Latest / The Dream Team / Dream Team: Week 2
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: It's time to set your lineup with the Dream Team.
- 0:04Speaker 1: Here's Jim Zoki and John Halpin.
- 0:09Speaker 2: All right, another edition of the Dream Team podcast. Jim Zoki,
- 0:11Speaker 2: John Halpin, Matt Hogan. Does not have any questions for
- 0:14Speaker 2: you this week, John, so there's a little bit less
- 0:16Speaker 2: work for you to do, although he is here just
- 0:19Speaker 2: silently watching on.
- 0:21Speaker 3: I'm sure you'll have plenty of questions because, as we
- 0:23Speaker 3: always say, that's what it's all about, helping your teams.
- 0:26Speaker 2: That's right. That's what we're here for. Otherwise, we would
- 0:28Speaker 2: just call each other and not involve other people in it.
- 0:31Speaker 2: But for the Panthers at Atlanta, well, we've got to
- 0:33Speaker 2: begin with the fantasy points the Panthers defense provided last
- 0:38Speaker 2: week to the Chicago Bears. What a bounty for many
- 0:41Speaker 2: Chicago Bears players. If you had any of their running backs,
- 0:44Speaker 2: if you had Caleb Williams, I mean, the list goes
- 0:47Speaker 2: on and on. It was just 552 yards, 59 points,
- 0:51Speaker 2: historically bad performance by the Panthers defense. We think an outlier,
- 0:55Speaker 2: a one-off, but Also you begin with this. Chicago is
- 0:58Speaker 2: really good. And that's, that's going to be interesting to
- 1:01Speaker 2: watch how they go through the rest of the season,
- 1:03Speaker 2: just how productive they are.
- 1:05Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 1:05Speaker 3: We joked last week about Ben Johnson saying he wants
- 1:08Speaker 3: to be the highest scoring team ever. And I mean,
- 1:11Speaker 3: I guess they got off to a pretty good start.
- 1:13Speaker 3: Lots of fantasy friendliness on the bears offense, including Khalid
- 1:16Speaker 3: Raymond was the surprise eight for 84 there, but you know,
- 1:20Speaker 3: both running back for, it was just awful day for
- 1:22Speaker 3: the Panthers defense.
- 1:24Speaker 1: And it, it, basically confirmed all.
- 1:27Speaker 3: Our priors about the bears offense i don't think they
- 1:30Speaker 3: keep this pace up but they are pretty darn good and.
- 1:33Speaker 2: I'm trying to look really quick to some of your
- 1:36Speaker 2: pickup suggestions later in the week i don't see raymond
- 1:40Speaker 2: on there he's out there in most leagues i mean
- 1:43Speaker 2: they've got obviously roma dunzey and uh luther uh what's
- 1:48Speaker 2: the kid's name today the second round pick from last
- 1:50Speaker 2: year yeah luther burden i would say luther broughton who's
- 1:54Speaker 2: a former panther giant there's a burden. And so, I mean,
- 1:57Speaker 2: does he factor in or is he, it's clearly the
- 2:00Speaker 2: third receiver, right? In most weeks. Right.
- 2:02Speaker 1: He's clearly the third receiver.
- 2:03Speaker 3: The one weird thing about the bears in week one
- 2:06Speaker 3: was 59 points. And there was just so much to
- 2:09Speaker 3: go around and Colston Loveland got a fantasy goose egg.
- 2:12Speaker 1: And he was one of the hot tight ends during drafts.
- 2:15Speaker 1: That's probably a fluke.
- 2:17Speaker 3: I tend to think that, you know, you could do
- 2:19Speaker 3: the rising tide lists all boats and Kalief Raymond's good
- 2:21Speaker 3: because everybody on the bears is good, but, I think
- 2:24Speaker 3: Khalif Raymond is probably the fourth receiving option, ultimately, behind
- 2:28Speaker 3: Odunze and Burton and Loveland. So, yeah, you could pick
- 2:31Speaker 3: up Khalif Raymond. I don't know that I'd go out
- 2:33Speaker 3: of my way.
- 2:34Speaker 1: To do it.
- 2:35Speaker 2: More like a bench stash if somebody gets hurt, right?
- 2:37Speaker 1: Yeah, and I don't think he's a high ceiling either.
- 2:40Speaker 1: You know, he's a veteran. And, you know, if he
- 2:42Speaker 1: does eight for 84 again once in a while, great.
- 2:45Speaker 1: But generally, it's not like the guy's going to explode
- 2:47Speaker 1: and be a thousand yard receiver.
- 2:50Speaker 2: I picked up that guy. I picked him up and
- 2:52Speaker 2: then dropped him as soon as I got him because
- 2:54Speaker 2: I realized I wanted to stream a different defense this week.
- 2:57Speaker 2: So I have the Rams defense, but I was not
- 2:59Speaker 2: impressed with how they played in week one. And then
- 3:01Speaker 2: Miles Garrett got hurt. And it'll be Aaron Donald's first game,
- 3:04Speaker 2: I guess. So they're playing the Giants. So I just streamed.
- 3:08Speaker 2: I forgot. I think it was like, it might have
- 3:09Speaker 2: been Tampa Bay's defense because they're playing the Browns. It
- 3:12Speaker 2: was like one of those matchups where it's just like,
- 3:13Speaker 2: is that a smart move, do you think?
- 3:15Speaker 1: Definitely. But the Rams... I don't know when they're going
- 3:19Speaker 1: to be right again.
- 3:20Speaker 3: They have a lot of talent on defense still, but
- 3:22Speaker 3: like you said, Garrett's out for at least four weeks.
- 3:25Speaker 1: Aaron Donald, we don't know when he'll be full.
- 3:27Speaker 3: Speed, if at all, because he's been out for a
- 3:29Speaker 3: couple of years. The Giants looked pretty good last week.
- 3:33Speaker 3: I'm not going to overreact about them yet, but they
- 3:35Speaker 3: were pretty solid. So, yeah, I think the Rams are
- 3:38Speaker 3: kind of a question mark right now. I think that
- 3:39Speaker 3: Super Bowl Express kind of got derailed, and I like
- 3:42Speaker 3: playing the matchups on defense anyway.
- 3:44Speaker 1: You made a great pick in the Buccaneers. I actually
- 3:46Speaker 1: picked them up last week.
- 3:47Speaker 3: I jumped ahead a week and picked them up, I think,
- 3:50Speaker 3: last Thursday in one league because, you know, you.
- 3:52Speaker 1: Could see this coming.
- 3:53Speaker 3: And if you can ever do that, if you have
- 3:55Speaker 3: an extra room on your bench, look, next week, everyone's
- 3:58Speaker 3: going to be fighting for, you know, the team that's playing.
- 4:01Speaker 3: Are the Panthers playing the Browns next week, week three?
- 4:03Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 4:04Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 4:05Speaker 3: So people are going to be fighting over the Panthers
- 4:07Speaker 3: or the Giants who play the Titans next week. If
- 4:10Speaker 3: you can jump on that this week so you're not
- 4:12Speaker 3: fighting with everybody next week, that's typically a good move
- 4:14Speaker 3: if you can do it.
- 4:16Speaker 2: Welcome to Fantasy Football, where the team that gave up
- 4:18Speaker 2: 59 points will be the hot defense to pick up
- 4:20Speaker 2: next week because they're playing the Cleveland Browns. That's where
- 4:23Speaker 2: real football and fantasy football never intersect and why they're
- 4:26Speaker 2: so completely different sports. And Shadur Sanders, right?
- 4:32Speaker 1: I'm betting on Shadur Sanders for week three.
- 4:35Speaker 2: Well, it's interesting. Real quick to wrap that up. Jimmy
- 4:37Speaker 2: Horn signs moments before we come on to record this
- 4:40Speaker 2: podcast with the Cleveland Browns and, of course, college teammate
- 4:44Speaker 2: of Shadur Sanders. There's been some talk about they might
- 4:46Speaker 2: move Jerry Judy even there, but it could be a
- 4:50Speaker 2: situation where he's on the practice squad maybe for a moment.
- 4:52Speaker 2: But Jimmy Horn, I mean, that might be another setup
- 4:55Speaker 2: showing for week three when they're back at home for
- 4:57Speaker 2: the first time this year that you might have a
- 4:59Speaker 2: Shador Sanders, Jimmy Horn signing. This is all the side stuff.
- 5:02Speaker 2: None of this is like fantasy football relevant in a way,
- 5:05Speaker 2: but it's kind of interesting because of the Panther connection
- 5:08Speaker 2: to it.
- 5:09Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely.
- 5:10Speaker 3: You have to wonder if the Browns signed Jimmy Horn
- 5:11Speaker 3: to pick his brain a little bit looking ahead a week. But, yeah,
- 5:15Speaker 3: the Shadur and Jimmy Horn connection, I mean, it did
- 5:16Speaker 3: work well when they were at Colorado, so you never know.
- 5:18Speaker 1: But, yeah, I think Deshaun Watson was so bad in
- 5:21Speaker 1: week one.
- 5:22Speaker 3: I love that they said, you know, they're going to
- 5:23Speaker 3: give him two weeks on the road, of course, because
- 5:25Speaker 3: the home fans hate him.
- 5:27Speaker 1: And I think after this week, they'll probably make that switch.
- 5:30Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't see him throwing for 400 yards out
- 5:32Speaker 2: of the blue, so probably the case. So the Panthers,
- 5:36Speaker 2: we don't know as we're doing this podcast who the
- 5:38Speaker 2: Falcons quarterback will be. Tua didn't practice yesterday. The ones
- 5:42Speaker 2: that were practicing, Cooper Rush and Michael Penix. Don't even
- 5:46Speaker 2: know if Penix is ready beyond practice at this point.
- 5:48Speaker 2: So a little bit of an unknown, but we do
- 5:50Speaker 2: know is Bijan Robinson. He had 73% of their yards
- 5:55Speaker 2: last week, 29 touches in that game this past week. Obviously,
- 6:00Speaker 2: probably a top two draft pick in most fantasy leagues
- 6:03Speaker 2: this year. So the Panthers, while, again, not taking on
- 6:06Speaker 2: the entire Bears team, have some particular issues in dealing
- 6:09Speaker 2: with him and Drake London in particular coming up this week.
- 6:13Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely.
- 6:13Speaker 3: And Bijan Moore, because you can dump off to him.
- 6:18Speaker 3: You don't need a good quarterback to dump a ball
- 6:20Speaker 3: off in the flat and let him, you know, try
- 6:22Speaker 3: to gain 10 or 12 yards. So Bijan is pretty
- 6:25Speaker 3: much quarterback proof. He had 29 touches last week, especially
- 6:27Speaker 3: with this quarterback issue. They're going to work him as
- 6:30Speaker 3: much as they can. And so the volume is going
- 6:32Speaker 3: to be fantastic.
- 6:33Speaker 1: Drake London did struggle. He was two for 29 and
- 6:35Speaker 1: four targets. And our buddy Kyle Pitts.
- 6:39Speaker 3: I have Blutarski in the notes for the old folks here.
- 6:42Speaker 3: 0.0 on fantasy football. I don't know if Cooper Rush
- 6:48Speaker 3: can throw it. It's hard to depend on a receiver
- 6:52Speaker 3: if Cooper Rush is the quarterback, but it's not like
- 6:56Speaker 3: you're going to bench Drake London. I doubt you have
- 6:57Speaker 3: three guys who have a better chance to produce. It's
- 6:59Speaker 3: a tough spot if Atlanta doesn't have a better quarterback starting.
- 7:03Speaker 2: No, unfortunately. We talk about the domino effect every Drake London,
- 7:07Speaker 2: of course, is a great receiver, but he has no
- 7:08Speaker 2: one to deliver the football to him, which last week,
- 7:11Speaker 2: two catches, 29 yards, wasn't much better than Kyle Pitts.
- 7:15Speaker 2: I guess that would get you like four points instead
- 7:17Speaker 2: of zero points if you had Drake London instead of
- 7:18Speaker 2: Kyle Pitts, you know, line up.
- 7:20Speaker 3: Yeah, really, really brutal day for the Falcons offense. And,
- 7:24Speaker 3: you know, for the Panthers sake, we hope there's another
- 7:26Speaker 3: brutal day coming.
- 7:27Speaker 2: Yeah, we need a win. And fantasy-wise, if we get
- 7:30Speaker 2: some stats along the way, that helps too. And Jalen
- 7:33Speaker 2: Coker picked up where he left off with the Rams'
- 7:35Speaker 2: playoff loss last year. Almost identical numbers, in fact. Eight catches,
- 7:38Speaker 2: 138 yards on just nine targets. Had the two touchdowns
- 7:42Speaker 2: as well. I asked Coach Canales on our Monday show,
- 7:45Speaker 2: I said, was that because the Bears were taking away T-Mac?
- 7:50Speaker 2: Or were you thinking this might be a day for
- 7:52Speaker 2: Coker where he could thrive? He goes, Coker was winning
- 7:55Speaker 2: his matchups. So he was winning the matchups. We might
- 7:58Speaker 2: have a 1A and a 1B as starting wide receivers here. Again,
- 8:01Speaker 2: TMAC clearly is a 1. Jalen Coker might be a 1.
- 8:06Speaker 2: We just haven't given them enough thought yet to be like,
- 8:09Speaker 2: we could have maybe two guys that are premier wide
- 8:12Speaker 2: receivers in the same lineup.
- 8:14Speaker 1: Yep, I think you're right.
- 8:15Speaker 3: You don't want to overreact to week one, but in
- 8:18Speaker 3: Jalen Coker's case, it wasn't just week one. If we
- 8:22Speaker 3: go back to last year, because down the stretch after
- 8:24Speaker 3: he came back from Madrid, he was really good, especially
- 8:26Speaker 3: in that playoff game.
- 8:27Speaker 1: I think you're right. I looked at.
- 8:29Speaker 3: That on Sunday and watched how well he played, and
- 8:33Speaker 3: Coach Canales is seeing more film than I'm watching.
- 8:35Speaker 1: But, yeah, you're right. This is a real receiver.
- 8:38Speaker 3: I think the instinct is to say, oh, seventh-round pick.
- 8:41Speaker 3: That's a nice story, and if he becomes a good player,
- 8:43Speaker 3: that's great.
- 8:43Speaker 1: No, no, no.
- 8:44Speaker 3: This guy's really good. We underestimated him. Now, would I
- 8:46Speaker 3: take him over Tedderall McMillan in fantasy? I'm not going
- 8:50Speaker 3: that far yet. But I had Jalen Coker as kind
- 8:53Speaker 3: of a, yeah, he's a nice fifth-wide receiver at the
- 8:55Speaker 3: end of your bench who can play sometimes. I think
- 8:57Speaker 3: we're at the point where you can, even any week,
- 9:00Speaker 3: you can look at him as a potential starter in
- 9:02Speaker 3: fantasy football.
- 9:04Speaker 2: Bryce Young, we talked about, was probably on most waiver
- 9:07Speaker 2: wires out there. And again, we're talking fantasy football, not
- 9:10Speaker 2: real football as far as stats, but 361, four touchdowns
- 9:14Speaker 2: in the game. I'm guessing he was a popular, at
- 9:17Speaker 2: least QB2 pickup off the waiver wire this week.
- 9:20Speaker 1: Yeah, getting a little more popular.
- 9:22Speaker 3: And I think we need to, what I said about
- 9:25Speaker 3: Coker goes for Bryce Young too. I'm not going to, say, hey,
- 9:28Speaker 3: Bryce Young's a fantasy starter for everybody. But we talked
- 9:32Speaker 3: in the preseason about, you know, I said a lot,
- 9:35Speaker 3: this team's going to want to run.
- 9:36Speaker 1: And I think they still do, for sure.
- 9:38Speaker 3: But if you have, to your point, a 1A and
- 9:41Speaker 3: a 1B, and you have two premier receivers, you're going
- 9:44Speaker 3: to use them because they're playmakers and they're going to
- 9:46Speaker 3: help you win. And that suggests to me that Bryce
- 9:51Speaker 3: Young is going to start throwing the ball more than
- 9:52Speaker 3: we thought he was going to. I don't think they're
- 9:54Speaker 3: going to air it out and throw it 40 times
- 9:56Speaker 3: a game. but I think they're going to be maybe
- 9:58Speaker 3: less conservative and less run heavy than we might have thought.
- 10:02Speaker 3: And if that's the case, volume's great. And Bryce Young now,
- 10:05Speaker 3: he's firmly in the QB2 conversation in fantasy. I was
- 10:09Speaker 3: looking at the guys near the bottom, like, who would
- 10:10Speaker 3: I rank Bryce.
- 10:11Speaker 1: Young ahead of?
- 10:12Speaker 3: Came up with probably 10 guys like cj stroud is
- 10:15Speaker 3: a guy i look at both and i go i
- 10:17Speaker 3: think i might take bryce young at this point because
- 10:19Speaker 3: cj stroud looked terrible and bryce young's got two good
- 10:22Speaker 3: receivers and it just it's starting to make more sense
- 10:24Speaker 3: to pick him ahead of the obvious people.
- 10:29Speaker 2: It took four years but uh finally bryce is at
- 10:32Speaker 2: the top of his quarterback class after all the talk
- 10:35Speaker 2: with anthony richardson and uh will levis and obviously cj
- 10:40Speaker 2: stroud so uh So the Panthers still have that decision
- 10:44Speaker 2: to make as far as his long-term contract there. And obviously,
- 10:47Speaker 2: Chuba Hubbard getting the two touchdowns, a factor in the
- 10:50Speaker 2: receiving game. Only carried it 10 times, but averaged almost
- 10:53Speaker 2: five yards a carry. So he looked really– the big
- 10:55Speaker 2: picture with him was he just looks healthy. He looks
- 10:57Speaker 2: like a healthy, fast Chuba Hubbard once again because people forget,
- 11:01Speaker 2: I mean, he was like a Canadian track star coming
- 11:04Speaker 2: out of college. And they talk about that speed. I
- 11:07Speaker 2: think we kind of viewed him as kind of a
- 11:09Speaker 2: little more pedestrian because of the injuries. But he looks
- 11:11Speaker 2: a little quicker now than he did last year.
- 11:14Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree with you. He looks good.
- 11:17Speaker 3: Obviously dominated the snaps in the backfield. So, yeah, Chu
- 11:19Speaker 3: is a solid dependable. I have him in the league
- 11:22Speaker 3: this week, and I'm starting him.
- 11:23Speaker 1: As a flex.
- 11:24Speaker 3: So that tells you where we are. I'm confident this week.
- 11:28Speaker 3: We should all be confident that he's going to get
- 11:30Speaker 3: enough work to be fantasy relevant.
- 11:32Speaker 1: Now, Jonathan Brooks.
- 11:33Speaker 3: what we talked about with him, he's not, we're not
- 11:35Speaker 3: ready to start him in fantasy football right now, but
- 11:37Speaker 3: we talked about the explosive high ceiling potential.
- 11:41Speaker 1: He had that one big cash roll. Was it 48 yards? Yep.
- 11:44Speaker 1: I think it was. It was.
- 11:46Speaker 3: You see that and you go, yeah, like the one,
- 11:48Speaker 3: two punch is, is maybe kind of what we thought.
- 11:51Speaker 1: And I think if Brooks keeps doing things like that,
- 11:53Speaker 1: he'll get busier.
- 11:55Speaker 3: All right.
- 11:55Speaker 2: Let's look at the, some of the other players around
- 11:58Speaker 2: the league and, Last year, I was early on the
- 12:00Speaker 2: Ashton Ginty train, and it never really materialized last year.
- 12:04Speaker 2: But what a start to his season as a sophomore
- 12:06Speaker 2: in the NFL. 29 touches, two touchdowns, 147 yards. And again,
- 12:12Speaker 2: for the same reason I thought about Jeremiah Love with Arizona.
- 12:16Speaker 2: You go that high for a running back, you're going
- 12:18Speaker 2: to use the heck out of him. Never really worked
- 12:20Speaker 2: last year, but at least a bright start. We'll see
- 12:22Speaker 2: if it holds up or not for him.
- 12:24Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I guess the preseason injury that we
- 12:26Speaker 3: were worried was going to be really bad turned out
- 12:29Speaker 3: to be not so bad at all.
- 12:30Speaker 1: There was a lot of talk in the last couple
- 12:32Speaker 1: weeks of the preseason.
- 12:32Speaker 3: When Jente got hurt, there was a lot of talk
- 12:34Speaker 3: about that rookie Mike Washington that, you know, Clint Cooley
- 12:37Speaker 3: had loved him in the draft, and, you know, he's
- 12:39Speaker 3: going to play enough to where he's a threat to Jente.
- 12:42Speaker 3: Jente's going to be a workhorse. I mean, we saw
- 12:43Speaker 3: week one how the Raiders wanted to use him. They're
- 12:46Speaker 3: using him in passing game. They gave him like 23,
- 12:48Speaker 3: 24 carries.
- 12:49Speaker 1: If you drafted.
- 12:50Speaker 3: Ashton Jente in the second round after that injury stuff
- 12:54Speaker 3: I think you're in really good shape.
- 12:55Speaker 2: All right. And then talk about running backs. Kenneth Walker
- 13:00Speaker 2: with his new team. Of course, the MVP for the
- 13:02Speaker 2: Super Bowl was Seattle last year. Opening game for Kansas City.
- 13:06Speaker 2: And honestly, Patrick Mahomes was healthy. He was running. We
- 13:10Speaker 2: saw Kelsey catch and run for like a 60-yard play.
- 13:13Speaker 2: Kenneth Walker in there. And if all the components of
- 13:15Speaker 2: this offense are working, it looks like Walker could be
- 13:18Speaker 2: in for a big season for Kansas City.
- 13:20Speaker 1: Yeah, Rasheed Rice got a touchdown, too. Xavier Worthy didn't
- 13:23Speaker 1: look bad. I will say that, you know, I don't
- 13:25Speaker 1: want to while I don't want to overreact about week one.
- 13:29Speaker 3: Last week, we talked about I named Kenneth Walker as
- 13:31Speaker 3: a potential, not potential.
- 13:34Speaker 1: We talked about a fantasy bust for the season. And
- 13:36Speaker 1: I said Kenneth Walker because I didn't.
- 13:38Speaker 3: I said, you know, the last four years, the Seahawks
- 13:40Speaker 3: kept finding ways to keep him off the field. And
- 13:42Speaker 3: I just was struggling to see the workhorse case that
- 13:45Speaker 3: everybody's making.
- 13:46Speaker 1: Well, he was a workhorse. He played all the time.
- 13:49Speaker 1: He looked great. Like the 23 carries for a buck 73,
- 13:53Speaker 1: I think it was. I am ready to take the
- 13:57Speaker 1: L on.
- 13:57Speaker 3: Kenneth Walker after week one because another one, if you
- 14:00Speaker 3: got him in early second round, you're looking really good
- 14:03Speaker 3: right now.
- 14:04Speaker 1: Because of the way they're going to use him.
- 14:05Speaker 2: All right. Well, long season, not to wish anything bad
- 14:08Speaker 2: on him, but you don't know for sure. Jackson Dart, again,
- 14:11Speaker 2: the Giants, they got everybody back. So they look like,
- 14:15Speaker 2: That team, before everybody got hurt last year, of course,
- 14:19Speaker 2: as a quarterback, he ran it for 54 yards, 11 carries.
- 14:24Speaker 2: Always concerns me, though. I just feel like he doesn't
- 14:27Speaker 2: take it easy on himself. So I wonder if that's sustainable,
- 14:30Speaker 2: him running to that degree on designed runs as part
- 14:33Speaker 2: of that offense, if that'll last the whole year.
- 14:36Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree with you. There's definitely a worry, I
- 14:38Speaker 3: will say, in the game against the Cowboys. He kept
- 14:43Speaker 3: himself safer than he usually does and than he did
- 14:46Speaker 3: last year. Yeah, there's a lot of design runs with
- 14:48Speaker 3: him for as long as he lasts. That's going to
- 14:52Speaker 3: mean a high fantasy floor. I got to say, he
- 14:54Speaker 3: looked good throwing the ball too. You know, he delivered
- 14:56Speaker 3: a lot of good third down. He kind of, when
- 14:59Speaker 3: they talked about becoming more run heavy and playing under
- 15:02Speaker 3: center more, I was kind of like, oh, I don't miss.
- 15:04Speaker 1: He was, you know, playing in a pistol where everything
- 15:06Speaker 1: was a first free throw. He looked really good. I'm
- 15:09Speaker 1: not going to overreact. He's never a lot. But he
- 15:13Speaker 1: looked really good, like we said.
- 15:14Speaker 3: As long as he stays healthy, to your point, fantasy-wise,
- 15:17Speaker 3: he's going to be pretty solid because they're pretty clearly
- 15:20Speaker 3: willing to.
- 15:21Speaker 1: Run him a bunch.
- 15:22Speaker 2: Josh Allen, I told you I broke my own rule.
- 15:25Speaker 2: I know your rule. I took a quarterback in the
- 15:27Speaker 2: second round. But, man, did he pay off. 48 points
- 15:30Speaker 2: for me in the league where I got him. He
- 15:31Speaker 2: won the game for me. He's just– I don't know.
- 15:34Speaker 2: I think he might be the MVP in football this year.
- 15:36Speaker 2: He's just got so much he brings to fantasy football
- 15:39Speaker 2: in particular. But the former Panther, former Bear, DJ Moore,
- 15:43Speaker 2: also off to a nice start in the receiving portion
- 15:45Speaker 2: of that equation. Five catches, 100 yards, had a touchdown. Clearly,
- 15:50Speaker 2: he's going to be his favorite target this year.
- 15:53Speaker 1: Yeah, that's for sure. He looked like he liked throwing him.
- 15:56Speaker 3: The target share was, what, 27%, 28%, which looks like
- 16:00Speaker 3: a number one receiver. And if you're Josh Allen's number
- 16:03Speaker 3: one receiver, you're going to be pretty solid. You know,
- 16:05Speaker 3: the guy who has to worry about Josh Allen is
- 16:07Speaker 3: James Cook because he's going to take off.
- 16:08Speaker 1: The goal line carries. But DJ Moore, he was going
- 16:12Speaker 1: in the fifth, sixth round of drafts. That looks really
- 16:15Speaker 1: good right now. So does Dalton Kincaid. And he went
- 16:17Speaker 1: over 100 yards. You know, he ran.
- 16:20Speaker 3: More routes and got more targets than they're used to
- 16:23Speaker 3: him getting because he was, you know, always battling with
- 16:25Speaker 3: Dawson Knox for playing time.
- 16:27Speaker 2: So.
- 16:27Speaker 1: That Bill's passing game looks good. I agree with you
- 16:29Speaker 1: about Josh Allen.
- 16:30Speaker 3: He's just– whatever flaws the Bills have, he just makes
- 16:34Speaker 3: them overcome them.
- 16:35Speaker 1: He's so good.
- 16:36Speaker 2: Yeah, and he can do it, obviously. The goal line
- 16:39Speaker 2: is a touchdown threat, all of that. All right, let's
- 16:42Speaker 2: look around at some injuries we're monitoring this week. We
- 16:45Speaker 2: knew Brock Bowers would miss at least one game. They
- 16:48Speaker 2: said one or two was their initial indication with the
- 16:51Speaker 2: knee procedure. What do you think for this week as
- 16:54Speaker 2: far as will he play? And if he does– Will
- 16:57Speaker 2: it be 100%? He may not play at all. So
- 16:59Speaker 2: what are your thoughts on him?
- 17:02Speaker 3: They're still talking about him as a TBD for this week.
- 17:05Speaker 3: I have a hard time believing he's going to come
- 17:07Speaker 3: back that fast from even minor knee surgery. I'm going
- 17:10Speaker 3: to bet that Brock Bowers is out for week two
- 17:12Speaker 3: and comes back in week three.
- 17:13Speaker 1: At the earliest.
- 17:14Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's a long season, and you don't want
- 17:16Speaker 2: to risk further damaging that coming off the meniscus cleanup.
- 17:21Speaker 2: Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens, hamstring injuries. Man, you hate to
- 17:25Speaker 2: hear hamstring. Hamstring and high ankle sprains. You hear either
- 17:28Speaker 2: one of those, it's four to six weeks out the gate, right?
- 17:31Speaker 1: Right.
- 17:32Speaker 3: And Zay Flowers, I think in the first half he
- 17:35Speaker 3: had 150 yards, 130 or 150 against the Colts.
- 17:39Speaker 1: He looked spectacular. I was watching him in the first
- 17:43Speaker 1: half of that game going, that's the guy this year.
- 17:47Speaker 1: That's the breakout guy right there. Look at him. Look
- 17:49Speaker 1: at the way they're using him. Look at how he looks.
- 17:51Speaker 1: And then he got hurt. So, yeah, we might be
- 17:53Speaker 1: looking at a few weeks out here. It's a shame.
- 17:55Speaker 1: So get well soon, Zay Potter, as I drafted you
- 17:57Speaker 1: in a bunch of places.
- 17:58Speaker 2: Well, you and a lot of folks were predicting big
- 18:00Speaker 2: things for Ladd McConkie, who I hated last year. But
- 18:03Speaker 2: now with the new system in place with the Chargers
- 18:06Speaker 2: set up for him, same thing. He was off to
- 18:08Speaker 2: a spectacular start last week. Rib injury. Don't know if
- 18:11Speaker 2: he will play or not, though. But a lot of
- 18:13Speaker 2: folks kind of, you know, investigating, you know, Ladd McConkie
- 18:16Speaker 2: in for a bigger year this year. Looks like that
- 18:18Speaker 2: overall will still be the case, but a little setback there.
- 18:22Speaker 1: Yeah, a little setback.
- 18:23Speaker 3: It's a bruised rib, not a fracture. So different than,
- 18:27Speaker 3: let's say, a hamstring injury like Flowers. It might be
- 18:29Speaker 3: a pain tolerance thing or something like that. If McConkie
- 18:32Speaker 3: misses time, from what I'm reading and sensing, is that
- 18:36Speaker 3: it could be a one-week, not like a three- to
- 18:38Speaker 3: four-week kind of thing.
- 18:39Speaker 1: But you're right.
- 18:39Speaker 3: For all the bad things that happened to the Chargers
- 18:42Speaker 3: offense last weekend, they looked pretty bad against the Cardinals.
- 18:45Speaker 1: They were throwing the ball a lot to Ladman Conkey
- 18:47Speaker 1: before he got hurt. He's another one. Look, you could see.
- 18:52Speaker 3: If you had him pegged for a breakout, what you
- 18:54Speaker 3: saw in the first two and a half quarters of
- 18:55Speaker 3: that game, you're watching, you're going, yep.
- 18:57Speaker 1: That's kind of what I thought.
- 18:59Speaker 2: And Quinton Johnson did nothing. He had two catches, 17 yards.
- 19:02Speaker 2: He was on my bench. I wasn't playing him. But,
- 19:04Speaker 2: of course, you look at it this week and go, well,
- 19:06Speaker 2: would he be the featured guy? But I don't need him.
- 19:09Speaker 2: For those who have him, could he have a bounce
- 19:12Speaker 2: back this week or just leave him on the bench
- 19:13Speaker 2: if you got him?
- 19:14Speaker 3: He could, but that's a tough one. That's depending on
- 19:18Speaker 3: who else you have. I wouldn't make the leap from
- 19:21Speaker 3: McConkie out, meaning good week for Quentin Johnston.
- 19:24Speaker 1: Like you said.
- 19:25Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm going to stay with that, too. Nico Collins
- 19:27Speaker 2: wouldn't be Nico Collins if he wasn't injured already. Here
- 19:30Speaker 2: we go. Hamstring injury, but still to be determined with him.
- 19:33Speaker 2: I tell you, Texans receivers, they always look good when
- 19:37Speaker 2: you're plotting your plan for the draft, and one by
- 19:41Speaker 2: one they end up hurting. Every year. I don't know
- 19:44Speaker 2: who's in charge of their training program there, but their
- 19:46Speaker 2: receivers always are dinged up, I feel like.
- 19:49Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel the same way. You had the issue
- 19:51Speaker 1: with Tank Dell, was it early last year, I guess?
- 19:54Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 19:55Speaker 3: One of their young receivers, was it Noel or Higgins,
- 19:57Speaker 3: I forget which, got hurt in training camp.
- 19:59Speaker 2: Higgins, yeah.
- 20:01Speaker 3: Kind of a surprise with Nico Collins. After the game,
- 20:04Speaker 3: it didn't seem like too big of a deal. And
- 20:07Speaker 3: then yesterday practice, like, oh, he's limited and we're not
- 20:09Speaker 3: sure what's going to happen.
- 20:10Speaker 1: And, you know, he might apply.
- 20:11Speaker 2: Wait.
- 20:12Speaker 1: So I guess you have to wait till Friday to
- 20:14Speaker 1: see the news on it.
- 20:16Speaker 2: Joe Burrow. And I do have him starting in one
- 20:18Speaker 2: of my leagues. He's got some back tightness and not
- 20:20Speaker 2: an injury per se. But the way he's talking, the
- 20:23Speaker 2: way it looks, I mean, we expect him to play
- 20:24Speaker 2: in this one, right?
- 20:26Speaker 1: Yeah, I think we do.
- 20:28Speaker 3: Anything can happen on a Wednesday or any news can
- 20:30Speaker 3: break on a Wednesday, but. Yeah, tightness doesn't sound too bad.
- 20:33Speaker 3: And I wouldn't worry too much about Joe Burrow unless
- 20:35Speaker 3: you hear a lot more bad.
- 20:36Speaker 1: News this week.
- 20:37Speaker 2: Well, we know not to play A.J. Brown because he's
- 20:39Speaker 2: on injured reserve. So he has to miss four weeks
- 20:41Speaker 2: with an ankle injury. But first game with his new
- 20:44Speaker 2: team in New England and already off to a bad
- 20:47Speaker 2: start with the injury.
- 20:49Speaker 1: And the Patriots fan.
- 20:50Speaker 3: Oh, my gosh, because they traded Keishon Booney to the
- 20:53Speaker 3: Texans after Higgins got hurt.
- 20:55Speaker 1: Because, like, oh, we don't need any wide receivers.
- 20:58Speaker 2: They're like, oh.
- 21:00Speaker 1: We're playing Matt Collins every down into Mario Douglas.
- 21:02Speaker 2: Great.
- 21:03Speaker 1: So, yeah, the fans are a little angry with that
- 21:05Speaker 1: team right now. Yeah, A.J. Brown out for at least
- 21:08Speaker 1: four weeks. Not great if you draft him in the
- 21:10Speaker 1: second round.
- 21:11Speaker 2: You sound like you're not on the Matt Collins grab-off-the-waiver-wire
- 21:15Speaker 2: train for this week.
- 21:17Speaker 1: You can't trust a guy who won't use utensils when
- 21:20Speaker 1: he eats. It's weird. I don't know.
- 21:24Speaker 2: Which is awkward with soup and Jell-O and certain foods,
- 21:28Speaker 2: for sure. Works with some things, like sandwiches, but not that.
- 21:33Speaker 2: What about Travion Henderson? Is he feeling like he'll be
- 21:36Speaker 2: able to play this week or no?
- 21:38Speaker 1: It's likely he's going to play. He practiced fully on Wednesday,
- 21:41Speaker 1: so he'll be back.
- 21:43Speaker 3: Training camp suggested that Stevenson had taken over that backfield,
- 21:47Speaker 3: and he probably has. But last week, we also saw
- 21:50Speaker 3: last week that there's not a lot of– Ramond or
- 21:53Speaker 3: Stevenson's a good back. Trayvon Henschen brings the explosiveness to
- 21:57Speaker 3: the package.
- 21:58Speaker 1: And without A.J. Brown, they're probably going to just their
- 22:00Speaker 1: offense might need a little more of that.
- 22:02Speaker 3: So I don't think this is going to be like
- 22:04Speaker 3: a 75-25 backfield in favor of Stevenson.
- 22:06Speaker 1: I think Henschen is going to get a bit more
- 22:08Speaker 1: work there.
- 22:09Speaker 2: Here's an interesting one. We know Sam Darnold won't play
- 22:12Speaker 2: this week. He's all about streaming defenses. Do we stream
- 22:15Speaker 2: a quarterback in Drew Locke with a full week to
- 22:17Speaker 2: get ready? They're playing Arizona. He's got Jackson Smith and Jigba.
- 22:22Speaker 2: That's got to be worth 150 yards right there. I mean,
- 22:25Speaker 2: I don't think anyone's in big quarterback trouble right now
- 22:27Speaker 2: as far as needing to put somebody in. But just
- 22:29Speaker 2: the thought of it, do you think Drew Locke might
- 22:32Speaker 2: be in for at least a solid week this week?
- 22:34Speaker 3: No, I think they're going to try to. I think
- 22:36Speaker 3: the way that team is built, they're going to try
- 22:41Speaker 3: to hide Drew Locke so that he doesn't do anything
- 22:44Speaker 3: terrible and try to win that game 20-10.
- 22:47Speaker 1: Let the defense and the running game do the work.
- 22:49Speaker 3: Because when you let Drew Locke loose, Drew Locke throws
- 22:52Speaker 3: the ball to the other team.
- 22:54Speaker 2: Kyler Murray gets hurt in his first game as the
- 22:57Speaker 2: Vikings starting quarterback. And again, because of the system he's
- 23:00Speaker 2: playing in there with the Vikings, a lot of people
- 23:02Speaker 2: expect an uptick in his production. Concussion, we don't know
- 23:05Speaker 2: for sure, but you wouldn't think he'd come back the
- 23:08Speaker 2: next week from a concussion. So you think not, and
- 23:10Speaker 2: that Carson Wentz ends up starting for the Vikings this week?
- 23:14Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, yeah.
- 23:15Speaker 3: And maybe it's because of the way that injury looks,
- 23:17Speaker 3: because it looks so terrible when Murray got hurt.
- 23:19Speaker 1: But yeah, concussion, you got to think he's probably going
- 23:22Speaker 1: to miss a week.
- 23:23Speaker 3: Carson Wentz plays at the Bears, and while the Bears'
- 23:26Speaker 3: defense isn't good, Carson Wentz is not another guy I
- 23:30Speaker 3: probably wouldn't go out of my way to start, even
- 23:31Speaker 3: though he did play well against the Packers.
- 23:34Speaker 2: Jordan Mason on IR for four weeks. Does that mean
- 23:37Speaker 2: even more of a workload for Aaron Jones, do you think,
- 23:40Speaker 2: for those who have Aaron Jones?
- 23:42Speaker 3: Yeah, I do think that. Not full-time. I forget who's
- 23:46Speaker 3: behind them. They drafted somebody in the later rounds, but
- 23:49Speaker 3: Aaron Jones' workload just went up. He's a guy who
- 23:53Speaker 3: You went into last week not sure if you were
- 23:55Speaker 3: going to start him or sit him.
- 23:56Speaker 1: This week you're going to start him. All right.
- 23:58Speaker 2: And then final segment, as always, John's got some suggestions
- 24:03Speaker 2: of guys that might be on the waiver wire. During
- 24:05Speaker 2: our Panther segment, we covered Bryce Young as being a
- 24:08Speaker 2: guy that's being picked up by a lot of folks
- 24:10Speaker 2: as at least a QB2 this week. Running back, always
- 24:13Speaker 2: in demand, right? Any running backs on the waiver wire
- 24:16Speaker 2: that might be at least someone to stash, if not
- 24:19Speaker 2: play in this particular week?
- 24:21Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's more stash.
- 24:22Speaker 3: I mean, hopefully after week one, if you're missing, say,
- 24:25Speaker 3: Jordan Mason, you've got someone on your bench that can
- 24:28Speaker 3: help that you're not going to dive into the waiver
- 24:29Speaker 3: wire desperately already. With that said, Chris Brooks on the Packers,
- 24:33Speaker 3: he's still only rostered in 4% of Yahoo!
- 24:35Speaker 1: Leagues. It's not like he's great.
- 24:37Speaker 3: And I don't mean he's not a high upside stash,
- 24:40Speaker 3: but when Josh Jacobs got suspended, commissioning his exam to us,
- 24:46Speaker 3: whatever it was, you know, it was, oh, Marshawn Lloyd's
- 24:48Speaker 3: going to be the guy. And he went in probably six,
- 24:49Speaker 3: sevens around to some draft. So last week, Marshawn Lloyd
- 24:52Speaker 3: and Chris Brooks kind of split the work. And Brooks
- 24:54Speaker 3: got nine carries. They're playing at the Jets. I don't
- 24:57Speaker 3: think the Jets are awful, but he's in a timeshare
- 25:01Speaker 3: on a good offense.
- 25:02Speaker 1: So if you need a running back, you're desperate for one,
- 25:04Speaker 1: that's the guy you can grab.
- 25:06Speaker 2: Wide receiver. I think Tyler Shuck, did he go for
- 25:09Speaker 2: 400 last week?
- 25:10Speaker 1: Yes.
- 25:11Speaker 2: Some big numbers.
- 25:11Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 25:12Speaker 2: So by the way, real quick, aside before you talk
- 25:13Speaker 2: about the receivers, I did pick him up as a,
- 25:16Speaker 2: backup quarterback at one of my leagues. I had C.J.
- 25:19Speaker 2: Stroud as a backup. I went ahead and flipped it
- 25:21Speaker 2: out for Shuck. Do you like that move?
- 25:23Speaker 1: Very much.
- 25:24Speaker 3: I like the Saints offense this year to take a
- 25:27Speaker 3: step forward. I like Kellen Moore as a coach and
- 25:31Speaker 3: as a play caller. They want to play fast, which
- 25:34Speaker 3: means more volume, more throws, etc. Their defense is bad.
- 25:37Speaker 3: I think there's a lot of things arguing for Tyler
- 25:40Speaker 3: Shuck being a good fantasy quarterback, even if the real-life
- 25:42Speaker 3: production is not great.
- 25:43Speaker 1: So I like that one a lot.
- 25:44Speaker 2: And they got some players on the waiver wire. So
- 25:47Speaker 2: what do you think about it? How do you pronounce it? Vele?
- 25:49Speaker 2: I can't remember. Vele. So Devon Vele, he's got seven catches,
- 25:55Speaker 2: 69 yards. Of course, Chris Olave had a monster day.
- 25:58Speaker 2: But do you think it's sustainable that Vele could be
- 26:01Speaker 2: a guy that could be factoring in each week?
- 26:05Speaker 3: I do, just because I think there's going to be
- 26:07Speaker 3: a lot of passes to go around for the Saints.
- 26:10Speaker 3: So I think Jawan Johnson is a decent tight end.
- 26:11Speaker 3: He caught a touchdown last week. Chris will obviously get
- 26:14Speaker 3: a little work he can handle. But Devon Valley, another one.
- 26:17Speaker 3: If you're looking to pick up a receiver, what if
- 26:19Speaker 3: you drafted Flowers and McConkie at the 3-4 turn and
- 26:22Speaker 3: you're in some trouble for this week? Devon Valley is
- 26:25Speaker 3: not a nice guy to pick up off the wire.
- 26:27Speaker 3: He is owned in almost half of Yahoo! League, so
- 26:29Speaker 3: I'm not promising you he's going to be available.
- 26:32Speaker 2: And not that you would play him, but Alvin Kamara
- 26:34Speaker 2: expected to be back to play for the Saints this week.
- 26:37Speaker 2: Tight end. Well, like we said, Brock Bowers is fighting
- 26:41Speaker 2: his way back. Michael Meyer... I mean, hard to find
- 26:45Speaker 2: tight ends in this league. So at least he's, you know,
- 26:47Speaker 2: maybe for another week at least, maybe put him out there.
- 26:50Speaker 3: Yeah, he caught six passes last week. This is assuming
- 26:54Speaker 3: Bowers is going to be out, which we talked about earlier.
- 26:55Speaker 3: Michael Murray, I mean, six for 32 on seven targets.
- 26:59Speaker 3: There's not a ton of tight ends that get seven targets,
- 27:02Speaker 3: especially not one on the wire. You know, if you
- 27:04Speaker 3: were looking to replace Brock Bowers and didn't do a.
- 27:07Speaker 1: Good job of it last week.
- 27:08Speaker 2: All right. And then finally, we talked about streaming defenses earlier.
- 27:11Speaker 2: It's always a favorite play for John and I. anybody
- 27:14Speaker 2: out there that might be available that could be in
- 27:16Speaker 2: for bigger numbers maybe not only just for this week
- 27:19Speaker 2: but maybe for the season looking pretty good I think.
- 27:22Speaker 3: The Chiefs look good you know you talked about someone
- 27:25Speaker 3: like the Bucs earlier I think you missed the vote
- 27:27Speaker 3: on picking them off to play against the Browns this
- 27:28Speaker 3: week in most cases but the Chiefs still available in 73%
- 27:32Speaker 3: of the auto leagues they're playing the Colts who you
- 27:36Speaker 3: know last week they weren't awful but they weren't that
- 27:38Speaker 3: great Daniel Jones the thing about Daniel Jones so he
- 27:41Speaker 3: came back from that injury he didn't run You know,
- 27:44Speaker 3: and that's part of his game. If Daniel Jones is
- 27:46Speaker 3: going to be a pocket quarterback, that's a different situation.
- 27:49Speaker 3: And he's going to, you know, he's never been great.
- 27:52Speaker 1: At avoiding sacks.
- 27:52Speaker 3: I know the Giants have offensive line issues, but, you know,
- 27:55Speaker 3: sacks are partly a quarterback stat.
- 27:56Speaker 1: Daniel Jones got sacked a lot.
- 27:58Speaker 3: The Chiefs sacked Bo Nix four times the other night
- 28:01Speaker 3: at their home against the Colts. I think if you're
- 28:03Speaker 3: looking for a defense on the wire, the Chiefs are
- 28:06Speaker 3: a pretty decent option.
- 28:08Speaker 1: All right.
- 28:08Speaker 2: As always, great information from John Halpin, that's your fantasy
- 28:12Speaker 2: football update for this week. Of course, we'll check back
- 28:14Speaker 2: in on the Panther pregame show coming up on Sunday.
- 28:17Speaker 2: Looking forward to it, John.
- 28:19Speaker 1: Sounds great.
- 28:19Speaker 3: Thanks, Jim.