It's Tuesday. September 12th. I'm Matt Harmon. Welcome to the Yahoo fantasy football show presented by nerd wallet. It's a hell of a day to talk ball and joining me to do just that is nobody because after a wild Monday night football game. And I mean wild in every sense of the word. I had to jump back on the mic hours and hours and hours after we taped the main show.
After we taped the main show with Andy Barons to do a little reaction to what we witnessed if you somehow we're living under a rock. What you missed was that Aaron Rogers went down after just a mere sampling a mere glimpse of him in a New York Jets uniform after being taken down in the backfield by the bills defense and I mean the air was completely sucked out of the room as Roger stood up.
And fell back down or got back down laid down was eventually taken to the medical tent was carted off the field. Everybody again the air was completely taken out of the entire stadium multiple people put it that way on the broadcast you could feel it watching honestly both teams.
So at this point Adam Schefter speculated at the halftime that this was an Achilles injury Robert Salas said just moments after the game that they fear it is an Achilles injury as well saying quote it's not good.
Yeah I mean I think we're all fearing the worst at this point that the Aaron Rogers 2023 New York Jets experiment is over before it even begins.
You know for one just from a football level it's a frickin bummer because this was going to be I think a really fun storyline to track all year long you could feel the excitement with Rogers coming out you know carrying the flag on 911 I mean the air the energy in that stadium was palpable the hope that the Jets experienced was palpable you know everything was there it was this is supposed to be that year.
Where this guy takes them to the next level where he takes them to where they thought they could go all year long last year while being held back.
By quarterback play so just on a pure football level it's a total bummer it feels weird and this is the part that's it's tough to record this in a moment it feels weird to come on here and say all of this stuff and have this negative air when the bills.
Choked away the game and the Jets were able to capitalize on those mistakes the Josh Allen the Josh Allen himself was the one that to make and they win this thing in overtime with a walkoff punt return I mean insane finish it feels weird to have this negative energy but again.
Watching Zach Wilson play.
I'm struck by the fact that as I'm seeing my Twitter timeline throw out.
Oh maybe they talk to Carson wence maybe they call Matt Ryan maybe we get Philip rivers on the blower get them off the couch after a year and I'm thinking myself you know what the Jets probably should have thought about that probably should have addressed their backup quarterback position instead of just having the guy that they were so afraid to run into the season with.
That they made the very very aggressive very risky bet on Aaron Rogers to begin with you know this injury completely with standing so now it appears that at least for the foreseeable future and if I'm was to bet on it right now probably the rest of the regular season.
The New York Jets will be riding with Zach Wilson and hey from a fantasy perspective from an NFL perspective we know what that looks like we saw this story already last year I mean Garrett Wilson comes out of this game with the touchdown but only because he pulled off a past defense to himself.
Who knocks the ball back into play an inaccurate fade pass knocks it back to himself and comes down with it Garrett Wilson can do that stuff because Garrett Wilson is amazing Garrett Wilson will make the best of this bad situation because he's that type of player I know like throw out the splits and stuff with him as a rookie last year because he was a rookie wide receiver he's a second year player who's better now better now than he was last year so he will elevate himself to some level but.
Where you took Garrett Wilson and drafts where you hope to go with Aaron Rogers he's not going to get there with Zach Wilson this entire offense is not going to get there if you're looking for a silver lining from a fantasy perspective for the Jets.
Breeze Hall looked awesome he probably houses that long run if he's 100% healthy if he's not coming off an injury so there is some positivity there at least to take with the Jets but we are back in the Zach Wilson wilderness and you could feel the lack of confidence.
The lack of confidence in him the you know Peyton Manning and Eli Manning on the manning cast you know Ryan Fitzpatrick on the manning cast they all talked they all talked about that lack of confidence now you could feel it from the play calling Troy Aikman talked about it on the regular broadcast how you could feel that lack of confidence and just the Jets will adjust from here but these guys that we had high hopes for even Breeze Hall like I said looks really good.
This offense is going to have to flow through him again and he's not 100% at this point that is obvious even if he's very good Garrett Wilson he will have to elevate this situation everybody on this offense is ceiling has now been taken down a considerable notch and again I I just feel for Jets fans I feel for NFL fans as a whole but especially Jets fans again you're celebrating a win tonight but you're also doing it with you know kind of one eye towards the bleak future.
And on that bleak future look no further than next week when these Zach Wilson New York Jets I mean with the 20 yard drop backs special that's the main playbook and the Zach Wilson offense that unit goes against the Dallas Cowboys defense that put Daniel Jones at the Giants in a locker and through that locker into the sea picked it back out of the sea and put it in a meat grinder.
Essentially that's what they did to the Giants that team faces the New York Jets next on this guy I mean we have so many we have so many Jets stand alone and prime time games coming up so get used to it get used to the New York Jets led by Zach Wilson we're back once again we know what this looks like from 2022 whatever ceiling hopes you had for these great young players like Breeze Hall if you had any hope for Dalvin Cook as a ceiling play and even forget Wilson as good as he is.
As much as he can make things happen on himself as much as he is on that individual superstar trajectory the ceiling comes down for all of these guys and the floor the weekly floor becomes extremely extremely tough to sit on.
And lastly here on the bills I mean and all time and all time let down job here all you had to do with a team completely in chaos and you get again you can feel the energy of dismay and despair on the other side all you had to do is play clean game.
And get out of there and you couldn't do that Josh Allen pushes it way too much it was a huge problem too many mistakes and they let the game slip away the defense had that Dallas Cowboys Sunday football like we can smell blood in the water effect but the offense let some down the quarterback let some down and they lose to a division rival on a night where they certainly should not have so with that that bright rosy note let's get to the rest of the show with Andy here on our normal Tuesday program.
I love a day to talk ball and joining me to do just that is the one and only Andy barons Andy I gotta wish you happy birthday buddy it's uh what is this your 75th or 69th birthday you let me know pal I am I am not quite as old as the Super Bowl era my few years shy of that so but I'm quite old I'm very old but thank you I I do appreciate that I also appreciate that the first Sunday of the season.
And is in the books and not every roster I have is in smoldering ruins some of them are maybe half of them are but not all of them.
Yeah I'm just now finding out how much like T Higgins I have you know like it's one of those things I always tell people is that how many teams are you have how many leagues are you in whatever I you know it's not as bad as it used to be I was when I was like working at NFL network and it was you know I was a single guy with no responsibilities and you know had nothing to do but to accept.
Every invite to every league ever you know is a dangerously large number um you know now it's not quite as bad but still it's to the point that I'm sure you're the same way we're not like normal people like you blessed listeners out there who can really enjoy the the whole fantasy football process like I can't check those rosters on Sunday.
Yeah there's especially early games there's no way so I kind of forget sometimes especially week one now know these teams like oh yeah I have T Higgins on two of these like eight teams or whatever.
Shoot I forgot about that but you know what I'm remembering in Monday morning. Yeah I've got like you're probably the same way I have like I have like three teams that hang in the back in the back of my head all the time and I just sort of you know I'm I'm tracking how they're doing I don't even have to do it online right like I have three teams that are like just core teams to me.
But then I have like 25 other teams and it's just not reasonable to track all of that but yeah a little a little bit more a little bit more Joe burrow than I remembered drafting a little bit more of the Cincinnati situation that I remembered drafting that was really unfortunate.
Well hey this whole discussion is a perfect transition to our episode here this is what we're going to do every Tuesday podcast it's the people's panic meter we're going to finish with Andy Barron's waiver wire rankings because I know you people out there need your pickups.
We'll get to that you'll probably get some pickup advice throughout this main segment of the show here it's the post week one people's panic meter segment.
If you didn't catch the preseason version here's kind of the what you need to know the shows all about you the people so every week we reach out to you to see what has you most panic heading into a Monday morning about your fantasy team after all the action on Sunday.
The best responses are going to be discussed right here on the show there's a couple of ways to submit if you didn't make it this week you can submit via the mailbag you can shoot a written email or voice memo anytime you can do it during the games you do it after the games on Sunday.
Remember that's fantasy mailbag at Yahoo Sports dot com usual rules apply video and voice memos go to the very top of the line.
Both of us are also posting on X the artist formerly known as Twitter I did it right after the Sunday night football game so you can.
Just kind of keep that in the back of your mind if you want to get submissions there for the people's panic meter.
You know I'm at Matt Harmon underscore BYB that's at Andy Barron's if you want to keep a lookout for those but again those are rules this is what the segments all about.
So let's jump right into it and we're going to go to the mailbag here first and Andy no one dominated the inbox more than Atlanta Falcons wide receiver.
Drake London few of the highlights shout out to Joey M Kyle H and Mark P for sending in your panic but Colin M not producer Colin but Colin M took the cake by sending in this video.
What's up Matt and Andy so my wife is one of the many Taylor Swift fanatics in the world right now and I thought it would be fun.
To have her help me name some of my face football teams because that's a popular thing happening right now right.
So one of my teams is named Drake London boy and then he goes out there for zero catches and one target so Matt how are we feeling about your boy Arthur Smith and what's going on over there in Atlanta.
All right Andy I don't get the Taylor Swift reference I don't know where you're at as I don't know what your level of swifty is but I'm pretty out of the loop when it comes to Taylor Swift but I think we get the gist of what's going on here.
Yeah yeah I'm not actually like super plugged into Taylor Swift culture I respect it I'm not super aware of it I completely get the fretting about Drake London and I like I guess the first thing that needs to be said is that.
Drake London is is still the guy who finished his 2022 season with like final five games he saw 48 targets right caught 31 of them like.
I know that they have passing plays for wide receivers in the playbook somewhere i know that that it was just like obviously opening week he's he's are he's Arthur Smith right we we know like kind of what he wants to do in his heart and the entire thing was about the two running backs right Tyler Alger and be John Robinson both had days both just absolutely dominated the touches relative to any other position.
I can't put a positive spin on your fourth or fifth round round wide receiver seeing one target and not catching it right like that's not I mean I guess I whatever we thought the the floor was for Drake London it's probably lower apparently the floor is no catches for no yards it's a it's a it's i'm not going to say it's not a worry i'm not going to say that you shouldn't panic a little bit.
You didn't you didn't draft this guy necessarily thinking that you were taking a super high variance receiver like that early get it also like shout out to Arthur Smith for not I mean he wasn't even he wasn't even really trolling the fantasy community so much as you just directly called us out and and said let the fantasy guys worry about Drake London's usage.
All we care about is being one I know or whatever his Arthur Smith he quote was he's going to say stuff like that I don't care I don't care about it Drake London doesn't care about it all we care about is one I know I think Drake London probably cares about it a little bit but maybe not a ton though I because I will point to the Kyle pits interview we had on the podcast in the preseason you know he was definitely in you again is he just saying this on a podcast because it's what you say.
But he was very insistent that it's a very unselfish culture there that you know he if the ball goes to Drake London that's great if it goes to Kyle pits that great it doesn't go to either of them but they win the game that's great too he was very much like not concerned about fantasy football at all either if you caught the interview so coach Smith is setting the culture there in Atlanta so I will just say I think that that is at least yeah I saw people your receiver definitely cares that is part of I think.
Not the anti fantasy part of it just that like hey we all do what we have to do is a part and by the way I think that's that is good for teams it's not good for us though yeah yeah yeah there's no question about it but we like you kind of knew going into the season that the ideal Arthur Smith game script was going to be almost exactly what we just saw we're like the two running backs combined for 30 some touches and every everybody else is if not a decoy at least like a supporting player but again it's not going to be like that every week.
There's going to be like the other the other frustrating thing here I will say is that that game was super competitive for most of it like the final score might not look like it but that was that was all like the whole differential was in the fourth quarter so we are going to have more games like this that is definitely out there you're just really really hoping that it swings back eventually to to some you know like like London closed his season with nothing but like eight to 12 target games and that had to do with pits being down and they didn't have beach on then and maybe I don't know maybe things are different now.
I think there's better days ahead because he's such a good player yeah look that's that's where I come down on this is that I get it it is the first week of the season and it is so rough to look at that zero I sent you a screenshot that someone sent me that when someone I was a man had had teagans Drake London and Dallas got her I have a couple teams with really no Dallas got her not not on purpose but I have a few teagans teams like I said I have plenty of Drake London
teams so I'm familiar with looking at that luckily they didn't complete the the quad factor there with a sky more 0.4 as well that would be really really beautiful
but the thing about that was that that could have been like legitimately that might have been like his round three round four round five picks you know that's not just like the end of the bench guys that was amazing I mean shoot stick cam makers in there somewhere just for the mega tilt too like it that's all very possible and you might have gotten a decent
draft grade out of it too so again I get it it's the zero it's the first week it's right away it's also I think fantasy football clearly has and you can't tell me that Arthur Smith doesn't like the lean into this just a little bit and I'm on record saying that I like I'm not I'm not trying to hang out with Arthur Smith but I like the way he calls off and so you know that with that was definitely out there but look I you can't tell me doesn't like the lean into this a little bit there's clearly some I don't know PTSD with Arthur Smith
because of the Kyle pit stuff last year that that is it's a perfect storm really for him to lead the panic section here in Drake London because he has the zero he did have I'm looking back at it right now he had two Drake
London had to one catch games last year they lose to Cincinnati has one catch for nine yards they win against your Chicago Bears three targets one catch two yards nice
scored a touchdown on that but it is one catch for two yards he has another game with two catches on the ledger it's just the fact that he was so uninvolved and you're right I think the reality here is the one where I come down is it's not going to look like that every game and it's
probably never going to look like this ever again like I'll take the I'll take whatever the odds are that Drake London never has a zero catch game the rest of the season and frankly the Falcons
have an easy schedule I know you said it wasn't it was competitive pretty much throughout and and all the concerns about Desmond Ritter remain the case but you also have to remember to
that like two interceptions from the opposing quarterback and Bryce Young those are always going to like eat into your fantasy
totals especially when they shorten the field and stuff like that they didn't have to do a lot to beat the Carolina
Panthers I know is a close game but like again really never got brought out of their shell somebody else will bring them out of
their shell so I I don't like how I feel about the Drake London thing this morning but I would say that I'm not panic
about it because he's simply too good and coach Smith knows how good this like I think with Kyle Pitz there's an
outstanding question of okay how good I think Kyle Pitz is a good player I think the fantasy panic about him has
generally been a little misguided but I think that Drake London like really hit the ground running
establishing himself as how good he was a little bit more than Kyle Pitz did last year so and I'm not again I'm a pro
Kyle Pitz I'm not anti Kyle Pitz I just think that Drake London I have such a high opinion so I would be surprised if we get any
you know dramatic rough game like this ever again yeah I agree with that I can't I can't guarantee that if we were
re-ranking and re drafting today from scratch that I wouldn't I wouldn't bump that I wouldn't bump London down
couple spots I'm not sure I would say as a as a fringy wide receiver 280 war there's a little bit of is a little bit
alarming I'm I'm I'm allowing some level of panic here yeah I think we have to allow it I think to say
like that's no big deal would be misguided I just have to you know I just have to believe it's probably not
gonna look like that pretty much you know ever again like I said but we'll see I'm I'm also allowing
some panic on this one it just not a lot it's not a lot you can do about it there's like this is one of
those things where I say don't be making any decisions under panic here because you can't possibly make a good
decision here your best bet is just to ride it out and see what happens let's be one of the next one
here another email submission Cole P sent in this email about Vikings running back Alexander Madison
Alexander Madison was able to get in the end zone today in salvage his week one points but it's not
looking good he had just 11 carries for 34 yards and three receptions for 10 yards I wrongly
convince myself this offseason him being a bell cow could push him into possible running back one
territory I forgot how each time I watched his tape it's just not there and it's not going to be there
is a world of difference when you see the ball in Jacobs CMC Chubb or Tony Pollard's hands my first
thought about this Andy is yes there is a world of difference and that's why there is a world of
difference but hopefully between where you picked these fellows in fantasy football that being said
it's weird to say we're we're a little concerned about a week one run out for a guy who did score a
touchdown and the final points are generally there but Andy you made the point in a tweet today or
post on X or whatever we're supposed to call it you know that the run out in week one for the who
else is there guys in week one Madison included he's not quite in the cam acres territory where oh
there's the other person right there but I understand why Madison is kind of grouped in this bunch
yeah yeah and it was the biggest part of the argument for Madison right now is really just a
reminder that like if you're first argument for any running back is there but there's nobody
else right they can always they can always find another guy if you don't produce I do think in
Madison's case I want to I want to I want to separate him a little bit from some of the other
guys because like the bucks defense has been really good against the run for years so that's
that's at least a factor here I will also say that nobody else really played in that backfield
right like Chandler I think Chandler played like 11 snaps something like that so it's not it's not a
situation like acres where he wasn't even he wasn't even the number one right like he had the most
carries but he but he played like 35% of the snaps and while that game was in doubt it was
Kyron Williams and Williams had two touchdowns and ran better and all that like that's that's not
the situation that Madison was in Madison was in a I don't think Madison is the kind of guy who's
generally going to overcome a tough match up and I think you're I think you're going to have to
live with that it was again a pretty good sign that they didn't lean on anybody else they weren't
like they weren't desperate to get anybody else involved but he was you know you're I mean you are
again you are totally right that he is not Nick Chubb he's not Christian McCaffrey's not Josh
Jacobs that is for sure why there's like five draft rounds of separation between those guys
that's why Madison was taken in sort of the James Conner zone they like they have a workload for
now unto themselves but they are not necessarily like special backs heck we always like years past
when Dalvin Cook would get hurt and we would recommend Alexander Madison we would always say
words to the effect of like he can give you 90% of what Dalvin Cook can give you um but that
that 10% is worth so much in real life right it doesn't you know in fantasy we just we just want
the volume we want the touchdowns whatever but um no he's not in my opinion anyway he's not that
class of runner uh yeah and I think if he was that class of runner he probably wouldn't have been
retained on like a two year seven million dollar deal is nice that they gave him an opportunity to
come back and start him looks like he's kind of he's got that opportunity sort of locked down
but it still remains to be the case that I think everybody agrees like who he is as a player I think
if you're like trying to find the silver lining here he didn't have a particularly impressive
statistical game I wouldn't say like he or you know it was a rough matchup against the Tampa Bay
bucks run defense that like you said has been pretty good and he still came away with a touchdown
opportunity because he's still playing as the lead back on a good offense and yeah I don't know
there's was office was imperfect in week one I mean they lost to the damn Baker mayfield led
bucks Kirk cousins squatted himself a couple of opportunities there great for me saying I've been
Kirk Pilter whatever that was a good way to like get out of that trance in week one like yep okay
right with there is this part is still a thing these moments are still a big part of the Kirk
cousins equation so I think if you're looking for silver lining here it's that there's a lot of
negative for Madison in week one but he still had that touchdown opportunity because he's still
lead back on a good offense and you know they get the Eagles they get the chargers they get the
Panthers they get the cheese they get the Bears the next few weeks like there are spots in there where
I think Madison is gonna be much better off so I actually don't think I'm really panicked at all
on Madison as long as you have a clear sort of understanding of who he is and what you drafted
in Alexander Madison I will say that I am less panicked on Madison than I was or that I would be
about the other running back involved like on the other side of that game or shot white
oh yeah he was even less efficient than Madison was right it was something like 17 carries for
39 yards something like that and he you know none of the numbers looked great for white last year
he was not particularly elusive rarely made a guy miss pretty inefficient that carried over into
opening week here and he just happens to have somebody behind him in Sean Tucker where I don't
I don't know that there's a whole lot of difference between those guys and and I don't think
Rashad white can afford very many more like 15 carries for 35 yards or 40 yard kind of games
before they got to they got to start using somebody else yeah we actually had a submission on
Rashad white at ivy man underscore ff on Twitter said I'm not panicking but if you're invested
in Rashad white I'd make preparations in case he loses his job he rushed for wait for it
minus 38 rushing yards over expectation minus 38 not good and undrafted running back Sean Tucker
in his first NFL game look better than him and Tucker is a guy that is not like a typical
undrafted player because he fell due to injury concerns and I mean when you posted the thing that
the the post I'm mentioning on Twitter that about about all these mid-round running backs and
stuff like that I think it was rich rebar quoted it and said if you're making a fantasy
football argument for a player and it doesn't start with the player himself if then you're in
trouble and I don't think there were a lot of like Rashad white arguments that started with
I mean actually most of Rashad white arguments usually started with now he didn't play very well as a
rookie but and usually if you're saying like he didn't play very well as a rookie but the but
there should be doing a lot more work than the first sentence on with you that like in of these
two running backs you know and they sort of went in the same range of drafts I didn't take
Rashad white once I took Alexander Madison a little bit so if maybe these are my biases coming
through but I'd be much more worried about white coming out of this game yeah that is that is
exactly how I feel I'm I'm much more worried about white because I haven't like at least with
Madison we've seen it for a game or two he's you know he's played really well in relief of
Dalvin cook a handful of times we haven't really seen it with Rashad white he hasn't had like that
signature game he had a good game overseas last year but it wasn't like it wasn't a wow game
that forced his way you know to being a centerpiece of the offense or anything like that so I'm
my my panic level about Rashad white would be well actually he's he's pretty close to where my
expectations were for Rashad white so I'm not surprised by it but if I if I had him on a roster I
would be plenty panicked all right next one up here from the mailbag Matt M has a trio of guys he's
worried about in his email he says should I be freaked out about Mike Williams Isaiah Pacheco
Rashad penny this one's a great they're perfectly in order Andy to know you shouldn't be panicked
about Mike Williams to maybe about Isaiah Pacheco and three yeah you if you drafted Rashad
penny you should probably be panicked about the fact he was a healthy freaking scratch in week one
yeah penny like penny's a drop I don't know how long are you gonna wait for Rashad penny
kind of gain well like owned the I just flat out owned the backfield I don't I don't know
what else to say it might not last the entire season and somebody might get hurt and penny might
have to be deployed and we think he's a pretty good runner when you you know when he gets an
opportunity but he's like healthy scratch you got you probably got to move on you you surely
didn't take him that early so you're not going to feel that bad about cutting him like it was just
a mistake use the roster spot Pacheco I mean pretty annoying that like I feel like a lot of people
were reminded of the fact that Clyde Edwards-Eller is still a member of the Kansas City Chiefs on
Thursday right not that he not that he did anything special but if Pacheco is going to be somebody
who is who is almost entirely about like early down usage goal line usage he can't he can't lose
any of those carries you know like he's got he's got to get it all if he's not going to really
give us reception so moderate concern there and then zero concern whatsoever about Mike Williams
it's a great offense he's a circle of trust player when he's healthy he's great had a little bit
of a I think it was a concussion scare right on Sunday but he got through it so he's so he's
he's good to go I would I would continue to use I draft Mike Williams exactly the way I had him
you know a week ago 100 percent yeah Pacheco did catch four balls on four targets in week one but
it was and and some of them were a little designer e2 which I think was nice to see so you could
you could kind of look at that but I think the chief star clear I almost just say I went back and
watched the you know chief's offense on on film right and like you could tell that was an
offense that was playing and frankly you know look I know it's sacrilegious and I mean I've
literally called Patrick my home's quarterback Jesus so really sacrilegious it's to say this but
that was an offense and a quarterback too playing as if they had taken their elite player out and
plucked him out of the game plan without a lot of notice that so I almost don't want to take
and I'm not saying that you should just be great about Isaiah Pacheco or Skymore or I mean
dude definitely don't feel good about Cudary Stoney but like I'm not saying that nothing I'm not
saying all is well in Kansas City I think there are still outstanding questions but I want to see
that offense with Travis Kelsey or at least even like a full you know 10 days to prepare a game plan
knowing a this guy is probably not going to be in the mix here before I freak out about any of
these players so I'm like kind of mixed on Isaiah Pacheco just on Roshad Penny real quick would
you rather have been a someone who drafted Roshad Penny or would you and he's a healthy scratch
in week one or would you rather have been somebody and on this player was sent in a lot as well
on on social would rather have been somebody that drafted Deandre Swift and for him to get like
you know a but basically no work in week one yeah that's a that's an easy answer and I would
rather have drafted Roshad Penny because I probably I probably started Swift right like I probably
got really excited when Roshad Penny was a healthy scratch and I was like oh there's no way Deandre
Swift isn't getting 15 touches in this one and then he got and then he got two and he gained three
yards and Kenny gain will like dominated the snaps and took all the touches so yeah it probably cost
me a win yeah I said on the pot I think that I was a little nervous like oh man maybe I man you know
the bow will for port about they walked Deandre Swift to be the guy like oh man maybe I was too low
on Swift and then he comes out a week one it gets one two one two touches I think I felt pretty good
about that coming out of it so all right next one up here Kenneth W Christian Kirk panicked about
Christian Kirk is it me or is Trevor Lawrence so mesmerized with his new toy in Calvin Ritley
that he we had for his wide receiver one last year he forgot who he had for his wide receiver one
last year which of course was Christian Kirk sincerely Dallas Cowboys fan living life like the 90s
well shout out to you Kenneth if you're feeling bad about Christian Kirk at least you can you know
just go re go re watch that demolition that's the Cowboys that ass whooping that they handed the
giants I do think of anybody if anybody that's in this list Christian Kirk is pretty
pretty tough to think about right now and and it's a couple of reasons Andy it's not that
Calvin Ridley has his so mesmerized with Trevor Lawrence is so mesmerized with Calvin Ridley
he is and he just he should be right and we all knew that was coming and it's the right thing
for the offense I mean my god even going back and re watching that game it's just beautiful that
connection Trevor already has so much trust in Calvin Ridley and and it's and Ridley is doing
so much to earn that trust the problem for Christian Kirk is the problem that sort of cropped up
in preseason that he was playing behind Zay Jones and two receiver sets he was out snapped and out
targeted by Zay Jones in week one I think Christian Kirk is a pretty nice player and you know
but this usage is really troubling despite the fact that it's an offense that I think we'll have
days where they need to come out of there well I mean not that they didn't need to come out of
their shell against the cold test right the way to say things will just look different throughout
the course of the year but I understand why Kenneth is panicked about Christian Kirk why
I think you absolutely cannot start now going into week two yeah I got that you know you hit the
the points that I was going to touch on Zay Jones a great right me they made the catch of the
week the touchdown catch was incredible drew seven targets and I think we probably I mean maybe
that's too great of an overreaction and obviously Trevor has had a good year with Christian Kirk I'm
sure Kirk is going to have some moments but we very much need to think of him as kind of a wide
receiver for right now I think somebody that'll that'll get you through some by weeks and it's a
familiar name that you can feel okay about and I'm sure he's going to have three or four games where
he is moderately productive for fantasy managers but I could really look like his his old self
and if that guy's on the field of course you're drilling him with passes Lawrence by the way I
thought like Lawrence's best throws were incredible that guy's got a guy's got a can and he was super
fun that was that was like my prep my game day experience is generally like I'm I'm watching one
game and then I've got red zone on the laptop and Colts and and Jags was my game and man Lawrence
was super impressive Lawrence made me he made me go to bed MGM and make a make a mid game bed on him
to win MVP I don't like I don't think he's the favorite but like I look so good and and Ridley was
really so good I mean that was my whole my whole take away from that thing was that that it looks
like he was just dropped into the to the game right out of like 2019 or something I mean he just
looked fantastic so yeah I that's a very long way of saying that I think Christian Kirk does have
a problem and it's it's almost more of a it's almost more of a Zay Jones problem because he played
an almost flawless game 36% first read target share from fantasy point data for Calvin Ridley and
again that's really high that's up there with like the elite receivers and like Calvin Ridley
at his peak can be an elite receiver in the NFL and Trevor Lawrence I'm with like I before the
season I bet Calvin Ridley like you know 40 to one or something to lead the NFL and receiving
yards because that is that potential is is in there and it looked I mean before catches for 41 yards
on the first drive you know like that it's clear that they want to continue and build and foster
this connection you know and 25% of the first read targets that's what Christian Kirk led the
Jags with in 22 so it just shows you that yeah he had that role then but he was always going to get
you served by Ridley but the concerning part is the Zay Jones thing as you mentioned now week two
these guys go against the Kansas City Chiefs and I know the Chiefs are obviously coming off a
rough week one but if they spread the field with three receivers and Christian Kirk runs as many
routes as Zay Jones in that game and he's this primary slot guy and he has a much bigger performance
I think you can be 0% surprised by that but now I think you have to accept a new level of volatility
with Christian Kirk maybe then then what you were thinking yeah I think that's that's probably the
best way to put it one one other thing on Ridley and I know it's not the this person's question but
he had like collegiate separation on a lot of those catches too he wasn't just like a little bit open
well yes Calvin Ridley is a great route runner I mean it like at his peak again the Falcons days he
was on the Stefan Diggs trajectory of route running some of those dudes playing in the secondary
for the Colts are I mean a little closer to college than NFL players that's being so disrespectful
and I'm sorry to Dallas Flowers and everybody else that's playing for an enapolis but that is not
that secondary is going to make a lot of people look really really good I don't think that that is
why Calvin Ridley looked good in week one but it didn't hurt with the new fantasy season underway
you're always looking for a weekly W but is it a smart decision to start a running back with
the history of fumbles of course not you want someone smart who can come in the clutch with the
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smartest decision for all your financial decisions all right let's move on to some of our social
submissions here this first one comes in from at one Kumar underscore NFL the Bengals offense they'll
get right but that burrow injury might be far more debilitating than we were led to believe
I mean Andy I can't tell you how I knew the Bengals are going to get thrown in here I knew T Higgins
are going to get thrown in here and it was not a good week one showing but yeah I am 0% panic
about the Bengals I don't know about you but I'm at zero zero on the panic meter here
for these Cincinnati Bengals one they start slow every year so to all the damn teams that don't
play anybody in preseason a lot of them start slow their quarterback is missed a lot of time
and most importantly and can I just say this like sometimes if you're sitting here after week one
and you're panicked about an offense that didn't play well please remember that the defensive
players are are paid to and I want you to go back and watch that game between the Cincinnati Bengals
and the Cleveland Browns and I don't know how you can't come away with damn the Browns defense
under Jim Schwartz a new defensive coordinator just played extremely well on defense so I'm not
panicked about the Bengals I think the the the lesson here is just that oh we might have to just
expectations for the Browns defense and like Miles Garrett might be already to win a defensive
player of the year award type of season yeah Garrett was a Garrett was a total game wrecker
the conditions were sloppy but we're we're also talking about a team from Cincinnati and it's not
like it's the last time they're gonna have to play in the rain that happens but we aren't like
wait we're just running this back from last year like we were all kind of ringing our hand I mean
not maybe not you and I but like people were ringing their hands about the Bengals early last year
too and I think the I don't think it's so much that like the injury is still bothering Joe
Borough as he missed almost all of camp came back pretty late and I don't know you you can give
him a dud like that is a very accomplished pro like I can't I can only get so panicky about
somebody who has been in the MVP conversation in multiple seasons and has made deep postseason runs
and he's tied to a an incredible young receiving core like I mean if you're worried about Joe Borough
having some big days going forward I'm I'm at the front of the line to trade for him I'm at the
front of the line to trade for for T Higgins and Jamar Chase like they're they're great they're not
they are surely not your biggest problem they may have been your biggest week one problem in
terms of scoring but they are not your biggest problem going forward. This next one too I
I don't feel exactly the same way because it's not quite the established unit that we just talked
about in Cincinnati but I I mean then I'm not again I'm not in the in the in the same house but I'm
in the same neighborhood with this one at Mike and and a bunch of numbers here says I try not to
overreact to things too much from week one but I would almost say the Ravens offense overall
I don't have any Zayflower shares but he looked like the only one to be excited about I wanted to
follow this up with I'm generally not I like I'm gonna explain why I'm not that panicked about
the Ravens offense overall but it is worth noting this team that just has some of the worst injury
luck in the NFL and you know I was willing to say like hey maybe they they fire their strength
in conditioning guy when they get the F- from the NFL PA report maybe they'll have better injury
luck this year well coming out of week one safety Marcus Williams as a pec injury he's going to
be out quote a while he's going to decide on whether he has surgery center Tyler Lindembom
ankle sprain gonna be week to week former first round pick Ronnie Stanley I mean my God that guy's
really struggled with injuries knee sprain he's gonna be week to week JK Dobbins of course I mean
awful awful if it was a bad for him torn Achilles he's out for the season Marlon Humphrey
has a shot to return this week a shot from a foot injury he obviously has been dealing with injury
I mean those are a lot of really good players I just listed off I know only JK Dobbins is a fantasy
guy but I mean dude that's a lot of good Ravens players so I don't know Andy where you at with
the Ravens offense and maybe the Ravens overall coming out of week one yeah first of all is a
as a short-term issue like the the double offensive line injuries Lindembom and Stanley are a I
mean that's a that's a worry at least for a week or two right these are these are good players
Lindembom is a great player so that's obviously a problem the the presumptive lack of respect for
the running game whatever it looks like next week it's probably going to be some combination of
Justice Hill Gus Edwards Melvin Gordon probably comes off the practice squad right they you know
there's still a bunch of free agents available it's it's probably not going to be Jonathan Taylor
next week right like but there but it's going to be a couple of rogues behind an offensive
one it's going to be really banged up so I I will acknowledge that that is a concern I was shocked
at the number of people who actually can't like fantasy managers who came out a week one worried
about Lamar and I I guess some of that is relative to expectations because you saw Houston and you
were kind of licking your lips and you were like oh man Lamar as a chance I thought Lamar as a chance
to be QB1 in a in a pretty favorable matchup it just happened that the you know the touchdowns
went to running backs but I like if I were a Ravens fan if I if I you know I am somebody who has a
fair amount of Lamar Jackson you can also look at that game and say wow however however good I
thought Zay flowers was he looks like he might be a star like like not just good but like
Pro Bowl good immediately like thousand yard good immediately eleven hundred yard good
immediately and you also have to remember that you get Mark Andrews back too so like there is help
common Andrews was presumably pretty close to playing in the opener we get him back next week
that's going to make a big difference so I don't I don't know I wouldn't I'm actually not I'm
I'm about with the exception of maybe worrying about the offensive line injuries going into next
week I'm about where I am with the Bengals on this one I'm not like if you want to if you want
to flip Lamar Jackson I'm here for it I'll take him yeah I'm not I'm not freaked out about
the Ravens at all really but look I think relative to expectations is exactly right like you said
because what we do in the offseason and look we're guilty of it we talk about on this podcast
about how excited we are about this offense and how good this offense is going to make Lamar
but on all those things can be and I think will be true at some point but they aren't always true
right away from week one it doesn't just immediately happen especially for again a guy in Lamar
who is not going to play a bunch of the preseason like it's very different going from practicing
in the softens to then playing in the softens on game day look I think it was time to move on
from Greg Roman but Lamar has played in Greg's Roman's offense his entire career you know this has
been the thing for Lamar Jackson so it's going to take a little bit of time for this to click Lamar
played in week one like a guy who looked like he needed a little more time to click in the offense
and you're so right that like Lamar Jackson I mean excuse me you're so right that Mark Andrews is
not out there Rashad Bateman I know people are freaked out about him I mean dude he was not going
to play a full role in week one because he dealt with so much offseason trouble getting back
from this injury I think the longer he's out there the more he will play in the more involved he
will be in the better that is for Lamar Jackson and by the way like jicke Dobbins before he left
bangs in a short touchdown just as he'll bangs in short touchdowns Lamar is just on the wrong
side of touchdown variance there if he throws two touchdowns even one touchdown he's not getting
named in this column and last point on this again defensive get defensive players get paid to
I do think the and I flag this I think it was on this podcast maybe it was on the podcast with
James co that I do that Texas defense has a chance in the past game to be extremely underrated like
they might be one of those units that by week five are we've we've flipped from oh yeah the
Texans are on the schedule start all your dudes like oh man you know Derek Stingley's coming along
and like will Anderson is wrecking games you know that potential is there as well yeah no that's
it's a that's a really good call and that happens with like a handful of defenses just absolutely
every year and it's why we always caution people not to make not to make too many long term plans
and not to make too many like really serious like strength of schedule plans because that sort of
thing always blows up yeah again I'm I'm pretty comfortable with Lamar I think I think they're
going to get this worked out and I think they get like I think the receiving court gets better
and like one more time flowers just looked awesome if yeah right like being upset coming out
a week one when Lamar Jackson looks like he's playing with like again I love Rashad Bateman I'm
a big fan of Bateman the player but like even Bateman's not that type of receiver Mars never had
that type of receiver so yeah it's it's just it's pretty exciting I think for the Ravens offense
which will be better in time all right we've we've delayed this enough I know it's your birthday but
we're about 30ish minutes in the podcast right now we got to do this one at Adam's life simply
tweets the entire Bears team so Andy I mean bro
where are we at from panic meters standpoint on the Bears team and notably the Bears quarterback
and how that trickles down to everybody else yeah I think we're I mean I've already processed
the panic we were like I might have been panicky in the first quarter second quarter and then I was
just resigned right like I've moved entirely past panic to it's how often have you just been resigned
throughout the course of the Bears fandom you know I'm old I've been a Bears fan for a long time
and I've like sat through in so we were talking about this earlier before the pod like I'm
I'm actually kind of patting myself on the back for not going to that game because I've been I've
been suckered into that situation before my whole life right where I get really excited for but
like sometimes without without any basis for the possibility of the Bears being being a little bit
frisky against the Packers and I get really like you know amped up and I get tickets and I go
and then Brad Farr beats us by 40 like I've I've I've done that I've done that several times and I'm
I'm I've aged out of it I no longer put myself in that position so hat tip to me for that
they they just got it's like almost to the point where it's hard like I want to say some good
things fantasy wise about Jordan love and I wanted to you know I wanted to hype him in the
pickups a little bit but he was just unbothered so I almost feel like I want to see a game where
somebody actually heats up Jordan love a little bit because the Bears didn't the Bears got destroyed
in the trenches like both sides destroy like not close not a fair fight the mercy role should have
been invoked it was it was really bad bad both ways and we we had a little bit of
I you know it feels is a is a different story entirely I'd I'd I'd said a lot about how like I
didn't think that Justin fields this season like I felt like they needed more layups in the offense
forum I feel I felt like they needed more short stuff easy stuff easy completions they didn't
need everything like his average depth of target last year was way over nine that it couldn't be
like that again that it was 2.9 was 2.9 he like he didn't go down field at all the entire
offense was built out of screens there were a handful of opportunities breaking like breaking down
like some you know if there's going to be a handful of opportunities where DJ markets open down
field the balls got to come out but fields clearly not looking there fields clearly looking short
range the entire time and that's you know that has to be part of it but it can't be the whole thing
so that was really frustrating chase Claypool like what a dud of a game probably I don't know if they
if they found a way to like just absolutely cut ties with Claypool off of that game I wouldn't
wouldn't bother me there's not a lot of good things to say about it they got they got absolutely
destroyed again in the in the trenches and that's that's an unsolvable problem in season there's
nothing you can do about that right like it and it was also tough to watch that happen while
Jalen Carter was just a total game record for the Eagles because that is the other direction
the Bears could have gone so that you know that was a as a tough scene too you know if you're just
I think the fact that there was so much sort of Justin Fields is the next Jalen hurts right
he has to he has to be the next Jalen hurts the DJ more model and then for it to come out
so flat in week one and not just that it came out flat Andy the way it came out flat and then
when you juxtapose that with the guy across the field in Jordan love and I think Jordan
love who he is is still an open question I'm not saying he's a freaking Hall of Famer right now but
the fact that if you look at it week one quarterbacks you know who's number one in EPA per dropback
it's Jordan love and I got to scroll down and down and down and past Ryan Tana Hill and past
dead has been ridden past Sam how before I finally arrive at number 23 Justin Fields just above
Bryce Young you know the to get to where he was in EPA per dropback so I think it's the juxtaposition
there that's just I mean if you're a Bears fan I totally get while you you know drowned yourself
in booze last night and like are just feeling awful going into today and from just a fantasy angle like
people people replied a lot with Justin Fields on Twitter it said again I'm pissed that like
I'm panicked about Justin Fields and I could have just drafted freaking to a you know multiple rounds
later or something like that yeah the other I mean there's there's no shortage of things to be
frustrated about as a Bears fan one of them you know like Fields still had his moments where the
you know he scrambles and the game briefly turns into a cartoon and he's you know he's dodging
people left and right but man there was any any time you got a glimmer of hope like mid play as
a Bears fan there was a flag and not not a questionable flag either but like a deserved flag
so just the combination of penalties and and just immediate losses the number of like
the number of free rushers that were coming at Fields looked just like the year before
everything that you hated about the Bears offense you know at the at the start of 2022 was
was right there for you at the start of 2023 so that was disappointing I have I mean I don't
have I don't have any silver lining coming out of that game I don't have I don't have anybody to
hype I don't have anybody to tell you to go add I've seen people try to make the case oh wow
Rocheon Johnson came on late well the game was decided yeah and he wasn't really playing early
in the game so I don't like I'm not I'm not trying to find new ways to invest in the Bears offense
right now like I just don't I don't see it yeah what's rough too is week two Tampa Bay I think
that defense still has a lot going for it yeah week three Kansas City Denver Washington like there's
not a lot of like it's not as if they turn around right away in week two week three week four week five
and just get like all right these are our get right cupcake games like we could be I hate to say
because I think Justin feels it seems like a great guy and all that but like and I mean I enjoyed
talking to him the couple times I have before we could be like by week six thinking like all right
maybe the Bears just are drafted number one overall and they have the Panthers pick and like we're
trying to you know do they do the Caleb Williams stuff I hate to say it but I think that's
within the range of outcomes but oh it absolutely is that you know I had the conversation a number
number of times about fields like that the nice thing about him is a as a fantasy pick last year
is that like if it didn't work out you could just move on because he was a ninth round 10th round
11th round pick but like you I mean he was your fourth round pick this year yeah I'd be I'd be
worried yeah it's too big to fail all right I got to get this one in because it's hilarious just
the way it was sent in at Todd underscore Pierce I could use a glass of sharpening right now I
mean one well done uh two Andy what are you like from a wine drinking perspective where would you
where would you put yourself are you like a wine guy or what oh yeah I like a nice dry sharpening
sure I actually don't really like sharpening that much it's not but like I have my wife has converted
me to like a we've become like full we when we met we were young and like yeah well it's just
drink IPAs until you know three in the morning now we're like all right let's go on wine tours
in Charlottesville so I this this one spoke to me never still not the biggest sharpening guy but
I got a lot of the pun here uh Todd Pierce I don't think Zach Charbonne is like our first guy that
we need to panic about in fantasy because like okay he was probably a flyer pick for you but I want
to use this to say Seahawks offense level of panic where you at I'm a little concerned as somebody
that really liked the Seahawks offense and thought well week one against the you know Matthew
Stafford and the kids they're in loss or let me let me say it better because he's a defensive
player Aaron Donald and the kids they they can have a nice week one Aaron Donald kicked their ass
in week one and just Geno didn't look I mean there was the a viral clip of him going oh my god
as Aaron which I don't blame him I mean I would say a lot worse than just oh my god if Aaron
Donald was closing it on me not a great performance from Geno you know DK Metcalf he gets to touch
down wouldn't say it's was the perfect game for him title locket left with injuries JSN wasn't
really fully unleashed just yet is it a little too early to be worried that I am holding too much
Seahawks stock or should it should be be panicking I will I will say that I was mostly impressed with
the Rams coming out of that game defensively offensively Stafford looked fantastic um and it's
that little bit of it was you know if you're disappointed in Geno it's it's probably because of how
freaking awesome uh Stafford's arm looked uh I thought I thought he was just great um I also don't
like I don't think Geno was fluke last year I saw a little bit of you know I saw a little bit of
that on Twitter after the game during the game Geno turning back into a pumpkin or whatever like
Geno was really good last year that wasn't just you know that wasn't that wasn't fluke that wasn't
accidental he played great those receivers are still great I'm not not panicky about it you you
also probably took you know it you probably didn't take Geno as your only quarterback if you did
it's usually easy to move on in a one-quarter back league but I don't think that's I don't think
that's going to be a huge going forward problem I think they got you know sucker punched is the
wrong phrase but like I don't I don't think they expected what they were what they eventually got
from from the Rams uh defensively offensively any of it um and it couldn't keep pace with a
with a super fun uh Rams offense either so it's a it's a it's a worry I mean I wouldn't like if
like if I had Charbonne I would have had zero plans for him in week one uh as soon as we knew
that Walker was gonna be good to go like I don't like I wouldn't have played him um I maybe maybe
you're in a 16 team league something like that and you had to play him but I I would not have touched
him he was always uh he was always a long-term investment that run game didn't that I will say
that run game is more troubling I think than the past game they they just consistently don't put
themselves in favorable down in distances like too often you know before you get like the big
kind of walker run but um all right Andy we're gonna do your waiver wire rankings but just before
we we get out of here any one else that was on the list that you got a lot of or or that you
we want to hit on from a panic meter standpoint before we move on to the waivers um I would be
interested in your take on Jameer Gibbs from uh from Thursday night because there was a right
that happened right yeah there wasn't there was a game on Thursday it feels like a billion years
ago at this point because welcome back to the NFL where that's a thing because I thought like I
thought he looked at his best plays were awesome his worst play was obviously falling down when he
had a chance to score a touchdown but like his best runs were super flashy I thought he was great
I do think it is a little bit of a going forward problem that um Gibbs was a pure backup right like
he if you if you to imagine the scenario where Gibbs owns the and I had kind of done this where
Gibbs sort of owns the passing work he gets third down he gets two minutes something like that
he didn't have any of that he didn't have you know there's no like single role that belongs to him
just yet they also like the coaching staff made some noises afterward about how oh yeah
we're easing him in we're gonna ramp up his usage but that's also just that's just the thing you say
um yeah that might be true might be true yeah that's but that's what's hard about it like it could
be the truth but it is also the thing that you would say anyway um like he was he was he was fine he
was good he was pretty backup either uh and and and coaches love David Montgomery and David
Montgomery is always available and he played well enough um not I'm not going to say the David
Montgomery is super flashy anything like that delight and goodness knows I've seen plenty of him
over the years um but he he played well and he's he's also the guy who's like super hard charging
doesn't doesn't miss the hole that is blocked doesn't you know doesn't give away any yards um
coaches coaches love that and I think he's gonna be quite an obstacle for Gibbs and I I hope we
get to a place where Gibbs is getting like 50% of those snaps but we're clearly not there yet
we're not there yet uh I will say you know I'm harkening back to our or my conversation with Chris
Harris on the podcast and the preseason where we talked about Jamir Gibbs I I liked Jamir Gibbs
and I liked the idea of Jamir Gibbs but everyone else liked it a lot more than me right like I remember
one of my ranking early rankings came out and somebody's like man oh man you're really down on
Jamir Gibbs I'm like am I am I I have him as like running back 20 you're running back 19 but
it's relative to ADP that was very down on Jamir Gibbs and for me it was Dave Montgomery's gonna
have a role it's gonna be a role that I think is a little more nebulous and I think ultimately why
they chose to go with Dave Montgomery and like lock him in before and then just basically say
go buy to Jamal Williams was that I think Dave Montgomery can do a little bit more of both
than Jamal Williams can so that's I think the biggest problem for Jamir Gibbs coming out of this
is that Dave Montgomery isn't gonna lose that role and his role is gonna overlap more with Jamir
Gibbs now they couldn't be two more like different players you know from a running back standpoint
and Jamir Gibbs has so much more juice than Dave Montgomery but Dave Montgomery is not bad you
could probably argue that he's better than Jamal Williams or at least just more versatile and some
of that is gonna overlap with Jamir Gibbs and again you heard me say that clearly I was a little
skeptical that Gibbs was gonna be at least that he was again I'm not out on Jamir Gibbs at all
or anything but it just relative to ADP I was always priced out because people had a higher aspirations
I would at least be coming out a week one like heat checking those high aspirations if I had them
that being said the coaching staff says that you know they're gonna ramp him up as the year goes on
and if Jamir Gibbs has eight catches for 78 yards and a touchdown against the sea hawks in week two
I don't think you'd be surprised by that I just think it might be a little bit more variable
than we might have imagined yeah I think that's probably right and I'm not I'm not suggesting
there's any reason to panic but I thought it was pretty notable that on Friday morning
there were there were definitely like analysts that were that were framing it as just a triumph of
a night for Jamir Gibbs right just a just an absolute because I know you can you can like you can
clip his best run and it went for 18 yards and he makes like five guys miss and it's great and
you know I guess you can I guess you can victory lap that but I did think it was problematic that
he's in a he's in a pure backup role right now it's still like a sizable role it's not like
it's not like he's getting 10% of the snaps or anything like that but it is it is an obstacle to
overcome and I'm not panicky about it but I'm a little concerned I don't have a ton of Gibbs
I don't I was I was higher on him than you were but I wasn't you know I wasn't the person who
I wasn't the person who was ever making the case that oh Jamir Gibbs can finish as the RB three the
RB five or anything like that I didn't really see that in his range of outcomes so I don't have
a ton of them but I have enough that I'm I'm concerned definitely I think concern is warranted
maybe not full panic but concern is warranted all right Andy every week we are going to get into
your top five ish top five ish waiver pickups here I want to go from from five to one here maybe
make this more of a big reveal so look we here's a deal with waivers guys you could pick up anybody
okay we could sit here run through everybody and give you a fat percentage and all that it's
just so variable to different leagues and you know Andy and I were joking about this before we
got started on the podcast today if you think you need to tweet at Andy after this and be like hey
you didn't talk about insert player here why didn't you talk about insert player here and the players
to pick up segment maybe a little context clues there might might people to tell you why Andy
not talking about them in the pickup section but get us started here with your number five ranked
player to pick up heading into week two yeah I'll I'll preface this by saying that I'm I'm not
going to talk about Jordan love and it's not because you know it's not because I don't want to
relive that game anymore although I don't want to relive that game anymore it's just I don't
I don't see a pressing need out there for anybody to add a quarterback so I want to focus on on
receivers and running backs we obviously have some glaring needs around the league and around the
fantasy landscape they're running back so we're going to focus there I think my number five would be
and this could end up being this could end up being a whiff but I'm going to I'm going to make a
Josh Kelly okay Kelly was a Kelly was a a real part of what the Chargers did on Sunday I don't
know that that's going to last going forward I I certainly hope that Austin Eccler is absolutely
fine we'll probably figure that out within the next couple days Josh Josh Kelly carried 16 times
for 90 plus yards how to touchdown and was a big part of what they did and they've liked him like
they've liked him since he came into the building so it was at the very worst it's a reminder that
Kelly is somebody who could have pretty significant you know he has pretty significant contingent
value and if he has a if he has a like a standalone role in a great offense that's pretty good
that's pretty appealing he's definitely somebody who should be rostered in a lot more leagues um so
he's he's number five for me that's kind of a it's kind of a hesitant number five my number four
I'm gonna I'm gonna call it and this is not a this is not a ringing endorsement of the player over
the full season but I think the second Zach Moss comes back he's gonna he's gonna just dominate
that Colts backfield for however long it takes for the at least for the Jonathan Taylor Fiasco to
to get resolved um because Dion Dion Jackson just had a disaster of a game um a couple of fumbles
he averaged about one and a half yards per touch um it was bad like everything else was pretty fun
about the Colts offense too like Richardson was Richardson was was good that was that was really
really funny it was fun as a runner um and he hit a lot of he hit a lot of short easy stuff that
was good to see um but Dion Jackson was notably bad and Moss returned to practice uh last week so
I I have you know I have little doubt that he should be able to return in week two and if he does
I think he's just gonna take that over it was a pretty efficient runner last year he's not super
flashy but he's another one of those guys who like gets the yards that are there um and I think
he's gonna be fine for that team and I don't I don't I don't think there's any way they go forward
with Dion Jackson my number three it's going to be Kyron Williams um and in a man in a lot of
weeks he might be the number one because uh the Rams surprised us um but we we talked about this
earlier in the show like it was a it was a really rough week for all of those running backs um where
the argument to draft them was hey they don't have anybody else um because Kyron Williams turned
out to be the the anybody else uh in in the Rams backfield um and and also a reminder that like
last season we came into the year and there and there was a there was a fair amount of buzz about
Kyron Williams and the team liked him and and boy he's gonna have a role and I think it's I think
it's injured like on the first special team snap of the season we don't see him for several weeks
I believe it was a high ankle sprain um and then they got him involved again when he came back
and sure enough like the the snap share there was 65% for Kyron Williams 35% for Cam Acres
Acres did kind of save his day with a touchdown weirdly Acres actually led all running backs
in in week one in total carries but he got 29 yards on 22 carries um he did get into the endzone
but Kyron got there twice um I think that's pretty clearly Kyron's job um we we talked about it
earlier like the um you know the Rams have a tough match up next week it's the Niners that's not
great uh but like going forward he he's pretty clearly the number one there now I don't want to
spend another season like throwing Fab resources at Rams running backs like we did last year but I
would you know the way it sets up right now I would definitely go after Kyron I think number two
on this list needs to be Kenny Gainwell who again just just dominated the the backfield work for
the Eagles wasn't close Swift had two touches three yards Richard Penny didn't play um there's
no case for anybody other than Gainwell there I I thought it was going to be like a murky three-headed
committee Gainwell was the whole committee um we don't know that it's going to look like that in
November but it looks like it right now and it's the freaking Eagles so you just got to jump on it
right like the the possibility is there for Kenny Gainwell it's be the lead back for the Philadelphia
Eagles all there you got to jump on it um he's widely available he's available and over 50% of
Yahweh leagues and then my number one is the rookie receiver who got 15 targets I mean
Bhukinakua got 15 targets caught ten of them over a hundred yards a lot of short-range stuff
and which he looked great that fantastic catch on like a unlike a deep 20 yard out from Matthew
Stafford Stafford was actually like of all of all the players who like really opened my it seems
stupid to say about a veteran quarterback but of all the players that really opened my eyes in
week one it was like Stafford really did like that was vintage Matthew Stafford that was that was
like the old throwing arm um and all the concerns about Stafford coming into this season of course
we're related to the elbow and how healthy is he going to be is he going to hold up
man he looked good um and he found something with two two at well he found something with Nikua
Nikua somebody who never never really had like a huge college season but on a on a per route
basis on a per play basis was an absolute superstar um the Rams talked him up a lot in the summer
and wow did he look the part um eventually Cooper Cup returns and that is that is certainly a
problem for Nikua but he is also somebody compliment him really well it seems pretty clear that he's
just going to be a PPR starter moving forward you know your words and Cooper Cup returns could be like
ah yeah he's not going to have you know by the way Bhukinakua might never see 15 targets again
the rest of the season so it's like okay might not have 15 target games when Cooper Cup gets back
but Cooper Cup might eventually be coming back to this offense and might take away from your top five
here and it's easy to say this and we can close the show on this note because there's two freaking
Rams players in your top five you know we spend a lot of summer a lot of summertime talking about
like who's going to be the value offense and fantasy I I just look like an idiot for saying
the damn Steelers might be that offense maybe it's the Rams maybe the Rams and and like they're
not even going to be a discount they're going to be like the crap your neighbor was is throwing out
on the curve offense basically once you take you know when you if you obviously can't makeers might
be the worst of it but he was the only guy type kind of taken early and then there's the Cooper
Cup thing obviously but nobody was beating you down a draft van Jefferson Pukinakua's like
basically complete Scott called him hiding in plain sight you know two two at well looks really
good and obviously Stafford and the Higbee's a decent little fill in it tight and they get a ton
of volume because these good receivers are there now but I'm definitely coming out a week one
thinking like yeah we might have all you know they have a hard opponent week two like said but we
might be have all just underrated the fact that the Rams like Sean makes a good really really really
good coach and he's not just a guy that like you know he won the Super Bowl because they had
a obviously won the Super Bowl they had a bunch of good players but this dude came from nowhere
and came to a Jeff Fisher wrecked team and rebuilt the program and built an offense like
out of you know got Robert Woods was kind of a cast off from the bills you know like they made him
into a feature player like we have a lot of evidence the Chan McVey is very very very good at this
and Matthew Stafford is very very very good at this and I kind of like going back and you know
remembering some of the headlines from Rams training camp that Sean McVey was like gasped up
to work with this young offense and I mean Matthew Stafford there was a whole thing made of it that
he didn't know anybody on the team or you know didn't know how to connect with anybody on the team
they were all on their phones all that they're all on their phones all the time the people made a huge
deal out of that but McVey has always built really really good programs and really really connected
teams and Stafford at least like hey you know what he seems to connected with these guys okay like
yeah he seems to have been and they they've got Tutu Atwell who's you know like freaking you know
he probably weighs as much as you Andy and you're you know six seven and a sprinter or whatever you
are so like you know he's rail thin okay and and Pukinaku is a day three traffic Pukinaku is a
damn good player okay he fell through the cracks that was just he was good I'm look coming out of
this thinking like you know in Karen Williams I we did a pick up his video and I was like I don't
know if I'm running the waiver iron I'm desperate to pick him up I'm kind of like you where I don't
want to come back in a couple weeks and be rolling my eyes for dropping like 40% of my fab on a part
time back on on this offense but I am at least coming out a week one and one of my priors I am
challenging is that we all as an industry and I know I you know normally there's it's the royal
we and you know nobody's talking about it is a stupid thing to say but I don't remember very many
people in the fantasy space being like a the Rams sleeping giant on offense and maybe they're not
but I'm at least challenging my priors on this unit also there was a there was a fair amount of
reporting on on what a what a normal healthy offseason Matthew Stafford had and I feel like
collectively we just didn't want to hear it like I I feel bad too because I I remember reading it
a handful of times and then I'd look at my ranks and I was like I'm fine with where I have him I
never budged him I just let he looks fantastic you know I thought it was great to see and it was
you know you know I'm bettered a couple of and bettered a couple of clips in the in the pickups
article about Nakua that you know we're we're highlights ostensibly about Nakua but man Stafford
made some throws and if if he can like if he can hold up and again like he had a he had a really
quiet really healthy really productive offseason and then it just got murky at the end because
there were the funny stories about him not relating to young people but like if he's just going to
be this guy all year you know he didn't have a noisy fantasy day because all the touchdowns went
to running backs but 334 yards and just looked like 25 year old Matthew Stafford doing it I just
thought he was I thought he was fantastic he's gonna have huge days going forward if this is really
if this is really the guy is going to be this season. Last thing here just any lean on the Ravens
running backs because I know people will ask about that and again make sure you if you are looking
for more answers read Andy's pickups column on the website this is just a mere little taste of the
pickups so please go and do that but any lean on the Ravens backs John Harball said today like we're
good. We like the guys we have Melvin Gordon's here for a reason he's approving back and I'm very
very glad he's here so I don't think they're about to go and sign Leonard Fernet or something like
that although that is a move that the Ravens have historically done before but I think the fact that
Gordon's there kind of he they've already done it they've preempted their veteran running back
ad here in Melvin Gordon but you know so there's Melvin Gordon there's Justice Hill there's Gus Edwards
any lean here in replacing JK Dobbins yeah I feel like there's going to be a handful of people
that chase the touchdowns from Justice Hill Gus Edwards also had a two point conversion like they
just they split the carries after after just a brutal injury to to Dobbins feel terrible about it
those two split the carries it's it probably looks like that next week and moving forward we know
that team loves Gus Edwards and and Hill had a by all accounts really productive offseason earned
earned more playing time he was getting it alongside Dobbins so it's probably those two
and Melvin is sprinkled in and then like that I'm just I'm just not excited to make an ad here like
I'll probably you know I'm gonna I'm gonna start making like waiver claims and and fab bids and
those guys are gonna be pretty far down on the list and I'm I'm gonna I don't know I'm gonna put
the same number on both Gus Edwards and Justice Hill I don't I barely differentiate between them
I'm not that excited about it because this is a situation where I think it's gonna be a pretty
murky committee and more often than not it's gonna look just like it's gonna look just like Sunday
in Lamar Jackson's gonna leave the team and rushing and you're really just hoping that you got
a touchdown out of out of one of those guys so I don't think any but I think everybody's
ceiling there is kind of like flex in a deep league all right well that is gonna do it for this show
Andy I think we had a successful debut of the people's panic meter I don't know if we solved
anyone's panicking but we at least we at least talked about it we at least made me you know maybe
maybe maybe people maybe people feel better I love that the whole goal is just is just to tell you
exactly how much that you should panic and we can't really resolve anything for you I mean good
luck good luck all right well that is gonna do it for this show on Wednesday I'll be back
Eccler's Edge is back Austin Eccler will be back that's what the show implies that he is gonna
be a part of it we got a new segment to reveal very excited about that so make sure you tune in
also if you want to be featured on next weeks people's panic meter fantasy male baggy office
sports icon that's where you submit your panic again you could do this thing when you're you know
half in the bag on Sunday okay send in a voicemail to to the to the to the to the email okay that would
do that it's recommended yeah it is recommended don't wait for Monday morning especially
you know we we trained to show on Monday so the earlier you can get them in the better that's
the best way to do it Andy and I are also gonna tweet about it so make sure you keep up with it
then again like I said Wednesday Eccler's Edge is back new segment a lot of exciting stuff until then
we're out