Dear Mr. Fantasy
Dear Mr. Fantasy
Saddest Boi Episode + POWER RANKINGS + Trouble in Cincy? + Special Guest!
Ready to dissect the highs and lows of Week Two's fantasy football face-offs? You're in the right place! This episode of Dear Mr Fantasy with Garfield and Dylan offers a granular analysis of player performances, matchups, and even the impact of sudden injuries. From Team Cronis' strategic victory over Bad Gramps to the standout performances of Captain Kirk Cousins and Jalen Hurts, we're leaving no stone unturned.
We’ve all felt the shockwave of Saquon Barkley and Nick Chubb's injuries, haven't we? But what does this mean for your fantasy football squad? Let’s explore together. We also delve into the Buccaneers’ surprising streak and discuss the potential of wide receivers like Puka Nukua, Tutu Atwell, and Nico Collins.
Dylan gives us his first power rankings of the year, and Connor brings us a double dose of "Panic, Panic!".
Our special guest, Nick, joins us as we wrap up with fantasy football matchup predictions, team strategies, and a sneak peek at upcoming games. From the potential of running back Kyren Williams to Joe Burrow's health, we're discussing it all. So, whether you're a seasoned fantasy football player or a newbie looking for insights, tune in to this episode of Dear Mr Fantasy for a deep dive into the world of fantasy football!
Hello and welcome to Dear Mr Fantasy, where we bring you the hard-hitting news. My name is Connor, but you can call me Garfield because I am starting to hate Mondays. I am always joined here by my co-host, dylan. Daddy Dill, how are you doing this week?
Speaker 2:Doing well. Yeah, you can call me Dylan, because that's my name.
Speaker 1:That's good. Yeah, so I didn't really give you a heads up on the other name calling thing here. I was kind of shooting from the hip, no.
Speaker 2:I thought I was going to be able to come up with something, but it didn't come to mind. When in doubt, just shoot with your name and can't really go wrong.
Speaker 1:This is off to a great start. Let's just go for it here. Let's go to our matchup winners, Everything that people want to hear. Let's start with the blowouts. We have Kirkman's dead, crushing St Stevenson in the dead off 114 to 89. We have Cooking their Ass toppling on top of the world 109 to 62. We have the G-Paws being the wiser of the two over Parsons of Interest 106.7 to 71.7. Then Dylan, your team, Bijan Mustard, Absolutely Cooking. Marks was right 86.8 to 68.5. Marks was right. He's a bad boy.
Speaker 1:This week. It's week two. We already have people not starting their lineup. We will discuss further later. Close but no cigar Team Cronus takes out Bad Gramps 85.8 to 81.6. That was actually almost a barn burner of the week but ended up being a little too far. The Westfair TV audio barn burner of the week was my very own matchup, which was DK Havichirwe, Unfortunately dislocating. Love is a Battlefield 103.8 to 100.2. That was the barn burner of the week only because it really came down to last night. We had a couple guys in on either side. Once Nick Chubb basically lost his leg, it was over. I should not have won that. I should be on two. Nick should be at least one on one. That is the way the cookie crumbles. It was a tough night, but that's why I hate Mondays. Mondays have been mean to me. I have to sweat out these games, even when they're bad, until 11.30 at night, wondering if my fantasy dreams are over or not. Dylan, any reaction to, honestly, any of these games, even your own.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, it was nice to see the Panthers make a prime time appearance this year. Perhaps they're one and only. I'm sorry, were you going to say something?
Speaker 1:No, I was just saying was it good to see the Panthers in prime time.
Speaker 2:It was. It was very good. I very much enjoyed seeing the stadium full of Panthers fans, because it's early enough in the season where they're it's still hope and you still have fans in the stadium, so that was nice. And then really excited about Bryce Young and what he could bring to the franchise. I think he's got excellent poise. I think that he made some really great throws, some yeah like.
Speaker 2:the potential is definitely there. Some red zone errors, some red zone mistakes, but overall really pleased with where Bryce Young is at and I'm really excited for what they can build around them. Obviously this year is going to be a struggle for the offense, but I'm optimistic about the future. I'm optimistic about the future of Bryce Young and eventually, you know he's going to be, I think, in the conversation for a starting fantasy quarterback, depending on if they can provide some weapons for him. So I guess that was my reaction to Monday night and then for the rest of Sunday, excellent slated games. We had a couple overtime games in the one o'clock window and red zone channel was firing off, you know, like it always does, and it was good to just sit back and enjoy the games without having necessarily a rooting interest in anything, because my boys were off till Monday. So I enjoyed the weekend very much and I'm excited to get to our big boys section.
Speaker 1:Fantastic, dylan. Let's get to our big boys. I have one big boy at the quarterback position. It is your number one quarterback so far in the first two weeks of this fantasy season. Yep, it's who you guessed, it's Captain Kirk Cousins. He had 29.56 points, at least in our standard league. You know PPR. He's catching a lot of passes out there, so that number is kind of skewed. But 364 yards and four touchdowns all through the air. It was a losing effort but it was a valiant effort. You know, sometimes being down is good for our fantasy quarterbacks here, but you know he's getting it done, as boring and bland as he may be. But the next guy we have up here, that's yours, dylan. He finally showed up. He had a wonky week one but he's finally kind of back to form. Jalen Hertz 25.2 fantasy points, dylan. What did you see at a Jalen this week?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was good to see him bounce back. And the Eagles went back to their bread and butter, that quarterback sneak where they just pushed Jalen Hertz over the goal line into the end zone Easy 12 fantasy points on those two QB sneaks Probably the easiest 12 you're going to see in the fantasy world. So that's why you draft Jalen Hertz for those type of plays. He looked better throwing the ball too.
Speaker 2:I'm still worried about the way he protects himself on the field, Like I don't know. He scares me a lot with a lot of the times when he's running and lowering that shoulder, and so just something to consider. I would, just in case not obviously we want him to stay completely healthy, but I would have a backup just in case there. But it was great to see him bounce back. And same thing with Geno Smith bounce back in a huge way against the Lions and brought them down and scored the game winning touchdown to Tyler Lockett in overtime, which was, I mean, we were about to or at least I was about to write off Geno a little bit and to see him bounce back in such a big way against a team that just knocked off the defending champs, so that is a huge, huge showing for Geno, Would you agree?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, geno was 32 for 41, which you know, that is some I say vintage Geno as if this has happened for a long time, but it's really just last season. Yeah, but that was also just like a true team effort. I mean, you know Kenneth Walker with two touchdowns, even though DK Mechaf got hurt, he still had like 75 yards, six receptions. And you're right, you know they took down the team that had just took down the Chiefs week one, of course without Kelsey, but it was nice to see the CIO Seahawks take on the feisty Lions this week and it kind of made you think like the Rams are for real. You know, the Rams took care of the Seahawks last week and then the Seahawks took care of Detroit. So I don't know, I mean it made me think the Rams are more legit. The Seahawks are just kind of who we thought they were going to be.
Speaker 1:But you're right, geno looks great. I'm happy to see him back. But you keep talking about bouncing back and all this, but no one bounced back harder than Daniel Jones, your last big boy of the week, at 30.7. Fantasy points are QB one of this week. We had to check in on your brother on Sunday night to see if he was still alive after yet another really disappointing first half of football. So then, daniel Jones basically scored 30 fantasy points in the entire second half of this game. Are we buying into Daniel Jones? Are the Giants back or are they terrible and they played a terrible car? Or Cardinals team that is most likely tanking for the number one pick in this upcoming draft.
Speaker 2:Well, like it is usually most of the time, I think it's somewhere in the middle that they're not as good as we saw that second half. But they're not as bad as what was it? 60 unanswered points? They'd given up 60 and had scored zero through the first six halves of football this season. So I mean they're not that bad. Where you're going to see that again? At least I don't think. But Daniel Jones makes his living running the ball in fantasy football and as long as he can keep doing that, he's a viable asset. You can roll him out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and also to all the running or tell the quarterbacks that run, fall, just fall, it's okay you don't have to be a tough guy.
Speaker 1:Anthony Richardson, josh Allen, jalen Hertz, daniel Jones, just fall. It's okay, you're the quarterback You're supposed to last until you're in your 40s. It's been kind of at least. The storyline so far with these guys is everyone's been a little tough guy this year and I don't really like it. So, yeah, please protect yourself. But speaking of people that can't protect themselves, let's go to our big boy running backs. Here.
Speaker 1:I chose two guys that both had two touchdowns Raheem Mostert, with 24.7 fantasy points, 121 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Patriots decided to lock down Tyreek and Jalen Waddle and let the run game beat them and the run game beat them. And the other guy, who is a big boy but is maybe a little bit of a sad boy, but with reports today that he is a game time decision Thursday, he is a big boy. Saquon Barkley, from that same incredible comeback by the Giants 21.2 fantasy points, 63 rushing yards, 29 to the air and two total touchdowns. So it was good to see Saquon Tough to see. He had an ankle injury that may, from reports said he was going to be out for three weeks. Now he's a game time decision because he's a quick healer, according to Brian Debal. What did you? You know, as we were talking about Daniel Jones, what did you see from Saquon? Was it a hostage or are we in for another injury laden year?
Speaker 2:Well, I don't buy the reports that he's going to play on Thursday. I don't see how that's possible. Probably that kind of smoke and mirrors. You know. They're just keeping their options open. So the opposing coordinators, you know, have something in the back of their mind thinking, oh well, maybe he does go. But I don't know if anyone, after seeing him being helped off the field like that, would think that he'd be okay to play three days after, four days after. So I would scratch him off of this week. I mean, I don't know the quick healing thing, like I guess Brian Debal just started saying that because I'd never heard Saquon called that before. But maybe he is and that would be great to get him out there as fast as possible.
Speaker 2:The best news is that it wasn't a high ankle sprain and it wasn't anything significant. So, like, at the most you're looking at like a three to four week absence for Barkley, which is great. That's. That was the best case scenario and it might be even way less. So we're liking that you still roll out Barkley every week. He looked great again. I mean, he had some terrific runs in clutch time on that last drive where they had to go and score that field goal. So he's the same guy that I was watching last year. He's still a top five fantasy running back and, yeah, let's just hope he stays on the field.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we have a lot of quick healers in New York these days between Saquon and Aaron Rodgers Lots of people coming back sooner than they should.
Speaker 1:And yeah, I know you got here K9. We were just talking about him before. In that Seahawks win K9 was 17.4 points. Deandre Swift, who was left on the bench this week this is why I didn't include him in our in our big boys when I first was putting this document together 24.1 points. He basically just took over that Philadelphia backfield, kind of showing that he should probably be the guy that they that they use. They should be the number one running back every week. Kenneth Gamel is great, foresay hurt right now and Rashad Penny is just nowhere to be found. He got a couple of snaps on Thursday but nothing's happened. It looks like if people watch the game on Thursday that are a part of the Philadelphia franchise, they should probably play DeAndre Swift going forward. Would you agree with that, dylan?
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm happy we got that question somewhat resolved, because last week we were both wondering what this Philly backfield's going to look like, and I think DeAndre Swift just took that job and literally ran with it. So love to see it. He looked spry, he looked fast. I don't know, this might be a perfect fit for him and for the Eagles there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that'd be great. I have this weird theory of this backfield that it's just, it's never going to be solidified. I think they might be saving Rashad Penny for the end of the season, as Rashad Penny had a season-end injury, what in the week for last year? It was kind of early on, it was, you know, we had already played a couple of weeks. But I think they're saving him for the end of the season for when DeAndre Swift, you know, probably gets banged up. Kenneth Gamel's already banged up, I think at some point. You know as much as everyone's probably going to drop Rashad Penny anyway because there's no space in the bench for him right now. I think when we're getting towards the playoffs of fantasy, we are going to see a lot of Rashad Penny pickups and waiver wire grabs for him, because I think he ends up being there, you know, one A or one B towards the end of the season with DeAndre Swift, depending on if they're healthy. But that's just my theory. I've been thinking about that a lot the last week, since we were talking about it last week.
Speaker 1:Moving on to the wide receivers, I took two Homer picks here. They both got 23.1 points, both got two touchdowns. It's Keenan Allen and Mike Evans, my literal saviors of fantasy so far. Thank God for both of these guys. I just want to say Mike Evans 171 yards. He is already on a fantastic path to a thousand yards. Baker Mayfield knows what to do Throw it to the big guy. The Bucks are awesome. That entire division looks great too, which is pretty scary. But yeah, mike Evans is looking like Vantage Mike Evans and then Keenan Allen is so far healthy, so that means that he is getting targeted a lot 111 yards, two touchdowns. You know I'm pretty excited about these picks, but I don't want to talk about them too much because they're on my team.
Speaker 2:Well, let's stay on the Mike Evans. What a surprising start for the Buccaneers, because I don't think many people gave them a shot at all to be decent this year, let alone 2-0. And yeah, you read, baker Mayfield looks good there and shout out to the NFC South. Like you said, a lot better than people anticipated, and I think that's going to continue, especially the Buccaneers. I think you could see them win a lot more games than a lot of people predicted, and that's solely because they've got a really balanced team. They've got that really good defense, their offensive line can protect Baker and then they've got weapons for Baker to throw to.
Speaker 2:So I believe it's a sustainable thing that you have going on in Tampa Bay, which you know, for our fantasy draft, mike Evans and Chris Gowen fell pretty far because I think we were all kind of out on Tampa Bay and so great value picked there for you, connor, and I think, for anyone that picked up Mike Evans, great value this season, and then even better value is got to catch them all Puka, nakua, my man, oh, my gosh, at the record right. And so now it's two games with some. I mean, what was it? 15 receptions yesterday or Sunday and 14 the day before something like that. Oh my gosh. Straight off the press, just a sensation in Los.
Speaker 2:Angeles, you got to love it, and I mean we already talked our talk about him last week. I just wanted to mention him because he's still balling out for Los Angeles, and if you picked him up in a PPR league as well, oh my, oh my. That's all I could say.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's on like the verge of like league winner type of shit right now, early on. I mean, cooper Cup is still going to come back week five, as we heard this past week. Sean McFay said he went on IR so he's ready for week five. But Matt Stafford has this knack for just picking one guy and just making him the best wide receiver in fancy football. He's done it time and time again and he's doing it once more with Pukka Nukua. Hopefully there's still room for Pukka once Cooper Cup comes back. Clearly Stafford trusts him.
Speaker 1:Tutu Atwell is also, you know, putting up great numbers those first two weeks and that ramps team looks pretty legit. You know I'm pretty shocked again with. You know how good Matt Stafford looks. So, yeah, the Pukka Nukua pick up preseason from Frank still still one of the greatest pickups I've ever seen. And then your last guy here, another another guy where we kind of didn't see this coming. We didn't trust this team or this rookie quarterback, but Nico Collins 20.6 points to have a great connection with CJ Stroud, who looks a lot better than we, I guess, maybe thought. Going into this season Everyone had a lot of doubts about CJ Stroud. He had a tough preseason so far that Houston offense looks rather competent.
Speaker 2:It does and he's making some really good catches out there too. It's not like something that's stats only, like when you watch the tape. He stands out for sure. He's got the length and he's got, obviously, the catching ability, and CJ Stroud seems to like him a lot and seems to want to throw to him a lot. So I mean that's a great guy to have on. I think Nick's got him and that's a great piece, a depth piece for Nick, especially with all the injuries he's dealing with. So, yeah, we'll see if Nico's able to keep it up going forward. That was a lot of throwing. I think Stroud had to throw it upwards of 40 times in that game. So we'll see. But man, yeah, he looks like the guy in Houston.
Speaker 1:Definitely yeah, and even you know Tank Dell, robert Woods, like they have a decent core of wide receivers and they're going to be down probably most of the game, so they will be throwing the ball. So not a bad team to maybe dive into in terms of getting some of those offensive weapons in the air. But let's go to our tight ends here. There's really only one big boy here and it is TJ Hawkinson. 66 yards and two touchdowns. He was kind of Kirk Cousins one of his favorite targets on that Thursday night game. This is what you draft him for is to have those number one tight end weeks.
Speaker 1:The tight end position has been rather lowly so far. I mean we had touchdowns from Mark Andrews, we had a touchdown from Travis Kelsey, so at least those guys were back and making plays. But yeah, tj Hawkinson finally had a big breakout tight end game where the tight end position actually maybe stole a matchup or swung a matchup enough to win it. But we'll see if this can continue because he's also sharing an offense and snaps with Justin Jefferson. So do we see this being a consistent number one tight end or is he going to kind of be every now and then when Justin Jefferson's maybe focused on a bit more. He gets a number one week, every now and then.
Speaker 2:I think it's going to be consistent because, yeah, jefferson still caught 11 balls in that game and Hawkinson, he caught eight week one, now seven week two. It's not like Jefferson has been disappearing in these big Hawkinson games. He's been there and so I think Hawkinson is an integral part of what the Vikings are trying to do on offense and he's obviously a big part of what they're trying to do in the red zone, so extremely valuable asset. He could be a sneaky like. He could make a sneaky push for tight end one this year, and I'm not. Yeah, I know that's bullish, but I don't know. There's something about the Vikings are going to be playing from behind, I think a lot, because that defense is leaky and so Kirk is going to be zipping it all around the field. I mean, I love having any part of this Vikings passing game and so, yeah, I think Hawkinson could make a run at tight end one. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't even think that's that crazy of a statement, just with already the injury so far with Travis Kelsey, mark Andrews both will probably maybe miss more time throughout the season. Kittle is never healthy all season and then Hawkinson is kind of that fourth guy right behind those dudes if they're all healthy. But you know, if he can stay healthy and, like said, play from behind a lot. You know Kirk Cousins is going to be slain out there. Got to believe in Captain Kirk. So good for TJ Hawkinson, a nemesis of mine throughout his entire career from the Lions to the Vikings. I wish I could actually love him, but it's hard. Oh wait, one last big boy in the tight end. I just actually sent this to one of our group chats.
Speaker 1:Kylan Granson for the Indianapolis Colts, caught his first touchdown this past Sunday and then did a photo shoot with it as if it was like a newborn photo shoot with his wife or his girlfriend. I'm not sure what the status of the issue is, but he did a photo shoot with the ball and posted on Instagram. It is lovely. Please go check that out. It is actually hilarious. He went all in. The bit is great, the grind is good. So shout out to Kylan Granson of the Indianapolis Colts on his first touchdown. That's our defense. Big boy of the week Pittsburgh Steelers got two touchdowns, three fumble recoveries. You know gave up 22 points. But two touchdowns is a pretty good week and that's all you could really want from your defense. But besides that no big like you know, like the Cowboys 30 point effort last week, kind of a mediocre number one defense for the week. It's kind of like that for the tight ends defense and kickers. Really nothing too outstanding. Do you have any ads for the defense?
Speaker 2:Not really other than I was impressed by what the Chiefs did against the Jaguars, and they were really the only other standout defense I noticed. You know, I think what you said before the season began, that defenses are going to have the upper edge. Starting the season, I think, is coming true. I'm definitely noticing some of these games being lower scoring, the defenses with a certain edge, and I think as we start to hit fall weather in October, november, the offense is really going to start to take shape and, like you're going to see a lot of, you know, rust melt away there and a lot more high scoring, which is going to be a lot more fun for us.
Speaker 1:I think it's harder to tackle to as it gets colder, you know I think it's easier to, you know, break some tackles as it gets chillier. But yeah, usually I feel like everyone kind of starts slow offensively. You know there's a couple teams that have kind of busted that theory, but for the most part, you know, especially in the betting world, like taking the unders for the first three or four weeks is usually, you know, a pretty great financial decision as, yeah, these, you know we all think these teams are going to come out. You know guns blazing and they end up being, you know they're still trying to figure stuff out. You know there's not enough time in camp and not enough time in the preseason, as people don't really play in the preseason anymore. So like we're still kind of in a preseason type of mode here where, at least for offenses, they're still trying to get connections down. You know there's a lot of new quarterbacks and new teams, just a lot of, you know, new coordinators in general. So I think it's just always a slow start but it'll pick up. You know, by week five, you know we'll be kind of where we should be at. You know we'll have a better idea of what these offenses actually look like, also what these defenses actually look like compared to those guys.
Speaker 1:But, um, let's, uh, let's move on to our unfortunate bad boys of this week. I have one quarterback bad boy it is. It is Trevor Lawrence. You were just talking about that Kansas City defense. As much hype as the Jaguars got that first week, you know, calvin Ridley and Trevor Lawrence just kind of liddle up. There was nothing really going on, they kind of. You know, chris Jones came back and maybe, I don't know, is that is that the the almighty difference maker? But, um, yeah, nothing, nothing going on. Really. It's 9.7 points, 260 yards, 216 yards and a fumble. Um, so, no touchdowns for old Trevor, nothing really happening with his legs either, you know, not really doing too much. So, uh, what did? What did you think of Trevor's performances past week? Is it something that, uh, we should be worried about?
Speaker 2:no, I'm not worried, but he was just off. Like he missed a few touchdown passes in the red zone just over through it, uh. So, yeah, he just wasn't on his game, which is rare to see from Trevor Lawrence. I mean, we've been following this guy since he was dominating at Clemson, like we know what he can do at this point, and he took a big step forward last year and I think we're still waiting for that leap forward to the upper echelon of quarterbacks, but I do believe it's on the horizon. Um, now I think they need to shuffle a little bit of their play calling.
Speaker 2:It seemed way too predictable against the chiefs. Um, I mean, and Doug Peterson, he's a great coach, he's gonna whip the offensive room into shape there in terms of the play calling stuff. Um, I saw a few moments and this is not as a buy well, I am biased, but I saw a few moments where he definitely could have dumped it off to ETN, who would be wide open on, like, the other side of the field. Um, so maybe they'll take a look at doing that a little bit more instead of keying on um way downfield. But I don't know. I think we saw a good enough from them in week one against a Colts defense. That is actually pretty good. As you know, they played well in week two. Um, they're not great, but, you know, I think the Jaguars are gonna be fine. They're obviously not gonna play as bad as this going forward. Um, it's just, it's still an open question of like how good they are going to be because of all this hype going in as well. Um, it was great to see I know this has nothing to do with Lawrence, but their defense I mean holding the chiefs to only 17 points. That is definitely something where you want to get a win out of that. Like, the defense held it down really well. So props to the Jags defense. Better days or ahead. Yeah, I'm not.
Speaker 2:I'm not worried about Lawrence, but I am a bit worried about Justin Fields.
Speaker 2:Um, he's holding onto the ball like way too much. He's not taking off. Maybe it's what the defenses have been doing to him these first couple weeks, um, with whatever type of contains, by thing that they're running which I'm sure that they are that he's just hasn't had as much room to to do what he does best, which is take off and scramble and get all those yards, and then, when he is throwing the ball, he's, he's put together, it's just inconsistent. He's put together some really really good drives and then, um, the biggest knock on him from all around is just he's holding onto the ball too long. Um, his offensive line is giving him like five, six seconds sometimes and he's still holding onto the ball and then obviously you're going to get sacked at that point.
Speaker 2:Um, so it's a combination of, yeah, just Fields not developing as quickly in the passing game at this point of his career, and then, and then what the defenses I think have been doing to him, after maybe watching a lot of tape from the end of last year. So there's seems to be a combination of adjustments being made, but I'm a bit worried about Justin Fields. Um, how did you perceive his his game on Sunday?
Speaker 1:yeah, you know it's. I also think there's a lot of concern around Justin Fields. Like his magic of last year of scrambling for like 60, 70 yard touchdowns just because of his pure like athleticism and speed. Um, it's just not really happening this year and I'm wondering if they're just trying to make him throw the ball so he can learn how to be a competent, like NFL quarterback that can actually be a threat in the air. Um, because the running game doesn't work for him if they, if no one trusts that he can actually throw the ball, which so far, uh, it's not going so well in that department. Um, he was saved this week by, you know, a passing touchdown and rushing touchdown. He did have 13.7 points, like you know. Without those two touchdowns he has three um, so, yeah, you know, not great through two picks. Um had, uh, two fumbles. So you know he has a hard time with turnovers right now. Um, again, unless they can maybe get more designed runs for him or he can figure it out a little bit in the passing game, it's gonna kind of be bleak for the Chicago team. That's also. It's just gonna be down a lot. This team is not very good. They could also be going, maybe head first into the first pick and I could see them moving on from Justin Fields at the end of the season if they do land, you know, uh, the number one overall pick or even just like a top five pick. Um, because it seems like they're trying to give him every chance and it's uh, it's not really going well so far. But again, it's week two. I don't want to, I don't want to say too much, but it is nice as a backer fan, knowing that the Chicago Bears are still the Chicago Bears and they can't figure it out.
Speaker 1:Um, at the quarterback position. Um, another another top draft pick here that probably shouldn't be in this position but unfortunately is. Uh, zach Wilson, 8.4 points in the fantasy world. Um, had a lot of turnover issues this week again. Wasn't supposed to be playing at all this year. Um, it is now thrust back into it and you know, I just don't know that. I know they said that he's going to be their quarterback for the rest of the year, but they have to be looking to make a trade or maybe looking to pick someone up, because they had such high hopes this year. They built this team up to win. Now I don't know how you can hold on to Zach Wilson and you know, talk about making the playoffs in January, february. It's not looking great. Do you see any hope in Zach Wilson?
Speaker 3:Mmm.
Speaker 2:Well, I See hope if the defense can shut teams down to like 10 or three points. But yeah, it's not up, it's not looking great. And it's not looking great if you Are invested in any jets offensive players, because it's kind of a trickle-down effect at this point. Granted, remember they were going against the Cowboys and the Cowboys have Maybe the best defense in the league. So let's Give them a slight benefit of the doubt. Let's see how they do next week, because you know they could surprise us. They've still got weapons on that offense, you know, and so so let's see how they do next week if they can somehow get to two and one. I mean, the path is there to some kind of wild card birth and then the return.
Speaker 1:I Mean, I hear you, but the next four weeks are New England, kansas City at Denver and then Philly. So a little bit of a gala, especially defensively. Those first three teams, like we were just talking about Kansas City, but like New England's, got a pretty great defense, at least like in terms of like Going up against the passing game. You know they're they're a little susceptible to the run game as we saw last week. But then Kansas City, you know, is looking like a top five defense. Denver, I don't. I think defensively is decent. And then Philly is to got a more complete team. I don't think their defense is great, but I think their office is gonna be up enough that I Don't know. I mean they could be Denver, I guess. But those other three are either a confirmed loss or a toss-up with New England, I guess. But I'm just saying if they lose three out of the next four games, I don't know if he's still their quarterback after the buy going into the Giants game week eight, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, that is tough.
Speaker 1:All right, speaking of the Jets being disappointing, breeze hall After a fantastic week one, making us all look stupid for not drafting him when we should have only had nine rushing yards, just you know, kind of a blank game again. They were down early against a good defense. They kind of had to try to throw the ball, move it that way. But he's also on a pitch count. I believe still they should be careful with him, especially if you know Things aren't looking great throughout the season. But yeah, not just not a great game for breeze hall after absolutely scorching week one. So that was a little bit disappointing. But you got a couple guys here done that are pretty interesting. There's. There's one almost panic candidate here, josh Jacobs, 4.9 points. I don't, I don't believe he's a panic candidate, I don't. I Think there are brighter days ahead for him as the schedule gets a little easier. But so far, for what the running back one hopes were, we're not really there, are we?
Speaker 2:No, we're not. And yeah, this is kind of what the nightmare Some scenario was for Jacobs going into this year. I think why a lot of people stayed away from him, at least in like drafting the top 10. Yeah, I think he had like negative two rushing yards. A lot of this were receiving yards that he was able to make up for it. It's not great. And then just not a huge fan of the way that this Raiders offense is going right now. Jimmy G Hasn't looked Extremely comfortable there. I mean, he still got to Vonte Adams who still balls out. But yeah, it's. It's definitely a concern. But again, it's Josh Jacobs, you roll him out there. I believe that the more reps that Garoppolo gets with this offense, the better they'll they'll get as a group.
Speaker 2:Early on in the season, though, I think you're gonna be looking at more games like this from Jacobs than less. Yeah, we all, yeah, go ahead. And no, I was gonna also say that a guy kind of similar to Jacobs Alexander Madison, you know 2.9 fantasy points being drafted as the RB one for the Vikings. I mean he was in the third or fourth round, but still a guy who we expected to get a bunch of touches and be the Belkow back there, and he has been, but the problem is the Vikings have just been playing behind in the first two games and so he hasn't really gotten an opportunity. He did score a touchdown week one, so I'm so hopeful again that he's gonna be the guy going forward to be able to get some touchdowns this season. But he's gonna be looking a lot more like Like low-end RB two, then maybe that high-end RB two that he was drafted as.
Speaker 2:And then the guy who I'm Least down on with these bad boys is Damian Pierce from the Houston Texans. And yeah, I don't know what's going on with Pierce. I think it's combination also of the team not being very good but Looking like a down year for him. He had that really great rookie season, kind of out of nowhere, and so, yeah, I think he's the most concerning. But any of these guys have shown us in the past that they can do it, and so I wouldn't be dropping any of these players for sure. You don't want to do that. But yeah, maybe trade candidates are they by low Guys are they. You know, sell, get rid, get rid of, see which you can get in return. That's kind of how I'm looking at these three players because they could still turn it around at any moment, because we've seen pierced succeed, we've seen Madison succeed when cook was out and obviously we've seen Jacob succeed. So it's an interesting group of players here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's all scheduled base to. Again, we're only two weeks in. We still don't really know which of the defenses are, like you know, really legit. You know, alexander Madison had a tough couple weeks. He had Tampa Bay week one, philadelphia week two Behind in both those games. Like we've said, and we believe that they're going to be behind a lot of games. He has the Chargers this week at home and the Chargers have kind of been, as you mentioned before, leaky on defense, like that word, and then he's at Carolina. So it's like there's a good chance that we have back-to-back weeks for Madison is back.
Speaker 1:But Again, you know, I think this is a good test against Chargers that you know haven't had a great defense so far. Like, if he has another down week, maybe you look at at moving him or just trying to get anything out of it. But, like you said, you have to. You have to start all these guys these are all you know. You draft them the first five rounds with the draft you. You got to stick with them at least for a little bit. So yeah, I think it all gets better for all of them. A little worried about Danny.
Speaker 2:Pierce.
Speaker 1:A little worried about Madison, not really worried about Jacobs, but no, I mean, it's a bit different over there in Las Vegas this year, our bad boy wide receivers Starting off with the Thursday night game it's your brown, 29 yards, only 2.9 fantasy points Seemed to be a little upset that he wasn't getting the ball. Looked like he got a little bit of a spat With Hertz, even though they won. I think you know as as Hertz, I believe, had a quote after the game saying you know everyone wants to make plays, he's just competitive. But everyone was really high. And Deontay Smith this year, and you know Swift had a huge part in this game as well.
Speaker 1:But you know, I think with a bit more of a balanced passing game, aj Brown is not going to be that True number one receiver. Every game there's going to be games where do you have these? Smith takes over, or you know the run game is. You know, with the three-headed monster that they got going there. Yeah, he might just not be that number one dude like we saw in Tennessee or even last year he was kind of that number one guy. But I think it's gonna be a little bit more balance this year, not this bad where it's only 29 yards. But you know, in a win To have to see only 2.9 points. Then second here this is this is your first guy, dylan, the guy who you know.
Speaker 1:First week maybe look stupid, but second week I don't know, is he overrated. Calvin Ridley, it was a great bet to take the under on his yards. You only had 3.2 fantasy points in our barbaric standard league PPR. Maybe a few more points, but 3.2 points for Calvin Ridley. You said before you're not worried about it, and I'm not really worried about the Jags either, but interesting to see that he could be held To only 32 yards. Interesting. Any other thoughts on Calvin Ridley before we move on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, christian Kirk had a big, big game. He caught a bunch of passes and and over a hundred yards, so, yeah, he was the guy to go to. The Jack wires are interesting because they you forget that Kirk had such a good season last year and so then they added Ridley on top of it and they still have Zay Jones, so I think is really underrated. So they have three wide receivers who they can get the ball to a lot of the time and, and so, yeah, I think kind of the same thing you're saying with AJ Brown Maybe Calvin Ridley has these games, no, every now and then, but I'm still yeah with you. Like that there's nothing to be worried about because he's he's got the most talent, he's just Absolutely the most talented wide receiver on the team and so at some points they're just gonna force feed him the ball and so, yeah, I think we still are Bit higher on Calvin Ridley now than we were pre season beginning and I hope it continues that way because I have Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree, I think it's gonna be a way more balanced offense because even with those three guys at wide receiver you also have Travis Etienne who is also kind of a wide receiver and is going to take a lot of touches. Tank big B is a great running back like there's a lot of options here. So I think if they're smart they spread the ball around, which looks that they did. You know, like you said, say Jones is nothing to a to scoff at. Say Jones, the great red zone target in between Calvin Ridley and Christian Kirk, you kind of have like two incredible guys over the middle of the field that can get open and are pretty quick.
Speaker 1:So you know it's gonna be an up-and-down season, little little boomer bust, with a couple of these offenses where you know there's just such a pool of talent there's, there's so many options that you know there's not just one guy that you're throwing at. You're gonna have games where Calvin Ridley gets, gets squashed here. But you know, speaking of True number one wide receivers, andrew Hopkins had a tough game, only four fantasy points in our league. And also here we have Dylan's addition, jerry Judy, who is a bad boy, but he doesn't think he's a true bad boy. He's a quote-unquote want to be bad boy. Dylan, can you explain why he's a want to be bad boy?
Speaker 2:Yes, he's a want to be bad boy, because 2.5 points is bad and does not look good, but he played and this was his first game back after that gnarly injury where everyone was talking about. You know, maybe he's gonna miss a month or two and so he's back and they're gonna ramp him up. He's getting the reps and as much as we malign the Denver Broncos or have maligned the Denver Broncos and the Russell Wilson era, the new look team is starting to come together a bit. I mean, some of those deep shots were happening with Wilson to Mims and you know he was. He was hitting a lot of those throws that you did not see him hit. He looks more comfortable in Sean Payton's offense and now that they insert Jerry Judy into it and he gets more and more in-game reps like he'll be on the ascent and and so he's a want to be bad boy. He was bad this week but he is Going to be a big boy sometime soon, mark, that.
Speaker 1:All right, I want to believe you. I mean, yeah, the big shots were happening in the Denver game. They literally threw a Hail Mary to almost out of game but couldn't make the two-point conversion Classic for us, unfortunately. Um, yeah, those are your bad boys. Oh, sorry, the tight ends all of them, as always. I think I'm just gonna keep that. That's gonna stay in the in the dock the entire time. Really, just if you don't have a star tight end, yeah, it's just not gonna really happen. You got to keep shopping around every week, try to get lucky with the touchdown somewhere, but there's just nowhere to go here, unfortunately. And now it's time for our sad boys. This, the almost the saddest boy of all this like really breaks my heart.
Speaker 1:Nick Chubb. Monday night football on the same knee that was already reconstructed. He tore his ACL, his MCL, his LCL and he dislocated his knee. Wouldn't show the replay. You could hear him screaming in agony as they cut to commercial. Just tragic, because he is what I believe is the best running back, like true running back in the league. I didn't even know you had so many CLs in your knee. I didn't realize you could just tear all of them.
Speaker 1:Really, just heartbreaking, because you know they were just talking about. Oh, they fear that a season's over and it's like, no, his season is 100% over, like even next season could be over, like I don't know if you'll ever be the same guy again. Unfortunately, just with that kind of damage, you know, a second time. So, yeah, just the worst. You know, not even in a fancy way, because this is bigger than fancy. It was just heartbreaking, as you know, just someone that likes to watch football, to see Nick Chubb leave us for the year. I hope that he recovers well as best he can. Were you watching this game live, dylan, when this happened? Are you watching your Panthers?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was watching my Panthers so I missed that and I just heard, like when they cut into it, like with the live look-ins and stuff, but yeah, devastating injury, I didn't realize that it was this reconstructed knee too.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I've been reading a lot of reports that you know this could be some type of you know big time injury, maybe even career threatening. So, yeah, definitely, prayers up for Nick Chubb and for everyone involved there, because, yeah, he's a star, he's one of the stars of the game and so, hey, it's tough. It's tough. Yeah, there's not a lot more to say about it. Injuries are the worst part of this game.
Speaker 2:They just are and they're like such and it's unavoidable the style that the game has played in. So it's just a part of what happens and sometimes it's a really bad one and, yeah, you just really feel for the guy and, yeah, just hope for the best possible outcome here. You know hope that you know science has made a lot of progress Remember, the players is talking about coming back this season. So, yeah, so you know there's hope. And it was a tough week for the running back room, I would say, because we also lost David Montgomery to a bruised thigh, which I guess it could keep him out a few weeks.
Speaker 2:I didn't know that was the extent of the injury. It sounds like a bruised thigh is something like if I drop a weight on my thigh. Oh, I got a bruised thigh. But obviously it's a bigger deal than that. So maybe, connor, you can explain the science of that injury to me, so I'm not so ignorant. And then, of course, Saquon Barkley, who we already talked about, had the ankle sprain, which he'll be okay because he's a quick healer. So, but you know he could miss a couple of games there. So, yeah, it was a tough week for the running back room and your guy, anthony Richardson, also was taken out with a concussion, and that's the second straight game he's gotten injured and has missed the end of the game. So I'm starting to see a pattern and it's not a good one.
Speaker 1:No, he's got the Josh Allen syndrome where he just thinks that it's like college, it's like you're invincible, like you can just run and like, yeah, you can get hit but it's not that bad, like, no, he's getting pummeled and I thought he was going to learn after week one that he should maybe take more precaution, but that didn't happen. He scored two quick touchdowns, two running touchdowns. You know, in the first quarter, you know already had 50 yards in the ground, like he was looking good. But I think he's obviously he's a freak athlete, he is a, he is an actual big boy. So I think he thinks he's tougher than maybe some of these linebackers. But yeah, two weeks in a row taken out before the end of the game this week was a little bit earlier than last week. Last week he was out only, I think, for like the last, you know, couple of minutes. This was a bit longer.
Speaker 1:They got Gardner Minchu in at quarterback, who you know is probably one of the best backups you can have in the league. So you know, it's not that Colts offense is in bad hands when he's out, not in there, but he's so talented and he looks, you know, right on schedule, maybe even a bit ahead of schedule in at least the passing game. You know we all know what he can do on the ground. He's making really good decisions, throwing the ball, he's making really good passes. So he just has to take care of himself, just like the rest of the quarterbacks that think that they're tougher than they are. I'm not saying you're not tough, but I'm saying like you get when you have, like guys that are, you know, between 250 and 300 pounds of pure muscle running at you at full speed. No one's that tough. And then someone that doesn't run the ball and probably shouldn't run the ball at all this year, joe Burrow re-aggravated his calf, but it seemed to be more towards the end of the game.
Speaker 1:I think he aggravated it early on. So there was. You know, we couldn't really blame the loss on the calf, unfortunately, which actually it does bring us to our next section. It is the panic panic section. Police got out of the room, is on fire.
Speaker 1:We're talking about the Bengals. Talk about the Bengals who day? I don't know actually who they are, to be honest with you. You know they did put up 24 points this week. There was a bit more life. T Higgins was around. He did catch two touchdowns. He was their kind of shining star in terms of, you know, fantasy and offense.
Speaker 1:Joe Burrow had 222 yards to the air, two touchdowns and a pick. Um, run game was a little lackluster there. We got, you know, joe Mixon, 13 carries for 59 yards, averaging four and a half. You know it's, it's all right, it's decent. Joe Burrow had one run for five yards. Probably shouldn't have done that. Um, Jamar Chase five receptions for 31 yards. This is the second week in a row now that he is not even sniffed the top 36. Um, it's, you know.
Speaker 1:I talked about it earlier. You know, before the season started, I did say I thought they were going to have a slow start and that has come true. Um, they lost the Ravens, who you know aren't fantastic. They looked decent, but I don't think they're, you know, anywhere close to the chiefs? Or you know where the Bengals want to be? Um, at the end of every season. I'm not we. We have been here until this is. This is your suggestion. I'm not. I'm not panicking about the Bengals. It sucks that Joe Burrow re-injured his or re-aggravated his calf. Um, just cause that's such a a random injury where you just have no idea when you're better. For some reason there's no great way to test it, apparently, according to all of the Twitter doctors and possibly real doctors out there, um. But yeah, if you, if you bought into this offense, especially Jamar Chase at such a high draft pick, I mean geez, he went top three or four every draft. Dylan would take him at one most of the time.
Speaker 1:Um yeah, it's a little bit of a panic if you have Jamar Chase. You know, if you took Joe Burrow in the first, you know four or five rounds, I still think that they're. I mean, I think Jamar Chase will have great games going forward. I think Joe Burrow won't be the top four top five quarterback that we always kind of think he's going to be, um, and I don't think Nixon is going to be great this year. If they're going to be, at least have a slow start. But I do think Jamar Chase bounces back. We already saw T Higgins have a good game. I'm not super worried about the receiving core Um, but you, you were the one that brought up this panic, um. So why are you panicking?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm panicking because of the health of Joe Burrow. So, you know, if they decide that they have to shut them down for any amount of time, you know, to get this calf right, cause the like you were saying, there is this re-injury risk that's already shown its ugly head. So if they decide to play it safe with him, that of course hurts the whole offense. You were saying that you think that they're going to start slow and and yeah, they started slow last year too, but this year feels a lot different. I think it has to do with the health of Burrow and the offense as a whole just doesn't seem right at this moment. So my panic level is definitely closer to a six or a seven than it is to like a four or three.
Speaker 2:Like I'm getting really nervous and even though T Higgins had that great game, if Burrow is out like man, I don't know, I guess you have to roll Higgins out there. Guess you have to roll, you have to roll Chase out there, but you're not feeling good about it. Um, yeah, they. To me it's a, it's a situation that is is screaming like disappointing season ahead and and it's it all has to do with it. I feel. I don't know, maybe I'm putting too much on the injury, but just seems like whatever this calf thing's doing to burrow, Maybe it's mental, I don't know. But it's reckoned with their flow and so, yeah, I'm a little, I'm a little panicked about them at the moment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean what you don't trust Jake Browning or Will Greer, your boy Over there? Qb3. I think I actually don't know who QB2 or QB3 is in that order. Believe Browning is the backup. But, um, yeah, I, yeah. No, I agree with you.
Speaker 1:I Think it might be a really slow start and middle and possibly finish, but I, I Don't know. I mean T Higgins got two touchdowns, had a you know wide receiver one type week. So Jamar Chase will get there at some point, hopefully as long as burrows playing. But yeah, you know, somebody keep an eye on Dylan's panicking. I'm on hold with the panic. I'm about to hit the panic button, but I'm gonna give it two more weeks. But the one I this is my panic. It's just especially after watching this game last night.
Speaker 1:Najee Harris and like and I'd not say Pittsburgh in general, but Like before that last quarter like Najee Harris was just a zero factor, just was doing Absolutely nothing on the ground. He broke off a couple Towards the end of that game which kind of got him to his 43 yards, you know. But he only had 10 carries in a game that was like close. It was a pretty tight game. You know that it was never really Out of hand in any way. Obviously the Nick Chubb injury kind of swung emotions in the middle of the game and you know kind as all those really devastating injuries do it kind of changes the feeling in the middle of that and really like kind of messes with the momentum. But you know George Pickens had a good game. You know four receptions, 127 yards and touchdown. Jaylin Warren was like really effective in the passing game and you know it was okay on the ground.
Speaker 1:I Just I don't know about even just maybe the, maybe the run game in general, but really nervous about Najee Harris, especially as like a, you know, probably around two-pick for most people. If he's you're running back one, it's probably not great. So I'm panicking about Najee Harris. I had him his rookie year which was so far his only good year, but I guess I don't believe in Najee Harris this year. Dylan, do you have any like massive feelings about Najee?
Speaker 2:Not really. This is the one game I didn't catch a lot of and, yeah, 10 rushes for 43 yards yeah, not great efficiency. And man, only one reception for three yards yeah, it hasn't been great. I Think you guys stick with him. But, man, if he doesn't deliver by week four, that game at Houston, yeah, it's time to cut bait. Probably try to see which you can get for Najee. I have to. I have to believe he can't get there because we like again that rookie year he brought up he was so good. I have to believe he can Turn it around this. The Steelers can turn it around. That week one was kind of a wash, so I Think this was kind of their week one and so maybe he gets going next week. Yeah, it's, it's tough. All these things are tough when, when the player that you draft doesn't perform as well as you hope, it's a. It's a tough feeling. But I guess we flip flopped here. I'm more optimistic about Harris than I am the bangles.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, so far he is the 47th ranked running back in fantasy. I believe he's got seven point six points so far this season, in total Over the first two games. So I don't know, I mean, you know, probably have to stick with him just because of Because of where you drafted him and you know this belief in the Steelers team, all this hype that they got, but Don't know if it's in the cards this year, I'm I'm out. Shark tank, I'm out, don't? I'm Mark Cuban. All right, that wraps up our panic panic session. Now we have everyone's favorite section.
Speaker 1:Dylan has prepared for us a early, early, early power Rankings, which I am so excited to hear. I'm just gonna let you this is yours, take it away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, very early. Yeah, week two. Yeah, I'm a bit nervous to jump into this because no, everyone's so closely ranked at this moment. But, um, yeah, why don't we give it a try and and see where we are? Because we're two weeks into the regular season and we're two weeks into this game. We love to think we have Assemblance of control over and I feel like we've seen it all and the season has only just begun. So what more do the NFL script writers?
Speaker 2:have in store for us? We'll find out. I feel like we are in Game of Thrones at this point, to be honest, because I'm getting some red wedding vibes. We even have one player who is anticipating a postseason resurrection. Hello, john Snow and I'm sorry for the spoiler. By the way, connor, don't spoil it, dude.
Speaker 3:Jesus. Anyway, I'm really excited.
Speaker 2:Let's go through this year's first power rankings with you all. I definitely did not type this up beforehand. This is all off the cuff. That's not. Um, there's not a lot that separates our teams at the moment. We all have very powerful, fearful units. They are capable of destroying their opponents, wiping out the fantasy terrain and preparing a glorious dynasty, the sort of which are written in the books of old. You may say we are building fantasy kingdoms, and so let's meet the respective kings and emperors of these mighty football nations.
Speaker 2:Let's start with number 12. Marx was right at O and two. You've built a good team here. I'll be it all on the backs of your workers. I give you a lot of credit, though. By giving your laborers the day off on Sunday, you walk the walk. It was a very progressive move, although you might want to try working them this next Sunday if you want to actually Win.
Speaker 2:See what is happening is, while you think you are saving your empire, it is actually crumbling before your very eyes. Joe burrow is limping around the capital square and Aaron Jones remains on the lamb Heck. Greg dulcich can't even get a talent of silver. Travis Kelsey isn't even allowed into the empire, presumably because he is sleeping with the empress. You may say that this emperor has a bad reputation. That's right. Marx is right. Is Emperor Nero Playing the violin as his kingdom burns to the ground?
Speaker 2:Number 11 bad gramps, and I actually feel pretty good about this team. And while they've gotten off to a shaky start, it's been without cooper cup and the pickup of gotta. Catch them all. Puka nakua has been revelatory. There is a lot to like. We got herbert at quarterback, james cook at rb2, the aforementioned puka holding down the cup slot, but this gives me the vibes of a keen with Perhaps too many wives. We've got three rams wide receivers on this roster and I'm not sure how long that is going to last once cup returns. So one of these wide receivers may end up losing their head and the other may be shut up in the tower of the bench. One thing's for sure, he's going to make for some entertaining fantasy discussion and, I'm sure, several movies 500 years from now. Yep, keen Henry the eighth, remember, he's not someone to be taken lightly and I expect to see better weeks ahead for this keen.
Speaker 2:Number 10 Parsons of interest at one in one Mm-hmm. Yeah, this may come as a shocker, but only because I believe we are all so closely competitive at this junction I have to put Parsons of interest here, because I am nervous that this is an empire on the decline. So as much as the week one Tyreek performance was impressive. When hill is not going off, where is the scoring going to come from? I have my concerns about Justin Fields as well, which has already been established. Still, this is a formidable kingdom and one whose influence has stretched over the whole globe after last year's overwhelming campaign. Parsons of interest is like a keen nebuchadnezzar of the great Babylonian dynasty. He started off with a strain of military losses until everything changed halfway through his reign when he defeated Egypt, judah and Tyre. This made the Babylonians the greatest power of the ancient Near East. Anyone who dares underestimate this unit is doing so at their own peril. For all their perceived weaknesses, this is still the dominant power in our fantasy world. If AJ Brown can get back on track, bruce Hall's ramp up continues in a positive way and Justin Fields rebounds, we may all continue living in a Brandon Lonian world.
Speaker 2:Number nine Amon top of the world At one in one. He's certainly not on top of the world, but is getting closer. Good for Amon, formerly known as Biweak because last year was a disaster. That's why Amon top of the world is Queen Elizabeth the first. Yes, we have queens here too. Elizabeth the first took over at a time of much turmoil for the British Empire. She was a welcome sign of stability and charisma and that helped shape her 45 year reign into one of the more successful in British history. And I'm seeing a similar rise out of Doug's current team, which features his namesake, amon Ross, st Brown, derek Henry, jillian Waddle and Tua holding down the QB spot. The Elizabethan era was one of great artistic flourishes, famously the time period of William Shakespeare, and so we expect to see some similar fantastic weeks out of this squad. But Like any empire, the era was also marked by military and economic failures, most specifically the Texans of the Houston land incident. Nonetheless, good queen best was known as a dogged survivor, and so it is. We will be talking about this fair maiden again near the finish line At number eight.
Speaker 2:Kirking Man's dead easy win one in one. It's hard to know what to make of Kirking Man's dead, so they passed paste the league in points this week, and a lot of it was thanks to the three headed combination of Tony Pollard, raheem Mostert and Kirk Cousins. I feel absolutely confident In one of those names. The other two have to prove that they can keep it up. Also, it remains to be seen what will happen to Cam Acres, but looking at the rest of the roster, it is hard to nitpick. Devonte Smith is looking like the top option in Philly, jerry Judy is back on the field and will only get better from here, and Christian Watson is waiting in the wings to return to battle.
Speaker 2:And this is a feared king and a feared army at his disposal. Therefore, a Kirking Man's dead represents Attila the hunt, the ruler and chieftain of the Hunnic Empire, a large swath of barbarian tribes and peoples. Attila was one of the most feared enemies of the dominant western and eastern roman empires. He twice plundered the Balkans but was never able to take Constantineople. He invaded Italy but was unable to take Rome. Can this version of Attila reach the promised land At number seven?
Speaker 2:Saint Stevenson O&2. With a name like that, how could I not go with Emperor Constantine? Constantine was a savvy war vet. Before he took the throne, enacted in numerous reforms. Once he was in power, he installed a gold standard to combat inflation, defeated the Franks and Goths, protected roman interests I mean Saint Stevenson's franchise experienced similar past glory. He won the chip back in 2019. Still, it has been since 2019. So could a groundbreaking conversion that's changed the face of the world and the trajectory of western civilization spell an end to the drought? Of course, I am talking about the zero RB strategy. While I wouldn't say he went all in on the zero RB strategy, the fact that Saint Stevenson took Mahomes in the second and chased in the last two years Is at least betting on the mid tier RBs to deliver, and so far they haven't, though I obviously think they can turn it around, which is why I have this team ranked so high at O&2. In O&2, starch isn't what it used to be, with the extra game now being played, and so there's plenty of time for this team to turn it around, for Gibbs and Stevenson to deliver quality performances and for Mahomes to play to a standard. There is little room for error here. Another loss and this team tumbles down the ranking, so they gotta win the next one.
Speaker 2:At number six, team Cronus At two and O. On the outside, team Cronus looks like a dominant kingdom. He defeated his nemesis this past week, avenging his playoff loss from last season. He defeated another strong nation, the Kirkingmen, last week. It's on like Donkey Kong and Team Cronus is Genghis Khan. He has a little bit of everything. He has spread his seed all over the map, taking a couple defenses here, a couple receivers there, a couple running backs over there. This is a flexible, disciplined organization and while it may seem like a mishmash of units, he has united these tribes into one deadly fantasy football machine. I do not want to come face to face with the enemy. I do not want to come face to face with this guy right now.
Speaker 2:Number five Love is a battlefield At O and 2. Yeah, pretty shocking to have an O and 2 team this high up, but I am convinced better days are ahead on the battlefield. It started with a gut punch on Monday night, week one, losing Garrett Wilson's QB and half of his fantasy value, and that one twist that week ended with a point six point loss. This week things got worse. On his way to what looked like a victory over Connor's team, nick Chubb went down with that injury and just like that, picks number one and number two are down, and yet the Phoenix rises from the ashes. Never count out the great leaders. The Kyren Williams pick up may be season saving. Nico Collins is catching fire and TJ Hawkinson is easily looking at a top three tight end season. Nick is Julius Caesar. The Roman Senate tried again and again to put him away, but he just kept on coming back. Eventually he took an army straight to the Senate, declaring himself emperor. But watch out, nick you are one assassin's knife away from total defeat. One more major injury and you can kiss this season Goodbye.
Speaker 2:Number four Bijan Mustard. 2 and 0. The numbers haven't quite been there, but this team is 2 and 0, and that counts. It's been a steady dose of Bijan Robinson, while everything else has been a bit topsy turvy. He's been a steady leader so far and will look to continue to expand the empire. That is why Bijan Mustard is Caesar Augustus. Is he as flashy as Julius Caesar, or as heroic as Constantine, or even as exciting as King Henry VIII? No, but he initiated the Pax Romana, an era in which the Roman world was largely free From armed conflicts. Sometimes the most boring emperors Are the ones who get the job done the best. Number three DK. Have it your way At 1 and 1. So it seems like everything is just about perfect With this roster. You've got the top running back in the land, 2y receiver ones turning back the hand of time, not to mention a deep bench and a rising young quarterback in Anthony Richardson. All is well, but so thought King David.
Speaker 2:Yes the great king of Jerusalem, the most revered in the history of all the Old Testament kings. There was no greater king, nay, no better man in the history of the Jewish people than King David. Everything was great Until it wasn't Until he looked out his window one night and saw Bathsheba bathing in the moonlight. Nothing wrong with that, right Ha ha. Think again, for she was married, married to one of his generals. So King David calls it a day, right? No, he sends his general off to fight a battle he knows cannot be won. So he can get him killed and go off to sleep with his wife and live happily ever after. Now I'm not saying this will happen to you, connor. Yet he, these words of wisdom.
Speaker 2:Even the most perfectly formed kings and perfectly formed rosters can go awry At number two G-Paws 2 and 0. Someone pinch me. The G-Paws are 2 and 0, the perennial losers of the league, the one franchise that is yet to sniff the postseason. They're off to a red hot start and show no slimes Sign of slowing down. Heck. They even threw an Adam Thielen last night and got 13 points out of it. Is this the team of Destiny?
Speaker 2:This year, one emperor who certainly believed in Destiny was fittingly Napoleon Bonaparte. Like Napoleon, the G-Paws are on a mission to conquer the whole fantasy landscape. An overhaul, draft and in-season strategy seems to be paying off, and the G-Paws look like they are ready to jump on a horse and pose. Don't get too excited just yet, though. Napoleon thought he was invincible until he met his match at Waterloo. Winning can give you a big head, especially if you have a little body.
Speaker 2:Number one Cookin' Der Ass. 2 and 0. I am all in on the vengeance campaign and loving every minute of it. All hail Der Ass. Okay, that doesn't sound so great. So how about? All hail Alexander the Great, in my opinion, the greatest emperor, slash king of all time. Alexander changed the face of the globe. His Greek influences penetrated the most distant lands at a time of great change in the human race. If it wasn't for Alexander the Great, our whole world would be completely different. The Hellenization of Asia Minor caused a ripple effect that created what we view as western civilization today, and the guy was in his 20s while doing all of this. Kind of like John. So way to go, john. Keep up the conquering of this fantasy season. There will be only one ruler remaining at the end. In the meantime, set your armies, hit the reinforcement wire and build your empire.
Speaker 1:That's just incredible. As always, dylan, you just always really knocked that one out of the park. I was wondering when Napoleon was going to make an appearance on this one, but yeah, wow, I mean a couple of crazy swings there. I do like John being number one. I do agree with that and with you. I wish someone would pinch me to the G-Paws. Our looking feisty this year. The old printed out notes for the draft definitely helped. So incredible power rankings. I'm always just captivated with that segment, so I can't wait to see that in a couple of weeks We'll see how those predictions go, dylan Speaking of predictions.
Speaker 1:We have our matchup predictions. Dylan, you are now at the All Mediocre 6 and 6, while I trail you at 4 and 8. We had a little bit of a better week last week, at least I did, so let's get into it Again. I'm going to just order as to what my app tells me, because it's biased. So it starts out with DK. Have it your Way Versus Parsons of Interest. A couple of factors here. Anthony Richardson could be held out of the game, you know, leaving me with with Dak Prescott going against Arizona, which probably won't be a lot of passing yards there. So I have to just trust that. Mccaffrey, keenan Allen, mike Evans, you know, dk Metcalf, I'll show up for me again. So I'm taking myself with this one. Dylan, I see that you agree with me.
Speaker 2:I do, and as much as I wanted to take Parsons of interest, yeah, it's again like that, that running back room and quarterback. I'm just not completely sold on and your guys are hot right now, so I got to go DK, have it your way, your rule.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's something about Justin Fields against Kansas City, breece Hogg against New England, aj Brown against Tampa Bay, tyree against Denver, like it's just. There's just tough matchups and that, of course, could always, you know, change. Someone can have a breakout game. It's fancy football. None of this is real. But yeah, I got to, got to go with my, my hot hand here Next up I have Marks was right versus the G-pons.
Speaker 1:Until Marks was right sets his line up, I will always pick against him. He also have an injured, joe Burrow at quarterback. Hopefully that he plays. Aaron Jones is still questionable going forward. He's got to switch out. Greg Dawson she was on the IR with Travis Kelsey, but you know the G-pons, as we talked about hot hands, has the hot hand Jalen Hertz. You know is going to be Jalen Hertz. Rashad White against the Philly defense is a little up in the air. Hopefully he gets Austin Eckler back. That's a really big swing between Austin Eckler and AJ Dillon, who is basically absent this year should be surpassed by any running back behind him. So yeah, even with that, I'm still going with the G-pons, just because this team is hot and we have someone that didn't get their lineup already going against him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll take the G-pons as well. Mari Cooper will be playing too. He could get him back into the lineup. Jacobi Myers might be back. He might be a late. You know flex player or something. I like the way that this G-pons roster is coming together.
Speaker 1:It's looking good so far. Next we have Love is a battlefield. Who is still picking up people off the battlefield? Versus Bijan Mustard. Your team, dillon. This was a really hard one. The matchups, I think on both sides are pretty good for both teams. Here I went. I'm still like tossing up in the air. Here I went.
Speaker 1:With Love is a battlefield, I think that, like you said, better days are ahead. The Lamar is questionable, but Lamar, who should play, goes against the Colts. I think he's got a good week. I think Alex Madison has a bounce back week against the Chargers. Kyren Williams has been atop. I think he's running back two or three this year so far. So he's been incredible. T Higgins had a great week last week and T Joggeson against the Chargers. I think this team does well. I think there might have to be a defensive change here, but I don't know, we'll see. It's going with my packers, with the New Orleans defense. But yeah, dillon, there's nothing wrong with your team here. I think you also have great matchups. I'm rallying around the loss of Nick Chubb. I think the team gets together, says no one believes in us. Let's go up against this powerhouse team so far and do the first upset of the year, but I see that you disagree with me, as you should probably.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I love how you always key in on the defensive matchups. I think that's my favorite part of the predictions. Yes, sure thing I'm taking my team. There's not really a lot of explanation to be done, although I will say this is probably going to be the closest matchup. Actually, my matchup with the U Week 1 was pretty close. I might come down to the wire again. Might be some type of Monday night miracle madness thing going on, who knows? But yeah, I'm taking my team.
Speaker 1:Yep, mondays are the worst. Welcome to the club. Next matchup we have I'm on top of the world versus Kirk Keenman's dead I mean Kirk Cousins against the Chargers defense I think can be scorching. I think this might be a shootout of a game. That's what I'm hoping for. I'm hoping that both teams you know we're scoring 30 plus points on either side Both defenses are pretty terrible and are very susceptible to the pass. So this will be fun. Tony Pollard against Arizona should be just an absolute cakewalk. Don't love Josh Jacobs against Pittsburgh, but I like Deontay Smith against Tampa Bay. Jerry Judy against Miami. You know I don't love the bottom half of these matchups here, but I think, with Cousins and Pollard off the top, I just got to go with that. Again, nothing wrong with, you know, tua against Denver it's fine. Amon Rossi and Brown against Atlanta I think that'll be all right, but I just I got to go with those top two guys. So I'm going with Kirk and me instead.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm going to go the opposite route. I will go. I'm on top of the world Just because I like that dolphins stack right there with two and waddle. I know waddles can cause or has some type of injury there. So a lot's going to depend on how both of his wide receivers if they had to play it. So I'll still take them because I think both of the wide receivers play and you still got Derek Henry. Yeah, I just really like that dolphin stack this week.
Speaker 1:All right, I like it. We're disagreeing on almost all of these these last four. Here we have team Cronus versus cooking their ass I'm surprised actually to see this. I am taking cooking their ass. Josh Allen against Washington I think is a pretty safe play. Kenneth Walker against Carolina. Calvin Ridley against Houston Houston's got a decent defense. Derek Stingley will probably be on him.
Speaker 1:The big question is Sake Wan. You know who probably doesn't play Thursday but he's got to. You know, either switch to putting James Connor in there and then flexing, either Chris Godwin, you know, gabe Dave, you know to have that buffalo stack against Washington, or Dalvin Cook where going against New England to kind of give up the run last week. But I think that was on purpose. I think they're going to go shut down the passing game this week and maybe focus a bit more on the run game. So I am taking John, still here, which right now he's not favored to win, mostly because of the Sake Wan holdout. But I see that again you are disagreeing with me. Why are you disagree with me, dylan? I thought we were friends.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm again in on this John vengeance train this year. But this might be the one week you can catch him because coming off that Barclay injury and it doesn't look like he's super prepared to handle that at the moment. I mean, he's got James Connor so that's going to be a nice little boost right there, but then he has some decisions to make for who to play in the flex to replace Connor. So yeah, I wouldn't. Would I be surprised if John wins this? Not at all, but I'll lean Steve's team. He's been surprisingly like a lot better than the ESPN predictions have been saying. So I'm going to go with Steve here in this one and I really like the the Debo Samuel play. I think he's starting to catch fire a little bit here.
Speaker 2:So yeah and Tyler LG or should have a bounce back performance. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Steve, mostly I mean the Tyler's your thing. I mean Jesus Bijon looked like a stud against the Green Bay Packers this past week. He looks really good. That's a scary dude back there.
Speaker 1:All right, last match with the week got bad Gramps versus St Stevenson as much as I talked about you know the Chargers and the Minnesota game being a shootout. You know he's bad Gramps. Has Justin Herbert the quarterback position I just have to go with. You know Pat Mahomes against Chicago, jameer Gibbs without David Montgomery against Atlanta. I think Romandri Stevenson eats this week against Jets. As good as that defense is, I just think they're going to be up on them Most of the time. So I think they're going to run the ball a lot. I got to believe Jomar Chase has at least some show of life against the Rams this week. So I guess I just I think that is a bounce back week for St Stevenson. You know I bad Gramps. He's just got a lot of, got a lot of Rams on here, which has been good so far. But I think one week that's got it. That's got a bite of the butt for having two Rams receivers and this might be the week.
Speaker 2:But we'll see it could, but there's a possibility that he switches out a guy like Tutu for Christian Kirk and still, if not, I think that Cincinnati match up plays to the Rams favor. At this point I'm also I'm weirdly betting on a nausea. Finally, you know, getting a good game together here. I mean, what did you say is the 42nd ranked running back. So yeah, I think this is the week you see him boost up his positional ranking a lot higher. And then Connors team. I guess it's just like Does Dan Campbell finally go to Jomir Gibbs? Like a lot, or is it still some type of committee back there, even without, presumably without Dave and Montgomery? Yeah, so both teams. It's kind of a must win for both. Neither want to start the season 0 and 3. That's a big hole to dig yourself out of. So probably like to me the game of the week, because there's just so much at stake.
Speaker 1:There is no I. I agree with you on that point, even though we disagreed almost that entire time.
Speaker 1:All right and then finally, before the grand finale here, the tip of the week. It's more like a fortune cookie. You got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them. So week two waiver wire Start to make decisions. Either got to hold these guys and and hope that they turn into the guys that you think they were or are, or you got to start cashing in and maybe picking up some guys that could have. So that's my tip of the week. It's not really a tip, so sorry about that. Do we have? Do we have a grand finale here?
Speaker 2:We do have a grand finale. I know this has been an extra long episode, as it's been all year, but maybe we could get it out on this out tomorrow for everyone and you. You know, maybe it'll take the full two days for everyone to listen, but yeah, we do have a grand finale coming up and it's Nick. It's the mighty Nick.
Speaker 3:You guys.
Speaker 1:How are we feeling today?
Speaker 3:What are you asking?
Speaker 1:You had a really hard night. I want to. I want to just say before you didn't obviously hear the live podcast, as all of our international listeners did, but I did say that you should have one last night. That matchup was yours. It's extremely unfortunate that you lost Nick Chubb and so I have my record saying that I should have lost that and you should have won it, and you just got some some bad, bad Monday juju there. So you know, I want to just tell you you know, live in person, this that was yours. So you know I will. I will stand down. I'll still take the win, but I shouldn't have. I should. I didn't. I didn't deserve that one and it was your win, you know.
Speaker 3:It's been a rough start to the this the season and you know luck plays a role in all of it. You know, with none of us I think running backs right now are really struggling across the board. Aside for you, you, I mean you got McCaffrey's always been prime real estate but he's healthy right now. Yeah, it was. It was a tough. It was a tough loss, I feel, for Chubb man. Honestly, seeing that injury, I was just kind of I was both. I was more so devastated for him than I was honestly worried about my team. Yeah, it was. It was Russ.
Speaker 2:Well, that's good because it shows that you have empathy. Otherwise, be worried. Yeah, so I was. I was saying on the podcast that I think a lot of better days are ahead for you, especially the way that you've kind of maneuvered the waiver wire early in the game. I mean that pickup of Kyren Williams could be huge, could be a seasoned saver for you, and Nico Collins, who you haven't even had the chance to concern into the lineup because you've got a deep wire receiver core. So I think there's a lot of hope. And then TJ Hawkinson, who's just been blowing out. So so I don't know. If I were you, I'd be pretty optimistic. What are your feelings about? About the rest of the season?
Speaker 3:You know, we we've got a lot of depth on on on the board and I drafted that way and I knew that I honestly, if I was on to last year, I'd probably be freaking out right now. I'm kind of just like, yeah, no, I have a lot of great guys on my team and we we have a lot of opportunities at this point and I think, like you said, going into the next couple weeks, I think it's going to really show the longevity and endurance of the guys that I got that starting and I think is like I've less. I've left so much on my bench the last few weeks in terms of points. So, no, those stars are showing up, they're really going through and they're going to get starting positions and just just roll through.
Speaker 1:That was a great coach answer right there. I agree with Dylan. There's a lot of better days ahead for you here. You know you've probably you and your dad have been the most unlucky so far this season with injuries. You know, these first two weeks, even like before the season started you obviously Garrett Wilson losing Aaron Rodgers and now is back to that Wilson to Wilson connection. You like this Kyron Williams pickup is just insane. The Rams are like I'd actually like they're a good NFL team and Kyron Williams, I believe, is either running back two or three so far this year and I don't think that's going to stop anytime soon because can makers is on his way out. It's almost like we're reliving last season all over again.
Speaker 1:You have this Alex Madison pick, which I've been really high on. The whole time has been a tough couple weeks but, as I said before, like I think he has a huge bounce back week this week against the Chargers and it brings me to your matchup, actually with my co host here. I took you this week in our matchup predictions because I think this team is about to just bust out. I think you're about to have a great couple weeks as this. These are win now, as early as it is. Is there all like must win games? Why do you agree with me that you're going to win this week against Dylan? Let's see, yeah, I'm pulling up the match.
Speaker 3:I mean well, honestly, I think I think, I mean, yeah, I think my, my biggest, my biggest opportunity, honestly, I'll talk, I'll speak to like what my concerns are with my guys. I think Dylan has a really good team, but I think Higgins is a worry if Barrow doesn't start and I think, yeah, I mean Madison. Madison was one of those guys where he gets the volume but he needs his efficiency numbers seem to go up, so it was been really working on that. But Dylan, I, looking at your team, I think a lot of is not been the guy that everybody thought he was going to be, my ETN's questionable. I think think big speed is going to take over that backfield. Lawrence has been struggling to and you know, probably with Brown, like that's a 5050, 50, maybe a 7030. So that's a luck to you, man. I hope you, I hope you know, I hope it's a competition, just like it's last two weeks have been for me and I'm excited to see what your team can do against my yeah, they too.
Speaker 2:I will say that a lot of a. He's definitely more valuable in some sort of PPR scoring setting because he has been getting a bunch of receptions. Just the touchdowns haven't been coming as much as I would like to see. So, you know, maybe he breaks that snap this week.
Speaker 2:I was saying that this probably know the matchup that I feared the most so far, just because it's a. I've won two, you've lost to, so feels like it's tough to three in a row of either way is tough to do so. So I'm optimistic though, because Bijon Robinson is something else and if he has his, his breakout game here I mean he's already had huge games, but, yeah, the more that they give him opportunities, the more that they give him the ball, yeah, he could deliver a crushing blow. But I'm with him and I think you've got a really good team. I think it's going to be a nice competition. And then, yeah, that it's just going to be about Ken burrow stay healthy for that. T Higgins pick right there. But Marjaxson looked great. It's really surprising that you're on to and it's come off of those two really close losses. So this could easily shift. You know, we could be talking about you in the championship later on this year. So yeah, best of luck to you this week.
Speaker 2:I think, I think, you guys be fun and I don't know any last words.
Speaker 3:Well, like the own two bangles. You know, joe burrow has always said I don't fuck around with haunted houses. So you know, don't don't screw around with haunted houses, just stay away from us. That's a really good piece of advice just in general.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree with that, and before we totally get out of here.
Speaker 1:Everyone out there. He has the quarterback three on the bench, the, the love train, everyone's getting on it and if you want it to, he does need some running backs. So maybe float out some running back trades for a I don't know, it's high five quarterback that might stay there. I don't know. I'm just saying just, you know, I want to get the trade block open. We're starting to get, you know, starting to get I don't know jiggy with it out here. So let's, let's get some, let's get some trades going here. Guys, let's let's do some really stupid stuff that we can argue about and eventually reverse and probably just not go through with it, even though it's fine. But yeah that that will do it for us, for, oh, actually don't want to. I'm just saying that is a real Joe burrow quote, like that is a real.
Speaker 3:Joe, that's a legit Joe burrow quote. That's real. I don't know that. I will do it for us at Deer is fancy and another extra long episode for all of you have.
Speaker 1:Have a lovely week. I hope that everyone stays healthy, both on and off the field. Thank you to our special guests, nick for joining us. He will be scary the rest of the year, just like the haunted houses. All right, all right, yeah.