Full Transcript for Top 36 Wide Receiver Rankings for Week 10! Starts, Sits & Fantasy Football Sleepers (Ep. 2335)

center with Kirk Cousins. The splits with Jefferson with Cousins versus every other quarterback are so, so good in terms of how much better he is. So in terms of full PPR points, Jefferson 19.8, fantasy points per game with Kirk Cousins as his starting quarterback over a 54-game sample size from 2020 to 2023. The highest average Jefferson has posted with any quarterback throughout his NFL career. It's a full point higher than it was with Sam Darnall, who was second place. With the nine other starting quarterbacks Jefferson has played with, he's averaged just 15.3 points per game. So you're almost getting a five-point boost with Kirk Cousins as the starting quarterback for the specifically with Kirk Cousins in the Tevin O'Connell offense over the last two seasons that these guys played together. It was technically a season and a half because it was the last year that Cousins played there before he tore his Achilles. Jefferson averaged 11 targets per game, 7.5 catches per game, 108 receiving yards per game. The Packers defense has definitely been playing a lot better, but back in week one, Justin Jefferson was the wide receiver three on the week. And that's basically the last time anybody felt good about starting him in your lineup. So I'm buying into the quarterback upgrade. I'm not concerned that Cousins is going to have to adjust. He knows this offense, even though it's going to be some new faces in the offense with the offensive linemen, new coaching staff here and there. He knows where to go to the ball. He knows he's going to 18. And that's why I think that he's going to be a top eight receiver in week 10. 00:04:05 Speaker 1: Fitz, you're not negative necessarily. You're just a little bit lower than ECR. Still wide receiver one. Is there anything to it for you, for him being two spots lower in ECR versus your rank versus ECR? Or is it just how things laid out? You don't want to just unload back on Justin Jefferson as Kirk Cousins returns. 00:04:23 Speaker 3: It might take Cousins and Jefferson a while to get back in sync. 00:04:27 Speaker 4: And certainly the outlook is brighter. 00:04:29 Speaker 3: It The last two years have not been good for Justin Jefferson, and I don't think we're quite ready to go back to the days where I was trying to decide every week whether to rank Jamar Chase or Justin Jefferson higher. But I just want to point out as a Packers fan that I find it hilarious, and I have a lot of Vikings fans, friends, who some of the things they said about Kirk Cousins back in the day, man, about how he could never win in the clutch and how he would always throw short of the sticks on third and long, and now. 00:04:59 Speaker 3: Vikings fans are like the person who breaks up with their significant other and then begging to be taken back. 00:05:06 Speaker 1: Have you seen the Odyssey meme? That's the best one. Have you seen that? I don't know if you guys have even seen the Odyssey with Matt Damon with the bow and then they just put Kirk Cousins with the... You'd have to see it to understand the reference, but essentially they're saying he is the true one and it shows Caleb Williams in the back running as a Robert Pattinson character. It's the best meme out there for Kirk Cousins. Viking fans are going. 00:05:29 Speaker 2: Why? 00:05:29 Speaker 1: I completely agree with you. Absolutely going ballistic with having Kirk Cousins in there. It's like they just got, you know, Patrick Mahomes or Prime Tom Brady. But you got to love it. You got to appreciate it. 00:05:38 Speaker 3: Well, considering Carson Wentz could not come within five yards of his targets on Monday night, I think Kirk Cousins, I understand why he is seen as a vast upgrade. 00:05:46 Speaker 1: After the season of Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz, Kirk Cousins does look like a ghost. 00:05:51 Speaker 2: Did you guys know that the Carson Wentz game was the worst game for passer rating since the Sam Darnold ghost game? 00:05:57 Speaker 1: Really? 00:05:57 Speaker 4: Yeah. 00:05:57 Speaker 2: Yes, that's because, but when I say that, and then you think about that game, you're like, you know what? It actually was that bad. Yeah. 00:06:04 Speaker 4: There weren't near misses. 00:06:06 Speaker 3: Like every connection was like, nothing was catchable coming out. 00:06:10 Speaker 2: It was going to one of the bills, defensive players. It was like spot on, like in the chest to like a bills linebacker. 00:06:18 Speaker 1: Anything else? Fitzy on Jefferson? 00:06:19 Speaker 5: No. 00:06:20 Speaker 1: All right. 00:06:21 Speaker 2: Solid. 00:06:21 Speaker 1: ECR nine relative confidence. Maybe there's a little bit of a, an adjustment period. The other one, And I know it speaks for itself, but I just think it's worth talking about. Obviously, Zay Flowers last week was a brutal blow. We know Jacoby Bursette. We've already been told he was going to play in Week 10. The feeling clearly shows up in ranks that rankers feel Jacoby Bursette will save this. So he comes in at 12. Five-star matchup is also great there. You guys, again, there's a little bit of a split here. ECR 12, Erickson, you have him as... a wide receiver one, but Fitzy, you seem to be proceeding with a little bit more caution. So Fitz, why don't you jump into this? ECR 16. Again, this isn't a decimation or anything like that, but do you have like a question if Jacoby Brissett's going to be able to fit back in this offense right away and make Zay Flowers fantasy relevant? 00:07:12 Speaker 3: Like other people who are invested in Zay Flowers, I'm delighted to get him A real quarterback, Jacoby Brissett. Now, not necessarily a good quarterback, but a real quarterback and not Joe Fagnano. Because there is a vast, there's the continuum with Lamar Jackson on this end and Joe Fagnano here. Then somewhere in the middle are Tyler Huntley and Jacoby Brissett. And I feel like the Zay Flowers with Jacoby Brissett is probably going to look a lot like the Zay Flowers with Tyler

Huntley. And there were three starts that we had as a sample size in that and two where I think Zay Flowers was like around 10 half point PPR points. And then he did have one smash game with Huntley where he had eight catches for 137 yards and a touchdown against the Bengals. But for the most part, I just you're getting a floor at least, I think, with Zay Flowers and Jacoby Bursette now. And you did not obviously get that with Joe Fagnano in week nine. 00:08:10 Speaker 1: Erickson, what do you think? You've got him at 11, so you're one spot higher. Brissette fixes all the worries that Zay Flower owners have. 00:08:21 Speaker 2: Yes, I think that is the correct answer to the test and to the question. The thing that I'm excited about with Zay Flowers, first of all, the matchup is great. Again, the Ravens, not a lot has gone right for them this season. Only things can go right when you have the Chargers on the opponent list for the week playing on Monday Night Football. So Chargers have allowed the fifth most fantasy points to wide receivers this season. C.J. Stroud could do anything he wanted against this defense last week. They just traded away one of their starting linebackers. So I think that this is a spot where Jacoby Brissett, even in making his Ravens debut, look, they have extra time because the Ravens played last Thursday and then they acquired Jacoby Brissett immediately after that. So he's had a little bit more time to get acclimated. There's familiar coaches on the Ravens staff. He worked with the quarterbacks coach in Arizona. He worked with the passing game coordinator in Indianapolis. So I don't think this is going to be too big for him. Again, we've seen a lot of veteran quarterbacks go from team to team mid-season. Again, Joe Flacco is kind of like the most notable one from last year. And they kind of hit the ground running, right? What's the plan? What do we do? You throw the ball to Zay Flowers, you hand the ball to Derrick Henry. It's really not too complicated. I think Declan Doyle is going to put Zay Flowers into advantageous positions. They're going to move him around the formation. And it's just a matter of can you get him the ball? And I think that he will. And One thing I want to point out in terms of like the excitement that I have for Flowers is with Michael Wilson and Trey McBride in Arizona, like those guys had such favorable fantasy usage attached to Jacoby Brissett over the last two seasons. Michael Wilson was wide receiver five and expected fantasy points to be gained because he led the NFL in red zone targets when Jacoby Brissett was his starting quarterback. That was the biggest knock on Zachary. Flowers throughout his beginning of his career was Lamar's never targeting this guy in the red zone. Now you have a chance where that actually changes and it's not Mark Andrews or any of these other guys that are seeing a lot of red zone usage. It's actually Zay Flowers that's taking advantage of finally scoring more touchdowns. So that's why I think that he can be a top 10 receiver this week. Matchup is there. The quarterback upgrade is there. And Zay Flowers too is, I mean, The dude is balling out this season, right? I feel so robbed that we didn't get to see the full year of him and Lamar because I think that, say, Flowers would have put up absolute video game-esque numbers. And last point on Brissette. So this is according to NFL Savant. He ranks in the 100th percentile in aggressiveness. So basically the percentage of your throws into tight windows. One spot ahead of him is Jameis Winston. So again, how excited would we be if Jameis Winston was the quarterback for the Ravens? Jacoby Brissette's not that far off. Love it. 00:10:48 Speaker 1: All right, wide receiver twos are coming up here in just one second. But before we get back to the show, we want to take a moment to talk about something bigger than football, and that's men's health. This November, we're supporting Movember, the leading charity dedicated to changing the face of men's health. From mental health and suicide prevention to prostate and testicular cancer, Movember is helping raise awareness and fund important programs and research. And here's something worth knowing. One in eight men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. That's why starting conversations, checking in on the men in our lives, and supporting this cause, it's so important. There are plenty of ways to get involved. Grow a mustache, take on a fitness challenge, rally your friends, or simply make a donation. To support Movember, visit movember.com slash fantasyprose. Again, that's movember.com slash fantasyprose. Together, we can help change the face of men's health. Also, as a part of our partnership with Movember, we'll be giving away a fantasy football loser mini belt courtesy of Trophy Smack. To be eligible to win that belt, simply subscribe to our YouTube channel and leave a comment on this video on what you're doing to help the Movember cause. And then we'll be selecting a winner next week. So check it out again, Movember.com slash Fantasy Pros, and you guys can win that belt from Trophy Smack just by leaving a comment below on what you're doing to help the cause. All right, let's take a look at our wide receiver two board. This is wide receivers 13 through 24. Drake London comes in at 13, followed by Nico Collins, Tedro McMillan, Rasheed Rice, Jamison Williams, and Garrett Wilson. The back half, DJ Moore at 19, George Pickens at 20, Jalen Coker, DK Metcalf, Stefan Diggs, and Denzel Boston. Jamison Williams, fellas, you both like more than ECR. He comes in at 17 against The Patriots. The Patriots actually graded out as a five-star matchup for Jamison Williams. And both of you are quite a few spots higher. Erickson's at 15. Fitzy, you jump up at 13. So almost a wide receiver one for you this week. So Fitzy, talk to us about your love of getting Jamison Williams in lineups. I

mean, you have Jamison Williams over, say, Flowers this week. 00:13:00 Speaker 3: Yeah, and I don't know, ECR, it just seems like everyone is anxious to flee the Jameson-Williams bandwagon. Like it hits a pothole and people are jumping through glass windows to try to get off the Jameson-Williams bandwagon. 00:13:15 Speaker 4: I don't get it, man. I know he got off to that bad start where. 00:13:20 Speaker 3: He was top 20 in expected fantasy points over the first three weeks, but no touchdowns, under 40 yards. No one wanted to start Jamison Williams, but then we got the nice ride on the bandwagon. 00:13:32 Speaker 4: It was a four-game stretch from week four to week eight. 00:13:35 Speaker 3: Jamo scored five touchdowns and averaged 77.5 receiving yards a game. He was wide receiver seven over that four-week stretch. Don't get off the bandwagon just because he had one catch for 31 yards last week. He gets the Patriots this week. I think Christian Watson and Matthew Golden sort of demonstrated last week that the Patriots are not a matchup to fear for wide receivers anymore. 00:13:55 Speaker 4: Sorry, Erickson. 00:13:56 Speaker 3: As long as those receivers have a capable quarterback. And Jamison Williams certainly has a capable quarterback with Jared Goff. So keep playing Jamo, man. 00:14:06 Speaker 1: Erickson, you got him at 15. You were a couple spots higher. Unfortunately, it seems like you might have to agree that Christian Watson coverage and what the Patriots were, it's just not the same. And Jamison Williams is a top 15 wide receiver for you this week. 00:14:19 Speaker 2: He's got top 15 upside every single week. Just look at the game logs where it's 11 and 4 and 11 and 19, and the other finishes are all outside the top 40, right? So ranking him is really tough because it's one of two options, right? It's either top 15 or he's a bust. YOLO. 00:14:35 Speaker 4: Because he's a. 00:14:36 Speaker 2: Boomer bust wide receiver. So you just got to embrace the variance with a player like Jamo. And when you look at the matchup against the Patriots, there's nothing that I saw last week from this defense that suggests, well... J-Mo's not going to have success against the Patriots defense this week. If anything, last week should give people encouragement that J-Mo will bounce back and this will be closer to one of his boom games where he is closer to a top 12 guy and not someone that's outside the top 40. Just look at the Patriots defense in terms of how bad they've been against the deep ball, play action, intermediate throws. So against play action, they're 32nd in EPA per attempt face against no pressure. 30th. Intermediate passing. 00:15:13 Speaker 4: Dead last. 32nd. 00:15:14 Speaker 2: Long passing. 00:15:15 Speaker 1: 28th. 00:15:16 Speaker 2: 27th versus the deep ball. Like, this is Jameson Williams bread and butter. And yes, this is an international game. It's not being played in the Dome, which sucks because we know the Lions offense just for... It doesn't even matter if the weather's bad. You put them outside and for some reason they just don't function at nearly as high a level. That being said, this game still has a massive total I think at 50.5 points. You know the Patriots are going to know if they have to score points on this Lions defense, so Yeah, I think this is a spot where you got to play Jamo. 00:15:43 Speaker 1: So you guys both like Jamison Williams more than consensus. You both do not like Jalen Coker versus consensus. Jalen Coker comes in on this list as wide receiver two at 21 overall. You guys have bumped him outside of the wide receiver two range into the wide receiver early wide receiver 23s. Fitzy's got him at 26. Erickson, you've got him at 27. Coker's going up against New Orleans, kind of seems on paper like it's a fine matchup. But, you know, the excitement has really settled into what Jalen Coker could have been. And Eric, so why don't you kick us off on Jalen Coker? Because you guys are both in kind of similar agreement. What's pushed you down, especially versus consensus, where he comes in as like a decent-ish wide receiver, too? Why is he a three for you? 00:16:30 Speaker 2: The production's not been there the last month or so, essentially. So wide receiver 80, wide receiver 37, wide receiver 57. Now they were tough, tough matchups between the Buccaneers, the Packers and the Broncos. So maybe that's really the reason why we've seen Jalen Coker struggling. I know that Bryce Young hasn't been at the same type of level passing wise in these last couple of weeks. So maybe that's why I've soured on Coker. He was a guy that I had struggled trying to rank, to be totally honest, because he had been up there closer to the top 24. Just, oh, this is where we put Jalen Coker. He's the number two guy on this Panthers office. We feel good about him. And the Saints matchup is probably one of the better ones. So I am kind of curious to hear what Fitz has to say, because I don't really have any like grand declarative, like Coker's going to be a bust this week. Just the production has been lackluster. And I did at least look at last year when he faced the Saints. Nothing really special. Three catches for 21 yards on four targets, four catches for 60 yards. I caught a touchdown, but again, on four targets. So nothing suggests to me like, oh, this is a volume spot for him. Saints defense is not scary in any way, shape or form. They're bad against the run. I don't think that their corners are particularly too amazing for him not to be able to produce. But yeah, no, I'll throw it to Fitz. 00:17:40 Speaker 1: Yeah, Fitzy, why do you hate Jalen Coker? What's your problem? 00:17:44 Speaker 4: It's not so much Coker or even Bryce Young. 00:17:47 Speaker 3: It's just overall dysfunction with the passing game, and I think a lot of it has to do with the Panthers' offensive line just getting overrun lately. Bryce Young this season has faced a 39% pressure rate and 19.6% quick

pressure rate, according to Fantasy Points data. both well above league average, and I feel like the pressure's picked up. 00:18:07 Speaker 4: On him lately. 00:18:08 Speaker 3: And as a result, Jalen Coker's had four or fewer catches and 36 or fewer receiving yards in four straight games. And while the Saints are not an especially tough matchup, they have been a little more generous to outside receivers than slot receivers, giving up the fourth most fantasy points per game to outside guys, 11th most fantasy points per game. 00:18:28 Speaker 4: To slot receivers. Coker's startable. 00:18:31 Speaker 3: I just don't see this as a smash spot for him with the Carolina passing game just kind of struggling overall. 00:18:36 Speaker 1: All right, this other wide receiver, this is another one of those where he's moved up and down in the ranks for us. And, you know, for conversational purposes, between wide receiver three and wide receiver two, it's a fun spot. This is a split for you guys. You two are split on this. And this is Denzel Boston. He is ECR wide receiver 24. At one point he was 25, so moving between that spot. Houston is graded out, according to Finish Bros, as a five-star matchup. All things aside, though, Erickson is closer to ECR at 26. Fitzy, you seem to love Denzel Boston. You pushed him up to 17. So I think he's right below Zay Flowers for you, if going back to that list. So that is a dramatic push above what ECR has got him floating right as like a fringe 2-3. So Why don't you talk to us about the positives and what you're seeing for Denzel Boston as like a must play this week? 00:19:29 Speaker 3: I had been pretty consistently above consensus on Denzel Boston. Last week, I think, was the first week I wasn't since like week one. Then he goes out and has six catches for 98 yards. And this was Shadur Sanders' first start. And Boston led the team in targets with seven. Yeah, it was a good matchup against the Saints defense that, as I just mentioned, had given up the fourth most fantasy points per game to outside receivers. The Texans have given up the second most fantasy points per game to outside receivers. So another good matchup for Boston this week. I just think this dude is a star in the making. And I'm going to continue to err on the side of overranking him because when I don't, I get burned like I did last week. 00:20:09 Speaker 1: All right, Erickson, you pushed Denzel Boston outside of the top two wide receivers. You have him one spot higher than Coker though, but he's wide receiver 26 for you. So it's not like that big of a deal versus like ECR, but it is a difference between wide receiver two and wide receiver three. So where are you at on Denzel Boston? 00:20:27 Speaker 2: Well, I wanted to hear why Fitz was so high on Boston because he was another player I was trying to struggle with in terms of where I had him ranked because definitely a believer in the talent and how well that he's played despite the quarterback play in Cleveland being very up and down and inconsistent. The pass rush obviously concerns me against the Houston Texans, but that's really been the case all year for the Cleveland Browns. So it doesn't really matter that it's Will Anderson versus another defensive pass rush because the Browns have given up the most sacks to their quarterbacks this season. So I guess for me, in my back of my mind, I'm thinking Derek Stingley is going to like finally turn it around and just like start to lock down opposing number one wide receivers. But then like rewatching the Chargers-Texans game, like Quinn Johnson, long touchdown. Lambert Smith catches a pass for 50 yards. Like, this is how Denzel Boston makes his hay even last week when he caught a 60-yard pass, which made up the majority of his yards. So, I mean... I don't know. I guess maybe I should stop waiting for the Texans to stop giving up explosive plays on defense and just lean into it more because it clearly has not happened yet. And that's what Denzel Boston does. He rises up and because of how well he has played, who's not to say that he can't make plays even going up against a cornerback like Derek Stingley. So I will say I do have Concepcion one spot ahead of him because I like Concepcion's matchups a little bit more just working inside against that Houston defense. But yeah, no, Boston might be someone I need to get up inside my top 24. You've made me, you've convinced me Fitz. 00:21:51 Speaker 1: That's been part of my problem though, too. Like Concepcion has held me back. I did the same thing on like one of the live streams where I was like, I don't know, like Concepcion is just like a bigger, safer play. And I feel like we weren't quite getting those big explosive outings we had from Denzel Boston early on. And then what would Shador do? And then it was like, well, okay. You know, that answered that, but it's, it's tough. It's two really good young wide receivers to like in like a weird, Brown's offense. 00:22:14 Speaker 4: And fan and mixed in too. Like, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Great young tight end. 00:22:19 Speaker 2: Is, is your ranking. Does it matter who the quarterback is or are you ranking it with Watson? Great question. 00:22:25 Speaker 1: I think it's important. 00:22:25 Speaker 4: Pretty independent of, um, yeah. 00:22:29 Speaker 3: Like I don't think I would have any Boston either higher or lower with Deshaun Watson. 00:22:34 Speaker 2: Interesting. Okay. 00:22:36 Speaker 1: Uh, let's go to our wide receiver. Three board could be flex in a two wide receiver league. It's 25-36 at wide receiver, speaking of. Casey Concepcion comes in at 25, so you got Boston and him just right next to each other. Carnell Tate, Pop Douglas, Jeremy Bernard, Jacoby Myers, Omar Cooper comes in at 30. 31-36, boy, did we like Caleb Douglas and things look different now. He's got it at 31. Adnai Mitchell, Tank Dell, Deebo Samuel, Ryan Flournoy, and Jordan Tyson at 36. I want to ask you guys about the 49ers

situation, and I'm just going to put them together. I'm just putting these guys together here, because we're going to talk about some of the lower wide receivers in this group here. Not to say that Omar Cooper and Jeremy Bernard aren't fun to talk about, but Debo Samuel comes in at 34 going up against Dallas. Solid matchup. They said the expectation is he is going to play. You guys have both got him higher. But I also want to throw in the mix at one time Keenan Allen was wide receiver 36. I think he's just slightly moved down. He comes in, probably just fits nicely into this 49er situation. Fitz, let's start, or actually Erickson, let's start with you because you're the high man on Debo at 28. Talk to me about Debo in that high spot being active, but then also where you are on Keenan Allen and what he does with this offense. 00:23:56 Speaker 2: I just have the highest level of trust with Debo Samuel within the confines of the offense. Again, the trust doesn't necessarily mean I know exactly how healthy he is. Coming off of his hamstring injury as an older player, you can never be too certain with these guys. Probably will have a limited role, but I would expect Keenan Allen to have a limited role, right? Keenan Allen's not coming in to play 100% of the snaps for the 49ers. So it's going to be a rotation, but we know that Debo Samuel gets a lot of these high value opportunities. When he was most productive to start the season, it was a lot of touchdowns, right? we know the 49ers are going to score touchdowns on this Cowboys defense. So if he's active for me, it's plug and play wide receiver three, because it's Dallas, because Debo's healthy. And this is when you play him when he's healthy. And then we see obviously his production kind of wane as the season progresses, obviously got banged up in the middle of the year. But if he is good to go coming off of a bye week, I feel confident that Samuel should be a guy that you're plugging into your lineup more often than not. And then with Keenan, I guess I kind of feel just the same, just that's, but because he's a new player on the team, I just want to lower him just a little bit just because I have no idea what his snaps will potentially be. Unless we get more reporting about him. Oh, he's going to have an automatic full-time role. I would imagine he's probably being more around 50% of the snaps. It was actually kind of a, fun scheduling quirk is he's facing the uh indianapolis or excuse me he's facing the dallas cowboys two weeks in a row because he faced them last week and now he got traded to the team that's facing this week so i mean four catches for 26 yards is nothing to like write home about when he faced dallas last week but is it because daniel. 00:25:24 Speaker 1: Jones and colt's offensive line a little different than. 00:25:26 Speaker 5: The nine so it's like you can just like see like the evolution of when going from one offense to the next offense so again i I think that both guys are wide receiver three flex plays. 00:25:38 Speaker 2: And I feel like more often than not, people ask me, hey, should I start D.O.? Should I start Keenan? I'm like, yeah, like I'm open, especially against this Dallas defense, which is absolutely horrible up and down the board. I think I'm leaning toward them being starts more than sets. 00:25:52 Speaker 1: The thing that I think that's interesting, Fitzy, about Keenan Allen is they didn't do it every single week. But you know, there's that run where Mike Evans like wouldn't start first downs and he would come in on third downs for important for, you know, the third and eight or whatever, and then goal line. I kind of think that could be Keenan's role here. I'm not saying he is Mike Evans because they're two different players, but I think he's going to come in an important longer third down roles. I think he will be a very important piece in the red zone. And I think that makes him interesting, especially with Brock Purdy, who can feed that thing in here that, You might see Keenan go five, five or six for 45 and a score. And I think he is more flex worthy than maybe some are giving credit to. He's 38 on the list right now. I'm actually a little bit indifferent about Debo just because of his usage and his health. But where are you at as a whole? Again, I think you were slightly just went away from the sheet. You were 33 on Debo, so you're feeling relatively okay about that, but how does that also compare with Keenan Allen and your thoughts for playing him this week? 00:26:56 Speaker 4: I think I need to move Debo up. 00:26:58 Speaker 3: Erickson has made a really good case, and I guess maybe one of my concerns with Debo, while one was not knowing exactly what the snap share is going to look like off a hamstring injury, but also the fact that he hasn't seen more than six targets in any of his five games this season, that shouldn't matter that much, though, because it's Debo... And these are targets that he catches. Like if Debo gets targeted, his catch rate this year is 80%. He's getting the balls that are thrown to him. And again, this Dallas defense is awful. So I should, I'm going to, I'm going to move up Debo after this show. Keenan Allen, maybe I, maybe I'm too optimistic, but like Brock Purdy is one of the most cerebral quarterbacks in the game. And, you know, I've, We know Keenan Allen has referred to himself as what the Picasso of runners. How long is it going to take Brock Purdy and Keenan Allen to get on the same page? 00:27:51 Speaker 4: Probably not very long. 00:27:53 Speaker 3: And you figure Keenan Allen is going to get a handful of welcome to the team targets in this game. I just, but maybe he doesn't play much more than like half the snaps, if that. So I guess this is probably as high as I can get with Keenan. 00:28:07 Speaker 1: Where do you have him? You didn't say, where do you have him? 00:28:08 Speaker 4: Oh, sorry. 00:28:09 Speaker 1: 36. 00:28:09 Speaker 4: No, 32. Where do I

have Keenan? Hold on. 00:28:15 Speaker 1: Where do you got the Keenan here? 00:28:16 Speaker 4: I know. 00:28:17 Speaker 1: You're like, this is as high. They're like, I'm really optimistic. And we're all just sitting here. 00:28:21 Speaker 4: We're like, ooh, where? Where do you have him? 00:28:23 Speaker 3: It's right at low end. I think I've got him wide receiver 36. Yes, it is. 00:28:32 Speaker 4: Wide receiver 37. 00:28:34 Speaker 2: I have him wide receiver 34. And to, again, as we're talking about painters, to paint the picture of how this Brock Purdy connection with Keenan Allen could work. So this is according to NextGenStats. Brock Purdy has averaged 0.51 fantasy points per dropback on underneath throws. So fewer than 10 air yards, which is Keenan Allen's bread and butter. Second highest mark in the NFL. So if it's just drop back and throw to your point, Welsh, if Keenan Allen is just filling in the Mike Evans role on third downs and I think both these guys are just going to be used in these red zone packages, third down packages where they really need to move the needle. And then like first and second down between the 20s, it's just Kalen Black, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle. Like that's how the offense, because they can do whatever they want against Dallas. I mean, the Colts offense looked functional against Dallas last week. 00:29:20 Speaker 1: Which is crazy. 00:29:21 Speaker 2: And that offense is not good. So now you get Kyle Shannon and like, yeah, like to me, this is, yeah. 00:29:27 Speaker 1: It's interesting because it's not like Keenan Allen is that big of a deal. But if you think about it, like, Watkins and Demarcus Robinson do kind of help a little bit in spreading the field a little bit. Kittle obviously does that. Getting Debo back is another one of those short. low-end options like Christian McKay. So now if you're creating the shape of the field, the shape is bigger. And that's what's important to that offense. Because when Evans was out before and it becomes the, you know, the dimensions come in a little bit, it's like, defense has got to check. I mean, Watkins needs a little bit more attention. It's a bummer. We can't be more positive about Watkins after that incredible over the shoulder catch and what he's able to do kind of on the deep balls, but we'll see. I think even short snaps are not going to be a bad thing. They're both for Keenan Allen. I think both of these guys would be like wide receiver, three flex options guys. You'll probably want to get into lineups, but will you want to get them in over a couple of these guys? How about Ryan Flanoy, who has been a 50s guy over the last couple of weeks and He is ECR 35 on this list. Erickson, you're at ECR, but Fitz 28. So you have got him currently higher than Debo, Keenan Allen, any of those guys. 00:30:30 Speaker 4: Is this all. 00:30:30 Speaker 1: Relative to Pickens' questionableness? Or is this like if both guys were active, Flanoy? We went a little nuts with Flanoy last week when Pickens was out, and that didn't end up being correct. But talk to us about your boy. 00:30:43 Speaker 3: Yeah, I definitely went a little nuts. I moved him up to wide receiver 18 with Pickens out. Going against the Colts defense that had been getting smoked by slot receivers all year. And then Flanoy comes out and he has, I think, like a nine-yard catch and a seven-yard catch in the first drive of the game. Doesn't have another reception until he beats Sauce Gardner for a 46-yard gain late in the fourth quarter. So, yeah, I whiffed on that ranking last week. 00:31:10 Speaker 4: The weird thing was.... 00:31:12 Speaker 3: He couldn't do anything with Pickens out of the lineup. And in the previous four games with Pickens in the lineup, Flannoy had either a touchdown or 70-plus receiving yards in all those games. 00:31:23 Speaker 4: So it's weird. 00:31:25 Speaker 3: I still feel as if I should rank Flannoy higher with Pickens likely to be out. If Pickens does come back, I will move Flannoy down. But, you know, we don't see one-week hamstring injuries very often. 00:31:39 Speaker 2: So. 00:31:40 Speaker 3: You would think Flannoy would get a decent number of targets with Pickens out, granted against a tougher matchup this week in the 49ers, but I would just think Flannoy gets seven matchups, seven targets, and they're targets coming from Dak Prescott. 00:31:56 Speaker 1: Erickson, you're a little bit less optimistic, but you got him at ECR at 34. Is this about you not thinking that George Pickens is going to be active in how you're ranking him, or is this maybe slight hedge of like, if Pickens is out, Flanoy goes higher. If Pickens is active, maybe slightly lower. 00:32:13 Speaker 2: Well, I think it's interesting because the way that Fitz laid it out, right? So we all move him up because Pickens is out and then he does worse, which is like totally counterintuitive to what you expect to happen. So you know what, Fitz? I think this is the exact moment we're going to look at back and be like, we weren't wrong just a week early on Ryan Flanoy and that we should believe in the player because the way the coaching staff talks about Ryan Flanoy, they are obsessed with this dude. They absolutely love him. And the fact that that catch against Sauce Gardner set them up to win the game, like that was one of the biggest takeaways that Brian Schottenheimer had in the postgame press. We're just talking about we love Flo. We absolutely love this guy and adore this guy. And it seems like they're being very tepid with getting George Pickens back. And it's going to go up to the wire again with Pickens. Potentially it's like another game time decision. And if they're talking about that early in the week, man, I think we want to be higher on Florino. And I don't think we want to get super discouraged from last week, even though he ran. 100% of the routes. He actually had some production left on the cutting room floor because one of his

catches actually got removed by a penalty. So his true line was actually five targets, three catches, and 67 yards, 100% route participation, 97% of the snaps. That's a pretty solid outing. This game is a massive total against the 49ers. The Dak Prescott, the Dallas Cowboys, they're going to have to score on every single drive if they have any chance of keeping pace with the 49ers, who, and Welsh, I don't know if you can shed some light on this, 49ers are also dealing with some cornerback injuries as well. Two of their starting cornerbacks got banged up last week. So I think Dallas's receivers are going to have opportunities to create points and opportunities in this game. And even if Pickens does come back, what role is he coming back to? Because the last time we saw him playing, Florent was out snapping George Pickens because he was dealing with his shoulder and hamstring injury. So even if with Pickens active in the lineup, We're not necessarily getting a full-blown, full-time George Pickens running all the routes. It could just be Ryan Florento and we were just a week too early. So don't move him down, Fitz. Don't. Write the sticky note now and be like, do not remove Ryan Florento down no matter what. Love it. 00:34:13 Speaker 1: Last one I want to talk about here. I'm going to go to Erickson to start, but I just want to remind, I asked Fitzy, are we willing to jettison this guy into the sun on Monday? And we had a slight agreement. But I look at both of your ranks and I'm going, what's happening here? To be fair, you know, injury took him out of the game or whatever, but consistent picking on what is going on with Ladd-McConkie. Now, I am cheating a little bit because this is a scenario of not a guy that is in the top 36, as you guys will recognize. But I wouldn't be surprised if when all the rankings come up, he ends up popping in there. Let's see if he actually moved down since. 00:34:49 Speaker 2: I did this. 00:34:49 Speaker 1: He is 42 right now. But I got to ask because you guys both have him as a wide receiver three this week. Fitzy, you were the highest. Erickson, you are right there at 34. Talk to me about Ladd-McConkie and what is going on with you two that you believe Ladd is going to return to some type of form. He is a flex option for you, Erickson. 00:35:11 Speaker 2: Because I'm expecting when I rank players for them to play in the games. But with Ladd, I think the ECR is just considering, well, he's not having a solid bet to play. This is the second time this season he's been hurt during pregame warmups and not played. Even though he's been active in the game. So this one is tough because from a start-sit question perspective, I'm going to tell people to sit Ladd McConkie basically forever. I feel like every single time, because you can't trust this guy whatsoever to finish a game. I don't know how many complete games he's played this season where he's been active and actually played a full compliment of snaps. So I think with the ranking, you're not assuming that, well, he's only going to play 50% of the snaps. He's going to get knocked out of the game. So I can't, I can't speak for Fitz, but that's why I have him 34, because if he was playing, he would be a wide receiver three. But the fact that he plays on Monday night, do you want to recommend, oh, well, you got to wait out Ladd McConkie. Like, you really got to see if he's going to be available to you. So that's ultimately why I think it's going to come down to when I finalize all my rankings. It's do I start Demario Douglas or wait for Ladd McConkie? Probably just going to start Demario Douglas, right? Yeah. I don't know if I can bring myself to suggest that on a Monday night for a guy that has been unreliable on arguably one of the worst offices in the NFL. And although Ladd has looked the best when he's been out there, that doesn't has been far and few between where those have actually happened. Yeah. 00:36:30 Speaker 1: That's kind of where I'm sitting at too. It's like, he's always questionable. This is always going on. The offense stinks. Like, are you really, do we really feel confident? He is a flex worthy wide receiver to start this week with Monday night football and Fitzy. You got him the highest of anybody. You got him at 30 here. So, You've pulled him. He's not Icarus. He's not been too part of the Sun. You've pulled him back. 00:36:51 Speaker 3: Do I feel confident about starting him as a flex? Not in the least, Welsh. I mean, I guess I'm standing by my position that Ladd McConkie is still a pretty good football player and is far and away the best pass catcher Justin Herbert has. And the Ravens have given up a lot of points, fantasy points, six most to slot receivers. And Ladd is taking about half his snaps from the slot when he actually gets through pregame. 00:37:13 Speaker 4: Warm-ups and plays. 00:37:15 Speaker 3: Um i just want to point out ranking lad wide receiver 30 this week is not the same as ranking them wide receiver 30 in week one we've got teams that are going to be quarterbacked by carson beck and kyle mccord and we've got some of the most depleted wide receiver cores i've ever seen the colts the cardinals the rams uh like Wide receiver 30 is not that great this week. And man, people are going to be really holding their noses and playing some wide receivers they're not excited about this week in fantasy football. 00:37:52 Speaker 1: Well, maybe we can get a few, some deeper options. This is another one of those scenarios. I actually put this player under Erickson Sleepers because of, I think, where he had him ranked. We had to talk about him. He pushed himself up at 36, but Erickson, your deep sleeper for this week was Jordan Tyson, and that was a guy I did kind of want to talk about in general, but we get to do it here, and I think you have him at 30 this week, so that's a deeper play for you. 00:38:18 Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought that he looked pretty good in his NFL debut, caught

four or five targets for 30 yards, obviously had the fumble at the goal line, but again, he holds on to that ball, gets into the end zone, and I think there's no debate that Jordan Tyson is a top 30 wide receiver because he would have got the touchdown score. We wouldn't lose points because of the fumble. And I think there'd be more buzz about Jordan Tyson as a really strong play this week against the Carolina Panthers defense that, yes, we know that their run defense is really, really bad, but their secondary is also really, really bad. It's just a matter of how a team decides to attack their defense. And given the fact that the Saints have been more of a pass defense, first team than a run first team, although we do like estimate this week as well. I think this is where they get Tyson going a little bit more. Again, he only played 24% of the snaps and still had five targets. He was targeted on 31% of his routes run. And all they said in the postgame presser, according to the coach speak index is, yeah, we're just going to ease him in but then we're going to continue to build his role so you're going to see his routes his snaps his targets catches everything's going to go up in week 10 it's a great matchup in the dome against the panthers should be kind of a fun back and forth contest against two teams that probably aren't that great but maybe one of these ugly type of shootouts so i think jordan tyson again if you're just kind of like pulling for straws trying to figure out man like who do i start my wide receiver three i've had this tyson guy on my roster for 10 weeks can i play him i think you can. 00:39:45 Speaker 1: Fitzy, you've got a wide receiver playing deeper that is not top 36, and I think you both agree. You guys are both higher on this guy. So who is your deeper wide receiver play this week? 00:39:54 Speaker 4: Antonio Williams. And I think Erickson likes him even more than I do. 00:39:58 Speaker 3: And Williams has only, well, last week, three catches for 25 yards and hasn't really had his first big game in the NFL yet, but I think it's coming. Antonio Williams had a snap share below 70% each of his first six games, but then the Terry McLaurin got hurt. Last two weeks, Williams has seen snap shares of. 00:40:19 Speaker 4: 83% and 84%. 00:40:20 Speaker 3: He has a good quarterback in Jayden Daniels. I think it's just a matter of time before Antonio Williams gives you a good game. 00:40:28 Speaker 1: All right, top 36 wide receivers in the books. Those are the big plays, whether they're flex, whether there's a couple other plays that are out there. Wide receivers definitely kind of a better piece. I mean, I will say like in the running backs, when you look at them, like the flex type of running backs, there are more options than we've had in some weeks. But, you know, the wide receivers, they play deep. Hopefully we answered some of your guys' big start and sit question based on our ranks. Go to fantasypros.com slash NFL slash rankings if you guys want to follow along with what we just talked about. See what changes happen throughout the week. You want to see all different formats. We got you covered there. Lots of streams happening throughout the week as well. If you got more questions as far as what you should be doing, what should be starting for week 10. So make sure you're locked in on the YouTube channel. If you listen on the podcast, we got the live stream. So youtube.com slash fantasy pros lock in there, download the app, the best place and the best way to get yourself prepared for the fantasy playoffs is going to be with the fantasy pros app for Pat Fitzmorris and Andrew Erickson. I'm Chris Welsh. Thank you guys for hanging out with us for the Week 10 Wide Receiver Ranks. We'll talk to you next time right here on Fantasy Pros. 00:41:32 Speaker 2: 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 fantasypros.com slash review or on Spotify. 00:41:45 Speaker 3: Follow us on X, Instagram, and TikTok at Fantasy Pros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com slash fantasypros.