PodcastFrom Fantasy Football Today
Brock Bowers INJURED! Is Michael Mayer a MUST-ADD? (09/09 Fantasy Football Podcast)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
12 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 9, 2026
Published
Wed, September 9, 2026
11
Player insights
11
Players mentioned
Topics
Brock BowersCade OttonChigoziem OkonkwoDallas GoedertGreg DulcichJ.K. DobbinsJake FergusonJonah ColemanJuwan JohnsonMichael MayerTre Tucker
Player analysis
Player insights
Brock Bowers
NegativeInjury0:17
Brock Bowers underwent a meniscus trim procedure and is expected to miss one or two games, according to Adam Schefter.
Insight pageCade Otton
PositiveMatchup7:21
Cade Otton is a deep-league desperation play due to a favorable matchup against the Bengals, who have been a bottom-three defense against tight ends for three consecutive seasons.
Insight pageChigoziem Okonkwo
NegativeValue11:37
When choosing between Michael Mayer and Chig Okonkwo, the analysts prefer Mayer, noting that some managers have already dropped Okonkwo to acquire Mayer.
Insight pageDallas Goedert
PositiveValue13:28
Managers holding Dallas Goedert are advised to keep him rather than dropping him to pick up Michael Mayer.
Insight pageGreg Dulcich
NegativeValue2:03
Greg Dulcich is mentioned as a potential waiver wire alternative for tight end-needy teams, currently rostered in about 26% of leagues.
Insight pageJ.K. Dobbins
NegativeValue11:51
The analysts advise against dropping J.K. Dobbins to pick up Michael Mayer, even for managers needing a tight end replacement.
Insight pageJake Ferguson
NegativeBust10:22
The analysts unanimously agree that dropping Jake Ferguson for Michael Mayer is the correct move for managers dealing with the Brock Bowers injury.
Insight pageJonah Coleman
NegativeValue11:51
The analysts suggest that if a manager is desperate for a tight end and owns Brock Bowers, dropping Jonah Coleman for Michael Mayer is a necessary move, though they are hesitant to drop Coleman otherwise.
Insight pageJuwan Johnson
PositiveValue2:03
Dave suggests Jawan Johnson as a viable alternative tight end for managers looking for depth or to block the Bowers manager, noting he is available in roughly 28% of leagues.
Insight pageMichael Mayer
PositiveSleeper0:54
Heath Go recommends adding Michael Mayer, noting there is a 50-50 chance he ranks higher than many current starting tight ends while Bowers is out. Jamie notes Mayer was a sleeper candidate prior to the injury news due to the uncertainty surrounding the Raiders' secondary pass-catching options.
Insight pageTre Tucker
PositiveRole4:09
With Brock Bowers out, Trey Tucker enters flex consideration. Historical data from last year shows Tucker and Michael Mayer commanded a 24-25% target share in games without Bowers.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports What a play!
0:04Can you believe this? He had no idea It's time to dominate your fantasy league Off to the races!
0:10And he stays on his feet! He's just gonna go the distance!
0:14Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath Bonus pod!
0:17These are usually not good When we're here for a bonus pod, it usually doesn't mean good news is happening Brock Bowers
0:24had his meniscus Operated on He's gonna miss Trimmed Trimmed Just a trim Yeah It's like getting a haircut He's gonna miss
0:32one or two games, according to Adam Schefter This stinks Because, man, what an opportunity to get off to a great start
0:39Against the Miami Dolphins, who might have the worst secondary in the NFL They allowed the third most fantasy points to tight
0:46ends last year But only one touchdown to a tight end in their last eight games We're gonna give you quick analysis here Heath, what's the advice?
0:54Everybody give me one piece of advice to the Brock Bowers manager, starting with Heath Go see if Michael Mayer is available
1:01in your league There's a 50-50 chance he ranks higher than the tight end you have Jamie Start Mayer this week if
1:09you do pick him up Ironically enough, I put him prior to this news as a sleeper And start sit just because
1:16of the uncertainty of who the second best pass catcher is for the Raiders And so, yeah, he's gonna be good Dave?
1:23Look for Jawan Johnson or Greg Dulcich as alternatives if you don't have Bowers and you just want to pick up a
1:30tight end To play keep away from the Bowers manager or just have depth of the position But that's the mayor, right?
1:37Well, I mean the problem is if you don't have Bowers and you add Mayer Are you really, who are you starting Mayer over this week?
1:45Because I don't think I'm starting Mayer over Kittle, Kelsey Likely Try to think who else Jawan Johnson I'm not gonna be
1:52there with you guys He'll be behind those guys for me He's still decent to start Maybe 10 PPR points I think
1:59we can find that pretty much every week off the waiver wire And once Bowers is back Mayer's obviously disposable There's a
2:06little bit more upside with other tight ends on other teams To maybe be more useful season long You don't care about
2:14that if you've got Brock Bowers You just need a replacement But there are gonna be some people that don't have Bowers
2:21They're gonna run to the waiver wire They're gonna drop somebody decent for Mayer And I don't know if I'm on board
2:28with that Just because Mayer is very much a short-term solution But you were talking about blocking the Brock Bowers manager And
2:35I was just saying the Mayer is the better person to do that with Than the other tight ends on the waiver
2:42wire Sure, but I don't really care about that Unless I'm playing the Bowers manager this week For the I think there
2:49was four games last year With Trey Tucker and Michael Mayer And no Brock Bowers It was about a 24 to 25%
2:56target share for both Tucker and Michael Mayer We expect the offense to be better I'm gonna have some terribly difficult Trey
3:03Tucker decisions now Because I thought he was just an end-of-the-bench wide receiver And now I think he's in flex consideration at
3:10least For sure That I agree with, yes Okay, yeah, no, that's a great point Because you could think about it from
3:17the tight end perspective But Tucker And get a look at his Roster percentage here This might be somebody that you want
3:24to add Trey Tucker He was on the waiver wire, I think He's 58% rostered I'm surprised you guys would start Bowers
3:31over Jawan Johnson though Or sorry, Mayer over Jawan Johnson Dave would not But it seems like Heath and Jamie would I
3:39figured Jawan Johnson would be the Automatic Go see if he's available He's available in like 28% of leagues 72% rostered Okay
3:46I mean, I like Jawan Johnson I think it's a great setup for him But it's an amazing setup for Mayer right
3:53now There's literally one of the worst receiving cores in the NFL And it's a tight end friendly system That was going
4:00to feature Brock Bowers And this is now the next man up So it's a great matchup Great situation You know, this
4:07may not You know, maybe they learned from their mistakes from last year And not rush Bowers back Oh, that would be
4:14even worse Well, we don't want him to rush back This sucks, by the way I mean, we'll talk about Let's talk
4:21about Bowers in a second here But just to wrap this up Other options Dulcich was mentioned 26% rostered The Raiders allowed
4:28the Third fewest Fantasy points to tight ends last year I don't know if any of that matters But they also saw
4:35the second fewest tight end targets per game last year I'm going to throw Kate Otten out there I know it seems
4:42like kind of hard to see it happen But just your thoughts 25% rostered Not only were the Bengals the worst team
4:49in fantasy against tight ends last year They allowed about four more fantasy points per game to tight ends than any other
4:56team And they've been bottom three against tight ends Three straight seasons And the worst team against tight ends Two straight seasons
5:03So I don't think it's just a fluke Unfortunately, it's not, you know It's not a great opportunity for Otten in terms
5:11of targets But I don't know I get maybe desperation if you can't get Mayer If you can't get Schultz and Dulcich, right?
5:18Otten Yeah, sure No, it's a great matchup So it's worth it in terms of the theory I mean, Mayer would be
5:25the target though If you're talking about guys that are widely available Or available everywhere Like, again, there's such a huge opportunity
5:32here for him Okay, now Let's talk about Brock Bowers' rest of season If you were drafting again today How many tight
5:39ends would you draft ahead of Brock Bauer's? Two Two Okay But this stinks We don't want him hampered by We haven't
5:46even had a game yet I mean, it is just a snip It should be no big deal They grow back pretty
5:53quickly But It's pretty unfortunate That they had two players At the start of training camp That we were very excited about
6:00To varying degrees In Ashton Gentey and Brock Bauer's And now both are starting the season Somewhat injured And in the case
6:08of Bauer's out It's just Frustrating All right I think that that can conclude it And this is good because We had
6:15some questions in the chat That we could Or starred Or favorited Okay Or bookmarked Liked Or liked Okay I have Brock
6:22Bauer's all over This stinks Should I stick with Holding on to Jake Ferguson Or drop Ferguson for Dulcich Barner or Otten?
6:29Is the move here to drop Ferguson for Mayer?
6:32One billion percent I would Yeah Okay Why did you edit blows?
6:36You know what? Like you know the reason I don't have to keep explaining this But if This blows is worth editing?
6:43I don't Would you want your seven-year-old to hear that?
6:46Say it I mean it wouldn't be as bad as seeing you At a bar mitzvah with a beard But it would
6:53be I got Bauer's in all my leagues Who do I pick up that?
6:57Yeah okay We just answered that Michael Mayer or Chig Oconqua?
7:01We're going to go Mayer Mayer There was someone in our building That dropped Oconqua for Mayer I thought that was a
7:08good move Okay Question Would you drop Jonah Coleman Or J.K.
7:12Dobbins To pick up Mayer? We're going to go with Jonah Coleman I don't want to If you do have Bowers If
7:19you do have Bowers You have to Yes But if you don't have Bowers And it would be Coleman Not Dobbins Yeah
7:26I don't know if I'm dropping Coleman For Mayer If I don't have Bowers Yeah These are the tough calls You have
7:33to make I have a tough decision In one league Where Two leagues actually One I was able to drop the kicker
7:40Drop a kicker To pick up Mayer In a tight end premium league So I just have to figure out What I'm
7:47going to do But the other choice Was Ray Davis Who I don't want to drop And in another league Where I
7:54only have Mark Andrews at tight end I have Ken Walker I have Emmitt Johnson I don't want to drop Emmitt Johnson
8:01But that's the Worst player on my team And so Struggling with that one as well Okay And I picked up Helani
8:08Do I have to pick up Michael Mayer instead?
8:11I have Goddard No No You do not have to No Yeah Just keep Goddard By the way For the person That's
8:18about to drop Jonah Coleman So I don't know that Mayer might go out And have a great game Maybe he'll win
8:25you a week I mean I don't know If there are other options On the waiver wire That you think are fine
8:32Like Greg Certainly Jawan Johnson But let's say it's Greg Dolcich Or Dalton Schultz Or something like that I would personally I
8:39don't know how you guys feel I would wait until Sunday Or Saturday Whenever the latest you can To drop Jonah Coleman
8:47Keep him on waivers And give yourself more of a chance To get him back next week Rather than letting somebody Pick
8:54him up this week But if you think it's really urgent That you go out and get Michael Mayer Then go ahead
9:01and Do it now You just have to realize What your roster Is going to look like This is a short term
9:08solution Not a long term solution At least we hope And so Do you need a tight end?
9:14That's the first question You should ask yourself Will he start for you In a flex potentially If that's a decision That
9:21you have to make And then it's a matter of You know Who are you getting rid of?
9:26You know So I think in the case of Somebody that you know You may have some long term Desire to hold
9:34on to Like Chris Bell You know I have Chris Bell In so many leagues And I don't want to drop Chris
9:41Bell But in the case of Waiting on tight end And I have A league with Chris Bell And Travis Kelsey Like
9:48Kelsey may stink I don't think he's going to But he might And Mayer may be awesome For the two or three
9:55weeks That Brock Bowers is out Or limited So That's a trade off That I'm willing to make Because I don't have
10:02The best tight end situation If you waited And you took Jawan Johnson Or you took Dalton Schultz Or you took Greg
10:09Dolcich Or whoever the case may be Because you did not get The opportunity to draft One of your preferred tight ends
10:16Then this is a move You should be looking to make Because May or may help you And the other crappy part
10:23About this is He's not going to Take up an IR spot So He's not going to be eligible For an IR
10:30spot If your league is Run the right way You got to carry Two or maybe three tight ends now Yeah Right
10:37So that's disappointing Obviously Alright a few more questions here Mayor or Stribling At Flex PPR Mayer Mayor I would lean Mayer
10:44Mayor or Dalton Kincaid Mayor this week Kittle or Mayor Mayor Kittle I would go Mayor Dalton Schultz Or Mayor Mayer Mayer
10:51Mayor Okay Mayor of Kingstown A lot of team name possibilities Here Oh I think I had a good team name But
10:58I forgot I always forget Bauer's outage Bauer's outage is very good Yeah Alright Well thanks for watching And listening to our
11:06bonus podcast We will talk to you tomorrow We'll talk about this game And a little bit more On Michael Mayer And
11:13Trey Tucker On Fantasy Football today See ya On podcasts Sunday The NFL on CBS is back With an electrifying week one
11:20doubleheader I'll see you on Sunday The early slate Features Josh Allen and the Bills Taking on C.J.
11:26Stroud and the Texans in Houston Then it's a classic And the Packers Visit the Vikings It all kicks off at noon
11:33Eastern With the NFL today Live in Minnesota See you Sunday With the NFL on CBS And streaming on Paramount Plus To
11:40us
