Speaker 1: Hey everybody, It's Tuesday, September seventeenth, twenty twenty four. Welcome
Speaker 1: to the NFL Fantasy Football Show. When we're turning off
Speaker 1: our notifications, it's me and your man, MG Marcus Grand
Speaker 1: joined by Michael Florio and Lakwan Jones and fellas, let's
Speaker 1: just dive into a big piece of news that hit
Speaker 1: our timelines literally moments after we finished recording our Monday show.
Speaker 1: We had just packed up and we're ready to head
Speaker 1: off to our respective days, and the Panthers hit us
Speaker 1: with a bombshell. They will not will not be starting
Speaker 1: Bryce Young, the former number one overall pick, in Week three. Instead,
Speaker 1: it will be Andy Dalton who gets to start for
Speaker 1: Dave Canalys's team. So here we are not even three
Speaker 1: weeks into Bryce Young's second season and the Panthers are
Speaker 1: already making a change. It caught us all by surprise
Speaker 1: when we heard this on Monday.
Speaker 2: Morning, Florida.
Speaker 1: Your initial reaction when you saw the Bryce Young news.
Speaker 3: There is one player until Jonathan Brooks returns, there is
Speaker 3: one player that I care about for the Carolina Panthers,
Speaker 3: and it is Deontay Johnson. And it has gone as
Speaker 3: poorly as it could have the first two games. So
Speaker 3: to me, I think this could be a good thing.
Speaker 3: I was my memory. I thought Andy Dalton played more
Speaker 3: games last year than he did, but he only played
Speaker 3: one game. But in that game, fourteen targets, eleven catches,
Speaker 3: a buck forty five and a touchdown for Adam Thielen.
Speaker 3: This is the best possible outcome if you have Deontay
Speaker 3: Johnson right now.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, I mean certainly that's the case. Lakwan anybody else?
Speaker 1: I mean, could we try it again with Adam Thielen?
Speaker 2: Could we? Old man?
Speaker 1: I mean, like, is there any is it just the
Speaker 1: Deontay Johnson Show? Can we even maybe buy back it?
Speaker 1: Because I was saying we should drop Tchuba Hubbard? Can
Speaker 1: we can we come back to the Chuba Hubbard?
Speaker 4: Well, now, I don't know, man, Let's just see what
Speaker 4: Andy gets in there. And do I mean the last
Speaker 4: time he started, you know, was last season through the
Speaker 4: ball fifty six times. So if there's going to be
Speaker 4: that much, pass erry him and you're gonna get somewhey
Speaker 4: like Deontay Johnson.
Speaker 2: Why not Adam Deeling.
Speaker 4: I'm back in on old man dealing. He usually does
Speaker 4: well with Andy Dalton, So I'm here for it, man,
Speaker 4: all right.
Speaker 1: Well, we'll find out because Andy Dalton has the best
Speaker 1: passing game for the Panthers over the last couple of
Speaker 1: seasons when he was starting at quarterback for them last year.
Speaker 1: He will now start for them at quarterback this week
Speaker 1: against the Raiders, so we will see what Dalton has
Speaker 1: to offer, what this means for the pass catchers, and honestly,
Speaker 1: the fact that I was really about to put the
Speaker 1: Raiders in as a sleeper defense in my sleepers column
Speaker 1: this week and now and have to maybe reevaluate that
Speaker 1: we'll see by the time we gets later on in
Speaker 1: the week.
Speaker 2: We've got plenty of stuff though, to talk about on
Speaker 2: this show. We got some realer mirage.
Speaker 1: We got some deep dives in the waiver wire into
Speaker 1: folks that we can say goodbye to as well. Let's
Speaker 1: get started with some things that we saw in week two,
Speaker 1: maybe the first.
Speaker 2: Two weeks of the season.
Speaker 1: We'll decide whether or not these things can stick or
Speaker 1: if maybe they're just sort of an early season hoax here.
Speaker 1: So let's start Florida with the Saints offense, because I
Speaker 1: feel like we.
Speaker 2: Were all sort of meh about it.
Speaker 1: We didn't have high expectations and yeah, sure we like
Speaker 1: Chris o'lave, but that was kind of it. They have
Speaker 1: been lights out through the first two weeks of the season.
Speaker 1: Derek Carr has been on point Rashika, He's been a
Speaker 1: big play guy. Alvin Kamara looks like the dude that
Speaker 1: we saw several years ago. So real mirage with the
Speaker 1: Saints offense this year.
Speaker 3: Real I'm buying in. I don't think they're going to
Speaker 3: be the NFL's best offense, and they through two games,
Speaker 3: they have not only been the NFL's best offense. The
Speaker 3: only team to score more points in the first two
Speaker 3: games is the two thousand and nine Saints, and we
Speaker 3: know how that year ended for New Orleans. But the
Speaker 3: reason I'm buying in is the new OC Clint Kubiak
Speaker 3: is bringing this offense into the twenty first century. They
Speaker 3: use seventy two percent of their plays. They've ran motion
Speaker 3: on eleventh highest in the NFL. Fifty percent of their
Speaker 3: pass players have been play action, the highest rate in
Speaker 3: the NFL. Last year, they were bottom two in both
Speaker 3: usage on motion and play actions. So I'm buying in.
Speaker 3: And the scary part is we really haven't seen Chris
Speaker 3: Olave go off yet.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I I.
Speaker 3: Lost to with Tongue Baila in the league and picked
Speaker 3: up Derek Carr on Saturday night after that, and I'm like, cool,
Speaker 3: I think I'm just gonna ride with Derek Carr until
Speaker 3: wheels fall off right now.
Speaker 2: I mean that's a wild thing that I mean, are
Speaker 2: we really here? Lakwan? Is Derek Carr a every week starter?
Speaker 2: For now?
Speaker 4: I'm gonna say, real, man, because he is playing out
Speaker 4: of his mind right now, Like he's playing possibly the
Speaker 4: best football he's had in his entire career in the
Speaker 4: first two starts. Because when you have a five to
Speaker 4: one recond in your last six games, because this dude
Speaker 4: started off, I mean, he finished the season last year
Speaker 4: very like strong, so therefore him keeping that same energy
Speaker 4: from last season going into this next man is amazing
Speaker 4: to see. How you know, Rashishid is coming off popping
Speaker 4: off the way he is as a deep threat. Like
Speaker 4: Florio said, we yet to see Chrystal Love to really
Speaker 4: connect downfield and become this huge fantasy wide receiver one
Speaker 4: that we know he can be. So I'm really buying
Speaker 4: into the Saints offense.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 4: It is definitely real with Derek Carr playing out of
Speaker 4: his mind.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I said last week on Fantasy Live that car was
Speaker 1: sort of a beware, maybe even a sit against the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: and then he lit them up and I started looking right.
Speaker 1: I'm going go back to the last four games of
Speaker 1: last season now the first two games of this season.
Speaker 1: In those six games, he's averaging about two hundred and
Speaker 1: forty passing yards per game, a total of seventeen touchdowns
Speaker 1: and two interceptions. Dude has been cooking since late last year.
Speaker 1: It's carried over into this year. So at some point,
Speaker 1: maybe the Derek Carr jokes got to stop. Maybe he
Speaker 1: really is doing some things down there in New Orleans.
Speaker 1: Saying in the NFC South, Baker Mayfield's got enough to
Speaker 1: a quick start last year. We thought maybe it was
Speaker 1: the Dave Canalis effect. This year, maybe this is just
Speaker 1: who Baker is now. When it comes to feeling dangerous,
Speaker 1: Lakwan real mirage with Big Bak.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna go real with Baker man. And look, I
Speaker 4: don't know what's in that flow to Walda, but he's
Speaker 4: been drinking and playing at a high level. Man, Because
Speaker 4: even with Aiden Hutchinson abusing him yesterday, like he still
Speaker 4: found a way to win, Like he was able to
Speaker 4: get out of the pocket, he was able to make
Speaker 4: some big plays and extend the plays. Like Baker's playing
Speaker 4: some high level football right now, and like heading into
Speaker 4: Monday night, he's a top five fantasy quarterback right now.
Speaker 4: Like this is crazy to think about, like are we
Speaker 4: in assimilation right now? But it's like, Man, I definitely
Speaker 4: like what I saw out of Baker yesterday, man, and
Speaker 4: like him playing at this level. Hopefully everybody stays healthy
Speaker 4: and they can keep on clicking on all cylinders.
Speaker 2: Is Baker QB one now in Florio? I think so?
Speaker 3: Or in the running at least, Like I think what
Speaker 3: he's doing is for real. Last season, the beginning of
Speaker 3: the year, he was just like a pure floor guy.
Speaker 3: But towards the end of last season he was someone
Speaker 3: that I was like routinely writing about as a start
Speaker 3: down the stretch. And then what he's done this year.
Speaker 3: He's come out and look, it's not it's two things.
Speaker 2: One, it's the.
Speaker 3: Numbers he's putting up as a passer and the fact
Speaker 3: that the Bucks continue to be like Rashade White can't
Speaker 3: run the ball, Let's just throw as much as we
Speaker 3: possibly can, but two because Rashad White cannot run the ball.
Speaker 3: We've seen Baker run a little bit more. He ran
Speaker 3: for at least twenty rushing yards in each game. He
Speaker 3: had a rushing touchdown yesterday.
Speaker 2: And what I like is look at his schedule.
Speaker 3: He gets the Broncos next week, then he gets the Eagles,
Speaker 3: both of those games are at home, then indoor games
Speaker 3: against the Falcons and Saints, and what could potentially be
Speaker 3: a little bit higher scoring games than we envisioned. So yeah,
Speaker 3: I think Baker and Derek Carr are two guys that
Speaker 3: probably were on your waiver wire.
Speaker 2: To start the year. And if you don't love your.
Speaker 3: Quarterback play so far, you could just easily plug in
Speaker 3: and roll.
Speaker 2: With right now. Yeah, man, Baker's staying hot. Man, I
Speaker 2: like them. The first couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: I'm starting to think that maybe this is going to
Speaker 1: be a year long situation with Baker.
Speaker 2: Vermandre Stevenson.
Speaker 1: I had a really big Week one, not too bad
Speaker 1: as a follow up in Week two and the lost
Speaker 1: to Seattle. I mean, Florida'll stick with you here? Real
Speaker 1: or Mirage? Can Andre keep this up?
Speaker 2: I think this is.
Speaker 3: Real because one like They've played two pretty good defenses
Speaker 3: so far in the Bengals and Seahawks, and Maddison has Stevenson,
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, has been very effective. I like that he
Speaker 3: had the five targets yesterday. That the volume is great
Speaker 3: even with Antonio Gibson getting involved at such a high rate.
Speaker 3: Stevenson saw twenty one carries in five targets. Like that
Speaker 3: is elite volume. I have him as a start again
Speaker 3: next week. I think the volume alone keeps him in
Speaker 3: play every single week. But if the Patriots are gonna
Speaker 3: play this way where they're they're gritty on defense to
Speaker 3: keep games close and they just run the ball, you're
Speaker 3: gonna want Stevenson every week.
Speaker 1: I think Lakwan should we be worried about Antonio Gibson
Speaker 1: at all?
Speaker 4: Uh No, because man, you're looking at the voum that
Speaker 4: he's getting. And that's why this is real to me
Speaker 4: because based on what we've saw the last two games,
Speaker 4: man he's had over twenty rushing attempts him back to
Speaker 4: back games, which he's only done once in his career.
Speaker 4: So Alex van Pelp is going to be leaning on
Speaker 4: him as this workhorse. But you gotta love and appreciate
Speaker 4: his involvement still in that backfield as a pass catcher,
Speaker 4: so it's like he hasn't really seen this type of
Speaker 4: workload on a consistent basis in the Bill Belichick er.
Speaker 4: So you know, fifty one touches after two games, which
Speaker 4: is the most in the first two games he's had
Speaker 4: in his entire career. So I'm gonna be righting this
Speaker 4: train as well, Like he's a start for me until
Speaker 4: we see the touches go down and Gibson starts, you know,
Speaker 4: cutting into that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I saw Gibson put a big numbers when you
Speaker 1: dive into it, didn't really play that many snaps that forty.
Speaker 4: Five yards are on Then he had man.
Speaker 1: Yeah he had a one one big play and that
Speaker 1: was sort of it at that point. Last one here,
Speaker 1: Alec Pierce had another touchdown this week.
Speaker 2: Real or mirage for him, lakwan.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna go mirage only because it's still early in
Speaker 4: the season and it's like Ale Pearce is a top
Speaker 4: ten Fantasy wide receiver. So it's a little weird, like
Speaker 4: are we in the shadow realm right now? Like this, No,
Speaker 4: this is real, So I think there's enough tape now
Speaker 4: you know these last two weeks where these teams are
Speaker 4: gonna start looking at a way to take Alex Pierce
Speaker 4: out of the game. They're gonna start game planning how
Speaker 4: to stop Anthony Richson on this deep ball because again,
Speaker 4: Michael Pittman, he's a guy that's really suffering, you know,
Speaker 4: with Alec Pierce being the guy that can really stretch
Speaker 4: the field and make these big plays, even though he's
Speaker 4: always been their deep threat. But I feel like a
Speaker 4: lot of teams are gonna start clamping down on ale peers,
Speaker 4: Like they're gonna start going into these meetings like you
Speaker 4: see this guy. You see this guy right here that's
Speaker 4: not Cooper Cup. We're gonna we're gonna stop him because
Speaker 4: he's playing as if he's Cooper Cup making all these
Speaker 4: big plays.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Uh, you know, Floria, we talked on Monday show about
Speaker 1: our concerns with Michael Pittman. It just feels like it's
Speaker 1: gonna be hard to find a consistent target in that
Speaker 1: passing game for us for Fantasy this year.
Speaker 2: Am I wrong on that or what? No?
Speaker 3: I I and I don't think you're wrong at all,
Speaker 3: but I think there is I'm still gonna say Mirage
Speaker 3: for now, but I think there is a chance to
Speaker 3: come the end of the year, Alex Pierce, it's gonna
Speaker 3: sound very bold, might be their leading receiver.
Speaker 2: Oh wow.
Speaker 3: Anthony Richardson has really struggled on short and intermediate passes,
Speaker 3: but he has the arm of a like like a
Speaker 3: mega man like it's a legitimate he heave the ball downfield,
Speaker 3: and Pierce seems right now to be their best field stretcher,
Speaker 3: So I think it could be very best ball centric style,
Speaker 3: where like he has some huge games and some dud games,
Speaker 3: but at the end of the year he might be there.
Speaker 3: I know it sounds really spicy, but like, I don't know.
Speaker 3: Lois the only quarterback with a lower completion rate since
Speaker 3: the start of last season than Anthony Richardson is Taylor Heineke.
Speaker 3: So as much as I love Richardson for fantasy, I
Speaker 3: am very concerned about his past catchers. But the one
Speaker 3: area of his passing that I'm not concerned with is
Speaker 3: the downfield ball because he's clearly is one of the
Speaker 3: best in football.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I'm I'm I was a year early
Speaker 1: on Alec Pier. I'm sticking by that. That's my thing.
Speaker 1: I was on him last year didn't work. Now it's happening.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna say that I was just a year
Speaker 1: ahead of everybody else. All Right, we're gonna take a
Speaker 1: quick break, come back. We'll get some deep dive waiver
Speaker 1: wire options and folks that you can put back in
Speaker 1: the free agent pool as well. That's coming up next
Speaker 1: on the NFL Fantasy Football Show, taking a deep dive
Speaker 1: on the waiver wire for deeper leagues or just the
Speaker 1: folks that might be flying under the radar a little bit. Lakwan,
Speaker 1: Who's the guy that folks maybe should be paying a
Speaker 1: little extra attention to.
Speaker 4: Deontay Foreman. Man, it was very interesting to see that
Speaker 4: he was getting this fifty fifth split with Jerome Ford
Speaker 4: and like, you know, week one it was all Drome
Speaker 4: fordwards seventy two of the snaps, and then you look
Speaker 4: at week two, man, they kind of were, you know,
Speaker 4: split in half in both roles in the pass catching
Speaker 4: and you know, and runs on the ground. So it's
Speaker 4: like one of those things where you know, if you're
Speaker 4: looking for a running back right now with all these injuries, Man,
Speaker 4: Deontay Foreman, he's one of those guys has always had
Speaker 4: a productive career, you know, entering back into the NFL,
Speaker 4: going back to Tennessee. So if you're looking for a
Speaker 4: guy that can potentially take on some work horse abilities,
Speaker 4: Deontay Former is definitely your guy.
Speaker 1: I definitely think there's a changing of the guard in
Speaker 1: the backfield. Not that Ford's going away, but Forman's gonna
Speaker 1: get some more love. Who is your deep dive guy
Speaker 1: for the week Flooria.
Speaker 3: This is a deeper name. I know, and I get
Speaker 3: it was kind of a blowout, but Jalen Tolbert of
Speaker 3: the Dallas Cowboys just I like the usage that I
Speaker 3: saw out of him in Week two. So he ran
Speaker 3: forty routes which led the team. I understand they pulled
Speaker 3: Ceede Lamb because it was a blowout, but he had
Speaker 3: nine targets which also led the team a lot of
Speaker 3: air yards six catches for eighty two yards. And the
Speaker 3: thing is, Brandon Cooks looks a little cooked potentially early on.
Speaker 3: So I think there is a chance for Jalen Tolbert
Speaker 3: to blossom as the number two wide receiver on this team. Now,
Speaker 3: I do think Jake Ferguson will be ahead of him
Speaker 3: if and when he is healthy, but still on a
Speaker 3: Cowboys team that is going to throw as much as
Speaker 3: I think this Cowboys team is going to throw. In
Speaker 3: a deeper league, I'll be interested in taking some shots
Speaker 3: on Tolbert this week.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, we said coming into the season the job,
Speaker 1: the number two wide receiver job was wide open there
Speaker 1: in Dallas, and Tolbert might be making a strong case
Speaker 1: for it. For me, I'm gonna go with samaj p
Speaker 1: Ryan And obviously we're still you know, we know that
Speaker 1: we're not gonna have Isaiah Pacheco for a while because
Speaker 1: of the fractured fibula. Very curious to see exactly how
Speaker 1: things are split up in that backfield. Carson Steele going
Speaker 1: to get some opportunities, But you do like that pe
Speaker 1: Ryan has that pass catching upside. You know, he's a
Speaker 1: guy that we saw him do that in Denver for
Speaker 1: a couple of years. The Chiefs very much a short
Speaker 1: passing game team right now. That's how that offense is working.
Speaker 1: We've seen Jack McKinnon thrive in that role. So I
Speaker 1: think pe Ryan's going to be the guy of the
Speaker 1: two between he and Steel that has the most value,
Speaker 1: at least in the short term. If you're in a
Speaker 1: fab league, I wouldn't go breaking the bank for a
Speaker 1: guy like samaj A Ryan, but he should be added
Speaker 1: in pretty much every format because he is going to
Speaker 1: have some value as long as Isaiah Pacheco is out.
Speaker 1: So if we are adding guys, that means we have
Speaker 1: to be letting guys go.
Speaker 2: So Lakwan, who are you saying goodbye to.
Speaker 4: Bye bye to Ezekiel Elliott Man. I am done with
Speaker 4: this Cowboys backfield only because of the fifty fifth split
Speaker 4: with Rico Daddle and they also signed Dalvin Cook, which
Speaker 4: we can assume should be making his debut soon. Because
Speaker 4: this backfield is not getting it done. I mean, both
Speaker 4: Rico and Zeke are averaging less than four yards per
Speaker 4: carry and I'm not seeing much production being split or
Speaker 4: one guy's taking the job and the other guys taking
Speaker 4: the role of being the pass catcher where they both
Speaker 4: have twenty touches at piece. So there is no real
Speaker 4: RB one down there in Dallas. So therefore I'm just
Speaker 4: gonna fade make some type of room for other guys
Speaker 4: that I need to show up and show out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, Zeke looks slow. I mean there's no
Speaker 2: other way to say it. He just looks slow, the
Speaker 2: grands Grandpa Zeke. Yeah, I mean I think they're gonna
Speaker 2: find other options at some point. It was nice, it's
Speaker 2: a nice reunion. It's fun, but he's just not the.
Speaker 4: Same Jersey sales.
Speaker 2: But no, Yeah, uh, Floria, You're you're saying a bye
Speaker 2: to a Buffalo Bill. Is that what I'm saying here?
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Buffalo Bill that I was telling everyone not
Speaker 3: to draft. But I did take him in one league,
Speaker 3: my home league, because they pulled up Coleman and Shakir
Speaker 3: knowing that I wanted them, so I said, just in
Speaker 3: case I'm wrong, let me take Curtis Samuel.
Speaker 2: I was not wrong.
Speaker 3: Uh. Curtis Samuel is playing right now behind not only
Speaker 3: Coleman and Shakir, but also behind Mac Collins, uh and
Speaker 3: and in the tight ends there as well. If you want,
Speaker 3: James Cook is getting more pass game usage. Curtis Samuel
Speaker 3: is being used like a gadget player. Like they bring
Speaker 3: him in for a couple of like a play here
Speaker 3: or there that is designed for him, and then he's
Speaker 3: back to the bench. And I know people could say
Speaker 3: he's dealing with turf toe and stuff. I don't on
Speaker 3: a Bills team that is not throwing as much as
Speaker 3: they have in the past, and you're the wide receiver
Speaker 3: four behind also a tight end or two. I don't
Speaker 3: see any reason to keep the guys so much better
Speaker 3: real life player than fantasy play, and I'm fine throwing him.
Speaker 2: Back on the weaver Watter.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it seems like a lower volume passing offense in
Speaker 1: Buffalo through the first couple of weeks at least, and
Speaker 1: I just don't know that there's enough to go that
Speaker 1: deep in the pass catching roster for Curtis Samuel Be
Speaker 1: on a lot of fantasy rosters. You mentioned Brandon Cooks earlier, Florio,
Speaker 1: and I'm with you. I've liked Brandon Cooks throughout his career,
Speaker 1: but it seems like things are starting to wind down.
Speaker 1: We're still trying to figure out who is the number
Speaker 1: two receiver there after CD Lamb, and we still don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe it is Jaln Tolbert, maybe it's somebody else. Maybe
Speaker 1: it could just be that this passing game lives with
Speaker 1: Lamb and a healthy Jake Ferguson when it's all said
Speaker 1: and done. But either way, I don't know that there's
Speaker 1: gonna be enough volume consistently to have Brandon Cooks, Look,
Speaker 1: there may be a game or two where he goes
Speaker 1: out and he has a nice fantasy performance, but I
Speaker 1: just don't know that it's going to be consistent that
Speaker 1: you're going to hold a roster spot for him, especially
Speaker 1: one in a year where passing numbers are down early
Speaker 1: and so many teams are running so many pass catchers
Speaker 1: out there that it's hard to really make a case
Speaker 1: just to hang on to a guy who is you know,
Speaker 1: the floor is low, the ceiling is low, and it's
Speaker 1: just going to go up and down on a week
Speaker 1: to week basis. So, Brandon Cooks, thank you for all
Speaker 1: of your years of fantasy service. But it seems like
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four maybe where we have to part company.
Speaker 1: It's a dub's that's sort of it, sadly.
Speaker 2: Not sadly though, we have plenty of football coming up
Speaker 2: later on in the week.
Speaker 1: Of course, we will have more shows for you as
Speaker 1: the week goes on as well, so be sure to
Speaker 1: like and subscribe, make sure you get all these things
Speaker 1: in your feed all throughout the week Monday through Friday.
Speaker 2: In the meantime, though.
Speaker 1: That'll do it for this edition of the NFL Fantasy
Speaker 1: Football podcast. They happy, safe and healthy, do good and
Speaker 1: live well. Enjoy the week, everybody. We'll talk to you
Speaker 1: again tomorrow. Wow.
Speaker 2: No,