Key Questions for Every NFL Week 1 Game ANSWERED | Fantasy Football Advice (2024)

Introduction Hello everybody welcome into the fantasy pros football podcast I'm Ryan warmley joined today by Derek Brown and by Pat Fitz Morris fellas it is week one this is our Friday show we are running it back from last year we did sort of a season long Friday Show preview of sorts with a couple of season Long Key questions that we answered earlier this week that dropped on Labor Day so check it out if you have some season long thoughts there this will be more matchup specific looking ahead at actual week one matchups there's going to be a degree of season long stuff that's kind of inherent to week one we're still kind of learning what these teams are going to look like in real actual football games but whatever they look like we are certainly excited to watch D just what's your I asked fits this on the Thursday show yesterday what's your mindset going into week one are you like just excited are you nervous are you like staring down the barrel of this is going to be a long year of rankings in the primer are you just like you know football's back and that kind of makes everything else go away we know there's going to be a lot of work a lot of long hours a lot of late nights early mornings and dude I'm so excited for all of it I got the week 1 primer already out it's on it's live on the site so right now I can't tell you that when we get to week five or week six that I'm going to be this fresh and energized and happy is there right now I'm excited dude I'm ready for it D bro is there one storyline that you're like as a fan not even as like a content creator as a fan I'm just most excited to see how this plays out this year I'm I'm ready to see the over under on Dennis Allen how many games he gets before he gets like kicked out of New Orleans spoken like a true Saints fan y Fitz are you excited to be running back to Friday show this year I am excited about it I love this show I love some of the things we hit on it's uh it's got this sort of random element to it but I think we cover a lot of fantasy relevant topics here so hopefully this is useful to a lot of different people fun conversational show that we're g to try and bring to you guys every single Friday by the way just to let everybody know we are recording this on Thursday this week typically we will record this on Friday mornings due to some scheduling stuff here for week one because Fitz for some reason has a fantasy draft scheduled after the first game of the season and couldn't be available on Friday uh this is his annual you know this is every year but uh we are we are taping this on Thursday so if anything wild happens on Thursday night football Chiefs Ravens in the opener and we don't address it it's for that reason we're not going to include that game in today's show because obviously by the time this is released you guys will have seen that game but if we don't address the you know a major injury or you know if the Ravens pull off a big upset or whatever it is um that's because we're taping this a day early for this week only quick reminder for everyone that all of our rankings and tiers throughout the season can be found at fantasypros.com rankings and if you're juggling multiple fantasy football teams and feeling overwhelmed fantasy pros will help you simplify things with fantasy pros multi- League assistant you can see the latest news notes and rankings for every single player across all your teams it's all in one spot making your path to Victory clearer and easier dive in and let us help you dominate all your Leagues with the multi League assistant at fantasypros.com myplaybook or on the fantasy football myplaybook app guys we're also bringing back the over under challenge this season and we're going to be joined by a special guest so before we dive into our key questions for this week let's check in with Colin coward and his over under picks in our weekly contest joined Now by a man who needs no Over/Under Challenge with Colin Cowherd introduction you know him from FS1 you know him as the founder of the volume it's Colin coward Colin very excited to be working with the volume again this year it was great last year it's been great so far this year and it's awesome having you come on the Friday show every week here with fantasy pros thanks so much for making the time Ryan I can't wait it's a fascinating week one because I love a lot of these young quarterbacks but I don't know if I love any of them in week one so there's one of the things it's like Christmas presents I feel like I'm opening Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels and bow Knicks and uh the winner man end up being Michael penni who doesn't have to play for a year right so U with that good offensive line in Atlanta he can watch with all those weapons and watch a pro do it but I can't wait for week one yeah I was going to ask you I mean it feels to me the consensus online is there's like maybe more excitement for this season than any I can remember in a while you know the Chiefs three Pat they're going for and all the established quarterbacks that can't get past Mahomes and all the young quarterbacks you just alluded to like are you feeling the same I I maybe it's ineffable but for whatever reason I am more excited for this season than I feel like I've been in the last couple of years are you feeling the same way yeah and I think it's a season where we're like oh my God could Detroit make a Super Bowl yeah could Houston make a Super Bowl could Washington be a playoff team you know there there's been a hierarchy in this league it feels like for a long time could the Chargers with Jim harbon Herbert now be a consistent 12- win team a lot of these teams with bad luck and bad mojo and bad owners they feel like you know it feels like a lot of these have not maybe entering a have era and I think you know it's it's you see this in the NBA where it's all of a sudden the anonymous Denver Nuggets you're like oh they have the world's best player and Milwaukee's got Giannis and I think that's exciting that you just don't have the same dominant Coastal teams I think there's a lot of interest in the Lions this year I'm not so sure it's not the best roster in the league yeah and what's funny too is like some of those you know have entering the halves level the halves aren't going anywhere because in the last few years it's been you know bills Ravens Chiefs those quarterbacks are all still in their 20s so it's it's just going to be a really exciting season and I can't wait we're we're recording this just a couple hours before opening kickoff and I am super pumped for it just to let everybody know Colin will be joining us every week this season to pick some player over unders for the weekend's slate of games and you the listeners can play along too head to fantasypros.com challenge to go against Colin and try to win some cool prizes we've got about a half dozen names we're going to get through today just talking about some over unders and really whether you like them or not here in week one let's start with the quarterbacks we'll start with Gino Smith somebody I've been very excited about from a fantasy perspective Geno Smith vs DEN you know new coaching staff there I think they're going to run more plays obviously he's got a lot of weapons there going up against the Broncos do you like Gino Smith to have a good week one I do for a couple of reasons it'll be a field position game I don't think it's a wild shootout Denver's got one real issue and I think Denver is better than people think but they don't have much of a consistent pass rush they also have a rookie quarterback they're going to probably come in with a fairly conservative game plan try to win field position Gino has I think Seattle has underrated offensive weapons I think I like Pete Carroll I thought the last two years they underachieved and that's why they moved on um I think B Nicks as a rookie Road quarterback against an excellent defensive coach will make some mistakes Gino will in the field position day Gino now's been in Seattle for a couple of years he's been paid he feels good about it I think Seattle's got two receivers two backs and two tackles I like I think they win I think they win by a touchdown and Gino's taken a lot of snaps in this leag I like B knck but Gino's Gino's been around the block it's a very a Redemptive story and I think he's got a shot here the other Caleb Williams vs TEN quarterback we have in this week's challenge Caleb Williams and we were talking a little before we started recording and just how kind of interested you are in this game a little bit on the other side with Levis but a couple of really interesting young quarterbacks in this one with Caleb specifically are you expecting a big week one or maybe a welcome to the NFL moment in his first real action I think both like I think he is such an improvisational player and they have upgraded offensive weapons but doesn't it feel like Ryan it's a little too hot the Hard Knocks the Tennessee has been sitting watching Chicago get love for six months they are steaming I mean they are just watching Everybody Just Praise the Bears I mean from a betting angle it's one of my first bets of the week is take the Titans will Levis has a new coach the callahans father son um they've got some upgrades at weapons this is a pretty decent defensive Personnel I think Caleb will have moments but it just feels like we're rooting for Chicago and the Titans consents were rooting for Chicago and somebody's playing spoiler this weekend now I think Caleb can outplay Will Levis but I like the Titans in this spot it feels like Chicago's going to be fine this year but it's I don't know I've never seen Caleb take a pro snap at least I've seen will in the NFL I think this will be disappointing to Bear fans yeah I think he will learn quickly it's not the Pack 12 I think he'll learn quickly it's not preseason football and I think you're spot on with the Titans I mean I remember when everybody was kind of doing their rankings of all the coach ing highers this off season Callahan was kind of the Forgotten man and it feels like they're almost kind of the Forgotten team in this division in the AFC so I think you're right that they're going to come out you know really wanting to make a statement here against kind of this Golden Child new new shiny toy in the NFL let's look at some running backs here bejan Robinson somebody I was very excited about last Bijan Robinson vs PIT year and it felt like a little bit of a disappointment in terms of the fantasy perspective you know playing Arthur Smith's offense everything like that still a really good season and a really talented running back he's going up against Arthur Smith and the Steelers in the first week this season do you like bejan to have a big game well a big game relative to what he did last year I didn't understand how they used him last year I didn't get it I loved him in fact when he came out in NFL executive told me he said he's the closest thing to leanian Tomlinson he had no flaws he doesn't fumble locker room toughness catches Blocks he's a great young back they didn't use him it was almost like he got into the doghouse with Arthur Smith and this is a very good offensive line with some weapons on the perimeter so I think relative to last year I think he will be formidable but Mike Tomas as as an underdog coach is really good um the Steelers tend to play up to their competition you know what I mean like when they when when they're told they're in trouble um they tend to play with their hair on fire I do worry about Pittsburgh though Russell Wilson's calf's an issue I think Atlanta's my sneaky good team in the NFL this year I think they could win 12 games in this division yes I like beon um again comparing it to last year yeah I think he'll get far more touches and far more usage um I wouldn't bet the farm week one against Pittsburgh but I do think he'll be productive here another running back we wanted to hit on James Cook James Cook vs ARI going up against the Cardinals he got great usage in Joe Brady's offense in the second half last year we'll see if that continues in to this season and starting off in week one like I said against Arizona is he somebody you think could come out hot or maybe start well they lose Stefon Diggs they have an excellent rookie receiver from Florida State but he's a rookie receiver so they're very tight end Josh Allen and James Cook um Centric to me I think Cook's an excellent player you know the bills are funny they have a very good left tackle then it's been a lot of musical chairs in the offensive line and because older offensive linemen don't play in the preseason much anymore they just don't it usually takes September to get your units cohesive I worry a little bit about the jetso line with Aaron I worry here about Buffalo's online there's some movement I think James Cook is a really good player and because Josh Allen and Stefan and mcder and the defense get so much attention and the canc the young rookie tight end people fell in love with nobody paid much attention I think he's the best running back that mcder has had and Josh Allen has had so I like I like him a lot here we've got three wide receivers wrap up with starting with Justin Jefferson obviously you know the first or second Justin Jefferson at NYG best wide receiver in the NFL depending who you ask he's really really good lost JJ McCarthy for the season maybe not the worst thing in terms of week one numbers he has it's Sam darnold but somebody who's actually played an NFL game before thrown a lot more passes than McCarthy has going up against the Giants do you like Jefferson in week one I'm a little hesitant first of all they'll roll coverage over Sam darnold on the road without a great protection here the GI defensive front is the strength of the team so now you're telling me Sam darnold under duress that doesn't feel that doesn't feel Sean Sam darnold without a lot of time to throw I think Minnesota's gonna run the ball or try to I think they'll roll coverage over my hunch is it won't be a great afternoon for Justin Jefferson Jaylen waddle the next wide receiver in this week's challenge going Jaylen Waddle vs JAC up against Jacksonville you know Wadd is somebody that our podcast has been really high on for Fantasy this season we think he's pretty underrated because he's playing second fiddle to Tyreek hill we still think there's a pretty high floor with him in terms of fantasy and also a high ceiling just a player that we really like do you think he starts off hot in this battle of Florida teams yeah I think this is the wildest game of the season remember last year the Chargers Miami first week it was just a shootout Chargers had them pinned yes I think this is the most entertaining game of the weekend now there's a weather concern like there often is in September in in Florida but um listen I when it comes to Miami I think you're just talking about one of the really smart coaches and I may not love Tua but I've said this before I love him at home I love him in warm weather um I don't love him in boltimore Kansas City Cleveland you know Cincinnati in January when it's windy and it's raining sideways he's not built for that but home with this coach an offseason to prepare I think Miami Str in 35 points I think I think it's going to be the one of the more entertaining games because I like Jacksonville a lot too this year they could have won that Division if Trevor Lawrence didn't get hurt so I think you're going to get a shootout I think Tua and the Dolphins uh this is a 3530 game they're going to be passing on the final series I like Wadd a lot here I totally agree this is a game that we are going to see a lot on Red Zone on Sunday it's going to be a Davante Adams at LAC very fun one uh last wide receiver here Devonte Adams you know obviously very very good player for a long time quarterback questions going up against the Chargers not sure what the defense is going to look like obviously new coaching staff there in LA what do you expect out of Devonte here in week one I think it's a very physical low-scoring game I love Devonte Adams um and I don't think the Chargers are gifted at I think the Chargers are a good team I don't love them on the perimeter offense or defense I think they'll get a corner next year early and a receiver early I think but I think between the tackles in I think on both sides of the ball they're good um I think it's lowc scoring I think Devonte will be the best receiver on the field probably easily but I this feels 2320 to me this feels like if you can take him away you know it's it's Brock Bowers you're looking at a rookie tight end I I think this is a low-scoring alley fist fight and I don't think anybody's going to pop don't forget to check out fantasypros.com challenge to go up against Colin my myself and everyone else in our over under challenge all season long Colin thanks again for joining and enjoy kickoff tonight thanks Ryan all right guys thank you again to Colin coward for joining us he'll be back every single week this season to share his over under picks so be sure to check out the the uh the challenge on fantasy pros website and we'll see if you guys can do better than Colin can do better than us we'll we'll kind of share some of our favorite over Runners as well throughout the year um but yeah be be sure to check out that challenge and we appreciate Colin making the time for us let's dive in we do have a Friday so Game 1 - Packers vs Eagles there is a game tonight fellas as of when this is getting released it is Packers verse Eagles a very fun one hopefully last night was fun as well uh you know saying from the perspective of a Ravens fan but I'm expecting Packers Eagles to be a really exciting game again taking place in Brazil tonight my key question here will Jordan love start the season just as hot as he ended last year and if he does will we see a number one in the Green Bay wide receiver room emerge right off the bat here in week one Fitz you are the Packers Fan what do you think here I think he will pick up where he left off I don't think we're going to see a clear number one receiver um emerge right away I mean maybe we'll know that eventually and I would put my money in Christian Watson but I do think it's going to be sort of um a group contribution and emble cast if you will um but the Eagles gave up the fifth most passing yards last season and the second most touchdown passes 35 of them um the Eagles pass defense ranked 29th in DV and Hoy Roseman did try to patch some of the holes he drafted quinan Mitchell and Cooper deene a pair of cornerbacks first and second round but are we expecting a pair of rookie cornerbacks to completely fix this pass defense right away um I think that might be a little naive so uh this is a good matchup for Lovin with all those good young receivers and tight ends he can sort of pick which Eagles Defenders he wants to pick on in this one um and and feel confident that his receiver is going to make the play no matter who it is so I I think he's going to have a a good game to open and I do expect points in this game I definitely am expecting points as well D.A what do you think about love I mean obviously a slower start last year but that was also still kind of being newer to the role of starting quarterback and the offense and everything so was last season like do do you kind of view him as almost like maybe a second half type player or do you think he just like kind of figured it out and you expect him to pick up exactly where he left off to start the year I think think he's going to pick up right where he left off I mean you're talking about and we talk we always kind of mention this like quarterbacks whether they're changing offensive coordinators learning new playbooks getting used to and building rapport with new players wide receivers and stuff love has none of that to overcome this year he gets to really dive deep and get super I mean like as comfortable as he looked in the offense last year down the stretch what can we see if he takes that Comfort to his second level and can he be even better this year like I won't rule it out like if he's in the MVP talk this year so I think he picks up right where he left off last year fits laid it out perfectly this is a pass funnel defense and I will make the bet that Christian Watson is going to step up as the wide receiver won and it starts now and you just look at the coverage matchup I mean it it screams that I mean this is a team that's going to run a lot of cover three lot of cover six last year Watson had 2.0 yards per route run against those coverage ties and had five inzone Targets in the short sample we saw him relatively healthy I think Watson goes out and has a monster game versus Fitz laid it out kind of an unproven secondary and even if you want to tout Darius sleigh at this point in his career he can be beat by speed and we know that it's exactly what Watson has speed for days I don't know if Watson is the chalk pick for week one um he's definitely the consensus on this podcast if you had to go a different direction at wide receiver as the guy you think maybe is the at least for this week the best Packers receiver of those other three names where would you go Debra I probably would go to um I mean obviously I think it's between jayen Reed and uh Romeo dos um I'm probably going with Jaden Reed just because of the the Multiverse usage that we saw last year I mean he was Dairy belt Deo Samuel so if he takes an in round to the house plus I mean we saw Philly and I know we talk about the upgrades like in their secondary both with the draft picks of the guys that they had plus bringing over Isaiah Rogers bringing back uh uh I'm bling CJ Gardner Johnson he's probably going to cover the slot but I think if it's was going to pick one guy it's probably Jaden Reed what do you think fits also Reed for you yeah I think Reed too uh dobs has some sort of hand issue I think he's expected to play but maybe that slows him down a little bit and I thought I saw the Tucker craft maybe sustained some sort of injury and showed up on the injury report late in which case maybe the Packers go with fewer two tight end sets which means more three wide more Jaden Reed on the field by the way Fitz do you like having your team play in one of these like first Prime Time games of the Season or would you prefer they were just on Sunday because because again as a Ravens fan like I would kind of prefer they were just playing on Sunday I I think I would prefer that too this the staying alone thing makes me extra nervous I I do like love games I love the island games I do like having this Friday game I wouldn't want it every week but I think for week one it's kind of nice to be like we have the big opener on Thursday and then we don't have to wait two more days to get to Sunday like I kind of like having this Friday game so I I wonder if they'll continue it every year I kind of hope they do um let's go Game 2 - Steelers at Falcons to that Sunday early slate here game number two of the games we're talking about today Steelers at Falcons is this an Arthur Smith Revenge game or will it play out that way what will the Steelers offense look like with both a new offensive coordinator and a new quarterback Debo I think the Steelers are going to be exactly what they were last year and that's going to lean in what Arthur Smith w wants to do and they're going to run run run run run the ball and it doesn't matter who is under their quarterback doesn't matter Arthur Smith wants to do that and that's what we saw from the Steelers last year like what they did uh they were they led the NFL in neutral rushing rate then you look at what Arthur Smith did with Atlanta Falcons last year second second highest neutral rushing rate in the NFL I think it's going to be turn keyth it's it's going to be immediately from the word go they're just going to run the ball the entire time so I think it's exactly what Arthur Smith wants to do Mike Tomlin showed that you know showed his hand last year that's what he wants to do and look we're going to get some play action we're going to get deep shots regardless of its Fields if it's Russell Wilson and stuff so you know we're GNA get some George pickings moments I just don't know how often they're going to be this year what do you think Fitz well it's Arthur Smith so I'm sure we'll get uh an inconsistent workload split between Naji Harris and Jaylen Warren sure we'll get baffling tight end usage uh fewer George Pickins targets than we think he should have uh more targets and rushes than we'd like to see for cordl Patterson and uh you know maybe van Jefferson and Calvin Austin too in a word it's going to be annoying like it always with is with an Arthur Smith offense so um yeah like the tight end thing in the preseason like I wanted to get excited about Pat fouth and then in the pre-season uh in one tight end sets they would have Fri M on the field and then when they went to two tight ends he would come out and they would put in Darnell Washington and uh you know favorit Arthur Smith pet Michael puit so like even that like we can't even have Pat friou in this offense so um yeah it's it's just gonna be annoying all year with Arthur Smith we're not allowed to have nice things Fitzy haven't you learned that by now we're going to see more Darnell Washington and more corduro Patterson than anybody wants to see this year I was going to say maybe the Revenge game narrative goes the other direction and it's and Kyle pittz and Drake London who are getting revenge and showing Arthur Smith what he missed out on last I hope so I hope all three of them just go off and the Falcons bury the Steelers in this game and you see a pissed off Arthur Smith on the on the sidelines like like making all the faces and I could just see the camera just going like zooming in to that that just God like that bitter beer face he's going to have all game I can't wait NFL week one is is here and a new season means new ways to get in on the action at draftking Sportsbook an official sports betting partner of the NFL fans have spoken we want to bet on touchdowns DraftKings heard us and is delivering DraftKings Sportsbook is the number one place to bet on touchdowns ready to place your first bet try betting on something simple like picking a player to score a touchdown every matchup is great when the NFL is back in our lives but I'm particularly intri by the Cardinals in Buffalo getting six and a half points I think the Arizona offense is taking a big step forward this season so that matchup total on DraftKings of 48 is quite interesting to me I think there will be touchdowns Galore in that one but the question is are you planning to do a touchdown dance of your own new DraftKings customers bet $5 to get $250 in bonus bets instantly plus one month of NFL premium on us download the drafting Sportsbook app and use code fantasy pros that's code fantasy pros for new customers to get $250 in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks and get one month of NFL Plus premium on us offer ends September 19th only on DraftKings the crown is yours speaking Game 3 - Cardinals at Bills of Cardinals at bills let's go to that for our next game I've been really high on the Cardinals offense all draft season I know DB you have been too will that pay off right away in week one or will it take you know a couple of weeks to see how they fully ingrate Marvin Harrison Jr and Kyler Murray you know another year remve for the injury or will we see it right away dbo I think we'll see it right right away um and there's one player that I specifically want to highlight and it's not the guy that most of us been talking about for them the entirety of the offseason I think Arizona the conversation has started with either Trey McBride or Marvin Harrison Jr or Kyler Murray the guy that I want to push to the Forefront of this conversation I think we're going to see a big game from in this offense is James Conor and I think people just do not understand that the Buffalo Bills and I wrote this up in the primer that like they have not had a good run defense and this is not just like last year but it's multiple Seasons so Connor has a fantastic matchup man like the Buffalo Bills give up the seventh highest explosive run rate and the fourth highest yards of contact per attempt last year so I think Conor is well in a lot of different instances you look at the big pieces of this offense he was the cheapest one in drafts and I think he walks away with if not probably the best game out of all the weapons that we could discuss here yeah I think as long as Conor's healthy he will beat the bcow like I really liked Trey Benson and and you know the coaching staff has said as much right like I'm not just projecting that this is what they've told us um I loved Trey Benson off season but yeah The more I've like considered it the more I've seen the way they've talked and what we've seen out of Benson in the preseason like I just think this is Conor's backfield and his you know grip on it to lose at barring injury so um yeah I'm totally with you dbra I think that's a great call because I think everybody will be looking to McBride and first game from Harrison and Kyler you know all the way back from injury but I think Conor is maybe going a little undervalued even just right away not just in drafts but in week one Fitz what do you think for this week I don't know how well it works in week one I mean maybe it all clicks in right away maybe it doesn't but I do think the bullishness uh that you've had on the Cardinals offense worm is is like not um I don't know I don't think you're wrong to feel that way um in Kyler's eighth starts last year the Cardinals averaged 22.4 points a game and if you if that had been their number over a full season that would have put them 13th in the league uh right behind the Green Bay Packers and right ahead of the Houston Texans like that's that's some pretty good company and now they have of The Prodigy Marvin Harrison Jr so like I'm I'm really excited to watch him play really excited to see what this offense is going to look like I don't like if I'm making my NFL playoff predictions I'm not putting the Cardinals in but they're one of my favorite longer shot bets of playoffs like a team that could be very surprising to everybody this year again I'm not picking them like there's other teams the NFC I think will be better but um as a surprise team and you know if it wasn't they wouldn't be a surprise team if it wouldn't have been you know a team that I would predict but um I could see them being a surprised to see I'm really high on this team let's go to Titans at Bears how will Caleb Game 4 - Titans at Bears Williams look in his first true NFL action fits probably good and bad uh Caleb Williams Caleb's really talented and he is probably going to be a top 10 NFL and fantasy quarterback in the not too distant future I I love that Ryan poles has surrounded him with abundant pass catching talents uh but Caleb is not going to be playing the Arizona State sundevils in his NFL debut he's goingon to be playing the Tennessee Titans and I I know it's not one of the Premier defenses in the league but uh it's going to be a big adjustment for him and I'm sure it's going to lead to some plays that leave us just scratching our heads like what the heck was that so we're gonna see some of that but we're also gonna see Caleb make some some exciting plays because the one thing he does exceptionally well is uh make something out of nothing when the play breaks down and we're going to see him do that I'm sure quite a bit as a rookie DB what are you expecting from Caleb rde off the bat I think Fitz hit the nail on the head I think uh really really highend moments and then a lot of moments where he's going to look like exactly what he is a rookie and I think the Caleb Williams coming out the gate and what he looks like in this game I think is also more of a reflection of what did the Tennessee Titans get out of their defense this year because they overhauled the back end of that secondary and the matchup on paper just so everybody's aware looks really really good like if you look at last year's numbers and say well why are we not ranking Caleb Williams higher why are we not talking about how he's just going to absolutely crush this secondary this week I mean yeah sure you look on paper this is a secondary they gave up the ninth highest shards per attempt and cpoe last year but they added quandre Diggs they added chobia wer they added leria sne and how many problems can this defense create for Caleb Williams both disguising coverages if leria sne does Shadow DJ Moore which I again we don't know we haven't seen this defense in effect it could happen and if Caleb is not able to see okay where's my first read I got to get to my second my third read now the pocket's breaking down because the other thing we don't talk about enough too with the Chicago Bears offense the offensive line is okay we're hoping it's League average it's not Amazing by any stretch of the imagination so if Tennessee can confuse Caleb a little bit with coverages and things like that take away the top weapon we could see him look more like a rookie and the plays break down and if he's not able to make all that magic happening when he's running in circles in week one which he can then we could see him look like more of a rookie and I'm very curious with that when we come out of week one what the narrative around Caleb is is everybody saying oh my God Ro offensive rookie of the year go make your bets or they're saying okay like let's let's preach a little bit of patience here for The Talented rookie quarterback I wanted to include a second question for this match up because I'm just as curious as I am Will Levis to see how Caleb Williams looks in his first NFL action I'm curious to see what will Levis looks like in this new look offense they added Brian Callahan they added Bill Callahan there were offseason additions at wide receiver and running back and also on the line you know Levis isn't somebody I was very high on a year ago but the situation is much improved in my opinion and I wouldn't be surprised if he really outperform my expectations this season I'm curious what you guys think and how he's going to look right off the bat against what should be a pretty good bears defense here in week one Debra I don't see will Levis coming out and just lighting it up I think the Bears defense should get respect after what they showed down the back half of last season like after week 11 they give the 11th lowest yards per attempt third lowest pass rating to opposing passers and this I I really think you're going to see a a Tennessee offense that comes out and I'm not going to say conservative but we saw stuff on the news yesterday where there like a lot of projections for this offense this coming season we've all talked about okay is Callahan just going to air it out is he going to let will Levis Chuck because now they got Calvin Ridley DeAndre Hopkins is expected to play in this game the weapons are around him but yesterday looking at the news and stuff there were Rumblings about them talking about protecting will Levis being a run heavy offense and this run defense for Chicago last year was pretty dang close to Elite so you're looking at a Tennessee offense if they just try to run the ball run the ball run the ball and protect Levis in this game against a talented secondary that was a top 12 secondary going down the back half of last year you could see more of a muted game for will Levis if not a little bit concerning if they take away that run game or the Run game's inefficient and then it gets put on his shoulders later in the game we've seen will Lis while he's shown some high-end moments we've also seen a lot of bad last year from will Lis inaccurate throws what's he going to do in the pocket again another team that rebuilt their offensive line and how does that look in week one does it hold up or does it look extremely porous and he's under dur rest the entire time so I'm G to say a pump the braks on will Levis and we probably see a low-end qb2 performance out of him Fitz what do you expect out of will Levis here in week one that is a good question and it's funny we all work in the uh you know we're all inside the fantasy football Cancun we do this for a living and um you know not only do we do this work full-time but like we also consume a lot of content from other fantasy people and just football media in general and like I've I've heard surprisingly little talk about will Levis in the off season and I think it's just because everyone is sort of throwing up their hands and not quite knowing what to make of him but he is sort of a pivotal figure this year because so many people in that Tennessee offense are going to either sink or swim I think based on how L does and um you know what we saw last year was maybe kind of typical he comes in and throws four touchdown passes in his very first game and then he makes eight more starts and throws four touchdown passes over those eight starts so like it it could be a bumpy ride like we know this dude has a lot of arm talent and and some decent Mobility but um like can he harness the arm talent and can he like think his way uh through games like a true NFL quarterback so I I have no idea how effectively he can do that I've I've admittedly been kind of shying away from uh Titans receivers and pass catchers especially I've dabbled a little in that back field but um I just I I don't know what to make of Levis and I tend to be a little more pessimistic than optimistic let's go to Patriots at Game 5 - Patriots at Bengals Bengals my key question here what will the Bengals offense look like if Jamar Chase is limited or doesn't end up playing it seems like he might play and be limited from the last I had seen correct me if I'm wrong guys but if he's limited what will this offense look like for the Bengals and along those lines how healthy do we trust Joe burough to even be given that there he was very rarely throwing even three days in a row again kind of coming back from this really um you know very alarming wrist injury they're not talking as if he's gonna be you know have a major problem but you know I just get nervous when a guy's not throwing as much and had this unique injury so between Jamar possibly being limited and burrow possibly being limited to whatever degree that plays out fits what do you expect this offense to look like for Cincinnati OH not a Chase Brown question worm we barely talked about him this offseason I was really hoping we'd get to uh to discuss him um no so it's probably gonna be an enhanced role for T Higgins I I don't know if Chase uh is going to play a full complement of snaps for the Bengals but like reason to believe even if he does that t Higgins is going to be prominently involved maybe we get some Andre Yash maybe we get some Mike giki uh maybe it is an RB Cent approach with Zack moss and our guy Chase Brown um as for Burl he says he's healthy and that he's not too worried about his wrist injury although that that wording from him kind of makes me wonder um I guess we have to believe him although I've kind of shy away from him this Summer and draft season uh the knee the calf the wrist I I do think we have to consider Burl to be a player with at least a slightly elevated injury Risk by the way Fitz this was a Chase Brown question I was saying hey look all these other players are limited who what's this offense going to look like you could have said it was going to look like a whole lot of Chase Brown and you chose not to so really you're you're not the chase Brown fan I thought you were seen Dro what do you expect out of this offense I I think they're going to be fine man I'm not worried about burrow to be honest I think you you know the wrist injury is concerning I think you can also build a pretty easy case to say that even with the wrist injury this is maybe the healthiest burrow has been walking into week one considering coming off a tornac rusher appendix all the things he's dealt with the calf injury last year so if the wrist is even 80 90% and the rest of his body is okay I still think like that's still a case that he's the healthiest he's been walking into week one outside of his rookie year so I'm not worried about burrow as far as Chase if he is limited the way they limit him is pretty dang easy you just put him in there there whenever it's on passing Downs like he plays a 50 60% snap rate and he's only out there when they're running routes we've seen teams do that before Tennesse did that way back uh yesterday year with AJ Brown where he was banged up in multiple spots and it's like okay well you're only going to play 50 60% of the snaps we're going to put you out there on passing downs and you run you have like a 70 80% route clip but you're only going to play part of the game and that's honestly if that's how they're going to limit it that's the way that I see it going for Chase and so I think you fire up Chase if he's playing you fire him up like you normally would he's a wide receiver one cuz when he's on the field I think in this matchup specifically a lot of man coverage a lot of single high I think Chase can be Chase like he usually is considering the secondary in the matchup uh if he was limited any more than what I'm discussing I'm with Fitz I think it'd be a very heavy T Higgins game uh considering what he did last year um and again putting the numbers to It New England 59% of their defensive snaps last year which I think crosses over into this year considering the new defensive coordinator who's been on that staff forever 59% of their snaps were single high you look at Higgins he was inside the top 32 receivers in both Target per route run rate and first downs per route run against that coverage type so if it's not Chase should be a lot of tea guys low testosterone affects about 30% of adult men in America are you feeling the drag of fatigue noticing a dip in muscle mass or sensing a slump in libido if so it's time to get your testosterone levels tested if you have low tea kaisit Rex is an FDA approved pill that's changing the game in testosterone replacement therapy in fact kaiserr restored testosterone levels in nearly nine out of 10 clinical study participants and its unique formulation bypasses the liver to avoid liver damage it's time to break free from injections pellets and gels choose kaiserr and take a step toward being the hero of your life again to learn more visit kaiser.com that's kyza tex.com by prescription only kaiserr is a 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season for the AFC South which is not something I've said many years previously uh which year two quarterback are you most intrigued to see early in the season not which do you believe in most which are you most intrigued to see this season CJ shroud leveling up with more weapons in Houston or Anthony Richardson actually healthy excuse me and of course paired with a healthy Jonathan Taylor fits this is one of the games on the Sunday slate I'm most excited about this is going to be a Anthony Richardson really fun one and I think I am more eager to see Anthony Richardson and what that offense looks like there were only two games last season that Richardson started and finished and he scored 21.9 and 29.6 fantasy points in those two games good for weekly finishes of qb4 and qb2 um you know I've mentioned the stat a few times during the off season that Josh Allen was the leading fantasy score at quarterback last season and Anthony Richardson averaged 19.4% more fantasy points per snap than Josh Allen did so this dude can light it up from a fantasy perspective and we know a lot of that is running but uh I I don't think he's a total dud as a passer either and uh I I really do though want to see how this running game works with Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor because I think it could be pretty spectacular um I want to see how heavily involved Michael Pitman is I want to see if ad I Mitchell can get involved in the passing game early on um like yeah I'm pretty anxious to see the Indianapolis offense dbra what do you CJ Stroud think I want to see good players play good good man and I am so this is not any shade at Anthony Richardson but I I'm so excited so excited to see CJ stoud in this revamped offense all these weapons around him what he did last year as a rookie coming in and behind an offensive line that we entered the season we're like I don't know how good this offensive Line's going to be we don't know how good any of these pass catchers are going to be and you want to see teams build around these rookie quarterback contracts and Houston goes all in and they say okay here's Stefon Diggs here's Joe Mixon the offensive line jelled perfectly last year and bringing back all these guys some more cohesion I want to see CJ Stroud light it up I want to see him inject himself into the MVP conversation I want to see CJ strad on the national stage and people give him respect because I'm still old enough to remember when there was so much hate walking into the NFL draft for CJ's drought and all this S2 BS I want to see CJ Stout firmly firmly stick that in a coffin forever in week one I want to see him blow up to be clear the correct answer is both because I'm really excited to see both of these guys um and I'm glad you guys each picked one and were able to make the case if I had to pick one of Conan stra just because like what we saw was so historic just from a real life perspective that I'm just like super curious to see like I'm what I'm curious to see with Stroud is was he so good because he's just predator naturally mature and he just started from a high point but maybe doesn't rise that much higher beyond that he just started off way higher than usual or is that starting point then going to take a leap into you know just another E Echelon and basically challenge Mahomes for being the best quarterback at football like I'm really curious to see how that plays out for him but can I just add something about Stout real quick like how how he started last year with like four of his starting five offensive linemen hurt like I thought he was going to get destroyed in his first couple of games and that he actually navigated it pretty well was like really an eye opener and now like he's starting not only with his offensive line healthy but like all these uh weapons at wide receiver like it's going to be really fun to watch out of the game 100% I could not agree more Game 7 - Jaguars at Dolphins let's go to game seven Jags at Dolphins my question here will Devon Anan step right back into being the most efficient per touch fantasy running back in history and kind of along those lines well Raheem moer continue to be the preferred goal line option for Miami as he was for a lot of last year DB what do you think I think I don't know if he's going to replicate that type of De’Von Achane efficiency because I do think he gets a bump in workload but I don't think his efficiency is going to be far off I still think he's going to be knocking on the door of top five top 10 in basically every tackle breaking metric that you look at and I think it could start week one man I mean I wrote this up in the primer and it was really very telling to me when we look at usage and we look at matchups and really getting into the weeds of it um this matchup specifically I think we see aan take the lead on this matchup because if you look at the splits for the Jacksonville run defense last year defending Zone and GAP runs it was like night and day for them and why does this matter moster last year 64% of his runs were on S runs aan it was split down the middle you had almost 50/50 Gap in zone but you look at this defensive matchup you're talking about a Jacksonville Jaguars run defense that versus Zone run so again a lot of mosts bread and butter they were top five in terms of lowest success rate allowed and yards per carry on Zone runs you flip that over and you look at what they did versus Gap runs they allowed the 12th most Gap rushing yards last year and the sixth highest yards per carry to that run type so we could see a much heavier workload for Devon aan considering the matchup this week so I think takes the lead and I think it's in week one Fitz you've been all aboard the Devon Anan train this entire uh offseason um what do you think this backfield is going to look like here in week one yeah I mean it's still going to be a split moster is still going to be heavily involved I don't know if he's going to score 21 touchdowns again but uh eight or nine is a reasonable expectation reasonable minimum maybe if he stays healthy all season and uh you know realistically I I can't expect Devon H and to average 7.8 yards per carry it might only be 7.4 6.8 this year um no but I'm obviously really high on Anan like he's a top 10 fantasy running back for me I mean like the the speed and contact balance he is always reminded me of War Dunn and like War Dunn was a really good running back in the NFL for a really long time but he did need a tag team partner you know was thunder and lightning with war D and Mike allot for a long time and um you know so like this is a guy can do a lot of damage on 12 to 15 touches a game and we're going to continue to see him wreak havoc um with sort of a lighter workload he's never going to be that bejan Robinson uh Christian mcaffrey type of Workhorse but like he can do plenty of damage on a slightly lesser workload man do I love watching football live there's nothing in the world quite like walking into the stadium after an awesome tailgate in that crisp refreshing fall weather I haven't been able to make it out to a Broncos game since moving to Denver but I plan to change that this year and when I do you know I'll be getting those tickets from game time they've got a new feature called Game Time picks that makes getting tickets to see your favorite teams play Live even easier it filters out the fluffs to show you only incredible deals on great seats so you don't waste any time searching through hundreds or even thousands of tickets the curations make it easier to save more on Not Just Sports but concerts comedy theater and more two other features that I love for how much they take take the frustration out of ticket buying our game times seat views showing your view from the seat before you buy and Allin pricing so I know the total upfront with no hidden fees game time is simple to use but more importantly the app gives me all the information I need to make an easy ticket purchase so take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code fantasy pros for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code f n t a s y p r oos for20 off download game time today what time is it game time all right let's go to Game 8 - Panthers at Saints Panthers at Saints one of the few games on the Slate that is not that intriguing uh I would go so far as to call this an uninspiring matchup here uh sorry D bro uh we'll start we'll start with you br it is man which team's offseason coaching changes will benefit their players in fantasy specifically more Clint kubak in New Orleans or Dave Canales in Carolina oh this is a really good question you can make a really good case for both of them I I'm gonna say Dave canelas and and I have to go that direction I feel like because what we saw out of Bryce young last year I mean he honestly for most of the Season looked like a player that we were struggling like does he belong in the NFL like should he be a starting quarterback like where is the guy that that went so high in the NFL draft and how did that disappear so quickly so I think looking at what canelas can provide for Bry shung and I'm not telling you that there's this monster blowup season coming for Bryce young but can he I mean I'm I know he's only one year into his career and it's kind of it's a really heavy thing to say can he resurrect his career but after that type of rookie season The Narrative swirling around him you get a shorter leash year after year after year and this is not the coaching staff that drafted you so what affiliations to Bry shung but like I think that he can take a step forward and Dave canel has to be the guy that can get that out of him so really looking at which one can benefit the most I mean Bry shung like is my answer easily for this fit what do you think yeah I agree with Debra on this one Dave caneles um he resuscitated Baker Mayfield last year as the Buccaneers offensive coordinator he coed a 40 touchdown season out of Russell Wilson in 2020 is the Seahawks quarterback's coach um if if Canales can sort of reanimate Bryce young after a colossally disappointing rookie season they're going to be a lot of residual fantasy benefits to other players on the Panthers certainly good for Deontay Johnson uh maybe Adam thielen clings to Fantasy relevance for one more year and I I think it would certainly be good for the running backs chuba Hubbert and eventually Jonathan Brooks so um yeah and like we we saw really faints but uh distinctive Sparks last year with Bryce young notably on Christmas Eve day where he lit up my Green Bay Packers and Forest Jordan loved to keep the pedal to the medal all game just to like put away Carolina in that game in a game the Packers really needed for playoff position so like Bryce young looked great in that game and if Canales can get him to do that a little more consistently the the Panthers offense could be pretty intriguing this year last game in the early slate Vikings at Game 9 - Vikings at Giants Giants can Kevin oconnell and these weapons make Sam darnold a playable fantasy quarterback Fitz what do you expect I I think maybe you can um look at the play caller Sam darnold has been saddled with over his career or at least his career as a starter uh Jeremy Bates Adam gase Matt rule um this is going to be by far the best situation Sam darnold has ever been in as a starting quarterback I think it's possible his career has a satisfying second act and that he can at least be a streamable fantasy quarterback in 2024 I tend to agree and Debro based on the way you've been tweeting the last couple of days I think you agree too yeah I do agree man I mean just look at what Kevin oconnell did last year for Nick Mullen and Joshua dos I mean in the eight games we got with two of these guys playing at least 70% of the snaps they finishes the QB 11 or higher and weekly scoring 60 63% of the time it doesn't sound like a lot but if you look at the overall season last year that have been the sixth highest qb1 scoring rate in fantasy so I I think really and we I we always talk about this but scheme and coaching freaking matters especially for quarterbacks like how difficult or hard are you going to make it on your quarterback how many ways can you give them outs to solve problems that defenses are going to present so I I I I don't think it's really saying a lot in a huge stretch that if you talk about Sam Darnell Joshua dobs and Nick Mullin you put them all in the same room who is the quarterback that has the most Raw Talent out of all three of them I think a lot of us most of us all of us would say okay it's Sam darnold so expecting him to play up in this offense and I get a lot of the weapons are heard and this is not the same offense and stuff like that you still got freaking Justin Jefferson you still got Aaron Jones and you still have Kevin oconnell so yeah I think Sam Darnell we're going to get a lot of streaming weeks out of him let's go to the late slate here and Game 10 - Raiders at Chargers we'll start with Raiders at Chargers and it was one of the key questions that we talked about really all summer was what was this backfield going to look like for Los Angeles and that's to me the question of week one is is there a running back that emerges for the Chargers as sort of the guy that we want to be playing in fantasy moving forward the guy where you're kind of taking a Victory lap if he was the one you drafted late the guy where if you're in a shallower league you're rushing to waivers to pick him up will there be kind kind of the one in this backfield after week one Fitz early on maybe Gus Edwards might be the guy we feel comfortable playing as an rb2 or a flex uh but I do tend to think this backfield is going to shape shift and maybe a couple of times as the season goes on with um you know maybe JK Dobbins can can prove himself to be a medical Marvel and overcome a major knee injury and a turnor achilles uh and become a fantasy darling and and maybe uh my guy kamani Videl um the uh all-time leading rusher for Troy University can take over the Back Field at some point but um I don't know maybe it's just an ensemble cast all season and we have all these guys giving us like rb3 or rb4 value and it's kind of tricky to discern week to week um it's certainly one of the more intriguing backfields in the league from a fantasy perspective made all the more intriguing because we know that Chargers had coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman want to run the hack out of the ball um you know those those two love the running game the way I love an ice cold IPA Debo sorry sorry I I have this I you could take that for what you will that's a reaction to either ipas or Greg Roman offense take take it how you will Fitzy uh D.A are you sticking with your guy viell oh you better believe man come on I think that do you think he emerges I I know you believe in him longm do you think he Emer in week one no I think that what we're going to see and I could be wrong but we're all we're all speculating on this backfield because we just don't freaking know man like two of the three guys we're going to we're talking about in this conversation we didn't see even play in the freaking preseason so trying to parse through what this looks like it can go a bunch of different ways Gus could lead the way week one it could be JK Dobbins I I think those are the two favorites but the way that I see this backfield playing out is I don't think that we're going to get a clear guy leading the way in week one maybe not even week two week three week four I think this backfield could get split up not only in just two ways but maybe three you could see three guys getting action in this backfield where it's like okay all three of them get 8 to 12 touches per game 8 to 10 touches per game as run heavy as this offense is going to be and maybe the coaching staff says okay we're just going to let the cream rise to the top the best guy that's that's playing we're going to go with the hot hand and if you prove week after week that you continue to have the hot hand then the backfield kind of shifts and I think if that happens and that's the way it plays out kamman videll will be the guy at the end of the season when we flip over the cards that was the most productive running back on this dep chart and we all should have never gotten off of it because I think we had the right take from the very beginning but then Camp talk him being injured not seeing him much in the preseason season which is going to delay his Ascension in the back field because he has to make up time with pass protection showing out to the the coaches just in general I think when it's all said and done videll is going to be the guy that leads this team down the Game 11 - Broncos at Seahawks stretch let's go to game 11 Broncos at Seahawks this is a really intriguing one for me just because there's a lot of players in this match up that I'm really curious to see what they look like this season there's a lot of really interesting sleeper options so I want to ask about those guys which draft season sleep playing in this game will have the best week one between gavonte Williams Julio mlin and Jackson Smith in jigra DB Jaxon Smith-Njigba bro I think the best statline out of all three of these guys will go to jsn uh Tower locket is banged up right now DK mchf could catch a shadow from Patrick certan I'm not saying it's definitive but it can happen he did Shadow I think it was like five or six times that I wrote up in the primer last year and he was really really good at it so if that happens and that comes to fruition then you're going to see jsn featured prominently in this game so I'll say the biggest statline from this game is jsn but I think the biggest surprise statline based off of where he's ranked versus consensus is going to be Jalil mlin you look at this matchup it is a fantastic onp paper matchup for both of those running backs Seattle was a bottom five run defense last year they didn't really do anything in the off season to improve that run defense where I think it's going to be that much better like maybe okay maybe they're not bottom three bottom five this year maybe they're bottom 10 but still a really good matchup and the reason I want to highlight it for Jalil is we know that if he pays off this year in fantasy which I think he does been talking about that for months it's going to be through the passing game you look at that matchup specifically for J in the passing game we're talking about a defense that has been historically bad versus receiving back over multiple seasons and even transplanting Mike McDonald's scheme Baltimore gave up perceptions to running backs last year Seattle gave up the 10th highest yards per reception and the ninth most receiving yards two running backs last year I think Julian mofin is going to be a extremely strong flex play I won't be surprised if he walks out of week one with rb2 production so versus consensus Jalil is the guy that's going to have the surprising stat line but the guy with the biggest numbers out of this game be jsn Fitz you highlighted javante Javonte Williams on yesterday's show is he going to be your choice here too he is going to be my choice although I like Jalil two and uh I've already bet the over on the receiving yardage for both javante and Jalil like that was an easy Smash and they're both like under 20 I mean jalil's at like 12 12 and a half or something like that ridiculously low um yeah so we know that they're going to be used a lot in the passing game as running backs always are in a Shawn pyton offense um but like what I found interesting last year was that after using javante really lightly early in the season coming off his 2022 knee injury um his usage really ramped up starting in about week seven from week seven to week 16 a 10 game stretch gavon averaged 18.9 touches a game 16 carries 2.9 catches like that's almost Workhorse Duty and I do think julil is going to have aom role without question but um like if javante gets that same sort of usage and can go back to being the same powerful explosive Runner he was pre knee injury like he could be a top 10 fantasy back let's go to Cowboys at Browns here Game 12 - Cowboys at Browns key question will the Browns defense shut down opposing fantasy players again this season and will we see that in week one Fitz yeah uh this is going to be a defense I think we are uh going to be depressed about um seeing our players go against it might be one of those skull and crossbones matchups where you're just like oh no my guys are playing the Cleveland Browns they were number two in defensive dvoa last year two against the pass four against the Run uh miles Garrett is going to raise all sorts of hell off the edge as he always does and they have this good and deep collection of cornerbacks so yeah I think this is poised to be one of the top defenses yet again d bro is this in a defense that you think will rise to level of we avoid them with certain borderline players or just one where you still play you're not worrying too much about the matchup but it's you know you're you're more pessimistic about the outcome I think if you're looking at wide receiver twos and threes and tight ends versus this defense I want to have no part of it I will drop guys in ranks when they face this I mean this this outside quarterback Duo is just fantastic I mean but I think you're still going to be starting your high studs versus them because a lot of what you're also banking on is just volume so like I'm not getting too cute and worry about CD lamb this week um I do want to highlight if you and Fitzy brought it up like with with the run defense specifically if you pull up the hood and look under it a little bit more too there are some concerning metrics for that run defense so I think we're still going to get really good games out of the running backs uh cuz we're talking about a run defense for Cleveland as good as their pass defense was and they were good at limit touchdowns to running backs this this run defense still did allow the highest exposive run rate last year the most Miss tackles per attempt and the second highest yards of the contact per attempt so if you're looking for a way of how the teams attack this defense on paper right now it should be to run the dang Paul so I'm not as concerned with running backs facing this defense as I am with uh receiving options because every part of that pass defense is just ridiculously Rico Dowdle nasty I've got a second question in this game uh will one of the Cowboys running backs emerge as the clear starter it seemed from kind of the talk that maybe ends up being Zeke obviously we've been big fans of Rico dle throughout August will one of them emerge in this game against a tough defense de bro I think it's Rico D I'm not going to be surprised and because the thing about it is we none of us know again we talked about the Chargers backfield none of us know how this we we we've all speculated and a lot of this has all been narrative based where it's like we all expect Ezekiel Elliott to come in and blah blah blah dude the other part about this is Rico dle is a favorite of Mike McCarthy like he loves Rico D has talked him up the entire offseason you go I mean go check my timeline go check coach Peak index he's talked about Rico D being really good as a pass protector and a three down complete running back I honestly won't be surprised if after we're walk out of week one if Rico D leads the backfield and touches he gets 15 touches in week one you don't see any Dalvin cook hardly any maybe a touch or two late in the game and we see Rico D leading the backfield and we all kind of collectively scratch our heads and everybody's like oh man but what about Zeke I was told Zeke was going to be such a big part of this backfield all off season we're all speculating so really I think REO could step forward this week Fitz what do you expect from the backfield here so when you post was this question worm you asked who I Ezekiel Elliott expect to be the starter and um like I know there's a lot of enthusiasm for Rico Suave but uh I'm I think Zeke is going to continue to start even if it's maybe in an honorary capacity and like I do think it's going to be a split backfield like um maybe McCarthy does really like daal but uh like Zeke has built up a lot of Goodwill with this franchise so I I think he's going to continue to play a role unless he is completely washed but actually L pretty good last year at least as a pass catcher for the Patriots and you know we have to judge his season against the uh you know the the overall sewage of the Patriots offense last season so um we'll see what it looks like this year but maybe Zeke isn't completely washed I I think it's probably going to be both of these guys and in something close to a 5050 workload split last game on The Game 13 - Commanders at Buccaneers Late slate commanders at Buccaneers key question will our favorite commanders sleepers Terry mclen Jaden Daniels and Brian Robinson Jr payoff for Fantasy managers right away in week One DB I'll let you go first because you have been all over this offense this season I I mean I gotta talk about the poster boy for the week one primer right like and shout out to Ethan our amazing Graphics guy for just speaking to my heart and putting him as the cover uh guy for this week one primer yeah I think two of these three options have fantastic games and I think it's Jaden Daniels and Terry McClaren I think it's uphill sledding for Brian Robinson Jr I I think he's going to still still think he's going to have a very very good season but you really look at the teeth of this defense still is the run defense for the bucks like they allowed the fifth fewest rushing yards per game fifth lowest Miss tackles per attempt so I think this is going to lead to the Washington commanders Pace up passing all over the freaking field and I think as long as J Jaden Daniels can deal with the blitz packages uh that BS is going to throw at him secondary is not something I've concerned Leed about I think Jane Daniels and Terry mclen come out and Light It Up in week one Fitz do you think we see these sleepers all from the commanders highlight you know week one as some of the best players I think dbo nailed this like I'm ranking Jaden Daniels and Terry McClaren for week one approximately where I ranked them uh in my draft rankings and I was bullish on these guys I had Jaden Daniels as low-end qb1 Terry McLaren as like a a low-end wide receiver two or highend wide receiver three uh but I think you do have to dock Brian Robinson a little because of the tough match like Todd B's defenses always do a really good job against the run so um he's he's more of a mid-range rb3 for me this week but I think most weeks he's got like lowend running back two uh appeal so yeah I mean like the matchup pushes Robinson into borderline start set territory but start McLaren start Daniels getting a little bit deeper here one of Zack Herz or Luke mcaffry is catching a touchdown this week calling it right now really nice interesting call let's go to Sunday Night Football awesome game another playoff rematch Game 14 - Rams at Lions Rams at Lions what does the Rams offense look like with everyone healthy because we didn't see it a whole lot last year and what we saw was pretty exciting they of course added Blake quorum to the mix as well so what do we think this offense looks like when everything's humming and they're kind of running at full strength fits a lot of Puka and a lot of Cooper cup maybe an equal measure um I I think the Back Field is going to be mostly Kiren at least to start off with some Blake Corin mixed in change of pace stuff um maybe a dash of Colby Parkinson at tight end so uh like nothing too out of the ordinary Debra I think it's gonna be a lot of Puka and cup like Fitz talked about um again kirn's still going to lead the backfield I think specifically for this matchup in week one though I I think that Cooper cup is going to lead the way um this is I mean arguably probably the healthiest we see him all year and I'm not projecting injuries and stuff but even if you just look at from the coverage matchup when puka and cup were both on the field last year and healthy and stuff we're talking about um a wide receiver room that I think the reason I think it's going to be led by Cup this week is because you're looking at Detroit specifically 54% single high last year that was in cups wheelhouse and puka was still really really good versus that coverage type but cup led the way with a 27% Target share and a 33% first re here so while I still will stand on I think puka out targets Cup this year I think in week one it's going to be cup over puka I could pretty much make that a question every week for the Rams as long as they're both healthy is who's the guy this week puka cup so we'll see if that continues to come up throughout the season let's go to Monday Night Football last game on the Slate Jets at 49ers another fun one how good Game 15 - Jets at 49ers will a 40-year-old Aaron Rogers look coming off the Achilles injury will we need to be patient as he shakes off some rust or will this be what we kind of expected it to look like at the start of last year before the unfortunate injury Debra I think you're going to see a rusty Rogers in this one and this is not so much just like Rogers and stuff but Aaron Rodgers like I mean look pars through all this guys like in the offseason like whether it's been managed reps and practice not the entirety of camp and stuff like that but not playing at all in the preseason like you need onfield when the bullets are flying kind of reps I I think Rogers is going to struggle a little bit not specifically just like you know the early part of the season but this is also a really really good defense for the San Francisco 49ers so I think that the the Jets should wisely ease him in like really lean on Bree in this game and their defense not put a ton on Rogers to carry the entire offense because he's probably going to have to do that the entire uh year but I think you're see him knocking off some Rust for a player that didn't play at all last year and none in the preseason so first snaps in the game since 2022 Fitz where are your expectations for Rogers D bro just mentioned 2022 when Aaron Rogers posted the lowest passer rating in his 15 years as Green Bay starter so he was not like vintage Aaron roders when we last saw him and that was two years ago pre Achilles injury so um Ro like Roger still is a really powerful arm and you see it in the camp highlights like and terrific accuracy still one of the best throwers of the football of all time and like he still has that but um he's not going to run anymore the Jets offense is going to move at a slow pace the Jets defense is lights out so they're probably not going to be involved in many shootouts like Rogers if he stays healthy like I can I think he can be the quarterback who sort of takes this team where they were hoping to go last year but for Fantasy he's just not a guy I'm interested in at all like I think he's uh certainly a better real life quarterback than fantasy quarterback at this point we'll get out of here on that thank you everybody for tuning into this week's episode I hope you continue to tune in every Friday throughout the season man I'm just so excited that football is back I cannot wait for Sunday to just hear Scott Hansen again and sit there on the couch and watch a whole lot of football it's going to be absolutely glorious for Debo and Fitz I'm Ryan warmly thank you everybody for tuning in and we'll see you again next Friday