Week 2 Lineup Advice: Starts, Sleepers, Sits, Player Debates, and TD Calls (Ep. 2199)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 1 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 18, 2026
Published
Fri, September 18, 2026
34
Player insights
26
Players mentioned
Topics
Aaron JonesDavante AdamsJalen CokerGeorge KittleJonathon BrooksAlvin KamaraBaker MayfieldCaleb DouglasChris GodwinChuba HubbardDallas GoedertDalton KincaidDK MetcalfDrake London
Player analysis
Player insights
Aaron Jones
PositiveUsage22:07
Aaron Jones is a strong start for Week 2 with high volume expectations; the Vikings have no reason not to give him all the touches, and he is expected to rise into RB2 territory in consensus rankings.
Insight pagePositiveProjection57:00
The source selects Aaron Jones as their touchdown call for Week 2, expecting high scoring and significant opportunity for Jones with Jordan Mason dealing with an injury.
Insight pagePositiveProjection59:57
The source identifies Aaron Jones as one of their touchdown calls for Week 2.
Insight pageAlvin Kamara
PositiveUsage41:29
The source would start Alvin Kamara over both Tyler Allgeier and Jonathan Brooks, noting that if active against the Ravens, Kamara should be utilized as the primary secondary piece in the offense.
Insight pageBaker Mayfield
PositiveBreakout23:27
Fitzmaurice is planting his flag on Baker Mayfield for Week 2, ranking him QB13 and looking for reasons to move him higher. The take is driven by the revenge narrative against the Cleveland Browns, who drafted him and subsequently traded him away. Fitzmaurice expects Mayfield to be highly motivated in this matchup.
Insight pageCaleb Douglas
NegativeProjection15:46
Caleb Douglas is viewed as a fringe start due to his role as one of the team's top two receivers, but he faces a tough matchup against a strong 49ers pass defense. Fitzmaurice ranks him WR58, citing a low implied point total for the Dolphins. Seeley ranks him in the low 40s to high 50s, noting that while he is the most talented receiver on the team, the matchup in San Francisco makes him a difficult start.
Insight pageChris Godwin
PositiveProjection47:59
The source likes Chris Godwin as a solid wide receiver three for the season, noting he looks healthy and is in a potential revenge game scenario against the Cowboys.
Insight pageChuba Hubbard
NegativeRole24:35
Chuba Hubbard is a viable start, but his workload is expected to be fluid as Jonathan Brooks recovers, creating long-term uncertainty about his lead-back status.
Insight pageDallas Goedert
PositiveUsage54:52
The source prefers Dallas Goedert over Isaiah Likely for Week 2, arguing that Goedert remains the clear number two option in his offense and is consistently underrated in fantasy rankings.
Insight pageDalton Kincaid
PositiveUsage59:37
The source notes that Dalton Kincaid finally achieved the desired usage, recording 70% of snaps and route participation, which they hope continues on Thursday Night Football.
Insight pageDavante Adams
PositiveProjection28:15
Seeley is planting his flag on Davante Adams, ranking him WR16 and advising against benching him. The reasoning is based on the Giants' struggling secondary, which has been plagued by injuries and poor performance, leading to frequent pass interference penalties. Seeley expects Matthew Stafford to exploit this matchup, potentially leading to a 30-plus point performance for the offense.
Insight pagePositiveProjection57:43
The source picks Davante Adams as their touchdown call for Week 2, predicting he will score against the Giants' secondary.
Insight pagePositiveProjection59:57
The source identifies Davante Adams as one of their touchdown calls for Week 2.
Insight pageDK Metcalf
NegativeProjection43:56
The source is fading DK Metcalf this season because he relies on deep air yards, which conflicts with Aaron Rodgers' current tendency to avoid holding the ball in the pocket.
Insight pageDrake London
NegativeProjection29:57
Drake London is a sit candidate due to the poor quarterback play from Cooper Rush, which resulted in a near-nonexistent passing game in Week 1.
Insight pageGeorge Kittle
PositiveMatchup58:12
The source picks George Kittle as their touchdown call for Week 2, noting a favorable matchup against a weak Dolphins secondary and inexperienced safeties.
Insight pageNegativeProjection59:37
The source ranks George Kittle as the TE7, noting he is in the same range as Kincaid and Kraft, while also highlighting him as a touchdown call for the week.
Insight pageJalen Coker
PositiveRole20:13
Jalen Coker is emerging as a 1B to Teterowell McMillan's 1A in the Panthers' offense, with recent data showing he has earned more targets in recent games.
Insight pagePositiveUsage33:30
Seeley notes that Jalen Coker has emerged as a significant target earner, potentially challenging Teterowell McMillan for the 1B role in the offense, with recent data showing him leading in targets over recent games.
Insight pagePositiveBreakout42:32
The source prefers Jalen Coker over DK Metcalf for Week 2, citing Coker's high productivity over the last nine games and Metcalf's potential struggles with Aaron Rodgers' conservative playstyle.
Insight pageJaylen Waddle
PositiveValue30:02
Jalen Waddle is preferred over Drake London as a WR2, with the expectation that the team will prioritize getting him involved in front of the home crowd.
Insight pageJaylen Warren
PositiveValue59:32
The source expresses a higher personal ranking for Jaylen Warren compared to consensus, indicating he is a preferred option in the current fantasy landscape.
Insight pageJonathon Brooks
NegativeRole39:41
Jonathan Brooks is not recommended as a start for Week 2 because his role in the Panthers' backfield remains too much of a mystery.
Insight pageNegativeRole39:57
The source advises against starting Jonathan Brooks in Week 2 because his role remains a mystery, though they acknowledge he is likely to eventually challenge Chuba Hubbard for work.
Insight pageKaelon Black
NegativeValue4:59
Kalon Black is a popular waiver pickup due to his status as the primary handcuff to Christian McCaffrey, but his startability is uncertain. Fitzmaurice ranks him RB38, noting that his 40% snap share in Week 1 might have been influenced by McCaffrey's lower-body tightness or the unique travel circumstances of the Australia game. Seeley ranks him RB37, placing him in a tier of committee backs with high risk of low touch counts if the 49ers revert to a heavy McCaffrey workload.
Insight pageMarShawn Lloyd
NegativeDepth Chart26:24
Marshawn Lloyd is considered overvalued due to the poor quality of the Green Bay offensive line, which necessitates Chris Brooks' involvement for pass protection.
Insight pageParker Washington
PositiveUsage35:49
Parker Washington is a strong start, particularly in full PPR formats, as he is seeing increased opportunities and being moved around the formation.
Insight pageQuentin Johnston
NegativeSleeper45:09
The source likes the upside of Quentin Johnston for Week 2, especially if Ladd McConkey is out, though they acknowledge the risk of a zero-point performance as the Chargers adjust to a new offense.
Insight pageQuinshon Judkins
NegativeUsage44:24
The source is down on Quinshon Judkins for Week 2, noting that despite a high touch percentage, he is in a miserable offense and faces a Tampa Bay defense that is strong against the run.
Insight pageRashee Rice
NegativeRole19:57
The source suggests Rasheed Rice will not maintain the same role he held in the past now that the Chiefs have an actual roster.
Insight pageRomeo Doubs
NegativeUsage49:59
The source is concerned about Romeo Doubs' outlook, noting that Drake Maye struggled to look his way in Week 1 and that the Patriots' passing game may be a mess with multiple options like Matt Collins and Demario Douglas involved.
Insight pageTreVeyon Henderson
PositiveValue51:05
The source prefers Treyveon Henderson over Romeo Doubs for Week 2, citing his potential for 100 yards on limited touches even in a split backfield.
Insight pageTucker Kraft
NegativeProjection59:37
The source ranks Tucker Kraft as the TE6, placing him in the same tier as Dalton Kincaid and George Kittle.
Insight pageTyler Allgeier
PositiveUsage39:54
The source prefers Tyler Allgeier over Jonathan Brooks for Week 2, noting Allgeier played more snaps than Jeremiah Love in Week 1, though the source expects this usage gap to potentially reverse soon.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click Grainger.com, or stop by.
0:04Grainger, for the ones who get it done. Hello everybody, welcome into the FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast.
0:09I'm Ryan Warmly, joined today by Pat Fitzmaurice and Jake Seeley from The Athletic, and we are talking starts and sits.
0:16And are we starting our sitting waiver as we picked up?
0:19We're doing a touchdown calls contest. It is a jam-packed Thursday episode here as we head into week two.
0:25We are in the rhythm of the NFL season, boys.
0:27And I'm really excited. Week one's super fun. It also feels kind of surreal.
0:32Like, oh, it's actually here. Now it's like, oh, we're in it.
0:35We're at the week-to-week grind. We're pumping out rankings and starts hits and all that fun stuff.
0:40It's how you're feeling here heading into week two, which is kicking off with a very exciting game tonight.
0:46Oh, I can't wait for Bills-Lions. What a way to start Thursday.
0:49And remember when the Thursday matchups used to be so drab and it seemed like the offenses were always sleeping through most of them?
0:56We got a game with a Vegas total of 54 and a half tonight.
1:01What a way to start week two. I made plans for tonight like a month and a half ago.
1:06And I remember specifically thinking, oh, it's a Thursday night.
1:09Who cares? There's not gonna be a fun matchup then.
1:12And then I get to this week and I'm like, oh, I do have something on Thursday.
1:17Oh, no, it's during Bills-Lions. And it's devastating. So I'll be following along as best I can on my phone.
1:23Jake, how are you feeling here getting into week two?
1:26You can hear like Nico Collins and then come through week 100% trying to like work through it.
1:31I should have been in game shape for this season with my throat.
1:35I mean, excited for tonight, even with the offensive line issues, this is gonna be all depending on when you're watching it.
1:42Maybe the game last night, it's gonna be at this point of 14 to 10 or something like that.
1:47Just because that's what this is football's back. We're already frustrated.
1:51People are already panicking and benching Jalen Waddle. That's all you need to know.
1:55Erickson has been on the corner pointing out that all of the primetime games have gone under so far.
2:00So hopefully, hopefully that doesn't continue. I thought you were gonna say he was on the corner crying about Jalen Waddle.
2:07That's probably D-Bro actually would be my guess. That's true.
2:10Although I guess, I guess a bit of both of them.
2:13A reminder for everybody that all of our weekly 2026 rankings and tiers can be found at fantasypros.com slash rankings.
2:19We didn't do this last week because we didn't really have a waivers run to talk about.
2:24But each week on this show, we are going to be doing just a quick segment at the top of popular waiver ads this week.
2:31Are we starting or sitting them? Because I always find that very interesting.
2:35It ends up being one of the questions I feel like we get the most throughout the course of the week is,
2:41Hey, I just picked up this hot waiver ad.
2:44Am I actually starting him right away? Or is this somebody that you're just sort of picking up two stash on your bench?
2:51So I want to hit on some of those names every time we do this episode.
2:56I've got three names for you here. Fitz, I'll start with you.
2:59Kalon Black is the first name here. He seemed to be there wasn't like the number like clear one on one consensus waiver pickup this week.
3:07But he was the general consensus. I saw his name most often at the top of the waiver articles this week.
3:13If you picked up black, are you starting him in a very, very tasty matchup against the Dolphins?
3:18So I've got him RB 38, which probably puts him on the distant fringes of flex territory.
3:23And I think the reason he was such a popular pickup this week, mainly because he's now the most indispensable handcuff in
3:30fantasy football as the backup to the oft injured Christian McCaffrey.
3:33But yeah, this might be we don't know whether his usage and he played over 40 percent of the offensive snaps for
3:40the 49ers and that went over the Rams. We don't know how much of that was related to the weirdness of an
3:46Australia game and maybe just trying to manage McCaffrey a little more carefully after his August lower body tightness.
3:52But if there were a game where we would feel excited about maybe black getting some usage and some garbage time, it
3:58would be with the 49ers as double digit favorites at home against the Dolphins who let Ashton Gentty go pretty much wild last week.
4:05Yeah, Jake, the matchup is the key here, right?
4:08Normally, it's like, OK, yeah, this is like a very indispensable handcuff, like Fitz is saying.
4:13And one of the backups that you would want to have just on your bench against the Dolphins like that might be enough to still be startable.
4:21Where are you ranking black this week? Yeah. Why does Fitz hate him?
4:25Talked him up so much on the waiver show.
4:27I haven't met 37 one spot in front of him.
4:30So it comes down to he's in the same bucket for me of he was right behind Blake Korm, right behind a
4:37non guy, right ahead of Woody Marks, right ahead of Rashad White.
4:40I actually think that might just be as miserable as a committee that we can get behind an awful, awful offensive line.
4:47But he's more so in that first group of names that I brought up in front of Woody Marks in that group
4:53of like, yeah, they're going to be timeshare potential and potential for a lot on a few touches.
4:59But there's the risk that they only get six and they don't get into the end zone.
5:04So that's why they're in this group. The matchup definitely helps.
5:07But we talked about on the waiver show and Fitz just said the same thing.
5:11We don't know. Unfortunately, like we can sit here and project, but we don't know if week one was overseas CMC cramping
5:18up, not being 100%, easing to the workload, whatever it might be.
5:21And they might go back to CMC from last year where he just gets 20 touches.
5:26But on the chance that they actually ease off of him this year from last year, that's why he's in play as that fringy flex.
5:34By the way, you guys are both below consensus.
5:36He's RB 36 currently in half VPR consensus. Terrible.
5:39Both despise Kalen Black. Another name here that I want to talk about a receiver, Devon Vele.
5:44Obviously for the Saints, you know, really interesting usage in week one, going up against the Ravens here in week two.
5:50Jake, I'll start with you on this one. Are you interested in starting Vele in any of your leagues this week?
5:56Absolutely. If you go back to last year, if you looked at it and the first game wasn't even that great after
6:03the bye when he was really in the mix after the Shaheed trade.
6:07But wide receiver 48-8, 44-32. And then this week he starts off as a top 15 wide receiver.
6:12Do I expect that? And do I expect the eight?
6:15No. But do I expect a lot of wide receiver three finishes until Jordan Tyson?
6:19If when? Comes back. And if when gets back into the mix?
6:23Yeah. I have him in the 30s. I have him alongside Chris Godwin, Stefan Diggs, Matthew Golden, Romeo Dobbs.
6:29And I'm not that afraid of the Ravens defense.
6:31Maybe this is just reactionary, but I felt like this already started last year with the Ravens defense and looked the same in week one.
6:39Daniel Jones was more the problem than the Ravens defense is.
6:42I don't think the Ravens defense is something to be afraid of anymore.
6:46I think we could end up in a lot of potential shootouts with the Ravens, especially with the new look offense that they have.
6:53So like I said, I am in the 30s.
6:55I'm in 36. I'm way, I know that's way above consensus.
6:59But he's in a tier two. Like if you wanted to still start Dobbs over him, if you still wanted to start
7:05Matthew Golden over him, I get it. But he's at least, in my opinion, his name deserves to be alongside those names.
7:12By the way, I should have read nine targets, seven catches, 69 yards and a touchdown in that week one game.
7:18And to be fair, if it was only the first 35, 40 minutes, everybody would be like, who's Vele?
7:24Yeah. He is not ranked very highly in consensus.
7:26I would say, Fitz, I want to hear what you have to say first.
7:30And then I'll reveal if you haven't seen it where he's actually ranked in ECR.
7:35But Jake is well ahead of consensus here. Or Fitz, where are you at on Vele?
7:39Particularly in this matchup. I am a little more scared about the Ravens defense for players facing them.
7:45I'm not like terrified. I'm not shaking in my boots.
7:48I do think I think Jesse Vinter looks pretty good in his first week and it will continue to get better.
7:54Fitz, where are you at on this matchup? I was going to say, Worm, are you going to take this Ravens slander?
8:00I was not going to. Coming right out of the gates.
8:04I mean, just taking the gloves off. Real quick, I know you asked Fitz, but this is similar to the offensive changes too.
8:11They happen quicker with defense. But I do expect them to get better.
8:14I'm not worried right now. Like, I think there's enough issues they still need to work through before we get the best version of the Ravens defense.
8:22Let me make that part clear. Go ahead, Fitz.
8:25Sorry. No, that's okay. I'm sure Worm was happy to see a pass rush after last year.
8:30And they pressured Daniel Jones. Not even sacks. Just pressure was nice to see after last year.
8:35Unlike half of Daniel Jones' dropbacks, which was something they did not do last year.
8:40So I am lower on Valey. I've got him wide receiver 51.
8:43I do think he might be startable in leagues where you have to start three receivers.
8:48Maybe you've got Zay Flowers and need a replacement there.
8:51Maybe you need a flex. So I do think he's in plausible start territory.
8:55I just think people should, you know, realize what a nitro-fueled game script it was for the Saints last year.
9:01Falling behind 21-0 right out of the gate against the Lions.
9:04Having to play from behind. Running, what, 86 plays.
9:07Throwing 56 passes. And Kellen Moore is a fast-paced play caller.
9:10Fastest in the NFL. So that's good. I just...
9:13That was an extraordinary game script. And it might have pumped up Valey's surface stats a little bit.
9:18Fitz is much more aligned with consensus. In fact, he's exactly aligned with consensus.
9:22Valey's wide receiver 51. Okay, go back to the weeks 12 through 15.
9:26His target share, 16, 24, 25, 19, 17 in week one.
9:29It's the target. He's 15, 16, 17% plus in every single game that he's been there as the number two.
9:35That's with Jawan Johnson. Yeah. I like him. I mean, I just...
9:39But you think the Ravens D is trash and I give it respect.
9:42Yeah, that's not what I said. One more waiver pickup here.
9:46Caleb Douglas was somebody who, you know, 90 plus yards in week one.
9:50Obviously, there's so many question marks about this team and this offense and the supporting cast Malik Willis has.
9:55All that stuff. And they are huge underdogs here, Fitz.
9:58But Douglas looked better than I expected him to in his first game in the NFL.
10:03Now he gets the Niners coming back from this Australia trip as his opponent.
10:07Where is he ranked for you? Is he somebody that you're willing to consider starting this week?
10:12Wide receiver 58. I think you'd kind of have to be in a pinch to start him.
10:17But he is one of their clear top two receivers.
10:20He and Malik Washington led the team in wide receiver snaps.
10:23The only issue is, as you said, Worm, they're huge underdogs going up against a 49ers pass defense that looked terrific against the Rams in week one.
10:31And the Dolphins implied point total, I believe, is 16 for this game, which doesn't promise great hopes of a touchdown for Caleb Douglas this week.
10:39Jake, does any part of you wonder, like, so much was put into the travel stuff with San Francisco and Los Angeles going to Australia.
10:46Like, some of the talk around it was that the Rams travel plans were going to keep them on more of a rhythm for week two and beyond.
10:55Whereas the Niners, it was going to be harder.
10:57It was going to be easier for week one, but harder for week two.
11:01Is any part of you thinking about that? I mean, like, I know the Dolphins are as easy a matchup as you
11:08can hope for coming back from a trip like that.
11:11But do you think there's room for maybe the Dolphins cover this huge number or maybe some of their players are a
11:17little bit better in fantasy than you expect, given that the Niners are traveling back from Australia after spending some time there?
11:24Or is that not really a concern for you?
11:27I don't pretend to be a doctor, let alone a sleep doctor.
11:30This holds about as much weight as whether or not, you know, the quarterback and wide receiver ate lunch together.
11:36Like, I could not care. I'm not going to try and go down.
11:40Like, of my list of things that go into my algorithm and all that type of stuff, like the travel is like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
11:48Like, I mean, this is another world. Like, do they like Skittles?
11:51I would care more. This really like, but what it comes down to, I know everything you're saying.
11:57And after the fact, we might be like, oh, that travel really killed them.
12:01But like, it's hard to say for sure. And, you know, obviously it didn't help the Rams in that game.
12:07But the bigger thing here is that I'm more concerned about the 49ers defense than I thought it would be.
12:13You know, Warner looks as elite as he's ever been.
12:16And they still had some injuries, which is why I thought they might be susceptible to start the year.
12:21But they really came into that game and controlled every facet of it.
12:25And again, maybe that's the Rams. And their sleep issue was the wrong way to go, whatever it might be.
12:31But I was a very big Caleb Douglas supporter mostly because he was the one.
12:35And I called him Cedric Tillman on the Dolphins who actually knows how to play football.
12:40So I do still think that there's potential issues in this matchup.
12:44And that's why I'm with Fitz. I'm slightly ahead of him, but I have him in the low 40s, high 50s, depending on your scoring system.
12:51But he's in that conversation to give you other names like Adonai Mitchell, Jacoby Myers with Brian Thomas playing like those kind
12:58of names, just because I don't love going into San Francisco.
13:01Would you play between Adonai Mitchell and Caleb Douglas?
13:04Barely Caleb Douglas. Barely. All right. I'm just barely Adonai Mitchell on that one.
13:08And I'm okay with it. Douglas is wide receiver 54 consensus.
13:11Mitchell is wide receiver 58 for what it's worth.
13:14Oh, I love both of them. Plus one, plus three.
13:17There you go. And Jake, I never hesitate to say, no, that's a dumb question.
13:21I don't put any stock in that. All right.
13:24My job is to ask the question and you're welcome to say, no, I don't care.
13:29Move on from that. There are no such things as dumb questions.
13:32Only dumb people who ask questions. Oh, yeah. Okay.
13:35Only dumb people who don't trust the Ravens defense.
13:38All right. Let's go to our plant your flag section.
13:41You guys are going to pick a player here that you are really just planting your flag on.
13:46And it can be a big name that you think is going to have a huge week.
13:51It can be a lower ranked name that you really just want to kind of make your point that you think they're
13:57going to outperform their ranking this week. Just a guy that you have a lot of conviction in for week two.
14:04Fitz, starting with you, who are you planting your flag on?
14:07Oh, Baker Mayfield, the QB who always has a chip on his shoulder.
14:11And that chip is the size of a log for a game against the Cleveland Browns who drafted Mayfield number one overall in 2018.
14:18First three seasons, kind of an up and down ride.
14:21But 2020, Mayfield gets the Browns their first playoff victory in 26 years.
14:25After that success, eight and nine the next year, kind of an uneven year.
14:29And the Browns just decide to blow it all up.
14:32They trade a ton of draft picks for Deshaun Watson, despite the numerous allegations against Watson.
14:36Then a few months later, they trade Baker Mayfield to the Panthers for a conditional fifth round draft pick.
14:42Obviously, the Deshaun Watson tenure has not gone that well.
14:45And guess who's going to be starting for the Browns?
14:48Because nonetheless, when they visit Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, it's going to be Deshaun Watson going against Baker Mayfield.
14:54So, you know, Baker is going to be fired up for this one.
14:58He's ranked QB 17 fits. So not amongst the starting range for a one QB league.
15:02Where's he ranked for you? QB 13. And I'm looking for excuses to move him higher than that.
15:08Trying to move him higher. Jake, what do you think about the Browns defense?
15:12Right. Like we know the offense is going to be problematic throughout the season for them.
15:17Do you think the defense is going to look better in future weeks?
15:20And maybe this is just a case of the Jags came in and Trevor Lawrence kind of continued his hot streak to end last year.
15:28Or do you think this is going to be a very exploitable defense for opposing quarterbacks?
15:33I would say very, but much more exploitable than we've seen.
15:36You know, take away Myles Garrett and like it's a ripple effect and what this has done to this team.
15:42So and I think there's other factors involved, too.
15:44I mean, to go back to the bigger things, revenge, like the biggest revenge of all time.
15:49How sweet would it be if he ends the career of Watson and gets him benched and we never see Watson start at the same time again?
15:57This would just be the full circle. By the way, this is why I shouldn't own it.
16:02That's the Chris Berman quote. So it's there's no such thing as a stupid question.
16:07Just stupid people who ask questions. That's right. So there you go.
16:10This is Chris Berman shout out. But I'm not as like put it this way.
16:15Going forward to bring up the Ravens thing I wrote about.
16:18I think it's 10 times more likely. The Ravens are a defense in four weeks.
16:23We're like, oh, gosh. All right. They're finally clicking.
16:25We're worried about them. And the Browns are still just like, you know what?
16:29They're not that good. The Browns defense isn't bad, though.
16:32I think the bigger problem is that the Browns offense isn't good enough to pick up first downs and keep the Browns defense off the field.
16:40And the Browns D gets to. Yeah. And they get to bake in the Tampa sun on Sunday.
16:45Yeah. I think it's very, very likely that this is the last game we see from Deshaun Watson.
16:51And I think there's nobody on the planet besides Deshaun Watson that would complain about that.
16:55Plant your flag, Jake. Who's your player here? So I'm going to start analytical, and then I'm going to go kind of
17:02anecdotal on this one, is that I'm going against the Giants corners.
17:05And I know that front seven is everything thought people could be, and it looked really good in that game against the Cowboys.
17:12But their corners were still an issue, and their corners were so much an issue that they also got banged up.
17:18And at the end of the game, for everybody that was watching that, if you didn't miss it, they were basically just
17:25tackling wide receivers, just stopping things wrapping. And that's why all the pass interferences started happening.
17:30I just think they're going to be a legitimate concern.
17:33This is not similar to the Giants Super Bowl year where that front seven was so good, and the corners were just
17:39shutting people down because they didn't have to do a lot.
17:42This is the front seven might be so good, but the corners are still not really good.
17:47And that's the biggest issue. Adebo doesn't look great.
17:50The one – I forget. I can't think of his name off the top of my head.
17:55Andrew Phillips looked terrible that entire game. So Devontae Adams going against this and Pukunokua and Matthew Stafford, they just need to
18:02get some time for Stafford because you have to worry about that rush.
18:05But just give him some time, and he's going to eat them alive because the anecdotal part was like you tell me
18:12Sean McVay, Matthew Stafford coming back home after getting gobsmacked in the mouth, seeing that giant secondary and don't want to just
18:18tear them a new one this week and put up 30-plus points, possibly all just passing the ball.
18:24So this is – yeah, Devontae Adams is – do not binge Devontae Adams.
18:28If he goes goose egg on you, then you can come back and laugh at me next week.
18:33But there is no way for all the people who keep asking, I am not binging Devontae Adams this week.
18:39Sorry, did you say where is he ranked for you?
18:42Oh, I haven't been – he's the first player outside tier one of wide receivers at wide receiver 16.
18:48Okay. So definitely had a consensus. He's wide receiver 23 in the consensus rankings.
18:52Fitz, where is he at for you? I tend to lean towards Jake.
18:56I don't know exactly where I would rank Adams, but I do tend to lean towards him just in terms of like thinking about this matchup in general.
19:04I really don't want to overreact to week one with either of these two teams here.
19:09So where is he ranked for you? Wide receiver 22, and Jake made a heck of a kiss because I'm looking to
19:15see who I might move him ahead of. Here, I'll give you one.
19:19I'm starting to head to Devontae Smith. I know Devontae Smith, I expect much better.
19:24I'm not panicking on him, but I have Devontae Smith, Garrett Wilson, Tee Higgins, Parker Washington, all directly behind him.
19:29But that's how good I feel about Devontae Adams.
19:32Devontae Adams last year – I'm not saying you're wrong if you disagree, Fitz – but Devontae Adams last year was like, oh, the touchdowns can't keep continuing.
19:40But that's his game. That's who he was. He led receiving touchdowns in week 14 by three, didn't play the rest of
19:47the season, and still finished the season leading receiving touchdowns by three.
19:50Just his game with Matthew Stafford. Yeah, you've definitely convinced me to move him ahead of Rasheed Rice, who I just think
19:57is not going to have the same kind of role he had in the past now that the Chiefs have an actual role.
20:04All right, who's the next one? Can I get you another one?
20:07Let's see. Let's see how far we can get.
20:10Teterowell McMillan. Oh, you've got to start in front of Teterowell McMillan.
20:13Like, come on. Bryce Young versus Matthew Stafford? Tett might be the 1B to the 1A Coker at this point.
20:19Debro has already gone there with me, Jake. Hey, don't rekindle this fire.
20:23There's a few of those tweets going around. Like, in the last X number of games, Jalen Coker has the better and more targets.
20:30I'm not going – like, I was as big as Coker as anybody, but, like, I'm not going that far.
20:36But as jokingly as I said that, I do think this might actually be a 1A, 1B situation.
20:42McMillan, still the A. I don't like how slow he looked on that game.
20:46That muscle might actually be a bad thing. But I do think they're neck and neck versus where we thought there was a gap.
20:53We actually have more questions on both of the Panthers receivers coming up later in the show.
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21:55All right, guys. Let's get into our start-sit player debates.
21:58Got a couple running back debates and a couple receiver debates for you.
22:02We'll start with the running backs as usual. Jake, I'll start with you on this one.
22:07Aaron Jones, you know, Jordan Mason going on IR here heading into this game, versus Chuba Hubbard.
22:12Just talking about the Panthers here. So Jones or Hubbard, who do you prefer to start in week two?
22:17Aaron Jones. And it's close, but I have a few spots in front of him, mostly because it's one that we are
22:24excited about the matchup with the Bears. But two is there's no reason for the Vikings not to give Aaron Jones all the touches.
22:31We're talking about DJ Dallas was active last week.
22:34Claiborne was inactive, probably because of everything that was talked about Claiborne.
22:37I do think Claiborne has talent and juice. And I also said that he potentially could come for Aaron Jones' role, not the lead role.
22:45So that's part of the factor there. But everything from route run to pass blocking to not getting the gaps on assignments and stuff like that.
22:52Like, there was a lot that we heard from Claiborne in the preseason negative-wise, which is not surprising for a rookie.
22:58But I think that's the biggest thing is he's probably going to be active.
23:03But they also signed Jerome Ford, which just tells them how they feel about that backfield.
23:07And Aaron Jones is a free agent. He's like, run him into the ground.
23:11He's going to get a billion touches. And so similar to what Fitz said earlier, I have him at 21.
23:17And I want to move him higher, but I just can't because the names in front of him are like Scadaboo, Hole, and Hampton.
23:25And I can't go further than that. In ECR, Aaron Jones' RB28.
23:28I really wanted to – and usually I try to look for guys that, oh, maybe these two are going to disagree.
23:35We can get some natural debate on the show.
23:37This was one where I just wanted to find somebody with Aaron Jones because given midweek update on Jordan Mason, really intriguing
23:44matchup against Chicago, I just really wanted to make sure we had Aaron Jones discussed on this episode.
23:49So I'm not even actually sure. You guys might be in lockstep here.
23:53He's RB28 in consensus. Chuba Hubbard, RB23. So there is a small gap between them in ECR here.
23:58Fitz, who do you prefer? I've got Jones RB20.
24:01I've got Hubbard RB22. I couldn't tell by your face where you're going.
24:05No, I would play Jones and I think in ECR he will by Sunday be an RB2 in ECR.
24:10I think maybe people have just been slow to adjust their rankings with the Mason news.
24:15So, yeah, I just – we don't know how much of a role DeMond Claiborne or anyone else might have in this
24:22backfield, but Claiborne didn't even play in week one.
24:24So I agree with Jake. It's probably going to be a big load for Aaron Jones and it's against the Chicago Bears defense, which is a pinball machine.
24:33Everyone is going to light up that defense every week.
24:35Chuba Hubbard, I just feel like the workload might be – I think the backfield division of labor for the Panthers is
24:42going to be kind of fluid in this season.
24:45And we saw Chuba outplay and outsnap dramatically Jonathan Brooks in week one, but I feel like that was because Hubbard got
24:51injured earlier in August than Jonathan Brooks did and is like further along in his recovery.
24:56Like he's good to go and Brooks is just starting to be good to go.
25:00And obviously they went and played safe with Brooks after the multiple ACL tears.
25:04So it wouldn't be surprising if eventually at one point Hubbard kind of lost the lead role or if they made this kind of a 50-50.
25:12And I just can't tell when that might happen.
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25:36Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Is Hubbard for you this week fits outside of the top 24 or is he inside that RV2 range?
25:43No, 22. 22. He's 22. Oh yeah, that's right.
25:46You said 22 and Jones 20. You're probably starting Chuba Hubbard if you have him and I have no issues with that.
25:52Yeah, the agreement here is that you're enthusiastic about Aaron Jones, both of you, more so than ECR.
25:57It's less about being extra down on Hubbard this week or anything like that.
26:02I think the Hubbard investors might get rug pulled at some point, but it's going to be hard to tell when that might happen.
26:09Yeah, I think that's super fair. And I would agree with you guys too.
26:13Jones to me is the more exciting play of the two.
26:16All right, like I said, I want to make sure that I really included one with Jones here.
26:21Let's go to another running back debate. How about Marshawn Lloyd or Kyle Manungay?
26:25I'll pull up the rankings here in ECR. Marshawn Lloyd is RB30 against the Jets.
26:30Manungay is RB32 against the Vikings. Fitz, I'll start with you on this one.
26:34Who do you prefer this week? I greatly prefer Manungay.
26:37He's RB29 for me. Lloyd is RB34. The Bears running game is fantastic.
26:41Both guys ran for 100 yards. Granted, it was against the Panthers, which is less of a feat than doing it against the Vikings would be.
26:49But Ben Johnson, the best running game designer in the NFL and a great offensive line in front of him.
26:54Not a great offensive line? Green Bay Packers. And I can tell you that as a Packers fan.
27:00Also, Marshawn Lloyd was out snapped by Chris Brooks in week one, 38 to 30.
27:04The Green Bay offensive line, because it's so bad, it means not great holes in the running game and it means they
27:11need Chris Brooks to help in pass protection, which he does a lot better than Marshawn Lloyd does.
27:16So I just, I think Marshawn Lloyd is being overvalued right now.
27:20And not because of anything Marshawn Lloyd has done to, you know, fail in this job.
27:24It's just a bad setup for him right now with the Green Bay offensive line looking like one of the worst in the league.
27:31Jake? I don't disagree on the offensive line, but yeah, we get a disagreement now because I am going with Marshawn Lloyd.
27:38It is close, but it really comes down to the first half was a 50% of the workload.
27:43And then the second half was 75% Marshawn Lloyd.
27:46I think the Packers saw the same thing everybody did, is that Marshawn Lloyd looked better in that game.
27:52I have a feeling this was a lot of what we expect from other injured running backs, you know, limited workloads coming
27:58out week one, not knowing what's going to be like easing Lloyd in as it should be.
28:03And yes, if we see the Bears wagon take off again, you know, the limited touches between the two might, if you
28:10told me they both get 13, I'd probably take Mononga.
28:13I have a feeling we were already turning to Lloyd, despite the fact, like I said, I agree with Fitz about the offensive line concerns.
28:20I'm not that scared of the Jets defense yet.
28:23I'm not putting any weight into smacking the Titans in the face because that's more of the Titans than anything.
28:28Um, so I, I still think that they're gettable on the ground.
28:32I do think the Packers are going to be pass happy.
28:35Uh, but I do also think that Lloyd's going to get some more opportunities.
28:39So I'm at 30 and I have Mononga at 34.
28:42So it's not like I'm saying, oh my God, you're crazy to take Mononga.
28:47So yeah, but you're exactly in consensus on Lloyd, uh, with ECR, but just a little bit lower.
28:52I'm a non guy. Um, Fitz, I I'm sorry if you said this, I was pulling up the ranking, so I might've
28:58missed it, but with the offensive line concerns for green Bay, is that like at all lessened just because they're not facing a Brian Flores defense this week?
29:07Like that he's the type of guy just as much as he blitzes where you're going to notice that more often.
29:13Does that like kind of lessen that worry for you?
29:16As a green Bay Packers fan, it is a concern for me every week.
29:20And I go, I go to bed mad at Brian Gutekunst for letting this offensive line go to seed.
29:26By the way, a common guy is listed as questionable.
29:28It doesn't seem like he's at much risk of missing this game.
29:32Just throwing it out there. We actually have the, are you, are they playing tool at fantasy pros.com?
29:37You can Google that and, uh, and go check out that tool as well.
29:42Currently gives them a 75% chance to play. That'll go up once we get Thursday practice reports, I would imagine, but just
29:48wanted to mention it because that Q is listed next to his name.
29:52Um, let's go to a receiver debate here. Fitz, I'll start with you on this one.
29:57Drake London or Jalen Waddle? A couple of disappointing receivers that you probably drafted relatively early in your leagues.
30:02If you had these guys on your team, who would you rather start coming off of their poor week one?
30:08Waddle. There's just, there's no hope for Drake London with Cooper Rush.
30:12Quarterback. I mean, Tua not ready to come back from the oblique injury.
30:16Michael Penix Jr. Who eventually is the hope that Drake London gets back to wide receiver one status.
30:21Penix not quite ready to return from his ACL tear.
30:24They're letting him go at his own rate. Sounds like he's close, but he is not quite ready.
30:29Um, so yeah, like the Falcons passing game was just non-existent last week with Cooper Rush.
30:34He completed four passes to pass catchers other than Bijon Robinson last week.
30:38Um, and yeah, I just, I do not want to start Drake London because I just think it's going to lead to heartbreak.
30:44The Panthers have better cornerbacks than the Jaguars. And like Bo Nix was terrible in that game against the Chiefs.
30:50And I do think we should start questioning how good Bo Nix was.
30:54I mean, he averaged 6.4 yards per attempt last year.
30:57Same number as Bryce Young. So I'm not sure Bo Nix is a, even an average starting NFL quarterback, but he's better than Cooper Rush.
31:05I think what's, I'm curious Fitz before I toss to Jake on this matchup against the Carolina defense.
31:10Do you think that the 59 points they allowed is more about the bears than it is about their defense?
31:16Or is it a bit of both? Because if that is the type of defense that can allow that type of performance
31:22to anybody, even a really good offense, does that maybe open things up a little bit more for the Falcons as opposed
31:29to going up against a Steelers defense that I thought was a terrible matchup for this offense.
31:34And we talked about it all last week. So is there any extra hope for the Falcons passing game just by nature of the opponent?
31:41Or is this completely a, as long as it's not Michael Penix, you are more than welcome to sit these guys type of situation.
31:48Yeah. I mean, it's not that I hate the matchup for London, although maybe he gets some of JC Horn, which is
31:55always a tough individual matchup, but like it was mostly the Panthers getting destroyed on the ground.
32:00Ivaro, the Panthers defensive coordinator, like would not come out of the too high safety look and Ben Johnson just punished him for it.
32:07Yeah. Jake, where are you at on Drake London versus Jalen Waddle?
32:11About five spots apart in ECR, by the way.
32:13Yeah, I was, I was queuing this up because I can't believe I want to get this.
32:18Can we get, can we get Captain Jack out there?
32:21Can we do it? Let's do it. Let's get him out there for the Falcons.
32:26Because if that was the case, I would legitimately put Drake London inside my top 20.
32:30Not, not much higher, but that's my point is I don't even have him inside the top 20.
32:36This is Cooper Rush objectively was one of the worst quarterback performances we've seen in the last five years.
32:41There's no question about it. And now he's practicing in full.
32:45Like I thought we were going to get Captain Jack under center and I would have said move Drake London up because it can't get worse.
32:52And I know we've made that joke before about it can't get worse.
32:56And we've seen it actually be just as bad.
32:59But I have Jalen Waddle solidly in front of him.
33:02I think that Jalen Waddle, I kind of alluded it to earlier and I agree with Fitz.
33:07I'm throwing that game out. This was Spagnolo. This was a future, I like, I don't know how many are in there,
33:13but future Hall of Fame defensive coordinator type situation going against Davis Webb calling this first game with Sean Payton.
33:19I'm pretty sure there's a hole in Sean Payton's cheek from where he was chewing on it, wanting to call the plays in the second half.
33:27Like that's how bad it was. So all that being said, I've always been lower than most people on Bo Nix.
33:33I do have concerns like Fitz said about him being a quarterback in the NFL that we can trust to carry a high powered offense.
33:40But I'm still giving Jalen Waddle and an entire offensive pass.
33:44I would not watch any of the tape of him, the Broncos.
33:47And I put Waddle right back into my lineup as a wide receiver too.
33:51I wasn't as high on Waddle as most people were this season.
33:55I had him as a wide receiver too. I think he remains a wide receiver too.
34:00Drake London, start Jalen Coker instead of Derek London.
34:02Do it. Drake London is still in consensus wide receiver 17.
34:06That's just, that's just too high. Like you can't ignore the situation.
34:09I know you've spent draft capital on him if he's on your roster, but he's totally suitable until hopefully just one more week.
34:16Hopefully get pennies in week three. Fingers crossed. Speaking of draft capital, I mean, this is narrative street, but you know, after
34:22trading a first round pick for Jalen Waddle, like they are going to get, they'll want to get him going in front of the home crowd.
34:30Listen, do we know that? This is a team that dropped, like traded up to the second round to get Marvin Mims and then didn't use him.
34:38Like they do not mind throwing their draft capital around.
34:41Sean Payton wasn't there yet. And then not using those guys.
34:44So to be fair. Okay. Well, he, he, RG Harvey, you know, not the lead back.
34:49So I will say like, that's the thing too.
34:52I like Fitz's point. Like we might, this might be like a Jalen Waddle game and I know the Jaguars defense is
34:58good, but this Jaguars offense is also looking like, like when are you going to start putting the Jaguars offense in the
35:05conversation of the bears and the lions and the Rams and stuff like that?
35:09They did it for over a half a season last year, come out doing the exact same thing.
35:14How about them pushing the pace and forcing teams to keep up with them?
35:18Um, but I do love worm. The Denver residents soaking up all these complaints from the Broncos fans and then repeating them for us.
35:25Yes. I have a nice little insight there. I was going to say too, like the Jags dropped what?
35:3134 points in Denver just a year ago. Right.
35:34And that's when it's my five season. So yeah, yeah, definitely.
35:37So this is a, an offense that I think absolutely can come in and force the Broncos need to keep up.
35:43Uh, let's go to another receiver debate here. How about speaking of the Jags, Parker Washington versus T Higgins.
35:49Who do you guys like better? Uh, they are back to back in the consensus rankings this week at wide receiver 18 and 19, both behind Drake London.
35:57Like I said before, wide receiver 17, Jake, starting with you on this one, T Higgins or Parker Washington.
36:03That's coin flip. This is tearing my soul apart because T Higgins was one of my favorite undervalued wide receivers because nobody ever wants to give him respect.
36:11And then Parker Washington, I think was this entire network's favorite wide receiver to give more respect to just in general.
36:17And that people were like, well, can he do it again?
36:20This is as coin flippy as it can get.
36:23I think that if we were talking non PPR, I would lean Higgins, full PPR, Parker Washington, half point PR clip, flip a coin.
36:30I will say this, that if Joe Burrow is not a hundred percent for that game, that would be enough for me
36:37to just say, just start Parker Washington. Because the good thing that is good and bad.
36:41But the issue is that Washington was almost 50% out wide, which is what we want.
36:46Like, cool. Parker Washington is going to get moved around even more opportunities this year.
36:51This is why you should be on Parker Washington.
36:53But I will say the other one, the other injury that comes into play, it doesn't sound like it's going to be an issue.
37:00But if Brian Thomas somehow sat, I do think we might see more Brian or Parker Washington, even outside 60, 65%.
37:07And that little bit of an uptick where you might see Sertan just a little bit more would be enough to say
37:13definitively to Higgins with a healthy Joe Burrow. That's how close it is.
37:17And I think the good thing here is that Parker Washington is in the conversation as a top 20 wide receiver where he should have been.
37:25Yes. Very quickly, we are adjusting those rankings from him compared to where he was in draft season.
37:30So that's nice to see. Fitz, I'm curious what you think here.
37:33It's a good point on Joe Burrow, right? Like he didn't throw yesterday, has his back thing.
37:38He's talking about it as if it's like a total joke, the idea that he wouldn't play in week two.
37:44But you never know if it's just impacted even a little bit, if that's enough to be a tiebreaker here.
37:50Where are you going with this one? Washington or T Higgins?
37:54I started with Higgins higher. I've got Washington one spot higher now.
37:57I've both got them as mid-range wide receiver twos, Washington wide receiver 17, Higgins wide receiver 18.
38:02Pretty much everything Jake talked about, like that's what I'm looking at.
38:06And just the Burrow back tightness thing. He also had some sort of brace on his shoulder in practice earlier this week,
38:12seemed to be throwing kind of gingerly in a very limited practice.
38:16The other thing, I mean, this Texans defense, you've got to figure they're going to be breathing fire this week after getting
38:22dog walked by Josh Allen last week. I'm much more confident for this week specifically in the Texans defense bouncing back than
38:29I am the Broncos defense bouncing back in terms of the two opponents here.
38:33So you said 17 and 18. Are they ahead of or behind Mike Evans for you, Fitz?
38:38Because that's who's right ahead of Drake London in consensus.
38:41I've got Mike Evans higher because I think the Dolphins have the worst secondary in the league.
38:46Sure. Sure. Okay. All right. So yeah, right in that mid wide receiver two range for both of them.
38:51Then you're basically if it's aligned with consensus, if Drake London was moved down.
38:56So you're right there with ECR. Jake, did you say where you have those two ranked?
39:00Same exact spot. And mine would actually end up one spot, both being one spot ahead of consensus.
39:06Because right now as a placeholder, it doesn't sound like he's going to play.
39:10But I do have lad McConkie inside the top 16 if he actually plays against the Raiders.
39:15If he were to play. Okay. If you're not sure who to start, you can get fast free starter set advice with the fantasy pros.
39:22Who should I start tool? Compare your players and get instant recommendations powered by more than 150 fantasy experts.
39:28Set your best lineup today at fantasypros.com slash start.
39:31All right, guys, let's get to some more rapid fire start set decisions.
39:34We've got another running back one for you. Fitz starting with you.
39:38Tyler Algier or Jonathan Brooks. We talked about Chuba Hubbard earlier.
39:41Who do you like better between Algier and Brooks in week two?
39:45I'll go with Algier here. It's a tough matchup against the Seahawks, but Algier did play more snaps than Jeremiah Love in week one.
39:52Now, I don't expect that to last very long and that could maybe reverse this week.
39:57But right now, I think Jonathan Brooks role is just too much of a mystery for us to start him with any confidence whatsoever.
40:04By the way, this is running back 39 and running back 40 in consensus.
40:08So they are back to back. Jake, who do you prefer between the two?
40:12I agree. And that's with expecting fewer touches for Algier this week, just because I don't think that's going to be the same.
40:19Jeremiah Love being eased in, not to the degree of Brooks or Lloyd or anything like that.
40:24But I alluded to it before. I didn't want to touch too much on future names here.
40:29But Brooks is the other one. Like, I believe this is 100% got hurt later in the preseason.
40:34Hubbard got hurt earlier. I do think I echo what Fitz said earlier in the show that Brooks is coming for him at some point.
40:41And maybe sports is only a 50-50, but it's not here yet.
40:45So I'm still going Algier. I really don't have much interest in starting either of these two, to be honest.
40:51I really would like to get away from Algier if I can.
40:54I don't think Arizona has a chance to win this game.
40:58I think Seattle's defense might... I think they might give up two field goals and that's it in this game.
41:04I'm behind consensus on Algier. Where are you at on him?
41:07I'm at 43. 43. Okay. Yeah. Fitz, are you behind consensus too?
41:10Yeah. Sorry, I was on the... I'm behind consensus on both of them.
41:14Let me see where I've got Algier. I have Algier running back 39.
41:18Brooks 42. So maybe not that big a gap, but I feel like there's a tier break.
41:23Here, I'll give you one. I know you didn't include the name, but I'm curious for Fitz in this one.
41:29I would start Kamara over both of them. He almost played last week and they inexplicably split Etchen with Kendrick Miller, which
41:36makes me just say like if Kamara is active, which he should be against the Ravens, they're just going to use him as that second piece.
41:43These are second piece, second piece, second piece. And I think Kamara's second piece for me leans over Algier versus the Seahawks, which I agree with Worm.
41:51And then not knowing what Brooks is going to get involved with.
41:55How did the Ravens do against pass catching running backs last year, Worm?
41:59Last year, I don't know specifically, but like the last few years, it has regularly been quite poor.
42:04I don't know where they finished last year, but it's been a problem in recent seasons.
42:09It was that and slot and tight ends was like basically their biggest areas.
42:13I'm being pretty conservative with Kamara this week. I've got him down at 56.
42:17Okay. That's actually still ahead of consensus. I mean, that might adjust obviously as we get more information on it, but he's RB 62 right now.
42:25Yeah. Like I said, I don't really like any of these names that we've thrown out.
42:29No. Please don't have to choose. Yeah. Wide receiver one.
42:32Jalen Coker, who we talked about earlier or DK Metcalf, who do you guys prefer this week?
42:37Jake, starting with you. This is like a full tier Jalen Coker over DK Metcalf.
42:42Like no question about it. You're going against the Patriots too.
42:45Like Gonzalez and the rest. I'll take the matchup against the Falcons one between the two.
42:50And I, again, I know Coker is much for as much as McCarthy opened up the passing game for the Steelers and
42:56Aaron Rodgers still passing at this point. I mean, it might sound crazy.
43:00I'm still, I'm taking Bryce Young over Aaron Rodgers at this point in their career.
43:05And DK could have had a bigger day. That should have been a play that was made of DK Metcalf, but it
43:11still wasn't that like, oh my gosh, that's this offense looks great.
43:15DK looks great. Pittman was like, eh, I'm just going to take Coker.
43:18Coker's inside my top 28. I almost said 25.
43:21He's inside my top 28. So DK is 28th in consensus.
43:24Coker is at 31st. So DK is higher in ECR right now.
43:28Apparently I hate DK Metcalf. Don't tell him. He could have beat my tail with one arm.
43:33Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to agree with Jake on this one and go with Coker.
43:37I mean, it is fair to point out that over the Panthers last nine games, Jalen Coker does have more catches, receiving yards.
43:44More touchdowns than Ted Aron McMillan over that period.
43:47And I think if you prorate it to like a 17 game season, I think it'd be 1100 yards, 11 touchdowns for Coker.
43:54So he's been really productive. And I agree that just like, I'm not that into DK Metcalf this year playing with Aaron
44:00Rogers because DK has always been kind of an air yards receiver and Aaron Rogers doesn't want to get hit anymore.
44:06And it's not going to stand in the pocket and let DK Metcalf work his way downfield.
44:11So plus the promise of some face time with Christian Gonzalez this week, as Jake pointed out.
44:16Yeah, I'm team Coker here. Okay. Any concern with like the walking boot and ankle stuff fits or?
44:22You know, not unless it pops up on Friday.
44:24Okay. Uh, let's do some flexes fits. Quinshawn Judkins or Ted Aron McMillan, the wide receiver teammate of Jalen Coker.
44:30Who do you like better? Judkins or McMillan? Ted Aron McMillan.
44:34Like the Browns running game looked terrible last week.
44:36Todd Bowles. Like the one thing his defense usually does is stop the run really, really well.
44:41No thanks to Quinshawn Judkins. Jake. I agree. Quinshawn Judkins was top 10 in RB touch percentage.
44:46He was the bell cow we wanted, but that's still only 14 touches and a miserable offense.
44:51So at Tampa Bay, I don't think it's the Jaguars, but I think they can push as much where this isn't going
44:58to be like, oh, the Browns are grinding out the clock type of situation.
45:02By the way, Ted Aron McMillan is 46th in our consensus flex rankings.
45:06Judkins 50th. How about Blake Corum or Quentin Johnston, Jake?
45:09I want to shoot like Blake Corum guarantees you points.
45:12And, but we really need a second touchdown. I do, again, think the Rams are going to go pass happy against the Giants.
45:19So that's why I'm going to take Quentin Johnston also, because if Lad McConkie is out, it's an easy Quentin Johnston for me.
45:25If Lad McConkie plays, I'd still lean slightly towards it.
45:28Like this is something I've referenced a lot of my podcasts and other places is the time that it takes for new offenses to adjust.
45:36Even Eli Manning at the peak of his career took six games.
45:39I still think there's time for Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel to adjust and see better days.
45:44Maybe it doesn't happen in week two and we're frustrated again, but I think this situation will see a little bit better.
45:51I like the upside of Quentin Johnston. That being said, he could get you a zero.
45:55Blake Corum won't get you a zero. So I'm taking Quentin, but I just, if you don't want to risk the zero
46:02and make that clear that it would be Corum.
46:05If Lad is out, Jake, where are you ranking Johnston amongst receivers?
46:08He's currently wide receiver 30th in consensus. I would put Quentin, like I put Quentin Johnston probably.
46:13I'd think hard about starting him over Drake London with Cooper Rush.
46:17So inside my top 30, not much higher than that.
46:20I wouldn't, I wouldn't lock him into wide receiver two because I think Trey Harris will get involved.
46:25And again, that offense looked to have some hiccups again, adjusting to a new offense with a quarterback that's been overrated for
46:32years because people put him in the hall of fame after two seasons in the NFL.
46:36Sorry, Justin Herbert slander. Yeah. I kind of think you're, I kind of think I would start Johnston over Drake London if
46:43Lad is out and it's still obviously a rush for Falcons.
46:46Fitz, do you prefer Blake Corum or Quentin Johnston?
46:49Yeah. So right now I'm like with Jake in that I've got UJ ranked as a mid range wide receiver three and
46:55I wouldn't move him up if McConkie were out, but probably not all that much anticipating, you know, maybe more of it goes to the tight ends.
47:03Maybe Trey Harris plays a role. Worm, I won't ask this of you very often, but I need you to better frame
47:10this for me by telling me whether Lad is going to play and what the scoring system is.
47:15Tell me that and I'll tell you who I'd start between Corum and Quentin Johnston.
47:19I would say we should operate as if Lad is not playing.
47:23All right. Lad not playing in what PPR half point?
47:26Generally speaking, half PPR, but I think it's totally valid to say, hey, if this is standard, this is PPR, I prefer
47:32the other, but half PPR is what I'm assigning you to answer.
47:36If Lad is out and it's half PPR, I would say I'd play QJ by a nose.
47:41Okay. So Corum would be if it's standard, of course, in any sort of point per reception format.
47:46And if McConkie plays, I'd still probably play QJ over Corum in full PPR.
47:51Okay. But not in half? Not in half. Okay.
47:53So hopefully that wasn't too confusing for the audience.
47:56Let's go to another one here. Yeah, yes, exactly.
47:58I need the flow chart. Chris Godwin or Ja'Cory Kroski-Merritt, Fitz?
48:02I'm going with Godwin here. I'm a little nervous about Bill.
48:05So the Commanders had the ball down eight last week with, I think, like four minutes on the clock.
48:11They're at the Eagles' 22-yard line. Second and two, Bill picks up the first down with the run but coughs the ball up.
48:17One of the Commanders' offensive linemen dives on it.
48:20They keep possession. Bill immediately gets yanked off the field.
48:23Katron Allen plays the rest of that drive, has three carries on that drive.
48:27Bill never gets back on the field. Commanders score the touchdown but miss on the two-point conversion to try to tie.
48:33I just worry that Bill could be in the doghouse after that.
48:37Jake? I'm not that worried about the doghouse. It's the same concern that I have is the fact that it's a committee behind a terrible offensive line.
48:45And that if Allen's going to get involved just because, like, hey, let's – you know, that's something we remember as the fumble.
48:52Rashad White getting passing downs. Like, it's just that I want nothing – I didn't want anything to do with this backfield.
48:58I was hoping Ja'Cory Kroski-Merritt would prove me wrong.
49:01But I'm not going to go that direction, and that's why I'm not taking him in this toss-up, just because I think that there's very limited ceiling.
49:09Cowboys, which also, they bounce back and they force the game.
49:12That's just why I brought up the Rashad White thing.
49:15How much does Kroski-Merritt stay in the game if they're playing catch-up?
49:19So Chris Godwin, who looked good, he looked like he told us the truth, that it's the best he's been since pre-injury.
49:25So I think Chris Godwin could be a solid wide receiver three for the entire season.
49:30And also, pss, Baker Mayfield revenge game. Yeah, there's this one.
49:33By the way, that's RB29 and wide receiver 29.
49:36A consensus, Ja'Cory Kroski-Merritt and Chris Godwin. And if you look at the flex rankings, it's funny.
49:41They're all right in a row with a lot of the names we've talked about today.
49:46It goes Ja'Cory Kroski-Merritt, Chris Godwin, Quentin Johnson, Jalen Coker, Marshawn Lloyd.
49:49So a lot of names that have been discussed on this episode are in the same range of the flex rankings.
49:55One more flex for you here. Jake, Romeo Dobbs or Travion Henderson?
49:59A couple of teammates in New England. Who do you prefer?
50:02I hope we start to get better from Dobbs.
50:05Dobbs did not look good in week one, mostly because Drake May didn't look good.
50:09He didn't really look his way. Dobbs broke free, as he did a couple of times in that game.
50:15It's just there wasn't any opportunities to look for him.
50:18And I think it'll be better. But the one aspect that I'll go to, and it's just more about the Steelers and
50:24the two wide receivers we're not talking about here, is I feel like this might be a little bit more of a
50:31Matt Collins game, because they even brought it up during the broadcast.
50:34Matt Collins versus zone. Demonio Douglas versus, I can do it better.
50:38My voice is killing me, as you can tell, versus Mann.
50:41And the Steelers were almost 100% zone last week.
50:44And now maybe some of that's Joey Porter. That's going to change based on matchups.
50:48But I think that Matt Collins could do some work again this week.
50:52And I hope Dobbs can do the same. But I'm just concerned that it's going to be a mess.
50:58It's going to be the mess that we used to know for Drake May last year.
51:02So I'm going with Travion in his game back.
51:05I know this is going to be a split backfield, but I'll take the upside of Henderson.
51:10Because at least even on 12 touches, I know there's a potential for 100 yards.
51:15And 12 touches is still 12 more than Dobbs might get.
51:18All right, Fitz, who do you prefer here? Now this is Romeo Dobbs without A.J.
51:22Brown playing on a Sunday afternoon in half PPR scoring.
51:25Is that enough information? That's it. That's right. That's right.
51:28I'm starting the better football player, and that's Travion Henderson.
51:31And, you know, Drake May didn't look great in week one, Jake, but he did look pretty good on that ball he
51:38put right in Romeo Dobbs' hands that Dobbs completely dropped.
51:41And we know that Drake May is the socialist quarterback.
51:44He spreads the wealth. So it's not just going to be Romeo Dobbs getting this windfall of targets because A.J.
51:49Brown is out. No, it's going to be some Hollins, some Douglas, some Dobbs, some Hunter Henry, you name it.
51:55I thought you were going to make a joke and say he looked really good on that pass that he put in the defender's hands.
52:03And then I was going to say which one.
52:05Well, that too. Let's do a quarterback start-sit decision here.
52:08Get one in there. Justin Herbert coming off of the very poor game and likely without having Lad McConkie on the field.
52:15Or Jackson Dart, somebody that I was lower on coming into the season but certainly looked good in week one.
52:21Was that because of the Cowboys defense? Or is he going to take a step forward here?
52:26We'll find out. Jake, who do you prefer? Justin Herbert or Jackson Dart?
52:30Same as the preseason. Same as week one. Same as again.
52:33I'll do it. Jackson Dart. Like the rushing upside, everything was clicking for him.
52:37Lake Neighbors didn't move 100% and looks like he's already close to it if not there.
52:42And the one thing I will say is I do expect better for the Chargers.
52:46I just said that earlier when we were talking about Quentin Johnston.
52:50The Raiders' rush is something to be concerned about.
52:52And I know the Chargers offensive line is mostly healthy right now.
52:56But it didn't look great in week one is that it might be a bigger concern than people might think.
53:02It's close. And it really only comes down as close because it's Jackson Dart on the road in L.A.
53:07with the secondary. Like that's even without Aaron Donald and Miles Garrett, as we know.
53:12It's still a good enough defense that if Jackson Dart was facing 29 of the other 31 teams, I'd have Jackson Dart
53:18back where I had him inside the top 10.
53:21And I would consider Jackson Dart potentially over Jaden Daniels against the Cowboys.
53:25But only because he's facing the Rams in L.A., I have him down at 12-13.
53:29Actually, I have Matthew Stafford in one spot in front of him against that defense.
53:34Fitz, Justin Herbert is QB 9. Jackson Dart, QB 13.
53:37And consensus, who do you prefer? I'm on consensus with Dart at QB 13.
53:41Lower on Herbert at QB 12. I do worry like the offensive line or the interior of the offensive line is still a major problem for the Chargers.
53:49Although like it wasn't really pressure that was the issue with Herbert last week.
53:53It was just the defense couldn't get off the field and Herbert couldn't sustain drives and time of possession.
53:59I think the Chargers held the ball for like 23 minutes.
54:02So I see this one as a coin flip.
54:05The only reason I'm not higher on Dart, and this is kind of a weird deep in the weeds thing, but like
54:11the Rams played zone defense at a really high rate in week one.
54:15And if that continues, I mean, when you're playing zone, you've got eyes on the quarterback.
54:20So it makes running for the quarterback a little harder.
54:23Sure. Not that, you know, Dart is such an aggressive runner.
54:26I'm not predicting a bad rushing game for Dart, but maybe he just doesn't go off like he did last week.
54:32Let's do a tight end one here. A couple of guys who scored a few touchdowns apiece in week one, Dallas Goddard versus Isaiah Likely.
54:40I'll pull up the consensus rankings here. I had it up earlier.
54:43They are tight end seven and tight end eight, respectively.
54:46So both ranked as starters. But if you could only start one, Jake, who are you going with?
54:52I'm going with Dallas Goddard. Again, going back to the matchup is going to tiebreak this for me.
54:57I like both of them, but I think until Wicks does either Wicks does more or Lemon becomes the two, Goddard is still the two.
55:04I said this in the offseason. I said this last year.
55:08Goddard, when there was no Devontae Smith or A.J.
55:10Brown was the two, he goes into the season as the two.
55:14So I'm going to continue to use him as the two on this team that I think his name deserves to be there.
55:21I have him in tier one. I have six tight ends in tier one, including Kittle and Kincaid.
55:26And those are like the twos for their team.
55:29So I think that I have him in front of Tyler Warren and I have Isaiah Likely down by Tyler Warren as like seven, eight.
55:36So it's not a huge gap, but I just think Goddard is just continuing to be under looked and under rated in fantasy for some reason.
55:44Fitz? Likely. And wow. Goddard. Is this to make up for last week?
55:47Is this what it was? Because I smacked you with Likely versus Andrews.
55:51I'm sorry. I had to. It's more Jake about Goddard having a pretty stat line last week.
55:56But if you watch those two touchdowns, which also counted for most of his 77 yards, just absolute buffoonery by the commander's secondary on both of those plays.
56:05One where he catches a ball and has three defenders around him and somehow they all just like, it's a Bugs Bunny
56:11cartoon with them all slipping the wrong way as Goddard makes like a simple cut in the other direction.
56:17They still had 23% of the target share, which is number two to Devontae Smith.
56:21I think that's my bigger point. Yeah. They only threw what?
56:24Like 24 passes. Kind of a... Yeah. I get your point.
56:28I just... Yeah. I mean, I think it's a close call and basically they're on that same kind of tier just below the high end tight ends.
56:36So I don't have a strong feeling on this one, but I would personally play Likely.
56:40Okay. Well, we will wrap things up, excuse me, with our touchdown calls contest.
56:45Last week, I was the one who let us down.
56:47I had to pick the tight end. You know, it's the hardest one.
56:51I'll use that as the excuse when I'm the one to let us down.
56:55This week, I'm on running back. Jake is on receiver and Fitz is on tight end.
57:00Good luck, Fitz. I'm going with Aaron Jones. We talked about him earlier, so I don't need to dive deeper in here.
57:07I expect a lot of scoring in this game.
57:09He's going to get a lot of opportunities as you guys both laid out with Jordan Mason hurt.
57:15Um, so just, I didn't, you know, I don't want to pick like Jameer Gibbs, right.
57:19Or, you know, Bijan Rock. Like I want to pick somebody that maybe is a little bit lower in the rankings.
57:26Not that he's that low, but not quite in that top five range.
57:29And Jones felt like a pretty obvious one for me.
57:32So Aaron Jones at running back, uh, Jake, who's your receiver?
57:36Yeah. I mean, I was sweating a married hand to us because like, oh my God, is this, I tried not to pick super obvious.
57:43And it still went to, uh, if you were listening earlier in the show, it's Devante Adams.
57:48He is scoring against the giants. Like I'm almost tempted to say there's a chance that like you could get to like,
57:55if you wanted to like, get really dicey with it, you can risk for two.
57:59But I think that he's getting into the end zone against that giant secondary.
58:03So, uh, give me Devante Adams as my both a flag plant and touchdown call of the week.
58:08Doubling down from Jake here. Fitz tight end to bring us home.
58:12Um, George Kittle gets into the end zone against that dolphins secondary that I mentioned earlier, I think to be the worst in the league and their safeties.
58:20I mean, they've got a fifth round rookie, Michael Taff and a fifth round second year player, uh, Dante trader who made only three starts last year.
58:28I think Kittle is going to eat these guys alive.
58:31Oh, we have a lot of veterans. Are all of our guys over 30 or this is, uh, one of the oldest
58:38groups I think we've done of the touchdown calls contest.
58:41Jake, I was going to, I was going to ask Fitz where he had George Kittle.
58:45Cause I felt like I was on an Island with that one.
58:49So I'm kind of curious. Yeah. Aaron Joseph. Are you also top 10 for a Kittle Jake?
58:54I think I've gotten him at tight end seven.
58:57I'm at five because here's like, like, here's what I said.
59:00Like it didn't work out last week, but I am not benching craft or Kittle, even knowing it's potentially going to be
59:0650% of the work again, because it's Kittle and Kraft.
59:09They can do it. And it's tight end. Like I'd rather take 50% of Kittle versus 20 other tight ends.
59:15So I was kind of curious. I was surprised.
59:18I felt like it makes me feel better about it.
59:21That Fitz is on the same page as me when it comes to George.
59:25Do you have those guys ahead of Kincaid? No, I go Kincaid, Kittle, Goddard, Warren, likely.
59:30That's how close I was in the likely thing.
59:32Oh, okay. I'm higher on Warren. Okay. Do you have them ahead with Kincaid Fitz?
59:37I have, do you have Kincaid higher? I have Kincaid five, Kraft six, Kittle seven.
59:41They're the same range. Kincaid's four in consensus. Obviously that team plays tonight.
59:45So we don't talk about Bill's players typically on the show.
59:48We finally got what we wanted. Yeah. We finally got 70% of the snaps and route work for Kincaid.
59:54Yes. So hopefully that continues here on Thursday Night Football.
59:57But again, Aaron Jones, Devonta Adams, George Kittle are our touchdowns.
60:00Calls for the week. If you think you can nail this week's touchdowns, join our free touchdown calls contest on Picksheet.
60:06Pick a running back receiver, tight end and bonus flex with the flex being worth double.
60:11Weekly winners get a $25 Fantasy Pros gift card and the season champ wins a signed Reggie Wayne jersey.
60:17Play at picksheet.com slash Fantasy Pros. Guys, we'll go ahead and wrap things up there.
60:21Best of luck to everybody in week two. For Fitz and Jake, I'm Ryan Warmly.
60:26Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you again next time.
60:29Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
60:32If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple Podcasts at FantasyPros.com slash review or on Spotify.
60:40Follow us on X, Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com slash Fantasy Pros.
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