Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 2 Matchups, In-or-Out, Red Regrets

You can't be really excited to start anyone from this team. I mean, you thought, well, Robbie Anderson, he could be a sneaky guy at the end of drafts because we saw what Petty did with him last year and just overtargeting him. They trade for Jermaine Curse like the day before the season starts. And then Curse is their leading receiver. He was in the top 10 in targets. So if you're playing anyone from this team, especially if you're talking wide receivers, I guess I'm playing Jermaine Curse.

That's where I would go. Marshawn Lynch. He's a must start in this game. He has the potential for a multi-touchdown game. Omari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, no debate there. Let's just talk about Jared Cook for a second. Do you put him in the top 12 this week against the Jets? Top 12. I see him as a player that should start. So yes, I mean, I guess my rankings, I've got him 11. So I think Jared Cook is a good start this week. It's funny because I hadn't seen this stat when I said it.

The Jets have converted just 10. It says it converted first downs on just 10 of 54 plays. That was the worst in football, whereas the Raiders did it twice as much in week one, which was second best. So the Jets struggled to convert first downs against Buffalo. I know that the Raiders defense, we don't know exactly what they are yet. There was concern in the preseason, but I had said, look, this is a vanilla defense in the preseason. And their head coach is known.

for playing defense and you've got Mac there. So we'll see what kind of pressure they can put on Josh McCann, what kind of turnovers they can create. I think they're a sneaky defensive play this week as well. Oh, they're great. They're a great defensive streamer this week. Always play your Ds against a couple of teams. The Jets, Browns and the Colts right now. Do you rather play the-I'll add the Niners in there? Would you rather play the Raiders against the Jets or would you rather play Tampa against Chicago if you had a choice? I would play the Raiders. Would you play the Rams over either of those situations?

No. I don't think I would. Let's talk about the Dolphins making their 2017 debut, heading into Los Angeles, taking on the football chargers. That's right. As opposed to the basketball chargers. 45 point over under the chargers, four and a half point favorites at home. I think we can all be fairly impressed with Phillip Rivers, still putting up a nice fantasy line against the Denver defense. Three touchdowns in week one. Yeah, it really became a necessity.

towards the end of the game, and you can see they want to run. Oh, yeah. They brought in a head coach who is a running backs coach. He wants to run. But they switched to the past when they had to. With the nice thing for Philip Rivers, I know he was the man of mediocrity last year. He actually has his weapons. I mean, he had Tyrell Williams last year. Now they have a healthy Keenan Allen for now and a healthy Travis Benjamin.

We have, everyone had forgotten about Travis Benjamin, who was, he was the big free agent acquisition last year who got banged up and wasn't able to provide speed, which that's what his game is. He's really fast. And then you saw it. And it brings a whole new dynamic to this offense. Hunter Henry, you're putting him in the closet, throwing away the key. I, uh, I'm putting him on the waivers and I'm keeping my eyes on him because I don't, I don't want to roster multiple.

tight ends, and I'm not confident enough in his usage in week one to start him. So I'll keep an eye on him. If they changed their game plan up and it was more of a, you know, a Denver Broncos thing, then I'll pick him back up. It's possible, but Antonio Gates, this was the concern for Hunter Henry of the offseason. Antonio Gates is a stud. He's one of the best past catching tight ends in the history of football, and he's still on the team.

Yeah, I mean, Antonio Gates is Antonio Gates. They're not going to just, he's either going to be off that team or he's going to be used like he always has been. And that's just the facts. It's interesting in the beginning of the year, if you don't have one of the top, let's say five or six tight ends, the big names, Reed, Graham, Eifford, Grong, Olson, I'm in this position in one of my leagues where I kind of just want to find the breakout tight end. Zachards.

Well, yeah, but you don't have a choice. I'm talking about waiver wire, Jay. I'm talking about like you want to find a breakout tight end whether it's, and the names I'm throwing out there is, is it Austin Hooper? What is he doing week two? Is it Evan Ingram? Does he run a high percentage of rounds and get utilized in an offense? Maybe Marshall isn't anything and it's Ingram. Like, I find myself wanting to roster a couple heading into the week so that I don't have to play the waiver wire game on, let's put it this way. If Ingram or Hooper has a breakout week two,

to go with their pretty nice week one, decent week one, for Ingram. Yeah, he had a great week. Aren't those high-priced waiver pickups? Because they're both pass-catching talents. I mean, you're looking to find a difference maker. Say Hooper, the difference would be all of a sudden he gets eight targets. Sure. It was two targets, and he maximized the value. Engram is...

If he continues to see usage, or I should say have that usage go up, then yeah, he becomes interesting, but he's not going to be high-priced, I don't believe. Yeah, if both have a good game, they'll definitely be someone that's picked up, but they're not going to be the $20, $25 waiver pickups, I doubt. Jarvis Landry, Devante Parker, Kenny Stills. We've said it, I think yesterday on the show, might have been in the footcast, but Devante Parker is one of those players that love him this year, not sure about this week.

If I had to take the under, I mean, if I had to go over under on this 45 points, I'm taking the under. I think this could be a defensive battle. I really do. Okay. And it's Parker, this is where I thought you were going, is Devante Parker is likely to be shadowed by Casey Hayward. Jason Verrett, the other cornerback for the charges, was added to the injury report. I haven't heard anything about him missing the game, but both Verrett and Hayward are excellent.

db's and devante parker for for as much hype as we've talked about in this off season and mostly because smoking j cuddy don't care and he's going to target him he's not yet a great wide receiver so if he's if he has hayward shadowing him it could be a really tough day yeah i i like a jai in this matchup because of how good the cornerbacks are for san diego i think if you're going to attack the san diego chargers defense

with Jay Cutler and this system, it should be on the back of Jay Ajay, let that open things up for you deep with Kenny Stills, something like that. So I like Jay Ajai. People were like, why are you so low on Jay Cutler this week? And, you know, it's not that I'm low on Jake Cutler. I'm very high on the cornerbacks that are across the field. So, yeah, I lean towards the running game for Miami. And on the offensive side for San Diego, I pretty much like all the...

assets. It's not a disrespect to the Dolphins defense, but I think they've got a really balanced team, and they'll be able to put up enough points to have Keenan Allen and have Melvin Gordon both be very fantasy relevant. Do you have Tyrell Williams? I am starting with Tyrell Williams this week. You are? For Julius. Unfortunately, yes. Okay. So Julius Thomas, I mean, there was at least a little bit of success for.

the tight ends with Trevor Simeon throwing the ball. Any excitement for Julius Thomas this thing? On the basis that the corners may have some of the whiteouts locked out. No, wait and see. Wait and see for me. I make the argument why he should and then I still say no. All right, the Cowboys take on the Broncos in Denver. Denver, there are two-point dogs in this game. That is. Is that accurate? Do you have that? That's very interesting. Let's double-check that. Dallas minus two in Denver. Hmm.

Okay. Dallas's offensive line can control the game. I mean, Denver is not, you know, while their defense has been world class against the pass, they have been middle of the pack against the run. And so if Dallas goes in there and just runs the ball, play after play after play. Which they can. Yeah, which they can. And they will. Yes. Right now, I have Zika as my number one running back in of the week.

So I am not afraid of the Denver defense when it comes to that. And I think that's what Vegas is reflecting, the fact that if Dallas is able to control the game and score through the, you know, be able to move the ball through the running game, it's hard to beat them. I think Mike and I have a pretty strong disagreement on Des Bryant this week. Mike, you've said that you're willing to just start him in this matchup. I'd like to find another option if I'm on the road in Denver. And that's it. I don't blame you if you want to do that. I'm going off of.

He got open against Janores Jenkins, and Jenkins was his kryptonite last year. But Dak just missed him. I mean, you're talking a foot. A foot changes the outcome of Des Bryant's Fantasy Week last week, which would also then give you a boost of confidence. So I'm still playing him on the Broncos side of the receivers. We should say Terrence Williams. He was unable to practice. He's likely to miss the game.

I imagine that means more targets for Cole Beasley and that Bryce Butler would step in. That is how I would read the situation as well. Demaris Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. I like them this week. I think you should have confidence plugging them back into your lineup. I know it was rough, but I mean, that was Jason Verrett and Casey Hayward shutting down the receivers. So I'm not buying in to the Cowboys secondary based off of what happened against the Giants. I'll bet you.

I'll water bet you Demarius Thomas versus Des Bryant. Hmm. Hmm. I don't think I would, I would have to actually look at my rankings. I mean, I probably would favor Thomas slightly. All right. Well, then we will not bet. We will not bet then. All right. Let's go ahead and move down the line here. Let's talk about the Redskins and the Rams. The Rams came out, Jason, son of Bum. Yeah.

Wade Phillips, got it done. And now they get Aaron Donald back on that defense, and they're going up against the team that I, you know, predicted for an offensive collapse. So far, they did not look good week one. And I worry about the Redskins options. Again, I'm not in love with the Rams defense. I think a lot of what made the Rams defense great was the Colts offense without Andrew Luck. But I'm not scared of the Redskins offense either. So I think this is going to be one of those games where,

Terrell Pryor has a better week than he had last week, but not great. I don't have any red skin really breaking out this week and changing what we saw in week one other than just Terrell Pryor maybe being able to reel in a couple more of those sketches. The Rams are two and a half point favorites at home in this game in my, wow. Andy's almost upset of the week. The Rams are favored. I mean, they're at home, so.

I do think that the, I've made this decision. I've been staring down and look, 29 points from the Rams defense last week. And I made the determination this morning. I would rather play Tampa against Chicago than I would the Rams and risk it against an offense that has not been, but can be very explosive. And I think that the Redskins will get it done in this game. I know that Kirk Cousness traditionally slow starter.

struggles for Rob Kelly last week. I think you're going to see a little bit of a Jekyll and Hyde from the Rams this year. And this is a game that I think will be competitive. I think ultimately my take is that Washington gets it done. And I would start trial prior. I think people want to know what they have in James and Crowder and Rob Kelly right now, though. That's the question that a lot of people have because you drafted Crowder at the highest draft capital he's ever gone for. And you got nothing last week. You saw Chris Thompson effective, but no Samajapirine in the backfield.

Well, because Jay Gruden doesn't forget fumbles. Yeah, that's just, that is a joke. I can't believe that is a real statement right now. You know who forgets fumbles? You know who forgets fumbles? Andy Reed, where'd that get you? Yeah. 250 yards of the total offense for a dream hunt. The rookie record, yards from scrimmage, is what happened. And Jay Gruden would have benched him. Benched him for life. No, he would have.

And now, now, just imagine this. If you're Somage P. Ryan owner, I am in one league. Let's say Rob Kelly poops the bet again. And Somaget Pirine gets an opportunity next week. I'm freaking out that he's going to drop the, he may have a 200-yard game and drop the ball and you don't see him again. And here's the problem. You know who else is freaking out? Somaget P. Ryan. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this is just. That's like telling someone, hey, just don't worry. You know, you're going into this big important event or something. Just don't.

Freak out. Whatever you do. Do not worry. Don't breathe heavily. What do you think's going to happen here? That's just, you're the, wait, you're the coach. You're supposed to be the leader. I'm like.

Mike, Jason weighed in on what he thinks of the Redskins' offense in this game. I will say it's a nice matchup for Goff in game two after a nice first game because the Redskins allowed the most first downs last week. Goff had a very nice start to his season. A lot of that, though, was Carson Wentz just being an absolute slippery. Slipperly? Slipperly. Slipperly. I was going to go slippery worm. I mean, he was just, he was greased up or something and was breaking out of tackles.