Week 1 Fantasy Football Rankings! | Who You Should Start, Sit, Cut and More!

oh [Music] w [Music] oh [Music] what [Music] hello and welcome to the fantasy live show football is back let's go everybody happy freaking Thursday and yes it is indeed a great day to be great I'm your host Ian har it's fantastic show on the dock we got you know some news to discuss and then all sorts of start sick questions propaganda coming your way and joining me today not just join the rock McFarland but also Matthew Freeman AKA Matt F the Oracle that's right that little kid you saw in the league back in the day is actually now this grown man sitting with us today so Freeman welcome to the show yeah always great to uh join you guys and talk some football and I mean week one is finally here and uh I mean of course we're going to talk about it but week two I mean that's that's where it's really at you just already dis missing with what's this guy's deal I look it's Freeman and it's why we love him and we appreciate him for who he is uh all of his flaws he does also guys have redeeming qualities you're going to see them later in the show he just doesn't always lead off with them um it is a great day to be great though hardit we do have football it's in the air I I did a little math before the show just to check my Rashi rice exposure across all of my fantasy football teams I'm about $5,000 in so what could go wrong uh this could be a great night tonight I if Rashid rice goes off you know for seven catches 110 yards and a touchdown we'll be really happy if the injury Gods somehow were to strike like I may not be on the show tomorrow so I love putting all my eggs in a basket like this it's really really sharp on my part Rashid rice sent out a cool looking tweet of himself saying Calm before you know the storm and then Hollywood BR said your performance will feed Fe families tomorrow brother and those families is spe specifically the McFarland household so great stuff here we're excited for week one fren's excited for week two and guess what we are all excited about the options that fantasy life plus presents what a freaking segue from your boy but yeah guys Fantasy Life plus our premium product over here at Fantasy Life you got your draft you got your teams but now if you're anything like me you have way too many of them to manage and you could use just a little bit of help and that's where Fantasy Life plus comes into play our start sit tool waer wire Fab recommendations consensus rankings projections DS utilization tool Suite all that and so much more again not trying to break your bank account tier one package under $40 per year in tier two is far less than a Chipotle burrito per month which again I maintain lower your freaking prices guys because I got to find a new metaphor for that one so fanasy life plus check it out time for some news gentlemen namely yes that's right the consensus you know number three wide receiver for most of the offseason Jamar Chase finally returned to practice now things aren't exactly Done Yet officially listed as limited fantastic tweet by Underdog NFL saying that the reason was bag chasing and yes we also heard from Ian raport that they have not you know reached a final conclusion but he's back at practice which presumably is a good sign for him getting out there in week one so Dwayne are we pretty confident now that chase is going to be out there come Sunday I don't know I mean it was a limited practice they're still saying they don't know I I I have no clue what to think about it like I'm I'm preparing as though Jamar Chase is going to be out there I'm going to have in my lineup but I also have contingency plans in place uh I do have quite a few Jamar Chase shares as well because uh I'm I'm a bit of a gambler like when he's falling to the end of round one I was like fine I'm just gonna take Jamar Chase if he misses two games like I'll live with it um I would love to see a deal get done today I know I saw you know earlier today hey one year ago today Joe burrow got the new biggest quarterback contract maybe they're about to do the same with Jamar chase today I know that's all just speculation but yeah that would it would be good news just to have him signed hardens Freeman rapy said the Bengals have made significant offers in quote unquote somewhat in the neighborhood of what he wants wouldn't describe this as close but it's at least close enough to practice Yeah that that helps a lot here Freeman how confident are you that we do see Jamar chase out there in week one against the Patriots I have no confidence in anything except for the fact that I bet under uh five and a half receptions for Rashid rice for week one sorry about that uh sorry about that Dwayne really sorry but I will say if you look at the betting Market the betting Market is positioning itself as if Jamar Chase is unlikely to play this line was uh Bengals favored by nine uh a couple of weeks ago it dropped down to seven and a half it has ticked back up to eight as if maybe it's likelier now than it was a week ago that Jamar Chase plays but it is still not baked in as if uh it you know is a certainty that Jamar Chase plays the way that it was a few weeks ago yeah this is one of those matchups where I'm pretty sure I ranked it dead last in my entertainment rankings in week one again I'm never going to be the guy that says oh look at this horrible football game on TV CU a bad football game is better than no football out there but yeah guys game total 41 lowly points tied for the second lowest Mark in all of week one the other big news that shook the Fantasy Football World to its core that's right Kyle pittz is already injured his hamstring hurts guys and yeah doesn't seem like the biggest of deals head coach Rahe Morris did say that it's been a thing that happened a couple of weeks ago and quote unquote it hasn't really affected him too much also said that there is no concern for him that said Dwayne we don't like seeing players that we use a fairly high draft pick in on the injury report already with a hamstring issue are you adjusting any ranks after getting this news well the problem with it is like you kind of hit that tier break I guess if you wanted to slip him below Evan Ingram like that would be fine like if you're if you're kind of coming into a tiebreaker sort of situ ation I still think Kyle pitts's ceiling is higher than Evan Ingram but the floor is definitely higher for you know Evan Ingram like Pitts has the ceiling Ingram's going to give you the floor um you know obviously we talked about his splits yesterday with and without Christian Kirk we know that uh when Kirk's out of the lineup Ingram really shines but he's still a good player like you can start him every week as you're starting tight end he'll be a mid-range tight end one so I'm not adjusting it but if folks are just a little bit leery I am with you hard it's like ideally you don't want to be taking players with any sort sort of injury at this point in the year uh hamstrings can be a bit tricky but overall the news isn't terrible like okay limited sounds like something theyve probably already been working him back from for two weeks if I heard he pulled his hamstring yesterday in practice and went from Full to limited I'd be a lot more worried about Kyle Pitts in week one Pitts himself does not seem overly concerned went to Twitter to say dang two L's plays in a rack got y'all concerned I'll see you all on Sunday so Freeman certainly sounds like he will be out there but if I had to list Kyle Pitts Evan Ingram and Tamm Hill you know we'll say kill start and go on a date with how would you kind of deal with that one Freeman I mean if we're if we're thinking of week one versus the season I'm going to say this is week one I mean Kyle pittz when we were drafting him he was the tight in five tight end six now I'm looking at our rankings at Fantasy Life we have him as the tight end eight like he's dropped down a couple of spots and some of this could just be the matchup but some of it is also like hey you know the hamstring issue for a guy who has had injury problems the last two years maybe we need to be just a little bit more cautious about this than we ordinarily would be Freeman just said I am not going anywhere near that question so I respect it Tamm Hill is the lowest one in the Rings pits still the highest but I am with Dwayne ahead that Dolphins Jaguars potential shootout would not blame anyone if they do want to just take the guy who again isn't actively dealing with a hamstring problem and finally guys you all may have heard yeah football's back we got Chiefs and the Ravens going down in Arrowhead against rematch of the AFC Championship Chiefs have held steady as three-point favorites game total resting at a pretty high 47 points over there so Freeman what are you most excited about on this Thursday night B and unders kicker props what we got oh man uh the under does intrigue as you guys almost certainly know but the Ravens as underdogs Lamar Jackson as an underdog 12-2 against the spread for his career uh nine and5 on the money line as an underdog for his career with a smoking hot 61% return on investment I'm curious to see if we end up seeing Lamar Jackson actually get some Revenge you know hashtag revenge for what happened in the AFC Championship game but uh just excited to see some football and also excited to see if that Chief's offense is able to rebound like it's not going to be the number 15 offense in scoring but is it going to be the number one offense the way it was the year prior so just curious to see how lethal that uh that Chiefs offense actually is in week one you know fantasy starter of note to note that is out Hollywood brown with that shoulder injury as expected so Dwayne rased rice starting a fantasy football lineups of all shapes and sizes anything else that you want to point out for this again electric Thursday night kickoff matchup no I'm just super excited that it's that it's back but super excited to see Derrik Henry in the Ravens offense the last time again we saw this matchup it was a pass heavy approach from the Ravens I think we heard Harbaugh after the game essentially say yeah never again what they do they go out and they sign Derrick Henry I'm not saying a running back's going to change a team's whole fortunes but he is going to be more valuable to the Ravens than he would be to many other teams because of the combo of Lamar and Derrick Henry and that's how you attack the Chiefs so I think we're going to see a lot more rushing from the Ravens tonight and then trying to hit the big plays in the passing game I'm curious to see if Justin Tucker decides to be a bit of a [ __ ] again and warm up in front of the entire Chief's offense as they're trying to get ready fun fact everyone Justin Tucker has made two of his last six field goals over 50 yards 11 of his last 20 is he a fraud is he washed things that maybe people should be asking a little bit more often and that is the last time I'll be talking about kickers for the rest of week one and maybe eternity so good stuff there gentlemen now I'll just have a few you know rapid fire news tidbits to get to you guys before we get on with the rest of our show because we have practice reports rolling in hot and heavy a lot of good injury information out there so practicing in full puka AA Curtis Samuel Jamir Gibbs and Tyrone Tracy when we're seeing them start the week with a full practice yes we do fully expect them to suit up come this weekend Limited in practice got to keep a bit more of an eye on them DeAndre Hopkins with that knee injury Keenan Allen dealing with a heel Tyler Locka with a thigh Noah Fant with a toe and my Sanders with a finger so we'll see if they can get up to a full practice and don't worry Dwayne and I will be back on every Friday to go through all the pertinent fantasy football injuries to know about as well also limited was Jordan Addison with an ankle however head coach Kevin oconnell did say that he hopes to progress him the full by the end of the week and he feels pretty good about him playing particularly important with number three Vikings wide receiver Jaylen Naylor also limited with an ankle issue Antonio Pierce did confirmed that Brock Bowers will play in week one despite having that foot injury love to see that and yeah other guys that were not listening on the injury report at all AKA they are playing Justin Herbert deshaan Watson Kurt Cousins to Kobe brassette Tyreek Hill and jayen Wadd so love to see that uh Todd Bulls talking about his running back room says it's going to be a game by- game basis and will go with the hot hand maybe not quite the same sort of warhorse Rashad white show that we're used to yes that is Bucky Irving's music you are hearing also three good notes from the athletic we had Zack Rosen blot saying that Mike Williams is going to play a limited role to start the season AKA Dwayne's favorite wide receiver Alan Lazard getting a fair share of reps early on uh Chiefs reporter Nate Taylor says SJ p r Ro will be the one Jerick McKinnon had the last two seasons just realize guys that role had five carries and 2.7 targets per game last year so pretty sure peo is still going to get fed plenty of touches and an offense that again we expect to score plenty of points and finally per the Athletics Paul denner Cincinnati will not put Jermaine Burton out there or even make him active on game day until they feel comfortable that he is preparing for meetings will be in the right spots and can be trusted by the QB they said that sounds far I'm sorry Paul said it's more likely to be a red shirt year uh than anything else so as Dwayne so eloquently treated jary Burton really got that dog house in him going on so great stuff there everyone that's the news and before we keep on going time pay a little bit of homage calling all Fantasy Football Fanatics the season is finally here draft rankings are being overanalyzed keeper decisions are being made and sleepers are being shortlisted but how about your fantasy football fit I know I'm feeling great about my homage shirt Straight Cash homie Randy Moss it's comfortable it makes me seem cooler than I actually am in real life and that's what omage is really here to do at the end of the day amage is super soft Ultra comfortable NFL player apparel is a first round pick that is sure to make your fellow managers jealous and allow you to Glow In Style all season long from past that stuffing Legends to the current crop of fantasy studs helping you to secure this year's championship they've got everything you need to gear up for the new season check out homage.com that's h m a g.com fantasy to reveal their top ranked officially licensed player te's so you can rep your fantasy team with pride be sure to use promo code life for an exclusive discount for Fantasy Life listeners pay homage Dwayne you got your lovely critically acclaimed rankings up on fancy life.com and one of the things you're doing this year is kind of going through the positions and giving a smash a fade and a sicko start which is a nice way of saying like no this guy isn't ranked too highly but it's one of those you could imagine if he actually does go out there because there's a few things you like about it so without further Ado let's get into your quarterbacks your smashing CJ stoud your fading Dak Prescott and your sicko start Sam darnold elaborate a little bit there yeah I mean for strout look you drafted him you're starting him but it's still it's still fun to kind of go back and look at like how good CJ strout actually is so if you look at his 274 passing yards per game and 1.5 touchdowns per game last year Ian and then we go back we look at history all the way back to 2011 and we look at the quarterbacks that have thrown for over 270 yards per game in their first season most of these are rookies two of them rookies Justin Herbert 289 Andrew Luck 273 I said first season for a reason because Patrick Mahomes didn't get to start until his second season he aage 319 passing yards per game but not a bad Club to be in now he add Stefon Diggs to the mix you get tank Dell back from injury we already know Nico Collins got the big contract this offseason an absolutely loaded offense and then we also obviously have a great game environment here okay if you have a good passing attack you're probably going to have a high team total which they do 26.25 points that's the third highest team total on the Slate this weekend so we're expecting a lot of points here and it's a competitive game right we're talking about a game where it's only a three-point difference between the two teams against against the Colts and then if we look at the Colts defense they didn't really make that many changes in their secondary this season and 250 252 yards allowed per game last year so it's a big matchup as well so anytime you click all three of those boxes you're going to be a smash play and then if you look at Dak Prescott it's the opposite um Prescott yes we know he's a good player we know he's passed for a lot of yards all those things are there Prescott's still fine for the season but in week one he's got to play a Browns defense Ian this returning most of their starters they allowed only 191 passing yards per game last year that was the third fewest and then if you look at defense versus position which is a great tool we have over at Fantasy Life guys you can go check it out and you can see how each defense has performed fantasy points wise against all the different positions only 15 fantasy points per game allowed last season that's the fourth Fest and the Cowboys who typically have a really good team total this is showing up because there is respect for the Browns defense in Vegas 19.75 projected points for this game that is the fifth lowest on the Slate that's a really low number for the Cowboys guys so a lot of respect here to the Browns who have miles Garrett and zidus Smith they're going to be bringing the pressure Cowboys are going to have to operate without Tyron Smith now they did add a first round tackle and Tyron has missed time but yes I do have Dak as a downgrade I I would start Tua I would start gof I would start Caleb Williams I would start Matthew Stafford I would start all of those quarterbacks over Dak this weekend and then you mentioned it the sicko start I'm not saying you guys have to go out and do this but if you're in a sicko League like you know you're in a sicko League there's no one on the waiver wire you guys are flexing like three players you might have a superlex which is an extra quarterback you know if you're in a sicko league and if you are my name for you this weekend is Sam darnold if you look at our projection model he came in as the QB 17 which was ahead of Dak Prescott that was ahead of Kurt Cousins yeah he's only averaged 211 yards per game in healthy games for his career so when you see his 245 projected yards in our model you're probably thinking that's a little bit unhinged and I thought it too when I first looked at it but then I looked at the matchup they're playing against the Giants I don't know if you guys can even name the starting quarterbacks for the Giants but we've got Deontay Banks who ranked 110 out of 126 qualifiers at p over at PFF in coverage grade last year adori Jackson was 117 out of 126 and then they have a third round Nickelback and Andrew Phillips yeah hopefully Andrew Phillips is going to a great player in the NFL but those are three cornerbacks that no matter where Justin Jefferson Lines up he's going to be eating and oh by the way the Giants were one of the most I don't know why they were one of the most Man heavy coverage units last year now they are changing their defensive coordinator so I do expect some changes there so I think we're going to see some more Zone but still Justin Jefferson has a chance to smash in week one and when you get that that means that Sam darnold also has a chance to pay off in week one we've talked a little bit about how you know taking Jefferson's four gaml at the end of last year is a little bit you know screwy because again they did get that two layup matchups against the Man heavy Detroit Lions secondary and yeah suddenly looks like he's going to get another nice little layup here in week one so yes obviously you're starting Justin Jefferson lineups of every shape and size but if Addison's out there maybe a nice little Darkhorse spot for him and to Dwayne's point a sicko start there for Sam darn Freeman looking at this cowboys Browns game it is one of the few matchups where we have at least a little bit of weather concern Kevin Roth does fantastic work over at rotor Grinders and he is giving it a yellow rating which again isn't full-on red but is as we know how traffic lights work past green sustained winds around 10 to 15 miles per hour with gust reaching 20 miles per hour so other than CD lamb Freeman is there really anyone you're starting with confidence in this Browns Cowboys matchup not really I mean if you're uh in a sort of sicko situation maybe you hope Zeke falls into the end zone and you start him that way but I to totally Echo every Dwayne said about Dak Prescott here I like we know his splits he's great at home not as good on the road and then he's not just on the road he's outdoors in the road and what could possibly bad be bad weather going against a defense that last year had significant splits where it was just a killer unit at home not as good on the road so just an absolute terrible matchup here for the Cowboys uh definitely agree with Dwayne and then you know to CJ strad yeah smash uh he's got the best three wide receivers in the league in terms of a trio and then Sam darnold I thought about including him in fredman's favorites I didn't know if I wanted to be that sicko that degenerate but totally agree with Dwayne you know you think Sam darnold maybe he's kind of like bottom tier like number 30 32 in terms of starting quarterbacks in the league this week he's probably on that qb2 qb3 borderline to where in super Flex leagues he's definitely in consideration Dwayne's projections for the Houston Texans wide receivers which you can find on fantasy life.com have niik Collins leading the way Stefon Diggs getting the second most targets and yards though and then yes in third tank D so I do not think Freeman is out of line This does look like the single best wide receiver Trio in the NFL with all due respect to what the Bears and some other squads are cooking with at the moment so again everyone starting CJ stra is a top eight consensus rank quarterback in our ranks for a reason Dak Prescott maybe get him a little bit of a seat on the bench I appreciate him going to Yahoo sports and telling fantasy managers don't put me in the super Flex put me in that qb1 spot sorry Dak not this week and then also again the six start Sam darnold against a Giants defense that yeah we are not overly respecting out here so good stuff there Mr McFarland now let's get to your again smash fade and sio start running back starting off with a smash Mr Joe Mixon someone that yeah people usually were able to draft in the third fourth maybe even a little bit later rounds of their fantasy drafts and all of a sudden way get the week one projections and oh yeah he's a Workhorse inside an offense we expect to score a hell of a lot of points rankings work and then when you get to week one and it's always a great question that you ask me even when we're drafting together sometimes harder you like yeah but where are you going to rank him in week one and at some point in your draft that really does matter like because you got to think about it there's a reason Joe Mixon went later in fantasy drafts you know in your home leagues he was going round three four and high stakes more expert type of drafts where the sickos are playing he's going in round five but the reason for that is because he is going to season which can be a cliff year for running backs we've already seen the drop off from an efficiency standpoint in you know his PFF Rush grade was 73.8 that was 26 out of 37 qualifying running backs last year Miss tackles Force ranked 35th out of 37 average yards after contact you know you think of Joe Mixon as being this really tough downhill Runner who can add value in that area he ranked 35th out of 37 backs there as well so those things are definitely issues but here's the thing that's already been going on with Mixon for two seasons now and guess what coaches still trust him they still want to give him the ball which is this thing that doesn't fit into our fantasy football spreadsheets and we've heard all of the Praises all offseason long from Bobby slowick so in week one I just don't worry about all that could those things could those underpinnings ultimately Doom Joe Mixon at some point this season and they decide maybe we need to give carries to another back like anything like that is possible but in week one that's not happening and you just mentioned it we've got a game that's expected to we're expected to see a ton of points we're going to have a guy getting plenty of carries inside the 5 yard line so yes whenever you look at him just project out his volume for week one Ian it's super hard to not find a way to get have this guy at least in your running back two spot he projects for the seventh most points of all Flex players that's looking at all wide receivers and all running backs and our Fantasy Life projection model for the weekend that makes him a smash play I have him as my number 12 player overall looking at all running backs wide receivers and tight ends together Dwayne and I both have mix in as our rb7 in terms of positional ranks Freeman rb6 so if you have anything mean you want to say about Dwayne's ranking or just him personally man the floor is yours no I mean I have lots of mean things I would love to say about Dwayne but we'll save that for off the air but in terms of of Mixon I will just say I'm too low on him you know and when I was riding up Freeman's favorites I was looking I was like yeah I got to include him and so when I update my rankings literally right after we record this show I have him as my rb16 now I think he's going to be closer to rb12 after I do the updates okay I was hoping to get some jack flying Stern but fair yeah everyone you should be starting Joe Mixon in fantasy lineups this week who should not be starting Dwayne is potentially zamir white going up against the Chargers defense that yeah we saw the Raiders drop you know 63 points on last year got some help you know on the DST side of things as well but man Dwayne like if we can't start zamir White against the Chargers who really can we feel good about him against and yeah maybe the answer is nobody yeah look I just don't see the reason to risk it was air White in week one because we got this weird utilization thing at the end of the preseason over those two games with the starters in the game they were really rotating him and Alexander Madison a lot more than what I think fantasy you know folks expected they both also stayed in the game after the starters left so it's almost like the coaching staff was like looking for hey one of you guys take this job and I don't think either one of them did so I think we could see a situation where we come out in week one man and what if it's 40% to each of these guys and an offense that we don't really like I think the Chargers defense is going to be way better than what people think especially against the Run look guys as much as Harbaugh likes to establish the run for his offense he likes to pile the box and stop it on his side of the ball so they're not going to let the Raiders run the football the best way to attack the Chargers last year was already through the air they've obviously made some improvements to their secondary but I also see the Raiders and I'm like you've got Brock Bowers you've got Devonte Adams you've got jacobe Meers I get it you got Gardner muu but the better way to attack the charger still might be through the air I just think there's a lot of unknowns here and I don't see a reason to try to force this in week one Ian for a for a team that's got 18.75 you know expected points right now you know as far as their team total if we're looking at the Vegas lions like I don't know that either one of these running backs is gonna have a chance to score a touchdown right so I just don't see a reason to to to force it was air white this week had a nice stretch run at the end of last year well I think people almost remember it being bigger than it actually was in their minds I mean over the last four games in terms of just PPR points RB 12 16 16 and then 20th because guess what it's hard to really rack up these monster finishes in full PPR scoring when yeah you aren't catching too many passes out there Freeman is there really anyone in this Raiders offense that interests you because again we love Adams Talent your Kobe Meyers dog Brock Bow's dog even zamir white okay he should be getting 15 plus carries out there so can we trust anyone because as much as harball and companies should be improving that Chargers defense not the most formid formidable gez that's a tough word opponent on the schedule yeah I mean I'm interested in Adams and we'll talk about him a little bit I will give a little bit of resistance to the zamir white fate I I agree with Dwayne's point that there's uncertainty here that is certainly the case uh and if at the end of week one we're like oh man Alexander Madison ended up taking like 48% of the snaps we are not going to feel good about zamir white but I still think based on what he did last year he is the front runner entering this year I think he's going to get know maybe 60 75 up in that range it's a wide range but you know percent of the carries in that offense and I think this is going to be an offense even when they're losing they're going to be running the ball way more than they should so I still think that makes air white a high-end rb3 but one with a really wide range of outcomes where if the if the floor just fell out that would not be a surprise at all Freedman so here's where I was at on this and so my thought would be like if I have to pick though on an uncertain Back Field like would I rather take a dip would I rather dip my toes in the waters of like the Zach Moss Chase Brown an actual good offense favored like largely in a game against the Patriots this weekend where they could just be running the ball by the second half you got chuba hubard you know similar situation but probably more of a lock to get carries in my opinion over my sanders who's now dealing with a finger injury we've got Tony Pard and Taj Spears both better players the zamir white and so ultimately that's how zamir white got pushed way down my ranks it's just as I got to any other situation where I thought there could be a split backfield which I think zir White's in that category now I agree that he is the favorite to lead the backfield but I think he's more in a bucket with those players now where we really could see that ambiguity on a week- toe basis so I just lean into the better offenses like I would start Brian Robinson Jr over him as well because I like the idea of Jaden Daniels paired with Brian Robinson Jr and I think there's more touchdown upside for the commanders this weekend so I do agree with what you're saying I just kind of got into this game where I was like well it's kind of the game we're going to play later right where we're cut where we're going to marry somebody we're going to cut somebody we're going to [ __ ] some bench somebody so I was like I just kept moving zamir white down moving zamir white down and that's how he landed where he's at yeah all of those guys you mentioned I have zamir white ranked ahead of all of them uh and the thing is I don't really disagree with what you're saying they are all in these uncertain situations it's just we've seen zamir white do it uh at the end of last season with the same coach that he has now so I'm just going to keep him ranked where he is but he's in a split backfield with Alexander Madison next week week two the all important week two I will have him much further down the ranks you guys can say you agree with each other all you want but at the end of the day Dwayne's got the man RV 33 Freeman's got him RV 25 so tighten up those gloves we got zamir white gangster you know going off here today so personally I have him rb27 not overly uh feeling at myself haven't been drafting much of him all offseason I do think though he is the Fairly clear running back I would be very surprised if we see Alexander Madison playing over 30% of the offensive snaps but again we'll see what happens that's what the utilization report is for at the end of the day Dwayne we're sticking with this game for your sicko start of the week that's right Chargers running back JK Dobbins and as you said uh yesterday yes the man has tore his ACL meniscus LCL hamstring and achilles since 2021 but this is where you go but he's only going to be 25 years old and before the injuries he was one of the most explosive backs in the NFL great tea up there hards uh 10 plus yard attempts 16% versus the NFL average of 10% so a very explosive back Miss tackles Force 20% versus 16% for the NFL average and then average yards after contact 3.3 versus 2.7 for the NFL average so if he's only 70 80% of that I think that JK Dobbins is going to smash this season it is a very you know ambiguous situation for week we have no clue really how this backfield is going to split up I've got it projected as basically 30 35% to Gus Edwards 30 35% to JK Dobbins and then a Sprinkle in of kammani videll so we'll see how it ultimately plays out but I do think there's a chance Ian that you come out you get Hoten Dobbins has looked really good in Camp all the reports have been glowing he's all over social media talking about how he's back he seems like a man on the mission so if there is a back that I'm picking from this Chargers backfield in week one to where we could look up at the the end of the day and we're like holy crap JK Dobbins just or a player just put up 20 points I think it's JK Dobbins like that would be my pick from this group I don't think I could really envision myself saying that about any of these other players so Dobbins is yes a sicko start if you in a crunch and you need a player that you got to put in that running back too or maybe one of your Flex spots I think Dobbins is a name you can consider Freeman our consensus ranks Dwayne and I have JK Dobbins over Gus Edwards but you was and then Paul church and all have Gus bus ahead of dobin so talk about how you see this backfield playing out yeah I mean this is the sign that you know it's week one nobody knows anything that's why I say I like week two because at least we have some information from week one I mean it's still a sample size of only one but at least we have something right now we really just have guesses and I I will agree but still slightly disagree with Dwayne's point I say if you're looking for ceiling JK doin is the guy within this offense to to Dwayne's point if if one of these running backs has like a a Le winning type of week uh 20 points for Fantasy it is JK dobins I would say it is likelier though that Gus Edwards ends up leading the backfield and Carries this week uh and both of those things could be true like Gus Edwards could have uh you know 12 carries JK Dobbins could have 10 and still end up outscoring him like that could end up being the case but I do think we see Edwards lead the backfield but again it's week one no one knows anything especially with the Chargers in this back field and more fantasy lineups and not Gus Edwards or JK dobins no you should have someone better to start out there but yeah you could imagine once we find out who the guy's going to be to Freeman's Point hopefully by as soon as week two then maybe we can get excited about a run first offense under Harbaugh and Greg Roman so good stuff theirs guys now we're gonna go through some of Freeman's favorites right after a quick word to our friends over at DraftKings Draft Kings there it is hey everyone with the football season kicking off it's the perfect time to dive into the action with our partners at DraftKings the number one place to bet on touchdowns and right now all new customers who bet $5 will instantly get $250 in bonus bets plus get one month of NFL Plus premium on us that is something we can all celebrate download draftking Sportsbook app today and sign up using our promo code Fantasy Life the crown is yours and stay in on the action and use your $250 in bonus bets to bet anytime touchdowns on DraftKings after all DraftKings is the place to bet on touchdowns the sports bet is not yet available on your state don't worry you can still join in on all the fun with DraftKings daily fantasy and have the shot to win cash prizes download the draft queing Sportsbook app now new customers use our promo code Fantasy Life and bet just $5 on any wager to get $250 and bonus bets instantly and that ever awesome one month of NFL Plus premium on us that's promo code Fantasy Life only at draft King sports book The Crown is yours all right guys free frean favorites alliteration don't leave home without it we're talking some wide receivers right here and first of all Devonte Adams frean I tried to get you talking about my man earlier and you know we were talking about zamir white so I get it but he's making the favorite list going up against the Chargers Devonte Adams maybe he's still really freaking good at football yeah he might be like my favorite of the wide receiver favorites this week I mean it's not like I have him ranked number one but I have him at number nine it's I think significantly higher than some of the other rankers have him and the thing is you know basically it's just like hey I think he's still Devonte Adams last year you know looking at different stats he was number one in the league with a 79% Whopper for those who don't know Whopper it's stand for weighted opportunity rating and it's basically a combination of how many targets did a guy get and then how far down the field were his targets so he got a lot of air yards and he got a lot of targets and with that Elite usage he had you know 1,144 yards receiving despite playing in a terrible offense things I think will be a little bit better with the Raiders offense this year I think Gardner mchu is probably better than the situation they had last year uh looking at his season long prop that was 1.5 receiving yards I like Adams to go over that number for the season I like him even more this week when we look at him going against the Chargers Dwayne mentioned earlier that the Chargers defense really struggled last year I know obviously new defense have coordinated some new players coming in but still a lot of the the old players that they have we look at what Adams has done in his four games against the Chargers since he joined the Raiders 54 targets 494 yards four touchdowns receiving uh against the division rival team last year the Chargers were number three in largest Fantasy Point boost allowed to wide receivers that's a metric that we have at Fantasy Life that you can see in our DVP Tool uh I mean the Chargers were basically taking good wide receivers and making them great uh on a points per game basis and I think Devonte Adams is already still a great wide receiver even though he is entering his age 32 season so yeah for me Devonte Adams is pretty cleanly a top 10 wide receiver this week Dwayne I know we did enough drafts and you know I can say for a certainty you weren't the biggest fan of Devonte Adams this off season because I don't think we ever exactly came away with him on any of our squads maybe one or two out there when he fell but looking at Gardner muu now under Center not the world's biggest upgrade over again what we saw out of Aiden oconnell last year but maybe an upgrade nevertheless we did see Michael Pitman actually outscore Devonte Adams in PPR points per game last season even though I don't think anybody would sit here and try to tell you that Pitman is a better wide receiver than Adams so it's a crowded offense Dwayne but what is your sort of you know level of fear in the uh you know fate of Devonte Adams throughout this offseason I'm not really worried about it for the season long I think Freeman could totally be right week one I mean we he's fully healthy um you know you're going to come out you're going to have all the wrinkles all the things you're going to use to get Devonte Adams the ball that defenses aren't going to be familiar with yet the Chargers are still going to be you know learning their new defense so I think there's really an opportunity here to Freeman's point I have him ranked quite a bit lower than Freeman but it really comes back to in week one being more about Gardner menu right and the overall mentality of the Raiders offense which Freeman already talked about they're going to be willing to stick with the Run even if the game script gets a little bit sideways because they've got that defensive minded head coach and Antonio Pierce you know he's going to stay committed to the run so when I think you put all those things together like I just don't worry about Devonte Adams you know destroying my fantasy season because I passed on him but I could totally see him out producing you know whatever what I projected him for for the for the season but I'm when I look at week one it's like I had a hard time with him because I'm like okay like he's healthy like everything could go right here but I've got him projected for eight targets you know so that's one of the higher Target projections you know that I have out there for the week the problem is I've got him at 61 yards because I don't have Gardner menu throwing for a lot of passing yards and this also isn't a game the way we run our model it's based off of the projected total points you know using the Vegas spreads so there's not a lot of there's not a lot of points to give away across the offense so that's pushing Devonte Adams down a bit for me but I'm I'm with Freeman I think the man's gonna get his Targets in week one we'll see if he can turn that into you know something significant that's a whole lot of stats and words and you guys somehow didn't include the fact that Devonte Adams grandparents are getting see him play for the first time on Sunday so if that's not a reason for my man to go nuclear I don't know what is is I hope uh you know again Grandma and Grandpa Adams have a fantastic day and we hope Tyler Lockett maybe has a fantastic day against the Broncos another one of Freeman's favorite wide receivers and again freedan maybe as much as people have been writing off on Tyler Lockett as some quarterback famously said he has not written back just yet talk about lock in a crowded Seahawks passing attack and let's face it a winnable matchup yeah Lockett is dealing with the thigh injury so maybe slight concern be sure to monitor that but he said he's going to play his coach has said he's going to play so not too worried about that and I expect by the end of the week we would see him practice fully but you look at Tyler Lockett last season he failed to have over a thousand uh a thousand scrimmage yards or eight uh yards per Target for the first time in a half decade like it was a pretty underwhelming season for him he turns 32 years later this month like you can see like he might be falling off the age Cliff like there's a possibility for that but it's week one he should be fresh entering it and the Seahawks offense could be more explosive this year with their new offensive coordinator and Ryan grub and then you look at the matchup last year the Broncos were number 32 in defensive pass DVA against number two wide receivers and I think we're going to see DK DK metf get Shadow coverage from uh the top quarterback Pat certan and if that happens that means Lockett is running the majority of his routes against quarterback Riley Moss who's a seconde special teamer turn starter who has just 21 NFL coverage snaps to his name like that feels like the kind of scenario that lockit could really exploit and the team would be I think pretty incentivized not to Target pater Tan's coverage so I think this is a a kind of one-time situation I'm not super optimistic on Lockett for the entirety of the season but with it being week one with him being fresh and going against a guy who's really never played quarterback in the NFL before I think this is a spot to capitalize if you're looking for someone further down the board Lockett did not have 100 receiving yards in a game last year but you did watch him work out there didn't seem like he necessarily fell off a cliff again numbers weren't great but one of the cool new stats we do have ESPN's open scored which is meant to help quantify separation and last year better than Stefon Diggs better than even Justin Jefferson Jaylen W amongst others tied for 17th with George pickings overall so Dwayne one of your many great articles you put together this offseason was the whole wide receiver age Cliff phenomenon what did you see with Tyler lockett's underlying numbers and are you buying potentially him telling time to f off for just another year I can see him telling it to f off for a week you know if he's healthy to fre this point because you know you have DK meaf who is their leader you know against man coverage and so it would make sense like if I'm the Broncos if I'm going to lock down a player when I go to man or go to Zone Concepts that as you talk about Ian hey they're man until they're not a lot of times um I could see Tyler Lockett being you know a sneaky start in week one again let's make sure that thigh injury is better but overall I'm not really I I don't want to be in on Tyler locket for the season because there's just too many things like we've got the age hitting his he is he's vastly deteriorated over the last two years against man coverage which is a pretty good signal it's not predictive as an oh when this happens you're guaranteed the wide receivers is hitting the cliff because quarterback play guys does matter right if your quarterback can't accurately get you the ball that's an issue but Gino's been really good the last two years I mean we saw him out here dropping seeds and preseason as well G's been a pretty accurate quarterback so I don't think that's been the issue for Lockett so I do think we are reach ing the end here they also have an investment in Jackson Smith and jiga a first round pick last year so I could totally see this being more of the Baton handoff locket becoming the third guy DK metf being the number one jsn being the number two Gino Smith number one in the NFL in completion percentage over expected over these last two years really has a freaking awesome mixtape again of some of those deep downfield dim so hopefully that o line could stand up would love to see again some of those vertical Concepts from grub really get put into action with a talented wide receiver Trio Freeman time for some tight end talks and one specific one who could actually unironically lead his team in targets resides in Buffalo that's right we're talking some Dawson Knox not his stall conade but hey seriously going up against the Cardinals it's a winnable matchup did have some concerning splits with Knox last year how good are you feeling about concade this week Freeman yeah absolutely love K Kade for this season and love him for this week he flashed last year uh 673 yards receiving 91 targets which doesn't seem like all that great of a season when you compare him to someone like Sam leapa who just absolutely tore it up as a rookie but you know just by historical standards that was a really good rookie season for K Kade and then now you look at the the context around him no Stefon Diggs no Gabe Davis that leaves 241 targets vacated in their absence and this opportunity for k k to emerge as the number one pass catcher they line him up all over the formation in the slot in line out wide that means he has the scheme versatility where they can design Touches for him pretty much at any point in the game and then you look at the matchup the Cardinals last season were number 31 in defensive pass dvoa against tight ends I think this is a season where K Kade could emerge as sort of like uh I don't want to say like like young Travis Kelce but like I think we should we could see cancade really threatened to be a top three a top two tight end and this this week I think K Kade could be the number one guy on the board Dwayne I know you've been grounding projections throughout the offseason and then now week one it's like okay no more 17 game samples we got to go 160 minute limited small sample size so can Kade number one in Buffalo and if so or if not which wide receiver do you see potentially knocking them off that again leaderboard yeah I think K is definitely the favorite to lead this team in targets um but I would say Keon Coleman a second I know a lot of people don't like him because they talk about the contested catch stuff guys I'll I'll wide receivers are made different there are different ways you can win it all really comes down to if Josh Allen is willing to throw to a player like that when you have a quarterback that's willing to throw with a contested catch guy that's basically like hey I may not look open but I'm open if you get that going between those two players it's fine you can earn your target so there is some risk with Keon because we don't know that for sure with Josh Allen we haven't really seen him play with that archetype as his wide receiver one because Stefon Diggs he's a good separator so he's a guy that's been able to get open and create that space so we'll see what happens but I do think that King K's the favorite I am a little nervous about the Dawson Knox stuff because he does have a decent contract they've talked a lot about using both of their tight ends that would be the only thing that would derail cancade and what's interesting is like in the old days of the Buffalo offense when I say old days like just back to the beginning of last year when they were dropping back and throwing the ball all the time like a 70% route participation for a tight end in that offense wouldn't have mattered you would have been like H that's like 80% on any other team problem is they turn into a run for first offense for the entire second half of the Year under Joe Brady if they do that and they hold Dalton cancade to a 70% route participation even if he's an amazing player which there's still questions on whether that's going to happen there could be challenges for him meeting fantasy expectations so I hope that none of those things happen I hope the bills go back to a pass first offense let's throw the ball James Cook let's get you know Dalton conc out there I mean you did spin a first round pick on him last year let's throw the ball more and if those things happen I think Freeman's absolutely right right um he could be a guy that's you know he could he he could challenge for the tight end over over tight end one overall Cardinals running 30 first rank scoring defense out here so similarly to the Washington commanders who ranked 32nd wouldn't be surprised if having some healthy baller quarterbacks under Center and that bad defense leads to plenty of fantasy friendly shootouts here especially in the early going of 2024 another tight end you wanted to highlight Matthew Freeman is an old man he's old look at him Zack hers for the commanders reunited with Cliff kingsburry got that quarterback upgrade I mentioned in jayen Daniels going up against a Buccaneers defense that allowed the third most DraftKings points per game to the position last year hey man we do have a second round tight end in there but Freeman this would not be the first time that we saw kingsberry lean on hers even though they maybe have a better option behind them yeah it's not like in the year of our lore 2024 I want to talk about Zack hers but I mean the guy is going to get some opportunities and with the recent departure of wide receiver Dawson SS I think has a real shot to be the number two pass catchers for the commanders especially as you mentioned since he's familiar with that offense with CLE Cliff Kings per from their time together with the Cardinals he's 34 years old later this season I mean he's fragile he's a catch and fall specialist at this point but it is week one he should be moderately healthy I think that gives him a chance to be pretty productive in this match up and we did see that he was moderately productive in his one full season with Cliff Kingsbury in 2022 and then the matchup the Buccaneers last year were number two in most fantasy points allowed to tight ends so you put it all together and Zack Herz if you're a little bit desperate at the position I think s could be like a low-end tight end one high-end tight end two this week funny enough Zack SS over these past two seasons has 74 receptions cow pits 81 and yes they both were missing plenty of time out there so Dwayne I know Z was someone that we kind of talked about as a late round pick you know 19 20th round especially on some of those draftking streams we were doing now it seems like the time we're trusting him and I'll tell you what man as a Gambling Man taking that over on whatever his reception prop is I've heard of worse ideas yeah Zack hers is the sicko start at tight end you know in the rankings article so Freeman and I are completely aligned on this and even if you go back to last year before Trey McBride took over the starting role uh in Arizona over those first five games Zack Herz had a 24% targets per route run guys that's that's tight end one worthy if you go back and you look at the history of tight ends they've been guys that can earn targets at that rate and when I looked went back and I dug in even even deeper Ian those are guys that have finished in the top six so I'm not saying Zack Herz is going to keep that role all season I do think that Ben Senate will eventually take away some of that work but early in the year I agree with Freeman and zackerz is a very sneaky start in week one now it's time for everyone's game start sit drop AKA 123 please for the love of God do not drop these players even though we will be letting those you know words leave our mouths here in just a second so Dwayne starting off with some running backs we got Jerome Ford versus the Cowboys chba hubber versus Saints and Devin single ter versus the Vikings start sit drop Mr McFarland go I'm I'm starting single ter because I think that like week one he's locked into a huge workload so I'll just take the volume um forward I still think there's a chance that they're going to split those carries up but so I'm going to put him on the bench and then I'm going to cut hubard mainly because I think once Jonathan Brooks is back now I'm thinking more long term he is going to take over obviously chub will eventually return to the lineup for the Browns but they could still you know kind of hold him back a little bit they may not give him his full workload so I think there could be a longer period of time where it could be tougher for chub yes they're both coming off of knee injuries yes chubs happened earlier than the year in the year than Jonathan Brooks but his was much more complicated and he's an older player so the younger guys typically are going to be able to heal quicker so that would be my that would be my order single T Ford and then chuba hubber Freeman do you concur uh I agree with hub he's the guy that I would drop I would start Ford just because we've seen him do it I'm a little bit pessimistic about what we saw uh out of the um the Giants offense last year and what we might see out of them this year so I'm probably benching single T but totally agree on hubard I'm siding with Dwayne over here I do have single ter over Ford and but yeah they are pretty close all right guys wide receiver Edition start sit drop DJ Moore versus the Titans Terry McClaren versus the Buccaneers and Deontay Johnson against the Saints Dwayne get out after it DJ Moore is just the best player of the group so I'm starting him Terry McLaren's going to the bench I do think he has a great matchup this week so I'm not saying he can't be in lineups he could totally go off as the wide receiver W for the commanders and then I'm going to I hate I don't even want to say these words Ian why are you making me say these words I'm going to drop Deontay Johnson because I would never drop Deontay Johnson but this is the sick game that you make us play I cannot believe Dwayne's dropping Deontay Johnson Freeman what are your thoughts yeah I agree real Sophie's Choice with uh these players that you've given us but Deontay Johnson is the guy I'm dropping starting DJ Moore no matter what so I guess Terry mcen goes to the bench Terry McLaren facing a Buccaneer secondary starting two quarterbacks who have not played an NFL snap I know everyone's getting hyped about hyped up about the Mike Evans potential Boom game maybe look on the other side of the field as well T-Mac might be on his way start sit drop quarterback Edition Dwayne Caleb Williams versus the Titans Jaden Daniels versus the Buccaneers and Jordan love against the Eagles I'm starting Jaden Daniels he's my qb8 this week um we've been talking about it all offseason and now you do week one projections and you see why rushing is so important right away you've got this immediate floor if he performs as a passer he could be a top three guy this week but I think he's a lock to be inside your top 10 I've got him ranked ahead of Joe burrow so I'm obviously going with Jaden Daniels I'm gonna put Jordan love on the bench although there's a lot of points that could be scored in this game the Eagles made a lot of improvements to their secondary I think they could be a sneaky rebound candidate to be one of the better defenses in the NFL and I hate to say this but I'm going to have to cut Caleb Williams um I don't want to I really like all three wide receivers but I have to cut him I do think the Titans you know I went back after our show yesterday and I studied all the Titans offseason moves on defens again they might be one of the more improved defenses uh so you you add uh azier to your cornerback room you also go out and you add Sneed from the Chiefs I mean so like they've definitely invested in their secondary so I could be at a sit I could see it being a situation it's your first start as a quarterback you're not going to get as much rushing upside as we would get with from Jaden Daniels so yes he hits the bench I as cut Caleb Williams see this game is so you're so I hate this game I concur as do Freeman per his ranks if they are to be beli but Freeman let's round things out with our tight ends Brock bers at the Chargers David the joku versus the Cowboys and Dallas GD versus the Packers start sit drop Freeman go really I I'm kind of disinterested in all of these guys to be honest but I guess I will start David and joku I will probably bench Brock Bowers and I'm going to cut Dallas Goddard I think it'll be hard for him to get uh the targets that he needs to be productive in that offense uh you know in in Philadelphia so yeah cutting GD starting in joku benching Bowers I actually have that almost the opposite Dwayne I'm starting Goddard sitting in the joku and I'm dropping Bowers so I think we could be seeing a bit more Michael Mayor at least early on than we would hope for your thoughts Dwayne I have it as fredman like Bowers still has the talent profile that I'm not dropping him no matter what because there is just a chance like he absolutely explodes he's one of the rarest freak tight ends we've ever seen so I'm not cutting him um I agree with your thought process though Ian I could see this one going either way but I do agree with fredman I am going to start David and joku this week I am going to bench Brock Bowers and I am going to cut Dallas Gard that is a freaking shame but you know what that's life in the big City sometimes when you got to make tough fantasy football decisions which we'll continue to help you guys with each and every day over here on the fantasy live show Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m Eastern don't leave home without it you can you know you can listen to us wherever actually that's a fact so make sure you check us out again tomorrow Dwayne and I will be right back here going through all the fantasy relevant injuries and otherwise guys enjoy some freaking football we're back and couldn't be more excited about it so for Freeman for Dwayne for producer mat for producer Kelsey I'm me and thanks again for tuning to the Fantasy Life show and until next time take care everybody