Week 1 Fantasy Football WR Rankings: Starts, Sits & Sleepers You NEED to Know! (Ep. 2176)

This is an "I Heart" podcast. Guaranteed Human. Our hometown is not a test tube. 90 miles northeast of Nashville, a battle for the future of America plays out in one small town. Developers with right-wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land. We need cities on a shining hill. This is our town. A podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment and fights back. I guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you? Listen to our town on the "I Heart" radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Week 1 is here and so are your wide receiver ranks. This is the Fantasy Pro's Fantasy Football Podcast. I am Chris Welsh and with me is the great Pat Fitzmores and the great Andrew Erickson. As we are going to be going through the top 36 wide receivers for week 1, we're going to be breaking down where all the big questions are. The starts, the sits, what changes from your drafts maybe even peak around at a couple of other little extra ones in here. I will say, just as in the side coming off the RB episode, Mr. Andrew Erickson, wide receiver seems a little bit more chalky to the draft equity than running back does right now. Like what you did in drafts kind of is doing a little bit more of the answering of what you should start and who you should start at wide receiver this week. Yeah. I would agree with that. Start your wide receiver studs. Feel a little bit better about the target pecking order, especially with some of the injuries that have kind of cleared the way for some players to be the clear cut alpha in their week 1 match-up. So hopefully we can be accurate projecting these wide receivers in week 1 for everybody. And Fitsy, the rookie wide receivers seem to be some of the biggest questions. We'll kind of tackle those. How many of those actually are going to get into the top 36. But again, like draft equity kind of carrying over with, you know, less questions. I mean, I know there's obviously questions. But like with running back, we're like, what do you do with Mike Washington? What do you do with Jonathan Brooks? What do you do with Marcia and Lloyd? There's a little bit less of that at the wide receiver position, or unless you tell me different. Yeah. With the rookies, I mean, plus we've had some guys get thwarted by injuries, Jordan Tyson, McKaylemmon lost a lot of his training camp. We've got questions about the effectiveness of carnaltates, quarterback, Casey Conceptsion and Denzel Boston's quarterback, that's kind of a rough scene for the rookie receivers. Well, if you guys want to follow along with us, go to fantasybrows.com/rankings. You can check out what they look like disclaimer on this like I did in the running back episode is that this is probably the biggest week where you're going to see from when we were doing this episode to the start of what the ranks page looks like because of the people that are transferring from their draft ranking to week 1 ranking. So we have a hardcore group that have been dialing in and locked into week 1 ranks. And maybe that's even going to be a little bit more beneficial because you're going to get to see what that looks like here. But then you are going to have hordes of people that are going to lock those in on like Tuesday. So depending when you look at this, just want you to know that what we are talking about on the episode might differ a little bit more than usual to what even you're seeing on screen or what you go and take a look at for when the ranks are there. So just keep that in mind. Follow along fantasybrows.com/rankings. Gentlemen, let's take a look at the big board and we are going to start with your wide receiver ones one through 12. Mark Chase coming in at one, Puccana Cua, Jackson, Smith, and Jigba, Amonara St. Brown, CD Lamb, Justin Jefferson. Well, chef's kiss. Perfect. Nico Collins, Chris Alavi, Drake London, George Pickens, AJ Brown, Rishi Rice. Not a lot that, you know, waivers off of what you did in drafts really unless, you know, you had, like, maybe like, as a flowers that's popping up there. But this looks pretty ECR-ish. So let's talk about a few differences here. One, we've got is Chris Alavi. And Chris Alavi comes in a wide receiver eight. There's no not starting him or anything. But one of you have got him quite a bit higher. Fitsy, you are ECR, but Mr. Andrew Erickson, you are a top dog on Chris Alavi. You've got him top five this week. So talk to us about Alavi and the matchup. I think this is a mega smash spot for the Saints number one wide receiver going on the road to play the Detroit Lions Ford field, the course field of the NFL, massive total in this game. And as the undertaker, I loved a bit unders. Any game total I'm like trying to find the under. Not when it comes to Detroit. When those games are played at Ford Field, I always bet the over in those games. So I think that this is a shootout. And I look at this Detroit secondary Brian Branch Kirby Joseph, two of their main starters at safety. Those guys are both still hurt from last year. So not expecting either of those guys to play this secondary overall is very, very old. Benjamin Solak was talking about this on one of his shows and one of his articles on ESPN. Now, this is one of the oldest starting secondaries among the cornerbacks that are playing DJ Reed. Rockets in. So I think that Alavi weeks 10 on were last year when he was the only show in town for Sheet Sheet. I've been traded Tyler Shuck and taking over as a QB one. He averaged 17 fantasy points per game. That was good for wide receiver two. So I think he's a top five wide receiver this week. Pizzi, any thoughts? You got him at ECR. So there's no really big change from a target perspective. This looks really good. What are your thoughts on Alavi for this week? Agreed completely with Ericsson. No Jordan Tyson Alavi with Tyler Shuck last year 9.1 targets a game, six catches a game, 82 and a half yards a game. And yeah, the Lions big, big downgrade from Brian Branch and Kirby Joseph at safety to Avantamatics and Chuck Clark. So yeah, this is a smash spot for Alavi, I agree. Next one, this is another kind of flip here where one of you guys have got ECR, but then one are lower. Once again, Fizzi, you're actually on ECR here. And Ericsson is pushing this guy out of a wide receiver one and it's Drake London. So Drake London comes in at nine on this list. Fizzi, why don't you break down kind of the consistency at least of what you think and then we'll get to Ericsson who has pushed him out of wide receiver one. I'll keep it short, but sweet well, Falcons have to get this guy the ball. I mean, this is a blind bet on target volume. It is Drake London, it's Kyle Pits and then it's shorter throws to Bijan Robinson. That is the Falcons passing game and I just feel like London is a good bet for 12 targets. I kind of think the same thing. So Ericsson, what's pushing you out? You're not like saying pay bench, Drake London or anything like that, but he did not make wide receiver ones when he's affirmatively a top 10 guy. So what has you pushing him back a little bit and is it going to rhyme with Shmua or Shmenex or will either one of those be the reason. He rhymes with Tecnoviola to is my main issue with Drake London and if we got an announcement that Michael Penex was going to be the week one starter, I would move Drake London out because I think that's a massive shift in favor of London, not just early on the season, but for season long, if you look at the last 14 games that Drake London has played with Michael Penex over the last two seasons, he's been almost at 20 fantasy points per game. 92 receiving arts per game, 11 targets per game, elite level fantasy numbers. Now he hasn't played with Tua. So it's a little bit more of a projection, but man, I'm so concerned about this offense if Tua is the starting quarterback, especially in week one on the road at Pittsburgh. I mean, if it's not 75 degrees in sunny, what should we expect from Tua in this offense? Not a lot of goodness. You also have to want Taylor, the right tackle who falls starts on every single play. That's who's protecting Tua's blind side against. I know it's probably more like TJ Wash, but I think TJ Wash could actually look pretty good in week one against this offensive line. Cameron Wolfe from NFL Network has reported the Falcons are going to start Penex eventually. So that to me screams, Tua is going to play week one, he's going to look horrible. We're going to see Michael Penex in week two. Fair enough. The final one in this group is Rishi Rice, who comes in at 12. Pretty rough matchup. When you take a look at the, we have a matchup ratings on the ranks page that you can check out where there's five, there's no five stars in this. There's quite a few four stars, but there's three wide receivers that have a two star rating, you know, whether that takes away or not on those players. You got to March Ace. That doesn't matter. You've got AJ Brown, who's going up against Seattle, and then Rishi Rice. He's got this two star matchup, not really advantageous. He's the only wide receiver in here and half PPR that isn't projected over 12 points. And you two are both lower on Rishi Rice this week. You do not have him as a wide receiver one, not even as the top 15 wide receiver. So Erickson, why don't you kick us off on any concerns you have on Rishi Rice? Yeah. So I was definitely higher than Fitz during draft season about Rishi Rice. So I haven't been a couple spots, but definitely I'm not excited about this week one matchup. Like you said, playing the Denver Broncos, this is tough spot for him. In the one game that he played last year against Denver, seven catches, but for 38 yards. So the classic PPR scam merchant, whatever you want to call a Rishi Rice, that's what he did last year. And it was basically an uneventful stat line. Now he finds the end zone. I think that's kind of what you're hoping for and kind of bail you out. But besides Patrick's or Tam, like they have other good cornerbacks on the Denver Broncos. Jay Kwamek Millen is a really good slot corner, six lowest pass away when targeted last year. Third lowest yards per snap allowed last season. So I know that Rice plays a little bit outside a little bit inside. I just don't think he's going to get any really favorable matchups at all against any of these Denver cornerbacks. You have the fact that he's coming off an injury from last year. His quarterback is coming off an injury from last year. It's not a good spot for Rishi Rice, which is why I think he should be viewed at more as a wide receiver too. So you got the same rank. Are you concerned as well that the target distribution might be a little bit more spread out. It can't get to Rice. He can't really do anything with it. No yak. I mean, there's always touchdown equity. But what are your concerns with Rishi Rice this week? The tough matchup for sure. But then also just the overall, I think there's going to be a sea change in the Kansas City offense. And we've heard the talk that Kenneth Walker is going to be involved in the screen game for Kansas City. I mean, Rishi Rice has been Mr. wide receiver screen the last couple of years. He's met a huge percentage. of his yardage, his fantasy points, off wide receiver screens, more wide receiver screens to the running backs or in this case, Kenneth Walker, maybe some Emmet Johnson, that probably means fewer to Rishi Rice. And this offense just hasn't been good the last three years since Rishi Rice joined the team. I mean, I know he's been putting up fantasy numbers, but like to what end in Patrick Mahomes first five seasons as a starter, the chiefs ranked first, second, third, fifth and first in yards per play offensively. The last three years, they've been ninth, twenty first and twenty fifth. I just think they need to do things differently and maybe that means a little less Rishi Rice this year. We'll see if it happens. I mean, equity as far as like draft capital kind of went down though I did find myself with a share of him and I feel nervous about it in our 16 team elimination league that we're doing. I went, gosh, and especially in like a, whatever you call it, elimination, chop, guillotine, whatever it is, like having him week one. This is not a really great spot, but we'll see where how it works out. All right. But before we get to wider receiver twos, who should you start? If you're not sure who you should be starting, obviously we're here for you and want to help you with this. But if we're not around or you know, you've got late night, you're up late, sweating about a certain type of play, you can get fast, free, start and set advice on the fantasy pros with who should I start tool. You can compare your players and get instant recommendations powered by more than 150 fantasy experts that can help set your best lineup at fantasy pros dot com slash start that's fantasy pros dot com slash start. Okay. Wide receiver twos that we're going to be looking at on this list here. We've got Devonta Smith, Zay flowers, T Higgins, Tedero and McMillan, Garrett Wilson, Jalen Waddle, and the bottom half is Lad McConkey, Devonta, Adam Zameka, a Buka, Terry McClure, Christian Watson and Jamison Williams, Zay flowers is the first one that jumps up here at ECR 14, Erickson's at 12 and Fitsy, you're at 18. So what's got you down about Zay flowers? Part of this is thinking that the Colts past defense is going to be much better than their run defense. The Gendi is a really good set of cornerbacks with sauce, Gardner, Traverius Ward, Nickel Corner, Justin Wally, second year player. They're pretty excited about it. And I don't think their front seven is all that great. They do have a couple of good run stuffers up front led by DeForest Buckner, but their off-ball linebackers are inexperienced. I think this is going to be a run heavy approach for the Ravens, which is kind of their M.O. anyway, even though we don't know what we're going to get exactly from new play collar, Declan Doyle, but it's a pretty safe bet. It's going to be a lot of Derek Henry and week one, I think. And I'm just not not quite sure as sure what that passing game is going to look like. Yeah. I mean, that would make it interesting too, based on like, you know, draft capital nets that you were, but like there are a lot of people that are like safe flowers, wide receiver one season. Big touchdowns. Bogman was actually obviously on this and you have them pretty low at 18 erics and you're not there. You do have them as a wide receiver one. You're higher than this wide receiver two range. So opposite and let's talk about safe flowers. I just think that he's still going to see a decent amount of volume as the clear cut number one wide receiver. I mean, he had one of the highest target shares in the NFL last year. So even if they are running the ball with Derek Henry, I still think that when I do drop back to throw with Lamar Jackson, I think that flowers are going to be seeing a heavy amount of volume. I'm not as concerned about the particular matchups agree. I think that the cold secondary is a little bit underrated in terms of the guys that they've added, especially because I believe it can buy him is going to be the one that actually has the green dot. So he's going to be the one that's kind of calling the place because they have a little bit of an inexperience at the lineback position. But from everything that I've been reading when it comes to how Zay is going to be used, like, they're going to be moving him all around the formation. So whether it's jet sweeps, whether it's in the slot, whether it's outside and both of these cornerbacks are coming off injuries. So like, they got to buckle up and be like, no, you got to cover Z flowers this week. Again, one of the most explosive, twitched up guys, I think that this is a tough matchup for those defensive backs going up against Zay flowers. And this is a little bit more of something that Worm has talked about where we've seen Lamar Jackson have monster week one games before where he just comes out and just obliterates the opposing defense. So if that is one of these scenarios where Lamar has a big game passing even if it's just being really efficient, I think Zay flowers would be the main benefactor of that as the number one wide receiver on this offense. Agreed. Tedero McMillan's an interesting one. This is this is a little bit opposite end here of the Z flowers one his ease while I guess the ZCR is lower at 16, Erickson, you've got him actually one spot higher, but fits you have pushed. This is like a difference here, Erickson's got Z flowers a wide receiver, 12, that's a wide receiver one. Fitsy, you have pushed Tedero, Tedero McMillan as a wide receiver one. So you've got him quite a bit higher than ECR. So let's talk about the pass offense and how Tedero can continue off of last season. Yeah, he's just such an important part of the Carolina passing game. Team Akete, 25.4% target share last year, McMillan accounted for 30.7% of the Panthers receiving yardage. And I think the Bears' defense is a, a sieve like this is Kobe Bryant, the safety they signed from Seattle for a lot of money. He's going to be out most of the season. Kyler Gordon, their slot corner, don't know when he's going to be back. He's dealing with a calf, I believe. Jalen Johnson, I think he only played six or seven games for them last year, used to be a lockdown corner. He was maybe a guy who, or is a guy who could see a lot of face time with Tedero, McMillan. But he's just, like, I don't know if he's a top cornerback anymore. So this is not a defense to be feared. I think every game the Bears are in could turn into a shootout, even one with the Panthers who's offense. We don't hold in high regard. But yeah, I mean, McMillan is going to get his targets and I think he's going to produce in a week one. When we look at the matchups, four wide receivers in here are given the matchup grade of four higher, four stars to want to Smith, Garrett Wilson, Jameson Williams and then Tedero, McMillan is getting that again, Chicago. So Erickson, you got any thoughts on Tedero, could there be just an indifference of liking a few other guys a little bit more? You do have one spot higher, so you're not like negative on McMillan or anything. No, I mean, there's a lot of receivers in this range that have really good spots. So I am glad that Fitsy is also defending them honor of T-Mac. I get everyone wants to be a co-cat, Jaylen Coaker is so cool and so fun. And I agree like he is fun, but T-Mac is still the alpha in this offense. Like he is the number one guy he put on 20 pounds and somehow is faster. That's crazy. But I'm here for it, man. So I'm glad that Fits is really bullish on Tedero, because he's someone that I've tried out to waver on during draft season, not trying to overthink this guy. One offensive work of the year last season, and then we're drafting guys like Ebuca and Luther Burton over him when those guys still I think have so much more to prove when he proved from day one that I can be the number one option in my passing attack. I will go against the number one defender on every opposing team and I still will deliver with Bryce Young as my quarterback and the fact that he gets the Bears defense in week one. I think there's a chance the T-Mac haters are going to look really silly after week one. Our town is small taders by most standards, right? But to the people who grew up here, it's everything. 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On our podcast, lots to say with me, Bobby Bones and Matt Castle. We also bring in friends and mostly match friends who are current or former NFL players. Some of the biggest names in music and entertainment, and then we have some really great conversations that can pretty much go anywhere. They're great. Pac-Man Jones. After the game, the total national task force for police officers was at the stadium. Like, hey, buddy, yeah, you, Adam. - Come on. - And one of my favorite segments we do is called situational awareness. Where Bobby and I give each other real life situations and figure out what we'd actually do. - You're in training camp and the rookie quarterback has one good throwing session in front of the media. Suddenly, everybody online says he should start over you week one. How do you handle this? - You just go back out to practice the next day and wait for him to mess up. (laughing) - Listen to Lost to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. - He's one of those guys. It's like, can you imagine if he had, you know, a good quarterback? - He's a beast, man, he's such a beast. - Yeah, would be amazing. This is probably the biggest discrepancy you guys have got between a wide receiver. Though it's still a wide receiver too. So it's like an eight spot difference positionally, but it's still in the same land. And it's Lad Makonky. Lad Makonky comes in as ECR wide receiver 19 going up against the Cardinals. Solid rating, match of grade. They have the stars and they have the grades. Does give it an A20 wide receivers. We're actually giving an A or higher. Projected more points than Devante Adams comes in at 19. This ends up being Ericsson lower and fits quite a bit higher. So Ericsson, why don't you give us the case on being a little bit, again, I don't wanna say you're negative 'cause you're not, you're just like two spots lower than ECR, but talk to me about Lad because then we're gonna get a real positive case from Fitsy. - Well, I think that as a conversation you went up to the entire Charter's offense, right? 'Cause I don't think any of us can exactly pinpoint what it's gonna look like in week one because they're kind of still figuring out, okay, how is Mike McDaniel going to attack the Arizona Cardinals defense that last year their biggest issue was everybody was hurt. Like they had none of the same guys. They're getting a lot of guys back, death wise, both in their secondary and their defensive line at linebacker. So I didn't move a lot up a little bit after I dove more into just looking at his projected matchup in the slot. It looks like it's probably gonna be Garrett Williams as the Cardinals starting Nickelback. He was the second worst cornerback in terms of quarterback rating when targeted last year, third high snaps per target. He also was coming off an injury. So he was banged up last season. He's gonna be starting probably in this game. So I like Lad in terms of going up against a cornerback that was banged up and not efficient last year. Will Johnson, one of the other outside cornerbacks was a rookie last year. He dealt with injuries, but maybe there's a chance that he plays in this game. I think that there's a chance that the Chargers throw a decent amount on the Arizona Cardinals just looking at their weaknesses. They probably have a little bit more depth on their defensive line. And the fact that you have a rookie starting center. Maybe then again, like maybe you're not dying up so many past steps. So again, I am torn exactly how the Chargers will attack the Arizona Cardinals defense. But at least I'm confident that Lad has a positive match up in the slots. So I am actually interested to see if fits as extra firepower for Lad besides like that slot. That's the way it's Quentin Johnston. That's the answer. Deep balls, I ain't going to have to throw a whole bunch when it's just 60 yard plays for touchdowns on the Cardinals all day. But Fitsy, one of those big plays could go to Lad. You've got Lad almost pressing wide receiver one. You've got him at 14. So that is significantly higher than ECR. Haven't looked positionally, but I think it would be fun. If you do it around Tuesday or people can do it, go and click and you can say who is the highest on. I bet you would probably be on the much, much higher ring of Lad McConkey here. So what is your positive case for him to ball out this week? The match up against the young slot corner that I like. That's even while I agree with Erickson that with improved health, maybe the Arizona, or the Arizona defense is a little better this year. I still don't think it's going to be a top defense, probably still below average. And I'm just, I'm going to take the leap of faith and guess that Lad McConkey is a pretty big part of Mike McDaniel's week one game plan. One more we've got here. And this is one where you guys are both higher, quite a bit higher than what ECR is, one more than the other. But James and Williams comes in as wide receiver 24. And he's got a four star rating, as mentioned, projected points are right around the Christian Watson range. But ECR 24, you guys have both have him as a top 20 Erickson. You are the highest at 17, Fitsy or at 20, Fitsy. You're probably one of the loudest James and William guys in draft season as well. But Erickson, let's start with you because you are the highest one on here. 17, James and Williams, is this an all lions route here? I mean, they're all being ranked pretty high. James and Williams is definitely always has that big crazy boomer bust. But how does he correct the top 24 you? He's playing at Ford Field with Chris Olave and Jared Goff. So I think that this is just, this is a James and Williams smash spot, right? Shootout environment. These are the games that you want to play him in. And it's ironic that I'm higher on James and Williams because I was lower on James and Williams throughout the entire redraft season compared to Fits. I do actually have him in my redraft rankings basically right in line with his ADP because through different things and a couple different information I was reading about him. The fact that Sam Laporta also had a bit of a hip injury, I think that also could take a place here where Laporta doesn't come out and have a massive role in week one. Who does that benefit? James and Williams. So I think on the fast track against the Saints defense that is definitely beatable. I think the Saints are more of a pass funnel defense. They have no one besides Chase Young that I'm afraid of from a pass rush perspective. So if they can neutralize him, I think Jared Goff is going to have more than enough time to throw. And if this game is fun and back and forth, well, it's going to be James and Williams running drags in open space scoring touchdowns making a big place. So if you drafted James and Williams and you're not going to start at home against the Saints, I think you're doing it wrong. Yeah, I think he's kind of a smash start here. Too wide receiver with the flex you got to get in. But Fitsy, you know, let him do this to you. You know, can I get you to get James and Williams? It's tough, it's tough. But you're going to let Erickson do this. I hate getting out of flanked on James and Williams. It's very-- Especially against the James and Williams hater throughout the redraft season. Yeah. So after Dan Campbell took over offensive play calling duties from Johnny Morton last year, the since departed offensive coordinator, since the Campbell play calling takeover, James and Williams averaged 4.9 catches and 84.7 receiving yards per game. And yeah, I mean, part of it maybe was the fact that La Porta was hurt last season. And so those were sort of vacated targets. But La Porta is kind of banged up again. But I think it was more about the usage in just not as many go routes for James and Williams. More easy completions that let him get the ball in stride and use that just sprinter a world class speed after the catch. We saw some really big plays off these little crossers and stuff that he would turn up field and take for a long way. So I just think that usage is going to stick. It's good for him. And we are looking at a potential shoot out with the Saints as Erickson noted the course field of the NFL. Lions implied Vegas total for that game is 28.25 points. They're expected to put points on the board and I tend to agree with that. We can all feel that what is it going to be? Jamison Williams, 15 yard out. Balls right at his knee. He scoops it up and he bucks it for 40, right? And he's just going to go. He's going to be 40, 50 yard touchdown that he catches at his ankles and he just goes as classic Jamison Williams. And the insiders league I drafted Gibbs because I had a 101 and the quarterback I went with was Jared Goff and I commented, yep, I'm trying to capitalize on all of the lines touchdowns. And then Jimmy, whatever marketing guys, comments. And there goes another Jamison Jet Sweep touchdown. No, no. Yeah, yeah, let me get the cultured from it, but you can benefit from this spot. All right, let's look at the big board. Those are your wide receiver twos. Big board for wide receiver three. This is wide receiver 25 to 36. And guys to talk about in here. Again, it is felt, I built the story up of like, hey, guys, this is felt very chalk. There's not a lot of craziness. There actually is one. And I'm going to hit it wasn't really on our sheet because if there's one name that from where they're being drafted to where they're being ranked this week, doesn't add up. And it's number 25 Malik neighbors. Malik neighbors comes in at 25 on this list with a five star rating against the Cowboys. Roman Dunes, it comes in at 26. We've got Mike Evans Luther Bird and Parker Washington at 29 DK Metcalfe at 30, the back half DJ Moore Marvin Harrison, Cortland Sutton, Carnell Tate, Chris Godwin, and Brian Thomas. So I didn't have this originally. But let's talk about it for a second. Malik neighbors dropping down to 25. I think everybody has a hesitation, of course. I think him showing up at a hesitation just because, you know, the timeline is moved up, but he's been in practices. 25 does not designate anybody sitting him or anything like that. If you're in a two wide receiver league, okay, he's 25. He's not started there, but he's most likely got to be some of you're going to ideally want to start over anybody in a flex, especially if you do two flex, if you do one flex. But I'm going to throw this to you guys. Betsy, you kick us off here. Is there any hesitation on Malik neighbors? I don't know where you have him. He comes in at 25 on this list. It's a great matchup. Is he a dicey start this week? Or do you think we should just hedge in the valuation of having a couple guys over? You know, maybe you just want to avoid him off of week one. I want to avoid him in week one, if I can help it. I've got him at wide receiver 29. I just think that if he plays, it's not going to be a full complement of snaps. Interesting. Erickson, what about you on Malik neighbors? I wasn't expecting 29. I thought there might be a little bit more pushback on a little bit higher. So avoid or get him even in flex. What is your rank and what do you think about neighbors? Yeah, I originally hadn't ranked much closer to his redraft ADP thinking that if you're drafted Malik neighbors as wide receiver 12. Are you not going to. to start him. It's really weird because a lot of the rancors obviously don't necessarily have Malik neighbors on all of their teams. So it's kind of a weird dichotomy of thinking about, okay, where to see finish in week one. I would agree with Fitz that it's probably more likely he's a wide receiver 24ish type of finish in this particular week his first game back. But the fact that it's the Dallas Cowboys and their secondary is still probably their biggest weakness on their defense. What would you call that secondary? Erickson, what would you call it? Bons. Bons. Exactly. Thank you for nailing. All right. There you go. You know, they did have a dynamic safety during the NFL draft. So they haven't proved defensively. But I think that Fitz makes a really good point where I think we're probably better up about tempering expectations. We still don't even know if he's like a lock to play in week one. And if he's not playing a full confidence snaps, then yeah. So I think that I have to move him down as well. Closer to where the ECR has him. I was not expecting. I actually thought when I brought that up, you could be like, no, no, you got to get him in. And he just we don't we're ranking him low and we're just kind of hedging. I didn't expect you guys to be like, yeah, I don't really want to start him. So when you said 29 real quick, Fitz, do you have neighbors or DK Metcalf. Metcalf is 30 on this list. I've got, yeah, I've got Metcalf lower at 32. And I don't feel good about that. I think I'd probably start Metcalf over neighbors. So I think I've got to move neighbors down a few more spots. I would say too that there is like an element of because they're playing on Sunday night football, depending on how your roster is being shaken up in terms of when you have to make certain starts at decisions. There's also a chance that we don't know if he's going to play leading up to that game. So you might have to make the executive decision of, okay, Sunday comes. Malik neighbors is still TBD. Do you want to risk taking a zero if he doesn't play in week one? Or do you pivot and go in a different direction? I think that's another interesting point about for my roster management standpoint that neighbors also brings that type of risk because they're playing on Sunday night football. Yeah. And it's interesting too. Like I guess I'm our stare at it. If you really were having to make the decision, it is tough to be like, oh, yeah, I'm just so much more trust neighbors in the state that he's in over a dunesay and Evans in burden and Parker Washington. Like those are the guys that are above or right below in the ranks. And it's like, well, I think you can make a justification of why those guys might be higher speaking of Parker Washington. Technically, you guys all have Parker Washington higher because Fizzi said 25 is neighbors, but Fizzi, you've got him at 28. Erickson, you've got him at 25. So Erickson, you're the high guy, almost a wide receiver to little breakdown of Parker Washington. Not that you're like crazy, more optimistic. I am curious at 25, who's right under him? Who did Parker Washington jump for you versus what we're going to get with Fizzi here? So I actually moved him up a couple of spots. So I have him at wide receiver 22 now. So he's ahead of guys like Christian Watson, Mike Evans, Ed Boca McClaren. I just think he's going to pick up where he left off last year. I see no reasons why we wouldn't see the exact same type of production from Parker Washington. The job was we're playing at home. I think they're playing in a beatable defense against the Cleveland Browns to talk about how the Browns are not nearly as a fearsome of a unit when they play on the road. Brian Thomas Jr. is going to get a lot of coverage from Denzel Ward, who is their best cornerback and Parker Washington is just going to be out of the slot. That's exactly what I'm expecting. And that's where they're going to attack the weakness of this Brown's defense. Jacobi Myers has also been dealing with like this weird wrist slash thumb injury thing. So maybe if he's limited in any capacity, I just think that all passwords are going to continue to lead to Parker Washington. Fancy, are you disgusted when you hear Parker Washington over Christian Watson, Mike Evans? I was a little gross, but that's what it is. That's where he's being drafted, but you are a little bit lower than that, especially when we hear he's jumping into a wide receiver two. So what are your thoughts on Parker Washington? And what do you have to say to Erickson by putting Washington over Watson? Be mean. Yeah. I don't agree with that. I would rather have Watson, both for week one and for my fantasy team for the entire season. Bits. He's the nicest human being on the planet. That was him being mean. That was him. I'm like being mean. And he's like, well, I don't agree with it. He just the night you're the best. Respectfully disagree. I do agree though. Like I'm kind of bullish on Washington for week one for the same reasons Erickson mentioned just the fact that Denzel Ward, I think he is a guy who will shadow an outside receiver and Brian Thomas is the guy that he's most likely going to shadow. So yeah, should be good usage for him. My only concern is that maybe it's a run friendly game script for the Jaguars. But then again, I do think that Browns are probably going to be easier to throw on than to run on this year. Now the next wide receiver actually did mention and you kind of you did say it fits where you've got DK Metcalf a little bit lower. His ECR is 30 this week. Erickson's even lower. So that's going to be a big discussion. But Vincent, finish off with what you're saying. I use the wrong name when I use DK Metcalf, but he is that kind of break. But it seems like there's a tear break when you look at Parker Washington to the DK Metcalf. But also you see DJ Moore go down there and actually be really curious of if you have any thoughts to throw on DJ Moore as well. But DK Metcalf coming in at 32. Is he higher or lower than DJ Moore for you? I've got DJ Moore ranked one spot higher and lower to yeah, I'm just the DJ Moore thing. I'm just didn't look so good in Chicago the last couple of years. The yards per out run numbers were pretty awful. But am I overthinking it? Is it just a matter of having what? Why am I not holding Josh Allen's number one receiver in higher regard? And also guy who has popped playing for Joe Brady before. So maybe I'm making a mistake in having DJ Moore as low as I've got him ranked. I guess the thing you could say in favor of starting DK Metcalf if you're on the fence with him this week is that Aaron Rogers just said quote, we got to get the ball to DK. He's our number one for a reason. So anyone who was thinking maybe Michael Pittman was the wide receiver to have in Pittsburgh. Apparently Aaron Rogers disagrees. The only thing I worry about is that DK has always been sort of Moore and Ariards receiver than a yards after catch receiver. Although last year when he had his big games, it was because he had some long catch and runs which kind of out of character for him. And since Rogers is just not a guy who's willing to take hits anymore, you just wonder if they're going to be a lot of Ariards for DK Metcalf because he seems to Rogers seems to favor the quick release stuff and just get the ball out as quickly as he can. Yeah, it's funny because that's how much can Metcalf like how many times can we see him do that like two yard out, you know, or even go negative two yards and try to just do the screen pass like Rogers really didn't want to but Ericson you and I we did the extra point podcast and we were kind of talking about this in that like you were maybe changing your tune because of the Pittman versus DK stuff, but you sir hate DK Metcalf. You've got him at 39. So you want to do a live update or do you want to just want to just trash him? I just don't have his quarterback to be to be frank and I do think Metcalf is a little overrated, especially when you look at how much money he's being paid compared to other wide receivers. I don't think that he's production nearly matches that that being said, if Michael Pittman is a non factor in week one or early on the season, then yeah, I got to adjust my priors, even though I think stylistically Pittman fits more with what Aaron Rogers does as more of a checkdown quarterback at this point in his career. DK Metcalf can win down field. He can create plates after the catch. I don't love this matchup for him, particularly just because AJ Terrell is like probably one of the one bright spots on this Falcons team, especially on the defensive side because they have no pass rush that being said, he can't cover DK Metcalf forever because they don't have a pass rush. The guy that they had last year is going to be suspended for half the season. So I think that Metcalf is a good wide receiver three play this week. My only other concern with him just from an upside perspective, if he doesn't rip off a big play, I think that this is going to be a big rico doubtful game. I don't think the Falcons can stop the run at all. And I think that even though it seems like it might be out of Mike McCarthy's identity as a guy that has traditionally called more pass happy offices, I feel like there is a match up here where they can expose a pretty weak Falcons interior with a guy like Rico Dado who we know Mike McCarthy had a relationship with back when they were both in Dallas. So to keep Rogers say upright, don't force any more hits on him. I think that the stills could just easily win this game, both the Falcons out the field just by running the football, playing defense. So maybe that limits Metcalf ceiling a little bit. Did I hear you different? You said wide receiver three, but you have them on 39. Did you give a different rank? Are you still 39? I got to move them up. Okay, move them up. Okay, it's like 36 or something. Okay. Final one in this tier. And then we're going to get a deep play that you guys like this week is Colonel Tate. So get into this rookie side here. Colonel Tate comes in at 34 four star matchup against the Jets, but it's the Titans. You guys split the uprights here. Fitsy, you're a little bit against ECR, Eric's in your tiny bit on it, but you guys are both in the general range. Fitsy, what are thoughts about Colonel Tate for this week? I mean, rookie coming in, they looked horrifically bad in preseason, just kind of like as an in general. They believe, obviously, Salah, they're banking on it with Cam Ward, but do you think Colonel Tate is going to be a slow start or is going to come out banging here? What are your thoughts? I'm a little worried about the slow start. And that's why I'm just a tad behind consensus. Like, I don't know if the preseason was necessarily carry over, but they certainly were not reassuring. And I just worry that Colonel Tate is a downfield receiver. And for him to be able to make plays on the ball like Cam Ward has to be able to put it in his general vicinity. and based on what we saw in the preseason, like my confidence is, is not great that he'll be able to do that. Ericson, what do you think? Do you have any confidence that he's a strong play? I mean, you don't have him breaking inside the top 30 or anything like that, but you are slightly above the ECR. I think at 32 right now. So what do you think about putting him out there in week one? I think that he's a fine ride receiver flex play. I think that there is a bit of a leap of faith. It'll be his first NFL game that actually counts. And I do think that matters in terms of they actually will be scheming stuff up for carnal tape. Robert Salah talked about after one of their preseason games, how it was a very strong training camp for carnal tape. I know there's been mixed reports about him in the preseason games, but in training camp, he has looked as advertised and Salah also talked about how they were running their vanilla offense. And when it's time to game plan and get people to rock, we're going to get the rock to carnal tape. That is from the head coach. So I like hearing that for our prospects for carnal tape in week one. I also look at this Jets secondary. The safeties are upgraded from last year, but the cornerbacks are still bad. So that's an advantage. I think carnal take and take advantage of every time I bring up the Jets defense, Deeper always says Brandon Steven says hi. Brandon Steven says hi. So I think that carnal take and take advantage of some of these more vulnerable Jets cornerbacks. So I think they can at least be a wide receiver three. Well, that takes us to the deeper plays. And I'm actually going to jump to fit see for this one because Fitz, you might actually agree with some of those soft cornerbacks, but you're on the guy that I'm with you on. If we're going to be picking outside the top 36 wide receivers that you think are strong plays this weekend, you're going to go on the other end of that wide receiver side for the Titans. Wanda Robinson. And I have him ranked one spot behind carnal tape. And half point PPR, full point PPR. I'd rather of Wanda. Just straight up. Look, if you've got a struggling offense, why not get Wanda Robinson some easy little completions. You know, he is a low A dots. Erickson would refer to him as a PPR scam artist. But that might be a way for the Titans to keep the chains moving with some of these easy little catch and runs for Wanda. And by the way, Wanda was worked extensively with Titans offensive coordinator, Brian Dable in the past. Like that's a good working relationship. And it's made Wanda a very successful PPR scam artist. So maybe we see more of the same in Tennessee. All right. Erickson, what do you scamming for us outside the top 36 kind of a deeper wide receiver that you like this week? I like Rashiche Heat for the saddles here going against my New England Patriots. I can tell you who they're going to use Christian Gonzalez on. It's going to be Jackson, isn't it? So that means you're going to get Rashiche Heat matched up with a guy Carlton Davis, who is one of the most boomer bus cornerbacks in the NFL. There are times where he looks like a top five walk down guy and there are times like he doesn't look like he knows what he's doing. So I think that she is just vastly underrated. I think he's been underrated all draft season because of the weird circumstances he was put in last year. He was breaking out all over the place with the Northern Saints, but then he got traded mid year to the Seattle sea ox. And they just never really found a great role for him in that offense because JSN with a 30% target share was cooking their run game was really efficient with that Charbonne and Ken Walker. So they didn't really need to change everything up to okay, we got to get Shaheed involved. It was okay, we have Shaheed, but we don't really need him. I think that that's going to be an extra element to their offense this year with he has a full off season with a new off decorinator with Sam Darnell. And I just think Shaheed is really talented. So I think this is a spot where he could see a decent amount of volume because you're going to get Gonzalez on JSN. And I'm a believer in Shaheed's big playability. So I think that we're talking about waivers in week one. I think Shaheed's going to be a top of the list. There you go. Why do you see the top 36 and a deep play option for all of you? If you want to check even way beyond this, you got some big deep crazy league, go to finisepros.com/rankings. You can check out all of the ranks. PPR standard, half PPR, obviously, which we were talking about here, whatever format you can kind of take a look. You can see what the projections are. They're on the ranks page. You can see the matchups that we've talked about and just a reference point of what we've been going through with the expert consensus ranks, which will be updated all the way up into week one, all the fantasy people out there that take part in the contest, the in season contest. They're going to be putting their ranks in and you're going to see where it plays out. You can see if some of those big decisions can be helped for you. And if you need a little bit more remember that who should I start tool? It is powered by ECR and everybody's ranks. So make sure you go and check that out today fantasy pros.com/start. It's going to help your season. And hopefully this helped you. Thank you guys so much for hanging out with us. For Pat Fitzmoreson, Andrew Erickson, I'm Chris Welsh. Good luck in week one. We'll talk to you next time right here on fantasy pros. Thanks for listening to the fantasy pros, fantasy football podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple podcasts at fantasy pros.com/review or on Spotify. Follow us on X, Instagram, and TikTok at fantasy pros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/fantasy pros. Developers with right wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land. This is our town. Listen to our town on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Brett Coleman and I'm Trevor Sikham. If you love football and want to understand what's really happening on the field, check out our show NFL Pro. Every week we break down the biggest plays, trends, and matchups using exclusive next-gen stats, insights, and NFL content you will not find anywhere else. 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