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Fish and Matt Harrison from Shocked Fantasy. Hello. Hi, great to have you guys here. It's draft season. It's the best. This is like it's the best week of the year. How many of you got left? Church? I got two left to left? I got two left. I've got a and I hate talking about my own league, so I'm gonna keep this very brief. I've got my whiskey guillotine Lee in which, oh that sounds great. The winner gets a bottle of whiskey from all seventeen of the people

who got cut over the course of the year. So if you're the winner, you get seventeen incoming bottles drunk whiskey. You don't have to drink them all one night, Um. And then my other one is also kind of fun. It's similar to an old game that I devised for The Onion. For a little while, The Onion had a fantasy football game and I made that was all about inefficiency.

You wanted to get like as many carries for your running back as possible with the fewest number of yards, as many passes from your quarterback as possible with the fewest number of yards and touchdowns. So I'm doing a it's like a Nega league everything back. Yeah, I've played in like race to the bottom leagues where you want negative stuff to happen, but I like the inefficiency go way better. Yes, right, And so you know you need

people who are still produced. They're getting the ball in their hands and they just don't do anything with this. I love that. Yeah, I haven't heard of that before. It's fun, um. And so those are my Those are my two remaining drafts. And again I mentioned them only because they're fun, different and we love that stuff. Coming up over the course of the show, we will give you the teammates that we think are better to draft

teammates people in the same team, same position. Would you rather have guy A at his average draft position, or guy B at his average draft position, or as as as as we've done historically, just take the cheaper guy. It almost always goes to the cheaper guy. We'll almost we'll go through the training camp battles that we outlined a month ago and tell you who won those. We'll

answer three tough questions like we do every week. Well, we've got a segment called I might just be wrong in which we really just identify our fears that you know, we all take stands on things. What are the ones that maybe we're not right about that we're laying awaken. This is tough for yes, it is. And then uh, we'll wrap things up with a Thursday night game fantasy preview because we will not have another show. We have a we have an NFL game, but we're the show

mail our final sleepers of the year. Let's go around each team for the final time here in the preseason and talk about the one thing you need to know about this the final week of the preseason before the regular season starts, beginning with I think Matt has got the Panthers. I do have the Panthers, who are set to be one of the youngest teams in the league with seventeen of their eighteen draft picks from the last

two years making the team. That's kind of unheard of. Uh. Their defense will make plenty of mistakes, but their offense should be constantly throwing the ball. With CMC back and healthy, plus the additions of Sam Donald, Terrace Marshall Jr. And Dan Arnold are ready to make some big impacts. Scott,

the Raiders, what do we need to know? Uh? They ended up releasing John Brown, cementing that role for Brian Brian Edwards in the on the roster and in starting lineup, also Jayleen i R. So it's basically a two man show at running back at least early in the season. Who has more touchdowns Kenyan Drake or Josh Jacobs Man. Don't we have a segment that is coming up later? You're right, I almost most touchdown call for the Packers.

Starting left taboc tackle David baktr will begin the season on the pup list as it recovers from last year's a c L. They're being very cautious with him. You know. The Packers normally stalwart offensive line has undergone a lot of change over the past two years. They lost Brian Blaga last year, Corey Lindsley this season. Now bok tr Uh is out and he'll be replaced by Elkin Jenkins, who has been awesome. But he's an interior lineman who's

gonna have to kick out to left tackle now. And he's one of the greatest draft picks of the Packers have had recently. He's been fantastic for them. Also, I'll mention this rookie wide receiver and Marie Rogers doesn't appear anywhere near ready based on we've seen in preseason training camp to make any impact here, and so he's got to be fifth on that depth chart. He yeah, that's probably I think that's probably right about that. Okay, let's

let's turn over to Washington Matt. Only sixteen players remained from the roster that Ron Rivera inherited just over a year ago. Some interesting names that made the cut at the skill position. Sammis Reyes is a tight end who never played football before this year. What wow, Okay, awesome? Huh.

Dax Milne was the seventh round rookie wide receiver and punt returner who beat out Antonio Gandy Golden for the last bott on the depth chart and undrafted running back Jared Patterson beat out Peyton Barber for a spot and has some big flashes in the posseason. I'm telling you watching him play, Jared Patterson is a decent player. He's probably the handcuff to Antonio Gibson. He is the handcuff you want if you're if you're the handcuffing type, Jared Patterson.

Let's go to Buffalo, Scott. I should add that they actually, the Raiders actually did pick up Peyton Barber after he was just remembering that now as he says that he'll probably lead them in touchdowns. Right there you go. There's your answer. Uh. For Buffalo, there's really not much. I'll just say that Dawson Knox secured the job. They released Jacob Hollister. It's not really relevant for fantasy, but Church loves it when I waste twenty seconds saying nothing, thank you.

Texans have rookie wide receiver Nico Collins, who was getting first team reps in the final preseason game and really only needs to be about Chris Conley to start the season opposite Will Fuller, and I think there's a decent chance that he does that. Nico Collins. I know, Scott, you've been on Nico Collins. I'm on Nico Collins and so I want to make sure you know that. Also, all three of the running backs got first and second

team looks throughout the entire preseason. Philip Lindsay, David Johnson, mark Ingram Avoid. Let's go to the Buccaneers. They play on Thursday. Man, Yeah, it's been a pretty quiet preseason with all twenty two starters from offense and re defense returning. But one of the interesting things I found it they have the worth easiest schedule in the league as the

Super Bowl champs, which doesn't happen very often. And in fact, if you play a league with team defense, the Bucks should likely be close to the top spot because after facing Dak Prescott in Week one, they do not face another top fifteen quarterback from last year until Week fourteen in Josh Allen. And that's it, Tang, they face nobody. It's all rookies all the time this year and and frankly bad quarterbacks. So the Buck's interesting defense this year

for sure. It sounds to all their starters known, all their starters, they feels like they're going to the Super Bowl. Uh, all right, Scott. Next up to Cleveland Brown another one. There's not much news except for Donovan People's Jones just keeps getting hype, but he's still going to kind of battle, you know. Rishad Higgins there for the wide receiver. Three dirties. I guess, uh, if there's an injury, keep that minded,

to keep that not named in mind. And another in a series of blows to the Colts offense, Starting left tackle Sam Tevy tours a c L. That means longtime veteran Eric Fisher, who by the way, has COVID right now is is going to try to be ready by week one to fill in there. It's possible the Colts could start this season without their starting left tackle, left guard, and quarterback, although it looks like Carson Wentz is heading towards playing in the opener. Let's next go to the

Detroit Lions. Man, it's all about the running backs and wide receivers. DeAndre Swift has been limited all camp with a growing injury, and Jamal Williams has quickly become a favorite of both Lions fans and coaches alike. And nobody wants to hear this, but I would bet a yeah, yeah, taco best pork burrito that Williams outscores Swift and Fantasy

this year. Fantasy points, yeah, and Fantasy points. On the other side, the Lions cut Brashod Pairman, which I talked about maybe happening last week, Tyrrelle Williams, a Monross st Brown, and a host of others, including the newly acquired Trinity Benson headline the weakest wide receiver corps I think I ever remember in the history of the NFL. It's down there,

let's head next to the jet Scott. So Jamison Crowder still isn't prexing and he just got put on he's injured and just got with a growing injury and just got put on the reserve COVID list. We don't know yet at the time where you know doing this that if it's the ten day or if what his vaccinations test is, if it is if he's unvaccinated, he's missing week one, yes now because it's nine days away. Nay. Of note, Elijah Moore was sort of you know who was flashed basically from O. T A S. Four Wars.

Was my my worry hesitancy has always been well. Jamison Crowder is a slot receiver who's sitting ahead of him and he had to overcome Crowder. Elijah Moore just might start with PLA never looked back, and you know that might be that there may not be any factor there. They have said Elijah Moore. If Crowder is out, Elijah Moore will bounce outside. Let's go to the Chiefs, where the battle to replace Sammy Watkins is. The number two

receivers still looks murky. You've got me Cole Hardman. DeMarcus Robinson getting run with the first team offense in the final preseason game Byron Pringle saw sometime with the ones, but mostly the two's. I you don't want the second wide receiver in Kansas City. It's never really panned out before,

so maybe you just maybe you just don't care. But I think there's I know that mi Cole Hartman has been drafted in many leagues on the promise of him getting a big uptick in playing time and taking Sammy Watkins spot, But I can't tell you that that's happened. Let's go to Seattle. Matt Russell Wilson is entering his tenth season in the league, and in the previous nine seasons he hasn't had an offensive line rank above eighteen

in Pro Football Focus pass blocking grades. That trend looks to continue, as the Seahawks kept six tackles on their fifty three man roster. Nobody does that outside of Dwayne Brown the Sea. The Seahawks cycled through four different starting right tackles in camp. Brandon Shell looks like the projected starter right now, but it's bad. Next up the Broncos Scott so they released Royce Freeman, who then went to

the Panthers. Interestingly enough, the Ravens tried to pick up Royce Freeman on waivers, which I think is that's a little something there, But that just gives more confidence to the Gordon Williams split. They just trust those two guys. I think you're right about that with Boone, and I are of course too. For the Rams, backup running back Xavier Jones got cut in the wake of the Sony Michelle trade and his ankle injury. Jake funk is your third string running back for l A. Next up the

Eagles Matt after the Gardner Minshew deal. The Eagles have the most depth at quarterback in the league with Hurts, Minshew and Joe Flacco. The beat writers are calling Flacco the number two right now, but people forget how good Gardner Minshew was last season. He finished QB fifteen and fantasy points per game average two fifty one yards per game, which is better than Kyler Murray uh and and Ryan Tannehill and yardage, completed sixty sent of his throws and

sixteen touchdowns to only five picks. He's gonna maybe play more the people want to think. I know, I think he's involved. We've said this all preseason. No quarterback and maybe no player has more volatility to him than Jalen Hurts, and this puts more pressure on Hurts if if he doesn't pass well, They've got really two viable backups that can step in and take that spot from him. This is a This is something you have to be concerned about if you're a Jalen Hurts owner. Next up the

Miami Dolphins. Scott I mentioned it last week that that guests can really seems to be the guy there. So I'll go to something new where the owner apparently really really wants Deshaun Watson. But I don't think even if he goes there, I don't think he plays this this not this year. Let's go to Minnesota or Smith's season is officially over as he's got a timetable to return that looks like December or January. Tyler Conklin and new Viking Chris Herndon will likely share duties once Herndon gets

acclimated into the lineup. Anyway, there are very few qualified options to catch a Kirk Cousins pass on roster right now. Justin Jefferson and I'm feeling are going to be targeted like crazy in this offense. Next up, Cowboys offensive line should rebound in a big way, and it's left tackle Tyrant Smith returns after playing just a hundred and fifty four snaps last season. Right tackle l Collins returns after missing all of due to hip surgery. Zack Martin is

one of the best right guards in the game. Connor Williams finished seventeenth overall in pff S grading. So the Cowboys bring that offensive line back. Let's go Patriots. Scott mac Jones won the job. Cam Newton is a free agent now, probably good for Harris uh The goal line work is gone from Cam Uh stid him on the pupe. Hoyer got resigned, he got released and then resigned. So that's those are the only two quarterbacks on roster right now.

By the way, Cam Newton two Baltimore war seems like the greatest idea that they could have because they only have Tyler Huntley as the backup on roster right now. They wouldn't have to change much in that offense if they if Lamar Jackson were to go down and Huntley super athletic two. So I mean they like that type of player and so it could make some sense. I think Cam's just gonna wait for an injury. He's just probably a starter to get hurt and then raise his

hand and they'll probably get signed. By the way, the backup for one day for the Patriots to Mac Jones was Jacoby Buyers, which for the Saints, it appears that the starting wide receivers for the Saints home game in Jacksonville will be Deonte Harris and Marquez Callaway trade Kwon Smith's still not practicing due to an undisclosed injury, and Michael Thomas on I are did you hear how the Saints chose Jacksonville is the site? And all I saw is that they did a comprehensive search for sites and

that's what they came up. But they also wanted to play in Florida because Aaron Rodgers was three and four in Florida history, Jacksonville was the one that was most expensive for flight travel costs for Green Bay fans to go to Florida. I love it all right, they'll tend to New York for the Giants. Uh Sa Kwan? Is he a trap? I think he might be. First off, we have no idea when he'll play Week one, is no guarantee when he returns. Does he get Bell cow usage?

And according to Pro Football Focus, the Giants have the worst offensive line in the NFL. Can Daniel Jones keep defense? Is honest? Kenny Golladay is already gimpy. This is looking messy. But I might put my hat in my hand and talk a little bit about se Kwon later. Okay, let's go to the Tennessee Titan. Scott Ryan Tannehill put on the COVID list. However, he is vaccinated, so he just needs to clear two negative tests before he can come back.

He's probably not in danger of missing meek one week one, but we'll see. Yeah, and it's a contact thing. He's not believed to have COVID for the Steelers. Minor injuries to James Washington and Chase Claypool or in the rear view mirror, and both of them should be playing Week one.

Next up the Falcons. Matt Our own Brian Johnson predicts that Kyle Pitts will be an absolute force in the red zone this year, where Matt Ryan was one of six quarterbacks with at least eighty pass attempts and guys like Hayden Hurst, Russell Gauge, Brandon Powell, Lakwan Treadmill combined to score eleven touchdowns. Can you tell Brian wanted me to mention this for this show? Obviously he's He's a source. Cincinnati Scott Chris Evans has won the third the third

running back role there. There's a ton of buzz around him, and he's a better pass catcher than p Ryan. I wouldn't if I'm a mixing owner or not, I would look at him if there's anything that happens to mixing. Have zero shares a mixing. Next up San Francisco, Trey Lance chipped a bone in his finger. He's gonna miss a week of practice and he wasn't expected to start anyway, But the injury all but assures Garoppolo gets, if all, if not if the starting job and most likely all

of the work in at least week one. The Niners have a very week schedule to start the year two. This could hang on for a really long time, and I think we're looking at ten weeks at least of Garoppolo for a moment. What did you think of that? Them splitting the first team running back and forth, Like, no, I hate that fantasy. That's the worst thing that could happen for fantasy. Well, kind of brilliant for a kind of from a football standpoint, Yes, from a fantasy standpoint,

there's nothing we hait worse on the platooning quarterbacks. You never know less you're in one of those team quarterback leagues. Um, are there any of those left? I mean you have to be like in a big that's that's that way. Forty Niners is one other thing. Starting slot receiver from the Niners, Mohammed sanu Oh, Daddy mohammeds and Daddy Sr. Mohammed And I figured he was here was done, but not the case yet. Cardinals, Matt It's been a pretty

quiet camp surrounding Kyler Murray. The Cards have already said though, that some injuries to Murray might have prevented him from throwing more last season. He handed up under the four thousand passing yards mark last year, but his rushing upside was amazing. But will they try to take the ball out of his hands a little bit more to get him throwing a little bit extra this year. That's yet

to be seen. Next up, Jacksonville Scott. This this doesn't even feel worthy, but Jacob Hollister got signed for the Jags. But that tight end depth chart is terrible, so maybe there's not You're right. They also signed Tyrone Johnson from the Chargers. That's a note I guess for Brian. Apparently we're doing with this whole show is just about keeping Brian happy. We want to make sure Brian's happy. For the Ravens. Justice Hill return to practice after missing a

couple of weeks with an ankle injury. He is battling Tyson Williams for the backup job behind Gus Edwards. Final couple of teams Chicago Matt Well Justin Fields is the story of camp, but we're gonna talk about him in the next segment. Here's a few facts about the Bears. Though they're the old team in the league. Okay, they have a rookie defensive coordinator. They faced the toughest quarterback

schedule in the league. Their offensive line is one of the worst in the league, and Andy Dalton won't be able to hold that job very long because he's gonna be running and the negative game scripts are going to make Justin Fields have to come in very very soon. That offensive line looked so bad preseason. That's that is what I think is going to contribute heavily to Andy Dalton having to the demise, possible demise on the field, demise of Andy Dalton. Final team is the Los Angeles Chargers.

They ended up waving both Tyrone Johnson and Joe Reid, really securing the roles for Josh Palmer in that in that offense is as the guy that will come in if there's an injury on the outside or maybe get some some snaps on the outside. Josh Kelly terrible preseason. Justin Jackson completely locked up that backup role. Yeah, that's anybody if you drafted Kelly get out now that. I don't think there's gonna be any help coming that way. When we come back, we'll go through the trainee camp

battle resolutions. Four weeks ago we identified all the training camp battles we were going to follow. We'll tell you the winners and losers of each one of those when we come back. Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome back, Fantasy Football Weekly, Pault Charchie and Guillotine Leagues dot com. If you haven't tried a guillotine league, still time to get into a guillotine league. If you've got friends you want to play with,

we can cover that at guillotine leagues dot com. Or maybe you want to just join a league with strangers. We've got guillote leagues at whatever prizing level you would like to play for. As you already know, the way the Guillotine League works is kind of special. A teen teams start the season. That's one team for every week of the year. Instead of head to head playing each week, the bottom team gets cut and their entire team goes

to the waiver wire. We're pandemonium and sues. For the rest of us who are alive, all you have to do is not be worst. You don't have to have the best team, just don't finish last. The last team standing wins the whole thing. And one of the things that's nice about the Guillotine League is people are like, but charge, I don't have seventeen other friends. You can set them up for however big or small Guillotine League

you want. That is correct. We support eight to eighteen size the gigs, and if you choose an eight or a nine, you can play it twice in the same Season's right you could. You know, if you get to go with the nine team Guillotine League, you'll have a winner after week eight. Redraft a little Guillotiny. Guillotini absolutely also available at GI We have Guillotine's. Four weeks ago we identified the training camp battles we were going to watch.

Now let's go back and see who won and did the right team the right did the team get it right? We begin Scott with Buffalo wide receiver situation beyond Stefon Diggs. How about that? How about that third spot? So we had Gabriel Davis going against Manny Sanders. There Manny Sanders, Emmanuel Sanders had all but won the battle. Then he got hurt. Uh and now they've split time since it still seems like Emmanuel Sanders has got the job. Here. In the last preseason game, he he worked both outside

and in the slot. Gabe played Eggs exclusively from the outside, but Gabe did way better catching every single pass throwing his way on the score. So I think the battle is still going on. Thirty four year old Manny Sanders won't give it up yet. I think you and I I know we want we want Gabriel Davis. It is this is we're very much typical fantasy players. We want the new guy, the young blood, you know, that's that's always got a lot more appeal than the older players

generally do. But this thing could be murkier than we want to think. Unfortunately. All right, Matt, let's go to the Chicago quarterback situation. Yeah, it was Andy versus Justin Fields, and it's Dalton. For now, they're probably starting the wrong quarterback, but how long will it? Last? Week one, they get the Rams and that scary defense. Week to the Andy Dalton revenge game against Cincinnati. That's kind of fun. Week

three at Cleveland that's a really good defense. And then Week four is Detroit and that might be the place that they want to start Justin Fields. So I think he's still worth rostering in redraft leagues where you're looking for some QB upside. But if it goes further than week four, might be a little Field starts no later than weeks I think we're pretty much that. I think he's going too late given the rushing upside that he brings.

And if they if they announced today that Justin Fields was gonna start like week two, he would jump up three rounds easily. And he's probably he starts by week two, and if not two, I think forward your point is to throw him on your bench, leave him there. Let's go to New England. We know who won the quarterback job there, we do U. New England did did what the Bears apparently were too scared to do and got

their rookie in there to start. Not much. I mean, it's it's good for the passing game, it's gonna be good for John Who, it's good for the running game. It's good for Harris, you know, because he's gonna get goal. I know what it looks that Newton took. But what I want to mention is mac Jones went from plus one thousand to win Rookie of the Year to the favorite just by that announcement. Unbelievable. I know people who got that plus one thousand two. Really, Yeah, that's good,

that's good money. Uh they've got I like that they've settled on a quarterback who can pass on like Cam Newton. We'll talk more about that New England situation in Cam Newton's depart your next segment. The New Orleans UH quarterback situation, Matt Jamis Winston versus Taysom Hill. I thought it was gonna be Hill at the beginning of the preseason, but Jamis Winston wanted because he can pass, because he can end the day, your quarterback has to be able to pass.

That's true. But this whole battle has a whole bunch of stink on it, and I just don't like it. First off, Taysom Hill will not just sit on the bench all game. He will be in as maybe a goal line quarterback, weird gadget player. How much will he take away from Winston? And that's not good Without bruised and broken Michael Thomas, it feels like they're at an

all time low on skill players. Connection between Winston and Marquez Callaway with something to behold in the preseason, but I'm nervous about the Saints having to spend their first month away from home. That's not ideal either. No, that part is is worrisome. Scott. Let's go to the Denver quarterback situation where I think they got it raw. Okay, yeah, Teddy has this quarterback job on Lock one point oh one, Dad, that's what you are a lot of I I do

agree with you. I think Lock would have been better for fantasy just because his upside is unreal. But we we do have to remember that a quarter uck can be pretty average and support wide receivers. Last year, Teddy for the Carolina Panthers had three top thirty wide receivers in both points per game and total fantasy points over the course of the but they were all about I

heard something. I heard a really good stat from Warren Sharp that Bridgewater faced the toughest passing defense schedule in the league last year in Carolina and he faces the easiest schedule this year. And I did see that it was the easiest. Um But but that statement of a QB doesn't that, you know, can be a weak fantasy asset and support a bunch of options. Looking at you, Ben Roethlisberg, one UH San Francisco's quarterback situation, Matt, We've

alluded to it last second. Yeah, it's Jimmy Garoppolo versus Trey Lance, and Jimmy has it for now. Uh. Of course, Chart mentioned that Lance ended up with the fingertip injury, which means he's going to sit out for a week or so. I do expect him to suit up as the backup in Week one, but Lance was equally as tantalizing and predictably unpredictable for a guy with his pedigree

in preseason action. The more I watched a Lance, I think he'll certainly be the last of the rookie quarterbacks we see, and this one might extend a lot later into the season before he starts. Then all of us want to admit the Denver running back situation, we don't have a lot of clarity here. We don't know. There's not a lot of clarity. Uh. The b reporters think it's Melvin, but he is Melvin Gordon, but he is the one that actually played in the final preseason game

and they held Javonte out. Part of it could because you know, Melvin Gordon's coming back from that injury, maybe kick a little more rust off, you know, while he's you know, trying to get back, or they didn't or they wanted to protect their lead runners. I think that's it. That's the scenario I watched. I had originally thought they were trying to showcase him for a trade to one

of these very running back needy teams. But you know they got they got Rhoda Roy would be an interesting move with Melvin Gordon ended up in maybe Baltimore Baltimore or with the Rams or on behalf of all Gus Edwards owners. You shush up about that. We're going through the training camp battle resolutions. We outlined a month ago the ones we were gonna watch. Now we're going through the final set of winners and losers. The Arizona running

back situation. Yeah, Edmonds versus Connor, I cannot call a winner. It's uh, it's there's no winner to be called. It's a tie. Chase Edmonds is the top of the depth chart, but will he be the guy at the goal line. He has one career carry inside the five yard line.

Kenyan Drake now in Vegas had twenty two inside the five, so Edmonds clearly was not trusted there, and over the last three seasons with Pittsburgh James Conner total twenty nine carries inside the five and scored sixteen touchdowns, which is a pretty good success rate. He's healthy for now and if he ends up as the goal line guy, he's

probably the running back you want more in Arizona. Alright, our final training camp battle resolution is among the Chargers wide receivers, and this one came down to the wire that did Tyrone Johnson got released, So it became between Josh Palmer, who that has has splashed in the in the training camp and UH in the preseason. Here UH and Guitan. It looks like Guyton is going to be the slot backup and Palmer is going to be the outside backup. That's basically how it's come down too. I

think you're right. Guyten played almost entirely slot last year and so he'll back up largely Keenan Outen, who runs a lot from the slot. So I believe that that is exactly how that part will work out when we come back. It's a game we like to call three tough questions. You can play along see if you can go three and oh with our panel of experts, as I pepper them with three mind bending questions sure to shatter the confidence of my co host. Stay tuned to

Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly, Pulp Charching with you, Scott Fish and Matt Harrison. You can download my personal cheat sheet for free at Guillotine leagues dot com. This is a segment we call three tough questions. Tough question number one, with the unfortunate end to j K dobbins season, how many touchdowns will Gus Edwards score this year A less than ten B ten to fourteen or

see fifteen or more. We begin with Scott Fish. I could take the easy route and say he had seven last year as the backup to Jake Dobbins in most of those games. If you flip that, you and j K Dobbins had nine. So if you flip that, he's he's already close. But in the last three years, the Ravens had nineteen Russian touch jowns, twenty one rushing touchdowns, and twenty four rushing touchdowns. They've said emphatically they want to pass more, but they're receiving options like they're all

they're they're all hurt at the moment. If we expect them to be as run heavy, maybe right in the middle of all that we're talking like, twenty one is rushing touchdowns. Lamar historically takes seven of those, usually about a third. So we're left, you know, in that fourteen fifteen range is where the rushing touchdowns should be. Who's gonna take them? Tyson Williams, Royce Freeman, they couldn't get off waivers. Um I think I got him in the

ten to fourteen range. Fifteen plus would mean that they run much much more, and that you know, Lamar tampers down his rushing I don't think that's gonna happen. I'm pretty I'm pretty sold on ten to fourteen here, okay, Matt, with j K Dobbins season ending, how many touchdowns will Gus Edwards have a less than ten? B ten to

fourteen or see fifteen or more touchdowns? And a little bit disappointed that you and I did get to have this battle all year with Dobbins and Gus Edwards just because all Edwards and it just ended, and it's like at their prices, my balloon is all deflated. Technically I won Yeah, do that do that touchdown dance over there? Chart on JK Dobbins getting hurt. I guess. First off, the ten rushing touchdown threshold is really tough to hit.

Last year only eight running backs did it, the year before only seven running backs did it, and the year before that only six running backs did it. It is worth noting that JK. Dobbins did have nine rushing scores last year. Gus had six from from running the ball on one from receiving. In mark Ingram was one of those guys who hit that ten mark with ten, and Alex Collins led the running backs with seven the year before,

but he wasn't very good at all. So this offense has a history of success for the running back, especially with rushing touchdowns. Maybe not overall success all the time with the yardage, but touchdowns they usually do accomplish that feat. And that's one of the reasons I liked Dobbin so much. So I will go tail between my legs and say be ten to fourteen on Gus Edwards. I think he'll. I think I'm a bit surprised that he's gonna do it,

but I think he will. Last year, the Ravens ran the ball twenty six times from inside the five yard line. Only three of those runs were by Lamar Jackson. We touched on this last week. People think Lamar Jackson steals goal line runs. He's not Cam Newton. If the Ravens Runners are going to get the same twenty three carries from inside the five, Gus is going to get almost all of those probably, And if he gets almost all of twenty three carries, we're at ten right there, a

minimum of ten right there for Gus Edwards. So if he's got ten just from inside the five, last year, half of his total touchdown number came from outside the five yard line. So if you take the tenco now, you're gonna get another ten. No, not doubling it. Half his touchdowns, Half his touchdowns came from outside. So if he's got ten from inside, half came from outside. While we're talking about this is how he easily gets to fifteen. If he has ten up close touchdowns we were talking,

fifteen is easy for Gus Edwards, easy to get. But you're calling twenty, calling twenty. But I'll tell you what's the right answer. Is c going, He's going he's getting hit fifteen or more touchdown Where this line with a personally to question number two, Cam Newton vacates twenty two carries inside the five yard line for New England totally out of the picture. Now, how many touchdowns will Daman Harris score this year? Same bit, less than ten, ten

to fourteen or fifteen or more. We begin this time with Matt Harrison. Harry enters his third year in the league. In his rookie season as a third round pick out of Alabama, Harris played in exactly one game, and last year Harris averaged about fourteen rushing attempts per game. Uh, splitting some time with Sony and and a seating all goal line work to Cam. But when it became clear that the Pats were out of the playoff picture, Harris was put on the shelf in wrapping paper and they said,

now you don't need to play anymore. We got you. We're gonna take the mileage off of you. Uh. Ramandre Stevenson is a consideration near the stripe, as he's been good in that role in the preseason. But when the game's count, I think Stevenson is inactive more often than not. As a rookie runner in that offense, I think Harris goes for ten to fourteen touchdowns as well. All right,

Scott with Cam Newton gone. And remember, by the way, at this time last week, before Cam Newton a big cut, we were worried that they would bring Cam in off the bed, you know, we were like, mac Jones is way better path, He's gonna win, but we'll bring in Cam off the bench and end up putting Cam in in situationally in at the goal line. We don't have to worry about that anymore, which is fantastic. So how

many touchdowns will Damian Harris score this year? Less than ten, ten to fourteen or fifteen or more so, only twice in the last twenty years have Pats had two similar big backs. And we're gonna talk about you know, Romandre Stephenson and Damien Harris here, uh, you know, doing this kind of work. And both times both running backs scored six plus touchdowns Dylan and Moroney and Ridley and brlunt Um,

which generally bodes well. But also if you look at that twenty year history of Belichick, he does not let rookies jump into the goal line role. He just doesn't. The law firm Ben Jarvis green Ellis had a great preseason with rushing touchdowns, did not get it in the regular season. His rookie year, same with Jonas Gray and other big backs that they've had. Um Stevenson also fumbled one on the goal line that got called back. That that means he's he's going to absolutely sit all year. No, no, no,

the senses Belichick isn't super likely to trust Stevenson. There might even trust James Whitemore there. Uh maybe, Hey, he scored three rushing touchdowns in the Super Bowl. Come on, but I'm going to go with the tender fourteen just because I think Stevenson will get some but not as much as some people might want to think. All right, let's start with the math and begin Actually, I want to start by attacking the naysayers who say they will never draft a Bill Bell. Did you want one of

us to be the naysayers? Get you, guys, nobody's name. We're not naying we're not horses. Where's our horse noise? Where's our horses? I have no naysayers in this group. The Garrett Blunt were three seasons removed from the Garrett Blunt leading the NFL in touchdowns eighteen, almost all of

them up close. Dion Lewis the second. Over the past five years, no team has more carries inside the five yard line than Bill Belichick's Patriots, and that was with Tom Brady on roster, and they still ran the ball at the stripe more than any other team. Over the past five years, no team has scored more rushing touchdowns from inside the five yard line than the Patriots. Do you really not want any part of that just because

it's Belichick? You do so again? Over the last five years, Patriots averaging averaging thirty two carries from inside the five. That's a staggering number and again the most in the NFL. Damien Harris for the reason Scott and you both actually outlined, Damian Harris is going to get most of that work. Can I agree that Ramandri Stevenson as a rookie is not likely to get Belichick's trust Here? If you're about to say fifteen plus for Damian Harrison, can I parlay that? So? Okay? Well,

you tell me thirty two carries. Let's as sue him. If that's the average for the Patriots from inside the five, you guys know that your your level of expectation is around fifty conversion of the thirty two carries into touchdowns. Give me the range from just the inside. The five touchdowns for Damien Harrison, Oh, he'll obviously score at least

sixteen at least. I think we already gave you our So let's say he's not as efficient as we'd like, and he's only at about one third efficiency here, and it's only ten touchdowns on these touch on these goal line runs for Damien Harris, he's gonna score some from distance, right, I mean, if he's got ten touchdowns up close, and he's gonna get five over seventeen games, right, So that brings you to fifteen touchdowns he catches maybe one, maybe

one six the correct answer for Damian Harris. Also over by the way, Gus Edwards and Dame mean Harris still being drafted in the fourth round. Fantasy owners are slow to react to this news. Neither one of them catches very well, and I think PPR leagues have suppressed their value a little bit tough. Question Number three, Jamar Chase dropped four of his five targets during his preseason games. What is the appropriate level of concern for the Bengals

rookie receiver? Is it none, some, or a bowl loosening level of existential dread? Scott, I'm gonna with some here, mostly because of his sixty two overall ADP, which is just it's really high for a guy that's looking more and more like he's going to be the third receiver on his team, and uh, he's actually going ahead of the other ones. Uh. Tee Higgins been going around later. He hasn't played football in twenty months. I mentioned this last week. He just hasn't played football in twenty months.

He needs needs to kick some rust off. But the worst thing is Tee Higgins. Uh played a full year last year with you know, ten games with Joe Burrow. He played Joe Barrow, played with you know, Oddent Tate, he played with Tyler Boyd. He's comfortable with them from that year. He's a year removed from playing with Chase. And if Chase comes in in week one and makes those drops, how long before Burrow stops trusting that trusts

what he had last year? So some some I think he saw I think he's talented enough that he's gonna turn it around eventually. But it's some for now, alright, Matt Jamaar. Chase has dropped forward his five targets during his preseason games. The appropriate level of concern is none, some or a bowl loosening level of existential dread, as the band Cake once said, bowl shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse. That's what you'll get if you draft Jamar

Chase this year. Um I mentioned on an earlier show this preseason that the Bengals offensive line is absolutely terrible. Joe Burrow is gonna need to get rid of the ball quickly if he hopes to avoid another knee injury. They already got the two good wide receivers that Scott mentioned, and I'm nervous that the Bengals won't be able to run three wide receiver sets because they're going to need to keep tight ends or maybe a fullback into block

for Joe Burrow. If the third wide receiver is not on the field and Chase continues to have the drops these, he's going to be the odd man out here. So you're going with levels of existential dread. I'm like, I

like that we said that together. It was very special considering where he's been taken and being taken and his average draft position is wide receiver thirty two, which puts him you know, there are thirty two teams in the NFL, so people are drafting him like he's one of the one of the eight team's best starting receiver considering where he's being taken both Dynasty and Empire leagues and re draft. You should have B L L E. D. Joe Burrows in Covecient training camp is a worry. You've got the

bad offensive line. And I thought your point Matt on the him on them needing to bring in tight ends to block. I think it's extremely valid. Um the missed year last season, which which Scott outlined, totally valid as well. And then you guys both in on Tee Higgins and Tyler Board are really good and established. Those guys aren't going anywhere. The guy who is Jamaar Chase, that is a concern. All right, let's go. I've got a bonus question for you. Do I happen once upon a time

I had I had a had a tough question. I had a tough question number four on my tough question number Thank you very much. Which wide receiver should be? Wide receiver one? Davante Adams or Tyree Hill Give me fifteen seconds, uh, Davante Adams for me. I think Rogers is just gonna go all revenge mode this year and just want to prove light the light everything up on fire. Matt, Yeah,

I agree, Adams. He's a goal line wide receiver. He's he's there inside the five, guy Tyree Hill, because when Patrick Mahomes takes those extra two steps and he unleashes a laser fifty yards down field and it's at its apex, you are jumping out of your sofa because you know the most exciting player in the NFL is getting under that ball. There's no wrong answer here, but you get my tyree. You can just get tingly when you watch the Chiefs play. Who doesn't As a matter of fact.

Fantasy Football Weekly, Our number two continues in moments our number two Fantasy Football Weekly. I am Paul charging from guillotine at leagues dot com. Scott Fish and Matt Harrison Shocked Fantasy with you as well, gentlemen. One of the conundrums that every fantasy owner has what to do when you like a player at a position and there's another good player, same position, same team. We play this game

every preseason. I'm gonna give you two players, well usually too in some cases three at the same position on the same team, and tell me given the average draft position, the round you'd have to take him in, who would you rather have? We begin with Seattle, would you rather have Dk met calfine round two or Tyler Lockett in round five? Scott, I will go to you first, apparently very anxious to cover this. I don't need to go on on this. It's just DK metcalf He he puts

up numbers nearly every week. He had a few dogs last year, But Tyler Lockett is a guy that you're getting three to four weeks. We've detailed this. He only had four games over seven yards last year. He had eight of his ten touchdounks coming three weeks. He had fifty percent of the stats the week. And that's not just last year, it's it's it's a couple of years round and the year before nearly fifty percent of his

stats came in in four games. He's had twenty eight touchdowns in the last three years that have boosted him up and made fantasy owners think that he's amazing. What if that regresses, You've got nothing? That was a very succinct response, Matt, do you have anything you want to add to that? Um? Yeah, Normally it is like the guy who's later in this one. But I have a few that are are the guy ahead in the draft.

I have dk Metcalf as well. Um. I put our locket on my list of players that I wouldn't draft last week, so I can't like say I'm gonna take him now, of course not. I had to stick up for what I said before. We're all it's three. It's three to zero. We all agree we'd rather have dk Metcalf in the second round. Next set of teammates. Would you rather have Detroit running back DeAndre Swift in round three or Jamal Williams in round eight? This time we start with Matt. Does anybody want to take me up

on that burrito bet the Williams outscores DeAndre Swift? Yes, Oh, I think I think. I think Williams is going to outscore d Swift. Take I not for that, but I'll come up with because Scott doesn't like burritos. That's insane. Anyway, let's hear your justification. Well, I think I think that he's more healthy. He's He's a guy who can be a pass catcher and a runner. Um And I'm just

worried about Swift's durability. Round three is way too early for me to draft DeAndre Swift with a guy I have a lot of red flags on, and Jamal Williams is in round eight. That's that's where you start throwing darts like that, Okay, Scott, Yeah, I knew you'd take Jamal Williams, especially after you took him as your sleeper last week. So I I immediately decided to go with the other right, just not not because I totally disagree. I actually like that as as a nice sleeper pick.

I'm taking Swift because he's still an early second round pick that in limited touches last year still scored ten touchdowns. Only had a hundred and sixty touches and he scored ten touchdowns. Um, it's it's gonna be an okay offense. They're gonna be behind a lot, and he's the past catching back. Dan Campbell has compared him to the Kamara role,

Anthony Lynn has compared him to the Ela role. Uh so, if he takes on any of that, and there's a very long history of running backs to get a hundred fifty plus rush attempts and fifty catches, which he's very capable of of landing as a top twelve running back. I'm gonna I'm gonna take that. I will say there's a concern that you know, they've also made statements about going hot hand. But I'll take Swift. I'll take Swift in that upside. I will take Jamal Williams in this one.

But I worry. I do think Swift is going to be the better back. And I'm taking your bet Williams is gonna outscore. Yes, Swift, But but you don't Swift awfully good place tag. I very much agree with the price tag. All right, but you still picked Swift yep. Okay. Next is Minnesota wide receivers Justin Jefferson Round two or Adam Feeling Round five. This one we start with Scott.

I'm gonna stick with Jefferson. I think he's got every possibility, especially with Earth going out and with the other past catching options there, of just becoming a true number one alpha. If he ends the season as the number one wide receiver in fantasy, I would not be shocked, and I I love having a guy like that on my team. I don't I think the Theeling regression is not going to happen like people think. Maybe the touchdowns aren't fourteen again,

but he's had seven, six, nine, etcetera. In recent years. I think he gets a decent amount of touchdowns and he's gonna get a lot of targets. I just rather have that potential wide receiver one on my team, all right, Matt, Justin Jefferson round two or Adam Celan round five. In Bestball, I ended up with twenty five percent of Adam Thelan and ten percent of Justin Jefferson. So I'm gonna put my money where my mouth is. Delan is my answer. Yes, he's older. Yes, there's a little bit of injury stuff

that's happening with him right now. But when he's on the field, he's as consistent as they get in the league. Kirk loves him, especially in the red zone, and the Vikings have no one else to throw to. Also a baby narrative, his first baby, second baby had a fourteen touchdown season. He's got another one coming this I didn't know that he's expecting. That's very important. Um. I think you guys had and all the keys the salient stuff here. Why feeling remains and I like Jeffrey. I don't have

any problem with Jeffer, but theland round five is stealing. Yes, as you mentioned the end the goal line propensities. He scored seven touchdowns on eight targets from inside the five last year. That is remarkable for Adam Feeling. Next in Cleveland, Nick Chubb in round one or Kareem Hunt in round five. Matt one of these running backs has RB one overall upside, the other one has maybe RB twelve overall upside. So I'm gonna go with Chub on this one because he's

one of the best running backs in football. Pro Football folk US has great at him as such the last couple of years, and I think that there's a possibility that we could see the workload steer much towards his direction if he's completely healthy this season, and we might see Chubb kind of kind of teetering on the two thirds to one third share over Kareem Hunt. Okay, Scott, you kind of said almost exactly what I was gonna say. Um, Chubb had over a hundred yards and or scored in

all but one complete game he played last year. I really want that on my fantasy team. I understand that when he plays in games with Hunt. In his games with Hunt, he averages one point three five receptions, which is not good. But one of the things that constantly gets talked about is Hunt could be a RB one if Chubb. If Chubb, Hunt could be an RB one if Chubb goes out, well, if Hunt goes out, Chubb is just kind of Actually, I don't think they would

even that. I don't think they would give him twenty two carries. I think you'd see a lot of dearness Johnson for a while, he was gene over twenty touches. Though, so even with Hunt on the team. Worth noting that Scott has taken the early guy in each one of these battles so far. After yes, complete lies, I tease the listeners, I also would take Nick Chubb in round one. Next up Scott, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin or Antonio Brown. Evans is going in the fourth, Godwin the fifth, and

Antonio Brown the seventh. Yeah, the string the streek ends here, the streeke ends here. Uh, this one's actually pretty easy for me. It's Antonio Brown for me. He led in target share attend this season. In fact, he led the led the team and targets four of the last six games. Once he got acclimated and was on that team another full offseason to work with Brady and get that down um.

Evans numbers declined quite a bit last year and he barely crossed that thousand yard threshold that he crosses every single year. I do think Godwin is a great fit for Brady. I actually really love Godwin with Brady, but that three to four, three or so round difference is enough for me to say I'll take Antonio Brown is my wide receiver three on most of my teams, all right? Which was the Bucks wide receivers? Matt would you take? Is it Mike Evans in round four, Chris Godwin around five,

or Antonio Brown and round seven? H Scott stole my thunder on Mike Evans. I think that his downside is definitely there. I took Chris Godwin though, because we're one year removed from Godwin being the number two overall wide receiver in fantasy. He's in a contract year again on the franchise tag. He did miss some time last year

with injury. He was danked up and playing hurt a lot, and plus Antonio Brown is a psycho and we'll get kicked out of some games at some point this year, and I don't want to have to deal with that at all. On my team, I have Chris Godwin as well. Alright, couple more teammates that were going through. Which would you rather choose Matt If among the new England running backs? Would you rather have Damian Harrison round five, Romandre Stevenson

around eleven, or James White in round twelve? I have hair. I remember drafts back in June where I was getting Harrison like the eighth or ninth round, and that was so much fun. With Cam out of the way. We we talked about it. Harris has a shot to just be a true bell cow runners. I understand he fifteen touchdown upside. I don't know it could be twenty. Scott, do you feel any differently? Yeah, it's not close. We

have a rookie and tiny pass catchers behind him. All right, let's go to San Francisco Deonte Johnson in round four. I'm sorry, it's not San Francisco. This is Pittsburgh. Deonte Johnson in round four or Chase clay Pool in round five, teammates ranked very near each other. Scott, I hate you making me do this because you guys know how much I love Chase claypoo I know you do. I think I'm gonna go with Deonta Johnson because there's a lot of great players still in that fifth round. Um we

just talked about one, Chris Godwin. But Deonte Johnson going in the fourth. He's just an insane target hog. He doesn't get a tony yards with it, but maybe that comes along. If you watch drives with Ben Bent, Ben looks at him the entire time, the entire drive down the field. Um so if Ben throws short a lot nowadays, So that's where Deontay lives. All right? Do you feel any differently, Matt, I do. I have Chase Claypool. Both these guys are super talented, but Claypool a little bit

more versatile. He ran in two scores last year to go along with his nine rushing receiving touchdowns. Plus there's some drop issues for Deonta in the past. So I'm going to take the guy around later and take Chase Claypool. Here. I Chase Claypool. If he gets a lot better in year two, which many receivers do, right, you can make could be he could he could make a dk metcalf jump. This he is potentially sitting on a very very good season.

But I'm picking Deonta Johnson because I like receivers would get the ball in their hands a lot, and Chase Claypool when he does not score, scores a lot and he does not score doesn't help you as much. And at the end of the day, I want receivers who've got the ball in their hands. At the end of the day, you want receivers to score touchdowns. Six of those ten came in two games, like so, that's that's

that's a great point. That's a great point. All right, Matt, Which of the Las Vegas running backs would you prefer to have? Josh Jacobs or Kenyan Drake? Uh? It's uh Josh Jacobs for me in round three over Drake in round nine. I've never been a believer in Drake. He's just a guy. He's just been a guy, and he's had a lot of rushing rushing touchdowns near the stripe for for Arizona in the past. So I just think Drake's just a guy. I'll go Josh Jacobs. Okay, I

don't want either, but yeah, I don't really either. If I have to choose, I'm choosing Drake only because I like so many more things in that third round. It's not even a Jacob's or Drake think, it's just what's available in the third. Also, I'm seeing Jacobs start to fall into the fourth a little bit too. People are a little depressed on him. Well do you think they're depressed on Josh? Now wait till the season starts, and that's Kenyan Drake. I'm taking him because he's a round nine.

That's that's that's the beauty of it. I don't want anything to do with Josh Jacobs, and you don't really want anything to do with Kenyan Drake, but under your head situations. But that's six the exact page worthy, exact page alright, final one Denver's wide receivers Jerry Judy in round six or Courtland Sutton and round eight Scott Man.

So I was really optimistic, and what we saw from Sutton most recently, uh and because the reports and videos earlier was hesitancy and maybe like his knee, like he was still feeling injured. But now it looks like that confidence has returned. But honestly, I feel like Judy just fits Teddy's game a little bit better. I know that they both can thrive, but I'll I guess I'll take Judy. I think the breakouts coming this year. Okay, it's tough. I'll take Courtland Sutton. He was a Round five pick

in last year's ADP, and I'm buying the dip. He's back, he's healthy again, and Jerry Judy was healthy all of last season and it was really just disappointing for the entire year. So I'll buy the dip on Courtland Sutton. Take the late guy and hope for the upside there. Yeah, I just don't want the I don't want the coming off the A c L. That's to me the difference here and Judy was not. I don't think you can characterize him as bad last year. No, it's a little disappointing.

I think he did what most good what most good rookie receivers do in their first year, just not what Justin Jefferson did in his first year. And I think the year two bounces coming for Jerry Judy will take him in round number six. I believe they're soft Jays though, Yerry Uti Yerry Uty Let's come back with I might be wrong. I might just be wrong. These are positions we've taken over the course of these preseason shows, they were laying awake night going, Um, you know, maybe I

wasn't quite right about that. We'll tell you what's keeping us awake nights with our some of our hottest takes from the preseason when we return to Fantasy Football Weekly. Fantasy Football Weekly continues Scott Fish, Matt Harrison, I am Paul Charchi, and Guillotine Leagues dot com. We have two new ways to play Guillotine Leagues. Number one Super Chop twelve teams in twelve leagues, all vying to get ultimately one champion. Hundred forty four teams all vying for each other.

This is our high stakes way to play Guillotine Leagues, including a grand prize of over three thou dollars. If you would like to participate or learn more, go to Guillotine Leagues dot com. We also have Guillotine's our smallest guillotine leagues. They are so cute, just nine teams, so that means it wraps up at the end of week number eight and then you turn around draft again, take all the same people if you want to draft again.

Quillotini is also available dot com. Easier to win right if you only have eight other people you're playing against, not eighteen. That's that makes a little bit easier. This is a segment called I might just be wrong, but I know what I told you to do. But when I told you to do that, I was rousing, Ralph, I was, I was not exactly right. What do you mean not right? I mean not right. I don't get you. You mean you were wrong? Yeah, that's right. I was what you just said. I was just then. Yeah, I

might just be wrong. Yeah, Scott, tell me what's keeping you up? Your yourself aware enough to know that sometimes? And we've was that the fantasy by the way, Well, yeah that was fantasy. That was the where's the other fans? We have another fantasy Fonzi in here. I think it's just Brian going, you're probably right about that. Um, you know we're wrong plenty on this show, and we're going

to get things wrong. We always do. Scott, give me one thing that's keeping you up right now, laying awake at night, you're thinking to yourself, Oh man, I'm giving all this advice. I hope this thing isn't wrong. Well, Church, I'm worried I'm wrong about Antonio Gibson, My view is last year they focused on teaching him the running back position, and that's why mckissic got so much receiving work. Yes, and converted wide receiver, and we knew, we all knew less.

You're going into the season that Antonio Gibson coming in as a wide receiver had great, great pass catcher, great in space. That's that's something he excels at. And then he didn't do it all year. I mean, you had thirty six receptions, but the clear exactly target. I feel like he needed to learn the running back position. And now that he's had a year, he's got Ron Rivera, who had Christian McCaffrey. Now he's going to be their

version of Christian McCaffrey. They're going to add that element to his game to him and he's gonna get that ten plus touch on he had ten touch on his less year. He's gonna get more than that. But what if I'm wrong, What if mckissic is just too good of a pass catcher and they're like that this word year. Yeah, Yeah, that's that's what worries me, is that he does not become the pass catcher the fifties, sixties, the sixty plus reception pass catcher. I think he should be in that offense.

We are drafting Antonio Gibson in the at the end of the first round. That's under an assumption to for him to reach that level and return on that, he has to catch more passes and if he doesn't, you're gonna end up with less value than where you got him at running back four. On my latest cheat let's go, I picked fourth in the draft. The other day, I took Ekeler and I debated Ekeler, Gibson and Naji because that's where I have them in my rankings. Wow. I

like it. Contrarian rankings here. That's part of the reason I like this show is that most are as a group, our host, we're not beholding to the group think of fantasy industry experts, which is fantastic. Matt, what is something that's keeping you awake at night worried that we might not be right? Um? That Lamar Jackson is a top five quarterback. I mean he has been his entire career, but I'm a little worried that he's never yet thrown for thirty yards in a season, which is not a

high number. Not not a high number at all uh. Pro Football Focus ranked him seventeen amongst quarterbacks in passing grade last year, behind such notable awesome fantasy quarterbacks Baker Mayfield, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, Philip Rivers, and just like a fraction of a grade above Daniel Jones. Yikes uh. He Jackson has all three of the all time top seasons ever for quarterback rushing attempts. If he's a running back that just hasn't gotten hurt yet, that's a problem. And

will he be asked to run more this season? Due to the loss of j K Dobbins, the offensive line took a step down, and he still doesn't have any wide receivers. Coaching staff has been saying for two years that they wanted to pass more downfield, and can he actually do that. I'm nervous that it all goes wrong for Lamar Jackson this year, if not very soon. I'm laying awake nights wondering what if Ben Roethlisberger has one great final season left in him. Because I've I've I'm

out on Roethlisberger. I'm mostly out on that passing offense because I don't like what I saw last year from his arm and the way they used him. They fired their offensive coordinator, Randy Fitchner, and now they've you know, now that you know and and he was bad. Maybe this new offense he's comes in trim. Maybe Ben has got one great season left in him, and I shouldn't have him ranked his quarterback twenty one, and I shouldn't have his receivers where I've got them. What if he's

got one great season left in him? The path is kind of there too, like you can see it, like if even if his arm is shot. Deonte is a close to the close to the line of scrimmage guy. Juju Is Friarmouth and Chase Claypool are big, you know, can go up and grab touchdown guys like drawn people away. I know that the offensive line is bad and it's gonna be bad, but maybe it won't matter. I think everybody's got him ring everybody does. Yeah, that's where I'm

seeing him. We would be wrong. My My attitude is I'd rather get out a year two early on a aged veteran. But maybe this isn't the year. All right, Do you got another one that's leave that's that's keeping you awake? Scott, Yeah, like Totio Gibson is the one that I I lay awake at night, but I get to sleep and then I wake up in a cold sweat when I think, am I wrong on Lescault? I am drafting him way higher than everybody little body, And it scares me that I believe he is going to

take the urban Meyer Percy Harvin Roll from Florida. I believe that that urban Meyer wanted ten in that role. And now that E. T. N is gone, that's Levisca. He's gonna use him in space. He's gonna use him a bunch. He had a six yard season last year. This year I think he, you know, bumps that up a ton. But what if what if he's Cordell Patterson? What what if he's Cordell Patterson for the Vikings just they make they make some plays work, but he never

gets great enough volume to be truly awesome. What if they have too many other options and can only score from sixty yards out that that's where the cold sweat comes. Maybe he's that guy instead of the guy I want him to be. All right, Matt, do you have another thing that's keeping you awake nights that you might just be I was ok, I was not exactly right. Um. Yeah.

After my melotonin wears off and I wake up at about four in the morning, I think about how se Kwon Barkley actually might not be a fantasy trap and he actually might be the RP one this year. The injuries are concerned, as is the offensive line, as is the quarterback, as is the coordinator. But let's attack them one by one. Injuries, Let's just say s Kwan is almost fully healthy, and they've been kind of saving him for when games count. They're being cautious and not playing

him when games don't matter. Uh. The offensive line. The line was terrible in ten and he had over two thousand total yards and fifteen touchdowns. In the quarterback. The quarterback in was Eli Manning, who at that point in his career was not significantly better than what Daniel Jones is right now. And the coordinator Jason Garrett, who, let's face it, Coach Garrett is Uh, he's not the greatest

coach in the world. But he did one thing well in Dallas, and that was hand the ball off to his bell cow runner and Zeke and get the ball in Zeke's hands over and over again. He didn't have any other ideas. It was give the ball to seek as many times as possible, and the same could happen with se Kwon. So he's going by me. I'm passing on him every time he goes by me in the second round, and he just might be a first round league winner this year. The thing that's leaving me sleepless

at night. If Jalen Hurts evolves as a kid to a great passer, I've got him ranked really really wrong right now. I've got him a quarterback twelve. The rushing upside, that's probably an appropriate ranking, but I don't. I don't trust the passing that I saw last year. Yet he notched two to yard games in his four starts. Yeah,

he's got that Kyler Murray upside. He does have Kyler Murray upside, and that if if he can involve as a passer and he and that means I don't have to sweat Gardner Minshew Joe Flacco taking his job, then I'm really wrong on Jalen Hurts. And he's got freaky upside.

So when Lamar came out, not not came out like I think it was the second year, I tweeted about a stat that I think it was a quarterback who rushes for over five hundred, six hundred yards has never finished below QB seven, and that's very that's almost es that where he's being drafted, which is around by the way, quarterback twelve, where I've got him ranked. Just typically where he's being drafted, you're almost counting out him getting benched

at some point. That ve that's basically what we're but we're basically drafting him at his floor. For Jalen Hurts, that's keeping me awake for sure. When we come back, final segment of Fantasy Football Weekly, we will break down the Thursday night game. We've got live, real games coming on Thursday, and unveil our final sleepers of the year. Please stay tuned. Final segment of Fantasy Football Weekly. We've got real games happening in less than a week. Thursday Night,

Dallas Tampa. Kind of odd that, you know, normally the Thursday nighter is a rematch from the playoffs, or at least two teams in the playoffs, But apparently the NFL has decided America's team is a big enough draw that they would put Dallas into this prestigious spot at the opening. In the opening game. Weirdly, Tampa gets the second place schedule from their division, so they don't have any of the you know, top flight teams, so that's why their

schedules a little bit easter. A couple of the they screwed a couple of them. Anyway, America's team. Pah, that's what I say to that. Let's go through the outlook for players from the Cowboys and the Buccaneers. Speginning on the Cowboys side, Dak Prescott gets a B grade. I think there's a bunch of factors working against Doc in this game. He's gonna have to chisel off a thick layer of rust after missing most of last year. In the preseason, is Frankenstein foot adds questions to his mobility.

I don't expect a lot of running here. And remember the last time we saw the Buccaneers pass rush, they were turning Patrick Mahomes into a slurry. We're gonna watch the status of right tackle l Collins, who may miss this game as well. And but in a moment, the upside is you're gonna hear that I like his receiver's individual matchups a lot, so there's still some upside for

Doc in this game. Ceedee Lamb gets an a. Lamb ran predominantly from the slot last year, and if he does that, he's got a terrific matchup against Sean Murphy Bunting, a coverage liability for the Bucks, who allowed a passer rating of one in his coverage last year. There we go. Lambs looked fantastic in camp. Murphy Bunting allowed the sixth most yards in his coverage last year, which, by the way, for a slot corner to give up the sixth most

yards is a lot. I also like that there's a baseball player named Sean Murphy and when he's bunting, he's Sean Murphy bunting. That's a great point A grade for Ceedee Lamb, a grade for a Marii Cooper Situationally, the Bucks will have cornerback Carlton Davis shadow opposing number one receivers. He did that in half of his games last year. As a big bodied corner, Davis should see a lot

of Cooper. And Davis isn't great. He ranked his Profo Ball Focus is forty six ranked cornerback, and he is prone to meltdown games he had several last year, and Carlton Davis allowed the eighth most yards of all cornerbacks last year. It bridge so Amari Cooper a grade. Then there's Michael Gallop with a sea he pulls up. He gets the short straw here with with if things hold with coverage from the Buck's best cornerback the most often, Jamal Dean. Dean hasn't allowed to touch down in seven

straight games. Obviously, going through back last year and the playoff run. This preseason, Gallup worked more out of the slot than he ever has before, which is kind of interesting and maybe that opens up the prospect for some easier matchups for him. It's not clear that Dean's gonna be on Gallop all the time and not Cooper. Here, it's I'm still giving a starting grade on Gallop. Church. What do you think about Gallops like prospects throughout the year.

We haven't really talked about him much in the preseason gotten man for most of them, really, and like, if if Cooper and Lambs stay healthy, is Gallop a guy that can be startable most of this year? I think you've got to find your spots starts there because there's not enough balls to go around, and Lamb and Cooper are gonna eat so many targets. But I think for this particular matchup, C grade Blake Jarwin's going largely undrafted, and we're gonna watch him and see what kind of

condition he's in after last season's knee injury. He is on the bench um as for Zeke. C grade on Ezekiel Elliott in the toughest matchup of his entire year coming right here. In the season opener. The Bucks returned all eleven defensive starters to a defense that ranked number one in rushing yards allowed, number one in yards per carry, number one in fantasy points allowed, and number two in

rushing touchdowns allowed. Allow me to tell you the notable runners who failed to top thirty nine rushing yards last year against the Bucks. I feel like I remember this from last probably Clyde Edwards, a Lair failed twice, Cam Acres failed, Mike Davis, Aaron Jones failed twice, Alvin Kamara failed, David Montgomery failed, Melvin Gordon failed, Antonio Gibson failed, and almost none of them scored in addition to failing to

hit thirty nine rush yards against the Bucks. If I had stones, I would put a bench grade on Zeke, but I'm putting a C grade on him. And here's why he can chip in through the air. And this is where Tampa was susceptible. Zeke is an elite receiver and the Bucks allowed the most running back receptions and the seventh most running back receiving yards. So I think Zeke's gonna bail you out that way, maybe hopefully chips in a score through the air. Let's go to the

Tampa side. Tom Brady, Mike Evans, and Chris Godwin all a grades. For Brady, positive matchups all over the field. We'll talk about his individual whiteouts in a second here. Evans, Brown, Godwin all have strongly positive matchups over their cornerback counterparts Trayvon Diggs, Anthony Brown, and especially Jordan Lewis in the slot.

We'll talk more about those guys momentarily here. For Godwin rarely healthy last year, but he gets the He gets the slot receiver role here with a drool inducing matchup because Jordan Lewis a lot of passer rating of ninety eight last year and finishes as Pro Football focuses one hundred seventh ranked cornerback. There aren't even seven corner so we like Godwin a lot Mike Evans is going to see a lot of Trayvon Diggs, who usually gets the

call for the opposing physical receiver, and that's Evans. Diggs will probably be better in year year two, but in year one it wasn't good. Diggs finished the year with a quarterback ranking of nine seven on passes thrown into his coverage, and ProFootball Focus ranked him fifty three at the cornerback position. That's a strongly positive matchup for Mike Evans, who, as I mentioned before, a grade and compounding everything else,

by the way, dallas Is safeties look super wobbly. Malik Hooker, formerly of the Cold, will be playing his first game since blowing out his achilles. Demonte Casey is coming off a COVID year. He's got to knock the rust off of that, and before that he was bad. So the safeties for Dallas are not good either. Antonio Brown should not be forgotten about Scott, No, he should not be great. Brown Is will most frequently match up against cornerback Anthony Brown,

and a Brown versus Brown matchup. They are not related to no one a nt their aunt Brown versus Aunt Brown. Um, somehow Anthony Brown is worse than all the other corners, ranking as cornerback one eleven by Pro Football Focus. The worry for me on Brown is just volume. But as you mentioned Scott, at the end of last year and through the playoffs, the volume was fine. So you could consider Brown in a grade if you want. I gotta be grade on him, And I will note that Brown

scored six times in the Buck's final six games. I mean, you know, in sneaky fashion with maybe Brown is more reliable than the other guys, but I think a lot of it was that Evans and Goden were beaten down through injury throughout the course of last year, and Brown came in fresh after not playing the first half of the season. It should be noted they've stated that Mike Evans, they think Mike Evans is in the like he's worked harder than he has any other offseason. They absolutely love

what he's doing right now. They think he's in prime of the dreaded best shape of his ever. Listened to that, We've learned, we've learned, We've learned. Rob Gronkowski gets a C grade you're you're looking for touchdowns with because the volume is not there to make him usually a PPR helper, but you've got an opportunity for just that in this game. The Cowboys were shockingly good against tight ends last year.

They ranked second in yards allowed, and no tight end top thirty eight yards in a game against them in the entire second half of the year. But again we're looking for touchdowns. They allowed a healthy seven touchdowns to tight ends, and that's what you hope you can get from Gronk. Gronk will frequently match up against rookie linebacker

Micah Parsons, making his first ever NFL start. Now, he was a first rounder, and Micah Parsons maybe a great player at some point, but game one, you know, maybe not. In game one, we'll give the advantage to Rob Gronkowski. And finally, let's talk the running back. So I'm giving

Leo Fournette and Ronald Jones both see grades here. It is a tantalizing matchup, which I'll talk about in a minute, But this is the league's most inscrutable running back by committee, and there's no reason to think that Bruce arians usage will be any more guessable this year than it has

been in the past. For Net dominated the playoffs. You guys know that, but that doesn't mean anything, and Bruce arians might flip the script just because also they've probably feel you have a super Bowl team, so they might not try to run one too hard, right, They could easily flip flop these guys around. The Dallas run defense was off of last year. They marng thirtieth in rushing yards per carry, thirty feet in rushing yards per game.

Maybe a healthy latent vander Esh will help. Maybe Micah Parsons will help those are you know, new additions for you know, after vendor Esh missed a lot of last year, there's only a few years removed from being one of the best in the league, right, So you know, maybe those things will help this run defense. But until we know that's the fact, this feels like an opportunity. But you've got a lot of danger here, and you guys all know it. For Nette and Jones c Grade, you

just know that you're flirting with danger, do you. Bernard may not play. He's got a high ankle sprain, and I don't think he's gonna go in this game. And never I don't start anybody who's playing through a high ankle spring Yeah, I'm super right now, and you know exactly Um, you barely made it to the studio barely, that's right, you were. You came in questionable but got it out all right. So there's your breakdown of the Thursday night game. Okay, let's release our final set of

sleepers for this year. Matt, who you got? I got Juan Johnson and it's a guy maybe you haven't heard of before. Um, but fantasy football is all about opportunity, and there are lots of opportunities that catch passes for the New Orleans Saints right now, or should I say that Jacksonville Saints or whatever they are. Michael Thomas is out for a month or more. Tray Kawon Smith is not good. Mark has Callaway has come on as of late. But Adam Troutman was supposed to be the target darling

in this offense. He was carted off with an ankle injury a week ago. Nick Vannette is the next tight end in line on the depth chart. He's also injured. So insert converted wide receiver, second year tight end Juwan Johnson. We love second year tight ends. We love tight ends that were converted wide receivers or basketball players, and Johnson played wide receiver in College of both Penn State and Oregon. Has been one of Jamis Winston's favorite targets this preseason.

Johnson's best strength maybe his elusiveness after the catch, and he's looking like he maybe the top tight end on their depth chart in week one. But he's probably listed, but he might be listed as a wide receiver in your league. So check it out. You might have to switch the positions if you're in if you're in a league that can do that, but he might be listed

as a wide receiver in your league. Yeah, at katine leagues dot Com, we had we went and we had to switch him to tight end because he's he has That's right, all right? Who is your final sleeper of the preseason, Scott, I am going with Amen Ross st Brown. You've probably heard me talk about him a few times on this show. They they kept Tyrolle Williams and they dropped, they waved. Remember Brett, I was gonna say, that's right, shot, Ferryman. Uh,

Tyrell Williams has already banged up. Aman Ra has the slot down and and they only have two other guys that can play the slot on the team. You have a five ft nine hundred sixty pound calif Raymond, who is not going to beat out their fourth round pick. And then you have Trinity Benson who spent two years on a practice squad and has just come over to the team. That slot role is his. He's gonna get

every bit of the slot work on that team. Um. They did pick up Carder Hodge from Cleveland, but he's also unlikely to you know, jump in the slot and take any any staffs from am Right. My final sleeper is Baker Mayfield. When we look back at last year and you look at his full season totals, they're kind of underwhelming. But and I think Matt you may have brought this up a week or two ago. You did. If you remove these three crazy bad weather games that

they had in the consecutive home games. Um, if you take that out, suddenly Baker was a pretty good fantasy producer. His touchdown interstation interception ratio is great. And this upcoming year will be his second year with the same offensive coordinator and head coach, which he hasn't had head coach,

head coach, and coach of the year last year. UM, if you take out those three games and then pro rate the his season across, he would have had a thirty eight hundred yard thirty two touchdown season, which is exactly Ryan Tannehill from last year. Exactly, Ryan Daniel Tannehill was quarterback eight last year. He's been drafted right now is quarterback eleven, Baker Mayfield going off the board his quarterback eighteen. That is an incorrect delta. There's value of

the owners, there is fantasy. There's a lot of value there. And remember Baker Mayfield has started every game he's played in the postseason. He threw touchdowns in fourteen of his fifteen non weather games, so he didn't go leave you high and dry at any point. And yeah, Kevin Stefanski has got a run heavy approach and that probably caps his total upside. But as a safe second quarterback on

your team, I think Baker Mayfield's ideal. And you don't even have to take him before round thirteen of your draft. How how would you feel about him as your QB one if you just totally slapped to and you grab him and Tray Lance give me an upside guy after me. But you might actually have to take a Lance before Mayfield. You probably do. But there you go around twelve and thirteen, you could probably grab those two and be like, right, I got Mayfield for safety, and then I've got this

other upside quarterback which is a possibility. Let me run you, Let me run you by the final sleeper I thought about but did not use Quaes Watkins. Yeah that now he most people have don't even know who I'm talking especially you know, he might have some big that's what he's all about. He won the slot job for Philadelphia and sent Travis Fulgum to the waiver wire. I mean that's you know, and Folgum was pretty good last year.

They really like that kid. And I think he's you know, I think he's a splash play guy who in spots starts is gonna be startable. You watch when we're doing our when we are doing our take a chance on the segment, and oftentimes we identify a slot wide receiver who's got an easy matchup against the slot corner. Quas Watkins name is gonna come up. He probably will, especially since he lives in the NFC East. That helps as well.

That does help as well. And you know, look at who's battling for for targets with outside you know they've got competent tight ends. But for receivers a rookie and Jay W Reagor a rookie and Jalen Reagor. Right, So you know, Qus Watkins, that was the guy I was thinking about. Atlanta made a sneaky move at the end of the year. Sorry, at the end of last week, picking up Wayne Gallman and dropping Codrey Allison. That was a sneaky move. Now, we've had some different opinions about

Mike Davis. None of us think he's an elite runner. I think most of us think he's just an okay starting running back. Wayne Goldman was good in spots last year for the Giants. Do you think this bodes poorly for Mike Davis. I think it bodes more poorly than it did when Quadrea Allison was his backup, because I think Gallman is is a is a better option. I had no faith in Allison being anything that could take really anything away from Mike Davis. But Wayne Gollman is

a guy who can take legitimate touches. The way I watched Mike Davis last year, he looked good in spots, but as as the game the starts aracked up, like as the starts racked up, less and less and less so, and and I think that's why he's been a backup most of his career. That so, I think that could happen in this where maybe Mike Davis starts out as the guy and he starts to wear and it's more

of a split the further we get along. Yeah, that that move did not get a lot of attention, but it definitely caused a little bit of concern for me. Matt Well, and are we sure that twenty eight year old Mike Davis, which is ancient for a running back, are we sure that he's good? Are we absolutely sure? Because I'm definitely not And not that I'm sure that Wayne Gallman is good or any better, but that there's not enough there for us to go. This can't be

a split backfield here. It's it's not as clear as everybody thinks. It's just Mike Davis, That's what it was. Yeah, I don't think anybody loved Mike Davis. We just loved the situation. We love the opportunity and you get more and more average runners well, and that was one of our traits of a running back bust guys that we thought a situation is great. But maybe he's he's maybe not that good of a runner, and it's yeah, the situation is great, but just work out and Mike Davis,

he's not not built for goal line use. But Wayne Goldman is to just put Kyle Pitts in the background. Just let him do everything it, let him be quarterback. I know there are some people that would love to have Kyle Pitts. Many people think he's not a tight end. Kyle Pits is not a tight it. Maybe it's a quarterback. Let's make it. Do you think he Kyle Pitts can throw and catch the touchbass. That would be very Brad Johnson style. You can pull that off, would be wonderful.

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