LIVE: Bills vs. Dolphins Preview, Fantasy Week 2 Predictions & Injury Updates | GSMC Sports Podcast

[Music] hello and welcome into the gsmc sports podcast brought to you by the gsmc sports network I'm your host TJ maardi we are coming to you live on Thursday September 12th and it is game day for the first official Thursday Night Football from Amazon Prime we did of course have the season opener last week but now Amazon Prime's Thursday night football kicks off tonight between between the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins so we will be previewing that game talking about some of the keys to the game talking about who could be the standout performers there and then ultimately making a pick on that one we will then be talking about some of the broader scale Fantasy Football top plays for this upcoming week I'll be giving my top quarterback running back wide receiver and tight end for this upcoming weekend and fantasy football I will then be diving into the news that the Los Angeles Rams are placing wide receiver puka AA on injured reserve list and he could potentially be out longer as there were a number of injuries that accumulated for the Rams in their week one game against the Lions so we'll be talking about that we will then be diving into whether the conversation around whether or not the green Bay Packers will be able to survive these next few weeks with Jordan love injured so we'll be talking about what we'll be looking at their schedule and discussing what sort of an outcome we could be looking at and whether or not it will be possible for them to potentially dig themselves into an insurmountable hole during these next few weeks and then finally we will cap off the show by previewing the upcoming weekend in college football so a whole lot to dive into there but before we do so just a reminder to like follow subscribe wherever you keep up with us if you have a question during the show we want to hear it your input is a big part of what makes this show great and we Thrive off of the insights of our fans so whether it's a quick comment or a thoughtful question or anything in between do not hesitate to use the chat to get your comments recognized and hopefully build up as much interaction with you guys as we possibly can and if you want to make sure that your message stands out especially you can use the Super Chat button that is now available on YouTube by clicking the dollar sign there and if you leave your comment along with a tip or donation your comment will pop up on screen for everyone to see you can additionally do so using the link that is streaming across the bottom ticker that is gsmc podcast. net anything would be very great greatly appreciated there we're starting off the show here on Thursday afternoon by of course discussing tonight's matchup a divisional game for Thursday Night Football between the Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills as things currently stand the Dolphins are two and a half Point favorites despite the fact that recent history has led to the bills coming out on top in these games Tua just one and six versus the bills throughout his young career so far Josh Allen only two losses against the Dolphins since he took over in Buffalo so again recent history would show that this is a game that has the bills written all over it but of course the bills especially going through a lot of overturn this past off season that has led to some drastic changes on the roster where offensively he is without his top two Targets from last year in Gabe Davis and Stefan Diggs defensively they have a lot of members of the secondary to replace so very different Bills team this upcoming season and this feels like an opportunity early in the year before the bills have really found their groove at home in Miami that this is the opportunity that the Dolphins sort of have to capitalize on and in order for them to do so the number one question would be can the Dolphins actually limit Josh Allen where Allen versus the Dolphins these past couple Seasons since the beginning of the 2022 season he's played five games four of them regular season plus one po playoff game in 2022 he is throwing for 347 yards per game 15 touchdowns and five interceptions with another rushing touchdown in there as well 32 rush yards per game does have four fumbles lost during this time which I just found to be interesting but you know we already know that he is a reckless quarterback that's been his identity since coming into the league but he's also a lethal talent that has been able to carve up this Miami Dolphin defense in their last handful of matchups like I mentioned those five games the bills are averaging 29.6 points per game like I mentioned though the difference this year is that Josh Allen is without his top his top couple weapons that he's had in recent years in Diggs and Gabe Davis and there really isn't a clear-cut wide receiver one for him to be able to rely on I thought that he was excellent in week one against the Arizona Cardinals he himself was responsible for four touchdowns two of them in the air two of them on the ground but you know especially when it came to the Red Zone it felt very Josh Allen Reliant to create things on his own and we saw him keeping it for himself he finished this game with I believe nine carries and had two of those rushing touchdowns of course did injure his wrist it appeared on one of those rushing touchdowns which is why I don't think that Allen is going to be able to lean on his legs quite as heavily as he did in week one that it's just not really a sustainable form of offense throughout a 17g game season he is too vital he needs to avoid taking those types of hits it was great they were able to pull off the comeback win last week but I would expect that the bills are hoping that they can establish the Run game even even more so James Cook did look good in week one so it's not it's not that it's just a matter of especially when it got to the Red Zone those drives were a sort of stalling if not for Josh Allen becoming a a superhero at certain points and scrambling around there that that's where I think the loss of sort of a go-to Target kicks in now I would definitely be interested in Keon Coleman who did receive the most amount of targets for the bills in game one with five that he could really start to emerge as a Red Zone presence for this Bills team additionally I'm a big fan of their tight ends and Dawson Knox and Dalton cancade so those are two players that I could see emerging for the Bills moving forward here but you know all of that being said it's clear that Josh Allen as he's still sort of figuring out his Groove in this new look offense that he needs to start developing some trust with his receivers and he doesn't quite seem to be there just yet so for the Dolphins on the other side of this they need to take away the running Lanes from Josh Allen because like I mention there were no wide receivers for the bills last week or no players in general that had more than four catches Keon Coleman did hit that note nine different players caught a pass from Josh Allen which is a good thing because ultimately seemed like you know there was all of this conversation of oh well what's Josh Allen going to look like without Stefan Diggs I thought that Allen looked better last year when he was spreading the ball around more and ultimately he showed that he was capable of doing that last week now it is against a Cardinals defense that I don't think is particularly great you come in and you're playing a much more talented Miami Dolphins defense with both you know players in the secondary plus having that extra push from the front line that the Cardinals are definitely a step below what the Dolphins are hoping to pitch this upcoming weekend and I think that you know with new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver for the Miami Dolphins they did a really good job in week one against the Jaguars they Jacksonville only total two 267 yards Trevor Lawrence in the second half was really taken out of the game and what mightily helped the Dolphins in that matchup was the fact that they were able to get a lot of production from that defensive front three sacks one of them from the new addition in Kus Campbell who isn't just sort of hanging on to the league but is still giving you some sort of results as well making a nice debut for himself in Miami we'll see you know whether or not he can continue to build on that and then Jaylen Phillips also was you know coming back from injury after being out from November on last year and he was able to get home for a sack as well so you can find production I think specifically on that defensive line and in the secondary linebacking core is fine I wouldn't say it's great though and that is definitely an area that I'm looking at those linebackers they're going to have to do a good job of sort of keeping Josh Allen sort of contained to some degree not giving him those Wide Open Spaces in the middle of the field for him to scramble out and run through that they are going to be the key to Miami's defense in this game against Josh Allen now on the other side of the ball offensively I think the Dolphins should be able to pretty easily move the ball against the bills like I mentioned they the bills are undergoing a lot of turnover from last season in the secondary losing a number of their starters from last year by choice I might add so you know the bills feel like maybe they have some players coming up the pipeline who could emerge for them but that being said it's still early in the season and I do think that even if that does become the case it's going to take some time for Buffalo to gel in that secondary add to that the fact that star linebacker Matt Milano is dealing with a torn Peck that is going to keep him out until around December this is a defense that is very vulnerable right now and that's where of course a Mike McDaniel L offense for the Miami Dolphins feels like they should be able to Feast there but my biggest question with the dolphins offense is what sort of other layers are they going to be able to add to it I thought that I was pretty impressed with a few standout plays from Tua vioa in week one against the Jaguars of getting outside of the pocket showing off a little bit more Mobility which was a could be a massive step for his player progression something that I don't know if I necessarily fully ruled it out of him but given some of the injuries that he's had throughout the course of his of his career even going back to his time at Alabama I was a little bit worried that that was just something that we were never going to see from him but working through progressions more I mean he plays excellently in the system that Mike McDaniel has that requires just a lot of quick reads and quick decision making and he plays very well in that system but what does it look like when things are less structured for Tua I thought that there were some promising signs last week and I know Miami's offense did struggled at times against Jacksonville I actually do think that the Jaguars have a very solid defense as well so I think that this is a little bit of a Get Right game for Miami's offense but that being said like I mentioned adding different elements this feels like a game to me where if this running offense for Miami is going to emerge this is a little bit of an opportunity to do so last last week again definitely came out a little bit slower that offense as a whole Devin hn didn't necessarily have the impact that a lot of people were hoping for and was it yards per attempt were pretty down he did end up scoring at the goal line to at least for his Fantasy Football uh owners at least provide a little bit of confidence but the consistency of that run game really wasn't there for Miami last week and I think that ultimately again the Jaguars defense is tough but this is where the front the the strength of buffalo's defense is probably on that front line so I'm not saying they're entirely susceptible to getting ran over but I do think that this is a game where I don't really trust that linebacking core as things currently stand for Buffalo Terrell Bernard is a very solid linebacker but outside of that I think without Milan they are very short-handed and ultimately I'm a little bit skeptical about this that being said it's kind of hard to rule out Mike McDaniel ever in terms of the offensive innovator that he is that with all of the different ways that he's shown in ability to to innovate and use pre- snap motions and such to open up other opportunities that I think it's definitely on the table for the Dolphins to be able ble to add that to their repertoire but I'm I'm a little bit worried about it in this game but especially if they are able to control the line of scrimmage I think that we're going to be looking at things coming up Dolphins here so on that note getting into some predictions themselves looking at the betting lines for this game the Dolphins are two and 1 Half Point favorites and the over underline is 482 I do sort of feel like that over underline and maybe I'm being baited into this a little bit but I feel like that's a pretty easy over I think a lot of points are going to be scored in this game now if either offense was going to let you down I kind of feel like it would be the bills but I do still just have faith in Josh Allen to be able to put up a good number of points but I don't think it's going to be enough points at least to keep up with what the Dolph should be able to do to this bill's defense I have the Dolphins winning this game and I believe that they can absolutely cover the two and a half point spread that is currently available on ESPN bet so that is the direction I would go in this game is I I I like the Dolphins outright probably with the spread as well and then if I had a lean on the over underline I would I would say over but that being said it does feel a little bit traish to me so I myself am definitely going to be staying away from that but let me know what your thoughts are in the comments section as we are going to continue to talk about this game a little bit more from a fantasy football perspective and turn that into League wide as we head into week two I'm going to be giving a list of my favorite fantasy players for each position and what the expectations are for them as to whether or not they are going to be available we do have a comment here from uh the name sorry as I'm having a little bit of a technical difficulty here we have a question from Andre saying is Anan playing Anan was listed on the injury report earlier in this week as he was dealing with an ankle injury I if I we we haven't gotten any official results as of the past hour so I do I I can't give you a definitive answer there Mike McDaniel said that quote we'll see how it plays out so we'll we'll have to see there but I ultimately I think he'll be available if not I know that Jeff Wilson Jr has been gaining a lot of traction at of the past few days if he's not Avail available to play and Jeff Wilson would probably be a decent uh spot start there if hn is unavailable and we're going to do we're going to go more in depth to the fantasy football updates but we'll address Andre's question here is would you take a shot on starting Keon Coleman in the flex tonight he also mentions he has Josh Allen as his quarterback so doubling up there I like Keon Coleman again top top Target leader for the bills in week one then again I really do do think that as him and Josh Allen get on the same page I think that he's going to be an awesome Red Zone threat for the bills I would take a shot on it that being said and I'm I'm going to get into it more later I do think that khil Shakir is probably the receiver I would lean more so to based off of the fit of him playing against the slot in the slot I think that we saw Jaylen Ramsay last week following around the number one wide receivers for Jacksonville and Jaylen Ramsey had his hit or miss a little bit of a rough first half but was able to work his way into it but I think that Coleman is going to have much more difficult matchups Shakir is the one that I think he's going to play in the slot I think he's going to have opportunities against Miami's linebackers and could carve out a role for himself there but again we have a lot more to get into on the fantasy football front with both tonight's game and with the games upcoming for this weekend so if you have any fantasy football questions definitely be sure to drop them in the chat and we'll try and address as much as possible but we do have to take a quick break here and when we come back on the other side I'll be talking about the biggest impact players in fantasy football for tonight's game and I'll be running through my top skill position players for the weekend in terms of fantasy football impact so do not go anywhere we will be right back after this quick break [Music] in World Lord [Music] me me I want be the greatest everybody on the face I look around and feel like everybody is the F I'm this every I'm imping one day I blow up on the bement the top is so vac I don't that I think is amazing Wai my day when I'm playing faces give me that Crown my way to be put down in your place all this my to if I want that then I'll get it right now I'm losing it the I'm Lo stupid if you choose to live or choose to dip you choose to fight or lose your grip and lose a gift I feel like I'm Los mybody in me welcome back into the gsmc sports podcast As We are continuing to preview both tonight's Thursday Night Football matchup and the upcoming weekend now coming at it from the perspective of fantasy football and I just talked about my my main keys to the game for both of these teams tonight from a general football perspective but I think it reflects pretty well that I think there are points that are going to be scored tonight I'm anticipating both of these defenses having some amount of trouble at least I think the Josh Allen and Tua vioa I mean they're pretty much must starts anyways every single week that I have no doubts there but I think the two of them can be some of the top fantasy football performers of the weekend as a whole I would probably lean on Josh Allen for that number one spot but again I think that Tua is facing a very favorable defense against the Buffalo Bills that again we'll see how the running game works out Devon Anan is dealing with with that ankle injury that I don't think we have official word yet on whether or not he's going to be available for them so we'll see running game wasn't great last week now you add this into the mix I think the Dolphins are going to throw the ball and either way I think that this is a secondary that can be thrown on so I am anticipating Tua to let it rip a little bit tonight which of course also leads to either one of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Wadd again both players that are a little bit must starts anyways but Tyreek is probably you know the direction I would head in of people that Pro wide receivers that probably have the highest upside for week two across the entire NFL as a whole now obviously bills are probably going to try and fixate on him but I just think it's a Personnel M mismatch and I really don't think that there's anybody on that Bill's defense that's going to be able to consistently keep up with Rec kill but Jaylen Wadd would be another starter as well again have concerns with the running game for Miami so I'd probably steer away from that direction especially considering I do think that the strength of the bills defense is on that front line on the Buffalo side of this game we just had a comment asking about Keon Coleman's upside as a flex option for tonight I do feel like especially and what we talked about in the last segment as well is it's excellent the Josh Allen can you know run around on his own and create Magic but that being said he did end up injuring his hand on one of those touchdown rushes in the second half of the Arizona game I think at some point in this past week somebody probably sat down with Allen and said hey I understand that you can do all of these incredible things with your legs but that is not a sustainable form of offense for us and for you to stay healthy for the upcoming season and obviously Josh Allen is basically the offense so I think when it gets to those Red Zone opportunities they that he is going to try and Trust his receivers a little bit more Keon Coleman has the frame the body and going back to his time at Florida State the tape to be able to be a red zone Target so I definitely see him being in that category I also know that Dalton concade is somebody that a lot of fantasy owners were panicking about a little bit after week one but he's somebody that I think can do it in the open field while also doing it in the red zone as well I'm very high on Dalton concade and I think that he could be a huge performer for them as well so again I'm definitely going to be paying attention to what is the Bill's approach when it comes to the Red Zone cuz I think they're going to have to find a way to further develop that passing game and the trust between Josh Allen and his weapons that being said though I also think that James Cook could have a very big night for himself now I do really like the the Personnel on Miami's defense as well you have a lot of bigname guys on that front line we mentioned Kus Campbell in the last segment talking about the impact that he had week one against the Jacksonville Jaguars which was great to see at this point Campbell he's got to be in his late 30s 37 38 years old the fact that you know he had maybe a little bit of a Down Season last year but is somebody that is looking to reestablish himself once again Zack sealer is one of the most underrated defensive lineman in the NFL so not trying to go on too much of a defense kick here because obviously we're fixating on fantasy football but I think that he's it's going to be a tough task but James Cook is a very good running back we've seen the increased usage of him from really I'd say about halfway through last season to now that I think the bills are really going to try and lean on that rushing game as well and again just make sure that Josh Allen doesn't have to be the one doing everything himself so I like James Cook as a starter tonight and the one other name I'll throw in there as well for Buffalo is I think as a long shot khil Shakir could be a very interesting piece because last week we saw it was a little bit touchdown Reliant three targets three receptions 42 yards and a touchdown we just talked about Red Zone it was a little bit of a quick out to Shakir there who does have the athletic ability to be able to make plays happen so Shakir somebody also was developing a better rapport with Josh Allen through the latter half of last season really once they started to turn away from Stefan Diggs I thought that we saw more opportunities for Shakir and the way that this Dolphins defense is I think that they're a lot more strong they're a lot stronger on the perimeter with their cornerbacks and their safeties I think it's going to leave opportunities for opposing slot receivers to carve out some bigger roles for themselves that's where Shakir plays and while Jaylen Ramsey definitely could be following Keon Coleman around now under the new system that the dophins have with Anthony Weaver that it could open up some opportunities for Shakir so ultimately that that's sort of my general output on fantasy football for tonight but we got a whole weekend ahead as well that I sort of want to run through quickly here and I'm just going to be listing some of my number one options for this upcoming weekend like I mentioned I'm huge on Josh Allen or Tua I think that Josh Allen could have the number one fantasy week this week for quarterbacks but if I were going to go away from this game as well I do really like Jaden Daniels versus the Giants I I almost feel bad about it because I feel like everybody's just kicking the Giants while they're down right now and I don't want to be unfair in that way it's more so just that realistically speaking I think that this is going to be even maybe a little bit more of a high-scoring game considering the fact that I'm not a believer in Washington's defense we'll see this could be sort of a moment for Dan Quinn to kind of prove the haters wrong in that aspect after getting torn up from Baker Mayfield last week that I think Jaden Daniels is going to be tasked with matching points on the board and this Giants defense is a lot more susceptible to that I would still like to probably see further development from Daniels as a passer but already the running impact with him was immediate and I think it's going to roll into this upcoming week where the Giants are a team that can probably you know test the commanders a little bit in terms of not allowing Jaden Daniels to just be stagnant that point the commanders were kind of out of the game faster last week I think this is going to be a much more competitive game within the division and ultimately I think that Jaden Daniels has huge upside for week to running back I'm looking at bejon Robinson you know one of the best running backs in the league not exactly a hot take I do understand that but playing the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football the Eagles I don't think their defense is quite as bad as they showed against the Packers last Friday in Brazil I think that that was just a weird game as a whole with all of those circumstances and I am higher on the Eagles this year than I was last year that being said though the defense is definitely the main concern for Philadelphia and a lot of it comes within that that front seven I don't think it's a particularly ex excellent linebacking group so especially if you are in a PPR League I think that beon can sort of rack up some points there as well as on the ground this is a team that yeah they do have some good defensive linemen but I think that the Falcons are going to be able to have rushing success very disjointed last week but I thought they actually moved at the point of attack pretty well on the offensive line didn't do a great job of protecting Kirk Cousins in the pocket probably also contributes to the fact that maybe he looks to get it out a little bit quicker bejon out of the back field could be an option there so that's my number one running back for this upcoming week another name that I'll throw out there as well I have a couple ones uh derck Henry playing the Raiders this week now John Harbaugh did just say earlier this week that the days of Henry being a 30 carries per game type of player is probably behind him I have some hesitations about what his role will be with Baltimore but I also don't think that Lamar Jackson can run as much as he did last week that they're probably going to try and steer away from that and Henry really outside of that first drive was wasn't used very much and I think that anytime that the Ravens are in the Red Zone that's where they're going to be going is Derk Henry plus I think we see a little bit more production from him in the the open field as well and then I do want to also mention Kiren Williams I think that it's a good matchup against Arizona that again schematically I like Zach Ganon but the overall Talent on that defense isn't necessarily there yet um the my one issue with him and I did have him at the number one till taking into consideration that offensive line is banged up right now it's going to be without three of their starters but that being said it could actually contribute also to the IDE aidea of Matt Stafford looking to get the ball out quick like he did a lot in that first half when you know he was still sort of first trying to find the groove and the chemistry with his offensive lineman that now with all these injuries I think the game plan for McVey and that offense is going to be quick throws so I think that involves Kiren Williams against a poorer defense in Arizona and I think that includes Cooper cup as well where he got 21 targets I believe it was last week ridiculous there I think that with puka nakua on the injured reserve list we're going to see a Cooper cup sort of big big Focus um a real focus on Cooper cup for this upcoming week to just try and get the ball in his hands and make things happen and again Arizona defense that is probably susceptible at least to some degree in the passing game there as well and then to close it out here tight ends obviously week one was not a favorable game for or not a favorable set of games for tight end owners across the country and you got to think that eventually somebody is going to bounce back here now I have mentioned multiple times here this Rams game I think on the other side Trey McBride could be somebody who could really emerge for the Cardinals the Rams defense looked excellent Rel relative to my expectations in week one against the Lions a very good offense so I do want to give them credit there but they are still young and there's a lot of moving pieces there new defensive coordinator after Raheem Morris left in the off season that I would probably lead McBride as the number one tight end but I I I don't feel super confident necessarily about any one of them in particular I guess honorable mentions out there to Kelsey who wasn't quite as involved in week one against Baltimore maybe just for the sake of confidence and just showing people that Kelce is still here they could maybe look to force feed him a little bit against a Cincinnati team that feels like right now they are vulnerable I'm a little bit worried that people are so down on the Bengals that they could end up having a big bounceback performance but those would probably be my top two tight ends for the upcoming weekend but let me know who you like who you don't like in in this upcoming weekend of fantasy football like I mentioned sort of talked a lot about the Rams and their injuries in this segment and that's because things have gotten very messy with them very quick based off their week one performance having to put three players on the injured reserve list already so I want to further dive into what the latest is on puka nakua and where the Rams are at right now sitting at 0 And1 with a number number of key injuries already starting to build up so we will be diving into that first we're going to take a quick break do not go anywhere we will be right back looking for your daily fix of sports talk without having to pay for it gsmc Sports network is available on YouTube just search gsmc sports network get your fix of daily Sports talk shows on YouTube absolutely free NFL college football NBA m lb MMA UFC fantasy football and so much more gsmc Sports network has shows running all day long with new sports shows starting every two hours just like on your favorite Cable Sports channel except gsmc Sports network is absolutely free just search gsmc Sports Network on YouTube to catch one of your new favorite shows like the gsmc college football podcast Chip Shot football podcast hoops and heels women's sports podcast gsmc basketball podcast and so many more check it out for yourself gsmc Sports Network now available on YouTube absolutely free search gsmc Sports Network on YouTube right now welcome back into the gsmc sports podcast as we are now going to be diving into where the Los Angeles Rams currently stand as already it has been a very eventful start to the season for them they played their week one game on Sunday night football against the Detroit Lions and they I mean it's I would probably be doing them a little bit of a disservice to just say that they hung in there they made it to overtime so they were 100% in the game they were leading with a few minutes left so again I'm not trying to downplay what they did whatsoever but it kind of felt like it was them hanging in there considering the fact that they were just dealing with so many injuries headed into the game already they were without their starting left tackle in Aller Jackson who was dealing with a her who is going to miss the first two games of the season with a suspension and things only sort of seem to get worse from there both both their starting left tackle in this game in Joe noboom and their starting offensive guard in Steve Aila ended up being ruled out of this game after it kicked off and then a additionally they have both been placed on IR along with of course star wide receiver puka nkua so it led to you know an offense that was a little bit one-dimensional I mean Aiden Hutchinson was just causing absolute Havoc for that Rams team he was in the face of Matthew Stafford what felt like every single dropback and I thought that he looked like the most dominant defensive player in all of the NFL for week one but that does mean that you know with all of these injuries piling up on the offensive side of the ball for the Rams they're going to have to make adjustments because there's no way that they can just run out with the same exact game plan now we'll we'll see what sorts of changes they could potentially be making to you know that starting offensive line the left tackle position was a huge area of concern for them where it was AR Aria I believe was the one who was you know taking over a lot of the Reps there that I still don't think it's all that confident which means that McVey the strategist that he is he is probably going to be looking to get a lot of quick routes out having these plays be snap fast that it isn't allowing opposing teams to put pressure on Stafford I mean Stafford took some hits in that Sunday night game that I'm sure at this point they are just trying to avoid at all costs but what obviously hurts all of that is the fact that puka nakua has been placed on the IR and Shawn McVey spoke earlier this week and said that it could last potentially even longer than that which is a brutal sign for Rams Fans especially for Fantasy Football owners that puko was sort of the darling last year obviously coming out of nowhere the former six round pick ended up putting together what was statistically the best rookie wide receiver season in NFL history so knowing that that has sort of knocked them down a peg so early is definitely demoralizing to some degree now on the other end of that some The Show Must Go On and somebody is going to have to step up and take over the role now what we saw in week one was it really just being Cooper cup but that being said I mean 21 Targets on a game to game basis that can't be all that you have and I think that it means a couple things here again the fact that puka is out means that you have the likes of Demarcus Robinson and Tyler Johnson who showed a lot of flashes in this in Sunday's game with some big time plays does maybe seem like he could emerge for them I think there's a lot of unknown there there has been a lot of love surrounding wide receiver 22 Atwell as well during the off season in terms of the strides that he's been making since they took him a couple years ago in the 2021 draft that maybe you know just out of the slot especially he could take on a little bit more of a more of a workload we'll see there I really don't feel great about the depth of the Rams wide receivers anyways again they're fine options but I mean the the biggest impact from a fantasy football perspective is Cooper cup is going to probably be as long as you know he stays healthy and as long as Matthew Stafford can actually stay upright in the pocket that Cooper cup is going to emerge as probably the number one wide receiver for at least the few the next few weeks until there are other real options for the Rams now I think that the other way that this could play into things is the fact that Kiren Williams I think that he could look to maybe get more carries I believe it was 13 in the week one matchup against the Rams part of the issue there it was 18 carries excuse me but part of the issue there is that the offensive line just looked so bad and now that is a little bit of a revamped Lions defense that their strength is in the front seven so that's a tough matchup there now they're coming into Arizona this up coming week which I think it's a lot more favorable there like I mentioned in the last segment I think that Kiren Williams does have really high upside this week from a fantasy football perspective I do also worry though that is he actually going to have the running Lanes I think that he'll be a lot more of a must start in PPR leagues because like I mentioned it's probably going to be a lot of quick action for the Rams this upcoming week and I think that Kiren Williams he ended up having three receptions in Sunday night's game and that might even take a step up I could see a lot of screen game being being intertwined into the Rams offensive game plan for this upcoming week so I think the Kiren Williams from a fantasy football perspective also does at least somewhat benefit from the way that things have broken out here but I still don't feel great about it because of that offensive line now fantasy football aside talking bigger picture here with the Rams this is a problem for them and injuries were something that were already a little bit of a concern to me fair or unfair but with Matthew Stafford and Cooper cup as they sort of start to age more they've had significant injuries in the past couple Seasons that I was already a little bit more down on the Rams than a lot of people were now again the fact that they were able to stay in that game against the the Lions this past weekend does was just a little bit of a reminder of okay well this is still a very well-run organization from top to bottom and you look at the way that that defense was able to face off against one of the best offenses from 2023 and being able to hang in there is just a a great look for Chris schula the newly appointed defensive coordinator and again just the infrastructure of you have all of these young defensive talents they went out they drafted the some defensive linemen with their first two picks in Jared verse and Braden Fisk I I thought the verse looked pretty good for the most part one thing I talked about this in my episode yesterday that I think the verse is going to need to be better against the Run got caught with a lack of discipline a couple times during that game that resulted in some big lions runs but you know as far as a pass rushing standpoint I thought that he had a pretty good debut for himself you look at the likes of Christian roseboom had and Troy reader both had pretty good games for them and again this is a team that you look up and down the roster it's not like there are a ton of H household names on that defense but I kind of just trust the RS to be able to be a good organization and find talent and develop Talent not just you know Talent from a player standpoint but you look at the list of coaches as well that have sort of come from that McVey tree as well it is you know very very interesting to see how all of this functions so all that being said in terms of what it means for the ram so they are going to be without puka AA for at least the next four weeks and then we'll see with the offensive lineman as well now again important to note that Noteboom or not not yeah Joe Noteboom wasn't even intended to be their starting left tackle anyways that Aller Jackson is going to come back after this game at Arizona that that can sort of help Shore them up ultimately they have an early bye that actually probably goes in their favor where their upcoming schedule it is at Arizona this week then verse S Francisco obviously a very tough divisional matchup at Chicago and verse Green Bay that might not even have Jordan love at that point that it to me it feels like you can get at least two games out of that stretch and stay in the mix possibly even come out of it with a winning record now we'll have to see I do think that Chicago is going to be better than what they showed this past weekend that the offense is going to start to to develop and that is a very tough defense at Arizona is interesting this upcoming week as well because while the Cardinals were definitely messy on the defensive side of the ball they're a team that I I like Zack Ganon a lot their head coach as a defensive strategist I think that he's sort of feeling out what he has on the roster right now and they should in theory be better than what they showed this past weekend also for whatever it's worth playing Josh Allen who just makes things happen that is never going to be an easy matchup so you know it's really this next four game stretch that I think is going to be borderline maker break for the Rams now that being said when we talked about their season preview earlier about it was at this point now is about a month ago I think that the second half of their schedule they do have a lot more favorable games especially coming out of that bye where you're at home against the Raiders at home against the Vikings at Seattle you have New England in there as well that you know you can sort of talk yourself into some wins especially from the perspective if you're going with Shawn McVey is just a better Coach than you know any any of those teams that he is going to be facing that you can talk yourself into it but I think there is some real cause for concern for the Rams I didn't have them as a playoff team this year and I'm I not that I'm rooting against them by any means but you know I I kind of feel like it's trending in that direction anyways if they can't sort of overcome some of these key injuries that have taken place for them but let me know what your thoughts are in the comments section on that one um but we are now going to be talking about one of those teams we just mentioned as well the Green Bay Packers dealing with the most impactful injury really that we've seen across the NFL based off of week one in that Jordan love is go expected to miss several weeks with an MCL Sprain and we are going to be talking about whether or not the Packers are going to be able to respond to a loss in week one and moving forward here what things look like for the Packers are they still going to be able to hang in this just you know for these next few weeks while Jordan love is out so we will be discussing that but first we are going to be taking a quick break do not go anywhere we will be right back for the best and latest podcasts available anywhere go to the podcast app on your cell phone and type in gsmc to access free content podcasts on health and wellness book reviews Sports entertainment relationships social media movies technology finance and even weird news subscribe and download the gsmc podcast Network's family of shows available everywhere podcasts are found welcome back into the gsmc sports podcast as we are now going to be diving into what things look like moving forward here for the Green Bay Packers considering the fact that starting quarterback Jord love did suffer in in MCL sprain in week one on right at the end of the game against the Philadelphia Eagles super unfortunate the way that that played out just got rolled up on a little bit in a collision with Jaylen Carter and Josh sweat so the good news is that he's not expected to require surgery the bad news though the Packers are already o and one and are going to be without their starting quarterback for three or four weeks and ultimately you know it's still the beginning of the Season whole lot of football left to play but we have seen a trend that digging yourself into an 0 and2 0 and3 hole can be detrimental to A team's ability to make a playoff run at the end ESPN put out a stat since 2019 there have only been two teams to make the playoffs since starting 0 and2 that was the Bengals in 2022 and the Texans last year so we've also seen it happen in each of the past two seasons and the Packers are a good enough roster that I think they're more than capable of being able to get hot towards the end of the season but but as for now they're going to be without Jordan love and they are moving forward here at least for the time being with Malik Willis who they just traded for just over two weeks ago from the Tennessee Titans and Willis doesn't doesn't inspire me all that much as a quarterback he's somebody that I definitely had some sneaky stock in coming into the NFL out of Liberty that I thought it would be fun he is somebody who can at least provide you know if he could ever develop as a passer he does have a running game behind him as well so that's something that I would probably anticipate especially as Willis doesn't even really know the system all that well for green Bay that I feel like they're probably going to try and rely on his legs a little bit more but we we we'll see how that works you know this is a team that at honestly at least has a ton of different wide receiver options for him that it's not like you have to have this perfect rapport with the number one wide receiver that Matt laflor talked about it in the offseason he feels like they have a bunch of different wide receiver ones from Jaden Reed Christian Watson davien Wix all of these different players for them not to mention some depth at the tight end position that he Romeo dos I didn't even mention like they feel like there are a number of guys who can just get open for them and that's probably a good sign for Willis who isn't going to be hyper fixated on feeding one player in particular that not that they're probably going to ask him to be totally spreading the ball around but you can kind of just take what's in front of you from that perspective and I do think that that's a benefit for the Packers also the fact that they should have a pretty good run game this upcoming season with Josh Jacobs in the backfield I'm a huge fan of him I I love Aaron Jones as well but I think that Josh Jacobs even probably provides a little bit more in the passing game additionally so maybe a an improved checkdown option there as well at the running back position that again Willis just needs to sort of play Within the system not make any huge mistakes the Packers I would say defensively I mean I'm not I'm not in love with them defensively they have some good players especially in that secondary Edan Cooper the linebacker that they drafted in two in this past year's draft I believe it was the second round he looked pretty good in the season debut against the Eagles last week so again I think that he just needs to sort of play calm and not get ahead of himself and he could definitely stumble into some wins here because it's not like it's this you know massive tough schedule in front of them this upcoming week they are at home against the Indianapolis Colts the Colts are a tough team absolutely I wouldn't consider them World beaters by any means and I think that there's a lot of inconsistency as much as Anthony Richardson I am fascinated by in terms of him being a prospect I don't think that he's somebody that you know you have to be extremely terrified with like he is going to make mistakes throughout a game the Packers are just going to need to capitalize on those opportunities I don't love their chances in that game I think I looked earlier and the Colts appear to be two and a half Point favorites like that's probably not bad value for the Packers but that being said how much are you at like are you actually going to be willing to put money you know for up for risk on Malik Willis I think that that's a very risky bet but again I'm just saying I think the Packers can keep things close against the Colts at home this upcoming week then week three they are at the Tennessee Titans which is another game I think the Titans are one of the bottom tier teams in the league and they should be able to you know I think that they can definitely hang in that game as well Malik Willis is actually former team so that probably it's interesting how you want to sort of analyze that as well I'm sure there will be some sort of gamesmanship the the thing is it probably more so benefits the Titans than it does Malik Willis what I'm getting at here is usually when these types of moves take place the Packers could just ask the Titans Okay well what do you know about you know the infrastructure of this team and everything but the Titans did just hire a new head coach in Brian Callahan this off season so I'm not sure quite how familiar Malik Willis is with their infrastructure there but I'm sure he's got some pointers that the Packers could maybe maybe take advantage of and then on the other side the Titans definitely have Intel on Malik Willis himself so I just think it's kind of funny and interesting how the schedule broke out that way considering these circumstances and then week four you are at home against the Vikings I think that's probably a tough game um I I mean we'll see maybe the Vikings were a little bit of fool's gold in week one they played the Giants which you do have to take into consideration obviously the fact that it's not like they made this huge statement game against one of the better teams in the NFL it's against the Giants so you know or yeah so we'll we'll see about that and then week five at the Rams which is probably a very tough matchup for them and I think I I you know we're predicting at this point now four weeks out I would assume that if Malik Willis is there probably a pretty shaky game for the Packers but you know just laying all of that out there that's probably at least from what the early reporting on this Jordan love situation has been that's probably the latest Jordan love would be out and there is at least one or two winnable games in that stretch so my sort of thought process here is the Packers need to be at least two and three coming out of this they have to pick up a couple wins because you know again I think that some of the stats about 0 and2 or anything like that like they can be skewed a little bit because it's like okay such a small percentage of 0 and2 teams actually make the playoffs well what percentage of those 0 and2 teams are actually really bad teams versus a team that's just dealing with an injury at the quarterback position but is overall still very talented overall and my art to that point I would say the majority of 0 and2 teams are probably 0 and2 caliber teams the Packers are definitely better than that in my opinion so I don't think it's a death sentence for them if they do you know sort of struggle out of the gates here now it doesn't help that they play in an NFC North that is pretty talented I had the Lions Packers and Bears all as playoff teams entering this season sure Bears didn't look great week one we'll see with that I'm still not selling all my stock just yet I'm a big believer in that defense and if Caleb Williams comes along then I think they should be set up pretty well the Vikings though kind of surprise people with week one again don't want to get overly ahead of myself because they beat the Giants but you know the Vikings are a team that anytime anybody goes to Minnesota in that Dome I think that it is a very tough outing and I really do believe in Kevin oconnell as a head coach as well Sam darnold yeah sure they lose JJ McCarthy and all the wind gets sort of taken out of the sales with Minnesota but I don't know how much better JJ McCarthy would have been than Sam darnold for this season I don't think it's a real significant drop off if any sort of a drop off at all so that's kind of the I I I just think that generally speaking here the NFC North is very talented and that does make things a lot harder for the Packers to try and sort of climb their way back into the season if they in into the playoff hunt if they end up uh dropping a handful of games early on especially considering the fact that sharp football analysis has them with the sixth hardest schedule I believe it is in the entire NFL so that's not a great sign for them either I definitely have some concerns with the Packers and I you know to to sort of wrap this up cleanly I don't think it's a death sentence necessarily if the Packers do struggle out of the gates here I think they need to win at least two of their first five games and then they're going to have to hope that there is not a drop off with Jordan love immediately because it's a very tough schedule ahead of them and there is a real concern at least in my eyes in terms of them having to fight uphill against this Division and in an NFC where I think it's going to take 10 wins to make the playoffs so let me know what your thoughts are in the comments section but we are going to be taking our final break here and when we come back on the other side we're going to be Switching gears from the NFL to college football foot and we are going to just be running through some of the biggest games in college football this upcoming weekend but before we do so we're going to take that quick break and we will be right back don't go anywhere [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] n [Music] [Music] welcome back into the gsmc sports podcast for our final segment of the day where we are going to be diving into the upcoming week of college football it does kick off tonight little bit more of a lackluster slate tonight you have a couple games Arizona State versus Texas state which from a competitive standpoint the line is even there so could get a good game there and then you have Northwestern State versus South Alabama so we're not going to spend any time on those games we're more so looking forward to I want to start with Friday night's game because I think it's actually you know two games that aren't necessarily A-list games but are definitely interesting to me and obviously we're not going to spend too much time here because obviously the Heavy Hitters and the A-list teams are more so on Saturday but you know sneaky good games on Friday could be one of the best matchups of the weekend in Arizona at Kansas State it is one of the two matchups between ranked teams this weekend other than BC versus Missouri which I don't really have a lot of confidence in being a great game uh from Massachusetts so it would be awesome to see BC actually you know pick pull off what would probably be the biggest win of my lifetime but don't don't necessarily see that happening although Missouri's offense has looked a little bit slow out of the gates there but you know as for this Arizona Kansas State game two of the top teams in the Big 12 this won't actually be a classified as an interner conference game because of the you know re time it takes for realignment but for anybody who hasn't watched Arizona this year T McMillan is one of the be is in my opinion probably the best wide receiver in the country as a whole and one of the best overall players in the game the off the offense last week didn't look great McMillan only caught two passes for 11 yards they only put up 21 points as a whole against Northern Arizona but they came away with the win ultimately that's all that really matters but they are absolutely going to need more production if they are going to go into Kansas State and pull off the win there now they have good running backs as well should have a pretty balanced ultimately attack there but we'll have to see can state is coming off of maybe the most exciting game that we have seen yet they had to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit to a feisty tolane team and it was the defense that they really leaned on to be able to come out of that in the fourth quarter fumble return touchdown that gave them the lead late in the game and then sealed it with a pick in the end zone from that that Daren Mena threw with 12 seconds left K State's been dealing with some injuries on the offensive line which is something to take into consideration here they are seven-point favorites so you know the Vegas is definitely leaning in the direction of Kate uh Carver Willis their starting right tackle is headed in the direction of being able to play so that's definitely a positive but I think this is a game that we could just see two good offenses facing off against one another not a bad you know Friday night showing there and the other game quickly here Kansas versus UNLV Kansas coming off of a disappointing loss to Illinois as they drop out of the top 25 The Jayhawks LED 17-13 entering the fourth quarter but their offense just went stagnant Illinois scored the go-ahead touchdown with 9 and a half minutes left and their offense was just unable to respond they end up losing the game 23-17 we know Kansas can run the ball Devon Neil is a monster of a running back he's averaging 9.7 yards per carry on 22 attempts through the first couple games here Jaylen Daniels can also give you something in the Run game but in order for Kansas to sort of live up to expectations he he has to be better four interceptions in the first two games not a great sign somebody coming off of injury maybe that's a part of it for sure but that being said you know need to see him take steps in the right direction for Kansas and Lance Lio to be able to you know get themselves back into the mix here now they're set to host UNLV who handed it to Houston in week one beat them on the road there the same Houston that just went toe-to-toe at Oklahoma last week so ultimately a pretty impressive win there and then they absolutely ran through Utah Tech in a 72 to4 win last week so this is this should be a bounceback spot for Kansas they're at home but UNLV is definitely not an easy out so this is a key game for Kansas and I think especially so for Jaylen Daniels now we'll dive into the Saturday games few compelling matchups in the noon window that's really where my main focus is personally Alabama at Wisconsin LSU at South Carolina and Memphis at Florida State Bama Wisconsin if you watched the USF vers Bama game last week the final score uh if you didn't watch that game the final score lies to you a little bit it was a 21-6 game halfway through the fourth quarter before Alabama was able to Rattle off three quick touchdowns with some explosive plays Ryan Williams in the air Jam Miller on the ground but that has sort of been the consistent theme with Bama since Jaylen milro is taken over that they are sort of riant on those explosive plays and we haven't really seen these methodical drives yet which is something that is definitely going to need to change if Wisconsin is able to sort of limit those big plays like that then you know and you're making Bama actually drive down the field on you I think there's a lot more rooms for mistakes because mistakes were a big part of why that USF game was even close Bama was flagged 13 times for a total of 120 penalty yards they hurt themselves with negative plays three turnovers off of three fumbles so you know Bama definitely needs to clean this themselves up it's definitely possible but you know this is sort of again where we talk about this idea of Jaylen milroe what can he bring you a consistency at that quarterback position we know he can let it rip they now seem to have you know their next explosive gamebreaking wide receiver in Ryan Williams But ultimately I there are still real concerns with Jaylen milro for whatever it's worth um but on the other side here if Wisconsin wants to win it is limiting those explosive plays and Tyler van djk is going to need to take advantage of what is still a pretty inexperienced secondary in bama now they always have the recruits and such and I'm sure a lot of these players will turn into Big Time Players for them but ultimately you know there's there's not a lot of starting experience there and ultimately I think that it's some it's something that can be taken advantage of I don't know if Wisconsin's necessarily the team to be able to do so but it is something to take into consideration and he is Tyler van djk is going to have to sort of test bamama downfield and you know really show out for them LSU versus South Carolina at this point for LS not a whole lot of wiggle room for them after losing the season opener to USC a game that I think that they should have won but ultimately let it slip away from them this is a very interesting matchup if you're a little bit more of a football junkie and you know if you're looking for a super highflying offense we'll see about that it's possible I do think that LSU has a chance every week to go and put out points on you I'm a Believer in Garrett nus me I think they have a number of different options as well um from a receiving standpoint but this is an excellent defensive line in South Carolina versus probably the best offensive line in the SEC you know I'd say best o line versus best D line in the SEC Will Campbell and Emory Jones the two tackles for LSU that will probably be first round draft picks in 2025 on the other side of the ball you have Dylan Stewart who's been a revelation for the team true freshman making an immediate impact him and other Edge rusher Kyle Canard have combined for six sacks in the first two games of the season it's going to be really interesting to see um those the the tackles versus the edges we're probably going to get those matchups and this is you know NFL scouting worthy matchups here that should be a lot of fun to watch on the side of South Carolina here Lenora sers is still sort of settling into his freshman season now he gets this game at home which is big for him because this is probably the biggest game of his career up to this point and I think that that will make things at least somewhat easier also facing a secondary in LSU that I do think you can throw against it's just a matter of you know what it's it's it requires you know really high quarterback play as well to be able to sort of overcome what is a pretty nasty front seven for LSU be able to hang in there and then make the throws downfield I'm not sure whether or not that's going to be the case for them we're seeing South Carolina out of the gates sort of struggle to establish that run game Rocket Sanders is a good back for them but you know he has the most carries in I believe the entire country at 37 through the first two games but they haven't had much success in that department yet and this is a game against LSU where you know again very tough front seven there so this seems like an unlikely breakout spot I'm pretty confident in LSU here but you know in SEC matchup should be a lot of fun to watch and then the last game that I really have circled here is Memphis versus Florida State and this is I mean at this point season's already lost for Florida State but this is where you can just sort of have a better evaluation of okay is this program you know entirely falling apart or was it just a really Rocky start to the season because realistically Florida State it would require them to run the table the rest of the year to actually win the ACC and make the playoffs that feels at least to me out of the picture but I mean technically they're not fully out of it yet and I'm just curious to see you know what types of develop ments and adjustments that Florida State can make because the way that they came out of the gates this season was just entirely unacceptable against two teams that you know just ran the ball down your throat and we talked about this before they're good rushing teams both Georgia Tech and Boston College but you know that they're coming into that game with the intent to run the ball and being unable to stop that is truly just unacceptable in my opinion and obviously the Personnel isn't as good as it was last year where defense was the calling card of the seminal and the offense hasn't lived up to expectations obviously DJ ouang G shoulders a lot of the blame but goes beyond just him not being as good as sort of people were hoping to expect there they've gotten no production out of the running game even though I think that Lawrence Toof and royell Williams are two good running backs nobody has really emerged for them from a wide receiver perspective perspective drops have really hurtt them the past couple weeks um maybe jaai Douglas it seems like at times has you know been there for this Florida State passing offense but you know has been nowhere near good enough and now they have a matchup at home against the Memphis team that is definitely nobody to sort of overlook this is a team that thinks that they maybe have a chance an outside shot at being the fifth highest ranked conference winner and potentially stealing that playoff spot in the upcoming year we'll see about that I feel like you know it's this point we're a long ways away from that a whole lot can happen in terms of highest ranked fifth conference champ but know this is this is every game is a must-win now for Florida State so that would be sort of irresponsible to just call it that but I'm just more Curious in sort of what adjustments is Florida State making within house in order to improve week after week or is this entire season already just lost on them and they're going to punt which I hope isn't the case but we'll have to see there but that is all the time we have for today thank you very much for tuning in the gsmc sports podcast thank you to the gsmc sports network for allowing us to host this show remember to like follow subscribe wherever you keep up with us be sure to check us out on social media as well for more exclusive short content and we will be back tomorrow afternoon same time as always at 2:00 p.m. Eastern we will see you then take care let's go I wake up to a little bit of drool up my pill feel like it's going to be a bad day I'm tired of and the coffee ain't hit yet damn ain't that great