Week 1 Fantasy Football RANKINGS & Tiers: QB, RB, WR, & TE + Starts & Sits (09/10 Fantasy Football Podcast)

(upbeat music) We got a game in the books, we got a game tonight, we got a full slate of week one action to preview. Welcome to Fantasy Football today. I'm Jamie Eisenberg, that's Dave Richard, that's Heath Cummings, got a lot to get to when we're going over our week, one rankings. That's right, we're here. We're getting ready to set all of our lineups and hopefully get better performances than we got out of the Seahawks, or at least most of them, and the Patriots from Wednesday night, we got a Thursday night game to preview also with the 49ers and the Rams. And we're going to talk about our running back rankings here to start the show. But first, let's just get a quick recap of what happened last night, Heath, two major injuries that occurred in that 13-10 thriller between the Seahawks and the Patriots. Biggest injury being for our purposes, AJ Brown, what looks to be a high ankle sprain, Sam Donald also dealing with a hip injury. What do we make out of both of those situations moving forward for the rest of the year? - You know, I thought considering the defense that he was facing, Drew Lock did pretty well in his Sam Donald impersonation. And I'm not sure there will be a huge drop off for this defense if Donald needed to miss some time. I do think if you're in a super flex league, you need to make sure Drew Lock is rostered. I think the AJ Brown injury looks like a bigger deal. Because Romeo Dobbs was not what they were hoping Romeo Dobbs was going to be. And I think you'll get the first half snap share. It seems like they knew that going into that game. They were not excited about putting him on the field. They were playing DiMario Douglas and Matt Collins more. I don't really want to trust any of the Patriots wide receivers with that AJ Brown. And I don't think I want to trust Drake May for the next couple of weeks with that AJ Brown. - Yeah, it's gonna be tough. We'll reevaluate the Patriots once we get full understanding of how long AJ Brown will be out. Dave, for tonight's game, we got the Rams in the 49ers. The biggest question really is, what do we do about George Kiddell? 'Cause I think everybody's starting their usual Rams. You're starting your usual 49ers, but Kiddell coming back from the Killy's injury that he suffered in the playoffs is he worth trusting against this defense? - I wouldn't have the same expectations for him, but as far as low end tight ends go, he's got just as good of a shot of scoring and even getting a decent target share and receptions is any other tight end that you're gonna look at right between, let's call it ninth and 15th in your ranking. So if you're comfortable with George Kiddell and what his upside is, of course you're gonna start him. - Yeah, I a little bit more nervous just because we, you know, he says he's good to go. No injury designation, that's awesome. Yeah, both Clay Kubiak, Dolvin's coordinator and Kyle Shanahan saying, let's just be safe about this. So I would play a guy that we're gonna talk about later, big injury to cover as well, Brock Bowers, his replacement Michael Mayer, I think just a better opportunity for Mayer in his matchup against the Dolphins, then Kiddell tonight. We'll talk about that when we get to tight ends. Now we're gonna talk about running backs. Let's show you the running back rankings for a week. Number one, the rankings one through 12 will start there and not a lot of surprises with the guys at the top. The two guys that were drafted first and second Jameer Gibbs and Bijan Robinson, Christian McCaffrey, while we may have had some season long concerns, you're gonna start him every time he's out there, taking on the Rams, as you go through the list. Heath, Ken Walker, tough matchup. We said this on our podcast today. You're starting him, how confident are you? - I am probably about as unconfident as you can be for a guy to be ranked in the top 12, but really plenty confident to start him in some capacity. - Yeah, I think that the chiefs are probably going to have to dump the ball off to Walker. They've got some serious offensive line questions against a great pass rush. So we'll see more receptions, probably the lowest or one of the lowest rushing averages of the year for Walker. - You could show the rankings 13 through 24, but I want to ask you, David, about a guy that was on the top 12 and that's Deandre Swift. Really because Kyle Menongai practicing and looking like he's gonna be back, do we have as much faith in Deandre Swift as we did maybe in the preseason when there was the thought of Menongai missing several weeks? - I'm starting him. I look at the offensive line. I think that's a strength in Chicago. I think Swift will be the lead back here. Maybe the Bears take a cautious approach with Menongai. After all, he hadn't been practicing for many, many weeks. So he's probably just going to get his feet wet here. Don't expect the same type of one drive for Swift, one drive for Menongai that we saw from this offense at the end of last year. - You see the list on the screen here. In 19, 2021, 22, 23, a lot of questions coming to play with Skataboo, his matchup against the Cowboys. They're revamped defense. Bucky Irving taking on a revamped defense for the Bengals. Marson Lloyd will talk about it in a little bit. David Montgomery against the Bills and Quincheon Juddkins against the Jaguars. Heath, I know that's not your rankings per se, but of that group, who do you have the most faith in? - I think it really depends. I'm higher than this on Marson Lloyd, but there's one guy on this list, Bucky Irving. We haven't seen Sean Tucker at practice yet this week. If that continues today and Sean Tucker, it looks like he's not going to play this week, then Bucky Irving would be at the top of that group for me. Just because last year, he had zero carries inside the five yard line. Sean Tucker had nine. Unfortunately, Kenneth Gainwell had eight, but I would have more hope in Bucky Irving scoring a touchdown if Tucker wasn't playing. - Yeah, and Kenneth Gainwell, I'm sure we'll show up on one of these next lists, 25 through 36, and then 37th to 48. We'll show you what some flex options could be, but you start to get into the mix of these guys here of are they sharing and how much are they sharing and then the pass catching running back here. So let's see where Kenneth Gainwell pops up. We'll see where the Steelers guys pop up. We're going to talk about Rico Dotto as well. When you start to look at more of these rank lists here, 25 through 36 and then 37 through 48, if we have those. But we'll start to talk about some of the start running backs. Here we go with the other guys here. Jeremiah Love is going to be a very interesting running back to discuss as well. Tony Pollard, great matchup. Do you want to trust him? I know Davey, like Jordan Mason will get into that a little bit. When we get to some of these muddied backfields here, Denver, Washington, Minnesota, even, is there, and Carolina? Is there one guy that you sort of say, okay, this is the guy in this backfield, Carolina, Washington, Denver, one of those guys that you just say, okay, I'm going to start him. I'm just going to try to avoid it because it's week one. You want to avoid it as much as you can. And the nice thing about it is it is week one. There haven't been a lot of injuries at the running back position. I have now jinxed injuries at the running back position by saying that, but for now everybody's healthy, the running backs that you drafted to be starters are the ones you'll feel good about. All right, let's start to look at some of our starts and sits because this is what a lot of people are here for to find out who we like, who are the most confident in who are the sleepers that we're looking for as well. And if you're new to the show every time you see us here on Thursdays, we're going to look at the rankings, but we're going to give you some starts and sits at every position and the sleeper that we like to target as well. So let's start with the starts here for running back. And we saw a guy in this list in Rico Dattles. So he's, I'm not confident. Love and matchup. Don't know if it's going to be a Jalen Warren week or Rico Dattles week or maybe both, because we saw that last year, a lot with the Steelers guys when Gainwell and Warren were doing well, why Dattles, and do you like him better than Warren? I do like him better than Warren. These guys are both borderline starts for me. Also, Dave's start, I like a little bit more, but I had termed my list in last. So I'm taking Dattles. I want to try it out. I'll take these dealers. I think the game script for the Steelers should be one where they're playing from ahead in the second half. Most of the reports we got from training camp is that Rico Dattles was ahead for the 1A role. And I think he's going to be better in games where they're playing ahead. Jalen Warren's probably going to be better in games when they're playing from behind. I don't think this Atlanta front is very good at all. Mike McCarthy has a history with Dattles and Dattles having some success under him as a coach. Wouldn't be surprised if he has 15 carries, two receptions and scores a touchdown, finishes right around RB20. I'll give you one other thing that I like Dattles ahead of Warren over. And that's how they've performed at the goal line each of the last two years that inside the five success rate. Dattles blows away Warren in that regard. Warren has never been good inside the five. So as far as rushing goes receiving, they're actually pretty comparable. I'd be nervous about them rotating drives. Like we talked about Chicago doing. So Warren might get the first drive, Dattles gets the second, but I bet when they get near the goal line, we'll see Rico Dattles and they're not Jalen Warren. - And it's funny to say that because I really think it comes down to who falls into the end zone because the receptions could be the same. The carries could be the same. It's a matter of does one get that touchdown opportunity or just get the breakaway run to score. So I think for me, they're better off as flexors, but I understand if you're going to start them, Rico Dattles would be the one to start. I'm going to take a chance on Basel Tutton. It's not a great match up. The Browns Run defense was really good last year and we just don't know how this is all going to unfold. Another backfield that seems to be questionable with Chris Rodriguez, but there are two things what I like about Basel Tutton this week. One, La Quinn Allen probably not going to play so we get some potential pass catching opportunities here because Allen's going to play on obvious passing down. The other thing is, they're more than a touchdown favorite. And so they should be able to run the ball here and have some success. I think Chris Rodriguez is worth using as a flex if you're stuck. You don't really love some of the receiving options or maybe how you drafted. So it's not slam dunk, start Basel Tutton, but GameScript should be in his favor. And I think this is an opportunity for the Jaguars to see what they have and hopefully start him and not or play him enough that we can start him enough moving forward for the rest of the season. All right, you guys like Marson Lloyd. I do not like Marson Lloyd as they start. So I'm going to give you the opportunity that we just transitioned to the sits here because Marson Lloyd is the guy that I would like to avoid this week. So why do you like him? I don't love him. I think we're actually like, I'm 24th and you're 25th. So it's that border of number two running back versus flex. So it seems like it's a huge border, but really it's one spot. He's a low end RB2 for me. I think he's going to be the lead running back for the Packers in this game. You don't have to worry about him splitting carries with Caleb Johnson. I don't think that's going to happen. If I can defense loss two or three starting defensive lineman from last year, I'm a little bit concerned about how they'll perform even though the Packer's offensive line. Not great, but it's a run heavy offense. And it always has been, and I think as long as Marson Lloyd doesn't embarrass himself out there, he will lead the way and carries. I think I have a good rushing average. We know he can catch the ball a little bit. Not loving him, but I think he's going to finish just the top 24 running back. And you obviously are very much more in. The thing that I'm concerned about is what we saw last night. We know who the most talented running back is for the Packers. The Seahawks know who their most talented running back is as well as the price, and we don't get enough work. And so if they're behind, surprisingly enough, they're-- I know they're on the road, but they're still under dogs here. if this defense from the end of the year. the Packers doesn't hold up because no micro parts as we saw what that was like at the end of the season last year and the Vikings are playing with the lead. I don't know if we see enough of March on Lloyd because I think you're going to use Chris Brooks on passing on situation. And so if they do that, then we don't get those high level touches that we need if they're not getting those touch and opportunities. And the only thing that I'll push back is I think everything you say was right is yes, it has been a run heavy offense. That's been when they've had a running back that they trust. We're going to find out if they have a running back that they don't have a choice. So well, they have a quarterback that they trust. So do they go with more of a pass friendly approach, which is what they were in 2023 when they did not have a running game that they trusted. So we're going to see how this all works out from March on Lloyd. So again, if you have him and he's the guy that you drafted or handcuffed with Josh Jacobs, you play him. If not, maybe something you want to avoid. All right. So the sit running back for you is Darren my love. A lot of people don't know what to do with the guy that they drafted in the third round. We don't know what's going to happen with Darren my love. No, but I don't think that there's as much upside in this match up as there is downside. Listen, it sounds like he's healthy enough to play. We've seen a lot of running backs come back from a high ankle sprain and they're healthy enough to play and they're not as effective as they were before the injury the first couple of weeks back. Tyler Algier listed as the starter on the death chart probably doesn't matter that much for the whole season might matter for the opening series. Definitely, I think matters inside the five yard line and the cardinals are nine and a half point the biggest underdogs of the week against the Chargers with an implied total of 18. So I'm not sure they get inside the five yard line. I'm pretty sure if they do Tyler Algier is going to be the running back out there. I don't want to running back in a split that is this much of an underdog in a game where they're expected to be this low score. It's just real quick. If he was healthy, would he be higher for you? Oh, for me, it's the ounces that that's that's a that's a big part of it. I also think I would have expected like week one. We're going to see more Tyler Algier kind of like what we saw last night. Then we are the rest of the year like make the rookie prove it. We'll prove it as soon as he's healthy. I'm not sure if I'll prove it this week. And I've got FOMO. I don't want to miss out on a big game from Jeremiah Love and I think he's capable of having a big game even if the Chargers run away with this one. I think he's a good pass catcher out of the backfield. Could easily see him getting some design screens and quick throws from Jacobi percent. We know the percent likes to check it out. And when they're inside the five, hey, that might be Tyler Algier on the field. That's going to be when Tray McBride starts getting targets to against the Chargers. So it doesn't necessarily help the case for love. But I drafted him. I'm excited about him. I want to put him into my line up there are a lot of running backs that I've got ranked behind him. That probably will be better than him. But I want to take the chance on the upside with Jeremiah Love in his first game. I just hope the Cardinals learn their lesson from the first preseason game that if they are losing like they're probably going to lose, do not run him out there in meaningless playing time because you need him for the rest of the season. And we need him for the rest of the season. All right. So Dave, you're going to sit Tony Pollard who has a very favorable matchup. At least one of the more favorite ones that you may have all seen. If we're basing it on the Jets defense last year, then yeah, but I kind of like some of the additions that the Jets defense made, especially since toward the end of last year, they were giving up gobs of points to running backs because they didn't have Quinn and Williams on their defensive line. We saw this offense in the preseason. There is no reason to be optimistic about Tennessee and how many points are going to be able to put up. I think he's in a split reps with Taijay Spears. I think this is going to be a duo backfield that won't be great. And I'm not sure he's going to be on the field. If there's a situation where Tennessee is actually behind in this game and the Jets build a lead, he's more of a flex for me this week. And I don't feel great starting them. I'm just hopeful that we saw, we see the guy that ended the season for the Titans. Five straight games, averaging 500, averaging 100 yards per game, two touchdowns over that span. He finally started to click with what was working there in Tennessee. Came more look better. Yes, the preseason was miserable. Right. And they changed offenses. As the type of game script, they're not going to have many favorable ones. This is one of those games where I think Tony Pollard has a little bit higher standing than he probably should. Let's talk about some sleepers for us this week and these are running backs that you might not be wanting to start, but could have some opportunities that helped them. One for you is Ducori Cross. I'm surprised by this one because this could be another ugly game for the commanders taking on the Eagles. It could be. Now, oddly, they're not near as big of underdogs as the Cardinals are against the Chargers. And again, it's a sleeper. I'm not saying he is a start, but I do think when you look at what he did last year, I think it's been glossed over like 4.6 yards per carry on that team is very good. He led all running backs in success rate as a rush, rusher. And they have spent a lot of time talking this off season how they'd really like to use him more as a pass catcher. I think the key for crosskey merit is we don't want teams to just know we're not passing when you're on the field. So I think he's going to get a chance to do that early in the season. He might fail and that might open the door for Rashad White. But I think we will see him with somewhere in the 12 to 15 Rashad Temprange, and then he's going to see two or three targets as well. He is a very talented rusher. And he's had a couple of pretty big games last year and scored a touchdown against the Eagles and one of his two games that's against them. Jordan Mason is a guy for you, Dave, that you think has an opportunity here against Packers. We know that the Vikings changed their run scheme, and it favors Jordan Mason. It's something they did a lot of in San Francisco. It's outside zone. He's certainly capable of doing well against the Packers. This is a Packers defense on paper. They look rough. I don't know. Obviously not having Michael Parsons. That's a big deal when they throw the ball, but even when they run the ball, I've got questions about the exterior part of that defense. And so if he's going to run outside toward the edges, that should open up some space form. I think he's going to be the lead back for the Vikings as well. Scott Turner was on a show that we did this week on YouTube. It's called Reality vs. Fancy. Why don't you watch it when you get a minute? And he believes that the Vikings are going to run quite a bit in this game. So I'll buy into that a little bit and say that Jordan Mason is going to be a flex play. He had 146 combined rushing yards in two games against them last year. So hopefully gets those opportunities. He had 136 combined yards. Hopefully he does that. I like the better when you're set on the base. Well, maybe he does that in one game as opposed to doing it in two. For me, Kenneth Gainwell, somebody that I'm going to play in a lot of leagues, I'm excited about his opportunity as Heath alluded to, Sean Tucker may not play. So it's one less running back in that backfield. But this run defense is going to be tough for the Bengals. I think based on the projected score, Bucky Irving is still worth using as a number to running back. But if there are chasing points, Gainwell will be on the field. And I think what we saw from him in Pittsburgh last year carries over in this offense run by Zach Robinson, who got some great production last year at a Bijan Robinson, different type of player, but 100 targets to his running back. So I think they'll use him in the passing game. Baker Mayfield's got a great history going into Cincinnati. So this game's going to be a track meet. And if the Bengals are playing with the lead, Kenneth Gainwell is going to catch a lot of passes. So in PPR could be a good start and definitely a flex. All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back and again into our wide receiver rankings, we'll talk about some of the players we like. And once we want to avoid, and again, sleepers you can trust for week number one. Welcome back to fantasy football today. We're talking about wide receivers for week number one. We're going to show you our rankings, the consensus rankings that we have for this upcoming scoring period and talk about some guys that we want to start. Some guys you want to sit and some sleepers that we think can have some production. And here's the list one through 12. So here we go. Jackson Smith and the Jigbaugh got us off to a good start. Not so much for AJ Brown, unfortunately dealing with the ankle injury. We'll find out some more about him. He's not on the list one through 12. But some of the guys that are here, so he's Justin Jefferson. Does he get us off to a good start after last year's disappointing finish? I think he gets us off to a better start that is maybe still slightly disappointing. Did they mention the possibility of the Vikings running a lot? One guy who is going to run a lot is Kyler Murray. And I fear that we'll keep the target volume just a little too low for Jefferson to be truly elite, but he'll be good. Dave, any concern with Drake London with two at Tongue of I Low on your center? Definitely, because we know that Drake London is certainly a target a little bit further downfield than somebody like Kyle Pitt, certainly more than B. John Robinson. And what do we know about two at Tongue of I Low? He does not like to challenge down the field. There's going to be a lot of pressure put on by the Steelers pass rush in this game. So he's going to want to get the ball out quick. So should get plenty of targets, a lot of catches. I just don't know how much he'll do with them. 13 through 24. You'll get a lot of the number two odd receivers that we still like, but have some more questions about. And then as we see the list here, you got some guys that, you know, part of new offense is specifically Jalen Waddle going to Kansas City. Dave is going to be a good game for him as he takes on a revamped Chiefs defense. I don't hate the matchup other than the fact that I expected to be a low scoring game. So you're going to need Waddle to get seven plus targets. He does have a decent track record of coming through for around 13 PPR points per game when he gets seven plus targets in the game. That was in Miami. Now he's in Denver, Bonix, QB upgrade for him. I think he's appropriately ranked as a number two wide receiver and toward the back into that group. Dave, excuse me, Heath. We see Malik neighbors on the list. Don't know exactly how much he's going to play. He's not on the injury report. Jim Harbaugh was kind of, excuse me, John Harbaugh was kind of little wishy-washy about how much he's going to be out there. I am just kind of, this could end up being wrong. Like, I don't have any information, but I'm just kind of assuming this is game's manship, because it doesn't make any sense to me that Malik neighbors would not be on the injury report. The Darius Slayton would be cut from the team, and that they would have legitimate concerns about whether Malik neighbors could play or not. He's not the elite number one wide receiver. He would normally be. We've got to see that first, but I'm starting him everywhere I have him. Yeah, hopefully it's a shootout between the Giants and the Cowboys and we'll get… Got a lot of great beat reporters there, hopefully they give us some information about how much Malik neighbors will play. You can see the next list of wide receivers and we'll sort of tie in one quick situation, which is the Bears. We don't know what Rommodunze status is, so right now he's ranked. We'll see if he gets through the rest of the week with practice at all, dealing with a calf injury, now that we know what the injury is. If he's out, that's going to make Romm, excuse me, Luther Bird, and that much better. You might have to find a replacement option for Rommodunze if you're planning to start him in three or three leagues. All right, let's get into the starts and sits of guys that were talking about one guy's on this list for you, Dave, and that's Christian Watson. What do we think this is going to be because you did mention run heavy offense for the Packers, but that we know that there's going to be hopefully concentrated targets for Watson, for Reed, and for Matthew Golden. It's not an easy match, though, against Minnesota. It's not that you look at the Vikings and what they did to wide receivers last year. It was really tough. And Minnesota played Green Bay pretty heavy zone in two games last year. That's never a good thing for a type of receiver like Christian Watson. But I think the targets are gonna be there. You talked about a concentrated targets. Fewer wide receivers to get looks from Jordan Love. And I think Christian Watson will be at the top of this list. I think he's a high-end flex. I moved him out of my top 24. But he's got that big play upside. The game's got a team total of 46.5, or the over-under, I should say, at 46.5. That encourages me that maybe Watson can come through for at least a solid game. And I like him as a high upside flex. - I'm really gonna have to see this concentrated target share to believe it. I just, we've got four straight years now where nobody in this offense has had more than 100 targets, no matter what position they play. And you guys mentioned the three wide receivers were hoping the targets are concentrated. Tucker Crafts healthy. Tucker Crafts might be the guy who gets the most targets in this offense. So I kind of think everybody gets six or seven targets. And Watson's the perfect boom bust wide receiver three. - Yep. - If he scores, you'll be great. If not, we'll see, 9.9 is his best game against Minnesota in the history of these two teams pointing against you. There's only been about five games for Watson facing the Vikings 'cause of injuries. But has yet to score and has yet to get double digits in PPR. He's DK Metcalf. I don't know how many times we're gonna say start him, but this is one of those weeks. - This is one of those weeks. A good matchup against the Falcons. We mentioned it earlier. They have no pass rush. One of the things that Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf has struggled with a little bit is that Rodgers doesn't really want to hold the ball on long enough for DK Metcalf to get open downfield. Shouldn't be a problem. He should be perfectly comfortable holding the ball against this Falcons pass rush. If you just heard most recently, Rodgers talking about it, he was pretty clear. DK Metcalf is his number one wide receiver. Doesn't sound comfortable with Michael Pittman yet. We know he's not comfortable with Roman Wilson. I wouldn't be surprised if we get eight targets from DK Metcalf and I think he scores a touchdown. - This could be the one game. And then maybe you try and trade him. You know what's a good move is. When you get a player like this, I know you're more higher on than I think Dave and I are. But when you get a player like this, he drafted that you don't love. Or may have drafted that you don't love. Training for AJ Brown, you know. - Give the fans a minute or something with him. - Well, I mean, it browns out for a month. Like that's not something that people can overlook. Just getting a productive player coming off a game that has name recognition. Those are always the easiest players to trade if somebody's not paying attention. All right, for me, I'm going to take Parker Washington and just hope that what we saw at the end of last season and heard and saw all preseason carries over to week one. It's not an easy matchup. Brown secondary is very good. That being said, pass rush not going to be the same. Trevor Lawrence was amazing at home last year. He's coming off a strong finish for him as well. But the last four games that we saw for Parker Washington, he averaged 10 targets per game. I think we'll see how this all works. At least we'll hopefully get an idea with Travis Hunter, with Jacobi Myers, with obviously Brian Thomas. I know that's not the order that we expect. But if Hunter plays, that sort of changes things a lot for this receiving core. Still think Parker Washington's not coming off the field. I would start him and start him with confidence. All right, let's go to the guys that we're trying to sit for this week, Dave, you got a big name and that's a mecca of Bukko. Why are we sitting in this? And I loved him so much, Jamie. And then this toe injury came along. And now I just don't know what to expect. And I don't think Tampa has to rush him back into a big target role, especially with Chris Godwin at Full Health. They like what they have in rookie Ted Hurts. Adam Azer or a podcast. So it's made an interesting case for Kate Otton to be a short area target. And I know this is supposed to be a high square game. I have no idea how effective. Bukko will be coming off of this toe injury. And he'll see a lot of DJ Turner and coverage. That's man coverage. Fangles play a lot of that. That's something that Baker Mayfield specifically struggled with is cover one types of defensive coverage. And if Bukko is lined up against DJ Turner, I'm worried about just how productive he'll be. And I think Baker will look elsewhere to move the football. So to me, he's more of a middle of the pack flex and not even like a borderline top 40 wide receiver. I don't want to minimize turf toe because it can keep guys out and it can be recurring and bother them making leave games. But I just kind of don't really think that's something, if he's playing, that's going to matter in terms of his target share. And the way that a Bukko won with those big plays, he doesn't necessarily need a huge volume of targets. I think this is the clear number one wide receiver on this team. He's been healthy enough to practice a little bit. If we get to Friday and there's real concern about how much is he going to play, I will drop him down a little bit. But he's a top 16 guy if there's no injury concern. You remember how he played last year we had a hamstring injury, right? That was a number. That would worry me much more than the toe. - Really? Well, the hamstring was weird because he popped up on the injury report and then everybody seemed to say he was going to be out then all of a sudden Friday, he came out and then he played and then he was playing through that as opposed to this where he's coming out of the injury, hopefully getting healthy. Turf toe again, could linger. We just don't know. But that situation I don't think is comparable because it was, oh no, he's hurt. Oh my God, he's playing. Wasn't probably right. Now he's maybe closer to being right. - Hopefully he is, right. - You know, it's been a month he's been dealing with this injury. I know a lot of you drafted DJ Moore to start him. I don't love the matchup against Houston. Josh Allen is not at a great history against the Texans and DJ Moore is going to see one of the toughest secondaries in the NFL whether he's going to line up against Dingley or Lasseter or see Petri in a slot. This is going to be a tough matchup for him. We only faced him one time recently in the last two years, which was 2024 when he was with Chicago was during his amazing stretch of performance and he had 53 yards with six catches on 10 targets. So the targets were there, probably be there in this game as well. I just think DJ Moore, more of a number three receiver as opposed to a must-dark eye. Let's talk about some sleeper's heath and this ties into the Brock Bowers injury. You like Trey Tucker. Is he going to deliver or is it going to be just one of these type of guys that hey, we love the opportunity, but his Trey Tucker, he's not going to produce. - I think he's right there in the Christian watching range of boom bus number three wide receivers. Now all of his boom basically happened in one week last week but he did regular last year but he did regularly see five, six, seven targets per game in an offense that was completely dysfunctional. I think Kubi X offense will be better. He just lost the guy that he was planning on throwing 25 to 30% of his targets to. Michael Mayer's not going to be a guy that takes all those targets, so like a chunk of them but this will open up one or two more targets for Trey Tucker. And most importantly, this Dolphin secondary is bad, the whole defense is bad. Should be a good opportunity for Trey Tucker. One of those guys that I like to say can make your day with just one play. He could score from anywhere on the field against this defense. - Davey, like Michael Wilson, you've been high on him this off season and I think we're going to see the Cardinals have to throw a lot in this game but what we saw last year was not a good Michael Wilson when everybody was healthy. - You know, I think that it's a different situation now in Arizona. I almost feel like Wilson and Harrison are on equal footing whereas the previous coaching staff leaned into Marvin Harrison a little bit more until Michael Wilson showed what he was capable of doing. High volume wide receivers did well against Chargers last year. They have the same type of defense this year. I figure the Cardinals are going to have to throw a lot in this game and they look better scheme. The receivers did in Arizona in the preseason than they did last year. So I'm kind of encouraged with both wide receivers and I do have Marvin Harrison right now because I think he's got a better chance to score. But I think both these guys could see North of seven targets in this game that makes me like Wilson as a flex. - I'm hopeful that it's just everybody eats. You know, so again, last year it was Harrison healthy, Wilson sucked, Wilson by himself, he was awesome. So let's see how these guys can both coexist and be productive for fantasy managers. We know who's not going to coexist with the Saints and that's Jordan Tyson because he's on I.R. dealing with a hamstring injury that opens the door for Devon Veile to be the number two receiver, probably number three in terms of targets for the Saints. But last year he averaged five, 6.5 targets per game in his last four outings before dealing with a shoulder injury that knocked him out for the rest of the season. So he was building towards something clearly the Saints wanted to upgrade there and they did with Tyson but he's not going to play right now. And this game should be a back and forth track meet between the Lions and the Saints and the Lions are missing two of their safety. So I think Devon Veile, if you are looking for a desperation play, can come through, did averaged 11.9 PPR points in those four games where he was getting target. - Do you like the idea of stashing him? Picking up Veile, seeing-- - So putting him on your bench. - Sure, you obviously don't want to go into week one saying I have to start Devon Veile but we know how injuries go and some concerns about some flex play. So like Trey Tucker, for example, if you were confused or concerned about your flex, great option for this week Devon Veile, same type of player that if you're in a deeper league, could deliver based on what his matchup is and what the opportunity is. All right, we're gonna take a break. I'm back and talk about some quarterbacks. Tell you the guys we like, the guys to avoid, the guys that could have some surprise performances that's next on F-15. (upbeat music) Time to talk quarterbacks here on Fantasy Football today. We're gonna show you the rankings, the players that we like, the guys you might want to avoid and some potential sleepers and some guys you might be starting over some big name players, specifically. It's time to bench Patrick Mahomes. I know we weren't drafting him completely as a starter but this is not a good matchup for him, taking on the Broncos. All right, here we go one through 12. Not exactly the way that we drafted these guys but Joe Borough, Lamar Jackson, were two of the top quarterbacks. Heath, I know you'll love Justin Herbert. We're gonna talk about why he's a start for you. And then we get to number four in S Josh Allen Dave who has a terrible history against the Texans. Would you consider benching him in week one? I draft a Josh Allen as the first quarterback off the board in my draft. There's no way I'm sitting in. I know it's a tough matchup, I will take the lumps. I would not use them in DFS but I would absolutely start him in fantasy. Heath, we know Jayden Daniels has as much potential as any quarterback as much upside as anybody at the position fantasy wise. Is this gonna be a good week for him taking on the Eagles defense? I think he's a must start in four-point-purpose touchdown leagues. He's a little bit more questionable in six-point-purpose touchdown leagues. It's a difficult matchup, the offensive line is in trouble but generally speaking, when Jayden Daniels gets in trouble, he just scrambles and goes finds a couple of fantasy points on the ground, so I think he'll be okay. That would be nice to see him perform at that level and as you heard me say, Patrick Mahomes, not a guy that we are considering starting as you'll see on the list of backup quarterbacks, but there are some not even top 20 potential promising guys on this list that could still do well. Jackson Dart was great against the Cowboys last year. Kyler Murray has a big opportunity in front of him against a depleted Packers defense that won't have Micah Parsons. Baker may feel great history, as I said earlier, taking on the Bengals and a great matchup as well. Jordan Love could be a good fantasy quarterback this season, Bonix as well. But we do not like these guys as number one quarterbacks. These are guys that we would start in Superflex and two quarterback leagues. All right, you saw Justin Herbert number three. I believe it's the number one quarterback for sports line, but number two for you in your rankings this week, right? So how good is Herbert gonna be against Cardinals? - He should be able to do it every once. How many points do the chargers want to score against this defense? They can name their number, they can name who scores the touchdowns. I would start just about all of your chargers. Listen, I think the only concern you might have is that it's too easy on offense and Amari and Hampton scores three touchdowns. But Herbert has been a guy throughout his career that when everything around him is right, he does really well. When things start to get a little wonky around him, sometimes he's struggled to produce fantasy points, everything around him is going to be all right in week one against the Cardinals. - I worry about what he's saying that this could be a game where the chargers can just run their way to victory. Let's not forget who their new offensive coordinator is. So of course, I like Justin Herbert, but I don't like him as much as you guys do. I'm a little nervous about him hitting that smash ceiling. - Yeah, it just feels like you have Justin Herbert you're starting, no matter where you have him, we're seeing ranked. This is a great week to be having Justin Herbert on your side and the same thing could go for Trevor Lawrence, although this Browns defense for the most part had been very good against quarterback last year, but as we know, they're missing a big piece without Miles Garrett traded away and they're changing their scheme. So I don't know if they're going to be quite as aggressive with the blitz and the man-to-man coverage as they were under Jim Schwartz and I think that favors Trevor Lawrence. This is another quarterback that people drafted and they should feel good about starting. - Yeah, and the same thing with Jared Goff, we were talking about him as a great late round option and here we go, week one, great matchup against the Saints. They allowed nine quarterbacks to throw multiple touchdowns against them last year. Four of those guys went for at least three total touchdowns and this game feels like it's going to be back and forth because the line's defense not as good without Kirby Joseph and Brian Branchback there at safety. Goff at home, always good. Last year, 21.2 fantasy points and four of his last five games in Detroit, 23.9 points per game over that span, but traditionally he's been great when he's been at home. He's the start of the week. I'm expecting to come out and have a big game against the Saints. Let's talk about some guys that we want to sit and he, if you've been the Brock Pertiguy all off season, now he's taking on the Rams and you're saying so. - You know, I might just tell you to sit every quarterback against the Rams, although Jalen Hertzin, week four and Josh Allen and week five maybe not, but this defense, even without Aaron Donald, the additions they have made, I'm not sure if they stay healthy, I'm not sure if everything at defense is talented. I don't want to start any 49ers, except for Christian McEfer. - Yeah, I mean, that kind of makes some sense, although we could see some hopefully good performances from everybody else, but yeah, Brock Party is, might be a quarterback, you might want to get away from. Not fun if you haven't seen some Gatine League, so we'll see how that goes for me as we get into it. - We'll trouble you, we want to feel better about it. - McJones had over 22 fantasy points against the Rams. Now, the Rams didn't have the right defense, yeah. Obviously, it's a much better for their top two corners. - Right, that's true. That's right, they improved their corners as well. Where else have they improved that we're forgetting about here? I could see pretty having an okay game. I like a lot of quarterbacks this week, so I had a hard time coming up with a sit. I've been going with Jackson Dart, and I'm a little bit nervous about it just because we know what Dart's upside is. We saw it when he went up against the Cowboys last year, but this year it's a new coaching staff, they want to run the football. Jackson Dart isn't being asked to run as much. We'll see if he actually holds up. And I know he's got Malignar's throw doing that, something that I like a lot. I'm just a little bit nervous about the upside. And when I'm starting a quarterback, especially in week one, I want to start the guy that has a lot of upside. Dart has some of it, but his downside is also pretty serious. - I just wonder if this is the, hey, we're going to be conservative with Jackson Dart game, or this is the, we're going to let Jackson Dart be Jackson Dart, at least for one game, set the tone for a good start for Harbaugh, Malignar's is out there. He got over 20 fantasy points against them last year. It's a totally different defense. - But if they let Dart be dark, does that mean he's going to hurt himself along the way? - If he scores 25 fantasy points before he does, I would just say like with all these concerns about the approach, it's Matt Nagy, we should have no concerns at all. - Yeah, very, very true. For me, I'm going to sit speaking to Matt Nagy, Patrick Mahomes. It's just hard to say that he's going to be a great fantasy quarterback this season and certainly taking on the Broncos with offensive line concerns, he was not, he has not been good against them. You go back to 2023 was, I'm sorry, since 2023. - Since Sean Payton got there. - Yeah, since Van Joseph. - Since Van Joseph has gotten there. 19.3 fantasy points is his best performance against them. So just not a great history in this matchup, tough situation right now. We're going to see, I think, the evolution of what this chief's offense looks like with maybe better running and hopefully, we get some good performances from Mahomes. I just don't know if we get those ceiling performances and when they're playing a tough defense, Mahomes is somebody that you might want to sit. All right, let's talk about some sleepers that we like at the position here. And I think these are going to be some fun quarterbacks that we talk about. Heath, you like Kyler Murray taking on the Packers? - Yeah, we always like quarterbacks that run the football. He's going to run at seven or eight times, probably pick up five points on the ground, even if he doesn't score a touchdown and if he does, your day is made. Plus, he has Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison against a Packer's defense that is not at full strength and probably not as good as it was last year. - Speaking of running quarterbacks, you got one of your own with Malik Welles. - And one of your favorites because you beat me in a fantasy final last year with him. I haven't forgotten about that. Hopefully I play you again in the finals this year, but Malik Welles, we know what he's capable of doing with his legs, rushing quarterback. And I think he's a little underrated as a throw or two, taking on the Raiders. I don't know what to make of this Raiders defense. They've added a lot of new pieces, Max Crosby, so there I expect Max Crosby to be great, but I also expect the Dolphins to be trailing in the game and I think it's just going to lend itself to Malik Welles going out there doing what he does, putting the ball in the air and then running it when he's not handing off to Devon HN or putting the ball in the air. He's going to run it a lot. I think he's got a lot of crazy upside in this game. - Might be the only game that Dolphins win. So we'll see how this Raiders defense looks and hopefully Malik Welles gets you off to a good start if you are starting him. The same goes for Baker Mayfield, although they'll win a few more games than the Dolphins, but he's got an opportunity here to start off like we saw last year where he was at 22.9 fantasy points for a game in five of his first six in 2025. And we may not love Abouca. We may not love everybody for the bucks, but they're healthy. And so just having all his weapons, they're having healthy offensive line and having a game where it might be back and forth. This is the highest projected total of the week. We love those type of situations. So Baker Mayfield has a chance to help fantasy managers if you do need a quarterback for week number one. We're going to come back and talk about Brock Bowers. The situation is going on with the tight end position and missing the guy that we thought was going to be the number one tight end. We'll give you some replacement options. Talk about some rankings, some starts and sits. Next on FFT. (upbeat music) Welcome back to fantasy football today. So when we did our tight end rankings, we were just expecting Brock Bowers to be first or second somewhere near the top. And then we got the news on Wednesday that Bowers is going to miss at least two games with a meniscus injury. We'll find out if it's going to be longer than that, but we know he's not going to play in week one. So you will not see Brock Bowers on the rankings as we show you the list one through 12, but you will see his replacement. Michael Mayer coming in at number 10 in our consensus rankings. We like Michael Mayer. So let's just get this out of the way. He's the starting tight end for you. Keep the rankings up there 'cause I think it's worth showing where he compares. But how much faith do you have in Mayer as a starting tight end with Bowers not playing against Dawkins? So I would actually start him ahead of Harold Fanon and Dallas Gotter on this list. He's my tight end, a right behind Isaiah likely. I think he's better in full PPR than he is in non or half PPR because the touchdown odds aren't quite as high when we saw him without Brock Bowers last year. It was about a 24% target share, which is an elite for a tight end. It was double digit PPR fantasy points per game for Michael Mayer. I think we could get that again. He's a good tight end one. - It's just going to be interesting to see if they give him every opportunity that Bowers had, but again, he played three games without Bowers last year and he was very good in two of them, great matchup. So it's worth trusting Mayer if he's still available as we discuss this morning on our podcast. In almost 70% of leagues, you can still get Michael Mayer. So I'm sure on other sites as well could be a good flex option too if you need him. Dave, you got Johan Johnson as a start. He's in our top 12 as well. What are we expecting for Johnson this week? - I think he's gonna be the number two target getter for New Orleans, at least to begin the season. We don't know when Jordan Tyson's gonna come back, but I think he's the one that actually has good rapport with Tyler Schuck. We saw it last year. I'm not sure which Lions defender will cover him, but even if it's Jack Campbell, I think he can take down some targets. Last year, eight games with at least six targets for Johan Johnson. 10.3 or more PPR points in seven of the eight. I like that floor. I will start him ahead of Michael Mayer. - Before we move on and show you the other list and talk about my start and a few sets, Tucker Kraft Heath, we don't know what to expect. What do we think's gonna be the outcome in this game against Minnesota? - I don't have any idea. I just know that he has so much upside. He is the highest non-running back in yards after catch per reception at 9.1 in the entire NFL. Three catches and he could be worth Titan six. - Yeah, hopefully he does look the part and tough matchup, but again, you'd have to Tucker Kraft, hopefully he will deliver as a number one in potential top six, Titan. You could show the list of 13 through 24. I'll talk about the starting Titan for me. It was on the other list, which is Isaiah likely. So Malik neighbors is gonna play to what extent we don't know. Obviously, we've heard a lot about the rapport between Jackson Dart and Isaiah likely. He should be second on the team in targets. We'll see about Darnal Muni and Malachi fields and just how all those guys work together. But expecting them to be chasing points against the Cowboys, I think it's a good opportunity for Isaiah likely to deliver on what we thought was gonna be a top Titan Titan, not necessarily drafted that way, but excited to see Isaiah likely in his giant debut. All right, some of the sit Titans for us. We got George Kiddell. Travis Kelsey and Dalton-Kikade, Heath Kiddled again tonight taking on this Ram's defense. First off, this Ram's defense, that's about how you need to say, second off, I'm just a little bit worried, like it sounds like everything's gone fantastic with the Achilles recovery, but we did see Kiddled in his first game back last year, played 80% of the snaps as a blocker. He's awesome at that also, they threw the ball to him two times. I am not entirely sure we get the full George Kiddled experience, and with Mike Evans now on this team, I don't know exactly what the full Kiddled experience looks like in terms of targets. And to your point, Miles Garrett now on the pass rush for the Rams might the 49ers ask Kiddled to block a little bit more as the tie it in, he's always been good at that, that is a concern. You have Travis Kelsey as a sit, why? He's a borderline starter, and maybe I'm just giving him a lot of respect because of who he is and not necessarily what he can do. I don't know if he's going to be able to get 13 targets like he did in his last big game against Denver, he might not even get half of that. I'm expecting a low scoring game, I think Kenneth Walker is going to impact this entire passing offense for Kansas City, so I'm nervous to start Travis Kelsey. All the sleeper tight ends that we talked about earlier in this segment, I would start ahead of Kelsey. I'm a little nervous about Don Kinkade, I like the long-term outlook for him. I just think in this game against the Texans, they were top 10 in terms of fewest fantasy points allowed to tight ends, Josh Allen bad history against this defense, I think it's going to be tough for Kinkade. So roster him, if you could avoid starting him this week, I would do so. I'd start Johan Johnson over him, for example, same thing with Michael Mayer, and it's interesting. You talked about your starter as Johan Johnson, he's a guy who has a sleeper. You both have Greg Dolchett, so why Greg Dolchett's for this week? He was second in the Yarspur run at the tight end position last year. There's been good camp reports about how he's working with Malik Willis, and they don't have a proven wide receiver on this roster, and it's the Raider's defense. Yeah, the Raider's defense with Kway Walker, Jeremy Chinn, these are guys that struggled in coverage last year, and even at bare minimum, I'd like to carry him on my bench just to see what happens in this game. Should be fun. Hopefully we get something from the Dolphins passing attack that we can say, okay, this player has long-term repeal. Could be Dolchus, could be Chris Bell, could be Caleb Douglas, could be Malik Washington, could be anybody. So we'll see how this goes for the Dolphins. All right, we're going to take a break and we come back. It's all your questions. Send them to us using the hashtag #AskFFT and we'll answer what you need to get your line of strike for a week one. Ravin, these up here on Fantasy Football Today with your questions and Mark wants to know, which is the better tight end start? Mark Andrews or Isaiah Lightly, Heath, who do you think? Lightly. I would agree. Get the hype button thought from Mark to do it. We appreciate that. All right. Next. Richard wants to know, needs three in PPR, Mike Evans, Garrett Wilson, Cvante Turpin, who's getting you get Return Yards, McIleman or George Pickens, Dave, who are the three? I would avoid Turpin and Lemon. Avoid Turpin and Lemon. Okay, so we'll see if the Return Yards come back to bite him, but I think you do start Evans, Wilson, and Pickens as well. All right. Next question. Mayor Kittle, Heath, who are you going with? I'm Michael Mare. Yeah, I would as well. All right. Next question. Dave, Eric wants to know, just lost hours, would you go with Greg Dolchitz or Michael Mare? Mayor is going to be the director placement for hours because you lost hours, that's the one you should pick up. Yep. I would agree with that as well. Next question. Richard also wants to know. Got three. Oh, no. We already answered this one for Richard. So, I guess we're just going to go with Evans. God. No, this time I'm going to go with Turpin, Lemon and Pickens, somebody up. He doesn't mean that. I don't mean that. Yeah. Real quick. We didn't talk about the run game for tonight. Heath, who do you like? Kyron Williams. I think Kyron Williams is going to be a low-end RB2 in this game, and Blake Korum is a low-end flex. Yeah. Just don't give up on Kyron. If Korum has a better game, they'll get over excited about Korum. If he has the touchdown, and that's the thing that separates these guys. All right. Good luck with your lineups for week number one. Make sure you check out our fantasy football day podcast where our podcasts are found. We are seven days a week. Now you can check out our mailbag on Saturday. You can check out our Sunday morning live stream on YouTube where we're going to be answering a lot of your questions. We get your lineups right. We are getting them championship worthy. We do it better than anybody else. The fantasy football day podcast, wherever podcasts are found. Brief comments for Dave Richard on Jamie Eisenberg for our great production staff. 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