Fantasy Football - Starts of the Week + Week 3 Breakdown, Trade Techniques - Podcast for 9/18

A little bit. 12 routes, got three targets, new career high. Is that seriously his career high? Yes, that's his career high. But the point is, with Aaron gone, he will be involved in the passing game. The Cincinnati Bengals, they're not great, right? They've allowed the third most fantasy points to opposing running backs through two weeks. You have to start Jordan Mason. At wide receiver, I'm going with Ricky P from the San Francisco 49ers against Arizona. See, this one is what I think some people need to hear, encouragement around Ricky Pearsall. I'm going with Pearsall. To feel confident. And this is regardless of the news of if it ends up being Brock Purdy,

which there was a tiny, like there's some optimism out there that he ends up playing this week. If he plays, great. If it's Mack Jones, I don't care. I know that Juwan was the one who had the big game last week, but I'm going right back to Pearsall. The Cardinals are down currently three of their top cornerbacks, and if Will Johnson, who got hurt in the game last week, can't make it back, that would be four of their top five. This secondary will be extremely depleted. The usage is still great. 25% of the team's first read targets, 2.41 yards per route run.

I'm still in on Pearsall. All right. We are at wide receiver, and I'm going to go – I guess this is the theme. I'm going back to the well with Roma Dunze here. Seven for one, 28 and two last week. Okay. Well, maybe you're expecting some variables here, and maybe you have a bad week. No, I think against Dallas, that game you were just talking about, listen to this, the Dallas Cowboys just gave up 264 deep passing yards against Russell Wilson in week two. That is the most such yards allowed by a defense in a game since 2016. That was what you're – and Roma Dunze is that guy for Chicago.

And so over 50 point over under, Roma Dunze is that dude. Go back to Roma Dunze this week, start of the week. My start of the week, Michael Pittman. This was a player I really liked in the draft process. I got him out a bunch of rosters. I played him everywhere week one, and it was awesome. I binged him this last week. I told you guys, like, don't play him. That was a bad matchup. It wouldn't make sense with Patrick Sertan. He had a bad week. This is a great matchup. Play Michael Pittman again. He is the – he will be the number one wide receiver for the Colts this week.

The Tennessee Titans have allowed the fourth most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers through two weeks, and specifically the wide receiver types like Michael Pittman. Week one, Cortland Sutton, that was awesome. I honestly think Michael Pittman and Cortland Sutton aren't that different as far as, like, archetype player type. It's a great matchup for him. He will be the number one, and I think he should be started. He's one of those flex type of decisions where a lot of questions will be coming in this week. Like, if you've got one of that, like, that level of, like, I don't know, should I play Tillman or Pittman?

This is a way of saying downs as well, then. A little bit, but I actually think less downs. To me, if you're in a matchup where you expect a shootout, a lot of points, a difficult matchup, you're going to be down. That's where I think downs will be better because you're going to have to throw the ball more. You're going to have to be in three wide receiver sets. The slot wide receiver will be in. I expect the Colts to handle business, and if they do, it's going to be Michael Pittman, two wide receiver sets. You're going to be trying to stop Jonathan Taylor.

So this is, to me, a Michael Pittman matchup. Oh, and downs was a did not practice on Wednesday. Okay. There you go. My tight end start of the week. He's not being talked about as a top 12 option, but we're right back here. It's Jake Turd Ferguson. He's in that Chicago Bears matchup that we want pieces of. The usage is elite, averaging nine targets per game, targeted on 26% of his routes. We already laid out all the matchup stuff, but he was in week one. It didn't end up on the box score, but he had the six targets, which was 18%.

Should have come down with a touchdown. He just kind of, Brian Thomas Jr. Didn't really go after the ball. It's also the Eagles, who are great. The Eagles are also, they closed on him. But then in the shootout last week, 12 targets. Jake Ferguson is a reliable top 12 option with a sneaky high ceiling this week. I've been actually targeting him in trades. I just want to officially say my start of the week is your guys' two starts of the week. I looked so hard to find a start of the week, and I was like, I really love. Oh, I see yours now, and I understand why you're apologizing.

I love Fergalicious, not Turd Ferguson this week. Fergalicious. Oh, right. And I love your start of the weekend. Well, it's Juwan Johnson against Seattle. 20 targets through the first two weeks. Buy in. Yeah, I mean, he's... Just buy into the usage. Juwan Johnson is basically a slot-wide receiver playing tight end right now. He's running that many routes. He's on pace for 170 targets. Obviously, it's two weeks, right? You're going to have some ebbs and flows. But Juwan Johnson against Seattle this week. Seattle so far, haven't stopped the tight end position. Still waiting for members of their secondary to get healthy.

And so it's a good time to ride Juwan Johnson for another week. Juwan Johnson was not picked up enough after week one that we were still able to have him in our waiver show. I'm looking at Sleeper right now, and I'm seeing a 78% roster. That means there still are leagues out there that Juwan Johnson is just chilling on the waiver wire. I'm telling you, even if you don't need a tight end, you should go pick him up at the end of your bench. Because eventually, someone else in your league is going to wake up and go get him. And you're going to be playing against a top 10 option.

One of my most rostered, like my two most rostered players were Michael Pittman, which I feel great about, and David Njoku. I'm like, oh man, he's going to crush me in these leagues. If Juwan Johnson was out there, I'd be a happy boy. He's nowhere. Sure. Because you're in all my leagues, and you spin up for him. He's a great player. He's been on my team for years. My tight end start of the week, Zacherts, against the Raiders. I believe that this is a good start. He's the tight end too, right? He's not. You're talking with such sadness. It is sadness.

Zacherts is a great play. He's a great play. I wanted to make Kraft. But who's not starting Kraft? Your guys' starts of the week are great. But I am personally picking up. I picked up Zacherts. I'm playing him over Njoku. Okay, see, that's news. Yeah, so look, he's playing 90% of the snaps. He ran 41 routes. The last seven games, including the playoff run, he's averaged 13.1 fantasy points. He's reliable. And I know that there's quarterback questions. If Jaden Daniels starts, he's going to be limited mobility-wise. The tight end position is probably where he's going to look to even more.

And then if he doesn't start the last two games with Marcus Mariota, Zach Ertz was 4 for 40 and a touchdown, 5 for 44 and a touchdown. It's not the end of the world. So, Zach Ertz, he's in that startable category. All right, that was Starts of the Week presented by Paramount+. Paramount+, is the streaming home to the NFL on CBS. Get started at ParamountPlus.com slash NFL. We'll take a break. We'll hit the matchups. Into the forecast we go. Fantasy Forecast, presented by PrizePix. All right, we're going to kick off Week 3 with the Green Bay Packers at 2-0, traveling to take on the Cleveland Browns, who are sitting at 0-2.

The Vegas line, Green Bay on the road, minus 8.5. Over-unders, 41.5. Packers, that defense, it's been rolling. Jordan Love, you've enjoyed watching him, you know, stretch the field a little bit. He has so many weapons. It's a little bit wild because you've had injuries. Obviously, Jaden Reed's not there anymore. But you have, you know, you've got two tight ends, Tucker Craft and then Luke Musgrave getting involved. You've got the running game. You have, you know, Christian Watson's going to come back soon, but you have Wicks and you have Heath and you have, you know, so many different weapons. Golden hasn't even gotten involved yet that Packers are playing great, right?

Like, Golden hasn't been heavily involved yet. It's just a lot of depth. Not necessarily making it easy for fantasy players to go, okay, I like Golden or I like Dobbs or I like Wicks or I like, you know, I think we all love Tucker Craft. He might be the focal point of the offense. Craft? Yeah. Yeah, he very well could be. I mean, we talked about it last week. The passing game for the Packers is who's getting the touchdown. Like, that's right. Love is spreading the ball around. It's like two targets, three targets, three receptions, two receptions. Those lead the team at the end of the game with how good the defense is playing

and how efficient Jordan Love is. He's looking great. It's who do you think is going to get the touchdown? And if you had to give odds of every pass catcher to get a touchdown, the highest odd would be the tight end. It would be Kraft. Yes. So how do we feel about starting Jordan Love on the road here in a game that they're heavily favored? It feels like you will need to get it early potentially in this game. Like, I really am. I'm actually okay with it. I'm very okay with it. Because the Cleveland Browns front seven has been – I mean,

Derrick Henry couldn't run on them. Yeah. So – I am nervous about Josh Jacobs. It's Wednesday, but the combination of Josh Jacobs popping up with an ankle, limited in practice on Wednesday, against the Cleveland Browns who have, through two weeks, shut down running backs, including one of the best in the business. Josh Jacobs, where – are there names that you would actually consider playing over Josh Jacobs? Probably not. I mean, to be honest, I think Josh Jacobs has been so good. I'll give you a couple names. Okay. Because these guys were drafted after Jacobs. Travis Etienne against Houston. No. Andy?

Yeah, I'm not playing Jacobs over that. You're playing Etienne? Yeah. Okay. Javante Williams against Chicago. Yeah. I think – Okay. So, I'm more – Maybe there. Maybe. I'm more on Andy's side of, like – This isn't a – it's not the world is burning. It's just – you might have some better options this week who were drafted after Josh Jacobs. But, again – If the game – if they have the game put away, you could definitely see Jacobs getting some rest. Exactly. Yeah. This isn't the type where they just run Josh – they get up big, and then they run Jacobs into the ground.

You put some backups in. Yeah. I have Javante as my running back 12. I think he's a really good play this week. So, if you do have good options, maybe. But, for the most part, I feel like you've got to play Jacobs. Okay. Matthew Golden is an interesting start to me in the sense that, like, he's done very little. He's had separation. He's had targets and air yards. They just haven't connected. This matchup, I think, is okay. He's like the Thornton of this week. If you need – Okay. Is that a Jason touchdown guarantee? I don't see the future like you do.

I do think that there is a chance he gets a touchdown and has a big play that makes for a good game. So, if you're in a, like, underdog situation, I would throw Matthew Golden in. But that's pretty much all I could say on that. The tough part on the other side of the ball – I mean, these are two of the best defenses. Actually, they're number one and two in yards per play allowed in terms of – you know, it's a 41-point over-under. The defenses are outstanding. Cleveland is going to struggle offensively, and yet you have this kind of promising, exciting performance by Quinshawn Judkins last week on limited snaps.

You know he's going to get more and more involved. It is the buy now time. Now, you might be able to do that again after this week if you think he's going to have no success against Green Bay. But I think Judkins is looking more interesting in the long term than a lot of players out there. I mean, I think you have to start asking the question, you know, is Judkins going to be a better performer than Amari and Hampton this year? Yeah, than Travion Henderson? Yeah, they're – Coming into this – I think that's where he was before all of the drama.

It was, yeah. When we finished our original, like, launch June 1st UDK rankings and we statted everybody out, I was surprised but not shocked that Quinshawn Judkins was my number one – well, Gentie was number one. Yeah. My number two rookie running back ahead of Henderson, ahead of Hampton, and then all the off-the-field stuff made it questionable. The off-the-field stuff might be gone. It might be. I mean, he could still be, you know, suspended, but he's going to – he only played 27% of the snaps last week and was pretty awesome. 16.5 point implied point total for the Browns. Through two weeks, Jerry Judy's been the wide receiver 31-59.

Is he a full bench for you? I would really try to avoid every single player on the Cleveland rest. What about the tight ends? Harold Fannin is the only one that, if I'm desperate, I would put him out there. So we're kind of moving – you're moving on from Njoku as a start? It's not – yeah, this week. It's not a moving on completely from David Njoku. It's just a – Harold Fannin will get some cheapies. And I think he can cheap his way to four or five receptions. Where are you starting Judkins? Like, are you starting him over a –

Over Tootin. I mean, even though Tootin was the start of the week with ETN in the matchup, I would go over Tootin. It's worth noting the Browns – the Browns came out with a depth chart officially that has now Judkins as the one. He was not the one. Jerome Ford is – It's pretty obvious how much better he is than everything else they have. He is going to get a workload this week. So I think I'm pretty happy to start him. Would you play him or Bill against the Las Vegas Raiders? I'd play Bill. Yeah, Bill's – Yeah, I mean, Judkins, I can tell you the stat line if you want to know the future.

Oh, I love that you know this stuff. 17 for 61, no touchdowns. So you're not very happy. No, you're not very happy. You get volume. But I think he also gets involved in the passing game a little bit. Yeah, two for 21. Okay, that makes – That's still pretty good. That's a big difference. 21 on two catches. What you just said is 10 fantasy points. Yeah, he's a 10 fantasy point guy this week. Awesome. Yeah. Indianapolis is 2-0. They take on the 0-2 Tennessee Titans. Titans are at home. Indy 4.5-point road favorites over under is 43.5. Saw a lot of Daniel Jones get picked up in fantasy leagues this week,

especially with all the injuries at quarterback, right? You've had McCarthy's out, Purdy's out. This is where – Burrow's out. This is when he – This is it. This is when he tricks you, right? Is that what you're saying? I'm saying that this is a huge week. The first road game for Daniel Jones, dominant for fantasy football. It's a trap! Is it a trap or not? Well, Jason brought up his view of the game. They are favored. Jonathan Taylor has been – he's looked amazing so far. The Titans defense at 0-2 is only giving up 13.6 fantasy points to the opposing quarterback so far this year.

It was the matchup that Bo Nix struggled in, and you could say, okay, it was more Bo Nix than it was them. Debatable. Because they didn't need – I mean, they could win the game without Bo Nix in that game. That's the crazy part about it. And then last week, what was it? It was the Rams, right? Mm-hmm. Stafford was okay through two touchdowns. Yeah, he was – I mean, I think Daniel Jones will be all right, but probably not QB4, probably not QB5 this week. You know, you start to look at Bo Nix against the Chargers, I'd go there.

Love against Cleveland? We just talked about that game. Would you go Love? I would go Love. Still go Love, yeah. So, you know, obviously things can change. You can get a tush push from Daniel Jones or two of them. More of a sneak. His tush remains unpushed. Yeah, I guess that is more of a sneak. Yeah. He's pushing his own tush with his hindquarters. Mm-hmm. With his hindquarters. With his haunches. So, how do you see – you know, you talked about Pittman. I'm probably – I'm not as bullish around Pittman as you are, but I understand the argument for it, and I can see it.

Yeah. You've also had some other players like Devontae Smith that have struggled, and you look at Devontae Smith versus Pittman, and that one seems like it should be easy, but maybe it's not. Tyler Warren didn't practice on Wednesday, but I think – Don't care. I think he played more snaps than a tight end has played in a long, long time. So, we had – He had to visit the vet for a little bit. I mean, it was – He'll be back. It was outstanding. I get it. I don't think. He's got that dog. Because he's a dog. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, and the dog needs a vet. Yeah. And so, it's an animal joke. The only problem with that is if – Very much. Like, if it was Meowth and Taylor. Oh. Also needs a vet. Yeah. They're both animals. You need to find a dog-specific reference. Like, just being a vet, that could apply to either – It was the best I could do on short notice. Okay. On short notice. I haven't thought – Moral of the story, Tyler Warren's awesome. You're going to play him every week. As is Jonathan Taylor. Yeah. Oh, man. Johnny Taylor. He has looked – He's looking so good.