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This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Wanna play?
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Can you believe this?
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No, I can't.
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It's time to dominate your fantasy league.
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Off to the races and he stays on his feet.
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This is gonna go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.
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We've got your NFC home games for you today. Cincinnati at Minnesota, Dallas at Chicago, Las Vegas at Washington, R.A. eagles, Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans at Seattle and Arizona at San Francisco. We'll also talk about Buffalo beating Miami 3121 and much more injury updates that you need to know. Welcome to Fantasy Football today presented by BetMGM, the sportsbook. Born in Vegas. Happy Friday. Dave and Jamie, you guys have a case of the Fridays.
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What are the Fridays?
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It's the opposite of the Mondays. You know, it's. It's joy, it's excitement, anticipation for the weekend. Jamie got a fresh haircut. He's ready to hit the town running.
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It's that he's ready to watch his Florida Gators play football on Saturday night.
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I'm not watching. Congratulations. You guys are great.
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Oh, look at this.
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You should watch. You should watch.
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I promise you I will not watch.
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Why?
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I believe you that you won't watch.
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But we will. We. We have no chance.
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I bet you'll look at your phone at least.
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I bet you I won't.
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I'm going to text you during the game, and if it's a close, I'm sure I'll hear back and you'll say, yeah, let me.
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Let me rephrase. I will not watch unless somebody from Florida texts me.
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So, Dave. I was asking Dave online. We were chatting. G. Chatting. I said, are you going to the game on Saturday? And he said, what do you say? He said, I'm. I have tickets, but I'm giving them to Jamie so he can take his son. I said, really? He goes, are you freaking kidding me? Of course I'm going to the game. He's like, I'd never do that. So it was a nice thought, at least, even in sarcasm.
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Anyway, have a great time. Enjoy the win.
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Everybody's in a very good mood in the chat. So we welcome you to Fantasy Football Today, presented by BetMGM, the Sportsbook. Born in Vegas, Buffalo 31, Miami 21. Dave, major takeaways from what was a good competitive game until the late interception.
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I thought this game went. I. I thought the game was going to go this way. I thought the Dolphins were going to be competitive, and they were. I'm a little worried about the Buffalo defense evolving into a shutdown defense. Maybe that's easy to say because they played without Ed Oliver and Matt Milano, and. And their cornerback depth is a little shaky right now, but typical Bills offense really hasn't changed that much from last year. A lot of James Cook, Josh Allen doing great things without high passing volume. I thought he'd throw a little bit more. Obviously thought my guy, Keon Coleman, would get more than four targets in the game. That stunk. Kincaid, with some great plays in the game, more than made up for it and help Buffalo out. And then for the Dolphins, maybe some encouraging signs for Waddle and Tyreek. But in the end, it's TUA and the offense making a mistake that the Bills capitalize on that cost them a chance to tie the game.
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Jamie, your takeaways.
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I mean, I agree mostly it's. It's one of those situations, I think, with Buffalo's passing game, where two of three games, Kincaid has been a little bit more Involved, you know, when they've thrown the ball more than, you know, 25 times. It was 27, 28 attempts for Alan. But I think in terms of the, the past catchers, it's. It's going to be tough to consider any of them must start guys, aside from maybe Kincaid because of the position he plays, you know. So Dave said something yesterday which was interesting on HQ, that he put Hawkinson at tight end 12 because there was not anybody else really to put there. I'm paraphrasing, but something right there and it's kind of like one as. As I think we're now three weeks into the season, you know, you're looking at who's involved, who has a chance to, you know, be a playmaker, who has a chance to, you know, maybe help your fantasy team. I think Kincaid's in that conversation at that position, but really from the rest of the guys, it's. It, it will be interesting to see if Coleman is dropped in 10 team leagues. I don't think you should drop him in 12 team leagues. And Shakira was in the portion of the waiver wire of if he's available, Adam, mostly for 10 team leagues on our site. I'm sure he's available on other sites. 2 of 3 solid games for him, you know, so can he be somebody like we saw last year? But I think they've said it best. It's kind of just the same Bills offense that we are used to watching.
C
And once again, Dalton Kincaid is having a pretty high target per out run rate. 23. If you remember what I was saying about Tucker Kraft, if you want to be a 13 point per game tight end, you pretty much have to get to 23, 22, 23. Usually percent target per out run rate. And that's where Kincaid is, which leads the team. But he doesn't really run that many routes. He's running only 61% of the routes. Same problem last year. I think it might be a little higher this year. The route participation rate.
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It was pretty high last night. He had 20 routes on looks like. Well, it was 28 pass attempts. So 20 of 28.
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That's B. That's basically. Well, that's 75%.
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Right.
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So that, yeah, that is better.
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But he still played only about half the snaps.
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But they just spread the ball around so much. You know, that's kind of what I was getting at. It's. Look at the target shares. It's just so evenly distributed basically, you know, from Coleman down to Palmer. Okay, all right. So a few Questions here. One, James Cook, we valued him as a. As a round three guy. He's going into the week the number one running back in fantasy, and he scores almost 20 points, so he might come out of the week as the number one running back in fantasy. Are we buying that James Cook is a top five running back?
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Yep. How could you not.
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Agree?
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Okay. Are we buying that Tyreek Hill is a must start? He's probably a must start because the state of the wide receivers. But do you think he's got a great season in him? You think he's got a good season? What do we think about Tyreek Hill going forward?
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I think anytime he has a productive game, you should be looking to sell just because of the, the Dolphins state right now of potential blowing it up. And if they do blow it up, does trading him help him or does it hurt him? You know, so if he gets. And it's a very difficult contract to trade, so keep that in mind. But if, if they do trade him, you know, the two teams that you've heard are Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Well, if Kansas City is fully healthy and fully everybody's available, meaning Rashi Rice is playing, is that a good thing for them? Are they, you know, adding to their team because it's great for the Chiefs? Is that great for his fantasy value just because he's being reunited with Patrick Mountains and the other team would be Pittsburgh? Is that a situation where you think he's going to maximize his fantasy value? No. So I would think that if you can trade him at this point, so, you know, revisit your Cortland Sutton, Tyree Kill trade. If Sutton has another good game this week, who would you rather have rest of season?
C
Well, I turned it down. You know, after week one, I was all about trading Tyreek for Sutton. I think it's honestly the, the domestic violence allegations. I don't know where this is going to go. The NFL is obviously notorious, notoriously slow when it comes to these types of things, but I can't completely eliminate the idea that he gets suspended. I'm not sitting here saying he's going to get suspended, but it's on.
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Well, the fact that they mentioned it on the broadcast last night was a little telling.
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They did or did not.
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They did.
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Yeah. I don't know what, what to make of it, but they're very even to me. I will say this, and I see if you guys agree with me. He looks really good out there. How many near big plays did they have with him? He had a drop, wasn't an easy play. He had a drop on a deep ball. He was wide open on that out route and Tua sailed it over his head out of bounds. Two has been awful on these throws but Tyree Kill is still destroying cornerbacks, getting open, doing backflips. I'm sorry, I, I think he looks great out there so I'm encouraged and as I mentioned when I was watching the tape like they're especially against the Colts. It was a bad game for him. They have had opportunities with Tyree Kill. They. He still is getting open. I still think he could have a big season and so far, you know, two of three games have been good. So I'm not, I don't think he's washed up. I will just say that I don't think, in fact I'm adamant that he is not.
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I still think to answer your question, if he stays, nothing, no trade, no, no anything. Just he's on the field with the Miami Dolphins. Yes. He's a must start receiver.
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Is he a mustard receiver of Zach Wilson at quarterback? No. Probably so. Right. No, just it doesn't get any better.
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It's. That's bad. Like he's.
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I, I still think that if he's gonna command the most targets and he can make plays after the catch and Zach Wilson might be able to find him a few times deep. Do you think but like over the course of a month maybe. I think you'll still start him. Maybe not with the same type of confidence but you said it like Tua hasn't been playing well.
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No. Did you agree?
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Is it really going to be from 2 to Zach Wilson? Could it be a total disaster? I don't know if it'll be that bad.
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Do you agree with my assessment though that.
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Yeah, yeah. Yeah. He definitely isn't washed. He's. He's playing great. He's got a good target share.
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He.
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He just needs more accurate throws going his way. There's something I can look up real quick, come back to me.
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And then there's Waddle who just feels like you've been pretty lucky if you've been starting Jalen Waddle.
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It seemed like he was going to be a dud until the touchdown.
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Five catches, 39 yards on the last.
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Drive or the second to last drive.
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Achan is just dominant.
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He looked good though when they threw it to him.
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He's good catchable target rates for Tyreek hill in his three games against the Colts. It was 83.3 bills last night. 80. I'm going out of order. I'm sorry. Sue me. 85.7% for New England. You'd still prefer that catchable target rate to be higher, right? That's not mid-80s isn't great.
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All right. And that would be Thursday Night Football. Football fans, Bills are ringing playoff energy when they're out there, you need to bring that playoff energy to your pro football bets all season long. This pro Football boost pack gives you three ways to boost your payout on a winning bet. Just log into your BetMGM account to receive your boost pack and then place any pro football bet and apply one of the tokens. And make sure you bet up to the minimum stake odds and legs specified on the token. And if your boosted bet hits, you'll score a bigger payout. From opening kickoffs to game winning drives, this pro football boost pack is your ticket to unforgettable moments this season. So don't wait on the sidelines. Join the action with BetMGM. And by the way, if you haven't signed up, use the bonus code fantasy, will you? News and Notes Are you at this point expecting Brock purdy for the 49ers against Arizona?
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It's clearly trending in the right direction. And it's funny because I have a couple of borough leagues where Jared Goff was available, so I picked up golf as the long term answer and I'm waiting for my short term answer for this week and I'm kind of. And Purdy's available in a couple of these leagues too. So I'm kind of just waiting to see if. If he plays or not because I'll. I'll pivot to Mac Jones also because I think the matchup's fantastic.
C
Okay. And Arizona very beat up in the secondary. Jaden Daniels. Maybe he'll practice today. You guys right now are ranking Marcus Mariota. That's one of the games we'll talk about today. Justin Fields is out at running back. Tyrone Tracy was limited with a calf injury. Josh Jacobs was limited. Would assume these guys are going to play, but DeAndre Swift, Dave, he's been limited. Are you concerned about his availability? And should we add Kyle Manangai one way or the other?
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I would stash Monongai only if you have the open roster spot. But Otherwise I think DeAndre Swift is going to be fine.
C
That's the game of the week. Yeah. Shootout for the cat. What? Come on. It's the game of the week, Dave. And Chicago pizza sticks. Hey.
A
That was the least creative way to spring the game of the week song. Wait, why, like, ever? Well, first of all, it took you like, seven minutes to hit the button.
C
Yeah, I couldn't find it.
A
Yeah. Right. So first of all, you should always have that ready to go. And it wasn't great. You're like, DeAndre Swift has been limited, Dave. What do you think that means? Like, there are. There were a hundred different ways. Like, I can tell that Jamie had no hand whatsoever in. In helping you come up with a way to get me on the game of the.
C
Oh, my gosh. Let me read my text message. There's only one.
A
He texted you. Ask him about DeAndre Swift being limited. I'm sure he won't see that coming.
C
Dallas, Chicago, do it with Swift injury. Ask him and then play it.
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Yep. I'm disappointed in both of you.
C
That is so funny. I was gonna do.
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The slate is terrible. Aside from this game.
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No, I knew which game it was.
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Going to be, but Monday night, Monday.
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Since we're talking about what we sent each other in G chat, I sent Adam the perfect way he could have gotten me on game of the week.
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Yeah, you're not allowed. You're not allowed.
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Yeah, well, you suck at it. If this is what you're going to do, both of you suck at it. So I'm challenging you both to be more creative moving forward. Otherwise I'm going to crap all over it every time.
C
In all seriousness, though, if he's active, you're starting him.
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Number two, running back.
C
All right, so Basil Tutin was limited. Zach Charbonnet, mispractice. If we look at. You know what? If I just skip. Skip ahead and just say, who are the players that were worried about missing this week's game? Obviously, Purdy. Obviously Daniels. But also Charbonnet has to be at the top of this list, right? He. He might legitimately miss the game.
A
Yeah, okay. If he misses the game, then. If you weren't already excited enough to start Walker after what he did last week, you'll. You'll go bonkers to do it against New Orleans and.
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Oh, sorry.
B
I guess you gotta still put Worthy in this category.
C
I would say a Buka, right?
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Yes, big time.
C
A Buka missing practice. By the way, Pete Carroll wants to give Ashton Genti more carries, but Chris Godwin not going to play this week. Could be back next week, though. Now, we talked about jets bucks yesterday, and, you know, Heath's not that concerned about Mike Evans. You guys have Evans, I think around 24th. The setup is this is going to be the third straight week where he's going to likely get shadowed by a very good cornerback. If a book is out, how much is that going to change your ranking of Mike Evans?
B
He'll go up a couple spots, obviously.
A
Where do you have him now?
B
Like 20th?
A
Yeah. I've got him outside of my top 24 right now and he might crack the top 24 if a book is out. But I just think it makes it so much easier for the jets to plan against Mike Evans.
C
It's not like he's not going to have the same sauce problem that he.
A
Right, right, right. And it's exactly what the Lions did or. Yeah. What the Lions did to the Bucks last year when Aaron Glenn was coordinating their defense. They took away Mike Evans in that game.
C
Interesting.
A
And I can't help but think that they're going to do it again in this game.
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We got to throw Juwan Jennings in. This mix of guys were concerned about missing the game.
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Right.
C
He's been missing practice and that's about it, you know, Lab McConkey practice in full. Josh Downs practiced in full at tight end. Are you guys projecting? Oh, Tucker Craft. We gotta talk about that.
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Yeah, we do.
C
Do you expect Dallas Goddard to play?
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Isaiah likely trending in the right direction. We'll know Saturday.
C
Evan Ingram, he could miss the game. He's been out with a back injury. Tyler Warren was limited. He went from not practicing to limited, so that's a good sign. And then Tucker Kraft. Are we expecting Tucker Kraft to play against the Browns?
B
Sounds like it. Okay.
C
Tweaked his knee in practice yesterday. Where would you rank Musgrave if Crafts.
B
Were out outside the top 12?
C
Sure. In the 15ish range or in the.
A
No, you'd be lower than that.
B
I mean, I guess if you. If you really want to take a chance on him because of his opportunity, you know, you can probably guess. You probably think he'll. He'll be. He'll be in the range of Hunter Henry and Brenton Strange and those type of guys.
C
Alrighty. That's Luke Musgrave. If Tucker Kraft is out and you know, just stay tuned for the Mailbag, I guess we can hit that game. Hopefully we'll have an update. All right, so if you missed the Mailbag, then you can watch or listen to FFT Express on Sunday morning when we will have all these updates. And you can join us from 11:00am to 1:00pm Eastern for our starter sit show on YouTube.com fantasy football today. Usually it's 11:30. We're going to go two hours this upcoming Sunday morning, 11:00am to 1:00pm Eastern. YouTube.com fantasy football today we will be right back with one question for each game.
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A
I don't feel bad about starting T. Higgins. I might lower expectations but I I view him as a number two wide receiver.
B
Still in the games with Jake Browning In 2023, Higgins average more fantasy points per game, more PPR points per game than Jamar chased it.
C
I do have to azer statue though because if you only look at the games he played with Jamar Chase, it was pretty discouraging in my opinion. He had.
B
He had two big games and I think he played five. He had two big games and three bad ones.
C
I don't think so. I think he only played. I only had three games where they all played together healthy.
B
Oh, I'm sorry. I was thinking of the totality.
C
Yeah, no. Oh he was great when Chase was out. But three games where they were healthy. Three catches for 36 yards on three targets, two catches for 72 yards on four targets. Then he had this game against Minnesota where he had four catches, 61 yards and two target. Minnesota, by the way, four catches, 61 yards, two touchdowns on eight targets. But it was a good game. It was not a great game until Jamar Chase left with an injury in the fourth quarter. After that he had two catches, 34 yards and a touchdown on three targets. So he had five targets and about 27 yards, I think, and a touchdown in the first three quarters of the game with Jamar Chase. And he didn't really get a lot of involvement last week with. With Jake Browning. So I've got my eye on it. As I mentioned Jake Brown, they were throwing a Tyler Boyd a lot. They were throwing a Tanner Hudson.
A
So I think last week Mitchell Tinsley caught a touchdown.
C
Yeah. Hopefully it's a little more concentrated. So you don't like Mike Evans, Dave? You like Higgins or Evans?
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I would start Higgins over Evans.
C
Jamie Higgins or Evans?
B
Higgins.
C
All right, Dallas at Chicago, start everyone.
A
I. I mean, almost Luther Burden. I wouldn't start Jalen Tolbert. I wouldn't start the DSTs.
C
You wouldn't start Colson Loveland, would you?
A
No. But Ben Johnson said something during his press conference this week about how he, like, he was questioned about he putting his tight ends on the field a lot and then not throwing to them. And he said, that's something I'm working on. So don't give up on Loveland. He's in the same boat as Keon Coleman.
C
I'm tempted to start Caleb Williams over Mahomes, but I'm not going to do it. I don't think you guys have it ranked that way. You have Mahomes ahead, right?
B
They're very close. For me, Mahomes is six and Williams is eight.
C
Okay.
A
Both top 10. But you'd expect Mahomes to be there.
C
Yeah, just, you know, you could see the Chiefs kind of running away with an easy victory. This game should be a shootout. Dallas at Chicago, but still have too many mistakes. Inaccuracies from Caleb, I think still, he's a good start, no question.
B
Yeah, I'm excited for.
C
Yeah, I'm excited for this game. In fact, it's the game of the week. Yeah. Las Vegas at Washington. Can you start the Commanders players? If Mariota is at qb.
B
I will still start Debo and Ertz.
C
So first of all, that means you still prefer Debo to McLaurin at this point?
B
At this point, yes.
A
Yep.
C
How much of a difference does it make in your rankings if. If Mario does that qb?
B
Not much.
A
Oh, they're lower than they would be if it were Jaden Daniels. Like, neither one is in the top 24. They both could be around there. If it's JD under center, it's the Raiders defense. They aren't very good.
C
They haven't been that bad so far. Actually. It's been kind of a surprising. I don't know if they're hanging by a thread here.
B
What?
C
Who's your favorite wide receiver in this Washington Las Vegas game by the way? Real quick?
B
Jacoby Myers by a good margin.
A
It's Jacoby.
C
He's off to an encouraging start. Rams are at the Eagles starter sit A.J. brown and Devonte Smith.
B
I think you got to consider them low in number two receivers. The best. You know just looking at the situation, a lot of conversation clearly in Philadelphia I believe this morning they already met with the media and AJ Brown was talking about his success against. I forget the cornerback for the Rams, Manuel Forbes. Yep. And he said that's the least of my problems right now. You know, he said he's just trying to get the offense going. He wasn't really complaining but you know we're kind of at that point where you could start to hear the frustration. So I hope there's a squeaky wheel game coming. The best thing that could happen is that the Rams jump out to elite here and you know the Eagles are forced to throw. But until we see that, you can't call A.J. brown even a must start receiver. So he's, he's a little tough to trust.
C
Okay, I got some numbers on that coming up when we preview that game. Atlantis at Carolina is Drake London. This is a silly question but is Drake London still a must start?
A
He is this week. Carolina's defense, their secondary has been playing okay but their pass rush hasn't been great. I think they have one sack through two games so there should be. There should be plenty of time for Penix to locate and throw to Drake London certainly more than last week.
C
It's a good thing he was not Drake London Jr. Because Carolina so far has held Brian Thomas Jr. And Marvin Harrison Jr. To a combined three catches for 38 yards on 1212 targets.
A
Is it that they held them to that or circumstances and game script?
C
I can't answer that quarterback play but I can't answer that play.
B
But do they play the Giants at all?
C
Who? Carolina? Yeah, I don't think so.
B
Well, it's good for Tyrone Tracy Jr. What about the Seahawks?
C
I don't know. I don't know their schedule. Okay.
B
Ken Walker III will be okay. All right.
A
They do play the Seahawks.
C
New Orleans at Seattle, Cooper cup play.
A
Michael Pennix Jr. Oh yeah.
C
Oh, you're right. New Orleans and Seattle. Cooper cup or Chris Olave.
A
Olave.
B
By a small margin.
C
Okay. Do you like those guys? Either of them better than the Eagles receivers?
B
No. No.
C
And Arizona's at San Francisco Rank the wide receivers in this game.
B
Marvin Harrison Jr. Juwan Jennings, Ricky Piercello, Piersol Jennings, Marv.
C
Oh, go on, elaborate. Cause this is our last game, so we might not get to it till like an hour and 45 minutes from now.
A
Completely. Based on Arizona secondary being thinned out by injuries last week, I thought Mac Jones played well last week. The offensive line did a nice job protecting him. And I don't think the Cardinals defense is anywhere close to where people thought that they'd be. So good opportunities for both of those guys to hit some chunk plays. And in the case of Jennings, like, how do you argue with what his target volume has been dating back to last year? So I think they're both number two wide receivers. Maybe I'm a little too aggressive on Pierce hall still, but I look at them and I see the matchup, and I think it's going to be a good game for both of them, no matter who the quarterback is.
B
I just wonder if which one will stand out above the rest. And I think in the case of Marvin, I expect San Francisco to play with lead in this game. So Arizona chasing and Marvin getting a few more opportunities this week that we've seen the last couple games.
C
Yeah, and let me back that up with something here, because the Cardinals are 2 0. They led by 10 points and by 18 points going into the fourth quarter of their two games. They haven't thrown 30 passes in a game yet. Right now the cardinals are 23rd in pass rate, but they're actually. This is the same thing for the Chargers, right. It's like very similar Trend. Cardinals are 23rd in pass rate, but they're 12th in the first three quarters. So if the 49ers can, you know, even if it's not building a lead, just being in a tight competitive game where the Cardinals aren't trying to run the ball out, run the clock out, that could lead to more throws, more targets. Something I wanted to mention real quick. There's a few. There's a trend that I absolutely hate for the 49ers wide receivers, because you think about the 49ers wide receivers. You think about yak, right? You think about easy targets, short yak after that. The 49ers so far have the. They are tied for last in wide receiver targets of five or fewer air yards. Their wide receivers are running deep routes. They're getting targeted downfield. If the 49ers ever throw the ball short, it's almost always to Christian McCaffrey. And I don't love that. I mean, it's like a high degree of Difficulty every time you're throwing a Ricky Pearsall, and it's annoying. So, you know, and I don't think it's a fluke necessarily. I just. You're not getting the layups from this offense for the wide receivers. All right. That's an early trend that we're keeping an eye on here. Cincinnati's at Minnesota. Stat of the game number one. It's obviously been a tough start for Chase Brown. He's not running the ball well. He's got the fifth most carries in football, but the third most in between the tackles, which you maybe could say that doesn't make sense. But also he's not running as many routes and his target per route run rate is way down. So he was on pace for 81 catches after Zach Moss's injury last year. Chase Brown has three targets and two catches in each of his first two games. Do you think he's a must start this week, Jamie?
B
He's definitely not ranked where he usually is for me. So he's in the teens and a little concerning, obviously, but the hope would be is that Browning will throw to him a little bit more. Not that Joe Burrow was avoiding him, but I think this could be an opportunity for him for a quarterback that may look to check down a little bit as opposed to trying to, you know, maybe air it out down the field. And the encouraging thing, I don't know the exact reception total, but Joe Mixon's numbers with Browning in 2023, over 18 PPR points per game. So there's, there's. There's a potential signs of life still to come because the workload's there, you know, and, and he's still too talented to continue to struggle like this. So we'll see if this is the week he gets going. I still think Minnesota's run defense is good. Obviously they're very beat up defensively, but for the most part, you're still starting. Am I like I start Jordan Mason over him. Personally, I would start Travis ETN over him. You know, just two guys that either opportunity or off to a good start. Yeah, he's, he's. He's still clearly opportunity to be great, but just, you know, a little frustrating the first two weeks.
C
Would you guys start Chase Brown or T. Higgins? Call it PPR.
B
Higgins.
A
Hi, Brown.
C
Hour Dave Mason or Brown for you?
A
Brown and ppr. He might be hiring non PPR as well.
C
Let's get through the easy stuff. We'll come back to Mason. So start Chase, start Jefferson. Pretty exciting matchup of These two former teammates at lsu, two of the best wide receivers in the NFL. We also have two backup quarterbacks in this game. Of the many backup quarterbacks this week that could be playing, whether it's Mac Jones, Jake Browning, Carson Wentz, Marcus Mariota to Rod Taylor, who's the best backup quarterback?
B
I'll take Mac Jones.
A
Browning.
C
Would you start Browning over Jared Goff?
B
Yes.
C
No, would you start Browning or Daniel Jones?
A
Jones.
C
Browning or Drake May Browning or Russell Wilson?
B
Browning.
C
Okay, real quick on TJ Hawkinson. Dave. I guess basically you're putting him in the top 12 just by default.
A
I couldn't find a tight. This sounds so silly now. And Jamie referenced it earlier in the show. I couldn't find a tight end that I liked better than him. It's, it's basing it off of Carson Wentz's track record of finding the tight end frequently. And he did it not just in Philly when they had a bunch of good tight ends, but even in Indy and in Washington, like, the target rate to tight ends was north of 20% each time. And so I'm hoping that he leans on Hawkins and still focuses on getting the ball out quick when he needs to and that'll just, it'll help out Hawkinson a little bit, maybe get a few more targets. But I feel like it's, it's more than a jobu week for Hawkinson. Like it's going to be easy to say that. What happens when Addison comes back next week? Yeah, there's no prayer that Hawkinson's going to be a high volume target getter for Minnesota at that point. And he just doesn't look good to begin with.
C
So what are your expectations for Carson Wentz?
B
I mean, look, he, he's got a great situation, you know, and we've, we've talked about this on, on various shows. You brought it up. Heath brought it up yesterday on, on one of our HQ segments. He hasn't played great the last couple of times we've seen him. You know, the, the game with the Chiefs last year he was playing with backups against Denver. It was a must win game for Denver. The Chiefs had nobody out there. Essentially he played in a meaningless Week 17 game, Week 18 game for the Rams the year before. So like, if that's what we want to judge him off and he's 32 years old, I totally get it. He did not look great. But how much of being surrounded by talent and being expected to win a game does that change things? And so then you factor in, it's the Bengals. Like, I. I know this defense has played a little bit above its head the last couple of weeks, but it's still a defense, I think, that can be exposed. And hopefully, hopefully a more proven quarterback, not a better quarterback at this point, but a more proven quarterback, a veteran quarterback will understand the assignments. So that factors into Hawkins and it certainly factors into Judge Jefferson. Get those guys the ball. And I think that was what we'll see. A little bit more than what we saw from JJ McCarthy, who was clearly being protected by Kevin O'. Connell. Understandably so. In week one, it was, let's manage the game and wait till Caleb Williams starts to make some mistakes and then we have to let you go make a play. Go make a play. And that's what we saw. And he looked very good in the second half, certainly in the fourth quarter. Then last week, who knows at what point he got hurt? Who knows at what point he wasn't just frustrated. O' Connell being frustrated with his. His quarterback play. And it just was an absolute disaster across the board for what J.J. mcCarthy looked like. So I. The last thing I want to see is, is Wentz play well enough that he puts McCarthy on the bench for the rest of the season, But I also like to see Wentz play well enough that it gets these other guys, gets his playmakers going.
C
Yeah.
B
So that's the encouraging part, I think, for Carson Wentz.
C
Okay. Just a couple of years ago, once upon a time, Nick Mullins threw for 303, 411 and 396 yards in relief of Kirk Cousins. Yeah, I mean, late in the year.
B
It'S, it's a great system. It's a great coach and clearly great weapons.
C
All right, Dave, let's talk about Jordan Mason. He's the start of the week. You are not. You like him, you'll start him. You're not quite there on Jordan Mason.
A
He's a. He's got a great opportunity. There's no denying the matchup. It might be the best matchup that a running back could have. It's that he's a two down running back who is gonna need really good volume and a really good rushing average to come through. And probably he's gonna need a touchdown too, and he might get all those things. But racing him up, like, I, I know he's got him like top 10 overall in PPR, it's just. It just seems like way too much for me. Like way too pricey, way too expensive, way too rich, whatever. But I, I do think he can be good this is what you drafted him for, is to use him in opportunities exactly like this when Aaron Jones isn't around and you know he's going to get a lot of work and it's a favorable matchup. I just don't have. I don't want to rank him at the ceiling. And I kind of feel like, especially in the case of Heath, I wish he was here. I could tell him this. I feel like he's ranking him beyond his ceiling, putting him as high as he has them. But if you've got them, unless you're loaded at running back, you're probably starting. Jordan Mason, I would like him a lot better if the offensive line were healthier.
C
All right, there you go. Thank you, Heath. All right, let's do some questions from the chat because Jamie has Jordan Mason. 10th. Heath has him six. That running back. But top 10 overall among, you know, all flex options according to Dave. Ppr. Jordan Mason or Ken Walker?
B
As of now, it's Mason. It will be Walker. Charbonnet.
A
Yep.
C
Mason or Jalen? Warren Mason.
A
Mason.
C
Mason or Tony Pollard?
B
Mason.
C
Mason Higgins or Romeo Dobbs?
B
Higgins.
A
Oh, I guess we're just going off of the Jordan Mason questions now.
C
Yeah, I'm just reading from the chat for this game. Chase Brown or Jalen Warren?
A
Chase Brown.
B
Still Chase Brown, but it's close.
C
Browning or Purdy? If he plays Purdy. And last one, are the DSTs in play in this game?
B
Minnesota still is. I would not trust the Bengals.
C
All right, finish with this game. Dallas is at Chicago. Stat of the game, end zone targets. Well, I don't know if you've read the notes, but if you haven't, you can answer this trivia question. The Cowboys have seven end zone targets this year. How many does George Pickens have of those seven?
B
One.
A
I don't know if he has any.
C
He has five.
B
I think he only scored a touchdown.
C
So he did. Yeah, he scored that touchdown. But also they keep targeting him in the end zone.
A
Yeah, you're absolutely right.
C
Five of their seven, four of them came against the Giants. And he last year was incredibly unlucky in end zone. In like end zone efficiency. 15th most end zone targets among wide receivers. But he had the fewest touchdowns among the 20 wide receivers who had 11 or more end zone targets. Fewest touchdowns on those end zone targets. It's happening again for George Pickens. Anyway. You know, Pickens is interesting because his target share hasn't been great. So in this game, like, Dak is a must start. We love Dak. Caleb Williams is Eighth for Jamie. Where is he for you, Dave?
A
Nine.
C
Okay. And Dak is like fourth, I think for both of you. Fifth for both. Yeah. Fourth for both of you. Sorry.
A
And he might drop a little trivia question on you, Adam.
C
Yeah, one second. Just to make this easy. Right, so.
A
Okay.
C
Dak and Caleb. Yeah. CD Lamb, obviously, I guess it's. I guess it's not that easy. It's not like we have a bunch of studs here. It's kind of interesting. Like we love this game, but there are a bunch, there are a lot of questions arise. Go ahead, give me your trivia.
A
All right, so if Pickens has five end zone targets, how many does CD Lamb have?
C
Zero. Yeah, yeah, I know, but he's. He's been amazing. But anyway, is Pickens a must start? Is a Dunes a must start? How do you rank the wide receivers after CD Lamb? Why don't we start with that, Jamie?
B
Oh, Dunes is a must start. I would start him over. T. Higgins. I started more. Mike Evans. I would start him over. Marvin Harrison. I don't know how far you want to go.
C
That's good. That works.
B
He's. He's in a great spot and clearly the go to guy for, for Caleb at this point. I think this is a solid week for George Pickens. So he's in that number two receiver range. He's right outside the top 24. But I don't really look at it from the that standpoint because there's so many good receivers. And I think this is actually a decent week for DJ Moore just because of what the expected total is and how this game could unfold. He's not a must start receiver in a two receiver league, but he is a mustard receiver in three receiver league still and would not surprise me. This is the best game today.
C
So you wouldn't. Would you start DJ More over the struggling Mike Evans, Brian Thomases of the world, A.J. brown?
B
No, no, no, no, no, no. But I would start. I'm trying to think. I started more Ridley still start him over. Olave. I start him over. He's right in the same mix for me. Like we're pure solace. So I think Jennings is ahead of Pierce all at this point and he's. He's right there in that again slightly behind Pickens. So borderline number two.
C
Okay, how about Jameson Williams for example? How about DJ Moore or Tony Pollard?
B
I would go with more in ppr.
A
I think I Pollard ring tire. I'm not as bullish on DJ Moore.
C
So he's his average route Depth is by far a career high and his Slot rate is up 31.2% Slot rate nearly a career high there. And that's not in his career. It has not been a good thing. His yards per out run is two when he's not in the slot. Two yards per hour run, which is solid 1.63 in his career when he is in the slot. So not a, not a great profile right now for DJ Moore, but it's only two games. It's just noise at this point. All right, so do you like the running backs in this game and which one do you like better?
A
Dave Richard, Javante Williams Way more. Can't deny how good he's been. Can't deny his role in the passing game. If it's a competitive game or if Dallas is trailing or whatever, you know he's going to get targets on top of getting a lot of carries.
B
Yeah.
C
Jamie, you agree?
B
Agree? Yeah.
C
All right, we'll get, I'm sure we'll get some Javante questions in the chat, but what about DeAndre Swift? Is he still pretty close to a must start? Like did I ask you Swift or Chase Brown?
B
Still Chase Brown.
A
I agree. I'd start Javante over both.
B
I agree.
C
All right. What's wrong with Swift? Why isn't he a must start?
B
I think you got to look at just some of the struggles right now. Like they're creating opportunities and he's not taking advantage of it. And so we'll see if they start to give Manangai more work. You know, Ben Johnson seems encouraged by him and we did not see Roshan Johnson last week despite being active. Will he get more opportunities? So this is a sort of a little bit of a discovery week for DeAndre Swift if you have him. I would put Manangai on the beat the waiver wireless just to see if there's, you know, something coming for him, especially in this matchup. So there's, there's still, the work is still there for, for Swift and the matchup is, is clearly solid. It's just a matter of will he take advantage of it. So number two running back, but not. I don't have as much confidence as a mess. Heath does clearly.
C
Okay, Yeah. I mean that's going to be the case probably every week. How about Jake Ferguson? Starter set, must start. Yeah. All right. Dak threw 52 passes last week. Let's hope for 40 at least this week. Let's just hope for a shootout here. And then Caleb Williams is as we've already talked about him, but he is eighth for Jamie and ninth for Dave and he is fifth for Heath. So I'll see if we have any questions on this game. Pickens or McMillan? Tedro. McMillan.
A
I saw McMillan higher in PPR.
C
I will take McMillan, Pickens, DeAndre Swift or Jalen Warren?
B
It's close between Pickens and Warren for me, but I'll go. Made another trade yesterday. Traded Juwan Johnson for Jalen Warren.
C
Good trade.
A
Nice.
C
I like that.
A
Good for you.
B
I'm. I have Kittle, so I picked up Johnson and Fannin and my running backs are pretty beat up.
C
Big fan of that trade. D.J. moore. Juwan Jennings.
A
Juwan Jennings.
B
That's close.
C
Dak or Drake?
A
Dak.
B
Dak.
C
DJ Moore. Drake. London. It's got to be London.
A
Yep.
C
Pickens or Jacoby Myers.
B
Myers.
A
That's close. I'm gonna take Myers over Pickens.
C
Caleb Williams or Baker Mayfield?
B
I would go Baker if a book of plays. I would go Caleb if a book is out.
C
Okay, last one. Two more actually. Pickens or Keenan Allen?
B
Pickets.
A
Yep.
C
And Swift or Jacori Crosby? Merit.
B
Swift.
A
All right, I have Swift.
B
Higher.
C
Let's go to.
A
I don't know if I'm hiring non PPR though. Seven seconds.
C
Juwan Johnson. How about Juwan Johnson, Harold Fannin or Jake Ferguson?
B
Ferguson.
A
I have Juwan. The highest of the three. They're back to back in my non PPR ranking. Swift. One spot ahead of cross game.
B
Merritt.
A
I don't know if I want to keep that, though.
C
Okay. All right, we're gonna take a break. We'll be right back on fantasy football today. We got five more games to get to. When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together.
A
Use polls to settle dinner plans.
C
Send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets.
A
Mom 60th and never miss a meme or milestone.
C
All protected with end to end encryption.
A
It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone.
C
Learn more at WhatsApp.com it's pro savings days at Lowes. Get up to 35% off. Select major appliances and save an additional $1,000 when you buy four select LG major appliances. Plus get a free Dewalt 20 volt max 5amp hour battery. When you buy a select Dewalt 20 volt max tool. Get the job done for less. At Lowe's we help you Save. Valid through 926. Selection varies by location while supplies last. See Associate or Lowe's dot com for more details and qualifying items. Stat of the game from Raiders.com on Las Vegas at Washington here. Geno Smith was 0 of 12 on pass attempts of 10 or more air yards in Week 2 against the Chargers. He became the first quarterback since 2016 to throw at least 10 passes of 10 or more air yards and not have a completion. This is on raiders.com yeah, I know it was an article of, I was trying to read about their defense because their defense really hasn't been that bad. They held this, the Patriots to 13 points, the Chargers to 20 points and basically the article was like, yeah, this guy played well and this guy played well on defense and I have completely forgotten their names because they have more or less no name defense.
B
Right.
C
I mean they don't have household names other than crosby. But they're 14th in yards per play. They're fourth in points allowed. We'll see. And they've been, they've been good against the run so far. But as you look at this game, Dave, do you look at this as a spot where the commanders, regardless of who their quarterback is, could have a really big game?
A
Where the commanders could have a really big game?
C
Yeah. Like, do you buy the Raiders defense or do you think this is a good matchup for Washington?
A
No, I think it's a good opportunity for the commanders. I, gosh, I wish Jane Daniels were playing. I'd be much more bullish on them. But I think they'll be, I think they'll be in control of the game. Washington will. I don't think the Raiders will do what they did to New England, for example, in week one. And I think they lean on what they have to. And at this point it's their, it's their rookie crossing Merritt and let him make plays and I, I think he's got the speed and the elusiveness that they don't have from any of their other running backs on the roster right now. Just give him the opportunities to move the ball downfield and take pressure off of Marcus Mariota. You don't want the whole thing falling on Mario to shoulders if you can help it.
C
You don't want a piece of it. You want the whole thing. Give me your thoughts on how the commander's backfield shakes out. What does it look like, who's playing on passing downs? This and that.
A
I think it'll ultimately end up being Jeremy McNichols in third down situations. We'll see a lot of cross game merit. You'll see him get an uptick in playing time and carries of course. And Chris Rodriguez, assuming he's active, will sprinkle in and they'll see what they've got in Rodriguez and the more that Rodriguez does that might make them feel comfortable, maybe the more work he gets next week. But I think for now it's. Jamie used the term discovery game. I think for the commanders, it's a discovery game for all of their running backs.
C
Okay. You, everybody, Dave, Heath, Jamie, they all have Jacori Crosby Merit, just outside the top 24 in full PPR, probably in inside and non PPR. When Austin Eckler was out last year, that was pretty much the only time Brian Robinson Jr. Was involved in the passing game. He ran more routes, he had some catches. So I hope that trickles down to Jacori Crosby merit. Are you guys excited to start him this week?
B
Moderately. I mean, you know, clearly it was. There was probably. I don't know what his start percentage was last week, but there was got to be, you know, a strong percentage of people who drafted him, excited to draft him. Saw the game against the Giants in week one, started him without hesitation and you know, is the packers defense real? Well, you found that out pretty quickly that yes they are for. So this week it's not exactly the most scary defense. But you got to give them credit for what they've done against the run so far. I mean, you know, it's been a pretty solid start for them and what they did against the Patriots and what they did against the Chargers. Granted those are two teams that may struggle to run the ball all season based on what we've seen. But I think you got to be encouraged by what the Raiders run defense looks like. So given the opportunity here, I think you're considering him a flex. I have him as a high end flex. I think you're considering him as a number two running back depending on what your backfield looks like. So like I wouldn't get crazy and start him over Chase Brown, who's struggling, or maybe Kyron Williams because they're concerned about workload and their matchup up. But you know, when you start to get to those flex questions like I like them slightly better just with the potential opportunity, let's say the J.K. dobbins, you know, who's gotten off to a good start, you know, but those guys are back to back really the question is is who's going to catch passes. And I do think one thing to keep in mind and I'll do some research on it this week and talk to some people, do they potentially have Chase Edmonds active and Chris Rodriguez not and if they do then we have something to keep an eye on. So we'll. I guess we'll find out today if that's the case because he's not a practical. Right.
C
Okay, so the wide receivers. You said that Jacoby Myers is your favorite wide receiver in this game. Would that change if Jaden Daniels played?
B
Not at all. Myers has been great. Yeah, Myers is based like top 15 receiver at this point.
C
One thing he's doing though that he's never done before is he's getting a lot of yak so we know he's going to catch passes. The yards though. Is this going to keep up? Because right now His Yak is 6.4 yards per catch. It's usually about 3.5 yards per catch. So he's, he's overachieving there. He's also playing in the slot a lot more. Maybe that's why he's overachieving. He's doubled his slot rate from his first two years in Las Vegas going from about 30% to 60%. I thought that was interesting. But yeah, I mean it's hard to get away from him Jacoby Myers right now. So fire him up. Start Brock Bowers. I know Ashton Gent, he's been bad but are you guys trusting him this week?
B
There are three running backs that just continue to slide a little bit and it's Chase Brown because of situation and matchup to an extent. Kyron Williams because of situation and matchup for this week and Genti like he's the one rookie running back of the four top tier guys that you're still starting with confidence. So Hampton not so much. Henderson not so much. Harvey clearly know and Genti is the one that you hope there's going to.
C
Be a big game here and credit to the commanders. They they made it a point in the off season to bulk up at defensive tackle and so far they're allowing three yards per carry to running backs so it may not be a good matchup for him. Love to see him catch more passes but I mean I've Genti in a few leagues and I'm obviously starting him. I'm sure he'll be started in close to 90 of leagues. Would you consider either of these quarterbacks Geno Smith or Mariota?
B
I like Mariota much more than Geno Smith and I would consider Mariota in that same range of Mac Jones and Jake Browning for sure.
A
I mean I wouldn't.
B
You have a two game, two game sample size in this offense where he was awesome.
C
He was. He didn't even start those games. He came in as a backup. He did play terrible defenses, but he was very good. I was watching the tape last night. He threw a game winning touchdown pass basically at the Buzzer to Terry McLaurin in week 18. Did not remember that. He doesn't though, throw to his running backs much. At least that's been the trend for Mariota lately.
B
Perfect opportunity this week not to. To keep that trend going.
C
Yeah, exactly. All right, so McLaren and Deebo, did they crack your top 24?
A
No.
B
Debo, yes. McLaren, no.
C
All right, so far, K Shan Booty. 103 yards. Demario Douglas caught a touchdown. Quentin Johnston, Keenan Allen, they Both had over 60 yards in a touchdown lad. McConkey wasn't great, but this team's giving up the third most fantasy points to wide receivers. They were supposed to have a terrible secondary. According to, you know, the rankers out there, maybe the worst in football, but you guys don't have many. Shot 24. But maybe Jane Daniels plays and that gives a boost there. I don't know what to make of Zachary. He's really off to a very good start. 13 targets, two touchdowns. I think he caught a touchdown from Mariota in both games last year.
B
He definitely didn't get Carolina.
C
Yeah, I'm pretty sure he did against Dallas. I don't know, maybe it came from Jaden Daniels because Daniels played a little bit in that game. But yeah, is easy. Just like Jake Ferguson or Zach Ertz.
B
Ferguson. But I, I think you look at, you know, this is the, the greater late conversation. Right. That we had at the beginning of the season. Like Ferguson, Johnson and Ertz are all top 10 tight ends for this week.
C
Dave, you agree?
A
I do.
C
All right, start him up. Start him. Or Hawkinson Ertz or Hawkinson Ertz.
B
Ertz.
C
Trying to find that stinking. Whatever. It doesn't matter. First caught a touchdown last year with Mariota. Washington's DST is okay. They are this. The Raiders have been a very good matchup so far. And Washington was good in one game. And bad at Green Bay. Good against the Giants. Bad at Green Bay.
B
Gino's got four picks, right.
A
And three last week.
B
And one against Patriots.
A
Three plus one.
C
All right, I'll look that up. I'll be. You talk about the next game. I'll look up three plus one. Rams are at the Eagles. All right, guys, look, we were hoping they'd throw more, right. They wouldn't be as, as successful rushing Philadelphia. Yeah.
A
Yeah.
C
And they haven't been as successful rushing. I mean, Barkley's doing very well, but he's not doing 2,000 yards well. And they're still throwing 22 times a game, which is basically exactly what they did after their Week 5 buy when Jalen Hurts when they decided to change the offense from that point forward through the postseason, they did not lose a single game with Jalen Hurts healthy, he averaged 22.6 pass attempts per game and still 27 fantasy points per game, but on pace for only 32003264 passing yards. So is it just two games, Dave, or is it a real sign of concern for A.J. brown specifically?
A
I think there's concern for sure because he hasn't looked like the old A.J. brown. And although I thought he did take steps toward looking better last week, the matchup this week, given the injuries to the corners in, in la, I think it is more favorable, but it's still tough. This Rams defense is good and so I just, I can't help but feel like Philadelphia has found what their secret sauce is to their offense and it's running the ball and it's dominating time of possession and it's. They're winning games, so why would they get away from that? It's why you can't confidently start AJ Brown as a top 12 receiver, which is what we were drafting him as.
C
How do we see this game playing out? Jamie? Such an interesting game. Terrific game in the playoffs last year. Rams really had a chance to win that game. Eagles are three and a half point favorites, totals 44 and a half. Do you expect a lot of fantasy points in this game?
B
I hope so. I mean, look, you have such great players on both sides of the ball. You have such great defenses as well. So it makes it a little challenging. And the fact that Vegas has it, you know, at a basically low number, essentially no number. I mean it's middle of the slate for this week, but it's not a great slate with all the back quarterbacks. So they're not expecting, you know, Cowboys, Bears, for example. I still think you're looking at the two receivers for the Rams as must starts. You're still starting Karen Williams, if you roster him, you're still starting Saquon Barkley, you're starting Jalen Hurts. It really comes down to can you trust Matthew Stafford with all these backup quarterbacks? Where does he rank for them? For me, he's behind all of them essentially. And can A.J. brown and or Devonte Smith get going? And then you have the wild card of Dallas Goddard Being in or out, because we know that's sort of been a. A little bit of a problem for. For Devonte Smith when he's in. So at this point, it's start both Rams receivers, start Chiron, start Saquon, start Hertz, and where everybody else sort of stacks up. But I think depending on what your roster needs are, like all my AJ Brown rosters, I'm still starting same.
C
Yeah, Kyren too. I mean, I can't bench Kyron, but he's getting almost no catches, so he's got another tough matchup. He's had a really tough schedule to start the year. They're going to try to work Corom in. I mean, I'm going to give you an over under. They say 13 PPR fantasy points for Kyron Williams over, under, slightly under under.
B
Jordan Mason's a much easier call than.
A
Yes.
B
Kyron Williams at this point.
A
Yes.
C
And obviously Ken Walker would be if. If Charbonnet were out. What if Charbonnet plays? Would you start Ken Walker or Kyron?
B
I think if we get Charbonnet missed practice but expected to play Walker. If we get Charbonnet limited, still the only foot injury expected to play, maybe Walker Charbonnet, full practice.
A
Kyron if Charbonnet plays, you've got to worry about just how much work Walker gets, and so you'll take what seems like the guaranteed workload for Chiron. Charbonnet needs to be out for Walker to make a leap up my rankings.
C
Who do you like better, Kyron Williams or AJ Brown?
B
Kyron still Kyron.
C
So that means you don't really think A.J. brown's gonna score 13 PPR fantasy points.
B
Well, I mean, at this point, it's hard to expect that. Like.
C
Right.
B
You. You just said it. From week five on, what did they do? They won the super bowl, you know, so it's, you know that they're. They're just pushing their way down the field. I mean, that's essentially what it is right now. Like this. This. This team is boring. They are very boring.
C
So boring. But. But, Dave, you brought up the Emanuel Forbes thing earlier. Both of you guys did, right? And yeah, Killer Witherspoon is out for the Rams. This could be a big, big help for the passing game for Philadelphia.
B
Sure.
A
But it means that, Phil, if Philadelphia says, oh, great, we're. We're taking on Emanuel Forbes and we've beat him up before, let's change our offensive game plan from what's worked for us over the last calendar year to take advantage of it. Like, that's if they do that, then we're going to look foolish for saying that A.J. brown isn't a must start. But I don't think they do that. They are what they are and they know it and they've embraced it. And even though there's calls for them to throw a little bit more, I don't know if that's enough for them to actually do it. Tack on the fact it's a first year play caller for their offense hurts. And just like the overall, just like the way that they functioned in their passing game hasn't been great. I just. I. How many times did we see hitch or slant routes that. That's it from A.J. brown last week.
B
Yeah.
C
Yeah.
B
Here's some comments from Philadelphia this morning. This is Lane Johnson on the Tush push. I'm just an employee of the Eagles. I'm told to run it. I never thought it would come to this. It's been like this the past three years. So we'll see. We'll see if it lives another year, another few weeks. But I'll be here. I don't know what context this is. This is Zach Berman, who covers the Eagles now for Believe the Athletic. Yes. So that's Lane Johnson. This is A.J. brown. Obviously a little bit more of an important thing from what we're talking about. A.J. brown says, if I was a D coordinator, I'd probably be focused on him, meaning Saquon. It could be good for all of us. Not just for me, but for all of us. On whether he pays attention to advanced data about wide receivers, A.J. brown says, no, I don't think you guys should pay attention to that. That's your job. I'm sorry, but I don't. I'm not an analytics guy at all. You judge what you do when you get your opportunity. That's something you can't control. If you go look at it from a data and analytics standpoint, you're going to find what you're looking for. But as wide receivers, you're judging your performance by how hard you play, how you block and the numbers you put up. Sorry, I thought that was a better quote. Excuse me? Last one. Which I thought it's the quote of the week.
C
Yeah.
B
I guess I was looking for the defense coordinator.
C
One new segment. All right.
A
There's one other thing.
C
Yeah?
A
And that is? Well, what if the Rams offense is able to move the ball and put up points like they did in the playoff game against the Eagles last time these two teams met?
C
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A
If they do that and they have a lead. Philadelphia is going to have no choice but to start to throw a little bit more.
C
So Dubby Main the G. Okay. In our YouTube chat says anyone who has AJ Brown, Devonte Smith should not be surprised they are not producing. You saw what they did last year as a team and won a Super Super Bowl. Why would that change this year? So let me just give you some numbers. I already told you after their week four, after their week five buy Jalen Hurts through 22.6 passes per game. How. How did A.J. brown do in those games? Well, he. Okay if we look at week six through 15 because Jalen Hurts left week 16 with an injury. So just weeks six through 15, AJ Brown was only on pace for 114 targets. However, he was on pace for 1400 yards and seven touchdowns. 15.8 fantasy points per game. So you know he is the kind of guy that can do a lot without a ton of targets. I would hope for more than six to seven targets per game. But even if he gets that, he showed he can be a 1400 yard guy and a 15.8 PPR fantasy point per game guy, which is solid. It's not great. I think that what encourages me is that Jalen hurts is averaging 5.2 yards per attempt or something like that. Something horrible that's just not gonna last. You know, he's usually seven and a half ish, 5.6.
B
Well, I mean it's the tush push though.
C
No yards for pass attempt.
B
Oh, I'm sorry.
C
So, all right, final thing on this game, right? Because like we talked Kyron, AJ Brown, Devonte Smith, they're not exactly must starts. Heath, by the way, has A.J. brown in his top eight. If Dallas Goddard plays, where do you rank him and where do you rank Devonte Smith in that scenario?
B
Goddard would be just outside the top 12 and Devonte Smith would be mid tier wide receiver. I'd probably drop like four or five spots right now. He's like wide receiver 30.
A
Yep. I dropped Devonte to a low end wide receiver three and Goddard would take that 12th spot in my tight end rankings in PPR over Hawkinson.
B
Who's the tough man? He's the tough man.
C
Who would you. I don't get that reference, but would you. All right, answer this question real quick, Jamie. Why would you start Mason over Kyron? I feel like Mason may not get close to the end zone with Carson Wentz.
B
I just think that the matchup is better for Jordan Mason and you're talking about two guys that may have questions in the passing game. But this is the opportunity that you've been waiting for for Jordan Mason. So if they're essentially doing the same things, one is taking on the Eagles, one is taking on the Bengals.
C
Okay. And yeah, we do think he has opportunities to get in the end zone. I think it comes down to that. But did you start the DSTs in this game? Rams, Eagles.
B
Eagles and Vikings are very similar to me. Like, they're not great for this week by comparison to some of these streaming options, one of which was essentially the Bills in some cases. So take that into account. But the Falcons, the Seahawks, like, these are teams that have pretty solid matchups and are playing well. So if you do want to pivot, I'm okay with it.
C
All right, we're going to go a little faster for our last three games. Let's go to Carolina hosting Atlanta with AJ Terrell out with a hamstring injury, this will be the first game he's missed in in since 2022. And he's their best cornerback. Chuba Hubbard, very involved in the passing game. He has now. Chuba Hubbard has four to six targets in seven of his last eight games dating back to 2024. All of them have come on first or second down at least this year. This year, I think. But anyway, that's very encouraging because he hasn't been running the ball great. So, Dave, starters at Michael Penix sit. Start us at Bajan Robinson.
A
Come on.
C
Tyler Algier, is He a top 30 guy this week or just a prayer?
A
Prayer.
C
Would you start Penix or Jake Browning? Browning, Penix or Mariota.
A
Probably Pennocks.
C
Drake London and Tetarol McMillan are easy starts, right?
A
Yes. McMillan for sure. Or London. Maybe not easy because the numbers haven't been great so far. But the matchup's too favorable. And it's Drake London. He's going to get a ton of targets.
C
Oh, well, if he were Drake London Jr. It wouldn't be a favorable matchup as we talked about earlier. But I actually talked about it. The Panthers were not that bad against receivers until J.C. horn got hurt last year. Drake London finished with a 40 burger against the Panthers in week 18. But you know what? We're not going to overthink it. We liked London coming in. He had 15 targets in week one. Jamie, what about Mooney? What about Renfro? What about the other. The other guys? And then I guess you can talk about Pitts Mooney.
B
I would prefer to stash three receiver leagues in the flex. He might be in that range as a fourth receiver on Your team. Renfro. I would stash as well just to see what happens for another week because clearly this was a big game for him in week two where Bryce Young threw 55 passes. Just keep that in mind when you're also factoring in to Tavion Sanders as well in terms of like streaming options. What was the last thing I asked about?
C
Sorry, I don't remember. Hunter, I. The tight ends.
B
Yeah, I, I think in the case of hits of Pitts and Sanders, like Pitts, one very good game with Mooney out, one not so great game where it was the Bijan Robinson show. Bijan Robinson show, whatever we're calling him at this point. So Pitts is just outside the top 12 as well. I think if you've started him the first two weeks and you didn't get Juwan Johnson or Harold Fannin, for example, I would stick with bits. If you pivoted to somebody and it's, let's say Hunter Henry or Brent Strange, for example, I would go back to pits. Just hope that the, the Pennix relationship and what we've seen from him in at least one game is a sign of things. Comes. It didn't play poorly last week. It just, you know, there wasn't a lot of pass volume there.
C
Bryce Young sit.
B
Yep.
C
Okay. And Chuba Hubbard's a layup at this point. Gotta start him. Yeah.
A
Number two running back.
C
All right.
B
I mean, we will see though, with the offensive line injuries because they. He hasn't exactly. You mentioned his work in the passing game. He has not run the ball very well yet.
C
Yeah. And this run defense has been good so far. You know, Bucky Irving struggled badly. 14 carries, 37 yards. Aaron Jones had 5 for 23. Jordan Mason at 9 for 30. So they're. They're. So far the Falcons actually are giving up the fourth fewest fantasy points to running backs and the third fewest receiving yards per game to running backs. But obviously it's early, but I mean, like, Aaron Jones didn't have a catch. Bucky Irving had four catches for 8 yards and a touchdown. So far, so good, I'd say overall for the Falcons defense, but they played.
B
Much better than anybody expected by far. And yep, starts with the pass rush. We'll see with no center, no guard, how things change for Bryson.
C
Yeah. But A.J. terrell is a big loss for them. And James Pierce, their rookie edge was. Was injured too. I think he was limited. Would you start the Falcons dst?
B
Yes, I would.
C
Over the Eagles. Rams.
B
Yes.
A
Yeah.
C
All right. But you don't necessarily want to drop the eagles and rams DSTs? Let's take a break. We got New Orleans at Seattle. When we come back, Carolina basketball isn't just a program, it's a legacy. I'm John Henson and we'll be the.
A
Host of Tar Heel247, a UNC basketball podcast for fans who bleed Carolina blue. Each week, I'll be joined by players, coaches and insiders for real, unfiltered conversations.
C
About the team, the tradition, maybe some.
A
Funny stories and everything in between.
C
No filters, no fluff, just hoop talk.
A
The Tar Heel way. Subscribe now to Tar Heel247@ UNC Basketball Podcast or wherever you get your podcast at. We will have a good time.
C
Let's get ready to go.
A
There's a reason Chevy trucks are known for their dependability. Because they show up no matter the weather, push forward no matter the terrain, and deliver. That's why Chevrolets earn more distance dependability awards for trucks than any other brand in 2025, according to J.D. power.
B
Because in every Chevy truck, like every.
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B
Newer models may be shown. Visit J.D.
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Power.Com awards for more details. Chevrolet together.
B
Let's drive.
C
Seattle hosting New Orleans Stat of the game the Seahawks so far allow the third most fantasy points to running backs, but that's mostly because they're giving up a lot of receiving yards per game. And that could be good for Alvin Kamara. Dave, is Alvin Camara a must start?
A
Yes.
C
Okay. Yeah. Jordan Mason or Camara?
B
Mason, Camara.
A
And PPR easily.
C
Just for fun. Ashton, Genti or Camara?
B
Come here.
A
Come here.
C
Okay, so are we starting a quarterback in this game? Rattler? Darnold?
A
No, I don't mind Darnold, but he's not top 12.
C
Juwan Johnson @ this point is basically a must start. He's right there with Ferguson and Ertz. He's ahead of Kyle Pitts. Kelsey or Kelsey? Yeah.
A
He has 20 targets in two games.
C
Yeah. So Kelsey for you. Dave or Johnson?
A
No, I like Juwan Johnson better.
C
Someone asking in the chat, Juwan Johnson or Sam LaPorta?
B
Johnson.
A
I have LaPorta spot higher.
C
Someone asking in the chat Bobby Boucher or Paul Crew?
B
I, I, I, I think that I have yet to go to prison. So I, I, I, I'm, I'm in a much better spot.
C
This is a, this is the Easiest start question we've got all day. It's obviously Bobby Boucher, much more impactful player. And Paul Crew wasn't even the best player on his team. Yeah, Nelly was better. Michael Irvin was better. Anyway, I might have to disagree with.
B
You on that one though, because we saw what happened when he left the game and, and it was, it was pretty ugly. But I, I do, I do make a pretty good, good impact, especially when Vicky Valencourt is there teaming some delicious H2.
C
Oh, all right. Ken Walker would be an easy start, a must start. If Charbonnet is out. What if Charbonnet is in?
A
Dave Richard, low end, number two running back.
C
Both of them or just Walker? Walker.
A
Just Walker. You gotta feel more confident in Walker after last week.
C
This run defense has been pretty bad. 4.84 yards per carry and allowed to buy the Saints two opposing running backs.
B
It is a little, A little skewed though, because you have 50 yard run for trade events.
C
That's true. That's a good point. They actually. Yeah, you know what, they actually did pretty well against Connor and kept McCaffrey in check. All right, though I think the wide receivers are really interesting. Other than jsn, JSN is a must start. But Jamie, how do you feel about Olave and Shahid and cup, all number three receivers?
B
You know, the problem for a lot of is the targets have been amazing, the production has been terrible. So ppr, he is in the number three receiver conversation. Non and half. I would avoid him. I mean, he's seemingly allergic to the end zone at this point. Shahid scored a touchdown last week. Similar situation. You know, not a lot of yards at this point. So below Alave. But again, borderline number three receiver. Which cup are we gonna get? We're gonna get the guy in week one who was disappearing act. We're gonna get the guy last week that was heavily involved. So for me, I'm gonna split the difference. I was way out on him last week, you know, moderately encouraged going into week one just to see what's gonna happen again as number three receiver. So I would start him, for example, over Jameson Williams in ppr.
C
Ooh. If Charbonnet plays Ken Walker or any of these wide receivers other than jsn, obviously.
A
Walker, I think I'll like Walker. I'm gonna like Walker better than cup for sure. Better than Shahid for sure. It's Olave I'd have to double check on.
C
I talked about the.
A
Yeah, back to back. Walker, one spot ahead.
C
Okay. I talked about the Yak for Chris Olave or for Jacoby Myers being much higher than usual. Chris Olave has never been a good yak guy either. But his, his yak per catch is 1.7 yards, so I'm assuming it'll be somewhere like three and a half. About.
A
About zero explosive plays for Chris Olave. And he had an end. He has two end zone targets on the year, one last week and the passage is just thrown behind him.
C
Yeah.
A
So the timing's off just a little bit. The encouraging thing with Olave is the targets. It's why you're starting them is because you expect him to get double digit targets. I think it should also be said though, Seattle's defense and, and their secondary especially, I thought they played pretty well last week and the changes that the coaching staff made paid off against Pittsburgh.
C
But there they are another team that's super beat up in the secondary. They got two safeties and a starting cornerback who have been, I think missing practice each of the first two days of the week.
B
Sure.
A
But I think they played last week without a man worry. And Witherspoon. And Witherspoon's their best corner and they still did a nice job against the Steelers.
C
They did. Yeah. Okay, Seahawks, Steelers.
A
But these are the Saints.
C
These are the Saints. Yeah. Seahawks defense is absolutely in play as well. And our last game is Arizona at San Francisco. Starter said Kyler Murray.
B
Low and starting.
A
I want to trust him if I can help it.
C
I don't know if you guys remember stat of the game from last week's Arizona game, but it was that Kyler Murray had seven carries in week one, which was, which would be, I think, a career high, like on a per game basis. He had seven carries in week two. So he's back to it. Yeah. You know what, Jamie, you made a good point about the score and maybe more targets for Harrison and just more pass attempts for Kyler Murray because as I, as I mentioned, they're 12th in pass rate in the first three quarters of the game and then they have just been nursing big leads in the fourth quarter. So, you know, I just think hopefully we get more volume from a team that's very slow. So far they've been taking pretty much all of the play clock down. They're one of the slowest teams. I hate that. But you know, maybe this is a different game script. James Conner. You guys are kind of low on James Conner. Borderline start this week.
A
Dave, I don't like what I've been seeing from him as far as just speed and, you know, movement. When he's got the ball, he's. He's scored a bunch of touchdowns and it's made up almost 50% of the total PPR points he's had this year. So against the 49ers run defense, it's been pretty good. I. And certainly their track record against Connor is mostly good. I don't want to start him if.
B
I don't have to.
A
Makes me nervous.
C
Bill or Connor?
A
I have Connor one spot ahead of Bill Connor.
C
All right, how about Wanda?
A
I have Walker one spot ahead of Connor and that's if Charbonnet plays.
C
Okay. Wandale Robinson in PPR Or James Connor.
B
Still Connor.
C
Okay.
A
I have Wandell.
B
Higher.
C
Marvin Harrison Jr. Or James Connor?
A
Harrison.
C
Marvin Jr. Marvin Harrison Jr. Or Olave.
A
MHJ.
C
You guys like him?
B
Borderline number two receiver?
A
Yep.
C
Good thing is he's running fewer go routes. He's running more crossing routes, more in breaking routes. These are the types of things we'd like to see. Bad thing Is he has 11 targets on about 57 pass attempts, I believe. So that target share is still pretty low because Trey McBride is getting a lot of them. Trey McBride has 16 targets so far this year and he is a must start. All right. Brock Purdy if he plays. Or Kyler Murray.
A
Purdy.
B
Kyler.
C
Kyler Or Mac Jones?
B
Kyler Mac.
C
That was mostly for Dave. All right, so Dave really trying to get away from Kyler Murray. Mac Jones scored 27.8 fantasy points last week. Yeah.
B
Good game against Saints.
C
Yeah.
A
Here comes Arizona with backup corners.
C
Yeah. Super beat up secondary. Start McCaffrey. And which 49ers wide receiver you prefer? You both prefer Jennings?
B
Yes.
A
I bet I end up there by the time we get to Sunday. Right now I have Pierce. All right.
C
Tire as a number three.
A
No, both of them are number two wide receivers for me.
B
Both are number three for me.
C
I think Dave seems to be buying into the depleted secondary. Good pass production kind of stuff here, right?
A
Yes.
C
Yeah, more so than not that I'm not just.
B
There's a lot of good receivers this week.
C
Okay.
B
There's. I like them both.
C
See if we have any Pierce all questions here or Jennings questions or anything like that.
B
There's a Jennings or Jameson question.
C
Okay. Jennings or Jameson?
A
Jennings. And I love jmo.
B
There's a Craft or Pierce all question.
C
Craft or Piersol epr.
B
I'll take Craft if he plays.
A
Craft if he plays any practices on Friday.
C
Jennings or Worthy if he plays Jennings.
A
I kind of like Worthy against the Giants.
C
Piersol or Abuka if he plays abuka.
A
I currently have Pierce all one spot higher.
C
Pierce all. Oh, sorry, you're saying something. Jamie.
B
No.
C
Oh, Pierce all. Or Higgins T. Higgins.
A
But I'll take Pierce all over Jaden Higgins.
C
Knish or pierogi?
B
Knish.
A
Yeah.
C
What's a pierogi?
B
Similar thing.
C
Well, I don't like it then because I don't like. Knishes are gross.
B
You're gross. I Wait, your cinnamon raisin.
C
I could.
B
Terrible.
C
I could.
A
I can't remember the last time I've had a knish.
C
They're gross.
A
Yeah.
C
Remember they used to sell. What did they used to sell? Oh, arepas. Remember arepas?
A
I get one every time I go to a cane's game.
C
Oh, they would sell these like they.
A
Are not the same thing.
C
No, they're not. But they like they look kind of similar, I feel.
A
No, I don't think so.
C
Have a great weekend, everybody. We'll talk to you on the mailbag. Got a great email about a Got a great email. Noon mailbag today 12:10pm Eastern time.
A
I don't know what kind of a rapist you're eating, Adam, but they don't look like Ganesha's whatsoever.
C
Aren't conditions like also yellow? What color is a knish?
A
It's like they do look similar.
C
A rapist and Kanish's look looks similar. I stand by no.
A
They. Oh my.
C
Knish versus Arepa. Is this a googleable thing? Oh, wow, they're identical. It says here they're identical twins. Have a great weekend, everybody. We'll talk to you with the mailbag Sunday morning, 11 7am Eastern. See you later. Thanks for watching.
B
Paramount Podcasts.
C
What's up everyone? It's the counselor of Cash C and Ajad from the Early Edge, a daily sports betting show powered by Sportsline and part of the CBS Sports Podcast Network. If you're looking for the best bets.
A
Picks and analysis for the day in.
C
Sports, we're your one stop shop. We're locked in every day with NFL bets and player props, college football picks and so much more. Download and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere podcasts are found. Subscribe to the SportsLine YouTube page to.
A
Watch us live at 10am Eastern Time every weekday.
C
Make sure to turn on those notifications so you don't miss a single pick all season long.
B
Good luck.
Date: September 19, 2025
Hosts: Adam Aizer (A), Dave Richard (B), Jamey Eisenberg (C), with insights from Heath Cummings
This episode dives deep into the critical start/sit decisions for the NFC Week 3, focusing on marquee players like AJ Brown, Tee Higgins, backfield situations, injury news, and high-upside matchups including Cowboys-Bears. The analysis aims to empower fantasy managers to make informed lineup choices, address injury pivots, highlight key trends, and react to evolving NFL offensive landscapes.
Timestamps: 03:30 – 11:40
Bills Offense: Remains largely unchanged, centered around James Cook and Josh Allen.
Passing Game: Dalton Kincaid continues to intrigue at TE with a 23% target per route run rate. Still, his route participation limits ceiling.
Dolphins WRs: Optimism persists for Tyreek Hill and Waddle, despite target volatility and possible trade chatter.
Actionable Take: Tyreek Hill is a must-start if no trade, but worth shopping in trades given Miami’s outlook.
Timestamps: 12:36 – 17:48
QB Injuries: Monitor Brock Purdy (49ers), Jaden Daniels (Washington), and potential spot starts (Mariota, Mac Jones).
RBs: On DeAndre Swift’s availability:
WR Updates: Lab McConkey, Josh Downs practicing; Juwan Jennings questionable.
Tight End Streamers: Musgrave, Tucker Kraft discussed as pivots depending on injury results.
Timestamps: 19:58 – 44:11
Timestamps: 35:58 – 44:11
Timestamps: 47:10 – 80:00
Fun banter: Frequent light-hearted jabs about creative transitions, the overly praised "Game of the Week" song, and culinary tangents about knishes and arepas.
| Position | Player | Confidence (PPR) | Context/Reasoning | |---------------|------------------------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------------------| | RB | James Cook | Must-start / Top 5 | Buffalo role, production, consistent usage | | WR | Tee Higgins | WR2 – start | History with Browning, matchup | | WR | AJ Brown | Low WR2 | Philly’s low passing, possible “squeaky wheel” | | WR | Tyreek Hill | Must-start (unless traded)| Target volume, separation, trust | | RB | Jordan Mason | Top-10 starter | Matchup, workload with Aaron Jones out | | WR | Jacoby Myers | Top-15 WR | Slot usage/YAC spike, team reliance | | TE | Dalton Kincaid, Ferguson, Johnson, Ertz | TE1/Streamer | Opportunity, targets, matchup upside | | RB | Alvin Kamara | Must-start | Receptions, favorable matchup vs. Seattle | | RB | DeAndre Swift | Low RB2 / Flex | Usage trending down, keep an eye on injury | | RB | Ken Walker | RB2 (if Charbonnet plays)| Volume, but check injury status |
This episode is a must-listen for fantasy managers navigating packed injury reports and volatile early-season performances. The crew expertly weighs analytic trends, scheme changes, and developing personnel news, all while fielding live start/sit dilemmas and injecting signature FFT wit. Use their actionable insights to make confident Week 3 NFC decisions!