Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 5 Studs & Duds, Rising Stars, Trade Targets

Summary

Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 5 Studs & Duds, Rising Stars, Trade Targets

Released on October 9, 2017

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Introduction

In this episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, hosts Mike Wright ("The Fantasy Hitman"), Jason Moore, and Andy Holloway delve into the intricacies of Week 5 of the 2017 fantasy football season. They dissect player performances, analyze trade targets, highlight rising stars, and caution against underperforming players. The conversation is a treasure trove for fantasy enthusiasts looking to refine their strategies and make informed decisions as the playoffs approach.

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Trade Targets: Studs & Duds

Targeting Underperformers:

The hosts discuss the strategic advantage of targeting underperforming players available at a bargain. Jason Moore emphasizes the value in trading for players like DeMarco Murray, stating:

"[03:04] Jason Moore: ... my third favorite player to target would actually be DeMarco Murray."

Mike Wright echoes this sentiment, highlighting Murray's potential resurgence due to his increased usage:

"[04:31] Mike Wright: ... DeMarco Murray is an okay one. The nice thing for Murray is that Henry's doing nothing. Henry is underperforming as well."

Valuable Picks:

Keenan Allen is identified as a prime trade target, especially in light of Odell Beckham Jr.'s injury. Jason Moore advises:

"[06:08] Jason Moore: Keenan Allen has been targeted... I trust him. And I would definitely be looking to trade for Alshon and Keenan Allen."

Strategic Moves:

The hosts discuss the importance of timing and pricing when acquiring underperforming players, ensuring that fantasy managers can maximize their team’s potential without overpaying.

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Weekly Rewind: Key News and Player Updates

Major Injuries:

• Odell Beckham Jr.'s Injury:

  Mike Wright reacts to the shocking injury of Odell Beckham Jr., detailing the severity:

  "[06:44] Jason Moore: Weekly rewind..."

• J.J. Watt's Broken Fibula:

  The podcast discusses the impact of J.J. Watt's season-ending injury on the Houston Texans and its potential fantasy implications for Deshaun Watson:

  "[12:10] Mike Wright: Desean Watson's probably going to end up in the stud muffin section."

Quarterback Performances:

• Deshaun Watson emerges as a standout quarterback, leading the conversation on whether to hold or trade him.

  "[13:14] Jason Moore: ... if I've got him, I'm trading him or fielding offers to trade him to every team imaginable."

• Cam Newton's Revival:

  After a sluggish start, Newton's dominant performance revitalizes his fantasy value:

  "[16:10] Jason Moore: ... I'll happily eat crow on Cam Newton here."

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Stud Muffins: Top Performers

Quarterbacks:

• Deshaun Watson:

  Highlighted as the week's top scoring quarterback with five touchdowns on 16 completions:

  "[12:22] Mike Wright: ... Desean Watson. Five touchdowns on only 16 completions."

• Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz also receive commendations for their robust performances.

Running Backs:

• Melvin Gordon and Leonard Fournette are celebrated for their exceptional rushing yardage and touchdown contributions:

  "[17:38] Jason Moore: ... Leonard Fournette ... he is bringing on the hits."

Wide Receivers:

• A.J. Green showcases a stellar performance with seven receptions for 189 yards and a touchdown:

  "[25:05] Mike Wright: Wide receivers. A.J. green... seven receptions for 189 and a touchdown."

• Will Fuller surprises with a two-touchdown game, positioning him as a high-upside pick:

  "[26:20] Mike Wright: ... Will Fuller on a 16 game pace. You'll be scoring 32 touchdowns."

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Rising Stars: Promising Performers

Running Backs:

• Marlon Mack:

  Jason Moore identifies Mack as the "Rising Star of the Week" due to his impressive performances and potential future impact:

  "[36:56] Jason Moore: ... Marlon Mack... he is the future back here for the Indianapolis Colts."

• Aaron Jones:

  Despite initial hesitations, Jones proves his worth with 19 carries for 125 yards:

  "[39:07] Jason Moore: ... Aaron Jones had a monster game... 19 carries 125 yards."

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Pooper Muffins: Underperforming Players

Quarterbacks:

• Ben Roethlisberger struggles with interceptions and low touchdowns, frustrating fantasy owners:

  "[43:12] Mike Wright: ... Big Ben... you need three points from your quarterback, then Big Ben came through."

Running Backs:

• Seattle Seahawks' Running Backs:

  All running backs from Seattle underperform, leading the hosts to classify them as "poopers":

  "[50:57] Jason Moore: ... the running backs for the Seattle Seahawks. Oh, all of them."

Wide Receivers:

• Amari Cooper:

  Despite his talent, Cooper's recent drops and low reception numbers raise concerns. However, Jason Moore still sees value in acquiring him at a low cost:

  "[53:03] Jason Moore: I would buy Amari Cooper for pennies and I would keep him on my bench."

Tight Ends:

• Eric Ebron continues to disappoint with multiple dropped touchdowns, earning disdain from the hosts:

  "[35:19] Mike Wright: He's still dropping touchdowns."

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Recommendations and Strategic Insights

Holding vs. Trading Players:

The hosts debate the merits of holding onto high-performing quarterbacks like Deshaun Watson versus trading them for reliable assets. Jason Moore leans towards trading Watson to capitalize on his peak performance years:

"[14:00] Jason Moore: ... trading him or fielding offers to trade him to every team imaginable."

Waiver Wire Strategies:

Emphasizing the importance of the waiver wire, Mike Wright and Jason Moore recommend targeting players who show consistent improvement or have favorable matchups, such as Chris Hogan and Ed Dixon.

Positional Considerations:

• Running Backs: With the influx of injuries and performance variances, flexibility and depth in the running back position are crucial.

• Wide Receivers: Targeting high-upside players who might be undervalued due to recent slumps can provide significant returns.

• Tight Ends: Given the overall underperformance at the tight end position, taking calculated risks on players like Ed Dixon or George Kittle can be beneficial.

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Conclusion

The Week 5 episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast offers a comprehensive analysis of the current fantasy football landscape. By highlighting both standout performances and cautioning against declining players, the hosts provide listeners with actionable insights to optimize their teams. Whether it's capitalizing on underperforming trade targets, scouting rising stars, or avoiding pooper muffins, this episode serves as an essential guide for fantasy managers striving to secure their playoff spots.

Notable Quotes:

• "[03:04] Jason Moore: ... my third favorite player to target would actually be DeMarco Murray."

• "[14:00] Jason Moore: ... trading him or fielding offers to trade him to every team imaginable."

• "[36:56] Jason Moore: ... Marlon Mack... he is the future back here for the Indianapolis Colts."

• "[53:03] Jason Moore: I would buy Amari Cooper for pennies and I would keep him on my bench."

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Join the Fantasy Footballers community on jointhefoot.com and stay updated by following them on Twitter @the_ffballers.

Transcript

[Mike Wright]

Hey, Footland, before we start today's show, want to remind you about Fantasy Champs. The absolute best place to get that Fantasy championship hardware. Trust me, you've never seen something displayed so beautifully like their rings and their cases. And right now they are doing a promotion that ends tonight. So you got to get in on it. You give them a follow on Twitter yfantasychamps and you retweet. You retweet the contest. That's all you have to to do at my Fantasy Champs and of course, find all of their stuff [e-mail].

[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.

[Mike Wright]

Welcome into the show.

[Jason Moore]

Whatever I want.

[Mike Wright]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Your new host, Mike the Fantasy Hitman. Right, that is me.

[Jason Moore]

You're looking good, Mike.

[Mike Wright]

You're looking good as well.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you.

[Mike Wright]

Jason Moore.

[Jason Moore]

Jay Grizz in the house.

[Mike Wright]

Jay Grizz in the house.

[Jason Moore]

Looking fine as well.

[Mike Wright]

Andy Holloway and his lovely family, they are taking a well deserved vacation.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, they saw what happened to Todd Gurley this week. They go, I gotta go. I'm not gonna be here for this. I'm only here for the good girly. I don't want to hear these two guys gloat. Yes, he went to Disneyland.

[Mike Wright]

So like I said, my name is Mike the Fantasy Hitman writes Jason Moore. You can follow the follow the show on Twitter @ the FFballers. Jason is @ Jason FFL. I am @FF Hitman. And the missing Andy Holloway, our fearless leader. You can find him on Twitter at Andy Holloway. Man, it's going to be a great show.

[Jason Moore]

It's going to be a wild N out show. There is no limit.

[Mike Wright]

We're going to Nick Cannon Wild out.

[Jason Moore]

There's no lit. This could be. This could be five hours. It could be seven hours.

[Mike Wright]

You don't know.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, you probably know because you started the podcast by now and it probably said how long it was.

[Mike Wright]

That's not.

[Jason Moore]

We don't know.

[Mike Wright]

That's not very fair. They live in the future. So today we'll do the Fantasy rewind. Lot of news.

[Jason Moore]

A lot of lot to recap from this weekend.

[Mike Wright]

A lot of sad news.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, there were plenty of injuries to.

[Mike Wright]

Go around, but there's also positivity. We'll talk the stud muffins are raising canes. Rising stars got to always talk the poopers. When you talk the ups, you got to talk the downs. But we're going to get into the quick question. Which underperforming player or players are you targeting in trades? It's, it's the end of week five. I mean, people are making the push for the playoffs right now. You are getting ready. So Jason, who are you targeting?

[Jason Moore]

You know, I've got a decent sized list of players that I would be targeting and it always comes down to.

[Mike Wright]

Give me your third favorite.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. My third favorite player to target would actually be demarco Murray.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

He would be my third favorite. I know a lot of people have to be freaking out about DeMarco Murray and no one, I am one of them. Yeah, no one is freaking out more than whoever owns DeMarco Murray, which is what allows you to buy a player low. Their owners are done with them. The DeMarco Murray owners, they probably don't have a great record because they have been relying on them. They've been starting them and he's been letting them down week after week after week. So you say, well, Jason, why would you, why would you possibly want to buy into that and bring that landmine onto your team? It's because I don't believe he is a landmine. I think he, he looked all right. He ran for over four yards carry. He had 14 carries this last week compared to Derek Henry's four. And of course he didn't produce much. They didn't have a quarterback. I mean, Marcus Mariota was gone. And I think that that was a big part of the problem. I mean, I know the Dolphins aren't great, but that's one guy. But when I say I've got a list of guys, it's all about the price. I mean, sure, you know, there's there. I'm not going to be trading for Isaiah Crowell because I don't believe he's ever going to get it done. But the guys like a day teams.

[Mike Wright]

Are actually willing to pay you money to take Isaiah Crowell.

[Jason Moore]

I will give you a second round pick in next year's draft if you take Isaiah Crowell and start him. Like if you take him, start him, I'll give you a second round pick. Who are you targeting, Mike?

[Mike Wright]

I mean, DeMarco Murray, it's an okay one. The nice thing for Murray is that Henry's doing nothing. Henry is underperforming as well. The guy all target, it's jj. I know I have voiced my concerns about him. I'm still concerned about him. But 25 carries for running back, you just. That doesn't fall off of trees. 25 carries and the similar to the Murray owner, the Jiji owner, you know, they're freaking out right now.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You know, some of these guys, a perfect example, Amari Cooper.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, my goodness.

[Jason Moore]

There's going to be leagues where you can find him on waivers, but you're going to be able to trade for Amari Cooper as cheap as possible. I told people last week I traded for Amari Cooper. This past week I sat him. I mean, you don't want anything to do with Cooper right now, especially while Derek Carr is gone. But he's going to come back. His last three games were against three of the best defenses out there. So if you can get him pennies on the dollar, he's another candidate that I wouldn't shy away from. I would not start him until Derek Carr's back. Amir Abdullah is a guy that after this down week against a very difficult Carolina backfield. But again, you talked about the carries that Jay Ajay is getting. Amir Abdullah is getting the work and he's getting it done. So I would be willing to take him on if I can get him affordable. Probably my 2 favorite, though. You said my third favorite, so I skipped down to DeMarco. My two favorite guys are guys that I actually believe in. I think they've looked good. I think they will perform well the rest of the year. And they both had slightly down weeks. My number one would be Keenan Allen.

[Mike Wright]

Love it.

[Jason Moore]

Keenan Allen has been targeted, you know, top 10 in the league. His hands are usually great. This last week he had a couple drops that made his stat line down a bit. But he is very important to that offense. I like everything I've seen out of him and Alshon. Jeffrey, no one expected him to have this monster big blow up game against Patrick Peterson. But Carson Wentz is the real deal.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, he looks great. I trust him. And I would definitely be looking to trade for Alshon and Keenan Allen.

[Mike Wright]

All right, let's get into the rewind.

[Jason Moore]

Weekly rewind.

[Mike Wright]

The big news. The big news of the weekend. Odell Beckham, broken fibula, will need surgery. It was horrifying to watch. You knew from. I, at least I knew watching that first replay, I said to Jason, like, that's broken. It's the way he's like twisted. You knew it was really bad. You could tell by his reaction. I mean, Beckham, Beckham's been giving us a little bit of that shady action lately where he'll go down writhing. You're like, I think he's okay. But this one was different. And yeah, right.

[Jason Moore]

It's right off the bat. I thought oh, another play acting. And then they showed the replay and you're like, oh, his foot turned the wrong way. That, I mean, that's going to be broken. It's no good. And so a lot of people are asking, okay, what do you.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, what do I do now? And I was all ready to talk about my number one target for Odell Beckham replacement is Keenan Allen. I love because he was on a down week. He's not. It's not like trying to buy Antonio Brown, which is nearly impossible, or AJ Green. I mean those guys are sure if you can do that, absolutely pick them up. But the price of those guys is going to be astronomical. Meanwhile, you may be able to get Keenan Allen for an okay price.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

And not just devastate your team. You know, Rob Peter to pay Paul, so to speak.

[Jason Moore]

Exactly. No, that's why Keenan Allen's a very good replacement. The questions become what about the other weapons there? They all of them went down for the Giants. The four wide receivers, the four starting wide receivers went down, all with ankle or foot injuries. Dwayne Harris out for the year. And then you have the two Brandon Marshall and Sterling Shepard both injured their ankles before Odell Beckham. They are considered right now, week to week. Sterling Shepard is going to be getting an mri, I believe today. I had questions on Twitter that were okay, how much does this bump up? Let's say Sterling Shepard is back this week. Brandon Marshall, Otto Belcom are out. I think Sterling Shepard is a talented receiver and I'm staying as far away from every New York Giant right now as humanly possible. I don't trust Eli Manning without Odell Beckham, let alone without Odell Beckham, possibly without Sterling shepherd, without Brandon Marshall. Their upcoming schedule this week they're going and playing the Denver Broncos.

[Mike Wright]

The it's not optimal.

[Jason Moore]

I would say the most difficult matchup for wide receivers in the entire league. They're following that up with the Seattle Seahawks. If you're depleted, your offense is bad, you're already on five, you're going up against two of the more difficult matchups in the NFL. I am avoiding completely.

[Mike Wright]

The Giants news continues as Orleans Darqua, who was. Was looking pretty nice. He was. He has a couple great runs. He had a great touchdown run. He was knocked out with a calf injury. Wayne Gallman looked competent in replacement. I believe he had five receptions. So he, I mean, at least he's catching the ball. Wayne Gallman is going to be going to be hot property.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

When it comes to the waiver wire.

[Jason Moore]

This weekend, it's it's rare to find a running back you can start, but. But again, I go back to the fact that if they are depleted on offense and they've got this crazy schedule that, you know, I mean, someone on the Giants will have fantasy production. It will probably come from the running back who is catching the ball, which usually you think of Shane Marine in that role. I think now the Gallman news is like, okay, so is it going to be Gallman? Is Vereen going to be healthy? It's just so murky again, I would let someone else deal with that issue.

[Mike Wright]

Sure. Devonte Parker left the game with an ankle injury. He also left the stadium on crutches. It is a sprained ankle. Charles Clay was carted off with a knee injury. That one looked pretty bad. So Mr. Necessary is off the field, it would seem, which means we have a Mr. Very necessary.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Nick O'Leary, the replacement tight end came in, was immediately getting targets. So he will also be hot property on the waiver wire. Jordy was dealing. Jordy Nelson dealing with a hamstring issue. If you were watching that Dallas, the Dallas Green Bay game with the packers, incredible comeback. Aaron Rodgers does it again. He did it without Jordy Nelson on the field.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Everyone's screaming, why is Jordy. He didn't look right the whole game.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's correct.

[Jason Moore]

So you'll need to monitor practice this week.

[Mike Wright]

So Matt Stafford, he was hobbling all day, says he'll be all right. We have Travis Kelsey suffered a concussion. Chris Conley with the Achilles injury. And for the Texans, J.J. watt and merciless. J.J. watt is. He's done.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

This is a broken leg situation. If I researched a little bit about what the break was, you go, holy crap, that sounds horrifying.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Some people are mentioning that other players have had the same injury before. Been out a couple of weeks. I believe DEZ Bryant had that. But from my understanding, you know, same injury on paper, very different injury in reality, there's much more. The severity to J.J. watt is much different and he should be done for the year. This is bad news for the Texans defense, which from a fantasy football perspective could be decent news for desean Watson.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, desean Watson's probably going to end up in the stud muffin section.

[Jason Moore]

You think?

[Mike Wright]

Let's find out.

[Jason Moore]

You're Bo this week's fantasy stud muffins.

[Mike Wright]

Your current number one scoring quarterback of the week, Desean Watson. Five touchdowns on only 16 completions.

[Jason Moore]

Wow.

[Mike Wright]

If these trends continue, I mean, it was, it was an outrageous night for Watson, he looked. He struggled for most of this game. And then, oh, the garbage land can, which, to be fair, the.

[Jason Moore]

The.

[Mike Wright]

The bomb to Fuller and Hopkins. I mean, he's still trying to bring the team back, but then to end the game with a touchdown to Hopkins, it's just delightful for fantasy owners.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, desean Watson has been a revelation.

[Mike Wright]

We got to talk. Watson is. This is a moving forward. What are you doing with Deshaun Watson, who has been just unbelievable? I mean, he is gone nuclear the past three weeks.

[Jason Moore]

What you do with desean Watson, to me, the decision as to, okay, what am I supposed to do if I've got him is very, very easy and obvious. Look, he has been. He's. He's been as hot as you could possibly get. Here's how hot he is. We're five weeks in. He is four points behind the number one quarterback on the season, Alex Smith, who's also been, you know, just touchdowns galore. Except Deshaun Watson didn't start week one. He's, you know, he's, for all intents and purposes, you know, almost a whole game behind. And he is virtually the number one quarterback in the league. So if you've got him, you start him, you stay in those flames. And if I have him, I'm trading him or fielding offers to trade him to every team imaginable.

[Mike Wright]

He's got the Browns coming up.

[Jason Moore]

That's great.

[Mike Wright]

Do you want to hold him for one more week and then it's bye week?

[Jason Moore]

No, I'm not holding him for one more week. So it's bye week after the Browns?

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

That means if you hold him for the Browns now, you're going to have a really hard time trading him after that.

[Mike Wright]

Maybe.

[Jason Moore]

But you're not going to have him. No. I mean, trading for a guy on Buy, you never, ever get the value. When you're trading a player on buy, the person buying him expects a discount. I don't think there's anywhere for Deshaun Watson to go but down. And that's not to say he hasn't proved value.

[Mike Wright]

You don't think he can just go linear?

[Jason Moore]

I don't think he can go linear with five touchdowns a game. I think that would break the world and the NFL history books. And this isn't taking anything away from Deshaun Watson. I'm not saying he's a bad quarterback or that he's going to fall to the 20s. He'll be a startable asset the rest of the year because of his baseline with his rushing and his propensity to get it done near the goal line. But you have a guy that in a league, you should be able to trade him to someone who believes that he is the newest revelation in the NFL and get a good wide receiver or a good running back for him, and you'll be able to replace his value, I think, much easier than you could possibly replace a starting wide receiver or running back.

[Mike Wright]

Dak Prescott had a fantastic game, as expected. Unfortunately, he goes on to the bye week, but he is an absolute hold. You would. There's a lot of these quarterbacks. If you're streaming, you say bye week.

[Jason Moore]

Goodbye.

[Mike Wright]

Hit the bricks. Do not drop Dak Prescott. Carson Wentz dominated The Arizona Cardinals 21 of 30 for over 300 yards. He was. He was absolutely fantastic. And here's where we eat crow. Cam Newton.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I'm happy to.

[Mike Wright]

Another monster game against the Detroit Lions, who were. I mean, statistically, they were an okay defense, but they were. They were causing turnovers. They were creating havoc. Cam Newton comes in, drops over 350 yards, three touchdowns. I mean, he absolutely dominated them.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he did it in the passing game. It wasn't like he had a. I think he had zero rushing yards. Zero. Really?

[Mike Wright]

Okay, well, we got to vet that.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I rechecked that a number of times because I was surprised. Because you were surprised. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

All the attempts.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Right. So, I mean, this is. This is good news. You know, I think Cam Newton is a guy. He's done it before. I called.

[Mike Wright]

Are you in? Yeah, I would say Cam Newton back.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I would say I'm in. If you had the shoulder surgery, you come back, you look bad, you're slow to recover, and then the last two weeks, you've gotten it done, and you've gotten it done with some of the newer weapons. Devin Funches has stepped up into that third year.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, he has.

[Jason Moore]

Leap as a wide receiver. You've got Christian McCaffrey who's padding. You know, he hasn't had a running back to pad his passing stats the way that, you know, Matthew Stafford has always had and the way that Drew Brees has always had. Now, you know, if Christian McCaffrey is getting 50, 60 yards through the air, those are Cam Newton's numbers. So, yeah, I'll happily eat crow on Cam Newton here. Although he is not. Cam Newton is not my number one waiter for Crow being delivering. I have a big pile when we get to the poopy section. All right. We'll get there.

[Mike Wright]

So please don't talk about waiters. In a poopy section.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

That's unfortunate. Alex Smith continues his domination every week. Start.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Has to be right now.

[Mike Wright]

This is a different Alex Smith. And Brian Hoyer had himself again.

[Jason Moore]

Hey, there you go. My stream of the week.

[Mike Wright]

The matchup was great against the Colts. Moving over to the running back position, Melvin Gordon had a sensational game. 20 carries over 100 yards. I mean, it's all systems go.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it is for me. I know you and I disagree with. We sit here on the couch watching, and you just don't believe in Melvin Gordon. And I absolutely love Melvin Gordon. So that gave me great joy to look at you with menacing eyes.

[Mike Wright]

And yes, I received it. I received the glare many, many times.

[Jason Moore]

But my favorite running back in the league right now. Favorite, absolutely. To watch. There's nobody I would rather watch. Another definite stud muffin, Leonard Fournette. I mean, he is. He's the new ap. He's bringing on the hits. He's got this play where he's.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, if you have. If you have not seen this play, you need to look it up immediately. But Leonard Fernett breaks a tackle. He's right. So he has wheeled out to the. He caught the edge. There is a defender coming and he knows that there's. I'm going to hit this guy. He waves the defender at him.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, full matrix.

[Mike Wright]

And says, bring. Yeah, exactly. Come on, Morpheus. He says, bring it on. And then proceeds to run into him. He didn't stand his feet, unfortunately. If he had blown him up and.

[Jason Moore]

Ran, oh, man, that would have been great.

[Mike Wright]

One of the best plays of all time. But it's just the fact that he is inviting contact mid play.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, he's done it. He did it in high school, he did it in college. He is a. He is a generational talent. And I think Leonard Fournette, you know, here's a good question. Melvin Gordon. Leonard Fournette. I've seen a lot of this question being asked, like, rest of season, who would you rather have, Leonard Fournette or Melvin Gordon in fantasy?

[Mike Wright]

That's. That's tough because Melvin Gordon is so involved in the passing game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. If you're in any kind of ppr, half point or full point, I think you've got to go. Melvin Gordon, he is. I mean, he had six receptions this last week. Both of his touchdowns came in the passing game. So I would still lean Gordon. But if I'm in a standard league and I'm not getting anything for the receptions, just total yards, rather four nips, I think I'd go for net.

[Mike Wright]

Aaron Jones had a monster game in replacement starting for Green Bay, but we're going to talk about him a little bit later. Buck Allen, talk about a Mr. Necessary. Terrence west goes out immediately at the beginning of the. Of the Ravens vs Raiders, and Buck Allen comes in and he's getting all the carries.

[Jason Moore]

He got everything near the goal line. I mean, they. Alex Collins was in and was involved and looked, you know, all right. You know, about as good as Buck Allen, who looked all right. But when you get 21 carries and he's the guy they trust to not fumble near the goal line. That's why, you know, as soon as you got inside the 20s, you never saw Alex Collins. It was the Buck Allen show.

[Mike Wright]

Not the most efficient day, but great fantasy numbers.

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely.

[Mike Wright]

And that's what we care about.

[Jason Moore]

21 carries and you get a touchdown, you catch four balls. I think Buck Allen's one of those guys where if Terrence west is injured this week and he's out, he's all systems go.

[Mike Wright]

Duke Johnson had another great game on. Very limited touches. Marlon Mack.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, we'll talk about him here in a little bit, too. Nine for 91 and a touchdown looked terrific.

[Mike Wright]

And somehow this player. On our Thursday recap, we got too caught up in the Nick folk talk, and we didn't even really talk about Doug Martin after the game, which is surprising given that Andy's just true affection.

[Jason Moore]

He's one of Andy's three my guys.

[Mike Wright]

He has. Doug Martin has a very special place in Andy's heart, and he came through in a big way.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, only got 13 carries, turned that into 74 yards and a touchdown and a hoosh down. I mean, Doug Martin, he's. He is a great running back. He's on a team that needs to run the ball, that wants that to be their identity. And, you know, he's a. An absolute weekly must start and he's going to finish. From here on out.

[Mike Wright]

Where do you have.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, from here on out, he'll be a top 10 running back.

[Mike Wright]

Top 10.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Easily.

[Mike Wright]

That's fine. I was going to say running back, too, but I think a lot of it has to do with the landscape. We did get the old rope a dope when Jacquiz Rogers was out there to start the game and you go, oh, crap.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Beforehand, Andy was saying, you know, he's like, I wouldn't be surprised if you see Jacquiz come out and start this game. And I was like, yeah, I wouldn't be Surprised either. But I'll be shocked if at the end of the game it's an even carry number and it and it was not Jacquist came out, got those first few carries, finished with three carries.

[Mike Wright]

Before we move on to the wide receiver studs of the week, want to thank Pristine Oxen for sponsoring the show. We talk about them all the time because they are the best sports memorabilia place of all time in existence. And whenever we talk about them on the show, I always log in because they have new stuff every single day to peruse. Jason they have a signed full size Kareem Hunt helmet, except that it's not the standard. This is a gold chrome helmet. This thing is. That sound is unbelievable.

[Jason Moore]

Fire.

[Mike Wright]

It's taking everything in me Right now we are engaging in a full bidding war, but they have other things like a full size Deshaun Watson signed helmet. This is where we get all of our jerseys. The signatures are always guaranteed to be authentic. That's what you care about, right? Did that guy actually sign it? They say yes he did because they use the best authenticators around around and just foot clan. If you haven't done so, you got to jump on Pristine Auction P R I S T I n e auction.com the account process. It's completely free. When you make it, let them know that the fantasy footballers sent you.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You won't be disappointed.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Also definitely want to thank ZipRecruiter, longtime sponsor of the fantasy footballers and a great service to use if you are hiring. We come from a different business. We work together. I would always say hiring is the most important thing you can do. Your business is going to succeed or it's going to fail based on the quality of the people you have working there. I think that's true of literally every business that exists. To find the right candidate isn't always easy. You've got to go to hundreds of different places. ZipRecruiter does that all for you. Post your job to 100 plus different job sites with one click. Their technology matches the right people to your job posting. Unlike other job sites, ZipRecruiter doesn't depend on candidates finding you, it finds them for you. In fact, 80% of employers who post a job on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate through the site within one day. So find out today why ZipRecruiter has been used by businesses of all sizes to get the most qualified job candidates with immediate results. Just go to ZipRecruiter.comfootballers to try it for free. That's right. ZipRecruiter.comfootballer one more time. ZipRecruiter.com footballers all right, let's talk some stud muffin.

[Mike Wright]

Wide receivers. A.J. green. Ho hum, ho hum. Seven receptions for 189 and a touchdown. I think this is, this is a sigh of relief for people who drafted A.J. green. Andy Dalton. It was a rough start to the year. It seems like they have gotten things figured out.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean the thing with AJ Green has always been he, even though he is up in that 90 to 100 reception, he's, he's always near the top. He, he's never been a super consistent fantasy guy. He's not like the Antonio Browns where you know, 75% of the time you're getting a great week. He, but his games are so blow up huge. He's the type that can win you a week. This is that type of week. I mean he finishes as the number one wide receiver. When you go for almost 200 yards and a touchdown, you're going to get this. But it was nice to come against a good defense in Buffalo. His upcoming schedule, he's going to go to the bye and then Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. I mean not much to say about A.J. green. He, he good.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to mention a wide receiver here. He was drafted in the first Grant or first round.

[Jason Moore]

A fantasy or no NFL. Okay.

[Mike Wright]

So first round draft pedigree blazing fast.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Hands have been a little questionable throughout his career. This player is on Pace for 32 touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

Is this player Will Fuller?

[Mike Wright]

Yes, Will Fuller on a 16 game pace. You'll be scoring 32 touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

Take that Randy Moss.

[Mike Wright]

Deuce deuce. Will Fuller two in his first game. Two this week on three targets. Two receptions for two touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

So what do you do?

[Mike Wright]

What do you do with. Because this is an outlier, right?

[Jason Moore]

Yes, I mean I think it is. Here's.

[Mike Wright]

It's an outlier. But what do you do moving forward with Will Fuller? Deshaun Watson's throwing a bunch of touchdowns. He likes to go deep. Will Fuller, that's his, that's his bread and butter.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean you pick him up and you know now that he is the wide receiver too for the Houston Texans and if you believe desean Watson is going to stay as, let's just call him a top 10 quarterback for fantasy the rest of the way. If you look at other top 10 quarterbacks, they produce a wide receiver one and a wide receiver two. Usually. I mean, you know, serviceable, startable type of players. Almost everybody. I mean the thing Is is you don't always know. Take Philip Rivers. You don't always know. Who's the number two this week? Is it Tyrell Williams? Is it Travis Benjamin? Is it going to be Dontrell Inman? Is it going to be the Goose Henry? Who's the second target? But it looks like you know who the second target is going to be in Houston. It's going to be Will Fuller. So I think you pick them up and I think you take your. Your gamble type of shots at starting them. I mean, look, I don't love starting a guy who's getting three targets. I hate that. That sounds terrible. But to have the wide receiver two on a team that looks like they're going to be able to put up.

[Mike Wright]

Points and they're going to have to.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

With the loss on the defensive line.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So I would say pick him up and use him as a flex start.

[Mike Wright]

His teammate, DeAndre Hopkins had himself a solid game on the back of three. Devonte Adams. Great game. Ty Hilton. Ty Hilton finally came through in a big way. Seven for 177 yards.

[Jason Moore]

This is two out of the last three weeks. I mean, if he's got a beatable matchup, Brissette is good enough to utilize.

[Mike Wright]

His talents and he gets the Titans next week. So this is Ty Hilton is he's staying in your lineup?

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely, he's staying in. And Andrew Luck probably still several weeks away, but he is practicing and who.

[Mike Wright]

Knows with Andrew Luck.

[Jason Moore]

He's coming. Is he? Yeah. Did you know that Antonio Brown had more targets in that game against Jacksonville than Blake Bortles, the quarterback on the other side of the ball had attempts? Blake Bortles did not throw the ball as many times as Antonio Brown was targeted.

[Mike Wright]

Well, here's what makes sense is that Jacksonville is the best defense against the pass and the worst against the run. So of course you're going to give Antonio Brown 19 targets.

[Jason Moore]

Squeaky wheel, man.

[Mike Wright]

It's their game plan was. I don't know what Pittsburgh was doing and they lost. I think because of that you didn't. How do you not ride out Levy on Bell against the Jaguars? It's absolutely ridiculous. But Antonio Brown had a great day. Odell Beckham before the injury had a great game. And this is a guy I want to talk about here because I mentioned Keenan Allen as a great Odell Beckham replacement trade target. Chris Hogan is playing fantastic. It was before the season started. You had Edelman's injury and it was, well, who's going to pick up the slack? I mean, you had, they picked, they paid a first round draft pick to get Brandon Cooks on the team. So it was, I mean that the signs pointed to that. Meanwhile, Chris Hogan is being an absolute stud. And I don't know if, if the value, if the perceived value of Chris Hogan matches what his actual real life fantasy value is. I mean, the team who has Chris Hogan, they probably know, but that's another door that I would open up. Knock, give a little knock, say, hey, yeah, would you. I get Chris Hogan, right.

[Jason Moore]

If you've got, you know, Amari Cooper, can you, can you turn Amari Cooper into Chris Hogan?

[Mike Wright]

That would be like. That's a heist movie. Because that's the plot of a heist movie. That's Ocean's 14.

[Jason Moore]

That's trading.

[Mike Wright]

You've traded Amari Cooper for Chris Hogan right now?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, I think you do it in a heartbeat. Chris Hogan has since week one. Week one, complete dud, one reception for eight yards was involved. Since then, 78 yards, 68 yards, 60 yards, 74 yards while accumulating a touchdown in every single game. Two touchdowns in week three. He is an integral wide receiver to a team that is going to be, you know, throwing four touchdowns every game. It wouldn't shock me if Chris Hogan averages, you know, 0.9 touchdowns per game the rest of the way. And I see him as a wide receiver one. I mean, I would trust him over the vast majority of wide receivers right now. He's, he's the clear to me. 1A at least or 1B on the Patriots offense. Yeah. Sign me up and if I can turn a big name who's underperforming into Chris Hogan who has been performing but is not a big name, I would do it.

[Mike Wright]

He is exactly what they hoped Brandon Lloyd was he the Patriots. He's exactly what they hoped, hoped that Brandon Lafelque could be. And they found him in Chris Hogan. They finally got a wide receiver right over there. A couple names of guys who had great games that I just want to talk about because moving forward, Devin Funches are. We completely bought in at this point. As soon as Greg Olson went down, you saw more targets funneling to Devin Funches. He is performing.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean he's getting, you know, high single digit targets every game.

[Mike Wright]

He out targeted Kelvin Benjamin.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. He's involved enough to where I think you can start him and I don't expect him to continue catching a touchdown a game as he's been doing right now. But he's certainly a guy that, I mean, he's still available on a lot of waivers. Pick him up. Also, shout out. If we're talking throwing some names out, I don't trust him going forward. But Nelson Aguilar, that play, the one play where he had his face for him now. Yeah, I mean, but that was just sick. He. He made the Arizona Cardinals defender look like a fool.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. It was an amazing catch and then an amazing juke. Tight ends, this is important. I'm not specifically talking about, you know, like really any fantasy players that you know, but what you might know someone who lost Charles Clay and is devastated.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

And their team really needs a tight end replacement. Yeah, I don't know anyone like that. No, but we have a couple names. Ed Dixon.

[Jason Moore]

What? Dude. 175 yards.

[Mike Wright]

Ed Dixon.

[Jason Moore]

Ed Dixon. What? On only five targets.

[Mike Wright]

Is this a Mercedes Lewis flash in the pan for Ed Dixon?

[Jason Moore]

It is not. What? No, yeah, it is. No, here's, here's, here's why it's not. Now, I'm not by any means saying that Ed Dixon, yeah. You could bank on him for 175.

[Mike Wright]

Yards, but I feel like you're telling me that's what I need to bank on.

[Jason Moore]

What I am saying is that Mercedes Lewis is a guy where, if you take that flyer. Tight ends are so crappy this year. They're just. The whole position is a mess outside of pretty much Zach Ertz, Travis Kelsey and Gronk, if he's healthy. Ed Dixon, if you take that shot at him, I think you're going to end up with at least five points. Mercedes Lewis, I think you're going to end up with 0 to 1 points. Except for maybe one more game this year, he'll get another touchdown. I think. Ed Dixon, while Greg Olson is gone and he's filling in that role, he is capable enough to wear 62 yards.

[Mike Wright]

The previous week against the Patriots, which.

[Jason Moore]

For a tight end is.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I would take it.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, even in A Standard League. 6.2 points for a tight end this year. It's. Okay, so he, I don't think he's a complete mirage, but obviously you don't usually take five targets at the tight end position for 175 yards.

[Mike Wright]

All right, so Ed Dixon or this character George Kittle, who has flashed a couple times, came through big time this past week. Seven for 83 with a touchdown. Nine targets for Mr. Kittle.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think that's going to be one of those Kittles and bits matchup, matchup directing things. So, for instance, this coming week at Dixon Plays Philly and George Kittle is at Washington. I don't really love either matchup because Washington, it's in Washington. I think I might lean Kittle there.

[Mike Wright]

All right, there's a tight end catching touchdowns for the Detroit Lions.

[Jason Moore]

Finally, Eric Ebron. Oh, no, no.

[Mike Wright]

He's still dropping touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, my goodness. Dude, this guy. If all he did, if all Eric Ebron did was just catch the easy ones that he's dropped this year, everyone be like, oh, he's done it. He's leveled up.

[Mike Wright]

He'd be a top 10 tight end.

[Jason Moore]

He drops everything. I'm done, Eric. Yeah, no, done. Full breakup mode.

[Mike Wright]

If I could find sad music on here, I would play it for you.

[Jason Moore]

Eric Ebron, you're dead to me.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that's so sad.

[Jason Moore]

Never, never coming back.

[Mike Wright]

But Darren Fells, two receptions, two touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

So, yeah, you can't bank on him.

[Mike Wright]

But Cameron Brait is. Remains great. He's a great pickup if you're. If he's still available on your waiver wire. Zach Ertz, Travis Kelsey, they're great. ASJ yeah, it took a little bit for Austin Safari and Jenkins tight end for the New York jets to come.

[Jason Moore]

Through some of our starts of the week here with Austin Safari and Jenkins and Hunter Henry and Goose. They both came through, both got in the end zone and had pretty darn good weeks. And the Goose nickname is sticking.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah, he's Goose.

[Jason Moore]

He doesn't have to have a goose. He's Goose now.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we're going to talk some rising stars.

[Jason Moore]

Raising canes Rising stars of the week. Whoa.

[Mike Wright]

The raising Canes rising stars of the week. This is where we like to highlight someone where we think not only did they have a solid week, but there's something. Something special moving forward. Jason, give me your raising Canes rising star of the week.

[Jason Moore]

My raising cane's rising star of the week is Marlon.

[Mike Wright]

Marlon Mack.

[Jason Moore]

Dick. Dick. Dick. Dick. The running back rookie for the Indianapolis Colts. Week 1, Marlon Mack came out, and when he touched the ball, I went, whoo. Who's that guy? He looked. He looked great. He got 10 carries, week one, and he scored two touchdowns. Now, if you look at the box score, he only has one touchdown from week one. That's because they didn't challenge the play where he got in and scored the touchdown like dummies. But he did get in now this last week. Then he got injured. He got injured in week two and was gone for week three and week four. I was curious if he was going to be back because this was A great matchup for him against San Francisco. He was back. He got nine carries again for 91 yards and a touchdown. Looked as terrific as he had. And this is a guy that is getting it done on the ground. Even though when he got drafted and came in, everyone's thinking he's just going to be a scat back because he's very talented in that role. So right now he's behind Frank Gore. You can't really assume good value from Marlon Mack. I don't think you can start him, but I am looking to acquire him on the cheap. Most leagues he'll probably be on the waiver wire. He'll be one of my favorite pickups because I think as the season progresses, when you get Andrew Luck back, he is. Marlon Mack looks to be the future back here for the Indianapolis Colts to me and he has shown me enough to where I go. Maybe he takes over this year. Maybe he actually usurps Frank Gore. Because Frank Gore's 34 years old and I mean, can he, can he keep going for this whole season? We don't know. But Marlon Mack, he's rising in my heart and in my mind.

[Mike Wright]

Marlon Mack, I'm. When I see him standing pre snap, everyone is lined up. I just imagine the RPMs of an engine. You know when someone's indicating they're about to race and you're the vroom, right, because he's able to just peel out. I mean he's. Metrically speaking, he's not the fastest guy. But then when you watch him running, I mean, he is.

[Jason Moore]

Some, some guys, you know, when they get pads on, they slow down and their numbers aren't as good and yeah, the game speed matters.

[Mike Wright]

My rising star of the week. I said last week I would be very aggressive with him on the waiver wire. Despite all the weird news coming out of Green Bay about the running back position, Aaron Jones 19 carries 125 yards and looked fantastic. Now, you had the problem with Aaron Jones last week was if you played him, congratulations. I mean, you got a fantastic week from Aaron Jones. But it was, it was trepidatious to start him. With Montgomery not being really ruled out until very late in the week, Jamal Williams went from a multi week absence to, oh, he's practicing in full. They didn't use Shamalis.

[Jason Moore]

Why would they?

[Mike Wright]

It was all Aaron Jones who looked fantastic. And the question is, moving forward, what is Aaron Jones? I think, I believe that Aaron Jones has turned the Green Bay situation into far more of a timeshare. That doesn't mean Aaron Jones is coming in and getting 15 carries. I'm talking to the tune of eight to 10 carries a week when Ty Montgomery is back. But we have, in this landscape of running backs to have a guy with juice like Aaron Jones on a high powered offense who's going to get eight to 10 touches. You can't ignore that.

[Jason Moore]

No, certainly not. And the question is, so what does that do to Ty Montgomery? You know, Ty Montgomery has gone from being, he's been on the field for 90 plus percent of snapshot when he's out there and getting everything. You look at what happened with Todd Gurley this last week where all of a sudden a few touches that he was getting all these third down, all the third down work, all the passing work. And this last week it was like, oh, okay, Malcolm Brown is involved. Oh, Tavon Austin's getting a bunch of carries. Those things hurt Todd Gurley. So, you know, I don't know. I think when Ty, when, when Ty Montgomery gets back, he'll still be the definite starter. Agreed. He'll get the bulk of the workload, but he drops a peg because of what Aaron Jones has done and it's.

[Mike Wright]

It would it. I know that Jamal Williams beat out Aaron Jones in camp and throughout these first few weeks they've said Jamal Williams is the guy. I would find it shocking if the coaching staff doesn't review the tape and go, okay, Aaron Jones, you're. You're the second string running back.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, I can't fathom that.

[Mike Wright]

So Marla Mack, Aaron Jones. Those were the Raising Canes rising stars of the week. Remember, game day tastes better with Raising Cane's tailgates full of fresh 24 hour marinated hand battered chicken fingers and fresh brewed sweet tea. Visit raisin canes.com to find your nearest location.

[Jason Moore]

You know I'm all about that sweet tea life.

[Mike Wright]

Jason and I enjoyed, enjoyed some Raising Canes.

[Jason Moore]

We sure did.

[Mike Wright]

While watching the football games yesterday. All right, enough of, enough of this positivity.

[Jason Moore]

Pooped in his big boy pants. This is my, this is my time for crow.

[Mike Wright]

Jason had alluded.

[Jason Moore]

Oh man.

[Mike Wright]

That a storm of diarrhea was approaching.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, it's upon me. It's upon me. My, my pants are here because of Ben Roethlisberger.

[Mike Wright]

What I am happened.

[Jason Moore]

So thankful for you two gentlemen. Look, we don't always get everything right. We never. No one ever will. I was. There were enough things that, you know, I looked at from metrics and from the schedule and the way the first few weeks had lined up. To make me believe that bid and Roethlisberger was going to be an okay start this week. I really did believe that. And I am so thankful that you and Andy just did not buy in. You're like, no, that's. I disagree wholeheartedly.

[Mike Wright]

Because if you needed three points from your quarterback, then Big Ben came through.

[Jason Moore]

Did he do that? He got three. I think he got. Impressive. That's impressive because he threw five interceptions.

[Mike Wright]

He still had over 300 yards.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man, it was. It was a nightmare. And I, you know, look, I don't usually apologize, but it's too late. Jason, Big Ben.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I think he needs an apologist.

[Jason Moore]

I need an apology from Big Ben.

[Mike Wright]

So moving forward, let's talk Big Ben first a little bit. He's been playing pretty poorly. I mean, this was the.

[Jason Moore]

His press conference. He was.

[Mike Wright]

We crescendo.

[Jason Moore]

If he still had it.

[Mike Wright]

And that's what I mean. When a player, When a quarterback in the NFL is all of a sudden having this inner monologue. Jake Del Homme of, oh, crap, have I lost it?

[Jason Moore]

Matt Schaub.

[Mike Wright]

Because when it goes away, when you're.

[Jason Moore]

Mentally done, you're done.

[Mike Wright]

It's gone.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's gone.

[Mike Wright]

And we had already had this weird. Well, it seemed weird at the time, but the off season of Big Ben saying, well, maybe I'll retire.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's not over for Big Ben yet. I mean, I'm certainly not going to prop him up again and make him more than he is. Like you said, he did throw for over 300 yards. It was the first game of the season where he didn't have a touchdown. You know, some of those. Some of the interceptions were most definitely his fault. I would say the majority of them, but, you know, not all of them. And credit needs to be given to Jacksonville. Yes, the Jaguars were amazing. I mean, their defense. Listen to what they've given up to the quarterback position in fantasy. 8 points in week one, 17 in week two, 6 points in week three, 5.3 points in week four. And now they gave Big Ben, you know, whatever. He got three points or so.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Meanwhile, you can beat them on the ground. Like I said. Why are you not giving Levy on the ball more? Jared Goff came back to Earth. DeSean Kizer lost his job halfway through the game. So that's the situation to monitor. If you were counting on Deshaun Kaiser, who knows if he'll be the starting quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. If you're in a, you know, some kind of league, let's say you've got deep Benches two, quarterback dynasty. Gotta be looking at Chris Hogan.

[Mike Wright]

I say no Kevin Hogan.

[Jason Moore]

Kevin Hogan.

[Mike Wright]

So. But Hogan or Kessler?

[Jason Moore]

Hogan. It's got to be Hogan. I mean, the. Kessler is. I mean, I. Look, if I was the Browns, I think Kessler's actually a decent quarterback and you had something going there. I would have gone that way. But that doesn't seem at all the direction that the Browns are going. Hogan, I think, would be the guy.

[Mike Wright]

Joe Flacco and Jay Cutler continued their struggles. Now for the main event.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yes.

[Mike Wright]

I don't. Why are we celebrating in this man's bad game?

[Jason Moore]

Let me tell you why we're celebrating. Because. And this man's Todd Gurley.

[Mike Wright]

TODD Gurley, RUNNING back, Los Angeles RAMS.

[Jason Moore]

He let some people down. It's the small victories, Mike, that you need because there was some shade thrown on Todd Gurley by the both of us. And, you know, we, we said, look, this opening schedule is great, but it's going to come back down to earth for Todd Gurley. Last week, I was the only one. You abandoned me. And I said, look, I am still willing to trade Todd Gurley because his upcoming schedule is rough. And if, but only if you can get a, you know, another great running back, upgrade your running back position, I would have been willing to do it. Now, he did have the almost touchdown that was turned into a fumble touchback on him. But Overall, Todd Gurley 14 carries for 43 yards, only two receptions for 7 yards and a fumble did not get it done. And it was against Seattle, which was a difficult matchup in their upcoming schedule.

[Mike Wright]

But the thing about it is it they have. Seattle's defense has not been playing that well. They've been giving up points to running backs. So that's, that's kind of why it was thinking, why Gurley should be able to get it done. But now you have Tavon Austin coming back here taking six touches. What? Moving forward, we've taken enough. We've taken enough of pushing Todd Gurley down moving forward. What do you see for Todd Gurley? Is this just a blip on the radar?

[Jason Moore]

You know, it probably is more of a blip on the radar. I think they're going to continue to get him involved and he will continue to be an RB1 in most weeks. It's just a matter of watching out for his schedule. Jacksonville, they can be run on, but they're still a great defense that can turn the game script around to where it becomes difficult to run at all. Sure, Arizona right now, they just look like dumpster fire. But they in theory have a good.

[Mike Wright]

Defense and it's a division matchup.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, you know, I think you, you, you hold on to Todd Gurley and you play him. Unless you can upgrade him to another running back.

[Mike Wright]

Carlos Hyde had a stinker of a game. He came in, he had, he was dealing with the minor hip issue, but only got 8 carries, 11 yards. Matt Breda out touched him.

[Jason Moore]

Was he looked, he looked better.

[Mike Wright]

According to Kyle Shanahan, it was the hot hand situation. Nothing about the injury shenanigans.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Oh yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Shanahan again.

[Jason Moore]

Shanahan against. No, like, I don't buy that. I don't buy that he, that it had nothing to do with the injury. Hyde was out for a majority of the week in practice. He has an injury that, you know, that I'm sure he doesn't want to get re aggravated. And when you say, when you come out and say, no, it wasn't about the injury. Well, there's there, there's motive for that. Right. I mean, I'm telling the league, no, he's not even injured. I'm not worried about that. You don't need to target, you know, you don't need to hurt my guy. I mean you do that with injuries like, you know, hips and ribs and things like that that you don't want your player to take a beating.

[Mike Wright]

Sure. Blau plow.

[Jason Moore]

Ooh. Oof.

[Mike Wright]

Someone found a cure for Zombie.

[Jason Moore]

What happened?

[Mike Wright]

He got a little bit banged up, but it was just a really bad game. Overall, Mike Gillisle did not come through for fantasy. He was 12 for 52. He looks good, but here's, here's the problem for Mike Gillislee. Dion Lewis, Deion Lewis looks fantastic. He's getting on the field more than I anticipated. So it's where we, it looked like it was going to be James White, Mike Gillisle, that's it. Now Dion Lewis has thrown himself into the mix and Chris Hogan keeps catching all these touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

And you've got Rex Burkhead, who I expect to be back this coming week. So that's another running back in the mix. Now, whether or not he takes, you know, most of that work away from Dion Lewis, I would say this Mike Gillislee, lot of questions, what do we do with them? Yeah, I'm definitely keeping him. He's, he's also a trade target for me because he passes the eye test. He's still on a high powered offense and he will over the course of the season get, you know, a lot, a lot of touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

Amir Abdullah had a down game, but Jason had already said he would, he would target him. Yeah, he's just getting the Saints next week.

[Jason Moore]

He's getting, you know, a lot of use. They, they are clearly wanting to get him the ball. That was a tough matchup against Carolina.

[Mike Wright]

The running backs for the Titans were pretty bad.

[Jason Moore]

You know who really deserves a pooper here is the running backs for the Seattle Seahawks. Oh, all of them.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, my goodness.

[Jason Moore]

That gives.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, my goodness.

[Jason Moore]

It's a three poops.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's. What do you do with that situation?

[Jason Moore]

You get. You avoid the situation.

[Mike Wright]

Lacy, nine carries for 19. Rawls eight for 20. So yards per carry slightly better for Thomas Ross.

[Jason Moore]

I don't want anything to do with this running game. Their offensive line can't get it done. This was as good a matchup. The LA Rams were the 31st against the run as far as giving up fantasy points to the position. They couldn't get it done through the air. They couldn't get it done on the ground in a great matchup. I don't think either of them have it and they, they don't have enough to overcome this horrific offensive line. So if you've got a terrible, awful offensive line and multiple guys that you're never sure who's going to get the ball, I don't want anything to do with it. I am happy to cut them. Yes, I'm going to try to package trade them, but I don't know that anybody wants to take them on. And I feel like they're going to take up a roster spot where I'm not sure if one of them goes down that the other would even be valuable behind this line.

[Mike Wright]

I completely agree. Chris Johnson remains terrible. But I want to point out a stat that was brought to light by our own Kyle Borgione.

[Jason Moore]

Borgnoni didn't nail that one. Borgnoni.

[Mike Wright]

Sorry, Kyle, but over the last three weeks, only Antonio Brown, Oto Beckham and AJ Green have more targets than Andre Ellington. His role is secure. Chris Johnson is washed. The team needs Andre Ellington right now. If he is, for whatever reason, you didn't pick him up last week, you have to grab Andre Ellington. Moving to the wide receivers, Mari Cooper. My hands are in the air. You can't see me on the podcast. You can see me on the YouTube, but I don't know what.

[Jason Moore]

Let's be honest, you should be on the YouTube.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know what to do with Mark Cooper. Al Shawn. It was a Patrick Peterson effect. Are there any of these wide Receivers Doug Baldwin, Mike Evans, Golden Tate, Randall Cobb. Do you have any kind of overarching concern with them moving forward?

[Jason Moore]

Just down week, literally none of those guys. Am I overly concerned with. The biggest concern would be Cooper. I mean he's put three weeks up. His last three weeks. He has a grand total of. Was that four receptions for like teens yards. I mean he's been horrifically bad. But again, that was against, you know, some of the best corners and without his quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

So you're, you're standing staunch on this. You would go buy Amari Cooper.

[Jason Moore]

I would buy Amari Cooper for pennies and I would keep him on my bench. That's what I would do. Because the Amari Cooper owner is wanting to cut him and I don't blame them. But he is still a super talented wide receiver. You can't, you can't take, you can't just dismiss the first two years of his career where he did, you know.

[Mike Wright]

Something that really one and a half years. Though the second half of last year was bad.

[Jason Moore]

That's fine. Take the first year and a half of his career where you know, even with a bad second half of his sophomore year, he still over those first two years is up near the best all time for his age and coming into the league. So he was drafted like that. He was that in college. He's in a slump. Do you think Amari Cooper has a bad career? Do you think from here on out Mari Cooper is. No, no.

[Mike Wright]

But what is. What is Amari Cooper?

[Jason Moore]

I think Amari Cooper.

[Mike Wright]

People thought they were getting Julio Jones. They're getting.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

They're getting Antonio Brown from Amari Cooper. That type of production.

[Jason Moore]

I see Amari Cooper as coming into this season kind of what. What I thought Hopkins would be, which would be that kind of wide receiver two where you know, there's, there's reason to worry, but the talent is still there. Those guys have basically flip flopped.

[Mike Wright]

Now.

[Jason Moore]

Hopkins looks like a, you know, an absolute one and Cooper is like a.

[Mike Wright]

Six to the tight end position. Guys that let you down. Delaney, Walker, I mean it was, it was just a rough game overall for the Titans offense, but Matt Castle will do that to you. Then Evan Ingram.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man.

[Mike Wright]

What happened?

[Jason Moore]

That was, that was.

[Mike Wright]

Every wide receiver on your team goes down and somehow Evan Ingram has zero catches.

[Jason Moore]

That was the weirdest of all of these. That one made the least sense. Everything lined up. His matchup against tight end was great. His targets on the season had been great. The other wide receivers go down. He was so important and it just Disappears. What?

[Mike Wright]

I don't know. That's one of those. I'm excited to go back and watch the tape and try and figure out what happened.

[Jason Moore]

What happened?

[Mike Wright]

What happened. If you had Charles Clay and the Evan Angrem over there wants to rage drop, I'd gladly trade for Ingram.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

They have to use him. We have another very necessary tight end.

[Jason Moore]

They had to use him that game. They didn't.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, they'll figure something out.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I want to watch the film to see like was he running routes just not targeted? Were they bringing him in to block?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, if they're bringing him in to.

[Jason Moore]

Block, well, that's a failure already because he can't.

[Mike Wright]

They've made terrible mistakes. Just a Monday night game update. We, we expect Sammy Biscuits back.

[Jason Moore]

Hey, I'm really excited for that. That should be good news for Adam Thielen, for Stephen Diggs, for Kyle Rudolph.

[Mike Wright]

Love, Michael Keaton. Yeah, I know someone who's very excited about this game.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, of course you are. Good.

[Mike Wright]

For the Bears, the debut of Mitchell Trubisky.

[Jason Moore]

What do you think Mitchell Trubitzky does tonight disappoints people? Well, what do you think people's expectations are?

[Mike Wright]

Well, Andy thinks that the Bears are going to win the game.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

He guaranteed we have a water bet of the Vikings versus the Bears and I don't know if he made that bet expecting Case Keenan to be the starter. I made the bet saying I don't care who the starter is for the Minnesota Vikings. I don't think that the Bears are going to win. I know they're at home. We'll see. I mean, people are very, very excited to see what this rookie can do. The other DeSean Watson's been pretty solid. It's been a pretty good year overall for rookies.

[Jason Moore]

The two things I'm going to be looking for tonight with Trubisky is how much he's targeting Tariq Cohen and Zach Miller.

[Mike Wright]

Zach Miller is the big one for me. With the tight ends being so terrible this year, can Zach Miller reemerge because he last year to start the year, he was a go to target and he was, he was a top five tight end.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he was.

[Mike Wright]

He was getting it done. So thank you, Foot Clan. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for bearing with us as.

[Jason Moore]

We have waivers, waivers tomorrow. So make sure you check in tomorrow. We'll get a little. We'll get a little nuts with the.

[Mike Wright]

Waivers and check out draft.comballers.

[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 ffballers.