Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Preseason Fantasy Recap, Rising Stars, News

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Episode Summary
Episode: Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Preseason Fantasy Recap, Rising Stars, News
Release Date: August 15, 2016

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Introduction

In this episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright dive deep into the 2016 NFL preseason, offering comprehensive analysis and fantasy football insights. Skipping the usual ads and intros, the trio focuses on player performances, team dynamics, and strategic advice to help fantasy managers gain a competitive edge.

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Preseason Fantasy Recap

Quarterback Updates

The hosts kick off by discussing pivotal quarterback moves and performances that could influence fantasy rankings:

• Tyrod Taylor's Contract Extension
  Timestamp: [07:15]
  Jason Moore highlights Tyrod Taylor signing a six-year, $92 million contract with the Buffalo Bills, emphasizing it as a "team-friendly deal" with only the first year fully guaranteed.

  "If he plays well this year and next year, then the actual contract will kick in because it's a team option." — Andy Holloway [07:31]

• Jared Goff's Potential
  Timestamp: [13:14]
  Mike Wright shares his excitement about Jared Goff getting first-team reps, suggesting Goff could become a reliable fantasy quarterback.

  "Jared Goff's going to get first team reps, he'll get an opportunity to start..." — Jason Moore [07:51]

Running Back Insights

The running back position saw significant movements and performances worth noting:

• Devonta Booker vs. Ronnie Hillman
  Timestamp: [08:23]
  Jason Moore and Mike Wright discuss Devonta Booker's increased reps over Ronnie Hillman, with Mike Wright asserting Booker as the more talented back.

  "I think Booker is the more talented guy than Hillman." — Mike Wright [08:55]

• Melvin Gordon and Derek Henry's Rise
  Timestamp: [19:23] - [24:43]
  Introducing the new segment "Rising Stars of the Week", Mike Wright praises Melvin Gordon for his strong preseason performance despite recovering from knee surgery. Andy Holloway expresses surprise at Gordon's draft value, highlighting his potential as a high-round pick.

  "He doesn't look like, you know, oh, I'm afraid to cut. He is healthy and he's back and that was great to see." — Mike Wright [23:57]

  Jason Moore adds his enthusiasm for Gordon's role in the offense, comparing him favorably to predecessors like Danny Woodhead.

  "His stock will unfortunately rise and he won't be able to be had in the sixth round." — Mike Wright [25:15]

Wide Receiver Highlights

Wide receivers' performances and potential fantasy impacts are thoroughly analyzed:

• Sterling Shepherd's Impressive Game
  Timestamp: [30:28]
  Jason Moore lauds Sterling Shepherd for his route-running and blocking abilities, positioning him as a high-rated rookie wide receiver.

  "I think you're going to have big games from Sterling Shepherd." — Jason Moore [25:54]

• Christian Michael's Reignition
  Timestamp: [19:30]
  Andy Holloway discusses Christian Michael's breakout performances, suggesting his off-field issues are resolved, potentially increasing his fantasy value.

  "Christian Michael was very good to end the year." — Andy Holloway [20:22]

Other Position Battles

• Tight End Contenders
  Timestamp: [35:36]
  Andy Holloway and Jason Moore evaluate tight end prospects like Jesse James, comparing him to legends like Heath Miller.

  "Jesse James is not afraid of stepping into that role." — Andy Holloway [35:46]

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Rising Stars of the Week

Introducing a new weekly segment, the hosts highlight standout players from the preseason:

• Mike Wright: Derrick Henry & DeMarco Murray
  Timestamp: [19:46] - [28:44]
  Mike Wright praises Derrick Henry for his powerful running style and DeMarco Murray for impressive touchdown runs. He notes Henry's potential as a backfield force, despite being undrafted in mocks.

  "I think he is going to succeed in the NFL." — Mike Wright [28:44]

• Andy Holloway: Christian Michael
  Timestamp: [20:22]
  Andy Holloway credits Christian Michael's improved focus and physicality, suggesting he's a sleeper pick to watch in the upcoming season.

  "If he's really getting his head back in the game, I think that Michael will be involved far more than first anticipated." — Andy Holloway [21:38]

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Fantasy Football News

The episode covers critical fantasy-related news affecting team rosters and player statuses:

• Ladarius Green on PUP List
  Timestamp: [14:38]
  Jason Moore and Mike Wright advise avoiding Ladarius Green due to his placement on the active PUP list following ankle surgery.

  "All of it, you guys don't disagree with me, do you?" — Jason Moore [14:38]

• San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Drama
  Timestamp: [15:05] - [16:16]
  The hosts debate the quarterback competition between Blaine Gabbard, Cam Newton, and the sidelined Colin Kaepernick. Mike Wright supports Gabbard, citing his performance under pressure, while Jason Moore remains open but increasingly supports Gabbard based on recent plays.

  "The combination of Cam with Coach Carroll's comments made me say I need to maybe put my Rolls Royce in neutral and see where it takes me." — Mike Wright [44:43]

• Jeff Janis' Injury
  Timestamp: [16:16]
  Andy Holloway updates listeners on Jeff Janis being out for the week due to a hand injury, reducing his immediate fantasy value.

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Weekly Rewind

A comprehensive recap of key preseason games, highlighting player performances and fantasy implications:

Miami vs. New York Giants

• Sterling Shepherd's Performance
  Timestamp: [30:22] - [40:17]
  Jason Moore praises Sterling Shepherd for his route-running and potential as a high-end rookie receiver. However, Andy Holloway criticizes Jaylen Strong for nearly fumbling easy catches, emphasizing a preference for Sammy Coates despite some concerns.

  "Sterling Shepherd is probably going to be the highest rated rookie wide receiver on my board." — Jason Moore [25:54]

Detroit vs. Pittsburgh

• Running Back Competition
  Timestamp: [33:37] - [36:28]
  Andy Holloway notes Zach Zenner outperforming Steven Ridley, suggesting Zenner could secure the number two running back spot. Jason Moore advocates for Rashad Jennings but acknowledges Andre Williams' improvements.

  "I am agreeing with that. The reports on Williams have been very positive." — Andy Holloway [32:27]

Minnesota vs. Cincinnati

• Wide Receiver Analysis
  Timestamp: [36:54] - [38:19]
  The discussion centers on Charles Johnson emerging ahead of Adam Thielen due to significant preseason plays, with Tyler Boyd also showing promise.

  "Minnesota is such a very good team. They won the division." — Jason Moore [38:14]

Cleveland vs. Green Bay

• Wide Receiver Potential
  Timestamp: [38:57] - [43:28]
  Jason Moore debates the fantasy value of Terrell Pryor and Josh Gordon, while Andy Holloway emphasizes Rashad Jennings' health over Andre Williams.

  "Marcus Wheaton is your Devonta Freeman for this year." — Jason Moore [35:53]

Oakland vs. Arizona

• Quarterback and Receiver Dynamics
  Timestamp: [44:11] - [50:34]
  The hosts evaluate Carson Palmer's passing efficiency and Michael Crabtree's reliability, alongside Clive Walford's promising routes.

  "Carson Palmer with probably the league high or top three in terms of yards per attempt." — Jason Moore [41:21]

Indianapolis vs. Buffalo

• Undrafted Free Agents
  Timestamp: [47:10] - [47:43]
  Jason Moore critiques Josh Ferguson's limited performance, indicating skepticism about his fantasy value despite some positive notes.

  "Josh Ferguson put up a nice 3 yards on eight carries." — Jason Moore [47:06]

Dallas vs. Rams

• Dak Prescott's Standout Game
  Timestamp: [47:50] - [48:58]
  Mike Wright lauds Dak Prescott for an exceptional preseason performance, projecting him as a cornerstone for the Cowboys' offense.

  "Dak Prescott looked... perfect." — Mike Wright [47:56]

San Diego vs. Tennessee

• Running Back Utilization
  Timestamp: [49:11] - [52:25]
  Andy Holloway and Jason Moore discuss Melvin Gordon and Derek Henry, highlighting their strong performances and potential fantasy impact. Mike Wright underscores Latavius Murray's pivotal role in the Tennessee offense.

  "The drought is over, he got into the end zone." — Jason Moore [23:57]

San Francisco vs. Houston

• Running Game Efficiency
  Timestamp: [49:23] - [51:54]
  The focus is on Jason Moore's disappointment with Blaine Gabbard's inconsistent play and Andy Holloway's observations on Shane Drone as a standout player. Discussions include Mike Davis' improved performance and the overall run-heavy strategy of the 49ers.

  "Does San Francisco have good wide receivers now?" — Andy Holloway [37:41]

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Conclusion

Wrapping up the episode, the Fantasy Footballers encourage listeners to stay engaged with upcoming segments like weekly "Rising Stars", wide receiver rankings, and tips and tricks shows. They emphasize the importance of monitoring preseason developments to make informed decisions during the fantasy football season.

"We know this better than anybody. Game day tastes better with the Raising Cane's tailgate." — Andy Holloway [19:30]

Listeners are reminded to join the Fantasy Footballers community at jointhefoot.com and follow them on Twitter @theffballers for exclusive content and updates.

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Notable Quotes:

1. "If he plays well this year and next year, then the actual contract will kick in because it's a team option." — Andy Holloway [07:31]

2. "I think Booker is the more talented guy than Hillman." — Mike Wright [08:55]

3. "He is healthy and he's back and that was great to see." — Mike Wright [23:57]

4. "Sterling Shepherd is probably going to be the highest rated rookie wide receiver on my board." — Jason Moore [25:54]

5. "Dak Prescott looked... perfect." — Mike Wright [47:56]

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This summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights from the Fantasy Footballers 2016 preseason episode, providing valuable information for fantasy football enthusiasts seeking to enhance their team management strategies.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot Clan. Before we start today's show, I want to thank today's sponsor, footballhaul.com youm've heard us talking about them sending us a humongous box of football goodness every single month. And this thing is a major, major value because they're providing $75 worth of stuff for only 30 bucks a month. They got their new product, the Football hall junior. They got all kinds of things. Go check it out. Footballhaul.com that's football h a u l.com use promo code ballers5 hey, this is.

[Mike Wright]

David Johnson, running back of the Arizona Cardinals, and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast coming to you from the fantasyjocks.com studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Jason Moore]

Are you ready for some football?

[Mike Wright]

It was great, man. It was great to watch real action with the players.

[Jason Moore]

You never know quite how to articulate. Your excitement for football bubbles up, but.

[Mike Wright]

It stops around the mouth area.

[Jason Moore]

I can remember last year when the football season started, you were like, they got, they're going out on the field and they're gonna throw the balls and run around.

[Mike Wright]

And yes, they did.

[Jason Moore]

Hey, we had preseason week one in the books. It's pretty, pretty fun to watch. Watch some action on the field, like Jason said. See some of those position battles. We're going to go over all of it today on the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Andy, Mike and Jason back again.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, there's no way you had time to watch all the games because I know how much time it takes. It's a lot of time.

[Jason Moore]

Takes, takes a lot of.

[Mike Wright]

We're here for you.

[Jason Moore]

That's why I simulate them all in Madden.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, we're going to talk about all.

[Jason Moore]

Our Madden preseason simulations.

[Mike Wright]

Let you know.

[Jason Moore]

No, we watched all the games. We have a number of players we want to talk about. This is the time of year when a lot is going on. We're trying to keep you up to date with every bit of fantasy football news, all the injury news, the depth chart news, trying to give you those valuable sleepers, values, busts, all those type of important players. And those things change a lot. Right now you can spend your off season talking about different names, projecting the way it will go and you're going to get some of that stuff right from back then and you're going to need to make adjustments. Right now that is how you win your fantasy football league is you make adjustments. You don't overreact, but you read what you see and you in. And for Preseason, the biggest thing we talk about is you get to basically validate some of the coach speak. Is a guy looking like he's playing at a lower weight? Is a guy looking like he's taking a step forward or a step back?

[Mike Wright]

Is a guy running with the ones or, you know, are they splitting out or coming? There's a lot of that type of stuff that you get to see that is worth tweaking.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, absolutely. And so we've got breaking news today, all of the fantasy football news. We've got our rising stars of the Week, a brand new segment we're going to be breaking out every week from here until the end of the year. Rising stars, players. We're moving up in our rankings. We have a review of the preseason games and the big highlights, the big takeaways from each of those games. So you know what's going on. And that's going to be today's show. We've got our wide receiver rankings coming this week, so you're going to want to tune in all week long. We're bringing it. I can promise you that. We're jacked up. We're excited for the season. So before we get into the news, quick question of the day from Warren Ayers on Twitter. On Twitter, I almost said Facebook there. What kinds of punishment are appropriate for not showing up to your online draft?

[Andy Holloway]

Not show up to the online. Not even a live draft. Like, you can't miss. You miss the online. You're an auto drafter.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man.

[Mike Wright]

I would say this. If you don't show up to a draft in general, whether it's an online draft or if it's a live draft. And I include, when I say not showing up, that means not being able to be there, like remotely. We always have people that can't be at our live draft, but they Skype in. And so they're, they're there vicariously through the Internet.

[Jason Moore]

Not vicariously, but yeah, we are.

[Mike Wright]

Virtually works as well.

[Jason Moore]

Vicariously means something else. But that's okay through.

[Mike Wright]

Through another party. Tomato, tomato.

[Jason Moore]

That's Proxy. You're looking for. Proxy. But. Well, tomato, tomato, you're having a rough, rough go of it here. College.

[Mike Wright]

Well, here's the, here's the thing. I don't think it's too harsh a punishment if a guy can't be at a draft to not have them be in the league.

[Jason Moore]

No, that's, that's my default answer. However, I got a question from a Foot Clan member yesterday or today and he said all his buddies, they play east coast time zone. He's in the military. He's in Hawaii. It looks like based on work hours, he's probably going to have to auto draft. He actually wanted auto drafting strategies from me. How he can maximize the auto draft situation. That's different though.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Because that's not. Not showing up. You're planning that out. Yeah. If you just don't show up, you're one. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

You.

[Jason Moore]

You stink. Barring, you know, your wife went into labor or something and you, you know, you. If you just bowed out because of laziness that you. See you later. Replacement. The problem is the replacement gets to come into an autograph.

[Andy Holloway]

How do you replace a. The draft has happened and you go find someone, hey, there's this auto draft.

[Mike Wright]

I'll tell you how to grab some.

[Jason Moore]

We have a waiting list in our league and if we talk to every person beforehand and they confirm they're going to be in the draft, then you're set. And if, you know, if somebody says, oh, I'm not going to make it, well, see you later.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And if you got a. If you got to give them the boot and you need to know how to replace someone, you can also do [e-mail] A lot of people over there wanting to find leagues and join leagues.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. All right. Speaking of which, you can Access [e-mail] Our fantasy football community with extra episodes, exclusive content. We just announced all the giveaway items for September, which include a Sammy Watkins autographed jersey. We've got two different trophies, including a last place trophy being awarded.

[Andy Holloway]

I believe it's a horse patootie.

[Jason Moore]

It is a horse patootie. That is the official name. We've got a bunch of stickers. Got a Russell Wilson McFarlane we're giving away. You can also follow us on TwitterFFballers, send us your questions, things like that. And you can check out the website, the fancyballers.com.

[Mike Wright]

Does that mean that we officially just made the sideways step and we replaced the signed Jeff Fisher picture with a horse's patootie?

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

So, Jason, just so if you want to know why there's not a signed Jeff Fisher picture in this month's giveaway, it is 100% because Jason stopped it.

[Mike Wright]

I decreed in the office that we are no longer after that first hard knocks. I said the joke's not worth it. We are no longer including this in.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah. Well, there you go. So check out the website. You can find the ultimate draft kit on there as well. Get ready for Your draft. Let's get into the news.

[Mike Wright]

News and notes from around the league.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to try to be selective here with the news, give you what you need to know. Let's only linger on the things that have fantasy implications that need to be kind of pared out. Sure. Right. Tyrod Taylor signed a six year, 92 million dollar contract.

[Andy Holloway]

He did. He got paid. And before everyone freaks out of how much he was paid, it's actually a very team friendly deal is he makes, you know, 9.5 this year. That's really the only guarantee right now. And it's it. If he plays well this year and next year I believe is how it works, then they, then the actual contract will kick in because it's a team option. Essentially. He got a nice raise which is, I think that's a pretty strong commitment by the Bills saying we think you're the guy. This is a much better situation than the, the franchise tag, I think.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it seems like, it seems like a very fair situation. You're, you're committing to a guy but you know, he wasn't drafted in the first round and came to be the franchise quarterback. So you're, you know, you've got some risk on the quarterback, some risk on the team and a little bit of.

[Andy Holloway]

Outs for both and good for you.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, Mike was very, very excited about that. Let's talk about Devonta Booker and Ronnie Hillman. Devontae Booker is now taking some first team reps away from Ronnie Hillman.

[Mike Wright]

It's interesting to hear that because one of the things that, you know, before this news that seemed very apparent watching the preseason game was that Hillman was clearly ahead of him. So I mean, you know, early on it was like, okay, so Hillman's running ahead of Booker. May we should move Booker down now. They're coming back and Booker's running ahead in practice.

[Jason Moore]

Now Mike's the guy who has them at the biggest gap in the current rankings. We have them consensus 61 for Hillman and 65 for Booker. But that's because Mike has Hillman much, much higher than then Booker.

[Andy Holloway]

I do.

[Jason Moore]

Nope, that's Jason.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I'm over here sipping my drink. I feel like the Kermit meme like, oh, oh, Booker's in front of Hillman. None of my business.

[Jason Moore]

No, actually Mike and I both have Booker in front of Hillman. And Mike, Jason has Hillman in front of Booker.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And that has nothing to do with talent. I think Booker is the more talented guy than Hillman. But Hillman has been the guy who has been running ahead of him, who came into this preseason game ahead of him. And look, I mean, every year rookies get too much publicity, right? And the guys who were the backups, we just assume, oh, well, they're going to be, they're going to be, you know, overtaken by the rookies. But that doesn't happen by every rookie and every team. And so you got to Kevin Coleman. You've got to be realistic. No, that's a good point. I mean, Tevin Coleman, right. He was supposed to come over and so you.

[Jason Moore]

All that hate.

[Mike Wright]

You've got to be realistic. This news is worth monitoring, my monitoring in the second preseason game to see who runs with the twos.

[Jason Moore]

Will Fuller running as the clear cut number two receiver on Sunday night's preseason game. We'll get into that when we go over.

[Andy Holloway]

I thought this was.

[Jason Moore]

That's big.

[Andy Holloway]

This was big news. That's big news because Jalen Strong was getting the, getting the shine that Coach.

[Jason Moore]

Strong didn't even play with the three wide outset.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. So Will Fuller is the number two guy. They're throwing the rookie out there. So it's. Adjust the ranks accordingly.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Matt Forte took part in positional drills at practice. He was out with a hamstring injury on Sunday.

[Andy Holloway]

So he's, he's not practicing in full, but he's getting closer to returning, which.

[Jason Moore]

You know, there you go.

[Mike Wright]

Good.

[Jason Moore]

Mike, you saw this injury. You guys both saw it. I didn't get to see it. Malcolm Mitchell's dislocated elbow MRI came back clean.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's fantastic news for the rookie in up in New England that he may only miss, you know, maybe a month instead of multiple months of the season. So. And he looked great. If you go back and watch the tape on Mitchell, he was, he was getting open. He was. He had sure hands. So I'm very happy. I'm very happy for Malcolm.

[Jason Moore]

All right, before we get to the rest of the news, I want to circle back to what Mike said right when we opened the show. We want to thank our sponsor, footballhaul.com look, you already know about the $75 value you get in this monthly NFL subscription box. You already know you can use the promo code Ballers5 to save extra on that amazing deal. But did you know this August they have a debut bobblehead exclusive to the football Hall. Once again, we've been seeing these show up. You can't get them anywhere else. Actually, last month we got a McFarland of Brett Favre that you can't get anywhere else. We a couple months ago we got a Todd Gurley bobblehead. You can't get it anywhere else. And now they have the Football hall junior. So if you don't want the big box, go grab the Football Hall Junior. It's a great gift. $19.99. You get $40 worth of value inside of that. And if you just want a one off, if you just want to get your favorite team a big football hall full of your favorite teams gear, those are 50% off on the site right now too. So you've heard us talk about them forever. We love these guys. Good friends of the show football hall.com. that's footballhau.com promo code ballers5 and before.

[Mike Wright]

We get into all the preseason games, games are going on, people you can get out there to your local game and go and we use SeatGeek through that is the company that we have purchased all of our tickets through, whether it was going to see a Broadway musical in New York or NFL games, which are superior. I say that as a musical theater major.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's true.

[Mike Wright]

I love seatgeek. They take tickets from everywhere, from all sorts of different sites. They pool them in one place, give you a best price on there, easy to use and their mobile app is legit. Plus if you listen to the show, which you do, you get $20 back after your first purchase. So here's what you got to do. You Download the free SeatGeek app, you go to the Settings tab, click add promo code and use promo code. Footballers and SeatGeek will send you $20 after you've made your first ticket purchase. So Download the free SeatGeek app today and make your first purchase.

[Jason Moore]

I dreamed a dream of time gone.

[Andy Holloway]

By don't make me start don't make.

[Jason Moore]

Me start hey, look, Jason, it's news for you. Adam Schefter reporting. The Rams are extend Jeff Fisher and GM less need.

[Mike Wright]

Look, when I tweeted out after Hard Knocks, what I tweeted out was you.

[Jason Moore]

Got a lot of grief on your show after the show.

[Mike Wright]

By the way, I also got a lot of love.

[Jason Moore]

Most people. Well, most people thought you were very, very harsh.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I was very, very harsh. So I think that that's fair that people thought that. What I tweeted out after I watched Hard Knocks was that I thought previously that Jeff Fisher was a bad head coach. And now I realize he's a terrible head coach for a bad franchise. And so this makes sense.

[Jason Moore]

Man. Man, the Los Angeles fans do not like you right now.

[Mike Wright]

No, I love the Los Angeles fans. I wish them the best. I hope that you guys enjoy your football. I'm sad. Look, I can relate. I was a Cardinals fan forever when we had the wrong Bidwell. Running the show and making bad decisions and hiring bad coaches and doing things like that. I get it. We still love the Cardinals.

[Jason Moore]

Jared Goff's going to get first team reps, by the way, this week. He'll get an opportunity to start, most likely the next preseason game and get some work in with the ones. All right, let's move on here. Ladarius Green, you heard us talk about this last week. There was a lot of panic in the air, headaches. Oh, no. Did he disclose them? Is he going to get cut? Is he going to retire? Look, as of right now, Mike Tomlin says that, and he said this after the preseason opener, that ladarius Green is on the active PUP list only due to the ankle surgery. So you've got Tomlin's word, and then you've got a lot of other reports about this, so stay tuned. Avoid ladarius Green. Yeah, Fantasy news. There is. You guys don't disagree with me, do you?

[Mike Wright]

Not right now, no. Until he's on the field, you have to avoid him.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's talk about the situation at the quarterback position in San Francisco. I'm getting a lot of tweets about this entering the preseason opener. Bay Area news is Cam Inman believes the 49ers competition was already over. There's a lot of people saying that it's basically Blaine Gabbard's job, not Cam Newton. Colin Kaepernick sat out due to a shoulder injury. Thoughts, guys?

[Mike Wright]

Coming into this game, I was right because I was still on the Kaepernick. I still thought Kaepernick had a. Had a. The highest chance to win that job coming in. And what I. I was willing to change because you got Gabber going out there, Kaepernick injured. And if everybody's saying that, look, it's. It's Gabbard's team. I was willing to say, all right, I need to change my rankings, make sure I put it as Gabbard. And he was, in my opinion, pretty darn bad. He found Vance McDonald on a very nice strike late, but, I mean, he was missing running backs on, you know, little tiny screens by a mile, over and over and over. And the other thing that I saw was they were running the read option a ton. And look, Gabbert can run the read option better than anybody. That Chip Kelly's had in the NFL, but he cannot run it as good as Colin Kaepernick.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. People ask, am I changing my, my rankings? I'm still waiting. Yeah, I'm still waiting because I.

[Mike Wright]

The search continues.

[Jason Moore]

Look, you get to game if you got to game three of the preseason. Kaepernick hasn't seen the field. It's. My rankings are changing. It's done deal as of today. Holding on, holding off. All right, Mike McCarthy.

[Andy Holloway]

Speaking of holding on, Jeff Janis won't practice this week.

[Jason Moore]

They said he broke at least one bone in his hand. Yeah, the descent continues for Jeff Janis.

[Mike Wright]

Abrader's Abraders.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, look, it's. I can't hold on to the. I love Jeff Janis. I think there's a tremendous upside. But if he can't practice, he certainly will not be involved early on.

[Jason Moore]

Does Devonte Adams surprise because the pressure's off now?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he could. He absolutely could. Maybe not only the pressure of the fans and the coaches, but also the pressure of the defense. Right. I mean, if Jordy's on the field, he's not going to be. He's going to be facing the third best defender.

[Jason Moore]

Josh Gordon returned to practice. They also said he has lost some of that weight that was reported to have been gained in his, what, five year, ten year break from football.

[Andy Holloway]

These football guys and they're like, they're 20 pounds overweight. Two days goes by, they're, they're at the right weight. I need to get on that system that the lose 20 pounds in about 48 hours.

[Jason Moore]

Have you seen that old SNL bet from John Belushi with the.

[Andy Holloway]

I thought you were going Jim Carrey, right?

[Jason Moore]

No, no, no, no. The John Belushi Olympics skit. They played it the other day where.

[Andy Holloway]

The All Steroid Olympics.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, no.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, come on.

[Jason Moore]

This is the little chocolate donut bit. It's really funny because they show him competing all these Olympic events and then he's just like, I get all of my energy from little chocolate donuts. And it's just like a promotional ad for. It's very funny. They post, they, they posted it the other day. Ron Rivera, last bit of news here. Said that Kelvin Benjamin has struggled with conditioning during camp. Also saw a report from somebody out there in Carolina saying they believed Evan Funches would outperform Kelvin Benjamin this year.

[Andy Holloway]

What?

[Jason Moore]

That's what I read. What?

[Mike Wright]

I believe Devin hot take. I believe Devin Funches is a very good receiver. His routes have gotten better. His hands are pretty strong. He's tall, he's fast, his hands are strong.

[Andy Holloway]

They're just, I don't know if they're strong at catching a football.

[Mike Wright]

I think they are, but Kelvin should still be the one. I don't, I mean, nobody, nobody in here is going to be ranking Devin Funches ahead of Kevin Kelvin Benjamin, certainly not.

[Jason Moore]

No. I kind of look at that offense, though, and I see like 1A and 1B and 1C and 1D.

[Mike Wright]

Ted Jr. Is the guy running, you know, as the wide receiver too.

[Jason Moore]

Greg Olson and Devin Funches and, well.

[Mike Wright]

At least they threw the ball close to last as far as attempts in the league last year. So if they're going to be spreading it around, they've got.

[Jason Moore]

Are you talking about Buffalo and Tyrod Taylor and your love for Sammy Watkins?

[Mike Wright]

No, but I mean, Carolina was low on the total attempts last year, which was crazy.

[Andy Holloway]

Were they that low?

[Mike Wright]

Not, not, not less. But they were, they were definitely bottom half in attempts. They, they were a running, running, running team who. Cam's efficiency was off the.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, his efficiency. I know, was tremendous. I'm going to look that up for you.

[Mike Wright]

Vet it. Vet it for me.

[Jason Moore]

All right, we're going to get into a brand new segment and the weekly rewind of the preseason games. We're going to go through the guys we think are moving up and down and should be moving up and down in your rankings. So let's do that right now.

[Mike Wright]

Raising Canes, Rising Stars of the Week.

[Jason Moore]

All right, delicious new segment we've got. Each of us have selected one Raising Canes Rising Star of the Week. I don't know who wants to kick this off. There were several people that I'm pretty much going to cheat and give you two names.

[Mike Wright]

I've got two names as well.

[Jason Moore]

But we'll let Mike start this one off because, and I want to say this real quick before we get into all of the recaps, the rising stars, we say this all off season. Don't overreact. And that's our goal here. So don't take. If we like a guy and we give you some, some upside, it doesn't mean he's jumping from 57 in the rankings to number one. It means that, look, this is somebody that you should pay attention to and we'll tell you how we're adjusting them and how we're not trying to be hyperbolic about how they performed, but you need, this is how you read the preseason and adjust. So Mike, you can start.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, my love has been reignited and I was watching this Game with eyes wide open. I'm talking about Seattle running back Christian Michael. He was 7 for 44. And look, and we talk about the final stats are kind of whatever, but just watching him, he looked great. I mean, he was crushed. Not just getting sweeping it to the outside. I mean, he was pounding it up the middle. He's breaking tackles. And we. With how great Rawls was, we are kind of. I think a lot of people are overlooking Christian Michael was very good to end the year. And the. The problem with Michael, I don't think has ever, ever been his natural ability to be a running back. They've just considered him a bit of a head case. I think he got taught a major lesson. He got traded for nothing. He got cut by Dallas. He got cut by Washington's practice team. And there was. The coaching staff said Michael has really had an awakening. So if he's really getting his head back in the game, I think that Michael will be involved far more than first anticipated of. We're thinking, well, Rawls will be back. It'll be his job, and he's just going to dominate. Michael could be involved. It is far more than we think.

[Mike Wright]

It is a little silly that Kristen Michael, who is, you know, if the. If the season had to start today, he would be the starter. Starter. You know, right now, we're assuming it will be Thomas Rollins, but he's completely undrafted. No, I mean, Kristen Michael in deep drafts is going mostly undrafted. So it's a name worth watching for sure.

[Jason Moore]

Over my. Over Alex Collins.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

By far.

[Andy Holloway]

Pro size is just now coming back from his injury. It's just. Just pay attention. Pay attention.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. He always had potential and he didn't have it upstairs. So if he's put it together, if he's committed, they seem to want to use him. And I kind of trust Pete Carroll. You know, Pete Carroll puts.

[Mike Wright]

Did you.

[Andy Holloway]

You almost threw up when you said that.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I actually did. I've got a little peach cobbler in my. In my throat. No, I mean, I trust him to put the right guys out there. I mean, they've made a lot of personnel decisions that have proved correct. And especially with people with their head on straight. And look, they have. They drafted Alex Collins. They have CJ Prosais. If they wanted to cut Christian Michael be no big deal.

[Andy Holloway]

Right?

[Jason Moore]

So they. They haven't. So I had a hard time deciding who my rising star was going to be because again, you know, these guys get very limited reps. I'm actually going to choose Melvin Gordon. I'm Going to go with Melvin Gordon. The drought is over. He got into the end zone. Well, hey, it's over, it's over. We're cutting it in the preseason. He doesn't go on his record 44 yard touchdown reception. The thing I liked about Gordon is that he, he looked big, he looked strong. He, I think will be a central cog in that offense. I've been high on him all offseason. I know Danny Woodhead is there, but their future is Melvin Gordon. It's not Danny Woodhead. And if Gordon can give them what we saw briefly in the preseason game. What I loved about Gordon last year when he was active and on the field is that they were not afraid to use him. Just like Danny Woodhead in the passing game. That's how he scored in the preseason game. One was a 44 yard reception. Get him downhill, big strong guy. He pushed his way through to the end zone. Melvin Gordon didn't show me anything that made me step back from my, my liking of him. We all like that offense. We like Philip Rivers.

[Mike Wright]

And I think one thing that's super important from what he did is we can't forget he was coming off of a micro fracture knee surgery. He didn't look hesitant. He didn't, he didn't look like, you know, oh, I'm afraid to cut. You know, there were those early camp videos that were like, oh, he's, he's afraid to cut. And he clearly is not. He's healthy and he's back and that was great to see.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, what I'll, what I'll say is I didn't last year. I did not like Melvin Gordon's draft value. I thought that he was, it was that thing of the shiny rookie. He got moved up. I was, I was very paused to take him. He's in the sixth round according to fantasy football calculator. I'm okay, I'm okay. Jumping in there on the six. I, I need to see more of.

[Mike Wright]

Wow.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm okay with it.

[Jason Moore]

That is some huge. I think you're conceding something, but that is some huge resistance for a 6 round pick. I mean Melvin Gordon or Frank Gore.

[Mike Wright]

Who else is going in the six right now? Mike.

[Jason Moore]

So right, Probably Frank Gore.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Right behind Melvin Gordon. You have Frank Gore, Duke Johnson, Ivory and Gio Bernard.

[Jason Moore]

Give me Gordon over Melvin Gordon over all of them. The problem and a half or a full.

[Mike Wright]

The problem that I have is that if he keeps having a good preseason, his stock will unfortunately rise and he won't be able to be had in the sixth round.

[Jason Moore]

I would take him higher anyways.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, let me.

[Jason Moore]

Let me throw in my bonus. Oh, all right. My bonus is based on not just what's on the field for the Dolphin Giants game, which I watched. And I mean, there are a lot of guys to be kind of confident when they're. Shane Green looked good to me. Rashad Jennings look good to me. But Sterling shepherd, you mix his performance, what I've seen in camp mixed with this game, how he ran routes, how he blocked and did his job as a receiver on the field, and you mix that with Victor Cruz being incapable of recovery. And Shepard is probably going to be the highest rated rookie wide receiver on my board.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I don't. I don't blame you.

[Jason Moore]

And he looks completely capable of taking advantage of matchups in the slot with Odell Beckham Jr. In the field. I think you're going to have big games from Sterling Shepherd. I really do.

[Mike Wright]

All right. My delicious raising canes. Rising star of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

You're a cheater.

[Mike Wright]

I am. I am a cheater. But really they are. They are co stars.

[Jason Moore]

I'm happy you're cheating because I thought you only had one name in there and I was going to be mad at you.

[Mike Wright]

No, no, I've got two names in here. The main guy that I wanted to talk about for me, because he is rising for me, is Derrick Henry. Now, the reason he's rising for me is because I've completely written him off. You know, normally those big giant backs, when they come into the NFL, they're not really big fantasy producers. You know, Brandon Jacobs, he had a somewhat successful stint for a little while, but most of the time they just. And when you looked at the college tape of Henry, he was great, but he was great without being touched. And, you know, he didn't look like he was utilizing his assets, but he was a beast. He was really, really good. And the reason I said stars plural is because DeMarco Murray was great as well. So the Tennessee running game, and granted, it was against the Chargers, Sorry, not the best run defense. Going back and watching every single one of those snaps, I will say this, it was very similar to college. And granted, for Henry, he was doing it against the number twos. Just giant holes, man. I mean, real big holes where he was able to make a nice cut to get to the hole. It wasn't just a wide open lane. It was like, I need to shift over, make a big cut, get to that lane, and then turn on the burners. But he was good. Every single handoff. And so he was a guy who I believe was my 60 second running back. A guy that I hadn't even considered drafting in a single mock and a single anything. And now I think that he is going to succeed in the NFL. The problem is of course he's a backup. So the other guy, DeMarco Murray, who just in case you weren't able to watch the games, DeMarco Murray had a 71 yard touchdown jaunt. A nice little scamper. And what I loved about seeing that play was there was worries in me from Philadelphia, DeMarco Murray that his legs might be tiring, that his legs are getting to the point where he doesn't have the juice. But I don't care. You cannot run away from a whole team for 71 yards if your legs are dead. You're just not not doing it. So he was 6 for 93 in a touchdown and Derek Henry was 10 for 74 and a touchdown. Both guys looked good. I'm not moving DeMarco Murray up because of Derek Henry. To me, I think DeMarco Murray, where I had him is a good spot. But Henry will move up for me.

[Jason Moore]

You got to see what the recipe for success in Tennessee is going to be this year.

[Andy Holloway]

Which is, which is play against the Chargers rushing defense, which is to play.

[Jason Moore]

Against the rushing defense and to run the ball a ton.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, but the problem is will they be able to run the ball a ton in their game scripts?

[Jason Moore]

Sure. But that they won't care. They are going to run, run, run, run, run. I'm telling you, this is why as much as I loved Mariota about three months ago, I backed off him quick. I backed off him quick because I couldn't project the skill sets there. But I could not project the volume there for him. And it, it's just not going to.

[Mike Wright]

Speaking of volume, I vetted the Carolina statistic. They were the 27th passing volume passing attempt. So they were absolute.

[Jason Moore]

They were up 56 to 4 in the in the first two quarters and ran the rest of the game. All right, well, every week, every Monday, we're going to be going through our rising stars. Those were the Raising Canes rising stars of the week. Remember everybody, we know this better than anybody. Game day tastes better with the Raising Cane's tailgate Tailgates package full of fresh 24 hour marinated hand battered chicken fingers. They are delicious and fresh brewed sweet tea. So visit raising canes.com and find your nearest location which we'll probably do in about an Hour. Yes, we will, actually. I'm not joking whatsoever. Like, that is actually where we're probably going to go eat today, because we do that almost every day. All right, let's go and get into the rest of the games.

[Mike Wright]

Weekly. Rewind.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's start with the Miami New York Giant game we alluded to with Sterling Shepherd. Let's do it. I've got one other bit of something important to talk about in this game, but let's start with Jai.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Well, actually, I pulled up a. Like a sound bite. I got a.

[Jason Moore]

Of one of the plays.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, just a sound bite of how well he played, of how it's from the coast.

[Jason Moore]

Do you guys mind if I play it?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Hit the button. Wow.

[Andy Holloway]

That was a quote.

[Jason Moore]

That was a quote.

[Andy Holloway]

That was a quote. That was Adam Gase.

[Jason Moore]

That was Adam. Well, all right. Very well spoken.

[Andy Holloway]

Very mature of me. I know.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Jai, it was bad. Two for six bobble to catch.

[Andy Holloway]

An easy catch that almost got picked off.

[Jason Moore]

You ready? You ready to get on? Get on, get on with me.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. The Arian Foster train. Look, jj, this was when you. The lights were on for J. Of saying, hey, take control of this backfield. You're dealing with some Aaron Foster pressure behind you. The pressure did not make a good performance for Jay. I was not impressed.

[Mike Wright]

What world are we living in? The Arian Foster is again a cog of Andy in 2016 on a different team. Unbelievable.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm ready for Damian Williams.

[Mike Wright]

All righty.

[Jason Moore]

I think you think that's the biggest endorsement of Foster you've ever given. Look, guys, I'm going to say this. Paul Perkins is one of those people. Popular sleeper pick behind Rashad Jennings, who looked good. Andre Williams, to me, looked much faster on film than he looked last year or the year before. There was a different type of pep to his step. I'm telling you, I am believing that Andre Williams is going to fight his way into that number two role, which I think will severely hinder Paul Perkins upset.

[Andy Holloway]

I can agree with that. The. The reports on Williams have been very positive over the. Over the offseason and through training camp, and he did. He looked like a different player, which. Good for you. Andre Williams. Because it was.

[Mike Wright]

Because he needed to.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, you certainly did.

[Jason Moore]

But it's very important because Rashad Jennings is not the pinnacle of health.

[Mike Wright]

Correct.

[Jason Moore]

Rashad Jennings. I. Now, if I'm wrong on this, I apologize because I heard it on NFL Network this morning, so I didn't. I didn't even vet it. You can look it up I'm doing it right now. Rashad Jennings, despite what you might have thought of him last year, that was his career high in rushing yards. That's probably true in a season that is.

[Andy Holloway]

That is factually correct.

[Jason Moore]

Which is in the eight hundreds. And so either Rashad Jennings exceeds expectations in his career high, which is very possible. Mike loves him, we love him. Yep. Or he gets hurt again and then a guy like Andre Williams becomes very relevant on a great offense with the goal line capability. That's the one thing they always kept trying to give Andre Williams was goal line. All of a sudden, if he can, if he can run between the tackles, you've got him in a rookie. It just needs to be known. I mean, that's a guy that you should pay attention to, especially if that situation comes where Rashad Jennings goes down, which would be unfortunate, but it just seems to happen. So anything else from the Miami New York game?

[Andy Holloway]

I think we covered the receivers.

[Jason Moore]

So what did you guys see out of the Detroit Pittsburgh game?

[Andy Holloway]

The thing that stood out to me of things that I'm watching, you know, of a first, the first offense playing like five snaps or whatever. It was simply Zach Zenner played in front of Steven Ridley. I have been a Steven Ridley truther for, since, for his whole career, really. I had hoped that Ridley could become that big back, but right now it's Zach Zenner. This is a competition to definitely keep your eye on. But they've been, the coaches have been talking of Zenner and they, they backed it up by saying Zenner, you go in before Ridley and he played. Zack Zenner actually played the second drive.

[Mike Wright]

Zach Zinner is one of the best preseason football players. True, he had a great preseason last year. I don't know what we can make of it, but it was really important to see him ahead of Steven Ridley. And when Steven Ridley came out, and so now this would have been against probably third string, you know, guys, he stunk. I mean.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, like last year, he didn't look good.

[Mike Wright]

He looked like he was still missing something. I think he got, he got five carries for 14 yards. So a nice good 2.8 against the third string defense, the Pittsburgh.

[Jason Moore]

I personally, I was out on a limb a little bit picking Zinner above Ridley when, you know, a month ago I got a little scared of saying that. To me, Steven Ridley might be the Hakeem Nix of the running back position. I just don't think, despite the age that he has it. I haven't seen it on tape. I want to add this into this game, if Ladari screens out, okay, anywhere from retired to ankle injury to headaches to missing games or staying on the pup, you need to know Jesse James. Oh, Jesse James is the backup tight end. Very capable. You know what Big Ben did with Heath Miller, you need to pay attention to that. Jesse James is not afraid of stepping into that role. I think he's a pretty dynamic tight end. He has his limitations, but so did Heath Miller. And so I think you just need to know the name of Jesse James and Sammy Coates.

[Mike Wright]

Not a good game.

[Jason Moore]

Who fumbles for Sammy Co.

[Andy Holloway]

It does not concern me at all.

[Jason Moore]

We decided. Yeah, Jason and I decided this. This is out. The fact that you just said that is perfect. So confirms exactly what we know, which is. Marcus Wheaton is your Devonta Freeman for this year.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay?

[Jason Moore]

He's 100%.

[Mike Wright]

Because the fact that you would.

[Jason Moore]

You would frivolously throw away two preseason fumbles from a guy who's already behind the depth chart of Wheaton just for your love of Sammy Coates shows me.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no.

[Jason Moore]

The blindness.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no. He's not known for fumbling. He is over his career.

[Mike Wright]

He's.

[Jason Moore]

He is now over his career. What's a career? He played a few snaps last year.

[Andy Holloway]

I thought we said we don't overreact to preseason.

[Jason Moore]

Two fumbles from a guy trying to battle through the depths.

[Andy Holloway]

It's certainly not a good look. I can agree with that.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

I can agree with that.

[Jason Moore]

We just. Jason and I are very much in the Wheaton camp and the value of Wheaton. He might be one of the better values in the league.

[Mike Wright]

I like Sammy Coates on the year. I was just. I was really excited. I wanted to from him this game. Unfortunately. We did. We did. Yeah, we did. But then again, I mean, you're also talking about, you know, what are you really going to see? Take away the fumbles. You know, Big Ben didn't even. He didn't play right. I don't. I don't think he.

[Jason Moore]

No, it was Landry. All right. Minnesota, Cincinnati. What did you guys see out of this game? You had.

[Andy Holloway]

It's Charles Johnson. Charles Johnson.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, whatever. I watched that play. It was. I mean, Charles Janssen made a good catch. I was much more impressed. If you wanted me to take something away from that play, it was that Teddy Bridgewater threw the ball deep, for goodness sakes, and he did it accurately. Made me happy for one play. But, I mean, there's.

[Andy Holloway]

There's reports that Charles Johnson was dealing with broken ribs all last season. And when I say Charles Johnson, I'm not, I'm not jumping back on board with him as a fantasy producer. I'm saying he's. He's in front of Treadwell right now. And catching a 49 yard bomb doesn't hurt you. Is going to help you stay on the top.

[Jason Moore]

If you had to predict the final tally here for the wide receivers in Minnesota, what is the order of at the end of the year, let's say half point league by the end of.

[Andy Holloway]

The year, Diggs would be my top choice. And I'll probably still say Treadwell just because of the touchdown potential. But watch the rest of the preseason, man. It's going to be very important for Treadwell if he wants to make an early season impact. Because if Johnson wins that job and then plays well and then it's gonna be his job. Of course. But does Minnesota actually have good wide receivers now?

[Mike Wright]

They might.

[Andy Holloway]

That's crazy.

[Jason Moore]

Minnesota is such. They're a very good team.

[Mike Wright]

They are.

[Jason Moore]

They won the division.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I don't forget.

[Jason Moore]

Well, you don't. You're wearing purple right now.

[Andy Holloway]

The north remembers also.

[Mike Wright]

Tyler Bowie, what do you think about.

[Jason Moore]

That whole dome situation though?

[Mike Wright]

I like it. Tyler Boyd made a great catch. Yeah, he had a 40, 40 yard bomb and then they took him out of the game quick, which I thought was great. I mean, they need him. They are showing that he's going to be a part of their actual game plan. Sure.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. They not keeping him out there a ton.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's get to the Cleveland and Green Bay game. There's only one thing that, that I think needs to be said about this. My mind's telling me no Terrell Pryor, my boy. Not just one catch either. I mean, he looked the part.

[Andy Holloway]

Big guy is prior the number one wide receiver in Cleveland right now?

[Jason Moore]

I saw you write that down on our list and I had to run some sort of like spell check, grammar check to make sure you didn't mean a different name. Terrell Pryor. Is he the number one in Cleveland right now?

[Mike Wright]

No. I mean, if you say right now because Corey Coleman isn't playing, then sure, I think Corey Coleman is the clear number one on this team. But who that number two is for the first four weeks will probably be Terrell Pryor. And I think he can make a mark because he is. He is one of those. Look, everybody in the NFL is an elite athlete, but he's an NFL elite. He's elite within those guys. His athleticism is fantastic. And you've Seen quarterbacks transition to successful wide receivers before.

[Jason Moore]

What'd you guys think of RG3?

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, he looked like.

[Jason Moore]

Look like Griffin, where it's 100% look like Griffin, which is every time he gets hit, it takes him an extra four seconds to get up because he's in pain. And I'm telling you, man, he looked identical to me.

[Andy Holloway]

He's got the ragdoll physics from. From video games.

[Jason Moore]

Really? And he's always in. He always takes like three seconds and then he. He gets up and fights through it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

50% completion, one interception.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Looks good and then looks terrible. It's. It's kind of the story so far, so hopefully you can put it together.

[Jason Moore]

You know, you talk about using your eyeballs. Eddie Lacy didn't look lighter to me. He says he feels more explosive. He did not look smaller to me. He played okay. And he certainly has the. The backfield there in Green Bay. So I'm not really taking anything away from him other than just saying what I saw, which is I was kind of hoping to go watch that game and see, you know, the Andre Williams I saw where, you know, oh, wow, he hit that hole much faster. I didn't see him hit a hole any faster. Did you have a different opinion?

[Andy Holloway]

That's. Yeah, he looked like Eddie Lacey, which to me, Eddie Lacy is not the guy who explodes in the first quarter. Eddie Lacy is the guy who grinds down the barefense.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yeah, that's a fair point. All right, Oakland, Arizona. We didn't see too much in this game. You know, David Johnson played three snaps or something like that or, I mean, had three touches, looked great. Is there anything from the Arizona side that you saw that? No, it's worth mentioning. I mean, Michael Floyd looked good to me.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

Targeted downfield. I think you're going to have Carson Palmer with probably the league high or top. Top three in terms of yards per attempt. Yeah, yards per attempt and where these guys are catching the ball.

[Mike Wright]

So Arizona offense looks great for the first drive. Then they pulled everybody out. They didn't punch it in down near the goal line, but, you know, that was fine.

[Jason Moore]

Now my fantasy MVP is Latavius Murray. What did you see out of their utilization?

[Mike Wright]

I loved what I saw for Latavius Murray. I know DeAndre Washington had a good game, but that was after Latavius Murray was in the game and he was in on first down and he was in on second down and he was in on third down. They played him for quite a while and he had some good Runs and he caught the ball and I mean he was clearly like this wasn't one of those. You saw the offense and you saw that he was in that bell cow role and I loved it. So I had messaged you, Andy, about I think your fancy MVP of Murray is well placed.

[Jason Moore]

George Atkinson looked good. Two big touchdown runs.

[Andy Holloway]

Big touchdown runs.

[Jason Moore]

He'll be in the mix.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And I agree. I mean the usage was there for Murray. DeAndre Washington did look pretty solid. I mean he looked like again, he's running against lower level defenders, but. And I think that Washington will earn some time against the real defenders coming through that preseason.

[Mike Wright]

That's why, man, that, that's like one of my biggest targets. I mean, if you want like my personal draft plan, if I can get latavius Murray and DeAndre Washington, because I think the price and ability to nab those two guys is easier.

[Jason Moore]

More realistic on a top five offensive line.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. More realistic than grabbing, you know. Any other targets going in you. If you want, if you want those guys, you can have them. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Derek Carr looked good. Crabtree can't be forgotten.

[Andy Holloway]

Do not forget about Michael Crabtree.

[Jason Moore]

I need to. Oh, seriously, any lesson of any lesson that I need to apply. Like I said last year, I hated twos too much.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

I feel like I'm hearing myself tell myself, please draft Michael Crabtree. Like that's what I'm hearing.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Michael Crabtree is never the pick where.

[Jason Moore]

You, you always grim.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't feel great about it.

[Jason Moore]

He's a grimace pick, which is ridiculous.

[Mike Wright]

Because he doesn't have that, you know, that high ceiling. Right. Look at like some guy like devonte Parker. Right. Michael Crabtree probably finishes this year ahead of devonte Parker in fantasy points. But you know, it's like you're not, you're excited when you grab devontae Parker because you think, oh, maybe he could just blow up and be this wide receiver one or this high end wide receiver too. You just don't see that from Crabtree. But what you get from Crabtree is a reliable target monster who, who's going.

[Jason Moore]

To produce it has, you know, the rapport between Cooper Carr and Crabtree is, is really solid. It's a really solid. It's, it's a lot like the Bortles Robinson Hearn situation. All right, we need to talk about.

[Mike Wright]

Also just throwing this out real quick. Clive Walford a name to consider. They were running him on routes and he looked good as well.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he was a high pick. He was a high pick too. Seattle, Kansas City. You already talked about Christian Michael.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, so.

[Jason Moore]

So what else from this game do you want to focus on?

[Andy Holloway]

Just the. The real quick follow up for Michael. I want to ask you guys, because you're driving the Rolls Royce ball, both of you and Pete Carroll, after the. After the game, you said we're going to have a one, two punch. And then he's talking about Thomas Rawls and Kristen Michael, do you have any concerns at all?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I do.

[Jason Moore]

I do not.

[Mike Wright]

I had tweeted out already before this episode. The combination of C Mike with Coach Carroll's comments made me say I need to. Maybe I need to put my Rolls Royce in neutral and see where it takes me. I mean, the truth is where he is right now in the third round, there's probably guys that I feel better picking as of this moment, given everything going on. He is. I mean, this is a situation that we will be monitoring closely and make our judgment calls. Hopefully you don't have your draft today.

[Jason Moore]

And I'm going to take the approach of no, it doesn't affect my opinion of Rawls at all. I think Rawls is a much better player. I think most coaches would define their backfields as one, two punches. I think this is a motivational thing for Christian Michael and a reward for the way he's been playing in preseason with Thomas Rawls sitting there on the sidelines for the most part and wanting to reward a guy who's running with the ones and playing well. So I'm not concerned about it. I think every team has rotations and I think the cream will rise to the top. That's the angle I'm taking.

[Andy Holloway]

The thing about the rotation, though, is both Rawls and Michael are two down guys.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

So if Michael is playing, that's really going to hurt. Thomas Rawls, fantasy value.

[Jason Moore]

Spencer Ware. You wrote him down.

[Andy Holloway]

Spencer Ware, man, he looked fantastic. As we know, Charles is still on the shelf and we've. We've been asked, you know, is it Spencer Ware? Is it Shark? Hendrick west is the handcuff. I'm jumping on Spencer Ware. I think the guy is fantastic. He was again last year. West had a great game himself, but Spencer Ware looks. Looks fantastic to me. I'm running. I'm saying that word a lot. But yeah, I think he looks great and I'm trying to recall, so I'll vet it real quick. But I believe that the Chiefs play the Chargers week one. So if there's anything wrong with Jamal.

[Mike Wright]

Charles, Spencer Ware might be pretty valuable. It was to see that he Was the first guy up in a game that Jamal Charles didn't play.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Everybody wants to say Char West Charles will be passing downs if Charles is out. Spencer Ware played very well. Indianapolis Buffalo game. Couple of bits of news here. Yeah. Josh Ferguson. The much hyped undrafted free agent Josh Ferguson put up a nice 3 yards on eight carries.

[Andy Holloway]

I could play the Adam Gase sound bite again if you want.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, I think you can also find Josh Gore or Josh Gore, Frank Gore chuckling in the corner here. I mean, no one's stealing that job away from him.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, it's Frank.

[Jason Moore]

And I've been resistant on Ferguson because, you know, whether or not you say as a team, you'd like to draft a guy in the fourth, you didn't. You didn't draft him. Nobody else did. For a reason.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

Mike Gillesley seems to be the number two in Buffalo. I think we've been talking about him for quite a while. Carlos Williams is off. Season went terrible.

[Mike Wright]

Carlos Williams is returning to practice today.

[Jason Moore]

Yep. Still suspended.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

All right, Dallas and the Rams. DEZ Bryant's back, baby.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. My note is. Oh, hi.

[Jason Moore]

Des Bryant made a big time catch doing Des Bryant type of things.

[Mike Wright]

I don't think anybody had a better preseason game than Dak Prescott. Dak Prescott looked. I mean, that was. That was like his, you know, fast forward two years. That might be his best game he. He will ever have. But I'm just saying, he was perfect.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he was really good.

[Mike Wright]

Free throw, was on point. He was. I mean, he looked. He. What he did for the Cowboys was, you know, they've been in conversations for trading for a backup, and now they've got more ammo. At least they can get those backups cheaper because they can tell the other team we don't need them. We got Dak.

[Jason Moore]

Well, we'll see how the rest of it goes. Yeah, he looks great. San Diego, Tennessee. We talked about Melvin Gordon. We talked about Derek Henry. We talked about DeMarco Murray. Was there anything else that stood out from this game that you wanted to mention?

[Andy Holloway]

Those were the big highlights for me, for sure.

[Jason Moore]

So I think we kind of dove into that one the most, like Melvin Gordon, certainly. San Francisco and Houston wrapping it up here. Blaine Gabbard had an uneven game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Talk to me, Mike, about what you had been reading about Shane Drone. The big salad.

[Andy Holloway]

Sean Drone.

[Jason Moore]

Shane. You did. Sorry.

[Andy Holloway]

My note here is just to overall talk about the San Francisco running game, which was great.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, they were. They were deep and every single one looked great.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, you had Carlos Hyde before the fumble looked very strong. Chandron, same thing was breaking tackles. Then you had Mike Davis. We talked about Andre Williams looking like a different guy. Mike Davis was an abomination last year. He was just awful. And then this Mike Davis looked tremendous in this game against Houston. So it's. Look, we're very early and in Houston is missing, you know, the superstar on their. On their defense. But is San Francisco going to be able to run the ball? I think that's the biggest question for me. Besides who is the quarterback, which I think the quarterback is.

[Jason Moore]

Gabbard, if you're impressed with. Because you were talking last week off the air about Sean Drone.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

And I forget the comparison. I don't know if you recall it. You said Sean Drones reminding people of or said he was the best player on the field or something.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah, yeah. There was a beat reporter that was asked on Twitter who was the best player at the San Francisco practice.

[Jason Moore]

And it was Sean Drone.

[Andy Holloway]

It was Sean Drone.

[Jason Moore]

And now you're saying Mike Davis looked different. Does. Does that multifaceted backfield? We know Carlos height doesn't really catch the ball. Does that reduce your. Your upside of Hyde, your like of Hyde in your rankings? Are you adjusting anybody based off this game?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I'm not. I think that it's. It's solidified that it'll be Hyde and Drone. Hyde did get two targets.

[Mike Wright]

I was gonna say first drive.

[Andy Holloway]

They were. I don't know if you can really call them targets because they were so bad. They were very, very bad. And I wish I could have seen Hyde make a catch.

[Mike Wright]

And they were cleared. They were. What was weird about them is they were clear calls. They were a screen game and they were at his feet or whatever. But they called the play from the huddle to throw the ball or not from the huddle in a Chip Kelly offense from the sideline to throw the ball. And honestly, the first drive, it did look like Carlos Hyde was going to be out there very similar to what I saw.

[Jason Moore]

I was actually going to qualify that. I don't agree with that take because in the preseason they. They just, you know, they get the guys the reps and get them off the field. It's not. It's not a game plan specific situation where, okay, Carlos is the starter, Latavius is the starter. They get the reps on the first couple of drives and then we get them off the field.

[Mike Wright]

The running game did look good, and we need to remember that when Chip Kelly went to the Eagles, you Know, there's so much talk about, you know, DeSean Jackson and the wide receivers. They led the league in rushing that year. Granted, they had shady and a much better team, but they led the league in rushing. They had 500 rushing attempts. And so that's. That is the style of, you know, if they're doing the read option, there could be value there. But I just want to point out Lamar Miller looked very good as well on his first try.

[Andy Holloway]

He did. He looked. He looked very good.

[Jason Moore]

Vance McDonald looked good as well. We like McDonald as a sleeper tight end. Will Fuller, we said he played with the ones and Braxton Miller was in the slot. I'm a big Braxton Miller believer. I think he the only player I wasn't impressed with other than, you know, maybe Gabbard. Gabbard's uneven play was, you know, Brock Osweiler looked like kind of how I figured Brock Oswald is going to look, which is just kind of like, you know, he's probably gonna do some good things, have some good games, gonna do some bad things. You have some bad games. They're probably gonna tell him, don't wreck it. Don't wreck the defense. Don't wreck the running game.

[Andy Holloway]

I loved the third down. Let me check it underneath. Very, very. Not even close to getting a first down every time.

[Jason Moore]

Man, they're gonna do that. They're gonna do it all off all season long.

[Mike Wright]

Last thing I want to say on this game, because we had talked about the guys running ahead of Jalen Strong. Jalen Strong looked great in the game. He played well and played good. So he played well. And so I want to say very similar to what we saw with Hillman running ahead of Devonte Booker and then in practice saying, okay, now Booker is going ahead. I want to see next week because I'm not convinced that Jalen Strong, that this news means he is the. The. That he's not the starting wide receiver, too. I just want to see the rest of the preseason because he played much better than the other wide receivers.

[Jason Moore]

Guess what?

[Mike Wright]

What?

[Jason Moore]

We got big things in store this week. We've got our wide receiver ranking shows. We got a tips and tricks show. We got another mock coming your way. You do not want to miss it. So subscribe on itunes. Leave us a review. If you enjoy the show, if you enjoy what we're bringing you, check out jointhefoot.com if you need. If you need an extra episode every week because you just.

[Andy Holloway]

And we all do.

[Jason Moore]

You gotta have it. Go check out jointhefoot.com and I, I'm excited about this week. I'm excited about the rest of the preseason games. And so keep it right here on the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Thanks for joining us today, Andy, Mike and Jason. And don't forget about fantasyjocks.com for all your trophy needs. You got championship rings over there. Draft boards use the promo code.

[Mike Wright]

Ballard.

[Jason Moore]

Ballard, goodbye.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Join our Fantasy football on jointhefoot. Com and follow us on Twitter at theffballers.