Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Starts of the Week, Week 2 Matchups, News

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Starts of the Week, Week 2 Matchups, News
Release Date: September 15, 2016

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Introduction: Week 2 Kickoff

As the NFL season progresses into its second week, The Fantasy Footballers—Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright—dive back into the fantasy fray. Andy kicks off the episode with enthusiasm for FanDuel's new features, emphasizing its appeal for everyday fantasy enthusiasts. He highlights, “[FanDuel] is all about fantasy football for everyday fans, making your Sunday a better experience” (00:00).

Debate of the Week: Start or Sit Thomas Rawls

The trio engages in their weekly debate, focusing on whether fantasy managers should start or sit Thomas Rawls for Week 2.

Jason Moore's Stance: Jason advocates for starting Rawls, positioning him as a reliable RB2 option. He reasons, “I believe that you drafted him where you drafted him. He's needed to start in most of those rosters” (04:26). Jason emphasizes Rawls' potential workload against a Rams team that allowed a strong performance from Carlos Hyde in Week 1, predicting, “you can trust Thomas Rawls to have at least 15 carries” (05:15).

Mike Wright's Counterpoint: Mike counters by expressing caution due to Rawls' ankle injury. He states, “I'm not ready to put a guy into my starting lineup” (05:15), advocating for alternatives like Jeremy Hill. Mike underscores the importance of not sidelining Christian Michael, who outperformed Rawls in Week 1, saying, “You cannot throw away what he has done” (05:15).

Andy’s Verdict: Despite Mike's arguments, Andy sides with Jason, noting his own confidence in Rawls’ potential breakout. He concludes, “I think it’s very wrong. And so I give it to Jason” (07:44).

News and Updates: Player Performances and Injuries

Sammy Watkins Questionable: Adam Schefter reports that Sammy Watkins is questionable for Week 2. Andy mentions, “I started him in my week two rankings to play and do play poorly” (09:27). Jason concurs, advising fantasy managers to position Watkins in the WR slot to manage potential underperformance.

Russell Wilson Status: The Seattle Seahawks report considering Russell Wilson a full-time starter with no limitations, as stated by offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. Andy reacts by planning to drop Matt Ryan in his league, preferring to start Wilson.

Vikings QB Situation: Andy decides to drop Matt Ryan in favor of starting Russell Wilson, citing the Seahawks' favorable quarterback situation.

Demarious Thomas and Keenan Allen Updates: The hosts discuss Demarious Thomas being on hip watch and acknowledge Keenan Allen's increased target potential, recommending him as a valuable WR pickup.

Injuries Across Teams: Multiple players are on practice squads or recovering from injuries, including Arian Foster, Julio Jones, and others. The team advises monitoring player statuses closely, especially Jonathan Stewart's potential injury against the Broncos.

Starts of the Week: Strategic Player Recommendations

The heart of the podcast focuses on the hosts' recommendations for starting players based on Week 2 matchups.

Quarterbacks:

• Andy Holloway: Matt Ryan vs. Oakland Raiders
  Andy suggests Matt Ryan as a solid streaming option, anticipating a high-scoring game where Ryan could throw three touchdowns. He notes, “[Matt Ryan] has a chance for three touchdowns in this game” (40:02).

• Jason Moore: Matthew Stafford vs. Detroit Lions
  Jason favors Matthew Stafford, highlighting his strong performance in Week 1 against the Colts and the Lions' pass-heavy offense. He emphasizes Stafford’s high upside and consistent target distribution, stating, “Matthew Stafford with all of his weapons should be a very fine safe play” (41:34).

• Mike Wright: Marcus Mariota vs. Detroit Lions
  Mike opts for Marcus Mariota, impressed by the Lions' offensive surge under their new coordinator. He predicts Mariota will keep pace in a high-over game, saying, “So I think he's a fine start” (41:57).

Running Backs:

• Jason Moore: Jonathan Stewart vs. Carolina Panthers
  Jonathan Stewart is Jason’s top RB pick, given his favorable matchup and reliability. He asserts, “Jonathan Stewart just has such a high floor and if he gets a touchdown... you’re going to be very happy with him” (46:12).

• Andy Holloway: Thomas Rawls vs. St. Louis Rams
  Andy chooses Thomas Rawls, confident in his increased workload and role in the offense. He shares, “I have had a lot of people write me and say something like... I think by week three or four, he's going to be a prolific runner” (48:00).

• Mike Wright: Garrett Blunt vs. Miami Dolphins
  Mike recommends Garrett Blunt, expecting significant carries and touchdown opportunities against a Miami defense that struggles to contain the run. He explains, “I think that there’s a heavy workload coming for LeGarrett Blunt with great chance to score” (47:17).

Wide Receivers:

• Andy Holloway: Tajie Sharp vs. Detroit Lions
  Tajie Sharp is Andy’s top WR pick, projecting a strong performance in a high-scoring environment paired with Marcus Mariota’s offense. He remarks, “I think you can start him as a 2” (42:37).

• Jason Moore: Alan Hearns vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
  Jason favors Alan Hearns, believing he will capitalize on an overmatched Jaguars defense. He states, “Alan Hearns is the forgotten man... he is in a great matchup for a touchdown” (43:25).

• Mike Wright: Mike Wallace vs. Baltimore Ravens
  Mike selects Mike Wallace for his upside in a matchup against the Ravens, anticipating deep passes and potential touchdowns. He comments, “If I need that flex upside play... it would not surprise me at all if Mike Wallace can steal one away this week” (44:35).

Tight Ends:

• Andy Holloway: Virgil Green vs. Indianapolis Colts
  Andy recommends Virgil Green, praising his targeting and matchup against a vulnerable Colts secondary. He notes, “I’m exceptionally happy with the matchup against the Colts” (49:08).

• Jason Moore: Antonio Gates vs. New England Patriots
  Jason endorses Antonio Gates, highlighting his reliability and touchdown potential despite Gates' age. He asserts, “I love Gates” (50:12).

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Conclusion: Final Thoughts and Community Engagement

As the episode wraps up, the hosts encourage listeners to engage with their community through jointhefoot.com and follow them on Twitter. They tease upcoming segments, including deeper analyses of remaining matchups and Daily Dose insights for DFS players. Additionally, they mention an after-show on YouTube where they delve into fan questions and share personal anecdotes.

Andy concludes with a nod to their sponsor and a reminder to check out their websites for comprehensive articles summarizing their weekly starts and recommendations.

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Notable Quotes:

• Andy Holloway (04:26): “I think you drafted him where you drafted him. He's needed to start in most of those rosters.”

• Mike Wright (05:15): “I'm not ready to put a guy into my starting lineup.”

• Jason Moore (43:25): “Alan Hearns is the forgotten man... he is in a great matchup for a touchdown.”

• Jason Moore (50:12): “I love Gates.”

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This episode provides a comprehensive analysis of Week 2 matchups, player statuses, and strategic starts to optimize fantasy football performance. Whether you’re a seasoned manager or new to fantasy football, The Fantasy Footballers offer valuable insights to help you navigate the early weeks of the NFL season.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot clan. The first week of the NFL season is already in the books somehow. Now, how's your fantasy team do? Mine did all right. I had a couple that went well. Had a couple that didn't go so well. But this week I'm jumping back into FanDuel like I can do every single week with a brand new contest. No busted seasons. Because FanDuel is all about fantasy football for everyday fans, making your Sunday a better experience. Now, they've got a bunch of upgraded brand new features this year, including beginner contests where new players play against new players. You also have 5050 contests where the top half win money and you can play for a dollar. You could play for any type of different budget. They have everything on FanDuel.com and this week they're paying out at least a million dollars in prizes. So head over to FanDuel.com youm can sign up right now to get $50 in free entries. New users that deposit get five free entries for 50, 50 beginner contests. That's a $50 value, completely free. And all you have to do is go to FanDuel.com, click the join now button and use the promo code ballers. That's FanDuel.com use the promo code Ballers. Jump in there. Have fun in week two. We'll see you there.

[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 Rice.

[Andy Holloway]

Jam packed show today.

[Mike Wright]

Let's get to it.

[Andy Holloway]

It is, it is gonna be a busy one and I'm excited. We have so much news. We got all of the matchups for week two. I love week two. You can start to.

[Mike Wright]

I love week two.

[Andy Holloway]

You can, you can see a glimmer. I love week two because you get a glimmer of trends. You get a glimmer of something, you know which players were week one Mirages?

[Mike Wright]

The Ogletrees of the world.

[Andy Holloway]

The Ogletree. Yeah, we still remember Mr. Ogletree from week one a couple years back.

[Jason Moore]

And which ones are the Anquan Boldens?

[Andy Holloway]

The Anquin Boldens.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah, Bolden is rookie year. Comes out that first week and you know, it's like, ah, you know, it's just. It's not going to happen again. If you picked him up that year, he was good in week two. And week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, week three. Four. Yeah. Very good show. We got a start to the week on the show today as well. I'll have to brag on behalf of my colleague, Mr. Jason Moore, who was a perfect four for four last week. And we're not talking, like, kind of okay. Starts to the week. We're talking, like, home runs on all four of them.

[Jason Moore]

Who. The pressure's on.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So don't fail all of our listeners.

[Jason Moore]

I will do my best.

[Andy Holloway]

And, you know, we have. This morning, I tweeted out we now have 2,000 people on join the foot.com.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. It is the best community of fantasy football listeners in the world.

[Andy Holloway]

In the world. Nay, in the universe.

[Jason Moore]

The universe.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, all inclusive here.

[Mike Wright]

We'll include the Martians.

[Andy Holloway]

We've also got our debate of the week. Jason and Mike are facing off. Very excited about that.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Makes it very easy.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, the trash talk begins early.

[Jason Moore]

I wish I was wearing a glove so I could just take it off and slap him across the face.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, like, that's how we introduce the debate.

[Mike Wright]

Gentlemen.

[Jason Moore]

We are gentlemen here. I challenge you.

[Andy Holloway]

Why do I feel like you would struggle to get the glove off?

[Jason Moore]

Because I got fat hands.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

Why you gotta be so mean?

[Andy Holloway]

You guys want to jump right into that?

[Jason Moore]

Let's do it. It's time for the Fandings.com debate of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

Always a good time. I get to be the judge today. I get to sit. Sit on the sidelines and listen to YouTube bicker and decide which one of you is the winner. Now, with that sound, I don't think you'd have, like, the little leather glove. You'd have a boxing glove, right? If you could pull that.

[Jason Moore]

Pull that.

[Andy Holloway]

Throw it at him. Oh, is that what you do?

[Mike Wright]

This reminds me of the men in tights.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, that's all I was thinking of.

[Mike Wright]

He picks up the night glove and knocks him out.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, it's time. The Fandings.com debate of the week. It is a simple question. Should you start or sit? Thomas Rawls. I should really be a part of this debate.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I know. I was going to say coming up.

[Andy Holloway]

Based on later in the show, but go ahead.

[Jason Moore]

All right, I'll kick it off with a little bit, let you have the floor. Mike, I believe that you should this week start Thomas Rawls. Now, I am not personally predicting this massive game. I have him as an RB2, but I believe that you drafted him where you drafted him. He's needed to start in most of those rosters, and I think this is an opportunity where you can start him. Pete Carroll has come out. He has said he's the starter, and if you look last week, when he wasn't the starter, when it was you know, the quote unquote, week two of preseason, he got 12 carries. And so coming up this week against a team that Carlos Hyde just had an excellent fantasy game against, I think you can trust Thomas Rawls to have at least 15 carries. And if he gets that, it's going to be okay for your fantasy team. I say start him.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, okay. I would. I would sit him down. I'm not playing Thomas Rawls yet. I'm not ready to commit to a guy coming off of that ankle injury. He did. He got in some work, but the thing is, he was. He was massively outproduced by Christian Michael. I think that Rawls is going to take the. Take the job of the primary ball carrier. But Kristen Michael is not. You cannot throw away what he has done. He has been dominant in preseason. He was over five yards of carry last week while Rawls was not anywhere close to that. And look, I know Rawls is still coming back from the injury, but for me, I'm just not ready to put a guy into my starting lineup. There's. There's going to be other options that you. That you likely have on your bench. Maybe you got Jeremy Hill. I'm going to play him over Thomas Rawls this week. It's a look. And Carlos Hyde did end up with a decent fantasy. Not decent. A great fantasy day. That was because of the touchdowns. As far as the rushing, you know, the Rams did keep him in check for most of the game. So when you combine that, you combine Russell Wilson is banged up. Maybe they. Maybe the running game is not as effective because the Rams are able to key in on the running game and they don't have to worry about Russell Wilson running around. I'm just not ready to throw Rawls out into my starting lineup yet.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think they could be pretty confident about keying in on the running game against Blaine Gabbard as well and letting him throw it at will. Here's what I would say. This game was going to be low scoring because as you mentioned, Russell Wilson is hobbled a little bit with that ankle. Obviously, the Rams do not know how to score. So this game is going to be a running back centric game. It's also going to be a game where they're going to try to get the ball out of Russell Wilson. Sands. And I'm talking about Seattle. I think they're going to want to hand the ball off. And if. If Thomas Rawls were to get 22 carries in this game, I wouldn't be surprised at all. Now, again, being Lower scoring. I don't think he's going to go off for a monstrous game, but I think he's. I think he's very safe to get a ton of touches and that's what I look for in fantasy.

[Andy Holloway]

We need not go on because we're going to discuss Thomas Rawls a little bit later when we get into the starts of the week. Hint, hint. Mike had no chance.

[Mike Wright]

Mike, I never have a chance because you've already decided before the debate begins.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, look, you guys chose the debate topic and you knew my situation and I think you had a very well crafted dissenting voice. I think it's important to have that on the show. I think it's very wrong. And so I give it to Jason.

[Jason Moore]

Boom.

[Andy Holloway]

But look, you already knew on the show yesterday I said I thought Thomas Rawls was going to have a breakout game this week. I think that we've also seen Pete Carroll repeat himself. Darrell Bevel came out, said he's always been our starter. He looks great. He repri this morning he came out and said he represents everything our team wants to be. That's what they said about what Thomas Rawls does pretty good. So basically my contention is they want him to be the bell cow and they want Michael to fill in and Michael's done a good job at that. But I'm going to give it to Jason because I was already pre decided, as you said.

[Jason Moore]

So.

[Andy Holloway]

So not a fair debate whatsoever.

[Jason Moore]

You know how I like my fights.

[Andy Holloway]

Unfair.

[Jason Moore]

That's exactly right.

[Andy Holloway]

Don't forget, follow us on Twitter the FFballers and check out the website the fantasy footballers.com where you can submit questions to the show. Can learn a lot about what goes on here at the Fantasy Footballers headquarters and make sure you head over to itunes, subscribe to the show and review.

[Mike Wright]

And hey, if you want to jump in on that debate yourself, make sure you grab the Fandigs.com app.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, absolutely. And you know what was cool about Fandings last week is they had stuff going on on Sunday Night Football and it's a really good app. If you want to debate, if you want to vote, participate in these different types of debates.

[Mike Wright]

You want to crush people's spirits like mine have just been destroyed.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, we're going to actually tweet this exact debate question the link to it. So you can.

[Jason Moore]

If people want to get your back and they think you're right, go vote.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but clan, I need you. So go to Fandings on the app Store or go to fandings.com let them know you found out about them from us. Let's go. Let's talk about some news.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league.

[Andy Holloway]

We got to blitz it, guys. You ready?

[Mike Wright]

Hold on. Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. So Adam Schefter's reporting Sammy Watkins questionable for tonight. He wants to play, probably will play. I started him in my week two rankings to play and do play poorly.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, Yeah. I did, too. I really hope they shut him down. I think it would be good even if you are the Sammy Watkins owner, for him to be shut down. Give him some rest on that foot. This isn't a game I'm excited to have any player in, to be honest. It's just a friendly reminder, though, if you do play him, put him in the wide receiver slot. Any players, make sure they are in your wide receiver or running back, not in your flex if you can avoid it so that your flex is open. Should things fall unexpectedly different as the week goes on.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. Yes. You don't like it when things fall unexpectedly different.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

The Seahawks have reported they're considering Russell Wilson a full go. That's from offensive coordinator Darrell Bevel. Not planning to have him limited as in any way. So that's good. I'm going to believe that I decided to drop Matt Ryan in a league I'm starting Russell Wilson.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, okay.

[Jason Moore]

And that is against me.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And that is against you. And it's just a start. Your studs thing. I love Matt Ryan this week. I mean, I hate Matt Ryan in general, but I love him this week. Sammy Biscuits is back in Minnesota.

[Mike Wright]

He's like a bad penny.

[Andy Holloway]

Name the Vikings starting quarterback. Can you normally trade a penny for a first round draft pick? So he's the Vikings starting quarterback. Quickly, quickly. Any, you know, what are the fantasy implications of Biscuits behind center?

[Jason Moore]

I think it'll help the Vikings in general, some of their role players, and Adrian Peterson. But Bradford is not a startable asset.

[Andy Holloway]

If you've been following news, there are a number of players that have been sat down for a game for a day or two of practice, including Arian Foster. You know, Adam Gase came out and said from a practice standpoint, as far as going full pads, he basically said a guy that gets that much contact on Sunday doesn't need contact during the week. So he says if there's something we need to practice with him on Thursday or Friday, we can get that in. So don't worry about Foster. D will given a rest day on Wednesday.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. He's 39.

[Mike Wright]

Julio Jones, he touched the ball about 50 times. As well.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Julio Jones, Jonathan Stewart, both limited. You got to pay attention to Jonathan Stewart because if he plays the Broncos, he gets hurt. That's just how it works. So just pay attention to his reports. This week. Devonte Parker practiced in full. Is he worth. If he's sitting on your waiver wire, he's worth grabbing and seeing how week two goes?

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely. If he's on waiver wire, he is worth a pickup.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, let's look here. We've got Demarious Thomas news. What's going on with Demarius Thomas?

[Mike Wright]

So they Demarius Thomas. We've been watching. We're on hip watch with him and allegedly.

[Andy Holloway]

Hip watch.

[Mike Wright]

Hip watch. Hip watch. Allegedly during practice.

[Jason Moore]

Keep watching.

[Mike Wright]

That's.

[Jason Moore]

You always give him the easy one.

[Mike Wright]

I knew there was a joke there. I just couldn't get to it. He was seen grabbing his hip, grimacing during practice. However, Coobs has said that he should be starting on Sunday and I think he'll play through it.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. All right. We'll see what happens. I mean, monitor. It's a. It's a great matchup.

[Mike Wright]

If he plays whenever veterans miss or are limited on Wednesday, that's just a.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

I need to keep an eye out for Thursday and Friday.

[Andy Holloway]

A lot of speculation in San Diego about who receives the Keenan Allen targets, the catches Philip Rivers talked about. Tyrell Williams said, we need him to catch a bunch of balls this year. A bunch of balls and have some huge days and big gains.

[Mike Wright]

That's interesting.

[Jason Moore]

He's an athletic freak and so, you know, if he does end up getting involved, if the targets go his way, he is a fantasy relevant player. That's why we recommended picking him up.

[Andy Holloway]

Kendall Wright returned to practice. If Kendall Wright played the rest of the year, would you care?

[Jason Moore]

Nope. I would care. From the standpoint of Tajie Sharp. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

You would?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, absolutely. I think Kendall Wright, if he plays, he's going to be getting. He'll get six to eight targets a game and that's six to eight targets a game. Going, not expected.

[Andy Holloway]

Not expected to play week two.

[Jason Moore]

True.

[Andy Holloway]

Tyler Ifert said yesterday he's still only running at half speed. It's likely a few more weeks before Tyler Ifert is back.

[Mike Wright]

That's what I tell that to people, too.

[Andy Holloway]

About your speed.

[Mike Wright]

If you watched. If you watched me on the combine, I was just running half.

[Andy Holloway]

That's right. Yeah, I remember that. I remember that now. Now I have an explanation. That's really good. So we're going to jump right into the matchup.

[Jason Moore]

One Other piece of news, just because I just looked it up, I was curious myself. Julius Thomas practiced in full, so that's worth noting because he had the ankle injury.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, that is good. So we're going to talk through half the matchups and we're going to give you our starts of the week for week two.

[Jason Moore]

Fantasy forecast.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, time to dive in, everybody. Let's start with the Thursday night game tonight.

[Jason Moore]

Don't make me do it.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't want to talk about Thursday night game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, look, come on. NFL put some high scoring teams on Thursday night.

[Andy Holloway]

Jets and the Bills. Come on, you don't want to see Rex Ryan without his lap band.

[Jason Moore]

Here's the deal with the Bills and the Jets. So this is expected to be a low scoring game. And that was before the news that Sammy Watkins might not play. You've got.

[Andy Holloway]

He's going to play. That's what we reported, at least.

[Jason Moore]

Sure. Yeah. I mean, I still think it's. There's a chance that he does not play. Some of the beat writers have said that there's a chance, based on how he's been practicing, that he doesn't play. He says he's going to play, but of course the player is always going to say that, regardless. If he's in, he's hobbled. If he's out, the team is hobbled even more. You have Charles Clay, who we should get an update on, but was also struggling.

[Mike Wright]

He's questionable, but he got into limited sessions. Tuesday and Wednesday should be good to go.

[Jason Moore]

So you got a hobbled team here that would play the Ravens.

[Andy Holloway]

The Bills would concede the game and just. We wouldn't see one tonight.

[Jason Moore]

White flag it? I don't think so because I think Rex Ryan is on the very hot seat.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

So he needs, he needs, he needs to win. This is the, this is their home opener.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

They were on the road for the race.

[Andy Holloway]

He said he gained 30 pounds since Rob Ryan came to his staff.

[Jason Moore]

No. Is that true?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And then he had his lap band removed because there were complications with Rob Ryan's lap band.

[Jason Moore]

Wow.

[Andy Holloway]

So he did it in like solidarity, which means he's going to be getting larger.

[Mike Wright]

I've gained 30 pounds since Jason joined the show.

[Andy Holloway]

That's true. That's true. So there's an impact of weight on your, you know, on your colleagues, on your colleagues. Are you starting now? Ryan Fitzpatrick is a streamer consideration for me this week.

[Mike Wright]

He's always a consideration, but I'd look somewhere else.

[Andy Holloway]

He gets production out of Forte and Powell out of the backfield, you got Marshall and Decker, the best in the business in terms of, you know, just giving him that 200 to 2 kind of baseline. I feel like.

[Jason Moore]

I think he does have that baseline. The question here is amount of interceptions. He's been notoriously bad against Rex Ryan teams in the past. I believe it was the Bills last year where he had that collapse game at the end of the season with three touch, three interceptions that ruined their chances at the playoffs.

[Andy Holloway]

The big question here, guys, is LaShawn McCoy because he has a tough matchup. We all like the jets defensive front. They, you know, you combine Gio Bernard and Jeremy Hill and what they did against the jets last week, and it was not good for fantasy owners. Now you have the Sean McCoy, who, on one hand, he looks like he's the entirety of the offense. On the other hand, it's a very bad matchup. And so I want to. I want to pose some decisions for you gentlemen this week. Would you start Spencer Ware or would you start LaShawn McCoy? Spencer Ware against Houston or LaShawn McCoy against the Jets?

[Jason Moore]

I would start LaShawn McCoy if I'm. If I'm in that decision. I think both are bad matchups.

[Andy Holloway]

What about Ryan Matthews against Chicago or LaShawn McCoy against New the Jets?

[Mike Wright]

Shady.

[Andy Holloway]

You still would play Shady?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, look, I think I would probably.

[Mike Wright]

Go Matthews there since our rankings went up the most. Asked about guy for my rankings, my initial rankings has been LaShawn McCoy. And I think that the jets have improved up in the front this year. But last year, LaShawn McCoy, 19 carries, 112 yards, five receptions for 47 yards. And I haven't. I haven't given Shady a bunch of yards. I've got his carry total. He's under four yards of carry. But like Andy said, I think he's the offense. I mean, and Tyrod Taylor's gonna have to dump it off to him. I expect four to five receptions. I expect, you know, 60 or so yards on the ground with a chance to score, and I just, I'm not afraid of starting Lashawn McCoy tonight.

[Jason Moore]

It should be a running back heavy game and the guy that I like.

[Andy Holloway]

Flip it to the other side.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. The guy that I like the most out of all players in this game, I'm still. I guess the guy I like the most is still Brandon Marshall. Tough matchup, low scoring game. I'm always starting Brandon Marshall. He's a locked and loaded. Look, you got him. You play him. If he has a bad week, please Go trade for him. If he has a bad week this week, you got to get him on your roster.

[Andy Holloway]

It's Matt Forte.

[Jason Moore]

But Matt Forte is the guy that I unexpectedly like the most here. I think because it's low scoring, you're going to have a lot of groundwork on both sides of the ball. Matt Forte was the bell cow last week. He was clear Bilal Powell did not sniff near a 5050 split as was expected. And the Buffalo Bills real strength, I think right now is more their secondary than their D line. So Forte should be. I mean, I think this is going to be a game where defense scores almost as much as offense. And so if you get a defensive turnover that puts you down on the five, you got a good chance for a first score.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, Blaine Gabbard. Blaine Gabbert and the 49ers, the undefeated 49ers, they travel the country. They head to Carolina, they take on the Panthers. The Panthers coming off that very close loss, you know, this is not a good game for San Francisco. I am not excited about Hyde, and he's the only one I think about starting on this roster. I'm steering clear of all 49ers. You know, I think Newton has a bounce back game. Jason, you really like Jstu this week.

[Jason Moore]

I really like Jstu this week. We'll talk about him later. I mean, the 49ers defense has instilled a little bit of fear in fantasy players because they shut down. They shut down Todd Gurley. Right. You know who they shut down week one last year? Adrian Peterson. Ooh. And then they stunk the rest of the year, especially when they went on the road. So I'm not worried about that.

[Andy Holloway]

Navarro Bowman cannot clone himself.

[Jason Moore]

He's so good. He is really good.

[Mike Wright]

But here's the deal. When the 49ers don't have to worry about a quarterback playing football, you can put 10 guys in the box and say, okay, Todd Gurley, try and beat us.

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly.

[Jason Moore]

You don't have to worry about Cam. Right.

[Mike Wright]

Can't do that to the Panthers. I like Jonathan Stewart a lot.

[Andy Holloway]

I will say, this week one, I was impressed with the target totals for Kelvin Benjamin. Yeah, he had 12 targets, which put him tied for fourth in the league after week one behind Allen Robinson, Jordan Matthews and A.J. green. You know, it just speaks to the fact that they're going to go to him. They have plays drawn up specifically for that extremely large frame of his. And where do you have Benjamin this week?

[Jason Moore]

I have Kelvin Benjamin. As I'm surprised that I have him technically rated as a wide receiver. 2. He easily could be a wide receiver. One mike has him as a wide receiver. One at eight.

[Mike Wright]

I do.

[Andy Holloway]

I have him the lowest.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, you have him the lowest. I really like Kelvin Benjamin. I think he's going to get the targets in a game like this chance to score though I expect them to be up. I expect it to be a much easier game and so there won't be the need for Kelvin as much as there was against Denver.

[Andy Holloway]

The thing to remember though, whenever we give that that statement is you have to get up somehow. Yes, you have that you have to establish a lead before you can sit on the run. So which is very easy. Benjamin. Let's talk about the Ravens traveling to Cleveland, taking on the Browns. This is a chance for the Ravens to start the season. Two and oh they were, they were my kind of pick. I think in the bold predictions to make the playoffs. I think we all have said we liked their bounce back chances this week. There's so many pieces on the Ravens that we could dedicate a show to figuring their offense out. You have, you know, Terence west and Justin for set at the running back position. You got Wallace and Aiken and Perryman and Steve Smith and then you've got Pitta now who had a lot of snaps in week one break down. What you're doing with the Ravens this week. Do you start? Are you starting these guys? I'm guessing you're starting for set.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, for set is a start for me. All we have is the data from week one and years and years of data of the Browns just not ever being solid. So if you have a Ravens offensive player, I'm probably going to start him for set. I would have as a, as a two. I think that Steve Smith senior could be a sneaky start. He got, he got targets and he got receptions but he did not get yards last year or last last week. I think that can all turn around and my question is, do you have confidence starting Dennis Pitta? No, no, not yet.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think there's a reason to. I don't have a problem with his matchup at all, but I just don't think that there is a reason to start him when there are so many good tight end options available in my.

[Andy Holloway]

Deeper leagues, including my dynasty league. I put in claims on Pitta. I feel like it's worth probably smart. It's worth seeing what happens with him. I kind of agree with you, Jay. I mean I think there are teams that are going to be Asking the question of, oh, do I start Dennis Pitta or Vance McDonald or do I start Dennis Pitta or Kobe Fleen or Barnage? Because they were disappointed in those two weeks, you're saying let's just wait on Pitta.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. There's three guys that I like for the Ravens that I would be willing to start, and I agree with Mike. One of those would be Steve Smith. I actually think with this kind of a matchup, he could kind of get a little rejuvenation. And the other two are Justin Forset and Terence West. I think they'll split the rock and I think they'll both do well. While Mike Wallace had a good Week one, Bashad Perryman was back practice fully. So I think he gets more snaps. He only played like 20% of the snaps, something real low. So if they're just working him back slowly and gave him the Wednesday offer for those reasons, then he might play a little bit more, eat into Mike Wallace. So those are the guys on that side of the ball I would care about.

[Andy Holloway]

Now. Josh McCown takes the helm for Cleveland, which means only good things to me for their passing offense. I still think they're going to be, because of Hugh Jackson, a offense that is predicated on the run. I think you're okay starting Isaiah Crowell as an RB3, RB2 candidate. Duke Johnson will be more involved, in my opinion, under McCown. They had a good rapport last year. And then you have the variables of, you know, Coleman and Pryor and the different options, you know, Barnage in the receiving game.

[Mike Wright]

So, yeah, don't get, don't bail on Barnage just yet. McCown is back, and so I had Terrell Pryor as my burner spot in our league of record during waivers. And the Josh McCown news was so interesting to me that I decided not to drop him for one of the these hotter waiver wire guys. I want to see what Pryor can do with Josh McCown bombing it out to him.

[Jason Moore]

Last year, Gary Barnage and Duke Johnson were the huge beneficiaries. Duke Johnson averaged five receptions a game. With Josh McCown, he's the guy that I think gets the biggest bump up. And you got to keep in mind, like, they're not going to be running the same exact offense they were. I mean, are you doing read options with Josh McCown? No, like, that's just not going to be one of their play calls. And that was very common with RG3. So this is kind of. You have one week to kind of rebuild. I think you're going to see a vanilla offense. That's Gary Barnard. That's Duke Johnson to me.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I kind of. I think Terrell Pry is worthless. Maybe so. We'll see. We'll see what happens.

[Jason Moore]

He might be, but he was. I don't blame you for holding on to C. But then when Flash Gordon gets back.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, absolutely. So before we get into the Titans and the Lions, I want to thank our sponsor, Pristine Auction. We're talking about them frequently on this show because they're the best memorabilia site on. On the Internet. Look, this is where I'm going.

[Andy Holloway]

We give away something from Pristine Auction every month on Join the Foot.

[Mike Wright]

Absolutely. Because they have the look. They got the best stuff. I'm going on there every day and seeing just. I'm checking out the inventory because they have daily auctions every single day.

[Jason Moore]

And you pretend it's for us, but it's always for you. You're like, all the good stuff you find, you buy for yourself.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. If you saw the. The periscope he did on Sunday morning, he has jerseys lining the back of his office.

[Mike Wright]

You're darn right I do.

[Andy Holloway]

Like. Why don't you bring those in for the studio.

[Mike Wright]

Let me just throw some things out. Hey, Houston Texans fan, can I interest you in a J.J. watts signed jersey?

[Jason Moore]

I'm not a Texans fan. You can interest me.

[Mike Wright]

Just saying. Hey, Panthers fan. Luke Keakley, they got. These are the things that are available right now if you're an absolutely. At an affordable price. If you jump on Pristine Auction, that's P R I S T I n e auction.com. go sign up, make a free account and let them know that the fantasy footballer sent you. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And also, if you are a football fan and you're going to be going to the games, we want you to be using the SeatGeek app to go SeatGeek. It's the easiest way to buy tickets. You've heard us talk about them before, you'll hear us talk about them again. But you've got to download the SeatGeek app. It's free to download. You can check out tickets, you can check out the prices. You can see what seats are available. Seatgeek makes it very, very easy. They're going to pull all the tickets from all the different ticketing sites together in one place. They'll show you a map. You can see a map of your stadium and you can pick the exact seat and row and ticket and price and they color coordinate it where it's like, oh, the best price is this giant green.it's really easy. It's what me, Andy and Mike use to go to our games. So be sure to check it out and they'll give you 20 bucks back. After your first purchase. All you got to do is you got to Download the free SeatGeek app. You got to go to the settings tab, add the promo code footballers, and SeatGeek will send you 20 bucks. After you make your first ticket purchase, go to the games and use SeatGeek.

[Andy Holloway]

That's Mike, Andy and I. We use Mike, Andy and I. Oh, the grammar police. All right, Mike alluded to it. We're heading into the Titans and the Lions and.

[Jason Moore]

Andy's almost upset of the week.

[Mike Wright]

You cannot stop yourself. You love the underdog. Oh, that. You know.

[Andy Holloway]

Come on. Last week I nailed it.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, you did.

[Andy Holloway]

Come on.

[Jason Moore]

And I thought. I.

[Andy Holloway]

Honestly, I thought last year you thought I was crazy.

[Jason Moore]

I thought you were crazy. And you nailed your almost upset of the week. They almost.

[Andy Holloway]

That was the Jacksonville, Jacksonville Packer game.

[Jason Moore]

Yep. They were 30 seconds away from winning that game.

[Andy Holloway]

They were 30 seconds. That's. That's an almost upset right there, I guess.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Like the Titans head in.

[Mike Wright]

So if they, if the team actually.

[Andy Holloway]

Wins, I also succeed. Yes, that's. No, that's how like you've lost. No, I've won. I've won last week. Last year we had a lot of those situations. I win almost in all circumstances.

[Mike Wright]

60% of the time.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. The Titans take on the Lions in Detroit. The Lions are six point favorites. This is a very high over under. You know, you have a ford, almost a 48 point over under in this game. Look, this is one of the reasons why you're going to hear us talk about some of the Titans today, as in our starts of the week section, because I think we have potential for Mariota as a good Stream. You saw DeMarco Murray be very effective last week with the two touchdowns, the majority of the snaps over Henry.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And then Tajie Sharp burst onto the scene with a seven catch day and you have Delaney Walker in the offense. So on that side of the ball, I don't, you know, let's just talk about demarco Murray. You know, we all have him rated fairly high this week.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

You were happy with the carry count.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I was. I was happy with the workload. And I think that the Detroit Lions are not the Minnesota Vikings when it comes to a run defense because Murray, they are not. Murray was not super efficient when it came to the running game. He got. He got really involved in the passing game, which is great to see because that's, that's the DeMarco Murray we remember from Dallas who was getting 100 yards on the ground every game, but he was also catching a bunch of passes which made him extremely valuable. So I would expect that to continue. And I just, I like the matchup so much more that if you're going to give me a workhorse running back, I'm going to start him.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, DeMarco's a top 10 back for all three of us. I would start him happily with confidence. I've got no worries about the Lions defense and what we saw last week out of the Lions. We're not sure this is going to be a really great litmus test for them because you wonder, you know, was it, was it just their matchup last week or are they a great offense? Is their defense terrible or good? We're going to see this week. But the nice thing about Murray is if they're down, he's involved. If they're up, he's involved. And that's what you look for in those main running backs.

[Andy Holloway]

Let me mix it up a little bit here. If you're looking rest of season at demarco Murray, would you rather have demarco Murray or Latavius Murray rest of season?

[Jason Moore]

That's a great question.

[Mike Wright]

I think I would. I'd probably still rather have Latavius Murray at this point.

[Jason Moore]

I would lean that way myself, but just by a hair. And the reason is Derek Henry. I just think that there is more.

[Andy Holloway]

Talent behind DeAndre Washington. You saw Jalen Richard this past week?

[Jason Moore]

No, I like it. But neither one of those guys were a second round pick with the buzz.

[Mike Wright]

That Derek Henry looked like the juggernaut in the.

[Andy Holloway]

What about Danny Woodhead or DeMarco Murray Rest of season? Ooh, let's put it in a half point lead.

[Mike Wright]

Half point.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to take demarco. Still love Danny Woodhead, but I'll take demarco.

[Mike Wright]

But that's extremely close for me.

[Andy Holloway]

Is there any reason why when you move Danny woodhead into your RB2 slot, ESPN asks you three times, are you sure?

[Jason Moore]

Dude, it never feels good every time.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, I know you know who Danny Woodhead is. I got a little interesting thing. Yeah, give me today. I saw this. Today is the 26th anniversary of when Captain Planet started. Okay, Danny Woodhead is. He's got the heart ring on.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that's so good. That's so good. He's got the heart.

[Andy Holloway]

Heart.

[Mike Wright]

You see, they always Seem. They always seem so useless because you got. You got fire out there taking people out, burning them to the ground. Heart and hearts, like, hey, monkey, I need to talk to you, and I need to talk to these animals. But then heart always gets it done.

[Andy Holloway]

The heart gets it done, but you don't. You know, who wants. You're not gonna choose that ring.

[Jason Moore]

No, you're not.

[Mike Wright]

I'm gonna get. I'm gonna go fire or Earth. I'm going them all over heart.

[Andy Holloway]

You like how that tied in, right? We got the 26th anniversary of. You grew up watching Captain Planet. And then afterwards, right, like after the episode, you'd have that, what, three minute, like, serious conversation with Captain Planet.

[Mike Wright]

Recycling.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Don't kill the dolphins.

[Mike Wright]

I was going to go with Danny Woodhead's kind of like a bad cough syrup.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, so what in the world does that mean?

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's run through.

[Mike Wright]

You don't feel good drinking it, but you know that it's going to make it feel better.

[Andy Holloway]

All right?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, sure. I got you there. All right, so you're starting to mark Rory. What about. What about Amir Abdullah? Theo Riddick?

[Andy Holloway]

You know, I.

[Jason Moore]

Who would you rather start? You've got both on your roster, and you have to start one.

[Andy Holloway]

You start theoretic or who?

[Jason Moore]

Or Abdullah.

[Andy Holloway]

I start theoretic. And it's super close. I mean, it's super close. I. Theoretic was like a gym I found at the bottom of the barrel, and a lot of my, like, my dynasty leagues and things like that, because I didn't think it had running backs.

[Mike Wright]

And I think I do.

[Andy Holloway]

I think I got somebody I can start. I'm not, you know, he's not Danny Woodhead. Projection the rest of the year. But I like the Riddick. And I know you would say Abdullah because you're smirking.

[Mike Wright]

I. What I'm interested in, it is close is what. What looks different for Riddick was his running. If you watched him, he looked different than he has in years past where he's had basically no value.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, the Colts people.

[Mike Wright]

And that's what I'm concerned about. Was it the Colts where the Titans look, they held Adrian Peterson.

[Andy Holloway]

They have a good running.

[Mike Wright]

And if you can hold Peterson, I have to assume that you can hold Theo Riddick in check when it comes to the running.

[Andy Holloway]

With all due respect, Riddick had, like, three carries last week. I mean, he's still a pass catcher. He led the league in pass catching last year out of the running back position. So for me, that's how I still, I view him right. So if you can't run.

[Mike Wright]

But then that's why I like Riddick. I think Abdul is still the better runner.

[Jason Moore]

I think this will be a high scoring game.

[Andy Holloway]

Totally agree with that.

[Jason Moore]

This won't be a defensive battle that we saw week one with the Titans and the Vikings. This should be points going up on the. On the clock and points going up on the clock. On the board.

[Andy Holloway]

The points right into the clock.

[Mike Wright]

That before too. I believe that's on the Jason Morris Twitter.

[Jason Moore]

Oh really?

[Andy Holloway]

Points going up on the clock.

[Jason Moore]

Jason Morrism Twitter has over 200 followers.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh my God. Probably because it's been mentioned on here.

[Mike Wright]

If you're not following it, go immediately.

[Jason Moore]

They haven't tweeted anything out because I'm. I'm so perfect.

[Andy Holloway]

The before. So perfect.

[Jason Moore]

I'm perfect.

[Andy Holloway]

Me so perfect. All right. The lions were they're 31st in the league against the past right now. I like Mariota's numbers. Last week weren't so bad. He had a couple of bad mistakes. But I think he has opportunities this week. So we'll talk more about that one.

[Jason Moore]

Surprising thing before we move on. I just want to throw this out there. Mike Malarkey, he says he wants to run the ball. You saw it in preseason. But if you look at last year's stats and if you look at game one, he's actually a very pass happy head coach. And that's surprising because you don't view him that way. But he ends up passing more than he always says he wants.

[Mike Wright]

Two defensive scores.

[Andy Holloway]

That's because he'll make that happen because it's 2016. He can say it, but when he says it, he thinks he's. It's like 1986 but it's 2016. So when he gets into the game, he has to. Yeah. The Chiefs take on the Houston Texans in Houston. Both teams want to know this game has a 43 and a half point over under. You had a monster anomalous game from Alex Smith last week due to the comeback attempt over the San Diego Chargers. Wait, you had a consistent.

[Mike Wright]

It's not going to happen again.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, it could.

[Mike Wright]

Career total passes.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I mean he had to throw the ball a lot. And the beneficiary of that was Spencer Ware in a lot of ways. And Jeremy Macklin had a good game. Travis Kelsey was all right. I think this is a monster opportunity for Lamar Miller to run all over this defense as this defense gets healthy. The front was not good last week against the Chargers. You saw Woodhead and you know, Wood had a career high in carries against the Chiefs last week and then you.

[Mike Wright]

Had eating them up.

[Andy Holloway]

Then you had Melvin Gordon with two touchdowns. So I think Lamar Miller feasts this week. I like him quite a bit. DeAndre Hopkins, how concerned are you with him being a top five option this year based on the other weapons they have? Braxton Miller, Will Fuller.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Will Fuller. Will Fuller to me is if you picked him up, I'm. I think I'm starting him until I. Wow.

[Andy Holloway]

That is. I mean that's some like quick praise.

[Jason Moore]

But you're not starting him this week, are you against Kansas City in a low scoring game? I mean, I can tell you I'm not starting Will Fuller this week.

[Mike Wright]

I would like. If you picked him, if you picked him up, it's likely because you need help at the wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

If you were the Keenan Allen.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. You have him right outside the top 24 and I. That makes him flex worthy and I.

[Mike Wright]

Have him decent option.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't have him too much further. I have him at 30 of them at 25.

[Mike Wright]

As for Hopkins, I mean this, this was the concern going into the season is he's not going to see 30% target share.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. We said we love the player.

[Mike Wright]

He's great.

[Andy Holloway]

But they have other weapons now. Lamar Miller is a piece they didn't have last year. Will Fuller, Braxton Miller. This is a different team.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So it just. There is concern for that. A frequency of huge boom games from Hopkins. He'll still give you some, but I think they're going to be.

[Andy Holloway]

Would you rather have DeAndre Hopkins or Mari Cooper rest of season, DeAndre Hopkins? DeAndre Hopkins or Brandon Marshall? Rest of season, Brandon Marshall.

[Mike Wright]

Marshall.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

That Cooper. Cooper is.

[Andy Holloway]

He had a big game close.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

But that was again, you, you got to say was that. Was that Cooper or was that New Orleans?

[Mike Wright]

I think Cooper is great. I just, I don't think Cooper's ceiling is what Hopkins is.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure. All right. You heard Captain Planet talk about it earlier. You need to save the Dolphins and we might need to save them in this game. They had to New England to take on the Patriots. They gave a great look. Their defensive front looked awesome. Against a Seattle offensive line that looked not as awesome still, I mean when they had things rolling when Mario Williams, he plays for the Dolphins. When Mario Williams was going. Cameron Wake, you have a really impressive front and Dom Kung sue in the middle. You know, for me, I don't, you know, this game's a 41 and a half point over under it's one of the lower ones of the week. I think it's going to be a very close game. I really do. The Patriots are favored by almost seven with Garoppolo under center. They'll probably win the game. But how do you guys see this game breaking down? Fantasy wise start sits Kenny Stills.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Last week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Kenny Stills is a bench for now. If you want to cut him, I'm okay with that. But I'm also just fine holding him and seeing what happens this week and the next week. The only guys I really want to start from this game are Julian Edelman. We saw that Garoppolo was not afraid to over target him and continue that streak of the, of the shorts and the slants. And I love LeGarrett blunt this week. I'm going to talk about him a little bit in the starts of the week, but other than that, I'm going.

[Jason Moore]

To go ahead and say Gronk. I'm going to say Gronk.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah. I would put him Gronk. If Gronk plays, you play him every week. I know there's not much analysis I need to do on Gronk.

[Jason Moore]

Gronk good on the, on the Dolphins side of the ball. I think that Arian Foster will be fine this game. You're going to see a good workload and you know, look, if I am the Dolphins, I'm sorry. If I'm the Patriots, if I'm Bill Belichick, I would say this. I'm going to try to say Ryan Tannehill beat me. I will scheme to kind of worry about Arian Foster, take him out of the game and. Because I know Tannehill can't beat me. And so that's, you know. But, but that being said, it's. It's easier said than done to take Foster out of a game. He looked good against Seattle. He was fine. Fantasy wise. I mean, not. He wasn't great, but he was fine against a better defense in Seattle than for Miami or for Patriots. Can't talk. So I'm fine with Foster. I'm also fine with Jarvis Landry. If you're in any kind of ppr. He's just got such a safe baseline.

[Andy Holloway]

I got him for 10 catches this week. I think he's going to, he's going to eat.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I don't.

[Andy Holloway]

Little bites, though. He eats little. He eats little bites.

[Mike Wright]

He's a tiny dipper.

[Jason Moore]

10 for 15.

[Andy Holloway]

We're going to get to the rest of the games tomorrow on the show. The rest of the Matchups right now we're going to jump into our starts.

[Jason Moore]

Starts of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Let's start at the quarterback position. I was between a few guys. I'm going to go with Matty Ice himself taking on the Oakland Raiders doubling down. The Oakland Raiders gave up 423 yards and four touchdowns last week to, to Drew Brees. And Matt Ryan isn't Drew Brees, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna start Matt Ryan this week. I think he's a great streaming play. I know he's been on, he's on the majority of waiver wires and so if you need somebody to start this week, I feel really good about Matt Ryan against Oakland. I think he'll put up. He's got a chance for three touchdowns in this, in this game and I think it'll be a high scoring game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I don't have any problem with that. My, my start of the week this week is Matthew Stafford. He was a late draft pick or even a guy picked up off of waivers if you drafted early. And Stafford, look in week one, I grant you that it was against the Indianapolis Colts who had no secondary but he threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns with no picks. And here's the one thing I am pretty confident about the Detroit Lions is that they are a pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, barely run pass, pass type of team. So that means this is, this is just their fast pace. This is a high scoring game according to Vegas relative to the other games. This, this week doesn't seem to have the crazy boom matchups of last week and of usual weeks. But I think there's going to be points put up. I don't think it's going to be done through the running game. And that means Matthew Stafford with all of his weapons should be a very fine safe play with a high upside and a high floor.

[Mike Wright]

And I'm taking the, him taking his counterpart. I'm taking Marcus Mariota as a guy that you can grab and start. Look it's the, the over under like Jason said is extremely high. And the Lions offense since jbc, the Junior Bacon cheeseburger Jim Bob Cooter has taken over as the offensive coordinator. They have been firing on all sorts of cylinders.

[Andy Holloway]

Junior Bacon Cheese look they.

[Mike Wright]

And they've been great. Stafford has been incredible. His touchdown to interception ratio. I don't have the numbers in front of me but it is, it is incredible what what Jim has done for that offense and Stafford has been lights out. So I just, I think that Marcus is going to have to keep up. They're going. It's a matter of they have to keep pace. If they want to try and win the game. They're not going to be able to slow it down. So I think he's a fine start.

[Andy Holloway]

My decision was between Matt Ryan and Marcus Mariota. I have them rated very high. It's kind of a scary thing to put Mariota as high in the rankings this week, but you got to go with what you think is going to take place. I'm going to jump in now at the wide receiver start because it kind of pairs with what Mark.

[Mike Wright]

We're starting everybody from the game.

[Andy Holloway]

No, not quite. But Tajie Sharp is my start of the week. I think you can feel confident. Look, when we say start of the week, this is not start him over everybody of the week. That doesn't make any sense. But Tajie Sharp had a good week one. I'm projecting him very good in PPR weeks in PPR leagues in week two because of the high scoring game. All the things Mike just talked about. The pair with Marcus, Mario, he's the go to guy. Wright's not in there. Harry Douglas played ahead of Rashad Matthews this past week. It's going to be the Tajie Sharp show. I think you can start him as a 2. I think you can start him as your flex. I feel good about Tajie Sharp. I'm willing to go down with the Sharp.

[Mike Wright]

What? That was not even close.

[Andy Holloway]

No, it wasn't. But wide receiver start of the week. Jason, take it away.

[Jason Moore]

All right. My wide receiver start of the week. I had a real struggle here because there are two guys I really like. So I'm going to throw out the other name which is Emmanuel Sanders. I love him this week. I think that that Colts defense is just an albatross. Demarys Thomas is not completely healthy obviously as he's punching his out targeted by.

[Andy Holloway]

Sanders in week one.

[Jason Moore]

Anyway, I think Sanders is going to eat and as I say this, I almost convinced myself that Sanders should be my real start of the week. But my start of the week is another guy that I think is overlooked right now and that's Alan Hearns. Alan Hearns I think is going to have a very good opportunity now. You've got one of the higher scoring games this week, Jacksonville and San Diego. You have Allen Robinson has not the best splits when it comes to against really high profile DBs and against lower profile DBs. If he's got an easy matchup, Alan Robinson goes nuts and he Eats. But like last week you saw against Sam Shields, he struggled. This week you're going to have Jason Verrett on him that whole game. He was great against Macklin. If you haven't seen his interception, go Google it. Just wrestles the ball away.

[Mike Wright]

It's a milk money interception.

[Jason Moore]

I love when he. Right after he intercepts it, he just puts his hand in the air and starts running like, yeah, I got it. What you got to do? He's being chased after with his arm in the air. But my point is with Julius Thomas, I'm happy to hear he's back at practice, but he had his own injury this week. Alan Hearns is the forgotten man. And I'm saying if you've got him, I'm not predicting he's going to be a wide receiver one. I think he's got a great opportunity for a touchdown in this game. It should be involved. Last game he was 4 for 75. That's great. So if he. If he gets a touchdown on top of that, which I think could happen this week, you're going to be very happy that you started Hearns.

[Mike Wright]

And I'm going with a. I'm going with a boom upside start of the week at the wide receiver position. It. There is a little bit of pain in my stomach as I throw this one out because he is a guy that I just don't really like very much.

[Jason Moore]

You hate this guy.

[Mike Wright]

I hate this guy. But I think the matchup is great for Mike Wallace and the Baltimore Ravens. I love Joe Flacco this week, and I just watched the Cleveland Browns get torched by a rookie and Jordan Matthews. And now you get Mike Wallace, who at least in week one. Look, it was there. The sink was there. And that's what we need where Mike Wallace has not had the sink with a deep ball from his quarterbacks for years. And Joe Flacco can bomb it out. So if I need that flex upside play where I think I can sneak in a big touchdown, it would not surprise me at all if Mike Wallace can steal one away this week as well.

[Andy Holloway]

I'd rather go play Wallace over a guy like Travis Benjamin, who I don't think has the ceiling that Wallace has with some of those deep throws. So that's a great play. Jason, why don't you give us your running back start of the week? We'll dive into the running backs.

[Jason Moore]

Sure. We talked about him already. My running back start of the week is Jonathan Stewart. I have him ranked much higher than most analysts do this week. I'm not afraid whatsoever of the San Francisco D. Sorry, Navarro. Bowman, you are good, but your D on the road is not. I think this is a game that this game script is going to be great for Carolina. If I if the over under on Jonathan carries. Jonathan carries. Jonathan Stewart's carries. Johnny carries was set at 20. I would take the over in this game. You also saw Cam Newton get pretty banged up last week and beaten up left, right and center. So when you're down on the goal line, you might just call one or two extra plays to Jonathan Stewart to try to avoid, you know, getting smashed in the head for Cam Newton. I think Jonathan Stewart just has such a high floor and if he gets a touchdown very similar to Alan Hearns, you're going to be very happy with him. To me, I don't. Unlike Alan Hearns, there's a situation where I don't start Alan Hearns. If I've got great wide receivers, I don't see a situation where I don't start Jonathan Stewart. I mean, I would have to have just great running backs because I think he's a top option this week.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, Mike, I like. It's on to you.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going with the Garrett blunt, who was 22 for 70 and one against a very strong Arizona rush defense. Bill Belichick said, I dare you, Arizona, I dare you to try and stop my running game. And Blunt, he did work. He was one of very few running backs to actually get over 22 carries. They get to play Miami. Look, Miami might be okay. Their defense might actually be okay. But Kristen Michael and Rawls together were nearly at 100 yards and LeGarrett blunt's the only guy who's going to be taking carries in this game. I think that Belichick continues to kind of protect Garoppolo a little bit. He just wants to assure a win. So I think that there's a heavy workload coming for LeGarrett Blunt with great chance to score.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going with Thomas Rawls. Thomas Rawls is my start of the week this week, taking on the Rams. I just don't see a circumstance where he doesn't have an increased workload this week. I think Rawls, to me, looked like he was back in shape last week. I know the numbers didn't say he was hyper efficient, but they also gave him the ball in some short, short yarded situations. They gave him the chance to, I don't know, just. Just get the kinks worked out. And I liked what I saw in the field. I Think Thomas Rawls, the game script, the fact that Russell Wilson, you know, might not be out of the pocket quite as much. Everything that's been happening this week in camp, I feel really good about Thomas Rawls. I have had a lot of people write me and say something like, oh, you know, my only running backs worth starting this week are Latavius Murray and Thomas Rawls. I said, okay, you're fine. I think you're fine. I think you're fine. Roland Thomas Rawls out there. I've looked at some trades to acquire him in my leagues right now when his value is a little lower. I think by week three or four, he's going to be a prolific runner for fantasy owners. So I'm stepping out there with Thomas Rawls and I'll go ahead and give you my tight end as well. It's Virgil Green. Virgil Green taking on the Indianapolis Colts. Virgil Green was, was targeted fairly heavily last week.

[Mike Wright]

Should have had a touchdown.

[Andy Holloway]

Should have had a touchdown. They drew up a red zone play for him. I believe his target count was at six or seven last week, which really wasn't that bad for, for the tight end position. So I was pretty happy with what I saw on film from Virgil Green. I was. I'm exceptionally happy with the matchup against the Colts, whose secondary in defense is just extremely limited right now. So I think it's going to be the.

[Jason Moore]

Did you know that they, the Indianapolis reached out to us for our flag football defense? Did you know?

[Andy Holloway]

I did not know that.

[Jason Moore]

I hadn't told you yet, but we'll talk about it after the show.

[Andy Holloway]

So he had four catches last week. I'd put him in that six catch range this week. And I like Virgil Green as a spot start.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, no, I really like him as well. He has looked involved and this is a great matchup for me. My start of the week. I made this guy my start of the week because I get more questions about him this week than just about any other player and it makes no sense to me. So this is like a half start of the week half. Public service announcement. Antonio Gates, he's great. He's a Hall of Famer. He's going to catch touchdowns this year. He's got a plus matchup. I don't understand the questions of what should I call.

[Andy Holloway]

I could do the voice of public opinion. I'd do it. And I would say, but Jason, but.

[Mike Wright]

But Jason, he's old and he looked.

[Andy Holloway]

Pretty old last week.

[Jason Moore]

He's looked old for three years. He hobbles down the field and you know who Philip Rivers passes the ball to in every important situation? Keenan Allen or Antonio Gates.

[Andy Holloway]

Say, not Keenan Allen anymore.

[Jason Moore]

And that's my point. It's like, who's going to pick up the slack? Gates is going to be safe. He's going to get his targets, he's going to get his catches, his yards and a great chance for a touchdown. So I love Gates.

[Andy Holloway]

Does Gates have a chance to put some points into the clock? He's going to put inside of it.

[Jason Moore]

He's going to take that clock. He's going to take the face off that clock. He's going to put points in and then put the face back on the clock.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. All right, Mike, I'm going target monster.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going with a target monster at the tight end position.

[Andy Holloway]

I like your Note, man.

[Mike Wright]

Jason, 14 targets.

[Andy Holloway]

I repeat, 14 targets.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Thank you. And I don't expect that to drop off. Look, Dak Prescott is going to take the short easy throws. Maybe this week he tries to open it up a little bit, but he's not going to get away from Jason Whitten and Cole Beasley. So Jason Whitten until, until Romo is back in Rome. Actually, you know what, for the foreseeable future because even with Romo, Whitten is a pretty solid start. But I think he is extra special with Dak Prescott just getting targeted out.

[Jason Moore]

The who's, ah, Dak Prescott came out minutes ago and said that he is not going to force the ball to DEZ Bryant.

[Mike Wright]

Of course he's not right.

[Jason Moore]

And I think that's, that's wise.

[Andy Holloway]

Des came out and said forced the ball to Des Bryant.

[Jason Moore]

But the, you know, the point is Jason Whitten is, you know, he's, he's always open enough in that, in that short intermediary range where, you know, there's a reason he got 14 targets.

[Mike Wright]

That's the Dak Prescott sweet zone.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, that's it for our starts of the week. And you know, that's a lot of names they'll be on the website. There's an article that comes out every week that summarizes all of our starts of the week that you can look over. So definitely check that out later today on the fantasy footballers.com we appreciate you joining us on the show today. Tomorrow we're going to get into the rest of the matchups as well as the Daily Dose with Chris Meaney giving you some DFS starts of the week. Some guys you should be paying attention to if you're playing on FanDuel or anywhere else, some really good starts, so definitely pay attention to that. And we got the show after the show on YouTube after today's show, so we'll do that in just a minute.

[Jason Moore]

We're going to talk some pet peeves.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And hey, shout out to Fantasy Jocks. If you need a trophy or you need a championship belt, you go to fantasyjocks.com 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.