tilted. Any thoughts on that spot, Evan?
62:23And then we need to get to the Christian McCaffrey usage as well.
62:27Yeah. I have a decent amount of Stribling and I'm hanging on to him for the moment, but I'm pretty pessimistic, which
62:35sucks because yeah, he was leading the 49ers wide receivers and snaps played before he got hurt.
62:40Um, with, uh, Kalon Black. Now we should note, note that Kalon Black was the 49ers number two rated running back in this draft behind only Jeremiah Love.
62:50They were very, very high on him. Um, he's not a big running back.
62:54Uh, I think he's 204, but he ran four, four, five, and they love how hard he runs.
63:00And he did 27 reps on the 225 pound bench press.
63:04Like there are some really appealing things about Kalon Black.
63:07He looked great with his opportunities, but Christian McCaffrey was dealing with the cramping.
63:12So I think that that definitely played into Kalon Black getting more work.
63:16It was also just Kalon Black was kind of cooking.
63:20So when he got his opportunities, he capitalized, he was going to get more.
63:24Um, I, but I, but yeah, I mean, I, I think that there's a chance that Chris, we don't see that crazy
63:32usage that CMC got last year where he led the NFL in touches.
63:36I mean, you can see even with Kalon Black playing so much, so much more than I ever thought that he would.
63:43Kalon Black had 14 carries CMC 10. Kalon Black actually ran 13 routes versus CMCs 22.
63:49Despite that, McCaffrey was still fine in fantasy because he catches so many passes.
63:53He works around the end zone. And I kind of think this was a floor game for McCaffrey in terms of usage.
64:01You know, he was cramping. He didn't play all preseason.
64:04They're in Australia. The Niners also rested a bunch of their veterans.
64:08Debo only ran 19 of 36 routes. Kittle only 17 of 36 routes.
64:12Mike Evans, 26 of 36 routes. They took it easy on a lot of their veterans.
64:18I think in closer games, we'll see more McCaffrey.
64:21It's certainly not good, but I think this is kind of the floor for his usage.
64:26I agree with you. I'm not really worried about McCaffrey.
64:29I did think that it was interesting. So the 49ers clearly, and they, they outcoached the Rams by a significant margin in this game.
64:37The 49ers clearly went into this game trying to negate Miles Garrett.
64:41Brock Purdy had a 4.4 yard ADOT. I think that was the lowest of his career.
64:47But they were trying to get the ball out of his hands quickly and it worked.
64:52And he was very efficient in the game. And Mike Evans, that's not a Mike Evans game, you know, just throwing the ball short all game.
65:01But he was still winning on third down. Six catches for 49 yards and a touchdown.
65:06I feel really good coming out of this game about Mike Evans.
65:10Stripling goes down. But yeah, I feel great about Mike Evans.
65:14Yeah, I mean, Demarcus Robinson is going to play a lot here with Stripling out.
65:19He finished with 20-year-in routes on 36 Purdy dropbacks.
65:22You could maybe look at him if you're in a very deep league.
65:26We'll talk about more. By the way, the waiver show and waiver article is up for anyone with DraftKid Pro.
65:33But we'll also talk about that probably on rest of season 150.
65:37One more thing. George Kittle. Yes. So, yeah, the 49ers wanted to limit him at least a little bit.
65:43He was destroying people as a blocker in this game, number one.
65:47Number two, Jake Tongass, who's the player with which the 49ers would scale back Kittle, suffered an MCL sprain in this game.
65:54So I think they might have to go to full-blown George Kittle usage right away in week two when they go against Miami.
66:02Yeah, I mean, I didn't think Kittle performed that well as a pass catcher in this game.
66:07Obviously coming off the Achilles, but they're going to need him here badly without Tongass.
66:12Seahawks. So this was the Wednesday night opener that we talked about.
66:16Big story coming out of this game. Seahawks lost Sam Darnold to a hip injury after five snaps.
66:22I've seen some reports that he'll be out like three or four weeks.
66:27But regardless, Drew Locke comes in for this game, Evan, beats the Patriots 13-10 somehow on this crazy Jackson Smith and Jigba play.
66:34Just starts with Jackson Smith and Jigba and good things happen.
66:38What do you think of Seahawks losing Darnold and getting the win?
66:42Yeah. Mark Dankenbring has been highlighting that J.S. Hen had almost a 50% target share.
66:47The offense, we had concerns about the transition from Clint Kubiak to Brian Fleury this offseason.
66:52I think a lot of those were alleviated right away in week one.
66:57JSN was moving all over the place. They kept them away from Christian Gonzalez plenty.
67:02And yeah, they're throwing him. I mean, he's just awesome.
67:05And they're going to continue to center the offense around him.
67:09So love to see that. I feel great about the forward trajectory, even with Drew Locke under there.
67:15I mean, I certainly would rather have Sam Darnold under center than Drew Locke for a sustained period of time.
67:21But Drew Locke is good enough to hold down the forward.
67:25And as you mentioned, Sam Darnold, it's like apparently a really unique injury that he suffered.
67:30It's not common. And so I don't know. We'll see.
67:34That's something worse. Because I do think that JSN needs Darnold long term.
67:38Maybe Drew Locke can support him in the shorter term here, especially they play at the Cardinals.
67:44Next, the JSN stuff is so absurd. I mean, they just don't throw to anyone else.
67:49And that flows through to Shahid. Shahid only had three targets for a 12% share.
67:54The offseason narrative, and I kind of bought it, that they would take the offseason to kind of work Shahid in more as first read.
68:02Just not going to happen. Um, Cooper Cup did have a touchdown call back.
68:07That was a really ticky tack call. I mean, Cooper Cup, uh, scored, got to take him back on a legal motion call.
68:15So yeah. Um, oh, Jadarian Price, Evan. So Jadarian Price, 48% of the snaps, 52% of the running back opportunities.
68:21The most concerning part of that to me wasn't that he only had half the snaps, half the opportunities.
68:28It was that Emmanuel Wilson only played three snaps, but they were all like into short yardage.
68:33And so if they get on the one yard line now, I kind of think they're going to bring in Emmanuel Wilson.
68:41And that's really bad for Jadarian Price. So Evan, where are you at on Jadarian Price coming out of week one?
68:48Yeah. Jadarian Price is 203 pounds and Emmanuel Wilson is 226.
68:51So I mean, I kind of get it, you know, and I think Emmanuel Wilson is like, okay, at least good enough
68:59to have some kind of a role. Jadarian Price looked great with his touches in this game, but it's right back to the high value touches.
69:07We need our running backs to catch passes. We need them to score touchdowns.
69:12And when Jadarian Price is losing the passing down stuff to George Helani and eventually Zach Charbonnet and the short yardage goal
69:19line to Emmanuel Wilson and maybe eventually Zach Charbonnet there too.
69:23It's just, it's, it's going to be hard for Jadarian Price to provide any kind of a real ceiling, even though he's
69:30making the most of his opportunities when he gets them between the twenties.
69:35You know, I did think he looked so good and just like on the eye test, he looks so much better than George Helani.
69:43I mean, so much better. Oh God. Yeah. And so my gut, I want to say this is going to ramp up.
69:50We'll see Jadarian Price 70, 80% of the running back snaps soon.
69:54I'm hesitant to say that though, because this is the same team that relentlessly underused Kenneth Walker and forced him out of town, you know?
70:02So I'm not ready to say that. And then if you want to say, well, he's a rookie, he'll ramp up towards the end of the year.
70:11That's when Zach Charbonnet is going to be back.
70:14And they love Charbonnet. So yeah, it's concerning, but he looks so good.
70:19I don't want to like panic on Jadarian Price.
70:22The Seahawks, by the way, in their last 29 games under Mike McDonald are 24 and five.
70:27They have a 24 and five record. That is wild.
70:31Let's go to the Tampa Bay Bucs. The Bucs lost four.
70:34I repeat four fumbles and a loss at Cincy.
70:37So they didn't win the game. You know, you can't lose four fumbles and win the game.
70:43But I did think Baker was reasonably sharp throwing it, at least short.
70:4723 of 28 for 216 for Baker. Also ran it five times for 30 yards and a touchdown.
70:53I also thought Bucky Irving looked really healthy. I thought Emeka Egbuka looked really healthy.
70:58So there's definitely positive takeaways here for the Bucs, Evan, what you think of their debut in Cincy.
71:04Yeah, the passing game usage for Bucky Irving was a really, really positive development, especially when he's theoretically sharing the backfield with Kenneth Gainwell.
71:12He did not share the backfield very much with Kenneth Gainwell in week one.
71:17The Bengals, so the Bucs obviously played the Bengals.
71:20The Bengals were able to generate a 39% pressure rate against Baker Mayfield despite blitzing at the lowest rate in the NFL.
71:27The Bengals only blitzed on 11% of their snaps.
71:30I think that that is a testament to the improvements that the Bengals have made on their defensive line because I still believe in the Buccaneers' offensive line.
71:40But I thought that that was an interesting takeaway.
71:43And that helped translate to these turnovers that, you know, it's hard to – when you're just giving the ball to the
71:50other team like four times, it's hard to sustain offense and score a bunch of points.
71:55And that's kind of what happened to Tampa Bay here.
71:59I want to double-click on Bucky for a second just because I thought it was interesting.
72:04He did out opportunity Kenny Gainwell 15-6. But snaps were Bucky 35, Gainwell 26.
72:09Routes, Bucky 21, Gainwell 13. That's really good, you know, because there was some speculation Gainwell could out-route him.
72:15The difference was that Bucky stayed on the field, like I said.
72:19For the hurry-up stuff, he gets seven targets. So he got seven targets on 21 routes, caught all of them.
72:26You know, it's not that sustainable. He also only got eight carries and scored a touchdown on one of them.
72:32But again, I thought he looked really healthy. Gets the Browns next.
72:36It's just the underlying usage wasn't quite as good for Bucky as the output was.
72:41Last note from me on the Bucs, they ran a lot of three-wide receiver stuff.
72:46McMillan didn't play. It was Goodwin, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, Hurst, Ted Hurst, and Kate Otten.
72:52They ran like nearly all the routes. None of them hit in a big way here.
72:57But they're going to play a lot of three-wide receiver.
73:00And I think that's encouraging for those guys. Last NFC team is the Washington Commanders.
73:05Really tough spot. You know, you're at Philly for the opener.
73:09I did not think Jaden Daniels played particularly well in this game.
73:13He salvaged his fantasy day with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes.
73:16But Jaden was only 18 of 34 throwing overall.
73:19McLaurin did nothing. Evan, it was a really tough matchup.
73:23But are you concerned at all about this performance from the Commanders?
73:27It's just the Laramie Tunsil injury showed up right away.
73:30His replacement, Brandon Coleman, was charged with eight pressures in this game.
73:34Now, they were facing Philadelphia, although Philadelphia did not even have Jonathan Grenard in this game.
73:39But Philadelphia can get after the quarterback. So, it was a tough matchup, especially with no Laramie Tunsil.
73:45Jacory Krosky-Meritt had some sick cuts in this game to generate yards that weren't necessarily blocked open for him.
73:52However, he had a fumble late in the game, lost it.
73:55And the Commanders put in Catron Allen. I think he was a six-round pick out of Penn State.
74:01You know him well. And that was in a crucial situation late in the game that was decided by two points.
74:08So, that tells me that Catron Allen is the clear-cut handcuff for JCM.
74:13I don't know if this is going to have an effect going forward.
74:17I lean toward it not. But that's certainly notable that Catron Allen belongs on the end of benches in Fantasy Leagues.
74:24Yeah, good note. Do you have any concern on McLaurin, Evan?
74:28He had four targets in this game. Stefan Diggs had nine targets in this game.
74:33Even though Diggs ran nine fewer routes than Terry.
74:36But any concern for you on McLaurin coming out of this?
74:39No. I think that the Eagles could have maybe the best combination of cornerback trio in the NFL this year with Reek
74:47Woolen opposite Quinion Mitchell and Cooper Dejean in the slot.
74:50That's going to be something that I'm writing about in the matchups column every week in all likelihood.
74:56Just a really, really tough matchup. And then, you know, you add in the fact that Jaden Daniels was under pressure a lot.
75:03Which, I mean, that could be a recurring thing.
75:06But I think that the matchup sort of dictated...
75:09I'm not terribly worried about Terry McLaurin here. Okay.
75:12By the way, Chica Conquo did tweak a hamstring here in this game.
75:17I'm not sure on the severity of that. But we'll be watching that ahead of a week two game against the Cowboys.
75:24Reminder, this free show is brought to you by Polymarket.
75:27One of the world's largest prediction markets and one that is now available in every U.S.
75:33state. You can go back to episode 1018 for more on my take for why prediction markets make sense for people like us.
75:40But the bottom line is really two things. First, Polymarket is just another place we can look to shop for the best price.
75:48And because there's competition for flow, we can often get the best price on our predictions.
75:53On Poly. For example, before the season, I talked about Jameer Gibbs 7-1 to be Offensive Player of the Year on Polymarket.
76:01It was 6-1 on sportsbooks. It doesn't sound like that much, 6-1 to 7-1.
76:05But that stuff makes a massive difference in the long run.
76:09Just always getting the best price. And second, perhaps most importantly, there's no limiting in any markets on Polymarket.
76:15And there's tons of markets. You know, traditional ones, futures, alts, everything.
76:19Even if you're interested in player props or some of the really small markets like I am, you will not get the
76:27dreaded max is 26 cents screen that we get on so many legal sportsbooks.
76:31Even if you're winning, even if you're getting CLV, you're not going to get limited.
76:36And also, we can trade out of our positions at any time at market odds, not the gouging that we see from
76:44sportsbooks with the early cash out buttons. So if you're interested in checking it out, Polymarket is offering new users a $50
76:51bonus if you deposit $10 with promo code ETR.
76:54That is a $50 bonus if you deposit $10 on Polymarket with promo code ETR.
76:59All right, let's flip it over to the AFC now.
77:02We will start with the Baltimore Ravens. I thought a really, really exciting start for the Ravens.
77:08I mean, all I could think while I was watching this game was Lamar is back.
77:13He made some incredible plays with his legs. He was looking to run, you know, seven carries, 40 yards and a touchdown.
77:21And he was also really efficient throwing the ball, even though he lost.
77:25Zay Flowers missed most of the second half with a hamstring injury.
77:29So exciting start, I think, for the Ravens. Evan, what do you think of their debut?
77:34Oh, it looks like Declan Doyle is going to be an NFL head coach next season.
77:40So this was his coming out party, I think.
77:43You know, they overcame some issues like Jovan Gwynn, you know, starting this guy who had never started a game against DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart.
77:51And they were still – Derrick Henry ran like a banshee.
77:55Lamar Jackson looks like he's going to be right back in the mix for NFL MVP.
78:00Zay Flowers averaged 15 yards per route run before he got hurt.
78:04You know, it just – everything went right. And a bunch of Colts players after the game, Colts defenders, came out and
78:12were like, man, they were beating us before the snap of the ball.
78:16They were quick snapping us. We weren't ready. I mean, Declan Doyle absolutely cooked.
78:21We didn't know what to expect. Declan Doyle didn't call plays under Ben Johnson last year.
78:26You know, he was like a little guy on the staff under Sean Payton.
78:31And here he is, man, you know, 30 years old.
78:34Like Lamar Jackson almost as old as him. He's older than players that are starting on the Ravens and just absolutely cooking.
78:41The Ravens go for over 300 yards passing, over 200 rushing yards.
78:45I mean, I don't think that's a chump defense in Indianapolis by any means.
78:50Very, very excited if I was a Ravens supporter.
78:53I mean, they could not stop Zay Flowers. Zay Flowers was going to go for 200-plus yards in this game if he does not tweak his hamstring.
79:02They're calling it a minor one. We will see.
79:05But that is exacerbated because Jacoby Lane, one of the preseason risers, he fractured his wrist in this game.
79:11And Jacoby Lane is going to miss some time here.
79:15Rashad Bateman did not have a catch. Jacoby Lane was going to have a big role.
79:20He was running a ton of routes. He caught a touchdown that got called back actually on a Jovan Gwynn hold.
79:27It looked like he was going to play starter snaps.
79:30I mean, without Lane and if Flowers misses time, they're going to need Bateman and Mark Andrews to do more.
79:37I'm not sure they're capable of doing more, but at least something to watch.
79:42I mean, Evan mentioned the Derrick Henry stuff. 6.0 yards per carry.
79:46Scores three times. They also threw him a screen pass that went for 19 yards.
79:51I mean, we were ahead of market on Derrick Henry before the season, even in full PPR.
79:56And I was like, man, 33 years old or whatever he is and full PPR and we're ahead.
80:02God, he's just timeless. Like the outlier of all outliers is Derrick Henry.
80:07He's a superhero. And, you know, I said some pessimistic things about Derrick Henry in my matchups article.
80:13And I just I was just totally wrong. I suck.
80:16I'm sorry. I kneel at the at the feet of Derrick Henry.
80:20It's really crazy. Home against the Saints next. I mean, another good spot here for the Ravens to get loose.
80:27Bills. Bills played a wild game in Houston. They were like unowned in DFS because of the matchup.
80:33I'm talking about Josh Allen, Kincaid, DJ Moore, James Cook.
80:36And they went to Houston and put 36 points on this defense.
80:40The biggest story to me, Evan, was the Don Kincaid usage.
80:44Struggled for so long with the PCL issue. We talked all offseason about how this was a healthy offseason.
80:50No pain. In this game on Sunday, 42 of 57 snaps, 74 percent, 69 percent of the routes, five catches, 130 yards and a touchdown.
80:58They were clearly featuring Don Kincaid here also. So really exciting on him.
81:03I know you were on that preseason, Evan. Any thoughts on that?
81:07And the Bills debut. In the games in which Don Kincaid appeared last season, he played 38 percent of the Bills offensive snaps.
81:14In week one, he played 74 percent. He led the NFL in yards per route run among tight ends last year.
81:21He's awesome. He just needs the playing time to cooperate.
81:25And he did here. And he was out there whipping Derek Stingley and freaking Kamari Lasseter.
81:30Like he was beating cornerbacks and not just any old cornerbacks.
81:34Like pro bowl, all pro level cornerbacks in this game.
81:37Dalton Kincaid. It happens sometimes with tight ends. It can be a slow burn for tight ends.
81:43This is Dalton Kincaid's fourth year. He had injuries to begin his career.
81:47He actually came out of college with injury concerns.
81:50I remember Daniel Jeremiah had him as the ninth overall player in that draft.
81:55And here he is. It's a slow burn for him.
81:58He looked absolutely incredible. Josh Allen looked incredible. My God.
82:01The Bills offensive line also cooked in this game against one of the best pass rushes in the NFL.
82:08This is not supposed to happen against the Texans.
82:11And it almost makes you wonder, was Brian Dable actually holding Josh Allen back?
82:15Was Sean McDermott actually holding Josh Allen back? Because in Joe Brady's first game as the Bills head coach, Josh Allen was throwing the ball downfield.
82:24This was like the best we've seen Josh Allen.
82:27Especially considering the opponent. He had 12.5 yard ADOT.
82:30DJ Moore looked great. Dalton Kincaid looked great. This was an awesome, awesome performance by Buffalo.
82:35Yeah. So I wasn't really into DJ Moore in like that fourth, fifth round range.
82:40There were other wide receivers that I preferred to him.
82:44So I did not end up with a lot of DJ Moore after this game.
82:49I am somewhat concerned that I do not have enough DJ Moore.
82:53He leads the team in targets with eight for 28% share.
82:56He played the most snaps among all wide receivers, 75%, 81% of the routes.
83:01And you saw like the thesis was DJ Moore is an off script player.
83:06Josh Allen is an off script player. And that worked five catches, 100 yards, and a touchdown here.
83:12So I'm a little queasy on my DJ Moore position here right now.
83:16Yeah. I wound up like dead even with Hitman ADP versus where I had him ranked.
83:21But that kind of meant that I didn't get very much of him.
83:26You know? And I mean, I think you could consider him like going into week two.
83:31They're playing Detroit. This is going to be the first game at this, the Bills new stadium.
83:37I mean, they are going to be amped up.
83:40It's an island game against the Lions. It's going to be a fun atmosphere.
83:44But I think that DJ Moore is like a borderline wide receiver one.
83:48You got to view him as a borderline wide receiver one based on his week one usage, the opponent, and how Josh Allen is playing.
83:57Like he's already a wide receiver one. Small note here from the backfield.
84:01Ty Johnson was inactive for this game. We do not know if he's playing Thursday or not.
84:07In the first half of this game, James Cook got the passing down snaps.
84:11That was really valuable. For some reason, they ripped that away from him.
84:16And shout out to Joe B for talking about this in The Athletic.
84:20They ripped that away from him. And they went to Frank Gore Jr.
84:24In the second half for the passing down snaps.
84:27So yeah, I don't know that they're going to expand James Cook, I guess is my point, even if Ty Johnson is out Thursday.
84:35Let's go to the Cincinnati Bengals. Underwhelming performance from the Bengals offense.
84:39Yes, they scored 33 points, but the Bucs handed them the ball four times.
84:44On offense, it was weird for the Bengals. I mean, Chase Brown only 3.5 yards per carry.
84:50Mike Gesicki led the team in targets with seven.
84:53Jamar Chase saw just four targets and caught two balls for 12 yards.
84:57And this is nothing new. I mean, Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow have had very slow starts throughout their career, going back
85:04to their rookie, you know, all the time. I thought it'd be better this year, their first game, but it wasn't, Evan,
85:12any thoughts on Bengals' performance against the Bucs. I mean, I don't really have any big-time takeaways.
85:17I think that just games like this can happen, especially in a week one, a sort of blip game that everybody by
85:25week four totally forgets, that Jamar Chase and T.
85:28Higgins didn't really do very much in. I think that there were encouraging takeaways.
85:32You know, Brandon Thorne had talked up the Bengals' offensive line entering the season as just being, you know, maybe dead middle
85:40average across the NFL with some depth. And I think that they delivered on that.
85:45Joe Burrow faced the lowest pressure rate in the NFL.
85:48He was pressured on only 19% of his dropbacks.
85:51There are clips online of Reuben Bain, you know, the Bucs' first-round pick, who has 30 and 7-8-inch arms going up against
85:58Amarius Mims, the Bengals' right tackle, who has 36 and an 8-inch arms.
86:03And, like, Reuben Bain, this is the importance of arm length.
86:06Like, Reuben Bain cannot do anything against Amarius Mims, whose freaking arms are, you know, half of a foot longer than Reuben Bain's.
86:14You know, that's why arm length does matter. But, yeah, I feel fine about it.
86:19I like the offensive line. I'm focusing on the positive here.
86:23I still feel good about the Bengals. I do think that their defense may be vastly improved.
86:28I know that that was a point that you made pretty early on.
86:33I think that the Bengals were your Super Bowl pick, partly because of that.
86:37And I think that you might be on to something there.
86:41Yeah. I mean, defense is certainly better. I think the offense, this is going to turn out to be like an outlier box score.
86:49I mean, Mike Gasicki ran 17 routes on 37 dropbacks.
86:52He somehow saw seven targets on 17 routes, did Gasicki.
86:56Jamar Chase's knee was not the issue. I know people were talking about that.
87:00He ran 36 routes on 37 dropbacks. I think it's just one of those games.
87:05By the way, a lot of people asked us about our Pirine stuff for the best ball streets.
87:11And this is why we had Pirine like, you know, 190, 200 overall when other people weren't drafting him.
87:18He's just not going away. He had five carries in this game.
87:22First Chase Brown, 16. Pirine had three targets. First Chase Brown, six.
87:26And it's not just situational. Like they give Pirine touches all over the field.
87:30Obviously, it's Chase Brown's backfield, but Pirine is not going away.
87:34Browns. Oh, my God. I mean, the Browns go to Jacksonville with Deshaun Watson as their starter.
87:40And they just get absolutely pounded. I mean, the final score was 34 to 10.
87:45That didn't even do it justice. The Browns lost way worse than that.
87:49Deshaun Watson had a 34.2 QBR. Quinshawn Junkins had 2.8 yards per carry.
87:53This is looking like it's going to be. And I think Jacksonville is good, whatever.
87:58It's going to be a really long season for the Browns here.
88:02Evan, what do you think of their debut? Yeah, it was freaking horrible.
88:07I mean, Deshaun Watson is taking like a seven-step drop out of a shotgun snap.
88:12Speaking of quarterbacks that don't want to play, I don't think Deshaun Watson wants to be out there.
88:18Certainly, the Browns fans don't want him to be out there.
88:21And my God, I saw some Browns fan go, if they start Deshaun Watson in our home opener in week three, that's
88:29going to be Browns fans January 6th. Oh, no.
88:32I mean, they are going to burn the stadium down.
88:35They're going to stall in the facility? I mean, it could get really hard.
88:40There's no way. I mean, they can't do that.
88:43And it's got to be some sort of like an ownership mandate that this guy's playing at all.
88:49It's a total joke. I mean, not that the alternatives are great by any means.
88:54But if they get Shador Sanders in there for week three to start, he's going to be the favorite son of Cleveland.
89:01It doesn't even matter how he plays. They just don't want to see Deshaun Watson in there.
89:07And I don't blame him because I don't think Deshaun Watson wants to be in there, period.
89:12Yeah, I don't know why they're starting him, honestly.
89:15It's got to be from Jimmy Haslam. I'm having visions of like Browns fans storming the facility and then like going to
89:23Haslam's desk and putting their feet up on the desk.
89:26Yeah, so they play on the road again this week at Tampa.
89:30Monken said, and I love Todd Monken. I don't like I don't know what they're doing to him to make him say stuff like this.
89:38He was like there was good stuff on tape from Deshaun Watson.
89:42We're starting him in week two. I assume they just want to let Shador have a winnable game to start.
89:49They are home against Carolina in week three, home against Pittsburgh in week four, at the Jets in week five, in week seven.
89:57They play at Tennessee. Like there's winnable games for Shador Sanders coming up.
90:01And I would feel better about some of these other guys if Shador was in there versus Watson.
90:07The highlight of this game for me was Denzel Boston, late touchdown catch.
90:11Denzel Boston ran 30 routes on 31 dropbacks. Judy 25, Fannin 24, Concepcion 20.
90:16Boston gets a late TD catch. Like that's what he can do.
90:20He doesn't need a lot of volume to do so.
90:23One of the reasons we had a really big fade on Quinshawn Junkins was because we expected this to be a terrible
90:31team and Junkins to be a two down back.
90:34And so I had a ton of Dylan Sampson in the best ball stuff and almost zero Quinshawn Junkins.
90:40Dylan Sampson got hurt in this game and they still did not put Junkins in to the pass catching role.
90:47They went with Rockets, Raheem Rockets Sanders for 13 routes.
90:50Junkins 13 routes. But yeah, it sucks. Like I think the Sampson pick was good.
90:55And he's got a while. This is a serious injury for Dylan Sampson.
90:59I also am skeptical that Quinshawn Junkins right now is the same player that he was when he was kind of cooking a little bit.
91:08When he started getting going last year, he broke his fibula and his ankle late last year.
91:13I think it was like week 15. And I mean, he wasn't successful at all.
91:18His success rate was really low. He wasn't getting yards after contact.
91:22And that's Quinshawn Judkins game. He's totally unstartable right now.
91:26I mean, in previous versions of bad Browns teams, they've had good offensive lines.
91:30They've had good defenses. Like they do not have either of those now.
91:35I mean, they're just a bad team, period. Clearly in tanking mode.
91:39Yeah, yeah. It's sad. Todd Monk. And I mean, I guess he's towing the company line, but he's going to be one and done in Cleveland, I think.
91:48Let's go to the Denver Broncos. Really, really disappointing performance from the Broncos last night.
91:53Now, you go to Arrowhead for Monday night, week one opener.
91:57That's really tough. But this was egregious from Bo Nix.
92:00Takes four sacks. Throws the interception. Fumbles three times.
92:03Had 28 pass attempts. That led to 131 passing yards.
92:06So Jalen Waddell, people are panicked out there right now.
92:10Evan, are you panicked at all on Broncos stuff?
92:13I just want Sean Payton to retake the play calling reins from Davis Webb.
92:17It seemed like a favor that the Broncos gave Davis Webb those duties in the first place to try to encourage him
92:25to not take the Giants head coaching job. At one point, he was the favorite.
92:30Davis Webb was to be the Giants new head coach.
92:33And the Broncos retained him. And it was like, all right, well, we'll let you call plays.
92:38But I mean, that's not going to last if they keep doing this stuff.
92:43This was really, really bad on offense and defense.
92:46So I expect them to bounce back. They go back home in week two against Jacksonville.
92:51Jacksonville is a good team. But yeah, I think that sooner rather than later, Sean Payton will be calling plays for the Broncos, if not week two.
93:00Yeah. So one of the reasons that I had in my player by player notes, like I like Jalen Waddell.
93:07I thought it was a good spot. I understood a lot of sharp people had arguments for him.
93:13If you are not the stone cold featured player in Sean Payton, you can just kind of be lost in the rotation.
93:20And I'm not saying that's what's definitely going to happen to Jalen Waddell long term.
93:25But it certainly can happen here. Sutton ran 29 routes.
93:29Waddell 27. Pat Bryant 21. Franklin 9. Mim 6.
93:32That was on 33 dropbacks from Bo Nix. So, you know, maybe you could consider Jalen Waddell a buy low if people are giving him away.
93:40I wouldn't hate that. But I think, you know, somewhere in round five or so, I think is where Jalen Waddell, round
93:48four, round five is where I would have him in the rest of season, top 150.
93:53Yeah. Also, J.K. Dobbins is not going to do anything in games where the Broncos fall behind.
93:59You need the Broncos defense to be good for J.K.
94:02Dobbins to be any kind of a factor in fantasy or else.
94:06It's going to be a lot of R.J. Harvey, which it was in this game.
94:11I was a little surprised Jonah Coleman only played three snaps here.
94:15You know, there was so much offseason hype around Jonah Coleman, only three snaps for him.
94:20But yes, as they're behind, it was a ton of R.J.
94:24Harvey who caught four passes, played 26 snaps. Dobbins, 22 snaps in this game.
94:29But, you know, for deeper league people, I would not cut Jonah Coleman.
94:33Like, he's the direct backup to both, I would say.
94:36Like, both Harvey and J.K. Dobbins. Texans. Texans played a very good offensive game against the Bills.
94:42They scored 31 points. Still not enough to win as Josh Allen throws the late dagger.
94:47Story to me was like, the Texans have not been able to run the ball with any efficiency in so long.
94:54That's been broken for years. And they still couldn't.
94:57You know, Dave Montgomery is not going to solve that.
95:0120 carries for 60 yards against what was a really bad Bills rush defense last year.
95:06The good news is Dave Montgomery gets 20 plus touches as we expected.
95:10Scores three touchdowns. So, Evan, what do you think of Texans putting 31 on the Bills in week one?
95:17Yeah, the biggest takeaway was that C.J. Stroud looked much, much improved from the player that we saw him be the last time that we saw him.
95:26So, that's really, really – you know, C.J. Stroud, his game does not translate to fantasy because he doesn't run.
95:32He's, you know, one of these pocket passers that he's got to throw three touchdowns for 300-plus yards to be any kind
95:40of – have any kind of fantasy relevance. But it's really good news for Nico Collins.
95:45I know Dalton Schultz didn't do a ton in this game, but I think he's going to be – every week he's
95:52going to be in the mix to catch five balls, which can help you at tight end in fantasy.
95:59I know your boy Jalen Knoll didn't get the playing time that you were hoping for.
96:04This is going to be the Nico Collins show this year, you know, ever since they lost Jaden Higgins.
96:10Yeah, I mean, they just don't like Jalen Knoll.
96:1315 routes on 42 dropbacks. Guess what? He got two targets.
96:17Did really well on both of them. But, yeah, they played Booty for 27 routes.
96:22Hutchinson for 29. Jared Wayne for 8. So, yeah, it just is what it is on Knoll.
96:28Just to wrap it up on the running back, Dave Montgomery, 23 opportunities versus 10 for Woody Marks.
96:34I would note that snaps, Woody Marks actually 40 snaps versus Dave Montgomery's 39.
96:38And routes were 14 apiece. So, still a pretty big role here for Woody Marks.
96:43But goal line is going to be all Montgomery.
96:46And, I mean, he's going to get so many touches this year.
96:50I mean, so many. There's going to be games where they're winning and he gets even more touches than he got in this game.
96:58Colts. Indianapolis Colts dropped their home opener to the Ravens 41-23.
97:02Defense was horrific. We already talked about that. Biggest thing for me was the Jonathan Taylor usage.
97:08We talked about this on Sunday morning. The Colts do not trust Seth McGowan or DJ Giddens.
97:13So, even though Jonathan Taylor and the Colts were losing in this game, Taylor still played 89% of the snaps.
97:20Taylor ran 20 routes on 34 dimes dropbacks. Got four targets for a 13% share.
97:25Handled 23 of 24 running back opportunities. And I think that's important because maybe we can call Jonathan Taylor game script independent now.
97:33Where I may not have called him that historically.
97:36Evan, what do you think of Colts in week one?
97:39I almost want to really give the credit here to the Ravens.
97:43Because we have a lot of respect for the Colts offensive line.
97:47Top five in Brandon Thorne's rankings. But they were, I mean, Travis Jones was working Quentin Nelson, who might be the best guard on the planet.
97:56Trey Hendrickson was an absolute beast. The Ravens got him in the offseason.
98:00Ravens didn't even have Nnamdi Madabuike in this game.
98:03And they generated the highest pressure rate in the NFL against Daniel Jones.
98:07Daniel Jones was pressured on 53% of his dropbacks.
98:10You know, because I respect the Colts offensive line, I almost want to give that credit to the Ravens and not have
98:18a ton of negative takeaways regarding the Colts. I mean, that's cool.
98:22That's play at Arrowhead on Sunday night. Like it's not going to get much easier.
98:27Another really tough spot for them. The best news for me on the Colts, besides the JT stuff, Josh Downs usage was awesome.
98:34Even though Alec Pierce played in this game, Josh Downs ran 32 routes on 34 dropbacks.
98:40In other words, he was not only on the field like Jaden Reed was in three wide receiver sets.
98:46Josh Downs was in every down player. Also, Alec Pierce only ran 22 routes.
98:51He's going to get ramped up. I mean, clearly they were ramping him up slowly.
98:56He was like watching the game on the sideline when he was clearly totally fine.
99:01He'll get ramped up. Well, he did. At one point, he hit his hand on Roquan Smith's helmet and he came out for a minute.
99:09Okay. Yeah. I didn't see that. Yeah. Yeah. But I, but he, uh, yeah, I'm with you though.
99:15I, I, I think he's already ready to go.
99:18He already, you remember it was 20, it was supposed to be 20 or 30 snaps.
99:23He played 32 snaps in the game. So yeah, I think sooner rather than later, he's going to be back to near full time.
99:31Jacksonville Jaguars. They destroy the pathetic Browns 34, 10.
99:34As I mentioned, it was not even that close.
99:37Um, Trevor Lawrence continued how he ended last year.
99:4018 of 23 for 245 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions.
99:44I mean, Trevor Lawrence is a very good fantasy quarterback and one was in the mix there for late round.
99:50Um, for sure. The big story, Evan was what we talked about.
99:54God, going back to March. What would the split be between Bay shell tootin and Chris Rodriguez?
100:00It was not a great look here because of the blowout, but snaps were tootin 28 Rodriguez, 23 routes were even.
100:07Searod, eight routes, tootin eight routes, opportunities before the game got out of hand in the first half, first half opportunities, tootin six, searod five.
100:15So it wasn't even like role dependent, really. It was just a dead even split between these guys.
100:21Evan, what do you think of that? And then you Jaguars stuff.
100:25Well, I thought that Bay shell tootin played really well in the game.
100:30Um, and Liam Cohen echoed that in his post game presser, um, talking about, or not as even as post game presses Monday.
100:37And he was talking about how he loved how Bay shell tootin looked.
100:42I mean, he was generating yards after contact. They got him a screen, um, hit 16 touches.
100:47You know, I think that that could lead to more work for Bay shell tootin.
100:52And if he continues to play like that, you remember the comments on, from Liam Cohen in training camp and the off
101:00season were a little bit up and down. They were effusive in, in, in their praise of Bay shell tootin, uh, fall after Liam Cohen watched the tape.
101:09So I would be at least somewhat encouraged by Bay shell tunes week one.
101:14Now we've got to keep contact. We, I don't think that the Browns defense is going to be very good this year,
101:21but I think encouraging effort for him. Trevor Lawrence looked great, man.
101:25Um, and I know that you were on him for D for DFS and he threw four touchdowns.
101:31It could have been way more. He's out of the game with eight, 12 left.
101:36They put in Nick Mullins. He had the best Trevor Lawrence had the best passer rating of his career.
101:42They were throwing the ball downfield, um, encouraging effort also for Trevor Lawrence.
101:46I think, um, the other usage story here was how much would Travis Hunter play on offense?
101:52Travis Hunter ran three routes on 25 Trevor Lawrence dropbacks.
101:55Scobie Myers was healthy. He ran the most routes.
101:58Parker Washington, not far behind. Brian Thomas Jr. Left briefly with a shoulder injury.
102:03It's no big deal. He came back. He was after that.
102:07So yeah, again, only three routes here for Travis Hunter.
102:10It was an incredible spot for Parker Washington, you know, um, from a matchup perspective and just the way they played.
102:17And, and he certainly performed would have had a way bigger game if it was close.
102:22Well, there is a Parker Washington hive. Oh yeah.
102:25And I, I believe that that hive is going to, they should feel really good after this performance five for 83 and
102:33a touchdown in a game where the Jaguars were sitting starters more than halfway through the fourth quarter.
102:39I was listening to Daniel Jeremiah's podcast before this.
102:42He was like, man, Parker Washington kind of reminds me of Steve Smith.
102:46And that is, that's elite, uh, comparison historically. So yeah, I would be really excited.
102:51Parker Washington, can you get, end up being one of the steals of the drafts and in, in the sixth round for sure.
102:59Let's go to the Raiders. Um, before we get to the game, the biggest story out of Las Vegas came a few days before their game.
103:07They announced on Wednesday that Brock Bowers underwent a meniscus trim on September 8th, just out of the stone blue.
103:14Now, maybe not out of the stone blue because this is the same left knee that torpedoed Bowers 2025 season when he
103:21sprained his PCL sustained a bone bruise. Have to think that this meniscus thing is related.
103:27Now the Raiders are saying there's a legit chance Bowers can be back for week two.
103:32They're calling him day to day. It's just not good to have this much work done on your left knee.
103:39And the PCL stuff continues to rare its ugly head here.
103:42Evan, how worried are you about Bowers long-term before we get into their game?
103:47Yeah, well, we've seen the PCLs dog players for more than one year, you know, and that's, we're talking about Dalton Kikade,
103:54you know, what happened to Kyle Pitts, you know, I feel like it's happened to Ricky Pearsall now.
104:00Um, so he's certainly not out of the woods, but Brock Bowers is an absolute dog.
104:06He won the Mackey award twice. Uh, and so, and last year, you know, struggling with that PCL all season long, he
104:13was number four among tight ends in fantasy points per game.
104:17So he can get it done at less than a hundred percent.
104:21Um, I I'm, I'm trying to stay optimistic about him for considering how high I ranked him.
104:26Uh, and I have a lot of them in drafts.
104:30Yeah. Uh, so I'm, I'm, I'm optimistic about him.
104:33I think he's a dog. So as for the game, they were playing Miami.
104:37I mean, this was the best spot they'll have all year home against the talent list, Miami dolphins.
104:43They win 27, 13. The story to me was Ashton Gentry, the ankle, the prayer circle, Mike Washington, all that turned out to be totally null and void.
104:53Ashton Gentry handled 23 of 30 running back carries, all six running back targets, 20% overall share of the targets.
104:59I mean, he was just an awesome player playing a bad defense goes for 30 DK points, 50 snaps for him, 13 for Mike Washington.
105:08So pretty exciting start for Ashton Gentry. He will not be home against the dolphins every week, but still an exciting start.
105:15Evan, any thoughts on Gentry or any other Raiders thoughts?
105:18Well, I know you always talk about, you know, Ashton Gentry is not playing, you know, Kennesaw mountain land estate on Fox
105:26sports Northwest at, you know, midnight, you know, across the country.
105:29The dolphins are the closest team to Kennesaw mountain land estate across the NFL.
105:34But no, I mean, the usage is our takeaway here.
105:37And Ashton Gentry was the fulcrum of the Raiders offense.
105:41And, you know, Mike Washington had some nice runs.
105:44He looked explosive in this game, but it was the Ashton Gentry show.
105:48And people wound up getting a big time discount on Ashton Gentry.
105:52And you got to feel really, really good about that.
105:55I mean, he, he was exploiting holes and adding on to the holes that he was given.
106:01And he was used a ton in the passing game.
106:04So this is what Ashton Gentry was supposed to be when the Raiders made him the sixth pick in the draft.
106:11Yeah. Kirk Cousins had 30 pass attempts in this game.
106:15He only got 160 passing yards out of that.
106:18Just throwing short to Michael Mayer, who led the team with seven targets, short to Ashton Gentry, who had six targets.
106:25I mean, Trey, I don't really blame him. Like Trey Tucker and Jalen Naylor aren't going to get open and be dynamic.
106:32So checkdowns to Bowers, Mayer, Gentry, like that's the offense while Kirk Cousins is in there for me.
106:38I'd love to see Mendoza, but they won the game, you know, is what it is.
106:43Chargers. There was so much hype around the Chargers this off season.
106:47And then they lay an absolute egg in week one.
106:51They get beat soundly by the Cardinals as a huge home favorite.
106:55Chargers mustered just 14 points. I guess the biggest surprise to me, Evan, about this game was their inability to run the ball.
107:02I mean, the tackles are finally healthy. You have the Mike McDaniel scheme.
107:07Amari and Hampton is healthy. And running backs averaged 3.3 yards per carry against the Cardinals.
107:12Any thoughts on that, Evan, or what happened to the Chargers in week one?
107:17Man, this was probably the most disappointing effort of any team, I think, in the NFL in week one.
107:23And then, you know, Lopez of the Cardinals' interior defensive linemen just ate them for lunch.
107:28And at the end of the day, like, the Chargers didn't have the ball in this game.
107:34They had 22 minutes of time of possession. They ran 51 offensive plays.
107:38They had zero targets to running backs. Do you think, Adam, that Madison Beer is the new Yoko Ono for Justin Herbert?
107:46Careful. I find Madison Beer to be one of the most beautiful specimens on the planet.
107:51I refuse to say anything. But I was a Mila Kunis guy for a while.
107:56I have shifted. I am now a Madison Beer guy.
107:59So I think Madison Beer could be distracting for Justin Herbert.
108:03Yes. Have you seen her? I think she could be distracting.
108:07Yes. That may be it. There's our excuse. Bad news.
108:10Also, when Lad McConkie went out, the Chargers offense just lost all their functionality.
108:15Yeah. So I got a few things here. I'll start with Lad.
108:19He was absolutely smashing. I mean, he had a 38% target share at the time he went down.
108:25Shout out to Dwayne McFarlane for that one. He had five catches, 82 yards, and a touchdown on seven targets through three quarters.
108:32Then he gets absolutely lit up by a linebacker.
108:35They're calling Lad day to day with a rib injury.
108:39They need him. I mean, you know, we'll see if he can go next week.
108:44They need him badly. I hope that he's fine.
108:47The running back stuff. The good news for Amar and Hampton was Kamani Vidal only played four snaps and got zero carries.
108:54Hampton played 32 snaps. Keaton Mitchell got 17. But I feel like we still don't know if Amar and Hampton is a
109:01really good player or not, or a needle mover in the NFL.
109:05And I don't know that the Chargers know either.
109:08I mean, Keaton Mitchell's usage was solid, especially because he was coming off of a hamstring.
109:14He played 17 snaps versus Hampton's 32. That's really encouraging for Keaton Mitchell's usage, even though he didn't do anything either.
109:21So, Evan, are you worried at all about Hampton coming out of this game?
109:25I'm worried about the Chargers as a team. Yeah.
109:28Like, are they going to be really bad on defense to the point where they can't even possess, that, you know, they
109:36can't get the Cardinals offense off the field? Well, the other thing is, is they play the Raiders next, okay?
109:42They better turn around because after they play the Raiders, after that, the Chargers play Buffalo, Seattle, Denver, Kansas City, Rams, Texans, Ravens next seven games.
109:51It's one of the hardest seven-game stretches I can ever recall.
109:55So, I mean, they need to get it on this week against the Raiders.
109:59Oh, boy. By the way, only five routes for Rondae Gadsden in this game.
110:04Charlie Kolar, 12 routes. David Njoku actually led the way in routes with 17 here in the tight end group.
110:11It's just really surprising to see a Jim Harbaugh team come out and look as bad as the Chargers did.
110:17And Jeremiah does the play-by-play for – not the play-by-play, the color for the Chargers.
110:22And he's like, man, you know, Mike McDaniel's out here running all these shifts and motions.
110:27And it's like – and it's slowing them down.
110:30And they've got to scale it back already. I mean, it's one game against the Cardinals.
110:36And Jeremiah, who I think is, you know, a great offensive – you know, a great football mind.
110:42He's like, man, they're doing too much stuff. They're way too – they're getting too – you know, they're too smart for their britches.
110:50I don't buy that. I mean, we know that motion and all that stuff is a benefit for EPA per play.
110:57Like, we know that that stuff works. So, if they want to say that Harbaugh's a boomer and he doesn't want that stuff, he shouldn't have hired McDaniel.
111:06You know, Pat Thorman was banging the drum to maybe pump the brakes a little bit on at least certain players for
111:13the Chargers this offseason because he thought that they were going to play slow and that can lead to less play volume.
111:21Now, if you combine that with a defense that can't get the freaking Cardinals offense off the field – I mean, they
111:28were talking about a team that's running 50 plays in a game and possessing the ball for 22 minutes.
111:34And it's like they're not going to meet any of our expectations offensively.
111:39Yeah, and I think that's fair for sure. The McDaniel offense has certainly played slow.
111:44That's certainly fair. Let's go to the Miami Dolphins.
111:47You know, I don't even think the Dolphins played that bad in this game relative to their talent.
111:53And they still lost 27-13 to the Raiders. I mean, this is a scary, scary bad team.
111:58Everyone knows we had this huge H-hand fade on.
112:01And, like, you kind of see why now when you have no talent around you, it's hard to generate touchdown opportunities.
112:08And he only caught four balls. You know, he's going to have to catch so many more to pay off his second-round price tag.
112:16Evan, what do you think of Malik Willis and the Dolphins debut here in week one?
112:22Yeah, it was really ugly, you know, against the Raiders.
112:25I saw Rich Rebar tweeted that the Dolphins had the lowest rushing success rate and the lowest passing success rate in week one.
112:33That's not good. You know, there are – like, they can't run the ball against the Raiders.
112:38They are built to run the ball. We talked about this.
112:42They got freaking Patrick Paul, 6'7", 331 at left tackle.
112:45They use a first-round pick on Caden Proctor, who can block out the sun, put him at left guard.
112:52They got Aaron Brewer, the best center in the NFL, at center.
112:56You know, they got the 2024 second-round pick, Jonah, blah, blah, blah, at right guard.
113:01You know, they got Austin Jackson, a venerator in right tackle.
113:04They are built to – they got Will Kazmarek, one of the best blocking tight ends in college football out of Ohio
113:12State, and they can't run the ball against the Raiders.
113:15You know, that's really, really concerning, and it puts a lot on Malik Willis' plate that I don't know that he's capable of.
113:23This was his seventh NFL start. You know, we could talk about Caleb Douglas a little bit.
113:28I don't know how – I think he's a player.
113:32I think that they got a good pick in Caleb Douglas, but I don't know that that's going to be sticky week to week at all.
113:40I have no sense of optimism for any member of the Miami Dolphins in fantasy football right now.
113:46Yeah, I mean, Malik Willis takes so many sacks, too.
113:50He took five sacks here in this game. He threw an interception.
113:54He fumbled once. You know, the thesis on Malik Willis is just he's going to run like crazy.
114:00He only ran six times here. I think he's got to run more.
114:04He did run for 39 yards and a touchdown.
114:07I haven't mentioned Caleb Douglas. I did think that was a bright spot.
114:11I mean, dude can play. Five catches, 94 yards on seven targets.
114:15Caleb Douglas and Malik Washington were the every down wide receivers.
114:19Chris Bell, who I'm also, like, intrigued by, came on for 20 routes as he ramps up here.
114:25Let's go to the Jets. The Geno Smith 2.0 era in New York is off to a 1.0, 1-0 start.
114:32Jets go to Nashville, beat the Lowly Titans 23-10.
114:35I guess the big question for me on Jet stuff coming into the season, Evan, was could Geno give them league average
114:42or even like 35th percentile quarterback play? I don't know that we got that question answered here in week one.
114:49Geno goes 19 of 24 for 215. No touchdowns.
114:52No interceptions. No sacks. Just didn't really have to do anything because the Titans couldn't do anything.
114:57Evan, what do you think of Geno and the Jets in week one?
115:02Yeah. I mean, again, you know, we have to have context around all this and they're facing the Titans.
115:08I don't think the Titans are, I mean, the Titans might, it's going to be them or the Dolphins, I think, for
115:15the number one pick in the draft. You know, one of those probably, we don't have to talk about that now.
115:22Let's talk about the Jets. The Jets had a sense of competency.
115:26You know, we had concerns about Aaron Glenn and Frank Reich and Geno Smith.
115:31And they went out and they played pretty good football and they ran the ball well.
115:36I know that their yards per carry doesn't look great.
115:40They didn't have any long runs. You know, they had a long run of 13.
115:45But they ran the ball successfully. And Brees Hall had a good game.
115:49And Garrett Wilson was solid. And A.D. Mitchell had a 40-yarder.
115:53And Omar Cooper had a 30-yarder. He suffered a high ankle sprain.
115:57So he may end up going on IR. But there was a sense of competency here.
116:02The guys that we're really interested in are Brees Hall and Garrett Wilson.
116:06Everybody else is pretty ancillary on the Jets. But I have optimism about those guys.
116:11Those guys are going to be all right or better, maybe in Brees Hall's case.
116:16The Jets have a really good offensive line from a talent standpoint.
116:20And Brees Hall got the ball a ton here.
116:23So I feel good about that. Yeah. I mean, Jets are going to get into trailing game scripts.
116:29You know, and that's when you can see Garrett Wilson or Brees Hall in the passing game really have some explosive games.
116:37They're home against the Packers next. Yeah, I hope Omar Cooper is okay.
116:41It sounded like they got a report that it was better than it seemed initially.
116:46But while he's out, it will be Isaiah Williams in the slot.
116:50Other note that I had on the Jets. I mean, Kenyon Sadiq got down to like 200 plus in ADP for a
116:57first-round rookie with crazy athleticism right out of the gate.
117:01You know, 12 routes on 26 dropbacks. Not great.
117:04But three targets. He also got a goal line handoff, like a three-yard touchdown on a Jets sweep.
117:10So, dude's an athlete, man. I mean, crazy. On that Jets sweep.
117:14And it's only three yards. You see the guys for NextGenStats.
117:17They get into the open field and they hit these like 21 miles an hour.
117:22You know, this was a three-yard Jets sweep. And Kenyon Sadiq hit 20 miles an hour.
117:28And that was the fastest time ever recorded in NextGenStats history for a tight end.
117:33You want to talk about flying. Kenyon Sadiq can turn on the accelerator immediately.
117:37I think it was only, what, 40-something percent of the snaps.
117:41But, yeah, I mean, if they can ramp him up into a 60% or 70% player, he's going to make an impact
117:48in fantasy, I think, by the end of the season.
117:52Yeah, I mean, one of the best athletes ever to play the tight end position is Kenyon Sadiq.
117:58Steelers. Steelers, you know, God, this was the first game of the post-Mike Tomlin era, the post-Arthur Smith couple years here.
118:05It's the first game of the Mike McCarthy era.
118:08And they led the entire league in neutral situation pass rate.
118:11This was a game that they were trailing by four for a little bit, but were winning for most of the game.
118:19And Mike McCarthy had Aaron Rodgers 42 dropbacks against 18 called runs.
118:23Aaron Rodgers at 42 years old, 42 dropbacks against 18 called runs in a game they were leading.
118:29That is very, very aggressive. Evan, what do you think of that and anything else from Steelers in week one?
118:35There was a lot to talk about with the Steelers.
118:39You know, I had been on Pat Fryermuth. I thought he was going to be the number one picked up tight end coming out of week one.
118:48And like, he should be. Yeah. Five for 46 and a touchdown.
118:52DK Metcalf didn't really do a whole lot with his opportunities.
118:55He had 171 air yards, though. He had drops in this game, but he will probably be on the Leone by low model entering week two.
119:04I don't know if they're going to. Do you think that they're going to maintain this style of play?
119:10I don't think Rodgers can last playing this this style.
119:13I don't think it's a winning style either. But I mean, I know McCarthy likes to chuck it.
119:19That's what he does. This just seemed really extreme.
119:22Yeah, it did. I guess we'll see. He wasn't efficient throwing either.
119:26It's not like they're going back and watch the tape and be like, you know what?
119:32That really worked. You know, they were inefficient on their dropbacks as well here.
119:36On the running back split, Rico Dowdle did play more snaps.
119:40He did run more routes than Tyler Warren, but then Jalen Warren.
119:44But Jalen Warren had 16 opportunities versus 13 for Rico.
119:47I continue to think Jalen Warren is the better player, but I'm not sure it's going to be much more of an even split, you know, going forward.
119:57It just, you know, roughly even on those guys, I think makes the most sense.
120:02And yeah, shout out to Evan for the fire me with call.
120:06I doubted that one for sure. But yeah, you can play him.
120:10Titans. Last one we're going to do here today.
120:13These last four are so funny, by the way.
120:16I can just imagine us every week. Dolphins, Jets, Steelers, Titans at the end.
120:20My God. Anyways, Titans. New coaching staff looked a lot like last year.
120:25Offensive line bad. Cam Ward bad. You know, Cam Ward got up 32 pass attempts and generated 140 passing yards.
120:31So whatever optimism people had about the Titans for this year based on the addition of Dable, the addition of Carnell Tate,
120:39the addition of Wondell Robinson or whatever, it's hard to be optimistic now.
120:43Evan, what do you think of Titans' performance in week one?
120:47Yeah. The Titans lost the time of possession battle 39-21 to the Jets in Tennessee.
120:52And they ran 49 offensive plays. I just, I don't think, I don't think that this is happening.
120:58You know, I think the Titans are going to have to end up, they're going to, Titans are going to draft a new quarterback in 2027.
121:06You know, I don't know that. I mean, again, this is another team like, like Miami.
121:12I don't have optimism about any, any member of the Titans in fantasy right now.
121:17Yeah. I mean, Titans, Browns, Dolphins are some really bad teams in the NFL this year.
121:22I mean, just on talent. Maybe they'll win some games, but just talent, man.
121:27It's just, it's just really, really. They just don't have enough players to be, but I mean, I mean.
121:33They're not competitive with the Jets. Like, come on.
121:36Yeah. Titans have to play the Eagles next, by the way.
121:40So Cam Ward dropped back 39 times. It was kind of as we expected.
121:44Carnell Tate, 36 routes. Juan Dale Robinson, 34. It was a little bit at wide receiver three.
121:50Ridley, 25 routes. Elick Ion-Minor, 21. I like Elick Ion-Minor.
121:53Like, I would like to see him get more routes here.
121:57Calvin Ridley did not earn a single target on his 25 routes here in this game.
122:02Last note I had, there was a lot of talk that Dan Bellinger is Daybol's guy, and Dan Bellinger is going to play more than Gunnar Helm.
122:11That is not the case. Gunnar Helm ran 22 routes.
122:15Bellinger ran five. So, you know, only the truest of virgins care about that spot, but I do have some Gunnar Helm
122:22round 19 or so in best ball. All right.
122:25That will do it for a marathon edition of Team by Team.
122:29I know this went long. We had a ton to get to because we learned so much in week one.
122:36Future shows will likely be a bit shorter, but they will be up every Tuesday as soon as we possibly can.
122:43Free on YouTube. Free on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.
122:47Be sure you subscribe to those spots. It is indeed free.
122:50Show's coming up later this week. Silva vs. Leone Man vs.
122:54Machine for in-season subscribers is going down on Thursday.
122:57Myself, Wiggins and Silva Friday night for Establish the Show.
123:00Myself and Silva Sunday morning for last minute live stream.
123:04You do need a subscription to ETR in-season product.
123:07Be able to check out all those shows. And our first round of projections for week two for in-season subscribers will be
123:14out Wednesday night here as well for anyone with start, sit or DFS decisions.
123:19Four, Evan, Brewster Ryan, Brewster Luke. For everyone behind the scenes at ETR, I am Adam.
123:24Good luck, everybody.

More episodes from Establish The Run

6