Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 1 Studs & Duds, Rising Stars, Injury Tears

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast - Episode Summary

Title: Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 1 Studs & Duds, Rising Stars, Injury Tears
Release Date: September 11, 2017
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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1. Introduction

The episode kicks off with the hosts welcoming listeners to Week 1 of the 2017 NFL season. They emphasize the rollercoaster nature of fantasy football, acknowledging both triumphant starts and disappointing setbacks experienced by fantasy managers.

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2. Week 1 NFL Season Overview

The hosts compare the current season's Week 1 performances to the previous year, highlighting significant differences in offensive output and player performances.

Notable Quote:
Jason Moore [02:50]: “There was the canceled game because of the hurricane. So last year you had 48 passing touchdowns. Week one this year, 29... 73 versus 44 touchdowns offensive. This year, week one was an epic poop in their big boy pants.”

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3. Touchdown Statistics Comparison: 2017 vs. 2016

Jason Moore presents a compelling analysis showing a decline in both passing and rushing touchdowns in Week 1 of 2017 compared to 2016.

• Passing Touchdowns: 48 (2016) vs. 29 (2017)
• Rushing Touchdowns: 25 (2016) vs. 15 (2017)

He specifically calls out the Kansas City Chiefs' performance, attributing half of the 2017 touchdowns to Kareem Hunt's exceptional play.

Notable Quote:
Jason Moore [03:41]: “Out of those 44 touchdowns, I believe 22 were the Chiefs on Thursday night. And so Kareem Hunt did everything he could.”

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4. Key Injury Reports

The hosts delve into significant injuries impacting fantasy football, discussing players like Allen Robinson, David Johnson, Danny Woodhead, and Kevin White.

• Allen Robinson: Torn ACL, out for the year.
• David Johnson: Sprained wrist with uncertain return timeline.
• Danny Woodhead: Hamstring injury, potentially out for over a month.
• Kevin White: Broken collarbone, season-ending surgery.

Notable Quote:
Andy Holloway [13:12]: “If you were a David Johnson or a Love Bell owner, you were disappointed in week one.”

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5. Stud Muffins: Top Performers

The hosts identify standout players (studs) from Week 1 across various positions, providing in-depth analysis and future projections.

a. Quarterbacks

• Alex Smith: Stellar performance against the Patriots, with 368 passing yards and significant fantasy points.
• Matthew Stafford: Impressive comeback in a game where his team played poorly in the first half.
• Carson Palmer vs. Andy Dalton: Dalton's underperformance compared to Palmer garners a mixed response.

Notable Quote:
Andy Holloway [22:52]: “Alex Smith was an absolute stud muffin with 368 and 428 for 35 against the Patriots... Does Alex Smith? Do you ride the 46-point fantasy day if you were somebody that had, I don't know, Dalton Palmer?”

b. Running Backs

• Kareem Hunt: Dominated Thursday night, making him a top Week 1 running back.
• Todd Gurley: High workload but questioned efficiency with a 2.1 yards per carry.
• Ezekiel Elliott: NFL appeal suspension creates uncertainty.
• LaShawn McCoy: High touches but faces injuries and competition in the backfield.

Notable Quote:
Andy Holloway [32:36]: “The workload was so high and the passing game utilization is what makes him [Todd Gurley] relevant. But don't... put a crown on his head and say he's a top-five guy because of this 20 fantasy points.”

c. Wide Receivers

• Tyreek Hill: Outstanding performance with four catches for 69 yards and two touchdowns.
• Antonio Brown: Significant yardage and a touchdown, showcasing his consistent prowess.
• Nelson Agholor: Emerges as a surprising performer with six catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.

Notable Quote:
Jason Moore [34:08]: “Tyreek Hill had a great game... four for 69 and two touchdowns. Torched Justin Bethel in the Cardinals secondary.”

d. Tight Ends

• Austin Hooper: Delivered an 88-yard touchdown, highlighting his potential.
• Zach Ertz & Charles Clay: Both stood out, securing valuable targets and showing promise for future games.

Notable Quote:
Mike Wright [39:17]: “Zach Ertz? Yes, because he'll get those targets. And Charles Clay I do buy into because... he’s going to be utilized in this offense.”

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6. Rising Stars

The hosts spotlight emerging players who showed significant promise in Week 1, presenting them as valuable additions to fantasy rosters.

• Ty Montgomery: Surpassed career high in touches and scored a touchdown.
• Buck Allen: Increased role due to Danny Woodhead's injury, potential for more targets.
• Tariq Cohen: Impressive performance with eight catches for 47 yards and a touchdown.

Notable Quote:
Andy Holloway [41:15]: “Ty Montgomery... surpassed his career high in Week 1... Buck Allen shocked the fantasy world with 21 carries for 71 yards.”

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7. Pooped in Their Big Boy Pants: Disappointing Performances

This humorous segment highlights players who significantly underperformed in Week 1, causing frustration among fantasy managers.

• Andy Dalton: Multiple turnovers leading to a disastrous fantasy outcome.
• DeMarco Murray: Struggled against Oakland, unable to generate expected rushing yards.
• Le'Veon Bell & Amari Cooper: Inefficiencies and limited production impacted their value.

Notable Quote:
Jason Moore [46:02]: “If you play Carson Palmer who was... very bad in a standard league, you're talking about scoring nine points. You're extremely disappointed with that. That's 14 points more than 14 points more.”

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8. Conclusion and Takeaways

The hosts advise fantasy managers to remain calm and not overreact to Week 1 performances. They emphasize the importance of evaluating player performances in context and encourage listeners to join their fantasy football community for ongoing support and insights.

Notable Quotes:
Andy Holloway [62:31]: “Take a breath, take a chill pill, and don't read too far into some of these situations.”

Mike Wright [65:11]: “Find your nearest location. Enjoy some sweet draft DFS.”

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Key Insights and Recommendations

• Don’t Tilt: Avoid making hasty roster changes based solely on Week 1 performances. Assess player potential and matchups moving forward.
• Monitor Injuries: Stay updated on player injuries as they can significantly impact fantasy value and season-long success.
• Leverage Rising Stars: Consider adding emerging players like Ty Montgomery, Buck Allen, and Tariq Cohen to capitalize on their early-season opportunities.
• Reevaluate Duds: Players like Andy Dalton and DeMarco Murray may require trade considerations or waiver pickups based on their initial performances.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jason Moore [02:50]: “This year, week one was an epic poop in their big boy pants.”
• Andy Holloway [32:36]: “Don’t put a crown on Todd Gurley’s head because of this 20 fantasy points.”
• Jason Moore [34:08]: “Tyreek Hill had a great game... Torched Justin Bethel in the Cardinals secondary.”
• Andy Holloway [46:02]: “If you play Carson Palmer who was... very bad in a standard league, you're talking about scoring nine points.”
• Andy Holloway [62:31]: “Take a breath, take a chill pill, and don't read too far into some of these situations.”

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For ongoing updates and in-depth analysis, join the Fantasy Footballers community at JoinTheFoot.com and follow them on Twitter @TheFFBallers.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot clan. Today's episode is brought to you by NFL Game Pass. Every throw, every catch, every fourth and inches. Let's say you want to hop in the bubble bath and watch every one of those Kareem Hunt runs. Ooh, you can do it with NFL Game Pass. They've got you covered for all of this year's action. You got the game replays, condensed games, the all 22 coaches film. You can find out the truth from the lies. So if it's NFL football and it happened, NFL Game Passes. Got it. Kick off the 2017 season right with NFL Game Pass. Sign up at NFL.com fantasy footballers.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast coming to you from the Play Draft Studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, come aboard. Welcome one and all. I know it's been a bumpy flight.

[Mike Wright]

We made it, but we made it.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm gonna stick with that analogy here because the whole off season, you've been packing your bags, you headed to the airport, you got yourself your window seat, you strapped in. And for some of you, now, some of you had Kareem Hunt and the takeoff was beautiful.

[Mike Wright]

But for others, the Kareem Hunt owners, you're at the hotel, your shoes are off, you've already made, you've landed, you've made balls with your feet.

[Jason Moore]

For the rest of your room service, it's outside your door.

[Andy Holloway]

But for many of you, you've missed many of you, there is some turbulence that took place on the ascension, on the takeoff, and we are, we're going to do our best to be the Xanax for your flight right now. Try to bring some sanity and some, some stress relief to what's going on. It has been an incredible team altering at times, crazy week one.

[Jason Moore]

It really has. It's so funny to look at Twitter and you have so many people incredibly happy and they're like, I can't. This is the best I've ever started. And then you have the other people that deal with, you know, that's the.

[Mike Wright]

Thing in fantasy fantasy football.

[Jason Moore]

Half of you are going to win this week and half of you are going to lose.

[Mike Wright]

The math adds up.

[Andy Holloway]

Gonna be 50, 50. Now, I'm gonna start off because I was hoping that we could get this stat and Jason looked it up beforehand because I think we all recognize look, especially halfway through the morning, you were looking at your matchups and you were looking at these games and you saw just no points scored. I mean, big, big time players left bell, just low scoring games. Jason, illustrate for the people exactly what we saw. The difference between this week and last. I'm sorry, this year and last year.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I was really curious, so I just, you know, looked up how many passing touchdowns were, you know, week one last year versus this year. Now we still have two games to go tonight. And there was the canceled game in because of the hurricane. So last year you had 48 passing touchdowns. Week one this year, 29. And then rushing touchdowns. You had 25 last year to 15 this year. That's the. I mean, you're talking huge. Yes, 73 versus 44 touchdowns offensive. I mean, this year, week one was an epic poop in their big boy pants. I think like week one is. Is now personified with pants on and needs to diaper.

[Andy Holloway]

And out of those 44 touchdowns, I believe 22 were the Chiefs on Thursday night.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. And so Kareem Hunt did everything he could.

[Andy Holloway]

You're right. You posted on Twitter, you said, look, if everybody poops in their big boy pants, does anybody poop in their big boy pants?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, if you got them on your roster, you know they did.

[Andy Holloway]

So we're going to go look. That's what today's show is. It's the rewind. We're going to go through the stud muffins, the duds. We're going to try to sort out which breakout players to buy into, which breakout players to ignore every week.

[Jason Moore]

Busts to target.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah, yeah. And that look, let's start it off. That's the quick question. By the way, you can find us on Twitter, the Ffballers. Follow us all year long. We're a five day a week show. If you're joining us for the first time, keep it right here all season long.

[Mike Wright]

I was going to say hello. If you're just joining us for the first time, hello.

[Andy Holloway]

Greetings. I'm just simply trying to survive the potential tilt that a David Johnson injury will bring you. And I'm going to illustrate my situation because it's going to mirror a lot of yours. And we'll decide. These guys will tell me what to do because I don't know what to do. All right, quick question of the day. How you doing, Brooks? I'm great. That's not the question of the day. All right, which week one bust are you trying to trade for right now? Which week one bust are you looking to make a move on in week two?

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to start right at the top, the tip top. I'm going to go tippy top, tippy, tippy top. You got to go make a Move for Lev Bell because half of the owners out there will go, no, I'm not trading Love Bell. He just had a bad week. But the other half of the owners are full tilting and they're worried that something bad has happened and Lev Bell's not going to be Lev Bell. And he'll. I mean, that's just how, you know, the fantasy football goes.

[Andy Holloway]

Our listeners are not tilt.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Do not tilt. Do not trade away Lev Bell right now because you're going to be getting the. The least that you can get.

[Andy Holloway]

Lunacy to trade.

[Mike Wright]

Would you make.

[Andy Holloway]

I would trade. I know what you can say.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You're gonna say Kareem Hunt for 100.

[Mike Wright]

Just verifying.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Don't be, don't be crazy now.

[Jason Moore]

Could. Could that work out to be bad? You know, we don't know the future. Sure. But you have to go based on history and logic. And logic and history.

[Andy Holloway]

Say Levi Xanax.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

And Lev Bell. I'm going to say let's make a move on any of the elite tight end options that poop the bed, which is every elite tight. Rob Gronkowski, Jordan Reed, Greg Olson, Travis Kelsey, Tyler Eiford, Jimmy Graham.

[Jason Moore]

How dare you leave my guy out. Zachary is an elite tight end, but you.

[Andy Holloway]

He didn't poop his pants.

[Jason Moore]

I know. He said every elite tight end.

[Andy Holloway]

He was not drafted to be an elite tight end.

[Jason Moore]

He should have been.

[Andy Holloway]

We all agree he is one. And he was my start of the week. Thank you very much. Yeah, but look, the big situation here I would look at is somebody like Charles Clay. Now, Zach Ertz's elite week one wasn't touchdown to pin it. I love Charles Clay, and if you got him late, you don't need to feel the need to trade him.

[Mike Wright]

But.

[Andy Holloway]

But he's not scoring 16 touchdowns. He's not going to score a touchdown every week. And this offense played the Jets. So if I could move Charles Clay in a piece to get one of the six elite tight ends that pooped the bed this week.

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely.

[Andy Holloway]

I'd be all over that.

[Mike Wright]

All right. The guy that I am targeting, we have. We have a conflict of interest here.

[Andy Holloway]

That's the wrong phrase.

[Mike Wright]

It's a disagreement, conflict of opinion.

[Jason Moore]

I almost went with this guy. So I can tell you I'm on your side, Mike.

[Mike Wright]

I'm targeting DEZ Bryant and I know the final stat line was rough for DEZ Bryant. You look at the amount of points you got and you're like, this is absolute trash. He was targeted four times. Four times in the End zone. And I'm talking one of them was a slant route. And he was wide open.

[Jason Moore]

Wide open, just overthrown.

[Mike Wright]

Dax sailed it. If you watch the beginning of that or if you watch the whole game, Dak. Well, Dak was a little shaky.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. That first start the game, the first quarter, he was overthrowing everything. He was nervous.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. And then the nerves settled down and we saw, oh, Dak Prescott is still a very good quarterback and he just missed DEZ Bryant late in the game on a bomb touchdown. He just. The thing that I liked about it was it was. I believe it was first and goal on the five, granted. Remember, Ezekiel Elliott got to play this week. They went three straight passes and two of those targets were to DEZ Bryant. My point is just, they're going, they're going to be far more willing this year to hyper target or aggressively target DEZ Bryant, especially in the end zone, and not just say, okay, we got a rookie quarterback. Everything has to run through the running game. So I just, I think that DEZ Bryant is a great person.

[Jason Moore]

The nice thing about targeting DEZ is he should be super cheap because going into the years, falling in drafts, people worried. People worried about matchups, things like that. And now you have them completely laying egg.

[Andy Holloway]

And I'm going to jump in because you guys are on that side of the pendulum. I'm weary. I'm not sure I've been the one that said, look, the rapport between. You can't just infuse the rapport of Romo, DEZ super years to Dak Prescott. If you target him now, you're going to be disappointed again. Next week he plays Denver. So you're going to listen to this and go get him. And he's going to struggle again. And he has tough matchups all year long. So if the price is right, I get it. He's a superior athlete. The targets in the end zone, you got to love him. Nobody thinks that. I mean, we disagree on the show all the time, but that doesn't mean I think Jordan Matthews can't catch the ball ever, or Jeremy Macklin can't catch the ball ever. It's a matter of the longevity of the season. And I am still unsure of Dez as a top 10 wide receiver, and that's fine.

[Mike Wright]

The thing last year, Dez still had tough matchups, but he was dominant. When he was held down was Jenkins, was Janoris Jenkins and the New York Giants. And yes, he stat line, he was held down, but play wise, he was open. It was just a couple of Barely just missed passes that. I mean, Des, you're talking. If the ball is just placed slightly better. He had a. Would. Had a monster game. And that's. It's the opportunity. Opportunity combined with an elite wide receiver.

[Andy Holloway]

What was his total targets in the game? Do you have that number?

[Mike Wright]

I can pull that up.

[Andy Holloway]

Was it 10 or more?

[Jason Moore]

I do agree with you.

[Mike Wright]

I don't think it was 10.

[Jason Moore]

It's going to be a rough week two. Yeah, but that's where it's just a matter of the price.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, week three is Arizona and Patrick Peterson, and this is the story that's going to keep happening.

[Mike Wright]

Nine targets.

[Jason Moore]

I think if you get him cheap enough, it's worth having. I mean, you're telling me you wouldn't want, even against Denver that you wouldn't want Des as like a flex type option? I think you can get him on the super cheap.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, but the price may go down in the next two weeks. Don't you agree with that? All right. Nine targets, you said.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's. Let's get into the news.

[Jason Moore]

Weekly. Rewind.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. We're going to walk through some of the injury news. I do want to remind you that you can find our fantasy football [e-mail] There are thousands of listeners of this show willing to basically help you out with those start sick questions, talk about trades, talk about waivers, DFS. The whole community is over [e-mail] we'd love to have you aboard. Lots of perks, benefits, extra show every week. Allen Robinson's done for the year. Torn acl.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man, that stinks.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Alan Robinson, who steps into a relevant fantasy role. Because right now I looked, based on that week, like Alan Hearns is the guy that, you know, he outproduced Marquis Lee significantly. But I believe it's Dante Fowler, the defensive.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, yes, he is. He's the one who steps up.

[Andy Holloway]

I have no doubt that if Bortles could throw it to a defensive player, he would prefer.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, he does. The defense looked fantastic, but I mean, I'm not.

[Andy Holloway]

You mean my almost upset of the week, right?

[Mike Wright]

Well, I mean, you're technically wrong because you called almost.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's the gag. Mike.

[Mike Wright]

I don't. If I'm putting my chips on anyone, it would be Hearns.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I would lean that way as well. Just because of the touchdown. Upside body type, history of having done it before. I wouldn't spend much for him on fab, but I would be willing to grab him because look, someone's going to be the number one wide receiver for an NFL team.

[Andy Holloway]

Hearns is not going to move back outside. Right. He's going to stay in the slot where they have him. So it'd be Lee or Hearns.

[Jason Moore]

Do you lean Lee?

[Andy Holloway]

You know I lean the cheapest I could get on fab of those two just to see what happens. So whoever's a dollar, that's the amount I'm spending for the replacement for Alan Robinson. All right guys. David Johnson.

[Jason Moore]

David Johnson. People were saying that I jinxed him with my.

[Mike Wright]

Was your throat swallow?

[Andy Holloway]

No, that would have been me trading my entire life life for this player.

[Jason Moore]

The fantasy reaper trades for you.

[Andy Holloway]

Watch out, look, he's made of. He's a mutant. We've talked about that on the show before. Sprained wrist, X rays, negative MRI today. I wish I had more news. I really do.

[Jason Moore]

I will be surprised if it doesn't break sometime while we're recording this.

[Mike Wright]

The news, not his wrist, right?

[Jason Moore]

Yes, the news. Come on man. In the meantime, just so you know, the reports have ranged anywhere from he's not going to miss any time to he's going to miss a couple weeks or half the season or longer.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, thanks Chris Mortensen.

[Jason Moore]

Anywhere from thanks mort report from one to let's say 15 more games.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And if I have to weigh in zero.

[Mike Wright]

No, from zero. He'll miss zero to oh that's a good point.

[Andy Holloway]

If I, if I have to weigh in I would guess he misses this week and he's at least and back. Ok. But it's good that X rays were negative but otherwise it was not good. If you were a David Johnson or a Love Bell owner, you were disappointed in week one. Danny Woodhead left with a hamstring injury, made an incredible one handed catch like he was going to be dominating, heavily targeted and now the fear is that Danny Woodhead may miss significant time with a hamstring injury. Very disappointing. This is the risk of Danny Woodhead.

[Jason Moore]

It's the same hamstring that limited him in camp. So when you re aggravate a hamstring injury you have to then give it rest. There is nothing, there's nothing that can fix the solution other than waiting until even longer than like your hamstring is going to feel fine. Don't get back on the field. So I would say you know he's going to miss a long period of time, you know, more than a month which we'll talk about in our rising stars. Who to maybe pick up.

[Andy Holloway]

I've got a sound effect to summarize the entire career of a certain player.

[Mike Wright]

Uh. Oh. Oh, man, that's sad.

[Andy Holloway]

Kevin White genuinely is sad. And I'm not. I mean, that was to be funny, but Kevin White seems cursed in the NFL.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

His body has betrayed him.

[Andy Holloway]

Broken collarbone, season ending surgery, which is.

[Mike Wright]

Strange because a collarbone is not usually a season ending situation. I mean, it's just the bone has to heal. But if. If he actually has to have a surgery on it, I mean, that's done deal. That's insane.

[Jason Moore]

Does another team give him a shot at year four? I mean, I'm just saying, like, he still. You still have never seen him on the field. It's crazy.

[Mike Wright]

I doubt it.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know.

[Mike Wright]

I doubt it.

[Andy Holloway]

So is there. Does that give you more confidence in somebody else on that wide receiver core? I mean, this is like the last Mohicans.

[Jason Moore]

Is Kendall right? I mean, I'm just saying, there's just nobody left.

[Andy Holloway]

Bellamy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, Bellamy. Bellamy might be.

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe the tight ends get more targets.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe Zach Miller goes.

[Andy Holloway]

Not like White's ever had a target share that mattered. All right, CJ Fedorowicz suffered a concussion. Tom Savage was benched in favor of Desean Watson. Watson set to start week two.

[Mike Wright]

And this is. It's the right move. But Bill O'Brien, this guy, and his polling of quarterbacks is absolutely ridiculous. I mean, this is the exact same thing happened last year with Mallet. And you can go back two years ago to Brian. It's just with Brian Hoyer. I mean, make up your mind, man. You have to.

[Andy Holloway]

You spend all of camp saying, this is for sure the guy. And then one half pumping him up.

[Mike Wright]

And you're like, okay, he had a bad half. Well, you're not the quarterback anymore.

[Jason Moore]

I think what it says is he's got. He can't make the correct decision in camp.

[Mike Wright]

That's. That's a fair point. But just. You have to stay the course to see if someone can do it, because maybe it was just. Maybe it was just a really, really bad half for Tom Savage. I mean, yeah, they had to. Sean Watson is the correct choice.

[Jason Moore]

They had to take just Tom Savage to the sideline on a cart. That is how immobile he is. So, I mean, you saw the offense actually move when Watson came in. This is Good news for DeAndre Hopkins.

[Mike Wright]

Lamar Miller, if you asked me for.

[Andy Holloway]

A target, I actually want to go after DeAndre Hopkins. His talent is so superior to the majority of NFL wide receivers. He just needs a shot. This game went as bad as it could possibly go for Houston. He still had a fantasy relevant game because he scored. Yeah. What was his total stat line?

[Mike Wright]

Off the top of my head, if.

[Jason Moore]

You look at what and what Lamar Miller had done in the majority of the game, when Watson or when Savage played, it was nothing. And then Watson comes in and all of a sudden they're moving the ball.

[Andy Holloway]

Seven for 55 and a touchdown. I'll take it. I'll take it.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, yeah, but 7 for 55.

[Andy Holloway]

Would be on a nightmare game against a really good defense.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

I just.

[Mike Wright]

I think we. With the quick question of which bust is. Is worth going at.

[Andy Holloway]

He's not a bus.

[Mike Wright]

Lamar. No, I'm talking Lamar Miller with. It looked terrible, but as soon as Watson came in, Miller started getting chunk plays because they could do the read.

[Jason Moore]

Option and think he had about 96 combined yards through the air and ground.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, man, I feel like we could talk for hours about all these situations, but I'm going to finish the news out here before we get into the stud muffins. Ezekiel Elliott. The NFL has appealed Zeke's injunction appeal.

[Mike Wright]

The appeal of the appeal of the appeal.

[Andy Holloway]

Like, if the NFL wins the appeal, then the injunction is thrown out and Ezekiel A. Has to immediately start serving a suspension. Climb on the roller coaster.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

Close your eyes, put your hands in the air, and just see what happens.

[Mike Wright]

And Jordan Reed, the news came out, which is so bizarre. I mean, it was. We knew Jordan Reed was dealing with the toe injury, and then they decide to drop on us right before NFL game action. Oh, Jordan Reed's dealing with a fractured big toe. Well, thanks. Thanks for that update. It's ridiculous, but he looked okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Does that news change your opinion of Jordan Reed in his situation? If you thought it was just orthotics, he still looked.

[Mike Wright]

He still looked. Okay. The thing is just 5 for 36 over over time because you know that they're juicing up that toe so he can't feel a thing. Over time, does it start to take its toll on Jordan Reed?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, of course it does. I mean, I'm just saying from history, it's like he is not one to deal well with injuries and to recover quickly. So I think you have to watch out for that. Hopefully Odell Beckham Jr. Can recover quickly. It seems like the Giants desperately need him.

[Mike Wright]

I was gonna say, if I'm Beckham, I'm not recovered until that contract comes in. It's like, yeah, I'm pretty important to this team.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll get into that.

[Jason Moore]

All right, well, before we get into the stud muffin section, I want to thank today's sponsor, ZipRecruiter. If you are out there in a job where you are in charge of hiring, you should use ZipRecruiter to find your candidates. It's different than just where you put a job, post up and then you have to deal with 8 billion different emails and sort through things. ZipRecruiter, it posts your job to hundreds of different sites with one click. Their technology matches the right people for your job. 80% of employers who post a job on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate through the site within just 24 hours. So find out today why ZipRecruiter has been used by businesses of all sizes to find the most qualified job candidates with immediate results. Right now, our listeners, they can post jobs on ZipRecruiter for free. That is right. Completely free. Just go to ziprecruiter.com footballers that's ziprecruiter.com footballters one more time to try it for free, go to ziprecruiter.com footballers you will not be disappointed.

[Mike Wright]

We want to thank Pristine Auction for sponsoring the show. P R I S T I n e auction.com youm know what that spells? Delicious, Delicious sports memorabilia.

[Andy Holloway]

That's not accurate.

[Mike Wright]

It is very accurate. And here's, here's what happens when, when I, when I talk about Pristine Auction, I jump on there, I check out the dailies and I throw some bids out.

[Jason Moore]

Did you put a bid in on something?

[Mike Wright]

A bid? No. Multiple bids? Yes. Because they always have new stuff every single day. You never worry about the signature being authentic because they use the best authenticators in the business. And I am telling you, Foot Clan, if you haven't checked it out, make a completely free account. Let them know that the footballer sent you and just browse. Have a little peekski because the stuff is incredible. This is, this is what you want. On the walls, whenever you flip on our YouTube and you see a signed jersey like Todd Gurley, Todd Gurley is on the wall right now. A signed jersey. We got him on the cheap. We use pristineauction.com so please go check them out. You will not regret it. That's P R I S T I n e auction.com and making the account, like I said, completely free.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we're going to get into the stud muffins. I want to catch people up though, because they were following along with our. We had two play draft drafts against each other.

[Jason Moore]

Those didn't work out well.

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

So here's the deal. I know the Lay. I'll give you the lay of the land.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I want it. We never made a confirmation about this. Are we going total points of the two or is.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, no.

[Jason Moore]

Two losers.

[Andy Holloway]

There's two losers.

[Jason Moore]

There's two losers which are both going to be me.

[Andy Holloway]

Not necessarily.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Here's the situation in one of ours. It's over. Jason lost far and away because he had Lev Bell and he had Greg Olson and Russell Wilson and so Mike and I. Jason will get. He has to eat something terrible that we pick for him. I'm eating healthy food and whatever I want. In the second one, I'm safe. You two are fighting close. And in the second one, it's Michael Thomas versus Melvin Gordon tonight.

[Mike Wright]

And essentially I think I'm behind though. I have to make up ground.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike is down eight points but. And Mike has Michael Thomas and Jason has Melvin Gordon. So there's a chance Mike has to eat something terrible this week too. So get behind this. That's just a summary of.

[Mike Wright]

Can I use my first place to wipe out the bet?

[Andy Holloway]

We'll talk about it. We'll talk about it.

[Jason Moore]

This week's fantasy stud muffins.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's start at the quarterback position. We didn't give him his due on Thursday.

[Jason Moore]

That's right.

[Andy Holloway]

That's my mistake. Alex Smith was an absolute stud muffin.368 and 428 for 35 against the Patriots, who have a couple of great corners. I mean Butler Gilmore and Alex Smith's next three matchups, Philadelphia, the Chargers in Washington. Does Alex Smith. Do you ride the 46 point fantasy day if you were somebody that had, I don't know, Dalton Palmer, do you start looking at Alex Smith for next week against Philadelphia?

[Mike Wright]

Quite possibly.

[Andy Holloway]

And Darby's out.

[Mike Wright]

Quite possibly. I have not dove into who I want to stream. Yeah, besides you target whoever's playing the Colts. But that's Palmer and we already had this conversation in the studio, like, do you play Palmer? So Alex Smith moving forward, this is why he is the perfect streaming option because he's just, he's available and he can have huge games.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he can have huge games. I agree. But that doesn't mean that he will continue. If you look at last year, we were so, you know, quick to forget. Last year, week one, Alex Smith was the third best quarterback and had an unbelievable first week. And then, you know, Taylor off the face of the map and you didn't really care about.

[Andy Holloway]

He did what?

[Jason Moore]

I don't know. Taylor tapered.

[Andy Holloway]

Did he make a suit?

[Mike Wright]

So I'm not trusting and he got out of town.

[Jason Moore]

I am not trusting Alex Smith as some great option. He's still a streamable option.

[Andy Holloway]

That's an important warning. Unexpected Matthew Stafford against Arizona secondary lit it up. The second half was welcome to the Lions game plan look atrocious for the first half of a game. Come back in the fourth quarter. Eight of their last nine wins have been fourth quarter comebacks and Matthew Stafford took care of business on the back of some smooth routes. I'm going to hold off on the drop until we get to wide receivers other quarterbacks that had good week ones.

[Jason Moore]

And two start of the weeks. I have to apologize for my jake break on Matthew Stafford. Now being said he's doesn't he play.

[Andy Holloway]

The Giants next week?

[Jason Moore]

I know it's one of those things where do you start him? I mean I he has start a bowl but I don't think you I.

[Andy Holloway]

Think you've got other options. Yeah, I mean Carson Wentz, Tyrod Taylor, Derek Carr, Matt Ryan, they all got it done. Big Ben eventually got it done. That game was strange.

[Mike Wright]

Kaiser.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So let's talk about Kaiser because he had a fantasy relevant day despite the loss and I would say he ran the ball and he ran a touchdown in.

[Mike Wright]

The thing about Kaiser was for his total fantasy production. This has a lot to do with other quarterbacks of note being awful. Right. I mean he would have been. He should be bumped down from Brady, from Wilson, from Aaron Rodgers. But they all had really rough games. Kaiser, he is a streamable guy, but if he continues to hold the ball like he did in week one, I mean he was playing college football against pro athletes and that's going to lead to injury. So hopefully he can speed up his clock a little bit.

[Jason Moore]

And I would just throw out the one guy that impressed me the most where I think, hey, this could be an upgrade was Carson Wentz. Certainly Carson Wentz looked very good and he's got the weapons now that he didn't have. He's going into that sophomore year now he faces a tough Kansas City defense. However, they lost Eric Barry. Eric Barry. Marcus Peters is fine. Is that correct or I know at the end of the game he was a little bit hurt, so we'll have to check into that as we do our Week 2 matchups. But he's someone I'm definitely keeping an eye on.

[Andy Holloway]

If you're new to the show, today's not the only episode of the week. Just so if there's something you don't hear about.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

We'll have waivers Streaming options.

[Andy Holloway]

Tomorrow's waiver day. We got streaming. Yeah, exactly. More starts of the week. We're going to talk about it all. Let's shift to the running backs. Now. Last week, we got on to talk about Cream Hunt on the Thursday show because Kareem Hunt went ham. And look, I've heard every attempt at a nickname for him, and we were talking about this before the show.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, come on.

[Andy Holloway]

They were going, you know, everything from Look, Cookies and Kareem Crispy Cream, Krispy.

[Mike Wright]

Kreme Peaches and Kareem.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, and Kareem the Dream and Cream the Dreamsicle. And we got on the show a.

[Jason Moore]

Lot of nicknames with pants.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike's like, hey, look, let's go ahead and jump into that old Jolene classic, right? He said, oh, we're doing this. Yeah, we're doing this. And so he said, you know the old Dolly Parton song.

[Mike Wright]

Kareem, Kareem, but we're not gonna finish.

[Andy Holloway]

And so we did.

[Jason Moore]

Kareem.

[Andy Holloway]

We did that on the show, and it just didn't sound right. And I. So I came in here on Saturday and I was like, you know what? I'm just curious what went wrong? So here's Mike and I, and we took care of it.

[Jason Moore]

You two gentlemen sounded fantastic there.

[Mike Wright]

Took care of it is a bit of a stress. Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

But let's. Relative to. I. I decided to isolate Jason's vocals because I wanted to know what went wrong.

[Jason Moore]

And.

[Andy Holloway]

And here's what went wrong.

[Jason Moore]

You're welcome. I was not a musical theater major. It is true.

[Mike Wright]

So Kareem.

[Jason Moore]

Kareem. All right.

[Mike Wright]

Sorry.

[Andy Holloway]

Jay had no problem. Had to enjoy that.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome to lay down for the buses.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, look, let's. Let's move on from Hunt and Gillislee.

[Mike Wright]

We know.

[Andy Holloway]

We talked about them.

[Mike Wright]

Actually, just before we move on, has it ever happened that the top two fantasy running backs of a week were both on Thursday night?

[Jason Moore]

Still might not happen. Okay. Fair.

[Mike Wright]

We have. We have two more games to go, but as of right now, Cream Hunt and Mike Gills were the top two running back.

[Jason Moore]

Are we the only about the next runner up? The. The guy that impressed the heck out of. I mean, I was. I was.

[Mike Wright]

You all right there?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I was so expecting a bad game from Leonard Fournette.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, you were.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And I'm all about Leonard Fournette. I mean, I said early season. He is, you know, he was my rising star. How he looked in preseason. He's a generational talent. I am fully in support of him. He was the guy I Said that after what I expected to be a poor week one. Go get him. Because I think he's going to be great. He was great in Week 1 against the top defense and now get some juicy matchups. And my only other worry was the foot and the workload. And those things are out the window because they gave him the ball every time that they snapped it.

[Andy Holloway]

Here's the deal. I'm not a fan of trading. When a player is high, it's going to get higher. Go get him. I offered everything I could this morning to get Leonard Fournette. The workload was tremendous. 26 for 100 and a touchdown. 3 for 24 out of the backfield. Yelden was inactive. Ivory spelled Fournette. This team is being run exactly as we all thought. This is Tom Coughlin defense and running the football. Doug Marone. Take the ball out of Bortles hands. Don't put so much dependency. And now you have no Allen Robinson. You didn't draft Fournette at number four to give him the ball five times a game. He may get. He may lead the league in touches. This may be like Ezekiel Elliott last year where they follow that recipe. So love Fournette. LaShawn McCoy. He did exactly what he always does.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, talk about leading the league in touches. Shady McCoy is. He is going to get the ball a lot. He's sensational. Now, once again, we saw the. The. The backup come in and steal his touchdown, Mike Tolbert. But that was. They got to the one and Shady had to run off the field as he is known to do and was dealing with. I don't even know what had happened to him. A hand. Something happened, but Tolbert came in and stole the touchdown. But it looked like it was supposed to go to Shady. So don't freak out yet about the touchdown.

[Andy Holloway]

Tomorrow's the waiver show. But are you targeting Tolbert?

[Jason Moore]

Yes, absolutely. I mean, look, running backs are important, obviously. Mike Tolbert got as many carries as Devonta Freeman did. He got a touchdown and he's in a role where last.

[Mike Wright]

We're playing the Jets.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

No, that's just playing.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a pretty hot stat though. As many carries as Devonta Freeman.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I will vet that right now, but I. No, no, no. I'm just.

[Andy Holloway]

It's so hot that it might be a lie.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to tell you.

[Andy Holloway]

Confirm that for us.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my goodness. Okay, we'll get back to that.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Mike Tolbert had 12 carries. Monte Freeman had 12 carries. Marco Murray had 12 carries. So weird. Week.

[Andy Holloway]

More stud muffins. All right, time. Montgomery, Todd Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott, Tariq Cohen. I'm going to talk about Montgomery, and we're going to talk about Montgomery and Cohen in a minute. So press the pause button on those. No need to talk twice about them. We got the raising canes, rising stars coming up. So I want to talk about Gurley because I've been the biggest Gurley supporter, and I want your take. I want to be very clear here. Everything in this game was conducive for Todd Gurley to run all over the Colts. The fantasy stat line you're happy about, but you need to be worried because he was 2.1 a carry inefficient with an offensive line that protected Jared Goff, and he made all of his fantasy money, so to speak, in the passing game. And so I think you need to be cautious about Todd Gurley. Like I said, this game was made to be Todd Gurley's.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Best case scenario, 200 yards.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. He should have.

[Andy Holloway]

And so there was still some things there that made you say, where's the. If you're going to get the efficiency back? It didn't happen in this game. So b.

[Mike Wright]

And there's just. There was plenty of times watching it and I, Jason and I were watching the game and I mean, the volume was there, the fantasy numbers were there. But I told Jason, like Gurley's does not look impressive right now. There were several times where a defender is, you know, kind of wrapping him up and you're like a good, strong running back, breaks that tackle, couple leg.

[Andy Holloway]

Tackles that he could have taken another 10 yards. This is not to say you need to go unload Todd Gurley. This is what we said would happen. The workload was so high and the passing game utilization is what makes him relevant. But don't. Don't give him a crown. Right. Don't put a crown on his head and say He's a top five guy because of this 20 fantasy points.

[Jason Moore]

He's still got a couple good weeks ahead of him. Washington, San Francisco is his next two matchups, so you might be able to sell him even higher once he puts.

[Mike Wright]

You know, come back. Because I was. I personally would like. I would like to trade him off of this game, but he does have some more good matchups that I think he will. He'll have some solid fantasy days.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, I'm going to move on to wide receivers. We'll talk about some of the other players that did well in the context of some of the pooped in their big boy pants later, too, wide receiver. We know Tyreek Hill had a great game. Let's talk about now. We can talk about it.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man.

[Jason Moore]

So smooth.

[Mike Wright]

The smoothest.

[Jason Moore]

The smooth round, sir. Kenny G. I mean, so smooth.

[Andy Holloway]

Sometimes things happen for this show that are just so smooth.

[Mike Wright]

So smooth.

[Jason Moore]

Kenny G. Kenny Galladay.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm letting this run through.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man.

[Andy Holloway]

Four for 69 and two touchdowns. Torched Justin Bethel in the Cardinals secondary. Seven targets, four catches. Has the Giants, Atlanta and Minnesota coming up. He'll be a hot name on the waiver wire.

[Mike Wright]

Don't overpay for that.

[Andy Holloway]

That's my advice as well.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's. He's a great player, and I think that he is going to be a fantastic wide receiver in the years to come. But just.

[Andy Holloway]

I'd rather spend my fab on Corey Davis for sure.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think I would, too. All right.

[Andy Holloway]

Antonio Brown. He did his thing. He's really good.

[Jason Moore]

Go figure.

[Andy Holloway]

11 for 182. Ridiculous catch.

[Mike Wright]

Now, there's a shocking name about. If you have. If you're eating, like, some snacks or.

[Andy Holloway]

Whatever, you're on the plane still.

[Mike Wright]

Just. Just hold on. Clear your palate. Make sure there's no beverages in your mouth. Okay?

[Andy Holloway]

That's a barrel roll. Here's the barrel roll for the plane. Nelson Aguilar, six. What? Six for 86 and a touchdown. We knew he'd have the opportunity, right?

[Jason Moore]

We.

[Andy Holloway]

Jordan Matthews out the door. Nelson Aguilar supposed to slide into that slot. He had one monstrous play, obviously.

[Mike Wright]

Broken play.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Where Carson Wentz really evaded the defense. I'm not overpaying for Nelson Aguilar.

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

There are ignorables every week, and I'm not necessarily saying Aguilar is that, but he might be. He might be somebody. You just need to just throw that stat line up. Jeffrey didn't have that big of a game.

[Jason Moore]

Well, Jeffrey, you know, because of the matchup, Jeffrey had a really good cover corner on him. This next week, though, you've got Marcus Peters, so it could be another good Nelson Aguilar week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Worth a note. Jordy Nelson against Seattle. Seven for 79 and a touchdown on eight targets. DeAndre Hopkins, we talked about him having a pretty good game, but Golden Tate.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's the big one.

[Andy Holloway]

10 for 107. The Cardinals, once David Johnson went out of this game, it's almost like the defense was like, well, that's it. Let's forget it. I mean, they. They were leading this game. They could have taken control of this game in the first Half Detroit looked like they didn't know what they were doing. And then. Yeah, then Matthew Stafford said, hey, get on my back.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. He said, let's throw the ball to Golden Tate.

[Andy Holloway]

I want to hear about Cooper cup, guys. Four for 76 and a touchdown. I'll be the first to admit somebody hit me up on Twitter Sunday morning. They said, look, is Cooper Cup a sneaky play today? And I said, I don't want that sneaky play. I said, week one, Cooper Cup, Week one. He needs to get in the end zone to be relevant.

[Mike Wright]

Well, he did.

[Andy Holloway]

He did.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. It's Colts. This is a byproduct of playing against the Colts. Colts.

[Andy Holloway]

Does that mean that you apply? I mean, do you. Do you sign Cooper Cup? He's okay in a few John Brown or Cooper Cup. If you had to pick one to be on your roster starting in week.

[Mike Wright]

Two, Cooper cup because Carson Palmer is rip. I mean, that is. That is not a good situation in Arizona.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, we're gonna have to talk more about that. Amari Cooper had a good game, and.

[Mike Wright]

Then Randall Copier should have had a monster game. And then he, in one drive, showed the world why Derek Carr is hesitant to target him inside the five.

[Andy Holloway]

Nine for 85 and nine for 85 for Randall Cobb this week on 13 targets.

[Mike Wright]

Is Randall Cobb back? Are you One week. Is Randall Cop back?

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not.

[Jason Moore]

I.

[Andy Holloway]

Look, I'm not ready to take. Here's what you don't do in week one. You don't take victory laps because you. You. It's not. Last year. Remember Matt Forte? We were down on Matt Forte the week one. We look like idiots.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And then it came back to the earth.

[Jason Moore]

I was, you know, I was high on Golden Tate, low on Marvin Jones. I looked real dumb week one last year, but it was, you know, it's one of those things where you're exactly back.

[Andy Holloway]

He looked very back.

[Jason Moore]

He looked back. But even still, I mean, I commented to Mike while we were watching the game, he was a centerpiece of that offense, but if you're not in a PPR league, it was worthless. I mean, he had 13 targets and still came away with, you know, what would have been eight and a half points, no touchdowns, wasn't used much around the goal line. I mean, it's valuable under that. If you're in a ppr, it is good. I was just. I think that was, like, as good as a game could go for him.

[Andy Holloway]

Like, I don't think it's all about getting in the end zone with Aaron Rodgers. And you played Seattle and you put up nine for 85. I think that's his. It's good against Seattle, maybe. But that's a 13 point game.

[Jason Moore]

That's as good as his fantasy week can go. I'm saying that's as good as the game script could have gone for his utilization.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

He was left, right and center of that offense which, hey, that, that's a good news. But it's just disappointing. Maybe that is just Seattle. The fact that every single screen was snuffed out quickly and those short passing routes, he.

[Mike Wright]

Well, and it could be Seattle that was forcing him to go to Cobb instead of more to Adams and more to Jordy.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, tight ends that stood out. It wasn't the big guys. It was Austin Hooper, Jesse James, Jason Whitten, Charles Clay.

[Mike Wright]

You have to watch the Austin Hooper touchdown. If you have not seen his 80 yard touchdown, you have.

[Andy Holloway]

It was 88 yards.

[Jason Moore]

Was.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, I apologize, Mr. Hooper. 88. You have to go watch this. I mean this giant man is lumbering down the field at probably running eight miles an hour and then just, just crushes the soul of a DB with a. Tries to tackle, I mean a stiff arm. He pushes him into the ground. It's, it's an incredible play if you haven't seen it.

[Andy Holloway]

Charles Clay and Zach Ertz were two of our three starts of the week at the tight end position. Very happy to see them pan out. Do you buy into both going forward?

[Mike Wright]

Zach Ertz? Yes, because he'll get those targets.

[Andy Holloway]

And Charles Clay for 93.

[Mike Wright]

Charles Clay I do buy into because.

[Andy Holloway]

You, who else are you going to throw the ball to?

[Mike Wright]

Throw the ball to him. I mean, like you said, he's not going to score 16 touchdowns, but he's going to be utilized in this offense. And I think Tyler is a better quarterback than the Buffalo Bills want people to think he is. And he's a perfectly fine, perfectly fine start. I mean he takes on Carolina next week. We saw George Kittle have some success against them this in week one, so I'm fine rolling with Clay moving forward.

[Andy Holloway]

Big defensive weeks from the Rams.

[Mike Wright]

Huge defensive weeks.

[Jason Moore]

Ravens, four of the top eight fantasy players we'll call them this week were team defenses. That's ridiculous.

[Andy Holloway]

That is. The Rams took care of Scott Tulsi.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

As they should have.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we're going to talk pooped in their big boy pants. But first, rising stars.

[Jason Moore]

Raising canes. Rising stars of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

If this segment does anything, it tells you who we are buying into in week one. These Are each of our raising canes rising stars? I'm going to kick it off with. I believe he might have been my rising star last week. Brooks.

[Mike Wright]

It's very possible.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think so.

[Mike Wright]

Ty Montgomery, the star continues to ascend.

[Andy Holloway]

You play against a very solid defense in Seattle, you end up with 90 plus percent of the snaps. He surpassed his career high end touches in Week 1. Scored a touchdown, caught the ball four times. I'll be honest with you. I made trade offers this morning for Leonard Fournette and I made him for Time Montgomery because I think you saw everything you needed to see from a week one performance. He went off the field briefly with an injury, came back, look, 90 plus percent of snaps. Jamal Williams had two carries. I believe so. Raising canes rising star for me.

[Jason Moore]

Time Montgomery, I could not agree anymore. He is a true workhorse back. He's the goal line back. He's the third down back. He's the first down back and he's on the Green Bay Packers. What's not to love? I'm going to go very far away from all those great things I just said. My rising star is Buck Allen. Javorius. Buck Allen. Yeah. So Buck Allen shocked the world with 21 carries for 71 yards. I know that's not a great, efficient stat line, but here's why I like Buck Allen. With Danny Woodhead leaving the game, they need their pass catching back role. Buck Allen has shown that before. He had that, you know, crazy game where he had like 12 receptions. He can play that role now. This week you'll see he had zero receptions. But if you look at the game and the game script, that was because Andy Dalton's five turnovers said that the Baltimore Ravens do not need to pass the ball anymore. Thus, 21 carries for Buck Allen. With Danny Woodhead out, I expect Buck Allen to be super cheap or, you know, borderline free. I don't think the waiver is going to go crazy for him.

[Mike Wright]

I think that. I think there'll be some heat.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I mean, maybe some heat, but I'm going to try to get him cheap if I can. He's a startable asset for the next four or five weeks. So he's rising from the grave for me.

[Mike Wright]

Nice. And Andy said no victory laps in week one, but I'm going to take a small mini victory lap here.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, that a small mini fits in with the player you're about to bring.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. Because on the breakout show a couple weeks back, I threw out this player's name and I got some funny Looks from my compadres here. I said, Tariq Cohen's gonna be a breakout player this year. And boom, week one, he's gonna be the hottest waiver wire pickup because he was a beast. You don't think he'll be the number one waiver priority?

[Andy Holloway]

Of course I do. I just, I just didn't see the need to throw shade on your compadres because I don't. We were all, Jordan Howard was the guy that I've said out of that top 12 was the one you have to worry about the most.

[Mike Wright]

But Cohen, oh, if you could go through the film of my brain and see the looks I was given on the show, actually, we have footage, so we could probably do that. But Tariq Cohen, 42% of the snaps. Howard played 57 and Cohen went 8 for 47. A touchdown, 5 for 66 through the air. And you know what else he added into that stat line? A humongous Jordan Howard drop right at.

[Andy Holloway]

The end of the game would have won the game.

[Jason Moore]

They needed him if Tariq Cohen had been in on that play.

[Mike Wright]

It's a touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

I think the Bears win the game.

[Mike Wright]

Now, here's what I will also say. This is why it's only a mini victory lap, because he's going to be the hot pickup this week. But he is Darren Sprouls. He is the new version of Darren Sprols, which means he can have huge games like this. He can have multiple games, even string them together. Remember a couple years ago when Darren Sprouls was this top five running back in Philadelphia and it just, it didn't make sense. And eventually the top five production, it fell off. But Cohen is a very good player. He's in a great situation because he was. Is the pass catcher on a bad team. So game scripts should be in favor of Cohen getting at least these 42% of snaps. And he's a. He's going to be a great flex play.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a really tough situation for me to figure out. Like I have David Johnson. I've got some Eddie Lacy problems and I'm looking at Tariqohen and I just don't think I want to spend the money, the fab dollars on Cohen, what it'll cost me. Although I buy into the game script situation and the big plays, it just. I don't think I'm willing. But it's something that we'll talk about more on the waiver show tomorrow. So those were our raising canes, Rising stars of the week. Remember, game day tastes better with raising Cane's chicken fingers, hand battered. Mmm, that sweet tea. Good stuff, great for game day. And go ahead and check out raising canes.com.

[Mike Wright]

Find your nearest location.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, without further ado, a doo doo.

[Jason Moore]

Pooped in his big boy pants.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, let's, let's be honest, this is the section of the show that everyone is looking forward to. Usually it's, yeah, I want to hear, I want to hear my guys who were studs, like, let's just bask in their glory. Not this week.

[Jason Moore]

There weren't enough studs. And there was one guy who pooped so hard that people everywhere started getting the sweats, and that is Andy Dalton. Oh, breaking news.

[Andy Holloway]

Andy Dalton's pants are destroyed.

[Jason Moore]

Breaking news.

[Mike Wright]

He did, like, it's. If you say, hey, Mike, can a quarterback possibly have negative points at the end of a game if they play at home? It's like, no. Oh, he did the impossible. I mean, five turnovers, Is that what he had?

[Andy Holloway]

Here's what we need to say about Andy Dalton Reef. Because if there are two players that I think reflected poorly on the show, it would have been Andy Dalton, Carson Palmer this week, and Andy Dalton. I will apologize for Andy Dalton even though Andy Dalton was our consensus QB16 this week. And I will apologize because I am a big Andy Dalton fan and I'm a big fan of this offense and the potential for Andy Dalton to be a valuable late round quarterback. But I did not draft him to play this week and I did not play him ahead of Carson Palmer or Marcus Mariota because of the matchup. But if you did, you ate it.

[Mike Wright]

You lost.

[Andy Holloway]

You lost your week.

[Jason Moore]

If you play Carson Palmer who was, you know, very bad in a standard league, you're talking about scoring nine points. You're extremely disappointed with that. That's 14 points more than 14 points more.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, you could have survived with Carson Palmer.

[Jason Moore]

Right. But Andy Dalton certainly screwed your team and people want to know, okay, so is he dead? Is he gone? Was this just a catastrophe that will continue. I went back this morning, rewatch that game because I wanted to watch and get a fresh take, knowing the end and say, okay, how this went. People aren't going to like hearing this, but I think Andy Dalton is going to be absolutely fine this year. He didn't look that atrocious for the first three quarters. You had two tip. Two of the first three interceptions were tip balls at the line, one of which went like 40 yards in the air. The other interception was this incredible, you know, interception fingertip grab. Odell Beckham like, you know, catch from the defender. He was able to move the ball those first three quarters. Then obviously once the, once the game is out of control, the wheels can really fall off. Now. I don't love him. This coming week, obviously the Houston Texans are another difficult matchup, but over, over the course of the season. I think Andy Dalton is going to be fine. He wasn't Carson Palmer, I'm more worried about. Carson Palmer looked horrific. He was missing guys open. He was making terrible mental decisions. I think Andy Dalton had some close calls and some bad breaks that just destroyed the team.

[Andy Holloway]

Carson Palmer did save you with a garbage time TD from absolute disaster, but it was not good. And now you have to ask the question. I have to ask the question. With Andrew Luck on the shelf and the news came out that it might be until October, do you, you know, Palmer plays Indianapolis next week and I think I'm going to start him. Like I think I'm going to play.

[Mike Wright]

I think you probably should.

[Andy Holloway]

But here's the thing. If David Johnson's gone, then, you know, then I'm not starting because they need him to be successful as an offense. Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Carson Palmer and Kirk Cousins combined for two total touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, that's the nice. The positive side is that there's a good chance if you played one of the guys that pooped in their big boy pants, so did your opponent.

[Andy Holloway]

That's exactly what happened with the tight ends. If I play Gronk against Reed, who cares?

[Mike Wright]

So what.

[Andy Holloway]

Other, you know, Russell Wilson was, I think, the most surprising situation. Does this mean that Green Bay's defense is legit? Because this is what you're going to see. Right. Last year they were vulnerable. They were easily beat through the air. This week, the pass rush was there and Russell Wilson couldn't get anything done.

[Jason Moore]

They had so many injuries early on, early last season on their defense for the Green Bay packers that I think I forgot how much that hurt their defense coming in. I said, you know, must have been five or six times while watching this game how impressed I was with the Green Bay packers defense, their coverage, their pass rush. And I realized that some of that's on the Seahawks offensive line being so bad. But credit needs to be given to the Green Bay packers defense. And I think this is an early indication of you can't just go by last year's numbers and say, oh, start, you know, your wide receivers or quarterbacks against Green Bay, because it's not that same defense.

[Mike Wright]

Well, and just do recall that, I mean, even last year in 2016. Here, Russell, they had Russell Wilson's number last year. He came into Lambeau through five interceptions. So maybe this is a they that their defensive coaches just know how to play against Russell Wilson.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Lev Bell, DeMarco Murray pooped in the big boy pants this week. Those are some big boy pants. So they're the headliners.

[Mike Wright]

Le'Veon Bell had, I believe around 16 total offensive yards at halftime.

[Andy Holloway]

The Pittsburgh Steelers, they couldn't get it going.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean, I know Antonio Brown crushed, but what I think the stat was, they didn't have a first down in the first quarter. I mean it was just, it was horrendous. The Steelers looked really, really bad.

[Andy Holloway]

Are you surprised about DeMarco Murray against Oakland not being able to get more going on the ground?

[Mike Wright]

Yes, I was pretty surprised at the end. And this wasn't Derek Henry.

[Andy Holloway]

Only 18 took over only 18 carries from that offense. They really put it on Mariota.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, well, they lined up with three wide receivers, a whole lot more than they did last year. So you're seeing a changing of the guard for shifting towards passing.

[Andy Holloway]

Let's talk about some of these platoons in the backfield. Forte and Powell both stunk and Matt Forte out snapped Powell, which makes it 10 of the last 13 games that Mount Forte has out snapped Powell. So you might like Bilalpel, but if he doesn't get to play, he will not perform for you.

[Mike Wright]

That's a good point, Andy.

[Andy Holloway]

Thanks.

[Mike Wright]

Good point.

[Andy Holloway]

Hot take. I mean, are you targeting Powell after this pathetic situation? Oakland, Miami, Jacksonville coming up, do you target him as a possible fill in? If you're facing, you know, you're the Danny Woodhead owner, you're the David Johnson owner. You're facing maybe some tumult in your backfield. You had Lacey and you thought you had something and you don't.

[Mike Wright]

Man, I don't think I do okay? Not at this point.

[Andy Holloway]

What about Mixon and Hill in that backfield? So that was Cincinnati.

[Jason Moore]

I hate Marvin Lewis. That's my takeaway. He is who he is. Yeah, I know it. I know it and we knew it beforehand. We have said all off season to worry about Joe Mixon because of Marvin Lewis and his history. But I just wanted to believe so bad that he would give it to the more talented back. Rewatching that game this morning, one thing was clear. This is Joe Mixon is their best back. When they had him in on that second drive, he single handedly got them a first down. I mean, he was an outlet geo Looked great, though. Geo did look very good.

[Andy Holloway]

Joe Mixon will be fine. Not so much Joe Mixon will be fine. I'm not worried about Joe Mixon, but.

[Jason Moore]

It'S just like give him the question, the whole workload. But it will not happen. It will not happen.

[Mike Wright]

When? Yeah. Win.

[Jason Moore]

Never.

[Mike Wright]

Never.

[Jason Moore]

Injury.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Injury is what's going to happen. So if Geo or.

[Andy Holloway]

I think there are a lot of people who drafted Joe Mixon right now that are freaking out that you're saying that.

[Jason Moore]

Though I drafted Joe Mixon, I'm freaking out that Marvin Lewis looked like a guy. Here's my only hope. Here's my only hope.

[Andy Holloway]

This thing went terrible for Cincinnati.

[Jason Moore]

Everything went wrong. And so obviously they didn't have sustained offensive drives, which clearly would have helped Joe Mixon quite a bit.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you want to trade him?

[Jason Moore]

No. Because we're a keeper league and I do think talent will win out in the long run, but it might be, you know, half the season that I've got to kind of withstand victories, if you will. The thing is, is first drive was all Hill, second drive was all Mix, and third drive was all Geo. It looked like this scripted situation where they wanted to see who had the hot hand and it was just a dumb Marvin Lewis thing. I don't know that it's going to change, so I just worried about Marvin Lewis.

[Andy Holloway]

Amir Abdullah.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

Not good. 15 for 30. That's bad. That was.

[Mike Wright]

It was really bad. But I mean, it's just like I thought was going to happen. The passing offense for Detroit was going to crush Arizona secondary.

[Jason Moore]

This is sarcasm.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, very much. I mean, the exact opposite that should have happened given Arizona's defensive strengths. The exact opposite happened.

[Jason Moore]

I never purchased the ticket to your Abdullah Express. I know, Andy, you hitched on, but I'm saying, I've said this for a while. It's the exact same situation as the New York Giants. To me, this is a team that doesn't run the ball with an offensive line that is not set to run the ball. If you want the opportunity of a talented back in that situation, go ahead and take Abdullah. Take Paul Perkins. I'm not.

[Andy Holloway]

I like the workload.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, there was no efficiency and it was a problem. And if your strategy as Detroit is to be in a horrible deficit into the fourth quarter of every game that doesn't lend itself to running the ball.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I mean, he still touched the ball 18 times. The upcoming schedule is not the best. Well, he has to go take on the Giants.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to withhold Judgment in a game against Minnesota.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I'm not. I'm not bailing on the express just yet, but it's. It could be. Could be rough here to start.

[Andy Holloway]

Robert Kelly, 10 for 30 Samaj. P. Ryan did not play an offensive snap in this game. Is now the time to target somebody like P. Ryan? Because if they're in a guy who.

[Mike Wright]

Didn'T play a snap.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, absolutely. A high. A high draft investment pick. And Robert Kelly was terrible. That's the time to target somebody, is it not?

[Mike Wright]

Maybe.

[Andy Holloway]

Are they. Tell me this. Isn't P. Ryan going to have another week of no offensive snaps next week?

[Mike Wright]

Probably. I mean, probably.

[Andy Holloway]

I'd say that's almost a zero percent.

[Jason Moore]

It.

[Mike Wright]

Probably not, but it. Oh, it wouldn't shock me.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Because in this. Because this is the cook. The coach is who he is. He wants a reliable running back who won't lose yards and who won't fumble the ball.

[Andy Holloway]

But last year he did not get efficiency from Matt Jones and you had the fumbles. And he quickly made a change to Robert Kelly. An unheard name.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. It was because of the fumbles.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And efficiency.

[Mike Wright]

No match.

[Jason Moore]

Just fumbles.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. It was just fun. Matt Jones was racking up yards.

[Andy Holloway]

Paul Perkins was terrible.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Eddie Lacy looked like Eddie Lacey.

[Mike Wright]

You can cut Lacy. Yeah, you can cut him. I have drafted him in a few spots. Just holding out hope. You can cut him. It's gross, but it's in Seattle. It's Thomas Rawls or bust. Either Thomas Rawls comes in and he's good.

[Jason Moore]

You don't think Chris Carson has a shot to take over?

[Mike Wright]

I don't think he has a shot to take over. No. It's a platoon or it's Thomas Rawls, in my opinion.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, I want to know real quick, any of these four poopers are you buying this week? Duke Johnson, Frank Gore, Tevin Coleman, Isaiah Crowell. I like the commitment to the run in Cleveland.

[Mike Wright]

Maybe Crowell.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, maybe.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. We need to move to the wide receivers. There were a number of wide receivers that really disappointed you. DEZ Bryant, Jameson Crowder, Brandon Marshall. Jason tweeted, if you're looking for Brandon Marshall, you can find him in 2015. Ty Hill.

[Mike Wright]

That was a great tweet.

[Andy Holloway]

Helvin Benjamin, Dante Moncrief, Devonte Adams, Martavis Bryant, Eric Decker and Alshon Jeffrey. I think. I think some of the concern there, obviously Hilton and Moncrief. If you're going to be stuck with Tolzine or Brissette over the next four weeks, there's some concern there long term.

[Jason Moore]

Jacoby Brissette is 10 times better than Scott Tolzine though. At least he'll take a shot down the field. He can, you know, use his legs to buy a little bit more time since the offensive line isn't that great. I mean, you saw Dante Moncrief, I mean he had a target that was only catchable by the defender with Scott Tolzine. And then Jacoby Brissette comes in and throws a 50 yard bomb to him. So it's good news to me. Ty Hilton and Dante Moncrief, they're going to be hard to trust, but at least it's a little just there's some hope better with Jacoby Brissette there.

[Andy Holloway]

What'd you think of the, you know, three total catches between Kelvin Benjamin and Greg Olson?

[Jason Moore]

Cam looked bad. His fantasy day was okay because he threw two touchdowns. Technically, you know that the screen passed to Jonathan Stewart, that he. That was a great play call. That was an amazing call and Jonathan Stewart looked great. But I'm just saying that, you know, that wasn't anything to do with cam Newton.

[Andy Holloway]

Only 171 yards passing.

[Jason Moore]

He touched down, man. He was missing guys six rushing attempts.

[Andy Holloway]

For three total yards.

[Jason Moore]

He got a goal line play called bootleg, you know, where he rolls out for to score the touchdown and he.

[Mike Wright]

Always hits that and Dixon and he.

[Jason Moore]

Was not even close.

[Mike Wright]

Was. Was wide open in the end zone and you overthrew him. Now it's interesting. McCaffrey out. Snap Stewart. Stewart out touched McCaffrey and so at least he's on. McCaffrey's on the field now. What's your, what's your. I just wanted like what's your temperature gauge here on McCaffrey? Were you pleased with that happened?

[Jason Moore]

I was very, very pleased. And when you talk about how Stewart out touched McCaffrey, that's a little bit nonsense because through the first three quarters when it mattered, I mean it wasn't close. McCaffrey was out touching Stewart by a wide margin. It was only once, it was like 20 to nothing and they're trying to run out the clock that of course Stewart would take over. He's getting all the touches at that point. But when the game was going and was competitive and you know, when you're looking at future games that aren't just starting 20 to nothing in favor of the Panthers, I think you actually saw that McCaffrey is the more utilized. He will get more touches than Jonathan.

[Mike Wright]

Stewart and they showed the commitment to changing the script. I mean, the draft, Twitter, when we all lost it like the Panthers, it's not a fit because they don't throw the running back. Well, they were, they were checking down to McCaffrey.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. My only concern is how does that affect the default throw for Cam Newton? Does Greg Olson lose targets because McCaffrey is underneath and available? I have some concern about that. Greg Olson is obviously good and this was not a really efficient passing game in general for Cam Newton, although he salvaged the fantasy day and which want.

[Mike Wright]

To throw out there. I mean, just despite me always piling on to Cam Newton throwing ability, he's still recovering from the shoulder and you could tell because, I mean, this was missing Ed Dixon in the end zone was. That's an unforgivable throw. But I blame that on him still recovering and getting back.

[Andy Holloway]

Are you sounding the alarm on any of these three players that you're fans of, Mike? Eric Decker, Martavis Bryant and Devonte Adams?

[Mike Wright]

No, actually, I'm not.

[Andy Holloway]

None of them.

[Mike Wright]

No. Eric. Eric Decker was getting the targets. He had an end zone fade that the defender managed to get a hand on. Barely. Adams, I think this was just a product of the matchup and Martavis is the weird one because the Steelers were just so bad and it was. I, I felt like Martavis Bryant and Le'Veon Bell coming back can help the Steelers be a better offensive team on the road. But I think that Le'Veon Bell was just so bad in this game that it blew everything up.

[Andy Holloway]

If you need to take a breath, and we talked about this before the season began, if you go and pull up Antonio Brown or Julio Jones or Odell Beckham Jr. And you look at last year's game logs, you're going to see games that look like a lot of these poop in their big boy pants players. But when it happens week one, the temptation is to overreact. It's to slap the Xanax out of your doctor's hands and just freak out.

[Mike Wright]

A lot of Xanax talk today.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, this episode is brought to you by. No, I'm just staying with the metaphor here of look, take a breath, take a chill pill.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, there you go.

[Andy Holloway]

And don't read too far into some of these situations. There are some concerning ones, but again, we'll talk more at length tomorrow in the waiver section. Not a great game from obviously Russell Wilson or Doug Baldwin. As Wilson goes, so does Baldwin. And then you have all the big time tight ends. Are you. Let me just ask this question before we close the show out. Are there any of those top six tight ends I mentioned, Gronk, Eifert, Reed, Kelsey Olson that you are a Graham that you're actually worried about that you don't want to buy into?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, for me, it would be Jordan Reed. It's because of the toe, not because of what happened on the. On the field. I have said for the last month or so he was pretty much taken off my board. I just don't believe that he's going to be healthy enough to be the great Jordan Reed that we've seen.

[Mike Wright]

And I mean, the offense, Terrell Pryor was the target leader. It felt like the offense was running through Pryor because they actually have a big athletic target. And so maybe that changes things up for Jordan Reed.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, like I said, we're here five days a week. We're going to get into waivers tomorrow. We're going to answer your questions. We're going to get you ready for week two. We're going to bring some sanity to the world. We'll talk about the two Monday night games that are taking place. We'll reflect on what happened there. The Saints are taking on Minnesota and the Los Angeles Chargers are taking on the Denver Broncos tonight in the double header.

[Mike Wright]

Son of Bum.

[Andy Holloway]

Son of Bum. Oh, my gosh. You'd be surprised how many Bum Phillips books exist in the world. I looked.

[Jason Moore]

You would.

[Andy Holloway]

That's true. You know, the other day I was just in the office, right. And we're in. We're back there. We're doing research. We're working on our rankings for week one. And I glance over at Jason's computer and he's just. He's just fiddling through Wade Phillips Twitter account.

[Mike Wright]

Of course he is.

[Andy Holloway]

Just in the mid. Just in the middle of the day. Well, you know, well, in Rome. What on earth are you saying? All right, look, hey, before we close it out, I want to thank NFL Game Pass for sponsoring the show today. As I said, look, whatever your favorite game is, NFL Game Pass has got it. If you are worried about one of your players, you want to flip on NFL Game Pass and check it out. You get the condensed games, you get the All 22 Coaches film. What?

[Jason Moore]

I used to rewatch the Bengals game.

[Andy Holloway]

Absolutely. And that, yeah, you see the tip passes, you see whether you can freak out or not. Look, if it's on the NFL and it happened, NFL Game Pass has it sign up right [e-mail] fantasy footballers. That's NFL.com fantasy footballers. Mike, any parting words as we head into the Monday night games.

[Mike Wright]

I have a message for Michael Thomas.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

You have to outscore Melvin Gordon by eight points.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't want to eat crap this week.

[Mike Wright]

I don't want to eat any more eggplants.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Be sure to check out playdraft.comballers and get involved in some sweet draft DFS. Play very fun week on draft and we'll catch you tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in.

[Jason Moore]

Goodbye. 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 FF Ballers.