Fantasy Football - Starts of the Week + Week 5 Breakdown, Big Bye Decisions - Podcast for 10/2

It's been quiet for Kamara. The Saints, they're a losing team. And he has just 15 targets through four games. That is very un-Kamara-like. But he's still seeing 20 opportunities. And the matchup with the Giants here, look, it's too good to consider benching him. New York is 31st in schedule adjusted points to the running back. 30th in yards before contact. So I think that Alvin Kamara is in a good spot here to maybe have his first true good game of the year. Jason, who you got? All right. My wide receiver start of the week. What's my little lad? Wait, really? Lad McConkie.

Whoa, brother. Lad McConkie. I'm so happy to hear your reaction. That's wild. Did you see who my guy is? I did not. Okay. It's not Lad McConkie. Oh, okay. Well, yeah. That would be unfortunate. The teammates. That would be. I really didn't look at yours. The teammates can both be good. But through the first month for Lad, it has not gone well. No. It's been very disappointing. And I think a lot of people are saying, do I need to bench Lad? I am. Okay. I'm a lot of people. Then let me talk to you. Yeah, yeah. Talk to me. Because he is currently still seeing a quarter of the team's first read targets ahead of Keenan Allen.

He's in the slot a lot. The matchup. I brought this up last week for Drake London. That the matchup against the slot was very difficult two weeks ago when he had a bad week. And it was much better. He should have a better game last week against the Commanders. And he did. Drake London went off. Lad McConkie is getting first read targets. The offensive line is hurt. He's going to need to. Herbert's going to get the ball out quick. He's going to go to Lad a lot. Lad is going to have easy matchups in this one against Washington. And, you know, other wide receivers seeing the same first read targets as Lad McConkie.

Pickens. Sutton. Igbuka. They're there. Lad is not a bad player. It's going to work out. So, I'm just trying to tell people, you started him and had bad games. You're going to hate yourself when you bench him for a good game. I think a good game is coming this week. Okay. All right. I'm going Xavier Worthy. We underestimated the immediate impact he was going to make on the offense. I certainly did. Which is another way of saying we overestimated how maybe, like, un or incapable the other receiving options have been, including Hollywood Brown. Yeah. Juju has his role. Taequann Thornton, he caught a touchdown.

It was his only target, I think, of the day. He had one or two targets on the day. Xavier Worthy was the clear wide receiver one in this offense, targeted on 32% of his routes. He got the end of rounds. He gets the running opportunities. It's a primetime game where the Chiefs are road favorites. I like them having to use him in lots and lots of different ways. And so, I'm going to go. I've got him near the top 10, top 12 this week. Wow. I'm going to go Xavier Worthy. Yeah. The Taequann Thornton run there was pretty wild. He's in the 70% of snaps, four targets, five, nine.

And then down to 34% of snaps, two targets. Thank you for your service. You are on the bench now. Yeah. Deep shot guy. It's wild. All right. I've got Lad's partner in crime over there. I'm going with Huge as we're four weeks in. We have four weeks of data. And I still see plenty of people questioning whether or not it's for real with Quinton Johnston and just waiting for the shoe to drop. Now, of course, we're making it very public of him being a star of the week. So, that's usually when something will go wrong because that's what fantasy football is.

But, and we did. We talked about him at length on this week's Dynasty podcast. He's on pace for 157 targets. He's on pace for over 1,400 yards and 17 touchdowns. Jason highlighted the matchup. I just wanted to point out to people that I think it's for real. I think what's going on with Quinton Johnston is real. And we're going to keep playing him and not doubt it. We're just going to put him in the lineup. Yeah, he's a player that enters the category. I'm playing him over almost everybody. That's where he's at it. Yeah, Kuge is. Almost everybody. Yeah, if I had Kuge and Ladd, it would be Kuge.

Kuge is seemingly their best fantasy wide receiver. Even if he's not their best actual wide receiver, he is the type of targets he's getting, the yards after catch ability. Right, he just looks so good. He looks like he has settled down. He's a go-to guy. I will say for the Ladd-McConkie argument, whether it's this week or throughout the season, you would expect Keenan Allen to, you know, it's harder on older wide receivers to keep it going, whether it's just injury or consistency as the seasons go on. We've seen this frequently late career, Larry Fitzgerald and Hines Ward. You didn't necessarily have as much success as the season went on.

So, like, it is possible that Ladd kind of reemerges. And so I'll throw it out for people because I have seen this question. Do I have permission to play Quinton Johnson over Jamar Chase? Oh, absolutely. And the answer is yes. Yeah. It feels, I get it. When you actually are looking at your lineup, clicking buttons, moving players around, it feels bad. But that is what I would be doing now. A month ago, we could have never even fathomed saying that that is acceptable. It's actually, like, I'm amazed how comfortable I feel playing Kuge. It's not a challenge for me right now.

That's why I was surprised when Mike was saying he's heard people saying that. It's still on my Twitter. Like, I'm getting questions about Kuge of, what do I do here? Do I trade him away? Like, it's going to end, right? Is the shoe going to drop? Yeah. No, I don't think it does. Would I trade Jamar for Kuge straight up in a redraft? Yes, I would. I mean, I don't like, I'm the one now saying it. Jason's face says, okay. Wait, who said that? Josh asked the question, would you trade Jamar for Kuge? Right. And I just, for the audio audience, I just want to make sure they understand.

Jason Randall Moore. No! That was Andy. All right. My start of the week. You would too, Jay. So would I. I don't want to say it, though. I know. You can't be on that record. Right. Yeah. My start of the week at tight end is a guy who played only 28% of snaps in one game on the season. What? It's Darren Waller. Oh, yes. You picked him up. He was on the ramp up plan. And the ramp up includes a lot. I think he's still ramping up. He's still ramping up. I mean, he'll probably get 50% of the snaps this week.

Oh, that's more than enough for me. I agree. I mean, without Tyreek Hill, you see how utilized the tight end position, like the new Tua. I mean, Johnny Smith last year was basically their number one target. And the first week that Darren Waller is active, he's two touchdowns utilized. You know, it has plays drawn up for him, which is something Miami hasn't had through the first month of the season. And then the matchup is great. Like Carolina through the first month, the Panthers are 26th against fantasy tight ends, and they're giving up the second most receiving yards per game to the tight end position.

So you spent up, Andy, you spent up to get Darren Waller. You're playing against me. Congratulations. I think he's a good start. All right. I'm going to go Dalton Kincaid. That's right. Wow. He's a tight end four. It makes no sense. On the season. Through four weeks. And yet we... You can't keep getting away with it. We get questions every single week as to whether you can ride it. Like nobody that I know has considered him to be a locked and loaded every week tight end start. He's very often the second tight end on your roster. And, you know, he's already got three touchdowns on the year.

He's been involved. Those are the connections that we had missed in years past. And basically, I want a piece of the Josh Allen Bills offense on Sunday Night Football this week. It's the second highest implied point total of the week. New England secondary is at issues. And ultimately, one of the things that New England has gotten back is Christian Gonzalez. I think you get more concentration into the tight end position this week. I think that there's an opportunity for Kincaid to be a very solid play. I like that. I like that pick. And I'm staying in the flames with Jake Ferguson, a.k.a.

Fergalicious. It is out of control what is happening with this man. 34 receptions. It is the most by a tight end in the first four games of a season since the year 2000. He is seeing this. He's targeted on 30% of his routes. That's the same as Drake London. The Jets-Cowboys game. It's a 47 point over under. This one would not be shocking to see a replay of what we saw with the previous Cowboy game. And at 40 to 40. Even though Fields is a wild card, I'm with Andy. I can't wait to play him for my team. And I'm so excited to watch this game as we have two pretty inept defenses against offenses that can get it going.

So just stick with Jake Ferguson. It's fantastic. All right, that was Starts of the Week presented by U.S. Bank Smartly Signature Visa Card. Visit usbank.com slash smartlycard to learn how you can earn cash back on every purchase. The creditor and issuer of this card is U.S. Bank National Association pursuant to a license from Visa USA, Inc. Some restrictions may apply. We're jumping into a break. Coming back with the forecast. All right, it's Week 5. Fantasy Forecast. Presented by PrizePix. All right, we have our first set of bye weeks.

So who are the four teams? I don't see them listed at the top here. It's Atlanta, it's Green Bay, Chicago. And the Steelers. There we go. We did it, guys. We know our football. The Steelers are leading the division, right? I was asked the question. The Steelers are leading the AFC North. No, they're going to win. I was going to say how they're not winning. Very much so. What happened? I don't want to say that. Somebody asked me that yesterday. Who wins the AFC North? I'm like, it's the Steelers. How do they not? Yeah, I mean, it's going to be.

The Ravens are depleted. The Bengals have lost their season. And then it's the Browns. So they've got to run with it. That's crazy. It's probably going to be them. Speaking of the Browns, set those alarms again, West Coasters. Boo. And it's Minnesota once again, Mike. Nice and early. Jordan Mason for you. The 2-2 Vikings taking on the Cleveland Browns at 1-3. The Vikings 4.5-point favorites there in London. Over-unders 36.5. Staff, yesterday you heard me say it. This is my almost upset of the week. I think Cleveland gets it done in this game. I think that Dylan Gabriel can do a better job, despite being a rookie, at not turning

the ball over compared to what Joe Flacco has been providing in recent weeks. You know, last week, Carson Wentz, six sacks, two picks, a fumble. He gets to face this defensive front in Myles Garrett and company. It is going to be a close game, I think. I've had a lot of people come out and they're like, no, Minnesota's going to stomp on him. You're stupid. We'll see. I might be. Dylan Gabriel is a rookie quarterback. It's hard to bank on that player winning. And I did not realize. Andy, you posted a photo of Joe Flacco and Dylan Gabriel. Yeah, he's not big.

And I know Flacco is a giant. Dylan Gabriel, listed on our website right now, is 5'11", 205. What is Kyler? Probably 5'9", but heavier, I'm guessing. Let's see. Kyler is listed at 5'10", 207. Yeah, so they're pretty similar and they both, yeah, we'll see. Dylan Gabriel gets the opportunity. He will not have, why am I blanking on the name here? Tillman. Cedric Tillman will be out. Jerry Judy, he's been averaging the targets, those Cleveland targets, but it's not been good. He's been outside the top 30 every week and way worse than the last three. I agree with you that this might be better for the Browns as far as winning the game,

but this is not better for the Browns' offense for fantasy football purposes. Joe Flacco going out and throwing two picks is great for fantasy. Let him keep slinging it. Let him throw the ball 45 times. I think this is going to be a game. First of all, it's a run funnel defense, right? The Vikings have a very good pass defense. So you're down Cedric Tillman. You've got a rookie in his first start overseas against a very good pass defense. I think the Cleveland Browns are going to want to run the ball all day long as much as they can with Judkins,

who I think is a fine start. And I'm not sure I want to start Jerry Judy, Harold Fannin. I don't disagree with anything that you said, but I don't think any of those players were delivering for fantasy before the change. None of them were. The only player I'm actually interested to see in the passing game this week is Isaiah Bond. I think Isaiah Bond is going to have a huge opportunity. He started having a breakout last week. And I'm very curious to see the integration of Isaiah Bond into that lineup. I think he's a better wide receiver than Cedric Tillman.

I think he's a better player than him. So if the opportunity is there, Isaiah Bond, it was a legal issue with his draft capital. It was not a talent issue. He's a very talented player. They gave him a decent, fully guaranteed contract as an undrafted free agent because once his legal stuff was in the rearview mirror, then teams were like, okay, now we've got to compete for him. So he's an interesting pick. Just to watch from a distance. It's Judkins and Logout from the Browns. Yeah. Fannin. If I'm playing one of the guys, I'll play Fannin. They're talking about the tight ends, but I'm not excited about it.

But it's a shame that Jerry Judy is who he is. He's Jerry Judy. Jordan Mason, he's the RB20 on the season. He's going to get a bunch of opportunities. Dowdle or Mason, Mike? If Dowdle got the start by himself, would you play? I would play Rico Dowdle. Would you really? Yeah. Okay. Jordan Mason. I think that's profound considering Mason's. I'm the Jordan Mason guy on the show. I love him. And he's not a munch. Munch? Munch best is what I was. Munch best. Must bench. Hey-oh. It's been a special week. It really has. You don't have to bench him. But I'm not excited to play him.

That one's tickling. Probably because I said the word munch. Oh, man. Munch bench. Okay. Sometimes the words cross. I guess we got three for three for the three of us this week. We're in good shape. He'll see volume. But if they're... You know, Xavier Scott is their receiving back. He was a converted wide receiver. You may not have even heard of Xavier Scott. But he got a lot of play last week when they ended up down in the two-minute drills and things like that. But Mason should see 15-plus opportunities. But I'm not real excited about it. Okay. Let me ask you the wildest name.

Okay. Jordan Mason, who to me, I really don't want to play. Right. Or Michael Carter. Hmm. That's risky, risky business. But I... I would go Mason. I don't blame people who go Carter. I would still go Mason in that. It's just... It's tough when you've seen the Browns shut down everyone. And Jordan Mason's not a pass catching back. Yeah. The combination is like, okay, he could easily get a touchdown in this game. And that's what I'm... It'd be totally fine. That's what you're hoping for. I mean, for what it's worth, I mean, fancy points allowed. I know we have the rank.

But the fancy points allowed for the Browns. They're 13.7 against Cincy. 6.3 against Baltimore. 12.4 against Green Bay. 19 last week against Detroit. They are favored. So if... They being the Vikings. So if it goes according to plan, at least the Vikings should be in a position where some volume is there. It's not a great matchup. Yeah. Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hawkinson. Where are we at with the receiving core behind Carson Wentz? I'm done. Oh, you're retiring? I'm done. Finished? You gave him a shot. You made him start of the week. You're not cutting him. I don't know. Maybe.

I just... I'm done. I'm done with this experiment. I think I would... Yeah, I would bench him. You'd play Hunter Henry over him. You'd play... I certainly would. I would play... Donkey K. Henry Kelsey. I'd play Dallas Goddard. I would play Mark Andrews, who I'm also done with. Definitely Waller. I would play Brenton Strange. Would you play basketball? Tonjes McBasketball. Would you throw in... Tonjes McBasketball. I was so confused for a second. Yeah, I was too. I would play Tonjes McBasketball. I'm fine with that. I'm fine with it. You are done. He is done. Yeah. D-U-N. He might be done, unfortunately.

The Raiders at 1-3 take on the 3-1 Indianapolis Colts. Colts heavy. 7-point home favorites. The over-under is 47.5. It's a great over-under. It still gives the Raiders over 20 points. Colts 27. I was asked yesterday on the card stream, how do I feel about Ashton Gentry right now? It was nice to have the breakout game, but what people need to understand is that they've lost their offensive left tackle. And he is their best offensive lineman and was the one that, at least last week, the big runs were predicated upon running behind him. Yeah, you look at all his runs and it was like running to the left side, good.

Running to the right side, bad. And then now the left side is going to be bad. Yeah, it does hurt. It takes, you know, you're not going to bench Gentry. Nobody's going to do that after what he did last week. I love the fact he got involved in the passing game. I'm very curious about Brock Bauer's actual health right now because you look at his average depth of target. You look at his contributions to this offense and you just watch the game. Like he doesn't look as explosive with this knee brace on. He's practicing with it again this week. I agree with Jason saying, look, maybe later on in the season as he gets over that injury,