Unsolved Mysteries + TNF Preview, Trade Decisions - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/23

I mean, we say, okay, he played Atlanta. That's true. It wasn't his highest scoring fantasy week. His highest scoring fantasy week was week one against Chicago, where he scored 31 fantasy points. It's also where he had 361 passing yards. So the bigger thing, three touchdowns in each of the last two weeks, only one interception. So here's is Bryce Young, did he level up? I will say that he, I was.

purely like from a passing perspective, he was the most impressive morning quarterback on Sunday. I will say he looks different. He looks like he's having fun. He's, you know, he's doing what he wants out there. I think the Canales system is working. We have been, you know, supporters of Canales and hopeful that Bryce Young can figure it out through two weeks. We were losing faith. He has, yeah, we were. Through two weeks he has looked good.

He has played well. The wide receivers, he's got a good core. I mean, you add Darren Waller, who obviously is not the Darren Waller of old, but around the, you know, in the red zone, having that as someone, three touchdowns, you know, in two back-to-back weeks for Bryce Young is great. Tetaroa, Coker, and Darren Waller, that's a really nice trifecta of receivers. However, I do think, like, the matchups are...

pretty darn easy so far. Chicago Bears, we left that game going their defense was terrible. They had some injuries in preseason. It looked like they were not prepared for it. Atlanta, I want to remind you guys. It wasn't terrible in week. I mean, Chicago's defense was better in week two. Sure. The rain was the 12th man. But last year in Atlanta, Bryce Young was.

448 yards and three touchdowns. I mean, you would have said he figured it out. He was unbelievable. Then he threw 169, 206, 163, 191, 54. So I am more skeptical that he figured it out. I'm very hopeful. I will say he has looked good two games in a row. He is young enough where we saw this from Trevor Lawrence last year.

Trevor Lawrence was a player who was a disappointment for what he was supposed to be. A couple years into his career while he's still young, with a good offensive coordinator, figured it out. And I think we all would say Trevor Lawrence figured it out. He's a very good quarterback. I'm hopeful that's Bryce Young, but I, I mean, really, what's their matchup this week? I don't know Bryce Young's current matchup for this coming week, but that's like Cleveland.

Should be fine. That's a perfect test for him because that is a decent defense. Should be fine. Here's what is different, though, is when you think of what the Carolina Panthers have been the last couple years, it's the Chuba Hubbard year. It's last year's combo of Chuba and Rico. This was a run team. The Carolina Panthers are currently playing the fastest of any team in the NFL. Their plays at 23 seconds per play.

And they're just like, so they're getting a whole bunch of extra plays in. And the Carolina Panthers are number one in neutral pass rate right now. This is a, they, they've turned it over. They said, I have Ted McMillan and Jalen Coker two premier wide receivers. They're like, let's stop doing this. Stop doing the run and then having Bryce Young have to figure it out. What if we let Bryce Young be the engine of the team? And so far through two weeks, not only is it.

were passing all the time. They're playing super fast. So this, like, this looks like a, looks like something that I would buy into. 8.9 yards per attempt, which is blowing away all of his career averages. That's fantastic. 10.5 yards averaged up the target. I think the unlock, the health of Jalen Koker has been crucial to this offense for sure. And to have a red zone threat like Waller where now your option one down around the goal on might be, you know, Jason brought him up to involve Waller.

It is something to watch. It's two weeks, but it is something to watch. Where do you think from week three through 17, Bryce Young is the quarterback what? 10. I think 20. I'm more on Andy's side of like if this is the new, if this is the new way that the Carolina Panthers are going to run it, then they're just, there will be yards.

Either they go out there and they pass and they succeed and we're like, fantastic for Bryce Young or he goes out and he fails and he has to keep passing more. So I think I'm in. I think I'm in. Yeah, I mean, that's terrifying. It is a, it looks different philosophically. I think that was a good point. We'll take a break and we'll come back with another unsolved mystery.

All right. Unsolved Mystery number two, ironic, because last year through two weeks we were bringing up the hot start. Now it's a slow start. Javante Williams. Will the slow start continue for Cowboys running back Javante through two weeks? He's averaging 2.96 yards per carry. Oh, he's all the way there? Yeah. 50% of his yards have gone for two or fewer yards. Yeah, that's the ones I've been seeing. Sorry, did I say 50% of his yards? 50% of his runs. 50% of his runs.

He is 42nd out of 43 running backs in terms of first downs, two of them on 24 carries. He has not been the engine, right? And one might point to an offensive line that is dead last in yards before contact in terms of how they're performing. No, because Giovante gets what's blocked. Correct.

You know, and he does it consistently. Or held. He had a really nice run last week on a holding penalty that came back. That's true. That's true. A hold or a block. I mean, who's the same? I will say this. Mike and I over the first two weeks over and over while watching are like, woof. Yes. He looks.

Like him, sometimes you watch a player and you go, man, he's been squeezed. Nothing is happening for this guy. He can't get any blocking. He can't get protection. But whenever we see Giovante doing anything, he looks slow. You know, it's like you say, will this slow start, continue? That is very well worded because it feels like he is carrying extra pounds or so he's got a flackjacket on. I don't know what's going on. He does not look good. So I'm 12 for 1, 12 for 41, 12 for 30.

He got saved a little bit in week one because he got into the end zone. That is what you are hoping for. You got two touchdowns week one. Oh, that's right. He got a receiving touchdowns. Yeah. Yeah, I'm very worried from what I have seen. I love the fact that there's a player playing 71%, 80% of the snaps for a good offense. So I'm not like bailing on a workhorse back for a good offense, but I am worried about his actual, you know, physical ability. His, you know, opportunity is greater sign.

than ability for the running back position in fantasy football. And his opportunity is great, but man, he does not look good. I might make him a buy low candidate in a week or two when we start to get closer to the return of Tyler Smith on the offensive line because he's on IR. He's a pro bowler. They need him. But the thing about Dallas is if the running game's not working, we know what's going to happen.

they're going to throw the ball. They're going to chuck it. And they're going to have success doing that. Yeah, they're going to do okay. The next two weeks are very difficult. They're playing against the Baltimore Ravens and then the Houston Texans. Oh, that's why you said two weeks? Yes. No, it's fair. I mean, I tend to find myself kind of in the middle on him, like not quite ready to. Like, I saw enough over a long period of time last year to where I'm willing to wait another week or two. But the Baltimore-Huston matchup is a little bit concerning in terms of, like, I guess you just keep starting him.

I think the offensive line injury is a legitimate thought process because this is a player who gets what is given to him. He's not going to create on his own at this stage, but he, you know, if he has holes, if he has places to run, and right now he just doesn't. So do you know the timeline on that injury? Week five is the earliest he can return. So that's the targeted return week five. And the upside case is just,

the offense because even the passing game hasn't been fully clicking like cd lamb monster game but we need both cd and george to get cooking because that'll turn into a bunch of touchdown opportunities it really does feel like javanti williams is as good as the amount of pass interference in the end zone on george pickens which could be a lot is awesome at that he is so good at drawing p i

Yeah, I think George Pickens is near the top of the list of reasons why you want to give like a point to a receiver that causes a PI. All right, guys, this one's even harder. The Mike McDaniel mystery is Mike McDaniel a good offensive coordinator. There are two teams. There are two teams in the history of the world, and you're going to love it, that have lost back-to-back home games by double digits against teams with a sub-200 win percentage the previous year.

It is the 2026 Los Angeles Chargers in the 1926 racing tornadoes. 100 years ago. And the tornadoes dissolved the very next game. They're like, we're out of it. We're out of here. I think some fans of the Chargers may hope for a dissolving soon. It has been an utter embarrassment for the Chargers. 26 to 14 both weeks at home against two bad teams. And then the gauntlet of the schedule coming up.

How do you evaluate Mike McDaniel at this juncture? They have another offensive line injury. You have your best wide receiver by a lot, apparently, by a lot injured wearing a flag jacket. Because everybody else that they asked to step up last week either got hurt or dropped the ball or both. I remember years ago. Which is not on Mike McDaniel or Herbert, by the way. When this guy...

Mike McDaniel was hired kind of surprisingly to be the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. We kind of reached out to Juice. Shout out, Juice, you're awesome. Kyle Use Check. Kyle Use Check. And asked like, is this guy the real deal? And he said some really good things about Mike McDaniel that he's very good, very creative, very smart. And he had, and he was. He had a lot of success.

I will say that... The dolphins, just a reminder, the dolphins, which are now going to be the worst team in the NFL, they were 7 and 10 in the AFC East last year. I... So it's weird, man. When we watched the first quarter and a half of week one, the Chargers offense seemed fine. Ladd McConkey gets injured and they couldn't do anything. The plays where Ladd was in last week looked okay.

I just don't know if Ladd is gone. I don't know if they have the weapons to move. I was going to say, is it a personnel issue? The thing that I would push back on is that, you know, Kyle Shanahan has been dealt impossible hands with impossible depth problems and injuries. Quarterbacks, running backs, watershears, everybody. For countless years. And then you go out there and the offense looks the same the next week. It's Joanne Jennings. Or it's Kendrick Bourne.

Or it's... The 49ers have down years. Yeah, the 49ers... Not many. No, but when they're down, they're like... I know. We talked about it, but we thought, you know, we thought it'd be worse this year. And they look like a machine, even with the injuries. I'm just saying, like, I think that the personnel, they've put together enough players in Los Angeles for the offense to be... Like, you already blamed Greg Roman once. And you supposedly came back and fixed all these issues. I hear what you're saying.

It's Harbaugh's fault. Perfect. I think it's a combination of factors. I think they have had very poor performances from their players that are independent of Mike McDaniel and Herbert. Drops. They've been nasty. Drops that turn into interceptions, like where you hit a wide receiver in the hand and he was like, oh, let me give it to the defense. But I mean, 30th in EPA per play, 30th in percentage of drives resulting in a score, 31st in turnover differential.

Are they pressing easy buttons? I don't know. I haven't seen it yet. There's no way we can have an unsolved mystery here and come in here and say something positive about what the offense has done yet. Correct. It's just can you go out and perform? And when you look at the schedule, it's a really tough, like I am not afraid to play defenses against the Chargers right now. Right. Like the matchups that are coming up, like I used to be scared of them.

And I feel like there's going to be a stress and a strain that just increases with every loss. Like, are they going to win in Buffalo this week? No. I mean, that would be chargers like for that game to be close. That would be the most chargers thing ever. I mean, the line's only seven. That's a pretty big line. Yeah, that's a pretty big line. I mean, when you're in Buffalo and they're two and oh, I just think that's a low line. I'm taking Buffalo for sure. To win? To cover the spread. Yeah, I mean, I think that that is, I think that.