Starts of the Week + Week 3 Breakdown, V8 Special - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/24

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Starts of the Week + Week 3 Breakdown, V8 Special
Release Date: September 24, 2020

---

1. Introduction

In this episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright dive deep into Week 3 of the NFL season. They offer expert analysis, strategic insights, and actionable advice to help listeners dominate their fantasy leagues. The episode is packed with segments including "Taking it up to 100," "News and Notes," "Fantasy Forecast," and "Starts of the Week."

2. Taking it up to 100

The "Taking it up to 100" segment highlights players who may not be mainstream fantasy choices but have the potential to deliver exceptional performances in Week 3.

• Devin Singletary (RB, Buffalo Bills)

  • Mike Kosicki [05:04]: "I'm going to go with Devin Singletary. There's an opportunity this week for Devin Singletary to give you a good game."
  • Jason Moore [05:29]: Agrees, emphasizing Singletary's increased opportunities due to Zach Moss's injury.

• Drew Sample (TE, Cincinnati Bengals)

  • Mike Wright [06:15]: "Drew Sample comes in and gets nine more targets. I think Drew Sample confirms why we had you pick him up this week. Takes it to 100."

• Jericho McKinnon (RB, San Francisco 49ers)

  • Jason Moore [07:44]: "Jericho McKinnon is back to health. He absolutely fits the Shanahan system... he still has that electric ability."
  • Mike Wright [07:44]: "I definitely think he takes it up to 100 this week."

3. News and Notes

This segment covers the latest updates on player statuses, injuries, and other relevant news affecting fantasy decisions.

• Justin Herbert (QB, Los Angeles Chargers)

  • Mike Kosicki [08:38]: "Justin Herbert is going to start Week 3 against the Panthers. I view that as good news for Austin Ekeler."

• Alshon Jeffery (WR, Philadelphia Eagles)

  • Jason Moore [09:13]: "Alshon Jeffery is going to be back pretty soon. If you want to pick him up, you can put him on your IR."

• Carson Wentz (QB, Philadelphia Eagles)

  • Mike Kosicki [10:00]: "The offensive confidence in Carson Wentz is waning. They don't have much confidence in the way he's playing."

• Darren Waller and Other Injuries

  • Discussed various player injuries impacting team performances and fantasy lineups.

4. Fantasy Forecast

A comprehensive breakdown of Week 3 matchups, highlighting key players, team defenses, and fantasy implications.

Chicago Bears vs. Atlanta Falcons

• Matt Ryan (QB, Falcons) vs. Mitch Trubisky (QB, Bears)

  • Jason Moore [16:13]: "Matt Ryan is a start-worthy fantasy quarterback... facing Mitch Trubisky, who has struggled defensively."
  • Mike Wright [17:14]: "I lean towards Mitch being a solid play this week."

• RB Analysis: Todd Gurley vs. Antonio Gibson vs. David Montgomery

  • Jason Moore [19:37]: "I would rather play Antonio Gibson over Todd Gurley right now."
  • Mike Kosicki [20:36]: "David Montgomery has moved into a reliable RB2."

Los Angeles Rams vs. Buffalo Bills

• Josh Allen (QB, Bills) vs. Cam Newton (QB, Rams)

  • Jason Moore [25:27]: "Play a piece of the passing game against the Vikings."
  • Mike Wright [26:52]: "James Robinson is a good start for the Rams against the Dolphins."

• WR Focus: John Brown vs. Cooper Kupp

  • Jason Moore [27:40]: "Cooper Kupp can get into the end zone and turn things around."
  • Mike Wright [28:28]: "Robert Woods is a consistent play."

Washington Football Team vs. Cleveland Browns

• Kareem Hunt (RB, Browns)

  • Jason Moore [34:45]: "I'm confident playing Kareem Hunt."
  • Mike Kosicki [32:13]: "I'm less confident in Hunt's consistency."

• RB Choices: David Montgomery vs. Antonio Gibson

  • Jason Moore [34:36]: "Antonio Gibson is a volume player and can still deliver."

Tennessee Titans vs. Minnesota Vikings

• Derek Henry (RB, Titans)

  • Jason Moore [40:02]: "Derek Henry is a touchdown machine and a buy-low opportunity."
  • Mike Wright [40:15]: "He is game.script proof and a must-start."

• WR Analysis: AJ Brown vs. Corey Davis

  • Jason Moore [41:36]: "Play AJ Brown if healthy, otherwise Corey Davis."

Las Vegas Raiders vs. New England Patriots

• Matthew Stafford (QB, Raiders) vs. Cam Newton (QB, Patriots)
  • Mike Wright [50:25]: "Matthew Stafford is a great pick if Kenny Golladay plays."
  • Jason Moore [51:53]: "I'm starting Ryan Fitzpatrick over Nick Mullins due to favorable matchups."

San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants

• RB Choices: Dion Lewis vs. Devonta Freeman

  • Jason Moore [47:32]: "Do not pick Giants running backs for spot starts."

• WR Focus: Darius Slayton vs. Johnny Smith

  • Jason Moore [48:15]: "Darius Slayton is a solid play."

5. Starts of the Week

Each host presents their recommended starters for the upcoming week, covering various positions with strategic reasoning.

• Quarterbacks:

  • Mike Wright: Matthew Stafford (Raiders) [50:18]
  • Jason Moore: Ryan Fitzpatrick (Dolphins) [51:53]
  • Mike Kosicki: Cam Newton (Patriots) [52:58]

• Running Backs:

  • Mike Wright: James Robinson (49ers) [53:27]
  • Jason Moore: Joshua Kelley (Panthers) [54:36]
  • Mike Kosicki: Kennyon Drake (Lions) [55:57]

• Wide Receivers:

  • Mike Wright: Deontay Johnson (Steelers) [56:07]
  • Jason Moore: Allen Robinson (Falcons) [56:42]
  • Mike Kosicki: CeeDee Lamb (Seahawks) [57:25]

• Tight Ends:

  • Mike Wright: Noah Fant (Vikings) [58:48]
  • Jason Moore: Logan Thomas (Giants) [59:13]
  • Mike Kosicki: Mike Gasicki (Bengals) [59:37]

• Kickers:

  • Jason Moore: Jason Myers (Seahawks) [60:22]

Notable Quotes:

• Jason Moore [07:44]: "Jericho McKinnon is back to health. He absolutely fits the Shanahan system."
• Mike Kosicki [32:13]: "I'm less confident in Kareem Hunt's consistency."
• Mike Wright [40:20]: "Derek Henry is game.script proof and a must-start."

6. Conclusion

The hosts wrap up the episode by emphasizing the importance of staying updated with player statuses and making informed decisions based on matchups and player performances. They encourage listeners to engage with their community at jointhefoot.com for additional resources and support.

---

Key Takeaways:

• Focus on undervalued players with high upside for Week 3.
• Monitor player health closely, especially quarterbacks and running backs.
• Leverage favorable matchups to maximize fantasy points.
• Stay engaged with up-to-date news and expert analysis to make informed roster decisions.

Stay tuned for next week's episode to see how these picks performed and to gain more insights to keep your fantasy team ahead of the competition!

Transcript

[Mike Kosicki]

Hey, this is Mike Kosicki, tight end for Miami Dolphins and you are listening to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Mike Kosicki]

Welcome in.

[Jason Moore]

It's football time again.

[Mike Wright]

Hey. Hey.

[Mike Kosicki]

Every week love football. Are you adding lyrics?

[Jason Moore]

Well, it's I, I that was not added.

[Mike Kosicki]

Oh, is that another verse?

[Jason Moore]

It's just revealing.

[Mike Kosicki]

It's a different. Is that the third verse?

[Jason Moore]

Over the years, slowly people will finally know all the lyrics to it's football time.

[Mike Kosicki]

Well, that just keeps them glued in. That's the only reason they're here.

[Jason Moore]

Stay tuned for 2024. Yeah, the next big reveal.

[Mike Kosicki]

You're releasing new verses. Like new versions. I Love it. Thursday, September 24th. We've got a jam packed show taking it up to 100. Just like that intro. Just like those lyrics. Some news, some notes, some injuries to catch you up on fantasy Forecast. The matchups start to the week today. Jason's boom boom kicker.

[Jason Moore]

I've been told by a very reliable source that it is the absolute worse.

[Mike Kosicki]

It's the worst.

[Jason Moore]

I have not.

[Mike Kosicki]

I made the mistake of. Oh no, I looked at it.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, it is. It is, is the best.

[Mike Kosicki]

It's the worst. I multi, multi levels of terrible.

[Jason Moore]

I have not seen it. I have not heard it.

[Mike Kosicki]

Okay, you get the review.

[Jason Moore]

I'm very excited.

[Mike Kosicki]

YouTube.com/the fantasy footballer subscribe. Click the bell if you want to watch the show. That's where you do it. Appreciate everybody supporting the podcast subscribing, leaving reviews on Apple podcasts, the community jointhefoot.com we added the Injury Blitz podcast recently which comes out on Fridays. Matthew Betts delivering some last minute injury news. Very helpful.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, talk about taking it up to 100.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, the reviews have been solid, Mr. Betts, Mr. Betts himself. But no, we've got, we've got football tonight. We've got the beard versus the mustache tonight.

[Mike Wright]

I can't wait. I have never been more excited for a Jaguars Dolphins game in my life because of these two mediocre quarterbacks as far as, you know, how the NFL views them.

[Mike Kosicki]

I actually, I'm glad you said it like that, Jason, because I, I can see the future. I know you are aware of that. I do have and it just seems like Gardner is going to be the next Fitzpatrick in the sense that what Jacksonville should do is use them at, use him as their, their quarterback for the entire future. Which Fitzpatrick should have been a quarterback, not gone through each and every team in the NFL. He should have just remember Houston moved on from Fitzpatrick to get Brock Osweiler. Right. And Buffalo moved on from Fitzpatrick and Cincinnati moved on from Fitzpatrick to Andy Dalton.

[Jason Moore]

New York.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah. I mean, we could go for days. And all these teams just should have had Ryan Fitzpatrick as the quarterback. And I'm worried that that's the future of Gardner Minshew. He should just be the starter. But if they get a high pick, they'll be tempted to. Oh, let's. We can do better.

[Mike Wright]

If Gardner has the future that Fitzpatrick had in the past, we are all blessed in the future because I can't wait to watch him on every team that has ever been in the NFL.

[Mike Kosicki]

He makes the full mustache tour, whatever that is.

[Mike Wright]

He ages. He'll get to a beard.

[Mike Kosicki]

All right, let's jump in.

[Andy Holloway]

Taking it up to 100, presented by Head and shoulders available at Walmart.

[Mike Kosicki]

I feel like he got really serious at the end of that drop. Look got a little darker.

[Jason Moore]

You got to know where it's available.

[Mike Kosicki]

I know. All right, if you haven't heard this segment, we're each picking a player that we think will take it up to 100. In week number three, we're picking outside that kind of starter, consensus group of fantasy options or. Or a player that just hasn't done it yet. And we think this is the week. Last week, Jason had Deontay Johnson 2 for 2. David Montgomery was Mike's pick. He had a great week. I went with Scotty Miller. It did not work out.

[Jason Moore]

He was one drop.

[Mike Kosicki]

I'm going to. I realize I'm going too far down the list.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I see.

[Mike Kosicki]

I'm feeling like I'm getting a little. I went like Boston Scott and Scotty Miller, and I'm over. Oh, it's the Scott.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no.

[Mike Wright]

Great Scott.

[Mike Kosicki]

You got to avoid that.

[Mike Wright]

Great Scott.

[Mike Kosicki]

This week, I'm going to go with Scott Baio. No, not Scott Baio. And that is, I don't know, ancient. Open the Crips. Pull the reference out. I'm going to go with Devin Singletary. I'm going to go with Devin Singletary. So I'm back into the exact same group.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Mike Kosicki]

Of deeper names, but Zach Moss is banged up. He was. He was not at practice yesterday. Was working on the side. If you look at week two, the running back opportunities in Buffalo, Devin Singletary had 13, Zach Moss had eight. I think. I think there's an opportunity this week for Devin Singletary to give you a good game. So I'm going to give Devin Singletary this week to take it to 100.

[Jason Moore]

All right. All right, go ahead, Jay.

[Mike Wright]

I like that. I'm going to go with a player that, you know, we told everybody to pick up yesterday in deeper formats in dynasty leagues, and that is Drew Sample, second year tight end, a second round pick. A lot of people forget that Drew Sample actually had that pedigree coming in. You had CJ Usama have a great game last week before unfortunately going down to a season ending injury. And then Drew Sample comes in and gets nine more targets. Now, they were in a must pass situation, but I think the Bengals will.

[Mike Kosicki]

You know, there's a good chance that's their default mode.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, their default mode is, oh, we're down. So let's give it to the rookie, have him throw the ball. But the matchup against Philadelphia, the Eagles, they just gave up three touchdowns to Higby. And in week one, Logan Thomas actually was pretty good against him. So I think, I think Drew Sample confirms why we had you pick him up this week. Takes it to 100.

[Jason Moore]

And I'm going with. I'm jumping in with Andy here. I'm going with a bit of a. Could be a deeper play, a more difficult thing, but I'm going. Jericho McKinnon, who look, he's still on the San Francisco 49ers. This is the Giants look, Montgomery smashed. Snell took it to them as well. McKinnon is back to health. He absolutely fits the Shanahan system. I think this is the week he can prove that Shanahan was right a couple years ago to go and try and make McKinnon the starter of this team. He's already, even with his limited work last week, he's 10% of the targets for San Francisco. My name is Jeff Wilson. May get the goal line carries, may he? Look, they're going to be both going to be used, But I expect McKinnon will continue to be used in the passing game. And he has shown that he still has that electric ability that he had.

[Mike Wright]

I feel slighted here by you saying that this is some deeper. You're. You're going, Andy, you're going super deep. I wanted to have this be my pick, but you already had him. I'm much more confident in Jerick McKinnon than you two are. I definitely think he takes it up to 100 this week.

[Jason Moore]

Are you saying that when I'm proclaiming McKinnon will take it up to 100, you're saying I'm not confident.

[Mike Wright]

You start with the. I'm going super deep. He's not. I'm starting him in most forms.

[Mike Kosicki]

I do not think that he will get the work that everybody else thinks, but I've said that already. So I was going to ask you if you'd prefer Singletary McKinnon, but I already know the answer. Take your hair up to 100 with head and shoulders available at Walmart. Pick yours up today and check out next Tuesday's episode to hear how our up to 100 picks fared. Hopefully a little better than my last two.

[Andy Holloway]

News and notes from around the league.

[Mike Kosicki]

All right. Justin Herbert is going to start week three against the Panthers. I view that as good news for Austin Eckler.

[Jason Moore]

I do.

[Mike Kosicki]

And the offense and all players. Yeah, this was humongous news. The beat goes on for Philadelphia and wide receivers.

[Jason Moore]

What is in their water? What is going on up there?

[Mike Kosicki]

I don't know. Jalen Rager suffered a torn UCL in his thumb. It's a long term injury, guys. Yeah, six to eight weeks. I will throw this out there as a fantasy recommendation. Alshon Jeffrey is going to be back pretty soon.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I like it.

[Mike Kosicki]

If you want to pick him up, you can put him on your ir. You can put him, you know, basically, as long as you maneuver that spot, he'll be free and they don't have anybody right now. I actually think like desean Jackson's a pretty good play this week.

[Mike Wright]

He really is. I know that people are disappointed with what's happened, especially because of week one, but DeSean Jackson is a good play right now as is. You know, people were disappointed with Dallas Goddard this last week. Dallas Goddard will be involved and without Jalen Rager, both Ertz and Goddard will get enough targets to be relevant. I would completely agree if I, if I had to start Goddard last week. I am not pivoting off him this week because he had a bad game.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, yeah. He still was fairly targeted in that game, wasn't he?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it just didn't, it didn't turn into fantasy points.

[Mike Kosicki]

I saw. I don't remember who tweeted it. Somebody broke down Carson Wentz's first quarter to the rest of the season and the contrast. He had that when I tweeted that he was having a great game. He was, you know, 120 plus pass rating, amazing first quarter and from every quarter on he's been, he's arguably the worst quarterback in football.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know if you guys saw but the official NFL research Twitter put Carson Wentz on blast. I saw it and they just basically showed how bad he's been on his accuracy at all levels. And when you get out of the layup throws, he's been horrendous.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, I the hope with desean Jackson this week with no Jalen Rager is you're not going to be splitting the deep targets. They could hit on one of those big plays and you can have that game we were expecting from DJs in week one or week two, but the office doesn't give you a lot of confidence right now in the way Carson Wentz is playing. I'm sorry, Carson.

[Mike Wright]

Miles Sanders.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah. So looking at a number of names, players that didn't practice on Wednesday, there are a lot of players that don't practice every week on a Wednesday, whether it's veterans days off or Monday, Monday Night Football days off. But I think a couple notable ones. The Zach Moss one was notable to me in terms of him missing some time. That's a new injury we hadn't really heard about. Jack Doyle still not practicing. So we could see if Mo Ali Cox is a thing again this week.

[Jason Moore]

Will he be a thing again? Get out of here with that doubt.

[Mike Kosicki]

We still haven't seen A.J. brown practice, so if you're hopeful he returns, we need to see him on the practice field. We did see Kenny Golladay come back to a limited practice. If you are wanting to be confident in playing Golladay, you're going to want to see a full practice by Friday. But we'll keep you up to date either on tomorrow's show or in the Injury Blitz podcast. Jerry Judy he's got a rib injury. He missed practice or was limited, maybe worth noting.

[Jason Moore]

I would expect him to play. He did come back into the game after suffering the injury.

[Mike Kosicki]

Just don't, don't give him an injection into those, into those ribs. DJ Chark, what's the latest for Thursday Night Football?

[Jason Moore]

So DJ Chark has basically missed practice the entire week and with a game on a Thursday night that's not optimal. However, the news this morning, trending upward for It's a great matchup. This is an incredible matchup here for Gardner and all of his weapons at the wide receiver position against the Miami Dolphins. I don't think I'm playing Shark. Like trending upward.

[Mike Kosicki]

Really? That was going to be my question. So you're feeling like I this year.

[Jason Moore]

I have kind of taken the approach of when guys are super limited. I'm. I'm just not playing them now. Like devonte Parker, it didn't work out. Parker came out and he had a pretty good game. If you had benched him because you Were worried about the injury. It feels bad. But I think you at this point there are other options that you've grabbed off the waiver wire. Maybe you secured someone like Robbie Anderson on your. On your bench off of the waiver wire. So I would look for those options.

[Mike Kosicki]

I'm not Keelan Cole in the same.

[Jason Moore]

Game that like if you're super desperate, I don't mind that because the target share has been great for Keelan Cole.

[Mike Kosicki]

What if I'm moderately desperate?

[Jason Moore]

Moderately desperate? Probably not.

[Mike Kosicki]

Okay. Okay. Did you have any thoughts there, Jason? You wanted to weigh in?

[Mike Wright]

I do think that more often than not this season and really historically when you don't play a player who is hobbled right in the first week, when they, when they come back from that injury, it works out to your benefit. Yeah. I mean you brought up Parker this last week. He had a touchdown, but it was only 5 for 53. It wasn't this monster game you missed out on. Whereas there's plenty of examples, you know, Mike Evans, week one. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

That's what I'm talking.

[Mike Wright]

You chose to bench Mike Evans and you were happy you did. Even with his two yard touchdown in totality.

[Mike Kosicki]

If he misses. I think Keelan Cole is a strong play in the game tonight with the good matchup. Jameson Crowder doubtful for Sunday. Perryman's not practicing either. Is this the Braxton Barrios experience we have this week?

[Mike Wright]

Chris Hogan.

[Mike Kosicki]

Look, Barrios was actually good last week.

[Jason Moore]

It should be Chris Herndon. It should be, but I.

[Mike Kosicki]

But it's not.

[Jason Moore]

I have no confidence that it's going to be him. It's ridiculous.

[Mike Wright]

You don't trust anything from that team ever in any situation. I will play nobody.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah. Stay away from number two.

[Mike Wright]

All right. Before we move on to the fantasy forecast, take a look at all the matchups. Want to remind the Foot Clan about Pristine Auction. They have been such a long term partner. But if you are looking for a way to take your media room up a notch. If you're looking for an awesome gift for a family member, get ahead of the Christmas season that is quickly approaching. Pristine Auction has all the signed sports memorabilia you can handle. It's an auction so you can pretty much.

[Jason Moore]

You can't handle it.

[Mike Wright]

I dare say you just check in every day and bid on whatever prices you love and then eventually you'll win one of these for a price you won't believe. We talk about it all the time. Chris Godwin signed Jersey yesterday. $76. Finished auction. That's what it went for. D.J. moore signed Jersey from the Panthers. 63 bucks. I mean these aren't like, oh we found one good deal. We've been doing this for years. We've decked out our studio, signed authentic verified signatures on these awesome jerseys. Cleats, footballs, helmets, whatever you want. Check it out. And when you sign up, make your completely free account and use the code Ballers. You will get a $10 credit towards your first purchase. Check it out. Pristine auction.com.

[Andy Holloway]

Fantasy forecast.

[Mike Kosicki]

All right, it is football time. The week three matchups. They're here. Oh boy. The Chicago Bears take on the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons are three point favorites. Their psyche is potentially damaged after last week's collapse. It's a 47 point over under. They've been very productive on offense for fantasy purposes but. And they are favorites here at home against the 20 Bears. So Matt Ryan, we know what we're getting with Matt Ryan. He's a start worthy fantasy quarterback. 300 plus yards or two touchdowns in 16 of the last 17 games. It's nice to know that you're getting that production from Matt Ryan and they're throwing the ball a lot. But you know we have him at quarterback 8 on the week. He faces Mitch Trubisky in this one. Is that true? So the Atlanta's given up the quarterback one in each of the first two weeks.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And I wanted to bring this up because the defense against Atlanta is one that if you've targeted this year, it doesn't matter who it was, you've been very, very happy. But is this a matter of the Cowboys and Seahawks offense being great or is this the Falcons defense being horrendous? What is the truth?

[Jason Moore]

Well, we're going to find out.

[Mike Kosicki]

I think that. But yeah, if I had to weigh in on one, I think it's more that Dak and Russ are upper echelon offenses.

[Mike Wright]

So I lean the other side. I lean this. I mean you had Dak his left tackle and he still turned it on. I, I actually think Mitchell Trubisky is a fine play this week.

[Jason Moore]

I agree.

[Mike Kosicki]

Well, I think wasn't he your.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's my stream of the week.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, I don't think those can be mutually exclusive. I think it can be more about Russ and Dak and still have, you know, Atlanta's defense struggle at the same time. So I think Mitch is all right. He is on the road. They are two and oh, we'll see what happens. Alan Robinson is Mike's start of the week in this one so he buys into the fact that Atlanta's defense is just very vulnerable and it's hard to argue with quarterback one. Two straight weeks, Todd Gurley, he's only had 66% of snaps, five targets in week one, zero targets last week. What is he. Is he a low end RB2? Is he an RB3? At this point?

[Jason Moore]

He would be a low end. He's a low end RB2 that you can. Not really.

[Mike Kosicki]

Antonio Gibson, right? Antonio Gibson got all the work last week against Arizona. He plays Cleveland. Would you play Gibson over Gurley?

[Jason Moore]

Wow. I.

[Mike Wright]

That's.

[Jason Moore]

That's a, That's a very close call. I, I think I would go with Gibson. I think it's. There's more upside to him. The problem that we have seen with Todd Gurley this year is that there's multiple other guys now, like week one for Washington, Gibson, McKissick and Peyton Barber. Last week they, they trimmed some fat. They went with just Gibson and McKissick. Meanwhile, in Atlanta, you got Edo Smith, you got Brian Hill and Todd Gurley, and you have those other guys, not Todd Gurley, getting the work inside the five as well. Todd Gurley is not the dedicated goal line back like when you drafted Gurley. You were at least hoping that was true. He's going to get some passing work. He'll be the dedicated goal line.

[Mike Kosicki]

What if he gets no passing work and is not the goal line back?

[Mike Wright]

He. He will be.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, he will be. What he was last week, which was you started him for in your fantasy team, went, oh, that was terrible. What are you doing?

[Mike Wright]

He had 21 carries. If you told me that through the first two weeks, they're using Todd Gurley in the way that total opportunities. He gets 19 opportunities and 21 opportunities. I'm telling you. Wow. You should have drafted him. And here I am saying no. I completely agree with Mike. I would rather play Antonio Gibson over Todd Gurley right now.

[Mike Kosicki]

What about the running back on the other side of the ball, though? David Montgomery. 16 touches in week one, 19 in week two. He's 5.5 a carry on the year. He is. He surprised everybody because we didn't even think he was going to be playing. Would you start Montgomery over at Gibson?

[Jason Moore]

I would start Montgomery over Gibson and Todd Gurley. Montgomery, to me, has moved into a.

[Mike Kosicki]

Like a reliable RB2.

[Jason Moore]

Reliable RB2. I mean, we're only two weeks in, so maybe it was just. It turned out to be the matchups. But Montgomery looks like a different player right now. I mean, he was. He was a rookie last year. Smaller school compared he's like, he's not an SEC running back. And so like let's, let's give him the chance to grow. And he looks like he has come through with a great off season.

[Mike Kosicki]

Was it Mike Davis that got the first snaps in Chicago last year?

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Kosicki]

It reminds me when you brought up Peyton Barber getting like week one and then kind of disappearing. It reminds me of what happened with Mike Davis in terms of the Montgomery Gibson rookie comparison. David Montgomery or Cream Hunt against Washington in that defensive front. Washington's been very good up front.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know how in the world you don't start Cream Hunt in every situation. I mean, I really, I look at Kareem Hunt as someone that I will not be benching.

[Mike Kosicki]

See, Kareem Hunt has been very efficiency.

[Mike Wright]

Oriented because he's a phenomenal running back. That's the problem. It's not like some outlier where this is a guy who led the league in rushing and is just a phenomenal running back who's in a role that doesn't get the opportunities you would want him to. Although he's getting more than a lot of people expected, Hunt is a must start for me.

[Mike Kosicki]

All right, looking at wide receivers, Mike has Allen Robinson as his start of the week.

[Jason Moore]

This is. And I wanted to go with this because, look, Allen Robinson has been not great for fantasy purposes. 40% of his targets uncatchable. That is not Alan Robinson's fault. He like, he's still a great player. And I believe that this is like you, you'll see these with elite wide receivers having two down games. I believe it was like Hopkins last year. Hopkins or Adam. Someone had a couple down weeks to start and we came in, said, if you're going to trade for that player, you have to do it right now because he's about to go off. And then whoever drafted Allen Robinson will be. The roots will be back in and they'll say, yeah, this is the player I thought I was drafting, so I love him. The matchup is too good.

[Mike Kosicki]

The Bears have only given up 24 fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this year. The six best in football. Julio Jones could sit, which makes Russell Gage very interesting because you look at Russell Gage and say, well, big target share. Julio could miss. Calvin Ridley can't catch every pass, but the Bears are pretty formidable defense against fantasy whiteouts. Are you starting Russell Gage as a wide receiver too? If Julio's out?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'll start him as a flex play. If Julio plays, I'm in. I'm in on Russell Gage. I'm in on the passing attack from Atlanta until we see otherwise.

[Mike Kosicki]

Okay. And then Hayden Hurst.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Mike Kosicki]

All right, Jimmy Grandpa, if you're in.

[Mike Wright]

A tight end, premium, super deep league. Yeah. Jimmy Grandpa's in.

[Mike Kosicki]

What, an endorsement.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Mike Kosicki]

The Los Angeles Rams take on the Buffalo Bills. Bills are two and a half point home favorites. Is this. Is this tight enough? Is this spread, I guess, big enough for me to make this my pick?

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

Andy's almost upset of the week.

[Mike Kosicki]

I don't know if you guys noticed it didn't work out for me last week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I'm not saying we tried to warn.

[Mike Kosicki]

You, but we're not going to get.

[Jason Moore]

Them all, but Bill O'Brien sucks.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, he's a bad coach. All right. The Rams are underdogs and I think they end up winning this game. Taking on Buffalo.

[Jason Moore]

Buffalo against your beloved Bills.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah. Yeah. And all right, it's not only against my beloved Bills, Mike. It's also in a way against my beloved Cardinals. Because this is one of the games where I would like to see a division rival in the unbeatable NFC west, which I think has one loss.

[Mike Wright]

Seven and one. And the only loss was given to the 49ers by the Cardinals.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, yeah, that was great. But I think Los Angeles is just playing very fundamentally sound football week to week, and I think Buffalo is going to have to do the same if they want to keep, you know, win this ball game. Obviously Vegas has them as favorites by two and a half points and the Bills are playing good football. But again, last week it was very, very close. Miami could have won that game. The Rams, they've been playing great. The number one in terms of pace of play right now. And the Bills have run their eighth fastest. So this is going to be a faster game. It's got a high over under 47 and a half points. What are some of the. I mean, I brought up Devin Singletary, who may have an opportunity in this. In this situation, and the Rams have given up a lot of points to opposing running backs through two games, which is another thing that factored into that decision. He's had 10 targets through two weeks. We hoped that Singletary would be that passing down back. What are the storylines in this game for you?

[Jason Moore]

So to me, it's the storyline will be watching the running backs of. Of Buffalo and seeing what happens. The transformation that this Bill's offense has seen, it reminds me of a couple years ago, the Dallas, when Dallas turned.

[Mike Kosicki]

Things around, they started the Dallas, as we call it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, the Dallas Cowboys, they turn Things around they. They changed the scheme. They got out of the mud and being curmudgeon, they start using play action all the time. And Josh Allen is absolutely crushing right now on play action because it works. Play action is a very funny thing because it just always works and teams need to be using it far more often. So. And it's. It's relegated these running backs in Buffalo to be basically useless for. For fantasy purposes. And then on the other side, what happens with the, as we have dubbed it, the Ram dumb wheel of the Rams backfield? I think Darrell Henderson is. I think he's a decent start this week. We have Cam Acres. He exited with the rib injury. He has not practiced this week so far. I'm expecting him to miss. Malcolm Brown has a busted finger. Henderson, this is his chance to show off. He was not a mistake to take in the third round just a couple years ago.

[Mike Kosicki]

Okay, quarterbacks, you're starting Josh now because you're staying in the fire 100%.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I would probably not play golf, though.

[Mike Kosicki]

See, it'll be interesting in this matchup. Specifically, the Rams are fourth best against opposing fantasy wide receivers. And you imagine that Jalen Ramsey is going to be on Stefan Diggs for the majority of this game, which through two weeks John Brown has been a top wide receiver. Could he be the major beneficiary of kind of the situation with Ramsey?

[Mike Wright]

I believe Cole Beasley was missing some practice. So John Brown is certainly that guy that is going to be the main beneficiary if Stefan Diggs is locked down. That. And I believe Josh Allen's running. I think he will scramble and pick up a lot of yards on the ground here.

[Mike Kosicki]

Are you confident with Cooper cup and Robert woods as wide receiver twos this week?

[Jason Moore]

Woods, yes. Cooper cup maybe not as confident, but I'm still going to.

[Mike Wright]

That's exactly how I feel.

[Mike Kosicki]

It's interesting. Cop had a much better game through the air last week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I'm always confident in woods just because of his consistency and the fact that he pretty much always has a decent game. He's the center of the offense, he's just not the nitrous. And you hope that Cooper cup can get in the end zone and, you know, turn things around.

[Mike Kosicki]

I don't know if they have any nitrous. I think they might have lost their nitrous.

[Mike Wright]

Tell that to Higby last week.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, I mean, a goal line touch.

[Mike Wright]

No, but I know what you're saying.

[Mike Kosicki]

They don't really have Brandon Cooks to stretch the field right now. I Mean, Van Jefferson's made his mark. But to me, I don't feel like they have a.

[Mike Wright]

They're just a solid V8. They're a fast, they're a. They're a dodge chart.

[Mike Kosicki]

Not the vegetable drink.

[Mike Wright]

Correct.

[Jason Moore]

I am very excited to hear Jason talk cars engines.

[Mike Wright]

They're assault. They don't have any twin turbo.

[Mike Kosicki]

But everything you know about V8 in 60 seconds.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. You know, the point is, I think that the offense is.

[Jason Moore]

It's a hammy. What does that mean? I don't know. But it's.

[Mike Wright]

But it's a hammy. I've heard it's great. Yeah. So anyways, the Rams Hemi offense is chugging along. It's really been looking much more like their super bowl season than it. Than it looked like what we saw last year. The problem is, and you kind of just spoke to this when you talked about not having that twin turbo is there isn't a clear cut beneficiary for the high upside like there was with Gurley or there was for a while with Cup. You're kind of rolling the dice there. So that's why I say I'm always confident in playing Robert woods, because he's just, you know, he's just normal gasoline in an engine. Can I, can I end this?

[Jason Moore]

Yes, you can.

[Mike Kosicki]

You didn't say anything about pistons, spark plugs. I mean, those should have come up. Who's the spark plug of this offense?

[Mike Wright]

Well, I mean, that's the week. It's Darrell Henderson.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, the nitrous to keep going with this ridiculous analogy. It could be Darrell Henderson this week.

[Mike Kosicki]

Okay, all right.

[Mike Wright]

How many horse jokes does he have?

[Mike Kosicki]

Dill gaff again. The Washington football team takes on the Cleveland Browns this week. The Cleveland Browns are seven point favorites, which seems quite frankly ridiculous to me and I'll tell you why. In fact, I did not think you would let me have the almost upset in the Rams game. And this was my backup.

[Jason Moore]

Oh.

[Mike Kosicki]

Was Washington. The Browns are seven point favorites.

[Mike Wright]

I've got an idea. Make up for last week's terrible one.

[Mike Kosicki]

You want me to have two?

[Mike Wright]

Heck yeah, man.

[Mike Kosicki]

So I can go over to this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Andy's almost upset of the week.

[Jason Moore]

Here's the part where I tell you I'm going to take Cleveland to cover the seven.

[Mike Kosicki]

That's fine. That's fine. Look, here's the reason why. The recipe for beating the Cleveland Browns is to slow the running game down. The aforementioned Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb, the Washington defensive front before this season.

[Jason Moore]

It's Mighty nice was a pro football.

[Mike Kosicki]

Focused top five defensive line in the season. Through two weeks they're number two in terms of fantasy points given up. The shade thrown on Kenyan Drake should be praise heaped upon the Washington defensive line and what they did in that game. They've given up 11.5 fantasy points in totality to the running back position. Last week Nick Chubb and Cream Hunt combined for almost 50. Something's got to give there. And if you put the ball in Baker Mayfield's hands and say win the ball game, that has not equated to a victory very often, much less covering a seven point spread. So that would be my argument of concern for this offense.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I'm actually excited to see because I've questioned the defensive line for the Washington football team. I'm not sure if I really fully buy in, but I want to. And this is the proof in the pudding. Because when you talk about trying to stop Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, you either you either are good enough or you aren't. And we're going to find out this week. So this will be really telling for me for upcoming future matchups. We always talk about having enough data as the season goes along to start making bolder, more sure calls and I think this will bring clarity to that Washington defensive line.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, and this is why I have less confidence in the smash play of Kareem Hunt than you do.

[Mike Wright]

I mean Kareem Hunt to me is an always play because he's game script proof. If the game is close and they need to throw the ball and put it in Baker Mayfield's hands, it's going to have some dump offs to Cream Hunt. If they are up on the seven point, you know, line and they're crushing, then they get to run the ball more and Cream Hunt touches it that way. So I just don't see being able to.

[Mike Kosicki]

I don't think he had a fantasy point until the second half last week.

[Mike Wright]

I'm fine with that. I just care about what how many fantasy points does he have at the end of the game?

[Mike Kosicki]

I agree, I agree. Just those old first off leagues. He's going to have some disappearing games. That's my whole point. He had him last year and he's going to have him this year because if he doesn't bust off 8.9 a carry in the fourth quarter, there's going to be games. He disappears.

[Jason Moore]

I'm with Jason that I'm confident playing Kareem Hunt.

[Mike Kosicki]

I mean the reason Sean Jackson or Kareem Hunt.

[Jason Moore]

Kareem Hunt, man. Probably Kareem Hunt. Okay. We were talking about David Montgomery, asking for a friend. Kareem Hunt. I'm more confident in David Montgomery because of the touches. I mean, Kareem Hunt's going to. Part of playing him will be, you know, some cardiac problems as you're watching the game.

[Mike Kosicki]

I felt like an idiot for a half and a genius for a half.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Let the whole game play out.

[Mike Kosicki]

Antonio Gibson.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Mike Kosicki]

He's up at RB22 for us this week. McKissick had 29 snaps last week. Gibson had 43. The Browns defensive front has been very good as well. They're at home. Gibson's been elusive, but this offense is kind of.

[Jason Moore]

They are also elusive in. Are they.

[Mike Kosicki]

Are they present?

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Kosicki]

So I, you know, Gibson to keep the comparison going.

[Jason Moore]

Are we back to the cars?

[Mike Kosicki]

No, we're back to David Montgomery. Oh, and Montgomery kind of took over early last year. The total touches for Montgomery were outstanding, but the Mitch Trubisky problem reminds me of a Dwayne Haskins problem. So if you can't move the ball, can't provide a lot of goal line opportunities, high value opportunities. Gibson could have a lot of touches, not a lot of production cementing him in that RB2, RB3 range.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I don't mind that argument. I do believe that the Mantle has. It's it. We have passed the torch here to Antonio Gibson. He's the starting running back. He's the primary guard, which we don't know yet. Did that turn into. We won't see the atrocious Peyton Barber at the goal line over and over and then he finally breaks in like. Will Gibson get those touches? We aren't sure yet. I. I think we are there.

[Mike Kosicki]

I think he will.

[Jason Moore]

But you're right. The matchup against the Cleveland front is not a very positive one for Antonio Gibson. We still have not seen them, the Washington football team, unleash him in the passing game. Maybe we finally see that this week. But Gibson is a volume player. I think you can play him. And like last week where he got a whole bunch of touches, didn't really do a bunch, but he did end up getting the touchdown at the end, saving his fantasy day.

[Mike Kosicki]

All right, when we Talk about Terry McLaurin looked great last week against Arizona, he gets Denzel Ward. Ward was outstanding against AJ Green a week ago. If you watch the tape and all the things that factored into those, you know, the force feeding of A.J. green, the complaint of separation problems for A.J. green. Ward was at least a piece of the puzzle. He had his best pro football focus graded week in quite a while in that matchup.

[Mike Wright]

He excellent and he has the speed to keep up with Terry McLaurin. So I have some concerns but I can't imagine that those concerns would turn into benching Terry McLaurin because the balls have to go to him. He will have the opportunity. And week one you had 100 first, you know, first half yards from another speedster in Hollywood Brown. So I think Terry McLaurin is is fine but Denzel Ward is not an easy match.

[Jason Moore]

Terry McLaurin is a better wide receiver than A.J. green now.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, no doubt about it.

[Jason Moore]

So I'm not worried about ward.

[Mike Kosicki]

Odell Beckham Jr. Had the nice week last week.

[Jason Moore]

Oh man. What do you do?

[Mike Kosicki]

McLaurin or Beckham?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that's that one's easy for me. I'm going to stay in Terry McLaurin. I want the new hotness arrow pointing up then the question, just question mark is the old bus.

[Mike Kosicki]

Isn't the arrow pointing up for Odell after last week?

[Mike Wright]

You pointed out that last year he had a week two prime time big game.

[Mike Kosicki]

Clara was the wide receiver three last week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And then continued to disappear. So Odell Beckham to me has a question mark. His arrow isn't pointing down because of last week. His arrow isn't pointing up because of 18 games. He's just a question mark.

[Mike Kosicki]

Jarvis landry's only had 8.6 fantasy points and 6.1 fantasy points in the last two weeks. Do you trust him at all as a flex? Are you letting him sit on your bm?

[Mike Wright]

I'm letting him sit on my waivers.

[Mike Kosicki]

Logan Thomas. Mike's going to talk about him a little bit later. Tight end for the Washington football team heavily targeted last week didn't deliver for you but there aren't a lot of pass catching options. It's pretty much McLaren Sims and Thomas and then maybe if they involve Gibson a little bit more. That's your Dwayne Haskins targets. Let's move on Tennessee, the Titans taking on the Minnesota Vikings. Titans are two and oh Vikings are owing to Titans are two and a half point road favorites.

[Jason Moore]

That's it?

[Mike Kosicki]

Well yeah road but the Titans also they're two and oh but through two weeks they barely hung on to win both games. Is that right? I mean last week Minshew almost got him. So it's been close. The Titans defense hasn't looked as formidable as I thought it would be when the year began and Derek Henry hasn't had the Success that we expected at least getting into the game.

[Jason Moore]

He hasn't transformed into the Yeti yet.

[Mike Kosicki]

That's right. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

We need some snow first.

[Mike Kosicki]

Abominable. Yeah, that nickname's tough because I know I'm not going to say abominable correct very often.

[Mike Wright]

No, I like Derek Yeti.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'm up with that. I don't mind it.

[Mike Kosicki]

Titans too.

[Jason Moore]

But right now he's just Derek Henry.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

Because it's. It's warm outside.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah. Yeah. Getting hit by Derek Henry is bad to begin with. If you add like cold temperatures.

[Jason Moore]

That's the secret.

[Mike Kosicki]

You just pass on that 48 and a half point over under. That's a pretty high over under.

[Jason Moore]

This it is.

[Mike Wright]

Well, the Titans defense has disappointed. The Minnesota Vikings defense has been non existent. I, you know I said this once. I'm targeting the Vikings across the board here. I'm hoping that AJ Brown does not play so there's clarity. If he does not play, Corey Davis becomes someone that's going to be.

[Mike Kosicki]

To be clear, you're not targeting the Vikings. You're targeting the team that's facing the Vikings.

[Mike Wright]

Correct. I'm targeting them as you know, someone that I want to attack. However I want it said that I do think that they are a well run franchise with a good head coach. Those things don't stay putrid forever. This was a slow, you know, weird off season where you lost Diggs and you had some changes to the offense. A ton of changes to the defense. Half of the defensive starters were new. This is someone that I'm going to target until proven otherwise. But as soon as they have a good game I will immediately buy in and stop. Just the hyper targeting. That's how I'm approaching looking at the Vikings.

[Mike Kosicki]

Are you worried about this offense without Stefan Diggs and what we've seen through two weeks from Dalvin Cook?

[Jason Moore]

Nah, Dalvin Cook has still been fine. He's. He is the guy. He will. He's the goal line guy. He gets stump offs. Dalvin Cook is. He's fine at this point. The way the things have panned out. If you took Dalvin Cook over Alva Camara, sure in hindsight now you're kicking yourself but Dalvin Cook has still been very solid for fantasy.

[Mike Kosicki]

They get three touchdowns through two weeks.

[Jason Moore]

He's a touchdown machine.

[Mike Kosicki]

That'll help Derek Henry. No touchdowns on the ground yet. 25 and 31 carries. I believe the touchdowns are coming.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to say that Derek probably this week scores a touchdown this week.

[Mike Kosicki]

Is this your. Is this your kind of buy low window for Derek Henry in fantasy?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

If there is one at all for Derek Henry, it's right now.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I would certainly scoop him up if I could. I tried to trade for him after week one, kind of being a meh game and, you know, it just depends on your league. In our league, there's no chance that Derek Henry is. I couldn't trade my team for him if I wanted.

[Mike Kosicki]

I've tried. I've tried to trade for him. No luck. Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook, the only two options you're looking at on the Minnesota side?

[Jason Moore]

That is correct.

[Mike Kosicki]

Thielen. We have as a wide receiver, nine on the week. Tennessee's given up the second highest pass success rate in the NFL. A.J. brown, we don't know if he's going to be out there. Oh, please don't if he is. The Vikings defense is putrid, giving up almost 45 fantasy points a game to opposing whiteouts. That makes Corey Davis a spot start if he's not there.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, but the question is, I think the. The difficult question, because if A.J. brown is out, Corey Davis in every lineup that you have him, but if AJ Brown plays, you know, I'm speaking as someone who has A.J. brown and Corey Davis on the same team because when I lost A.J. brown, I picked up Corey Davis. I'm sure there's a lot of us out there. Which one do you start? Which one do you start if they both play? Because I certainly want a piece of the passing game against the Vikings.

[Mike Kosicki]

I would be starting A.J. brown. If he. If he's out there, I would be starting him. Corey Davis was pretty much invisible last week other than he caught an early short touchdown and that saved his fantasy week. So I would, I would go with A.J. brown in the big play, sure.

[Mike Wright]

But week one, Corey Davis, when A.J. brown was there, was the more targeted, more efficient, better wide receiver. So I think it's difficult.

[Jason Moore]

I need to see at least a full practice. So tomorrow, if A.J. brown has a full practice tomorrow, then I would be confident to play him. Otherwise I would not. And I would play John New Smith either way.

[Mike Kosicki]

John who is the biggest beneficiary from AJ Brown being off the field? Yeah, John who Smith. Let's ask a rest of season question, though. We know Brown will be back eventually. Would you rather have John who Smith or Mike Gasicki rest of season?

[Mike Wright]

John who Smith.

[Jason Moore]

Eileen Johnu. Yeah.

[Mike Kosicki]

Okay. Noah Fant or Johnny Smith?

[Mike Wright]

Noah.

[Jason Moore]

Noah Fant.

[Mike Kosicki]

Evan Ingram or Johnny Smith?

[Mike Wright]

Johnny Smith.

[Jason Moore]

Ingram.

[Mike Kosicki]

Okay. All right. The Raiders take on the New England Patriots this week. The Raiders, undefeated. The Patriots are at 500 but they're six point home favorites and it's a 47 and a half point over under.

[Mike Wright]

They were one play away from being undefeated.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, they didn't, they didn't even get close though on that play. No, I watched that play from a few angles and it was pretty gross. It was gross.

[Jason Moore]

It was a. That was a whoopsie by Cam Newton.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, it's that whole debate of jumbo package versus, you know, spread it out a little bit and then let Cameron. I mean they, you just got to.

[Mike Wright]

Always have a leak out. You know, if the play breaks down he can dump it over the top mid flip.

[Jason Moore]

Could he have dumped it up even with a leak out on that particular play? Cam Newton, just the defender won and Cam Newton ran right into it.

[Mike Kosicki]

All right. The Raiders though, they are two and oh through two weeks and the Patriots are big time home favorites. It's a 47 and a half point over under. We'll be talking about Cam Newton in a little while.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, that's what I'm talking about. Get on board baby. Let's go.

[Mike Kosicki]

But even though Russell Wilson torched the Patriots who are because of that game now 27th in the NFL, there's a fancy points given up to opposing wide receivers. I don't think we expect that to be the norm facing Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf and Russell Wilson. What do you believe about this Patriots defense? Right. Right now is there anybody that you would start on this Raiders offense for fantasy purposes outside of Josh Jacobs and Darren Waller?

[Jason Moore]

Outside of those two? No. No. How dare you take my easy answers.

[Mike Wright]

You almost didn't name the walrus.

[Mike Kosicki]

But.

[Mike Wright]

Henry Ruggs, Brian Edwards, Hunter Renfro. It's a no for all of them. Stefan Gilmore is still there. And while the Patriots lost a lot of defensive stalwarts to the COVID opt out list and they aren't the same defense we saw last year. They are still obviously well coached with a couple of great options and Gilmore is not going to have to match up against DK Metcalf every week. It's Jacobs, it's Waller, it's move on from the Raiders.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, like I would rather play. I am playing Nikhil Harry over any of those other options for the Raiders.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, that was going to be a question. On the other side, Nikhil Harry, a lot of targets past couple of weeks kind of seems to be Cam's other main guy like Edelman and Harry.

[Jason Moore]

What's super weird is Nikhil. Harry is being used in the short game and we've seen Julian Edelman catch quite a few bomb passes. Bill Belichick always flipping the script.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, Harry's going to have some games this year especially. He hasn't gotten into the end zone yet. He tried but he didn't and he, if you watch him at Arizona State, a lot of big plays on screen passes. He has the ability to take that scream to the house. Sonny Michelle. Horrible. Last week it was Burkhead getting all the snaps. Still not good for fantasy. James White still not back at practice. Who knows if he even plays this week.

[Mike Wright]

Sony Michelle. I wouldn't even put a claim in on him if he was on waivers. Yeah, that's, that's how I feel about Sony. I mean he has stunk. He's not getting the opportunities you want. He's splitting time and then if you pick him up for some hopeful turnaround, then Damien Harris comes off the short term ir. I don't see any reason to.

[Jason Moore]

That is a good point to roster Sony Andy. I love Andy. Bringing up Alshon Jeffrey as a claim right now because he's on your waiver wire. Damien Harris may also be on your waiver wire. This is just a stash. I'm not proclaiming. Damien Harris is coming in. He's taking the job. He's going to break out. But the drumbeat of the off season was growing very strongly for him. Everyone was saying he was the best running back in camp so he at least has that opportunity.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah, and I was going to bring him up, but I wasn't going to be as positive as you were. Just in the sense that we know now what New England does inside the five, it's going to be Cam Newton. So if you take away any chance of a goal line but maybe got James White, maybe it's because they look.

[Jason Moore]

At the running backs and go these guys are not going to get it done.

[Mike Kosicki]

All right. The 49ers take on the New York Giants this week in New York. The 49ers are 4 1/2 point favorites. They're beat up but not too beat up to beat up the Giants.

[Mike Wright]

I love it. That was maybe the best sentence you have ever said on this show.

[Mike Kosicki]

I got it in three times so we know kind of the situation. We lost Saquon Barkley last week. Devonta Freeman is going to be practicing but he's how worked into the offense will he be? If I had to pick a running back it would be unquestionably Dion Lewis this week because I know he's going to be involved in the passing game of this offense. We saw it last week where he actually had, you know, some fantasy production. But it's not a situation I want to be in. Picking between multiple Giants running backs.

[Jason Moore]

Don't do it.

[Mike Kosicki]

For a spot start against the defensive front of the 49ers.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I would. I would pick Devonta Freeman and it's irrelevant because whoever it is, you don't want to start. And I think that there are better options out there. I mean, obviously, if you've lost, you know, two starting running backs and you had to pick one of these guys up, our apologies. But outside of that crazy situation, you know, I just traded for Devonta Freeman on the cheap in our dynasty league because I am in serious need, serious need of a running back in that dynasty league. He's not in my lineup this week, even against a beat up San Francisco 49ers defense.

[Mike Kosicki]

Let me broaden the question. Is there any Giant that you would play this week? Because. Okay. Is it Darius Slayton?

[Mike Wright]

It is.

[Jason Moore]

I think Darius Slayton is a solid play. I think that Evan Angrum, it really hasn't come through in a big way.

[Mike Kosicki]

He was heavily targeted last year.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And he was a cardiac player of. Through the whole first half you're going, why did I draft Evan Ingram? And then he finally got involved. Ingram is a. He's. He's still a weekly tight end starter at this point.

[Mike Kosicki]

And then Sterling Shepherds out.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And that's what I was going to go to. Golden Tate, goal. If you are in quite the pickle, I think Golden Tate is worth a potential flex start. He's also a player that you could just throw on your bench for over the weekend and see, see how things shake out as the Giant schedule is about to open up and Shepard is going to miss multiple games.

[Mike Kosicki]

All right. On the other side, we don't know if it's going to be Jimmy G or Nick Mullins, but we do know the backfield is going to be Jerick McKinnon and Jeff Wilson. I think both of those players are startable. Yeah, I think Wilson will get a ton of work because McKinnon has been coming back from, you know, two years of injuries. Both players could give you fantasy production. Outside of them though, we're looking at Rule 81. Jordan Reed, George Kittle. We don't know if Kittle's going to be available. We'll give you an update, but right now he's questionable.

[Jason Moore]

Well, let's confirm. I mean we need to walk through the steps.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Rule 81.

[Jason Moore]

Is Jordan Reed healthy?

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. Part two. Is George Kittle not playing?

[Mike Wright]

We don't know yet. But if he is not, then Rule 81 is in full effect and Jordan Reed is in your lineup. Yep.

[Mike Kosicki]

Okay. Is there anybody else on the San Francisco side that you know? Okay.

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Mike Kosicki]

Let's get to our starts.

[Andy Holloway]

Starts of the week.

[Mike Kosicki]

Any volunteers to kick this one off?

[Mike Wright]

Sure. I'll go first. Here was.

[Mike Kosicki]

He pulls out a carton cigarette.

[Jason Moore]

The walrus McAllister smokes.

[Mike Wright]

I should have taken that time to not go first.

[Mike Kosicki]

That's why I laughed.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to go first with a quarterback that was a draft season favorite. I think he was probably the most common late round quarterback that the three of us combined were taking left, right and center who we then dropped everywhere before week one and didn't get the chance to play because he did not have Kenny Golladay. Matthew Stafford is a great quarterback in general. He leads the NFL and comeback games for a reason and it's a great fantasy reason. It's because their team stinks and he needs to come back. But he's great at it. He's phenomenal at, you know, the second half of the game. And if you look at the over under here, a major points bonanza expected by Vegas in this game. High pace of play. Kenny Galladay back. I am willing to start Matthew Stafford. Now. That is on the contingency that Golladay is back.

[Mike Kosicki]

That's what I was going to ask you because I've been here before. I thought Golladay was playing. When I made Stafford my start of the week in week one, he ended up sitting it out. Wasn't as pretty.

[Mike Wright]

My expectation because they took their time with Golladay is that they did. The Lions did what the Eagles did with Miles Sanders. They just flat said, no, we want to use you at full strength. We're not going to let you come back a little hobbled. And so I my expectation is that Gollady will play. That's why I'm making Stafford my start of the week. If he isn't, you could pivot to plenty of other options.

[Jason Moore]

All right, I'm jumping in. I'm giving you another streamer. He's my start of the week, but I wanted to highlight this streaming option. He's going tonight. So if you're going to make that decision, you got to go now. Like maybe you're waiting on Jimmy Garoppolo. I would much rather play Ryan Fitzpatrick, the starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins over Nick Mullins. Like, just. You're waiting on that for some reason. He just put up a top 12 performance against the Buffalo Bills. Jacksonville, meanwhile, just allowed a quarterback eight last week. You can pass on Jacksonville. Ryan Fitzpatrick, he's we were talking about in the beginning. He like, he's still good. Week one was against the Patriots. That's a tough matchup. Ryan Fitzpatrick is picking up where he left off at the end of last year and I think that you could play him with confidence tonight.

[Mike Kosicki]

All right, I'm going to go with Cameron Newton. Cam Newton facing the Raiders two weeks into the season.

[Jason Moore]

Where's the drop man 15. I was warming it up for you.

[Mike Kosicki]

You're right. I was too busy thinking about the argument for him.

[Jason Moore]

That's your argument.

[Mike Kosicki]

I'm done. He's been booty scooting.

[Mike Wright]

All right, my start of the week at running back.

[Mike Kosicki]

15 carries, 11 carries, two touchdowns on the ground in each week. Figuring it out 397 through the air last week. Love him.

[Jason Moore]

He's healthy. Watch him play. He is healthy right now and healthy. Cam Newton is fantasy. Goodness.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Mike Kosicki]

And he can get better. It can get better because he can. You know, he hasn't played with Harry and Edelman in this offense for a while. Didn't even have James White last week. It can get better.

[Mike Wright]

All right, my start of the week at running back is going tonight as well is James Robinson.

[Mike Kosicki]

I haven't seen any of your guys start yet. This is all exciting to me.

[Mike Wright]

So James Robinson, this isn't some smash play matchup wonder, but he should be started in most leagues. I can't imagine that he's not start worthy. And I want to give my confidence in what I've seen from him as a player. Even though his snaps came down this last week, his opportunities went up four targets last week to go along with 16 carries. That's a phenomenal workload. He had 16 carries week one and two. He's going to get the work. Tonight's game shouldn't be out of control one way or the other. So I think this is a good James Robinson matchup. Miami looks pretty good against running backs so far this season, but it's a mirage. Week one was the Patriots. We just discussed how they don't have running backs. And then week two last week was against Buffalo where they just didn't need running backs because Josh Allen was like, and you get a touchdown and you get a touchdown. So I think you can run against Miami. And my main point here is that I think James Robinson is good and I think so. He's getting the opportunity. He's got enough talent. I'm willing to start him.

[Jason Moore]

My running back start of the week is as always whoever's playing the Carolina Panthers and you're saying well it's Austin Eckler. That's too out of reach, too obvious for the start of the week. I completely agree. That's why it is Joshua Kelly who has been a running back to now in both weeks. Last week we saw 26 opportunities. We saw his snap count jump 25%. They are back. They are back to the Austin Eckler and the Melvin Gordon role or mold for this offense and that's who Joshua Kelly, Joshua Kelly is playing the part of Melvin Gordon. So I'm in on. I'm in on him. The matchup is great. The opportunities will be there.

[Mike Kosicki]

My running back start of the week is a response to the vast amount of poo pooing that this player has received. And when you talk about playing Carolina well, it's pretty nice to play. Detroit Lions Kenyon Drake is playing the Lions this week. Detroit just got utterly bamboozled by Aaron Jones. Bamboozled they did. They gave up. They've given up six point per carry this year on 51 carries. Opposing running backs are averaging averaging an extra 13 fantasy points against the Detroit Lions. Canyon Drake breakout week this week I against me in our league of record.

[Mike Wright]

Let's let's hope this better not be any kind of fantasy reaper.

[Mike Kosicki]

If it is backwards logic here then all right.

[Mike Wright]

At wide receiver I've got my last week's taking it to 100 player who came through. It's Deontay Johnson. Dare I say the wide receiver one for the Pittsburgh. He is Steelers.

[Jason Moore]

That's not a dare. He is.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean he looks great. He's hyper targeted. His target market share is great. He has the 8th best matchup this week according to Pro Football Focus. As far as the cornerback matchup, if Bradley Roby is on him, if you remember week one, Sammy Watkins had a very good week. I think that that's going to be kind of a similar match up here against Houston. Deontay Johnson should be able to beat.

[Jason Moore]

Them and I'm going with Alan Robinson. We talked about it a little bit before so I'll keep it short. Atlanta is the worst team against quarterbacks right now. They are the fourth worst team against wide receivers. The matchup is there. I think Allen Robinson has his breakout week. If you're going to Try and trade for him. You have to do it now.

[Mike Kosicki]

I'm going with the rookie CD Lamb this week. No team has given up more fantasy points to opposing wide receivers than Seattle. That's why they got to let Russ Cook is they're giving it up on the back end. Giving up 65 fantasy points last week against Atlanta, then 44 against New England. They're just hemorrhaging fantasy points. And CD Lamb's been very impressive. I think we're going to see a big play in this one.

[Mike Wright]

I really wanted to go Michael Gallup for my start of the week, but I saw you had CD Lamb.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah. The logic is it's 100% the same.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, you guys remember when Lamar Jackson had a just an astronomical 9% touchdown rate last year? It's completely unsustainable. Do you guys know what Russell Wilson's touchdown rate is right now?

[Mike Kosicki]

Oh, no.

[Mike Wright]

I'm guessing north of 10.14.3.

[Mike Kosicki]

And you know what's crazy about it is, you know, he had two of the five longest pass completions of the week last week. And it's like, it's Russell. But David Moore's catch was, like, ridiculous, where he. They're making Russell look good, too.

[Mike Wright]

He has some sous chefs over there for sure. He's not alone, but in the kitchen.

[Jason Moore]

Chef jokes, card puns. This show is unbelievable.

[Mike Wright]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. That's right at tight end, I've got Noah. Fantastic. Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Against anybody. It doesn't matter. He's right now he's locked in. He's locked in with Cortland Sutton being gone. Jerry Judy is a little bit banged up. They just have to give him the ball in his hands at least six or seven times. And if that happens, he has this athleticism that can break big plays, that can get in the end zone. So you got to stay in the flames with Noah. Fantastic.

[Jason Moore]

And I'm going with Logan Thomas. Look, if you're. If you're a supporter on Join the Foot Dog, not only do you get an extra podcast episode each and every week, you get access to our tools like the stream finder. And it is stream finder time. You want to find those tight ends to play well, you're going to see a glaring situation here against Cleveland, allowing the most points to the tight end position. You say, well, one of those was Mark Andrews.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I got it.

[Jason Moore]

I got it. But C.J. usama and Drew Sample both had a fantasy productive game. Logan Thomas is pulling in a robust 27% target share. That's only that second behind only Darren. I am the walrus. So the volume hasn't completely hit yet for Logan Thomas, but the volume is there and the matchup is there.

[Mike Kosicki]

Turns out we're going to have three players in our starts of the week that play tonight because I'm going. Mike Gasicki, tight end position. Gasicki got going last week. Huge athletic plays. I don't know if you saw the one handed catch across the middle. 11 targets, 8 catches, 130 yards and a touchdown. That was a huge week. And Jacksonville has been shellacked in the first two weeks by opposing tight ends, including Johnny last week torching them. So I think he is a reliable start this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Jason Moore's ironclad, locked and loaded, 100% guaranteed. Boom boom Kicker of the week.

[Mike Wright]

With a fire first name that I really admires. I'm going with the Seattle Seahawks. Jason Myers. Yeah, baby. The best one yet.

[Jason Moore]

That's some of your finest work.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Admirers.

[Mike Kosicki]

To be clear, you rhymed Myers with Myers there at the end, Ed Meyers.

[Jason Moore]

But sure, okay, I put a prefix on it.

[Mike Kosicki]

Were you impressed, Brooks? Oh yeah.

[Mike Wright]

It's not about impressing, it's about entertaining.

[Mike Kosicki]

Yeah. And the bar. There is no bar. There is no bar for that.

[Mike Wright]

The bar is a line drawn on the ground I can simply step across.

[Mike Kosicki]

All right. The rest of the matchups and you.

[Jason Moore]

Still manage to trip on sometimes it.

[Mike Wright]

Gets in my way.

[Mike Kosicki]

The rest of the matchups tomorrow. But we're done for today, so enjoy the game tonight. JoinTheFoot.com is the community. Do you want to get the extra episode? We just came out with the foot cast yesterday so you can check that [e-mail] Otherwise, goodbye. Farewell. I admire you, Jason.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you.

[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.