0:00Welcome to the Week 3 Running Back Rankings. Yes, Boone is back along with Hayden.
0:04We go through 1 through 42 of the running backs here on this list and it's fully tiered out.
0:10Okay, you've got your S tier all the way down to your D tier.
0:14So I know so many of you are confused about your flex options.
0:17Who do I start after the two running backs in my starting lineup?
0:21Is it this wide receiver? Is this tight end?
0:24Well, hopefully we talk through all the names to help you master your lineup ahead of the team.
0:29Head of Week 3 along with the overformers and underperformers, the sell highs and the by lows.
0:34We've got it all here on this episode of Yahoo Fantasy Football with Josh and Hayden.
0:38Let's talk through those pesky wide receivers. Hayden, just going through your rankings here.
0:42I mean, it didn't take long. I don't know, wide receiver 25 ish where I started feeling a bit queasy, a bit uneasy about this wide receiver room.
0:50We talked about this at the running back department as well.
0:53So we're in a very, I think, interesting position in Week 3 of this season compared to the last few years of fantasy football.
1:00There's a lot of players that you're picking up off of waivers and going straight into your wide receiver 3 spot, which definitely makes me nervous.
1:08I will say this. The top 10-ish wide receivers, I feel so much better about this week than I have in like
1:14the first couple weeks, whether it's just matchups or just a little bit more data.
1:18But after that point, like you said, it gets questionable quick.
1:21Yeah, just a little bit of a tease for you.
1:24The three wide receivers that were kind of headlining the waiver wire after Week 1 are all top 30 names for this week.
1:31So that goes to show how different maybe some draft perceptions and then how much of an impact or just an immediate fill-in some of those players are.
1:39Okay, let's dive into it. Let's not waste any time.
1:42Number one, your wide receiver one is Jackson Smith in Jigba.
1:45Hey, look, I thought new play caller, you know, target share might go down, air yard share might go down, team total
1:51and all that stuff might go down. Nope, same player, same offense, still humming.
1:55Yeah, and then the matchup is textbook as well.
1:58They get the commanders, their starting safety, Nick Cross is not going to play.
2:02And they just got shredded this last week, 279 passing yards allowed.
2:05JSN also had 129 receiving yards in Week 9 against them.
2:08Mike Sanders still hasn't been very good. So like the matchup is textbook.
2:12Sounds like Sam Darnold is trending in the right direction.
2:15Okay, I'm on Ross St. Brown against the New York Jets is your wide receiver two here.
2:2014 and 13 targets to open the season. 35% of the team's targets and 46% of the team's red zone targets have
2:26gone in his direction through the opening two weeks.
2:28There are already some questions about, you know, some round one and round two picks in fantasy football.
2:34Not for him. I mean, this is elite stuff.
2:36Yeah, wide receiver two on wide receiver one usage through the first two weeks.
2:40Lions projected for the fifth most points as usual.
2:43The Jets defense, they're missing some players like Mika Fitzpatrick, for example, in the secondary.
2:47I don't like that their corners really at all.
2:50And the Drew Petsing offense, like he's kind of in like the Trey McBride role.
2:54And not that Amon Ross St. Brown needed a new role.
2:57Like he's been excellent. And he's officially closed the gap with the elite wide receivers.
3:01He's always like a half tier below them. I think this is the year where he is firmly in their category.
3:07All right. That brings us to Jamar Chase as your wide receiver three.
3:11Is that the Pittsburgh Steelers? I mean, this new rivalry, I should say, should be akin to the old rivalry between the Bengals and the Steelers.
3:18I mean, I think that the Steelers defense right now is like number two in defensive DVOA and EPA so far.
3:24But again, they faced the Atlanta Falcons in week one and a struggling Patriots passing game in week two.
3:30So a big key for them, we know, is creating pressure.
3:33And obviously, this Bengals offensive line has been fantastic at stopping the pressure so far in a lot of instances.
3:39Yeah, totally agree. It's it's the it's the front seven for the Steelers.
3:42That's so good. Joey Porter is like limited in practice off that holdout.
3:46Like we're still figuring out exactly if he's going to play or how much he would play.
3:51But he'd be pretty rusty, in my opinion. Jamar Chase has gone obviously crazy against the Steelers.
3:56Ninety seven yards per game since twenty twenty two against them.
3:59Some of those games were without Joe Burrow. So if Joey Porter is not going to be out there in full time
4:05capacity, I think that he can beat the rest of these guys.
4:09From Reeves and his worksheet. Steelers, two high looks.
4:11Fifty three percent of the time so far this season.
4:14New defense coordinator, obviously. Jamar Chase in twenty twenty five.
4:17Last season, he had thirty seven percent in the team's targets when facing too high and three point seven yards per route run.
4:24And his numbers compared to like T Higgins and those coverages are drastically different.
4:28Yeah, makes sense. OK, one of your first big disagreements from consensus rankings, which, by the way, you are fourth place in so far through two weeks.
4:35Congratulations. Wide receiver six. Chris Alave for them. Wide receiver four for you against the Las Vegas Raiders.
4:40Hayden, in our death league that we're a part of part of, I prioritize Chris Alave over Puka Nakua.
4:46Was that a smart choice? The Puka stuff is making me nervous.
4:49We can talk about that. Not making a lot of progress there.
4:53And meanwhile, Chris Alave is one of the best roles imaginable.
4:56169 air yards per game is twenty nine more than the wide receiver two, which, by the way, is Parker Washington.
5:02Probably wouldn't think that. Wide receiver four and expected points.
5:05Tyler Shucks averaging 50 dropbacks per game. Number one neutral pace offense.
5:08They play in a dome. The rest of that division is not very good, especially some of the secondaries that they're going to go against right now.
5:16It's like this is this is awesome stuff. The only thing that you can possibly nitpick here is like they just lost their left tackle.
5:23But that just might mean more downfield shots. And plus the Raiders have they haven't been tested yet.
5:28But Caleb Douglas got him a couple of times back in week one.
5:32But same projected for the 11th most points. I got Tyler Shuck and is probably the highest I've ever ranked him in my quarterback ranking.
5:39You guys can go find that over on Yahoo Sports.
5:42Yeah, he has 22 fancy points in back to back games.
5:45Tyler Shuck does. OK, that takes us to wide receiver five.
5:48And that is CeeDee Lamb versus the Baltimore Ravens.
5:51Does he still belong in S tier or are you moving down to A tier here?
5:55Let's keep him in here. This is not an easy matchup, but CeeDee Lamb is.
5:59He's been balling recently. How the Ravens defense is working right now.
6:03Nate Wiggins plays the left side. Marlon Humphrey plays the right side.
6:06And Kyle Hamilton is he's like their nickel player.
6:09But he's been blitzing on the line of scrimmage so much that he's not always covering the slot.
6:14Now, CeeDee Lamb's not playing as much slot as he did previously.
6:17He's going to see all these guys. But they're not like doing like shut down my number one wide receiver stuff there.
6:24They're good at it. But I was able to see Alec Pierce and Chris Olave on these in-breaking routes over the middle in the first two weeks.
6:31And obviously, Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb are awesome at that.
6:35They're still predicted for the six most points here.
6:37So I don't really the matchup matters a little bit.
6:40Not too much. This game is awesome. I mean, we sent a very good one to Brazil.
6:45I mean, these three defensive backs, you named them in Wiggins and Humphrey and Kyle Hamilton versus these, let's even say three
6:51pass catchers and Lamb, Pickens, and then some combination of Flournoy and Jake Ferguson is an exciting matchup.
6:56And like you said, I think Lamb is playing less inside because they believe Flournoy is probably at his best in that area too.
7:03Plus some multiple tight end looks. And obviously, they run a lot of 11 personnel.
7:07So I'm excited to see which one comes out on top from this group.
7:11This is your stand your ground pick presented by DraftKings Sports.
7:15Every game day means more with DraftKings Sports. The crown is yours, Hayden.
7:18How we do this? We look and I look at consensus rankings and find the biggest disagreement that you have with the masses.
7:25And it is Devontae Adams at the Denver Broncos.
7:27Wide receiver 12 for them. Wide receiver 6 for you.
7:30Are people just putting too much emphasis on this Broncos defense and Patrick Sertan and not enough of two future Hall of
7:37Famers and Matthew Stafford to Devontae Adams? I think in general, Devontae Adams, you want to play him earlier in the season when he's the healthiest.
7:44He's not dealing with the hamstring injuries. He obviously looked excellent last week.
7:48You also want to play Devontae Adams when Puka Nakua is not playing.
7:51And that's what I'm expecting here. It's also like no Colby Parkinson most likely with a knee injury.
7:57He hasn't practiced as well. So that's like another red zone threat kind of going away here.
8:01Obviously, Patrick Sertan is unbelievable. He's probably the best corner in the league.
8:05Denver was the third best defense against fantasy wide receivers.
8:08Pat Sertan has not faced a legit number one wide receiver in a very, very long time.
8:13I do think that he could get shadowed by Patrick Sertan.
8:16I just watched way too many routes last week with the Rams where it was just Terrence Ferguson and Adams out in
8:22the route and everyone else was blocking. So even if we're talking a lot more like 50-50 chances here, there's going to be a lot of them.
8:30So let's ride with Devontae Adams. Yeah. Sertan has only been targeted four times in two games so far this year, 20 yards that he has allowed.
8:38But again, the even larger sample size is Devontae has now run 135 routes without Puka on the field.
8:43He was targeting around 40% of his routes with those and 3.7 yards per route run.
8:48And it's not just like the stuff that's between the 20s.
8:51That's most important without Puka. It is the inside the 20-yard line stuff.
8:55It is the inside the 10-yard line stuff. It is abandoning the running plays and, you know, targeting someone like Devontae Adams.
9:01In week one, that was all Puka Nakua and Devontae Adams had a seat in that.
9:05And that's where, you know, he scored 11 of his 14 touchdowns last year.
9:09And then last week, once again, we get like an immediate touchdown in that area of the field.
9:15So guess what? Touchdowns mean even more than yards, but he can do both when he's the only real wide receiver on the team right now.
9:22Devontae Adams is this year's JSN, it looks like.
9:25You know, this whole 40% target shares. Let's talk about the Puka Nakua thing.
9:29Yeah. Because I think our antennas went up during the preseason when we hear about SOAs.
9:33And that's like hip, groin, all that type of stuff.
9:36And he misses camp. And yet he goes out there and looks very good in week one.
9:41And everything was turning in the right direction ahead of week one.
9:44And then Hayden, it wasn't one of those, oh, he gets injured, lays on the field, trainers.
9:49And so he misses time. So it's almost, that makes me even more concerned that this is something that the Rams realize
9:55that if they don't get it right right now, it's going to linger more and more.
10:00And at the same time, Sean McFay's comments of, yeah, he is not progressing in his rehabilitation is also something that's very concerning.
10:06I also just like don't like that they have not like targeted the exact body part.
10:11Like they've listed groin, hip. Like it's like, it's kind of like just changing here.
10:15And I don't like that. I think that the soreness thing makes me nervous.
10:19Like they're claiming it's not a sports hernia. Like I really hope it's not that type of injury.
10:24And the fact that he's not going on injured reserve, like to me doesn't matter because he's so important that they might
10:31not put him on injured reserve, even if he's going to be out like multiple weeks.
10:35And the other thing, Sean McVay is like notoriously like too optimistic at times with some of these injuries.
10:41And he even, he was like, yeah, he's just not progressing.
10:44And he gave that up early in the week when there's like a competitive advantage.
10:48Um, so I'm, I'm officially very nervous. I really hope this is not a Christian McCaffrey, uh, type of, uh, issue that
10:54we have here from the couple of seasons ago from the training camp going into the regular season.
11:00It makes me very nervous right now. I talked about this with Boone on, uh, the forecast yesterday, but so then what does this mean for Terrence Ferguson?
11:08Because he played more 11 personnel snaps than he did his entire rookie season in week two.
11:12They're running even more heavier personnel looks and especially 13.
11:15And if he's out there in those, then we know that he is now the second best pass catcher on the field in those situations.
11:22And it's not that half of his targets are 20 plus yards on the field anymore.
11:27Uh, we got him on the slant routes and run after the catch and all that type of stuff.
11:32So while as Harmon put it, you know, he might be a bit Bambi on ice in terms of not being able
11:39to control all of his limbs, like a fully grown adult at this point when he runs routes and after the catch,
11:45uh, that might not matter as much as just being out there, being an awesome athlete and being force fed the football in those situations.
11:52I think it definitely does not matter how good he is.
11:55Like you're getting this amount of looks. It does.
11:58It really does not matter. We're talking about 30%.
12:00I also think he's good by the way. I don't want to say he's good.
12:05He just is a bit awkward. He he's learning the position.
12:08He's like learning the timing of routes. He's got to catch the ball better.
12:12But some of that is like that. He's heads not turning around quite in time or is not probably hitting the exact
12:18landmark that Matthew Stafford's probably drilling over and over 13 expected points at tight end position last week for Ferguson, 30% targets on the team.
12:25That's going to be projected from even in bad matchups like this one against the Broncos.
12:30They're still projected for 23 points. That's going to be the lowest on the road.
12:34It's it'll be from 23 to 30 points. If he's anywhere near 30% targets, he's going to walk to a top five
12:40per game finish for as long as Pukenikua is out.
12:43So I really hope that you guys prioritized him over anybody else in the waiver wire.
12:48And you guys really should have picked him up with the second we saw that DNP from Pukenikua.
12:53That was a time to sprint. So hopefully you guys got them.
12:56And last point, tight end is deeper than ever this year.
13:00And so even if you're starting someone like Don Kincaid or Jawan Johnson, your tight end spot, or even you invested in
13:06an early pick like Colson Loveland and maybe not this week, but like Tyler Warren, for example, a bunch of these names.
13:12When we talk about these late wide receivers, we already did it with the running backs.
13:17Putting Terrence Ferguson in your flex is extremely viable and extremely feasible over the wide receiver 34 that we talk about here today.
13:23Yep. Yeah. For example, like Travis Kelsey is projected for nine points right now.
13:27Like that's going to be better than probably the wide receiver 29.
13:31Right. Okay. Is Justin Jefferson who your what is your wide receiver seven at the Tampa Buccaneers?
13:35Is this the first name in the A tier or do we want to keep going?
13:40Uh, let's keep this continuing here. Um, just because we have the, the Buccaneers defense has not been that convincing to me.
13:46Jacob Parrish is on the injury report. That's their cornerback too.
13:49They have not been able to rush the passer individually.
13:52Ruben Baines on the injury report. Uh, Jose Trotter linebacker.
13:55He's been on the injury report. Their other off ball linebacker has been horrific as well.
14:00Plus we just don't know what the running back position is going to be.
14:04Aaron Jones. Uh, he's been on the injury report himself and Jordan Mason's on the IR.
14:08Like this could just be a situation where they're like, we're not going to even try to run the ball with DJ Dallas to Vita Vea.
14:16Let's just throw the ball to Justin Jefferson versus Ion McCollum and kind of see what happens there.
14:21So they're projected for 22 points on the road.
14:23Um, if Aaron Jones is out, like that would definitely help Justin Jefferson.
14:27Yeah. He's wide receiver three in terms of air yards and team target share at this point, which is exactly what we
14:33knew would happen heading into the season. Um, I will add the first glimpses of Kyler Murray were not good.
14:39I understand it was two series, but he threw an interception on like his first drop back and then kind of a
14:45bay in the pocket and all that type of stuff on his second one.
14:49Um, but like you said, the Bucks defense has once again been a roller coaster.
14:54They have struggled to rush the passer and Todd Bowles can confuse some quarterbacks.
14:58So I have no idea what to expect here, but it is going to be all on Kyler Murray because they are
15:04not going to be able to run the ball with Aaron Jones against Vita Vea with like a 200 pound difference between the two guys.
15:11Yeah, definitely agree there. Other note, the Vikings are number 32 in neutral pass rate through the first two weeks.
15:17Obviously that's with Carson Wentz and it was a rainy conditions that they've typically been top five.
15:22So I'm just trying to figure out exactly what the split's going to be this year.
15:26Okay. Parker Washington against the New England Patriots is your wide receiver 11.
15:30Excuse me. Wide receiver eight. It's wide receiver 11 in consensus rankings.
15:33So still we're ahead of market on P wash.
15:36Does that place them in S tier or a tier?
15:39Um, let's drop them down one tier. Uh, but it's close.
15:42It's close. Parker Washington is going to be one of the best picks out there.
15:4638% target shares only, uh, trailing Jackson Smith and jig, 140 air yards per game.
15:51Only trailing Chris Olave. The production has been lights out.
15:53I think this tape has been excellent. He's clearly the most manufactured player in the offense.
15:58And then you get to the Patriots defense here.
16:01They can stop the run. They got two incredible defensive tackles.
16:04Plus they put a lot of resources inside the box.
16:07Then you have, uh, Christian Gonzalez, who I think is just going to be playing, uh, against Brian Thomas for the, for
16:13the rest of the game and the rest of the secondary.
16:16I don't think it's very weak. So like it's a difficult defense to go against, but kind of difficult for everybody else.
16:22And then they're probably going to have the, the go, go stuff from Parker Washington on the inside.
16:27So I don't even think it's that difficult of a matchup and they're projected for the seventh most points as a team.
16:34The slot work has been so key for P wash and it's why we brought them up so often this summer.
16:40Like he avoided Denzel Ward in week one. Yep.
16:42And then you mostly avoid Patrick's or tan in week two.
16:45Yep. And then Christian Gonzalez has only, according to Reeves gone in the slot six times through two weeks.
16:51And then last year had like a total of 34 snaps of coverage in the slot.
16:55So this team runs a ton of two tight end sets.
16:59Don't get me wrong. Uh, that's even more advantageous for Parker Washington because he's the go-to player in that.
17:04But especially in these three wide receiver sets, you sacrifice some of these outside players here and you just get Parker Washington
17:10over the middle of the field over and over and over again on these big crossers.
17:15And it's the most important part of the Liam Cohen off Patriots defense.
17:19Also Draymond Jones, their, their new outside linebacker cornerback to Carl Davis, Craig Woodson, a starting safety for him.
17:24All of them have not been playing. So we'll see about the final injury report.
17:28Garrett Wilson is your wide receiver 10. This is at the Detroit lions.
17:32Uh, there's a lot of connective tissue between these two teams.
17:35Uh, Aaron Glenn head coach used to be the DC so on and so forth.
17:39Anyways, Detroit right now is fourth in the league in terms of rate of man coverage around 30%.
17:44Uh, and Garrett Wilson against man coverage has been targeted 44% of the time so far this season.
17:50That's incredible because he hasn't been targeted like even that much.
17:53And then I'm looking at the injury report. Mason Taylor is not going to play.
17:57That's their starting tight end. Obviously Omar Cooper, their first round slot.
18:00He's on injured reserve. And then Adonai Mitchell is dealing with a finger injury.
18:04This is assuming Adonai Mitchell is in. If Adonai Mitchell is out, they're gonna have to drop back a million times.
18:10They're going to play a lot of man coverage.
18:13And Garrett Wilson's just going to eat against. It doesn't matter.
18:16Like they don't have any, any pieces in the secondary for, for Detroit here.
18:20They're still projected for 21 points as well. So like this is like the best time to buy Garrett Wilson.
18:26I would buy low on him. He's a positive regression candidate on top of that.
18:30I think Gino Smith has been totally functional here.
18:33And like, this is the matchup to go absolutely crazy.
18:36Yeah. Per the worksheet, Detroit has allowed a league high five touchdowns, uh, when blitzing so far this season and in two
18:42games versus the blitz, Gino is 14 of 19.
18:44Um, so if we get like high completion rate, Gino Smith, especially if they can protect with four and it forces Calvin
18:51Shepard to blitz to try to create pressure, then that's to me where like a real pathway for the jets to be frisky here.
18:58Yeah. Makes a lot of sense. And while I think that they can run the ball, it just gets to a point
19:04where you have to sustain the game script in order to run the ball.
19:08Cause they are six and a half point underdogs at this moment.
19:11We've been doing this show for like five years, Josh.
19:14I think this is probably the most confident I've been in, uh, for Garrett Wilson going into a week, uh, ever like environment wise, just everything.
19:22Yes. I agree with you. Yeah. I, a lot of people are Cardinals curious.
19:26I am jets curious. So what can go wrong?
19:28What can go wrong? Next up is George Peckens.
19:31Let's talk through this one. This is against the Baltimore Ravens.
19:34We went through the CD lamb stuff. George Pickens so far this year is six targets, three catches, 28 yards, eight targets, six receptions, 40 yards.
19:41Um, he was drafted Hayden as a wide receiver one, like a top 12 player at the position.
19:46Should he have been like, we're only two weeks into this, but, or should he have been drafted closer to like T Higgins?
19:53And that's how we should view him in fantasy.
19:56That's a bit more volatile when CD lamb was on the field.
19:59So there's been 15 games with CD lamb, uh, pickings is a wide receiver 16 on wide receiver 12 usage, a 22%
20:05target share, which is like kind of like right on that wide receiver one, two border.
20:10He just been running really cold with touchdowns. Uh, so 0.27 touchdowns per game.
20:14Uh, and then in the four games when CD lamb missed, he scored five touchdowns over a touchdown for games.
20:20Like that's what we've been missing with George pickings.
20:22I don't think that's because CD lamb's on the field.
20:25I think that's just what variance is like. Um, so I think he, you were drafting George pickings like 24th overall expecting like a, maybe a slight loss.
20:33If CD lamb stayed healthy the entire year. And then if CD lamb goes down, now you have like a first round pick.
20:40So I think I'm still fine with it. I think he's a buy low, uh, definitely here.
20:44And, uh, like we said with, uh, the, the Raven secondary, it's a good, it's a good secondary.
20:50They're going to throw a lot of stuff with Jesse Minter, um, and a lot of funky zone coverage stuff.
20:55I still just trust Dak Prescott. It's also has not been helpful that, uh, Trey Smith, uh, one of the best linemen
21:02in the NFL has not played for the gutless.
21:04Tyler Smith. I think, um, yeah, it's the, our word has hit George pickings in regression.
21:09Like he was super hot with all this stuff last year, and then he's running cold with it this year.
21:14So maybe evens out as the season goes along.
21:17Definitely. Okay. So we always talk about players. You're higher on the consensus.
21:21This next one in Devante Smith, you are lower on than consensus.
21:24They have them as wide receiver seven. You're at wide receiver 13.
21:27Is this just because he's not practicing right now?
21:30Uh, going to face the Chicago bears. Yeah, there's a little hamstring injury.
21:34He's kind of been following him. So I'm assuming that he's totally fine as he was last week when he was, he was excellent.
21:41He got four passes in the two minute drill.
21:43I think the reason why I'm lower on him is because I don't trust the bears offense, but the third string quarterback against Vic Fangio.
21:50And there are too many games where the Eagles just like, don't have to pass the ball very much.
21:56Now the run game has been such a disaster that they're, they're turning to just throw the ball down the field.
22:02But now this week. And the matchup is excellent.
22:04Like one-on-one coverage shots, like Tyreek Stevenson, their number two corner has been like completely cooked and he's got a hamstring injury himself.
22:11Jalen Johnson has been very involved. It's like individually, this is an awesome matchup.
22:15I worry if this is a game where he gets like seven targets and then everyone else around this gets, you know, 10 targets.
22:22I think that's the reason why I'm a half two.
22:25I don't dislike Devontae Smith. And the team is only projected for 23 points.
22:29So I think the markets are projecting almost like a long drawn out drives rather than these explosive plays in the passing game.
22:35Because like there, there are other matchups where, you know, a team is favored by four and a half and they're projected
22:41for 28 points or 29 points or 27 points.
22:44So being a full touchdown below that, that the Eagles are, uh, it makes me believe we have a safe one.
22:50Barkley week. Oh God. But what can go wrong?
22:53Yeah. I think it's a good point because like George Pickens, they're projected for more points and they're expected to lose.
22:59Like how many more dropbacks is Dak Prescott going to have than Jalen Hurts this week?
23:03There'll be a lot. Okay. Jalen Waddle is up next for you.
23:07The monkey off our backs happened in week two, thankfully.
23:09Uh, but what are we going to get Hayden?
23:12This is against LA Rams who have invested a lot in corners week one.
23:16It was not great for them. Week two was outstanding for them.
23:19So how is Sean Payton and Bo Nix and Jalen Waddle going to attack this Rams defense?
23:24I'm just trusting what week two showed me, which is that he's going to be a lot of to be the focal point of the offense.
23:32Uh, he had 10 targets, 14.3 expected half PPR points, a lot of fun stuff from him.
23:37You got them like in the screen game, some quick outs, like some, some of the layup stuff returned for Jalen Waddle.
23:43And then you also have like the fun stuff, that big post route where you had both of the big bodied outside
23:49receivers, uh, do in cuts to bring the safeties down and he goes over the top.
23:54So I think it was very clearly a focal point.
23:57I even thought in week one, he was still focal point.
24:00Like just Bo Nix was just like not pulling the trigger to him.
24:03Uh, I think the Rams defense is gonna be very good.
24:07Uh, but you know, if they're expected to lose this game, which they are in there at home and the Broncos are
24:13still number one in neutral pass rate right now, or right up there at the top of it.
24:18Um, he's going to get the rock a ton.
24:21This is another one of those matchups that you look on paper and how much the Rams have invested in offense, how
24:27much the Broncos have invested on offense. And yet the total for this game is all the way down at 44 and a half.
24:34Um, this is probably the lowest projected total that like the Rams and the Broncos might see all season unless they face like the Seattle Seahawks, you know?
24:42Yep. Totally agree. Okay. Next is T Higgins. This is at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
24:46Uh, I love the over the middle stuff that T was getting last week.
24:50Like Jamar Chase was making unreal catches, uh, along the sideline.
24:53And then T was doing in breaker after in breaker.
24:56Uh, and then I understand that Joey Porter Jr.
24:58Like returned to practice on a limited basis. Uh, it still does not sound like he is going to return to the right.
25:05Yeah. He just wants money. And I totally get it.
25:08Joey Porter is a very good football player and the top corners make a lot of money.
25:12So totally get that. Uh, the bangles are first neutral pass rate.
25:16Going back to Jalen Waddle, the Broncos are second.
25:18So like this team, they're doing more under center stuff, but in neutral conditions, they still want to pass the ball out of shotgun.
25:25Um, he's averaging 105 air yards, 25% target share through the first two weeks.
25:29He's a wide receiver 12 and targets per game.
25:32He just hasn't scored the big plays, um, yet.
25:34So I think he's a great buy low since 2023 with Joe Burrow, uh, healthy.
25:39He's a wide receiver 15 on wide receiver 10 usage.
25:42That's very close to the George Pickens point that you're talking about.
25:45Uh, the project for 23 points, uh, the Steelers offense is so bad that I just don't get the shootout, you know, feeling here.
25:52So let's talk through Ted Arone McMillan. He is next for you as wide receiver 16.
25:56This is at the Cleveland Browns. Uh, just quickly Hayden, is this a tier still?
26:01Are we dropping down to B tier? Probably a, yeah, this is a tier for me.
26:05He's a wide receiver five in expected points here.
26:08Um, and we have some Jalen Coker stuff that we have to get to.
26:12I'm unsure if he's going to play. This is assuming he's going to play.
26:16Uh, but it's just these two guys like Xavier Leggett's been banged up and he's not involved.
26:21The, you got a couple of Darren Waller's, uh, targets, but for the most part, it's just like T Mac Coker, Chuba Hubbard, and that's it.
26:28And they're projected for the 14th most points. Uh, he'll see some Denzel Ward.
26:32I still think Denzel Ward's a very good player.
26:35Uh, but T Mac's also a very good player.
26:37Yeah. The Browns are running the highest rate of man coverage in the league right now.
26:42Uh, what the Panthers did against some of the bear stuff in week one with that was a bunch of out and ups.
26:48I wonder what their answer is this time. Cause you can't just keep running double moves over and over and over again,
26:55or else, you know, teams are going to catch on.
26:58It's pretty fun. Um, Rebs noted that last year T Mac was targeted on 29.3% of his routes against man coverage compared to about 21% against zone coverage.
27:06Now it's a new play caller and we saw him torch zone coverage last week against the Atlanta Falcons.
27:11So I think the passing game has just improved overall.
27:14Uh, we'll talk about the Coker stuff once we get down there, because I think Xavier Leggett is also dealing with like
27:20a knee thing and might be getting an MRI on top of it.
27:24So it's, uh, it's a mass unit right now.
27:26Uh, surprisingly. Okay. Mike Evans pops up as your wide receiver 18.
27:30This is against the Arizona Cardinals. He's still running a route on only about like 72% of dropbacks, which is solid.
27:36I would love a 72% route rate. Mike Evans for 17 games this year.
27:40However, because you're chopping off about 20 ish percent that can give you, you know, a touchdown in week one versus this
27:46past week when you have a dominant matchup that only equals three catches for 54 yards.
27:51And once again, we have one of those matchups where they're projected to just demolish the Arizona Cardinals.
27:56I think he's going to settle in as a boom bust wider receiver to the Niners projected for the third and most points.
28:02It's an awesome matchup. The Cardinals defense has been getting kind of lit up by everybody.
28:07There's been coverage bust on tape. And then will Johnson, their top corner, uh, like a projected first round pick kind of fell because of injuries.
28:14Now he might be out for the year. Max Melton.
28:17He missed some time with a toe injury. Uh, Garrett Wilson has been, uh, limited or Garrett Williams.
28:22Uh, he's been limited with, uh, within the Achilles injury.
28:25So they're just a really bad spot for the Cardinals secondary.
28:28And so, um, I think he's going to get goal line touchdowns.
28:32And I think that he's looked good on tape.
28:34Uh, he also hasn't practiced with the hip injury.
28:37I think that they're like, he's just not going to practice this year.
28:41Like that's just what I agree. Yeah. Yeah. Like typically vet days are on Wednesdays.
28:45Uh, Mike Evans might be a Monday through Thursday kind of guy.
28:48Like I can't even tell you if the hip thing is real because they were winning so much last week at the same time.
28:55We, I thought like the groin and the quad and all that stuff was real during training camp.
29:00And then he told us after training camp, it was not real.
29:04So he's just going to be listed. Like you said, not with like undisclosed or personal or any of that.
29:09It's just going to be a different thing each week.
29:12I agree. Okay. Next is lad McConkie at the Buffalo bills.
29:15Uh, the chargers averaged 6.7 yards per play on Sunday with lad McConkie on the field, 41% success rate without him.
29:21And you could really feel it. Everything wrong, wrong that went with the chargers was when he was not in the field.
29:28They averaged 3.6 yards per play with a 31% success rate on 34 snaps.
29:32Uh, and this was like nearly identical to week one, two Hayden.
29:35So I would love to see like a full-time loud McConkie.
29:38And if we get that, then good things are going to happen.
29:42Yeah. I hope he's a full-time player. It sounds like, you know, another week after the rib injury, probably settling into a little bit better of a spot.
29:50They're also going to be forced to pass the ball a ton because they're facing the Buffalo bills.
29:55And I have zero faith in the chargers defense stopping Josh Allen right now.
29:59So they're expected to lose by seven points. And those game scripts that lad McConkie should get the ball a ton.
30:05The state of the union, the, the, both of the, their blocking tight ends are going to be out there.
30:11Their left guard that they like, like he's probably not going to play as well.
30:15Like it's, it's a tough spot individually across the board.
30:18Uh, they also have a top corner Christian Benford, but I feel like Christian Benford might go up against Quinton Johnston.
30:24I think there is a pretty big tiered break, uh, to the rest of their secondary.
30:28So I think it's a good spot for lad McConkie, but you still don't feel comfortable because he's like not a full-time player.
30:35The rib injury. Right. Yeah. I, that game on Sunday and he wasn't in for the first three critical third downs and they didn't convert any of them.
30:43And then the second half, they put him on the field for those third downs.
30:47And then those were the only positive plays that they had.
30:50So. I, yeah, I mean, everything is wrong with the charters except for Justin Herbert to lab and it sucks that lad's
30:57not out there all the time because he just is getting banged up right now.
31:01Should I move him to beat here? Uh, yeah, I think so.
31:04Okay. Okay. I just want to be, you know, fair to the people out there.
31:09Okay. That brings us next to Jamison Williams as your wide receiver 20 on the week.
31:13Um, this is against the New York jets. Hayden.
31:16I am assuming this is entirely matchup based and also how, you know, the fancy football players play where, oh, he'd a
31:22down first two weeks, just as we're hesitant to start him, he's going to have a monster, uh, matchup and a monster productive week.
31:29And that could happen here against his jet sequence.
31:31If you drafted Jamison Williams and you're not comfortable with this, like that's, you know, that's a personal problem.
31:37He's going to dud dud and then boom. And that's just how the season's going to go.
31:42I, uh, don't want to have him on my bench because the lions are projected for the fifth most points and they're facing the jets.
31:49The jets aren't going to have one of their safeties.
31:52The jets, I don't think have great outside corners.
31:54Uh, the big caveat here is Jamison Williams is not going to get the layup target that he got in his absolute
32:01peak because of Sam before like that's, that's a fact.
32:03Um, but at the same time, I think the jets can score points against the lions defense and the lions offensive line
32:10right now is not in the best spot where I do need them just throwing the ball up to Jamison Williams is like not the worst case scenario.
32:18He's also a positive like regression candidate as well.
32:20Like the usage is still there. Um, it's like some degrees, the wider super 28, according to my model right now.
32:26Um, so, you know, live with the results. Uh, you, one of these we see a little finish is the wider super
32:33three overall and you can't have that player ranked as the wider super 40.
32:37Yeah. It really might happen in this one. I mean, he's out there 95% of the time, but as you said, we just don't get the gimmies instead.
32:45It's all the outbreakers, all the downfield routes right now.
32:47So like the crossers against the grain was the stuff that gave us like a consistent floor with, with Jamison Williams.
32:53Malik neighbors is your water receiver 21. This is against the Tennessee Titans.
32:57And I think this is a massive discussion because if Jamis Winston has anything, this is the week to show it right.
33:03They are favorites in this game against the Titans.
33:06Uh, if this team has any faith after giving a contract extension to Jamis Winston, this is the matchup to do it
33:12because the Titans cornerback room is an absolute mess so far through the first two weeks.
33:17And so I think we're going to learn a lot from Harbaugh and Matt Nagy and Greg Roman and all that if,
33:23Hey, they actually want Jamis to drop back and throw the ball.
33:26Uh, or if they're just going to play ball control with the running game, play defense and one of the margins.
33:32Yeah. They got shredded down the football field by Devante Smith and Don Tavian Wicks.
33:37And then like Cordell Flott, they're, they're prized free agent.
33:40He's been injured. Um, and we'll see if he's going to play in this one.
33:44It's such a good spot. Do you think I should move Malik neighbors up?
33:48Like, I feel like I haven't loved the Malik neighbors tape.
33:51Like I typically do. It's like a definitely a tier spot.
33:54The shoulder thing is a weird thing too. On top of this, but he's at least been practicing and he said he
34:00got imaging and he's going to play through it.
34:03Like he's, he's had this shoulder problem for a long time.
34:06I don't like that. Totally. But coming back. Yeah.
34:09It stinks when you have a long-term shoulder issue that you like dislocate it and then you just put it back in
34:15on the sideline and then you go back in and play like, yes, you're doing it, but the more that happens, the
34:21worst, the worst long-term it gets to like, it's just going to be easier and easier to pop out on top of it.
34:28Yeah. Um, now like the guys ahead of them, you know, talking about Mike Evans, Ladd McConkie, Jameson Williams, we're not talking
34:34about like, you know, full, full bill of health and like a great role.
34:38It's like, I, I'm going to think about this more, the Jameson Williams stuff or the, the Jameson Winston stuff is like
34:44definitely like, I think a net win for Malik neighbors because even if there was like a pick six and stuff like
34:51that, just going to force them into, you know, crazy game scripts and James typically wants to throw the ball up to his top wide receiver.
34:58Yeah. Titans past defense allowed a league high 81% completion rate on throws to wide receivers with 11.3 yards per target.
35:04So are we moving them up? Yeah. Let's, let's move them up ahead to the top of B tier, but he's somebody
35:10I'm going to, I'm going to spend some more time on like really thinking about.
35:15Yeah. Yeah. It was frustrating because I thought week one showed some rough edges, obviously when you miss that much time, but
35:21he was on the field and then there was some yards at the catch moments that if he stayed on his feet, some good things could work.
35:29Yeah. And then week two happens and it's just like, okay, how do we reset and go from here?
35:34And again, that's why I think week three will tell a lot about what this team thinks that they want to be moving forward.
35:41Okay. Rashi rice is your wide receiver 22. This is at the Miami dolphins and his role has really changed.
35:47I mean, he ran a screen on 10% of his routes the past two seasons.
35:51That's down to 3% so far. However, he is on the field all the time.
35:55I mean, he's running a route on a career high 84.5% of drop back.
35:59So while we think he has a linear skillset and not as good as wide receivers constantly drafted around him at some
36:06point playing an offense that scores a lot. Yeah.
36:08Points and you're on the field all the time.
36:11I don't think rushy rice might like totally fail like other wide receivers.
36:14Yeah. Well, the season. I totally agree with that.
36:17He's been blocking for Xavier worthy on all those screens.
36:20Like that's been a problem. Kenneth Walker's catching a bunch of passes and that's been a problem for rushy rice.
36:26And then you look at the matchup and they're projected for 28 points and the dolphins have been, I mean, it's the ACC defense.
36:32Like that's what, that's what the Miami dolphins are at this point.
36:36Like the amount of coverage bust, uh, from last week, so bad, a single dolphin touching of a 49er in the past game, the entire game.
36:43Like I didn't like, you know, and like they have like, uh, we're talking about rookies over the middle of the football field.
36:50Like I think these rookies are going to eventually be good, but they've been swimming in the slot and swimming at linebacker and that's where rashi rice wins.
36:58Um, so I think his role is officially changed.
37:00And then Patrick Mahomes is better than I thought he was going to be, um, this quick and they're projected for 28 points.
37:07So play them. My homes though is throwing the ball to water receivers, the lowest rate in the league at just 42
37:13and a half percent of his targets. Kelsey. Okay.
37:16DJ more is here's your wide receiver 23. What's the latest on him?
37:19Because it feels like, I mean, we obviously haven't seen him on the field for, uh, a week and a week and
37:26a half by the time he hits the field this week.
37:29So I watched a clip of him in practice on Wednesday when he was a limited participant and he went up for
37:35a ball and caught the ball above his head, which to me was a sign that he's probably going to play.
37:41He didn't practice on, on Thursday, but typically with these AC joint injury, like you either have the mobility and you're comfortable with the injection or you're not.
37:49He says he wants to play to me. That means that he's probably going to get this injection.
37:54He's probably going to wear a brace. He's probably not going to have the same exact role as he typically does.
38:00And then it's kind of like the Rashi rice thing.
38:03Well, even if, you know, the role is not going to be perfect this week because you're playing through this injury, you're
38:09projected for 29 points against the chargers who, by the way, the chargers defense has been equally as bad as some of
38:16the other defenses we've been talking about. And they're pretty small at corner and DJ more like a tough tackle when he's fully going there.
38:23So, you know, I'm starting the wide receivers that are projected for 29 points.
38:27There's going to be a surprise name in a second.
38:30Uh, my like Rashad Bateman of the week that my Trey Tucker of the week is coming and he's on the bills.
38:36Okay. Well, next is Jalen Coker. And we just got news while we're recording this, that Jalen Coker is, it looks like he's practicing today.
38:43So that's good. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Devin Lloyd is missing his third straight practice.
38:47So again, everything we talked about, Quinn, Sean Judkins on the running back ranking show, and I did it over on the forecast channel.
38:54Um, I would still lean into Quinn, Sean Judkins here, but talk to me about Jalen Coker, because I mean, the start
39:01of this season has been freaking outstanding and going back to last year, four straight games of at least six catches.
39:07Yeah. It's a wider receiver seven on wider receiver seven usage to start the year.
39:11The Panthers have been high in neutral pass rate and neutral pace.
39:14Like this is a fun offense and they're high in average depth of targets.
39:18Like it's exactly what you want. And it's very, you know, funneled to these top guys.
39:23So Jalen Coker is, is here for, for the long haul.
39:26Um, and then like you said, if you start including like what he did to close last year, it's like lights out stuff.
39:33He's averaging 19 half PPR points in his last four outings, including that Rams game in the first two games here.
39:39So he's in an awesome spot, especially if Denzel Ward's going to be facing off with T-Mac a little bit more.
39:45It was just the ankle injury where I had him a little bit lower here, but, um, he played through that ankle
39:51injury last week and he looks incredible. Awesome. Yeah.
39:53It's one of those situations where it's so narrow in terms of where the football is going that I would be concerned with the Panthers offense.
40:01If one of these guys misses, yeah, because the drop off to the next talent is sizable.
40:06It's massive. But when all these guys play, it can be really freaking good.
40:10It can be really good. So maybe they're like a Jerry Judy team, you know, like getting one, like if they're going
40:16to be serious and make a push and I'm just trying to piss you off here.
40:21How about, can I interest you in a Calvin Ridley?
40:23No. I mean, if someone misses like John Metchie will be the first name up.
40:28So, uh, that's kind of what's there. All right.
40:30Josh Downs is your wide receiver 25. This is an interesting discussion to me because while we can like watch him last
40:36week and say the routes are really cool, then it was, let's say a tier above PPR scam level.
40:42Yes. Um, he is, you know, running about 60% of his routes out of the slot.
40:46And to me, it's just going to be hilarious to watch, you know, this chain cycle, that offense sacrifice Laquan Treadwell and
40:53Keenan Allen to, uh, Derek Stingley and Kamari Lasseter on the outside.
40:56And hopefully Josh Downs finds the end zone on top of his like 65 yards receiver.
41:01It was just so obvious that Shane Steichen like wanted Josh Downs to be like the centerpiece of the pass game, uh,
41:07last week, like got him in motion a bunch of times, like a lot of little option routes.
41:12Like that's where Josh Downs is at his best.
41:15Like he can threaten, uh, intermediate more than most slot wide receivers.
41:18We don't have to pretend that he's going to be like, you know, like the next tire lock in here.
41:24So I think he's going to be a very good player.
41:27They're going to absolutely need him. And, uh, I do think he's not going to see as much Derek Stingley as you
41:33would kind of think because of the way that Shane Steichen is kind of like, I'm not saying hiding Josh Downs, but
41:40like, he's just like putting him in the best chance to win.
41:43Motion stacks. As he should. As he should. Yes.
41:46And he's very, and Josh Downs is very good at that.
41:49Um, my only concern is without Alec Pierce, this offense might be like so constricted, like seven foot ceilings in your house,
41:55you know, like it's just going to feel so condensed.
41:58Yeah. And, uh, I think the Texans are like really going to be able to take advantage of that.
42:03Definitely. So Tyler Warren speaking on tight ends real quick, um, like six of his seven targets last week were at or behind the line of scrimmage.
42:11Like we have to do some more real past game stuff here.
42:14Um, and we'll see about it. Okay. Debo Samuel versus the Arizona Cardinals, a name that a lot of people picked up
42:21after week one and talk about condensed. That wide receiver room has gotten even more condensed since then with Demarcus Robinson missing time.
42:27That has boosted Debo from like a 55% route rate to an 80% route rate last week.
42:32And in a game where they're projected for so many points, like you would like to think that Debo Samuel has a
42:38nice shot of finding the end zone. I think Debo Samuel is a must start.
42:43He's had screens, backfield usage, carries quick outs off of play action and intermediate targets in each of the games.
42:48Like all of those things that is listed that happened in both of the games.
42:53Josh, Deshaun's dribbling was going to absolutely cook. Like I'm so, I'm so pissed about this.
42:57I'm so frustrated. Think about, I mean, he was going to run 90% of routes on a team that is running over
43:04everyone in terms of just throwing over them, passing the ball when the best offense is already this, it would have been incredible.
43:10So the season, I actually think he might've finished as like the number one rookie in fancy football.
43:15If he played. Yeah. I mean, he would probably be a top 24 guy this week.
43:20So that absolutely stinks. I will say this. Debo Samuel has looked pretty healthy and like pretty solid to me on, on tape here.
43:27And he's got an awesome role. Um, so wider receiver 26 and wider receiver 33 usage.
43:31They're projected for the third most points. Like he's an, he's an absolute layup line must start wider receiver.
43:37I know viewers commenters laugh at us when we talk about, well, the process is good, but the results might've been bad.
43:43I mean, the stripling process was flawless. It was truly flawless all the way through, all the way up to the turtleneck.
43:49All right. Emeka egg Buka. Ooh. I mean, wider receiver 27 against the Minnesota Vikings.
43:54Baker Mayfield has completed 11 of 25 of his throws, 10 or more yards down the field.
43:58Only Cooper rush and Aaron Rogers have a worse completion rate in that area.
44:02I mean, Baker has been abysmal to start the season.
44:05He's running into sacks. He's lost the most EPA for sacks.
44:08And, uh, that's a bad recipe when you're going up against Brian Flores and Steve.
44:13The Vikings have been the best fantasy wide receiver defense over the last 10 games.
44:17And it's like not even close. Like they've been shutting down everybody.
44:20And that Brian Flores defense is like fully unlocked now that they have, you know, Dallas Turner, uh, breaking out Jalen Redman,
44:27uh, defense attack, like even like Caleb banks at like a rotational defense attack.
44:31Like those guys can get after the pass rusher or the quarterback, like individually on top of all the crazy stuff.
44:37So I don't feel comfortable with this. Tampa Bay is only projected for 20 and a half points.
44:42That's 23rd. Um, so I do think that Emeka's could be like a nice, like quick out, like, like some of like the little quick outs and stuff.
44:50Like, I do think that's like the best way to beat this Brian Flores kind of defense.
44:55And I think that he can do that, but I feel very uncomfortable with the floor.
44:59I really hope next week I can just say he's a buy low and then we can like go on from there.
45:05But the Baker problems get like absolutely magnified by the Brian Flores defense.
45:09Next is Rashad Bateman as your wide receiver 28.
45:12Uh, is this going to still be in B tier or should we move to C tier?
45:17Is it B because we highly doubt say flowers plays.
45:19He hasn't practiced all week, even if he is traveling to Brazil.
45:23Um, yeah, let's go B tier. One last time.
45:25Yeah. One, one last time. So with Rashad Bateman last week, he was the wide receiver 10 on wide receiver 17 usage.
45:32I think the wide receiver 17 usage is important because they just don't have anybody else to throw the ball to.
45:38Like when Zay flowers is not, it's like guys that you don't even know how to pronounce the name behind, behind him.
45:44He has a first round, a former first round pick.
45:47I know that like he has not been a first round, uh, caliber player, but there's like more juice here than like
45:53some of the other guys that kind of walk into like, uh, uh, a big role like this.
45:58Also on top of that, uh, the Cowboys coverage bus have been unreal the entire season.
46:03Uh, Kobe Durant, their, their cornerback to a new player for them.
46:06Hamstring injury. He's not going to play here. Malik hooker, a safety not going to play here.
46:11A linebacker over Sean. He's not going to play.
46:14And then the Ravens are projected for 28 and a half points.
46:17So like, obviously you give Derek Henry two touchdowns.
46:20You give Mark Andrews a touchdown. You have another touchdown to go to get to this team total.
46:25And I think like Rashad Baton's like firmly, uh, in that category.
46:28I will say these last two weeks, the Ravens just from watching them don't look nearly as good in the second half
46:35as they do in the first half. Like obviously they blew out the Colts in week one and say flowers missed in that second half.
46:42Right. But the offense like couldn't move the ball other than on the ground until they got like a 43 yarder to Chris Moore.
46:49And then this past week against the saints, uh, again, Lamar Jackson was pressured on about 55% of his dropbacks.
46:54When he was pressured Lamar through for two yards per pass attempt at interception, took three sacks.
46:59Ronnie Stanley's dealing with a toe. He missed practice.
47:02He is traveling. So we don't know if he's going to play.
47:05Yep. The Cowboys have struggled to create pressure on anyone.
47:08So it might not matter here. It's kind of on my radar that they're getting really hot starts.
47:13Yeah. And then kind of limping to the finish line.
47:16I think that's just the reality of like when Rashad Bateman's your wide receiver one and the wider receiver twos or rotation,
47:22I think they get in some situations where like teams are selling out to stop the run.
47:27And then you either have like, okay, are we going to actually run the ball into these crazy boxes there?
47:33Can we, or like, am I going to throw a one-on-one ball to Chris Moore and Wester and all that type of stuff?
47:39And I think that's, that's a problem they've been running into.
47:43Devon Valle is your wide receiver 29. This is against the Las Vegas Raiders.
47:47Tyler Shuck is the inverse of that. And the first half of games, his quarterback rating is only ahead of Cooper Rush
47:53and Daniel Jones, according to Richard Rebar's worksheet. In the second half, he's lights out 40 of 53, 475 yards, four touchdowns, and just one INT.
48:00Cooper Rush gets a lot of call outs in these types of shows because it's always like who is worse?
48:06Sample size. Once it gets larger, we will not be including him.
48:09Moving forward. I'm sure he'll be very thankful for that.
48:12Just cash or checks. Yes. Bailey. I mean, the role is like really good.
48:16He's the wide receiver 16 on wide receiver 16 usage to start the season.
48:20He's a, he's a fine enough player. He's going to be in the right spot and the zone coverage stuff when you're
48:26number one in pace and you're dropping back as often as they do.
48:30And then this matchup is, is really good against the Raiders.
48:33They have a couple of players on the injury report right now.
48:37They haven't been tested based off of their matchups.
48:39And you know, like Tyler Shuck's going to drop back 38 to 50 times per game.
48:44Then it's not that hard for Bailey, Juwan Johnson and Chris Olave to get home.
48:48So let's talk. And I Mitchell wide receiver 30 on the week.
48:52He's been limited and practice for two straight days.
48:54I believe it was rich Samini who reported that he caught his finger in a Jersey yesterday.
48:59He's on the practice field this morning, at least stretching, but he has like his hand entirely wrapped.
49:04It looks like it's his right hand. To me, that's not a great sign for a guy who kind of struggles sometimes,
49:10you know, consistently catching the football to maybe not have one of his hands fully available.
49:15But at the same time, Hayden, like this is a smash spot.
49:18Is it not like 14 air yards per target?
49:2147% of his targets are 10 or more yards on the field.
49:24And then Detroit has allowed seven receptions of 20 plus yards of wide receiver through two games.
49:29You know, Jake laser, somebody is going to have the report if he's going to play or not into what capacity.
49:35You know, I don't like broken fingers with my wide receivers personally.
49:39So we'll see if he was fully healthy. This is where I would have him kind of like up in this tier,
49:45like a very startable player because the matchup is so excellent.
49:48I think some of the looks that he's gotten this year are like a little bit flimsy.
49:53But the role he's a full time player and then everyone else is banged up on top of this.
49:58So if he's out there, I would get it.
50:01But like, I mean, like you said, it's Adnan Mitchell with hand problem.
50:05Like that's like this is a true like what can go wrong situation or what?
50:09Or Hayden, maybe he's better at catching the football with one less hand, you know, like it can be so much of
50:15a roller coaster when he has two hands that maybe it adds to the concentration levels when he knows he can only use one.
50:22Yeah. I don't like that theory as much. Okay.
50:25Khalil Shakir is the name that you brought up.
50:27This is your wide receiver 31 and his role has changed this year, hasn't it?
50:32I just think like this is the week where they're going to have to kind of unlock him more because the DJ
50:38more stuff like I think he's going to play but I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get quite as many looks
50:44or he's not a full time player. And then Keon Coleman, he hasn't practiced with an ankle injury.
50:49I'm assuming he's out. So in Khalil Shakir has like been like a real player for the Buffalo Bills, like when they
50:56when he's needed to be like a like actual target in the offense.
50:59He's also the wide receiver nine in usage, including last four games and including the postseason.
51:04So it's not like that. This is like that shocking either.
51:07I just need to be a big part of this past game just considering the other injuries and projected for 29 points.
51:13Derwin James has not been practicing. Kendrick Bourne went crazy in the slot against the Chargers.
51:18Trey McBride obviously went crazy over the middle as well.
51:21And then you got like the Trey Tucker stuff just kind of like a signal that the Chargers defense isn't very good.
51:27So I think he's just like a solid football player and on a team that's projected for a lot of points.
51:33DK Metcalf is up next in my underlying metrics lead.
51:36DK Metcalf is thriving. This is against the Cincinnati Bengals.
51:39Why? Because he has around 26% of his team's target to the first two weeks.
51:43With 48% and 30% of the air yards. None of that matters, though, if it's not actual yards on the field.
51:49No. And then you get DJ Turner. Correct. I think it's awesome.
51:52Now, DJ Turner is pretty small. Like, but at the same time, I just think DK Metcalf.
51:57Do you have to be 245 pounds? Like, could he could he just look like other wide receivers across the league?
52:03He looks like a little bit too big to me at this point.
52:07Yeah. It's interesting. Last year, he was productive because he was turned into Michael Pittman.
52:11And now that he's back to kind of the DK Metcalf role, that doesn't gel with what Aaron Rodgers does.
52:17Well, whatever Aaron Rodgers does now. I'll raise it.
52:19Whatever Mike McCarthy is doing right now. Mike McCarthy is running the 2014 offense right now.
52:24And Rodgers is like Aaron Rodgers. Right. But Rodgers is like, look, the defenses have changed.
52:29Like, I'm getting my ass kicked. And there's a million unblocked pressures.
52:32And our pass protection rules are a total mess right now.
52:35And then when I have to throw the ball one on one, DK Metcalf is just getting absolutely swallowed by Christian Gonzalez types.
52:42So, yeah. But the prairie yards are awesome. Like, for what they're with.
52:45Wide receiver nine in expected points. He's a wide receiver four in targets.
52:49So, like, at some point, like, you've got to start him.
52:52Okay. Michael Wilson is next as your wide receiver 33.
52:55This is against the San Francisco 49ers. On the road.
52:58Eight and a half point underdogs. So, you're basically living in the garbage time world once again.
53:03However, Hayden, garbage time might be easier with Nick Bosa out for multiple weeks.
53:07Apparently, he has another injury that popped up either during the game or in practice.
53:11And their defensive line is already banged up significantly.
53:14Super banged up. Like, Michael Williams hasn't returned. They have two defensive tackles.
53:17They're going to be very key parts of their defense.
53:20They're on injured reserve. Bosa, like you said, is now out.
53:23Week 11, last year, Jacoby Brissette's the quarterback. They're playing against the 49ers.
53:27Michael Wilson goes for 185 yards. Garbage time, sure.
53:30But, like, how projectable is the garbage time? Pretty projectable.
53:33And then I will also say it's, like, competent garbage time.
53:36Like, there's differences between, like, Cooper Rush garbage time and, like, Jacoby Brissette garbage time.
53:40Or, like, Jordan Love last night. Yes. Yeah, exactly.
53:43Exactly. I think Michael Wilson, this is, like, a game to, like, you can start him.
53:47And the fact that, like, we got LaFleur saying, like, I got these other guys.
53:51Like, I don't need Marvin. Like, to me, it's just, like, you know, like a full acknowledgement of what we've been seeing on film for a while.
53:59It's, like, it's Michael Wilson and Trey McBride on one side.
54:02And Marvin, like, might as well just, like, be sitting on the sideline.
54:06And that's what I think is going to happen here.
54:09Put a pin in the Marv conversation. We'll save that to the end.
54:13Denzel Boston is up next for you as wide receiver 34.
54:16Again, against the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers so far has missed 24 tackles on defense through two games.
54:21Denzel Boston has broken tackles on the way to long touchdowns.
54:24However, where he lines up, he's going to see a lot of J.C.
54:28Horn and Mike Jackson. On paper, this should be the type of wide receiver that they do very well against.
54:33But Denzel has been, like, the wide receiver 19 and 10 to open the season.
54:38However, that really doesn't mean anything for fantasy people because I doubt they've started him in those first two weeks.
54:43So, is now the time to do so? I think that you can.
54:47Like you said, the Panthers defense, like, I don't have a great read on them because they do have two awesome corners.
54:53And then, like, they do have, like, an awesome defensive tackle.
54:57Like, in theory, they got an awesome edge rusher and linebacker, too.
55:00So, like, I do wonder if, like, this defense is going to be, like, a little bit better across the season.
55:06And I do think that the corners are, like, really good.
55:09Now, for Boston, 21% target share. That's wide receiver 30 stuff.
55:12Wide receiver 29 and expected points. The Browns are projected for 20 points.
55:16Like, we're not talking about, like, 16-point Browns. And Sean Watson played, I think, pretty decent this last year.
55:21Probably his best game in a Browns uniform, I think.
55:24Yes. So, there's a little bit of a trap factor here for Denzel Boston.
55:28But I think Denzel Boston is a really good player.
55:31And he's looking like a really good player. So, I think this is, like, an appropriate ranking.
55:36Like, I don't feel comfortable with it. But, like, we're running out of bodies here.
55:40Yeah. I mean, he's a wide receiver three. We're already at that point, basically.
55:44I think there's two pathways here. If Deshaun Watson doesn't turn the football over, I think the Browns win this game.
55:50Or he turns it over very quickly, like they forced the Atlanta Falcons to do last week.
55:55And just the Boo Birds come out immediately in his first home game back after his clash with the fans.
56:01So, we'll see. Each path is chaos. Yes. Okay.
56:03Stefan Diggs is your wide receiver 35. This is against the Seattle Seahawks.
56:07Diggs is coming off a two-touchdown game. I thought the stuff near the goal line was awesome for him.
56:12That David Blau got him in full field motion, under center, acting like this is either going to be a handoff or play action.
56:19It was neither. It was a quick pass to him.
56:22A designed touchdown target. And he got it. Unfortunately, now we get the Seattle Seahawks as the second act.
56:28Yeah. I think Diggs is going to be great this year.
56:31And this week, you can kind of, it's like a little bye week for Steph Diggs.
56:35Seahawks' second best fantasy defense since week 10, once you adjust for the schedule.
56:39They have Nicky Manwari kind of in the area where Diggs is going to be occupying.
56:44They might not have both of their deep safeties.
56:46That's something to kind of keep in mind here.
56:49At the same time, Sam Cosme is in the concussion protocol.
56:52And that's their best healthy offense alignment right now for the commanders.
56:56Like, you have backup. You have a backup guard against these two.
56:59These are alien defensive tackles. Like, you can put both these guys in the top five at their position right now.
57:05That makes me nervous with the back and forth.
57:08Yeah. I mean, the commanders are projected for 16 and a half.
57:11That's a full point less, more than a full point less than the Dolphins, more than a full point less than the
57:17Titans, and then two points fewer than the Case Keenum led Chicago Bears.
57:21That's the status we're at here with all these Washington commanders.
57:24The goal is to not play a commander this week across all your fan leagues.
57:28That's the goal. Okay. Next up is Jordan Addison at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
57:32His season has not begun. Will it now with Kyler Murray?
57:36You know, it's the same. It's a miniature version of the Jameson Williams conversation.
57:40It's, you know, bad, bad, bad. And there he finishes the wide receiver 10 in the week.
57:44I think it's a lot more likely in a game like this because the Buccaneers are a pass funnel and Kyler Murray is healthy.
57:51This isn't going to be in rainy conditions to my knowledge as well.
57:55So, like, of all, like, the factors that would be playing into, like, is this increasing Addison's odds of a big post-move touchdown?
58:02Like, I would say the answer to that is yes, especially with, like, Jacob Parrish, who's probably going to be seeing Jordan Addison.
58:08He's been on the injury report. So, you know, pure dart throws.
58:12But I think among dart throws, like, they're projected for 22 points.
58:15And if they don't have running backs available in this game, we'll learn about Aaron Jones.
58:20Like, I think he's a totally fine dart throw.
58:22Okay. Should Stefan Diggs be, like, the first D-tier name here?
58:25Uh, no. Let's keep him there. I think he's still going to catch, like, four or five passes.
58:30And Addison? Let's go Addison in here as well.
58:33I mean, we're talking about Veilay Mitchell. Like, there's not a bunch of studs in C-tier yet.
58:38Well, what about Dontavian Wicks, who sits here as your wide receiver 37 after the Chicago Bears?
58:43I mean, such a healthy start to his season.
58:45Some consistency there. I understand that he lost snaps last week to Darius Cooper.
58:49But I wouldn't be surprised if that kind of flips to Makai Lemon this week, from what I've been told.
58:55Okay. Interesting. Yeah, I just think that he's going to be, like, a double-move guy on the perimeter.
59:00The volume is not going to be there consistently.
59:03But he's going to have downfield looks. And it's like boom-bust, you know, wide receiver four type of player.
59:08Matchup is really good, especially if Tyreek Stevenson. I mean, whether Tyreek Stevenson plays or doesn't play, I don't really care at all.
59:15This is a great individual matchup for him. It's just how many downfield shots is he going to get?
59:20Is that two or is that five? And this might be closer to two, but still, he's a good dart throw.
59:26Okay. Trey Tucker will start him in the D-tier.
59:29How dare you? Well, week one, they didn't throw down the field at all.
59:33So he was like wide receiver 73. Then week two, they did throw down the field.
59:37And he was the one to do it. However, that was also with no Brock Bowers out there.
59:42Not saying that Brock Bowers is going to get, you know, 40-plus yard targets on the field.
59:47But their passing game might change a little bit.
59:50But the comparison that, I can't remember who made it.
59:53Joel. Joel made it about Rashid Shaheed. And the New Orleans Saints attached to Clint Kubiak makes a lot of sense here for Trey Tucker.
60:00Yeah. This is going to be a game where they might have to actually drop back more.
60:05I mean, they're 2-0. And now they're expected to lose this game.
60:08And I think without question, Trey Tucker is their best wide receiver.
60:11He's not going to get the manufactured stuff. I think that's why the Rashid Shaheed comparison is a good one.
60:17But I would not be surprised if he finishes like a top 40 wide receiver across the year.
60:22And it's going to be like all the last couple of guys that we talked about.
60:27I'm overriding it. He is a C-tier player to me.
60:30Like, what is it truly? What is it even against Brandon Staley's defense that is built to stop downfield passing?
60:35That like I totally hear you on that. I just think that he's like definitely operating as our top wide receiver right now.
60:42And I think he's like. It is kind of good.
60:45OK, Malik Washington, then. I mean, there is no way you're going to tell me to put Malik Washington in the C-tier here.
60:51He did have a highly productive week. Caleb Douglas is out.
60:55Chris Bell will be the starter opposite Malik Washington.
60:57But again, this is the team projected for the second fewest points against Steve Spagnuolo.
61:01You know, this is the PPR scam of the week.
61:04You know, they're expected to lose by 10 points.
61:07He doesn't come off the field much. You're dealing with injuries to Caleb Douglas.
61:11I am really excited to see what Chris Bell can do in a full time role.
61:15But this is against Steve Spagnuolo. Just the reality is through two weeks, he's a wide receiver 32 and usage and half PPR.
61:22He's a wide receiver 28 and targets per game.
61:25And there is probably going to be more targets available on this one.
61:28So, you know, PPR scam of the week. I already threw up Cardinal Tate and then Xavier Worthy against that Dolphins defense.
61:35By the way, Worthy has an A. of seven right now.
61:38And 39% of his targets have been at the line of scrimmage.
61:41Yeah. And then Romeo Dobbs as wide receiver 42.
61:44Anything you want to say about any of those three names?
61:47Cardinal Tate individually. You know, Paulson Adebo is on injured reserve.
61:50And I have not been impressed with the Giants corners.
61:53So I think this is like his best opportunity for.
61:56He should have had a touchdown last week. Yeah.
61:58It just, you know, state of the union with Cam Ward.
62:01It's like still very up and down. Xavier Worthy.
62:04He's getting all of like the bubble screens. Is he doing anything with him?
62:08Absolutely not. He's also getting some downfield and intermediate targets.
62:11Is he doing anything with those? He's absolutely not.
62:13But he's getting the looks that you want in an offense that's projected for a ton of points.
62:19Like I'm not impressed with Xavier Worthy at all.
62:21He could just kind of like float to like a top 40 wide receiver this year without even having to do too much on an individual basis.
62:29You know. Okay. Names we have not even brought up.
62:32Chris Godwin. And maybe even more importantly, QJ. Terry McLaurin.
62:35Roma Dunse. Luther Burton. Marvin Harrison Jr. All of these guys are outside of your top 42 wide receivers.
62:40A number of them were drafted highly. In the case of Odunze and Burden.
62:44It's just that they're facing an outside wide receivers against a Vic Fangio defense with their third string quarterback.
62:49Is it really that simple? It is. I mean, you know, they're not even full time players.
62:54And you got Quinlan Mitchell and Cooper DeGene with Case Keenum.
62:57Like, you know, it's too much for me personally.
63:00Yeah. And Terry, it's the outside corners and downfield stuff attached to Marcus Mariota against the Seattle Seahawks defense.
63:05Yep. And then with Marv, I got suckered in.
63:08I clicked on the Steve Smith video talking about Marvin Harrison Jr.
63:11He says that Marvin Harrison Jr. does not have an effort problem.
63:15And I would disagree going back and watching Marvin Harrison Jr.
63:18There was a lot of effort stuff that was not there in terms of the blocking.
63:23And obviously, when you run for love, the game routes like 50 plus percent of the time, you know, you know, you're not going to get the football.
63:31But at the same time, I don't think he is the term earning targets by doing some of the other stuff, not up to 100 percent caliber either.
63:38So this is a big week for him. Either he has and he has seen the noise, I am sure.
63:44And so is he going to be locked in immediately or is it just going to be much of the same?
63:50Not going to comment on the other podcast. We'll comment on Marvin Harrison stuff.
63:54I agree with you. I think that, you know, there's a little effort problem.
63:58He's not going to get any manufacturer touches. Marvin Harrison is good enough to dunk on a couple guys throughout the year.
64:04He is a fluid enough receiver on a couple in breaking routes that he could have some success.
64:10It will be very hard to figure out when those are going to come.
64:14And, you know. So I just don't think he's going to be a priority in the offense at all.
64:19Like the coach said that. This actually really could be a Jeremiah Love type game.
64:23We're running game for the Cardinals against that 49ers defensive line that we talked about.
64:28Yeah. And yeah, I mean, Marvin was just so much more fluid at Ohio State and then even his rookie year.
64:34But hey, that rookie year, we watched the tape that first week and then hopped on Sather's film and said he was slow.
64:40That was an old timer. That was an old timer.
64:43Everyone's like, what? That's an exaggeration. And then look what's happened since.
64:46That might be one of my favorite episodes ever because I you and I both watched it and I was like, what am I watching?
64:54And then I was so glad that you were like, what am I watching?
64:58Like, because I thought I was losing my mind.
65:00And he's gotten slower since then. Why is he putting on more weight?
65:04Go the other direction. He's gotten slower since then.
65:06All right. That's going to do it. 42 names plus for all of you out there.
65:11I'll be back Sunday morning with Justin Boone for Fancy Football Live.
65:14And then right after that, on the same video with Hayden for about an hour and a half answering your start sick questions.
65:21And we'll be back Sunday night with the Game by Game Recap Show with me, Hayden and Ray Garvin.
65:26So appreciate you all watching and supporting us and enjoy week three.
65:30Good luck. And we'll talk to you guys soon.
65:32See ya.
