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The Week 1 Scaries
14 Plays2 months ago
Week 1 is in the books and boy was it an exciting one! Grant and Steve take a look at some players from week 1 that you may be worried about and why you should worry, guys who you shouldn't worry about, and guys who we should have been a lot higher on coming into the season. The guys also break down the Cowboys who got paid, the injuries to Jordan Love and Puka Nacua injuries, and the Tyreek Hill incident.
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Transcript
Fantasy Football Week 1 Review
00:00:34
Speaker
Welcome back to episode two of the for the 2025 season. We are back, baby. I am your host, Steve Johnson. I've got Grant Freeman here with me. What is up, Grant?
00:00:49
Speaker
Hey, what a wonderful first weekend of football we just enjoyed. We've got fantasy football. We're going to recap some of the action today. Coming up today on the show, we're going to talk about how we respond and how we pivot if needed, how we ignore some of the week one scaries. But before that, Grant, how did it feel to be playing fantasy football again?
00:01:14
Speaker
It felt really good. It felt really good. I now remember what it's like to go from the just the throws of being super high and excited for how my team's doing to watching a wind slip from your grasp as you watch the Sunday Night Football game. So it's really good. What a game to watch though. Were you were you tied up on Pook and Nakua?
00:01:40
Speaker
who ruined it. Oh no. You had Sam LaPorta going in a bunch of lead. I had Sam LaPorta and my opponent had a Cooper cup and Kyron Williams. Yeah. So the minute that the minute that Puka da Kua went down with the injury, it was shambles for me because Cooper cup was going to become that big, uh, that main target again.
00:02:06
Speaker
Yeah, but you know what? It's better to be sad about fantasy than it is to be happy about a lot of other things, you know? So we're back at it. It is so good to be playing. Let's get into some news before we jump into our main topic
Injuries Impacting Fantasy Teams
00:02:18
Speaker
of the day. You mentioned the Puka Nakua injury. We're going to get to that. But before we go there, let's go all the way back to Brazil on Friday night.
00:02:28
Speaker
yeah no It's not a high school football game, but we had an NFL game on Friday to watch. ah Talk to me about the Jordan love ankle injury that was sustained on Friday night. Yep. So it looks like it potentially is actually an MCL sprain versus an ankle injury. Um, as of now, the initial reports is that it's the MCL is still intact, uh, and is probably going to miss anywhere from three to six weeks. Uh, but he is going to look for, uh, trying to get some secondary opinions just to make sure that there's nothing toward, uh, there for you.
00:03:06
Speaker
MCL most importantly, being in the knee, not the ankle. I was done dirty but i note in front of me, ah but you're a hundred percent right there. You're a hundred percent right. Well, you, you were really done dirty by all the video replays cause all the video replays showed his ankle being rolled up on. And so that's what everybody initially assumed it to be. And then the report came out that it was actually his MCL that they were worried about.
00:03:30
Speaker
You know, we're just in mid season form already of speaking of the Packers offense. So Malik Willis came in as the backup. He looked horrible. He had a chance to try to drive it down and, and score some points. And, uh, how concerned are you about the Packers offense, which looked really effective with Jordan love under center? How concerned are you now with the prospect of
Backup Quarterback Concerns
00:03:55
Speaker
Malik Willis being the one under center guiding that offense?
00:04:00
Speaker
I think we need to see what happens in practice this week because here you are asking a guy with I think when the when the injury happened there was something like 30 seconds left in the game and you're trying to drive down the field to get a game-winning score like that's a lot to put on a backup coming in right at the end of a game and expected him to blow you out of the water with success so I think we need to see how practices go this week and we need to see what a week looks like under Malik Willis before I start to worry about any of those any of those players.
00:04:35
Speaker
Yeah, I'm in the opposite boat. I'm worried right now. We've seen Malik Willis play um his famous time with the Titans. I've got the numbers from that. Uh, 50, 52% completion percentage for 350 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions sacked 15 times on 67 pass attempts. That's barely better than a quarter of the time he was dropping back, getting sacked.
Rams' Strategy Post-Injury
00:05:03
Speaker
He carried 32 times for 144 yards. ah What's that about? Four yards a carry little, little less than that with one touchdown. Uh, not, not numbers that you're excited about, especially with how good Jordan love has looked over the past, uh, the past really end of second half of last season. And then the first, uh, most of this game that we had but i But I think you also have to pair it too with the fact that you're coming from Tennessee that had no offensive line and did not, like outside of Derek Henry did not have a ton of offensive weapons. And so I, again, I think you have a better situation here where I think the Packers offensive line is an upgrade from the Titans. But, and and I think some of the weapons that he has in the passing game are upgrade over what you saw in Tennessee.
00:05:52
Speaker
highly possible. Well, it remains to be seen as for me. I'm, I'm feeling hackers during this time. Pooking a cool. Let's get to him. Uh, left the game, got taped up in the tent, came back into the game and then almost immediately afterwards was carted off the field. What do we know about his status? Yeah. You never enjoy seeing a guy go down with an injury, then come back from said injury and hope to then try to play again and they get carted off um with said injuries. So it's looking like it's the same knee injury that he was dealing with during the preseason. um And it is probably going to be missing at least for sure next week and potentially more past that.
00:06:44
Speaker
depending on how his ah how his medical testing goes. um So we could be without Pukinakua here for a good few probably, i I would have to say probably a good solid three to four weeks.
00:07:00
Speaker
Yeah, not exciting if you drafted him because you probably took him incredibly early, yeah if that's the case. Meanwhile, Tyler Johnson showing up for the Rams looked really good. Five receptions, 79 yards. I think all of those came after the exit of Pook and Akua, maybe one or two before that looked, looked really effective at some speed. And then obviously Cooper cup returning to form the primary target.
00:07:29
Speaker
Yeah. Essentially what I think you're going to see is that Cooper cups target chair is going to be the same, if not a little bit more than what it originally was. But I think Tyler Johnson and even DeMarcus Robinson, like had a, had a fairly all right day for catches for 42 yards. Like I think the target share that was going to be Pukanakua is going to be probably distributed between Johnson and Robinson.
00:07:53
Speaker
ah I don't want to overreact to anything, but Cooper cup currently on pace for 357 targets this season. So if you got Cooper cup in your league, you're, you're looking real pretty right now. and what's like is Cooper cup, like Cooper cup was going late in some leagues this year because of the puka de kua. So you may have gotten Cooper cup at quite a discount draft wise.
00:08:19
Speaker
I scooped him up in a couple of leagues a little bit, a little bit, obviously not super late, but I want to say fourth round or so. But great value there. Speaking of value, let's talk about Tyreek Hill not valuing the speed limit on his way to the dolphin stadium this week.
Tyreek Hill's Off-Field Incident
00:08:38
Speaker
Are we expecting at this point any disciplinary action from the league for Tyreek Hill's altercation with the police on his way to the game this Sunday?
00:08:47
Speaker
Uh, it does not appear that there's going to be any sort of league implications for this. It appears that he's been given two citations for careless driving and a seatbelt violation. Uh, but it does not figure to ramp up in anything larger than that. But the Miami Dade police is also conducting their own internal investigation because there's a very interesting Twitter videos out there of people driving in, seeing how the ah Miami Dade police may have handled this situation.
00:09:18
Speaker
Yeah, it seems, uh, seems like Tyree kill was pulled over for a speeding violation and an altercation ensued. We don't know all of the details yet, but he ended up in handcuffs and it it looked like a pretty rough situation. Obviously didn't stop him on the field, going seven receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown, 26 fantasy points on the week, making him, what was he the third? Yeah. Number wide receiver three on the week by and only Jaden Reed and Cooper cup.
00:09:48
Speaker
yeah So, I don't expect any anything to impact Tyree Kill's season because of this, but it was an interesting note to receive just very shortly before game time that Tyree Kill was spotted in handcuffs. ah had I had a couple of friends that were texting me freaking out as to whether or not Tyree Kill was going to play or not. and i but had to kind of calm him down like realistically, unless he's actually being put in the back of a car, he's probably going to be playing. And sure enough, he was.
00:10:20
Speaker
Yep, absolutely. So moving on to our last little piece of news.
Dak Prescott's Contract: Performance Impact?
00:10:25
Speaker
Dak Prescott had a contract extension finally signed at the midnight hour before this game, before an incredibly mediocre fantasy performance. Uh, anything worth noting with this? Is this, i mean are we, are we thinking maybe he's not fighting for a contract anymore? Is he going to pull his foot off the gas? Does this give him stability to to play a little bit better? What are you, are you taking his contract into account at all?
00:10:51
Speaker
that was That was actually my big thing this year when it came to Dak Prescott is they paid C.D. Lamb this offseason and gave him his contract and I thought was like, oh, for sure Jerry Jones isn't gonna spend more money on an offense that continues to get expensive but not better. And then the he, yeah ah so Dak Prescott's gonna ball out and go play well enough to go get a major deal from somebody else. ah Well,
00:11:21
Speaker
I think this week because the the Cowboys defense was so good and the Browns offense was so bad, he really didn't need to do much. So I think it's just a a a testament to the game that he was in that I think you will see in some of these future weeks, especially even like next week against the Saints where Like you're gonna have a better more much more higher power high powered offense than the Browns were showing up with yesterday Where he is gonna have to actually take control of the game and ball out to to to to really help them win
00:11:58
Speaker
Yeah, it was quite a route. There was not a lot of competition in that game. So not a, not a great sign, but some of the the Cowboys skill position players still turned up with some decent numbers, but you're right. They weren't yeah at no point in this game where they really fighting for no point in this game. And I really feel as yeah, at no point in this game did I really feel like the Cowboys were being tested.
00:12:23
Speaker
Absolutely not. So we'll see how that plays out the rest of the season, but let's move on to our standout player of the week.
Week 1 Standout Performers
00:12:31
Speaker
This is where Grant and I will both highlight a player from this past week's action that went above and beyond our expectations. Grant, who is your standout player of the week for week one of the NFL season?
00:12:43
Speaker
Uh, I mean, give me the man that is currently sticking it to his former team and showing them how terrible of a decision that they've made guaranteeing a certain quarterback, 230 million and kicking him to the curb.
00:12:57
Speaker
Picker Bayfield ah went down is now in a great, wonderful offense in Tampa Bay. And he showed it that he really likes play to Tampa Bay and the contract that they gave him by going 24 of 30 for 289 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions ah this past week down there against Washington. Looked like a real quarterback.
00:13:21
Speaker
Yeah, it's amazing what happens when you like give some like a quarterback some like real weapons and like build an offense that like works for him. ah it It's amazing what they could do.
00:13:34
Speaker
Yeah, it's, um, it'll be, it'll remain to be seen. This wasn't a tremendous offense in the commanders. So we'll see how he looks going forward, but there is nothing, you know, he did nothing wrong this weekend. Great yardage, great performance. Another game that was just, uh, just a clear fought, great game from a quarterback. yeah So my standout player of the week is actually on the other side of that exact same game. And it is rookie, Jayden Daniels, who,
00:14:05
Speaker
blew up the scene primarily with his legs, but it's from a fantasy perspective. They may have lost the game 20 to 37, but he put up 28.16 fantasy points, um, in, in standard scoring, which was good enough to be quarterback three on the week ahead of guys like Jamar, jackson Lamar Jackson, CJ Stroud to, uh, Jalen hurts, Patrick Mahomes, all these guys that were going way ahead of him. He, he stepped up The only guy who was getting drafted before him that actually finished before him this week was Josh Allen coming out for 17 to 24 through the air for 184 yards. No touchdowns, no interceptions, but where he really worked his magic was on the ground. 16 carries for 88 yards and two scores on the ground.
00:14:53
Speaker
I am excited to see him going forward. However, I do think that two touchdowns on the ground a week is not necessarily sustainable. So if you're looking to capitalize on this, if you're dealing with a puka injury and you need to fill out another position and you've got Jane Daniels, this is also a time where you could possibly trade him unless you're in dynasty, in which case he's your guy. Yeah, absolutely.
00:15:19
Speaker
All right, well, let's move on to our main topic of the week, the week one,
Managing Underperformance in Fantasy
00:15:24
Speaker
Gary's. This is the biggest. debate that fantasy players have in their own minds. I think every season is after week one, what the heck do you do when everything that you felt so confident about was turned up on its head? All of a sudden you have Baker Mayfield throwing four touchdowns and you have the Detroit lions not really throwing the ball to Sam Laporta. How much do you freak out
00:15:51
Speaker
after week one, are there some takeaways that we can have from this week that will actually help us through the rest of this season? um How do we also not overreact to some of these things? yeah Because some of the analysis from the off season was probably good. So let's talk about the week one scaries, Grant. So let's talk about this from a higher level view for a second here. Let's go up to 10,000 feet.
00:16:16
Speaker
What does it take to make you pivot? What would you have to see in week one to convince you that all of your thought processes from the entire off season were wrong and that it's time to move away from a player? How bad does it have to be in week one?
00:16:35
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, and I, and I think everybody goes through this because like you see it with people in some of their leagues where they're getting blown out and they're like, my entire team's for sale. Like you you hear those, like those comments come through, like you see them on the discords, you see them.
00:16:51
Speaker
in the, in the league group chats, things like that, where everybody's like, it's not one person's having that one bad week where it just seems like no moves that they made went correct. And there's like, all right, I'm done. Like you can have my team. Let me, I need to retool everything. And I think that's where you have to like stop and be like, okay, this is just week one. Like that's, that's the biggest thing is You can't lose your week. You can't lose your league in week one. And you also can't win your league and league in week one. Like this is the starting point. Again, this is also for a lot of these starters. A lot of them, you didn't see them play in the preseason because they had pretty much they've, they have the spots. They're not fighting for a starting spot.
00:17:35
Speaker
So I'm going to cut you off right there, Grant. My, my question was, what would it take to make you pivot in week one? And your response was I'm not freaking out. So you're not going to pivot on any players. I, I think you, you have to be
00:17:52
Speaker
When it comes to what it comes to fantasy, what you have to look at is the quarterback play. Like there are some times where there's clearly obviously, for me it comes down to quarterback play where there's clearly obviously a quarterback that should be in a position to succeed and just outright does not look anywhere good at all. And I think you saw that in a couple of games this week where you may be like questioning whether or not you actually want to be playing some of these receivers going forward.
00:18:22
Speaker
Yeah. What I'm looking for in week one is a concerted effort to get a player involved in an offense. And you see this happen where maybe, maybe a defense is just playing against or an offense is playing against a really good shutdown defense on the outside. So wide receivers are getting triple covered.
00:18:41
Speaker
but offenses are still making a concerted effort to get the ball to specific players. You can see that there's a game plan involving players, even if it doesn't result in fantasy points. That's what I'm looking for in week one. And I do think that we saw that in some cases we'll get into this week.
00:18:56
Speaker
Um, but I think there's some other, some other situations where you look at an offense and you, and you have to say to yourself, I thought this offense was going to be something. And it would appear that that offense is not even attempting to be that thing. And I think in that moment, you gotta, you gotta change your mind and you need a pivot. So let's talk about some specific players that we are concerned about.
00:19:20
Speaker
or even maybe even some position groups. Who who are some people in the from the week one action that are giving you concern that would maybe make you want to change your mind for your team? Yeah, I think one of those top digs that we saw and was very apparent. And we talked about it just a few minutes ago with the, as we were talking about deck, the Browns offense looked horrible. Absolutely. They didn't have a run game. Deshaun Watson was overthrowing receivers. Deshaun Watson was just flat out like missing wide open receivers, like not even looking in their direction. Um, and it was not, it was not good.
00:20:07
Speaker
Yeah. Offensive players as a whole. Jerome Ford salvaged today with a touchdown and six receptions if you're playing PR. So he he came out with 18 fantasy points, but outside of that, they they didn't really have startable position players. Deshaun Watson, barely over 10 points. Jerry Judy, 11 and a half points is is fine. He salvaged it with a touchdown, but looking at three, three receptions for 25 yards without that touchdown.
00:20:35
Speaker
You're he's not startable. That offense was abysmal going forward. I am deeply concerned and we can even, we can throw the Browns as a hole in there because even if you're playing in a league with a defense, because you make bad choices, but we all get stuck in leagues that way. Sometimes even the Browns defense, which was supposed to be one of the better defenses in the game away with four fantasy points.
00:21:01
Speaker
Yeah. And i I think the other thing too here is I think the, probably the only spot where you may actually see any sort of value in this offense is going to be in the run game because Deshaun Watson in the passing game, he gets scared too easily as we saw yesterday. He was, he was way too quick to be running out of the pocket and trying to get it on his feet versus trying to stick it out in the pocket and let the routes develop.
00:21:28
Speaker
Yeah, he's not keeping his eyes downfield when he's moving out. It's, he does not look like the Deshaun Watson of old and it's worth remembering. He's getting paid $230 million dollars guaranteed to play like this. This is what the Browns are paying for. That that has to be now officially the worst contract ever in the NFL, right? Oh, it's gotta be, it's gotta be.
00:21:52
Speaker
So brown until I see something different, I don't know that I'm starting a single player. We were both feeling like Amari Cooper was a good value for his draft position and he did get targeted nine times. So I mean, I guess possibly there's some value still coming later in the season. There's, there's an effort to get him the ball, but Deshaun Watson threw the ball 45 times and it resulted in a Mari Cooper getting just over three fantasy points, two balls for 16 receiving yards. When your top wide receiver that you're playing paying a lot of money to is clearly seen in the sky camera rolling his eyes as a play call comes in, you know you're in trouble.
00:22:38
Speaker
Yeah, it's, it's a just top to bottom. We're avoiding the Cleveland Browns until we see something very different. This seems like a, a organizational issue from the top to the bottom coaching down specifically to the quarterback. Every, every mind that is running and controlling this offense is not doing so in a way that gives me any confidence in terms of fantasy points. yeah I am fading the Browns until I see something drastically different.
Broncos and Bears: Early Season Struggles
00:23:09
Speaker
Well, let's stay in the same color scheme and move to the central US. Why don't you talk to me about the Broncos running backs? Yeah. Uh, here is a team that is running with a rookie quarterback. And so the expectation was potentially you see them try to rely on the run game to help out and give their rookie quarterback some extra time in the pocket, extra options, things like that. And neither one of these guys looked like they wanted the job, which is, which is really scary because there are leagues where you probably were seeing the value that you were getting in the draft at wide receiver that you waited to take an RB two and you maybe ended up with Javante Williams as your RB two or even your RB three. And you you're after game one,
00:24:09
Speaker
I'm very worried about trusting him or even Jaleel McLaughlin as being an RB2 flat or RB3. Yeah. ah They're not startable in my mind. It's a committee and it's not a productive committee. Nope. You're looking at best case scenario. One of these guys gets 12 touches and happens to fall into the end zone once or twice.
00:24:35
Speaker
And that's looking at your top and out at maybe 15 fantasy points, best case scenario, but your floor is, is what we saw this last week. yeah Literally three points. Um, there's just no reason to start these guys. And it's a bummer. I have a, I have a team where I went very early on wide receiver and kind of held late on running back. So Javante ended up as my running back three and it's just, he's just not startable. I have two running backs on that team for now. Yeah. So we're I'm i'm fading them entirely.
00:25:12
Speaker
Like if you went into the season thinking that Gervonta Williams or Jaleel McLaughlin could potentially be your RB2, like you need to be scouring the trade, the trade wire to try to find somebody. Yeah. Get anyone else.
00:25:27
Speaker
let's move Let's move on to DK Metcalf, Grant. what ah What are you feeling about DK Metcalf coming off of three receptions 29 yards on just four targets? It'll win against Denver 5.9 fantasy points in PPR scoring.
00:25:44
Speaker
This was such a weird game for the Seattle offense because in the first half looked so lackluster in the fact that they actually scored more points for Denver than they did themselves ah with the two safeties that happened in there.
00:26:00
Speaker
um but
00:26:04
Speaker
ever the The whole point of DK Metcalf is you go out, you get him to be your clear wide receiver one that you're going to try to target every single game and get him his his points and get him his yards. And you come out of this with Tyler Lockett being the leading wide receiver ah this past weekend for for the Seahawks. And that's not something that you like to see if you're a DK Metcalf owner, because you thought that Tyler Lockett was going to be the slot guy that got the dinks and the dunks, not was your true wide receiver one on a week to week basis.
00:26:42
Speaker
Yeah, double double the receptions, almost double the targets, triple the yards almost. And it's also worth noting that the the Seahawks running backs combined for 32 touches in the game. yeah they're They're content to keep it on the ground, which is something that Pete Carroll, yeah that's a trademark of his offense.
00:27:03
Speaker
I mean, yeah I don't know if you remember going back to the let Russ cook days, but there was a demand when they had a high powered quarterback and a high powered wide receiver core and a, and a really, really, really good passing game. There was still an outcry for Pete Carroll to throw the ball more. Now they've got a solid running back room but with Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet.
00:27:26
Speaker
yeah They're receiving cores aging. Jackson Smith and Jigba has not shown himself to be the guy that everyone thought he was going to be. Tyler Lockett's aging DK Metcalf is still a freak of nature, but he hasn't performed to his peak in in a long time. So we're. I don't know what to do with this receiving core. I mean, the, the Denver secondary is shockingly good though. So there is a chance that they could bounce back, but Pat Sertain is a freak of nature. yeah Didn't he just become the highest paid cornerback?
00:27:59
Speaker
i believe to deal but believe he do get so He's the highest paid quarterback and he absolutely deserves it. He's He's a stud. So I mean, it is worth watching. I'm not putting the necessarily DK Metcalf in the same category that I'm putting Amari Cooper in. The difference is you didn't spend a fourth rounder to get Amari Cooper. yeah So I'm real nervous if if you did. I have zero shares of DK Metcalf because I didn't have faith in this offense to begin with. Not to rub it in if you're listening and you do, but you get what you deserve when you trust the Steelers offense.
00:28:31
Speaker
the steelers you mean the ah seahas yeah um I'm recovering from a rough weekend. Oh, here we go. All right. Um, last one. I'm just going to take this one. Uh, the bears offense was the most embarrassing thing in football this last weekend.
00:28:49
Speaker
It's, it's truly embarrassing. I would like to apologize as a bears fan. I spent the whole off season being down on this offense and then hard knocks and some preseason games gave me some hope. And that's my bad. I shouldn't, I shouldn't have built any hope at all, but it was atrocious. Caleb Williams has not shown that he can move the ball against a pretty mediocre defense in Tennessee. We've got the Texans next week.
00:29:16
Speaker
Let that soak in for a second. That that de defense is good. We are playing the Texans next week. It's going to be brutal. The defense and special teams for the Bears won the game. And you see all the numbers of Caleb Williams as the first rookie quarterback to win their their first start since 2002, which is great. And that's a cool thing to put on his resume. But he did not win that game. Yeah.
00:29:45
Speaker
He did not win that game. it It's here. I'm going to, okay. I'm going to, I'm going to pull some positives out. DJ more and Keenan Allen looked really good. Yeah. And I, I watched every play of this game very closely. They, are they're getting open a lot. Yeah. Stan Waldron is scheming the ball to DJ more. If Caleb Williams ever gets his stuff together. This ah offense could be lights out. The play designs looked really good, really creative, really fun. There was a lot of open receivers. The problem is these were not near misses by Kayla Williams. He was overthrowing guys by a lot. He was, he was not comfortable. He was not accurate. He looked worse than, than
00:30:37
Speaker
Mitch Trubisky at his lowest, at least, at least Mitch was throwing the ball in the general area of the receivers. So it was close enough to get picked off. I guess the benefit is that Caleb Williams is so far off target that there's not even a safety nearby to get to the ball.
00:30:57
Speaker
because he's just so far away from any other players on the football field with his passes. But it was, it was a rough game. It was a rough game. I, I'm nervous. I'm still going to start DJ more just because of the target share and I'll probably throw Keenan Allen. If I have to in the game, just cause where you drafted him, you might not have other options.
00:31:16
Speaker
But this is, this is ah a rough time to be a bears fan and not something I'm excited to to see. Yeah. it may and And you also have to remember too, they're playing the, they were playing the Titans in week one, which like that defense, not a good defense, not a good offense either. Like that's where again, you saw that come into play with the fact that the bears defense really won them the game in the second half.
00:31:43
Speaker
you're going against the Texas next week where you have a good defense and a high powered offense. Like that's your, you, you may be in for a rough, a rough day next week. Let me tell you one thing you're not going to see CJ Stroud do next week is while he's getting tackled and do like a little helicopter pass.
00:32:01
Speaker
straight to a defender on their own 20 yard line to win the game. And then, so and then sit on his knees and clutch his head like, Oh no, what have I done? Yeah. If you haven't seen this play, it's, it's worth watching. One of the worst throws I've ever seen in my life handed the bears the game. yeah That was not a bear's win. That was a Titan's loss.
00:32:26
Speaker
Absolutely. Let's move on a little bit.
Trusting Proven Players After Week 1
00:32:29
Speaker
Let's move on to, uh, we'll kind of real quickly move through some of these players. Players were not concerned about that. Maybe didn't have the week one we expected, but there was enough there that we saw that we think the, the ship will be righted that you can still plan on them the way that you were in the off season. Give me, give me a few of those names and why you're not worried.
00:32:53
Speaker
Yeah, I think Callum Murray and Marvin Harrison. I think Callum Murray obviously finally back healthy under a new offensive coordinator. They. Could see that the passing game was fairly good, just from obviously Greg Dorich ended up with six catches for 47 yards. Trey McBride 5 for 30 like. Marvin Harrison, I think it's just you just need to give them time to get on the same page and I think he'll be fine this season.
00:33:24
Speaker
Yeah, three targets is not what you want to see in week one, especially when you're seeing Dorch with eight targets. Yeah. But it's it's not like the whole wide receiver core was was going off while Harrison was struggling. McBride, we knew was going to be good.
00:33:44
Speaker
And so nine targets to Trey McBride. He's who I had pegged as their number one pass catcher this year. Anyway, yeah I've got a ton of shares of Trey McBride Harrison, I think will bounce back. He's, he's very talented and there was enough pieces in this offense. They looked really good in the first half. They fell apart against a very good defense in the bills.
00:34:05
Speaker
I think there's not a lot of defenses like the Bills. I think against most of the defenses in the league, they're going to be just fine. It's just worth maybe keeping an eye that they they can struggle against some of these better teams like the Bills. on Yeah, absolutely.
00:34:22
Speaker
who's Who's next on your list? ah Well, we're going to go back to that wonderful Detroit game. ah And I'm on Ross Day Brown. And obviously, only ends up three receptions for 13 yards on six targets. Didn't have the the touchdown that you maybe would have liked to have seen from him. But again, as you put it to me last night, as we watched that overtime,
00:34:46
Speaker
that overtime drive from them. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And they were ah heavily utilizing the running game. Jamir Gibbs, 11 carries, 40 yards in a touchdown. David Montgomery, 17 carries, 91 yards in a touchdown. Even Khalif Raymond and Jamison Williams had some carries there. Like you, I think you're going to be fine. I think this is just a matter of the Rams defense was sold out to deter Amun Ra and, uh, Sam LaPorta last night. And so the other guys got to eat. Yeah. And defenses. I promise you that every team on the rest of the lion's schedule is watching Jameson Williams film right now going, we cannot let that happen again. And all props to Jameson Williams, five receptions, 121 yards for a touchdown on nine targets.
00:35:44
Speaker
He was a freak of nature. the It's not even like like they were close plays when he was getting the ball too. He was embarrassing defenders. yeah He was making defenders look silly. And i think I think because he dealt with the injuries, because he dealt with the suspensions, that a lot of people around the league maybe forgot how good and good not only how good, but how fast he is. He is a freak of nature when it comes to speed.
00:36:13
Speaker
and And I think defenses are going to play. They, they, they seem to be playing the, the Rams seem to be playing the lions like you would have with James and Williams off the field. And that's where you sell out to stop Laporta and Namin from getting the ball. You give up some in the run game and then they ended up just carving them up in the run game anyway and didn't know what to do. But it seems like the Rams strategy was we will not let Laporta and I'm in Ross ain't Brown beat us and they pulled that off when I'm looking at target shares though I still feel totally comfortable because the order and I'm in raw right there in the mix six targets from and raw five targets for Sam LaPorta and nine for Jameson Williams they're still close enough and target you're in six for Tamir Gibbs
00:37:00
Speaker
So we're looking at a very evenly dispersed share of targets across their pass catchers. There might be a little bit more feast or famine than we were used to last year with this offense, but there's just more options right now. I think I think they're going to take what the defense gives them in Detroit this year. Yeah. Yep. Got a couple more players on the list. Grant, keep us going.
00:37:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think one from the Thursday night game is is Mark Andrews. um Obviously you saw Isaiah likely with a huge target share. And again, I think that comes down to not only the way the The way that the Chiefs were covering Andrews all game, you're not going to see that type of defense against him all season, especially now that Isaiah likely has kind of popped off in this first game. um There were times where he was being bracketed covered, and even on the final two drives, he was in triple coverage. like You're not going to be able to see defenses continue to do that for the entirety of the season. So I think Mark Andrews is going to be just fine.
00:38:08
Speaker
This is the, I think one of the, one of the few players we disagree on a little bit here. I'm seeing two viable options at tight end on this team. And I, the, if you had drafted Mark Andrews as where you were getting George kittle, I'd be a little less concerned. If you're looking at like, what was kittle going on? Like the seventh or eighth round, I would have been less concerned, but Andrews was, I think a third rounder this year. he That's.
00:38:39
Speaker
That's an early draft pick. That's an early draft pick for a guy to just get forgotten about two targets, two targets grant. Meanwhile, Isaiah likely getting 12 targets on this team. Uh, first drive The run game was out of this world. Then they kind of pivoted and freaked out, I think, when they started to get down um and and started throwing the ball a little bit more.
00:39:10
Speaker
Obviously Andrews will be better than he was on Thursday night for the rest of the season, but I think they have discovered in Isaiah likely a true playmaker. He was an, he was an inch, an inch away from another seven and some change points in this game. If he had just gotten his toe a tiny bit back, I think, I think Isaiah likely proved to the Ravens that he is a playmaker. And I don't think.
00:39:41
Speaker
I don't think they go back to Andrews being the main guy at the same time. Well, but here's 10 targets as well. Yeah. But again, here it's whatever the, when the Ravens play the chiefs, the chiefs sell out on Andrews in five games against the chiefs. His best game has been five receptions for 57 yards.
00:40:03
Speaker
Sure. I don't, i didn't yeah i but I don't, I don't think, but again, I think, again, I think your play it is this is a team that the chiefs are selling out to stop Andrews. And I think he's going to be fine the rest of the season. Here's what the Ravens didn't have in the past though, was other options. So if you sell out to stop Andrews,
00:40:23
Speaker
Lamar Jackson just runs it. And if he can't run it, the Ravens lose that game. They've now got safe flowers that they're happy to just dump it off to him behind the line. 10 targets to him, 11 to Isaiah, like, or sorry, 12 to Isaiah likely.
00:40:38
Speaker
They've got a running game that's viable that works. They have so many options. If teams want to take Andrews out of the game, and this is new for them. I think they're fine letting them do that because this Ravens team, the way they played, if they were playing against anyone, but the chiefs, they come away with that win. I think there are 30 other teams in the NFL that they come in with that same game plan. That other team uses the same defensive strategy and they go, we're going to remove Mark Andrews from the game. The Ravens go.
00:41:08
Speaker
fine, great. And then they go win that game against 30 other teams in the NFL. If that's the strategy teams want to take, I think the Ravens are perfectly happy going 16 and one this season and, and winning the AFC.
00:41:24
Speaker
So is Andrews good? Yes, absolutely. I don't know that he's going to return third round value. And if there is a Grant Freeman in your league who's expecting third round return value on Mark Andrews, you take them for everything they're worth and get rid. I don't have any shares of Andrews this year, but if I did, I would be I would be ah trying to get Jayden Daniels from you for him right now. And you would do that deal, wouldn't you?
00:41:54
Speaker
um yeah um you would I can see it in your eyes. I can see it in your eyes. You would be, you would be giving me Jayden Daniels or Mark Andrews right now. And I would do that deal on a heartbeat.
00:42:10
Speaker
All right. Who are two other players? You, we got two more on the list here. Last ones that you're not concerned about. Yeah. I think Chris Alave, I think just game plan, they were up so big, so fast that the entire second half they were like, we can just run the ball and we're going to be fine. and I think that offense is going to be past happy this season, ah seeing the tools that they have. So I don't think that any one guy is going to be the main guy each week, so I think Chris Olave is going to get his his share just fine. The other guy is Kirk Cousins. Obviously first game in Atlanta, they're up against a stout Steelers defense. The offensive line is being retooled a little bit there, so obviously TJ Watt just had his his way, but I think you're going to be just fine with both of those guys.
00:43:03
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I think I'm a little lower on Olave than you, but I think I started there also. My opinion hasn't changed on him. I think he was a little overdrafted before and I think he will probably return about that value at this point. I do have him in one league and I was a little annoyed yesterday, but Uh, you're right. They were up there. That was another game that was just absolutely never a game from the first snap of the game. The saints won that game. So I don't, I don't know that we really saw what the saints ah offense looks like. And that's where, that's where I'm going to say that we're, we can't take any information. I guess we can take some, but we we can't make any defining opinions on the saints offense after that game, because that was not
00:43:50
Speaker
that That was a one in, that was a one team game. yeah ah believe Most teams that play the Panthers this year, i guess our navy maybe if a team plays the giant two, then then it could be a two and 17, but up against so those two teams are fighting for the number one pick again. Yeah, I think so.
00:44:13
Speaker
Uh, yeah, i I have nothing to comment on Kirk cousins. You nailed it. So let's breeze through these. I'm just going to give you the mic for like three minutes.
Week 1 Surprise Performers
00:44:21
Speaker
great And you're going to walk us through these players. Like just guys that from week one, they went off and they did good enough that it's enough to make us pivot from a negative opinion. So these are guys that I think we don't have a ton of them on our teams. I ended up with a couple of them, but it was only because they fell to me, not because I was targeting them. So I will, I will acknowledge and admit the spoilers that having x Xavier worthy on my team was a product of, it was like a round and a half after he should have gone. And I went, all right, I'll roll the dice.
00:44:54
Speaker
and I happened to roll a six, but, uh, who are, who are some of these guys that went off in a way in week one that it seems sustainable enough that we are willing to say these are the guys we were wrong on. And if anyone in your league still values them at what they were worth pre-draft that it's worth a week one jump.
00:45:15
Speaker
Yeah, I mean the first name on that list is Saquon. Obviously with him moving over to the Eagles, you thought that there may be ah some loss in production just sort of because of the way that Jalen Hurts is also used in that run game. There's not. 24 carries, 109 yards, two touchdowns, added another touchdown in the receiving game. Saquon Barkley has left the the, the thralls of the terrible New York giants. And is it an ah offense that's now going to use him and you're going to be happy with the production and the value that you get from him. Um, barring an entry he's got to be the number one player in fantasy year this year. I think so. And I think for the value that you were getting him at as a late, late one, even mid to like running back, he's going to be perfect for you this season.
00:46:05
Speaker
A lot of players, uh, another guy that I think was very low on everybody's list with Gaiden Reed. Uh, it appears that he may be Jordan loves favorite, uh, offensive target with four catches for 138 yards and a touchdown off of, uh, six targets. And then even adding another one, another touchdown off of one carry for 33 yards, like This is a guy that I think you should be watching and he's, uh, potentially he's, he's still available in probably about 15% of ESPN leagues. Um, and so that will not be true. That will not be true. Once this one, this, when this episode drops. Um, and so I think he's somebody that if there's a person, if there is somebody that is worried about Jaden Reed's value,
00:46:54
Speaker
With the Jordan Love Injury, you may be able to get him ah from that from that owner ah if they're worried about Jordan Love Injury, since he's gonna be out for the next three to six weeks. Becomes a great stash opportunity.
00:47:10
Speaker
I did look just now, if you're playing in a sleeper league, you're probably not going to get them because ownership is at about 99% sleeper leagues, but in ESPN leagues, you're right. It's 85 ish percent. So go look in your league. He's probably not there, but go take a look.
00:47:29
Speaker
nope uh the next guy is a guy that i avoided wholeheartedly in just about every league because he has glass d's and paper uh paper tendons uh and that's jk dobbins and uh Apparently the mindset that I had coming into this offseason this season that the Chargers had no pass catchers ranked true because JK Dobbins got the feast Ted catch Ted carries for 135 yards at a touchdown um He was the guy he's clearly the guy. I don't think you're very afraid of Gus Edwards eating into that chair at all um and he's gonna be I think for
00:48:15
Speaker
for how late in drafts he was going. He's going to have a great return on investment for you this season. Yeah. So I agree with you. I am going to jump in here for just a second. I do have a slight concern. Um, I am a little worried about, you were saying you're not a little worried about, uh, Gus Edwards in on his share. Um, he had more Gus Edwards had more carries than JK Dobbins.
00:48:41
Speaker
So I am a little concerned. However, what my concerns were with JK Dobbins were there's never been a running back to come back from an Achilles and still be good. And he had a run over 40 yards and a run over 60 yards this week. Yep. And I think that run over 60 yards probably could have gone to the house had he not been so gassed.
00:49:05
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, maybe he is, maybe he is fading, but but we've at least seen that he is healthy enough to play at an effective level in this league. It's still, I mean, we're looking at 10 carries to 11 carries. This could still be a committee, but Dobbins was the better looking running back.
00:49:21
Speaker
Yeah. That's where I think he that's like that's where I think you, that's where I think you have to look at it is just because they were about even on the carries, you have to then look at who did what with the carries. Absolutely. Dobbins was clearly the front runner there. For sure. No, no, I agree with you in that. But if you're going to say you're not worried about Gus Edwards eating into his carries, I would like to be the voice of reason that says he has eaten into his carries. He has more of them at this point into the season.
00:49:51
Speaker
So we, they will be splitting carries, but I think that Dobbins is, yeah is the better runner, but don't be shocked because with this, with this share, unless something changes drastically, there, there could be a week where Dobbins does only get eight carries and he happens to not break off some big runs and touchdowns. So his floor is still relatively low being in a room where, where multiple guys are getting it, but where you drafted him, he's basically free anyway.
00:50:21
Speaker
Yeah. Yep. Give me your last two players and then we'll move on. ah One is the first one is Xavier worthy. um He is a guy that
00:50:36
Speaker
I think everybody hates the bills because they traded that pick to the chiefs and now have let the chiefs get ah yet another very fast, very speedy wide receiver. And ah ah you could have a a wild wide receiver room in Kansas city this season was Xavier worthy Roshi rice and Hollywood Brown when he comes back. And I think you're going to be, you're going to be looking at, I think each one of these guys is probably going to get you is going to be viable play like flex options weekend and we go. Yep. A hundred percent, a hundred percent. Their offense is looking, looking like the chief's offense.
00:51:27
Speaker
Yep. And it's frustrating, and it's bad for football. Yep. Yes, it is. And last but not least, Joe Mixon. ah Here's a guy that is coming into but ah Houston ah with that dude in a new place now leaving ah leaving Cincinnati. And he has got no rust whatsoever.
00:51:51
Speaker
He is going to be an integral part of this offense. They're going to use him as the workhorse running back that he wants to be. And you're not going to be worried about any of these guys, anybody else on the depth chart taking carries away from him.
00:52:06
Speaker
Yeah, he went off. I was worried there were too many weapons in this offense for him to have value, but he's, he's the main weapon at this point. 30 carries, uh, 33 overall touches. Uh, he's a guy, he's a guy you want on your team. If you drafted him, you got him at a good price probably. And he has potential to be a true RB one this season. I have to be in drafted as a, as a mid RB two to high RB three. So you're looking good.
00:52:34
Speaker
Well, let's close out the episode with
Fantasy Roster Challenge: Eagles Edition
00:52:36
Speaker
a little fun. Well, we're going to start ending our episodes with, there's a site called ultimate roster, where it's a, it's just a bit of a fantasy game. And if you have, you play wordle or things like that, it's like that. But for fantasy football, where they give us a topic and.
00:52:51
Speaker
We are going to try to build the best roster out of that topic. So we're going to try to build this roster together and see how many points we can get. Let's pull it up. OK. Well, it is the day we are recording Monday, September 9th. That should have been mentioned at the beginning of the episode. We're recording before Monday night football. So if Breece Hall has like 600 yards tonight and we didn't mention it, it's not because we didn't watch the game. Well, it is. It's because we haven't watched it yet.
00:53:21
Speaker
Yes. Or if we left out Aaron Rogers tearing his other Achilles or something like that. We'll be seeing that in a few hours here. Rookies only Eagles edition played for the Philadelphia Eagles in their rookie season only stats from a player's rookie NFL season will count. So we're looking for the best NFL rookie seasons. We need a quarterback, a wide receiver, a running back, a tight end.
00:53:48
Speaker
and a flex. Um, so let's go to who immediately comes to your mind. Grant, I obviously want to go Devonta Smith here. Yep. That was the one that I was thinking, but I think that's a, I think that's just recency bias. And I think I want to put that on hold and I want to say to Sean Jackson. Oh yeah. I think the Sean Jackson is probably your wide receiver and I think Devonta Smith is probably your flex.
00:54:19
Speaker
All right. I'm good with that as a starting point. How do you spell? I'm just going to go Jackson. Apparently I don't know how to spell to Sean.
00:54:33
Speaker
sorry Talk to me. Who else? Uh, you're, uh, talk to me. Talk me through who else you're thinking. Um, I don't have it. McNabb, Ricky quarterback for the Eagles.
00:54:49
Speaker
Yeah, that makes the most sense to me at this moment. Cause I don't, cause, cause once didn't have a great rookie season, Jalen hurts, didn't play his rookie season. Correct. I'm trying. McNabb was drafted by the Eagles, right? Uh, yeah. Unless, unless I'm wildly, uh, wildly mistaken. Yeah. So I think, I think Donovan McNabb is your starting quarterback. Yep.
00:55:19
Speaker
So now where it really comes down to it's got to be shady for, uh, it's got to be shady McCoy for running back, right? I believe so. I don't think I can't think of any other.
00:55:37
Speaker
why can I still, can you spell to shot Jackson for me? All right. Let's talk through tight ends here. Uh, what'd it be? What are these Zach hurts? That's kind of what I'm leaning. I'm leaning by somebody else. No. Earth's was drafted by the, uh, was drafted by the Eagles.
00:56:03
Speaker
All right. I'm ready to lock this lineup. And we have Donovan Donovan McNabb to Sean Jackson, shady McCoy, Zach hurts and Devonta Smith. Sean McCoy, right? Yeah. I think, I think that's it. Let's lock it in and see how we did. Oh, see minus because McNabb apparently had a terrible rookie year.
00:56:25
Speaker
Oh, bummer. Sean Jackson, a Devonta Smith, a plus shady McCoy, a B and Zach hurts. All right. So now we get to go look at the ultimate optimal roster. Carson Wentz was the better choice. Oh, dude. And miles Sanders. Duh. Oh, duh. How did we forget about that? And then honestly, because he plays for Carolina now and it just doesn't make sense.
00:56:53
Speaker
So we're starting off with a B on our roster. We got seven hundred and seventeen point four two points out of an optimal one thousand twenty four point three eight points optimal roster Carson Wentz Jordan we got some receivers in there. That's all right. There's always next week. We'll get a better one. We'll get better.
00:57:20
Speaker
We'll get a better one. better as the season goes Well, that is what we have for you this week. Feel free to check us out on Twitter at the 25 yard line. Shoot us an email at 20, the 25 yard line at gmail dot.com. We'll will be back next week to talk about week two and good luck on Monday night. Good luck with the rest of your fantasy match-ups.
00:57:46
Speaker
Code riders go.