Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Studs & Duds, Rising Stars, MNF Preview

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary
Episode: Studs & Duds, Rising Stars, MNF Preview
Release Date: September 12, 2016

The September 12, 2016 episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, hosted by Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright, delves into the first week of the NFL season with comprehensive analysis, insightful discussions, and strategic fantasy football advice. This episode, titled "Studs & Duds, Rising Stars, MNF Preview," offers listeners a deep dive into player performances, injury updates, and crucial Monday Night Football (MNF) game previews to help fantasy managers navigate their teams effectively.

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1. Week One Recap and League Updates

The hosts kick off the episode by reflecting on their personal performances in their fantasy leagues. Mike Wright shares his disappointment with a challenging week, highlighting key inefficiencies and unexpected outcomes:

Mike Wright [02:18]: "I fell a little flat on my face here in the legacy league. Had the joy of Arian Foster going up against that Seattle front. Had Jonathan Stewart against Denver. Had a tough week one."

Jason Moore offers a reassuring perspective for fantasy managers experiencing losses in the inaugural week, emphasizing the learning opportunities that come from early setbacks:

Jason Moore [03:41]: "Week one is the most fine week to lose because... you learn a lot of information through week one."

The trio acknowledges the volatility of early-season matchups and the importance of resilience, encouraging listeners to stay engaged despite initial disappointments.

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2. Injury News and Updates

Sammy Watkins' Injury: A significant portion of the discussion centers around Sammy Watkins of the Buffalo Bills, who reported severe foot discomfort. The hosts express concern over Watkins' ability to continue playing:

Jason Moore [08:23]: "If 그는 lineup next week, he's going to be playing in pain with some pain meds going on. Definitely a scary situation."

Mike Wright highlights the implications of Watkins' injury on fantasy lineups and potential long-term impacts:

Mike Wright [03:41]: "If you're an owner that has Russell Wilson, you might need to stream a guy in week two. I wouldn't drop Russell Wilson."

Russell Wilson's Injury: Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks also faces an ankle injury after stepping on an opponent. The hosts debate whether to retain or replace him in fantasy rosters:

Jason Moore [05:05]: "He didn't have any presses or problems outside his ankle."

Keenan Allen and Philip Rivers: Keenan Allen of the Los Angeles Chargers tore his ACL, leading to concerns about team dynamics and fantasy prospects. Andy Holloway discusses his fondness for Allen despite the injury:

Andy Holloway [12:02]: "I think I'm going to rise back up on Ryan Fitzpatrick because I don't think they're going to be able to get it done."

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3. Stud Muffins: Top Performers of Week One

The Stud Muffins segment highlights players who delivered exceptional performances in week one, providing valuable fantasy points and showcasing their potential for the season.

Wide Receivers:

• Willie Snead Jr.: Snead emerged as a standout performer, accumulating 9 receptions for 172 yards and a touchdown.

  Mike Wright [15:16]: "Willie Snead put up another Touchdown. He was 9 for 172 and one. It was that perfect fantasy game."

• Brandon Cooks: Known for his speed, Cooks added another touchdown with 6 receptions for 143 yards and a touchdown.

  Jason Moore [15:53]: "Both of the big games we were wanting to start, all your players really came to fruition."

Quarterbacks:

• Matt Stafford: Stafford had an impressive outing with 31 completions on 39 attempts for 340 yards and three touchdowns.

  Mike Wright [19:10]: "Matt Stafford 31 for 39 for 340 and three touchdowns."

• Drew Brees: Brees matched Stafford's performance, also throwing four touchdowns.

  Jason Moore [19:12]: "Another guy that dominated snaps, Matt Forte, dominated snaps 22 for 96."

Running Backs:

• Spencer Ware: Ware led their league in fantasy points with significant contributions from both rushing and receiving.

  Mike Wright [21:35]: "Spencer Ware had a very, very good game. Really important game for Kansas City to win too."

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4. Rising Stars: Players to Watch

In the Rising Stars segment, the hosts identify players who showed promising signs in their initial performances and could provide substantial value for the rest of the season.

Danny Woodhead: Despite skepticism, Woodhead had a career-high in carries with two touchdowns, signifying his potential resurgence.

Jason Moore [31:21]: "Danny Woodhead could beat us all up."

C.J. Anderson: Anderson's dominant performance as the lead running back for the Denver Broncos, with 20 carries and significant rushing yards, marks him as a key player to monitor.

Jason Moore [32:12]: "C.J. Anderson got 20 carries. The next most carries was Trevor Simeon with five. This was the C.J. Anderson show."

Isaiah Crowell: Crowell's consistent workload and solid performance for the Cleveland Browns make him a reliable fantasy asset.

Andy Holloway [34:00]: "Crowell is absolutely a guy that I am monitoring when people were asked, do I play Crowell, he was a guy I loved on my bench."

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5. Duds: Underperforming Players

The Pooped in Their Big Boy Pants segment focuses on players who failed to meet expectations in their debut games, providing cautionary tales for fantasy managers.

Tyrod Taylor: Taylor's disappointing performance for the NFL Jets, marked by ineffective play and a struggling offense, raises concerns about his fantasy reliability.

Mike Wright [36:01]: "Tyrod Taylor stunk."

Deshaun Watson and Dez Bryant: Both players underperformed, with Watson struggling to live up to his potential and Bryant missing key opportunities.

Jason Moore [43:10]: "Des is a buy low candidate like he seems to be every year lately."

Kenny Stills and Kamar Aiken: Stills' drops and Aiken's limited involvement highlight the unpredictability and risks associated with these receivers.

Jason Moore [44:07]: "He dropped it right in the moneymaker."

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6. Monday Night Football (MNF) Preview

The hosts preview the upcoming MNF matchups, offering strategic advice on player starts and potential game outcomes.

Steelers vs. Redskins & Rams vs. 49ers: The discussion includes quarterback performances, player matchups, and strategic insights for managing fantasy teams during these high-stakes games.

Jason Moore [46:08]: "If you can get Des Bryant on the cheap, it's fine."

Matt Jones vs. Carlos Hyde: Fantasy managers debate the merits of starting Matt Jones over Carlos Hyde, considering their respective performances and upcoming matchups.

Mike Wright [50:51]: "Jason Moore: I'm worried about Gurley because AP was my number one. Gurley's my number two."

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7. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Wrapping up the episode, the hosts emphasize the importance of staying informed and adaptable in fantasy football. They encourage listeners to engage with their community for continuous updates and strategies.

Jason Moore [52:12]: "Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast."

The episode concludes with a lighthearted exchange about catching techniques, reinforcing the show's blend of humor and expertise.

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Key Takeaways:

• Adaptability is Crucial: Early-season performance variability necessitates flexibility in managing fantasy teams.
• Monitor Injuries Closely: Player injuries like Sammy Watkins' foot issue and Russell Wilson's ankle condition can significantly impact fantasy lineups.
• Leverage Rising Stars: Identifying and capitalizing on rising stars such as Danny Woodhead and C.J. Anderson can provide substantial weekly advantages.
• Caution with Duds: Underperforming players should be scrutinized, with potential replacements considered to mitigate losses.
• Strategic MNF Decisions: Making informed player starts for MNF matchups can maximize point potential and leverage favorable game scripts.

This episode serves as a valuable resource for fantasy football enthusiasts, offering a blend of strategic analysis, player evaluations, and actionable advice to enhance their league performance.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot Clan. Before we start today's show, I want to remind you about the draft app. Because on the draft app you can get a brand new team every single week. Draft is giving you a simple daily fantasy app where you snake draft just like you're used to doing. And look, you got to get your deposit in right now because they will match up to 100% of your deposit. So grab the draft app today, use the promo code ballers and get and join the thousands who are already competing against fellow Foot Clan members and us. That's the draft app. Use code ballers.

[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 Wright.

[Mike Wright]

Welcome in. What is that sound?

[Andy Holloway]

That was a. A group of monks chanting about week one.

[Mike Wright]

Week one nearly in the books. Got a couple of games tonight. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Andy Holloway here, joined by Mike the Fantasy Hitman Wright and Jason Moore. Say hello, fellas.

[Andy Holloway]

Bonjour.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man, that was awesome. It was so.

[Mike Wright]

For some of us, for some of.

[Jason Moore]

Us, well, I mean, awesome to watch football.

[Mike Wright]

Oh yeah.

[Jason Moore]

There's winners, there's losers.

[Mike Wright]

Amazing slate of games, amazing amount of close game shootouts. The endings were incredible.

[Jason Moore]

Stupid kickers.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, well, you, you won anyway in our league of records.

[Jason Moore]

I disagree with the whole kickers are people too thing.

[Mike Wright]

Right, well, we'll discuss that later on. We have a really good show for you today. We have our stud muffins. We got our poop dinner, big boy pants. We've got Ray rising stars on the show today. All of the injury news notes guys that we're rising on. Guys were scared of some of the interesting Sunday morning news that broke and the implications for your fantasy team, but other than that, it's all Arian Foster talk the entire day.

[Jason Moore]

No, this is a full show. I mean I look, I look at the doc and I think seven hours.

[Mike Wright]

Seven hours, seven to eight hour show. Have a good quick question. Very good quick question that both of you are frantically looking at right now.

[Andy Holloway]

Always ready.

[Mike Wright]

My almost upset of the week. That's as almost as it gets.

[Andy Holloway]

It was almost upset the 20 yard line.

[Mike Wright]

The packers should have lost to the up and coming Jaguars.

[Jason Moore]

That was a good call. I didn't see it. I didn't see that going.

[Mike Wright]

I think my most trepidatious and scary prediction of the week was, man, you know, it's just funny as a fantasy football analyst because even though you don't want to go chalk right, you don't want to go the default predictions. When I put Adrian PETERSON at number 14, I felt dumb. I mean, I felt really, really stupid. It's really hard to do that with great players, and I got lucky this week. But it's just one of those things where you feel like you have to rank those guys so high because the implications of ranking them that low and.

[Jason Moore]

Then, you know, finishing as number one.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

So, like a turd.

[Mike Wright]

A lot of Twitter posts, people winning big this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Love it.

[Mike Wright]

A lot of the starts of the week worked out. A couple didn't. I will say this. If you didn't win this week, you're fine. You can sit on the bench with me. I didn't win this week. I fell a little flat on my face here in the legacy league. Had the joy of Arian Foster going up against that Seattle front. Had Jonathan Stewart against Denver. Had a tough week one. Doesn't matter. Yeah, doesn't matter.

[Jason Moore]

Week one is the most fine week to lose because we.

[Mike Wright]

The most fine.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I'm just saying, look, nobody wants to lose any week.

[Andy Holloway]

Losers say, am I right? Winners, Am I right?

[Jason Moore]

Well, I did. I did win this week, but, you know, last year I had a terrible week one. Got the championship in the bag. I'm just saying it's. It's hard to predict. And you learn a lot of information through week one. So even in losing, there's a lot of things you could take away from your own rosters that are going to help you don't worry. Even if you go 0203. We had so many people last year that said I was owing. They came right back, started listening, and they got the championship. So stay. Stay with us.

[Mike Wright]

It's the most fine week. The most fine week.

[Jason Moore]

To the fine week.

[Mike Wright]

Did you see there's now a Twitter account of AstonMorisms?

[Jason Moore]

Yes, I did.

[Andy Holloway]

What?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, there's a Twitter account that now is dedicated to grammatical errors.

[Andy Holloway]

I need to follow this account. What is it?

[Mike Wright]

It's at Jason Morrisms. Okay, get on board, everybody.

[Jason Moore]

Tell you what, he says some really.

[Andy Holloway]

Good things at Jason Morrisms. All right, all right. I look this up.

[Mike Wright]

Quick question of the day from AT Roger Owens. Which week one bust are you trying to trade for? Which week one bust are you trying to trade for? I can give you mine.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

While you guys think, well, I've got one.

[Jason Moore]

If he's considered a bust, I would consider.

[Mike Wright]

I would try to trade for Devonta Freeman because people view Devonta Freeman in a bad light this week, and I want perspective to be there. Even with the struggles he had this week, still put up like 7.5 fantasy points in our league of record, a half point league, you know, nothing impressive, but still put up Jonathan Stewart numbers this week.

[Jason Moore]

Not worried about the fact that Tevin Coleman was splitting so heavily with him?

[Mike Wright]

You're asking me?

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

And out producing him?

[Mike Wright]

No, I'm not. Personally, I'm not. I'm not.

[Jason Moore]

I'm not.

[Mike Wright]

I think Kevin Coleman looked great.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

That's awesome. For Devin Coleman, owner, let me ask.

[Jason Moore]

You, could Alan Robinson be considered a bust this week? I'll say this. People are disappointed, I think, with where they drafted him and they're down a little bit on him.

[Mike Wright]

He's not a Buses, but if.

[Jason Moore]

If your owner is down on him, I'm just trying to give actual good advice. He's a guy I would try to grab right now because I think people, you know, people just look at the final numbers. They don't really.

[Mike Wright]

It was still all right, though. He ended up six for 72, about 10 points. I mean, he had 15 targets. Yeah, that's great.

[Jason Moore]

No, that. That's what I'm saying. It's fantastic.

[Mike Wright]

Including. I think he had, out of those 15 targets, I think he had about 19 red zone targets. If anyone's 15.

[Jason Moore]

But anyone looks at the final score and you can trade a guy.

[Mike Wright]

He was going up against Sam Shields, too. Yeah, that was part of the problem.

[Andy Holloway]

I got a question for you guys because someone on Twitter asked. This is very related to this question. They said the Adrian Peterson owner is freaking out.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And they have.

[Mike Wright]

That's who I would pick.

[Andy Holloway]

They have offered a trade of Peterson for Latavius Murray.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, take it.

[Andy Holloway]

You would take Peterson?

[Mike Wright]

Of course.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think I would, too.

[Mike Wright]

Not to mention that, you know, there's several pieces in that Oakland backfield we saw this week, including Richard. I mean, Rashard had a big week. They're willing to use a couple extra guys. I'm not down on Latavius.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

But he's no Adrian Peterson. Go get him.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

So who's the bus? Is that your boss?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. And I like the Freeman call as well.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we're going to get into the rewind for week one. Before we do that, I want to remind everybody where they can find us on twitter@the ff ballers. You can go to the website, the fancy footballers.com. that's where you can see all of our weekly rankings articles, DFS content you can check out. You can submit a question to the show for the Mailbag episode. A lot of good stuff over on the website, the fantasy footballers.com and definitely check out our fantasy football [e-mail] a great place to bounce questions off of one another. We almost have 2,000 listeners over there. You get an extra episode every single week. So let's go ahead and get into the rewind.

[Jason Moore]

Weekly rewind. All right.

[Mike Wright]

I want to jump into the Sammy Watkins news. We saw it this morning. My watch was blowing up from, from news about. Okay. Sammy Watkins, severe discomfort in the foot. We know this injury can cause that. This is the same injury what the Des Briant, Julio Jones, Julian Edelman have experienced, correct? Yeah. It seems like severe discomfort is part of the recovery process.

[Andy Holloway]

I think severe discomfort is just part of Sammy Watkins life.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Well, all Buffalo Bills fans as well, but the report was that maybe they're going to shut him down. What are you hearing now, Jason?

[Jason Moore]

The latest that I heard is that the pain is not curable by surgery. He doesn't. There's nothing actually wrong that a surgery will fix. So they just have to essentially, you know, pain management and give him things. At first they were going to shut him down for a few weeks, see if that would help. Now they're saying the Bills are not going to shut him down. This is clearly something where this morning we don't have the answer for you, but that if he plays, he's going to be playing. You know, if he's in the lineup next week, he's going to be playing in pain with some pain meds going on. Definitely a scary situation. And look, while he doesn't need surgery right now, this is a, the type of surgery where it's very common for people to need a follow up a second. Julian Edelman just did that. And should that happen, the second surgery has a much longer timetable for recovery than the first surgery. So Sammy Watkins scares me quite a lot.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know how it's possible because this was completely an accident, but Ndama Kung Su managed to step on somebody again and this time it was Russell Wilson's ankle. He underwent precautionary X rays. He stayed in the game. He looked like he had one leg. Oh, he looked and you know, that's, that's his game. Being evasive, getting out of the pocket, extending the play. It's what makes guys like Doug Baldwin amazing because Baldwin can separate and kind of improv at the end of a play.

[Jason Moore]

Not even that, but he was just flat footed. And it seems so weird because he's a short guy. You don't ever see, like, those statues in the pockets that. That are short. And watching him was really weird once he rolled that ankle.

[Mike Wright]

So there's some reports this morning that he shrugged it off, but they're saying it's more severe than reported. So we need to watch him. He may not play in Week 2 against the Rams. You need to pay attention to the news on that. If you're an owner that has Russell Wilson, you might need to stream a guy in week two. I wouldn't drop Russell Wilson.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, you don't drop him. But, I mean, that's a monster hit for all offensive players for Seattle.

[Mike Wright]

All right. In the least surprising news in the history of the world, Robert Griffin III will undergo an MRI on Monday and admitted he's in pain. He hurt his shoulder on a late game scramble where he basically shouldn't have. If you watch the play, he just decided to run right into somebody on the sideline. His arm was not looking good. Look, this is fantasy football, so you have to break down the. The implications of injury. It's good news for offensive players. On. In my opinion, on offensive players for the Browns. Yeah, probably Gary Bondage. Barnage put up a goose egg in this game, which is the greatest fear that we had for barnage. With RG3 coming in, the offense couldn't get anything going. We'll see what happens. But McCown might play next week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but, man, it's so. I love watching Robert Griffin play. I mean, he just. He bombs it out. If you. If you saw this, the Terrell Pryor catch, the deep pass was incredible. And I love that Griffin is willing to do that. However, the good news for is Josh McCown is equally as willing to just bomb it out.

[Mike Wright]

All right. Talk about burying the lead, Mike, why don't you take this one?

[Andy Holloway]

Keenan Allen, non contact went down. The reports are that he tore his right ACL against the Chiefs. He was having himself a day. Oh, man.

[Mike Wright]

Part of it. He was actually weeping on the cart.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it looked like he knew. He knew right away that it was done.

[Jason Moore]

Man. You miss the second half of a season, and then you work hard to get yourself back and you get two quarters.

[Andy Holloway]

This is extra sad. This is bringing me down.

[Mike Wright]

Well, it's extra sad because I feel like simultaneously, Philip Rivers lost all of his value. Yep. So I feel like two players got injured on that play.

[Andy Holloway]

So I have. As I've talked about, I drafted Philip Rivers.

[Mike Wright]

And you loved him.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man. Yes, very much. And it looked great.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

The Chargers looked fantastic. They Were beating the crap out of the Chiefs for a while. And then with the Sammy Watkins news, I mean, I chose to stream Taylor, which that clearly did not work out. But it was funny. But this morning we're talking about. Andy was saying, oh, you know, I lost my quarterback possibly for the week because you have Russell Wilson. I said I lost both. I lost both of mine in Tyrod Taylor and Philip Rivers.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So fantasy implications, is there somebody that's going to step into that role? Do you upgrade?

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, nobody, nobody gets an upgrade here from, for me at all. We saw what happened to the offense.

[Mike Wright]

Tyrell Williams, is that his name? Yes. Yeah, that would be the guy to watch for me. But at the wide receiver position, he had some plays and flashed after Alan went out.

[Jason Moore]

If you're in a dynasty league, definitely you should have picked him up last week as I did.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. All right. Julio Jones retweaked the ankle. Says he's not worried about it. I think Julio plays with a limp every single game. I mean, it's just not a lot of targets in this game. Kind of an odd game. I'm just so frustrated with Matt Ryan. It's not even fun. All right, the big news on Sunday.

[Andy Holloway]

Morning, having a big monster game.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I know.

[Andy Holloway]

But not feeding Julio so new.

[Mike Wright]

No, I'm just frustrated because I think that that team is just capped. There's a ceiling on it. I mean, big monster game aside, it just, they don't seem to get over the hump. I mean, and Tevin Coleman is who Matt Ryan could thank for about half of his production. Julio Jones said after the. Oh, I'm sorry. Chris Ivory, Buck Allen both missed the game on Sunday. Healthy scratch for Buck Allen, which was the most surprising thing I've seen. You know, Ivory was a injury related thing. He went to the hospital. I don't, I don't have any news on him other than the fact that he was out. And there'll be updates today.

[Jason Moore]

Along with Buck Allen was also CJ Spiller, a healthy scratch. Both of those guys were, were very surprising because preseason they both made a little bit of noise and you thought they were going to be involved this year, at least in the passing game. So to monitor, what do you make.

[Mike Wright]

Of the Buck Allen situation? Because in spite of his absence, nobody really did much for the running game in Baltimore.

[Andy Holloway]

They split very closely, four set and Terrence West. I mean, I was shocked. I'm trying to dig up some, some news here. I will throw this out though, that I think Ivory is a very interesting Name to monitor. If you want to talk about a guy you can get extremely cheap. TJ Elden had a huge opportunity yesterday and was not very good on the ground. So maybe they, they take an extra look at Chris Ivory when he's finally healthy.

[Mike Wright]

All right, let's go ahead and jump into this week's stud muffins.

[Jason Moore]

This week's fantasy stud muffins.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we're going to talk through some of the guys that lit it up in week number one. I mean, I want to start at the wide receiver position because Brandon Cooks, he's fast. He's really fast. I mean, 98 yard touchdowns do a lot for you, but he still put up another Touchdown. He was 6 for 143 and 2 along with Brandon Cooks. Age, you know, Willie snead.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man.

[Mike Wright]

Nine for 172 and one. It was that perfect fantasy game. We expected it, we expected this to be a high flying game. Lovely, lovely thing.

[Jason Moore]

Both of the big games we were wanting to start, all your players in really came to fruition. I mean you talk about a lot.

[Mike Wright]

Of points, talking about the scored Colts and the Lions.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, the Colts and Lions and the, and the Saints and the Raiders.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So Willie Snead, Brandon Cooks, really impressive. I think I was more impressed with Snead just from the volume and the, the production.

[Andy Holloway]

If you have the opportunity. Are you flipping Snead right now or are you going to hold him?

[Mike Wright]

I would flip him if I could get a one.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I mean, you're not going to get a one for Willie Snead, but.

[Mike Wright]

No, if I could work him into a trade for a one, I would flip.

[Andy Holloway]

I could package him in two for one.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah. I mean if you, if you send somebody, Willie Snead after a 9,1,72 in one week and you know somebody else, you'll be able to go get a one. Especially if it's a one that, I mean, you're telling me you couldn't find a league where you offer. Let me think here. I don't know, four set and Sneed to go try to get like Robinson or something. No, because somebody's down on him after week one.

[Jason Moore]

That's probably not going to get done. But I see what you're saying, like something close. Maybe Larry Fitzgerald and Willie Snead for an Allen Robinson, they both good, good week ones. If somebody's needing a little bit more depth, you could get something done there. I agree. Willie Snead should be fine this whole year. He's got targets. He got Open. But he's not going to do what he did last week because there was a re. I mean, the over under in Vegas last week was this game is going to be one of the highest scoring games of the week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. You have to try to cash in on some of these guys. Week one production. One guy that you should not trade is AJ Green. 12 for 180 and one. I think we said it last week. AJ Green is always good for a few of these monster yardage games. He's an example of why you don't ever sit your studs right. He's playing the Jets. Doesn't matter.

[Jason Moore]

Reavis Island. Speaking of.

[Mike Wright]

Reavis island was like the weather was nice, fruit on the trees.

[Jason Moore]

I'll say this, it's been a. The last year. Reavis island is a nice place for wide receivers to vacation. There's been a couple of people that have lit Revis up. I don't think Reavis island scares me at all anymore.

[Mike Wright]

All right, so let's talk about a few surprises. Yeah, let's go with Jordan Matthews and Mike Wallace. Jordan Matthews and Mike Wallace.

[Jason Moore]

What?

[Mike Wright]

Well, Jordan Matthews always.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man. It was. That was.

[Mike Wright]

This wasn't even garbage time. What's he doing?

[Andy Holloway]

No, and look, he was all over the place. He was in the slot. He was outside.

[Mike Wright]

You buy into it or is this the Browns?

[Andy Holloway]

I'm buying that it was the Browns.

[Mike Wright]

But.

[Andy Holloway]

But it is. It is.

[Mike Wright]

You got to watch this.

[Andy Holloway]

If the, for the, for the folks out there that when the pick came up finally, that it was Jordan Matthews time. And we talked about this on the show of just. I couldn't get myself to do it. I couldn't get myself to draft Jordan Matthews.

[Mike Wright]

If you did, you had a nice week once.

[Andy Holloway]

It's looking up.

[Jason Moore]

This, to me is a flip candidate because you still got a rookie quarterback and you still had him facing the Browns. Look, I think Jordan Matthews is good. There's a lot of people out there that are going to say Jordan Matthews is the real deal because he is a good wide receiver. He put up that game. He's the go to guy. You're going to get value for him. So for me, this is a guy I would flip.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know. I'm holding. For me, I'm a hold.

[Jason Moore]

And that's exactly why I'm going to get value. Like he's going to net a lot, because it's curious.

[Mike Wright]

My hole, though, is based around the fact that he may produce that value.

[Andy Holloway]

And week two, the Eagles take On the Bears?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, the Bears.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

That value could go up even more.

[Mike Wright]

You think Mike Wallace will be one of the bigger waiver wire pickups in week one? Yeah, three for 91 and a touchdown.

[Andy Holloway]

He will be. Am I picking him up? Probably not, no.

[Mike Wright]

But he's good. He's one of those guys that's like Djax Light where he could deliver that big play and that's all you need for an entire week.

[Jason Moore]

Also worth noting, Doug Baldwin is definitely the go to guy for Russell Wilson.

[Mike Wright]

Looked really good this week. Nine for 92 and one on 11 targets. He just snatches everything up. Didn't see a lot out of Lockett this week. So let's talk about quarterbacks in the shootout games. It was a delight. Andrew Luck four touchdowns, Drew Brees four touchdowns. Matt Stafford 31 for 39 for 340 and three touchdowns. BA Boom.

[Andy Holloway]

Did you say Stafford or Ryan?

[Mike Wright]

I said Stafford.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

And then Matt Ryan had 334 yards and two touchdowns. Alex Smith had a huge game in the comeback attempt.

[Andy Holloway]

Say the big ones that I wanted to talk about was famous Jameis and Alex Smith. I think Alex Smith was more a product of game script because that Alex Smith with 48 attempts is not something you are likely to see again. But Jameis Winston, four touchdowns and nice, nice looking touchdowns. Was that is that what do you.

[Mike Wright]

Expect from him in week two against Arizona?

[Andy Holloway]

Well, considering what I saw from Jimmy Garoppolo against a an Arizona secondary that just is not one side of that field.

[Mike Wright]

Can't, can't compete.

[Andy Holloway]

Just don't throw it at Patrick Peterson's side and go after the rookie and things could be okay. So I'm where preseason you were. It was this nervous thing of. Well I. Jameis has a great week one but then he has this murderer's row, so to speak. Arizona's secondary doesn't look so bad however.

[Mike Wright]

So good.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, so good. I would still say that Doug Martin freaks me out for next week.

[Mike Wright]

Breeze, Winston and Stafford were three guys that we talked a lot about in the preseason and at least delivered in week one. So we'll see how that progresses. Running backs, let's talk. We got Spencer Ware had the big week. Led the, led the league in fantasy points, at least in our format. A lot of that was because he caught so many darn passes. I mean 7 for 1, 29 through the air. He had a very, very good game. Really. When I watched it, when I saw Char west, he looked, I mean just far inferior to Spencer Ware. There were a Couple screen passes. West caught and couldn't break the first tackle. Got backed up on them. I thought Ware looked a lot better.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, Ware looked special with the ball. He put Kansas City on his back and said, hey, we're coming back in this game. And he did it for the passing.

[Mike Wright]

Such an important game for Kansas City to win too.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it was a special, special performance. I think. That being said, I know we talk about like, you know, are we keeping this guy or flipping him to me? I feel like you're not going to get season long value out of wear and if you're the Jamal Charles owner, you need where bad. So if you can flip where to the Jamal, that's all you have to do. Yeah, they will pay up because they should pay up.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And so that'd be kind of like one of those after week one, maybe both teams. Well, you probably didn't lose if you had.

[Mike Wright]

You're like, see why you need them.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. You'll be able to get some value. Hey, before we talk about more of the running back stud muffins who might have been in this are you guys playing draft?

[Mike Wright]

I know you two are, Yes.

[Jason Moore]

I also know the Foot Clan. We had over 4,000 people playing with us in our league on the draft app.

[Andy Holloway]

Love it.

[Jason Moore]

And if you are not one of them, well then first, shame on you. And second, congratulations because you get to play an awesome new game. It's the draft app. You heard Mike talk about it before the show. It is a lot of fun. It takes like three to five minutes to do an entire draft. You can get in a draft for a buck or for five bucks or however much you want to get in. They're so quick. They're snake drafts. If I get Aaron Rodgers, my opponents don't get him. There's that strategy that we all love about preseason drafting. It is a super fun, easy to do way to get more out of fantasy football. You're watching these games and you've got more guys on the line. It is just a blast. Plus, on week four we are giving out some crazy cool signed jersey. We have not figured out exactly what it is yet, but we'll let you know. It's going out to whoever gets the most points. So you want to get in. Now you can go to playdraft.comballers or go to your app store. It's on iOS and Android. Download the draft app and put in the promo code Ballers. They'll match your deposit up to 600 bucks. So make your first deposit decent.

[Mike Wright]

If you put that code in, it'll auto enter you into the league.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. You'll be.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, the thing I just wanted really quick that I think is so awesome a draft is the different types of games. They have the regular where you can get anybody. They have expert. They call it the expert type draft, where they take the top guys out and you got to dig a little bit deeper. They got quarterback only. They have all kinds of different games. Look, the draft app is awesome.

[Jason Moore]

Very fun.

[Mike Wright]

We also want to thank today's sponsor, SeatGeek. With football back. It is the smartest and easiest app to find tickets for the games that you want to see up close in person. I wish I had taken advantage of SeatGeek and went to the game last night. Maybe I could have pushed that field goal through the uprights for the Arizona Cardinals. But I've used SeatGeek for years. It is an incredibly easy to use app. It is so obvious. They show you by price comparison. They search multiple ticket sites. They make it easy. They put a little green dot on there if it's the best possible seat value, saves you time and money. It is super, super convenient. And it's. And it's free. You grab it, you check out the SeatGeek app. And best of all, all the listeners of this show get $20 rebate off their first SeatGeek purchase. And so all you have to do is to get the $20 rebate is download the free SeatGeek app. Go to the settings tab, click Add a promo code. Enter the promo code. Footballers, and SeatGeek will send you $20 after you've made your first ticket purchase. So if you're thinking about going to a game this year, you want to download the free Sea Geek app, enter the promo code. Footballers. That's F, O, O T, B A L L E R S. Footballers. Enter it today. All right, let's get back into it. Let's talk about C.J. anderson. Yeah, he deserves our. Our attention. Despite the fact that the game took place on Thursday. I have to pay attention to C.J. because he just lit it up. The offensive line looks so much better in Denver.

[Jason Moore]

Well, we'll talk about him in a little bit as well.

[Andy Holloway]

The only thing.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, you're saying maybe put that on hold.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

All right, all right. We could put that on hold.

[Andy Holloway]

There are very, very few workhorse running backs in the league.

[Mike Wright]

It looks like C.J.

[Andy Holloway]

Anderson'S one of them.

[Mike Wright]

All right, Running backs in Detroit, Is that what they are? Are they running backs? Are they wide receivers? Theo Riddick and Amir Abdullah both had very, very good games. Both looked great.

[Jason Moore]

Theo Riddick was the number three running back in all scoring formats this week. That's pretty darn good.

[Mike Wright]

And Amir Abdullah, he looked it, too. I mean, he looked great.

[Jason Moore]

You know, personally, when I watched the game, I thought, theo Riddick looks really, really good catching the ball. And he looked pretty good running the ball. To me, Amir Abdullah looked like the superior back. They're both going to be involved. You saw entire, entire drives that were either Theo or Abdullah. There was a time where Theo got a concussion and was or was scared of getting a concussion. So he was out of the game for a little bit. That helped Abdullah. Both guys.

[Mike Wright]

That was the series. That Abdullah had the touchdown catch.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. I mean, both guys just looked awesome. And granted, I will say this man alive, I don't even know the Week 2 matchup. But start your players against the Colts, they are dead. They came into this game missing three DBs. And every time I looked up at this game, there was a Colt laying down, laying face down on the defensive side of the ball. They have no. I mean, they're going to be picking people up off of the streets.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that. You're talking about Emmanuel Sanders and CJ Anderson next week because the Broncos play the Colts in Denver.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, C.J.

[Mike Wright]

C.J. So I'm going to make you guys, I'm going to put you on the spot. Riddick or Abdullah, rest of season. You got to pick one.

[Jason Moore]

Abdullah.

[Mike Wright]

I'm ready. I'm reading.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll still take Abdullah.

[Mike Wright]

You guys want to water bet that?

[Jason Moore]

No, that's the thing. You asked me last week. I would have water bet, but they love Riddick. They got him involved and there's no way to stop.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we're not ignoring him, but Danny Woodhead's on this list. I'm going to talk about him in a minute. What about this next guy?

[Andy Holloway]

Who, who's that? Who's that first round pick?

[Jason Moore]

David Johnson.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, you talk. Look, look for all those haters out there that, you know, we don't talk about. I'm telling you the truth. We do not take about. Talk about David Johnson this way because he's on the Cardinals, because he's great. Did you watch the game?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, every snap. You know, I watched.

[Mike Wright]

Did you. Have you ever seen jump cuts like that?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I was just going to bring believable. They had the side cam shot where they went slow mo and he went back to back jump cuts. And he's like, david Johnson is an Elite level running back, an elite level athlete, and he's on a great offense. And over, over.

[Mike Wright]

Guess how many snaps Chris Johnson got.

[Jason Moore]

That's what I was going to bring up.

[Mike Wright]

How many snaps?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, well, I saw David get tired once, so I'm going to give Chris Johnson three snaps.

[Mike Wright]

Two. Yeah, two snaps.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, the whole question was workload. If we were coming into this season and we knew that he was the workhorse back, he would have been far and away my number one pick overall.

[Mike Wright]

Well, he's 16 for 89 and a touchdown 4 for 43 through the air in a game where the Cardinals were constantly trying to come back, still produce big, big production. Another guy that dominated snaps, Matt Forte, dominated snaps 22 for 96.

[Jason Moore]

Wow. There was no timeshare there in the the slightest.

[Mike Wright]

He's a top, you know, he's a top back. As we feared when the Kyrie Robinson situation happened, we said, well, we might be wrong about Forte.

[Jason Moore]

Well, you know, it wasn't just the Kyrie. I mean, honestly, Kyrie. We were saying goal line, but we still expected before the goal line for there to be a 50, 50 split with him and Bal Powell.

[Mike Wright]

I still think it'll be game flow specific. But Powell wasn't on the field nearly as much. And DeMarco Murray dominated snaps, caught two passing touchdowns. I will say went full Superman. Yeah, I don't think he's in our pooped in his big boy pants section. But Mariota was not good. Not good enough. I will say that. You know, it's these boneheaded mistakes that happen. I mean, this little back foot throw, the pick six that went to, you know, Minnesota won the game with their defense because Mariota put him in a position to do so. So just.

[Andy Holloway]

And then a real quick touch on Matt Forte. I think I'm going to rise back up on Ryan Fitzpatrick because I don't think they're going to be able to get it done. When you're talking goal line carries, I think they're just going to have to throw all touchdowns in.

[Mike Wright]

All right. And lastly, the tight end stud muffins of the week. It's the class, it's the classic list you'd expect. Jack Doyle, Julius Thomas, Dwayne Allen.

[Jason Moore]

Allen. My start of the week.

[Mike Wright]

Hilarious because you said it. Every season opener for Dwayne Allen was a touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

I put, I said it was a guarantee.

[Mike Wright]

Twitter was a buzz. Well, I love seeing Eric Ebron have a good week one. He's going to be a red zone target. People need to understand that he's going.

[Jason Moore]

To be great this whole year. He's going to be a top 12 tight end. Pick him up off of waivers.

[Mike Wright]

All right, that brings us into.

[Jason Moore]

Raising Canes Rising Stars of the Week.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we're talking about our Raising Canes Rising Stars of the Week. What I want this segment to mean to as a listener is these are players we are rising on in terms of long term value. Guys that based on their production this past week, either solidify a trend, begin what we think will be a trend. Players that you should be paying attention to. I'm going to kick it off right here. My name is Danny Woodhead.

[Andy Holloway]

Hi, Danny.

[Mike Wright]

That's my name. Don't wear it out.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, my goodness. No, you did not just do that. I'm embarrassed right now. I mean, that's not dad joke. That's grandpa joke.

[Mike Wright]

That's grandpa joke.

[Andy Holloway]

Third grade level joke.

[Mike Wright]

Well, Danny Woodhead looks like he's in the third grade.

[Jason Moore]

Oh.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, come on. Look, Danny Woodhead could beat us all up.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah, there was a really. Look, Danny Woodhead. No, he couldn't. Danny Woodhead is my rising star of the week. He had a career high in carries and it will be overshadowed by two touchdowns by Melvin Gordon. Now, I love Melvin Gordon coming out party from Melvin Gordon got the monkey off his back twice with two touchdowns in the game. He out snapped Melvin Gordon 50 to 23, out touched him 21 to 14. And listen, very. Keenan Allen's gone. Woodhead, they're going to need him.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, they are.

[Mike Wright]

They'll buy Woodhead.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, absolutely. My, my rising star of the week is the aforementioned C.J. anderson. C.J. anderson coming into the year. You know, it can't be Mike's rising star of the week because he thought this would be what C.J.

[Andy Holloway]

Anderson. I can't put him any higher, guys.

[Jason Moore]

But for me, he was really an RB2, a borderline guy who I saw that was going to be splitting heavily with Booker. Booker comes out fumbles right away. But what I saw from the offense with Trevor Simeon when, when the Broncos were down, they ran the ball. When they were up, they ran the ball. It does not matter the game script for him. And before I thought, well, the nice thing is, game script won't matter because it catches the ball. And so if they're down, he'll be involved in the passing game. But they were so dedicated to the run. And I shouldn't even say that, right? Because saying that they were dedicated to the run implies that they were dedicated to running as a team, they were dedicated to C.J. anderson. I mean, C.J. anderson got 20 carries. The next most carries was Trevor Simeon with five. And then you had Devonta Booker, who got three. This was the C.J. anderson show.

[Mike Wright]

Now, the only worry about Franklin is that the box is that he could. He could get himself banged up. Who do you handcuff him with? And do you?

[Jason Moore]

You do. I think you do handcuff him with Booker, even though he came in and fumbled on his first ever snap. Should C.J. anderson go down, there's just no choice but for Devonta Booker to have a lot of production by sheer workload.

[Mike Wright]

All right, Mike, Are the raising Canes rising star of the week?

[Andy Holloway]

The guy I'm rising on, Isaiah Cruell, I have my eye on him. He was a guy we were talking about all preseason. That Hugh Jackmanson loves to run the ball. Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Andy gives me the eye.

[Mike Wright]

I give you the eye because I'm worried that people don't know you're making a joke that you're just stupid.

[Andy Holloway]

Look, coach, Wolverine of the Browns loves to run the ball, and they didn't make any moves at the running back position. They were moving forward with Crowell and Duke Johnson. Crowell played over 57% of the snaps. He had a line of 12 for 62 and one. I mean, he was over five yards of carry. He caught a couple passes and over 57% of snaps. The Browns were not controlling the game. Right. They were down trying to chase the Eagles and overtake the lead, but they were still going with Crowell as the majority of the timeshare. So he is absolutely a guy that I am monitoring when people were asked, do I play Crowell, he was a guy I loved on my bench. I wasn't ready to start him yet. Am I ready to start him? Maybe in a flex. But if we have another week where these trends are continuing, then Cruel is going to jump into a low RB2.

[Mike Wright]

At least a lot of people were giving me the heads up question. Crowell or Sprouls, Croel or these other peripheral backs, and I told everybody to play Cruel, not because I thought he'd have a great week, right. But because I said he was the safest guy you could play this week. You just needed an RB3, RB2 Flex play where you knew he was going to have volume. And so I'm glad to see him at least produce at that level. Those were the Raising Canes rising stars of the week. Remember, everybody, game day tastes better.

[Andy Holloway]

I can tell you what I Know. I know from experience.

[Mike Wright]

Did you go raising canes?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, you know I do.

[Mike Wright]

So definitely check them out. Visit raising canes.com to find your nearest location. Alright guys, it's time.

[Jason Moore]

Pooped in his big boy pants.

[Mike Wright]

Ah, it's a show defining segment. And we're back. It's been so long.

[Jason Moore]

Not every show has a pooped in their big boy pants segment.

[Mike Wright]

Not every show has a pooped in his big boy pants. Analyst.

[Jason Moore]

Crypto.

[Andy Holloway]

Shout out to the show after the show.

[Mike Wright]

All right. Very disappointed in Tyrod Taylor this week, guys. Very bad performance. Very worrisome with the Sammy Watkins news with the jets on Thursday, the short week, stay away from Tyrod Taylor. If you ask me and probably everybody.

[Jason Moore]

On that offense, I say good for Tyrod Taylor getting paid before the season.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, kind of. He's not in a fully long term.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

So Tyrod Taylor stunk.

[Andy Holloway]

I think. Look, he's going to be better than that. But if he is missing Sammy Watkins, then there's going to be trouble.

[Mike Wright]

He's one of the guys. I really liked him this week. I really thought that week was going to be a lot better for TYROD TAYLOR. And RG3, if you started him, you were disappointed because the zero next to the touchdown total, you know, he threw one good deep ball to the human nine route.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh.

[Mike Wright]

Which is a great. It was glorious because he can run the 9 route like nobody's business. Tyranny, Terrell Pryor. But really those are the two quarterbacks that let you down in a big way this week. Do you guys have anybody else that stood out to you? Because I really don't.

[Andy Holloway]

The quarterbacks were mostly great.

[Mike Wright]

Once again proving that you can play. Rogers, Alex Smith, anybody.

[Jason Moore]

Aaron Rodgers was fantastic. Two quick touchdowns he ran in a third. I think he was the seventh or eighth best quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

So really here's the headliner at the running back position you had. We talked about Adrian Peterson. Are you worried after this 19 for 31 performance in week number one?

[Andy Holloway]

I am. I'm not worried yet.

[Mike Wright]

He did this last year, didn't he?

[Andy Holloway]

Well, he. Yeah, he had a bad week one. Did he again? Yes, against San Francisco.

[Mike Wright]

I think he had a really bad week one.

[Andy Holloway]

The Vikings are still trying to find themselves, so maybe it takes a little bit of time. With Andrew Peterson in the quarterback position, I would expect Sam Bradford will be starting next week. And look, it can still take some time for Bradford, but when teams have to finally at least somewhat respect the quarterback which Stefan Diggs. Holy crap. Stefan Diggs had himself A nice game.

[Mike Wright]

He had a. He had himself a. Holy crap.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Well, like a very surprising. I was. I was not going to start Diggs, but if you started him, you were fine. But I think the quarterback position will improve, which improves things for Adrian Peterson.

[Jason Moore]

Can we talk about my favorite part? Yes. Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, it keeps going.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, good.

[Mike Wright]

I figured Jason wanted to break this.

[Jason Moore]

News, as it should. Oh, you know what? I'm not. I'm not wide awake because Christian Michael was not the awakening. And the reality is he played fine, he looked good, but.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's actually 15 for 66.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, that's, that's not.

[Mike Wright]

That's not the kind of game we wanted for a start of the week.

[Jason Moore]

No. And the reason is because the Rawls Royce was there. Thomas Rawls got 12 carries in the game.

[Andy Holloway]

The Rolls Royce was stuck in the mud.

[Jason Moore]

No, I see. I don't. I don't think so. He was running well in the, in the beginning of the game, and then he came in for a bunch of short yardage plays that made his yards per carry look bad. But I think Rawls look fine to me.

[Mike Wright]

How much of this game, though, with Wilson getting hurt, the score the way it was? I mean, is it just, you know, they were expected to run the ball and dominate? I mean, they were almost 10 point favorites at home. Almost lost the game. Probably should have lost the game. Is this just because the whole offense was discombobulated, that we didn't see the running production in Seattle that we expected? Or is this just because the timeshare disappointed everybody that started these guys?

[Andy Holloway]

For fantasy purposes, I think that the timeshare will continue to disappoint the. Where it was interesting. Pro sis was getting early action as well, but he left the game with an injury. So I'm. I would be interested to see what the actual snaps are going to look like with a fully healthy prose. If with all three of these guys healthy. I think there is fantasy trouble if you're going to try and start any of them.

[Mike Wright]

I want to share some breaking news right now. Doug Peterson came out and said Zach Ertz is week to week with a rib injury. Week to week with a rib injury is a rib displacement injury.

[Jason Moore]

That's definitely not good because he was a go to receiver in that game as tight ends usually are for rookie quarterbacks. So that's going to hurt the whole offense if he's out this week.

[Mike Wright]

All right. Lack of production from Devonta Freeman this week. Lack of production from Gio Bernard this week. A game I thought GEO would be much more successful in. Yeah, you know, is it the defensive front of the Jets? Is it the defense of the Jets? Was the game flow? What was it with Freeman and Bernard? Give me your rundown. And the long term value of both those guys.

[Jason Moore]

Well, speaking on Gio, Bernard and Jeremy Hill, I mean, I knew that this was going to be a much more defensive oriented running game. That's not going to be geo's free for, you know, his mo. That's a Jeremy Hill style of game. Jeremy Hill was more involved in the running game, not by much. And it was a difficult matchup to boot. So you had kind of a perfect storm. I stayed away from both backs. Jeremy Hill got you the touchdown, but if he didn't, then he, you know, he. Exactly, Mike. He didn't do much. It was just a tough matchup against that Jets D line.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

As far as Devonta Freeman, that's.

[Mike Wright]

That's a lot of people freaking out.

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely. And I think that they are a little bit right to freak out because while he is better than Tevin Coleman, better for the system than Tevin Coleman, there was a near 50, 50 split in snaps. I think. I think DeVonta Freeman had one more snap than Tevin Coleman, maybe two or three more snaps. But I mean, it was. It was a near 50, 50 split. And what made Devonta Freeman so incredibly valuable last year for fantasy was he was like an 85% snap percentage guy. He was. It was just usage rate was out of this world. And if Tevin Coleman's this involved, you can't get to that level again.

[Andy Holloway]

Devontae Freeman played just over 55% of the snaps.

[Mike Wright]

All right, let's move on to the wide receivers where I think we saw the most disappointment. Demarius Thomas had a rough week 4 for 48. You need to monitor Thomas's status as well. They said he's getting a second opinion on his hip, which would make. Look, they have that matchup with the Colts this week. You need to monitor that closely. Obviously, Emmanuel Sanders actually out targeted demarius Thomas in this game.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you call. Do you call Shakira in when you need a second opinion on your hips?

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Yeah. In 1998, you do. Yeah. Dez Bryant.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man.

[Mike Wright]

Man, the amount of Twitter. Look, it's easy to gloat, but I'm gonna do it for a minute. The amount of hate. The amount of hate I got for not loving the Dak Prescott implications for. For Des Bryant. Come on, man. There it was.

[Jason Moore]

He's gonna go to his wide receiver. One. Every time.

[Mike Wright]

For one time, for eight yards. You're right. Every time, for one time. Look, Dak Prescott's best friend is Cole Beasley. And Jason Whitten.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah. Holy co. Beasley.

[Mike Wright]

Jason Whitten was the start of the week for a reason. He had nine catches in this game. I believe he easily led the team in receptions. Cole Beasley showed up. This is going to be a team that needs to try to, you know, Des is going to have better games.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, he had the. The drop part two where they. He thought he had a touchdown. And then, yeah, the old instant replay.

[Mike Wright]

Said, no, he's going to have better games, but it's not going to be smooth sailing the way you'd hope for Romo. Now all the reports are that Romo says he's going to be back sooner than later. Des is a buy low candidate like he seems to be every year lately. I would go in on him as a buy low guy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he was a guy that. For the quick question, I was between Allen Robinson and DEZ Bryant. If you can get Des Bryant on the cheap, it's fine. Like Mike said, he had a touchdown that was an inch away from being, you know, his fantasy day would have been fine. I mean, still a disappointment, but he would have been okay. And not every game script is going to go this way. And when Tony Romo gets back, Des will be destroyed.

[Mike Wright]

Tyler Lockett, Kenny Stills, Kamar Akin, other disappointments. Lockett didn't look very involved. Lockett had a couple of drops that were just kind of embarrassing. He had a fumble. I think Kenny Stills had the drop of the week.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, the drop.

[Mike Wright]

There was a segment for that.

[Jason Moore]

He was 10 yards behind the defense on like a 50 yard bomb to go for. I mean, he could have done somersaults, like just rolled somersaults for 20 yards into the end zone. And it hit him right in his bread basket and he closed his hands before the ball got there.

[Andy Holloway]

His hands are his breadbasket.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, apparently that's not your breadbasket.

[Andy Holloway]

Breadbaskets usually in the gut.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, well, that's where I mean, it was right here.

[Andy Holloway]

Two bread baskets.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, he was holding. The ball was near his gut. It hit him right, right there.

[Mike Wright]

Agree to disagree on that one.

[Jason Moore]

He dropped it right in the moneymaker.

[Mike Wright]

Right in the money maker.

[Andy Holloway]

His hands, I guess. I mean, he's a wide receiver.

[Mike Wright]

He's grasping. Kamar Aiken. I'm concerned.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm concerned as well.

[Mike Wright]

There's too many. Too many mouths to Feed.

[Andy Holloway]

He played behind Smith Senior and Wallace, so that's unfortunate for ak.

[Mike Wright]

Did you hear. Now, look, there was a press conference with Steve Smith and he talked about the whole wide receiving core, and then he talked about Kamar Akin. And you know how he talked about Kamar Akin?

[Jason Moore]

Positively. No.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, yes, but in the way that.

[Andy Holloway]

Which one?

[Mike Wright]

Both. It's both.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

It's. It's like this, you know, when. When I missed the show, Mike did a real good job of filling in. He did a real good job when he filled in. That's how he talked about Kamara Akin. He said, you know, Brashad Perryman had a great catch, by the way, down the sideline. Just one. But that's going to be the worry. I think there's going to be about 10 guys that get about three catches a week for the Baltimore Ravens, so I'm staying away from the wide receiver court.

[Andy Holloway]

Brandon Marshall owners, do not panic. There was a series where he was just getting targeted repeatedly in the end zone. It just didn't happen this week.

[Mike Wright]

All right, Gary Barnage, Kobe Fleener, Martellus Bennett pooped their pants. Bennett had to stay in and block. I don't think. I think people started Bennett hoping he'd be Gronk this week, I thought, but he couldn't run any routes.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he. He had to stay in the block. With Bennett missing three offensive linemen, I thought Bennett was going to be really good against Arizona and obviously Kobe Fleener. Look, that's a guy that, you know, I have personally talked up. I said he was going to get off to a slow start. That was a real slow start for a game like that. So he's a guy that you need to. Need to monitor. I still think he's going to be okay this year. I really do. But if you drafted him, you almost definitely had to start him, especially in a game like this. And he really let you down.

[Mike Wright]

He did. All right, let's preview the Monday night games. You got two of them tonight. The Steelers at the Redskins, the rams at the 49ers. The big decisions here. What are you. What are you doing with Matt Jones? I mean, I guess at this point you've made your decision. Do you expect big things out of him?

[Jason Moore]

Nope. Yeah, I don't expect big things, but he should have enough volume. You know, I'm expecting him to be somewhere in that 7 to 12 fantasy points range, depending on your scoring format. The guy for me that I just want to bring up real quick in this game because I've had A couple people say that, you know, because of whatever happened to their team, they need a dart throw in tonight's games. Who should they pick up off of waivers and if you're in that situation, Darius Hayward Bay is a guy to me that is definitely on your waivers, right? I mean he's 100% unowned. And with Marcus Wheaton being out and you know, been Big Ben being able to throw for a lot of yards, I think Darius Haywood Bay would be a shot in the dark type of guy.

[Mike Wright]

What about Coats? If he's on your waivers, would you rather start Coats or Darius Hayward Bay?

[Jason Moore]

Personally? Personally, if I had both of them on my roster, I would start Darius Haywood Bay.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

But I wouldn't feel good about it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'd start Coats. But I'm reminded of our argument of I'd rather have Hayward Bay than Marcus Wheaton.

[Mike Wright]

So a little bit of extra news that came in about Sammy Watkins just now. Just that his availability will be determinant on discomfort from a week to week basis.

[Andy Holloway]

Great, great. Good luck. Sammy Watkins.

[Jason Moore]

I said off the air. So right before the show the news came in that they weren't going to shut him down, that he was going to manage the pain and play. And what I said to Mike, I said this is great news because now you won't get vetoed when you trade him. And honestly, if I could get, if I could get 75 cents on the dollar, I think you're bailing. I mean, I'm not bailing for 50 cents.

[Mike Wright]

Would you trade him for Keenan Allen?

[Jason Moore]

It would be tempting, but I would probably turn that down.

[Mike Wright]

All right, you're starting Big Ben, you're starting Antonio Brown D. Will is looking good tonight. Kirk Cousins on the other side is my start of the week. We'll see if that works out. I like the opportunity for this game to turn into kind of a higher scoring affair.

[Andy Holloway]

Kirk Cousins, I have a personal favor to ask of you. I'm in a matchup with Jason and I believe I need 39 points.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, yes you do. Kirk Cousins, I need you. I have a personal favor to ask.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm the only one who believes in you and I need you.

[Jason Moore]

This is great because we had, I think on fandings, we did our fanings debate of the week on Kirk Cousins and now he is the winner or loser for our direct head to head matchup. And I'm gonna be right on that. Set your phasers to, I don't know, stun.

[Andy Holloway]

Set your phasers to meh.

[Mike Wright]

Right. Hit Them right in the breadbasket, right off the fingertips. That one could go on the Twitter account too.

[Andy Holloway]

I've got 10 bread baskets. All my fingers.

[Mike Wright]

I've got 10 bread baskets. All right. The Rams take on the 49ers.

[Jason Moore]

Just out of curiosity.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

If what you guys are saying is a breadbasket.

[Mike Wright]

If it wasn't close to any part of his quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

If a quarterback throws it in the breadbasket, is he supposed to not catch it with the hands? He just lets it fall to the ground?

[Mike Wright]

If.

[Jason Moore]

No, only with the belly.

[Mike Wright]

No. You know what a body catch is like versus a hands catch.

[Andy Holloway]

A bread basket. Because you're making the shape.

[Mike Wright]

If you see this right.

[Andy Holloway]

Of a basket that is ready to catch bread.

[Mike Wright]

A one of those jumping catch. No, it's not like that. It goes right into your gut. You catch it first with your chest. That's a bread basket.

[Andy Holloway]

Have you ever tried to catch bread with your hands? If you just crumple it, smash it.

[Jason Moore]

If he brought his hands lower, it would have been exactly. I mean, he dropped it right there.

[Mike Wright]

No, it's an over the top throw. It can't get into his bread basket at all.

[Andy Holloway]

If he had turned around.

[Jason Moore]

He did turn.

[Andy Holloway]

Jumped up and stuck his belly out.

[Mike Wright]

That's right.

[Jason Moore]

He would have done a better job catching the ball.

[Mike Wright]

I completely agree. He had 10 yards on him. He should have turned around and breadbasketed it. He should have breadbasketed it. You're right. It's okay. It's okay. Jason, the Rams 49ers game. You're starting Todd Gurley. How do you guys feel about Carlos Hyde tonight? Are you just me?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I feel fine.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, come on.

[Andy Holloway]

I do. I feel fine about it.

[Jason Moore]

He's been saying all week he has him as an RB2. I do not. I don't love the matchup. I don't love the offense. I'm not high on Carlos Hyde. But if you have him, there's a.

[Mike Wright]

Good chance he did come out last year in Week 1 against the great Vikings defense and light it up. So you never know. He is at home as well. So I'm. I'm as okay. Hyde or Matt Jones?

[Jason Moore]

I would go with Matt.

[Mike Wright]

I'm sure people have both of them on their roster.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going Matt Jones in that situation.

[Mike Wright]

I am too.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll take Hyde.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to go girly over all those guys I'm okay with.

[Jason Moore]

I'm worried about Gurley because AP was my number one. Gurley's my number two.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, he'll show up.

[Jason Moore]

He'll be fine.

[Mike Wright]

He'll show up. All right, that is it for today's show. Thanks for listening in. Hey, tomorrow.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah, big show.

[Mike Wright]

I hope you're right back.

[Andy Holloway]

Did you have Keenan Allen? Do you have Sammy Watkins?

[Mike Wright]

It's time for the waiver wire.

[Andy Holloway]

You need to go to the wire.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you need to go to the wire. I am very excited about that show. It's going to be a great one. Tomorrow we're going to have some other stuff we're doing as well and so definitely check that out. Visit us on the web. The fancy footballers dot com. We're going to have a mailbag segment maybe tomorrow, definitely on Wednesday. So we're answering your questions there on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. Mike, do you have any parting words?

[Andy Holloway]

Say, hey, if you need a trophy, if you need a trophy for a loser, if you need a trophy for a winner. Fantasyjocks.com they have you covered. Use the promo code. Footballers. Save a little bit of quiche.

[Mike Wright]

All right, thanks, everybody for listening, for reviewing on itunes. We appreciate you. Take care.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community. I know he put his hands up, but he threw it away, but was on the way to the breadbasket.