NFL Week 3 Player Projections

00:00:00
Speaker 1: The most valuable commodity I know of is information.
00:00:04
Speaker 2: Wouldn't you agree? I got five dollars, this is a regular one. How many tackles can one man break? You're saying that humans need fantasy to make life bearable? Humans need fantasy to be humans. my goodness that was good you guys are pros the best relentless refusing to give up all right hit that horn babe let's dance welcome to the fantasy flex podcast from action network and fantasy labs i'm your host kevin masarejian nfl week three is here and i'm joined by one of the most accurate rankers in the game sean kerner the odds maker uh sean how's it going how you feeling after uh week two.
00:00:49
Speaker 1: Man it's already week three um feeling pretty good uh you know what's better than having one week of data and usage splits to go off of is two weeks of data and usage splits but unfortunately everybody's hurt so now we have to shuffle everything around but uh just trying to survive here how about you.
00:01:09
Speaker 2: Yeah surviving is the name of the game now uh surviving at tight end if you have colson loveland Surviving at quarterback, if you had Jaden Daniels, Kayla Williams, Jackson Dart. Moving on, it's week three. We're here with our projections. This is what people want. We're excited to get into all this, but a quick reminder that all of our Fantasy Football content is available now over on FantasyLabs.com. Fantasy Labs NFL includes in-season rankings, waiver wire and DFS tips, and much more. Make sure you use code FLEX20 for $ 20 off at FantasyLabs.com slash FLEX. In today's episode, we're going to dive into our top five at each skill position and discuss the players we're especially higher or lower on this week. Sadly, quarterback will not be featuring some of our typical studs, but Sean, start us off with your top five.
00:01:51
Speaker 1: All right, so number one, I got Tyler Shuck. Oh, wait, hold on. That's poor man's Josh. Who do you think? That's poor man's Josh Allen. What? Ah, poor man. No, I have real Josh Allen number one. I have Brock Purdy. I have Brock Purdy number two. Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott.
00:02:11
Speaker 2: I like it. We're pretty close. Josh Allen won. I think that's pretty much a lock. He had the Texans week one, and he put up a monster amount of points with two rushing touchdowns. We're never going to not have Josh Allen unless, God forbid, he gets hurt and he's playing gimpy. Yeah, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson. I'm going to stick with Lamar at two. Not a great week two against the Saints, but nose a flower. So I'm going to throw him a mulligan playing in Brazil. I am a little bit like trepidatious. Like, what is that going to be like? Yeah, because it's not at Dallas. It's not the dome or retractable roof situation with the Cowboys. I got Dak at three. I got Brock at four and I got Jalen at five. We have the same exact top five in a different order. So yeah, not much to go in on there. These are just the best quarterbacks in fantasy for right now with great matchups.
00:03:03
Speaker 1: There's a lot of agreement. Yeah.
00:03:05
Speaker 2: And healthy, healthy, huge. Who are you higher on this week before we get to who's lower?
00:03:11
Speaker 1: I think I have to go with Brock Purdy, who I have as my QB2. I think this is the highest I've ever had him ranked. And I will say there's like four, at least four points separating him and Josh Allen. Could you imagine if you're one of the people that got like McBride and Josh Allen in your draft and whoever went, you know, in the first round, you're in. you know the driver's seat right now but uh josh allen's is by far the top quarterback and then you have this glut of guys uh here but just i love brock purdy's upside uh right now coming off another solid game over 280 yards two touchdowns but more importantly 30 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown um and i always try to mention he has way more rushing upside than i think people realize because he has really good quick burst if you look at his uh the first 10 yards of his 40 time it was top you know 95th percentile for a quarterback uh that's what helps him avoid getting sacked he's one of the toughest quarterbacks to sack because of it but he's been just using that to just move the chains now um and you know i think it also helps him avoid taking big hits so he's kind of less likely to get injured than most quarterbacks because of it and i know He was dealing with a toe injury last year. That's a little bit different. Even when he returned from the toe injury last year, he was running a ton. If you look at the last handful of games, he cleared 25 rushing yards in five of six games. I've always said he has similar rushing upside to Mahomes if he ever wanted to tap into it. It looks like he is. He has top five upside if he's using his legs and He's driving Kyle Shanahan's offense, who's one of the best offensive minds of this era. So it's just all coming together. Yes, they're dealing with a ton of injuries, but they still have McCaffrey, Evans, Debo, and Kittle's only getting healthier. So really high upside for him. And great point about the Cardinals. They could blow him out. But I think the Cardinals are more likely to stay in it than the Dolphins last week. And they were up by 30, and they were still slinging it to George Kittle, who's still easing his way back from an Achilles. So they were coming off that weird travel game. So I think even if they blow out the Cardinals, Shanahan's made it at the point just to keep running up the score. So I think he just has a really high floor and ceiling right now.
00:05:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, again, I'm top four. I'm not exactly low on Brock Purdy.
00:05:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, why do you hate Brock Purdy outside of your top three, huh?
00:05:47
Speaker 2: I mean, I just love what Dak did last week. He put about 37 on the commanders division matchup. So you could get a lot. I mean, they're both division matchups here with the Cardinals, the 49ers, but that was beautiful. I loved Dak slinging it. He was hitting whole shots to CD, the Ferg two touchdowns, which I benched. Love that. Love benching two touchdown game for Michael Mayer. Yeah, I'm higher on Jared Goff. I have him. I think he's about six. He'd be six for me. He's up there. I love this matchup. against the Jets. And I mentioned Gino Smith on the waiver wire pod. He's my pickup for the week. You probably can't pick up Jared golf unless you're in a shallower league. Um, I expect points in this matchup. They're coming off the extended, uh, you know, they, they had the Thursday game in Buffalo. Now they're at home, uh, a couple extra days of a break. Similar to why I like the bills defense as a pickup. It just, you know, I always like it when there's a little, a few extra days of rest because the NFL is so brutal, even early in the season. But yeah, Jared Goff home against the Jets defense. Still not a super strong defense, but they are obviously better than last year when they were putrid. No interceptions, just giving up anything and everything. But yeah, I expect both teams to score lines in the Jets. Jets with their weapons, Wilson, Mitchell, Hall, Sadiq getting more involved. I think they could put up their fair share of points and make this competitive. Do I expect Bill's Lions 60 plus points? No. But do I think we could get, you know, hit 50 plus, hit the over on this matchup?
00:07:18
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
00:07:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, Jared Goff just with his weapons. Gibbs just, you know, getting what, like eight targets a game now with no Montgomery, just being utilized as he is, just getting your best weapon, the ball. Laporta looking like Laporta. Jamo's due. Jamo, I mean, he's getting the targets. He had some bad drops in week one and two, but I think this game he gets it going. So I love Goff in this matchup. I think you'd agree, right?
00:07:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's my QB6. Oh, wow.
00:07:47
Speaker 2: We have the same exact top six.
00:07:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you said everything I was going to say because Laporta looks back. I mean, he looks 100%. He's looked incredible, so that's great. Amon, the Sun God, just, you know, elite as ever right now. And yeah, he's got nothing out of Jamo yet, so imagine what that happens. And yeah, they're going to run Gibson in the ground. Maybe they're a team that should probably trade for Tony Pollard. But again, they don't have Dave Montgomery, so I think You might see a little bit more pass attempts when they get inside the five-yard line. They might throw it to Gibbs. But no Dave Montgomery there kind of gives Goff sneaky touch on upside. So again, it's at home. Their defense sucks. So yeah, he's got top five upside if everything hits this week.
00:08:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, love it.
00:08:35
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:08:35
Speaker 2: Goff, Gino, if you don't get them, not terrible starts this week at all. Who are you lower on?
00:08:41
Speaker 1: Oh, Malik Willis. He's my QB 24, which is kind of where he's been the first couple weeks. But I thought that he had this use case just being potential QB 1 if the rushing upside was there. Because you're not going to get much out of him as a passer. And we did see in week one, he ran six times for 39 yards and a touchdown. I thought he could provide that more times than not. But this week... This week, two carries for six yards. I mean, that is almost mall Santa type rushing line. That is not good. Again, he didn't really make up for it passing either. So I think that could be his lowest rushing output of the season. But you don't like seeing a floor game this early when there's so much uncertainty. So I can't even give him the rushing upside plus that I've been giving. Again, he'll probably bounce back this week, but that was his path. And maybe it does kind of hurt him that the Dolphins are going to be trailing so much as defenses, they could just sit back and anticipate him scrambling. It's just kind of a weird dynamic where on Green Bay it's a better offense, better scheme where they can bait teams and throw deep, but I don't know. I just don't like what I see. Not that he was rostered in many leagues, but I just don't see the real consistent path to a potential QB1 outlook for him. Again, his ring's pretty much where it's been, but Think about how bad that is with six or seven quarterbacks hurt right now. And he's still QB 24. Not great. Like this is the time he should be kind of top 15 if he had it. So, Didn't like what I saw in week two.
00:10:34
Speaker 2: Back to back double digit losses, both on the road. Maybe he plays better at home. Who knows? Maybe the Miami Sun fuels him, gets him some chlorophyll through photosynthesis.
00:10:42
Speaker 1: Who knows?
00:10:44
Speaker 2: I'm looking at Willis like eight rushes through two games. That is not what I anticipated. I thought this guy would be rushing eight to ten times per game. Only two last week. And yes, it was the 49ers. They have great, one of the best linebacking duos. Uh, they have one of the best linebackers ever in Fred Warner. Um, so it will be, it would be harder. The front is very strong and at full strength right now. So it is nice to see her at, well, actually not full strength. They just continue losing pieces of substation, but their starters are out there at least is what I mean. Um, their depth is definitely challenged. Uh, I look at Willis like until he's running eight to 10 times per game, I have no interest in starting him. Um, Losing Caleb Douglas, Malik Washington, a mediocre wide receiver one, Chris Bell still getting integrated into the offense off of his December or January ACL. It is a ridiculous array of weapons or whatever you call them. Greg Dulcich just fools gold in the offseason for whoever drafted him, picked him up, whatever. That's never happening, apparently. I have no interest in Willis, especially in this matchup against the Chiefs. Okay, again, unless he just unleashes the legs. If that happens, he might be in my top 15 weekly if he's running 10 times per game because then it's just like the fantasy juice is just so good. But him sitting back as a thrower, and like you mentioned, Green Bay had the weapons. They didn't have Jaden Reed again. Christian Watson, Romeo Dobbs. They had Matthew Golden was still figuring it out, but like Josh Jacobs, the O-line, I mean, probably similar. Packers and Dolphins, who knows, last year. But much better play caller with Matt LaFleur than Bobby Slowik, who got fired from the Texans with the Dolphins. Everything's wrong. What this offense needs is to completely lose its scheme and just let Willis play YOLO ball. Any fantasy value is what I mean.
00:12:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought we might see that. I was wrong. Caleb Douglas is also hurt. I don't know how long he'll be out, but it's an ankle injury. They didn't seem too optimistic. It's a high ankle. We'll see. Yeah, it could be, right? And this is already a thin wide receiver room, and he was one of the guys with the most upside. So if he's out, that makes it worse. But I was saying we might be able to get a Justin Fields type thing. That's what I thought. But now he's Justin Fields without the rushing upside, which leaves us with what? Gross.
00:13:15
Speaker 2: Not the bucket. Get the shit out of here.
00:13:18
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:13:18
Speaker 2: Moving on. My, my lower quarterback is Drake May. He's still in my top 15, but he's on the lower end. I got to see it at this point. I don't know what's going on. Well, no, AJ Brown, that doesn't help. Uh, Romeo Dobbs, 99 yards on like three catches. That was nice, but they keep doing this annoying thing where they don't play their best players. They're like, Dobbs is playing like 65% of the snaps. Mack Hollins is leading the wide receiver room with under just under 80%. And it's like, okay, Doug, Romeo, not Romeo Douglas. Uh, Demario Douglas isn't bad, but then Kyle Williams goes from 17% of the snaps to 20% of the snaps. It's like the Keishon Butte thing all over again, where you're not playing your most explosive players and you're doing so in favor of guys who could block better or run your scheme better. And it's like wide receivers don't need this many snaps off. Like, yeah, like if they're playing 80% of the snaps instead of like 95, that's fine. That's not the end of the world, but you're playing all of these guys. Like, under 70% of the snaps outside of Mac Collins, who Lord knows he's just, he is what he is. He's this like pseudo deep threat who can occasionally make a really impressive jump ball catch or 50, 50 catch. I'm just really upset with how this offense has turned out so far through two weeks, getting Travion Henderson back as huge. We saw his explosive run. He had no targets in week one, but he appeared to have, you know, had some really good reps in pass pro. So that's huge. I think him being more involved with the pass game would be huge and may running more. That's his fantasy juice. Like that's what we need. And obviously seeing how all the quarterbacks are hurt this far, maybe he gets a little scared to run as much, but if they're going to be serious at all, I mean, we need them. I mean, they won in week two, but like they, it was just because their defense demolished Aaron Rogers. Basically they, they literally physically crushed him. He had that nasty hit in mid game, but, Yeah, I'm lower on Drake May until we see more. And I'm still starting him because he's in my whole league. I'm like, I can't not start my fifth, sixth round pick or whatever. Where are you at with him?
00:15:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, I have him QB 10. But again, that's with three, maybe four quarterbacks that would rank ahead of him or out or potentially out. So it's not saying much, but it's funny because Drake, the schedule May, I'm going to defend him a little bit here, had to face the Seahawks in Seattle. And then the Steelers, which could end up being two of the top defenses in the league. Not that the Jaguars are an easy matchup, but this is definitely an easier matchup than those two right now. But I think once things open up for him, that'll help. Getting A.J. Brown back at some point will obviously help. Some point. We'll see. Yeah, we'll see. But I mean, it can't hurt. But you mentioned your guy, Travion Henderson. He's kind of annoying for... may because they don't throw him the ball which is i don't know why they don't but anytime trey rips off a 50-yard touchdown run that just takes away potential may points you know so we need trey to stop busting long touchdowns and start catching passes and breaking those for 50 yards that would be huge for man like you said is rushing upsides got to come back i think it will but i'm not too worried yet but yeah it hasn't been what you expected i mean he was like a top three in ADP, uh, in most formats. So yeah, I think he'll bounce back. We got a factor in the schedule has been brutal for him so far, but, um, hopefully this week we start to see more signs of life at least.
00:16:53
Speaker 2: I mean, last week, 9.5 yards per tip. That was fantastic. He just didn't throw a touchdown. So that sucks. And he only ran for 17 yards, but like you said, they are tough defenses. Their, their defense did score Patriots defense. So that doesn't help. Um, Still, even with a passing touchdown, this wouldn't have been a good fantasy day for me. It would have been like, what, 12, 13 points, depending on your format, probably. Yeah, at Jacksonville, Jacksonville's offense, I mean, they didn't really look good against Denver, but Denver's defense is stout, despite their week one output against Kansas City. I am optimistic. I'm not ranking him that low. I'm just lowering expectations for a guy I would ideally rank top five weekly, regardless of matchup. So yeah, just, I got to see it. I'm going to be, you know, gritting my teeth as I start him and hope for, hope for the best because yeah, the Jaguars defense is, I mean, their run defense is really good past defense to be determined. Just Travis Hunter's not playing a full set of snaps. He's playing like 70, 60 or 70% per game. So that does make, that does make them weaker, not having him on the field. Cause he, I mean, he's looked good in coverage. It's just, He's not playing a full set after the LCL tear that he had last year. Okay, that's enough on quarterback. Moving on, running back. Who's your top five for this week?
00:18:08
Speaker 1: Jameer Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, Kenneth Walker, Derek Henry, and CMC.
00:18:14
Speaker 2: Oh, wow. Look at us. Same top five again.
00:18:18
Speaker 1: The same order? No.
00:18:20
Speaker 2: Gibbs, Walker, Bijan, CMC, Henry.
00:18:24
Speaker 1: Oh, okay. Yeah.
00:18:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, so not too far off.
00:18:26
Speaker 1: Tomato, tomato.
00:18:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, basically.
00:18:30
Speaker 1: How far down do we have to go before we have a difference in ranks? Who's your RB6?
00:18:34
Speaker 2: Cook, Barkley, Taylor is my next one.
00:18:36
Speaker 1: Oh, I have Jante number six.
00:18:39
Speaker 2: Jante nine.
00:18:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, I like what I saw. Eventually, he'll average more than 1.5 yards a carry or whatever, but they're just pounding him. Volume is king, especially in the passing game. He might get five-plus catches this week. That's kind of where... I'm at with him, but imagine if he gets going on the ground, like it's just going to be icing on the cake at this point.
00:19:00
Speaker 2: I'm excited. I'm really excited because yeah, that usage has been incredible. And yeah, I mean, again, he's in my top 10. We're not, we're not too crazy here. Who are you higher on this week?
00:19:11
Speaker 1: Uh, Jalen Warren. Um, I'm going to be hiring him with Rico Dowdle. Who the hell knows? Uh, he injured his toe. Then he tried to come back in re aggravated. I think he got carted off. Uh, so just not, I remember that. not great vibes, right? I don't know if there's any kind of like official report, but I would imagine he's out. I'm projecting him to be like, I don't know, 50% right now. And I have Warren inside my top 20, but a real quick tidbit on Warren is he kind of has the Blake Corum issue where Warren's first three seasons, Najee Harris was the lead back and never missed a single game. He was perfectly healthy all three seasons. Last year, he was in more of a, you know, a timeshare with Kenny Gainwell. Gainwell was healthy all 17 games, never missed a game. So Warren has literally never had a game where he's like the guy that And if Dowdle's out, they got Travis Homer.
00:20:16
Speaker 2: Eli Heidenreich.
00:20:18
Speaker 1: He's a pass-catching specialist, so he might be out there for third downs. I don't know what they're going to do. Maybe they bring somebody. I don't know. But Jalen Warren might actually have the first game of his career where he's the guy. Now, having said that, the Bengals matchup isn't great. No. Dexter Lawrence looks good. has been a monster, so it's not just, oh, he's playing the Bengals, they suck, fire him up. Jalen Warren's going to get extra volume to kind of overcome what could be a tougher matchup, especially in the passing game, because discount double check down Rodgers, I mean, Warren could get six plus receptions in this game if he's playing most of the snaps, so I think Warren has plenty of paths to be just a solid RB2. And what could be his first real workhorse game? He's never had this opportunity. Again, we need to see what's up with Dowdle. If Dowdle's fine, then I'm going to move him down my ranks quite a bit. But as it stands now, Warren could be a solid, reliable RB2 this week.
00:21:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, last year he had his highest usage games ever. He had 19 touches against Baltimore in Week 18. He had 23 touches against in week three against the Patriots. And I mean, 18 rushes in week 12, 20 touches in week seven and yeah, 18 touches in week nine. So they have already used him more recently. So they clearly trust him. I mean, that was the Arthur Smith or not Arthur Smith, or it was Arthur Smith. Yeah. And Tomlin offense, but like McCarthy, we'll see how he integrates him in a fuller role. assuming he gets it because Travis Homer is a special team savant receiving back type. Heidenreich is a gadgety pseudo receiver running back hybrid thing. I do kind of like him in like deep dynasty leagues, but that's like for the future. I don't think he's going to get on the field much this week, but yeah, seventh round pick, but there's some juice there. Yeah, definitely with you. I love Warren, especially if Dowdle is missing or dealing with turf toe, which we know can linger and be an issue and limit guys and Dowdle already. Dowdle has not looked good. So, Warren could go take this RB1 role and run away with it because he's good. He's not the biggest back, but he's not small either. He's not like Bucky Irving small.
00:22:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, he could handle a workhorse role for a few games. Again, if Dowdle ends up being out for a significant amount of time, they'd probably bring somebody in or trade or something. Yeah, I could see that for sure. But if they're like, Dowdle's going to be out just a couple games, he should be fine. They'll give Warren the full workload. And those games that you pointed out where he had like 18 carries, he had that 14-carry game for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Gaynol had like six catches in one of those games. Another game he had five catches for 78 yards and a touchdown. Warren could be getting some of that production to go on top of his added usage in the run game. Again, we just haven't seen this. That's the thing with Blake Horham is he's yet to have a spot start, so we don't know what his ceiling is. What is it, year five? He's never really had this chance.
00:23:26
Speaker 2: How deep into his career?
00:23:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's year five, right? Yeah, it's year five. Wow.
00:23:30
Speaker 2: I feel like he's been around forever and just never getting the opportunity. He's a weird guy. I'm like, I've always believed in him, but I'm like, I got to see the touches. And again, we finally got it last year, but then they bring in Dowdle.
00:23:43
Speaker 1: So it's like... Come on, man. Yeah, he's he's always gonna be destined for a running back committee guy, especially this late in his career, because like you said, he has a smaller back. But we could have a window here for the first time in his five year career. He's the man. So excited to see, you know, again, it's not a great matchup, but excited to see like how he handles a big workload if that was out.
00:24:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, career-high eight touchdowns last year. He's averaged over five yards per touch in every season. So he's a good running back. And I would absolutely trust him against the Bengals, even with the Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen front, that it has been pretty damn good. They limited David Montgomery a ton last week. But Montgomery's not really a receiving back, like Warren, who could get five, six catches this week and really expose those Bengals linebackers, which is their weakness. So I'm, I'm with you. I love Warren this week, but my guy's going to be Travis ETN. Yes. Kamara was back last week. He had a bunch of touches, a bunch of receptions too. He had like five for eight yards really early in the game. I was like, this is disgusting, but they still paid ETN. Kendrick Miller was a healthy scratch. They clearly want a committee, but they're not going to go like too deep into the committee to make this happen. And I think it's going to be a hot hand approach. Travis ETN didn't have the hottest start last week, but he had a really good week one. Uh, with production, he had like 14 fantasy points. A lot of that was on receptions against the lions. And yeah, I mean, these weren't, these haven't been the two easiest matchups for the saints. It's been, um, Baltimore and the lions front. The lions defense isn't good as a whole, but their front seven is good. And the Ravens front is good. And they have Kyle Hamilton at safety too. So like, you know, they're pretty stout against the run. Uh, Raiders this week just allowed $ 100. third, no, excuse me, 120 yards to Omar and Hampton and touchdown. Uh, their interior defensive line is still not that strong. They're better than recent years. We discussed them, uh, not long ago saying their defense is better, but there's still a lot of good defense. I would say even with Mac, Max Crosby back in the picture, I think ETN, if he gets going early, he's going to get his touches. I think people are panicking a little too much just because, I mean, it's the first two weeks of the season. Nobody's trying outside of Kenneth Walker guys. Aren't trying to like, break down their newly acquired toys. And the Saints have kind of been forced to throw a good big early in games because they took a deficit. They were down 21-0 to the Lions. And then they were down a couple scores to the Ravens last week. And then the Ravens stopped running. So they were able to take a lead. How do you feel on Travis Etienne this week?
00:26:21
Speaker 1: Not as high as you. And ever since he made us start calling him Travis Etienne, Oh, yeah. Maybe Devon, ETN, they need to both figure something out. But I'm low on him because he was a frozen pawn back for me where I could easily see him being last year's Jaguars version and just lead this team. This Saints team is underrated. I think they'll be pretty good this year, especially in that division. Or Kamara is commanding targets and all this stuff where I'm much more concerned. I think he's walking across the frozen pond. His whole leg is in and he needs somebody to like help pry him out, but he's get like his legs in the frozen water right now. He's struggling. And like CJ Donaldson is also Mexican. Are you fucking kidding me? So back. Yeah, but he's mixed again. That's not good. So you have, he's only running like a 35% routes on rate. He is seeing a lot of targets when he is running her out, which is good. But, Again, he's not a great goal linebacker, so I think we could get 10-plus rush attempts inside the 20s. He's going to have to break long touchdowns to really be a solid RB2. So I agree with you. I think it's too soon to panic after two games. They had two crazy game scripts. So if they get into a game where they're leading... leading against the ravens is different than leading against the raiders where they could like lean on him a little bit more his you know early down usage will go up like he could trend back this week so have he's my rb25 so i'm not saying bench him no but like it is concerning to see camara so involved early on and mixing in donaldson um but there there is still some hope in the right spots at least but you can go both ways with the usage so far because it has been concerning.
00:28:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't want to see the Saints go down two scores in the first half again. I think if they could take a lead. Losing Kelvin, they lost their starting left tackle probably for the season after tightrope surgery, or at least a majority of the season, if anything. I don't think that helps. Obviously, first-round pick at left tackle, they don't really have much depth there. Talia Sefuaga, their right tackle, does have experience at left tackle, I believe, from college. We'll see. We'll see what happens. Maybe they improve. I mean, the run game hasn't been that good anyway. I mean, Kendrick Miller had an okay game in week one. But yeah, I mean, Kamara, he had his career worst yards per touch last year. And he just had like 22 yards on 14 touches.
00:28:58
Speaker 1: In week one.
00:28:59
Speaker 2: Yes, he's coming off the injury. But I think Kamara could get phased out. I know they paid him or they did a pay cut with him, excuse me, where they retained him. Just because he's a career saint doesn't mean they have to continue giving him touches if he sucks. They could probably bring back Kendrick Miller if anything or reactivate him. But I think Etienne's going to be fine. I'd probably be buying low on him, if anything, especially for this week against the Raiders. And just playing, you know, if you need a running back. I'm not going to do it just for shit's sake, but I think he's a fine RB2. And especially this week, he's definitely in that range for me. Who are you lower on this week?
00:29:34
Speaker 1: Marshawn Lloyd, man, his value has been just a roller coaster. past month because, I mean, he was one of the biggest risers when the whole Josh Jacobs legal situation just collapsed. We didn't know if he was going to be back week one or the whole season, but it sounds like it could get resolved to where he's serving like a four to six game suspension, where technically he's serving it right now. So, That's still a shit ton of uncertainty. He could be back before midseason is my whole point. So Lloyd has a small window here where he could be providing RB2 value. But last week, he had that fumble early in the fourth quarter and he was clearing the doghouse. So they let Caleb Johnson get most of the work. And then Chris Brooks is out there as the pass catching back. He had a lot more work than normal because the Packers were trailing at times. So just a really bizarre situation. Now they have the short week. We don't know if Lloyd's going to still be in the doghouse. They might have just done that for the rest of the game. It was raining. And then maybe he'll start Thursday night football and all as well, or they're just going to let Caleb Johnson start, or it's going to be a murky three-year committee, but not good when one of the few remaining games we could have of Lloyd, you might not be able to trust him. So I haven't, you know, as my RB 37, so he's a, he's a dicey RB three flex play that plays Thursday night. Maybe we get some clarity where the floor says like, Oh, you know, like, no, he's a starter. it was whatever like we might not get something like that yeah like we don't know so there's a chance caleb johnson could be out there the first snap could be lloyd but not good not good when you were kind of banking on lloyd being a you know solid rb2 until jacobs potentially returns so i just think we have to be very careful with this entire situation this week until we see what happens but he could be in the doghouse.
00:31:37
Speaker 2: Who knows Yeah, no, I'm with you that Lloyd is definitely lower than we would have hoped with Jacobs out. But I still have him in the, you know, high RB30s. Like, he's in start territory against the Falcons. For me, like, this Falcons defense is not good. They're bad. They're bad.
00:31:56
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:31:58
Speaker 2: Short week for them. Lloyd only had, like, eight touches so he's fresh at least for the short week i know he has his injury history but i mean they already gave him uh 13 and a target he didn't catch that in week one so they've trusted him with double digit touches he hasn't been efficient but he had the touchdown in the red zone he's on like that texas route that got him open or so i'm still open to starting him and hey you might be able to start him or caleb johnson caleb johnson had eight rushes in his first game That's not a lot of touches either where it comes down to a Thursday night game. Either of them could get double or maybe both get double digit touches this week if the Packers take an early lead and decide to keep the ball on the ground with their running backs. Yeah, AJ Terrell's out for the Falcons. That defense just got worse. This could be a beat down where both running backs can have a nice fantasy day. I'm definitely going to have them both ranked in the top 40 after that week. Chris Brooks has 11 rushes, but I don't think they want to use him if Lloyd and Caleb are both showing out, but obviously that's a to-be-determined kind of situation. Brooks is going to play, of course, but I'm excited for these younger backs with Juice to get some touches. If he falls again, that's definitely an issue.
00:33:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I just looked. There's props up for both running backs, and they're exactly in line with what I have. Lloyd's rushing yard prop is 28 yards. I have him for eight carries for 30 yards. And Caleb Johnson's rushing prop is 36 and a half yards. I had him for nine and a half carries for 36 yards. So books are taking action on this, which is significant. So it seems like they think that like Caleb Johnson could be the lead back in, you know, a disastrous three-way committee. But right now books have Johnson with again, like eight yards higher than Lloyd, still a volatile situation, but again, The early prop market seems to point that direction.
00:33:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, Lloyd has some receiving juice too. Johnson doesn't have any. He does not have a receiving game really outside of screens. He's not really the most fluid guy in open space. But we'll see what happens. They both have, I think, touchdown potential for this week. Just, again, just that Falcons defense is not good. Just play your guys. And losing Jaden Reed, that's just another weapon for the Packers that they're not going to have, but they still have Golden and Watson out the outside. Both of them are doing really well. I mean, Watson's killing it early season. I mean, Golden's showed out too, so they have some threats out there. Tucker Kraft, I mean, he didn't really do much against the Jets, but showed juice in week one. This offense can be explosive, and they can have multiple mouths that get fed, especially against the Falcons. Like, I'm just going to harp on that. Playing the Falcons defense, play your guys. It's more of an emergency situation if you're starting Johnson, whereas Lloyd, again, if he doesn't fumble, I think he's still going to get the lion's share. Or not lion's share, but like the bigger share. But we'll see. And the backfield I'm lower on is the Commanders. Bill, who I was high on last week, but then Jaden Daniels leaves mid-game. That offense just kind of tanks in the second half. Rashad White actually had a solid, he had some solid output last week. I mean, good efficiency on the ground. He had some targets, but then, you know, Mariota comes in and it's just, it just was not great last week. Yeah. He had 43 yards on the ground, 40 yards receiving. He was, he was pretty solid, actually good double digit fantasy game there, but it's the Seahawks defense in week three. I don't want to touch either of them. They're both on the bench. I mean, depending on how long Jaden Daniels is out, like, I don't really, you could, they're both in drop territory maybe. So how do you feel on the commanders?
00:35:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I said last week that Bill, I was low on him just because of his role being between the 20s where he's going to watch Rashad White in on passing plays and Katron Allen could be out there for like goal line work if they do get there. So it's just a tough spot. And like you said, with Mariota, the offense won't be as good. Um, they might be a little bit more run heavy, so he might actually see more work early in the games, but if they get down, you know, then I think why it's going to get more playing time, but yeah, whites, um, talented back, uh, maybe fitting that Austin Eckler role that they weren't able to fulfill. Jerry McNichols tried to do that last year. So yeah, just Krosky bill. Uh, just, it's a rough, it's a rough role, even though I like him. Like I think he's talented, uh, Um, it's just that, that role is just designed for him to get most of his touches inside the twenties, which isn't, isn't as valuable for fantasy.
00:36:43
Speaker 2: Commanders facing the Seahawks. I have no interest here and I don't think you do either.
00:36:47
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:36:47
Speaker 2: And just in time for the football season, BetSync is back in the action app and it's better than ever. Now you can automatically track your activity across 15 plus sports books and prediction markets all in one place. Connect your accounts once and your bets and trades will automatically appear in action as soon as you place them. No manual tracking required. From there, follow all your action with live win probability, in-game alerts, and bet analysis throughout the game. Just open the Action app, head to My Accounts, connect your Sportsbook or Prediction Market, and you're ready to go. Download the Action app and connect with BetSync for free today. Moving on, wide receivers. Sean, hit me with your top five.
00:37:18
Speaker 1: Amon Ra, JSN, CeeDee Lamb. I have Puka number four. I mean, it is what it is. And Jamar Chase, number five. If Puka's out, I would have Justin Jefferson back inside my top five.
00:37:32
Speaker 2: Okay. I have JSN, Amon Ra, Jamar Chase, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson. That's the same top five, right? Different order.
00:37:40
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. Same top five. Yep.
00:37:42
Speaker 2: Yeah. And then Chris Olavi at six. Honestly, I might swap Olavi and Jefferson. It just depends on how, how I feel with, I mean, I trust Shuck more than I trust Kyler Murray at the moment. So, but yeah, I mean, who are you higher on though?
00:37:55
Speaker 1: Overall? Matthew Golden. He is my wide receiver 18. One of the biggest disappointments last year, in my opinion. Just a really bad rookie season. But he's off to an incredible start in year two. Obviously, Robio Dobbs is gone. They've really condensed the wide receiver room to just make it more stable. So, you know, Golden's a full-time starting wide receiver now. Drawing a very nice 27% target rate. Now Jaden Reed's hurt. Very unlikely to play on the short week. So they had Sky Moore kind of replace Jaden Reed. Sky Moore is not going to command a target share even remotely close to Jaden Reed. Plus with the offensive line issues, the run game hasn't looked great. Even though they're favored against the Falcons at home here, I still think Love's going to sling it. I think Golden will be one of his top targets. We might see a Christian Watson 80-yard bomb and a drive, which that's not great for Golden, but Golden could be that player this week. So I think he's going to get some underneath targets, some bombs, maybe even a design carry. LaFleur loves doing that. So I just think he has a ton of upside here. Love should have more time facing the Falcons.
00:39:19
Speaker 2: Non-existent pass rush.
00:39:20
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, there are two best pass rushers aren't available. so yeah yeah yeah on a short week i he's in my top 20 so love is upside this week i think i think you could rely on him for a handful of catches uh but just massive upside to go on top of that so yeah he's my wide receiver 18 to open the week.
00:39:41
Speaker 2: Fun fact he still doesn't have a regular season touchdown oh just playoffs i Yeah, he had a sick, that was a sick playoff touchdown. I'm not going to lie. Obviously, like that was amazing. And he, he's one target behind Christian Watson. They have the same amount of catches. Watson has 35 more yards and three touchdowns. So obviously he's been a fantasy demon.
00:40:01
Speaker 1: Yeah. My fear.
00:40:01
Speaker 2: I mean, he's my wide receiver 25. So I'm not low on golden at all. And probably around the market for him, but, I look at it like how much volume are they really going to need? You said they're still going to be slinging it. But I mean, Love plays at a slower pace already. I think they're going to be able to dominate this game on Thursday at home against that terrible Falcons team that we know is not good, even with Panic's back. So unless this is somehow a competitive game, which I mean, with Bijan, you never know. But I expect the Packers to handily win this one. I think most people do. But yeah, he's definitely in, he's of course in start territory. If you have him, start him. My guy's going to be Jamison Williams. I know it hasn't happened yet, but he's due.
00:40:44
Speaker 1: He's due.
00:40:44
Speaker 2: He's getting the looks. He just has not been able to convert. And he's playing the Jets secondary, which is respectable relative to past years or like last year specifically. But their front seven is better than their back end. they look like they could stop the run, but teams are still capable of passing on them. We saw the Jets last week do some damage, or not Jets, what's it called? The Packers last week get some yards on them in the back end. 78 yards on 13 targets isn't great. And yes, Laporta is looking like that second option, but a game like this, I have to think at home, they figure it out. James, he's had drops. It's been like, He's been so close to those big plays, it just hasn't connected. And he's inconsistent. We know that. This is not something new with Jameson Williams. But when he has the weeks, he has big weeks. I think this is one of them. Yeah, I really want to believe. Now, maybe I'm wish-casting it. Amon Ra is obviously the one, but they paid him. He's their guy. He's their second guy, but... Uh, yeah, this matchup is the one that I, I really believe he could go off in against that jet secondary, which does not really feature much talent overall. How do you feel on JMO? Cause he's, he's my water shooter 21 right now.
00:42:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I like it. I think one of the dumbest things you could do is, uh, like fade JMO after a bad two games stretched because he's just a volatile player. Yeah. Cause that's what I said. He's better for best ball. You don't even need to figure out when the spike weeks are. If you take him and like head to head leagues where you're You got to make sit-start decisions. He should come with a bottle of aspirin or something stronger than that because that's just his game. And he had that one catch. He got stopped on like the one-inch line. It was nearly a touchdown. He had another catch where he went out like on the three-yard line. Like you said, some big drops. So he's going to get his, especially at home. Usually like on the road outdoors is kind of the time to fade him. But at home in Detroit, Their defense is awful. The Lions' defense is awful. They're going to have to throw, even against bad teams. Yeah, I think he could go off this week. Again, if he goes zero catches with zero yards, I won't be shocked either. But if you draft him, you're drafting for his upside. So, yeah, I think you've got to buy low whenever he's having a rough stretch like this.
00:43:18
Speaker 2: This is exactly. This is exactly when to buy low on J-Mo. He's a perfect boom-bust-flex option because when he does boom, that's weak-winner. type of booms from him and look he had 17 rushes in the past two seasons he has none this year so far I know that's not like the craziest amount it's like half a rush per game but even so it's like you would think with no David Montgomery they would want to get him him more involved in the running game you know on jet sweeps and like whatnot or screens or something I mean he only had 12 yards on six attempts last year but before then he had two rushing touchdowns from 2023 to 2024 and 90 yards on 14 rushes. And he's still pretty damn explosive. So just get the ball in his hands. Let him figure it out. I think that's the most important thing. And they might realize that this week. So I'm definitely higher on JMO. Who are you lower on that wide receiver?
00:44:08
Speaker 1: Well, I'm low on Marv Harrison Jr. For obvious reasons. Whatever. Yeah. I mean, I think he's probably a buy low because I can't imagine it can get any lower than this. He's obviously reached rock bottom. Um, you know, he has just a 5% target rate this year. Uh, really just, he's the sacrificial X opening things up for Michael Wilson. Uh, Trey McBride has just been a target monster. No shock there, but Jeremiah love he's commanding targets. No shock there. He's only going to get more playing time going forward as well. And you know, Grant, they just faced the Seahawks per set through for 95 yards, awful week all around. um for yardage but again he's just going to be more of a dicey guy where you know he might catch a long touchdown every few weeks but i don't think he's going to be that four to five catch a game guy that we kind of thought he might be i mean he was one of the best prospects we've seen in some time but just hasn't lived up to it and they have plenty of other guys right now to step up with him struggling so You can't play him. And then, like I said, I don't know how you could drop him yet, but I don't know how you can keep him either.
00:45:22
Speaker 2: He could reach drop territory for sure. I said on the last pod, two more weeks. Give it two more weeks.
00:45:29
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:45:29
Speaker 2: I mean, if this week's a zero, I get it, but I'd still give it, like, just give it through September. Let's get past September because teams are still gelling and figuring things out and whatnot and et cetera, et cetera. I know one target game against the Seahawks is egregious, but it's the Seahawks. I brought it up on Twitter. I think the Cardinals and Jaguars should trade Marvin Harrison Jr. for Brian Thomas Jr. Just make the swap. See if it jogs something. I think it actually makes sense roster-wise. The Cardinals need that downfield speed, and the Jaguars could use that 50-50 guy downfield. I think Harrison has good hands, on the perimeter at least. Just in the middle of the field, he struggles. Brian Thomas Jr. just doesn't have great hands, but he's explosive. I think that makes sense as a swap. Get Trevor Lawrence a proper 50-50 guy and then get the Cardinals an explosive downfield wide receiver to compliment Trey McBride and Wilson, who are more like route-running savants, middle-of-the-field tacticians, etc. So I like that.
00:46:29
Speaker 1: I love that idea, by the way, because you're right. Those guys are talented to be so bad. Throw Roma Dunze in that pile, too. I Were they all in the same draft class? I mean, all three guys.
00:46:41
Speaker 2: Do like, like, like, like just put them in hats, put them in hats and just move them around and figure out who gets who.
00:46:48
Speaker 1: I don't know where they should go. They should just go somewhere other than their current team, but there's just way too much talent to be this bad. And yeah, like you said, it's too soon to write them off and drop them or anything like that. But yeah, give it a couple of weeks of, By week five, he's still outside my top 60. That's a time to cut.
00:47:07
Speaker 2: That's terrible. Yeah. Okay. And the wide receivers I'm lower on this week. It's going to be a multiple. It's going to be the commander's wide receivers. I'm low on the commander's running backs. I'm low on the commander's wide receivers this week. Facing the Seahawks. Yeah, they're at home. Yeah, the Seahawks have to travel for a morning game. But it's Mariota, not Jane Daniels. No Larry Mutunsel at left tackle. The Seahawks, I think, are going to have their way. Probably take a big lead. Even with that, I don't think the wide receivers are going to eat much. Terry, I don't know what's going on there. I mean, 50 yards on two catches last week, but Diggs has taken over as the alpha wide receiver one there. No chig last week. Terry still couldn't eat. Antonio Williams, I'm optimistic on him long term, but him being behind those two veteran wide receiver one types... It's going to be tough to trust him weekly anyway. Yeah, so no chance on the wide receivers for Washington this week for me. And I don't think... Yeah, they're not in my top 40. Either the top two or Antonio Williams isn't high either. How are you feeling on them?
00:48:06
Speaker 1: No, I agree completely. I was super high on Antonio Williams last week just for his prop. His prop was 25.5 yards. I wasn't betting on him to win MVP. No. Um, anytime he was out there, Jane Daniels would scramble, which is kind of infuriating. But when he was done, Oh my God. Uh, he was out there. Most of the snaps were married. I was throwing, but they were just getting too cute where they would like run a flea flicker play. Married to get sacked. And he would, you know, throw it to Terry getting double team. And Antonio was like wide open. Antonio. I love his longterm upside. Um, he, he's not in the offense to have an Amon raw. rookie type season, but he's just giving me those vibes where if you remember Amon Ra was like two catches for 20 yards for the first week, eight weeks of the season. In the second half, he erupted because they just realized he's too good to just be some gadget player. So I think Antonio has that upside, but not with Mariota and not with like, you know, Terry and Diggs both being healthy limits his upside. But if Diggs were to go down, Daniels were to return later in the season, Antonio Williams could be Fancy viable. But yeah, for now, you got to just bench them all and just hope. Jaden can return sooner than later. Do we have word on his status? Is he okay?
00:49:26
Speaker 2: Jaden, I mean, I think I saw something from Schefter or Glazer or one reporting the, I forgot what it was. He doesn't want to opt for surgery, which he's going to need surgery at this point. Cause that is an unstable elbow.
00:49:39
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:49:40
Speaker 2: Um, I, I have no idea how it's going to impact him. I mean, he didn't look that good when he returned, but did he have a leg? Did he have a hamstring or something last year too? I remember him having multiple. Yeah.
00:49:51
Speaker 1: He had the arm injury and then we had the hamstring. Um, yeah.
00:49:55
Speaker 2: So that explains why he was terrible overall.
00:49:57
Speaker 1: Yeah. But when he comes back, if he opts and not, if he, if he has the surgery, his season's over, right.
00:50:05
Speaker 2: And then if he returns it's a four to six month surgery apparently.
00:50:08
Speaker 1: If he returns he's um at high risk to re-aggravate it and the way he like he has to run he can't be yeah just hanging.
00:50:17
Speaker 2: He like runs like this from now on he like.
00:50:19
Speaker 1: Oh come on i don't know yeah just i don't get the surgery just get the surgery see you next year like i don't want him to like come back and just have to do it all over again so.
00:50:29
Speaker 2: Yeah luckily it's his non-throwing arm but Yeah, it's pretty bad. And it looked so gross on the screen. But yeah, let's move on. Tight ends. Who's your top five for this week?
00:50:40
Speaker 1: Let's see. Oh, the shit show position. Can't wait.
00:50:42
Speaker 2: I love it.
00:50:44
Speaker 1: So, yeah, I have Trey McBride. No brainer. Then I have Dalton Kincaid and then Travis Kelsey back inside my top three. Yeah, I don't know what's going on there. I got to do something about that. But I have Sam Laporta and Dalton Schultz. I have Brock Bowers coming back. but kind of in a limited role. So he's my tight end seven, but obviously that liable to go any direction, but that's kind of how I'm handling him right now. But yeah, that's my top five, at least in my raw dog projections.
00:51:14
Speaker 2: Yeah. I got McBride, Bowers, Kincaid, Schultz, Warren. I'm rolling with Bowers tight end too, because I don't think he's going to be limited. I think the surgery was to get him fully or not fully healthy because he's going to potentially need meniscus surgery eventually, but For the sake of this season, I think he's going to be a go. And that's why he had the surgery. He was pretty much ready to return. They were saying he could return last week. So I don't think he's going to be in a limited role. I mean, maybe snaps wise, but for the sake of routes, I think he's going to get pretty close to a full share. But yeah, I'm going with Bowers at two. I could definitely swap Warren and Laporta. I might actually end up doing that. But it doesn't sound like we're too far off.
00:51:56
Speaker 1: Nope.
00:51:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, Kelsey's not in my top. He's in my top 10, not my top five.
00:51:59
Speaker 1: I think with Kelsey, he's looked great. Rasheed Rice, it's more about Rasheed Rice just completely bottoming out. Maybe that's like a short term.
00:52:07
Speaker 2: 84 yards last week. So it's not like he's completely out of them.
00:52:11
Speaker 1: His usage rate has been poor and he's bailed people out by like, you know, one play each of the games so far. But Kelsey, you know, again, tight ends a shit show. He's been reliable. So that, you know, he's kind of getting a boost from that. I don't think he'll finish. Inside my top five, if Bowers is fully cleared and ready to rock, that's already one tight end that's going to pass him up. But I think Laporta, maybe Schultz, and maybe the guy I'm about to talk about could pass up Chelsea by the end of the week.
00:52:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, so who is that guy you're higher on this week?
00:52:41
Speaker 1: George Kittle is my tight end six. Yeah, we're starting to see his playing time tick up a little bit. Still just a 52%. routes run rate last week but he was out there making plays when they're up by like 30 points i was shocked he was still out there but you know maybe they're just trying to get him as many reps as possible to just continue to do that uh week in week out so i think this week it wouldn't shock me if if we do see him out there 60 maybe 70 percent of you know uh purdy's dropbacks but you know luke farrell's just seeing a shit ton of playing time right now jake Tonjus out. So, you know, when Kittle's in there with Farrell, he's going to see a massive target share. So he's seen a target on 30% of his route so far. So again, he's just trending up. We kind of knew that would happen coming off the killies. So I just, you know, if you want to kind of buy in on him, now would be the time to do it. And the thing with Kittle I like is you don't really have to worry about quarterback getting hurt. Like if Purdy gets hurt, I would hate that. But Mac Jones, would you know sustain Kittle to be pretty much the same Kittle we know where a lot of the other tight ends inside the top 10 like if Josh Allen were to go down Dalton Kincaid would not be in my top five anymore you know if Mahomes were to go down you know Kelsey's nowhere near my top 10 anymore Kittle like he can survive his quarterback getting hurt and then everyone getting hurt around him only helps his upside so I think Kittle's like a really good buy low for rest of season. Cause he's, again, he's only going to get more playing time, only going to get healthier. So I think his, you know, he's going to be shooting up towards the top five sooner than later.
00:54:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. I mean, Kittle, if you have them, you start them. That's pretty, unless you have Bowers or something like big bride and then you're, Oh, you're go trade one of them, figure it out. But that's really one of them. I had Kyle pits down here. I'm still, you know, if you have pits, I'm willing to start pits, but I'm going to say around to Gadsden actually. He's the guy I discussed on the waiver episode. I'm willing to go all in on Gadsden against the Bills, actually. I look at it like the Chargers are going to have to throw in this matchup. And if they're going to be throwing, Gadsden's going to be getting targets. He's about a 20% target throughout run last year. He's gotten some looks this year. Not a crazy snap share, but he's been playing. If the Chargers.
00:55:13
Speaker 2: Don't get like, don't trade for someone significant at tight end or sign. I mean, I don't even think there's anybody really to sign anyway. So yeah, Gaston's going to be in my top 12 this week. He was incredible for a month stretch. He did so much that like he led the chargers in so many great stats last year that like, I just have to believe that talent's not gone. And he scored last week. McDaniel's creative. He could figure out ways to get him open. And I think the volume is going to be there to get him to that top 12 range. So I'm rolling with Gadsden here. I assume you like him a decent amount too, right?
00:55:47
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's my tight end 14, but wouldn't shock me if he ends up inside my top 12. We need to see what's up with Ladd. Even Ladd playing and being a decoy would only help Gadsden, but Gadsden's going to be out there a ton. Like you said, trailing game script is perfect for him. Yeah, we'll need to see what they do moves-wise, but that would be more of a long-term thing. concerned. They might have Patrick Herbert and the guy I've never heard before, like zero competition for Gadsden. So he's going to be out there a ton, practically a wide receiver in this offense. So yeah, Gadsden, I'm super high on him as well. Yeah.
00:56:23
Speaker 2: So who are you low on though?
00:56:25
Speaker 1: Oh man, Colson Loveland. We got to talk about Loveland and just the Bears offense.
00:56:30
Speaker 2: Because- Actually, breaking news. Case Keenum might be starting Monday.
00:56:34
Speaker 1: Oh, instead of Bajent?
00:56:36
Speaker 2: Bajan because Bajan's in concussion protocol. So there's another wrinkle.
00:56:41
Speaker 1: You got to be kidding me.
00:56:44
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:56:44
Speaker 1: For the fancy pros contest, that's going to be insane. Juggling three potential quarterbacks. But yeah, assuming Caleb's out Bajan, who knows? It really doesn't matter. You're not playing anybody because they face the Eagles this week. So yeah, It's just not good.
00:56:59
Speaker 2: Titans put up points? That was weird.
00:57:02
Speaker 1: I don't think that gives me any hope for the Bears right now. If Caleb was playing, if Caleb was healthy, we would have to be like, oh my god, what a horrible start. You've got to play him this week, and then after this week it opens up. But this week, got to sit him. I mean, Loveland, he bounced back from his week one goose egg with a one-catch three-yard game last week. But that game, the weather certainly played a factor. And then caleb getting hurt in game hurt it'd be it's different to have a week to prepare for tyson to come into the game for ben johnson as opposed to bajan has to come in because caleb got hurt in game the offense isn't going to be as close as it could be um so i think if if ben johnson has a week to prepare for whoever whether it's bajan or case keenum it will give me more you know I think it's going to be better. But again, Eagles, brutal matchup. So I think, you know, Loveland, you can't play him. My guy, Burden, can't play him. Odunze definitely can't play Odunze. So it's like all three of these guys, their season-long value is going to hit rock bottom after this week. And then hopefully week four, Caleb can return, and it's against the Jets. Could be a run-heavy game plan. But I think all these guys, there's too much talent here for them to just, you know, watch Kalief Raymond go off every week. But I think the time to buy low is after this week because it's going to hit rock bottom. I'm saying sit all these guys. Hopefully they go off on your bench. But I think heading into week four, if Caleb's looking okay, that's the time to buy low. Because imagine Caleb with a hammy injury where.
00:58:40
Speaker 2: He's not going to have to sit back and throw.
00:58:43
Speaker 1: Play in structure more. Ideally. It could help.
00:58:49
Speaker 2: Week two, I could forgive. It was a terrible weather game. He was taking off often, and that's how he got hurt. But yeah, we'll see.
00:58:56
Speaker 1: I'm with you.
00:58:57
Speaker 2: Loveland's definitely outside my top 15 right now. You might, depending on how deep your league is, you might still start him. But yeah, just for roster's sake.
00:59:07
Speaker 1: I don't know. He's tight at 20. Keenum's going to throw at least.
00:59:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know. I mean, Keenum's going to throw like Bajent would too. Bajent, at least like he had, Burton had three targets on that final drive with Bajent. So I was like kind of optimistic, but yeah, either of these guys, not to say the Bears wide receivers have more upside. I think they have a higher floor. with Bajent or Keenum. But again, it's like, do I really still want to start him against the Eagles? Probably not, but they're not the worst starts you'll ever see because.
00:59:38
Speaker 1: They are talented. Yeah, Keenum's not going to scramble. Like he's going to throw it.
00:59:44
Speaker 2: Bajent might not either.
00:59:45
Speaker 1: Bajent has scrambled in the past, but yeah, less than Caleb. So yeah, it's kind of an interesting projection because there might be more volume. But again, I think they're going to just lean on the run here. Just Swift and Menongai. Maybe you get burdened like design run attempts.
01:00:04
Speaker 2: I'd like that. I'd like that a lot.
01:00:05
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's against the Eagles. It's going to be tough. It's going to be tough.
01:00:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. And yeah, the guy I'm lower on at tight end is Harold Fannin. Harold Fannin until I see it. Until we see the targets come. I think it's until Shadur starts. If Shadur starts. I mean, Watson had a good week too. Credit to him. The guy sucks. He's a bad person. But I mean, he made some okay throws. Boston really, I mean, on Boston's touchdown, Boston was the one who made the play, really. But even so, it's like, I don't think I could trust Hannon until Shador's under center, if when Shador's under center. So what are your thoughts on him?
01:00:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, he was in my frozen pond of tight ends, right? I just love his upside. I think we saw it last year where, yeah, I think Shador would help him because, you know, they just have better chemistry. But Having Boston and Casey Concepcion there, they're going to eat in his target share more than anybody else last year. I mean, he was, and Judy is the wide receiver three instead of the wide receiver one, but he was competing with Cedric Tillman, Isaiah Bond, Malachi Corley. So, you know, Casey and Boston are going to be eating into his target rate a bit more, but love the talent. I mean, he could still be a top 10 tight end, you know, the next several years. So, Um, I think holding out for Shador makes sense, but he's in that set start tier every week just because of it being the Browns and a little bit more target competition. So he's my tight end 13, you know, still, I still view him as like a low end tight end one. Um, but yeah, if, if like Boston or Casey were to miss time, then he'd probably do my top 10.
01:01:48
Speaker 2: That's fair. Yeah. No, I just, I, until the targets come, I'm going to have him outside the top 15 and I definitely would rather start someone like Gadsden or, you know, Juwan Johnson, still Hunter Henry right now, like, you know, with Brown still her, it just, all those guys, you definitely would prefer starting. And that'll do it for week three NFL player projection episode. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast. You don't miss anything this season. Don't forget to check out the fantasy labs app for all of our projections and more. You can use code flex 20 for $ 20 off an NFL subscription at fantasy labs.com slash flex. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week. Action Network reminds you, please gamble responsibly. If you or someone you care about has a gambling problem, help is available 24-7 at 1-800-GAMBLER.