Preseason Week One Risers and Fallers: The Rookie RBs are On the Move (08/11 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

Fantasy Football Today Podcast Summary Episode: Preseason Week One Risers and Fallers: The Rookie RBs are On the Move (08/11 Fantasy Football Podcast)
Release Date: August 11, 2025

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1. Introduction and Episode Overview

In this episode of Fantasy Football Today, host Adam Aizer, alongside analysts Dave Richard, Jamey Eisenberg, and Heath Cummings, delves into the performances from Preseason Week One. The primary focus centers on identifying preseason risers and fallers, especially among rookie running backs (RBs), and assessing how injuries and preseason performances might influence fantasy football rankings.

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2. Preseason RB Performances: Risers and Fallers

Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby: A Double-Edged Sword

Dave Richard opens the discussion by analyzing Travis Etienne’s extensive preseason play. "Travis ETN played every snap with the first team offense," he notes ([02:12]). Despite his high usage, concerns arise about Etienne's consistency and workload management.

Tank Bigsby emerges as a focal point, with Dave asserting, "I moved Bigsby behind ETN. It was interesting. ETN for all of Trevor Lawrence snaps and then Bigsby came in" ([16:14]). This positioning reflects Bigsby’s potential as a valuable RB2 with significant upside, especially if Etienne's role fluctuates during the regular season.

Isaiah Pacheco and R.J. Harvey: Overreactions and Opportunities

Heath Cummings brings up Isaiah Pacheco’s minimal preseason impact, stating, "He had one carry for 8 yards and of course did not have a rushing touchdown" ([03:05]). This limited usage sparks debates on his preseason value versus potential regular-season opportunities.

R.J. Harvey’s role is also scrutinized. Dan Schneier argues, "I think Harvey's usage we're going to see," suggesting that Harvey could carve out a niche as a reliable RB2 if the Jaguars stabilize their running back committee ([05:15]).

Travion Henderson: Rising Amidst Uncertainty

Travion Henderson is highlighted as a preseason riser. Dave mentions, "Question though. James Cook signs a contract tomorrow and he's back. You're really going to stick with Harvey and Henderson ahead of Cook?" ([04:05]). Despite James Cook’s potential return, Henderson’s multifaceted role in both rushing and receiving keeps him ahead in draft rankings.

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3. Impact of Injuries on Fantasy Rankings

Key Injuries to Monitor

The panel extensively covers the impact of injuries on fantasy player values:

• Taj Spears: "Spears going to miss a few weeks with a high ankle sprain" ([06:26]). His absence elevates Tony Pollard’s value as the primary RB.
• Tyreek Hill and Jaden Reed: Tyreek Hill's oblique injury raises concerns about his availability, while Jaden Reed’s foot sprain puts his contributions in doubt for the Packers.
• Matthew Stafford: "Matthew Stafford. Supposed to practice today, so we're going to update you on everything you need to know" ([02:12]).

Dave emphasizes, "If Spears misses a couple of weeks, Pollard is easily in the RB2 conversation" ([07:35]), underscoring Pollard’s importance in the Cowboys’ offense during Spears’ absence.

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4. Rankings and Player-Specific Analysis

Balancing Young Talent and Veteran Reliability

The discussion navigates the balance between high-upside rookies and consistent veterans:

• Breece Hall: Despite a subdued preseason, Heath notes, "Sky's the limit for him. He's incredibly talented" ([05:38]), advocating for his potential to break into RB1 statuses.
• Bruce Hall: Dave expresses disappointment in Bruce Hall's performance, citing, "He needs to go to his right. There is such an obvious enormous cutback lane" ([11:22]), leading to his ranking drop.
• Drake May: Jamey Eisenberg praises Drake May’s preseason throws, stating, "He ran for a short yardage touchdown... he keeps talking about how we're not gonna have a ton of design runs" ([34:43]).

Wide Receivers and Quarterbacks Insights

The panel also touches on wide receivers like Marvin Harrison Jr. and Calvin Ridley, discussing their preseason performances and potential impact on fantasy rankings. Additionally, quarterbacks like Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson are evaluated for their fantasy relevance, with Dave noting, "All three of those guys can be safe QB2s with upside to be borderline QB1s" ([38:48]).

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5. Listener Engagement: Mailbag and Q&A

The episode features a mailbag segment where listeners’ questions are addressed:

• Draft Strategies: Jay from Raleigh asks about draft strategies in a 12-team PPR league, receiving advice to prioritize running backs early due to scarcity.
• Player Evaluations: Pete from Oregon seeks reasons to draft Marvin Harrison Jr., leading to a deep dive into his route-running skills despite questioning his speed and explosive playmaking.

Notable Quotes:

• Dave on Jeff Wilson’s signing with the 49ers: "Here's what the Colts are going to do in Week two" ([30:16]).
• Jamie on Caleb Johnson’s preseason performance: "He didn't really look that good this past weekend" ([50:34]).

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6. Conclusion and What's Next

As the episode wraps up, the analysts summarize their standings and reiterate key takeaways from the preseason performances. They tease future episodes focused on sleepers, breakouts, and busts, encouraging listeners to stay tuned for updated rankings and strategies.

Adam Aizer concludes by promoting upcoming live streams and additional content on CBS Sports Network, ensuring fans remain engaged as the fantasy football season approaches.

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Notable Quotes

• Heath Cummings: "Understanding why Trayvon Henderson's being viewed as a, as a, you know, week one winner, which is risky anyway" ([05:15]).
• Dave Richard: "There's also a world where both Henderson and Stevenson can be decent, if not both good" ([06:05]).
• Jamey Eisenberg: "I'm encouraged by how he threw the ball in practice" ([34:43]).
• Dan Schneier: "I think Harvey's usage we're going to see" ([05:15]).
• Jamie (Surname not provided): "Good fumble was a stupid play" ([34:43]).

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This comprehensive analysis from Fantasy Football Today provides listeners with in-depth insights into preseason performances, player rankings, and strategic considerations essential for dominating their fantasy leagues in the upcoming season.

Transcript

[Adam]

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[Dave]

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[Jamie]

It's time to dominate your fantasy league.

[Dave]

Off to the races and he stays on his feet. This is going to go the distance.

[Heath]

Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.

[Dave]

What's up everybody? Welcome to the show. It's Fantasy Football Today presented by BetMGM, the sportsbook born in Vegas. Monday, August 11th. We're here to talk about the preseason winners and losers. Travis ETN played every snap with the first teen offense. What's. What's that all about? Where was Tank Bigsby? Travis Hunter also very involved with the first team offense? We're going to talk about players that are not on The Jaguars. We have injuries to Tyreek Hill, Jaden Reed, Rashad White, Matthew Stafford. Supposed to practice today, so we're going to update you on everything you need to know. We got risers and fallers. I'm Adam. We got Jamie and Heath. Can I give my big Adam's big overreaction of the day, please? That's what the preseason's all about, people. Guess who averaged 8 yards per carry and played at the goal line with the first team?

[Dan]

8 yards per carry.

[Dave]

Go ahead, Heath. You got it right. What'd you say?

[Heath]

Isaiah Pacheco. He had one carry for 8 yards and of course did not have a rushing touchdown. But it was nice that he was on the field while Mahomes threw a touchdown.

[Dave]

Exactly. It was. It was nice. That was it. They. The Cardinals fumbled the opening kickoff. The Chiefs took over deep in their territory. 8 yard run for Pacheco. Pass interference in the end zone. First and goal at the 1. And then Mahomes threw a touchdown to Jason Brownlee. But I was glad that Pacheco didn't come off the field even. It was only his third snap of the game. Would anyone else like to overreact?

[Heath]

Travion Henderson over James Cook.

[Dan]

I. I see your Trevion Henderson over James Cook and I raise you. RJ Harvey over James Cook too.

[Dave]

I don't know. I mean, I feel like they were just kind of auditioning Harvey a little bit because he played most of the snaps. Didn't. Didn't Peyton say something about that? How, like how Dobbins is going to get more work next week or something to that effect?

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Dave]

Yeah. Okay, so first of all, are you really putting Travion Henderson and RJ Harvey ahead of James Cook?

[Dan]

I did, yes.

[Heath]

I really put Henderson ahead of James Cook. Yes.

[Dave]

And what if he shows up to camp tomorrow or he's in camp?

[Heath]

What if he see Trivion Henderson?

[Dave]

What if James Cook signs I'm backs? Did you see who the first three carries I think went to? Yeah. Andre Stevenson, who did very well, should add.

[Heath]

Yeah, you can't. You can't keep that genie in the bottle.

[Dan]

I. I think there is a. A world where both Henderson and Stevenson can be decent, if not both good.

[Dave]

So question though. James Cook signs a contract tomorrow and he's back. You're really going to stick with Harvey and Henderson ahead of Cook, or is it just because of that?

[Dan]

Today I will say yes.

[Heath]

It's not like I've been skeptical of James Cook all summer, so it's not just because of that. He's like, we Harvey's not a full time back. Probably Henderson's not a full time back. Probably Cook's not a full time back. Probably Cook's in a better offense. But Henderson and Harvey may catch a lot more passes.

[Dave]

I guess understanding why Trayvon Henderson's being viewed as a, as a, you know, week one winner, which is risky anyway, but he returns the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. He had three catches. We only had one carry. Or Mondre had seven. So one carry, what's that?

[Heath]

What do you do with that? One carry?

[Dave]

Yeah, a little bit better than Pacheco. 18 yards.

[Dan]

He also had 60% of Drake Mace targets.

[Dave]

Yeah, but Stefan Diggs didn't play. Right.

[Dan]

So no, I don't think that changes.

[Dave]

Well, I don't think he's getting 60 target share, but.

[Dan]

No, right.

[Dave]

No, I get it. But Harvey, why? What did he do that was so impressive to you?

[Dan]

I think that's the usage we're going to see.

[Dave]

Seven carries for 25 yards, one catch for four yards. Dobbins had no carries in one catch.

[Dan]

I don't played on obvious passing downs.

[Dave]

Okay.

[Dan]

I think there's also a world where Dobbins and Harvey can exist.

[Dave]

Okay. Okay.

[Heath]

I didn't move Harvey much, but yeah, I mean it certainly wasn't. I mean it just depends on what. What they were trying to do. I think next week will maybe tell us more.

[Dave]

So I'm going to ask you guys for a big riser and a big faller. Did you just give me the big riser?

[Dan]

I mean the big faller for me is obvious. It's one of my favorite guys got hurt. Sucks.

[Dave]

Guys. Dave. Oh, Taji Spears. Yeah. Yeah. So we. There are two. Two significant running back injuries. Unless I'm missing one. Taj Spears, who's got a high ankle sprain that hasn't been. He has been ruled out for week one. Worth noting that I thought he only played one snap with Cam Ward. I read he may have played three, but I had him as only true media had him as with one snap with Cam Ward on the field. And then Tony Pollard even got the goal line touchdown. And I had been talking about how last year they used Spears near the goal line exclusively basically when both were healthy. So Pollard was the man. I think if they had kept playing with Cam Ward, he probably would have seen Spears more maybe on the third drive or something. But then he got hurt later. So that's worth, that's worth noting. But Spears going to miss a few weeks with a High ankle sprain. Rashad White has a groin injury and Todd Bowles said they need to give Sean Tucker the ball more.

[Dan]

Yeah, they're going to.

[Dave]

Now when Rashad White missed Week 6 at New Orleans, both Tucker and Irving had a huge game they want. They scored 51 points in that game, obviously was just a huge game. But Irving, who again I mentioned, one of the drawbacks I think with him is last year he had one of the lowest third down snap shares. He, he was the primary third down back in the game without Rashad White. Now of course, it's August 11th. Their first game I think is on September 7th. Rashad White, Tajie Spears could be back. So Jamie, how are we looking at these two running back injuries?

[Dan]

I think just knowing that Spears missed five games last year and parts of others, it, I won't, I won't put Spears back to where I had him, which was inside the top 40 at running back. So he dropped, I think I had him 39. I dropped him to 49. Pollard was outside the top 24. He is now inside the top 24. And so Pollard played seven games last year where he had at least 73 of the snaps or more. In four of those he scored at least 14 and a half PPR points. So I think anytime Spears is off the field, he's got top 15 upside. So in the event that Spears misses a couple of weeks in the regular season to start because this could be a four to six week injury, we don't know how, how bad it is. The fact he was card off in a walking boot on crutches, I mean, probably not ideal. So my guess is they'll take some time. Their depth is terrible. I mean, Julius Chestnut I believe is still the third running back on the team. So it could be just a lot of Tony Pollard. And I think the thing that we were kind of operating on, you know, industry wise, you know, NFL wise is a better offense because of Cam Ward. And so if the offense is better, we know this offensive line has a lot of potential based on the players that they brought in the last couple years and the coaching staff with Bill Callahan, like this could be a great situation for Tony Pollard. So I don't want to get over excited about him because like you said, Adam Spears could return. But I think this puts him, you know, easily in the RB2 conversation where he may have been outside that depending on which rank list you're looking at in terms of the other backfield you mentioned that they want to use Sean Tucker. I don't think this really changes much for Bucky Irving. It's hard to say. He goes now from that group of Jacobs, Taylor, Chase Brown, Kyron Williams, you know, after the top six or top seven. Excuse me. I don't think he jumps into the top seven. But if you want to put him at the top of that group, I have no problem with that. So he's. He, he moved up one spot for me. I moved ahead of Jonathan Taylor.

[Dave]

Bucky. Okay. Does anybody think that Sean Tucker could be their goal line back? He feels like the most suit. I mean, I feel like it'll be Bucky, but he feels like the most suited to be our goal. Their goal line back.

[Dan]

Right.

[Dave]

He's kind of the most powerful, I'd say. And Bucky wasn't great near the goal line last year. Rashad White certainly isn't a goal linebacker. I don't know. Just a thought. Could be. Yeah, just a thought. I don't want to scare anybody off Bucky Irving, but if they want to use them more, that would seem like an area that might make sense. Just Ace, just. It's not even speculation. Just thinking out loud. I should, maybe I should have kept it to myself.

[Dan]

Look, the, the problem would be is if they're using all three guys, you know, So I don't think Tucker's touches come fully at the expense of Rashad White. If he's healthy, it's going to come at the expense of Bucky to some extent.

[Dave]

So, Thomas, can we look at the next page of the consensus rankings again, the one with Travion Henderson on it and Tony Pollard and just kind of see where we are on Henderson and RJ Harvey? Are we still thinking round five for those, for those guys?

[Dan]

I put them in round four.

[Dave]

Four.

[Heath]

Well, four. I think I have Henderson four, Harvey five.

[Dan]

But okay, another follower for me. And I put both ahead of this guy as well as Bruce Hall.

[Dave]

Oh, let me show you a screenshot. If you're watching YouTube.com fantasy football today, if you want to see this little screenshot of Breeze Hall. I was so disappointed in Breeze Hall. Like Braylon Allen gets one carry like rockets up the middle for tennis yards. Look at this carry for Breeze Hall. He needs to go to his right. There is such an obvious enormous cutback lane with a lead blocker with a. With a guard ready to block for him. This is a two yard gain to the left. I, I just, I just like. And Dave, you know, gave us a list of risers and falls. He's not going to be on the show today he might come late and he had almost faller. He had Breeze Hall. He wants to give him a little more time. But again, you know, it's not just an opportunity thing with Breeze Hall. He hasn't been the same back since his rookie year. He needs to play better. I don't know. I. Look at this. Look at it. Don't. This should have been a big gain. Jump to the right there, buddy. Our. Our button or whatever that is.

[Heath]

I think the R button gets you smashed by the guy who's completely unblocked in one yard up field on the right. Veer to the right.

[Dave]

I. I wish I had an angle from the back, but I. I think that he should not. He. I thought he missed the cutback lane big time.

[Heath]

Maybe. It's hard to tell with. With pictures of plays.

[Dave]

It is hard to tell, isn't it? But why did you say Breeze Hall? Jamie, were you. Did you see the same thing? Just kind of uninspired.

[Dan]

Uninspired. The rotation, everything we've heard this off season, I mean, it's just everything's falling in line with what Aaron Glenn said he wanted to do. He wants to use three guys, and so the fact that at least two are going to play prominently, maybe one at the goal line, like, I don't think Breeze hall is going. Yes. Justin Fields checks down more than we probably realize. He's going to throw to his running backs. They're not going to be awful in the passing game like you may think. But to the extent of where Breeze hall was at his best in his second season after the ACL tear, which we thought he was going to be horrible, he had what, 75 catches. I mean, he's not going to be that involved in the passing game to that level. And if he's not running to the same level and getting those opportunities, he's still an RB2, but they're just a handful of guys I'd rather have over him right now. So I put him. I had him ahead of Camara and. And Chuba and Connor and then the two rookies. And I put all those guys ahead of him. And I'm on the verge of putting power ahead of him, too. If we're going to find out that Tasha Spear is going to miss several weeks in the regular season.

[Dave]

But are you worried that. Just a general question. It's. It's really hard to watch football and not react to it. You know, Breece Hall, I think he had three carries, right? Trayvon Henderson had one. Are you worried that you're Overreacting, changing your rankings this dramatically after.

[Dan]

Obviously there's, there's concern with that. And that's when you asked, you know, if James Cook says. And so today the answer would be yes, I would put those two guys ahead of James Cook. But in the case of Breece hall, this is not going against the narrative. This is fitting the narrative. This is what the coach said at the owner's meetings. I want to use a rotation of three guys. We have whatever his, you know, his phrasing was. And then you've heard all the, the drum beat for Braylon Allen. Braylon Allen. Braylon Allen. And they're rotating throughout the, the offensive series with the first group. And so how can you not be panicked about him?

[Dave]

Breeze hall is currently, according to adp, a mid to late third round guy. And people, that's a hard pass for us, right?

[Dan]

Yep.

[Dave]

Heath, you agree?

[Heath]

I think I've got about three, four, turn.

[Dave]

Oh, okay.

[Dan]

So yeah, he's around five for me now.

[Dave]

Okay. We've heard the case against Bruce Hall. Heath, you want to say why you're not lowering them him that much.

[Heath]

I still expect he's going to have a very big role in the passing game. I know Field's the running quarterback, but he's had a very high check down rate each of the past two seasons. And I think somebody in the chat said it, he did come out of the game when Fields and Garrett Wilson came out and Braylon Allen and Isaiah Davis were still playing later. So I still think it's going to be a committee, but I still think he's going to be the lead back of the committee and in full ppr, which is what we're talking about. I still think he's going to catch a lot of passes.

[Dave]

Okay, so Braylon Allen had 92 carries last year. He averaged only 3.6 yards per carry. Breeze hall averaged 4.2 yards per carry. Braylon Allen's longest run was 20 yards. He had one carry, 92 carries, one of them longer than 12 yards. So I think, you know, if you want to believe in Breece Hall, I don't think we have a lot of proof that Braylon Allen is some really good. He's not David Montgomery so far through one year.

[Heath]

It's only one year though. I mean I think having only 90, he said 90 carries in the NFL, like we could lean a little bit on the fact that he was a complete stud as a 17 year old in college and in a very, very good college running back, like he's probably good it's also.

[Dan]

This isn't Braylon Allen's better than Breeze Hall. This is just Braylon Allen is a problem for Breeze Hall. Yeah.

[Dave]

Okay. Any other big risers or followers you want to talk about now to headline the show that people really need to know about because we will try to get to everything that you may have seen or missed in week one.

[Dan]

Big. I moved Bigsby behind etn. I didn't really move etn.

[Dave]

Okay. It was interesting. I mean it was ETN for all of the Trevor Lawrence snaps and then Bigsby came in. Okay. Heath, how about you? Did you make that switch?

[Heath]

I already had ETN ahead of Bigsby. Still. I have Bigsby with 70 more rush attempts, but I just in full PPR. The reception work for ETN had kept him just ahead of Bigsby. So they are, they're very, very close. They're both right around, I think RB 34 or something. I, I think it's going to be a mess.

[Dan]

Yeah. Really the only one that I want would be Tootin, just with the potential of what he might be and that's with a later pick. I think you have to spend an earlier pick in the middle rounds on ETN and Bigsby.

[Dave]

I don't know.

[Heath]

So you see, we're not alone. Adam Trevion Henderson moved into the late third round of the draft. I did last night, according to Scott from the chat. And I think we'll see that more and more.

[Dan]

Yep.

[Dave]

Okay. Yeah. I mean, look, I want to get excited about Henderson. He, he was, I love. I mean he's amazing, he's a star.

[Dan]

But he reminds me a little bit of Jameer Gibbs, like what he could be.

[Dave]

Oh yeah, look this. He was the number one running back recruit in the country. He was so much more efficient than Quinshon Judkins, who he shared a backfield with both overall and especially in the Big Ten. He just never, as we had Emery on to talk about him, he never was able to seize control of the job. He was not a big workload guy. So he was always used in a tandem. Now we think he's just going to get a lot of dump offs, a lot of catches and it won't really matter. But I just have to bring up both sides of it. But in terms of make a lot.

[Heath]

Of big plays, like. Yeah, not just going to be a lot of six yard catches.

[Dan]

I think, I think also you have to take into account Stevenson. It's got a fumble issue. And what happens if he does fumble? How much do they put on Henderson's plate.

[Dave]

Sky's the limit for him. He's incredibly talented guy. All right, more risers and fallers. A little bit later in the show, we'll get to talk about the packers receivers. Jaden Reed has a foot sprain and his status for week one is uncertain. But there are some very important things I need to talk to you about right now. Fft open and draft a thon stuff. It's time to raise a little bit of money and we're running out of time. If you want to be in the podcast league, this is your opportunity to do it. But let's go to tinyurl.com 2025fft and what you really want to do now is you want to click on you scroll down a little bit and click on View Auction House. And if you click on View Auction House, you're going to see spots in the podcast league. We've got pick 101. See, we got pick 101. What else? We've got pick 114. No bids on that. The 12th pick. Not. It's not just the first pick. It's having that spot in the draft to be in and have the first pick. Have the 14th pick, the 12th pick, the 9th pick, 12th, 9th, 14th pick, 8th pick. There are no bids on those yet. So you've got four day, three and a half days to join the podcast league. I think people aren't really aware of this page. You have to click View auction [e-mail] 2025 FFT if you want to be in our podcast league. 14 team, full PPR league. It's been going on for, I think over a decade now. Join us by bidding on that URL I gave you at the auction house. But yeah, no bids yet on four of the spots in the podcast league. There's also two spots available in Heath's Dynasty league. There's an appearance on the podcast. There's private zoom calls with us, and then there's the tennis match, which I'm getting really excited for. The spread has been set. Heath, last year you set the spread at two and a half games for me to win in two sets. I did not cover. I won only two games. I lost 6, 2, 6, 0. Today or this year, you have set the spread at four and a half games for me to win in two sets. What was behind that? Mr. Oddsmaker Dan said he's been playing.

[Heath]

More golf than tennis. You really committed yourself to the game. Become a student of the game. And so I'm, I'm projecting a 636 1. I think the, the question is when is your spirit crushed? You will start off very competitive but at some point I anticipate, just like last year, the realization is going to hit and you're just going to want to get over with as soon as possible because of the embarrassment of the moment.

[Dan]

And so if he steals a couple points early, it's going to be bad for Dan.

[Heath]

Yeah, I, I would. And I think, I think you'll hold on a little longer than you did last year. But, but by the time it gets to like you lost the first one six three and then you're down two zero might be a problem.

[Dave]

So here's the thing. Last year I didn't know about the spread and I won. I lost the first set 6 2. If I had known about the spread and known that you, Heath had bet against me last year, I would have been more motivated. In the second set I kind of gave up.

[Heath]

Speaking of motivation, that's been a concern of mine also. So I think I might make and we'll just wait until tomorrow. But I might add an incentive for were Dan if he can shut you up because I didn't. I don't feel like we got the best of Dan and I'd like to see Dan really desire to not let you win a game.

[Dave]

Oh, he does desire that.

[Dan]

But I don't think he dominates Adam like he did last year.

[Dave]

I hope not. I've really, I've played so much. I, I would hope not. But the, the other, the aspect of this is if you want to be in the, there's a fantasy football today league. It's not the podcast league, it's just the FFT league, another long running league that we're all in. If you want to co manage a team with us, you can co manage with me or you can co manage with Dan. Those spots are also available in that auction house and if I have to, all I have to do is cover the spread to win, which is four and a half games. Dan has to win the match obviously and also you know, and he has to cover on his end. So whoever wins, if you are on my team and I win, I cover the spread. We get to swap picks with Dan, we get to pick our, you know, the better spot in the draft and then we get to do a like a pick swap in round three as well and then the same thing for Dan if he wins. So anyway, so many great opportunities to raise money for St. Jude. A lot of great items that have not been bid on yet. So please tinyurl.com 2025fft and click on the auction houses real quick. We have a live stream tomorrow night at 8pm Eastern. Tuesday night, 8pm Eastern, 7pm 7pm Right. 7pm 7:00pm Eastern. YouTube.com fantasy football today. And we've got sleepers, breakouts and busts coming up this week. Keith, did I interrupt you?

[Heath]

I. I just had one quick question. So let's say you lose the first set, 6:3 and you're down 5:1 and you win that fifth game, will you celebrate the victory?

[Dave]

Oh, I'm here to win it. I'm here.

[Heath]

Well, you'd be a winner. You would win if you know he's.

[Dan]

So in it to win it. He's shooting down all the fun ideas that we have because he's so competitive and just wants to make this about.

[Dave]

There are no fun ideas.

[Dan]

There are fun ideas. I haven't heard of not sharing that with you because you're being a little Debbie Downer about it.

[Dave]

I think people want to see us actually play. I don't think they want to see me.

[Dan]

I think people would rather see some.

[Dave]

More fun stuff like, whoa, Adam plays left handed. This is dumb.

[Dan]

No.

[Dave]

All right. Anyway, we got to take a break. We come back more from preseason week one and yeah, we'll be right back.

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[Dave]

Somebody said that I think Dave, Jamie and Heath should broadcast the match live. I forgot to mention that is actually happening. Are you not part of that, Heath?

[Heath]

I think I am.

[Dave]

Okay, good. I'm questionable but potentially OK. No, that is happening. It's going to be on YouTube 4pm on Thursday. YouTube.com fantasy football today news and notes Tyreek Hill, oblique injury. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that teams are monitoring his future and wondering if he could become available in trade. Meanwhile, Jalen Waddle is also injured and Dolphins running back Alexander Madison has neck and shoulder soreness. Seems like a little, a little bit of a, I don't want to say a mess, but a little bit of uncertainty, I guess in the Dolphins passing game with the receivers right now. Jamie, your read on this.

[Dan]

Not panicking yet, but obviously not ideal, you know, after the first week or two of camp where Tyreek was seemingly saying all the right things and on the, you know, path to wanting to make amends with his teammates and certainly to a tongue of aloa. Then you have the injury and the strange comments about Devon H and Jalen Wright and who should be the goal lineback. I don't know. It, it feels like this team spends a little bit too much time trying to troll the media per se with some of the things Mike McDaniel does and maybe Tyreek as well, like he posted something on X I miss you Dolphins Twitter or something like that. And I was reading some of the comments. They were like stop missing us and start playing was the sentiment. You know, so I, I had him in round two. I dropped him to early round three.

[Dave]

Oh, okay. That's, I would say that's a big faller.

[Dan]

I mean, you know, it's just moving a few guys around. So I had like, I think Bucky Irving was early round three for me. I moved him in round two. I had Trey McBride early round three. I moved him back into round two, you know, so just moving a couple guys around. I did move T. Higgins ahead of him. I think I mentioned that last week.

[Dave]

Heath, any concerns about Tyreek?

[Heath]

Yeah, but they were mostly reflected in my rankings. I'm not going to drop him below lad. Who's the next guy behind Tyreek? I think somewhere in that early round three range I've just. I'm pretty concerned about. I mean I don't like the fact that Waddles hurt again either. So at least, at least a chance there. But that's about the only thing I'm certain of in that offense.

[Dave]

Heath, Jaden Reed has a foot sprain. His status for week one is uncertain. Is this affecting your packers rankings at all?

[Heath]

I was just looking at that. I think the guy because I was already pretty high on Matthew golden and I think it's wheels up for him. I think he'll be the best receiver on the packers. But the guy who is interesting is Romeo Dobbs because he has been kind of old faithful for the packers that we like to ignore in fantasy. But he's apparently had a very, very good camp and it may just be golden and Dobbs as the top two guys early in the season I was already had Jaden reed in round 10. I'm not sure at that cost you really move him down that much unless you find a low end wide receiver that moves up four for you. But it's, it's mostly just confirmation of Matthew golden being what he is and maybe a little more hope for Romeo Doves being a decent flex.

[Dave]

By the way, someone said and this is I think fantasy relevant from the Smitty Dolphins suck every year. Who cares what's going on? Lol. And that's just not true. They're I would say underrated when two is healthy. They are a borderline playoff team and then they get killed by a really good team. But you know like last year they went 8 and 9 and 2 I missed five games. So they, I think they made the playoffs the previous two years. Right. So. Or something like.

[Dan]

Yeah, I believe McDaniel is something like eight games over.500 with two they were 11 and six.

[Dave]

Tua stayed healthy in 2023 they went 11 and six. 2022 they went nine and eight and they got. They only lost by three with Skyler Thompson to the Bills. So no they don't suck. They're actually, they're actually a an elite offense when Tua and Tyreek and HN are healthy.

[Dan]

Zach Wilson looked bad, man.

[Dave]

Yeah, well you know Matthew Stafford is going to practice today. That's great news. Rashad White hurt his groin. We told you that. And they said they need to give Sean Tucker the ball more. We told you that Tajie Spears is going to miss a few weeks with a high ankle sprain, which is an injury that, by the way, can, can have an effect. I'm not saying it necessarily will, but it's sometimes people struggle coming back. Right? Jonathan Taylor is an example, a guy who struggled a little bit coming after a high ankle sprain. Ken Walker missed practice with an undisclosed injury. A lot of that Chicago cornerback Jalen Johnson dealing with a leg injury. Baltimore running back Keaton Mitchell has an injury, but it's described as not major. He's had a great game. On Thursday, the 49ers signed Jeff Wilson for a little bit of depth. Here's what the Colts are going to do in Week two. They're going to play a little bit of Daniel Jones, but Anthony Richardson is going to get the bulk of the first half work and that's great because he's. He hurt his finger. Dislocated his finger. He's back. Houston safety C.J. gardner Johnson, very important player for the Eagles last year. Looked like he had a serious knee injury, but he's going to be ready for. He could be ready for week one. How about the 70 yard field goal Heath by Cam Little?

[Heath]

That's great.

[Dave]

Change your kicker rankings. No.

[Dan]

Jamie that more impressive than Ray Davis kicking for Buffalo?

[Dave]

Oh, I didn't see that.

[Dan]

Why did he get those fantasy points.

[Dave]

About that 70 yard field goal would have been a record. Okay, we got to keep an eye on Landon Dickerson for the Eagles. Has there been an update? He was carted off from practice. He's a starting offensive guard and he's a great one at that. I haven't seen anything there. Rondell Moore out for the season with a knee injury for Minnesota. That's tough news. Two big knee injuries now for Rondell Moore and the jets took Jermaine Johnson, a star defensive end, off the pup list. He tore his Achilles in 2024. Let's hope he can regain his form. If you have not signed up for BetMGM yet, please use the bonus code Fantasy and you're gonna get up to a fifteen hundred dollar first bet offer on your first wager with BetMGM. So here's how it works. Download the BetMGM app, sign up and use the bonus code Fantasy. Deposit at least ten dollars and place your first wager on any game and you'll receive up to fifteen hundred dollars in bonus bets. If your bet loses. Just make sure that you use the bonus code Fantasy when you Sign up. Here's a lightning round segment. Hey, real quick, who would you rather have? Puka Nukua and Brian Thomas Jr. Or Christian McCaffrey and Josh Jacobs?

[Dan]

What's the format?

[Dave]

Half PPR.

[Dan]

The running backs.

[Heath]

I'm going to stay with the receivers.

[Dave]

I am very surprised that Jamie said the running backs. Okay, full pbr.

[Dan]

The receivers next up.

[Dave]

Hey, real quick, who would you rather have? You're going to start your team with CD Lamb. Your next two picks are going to be either Brock Bowers and Jaden Daniels or Drake London. And your favorite running back available there, James Cook, Ken Walker, o' Marian Hampton, Breece Hall, Trevion Hendrick, whatever it is. That's a mid rap round three. So you start CD Lamb. You either go Bowers and Daniels and you get the onesies or you go Drake, London and your favorite running back.

[Dan]

Onesies for me, London and running back.

[Dave]

What's the best combo there? Is it London and Daniels? Is it Bowers and Daniels? Is it Bowers and running back?

[Dan]

For me it would be London and if Bowers falls to round three?

[Heath]

No, only one of those running backs that I have ahead of Dan or had ahead of Daniels and I'm not sure, especially if he doesn't like, is Ken Walker and like I'm not taking James Cook ahead of Daniels. I'm not taking Hampton yet. I'm not taking Breeze hall ahead of Daniels. So it's just. Is Ken Walker healthy, right?

[Dan]

It would be Walker for me.

[Dave]

You're not taking Travion Henderson and RJ Harvey over Daniels, are you? No. No. Okay, last one. You got the first pick. Would you rather go Jamar Chase, Kyren Williams, Chase Brown or Bijan Robinson? Kyron Williams? T. Higgins.

[Dan]

Chase Chase.

[Dave]

Okay, so two chases. Chase Jamar and Chase Brown. All right, team name Tuesday on a Monday. This is from Brett Abana, Canada. Don't want none. Very good. I only read that because I want to encourage people to bring back team name Tuesday. It's been too long. Let's team name Tuesday this year. Talking about risers and followers. Talking about everything from oh, hey Dave, what's up? Dave's here. Talking about everything from week one. In the preseason, I only counted three games where we had it. Even a single drive of starters versus starters. And to me I think it was Jets, Packers, Chiefs, Cardinals and Giants, Bills. And even in that, you know, you have a lot of starters that are sitting but.

[Jamie]

But Josh Allen didn't play.

[Dave]

Yeah, he didn't play. James Cook didn't play. But leak neighbors, Dexter Lawrence Andrew Thomas didn't play but some starters versus some starters. There were only three games that I saw so let's take that for what it's worth. So Dave, you gave a list of risers and fallers. Jamie and Heath basically co signed on it and we can talk about it. Other than other than RJ Harvey, Tony Pollard and Travion Henderson and I guess Braylon Allen, we've covered as well. Dave, you put Drake May on the list. Go ahead. Your thoughts on Let me just give his stats real quick. Drake May was 3 of 5 for 12 yards but any fumbled and he had the 16 yards and a rushing touchdown on the ground.

[Jamie]

Good fumble was a stupid play. I'm also counting what I saw from him in the joint practice against the Commanders as as a reason to move him up. I'm encouraged by how he threw the ball in practice. You didn't really see him throw the ball much in the game. Only five pass attempts. I think he's taken a step forward and he keeps talking about how we're not gonna have a ton of design runs. I don't want to run that much. Well, both in the joint practice and in the preseason game he ran for a short yardage touchdown. So I think he's going to be able to give us the rushing production between yardage and touchdowns that we're, we're hoping for on draft day. And I, I do wish that he had a better receiving core but what he's working with now isn't bad. I, I believe it's Jamie who had him in the top 12 first. I'm not quite there yet, but he's absolutely draftable. Totally worth taking as a second qb. Definitely worth that double digit round range. Probably the best quarterback with high upside.

[Dan]

That you can get get.

[Dave]

You were also at the Bears Dolphins, right?

[Jamie]

I was not.

[Dave]

Oh you were not. I'm sorry, I was not.

[Jamie]

I was going to Bill's Bears this week.

[Dave]

Oh, you went to the Dolphins practice?

[Jamie]

I went to a Dolphins practice. They practice against themselves.

[Dave]

Did you guys see what Taron Armstead said about Caleb Williams?

[Jamie]

No.

[Dave]

And tweeted it. You know what, let me just make sure it was him before I discuss this. But it was just Dan's roommate. Wait a minute.

[Jamie]

Dan's roommate is Toronto Armstead?

[Dan]

Probably why he was angry. Couldn't get the refrigerator.

[Dave]

Where the heck is this? Okay, one of the so Dan Dan quote tweet tweeted it. It was former Saints and Dolphins left tackle Toronto Armstead on Caleb Williams and the Bears offense during Joint practice with the Dolphins on Friday. And Dan said one of the best firsthand player accounts on the importance of processing both pre snap and post snap and the impact it has on whether you can be successful playing quarterback on the NFL level. And basically Thron Armstead was just saying like he's. He watched Caleb Williams and he's just not processing well. And I mean, I guess I was turning this into. Are you all taking Drake May over Caleb Williams?

[Jamie]

Oh, yeah.

[Dave]

Heath, you'd be the holdout here. Where are you on that?

[Heath]

Yeah, I moved Drake May up late last week. He's up to QB18 for me. So I've got Caleb at 16, May at 18. They're basically in the same spot.

[Dave]

If you follow Dan at Dan Schneier. S C H N E I E R N F L you can see the video of Toronto Armstead talking about Caleb Williams and I think it's an important one to watch. All right, RJ Harvey, Tony Pollard, Braylon Allen, Tea McMillan had a nice, nice debut.

[Jamie]

Should have had a touchdown.

[Dave]

Yeah, he dropped a touchdown. Calvin river.

[Jamie]

That's going to be a touchdown once the season starts.

[Dave]

Calvin Ridley as well. Heath, how do you feel about Tetero McMillan and Calvin Ridley?

[Heath]

One of them is a borderline wide receiver. Two. One of them is a borderline wide Receiver. Three. Excited about McMillan. I, like anybody falls out of that top 20 and he's going to be knocking on the door. I haven't quite got him there, but I think both he and Travis Hunter could have very impactful rookie seasons. I'm glad that Calvin Ridley's healthy right now. He's more towards the end of the blob while Ted's at the top of the blob.

[Dave]

So I don't know what you guys thought about Bryce Young, but Dan. Yeah, I don't know. Have you feel this way? Because I thought this was a real strength of his in college. He moves around in the pocket so well.

[Dan]

Yeah, he has to.

[Dave]

Yeah, he does. He's small and he escapes pressure. Well, he moves well. That's a really lethal thing. Guy getting out of containment there and moving on the run. Whatever.

[Dan]

The touchdown play was great. I mean, it's a perfect indication of what you're talking about. You know, didn't panic, move to his right. You know, told Coker basically where to go. You know, back of the end zone. Great throw.

[Dave]

Yeah. So it wouldn't be. I know he's not being drafted in a lot of one QB leagues, but I don't think it would Surprise us if Bryce Young's getting picked up pretty early in the season, right?

[Dan]

Not at all. There's three quarterbacks that I struggle with keeping them in the spots that they are. Anthony Richardson's obvious because if he's ever going to be good at something, it's going to be fantasy. More Southern reality is Michael Pennix, because I think there's a lot of upside in that offense and what the Falcons passing game could be and clearly what he showed in college and even in the three games last year. And it's Bryce Young, you know, I think all three of those guys can be safe QB2s with upside to be borderline QB ones. Now a lot has to happen. Guys getting hurt in front of them in terms of, you know, them cracking the top 12, most likely. And can they get to that 22 to 25 point range consistently? I think that's probably going to be a lot to ask. But can they be in that to a range, you know, 19, 20, 21 points? Sure. I mean, we saw it last year from Young at the end of the season. We saw it from Richardson at times, you know, earlier, more so than later. You know, they're just not bad fallback options. And. And it goes to the bigger point of if you know your league and you see that these guys are going to be on waivers, like, you don't have to take a second quarterback if you draft a Drake May or Kyler Murray or Justin Fields or some of the questionable starters, because these guys will be available to you most likely in week one or week two if you need to pivot.

[Dave]

Jacksonville Carolina in week one. I'm feeling a little bit of a bonanza there. Yeah. Might hit the game of the week music on that one.

[Heath]

Gotta beat those Browns bagels.

[Dave]

Browns bagels. Browns. What? Oh, man. Mike Evans, you, the one who brought up is a pretty close spread, right?

[Heath]

Five and a half.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Heath]

The Browns have given the Bengals trouble. The Bengals are always terrible early in the season and Joe Flacco's starting.

[Dave]

I think that's why they're playing their guys more in the preseason. They're trying to fix that. The Bengals.

[Dan]

Well, part of that is because they haven't had the opportunity to play their guys because bro has gotten hurt.

[Dave]

All right, Dave, what'd you see from the Bucks wide receivers? Because you have Mike Evans as a little bit of a riser and a Mecca Buka as a riser. All right.

[Jamie]

And this is again going back to the joint practice that I saw between them and the Titans. If you didn't know Mike Evans age while you're watching him practice. You would think that he's like 27, 28, separating constantly. And it's Tennessee, and it's a, it's a practice. It's not a real game. So I, I think that that's obviously part of it, but he's just, he's moving very well, and I was told that he's in better shape now than he was two years ago, and you could tell just from watching him play. So that, that especially encouraged me because he's. He's ahead of the blob that he talks about, but it's kind of like a mini blob that's on top of the bigger blob. And I'm looking for guys to separate from the mini blob that's on top of the bigger blob. And basically, I think he could qualify as a top 15 receiver and he'd be a really good value. I don't have him that high, but he's, he's. He could still finish top 12 just based on how he looked. The fact that Godwin is also, like, I don't know how close he really is, and I don't know how good he's going to be, and I don't know how much the Bucks need Chris Godwin, because on top of Evans looking great, and I should mention Jalen McMillan also looked great. He looked great in the preseason game. Mecca Buka is, as advertised, just runs really smoothly, great routes. I thought in the preseason game against Tennessee, he flashed speed on a multiple of his routes, and I could see him finishing as the number two target getter in Tampa. He's. No, he. He should not be viewed as a guy that's in round 10 or whatever, and you pick him up and you just wait for something to happen, I think you're going to see him get drafted considerably higher than round 10. It's probably going to be round seven, eight by the time we get to the start of the season, and it might be there now. I don't know what his ADP is, but those receivers really stood out for Tampa, and Baker really stood out as well. So I feel a lot more. I feel a lot better about the Tampa passing game after seeing them in person and Those two receivers, McMillan and Abuka, more so seeing them in a preseason game.

[Dan]

I think that's the problem for Evans, though, is that if these guys are all good, because if Godwin's coming back, which he is, and at what point, we'll see, but he's going to be a factor. I just think that hurts the ceiling for Evans. I mean, I moved Evans up with Godwin's, you know, potential.

[Jamie]

Sure.

[Dan]

Absence into the season. It's hard not to avoid him. And he. I don't think there was ever a question he was going to be the first Bucks receiver drafted. I don't. I. Unless Godwin had finished last season at 100, that would be the only case. But you have just too many mouths to feed now. And so if a Buka is as good as advertised, which is what he's looking like, and, and McMillan's going to be a factor, and Godwin's going to be back at some point, like, there's a target crunch.

[Heath]

I think it's interesting.

[Jamie]

There was one last year, and those guys.

[Dan]

No, there was not this. There was no.

[Jamie]

Okay, that's fine.

[Dan]

Did not become anything until Godwin got hurt.

[Dave]

Right.

[Jamie]

So, honestly, Evans didn't either for half of his games.

[Dan]

Well, Well, I mean, you know, Adam's pointed out why, but in. In. In just the. The ceiling for Evans, like, I, I think Evans can do what he's done probably more times than we realize, be 20 to 24 as opposed to 7 to 12. Like, I think that's where he's going to end up. Unless there's got no Godwin for a significant stretch. Abuka looks like a rookie wide receiver who's just getting a lot of hype, and McMillan is just a touchdown guy. Like, it could really work out in Evan's favor. But you're asking, I think, more so that to happen as opposed to what we're kind of seeing. So I don't want to overvalue Evans. I understand. You know, look, seeing him, I'm sure he looks great. You know, there's no reason to doubt that he's hit that cliff yet, and I hope it doesn't happen, but he's at that age, so, you know, like, for me, you know, I've, you know, been pushing the. He's. He's getting older, and, you know, looking at those first six games or seven games and how he was behind Godwin, you know, by five points per game on average. Like, it's hard to. It's hard to bet against Evans now with Godwin being hurt, but if all these guys are going to be part of this, like, that's a lot to ask for Evans to be significantly better than the bunch.

[Heath]

I, you know, I, I thought it was interesting looking at this graphic. I have Iguka right where he is in our consensus rankings at wide receiver 44. But I also have Godwin on this graphic too. And I wonder if there's a point. Dave was talking about round seven eight for Mecca Buka. We might have ahead of Chris Godwin by that point.

[Dan]

They're about three spots apart from me right now. I think I have a Mecca. I think I have a book at like 42 and Godwin's now down to like 37, 38.

[Heath]

I've got 41 and 44 for them. So they're moving two ships moving different directions.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Dan]

And that could be a mistake. You know, again, Godwin comes back and he's healthy. He may be better than Evans for all we know he was last year.

[Dave]

Okay, let's take a break. We'll we got one more winner to get to one more riser rather from Dave and then we got the fallers, including a rookie running back who I don't really think looked that good this past weekend. Let's see what the other guys think about that. We'll be right back on Fantasy football today. Are you feeling more fulfilled now that you're back to work this Friday? No, I need a vacation. See the movie that critics are saying.

[Jamie]

Is an awesome look at that crowd pleasing, fist pumping all out brawl of a film.

[Dave]

Right about that. They're coming after our family. Go fix this.

[Jamie]

Oh my.

[Dave]

Nobody 2 rated R. Only in theaters Friday. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Checking off the boxes on your to do list is a great feeling. And when it comes to checking off coverage, a State Farm agent can help you choose an option that's right for you. Whether you prefer talking in person on the phone or using using the award winning app, it's nice knowing you have help finding coverage that best fits your needs. Like a good neighbor. State Farm is there. Dave, give me 20 seconds on why Zach Ertz is on your risers list.

[Jamie]

Granted, there was no Terry McLaurin on the field and they really missed having McLaurin stretch the the Patriots defense in their joint practice. But it just felt like every time pressure was on Jaden Daniels. He was throwing to the middle of the field and it was Zachary. I think that that's a security blanket. I think he's got a chance to be their number two target getter this year. He also does not look like somebody that's old and slow and on the way out. I think he's a terrific tight end to draft on the position early on.

[Dave]

That was good. No, that was good. It was the 22 seconds I'll accept that. Well, job well done and very good.

[Jamie]

You're a terrible. You're a terrible host if you accept that.

[Dave]

That was fine.

[Jamie]

You gave me 20 seconds. I went over by two seconds.

[Dave]

But you didn't have a timer. You didn't. You didn't.

[Jamie]

The buzzer was.

[Dan]

He used his. All 22.

[Dave]

There you go. I also remember, I think it was Aaron Rodgers a few years ago talking about how the joint practices are actually more beneficial than the preseason games. Because in the preseason games, the teams are extremely vanilla. Like, they're going to actually play their defenses a little bit more in, you know, not just their base defense, but they'll maybe be a little bit more exotic in their, in their joint practices. So there was a, you know, you.

[Dan]

Brought up, you brought up the Dolphins. Bears. There was a lot of. It seemed mostly just from the Dolphins media complaining about some of the hitting the Bears were doing on the Dolphins players.

[Dave]

Oh, yeah, there's a lot of complaining in Miami these days. Okay. The Fallers, who's the rookie running back that I thought didn't really look that good? See what the other guys is at. Caleb Johnson. Davey's on your list of. Did anybody, anybody feel that way about Caleb Johnson? Like, oh, yeah, not great. Okay, good. It wasn't just me. Let me just get the stats on Caleb Johnson. Eight carries for 20 yards, one catch for six yards. Had a pretty bad drop. And even the play that everybody's talking about. Oh, he got. He pushed down Travis Hunter, whatever. Like, I don't know. He didn't just. Where's the burst? This guy's a big playmaker in college. I didn't see it, but. All right, who's worried? Dave, you're actually moving Caleb Johnson down.

[Dan]

Also worried. The depth chart.

[Dave]

Yeah. He didn't start. Gainwell started.

[Dan]

And who didn't play?

[Dave]

Warren didn't play.

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dave]

Well, but we knew. But we know Warren's a factor, obviously, so.

[Dan]

But, but if, if he's competing with Gain. Well, more so than he's competing with Warren, like, not great.

[Heath]

I, I think that is a big problem. That's a big problem, I think, is that if Jalen Warren gets hurt, Caleb Johnson's probably still not going to be a feature pack. Gain will probably handle the passing downs.

[Dave]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, okay, so Tony Pollard or Caleb Johnson?

[Dan]

Pollard. Yeah.

[Heath]

I'll take Pacheco over Caleb Johnson.

[Dan]

Same.

[Dave]

Yeah, well, you should be taking Pacheco over Pollard.

[Heath]

You take that back.

[Dave]

No, Kaji Spears is not out for the year. Of course I Feel that way.

[Heath]

You were already coming around last week. No, I'll timer it.

[Dan]

The only questionable Pacheco thing you've done is hype up Pacheco so much and then you took an injured Joe mixing over him.

[Dave]

Well, Joe Mixon was phenomenal last year. I mean, but maybe I shouldn't. Pacheco. 8. 8 yards per carry, guys, this past week.

[Dan]

Studley.

[Dave]

All right, so. So Caleb Johnson.

[Jamie]

Does that mean that Travis Kelsey's a bus because he didn't run any routes? Played three.

[Dan]

I mean, the biggest. The biggest bust on fantasy Twitter is obviously Ashton Genti.

[Dave]

Oh, yeah, they hate him. Oh, here's. Here's one. Here's a guy that I think you could say, you look at his role, you look at his involvement in one of the three games where he actually faced starters on defense and was with the starting team. Tyrone Tracy, right, Didn't do anything special, whatever, but had very good involvement. Exactly what you want to see. Scatter. Boo's injured right now. Singletary played but didn't really affect Tracy. Would you rather have Tyrone Tracy or Caleb Johnson?

[Heath]

Tracy.

[Dan]

Still Johnson. But they've now moved closer to each other.

[Jamie]

They're back to back for me. They are nowhere. They're at 28, 29. They are not top 20 type of fantasy running backs.

[Dave]

And you've got Dave, you got J.K. dobbins as a faller. We talked about R.J. harvey.

[Jamie]

All right, so if you already talked about Harvey, there's really not a whole lot else to say about Dobbins.

[Dave]

I'm just worried that. I'm just worried that we didn't see anything from Dobbins because Sean Payton. Just. What was the quote you sent me from Sean Payton about how he's going to get Dobbins more involved next week? Did you send me that?

[Jamie]

I don't know. I don't know.

[Dave]

I thought you did.

[Jamie]

Maybe go and check our private chat.

[Dave]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Jamie]

Let's see. How do I get this question out of my shirt?

[Dave]

What'd you say?

[Jamie]

Do you know any people who play tennis that look like me? Oh, here's the question. We divided up how we're going to play guys in phases. He'll continue to work with the ones. That's Harvey. RJ probably had more snaps and Dobbins. And then next week we'll flip it up to seeing some of the other backs. I don't even know if he's referencing Dobbins. I think. I think it's possible that Sean Payton's already got his answer on how he's going to handle his run game. And so I, I. The one worry that I had, I don't know, a month ago about RJ Harvey was that he could lose more than we wanted him to lose on the running downs to Dobbins. And now I'm wondering if all he's going to lose are third down plays. Dobbins is going to play there. I don't think. I don't think Harvey's got much of a chance at those unless it's like third and one.

[Dan]

If there's one team, though, where it doesn't necessarily matter, it's the Broncos because.

[Jamie]

Well, sure, yeah. And the offensive line can stand to be better. I don't think the O line had a good game.

[Dave]

Oh, but they're. They're considered one of the best in football and I know that's right.

[Jamie]

But just because they have a bad preseason game doesn't mean that's it. They're finished. It's over. I think they can be better and they'll play better.

[Dave]

All right, here's a list of other. Well, Jalen Wright, you had on there as a follower. What's that all about?

[Jamie]

4 carries at the goal line. Couldn't get in. Alexander Madison had his short yardage carry. He did get in. And right this again. I saw these guys practice. Wright didn't impress in practice. I don't think he's the clear cut.

[Dave]

Handcuff to Achan Almost fallers want to give them more time before I lower them from Dave. Jamie.

[Jamie]

Right, because I don't. I'm trying not to overreact to preseason stuff. It's different when you see Caleb Johnson and he played a lot and he kind of looked like he. The same flaws that he had in college are coming out here, especially when you consider, like Arthur Smith said the word explosive when describing Caleb Johnson nine times in the press conference after they drafted him. And I was just like, why?

[Dave]

No, I agree with that completely. He's. He's very explosive. He had. He had a very, very. No, he wasn't. He wasn't. And he's not that fast. But for whatever reason, his numbers just like, this is not my opinion in terms of carries. Like, of 20 or more yards. He was one of the very best in college. And it wasn't just because he had a lot. It was his percentage of carries for 20 or more yards. His percentage of carries. Caleb Johnson's percentage of carries, Sorry. Is buying time to look it up. Of 20 or more yards was 8.8%. Ashton Genti's was 6.7%, Travion Henderson's was 6.9%. No one was even close to Caleb Johnson. And like the 12 running backs that I looked at, other than D.J. giddens, who has 8.3%, R.J. harvey, 7.7%. But Caleb Johnson was the very best in that metric. He was. Of the running backs that I looked at, I think there were 12. I looked for this number. He was the most explosive of all of them.

[Jamie]

So why did he look like he was playing with bowling balls for shoes?

[Dave]

I was stunned. I. I saw. Everybody saw the same thing. He just looked really slow. I think he's probably one of those guys where if he gets into the open field, he can hit that next gear, second level. Yeah, it takes a little while for him and yeah, that might hurt him.

[Jamie]

Dancing in the backfield and slowing his feet. Maybe that's the key. Maybe he needs to just get over that and he can be a better runner.

[Heath]

I also wonder if.

[Dave]

Go ahead.

[Heath]

Like Iowa's inability to complete forward passes may have meant more stacked boxes. And that's hard to run against, but if you get past the first level, you can run for a long time.

[Dave]

Maybe, maybe. But you can see him. You can see him get going and look good. But he. Yeah, Caleb Johnson is not looking. So. So the almost in preseason week one almost fallers for Dave or Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, Breece Hall, Travis Etn, Garrett Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr. I guess. Let me ask you about the Jaguars on there, Lawrence and etn.

[Jamie]

Okay.

[Dave]

Why are they almost followers when everybody's considering ETN a winner?

[Jamie]

I just think that Lawrence wasn't at his best. He was behind on one ball to. To BTJ where he like got pummeled and didn't complete the pass. Ran from a cleanish pocket.

[Dave]

I.

[Jamie]

And I just. I think about the upside for May compared to Trevor Lawrence. And both those guys for me are like in that range of QB2s that could become QB ones. And I would just rather have May. And now I'm thinking about other quarterbacks that are kind of in that range, but Lawrence is ahead of them. Love Caleb, Justin Herbert, J.J. mcCarthy. And I wonder if some of those guys might be better than Trevor Lawrence too. So I just, I got a little bit squeamish on Lawrence. I got squeamish on ETN because I thought he only had one really good play. I didn't see a lot of acceleration out of him. He was a non factor in pass pro and just because he took every Snap with the ones in a preseason game doesn't mean that that's going to continue on into the season. I think that you're still going to see a rotation. I still like Bigsby best. I'm still going to take Tank Bigsby as my favorite Jaguars running back with Tootin as the guy I might try and stash late.

[Dave]

Is anyone else feeling nervous about Garrett Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr. No, I.

[Heath]

Think I was already the logo on both of them, so I'm. How low are you where I got them?

[Dave]

I've got.

[Heath]

What do you have? 22 and Harrison at 27amongst the wide receivers?

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

Okay, so you're definitely farther down than me, but that's where I don't think I could even get that far with them, even if I. I don't like what's going on with their quarterbacks. And I kind of gave Kyler a pass because I. I felt like he was just like, way too wound up in the preseason game.

[Heath]

I'm not as worried about Kyler as I am about the offensive philosophy and Harrison's role.

[Dave]

So Kyler threw one of the worst passes of the week, his interception. It was intended for Marvin Harrison Jr. Who made a very. Yeah. So Heath has to go. I think Jamie has to go. We have CBS Sports Network Today, Monday at 1pm Eastern, but Jamie and Heath have to head into the studio. So, Dave, I think if you have time, you and I can finish the show. Let's do it. Okay, great.

[Jamie]

I came late. I'll stay late.

[Dave]

Yeah. Marvin Harrison Jr. Made a really nice. Ran a really nice route and made a very nice catch on a ball over the middle. Then he was being targeted inside the five yard line, and Kyler just didn't see a guy and he threw a really bad interception. So whatever. Jury's still out, but we want to see a little more creativity getting Harrison the ball. But the thing is, like, you're probably not going to see that in the preseason. No, no, no.

[Jamie]

And that's. I was about to say that. And I think that we will see a little bit more of that from Marvin. Marvin Harrison Jr. You don't ask somebody to. To put on weight and then tell him, all right, now go run routes like you weigh 180 pounds. I don't think that's happening here. I think they're trying to take advantage of his route running skills, which you saw in the preseason game. There were moments where he was explosive, like, bursting off the snap. He definitely changes speeds in his route running, and he does it on Purpose so that he can sit down against zone coverage or when he needs to speed up against man coverage or at least run as fast as he can. He did get physical on. On some of James Connor's runs, so I think he's taken a liking to being a little bit more physical and being stronger. And I think he's gonna be the top target getter in Arizona. So I don't mind. I did move him a little bit up before the preseason game. The only way I would really move him down is if Kyler comes back out and lays an egg in another preseason game. Doesn't do well. And I think they have a joint practice, so a joint practice that they have, stuff like that would make me move him down a little bit. But I. I do think he ends up leading Arizona in targets, catches, yards, and touchdowns. That's the type of player that I want to get as a top 15ish type of wide receiver. And I don't mind taking him in round four. I don't want to reach for him. I definitely don't want to do what I did last year. And that's overrate them based on college and put him as a round two pick. That was dumb. And so you're drafting him two rounds later and you might get someone who's way better than he was last year.

[Dave]

Okay, That's Marvin Harrison Jr. I have some other notes. I want to give a little shout out to a guy named Nathan Yankee. He works for pff. You can follow him at pff. Underscore Nate J A H N K E. And what he does is he'll give you the snaps, the trends, who was playing with the ones, this kind of stuff for. For every game. He does a really good job.

[Jamie]

All the stuff you could literally ask us for.

[Dave]

Yeah, but he. Well, I don't know. He breaks it. I get a lot of it, but I miss some of it, too. So I think it's. No, no. First of all, I have a whole. I have like 30 notes here. I would say four of them are from him. I'm just saying, you know, most of it is I did on my own, but some of it, I just want to, you know, I don't want to steal somebody's hard work. He does a good job breaking down the snaps and who is playing with who and whatnot.

[Jamie]

And I'm impressed that you knew how to say his last name.

[Dave]

Yeah, Yankee. All right. I hear. I think Spencer Rattler looked absolutely horrible. I don't know how you felt. 7 of 11 for 53 yards.

[Jamie]

But I haven't, I haven't watched it yet.

[Dave]

Oh, Tyler Schuck was 15. Tyler Schuck came in and immediately ran a two minute offense which always just seems to get a quarterback going. And then he didn't look as good after that. But he did throw a 54 yard touchdown to a wide open Mason Tipton. He seems maybe he'll be more willing to throw the ball downfield than Rattler, but that's obviously not a great situation. Cam Ward had a good second drive, but on that second drive he should have been intercepted. It should have been a turnover. He'd made a very bad throw and.

[Jamie]

He was very up and down in the joint practice as well. The, the one takeaway that I would tell everybody about is that he's on the same page with Calvin Ridley already and I, I would be encouraged to draft Calvin Ridley. It's hard to put him into the top 24, but just outside of there, calm 28th or so, maybe 26th, I would still take, I would still take the two rookie receivers, McMillan and Hunter ahead of him. It's getting close between him and Hunter though, because I do think that if Ridley stays healthy he's gonna see a lot of targets and he's got a much better quarterback now than he did last year.

[Dave]

Good point from Austin. Yes. Tyler Shuck threw a pick six. He did. He's. I don't know who's gonna win that job, but they're gonna it start stream the DST against the Saints. Oh but, but that would be Arizona.

[Jamie]

In week one by the way and.

[Dave]

They'Re a good defense and Kendry Miller, you know, played and he says he's healthy now, so he looked okay at running back. You know I mentioned this, I think on the mailbag or something. Chase Brown was really involved. It was very encouraging. But he's not going to be the third down back this year so he won't catch as many balls as he did in the last eight games of the year like in terms of per game. But he looked, he had five carries and three catches and without being the third down back. Talked about Caleb Johnson, Tyrone Tracy maybe moving up. We've got Houston's interesting Dave, because Mixon's hurt right now. Hopefully back for week one. Dario Goomba Walley started. Woody Marks didn't play until late in the first half. But I wonder if there's a name that we're forgetting and I know it's uninspiring, but I wonder like if Damian Pierce would factor in because he's he's working his way back from injury and did not play.

[Jamie]

It's a name to keep in mind. It's just can, can we expect him to come back and, and do some good things when he hasn't done anything since his rookie year and there's no way they'll let him be the feature back when they've got. First of all Goomba Wally could end up playing third downs anyway. But I think they're still going to want to try and get Marks going in the right direction and so it'll be a mess. I don't feel like Pierce is worth drafting right now. I almost feel like I need to hear well, Joe Mixon's gonna miss at least another month and you know, Pierce gets some time with the starters and all that stuff. Then maybe late round pick type of running back. Yeah like round 10 range.

[Dave]

But we still prefer Nick Chubb.

[Jamie]

Oh yeah, I forgot about Nick.

[Dave]

Yeah, I know. Yeah.

[Jamie]

And you know what? He would. Chubb would have to get cut.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

I mean I know that Chub isn't looking good in practice. I've heard it and I, I think that he's in that round 10 range for running back who might end up being a starter for their team for a little while. It just encourages me to take Nico Collins even more and maybe even Christian.

[Dave]

Kirk a little bit more some running.

[Jamie]

They can't run the ball. This is going to be C.J.

[Dave]

Stroud throwing a lot some wide receiver notes for rookies. Isaac Tesla of Detroit, another good outing. He's not going to matter unless there's an injury most likely but certainly know him in dynasty. Seattle wide receiver Tori Horton had a nice had a nice day. Dante Thornton Jr. Appears to be ahead of Jack Besh for the Raiders and Trey Tucker too. They all played with yeah but best didn't really play that much from what I understood.

[Jamie]

He didn't play that much but what I saw of him. I liked your bash.

[Dave]

He.

[Jamie]

He still could turn back toward the quarter. He's got really good agility, especially for a big guy. It seemed like they used him as a big slot type of receiver.

[Dave]

Okay. Yeah.

[Jamie]

Or they didn't do that. I should say I wish they had. He played outside a lot. I think he could be as at his best if he played in the big slot a little bit more. But he's. He's really good at moving quickly. Can peel off defenders quickly. Turns back to the quarterback quickly. He's got big size. Just doesn't have that straight line speed. And Thornton has the straight line speed, so it depends on what you're looking for. I don't know if either guy's going to end up really mattering in fantasy, but they're both interesting.

[Dave]

And tight end Theo Johnson had two catches on two targets. He also had a catch that didn't end up counting because the Giants accepted an offsides penalty. So Theo Johnson, with no Malik neighbors, was a frequent target of Russell Wilson. Chigo Conquo played every snap with the starters. That was one from from Nate Yankee and Tyler Warren obviously had a great game on Thursday. Great debut. And Dawson Knox and Dalton Cade were splitting snaps. Another one from Yankee on the offensive line. I did read a Chiefs beat reporter said that Josh Simmons, their left tackle, played very well. So he was playing against backups, but that's good to see.

[Jamie]

Whatever, right? It's a good first step.

[Dave]

Okay. Fantasy Football cbsi.com We'll see if we can read a few emails here. I think we've probably covered this, but if you want to get back into it, this one's from Pete in Oregon. Oregon, Wisconsin Dear Dante, Chris, Randy and Jake, Vikings Yes. Can someone give me a better reason for drafting Marvin Harrison Jr. Than what if he was better in every single facet of his game? Who else was an A plus prospect out of college who underperformed and then all of a sudden was really good? I'm not buying it, but I really.

[Jamie]

Want to A plus prospect out of college who underperformed and then all of a sudden was really good?

[Dave]

Look, you could argue that Trevor Lawrence had a was, I guess it was his third year that was really good, but it wasn't really good. You know, Marvin Harrison senior took four years to break out.

[Jamie]

He wasn't an A plus prospect.

[Dave]

No, he wasn't. There's got to be an answer to this.

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Why?

[Jamie]

I'm. I'm kind of blanking a little bit.

[Dave]

It's a good point. Right? Let's see.

[Jamie]

Well, and you can see it from watching him play. Just like straight line speed is not going to be something that helps him get open. And ideally, from an elite type of wide receiver, you want a guy who can get open all the there's like three major ways that a receiver can get open. It's with speed, it's with physicality, and it's with route running. And we I know he's a great route runner. He seems to be much more inclined to use his physicality. It's the speed that really worries me. And as long as he's catching balls inside of 15 yards. I think he'll rack up good numbers for fantasy. I have a hard time believing he could be. Well now he could be top 10. He would just need to score a boatload of touchdowns and he had eight last year in a, in an otherwise ugly rookie season.

[Dave]

Next question.

[Jamie]

I just think the opportunities will be there for him. I think he's worth taking. I don't think you're taking him anywhere near a ceiling when you're getting him in round four.

[Dave]

Next question is from Jay in Raleigh, North Carolina. He says dear Mo, Andy, Derek and.

[Jamie]

Jorge, those are Yankees. They are world champion Yankees.

[Dave]

First time mailbagger.

[Jamie]

First time I've got the rookie cards of two of those guys.

[Dave]

Oh nice. Yeah, this is a first timer here. Picking from says first time he's emailed us. Longtime listener, welcome. Thank you for your question, Jay. Picking from the 10th spot in a 12 team PPR league. I think I have a shot at some combination of neighbors Nico, Brian Thomas Jr. HN and McCaffrey. If those five were on the board neighbors Nico, Brian Thomas Jr. HN McCaffrey, what would you do with the 10th pick and then the 15th pick?

[Jamie]

We only name two running backs and that's HN and McCaffrey. I would want to get one of those guys first. I have Achan ranked ahead of McCaffrey and the reason why we take the running back first is because there's a little bit more of a supply at wide receiver when it comes back to you in round two. And so the whole idea is, all right, the, the list of running backs that I like is shorter than the list of receivers. Hopefully I get one of those receivers coming back. There's no guarantee that you're going to if it's a 12 team PPR league, pretty sure one of the two teams picking after you will go receiver receiver. So I think you've got to open up your mind to guys like well, maybe Saint Brown already get taken, Pukka already get taken, maybe AJ Brown, maybe Ashton Gente, maybe Derrick Henry. And I don't mind going RBRB to start a draft, but it does kind of put it does kind of pin you to taking receivers in rounds three, four and five. If it's a three receiver full PPR league, it's going to be a lot harder for you to to feel good about your receivers if you start rbrb, but you're probably going to have the best RBRB start of anybody in your draft.

[Dave]

Last question for today is from Travis in Northern Arizona, a small town named Spell Spelled Prescott. It's pronounced Prescott, Dave. Yes, Prescott. Okay.

[Jamie]

For some reason, I knew that I was testing you.

[Dave]

I don't fully like the way that ADP is falling for some of these younger players and rookies. Have we shot up all these younger stud players only to have us be potentially disappointed on the opportunity costs of players?

[Jamie]

Is this your first year playing fantasy, Travis?

[Dave]

Well, no, I get what he's saying.

[Jamie]

I mean, like, like, yeah, but it happens every year.

[Dave]

I know. Jamie and Heath just moved up. RJ Harvey and. And Travon Henderson. Jamie's putting them in, like, the fourth round.

[Jamie]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan]

All right.

[Dave]

Well.

[Jamie]

And there's going to be people who do that. You're going to see that in some of your home leagues where everybody sees these guys on the highlight reel and they're going to jump in and they're not going to think about the other factors that come into play. I could kind of understand that for Harvey, and I love Henderson's talent. I love Henderson's talent more than Harvey's talent. I just don't like his situation as much. But, yeah, this is where you end up getting good value at plain old boring veterans that do nothing but average consistent, quality fantasy points per game. And so let. You can let people reach for those types of players. One out of every three or four are going to look like geniuses. You're gonna look like a better genius when you get good values of other players who aren't new, who've been in the league a while. People know who they are and they might be bored with them. Mike Evans might be a great example.

[Dave]

All right.

[Jamie]

Although maybe he's not a great example because some people really know who he is and some people love him for it. I'm looking at my rankings to see if I can find an example.

[Dave]

Well, I think the problem is, you know, I. There are.

[Jamie]

Could be an example. I don't think a lot of people.

[Dave]

Are excited he's going after them, so. Right.

[Jamie]

But that's the point, is that I'm fine. You're gonna find somebody. There's going to be values that fall to you in the later rounds. It's not going to be just round four and round five.

[Dave]

It's like Chuba Hubbard versus these guys. Yeah. But then you'd rather like, hey, I.

[Jamie]

Think there's going to be a lot of people that are skittish on DK Metcalf.

[Dave]

Yeah. I don't know. I get the excitement you can get.

[Jamie]

Maybe in round five. That's great value.

[Dave]

Yeah. All right. I think this is a really interesting topic. You know, Trayvon Henderson versus Marvin Harrison Jr. Something like that. We should find a way to talk about a little bit more later in the week. Sleepers, breakouts and busts beginning tomorrow. We'll talk to you then on Fantasy Football Today. Also, check out our show on CBS Sports Network today and Wednesday at 1pm Eastern and live stream Monday, Tuesday night, 7pm Eastern. YouTube.com fantasy football game. Bye everyone. Paramount Podcast Is this a hit it situation? It's whatever kind of adventure we want it to be.

[Jamie]

Now streaming on Paramount. Plus it's an all new season of adventures. We have to stop this invasion.

[Dave]

Get into this shit. This crew is a team. We are going to find our way out of this together.

[Heath]

Hang on.

[Dave]

It's one in a thousand.

[Dan]

We get it done right or don't.

[Jamie]

Blow ourselves up along the way. I like those odds. We'll just turn it off before we blow up.

[Dave]

Star Trek Strange New worlds. New season. Now streaming on Paramount Plus.