0:00Welcome into the... Whoa, hold on. This is an emergency broadcast from the The Lineup Show as we are seeing a record
0:06amount of panic in the fantasy football world. I'm Mitch Anderson.
0:09I'm Justin Mello. And Mello, we are breaking down if the NFL world is overreacting, underreacting, or simply just reacting to the
0:15players with the most panic around them heading into the back half of the season.
0:19If you have any player questions, start sits, or trade questions we can answer, leave them down below and we're going to
0:25hit every single one in the comments section. But as always, the Lineup is presented by Dabble Fantasy.
0:30Download and sign for Dabble, then use the promo code LINEUP to get $20 in bonus cash when you play your first 10.
0:36We have our patented panic tier list on the right here though, starting with, everybody chill out.
0:41And then we get a little bit more into a little worried, officially nervous, starting to panic, full panic, and of course, it's so over.
0:48Mello, the world is upside down right now, so I'm going to go first with the biggest panic player in fantasy football.
0:54Let's talk about Ashton Gentry. This is the big one right now.
0:57If you want me to react to just Ashton Gentry's rushing game, I think I would be a full 10 out of 10.
1:03It's so over. But for now, because he's been a PPR scam artist, basically a wide receiver playing running back, I'm going
1:09to leave him in the full-on panic, which isn't that much better.
1:13But just to illustrate that, 337 and a touchdown on the ground.
1:16He's got 376 and three touchdowns in the air off of 37 catches.
1:19And here's the kicker, Mello. 48 targets. The most of any running back in the NFL, more than Jameer Gibbs.
1:25The same amount of targets as Parker Washington. And clearly, all the talk this week has been about the usage.
1:30We saw two carries in Week 8. A lot of us thought it was likely because of the comments he made about
1:36the Jets' defense and Kubiak and the coaching staff sending a message.
1:40But now we're getting more and more reports. They're calling the backfield split a moving target.
1:44They're talking about how they really do want to get Mike Washington Jr.
1:47more snaps. And I get it. He's averaging 4.3 a carry versus Gentry's 3.1.
1:51On top of that, Ashton Gentry has the single worst fantasy points above replacement of any running back in the NFL.
1:57He's been absolutely horrible. The only reason I am not in the it's so over, they're gonna continue attacking through the air with him.
2:04In your fantasy playoffs, you get Weeks 14 through 17.
2:06Chargers, Broncos, Titans, Cardinals. We could see him pay off big time, especially relative to what you could fetch for him in the trade market right now.
2:14But I'm in full panic because Ashton Gentry is just not going to be the running back you drafted with your second round pick.
2:20Well said. Full panic is where he should be.
2:23We should be panicking. It's not over, though. You're right.
2:25He's catching the ball. And I think the rushing volume is gonna go up.
2:29Regardless of what the coaches say, I think part of the lack of usage probably was due to some of the comments he made.
2:36And on top of that, for what it's worth, Mike Washington had 25 carries, didn't have a single forced missed tackle, which
2:42is by far the most carries of any running back to not force a missed tackle.
2:46So Gentry's gonna get more involved, but you're right.
2:49You should be panicking to at least a large extent because he's not gonna be what you drafted him to be.
2:54Let's go with a different running back, though. Let's go with Kenneth Walker of the Kansas City Chiefs.
2:59This year's biggest fantasy football darling has now disappointed two weeks in a row by failing to have a top 20 finish in either contest.
3:06That's been pretty stunning and jarring to deal with.
3:08Meanwhile, Emmitt Johnson just went nuclear, could start getting more work in this offense.
3:12He had a huge fantasy day against Denver. I'm here to tell you, though, everybody chill out.
3:17I'm putting him in the everybody chill out category.
3:19This is the first guy I don't think we really have to be nervous about.
3:23He just went against two of the league's very best defenses in Seattle and Denver.
3:27There will be greener pastures ahead. He's still getting elite usage.
3:30Emmitt Johnson actually only had one carry against Denver.
3:33It's just he had some big plays in the passing game that elevated him to a really explosive finish.
3:38But don't fret. Stay calm with Ken Walker. Yeah, we're not going to see Emmitt Johnson get like a 70-yard receiving touchdown every week.
3:45Like, this is such a great everybody chill out.
3:47He still had 19 carries. He's still getting like goal line work.
3:50Like, there's no reason. The people who are freaking out about the Emmitt Johnson thing, I think that's absolutely outrageous.
3:56If you want to illustrate one thing with this, this is what we've talked about with end of year Ken Walker and
4:02having such a difficult schedule down the stretch in the fantasy playoffs.
4:05And you put it perfectly. It doesn't mean go trade Kenneth Walker, but there's some fear you're not going to get those
4:11explosive blow up performances in weeks 15 through 17 like we've seen earlier this year.
4:15So as much as I agree with you, everybody chill out.
4:18This has also been some pretty good proof that like his ceiling can be capped when the matchup isn't there.
4:24Absolutely. I completely agree with that. All right, let's jump to my guy, though.
4:27Let's talk about Parker Washington. And Mello, here's the moment when no matter what, you can never tell me again that I am not fully objective.
4:35Because I'm going to put Parker Washington in the I'm a little worried tier.
4:38Wow. Look at you. Not that I don't think he's going to blow his redraft ADP price out of the water.
4:44He's going to continue to be a high end wide receiver to potentially low wide receiver one.
4:49But you touched on this a little bit on Monday.
4:51The volatility has been concerning. And that's not a Parker Washington dig.
4:55Trevor Lawrence has been pulled early in eight of the Jaguars last 15 games.
4:59They've got a light schedule coming up. We could see a whole lot more of the same.
5:03And then what happens is you're simply limiting opportunities in production.
5:06It doesn't matter how good you are out there if they're not in a situation to throw you the ball or even have you playing.
5:13We always say we love a great offense with a bad defense.
5:16Here we are in the scenario where we've got a great offense with an even greater defense.
5:21And it's limiting Parker Washington's ceiling. So am I panicking on him?
5:24No. I think everyone's freaking out way too much.
5:27But I am worried about the week in and week out floor because of how dominant Jacksonville's been.
5:32So yeah, I'm a little worried. I thought I was going to have to argue with you to put him in the little worried category.
5:38But that's perfectly where he should be. Like there's no reason to panic.
5:42He's so talented. He's the wide receiver one in the sleep and going offense.
5:46It's just game script stuff is like starting to look like a pattern where they're going to be in so many blowouts
5:52where he's not going to get the usage. A little bit concerning there.
5:55Let's talk about a different receiver though in A.J.
5:58Brown. The day before the news broke last week that A.J.
6:01Brown would be missing some additional time like we saw this past Sunday.
6:04Didn't play against Miami. We went on Joe Pisapia's show that day and we called Brown a buy.
6:09I called Brown a buy. Somebody I want to get in the trade market.
6:13With that news that came out though and given that he didn't play last week and it doesn't sound like he'll be
6:19playing this upcoming week unless he gets some full practices in.
6:22I'm officially in full panic. I've really swung the pendulum pretty substantially.
6:25I'm leaving the door open for him to be great down the stretch.
6:29I don't think it's over. He could win people their leagues, but I'm just officially really worried about how healthy he will be at any point this year.
6:36Not just right now. It's starting to feel like a lost season where even when he gets back on the field, I
6:42don't know that it'll be at 100%. And also we saw it last year.
6:46Now we're seeing it this year. Just how much Drake may can thrive with his misfit collection of receivers and the power of friendship.
6:53He doesn't need an alpha receiver. His offense. He doesn't need to force speed anyone.
6:57So he doesn't really need A.J. Brown. Even if he does come back, he's not going to be force fed.
7:02So it's time to panic a little bit. I'm shocked.
7:05I really thought by this point we were going to have a few of these that we disagree on.
7:10I'm actually completely with you on it. We're in full on panic.
7:14We're not at it's so over for the exact reason you said.
7:17If you were a team right now that is desperate to string together wins to make it into the fantasy football playoffs, you should not have A.J.
7:24Brown on your team because he is going to give you nothing to like maybe a couple of points that might hurt
7:30you more with him in your lineup once he gets back.
7:33Because we're going to see a ramp back up the way we've been seeing with him.
7:38I do think that there's value in trying to trade for him.
7:41If you're a team that's seven and one, six and two.
7:44You know you're making the playoffs and you can stash a guy that you can get a discount because you're not getting these next few weeks.
7:51So because of that reason, I can't put him in it's so over.
7:54He's just a perfect full on panic guy right now because most teams, I don't think you have a use for A.J.
8:00Brown right now. Absolutely. I also would like to strike that episode with Joe Pisapia from the record because all the knee
8:06concerns came out like a day after. Um, let's talk about Kyron Williams next though.
8:11And we've had a lot of panic today, Mello.
8:13Feels like a perfect time to just ease back into an everybody chill out.
8:17There's been plenty to go around in the Los Angeles Rams running back room.
8:21And I feel like people are reacting to the emergence of Blake Corum rightfully so.
8:25But then as a result, they're overreacting to how that affects Kyron Williams.
8:28And yes, it limits a ceiling, but Kyron's still getting his.
8:31Blake Corum was plenty involved last week. Kyron still got 16 carries.
8:35He's still got a touchdown because of how good this offense is.
8:38If you want to look at the real concern for Kyron Williams to me, it's the brutal stretch of weeks 13 on.
8:44You got Kansas City, San Francisco. You get a reprieve against Dallas.
8:47And then it's Tampa and Seattle to wrap up the year.
8:50And so if you want to talk to me about, okay, what's the panic around Kyron Williams schedule?
8:55Then you could get me talking about I'm a little worried or starting to panic.
8:59But Blake Corum's involvement as this narrative that like you need to deal Kyron Williams.
9:03I just think that's ludicrous. I would not be freaking out about Kyron Williams.
9:07I think Blake Corum is a buy and Kyron Williams is not a sell.
9:11That's a good way to put it. Kyron's one of the most interesting ones to me.
9:15I haven't really known how to feel about Blake Corum starting to get more work, but Kyron's still been great.
9:21The reality is both these running backs are incredible.
9:23Like they're both really good. And yes, Corum's involvement isn't good for Kyron from a fantasy perspective.
9:28It's limiting his ceiling. We haven't seen a huge explosions like we saw early on in the year, but he's still a
9:34guy you're going to be consistently starting. If you want to say you're a little nervous because of the schedule compounded with less volume, I think that's fair.
9:41But I'm certainly far from panicking on Kyron Williams.
9:44You know what? I agree. Let's move into a little bit worried because I think when you're out in the schedule, I
9:50don't think you can fully chill out about him right now.
9:53All right. We're mildly worried about Kyron Williams. Let's see how we feel about Omar Cooper Jr.
9:57I will say this right now, Mitch. I was fully prepared to come in here and say I think it's full panic
10:03time for Omar Cooper after he had zero targets while Adonai Mitchell had seven receptions on nine targets for 142 yards and a touchdown in week eight.
10:11It seems like they were just kind of done with Omar Cooper now that Adonai Mitchell was healthy, but I talked myself out of it.
10:18I'm feeling better now. I thought about it. I reflected.
10:20I'm not a full on panic. Cooper still played 78% of offensive snaps, actually even more than he played in week seven when he had a great week.
10:28And it certainly was more than the 61% of snaps that Adonai Mitchell played in week eight.
10:33With all that in mind, I am officially nervous for Omar Cooper.
10:36So there is reason to be nervous. It's not a good sign that healthy Adonai Mitchell overshadowed him so significantly, so substantially.
10:42And now all of a sudden you're looking at him as maybe the wide receiver three in this Jets offense that isn't
10:48all that exciting or sexy to begin with. So I'm not quite panicking yet because this Jets coaching staff still has Cooper
10:54on the field more than Mitchell and the opportunities will come.
10:57But definitely tread lightly. Yeah, the volatility. I'm with you.
11:00Officially nervous. I was hoping you weren't going to go into the panic mode because I'm not there yet with Omar Cooper.
11:06But like just seeing a floor of not just zero points, but zero targets like and on 78% of the snaps.
11:11It's like, yes, that's good. He was on the field.
11:14But it's also like, oh, my God, how did not once Gino Smith think like, yeah, let's get the ball to Omar Cooper Jr.
11:21That's a huge problem to me. I mean, with rookies, like we get more and more excited about them down the stretch.
11:27And so, yeah, I'm not in a panic mode yet.
11:29I still think he's an awesome stash. But you look back at last week, we were getting literal trade questions of people
11:35wondering if they should move Garrett Wilson for Omar Cooper Jr.
11:38And it's just it is incredible how quickly and how fickle we can just be with the way we react to things.
11:44Officially nervous, but I'm hoping we see a better week this week against Kansas City.
11:48Let's move in with a tight end and talk about Tyler Warren, who's about to be the Will Smith meme standing in the room all alone in Indy.
11:56And that's why I'm only a little nervous right now or a little worried, I should say, despite the lacking production.
12:02I think you could even talk me down to everybody chill out, but he might just become the lone target earner here for the Colts.
12:09And even if Jonathan Taylor stays and they move downs, that's like still a huge bump for him.
12:13He's been very inconsistent, but I think that's also just the nature of playing with Daniel Jones.
12:18Decently good schedule down the stretch. The Colts should continue to be trailing in most games, obviously.
12:23They're going to be keeping the ball in the air.
12:25We obviously saw Warren miss two games with that groin injury, but he's back.
12:29And it honestly feels like a decent buy low opportunity after that nightmare against Jacksonville.
12:33My hesitancy with making him and everybody chill out guy is that I think the ship has sailed on him paying off
12:39that like top four price tag for tight ends that you paid in your drafts back in August.
12:44I'm seeing the market value on him as like a low end tight end one.
12:48I'm seeing him ranked depending on the site or wherever you look on consensus rankings, like tight end 11 or 12 rest of season.
12:55For me, I still think he's in that top six to eight or so.
12:59I think the volume is going to come. So I'm not panicking on Tyler Warren.
13:03I agree. I actually think he's undervalued right now for the exact reason you outlined.
13:07Like, I think I like him more rest of season than most.
13:10He hasn't been healthy. Daniel Jones has been horrible.
13:13We might see a quarterback change in Hindi at some point this year.
13:16Like that wouldn't shock me. Regardless, the Colts are playing quit football and I just don't really want pieces of this offense in general for the most part.
13:24So I can understand being a little bit nervous about Tyler Warren, even if you're not necessarily panicking.
13:29Yeah, he's a good like if you're just like trying to get a deal done, you just want a piece on top.
13:35Like I feel like people are not hesitating to give you Tyler Warren if that gets a deal done right now.
13:40Absolutely. And then if that's the case, you can get him at a discount.
13:44So I am in on Tyler Warren. And let's wrap this up, though, with Jordan Mason.
13:49He's one of the more interesting ones to me, one of the more unique guys on this list.
13:54He had a brutal game against Detroit in week eight where he averaged just 2.5 yards per carry.
13:58Did not look the part at all. And the reality is he's just a true committee back in an underwhelming offense.
14:04Aaron Jones, I thought his season was over in week seven when he hurt his knee.
14:09He played in week eight. He was fine. He got usage as well.
14:12It's a committee and an underwhelming offense. I know the Vikings have been good.
14:16Their offense has not been. This is not a good offense.
14:19You have two guys that are splitting carries. Neither one is particularly good.
14:22I'm willing to say it's so over. I think this is the first guy where I'm saying it's over.
14:28But to be honest, I'm not even sure if week eight changed my mind for me.
14:32It's not like this one bad game put me here on the panic meter.
14:36I've just not been excited about Mason all year.
14:38I've just never really been on that boat. Now there's these Jonathan Taylor to Minnesota rumblings, which could obviously nuke Mason's value
14:44if Taylor did get traded to Minnesota. But even if they don't, he's just going to be a touchdown dependent fantasy running back who doesn't catch any passes.
14:52And again, a bad offense. I don't know if it ever truly started, but if it did, I think it's over.
14:58Yeah, I'm glad we hidden it so over guy to end it.
15:01Aaron Jones literally hit the Caleb Williams coming off the field like we thought he was like dead and then he's just playing in week eight.
15:08I haven't been a huge fan of the talent.
15:10Aaron Jones is going to stay in the mix.
15:13We saw him average 2.5 a carry against Detroit, which was a dream matchup.
15:17And now on top of all of it, Minnesota being one of the biggest names right now to potentially land Jonathan Taylor.
15:23That happens. It's a complete kill shot. I'm hitting it so over for Jordan Mason too.
15:27But Mello, before we get out of here, we got football tonight.
15:30Let's break into our Thursday night football picks presented by Dabble.
15:33If you want to tail these, you can find us in app at lineup Mitch and you can tail this pick with one click.
15:40And you can use the $20 that you'll get instantly when you sign up for Dabble using the promo code lineup and play your first 10.
15:47But give me your first guy tonight. Right. Let's go Basial Tootin over 71 and a half rushing yards.
15:52We saw the explosion last week. He was the RB1 overall in the week.
15:56He's looked great. He's looked the part. He's been rushing for a lot of yards already.
16:00And now he's going up against the Ravens without Lamar Jackson.
16:03The game script could once again be very favorable where they're running the ball a ton.
16:08So I really like him hitting on this line.
16:10I love that. I'm not going to say it's going to be a weird game, Mello, but I do think it's going to be a strange game.
16:17I got Brenton Strange going over 36 and a half yards.
16:20We're going to start with the Jaguars elite pass catcher that I've been talking up all season.
16:25The guy who's got 95, 68, 44, and 55 in his last four.
16:29Now we're just asking for 37 plus yards against a Ravens defense along 47 yards a game to opposing tight ends.
16:34We're going to get strange here. Also, I have to admit I haven't been that high on him all year, but he has proven me wrong.
16:41So he's proven me wrong. It's strange that he's been so involved with all these other weapons.
16:46Makes a guy like Trevor Lawrence look good. I'll take him over one and a half passing touchdowns here on Thursday night.
16:52He's been pulled from a lot of games early because they've been blowouts.
16:56But guess what? He still has over one and a half passing touchdowns in five of his seven games this year.
17:01I think the Jaguars come out firing against the Ravens.
17:04And I think Trevor Lawrence once again throws multiple touchdown passes.
17:07I'm completely in on that. Let's wrap it up with Zay Flowers' receptions.
17:11This time last week, this line would have seemed absolutely insane.
17:14And then he decided to make a fool out of us this weekend when he pops off for 0-0-0.
17:19If the Ravens want a shot at competing in this one, they're going to have to manufacture easy looks for Joe Fignano.
17:25And what is easier than dumping it off to one of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL?
17:30Prior to last week, he had 8-8-6-8 in his previous four games.
17:33But those were our Thursday night football picks presented by Dabble.
17:36And those were the 10 players on the panic meter.
17:39And it looks like the lights are going down, Mello.
17:42And we're back into our normal set. Before we get out of here, if you have any questions before your Week 9 matchup, leave them down below.
17:49We're going to try to answer every single one before the games kick off on Sunday.
17:53And Mello, anything for the people before the Sunday games kick off?
17:57I got nothing but good luck. Let's go get some Week 9 Ws and we will catch you on Monday breaking down
18:03some of our favorite trades for Week 10. We'll see you then.
