Fantasy Football Podcast 2015 - Starts of the Week, Daily Dose, Matchups, News

If the Falcons play defense like the Pittsburgh Steelers did, and they line literally no defenders up against Brent Selik to just run a streak down the field with no defenders anywhere near him, then Sam Bradford will outscore Tom Brady. Now, see, one of the biggest things in our flag football league is when the players on the other team run around and try to catch the football and score touchdowns, we're supposed to play defense on them. Right. Right? Yeah. Yeah, it's overrated. Well, but okay. Clearly, I can't, I could not fow them those two plays. I had a.

I had a dream last night that Ryan Matthews scored a touchdown, so book it. It's happening. Oh. Ryan Matthews getting in that paint. I was going to stay on the gronk thing because I was realizing when we were watching the game last night, how humongous he is, and how does he run out to the side of the field and not be seen? He's very light-footed. Didn't the Steelers talk pre-game? Pre-game, didn't the Steelers talk about how they were going to bottle grunk up and they had figured something out and they were going to. I mean, Gronk, literally they didn't cover him.

Multiple times. In the seam, they let him go on the scene. There were times Brady just missed him. And he was only a few away from breaking the record last night, by the way. They were very concerned about shutting down the number one weapon in New England and Danny Amadola. And they didn't do that either. So, Danny Amadola. Wait, real quick, who is our water bet on, I know on our Patreon mailbag show yesterday, we made a water bet between Ryan Matthews and. Ryan Matthews and Brandon Coleman.

Yeah. Oh, that's Coleman. That's right. I've got Ryan Matthews. Like a flex play. All right. Let's talk about these. We know Jordan Matthews and Julio Jones you're starting them. We know Matt Ryan, Sam Bradford, you're starting them. So let's talk about kind of guys that you might not start. Nelson Aguilar, Roddy White. If your face, just what are your thoughts on Roddy White, Mike? I love Roddy White this week, which I'm going to talk about him as well a little bit later. Is he your special friend? Yeah, do we want to get into it?

He is a special friend of mine, me and Roddy White. He had his surgery. Apparently he had bone chips removed from your elbow, which I've looked in the grocery store for bone chips in the chip aisle. No, it's not that kind. Oh. Yeah. I'm way off. So you like Roddy White. Nelson Aguilar. Does he make an impact in week one? Would you start him in a flex position? Yes. Just because of the, just because so many points are going to be scored.

And I would toss him out there as a flex plan. He's come up a lot in questions for me, and I haven't been able to yet pull the trigger. Can he? 100%. He could blow up and have a giant week. But since we haven't seen it yet, normally at the wide receiver of flex position, you have other options, and I've been kind of playing the safe bet on that. All right, let's talk Vikings 49ers, and then we're going to get to our starts of the week. So stay tuned. Don't turn off your dial. If you just got to work, if you just got to work, stay in the car.

Stay right there. Sip on that coffee, okay? Vikings 49ers. Steady Teddy Bridgewater versus Colin Kaepernick. What is the projections here? Are these guys starting in your leagues? I think Kaepernick's underrated. I've said it before. I still think he is because he gained so many yards on the ground. You can kind of count on 50, 60 yards on the ground from him, which is just enormous for your production. But who are you starting between those two? I would start Teddy Bridgewater.

Even though the Vikings are traveling down to San Francisco, I am very excited to see this Vikings offense, see what Teddy Bridgewater can do with a Hall of Fame running back. Now, are you concerned for AP because of the offensive line situation, Jason?

I've got a slight concern with the center. They lost their center to IR designated to return. And then they lose an offensive alignment in preseason. In preseason. The right tackle. Yeah, the right tackle. And you need an offensive line. A little concern. And honestly, despite how crazy depleted the Niners defense has been, they've looked awesome in the preseason. So against vanilla defenses. But I'm not.

I'm not changing him. He's, you know, he's a Hall of Fame, one of the best running backs of all time. I expect him to go monster here. But if something comes out and you watch him struggle or you watch that offensive line really struggle, it would be a point of concern knowing the new injuries. No thoughts, Mike? I thought I gave him, but I have no concerns over Agent Peterson. I think he's too good for that situation to really hold him back. Who has the better game, Charles Johnson or Mike Wallace?

Charles Johnson. Charles Johnson. Okay. Who has the better game, Tori Smith or Inquam Bolden? Antoine Bolden. Tori Smith. I think they're going to have to use it. You know, they brought him in, and I think they're going to use him more than they use Bolden. So we'll find out. I think you can start Carlos Hyde with confidence this week. And I'm curious how often they'll use Bush and whether he will try to jump over another person and be decapitated like he was in the preseason. All right, that is it for the rundowns. Let's go ahead and get into the starts.

Starts of the week. That is epic. I feel very excited for the starts of the week. All right, let's lay the groundwork here. The starts of the week segment every week, Jason, myself, Mike, we select one player at each position that we have confidence in this week. We're not picking guys that are at the very, very, very, very, very top of the list that you are starting no matter what. These are guys that you're making decisions and maybe one of these guys is part of that decision. So we're saying, hey, we like what we see.

And so we try to really hit on these. It's obviously impossible to be perfect. But last year we had a lot of success. And so we'll give you the reason why we're picking them. And then you can make your decision. So let's start at the quarterback position. Let's start with Jason. Your start of the week is Tony Romo. I just discussed how I think that game is going to be super high scoring and all through the air. And I like Tony Romo at home. I think I've got him as my number five quarterback this week.

I am going with Ryan Tannahill, who is up against Washington. And I like Tanyhill a lot. We've talked them up. And why I'm playing him? Simple. Washington was among the bottom in giving up fantasy points to the quarterback. Fair enough. All right. I'm going to go with Tom Brady. Now, he's already scored four touchdown. No. It's a really good pick. I'm going with Matthew Stafford. And I think this is just a weapons argument. Matthew Stafford, the Lions, they're a good team. They've got a good defense.

He can dump the ball to a new weapon in Amir Abdullah, who can get loose for long touchdowns out of the backfield. He has Calvin Johnson returning, and he has Golden Tate, who has been just as good as he was last year. So Matthew Stafford, I think, just has the capability to put up those monster games. So he is my start of the week at the quarterback position. So let's flip it back. I'll start the running back here, and we'll go back the other direction here. Chris Ivory is my running back selection here. The Brown struggled against the run last year.

Ivory has looked very good in the preseason, and I believe that the Jets will be winning this game. And so I believe playing from ahead, Chris Ivory, how he's performed, I have a lot of confidence in him this week. I'm taking him over Ingram. I'm taking him over Doug Martin and some of those other options. Before I announced my running back of the week, I need all foot clan members if you are, if you're eating food to get the food down. If you're taking a drink, finish the drink, because I do not want any projectile or choking happening because this pick is disgusting.

Doug Martin I'm going to start Doug Martin against Tennessee Tennessee was the only defense to give up over 2,000 yards on the ground last year so I love the matchup for Martin who's looked a lot better in the preseason and this is this is your chance all the people saying I want Doug Martin in the fourth round you fire him up this week

Yeah. For me, I am going close to home and going to go with Andre Ellington. I believe that he gets off to a hot start to begin because he's healthy. He hasn't been healthy in a little while, and he's in a game that a lot of points are going to be put up. So you got a healthy, talented back on a high scoring game. And where you drafted him, he's one of those question marks. He's a flex type guy. Do I play him? Do I not? I'm saying start him.

Fair enough. All right, let's come back with our wide receiver starts of the week. Jason, who is the wide receiver that you're most excited about this? No surprise at all here for me, because I've been tooting his horn since the draft. Is Vincent Jackson. I think he's going to have a great year this year, but specifically this game. You got Mike Evans out. I actually hope he's back because I think he's going to be a huge decoy there. You've got a super depleted secondary in the Tennessee Titans, and you've got...

Mr. number one draft pick himself who wants to throw deep bomb touchdowns for glory. I just think Vincent Jackson's going to get, I think he's going to get a cup. He said that. Deep bomb touchdowns for glory. That was the quote. And he actually screams glory. It sounds like Braveheart screaming freedom, but he says glory. I don't remember any of this. So I've got Vincent Jackson in my top 10 wide receivers this week, so I definitely start him. I can't wait to get to see the footage of Winston when he's miced up.

Glory! It's very interesting. Mike, who's your wide receiver? My wide receiver start of the week is Roddy White. He is in that high-scoring affair up against the Eagles. The Eagles were again among the bottom giving up points to the wide receiver position and a fun factoid, because I love fun factoid. On a per-game basis, Roddy White scored more points than Kelvin Benjamin. Who you love.

No, I don't love him, but he was a wide receiver won last year. Yeah, it's a fair point. I'm going to go with Amari Cooper. My start of the week is Amari Cooper of the Oakland Raiders in his debut. I think he's going to be peppered with targets. The team's going to be losing, and he has the ability to get separation against any cornerback. We saw it against Patrick Peterson with the Cardinals in the preseason.

He is a great route runner. He is great after the catch. Amari Cooper is my 15th overall wide receiver in week one, and he's a start for me. Wow. Yes, bold words. You're going big on an unproven rookie. I tell you. That is correct. Well, I'm not going big. 15 is not big, but I think that's pretty big. It's a wide receiver two. That's a high-end wide receiver, too. If he does this week one against Bengals, then, you know, Amari Cooper, I think, is legit. You've been...

You've been in love with him all since he's been drafted. It is talent and opportunity and a quarterback that I think is very capable. I compare Derek Carr to Cutler in a lot of ways where he settles in on one guy that can get separation. He has the arm strength and ability. And so I think you're going to see a lot of production from Cooper in week one. If I was Amari Cooper, I would always put a piece of tape on my chest that was the same color as the other team that I was playing.

because I know that Derek Carr might be more likely to throw the ball at me. Say what you will. Say what you will. I went strong with Amari Cooper. All right. The tight-in position, I am going to select Jordan Reed. Jordan Reed is my start of the week at the tight-in position. Kurt Cousness targeted him 13 times in a game last year for 130-plus yards. He has genuinely been a...

tied in one when he's had the ability to play and be healthy. And I have said this. I said it yesterday. This is an upset alert for me. I think Washington might win this game at home against Miami. And so I think they'll be in it. I think Jordan Reed will contribute to that because Cousins is going to need to deliver the ball to other targets than Deshaun Jackson down the field.

and I think he's going to be encouraged to not take too many chances. So for me, it's Jordan Reed. If it's a half-point PPR or full-point PPR, all the more better. I think he can be good and standard, but he is definitely a, he's not so much huge touchdowns as just used all game. I heard that in games he played last year, he was getting 20% of the targets, which is massive for a tight end.

Yeah. For me, I'm going with Martellus Bennett in Chicago. We talked yesterday about how Jay Cutler has a great track record of opening game history. He puts up over 300 yards in average. He's going up against Green Bay Packers.

and Alshan Jeffrey is a little hobbled. So I think that those things are going to combine for a huge opening week. He's going to get a lot of targets, and I don't necessarily, I don't have him statted for a touchdown right now, but I don't think he needs it. He's going to get a lot of targets, a lot of yards, and if he gets in the end zone, he's going over the top. Yeah, and we've seen what happens to Martellus Bennett when the big guys are gone, and Marshall's already gone, and last year I believe we saw some games where Jeffrey was hobbled, and Bennett was just doused.

in targets. Bennett is also notorious for opening the season strong and then fading as it goes along. He's a little bit healthier right now. My tight end start of the week is Larry Donnell. And that is because Dallas, joining Arizona as teams that cannot guard the tide end, Dallas gave up over a hundred and, or gave up 109 receptions to the tight end position last year. So he's just, he's a nice.