Fantasy Football 2017 - Starts of the Week, Week 1 Matchups, News

You know, 12 touches this game. Okay, let's say... Would you rather start Joe Mixen or Terrence West in this game? Oh, that's a great one. Because I think I'd rather start Terrence West because I just don't know what it's going to look like yet. But a small amount of touches for mixing could mean big things. Well, let's say you have Joe Mixing, because you had to draft them early. But you were wise and you got these, the old busted allegedly, you know, like the not hot guys, like Jonathan Stewart, Frank Gore. Robert Kelly and Frank Gore. Are you...

Going to your bench in this case and starting one of those three guys over Joe Mixing. Sure. I've got the luxury at that point of guaranteed carries between Robert. I mean, I'd much rather start Robert Kelly against Philadelphia. You've got the guaranteed workload. You get the opportunity to see what you have in Mixon. You didn't draft Mixon. I don't think anybody drafted him to be their RB1, did they? If you drafted it to be RB1, you've made your bed. You sleep in that bed.

But if you didn't, and you did draft some depth, just wait and see what? What is the upside? He's not going to take over, no matter what happens, right? He's not getting 20 carries in this game. Is there any possible way that happens in week one? No, I don't think there's any possible way barring an injury to Jeremy Hill that happens. Yeah, so it's not happening. But he could very easily get a 40-yard passing touchdown or, you know, or rushing touchdown. Yeah, that's called the Amir Abdullah excitement factor. And you just don't, I mean.

Last year, you worried about workload, and I'd like to just see it. Yeah. You're starting AJ Green every week. You don't even think about it. Tyler Eifert, roll him out there, Andy Dalton. If you drafted him as a late-round quarterback, you're rolling him out there as well. He is at home. And he has weapons. If you drafted Andy Dalton, because we're all projecting Andy Dalton as a quarterback one for the entire season. But let's say you're in a 12-teamer. There's quarterbacks available. Carson Palmer is sitting there.

on the waiver wire, but the guy you would have to drop would be Andy Dalton. Would you make that swap for Palmer, who I think all three of us have universally as a better play, but then you may lose out on Dalton. No, I would not make that swap. I would make the swap because I don't believe I'll lose out on Dalton. Okay. Most leagues, Dalton is still on the waiver wire. Yeah, I would only make that swap if I had Andrew Luck on my IR and I was looking for a rental versus a season long. Because I don't think that...

I don't think there's any guarantee that Palmer has a better game than Dalton. It's just a slightly better situation. Steelers Browns. We have three more matchups and then our starts of the week coming up. The Steelers take on the Browns. Steelers are eight-point favorites in Cleveland, 47-point over-under. Weather should be good. Welcome to the NFL, Mr. Kaiser. Good luck. Good luck. Let's see. This game script, what are we predicting?

Probably a lead for Pittsburgh. Probably Kaiser taking his lumps in his first NFL game. Over under 21 carries for Levi-on-Bel. Over. Oh, I'll definitely take the over. Take 24 carries somewhere around there. And you've got Isaiah Crowell, somebody that we're pretty optimistic about. The Steelers are real middle of the road and have been on defense, but I think this defense can be really good this year. And this is just a tough matchup for Kaiser to come out. He is at home, but...

The Steelers look like one of the best defense plays of the week because, look, rookies make mistakes. They make mistakes. And so, yeah, he may, it's just going to be trouble. It's going to be trouble. And are you confident starting Crowell in this game?

Yes, I'm confident starting Crowell in this game. For sure. Even at home, a divisional game against the middle of the road run defense. I think he's hoping involved. They improved steadily over the second half. What are you going to do with Crowell? You drafted him to start. I know. I know what I'm just saying like, do you have confidence, especially since we're all projecting the Steelers to get to a big lead quickly. Yeah. Yeah, I would. I've got Crowell as an RB one this week. It's not to say that he will, but I've got confidence to start him.

Yep, me too. Duke Johnson, you starting him? In any situation? No, if you're in a PPR league, they're going to be down. I'm surprised that the Steelers are only favored by eight points in this game. Britt. Yeah, Britain Coleman, the depth plays. I'm going to let them sit this week. All right, anything on the Pittsburgh side we want to discuss, Martavis Bryant, Antonio Brown, Lev Bell, Big Ben. Those are the only guys you're messing with in fantasy, right? Absolutely. Not messing with the tight ends. Nope.

All right. Keeping an eye on them, though. Let's talk about that Palmer matchup. The Cardinals travel to Detroit. The Lions are one and a half point underdogs at home against Arizona, 48 point over under. Look, we know the storyline here. You're rolling out your big gun. David Johnson. Amir Abdullah, I feel pretty confident starting him in this game. The Cardinals, while they were the ninth best run D last year, it's...

They don't have Clayas Campbell anymore in the middle of that defensive line. Buchanan will miss game one. Buchanan will miss game one. And they did not look like they were, they were jelling in the run defense in the preseason from the limited time that we got to see them. We all know the secondary is going to be very good. I wouldn't feel confident. We've talked a lot about Marvin Jones and how excited we are about, hey, maybe he's a balanced back guy. This is a week where... This is not the game for him. No, I mean, he's going to be matched up with Patrick Peterson all night long. So, or all morning long.

Where else do we feel confident on the Detroit side of the ball? Mike, I know you like Abdullah, but is there anybody else on that side that you're really thinking? I'll still play Golden Tate with full confidence because I think he can, what his role in the offense is he'll be able to get some things done. You know, just those short routes playing out of the slot, you know, just quick hit. Maybe he gets a nice yard.

some nice yards after catch. We've seen that in his past. So it's not a like, this isn't an upside play where Tate can be an upside play certain weeks. But I, the Cardinals passing defense is going to be legit and legit scary for fantasy purposes. All right. So I've heard some, some shade thrown Larry Fitzgerald's way. You've heard shade? I've heard shade. Yeah, you can do that. If you, if you listen.

If you listen closely. It's the sound of silence. You can actually hear shade when you're referring to what analysts are saying about certain players. And they're saying that Larry Fitzgerald is old. And they're saying Larry Fitzgerald is. I heard a bold claim that Larry would finish outside the top 40 in a PPR format just the other day. How come? Or in this game? For the season. Well, okay. That makes a lot more sense because this game.

is great for Larry Fitzgerald. I am as confident as possible to start Larry, especially if it was a PPR. I think that's where they're going to be going with the ball in the passing game is Larry. And I don't think the people want to know about John Brown. They don't care about is he a sneaky start this week. John Brown says he's ready to play. Are you saying is John Brown a sneaky start? I am asking that question.

He would be sneaky. I mean, I don't think most people would be doing it. If you were facing a John Brown, Duke Johnson Flex play decision, you would start. I would start in that situation, John Brown. John Brown. Yeah. It's higher touchdown probability. Okay. And we'll talk about Carson Palmer very shortly. He's my start of the week. And we glossed over Riddick. Are you confident? I've been asked a lot about Riddick this week. And my, I kind of said, I want to see.

what this office looks like with the healthy Abdullah because I just don't know if we're going to see enough snaps for Riddick to be confident. That was another question. Somebody said, look, you know, would you start Theoretic or would you start Adam Thielen this week? I said, well, I'd go with Adam Thielen because I just, I don't know. I know Riddick will be on the field. I just don't know if he'll be the new Duke Johnson there. And you're hooked. Where you're not, you don't have enough opportunities. Nice, Jay. Thank you. I thought it was.

Kind of interesting. He was listed as the co-starter with Abdullah. Yeah. I'm a Deptcher. I don't know if that means anything, but. Well, being a starting running back for the Lions. It hasn't meant a lot for fantasy owners the last couple of years. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see. Riddick still has value. I'm not saying that he doesn't have value. I just, I kind of want to see it. And I figure where you drafted Riddick, you're not in a position where you're stuck. Fair. All right, Jaguars, Texans.

This is the lowest over under of the week. Did you just change that? No. I told you it was lower. When I scrolled down, it said 40. Maybe I was looking at a different game. All right, 39 and a half over under. This game is going to be so exciting. Tom Savage, Blake Bortles. I'm not starting Bortles against the Texans D. Leonard Fournett, if you drafted him to start him, you got to start him. I think he's on the field. Lamar Miller.

You got to start him. And this is much more of those. You got to start him situation. Yeah. I mean, you're going to have to start those guys. Do you feel like you have to start DeAndre Hopkins as well? Yes. You drafted. The Texans are. Okay. Trying to think of a scenario. So you've got Hopkins in the fourth or whatever. I mean, you probably didn't. You had to pay up a little bit more. But these guys that these wide receivers that you're taking flyers on, are you?

Gonna start a flyer? No, you're not. Week one, this is what Mike's advice was. Yeah, exactly. Week one, you start the guys you drafted to start and you just learn. I guess I'm coming from a place where I never drafted Hopkins because I didn't see him as a stud that would, that I would start in these type of matchups. Guess what this is? Oh, Andy's almost upset of the week. I forgot about these.

The Texans are five and a half point favorites. Get ready. Get ready to see one of the lowest scoring games of the year. And you're going to see Jacksonville come out on top in this one. That's what I believe. So that's a full upset. Yeah. I mean, they're going to lose by one. There you go. There's the almost. I think it's going to be a really close game. Look, Jacksonville's defense on paper is great. Look, last year against the past, they were fifth best.

You have Tom Savage. I mean, this is going to be a grinded out type of game. You're going to need, I mean, it might be the defense that makes the most plays that wins this game. I think it's going to be close. I think it's going to be gross. How many quarters until we see Watson? Savage plays the whole game. Yeah. All right. All right, guys. It's time to move on. One of our favorite segments of the week. Here we go. Starts of the week. It's good to hear these drops again, Mike.

Yeah, it feels good. Get you on that guitar. Chicken noodle soup for the soul. Why don't you kick us off there, Mike? Oh, well, don't mind if I do. My quarterback start of the week, Marcus Mariotta. Love it. Newly rostered in our League of Record. Really? By me. That's a great pickup. Yeah. Because I would rather play him over Palmer, who I believe that you had. And why? Because he's at home.

He's playing the Raiders. We have seen the Raiders defense has not improved from last season. From what we have seen in the preseason, the over under is over 50 points. Eric Decker is going to play. I mean, Decker and Richard Matthews with Mariotta is, it could be devastating in the right matchup. It's really.

And I'm not doubting your start of the week. But one of the only games that Mariotas struggled with last year was at home against Oakland. I'm not scared. Okay. He put up five fantasy points in that game. Two interceptions and a fumble. Yeah. Well, it's not happening again. Mario is going to roll. And I love him in this opening week. Look, my start of the week at the quarterback position is Carson Palmer.

He's somebody I drafted as my stopgap for Andrew Luck. It's a great week one matchup. He gets those free points out of the backfield with all those David Johnson targets. And Detroit gave up an average of 25 and a half fantasy points per game to the quarterback last year. Right now, John Brown is healthy. So I like Palmer to have a great game in week one. Okay, so you have Palmer and you have Marietta. I know. The people want to know, who are you starting?

I just looked at it, and that's why I saw Mario had a bad game against Oakland last year. I'll talk about Tyrod Taylor, and then we're coming back to see who Andy starts in week one. Tyrod Taylor is my start of the week. The reason that I'm picking him is basically twofold. One, he is coming off the concussion and the injury. You weren't even sure if he was. That's why you're picking him? No, it's a confidence play. It's a confidence play to tell people it's okay to play him. Gotcha. And then the other reason is because he's playing the Jets.

And so if he wants to run, he'll be able to. But if he wants to pass the ball, I think he'll be able to. How much analysis this year is going to be? The Jets. They're playing the Jets. Look, this is, I mean. No stats needed. You're going to have those type of things, just like last year. If you were a tight end, we, you know, almost every week, you'd have a start of the week or a stream of the week against the Cleveland Browns. I've talked to Jets fans. I've talked to Buffalo fans.