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- [00:00]
A
Quick break. Want to make a big play on your next paint project? Go with Behr Marquis interior paint and primer only at the Home Depot. With over a thousand colors, exceptional hide and advanced stain blocking, Behr Marquis is built to stand up to real life. No do overs, no wasted weekends. Just bold color and a finish that holds strong. One coat coverage, no overtime. Behr Marquis only at the Home Depot. How doers get more done Ballad only when tinted to colors from bear marquee interior one coat hide collection. What's good everybody? And welcome in to Fantasy Focus Football presented by Little Caesars alongside field Jason Stefania Bell. My name is Daniel Dopp and we have a huge show set up for today. We're almost through week four. However, we got two Monday night football games and Sunday might have been the longest day of football we have ever had. We had a 9:30 game in Dublin.
- [01:06]
B
Yep.
- [01:07]
A
Then we had a bunch of one o' clock games including what was an unbelievable Bucks and Eagles game. That one was super fun to watch all the four o' clock games. And then did you guys make it through Sunday Night Football? Because some things happened in that game too.
- [01:19]
C
I did.
- [01:20]
A
Good for you, Stefania.
- [01:21]
C
Committed.
- [01:22]
B
Yeah, you're committed. And think about this. Not only do we have overtime in the Sunday Night Football game, but we had an overtime that went to expiration. I know, I saw this. That Brandon McManus, the Packers kicker became the first player in NFL history to hit a game tying and game tying field goal at the end of both regulation and overtime.
- [01:42]
A
That's amazing.
- [01:43]
C
It looked for a minute like he might not be able to kick at all.
- [01:46]
B
That was a very close. People have been saying like, you know, the timekeeper for the Cowboys has got to work on his. His, you know, like allowing the clock to run for an extra half count. I would like to note it is a neutral party that handles the clock. It is a league appointed official that I was even.
- [02:01]
C
I was referring to the fact that it looked like he might have been.
- [02:04]
A
Injured and then it was like what's.
- [02:06]
C
Going to happen if he's not able to kick? And then he was out there and I thought, well, he's, he might not make it because you know there's something going on. And then sure enough, dude, I thought.
- [02:16]
A
They like you were saying field. I did not think they were going to get that playoff in time. For those of you that don't know, go watch the replay on YouTube because it is. Yeah, it is very exciting. Also speaking of YouTube, our buddy Eric Moody is hanging out in the chat right now. So go hang out in our YouTube chat. Ask all the questions that you want coming out of Sunday from week four and don't forget to go check out our friends over at trophy smack. Trophy smack.com use the promo code focus10 for 10% off your first order. All right, with that being said, it was a gigantic Sunday. Let's dive in because we got a lot to get to. Biggest takeaways from week four. Let's highlight some of the rookies. First field gates, I think I'll start with you.
- [02:51]
B
Yeah. I think the story of the day was the rookie running backs and which one of you laid claim to Ashton Genty? Okay. Stefania did. Okay. I think we all, I think we.
- [03:01]
A
All did supposed it.
- [03:02]
B
But Stefania, why don't we start there? Because really the story of the day, maybe until Sunday night Football was the breakout of Ashton Genty. What did you see?
- [03:10]
C
I saw what I think we were all hoping for. You know, when everybody drafted him this season in the first round and thought this is what we're going to get from the rookie. And you know, it hasn't all been on him. We've been talking about the play calling, we've been talking about the offensive line, but what we saw. And by the way, I did full disclosure, I did not have that game on my screen at the moment this happened, but I got an alert that he got a receiving touchdown. So I'm like, wait, he catches passes. Oh, wait, in the end zone. So that was fantastic. Then he has a rushing touchdown. We saw him get a nice big breakaway run. 155 total yards, 138 on the ground, three touchdowns, two receiving. That's two and one rushing. I was like, they unlocked Ashton Genti.
- [03:53]
B
Yeah.
- [03:53]
A
He is who we thought he was. Finally.
- [03:56]
B
Four weeks. Yeah. Yeah. So the elite. The usage was elite. Right? 23 opportunities, that's great. Yep. He still want a little more in the passing game. Not the two touchdowns, like that's obviously amazing, but those were his only two catches. You're still looking for a little bit more there. Maybe a couple design screens here or there. The offensive line definitely played better. He took advantage of a great matchup.
- [04:17]
A
Yep.
- [04:17]
B
So there's a chance that this is the best game of Ashton Genti season. 33 and a half points is a lot of fantasy points to put up for any player in a single game. My hope going forward is that it kind of inspires the Raiders to do two things and the Raiders are one in three now. They're disappointed after that Loss to Chicago yesterday. One is to get Ashton Genti even more involved in the passing game because two good things happened when you did target him yesterday. And two, I'd have to go back and look at both weeks one through three and yesterday, see if there was anything they did differently in the running game with the offensive line that worked better. Or was this simply, hey, the Bears just don't defend the run that well. That was the reason why it was so great yesterday. The last point that I would make on this day is, yes, the fantasy points are amazing and the usage was really good as well. But there was a part of me that actually felt like the coolest part of this day was just that Ashton Gentsy's full talent was on display.
- [05:10]
A
Yes. You got to see, if you watch.
- [05:11]
B
Him, you're like, this is not. And this is not to take away from, you know, players who play behind great offensive lines. This was not merely him, you know, whatever. Moses parting the seas. And next thing you know, it's ashton Jensen running 70 yards untouched with, you know, no one within 15 yards of him. There were some dynamic runs by Ashton Genti yesterday. The tackle breaking is so good and the speed is really good. And there were even some runs that didn't go for many yards that were still a testament to how Ashton Genty can turn nothing into a little bit of something.
- [05:42]
C
I think that, to me was. That was my biggest glimmer of hope that we go for, try and have some more of these screen passes set up for him because allow him to do what he does. He. There was this one big run that he had where it looked like he was going to be taken down and he just ran through it and I was like, that's. That's a guy who can run through contact. That's what you want. That's what that was, what the brag was on him coming out of Boise State, that he could run through contact. So allow that to happen like it doesn't have to. You can set a place for him. He will make people miss. He will run through contact. You saw that on display yesterday. And I hope. Chip Kelly, please, please, please, more of that.
- [06:20]
B
Let's take a look at the schedule coming up here for the Raiders. Just to give you a sense of what they're facing. They draw the Colts next week. That's been a solid defense so far this year. Then the Chiefs. Excuse me, the Colts, the Titans. You like that match a lot in two weeks. So you go Colts, Titans, Chiefs. Maybe not a great matchup there. Jaguars who sort of sneaky have become a difficult matchup for a lot of people with mixed in between there. But coming up, the Broncos by way who have really struggled against a running back so far this season. So you do like some of the matchups here for Ash and Genti. Maybe not to the degree that we saw from the Chicago Bears, but for those of us that waited four games or four weeks to get peak Ashton Genti, hopefully this isn't even peak Ashton Genti, but this is exactly the reason why you saw this player not just go 6 overall in the real NFL draft, but often around 6 overall in actual fantasy drafts.
- [07:08]
A
Yeah, yeah, I don't want to say that it's just like a cheat code or something that we need to do for everyone. It doesn't work like this. But I agree with Stefania and Field. I feel like we've talked about this with a lot of players every once in a while when you're just trying to get a guy going, let's just get some manufactured touches, let's just do some screen passes. Let's just do something close to the line of scrimmage because these guys are unbelievable athletes. Just put the ball in their hands and let's see what happens. So hopefully we get more of that as well from Ashton Genty Field. I I want to talk about a rookie. Actually there's two rookies in this offense that I want to talk about.
- [07:38]
B
Hey, go for it.
- [07:39]
A
But I think part of what this conversation is going to be means that I unfortunately have to start with Stefania. I thought Jackson Dart did an unbelievable job with his first game commanding the quarterback position. Unfortunately though, Stefania, a lot of this centers around the idea that Malik Neighbors got hurt. Sounds like some pretty bad news unfortunately from for Neighbors.
- [07:56]
C
Yeah. Malik Neighbors is feared to have torn his acl. And I don't know if you guys were watching that play play at the time, but it was one of those where you immediately know and again we should sit and watch it. That's a different take and I actually disagree with that and there's evidence against that. They've replaced the turf right before Aaron Rodgers hurt himself. So we can talk about that another time. But that, that's a popular take because there's been so many injuries there. There's also two teams who play on the same field and whatever. But I will end Nick Bosa who tore his ACL there five years ago towards ACL on the grass field at home a week ago. So before people, I just don't want people to jump on that Male Neighbors tours ACL in the most common way possible when it's non contact, which is you plant your foot and you're pivoting. He was going to turn, tracking the ball to go up in the air. It's funny when it first happened, not funny haha. But the reaction is, oh, he hurt himself when he landed. No he did not. He hurt himself before he went up in the air. And if you go back and watch the video and many there's you can find it easily on the Internet. He's planting to turn to jump up and catch the ball. And as he plants he has to decelerate. So deceleration rotation, the most common mechanism. You'll see his knee bobble and that's it. He comes down clutching. His knee was taken off and the reports came out thereafter. So expect an MRI today to confirm both that injury and then also provide detail about whether there's any other structures involved. Uh, but Malik Neighbors will be done for the year.
- [09:26]
A
Feels like the silver lining, if there is one, is just that it happened so early in the season that hopefully we see him next year and better days will be ahead from Malik Neighbors. Tough right now for both Neighbors and anyone that rosters him in fantasy. I know it's so, so tough because.
- [09:40]
C
There goes the season. Um, and you know, but the good news, if you want to look at the bright side, cause I always try and look at the bright side when these guys have big injuries is that this is something that players come back from and just look at Saquon. That's all you, you know, look at him as an example of what you can do.
- [09:56]
B
The giants threw just 21 passes yesterday. A quirky game where they were up early over the Charger. So they ended up beating. A huge win for the G man. But a quick look at how the targets were distributed beyond Malik Neighbors. He had three of the 21. So of the 18 remaining targets, Darius Slayton saw four. Theo Johnson and Wanda Robinson each saw five. Daniel Ballinger, their tight end, had one.
- [10:17]
A
Okay.
- [10:17]
B
And Cam Scatter Boo had two. So no player had more than 44 receiving yards yesterday. No player had even a 20 yard completion reception for the Giants. This is a devastating injury to anybody who has Malik Neighbors on their fantasy roster. It's of course more devastating to Malik Neighbors and the Giants. That being said, I don't believe there is a Giants pass catcher that immediately catapults to a player that's going to be utilized in a 10 team league.
- [10:40]
A
I agree with you, but can I ask you this question because I thought in watching Jackson Dart he did enough. Like it's not about his arm. He did enough with his legs. 10 rush attempts. You love to be able to see that. 54 rushing yards and a touchdown. Like I don't want to say before Malik Neighbors got hurt but if Malik Neighbors was there I would immediately think okay, just because of his legs he could have fantasy relevance, especially once bi weeks get here. Now without Malik Neighbors, do you still think Jackson Dart has enough juice to be a fantasy relevant quarterback or is that too big of a hit for what his production could be?
- [11:11]
B
I will be very curious to see how the Giants utilize Jackson Dart next week because I thought yesterday was a kitchen sink game for the giants were 03 were a GM and a head coach under a ton of pressure. We're handing the keys over to a rookie quarterback who some people thought this was the wrong me by the way. Including me thought it was the wrong week to do it. They're playing the Saints next week. I thought this would have been a perfect time to get Jackson Dart in rather than throwing him to the wolves that are the Chargers defense. Jackson Dart was hit a ton yesterday and actually he was hitting. It was eight separate hits as a runner. That's the most of any quarterback in a game this season. He was sacked five times. He actually got banged up during the game, was tested for a concussion. He came back cleared from that, had a hamstring injury. It helped them win, no doubt about that. And he had 54 rushing yards. He had a sweet rushing touchdown. As a matter of fact several of those 10 rushes were designed runs. We got to protect this kid though too. And I felt like after yes, maybe yesterday was a throw the kitchen sink because you have to win this game. I wonder if they will be a little bit more conservative going forward.
- [12:14]
C
Yeah, I was just going to say something to keep an eye on is what his health report is this week. The one design run for the touch on where Cam Scatter Boo blocked for him was like to me the most perfect setup. That was probably the cleanest play for him. But I was concerned on a couple of those runs too because he was just running into the contact. I was like you got to protect yourself because you are, you're the guy.
- [12:33]
A
Now at this point you are going to be the face. I think that's the other rookie that I'd love to talk about field Cam Scatterboo. I mean we got to see him unlocked as well.
- [12:39]
B
Yeah. Let's get back to these rookie running Backs because I think that was the theme of the day yesterday. A slow start was sort of turned around in week four. Scatterboo had unbelievable usage. How about this for cam scatter? 25 rushing attempts plus two targets. I mentioned them just a little while ago. Just two catches or excuse me, two catches for 11 yards on, on. On those two targets he played 75.4% of the snaps. Apologies for an update in this after Sunday Night Football, but going into Sunday Night Football that was the 8th highest of any running back so far this week. 27 opportunities for Camscad that is off the charts. Good usage. Now he ran for just 3.2 yards per carry. Wasn't ideal in that regard. He didn't find the end zone. So even with this insane, insane utilization, he gets you only 11 fantasy points. That being said, if we're going to get 27 opportunities or anything north of 20 until Tyrone Tracy returns, which seems like it's at least one week away and could be more like three weeks away. Hard to have Cam Scatter was anything other than a top 20 running back. Especially with the matchup against the Saints next week, which could be one where the Giants are once again playing with the lead.
- [13:46]
C
Yeah, music to my ears. I mean I'm just happy to see Cam Scaboo. I think this is exactly what he was meant to do.
- [13:53]
A
Yeah, agree with that. Do you mind if I keep the rookie running back conversation? I got a Marian Hampton because this dude is unbelievable. Like he's just straight up Dragon defenders.
- [14:03]
B
Yes. Great.
- [14:03]
A
Yes. My takeaway is that he is an RB1 after dominating on Sunday. 17 total touches including five catches, 168 total yards and a touchdown. 27 and a half fantasy points. That's only RB7. 27 and a half fantasy points could have been RB1 on any other week. We had a bunch of really good running back performances. The takeaway though is just that if you drafted this guy, congratulations because now without Najee Harris, he's a stud. The dude is awesome. He is an early down back, he's a third down back, he's a pass catching back. He's a goal lineback. He's a take it 80 yards to the house guy. Like he kind of can do everything here and in this offense with his pass catching ability you've got yourself just a stud. Period. End of story.
- [14:42]
C
Yeah, my only concern is boy, that offensive line for the Chargers took another big hit yesterday with Joe Alt going down and I. They managed, they've managed pretty well despite Slater being gone for the season. But I, I, I will just be interested. I mean Justin Herbert is struggling I think partially because of that and taking a lot of pressure. And Jim Harbaugh referenced that about him taking all the context. So I want to see how they scheme things up now. It's, they're going to have to do some musical chairs up front.
- [15:12]
B
Yeah. The two biggest takeaways for me with Omarion Hampton is one just like the eye popping talent, the long run, the 54 yard scamper for a touchdown. That's sweet. Like you see the big playability plus the big size. But maybe just as important back to back games now with five catches for Amari and Hampton. We talked about how this Chargers team super pass aggressive but in the first two weeks of the season, small sample size, they were not targeting really the running backs or the tight ends. Another monster day by the way, for Quinton Johnston.
- [15:39]
A
Yeah.
- [15:39]
B
Another running back who got really, really involved yesterday is Woody Marks. As the Texans are now on the board in the win column. They shut out the Titans 26 to nothing. Woody Marks has 21 total touches yesterday. 17 carries, which was, excuse me, 22 total touches, 17 carries, which was the most of any running back on the team. He had five catches on five targets. That was the best for any of the Texans running backs. Just a little bit of a reminder for those that don't meticulously follow Mississippi State football. He had the most receptions by a running back in program history in a single season when he was a freshman. Like the kid is absolutely a game changer as a receiving back. That's part of the appeal of why the Texans drafted him. 58% of the snaps yesterday too, which was the best of all running backs.
- [16:25]
C
We've been wait, we've been waiting for this, right? Because we all thought that Woody Marks could be something if given the chance and that we weren't. The running game was a little bit suspect with Nick Chubb being the lead runner because Joe Mixon not heard from and no status update there. I don't expect one. The question was when was it going to happen and how? And I'll tell you who made a bad calculation on that. That was me because shout out to Matt Harrington who got me to trade him away because I had so much depth that running back in 18, I was like I just saved you with that. Witty Marks. But I do have, I think I have him in our dynasty league because I the, the investment was eventually this is the player that he can be. And I just wondered when the Texans were going to release.
- [17:07]
B
So he's seen his workload increase up.
- [17:09]
C
And up and ups come down a little bit.
- [17:11]
B
And if one of the Texans, like if you're the Texans with no offensive juice, right. Why would you not be considering shaking things up in the backfield? So we're not fully into the clear here where Woody Marks is an auto start, not a top 20 running back. Although we do have some bye weeks next week. So you're going to see some inflated rankings for players, but definitely trending very important for a team that finally got its first win and probably feels a little bit better about how the offense played yesterday.
- [17:34]
A
He will absolutely make the waiver list as he's only rostered in 33% of league so he must be a priority waiver ad here this week. Stefania, what else you got here for a takeaway from week four? Your rookie is just covered in writing. Can you show that to our audience?
- [17:49]
B
That is this is Stefania.
- [17:51]
A
She has got so many notes on.
- [17:53]
C
Notes because I'm a writer, writer because I'm old school and then I type something because I've written some things for the buzz file. But I it's kinetic and when I'm on sleep deprivation, exercise of writing helps me retain the information there. So bear with me while I look through my notes. But the first thing really is the Lamar Jackson injury. You have to acknowledge that Lamar Jackson missed a portion of yesterday's game, went out in midway through the third quarter with a hamstring injury, was sitting on the bench, clearly frustrated. You know it's funny is people like when somebody gets hurt like this, people say, oh, you know, this, this guy's hurt. Or like they're always hurt. And I'm like, you know, the last time Lamar Jackson was hurt, it was like back In I think 2022 was.
- [18:37]
B
It or the game where he went poopy during the halftime.
- [18:43]
A
He was pulling double duty feel.
- [18:44]
B
Yeah.
- [18:45]
A
Come on.
- [18:46]
C
You guys remember that though.
- [18:47]
A
I do remember that. Yes.
- [18:49]
C
Kind. We're talking about injured Lamar Jackson.
- [18:51]
B
Body jokes.
- [18:52]
A
Always learned that yesterday.
- [18:53]
C
Oh, they make me fall apart. So it was weird.
- [18:56]
A
Can I just say as someone watching the game, it was weird because he didn't.
- [18:59]
C
We don't really know when it looking. Yeah, it might be one thing that he was kind of playing through and then it became too much. But in any case he was sitting on the sideline kind of moving his leg around. Clearly uncomfortable. And you don't know if this game situation influenced it at all. In any. In any event, literally no updates from Coach John Harbaugh, every time he was asked a question, he's like, I don't have an update on that. People asking if he could have gone back in the game. I don't have an update on that. Anything about the seriousness of the injury. Did not know that either. So right now we're all in wait and see mode because as you guys know by now, seeing so many players with hamstring injury, number one injury in the NFL, that it can range from a week or two to multiple weeks. Obviously very different for a quarterback like Lamar who is so dependent on his legs and his mobility. And it's not because he's stretching the field like a deep perimeter wide receiver. It's because of the quickness and the quick mobility and, and sprinting and cutting where your hamstrings are actually really important in that as well. So stay tuned.
- [20:04]
B
They play the Texans next week. Do the Ravens a battle of two. One in three teams who actually were in the playoffs last season. I think there's, there's a pinch of speculation that maybe if the game weren't so out of hand that Lamar, maybe he stays game. We'll see. But the Ravens were basically, they were just dominated by the Chiefs yesterday. So hopefully, hopefully by Wednesday or at least later on this week, we have a little bit of clarity on Lamar Jackson.
- [20:33]
A
I would have loved those garbage time points from Lamar even if they're down, but as a fantasy manager, I'd rather have him be on the sideline and with my team for the long term rather than exacerbate a potential situation.
- [20:44]
B
Think that we can really dive into the takeaways too much of what the offense looks like without Lamar yet because A, we don't have a sense on this, on the severity and B, this is amongst the run heaviest offenses in the NFL. It's, you know, obviously Zay Flowers is a factor in the passing game for them, but a lot of our attention, you know, if this is a different office where the loser star quarterback it's what does it mean for, you know, three or four pass catchers for the Ravens? It's really one that we've been able to trust for four weeks. That of course being say Flowers Cooper.
- [21:12]
A
Rush is under center. Derrick Henry is going to run the ball 35 times and Justice Hill is probably going to have eight or 10 targets out of the backfield. And it's. Yeah.
- [21:21]
C
One of the problems with having so many notes is sometimes you can't find the one you're looking for. When I was saying no, he hasn't missed a game. Lamar Jackson hasn't since 2022 when he had the knee issue that ended his quick break.
- [21:31]
A
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- [23:46]
C
Yes. So wait. But wait, there's more. Oh, we had two players return yesterday to the field and that my two takeaways. I wanted to talk a little bit about how they looked because I think they were really important for Fantasy purposes. One was Xavier Worthy and obviously Lit a spark under the entire Chief's offense in addition to just doing what he did. For me, what I'm looking at is how did he look playing? So I went back and watched every Xavier Worthy play. I looked at every highlight and the thing was that he had seven touches and they were all very different types of plays where they could take advantage of him but also sort of protect his shoulder. Every time Xavier Worthy went down or caught the ball, he exited by stepping out of the sidelines. Except for one time when he was middle of the field he got taken down. But I thought he was very smart in how he played and he even referenced that afterwards. So I think this is smart moves by a player where you're maybe going to see more out of him where he could get a little more if he takes on contact. He did not. Secondly, that beautiful deep pass from Patrick Mahomes to Xavier Worthy. Did you see it was over the shoulder basket catch. He did not have to put his arm in a crazy position to catch it. So again, really well done. And then an end around run. So you took advantage of Xavier Worthy speed by giving him the ball and letting him run and sprint.
- [25:06]
A
Were you worried about because you talked in fantasy football now?
- [25:09]
C
Actually I watched that and his definitely you see a little difference right to left. I mean it's not like your arms frozen because clearly you couldn't play, but you just can't use it in quite the same range that you normally would.
- [25:20]
A
Sure.
- [25:21]
C
He's so fast that even if he's a hint slower, he was still beating the man coverage guys. Right. You know, so I think what you saw from Xavier Worthy has to be super encouraging. And I gave the stats yesterday on fantasy football. Now usually by weeks three and four those numbers level out and I think, you know, in another week or two it's going to be like nothing happened unless he takes the odd collision or hit to the ground.
- [25:44]
B
Amazing. And obviously if when Rashi Rice returns in week seven, maybe were these util changes a little bit. But if that's just the beginning of what Xavier Worth is going to look like for this Chiefs offense, then you have a game changer for your fantasy team. He and I tracked this at the time that I thought the game officially got out of hand and the Chiefs kind of just went to clock killing mode. 26.7% target share for Xavier Worthy led the team in targets. Stefania mentioned the two runs as well. Like the first play of the game. Who gets the ball? Xavier Worthy.
- [26:14]
A
Worthy.
- [26:15]
B
Yeah.
- [26:15]
C
And that you. That's clearly like a design move and everybody talked about how much he elevated them by being out there and Patrick.
- [26:23]
B
Mahomes was brilliant as a result of it as well. His first four passing touchdown game in the regular season since October of 2023. I'll go back to comments from the very first game of the season in Brazil against the Chargers where Kurt Kurt Warner was referencing how Andy Reid was like we kind of like a lot of our stuff in the passing game revolves around Xavier Worthy. So great to see him back, great to see him playing a meaningful role and great to see him stay on the field as well. I want to put a pin in these rookie running backs because we still have more to get to on right because if you want the good and the bad of Treveon Henderson, I'll give you the let's go. Let's go to the good first. He did find the end zone. He got a touchdown. That was important for Travion Henderson. His first I believe first of his career and he had seven carries for 32 yards. He had two catches on two targets. The Patriots blew out the Carolina Panthers so the snap percentage is has to be accounted for a little bit because they had Josh Dobbs and sort of the backups in there for a decent chunk of that game in the second half. But just 29% of the snaps for Travion Henderson. I think the bigger takeaway about this Patriots offensive attack right now, we can talk about this more later. It's just that Henderson's not usable but really nobody is like auto start from there. Ramond Ray Stevenson once again played the most snaps but it was a pretty even split amongst this Patriots backfield and it feels like what you're hoping for with Henderson is he continues to earn more and more trust, continues to get a bit more work in the passing game and this offense continues to play well because we'll talk about their quarterback in just a little bit. He looks like he may have asserted himself into a new level of fantasy oomph.
- [28:06]
A
I agree with that. That was one of my takeaways so I'm interested to be able to hear what you have to say. Field I got one more thing and then Stefania, I think you got one more takeaway as well. I'm going to talk about a Mecca Abuka because he dominated again. We thought he was going to like he's kind of was set up to be in a really good spot this week. No Mike Evans, Chris Godwin coming back. Stefania, anything that you Chris Godwin played.
- [28:25]
C
81% of the snaps takeaway. So again, I'm looking at quality of. Of snaps and play and everything in addition, like the whole package. So. And I like the, you know, I like the feel good stuff too. So. Chris Godwin is Chris Godwin Jr. Now he has that on his jersey and he talked about how important that was to hear it in the stadium. He lost his father to cancer in the early part of 2024 and then his son was born while he was rehabbing and recovering. So there was this whole family line through that was very emotional for him and I think it was really important for him to get back in that regard. He had 10 targets. So even though you look at the stat line, you see three catches for 28 yards. There were 10 targets. Now he. There was. There was a little rust in there and he acknowledged that. And part of it, especially when you have a collision injury like that, is getting back out there and getting comfortable with that contact and how it's going to feel. You know, we'll see. This is the big thing for this is how does he feel the day after.
- [29:30]
B
Yeah.
- [29:31]
C
Because that's a lot of work that he hasn't had. Assuming everything goes well, I think you're going to see the volume from him. Like, I think he will be out there how, you know, and consistently so. Unless his ankle starts to give him issues. The next part is how does he look in and. And can he get off the ground in the same way? Can he stop and start in the same way? But I thought it was an excellent first step back for all of the reasons. Kind of like we were talking about Xavier Worthy. This is really important for the team to have him out there. Yeah. And we'll see when they get all three of them what that looks like.
- [30:06]
A
Thank you, Stefania. That's big part of the question here. When, when Chris Godwin returned, played 81% of the snaps, right. Had 10 targets. That's the same number as a Mecca Abuka and only ran one fewer out. Didn't really seem like he was limited. A Mecca Abu, though, just had huge production. 10 targets, four catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. Had 20.1 fantasy points. Second game over 20 fantasy points so far. And my question to you guys is my fear when this wide receiving core is healthy, that we've just turned into Los Angeles Chargers. And do you believe that this is your ultimate sell high window on a Mecca Abuga before Chris Godwin and Mike Evans are fully back, or do you think that Baker Mayfield can support three fantasy relevant wide receivers because you might not have another. If we're going to start divvying up targets three different ways, it's going to be a little bit different for a Mecca Buca who already doesn't have a ton of targets to begin with. I think he's wide receiver 11. Yeah, that was the biggest that he's had so far. But I'm just curious if you believe. Would you, if you have a Mecca Abuka, are you keeping him because you feel like I found something in this kid and he's going to be an awesome piece for my fantasy squad or are you saying to yourself, before these other two guys are back and fully healthy, I might look and see if I can make a move and sell as high as I possibly can?
- [31:20]
C
I think what's going to happen is we're going to have some. You're not going to know who's going to be the star week in and week out. I think that different weeks you're going to have though all three of them are viable. But as to who eats the most in any given week, I think that's going to vary depending on the matchups.
- [31:35]
B
Also Mike Evans, like this could be. There was really no firm timetable put on it. Right. I mean it was three to four weeks.
- [31:42]
C
Yeah.
- [31:42]
B
But I feel like normally when I say something like that you'd caution me like yeah, it could, but it might be more right. Because hamstrings are tricky and he got rushed out last year. Right. So even if it is three weeks, you still have two more games with a gravy train going here for Mecca Buka. I don't. I'd be hard pressed. Like he's got a 30 plus yard catch in three of his four games. Yep. He's got a touchdown. At least one touchdown in four games.
- [32:04]
C
Yes.
- [32:04]
B
So scoring. I hear you. I think there are other players that come to mind as more so if sell high candidates field.
- [32:12]
A
Yates had a Mecha Buka on his roster right now. He's gonna continue to ride the gravy train.
- [32:16]
B
I think there's a chance we have the offensive rookie of the year in our hands right now. We could have 80 catches, 100, you know, 1200 yards and 10 touchdowns. I think to me that would be the kind of player that I would want to have a pillar have as a pillar of my roster going forward.
- [32:28]
A
We have a question right now from our YouTube chat that we can throw up on the screen about a Mecca book of this one comes from Jay Felt. Would you trade a Mecca Abuka and Chase Brown for James Cook. I've got jsn, George Pickens, Ricky Piersall and Romeo Dobbs.
- [32:43]
B
You're still a little light there. Obviously this move can't be done until after this week anyways, so I'm going.
- [32:47]
C
To do a little bit also. Pearsall hurt again yesterday.
- [32:50]
B
Pierce all's hurt. Dobbs was amazing last night, but he has that three or fewer cats.
- [32:55]
A
He's a roller coaster.
- [32:55]
B
Yeah.
- [32:56]
C
Yeah, they all are in Green Bay.
- [32:58]
B
Yeah, we've been down that path.
- [32:59]
A
I mean, so is Chase Brown right now to start the season. I hate to say that, but that's fair.
- [33:02]
B
I mean, I saw. Here's what I'm gonna do. Jay felt is my. My lean is. Is to not make the trade. Even though Jimbo Cook is a top five at worst running back right now, I like seeing how it goes tonight. You know, Mike's talked about how this is kind of like the ultimate matchup here for Chase Brown tonight.
- [33:18]
A
Yes.
- [33:18]
B
If he makes good on it and you're in business and you hold on to him if he totally flops tonight. And the trade is almost like a mecca abuka for Jimbo Cook. And you know, it's like a wide receiver too, plus a flex at best running back for James Cook. Given how thin that position is, I would be making the trade. Use tonight as kind of the determining factor.
- [33:38]
A
Agreed.
- [33:39]
B
How I would do it.
- [33:39]
A
Agreed. Field, you got one more.
- [33:41]
B
Nope. That was all about running backs. We can get into.
- [33:43]
A
That's it. Let's dive into some other takeaways then. Because we had a bunch of running backs we want and a bunch of rookies just in general. We wanted to make sure. We talked about rookies. Had a really big day here in week four. A couple other big takeaways. I'm going to start if you guys don't mind. And you kind of already said this. I know. I'm sorry. Phil.
- [33:56]
B
You can. You can always keep asking. Yeah. But my answer is still yes.
- [33:59]
A
Quinton Johnston dominated again.
- [34:01]
B
Wow.
- [34:02]
A
I mean, he's. I think he's just become a must start at this point. He's wide receiver. Four in fantasy points. He's third in targets, eighth in receptions, third in receiving yards. He's got four touchdowns. At this point. I just sort of feel like. Like the Chargers aren't gaslighting us. They're showing us what they are. They put their cards down on the table. Quinton Johnston is going to be a big part of this offense for Justin Herbert. And I feel like it's More fact than fiction. So I'm not eager to move on. I believe in Quinton Johnston at this point. LAD McConkey managers feel bamboozled. Maybe we'll talk about that a little later in the show when we talk about duds. But he was just unbelievable again today. I think because it happened another week in a row, I, I now fully have to trust this. They're showing us exactly who they are.
- [34:46]
B
Yeah. There have been times in Quinton Johnston's career in the past where he'd go like 4 for 1, 15 to the touchdown. Unlike four targets.
- [34:53]
A
Right.
- [34:54]
B
He's done it now. It's not just the production, it's just the insane amount of target volume too. So I'm with you. Like, this is basically a full time player amongst all wide receivers.
- [35:03]
A
Amongst all wide receivers.
- [35:04]
B
So he's third in targets amongst all wide receivers. He's playing somewhere between 85 and 90% of the snaps every single game. Like, I, I, you know, how we knew this is one of the best.
- [35:13]
C
Values stories in training camp. And you're like, it's just a training camp story, you know? Cause there's all.
- [35:20]
B
There.
- [35:20]
C
And when I was out there at camp, I remember, I, I think I told you guys when I came back, they, they're, everybody's telling me they love Quentin Johnson, like, because Vlad McConkey wasn't practicing when I was out there. Remember, he was a little bit banged up. Najee Harris was on the side working. Lad McConkey wasn't out there and everything. You know, Omarion Hampton was what my eyeballs were on most of the time. But I kept hearing this. Quentin Johnson they really like. Justin Herbert really likes Quentin Johnson. And you're like, okay, okay. And like, yeah, yeah. Sort of believe that a little bit.
- [35:51]
A
That's one of those things. If you could go back in time and be like, one of the camp stories I'm gonna believe is this one. Yeah, that would have been, I mean, you'd have been set up.
- [35:58]
C
Because I wonder if they're like building this rapport and seeing things during the course of that time when they have this opportunity to practice and fail. If you recall, they, they didn't look that great in the preseason. And then all of a sudden they've, they come out in this season and the Chargers looked amazing.
- [36:13]
A
Yeah.
- [36:13]
B
Until yesterday they were.
- [36:14]
A
Yeah, yeah. Other than that. I don't want to say that this is like, this is a bad analogy, but I'm gonna do it anyways. But there's a part of lad McConkey that kind of gives me like Hunter Renfro vibes where it was just like he was so good and then he just. Not the hair. No, no. Or any of the. Or the small, like, Caucasian wide receiver. It's not that. No, no. It's the idea that he had such an awesome year and then like the next season when we still had pretty decent expectations. It's just like he's bigger expectations.
- [36:40]
C
Like if expectations were higher. Like, we're gonna build on this.
- [36:44]
A
All right, let's keep going. Field. What's another takeaway that you got?
- [36:47]
B
All right, so Lamar Jackson, I want to imagine he's playing next week, but I want to do a little like, how many quarterbacks right now do you want to have ahead of Drake May? May does have a tough. I think will be a tough matchup. I think Buffalo will be ready to go next Sunday night when the Patriots play them up in Buffalo. But Drake May, he was now quarterback four on the season. He was excellent again yesterday. 23.2 fantasy points. He had a rushing touchdown, just three rushing attempts for 11 yards. But he got that. He got into the end zone. He threw the ball really well. 14 of 17, two passing touchdowns, just over 200 passing y back to back games with a 75% completion percentage. He's got multiple passing touchdowns in back to back games. We're seeing him tap into his legs more than we saw last year, which as we know for fantasy purposes is a cheat code. So obviously when these guys are healthy, he's still behind. I think pretty obviously Lamar, Jaden Daniels, Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen.
- [37:46]
A
That's the list, Field.
- [37:47]
B
That's it.
- [37:48]
A
I think that's the list. I was just looking at. Who else is here?
- [37:50]
B
Patrick Mahomes had a great day yesterday. Maybe he found his mojo now. You're not buying it?
- [37:54]
A
I wouldn't buy Patrick Mahomes me you like everyone else can. But like, I'm not buying Patrick Mahomes. I also would have thought maybe Kyler Murray or Baker Mayfield look great, but like Kyler and Bo Nicks would have been two guys when I started the season. Yeah, that I would have thought of now they're fully out there. The only other two are Baker and Patrick for me. And so given the way that Drake May has utilized his legs to start the season and the way that he's been able to find guys within this receiving core, that feels like you're just opening up the cupboard and there's nobody there. And yet he's still able to find somebody. I think he's in that like 5 to 6 range right now.
- [38:25]
B
Yeah, there's been some good matchups he's taken advantage of for sure. And it hasn't been perfect. Right. Last week against the Steelers he turned the ball over on multiple occasions, but really playing really well. And part of why he played really well yesterday was we got maybe the version of Stefan Diggs that the Patriots are hoping for when they signed him this off season. We know the Diggs has been load managed early on in the year, but the important part is that he's continuing to see more and more playing time. As yesterday, Stefan Diggs crossed over 100 yards for the first time in a game this season. He had his Highest snap percentage, 63% and his highest route participation percentage as well. That's 73% for Stefan Diggs. I'll remind this. I said it earlier but the Patriots were blowing this game out. So that number for Diggs, if you kind of look at the percentage of snaps he played when the game actually mattered, higher than 63%. So Diggs trending up, that helps for Drake May. The rushing for Drake may helps the fact that the Patriots don't have a dominant goal line runner. Like we might still see more of Drake May near the goal. I think there's even more meat on the bone here. More sort of ingenuity from their offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels who I think each week has become more creative with Drake May. So he's definitely in that top six, seven quarterback range. Standing dimes. Another name that we could have mentioned there, Caleb Williams. You know, those are the kind of guys that are Indiana James conversation.
- [39:43]
A
Yeah. Stefan Diggs had his first hundred yard receiving game since week six of 2023. Like it's, it's been a minute since that's happened and I, I think I have. We'll save it. We'll talk more quarterbacks as we get deeper into the week. But I will. That's a. It's been a fascinating conversation with where things have landed out with Drake. Okay. I want to say Stefania, do you have another takeaway here? I think field and I have a couple more.
- [40:04]
C
I mean I'm. No.
- [40:06]
A
Okay, go ahead. So I, I want to throw this out there.
- [40:10]
B
Okay.
- [40:10]
A
At the beginning of the season I said Amon Ross St. Brown was one of the few guys you're drafting in the first round that doesn't have a chance to finish up as wide receiver. 1. I think Amon Ra now has a chance to finish as wide receiver. He's on A very short list of wide receivers. There's one other guy that we'll talk about.
- [40:24]
B
Yep.
- [40:24]
A
But when you look at Amanra, wide receiver two this season, second in receptions, second in receiving yards, he leads all wide receivers with six touchdowns. And when you look at the guys in front of him, Jamar Chase, who we thought was going to be better now has unfortunately Jake Browning under center Justin Jefferson. That Vikings offense is not even though he he played well this last week, they are not firing on all cylinders right now. I would rather have Aman Ross St. Brown than Justin Jefferson. CD Lam high ankle sprain, potentially going to be out for another couple of weeks. Not him, Malik neighbors, unfortunately the acl. Honestly it's really just him and Puka Nukua. Like those two are the two guys right now. And when you look at what Amon Ra has and the fact that like we talked about this line's offense. Right. Some weeks It's a Sam LaPorta week, some weeks it's a Jameson Williams week. Every week it's an Amon Ross St. Brown week. That's the thing. Like there are two guys that always gets theirs in the Lions offense and it's Jameer Gibbs and it's Amon Ross St. Brown. So I think he's now on the short list with such a solid high floor and a high ceiling given the fact that this team just continues to score over 30 points a game, he's on that very short list now to be potentially wide receiver one at the end of the year.
- [41:30]
C
I think the most impressive. You know how you talk about quarterback agnostic. He's defense agnostic.
- [41:34]
B
Yes.
- [41:34]
C
Like it doesn't matter. Everyone knows that this is the guy that they need to try and button up. Him and Jamaica Amir Gibbs. Right. Those are the two main. And it does not matter what style of defense they're playing. He's so useful in the middle of the field, in the red zone. It doesn't matter. He gets open I it the receivers who impressed me the most. A.J. brown's a different conversation but he always had that high get open score And Aman Ross St. Brown is the same way.
- [41:59]
A
Yeah.
- [41:59]
C
It's unbelievable.
- [42:00]
A
Yeah. I can't believe honestly that he leads since 2023 he leads all wide receivers in touchdowns and he's just such a huge guy in the end zone. In spite of the fact that he's still 6 foot.
- [42:10]
B
He's not 205.
- [42:11]
A
Yeah, he's the opposite of what you would think. But the way that they utilize him, he's nimble the other guy, obviously. And I'm just going to do my second one here off of that field and then you can do two back to back. But the other guy in that conversation is Puka Nukua. And by the way, Puka might just be the best wide receiver in football. 15 targets, 13 receptions, 170 yards and a touchdown. Had 36 fantasy points. Leads the NFL and everything. The only thing that he's not doing on a consistent basis is getting in the end zone. But it doesn't make a difference.
- [42:38]
B
Four games. You know that's not terrible, right? Eight. You take eight touchdowns over the course of the season. He had that 45 yard rushing touchdown earlier this year. And then yesterday the end zone. There's no, there's really. Honestly, there's absolutely no weakness in the profile for Puka Ngua between an elite target chair, one of the most efficient pass catchers. Like if you look at his catch percentage, it looks like a running back. Yes. Because so much of the offense is designed wide receiver screens opportunities for him to get the football in his hands and do the work for himself. Elite, elite. Off the charts. Good. Maybe the fantasy MVP so far highest.
- [43:12]
A
Scoring player in the league. Not wide receiver, not skill position player. Like he's outscored everybody so far. He has 30 more fantasy points than wide receiver. 3. Like the gap between him and the third best wide receiver is gigantic. It's crazy. So anyways, I think Puka and Amon Ra have really separated themselves through the first four weeks from that wide receiver.
- [43:32]
B
Even his wide receiver.
- [43:34]
A
I think it's Roma Dunes.
- [43:35]
B
A. Okay, that would make sense. Last two takeaways for me. You mentioned Justin Jefferson not quite being in the same zip code as Amon Ra with no. Well, I'm not sure the JJ McCarthy of it all is a big issue. Just like the no Sam Darnold of it all.
- [43:48]
A
Correct.
- [43:49]
B
But Carson Wentz. Thank you. Got things going for Justin Jefferson. He had a season high 11 targets yesterday. Interestingly enough for Justin Jefferson, he had his lowest target share in a game this season, 25.6. Which is a reminder that A, A the Vikings were playing from behind for much of that game. Thank you to the Steelers defense, which was very opportunistic. And B the first three weeks it was a low volume passing offense in Minnesota. I don't know that I feel as though Justin Jefferson is back to where he was exactly with Sam Darnold last year. But I thought the fact that they had eight. They threw the ball eight times for 97 yards in the first half was notable. I think there was a little bit of a realization both from Kevin o' Connell and also from Carson Wentz. Good recognition by him, like get the football to that guy and we have a chance because we are an offense that's still very much finding its way. A reminder that Carson Wentz and the Vikings stay in Europe to play another game next weekend on international territory.
- [44:46]
A
How much do we miss Sam Darnold being the quarterback of this offense?
- [44:50]
B
I mean, Justin Jefferson managers definitely miss it.
- [44:53]
A
I think it's hard for me not to look at JSN and kind of compare him to Justin Jefferson to be like, boy, Minnesota thought that they had their next guy waiting in the wings and now when you look at what JSN is doing, it's like Sam Darnold has unlocked his number one wide receiver each the last two years. So far.
- [45:07]
B
Playing damn good real life ball. Fantasy football is a different conversation just with no running, but Sam is playing really, really good real football. Last one for me, we need to talk about a player who might be in the conversation for the best receiver not named Puka, Nakua or Amon Ross.
- [45:22]
A
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B
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- [47:01]
C
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- [47:31]
B
And it might be Christian McCaffrey. Holy crap. Look at this. All right, so if I gave you just Christian McCaffrey as a receiver, zero rushing attempts per game for the first four of the season, would you take nine catches for 73 yards?
- [47:44]
C
Yes.
- [47:44]
B
Six catches for 52 yards and a touchdown?
- [47:46]
A
Yeah.
- [47:47]
B
10 catches for 88 yards, six catches for 92 yards and one touchdown and a touchdown. He is averaging over. He is averaging like 18.6 fantasy points per game just as a receiver.
- [47:59]
A
That's incredible.
- [47:59]
B
It's ridiculous. And for a team that obviously has dealt with a ton of injury attrition, Christian McCaffrey has been on the field. He has been exceptional. The running game is second worst in the NFL on a yards per carry basis. So. So his rushing volume is solid, but his rushing production is not great. I think that's probably more of an offensive line thing than it is a Christian McCaffrey thing.
- [48:20]
A
You think so?
- [48:21]
B
Yeah, but I mean, I, you know, sometimes you don't do a good enough job of recognizing greatness until the player is no longer playing. I think we are witnessing the greatest receiving back we have ever seen in NFL history. And just taking a moment to shout out Christian McCaffrey. I get it. I'll keep saying this until the season's over. It's a long year. Staying healthy is the key. But those that were audacious enough to put their Money on Christian McCaffrey coming into the season a quarter of the way through, Stefania are very, very happy about it. And he might stay busy on Thursday night because his two top wide receivers are once again banged up.
- [48:53]
C
I'm just so glad that it was you with just, with all that buoyant Praise for Christian McCaffrey. It's not me all the time because you guys, everybody gets tired of me. Blah, blah, blah. Stefania, of course, she loves the 49ers. Yesterday was a tough watch. Jaguars beat us up and Christian McCaffrey still shined, especially in critical situations. He is the outlet pass catcher they're looking for. And as Field pointed out, he might need to do a little more work on Thursday night. Short week for them as they play again Thursday night. And Ricky Pearsall and Juwan Jennings, who both came into the game with injuries and we talked about Ricky Piersall had what he called knee soreness, said was no big deal on Wednesday when he didn't practice last week. He's on like the game were today. I could have played. And then he makes a beautiful catch. I don't know if you guys saw it, but it was like he had to reach. He had the toes inside. He had to reach to make the catch. But when he landed, he said he felt like he landed on his knee hard. He wasn't the same afterward. He went out and his wording is important. He said he felt some pain and some instability. You don't like to hear the word instability with the knee. Tried to come back in for one play. Couldn't. I'm concerned about Pierce Hall's availability for Thursday. Not sure if it's going to happen. Juan Jennings made a great catch in the end zone. Fantastic. Sandwiched between two defenders. Took a helmet to the ribs and was holding his ribs lying there. You worry about a rib fracture in those cases. We don't know. But that. So again, it wasn't necessarily that they. Well, Ricky Piersol was his knee, but it wasn't the exact same thing. You know, it was because he landed on it. And with Joanne Jennings, it's just add to the ankle, shoulder, ribs.
- [50:32]
B
Jeez, he's tough guy. Brock was high all day. Throwing the ball high all day. Yes. It just.
- [50:38]
C
The ball was sailed on him a little bit. I wondered if the toe is making him do that a little bit.
- [50:42]
B
Yeah. I figure if you have a hurt toe, you're probably not stepping into your throws. You're falling back. It's only natural for the ball to go high.
- [50:48]
C
So there were also six drop passes, I believe. Like, there was a lot of drops. It was ugly. Kendrick Bourne had two bad ones.
- [50:53]
B
I mean, that one. Yeah. Geez. That. That looked like a guy who hadn't practiced much because he's been hurt.
- [50:57]
C
But hopefully, hopefully that picks up Thursday.
- [51:00]
B
Night Football 49ers versus whatever or whatever is left. The 49ers against the Rams. That'll be a critical one in the end.
- [51:07]
A
That's going to be a big one. Yeah. All right. We're going to do a quick new segment here called Studs Duds and what the h E double hockey stick. We're going to start with a couple of winners here Field. Why don't you start first?
- [51:16]
B
Yeah. Who won the weekend? You just mentioned him Daniel, but I don't know how it would not be Puka Nukua who is now averaging through four games 27.4 fantasy points per game.
- [51:27]
A
Get out of town.
- [51:27]
B
What do you think Puka's worst weekly finishes so far this season?
- [51:31]
A
I. I can't say because I know I looked him up yesterday.
- [51:33]
C
Oh you did? I was gonna say third.
- [51:35]
B
Yeah. It's wide receiver six which is, I mean still like just ridiculous performance. Yeah, he's unbelievable. So. And I don't see how this doesn't continue. It's just you know as long as he is still healthy and Matthew's healthy then he's in business. He should have a very very strong chance of finishing. Is not just the highest scoring wide receiver the highest scoring non quarterback, the fantasy mvp. If we were doing this very arbitrary one quarter of the way through the season vote. But Puko was amazing yesterday. He won the weekend from east to find you. Who won the weekend for you?
- [52:07]
C
It was Ashton Genti and so we've already given him plenty of airtime so I will move along quickly. But you know he right now he's running back one.
- [52:14]
B
Yes.
- [52:15]
C
And I was just looking to see where he was on the season. He's outside the top 10 but boy that probably vaulted him up a bunch after performance so keep your, keep your eye on him.
- [52:23]
A
My big winner from the last week was congratulations to the 10% of managers that made the early swap and put Kenneth Gainwell into their lineup for that Ireland game. 18k carries, 99 yards for two touchdowns plus six catches for 35 yards. 31.4 fantasy points. When we heard no Jalen Warren, I mean only some of us heard it because that 9:30 time slot is difficult for a lot of people. Right. But if you were one of the people that got Kenneth Gainwell into your lineup, he absolutely delivered in an unbelievable and major way.
- [52:53]
B
He. You know what amazes me about Kenny G is he feels like one of those guys that like everywhere he is, everything you ask him to do, he does it well. Yeah.
- [53:00]
A
Coaches love him. Everyone seems to love him.
- [53:02]
C
You always hear these positive reports locker room guys.
- [53:05]
B
He hits the open market this year as a free agent and he gets a one year $4 million contract. Like $4 million is amazing. It's life altering money. But it's also. That's all like that's it. The NFL doesn't want more of that for Kenny G. So. He was awesome yesterday. It's a knee issue, of course, as Daniel mentioned, for Jalen Warren. Steelers go into their buy this upcoming week.
- [53:25]
A
Give me a loser from this weak field.
- [53:27]
B
Yeah. Geno Smith.
- [53:28]
C
Oh, my God. We picked the same one. That's. That's hard to do because there's a.
- [53:34]
A
There were a lot of guys this year.
- [53:37]
B
Take it away.
- [53:38]
C
I mean, I had. He was started. Here was the loser part. Started in 21.9% of leagues.
- [53:45]
B
Yeah. Like the Bears. It's a great opportunity against the Bears.
- [53:49]
C
9.78 fantasy point, three interceptions.
- [53:54]
A
Yeah.
- [53:54]
C
Three terrible. Be better.
- [53:56]
B
This is two dramatic duds from Geno so far this year. Remember Monday Night Football against the Chargers? He was terrible. So, yeah, this is one where he was a trusted streamer and he was not. He was under 10 fantasy points against the Bears on Sunday. The Bears played. I mean, there were some brilliant. I mean, two interceptions, one by Kevin Byard, a diving interception. Tyreek Stevenson, like, got horizontal in the air. An amazing catch as well. But Geno Smith, the loser of the weekend for me. Daniel, who you got.
- [54:26]
A
My loser is the best wide receiver 3 in the NFL. 1k catch, 11 yards, 5 targets, 2.1 fantasy points. Lad McConkey, again, just unbelievably frustrating. I'm pretty sure that when he liked our social media post, he was just affirming, yes, guys, I am in fact the number three pass catcher, which is crazy to think about when you know what his talent is. It's unbelievable that, like, his. His talent, I don't want to say isn't getting utilized, but they've got Omarion Hampton and Keenan Allen and Quinton J. Like, they've got so many places to put the ball. Lad has just fallen through the cracks here to start the season.
- [54:57]
B
He reminds you at all of Hunter Renfro.
- [54:59]
A
Just a little bit field. Just a little bit.
- [55:02]
B
Of course.
- [55:04]
C
I mean, what was Hunter Renfro stat line on the week?
- [55:08]
A
He. He probably definitely outperformed. Yeah, I don't even want to look at it.
- [55:13]
B
We're gonna continue to revisit this one. You know, we had. The Internet was buzzing over our conversation we had last week with Mike and Daniel about how we would order the Chargers receivers. For now, a lot of frustrated people thought we are, you know, we are reactionary and we don't know ball, which is fine.
- [55:26]
C
Well, you know, two things can be true.
- [55:28]
A
Yeah. Mike doesn't know ball but field and I do.
- [55:30]
B
No, I mean, listen, people are Entitled to their opinion. We'll see a lot of season left. But it was yet another tough week for Ladd and another thriving week for Quinton Johnston.
- [55:39]
A
We did. Winners and losers, give me a. What the hell? From the weak field.
- [55:42]
B
A.D. mitchell. What the heck are you doing, man?
- [55:45]
C
So I had two picks. I'm gonna let you take this one. They were Kenneth Gainwell, because I thought that was more like the hat can.
- [55:52]
B
Be positive or negative and named Mitchell. Yeah, man, I just, I feel real.
- [55:56]
A
Bad for the kid.
- [55:57]
B
I'm not trying to be. You know, this is, this is the finest corner to be the empath here. But I do feel bad for AD because he's happy had. You know, this is a year and four weeks into his career and he's had some curious moments. But lord, that. I mean, I just for the life of me don't understand how every position coach, running back, wide receiver, tight end, quarterback, is not telling his players. Every single time you're near the goal line, I want you to run to the fricking stands with the ball in your hands. Don't worry about it.
- [56:23]
C
Explain to the people what happened.
- [56:25]
B
Yeah, so A.D. mitchell has this nice play. It's like a beautiful catch.
- [56:29]
A
More than a nice play.
- [56:30]
C
It would have been the top 10.
- [56:32]
B
Highlights going down the left side. Yeah. And a defender kind of like dies for a last second attempt at like the three yard line. So maybe AD Was like a little bit in traffic, but then he just like, he tries to take the football for those that are watching and just kind of take it from where he's holding it properly and almost do like a pointed out like, I got it, man. We're going into the end zone. And then as he's moving the ball in front of his chest, he just fumbles it. And it's the. As the people know, it's the touchback rule where not only did he lose the football, it goes to instead the Rams. The Rams go on to win the game 27 to 20. Mitchell was also called for a very crucial holding penalty on Jonathan Taylor's would have been. Go ahead 52 yard run. So what the heck, A.D. yeah, that.
- [57:19]
A
One was a tough one. My last one, really quickly for the. What the heck player was AJ Freaking Brown, dude.
- [57:25]
B
I.
- [57:25]
A
Did you guys know that the Eagles didn't even complete a pass in the second half of that game?
- [57:30]
B
Zero passes. Second half, zero.
- [57:32]
A
They threw passes. They didn't complete any of them. Nine targets, two receptions, seven yards, 2.7 fantasy points. And here's the hard part.
- [57:41]
B
They won A.J.
- [57:41]
A
Brown. A.J. brown now has two weeks under three fantasy points and a third week under eight fantasy points. It has been brutal to start the season for AJ Brown. Managers Is Arthur Smith the coach of the Eagles again? Like, what's going on? Is he a part of this?
- [57:58]
C
A.J.
- [57:58]
A
Brown, like, I don't understand. The last time A.J. brown looked this bad is when he was a rookie playing for the Tennessee Titans. What's going on?
- [58:04]
B
We were talking about this with the Chargers and how they were doing some of their stuff offensively through the first three games and it's like it's hard for us to push back on their strategy when they're three and oh, the Eagles are four and oh now like they win however they need to win. They've won 20 of their last 21 games. I think week five is going to be very instructive though, because after the game AJ did take the twist and saw that he posted something, saw that. That it wasn't like he did not directly say, you know, give me the damn balmore or something like that, but he posted a very, I would say passive aggressive passage from someone that suggested that he is less than thrilled with his role. Devonte Smith, by the way, not much more involved. So the Eagles, they're four. No. And they may say we're just going to continue to win games however we want to win games, blocking kicks, returning them for touchdowns, whatever it takes breaks. But it is ugly right now for the two top Eagles wide receivers, especially A.J. brown.
- [58:57]
A
If you're not welcomed, not listened to, quietly withdraw. Don't make a scene, shrug your shoulders and be on your way. You can take for that for what you will.
- [59:05]
C
He's a reader, he's a literary guy. So I appreciate that.
- [59:09]
A
All right, we're gonna save the rest of our studs and duds. Maybe we'll get him to tomorrow if we have some time. But let's talk about Monday Night Football. Cause we got two Monday Night Football games tonight, my friends. First one is J Jets and Dolphins. Big update here from the jets sideline is that Justin Fields has progressed through the concussion protocol. Will get the start tonight. Field if there's one takeaway or one thing you're watching in this game, yeah.
- [59:33]
B
To me it's can the jets offense capitalize on what has been the best matchup for offenses so far this season? Or maybe the second best because the Cowboys are amazing, but you can run on the Dolphins, you can throw on the Dolphins. Could Garrett Wilson make it three out of four monster nights in our monster Games this season.
- [59:50]
A
Yeah, that's my hope. I'm going to hope that that happens because I'm as a part of watching Garrett Wilson. A big part for me is a bounce back for Justin Fields. He left week three, unfortunately with a concussion. But even before that, like before he left the game, he wasn't playing well. Yeah, didn't look good.
- [60:03]
B
So like this week one, he was great. Week two, I think it was actually week two.
- [60:05]
A
Oh, it was week two. You're right. You're right.
- [60:07]
B
He started. Tyrod Taylor started against the Bucks.
- [60:09]
A
So then this is. Can he like, can we get a bounce back? Can we see the Justin Fields when you waited at quarterback and you're like, you know what? I'm going to grab Justin field, Fields as QB12. But I think he's going to be a top seven guy. This is the matchup that you're thinking about in your head.
- [60:21]
B
He would be a reasonable name to throw into that pot that we were discussing with Drake May, by the way, like, could he be up Fields could be. He's such an elite rusher, like, well.
- [60:28]
A
I need to see it on the field tonight. If he does it against Miami, then he's going to at least be in that conversation.
- [60:33]
B
I think the jets win this game, by the way. First whichever team loses goes to oh and four.
- [60:37]
C
Yeah.
- [60:38]
B
Wow.
- [60:38]
C
That was my, you know, the thing you're looking for, who steps up for two winless teams?
- [60:43]
A
That's it.
- [60:43]
C
I was basically. That's all I want to know out of this game is who's it going to be? Who's going to be the difference maker that's going to make one of these teams is going to give them a victory and give their fans something to feel good about for the first time in September.
- [60:56]
A
Did we, did we pick this game on FF now or was that a different thing that we had?
- [61:00]
B
We did pick this.
- [61:01]
A
Yeah, I said we did. We all say Jets. We all. I think we all went.
- [61:03]
B
I don't think it was a sweep.
- [61:05]
A
Yeah, I think we all went jets on this one. All right, so that will be a fun game. Hopefully. Tells you how I like where you're at.
- [61:11]
C
It's going to stop.
- [61:13]
A
Hopefully there's some good stuff to watch there. Let's talk about the. The second game though of Monday Night Football as well.
- [61:19]
B
This is 8:15. This is the regular time slot kick. The jets and Dolphins kick off at 7pm yes.
- [61:24]
A
So last time we had two Monday Night Football games. They were staggered. This time they are not. We're gonna be Watching two games at one time.
- [61:31]
C
Staggered but not the same. Completely separate.
- [61:33]
B
When I bought two TVs for the same room in my house, I told my wife, this is why. Because we have sometimes where there are two football games.
- [61:39]
C
Yeah, totally justified.
- [61:41]
A
Bengals and Broncos. Can I just, like, put it out there into the ether, please? Dear God. Chase Brown. Find the end zone or catch like eight balls. Like anything other than what you've been doing. Like, let's get some involvement again. Because it's been tough sledding for Chase Brown.
- [61:55]
B
That's what it is. Right. So if you take into account. Okay, so Chase Brown, you want him.
- [61:58]
A
To do either get in the end zone or catch a bunch of passes or both. I'm fine with both of them.
- [62:04]
B
Yeah, I think that's totally fair. As Mike. Mike has highlighted how he thinks this is a very good matchup. I'm less motivated. I think I'm less optimistic because I don't know that the Bengals run the football in the same way that the Rams and the Chargers do.
- [62:17]
A
Yeah, I'm not optimistic either. That's why I'm trying to put it out there so that, like, I can speak it into existence.
- [62:21]
B
And then beyond that, I think it would be naive to not mention, like, we are now entering. I think it was six starts with Jake Browning. Call it two full games this year because Joe got hurt early. So eight games of Jake Browning with Jamar Chase. We've had two and a half good games in those eight.
- [62:37]
C
What I mean by this defense.
- [62:39]
B
Yes. With Patrick, opposite of Jamar Chase. If he duds again tonight. I think the conversation goes from like, hey, he's still a top 10 wide receiver because he's Jamar Chase. To. Is Jamar chase still top 10 wide receiver? There have been a couple of guys that have risen up the ranks and a couple of guys that have slid as well, you know, between injuries to CD Lamb and Justin Jefferson, et cetera. Or not Justin being hurt, but Justin has slid himself. But Jamar Chase, we need you, Jake Browning to tonight.
- [63:08]
C
Yeah.
- [63:08]
B
Do your thing. Do your Carson Wentz tonight.
- [63:10]
C
I hope so, but I. I don't think it's going to happen. I just don't. I don't think this is the game for it to happen. They got to travel to Denver. You got Patan. I think it's going to be a tough sledding for them. My look forward to in this game is what will we see from Bo Nicks? Can we please get some rushing from Bo Knicks in this game? The. Yeah, but they're playing the Bengals and they're at home. So this is a get right game for Bonix, for fantasy managers.
- [63:36]
B
Yeah.
- [63:37]
A
Where is he finished right now? Where is Bo Nick so far on the season? Do you guys know? Oh, my gosh. I had so far down the list, it's ridiculous.
- [63:45]
B
He's only played three games.
- [63:46]
A
You're right. You're right. So I'm looking at points per game and understanding he's 17 and points per game. He is officially Bo Nix. No, he's not 17 in points per game.
- [63:55]
C
I don't even see him.
- [63:57]
A
Bo Nicks.
- [63:57]
C
That work is too hard.
- [63:58]
A
Quarterback 25, averaging 15 and a half fantasy points per game. This is a game that he needs to come out because he was drafted to be a starting quarterback after what he did last year as a rookie. We had really high expectations in this Broncos offense. So I think that's a great thing to watch.
- [64:13]
C
This is the game. I mean, you're playing the Bengals at home.
- [64:17]
B
Yeah.
- [64:18]
C
Let's do this.
- [64:18]
A
I know Mike is going to be watching the T. Higgins conversation. I think he said last time when Jamar Chase was shadowed by Pat Satan, T. Higgins really went off here on the other side of this. Obviously it was a different quarterback situation, but another thing to be able to watch. That'll be very interesting. What are you guys going with this one? You taking the Broncos?
- [64:34]
C
The Broncos goes. Not even. It's not even close for me, especially playing it in Denver.
- [64:40]
A
I'm gonna take Denver.
- [64:41]
B
Okay, I'll take the Bengals then.
- [64:43]
A
Thank you.
- [64:43]
B
I like to cover ourselves.
- [64:44]
A
Thank you for that. Thank you for that. Yeah. Coming into the week B, Knicks was quarterback 20 has already slid down to 25. With how well some of these other quarterbacks have played in a points per game basis, hopefully we see a good bonix here. All right, that's going to do it for us today. Tomorrow we got a huge show though, recapping both of these Monday night football games. We're going to have a lot of stuff. Plus all the.
- [65:01]
C
By the way, this is when all the other injuries come out. Did you know Darnell Mooney is injured, too? Like, these are things. They start to creep out by Tuesday. We're hearing more and more. So attention.
- [65:10]
A
Don't love that. All right, well, make sure that you have a ton of fun watching your Monday night football matchups tonight. If you need a good thing, a Monday night miracle, hopefully it comes true for you. But don't forget to love each other, be kind to yourself, and we'll see you guys on Tuesday. Talk about stepping up. It's time to level up your game. Introducing the all new ESPN app. All of ESPN all in one place. Your home for the most live sports and the best championship moments. The electricity of step up your game. With no annual contract required. It's the ultimate fan experience. Level up. For More on the ESPN app or at stream.espn.com sign up now.