Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Starts of the Week, Matchups, Debate, News

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Starts of the Week, Matchups, Debate, News
Release Date: September 8, 2016
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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Introduction

As the NFL season kicks off, the Fantasy Footballers hosts dive directly into the excitement of Week 1, setting aside advertisements and intros to focus on valuable fantasy insights. The trio—Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright—bring their expert analysis to help listeners navigate the initial matchups, debates, and roster decisions.

Host Picks for Tonight's Game

Andy Holloway opens the episode by sharing his prediction for the season opener between the Panthers and Broncos:

"I think that the Broncos are going to win tonight's game and I think it's going to be 19 to 16. I think it's going to be a little bit ugly, a little bit dirty. And I think, I think the home team wins." (02:28)

Jason Moore echoes Andy's sentiment, anticipating a defensive showdown:

"You are reading my mind because that is exactly how I see this game going. Low scoring, high defense, ugly affair." (02:43)

Mike Wright adds his perspective, supporting the Broncos with a focus on their defensive prowess:

"I'm taking the home team." (03:08)

Debate of the Week: Will TJ Yeldon Be a Top 20 Running Back in Week 1?

A heated debate unfolds around TJ Yeldon's Week 1 ranking. Andy positions Yeldon within the top 20:

"I think he's going to get off to a solid start in this game against Green Bay. Be involved in the passing game heavily. I have him delivering a top 14 week." (09:00)

Mike Wright challenges this, arguing Yeldon's inconsistency and dependency on touchdowns:

"He's the only guy in town. Unless you have Toby Gerhardt countered at the goal line... There's just no way he's coming close." (10:30)

Jason Moore sides with Mike, ultimately ruling in favor of Yeldon not making the top 20:

"I could not project it that way. I do think that the game script is good for him... on this Fandings debate of the week, Mike, you got it." (12:13)

News and Notes

The hosts update listeners on key player statuses:

• Carlos Hyde: Cleared for football activity after concussion concerns, making him a sneaky start option in PPR leagues.

  "Hyde's going to be the man." (13:47)

• Jimmy Graham: Despite initial uncertainty from Pete Carroll, Graham is likely to play against Miami. Jason Moore advises:

  "I'm just recommending to people out there, patella spite. That is 100% patella span." (15:21)

• Thomas Rawls: Expected to see limited playtime with defense improvements in disguise.

  "All three of us have Kristen Michael ranked very highly." (35:07)

Fantasy Forecast: Matchups Breakdown

Panthers vs. Broncos

A defensive slugfest is anticipated with both teams' strong defenses from the previous year. Andy and Jason agree on the low-scoring nature:

"Low scoring game... you're working against the run defense." (22:37)

Buccaneers vs. Falcons

Projected as a high-scoring game with stars like Mike Evans and Julio Jones:

"I have Mike Evans very high this week. Devonta Freeman is one of my highest." (28:04)

Bills vs. Ravens

Complex decisions revolve around quarterback choices and running backs:

"I am going with Spencer Ware... he's a great player this week." (42:45)

Packers vs. Jaguars

An "almost upset" scenario where Andy roots for the Jaguars despite the Packers' strength:

"If the defense shows up... I think they're going to win." (36:02)

Chargers vs. Chiefs

A critical matchup where Mike opts to sit Philip Rivers due to Chiefs' dominance:

"I'm going with the Bears to still have a bad rushing defense. Lamar Miller is going to get a ton of work." (30:03)

Starts of the Week

The hosts share their top player picks for Week 1 across various positions:

Quarterbacks

• Mike Wright: Derek Carr – Predicts a high-scoring game against the Saints.

  "Derek Carr is a top five guy for me. He's my start of the week." (46:07)

• Jason Moore: Matthew Stafford – Expects a prolific outing against the Lions.

  "Matthew Stafford should be fine. I think they're going to punch in touchdowns." (47:02)

• Andy Holloway: Kirk Cousins – Sees an entertaining game against Pittsburgh.

  "Kirk Cousins can keep the momentum up, do enough this week." (48:21)

Running Backs

• Andy Holloway: Christian McCaffrey – Highlights his dynamic role and preseason performance.

  "Christian McCaffrey is my start of the week at the running back position." (49:23)

• Mike Wright: Charles Sims – Anticipates significant involvement against Tampa Bay.

  "Charles Sims can be a very sneaky play this week." (51:38)

• Jason Moore: Ryan Matthews – Credits his involvement in the Eagles' game plan.

  "Ryan Matthews... put in a decent RB2 week." (51:36)

Wide Receivers

• Mike Wright: DeSean Jackson – Expects explosive plays against the Dolphins.

  "DeSean Jackson could easily go vintage and get you a 60-yard bomb." (52:33)

• Jason Moore: Michael Crabtree – Values his consistency and touchdown potential.

  "Michael Crabtree is having a fine fantasy week this week." (53:35)

• Andy Holloway: Vincent Jackson – Excited about his capability to dominate despite past injuries.

  "Vincent Jackson is more than capable of taking a big role in this offense." (53:56)

Tight Ends

• Andy Holloway: Jason Whitten – Consistent touchdown opportunities with Dak Prescott.

  "Jason Whitten is a resource for Dak Prescott... I'll take Jason Whitten this week." (54:46)

• Jason Moore: Dwayne Allen – Highlights his touchdown reliability in season openers.

  "He has never not scored a touchdown in the first game he plays each season." (55:02)

• Mike Wright: Jesse James – Sees potential for touchdowns due to matchup advantages.

  "Jesse James is a great pick... great chance for a touchdown." (55:40)

Conclusion

As Week 1 unfolds, the Fantasy Footballers provide listeners with a comprehensive guide to navigating the initial fantasy matchups. From strategic start/sit decisions to insightful debates and player rankings, Andy, Jason, and Mike equip fantasy managers with the tools needed to excel in their leagues. They also emphasize the unpredictability of the season's opener, urging fans to stay engaged and adapt as the week progresses.

"Week one's the hardest... It's going to be a little bit of a bumpy road in the beginning." (35:07)

Notable Quotes

• Jason Moore on FanDuel Advertising:

  "You want to be sports rich." (00:00)

• Mike Wright on Jason's Intro Dance:

  "The Jason dancing during this intro has been so fantastic." (01:29)

• Andy Holloway on Player Starts:

  "He's the Frank Gore of the tight end position." (44:09)

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For more insights and community interaction, visit fantasyjocks.com and join the conversation on Twitter @FFballers. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes where the Fantasy Footballers continue to break down the best strategies to win your league.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Fantasy football fans, this is it. The NFL season is here. It's opening week and that means that FanDuel is back. There are new contests on FanDuel every single week. You just pick a contest, choose your team and you get to watch the score in real time. It's super fun. You guys know about FanDuel and this year they're introducing beginner contests for new players only. You can settle a score with a friend in a head to head matchup. You can try 5050 contests where they the top half win cash and you can play in larger tournaments for even more excitement. And so you want to jump into FanDuel. You want to do it early. The NFL season kicks it off tonight with the Panthers and the Broncos game and you want to get everything that fantasy football has to offer. So at FanDuel you can be sports rich. You can sign up today, go to FanDuel.com, click the join now button and use the code ballers. And if you deposit today, you will get five free entries to NFL beginner contests. You get one free entry a week for five weeks in a row and they're 5050 contest where the top half of players win cash. So don't forget to use the promo code ballers for five free entries on FanDuel.

[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 wr.

[Mike Wright]

The Jason dancing during this intro has been so fantastic. At one point he had the snap going like he looked like Frank Sinatra.

[Andy Holloway]

He is the resident Pillsbury Doughboy of the studio.

[Mike Wright]

I think he's excited for tonight.

[Jason Moore]

Well, yes, I'm excited for football and it's here it is tonight. Even just hearing, you know, your, your FanDuel read, talking about, oh, oh, there's real football. I know it's gonna matter. It's gonna, it's gonna be worth something. It's going to give us points. It's going to give my opponent points. It's.

[Andy Holloway]

I have two players in tonight's game, which I'm not super excited.

[Jason Moore]

I was going to say I'm sorry.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not very excited.

[Mike Wright]

I'm sorry for your loss.

[Andy Holloway]

I have Jonathan Stewart and Emmanuel Sanders going tonight, so we'll see what happens there. Let's start off this. Do you guys have picks for tonight's game? I have a, I can give you my score pick.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, you've got a score pick.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

You have the specific score I want to hear. I know who I think is going to win the game.

[Andy Holloway]

Somebody asked my opinion about it and so I thought about it and I think that the Broncos are going to win tonight's game and I think it's going to be 19 to 16. I think it's going to be a little bit ugly, a little bit dirty. And I think, I think the home team wins.

[Jason Moore]

You are reading my mind because that is exactly how I see this game going. Low scoring, high defense, ugly affair. And I also think that the Trevor Simeon led Broncos defeat the Cameron Newton led Panthers, which technically both of us are predicting an upset because the Panthers are favored on the favorite to win.

[Andy Holloway]

Before Mike gives his did you see this news where Elway actually sat down with Simeon yesterday and told him he does not have to look over his shoulder for Paxton Lynch? He wanted to let him know and him and Kubiak have a good relationship too and wanted to let him know you can go out there. If you make mistakes, just bounce back. Mistakes are going to happen. That's how you coach, don't look over your shoulder. That's what he said. He said, go out there. You have to play. You got to let him play. It made me feel better about Simeon.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And I would. I'm agreeing. I'm taking the Broncos. I have one dispute with Jason's logic of saying it's the semian led Broncos because I would call it the Von Miller led Broncos. And that. So that's, that's where I'm going. I'm taking the home team.

[Jason Moore]

It was more of a joke.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean it's a lot like Houston has been for years. The wattle wattled Texans. Let me set the table for the show today. We have a great one for you. We have our debate of the week, the Fandings.com debate of the week. We're going to be talking, Mike and I will be facing off in the debate talking about TJ Yeldin. We have our news and notes. We'll get you caught up on everything you need to know about fantasy football so you can make roster decisions this weekend. Start and sit decisions. We have our fantasy forecast. We're covering the matchups for the first half of this week, which is awesome because we have football to cover and we have our starts of the week. Yeah, maybe, just maybe I've got a surprise during the show. I mean, I'm gonna be bringing back something from last year, but you're gonna have to wait for it.

[Mike Wright]

If you're watching the video, Andy in fact snatched it out of the air and he said he's bringing it back.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm bringing it back. It's great to be. It's great to be back.

[Mike Wright]

It's good to be back, America.

[Andy Holloway]

It's good to be back in the regular season mindset here. So we have essentially a jam packed show that won't possibly be as short as it's supposed to be. And that's fine.

[Jason Moore]

Who cares?

[Andy Holloway]

Who cares?

[Jason Moore]

Drive around the block.

[Andy Holloway]

It doesn't matter. So before we do the debate, I do want one more thing from you guys. It's not fantasy related, but maybe it is in a way. I want to know some super bowl picks. Oh, we're got to do it. I want to know we're going to go nfc, AFC winner and super bowl pick. So you got, you got 60 seconds. Lay it down.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going. Not right now.

[Jason Moore]

All right, I will go right now. My AFC pick is going to be. I think there's only four teams that could actually contend. I am going to go with the Patriots. Yes, I know they are the front runner. It's not the beautiful pick but Tom Brady is going to come back from his suspension on fire and he's going to take them all the way. And spoiler alert already. They win it. Okay, they win the super bowl. But who they play against you two are not going to like at all.

[Andy Holloway]

This is Seattle.

[Jason Moore]

I am picking Seattle. I think it's going to come out of the NFC west between the Cardinals and Seattle. And the reality is I trust Russell Wilson more than I trust Carson Palmer in the playoffs to get it done.

[Andy Holloway]

I think that is reasonable. I will argue that I don't think New England's the front runner in people's minds. I see Pittsburgh out there a lot more than New England right now, but they're a front runner and they are always end up the front runner. So okay, I'm going to give you mine because I think Mike actually doesn't know his yet.

[Mike Wright]

I'm filtering.

[Andy Holloway]

Look, I'm going to take Arizona, okay, out of the NFC and the more contrarian out there pick. I think for a lot of people this is my pick. I'm taking Kansas City out of the afc. I think Kansas City is the team that I thought looked the best towards the end of last year. I thought they looked the best in the preseason this year and obviously they need to get some of those defensive line pieces back into the fold. But I think that there will be a force at the end of the year and Alex Smith I'm going to project can have a Joe Flacco esque type of competent playoffs to get them through. That's. That's my pick. And in the. In the Super Bowl, I'm going to take Arizona over Kansas City, so.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

But, Andy, you're from Arizona.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Yeah, you're right. But you know what? I'm taking them.

[Jason Moore]

People can't really see I'm taking them.

[Andy Holloway]

Just like Sports Illustrated took them.

[Jason Moore]

There you go.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

From the nfc. I'm going with Chase. I'm going to take the Seahawks. I think they're a tremendous team, and it's. That's where I'm going with my AFC pick. I'm taking a team I think could have gone all the way to the super bowl if their quarterback had not broken his thumb. I'm taking the Bengals.

[Jason Moore]

Man, I love.

[Mike Wright]

I think the defense is still strong. I think that the offense is still strong. I just. And I do. I like.

[Jason Moore]

We.

[Mike Wright]

We remember that playoff game where the Bengals snatched defeat out of the hands of victory with some buffoonery there at the end. But I think if Andy Dalton was there, they would not have been anywhere close to that situation. So I'm taking the Bengals.

[Jason Moore]

They were one of my four that I said could contend.

[Andy Holloway]

So who wins it?

[Jason Moore]

You just made the Seahawks. The Chiefs. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to take the Hawks.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, so there you go. Seattle.

[Jason Moore]

Arizona shows off to a bad start.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, let's fight instead. Let's get into a debate.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

It'S time for the Fandings.com the biggest debate of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

Now, we need your help on this debate, so we'll tweet out a link so that you can participate with us. Mike and I are participating in this week's debate. Jason will serve as judge.

[Jason Moore]

And jury.

[Andy Holloway]

And jury. The debate is simple. The question is this. Will TJ Yelden be a top 20 running back this week? This question came about because when you look at our Week 1 rankings, which, by the way, are published on the Website the fantasy footballers.com Mike has TJ Elden.

[Mike Wright]

I like how that changed.

[Andy Holloway]

What?

[Mike Wright]

I thought I was arguing him as a top 12 running back, but I stand by that. He will not be top 20, I can promise you.

[Andy Holloway]

Yesterday I said top 20 and you agreed. I already guess what. You have him ranked 30, so it makes a simple battle.

[Mike Wright]

I'm still in on this.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, so TJ Elden, will he be a top 20 running back in week one? I have him as a number 12 or 12 to 14 range, depending on your scoring system. Mike has him at 30. I think 30 is where Lindell White hangs out. I'm not sure. So who wants to go first? Do you want to.

[Mike Wright]

I'll let you start.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. So I have T.J. eldon as a. As a 12 to 14 range this week. I've loved everything I've seen from him in the preseason. I think people are off of him because they don't know how the workload and the carry splits going to be. But we've had feedback from that coaching staff that Yelden and Ivory will have a lot of work. Ivory is not going to be the passing downs guy. There's a report this week about Ivory dealing with what Ivory deals with, which is soft tissue issues all the time. I think it was a hamstring or a groin. I don't remember at this point. But a report came out yesterday saying he's struggling with that. I think you're going to see Yelden get off to a solid start in this game against Green Bay. Be involved in the passing game heavily. I have him have him catching five or six passes and delivering a top 14 week. No matter what your scoring format is, that's my case.

[Mike Wright]

Sure. And I can agree with some of that. I think he will be involved in the passing game. I will say if he caught six passes, that'd be a career high for TG Eldon, who was the running back last year. He was the only guy in town. Unless you have Toby Gerhardt countered at the goal line.

[Jason Moore]

Of course, no one does.

[Mike Wright]

And so here's the deal with T.J. eldon. Last year, last year when he was the man, he. He was an RB one twice. Sure, he had. He had two great weeks. But if you take the average of every other week in last season he was the running back 27. He's been over 40 receiving yards only twice. He's been. Which if that's where you're counting his production from the passing game when he was the guy only over 40 yards twice. He's only been over 64 rushing yards three times. That's with a full workload. If you give him. You want to give him the hundred yards, okay. But there's just no way he's. He's getting to that combination. With Chris Ivory involved in the game, it comes down to touchdowns. If he gets in the end zone a couple times, sure, then he'll be a top. A top 12 running back. But unless if he does not score, I don't see any way his production going from a full workload to whatever the percentage is. Even if I'm going to give him 55% of the work. I don't see anywhere any way he comes close and you like a retort.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm let Jason weigh in. I'm going to say two things. We're going to get into this game a little bit more. So we'll talk a little bit about Green Bay and Jacksonville in a little bit. Mike knows how to debate me because he'll get under my skin with his classic Mike argument where if you take away all of his good games, he's the 27th best running back. I mean that's exactly what he said.

[Mike Wright]

He was running back one twice.

[Andy Holloway]

You said if you take away those two games he's the 27th best running back. That's exactly what you said.

[Mike Wright]

Incorrect. I said in the other games.

[Jason Moore]

Well, that is the exact same thing.

[Andy Holloway]

Means taking them away.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, it does.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, you should get minus points for your lion.

[Jason Moore]

Here's the, here's the reality. I will now play judge in jury.

[Andy Holloway]

But very strong argument. The I'm going to give him credit for the career high six reception thing.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah, that's, that's very good. I am taking away points for, from Mike for not realizing that that is the same thing and he still wins the argument. I don't see TJ Yelden being a top 20 back this week. Not that it couldn't happen, but I could not project it that way. I do think that the game script is good for him. They'll probably in my worldview be down. So I'm going to say on this Fandings debate of the week, Mike, you got it. Also, everybody out there, if you want to vote on this exact thing between Mike and Andy, download the Fandings app. And also this Sunday there's going to be some game time voting and debates in the Fandings app. So grab it now and then play with us on [e-mail] and let them.

[Mike Wright]

Know the footballer sent you if you grab it.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. If you want to follow us on Twitter, you can do so. Heffballers. We're going to get into the news here in just a minute. If you have questions you want to submit to the show, you can also do that on the website, the fancy footballers.com and best of all, get involved with us and the fantasy community. There's almost 2,000 of you [e-mail] getting involved, answering questions. We're there. We deliver an extra episode every week, giveaways every month. A lot of very fun stuff. It's a great Way to walk through the fantasy football season with a bunch of like minded, passionate fantasy football fans. And so you want to check that [e-mail] let's get into the news.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league.

[Andy Holloway]

Ah, there's so much going on. So much going on. Very exciting. Carlos Hyde cleared for football activity. So stuff going on for Carlos Hyde.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he had the concussion problem, so he was kind of on the alert that if he was going to miss the big salad becomes a sneaky start. I still think that Sean Drone, the big salad is he's an guy to throw in there if you are desperate in a PPR league. But Hyde's going to be the man.

[Andy Holloway]

I saw Sean Drone dropped in a couple leagues this week. Do you pick up Chandron if I.

[Mike Wright]

Have a burner spot? Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Otherwise I would say no. Now with the news that Hyde is.

[Andy Holloway]

Back, my Sean, Joan or Buck Allen?

[Jason Moore]

Buck Allen.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

As of this moment, sorry to cut you off.

[Mike Wright]

I would take Drone.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Justin Forset says he's the starter.

[Mike Wright]

You're darn right.

[Andy Holloway]

He says it's his job to go out there and dominate.

[Jason Moore]

It is and he is. I just, I still going back for months. Look, I get that there are great backups behind him, but one of those backups is injured and I mean.

[Mike Wright]

And one of those is Terrence West.

[Jason Moore]

Right, Exactly. So, yeah, I mean, there's been a little bit of a drumbeat going for him, but he's. He's not been that good over his career. So I, I am fine with.

[Andy Holloway]

I have news for you to Seattle fans. Pete Carroll has come out and said some differing things about Jimmy Graham on Monday. He said he has no. Expect no expectations that he'll play on Wednesday. They said his chances are good and he was a full participant in practice. Now it actually looks likely that Jimmy Graham will suit up, put a uniform.

[Jason Moore]

On pads if he can play this week. There is a very good matchup against Miami. And I would say this, we didn't do yesterday a segment that we, you know, we'll do as the week goes on, but he would be my sit of the week if he is starting. And I'm just recommending to people out there, patella spite. That is. That is 100% Patela span. I don't think that he can come back this quick from an injury that no one has ever come back this quick from and also be, you know, elite enough.

[Mike Wright]

Be better than he was last year.

[Jason Moore]

Be better than him.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that's a different one.

[Andy Holloway]

I can't do it. But Victor Cruz came back so easily.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Case and Thomas Rawls will be on a snap count week one.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, there's.

[Andy Holloway]

If there was a sit of the week for me, it would have been Thomas Rawls.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I am happy that Mike did not take my Thomas Rawls top 24 lock. It does certainly look like it will be the C Mike one, two punch. C Mike will have the first punch to Thomas Rawls second punch.

[Mike Wright]

You called the locksmith on that one. You got that one cracked back open.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that makes me sad.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. There was a big headline that came out from Jim Caldwell saying he doesn't envision Amir Abdullah playing a workhorse role.

[Mike Wright]

But you got to dig a little deeper into the quote because he says, I don't envision him carrying the ball 30 times, I don't think.

[Jason Moore]

And then he goes on. And then he goes on to say, is he tough enough to do that? I think so. Can he handle that? I think he can. But he's a weapon that we need to get involved in other ways is kind of more the. The actual quote.

[Andy Holloway]

But the. But the reality is is they're not going. I mean, he's not a workhorse back.

[Jason Moore]

Correct. But he will be used. I mean he is a first and second down type back. And then if they are in the no huddle, he will be on the field still for third down. So have entire drives probably to himself, but so will Theo Riddick. And then when they get on the goal line, that's the worry. Is it going to be Zach Zinn.

[Andy Holloway]

Or something like that? I'm going to make a very bold week one bet with you here.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you want to hear this?

[Jason Moore]

I do. Because I actually like Amir Abdullah this week.

[Andy Holloway]

I know you do and I do not. But the argument here, what did you say? He'll be on the field four drives. I want to bet you that he will not ever be on the field for an entire drive.

[Jason Moore]

But I mean, what percentage are you talking about? Because I think that it's very rare.

[Andy Holloway]

Percent.

[Jason Moore]

No, I know, but I'm saying when I say he's going to be on the field an entire drive, I still think they're going to be switching guys in and out just like every team does. I mean, it's very rare.

[Andy Holloway]

Be the actual definition of not on the field for an entire drive.

[Mike Wright]

I think it's pretty rare for a running back to take an entire drive especially.

[Andy Holloway]

Why say he will be on the field for the entire drive?

[Jason Moore]

Well, I am saying he will Be out there for the majority of an entire drive. Just like players that we would say he's out there all the time. No player is out there. No running back is out there all the time. But I would still say with plenty of other players, and I think you would too. This guy is on the field all the time. Okay, so maybe it's a little hyperbolic. I'm not saying that he gets 100% of snaps through a drive, but I think there will be drives where he is out there on first down, on second down, on third down on the same drive.

[Mike Wright]

You just need to get him in on a three and out. And you would win that bet.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. You've spun me into a circle somewhere in my brain. Jamal Charles limited in practice Wednesday.

[Mike Wright]

He's not going to.

[Andy Holloway]

I didn't stat Jamal Charles this week.

[Mike Wright]

I didn't either.

[Jason Moore]

I gave him, I think, one carry.

[Andy Holloway]

Emmanuel Sanders, three year, $33 million contract. I think he's one of the guys that has been very disrespected in fantasy circles this offseason. You're talking about a player that came from a number five overall season to last year. What's the perception? Where. Do you know where he finished, Mike? Because I do, and I'm curious if you know where he finished last year.

[Mike Wright]

I feel like he was still top 24.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. And I think I already asked Jason. He know he was 18.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

On that. Peyton Manning with really bad quarterback. He was given a three year, $33 million extension. I think Emmanuel Sanders is okay. I think he's okay this week. It's gonna be a little tough. ESPN Patriots reporter says Gronkowski, Rob Gronkowski has a hamstring injury. Not 100% healthy.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, well, we saw him leave the practice, took some time off. It's the Patriots, so you never know. But I fully expect him to play. I don't. I don't think this is changing that at all.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. And Devonte Parker listed again as did not practice. He's not playing this? No, he's not playing this week. So I think that is it for the news. We're gonna jump into the forecast. All right.

[Mike Wright]

Before we jump in the forecast, I want to thank today's sponsor, that is Pristine Auction, the best sports memorabilia site on the Internet. Look, I'm on there nearly daily. You know what I got recently? You know what I got recently?

[Andy Holloway]

I wish you were lying.

[Jason Moore]

I know this is. I think he is lying in the sense he said nearly because it is daily.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, like multi times a day.

[Mike Wright]

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[Andy Holloway]

You're gonna buy a bigger house, Mike.

[Mike Wright]

I am. I need more wall space. You're gonna love Pristine Auction. They got daily auctions. They got weekly auctions. They have. They have something for everybody. They have something for everybody's budget. You may be thinking, oh, this is out. I can't get in on this. Trust me. Just have a look at Pristine Auction and you will recognize immediately that you can get in on this and get some. Some authentication. Sign merchandise on your wall. This is what I need you to do. Foot clan. You go to pristineauction.com that's P R I S T I N E auction.com youm make a free account, completely free account. Tell them the footballers sent you. And this is a site. If you bid and you get outbid, you don't pay anything. It's. You can get on it for free. So pristineauction.com trust me.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And we also want to thank our other sponsor, SeatGeek. I mean, SeatGeek. Look, games are here. Games are tonight. You know what's crazy? If you are in. If right now you're in Denver and you're like, well, I can't get a seat for the game. Yes, you can. Go to seatgeek. You can always find tickets for your shows on seatgeek. They are just about. I mean, when I find other places that are sold out, I can find them on SeatGeek very often. And the coolest part about it is they take tickets in from all the other sites and give you the best price. And. And I get to pick my seat. No more of this dumb best price available. And I get a random seat that I can't say, oh, my friend's over in this section. I want to be in that section with them. Pick where you sit, get a great price, and it's super easy with the SeatGeek app. So here's what you do. Get the SeatGeek app. When you do that, enter the promo code footballers and you will get $20 back in your pocket after you make your first ticket purchase. So Download the free SeatGeek app and enter promo code Footballers today. Fantasy forecast.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a beautiful thing to be previewing fantasy football matchups, NFL matchups here. So let's do it. All right, we got the Panthers in Denver facing the Broncos. This over under is very low. It's a 41 and a half.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

So we're expecting this to be what it appears to be a defensive type of matchup. You have a rookie or, you know, Trevor Simeon getting his first big time start. You've got Cam Newton and you got the super bowl rematch.

[Mike Wright]

This is, I mean, as far as a quarterback spectrum, number one overall, Cam versus seventh round pick Trevor Semion. I mean, that's, that's a wide gap as far as drafts.

[Andy Holloway]

That's kind of the decision that our listeners make every time they're like, do I go with Andy's rankings or Mike Simeon over here? So starting at the quarterback position, I don't think there's a debate. You know, this is not a head to head matchup.

[Jason Moore]

Look, the question I think people are going to ask is, look, I drafted Cam. I took him with my second round pick. I took him with my third round pick. Am I really not going to play him this week? And that's a tough decision when you put that kind of draft capital into guys.

[Andy Holloway]

So who I can, I can, I can tell you right now, I received that question this morning on Join the Foot. Somebody drafted Cam. They had three options, three different options. And they asked me whether I would bench Cam for them. It was Derek Carr. Oh, it was Jameis Winston. And I don't remember the third one. I think it was Alex Smith was the third one. They said, do you go and grab any of those guys?

[Jason Moore]

All of them.

[Andy Holloway]

Now my answer was not go grab all of them.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, I wouldn't drop everyone from.

[Mike Wright]

Your bench and grab all the quarterbacks.

[Jason Moore]

I would play any of those guys over.

[Andy Holloway]

You would have the courage to do that.

[Jason Moore]

You know, when it comes to Alex Smith, I probably wouldn't pull the trigger on that one. But Derek Carr, I wouldn't even hesitate for one moment. Derek Carr is my number three ranked quarterback this week in a juicy matchup against the New Orleans Saints. Who are the worst of the worst when it comes to were were last year Historic way back about it. Well, I agree we don't know how the defenses are going to be this year, but, you know, you could say we don't know how Andrew Luck's going to be or Aaron Rodgers or Cam Newton, but we look back at pre.

[Andy Holloway]

I was just saying we're not, we don't know exactly what it's going to land, you know, into the year.

[Jason Moore]

I think at the end of the year I think at the end of the year, with the improvements New Orleans has made to their defense, they are one of the worst defenses in the, in the NFL.

[Andy Holloway]

And that's, that's fair. That's a fair statement.

[Jason Moore]

And so I would play Derek Carr in a heartbeat.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Who did you tell him to pick up?

[Andy Holloway]

I said. I said I think Winston's a good play. I actually, I don't think Carr was actually part of that group. So would you, would you play Winston?

[Jason Moore]

Winston? I have ranked as at 18 and I.

[Andy Holloway]

But would you have the courage to put him in?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I would if I had Winston. And Cam.

[Andy Holloway]

I said I probably wouldn't. I said I probably just play Cam. I don't think I have the courage. You have to draft. You have to take another spot on your roster for a week to do that. I think I just try to get through week one with camp. That's what I would do. Sure. So let's talk about the running backs. Jonathan Stewart, C.J. anderson, are they start worthy?

[Mike Wright]

This repeats previous conversation for the running backs. Look, I'm okay with CJ Anderson in this situation. Jonathan Stewart, though, is going to be a tough start for me. If you have, if you have somebody on your bench, maybe you grabbed where I'm playing where over Jonathan Stewart. I mean, there's a lot of guys.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

That I would prefer to play over Stewart. Anderson, like I said, I feel okay about it.

[Andy Holloway]

Stewart's going to get volume.

[Mike Wright]

He'll get volume.

[Andy Holloway]

And he just might not produce. I mean, it might be one of those. 18 for 50.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And so you're really hoping he gets a touchdown.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. And so you, you guys have. Where's C.J. anderson this week? I have him. I have him at 24. So does Mike. Jason has him a little lower. You have him at 35.

[Jason Moore]

I believe you have him at 35, and I have him at 24. And Mike has him at 18.

[Andy Holloway]

You're correct.

[Mike Wright]

You're correct.

[Andy Holloway]

I was.

[Jason Moore]

You're looking at the consensus.

[Andy Holloway]

I was looking at. All right, so makes more sense.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So he's. He's a borderline RB2 this week for CJ Anderson. You know, when it comes to running backs, when you win the game, running backs, like if we knew for sure who was going to win a game, that team's running backs usually have a much stronger fantasy output. That's just provable in a game like this. Even though all three of us said we believe that Denver's going to win, this is going to be a close game. You can't just go, one team's going to win this and so start that running back.

[Mike Wright]

This, this whole entire game can be broken down into. These are the guys that I feel comfortable playing. Demarys Thomas, Greg Olson, and I'm okay with C.J. anderson.

[Jason Moore]

But other than that.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, you're talking about a run defense last year.

[Mike Wright]

I'm trying to play him.

[Andy Holloway]

Panthers are fourth. Broncos were third last year. Past defense, Broncos were the first, Panthers were 11th. It's going to be a low scoring game. People have been asking about Demarys Thomas, so I'm glad you brought that. You're comfortable playing him, so. All right, let's move on to the Buccaneers taking on the Atlanta Falcons. The. The Falcons are favored at home by three points. This game's an indoor game. You have Jameis Winston and Matt Ryan. You have Doug Martin and his counterpart, Sims. And then you have Devonta Freeman on the other side. And then you have guys that I've projected for a very big week. Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson taking on Julio Jones and his friends. Julio and friends. So how do you see this game breaking down from a fantasy perspective? Who are you comfortable with? What are the decisions you're making here?

[Jason Moore]

I'm comfortable with a lot of guys in this game. I think that this game will be. It's not going to be one of the highest scoring games of the week. But you don't. Yeah, exactly. I don't think it's going to be a low scoring game either. So Doug Martin, Sims Freeman, Julio, Vincent Jackson, Mike Evans, I think all of them are startable and this is one of those nice games where, where you drafted these players in your Startup league Fantasy draft is pretty much the exact value they're going to be getting for this game because these are kind of two middle of the road to lesser than teams. So I think the matchup is fine for where you drafted them.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think this game will be a high scoring game. I mean, Vegas has it at 47 points. These two teams, they met in shootout type of games last year. And if you're starting a tight end from Tampa or would you ever start a tight end from Tampa?

[Mike Wright]

I'm not starting Safari and Jenkins until I see it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I wouldn't. But if I had to pick one, it would be asj.

[Andy Holloway]

We're going to talk a little bit more later about Vincent Jackson. He's going to be featured in one of the segments later on. So I don't want to get too, too into it there, but I have Mike Evans very high this week. In fact, we all have Mike Evans inside of our top 10. And so I think we feel very confident with the fantasy pieces that you've drafted being started in this game.

[Jason Moore]

I also really like Devonta Freeman in this game.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure. I have Devonta Freeman. He's one of my highest.

[Jason Moore]

I think he's a top five back for me this week.

[Andy Holloway]

He is for me as well. He's my number two. He's my number two back.

[Jason Moore]

Two for you, four for me, seven for Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And actually in full ppr. Yeah, about the same. So. All right. The Bills and. What are you laughing at?

[Mike Wright]

I like him a lot. Let me see where I got him. Oh, number two. This just was funny.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. All right. Bills and the Ravens. What do we got in this game?

[Mike Wright]

Look, I want. There's some pieces in here I like. I am one of a. I will give a spoiler alert here for our league of record. I am a Philip Rivers owner. I drafted him because on the season, I believe Rivers. Philip Rivers is taking on the Chiefs on the road. As we're going to talk about a little, little bit later, I don't want any part of that action this week. So I have picked up Tyrod Taylor and I'm going to play him over Philip Rivers.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a bit of a spoiler alert. I did not know that for our.

[Mike Wright]

League of record that happened this morning.

[Andy Holloway]

Is that because you looked at my quarterback rankings this week?

[Mike Wright]

Because I looked at my own where I have Phil Rivers very low.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I have. I have Tyra Taylor, number eight this week. Yeah, I've got really, really like the matchup. Feel very confident in that.

[Jason Moore]

For. For fantasy purposes. I'm curious your guys's take right now. Vegas has this 44 and a half points. That's pretty much like right in the middle. That's an average game. Would you guys take the over or the under on that? Because I think I'm.

[Andy Holloway]

I would take the over.

[Mike Wright]

I would take the over.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And I worry that it's going to be more of an under. I just see two teams that are kind of working so many different things out, but the defenses for both, obviously. The Bills defense this offseason has just been decimated by injury. They've lost so many guys. That's. That's not. That's not very helpful. The weapons are there for the Ravens in the passing game. We don't know who to start, but for Flacco, Flacco is going to get whoever, you know, the production from whoever Catches the ball. Who are you willing to start here.

[Mike Wright]

From a Ravens standpoint?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I've told people Aiken's the safest of the white team.

[Mike Wright]

I'll start Aiken. If you are in that running back pickle, I'm okay with Justin for set. I don't love it. I would prefer a different option.

[Andy Holloway]

Let me lay out some decisions that people might be facing. Would you start Justin for set against Buffalo or would you start Jeremy Hill against the Jets?

[Jason Moore]

Ooh, I would start. I'm going four set.

[Mike Wright]

I would start Hill.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, I think I'd go for set there. Would you start Justin for set against Buffalo or Carlos Hyde against the Los Angeles Rams?

[Jason Moore]

Four set. I was. One of my biggest surprises this week was how low Carlos Hyde ended up in my rankings.

[Andy Holloway]

Seems like Mike would choose. I think I would go high a lot. Last one here. Chris Ivory against Green Bay or Justin for set against Buffalo.

[Mike Wright]

Ooh, I'm going to make it.

[Jason Moore]

The Justin Forset swing.

[Mike Wright]

You got the triple. I would go 4 7.

[Andy Holloway]

That so if you're facing some of those. What about. Let me put this one out there since we talked about him. Jonathan Stewart against Denver or Justin Forsett against Buffalo?

[Jason Moore]

I would go Stewart.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's a line I wouldn't cross. I'd go Stuart.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. The Bears travel to Houston to take on the Texans. I do not think this game will be close. I think this will game. This game will be a blowout. Vegas has the line of 44 right in the middle. I think Houston is going to mop the floor with Chicago. I'm sorry if you're a Chicago fan out there. I just don't think your season is getting off to a good start. And I think it's partially because the schedule is a little rough to you right here. You have to travel to Houston, take on a very good defense, and what I think is going to be just a very solid offense. I think. I think a very firm, strong, solid offense. Lamar Miller gets to make his debut with the Texans. I have him rated very highly this week. Do you guys feel the same about Lamar Miller?

[Mike Wright]

I love Lamar Miller this week and.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going look number one for you.

[Mike Wright]

I got him as my number one guy. I got him opening up against the Bears. The Bears last year were the 22nd best 20. So I don't know if you can really call it best, but. So they ranked 22nd against the run. It was a struggle all year for the Bears and like we've said, we don't have a ton to go on. We have no current data. I.

[Andy Holloway]

So I'm.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going with the Bears to still have a bad rushing defense. I think Lamar Miller is going to get a ton of work. And I'm with you, Andy, on the game script. I think that Houston is going to win this game kind of going away, which to me, game script wise, talk about is points to Lamar Miller getting that workload in all out in all facets of the game.

[Jason Moore]

One surprise for me when I was diving into this game doing the research was Jeremy Langford. I assumed I would be very, very low on Jeremy Langford because of the matchup, but the more that I looked into it, the more I thought Jeremy Langford will probably be okay because of his work in the passing game. Those three games that Forte missed last year were he caught 13 passes in those three games combined. And when he played a good defense, like against the LA Rams, he had seven receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown. Now, I'm not projecting anything like that, but I'm saying that if the game does get out of hand the way that you expect, I don't think that's going to rule Langford out of this game. And so he should be an okay start, you know, an RB2. And I thought coming in that this was a guy I'm just going to avoid. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I think if he struggles, do not freak out about Langford either.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

For week one. And you know, we should have said it at the top when we started overviewing the games. Week one's the worst.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, by a mile.

[Andy Holloway]

The hardest week to project. I mean, we don't get to go back and look at trends. We, I mean, we have no trends. We have no perception of exactly how some of the carry counts will break out. We don't understand the defensive, you know, the. The trends on the defensive side of the ball. And so we have to go based on what we have in front of us, which is some of last year's data, what we've seen and heard and talked about on this show and throughout scene in training camp and preseason. And that's how we project week one. But it's going to be a little bit of a bumpy road in the beginning as we get these things established.

[Mike Wright]

I'm still good with Alshon because Jay Cutler will feed him.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

And I'm with Jason. I'm okay with Langford because if things go bad, he'll get into the passing game.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we're going to move on now. Talk about the packers at the Jaguars in Jacksonville, also known as.

[Jason Moore]

Andy's almost upset of the week. Your Gus Bradley love is off the charts here.

[Andy Holloway]

I love you, Gus. The Jaguars are five and a half point dogs at home, which is just.

[Mike Wright]

That's so weird.

[Andy Holloway]

Just a shame. Come on now. It's my almost upset of the week Jacksonville at home. You can't stop the gradient. You can't stop the gradient.

[Mike Wright]

You can't stop the rattlers.

[Andy Holloway]

I, you know, to me, if you are projecting this game, you're saying, and if Vegas is saying it's a five and a half point underdog for Jacksonville, you're saying that the defense for Green Bay is going to show up. And so, you know, last year they were a good pass defense. And so you might say, okay, that's what you need to stop the Jacksonville Jaguars. You have Alan Robinson and Alan Hearns.

[Mike Wright]

First round pick Alan Hearns, right?

[Andy Holloway]

From yesterday's show. Yeah, but I think they have enough in the running game. I think they have enough to compete if this game becomes a shootout. And so I'm going to take them as my Elmo. Look, they're not going to win. They're my almost upset. Or will they? We'll find out. So you're starting Rogers, you're starting Lacey, you're starting Randall Cobb. Are you starting Jordan Nelson?

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to start him.

[Jason Moore]

I am as well.

[Andy Holloway]

Not worried about a snap count on that side of the ball.

[Mike Wright]

I worry about a snap count, but I'm still the weapon that is Jordy Nelson. I'm not going to sit it down.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, and they're going to need to figure out things.

[Mike Wright]

Sorry, Jordan.

[Jason Moore]

They're going to need to figure out what Jordy can do. And even if he's on a snap count, Aaron Rodgers will be looking to him and he's the type of player that can break any play wide open for a long touchdown. And if the Jaguars are similar to what we saw from their defense in years past, which I will say this, of all the teams on paper for defense, they have improved their defense on paper just about more than anyone else. Or at least, you know, they're in that conversation.

[Andy Holloway]

World is waiting for Gus Bradley and his defensive genius and the personnel to match up into that, you know, to where George Clooney and Marky Mark might show up.

[Jason Moore]

It's not going to happen.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't think it'll happen week one either.

[Mike Wright]

I think their flight has been delayed.

[Andy Holloway]

My hope for an almost upset there is in what we see a 48 over under a Higher scoring type of game. A game where there are some plays that are broken wide open. We talked at length about Yelden. I don't, I don't know if there are any other big start sit questions here. Would you guys feel very comfortable starting? What do you. Let me ask you this question. Julius Thomas is annoying somehow. Always not excited to talk about him.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Would you start him or Jared Cook in this game at tight end?

[Mike Wright]

I think that because of the higher.

[Jason Moore]

Scoring game, I think there are better options out there. You know, if I'm starting guys, I think they're both outside of my top 12. They either one if you have to start them, you're. You've got the chance that they put in a good fantasy game here. And that's kind of the problem that I always have with Julius Thomas is he's so touchdown dependent and so he could get a touchdown and then he's absolutely fine. Anytime a tight end gets a touchdown, he's fine.

[Andy Holloway]

That's what Kyle Rudolph keeps saying.

[Jason Moore]

I expect a different game script. I think Green Bay will get ahead early and that has always been good for the fantasy output of the Jaguars offense. But that is more in the realm of Alan Robinson, Allen Hearns than in Julius Thomas. When you're down and you're. You're slinging the ball around.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we got the Chargers heading to Kansas City to take on my super bowl champion. Oh, wait, super bowl contender.

[Mike Wright]

Contender.

[Andy Holloway]

Sorry. Kansas City Chiefs last year was not kind to Philip Rivers. In matchups against the Chiefs he threw a total, let me count here, zero touchdowns against the Kansas City Chiefs last year. Both of the games were in the second half of the season when Keenan Allen was out, when Kansas City was on the roll. On a roll. And I believe Philip Rivers was throwing the ball to Dontrell Inman. Yeah. And Danny Woodhead, of course.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, of course.

[Andy Holloway]

Did you guys see that article that Danny Woodhead wrote to his younger son?

[Mike Wright]

I didn't get a chance to read it.

[Andy Holloway]

It was pretty cool. It was pretty cool. I mean he was passed on by everybody. The only reason, I mean he basically dominated in college after being passed on by Nebraska and nobody was interested in him. He was not invited to anything. Nebraska eventually gave him a pro day. Makes the NFL major injury year 1. Fight, fight, fight, fight. You know, long odds for Danny Woodhead and really now he's going into his ninth season somehow, so. But when we look at this game, I. There's a built in water bet here in this game already because Mike and I, we have Our projections for week one. We see things. Look, we just talked about how week one's a little bit of a crapshoot. Yeah, a lot of our rankings are aligned. This is an area where, look, we're not going to. Going to just go chalk so that we have three guys that align. That's not what this show does. We're trying to give you our honest opinions. Sometimes they're very different. I don't know if I've ever seen them as different as this week ever, because I have. I have Keenan Allen very low, somewhere in the late 20s, early.

[Mike Wright]

I'll verify where they are right now.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Keenan Allen, Jeremy Macklin, Mike. And I have them at diametrically opposed rankings. I have Macklin, I think at 8, Keenan at 9.

[Mike Wright]

You have. You have Keenan Allen at 34. And I'm sorry, I was already in the search. You have Macklin at five.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

No, that. That is not true. I did not have.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, this has enough.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, that one has an update.

[Jason Moore]

We have up.

[Andy Holloway]

We have Macklin at 8. Mike has Keenan Allen at 9. And then we have them reversed on the other side where Mike doesn't like Macklin and I don't like Keenan Allen. And so are you fine doing a straight up Macklin, Keenan Allen water bat?

[Mike Wright]

Absolutely. We'll put that on the board.

[Jason Moore]

Water bat. If. If this was a debate of the week that I was going to vote on, I would be on Andy's side with Jeremy Mack.

[Mike Wright]

So here's why I like Keenan Allen. It's. It's a matter of. They're not gonna be able to run the ball, the Chargers, and they're going to. I think the game script ends up in a classic Chargers fashion with Philip Rivers picking the team up on his back in the second half and having to sling it out for zero touchdowns. Maybe. Maybe for zero touchdowns. And he and I actually, I don't have Keenan with a very high chance to score. Why. And it's not that I love him. I mean nine, I guess I like him a reasonable amount. But for Macklin, I think that it's a Spencer Ware game. I think Ware is going to absolutely dominate the Chargers and I don't see a need for them to feed Macklin at all. I think that they can get up rather quickly and that Alex Smith will just. Will game manage and let Spencer Ware take them to victory.

[Andy Holloway]

Let's talk about what I've. There are a lot of decisions to be made in this game. This is probably one of the biggest games for decision making, fantasy purposes. Are you. You said you're sitting Rivers down. You don't want to play them against the Chiefs.

[Mike Wright]

Correct.

[Andy Holloway]

What about. So Spencer Ware versus the field, so to speak. We have Spencer Ware ranked very high this week.

[Jason Moore]

He's our consensus 10. Both of you have him at 9. I'm pulling him down. I have him at 8 10, which is still an RB2.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, so Spencer Ware is start worthy.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I love Spencer Ware this week, Mike, and I have him, like you said, top 10. Melvin Gordon, do you play him against the Chiefs week one?

[Jason Moore]

I don't think so. If you can avoid it, I would. He's down in an RB3 category right now. I think the game script is slightly better for a Danny Woodhead because again, you're not going to be able to run easily against the Chiefs. But I don't think it's a really great game for Woodhead either. They would be in flex consideration in that RB3 range. But I'm hoping that I have a better option, maybe at wide receiver to flex in there above a guy like Melvin Gordon.

[Mike Wright]

If I'm in a standard league, I'm sitting in both.

[Andy Holloway]

There's been a lot of hesitancy I've seen from fantasy owners about Antonio Gates this week. I think that is manifesting itself because of how good Kansas City was against the tight end last year. And so people are saying, do you. Do you play Gates or do you go Dwayne Allen?

[Mike Wright]

Ooh, that's an interesting one.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I know my answer, but we'll get to that in a little bit.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think I would.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man, I'm starting Gates. I have a lot of confidence in Gates this week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I would not.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, Gates, I brought up the numbers before. Outside of Rob Gronkowski, Gates has the most touchdowns of the tight end position over the last, I believe, 17 starts. 2021 started something like that. He's still doing it, but people really don't like playing him. It's like the Frank Gore of the tight end position. You don't really want to start him, but he kind of should always probably be started. To me, I don't have. I'm not going to be put off by the Kansas City matchup.

[Jason Moore]

So to be clear, before we leave this matchup, if you have Jamal Charles sit him down, he's. If even if he's active, he's not going to get enough touches.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

And I just want to throw this out there because he hasn't been talked about at all in forever, anywhere. But should Shark Andrew West End up with a major role in this game. The fantasy community will be lighting some shorts on fire.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we are going to jump now into our starts of the week. We're going to cover the rest of the matchups tomorrow. Do you guys have these things figured out? Are you got that week one confidence?

[Mike Wright]

My body is ready.

[Jason Moore]

Starts of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. One of my favorite segments. Probably my favorite segment of the entire week.

[Mike Wright]

That. That escalated quickly.

[Andy Holloway]

Look, you're. Yes, it's my favorite segment.

[Jason Moore]

It's okay. I mean, I like it. I love it. It's my favorite.

[Andy Holloway]

I said it's one of my favorite. Probably my favorite.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. We just like throwing things on you mentally.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, moving on. All right, let's start with Mike.

[Mike Wright]

All right, I'm gonna start at the quarterback position. Look, I'm riding the snake. I'm sending in the car. Sending in Derek Carr against New Orleans.

[Jason Moore]

They're.

[Mike Wright]

They're gonna be in the dome.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

I didn't know it was ready.

[Andy Holloway]

There you go.

[Mike Wright]

All right, look, the Vegas agrees with me. They have this over under at 51. They expect a lot of points to go on the board. A lot. And the actual The Saints are favored by one. So the implied team total for both teams is extremely high. I want in on this action. So Derek Carr is a. I think he's a top five guy for me. So he's my start of the week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I said earlier he was my number three quarterback this week. That is why the matchup is great. His first two years, he's proven that he can do it. And if you look at his game splits between easy matchups and difficult matchups, he really does well against the easier matchup. So I expect he'll have a good game here. I'm going to do my next start of the week because it pairs. It pairs perfectly with this. And that's at the wide receiver position.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, let's stay with quarterbacks. Let's give our three quarterback starts of the week.

[Jason Moore]

You fine.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, feng shui, man.

[Jason Moore]

I was just trying. I was trying to connect it. All right, then I'll do my quarterback. My quarterback is a very, very similar reason to Derek Carr. That is Matthew Stafford. And the reason is because that Vegas over under is 50 and a half points. What we've seen going back I think until like 2005 or 6 is that these week one Vegas lines, when games are very, very highly rated on Vegas lines, they tend to outdo that, that they go over that. So there's a lot of Those games that go for crazy high points. And when I look at the matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and the Detroit Lions, I see two offenses that want to work fast, that want to. That have the capability of scoring points, and I see two defenses that can't really do it, and two run games that can't slow the clock down. So I just think there's going to be a ton of points scored in this game and Matthew Stafford should be fine. I don't think they're going to be punching in touchdowns with Zach Zinner. I think he's going to be throwing touchdowns to, you know, even if it's to Abdullah or to Marvin Jones or to Eric Ebron or Golden Tate. So Matthew Stafford, to me, is my start of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. My start of the week at the quarterback position is Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins. I've got him going into Pittsburgh. I think it'll be a high scoring game. I think it'll be a very entertaining game. And I think Kirk Cousins can keep the momentum up, do enough this week to warrant his very high rating in my rankings. I met as my number three quarterback this week, making him my start of the week. Mike has him at 5. Jason does not have the same opinion, but I like Kirk Cousins a lot this week. He's the start of the week at quarterback. Let's go ahead and shift over to the running back position. Oh, there's really only one thing to say here.

[Mike Wright]

You know it. Oh, we're going again.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike has been insufferable with the awakening rhetoric. Wasn't there another quote yesterday or.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, there was. Teammate Doug Baldwin was asked who has been the most impressive player for the Seahawks over training camp in the preseason. He said it's been Kristen Michael. He's had an awakening.

[Andy Holloway]

So I just.

[Mike Wright]

Even the team is getting on it.

[Jason Moore]

Mike, look at the camera and give him what you've been giving me every day. Yeah, this nonsense. I have to turn. I. He's always doing that when I'm not looking and I turn and I just see him. He's been staring at me, using his fingers to open his eyes larger.

[Andy Holloway]

That is whenever there is a piece of C Mike news. Now, I say all of this because Christine Michaels, my start of the week. Oh, it's unbelievable what is happening.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, it's a great time to be alive, everybody.

[Andy Holloway]

This world is crazy, but look, I love Christine Michael this week. I think Thomas Rawls is going to be on a very limited snap count. Pete Carroll's already come out and said, look, this is Thomas rolls second preseason game. That's what the coach has said. What does the starting running back get on a second preseason game? They get about 15 snaps if they're lucky. I think Christian Michaels going to run.

[Mike Wright]

Wild in Seattle against the Dolphins. Look.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm on board at least for one week.

[Jason Moore]

Seattle's favored by 10 and a half points. Points will be put up on the clock. They will be in a lead. The running back for Seattle will be great. That's why I said early this week that Thomas Rawls was like locked in to be at least an RB2 because I assumed he was the starter. Whoever the starter is will be great. I think all three of us have Kristen Michael ranked very highly. My running back start of the week, I'm not going quite as high on our rankings, digging a little deeper and I'm going with a guy who has had some ups and downs this offseason in Ryan Matthews for the Philadelphia Eagles. The reality in this game, it's not going to be necessarily a super high, a super high score. But I the matchup is great against the Cleveland Browns. Nobody's scared of that Browns run defense and in addition to that, you've got a rookie quarterback who is, you know, they're probably going to try to set him up and Carson Wentz to succeed, try to run to open up the pass. So I think the volume will be there for him to put up a decent RB2 week. So I'm saying if you've got Ryan Matthews, you know, if you've got Ryan Matthews, but you drafted Melvin Gordon way ahead. Don't, don't do that. Put in Matthews. I would be confident to do so.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike, who's your start of the week?

[Mike Wright]

I'm going even, even deeper.

[Andy Holloway]

This is a, this is probably your.

[Mike Wright]

Boldest pick and I'm going with it. Assuming you're in a half point or full point ppr. I'm going with Charles Sims. Atlanta's defense, they gave up the most catches to running backs in the league for a defense last year. We've seen that Charles Sims is heavily involved in that work type for Tampa Bay. And so if you are struggling for a flex play and you're not liking your options, I think that Charles Sims can be a very sneaky play this week.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, who's your wide receiver start of the week?

[Mike Wright]

I'm piggybacking with Kirk Cousins. You gotta you beaming me up with desean Jackson who has looked just fantastic through the preseason. He looked, look, he is a physical specimen of greatness. For what he is, which is very fast and very athletic, I think Kirk Cousins is going to target him a ton. I expect that this is one of those games where he could easily go vintage D jacks and get you a 60 yard bomb. So he's my start.

[Jason Moore]

I think he could have two. What's ironic is in that sounds like a double start in my league of an hour, league of record. I am starting on my roster. My start of the week at wide receiver over your start of the week in desean Jackson, who I also like.

[Mike Wright]

You're a crazy person.

[Jason Moore]

I might be crazy, but I my.

[Andy Holloway]

Start of the week is crazy like a fox.

[Jason Moore]

Crazy like a fox. Michael Crabtree again. I am pairing him with my number three quarterback in Derek Carr. I expect this to be a game just like Vegas says. It's the highest projected total point output. And the thing is with Crabtree is I think his floor is extremely safe. He's a little bit less volatile than DeSean Jackson. He doesn't need that bomb, but his ceiling is very high. I think he's got very high probability of catching, you know, seven passes and a good chance at a touchdown. He's the type of guy that you might have drafted to not start. I'm saying this is a good matchup and he is going to have a fine fantasy week this week. I do agree his ceiling is not what desean Jackson's is.

[Andy Holloway]

My start of the week at the wide receiver position is one of my biggest surprises on my rankings this week and it's Vincent Jackson. I love Vincent Jackson this week. Hey, you know who turned back time last year for 10 catches, 147 yards and a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers.

[Mike Wright]

Who was that?

[Andy Holloway]

That was Vincent Jackson.

[Mike Wright]

Booyah.

[Andy Holloway]

Vincent Jackson last year. Look, he was marred by injury during the majority of the season beyond that point, but he is not done. If you saw the preseason games, if you saw his performances out there, this is a team that's going to open it up more. Vincent Jackson is more than capable, more than physically capable of taking a big role in this offense. It's not going to be the Mike Evans show all year long. I love, love Vincent Jackson this week. I dig it, man against Atlanta. So at tight end, I'm going to give you tried and true here. Jason Whitten. I think he's going to be a resource for Dak Prescott in his first game against the Giants to start the season. I'm not projecting anything more than what Jason Whitten is, which is just consistent chance for a touchdown you saw him catch just a great touchdown in the preseason from Prescott. I'll take Jason Whitten this week as my start of the week at the tight end position. If you're struggling or if you have a guy that you're not confident in.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to roll again with one of those high Vegas scoring games for my start of the week with Dwayne Allen. Dwayne Allen, here's a stat for you. In his entire career, the first game he plays.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, dear.

[Jason Moore]

He has never not scored a touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

Double negative.

[Jason Moore]

That's right, you have.

[Andy Holloway]

In the first game he plays each season. Yeah, every season of his career. I thought he meant like in the first game he plays. In his career, he's never not scored a touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

As in every season opener for him, he scores a touchdown.

[Andy Holloway]

That's kind of crazy.

[Jason Moore]

Guarantee, right?

[Andy Holloway]

So everyone should have drafted him and traded him.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, exactly. So. But I am starting Dwayne Allen in a couple of our leagues.

[Andy Holloway]

All right?

[Jason Moore]

I believe it. All right.

[Mike Wright]

Now I'm digging a little bit deeper. If you are struggling at the tight end position, I'm throwing it up in the air. I'm pulling on the outlaw Jesse James. I like him to go six shooter against Washington.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my God. Six shooter.

[Mike Wright]

Look, Jesse, if. When you're.

[Andy Holloway]

He's your huckleberry.

[Mike Wright]

Absolutely. When you are. When you're grabbing a tight end and you're saying, I'm going to start this guy, it's because you're hoping for a touchdown. I think this is a great situation for Jesse James. Ladarius Green, as we know, will not be playing on Sunday. And for a guy that's probably available on your waiver wire, I think there is a great chance for a touchdown for Jesse James.

[Andy Holloway]

I like Jesse James. I think it's a good decision this week. I think he's Heath Miller with legs. As I said last week, he can move a little bit. He's athletic. Big Ben knows how to use the other pieces in that offense. And he's lost Martavius Bryant. He's lost Love Bell for this week. Jesse James is a great pick. So those are our starts of the week. Hopefully you're getting ready for your season one matchup tonight and beyond. And we're excited to hear how your week goes. Excited to get some data into the system, so to speak, so we can kind of figure out what's going on here.

[Mike Wright]

I can't wait to overreact, everybody.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that will be very fun next week, but we'll be back tomorrow. We'll review the rest of the game.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, we can overreact tomorrow.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

At least to one game.

[Mike Wright]

Cam Newton.

[Andy Holloway]

What else do we have going on?

[Mike Wright]

Guys, tomorrow we're bringing down more matchups. Is there something. Oh, and we're going to talk. Wait, I don't even know what's going on tomorrow.

[Andy Holloway]

We got more maths.

[Mike Wright]

I'm out of it.

[Andy Holloway]

We've got Chris Meaney. Right. For the our daily dose.

[Mike Wright]

Daily dose, tentatively scheduled.

[Andy Holloway]

Ten will be scheduled for the for our DFS segment. We also next week, just if you're wondering, our streaming quarterback options begin next week. So you can kind of because we'll have one week of starts. Guys that are on the waiver wire.

[Mike Wright]

Most likely you're playing the guy you drafted. Unless you're like me and you drafted Philip Rivers and you're pivoting. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, we'll talk more tomorrow. Thanks for joining us on the Fantasy Footballers Podcast today. Check out fantasyjocks.com if you need a trophy or anything for your league, check them out. Use the promo code Footballers.

[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.