Starts of the Week + Week 1 Breakdown, It’s Football Time! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/10

That's a great question. Man, where would you go, Jay? I think you have to fly in formation here with Brandon Cooks. Get Will Fuller with the flying V. Yeah, the flying V. Will Fuller would be the guy I would start. And in addition to that. We need like a duck noise. Yeah. For Will Fuller. Quack, quack, quack. So, yeah, I would start in. Plus, you get the advantage of there is something to be said about having Thursday night players.

You get to see if he stinks or if he has a great game to make that decision on your Sunday lineup of saying, I just need a safe floor or I need a higher upside. You're going to find that out. Plus, the extra incentive of it's week one. It's the first football in forever. I want a player in the game. If I had those two guys, there's no way Deshaun Jackson is going in over. Deshaun Jackson, two touchdowns last year in week one against Washington. Oh, he could do it again. Last man standing. But so could Fuller. Yeah, it's a tough call.

I think that Jackson is actually a little bit safer, which sounds ridiculous. Could be. Well, remember, the Kansas City Chiefs did shut down the wide receiver position at the end of last year. If you don't remember that, you think, oh, they're going to score a lot of points. It's going to be good for wide receivers. It was not the case at the end of last season, and they are returning pretty much, you know, all of their team. Okay. All right. I think we're good with this matchup.

Greg Ward, sneaky start at the wide receiver position in one of those five wide receivers leagues. Yeah, the five wide? All right. Assuming Rager and Alshan don't play, yeah. I actually thought about making him my taking it to 100 because, you know, you look for that outlier way outside the realm of... Sure. But I wouldn't play him. Not that courageous. Las Vegas, the Raiders, taking on the Carolina Panthers. In Carolina, the Raiders are three and a half point favorites. It's a 47.5 point over under.

Fun fact, the Panthers actually hit the over in 11 of their 16 games last year despite these struggles on offense. Thank you, Christian McCaffrey. They, you know, they're one of the teams that are exciting to kind of see what they have in week one. Teddy Bridgewater, new starting quarterback, Robbie Anderson, making his debut for the team, new offense, Matt Ruhle. It's going to be very interesting.

And I like the Raiders this year. I think that they're going to be one of the dark horse teams for me. You know I'm sympathetic for Derek Carr. Yes, you are. And Josh Jacobs. And Josh Jacobs, look, if you have to take a pick, you know, you can't go the big three. Who's going to finish as the number one running back on the week? It is Josh Freak of Jacobs. The defense for Carolina, they.

are going to have some growing pains. They lost a lot of key players. Josh Jacobs might run for 150 yards on opening weekends. I think that is insultingly low for a might high end. I mean, this is, if you have a team that is loaded and stacked and you're like, I'm not sure if I should start Josh Jacobs, you're insane because he is.

I mean, when I talk about the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars defense, that's what you have here in Carolina as well. Their average age at defense is like 12 years old. They are all rookies. They drafted their entire draft this year was 100% on the defensive side of the ball. They're taking the approach of let's get young guys reps. Let's build this team the right way for the future. And I am targeting.

running backs against Carolina. It's really all proven otherwise. 100%. Yesterday I talked about Randall Cobb being one of those sneaky players that could end up a waiver wire darling because of a great week one. Curtis Samuel's on that list for me as well. Curtis Samuel in this offense, a lot of camp hype, not that we didn't have it last year, but the weapons that Bridgewater has, they're interesting.

DJ Moore, Mike, you took him in the first round of our, mind you, keeper league draft, but you secured DJ Moore yesterday in the draft. PPR machine. Yeah, he's a start no matter what. On the other side of the ball, we talked about Jacobs. What about Ruggs and Brian Edwards? If you had to decide between, because the matchup's good. I mean, last year, 30 points given up against the wide receiver position per game, Carolina. You talked about the defensive struggles. One of these rookies is going to have a great debut this week. Who is it? Tell me.

It really could be either. But if I had both, I'm going with both. Sure. I totally, I totally see that as a possibility. I would take Brian Edwards if I had to take one because I think more targets, more receptions will go his way from how I'm projecting the roles for these guys. Obviously, the higher value targets. You know, I don't think Brian Edwards is going to have a 75-yard touchdown, whereas Henry Ruggs has that speed that could do it, you know, three or four times a year. Almost took Henry Ruggs.

instead of Nikiel Harry at the end of the draft last night. And I had Brian Edwards already just to kind of hedge. And then I realized I would potentially just be holding two Raiders, wide receivers for a long period of time. So I took the shot on Harry. But both of these guys could have great debuts. Derek Carr could have a sneaky, nice start to the year. Jason, Derek Carr or Mitch Trubisky as your QB2.

Ooh, that is fun. I would go Mitch Trubisky. Oh, my gosh. The rushing baseline of Mitch and the fact that I think that the lions will be. I think you're getting challenged to a bet. Let's do a Mitch Trubisky, Derek Car bet to start the year, Jason. I'm in. Let's do it. Water bet. I love having something depend on Derek Carr, and you love having something depend on Mitch Trubisky. One of those things might be true. The other is a... Oh, my gosh.

horrific lie. I do not like depending on Trubisky, but I think the lions can keep up with the bears and force Trubisky to keep throwing the ball. The way that I see that the Raiders game going to happen too. Okay. I mean, I think Teddy B. and company can keep up against the Raiders. That defense was not outstanding last year. I do like the, I certainly like the Panthers offense a lot more than their defense. Okay. All right. Let's go. Colts.

They're taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars. They are eight-point road favorites in this game. Oh, my. Oh, my, a 45-point over-under, which puts Jacksonville at 18.5 implied points. This is, get used to seeing this, I think. Against Jacksonville. Against Jacksonville. This came, man, imagine starting the year at home against the division rival and being eight-point underdogs.

But here we are for Jacksonville. I love the Colts what they've done this offseason. They've really strengthened that interior on the defensive line. It's going to make it very difficult for the surprise breakout of James Robinson this week, especially if he's sharing the work with Chris Thompson. As exciting as Thompson is, at least he's got the PPR side of it. Robinson is a stash. He is not a play this week.

I agree. No, I completely agree. If you have to play one of those two, it's Chris Thompson over James Robinson. You expect them to be down and having to throw the ball. Chris Thompson is a perfect PPR back. I'm fine starting Chris Thompson this week. James Robinson is not someone that I want to just have that glory. All you're doing is a shot at a glory play. I don't think I'd play either now that I'm thinking about. I don't think I'd even play Chris Thompson this week. I, this Colts defense.

adding to Forrest Buckner already eight against the run last year. I am not. I love the Colts. The Colts are my favorite defense this year. I just said that a couple days ago. Your favorite defense? Yes. Really? I was very sad. I have had them in every league where I draft the defense. It's been the Colts this year. And I was very sad last night that someone took them ahead of me. Who did that? Oh, was it you? You.

I didn't even remember. It was so late when we were drafted defenses. I didn't even care. I just saw the Colts go off. That's why we need a boom shakalaka right there. Yeah, you dunked on me. Mike dunked on Jason. DJ Chark, wide receiver 19 on the week. Confident in Chark in week one, Mike. Yeah, I'm still playing him. Gardner. Less confident. Yeah, you aren't streaming him despite him tearing up the goals in week 17.

Last year, almost 300 yards and three touchdowns. Another prediction for you, Tyler Eiffert has a better-than-average game in week one and gets people thinking about them on the waiver wire. Okay. Philip Rivers on the other side, I think you can absolutely play Philip Rivers in week one. But what about this note here that from our editor-in-chief, Kyle the Borgocca? He is a steady stream for week one. Are you, is it a steady P-stream? Jay. You can stream the river. Okay, this is getting real convoluted.

Take a stream down P. River, go for it. I don't think that the upside is there for Philip Rivers. When you're favored by this much and the defense is this bad, I see the entire second half just being run the ball, run the ball. You can't stop us running the ball. It's super easy. Now, that's not to say you didn't get up to a lead by having, you know, a T.Y. Hilton touchdown and a...

Paris Campbell touchdown to Philip Rivers, but the ceiling is capped, is what I'm saying for Philip Rivers. We'll find one more middling quarterback that you like later in the show, and then we'll make another water bet where I'll bet with Philip Rivers, because I want you to lose to Philip Rivers in week one one way or another. I will not participate in anything with P. River, whether it's a water bet. No, because I know what that cup is going to be filled with, and I don't want it. Oh, no. Oh, no.

No, I mean, here's, the thing is, is if I were to make a bet against Philip Rivers, it's just on fantasy points, I could very well lose because I think Philip Rivers is a safe enough option. Like, he's not going to have a bad game. The reason I don't want Philip Rivers is because he's not going to have a great game. I think he could. I think he could have a big game. Impossible. Okay. T.Y. Hilton's in your lineup. Paris Campbell or Michael Pittman in week one if you want to take a shot. Paris Campbell. I would go Pittman. So you got to break the tie there. I go Paris Campbell.

in that situation. Jack Doyle, week one, no Trey Burton. I like it. He was almost my start of the week. I think that he is absolutely a fine pivot if you've got someone like Herndon and Doyle's on the waivers. I can't imagine being in a situation where I drafted Jack Doyle to start him this week. I mean, it's a great defensive... I'm not trying to take anything away from Doyle's potential to have four catches in 44 yards. I'm just saying...

With all the popular tight ends that people have drafted. I get it, but it's Philip Rivers. We've seen him hyper-target the tight end over and over again. And if you're going to watch this matchup, keep your eyes on the rookie from Jack DeVille, Leviska-Schanalt, who he was a second round pick. He's a great player. And on top of that, you know, there's some news, some whispers trickling out.

very vague of Leviska actually being far more involved in the running game, especially with Ozygbo going on the IR. All right. Naim Hines? I would prefer Naim Hines in a matchup where I think it's going to be difficult. Maybe the Colts are down. It would have to be a PPR league. And this is, you want him in a negative game script. Yeah, I'm not starting Naim Hines this week. Starts of the week.

Our first starts of the week segment for 2020. Let's kick it off at the quarterback position. I'm going against the grain a little bit here with the Chicago matchup. I'm going with Matthew Stafford. Last year at home, 310 passing yards per game, three touchdowns. Didn't face Chicago last year. The weapons, they are plentiful. The running back position, is it AP? Is it Swift? Is it carry on? It's an amalgamation of...

disappointment there. Matthew Stafford is going to continue doing what he did last year. So I'm going to take him in week one. I have confidence to start him. My start of the week is going to be Matt Ryan. This is an even year. It's 2020. And if you know anything about his history, he's great in the even years, bad in the odd years. But in reality,

He's obviously great for fantasy in general. He's going to throw for a ton of yards. This is a matchup at home that I like against Seattle. They lost Jadavia and Clowny, which is going to be nice for the offensive line holding up for Matt Ryan. It's a 49 point over under, which is one of the highest of the week. And they're only giving up two points here. So they're implied to score some points. I don't think it's going to come via Todd Gurley on the ground. So I'm happy to start Matt Ryan against Seattle. And my start is Josh Allen against the New York Jets that...

The secondary is absolutely depleted. Let's see if they let Josh Allen and his new weapons, Stefan Diggs, cook a little bit here in week one. That's an easy button right there. Josh Allen's going to smash. Mark Ingram, my running back start of the week against Cleveland kicking off the season for whatever reason. People just, it's getting more boring to have Mark Ingram on your roster and play him. But I don't care. I don't care. Mark Ingram was a smash start all last year.