Fantasy Football 2017 - Confusing Players, Andy’s Apology, Pre. Week 3

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Fantasy Football 2017 - Confusing Players, Andy’s Apology, Pre. Week 3
Release Date: August 30, 2017
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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Introduction

In this episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright delve into the complexities of preseason Week 3, addressing confusing player rankings, significant news updates, and providing in-depth analysis of key NFL matchups. The episode also features an apology segment where Jason Moore addresses previous disagreements with Mike Wright regarding player evaluations.

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Confusing Player Rankings (Quick Question Segment)

The episode kicks off with the "Quick Question" segment, where each host identifies a player who has been challenging to rank for the 2017 fantasy football season.

• Mike Wright:
  "I'm going to jump in here. It's Brandon Cooks. Because honestly, we got to do your. Cooking by the book." [03:19]

  Mike expresses uncertainty about Brandon Cooks' consistency, highlighting his potential to both disappoint and excel, which complicates his ranking.

• Jason Moore:
  "Mine's Mike Gillislee of the New England Patriots." [04:23]

  Jason discusses his dilemma with Mike Gillislee, uncertain whether to invest in him given the ambiguous running back rotation.

• Andy Holloway:
  "I think the most difficult guy to rank is Ezekiel Elliott..." [04:48]

  Andy focuses on Ezekiel Elliott, emphasizing the challenges in drafting him due to his league-dependent value and the uncertainty surrounding his suspension appeal.

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News and Updates

Ezekiel Elliott’s Suspension

Jason Moore provides a comprehensive update on Ezekiel Elliott's legal troubles and potential impact on the season.

• Jason Moore:
  "The NFL is reviewing an appeal from Ezekiel Elliott. His suspension is scheduled to start on September 2nd..." [10:05]

  He outlines the timeline and possibilities, including the slim chance of an injunction allowing Elliott to play in Week 1.

• Andy Holloway:
  "Is it possible that it could be like Brady and it could be pushed all the way through the next offseason..." [12:39]

  Andy speculates on the long-term implications if Elliott's suspension is extended, though he considers it highly unlikely.

Vance McDonald Acquired by Steelers

The hosts discuss the trade of Vance McDonald to the Steelers, analyzing its impact.

• Andy Holloway:
  "And Jay Grizz, great show. We have some surprises in store, some giveaways." [13:12]

  He critiques the trade, expressing skepticism about the tight ends available to the Steelers following McDonald's acquisition.

Josh Docks Injury Concerns

Jason Moore addresses concerns over Josh Docks' ongoing injuries affecting the Redskins.

• Jason Moore:
  "Redskins coach Jay Gruden admitted that Josh Docks' continued missed time is a concern..." [14:11]

  He highlights the long-term implications for Docks' career and his fantasy value.

Devonta Freeman Cleared of Concussion Protocol

Good news is shared about Devonta Freeman, enhancing his availability for the Falcons.

• Jason Moore:
  "Good news, everybody. Devonta Freeman has cleared the concussion protocol." [15:25]

---

Preseason Week 3 Game Reviews

The hosts provide detailed analyses of several key preseason matchups, assessing their implications for fantasy football rankings.

Miami vs. Philadelphia

• Andy Holloway:
  "Devonte Parker's upside is tremendous. You guys are with me on that 100%." [16:46]

  Andy praises Devonte Parker's performance and potential as a top-tier fantasy wide receiver.

• Mike Wright:
  "Devonte Parker is a very athletic man. If he just needs a quarterback that's going to give him a chance..." [16:46]

  Mike agrees on Parker's athleticism and the importance of quarterback chemistry.

Chargers vs. Rams

• Andy Holloway:
  "Chargers looked... the Rams looked... Jared Goff was worse than bad." [25:13]

  Andy critiques Jared Goff's performance but notes improvements when Todd Gurley is utilized.

• Mike Wright:
  "Melvin Gordon looked great. I mean, he looked fast. He looked like his vision was good." [28:19]

  Mike highlights Melvin Gordon's promising display, suggesting him as a valuable fantasy asset.

• Jason Moore:
  "Jarvis Landry is being treated like someone nobody wants to touch. And that's foolish." [19:37]

  Jason advocates for Jarvis Landry's value despite his drop in draft positions.

Panthers vs. Jaguars

• Jason Moore:
  "Jonathan Stewart was great in this. He broke off a couple of huge runs." [29:52]

  Jason emphasizes Jonathan Stewart's reliable performance, recommending him as a late-round pick.

• Mike Wright:
  "Hold off on drafting any backup running back for Le'Veon Bell because you're going to get it wrong." [37:00]

  Mike advises caution in drafting backup running backs, citing unpredictable usage.

Jets vs. Giants

• Jason Moore:
  "Alan Robinson in the fifth. That's worth taking a step." [31:55]

  Jason discusses Alan Robinson's unexpected drop and potential undervaluation in drafts.

• Mike Wright:
  "Ted Ginn is going to be involved. He's going to score long touchdowns." [43:40]

  Mike recommends drafting Ted Ginn as a sleeper pick due to his emerging role.

Bears vs. Titans

• Andy Holloway:
  "Kendall Wright looked good... Tyreek Cohen wasn't used." [53:02]

  Andy notes Kendall Wright's potential and observes limited usage for Tyreek Cohen, recommending his late-round flyer.

• Jason Moore:
  "I think it's possible that their defense is going to be good." [42:50]

  Jason emphasizes the strength of the Saints' defense, urging fantasy owners to consider defensive matchups.

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Player Rankings and Draft Advice

The hosts provide strategic advice on player selections, focusing on sleepers, undervalued players, and those with fluctuating drafts.

• Devonte Parker:
  "You can come see Brooks... Devonte Parker is becoming draftable." [17:17]

  Both hosts agree on Parker's high upside, positioning him as a valuable mid-round asset.

• Jarvis Landry:
  "Jarvis Landry is being treated like someone nobody wants to touch... He's becoming draftable for me for the first." [19:37]

  Despite a drop in ADP, Jarvis Landry remains a consistent performer deserving of higher draft consideration.

• Frank Gore vs. Paul Perkins:
  Andy Holloway: "I would much rather have Frank Gore." [36:38]
  Mike Wright: "I'll take Gore." [36:40]

  The consensus is to prefer Frank Gore over Paul Perkins due to Gore's proven reliability.

• Alan Robinson:
  Jason Moore: "Alan Robinson in the fifth. That's worth taking a step." [31:55]

  Alan Robinson's significant drop makes him an attractive fifth-round pick for his potential resurgence.

• Ted Ginn:
  Mike Wright: "Ted Ginn is going to be involved. He's going to score long touchdowns." [43:40]

  Ted Ginn is recommended as a sleeper pick with high upside due to his active role in the Saints' offense.

---

Apology Segment

A heartfelt moment unfolds as Jason Moore extends an apology to Mike Wright for previously doubting several players.

• Jason Moore:
  "I just wanted to... I'm sorry about Carlos Hyde... I'm sorry about Ty Montgomery..." [07:05]

  He apologizes for underestimating players like Carlos Hyde, Ty Montgomery, Amir Abdullah, Golden Tate, Keenan Allen, and Kyle Juszczyk, acknowledging their potential and performance.

• Mike Wright:
  "That's fair." [07:35]

  Mike accepts the apology graciously, fostering a collaborative and respectful atmosphere among the hosts.

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Conclusion

As the episode wraps up, the hosts emphasize the importance of community engagement through live shows and online platforms. They encourage listeners to join their fantasy football community at jointhefoot.com and participate in upcoming live events. The episode concludes with reminders about suspension offers and upcoming content, ensuring listeners are well-equipped for the approaching fantasy football season.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jason Moore on Ezekiel Elliott's Situation:
  "If for some reason he essentially cannot rule in that amount of time, Ezekiel Elliott has the option to try to seek an injunction..." [10:05]

• Andy Holloway on Devonte Parker:
  "Devonte Parker's upside is tremendous. You guys are with me on that 100%." [16:46]

• Jason Moore’s Apology:
  "I'm sorry about Carlos Hyde... I'm sorry about Keenan Allen." [07:05]

• Jason Moore on Jarvis Landry:
  "Jarvis Landry is being treated like someone nobody wants to touch. And that's foolish." [19:37]

• Mike Wright on Ted Ginn:
  "Ted Ginn is going to be involved. He's going to score long touchdowns." [43:40]

---

This comprehensive summary captures the critical discussions, player evaluations, and strategic insights provided by the Fantasy Footballers trio in the August 30, 2017 episode. Whether you're a seasoned fantasy manager or new to the game, this episode offers valuable information to optimize your team for the upcoming season.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot Clan. If you want to upgrade your sound at home, you've got to check out the Sonos play bass that adds dynamic pulse pounding sound to whatever's playing on tv. And now, for the first time ever, Sonos is offering listeners of the fantasy footballers 10% off one order of $2,500 or less for any [e-mail] this offer is available for a limited time only and cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions. Just use the promo code [e-mail] to receive this exclusive offer. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers podcast coming to you from the Play Draft Studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright. I should have gone higher.

[Jason Moore]

It is wonderful.

[Mike Wright]

That was the worst barbershop quartet you've ever heard. It was just in your life.

[Jason Moore]

It is wonderful to be with you fine gentlemen this fine morning. Wednesday, August.

[Mike Wright]

Everything is so fine.

[Jason Moore]

Well, now, except for the. The auto situation with you two knuckleheads. I don't. I want to know what's in store for my vehicle today. Now that. Mike, your batteries went out, Jason.

[Mike Wright]

No, no, no. Your battery, alternator.

[Jason Moore]

Well, that's all the same.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, my battery went out. Here's the deal. We live in Arizona where it's 152 degrees Celsius right now.

[Jason Moore]

Right? Right. So, yeah, we're here. We made it. We've got a show. It's going to be a good one. Got a great quick question going to talk about preseason week three, the rest of the games we didn't cover yesterday, some conclusions, some findings from those games. I'm going to catch you up on the Ezekiel Elliott situation in our news segment. I want you to know everything that I know, everything that I'm basing my Ezekiel Elliott decisions on. Maybe we'll talk about that in the quick question, actually. And yeah, I'm just happy to be here. I'm just excited to talk some fantasy football. You guys ready to rumble?

[Mike Wright]

I am ready. I'm also ready to talk live on this coming Monday. I couldn't think of the day. Labor Day, September 4th, Phoenix, Arizona. If you're around BallersLive.com we're gonna be doing a live podcast. Hanging out with the Foot Clan, shaking hands, giving hugs.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. If you want to hear high fives, Tuesday's podcast, Monday night, come on down.

[Jason Moore]

You guys have no idea how to sell this thing. Do you realize how to actually show me?

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Jason Moore]

Tell us you didn't learn anything in Canada. People don't want to see us.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, that's yeah.

[Jason Moore]

People want to see Brooks.

[Andy Holloway]

Brooks will be there.

[Mike Wright]

Judge Giamond.

[Jason Moore]

People want to know what he looks like. The theory is nobody knows what he looks like. Everybody that walked up, they said two things. They said, andy, you're very, very tall. You're much taller than I thought you were. And then they said, wow, that's what Brooks looks like.

[Andy Holloway]

There you go.

[Jason Moore]

That was it. So you can come see Brooks. Jay Grizz, great show. We have some surprises in store, some giveaways. Ballerslive.com all right, let's get into the quick question, gentlemen. Who is the most confusing player to rank for 2017? Who's the player that has been bouncing around your rankings and keeps you up at night wondering what you're going to do?

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to jump in here. It's Brandon Cooks. Because honestly, we got to do your.

[Jason Moore]

Cooking by the book.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

You can't be lazy. And Brandon Cooks, is he lazy with his routes? Sometimes. He's disappeared before in the New Orleans offense. He was. But he still finishes high at the end of season rankings.

[Andy Holloway]

So do.

[Mike Wright]

How do you rank him appropriately where you factor that in, that he can disappear and he can actually be a thorn in the buttocks of your fantasy team. But now maybe he's more consistent because Julian Edelman is out for the season. Do they move him into the slot? What are the Patriots going to do? I have no idea. Nobody knows. You know who doesn't even know? Bill Belichick. He doesn't even know what he's going to do.

[Jason Moore]

He's not even a thorn in the side. He's a thorn in the buttocks.

[Mike Wright]

That's what I said.

[Jason Moore]

No, I know, I'm repeating you. Most people say thorn in the side. You're is right in the butt.

[Mike Wright]

I can, I can handle a thorn in my side, honestly. But in the butt, I mean, you can't.

[Andy Holloway]

Sit down. I was going to say sit down.

[Jason Moore]

I'll just piggyback. Mine's Mike Gillislee of the New England Patriots.

[Mike Wright]

That Patriots.

[Jason Moore]

I reviewed the Patriots game this week. It did not help me. It did not help me understand what's going to happen in that running back rotation. And we see Gillislee and his potential and his ability and his, you know, between the tackles. But I look, I don't know where to rank him. I don't know if I want to touch him with a 10 foot pole or if he's going to score 20 times. I don't know that.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know what's going to Happen.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And mine is Chris Hogan. No, I'm not picking a Patriot. I think the most difficult guy to rank is Ezekiel Elliott because, you know, it's one thing to rank them and say, okay, this is where I think at the end of the season he'll finish. But it's a different thing when you're drafting and every play draft that I've been doing, I'm on the clock in that second round, middle of the second and he's there and he looks enticing.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And I never know whether to take him or not take him. He'll never make it back around. But it's too early there. I just feel like I can't.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome to the mind of Jace.

[Andy Holloway]

I can't ever end up with Ezekiel Elliott on my rosters unless I take him so early that I feel like I made a mistake. That being said, the reason it's especially hard to, you know, rank Ezekiel Elliott is because where you draft him is so league dependent more than any other player that I can remember. Look at your, at your league and see how many players make the playoffs. You know, because if you're in a 12 team league and only four make the playoffs, don't draft Zeke because he, you know, he's got that week six by. You're going to get him at week eight.

[Jason Moore]

Too many weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

Too many weeks. But if you're in a play draft league like I was doing, you already know you get the entirety of the season. You get those playoff weeks. It doesn't matter whether he's suspended early or late. You're going to get every game that he plays.

[Jason Moore]

Hey, Brooks, in our sleeper bot league, did you take Zeke?

[Mike Wright]

I took him.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, Mike, you took him.

[Mike Wright]

I took him.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. Hey, if you want to follow us on Twitter, the website, the website Twitter, you go to twitter.com @theffballers.

[Mike Wright]

They got a good thing going.

[Jason Moore]

Good thing going. Check us out on Patreon. Join our fantasy football community. Join a league with foot clan players. Get game day alerts, get a bunch of in season perks. JoinTheFoot.com is the community. You get access to a ton of forums. Look, this is why we do it. We do it for the community. And so check that [e-mail] and we're on YouTube, fantasy sports network, etc. We're everywhere. Before we get into the news, I'm going to update you on the Zeke legal situation and then we're going to get into preseason week three. I do have a little something prepared. This goes out to Mike.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, to me?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

This is to you, Gilles Lee. No, this to you.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

I. I just wanted to. Look, I gotta be a man here, and I gotta come out and apologize now. I. Let me stress something. I want nothing more than you to be just wrong on everything. And it brings me great joy when you are. But at this point in time. Look, Mike, you are a bold man. You like to make bold stands. You like to go after players that I think sometimes is lunacy. And look, we still disagree on Stefan Diggs.

[Mike Wright]

That's fair.

[Jason Moore]

But I've come around on several of the players that you stepped out and stepped up for.

[Mike Wright]

I like where this is going, and.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to list them right now. I'm sorry about Carlos Hyde. He looks like the feature back and he looks pretty darn good. I'm sorry about Ty Montgomery and my doubt. He looks like the player that should own that backfield and the passing game in Green Bay.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

I'm sorry about Amir Abdullah.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. Wait, what?

[Andy Holloway]

Wow.

[Mike Wright]

Really?

[Jason Moore]

I think Amir Abdullah is just. There's only two players I have confidence on that offense, and it's Amir Abdullah and Golden Tate in terms of their involvement in that offense.

[Andy Holloway]

Matthew Stafford.

[Jason Moore]

Well, of course. Of course. Pass catchers. I'm sorry about Martavis Bryant.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I'm sorry that I doubted his road to recovery. I'm sorry about Keenan Allen.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he looked real good.

[Jason Moore]

He looks real good. And I might be sorry.

[Mike Wright]

Is this name on the list?

[Jason Moore]

I might be sorry about Kyle Juszczyk. Yes. Because I think Kyle Juszczyk might be involved in the passing game. No, I'm not drafting him.

[Mike Wright]

That's. That's a fair. That's a fair thing to say.

[Jason Moore]

But look, you. You. The preseason comes with a lot. Look, we're not trying to just be stubborn on this show. We're trying to be right and.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Mike, how are you feeling? I need to hop in here as an interviewer. Mike, how are you feeling after just winning that championship?

[Mike Wright]

The. I mean, I feel like I've just been hugged by a warm cloud of joy.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Your dad is proud of you. That's what it feels like.

[Mike Wright]

My hair was just rustled, and he.

[Andy Holloway]

Said, good job, fella.

[Mike Wright]

He said, good. Way to be.

[Jason Moore]

Attaboy, kid.

[Andy Holloway]

You made me proud today. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

It's just funny. I just. Over the past week, when I'm. You know, you watch these games and you. You can go one direction or the other on a lot of these players, and I just kept finding myself saying, wow. This is a guy Mike liked early and I like him now.

[Mike Wright]

So I will say this the move, if the Vikings really are doing this, if they really are putting Adam Thielen in the slot, that it has me, that will change my projection for Stevon Diggs. I still think he's an excellent player. I still think he has a strong chance to break out this season. But that's when you're planning for a player at a specific position and then they change it. That has to. That changes how you feel about a guy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'm a big feeling value fan right now. So let's talk news.

[Andy Holloway]

News and notes from around the.

[Jason Moore]

There are a lot of rumors there, there's a lot of talk, there's a lot of speculation about the Ezekiel Elliott legal situation. And I just want to let people know where we are at, what his options are and what we can expect from the high end of the low end on Ezekiel Elliott and whether he'll be playing for your fantasy team. The basic situation right now is that the NFL is reviewing an appeal from Ezekiel Elliott. His suspension is scheduled to start on September 2nd. So if this appeal in the process of review with Henderson is not completed by the second, he will be then barred from team activities. He will not be permitted to practice with the team. And their first game, I believe, is the 10th of September. So there's a time period there where we can expect a ruling to happen. Now, the likelihood of that happening seems pretty high. He's ruled in that small of a time period. If for some reason he essentially cannot rule in that amount of time, Ezekiel Elliott has the option to try to seek an injunction because he can basically say, look, irreparable harm is happening to me by not getting to play. It's not just about game checks because he can go seek those later, but he could try to seek a legal injunction allowing him to play in week one. That's a long shot. Okay. That's a long shot for Zeke to be able to pull that off the grounds for that to happen legally, you need a pretty high standard. So I'm not expecting that to happen. The only other thing that could happen is let's say this suspension does not get reduced. They came out and say it's just six games. He could in theory pursue legal relief in that situation and is believed to.

[Andy Holloway]

He's believed that he's going to do that. If it's not, campus said he will do that.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And now the one problem with that is that there is no pathway and guarantee to the Timeline in which that legal relief will take place and if it fails, because again, the standard of proof is very, very high for him to get relief in that situation. And it is not historically on the side of the player. If it doesn't happen, you are risking November, you are risking potentially December. You do not know when that comes down. It could be through the entire year, but it could also be end of season problems. So the best case scenario in his situation is the NFL comes down and they reduce the suspension from six to five or six to four, and you accept it and you move on. So that's the situation we're in with Zeke now. If he did pursue legal action and he pushed that envelope, he could play in the beginning of the year. And that's the reality of the situation.

[Andy Holloway]

Is it possible that it could be like Brady and it could be pushed all the way through the next off season where you end up getting Zeke at a value and have him for the entire season?

[Jason Moore]

It's possible, but I would personally, based on my research of this situation, I would put the odds of that happening at less than 5%. And so I certainly wouldn't be making a fantasy football judgment call based on that. So that's where we're at. Vance McDonald, picked up by the Steelers. We talked about it live on the show. It broke on the show yesterday, basically. Mike. Tom. Is that a quote? Brooks.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

He came out and said the Steelers acquired him because the team's existing tight ends weren't consistently varsity enough.

[Andy Holloway]

And let me tell you something, he was accurate. I went back.

[Mike Wright]

Jesse James, jv.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. No, Jesse James is getting sent down to JV for sure. Because I went back after this trade last night and I watched every snap for the Steelers. We'll talk about that in a little bit. And I have three notes on Jesse James that were, you know, in quick succession. He ran a wrong route. Big Ben turns around and was like, oh, you could just see it on his face, how angry he was.

[Jason Moore]

Jv.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Then he dropped a pass.

[Jason Moore]

Jv.

[Andy Holloway]

Then he whiffed on a block like, I mean, he terrorized one drive. And then they go in there like, yeah, we're. We're trading for a new tight end.

[Jason Moore]

So that was a little. Look, a fourth round pick is nothing. Well, but they.

[Mike Wright]

They sent a five. So, I mean, it's just a.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, it's just five.

[Mike Wright]

Four. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

So they made way more sense than what we saw in the breaking news yesterday.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

They paid basically nothing.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. Redskins coach Jay Gruden admitted that Josh Dachshund's continued missed time is a concern and quote, the second year hasn't done a lot for us.

[Mike Wright]

This is a problem as the resident Josh Docks and Truth are on this panel. This is.

[Jason Moore]

I did not apologize about Josh and that's fine.

[Mike Wright]

This is very concerning for not just this season, but for the long term career. I mean, it's historically proven that, that wide receivers who, who do nothing through.

[Andy Holloway]

Their first two years never do anything.

[Mike Wright]

They're done. They don't.

[Jason Moore]

They don't get another chance even if he stays healthy. I still think you've got a little bit of a problem here because you, you just order the pass catchers, you know, Reed, Crowder, Pryor, those guys are already above him on the depth chart. And probably the line of where Cousins is looking to go with the ball and maybe Chris Thompson's in that list too. I mean, it's just, it's a problem.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. It almost seems right now like his upside is like Kenny Stills right now. Yes, it is lower on the depth chart. He's got some deep ball. It's a great comparison ability, but yeah, it's not. Not a great flyer right now.

[Jason Moore]

Good news, everybody. Devonta Freeman has cleared the concussion protocol.

[Andy Holloway]

That is great news for the Falcons. They look like they needed him when he was gone.

[Jason Moore]

Proceed per usual with Devonta Freeman. You guys ready to get into the preseason?

[Andy Holloway]

Lots covered. Let's do it weekly. Rewind.

[Jason Moore]

And again, if you didn't hear yesterday's show and you're missing some of these games, go back. Listen, we talked about the things we observed and the findings and conclusions that we're making basically for this show. It's what type of rankings implications do these games these preseason Week three trial, you know, basically the dress rehearsal for the regular season. What are they doing to our fantasy ranks and how do they impact that? Let's start with the Miami Philadelphia game. And this is one we all got a chance to watch a good portion of. I think you saw Jay Cutler and the difference that he represents for that offense. But from a ranking standpoint, I think the big storyline there is Devontae Parker. We talked about him a lot on this show. We talked about the possible ceiling for Devonte Parker as a top 15 type of talent. And look, if Jay Cutler, if the narrative holds true that Jay Cutler wants to lock in on one or two guys and especially a downfield threat like Parker with size, somebody that you can throw the ball up to, and even if it's a foolish decision on Cutler's part, a Play could still be made that looks him look. Makes him look good look. Parker's upside is tremendous. You guys are with me on that 100%.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, Devonte Parker was my rising star this week. And it's, it's exactly because of that. Because of those smoke and Jay Cuddy targets. And devontae Parker is. He's a, he's a very athletic man. And if he just needs a quarterback that's going to give him a chance to use that skills, maybe he's still a raw wide receiver. He's not the best route runner. He doesn't get off of press coverage the best. But if, if Cutler is going to target him. That's what it's all about for fantasy.

[Andy Holloway]

As of right now, I think that offense as a whole is looking pretty good because the forgotten man is Kenny Stills, who thrives on being forgotten.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, he sneaks around behind the defense with his speed and just catches a wide open touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

Parker's, I imagine that's how I feel.

[Jason Moore]

Like it is Pink Panther, unless you're watching.

[Mike Wright]

That's what I'm seeing.

[Andy Holloway]

Like a cat burglar. Unless you're watching the al.

[Jason Moore]

That's the market.

[Andy Holloway]

That's how I always feel like it is. I feel like, oh, the defense just forgot about it because every time that they throw it deep to Kenny Stills, he's just completely wide open. Like everyone forgot he plays football. Yeah. Jay Ajayi, I thought looked really good as well.

[Jason Moore]

I want to ask you a question about Devontae Park. And right now his ADP is 606. Right. But it has gone, you know, straight up basically from the 18th of. I don't think you can get him at 606. That's the honest truth. I don't, I don't think that that's where he's actually going to be going. And I don't want you to have an expectation that you can just wait until, you know, 606. So, fifth round, would you take Devonte Parker in the fifth round or is that just too high for you?

[Mike Wright]

I'm okay with it.

[Jason Moore]

Depending on, I mean, basically Golden Tate or devonte Parker.

[Mike Wright]

That's what I'm saying. This is a roster construction situation. I mean, once I'm. When I'm hitting that fifth round area, that's what I'm looking for. These guys in this tier that I, I'm buying this guy as a breakout. So Golden Tate, we know what he can do, but he can't break out like devonte Parker could So it's. It's all about what those first four picks look like.

[Jason Moore]

Now. Here's something incredible. Jarvis Landry is going two picks behind Devonte Parker right now.

[Andy Holloway]

That is. I was going to bring. I was going to bring up the value that has come to Jarvis Landry. Jarvis Landry is a guy I have not been excited about this season. I expect him to regress from his being around 100 receptions a year since he's come in the league because of the change in the offense, the, you know, natural tendencies of Jay Cutler. That being said, all of a sudden he's, you know, Jarvis Landry is being treated like someone nobody wants to touch. And that's foolish. He's now dropped in drafts to a point where if you look at who's around him and if your roster construction says I need a steady guy who's going to be really involved in a decent offense, I think Jarvis Landry is becoming draftable for me for the first.

[Jason Moore]

Time, ironically, I still think he's a guaranteed 85 plus 1000 plus 4 touchdown guy. I mean, his whole career has never been anything different. 84, 110, 94, despite two years, 11.

[Mike Wright]

He went way down, though.

[Jason Moore]

He went way down to 94 receptions and 1100 yards with four touchdowns.

[Andy Holloway]

And a lot of that was without Ryan Tannehill.

[Mike Wright]

But I'm saying the first four games, that was normal Jarvis Landry targets. Yes, it was.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I know what you're saying, but I looked deep. I looked deep into this in the offseason because that. I heard that narrative a lot. It was not so much the split with and without Jay Ajay, it was the split with and without Ryan Tannehill. And it just so happened that Tannehill played all the games with. With a Jai in the or without a Jay in the beginning of the year. So I, I mean, you could be right that that's the reason, but I think the reason was actually the quarterback change, not the JJ20 quarterback change was.

[Mike Wright]

In was against Arizona. That was game 13.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. That's what I'm saying at the end.

[Mike Wright]

Right. But I'm saying, so you can go before Arizona and you have games of three targets. Six, six, five. I mean, I'm just saying that there. I totally buy into that. Once Jai took over, the targets that we are used to for Jarvis Landry came down. They didn't disappear, but they came down.

[Jason Moore]

24 years old, never missed a game in his career. Utilization in this game and in the offense, there's design plays for Jarvis Landry. There's just no possible way that he's not going to be heavily involved in this offense. And I think that the pendulum swung too far. There's no way I'm taking.

[Mike Wright]

I can, I can buy into that.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. So otherwise, you know, we, we've talked about Jai. He's one of the players with Melvin Gordon on my list of guys that can be in that top five elite category. He's a great player. He's going to be utilized on all three downs. And as Jason says, the greatest argument for Jarvis Landry is Damian Williams, who is not a very good running back and not going to be in a position to take over.

[Mike Wright]

Speaking of running backs, the, the storyline on the other side of the field then is LeGarrett blunt. What is going to happen? I would assume at this point, now that we're approaching preseason week four and Blunt is still on the team, that this is what they're going to move forward with. But how long is LeGarrett blunt keep that job? Wendell Smallwood has been adequate when he's gotten in. Corey Clement has looked solid as well. Meanwhile, LeGarrett Blunt has given you two yards.

[Andy Holloway]

Two yards.

[Mike Wright]

And then he had a big run, you know, 16 yards. But other than that, he's just as.

[Jason Moore]

No, it's a hands on, disgusting situation. That. Look, you said, how long does he keep that job? I don't know what that job for LeGarrett blunt means. That job for LeGarrett blunt could be 10 carries a game.

[Mike Wright]

I say over under 190 carries for LeGarrett Blount.

[Andy Holloway]

Under.

[Jason Moore]

I'll take the under.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And I would say that at the very end of the draft, last pick area, Wendell Smallwood, even though we don't love his talent, is a worthy pick because it could come out in week one. It could end up where he's the guy getting 15 carries a game and catching a couple of balls. And that's worth, that's, that's, you know, worth your last round.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. There was a question on Twitter yesterday, would I take a late round flyer on Wendell Smallwood or to Nell Pumphrey? And the answer is Smallwood.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Smallwood. By a lot.

[Jason Moore]

So, hey, before we talk about the next ballgame, which I think is the Charger Rams. Charger Rams. We do want to thank today's sponsor, one that I can personally vouch for. It's Casper. Okay. The Casper mattress. My wife and I sleep on a Casper mattress. We have for the last two years. This is an obsessively Engineered mattress and what they get, what the people like Casper actually understand is that making a decision on your mattress, that's a big deal. That's why they give you 100 nights a risk free trial in your own home. If you don't love it, they're just going to pick it up from you. So you know, you don't have to try to stick a giant mattress back in a box. Like that's not going to work. They'll come and pick it up. They understand the importance of sleeping and evaluating and making sure that you love the mattress before you commit. And they got free shipping and returns to the US and Canada. So they make it super easy. And much like our show, look, there's over 20,000 reviews with an average of 4.8 stars. People love this mattress, not just me and my wife. So look, we love it. And right now you can get $50 towards any mattress purchase by visiting Casper.comfootballers and using the offer code footballers. That's Casper.comfootballers and you can use that offer code footballers. Terms and conditions apply. We love the Casper mattress Foot clan.

[Mike Wright]

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[Jason Moore]

All right, let's talk about the Chargers and the Rams.

[Andy Holloway]

Chargers and the Rams. This was a game I was looking forward to talking about. You had two very different looking teams in this game. I'm telling you. The Chargers looked.

[Mike Wright]

Are you talking about the Rams this week as compared to last week?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. As opposed to the week one. So, I mean, what are you going to get in the Los Angeles Rams if we want to start there? Week one preseason, they just looked out of sync. They looked putrid. They looked as bad as, you know, I've been talking about them for a while. And then week two, all of a sudden, it was like, hey, there's some offensive line movement. There's Todd Gurley. The offense is looking okay. Jared Goff had a good game. And so I was excited to watch this game, see what Jared Goff. And especially now with Sammy Watkins. And is this offense going to turn around and be potent now? I think a big part might have been the fact that Todd Gurley was sat. Todd Gurley didn't play in the game, but that offense was putrid and Jared Goff was worse than bad. I think that at the very beginning of the game, it was like I was starting to stream notes and thinking, like, okay, Jared Goff's looking all right. His first pass. Okay, that one wasn't really his fault. And then the wheels fell off.

[Mike Wright]

Come on. Come on, Jared.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, he was really bad. He was 5 of 8 for something like 58 yards and a pick. And, you know, when I saw Sammy Watkins is someone I really wanted to watch, I wanted to say how Sammy look? And I. You don't know, because he. I don't even know if he was targeted. Now, when I say I don't know if he was targeted, that was because one of those passes might have been to Sammy Watkins, but it was so far away from him that I don't. I genuinely was.

[Jason Moore]

I don't know.

[Andy Holloway]

I wasn't sure because there was another wide receiver somewhat close by. It's your call. User's choice. But the offense looks bad.

[Mike Wright]

It's like a fielder's choice.

[Andy Holloway]

The offensive line looked bad, so hopefully it was because Gurley was missing and maybe he makes that offense run. I will say this. There was this hysterical part after the pick where they came out and they ran the ball eight times in a row.

[Jason Moore]

Chargers did.

[Mike Wright]

The Rams.

[Andy Holloway]

The Rams did. Oh, now, if that. That might sound like nothing, like, oh, they just ran it a lot in a row. You have not seen recently a game where they run the ball eight times in a row. It's comical. It's like, whoa, they are saying, Jared Goff, you don't get to throw the ball anymore. They hand it off. Hand it off. And they kept picking up first down.

[Jason Moore]

So I like that. Eight in a row. Yeah, give me that, Gurley.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. It was a Good sign for Gurley. Other side of the ball. It's really, really simple. The offense looked great. Their defense looked great as well. For the Chargers, I think they were 20.

[Jason Moore]

Ingram combo is going to be.

[Andy Holloway]

And the two players that stood out, other than Philip Rivers, who was something like 8 of 8 for 85 and a touchdown, 6 for 6. There you go. Something like. No, but the two players that stood out, Melvin Gordon looked great. I mean, he looked fast. He looked like his vision was good. I mean, I was really getting excited.

[Mike Wright]

That's what I need from Melvin Gordon. Honestly, it's division.

[Andy Holloway]

His vision has never looked good. And that was the first time I was like, oh, maybe he's getting used to the system and the scheme. So he's a good one to target. And Keenan Allen. Yeah, baby, like Keenan Allen, let's go. I mean his hands are great, his routes are great. If he could just stay on the field, you're not going to be disappointed.

[Jason Moore]

Everybody wants Keenan Allen to be Keenan Allen.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, yes, we do. That's true.

[Andy Holloway]

Those are all my takeaways.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's talk about the Panthers in Jacksonville. This is another one I think we saw quite a few snaps of. It was an interesting game because I was watching this running back rotation. The expectations that we have for McCaffrey and Jonathan Stewart and if you watched how they utilize these guys, it was a pure rotation. It was two snaps. Jonathan Stewart got the first two, McCaffrey got the next two, Stewart got the next two, McCaffrey got the Next Two. And on that drive, I mean it was. Cam Newton didn't really test the shoulder very much. It was. There were two passes on the opening drive. Now they scored. He had a dump off to McCaffrey and the touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin, who looks, looks like he's going to be a key cog in that passing offense. But it was the rotation that I was looking at. And when we did the live show in Toronto, one of my look, the value to me was Jonathan Stewart because this is a guy going in the 9th or 10th round of your draft, forgotten about, not sexy, not fun to draft, not fun to start. But this is a player with nine touchdowns last year. This is a player who without question will be part of this rotation. There was no doubt in my mind production wise. Stewart was great in this. He broke off a couple of huge runs.

[Andy Holloway]

He did.

[Jason Moore]

McCaffrey really didn't have a big play, but he was used frequently. So I think it's going to be one of those situations that it's Better for Carolina to rotate those two players and it's not better for fantasy owners and making those decisions. But I'll take the better value in Jonathan Stewart late in the same vein that I want a Terrence west or a Robert Kelly. Cam, nice to see him on the field. Nice to see him complete both of his passes, but you can't draw a lot of conclusions from that. And then he was out of the game 100%.

[Mike Wright]

I'll jump in here with the the jets and the Giants.

[Jason Moore]

How about I talk about Jacksonville, though?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I apologize.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's all right. You can jump in right after this. But Jacksonville, the storyline here was whether Blake Bortles is deserving of that starting role. He got. He got in with the second team. He looked better than Henny did. And you guys have both said that you weren't really that put off by Bortles this preseason. I think the important thing for fantasy owners to recognize here is simply the fact that, look, after all the tumult, after all the fear, there's going to be a player in Blake Bortles that as long as he's starting, he needs to be considered for streaming options. And two, what Doug Marone did with Bortles and Alan Robinson at the end of the year should not be ignored. Therefore, the precipitous fall of Alan Robinson is something to watch in fantasy football because if Bortles is there, he keys in on Robinson. And no, Bortles is not that great. But it doesn't really matter if you're the number one passing option in an offense. We have a ton of these situations around the NFL. So I think Allen Robinson's drop, fantasy wise, it's gone way, way too far for a player that was basically a first round pick last year. Now he's a fifth round pick. That's just crazy to me.

[Andy Holloway]

See, that's what should have happened to DeAndre Hopkins and then I'd be willing to draft him, but he hasn't fallen. I think you bring up a great point. Alan Robinson in the fifth. That's worth taking a step.

[Mike Wright]

Don't forget about Alan Robinson. Yes, the production was awful, but the targets were identical. He had the ball coming his way. Now that the targets weren't nearly as good. But I'm just saying that Bortles, it's not like he went away. The offense did not go away from throwing the ball to Alan Robinson.

[Jason Moore]

And we're not going back to a time in place where it was the Alan Robinson, Alan Hearns show. For whatever reason, Alan Hearns has really fallen out of favor in Jacksonville. He's barely played this preseason. He played some in this game. But they like DD Westbrook, they like some of the other options. They have Marquis Lee and so just pay attention to Alan Robinson in the fifth round because I think I, I think I'd rather draft Alan Robinson than I would Devonte Adams. And I think that surprises people. But give me the number one target in that offense versus, you know, the number two, three, four rotational target in Green Bay. It's a week to week thing, but just something to pay attention to. So Mike, you can go and jump in.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

With the. What is it?

[Mike Wright]

So the jets and the Giants and this first name I'm going to list is similar to Jonathan Stewart. You don't want to draft him. His counterpart is the new hotness. Matt Forte started the game. Matt Forte is going to get used. It's going to be gross. It's not going to be high level production, but he's going to get the ball. And I would still much rather have Blah Powell on my fantasy team if all things are equal. But Matt Forte is free in drafts. Bilal Powell is not. And I know we look, if you want to look at the stat lines and say, well, Bilal Powell had this huge touchdown, which he did and it was fantastic because he outran everybody. That was, that was second half. That was against the second team or third team defense. That was not what Matt Forte was going, going up against at the beginning.

[Jason Moore]

Matt Forte is basically free. And if you think about that, that's a player that if he was out there on the waiver wire during Week 5 of the NFL season. Everybody's dying to pick up a player who is either the starter or a rotational, you know, high use back on any team in football because running backs are so scarce and he's being ignored.

[Mike Wright]

Right now and he's. Man, Forte's still an excellent pass catcher. I know. Again, we all want Powell on our team, but Forte has a similar skill set, albeit slightly deteriorated with age and use. But don't forget about Forte. Smash Jackson, bro. Come on, man.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, that's the official analysis.

[Mike Wright]

We're back. We are fully back to Paul Perkins.

[Jason Moore]

For those that are new, it's Paul Perkins, as you say. That's Paul Perkins we're talking about.

[Mike Wright]

We tried to rebrand him to get people excited about Smash Jackson.

[Jason Moore]

Paul Perkins smushed Jackson.

[Andy Holloway]

He and Wikipedia rejected the rebrand.

[Mike Wright]

He. He gets what's blocked and if, if the offensive line gives him a hole.

[Andy Holloway]

He will get through it.

[Mike Wright]

And he has enough good moves to make moves after he's going. But he's not a guy that if there's penetration, it's done.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he picks up what's blocked and the holes that open up, if he's got good holes, he's a pretty darn good running back. That's not an offensive line that opens up big holes. So put those two things together.

[Mike Wright]

And then on top of that, Darkwa got the goal line carrying. I mean, this is the draft value of. Paul Perkins has gotten out of control where he's going to be on likely zero of my teams. And then the other guy I just wanted to highlight, besides Christian Hackenberg being a very bad quarterback, very bad corporate. Evan Ingram is. I don't know how much work he's going to get, but one he can't block. I don't know why the Giants are still trying, still trying to make this a thing of. Let's make Evan Ingram block. What he can do is run nasty routes. I mean, I had this, his opening catch. I said, jay, you have to see this. I mean, Evan Ingram from in line goes double move. And the linebacker is just his. His jockstrap is on the ground along with all of his clothing. And Evan Ingram is wide open.

[Andy Holloway]

So it was just straight cartoon.

[Mike Wright]

So he just. I'm not drafting Evan Ingram and redraft, but he's a name to.

[Jason Moore]

That was something talent wise that just jumped off.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And Ingram got a fade into the end zone. Just. They're. They will use him. Now granted, I mean, the big time wide receivers were not playing right for the Giants, but just. Just something to pay attention to.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, well, we could talk Colts, Steelers, the Indianapolis. Yeah, well, you know what? Shout out to Scott Tolzine. You want to know what? You look like a competent backup quarterback and that's really impressive because you've never looked like that before. The offense moved. You know, Frank Gore actually looked pretty good. I mean, you know, I've continually, like everyone in the world just kept shifting him down and down in my rankings and getting less and less excited about Frank Gore and you know, Andrew Luck might miss some time. What's Frank Gore going to be like then? And he just gets lower.

[Jason Moore]

What about the two that you just said, Paul Perkins or Frank Gore? Who'd you rather have? Because they're like back to back in drafts.

[Andy Holloway]

I would much rather have Frank Gore.

[Mike Wright]

I'll take Gore.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, so Frank Gore, he looked spry. He actually had some really good runs.

[Jason Moore]

And you mean like the history of his entire career.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, exactly. Like his entire career. He had a really nice 1 yard touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

Poor Frank Gore. Where he's talked about is he actually had some good runs. He's like, bro, bro.

[Andy Holloway]

I have not ever stopped having good runs.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I can't remember a player who the fantasy community has tried to bury for six years.

[Andy Holloway]

This is the first year where I've been anti Gore and it feels weird for me. And now I'm like, wait, I think I might be wrong.

[Jason Moore]

The Red Witch keeps bringing him back. He just keeps coming back.

[Andy Holloway]

Dante Moncrief looked really good. He caught a nice slant across the middle, took it for 51 yards. Looks big, looks strong, looks healthy. Most importantly, on the other side of the ball, I talked about Jesse James missing a block, running a bad route, dropping a ball, having another tight end traded for.

[Mike Wright]

He's just being an outlaw, man.

[Andy Holloway]

The two guys that stood out to me first would be Nile Davis. Nile Davis had the first five plays, six if you include actually returning the kickoff. They ran him, they passed to him, they lined him out wide. They basically said, you're playing the Le'Veon Bell roll. Now, why do I say all this?

[Jason Moore]

No Toussaint. No Bell, though, in this game, right?

[Andy Holloway]

No, Toussaint came in later. I mean, he was running ahead of Tucson. What this says to me is, don't draft any backup running back for Le'Veon Bell because you're going to get it wrong. You're going to get it wrong. Is it Toussaint?

[Mike Wright]

Is it Connor?

[Andy Holloway]

Is it Connor? Is it Nile Davis? I don't know. But when, or I shouldn't say when, if left Bell goes down, there's going to be a waiver wire, you know, frenzy, and you're not even going to know who it is to get it right. I'm just saying hold off there. Last note there. Eli Rogers, I've been a big fan of him as far as. I just think he's a talented slot receiver. He was the one man in the slot. The whole first team offense, they went to him often. And he could be a sneaky play in cpr. Yeah, definitely ppr because he's not a downfield touchdown type of guy.

[Jason Moore]

All right, I want to talk about the Patriots and the Lions matchup. And look, they. Immediately after this game was completed, they just basically they took the first quarter, they put it on DVD and they shipped it out to everybody high school in the nation to just teach what a perfect offense looks like. This is a clinic. The Patriots basically Just dissected and destroyed the Lions to the point that the Lions announcer started yelling into his microphone and just lost his mind. I mean, we know what happened in this game. Julian Edelman went down, and to Mike's credit, maybe should have been included in the apology earlier. Danny Amendola slid right into that spot in the game. Live action. Now, they may scheme it differently, but Amendola did come in. He was targeted in the same way that Julian Edelman was. And he made a couple of great catches. Takeaways from this game. I am firmly convinced that I don't want to mess with the running backs. I will add a certain value. But Deion Lewis, what's the value for.

[Mike Wright]

Gillisle for you right now?

[Jason Moore]

Well, he's going in the fifth. The value for me is the seventh. Okay, so I'm not getting him. Not getting.

[Andy Holloway]

No, you might. I've seen him fall. I mean, he's. When you've got an average draft position with a guy like Gillisley, sometimes he'll go in the third, sometimes he'll go in the seventh.

[Jason Moore]

Dion Lewis had all the first team snaps. I mean, this was all. It was just handed to Dion Lewis to start this game. James White then had like one carry and then Gillesley's first carry was on the goal line. It was a two yard, it was two yards away. He ran that in, converted. Then they ended up getting a penalty on the extra point. So he had a chance from the one, got the extra point or the two point conversion in. And Gillesley looked fine, Lewis looked fine. The running backs, it's going to be a rotational thing. There a weird observation that I made. You know, Gillisley, I'm a little worried about the ball being able to protect the ball. The way he runs with that ball wide out and open all the time, it just. I was just cringing to think what Bill Belichick is going to do.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, he'd be done. If he fumbles, he's on the bench.

[Jason Moore]

The other, other takeaway, you guys didn't. I'm sure you didn't know this Gronk is unstoppable. I mean, he's absolutely unstoppable. Couple incredible catches, couple of goal line pass interference calls, and Brady looked great. So I. Look, we're not telling you anything new and special about this offense other than, hey, let's fill in for Edelman.

[Andy Holloway]

The Patriots are good.

[Jason Moore]

And then. I've already talked about this. Look, I came away from the lion side of the ball. Their offense sputtered and there were turnovers. To start this game. But once they got into an actual, you know, halfway through the second quarter and Stafford had the opportunity to lead some drives. Matthew Stafford's a really, really good quarterback. He made a lot of plays in the pocket to evade pressure. That impressed me. I wasn't super impressed with the offensive line, but Abdullah is the guy. I mean it was, it was pure Abdullah. Abdullah lined up wide like outside for routes on several plays like not even in the slot, just literally lining up wide, having him run a slant and beat that corner inside. And then Golden Tate was heavily involved as well. I think this was a step back game for Golladay. I think, you know, he had a couple of, of targets but he caused an interception on a play. And smooth, no, not smooth routes in.

[Andy Holloway]

This one hit a bad note.

[Jason Moore]

And then Marvin Jones, the stat line again, a situation where the stat line didn't match the production.

[Andy Holloway]

Four for 62 and a touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, and that was with missing like a, like a 40 yard incredible toe tap in traffic bomb that he caught. And they basically just ruled that it was like slightly bobbling in his hands. But it was a great play. He came down with it. So I'm very impressed with him as a sleeper. Those are my takeaways from that matchup.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to jump in here with the Texan the Saints and honestly there's not very much to take away from this game. The number one takeaway I have in this, the Saints defense may be good. So beware of that. Those the days of the Saints shootouts because their defense is so porous. Those could be gone. I'm just, I'm not. This is not a.

[Andy Holloway]

Give us some low odds.

[Mike Wright]

Sure, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

But there is turnover every year. So it's an interesting.

[Mike Wright]

Just throwing it out there that this is something to pay attention to.

[Andy Holloway]

They focus on.

[Jason Moore]

Let me ask you this, would you then because of how people view this, the defense, you know, people looking at that week one or two, week three matchup and they think, okay, target against the target against the Saints. Would you be avoiding that as a gimme?

[Mike Wright]

I don't remember who they play week one, but I'm serious, like I think it's possible that their defense is going to be good. And really the only other takeaway both Ingram and Peterson played, everyone was splitting reps. Ingram did start. The only real takeaway from this game for me is you need to draft Ted Ginn. He's going to be involved. He's looks fantastic. He. They started the game with a, with a jet Sweep with him. And it was really like a 60 yard run, but it ended up losing a huge chunk of it from. I think Ingram got called for blocking in the back or something. But he's going to be involved.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And he's going to be sneaky. He's going to score long touchdowns. So just Andy had labeled him as his sleeper on Monday and I am confirming that. You need to draft.

[Jason Moore]

You have to draft. He's such a perfect end of round, end of draft pick too. I mean, guy that can blow up in the first few weeks. Plus his draft position right now, still the 12th round, which is madness.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. That's insane.

[Mike Wright]

I would take him in the 10th.

[Andy Holloway]

Absolutely. He's worth that. All right, let's talk the Raiders and the Cowboys.

[Jason Moore]

You had nothing from the Houston side of the ball, Mike.

[Mike Wright]

There's really nothing. I mean, Bruce Ellington continues to look great, but there's just. It was, it was.

[Jason Moore]

You didn't have Strong or Hopkins on the field, did you?

[Mike Wright]

No. And it's just. It's like nothing happened. Like, I mean, it was just. It was a defensive battle. Oh, goodness.

[Andy Holloway]

How was Lamar Miller?

[Mike Wright]

He was okay. He's okay.

[Andy Holloway]

He's saving it. He's saving it up for the regular season.

[Mike Wright]

He's okay. And I mean, it was low scoring game. The final score was 0 to 13 and Saints won the game. But I'm telling you, like the entire.

[Jason Moore]

First half, it was just like defensive.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it was a defensive struggle. And you're like, what is, what is happening?

[Andy Holloway]

I think you're going to see that a lot with the Texans. A defensive struggle. Yeah, just a defensive battle with the other team, whoever they play. Because whoever they play, I mean, keep in mind, whoever they play, that defense might look good, just like the Saints defense did. I don't know if this offense is okay.

[Mike Wright]

I just, I'm just, I'm, I'm on note. I'm on tape saying these things.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure, sure. The Raiders and the Cowboys, you had a really bad. You know, I would say overall a bad. At least first drive, maybe a bad game for Derek Carr, he was, you know, he missed some throws and didn't look very sharp. The guy that impressed me the most.

[Mike Wright]

Was actually Carr's final stat line was pretty good. But you're saying it just didn't look as good as it was?

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly. Well, honestly, the wide receivers, man, they all looked good. Mari Cooper was good. He just overthrow. He overthrew some guys where even when they caught the ball, they could have had big plays, but they had to jump and stop and get it. So, yeah, the stat line would look all right. Corderell Patterson is a name we need to at least pay somewhat attention to now for the waivers because if he shows in regular season like he's doing now, he was incredibly involved. I mean, he was as. He was involved in, you know, every play. He was on the field almost 100% of the time for the first offense and he's returning kicks. 4 for 30 with a touchdown. Yeah, 4 for 30 with a touchdown. And he looked.

[Jason Moore]

No more Andre Holmes.

[Andy Holloway]

He looked like a wide receiver, which is, you know, great because he.

[Jason Moore]

That's one of the top things you want to do as a wide receiver.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jason Moore]

So what about rankings takeaways from either side of the ball in this matchup?

[Andy Holloway]

Rankings takeaways. Marshawn lynch, his usage in the very beginning scared me a little bit. They were quick to bring in and I realized maybe it's just preseason, but with all their talk about kind of resting him, not making sure they overwork him. Deandre Washington looked good. Jalen Richard had some great plays and they were utilizing all three backs throughout the time. However, when it was any kind of passing down, it wasn't Marshawn in there. So if Marshawn lynch is, you know, south of 200 carries at the end of the season, I'm not going to be shocked. So maybe where he's going right now might be a little bit high. Other side of the ball ranking takeaway, man alive. Dak has been using the tight end like crazy this preseason, and I don't think that's going to change. That's their scheme, that's their system. Jason Whitten is 35 years old, but nobody has told him that he looked unbelievable. The offense was Dak Prescott and Jason.

[Mike Wright]

Witten 6 for 74 and it's that.

[Jason Moore]

Just the Raiders, though. I mean, last last year, despite Dax Love of the tight end, only three games the entire season that Jason went was in double digit fantasy points. I mean, only three games.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, that's what I love about.

[Jason Moore]

And one was Cleveland, so that doesn't even count.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, exactly one. One of the things I love about Dak Prescott is he.

[Mike Wright]

We're taking those away. All games against Cleveland no longer count.

[Andy Holloway]

Is that he takes the easy passes that the defensive get, that the defenses give him and you bring, you bring it up. I mean, it could just be the fact that that's what Oakland wasn't covering and he got their policy over and over and over.

[Jason Moore]

Ignore the tight end.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

All right. What, do we have matchups left? Mike, do we have anything else?

[Mike Wright]

My final one is the Bengals in Washington.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

You want me to jump in there?

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

All right. Bengals in Washington.

[Jason Moore]

Hey, guys.

[Andy Holloway]

A.J.

[Mike Wright]

Green'S an excellent wide receiver. Jeremy Hill, once, that's. That was literally a takeaway. You're like breaking news. But it's just, it's a reminder when a guy's coming back from an injury.

[Jason Moore]

He looks great this preseason.

[Mike Wright]

He's a top tier. He's an elite wide receiver. Treat him as such for fantasy purposes. Jeremy Hill once again was the primary ball carrier. Got the goal line carry. I know he left the game with an ankle injury, so monitor that. And here's the thing. Joe Mixon fumbled an exchange. When that happened, it was Gio Bernard for the rest of the half. Now, to Marvin Lewis credit. Maybe he's learned from his ridiculousness in the past. Second half, they went back to Joe Mixon. They went heavy with. To see what Joe Mixon can do. And he's. He's really, really good. He's way better than the other running backs on that team. But does that matter?

[Jason Moore]

I think it does. I mean, I just feel like in today's NFL, you need to win.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, exactly. But Marvin Lewis does not play today's NFL.

[Jason Moore]

But I'll just weigh in myself and we'll see if I'm right. But I think.

[Mike Wright]

Are you going to pay the third round draft cap?

[Jason Moore]

No, I'm not going to pay, but.

[Mike Wright]

That'S what you have to do to draft mix.

[Jason Moore]

I know, but I do think. I think three or four games is all it's going to take.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. And Washington once again looked really out of sync to start the game. They. They eventually got things going. And Reed played. They eventually got it going, but they got it going. Shocker on the back of Robert Kelly.

[Jason Moore]

He had a great game.

[Mike Wright]

He. He was the. Once he started getting loose and getting some chunk plays, that's when the offense finally started to work. Terrell Pryor was really up and down. Had a. Had a terrible drop. Followed it up with a great catch, surrounded by three guys. So it's. I have. I'm not. This is not red alert for Washington, but it could take them some time to get it going.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yeah, it makes sense. So I believe we have one matchup left. Is that correct?

[Andy Holloway]

That's right. The Bears and the Titans. You've got Marcus Mariota.

[Jason Moore]

You've reviewed him for two weeks in a row.

[Andy Holloway]

I sure have. And let me tell you something. Two weeks ago, he looked great this last week. He looked horrifically bad.

[Jason Moore]

Did he really?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my goodness. You know, I apologize to Derek Carr for saying you overthrew guys. Even the announcers was like, man, he is really over. It was always an overthrow. Always. I mean, here's what happened. Marcus Mariota. And now I just will do that. This is just. This is just an allegation. Okay. I have no evidence, but I think.

[Jason Moore]

Just an allegation.

[Andy Holloway]

It's just an allegation. I think Mark's Mario might have. Oh, Jesus. Oh. Oh. With Judge Giamatti, the plaintiff.

[Jason Moore]

You were going in. I'm sorry.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. The plaintiff, Jason Marty says that Marcus Mariota took a shot of steroids in his right arm. Just in the right arm. And it didn't go anywhere but the right arm. That arm was so powerful and strong that he could not stop throwing the ball 20 yards over people.

[Mike Wright]

We had a full Rick and Morty situation.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, you know, look, we've got enough evidence of Marcus Mariota being a good quarterback, being an accurate quarterback, where I don't worry about those things. He just had an off game. You want to know who looked great?

[Jason Moore]

I bet I know the answer to that. Is it Rashad Matthews?

[Andy Holloway]

He looked good. Rashad Matthews looked good, and he's looked great this entire preseason. And I have to take notice at this point. Taywan Taylor, I believe, is a great player.

[Mike Wright]

There was. There was a beat reporter, I believe he was on Mike Clay show, and this is months ago, and this beat reporter came on and said, taylor, Taylor will be the leading rookie receiver on this team.

[Andy Holloway]

And that was with. That was, you know, before they knew that, you know, come week one, you're not even sure if you've got Corey Davis. Taylor. Taylor is. I mean, there's just no other way to say it other than he's really good. He caught difficult passes.

[Mike Wright]

This isn't a Taj A sharp situation.

[Andy Holloway]

No, sure. I mean, maybe he flashes bright and goes away. There's a lot of mouths to feed there, you know, right now this year. But he has done it the entire camp. He has done it the entire preseason. And he's on the field. He's heavily targeted. He makes great catches. They ran the ball with him, I think three times. So not only are they using him in the. It shows that the coaches are like, wow, we got to get the ball in this guy's hands because he makes breakaway plays.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, I'm taking away impressed.

[Andy Holloway]

I am taking a late round flyer on Taewon Taylor just to see if maybe he ends up with the role that, you know, they wanted to originally go with Corey Davis.

[Jason Moore]

So take us home with the Chicago Bears.

[Andy Holloway]

Chicago Bears side of the ball. My biggest takeaway would be after the. Oh, man, Cam Meredith rip.

[Mike Wright]

That was rough.

[Andy Holloway]

That was.

[Jason Moore]

That was so disappointing.

[Andy Holloway]

Kendall Wright looked good. If Mike Lennon is the quarterback, I think Kendall Wright might be the guy to at least bump up in a ppr. He's always. I mean, who's a first round draft pick? He's always had the talent. It's been health. He's even gotten it done for fantasy purposes, but then gotten injured. So he's the guy I would look for. Jordan Howard looked good.

[Jason Moore]

Tyreek Cohen wasn't used.

[Andy Holloway]

He wasn't used.

[Jason Moore]

Was it one carry?

[Andy Holloway]

One carry. But it was early. I mean, he got in early.

[Mike Wright]

They're saving him.

[Andy Holloway]

And he looked. And he looked great. I mean, I'm watching Jordan Howard run. Watch Jordan Howard run. I'm thinking, okay, he looks like Jordan Howard. Then they gave the ball to Tyre Cohen. I didn't know at the time who it was yet. I couldn't see the number. And I was like, whoa, that guy's fast. And it was Cohen. And then I never saw him again the rest of the game. But he looked great.

[Jason Moore]

Any word on if anything happened to him in that game that would have brought him off the field?

[Andy Holloway]

Nope. Nothing through the broadcast. Nothing that I have seen since he had been flashing.

[Jason Moore]

Obviously he was flashing.

[Andy Holloway]

They used him early in the game, and then they sat him and brought in Langford and Jordan Howard, as the game went on, got better and better.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, there's no report of any injury.

[Andy Holloway]

Not a whole lot to say there. Mike Glennon did look more confident. Much more competent. Yes.

[Jason Moore]

All right, cool. Well, there you go. There's preseason week three. So we're excited for to get into the regular season. Yeah, we're almost there.

[Andy Holloway]

Almost time to shift and look forward.

[Jason Moore]

All right, sweet. If you don't forget, you can get the ultimate draft kit if your draft is coming up. We have two big drafts this week. We got the listener league draft.

[Mike Wright]

I got a draft tonight.

[Jason Moore]

Mike's got a draft tonight. We also have a live stream with the foot [e-mail] going on this afternoon and an extra show for the Foot Clan tomorrow as well. So look jam packed. We will be producing fantasy football content. Awake or asleep, it doesn't really matter.

[Andy Holloway]

It doesn't stop here. Even this holiday weekend, we got the live show, ballerslive.com and we also want to give a huge shout out and thank you to Sonos for sponsoring today's show. I have personally set up the Sonos surround system in my house and I am not good at doing those type of things and it was super duper easy.

[Jason Moore]

I was impressed how fast you got.

[Andy Holloway]

It down and it sounds great. So now for the first time ever, Sonos is offering the Fantasy Footballers listeners 10% off for orders of $2,500 or less on any product on Sonos.com this offer is available for a limited time only, cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions. So just use the promo code Footballers10F O O T B A L L E R [e-mail] to receive this exclusive offer.

[Jason Moore]

Cool. All right, well, we're going to have another great show for you tomorrow. Obviously there's tons of free resources on the website, the fantasy footballers.com articles coming out every day from our awesome staff of writers. So you don't want to miss anything going on over there. Look, now's the time to get into some week one play draft matchups as well. @playdraft.com Ballers have had tons of tweets of people getting into those and having a great time, so don't miss out on that opportunity. And look, we'll be back tomorrow. Any parting works?

[Mike Wright]

Mike, I just want to reemphasize thebaulerslive.com it's gonna be so much fun. I hope you can be there. Goodbye. Goodbye.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter the FFballers.