Fantasy Football 2017 - Keep/Trade/Cut, Pump the Brakes + Matt Forte Joins the Ballers

Absolutely keep. Yeah, I would keep him for now. He was inches away from having a great day. You know, you see a goose egg and you go, wow, he's, he was completely uninvolved. Carson missed him on like a 50-yard touchdown bomb where he was, he had beat his guy, and he missed him by about two yards. And then there was another really long bomb where he caught the ball, made these great toe taps, and then, you know, didn't complete it through the, uh, through the ground. So I, I think you keep him because.

The Cardinals need him, and he's been involved. Adrian Peterson, keep trade cut. It's tough to cut a running back, but you can cut Adrian Peterson. I think you still try to trade him on name value. Yeah, you can try, but I don't think anyone's going to trade for him. I cut Adrian Peterson this morning in our league of record. A man who follows his words. I cut Adrian Peterson to sign an injured Matt Forte.

Yeah, the volume is not there for Adrian Peterson, and he has to have volume or goal line carries. He's had opportunities that the goal line have not converted them, and even if he did convert one or two, like you said, the volume's a problem. Adrian Peterson, and I'm going to jump this guy up in the list, he's just like Paul Perkins, where if they're on your bench, you will be tempted to play them. And if you play them...

You're going to be sad. Don't do it. You'll be very sad. It is hard to cut the name. But that's all you're talking about here. If his name was Paul Perkins, then you would probably be like, oh, I'll cut Paul Perkins from accounting. But you won't cut Adrian Peterson for Paul. It's unfortunate. He didn't name himself. No, he did. Try to throw Adrian Peterson with another guy in a trade because the name value might bump something up. And if you can't get that done, then I think a great example of that would be if you can trade Adrian Peterson for Bilal Pal.

today because you get the name. Bilal Powell's going to be more involved than Andrew in Peterson next week. All right. Eric Decker, Mike. Keep trade cut. He's in the Tyrol Williams category now. Oh, fodder. You can cut him. No. It's unfortunate. Well, let's just continue down the line here. Oh, I don't. I would cut Eric Decker. If I had to, he's not a must cut. Decker or Nelson? Who would you rather have on your roster? Nelson. Okay. I'm keeping Decker. Okay.

Tedgin Jr. Tedkin Jr. I still believe in him. The first two weeks, if you watch the games, I mean, he was getting end zone targets. It was very close. It capitalized last week with a 40-yard touchdown. But Willie Sneed is back. What will his role look like with Willie Sneed back? Will he be the one losing his role or will it be Brandon Coleman? No, it'll definitely be.

more along the lines of Brandon Coleman. I mean, Brandon Coleman plays closer to the slot like Willie Sneed. Ginn is the outside guy. I think this helps Ted Ginn. I would hold Ted Ginn right now because the offense, it was missing Willie Sneed. And you could tell that. With losing Brandon Cooks and Willie Sneed, it was just a little too much. And they looked better last week. But I think Willie Sneed coming back, the offensive line is also getting healthier. So I think this offense is going to start chugging the way that we're used to the Saints chugging.

And that's going to help, you know, Ted Gins of the world. Yeah, for those of you, though, that think that you can plug and play Willie Sneed, I would be waiting. I mean, the team is very happy with how Brandon Coleman's played in the slot. They've already said that there's no guaranteed workload for Willie Sneed this week. Sean Payton came out and said that. Depends on how he practices. I think you're going to see, you know, Willie Sneed eventually take that.

that job back, but right now, I know they're very happy with Brandon Coleman there. Let's go ahead and move on. We had Matt Forte on the podcast. We're going to share that interview with you right now. You talking to me? All right. The fantasy footballers are excited to welcome in New York Jets running back. Matt Forte, Matt. Thanks a lot for coming on the show. Thanks for having me. So right out of the gate, I want to congratulate you guys on the big win this weekend.

Congrats on the win. And how are you doing physically? How's the toe? I'm doing well. A lot better than I expected, you know, post-game. I was walking with kind of a limp. You know, my toe was, I had turf toe, and it was bothering me a little bad. Good to see that the x-rays. I didn't have a broken toe or anything like that. But, you know, today I had treatment to last, you know, over yesterday, all day yesterday, and then this morning.

And I'll probably go back this afternoon. But, you know, I don't have a limp anymore. I'm not walking like that. And I'm feeling pretty confident that, you know, it'll continue to heal during this week. Well, great to hear that. One of the things we ask all of our guests on this show is, you know, when Marshall Falk came on the show, we were asking him what his opinion of fantasy football was. And it had just started taking off when he was in the league. What is it to you? Are you a...

Do you hear a lot about it? Is it annoying or is it something you appreciate about the game? I think it's both. It's both. I appreciate, you know, the fact that, you know, it gets fans out of their, you know, their own home, you know, team that they like, where they can like players from all over the league. And, you know, I think it makes the game bigger, you know, where it reaches out, you know, to more than just one team. And then also the negative part is just, you know.

People, all they care about is, you know, fantasy stuff when I'm in real time trying to, you know, in the real football league, trying to win games, you know, to go to a playoffs and, you know, a Super Bowl. So, you know, all they care about is points. Yeah. We may have even, you know, we may have even won a game, but if you don't score enough points, you know, you don't satisfy them. Yeah, that is one of the negatives, I'm sure, being hearing from fans, I know one of the things in the fantasy sports industry is analysts, we're trying to tell people, look,

Stop adding at the players on Twitter. Stop calling them out for fantasy-related things. Look, we enjoy fantasy, but that's just ridiculous. Yeah. I mean, that's, I think, one of the reasons why a lot of guys shy away from it because, you know, Twitter is vicious and can be that way, especially when it comes to fantasy football. And, you know, you get a lot of backlash from people talking about their fantasy teams when, you know, you want them to care about the real team.

Yeah. Well, one of the things, look, you have a ton of rookie running backs this year. Kareem Hunt, Leonard Fournett, Tariq Cohen, Dalvin Cook, that are making huge impacts as a rookie. That was something that, you know, you did in Chicago. You had over 300 attempts as a rookie eight touchdowns. What do you think it takes to come into the NFL out of college and be able to make a mark so soon? And why can some running backs do it and some can not?

Some of them, when they come out of college, they're just physically just prepared. They're prepared to do that. And, you know, I think sometimes along with that physicality, they have to be mentally prepared for a longer season as well. NFL season is much longer than the college one, so they have to be prepared mentally for that and physically. So, you know, some guys, I think you can see running backs come in and make an immediate impact because...

You know, I think they can adjust to the speed of the game pretty quickly throughout preseason and through training camp and then take that forward into the season. And especially if they are talented, I mean, obviously they're talented enough to get into the NFL and be drafted, but talented enough to, you know, be putting a good scheme where they can, you know, emphasize what they do best. How much do you think it matters what collegiate scheme you come out of? Do you think that has a big impact or not really?

I think it's more of an impact for quarterbacks than for running backs. Running backs, if you can run the ball, whether it's out of the gun or under center or in the pro-form, you know, spread offense or the pro-style offense, I think you can run the ball. If you can run the ball, you can run the ball. You know, I think it hinders quarterbacks when they come out of a style of offense that's, you know, not necessarily what pro offenses run.

it may, you know, deter them from a little bit of growth or it may hinder them from, you know, immediately that immediate impact when they get into the league. But, you know, I think it's more prevalent in the quarterback position than running back. Oh, that's good insight. One question I had for you, look, there was a lot made this offseason about everything that took place in New York, a lot of the veterans.

leaving the roster. Obviously, you're a veteran that is still there with the youth movement, had a big win this past weekend. Talk to me about what are your expectations for this team and what has that experience been like for you as a veteran, kind of seeing a lot of change take place? Yeah, for me as a veteran guy, you know, seeing a lot of my veteran teammates, you know, getting released. You know, fortunately, you know, most of them were picked up by different teams.

you know, seeing them get released like that, it just draws a light to something that I think a lot of the fans don't understand because they don't experience it as much as we do or a lot of times it's not talked about, which is the loyalty of the game. There really isn't any. I mean, it's a business. And, you know, you see teams all the time when there's something, you know, they may have a guy under contract, but if it's...

They're not performing like they want them to, or it may be because of money, they end up releasing them or cutting them. And so there's no loyalty right there. But then if there's a player who may be outperforming his contract and he wants to hold out or wants a better contract, then fans get mad because they're saying he's not being loyal to the team or if he goes to a different team.

that gives them a better contract and it's a better situation for him and his family. And that's the decision he's making, then they say he's not loyal. So it's kind of, you know. Double standard. Double standard, yeah. That's something that we, I think, when we got started in this industry, I don't think we understood that aspect as much as we do now, you know, having been around the game a lot longer.

I agree with you. I agree. I think that we have generally been on the player's side of that argument because you're right. The second that a player stops doing exactly what you want, you know, there's not the guarantee built in, and that has to be a frustrating thing. I'm sure it was a difficult transition from you for you leaving Chicago. Yeah, yeah, definitely, you know, being in a place for that long and you put, you know, so much into a team, you know.

whether it be, you know, playing while you were injured and, you know, you knew you had to go back out there because, you know, you just, you know, want to do it. You didn't want to, you know, disappoint fans or you wanted to be there for your team and sacrifice you make for the team, you know, that you do those type of things. But then in the end, you know, you know, the nobody, you know, if the team has the decision to make, they don't remember those sacrifices. It's kind of, I mean, I've heard of.

many of times when I first came into the league, too, is kind of the, what have you done for me lately type of mentality. So, you know, you have to continue. You know, each year is a new year, too, and you have to continue to impress and show up. So, yeah, the loyalty factor is kind of a double standard.

Yeah, that's interesting. Look, just focus on fantasy football, okay, Matt? That's the main focus. No. Tell us a little bit about what you're doing with Comcast and Xfinity. Yeah, something really cool, especially for fantasy football fans and owners out there. Comcast is teamed up with CBS where while you're watching the game on TV, you can pull up your fantasy team. If you're in the CBS league, you can pull up your fantasy team and see how the stats are going. And if you're winning the game against your opponent,

But also, maybe if you're not in the CBS League, you can still pull up the stats of all the players on the same screen while watching the game. So you don't have to, you know, look away from the game to get on a computer or get on your phone to try to look up stats and things. You can get them all on the same screen at the same time and not miss any of the game. Well, that's great. I think I saw some people on Twitter already talking about that. And appreciate you sharing that with our listeners. I'm sure they'll love it. And thanks very much for coming on the show.

No problem. Thank you guys for having me. All right. We're back. Thanks to Matt Forte for joining us on the podcast. You heard the news today that Forte is going to be week to week. You could kind of hear it in that interview. It felt like he broke his toe. I mean, it seemed like he felt like there was a more major and significant injury there. And so you're going to have to wait for him to get back into the fold. It sure looked like in week two that he had the majority of those carries. He was actually productive with them. We'll have to see what happens in the next few weeks.

I want to transition to talk about this Thursday night matchup. The Bears, fresh off their stunning defeat of the Pittsburgh Steelers, they are in Green Bay taking on the Packers and Aaron Rogers. We expect to see Randall Cobb back on the field. What are you looking for in this matchup? We had Jordan Howard returned to form last week. You've seen the explosion capabilities of Tariq Cohen.