Starts of the Week, Wk 1 Matchups, Lev Bell Saga

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Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Ah, let's go! Did you know football's here? No, I don't want to do this show. What? I don't want to do... I feel like as soon as this show is over, football happens. So can we... That's how it works, right? Like, if we end this show right now... I'll do a quickie. The game is on? Just do a quick one. Just need the game. A 10-minute preview of the day. I feel like the Dave Chappelle...

You know, gift of like, hey, man, you got any more of that football? Got any of that football? Welcome into the fantasy footballers. Thursday, September 6th. Football is here. Woo! Sorry. Were you guys crying this morning? Weeping tears of joy? Oh, man. Are you wearing your Josh Rosen jersey? I am wearing my Josh Rosen jersey. Had to get it. Getting ready for week five. Maybe. We'll see. Hope not. Got a big game tonight. The debut.

game for 2018. We've got the Eagles and the Falcons. We previewed it on yesterday's podcast, and today we have Fantasy Forecast. We'll go through all of the, about half of the matchups today, and the starts of the week are back. We've all got our starts of the week on the show today, and Jason's Boom Boom Kicker, and obviously the headline news right now. I mean, I might as well just... I mean, we're going to need to ring the bell.

This is a problem. The ominous sad bell of Levi-Levon Bell. Look, I thought we had escaped this. Last year we dealt with Ezekiel Elliott. And that was the worst. It seemed like. And everybody wants to know what's going to happen. But literally everybody. Not just like players of fantasy football. Levy on Bell's teammates. Levy on Bell's coaches. Nobody knows what is going to happen. We do have plenty of information as to.

what could happen, why certain things would happen, and what is probable, Mike, what are some of the things we know? So we know nothing. We know absolutely nothing, Jason. What are you talking? Well, look. Okay, go ahead. We know some facts. Yes, we know some facts. The Steelers Depot reported that Tomlin says the team is likely applied for the two-week.

uh roster exemption for bell what that means is that when levi on bell comes back they have to negotiate the first two weeks of his contract which to me says that i mean that that might be reason if you're level to even hold out longer as in now if he he can hold out up until week 10 and still get the full credit

for this season, become a free agent and, you know, finished off the franchise tag. And that's the biggest fear. The biggest fear is that you're not going to have Levi-on-Bel until November. And Levi-on-Bel's agents went on a radio program and basically said that his client is going to make the choices for long-term. He is playing for next year's contract.

already. Once again, don't blame Bell for trying to get paid. But for fantasy football, we are in a very large predicament because if you're levy on Bell and this is what you're doing, what does it matter if you miss one week or two weeks? You're storing your body up for next year. So why would you not just stay out the full 10? He believes he can make up the lost salary because he'll lose something a little over $800,000 per week.

of games that he skips, but why would you not just skip them all? If you firmly believe you're going to get a big contract next year. Here's the thing is, you know, we're all dads. All of us have children, and we tell our children, your decisions have consequences. Yes, they do. And that applies to the Steelers, and that applies to Levion Bell. He is putting himself above his teammates. And you can be on any end of the spectrum of how,

Okay, that is, right? This is his livelihood. The Steelers have put their financial well-being above their team as well. That would be my rebuttal. He is using the only recourse that he has from the bargaining agreement. Right, and there is a leverage thing here, right? You're working leverage out and ultimately, we don't know when Lev Bell is going to be back. And my Twitter timeline is littered with two things.

not necessarily asking when he's going to be back. It's trade offers and it's trades that have been done, including things like, look, every McKinnon owner out there is looking for a chance to fix their McKinnon situation, and some of that's been going after Lev Bell. Or I've seen, you know, Devonta Freeman straight up for Lev Bell. Right now. Let's get Freeman on the team. Let's not worry about Bell. Right. There are other.

things that can happen. It's not simple. It's not as easy as Lev Bell comes back week three and he's the same guy. It's not that simple to me. What happens if James Connor goes out and dominates this week? Right. What happens if he dominates week two? What happens if James Connor is a backbone player three weeks into the season? Does Lev Bell walk back into that locker room in week four with this team that's been angry with him?

and an offensive line that's angry with him, and James Connor doing everything he needs to do. Mike, you brought up yesterday, fantasy-wise, they've been the same productive team with or without Lev Bell. So do you start to value Lev Bell's return differently? Do you start to look at him like he comes back, but he's only as valuable as Devante Freeman for the first three or four weeks he's back? You know, James Connor is not a slouch.

James Connor dealt with things in college. He overcome cancer. He fought through cancer to get back. My point is he could have been a first round, second round pick. That's James Connor's ceiling as a player. Now, he's not Lev Bell. He's not going to catch the ball like Lev Bell. But there are a wide range of outcomes here. And if you're the Steelers and James Connor's doing whatever he's doing and he's doing it well, maybe you shrug your shoulders and say, this is our guy next year anyway. Lev, do what you're going to do.

If you come back, we'll use you. But there are a lot of negative outcomes here for Lev Bell owners. Yeah, the arrow is pointing down on the whole situation. I don't remember any time in, I mean, ever in the history of football where an active member of a team is getting just destroyed by teammates.

in the media. His offensive line has said everything from, well, why don't you just stay out the whole year to you're making more money than me and we're the guys that make you work to James Connor is going to be a superstar and we don't need him. I mean, and then Lev Bell saw these things, his verified Instagram account and commented one word, which was, whoa. So there's animosity. There's bad blood. The arrow is pointing down on the whole situation. And until he shows up,

You know, it's, I think I'm a little bit more hands off. So for fantasy purposes, here is the questions that I'm asking myself. What can I live with? As a fantasy football player, you want to trade Levy on Bell for a running back. You want to trade for Levy on Bell. What is just what can you handle? Because we have, no one has any idea. No one has any idea if he's going to come back next week or in 10 weeks. So if you want to trade Levy on Bell right now for Devonta Freeman.

Can you handle that if Bell comes back next week and he's Levi on Bell? Can you stomach those results given the news and the information you have today? What type of insurance? How like what premium?

Which level of insurance are you willing to pay for right now? Because there are big wins to be had here too. Yes. Yes. There are big wins and big losses. This is not, you're not betting red black. You're betting one number here. Zeke missed six games last year and he was the number nine running back. You know, people who had Zeke last year still won, you know, in fantasy. So it's a gamble and I think you're right, Mike. You have to just, you have to do a gut check. And these say,

What are you okay with? The same thing can be said for James Connor. What is the actual value of James Connor? And I think opportunity-wise, that's why I've been saying if he starts and Levy on Bell is out, I will be shocked if once my projections come out that James Connor is not a top 12 guy. Because one, I think he's good.

I think they will try to utilize them the best they can, like they use Levian Bell, which is 20 plus touches a week. So to follow up, the quick question, then, where is James Connor in your week one rankings? Because we know Lev Bell's not going to be out there this specific week. I have my thoughts on Connor, and I think he's ranked a little bit lower in my rankings than your guys. Maybe not. I have him at 16. I have him at 16 as well. Oh, okay. Well, look, the Browns were actually seventh against the run last year. I think he's going to have a good week. I don't think it's going to be a top 12 week.

So I guess you're in the same boat. 100% same boat. Yeah. So I'm still adjusting things. As of right now, I'm looking at it. He ended up at 15. So he's slightly behind Rex Burkhead. But Andy, you were talking about, you were worried about him. And the news on Rex Burkhead was once again trending poorly today. So he's by the end of the week, by the time we get to Sunday morning, I'm telling you, James Connor is probably just going to squeak right.

Right in there in that 12-13 range for me. Would you start him over Shady against Baltimore? Yes, I would. Okay. Final question on the Lev Bell saga. Sorry. No, as of right now, I will start James Connor over Shady McCoy, Jordan Howard, over Dalvin Cook. Sure. That's where I'm at. But the final question for fantasy owners is Jalen Samuelsworth?

picking up to see what happens how they use him if all of a sudden it's a two-back situation and the passing work that Lev Bell is so valuable for goes to Jalen Samuels. I haven't heard his name really brought up that much. Yeah, he could be worth a speculative ad, but I really...

I really think they'll use Connor the exact same way, which means that the backup running back... Every time we've seen Pittsburgh has no value. With another back, they use them the exact, a complete workhorse, whether it's Fitzgerald Toussaint or Danielo Williams. They just say, you're the guy. So I agree with you there. But if you are in a deeper league, a 14-team league, you could... Dynasty for sure. Oh, 100% dynasty, but it...