Starts of the Week + Week 1 Breakdown, It’s Football Time! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/9

Yeah, I'm not 100% convinced that Tyrol Williams is washed. I think he's going to be one of those guys. It's going to be okay, a flex-worthy starter on, you know, the majority of weeks. Never special with this offense. And this isn't a good matchup to try your hand. But outside of Tyrol Williams, there's just no one. And even the running game in this matchup, given the fact that we didn't see DeAndre Swift for so long this offseason. And I don't think they're going to come in and let him just...

steal the show carry-wise. I think it's going to be at best a 50-50 split. So he's someone where if I can pivot to a James Robinson or a Miles Sanders or Kareem Hunt, I'm playing those guys over DeAndre Swift. Yeah, and then Debo, you're starting him. You're starting recently injured Brandon Ayuk as well. Yes. You're starting all the 49ers. Yeah, you are. Jimmy Gropolo, streaming? It's.

Hard because the matchup is 100% there. I totally get the rationale for playing Garoppolo. But the fact that there are the Trey Lance packages that freaks me out going into week one that they might get to the goal line where you're like, oh sweet. Garapolos got 60 passing yards on this drive.

Trey Lance comes in and runs a read option at the goal line, and you are hosed. You think he's going to be active in week one? I do. He's throwing at practice, so I don't know. With the left hand or the right? If Trey Lance is inactive because of the finger injury for week one, sure. Then then.

Desperation quarterback to Jimmy Garoppola completely agree that Garoppola would actually be a good play. But if he's active, I mean, it can happen anywhere on the field because they could put in Lance for a package where he throws a 50-yard touchdown. And even though Jimmy Garoppel is playing fantastic, those points are siphoned away. So, yeah, watch of Tray Lance is active. We're obviously not playing Tray Lance. Cardinals at Tennessee.

Draft King Sportsbook line here, Titans minus three over under is 52 and a half. That's not bad. 28 for the Titans, 25 for the Cardinals. Tennessee, their games hit the over 73% of the time last year. So the doubt that happened in fantasy for Ryan Tanna Hill persisted in the betting lines. But, you know, this is going to be a shootout game in Tennessee.

I don't think the Cardinal's secondary can hold up against Julio and A.J. Brown on the road. I don't think they have one. They don't have a secondary? Correct. I mean, I'll, it's a tertiary. I'll spoil tomorrow's. Pronounced turkey. Thank you. Tomorrow's draft king segment, but I'm forcing A.J. Brown into my lineup because. See, I've done that with Julio. Sure. Julio, A.J. Brown, Ryan Tannahill. I mean.

I don't think that the Cardinals can stop those weapons. Now, the other side of the coin is, I mean, the reason this game line is so close is the fact that Titans defense was awful last year. I mean, 30th in the league giving up 36.2 fantasy points for game to opposing wide receivers. They're going to face DeAndre Hopkins and AJ Green and Ron Dale Moore and Christian Kirk. It's going to be, like I'm not sitting cardinal players in this game just because I have Tennessee winning it.

Yeah, I would agree with that. I mean, it's an offense that plays fast. You've got Kyler Murray at the helm. I don't expect the Titans' defense to be as porous as it was last year. Last year, it was terrible. They made a lot of improvements. At the very least, they invested their resources this offseason towards the defensive side of the ball. I do think they still have a pretty bad secondary. Kyler Murray, you're going to play Hopkins. You're going to play.

I'm not yet touching the other receiving options until I see what the heck happens on the field. Yeah, I mean, I'd play AJ Green if it was AJ versus Emmanuel Sanders this week if I had that decision, deeper league, multi-wide receiver league, because I know he's going to start against the bad secondary. But what are you doing with the running backs on the Cardinal side of the ball? I'm playing Chase Edmonds. I drafted him to be a starter. And this isn't the type of matchup where...

I'm willing to put James Connor in. He was fine to speculate and take him at his ADP and find out week one. But this is, I mean, the Cardinals are on the road. They're the underdog. Like this isn't where you can project that the Cardinals are going to beat up on the Titans. And then either way,

James Connor gets in and he gets to clean up at the end or something like that. So Connor is just sit and wait and find out. Yeah, Connor's a touchdown guy. That's where you're going to get your fantasy heyday on his good weeks. And while he, I mean, any week you could get a touchdown. The metrics that project touchdowns for running backs.

aren't lining up for him this week. Well, the Cardinals added an all-pro center to this offensive line, and the Titans were pretty bad against the run last year. So I am very excited to watch and see what happens with Connor and Edmonds in this matchup. I would agree. The Cardinals are a team that for fantasy purposes, you need to watch this game because how Rondale Moore is used and how these running backs are used, that my eyes are going to be all over that. That being said, I'm in a dark place with my Arizona Cardinals right now.

Yeah. I just, I have no optimism this year. My dad. I just, they're going to suck. Like we talk Cardinals all the time and my dad, he had called me up. What's your expectation for this weekend? I was like, a loss. I just, you know what? We rarely would want to look at the preseason, right, and say, I'm going to draw a conclusion, right? It's vanilla offense. Yeah. It was so bad.

that it made me just go from optimism and hope that Cliff would figure it out, Cliff Kingsbury head coach of the Cardinals, to, he's not going to figure it out. That's where I got to. It was like, it looked so bad in the preseason with the starting offense that I'm like, oh, this is the same pedestrian play calling from a pedestrian coach. If you get points for three and out, ooh, against the Cardinals, then you might want to start the Titans. All right. Let's at least do one more matchup here.

before we get into our starts of the week. The Seahawks heading to Indianapolis, taking on the Colts. The Draft King Sportsbook line here, Seahawks minus two and a half, over under is 50. Okay. So the Seahawks are road favorites in this game. Yeah, I mean. I can see that. Oh, I can definitely see it. Oh, I can see something else, too. I don't know if my drop is even ready for me. Well, while you prepare that thought,

My worry here for the Indianapolis Coltside is simply the timeline of Carson Wentz. I know he's been back. He's been practicing. He's been practicing in a red shirt. He has not been playing NFL football. And the timeline for his and Quentin Nelson's recovery from that surgery is like they're on the early side. And this Sunday.

They could absolutely come out and look, they're just healthy. They're ready. They've been at practice and they're good to go. But there's two really important players that they, both of those things have to go right for the Colts. That's my worry with this game is those two players. But you seem un worried. Am I correct, Andy? Yeah, I mean, I like the Colts in this game. I can't push my button, but I like the Colts. Someone push the button. Andy's almost upset of the wig.

Yeah, I will take the Colts at home in this game. I will take Carson Wins in his debut. This is a fabulous defense that the Colts have. And week one, Seattle traveling, new offensive coordinator, feeling your way around in an environment that's going to be hostile. I'm going to go with the Colts. Now let's talk fantasy. Jonathan Taylor, you're starting him. Chris Carson, you drafted him. You've got to start him in this game, although the matchup isn't outstanding.

Matt Caffin Lockett, they're easy starts. So, you know, where are your decisions, probably at the wide receiver position for the Colts, where Michael Pittman, Zach Pascal, Paris Campbell, maybe even the tight-in position looking for value from O'Reilly Cox. Yeah, Michael Pittman is the biggest question to me because he was a double-digit draft pick, so you certainly drafted other starters in front of Pittman. But this matchup...

is juicy. The Seattle Seahawks were involved in many shootouts last year. 27th against fantasy wide receivers giving up nearly 35 points a game. This is a matchup where I'm very interested to play Michael Pittman as a flex type. I would agree. He's the perfect type of player out there where you want to wait too long. You want to be proven before you get the results.

The reality is if you drafted Pittman and you've got a difficult situation, I would put him in my lineup. If I'm considering Pittman, if he's in that conversation where I'm like, oh, this could go either way. I got a juicy one for you. Okay. Michael Pittman or Kenny Galladay. Perfect example. I think I would go with Michael Pittman. I think I would too. Kenny Gallaudet, you know, the injury is scary. The matchup is terrible. Which one makes me have to watch Daniel Jones less? Right, exactly.

Is that is that in a point in Michael Pittman's favor? It is. Okay. Then good point. Then good point. Yeah, I think Pittman is there. Another thing, you know, we talk a lot this week about things we're going to be keeping our eyes on, regardless of how the fantasy outcome is, and it's Jack Doyle Moe Olly Cox. Yes. It's Gigantor versus baby hands and seeing.

Come on, Gigantor. I think, you know, Carson wins. He's got a history of using the tight ends. I want to see the routes run from these two guys and who's more involved because I do think that there is value in this tight end room. And I am 100% unsure of which. If Jack Doyle comes out and has all the targets and Mo Alley Cox gets one target, I wouldn't be surprised. I want it to be the other way. Yeah, I want it to be Gigantor. Yes. It's important.

Don't we have that drop too? Somewhere. Somewhere. It's... All right. Let's move on. Starts of the week. Our first starts of the week segment for 2021. Well, let's begin at the quarterback position because we talked about this matchup. I'll kick it off. Ryan Tannahill against the Arizona secondary or lack thereof. Malcolm Butler retired. Patrick Peterson is gone. Look, they have Buda Baker. They have some linebackers that can run.

But you've got nobody on the outside to slow down the very explosive tandem. Julio Jones. Agreed. A.J. Brown. Maybe you mix in a little fercser for fun. But Ryan Tannenhill is going to have a game in week one. So I absolutely love him. Yeah, I think he is a great start. I love Jalen Hertz this week. Another game we covered on today's episode. I mean...

In four starts last year, his rushing lines were outstanding, 100 yards, 63, 69, very nice, and 34 yards on the ground. And you saw this with Taysam Hill last year in two games versus Atlanta. He had 84 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, and fantasy finishes of quarterback 4 and quarterback 8. Atlanta's just bad. I mean, their defense is bad. They gave up the most passing yards, the most quarterback fantasy points, the most wide receiver fantasy points. This is a matchup we talked about. You want your pieces in?

Jalen Hertz gets off to a strong start with his new rookie in tow. And I will take the other quarterback in that game. If you're looking to maybe your quarterback draft didn't go as you wanted it to. Matt Ryan against the Philadelphia Eagles is in play here. The Eagles coming into the season, the 25th best ranked secondary per pro football focus.

the high implied team total for the Falcons, the potential for this to really turn into an offensive shootout. Matt Ryan as a strong QB2 play or a streaming option. At the running back position, I'm going with the Gus Bus against the Las Vegas Raiders in week one. And I love it. Yeah, I mean, it's time. Beep, yeah, maybe you get some more intimidating.

Orn after a nice week one. But look, this team is going to have to lean on Gus Edwards as their primary ball carrier for the duration of the year. They'll mix in Tyson Williams and other backs. But it's going to be Gus. He's ready for the challenge. He's going to be put in the position to succeed that only Lamar Jackson can do for you when he is a dual threat quarterback. So I think week one is a very, very good week for Gus.