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The Herd with Colin Cowherd
FantasyPros - Week 3 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings & Tiers: Studs, Sleepers, and Must-Starts (Ep. 1714)
00:41:02
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- [00:00]
Drew Franklin
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? That was my other big takeaway from that game. 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.
- [00:38]
Chris Welsh
What's up, friends, and welcome into Fantasy Pros. This is the fantasy football podcast. Today we've got wide receiver ranks for week three. I'm Chris Welsh, joined by Andrew Erickson and Pat Fitz Morris, my rankers extraordinaire, as we're going to be going through the top 36 wide receivers on fantasy pros ECR. So you can go and do that. We're going to be kind of doing some battles of what our expert consensus ranks looks like where both of these guys have their ranks. Talking about some of the biggest decisions this week. Who are you guys starting? Starting. Oh, my. Erickson. There are some big decisions in the wide receiver front and a lot of changes, a lot of variations that are happening going into week three.
- [01:12]
Andrew Erickson
Well, that's because all the quarterbacks are hurt, right? It only took two weeks for us to lose, I think, four or five starting quarterbacks. So that's obviously going to have a lot of implications on their top pass catchers.
- [01:24]
Chris Welsh
Fitzy, remember when we had, like, optimism for fantasy football? We're like, ooh, all our guys are going to do really good. This is going to be great. And then we have weeks where it's like Jake Browning versus Carson Wentz. Now. That's where we're at. And it's only week three.
- [01:36]
Drew Franklin
Funny. Erickson and I were just talking about that game before this and, and reasons why we might want to bet on the Minnesota Vikings in that game. But yeah, it's. It's crazy. I've got a super flex team where my starting quarterbacks were Jaden Daniels and Brock Purdy. So maybe I have zero of those guys this week. I'm like, chasing Tyrod Taylor on waivers. It's. It's. Things are getting interesting already.
- [01:58]
Chris Welsh
And the interesting thing, too, not getting into it. But like, when you're looking at wide receiver, wide receivers just led the way for waivers this week, too. There were actually probably a couple really good ones you were able to jump into. I don't know if they're going to hit the top 36 here. But you guys got some running back questions. You guys have got some quarterback questions. Wide receiver, even though there is some variation, there's some deep plays and there's some guys off of waivers you might got. You may have been able to hit this week and maybe we'll touch on that. I wish we were talking about Troy Franklin. I want Troy Franklin to be a top 36 wide receiver. I just don't. Just don't know if I'm quite there real quick. Eye minor or Franklin in waivers this week.
- [02:37]
Andrew Erickson
Erickson IU manor for me.
- [02:40]
Drew Franklin
Yeah, I a manor. I just think he's a better prospect. And you know, he's only got one fewer target than Calvin Ridley right now.
- [02:47]
Chris Welsh
Boy, I hate his name now. I wish he would just call himself Bill. Like just give me just Bill. I just butcher that name all the time. But he is awesome. All right, we're going to talk about the top 36. We're going to go in tears with our groupings here, but one of the things we like to do at the wide receiver episode here is give a shout out to the people that we're ranking. We have a weekly ranking contest. So when you guys look at the ecr, that is all of our rankers that are in putting their ranks in for that week. And each week we have an accuracy contest. Well, this week, shout out to number one, Jamie Calandro, if I'm saying that correctly, from Roto baller, finishing number one. Patrick Thorman from Establish the Run finished two and Jacob Gibbs from SportsLine finished three. Shout out to those guys. But we've got a couple FP people we've got to give some high some highlights to. How about Kelly Kirby, Top five in the ranks this week. Kelly's a monster. Our bro dbro finishing top 20 with 16. This isn't a flex at all, but I may have finished higher than both of those fine gentlemen over it's. I'm not proud of it. I'm not proud of my rank, but this is probably the only week all season long that I may have finished higher than both of you guys after you guys were both 20 top 20 last week. So no big deal or anything, Erickson. No big deal.
- [04:01]
Andrew Erickson
Yeah, I mean, you're going to have to scroll very, very far down to find where my week two rankings were. So I'm just looking to put it behind me and bounce back here in week three.
- [04:09]
Drew Franklin
And you referred to us at the top of the show as rankers extraordinaire. I think Erickson and I were rankers ordinary in week two, but you guys.
- [04:18]
Chris Welsh
Are still this is, this is an off week for for you guys or that was we're going to pick it back up this week. These are the guys that you want to trust but also, you know, again, shout out to Dbro and Kel. Rocking that. And shout out to all of our rankers that take part in the contest and we will take a look at what that looks like in next week's show before we get started. We are talking wide receivers so I want to give you guys that are watching a chance to win a signed ja' Marr Chase Bengals jersey for free courtesy of our friends over@pristineauction.com all you've got to do is head to fantasypros.com contest, complete the form, then either download the Fantasy Pros app, leave a review for the podcast, or follow us on x Instagram or TikTok antasypros. And guess what? The more stuff that you do, the more entries you can get. We'll be announcing a winner on the podcast near the beginning of next month. So if you're watching on YouTube, be sure to subscribe and turn on them noties there, Erickson, so you can be alerted when new episodes are up and claim your prize for that big old wide receiver. I don't know if he's wide receiver one anymore with Jake Browning there, but we can kind of have that argument. And that takes us to the top 12 wide receivers, which you guys can follow@ fantasypros.com rankings this week. It is not Ja' Marr Chase. As we look at the big board at number one it is CD Lamb. In the consensus ranks, Ja' Mar Chase is number two, Justin Jefferson three, followed by Malik Neighbors, Puka Nakua, Nico Collins. That's your top six. Amonra Jackson, Smith, Njigba Drake London, Brian Thomas, Zay Flowers and Devonte Adams. That is your current top 12. As we are doing this and one of the more interesting takes here is really not Jamar Chase though. I would love you guys to intertwine this in you guys picked out Justin Jefferson, who actually moved up one spot. He was wide receiver four in ECR yesterday. He's moved up to three and you guys both have them at six. And the reason this is interesting is this is one of a handful of these wide receivers that have like questionable backup quarterbacks that are going to be behind them. Chase has one and I kind of thought maybe he could fall a little bit further down. But you guys are really honing in on Justin Jefferson. So Fitzy, why don't you kick us off here? Not that he's not startable or anything like that, but like, it looks like the confidence is a little bit lower this week in Jefferson with the backup quarterback.
- [06:22]
Drew Franklin
Maybe just a smidge. But wouldn't it be sort of funny if Justin Jefferson went off with Carson Wentz at quarterback after two somewhat quiet games with J.J. mcCarthy? I mean, Jefferson's amazing. He is capable of having a big day with any quarterback who can throw a spiral. And I think Carson Wentz can still throw a spiral, but who knows. It's been three years since Wentz started a game that wasn't in the final week of the regular season. He was the Chiefs starting quarterback last season in that 38 to nothing blowout loss to the Broncos in week 18. He threw for 98 yards in that game. Playing with backups, can't judge him on that. Wentz started for the Rams in their final game of the 2023 season and threw for like 163 yards, two touchdowns, one interception. He hasn't made meaningful regular season starts since 2022 when he started seven games for Washington and he had 300 yard games in three of those seven games and multiple touchdown passes in three of those seven games. So just kind of hard to tell what the Minnesota offense is going to look like against the Bengals this week with Wentz at the controls. Vikings are down a couple of offensive linemen, so it's pretty hard to confidently predict a big game for Justin Jefferson. But he is Justin Jefferson after all.
- [07:39]
Chris Welsh
Erickson is your like dip in confidence. I'm. I'm putting words in your mouth a little bit like putting him at 6. I wonder if I assume there's like a little bit lack of confidence. Is the maybe lack of production confidence similar to Jamar Chase as it is to Jefferson? Do you think there's a similar like drop off at all or do you guys have those? Do you have them both like wildly different? Like you're just fine with Browning and Chase and there's a little bit more of a question with Jefferson?
- [08:03]
Andrew Erickson
Well, I think that you should have more of a question just because we've never seen Carson Wentz play with Justin Jefferson. Anytime you're throwing a brand new wide receiver with a brand new quarterback, there's always going to be inherent risk involved because we've never seen these guys play together. At least there's a sample size of Jake Browning with Jamar Chase and not even just Last week we saw it for a stretch of games at the end of 2023, and we've seen Browning, okay, he can be functional. And even in the last game we saw, I mean, Browning was just like, chase, chase, Chase. Like every target seemed like was going to Jamar Chase. So he clearly knows where the bread is going to be buttered in this offense. And his name is Jamar Chase. So I feel a little bit more confident with that in particular. But if you want to try to kind of invite the volatility of Jefferson, well, why can't Carson Wentz being upgrade over JJ McCarthy? You look at the Minnesota passing game through two games, 32nd and passing efficiency with McCarthy under center, it has not been good. Basically they've had one good quarter of passing and there was that one big play that Jefferson made on Sunday night. But besides that, the passing game has been very lackluster. TJ Hawkinson is on the mail carton. Where are you? TJ Hawkinson just can't be found with JJ McCarthy. But with Carson Wentz, I think that maybe we get some juice, a little bit more of a boost overall from this passing game. Now, it doesn't necessarily mean Jefferson has the massive game, but maybe other guys and they're just more efficient overall. And that's because Carson Wentz is a veteran. One of the reasons why I just had trouble buying into McCarthy right out of the gates was he was an inexperienced quarterback. He didn't take a lot of drop backs at the college level. And Kevin o', Connell, if you look at all the quarterbacks have had success in his offense. A lot of them been older guys like veteran players that have been in the league for multiple seasons. Whether it was Sam Darnold, whether it was Kirk Cousins, Nick Mullins when he was with the Vikings, like he was going out throwing for 300 passing yards per game at the end of the season when Kirk Cousins got banged up. And Jefferson was very productive over that stretch. So given that Wentz has familiarity with Josh McCown, who's the quarterbacks coach of the Minnesota Vikings, former teammates in Philadelphia, given that he spent an entire season with the Los Angeles Rams, who, that's where Kevin O' Connell comes from, the Sean McVeigh offensive tree. I wouldn't be surprised if we just see a better overall offensive environment from Minnesota against the Bengals, especially against the Bengals, like, we're not afraid of that defense in any capacity.
- [10:14]
Chris Welsh
So yeah, I really like the take, by the way, that like, I've kind of been baffled. Like McCarthy hasn't been good. Like, it's. It's not even a question. So getting a veteran quarterback in there, maybe it can play, like, Daniel Jones a little bit. So, like, any, like, massive drop or concerns people might have with Justin Jefferson, it might not be warranted. But to you guys this point, like, we just don't know yet. Like, that's the big thing. We got to find out. This was not on the sheet, but I just want to ask you guys real quick. There was a part of me that looked and there's this, like, Nico Collins, Drake, London, Brian Thomas underperformance thing that's kind of floating out with some people. I'm starting to see a rising questions. The one of those three guys that stands out, I just want to get a heat check for. For both of you is Brian Thomas, specifically because Brian Thomas has got Houston this week, and you got a Stingley effect in here. It has not been good. There's this little wrist issue. There's a lot of drop balls. Obviously, there's some volume. Fitzy, is there any hesitation with Brian? Because the other two guys, yeah, they think there's been some underperformance, but I wouldn't, like, highlight the matchups as a problem. Not only is this a matchup problem, he's underperformed, he's dropped. He's got the risk thing. Is there some hesitation with Brian Thomas for you at all?
- [11:11]
Drew Franklin
Fits not to. Not to play him. Welsh, where I'm ranking him, yes, there's hesitation. Should he be in the top 10 or not? I guess you can make a pretty good case that he should not be. I've got him right now at wide receiver 10 myself. But, like, I just. He was so good last year. Like, I just have a hard time believing that something has fundamentally changed with that. And I know it's weird that he's kind of like, you know, shied away from contact, as a lot of people have pointed out. And maybe. Maybe the wrist thing is really bothering him for that to be the case. And maybe there's just not the degree of chemistry with Trevor Lawrence that there was with Mac Jones, which is strange. But, yeah, I mean, like, I'm starting him in. In the leagues where I have him. I'm starting him, no question. But, like, am I a little bit nervous about it? Yeah.
- [12:04]
Chris Welsh
Yeah. I'm not trying to necessarily advocate that, like, we don't start Brian Thomas, but Erickson, do you think, like, we should be maybe a little bit more worried than we are? Because on paper, if you were to put it to, like, I know we have this like uber talented player, but if you took it down a notch to like a, maybe a lesser like in the teens or something and then I say, okay, well hey, this guy has a wrist problem, he's pulling up on balls, he's dropping balls and he's got one of the worst matchups he could have this week. As far as a cornerback setup, like, don't you think that's something we should be more concerned about? I think we would probably take a lot of those things as a justification to drop a player. But this is Brian Thomas. So is there any like hesitation or worry going into this week for you, Erickson, with Brian Thomas?
- [12:43]
Andrew Erickson
I also have moved him down a little bit in my rankings just because of all the reasons you guys outline. I don't think you can just completely ignore that and just say, well he's really talented so he's just going to be wide receiver 10 this week. I think it's justified to move him down a couple spots but not enough to where you're going to outright bench Brian Thomas Jr. And look, he's a good player too. Like, remember when you face a number one cornerback, like you still get opportunities like the last two weeks, it's not like Devonte Adams, Mike Evans have been completely shut out. Like they've been making plays and watching those games closely. Like Derek Stanley was getting put to the test against Adams and Mike Evans, both guys who are older 30 plus year wide receivers. So I think that this is a big game for Brian Thomas Jr. To show. Well, are you the next big thing? Can you beat Derek Stingley? Because he's been going up against 30 year olds the last two weeks. Like, come on man, like you're supposed to be the next superstar at wide receiver so it's time to step up. So I think that they're going to make it a focal point to. Hey, Brian Dumas. He has 19 targets the last two weeks, six catches for 50 yards. Like eventually something has to give here where he has to generate a big play. He doesn't, he doesn't have anything downfield yet. So look, Trevor Lawrence has shown the last two weeks like he's not afraid to just like chuck it. So I think the volume is going to be there. He knows he needs to step up and make big plays for the Jacksonville offense to be productive. So yeah, continue to roll with Brian Thomas Jr. And if he sucks again, then you go buy low because it's not going to be Derek Stingley every single week. It will be able to look back and be like, okay, well it was the Stingley matchup that did limit his production a little bit, but I think that he's still one of the better buy lows to making trades.
- [14:14]
Chris Welsh
One of the interesting things though is Travis Hunter does have one of the highest design percentages of any wide receiver according to fantasy points out there. So what are the things that are going to break? Do they end up pushing a little bit more into that? They already designed a lot of plays when he's out there, but he's only in like 11 man formation, so there's a lot of just weird stuff that are with it. From a ranking perspective, maybe there's more of a worry than there's a start perspective, but I had a feeling some people might have some questions about that. All right, let's go to our wide receiver twos. Wide receiver 2 starting at 13 we have AJ Brown followed by Lad McConkey, DK Metcalf, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison, Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, Roma Dunze comes in at 20, Tetaroa McMillan, Ameka, Egbuca, T. Higgins and Jameson Williams. That's our top 24 start with AJ Brown. AJ Brown here at 13 just missing the cut, but both of you guys have made a commitment that he is still a top 12 wide receiver starting. I hate the lack of passing offense that this team has. This was always my issue with the Eagles. It's not to say that Brown and Smith aren't like crazy talented, it's just the usage that's out there. It really makes me feel like it's going to be a struggle for A.J. brown to be a top 12 wide receiver. But Erickson, you've jumped in. You've got him at wide receiver nine this week. So wax on A.J. brown for us.
- [15:25]
Andrew Erickson
I think your points about the environment and the lack of passing for the Eagles is definitely the main concern. But I think you have to look at the last two matchups that they've played. You know, playing against the Dallas Cowboys and playing against the Kansas City Chiefs who that Chiefs game was a defensive slugfest. It was not a high flying offensive scoring affair from either side. And Eagles know that when they're not being pushed by the other team. They don't need to be aggressive on offense. They can just feed the ball to Sagel Barkley, play defense and win the games. They're playing the Rams this week, the Rams team that probably should have beat them in the playoffs last season. A team that feels like they can beat the Eagles. So if we're more of A situation where, oh, well, now the Eagles are down 10 points to the Los Angeles Rams. Oh, well, now we have to, we actually have to use our really talented wide receivers. And I, I think that last week was at least encouraging from a standpoint of A.J. brown getting more involved. Again, not like week one. He had eight targets, 36 target share. Now, the numbers are not gaudy with just five catches for 27 yards, but it's not like A.J. brown looked like he was injured out there. I know that there were some concerns about his hamstring injury he was dealing with in the off season. He looked healthy to me and he had over 100 yards in one of the last games they played against the Rams. He played twice against them. One game he had 100 yards. The other game he was not nearly much as involved, but he had seven plus targets in both of those contests. And there's still a chance that Dallas Goddard doesn't play. So you're condensing the target share into just A.J. brown and Devonte Smith. The Rams are down a Kellen Witherspoon. He got hurt last week, so they're down another cornerback. So there's a picture where this is a ceiling game for AJ Brown and I'm going to be very frustrated if I leave him on my bench after just two weeks where the Eagles weren't nearly as pushed as they could be here in week three.
- [17:00]
Chris Welsh
Yeah, there's kind of 50. There's kind of the same thing that goes on with Brian Thomas where it's like, I don't know how you bench him. That's the frustration. It's like if you own A.J. brown, you're kind of stuck with it. How do you not put him out there? So the comment by Erickson about like leaving him on the bench would be frustrating. I think it is pretty impossible to do that. It's just the lack of production stands out. But you're, you're kind of in the same boat. You know, I'm quite as high. But you've got him higher than consensus. You've got them at 11. So what do you want to add on A.J. brown?
- [17:26]
Drew Franklin
Yeah, I mean, I'm just forging ahead with aggressively ranking a great wide receiver above consensus. And our friend Jacob Gibbs of CBS, a top three ranker. Last week he noted that A.J. brown had a league best 38% route win rate last week according to fantasy points data. And so there are really no issues with A.J. brown himself. It's just a matter of the Eagles jump starting their passing game. I realize Things haven't looked great for the passing game under new offensive coordinator Kevin Patolo, but it's been two games and Patillo has been the team's passing game coordinator since 2021. He was around for A.J. brown's back to back 1400 yard seasons in 2022 and 2023. So I'm not saying I know the Eagles passing game is going to be fine. Like I'm kind of alarmed by the lack of play action so far and the lack of variety in AJ Brown's routes. People pointed out that it's been just a lot of slants so far and not much else, but I'm not ready to pack it in and trade away A.J. brown.
- [18:28]
Chris Welsh
Yeah, it's a weird one for me like because at the end of the day like it's literally just usage. It's not like talent or anything like that. It's like if they want to do it, they could do it and he could ball out. It just doesn't seem like they want to do it. But that's also maybe, you know, a strategy to early season when you don't necessarily have to we got a big difference in your guys ranks. Roma Dunze who comes in at wide receiver 20. Little touchdown magnet. A lot of breakout potential in the draft season about how he could end up becoming potentially like the number one in this and if I'm looking at this correctly, he is. Yeah he is ranked higher than DJ Moore this week, but you guys are on opposite ends so he's ECR wide receiver. 20. Erickson you have him higher. Fitz you've got him lower. Let's start with the lower. Fitz you've got him at 27 this week so you've got him outside of a wide receiver. 2. What's your take on Roma Dunes?
- [19:15]
Drew Franklin
I mean he's off to a really nice start. 13 catches, 165 yards, three touchdowns on 20 targets and admittedly Cowboys Bears in Chicago this Sunday looks like it could be a really nice setup for O'Dunes and both of the passing games like Dallas has its best cornerback Duron Bland. He's going to be out the Dallas past defense we saw just get torched by Russell Wilson and the Giants Cowboys Bears has a Vegas total of 49 and a half points. That's tied for the second highest total on the board this week behind only Lions Ravens I guess my issue with ranking Odunze in the top 24 at receiver is that I cannot imagine the target split between Roma Dunes and DJ Moore continues to be so one sided in Odunsa's favor. Like so far, Roma's 20 targets DJ Moore just 11. And DJ Moore has been a terrific NFL receiver for a really long time. I have to think the target split balances out a little bit. I do still have Roma dunes. They ranked ahead of DJ Moore, but only by two spots.
- [20:18]
Matt Jones
Hey, this is Matt Jones and 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 gonna get. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Looks like something that should not be sold. Oh my. So that was my other big Colts takeaway. They sold that?
- [20:44]
Drew Franklin
Yes.
- [20:45]
Matt Jones
Might want to go back at the Colts stadium.
- [20:46]
Chris Welsh
Yeah, I might want to go back.
- [20:47]
Matt Jones
To the drawing board on that. Yeah. I thought the shape we have with pretzels was working pretty well for generations. 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.
- [20:59]
Chris Welsh
Carroll is at his age.
- [21:01]
Matt Jones
He's a young 73. He is a young 73. He is spry.
- [21:04]
Andrew Erickson
I wouldn't fight him.
- [21:06]
Matt Jones
I would listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Frank, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [21:20]
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- [22:07]
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- [22:18]
Dan
I'm Dan, he's Ty.
- [22:19]
Ty
Hello.
- [22:20]
Dan
And we're the solid verbal college football podcast.
- [22:23]
Ty
College Football season is here. And you know what that means.
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Uh huh.
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- [23:18]
Chris Welsh
Erickson, you are the high man. You're the high man on Roma Dunese. I'm kind of with you a little bit like because he stretches the field a bunch. They really like him in the red zone right now. Seems a little odd in the Bears, but what's your take on Roma Dunesay? You've got him at wide receiver 17 for this week.
- [23:33]
Andrew Erickson
I just think the spot for him is just set up so perfectly and I agree with Fitz. I think I felt like that last week where I was too afraid to rank him this high last week after he led the team in targets. But now it's been two weeks in a row where he has been the guy for Caleb Williams and this is a brand new offense and I don't think it's just a coincidence that oh we have a new play caller with a new offense coordinator and Roman Dunes is now the guy. I mean He's a top 10 pick pick in second year receiver where we see guys break out all the time. And what has me confident about him this week and just kind of like rest of season honestly is he's doing what he did last year in terms of just gobbling up all the high value opportunities. I mean he was seeing a ton of air yards last year, he was seeing a ton of end zone targets last year but the issue was he just wasn't catching the football. Like he wasn't cashing in on the air yards, he wasn't converting his red zone targets into touchdowns but now that regression is kicking in and now he's converting on all those high value opportunities. He had over 200 air yards last week. So even if the targets are more flat, the targets he's getting are better for fantasy football. Like so even if we do see DJ More. A little bit more involved, which I'm honestly not as convinced because I like DJ Moore. But throughout his NFL career, I don't know if I would ever say DJ Moore, he's an alpha. He's an alpha, number one. Like he goes out and just demands targets. I would say that he would not fit that category for me. Whereas Odunze, he looks like an alpha to me. Like he was an alpha at the college level with two strong other wide receivers in that college offense. And in year one, despite Keenan Allen and DJ Moore being there, he was a rookie and he still commanded a lot of high value opportunities. So I think that we're starting to see a guy just go on a full fledged breakout and in this spot against Dallas, just terrible defense. I want him in my lineup.
- [25:15]
Chris Welsh
Interesting way you put that too. It kind of made me think of like someone like Debo Samuel where it's like DJ Moore reminds me of that. Like it's not someone that commands, but it's someone you want to get the ball in his hands because they do stuff after, but they are not someone like a Jefferson or a Chase where it's like, what are we doing? We're not getting the ball. So that's an interesting take. The final wide receiver we're going to talk about in this wide receiver 2 range also wants me to put a reminder in here of these ranks are going to change throughout the week. So, you know, take it with a grain of salt when how we are talking about some of these ranks as these guys can move, mean we got a running back, we're going to do the running back show that moved like six spots in one day. Some of these can change. And the reason I'm giving you this little caveat here is you guys have another big difference here on T. Higgins. So this obviously is going to be like quarterback centric in here. That has some effect on it. He's ECR wide receiver 23 bits. You got him at 24. You're right in line. Erickson, you are way down. You've got him at wide receiver 35. This is one of those that I kind of think it could like drop. Like I was about to say, like you could. There's guys that can creep up and there's guys that can drop. This might be one that continuously kind of falls down as people fall out of love with this Bengals situation. Erickson, is that the situation that you're in here now you kind of talked up the connection with Chase and Browning, but when you look at T. Higgins Are you just fearful that there just. There's not going to be enough to go around with Browning at quarterback for him?
- [26:32]
Andrew Erickson
Yeah, that's kind of how I feel. Just looking back at what Browning did with T. Higgins during that stretch. In 2023, there were four games that they played together when Browning and Jamar Chase were both in the lineup. And t. Higgins had one game with 20 fantasy points, and then he had three with less than eight and a half fantasy points. So I think that he's going to be extremely boom or bust. Even in last week's appearance from Jake Browning, Teagan's had five targets from Browning. He caught one of them and it just happened to be the touchdown. So if he doesn't do that again, like that concerns me about that, he could just bottom out. We've seen this before with Higgins being very Boomer bust last year. He was a red zone monster, and that's why he was so great in terms of points per game. But what happens when you have a lesser quarterback under center? You have less red zone opportunity. So whereas Chase, I just think he's going to gobble up all the volume, and I think that he's going to be fine. I think Higgins is the one that gets hit the most because of that red zone efficiency. If he's not scoring touchdowns, then what is he doing in your lineup? I think he's going to be hurting you more often than helping you. So for me, it's Boomer bust. And then you also have the factor of Brian Flores defense. They're number one in terms of passing efficiency on defense this season. Like, this is no easy task for any quarterback facing the Vikings defense when they're trying to throw the football. So for me, that's why Higgins is not someone that I'm gravitating towards. Again, through two games, Higgins is wide receiver 49 in expected fantasy points per game. It's not like he's seeing like this massive target share. Was like, you need to start T. Higgins, like, he's been so good. The peripherals are all there. They're really not all there. Like, if he doesn't score last week, he would have bombed. So just trying to get ahead of it.
- [28:00]
Chris Welsh
I really like your red zone take on it. I think that's. That's very compelling. Fitz, you tell me if this is theory, though, because something I walked away from last week with T. Higgins is, is that if I'm a defense with Browning at quarterback here, I'm shutting Jamar Chase down. I mean, obviously, like, every team wants to do that. But maybe more than ever, the running game hasn't quite been great. You've got a lesser of a quarterback that's out there. I would feel like a defense more than ever would say we're going to make you beat us now without Jamar Chase. And that is maybe like a push for T. Higgins. It's theory, that's all that it is here. Erickson makes some really compelling points of maybe why it just doesn't matter in general. But what's your take on him? You've got him at wide receiver 24. So you got him out as a wide receiver.
- [28:44]
Drew Franklin
Yeah, I mean that's the thing. The good thing about having T. Higgins for the Bengals is that we just have not seen defenses really do that with Jamar Chase. Like concentrate on, you know, rolling safety, help his way on every snap or doubling him just because T. Higgins can, can burn them too. So yeah, I mean maybe I'm, I am second guessing this ranking a little bit and I might move him down, probably not as far down as Erickson has him where he's like back end wide receiver three territory. But I am worried this is not an easy matchup for the Bengals in Minnesota, especially after the Vikings played such a bad game against the Falcons on Sunday night. And it's like I can't see them playing two bad games in a row at U.S. bank Stadium. But I do think Higgins is going to be involved. And Erickson made reference to the stint that Jake Browning had as the starter at the end of the 2023 season. Higgins played in five of those games and over that stretch he was wide receiver 25 1/2 point PPR scoring. Now Erickson did point out that one of those games there was no Jamar Chase and that was one of the bigger games Higgins had over that stretch. So that should probably be accounted for too. But I think Higgins can still work with Browning in the lineup. So I think probably in most cases people are still going to play Higgins. But I know maybe if you have the luxury of like a lot of high end firepower at wide receiver, you might be able to sit Higgins.
- [30:07]
Chris Welsh
Yeah. And one final expansion on what I was talking about with the theory talk there is that one of the things that differed a little bit from Burrow to Browning was that Browning just threw to Jamar Chase. And that's kind of what I'm getting at. Like Burrow, you felt like he could go in any spot so that you couldn't have that honed in concentration. It seemed like Browning was just locked in on Jamar Chase and I wonder if that's where that theory locks in a little bit, where it's like, because you clearly know that he wants to go to one spot, one read, bam. That opens up Higgins. But again, it's just all something that we can monitor and unfortunately if he goes off, it might be on your bench this week. We're going to talk about wide receiver threes here in just a second, but as we have told you, we are extremely excited that Hard Rock Bet is a presenting sponsor right here on Fantasy Pros. 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, it's only legal sportsbook in the state of Florida. It's available in my hometown. Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado and more. States are launching all the time. You can also play on Hard Rock Bets online casino if you are in New Jersey. So as we gear up for NFL season, sign up for Hard Rock Bet and 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.
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- [31:53]
Chris Welsh
Virginia, you wide receiver threes gentlemen. Starting at 25, we've got Tyree Kill. He's back in action. Cortland Sutton, George Pickens, Terry McLaurin, Devonte Smith, Jacoby Myers. Coming in at 31 is DJ Moore, Ricky Pierasol, Calvin Ridley, Marquis Brown, Juwan Jennings and Keon Coleman. Let's start with George Pickens. George Pickens ECR 25 or actually 27. I missed that. He has moved down a little bit and that's kind of what I'm talking about in 24 hour span. These guys can move. Boy, was I saved by overtime with my bets. Erickson knows my bets on George Pickens this week were saved in overtime. And it's a little bit frustrating sometimes seeing the usage, but you guys are in. You guys both have them high 22 for Fitz, 24 for Ericsson. Fitzy, why don't you kick it off here? You guys are, you know, getting into a range of being quite a bit higher than consensus right now. So do you think the targets are going to continue to go up and some big plays are going to happen?
- [32:46]
Drew Franklin
I do, just because I like the offensive environment in this game. Welsh. The Bears best cornerback, Jalen Johnson, just reaggregated a groin injury that caused him to miss week one. Now he's out indefinitely. Slot corner Kyler Gordon has been out with a hamstring injury. The Bears defense is just kind of a mess. They're not getting much pressure on the quarterback. Dak Prescott, CD Lamb, George Pickens, they. They could really eat this week. And we saw the usage perk up for Pickens. He had that quiet game in Week 1, 3 for 30 on four targets. But last week, five catches, 68 yards and a touchdown on nine targets in that shootout went over the Giants. And yeah, I mean, the, the Bears just gave up 334 passing yards and five touchdown passes and 52 points to Jared Goff and the Lions. I, I think Dallas is going to move the ball through the air this week.
- [33:38]
Chris Welsh
Erickson, is it Pickens week? Is it picking season? Are we going to just get that big, explosive, explosive, fricking game that we've been waiting for him this week?
- [33:46]
Andrew Erickson
I think you have to take the chance and hope that it is that week for him, because the matchup is there. As Fitz kind of outlined just how banged up and how bad this Bears defense has been, I mean, every time I was watching the games on Sunday, it turned to a highlight, and it was just another Jared Goff kill shot to Jameson Williams downfield against the Chicago Bears. They were just like, not stopping, just trying to attack this defense downfield. So the Cowboys are going to see that on tape and be like, yeah, like, let's take advantage of it. Let's have some of these kill shots here with George Pickens. I do want to add one note, though, with Pickens, in terms of how his usage really ramped up in the second half and kind of into overtime against the Giants. So Kevonte Turpin got hurt in this game and suffered a neck injury, and he was seen in a neck brace after the game. And really after he got knocked out is when we actually started to see Pickens get more involved in the game. So you don't really think that Turpin would affect George Pickens target share. But Turpin is a guy that Shot. The offensive coordinator or the head coach likes to get involved. He has scheme touches and every time he gets a touch, it's another opportunity. It's not going to a player like George Pickens. So I might dock him a couple spots if I find out the Turpin is going to be playing in this game. And. But I think there's some like a process standpoint. I mean if the Dallas Cowboys score 40 points, like you're gonna start George Pickens and it's possible that one of the Dallas receivers or running backs, like just doesn't eat. But I think that you have to just trust the play here and just hope that, yeah, Pickens finds the end zone or catches a long ball because all of those circumstantial things are there for him.
- [35:13]
Chris Welsh
Move over to a wide receiver that I feel like everybody is just kind of like, what do we do? Like at the end of the day, what do we do with Calvin Ridley? Calvin Ridley is ECR33 this week. You guys have got him in like the general spot. Erickson, you're right on consensus fit. You're a little bit lower. I like is putting some questions in. Just overall I feel like there was more optimism about Calvin Ridley through the first two weeks. I think that's kind of waning. But Erickson, you tell me, should it be waning? Is it justifiable? Is he on a watch? I mean you don't have like a super aggressive ranking of him. But let's talk about Calvin Ridley this week.
- [35:46]
Andrew Erickson
Yes, let's talk about Calvin Ridley, who I am now having more second thoughts about how good Calvin really actually is. Because in draft season the theory behind the play was great value. You know, going really late in drafts should be the number one target on his team. Yes, week one's gonna be tough against retain. Okay, we'll give him a pass. It was a tough matchup. But then week two comes, it kind of seems like more of the same. Just like him not really stepping up, making big plays even though he's seeing targets. Meanwhile, you have Eli Guy Manure, the rookie for a day three pick making like highlight reel after highlight reel of catches. So for if I'm Cam Ward, who am I gravitating towards going the ball to? Is it the veteran guy that continues to kind of underwhelm or this really exciting rookie that makes play after play and catches my first touchdown pass after this? This just insane off screen play where I'm throwing across my body. Every head coach says don't throw the ball. Kim was like, don't care. Throwing it. Touchdown.
- [36:41]
Chris Welsh
It was like Madden. It's just. Just like you're throwing a crossfit. It's the most Madden play I've seen in the NFL in like 10 years.
- [36:47]
Andrew Erickson
And it almost always gets intercepted. But I mean if it was Ridley probably would have been intercepted, but it wasn't. It was out of man or he ended up catching it. So I think that he just is still in that wide receiver three conversation. I think that we're in a situation where I don't think you need to necessarily play him. I think it's okay to like wait for him to like, let's see him start to connect more with Cam Ward. I think the matchup is kind of like neutral against the Colts. I don't think that their team is oh, you can't throw on the Colts. I think that they definitely can. But I mean I don't think the gap between really an IU manor should necessarily be super massive just after two weeks. I mean the targets have been pretty even across the board. IU manners seen a lot of air yards in this offense in terms of expected fantasy points. Ridley's wide receiver 32. I Manor is wide receiver 42. So I think that he's Ridley's wide receiver three. I think that maybe you can probably find a more upside type of play, but I think he's going to see targets. He's still the number one on paper, but we'll see if that continues.
- [37:39]
Chris Welsh
Even though it was kind of justified, I would like public credit for not putting the 49ers wide receivers on here, even though I think we should have the discussion. So due to me getting all of that credit for not putting on them. Fitz, what is your rank of Ricky Pierasol, Juwan Jennings and Calvin Ridley?
- [37:55]
Drew Franklin
Oh, okay, let's see. I have.
- [38:00]
Chris Welsh
I almost wanted to get your don't look at your rank and see versus what you put on there. Like, like what's your instant reaction when I tell you those three names? How would you rank them out?
- [38:08]
Drew Franklin
Yeah, I think right now I have them all really close together. I have got Ridley, Ricky Pearsall, wide receiver 34. Calvin Ridley, wide receiver 35, Juwan Jennings, wide receiver 37. So all three separated by four spots and Chris Olave jammed in there in the middle. So, you know, and like Ridley, I'm still optimistic he has a 25% target share so far, which is good. But Cam Ward isn't exactly force feeding Ridley as I thought he might because Alakaya Manor has been really Good. He only has one fewer target than Ridley so far. Titan Chico conquo only has four fewer targets than Ridley. And I don't really fear the Titans match up again against the Colts this week. But Cam Ward hasn't had a 200 yard passing game yet. He hasn't thrown multiple touchdown passes in a game yet. Like, until Ward gets going a little more, I think Ridley is more of a borderline start than a confident start.
- [39:11]
Chris Welsh
Also, Erickson, I want you to get ready to ring the bell because week three is Juwan Jennings season. I am officially. I'm officially announcing that it is officially Juwan Jennings week. Erickson knows as the soothsayer does it is Juan Jennings should be the number one ranked above those three players. Just throwing it out there.
- [39:37]
Andrew Erickson
No context.
- [39:38]
Chris Welsh
I don't need any details or any breakdown. I'm just telling you it's officially Juwan Jennings.
- [39:41]
Andrew Erickson
He was productive last week. Had a couple big plays. Yeah, that's all I need.
- [39:45]
Chris Welsh
Targets are there. He's making plays after the catch. Just. I'm just saying get ready, Mac Jones loves him. All right, the final thing to end us out here, wide receiver that is not in the top 36 that you guys think should be someone we should be talking about. Fitzy, why don't you kick it off?
- [39:59]
Drew Franklin
Jaylen Waddle. I've got him at wide receiver 32. His ECR is wide receiver 38. I believe we do have to keep an eye on Waddle's status. He was a limited participant in Tuesday's practice with a shoulder injury. If he doesn't practice on Wednesday, that might not bode well for him playing in the Thursday night game against the Bills. But I know Waddle's been held under 50 yards in his last four games against the Bills. But in most cases, I do think you should be starting him this week if the shoulder isn't an issue. Erickson and I have just been Waddle advocates for a long time. He has a career average of 2.05 yards per route run. And you don't average better than 2 yards per route run over four plus NFL seasons unless you're a really good receiver.
- [40:42]
Chris Welsh
Hat tip to Tyreek Hill, too. I've been kind of writing him off. He looked pretty good. He got back involved. But Erickson, you. I think you're going to tag team with Fitzy here and you're going to go with Jalen Waddle as well.
- [40:52]
Andrew Erickson
Yeah, I think that he deserves to be in this spot here. But I have to say that I'm. I'M not nearly as confident ranking him here and I was actually. I mean I just moved Juan Jennings ahead of Jaylen Waddle because I'm trying to almost find guys to play ahead of Waddle because I'm terrified of playing him on Thursday night because to the point this shoulder injury. Waddle love the guy, think that he's a really talented player, but he does not play through injuries very well. Like he minute he gets nicked up, he gets knocked out of the game and then you're. I'm just, just I, I can't imagine just like watching the game and then he gets knocked out and Thursday night and I have to sit at zero on my roster heading into the weekend. So that's one of the things I'm concerned about with. While the thing about the Bills, he's never, when he's played apluffle, he's never had more than four catches. So what is the ceiling case for Waddle? And I would argue if last week is the ceiling case because last week it was. He was teed up like Patriots defense is terrible. He cooks the Patriots year after year. We got six or we got 56 yards and a touchdown like, or, excuse me, over 63 yards at a touchdown like that. Was, was that the ceiling game from Waddle with this offense? If that's the case, I think that I'm more afraid of the floor bottoming out on Thursday night for Waddle than actually buying into the ceiling. Because if last week is like the best we're going to get in this current state that the Dolphins is now, if they trade Tyreek Hill, it's a different conversation. So that's, that's why Waddle for me is scary. I still have in my top 36, but I'm trying to find guys to potentially move ahead of him. And I'm already bracing for my Thursday night questions of Waddle versus who and really trying to okay, do I think this other guy has more upside then I'm probably going to go with that player or even guys that have potentially a higher floor. So like you said, you brought up Juan Jennings. Sick. I'm gonna play Juan Jennings over Jalen Waddle. So I, I don't know, Fitz, if I've voiced any of your concerns as well because again, like we both like Waddle a lot. But, but I don't know the optics of this matchup going to Buffalo, Dolphins dumpster fires, McDaniel going to make it through halftime before getting fired. Just a lot of things could go bad and that's where I get concerned with Waddle.
- [42:51]
Drew Franklin
Yeah, it's the what really convinced me, Erickson is your scenario of having to dwell on a bad Jalen Waddle game for several days before Sunday. So yeah, that that might influence me a bit.
- [43:03]
Chris Welsh
Well, you guys can check out all the ranks. We went through 36 and a little bit beyond. You can check the ranks out of fantasyprose.com rankings. ECR is going to ch change throughout the week all the way up into Sunday. If you want to see what the expert consensus are saying. You can also click on a player and you can see where these guys have them. You can individually you can sorta. There's a bunch of million awesome things you can do with the ranks but just go and check them out. Fantasypros.com rankings for all your wide receivers. And don't forget if maybe we didn't discuss a player that would have answered a question for you. We've got a start and sit live stream on our YouTube channel where you can come and ask those questions Thursday 3pm Eastern and we do it every Thursday at 3pm Eastern. So those on the podcast go to YouTube.com fantasypros subscribe, click to be notified and then you can ask your question with the hundreds and thousands of other people that are coming hanging out there. That's going to do it for the wide receiver ranks for week three for Pat Fitz Morris and Andrew Erickson, I'm Chris Welch. Thank you guys so much for hanging out with us and we'll talk to you next week right here on Fantasy Pros.
- [43:57]
Andrew Erickson
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.
- [44:40]
Chris Welsh
Hey.
- [44:40]
Matt Jones
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? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining and twice a week that is exactly what you're gonna get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
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Daniel Jeremiah
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