Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Week 1 Matchups, TNF Review, Fantasy News

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Week 1 Matchups, TNF Review, Fantasy News
Release Date: September 9, 2016

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1. Introduction

The Fantasy Footballers kick off the NFL season with their Week 1 analysis, diving into Thursday Night Football (TNF) highlights, essential fantasy news, and detailed matchup breakdowns to help listeners navigate the most challenging week in fantasy football.

2. Review of Thursday Night Football (TNF)

Broncos vs. Panthers Analysis

The hosts discuss the thrilling TNF matchup between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers, focusing on key performances and fantasy implications.

• Jonathan Stewart's Performance:

  • Andy Holloway highlights Stewart's standout game: “He put up 15 yards on 4.3 yards per carry against that defensive front, looking like he could break tackles” [03:27].
  • Jason Moore praises Stewart's snap count and involvement: “He was targeted on 23% of his snaps, which beats out Julio Jones last year” [04:00].

• Kelvin Benjamin's Impact:

  • Mike Wright commends Benjamin’s presence on the field: “He looked really humongous... a good matchup with Cam Newton” [05:09].
  • Jason Moore expresses frustration over Benjamin’s initial limited snap count: “They said he'd probably get 30 snap 35 snaps, and he played on 51 of 72 offensive snaps” [04:30].

• C.J. Anderson's Role:

  • Andy Holloway and Mike Wright discuss Anderson’s vital role in the Broncos’ offense, emphasizing his consistency and durability: “He looked very good and his involvement will be crucial for fantasy owners” [05:58].

3. Fantasy News

The hosts update listeners on significant fantasy-related news affecting player availability and team strategies.

• Marshawn Lynch Rumors:

  • Jason Moore addresses rumors about Lynch's return to the NFL: “Marshawn Lynch is retired. He told me from his own mouth” [14:05].
  • Andy Holloway advises caution in drafting Lynch due to uncertainty: “If you’re in a regular league, hold off and don’t burn a roster spot” [15:15].

• Rob Gronkowski Status:

  • Mike Wright shares critical updates on Gronkowski’s play status, urging owners to monitor the situation closely: “If Gronk doesn’t play, you’re putting up a goose egg” [09:52].

• Theo Riddick’s Extension:

  • Jason Moore and Mike Wright discuss the Lions extending Riddick’s contract, affirming his role in PPR leagues: “Theo Riddick has to be taken in PPR leagues as serious as he was last year” [15:54].

4. Week 1 Matchup Breakdowns

The Fantasy Footballers provide in-depth analyses of key Week 1 matchups, offering strategic advice for fantasy lineups.

a. Raiders vs. Saints

• High-Scoring Potential:
  • Mike Wright notes the game’s high Vegas over/under: “This is a high scoring game as Vegas agrees” [19:10].
  • Andy Holloway recommends starting most key players, highlighting Cooper and Crabtree as potential high scorers: “Cooks and Snead? Clive Walford? Nope. But Kobe Fleener, he could be sneaky” [18:30].

b. Bengals vs. Jets

• Running Back Considerations:
  • Mike Wright prefers Matt Forte over Jeremy Hill due to Forte’s dual-threat ability: “Forté is going to be involved on the ground and through the air” [22:36].
  • Andy Holloway questions Fitzpatrick’s reliability, suggesting Dalton as a start despite concerns: “I really do not like what I've seen so far from Fitzpatrick” [23:05].

c. Browns vs. Eagles

• Player Debuts and Questions:
  • Mike Wright and Jason Moore express excitement over new player performances, emphasizing cautious optimism for Eli Manning’s potential impact: “Eli Manning is not a must-start for me this week” [37:00].

d. Vikings vs. Titans

• Running Back Strategy:
  • Andy Holloway raises hopes for DeMarco Murray, positioning him as an RB2 option: “DeMarco Murray is my number one running back” [32:13].
  • Mike Wright advises starting Murray, anticipating a favorable matchup against the Vikings’ run defense: “Murray's fine to start. Murray’s an RB2 for me this week” [30:06].

e. Dolphins vs. Seahawks

• Garoppolo Evaluation:
  • Andy Holloway cautions against overvaluing Garoppolo due to a tough matchup: “Garo’s had a terrible matchup on the road” [41:33].
  • Jason Moore supports starting James White in PPR formats, leveraging his pass-catching role: “If you have James White and he's your flex guy, I'm okay with it” [42:26].

f. Giants vs. Cowboys

• Quarterback and Running Back Choices:
  • Mike Wright endorses Ezekiel Elliott as a top RB due to the Giants’ run defense: “Ezekiel Elliott is my number one running back on the week” [38:04].
  • Andy Holloway remains cautious about Eli Manning’s performance, recommending Dak Prescott as a stronger quarterback option: “Dak Prescott making his day” [37:57].

g. Rams vs. 49ers

• Running Back Selection:
  • Mike Wright insists on starting Carlos Hyde despite potential challenges: “You’re rolling outside Gurley. Without hesitation. He’s a must-start every single week” [46:49].
  • Jason Moore contends that Hyde is a viable play this week: “I think Carlos Hyde is a perfectly fine play this week” [47:22].

h. Steelers vs. Redskins

• Key Player Highlights:
  • Jason Moore prioritizes Jordan Reed for his touchdown potential: “Jordan Reed is my number one guy” [45:14].
  • Mike Wright suggests starting Matt Jones over Jonathan Stewart for higher upside: “I chose to start Matt Jones… think there’ll be some openings for Matt Jones” [44:35].

5. Fantasy Forecast

The trio delves into overarching themes and predictions for Week 1, emphasizing the difficulty and entertainment value of the week.

• Challenging Week Ahead:
  • Andy Holloway labels it as the hardest week for fantasy football: “One, the hardest week for fantasy football by a mile” [02:38].
  • The hosts anticipate numerous close games, leading to low-scoring matchups where strategic player selection is crucial.

6. Conclusion and Community Engagement

The Fantasy Footballers wrap up by encouraging listeners to engage with their community and stay updated via Twitter (@theFFBallers) and their website (jointhefoot.com). They also remind listeners of ongoing promotions and sponsor shout-outs, ensuring the community remains connected and informed throughout the NFL season.

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Notable Quotes:

• Jason Moore: “Marshawn Lynch is retired. He told me from his own mouth” [14:05].
• Andy Holloway: “You just build that wardrobe a little bit at a time, month over month” [24:56].
• Mike Wright: “I'm willing to start Rob Gronkowski” [09:52].
• Andy Holloway: “I think Theo Riddick has to be taken in PPR leagues, you know, as serious as he was last year” [16:05].

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and strategic advice from the Fantasy Footballers' Week 1 episode, ensuring listeners are well-equipped to dominate their fantasy leagues from the outset.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

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[Jason Moore]

Hey, this is Al Robinson from the.

[Mike Wright]

Jacksonville Jaguars and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers podcast.

[Andy Holloway]

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

[Mike Wright]

Oh, we're back.

[Jason Moore]

Friday, what a game.

[Mike Wright]

Friday, Friday, what a game. You got your simian jersey on the way? My shorts are still dirty from last night.

[Jason Moore]

That game was incredible.

[Andy Holloway]

What a way to kick off this. Man. That was real football.

[Mike Wright]

It was a very good game. It was a very good game in the Mile High City, I think. You know, we all came on the air yesterday and said we thought Denver would win the game. They just barely won the game, didn't they?

[Jason Moore]

We got that one.

[Mike Wright]

The game, the way it started had me a little afraid for, you know, maybe, maybe Cam Newton had figured out this defense. Things settled down for that first Denver.

[Andy Holloway]

Man, that was scary.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean, we're going to get into all of our major takeaways from the game on the show today we have our matchups for the week, the second half of the fantasy forecast, breaking down the fantasy football players and some of the decisions we have to make in the ever dangerous and trepidatious week.

[Andy Holloway]

One, the hardest week for fantasy football by a mile.

[Mike Wright]

By 2.3 miles. It's the most difficult week of the season. That being said, very entertaining game. Like you said, very. Some fantasy relevance for sure in that game. What else is going on? You can follow us on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. Some other interesting news, we'll get into the Marshawn lynch news. Other news about Gronkowski and things that you need to know. I'm excited. So let's just jump in. Quick question. Major fantasy takeaways from the game last night.

[Andy Holloway]

Ooh, I've got three major takeaways. So why don't you guys go and if you take my one and two, I got the third.

[Mike Wright]

If we take away your takeaways.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

All right. I thought Jonathan Stewart looked really well. Very good.

[Andy Holloway]

That was one of the very well.

[Mike Wright]

He looked very well. Like his health was in prime.

[Andy Holloway]

No illness.

[Mike Wright]

No illness. I thought he looked very good. I thought Jonathan Stewart didn't have look, it was a perfect Jonathan Stewart type of game. He will succeed a lot for fantasy owners in games that they are winning.

[Andy Holloway]

And ahead and where they're not playing.

[Mike Wright]

The Broncos and where they're not playing the Broncos. But I mean putting up 15 for 64, 4.3 a carry against that defensive front, looking like he could break tackles, looking like he's the only guy of relevance in that backfield.

[Andy Holloway]

Man, did he pass the eyeball test. I mean hard runs, he moved big heavy piles. So as the season goes on, I.

[Mike Wright]

Completely certainly not the headliner of the game last night. But. But you said take away fantasy takeaway. I think John the Stewart owner should feel. Feel confident.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, my big takeaway. Ron Rivera got me. He got me good. He got Kelvin. He got, I think a lot of fantasy football people out there. Kelvin Benjamin, the talks of the snap count which I bought in the conditioning was in question.

[Mike Wright]

They said he'd probably get 30 snap 35 snaps.

[Jason Moore]

And he played on 51 of 72 offensive snaps. And here's. Here is the big thing. He was targeted. Good friend JJ Zachary tweeted this out. He was targeted on 23% of his snaps, which you know, that beats out Julio Jones last year. Julio was targeted on 22%. I mean you're talking course of a season, very small sample size. But if Kelvin Benjamin is going to get those targets, there was the talk of the snaps are going to be low. We're going to spread the ball around. We're going to rotate the wide receivers.

[Andy Holloway]

Liar, liar, liar.

[Jason Moore]

He got me.

[Andy Holloway]

Pants on fire.

[Mike Wright]

Kelvin left some yards on the field as he will do all season long. Dropped a couple of passes, let one fly through his arms. Still looked really good. And most of all, as Kelvin Benjamin does, he looked very humongous.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, he's so big.

[Mike Wright]

Just so big. And that touch. Good matchup with Cam Newton. For Cam Newton is having a big guy. He just catch that fire the ball at a high point and just let a guy make a catch.

[Andy Holloway]

I loved what they did on his touchdown score. It was one of those where there's just no defending it because of size and size alone. You just box out a guy and throw him a rocket and if he can catch it, you're going to get a touchdown. So that's good.

[Mike Wright]

You have to talk about the other.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, the other major takeaway is without question, C.J. anderson.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, is he good?

[Andy Holloway]

Man, he looks.

[Mike Wright]

The offensive line helped the offensive line look. CJ Looked good, though.

[Andy Holloway]

Way, way better. CJ Looked good. You know who wasn't there? Ronnie Hillman. And it was noticeable. The first carry of the career for devonte Booker was not, not so good.

[Jason Moore]

He went full David Wilson.

[Andy Holloway]

Here's the snap counts for the.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, gosh.

[Andy Holloway]

Broncos running backs. You have Capri bibs with two, Devonta Booker with six and CJ Anderson with 48.

[Mike Wright]

He was the rock of that entire offense and he on every play he looked great. And it looks like he's going to get targeted in the passing game because Simeon was a one read and dump it guy last night.

[Jason Moore]

I love it.

[Mike Wright]

He did give me some confidence in Sanders and Thomas and them being able to produce. But here's the thing about this team. They don't want to put Trevor Simeon in the position to lose a ball game for them, which means if they are in the lead or close, they're not going to be stretching the field a ton with him. He'll have opportunities. If he hits on them, you'll be happy with the wide receivers. If he misses on them, you're gonna be happy with CJ Anderson and this team's gonna be able to compete because that defense is ridiculous. Got away with a win like we thought, just barely. But that's what you're going to see this year. You're going to see a lot of 19 to 16, 21 to 17 games.

[Andy Holloway]

What we learned, I think, is that either game script ahead or behind C.J. anderson will be a major part of that offense. The only worry there would be health at this point. Just he looked like he was injured after every play.

[Jason Moore]

I was, we were talking about this before the show. I said cj Anderson reminds me a tortoise.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And then I.

[Jason Moore]

And we were trying to think of the kid showing up. Franklin.

[Mike Wright]

That's the best nickname for CJ Anderson.

[Jason Moore]

But he looked like a tortoise. Look, and because of his size, I mean he's a very boxy guy. Like on his back he's not the fastest.

[Mike Wright]

Well, once he gets tagged and then.

[Jason Moore]

When he gets knocked down, he just lays there like a turtle who's been flipped on their back and cannot get up. And he waits for a teammate to come pick him up.

[Mike Wright]

There are multiple times I thought that little Franklin Anderson was. He was concussed or something because he just laid on his back.

[Andy Holloway]

Now wait a minute. Is it fair after the game that C.J. anderson put up to relate him to the slow drudging turtle?

[Mike Wright]

You mean that the slow turtle that won the race.

[Andy Holloway]

Good, valid point. You win.

[Mike Wright]

All right, the Taurus, we're jumping into the news.

[Andy Holloway]

News and notes from around the.

[Jason Moore]

And Trevor Simeon, you owe me a Virgil Green touchdown, you freaking jerk.

[Mike Wright]

I was moderately happy with the involvement of Virgil Green in the offense. They ran a ridiculous looking screen to the left that was needs to be worked on in practice. Yeah, yeah. But he did miss him in the back of the end zone. Would have changed the night. Look, that's welcome to tight ends. You change the whole night if that ball goes an inch higher.

[Jason Moore]

But the thing is they ran that exact same play in preseason and Virgil Green scored. The fact that they've already gone to it in the. In the regular season. Virgil Green is going to be involved in in the end zone.

[Mike Wright]

Virgil Green is a guy that you can start and hope.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Which is. I mean I don't relate him any differently to Kyle Rudolph, that type of player. Rob Gronkowski does not know if he'll be active on Sunday. That was the report yesterday, which is big news. I mean big time news. If you're a Rob Gronkowski owner, you need to be watching this. If you could somehow grab Martellus Bennett, you will be much more comfortable. But if you are not a Martell spin an owner, good news. There are some options for you. This is week one. There are two Monday night games. There's a Sunday night game. Obviously that's the one Gronk's in. So you need options that are not.

[Andy Holloway]

You need to.

[Mike Wright]

Sunday morning.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, exactly. You have to plan ahead. Because. Because if you get to Sunday night and you don't and you didn't plan ahead and Gronk doesn't play, you're out, you're putting up a goose egg. A zero.

[Mike Wright]

Right. And so the two guys to know about for Monday are probably.

[Jason Moore]

There's three.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you're right. There are three. Well, you have Vance McDonald, Outlaw Jesse James. You have Jesse James, who is Mike start of the week yesterday, who I love.

[Jason Moore]

And then if those, those are the much better options, Lance Kendricks, if everything has hit the bottom and it's gone, I guarantee Lance Kendricks is available.

[Mike Wright]

Here's the thing. Let me ask if Lance Kendricks is your only option, I still am taking the chance on starting Rob Grant.

[Andy Holloway]

I completely agree. I was going to say, if someone has Gronk and they have another tight end, you know, a middle to low end tight end that's on their bench, who's playing Sunday morning, would you know, would you drop that? Let's say it's Eric Ebron, right? If you've got Eric Ebron on the bench, do you drop Eric Ebron and just to pick up Vance McDonald and in hope to play Gronkowski.

[Mike Wright]

Let me say, let me say this. The reports today say that barring an unforeseen circumstance, Gronkowski will play in this game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And so based on that news, I would. If I had Ebron, that's tough. I'd probably just keep both on the.

[Andy Holloway]

Roster and play Ibram. I see. I think I would drop him.

[Mike Wright]

No, I would drop Ibram and I'd pick up Kendricks or McDonald or Jesse.

[Andy Holloway]

You have to have the chance of that Gronk play.

[Mike Wright]

But you got to monitor this. Pay attention to our Twitter @ the FF Ballers. We'll tweet out anything we notice and let you know. Marcus Wheaton held out of Thursday's practice with a shoulder injury. I think he's going to play, but you need to monitor this. You know, if you want to take a. If he's out, it's Coats or Eli Rogers as a flyer at the wide receiver position. Matt Jones practicing at full for week one. We expect him to play. Kevin White added to the injury report on Thursday with a hamstring injury. Look, just, just keep him at the bottom of your bench right now. Kevin White is not somebody I want to have shares of in my starting roster.

[Jason Moore]

Agreed.

[Mike Wright]

We talked about Kelvin. Look, there was a tweet this morning.

[Andy Holloway]

This is scary.

[Mike Wright]

Said Char west passed where on the official depth chart earlier in the week.

[Jason Moore]

This is from Therese A. Paler who is. Is a Chiefs beat reporter. And according to him, west is on top of the depth chart.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, but we need to. We really need to frame this for fantasy right now. When I hear this news, when I watch what happened when both guys were active and healthy last year, I'm still very confident in Spencer Ware's involvement this week against a weak defensive front. Defensive front in San Diego, I have no. I'm not going to adjust his ranking because I think they're complimentary and I think that Spencer Ware will get his. So I'm going to project Spencer wear the same.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And if you guys want to adjust, that's fine. I'm just giving you my perspective.

[Andy Holloway]

For me, I will probably adjust a little bit because I didn't have Shockendrick west getting hardly any involvement. If he does get involved, based on my stats, I'll have to adjust a little bit. But I agree with you that I still think Ware is a good play. He is the guy I would play out of these two guys because he's clearly the goal line back. And I think you're going to get goal line opportunities against this defense. So where is still a fine play.

[Mike Wright]

All right, Beast mode news. I was with some. Some people last night and somebody just walks up to me and he, you know, they know I do fantasy football and they just said it. They said Marshawn lynch is back. That's the news.

[Andy Holloway]

That's not.

[Mike Wright]

So what's the news?

[Andy Holloway]

Mike, why don't you jump on this one because you love the source.

[Jason Moore]

Well, the source. The source is Mike Florio for Pro Football Talk. They are a little TMZ esque. They have switched over to that. Maybe they've cleaned it up, but it's. I don't consider them a very reputable source for things like this. And there is a report that Michael Robinson reached out to Marshawn and said, what the heck, dude?

[Mike Wright]

How about you give the report first?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, sorry.

[Mike Wright]

The report is that Marshawn lynch is considering a return to the NFL. I thought you came out yesterday talking about a week four or five return, potentially. The rights for Marshawn lynch are owned by Seattle. If Seattle doesn't release him, they'd have to pay him $9 million. They'd likely trade him or just straight release him if he returned.

[Jason Moore]

And then, like I said, Michael Robinson heard the news. He called him up and this is the quote. Record this, everybody, please. Marshawn lynch is retired. He told me from his own mouth.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, there you go. I think if you.

[Jason Moore]

I believe that's called straight from the source.

[Andy Holloway]

Straight from the source sounds good.

[Mike Wright]

How many times did Brett Favre say he was retired?

[Jason Moore]

Hey, that's that's very valid.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I will. You know, I do not think Marshawn lynch comes back. I don't. And in our dynasty league where we have a bench of what do we have like 20, 15, 20 players on the bench? You're darn right I made a waiver claim on them because you know, I'm dropping. You know, nobody's to have the chance at the upside. But if you're in a regular league, I think you, you know, where you've got five bench spots, I think you got to hold off here and not waste, not burn. An option on that would be my personal. Sure.

[Mike Wright]

And I agree with that. You know, it's one of those things where if you're a team that's really weak at running back and you need a flyer, you can take a chance. But it, you know, the odds of this panning out in a way that both he returns and dominates in fantasy, it's a long pathway to that.

[Jason Moore]

It reminds me of the gif. It's a of the two guys just shoveling money into the furnace. That's your fab that you've spent on Marshawn Lynch.

[Mike Wright]

Unless he comes back. So the Lions agreed to a three year extension with Theo Riddick.

[Jason Moore]

Good for you. Riddick.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, they like Riddick.

[Jason Moore]

I like Riddick.

[Mike Wright]

They love Riddick.

[Andy Holloway]

I love when a team pays for guys like this because what it does is it gives us confidence as fantasy people that they will be as involved this year as they were last year.

[Mike Wright]

Riddick was the most, most receptions at the running back position last year.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. And you wonder, can I, can I really trust it? You know, because Abdullah was hurt for part of it and you know, will he be more and more involved? But when you go out and pay a guy, you say, we need that role. So I think Theo Riddick has to be taken in PPR leagues, you know, as serious as he was last year.

[Mike Wright]

We got into this a little bit yesterday. The reason I was going to make that water waiter we miscommunicated about. What you meant was because this team does not, I mean, they don't look at Abdul and go, boy, we gotta, we gotta make, we gotta work this guy up into being a workhorse. They have no goal of that. None. Zero. From the offensive coordinator saying they don't need a thousand yard back to the head coach saying they don't see him as a workhorse. Back to Theo Reddit getting an extension to Zach Zinner to whatever it is. This is a team that looks at it as A platoon of weapons that stand behind Matthew Stafford.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

That is 100% of the view. So let's. That's it for the news. Unless you guys have anything else.

[Andy Holloway]

I would just say I still think Abdullah is the more talented by a wide margin.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, just throwing it up.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

I'm not going to get into it.

[Andy Holloway]

Fantasy forecast.

[Mike Wright]

Unless you meant fumbling and then we all agree.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that. Well, clearly that's what I meant.

[Mike Wright]

Raiders take on the Saints. We're back into the matchups. Breaking them down 51 point over under. This is called you know what we need, Mike. This is. You've let us down big. You've let the show down.

[Jason Moore]

I apologize for what I did. I didn't do that. I do not know that I didn't do.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you for the apology, Mike.

[Mike Wright]

But look, it's clear that we need the Bonanza theme song as a drop for games like this because this is a fantasy bonanza type of game.

[Jason Moore]

A very, very Azer esque.

[Mike Wright]

What?

[Andy Holloway]

Bonanza Bonanza.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, the CBS Azer Bonanza curse. Never mind.

[Mike Wright]

This is the fantasy footballers podcast.

[Jason Moore]

I know, I know.

[Mike Wright]

I was talking about the game being a big fantasy explosion type of game.

[Jason Moore]

I'll get my mind going.

[Andy Holloway]

I feel like in this game I want to start most pieces. I mean, I'm not going to go so far as, you know, C.J. spiller in there, but yeah, let me go through them.

[Mike Wright]

You just say yes or no. Car.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Breeze?

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Latavius Murray.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Ingram.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Cooper and Crabtree.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep. Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Cooks and Snead?

[Andy Holloway]

Yep. Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Clive Walford?

[Andy Holloway]

Nope. But Kobe Fleener, he could be sneaky. Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Michael Thomas.

[Andy Holloway]

Probably not just because he was showing up on the injury report. So if he splits with Coleman, I'm going to wait.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to Ty Forbath.

[Andy Holloway]

Definitely.

[Jason Moore]

The Saints.

[Andy Holloway]

I know.

[Jason Moore]

Saints defense.

[Mike Wright]

No, no, no.

[Andy Holloway]

Do not start the defensive team.

[Mike Wright]

We know the story. The Saints defense, 31st in the league and running past D last year. So not dead last.

[Andy Holloway]

Congratulations.

[Mike Wright]

But. But dead last as a combination for sure. The Raiders were middle of the road against the run last year. Not good against the pass. I think this will be a high scoring game as Vegas agrees.

[Andy Holloway]

This is officially Vegas's highest of the entire week.

[Mike Wright]

I think it's interesting the Saints are barely favored at home. Basically a heads up game. I love everybody in this game. Like you said, Crabtree is a sneaky start. He was your start of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

Start of the week.

[Mike Wright]

Love Latavius. Very. From a fantasy curiosity perspective, the two things I'm watching in this game two or three. What is Spiller's involvement?

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

What is Michael Thomas's involvement on the, you know, he's on the depth chart, he's a starter. What is his actual involvement in the game? Does he perform? Does he. You know, when you saw Brandon Coleman debut with Drew Brees, you knew Brandon Coleman wasn't going to be a staple right away. So what has happened with Michael Thomas and then Clive Walford? I want to see his involvement as well because he came on towards the end of the year. Is he a fantasy and he's an early round tight end? What does he do?

[Andy Holloway]

And for me, I really am going to be looking for the Fleen or Breeze sync. Are they in sync yet? Because I still expect that they might get off to a slow start, but by the end of the season, I think Fleena will be very valuable.

[Mike Wright]

Let's go. Let's move on. Let's move on to a game that I view in the opposite way completely. The Cincinnati Bengals take on the New York Jets. Andy Dalton back healthy. You have Ryan Fitzpatrick that has been signed, that has had a limited preseason of work. We expect Brandon Marshall to be healthy in playing, right?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. With the hip.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I'm not concerned about it.

[Mike Wright]

So what are the storylines from this game? You know, the jets were dominant against the run last year, second in the league. Looked that part during the preseason. Jason couldn't stop raving about the defensive line.

[Andy Holloway]

They look great.

[Mike Wright]

So talk about you're a Jeremy Hill owner, you're a Gio Bernard owner. What are you doing here?

[Andy Holloway]

You know, it's tough with guys like that because usually when you're comparing, do I start this guy? It's not against other great options. You know, if I'm the Jeremy Hill owner, I might be looking between a Jeremy Hill and a Melvin Gordon, in which case I'm probably starting Jeremy Hill. Between Jeremy Hill and Geo. I think this game is one of those where you could argue because it's so hard to run against the jets that Geo will be involved in the screen game. But then you could also argue very similar to what we saw last night when there are low scoring games where neither team really gets out ahead and they both want to be that defensive, control the game. It's really, it's a Jeremy Hill type of game because they're going to continue to give him the ball and try to grind out that clock.

[Mike Wright]

Especially while that's just low production. Though.

[Andy Holloway]

I agree. Right from Stewart. Exactly.

[Mike Wright]

I have Geo rated much higher Than Jeremy Hill this week. Yeah, yeah, that's my. So just especially what I saw in the last preseason. The third game of the preseason, Geo looked a lot better than Hill did to me. And I think the plethora of ways you get him involved, I have him rate a lot higher. I don't like Hill running into that defensive line.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that.

[Andy Holloway]

That's, that's going to be bad. Now, I do believe I forget the. Which one of the jets defensive linemen is suspended this game, Is that correct? I will look that up.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So if you're looking in this game alone, would you start Jeremy Hill or would you start Matt Forte against Cincinnati? Obviously, Cincinnati is a great defensive front. 7th in the league against the run last year. Love them this year on the defensive side of the ball. I think they have the potential to be one of the best teams in the league.

[Andy Holloway]

Forte for sure.

[Mike Wright]

You would start Forte.

[Jason Moore]

I have. I have.

[Mike Wright]

Why Forte for sure?

[Andy Holloway]

Because Forte is going to be involved in the passing game no matter what. Jeremy Hill might catch a pass and he can be involved, but he won't be. That's going to be Gio's role. Whereas Forte is going to be involved on the ground and through the air. Much more confident in those type of players.

[Jason Moore]

I have all these three players. When you break down their actual fantasy points on projecting, they're all within 0.8 of each other. So I see a very. They're very clumped together for me.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. All right. Any other storylines from this game you want to get into before we move on to the Browns and Eagles?

[Andy Holloway]

Really do not like what I've seen so far from Fitzpatrick. And if he's like a streaming option against this defense, I'm not.

[Mike Wright]

You're not touching it.

[Jason Moore]

I agree.

[Mike Wright]

You start Andy Dalton in this game.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, I do.

[Andy Holloway]

Slightly reluctantly in New York.

[Jason Moore]

I still would. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And, you know, I'm.

[Mike Wright]

I'd like. Mr. I'd like to find another option.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm Mr. Andy Dalton in general, but I would rather find another. Another option as well. Low scoring. He's missing, you know.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. 41 point over.

[Andy Holloway]

Under right. That. That was the same as last night.

[Mike Wright]

Before we get into the Browns and Eagles, I want to take a second and thank today's sponsor, five four Club. Look at. On this show, we try to hook you up with the best brands and there's not. There's no one better than 5 4. I've been a 54 club member for almost a year. So before they ever got connected with this show, I was A big fan of Five Four Club. Look, when I was. When I was single and 20 years old and had no kids, I could go out and I had time to, like, stand around and try to figure out clothes that looked half decent on me. I mostly failed back then, too, but at least I had the time to do it. Look, I'm married. I have three kids. I do a podcast for a million hours a week. I have no time to try to figure out what to wear. And five four Club is the absolute best brand. They hook me up every single month for 60 bucks. They get me $120 worth of clothing every single month, and they already know that it looks good. They send it to me. It fits me. I got to choose a style profile between classic and casual and forward. Or you can get it all mixed up and get something special every month in the mail. It's great. I love it. When I go to the mailbox and pick that up, I bring it in. My wife's like, oh, what'd you get from 54 this month? It's awesome.

[Andy Holloway]

Your wardrobe's not four years old anymore.

[Mike Wright]

No, no. And it helps. You just build that wardrobe a little bit at a time, month over month. And right now, if you want to figure out how easy it is, just head over to 54 Club. Use the promo code Ballers.

[Jason Moore]

Ballers.

[Mike Wright]

You let me down. Use the promo code Ballers. Sign up. You get two packages for your first order. So you get. You spend 60 bucks, but you get $240 worth of clothing to check it out. Build that wardrobe. That's promo code BALLERS for $240 worth of clothing for 60 bucks. But it expires at the end of September, so jump in on that 5fourclub.com.

[Jason Moore]

We also want to thank SeatGeek. A spoiler alert and a shocking update. Football is here, people, and you gotta get to the games because there is. There is not much better in this life than the live.

[Mike Wright]

My son asked me last night, have you been the NFL? NFL stadium before, dad, it is.

[Jason Moore]

We all know it's the bee's knees. And the easiest way and the best way to get a ticket is to fire up your seat geek app. They make everything easy, easier, because they do the price comparison for you. They search multiple ticket sites. They're getting you the best possible deal. Do you hear what I'm saying, people? They're saving you time, and they're saving you money by doing all the work. And they give you a. They put a grade of the value of the ticket Look, I'm telling you, they do all the work for you. You just fire up the Sea Geek app. You say, I want that ticket, and I know that I'm getting a great deal on it. And this is. Our listeners are going to save or get a $20 rebate on their first SeatGeek purchase. This is what you got to do. Foot clan. To get your $20 rebate on the tickets, you download the free SeatGeek app, go to the Settings tab, click Add a promo code, enter promo code footballers and SeatGeek is going to send you 20 bucks. After you've made your first ticket purchase, Download the free SeatGeek app and enter promo code Footballers today and get to some games.

[Mike Wright]

You're wearing that bright yellow shirt today, Mike. The bee's knees reference was solid. I mean, it just fits in with your wardrobe.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, well, I had. I'm wearing the foot.

[Mike Wright]

You're beaming. You never wear. You don't wear dark colors very often. Well, they're more of a, you know.

[Jason Moore]

They don't fit in with my. My bubbly personality.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you've got the different.

[Andy Holloway]

I got the Rule 86 shirt.

[Mike Wright]

You do have. Looks pretty good. Browns at the Eagles, Philadelphia. We get. This is kind of like one of.

[Jason Moore]

Those games where this is an interesting game.

[Mike Wright]

It's fine. It's gonna be fun to watch. I mean, it's gonna be fun to see how things shake out. You got Wince making his debut. You have RG3 making his debut for his rounds.

[Jason Moore]

His re debut.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I said, hopefully he doesn't go ragdoll every 30 seconds like he does seemingly all the time.

[Jason Moore]

If we could get Robert Griffin and C.J. anderson, oh, man, the same team, they would just.

[Andy Holloway]

And then get Gronk, because Gronk does a little ragdoll as well. Like at the end of his place, I said this to our guys, don't look good. Going down to our group of writers, surprisingly, this is the game I am most excited to watch because there are a lot of questions.

[Mike Wright]

Corey Coleman, Terrell Pryor.

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly. The list goes on.

[Mike Wright]

Doriel Green, Beckham.

[Andy Holloway]

Honestly, I want to see. How is Doyle Green Beckham used? How does Ryan Matthews look? Carson Wentz?

[Mike Wright]

Does he have a rapport with Ertz?

[Andy Holloway]

There are nonstop questions in this game. So when it comes to the game I'm going to have on watching live, this is going to be one of those games. But with those many. With that many questions in a game, what can you reliably start for fantasy football? Or do you take these kind of crapshoot options where you go, I'm rolling the dice.

[Mike Wright]

I am sure. And let me. We asked about 400 questions about this game because this game has about 400 in it. Here's what I'm going to say. I would start Isaiah Cruell. I'd be willing to start him as a flex. I'd be willing to play Ryan Matthews, I'd be willing to flex Darren Sprols and I would start Ertz and Barnage and I'd be okay with all those. Those are the guys that I'm okay rolling into your lineup. I wouldn't be making desperate lineup moves to change out any of those players. I'm not. I'm going to wait and see them. Prior Coleman, Jordan, Matthews, Green, Beckham, those guys.

[Jason Moore]

Do you prefer Barnage or Ertz in this matchup?

[Mike Wright]

I prefer Barnage. I prefer Barnage. You know, just from a touchdown chance perspective, I like Barnage's odds there in the red zone. You know, I think Erz is going to be really involved this year. I was so much more confident with Bradford, but I think I can get there with wins because Ertz is talented, he's been paid, he's a good player. If you look last year, you know, 700 plus yards. I think he's going to be there again, but I'm going to wait a week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I would throw Jordan Matthews as someone that if I, if I had a lower flex option, I would be okay throwing him in there. If it's a PPR league, he's going to get his targets out of the slot. The question is really the touchdowns. This. Sadly, I don't think this is going to be a very high scoring game. This should be kind of a lot of mistakes made in the game and you're going to have a couple people with fantasy value and relevance. I think talent is going to win out here. That's why I still believe Ryan Matthews is a talented back. I am fine starting him.

[Mike Wright]

All right. The Vikings travel to Tennessee to take on the Titans. Sands, Teddy Bridgewater.

[Jason Moore]

This is the opposite of that Raiders game.

[Mike Wright]

Whatever. The actual opposite of. Can you like reverse the theme song of Bonanza and let me play it? Yeah, there you go.

[Jason Moore]

You got it.

[Mike Wright]

Look, you're not benching Adrian Peterson. I am on an island believing that Peterson is not going to have a prolific game this week. And so I'm willing to stand there alone, understand that the two guys across from me both believe in Adrian Peterson very, very much this week.

[Jason Moore]

Very much.

[Mike Wright]

I do not disbelieve in him. I just do not have him as a top five type of guy this week. I don't think that you can just move a different quarterback into position here and week one on the road. Look, Peterson can overcome a lot. They're going to give him the ball plenty. I just choose to believe that the Titans middle of the road run defense is going to be okay at home stacking the box against Adrian Peterson. That's how I think it's going to play out.

[Jason Moore]

Sure, I guess. Let's take a look at the pass catchers here. If there's anyone you're willing to start for me, the Vikings. Look, I don't. The quarterback situation is so up in the air. I don't really feel confident starting any of these guys. Are you willing to throw out your. Your late round man crush, Mr. Taje Sharp? Are you throwing him out week one?

[Mike Wright]

No, I'm putting you. No, I'm probably not.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

I think he has the potential to catch five or six passes in this game. But it's a very good Vikings defense. Very good Vikings pass defense. Top half of the league last year and you know they want to run the ball there. I just don't know if you're going to have enough production from Sharp against this defense this week and that's fine. You know, he's a wide receiver. 4. For me this week the biggest question.

[Andy Holloway]

I have is going to be DeMarco Murray because what we've seen in the preseason is that he has looked really good, that the Titans want to run the ball. He has risen up my rankings on a season long basis. But now they come into week one and they've got the Vikings who I still believe are going to be riding the emotional high of doing it for Teddy.

[Mike Wright]

That'd be the emotional low.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, but you get up for doing something, you know, you got to get up to get down in the face of adversity. And we've seen this before and I think, you know, Coach Zimmer is the type of coach that can really rally that and so that's why I've got AP as my number one running back. So I'm just curious like what is DeMarco Murray going to be able to do in this matchup? I don't think the Vikings have the offense to run away with it. So I think Murray run.

[Mike Wright]

Murray's fine to start. Murray's an RB2 for me this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm curious. I'm going to check and see if he's an RB2 for me.

[Mike Wright]

Probably Is Mike any thoughts on this game before we move on to the Dolphins and Seahawks?

[Andy Holloway]

He is.

[Jason Moore]

I just, I'm very interested to watch how that running back situation shapes up of the juggernaut Derek Henry. The juggernaut. It will. Can they keep him off the field because they, they have that huge contract for Murray. All the coach speak is that DeMarco Murray is our guy. We're going to ride or die with demarco Murray. But Henry through the preseason, how do you keep him off the field?

[Mike Wright]

I think it will be. I think it will be very complimentary and not a. I don't think it's going to be a concern for them. That's, that's, that's my outlook. I think it's just going to be a really good situation for them. The Dolphins, Dolphins fans, when the schedules were released, they went into the rooms and they ripped up the paper and they cursed the sky because they started on the road in Seattle.

[Jason Moore]

They just said, well it's a 15, 15 week schedule.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, we start owing one number one.

[Jason Moore]

Off of the board.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Hey guys, this is the NFL. Any. Andy, why don't you make this your almost upset of the week.

[Mike Wright]

Nope.

[Andy Holloway]

So sorry. Don't.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

It's not, it's not happening. This is the largest point spread. Vegas sees the Seahawks running away with this. This is the reason if you follow my Twitter account@Jason FFL you saw last night, you know the from Dumb and Dumber, the Jim Carrey gif of him wanting to vomit when he sees something he doesn't like. That's what I had to post along with the fact that I actually think Kristen Michael hit me is a decent play this week. I will say this I wanted to temper because there's so much Kristen Michael love coming out. I still don't think he is a very great running back. I think he's an extraordinary athlete. I believe it will be Thomas Rawls coming in. And remember Thomas Rawls is in this game. It's not like, it's not like Jamal Charles with where you know Thomas Rawls is going to get probably six or seven touches and take some of that away. But the game script here just says the Seahawks should be in a massive lead. The Dolphins have not been good. You know, we're not good last year against the run. And so you should be able to run the clock and score touchdowns on the ground. And so whoever that running back is right now it looks like it's Kristen Michael should be a valuable fantasy play.

[Jason Moore]

Let's talk about Tiptoeing so strongly. Just say it, Kristen. Michael is great, and he is great this week.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I will not. I will not.

[Mike Wright]

I think he's great this week. I don't know if I'm going to jump to. He's great because the guy was cut from made, you know, from teams.

[Andy Holloway]

He's a strong play.

[Jason Moore]

He's awake.

[Mike Wright]

All right, so, Mike, give us the other side of the ball here. Oh, with the dog it out, break it down.

[Jason Moore]

Look, if I'm playing anybody, if you're in a PPR and you're thinking going to play Landry or player X, I'm still okay throwing Landry out. What are they going to do? What are the Dolphins going to do besides, they're going to have to keep feeding Landry. The production might not be great, but if you're in the PPR situation, maybe he gets you seven to nine receptions and you're feeling okay with. With how everything is shaping out. And what I want to watch from this game is Kenny Stilts. Ryan Tannehill looked very great and very terrible play to play during the preseason, and he. But he also seemed to have a connection with Kenny Stills. I want to see, are those targets going to be there in a real game? Are they going to take those deep shots? And how is Tannehill's deep ball doing? Because he's not really known for that. We had Mike Wallace, one of the best deep route runners at the time, and they couldn't connect. So can he get that going with. With Kenny Stills? That's. I think that's my. Besides, of course, the hashtag awakening. The thing I want to watch the most is Stills and of course, Mr. Achilles himself. Foster. What's that workload look like? Do they just. Do they give him everything? Do they run him into the ground?

[Mike Wright]

My hope for Foster in this game is simple. Catch the ball. That's my only hope for him in this game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, his production is going to have.

[Mike Wright]

To come catch the ball. The pressure comes to Tannehill. Tannehill dumped the ball off to Aaron Foster and get him some fantasy points.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, his ceiling is going to be hard to be high. I mean, it's. It's going to be.

[Mike Wright]

It's very. Going to be hard to be high.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's song.

[Andy Holloway]

It's very, very difficult for him to put up a lot of points in this game. The one guy we haven't mentioned that I am starting in most situations, I think Doug Baldwin is a fine play. I do, too, in this game.

[Mike Wright]

All right. The Giants and Cowboys battle in Week 1 divisional matchup if you look at last year's game script, it needs to change for Eli Manning against the Cowboys. Much like Philip Rivers against the Chiefs. Manning through zero touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys last year. So I think you have to temper some expectations for him this week. I know other people don't have that point of view. I think that you just can't project Manning to come out and set the world on fire after that kind of a production against this. They know each other very well. Eli Manning is not a, not a must start for me this week. On the other side you have Dak Prescott making his day.

[Andy Holloway]

Bu.

[Mike Wright]

My number one running back in the in on the week is in this game.

[Jason Moore]

Zeke, really?

[Mike Wright]

No, Alf, no, it's Zeke. It's, it's Ezekiel Elliott. He's my number one running back on the week. Outlandish as it may be. I just think, you know the Giants, they were, they were not a good run defense last year. I know they brought in some pieces but it oftentimes as it is going to take in Jacksonville, it takes some time to get those pieces working together on a defense. I like Ezekiel Elliott to take pressure off a deck.

[Jason Moore]

Prescott, Jacksonville's been working on it for about 10 plus years.

[Mike Wright]

They brought in Malik Jackson. Olivier Vernon came into the Giants. Similar situation to me this year.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think, I think the Giants D has improved which, which lends itself more to a lower scoring game. If, if, if with Dak, they want to run the ball with Zeke, the clock's going to run out quicker. That being said, I'm not, I just want to throw this out. I'm not completely off of Eli. I mean if you look at his 2014 against Dallas, very successful. His two games were, you know, 250 yards, three touchdowns and 338 yards and three touchdowns. So.

[Mike Wright]

Oh no, it's just something to keep in your mind when you, when you're setting forth your expectations for them. You know, Sterling Shepard, Victor Cruz, Odell Beckham Jr. Is a must, a must start. Obviously I don't, I don't feel confident with any of the tight ends on the New York side of the ball this week. I did have Jason Whitten's my start of the week at tight end. I think he's going to be tried and true this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, if you're in a PPR league, he's going to be absolutely fine because he'll be a check down guy.

[Mike Wright]

Mike, talk to us about the Lions taking on the Colts. A Very high scoring affair. Another one of those fantasy bonanza type of weeks. What do you think about this game? What are the storylines that the fantasy owner needs to pay attention to?

[Jason Moore]

For me, the storyline is the guy I've been raising up Josh Groban style all offseason, my man, Dante Moncrief. I want to see what that Colts offense looks like and like you said, we expect a lot of points. This is a very similar breakdown to the Raiders Saints. If you got a guy on the, on the Lions offense or the Colts offense, I'm probably going to start him in there and feel very good about it. Stafford Luck, feel great about it. Tate Marvin. And you know what sneaky start Anquan Bolden is getting completely. He is getting a lot, a lot of love from the coaching staff.

[Mike Wright]

You watched the preseason. He looked great.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he is a true possession receiver. If you're in a PPR league, he's going to finish the game probably with like six receptions. That right there is probably going to get him to double digits and he has a chance at a, you know, at a target in the red zone where he can come away with the touchdown. Deeper option. I do like it or I've seen him as a very successful fanduel play. He's super cheap. And if you're looking for more of one of those dart throws, I think he was in our article that we just put out on the website for like some look for these guys and GPP upside. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

All right, let's go to the Sunday night game.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

Let's talk Patriots, Cardinals, the Garoppolo show. Are you tuning into the Garoppolo show?

[Jason Moore]

Am I tuning? Of course I'm tuning in. Am I buying into the Garoppolo show?

[Andy Holloway]

I want to say this because I think and maybe I'm wrong here. Obviously we are from Arizona. We make no bones about the fact that we are Cardinals fans. But we do give very unbiased opinions here. I want to say that the Garoppolo love is out of control for week one. I mean it's, I don't think it makes a lot of sense. The amount of questions I get where it's like, hey, this guy has a bad matchup. Should I start Garoppolo? Well, Garoppolo has a terrible matchup on the road. On the road against a very good team, especially a team that can take the ball away. Force interceptions, six against the run last.

[Mike Wright]

Year, eight against the pass.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And this and this is for, you know, really his, his first Real action.

[Mike Wright]

You know, with maybe Gronk, maybe not.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, probably Gronk. I, you know, I think ESPN had him ranked as a, as a quarterback one and I know that, that, that just seems outlandish.

[Jason Moore]

That's a bit of a stretch for me.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So, you know, it doesn't mean they can't compete in this game. It's just a matter of, you know, you can't paint this as a great situation for him. Yesterday it looked like Gronk might not play. You kind of need Gronk. You're making your debut here. So Garoppolo. I'm not starting him. What about the running backs in New England?

[Jason Moore]

Personally, I would. If you have James White and he's your flex guy, I'm okay with it. We've seen, we've seen firsthand the Cardinals can struggle mightily against pass catching running backs. Think back to week one last year, Mark Ingram, where he. His pass catching awakening. Really it's got started against the Cardinals because that's. That just seems to be one of their Achilles heels year after year. So I'm okay with White. I don't. I'm not going to start LeGarrett blunt, though, not against that. The front that the Cardinals have.

[Andy Holloway]

I agree. The Cardinals blitz a lot. The screen game will work and I'm fine with James White.

[Mike Wright]

Did you spin the wheel? Where did it land for wide receivers on the Arizona Cardinals?

[Andy Holloway]

My wide receiver one in this game for the Arizona Cardinals is actually Larry Fitzgerald. Gerald, I think that in a game like this against what is a pretty good defense, you're going to need that go to possession type of guy. I expect him to end up with the most receptions. He's not going to have the chance at that deep long bomb the way that either John Brown or Michael Floyd would. But I think he's a safe start.

[Mike Wright]

All right. David Johnson, auto start a must start the.

[Jason Moore]

I would say the kind of. The questionable guy. What do you do with Julian Edelman?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's. That's a valid question, I think for where you have Julian Edelman and what your options are. When I see him on most rosters, you're probably going to be starting Julian Edelman. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I would start him.

[Jason Moore]

I'm an Edelman owner and I'm. I'm starting him as well.

[Mike Wright]

You are.

[Jason Moore]

And let's not forget about the revenge factor for Jonathan Cooper, offensive guard for the. He's on the Patriots now.

[Andy Holloway]

That is true. But I would go with the. The revenge factor of Mr. Chandler. Chandler Jones.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

All right, are we getting into the Monday night games now? Mm, we are.

[Jason Moore]

What else are we going to do?

[Mike Wright]

All right, the Steelers take on the Redskins on Monday night. We have Kirk Cousins, Captain Kirk taking gun, Big Ben and the often predicted super bowl future super bowl champions, Pittsburgh Steelers. I've seen that.

[Jason Moore]

Washington.

[Mike Wright]

No, not Washington. You know, D'Angelo Williams at the top of all of our lists. Must start, a must start guy, Matt Jones, I think you can absolutely start him in this game. I chose to start Matt Jones over Jonathan Stewart this week in our Dynasty league because I just think the upside was higher for Jones in this matchup. You know, the Steelers, they had a good run d last year, but they weren't a great overall defense. They struggled against the pass. You know, if they try to lock down DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon and Jordan Reed, I think there'll be some openings for Matt Jones, who is healthy and will play. We talked about Wheaton. Look, Antonio Brown's an auto start. What are the other guys that you're paying attention to that we have not discussed? I mean, we've talked about Jesse James already. Talk about, you know, rule 86.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I am extremely excited for Jordan Reed this week. He's my number one. He's my number one guy. And that's, I mean, that has to do with Gronk's quarterback situation. His matchup the preseason has given me no reason to think that, that Kirk Cousins is going to stop throwing to Jordan reed, that the 20 yard touchdown strike in the preseason was a thing of beauty. He's going to be involved. He's going to be heavily targeted.

[Mike Wright]

All right. Kirk Cousins was my start of the week. Is Jameson Crowder a deep league flex play? Are you willing to take that jump in week one?

[Andy Holloway]

I think he will do enough where he's not going to burn you. He's especially in a PPR league. But I probably have someone else that I would rather start over him. So I doubt he would make any of my lineups. The guy that I'm watching the most in this game is Marcus Wheaton. Assuming he lines up. I want to see that number two pass catching role for, for the Steelers. Who is it between Wheaton Rogers, Sammy Coates? That's what I'm watching.

[Mike Wright]

Would you start, Would you start Wheaton or Michael Floyd?

[Jason Moore]

Floyd.

[Andy Holloway]

Floyd.

[Mike Wright]

Would you start Wheaton or John Brown?

[Andy Holloway]

Brown.

[Mike Wright]

Brown, you start Wheaton or Philip Dorsett?

[Andy Holloway]

Wheaton.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think I'd be Wheaton on that side too.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

All right. The Rams traveled to San Francisco, the Los Angeles Rams to take on the 49ers in the world's first Keenum Gabbard face off.

[Jason Moore]

The first of many sure to come or the last one we'll ever see.

[Mike Wright]

Look, you're rolling outside Gurley. Without hesitation. He's in. Must start every single week. We don't need to discuss that. Carlos.

[Andy Holloway]

Anyone else?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, is there anyone else? That's a good way to put it because I would not start anyone else aside from, you know, Vance McDonald and I think a lot of people drafted Hyde and probably have to start Hyde this week.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I'm perfectly fine with Hyde. The Rams.

[Mike Wright]

I think it could be, I think it could be a really rough week for Carlos Hyde.

[Jason Moore]

It could be the Rams. I mean, by the end of the year, we're 20th against the run. They, we have this mental image that of who the Rams defense are and all their running defense is great. It wasn't there last year. I know they dealt with a bunch of injuries, but I just, I, I think Carlos Hyde is a perfectly fine play this week.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, I believe, I believe for the record that you stand alone on that.

[Jason Moore]

That's fine. I'll stand on that.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, he is, he is the predominant back and so he should get enough work to have a Jonathan Stewart type of game. I just think, you know, what is his true upside in this game? It's going to be very low scoring. I expect the Rams will.

[Mike Wright]

I'm not going to sit high. I will say that. I'm not going to just sit.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah, he's a flex.

[Jason Moore]

I'll take it.

[Andy Holloway]

I have him as an RB3 right now.

[Mike Wright]

Sure. And I. Look, you're in a situation where if you're deciding between, okay, Carlos Hyde, Amir.

[Andy Holloway]

Abdullah this week, Hyde, yeah, that's tough. But I would go Abdullah.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

And the thing to watch for me.

[Mike Wright]

Is that's where the line is for.

[Jason Moore]

Me is do we get that? Do we get the uptempo Chip Kelly offense and who gets the targets? Who gets them?

[Mike Wright]

Right? So check, listen, check it out, everybody. This weekend. Now this show's over almost, but this weekend we'll be tuning in. We'll be connected with you guys on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. Mike is going to be periscoping live on Sunday mornings this year as often as he can. So you can tune in, get a last minute word in about the game, some of his thoughts. It's a great way to connect with the show. We try to connect with you. That's one of our. I mean, our biggest priority here is putting forth an accurate, entertaining, high production quality podcast where we can connect with you on a daily basis, on a weekly basis. Get connected with your league. Get connected with the entertaining aspects of fantasy football and making your league better from commissioner all the way down.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'll be periscoping, taking, like you said, last second questions and reading a chapter from Great Expectations every week.

[Andy Holloway]

That's very. You got, you got, you got me tuning in now.

[Mike Wright]

Wow. Wow. That's. I did not know that was part of the feature.

[Jason Moore]

Well, here's the deal.

[Mike Wright]

Glad you're running it though.

[Jason Moore]

I'm spreading, I'm spreading fantasy football knowledge and literature knowledge. Oh well, get your literature on people.

[Mike Wright]

Wow. That Mike, very impressive.

[Andy Holloway]

Very power of the beard.

[Mike Wright]

I've always taken you as a man who couldn't read. So very excited about that. Get connected with [e-mail] Our fantasy football community as well and you can share your thoughts and opinions with over 2000 like minded fantasy football freaks.

[Jason Moore]

War and Peace is next.

[Mike Wright]

War and Peace. Okay. Whenever somebody says that name, I always think it's a guy like, yeah, Warren Buffett.

[Andy Holloway]

Like Warren.

[Mike Wright]

No, it's Warren. Like Warren Peace. That's the first thing I hear is Warren. That's my rap name. War and Peace. I can see that. Thanks again for for sponsoring the show Five Four Club. Keeping the lights on here at the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Again, I remind you, if you want to stand out from the crowd, let them do the work for you. You don't have time to shop. Let Five Four handle making you look good. Go to Five Four Club, use the promo code BALLER. Sign up, get $240 worth of clothing for 60 bucks. Just remember to use that promo code ballers and we will be excitedly watching football with you this week. Everybody, let's go watch some football. Thank you so much for listening, for subscribing, for leaving us a review, review and don't forget to check out the studio sponsor, Fantasy Jocks. Bro, they got all the trophies. Use the promo code Footballers. Over there, the trophies.

[Andy Holloway]

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.