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FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
Start Dylan Sampson or Jacory Croskey-Merritt? | Week 1 Lineup Advice: Starts, Sleepers, Sits, Player Debates, and TD Calls! (Ep. 1689)
00:52:38
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- [00:00]
Ryan Wormley
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
Matt Jones
Hey, this is Matt Jones and I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel?
- [00:17]
Jake Seeley
That was my other big takeaway from that game.
- [00:18]
Matt Jones
What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover 0 with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app podcast or wherever you get your podcast.
- [00:39]
Ryan Wormley
Hello, everybody. Welcome into the Fantasy Pros Football podcast. I'm Ryan, warmly joined as I will be every Thursday morning in season by Pat Fitzmaurice and by Jake Seeley from the Athletic. Guys, we have made it. It is the morning of the opener. We get real, actual fantasy points in our matchups tonight courtesy of the Eagles and Cowboys, and we're all pretty darn excited about it. Fitz.
- [01:04]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, we are. We were just talking about this. I will be watching the opener at a bar and it might be one of the last games. Well, it probably will be the last game I watch at a bar all season. It just doesn't work out with the content schedule the rest of the way. But really excited about it. Really excited for football. Twitter, especially during standalone games. It's always a little wild on Twitter. That's fun to follow. Yeah. So it's, it's been a long off season.
- [01:30]
Ryan Wormley
Make sure everybody's following us at Fantasy Pros on Twitter slash X and also on Instagram and TikTok and everywhere else we are available on social. Jake, what are your kind of just feelings here at the end of the off season, at the end of draft season and now kind of shifting our focus into in season coverage.
- [01:47]
Jake Seeley
The feelings are. I can't believe it's already here. I actually said that to Nicole last night. I was like, this doesn't feel like week one for some reason. I don't know with the strange preseason, whatever it might have been, but excited for it to happen, excited for all the overreactions. It's week one. Crazy things are going. Guys are going to come up doo doo and guys are going to go off on your bench or even on waivers. And it's, it's week one. Let's just have the fun. The fact the football's back. Right.
- [02:11]
Ryan Wormley
Embrace the fact that we don't know anything. You don't know anything. We're just here to have fun, watch some football, make the best guesses we can and, and Try to win some fantasy matchups. Quick reminder for everybody that all of our 2025 in season consensus rankings and tiers can be found at fantasyprose.com rankings each and every week of the season for all the different scoring formats that you could need on there. So the way the show's going to work is Jake is new to the show from last year. Fitz, you and I did it together last year. There's going to be a couple of different segments on our Thursday show every single week. We are normally going to have sort of a waiver ads segment basically asking the question, these the most popular waiver wires of the week, are we actually starting them right away or are these long term pickups? We're obviously not going to have that this week because there have been no games to have waiver ads coming off of quite yet. So that'll be starting next week. The sections we are going to have today and we'll have every week are sort of a plant your flag opportunity where we're going to say like this is really like our guy of the week. It doesn't matter what position he is. We really believe that this guy is like the start that you want to be making of the week. The guy that we are really convicted in, I should say. And then we're going to do some player debates. We're going to get some guys that you guys have some natural disagreement on. You might find them to be close, but some guys that hopefully you are, you know, kind of organically feeling on opposite sides about guys who are close to each other in the expert consensus rankings where you had some running backs and receivers, also some flex kind of head to head start sit decisions there. Then we'll wrap up with our touchdown calls contest which you can participate in on Discord. Anybody listening throughout the season win some cool prizes. Mike Mayer and Kelly Kirby do a great job of running that over on the fantasy pros Discord. So we're going to kind of alternate what position we're taking, but we're going to give you our touchdown calls of the week. For example, this week it'll be Jake at running back, Fitz wide receiver, myself a tight end. Next week we'll rotate through, give you three names each and every week. That is what the show is going to look like this year and I am super excited for it. I'm super excited to start off with the plant your flag segment, especially because you guys picked two players from probably the most shocking team you could possibly have picked if anybody was paying attention to draft rankings. It's either them or another team I think would have been the most surprising. You did go with one of them. Fitz, we'll start with you. Who's your plant your flag player this week?
- [04:21]
Pat Fitzmaurice
It is David Najoku and Najoku is part of that big tight end blob below the big three of Brock Bowers, Trey McBride and George Kittle. But Najoku rises to the top of the blob this week. It's just it's such a good setup for him. When Joe Flacco started five games for the Browns late in the 2023 season, Najoku had 30 receptions for 390 yards and four touchdowns in those five games and was the tight end one in half point PPR over that stretch. So Najoku and Flock Flacco have already cooked together and Najoku opens with a terrific matchup against the Bengals. Cincinnati allowed 111 catches, 1,114 yards and 10 touchdowns to tight ends in 2024. Basically, tight ends against the Bengals last year were like peak Rob Gronkowski. So it's a great setup for Najoku this week.
- [05:21]
Ryan Wormley
Jake, you are as I alluded to, also picking a Cleveland Brown for this.
- [05:27]
Jake Seeley
Yeah. And if David Njoku is going to have a good week, well, his quarterback's going to have a good week. I am way above consensus on Joe Flacco. I have him one spot behind Jared Goff, which is because they both have to do it with their arms. And honestly if we're looking at these two games, we could assume both will be shootouts. But the better defenses are in the Lions of Packers matchup. The opportunity here going against the Bengals. Look, Joe Flack, I've mentioned it, I think on this show or it was with somebody on one of the recent shows over his last 17 starts over 4400 yards. Joe Flacco is going to throw. The Cleveland Browns are going to throw. The Cincinnati Bengals are going to force the Cleveland Browns to throw. So if somebody's going out there and throwing for 300 yards and three touchdowns even with potential interceptions in week one and it's add this range of Dak Prescott who has to do it with his arm tonight against the Eagles I was scared of their secondary. Jared Goff has some concerns going against the Packers. I think Joe Flacco deserves to be in that conversation with so if you're looking for that, hey, I drafted Caleb Williams and I really don't want to start him in week one. Let's go Joe Flacco do You guys.
- [06:29]
Ryan Wormley
Have any interest in the running game for the Browns as well? Is this like a. Because you guys are obviously focusing on the passing game here. But like Dylan Sampson, Jerome Ford, like are we thinking this is just going to be like a start all your Browns opportunity?
- [06:41]
Jake Seeley
So yes, Dylan Sampson, no, Jerome Ford. Like Jerome Ford feels like the safe play and maybe if we were talking six teams on a buy. I'm just going to chase the upside of Samson similar to the commander's backfield. I'm going to chase Austin Eckler. I'm going to chase the Austin Eckler for the Browns in a game I'm going back to again. I expect the Browns to have to pass and try to play keep up. I'm going to go with a more explosive option. It could be Jerome Ford that outscores him. I'm just going to chase the upside in that backfield.
- [07:06]
Ryan Wormley
Fitz, what do you think about the running game and like do you do. Is there a chance the Browns win this game just given not only the Bengals defense but the way they have started their past, you know, few seasons?
- [07:15]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Oh yeah. After watching the Bengals laying egg against the Patriots in week one last year, you could totally see them losing in Cleveland and having to, you know, deal with the dog pound. So I, I could totally see that. Especially if it's windy. You get that wind tunnel effect in Cleveland sometimes and you know, if that throws off the, the Cincinnati passing game. As for the Browns running game, I mean if you are a Ford or a Sampson stakeholder, I think you wish you were getting this match up like in a week with a lot of buys and later in the season when there were buys and injuries because like Ford and Sampson would be startable in like week seven in this matchup. But this week when everyone's pretty healthy going into the season and you know you've got all your studs ready to roll, I don't think you're starting those guys even in a pretty good looking matchup against the Bengals. And by the way, I think the fact that, you know, I'm taking David Najoku and Jake is taking Joe Flacco, I think what Jake and I are trying to say is that, you know, we think the Browns are going to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
- [08:18]
Jake Seeley
100%. Well, to be clear real quickly, I actually have Austin Eckler and Sampson back to back at 32 and 33. So I'm with him that even if I have Sampson higher, it's not like you have to start him. There's not a lot of teams that dig that far already.
- [08:32]
Ryan Wormley
Yeah, I'm pulling up here what the odds are for the Browns to win the AFC this year.
- [08:38]
Jake Seeley
Just, let's see.
- [08:40]
Ryan Wormley
Well, just to represent AFC in the Super bowl, it's 150 to 1 being generous. That's. That's a line you can find over at Hard Rock Bet. Speaking of, we are extremely excited to announce our new presenting sponsor which is Hard Rock Bet. Everybody knows and loves the Hard Rock hotels and casinos and now you can use the top rated Hard Rock BET sportsbook to place your bets all NFL season and beyond. Hard Rock Bet is the only legal sportsbook in the state of Florida and is also available in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois and Colorado with more states launching all the time. You can also play on Hard Rock Bets online casino if you are in New Jersey. From here on out, you'll start to see us use Hard Rock Bet lines when we're talking about the games. For example, the Bengals are laying five points in this one. If you do want to go with that early season upset for the Browns +5 so as we gear up for the NFL season, sign up for Hard Rock bet. Make a $5 bet and you'll get $150 in bonus bets. If you win, head over to Hard Rock Bet. Sign up and make your first deposit today. Payable in bonus bets. Not a cash offer offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida. Offered by Seminole Hard Rock Digital LLC in all other states. Must be 21 + and ph in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida? Call-888- admit it in Indiana. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants to help, call 1-800-9 with it gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia. Alright guys, let's get into our start sit player debates. We're gonna have a couple of running backs, a couple receivers that we can maybe dive a little bit deeper on. They will have room to go through a little quicker, a larger chunk of sort of flex options hit on a quarterback and tight end or two and see what we think. So we'll start off with the running backs and I want to start off with a veteran coming off of injury versus a rookie. It's Isaiah Pacheco versus Travion Henderson, two players that I really liked targeting in drafts this year at their respective costs. But if you had a couple running backs that you drafted higher. You might need to be picking between only one of them for your flex spot maybe or for that RB2 spot depending on your roster build. So Jake, I'll start with you. Who are you starting this week between Pacheco and Henderson?
- [10:57]
Jake Seeley
It's super close but I'm going with Pacheco. I love Henderson as anybody knows. I thought that Henderson was worth going into the fourth round, maybe even late third in the pre drafts for the season. But really what it comes down to is still questions about the Patriots offense, still questions of like what we do. We expect Henderson to get mid teen title touches like I do but would it be a shock if they come out and still use Stevenson and still use Antonio Gibson, go full blown committee and bring them along slowly whatever it might be. I go back to and I've referenced it on my pod, I've referenced it on other pods. Continue to give you credit Pat. Every single time I say Pat FitzMorris said this two months ago. If Pacheco never played last season, will we be ranking him higher? Legitimate question. So much so that we not only had that question but you guys saw it. We got to see a little bit of a check on the preseason and similar to Debo Samuel, he looked like he had his burst back and if Pacheco has his burst back, I know he's not going to get used a lot in the passing game but somebody has the touchdown equity that I can count on that, hey this they're going to use him at the goal line. I don't have to worry about the Patriots playing Patriots games with Mike Vrabel and Josh Daniels at the goal line. So that's where I go with it. It's only four spots apart but I would go with Pacheco over Henderson Week one.
- [12:06]
Ryan Wormley
But before I toss to Fitz, is it close enough Jake, that if we were taught we're going to largely look at this through the prism of a half PPR setting, if it was full ppr, would you switch it to Henderson?
- [12:16]
Jake Seeley
It would probably be back to back. It would close the gap that much.
- [12:20]
Ryan Wormley
Okay Fitz, what do you think between these two again from the half PPR perspective?
- [12:24]
Pat Fitzmaurice
I also have it close. I have Henderson ranked a little higher RB20 versus RB23 for Pacheco and you know, hopefully Pacheco is back to what he was. I agree with Jake. You know he looked really good in the preseason and obviously wasn't 100% late last year when he came back from that broken leg after only what like 10 or 11 weeks. But is Pacheco going to be a true lead back or does Kareem Hunt still get meaningful playing time? Does rookie Burchard Smith play on passing downs for the Chiefs? And then Pacheco also gets a matchup against a Chargers defense that allowed the sixth fewest fantasy points to running backs last year. It's, it's an easier matchup for Henderson at home against the Raiders. And just Treveon Henderson is a big play waiting to happen. Like that's where. That's why we're less concerned about him sharing work than I think we are with the back like Pacheco, who kind of really needs that lead role to really be impactful. So I think Henderson gives us at least one big play in his NFL debut.
- [13:30]
Ryan Wormley
You know, I'm just now I actually I'm the one who put together all these kind of head to head debates and I did not do this intentionally. Like lean, very rookie heavy. I am now realizing that of the eight names in our like kind of four main debates we have here, five of them are rookies. I guess there is like it kind of makes sense that it might naturally happen because we haven't seen these guys yet. So there is a little extra level of uncertainty and like are we starting them right away in general? Fitz, do you view this rookie class and we'll get into some of these other specific names in these other debates. Do you view this rookie class as one that is ready to, you know, start off hot right away in the first month of the season and be, you know, very viable fantasy starters immediately? I know some rookie classes. It feels like it maybe takes a little while for those guys to get going. Do you feel like this is one where for the most part we can kind of dive right in?
- [14:17]
Pat Fitzmaurice
No, not necessarily. I mean I think there are small handful who we can reasonably trust early on because they're positioned for pretty heavy touch volume whether it's, you know, on the ground or in the passing game, receivers or running backs. But there, there are not a lot of those guys this year and I think it might be a good running back class but a lot of these guys do not have an immediate path to heavy touches.
- [14:43]
Ryan Wormley
What do you think Jake, about the kind of the class early impact in general?
- [14:47]
Jake Seeley
Same thing. It's really like who like we know Henderson, we know we're going to talk about another and Marion Hampton and everything like that, but it's the wide receivers. There's probably two or three definitively can count on. It's getting too excited about the rest. Like I was over on the chat on the Athletic and somebody asked about how excited should I be for IU Manor? And I was like, look, I was one of the biggest proponents of IU Manor, but this is still like we're talking weeks into the season potential here. Maybe he kicks Tyler Lockett aside quickly, but we did this last year too. Remember Dylan Labe? Everybody is super excited for Labe in the Raiders backfield. And I'm not saying that like, hey, you know, you took a flyer on him and I did too. It's just remember, don't, don't overrate rookies in general because we love to do it every single year.
- [15:28]
Ryan Wormley
Well, let's ask about another rookie here, R.J. harvey versus his backfield mate J.K. dobbins out in Denver. They are very close in our staff rankings. I'm looking here. Yeah, they're also very close. Just two spots apart in the expert consensus rankings overall. So a very feasible decision that somebody might have to be making here, especially given where you might have drafted these guys. Fitz, I'll start with you on this one. RJ Harvey or JK Dobbins in week one.
- [15:54]
Pat Fitzmaurice
So I preferred Harvey over Dobbins in drafts. I think Harvey has the better season long outlook. But in week one, I think Dobbins is the slightly better play. He's listed as the starter on the Broncos depth chart. You know, and I know that's the, the veteran deference thing, which a lot of coaches do, but maybe Dobbins really does get a majority of the snaps at running back until Broncos head coach Sean Payton is confident that Harvey won't be a liability in pass protection. And we can be pretty sure that Dobbins is going to get the goal line work for the Broncos. They're probably going to have a run friendly game script in week one, their big home favorites over the Titans. I think Dobbins is the, the primary mail carrier for Denver this week.
- [16:36]
Ryan Wormley
Do you see it the same way, Jake? I mean, Dobbins had such a hot, hot start last year. You could see the Denver maybe taking a similar approach where they say we don't really trust the this guy to stay healthy the whole season. So let's kind of run him as much as we can early on before he wears down. Or do you say listen, like we're talking about this in half up, RJ Harvey is definitely going to be the better pass catcher of the two. Just given Dobbins his history there and, and you prefer him for that reason. Which way are you going?
- [17:00]
Jake Seeley
I'm Kind of in between, so to speak. I have Harvey one spot in front of Dobbins and that's half point bpr mostly because, you know, I agree with Fitz, but I think it's more so if we saw in the preseason use and according to people covering the team and practices and seemed like that Dobbins was the third down back because of what Fitz brought up with the pass catching concern, which like, okay, maybe it's a split and RJ Harvey is the quote unquote lead and he gets like a lot of first and second down and that's where I lean slightly to this is where I agreed with them is that I think this could be a very run positive game script. And the fact that it's the Titans and we expect and it's one of the biggest lines on the, on the table for the fact that Broncos are being favored. So that being like, hey, we know Dobbins has injury history. Why are we going to run him into the ground in week one? You know, maybe it goes the other way. Maybe this is, hey, we've got time to make Harvey a thing and we can use Dobbins and then save Harvey to last the entire season because it's his first NFL season. But my biggest point here is going to be they are down by 28 and 29. They're behind Tyrone Tracy, who I don't even love, but just Tyrone Tracy Warren names that like I know usage at least and I could see this spinning either different direction. Like if it was a 70, 30 split, J.K. dobbins being the 70, it wouldn't shock me. And that's why if you can avoid it, I would least try to avoid it for a week.
- [18:18]
Ryan Wormley
You know what, Go ahead.
- [18:19]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Oh, sorry. I was just going to say this situation reminds me a little bit and this is going to seem like I'm insulting J.K. dobbins because I think he's better than the player he comps to in this comparison. It reminds me a little bit of the Bengals last year with Chase Brown and Zach Moss where I think the assumption was like Chase Brown was maybe going to get his initial work on passing downs because he was like the quicker and more explosive guy. But no, Chase Brown was not entirely trustworthy and pass protection early. So he actually got his early work on early downs and Zach Moss was like the main passing down guy. It could be a little like that this year too. It's just. Will RJ Harvey be able to like overthrow Dobbins completely just because he has, you know, I think he clearly has more juice. But Dobbins is better than Zach Moss was, though. That's the issue.
- [19:14]
Ryan Wormley
J. Jake, kind of. He already answered the question that I was going to follow up with. So I'll ask you, Fitz, are these guys, you said they're ranked close together, but where in the rankings are they? Are they more in that kind of flex range, like an RB3 type range, or do you have them maybe up close towards the RB2s?
- [19:28]
Pat Fitzmaurice
So I have Dobbins RB26 and Harvey RB28 in half PPR. So they're. Yeah, kind of flex. The flex zone.
- [19:36]
Ryan Wormley
All right, let's get some wide receiver questions here. We'll start with two of really my favorite players in drafts. We're talking about a lot of guys that I just really. Which maybe this will be helpful to me setting my lineups because I have a lot of them across my leagues. I like to take advantage of doing these shows in that way. Tel McMillan versus Cortland Sutton. And you know, McMillan, obviously rookie who just like keeps going higher and higher in drafts, like throughout August and into September. There's just so much helium there. Cortland Sutton maybe overlooked in terms of how we talked about him on their show, on the shows, because there wasn't much to say. But somebody that I really like and I think has genuine upside compared to where he was going, you know, McMillan is going to have such this amazing target share opportunity right off the bat, we expect. And, and Sutton, you know, the Broncos are big favorites. I think they're going to have to throw to get there at some point in that. In the process of those games. So I really like both these guys. Jake, I'll start with you on this one. Who do you have ranked higher in week one, McMillan or Sutton?
- [20:36]
Jake Seeley
I feel like we're making this segment coin flip ceili over here because I go back to back again as Sutton. One spot in front of McMillan. But that's. I'm going to go le towards the veteran. I'm going to lean towards the quarterback I trust more. And that's coming from somebody who likes Bryce Young to continue what he did late last year. Although I will say Shieldiers Capadia. I don't know how you say thank you. How you say his last name. He actually pointed this out when he was talking about their offenses this year. And we all saw it. We saw Bryce Young play better. We saw the EPA numbers, if you want to back it up with metrics. But the one part where Bryce Young didn't actually look better in the Metric standpoint was success rate which kind of takes away like you know, throwing a three like third down and 12 and you throw 15 yards, get a first down equals out to if you threw for 45 yards because it's still a successful play and that's kind of brings back like offsetting the big plays versus you just got the first down. Anyway, all that being said is he was actually still towards the bottom of the league in success rate. So I'm saying that Bryce Young, as much as I believe in him, he played better to a degree, but he still wasn't of Bo Nix's caliber. And I'm not saying like I love Bo Nix that much. I'm just saying I TR Bo Nicks, I trust Cortland Sutton over a rookie and Bryce Young and it's a very narrow margin. They're back to back. But that's why I'm going to go the tie break to Sutton.
- [21:51]
Ryan Wormley
Fitz, I was kind of finalizing this is season long, not week one, but my kind of season long official rankings for the fancy pros accuracy contest last night. And I was feeling very bold and just like if I, if I want to be overly aggressive on one guy this year, it is Tedro McMillan and I ended up actually pushing him all the way up to my wide receiver 12 for the season, which is which it's only tied for the highest ranking amongst anybody in the in the contest. But I, I, I wanted to be higher than dbra, which we'll talk about when we record our Friday show later this week. But, but, but I just feel so convicted about him week one though I do get why there could be a case against it. So I'm not saying that like he's a must start in in every circumstance regardless in this first ever NFL game. So what do you think between McMillan.
- [22:40]
Jake Seeley
And we're might need to beat you at the bar Fitz. That's all I'm saying.
- [22:45]
Pat Fitzmaurice
So the other person who has steroid McMillan wide receiver 12 is not Derek Brown?
- [22:49]
Ryan Wormley
No, he's got him wide receiver14. I tweeted last night my like my face bros does like a cool thing where it creates a graphic for the experts to share very easily. And I shared my graphic of the receivers and I tagged DBRO in it. I was like balls in your court to to catch out to me here. I believe he has a wide receiver 14.
- [23:07]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah. So I've got McMillan ranked ahead of Sutton. Wide receiver 16 for McMillan Sutton wide receiver 22. No issues with Sutton. You know I feel like Low end wide receiver 2 is a perfectly respectable place for him to be. But if I were betting on, on which of these guys was going to get more targets this week, I'm absolutely betting McMillan over Sutton. The the Panthers traded Adam Thielen. Jalen Coker is hurt. They're, they're being forced to trot out Hunter Renfro as their slot man. Their Outside receiver opposite McMillan is Xavier Leggett, who is just objectively bad as a rookie last year. 1.19 yards per route run, 5.9 yards per target. McMillan should be in line for heavy target volume right away against a Jacksonville defense that doesn't really have any cornerback matchups to fear. Well, at least not as long as Travis Hunter is primarily being used as a wide out, not a corner. So yeah, I just, I feel like McMillan has a really good chance at 10 plus targets this week.
- [24:06]
Ryan Wormley
Are there any surprising names that you're starting McMillan ahead of? Like, like beyond Sutton obviously, but anybody else that might surprise listeners?
- [24:15]
Jake Seeley
I mean Marvin Harrison.
- [24:20]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, same. Garrett Wilson. Wilson has a tough matchup. Terry McLaurin, Devonte Adams.
- [24:27]
Jake Seeley
Not McLaurin or Adams. Worse. Yes, you're just in general spots in front of me, but I do have them in front of like you said, Garrett Wilson as well in front of DJ Moore. So.
- [24:37]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Oh yeah, yeah.
- [24:38]
Ryan Wormley
Let's, let's go to two other rookie receivers here. A Mecha Igbuka or Matthew Golden. Ibuka was going higher than golden but that gap for as much as Igbuka was rising throughout August, golden was also rising in real time adp. So at this point as we sit here, you know one of these Ibuka is ranked higher but I'm curious if you guys see a case for, for golden because he is I think the better chance to be his team's leading target getter in this, in this first week as opposed to Buka who will likely be behind Mike Evans. Fitz, I'll start with you on this one. Egbuca or golden in week one?
- [25:15]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Egbuca. He was the better prospect all along with the far better college resume and now he's a chance to be a full time guy right away with Chris Godwin out. And I like Igbuka's matchup against Atlanta. The Falcons secondary isn't very good and it looks like their top slot cornerback is going to be fourth round rookie Billy Bowman Jr. Who was a safety at Oklahoma. So I like Igbuka in that head to head matchup. If you know Igbuka takes most of his slap slaps snaps in the slot and all the news about golden coming out of training camp was positive, but the target distribution in Green Bay could be just wildly unpredictable from week to week just as it was last year. I don't think golden really profiles as a high volume target earner and Detroit has one of the best defensive backfields in the league.
- [26:06]
Ryan Wormley
Jake, what do you think?
- [26:08]
Jake Seeley
I hear everything but I'm still going golden and I don't disagree. I had Igbuka clearly as the better prospect. Actually at that time of the draft pick, not knowing what was going on with the situation, I thought Isaiah Bond was the better wide receiver than Matthew golden, but I also considered the landing spots and I'm not saying Fitz wrong is what he's saying. Buca is the number two. I just look at the fact that I think golden is clearly the one. Jaden Reed is dealing with the foot issue. How much is he out there? And I go back to the how much is he out there for this entire packers crew? This is what frustrated us last year in fantasy was that nobody on the packers was Getting more than 65, 70% of the routes and we were just like what the hell is they're trotting out a bunch of twos and threes and just like hey who's going to do it this week? And I think that the answer is we still have a bunch of two or threes. I still like Dobbs as a nice flyer because I don't know how long Jaden Reed is going to last and I'm talking about for waivers but Dobbs is the big play threat. I think Golding can do everything that the packers need him to do. I don't think he's a super complete wide receiver. Let me make that clear. Like I don't think he's of the ilk of a Buuka but I do think he is the number one and I agree the Detroit secondary is worrisome but at the same time I don't see this going out there and being a 1310 ground and pound game on both sides of it. Maybe I'm wrong in that aspect, but I just look at the one versus the two and that's why I give him the slight edge. It's very close. This is another one. They almost are back to back in my rankings but I go with the one slight edge over the two for his team.
- [27:30]
Ryan Wormley
I also feel like Fitz that like I expect both of these teams to be pass heavy in week one but if one of their opponents was to lay a complete egg and therefore allow the team to be more run heavy. I think it would be the Falcons allowing the bucks to run more. I don't like the Lions, I think are going to score and therefore I think the packers are going to need to throw to keep up. Even if the Lions maybe have the stronger secondary than the Falcons do. If that. If that logic makes sense.
- [27:57]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, I mean maybe. But like the packers were something like 8% over expected run rate last year. So Jordan Love hurts.
- [28:08]
Ryan Wormley
I've been operating under the assumption that's because of Love's injuries.
- [28:11]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Probably. Yeah. Love was never truly healthy. So. But like normally LaFleur has been pretty close to even as far as run.
- [28:18]
Jake Seeley
Yes. I will say one thing for fits his argument against yours Worm is that the Jordan or Jordan, the Jared Goff outdoors thing isn't really a thing anymore. Especially as we just saw last year in December outdoors. And yes, one was San Francisco. But back to back weeks in San Francisco and Chicago putting up big numbers. The one area he does still struggle in Green Bay. Actually almost every single year he struggled in Green Bay. So if there is. I thought you were going to say this. If there was a game that I did say it wasn't going to be a 1310 ground and pound but if it was a slog and all of a sudden both offenses are struggling, I think that is in play more so for the Lions, which would pull back the passing game for the Packers. Anyway, you just create whatever narrative you want. This is how you create. No, no, I'm not, I'm not even. I'm not joking by saying that it's like out there that's struggling with these decisions. What is the narrative you believe that could happen and that helps you make your decision.
- [29:09]
Ryan Wormley
It. It does, but it makes me think of like the numbers never lie with a big asterisk little show they had on espn. Like you can, you can frame it the way you want to. Before I move off this. When did those games usually happen though in Green Bay? I can't remember what time of year were they season? I was mid season usually. So a little bit colder.
- [29:26]
Jake Seeley
Yeah, I don't even think it was that bad though because I was looking at golf the other day for that and referencing it was two games and I think it was is outdoors here. I'll tell you right now. So outdoors in Green Bay, Week nine last year, somewhat cold. I could go back and actually like look at the temperature. But week four, the year before, it wasn't that early.
- [29:43]
Ryan Wormley
Okay. So yeah. So yeah. Relatively early.
- [29:45]
Jake Seeley
Yeah.
- [29:46]
Matt Jones
Hey, this is Matt Jones I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining and twice a week. That is exactly what you're going to get. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel?
- [30:05]
Jake Seeley
That was my other big takeaway from that game.
- [30:06]
Matt Jones
What was that?
- [30:07]
Jake Seeley
Looks like something that should not be sold.
- [30:09]
Matt Jones
Oh my. So that was my other big Colts takeaway. They sold that?
- [30:12]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yes.
- [30:12]
Matt Jones
Might want to go back at the Colts stadium.
- [30:14]
Jake Seeley
Yeah, I might want to go back to the drawing board on that.
- [30:16]
Matt Jones
Yeah. I thought the shape we had with pretzels was working pretty well.
- [30:19]
Pat Fitzmaurice
It's worked for generations.
- [30:21]
Matt Jones
We're just here trying to enjoy it. We hope you all will join us throughout the year. And let's go. I hope I'm as youthful as Pete.
- [30:27]
Jake Seeley
Carroll is at his age.
- [30:28]
Matt Jones
He's a young 73. He is a young 73. He is spry. I wouldn't fight him. I would listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [30:48]
Dan
I'm Dan. He's Ty.
- [30:49]
Matt Jones
Hello.
- [30:50]
Dan
And we're the Solid verbal college football podcast.
- [30:53]
Ty
College football season is here. And you know what that means.
- [30:59]
Dan
Your team is going to break your heart three times, probably before Halloween.
- [31:04]
Jake Seeley
Uh huh.
- [31:05]
Ty
But fear not, the solid verbal will be right there with you through every soul crushing loss and impossible comeback.
- [31:12]
Dan
Join us all season long, all year long, as we ride the roller coaster of this ridiculous sport.
- [31:18]
Ty
Whether you're a die hard fan or a casual observer, we'll help you make sense of all the chaos and of course, celebrate the madness. Tune in for previews, recaps, bits you won't hear anywhere else, and all the emotional support you need as a college football fan.
- [31:34]
Dan
We don't just love college football, Ty, we live it.
- [31:39]
Ty
Listen to the solid verbal college football podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast guests.
- [31:49]
Jake Seeley
I'm Marcus Grant.
- [31:51]
Dan
And I'm Michael F. Florio.
- [31:52]
Jake Seeley
And together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast.
- [31:56]
Unknown NFL Fantasy Football Host
Fantasy season is here. And the question is, are you ready to dominate your league?
- [32:00]
Jake Seeley
Because if you're not locked in with us, the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, you're already playing from behind.
- [32:06]
Unknown NFL Fantasy Football Host
Every episode, we're breaking down the biggest fantasy headlines, injury updates you need before kickoff, and matchups you can exploit to bury your competition.
- [32:15]
Jake Seeley
We're talking sleeper picks, breakout stars, and the players you can't afford to bench.
- [32:20]
Unknown NFL Fantasy Football Host
Whether it's rookies making noise or veterans keeping their value. We cover it all.
- [32:24]
Matt Jones
Whether you're drafting for the first time.
- [32:26]
Jake Seeley
Or chasing another championship.
- [32:27]
Unknown NFL Fantasy Football Host
We'll give you the edge, the insight and the confidence to make every move count.
- [32:32]
Jake Seeley
Weekly analysis, hot takes and insider knowledge all in one place.
- [32:36]
Unknown NFL Fantasy Football Host
So what's be it to going to be another just okay season or total fantasy domination? Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [32:51]
Ryan Wormley
All right, let's get to we'll kind of go quicker through. We have like a larger chunk of we call it rapid fire. It doesn't need to be like literally a rapid fire, but we'll kind of go quicker through these ones. We got a running back, a receiver, a quarterback, a tight end and a handful of of flex head to heads here. These are mostly more veterans. I do have one more kind of rookie head to head here, so we'll just do that. Now the running back Dylan Sampson, who we talked about a little in talking about the Browns vs. Jakori, Crosky, Merritt, who was this darling of the preseason. Then the depth chart comes out and he's RB4 on it for the Commanders. I don't know how much weight we're putting on that, so I wanted to ask Dylan Sampson or Bill Merritt, Fitz will go with you first.
- [33:31]
Pat Fitzmaurice
I'm not going to deny Bill, so I'll go with Crosby Merritt. They're both going to be committee guys. I know Sampson's matchup against the Bengals is pretty attractive, but like Crosby merits matchup against the Giants might not be a bad one either. I mean, if you're going up against a defense that includes Dexter Lawrence and Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeau, like, wouldn't you want to run the ball to keep those guys from pinning their ears back and going hard after Jaden Daniels? So I I could see the Commanders endeavoring to, you know, get the run game going in this one.
- [34:07]
Ryan Wormley
What do you think fits the usage is going to look like in this backfield? Just like now. Now that we have seen what the depth chart looks like, we've seen what the preseason's looked like. We've heard all the quotes coming out of camp. What do you actually expect this breakdown to be?
- [34:19]
Pat Fitzmaurice
I'll say like 12 to 14 carries for Crosby Merits, you know, four or five for Echler, plus a good number of targets and maybe, you know, four or 5 for Chris Rodriguez.
- [34:33]
Ryan Wormley
Jake, what do you think about Sampson vs. Krosky? Merritt?
- [34:36]
Jake Seeley
Yeah. This is a big disagreement between us. I am full on Sampson because I think he is Austin Eckler as I mentioned before but and maybe this is trusting the wrong people but talking to people that cover the commanders and say this is a real committee and a real problem coming out of the gate and the fact that they're not just doing coach speak with Chris Rodriguez, they're acknowledging the fact the team is that they love Krosky Merritt. They do clearly love him but love him also long term. And the fact that they're acknowledging he's played one game since 2023 and this is going to be a committee because they want him healthy for the second half of the season. So don't be surprised and I'm quoting and I'm not going to say who it is in case he's wrong but quoting and say don't be surprised if Kraski Merrick gets like five touches in week one just because they are going committee and thinking long term with Crosby merit. So that's the only reason I'm going this. If Judkins was out there for the Browns I'd be 100% with Fitz but it's just 2 versus 3 and that's where I'm going to go with Samson.
- [35:35]
Ryan Wormley
I wonder. Two fits and we'll go quicker on the other ones here. But I wonder if it is a committee that not only is it a committee but that Jakory Crosky Merritt is getting the worst of the touches to be getting Eckler catching passes, Rodriguez getting the goal line carries and Bill just between the 20s back and and even if he does get some amount, you know some percentage of these touches, it's not the good percentage.
- [36:00]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah the high value touch is going to the other guys. That's a concern and I, I know you know Ben Gretch really sharp analyst calls the the guys who get the between the 20s touches trap backs and trap is an acronym. I wish I knew what it stands for but like it's an apt acronym. Just call them a forte Forte backs. Yes, yes. And you know like I'm not bullish on Crosby Merritt overall in drafts I had him as like a running back four and like I've, I've got a ton of Eckler and drafts and I got some Chris Rodriguez really late. I don't know if I drafted Crosky Merritt anywhere because he was just too.
- [36:37]
Jake Seeley
One share of him and I have them both in the 30s this week. It's not like, like oh yeah like get, get Sam.
- [36:42]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah Same here. Yeah, same here. I've got Crosky, Merritt. I think I'm at RB 37 this week. So I don't think you should even start them. I just maybe like him a smidge more than Samson.
- [36:51]
Ryan Wormley
All right, let's go to a receiver here. Roma, Dunes A or Calvin Ridley. Jake, I'm curious what your thought is on this one. I know you've been high on a Dunes day throughout the summer.
- [37:00]
Jake Seeley
I told you. What are you coin flipping me for? This is Dunes A is one spot in front of Ridley. Like this is like I have so much Ridley this season and I've been talking him up, talking him and talking up but included the fact that of be warned, week one is a tough road and I am one that like hey, like I look at matchups but don't overrate corners too much because teams can move wide receivers around. Volume can offset it. But the concerning thing is when you have somebody like certain level and then also the defense around him where sure you can move them around but you're still facing a tough defense no matter where you get moved. Minnesota also has a good defense, but I'll give a Dunes A the slight edge, very, very slight edge over Calvin Ridley in week one just because I believe a little bit more in that offense and a little bit more in that game. I love some Cam Ward, but I think it could be a kind of a 2 for 50 game for Ridley where I think that Dunes just has a little bit better of a bet in week one.
- [37:54]
Ryan Wormley
Let me go ahead and like apologize for the course of the season. There's probably going to be a lot of these coin flips that I'm throwing your way. I. I try to find names that are close in ecr close ish that you guys disagree on. And the point of that is so that you know, the audience could kind of hear both sides of the argument.
- [38:11]
Jake Seeley
Stronger opinions on like much of the rest of that just like movie rankings in my article this week. So like much more stronger opinions coming up.
- [38:19]
Ryan Wormley
Yeah. Okay. Well I'm looking forward to hearing those. Fitz, what do you think? Roma, Dunes day or Calvin Ridley in this really tough matchup?
- [38:26]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, I mean and this might be a dilemma people have if they drafted you know, Ridley and Rome as like their second, third or third and fourth receivers. So it's close for me too. I've got both ranked as back end wide receiver threes this week. I think I'm going Ridley. I know for a lot of people Patrick Certain Jr. Is just a skull and crossbones. Matchup they want to stay far away. Just poison not starting Ridley. But it's just it's really hard to tell what the target distribution is going to look like for the Bears in any given week. So even though A Dunes is the better matchup, like Ridley is the clear number one guy for the Titans and I think I'm going to roll with him over Odunes. I just feel like even with a tough matchup, Ridley is probably getting at least seven or eight targets this week.
- [39:15]
Ryan Wormley
Let's do some flexes. Aaron Jones versus Jalen Waddle Fitz, I'll start with you on this one.
- [39:21]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Oh man, I'll say waddle. It's in the coin flip zone. Really close call. I'm just a big Jalen Waddle guy like three straight thousand yard seasons to to begin his NFL career. Former sixth overall pick like I don't want to just totally fade the guy because last year was a bad year obviously related to the quarterback situation.
- [39:39]
Jake Seeley
Jake I'm going this is one that like I have Aaron Jones hired not by much but this is really the answer that people need. If it's a safe play you want, it's Aaron Jones. The Bears run defense is still a concern. I know they've made some changes but still a concern going to this year and that's the hey, I know I'm going to get production. Jalen Waddle if you want the ceiling that's the way I would go. But I don't know how many people are chasing a super high ceiling in week one.
- [40:02]
Ryan Wormley
How about DK Metcalf or Travis etn?
- [40:06]
Jake Seeley
Jake no DK Metcalf. I don't even want the guaranteed points with etn. How much does that lead even mean? I know that DK Metcalf could he career high end targets this year. He's had 120 plus before but 130, 140 Aaron Rodgers lead wide receiver over the past eight years I think six times have been over 130 targets or at least 120 somewhere in that range. I saw the stat the other day. I wish I would have pinned it. But yeah DK Metcalf, the volume is coming and I you give me 10 target, give me eight targets. DK Metcalf is probably finishing as a top 20 wide receiver.
- [40:39]
Ryan Wormley
So we finally have one that is not a coin flip. You have very strong conviction on here.
- [40:43]
Jake Seeley
Yes.
- [40:44]
Ryan Wormley
Fitz, what do you think?
- [40:46]
Pat Fitzmaurice
I'm gonna go with ETN here so I worry about Metcalf's chemistry with Aaron Rodgers like his lead Receivers in the past were Devonte Adams, Jordy Nelson, these guys who. Rogers is a timing guy. He wants his receivers in specific places and he wants them there on time. And that's not really DK Metcalf's game. Like, his game is just like, I'm covered, throw me the ball, I'm going to get it. And so all the.
- [41:09]
Jake Seeley
Roman Wilson.
- [41:11]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, I don't know about that. I, I think it's going to be really messy. I also don't know how much like Aaron Rodgers wants to just like sit back in the pocket anymore. Like, I, I think he's kind of tired of getting hit. So I'm going to give the edge to etn. He's listed as a co starter with Tank Bigsby. I think it's fine to have a half share of carries against a Panthers defense that gave up 2500 rushing yards to running backs last year. That was almost 500 more rushing yards allowed than the next worst run defense. And I know getting Derek Brown back from injury, not our Derek Brown, by the way, that's going to help the Carolina run D a little bit. But like this Panthers run D is still not going to be good. So I'll take ETN here.
- [41:57]
Jake Seeley
Well, then what if that were you for the next one? Go ahead. I was going to say.
- [42:01]
Ryan Wormley
I was going to say follow Bigsby. Yeah. The next one is take Biggsby versus Juwan Jennings. Fitz.
- [42:07]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, same thing. I'm going Bigsby and Jennings. Like, he's been idle for a while, hasn't really practiced because of, you know, this injury slash contract impasse. And the Seahawks have some really good corners, man. Devon Weatherspoon and Reek Wolin. Like, tough matchup.
- [42:26]
Jake Seeley
Yeah. This is another one. I'm just going to go with Jennings. I'm going on the upside of the wide receivers. Like, I just. If I again, this kind of is the Aaron Jones one. If I need points, cool. But like, like I could see Bigsby actually being the better option than ETN if this is a runaway game to start. Like, if they're up 14 3, I could see more Bigsby. And that's why I kind of lean off ETN if it's all of a sudden they stay competitive and keep it going. I can see more ETN than Bigsby. So for me, I think that like, I hope, like I've never said this about an athletic coworker, but I hope Vic Tafer is wrong. Like he came out yesterday and said that. I hate to ruin everybody's fantasies excitement. I'm paraphrasing but he said Ricky Pearsall might not be what people want him to this year. He might not be the one is still Jennings. Jennings is out there. This is. We're excited to see him. Pearsall is still working his way up, will be the number two but he still has some improvements to make. I didn't love seeing that. I saw some of the improvements from Ricky Pearsall. I still ranked Pearsall slightly in front of Jennings for this week. But on that upside of Jennings, I'm just going to take Jennings. It's kind of comes down to again I'm going to. It depends on your team. I don't want five points and I feel like Etienne and Bigsby without a touchdown are kind of five six point guys and I'm just going to go for the wide receivers.
- [43:39]
Ryan Wormley
One more flex here Jake. Marvin Mims or Jordan Mason?
- [43:43]
Jake Seeley
This is 100%. What do you need? Do you need points Mason? If you're going for ceiling, it's Mims and I hate to put that on the people listening but it's true. Like if I just want the production like I will rank Mason higher. That that's really what it is. Like I am ranking Mason higher. That's the production. But if I needed to somehow be like hey you know what I drafted early August. I already lost somebody. Brian Robinson got traded. I have an injury and I just need a ceiling play. The ceiling play is Marvin Mims Fitz.
- [44:13]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Oh man. I've been president of the Marvin Mims fan club all off season but I gotta go with Mason here.
- [44:19]
Jake Seeley
Like same reason, right?
- [44:20]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Pretty.
- [44:21]
Ryan Wormley
Yeah.
- [44:22]
Pat Fitzmaurice
I mean pretty good bet for at least 10 or 12 touches. Gives you the Monday night hammer just in case you're down after Sunday. That's always nice to have in your pocket. This would be closer if not for the the groin slash thigh injury that Mims has been dealing with lately. Like he's expected to play. But I'd rather just roll out Mason and not take any chances.
- [44:42]
Ryan Wormley
I've got a quarterback and a tight end decision here. We'll do the quarterback first. Trevor Lawrence or Kyler Murray Fitz. What do you think about that one?
- [44:50]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Lawrence? Pretty favorable matchups for both. I like Lawrence's matchup just a little bit more. The Panthers allow the third most fantasy points to quarterbacks last year. They gave up A League High 35 touchdown passes last season and the Panthers opponent passer rating of 105.4 was worst in the league. So it's just Kyler could have a Good game against the Saints too. I don't think the Saints cornerbacks or pass rush are all that fearsome. But I could also see, you know, the Cardinals really just wanting to run the heck out of the ball in that game.
- [45:24]
Ryan Wormley
These guys are back to back in ECR, by the way, QB9 and QB10. And given where they were going address, I do think it's possible that there are teams out there who have Kyler as their starter and Lawrence is their backup and we'll have this decision to make. Jake, what do you think? Lawrence or Kyler?
- [45:38]
Jake Seeley
It's Kyler, but by the slimmest of margins. I just, I, I have the, I have the excitement. Everybody does like the, the Jaguars are one of those popular breakout offenses and we're finally going to get what we get from Trevor Lawrence. But I know that Kyler doesn't run like he used to, but he still runs. And I know what I'm getting for Kyler. Am I going to get Trevor Lawrence or I'm going to get the Trevor Lawrence we've seen for his entire NFL career so far. And that's terrible decisions and impatient throws and just, I mean I, I want to see it and I have no problem if you want to start Trevor Lawrence and this is a coin flip this again situation. But I'm going Kyler.
- [46:12]
Ryan Wormley
All right, the tight end one here my and a lot of people's two favorite tight end breakouts late round picks you could make this year, Tyler Warren and Tucker Kraft. I know I am in a couple leagues where I have both of them. I know Erickson is in leagues where he has both of them. Our content team league. He took both of them. So if you took both of them and said I'm going to take two shots here getting a breakout tight end but you got to pick one to start each week. Jake, who are you starting? Tyler Warren or Tucker Kraft?
- [46:38]
Jake Seeley
I will say if you saw what I sent you and you see the update, I originally was leaning craft but the more I thought about it, I brought up the whole situation with golf and how this game could go. And then I saw some reporting this morning that the offensive coordinator and team and Colts in general and look, this is a completely different answer than a month ago when Anthony Richardson was thought to possibly be the quarterback. But Daniel Jones lives in the intermediate field, lives there. Tyler Warren being called Gronkowski is obviously hyperbole, let's be clear about that. But when the team has that kind of aspirations for him, I'm going to give Warren the ceiling and the edge here, mostly because, again, Daniel Jones is the quarterback. I actually think it's concerning for Alec Pierce, a little bit concerning for Michael Pittman, but also concerning for Josh Downs, who I think fits either quarterback style. But Josh Downs is more of a threat to be hurt by Warren, which, again, Daniel Jones. I'm going to go with Warren Fitz.
- [47:33]
Ryan Wormley
I feel like you're going to agree, but correct me if I'm wrong.
- [47:36]
Pat Fitzmaurice
No, I agree. It's Tyler Warren.
- [47:38]
Jake Seeley
Hey, we finally got agreement.
- [47:40]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah. And, you know, and I'm. I'm high on Kraft, too, but the Lions are just kind of a tough matchup for him. Detroit a lot of the second fewest fantasy points to tight ends last year, and Kraft had had 34 and 41 yards in his two games against the Lions last season.
- [47:56]
Ryan Wormley
Say goodbye to Start Sit dilemmas with Fantasy Pro Start Sit Assistant. Within seconds, you'll know exactly who to play for optimal results each week. Leveraging insights from numerous experts, the Start Sit Assistant aligns your lineup decisions with the top minds in fantasy football, giving you a competitive edge. Maximize your lineup's potential with just a few clicks. Head to fantasypros.com myplaybook or download the Fantasy Pros app and make winning decisions in no time. All right, guys, we'll wrap things up with our touchdown calls contest. Jake, who are you picking at? Running back?
- [48:27]
Jake Seeley
Yeah. Which probably makes me sound like I should come off Kyler Murray, but it's James Connor. Just because I think they should be able to handle this game. I think they're an interesting survivor pick that people are making. I don't know if I would make them my 100% pick, but it's an interesting one. That could be the worst team in the league and somebody that you target to potentially go over. Oh, and 17, and if so, in their control. Plenty of runs. And James Connor while he's healthy. James Connor while he's healthy is RB1, and he's a good bet to score every single week. I know the easiest one would have been Derrick Henry, but I want to be a little bit more interesting than that.
- [48:57]
Ryan Wormley
Fitz, who's your pick?
- [48:59]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Well, my pick is definitely not in a survivor pool. The Cardinals on the road in week one? No. But I am going to take a Cardinal for my touchdown call. I'm going to take Marvin Harrison Jr. I just.
- [49:11]
Ryan Wormley
Just.
- [49:11]
Pat Fitzmaurice
I think there's a mandate for Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing to get Marvin Harrison Jr going this season. Like they spent the fourth overall pick on him last year. They need this dude to be A star. And you know who else is going to catch touchdown passes for The Cardinals? Trey McBride. Come on, we know he doesn't score touchdowns.
- [49:31]
Ryan Wormley
I'm pretty invested in Trey McBride this year, so I'm hoping that you, you end up being wrong about this stance. Fitzgerald.
- [49:37]
Jake Seeley
I hope, I hope he's right about like we talked about a few weeks ago and I brought it up in Fitz, agreed, like stop sending them on freaking go routes. I put this in the article. It's insane. The Cardinals Marvin Harrison 102 GO routes last year, 16th most in the league. You know, his separation score was minus 0.069, which is 8th worst among all wide receivers with 50 plus routes. Like, stop sending them on verts every damn play.
- [50:04]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Right. His average depth of target was like over 13 yards. And if you look at the average depth of target for the top guys like Jamar Chase and CD Lamp, like, it's a lot shorter than that because those guys get some easy completions near the line of scrimmage too, in addition to the deep stuff. And like Marvin Harrison Jr. If you watched him at Ohio State, like he wasn't, you know, a vertical receiver, that wasn't his game.
- [50:25]
Jake Seeley
No, that's part of like he would like when you say about his route concerns coming out of college, part of it was that would be one of his route concerns that was coming out of college is that we don't need to be doing this with him.
- [50:35]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Him.
- [50:36]
Jake Seeley
Sorry to sidebar get there.
- [50:38]
Ryan Wormley
Sorry. I, I, I've got tight end. I am not keeping making this a Cardinal sweep. I'm not taking Trey McBride. I, I am going with Mark Andrews. And you know, the Ravens care about winning more than they care about individual accolades or anything. But I do think that this is a team that adores Mark Andrews. He's a veteran leader. He has been a consummate professional and a great player. He's probably going to be in the Ravens ring of honor one day. And they heard all offseason people talking about like, got to trade him away. He cost them this playoff game, both with the fumble he had in the second half against the Bills and obviously the drop everybody remembers at the very end. I think the Ravens are going to go into this game and say if the opportunity presents presents itself, we are going to get Andrews a touchdown to get him some redemption and feel like they're getting some small form of revenge. Lamar loves Andrews. He's going to be even setting aside the fact that he just trusts Andrews more than anybody else when they're in the red zone. He has his entire career. I think they also want to see him catch a touchdown in this game. So this was an easy first call with them going back to the scene of the crime in Buffalo. I think the Ravens are going to try and get Andrews touchdown here and it's going to be a high scoring game. There's going to be a lot of throwing back and forth so I think they'll have an opportunity to do it. So we've got James Connor at running back, Marvin Harrison Jr. At wide receiver and Mark Andrews at tight end. Let us know in the comments who you think blows it for us. Which of those three you think doesn't score a touchdown and who was wrong in their touchdown calls contest Pick. You can dominate your fantasy football league with Fantasy Pros Premium now available free for six months when you deposit and place your first wager on one of our partner sportsbooks. This is the easiest way to get full access to our top fantasy tools all season long. Go to fantasypros.com premium to get started before we get out of here. I should ask you this at the top, but Jake, what do you have going on for in season coverage at the Athletic?
- [52:22]
Jake Seeley
Yeah, Waivers rankings matchup rankings which I know people are like take them with a grain of salt. And I agree because they get more accurate as the season goes on. But I adjust a lot in the offseason format, movement and changes. So like some of the worst aren't the worst as you might expect. But yes, the top 25 movie rankings that I've watched so far in 2025, Superman was number one. How to train youn Dragon. I'm surprised nobody got I always thought people were going to come for me. I put that at two just because I love it so much in front of weapons. Weapons was three.
- [52:49]
Ryan Wormley
I didn't even see how to Train youn Dragon. This the remake because I loved the original animated so much. I was like, why do they need to make it? What was the remake good?
- [52:56]
Jake Seeley
It was. It's. It's live. It's the remake. It's not even a remake or it's just if you wanted the animated one to be live action, boom, you got it. And that's all I needed. And that's why I just love it. The only, I will say not having Craig Ferguson was the only one that kind of hurt. Just not having him as a gobbler or whatever the heck his name was.
- [53:14]
Ryan Wormley
Whatever the name is. Yeah, I did love the animated one. So maybe I will have to check out the Remake. We'll see. Fitz, did you see that one? I'm guessing not.
- [53:22]
Pat Fitzmaurice
I did not. Weapons is definitely on my short list of movies.
- [53:26]
Ryan Wormley
I don't do horror movies. That's like. I just. I love movies.
- [53:29]
Jake Seeley
Did you watch. Because it's vampire, not. Not like real horror.
- [53:33]
Ryan Wormley
You know what? I didn't. I wanted to see Sinners. I didn't watch that.
- [53:37]
Jake Seeley
Checked in at number four.
- [53:38]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Well, I was supposed to watch that with my daughter, who was a horror movie fan, but then she cheated on me and went with some friends and watched the movie. So I didn't get to. I didn't get to see it.
- [53:49]
Ryan Wormley
Like, I like. Like Silence of the Lambs or like, Get Out. That's like, kind of horror, but, like, more closer towards the thriller side of things. But, like, true horror, I don't really do a good job with.
- [53:57]
Jake Seeley
Well, see, then you might like Weapons, which Weapons was kind of more thriller. Like, it's not like, super, like, jump, ghost, out of the closet type of thing.
- [54:05]
Ryan Wormley
Yeah, like Paranormal Activity. That's like, not my bad guy. Like, that type of movie.
- [54:09]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Okay, Worm, before we go, I just have to ask, was it cathartic for you to talk about the Mark Andrews drop on the eve of a new Baltimore Raven season?
- [54:16]
Jake Seeley
He seemed to be holding on to that still.
- [54:19]
Ryan Wormley
I'm not sure how many times I've actually discussed it in the last seven months or however many months it's been. It's been very difficult to. To bring up. So maybe a little bit cathartic. I like. I also just love Mark Andrews. Like, he's an awesome dude and has been a great representative for Baltimore for a while. So it's like, you know, you feel like he just. He just takes so much heat for so long that you want to, like.
- [54:40]
Jake Seeley
If they weren't a player you would want to hang out with is Mark Andrews.
- [54:45]
Ryan Wormley
Oh, my gosh. He'd be up there on the list for sure. I would need to think more about it before I, you know. You know who would be fun is Marlon Humphrey. Just because that dude has wild takes on everything. It would definitely have to be a Raven.
- [54:58]
Jake Seeley
I want to hang out with David Montgomery because he's just like us. Well, me and liking all the superhero, like, all the anime and all that type of stuff.
- [55:04]
Ryan Wormley
Jamal Williams would be fun for that reason, too.
- [55:06]
Jake Seeley
Yes. I was going to say also Xavier Leguette, because I couldn't understand half the stuff he was saying. I'd just be laughing the whole time.
- [55:12]
Ryan Wormley
Yeah. Xavier Leguette. Fitz, what about you? Who would you hang out with?
- [55:17]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Oh, Dare Agumbawale. Because we went to the same high school and the same university.
- [55:22]
Ryan Wormley
Really nice.
- [55:23]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yes, we did. So we did.
- [55:25]
Ryan Wormley
All right, well, let us know in the comments who you guys would hang out with. Pick any NFL player, spend a day with them. We'll go ahead and wrap up there. For Jake and Fitz, I'm Ryan Wormley. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you again every Thursday all season long. Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on apple podcasts@fantasypros.com review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros Foreign.
- [56:20]
Jake Seeley
Hey.
- [56:21]
Matt Jones
This is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel?
- [56:32]
Jake Seeley
That was my other big takeaway from that game.
- [56:33]
Matt Jones
What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [56:53]
Greg Rosenthal
Football is back. That's right, the new NFL season is here and you should be listening to NFL Daily as we march along to Super Bowl 60. It's in the name NFL Daily, so you'll have fresh content in your feed all the season long. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, in an all star cast of co hosts for previews and recaps of every single game. NFL Daily will keep you up to date with everything you need to know so you can sound smarter than all your friends. Listen to NFL daily on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [57:24]
Dan
I'm Dan. He's Ty.
- [57:25]
Jake Seeley
Hello.
- [57:26]
Dan
And we're the Solid verbal College Football Podcast.
- [57:29]
Ty
Tune in for previews, recaps, bits you won't hear anywhere else, and all the emotional support you need as a college football fan.
- [57:37]
Dan
Join us all season long as we ride the rollercoaster of this ridiculous sport.
- [57:42]
Ty
Listen to the solid verbal College football podcasts on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [57:50]
Dan
We don't just love college football, Ty. We live it.
- [57:54]
Ryan Wormley
This is an iHeart podcast.