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Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Ah, welcome in. Ooh, wow. Tuesday, September 14th, the Fantasy Footballers.
I mean, that game was insane. Talk about starting the NFL season off incredibly in that first week. Just, what a sample. I didn't see it.
Who won? Let's see what you did there. It was a tremendous call. You want to catch me up?
The Raiders pulled off the upset. As called by Andy Holloway. You know, you gift me pretty quick in that game, too. I know.
I knew I was playing with my... It was only 7-0. I mean, it was like a... It was the very beginning of the game.
I had a lot of fun with the call, because every time the Ravens did something, I would tweet, delete, delete, delete, or some unsettling gif. And then every time the Raiders did something, I'd tweet the opposite. You know, it was a heck of a game. Talk about a book in week one of the NFL with the incredible Thursday night game.
And then last night, which... Look, it was a wild ride. It was a heck of a game. I don't imagine many people play Derek Carr against Baltimore's defense on Monday night.
But if you did, the... Just kidding, we're not kicking a field goal. Hail Mary to Zay Jones was quite the way to end. But I just want the listenership, all of you joining us...
Thank you, by the way. To just recognize how with you we are. From the first moment that we started this podcast, even the reason that the set and the YouTube set and table is the way it is, is because you are the fourth person at the table with us. We limit the amount of leagues we play in, because we want the same energy, the same drive, the same commitment to our core leagues, which means we want investment, because if we are invested in our leagues, we can give better advice.
All of this is a prolonged introduction to misery from the fantasy hitman, right? I am here. Yes, I'm surprised you are here. I'm referring to a very popular tweet that Andy put out.
I have pulled myself up by my bootstraps and sent him here. Yeah, yeah, you did show up to work. Step one of the fantasy football recovery process. But let's catch the listeners up with the pain.
Last night you had... Do you want to break down the game first, or do you want me to unleash my story first? No, I think the story. Okay.
And we'll transition right into the game. We'll get right into the pain. All right, so I need a Monday Night Miracle. I have Tyson Williams.
I have Lamar Jackson. And I need... Forty-something. I need 40-something points.
Doable. Yeah, it's definitely doable. And on top of that, Arizona, the sports books have just opened up here, and they're giving out some promo stuff. So I'm like, you know what?
Let's get nuts. And I use one of my promo bets on this unbelievable parlay of player props and things that need to happen in this game. How many legs was it? 12, I think.
12, I think. It was maybe 10. It was disgusting. It was one of these things where you're like, there's no way this can happen.
But if it did, the payout would be ginormous. Yeah, $40,000. $40,000 ginormous. And one of those was Tyson Williams has to score.
At some point, he has to get over 60 rushing yards. Ding, ding. Well, the game started out pretty excellent for that prop. Sammy Watkins needed to get over 25 receiving yards.
Well, look at this. This already hit. By halftime, we're going into the second half. For this player prop to hit, which I had been tracking the guys with it, and it's kind of starting off as a joke.
You're like, then we get to halftime. And all I need is 90 passing yards from Lamar Jackson and Mark Andrews to catch a touchdown and have 20 more receiving yards. It's like, holy crap. So you're going to ride high on this possibility.
Yeah. Then, as the game is working out, we're getting into the fourth quarter. Okay, the bet's starting to fall apart, you know, here. And then Lamar hits, was that Sammy on the big catch?
Yeah. So he hits Sammy Watkins for that huge game. Sammy Watkins somehow doesn't score a touchdown. He goes down.
And Lamar's over. And Lamar, everything is hit. All I need is Mark Andrews to score this touchdown. This huge opportunity.
If Mark Andrews scores this touchdown, I am in line to make $40,000. I start freaking out. I'm pacing the room. Because I had not told, I told my kids, I got a lot of things that need to happen in this game and it can be crazy.
And now, by this point, now my wife is in it. I'm like, if this one particular guy catches the touchdown right here, I'm going to make a lot of money. She's like, how much? I can't even say it out loud.
I have to walk over. And I'm like, I hold up the 4-0. She's like, $40,000? Like, yes.
If Mark Andrews catches the touchdown, they line up. And on top of that, if Tyson or Lamar score right here, I win my fantasy matchup. Like, this is such an insane comeback for that. Such a huge amount of money.
They show the formation. Monday Night Football, they say all the players are out there. I go, wait, wait. He's not even out there.
Mark Andrews isn't even out there. It's Latavius Murray. They give him the ball. Some of the Raiders can't stop Latavius Murray.
He runs it in. My bet explodes. I'm like, oh. At least Lamar came through and actually outscored your opponent, which is true.
Yeah, so now, the $40,000 bet has blown up. I'm like, okay, if the Raiders can somehow score here, Lamar's going to have another chance and I can still come back and win. Raiders scored inexplicably. Lamar Jackson ends up with a huge run.
After that huge run, I am down by .4, I think it was how much I was down. And you know what? They're just going to run out the clock and kick a field goal. Okay, this is, I just need Lamar Jackson.
Please run the ball. Please run the ball. He runs it once. I'm now down by .2.
They hand the ball off. They go nowhere. And the next play, I'm just pleading to the fantasy gods. Just let Lamar Jackson run the ball.
Just let it happen. Sure enough, read option. Lamar Jackson, three yards. I go up by .1 for them to kick the field goal, win the game.
It's all going to be done. The only thing that can now happen is the Raiders somehow score. The game goes into overtime and Lamar Jackson has a turnover. Well, you saw how the game ended because Lamar Jackson had a turnover and I end up losing.
I lost everything. I had the world at my fingertips. My fantasy matchup. $40,000 on a stupid bet and I lost it all.
And there's different knife twists throughout. Like Brian Edwards, who you've talked about. If he scores on that play, you win your fantasy matchup. If Derek Hart sneaks it into the end zone, you win on the fantasy matchup.
If he throws the ball to Willie Sneed and it's not 5,000 miles an hour, you win your fantasy matchup. The only way you lose is for him to throw an inexplicable interception and Lamar to turn the ball over. It happened and you melt it into a puddle. This is your Philip Rivers moment.
Oh, yes. This is definitely my Philip Rivers moment and except for Rivers, you already disliked Rivers and he was the executioner for you. For me, it was Brian Edwards, the man I love and talked up and who couldn't get a target from Derek Hart. Send in the car.
Derek Hart would prefer to throw to Darren Waller in double coverage than a wide open Brian Edwards running underneath for the same amount of yards. I have no idea what Derek Hart was doing. So what did we learn from the game last night for fantasy purposes? What do you do with Brian Edwards?
I'm a dead body. Brian Edwards is a goose with two minutes left in the game. Yeah, as someone who has a lot of Brian Edwards in the leagues I play in, I was happy towards the end of that game because waivers are going to run. I'm looking at my rosters, looking at who I'm going to play.
Which is today's show. We're doing waivers today. We're going to be talking all about waivers. And so I was like, okay, I've got someone to cut in Brian Edwards.
And now it's like he showed up. He was part of a heroic victory. What he did on the field helped them win and now I feel like I've got to hold him. I think we'll get into where that line is of players I would definitely take over Brian Edwards and those that I would not.
But other things that mattered, obviously 19 targets for Darren Waller. That mattered. Yeah, and the reality is, you know, the other question, you know you're playing Darren Waller. You know he's the entire offense.
It's just been affirmed again. But I'm not sure what to do with Tyson right now because he obviously had a big breakaway run. But, you know, one play really inflated the value. Caught some passes.
I like seeing that. Latavius was involved. One more carry than Tyson. Both scored.
And then you had the fumble. From what I heard, you know, it was kind of Tyson's fault that that fumble was given up, missing the block. And I just wonder, where is this headed for Tyson Williams? Because I think this could be one of those things where you, how you went into the game thinking about him, the results might, you know, you could bend in both directions.
I think this is, at the end of this game, I think we saw what's going to happen going forward, which is it is a two-headed 50-50 timeshare. I think it will be these two guys. I don't think it's going to be Lev Bell or Devonta Freeman. I think that Tyson showed enough and so did Latavius where Tyson's going to get better.
This was obviously his first NFL game. And, you know, to make some rookie mistakes is expected as a rookie. So I think he will be involved. I would like both players in fantasy, both if for some reason they were not already rostered, should definitely be picked up.
Yeah, I'm more positive towards Tyson when you look at the situation saying, hey, he's got the breakaway ability. He's got the ability to do something more explosive. He ran a lot better even though Latavius had more carries. He's also involved in the passing game a little bit, which really hurts me from a J.K.
Dobbins perspective. They were desperation throws. All three of them were kind of squished pocket, oh, you know, last resort, left side, not designed. The first one was designed.
It was a swing pass over to Williams, but Dobbins is exactly the point. Tyson is Dobbins. Like, that's the role. And Latavius Murray looks like he is the Gus Edwards role.
And so, yes, both of them are going to have fantasy value. It's not going to be, there will be inconsistencies just like we were projected for J.K. Dobbins. But you'll have games where both of them score touchdowns just like this week.
You'll have games where neither of them score because Lamar is the one who gets two rushing touchdowns on the week. They're both usable running back twos, though. Jason, would you try to trade Tyson on the bigger game? I would be willing to shop him if I could capitalize on someone who really believes he's going to be a monster fantasy finisher, you know, a top 15 type running back.
I would, but I'm not trying to get rid of him because I think he's a solid asset for fantasy. And also, I'm cutting Henry Ross. Yeah, yeah, that seems like a thing to do. Did you say John Ross?
What's so bizarre for both Ruggs and Edwards, watching the game, you know, yes, I'm biased towards, I want Brian Edwards to get involved. But honestly, Derek Carr, just like, the problem is not the wide receivers. The problem is Derek Carr is only looking at Darren Waller. He has, he has become so entrenched in the security blanket that Waller is.
And Waller's a great player. I mean, he ended up with an incredible line, but he had 19 targets, right? 19 targets, and only catches 10 of them. I mean, Carr is forcing a lot of passes to Waller that he shouldn't be.
He missed Waller on several open plays, though. That was the other thing. How much of this is Gruden? Because all this play calling comes from Gruden.
You know, it's like, is this the play to go to Waller and if you missed them, is it the wrong play? Yeah, I would just say, you need to find someone in your life that looks at you the way that Derek Carr looks at Darren Waller. Where there's smoke, there's fire. Presented by Traeger Grills.
I mean, it's hard to argue with the fact that, like, Brian Edwards looked great on those four plays. So, hopefully they can give him some more opportunities. Yeah, and that confidence for him, too. Like, there had been a target earlier in the game where he, I thought he maybe could have maneuvered his body a little bit better on that one and gone up and competed for it, but...
He competed to make sure that the defender could catch it. Yeah, I just think confidence-wise this is a big step for him. Hopefully. Where there's smoke, there's fire.
We've got three surprise performances from week one. We're deciding whether they're just plain smoke or you should get in while the fire is very low, maybe. Yeah, it engulfs you with fantasy points. Mark Ingram against Jacksonville.
Let me repeat that. Mark Ingram against Jacksonville. 26 for 85. Let me repeat that.
26 carries. 85 yards and a touchdown as Cleveland, Carolina, Buffalo had the most carries of any running back inside the five-yard line. Smoke or fire for Mark Ingram? This is delicious garbage if you have been following the show and you've heard about my League of Record draft.
I drafted Mark Ingram for this possibility that he looked like he was going to be the real starter where David Johnson had been pushed back, which David Johnson is the third-down running back for Houston, but it was Philip Lindsay. The preseason at least indicated that Mark Ingram was going to be the starter and he was the guy who got the vast majority of the volume. Now, Mark Ingram, I think that this is absolutely fire, that he is the guy. If Houston has a positive game script, Mark Ingram will be the one that they go to.
Which means the smoke. Will they have tons of positive game scripts like they did against Jacksonville? That's where it's far more difficult. Mike and I re-watched this game yesterday in its entirety.
How bad Jacksonville was was impressive. I mean, they really put on a show because I've never seen a team dominate another team while being so bad. And that was the Houston Texans. So Ingram, I think, if you're talking about is this for real that he is the RB1 for this team?
Yes. But he's not going to be able to get 26 carries. They were up the entire game and this is a team that has the lowest win total projection in the NFL. And so, plus, David Johnson is the third-down back and this opportunity, you said, Andy, most carries inside the five in week one.
That was a gift from turnover after turnover after turnover short fields from the Jacksonville Jaguars. That was, and these weren't outstanding defensive plays that the Texans were making. This was, oh no, Trevor Lawrence, why did you throw that ball? Yes.
What were you looking at type of moments? So I think this is for fantasy smoke. I would lean that direction. But you fight to have a start, a flexible running back, an emergency running back.
You brought up the fact that kind of reminded you of what Jacksonville did last year. They won week one and then they lost the rest of the way. And Cleveland next week is going to be a rude awakening, most likely. I wouldn't be surprised if David Johnson has the most productive fantasy week, to be honest.
Yeah, so smoke, I think we all agree that Mark Ingram's putting up 26 carries and a touchdown on a weekly basis to smoke, defense. They're at home this week against Minnesota, bad defense. At Jacksonville, bad defense. And then the Rams.
He's had stretches as a Cardinal where he's been on fire. We know Hopkins is going to get the majority of targets. Rondell Moore came out and ran 14 rounds, had five targets. Christian Kirk, to me, it's smoke.
It's smoke, in my opinion. I don't think that you're going to predictably be able to start him. Jason? Yeah, this is someone who I expect him to have five good games this year.
And, I mean, honestly, the second one might be this coming week. I mean, at home against Minnesota, there's not much more to like than that based on what we saw, you know, the Cincinnati Bengals do against Minnesota this last week. But when I'm looking at the wide receiver ads this week, Christian Kirk is not the name on the top of my list. He might have the most fantasy points, but we talked about this on yesterday's show.
The statistical history of these later round ADP guys who blow up in week one, the vast majority of the time, it's smoke. It's not a sustained breakout. And at this point in Christian Kirk's career, I don't think it's going to be something special. So he's not my top at.
Oh, man. Kirk is so tough to gauge here because when we've seen him flash, he's looked like a very solid, very confident wide receiver. He was a second round pick. He had three games last year.
He also had, like, if you follow the career history of Christian Kirk, he had a solid rookie season that looked like he was going to be a breakout player. Then he dealt with injuries in year two. And he dealt with injuries in year three. He had the ankle strain, I believe it was, last year that he had to fight through.
So he's interesting to me. I can't go all in on Christian Kirk, which is, if it's smoke or fire, I have to lean. Can I say dense? Dense smoke?
Sure. Dang it. No, over in. DJ Chark, 12 targets in the game, 3 for 86 and a touchdown.
Led the team in targets. DJ Chark to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Played Houston. Yes.
Marvin Jones scored. LaVisca Chenault had a bunch of targets, but all three players, all the juniors, very involved. And the Marvin Jones touchdown was garbage because it was right at the end of the game where the game should have been over and they kept going. So that was a complete garbage time touchdown.
Not that Marvin Jones is garbage, but saying, wow, he scored. He was at the very end. This DJ Chark to me is fire because the Jags suck. They're going to be in a negative game script far more than they will be in a run heavy situation.
And even like Denver, I think that Denver is going to be able to hold them down. They're going to have to go into a high volume passing attack. Arizona, Cincinnati, these are teams that are going to put up points on the Jags and DJ Chark is going to get a bunch of targets. Yeah, I actually think it's fire as well.
Trevor Lawrence did not play great, but I do think he's going to play better and better and better. 12 targets now. Now we have not been the kindest to the outlook of DJ Chark this offseason and you get 12 targets. I would hope you get more than three receptions.
So that's a problem. But I do think he is probably the number one wide receiver. I do not agree. I will go smoke.
I would rather have Marvin Jones or LaVisca Chanault to rest the season than DJ Chark. So I think all three will be involved. They're all going to have their games. I think the other two are going to be more consistent.
Chanault will definitely be more consistent just because the depth of targets. Yes, his floor will be. I mean, you bring up a good point. 12 targets, three catches.
I'm going to hold some judgment for the next couple of weeks. And if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. If DJ comes out and does it against these matches that Mike brought up. All right, that was Where There's Smoke, There's Fire brought to you, as always, by Traeger Grills.
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We have a Never Not Working segment every Thursday going through this season. And we are. Look, today is the Waver Buyer Show. But we're never not working.
We're going to be talking about the waiver pickups later in the week as well. Guys that maybe were dropped. You know, guys that an injury in the league. Oh, absolutely.
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See DraftKings.com for details. News and notes from around the league. Presented by Sleeper. Goodbye, sweet prince.
Raheem Oster placed on injured reserve for eight weeks after suffering a knee cartilage injury in week one. I couldn't be more disappointed in this news. You know, I even said in the preseason, I said, look, it's probable that he ends up missing time during the year. Two carries?
Right after being named a team captain, right after they put Trey Sermon on ice? Heartbreaking. Heartbreaking for those that invested in Raheem Oster. Yours truly, I had to move him into IR in four leagues today.
So Ryan Fitzpatrick did suffer a hip subluxation. MRI confirmed it. Placed on IR. No indication whether it's season ending.
It's fantasy season ending, in my opinion. There's not going to be a high likelihood that you're leaning on Ryan Fitzpatrick at any point during the season. This is a devastating injury for Fitzpatrick. The opportunity was massive.
He might be at the end. And, you know, it's just so heartbreaking for Washington, too, because if you end up, like, I don't think the gap between Fitzpatrick and Heineke is very big. But one of them got every first team rep and got all the practice and got all the training camp and the team was ready for him. And if you look backwards, it's like, man, if Taylor Heineke had had that opportunity, he's just starting behind the eight ball and it's unfortunate and it's going to hurt everybody.
From Logan Thomas to Terram Clorin to Antonio Gibson to the eventual Curtis Samuel. It is a, and the team. I mean, I had Allison in this division, but Washington was a favorite by a lot of people and now it's wide open. Yeah, I mean, they lost this game in close fashion that if Fitzpatrick hadn't left, they very easily could have, you know, changed that into a W.
Zach Ertz injury being evaluated by head coach, want to know, head coach, Nick Sirianni. Hamstring injury, brief exit was precautionary. I talked to some people out of Philadelphia. I'm just kidding.
Okay, thank you. But he should be all right. James McCrider has a chance to play in week two for the Jets. Big bad news.
Jason and I watched through every snap of the entire Jets game this past week. When Beckton went down, their left tackle, who's going to miss four to six weeks, it was not good for Zach Wilson. That's when the sacks started flowing. However, I will give Zach Wilson credit.
We kind of poo-pooed on that offense yesterday. First game under Robert Sella. Look, it's not going to be an easy path forward for him. He did make some plays and in a really bad offensive performance, Corey Davis still had a good game.
So I think that you saw some of the elite traits from Zach Wilson. He was very effective in getting out of the pocket. Jason brought up the fact that he should design more of this for him and it'd be wise to do so if he's going to be getting chased down on his blind side anyway. Yeah, especially with how that offensive line was.
I mean, they made so much moves and spent money and draft picks to improve the offensive line and it didn't work because the offensive line was trashed. It wasn't just, you know, when you lose your left tackle, you think, oh, the pressure's going from the left. It came from everywhere, the right, the middle, everything. So yeah, you got to roll him out, get him in space, use his legs.
Yep. And then Zach Martin returns from the COVID list. This is good news for the Cowboys. That's the right guard extraordinaire coming back to hopefully help the running game.
And then Kenny Stills, oh gosh, signed to the Saints practice squad on Monday. I don't know why we're talking about this. That was today's news and notes brought to you by Sleeper and just for the record, Kenny Stills. That's not relevant.
Correct. Other than for your own personal enjoyment. Yes, and I'm enjoying it. If you want breaking news, get the Sleeper app today, the 2021 season.
It's here and there's going to be news every single week that you need to get information on and then you can make a move in your league. So without further ado, it's time to talk the ever-important waivers. Let me in, coach. Yeah, I mean, the money drop for this show, that thing started with But it's Brooks's now.
Oh yeah, for sure. Along with everything else. All material possessions are now his. All right, let's talk waivers.
There are a couple of players I'm really not sure exactly what to do with. And it's time to dig in. Two types of league formats out there. Open waivers where you choose to give up your waiver priority spot.
If you finish on one, you might be sitting one or two. So we can talk about whether you give that spot up for any of these players. And then hopefully many of you are in fab leagues where you have a $100 budget over the course of the year to put in bids, blind bidding, and we'll decide what percentage of your remaining budget you would consider on these players and hopefully give you some guidance that will be beneficial, especially in week one. And this is the week to pay close attention to who gets dropped to pick up these players.
Because there are going to be some names that I know are going to hit the open market. I would not be shocked if you saw Javante Williams hit the open market in leagues this week. Boop him up! Players like that.
He gets dropped to go pick up on Elijah Mitchell or somebody like that. All right, let's start at the wide receiver position. Talk drop candidates that we're coming through on Twitter. Because obviously if you pick somebody up, you've got to let somebody go.
Mark West Calloway, I'm fine dropping him. See, he is to me a drop it like a top candidate, because I assume he'll be dropped just about everywhere. He was a late round pick that did absolutely nothing. But we talked about this prior to the Packers game, that their number one wide receiver is going to be covered by Jerry Alexander, who's great.
That's what they shut down all last year. They shut it down here. So he is, am I willing to drop Mark West Calloway? Absolutely.
But is he a must drop? No. And I think that there is a position, you know, Russell Gage, for instance. If you're telling me I should choose between Russell Gage and Mark West Calloway, I would rather take a shot on Calloway.
I see the path for him still being the number one while Michael Thomas is out. Rewatching the Falcons game, which I... You know, it was one of those... I thought the Falcons' offense was slightly better than what they produced.
I mean, in the end, everybody sunk and they produced very little. It was mostly just penalties ruining every drive. But Russell Gage is not the guy, and this is a team that clearly wants to run the ball more than they did last year. So I would move on from Russell Gage.
Brandon Ayuk. No. I would... Do not drop Brandon Ayuk.
You're in a mess. You're in a pickle. Until he's healthy and ready to go, but I would not be dropping him. Mike Williams.
77% rostered. Is that the number? Yes. I just wanted to remind people that he's a pick-up.
He's by far the best pickup. Yes. If I had him, I would not be trying to trade him off of this big game. I would be trying to ride it out because the draft pedigree and the target totals and the way that he was designed into the offense in this game was everything you hoped you would see.
He looked more sprites than me. 8 for 82 and a touchdown. If Justin Herbert takes a step forward as an NFL quarterback, which should happen in your second year, you have plenty of production for two wide receivers. And this is a guy who's had double-digit touchdowns, who's had 1,000 yards.
Yeah, Mike Williams could just be a legit, you know, weekly play. It's a brand new offense. There's a whole new offensive coaching scheme here for the Chargers, so perhaps Mike Williams is just going to be involved. No targets to Austin Eckler in week one.
And so, I mean, they were targeting the wide receiver specifically just in the tight end. Sterling Shepard is 40% rostered. I personally believe this was a mirage for Sterling Shepard for a number of reasons. He was 9 targets, 7 for 113 and 1.
Not taking anything away from the player. He's always been Sterling Shepard. He's always been this guy. And when he's heavily targeted, he always produces.
However, no evidence. That's a lot of targets in this offense. Very limited, Saquon Barkley. That's a lot of targets in this offense in a first game for Kenny Galladay.
So, personally, I think he's worth a pickup. He's not worth an investment from my fab budget. No, Sterling Shepard should not. You're probably not burning a priority for any of these wide receivers if you've got a top priority.
If you've got the one or two, and you're not dropping a lot of cash. One of the tips that I try to do more often than not is reserve my budget or my priority for the running back position over the wide receivers. For instance, my number one wide receiver pickup this week, assuming that Mike Williams is rostered in your league, is actually Tim Patrick. I think Tim Patrick.
Yeah, Denver Broncos. Denver Broncos wide receiver, Tim John Doe Patrick, is a great pickup. He's doing dirty like that. I'm John Doe.
Dude, he's just a guy. I mean, he's just a regular dude that nobody really knows, and he's got no acclaim. He's his name, Tim Patrick. If it was Fireball Jones, he'd be fine.
If it was Fireball Jones, it would be great. But yeah, I mean, I think Tim Patrick will be heavily involved with the injury to Jerry Judy and the play style of Teddy Bridgewater. I mean, Tim Patrick will be good. He should be started next week in probably at least half of fantasy rosters.
Like, I would go through your league, and half the teams would be like, yeah, you can't fit Tim Patrick in there. Half the teams would be like, you could probably squeeze him in. Would you drop Calloway for Tim Patrick? Yes.
Would you drop Calloway for Sterling Shepard? I would. No. I think I would.
I still want to remind people that Winston completed 14 passes in a game that they scored 38 points. So maybe that's the point, though. Maybe he would have completed a lot more in a game where they were... So what about Zach John Doe Pascal in Indianapolis?
See, I put him in the same category or close to it as Tim Patrick. T.Y. Hilton went down. He's down and out for a long time.
I think Zach Pascal will contribute in a fairly consistent way on this roster. I would completely agree. He is in the same category with both T.Y. Hilton and Jerry Judy going down.
These undrafted gyms are solid. The difference is Zach Pascal is going up against the Los Angeles Rams this week. He's not a guy I'm looking to roster through. Like, I just want to hold him for, you know, week six.
You know, this is a guy where I'm going to pick him up and play him. If I can, I don't think I'm going to play him this week. Yeah, we just talked about Christian Kirk. I would rather pick up Kirk and play him against Minnesota than this week.
Yeah, that makes sense. And most of these guys are probably looking for a flex. You're looking for a spot start. Other names I want to throw out there real quick.
Nelson Aguilar is probably starting that game. Ended up with seven targets, five for 72 in touchdown. He is a more long-term pickup. He's interesting.
And the Jets are this week. So I'd pick Nelson Aguilar up. Now I wouldn't invest a lot in him. But this is where you could put in multiple bids on, you know, a number of these players and then just end up with who you end up with and don't waste any facts.
Exactly. Zero dollar bids. Wait until the waiver's clear and your priority isn't burned. And then you just grab one of these guys.
Because Emmanuel Sanders is another name. He didn't do anything special. He had eight targets. He only ended with four for 52, but he was, the Buffalo Bills, that offense, where they're just going to spread it out and never run and have a whole bunch of wide receivers on the field, Sanders is a part of that.
He ran, I think, two fewer routes than Stephon Diggs and Cole Beasley. So Gabe Davis came away with a touchdown, but Sanders is a full-time player. The hardest part about Sanders is not that he'll have a bunch of routes. It's that you would always start Diggs and Beasley above him.
And if that's the case, then are you just rolling? Maybe, for sure. But I think I might start Sanders over Cole Beasley. What did Beasley end up with target-wise?
Eight targets for Sanders, and those are going to be a bigger place. How do you know when to play him or Gabe Davis? Gabe Davis is, like, he's an interesting player. He's better than Sanders.
Sanders is almost 35 years old. We think he's better, like the fantasy community does, but Buffalo is using Sanders on the field. Help us out on the debate, Jason. Who would you put more stock in for the rest of the season?
I would put it in Emmanuel Sanders, just because he's on the field running more routes. I think he'll end up with more targets. The issue with Emmanuel Sanders is his foot. And if he's healthy and he's out there, then they brought him in to use him, clearly.
However, if you want a better wide receiver to stash that, you know, if you're not starting Emmanuel Sanders and you are looking for maybe not a guy that you're going to play right away, but someone that, you know, you've been keeping an eye on, you've got an extra roster spot, you want big upside later. That, to me, might be Terrace Marshall Jr., who out-targeted Robbie Anderson, which was really heavily involved. He didn't do much at all. Three for 26, but he had six targets.
And he's all targeted on 26% of his routes, which was better than EJ Moore, better than Robbie Anderson. And he's only going to get more and more involved as the season goes on. Could be tough sliding this week against New Orleans, but then against Houston and Dallas. K.J.
Osborne, wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings. Yeah. Seven for 76, same amount of targets as Justin Jefferson. Keep your eyes on him.
He is not rostered in any leagues. Literally, none. He is somebody who might be on your dynasty waiver wire. Because this was, for me, this was definitely unexpected.
You knew the Vikings would have to do something when Irv Smith was lost. Some thought it would be DeeDee. Some thought it would be DeeDee, Westbrook, or other options in the slot. But the fact that they went so heavily to a three-wide receiver set, that was very interesting.
Now, they did trade for Chris Herndon. Maybe as Herndon becomes more comfortable, they shift back to being the 12 personnel. But for the time being, Osborne was out there, and he was nine targets for Osborne. He was a rookie last year, so this is the second-year breakout, unexpected.
His role, though, in the offense, he's the short, he's the PPR guy. He's the Cole Beasley of the Minnesota Vikings, where you're getting 10 yards of reception here, just underneath stuff. So he's more of a PPR-focused player to me. In small sample, but the Vikings did not seem to go fix their defensive woes yet.
Yes or no? Stash Rondell Moore of the Arizona Cardinals. Yes. So I really wanted to bring him up, because he only ran, Jason mentioned it, he ran 14 routes, but he was targeted on five.
I don't think that it's Rondell Moore's season in week two, probably not in week three, but he is such an explosive athlete, second-round pick this year by the Arizona Cardinals, that if you see those snaps go up, he could become extremely interesting. If Adrian Green doesn't have a game this week against Minnesota at home, like a decent game. And Adrian Green looked really bad to me. He had six targets.
Yes. If he doesn't have a game this week against Minnesota, I think at that point in time you'll see more Kirk and more Moore. Would you rather... More Moore.
Would you rather Stash... You know, we'll talk about these two rookie Stashes, not guys you're playing yet. Terrace Marshall, who was more involved, is probably going to get more targets on the year, but in a worse offense, or Rondell Moore. Terrace Marshall.
Running backs. Far more important team teams. Yeah, this is the big stuff. We made it.
We should lead with running backs. No, no, no. You can put the milk at the back of the grocery store. That's right, Jay.
You can make them walk through the grocery store, and then it's like, oh, you know what? I found some great stuff on my way to get the milk, and you know what? I hope you did, too. I didn't even say anything about joining the food.com.
Oh, speaking up. All the way up to this point. Ridiculous. Which, they didn't have to walk through that aisle at all.
Oh, but now they skip. I mean, you can still put something next to the milk. About joining the food.com? Right.
Do they do a lot of hard, like, sales right next to the milk? No joke. No joke. At my local grocery store, right next to the milk.
Oh, gosh. The hostess. The hostess. Yeah, I know this place.
No joke. I go get the milk. I volunteer for that job. Jason, where's the milk?
Oh, I'll go in. I'll be right back. Why is there a giant box shape in your pockets? And if you eat them in the store, you don't have to pay for them, right?
As long as you finish it before you get to that. I think you're still supposed to pay. I'm like half on. This box is open.
I'd like to buy this wrapper. Running back is, look, I need one, right? In our league of record. I lost most of them.
I lost most of them, and I went around all the teams, and we're a double flex league, and there ain't no running backs to go around. Like, every team feels like they don't have enough depth at running back. This is where people will compete on the waiver wire, and this is also where there are drop candidates, some flyers that people took to start the year, where they're saying, you know, you don't get unlimited roster spots, and even though these names are one of those, some of the names that you're like, well, you should hold them because they're running backs. You might not get the choice.
You might need to start. So I'm going to name five names real quick. Let me know if you're willing to drop. Okay.
Ronald Jones. No. Why'd you start so hard? I am not willing to drop Ronald Jones.
It's too tough at running back to let go. Raheem Mostert. Yes. If you don't have an IR, I would recommend dropping him.
I know he can come back and be great, but Jeff Wilson will come back at some point before Raheem Mostert. You've got opportunity here for Elijah Mitchell, for Trey Sermon, and you've got the injury, you know, history of Raheem Mostert. You're not clogging your roster with Raheem Mostert on it. Tony Michel, only one carry in week, one.
I'm willing to drop him for one of these top pickups, but I would prefer to see one more week. James Conner. Oh, no. No, Conner was involved.
Trey Sermon. No freaking way. No. That was the most common thing I saw.
I was wondering if you could drop Trey Sermon. Whether they should to go pick up Elijah Mitchell. I mean, so there's an interesting debate there of whether it's Trey Sermon or Elijah Mitchell who will be the one to have ranked first. However, both need to be rostered.
You do not drop Trey Sermon to pick up Elijah Mitchell. You drop a wide receiver on the roster. So let's start with Elijah Mitchell. Rookie running back for the San Francisco 49ers.
Went out, had 19 for 104 and won. Played 68% of snaps. It was basically him and Jermichael Hayes because Trey Sermon was inactive on Sunday. This was against Detroit.
They have Philadelphia Green Bay, Seattle coming up. Elijah Mitchell is really difficult for me. Let me throw the, I want your advice on it and I'm just going to throw the variables out. I'm going to throw out the things, the thought bubbles that pop above my head when I think about how much to invest on Elijah Mitchell.
Number one, Trey Sermon is the high draft capital rookie. He's coming back. Number two, Jeff Wilson Jr. Coming back between week six and eight.
Number three, Raheem Oster, back at some point in time. Number four, Kyle Shanahan, he has a bag of tricks and he shows no one. So those things combine with really great performance but against Detroit. So what do you do?