Week 1 Is Finally Here!

game was so much fun. It was. It was a ton of fun and uh for everybody except Zeke owners. Those are the one people that had no fun that night. But you know what, those people probably didn't start him, and even if they did, they deserve what they got. At that point. You told him last week, you told him about you told you know what. Listen. I I hate to start a show right off the bat, but if you go back and listen to last week's show

in which I previewed the Monday night game, it was uncanny. Yeah. I don't want to prank, but I absolutely nailed this game, and I might not nail another game all season long. Probably that was it. That one we pretty much handled. You lead off well though, Church. Although I gave I gave Zeke a C grade, I should have just given him the bench. I thought he would catch enough that he would get he'd put together a decent PPR week.

He didn't. He didn't even do that. I'm gonna take a one week victory lap on Antonio Brown being the right receiver. You should right now. It looks very good. It does look good through one week. We've got plenty to get to over the course of the show. We're gonna break down every game fantasy style. We've got take a chance on me in which we give you sleep

Some of you need sleepers already. If you're me and you Rostered Gus Edwards in like every league in America, or you're me and you roster J. K. Dobbins in every league you're in, yea, then you probably need our take a chance on me players charge. It turns out we don't get to have this argument at all this year. Here we were planning it two weeks ago. I know. It's just it's ridiculous which happened. And we will touch

on that story much more later in the show. Three tough questions coming up, and the return of everybody's favorite segment premature speculation, which we tell you which players you'll be trying to pick up you want to pick up, now what everybody else is trying to pick them up next week? That's premature speculation. First we start breaking down games. Let's do it including game I think is can have a lot of points, Arizona taking on Tennessee. Matt I

got a lot of a grades in this one. Will start with the Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins both getting an A. Tennessee was absolutely brutal last year against the pass and didn't fix that much in the offseason. Only Drew lock and l Jack's run game and a half Minshew half Glennan game last season were the only three where they didn't allow multi pull passing scores or at

least two hundred fifty yards. Do I like a J Green, Christian Kirk or Rondale more enough to start them in this juicy matchup, not in a week with no buys. I want to see how the snap counts and the targets track for a week. James Conner and Chase Edmonds, I'd recommend benching both, but if I had to start one for this game, it would be Connor. The Titans gave up five rushing touchdowns to running backs over the final three weeks of the regular season, but we've been

preaching this all season. Chase Edmonds had one rush from inside the five and only three attempts from inside the ten last year. I think it's James Conner if they get near the stripe. On the other side, Derrick Henry's an easy A grade A J. Brown and Julio Jones

I'm giving A grades two as well. According to Pro Football Focuses Wide Receiver Cornerback Matchup tool, both A. J. And Julio face the top seven easiest matchups in the league this week against Cardinals cornerbacks Byron Murphy, who allowed ten touchdowns in his coverage that last season, and then Rob Alford, who, when I googled him, is known as the Ski Doo Snowmobile Ambassador. No, that's not that Rob Alfred. Is he the Judas Priest lead singer? No, that's Rob Halford.

Way off, I mean, not fonetically. I really wasn't. No, you weren't. Uh. A. J. Brown missed a practice on Wednesday, but he was staying loose on the stationary bike and he dropped off the injury report by Friday, so his game status is not in doubt. If I like Brown and Julio, given Ryan Tannehill in a too. Although Tannehill is only top twenty seven passing attempts in a game twice in his last ten games, he's very efficient. He

throws for multiple scores and half of those contests. And by the way, he had six rushing touchdowns from Week twelve on last year. Not something you expect with Derrick Henry in the backfield. Finally, a little surprised B grade here for Anthony fers Er. Ferser was targeted on of his routes last season. To give you an idea of how good that is, Travis Kelsey was targeted on twenty of his routes run. I just don't think he's gonna run enough routes. The problem is Johnny was in front him.

Last year. When Johnny wasn't there, Anthony Ferkser was pretty good. He'll go up against card safety Jalen Thompson, who gave up completions in se of the throws in his direction last year. I think Ferkser, if you're playing in that weird tight end game where you don't know who you got the eleventh twelve tight ends in your league. Fers, there's a guy that he's kind of a bonus take

a chance on me guy right now. Worried about A. J. Brown's knee, Okay, let's let's hope that he's okay on that it was nagging lingering problem in miss practice wednesday. I'm just man, Let's just took him off the injury report, though. Let's let's hope that Philadelphia takes on Atlanta Scott. Yes, yes, yes, okay. You're not even gonna faint enthusiasm here, are you. It

actually should be a pretty high scoring game. Actually, I believe it's got the second or third highest over under four the weeks, So I do expect a little bit of a shootout here. I'm giving Jalen Hurts. I can't believe I'm gonna do this, but I'm gonna stay on the upside side of it. I'm gonna I'm gonna give him an A grade. The Eagles should be in a negative game script chasing points a little bit in this game. Uh. The offensive line is better than last year. The secondaries

very beautiful, beatable, not just very beautiful. This Uh, this Atlanta secondary. Man. They were eaten alive by rushing quarterbacks last year, and they allowed multiple touchdowns to rushing quarterbacks in two quarterbacks in all but three games, So there's there's a lot of opportunity here. Hurts averaged over seventy yards rushing. If you add all that up, he's got a good chance for for even a QB one like first overall week if he gets those rushing yards in

al right onto his wide receivers. Though, because we got to talk about his passing. Actually, Davanta Smith, I give a B grade here. PFF has Atlanta graded as the worst secondary in the NFL L and last year allowed the most yards to wide receivers, so that tracks, uh, nineteen times they let a receiver get over ninety yards and or a touchdown last year nineteen times. Smith should get a decent matchup with Fabian Moreau, and no one

can match Smith's speeds. So I like him for a B grade, but I wouldn't be shocked if he gets loose a couple of times. Jalen Reagor I do have on the bench. He's getting He's getting a j terrell Um. He's been so hit and miss over his career so far. But A J. Terrell is an up and coming You know, he was a rookie last year. We thought he'd be last we thought he'd be better. Maybe he turns it around in year two. But it's hard to trust Reagor

right now. Quez Watkins. He with that fourth three speed, he could have a huge as a deep sleeper in a DFS dart throw. Watkins is really intriguing. Yeah, he plays from the slot and he's you know, he's gonna have He's gonna be in a beatable position against a below average slot corner. And for people who don't know Quis Watkins, you remember Travis Fulgum last year was you know, fantasy startable in much of the second half of the season. Quays Watkins beat him out so soundly they dropped full

from the roster. If Quais Watkins has a great game, will it be a pop? Quaz, thank you. I'll just keep going after that. Zach Ertz and Dallas got Her I actually have C grades on both of them. I liked got It more when I thought Artz was gonna be leaving, he didn't leave. And uh Arts is getting more targets and training camp everything supposedly behind him, Urt's

is fine with staying there. Interesting stad that I failed to mention in the preseason last year when Arts and got It played together, dust Gottard only got two red zone targets in all the games together last year, so it seems like it's more the guy there. Atlanta was bottom five against tight ends in several categories last year. And don't forget that Atlanti's front eleven defensive players aren't great. That just the front eleven over to the over the

running back side. I'm giving Sanders a B grade because he's gonna be the he's going to be the starter, and he's going to get most of the volume. He's got well documented issues catching the ball. Barely caught over fifty of his passes last year, and for a running back, that's really bad. That's really bad for a running back.

The Falcons allowed the second fewest rushing yards and second fewest rushing touchdowns, but they and they did get Dion Jones back, but they are bottom twelve against passing pass game running backs, which they're always at the near at or near the bottom. They were the worst for like five years in a row, but last year just bottom twelve. So I do have a C grade on Boston Scott. With the high employed implied point totals for both teams, it could be end up with a negative game script.

Siriano and the O C downplayed the bell cow role they want. They want Boston Scott to play that like nahem Heinz roll that Siriano had over and with Indianapolis last year. And he's been playing the two minute hurry up drill for in practice. So that's that's a feather in the cap of Boston Scott there, so see grade on him. Over the Atlanta side, I have a B grade on Matt Ryan. I think just because potential shootout category here. It's one of the week's highest over under.

Eagles allowed multiple touchdowns ten times last year. Um, you don't need to look for the button. I instinctively went for the button and then stop myself. I wish I could have made that happen for you. Uh, Kyle Pitts, next time, just lie, just lie, just just be wrong for the listeners, Like you're only off by ten percent. Kyle Pitts with an A grade here. Charch isn't loving that, but Brian Johnson is fist pumping in right now. Listen doesn't played a game yet, and you're giving it to

a rookie tight end and A grade. I bet Scott's gonna give him the fantasy Fonzie here. Let's let's let's do it. No, I'm not you want you want the fantasy Fonzie, the Fanta. The Eagles allowed no one's benching him though right like anyone who drafted him. A big gulf between a grade and a bench. The Eagles allowed over five catches per game to tight ends last year

and nine touchdowns. And if you look at how Arthur Smith utilized John Smith Smith when he was healthy at the beginning of the season last season, I think there's a lot of optimism here. I could see in art. You might be playing button next weekend about Kyle pit How about name minus? Is that fine? You know that that's not cool either. Calvin Ridley gets the A grade going up against Darius Slagh, who is no longer the sleigh ride that he used to be ranked fifty six

by PFF this last year. Ridley's averages without Julio Jones and he will be without Julio Jones. We're fairly started this first game seven point five receptions on eleven point three targets for a hundred nine yards, and he scored virtually every other game. That's what he does without Julio

seven for a hundred. I'll take it. Russell Gage, I'm giving a C grade also because of the shootout potential, Also because he's going up against PFFS first ranked Avonte Maddox, who allows one two point seven passer rading in his coverage. Gauge looked good enough last year that I'll trust him with a C grade. Here onto the running backs, Mike Davis, I'm giving you a B grade. It just feels like it's might be your best week to use Davis. They

acquired Goldman, who's still new to the team. Patterson Cordarrel Patterson that is has been working as the backup. But we're gonna see a lot of Mike Davis, who proved to be an effective pass catcher last year uh catching fifty nine passes at a percent catch rate. Miles Sanders, look look across the field of how you're supposed to do it. It's the middle of the road, Rundy with shootout and a volume back. I'll take that. I'm gonna bench the other backs. All right, sounds good final matchup

of this segment, Minnesota taking on Cincinnati. On the Minnesota side, Dalvin Cook, Adam Feeland, and Justin Jefferson are all A grades, and Cook for obvious reasons. I don't even need to explain that. For Theland and Jefferson, they have deeply positive matchups against replacement grade cornerbacks. Trey Waynes has been ruled out of this game. Cast off cornerbacks Eli Apple and Hidobe Ewoozier and Jefferson, and I think I got it right. So there it's a This is a strongly positive matchup

for all three of them. Kirk Cousins comes in with a B grade. Bengals lost their best two cornerbacks in the offseason, William Jackson to Washington, Mackenzie Alexander to Minnesota. Already mentioned Waynes is out, Eli Apple, Hidobe Awoozier are in, and even at full strength, the Bengals are badly overmatched by Justin Jefferson and Adam Feland. So add all that together and it's a very positive matchup for Kirk Cousins.

The tight end rotation to me is when I'm going to avoid Tyler Conklin is tempting, but I'm not ready to put him in yet. And he's not even at full health yet, So that's a that's too much of a concern for me, and I'm not ready to go quite that far. Cincinnati side, let's start with Joe Mixon.

Last year's Viking run defense was brutal, but they've completely rebuilt their entire front four, including epic runs stuffing defensive tackle Michael Pierce, who was one of the league's best run defenders in twenty nineteen before he opted out last season. The Bagel's offensive line looks like a bottom tier unit, even with the additions of Riley Reefs. So I'm nervous about Joe Mixon here, but through sheer volume he should be able to get to a B. It's just revenge

games on both sides of the ball here. Well, it is interesting enough, and Riley Reef's gonna go up against as a former Viking. We'll go up against Daniel Hunter, which would be a fantastic match. We are worth watching. U Let's go to the passing game. Joe Burrow comes in with a sea here. Hasn't played since last November, barely participated in the preseason games looked hesitant and inaccurate. In training camp, the Vikings defense dramatically improved over the

version you saw last year. The week seventeen Minnesota Viking defense the last and we saw them. We'll have ten of eleven new starters on defense, and they're all improvements. All ten of them are better than the ten guys they're replacing, including Patrick Peterson now in the secondary from Minnesota, Burrow was on pace to throw six hundred passes before last year's a c L, so I think through sheer volume he comes up with an okay day enough for a C grade here, but that's as high as I'm

willing to take him. On this first game back, Tee Higgins gets a B grade. I mentioned Patrick Peterson as the team's best cornerback now, and traditionally Zimmer had used Mike zimmerd used his best and biggest cornerback to shadow opposing top receiver receivers, but in recent years he's more anchored his best cornerback on one side of the field.

We don't know if he's if he's gonna revert back to that or not, but assuming he doesn't, that means Tee Higgins can avoid Peterson anytime he plays on the other side of the field. So the presumption here is that Higgins will be free enough to earn his B grade against Brish Odd Bland. Tyler Boyd gets a C grade running out of the slot. McKenzie Alexander returns to Minnesota where he will resume his slot cornerback role, and

he could very well hold Tyler Boyd in check. McKenzie Alexanders yielded three touchdowns in three seasons in his coverage. That's it one a season with Burrow last year Boyd average day ho homes six receptions, sixty six yards, and point three touchdowns per game. This is okay. That feels like okay, that's a C grade. Last thing Jamar Chase after the preseason that he had, I think there's no I don't start him here. I don't think any now.

Let's just wait a week and see what develops. I think you get some hand a handful of short confidence building passes for Jamaar Chase, but based on what we saw, we cannot end up starting him. When we come back to Fantasy Football Weekly, take a chance on me. Nine players not normally in your starting lineup will tell you who you can start that maybe even is available on

the waiver wire. Is a free agent right now, We'll identify players that might be better than your starters, and I'll tell you what the quarterback I'm going to give you is probably better than your starting quarterback. Find out who it is when we come back to Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly, Paul Scharchy and from Guillotine leagues dot com. Still time to join a Guillotine league. Full season versions of the Guillotina. This is a totally

new version of taking chance on Me. No, this is the one that we used at the tail end of last year. I had forgot about that. We we got the permission from this band. That's right. This is the non stuck version of take a Dance on Me. This is awesome. Wow. Alright, Anyway, we've still got full season

live drafts happening for Guillotine Leagues. If you want to join the most exciting new format and fantasy sports happening Saturday and Sunday morning before kickoff, that is available take a chance, I mean nine players not normally in your starting lineup. Many of these guys are available on the waiver wire. And you can pick them up and start them. This week, we begin with Scott Fish and the quarterback position.

I'm gonna start out with Ben Roethlisberger. The matchup isn't what you would naturally think is great against the Bills, and he didn't do great against the Bills last year, but that was at the tail end of the year when his arm was starting to die off and when the team kind of fell apart in the run game was non existent. They had like forty yards rushing that they were forced to pass, and the Bills clamped down

on that. In this one, He's got Nag Harris's outlet, He's got all three of his receivers a little better. The arms looked better in the preseason, and they're gonna be They should be behind so the game. There's seven point dogs in this one. I feel like they'll be chasing points that Ben. Give me Ben in this one. Okay, your take a chance of me quarterback Matt This is risky, but I'm going with Mac Jones, a rookie in his

first start against the division rival. Not only that he gets to face off against the guy who was ahead of him on the death chart at Alabama. UH the line is very sound in front of Mac Jones, and that's one of the reasons I like this so much. Cam Newton enjoyed the seventh most time in a clean pocket with a past attempt last year, and he still couldn't do anything with it. And that's why Cam Newton's

not on this team anymore. Consider that UM according to Pro Football focuses strength of schedule, the metrics that rate each team defense. Based on their grades of this year's defense, the Miami Dolphins are the second easiest defense for quarterbacks. The Dolphins defense faltered against the past down the stretch as well. They allowed over three yards or multiple scores to three of the last four quarterbacks they faced, and the only one who didn't, Cam Newton figures might take

a chance of quarterback is rostered in three percent of leagues. Oh, I wonder who that is. If there was ever a game to start Jimmy Garoppolo. Trey Lance is nursing a cracked finger bone, which means the threat of him platooning with Garoppolo is very low and Garoppolo is going to have all of his weapons healthy. That never happened once last year. I you Kittle, Samuel all healthy, and of

course the Kuda gras. It's Detroit on the schedule. The Lions allowed the most passing touchdowns and the third most passing yards, and and on paper, the defense looks worse this year somehow. So you roll all that together and it's a great opportunity to start Jimmy Garppolo, currently ranked my number ten quarterback for this week. I hope his kneecaps stay intact, though against the Lions they do like

to bite him. Yeah, they'll take out kneecaps. Let's go to the running back position, Scott, let's stay right there with Tray Sermon gets the Lions, who allowed the most touchdowns to running backs last year as well nearly two per game, allowed over a hundred and sixty yards per game to the position. But here's here's the better, better part. I like San Francisco should get ahead early in games day won last year, running backs averaged thirty five touches

in those wins. Raheemostard has only had more than nineteen touches once in his entire career. I think we're looking at fifteen twenty touches for each back this game. At least ten to fifteen for sermon minimum though, is there any rookie you don't love in his first NFL game? Apparently not. That was Matt with the last one. Well you gave Kyle Pitts an a. We're not gonna let that go quietly into the night running. But yes, against

the Lions, I will love it. Okay, Uh, Matt, let's go to your take a chance of me running back. I'm gonna take an older running back and he's going up against the Jaguars this week. But let's review the running backs that torch the Jags down the stretch and their measurements. Jonathan Taylor five ten to David Montgomery five of ten to two, Derrick Henry six three six, Nick Chubb five ten. You get the big, big big backs. So mark Ingram is five nine to fIF that's okay.

Philip Lindsay five eighty, David Johnson six one to four. That's the guy. In his full game against the Jags last year, he told the hundred and three yards. It's also worth noting the Jags allowed the sixth most receptions to the running back position last year, and Philip Lindsay and mark Ingram both were not involved in their respective passing games at all last year. David Johnson, there's a starting NFL running back who is probably available in your league.

There's a reason. Probably you've been poo pooing him all year. He's not all year. How about for like four years. He's not technically good. But Tevin Coleman, rostered in just twent of Yahoo leagues, is the probable starter for the Jets, and it's a face. It's a favorable matchup against Carolina. New York's offensive line sports two recent first round picks, and Coleman should have some running lanes against last year's

twenty four ranked run defense. New defensive line editions the Kwon Jones and Morgan Fox might actually be downgrades from last year's front four, and Carolina's run defense was particularly bad at the end of last year, giving up five and a half yards per carry over the final seven games of the year. It's go to the wide receiver position, Scott. Let's just stick with rookies. Then right here comes it's

Dammy Brown season. Finally Brown season. It's fine, We've been waiting so long, I have I have anyway, Curtis Samuel put on, I R Dammy Brown coming out? What he does well. What he does well is run down the field really fast and go up for contested catches and catch ball and us touchdown. And he is paired with Ryan Fitzpatrick. That is the perfect combo right there with Curtis Samuel out. He should see a fall compliment his snaps.

Finally and he's looked good. All right, Matt, I'm going to the tight end position and I have Hunter Henry who is not on the injury report, which if you've ever had him on your fantasy team, you know that's significant. Obviously, John Whu Smith is tight end one on this roster and everyone knows this, including the Dolphins. So what does Bill Belichick do? He deploys the mismatches with Henry and

John who on the field at the same time. In their last nine games last season, Yeah, there is, the Dolphins allowed five touchdowns to the tight end position, including one two then charger Hunter Henry. Oh and by the way, Travis Kelsey and Darren Waller each beat them for over

a hundred yards in the month of December. Oh, Hunter Henry mine Is Paris Campbell might take a chance on me wide receiver going up against Seattle play Paris Campbell, while you can sure it's only a matter of time before Campbell succumbs to some bizarre malady that will knock come out for half of the Sea. He's already gotten achilles injury he's dealing with, but he's going to play with it. It might be Goiterer's leprosy, inverted nipples, ibs.

Who knows that it's something's gonna go wrong. But what's important is that he's got a juicy matchup in the season opener this week. Would they call inverted nipples just upper body injury? That probably probably in the hockey they would for Campbell plays from the slot, and that's the massive week point. In the Seattle secondary, He'll avoid the solid outside corners they've got Trey Flowers and DJ Read and instead he'll see some combination of two different safeties

playing cornerback, Marquis Blair and or Ugo Amadi. Blair has seventy seven NFL snaps under his belt, and Amadi allowed seventy the passes in his coverage last year to be caught. I know you haven't seen much of of Paris Campbell throughout his career, but remember he was a freakish athlete with crazy speed. With t Y Hilton out extra passes coming to Paris Campbell, Let's go to one more matchup, Matt, and that would be Jackson Bill taking on Houston. Yeah,

let's start with James Robinson. He gets the A grade. Over the final five games of the Houston Texans allowed six point three yards per carry two opposing running backs. They also allowed two points seven yards before contact, the worst mark in the league. This might be juicy enough for Carlos Hide in the revenge game to get get a bikey start, but I'll stick with James Robinson as

the AH Trevor Lawrence. I'm only giving a C grade to the matchup is right for the running backs in this game, so it seems reasonable the Jags wouldn't have the rookie throw forty times in his first appearance, although if he does drop back that much. Houston defense had just seven percent pressure rate on pass plays last year. That was third worst in the league, and they had J. J. Watt for a little bit of that. As far as the wide receivers go, I don't really like any of

them that much. I have se grades on DJ Chark, Lavisca Chennault, and Marvin Jones Jr. The best matchup is against Vernon Hargraves, the third who's playing for Houston, and he's not very good at his job as opposed to other people in the league. In man coverage last year, he allowed an abysmal pass a rating of one forty

one point two. Jones and Chennault each ran a majority of the routes from the slot last year, but in this matchup, three wide receivers will rarely be on the field because get this, the Texans only faced a hundred and fifty four snaps last year where a slot corner was deployed. Wow, that's bizarre. Nobody played three wide receivers

against them because they sucked. I'm nervous that there's only twenty five passes thrown in this game by Lawrence, and since I don't fully know how each will be deployed, I'd rather not start any of them. If I have to, it would be Chennault first, possibly for carries, then Jones, then Chark in that order. On the other side, Brandon Cooks good old b C. His initials. That's what I'd like to give him as a grade to somewhere between

those two letters. Um looks like he will have a matchup against Shakil Griffin, who allowed seven touchdowns in his coverage last year down the stretch. Last year, Cooks became Deshaun Watson's favorite target. But he's obviously not playing in Houston this week. Tyrod Taylor is, and let's talk about him. Last year, in his single start for the Chargers, he lit up the bengals amazing defense for yards and no scores.

And in fact, in his career in games he started, he's averaging two two passing yards and a whopping one touchdown per game. We poke fun at Teddy Bridgewater's career numbers, but he's way worse. Uh. The Jaguars did give up multiple touchdowns to nine of the last ten quarterbacks they faced last year, but we're still keeping Tiroud on the bench as we are with the rest of the receiver's

Nico Collins, Anthony Miller, Danny Ammondla David Johnson. Of course, this might take a chance on me runner and then Philip Lindsay. I think that he's a c start as well. Being is that he's tops on the depth chart right now, and this is a good matchup for running backs. I'm gonna leave Ingram on the bench, but I wonder if the Texans could trade mark Ingram back to the Ravens for a late round pick. I think at this point

that that that chip has sailed for better or worse. Hey, I wanted to say happy birthday to my dad, who's enjoying his seventy one birthday this weekend. Fantastic. Thank you for having a great kid, dad. How about that? Um? When we come back, more matchups, including Pittsburgh taking on Buffalo. Now g Harris makes his debut. Scott Fish will tell you what to expect from him. Is it an A or is it a plus or A? He's getting the Fantasy ard Park he might get, he might get the

Fantasy Ardvark. Well, there's your Ardark first art park of the season right there coming out. That's my prediction. We'll find out if it comes true when we come back to Fantasy Football Weekly. Fantasy Football Weekly continues Paul Charchi and Scott Fish and and Matt Harrison with you. You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at Paul Charchian, Scott is at Scott Fish twenty four, and Matt is at Explosive Output. Yeah. Pittsburgh takes on Buffalo Scott and let's

start with the running game, shall we. There's an intriguing rookie named Naji Harris who will be starting for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Will he break the all time single game rushing record in this game? No? No, I don't have him doing that against the Buffalo Bills wrote underdogs, So the game script isn't great in a game that they may fall behind, But Naji is pretty good in the past game. Should have the volume on both of those fronts.

His match up against the linebackers is where he's gonna make his Hey, it's mostly an a for volume because it's hard to see any way. He doesn't get touches. Alright, great shocking, really really shocked. Thanks. Where do you have him in your ranks? Top ten? I'm sure I'll tell in a minute. All right. I already talked about ben uh In to take a chance on me segments. So let's go to his receivers. I have to Deonte Johnson

with a B grade. The Bills were the fourth best against fantasy wide receivers and PFF has them as a top five secondary. They were top six in yards and touchdowns. Allowed last year. Despite that, Johnson's target hog. The game script is going to be perfect for him trailing, and he averaged over eleven targets per game last year when he played over fifty of the snaps. That's a lot

of volume. Sous White might be on him, but they are able to move Deontay around quite a bit, and White only shadowed his opposing receiver five times out of the sixteen games last year, and these are a lot of good receivers, so they might just keep him on his on the left side where he likes to play. Chase Claypool I got a C grade. He had thirteen red zone targets, was top ten in air yards last year in a limited role. As a full starter, I think he would get a little more work. He can

out muscle anyone for the ball. I'm going to give him that C grade. He's the third of the receivers. I like this week though, because I feel like where you can beat the Buffalo Bills is short. So I like Deonte and I like Juju. I think it's a tough matchup for overall, but Juju should see a decent amount of work close to close to the middle of the field. Guys like Alan and Cup and Crowder and a bunch of slot receivers had really good games last year against these Bills. So I got a B grade there.

Over to the other side, Josh Allen, I got an A grade. T J. Watt's gonna be back. It sounds like, you know, he got finally got that settled. But the Bills have a twenty seven and a half implied total there, there's gonna be a lot of points to be had. UM no QB overhead over three hundred yards and no QB through for more than two touchdowns against Pittsburgh last year, but Allen was one of them that that had high two hundreds and two touchdowns and they added a bunch

of rushing yards. Those rushing yards really helped for Alan A grade there. Uh, Stefon Diggs, I think the A is pretty obvious US. Yeah, he's gonna either get Hayden who's thirty two, or Cameron Sutton, who's like in p F F Frankin's um. As for the other receivers, Davis Sanders, Beasley. Sanders is very questionable for this game. He popped back up on the injury report. If he doesn't go, there might be a dart throw for Davis, but otherwise I'm

benching because it's a little too mucky. Yeah, to the running game, it's a it's a lot more muck, a lot more muck. Uh. Singletary based on camp talk in preseason usage uh, and he's the explosive guy. I mean he's he's top ten in the league and plays over ten yards and plays over twenty yards since he entered the league. He's the explosive guy. But he gets no goal line work. That's moss. So we don't know what either of them are gonna get until I know more of the usage. I don't want any of them in

my lineup. Devin Singletary just does nothing for me when I watch him. He just I don't see anything that any part of his game that pops for me. They're both pretty ordinary in my mind right now. Zach was last year, but this is year two and we've seen Singletary. I got a lot more, lot more tape on Singletary mental tape. I'm not breaking down Singletary tape. Charges take on Washington and this might be the hardest game of the year for justin air Bear, are you saying the

air Bear is scared. No, I'm not. Thankfully, the Charges upgraded as offensive line in the off season. They got Corey Linsley and Rashawn Slater, and they will be tested against the best front four in football, including elite rusher's Chase Young, Jonathan Allen, and Montes Sweat. From Week six forward, Washington allowed just one passing touchdown per game and only one quarterback topped two hundred seventy six yards Week six forward for Washington last year, and their secondary got better

with the addition of William Jackson. So' all that together. I've got a B grade on on Justin air Bear and I'm I contemplated having him with It's it's I have concern here for Keenan Allen. Washington secondary yielded second fewest scores the fifth fewest yards to opposing receivers. I don't like that. It looks like um Washington is gonna move cornerback Kendall Fuller to the slot and he'll be

Allen's primary defender. He was pretty good last year. He held opponents scoreless in twelve or fifteen games, and he went a had a five game scoreless stretch to close the season. So B grade and Keenan Allen. Mike Williams missed most of the preseason with a hip injury, but he's practicing and he should play here. And he's Williams entering his fifth season, Mike Williams. And if he's five seasons and he's twenty six years old, he's still just

a baby. There's still room to improve, which would be nice. Um Williams Ligns up all over the field, but most frequently see cornerback Darryl Roberts, who has been cast aside by the Lions the Jets over the past two years. That is a very plus matchup for Mike Williams, who I like in this one quite a bit. A B

grade from Mike Williams. The other receivers Jalen Guyden and rookie Josh Palmer on the bench, they're gonna their third receiver due tease, and you know what their roles maybe is not clear And this is a tough matchup, so I don't want a part of it. All right, Let's talk Austin Neckla where things get thorny. He practiced on Friday after missing Wednesday and Thursday with with a hamstring injury and no injury is more susceptible to aggravation than

a running backs hamstring injury. I mean, this is and you know that's that's what sidelined him for whatever eight games last year. I love the new improved offensive line, but Washington's run defense was good last year. They allowed the ninth fewest rushing yards the fourth fewest combo yards to opposing running backs. No back caught more than five passes against Washington all last year, and that's why we

have Austin Ekeler. So I've got a C grade on Eckler, and I'm baking in some of the danger of him not finishing this game, which I'm very real. Next on the Washington side, we'll start with their running back Antonio Gibson, with a B grade. No back top eighty two rushing yards against the Chargers in the entire second half of last year. They weren't impenetrable. They only give up four point They get at four point six yards per carry, which right in the in the middle of the pack.

And while we all hope that Gibson will catch more passes, the charges were very good there too. Over the final ten games of last year, opposing runners over only averaged twenty nine receiving yards per game, and they scored one total touchdown over that long stretch to finish the year. So I'm nervous about Gibson and I've only got a B grade on him. Let's go to the passing game. Ryan Fitzpatrick has a B grade. Unlike any recent Washington quarterback,

Fitzpatrick impressed the ball down field last year. He finished eleventh and completed air yards and eighth and yards per attempt. That, by the way, despite having the second shortest time to throw. Because Fitzpatrick Fitzpatrick is, he will stand in that pocket and absorb, you know, absolute destruction to his body, which I love. Um. The return of elite safety Derwin James

helps an inconsistent secondary that worries me. They spent a draft pick on a Sante Samue, which which could be a concern at some point, but it's just his first ever game. B grade on Ryan Fitzpatrick. Let's go to his receivers, specifically Terry McLaurin with an A grade. He averaged seventy yards per game with Dwayne Haskins and Alex Smith and case Keenum throwing him the ball the last few years. Now he gets a gun slinger to throw the ball downfield, and I love the opportunity for him

to open up this offense. The Chargers defense good. I mentioned a Sante Samuel got added to a second day that was already giving up the seventh few yards to opposing receivers. Um McLaurin has an experienced advantage over Samuel, though, so we'll keep him with the A grade. And the last guy I want to really talk about his Logan Thomas. Thomas ran over six his snaps from the slot, the third highest percentage among tight ends. He was also targeted

the third most times one five times. Last season, The Chargers allowed the twelfth most fantasy points to tight end and the fourth most touchdowns. Thomas's will most oftense. He coverage from linebacker Kenneth Murray, who struggled as a rookie last year and graded is the tenth worst rookie of tenth worst linebacker in coverage by Pro Football Focus. So I like logan Thomas and he's gotta be grade Diamie Brown,

was your take a chance on me? Wide receiver? By the way, Thomas over a thousand snaps last year, like I think that was first among tenants. He's just always on the field, which is what we need that, right Who doesn't want that? We all do alright. Final matchup of this segment is the New York Jets taking on Carolina Matt Yeah. Um, let's start with the obvious guy here, Dan Arnold, who gets a C grade. This grade reflects my fear of a Brian Johnson backlash if I leave

him on the bench. Not actually, but he will be going up against the once grade C. J Moseley, who hasn't played meaningful football since the end of so I kind of like Dan Arnold in this little bit here, and let's let's give him a see, also giving his passing partner Sam Donald a C. Almost every quarterback to face the Jets last year had a good day. It's too many of the list, but three hundred yards and three passing scores was very common, and Donald should know.

He got to dominate this defense in practice for three years. So here's the revenge game right off the bat. It's hard to remember a lot of great Sam Donald moments, but against bottom eight past defenses in his career, he's fared pretty well in those seven career starts against bottom eight pass defenses and the Jets were holding one of those spots a lot of the time. He's averaging two seventy five yards and one point six touchdowns per game.

That's not bad. It doesn't hurt that he had now has good wide receivers to including one of his favorites from his old Jets days, Robbie Anderson, who had his best years as a pro with Donald. The two connected for eleven touchdowns in twenty five career games. I'm giving Robbie Anderson and d J Moore a b. Anderson gets Bryce Hall, who gave up a passer rating of one oh three in his coverage last year, while DJ Moore

goes against undrafted free agent rookie Isaiah Donne. I'm not going to put Terrace Marshall on the field, even though Scott Fish wants to. I'm gonna give him the weight and c grade um he was. He was a great preseason player. But if you have drafted a few wide receivers, you probably have a few ahead of terrorists the fourth receiving option on that team. That's completely understanding. That's true.

Christian McCaffrey, he gets an a. We're moving on to the running game on the Jet side where charts use Tevin coleman as to take a chance on me runner, and we're gonna sit and wait on Michael Carter or Ty Johnson to see how that one shakes out. Zack Wilson, he gets a C grade. This is a really a tale of how bad the Jets defense is for me and how I foresee a lot of garbage time coming

their way the season now. Brian Johnson submitted the names carbage time for Derek Carr back on the day dart board ledge time for Bartles worked for me, So I submit for your approval. Chart scraps Wilson, Oh, I like, and he's gonna get the scraps at the end of the game. Scraps at the end of the game. The Panthers only intercepted two passes in the final eight games last year. Both were off of Dwayne Haskins. So Zack Wilson and garbage time in Scraps Wilson time. I like his.

His top receiver of the week is gonna be Corey Davis, and I'm giving him a solid beat. The Jets will need to throw off in the second half, likely deep, and Davis was a ninth in the NFL with fifteen point one yards per catch last year, and his average depth of target was a robust twelve point five yards. Uh. And then finally, the last receiver that I want to talk about, Jamison Crowder. He's gonna miss the game with an injury. So fire up Elijah Moore with a C grade.

Scott Fish is gonna like that. There we go A j Booyer was set to start at slot corner, but he's serving the final two games of his pe D suspension, leaving fifth round rookie Keith Taylor or Stanley Thomas Oliver to cover the slot. Thomas Oliver gave up a passer rating of one fifty three in his fifty two snaps lest season almost snap almost. So hey, let's go with j Elijah Moore as a C grade. Well done. You brought actual enthusiasm to the Jets Panthers game. I like that.

You know it's gonna be that is that is that is fun? All right? I want I want to We've got about a minute left in in this segment. What is the appropriate level of concern for Ezekiel Elliott owners coming off the dismal Thursday night game. Some I think it's some yeah, yeah, I think there's going to be a lot of panicked owners in your league's are trying to wanting to trade him, or you might be able

to get a good deal off of him. But honestly, I thought Paulard looked a little better than Zeke blocking a bunch is blocking was great in that game. It was that does not help fantasy owners at all, paular did. I thought he ran harder. Tampa is a legendarily good that is the run defense, and so we gotta take this with a grain assault like running back twenty four. I mean, you know, I was very nervous. Here's that

everybody going against Tampa. I think it should be compared to where you drafted him because I felt like he was overdrafted. I didn't have him in my top five running backs where most people did this This show, this show has figured that out many times in the past. Our number two coming up, including three tough questions. You can play along as we try as my co host try to go three and oh Stay tuned Fantasy Football Weekly.

Welcome back our number two Fantasy Football Weekly. I am Paul Charchi and from Guillotine Leagues dot com, my co host Scott Fish and Matt Harrison from shock Fantasy dot com. Right, uh, there's still time to get into a full season a teen league drafts happening Saturday and Sunday morning. You can still get into a guillotine league if you'd like to go to Guillotine leagues dot com. We also have private

leagues for between eight and eighteen owners. If you've got friends that have always wanted to try the guillotine league format, this is this is your chance. And if you have a strange amount of owners, like you have nine people who want to play a fantasy league, you don't have to about getting the even number. You just head to head. You know. Yeah, if you got an odd number you don't have, you can you can actually get away with it in a guillotine like. Good job of fleshing out

what an odd number was. Well, you're pretty good at dividing by two, so let's see if you can do nine divided by two. I can't too hard. There's a game we call three tough questions. I will pepper my co host with three tough questions. They will try to go three and oh, we encourage you to play a lot. Tough question number one which Ravens running back will score the most Fantasy points this year? Scott, I'm just gonna

stick with Tyson Williams. This is the guy that Matt Waldman and football guys in the RSP profile said give him one to two years and he has the talent to outplay a lot of draft picks. He he liked him a lot. The team seems to like him a lot. They did bring in Lottavius Murray, who feels like a really good fit for that Ravens offense. The quotes coming out of there this week seemed to indicate that they

want Levian Bell to be involved. He's just doesn't have his legs under him yet, so it's gonna be kind of gross. But they run the ball a ton, and I'm just gonna give it to the young guy because he's the one that's been there all through camp and on the practice squad last year as well. All Right, Matt, which Ravens running back will score the most Fantasy points

this year? I just want to know if you're a fan of eighth year running backs, because that's what Levian Bell is in his eighth year, Lottavius Murray eighth year. Even if you go to Davante Freeman. He's in his eighth year. Tyson Williams is a twenty five year old, which is old for a rookie. Second, but big dude, six ft zero, I'm not gonna go with an eighth year alright, Greece, Scott Fish Tyson Williams. Correct answer is

Tyson Williams. And by the way I've learned watching went back and watched a lot of Tyson Williams to you know, get all prepped up on this and and that's how they were pronouncing his name, Tyson, not Tyson, so just the apost Tyson. You never know. But and that's that's the case here. Um. As of three days ago, he

was the only Ravens runner on the team. Right, that's a well, a massive institutional advantage was there until I'm talking about guys who do not have blown out um, and that gives him the chance to establish himself as a viable lead back in the first month of the season by being good and listen to the defenses that

are coming up. The Raiders on Monday Night ranked twenty five and rushing yards allowed last year, then the Chiefs they ranked three, then the Lions and then the Broncos twenty two last year in rushing yards allowed that easy runway in is going to establish Tyson Williams as the go to back. And if you're worried about the pass catching side with be On Bell, they threw a running backs fifty times last year total. I thought maybe that's a fluke fifty one the year before. They just don't

do that. Um Lottavias Murray has been a relief back since seen and even that year he was supposed to be a backup. He just he is what he is, which is a role player backup back, and that's what Ottavias Murray's is going to remain tough. Question Number two forty Niners starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolos rostered in three percent of fantasy leagues. Is that appropriate or is that a mistake? Man, At least for the first few weeks. It's a mistake

because he should be on rosters. The Niners get the Lions this week, he should put up nice points in that game. The Eagles next week, same thing. After that, home games against the Packers and Seahawks both have very burnable secondaries and should be more of a shootout. And then at Arizona the next week. That should be more of the same. Their secondaries not great either. Then they go into a by and come out of the bye in Week seven against the Colts on Sunday Night football.

So if they're gonna make a switch, it would make sense in the week six by. But they're gonna be five and oh after the first five weeks, so it's a mistake. He belongs on rosters until they name Trey Lance the starter. The green Bay game could be a loss. Yeah, I was gonna say, I think I disagree with the green Bay part um. Uh my. My instinct is to say, now they're they're twelve fourteen quarterbacks that everybody's gonna have on rosters and be starting because they drafted them as starters.

And that's why he's at three percent. You can pick him up off waivers for the next few weeks. But I think Matt kind of convinced me on the fly there, given that schedule, I would want him on my roster, So I can, you know, make the matchup play for a few of those correct, That is the correct answer. He should be on right, it should be he should be rostered. You get the here's the advantages that come with Jimmy Garoppolo, the best offensive coach in the NFL,

Kyle Shanahan. He is throwing to three receivers everybody loves universally Kittle. Are you can, Samuel? And you mentioned the schedule, which was which is a no brainer. Four of the first five games are easy for him. All those reasons together and Jimmy Garoppolo should be rostered. He was might take a chance on the quarterback. He was a really tough question. Number three. I told you the answer earlier.

You did, uh, Scott, Yeah, we're one year removed from Jamis Winson being the second highest scoring fantasy quarterback this year. What grade will he most commonly get from Fantasy Football weekly hosts and A, A, B, A C or a bench grade? Ah See, I wanted to say his most common grade will be ungraded take a chance on me players, Winston, but take a chance of me. Players can still get grade, Yes, they still can. Uh. He has the field that take

a chance on me. Guy, he's got He's got a schedule that's uh supposedly tenth easiest for quarterbacks according to Fantasy Points and second to easiest schedule for quarterbacks according to pro FO Pro Football Focus, however, the front five is one of the worst in the league so early on, not a whole lot of them. But I'm gonna say he's gonna get a lot of B grades come the

end of the come the second half, B is your aunt. Alright, Matt should what grade will Jamis Winston most commonly get from Fantasy Football Weekly hosts, A, B, C or bench. I went through the schedule. I gave him three a's, nine B s, and five c's. However, so be is my answer right now. But there's caveat here. If Taysom Hill gets meaningful snaps in these first couple of weeks and and Jamis Winston's not on the field, fully, we're gonna move him down a full letter grade on each

of those. So if if Taysom Hill is getting work, he's probably a C grade player. I also estimated all seventeen games and had good for you and almost dead even distribution four four four four, But one of them had a five five and that was the B grade. So the correct answer is b um. Many people are really down on Winston right now. You're going undrafted in

most leagues are very late drafted. In most leagues. But you know, as the season progresses and we're gonna have the return to health of Trey Kwon Smith, who's on I R now but can come back. Adam Troutman is gonna come back, Michael Thomas is gonna come back. As the season goes on, I get the feeling I'm gonna be increasingly wishing I had more shares of Jameis Winston. It's like a pre premature special people remember the thirty interception. You're he'd never had a team before that, more than

any team before that. He got lace sick. He's with Sean Payton, who I trust to keep him locked down on that. He eats w's yeah, he eats. Nope, you know sometimes he does. But maybe Sean Payton will get that out of him. Let's work in one more matchup into this segment, San Francisco taking on Detroit Scott. Yes, so you had Jimmy Garoppolo as your take a chance on me player. Well, at letter grade would you give him? I would have given him a B possibly like I

have him at the leave tenth in my UM. And here I'm going to go through the players and tell you why you were right why you charged, were right with you? Yes, okay. I'm gonna start with George Kittle. Last year, Kittle, Deebo and a yuk Uh, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuke. We're all healthy together for four games. In those four games, Kittle had forty targets when they were all playing together. That's a lot, and he led the team in targets or tied for the lead in

all four games. Three of those were Jimmy G starts. Lions were top five against tight ends, but they did allow a bunch of touchdowns nine times to be exact um and ended the season. And they ended the season allowing seventy plus yards and or a score in each of the last five games to tight ends. So I have an A grade on Kittle. I'm gonna go down to a B grade for Deebo Samuel, who I think will be a little bit of an extension to the run game. He's got a juicy matchup against drafted free

agent rookie cornerback A J. Parker. Uh. Expect a run heavy game script, but like I said, he's you know, he'll they'll be ahead, run ahead of the game script. But I think he's an extension of the run game. So I'm giving him a B got auke with a C. He's going up against a manio who is ranked a hundred by PFF. But is that his first hand last name is his first name? Oh, that's just what he's I thought he had act. He was just like, his last name is the name that you would try to pronounce,

but I did not give it. But a big size guy able to be press coverage, I like you, but he's got a hamstring injury. I'm only giving the C grade here. Over to the run game, I already talked about.

Sermon In might take a chance on me. I'm given mostard an A. This is a Lions team, Like we said, this is a Lions team that allowed nearly two touchdowns per game to running backs last year, over a hundred six yards per game when when the four Niners are ahead, the running backs touched the ball thirty five plus times. Even if you get most or twenty of those against this Lions team, he's gonna come up with a grade. He's my number six rank running back. I've got an

A grade on him as well. Yes, over onto the rams side, or excuse me, the ram side because Jared Goff the Lions side. I have a grade on t J. Hockenson. I have a B grade there. I have a grade on him. Yeah, I will tell you what it is. I have a grade on two players. T J. Hawkinson should be a target hog established himself and as golf security blanket. Uh. That said, the four Niners allowed the fewest yards and second fewest touchdowns the tight ends last year.

Their their defense should be healthier than last year. But I just think Golf is gonna target him a ton. Uh. The reason I don't have any grade on any of the other receivers for this team is Golf is facing a four NS defense that was top ten in several categories last year, and and Golf downgraded he had a bad year last year, and he downgraded his offensive coach his receiving options. It's a bad matchup everything. So all the receivers except for Hawkinson due to volume, is going

to be on the bunch in the running game. I'm giving DeAndre Swift a B grade because I think they'll be in a negative game. Script have to pass a bunch. Dan Campbell and Anthony Lynn's team's last year passed to the running back over twenty five percent of the time, which is a lot of passes to running back and Swift is that role they've mentioned, He's that role. So I'm going to give him the volume and enough passwork to get a B grade, but I'm leaving Williams on

the bench for this week at least. Yeah, I'm interested to see what Williams role ends up being in this offense and is it meaningful or not. You know, they were what they're paying him, They're paying a meaningful amount of money. We'll see if they use them in a meaningful role. Beginning on Sunday, the Lions played. Can we just say because Lions from now on for yeah, probably when we come back, more matchups, including green Bay traveling

to Jacksonville to play the Saints. Funny how these things break just right for for green Bay. I think the officials had anything to do with the weather. I think that's how this all ended up happening. We'll tell you what to expect it in a possible shootout between Green Bay and the Saints when we come back to Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome back to Fantasy Football Weekly. Paul Church and Scott Fish and Matt Harrison with you working through

the matchups around the NFL fantasy style. Next up, the Green Bay Packers taking on New Orleans would have been in New Orleans. Instead, we've been relocated to a Jacksonville. It's a neutral site. Can usually call and mccockney does. Those not this week. Aaron Rodgerson, Davante Adams are obvious and compelling A grades that do not need any elaboration. Let's go to some other players, including Randall Cobb. Now I'm giving Randall Cobb a C grade for intangible reasons.

Aaron Rodgers put his ass on the line by demanding that the team trade for Randall Cobb. Do you think he won't feature Cob here? Of course he will. Cob lines up against Chauncey Gardner Johnson Profo Ball Focus is sixty four ranked cornerback in the slot. It's a plus matchup for Cobb and and I told you so a moment for his quarterback se grade on Randall Cobb. Let's

talk Robert Tunyon a grade. He led all tight ends with eleven touchdowns last year, and he posted an catch rate which was the best among tight ends and second best across the entire NFL. The Saints allowed the fifth most touchdowns to tight ends, nine of them a year. And safety Malcolm Jenkins should be the primary matchup for Tony and he was graded as a bottom ten covered safety last year by Pro Football Focus. Big green light

for Robert Tonyan in this matchup. As for the other receivers, mvs and Alan Robinson, way to scattershot for my taste. Both were completely undependable even in Aaron Rodgers m v P last season and in a plus matchup. Uh not Allen Robinson, Allen Lazard, even in a very plus matchup. Their total dart throws I would show caution here. Let's

go to Aaron Jones, who gets a B grade. The Saints have been brutalizing opposing running backs for three years, allowing just one runner to top one hundred rushing yards in those three seasons. That's crazy. The Packers offense will move through the air in this game against a bad secondary,

not on the ground against the great front four. Jones put up seventy six scoreless combo yards and just two catches in New Orleans last year, and that's why he dips down to a B grade here for a J. Dillon again elite Saints run defense, and we really don't know what his usage is gonna be. And they never threw to him last year. He had three targets all of last year. Roll all that together, we're leaving A. J. Dillon on the bench. Let's go over to the Saint side.

Alvin Camara gets an A grade. He is the entire Saints offense in this game. I believe the Packers know it. But can they stop him? Last year he hammered the Packers, putting up an absurd one nineties seven combo yards to go with thirteen catches and two touchdowns. Camara averaged seven receptions per game without Michael Thomas last season, and that's when the Saints actually had other wide receivers. Now you know short at least two, Camara's seven receptions could go

up from there. Meanwhile, the Packers returned the majority of a defense that was bottom ten and every meaningful category against opposing receiving backs. So a good all purpose game coming for Camara, who gets an A. Let's go to the passing game. I've got a bench grade on all of them in looting, Marquez Callaway, let's pray. I hope it's another season of just like bombs Away. No, look

yolo heaves from Jameis. Winston's all year long, just like terrible for his career, but great for my fantasy team. I love those. Wait, we have to stop the show now, those high risk throws were fantastic. Winston's first problem though, here is a lack of receiving talent with Michael Thomas, Adam Troutman, and Trey Kwan Smith out. And then for whatever, defend whatever re siies he's got left, he's got to

go up. There's number one receiver, presumably Callaway has to go up against Jay R Alexander profile focuses top ranked cornerback. There's just not a good It's just not enough targets left on the board for Winston in this matchup. So he gets a bench grade. You know, Tony Jones is kind of interesting. How about a C grade on Tony Jones. We're gonna talk more about Tony Jones later in this show. But you know, Alvin Camaratt never workhorseback won't be in

this game either. And Tony Jones, right, he said, and reasonably so. I went back through and watched all the preseason Carry's Dude's good, especially that first game against the Ravens really good. So I'm going to be a SEE grade to Tony Jones of this matchup. Next, let's go to Cleveland taking on Kansas City in a very possible

preview of the a f C Championship game next January. Well, yeah, and if you remember last season's playoff game, I think it's pretty safe to fire up Chad Henny at quarterback with solid B grade. What if they send out Henny for the first snap of the game. Just just a mass with the Browns, Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Killed, Travis Kelsey, all A grades. They're good at TOSSI toss uh Nicole Hardman,

DeMarcus Robinson, Byron Pringle. They're all on the bench. Which one of these guys is far and away the number two wide receiver Hardman. Maybe he's being drafted like it. The wide receiver on the Chiefs can disappear at any time they want to, anytime they feel you. In the sixteen wide receiver two games the Chiefs played last year, I took the games that Sammy Watkins played, and in the games he was absent, I inserted me Cole Hardman.

The average game for the Kansas City Wide receiver two was four targets, three receptions, forty one yards and one sixth of a touchdown. It's just there is no wide receiver too. It's okay, we get to know who the good players on the Chiefs. You can't argue they're very bankable, except for Clyde Edwards Hilaire, who's not very bankable. Uh,

this one's just a bad matchup. Down the stretch. Cleveland was one of the best run defenses in the league, allowing only seventy rushing yards per game over the final six games of the year. Clyde did not play in the playoff game last year, so maybe he's their secret weapon. They've never seen him before. Nick Chubb he gets a B grade, and Kareem Hunt he gets to see. The Chiefs were bottom twelve in the league against running back

rushing yards, receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. So one place they exceeded expectations is the only allowed seven running back rushing touchdowns last year. Still, I don't know. Nick Chubb's really really good. He's really really good and not everything else sounded like it was game on. It's kind of I'd like you to reconsider a possible a right here, oh no uh in the Battle of the trenches, though Pro Football Focus has this as the third most positive

run game for Cleveland's offensive line versus Kansas City's defensive line. Okay, I'll give Nick chubb an a thank you very much to my ranking. Here. I've got Hi, I've got him a running back for Okay, that's good. Baker Mayfield, he gets a C grade. The Browns are a running team. They had the fourth lowest passing rate in the league last year, and they saw Tampa unlock the key to beat the Chiefs. Good defense and ball control offense. That's why I only have se grades on Odell Beckham and

Jarvis Landry. The chief should deploy Legarious Snead against Beckham. Yeah, he had a top three passer rating and balls thrown into his coverage last year at fifty three point four. And Landry often runs from the slot and three wide receivers, but the Browns run a ton of twelve personnel, which means two tight ends on the field in those scenarios, he's likely running against former Viking Mike Hughes, who allowed completed catches on his throws in his coverage last season.

So I actually like Landry better than Beckham in this game, and the tick and the tight ends are on the bench. Yeah, well that's I'm that's safe to say. Yeah, in part because there's three three deep tight end you know, you never know who's coming up next. Seattle takes on Indianapolis, and injuries will play a potentially a big part of this game. Um, particularly in the Indianapolis side. But yeah, I'll let you I'll let you address that, Scott. Yeah,

well let's sure. Let's start on the wayside, the Indianapolis side. Carson Wentz I have on the bench despite the second highest Vegas over under of the week, He's going to be missing Eric Fisher, which they'll be down to their third left tackle. I believe on that side they our third left tackle Julian something and something Julia Gulia, Julian child friend chef, and Quentin Nelson is still questionable. I mean it sounds like he'll go, but he's still questionable.

Last uh, let's go to his receivers though. Do I think that any of his receivers are startable? Do I gave you a Paris to Paris Paris Hilton? Yeah, you know, how did how do I get to this point and not realize that the Indianapolis receivers had a Paris and a Hilton. I don't know. How did I not know that until now? I don't know. I'd never drop it anyway, you know why. Here's why I don't care about Paris Hilton at all. I don't care about her. That's why

let's talk about Michael Pittman. I now I got a C grade on Michael Pittman. Remains to be seen if he can be the top dog and take on to the top coverages. But he is six ft four and he might be facing up against five ft nine DJ Reid. If you're doing the math at home, that is seven inches difference, which I really like that matchup for him. Uh, Paris Campbell was charged to take a chance on me player dealing with a little bit of an achilles injury.

But he's gonna play through it, and he looks fine. He does play from the slot though. So on the other side is gonna be Michael Strown. I love Michael Stron. Uh, I'm gonna I'm gonna make a prespect in the middle of my thing here. Michael Stron is gonna play mostly on the outside for this, he's six ft five pounds ten inch hands in winks ban four point four sixty at that size. Um, he's gonna go over Zach Pascal,

and Zach Pascal plays six from the slot. But Michael stron uh lad the team in targets, catches, and receiving yards. In the preseason, they said he was just unstoppable in camp. I think he gets some work here, not enough to start. But if you're on a deeper roster, go get Michael Strong. It's it's spelled like straight chin or whatever. Go get Michael Strong. Uh. To the running game, let's go with

Jonathan Taylor. I got a C grade on Jonathan Taylor, honestly, behind that line with Fisher out with if he especially if Quint Nelson also misses. Seattle was top five against running backs last year. It's just a bad matchup. He just might get enough ten to fifteen touches to to make that C volume play there. Uh and easier second round probably second round pick. You're probably playing him anyway. Naheim Hines I got a C grade on because he's they're gonna be as well as Taylor h c gred

because they're gonna be chasing points. He's gonna be an outlet for wins. He's gonna want to get the ball out quickly. Hines was the top three receiving back last year and Seattle allowed the fourth most receptions to running back slack here by the way, it congrats on your new contract, Nahim Hines will be three more years over to the Seattle side. Russell Wilson got a B grade on uh Indie end of the final quarter last season, allowing over three five yards and two point five touch

John's per game two quarterbacks. It's got the second highest vegas over under. As I mentioned before that it's just gonna be a shootout. So I like Wilson there. I like his receivers a lot too. I got metcalf with an A grade DK Metcalf Um, he'll get Rock your Sin probably seventh ranked by PF and if he doesn't, he gets thirty two year old t J. Kerry. So so that's gonna be. That's gonna be his matchup with Xavier Rhodes out uh. Let's see here. I got lock

It with a B grade. His inconsistency is one that I don't love. And also he's going to be He's got a match up against Kenny Moore, but Kenny Moore is raring sixteen by p F. It's a pretty pretty tough matchup for lock It. But when he explodes, he explodes, and I think this is going to be a shootout where lock It might get a play. So I have a B grade unlock It. Chris Carson tough Jobs last

season's second best run defense. He I I have a B grade on him, but it's because he gets all the running back work, like all of it, So I have a B grade on him. I have every I have the tight ends on the bench. I'm not gonna trust Gerald Everet until I see his usage in that offense. Yeah, there's a lot of people kind of depending on that usage to be pretty high. Yeah, but I don't know. Daryl wall Uh Waller is the only tight end the top sixty yards against them last year. That's another good

reason they show a lot of caution right there. When we came back, final segment of Fantasy Football Weekly Premature Speculation, these are the guys you want to pick up this week that everybody else will be trying to pick up next week. That's the return of our compensation, right there like Michael Strod, like Michael Strode everything, Who's Michael Strode? Who's Quaz Watkins? These maybe these are the guys that are gonna show up in premature by Stay tuned to

find out. Welcome back, Fantasy Football Weekly final segment. We've got four games to break down and premature speculation a favorite segment for listeners, going on, why did we dream this up about six years ago? Something like that? Yeah, it feels like it's been about that long. It's my favorite. Let's begin there. Let's uh the premise of premature speculations. We're gonna give you guys to pick up now that we think everybody else is gonna be trying to pick

up next week. And when they go to the waiver wire and they see they're already on your team, to be like that guy is brilliant, Scott. Let's begin with you. Who is your premature speculation player? I'm going beta here, I'm gonna premature speculate a premature speculation. Bradley Roby just got traded from the Houston away from the Houston Texas. They've said that they are going to trade all their vets. I think Brandon Cooks gets traded and you should pick

up Nico Collins. Now, okay, all right, he might already get volume this week and become a thing, but once Cooks has gone, he'll be the only thing in town. Makes sense, Okay, I like Nico Collins. I think I think you could start Week one, I know for Houston. Yeah, go get him. Every reason to believe they'll be behind

by a lot. Matt, who's your premature speculation player? Scott covered this guy a little bit before, but it's thirty seven percent owned zach Ertz, whose death has been greatly exaggerated. First off, he's got some fresh new golden locks. Second, he led the Eagles tight ends last season and targets even while missing five games due to injury, including seven, seven and six targets in the final three games. Third, this week he gets the Falcons defense, who gave up

the fourth most touchdowns the position. And then he's got matchups against Dallas, Kansas City, and Carolina in weeks three, four, and five, all of which are bottom ten against the tight end position. Zach Ertz can be yours and he's very startable for the next five weeks. I'm going with Tony Jones, the new number two running back for the Saints. We alluded to this earlier. Alvin Comariz is not a

workhorse back, never has been. He isn't now. His average number of carries since becoming the starter is twelve and a couple of shows ago. Matt, I believe it was you who mentioned Alvin Kamara has topped nineteen carries once. Yeah, one time. Uh. Tony Jones will have a non trivial role in this offense, and he's better than Latavius Murray and can out perform what Murray has been giving. Fantasy owners went back and watch his preseason kid look good,

Tony Jones got a little juice. Make sure you've picked him up. Go get that kid, Yeah, go get go, get that guy. Let's go to Chicago taking on the Rams and what's going to be a one sided game. First, Andy Dalton. The Andy Dalton led passing attack against last year's best past defense means there there are bench grades pretty much everywhere except Allen Robinson, who's only comes in

here with a C grade. Last season, these teams met and Robinson posted four catches for seventies scoreless yards against Jalen Ramsey, and that was that was with Nick Foles at quarterback. It's kind of a lateral move here to Dalton, So I'm expecting something close to seventies scoreless again with the terrible offensive line. If Andy Dalton gets hurt in this game and Justin Fields comes in, does all of a sudden Allen Robinson's in game grade move up a letter?

Probably would? I want to know who's gonna be bold enough to start Justin Fields now? It's premature speculus, very premature speculation. Uh. The Rams return their outside cornerbacks who allowed the fewest yards per game and just seven touchdowns to opposing receivers last year. It's a disaster scenario here.

But Allen Robinson's great, so just to see grade on him, David Montgomery gets a C grade you're figuring and Dalton's gonna be completely overmatched, And so they'll try to run David Montgomery in this game, but they're not gonna be very effective. The bears tattered offensive line look horrendous in the preseason, and Montgomery just isn't elusive enough to make

his own running lanes. And unlike last year, the Bells Bears have other solid runners are going to contribute, like Damien Williams and Khalil Herbert, so you don't get the volume that mcgomery was giving you last year when he was startable. Los Angeles finished fifth in yards allowed per carry and sixth and fantasy points allowed to the running back position. And we know Aaron Donald elite pass rushing tackle. He was also the number one ranked run tackle by

Pro Football Focus last year. He's just really good. He's just really good at football. Let's go to the ramside. Matthew Stafford and the rest of his meaningful receivers, Cooper Cup and Robert Woods all a grades. Stafford delivered the lions most recent victory. It was Week thirteen against these Bears, and he threw for four hundred yards and three touchdowns. As a member of the Lion is not afraid of

the Bears. He's not afraid of the Bears, and you shouldn't be either, because they have a rebuilt secondary featuring two very green cornerbacks something called Kindle Vildor and Duke Shelley. As a rookie, Vildor was garbage last year, allowing a passer rating of a twenty four in his coverage, and Shelley is the presumptive starting slot corner. He's got ninety two career snaps to his name. Cups and cup and Wood's elite starts this week. And I'll even go one

step further. You want a deep dark DFS playshaun DeShawn Jackson. That's right. DeShawn Jackson does it in week one a lot too, and he does he You're right, week one his guts because he's healthy. It's like Sammy Watkins in week one. That's right. Let's talk Darryl Henderson, who gets a B grade here uh career rushing average of four point four, which lines up almost exactly with Chicago that gave up just over four yards per carry last year.

Sony Michelle's there, but I still think the vast majority of the workload here goes to Henderson. The Rams rushed twenty nine times per game last year. That's enough workload to make sure that Henderson gets the ball plenty. Bears maintained most of their key run defenders from last year.

They were ranked fifth overall by Pro Football Focus. Chicago faced Henderson last year when he was still the lead back before he gave up that job to cam Acres, and they held him to seventeen touches for seventy six yards and that sounds about right here, Sony Michelle. I'm keeping on the bench until we have a better understanding of what his role might look like. And let's spend a second on a great matchup for Tyler Higgby. The tight end situation in Los Angeles. We've been waiting for

clarity for years. We finally have it. If you would have rolled together Everett and Higby stats into one guy last year, you'd have had tight end five. And now that's maybe what we're gonna get here. In Tyler Higby's three career games without Gerald Everett, He's averaged eleven targets hundred eleven yards per game. Those are gigantic numbers, and the Bear struggled against the tight end position last season, finishing bottom six in receptions, yards, and touchdowns allowed to

the tight end position, A grade for Tyler Higbe. Our next matchup is Miami taking on New England. Math I'm gonna start with Jalen Waddle and Davante Parker, who are both on your bench this week. Even with Will Fuller being out serving the rest of his suspension this week, the Patriots are without top corner Stephan Gilmour. That's actually a good thing for the Finns wide receivers. However, J C.

Jackson and Jonathan Jones are not members of instinct. They are the pats other starting corners, and both were rated rather highly by Pro Football Focus last season. I'm a little bit nervous that Parker and Ta just don't mix well. Overall. Through seven career games together, Parker is averaging three point seven catches and forty four yards per game with TWA. He's only caught two career touchdowns from to as well.

So they're on the bench, as is Mike Gasicki. In five prior meetings with the Patriots, Gisicki has been held under thirty five yards in every game and scored only once. If I've got all the receivers on the bench, I've got two on the bench too, So I'm gonna go over to Miles Gaskin, who I think a lot of people are kind of relying on maybe to play this week. I got him on the bench. Last year, New England's defense was stout against the run every only zero point

for three yards allowed before first contact. That's the best mark in the league by a wide margin. And Gaskin was in the league in yards after contact with only two point five yards. This leads me to believe that Gaskins should run for about three yards per carry, and that's not good. He only managed forty rushing yards in his one meeting with the Pats last year as well. Let's go to the running back on the other side

that we want to talk about. That's Damien Harris. He gets a B. Last year, the Pats deployed four or five backs against the Dolphins in both meetings. In the first meeting, four backs each top twenty yards and they total the hundred on the ground with a touchdown. In the second game, Sony Michelle went for seven point four yards per carry. Rolls are clearer and more defined this year. It seems Damien Harris is the lead dog, James White is the pass catcher, and it's a coin flip if

Ramondre Stevenson is even active in this game. White and Stevenson around my engine. Harris gets the B. Mac Jones and Hunter Henry where my take a chance on me TOSSI tossers and John U Johnu. He gets a B grade as well. I like Henry enough to give him the starting grade he gets. He got the C by the way, and for the same reasons, John who gets the B grade here. But finally, I got two more wide receivers and I'm giving them both B grades. Wide

receivers getting a B grades on the Patriots. You say there's one glaring weakness in the Dolphins defensive backfield, that's Miami corner Byron Jones, who allowed seventeen point one yards per catch last year. That was the third worst in the NFL. If he's going to get beat, it's deep. And of the players that had at least eighty targets last year, do you know who led the league in yards per reception? Nelson Agar at eighteen point seven. And

I never would have guessed that are torched. This Dolphins defense is a member of the Raiders last year for five catches a hundred and fifty five yards and score. I love it. This is a great angle. Why was he not your your take a chance? I mean, why did you? Well, you use Hunter Henry. That's why I love mac Jones so much. Aglar's nursing a little bit of an ankle injury, but he's gonna go. And by the way, Jacoby Myers is a bit of a forgotten guy in fantasy. Here In's a B grade. He earned

his keep in the second half last season. Over the final ten games, the average seven targets, five catches, and sixty five yards per game. Those are pre solid numbers with Cam Newton as your quarterback. However, in two full seasons, he's never scored an NFL touchdown. That changes this week to Kobeyers. Okay, there it is. By the way, TOSSI toss is a hail Mary. No, no, no, it's it's just TOSSI to It's Denver takes on the Giant Scott. And what I'm hoping you tell me is that Javonte

Williams can be a starter in Week one. Yeah, I don't know about that. I don't know. I need him. It's a rookie, he's a right. What happened on the automatic A grade all the rookie? What happened to that? Okay, I'll give him a C grade if I can also give Gordon to see grade. They do have the middle of the pack matchup, and they're gonna they're gonna be in a a positive game. Script for that to run down the clock, Javonte Williams might actually be a better

rundown the clock guy. So there you go. There you go, charge alright onto the passing game now, I guess. Uh, Teddy Bridgewater I do have a C grade on somehow. They're gonna have to get ahead of the Giants somehow, and I think Teddy's got just enough to do it against the Giant's team that allowed the fifth most yards and the fifth most touchdowns last year. Uh, Teddy Bridgewater seventy passer last year, that's gonna be coming in way more handy for Jerry Judy, who had the highest percentage

of NFL passes last year. Yes, so gain that seventy passer and going up against Darnay Holmes ranked a hundred and seventh by Profotball Focus. I'm giving Judy a B grade, giving Courtland Sutton a C grade here. He's gonna get a much tougher match up in James Bradberry seventh ranked. Uh, but he's a good contexted catch guy. He's got some inches on Bradberry. Um. Hopefully you can use that size to his advantage and that confidence is back. Uh. No

offense leg injury seems to be fine. Now he's practicing without limits. Now he's gonna play. You know that he's gonna play. I got a C grade on him. The Giants only allowed four touchdowns to tight ends last year, but they allowed some yards, so I think he I think he might get just enough in this one. Over to the Broncos side. Over to the Giant side. Excuse me, I'm only starting ste Kwon Barkley. That's it. On the passing side. Look what the Giants are trying to overcome.

They're implied point totals nineteen points. The Broncos the top ten against quarterbacks, top ten against wide receivers. The only allowed three touchdowns to tight ends last year, and Waller and Kelsey were the only two that had good games. And that was a Denver defense that was beat up the years. They're so smart to keep it Vangio. He's such a good defensive come that von Miller back, Bradley Chup's question and bull but likely to go their defensive

backs Ronald Darby, Kyle Fuller. They drafted Patrick certain over Um justin fields, I guess controversially, and they have the top rank slot corner according to PF and Bryce Callahan. Who's gonna be covering Sterling Shepherd. So I got him on the bench. Why do I have Kenny Golladay on the bench. Well, this broncos d I mentioned top ten against wide receivers. But also he's had no time to gain some chemistry with Daniel Jones. This this offseason, he's

gonna he's gonna be up with Ronald Darby. In fairness, has any player ever had chemistry with That's fair, that's fair. But he also gets a tough match up against Ronald Darby. So I I have everyone on the bench and I'm barely giving Barkley a C grade. I have issues though, because they want to limit him. I think he might get just enough volume. But remember he's coming off that A cl Andrey and he's they have to play Thursday night. It's a short turnaround, so they might want to limit.

They might actually legitimately wanted in him, but they'll be Yeah, I can't start Barkley. They'll be plankings ten. I think he's ten total touches. I have a C grade on him because they'll be playing from behind. Maybe he gets enough passing game work that maybe he gets that C grade. I'll bet Booker produces him. I am fine benching him. Yeah. Absolutely.

I think he's in that Ezekiel Elliott from last week category where you're like, you kind of feel like you should start him, but you can see the path through a terrible game. I do. All right, Let's go to Baltimore taking on Las Vegas on Monday night. The running back situations a disaster. Of course, Tyson Williams should get most of the work. You know, he's really built in the Ravens mold for their runners that they like to have.

He's taller, sturdy runner with some burst and good balance, likely to get most of the workload, maybe like all of the workload, or virtually all of it. He scored a goal line touchdown in the preseason. Actually, no, I take that back. It was a twenty yard touchdown in the preseason. Last season, the Raiders allowed the eighth most rushing yards hunter ten per game and almost five yards per carry, and the off season did not provide any

personnel help. I think Tyson Williams a sneaky, good hard I've gotta be grade on him as a workhorse back in this game. Good a grade for Lamar Jackson writers. Secondary remains a complete mess. One season after finishing his pro football focus is twenty ninth ranked coverage unit. They made epic draft blunders in by drafting Jonathan Abram and Trayvon Mullen into their secondary, and those guys continue to start,

and that's just sunk cost right there. A couple of rookies will being key roles in the secondary, Trayvon Mooring and Nate Hobbs, both starting their first NFL games. And the Raiders didn't give up a lot of rushing yards last year, just thirteen per game, but they also didn't

see very many rushing quarterbacks. And Lamar Jackson's a special rusher and probably gets a few extra carries here with the running back situation being what it is, So a grade on Lamar Jackson um warmed up a lot in the past few days to Mark's Brown because he got through a whole week of practice with no issues after missing a month of practice with a preseason hamstring injury. And as I mentioned, the secondary here is a complete disaster.

I really really like Marquis Brown, and you know, for a boom er bust guy who's got boomrit all over it. For Marquise Brown, go ahead and start him here with a B grade. See grade on Sammy Watkins, a legendary Week one performer, if only week one, And like I said, if not now when this is the secondary is terrible. So if you're ever gonna start Sammy Watkins for some reason you drafted him, this is your one chance right here. Um,

all the terrible reason, let's start. Let's let's secondary. I forget hallucinated all the problems in the secondary already and they just don't have a lot of options. They don't have a lot, got nothing left. Watkins is gonna have a great week. Not great. How about a grade for Mark Andrews, who was Jackson's healthiest and most most reliable

target last year. The Raiders were middle of the packing tight end defense, but they somehow skirted every upper tier every upper tier tight end except Travis Kelsey, and Kelsey destroyed them. So in a grade on him for the Raiders, there's only one guy to start, and it's Darren Waller. He won't catch anybody by surprise, especially not the team that drafted him. He's sitting on a very good game here. Aguilar's departure leaves eight touchdowns behind, and that's an opportunity

for him. Josh Jacobs. I've got just a C grade on him. His yards per carry dropped by a full yard last year. He's got to contend with Kenyan Drake for carries. I almost had a bench grade on him. And it's Baltimore's defense, and it's Baltimore's defense. But just through sheer volume, hopefully Josh Jacobs will get enough done for your team. And that is it for the starters for the race. It's all, it's all bad. Thanks for listening. If you missed any part of the show, check out

our podcast of Fantasy Football Weekly. You can certainly do that and catch up on everything that you missed. We'll be back next week. Best of luck. In the opener, everybody, Bye bye. Fantasy Football Weekly is a production of i heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.