Game On! Finally!

and Monday. In addition to breaking down every game fantasy style and applying all of the letter grades that we always do that would be ABC and bench level grades to our players, we will also have take a chance on me. This is where we unveil nine players not normally in your starting lineup that you can go to war with this week, and there are some scenarios where

you've got to go to some deeper players. Yeah. Yeah, We'll play three tough questions and near the end of the show premature speculation where we help you identify the players you can pick up now that other people will be trying to pick up next week, but they're already on your team, and I didn't want. Yes, very excited to have the time machine backed. Yes, you didn't know what a time machine sounded. That you're you're a big fan of time travel charge future charge stock I bought

in two thousand two. But that just changed the entirety of the world. It could be um, yeah, the butterfly effect. Charge. Yes, and I'm the quiet, very quietly, I'm now the richest man in the world. Yes, explains the placial we've podcast from. Yes, the six Butlers. That doesn't it seems weird at the time.

Let's dive into our matchups. But actually, before we do that, I want to pose to you what to do if you started cam Akers or Allen Robinson who combined for eleven yards on Thursday night, and now you find yourself in a big hole coming into this weekend. What's the strategy now to overcome that? Who started cam Akers? I started Darryl Henderson, my sleeper from last week. Great you are. I also thought Ellen Robinson would have an amazing year.

So let's not victory that everything that's pretty that's pretty dang terrible. Uh. I think one thing you do if if you're trying, if you played against them, and you're trying to pretty let's start, let's star the other start. Yeah, let's just just we'll get to that in a second. All right, that you started, Cam Akers or Allen Robinson.

What do you do to overcome it? Yeah, it's it's the pretty stock answer of you know, if you have two guys that are pretty similarly ranked, or you have this similar viewpoint on them, you go with the one with the higher ceiling. At this point, we're going for upside. Think about if you've got a quarterback receiver combo. You put those guys in to see if you can get lightning to strike on that once or twice. And so you're playing for upside. Now the now, let's flip it over.

You're playing against Cam Akers or Allen Robinson. Somebody just burned a roster spot on effectively no fantasy points. What are you gonna do to protect your your early advantage? But I think you pretend it's a guillotine league and you just go for safety. You go for instant touches and try to get as many ten touch guys in

your lineup as possible. Yeah, you immediately pull the guys like George Kittle or Chris Godwin stuff like that, Chris Godwin, especially because he plays Sunday night and you don't want to wait out that injury. Or Russell Gage that same game, you play a safer player with a lot less upside probably, but at least you know they're gonna throw some points at you. I'm excited to hear what you think of Julio Jones in that game when we get to it.

But let's begin with the Eagles taking on the Lion Scott. This was a one sided so lacking last year. What do you think happens here? Yeah, it's probably gonna be close to the same. Eagles are a sneaky favorite for a lot of people to win that uh that NFC Easton and maybe even make a run in the playoffs. That's me, Yeah, that's me too. When I was in Iowa, my son made me place a bet on the Eagles to win their division. I was very proud of him with that. Uh. Jalen Hurts, I have an a grade

on this guy. Okay, yes, I mean I made the belt, I made the bet on the Eagle side. Let's start with Jalen Hurts I having a grade on him. This is a guy who finished top twelve in seventeen of his twenty games last week as a top twelve fantasy quarterback. That is, Hurts had seventy four designed runs last year, which was second only to Lamar Jackson seventy six. He had ten rushing touchdowns. You're getting close to an A

grade most weeks just off of his rushing. All indications are he's more accurate this year, He's been passing better, and he added A J. Brown. Um, he gets a matchup against the team that was bottom ten against quarterbacks last year with the second lowest pressure rates, so they're not even gonna get to him. UM A grade on Hurts his main guy A J. Brown, I still have

an A grade on as well. The lines allowed the most twenty plus yard receptions last year, and the Eagles have three guys who can get deep in A. J. Brown, DeVante Smith, and I suppose you could say god Or can get deep because he has He's had a decent amount of deep receptions. UM. Their bottom ten against the slot where a G A J. Brown tends to tends to play a decent amount make a lot of plays.

The only concern for me on this side is if the Eagles get ahead too early and they run a ton like they did in this same matchup last year. But I think they'll want to unleash their new weapon in Week one, and you know they're going to get some points on their way to that lead. Davante Smith I have C grade on dude, how bad Detroit was last year against the deep ball. All it's really gonna take is one one big playout of Davante Smith and A. J. Brown should draw a lot of coverage from Mamani or

a War or a a Uh. Dallas Goddard I have a B grade for the Lions allowed the second most yards and the fifth most receptions the tight ends last year. It's a great matchup. Something's got to give here, though, if if they get up early in they're running in a ton. I think DeVante Smith is the bench but Dallas Goddard B at the moment. Miles Sanders C grade only really due to health concerns, as he finally just a couple of days ago, I believe on Thursday finally

started putting in full practices. He has dealt with a hamstring injury all all preseason here. Uh. They even added trace sermonists and backup they said they're going to be cautious, but the Lions allowed the fourth most rush yards, the third most rushing tease, even the second most receiving touchdowns to backs. Of course, Miles Sanders did not score last year, but we gotta hope that comes back. There's a lot

to like here. It's mostly the injury concerned in the split that gives me the pause in a great matchup. So he's only getting a C grade. The rest of the running backs are on the bench because I don't trust them until I see what these actual splits are. I got fooled by Gainwell last year. They said pass catching rolling, it never materialized. We will talk more about that exact situation later in this show. Yeah, on the Lions side, I have most I have Jared Goff on

the bench. Let's just start there. I know you likely drafted Goff early as your starter first round, but he only topped two it in seventy yards three times last year and had eight games of zero or one touchdown. He's not a guy you're starting, um d J Charks saam deal bench. I need to see his role first. He's he's basically looking like fourth banana in the passing order behind st. Brown, Hawkinson and Swift. So I need

to see that first. St. Brown, I'm giving a C grade to The Eagles were second best against wide receivers that year. Fourth fust receptions, third fewest yards, fifth fuse touchdowns. Is not a great spot. However, they should fall behind, and Amanra is the type of guy that gets a lot of short volume passwork. I can see the his receptions alone getting him up into that sea range. I could even see like a nine for fifty eight game where he just he just gets a bunch of receptions

and there's your points. Uh. T J. Hockenson a B grade. Last year, the Eagles gave up the most receptions and touchdowns to tight ends. They were a constant take a chance on me. Let's find the tight end playing the Eagles, and this is it this week. Yeah. T J. Hockenson was a little harder to trust last year, but in a perfect matchup like this, he gets a B grade. Uh. DeAndre Swift also a B grade. Despite possibly missing two offensive linemen, swiftest sob versatile out of the backfield. They

catches so many passes while behind. At one point last year mid season, he sevent of his receptions came in the second half wall trailing. They used him a ton once they get behind, and I see that happening here. He's gonna get you to that B grade with the rush yards, receiving yards and the receptions. I don't trust j Will just quite yet, and I need to see a rollout of that. Certainly we'll have to Raiders and Chargers.

Matt played one of the most thrilling games of last regular season in the Epic Week A team winning in overtime game, they immediately get the rematch here Raiders Chargers. Yeah, um well, the Chargers only allowed eleven touchdowns the wide receivers last year. Three of them went to Hunter renfro By. The way he gets a B grade, Davante Adams gets an A. Bryce Callahan was their week link. Hy Man's the slot that's renfro j C. Jackson might not go

in this one. He's looking pretty doubtful, which would leave A Sante Samuel Jr. In likely shadow coverage on Adams. Sante was the nine ranked corner by Pro Football Focus last year, so I like Adams a lot. In his first game with his new team, Darren Waller not on the injury report hurt, so I'll give him a B grade. Waller has scored in three of his past four meetings

with the Chargers. Drew Tranquill usually covers the tight end for the Chargers, and he allowed twenty nine of the thirty three targets in his coverage to be caught last season. And the Chargers allowed thirteen touchdowns to the tight end position last year. That was second most in the league. Derek Carr gets a B grade. A couple of bad

news is and a good news here. Bad news he's been held under two d passing yards in each of his last four meetings with l A good news he's thrown for multiple touchdowns and three of those four and now he's got Davante Adams. But then the bad news. His offensive line looked terrible so far in the preseason, so he's gonna have to get rid of the ball quite quickly in this one. So just a B grade there, even though I like his receivers a little bit more.

Josh Jacobs and Zamir White, I'm gonna keep them both on the bench. Um. I don't trust the fact that this might be a straight up committee approach under Josh McDaniels, Brandon Bolden, and Amir Abdullah could factor in a bunch too. It would not shock me to see each of the raid Is runners held to fewer than ten touches in this game. So I'll take this week off of their

runners and what should be a shootout. Even Josh Jacobs, even Josh Jacob on the other side, Air Bear, he gets an A. Justin Herbert Keenan Allen he gets an A. Mike Williams he gets an A. Josh Palmer he gets a C. He're just handing out a A is all over the Josh Palmer, who apparently you hate. The cornerback group of rock yaw Sin, Anthony Everett, Nate Hobbs and a Meek Robertson who's only five eight are all positive matchups for the Chargers wide outs that must might be

one of the worst secondaries in football. They might try to flex their best corner Hobbs in on Keenan Allen, but that's still a mismatch. So I like everybody in the passing game, including Gerald Everett, who will give a C grade too. It doesn't look like Donald Parham will play this week. I know, and I love Donald Parham. I'm waiting for the big breakout to come. Do we

just get healthy, please, Ladarius Green? When's his breakout? Of so Everet's gonna get all the tight end snaps this week against the Raiders defense that allowed the third most touchdowns to tight ends last year. Uh in a year, in a week where I have George Kittle in a lot of leagues, Gerald Everett's the guy I've been pivoting to a lot for my roster. If Kittle doesn't go, Austin Ekeler he's the last guy I'm gonna mention he

gets an A grade. The Chargers must not have been totally enthusiastic about Isaiah Spiller since they signed Sony Walkman Michelle Layton camp. That leads me to believe it's all Eckler this week. In his two meetings with the Raiders last year, a hundred and forty five total yards and two touchdowns total yards and two touchdowns. He's gonna have a great week. In fact, I'm gonna give Austin Ekeler my fantasy ardvark Um. Yes you are there, he is.

There's the fantasy yard park making his first appearance of the year. Is here. Everybody excited for Fantasy yard Park forty Niners take on the Bears. Weather expected to be a big factor in this game. Be sure to track it is there currently forecasting heavy rain and winds in Chicago. Let's begin on the San Francisco side. Deebo Samuel and obvious a. He put up a hundred seventy one yards in last year's meeting against Chicago. Elijah Mitchell also in

a grade in this game. Last year, the Bears had a league high opposing run rate and Pro Football Focus is thirty first ranked defensive line. It's uh, and honestly, the the the off season changes might make that even a worse a wors group now. Mitchell tally day season best one hundred thirty seven yards in last year's meeting, including almost eight yards per carry, which I believe is pretty good. Mitchell does not chip in with a lot of catches, but you will not need them. A grade

for Elijah Mitchell. A lot of people drafted tray Lance on the hope and promise of big things and it should start nicely here. Uh, this is a very soft landing spot. Chicago allowed the second most passing touchdowns and the second most rushing quarterback rushing touchdowns last year. Combined that together with tray Lands and it's a high deal opera tunity. The Bears added two second round picks to their awful secondary, but they're gonna get completely overwhelmed by

the forty nine years talented receivers. Hey get this. Jimmy Garoppolo Randy in two touchdowns against the Bears last year. If Garoppolo can do it, I like Trey Lance's chances of doing the same. If he doesn't, there should be a quarterback controversy. I'm just kidding, Brandon a Um. I think star quarnerback Jalen Johnson's gonna attract Deebo Samuel pretty closely. That puts ay on a lot of second round rookie Kyler Gordon making his first ever NFL start. Are you

coming off a great training camp? By all reports, He's got the deep speed to get under Trey Lances long passes, something we never got from Jimmy Garoppolo. B grade. I'm Brandon George Kittle nursing a groin injury. Doesn't look like he's gonna go here, But even if he plays, that groin injury could limit his running and his downfield abilities here, You're probably gonna have to watch this one from the side line unless we get late word that Kittles in

good shape. It's covered to Chicago, where we've only got a couple of starters. Here, we're gonna start with Justin Fields, who is on the bench. It's Nick Bosa against fifth round rookie left tackle Braxton Jones in a massive mismatch. That's gonna have Justin Fields running for his life throughout this camp. This game, this is your best chance of fantasy success. Really is just scrambling for Justin Fields. We can't count on that. Um. If his legs don't provide

fantasy points, you might be stuck. Because the pocket time for Fields is going to be a massive issue in this game. It could be negative negative passing time. He could be sacked before the ball gets to him. I like the sound of that, Nick Bose, Nick Boson could do that in this game. I've got just a C

grade on Darnell Mooney. A lot of optimism around the league for Mooney, but I see Fields getting terrorized, and then I see a lot of double coverage for Mooney coming, including solid cornerback and manual Mosley Mooney put up a modest six catches six four yards and did not score in the meeting last year. And the only other receiving option to note is Cole Commet put up in totally nondescript game against the Niners last year, but I'll note

that they now departed. Jesse James got a short touchdown in that game, so at least a tight end did score as he left the team. I don't think he's departed, He's just not dearly departed. Jesse James. Uh Niners were an elite tight end defense last year. After Week one, they only gave up two Only two tight ends topped the meager milestone of twenty seven yards all year, and they only gave up four touchdowns all year to the position C grade on Cole Commet and lastly, David Montgomery

also a C grade here. San Francisco boast last year a run defense last year that ranked top six according to Pro Football Focus. They gave up the seventh fewest rushing yards to running backs last year, and by ESPNS team run stop win rate, the forty Niners of the third best defensive line and then return all seven of their front line starters here, so a brutal game script coming that could easily turn against David Montgomery. There's not a lot to like here and just the C grade

for David Montgomery in this game. When we come back, take a chance on me. Nine players you would not normally start. Will tell you who all of these players are. You get three quarterbacks, through running backs, three receivers. Find some guys you got maybe you got injury issues, maybe the maybe the draft just sidn't follow your way at some positions. We are here to help take a chance on me. Coming up next on Fantasy Football Weekly, it's take a chance on me. Nine players not normally do

starting line up. Many these players available on the waiver wire right now. In fact, all three of mine are probably i'd say sevent on waiver wires, maybe more for all of my players. We begin to the quarterback position, Scott, Who's gonna take a chance on the quarterback? Yeah, I'm going with Jamis Winston. People like to rag on his thirty three touchdown thirty interception year with Tampa, but last year he had a fourteen to three touchdown interception ratio

and averaged over two touchdowns per game. His yardage wasn't there at the start, but progressively got better. He averaged about five rush attempts per game, so it's gonna get you an extra three to nine points on the ground. Um, he gets a Falcons d with the league's worst pressure rate, so they're not gonna get to him. And that allowed

the fourth most fantasy points to quarterbacks last year. Um, they're projected but to be the worst defense again this year by multiple outlets, and people worried about does he still sling it well last year? Um? Last year he was top ten in deep ball throws, so he still slings it. He He was top ten in average depth of average depth of target as well, that which does not surprise anybody given Jamis Winston's yolo passing styling. It wasn't gone. Michael Thomas Yoo is a good nickname for him.

It is your take a chance for me, quarterback, Matt. I've got General Davis Mills who's playing against the Colts this week. He's never thrown a touchdown pass against the Colts and two tries. Well, he didn't start either game of note, he'd started one maybe okay, Um, the Colts had an iffy pass defense early in the year last year, but allowed no three yard games from Week ten on last season. So why am I using General Mills here? Because there's a few bright spots. First, the Colts gave

up the second most touchdown passes in the league last year. Second, the addition of a decent running game should help Mills see the field quite a bit better. Third, I don't trust the Colts secondary. Stephen gilmour is thirty two years old. Kenny Moore, who I'm gonna cover a little bit later, gave up the most yards in slot coverage. And finally, in five of mills Is last seven games of one he topped three passing yards or through for multiple scores.

He's just putting up good numbers. My quarterback. He was originally Davis Mills, and I got off and I still like Davis Mills, but I decided to amp up the difficulty. Oh yeah, I'm just taking the easy that's right with Davis Mills. Trevor Lawrence a horrific fantasy performer last year, but a possible spot starter against a woefull secondary that returns the same players from last year, including one of the biggest free agent busts of one, William Jackson playing

against Washington. By the way I should mention, PFF graded Washington is the twenty seven ranks past defense last year and that closely corresponds to their thirtieth ranking in yards allowed in dead last ranking and touchdowns allowed. And as a bonus, Lawrence is fairly nimble, and the Commanders finished dead last in quarterback rushing yards allowed and second to last in quarterback rushing touchdowns allowed. You know, one way or another, Trevor Lawrence could get end up getting it

done here. It's a good pick. Let's go to the running back position. You take a chance on me, runner Scott. Yeah, I'm going over the Seattle Seahawks with Travis Homer. It sounds like ken Walker is not going to go at all. And where he's playing, Travis Homer is playing against the Broncos who allowed the ninth most receiving yards and receiving touchdowns and highest yards per reception to running backs last year.

Travis Homer, receiving back specialist. Uh, Travis. I believe that Rashad Penny and Travis Hommer are gonna split because there's there's a lot of injuries in that backfield right now and they're gonna want to keep Penny healthy and tell Walkers back that the Denver Broncos allowed twenty six touches per game to running backs. I think they split it pretty evenly. And Homer gets get some points out there. All right, Matt, you're running back, take a chance of me, player,

I've got raheem must start most start tonight. There's a couple of things working in Mostart's favor this week. First off, Chase Edmonds popped up midweek with a groin strain. Now he was back practicing in full on Thursday, but those kind of injuries tend to have a way of recurring and rearing their ugly head. Uh So that makes me pause a little bit on Chase Edmunds. Second, new head coach, Mike McDaniel comes from San fran where most It was

on the roster for years and years. There's familiarity with this offense. He's not going to be surprised by anything. And finally, the Pats gave up some odd games down the stretch to back up style runners. D Ernest Johnson, Dontrelle Hilliard and de Anta Foreman each put up over a hundred and ten total yards against New England from week ten on, so most are kind of an intriguing play this week. Might take a chance of me runner is Baltimore running back Mike Davis your probable starter for

this game. Don't think j K. Dobbins is going to have a big workload in his first game back from the torn a c L and the opponents of Jets, it's They were the league's worst run defense last year. They gave up one hundred sixties seven total yards to unning backs per game. If Mike Davis is gonna get half of just half of the hundred and sixties seven yards the Jets gave up last year. If roles to this year, that's great. They gave up one point seven

scores to running backs, also league worst. If Mike Davis is gonna get half of that, that puts him on a touchdown and eight eighty three and a half yards. Well, well will certainly take that. Um, yeah, we'll The Jets be a little better than that, but probably but not a lot. Let's go to the wide receiver position. Just

to add on to that. I don't think Dobbin's plays honestly, you think Lamar Jockson said he's probably a few weeks away, So I'm I don't know that he plays that even even better if if that happens Kenyan Drake also because an option absolutely absolutely. Uh, my wide receiver is Chris lave. I just mentioned Jameis Winston's deep ball actually understold it. He was fifth in average depth of target last year

and second in deep throw race. Look this up now, No, no, I had him in two different play is on my piece of paper and I was trying to remember it off top of my head. Uh, Atlanta was Atlanta allowed the sixth most touchdowns. Wide receiver's fifth most receptions yardage was pretty middle of the pack, But because of that yolo ball ability and Mike Thomas's injury his hamstring, he

only practiced limited all week. Crystal Love is really only gonna need one big play, and if there's if Thomas doesn't play the full game, he might get a lot of work, all right, Uh, Matt, you take a chance to me receiver that would be Chase Muddy Waters Claypool. Claypool looks destined for slot duties this year if they've jettisoned Juju, which means the six four two seven pound Chase Claypool We'll match up with five seven pound Mike Hilton.

That's a mismatch of seven inches and forty pounds. Hilton gave up the third most yards in the NFL in slot coverage last year, and in Claypool's four career games against the Bengals, he had one outstanding game with two touchdowns and two other games himes over eighty receiving yards. Chase clay is going to be a problem in the slot this year. That is a big That is a big slot receiver and mostly we thought was a bigot. Claypool is a big slot Absolutely, that's gonna be an issue.

My and our final take a chance on me player, Mark has Valdez Scantling. You gotta pick your spots here. He brings exactly one skill set to the table. Run fast and run straight. That's good enough to put mvs into the end zone against a very shaky Arizona secondary. Over the off season, Arizona lost its best pass rusher, Chandler Jones and it's best cornerback, Robert Alford, and what

remains looks like a deeply flawed Cardinals secondary. Cornerbacks Marco Wilson and Byron Murphy were PFF's one ninth ranked cornerbacks last year, and their other cornerback in is other quarterback expect to be journeyman Antonio Hamilton's who has three NFL starts to his name. Game and that is it. We'll move on to our next set of matchups in just a second. Matt, You've got you've got a new interesting

game to talk about. Oh yeah, we just we just dropped a new game over at League Safe this week called League safe Locks, and it's an app I've been working on for a while. Similar to the Shock Fantasy prop bet games. It's absolutely free to play, free to download a new game every week. You select the answers to tend multiple choice fantasy questions and the rare answers are any more points if you uh. If you get

your question right, you get the points. If you get it wrong, you get zero, and if you score the most points in a week, you win a share of the one thousand dollar jackpot every week. It's available on the app Store, Google Play, or check it out at league safe dot com slash locks. It's free to play, free, absolutely free. Saints take on the Falcons. Scott and You've already talked about a bunch of Saints here, so why don't your piggyback off the Let's go with the rest

of the guys we haven't talked about yet. Yeah, so Winston, James, Winston, and Chris will take a chance on me players. Let's go over to Michael Thomas, who I'm only giving a C grade too because he hasn't played in two years and he's dealing with a hamstring injury that has led to zero full practices this last week. So if he, assuming he goes, I've already mentioned Atlanta bottom six in

most touchdowns, most receptions, yardage, etcetera. Last year. The vast majority of that damage was done on the outside, which could be good for Thomas and lave Um, where they ranked second worst than the league. They were actually twelfth best against the slot last year, which has Landry on the bench for me Um. Yeah, this Thomas, if he does go, is likely going to Basically Thomas and Lava are going to have to deal with a J. Terrell and Casey Hayward on the outsides, which is pretty decently

tough matchups. That's why they're getting C grades for me. Uh. In the running game, Alvin Kamara, I got him with an A grade. I do the Falcons allowed the tenth most rushing yards and the seventh most rushing touchdowns. They also allowed the ninth most sceptions in twelve most receiven their bottom twelve against running backs in rushing and receiving last year prime spot for Camara, who against the Falcons who had lost their best starting linebacker, Dion Jones, who

has played stunt I r just recently. UH. He gets replaced with former undrafted free agent Rashaan Evans, who they signed you a one year deal off the Titans, where he was mostly a part time player. Uh I have missed the top ten back this week. He averaged a hundred and ten yards and scored five times in his six full games with Winston last year six. Also, his average is a hundred ten yards and basically a touchdown per game. Also four catches a game with Winston. Ay

grade there over on Atlanta side. Honestly, there isn't a lot for me to start. I have Marriotta on the bench. I need to see how he runs that offense. And the Saints were a top ten d against fantasy quarterbacks last year. UH. They traded Chauncey Gardner Chauncey Gardner Johnson lost with their starting safety. He's brought in Tyron Matthews, so it's a slightly different defense. But in the second half of last season, no QB top two hun six yards and only had one had multiple touchdown day. I

got married, Yeah, I got Marriott on the bench. I got Drake London on the bench as well, because it's gonna be his first game and he also dealing with a knee injury that he got in the first preseason game. He might remember. It looked really bad, but they were optimistic about it. But he's still been not practicing and limited practice and that's all he's been putting in so far.

He may play, but I can't trust him in this one. Uh. Kyle Pitts, Yeah, I'm I'm probably going to a grade here just he's the only guy I trust to actually make plays here. Uh. He probably just deserves an A grade on talent and scarcity at the tight end position this week alone. Uh, adding the fact they'll be trailing and uh trailing and the Saints were fourth worst against the slot wide receivers last year, Let's put Pitts on a grade here. Uh. Cordarrell Patterson and the whole running

game I actually have on the bench. Uh. The Saints allowed the fourth fewest rushing yards and they actually allowed very few receiving yards to back day the only two games they allowed a lot of receiving yards to backs where Patterson last year and McCaffrey last year. But they stopped using Patterson like that, and I have no faith that they're going to bring that back the way they used it last year until I see it. So I

have him on the bench too. You know, one thing going back to the Saint side of this that I think Bears Bears watching is the status of their left tackle. You know, tearing Arms. Armstead left in free agency. His backup was Trevor Penning. They got a first round pick on two. He's on I R and he's gonna miss at least half the season as the expectation. They're down to a third string guy named James Hurst and he's hurt too. This left tackle could be a big problem

for this whole Saints. This whole Saint's offense more like left turn style. Maybe that may be the case. That'll be something we'll want to watch going up to Sunday when we come back. We'll continue motoring through the various matchups around the NFL, including Patriots taking on the Dolphins. Is this the Romandre Stevenson Awakening? Find out when we come back Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly. Paul Charchy and Scott Fish and Matt Harrison with you.

You can follow us on Twitter at Paul Charchy and at Scott Fish twenty four and at Explosive Output. Yeah, and we're still making fresh, brand new hot off the Press's Guillotine League. It's not too late to jump into a guillotine league. You know the format, you know how it works. A teen team start the season. Every week, the low scoring team gets cut. There's no head to head play, and when that team gets cut, all of their players go to the waiver wire and pandemonium ensues.

Well done, Scott Fish, and you get to build a superstar lineup. All you have to do is not finished last. You don't have to be the best, just don't be the worst. You can keep joining guilloteen leagues well into the season two because it just changes the amount of people in the will start after week one, We'll start seventeen team Guillotine League and sixteen, and so on and

so forth. Absolutely, let's go to our next matchup, which is the Patriots at the Dolphins, and there's a sneaky revenge a angle a Brian Johnson patented revenge le depended. He got the patent. That's good, It's I think it's that impending. Obviously, we're gonna start with the Davante Parker revenge game. He's on the bench as he most likely will draw his former teammates Avian Howard for most of the game, and Howard is one of the better shut down corners in the league, and he's the only one

Miami has. If he flex into the slot, you'll find Jacoby Myers facing off against Nick need Um, who allowed seventy of his passes and coverage should be caught last year. Myers was targeted seventeen times in the two meetings with the Dolphins last year, and I think that volume could be expected again. So I'll give Myers a C grade. Hunter Henry could be a desperation start if you're missing

a guy like George Kittle. This week, in his last meeting with the Dolphins, he was able to go for five catches and eighties six yards and and of course he did score nine times last year times fascinating, so I can give him a low grade. See, let's see if all the preseason talk about integrating John new Smith more into this offense actually comes to life. I don't believe that will happen at all. Okay, Mac Jones is on the bench. Nobody like what they saw from Jones

in the preseason. He didn't put up huge numbers against the Finns last year either. Plus, every quarterback in the league is healthy right now, so you're starting someone else. Ramandre Stevenson and Damien Harris both get a B from me. Both will probably see in the neighborhood of fourteen to fifteen touches unless time Montgomery just bombs the whole thing and becomes the past catching um. So Harris scored an eight of nine games last year when getting fourteen touches

are more. Stevenson scored in two of three games last year when getting fourteen touches are more. All indications point to the Pats running the ball at least seventy five times per game, So this seems like a lock. That is, Yeah, that's all their place of them. Uh Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle on the other side. I'm giving Hill in a waddle B. Waddle returned to practice earlier in the week and seems ready to go. It looks like he'll match up most often with Jonathan Jones, who is New

England's weakest cover corner according to Pro Football Focus. Last year. Hill moved around a lot in Kansas City, and I expect him to be deploy boyd in even crazier ways in Miami. He'll match up with Jalen Mills for the most part. He's a better run stopper than a cover corner. He's also slow, and Tyreek Kill is not correct. I'm leaving Mike Gasicki on the bench though. Pat safety Kyle Dugger does most of the tight end coverage and he's

one of the better cover safeties in the league. In six career games against New England has only scored once and as a high water mark of thirty four yards to UH he gets a C grade. And with Hill getting an A and Waddle getting a B, why does TWA get the C. Well, it's low depth of target. He's reliant on his receiver's breaking big ones. What if they deploy Hill from the backfield like Debo and five of us touches our runs and he breaks one of those and Hill gets the good points there, and TWA

gets no credit for it. Uh to only top two fifty yards once in the final nine games of and the New England pass rush is really good, so I think two is gonna be under pressure a lot and then uh rahee moster it was might take a chance on me runner. There's also the running back situation of Chase Edmonds, Miles Gaskin, Salvin Akhmed. Edmonds popped up on the injury report with the groin strain which I mentioned,

but was a full participant. I'm gonna give Edmonds a C grade because I think he'll catch enough passes to be relevant. The Pats allowed the ninth most receptions to the running back position last year, so I think he'll still be in play in the passing game, but I think most are it probably gets more rushing in this game.

Chase Edmonds, that's uh, that'll be if this most the thing plays out the way you're describing, that will be surprising too many, Yeah, but interesting, probably surprising to everybody. I'm I'm more on too than you are. But okay, just planning my flag in that. Uh, let's go to the Ravens taking on the Jets. This is a gonna

be a one sided affair and all expectation. Mark Andrews is an obvious a Lamar Jackson obviously did not get the contract extension on Friday, that deadline, that self imposed deadline has passed, and it appears, unless something changes, that he's headed to free agency in the off season. Oh man, he's headed for a franchise tag and a possible trade

that's possible in time. Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner will probably help a struggling Jets secondary, but in his first NFL game, I don't think he can overcome all the other problems in that Jet secondary. Cornerback DJ Read isn't half bad, but Seattle let him walk, which says plenty about dj Read.

The rest of the secondary's just flying bad. Seattle is a bad defense if they don't want you bad sign Obviously, Jackson will win fantasy matchups with his legs as well, So a grade on Lamar Jackson already told you that Mike Davis was might take a chance on me. Running back j K Dobbins, let's talk about him for a minute now, Scott, you've got a theory that j K. Dobbins may not go in this game. Just lamar statements that that he might be a couple of weeks away

from being ready. I know they's practice limited, and uh, there's a chance. I know he's going to be listed as question. Well, I just I don't see them risking it. Let's talk about I. I think Dobbins gets six, eight, maybe ten touches. I think he's active and he gets if he is active, it won't be a lot. And I think the safe approach is to just take a

week to wait and see on JK. Dobbins. But I think if all those dunks he made on the media actually emotionally, I think he's out that if if Dobbins is active, I believe he plays in this game, because why not otherwise just leave him inactive so he's active, then you can and you think eight touches can help you, that might be enough for a C grade Against the Jets terrible run defenses I outlined earlier, Rashad Bateman gets a B. The Jet secondary was great at as the

third worst unit by full Pro Football Focus last season. A lot of as I mentioned, Sauce Gardner, Gardner super fast, uh tall, But Bateman should have the edge against a rookie making his first ever start, So we'll give a B grade to Rashad Bateman as the only other target that seems likely to get any action here. And speaking of likely, Isaiah Likely, I have to start him did I'm doing the same thing because Kidles is Kidles a problem for a lot of people. Isaiah Likely is a

is a frequent pivot. Many of us believe, and I'm in this group that he's going to be a designated A tight end. But he's going to stand up in the slot a lot and there's not any other receivers. He mini Kyle Pitts, I think he is. He's a slightly smaller version of Kyle Pitts, and I I can't put his I can't put a letter grade on him. I've got Isaiah Likely on the bench Andlation I can't. But he's on the bench. But I'm we're still gonna

watch Isaiah Likely very closely here. Uh. Jet side, Joe Flacco gets the start, and he has a C grade here undrafted in most leagues, quasi viable, maybe just for garbage time and his last three starts all with the Jets, by the way, spanning the last two seasons. Joe Flacco to two and three touchdowns in his last three starts. Ravens middle to pac defense and middle to pack pass rush defense. UM I am worried about his blindside left tackle is a real issue. Who McKay Beckton is out

in his backup? Who they signed Dwayne Brown looks like a question mark to play with the shoulder injury, so that could be a problem for Flacco. But garbage time should ensue here. And I like Elijah Moore with a B grade finished last year they dominating December. You may recall runs from all over the field, so the Jets can scheme him towards the Ravens worst cornerback last year that was Kyle Fuller. But he's also going to see some of the veterans Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters and

really just lukewarm about those matchups. Peter's missed all of last year with injury. Um although it's been pretty good prior to that, but still comes off him could be rusty in this game. I like Elijah Moore at a B grade level. UM I don't have any starting grades on any of the other receivers, including rookie Garrett Wilson. You could roll the dice on a deep hook up, and he's got deep speed. But I think I'm just gonna watch and wait for a better matchup on him

and see how this thing ends up looking. And to the running backs, Michael Carter atop the depth chart at least for the moment. He's your lead back here, not Breece Hall. Quietly by the Michael Carter non sucky on a very sucky Jets team. Last year, he was a Pro Football Focus top twenty running back overall. He ranked eleventh in yards after contact, third in Pro Football Focuses elusiveness rating last year. For Michael Carter, um the good

news kind of ends there. Ravens were a top ten run defense last year by yards, touchdowns, and PFF grade, and the game script could easily turn against Carter if Joe Flacco is not up to the job and they end up having to pass. So a C grade on Michael Carter and just a for Breece Hall, just a B grade ore, sorry bench grade, because we have to wait and see until it seems like Michael Carter's Yeah, we gotta watch this thing play itself out. So that's

our that's our current situation with that. We've got about two minutes left. I don't think we have time to work in another matchup, but let me if you can go quickly, Scott your next it's Brown's Panthers. Yeah on the brown side. Yeah, on the brown side. Jacoby Purcette last year average tune in eighteen yards and a touch, just under a touchdown a game. You're not starting him against the Carolina defense. That was third against QB, sixth

against wide receivers, and fifth best against running backs. I actually have the whole passing game on the bench except for Marii Cooper, who I think sees a decent enough amount of volume as basically the only option. I have a C grade on him. Nick Chubb I have a B grade and Hunt a C grade. The Browns average thirty two are just under thirty five touches per game, split about twenty to fifteen between those two. That kind of volume against this team, especially with catches out of Hunt,

gives him a B grade in a segrede. I think they get the lead, and I think they run this game on defense and running the ball over. On the Carolina side, there's a lot better QB options than Mayfield, especially against the especially against the Cleveland team that was top ten against quarterbacks last year. I have a B grade on DJ Moore. He's just a stud win healthy, He's gonna get Greedy Williams or Denzel Award, which is

a top matchup. But Mayfield's gonna target him enough. He's gonna get enough volume that I have a B grade on him. They're just basically on volume. And Christian McCaffrey and a Grade Tough five fantasy back four of his five healthy games last year, and he has proven to be almost completely matchup proof when healthy, even against top ten defenses. Masterful jobs, sneaking that matchup in well done, I like Turbo Scott Fish time when all our lives.

We love that well done. When we come back three tough questions, you can play along and see if you can go three and oh. We will also break down the Colts versus the Texans and as well. Did you know all of my Week one player rankings available for free at Guillotine leagues dot com. All of your tough bench start questions can be answered Guillotine leagues dot com.

We encourage you to check that out. Uh and again when we come back, Three Tough Questions plus will break down the remaining games, including very pivotal Jaguars at Commanders. It's gonna be a riveting game. We spend eight to ten minutes on all the detailed nuances of Jaguar's Commanders. When we come back, Fantasy Football Weekly, our number two Fantasy Football Weekly, Paul Church and Scott Fish and Matt Harrison with you. This is a game we like to

call three tough questions. Tough question number one to help if I had the questions in front of me. Okay, tough question number one, blame Yeah, it's all Robbie's fault. Um, that's we're gonna go with Robbie's fault. Which falcons running back? We'll finish with the most fantasy points. Scott and by the way, the ore let's our last chance. You like season long predictions, right, this is this is it. We're not gonna do Bears. We're not gonna do Bills Rams

because they already played. Uh So these all three of these questions are season long. Although Bills and Rams would be good running back questions right now now, I almost did pivot to some of those. Uh, Which Falcons running back we'll finish with the most Fantasy points? Got pass you? Okay? I put Cordell Patterson just on hopes they figured out how to use them again, and he is the listed starter.

They want to get him more involved in the passing game, which in most fantasy leagues they exist right now, have half her fall PPR, So those receptions are they bring him in they have on the goal line. He has a lot of usage there. I fear that, and we thought this all offseason that the Williams was gonna be the guy early, the early down worker early in the season.

Algier would take over later. I think the fact that he's gonna they're gonna split like that and Patterson's gonna have a role all season makes it Patterson, alright, Matt, which Falcons running back is going to finish with the most Fantasy points? Scott touchedown few, but I got Cordarrel Patterson. Out Of the top fourteen running backs in PPR scoring last year, only two finished with fewer than thirty five receptions on the season, and was only three of the

top fourteen. Patterson had fifty two receptions last year that was tied for sixth most among all running backs, and he finished at the number twelve running back overall. I don't see a massive downturn in the reception part of his game. So unless Tyler l Gier scores thirteen touchdowns, somehow, I think Patterson's the top Falcon runner. I wanted to say somebody other than Corderrel Patterson, but I just I can't make a convincing case for Damien Williams or rookie

Tyler l Gier based on the information we have today. Anyway, unless unless, unless the Falcons are being super tricky with their depth chart and they secretly love Tyler Algier and they know he's awesome, but they're being crafty and putting him third on the depth chart. You know what, I know a guy really close to this situation, close to Tyler, and that would be Tyler lg Year, and he drafted

himself so well over Cordarrel Patterson. I don't know that I check that you should check that we're gonna rule out Williams on his fourth team in five years and for alge years, just nothing. He had a very vanilla preseason preseason games didn't look special. Nobody talking him up through training camp. It just it leaves Patterson, even though we all expect less volume than last year in an effort to keep him productive pass Thanksgiving. But I just

think there's nobody there. I'm gonna mention this. You know, we all think of him as a pass catching running back because he played wide receiver the last half of last year, and he was. He was very good early on the last half of last year, which is a long time by the way, the second half of the season he averaged one point eight catches per game. That's it. Tough question number two, which Seahawks running back we'll finish

with the most fantasy points? Matt Well ken Walker's returning from some sort of hernia or maybe not hernia injury. There be in kind of coy about that. Who knows how long that'll take for him to return. Rashad Penny isn't injured quite yet, but he's only played six games in a row twice in his three year career. That doesn't bode very well, and he's already been injured once this Yeah, Travis Homer will be their leading rusher in

at least one game this year for sure. Okay, but I'm gonna go with Walker because I think that he's probably gonna be back to full strength by October, which is about the time that Penny will get hurt, and then I think ken Walker never gives the job back. Scott which Seahawks running back? We'll finish with the most fantasy points. I put Rashad Penny, but I hate it um in games he has at least fourteen touches. He has absolutely crushed, averaging over a hundred yards and scoring

it all but one. Uh. As long as he's healthy, he's likely to put up numbers. I'm worried about this injury with Walker when he's going to be ready, if he's going to be dealing with stuff like that all year. These are just gross? Why did you do this to us? They were actually tough, and they were tough. They were three gross questions, right, They're not mutually exclusive things gross and tough? Is that it? Scotty Day? I am also

a Rashad Penny skeptic. He had the massive surge from December twelve forward last year, but here are his averages in Rashad Penny's thirty one games that preceded last December twelve. Five carries, twenty eight yards and zero point two touchdowns per game. That's it. I'm not buying the recency, and especially when Penny needs to succeed behind Profoball focuses thirty second ranked offensive line. Oh, they're worse than the Bears. They're worse than the I don't think they actually are,

but profoball focus things they are. The Seahawks first four games are all against run defenses that finished in the top half of the league and yards per carried aloud. So when Penny is ineffective or heard in October, as Matt correctly said, Kenneth Walker is going to be healed from his or whatever and then come back and never give up the lead, the correct answer is Kenneth Walker. Whatever which Eagles running back, we'll finish with the most

fantasy points. Scott stop stop. Just an update. Tyler L. Gear took himself ten oh one. Patterson went in the mid seventh. I don't know. I did not take. He didn't he could have taken. He passed on court. Darry had seven chances, have seven chances and did not. Uh. This one's Miles Sanders for me. I don't want to count on them on the Eagles, remembering how he was used in the past game in twenty nineteen, which was

fifty catches and highly efficient. It's more of a bet that they said they wanted gad Will involved as a past schedule last year and it didn't do it. When Sanders did go out last year, it was Jordan's Howard they picked up a week before and Boston Scott, not Kenneth Gainwell your accent. No, Uh, Kenneth Gainwell is really more of a part time player in the ASK game if he gets those raps in Boston Scott, I really don't like unless he's playing the Giants ugly split. But

I'm going to slime. Slime also known as Miles Sanders. It's an anagram, Matt, which Eagles running back will finish with the most Fantasy points. I'm going the other direction. I'm gonna say Kenneth Gainwell. I talked up the PPR aspect and how important receptions are. Gainwell had more receptions on much fewer snaps than Miles Sanders last year. Gainwell is also built better for goalne use. Miles Sanders totaled negative five yards on five rushing attempts inside the five

last year. Miles Sanders will score a touchdown this year, but Gainwell will be a major part of that committee. And seeing how he'll probably catch more passes and he has a shot at the goal line work, I'll take Kenny g five ft six Boston Scott seems unlikely to get continued goal line use unless like you did last year. Uh, and he doesn't chip in much of anywhere else. Kenneth Gainwell just did pass the eye test last year, and he didn't contribute much via the ground especially and only

modestly through the air. And here's the thing that really bothered me about gain Well. When I went back and looked, I wanted to sell myself. I wanted the answer to be coming into this question Kenneth Gainewell, and I wanted to sell myself on him improving over the course of his rookie year. But really it was the opposite. In fact, his snap count went down dramatically in the second half of the year as he lost faith with his coaching staff.

We gotta follow the snaps and the opportunities, and that's all. Miles Sanders, who averaged thirty seven snaps per game, that was double that of gain Well's and triple that of Boston Scott's. And now, by the way, the correct answer is Miles Sanders a totally unsubstantiated theory that has no basis in anything other than me talking off the top of my head. The Vikings and the Eagles have already consummated a trade for Alexander Madison and they're waiting for

the Week two game between these two teams to pass. Oh, I love it now, I love it so much. Madison. Madison took a when unexplained and we don't it's the second half of the last Thursday. Maybe he found out about that trade last Thursday or something like that, and I don't know. Maybe it wigged him out and he took a day off. I don't know. Maybe he wanted to bear, or he had a fantasy draft going on with Scott Fish. Maybe that was let me check, unsubstantiated

theory of of a trade. But it's out there now. It's it's basically fact, basically fact. It's right, even though I have made it very clear the no facts involved in this at all. Matt Colts take on the Texans already told us you like me, love Davis Mills in this love like Davis Mills in this game. Colts in the two games combined last year, the score to the score the combined score in the two games sixty two to three. It wasn't good. No, it was not good. Um.

I'll stay on the Texan side to start. Since we mentioned Davis Mills, he he gets a see, Brandon Cooks gets a B and Nico gets a C. As well, I mentioned Gilmore who should cover Cooks. Mostly I'm not so sure Cooks at age twenty eight isn't better at his position than Gilmore at thirty two. To Cook saw almost twenty seven percent of mills targets last year. Uh. Nico Collins plays the slot and he gets burnable. Kenny

Moore gave up the most slot yards and touchdowns last year. Uh. The other Texan that we have to mention is Damian Pierce, and baby, he's like the He's one of the few rookies that I think is startable this week. Like overall, I'm giving him a B grade. The Colts are going to be missing All Pro middle linebacker Shaquille Leonard for

this game. That's a huge loss to that defense and Indie looks great overall on paper against the run, but last year they allowed double digit PPR fantasy days in seven of the last final seven of the final eleven games to running backs. And what we saw in the preseason, Oh that was good stuff. Uh. He he might be, you know, just as good as the running back on the other side, Jonathan Taylor, who gets an obvious A grade. By the way, Nahem Hines is startable in a pinch

in this one. The Texans were bottom five against running backs last year. Hind saw at least six touches in four of the last five games against Houston. And they're talking about Hines getting a lot of work spelling John Taylor, you know who drafted nine Himes on his fantasy team. Night head coach Frank Riich. Remember a month, we'll see if that pans out. Do you think he'd draft Matt Ryan, who I'm giving a B grade two here. Uh. The Texans were a bottom ten past defense last year and

they'll be missing their best cover corner this week. That's Tavier Thomas. Matt Ryan loves September and October games. By the way, in the past three years he's passed for over two eight yards or more eighteen times in twenty four games. That's very good. You know what happened in in November December. Julio Jones was always broken down by then, and Calvin Ridley was off the team. So, uh, Michael Pittman is the only Cults receiver I'm gonna start, and

I'm giving him an A grade. Pittman will likely line up against rookie Derek Stingley Jr. Or Desmond King the second and they both might need their dads to come help cover Pittman. King was the one hundred and nineties second ranked cover corner by Pro Football Focus last year. I'm not going to start Alec Pierce or Paris Campbell this week. I'd like to see tempting though, isn't it. Yeah, I want to see how each is deployed first, But

it's Pittman. And I don't think there's a league that people are in where they're like, I need to start Alec Pierce this week because you're not in enough. Yeah, I gotta be these week one. These week one decisions are tricky. I will say they'll go get him. Premature premature speculation. No, there's a lot of wow, double time machine Jaguars taking on the commanders. Let me mention this before we dig into the juicy goodness of Jaguars commanders.

We saw what happened with cam Akers coming off his Achilles injury right, totally unused and with a little a little action that he got on Thursday night amounted to literally nothing. No yards James Robinson is looking at. I believe the same kind of thing they will. I think they may just try to give him some carries out of loyalty. You know, we don't the same thing with Acres, you know whatever. I just here's the thing. Travis at TNS already roster, So how can you work this to

your advantage? I know what it is. It's superpop loop baby. Look it's before Sunday free agencies open in most leagues. Go get Snoop Connor. Because, if you believe like I do, the James Robinson is not going to work out at some point in the probably early stages of this this year, and maybe even in Week one, like ham Akers, that means it's time not yet. Does it also mean streaking through the quad? No, it does not. Matter of fact,

Jaguars side of this, we are not starting Snooper loop. Unfortunately, what I know not yet, but we are starting Travis Etten while we're talking about Jaguars running backs. The Commanders had one of the best run defenses in the league last season, holding opposing running backs to just seventy five yards per game. That was fifth lowest on only three point eight yards per carry, which is outstanding. Uh. Fortunately,

Etiens receiving makes them startable here. Last year, Watchington gave up a league worst nine receiving touchdowns two running backs, and in Doug Peterson's last season in Philadelphia, Miles Sanders had his best year, averaging sixteen touches per game. Et Ten Miles Sanders similar skill set. I think some of that trans lates. He probably gets plenty of usage here. Travis Etienne a B grade in this game. Let's go to the passing side for the Jaguars. Trevor Lawrence was

might take a chance on me quarterback. You heard that earlier. Christian Kirk gets a B grade. He's got a favorable matchup against the Commander's secondary that finished bottom six in receptions, yards and touchdowns allowed to opposing receivers. And assuming Christian Kirk continues to run predominantly from the slot, he will face second year cornerback Ben st j who surrendered a one hundred fifteen passer rating in seven games as a

rookie last year. Even if he gets a little better on that, Christian Kirk with a nice opportunity from the slot, and Marvin Jones gets a C grade. If last year's usage holds, Marvin Jones ran most often from the left side of the field, which should line him up against William Jackson, who finished his Pro football focuses cornerback number eight last year Jones. Finally, Jones was starting at a hundred twenty times last year. The productivity did not come

with it. He just turned it into eight hundred yards and four touchdowns on a hundred and fifty balls his way. But if you figure Lawrence's play gets better in year two, if we still get a hundred twenty passes to Marvin Jones, it's he'll the efficiency will be better, the numbers will be better. I don't think he's gonna get a hundred and twenty passes again. He might not, now that Christian Kirk is there to sniffen off some of the work, but I think he gets close to that. Let's go

to the Washington side. Antonio Gibson maybe a chip on his shoulder after all that preseason talk of him losing his job or you know, him getting moved to special teams. The Jaguars are generous to running backs on the ground. In particular, Jacksonville allowed the eleventh most rushing yards and the fifth most rushing touchdowns to running backs last year. They had a bottom three defensive line according to Pro Football Focus, and Gibson's gonna get all the rushing work here.

The passing down work will go to j D McKissick. By the way, Gibson with a B grade. J D mckissic with a C grade. Last year, January is shockingly good against receiving running backs, finishing fifth best in receptions, sixth best in yards, and number one in touchdowns allowed, but just one. Jaguars additions of two first round picks at edge linebacker Trayvon Walker and Devin Lloyd suggests they can maintain that. So, just to see, you know what, I'm moving m kissick to a bench forget I talked

to myself into benching him. In fact, I'm literally moving him down to the bench area of my notes right now. J D. McKissick. You're on the bench. Let's go to the passing game. Carson Wentz for a bad quarterback. He was a shockingly competent fantasy producer last year, scoring in fifteen of seventeen games, multiple touchdowns and over half his games. But Carson wentz inexplicable kryptonite was the Jaguars. That's true.

He posted miserable numbers in the two meetings last year, hundred eighty yards and a hundred eighty five yards, zero touchdowns in one game, one touchdown in the other game. This is kind of like a weird revenge game angle. It's very much of revenge game for him. Brian would come up with a new adjective for it. Keep in mind, by the way, people for me have forgotten, the Colts were winning in versus the Jaguars in Week eighteen of last year, and they lost to the Jaguars, who were

in the middle of an eight game losing streak. For Wentz, this is very much a revenge game. Uh. John Dotson a C grade. The rookie will start the game, but his role is unclear. And it's been since Art Monk and Gary Clarkson's Washington has reliably fled fed to fantasy wide outs here. Ditto for Carson Wentz. You know what, I'm moving him to the bench to John I talked myself into benching him to John doubtson bench. Let's go to the only receiver that you really care about, and

that's Ty McLaren. McLaren's new quarterback. Carson Wentz posted the seventh highest PF grade under pressure last year. So even if the commander's line is as bad as we think it's gonna be, white Men's might be okay and able to still help feed McLaurin here. Second year cornerback Tyson Campbell has been a training camp stand out, but McLaren will test Campbell's and Shack Griffin's propensity to of a big plays in Indy. Wentz was laser focused on one target,

Michael Pittman, his number one go to receiver. That's clearly Terry McLaurin in this offense, and the numbers should be there for him in a B grade on Terry McLaurin. Last guy I'm gonna mention is Logan Thomas. It's his first game off of a reconstructed a c L and m c L. We will sit him on the bench and we will watch and see what happens with him. All right, I think maybe we have time to sneak in one more. No, nope, okay, all right, let's let's not. We'll move it to the next We'll move it to

the next. Break that happens sometimes Giants tightened so much to unpack it nearly needs its own segment. I think to get to the bottom of everything that Daniel Jones is going to bring to the table, all of the three starters had to I'm surprised between both teams, you have three between both teams. It's not it's not gonna be great Giants Titans. When we come back, we'll break that matchup down along with Steelerspango, Packers, Vikings More Fantasy

Football Weekly coming up next. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly, Paul church In, Scott Fish and Matt Harrison with you. New leagues being formed at Guillotine leagues dot com. If you wanted the just check out the freshest, funnest new way to play fantasy football Guillotine Leagues dot com. Okay, let's get back into the matchups, beginning with Giants at Titans Scott last segment. You said you only have three starters between both teams, and Derrick Henry's one of them.

So who does that leave anybody on the Giants at all? The only I I have on the Giants I have a B grade on Kwan Parkley. We're starting Barkley the Titans, I mean on the bedside. Titans were surprising the second best against fantasy running backs last year, allowing the second fewest rushing yards and only three point eight yards per Gary uh just ten total running back touchdowns, but rushing and receiving combined, they went back to middle of the pack. Um,

you're starting Barkley. It's not a great matchup, but he should get most of the work in this one. We're talking a twenty twenty plus touch guy, So he gets a B grade there and in probably a tougher matchup in the passing game, I have Jones on the bench. You're I mean you were gonna start Jones anyway? You're not starting Daniel Jones with all the quarterbacks out there. But it's of note that the Titans allowed one passing

touchdowns in seventeen games last year. That's not a lot, and nine of them came from Murray, Wilson and Allen so everybody else, everybody else was going zero or one. Jones qualifies for the everybody else. Uh Canarius Tony I have a C grade because he's been he's holly healthy and fully practicing. Now, um he moves around. Uh Sterling Shephard isn't in practicing fully. He's coming off that Achilles injury. Kenny Holiday, I'm convinced is now just a Mandela fact.

We're pretty sure Getty Alladay existed, but right, Um, but they moved him all around. And the Titans were worst in the NFL against the slot last year, which Tony sometimes goes there. One Deale Robinson could have some sneaky volume there. He was a high volume guy in college. I wouldn't start him. I'm just saying, keep in your head. But see great on Tony. On the other side the Titans, I have Tannehill on the bench too. He's going to be to take a chance on me quarterback to type

a lot this year, I don't think it is here. Um. Last year he only had three games over two hundred and seventy yards. Uh. He saved you with the rushing touchdowns. He has seven touchdowns and he's been consistent yet seventh the year before to Yeah, but so fu exactly what I wrote. It's really hard to predict things like that. Uh. So I have almost the entire passing Gabe on the bench for a few reasons. Westbrook, a Keen ankle Breaker, Phillips,

Austin Hooper. You can't trust them. Uh Robert Woods is coming off at torn A c on November and did he somehow came back from already and he's practicing folly but he may see shadow coverage from a Dorry Jackson. I'm not starting him with confidence. Trail on Burke's I'm a fan of Burks, loved what is on college. He was like my one A one B coming out of college. But between the way, the asthma, the up and down preseason, I can't start him here with any confidence until I

see how he plays. He should. If a Dorry Jackson covers Woods, maybe he gets you know, maybe he gets a good match up there. But I have him on the bench to the guy. Only guy I'm starting on the Titans is Derrick Henry, who averaged twenty seven touches per game early in the season before that injury that he ended up caming coming back from and they went right back to that. Uh So an a grade on a guy who's gonna get twenty five plus touches against a team who gave up the sixth most explosive plays

to running backs last year. All it takes is one or two of those twenty five touches and you've got a good game out of Henry. I don't think he gets twenty seven anymore. I think those days are probably You don't think they run him down. I don't. I think they're going to be a little more careful. Who who Who's Who's getting at that? Dontrell Hilliard is a sneaky He's a sneaky should be on rosters. Haskins Son, Haskins, I think it's Hilliard. Um, I've been a fan since

the days in Cleveland. Okay, Steelers take on the Bengals, Matt this is uh this is. This has turned into a fairly sizeable rivalry now that the Bengals are are good and the Steelers are struggling. Yeah, we're gonna start with Deonte Johnson here. He had a shoulder injury that limited his practice availability for most of the week, but he was a full participant on Thursday, and it looks like he's going to play. It was a shoulder sprain

from the last preseason game. He'll likely draw a combo of Eli Apple, who's settled in as an average NFL corner, and the semi elite Hidobe Woozy, a who graded out as Pro Football Focuses Number fourteen corner last year. With that said and the spraying shoulder, I'm downgrading Deonte to a C grade in this one. I just got to see if he can get through it. Um. If Johnson is a surprise scratch on Sunday, I'd probably put a circle around or a plus sign next to each of

these other wide receivers and their letter grades. Maybe I don't know, George Pickens and Chase Claypool. Claypool was might take a chance on the wide receiver. He gets a B grade. I'll give Pickens a C this week. I think he'll see a high snap count, but as I mentioned before, he'll see the A Woozier Apple combo on the perimeter, so a tough start for him. Pat fryar Muth gets a B grade. He scored in both meetings

against the Bengals last year. And since he was bottom six and tight end receptions yards and touchdowns allowed last year. Mitch Drubisky, I'm gonna keep him on the bench, but he was very close to like take a chance on me style C grade. Uh, the offensive line just worries me deonte status. Everyone else in the league is healthy and you have to bench some quarterbacks. So true Whisky is on your bench, somebody's gotta be Yeah, it's gotta be right. You know what. That's a sad trombone ski

right there. Uh, Naji Harris, I'm giving him a B grade in it. In the first meeting with the Bengals last year, Harris caught fourteen passes for a hundred and two yards on nineteen targets, but they bottled him up in the second game. In the second meeting, the Bengals held him to almost nothing eleven touches for thirty seven yards. I think you two or three rushes over twenty yards all year too. Yeah, it's gonna be a weird year

for Naji. Joe Mixon. On the other side, he gets an a the Steelers weak spot on defenses against the run. Last time mixing saw the steel Curtain carries a hundred and sixty five yards and two scores. The wide receiver group of Chase Higgins and Boyd. All of them get a B grade, including Boyd. Including boy please well, Chasing Higgins move around a fair amount, so both should see the coverage of top corner a Kello Witherspoon, who gave up only sixteen receptions last year in the nine games

he played. On the other side, they'll see the very ordinary Levi Wallace, and that's where Joe Burrow is going to be attacking. Boyd gets the B because he plays from the slot and Arthur Mallet will be covering him. Mallets allowed a passer rating of one eighteen in his coverage last year. With all that said, Joe Burrow gets a B grade. I like all of his receivers, so I gotta like the thrower at least a little bit worth noting. In both meetings last year, though, Burrow was

held to under two yards passing. But I'm still not scared. I think a B grades fine, but I think Joe Mixon just goes nuts in this game. I'm kind of with you. I'm not I'm kind of with you. I had Joe Mixon right number two on my preseason cheat sheet, and you got him in your weekly rankings this week. It's got to be up there, you know. I don't know off top of my head. I'm sure it is up there. If you're listening, you can find you can

look for yourself. I'm sure it is. I'm sure it is a top five ish ranking for Joe Mixon Vikings and Packers another rivalry game. Viking is trying to employ an entirely new three four scheme on defense, mostly with the same four three personnel they had last year, and I think there's gonna be some moments of discombobulation for

the Vikings. But while we're talking about the Packers and their chances to take advantage of that, also checking the status they're offensive line el Elton Jenkins and David bakti Um are both unknowns at the time of at the time of our taping here on Friday, so we don't know for sure if they're gonna be able to go. Hopefully that will be the case for the sake of the Packers. Um, Aaron Jones and A J. Dillon. Let's

start there. The Vikings are a bad run defense last year, but the offseason edition of Buffalo defensive tackle Harrison Phillips should help. He was Pro Football focuses fifth ranked run stuffer last year and in the past years when Davante Adams miss games, Jones saw a big workload Spike and the Runners did in general. Um and I think he gets a big workload here, but he shares with A J. Dillon and perhaps almost evenly in this game. In two games a Insta Minnesota last season, A J. Dillon wrecked

up thirty three touches, a hundred eighty yards and two scores. Now, granted, Aaron Jones was out for one of those two games, but still very impressive numbers against the Vikings. For A J. Dillon, I prefer Jones because of his PPR upside, but Dylan's gonna see plenty of work as well. Both of them be grades in this game. For Aaron Rodgers, I've got just the C grade on him. With Alan Lazard not

expected to play, he's doubtful for this game. Rogers starting wide receivers are Sammy Watkins, Romeo Dobbs, and Randall Cobb. And maybe you know, we don't know for sure the status of what we could possibly get out of Robert Tony in It looks like he's gonna go, but he's gonna give you coming off a c L. I just think there's not enough talent here. Aaron Rodgers is great, obviously, and the matchups a fine one for him, but I

worry about all these receivers. I think you may have better options than Aaron Rodgers in this game, just to ce grade for him, Sammy Watkins, C grade your legendary Week one performer, Sammy Watkins last three Week ones combined for twenty catches, almost four hundred yards and three touchdowns. That sounds good that we'll take a third of that if Lazard. With Lazard out, Watkins looks like an every

down receiver. Minnesota returns the same starting cornerbacks last from last season, Patrick Peterson and Cam Cam Danceler, and they're hardly shutdown guys. If you're ever gonna start Sammy Watkins literally ever again for the rest of your life. Week one matchup against the Vikings with Lound Lazard out is as good as it gets. So Sammy Watkins in Romeo Daubs, you're presumed starter that I mentioned earlier again exploitable matchups and I can see them trying to get the rookie

cook in early. Maybe built some confidence here. If you a lot of people say, you know, you gotta show me first. I think this is a good opportunity for Romeo Dobbs and I've gotta see great on him and let's see what happens with him. Let's go to the Viking side, dalking obvious a. Kirk Cousins brings the NFL's longest touchdown streak into this game. Third one games, lots

of passes coming in this game. Green Bay was one of eight teams to yield an opponent passing play north of six and Kevin O'Connell almost certainly is going to employ more pass heavy UH scheme than Mike Zimmer did. And so yeah, Cousins B grade in this game. This is a very good green Bay secondary um and they can get to the quarterback. But Kirk Cousins actually very good in when pressured. Will will continue with him on

a B grade. Justin Jefferson obviously a grade, but let me just mention Jerry Alexander is no picnic and that is a tough one on one matchup. Still, Jefferson was very good against this team last year, but also Alexander did not play in one of the two Viking games last season, So if somebody tries to sell you on the eight hundred sixty two and two line that Justin Jefferson put up against the Packers last year, note that Alexander did not play in that game. Adam Feeling also

a B grade. Feeling gets more of Eric Stokes in this game coming off a promising rookie year. Still advantage of the veteran who had ten touchdowns in eleven games last year, including scoring in this matchup last year. BE grade for Adam Feeling and a C grade for kJ Osborne. He will see a lot of Russell Douglas in the slot. Douglas had a long NFL career, virtually none of it coming from the slot. Though, um he was one of the league's best reclamation projects of last year. It was

a great story for him. He got paid this past offseason by the Packers. But I don't know how great he is in the slot. I like kJ Osborne. Here slight advantage for Osborne startable with a C grade and Dalvin Cook obvious a grade you know to start him in pretty much all situations. Yeah, we do expect more running, but there are more passing, but still plenty to go around for Dalvin Cook in this game. Do not start Alexander Madison as I hear he's headed to the Eagles

hundred percent fact on that last thing. Or Smith not even on the injury reports, so it looks like that thumb of his is fine, but he missed all of training camp. Let's take this one off all of last year, have you, and also all of last year, So let's let's take a wait and see on IRV Smith when we came back. Final segment, which includes the time Machine. We'll tell you the guys you want to pick up this week that everybody else will be trying to pick

up next week. Premature speculation coming up next. It's the final segment Fantasy Football Weekly, a week one edition. This is a segment that we call premature speculation. We give you three guys you'll want to pick up this week that everybody else will be trying to pick up next week. But dirty on your team A Scott. I'm gonna go with Eno Benjamin. Running Backs are hard to come by. You need to spend mad waiver money when they become available.

To Edmonds last year, head over nine yards last year and forty three catches as the number two in that Arizona offense. Let year was Connor's first health year. The year before he had injuries to six different body parts. He's he doesn't even have that man. You know, Benjamin could be a flex matchup play if Connor goes down. He's a starter. It's hard to injure your gallbladder, but

he managed to do it all right. You're premature speculation player Matt Randall Cobb, who's rostered and only fourteen percent of sleeper ly EU exam was Art's probably not going this week, leaving Aaron Rodgers with Sammy Watkins, a bunch of rookies that he doesn't trust. And Randall Cobb, who only saw thirty nine targets last year, but he figures to blow that figure out of the water by mid October.

The likelihood of Cobb being Aaron rodgers most targeted wide receiver this year, it's very high, and he's absolutely free right now. In the preseason, when evaluating rookies, you're looking for special talent that transcends the crappy second or third string defense that player might be going up against. Isaiah likely Baltimore tight end showed that in the preseason. He looks like a special talent who we believe is going to get on the field primarily standing running from the slot.

So that is my premature speculation. Player. We have three more matchups to get to, including every the big the biggest of many revenge games this week Broncos taking on the Seahawks. Scott. Yeah, we got Russell Wilson returning to play Seattle. A Seattle team that allowed the second most passing yards and their defensive unit saw downgrades this offense. Uh the uh the The Seattle defense was also bottom ten pressure rate. Uh So basically I have a B

grade on Wilson. Uh, mostly because I think that they're gonna get up there there six point favorites. They're gonna run the ball a lot more once they get ahead. So only a B grade on Wilson here, Uh, Sutton with a B grade and Judy with a C grade. Sutton, I'm a team Sutton over Judy. Guy that all the all the b reporters have said the chemistry is between Wilson and Sutton. It's such a positive matchup against the poor secondary that will be starting like Adney Jones and

Justin Coleman and rookie Terek Woolen. Those guys aren't scaring anyone. SO B grade on Sutton, C grade on Judy. I just don't know how much they're gonna be able to throw, how much they're gonna need to throw in this one. Albert Oh, I've toyed with a C grade. What do you think, charge Dulcin John? I are Seattle tea sal team that allowed the fourth most touchdowns, eleventh most yards, and the tenth most receptions to tight ends. All right, I'm in on a C grade. That's that was a

tough one for me. But Javonty Williams B grade and Gordon a C grade. The Seahawks were bottom ten in yards and touchdowns allowed to running backs. They lost Bobby Wagner and Carlos dunlop As. I was kind of prefacing earlier but didn't get to it yet until now. This should be good for the splitting duo of Javonty and Melvin, But all reports say Javonty is going to be the A back and Gordon will be the B back. So

B grade for Williams, C grade for Gordon. Yes, I I realized that was probably confusing the way I stated that. On the other side, Gino Smith with a bench grade. In his three starts last year, his best game was two hundred eight total yards, but he threw a lot of touchdowns, and I actually I kind of like him in garbage time. He threw four touchdowns in his three starts. That yes, he did have one rushing touchdown. Uh, so I have dk Metcalf with a B grade and lock

it with a C grade. Dk Metcalf actually had darted shuttles of nine and forty three and scored three times in those three games, so I think he's pretty safe. Lock it a C grade because he disappeared for two games, but then he exploded for a hundred forty plus and a couple of scores, So that's always a possibility with locket. So I'm giving him the C grade here as they'll be behind and trying to catch up. Rashot Penny with a B grade in his last six games with at

least fourteen touches. Here's his average stat line hundred forty seven yards and one point five touchdowns. Yeah, we'll take that. He's gonna get that kind of volume in this one. Travis Homer was my take a chance on me player, and that's it because and walkers out. Yeah, I like Travis Homer is a sneaky play in this matchup. The next game is Chiefs taking on the Cardinals Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey. Here obvious is that we will not spend time on, but let's talk about Juju Smith Schuster.

Arizona secondary bad last year, giving up twenty seven scores to opposing receivers. That was four more than the next worst team, and they looked to be even worse this

year with their offseason defections. Juju primarily ran from the slot in Pittsburgh, and the Chiefs have a ton of available slot reps with Tyreek Hill out Byron Murphy's the cornerback who man's a slot for the Cardinals and he ranked as cornerback sixty six by Pro Football Focus, So there's a good chance for Juju to have some headway here. Sky Moore's an interesting dart throw in a smash spot. We talked earlier, not a lot of rookies we trust here, but man, I don't like this. I don't like the

secondary at all. And if you wanted me to try one rookie receiver. This is the one I would try more figures to face second year corner Marco Wilson on the left side a lot. He allowed a one thirty passer rating and the second most touchdowns in his coverage of any cornerback. Give a shot to Sky Moore and Marcus Veldes Scantling was might take a chance of the wide receiver earlier in this game. Earlier in the show.

Clyde Edwards Despair is a C grade. By the way, Sky wears a C grade and Juju will be grade if I did say that Clyde Edwards despair C grade. Cardinals were pretty average and most running back metrics last season, but did keep teams out of the end zone. But touchdowns aren't really Clyde Edward Hilaire's calling card anyway, So we'll hope he can chip in some all purpose yardage against a team that ranked twenty one in total yards to running backs. And then all the rest of the

running backs for the Chiefs are on the bench. Let's go to Arizona, where James Conner gets an A grade. Chiefs run defense was very bad again at four point eight yards per carry, second worst in the league. Will start him. Um Kyler Murray gets a B grade. He's gonna be without DeAndre Hopkins. Randal Moorsman ruled out zach Ertz looks like he will play hurt if at all.

Kansas City ranked twenty four and passing yards allowed last season, and it was a result they completely rebuilt their secondary and with all of the changes, at least three starting new faces starting in that secondary, there's gonna be some opportunities for Murray, even with the second tier sets of receivers that he's gonna have. Chief screen secondary could end up making some mistakes here, So we'll start Kyler Murray

with a B grade. I really like Marquis Brown these as again, all the receivers are gone except Marcus Brown is still standing, and four of the Chiefs six leaders and defensive snaps are now gone. This is a This is a good spot for him. I think there's gonna be some coverage lapses opposing number one receivers last year had had put up a hundred and seven total average hundred seven total yards against the Chiefs in the first four games of last season, and they were rebuilding their secondary.

I think they're gonna struggle here to Kyler Murray sorry, Marquis Brown a grade in this matchup. And then lastly, Zacherts, who got in a limited practice on Friday game time decision, averaged over fifty yards per game and at the most targets per game after being traded from Philly in Week seven among all tight ends. Kansas City did not allow his score to the position over the last ten games of last year, but they also lost Tyronne Matthew over the last in the off season and he did a

lot of that tight end coverage work. So not clear that Kansas City is gonna be as effective here, and so we'll give zach Ertz a C grade based on the matchup and based on the fact that he comes in injured in this game. Let's go to the Monday night game in our final matchup of the week. Matt minds the Sunday night game. It's the Cowboy. Tom Brady and Mike Evans are each going to get a grades

in this one. Brady has fourteen touchdown passes in six career games versus Dallas and he's never lost to them. And Mike Evans is still Brady's favorite target and in fact, when Godwin and Brown were gone. Last year, he averaged ten targets per game. Speaking of Godwin, he might not be ready to come back from the A c L quite yet. Still. Gauge is dealing with a hamstring injury and has been limited all week. His status is also

in doubt. So since this is the Sunday Night er, I can't advise starting either Godwin or Gauge, but I will throw a dart at Julio Jones, who I'll give a C grade to. Evans moves around a lot on the field, and if Godwin engaged, don't go. I'd expect Evans to move into the slot more, which means Jones is on the outside where he'll face Trevon Diggs, who is Pro football focuses eight seven ranked cover corner Leo Fournette.

He gets a C grade. I'd expect no less than a two thirds share in Week one snaps for four net, where chidd White probably gets the rest. Problem is Cowboys run defense was pretty good last year. Only three running backs top the eight yard mark against Dallas last year, and they only allowed eight rushing touchdowns to the position on the season. On the other side, I'm really nervous about the offensive line going up against the Tampa front seven,

so Zeke and Pollard only get C grades. I think Zeke gets more run here here, but Pollard is heavily involved in the passing game and that's about the only way for running backs to score on Tampa. The Bucks allowed the fewest rushing yards to running backs in the league last year, but the second most receptions, so that's

the bright spot. Dak Prescott gets a B grade. The Bucks aren't nearly a stout against the pass, and Dak through for over four hundred yards and three scores in the Week one meeting last year, but it's a completely different offensive line and he'll be missing Amari Cooper who's in Cleveland and Michael Gallup who's recovering from an a c l Ceedee Lamb gets an A grade. The most likely matchup for Lamb is against Burnable Sean Murphy Bunting. He's going to be in line for ten targets at

a minimum, but many could be in double coverage. And finally, Dalton Schultz. He got Pro Football Focus his second highest positional advantage ranking this week for tight ends. He'll get Devin White a lot in coverage, and White is a great defender, but not good in coverage, earning a thirty seven PFF grade in coverage that Dalton Schultz b grade. He's gonna be very solid this week. We're heading into

the Week one Sunday. We all love our teams right now, and by midday Sunday it'll be like, oh God, what did I do? But do not despair. We will be back next week for all of your week to fantasy information to help write the ship if you got a loss, and help keep the streaks going if you got the win. We appreciate everybody who listened, Scott Matt great job. Will be back next week for more Fantasy Football Weekly. Fantasy

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