Week 1 Rapid Reaction w/ Daniel Dopp & Liz Loza

[Music] What's good friends welcome into fantasy focus Monday morning rapid reaction alongside Elizabeth Loza. My name is Daniel Dopp a little behind the scenes here pulling back the curtain. Liz and I are taping this Sunday night before Sunday night football is it's 815 my time that means it's only 515 year time I'm so freaking jealous that it's not even dinner time where you live yet. No the sun is still shining I have a whole evening ahead of me but who cares about that because behind both of us was an exhilarating day of NFL football. Oh so much fun we're going to talk about it rapid reaction of our biggest take away but first and foremost we're going to quickly get through a couple of injuries. Outch baby very out. We're going to start with the scariest moment of the day it was Kyler Murray who was concussed in the first quarter on a play that drew an unnecessary roughness penalty he was ruled out for the remainder of the game now we'll discuss the Vikings and Packers match up a little bit later but obviously we need to have further information to determine what Kyler's prognosis will be moving forward. Zay flowers in the Baltimore Ravens game exited early with a hamstring issue he was also did not return to the contest but before he did leave he gifted fantasy managers with 26 fantasy points in that same effort his fellow wide receiver Jacobi Lane heard his wrist and also left the contest we have to keep tabs on both of these receivers flowers was on the way to having an incredible day Baltimore hosts the Saints in week two when we look at the commanders Eagles game my guy Chig O'Conquo who was making his Washington debut tweaked his hamstring he left now I am interested to see if that was why Antonio Williams was able to be so productive in the second half no Williams is a rookie slot receiver I have a really good feeling about him moving forward so let's monitor that situation finally lad McConkey my goodness he took a crazy hard hit from Cardinals linebacker Mac Wilson hurt his chest did not return and interestingly in that match up because McConkey is such a fantasy name and star Daniel you had rostered him and we're playing him against me in a match up that we were you don't want to would you not want to maybe I should you know that is a thing you did get a little bit of a bump because of that he was crushing until that was he was unfortunately but we will definitely monitor the lead McConkey situation hopefully it is just a this week kind of a thing and we'll be able to find out more from Adam Schaefter as we move on but yeah hopefully I get more from my guy rad McGronkey as we move into it too all right Liz let's dive into a new segment that we have called what the fantasy boy that escalated quickly I mean that really got out of hand fast while the bears game got out of hand in like a really good way because Ben Johnson said he wanted the bears to be the highest scoring offense in the league and he made good on that promise at least in week one because the bears panthers contest was the highest scoring week one effort in NFL history and yet this is the WTF moment Colston Lovlin one of the most highly drafted and coveted players posted a goose egg for fantasy managers he was unable to convert either of his looks though it is worth mentioning that one of them sailed right through his fingers in the end zone so while the stat line obviously stinks I am not scared he is highly valued I'm gonna lean into it the bear's host of Vikings in week two another divisional matchup while it may not be ideal from you know a Minnesota defense versus Chicago offense as it pertains a tight end position perspective it is worth mentioning that the Vikings gave up 65 yards to Tucker craft in week one so I'm not pushing the panic button on Lovlin just yet okay not pushing the panic button but zero points in week one when they scored an NFL record Liz Lose what the that's the thing what the heck happened there crazy how about my guy Christian Watson can I tell you that it's really tough when you talk down about a guy all draft season only for him to come out and smash in week one here's a thing when you're talking draft season I'm worried about season long prognosis but week one is a weekly game I'm just trying to beat my opponent in week one and Christian Watson helped you do that six catches 147 yards two tutties and he had eight targets there is a reason for me to be concerned about whether or not he's going to be consistent and healthy for the entire year but Liz when this dude is healthy this is what he brings to the table as a field stretcher for Jordan love 100% Christian Watson may not be the most targeted receiver in the Packers offense but he is the one with the highest ceiling and he proved that particularly on an 81 yard grab against a not wait we love these division rival games to open a season like this is my favorite thing in week one is just to see the clash immediately I didn't work out for the Packers who are now last place in the division ultimately but Christian Watson ceiling and volatility were both baked into his ADP I am feeling very good about him and I'm feeling even better knowing that he plays the jets in week two oh mama all right let's dive into our biggest takeaways from the week and here we go well let's start with two running backs that prove to be worthy of the 1.01 picks both Jamir Gibbs and Bijan Robinson cooked in week one now Gibbs touched the ball 34 times for a total of 186 yards and two rushing scores 33.6 fantasy points in week two he will see the bills but we still love what he did you know Dan Campbell said that he wanted Jamir Gibbs to be his bell cow and he's doing just that over in the ATL Bijan Robinson who traveled to Pittsburgh touched the ball 29 times for 173 total yards as well as a receiving touchdown no to a tongue of Iloa no problem Cooper Rush just handed that ball checked it on down to Bijan Robinson and earned fantasy managers over 31 fantasy points in the process by the way Bijan gets the panthers in week two we're going to talk about DeAndre Swift a little bit later but we like that match up for Robinson yeah both of those running backs absolutely smashed this week how about a wide receiver that we didn't expect Liz in Jalen Coker oh my gosh age for 138 and two touchdowns here in this game against your Chicago Bears in part of this this is a little bit of game script because the panthers just had to say you know throwing they had to keep up with all of this one but then why did Teterola Macmillan only have five for 75 are we worried that maybe the sleeper is waking up and becoming a bigger part of this offense I'm not worried about it I think it's great and I do think you're right the game script needs to be factored into this equation and also coverage we know the TET is the number one wide receiver and was drawing the tougher defensive coverage here I think that Jalen Coker is certainly after today worthy of topping Eric Moody's waiver wire list today as well yes I'm with you on that all right let's talk about the next one how about Derek Henry I mean listen we talked about how Derek Henry be an older running back sometimes I've said some maybe not great things about over 30-year-old running backs but Derek Henry is not one of those guys he's got a body that seems like it just won't quit and we saw that 24 carries 144 yards how many touchdowns did he have three three a hat trick for Derek Henry and you know what I think is the most interesting about this is that there was I don't know not just because of his age and because of the odometer rating if you will on on Henry but the fact that there was a new regime coming new coaching regime coming over the new offensive coordinator and Declan Doyle said my goodness I want to say right after the calendar shifted into 2026 that he wanted to quote hunt big plays and my goodness at least for one Sunday he did that both with Derek Henry and with the offense as a whole mean Derek Henry had at least one run over 30 yards so that running back cliff the people like to talk about he ain't on it yet no no and Lamar Jackson looked fantastic especially when say flowers was healthy those two looked great while they were out there so I'm very excited to see what this offense looks like next week against the Saints what about David Montgomery Liz I got to give you some props you were talking about this dude the entire offseason and then he comes out also pulls a hat trick out of his pocket here we go girl girl congratulations thank you thank you yes here's a really cool stat David this was David Montgomery's first multi-rushing touchdown game since week three ironically against the Ravens last season when he was a member of the lion so you know I think we have to temper expectations but all of that Woody Marx is going to steal now David Montgomery heard y'all calling him old and he said nah oh girl the perfect rb2 right now all the things that we talked about it was almost it looked exactly like you had thought let's run the ball as good as we can they tried to play good defense turns out Well, Josh Allen still is very good at quarterback position. But anyways, let's move ahead and talk about the other side of that one, DJ Moore kind of heard the same thing. We were like, you know what? No, no, no. Against the Texans, you got to fade this guy. And then he shows up with five for a hundo and a touchdown, 21 fantasy points in his debut. Another former bear just showing folks that he needed opportunity, not that he was washed, that Josh Allen in fact had been begging for a reliable downfield threat for years. And he finally got it in DJ Moore. You know, there's a lot of talk to heading into this game about like Moore being used as a decoy. You guys, DJ don't overthink this. Josh Allen needs something. And when Josh Allen asks for something, he's Josh Allen. So he gets it. And DJ Moore is the player that the front office decided to gift Josh Allen to. Y'all, DJ Moore, even though he's not flashy, even though he's not 24 years old, he can still produce and he is still attached to the best quarterback in football period. I'm with you on that one, Liz. He looked fantastic here and we can one excited to see what he looks like next week or maybe not that excited against my lines in week two. Girl is Gino cooked or not cooked? No. Okay. It's the opposite of that. Gino can still cook. Gino is still stable. You know, we play this little game on Fantasy Focus Countdown, FFC, the show that you and I do on Sunday mornings. There's this little segment called the Survivor segment and I decided that I was going to take the jets because I believed in the stability that Gino Smith could offer. And I also thought that that stability might, by extension, beyond this little survivor game, help stabilize Garrett Wilson's floor. For both of those things happened, I mean, Garrett Wilson converted six of seven for 79. Is it exciting? No. But does that mean that via volume and decent efficiency, he can provide low and wide receiver numbers? Sure. Does it also mean that I get to crow and insufferable about next Sunday when I'm on set with you because I picked the jets, which everybody bucked at? Both things are true. Yeah. I'm with you. What we saw from the jets today, whether you liked it or not because you watched the game, was what we want in Fantasy Football. It was a two-headed fantasy attack and Breeze Hall at the running back position and him featuring Garrett Wilson. He had seven targets, the next closest wide receiver or anyone else on the team was three targets. Clearly, the number one wide receiver there. You know who wasn't the number one past target in his offense, Liz? Are you going to say it wasn't going to win again? Yeah. What happened here? And Bucky Irving took over. We were all in on Gainwell being the guy we hyped him up, especially with that past catching ability and then not only did he disappoint from a running ability, but it was Bucky Irving with seven for 48 on seven targets. I think that is the most surprising part. Now I will totally own this. I wrote about how I was down on Bucky Irving. I pounded the table for Gainwell in PPR because of his past catching ability all summer. I will fully own it and I was definitely surprised. Not so much that Irving led in terms of carries, especially with Sean Tucker not playing, but that Gainwell who's coming off of this career season from a past catching perspective would just manage one target and one reception while to think that game in general against the Bengals, the Bucks Bengals game was there's a lot going on in Tampa Bay. Yes. I'm with you. I'm with you. We got to figure some things out there because that running back room is going to be something interesting to figure out. All right. Really quickly. We got two more things. One more thing I want to talk about before we move on. Justin Jefferson. Unfortunately we talked off the top, lost this guy in Kyler Murray. The Carson Wentz did the best that he could to give us exactly what we needed, eight catches on nine targets for Justin Jefferson, 92 yards and most importantly two targets in the end zone, 31.2 fantasy points. Is this one of those things Liz where it's just like, well, of course, we knew that the value you were getting on Justin Jefferson at the end of the first round was going to be too good. I mean, I think that my issue with the argument was that everyone was expecting Kyler Murray to be the savior, but I don't think the Kyler Murray needed to be the savior. I think everybody was confused about the fact that you know that J.J. McCarthy entered this game as the Vikings emergency QB3. Yeah. Right. I think we were so like the smoke of the J.J. McCarthy bomb that hit confused us about Justin Jefferson's ability to produce despite the talent under center and he does have a rapport with Carson Wentz. So as long as Justin Jefferson is buoyed and producing, I'm not really concerned with who's under center. You look pretty happy here in week one, he's getting the football, especially when they upset the Green Bay Packers, which means the Packers are in last place in the NFC North just saying. Love that. Gotta love that. All right, last one. I really don't want to talk about this, but I know we have to because there were so many massive fantasy potential players in this game. The Chargers. I mean, I think that we nailed Lad Maconky five for 82 and it touched down on seven targets and he left early, unfortunately, but like he was looking like we had expected as the number one target in a Mike McDaniel offense with Justin Herbert. That's a potential elite upside. Everyone else it felt like just sort of disappointed Quentin Johnston, I know he had six targets, but he didn't really deliver Amari and Hampton, super grateful that he found the end zone because he was not utilized as a pass catcher, otherwise it would have felt like a terrible day for him. Were we way off on the Chargers in this McDaniel offense, or is that an overreaction here in week one? I think it's a bit of an overreaction in week one. I think could we have really just underestimated the Cardinals given the new regime that was coming in, by the way, one LaFloor brother, very happy, the other one, again, quite literally upset. Yes, I think that maybe especially the run game, right? Because we saw Jeremiah Love make his NFL debut and so much of last season for the Cardinals was a below average run game, which I think had, which meant that the offense kept flailing like I am to get out the sentence, right? Now that there is an established run game, the offense can find more of a foundation. It can find more balance and so I think I'm unsure if we just underestimated the Cardinals rather than overestimated the Chargers. I want to see how this Boltz Squad responds in week two against the Raiders, so there is a good match up for them. I'm with you on the end. There is no excuse for them in week two. No, no. One thing that did not change, even with Drew Pettsin, the OC that used to be in Arizona, now moving on to Detroit Lions, Tremac Brite is still good at football, 9 for 9 for 5 when a touchdown on 13 targets. That guy is going to be amazing no matter what. All right, Liz Lose, let's do one final segment before we get out of here. Just when I think you couldn't possibly be any dumber. You go and do something like this, and totally redeem yourself. Liz Lose. I did admit that I was wrong about Bucky Irving, but I got a lot of slack for pumping up DeAndre Swift in the week one edition of Facts vs. Feelings the Column. I was very excited about him, and we just talked about two other running backs that managed hat tricks. Well, DeAndre Swift was another one. He carried the ball 18 times for over 120 yards and three rushing scores on the matchup was solid. The Panthers did put a lot of resources into this defense to pump up the run defense. But as we like to say, both you and I regularly evolution takes time. Transitions don't happen overnight. And we obviously saw that not only is DeAndre Swift ultra dynamic, and the clear RB1. Also, if DeAndre Swift keeps blocking the way that he did in this game, he's not leaving the field. It is worth mentioning that Kyle Menungai did manage 100 rushing yards, and he found the end zone. He had an incredible 61 yard run that was awesome. I think though that had more to do with the matchup than with volume, so I wouldn't rely on a ton. But I do think that Swift is the definitive RB1. And with so many field stretchers, even if they didn't get fed necessarily the way we wanted them to, in this contest, Swift is going to find holes and produce on a regular basis. He looked unbelievable this week. Revitalized. He did. He looked revitalized. It's basically if you've played running back for the Detroit Lions, I mean, Jimier Gibbs look great. Dave and Montgomery look great. DeAndre Swift. Maybe that's what it is, Liz. Maybe that's. Well, who was the OC when he was in? Okay. And that's now his head. And he did won't be Pippin, but, you know, Ben Johnson might have a touch. I want to say something. I got my Drake call wrong. Drake may call. Drake, Drake may may call wrong because I still trusted him this week when I shouldn't have against Seattle. To be honest, heading in to halftime, he had 10 fantasy points. He had almost 40 yards rushing and a passing touchdown. I felt good. And then he fell apart. But you know what I wasn't wrong about. The number one quarterback in fantasy football. Josh Allen. Yeah. I think the dude was unbelievable if there was one. One person to say, you know what, no matter what I do, I'm going to have him as my quarterback one every single week. It's Josh Allen because he is Superman, 334 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 23 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns at the goal line. The number two quarterback in the game, 35.6 fantasy points only behind your guy, Caleb Williams, who had over 37 fantasy points in week one. Josh Allen. Listen, we know that he was going to be good, Mike Clay only missed his projection by like 15 points, or maybe a little bit more than that. We didn't expect him to drop 35, but come on, Josh Allen, unbelievable, still always deserves to be QB1. I've got to give you props on this because you were the only ESPN rancor that had Josh Allen as your QB1 despite the match up at Houston. I think some, I know as my QB3, you had him as the QB1 heading into Sunday's action. I feel like sometimes we get a little bit on our head because we see all these numbers, all these stats and we know that Houston defense is incredible and we saw how Allen has struggled against this defense historically and in past efforts. You know, the data said we should downgrade him, you though, believed in the Superman and you were rewarded. Congratulations. All right, Liz Lose. That's going to do it for us. I put a wrap on the very first edition of the fantasy focus Monday Morning Rapid Reaction podcast. Thanks for hanging out with me in case you want to listen to more of what Liz and I are doing. Liz, we do a fax versus feelings show every single Thursday. Where can people find that? I'm on YouTube's. Yes. On the NFL and YouTube page. Now that was great. That was fantastic. And so go check that out on the YouTube's and then Mike Field and I, every single morning, you can find us 10 a.m. Eastern time doing the regular podcast and that's going to be it for us. For Liz, my name is Daniel, we'll see you guys next time.