Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Rising Stars, Preseason WK2, David Johnson Interview

Summary

Fantasy Football Podcast Episode Summary: "Rising Stars, Preseason WK2, David Johnson Interview"

Release Date: August 22, 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 delve deep into the outcomes of Preseason Week 2, discuss rising stars, and feature an exclusive interview with Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson. The trio provides comprehensive analysis, highlights key player performances, and offers valuable insights to help fantasy football enthusiasts navigate their leagues with confidence.

Exclusive Interview: David Johnson

[12:33] The hosts welcome David Johnson, who shares his excitement and readiness for the upcoming regular season. When confronted about a playful jab from Todd Gurley, Johnson responds with confidence:

[13:17] David Johnson: "He better get ready to lose. To me, that's all I got to say is I'm definitely going to beat him. But, you know, it's all in good fun, but he's going down."

Johnson emphasizes his primary goal for the season:

[13:32] David Johnson: "Basically, just to help out the team. Mostly is to help us, you know, first off, get to the NFC Championship and then the Super Bowl. But my main goal is just to get better and continue to help out the team."

He also touches on his participation in the preseason games, hinting at strong performances ahead:

[13:54] David Johnson: "We're all playing in these preseasons. Me, Chris, and Andre are all getting reps with the ones, and, I mean, we all got a great chance of playing, and I think we'll all play the whole year."

The interview provides listeners with firsthand insights from Johnson about his outlook and the Cardinals' offensive strategies.

NFL News Highlights

Removal of the 'Probable' Designation

[06:36] A significant change in NFL injury reporting is discussed:

[07:46] Mike Wright: "That little P used to see next to your players is going to be gone."

The NFL has eliminated the "probable" tag from injury designations, which previously indicated a high likelihood of a player participating in the game. Moving forward, teams will primarily use "questionable" and "doubtful," increasing the uncertainty for fantasy owners regarding player availability.

Implications for Fantasy Football:

[09:55] Andy Holloway: "I cannot wait for the entire Patriots roster. Every single week, every player will be marked with a Q."

Jason Moore elaborates on the challenges this poses:

[09:46] Jason Moore: "How risky is it? Because you're going to have a lot more questionables... we're going to help a lot of people in just a simple, hey, you started the right guy or you picked up the right waiver because you know you had more information on that questionable tag."

Key Player Updates:

• Dion Lewis (Patriots): Requires another surgery and will likely start the season on the PUP list, sidelining him for the first 6-10 weeks.

  [10:42] Jason Moore: "What that means is he's going to start the season on the PUP, almost certainly."

• John Brown (Cardinals): Cleared for practice after dealing with concussion protocols.

  [14:43] Jason Moore: "He just had not been cleared. He hadn't passed the test."

• Josh Gordon (Cleveland): Practicing with the first team and showing promise.

• Thomas Rawls (Seahawks): On track to start the opener without limitations.

  [16:15] Mike Wright: "Jeremy Langford was in a walking boot after the preseason game. He has shed that for practice on Sunday."

• Andre Williams (Giants): Securing a backup position with improved speed and performance.

  [16:31] Andy Holloway: "Very interesting. And Duke Johnson come out of the backfield."

Rising Stars of the Week

[21:34] The podcast introduces their "Rising Stars" segment, highlighting players showing potential to be valuable fantasy assets.

1. Jacksonville Jaguars Wide Receiver:

   • Andy Holloway emphasizes the potential of Tajay Sharp:

     [22:01] Andy Holloway: "He looks fantastic in and you know when a wide receiver looks fantastic is when the ball is just going to him non stop."

   • Mike Wright discusses Alan Robinson’s ascent:

     [26:00] Mike Wright: "Alan Robinson is an elite wide receiver... he’s right there."

   • Jason Moore highlights Jeremy Langford’s breakout potential:

     [25:40] Jason Moore: "Jeremy Langford is a guy that if he ends up in that workhorse role, will be a value for where he's going."

2. Analysis of Potential Breakouts:

   • Jeremy Langford (Raiders): Exhibiting strong performance in preseason games, indicating a significant role in the upcoming season.

     [28:05] Jason Moore: "I saw the first preseason game from Jeremy Langford was he was the guy... he looked good, good running the ball."

   • Alan Robinson (Steelers): Demonstrates consistent playmaking abilities that could translate into high fantasy points.

Weekly Rewind: Preseason Week 2 Game Analyses

[28:46] The hosts break down key preseason games, extracting valuable fantasy insights.

1. Eagles vs. Steelers:

   • Cooper Kupp’s Performance:

     [29:26] Andy Holloway: "Personally responsible for an interception... made an incredible sideline catch."

   • Jason Moore’s Take: Expresses skepticism about Cooper Kupp’s immediate impact due to Landry Jones' performance.

     [30:33] Jason Moore: "He's yet to really be working much with Big Ben."

   • Takeaway: Monitoring Coats and Eli Rogers for potential fantasy targets.

2. Bengals vs. Lions:

   • Marvin Jones vs. Golden Tate:

     [32:24] Jason Moore: "Marvin Jones is on every one of my teams."

   • Offensive Strategy: Lions’ no-huddle offense under Stafford creating more passing opportunities.

     [33:18] Jason Moore: "Halliburton became more involved in the offense."

3. Packers vs. Raiders:

   • Eddie Lacy’s Role:

     [41:18] Andy Holloway: "As long as he is in good physical condition, Eddie Lacy is never going to be a svelte (jumble)..."

   • James Starks: Shown as a reliable backfield presence.

4. Falcons vs. Browns:

   • Robert Griffin III (RG3):

     [38:52] Andy Holloway: "He looked very good. I thought he looked accurate and decisive."

   • Terrell Pryor’s Versatility:

     [38:43] Mike Wright: "Rushing for a couple designed runs and making effective routes."

   • Takeaway: RG3 offers high upside, with Griffin possibly taking a more prominent role.

5. Chargers vs. Cardinals:

   • David Johnson’s Dominance:

     [50:25] Andy Holloway: "What David Johnson is doing is just another species compared to those guys."

   • Jaron Brown’s Progress:

     [51:03] Jason Moore: "He made a couple of catches that I thought were stuff I hadn't seen from him before."

   • Takeaway: Johnson remains a top fantasy asset, with Brown emerging as a potential flex player.

Key Player Insights and Rankings

• James White (Patriots): Debate on his draft value versus other running backs like Spencer Ware and Jamal Charles.

  [37:21] Jason Moore: "If you go into the ninth, Charles Sims... it's a little different."

• Arian Foster’s Impact: Highlighted for his explosive performances.

  [46:10] Andy Holloway: "He continues to look good. Hashtag the awakening continues."

• Eddie Lacy vs. James Starks:

  [41:18] Andy Holloway: "As long as he is in good physical condition, Eddie Lacy is never going to be a svelte (distinguished)."

Fantasy Draft Strategies and Tips

[48:43] The hosts discuss strategic decisions for drafting players based on preseason performances and potential roles:

• Jeremy Langford: Recommended as a fourth-round pickup due to his consistent role in the Raiders' offense.

  [48:35] Mike Wright: "Jeremy Langford and Matt Jones were in the same conversation..."

• Tyler Boyd vs. Brandon LaFell: Debate over their value and potential contributions.

  [35:22] Andy Holloway: "It's a good name."

• Thomas Rawls vs. Christian Michael: Discussing the risk of drafting Rawls over emerging backs.

  [47:11] Jason Moore: "If he was the number one right now, I would probably draft him fifth round."

Conclusion

The episode wraps up with a preview of upcoming content, including more player analyses, sleeper picks, and expert lists. The Fantasy Footballers emphasize their commitment to providing actionable insights to their listeners, ensuring they stay ahead in their fantasy leagues.

[53:15] Jason Moore: "Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast."

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• David Johnson on Todd Gurley:
  [13:17] "He better get ready to lose. To me, that's all I got to say is I'm definitely going to beat him."

• Mike Wright on Injury Designation Change:
  [07:46] "That little P used to see next to your players is going to be gone."

• Andy Holloway on James White’s Draft Value:
  [37:05] "I'm thinking about maybe he's got a shot. Maybe if he..."

• Jason Moore on Jeremy Langford’s Potential:
  [25:45] "I wrote down two notes on Melvin Gordon and they were looks good and looks bad."

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the main discussions, player insights, and strategic advice offered in the episode, providing valuable information for both seasoned fantasy football players and newcomers alike.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot clan. As you get ready for your fantasy football draft, here's what I think that you should do. I think that you should go to ultimatedraftkit.com because that's where you get our official fantasy footballers draft kit. We got video profiles. We have our stat projections. We have our sleepers, our breakouts. We have the tiers. You heard us talking about how we draft with tiers on last week's tips and tricks shows. Our tiers are only available and, and the ultimate draft kit. So head over there, ultimatedraftkit.com and get ready for your fantasy draft.

[David Johnson]

Hey, this is David Johnson, running back of the Arizona Cardinals, and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast coming to you from the fantasyjocks.com studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Rush.

[Mike Wright]

Welcome in.

[Andy Holloway]

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays.

[Mike Wright]

I'm sorry, David, I. Welcome to the show. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. We are back. Preseason week two is in the books. We're gonna be covering a, an ocean of news. Just a seaworthy show today. We've got so much going on. It's exciting. We, we got to spend some time with David Johnson this past weekend and we're, we, we grabbed a quick interview with him. We're going to share with you and some insight that he had on a little bit of the Cardinals offense and what's going on there and his formal response to Todd Gurley, which you need to hear. So that'll be good. Andy, Mike and Jason back again. Today's show will have a ton of news. We'll get into the good performances of the week and the bad ones. We also have our rising stars, our raising canes, rising stars of the week on today's show. And then we're running through the games and we're giving you kind of the cliff notes, maybe the big bullet points.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Fantasy relevant bullet points.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, exactly. And you know what is this weekend, my friends tell me dress Rehearsal Week.

[Mike Wright]

3 of the pre season wedding coming.

[Andy Holloway]

It is.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, okay.

[Andy Holloway]

It is own.

[Jason Moore]

It's the real thing almost for a.

[Andy Holloway]

Little bit like half the game.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, we'll get to see if guys like Colin Kaepernick get out there.

[Andy Holloway]

Old dead arm.

[Mike Wright]

No, no, he'll be fine. As fine as Colin Kaepernick can be. So.

[Andy Holloway]

So did, like, did Blaine Gabbard just punch him in the shoulder? Did he give him a third grade?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, you remember that.

[Andy Holloway]

What happened?

[Mike Wright]

You'd hold your fist and then you put the knuckle oh, the knuckle was cute. Pop the knuckle out and that would give the real good dead arm.

[Jason Moore]

I think most of them, it would just hurt your finger.

[Mike Wright]

I got so many dead arms from one kid. My dad had to call his dad. I was like second grade, and this kid was a dead arm machine.

[Andy Holloway]

You should have gave him a dead face.

[Mike Wright]

You know what happened, though? Kid never spoke to me or looked at me again for the rest of.

[Andy Holloway]

The rest of the great dad shame.

[Mike Wright]

The dad got him. So, hey, I got a quick question for you guys. All right? This one comes in from Twitter. A funglocko. I got it. I got it.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. I think it's Stefan, but okay.

[Mike Wright]

You know, it's stay fun. Stay fun. Locko.

[Jason Moore]

It's definitely stay fun.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, you're looking at the Twitter handle. I was reading the guy's name.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, his name is Stefan. All right. What wide receiver three do you want? What? Wide receiver three. Based on the offenses in the NFL. You know, hypothetically, guys like devonte Adams.

[Andy Holloway]

Ooh, he's making catches.

[Mike Wright]

Or Philip Dorset or Michael Thomas. Or maybe Ted Ginn's considered a three in your mind.

[Jason Moore]

Can I just name the best one? Can I just hop right out and say the best wide receiver 3 this year will be Michael Floyd?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I see what you did.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Do you see what I did there?

[Mike Wright]

He hijacked John Brown.

[Jason Moore]

Because hijack me will be the number one, Larry Fitzgerald will be the number two, and Michael Floyd will be the number three. For the air.

[Mike Wright]

The hot take show I like, because Jason, really. I really do believe he relates with people with concussions.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, look, I don't. The brain doesn't work well, we actually got.

[Mike Wright]

You know what someone said the other day?

[Jason Moore]

I want to hear.

[Mike Wright]

They said. It's really hard for me to believe that Jason is the one who originally hired Andy and Mike and owned the company.

[Jason Moore]

You know, there's a reason there's a phrase. Idiot savant. Okay, that's.

[Mike Wright]

Wait a second. Is that like fantasy Hitman? You're the idiot savant. Yes.

[Jason Moore]

You know it. I'm proud to own it.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

But the truth is, I think that the best wide receiver 3 in the league is going to be the third wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals.

[Mike Wright]

I'll agree with that.

[Jason Moore]

And if for draft purposes, whoever is going last, which right now is going to be John Brown, sure.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, I'm in.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's going to be the best. I think for fantasy purposes, a guy who I'm very much rising on and now targeting towards the later rounds is Philip Dorsett. Look, we saw, we'll talk about the Colts, but they, they were telling the truth. They are going three wide and Philip Dorsett is getting early targets. I know that Hilton was not part of the game, but they still ran three wide. They're, they're getting that formation down. They're getting Andrew Luck used to that. So Philip Dorset is going basically free in drafts right now and he's going to have some fantasy production.

[Mike Wright]

They've talked about the short passing game there in Indianapolis as well, trying to get Luck on rhythm. Luck had a very good first preseason or performance in this last game and I don't know, I think Dorset can do some damage in that short passing game too. So let's go ahead. We're going to get into the news. A reminder to everybody out there, if you want to connect with us, the fantasy footballers, head over to jointhefoot.com that's our fantasy football community. You heard Mike talk about the Ultimate Draft kit. You can find that@ultimate draftkit.com last couple weeks to get in on that as your drafts are taking place, get that competitive advantage in your draft and then make sure you follow us on twitter @the ffballers. You can follow us subscribe on YouTube. All of our content goes over to YouTube as well and we are putting a lot of fantasy football content out there. We're actually now on the Fantasy Sports radio network very soon and we're on the Fantasy Sports network and you can find our website at the fantasy footballers Calm. Let's jump into the news.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league.

[Mike Wright]

Well, there, there's some big news that I don't think anybody knows about.

[Andy Holloway]

Nope, we do. Well, and now you will.

[Mike Wright]

Well, here's the deal. Every, every week there are designations, injury designations given forth by the team, by the franchise. And there were three. There was probable, questionable and doubtful. Now what happened is, is last year over 95% of players designated as probable played. And, and the NFL I think took issue with that number being so high because it basically was an irrelevant designation. Basically all of those players played, which is not the former intent of the probable designation.

[Andy Holloway]

I also think there was the issue of then if you're marked as probable and you don't play, is the team accurately reporting what your injury is?

[Mike Wright]

Correct. And so what they've done this season is there will be no probable tag. That is big news because that little P used to see next to your players is going to be gone.

[Jason Moore]

It gave you confidence And I'm going.

[Mike Wright]

To tell you right now, you're going to see a cue, you're going to see a lot of cues because that, yeah, go ahead.

[Jason Moore]

That's going to be the change. And this is going to be very, very hard this first year for fantasy players to understand, like, what does a Q mean this year? How risky is it? Because you're going to have a lot more questionables because there is no probable tag, and you're going to have a lot more questionable players who actually play or some percentage greater that play this year than what we're used to in years past. And I think this is a great, great thing for the listeners of this show. And the reason is because year one of big changes like this, man, it's hard for people to wrap their heads around. And I think, you know, we're going to do our best to get inside information on every team, on every player, on the injuries and all of that throughout the season and get the most accurate information out as to whether or not we believe a guy is going to start. So if you're, I mean, the casual fan who isn't listening to podcasts and, you know, doesn't have, as our tip showed last week, the information superhighway, they're going to make some bad start sit decisions. And if you're listening here, I think we're going to help a lot of people in just a simple, hey, you started the right guy or you picked up the right waiver because you know you had more information on that questionable tag.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And one, one point that you should remember is that there is a 90 minute rule. So on Sunday morning, on Thursday night, whatever it is, 90 minutes before the game, they are required to declare whether these guys are playing or not. And so you will have a 90 minute lead time, but that is not always enough time to make adjustments during the week. And so I think the best way to look at this is, is the NFL saying the questionable category is supposed to basically mean it is uncertain as to whether a player will play and doubtful means it is unlikely that they will play.

[Andy Holloway]

Are they still doing the 50 50?

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, they.

[Mike Wright]

So that is the former. The 5050 was the former view of questionable. Now they're basically redefining questionable and saying it means it is uncertain whether they will play in the game.

[Andy Holloway]

I cannot wait for the entire Patriots roster. Every single week, every player will be marked with a cue.

[Mike Wright]

It's going to be interesting. And you, you see a blurb like this in a piece of news and you kind of all right. But this is like going to impact the normal process for fantasy owners. It is in a way that we haven't seen for 10 years. I mean, this is. You get used to the probable tag and then you know those guys are playing.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. It's exciting.

[Mike Wright]

Scary. All right. The Boston Herald reported. Speaking of Patriots big time news, we haven't got to talk about it yet. Haven't had the chance. Dion Lewis. Dion Lewis needs another surgery, a cleanup surgery. He's going to be out for at least eight to 10 weeks.

[Jason Moore]

What that means is he's going to start the season on the pup, almost certainly.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And if you start on the pup, that means you are guaranteed out the first six games. You are able to come back after that, but not necessarily have to come back at week seven.

[Mike Wright]

So this will likely mean that they do not have to cut Bolden, Gaffney or Blunt because they'll put him on the PUP and all three of those players will stay in the offense. James White rising up the boards. Mike, you have the circumstances in your, in your league that you lucked into, right?

[Andy Holloway]

The, the fantasy footballers riders were doing a league draft or a writers draft. It's a slow draft. I didn't know I was on the clock and this news broke. I'm like, wow, I think I'm coming up here soon. I hope that James White slips. To me, I was on the clock. So James White's on my team in the 10th round. It's fantastic. My quick notes here on James White. Yes, I have moved him up, but the question to me is, okay, we're now, before the season has even started, what will the Patriots do? Is it. Will they roll that same offense where they're running through the air, everything is the short passes and they have the scat back, so to speak, with James White playing that Dion Lewis role. Or now they have Marty Bennett. Do they say, okay, we're going back to two tight ends. We're going to grind it out with LeGarrett blunt. There's just to me, there are big questions now, bigger questions now for the Patriots running backs.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, well, I'm going to, I want to try to get through as much of the news as we can. We're going to jump into a quick interview right now. We had the chance to visit with David Johnson or as we say, David Johnson. And so Mike, Mike got a chance to interview him quickly. We're going to play that interview and then give you some updates on a couple of the Cardinals players and then the rest of the news.

[Jason Moore]

You talking to me?

[Andy Holloway]

All right. The fantasy footballers are live human in person with David Johnson. Yeah. So that's for the Foot Clan. Look, we sang it to him. He thinks it's pretty cool.

[Jason Moore]

So.

[Andy Holloway]

So, David, how are you feeling? The. With the way the preseason's going, with the way that training camp is going?

[David Johnson]

Feeling good. I'm feeling excited. Can't wait for the actual regular season to start. Everyone's getting in the groove. Everyone's getting excited.

[Andy Holloway]

So we had Todd Gurley on the show, and there was a quote. You said you saw it, and Todd said, tell David to sit down. We need an official rebuttal back towards Mr. Gurley.

[David Johnson]

He's going to get hard.

[Jason Moore]

He's better.

[David Johnson]

He better get ready to lose. To me, that's all I got to say is I'm definitely going to beat him. But, you know, it's all in good fun, but he's going down.

[Andy Holloway]

So what is your. What is your personal goal for this, the upcoming season?

[David Johnson]

Basically, just to help out the team. Mostly is to help us, you know, first off, get to the NFC Championship and then the Super Bowl. But my main goal is just to get better and continue to help out the team.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, and then for officially, for the record, I asked you earlier, what's the snap percentage breaking down to right now?

[David Johnson]

I don't know.

[Mike Wright]

We're all.

[David Johnson]

We're all playing in these preseasons. Me, Chris, and Andre are all getting reps with the ones, and, I mean, we all got a great chance of playing, and I think. I think we'll all play the whole year.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, well, thank you so much, Mr. David Johnson. Have a great season. We know you will. We know you will not let. Not the Cardinals and fantasy players. You're hooking them up big time.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[David Johnson]

Oh, yeah. I won't let them down.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Thanks, man.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we're back here. That was fun.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man, he was a tremendous guy. And his triceps are bigger than my waist.

[Jason Moore]

Every second that you're around him, it looks like he's flexing, but he's not. He's just completely relaxed.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, I believe he actually told us not to make his muscles look small, which we were doing regularly.

[Andy Holloway]

He was a very funny guy.

[Mike Wright]

Here's the thing. We did get a chance to ask him about Larry. There was some news about Larry Fitzgerald and his mcl. He put that fear to rest. He said, larry's fine. He's a veteran. He just basically was sitting that game out.

[Andy Holloway]

He.

[Mike Wright]

He also gave us the update about John Brown and some really interesting context on the concussion tests and protocol that players have to go through. John Brown had been sitting out of practices. He actually got cleared today to practice, but basically said he was fine. He was running around. He just had not been cleared. He hadn't passed the test. He hadn't. Hadn't been given that test to pass. And so John Brown's all right, Larry Fitzgerald's all right. And we're moving on with the Cardinals. And yep, Josh Gordon is practicing with the first team offense for in Cleveland. An offense that suddenly looks all right.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, very possible.

[Jason Moore]

The change in passing weapons. It reminds me of Carolina last year where going into the season it was like there was no wide receivers. And then all of a sudden it turned out they've got a nice wide receiver core. That's what's happening over here in Cleveland. Terrell Pryor and Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman and Barnage. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Still have Andrew Hawkins.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

So very interesting. And Duke Johnson come out of the backfield. All right, let's talk about Josh. Dachshund looks like he may. We don't know yet. May open the season on the pup.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

It's further affirming the redraft. Lack of value for Josh Dawson.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, completely.

[Mike Wright]

Does Thomas Rawls resume practicing without limitations? ESPN Seahawks reporter Shield Capotia says Rawls is on track to start the opener. Okay, there you go.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a situation to continue to monitor.

[Mike Wright]

Jeremy Langford was in a walking boot after the preseason game. He has shed that for practice on Sunday. I think they said his foot was just stepped on. Something like that.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Nothing to worry about.

[Mike Wright]

There are some reports that Ronnie Hillman may not make the 53.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

That about time.

[Andy Holloway]

Sorry, Ronnie.

[Jason Moore]

I expect that he will still make it, but it shows that he has at least gone to the third on the depth chart. For sure.

[Andy Holloway]

At least third. There's reports of him being fourth.

[Mike Wright]

The the next player we're going to talk about here in the news is a guy I picked up in our Dynasty league this morning. Oh, that is Andre Williams of the Giants. They say he's all but won the Giants backup job. If you watch the preseason, Andre Williams looks much faster than he has in the past. And we know that Rashad Jennings is not a pinnacle of health. I think you'll see some goal line work for Andre this year and then if Jennings goes down, he'll be the starter.

[Jason Moore]

And we know that the Giants love him. I have nobody understands why, but I think they're like maybe He's a cousin of someone up high or something.

[Mike Wright]

He looks good now.

[Jason Moore]

He does.

[Mike Wright]

Here's the thing.

[Jason Moore]

Passes the eyeball.

[Mike Wright]

I realized this this morning, whether it was about Andre Williams or any other player there, you no longer have Tom Coughlin in the back of your head. Like Tom Coughlin's irrationality about some of.

[Andy Holloway]

These situations of like, destroying David Wilson.

[Mike Wright]

It's like a fresh breath of air now, like where I'm thinking about these different players on, on the team, on New York, and I'm going, well, you know, maybe he's got a shot. Maybe if he, you know, he doesn't.

[Andy Holloway]

Run around just going, don't fumble. Don't fumble, please. Oh, please don't fumble. Please don't fumble.

[Mike Wright]

All right, last little bit here. Eric Ebron will be ready for week one, according to Dave Burkett from the Detroit Free Press, or thinks he will be. That is not official. But just pay attention to Eric Ebron. We like him in late in drafts, but he needs to play. And then just for Jason, Dirk Cutter said that ASJ Austin's Ferrian Jenkins has, quote, earned the right to split first team reps with Cameron Brait. That could be just unfortunate for the tight end situation for fantasy owners in Tampa.

[Jason Moore]

It could also just mean that Austin Safari and Jenkins is going to get back into being the starter. He looks better in preseason. Yeah, he was good in run blocking, so.

[Mike Wright]

Although, look, you could put Antonio Gates on that, on that roster in his prime. And if Jameis Winston looks like he did in week two, nobody's catching the ball. So do you like ASJ more than Brait?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I still like him more than Brait. Personally, I've never been a huge believer that Brait will end up being the guy.

[Mike Wright]

The Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said Paxton lynch could start week one.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's interesting. There was not great play from Simeon or Sanchez. And at that point, why would you not just play your first round pick if the other guys stink?

[Mike Wright]

Chip Kelly insists Colin Kaepernick's arm is.

[Andy Holloway]

Fine until Blaine Gabbard gets him again.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, with that dead arm. All right, we're gonna jump into our raising canes, rising stars of the week. But first, I want to thank today's sponsor, good friends of the show. We were with them this past weekend when they put on the David Johnson event. That is pristine auction.com. look, if you're a sports fan, if you're an NFL fan like we are, then you will love pristineauction.com. you've got to Go over there and check out all the authenticated, amazing autograph sports memorabilia at affordable prices. Sometimes you think about sports gear and you think, oh, it's got to cost a bunch of money. No, they have a ton of different daily auctions you can check out. They are the absolute best in the business and they're always putting new, unique items up for bidding. You can go over there and register and just browse the website.

[Andy Holloway]

It's free.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's free to just check it out. And so, you know, Mike might outbid you for everything.

[Andy Holloway]

That's very possible. But no, it's fantastic. Look, the stuff over there is great. You can make a free account and when you do that, let them know that the fantasy footballers have.

[Mike Wright]

Right, so check them out. Pristineauction.com that's P R I S T I N E auction.com and also with.

[Jason Moore]

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[Mike Wright]

We'Re going to a musical is the.

[Jason Moore]

Way you are, Mr. Musical.

[Mike Wright]

I thought you meant we all were.

[Jason Moore]

Let's do it. But yeah, seatgeek, here's the deal. They take from hundreds of different ticketing sites, they pull them all together in one place for a price comparison. They've got a really sleek app, it's very, very easy and you get the most bang for your buck every single time on SeatGeek. Because of the grade based value that they give you, it's so easy to check it out and find the seats. Honestly, I have been waiting for a map view like what they have in their app for years. So if you're going to get Tickets, go to SeatGeek and you get a $20 cash back if you make your purchase with SeatGeek. So here's what you do. Download the free SeatGeek app, go to the settings tab and add the promo code, which is footballers. And SeatGeek will send you $20. After you've made your first purchase, download the free SeatGeek app and enter promo code. Footballers today raising canes. Rising stars of the week.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we're doing this every Monday through the entire season. We're picking out some rising stars, guys that are moving up our boards right now before the season Begins and then during the regular season, guys that we will be picking out as trade targets, waiver targets, those type of players. All right, Mike, I'm gonna let you let you kick this off. I know I. Here's the thing. I know I agree with all three picks today.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, that's fantastic.

[Mike Wright]

So that means I have valid. Andy Holloway has validated these picks.

[Andy Holloway]

I've actually validated them all as well. I like them all. So I'm driving to to our pristine auction event and you know, I've got the games tape and I'm gonna watch them all later. I'm getting. My texts are blowing up from my friend who is. He's like, dude, Tajie Sharp. This is, this is absolutely ridiculous. And he's given me crap for how we have buried the Titans receivers. He's saying no more talk about capping a Titans receiver because Taze Sharp is looking great. I'm like, okay, well I got to check this out. He looks fantastic in and you know when a wide receiver looks fantastic is when the ball is just going to him non stop. He's getting open. He's making tough, tough catches.

[Mike Wright]

He.

[Jason Moore]

The.

[Andy Holloway]

The Sharp over the offseason was getting all this praise of but it sounded like it was motivational. We're just trying to get Green Beckham going because Tajie Sharpe's going to start. No, they're telling the truth there that Sharp is their guy. He's running with the ones he is. I'm not. While I'm pumping him up, don't go too crazy and overdraft him. But he is definitely a target. Now if you're in PPR leagues later on in the draft, he looks like he could become the go to guy for Mariota.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And the fact that they finished, they traded Doyle Green Beckham shows that they have faith in Tajay Sharpe. He should be involved. I like that pick.

[Mike Wright]

I will say this, I mean just because you're the biggest, the best Titans wide receiver, let's pretend that for a minute. Sharp ends up outpacing everybody in targets and receptions, which is still a leap.

[Jason Moore]

Right?

[Mike Wright]

Based on a preseason game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

But let's say he does that. That's still possibly a very low ceiling for a guy on an offense that's going to run the ball heavy with DeMarco Murray and Derek Henry.

[Jason Moore]

Last year there was only one team in the NFL that did not have a top 50 wide receiver and it was the Titans.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So good news for I think Titans fans, fantasy owners that are considering they got One. Right. Would you go to Tajie Sharp or Rashad Matthews, though? See, I probably still take Matthews.

[Andy Holloway]

I think I still go Matthews. Yeah, personally.

[Mike Wright]

And they like Matthews as well.

[Jason Moore]

Well, let me give you a rising star that we will actually draft and who could be a true game changer. And for me, that's Jeremy Langford. Here's what's happened to me this offseason, and analysts talk about this a lot, that coming into the offseason, we've got our, you know, we've done our data, we've done all the watching film last year. We've, you know, statted these guys out and they're great. And then as, you know, camp and coach reports and all the. All the, you know, news starts going and preseason games, things change. And a lot of times afterwards we go, man, I wish I didn't change. I wish I didn't change. Based on all the. The fluff and all the, you know, reports that were coming out, Jeremy Langford is that type of guy for me because I had him as a real breakout candidate early on. I believe that he was going to be, you know, more pretty much the guy. What I saw last year when Forte was out was a guy that could get it done for fantasy. But all the reports, all the scare this offseason of Jordan Howard's going to take that role and it's going to be a complete committee there really started to make me not buy it. But what I saw in that first preseason game from Jeremy Lankford was he was the guy. He got the bulk of the carries. I'm talking. He was in on first down, second down, third down, goal line, red zone. He received a pass out of the backfield and he looked. He looked good, good running the ball. He made some nice cuts, looked big and fast and strong. Eight for 55 and a touchdown. Another eight yards through the air. So Jeremy Langford is a guy that if he ends up in that workhorse role, will be a value for where he's going.

[Mike Wright]

Jeremy Langford and Matt Jones were in the same conversation, the same sentence for many weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

Fourth round running backs.

[Mike Wright]

Right now, I'm definitely on the Jeremy Langford side of that equation.

[Andy Holloway]

Agreed.

[Mike Wright]

All right, look, guys, a rising star. You might not have heard of him. He's a wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

[Andy Holloway]

You took that to the limit.

[Mike Wright]

Took it to the limit. Hey, Allen Robinson's pretty good, and maybe it feels a little wrong to put him in the raising canes. Rising stars of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

It's finally me.

[Mike Wright]

But I'M putting him in. I'm putting him in. He actually I have him now ahead of DEZ Bryant in my official wide receiver half point rankings. I want to give you some perspective on Alan Robinson and part of this is because look, he's 22, 23. He's still ascending. I saw some things from Blake Bortles this weekend that made me very excited about just some of the types of throws that he's, he's making. But Alan Robinson is an elite wide receiver. Jason said it last week. It was back on tape again this week. Making catches, making plays over and over and over again. And look at this. Last year, Alan Robinson in a half point format, our league format for our league of record, he scored 17 fantasy points less than Brandon Marshall total. Right? 17 total fantasy points less. On the year, Marshall was the number three ahead of Odell Beckham Jr. Marshall had 109 catches. Robinson had 80. Marshall had 22 more targets than Alan Robinson. And the gap was that small. That just shows you big play. And they matched each other in touchdowns. So it wasn't just, you know, Robinson had more touchdowns than Marshall. It was the gap was so close. Despite that type of a reception difference, I basically the difference in my ranking this year is I see his reception total rising a little bit and so I think it's going to be higher than 80. I think it's going to be in the 90s. And he plays on 100% of plays, 100 snap count last year. I really think he's a top five guy. I don't have him ahead of A.J. green or Odell Beckham Jr. Julio Jones or Antonio Brown. But basically he's right. He's right there.

[Jason Moore]

Top of that next tier for you.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he is. He is. And so I went out and put my money where my mouth is this weekend. So I went out and traded for him.

[Jason Moore]

My question here to see how high he's rising for you because I know you're madly in love with Brandon Marshall.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Brandon Marshall or Alan Robinson?

[Mike Wright]

Brandon Marshall.

[Jason Moore]

And then it goes Alan.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, actually I technically have Brandon Marshall. Three. I think I have Alan Robinson five or six behind Agent Green. So. All right, that's the Raising Canes rising stars of the week. Remember everybody, game day tastes better with Raising canes, tailgates full of free 24 hour marinated hand battered chicken fingers and fresh brewed sweet tea, which is so very good. Visit raising canes.com find your nearest location. Bunch of you guys reached out on Twitter, said you've Already been doing that.

[Andy Holloway]

Get the extra sauce.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you always get an extra sauce there. That's. Yeah, that one should have been in our top 10 tips and tricks episode.

[Jason Moore]

Get the extra sauce.

[Mike Wright]

Like number. That's number three or number two somewhere around there. All right, let's get into the preseason.

[Jason Moore]

Weekly rewind.

[Andy Holloway]

I think our technology has a case of the Mondays as well.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I don't think that's me, man. I hit the button about five times and just didn't do anything. You know, it happens. It happens. All right, let's get into the weekly rewind. We're gonna walk through these games. We're gonna give you the bullet points. Nothing more, nothing less. Let you know what's going on. The Eagles, the Steelers. What do we got out of this games?

[Andy Holloway]

All right, so the Eagles and Steelers. My. My quick takeaway is, look, I've been. I've been riding the coats of Coats, Sammy Coats, and it was a very mixed game for him. You know, was personally responsible for an interception.

[Mike Wright]

Then come two interceptions.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, okay, two, but then I don't. I honestly didn't remember the second one, but came back and made an incredible, incredible sideline catch, though. The thing that I noted out of it, though, they are feeding him. They want to get him the ball. They want to see what he can do, which I think bodes well for him over the course of the season. I'm still taking Wheaton, and that's fine. I just. They want to see what he can do.

[Jason Moore]

And, you know, I came in the offseason really excited for Coats. He just has not impressed me with the ability. It looks like he's not able to track the ball well and. And his opportunities there. But you have to keep in mind that Landry Jones looks horrific. So, I mean, he has. He's yet to really be working much with Big Ben. The only other guy I would point out from this game personally was Eli Rogers. Might be a name to store guy somewhere in the background should Coats not get it done. Eli Rogers, I believe, is that next wide receiver up for. For the Steelers. Anybody on the Eagles that stood out to anybody.

[Andy Holloway]

Kendrick Barner looks okay, and he is clearly going to be. The two that Sprouls was getting involved, they were moving them all over the place. So that's.

[Mike Wright]

And so you can feel you feel confident.

[Andy Holloway]

I still feel confident in Ryan Matthews. I don't feel confident really drafting guys from that team.

[Jason Moore]

It's funny, this is. This is how preseason works, of course, but my big takeaway from the Eagles was they're going to be bad despite they won 17 to nothing. Right. They're going to be. They're going to be bad.

[Mike Wright]

You have this wide receiver core of just enigmatic non stars like Doria Green, Beckham. Inconsistent. Ruben Randall might. I mean he's going to make the team, but he's. He's inconsistent.

[Jason Moore]

You've got Nelson Aguilar.

[Mike Wright]

Nelson Aguilar, who they said he's struggling to create separation, struggling to catch the ball, struggling to run consistent routes or tie his shoes. Wide receiver to tie his shoes. Chris Givens was in camp.

[Andy Holloway]

He hasn't done jack and Matthews is still hurt. I believe he's on track to play week one. Well, we just.

[Jason Moore]

It's always scary to me when you hear a player who gets injured this time of year that's on track for week one.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's not a fun, not a fun drafting situation. That's the reality for that. So that, you know, that's what I get out of the game. Did you guys mention Eli Rogers catching a bunch of passes underneath? All right, we did. The Bengals and Lions played a game of football and for me what stood out was the. What I think was wide receiver. One talent of Marvin Jones in this game. You know, he's a big guy. He can do things. Golden Tate's a great player. Great hands, great separation. You can't do certain things with Golden Tate. You can't throw the ball up on, you know, and let him go get it, you know. Marvin Jones won at the point of attack multiple times in this game, heavily targeted. To me, the value difference between them in the draft. Marvin Jones is on every one of my teams. Golden Tates on none. If I'm having to pick one based on value.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Let me say something. Marvin Jones is rising. The public is taking notice. He has gone from the ninth round to the middle of the seventh and I think he will continue to rise.

[Mike Wright]

But where's Tate? Four.

[Andy Holloway]

Let me.

[Jason Moore]

And the truth is even in the.

[Andy Holloway]

70S, back of the very back of the four.

[Mike Wright]

So in the turn, give me Marvin still.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I would take Marvin there. I think they're close. I actually have a water bet from early in the off season with a listener over Golden Tate vs. Marvin Jones into the year. I haven't been worried about that at all. I still, I've said the value is better than Marvin Jones. I started to get a little worried because he looked like a first read. And here was my takeaway from the Lions was that I want Lions, their no huddle offense that they showed was an offense that's going to get more snaps in a game. And we know for fantasy football, look, I mean you've got Stafford who is going to throw the ball a bajillion times.

[Mike Wright]

I've been talking Stafford for a long.

[Jason Moore]

Time and I am officially on board. I think that the wide receiving core, Anquan Bolden makes a big difference.

[Mike Wright]

He does.

[Jason Moore]

Eric Ebron's not even there. Marvin Jones, Theo Rick Tate and Theo Riddick and Abdullah, you have weapons here. When you're going with a no huddle, fast paced offense that honestly I'm not sure how great the defense is. There's going to be some points scored for the Lions and I want to.

[Mike Wright]

Say this about Theo Riddick. I think Theo Riddick's going to be on the field a ton this year. Theo Riddick is a good passer protector. They trust him to protect Stafford in that type of a quick hitting offense. You know, we know Abdullah just shed the non contact jersey and he's finally going to get a chance. So I'm not going to throw Abdullah out the out the window here. He's going to be on the field plenty as another weapon. But I think the way that this offense runs from a pass protection standpoint, Theo Riddick is going to be on the field a lot and he's obviously a great pass catcher. So I just don't think he should be ignored in drafts, especially half and full point leagues on the other side of the ball. You know Mike, you talk about Eddie Lacy bouncing back this season. You know, two years ago he looked like a superstar top three draft pick. Same thing for Jeremy Hill. Two years ago he was a superstar top three draft pick running at a huge yards per carry clip. Last year he struggled. I still think he's a kind of a head case but. Yeah, but he looked good in this game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I had put the note. I wasn't sure what anyone what you guys would say about it because I'm.

[Mike Wright]

I thought he looked good.

[Andy Holloway]

I was the Jeremy Hill truth. But I thought he looked strong. I thought he looked more importantly decisive. That's what Jeremy Hill did not have last year. And also draft Andy Dalton late.

[Mike Wright]

He looked good too.

[Andy Holloway]

He was on pace for a top five season before he broke his thumb. Draft him late.

[Jason Moore]

Thanks for getting on board with that. The last guy, the last guy that I will get out there is a guy who was my second. You know I love Sterling Shepard in the off season. I love Tyler Boyd. Tyler Boyd looks like what I saw. I know some people aren't high on him. When Matt Harmon, when we got lunch with him, we were kind of. Him and I were disagreeing and he knows, look, Matt Harmon is a great expert on wide receivers, but there's something I love about Tyler Boyd. It's just like that grit.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a good name.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. He's my boy, you know, so he looks great, you know, second preseason game in a row. So who would you. I mean, at this point I had been saying I would rather have just fantasy wise because of the Marvin Lewis offense, Brandon LaFell over Boyd. But I'm. I'm switched now. I would rather have Boyd.

[Andy Holloway]

Interesting.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. Brandon lefell I think will have the opportunity to be the guy that you should have picked, but I don't know if he'll follow through with that opportunity. He is practicing now or going to be practicing here soon. So LaFell should be back on the field. We know they're going to start the season without Eifert, but he'll be back shortly. So that offense should come into shape. Patriots, Bears. The Garoppolo continues. We've got. We've talked at length about Jeremy Lankford and the Bears. You know, the other thing I saw from this game was Alison Jeffrey looked absolutely great to me for.

[Andy Holloway]

He'll. He will be force fed.

[Mike Wright]

He will be force fed. Yeah. I've. I feel fine about Alison Jeffrey where I have him ranked and I don't.

[Jason Moore]

Want to overreact too much on this.

[Andy Holloway]

But I hope this is what I was thinking.

[Mike Wright]

This better not be a Jay Cutler.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Jason Moore]

I have been very disappointed with Kevin White.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

This preseason. I've wanted to see better routes. I've wanted to see better hands.

[Mike Wright]

He had one catch.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. He just. I'm not on the plays where he's even targeted. I just haven't been impressed with what I'm seeing from Kevin White. I really want to love Kevin White a lot.

[Andy Holloway]

It's going to take.

[Mike Wright]

The nice thing is he's going to. Yeah, I was going to say it's going to take some time. And then you got a White on the other side. James White we've talked about at length as well. So both of those guys recovered quite a bit in the news. Is there anything else from the Patriots offense?

[Andy Holloway]

Just a question. Where. Where are you looking to get White now?

[Mike Wright]

Give me some names. Give me some names somewhere later on. Okay. Let's figure it out on the air.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. So I think that James White will. I'm going to think about like maybe the sixth round.

[Mike Wright]

So what are some names around?

[Jason Moore]

I don't think you're going to take him in the six. I'm just.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm just saying where I think he might.

[Jason Moore]

That would be. Okay, so that would be.

[Mike Wright]

Where's Danny Woodhead going right now?

[Jason Moore]

Danny Woodhead's going in the eighth.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, so give me some names in the eighth round.

[Jason Moore]

In the eighth round would be Danny Woodhead, Jay Ajayi, TJ Yelden, Legarett Blunt.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, I'm taking all those guys ahead of James White.

[Jason Moore]

If you go into the ninth, Charles Sims, and this is insane.

[Mike Wright]

Sims looked great.

[Jason Moore]

I would say. Let's look at.

[Andy Holloway]

You're in standard. So in standard. I don't know that I'm looking for.

[Mike Wright]

Him strongly 10th round or later.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but if you're in half or a full point PPR then changes then, you know, like the sixth, seventh. I'll think about it. Yeah, think about it.

[Mike Wright]

I mean I would look at him honestly. Abdullah Range.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's fair. That's fair.

[Mike Wright]

Let's talk about the Falcons and the Browns. This game took place early in the week. We could have talked about it on Friday. We had the tips and tricks show. Let's talk about the Cleveland Browns. Let's talk about Terrell Pryor, Robert Griffin iii, this offense, Gary Barnage making a really great touchdown catch on a an RG3 throw. I know you guys came in here humming your RG3 tunes. You know, I'm not, but. But I understand he did have one designed run that I saw. He slid at the end of it. Surprised he didn't get hurt sliding. Terrell Pryor can run nine routes. That's it.

[Andy Holloway]

But very, very well. He's.

[Mike Wright]

So you guys geek out on the Browns and I'll pull you back to earth.

[Andy Holloway]

I thought Griffin looked very good. I thought I looked accurate and decisive. I don't think you're thinking that Griffin the quarterback one at the moment, but he is firmly in the quarterback two discussion for me.

[Mike Wright]

Robert Griffin the third or Alex Smith?

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to take Robert Griffin the third and here's why.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll take that upside too.

[Jason Moore]

Because of the upside, Alex Smith is pretty much going to be on waivers in most leagues. If I want Alex Smith, I can get him at any time. But should out of the gate RG3 come and be running for, you know, 50 yards a game and throwing a couple touchdowns, some deep bombs. There is a world where RG3 ends up with high upside. There's no World where Alex Smith has a huge monster fantasy season. He's just going to be consistent and okay, I can get that off of the waiver. So that's why I would say I'd rather have RG3 than Alex Smith.

[Mike Wright]

It's. Yeah, sure. And, and that makes sense. And I, I tend to. I can buy into that logic. You had Nando Defino, the fancy sports network came on last week, two weeks ago on the MVP show, he said his MVP is going to be Robert Griffin iii. He also talked, he also talked up trail prior. So, Nando, you look smart for a week on the, on the preseason, Griffin on the Falcon side of the ball. Was there anything special that you guys saw?

[Jason Moore]

Yes, I am moving Devonta Freeman up my list.

[Andy Holloway]

He looks good.

[Jason Moore]

He looks good. What? Mike just said he looks good.

[Andy Holloway]

I tried to get it in real quickly so nobody heard me.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I had to call you out there. You know, we've been. Yeah, I, you know, he's clearly their best running back for their scheme.

[Mike Wright]

Oh yeah.

[Jason Moore]

He fits it well and they like him. He's going to have a great season.

[Mike Wright]

All right. The packers and Raiders played football as well. It's funny because Mike has a note here that says Eddie looks back to me. Eddie looks back to me says Mike. Eddie looks fat to me, says Andy.

[Andy Holloway]

And you know what?

[Jason Moore]

Well, Eddie always looked fat.

[Andy Holloway]

That's fine.

[Mike Wright]

No, we talked about this with, even with like David Johnson this week and the fact that, you know, Jerome Bettis always looked fat. But there was Jerome Bettis in shape and out of shape. And so if he's. I just think that the hyperbolic, you know, P90X slim and trim Eddie, that doesn't. The weight side of it, 185 doesn't exist. I mean, Eddie Lacy, I think weighs about 3 ounces less than last year to my eyes.

[Andy Holloway]

And that doesn't matter to me. As long as he is in good physical condition, Eddie Lacy is never going to be a svelte, just rip, shredded up guy. He's. His body type is not that well.

[Mike Wright]

And if he was, he wouldn't do what he. Right. Like he'd be easier to tackle.

[Andy Holloway]

Go watch the. Go watch the game. Eddie Lacy looks like he has that burst, that spin move. What looked pretty nice to me. I just, I'm back on board with Eddie Lacy and the Green Bay Packers.

[Mike Wright]

Eddie has to get out of the backfield. When Eddie gets out of the backfield and he gets downhill, he's the Eddie Lacy of old. The league winning Eddie Lacy. When Eddie Lacy can't break an ankle or an arm tackle real quick, somebody bursts through the backfield because he's too. He's not shifty enough. That's when Eddie Lacey got caught up and was not efficient last year. Now, James Starks, he looked. He looked great. James Starks looked great to me. Had a couple really impressive runs up the middle that I. That I liked. The backfield is going to be the same old backfield. I mean, in terms of the reps, probably. So Eddie will have every chance and then we'll see what happens.

[Andy Holloway]

I like him.

[Jason Moore]

Can I ask for some advice from the fantasy footballers?

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

On the other side of the ball for the Raiders, I'm having a real hard time. I feel like I've got some kind of bias, some kind of bigotry against Michael Crabtree. It's.

[Mike Wright]

It's bigotry.

[Jason Moore]

I just.

[Mike Wright]

It's probably not the right word, but.

[Jason Moore]

Then that means it was the right word for you.

[Mike Wright]

Missed on that one.

[Andy Holloway]

Personal bias against Michael Crabtree.

[Jason Moore]

The way that. Andy, you said that what happens is.

[Mike Wright]

Sometimes he wants to add a couple extra vocab words in. Like, bias is 100% the perfect appropriate word.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

He just wants to throw a couple more B words in.

[Jason Moore]

But the reality is I feel like there's more. It's not just like, I'm biased only. I feel like I've got a hatred for Michael Crabtree, like some kind of.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

So maybe bigotry is not the right.

[Andy Holloway]

Word, but I feel like it's close because I know. I can tell you why you have that.

[Jason Moore]

Tell me.

[Andy Holloway]

Because when he came into. Into the league for the San Francisco 49ers, he held out like. I don't even remember when the holdout ended because he wanted that money and he just came off as a diva.

[Mike Wright]

A diva wide receiver came off like.

[Andy Holloway]

That in the field, too, and just super arrogant. Did not perform right away.

[Jason Moore]

So you think this is deep in my subconscious?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think it's.

[Mike Wright]

I guess you could be bigoted against guys that have torn their Achilles. That would be possible.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So. But here's the reality. I have never once, this offseason, in a mock, in an mfl, in any live draft. I've never even considered taking Crabtree. Whenever he's on the board, I don't see the upside. But when I watch the game, I feel like he's the first read and he is super involved in the offense and he was fine last year. So that's why I genuinely want to know your guys. Unbiased like what do you do with Crabtree? Because those kind of not huge upside wide receivers are the guys that I don't usually draft. Is that wrong of me? What should our listeners do?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I get it but it depends on the makeup of my team. I'm very happy if Michael Crabtree is my wide receiver 3 I think that he's, I think that the production will be solid. And, and also the problem with Crabtree is up against him is the rookie phenom superstar in Amari Cooper. And you think okay, well Cooper is going to be the man, the alpha of that team. Every, all the offense will funnel through Mari Cooper because that's just where he was taken in the draft. All the hype of him in the draft.

[Mike Wright]

Is it fair that he's going to 12 and Cooper's and then Crabtree is going 808?

[Andy Holloway]

That's ridiculous.

[Jason Moore]

Right? We talk about Golden Tate and Marvin.

[Mike Wright]

Right? You talk about Golden Tate, Marvin Jones. Shouldn't you be taking Crabtree in the eight?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, that's ridiculous.

[Jason Moore]

But the difference is that upside we see, you know, Marvin Jones could end up being this huge red zone, double digit touchdown guy. You don't see that with.

[Mike Wright]

You just made the same argument about RG3 and Alex Smith. If you think that Cooper see Cooper ceiling is unknown. Crabtree, you know you're not going to get this 1500 yard, 10 touchdown season from Crabtree. That's, that's an impossibility in our minds and I think it's probably an impossibility in real life. And so because that doesn't exist, he's not as attractive to fantasy owners. That's what it is. I mean Cooper could go out and give you 1500 yards and 12 touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean because you don't know right now Crabtree is going right next to Sterling Shepard, Kevin White and desean Jackson. All three guys who have huge upside.

[Mike Wright]

We got to move on. Vikings Seahawks revenge game. Blair Walsh, was he on hand? All right, let's talk about this game. Kristen Michael.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's the big one.

[Mike Wright]

Sometimes things happen in football in that just work out for this show. And when Kristen Michael stays in the headlines, when Arian Foster stays in the headlines, it's just more entertaining for this show. So Mike see Mike and you Mike, what do you think?

[Andy Holloway]

He continues to look good. Hashtag the awakening continues. You even look. I saw my phone. We were in our chatting in our chat program and my eyes, I could not believe what had happened when I get a message from Andy Holloway. It's like, Kristen Michael looks good. That I feel like you saying that is like when I have to admit that Devonta Freeman looked good.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, well, that's fair.

[Andy Holloway]

I believe, to quote you, you said Michael looks like he's being shot out of a cannon. And that is a accurate statement because he is exploding up the middle.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean, Jason did make a good point. He kind of always looked that way in preseason. They say something's happened. They say an awakening has taken place. They say. But does it mean anything in fantasy football?

[Jason Moore]

I will say this. I know you two are buying in to the possibilities. I am not yet. I'm still reserved. I mean, it's not like we haven't seen it before. He always has been an athletic freak. He didn't show me patience. It just a big, big holes, you know, places to run. There was one nice square up the middle where I felt like he. There was a small hole and he got through it and busted for, you know, a good 9, 10 yards.

[Mike Wright]

Let me ask you an easy question. I got a question for you, Jason. What if Thomas Rawls goes down? Where would you put Chris? Let's pretend in a world where Thomas Rawls is gone for the first four games of the season. No, he's gone for the year. Right now. Right now, we're just pretending. Where do you draft Christian Michael? What RB rank is he?

[Jason Moore]

If. If he was down, if he's the number one right now, I would probably draft him fifth round. I mean, I. I would take him.

[Mike Wright]

You know, past the number one in Seattle. You would take him past Jeremy Langford?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I think I would rather have Jeremy Langford, but I see that's high to me in the sense that I would. I would take him over a lot of other guys, even still. But if he goes down, I mean, I don't think he would be the end all. Be all. I mean, we saw that last. We. We saw the exact thing happen last year. And Chris and Michael was okay. He had some good games at the end of the year, but he wasn't, you know, the top fantasy running back. He was still splitting carries.

[Mike Wright]

All right, give me the. Give me the carry counts for Rawls and Michael. Like, in a single game, what do you think it'll break down to?

[Andy Holloway]

Ooh, I think that Kristen Michael will get. I'm going to say. I would say 8 to 10 for Kristen Michael.

[Mike Wright]

That's about where I have him. And here's the thing. Michael showed. They lined him up wide and they showed that he could catch the ball and Thomas Rawls is not involved in that part of the game. And if pro size is not going to be involved in that part, Christian Michael could be the third down back.

[Jason Moore]

True.

[Mike Wright]

People don't realize that Thomas Rawls is.

[Andy Holloway]

Still going in the middle of the third. Are you willing to gamble your third round pick that Thomas Rawls is the man?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

They're going to completely ignore what Kristen Michael has done in the preseason and camp.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I'm willing to spend a third on Thomas Rawls. Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

And I just traded him this weekend. So I am not. I am more than happy to do that. You know, a backup is the only one playing right now. Thomas Rawls doesn't get the chance to be on the field right now.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. But you're taking.

[Mike Wright]

You can make the exact same argument about Spencer Ware right now. Are you willing to risk a first round pick on Jamal Charles? With the way Spencer Ware has played this preseason, it's a little different.

[Andy Holloway]

We have some history of Jamal Charles being great. My point was simply. Thomas Rawls is going ahead of C.J. anderson, Latavius Murray, DeMarco Murray and Carlos Hyde.

[Mike Wright]

I would take him ahead of Hyde.

[Jason Moore]

Give me Latavius.

[Mike Wright]

Sure. I will take Latavius ahead of him. Who are the other two guys? C.J. anderson.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

And Demarco Murray.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Give me Demarco ahead of him. I'll take Demarco and Latavius and then I'll draft Brawls and then I'll draft CJ Hyde. All right, let's get into the Chargers and the Cardinal game. I guess I. I'd be remiss. I left the Vikings off, which for no reason. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Jerick McKinnon looks okay. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

AP didn't play.

[Andy Holloway]

Teddy Bridgewater didn't play. There's not much we can take away from.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. When you're starting running back, starting quarterback don't play on a running heavy team.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, but Blair Walsh, what do you think? Chargers? Cardinals. The Cardinals offense continues to not score points, but they're barely out there. You know, David Johnson is just better than the other running backs. You know all of the emails we had over the months of saying, what about Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington And David Johnson is just another species compared to those guys. He's going to have every opportunity to be the bell Cowboy.

[Jason Moore]

Until he went out of the game, he was in on every single snap.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And he's just. I mean, the difference. When he hits the pile, when he hits a tackle, he's pushing two or three guys off. Jason said it last Week he thought Jaron Brown would be the step in wide receiver 3 if a guy went down in Arizona. He looked really, really good to me. He made a couple of catches that I thought were stuff I hadn't seen from him before, as opposed to J.J. nelson, who to me looked really bad in this game.

[Jason Moore]

Some of the routes and catches that I saw in training camp, videos of Jaron Brown blew my, the fact that he's now doing that in the preseason game, it looks like he's going to be a flex player. If any of the three wide receivers go down for the Cardinals.

[Mike Wright]

All right. Melvin Gordon, to me, I mean he's going to have every opportunity again, he looked okay. He's going to be their lead back. So, you know, whatever that value is to you. I wasn't super impressed with what the Chargers were doing on offense in this game. Keaton Allen looked very, very good. Is there anything that stood out to you from a, you know, Hunter Henry caught a pass but you didn't have competition out there and I didn't see a lot of to take away. And we, we try not to take pretend things away from these games.

[Jason Moore]

Melvin Gordon looked great when he had space and not so great when he didn't. And with that offensive line, you know, it's like, okay, they're going to be healthier this year. Can they get him involved in space? I literally wrote down two notes on Melvin Gordon and they were looks good and looks bad. It just literally he needs space. Yeah. So I mean, that was my takeaway.

[Andy Holloway]

Woodhead is still going to play.

[Jason Moore]

Also there was an, that was an incredible interception by Brandon Flowers just throwing that out there. I love when guys do that.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we're going to call it a day right there. We've got eight games left to talk through. We're going to get to those tomorrow with some more of the news. We're also going to be breaking out our sleepers, our busts, our breakouts, some of those big time expert lists this week, so stay tuned. We got tight ends we're going to be covering. We got John Paulson on the show. We've got a lot of good stuff going on, so be sure to keep it right here on the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Five days a week. Bringing it, bringing it. Christine Michael style, right?

[Andy Holloway]

Shot out of a cannon.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, remember fantasy jocks. And look, you got a new promo code over there. So use the promo code. Fantasy footballers. If you go to fantasy jocks, people always ask us what the code is. Use footballers for trophies, rings, that type of thing. We'll see you tomorrow.

[Jason Moore]

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.