Mat and Charch analyze 10 major stories from early training camps and help determine if they're truthful or lies.
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Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of iHeartRadio.
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeartRadio, your weekly source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation, and whatever stupid stuff they decide to drop into the show. Now, here's your host, Paul.
Jargon, speaking of stupid stuff. It's Fantasy Football Weekly.
Ah.
Now you're gonna say, Matt's here, Mat, and Matt Harrison is here. Yes, good to have you here, training camp going, the season's here?
Yeah? Oh man, we're the Fame game over. One week away from the big full Fantasy Football weekly shows.
Yes, one week from this week. I guess I I was gonna say today, but depends on when you when you hear it. But yeah, next week we start the long form shows.
And what year is it? This time? Around three zero baby thirtieth anniversary xxxy.
Some longtime listeners believe it's our thirty first, but honestly, we can't remember if it started in ninety four ninety five, so we're being conservative with it. It's because they all start to blend together when you're that you've been doing it that long and you've done it for every year, but the first, right, No, I did them all?
No, you did them all? Yeah.
Yeah, we had rotating We had rotating guests, and at the time they didn't the Kaffe didn't trust me at the time. Yeah, with the with the show in my own hands. So the first year we had Dan Cole as as our as our host. He would just basically bring us in and out of segments and then I would take it from there. Yeah, and with our old crew, you know, the original crew, like John the commissioner Haber Myers was on the show back then. I'm trying to remember who else, going all the way back to the beginning. I think a little Rick Hamla in the mix back then.
Yeah, didn't we do? We did a twenty on the twenty fifth anniversary of the show. We brought ball John Yeah, yeah, John Tuv, Christian Peterson. Yeah, that was fun. Tons, tons of tons of great players on the show over the years.
While we're while we're talking about some of this kind of stuff, we should mention the live show we've got coming up in two weeks August sixteenth, if you're anywhere near the Twin Cities Treasure Island Casino, We're having a live fantasy football weekly August sixteenth, seven o'clock.
I wish I was gonna be there this year, but I will not be near that city. Everybody but you all, all of our other co hosts will be there.
You will not be yes, but yeah, Thor and Brian, Scott, Fish, myself and hopefully you. It's free Treasure Island again.
They they have some pretty good giveaways there too. Usually they give you some free slack play and stuff. So I think there's kind of worth to get down there. I should. Yeah, it's pretty fun. Go go throw some dice or well, I suppose they don't have dice. You could play some car. Yeah, you don't play some car.
We got the weird rules here you ken and can't play, and I don't even totally understand.
Go play some blackjack with Brian afterwards. I got that's that's my game. Yeah. Training camps are underway.
They're already starting to get reports on various notable news items.
I got ten of them for you. At this stage.
I always think you have to be careful about not overreacting.
That anything, So you know, I'm right, So that maybe this is the lie Detector.
Oh, I'd like it like that down Lie Detector episode of Fantasy Football Weekly. I'm gonna give you ten different stories.
Tell me whether or not you're sort.
Of buying in, you moving any rankings, or you're just playing it, playing it chill for right now.
I want to begin here.
Chargers last year's first rounder Quentin Johnston still getting second team reps and appears to have been already passed by rookie Lad McConkey. And then Josh Palmer, who had been with the team he's working with the first team. And then dj Hark, the free agent nobody talking about going off the border like wide receiver ninety also running with the first team right now. So your thoughts on Quinton Johnston. And you know, in one of my Empire leagues, I've got Quinton Johnston that I drafted last year and I'm basically ready. I'm in the same world too, you know, like this is it looks bad right now. And there were videos that circulated mid week of him just dropping like a seven yard pass right the bread pasket come on.
So everything that comes out of the Chargers on social media or or like the hardcore Chargers fan sites, yeah, they're saying that Quentin Johnston is on fire, but that is a lie. Everyone else is saying that he can't catch a ball. There was one reporter who said he's the worst effing receiver I've ever seen in my life. Wow. Wow, So I've seen, but I've seen multiple Twitter accounts that are that are following it closer than I am, saying that unless his body is completely turned back to face the quarterback, he can't catch anything. He can't catch anything deep, ye can't catch any shoulder. And so there's plenty of video that backs that up. If you do a quick Quenton Johnston video search on x there's more positive reports and videos from camp about seventh round rookie wide receiver Brendan Rice, who, by the way, is the son of Jerry Rice.
Oh, I guess I did not know that that was the case, so I should have a little there's a little pedigree there. But right now the way that things like sound, it sounds like Brendan Rice is creeping above Quenton Johnston on the depth chart too. So I have Johnson in a few dynasty leagues. I'm hoping that he turns it around, but I think he's undraftable in redraft leagues and I'd probably be bailing in most of my dynasty shares too. All right, so the lie detector here is true.
Yeah, it's true. It's true. Okay, it's true because the Chargers aren't putting out this information.
Right right, here's the ADP for the Chargers receivers. Yeah, Palmer's going first wide receiver thirty one. That seems pretty high for a guy who's never been able to really put it all together. And I don't mind Palmer. A couple of years ago, I was touting him in the preseason as a sleeper and everyone came together. Lad McConkie ADP wide receiver forty three. Yeah, couldn't he just vault right to the top of this productive receiver at Georgia so slippery I'm open.
I'm gonna note this on some of the other ones. Like an average wide receiver Room gets about two hundred receptions per year. That's a lot of wide receiver receptions there. There might be it might be a little bit lower in Los Angeles, right, yes, just because yeah, but they have justin air Bear there, and air Bear ain't scared, no God. So I think that Lad McConkie, Josh Palmer, even DJ Chark, they're going to catch some balls. This year. They're not going to be in a lot of people's lineups every week, but one one definitely could emerge.
My money would be somebody's going to right, I mean, you know, yeah, they're going to run a lot, maybe the most in the league. Yeah, but still somebody's going to come out of this is fantasy viable. That's the week out. Let's go to Green Bay. Romeo Dobbs getting praised from coaches and teammates. Offensive coordinator Adam Stenovich said Monday that Dobbs has super strong hands and is tremendous at running routes. A few days ago, you may have seen this, Hackers cornerback jay Or Alexander said Dobbs is a second favorite receiver in the league, after only Devonte Adams. Wow, and you know, you don't often see teammates put a pecking order on their other teammates, you know.
Well, and a former teammate at that, Well.
Sure, yes, I mean, so he knows Adams. That's fine, you know, Okay, I understand why you go to Adams going to the Hall of Fame.
Sure, so no problem with that.
But the fact that he identified Dobbs out of this four man conundrum, that fantasy players have at wide receiver. Does that carry a lot of weight for you or any weight for you?
And the envelope says that is a lie. That is a lie, okay, because I think they're going to do the same thing with Jaden Reid, with Dantavian Wicks and with Christian Watson in subsequent weeks coming up. You like Dobbs. I like Dobbs. I drafted him in the Scott Fish Bowl. I like him a lot. The problem is everyone likes Jayden Reid too, a lot of people like Dantavian Wicks, and even quite a few people still like Christian Watson. And all three of those names finished with more PPR points per game in the last half of the season for the Packers than Dobbs did. He was number four in that pecking order in fact, from Week five on. So that's thirteen games.
Yeah, it's a healthy sample size and all the good games. Yet all the good games Jordan Love had.
Dobbs topped four receptions in a game only once, and he had more than forty yards in a game only three times. You're so dependent on him getting a touchdown that it doesn't make any sense for me to get any of these wide receivers on the Packers because Dobbs led the team in PPR points in five games last season, Read seven times, Watson three times, Wis twice, and I think Wix is probably gonna pop up a little bit more this year. If it's me, I'd like to draft Jordan Love and just just look with it.
That's kind of what That's what I've been saying too. Although it's a little spineless, I like it. It's a little spineless, but it is true.
It can be spineless. It's because they have four good wide receivers. It's not because Dobbs is worse than any of them. It's because they have four really quality wide receivers on roster. I like that.
And I think the angle on these, on all of these receivers for Green Bay is I.
Want him in best ball right.
You don't have to worry about identifying pre identifying the games when one of them is gonna go off. So that's that's the angle for me. Like Guillotine can't do Dobbs, Read, Wix, Watson just way too much downside on a game to game basis because there's just there's too many good receivers.
So once you get three catches for thirty five yards, you're sunk.
Yeah, that's that's going to really hurt your chances.
And that's very possible.
All right, So we've got a truth, we've got a lie.
Let's go to Baltimore.
Rashad Bateman getting tons of praise from John Harbaugh and Baltimore Beat writers. Early in the week, he made an acrobatic shoelace catch that wowed observers.
Wow.
Harbaugh says that Bateman is expected to be a top receiver in the league.
Quote, top receiver in the.
League currently going off the board it wide receiver seventy nine.
Is this just camp talk? Survey says, Yeah, that's just can't talk. Okay, what does anybody really expect Rashad Bateman to be on this team? Is he the top wide receiver option on this team? No, say Flowers? Is he the second receiving option on this team? No? Mark Andrews is in there, right? He could be third in the pecking order at best on a team that just signed Derrick Henry and is about to run the ball down the throat of everybody all year long. And by the way, if you can't make acrobatic shoelace catches in practice without pads, you probably shouldn't be in the NFL at all.
Well, apparently Bateman hadn't been doing that in the past. Everybody thinks he looks better than at any previous time.
Well, and also, if he's making acrobatic catches, doesn't that say more about Lamar Jackson's accuracy.
Well, some of those balls are probably not coming from Lamar Jackson, but maybe and I here's the thing. Wide receiver seventy nine.
Sure, sure, that's where he is expected to be a top receiver in the league. That's that's insanity. Let's move to New England.
A thor Nystrom favorite, Javon Baker has been a standout in camp with highlight reel plays. Nobody mentioning athletic shoelace catches.
No just highlight just highlight reel.
He could start, He could start early in the season, needing only to beat out Jalen Rager, Taekwon Thornton, and the undead remains of Juju Smith Schuster. The second rounder Jalen Polk is garnered praise too, but not at the same level as Baker and Thoris set up.
Thoris said at least twice.
In our offseason shows he thinks he thinks Baker is going to be better than Polk. Sure, his ADP is wide receiver eighty eight.
That's slow.
All right, what's the light detector say on this one for Javon Baker?
Well, you failed to mention Kendrick Bourne and de Mario Douglas, who are well, I'm assuming their top two. So this is receiver to three. That's right, Nott wide receiver one. So I think this one's interesting and a little sneaky. All those other names that you read are retreads of retreads. I mean, these guys have been on their third fourth team in the league. It's feasible that Baker could steal a lot of snaps from those vets really quickly, or you know, Juju could get cut. And I mean it's not outlandish to think Jalen Rager will be cut from another team. In the NFL, the Pats managed about ten receptions per game to the wide receiver position last year. It was one of the lowest marks in the league. Wow, that's terrible, But that was Mac Jones and Bailey Zappi and Bill Belichick's weird offense. Uh. Even if it's Jacoby Brissett for most of the year, or we see some Drake May or Joe Milton who ever evidently is outperforming Drake May in camp right now.
That's but then Drake May had a much better day on Wednesday and give you know, yeah, you don't know.
You think they have to pass a little bit more than ten times two receivers receivers per game, so I think that they're nine times, no more more more more than nine times and more than ten times. Yeah, so don't worry. I got it nine times for you. Okay, I got one fire fantastic, But yeah, I think that I think that there is some truth to this one on a rookie popping up and maybe stealing some reps on a third team scenario.
Thor loves Javon Baker's big play ability and the and him with the ball in his hands young after catch just sick.
Now.
He he transferred. He started at Alabama, then he moved to Central Florida where he just dominated Slapp.
He's there, so.
It's it's gonna be, you know, I think there is a nice opportunity. Why'd receive for eighty eight?
Okay?
Yeah, again at that stage sure, last.
Pick in your draft, right, I'll these are the kind I mean Thor uncovered Puka Nakula last year. Yes, he did in this kind of realm. And I don't think Thor was promising.
He did not promise a historic rookie season.
Yes, but but obviously, like opportunity was there for Puka, the talent is there. I think we're in kind of the same situation here, staying in New England.
Ramandre Stevenson, I'm back on board, baby. Oh wait, sorry, the truth the truth the light detector was true on Javon Baby true. Okay, so we've got two truths and two lives. Ramandre Stevenson says that his new offensive corner alex Van Pelts outside zone blocking scheme is perfect for him. Here's the quote from Stevenson. Outside zone you see everything a lot better. The old line still has to work very, very hard, and you have to be on your tracks. But it's kind of you hit what you see, you make your cut and when you think you're ready, it's ultimately up to you. So Matt, it's up to you. Is the does a light detector say this is true or false? For this new zone blocking scheme that may be a perfect fit for Remandre Stevenson.
I mean, first off, it's exciting for both of us, who are both big Remandre fans. Over the last few years, we've been on the bandwagon to hear things may improving. I've already invested in him the end of the fifth round in scott Fish Bowl in that draft beautiful spot. I like him there, and he could be an absolute belcow this year with Antonio Gibson serving as the passing down guy being the Antonio Gibson.
Role, right, and Jamichael Hasty's no threat.
Yeah. The problem is for me, when an offensive line is given a completely new scheme and completely new tactics, it usually takes a little time to get that right. Yeah, and the Patriots already have Pro Football focuses twenty eighth ranked offensive line. So while it's great that Remandre Stevenson is super positive about this, he's got to be lying to us because he's got to know I don't have this kind of offensive line and they're trying to change things. And I'm trying to tow the company line here and say I love it. It's great, but I'm a little nervous here that things might not go as well as he's he's kind of alluding to here, I want to believe. I want to believe to current ADP is running back nineteen. Yeah, I mean that's the greatest spot.
Do the opposite this perfect, do the opposite territory. You've gone first four rounds. You haven't done any running backs. I love having Remondre as my top running back. There you raise a great point. New blocking schemes take time to gel, and it could be a rough first month for Romandre and warning guillotine League people, that could be something that gets you cut in the first month.
But remember Ramondre's.
One year removed from being a top ten fantasy runner, and last year, early in the year he struggled. The offensive was terrible, nobody respected the passing game. Somebody's just playing to stop Ormandri. But he's still in weeks nine through thirteen. There was this window of like a month where he was really good and then he suffered a heikel spring the season.
Was over well, and Zeke didn't fare too badly in that offense last year either, So there's promise here. But new blocking scheme, yeah, weird offensive line already. If the not sure, I'm feeling it.
If the totality of this Patriots offense is going to generate twelve rushing touchdowns, which is very low. This ranked them like twenty eighth or something. Right, Romander's getting ten to the twelve correct, So you know, I think he's sitting on a double digit touchdown season.
Yep. I'd like to have him for the home stretch in most leagues. If if like we think it might be a little bit of a slow start for him, He's a perfect guy to try to acquire the end of September. Let's take a break.
When we come back, I've got five more discussion topics from you from the start of training camp, and a lie Detector edition of Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly, pul Charchie and Matt Harrison Shock Fantasy.
What's happened to Shock Fantasy? Oh? Updates to uh? I mean, yeah, the cheat sheets right now, but I have a big draft this weekend. I got a dynasty startup, So I mean, if any of the guys in my dynasty league are listening to this podcast, you can subscribe too. Fantasy get your get my cheat sheet that I'm going to use for the draft and you you at least have that in your back pocket. There's a there's a promo code in the show notes, by the way, for shock Fantasy. If anybody's interested in getting a little bit of a discount on a subscription. Yeah, I think it's twenty five percent off or something else. Somethinglong that line. That ballpark.
Yeah, fantastic. All right, let's go to Chicago. DJ Moore signed that massive, four year, one hundred and ten million dollar extension. I just want to talk about the dynasty and Empire implications for just a minute. Okay, so longer, longer term and by the way, for those that don't know, since we got a minute, Empire leagues so much fun. I think it's the best way to play dynasty. The premise goes like this, it's a dynasty league, so you retain your entire retain your entire roster year to year, and instead of paying out all the funds at the end of one year, instead you only pay out half. The other half goes into a rolling pot waiting for somebody to win back to back years, and then the league folds.
It's over.
That person collects all the money and the league's over. I love this because fantasy leagues don't have a don't ever have an end. Yeah, there's no true champion, there's just the most recent champion. Empire leagues give you a championship and man, you know when you win it, and the whole.
Rest of the league.
When you win one year, the whole less rust legal next year is on you. You know, you are the villain and that's awesome. Yeah, and I love that. And then when you even if you if you don't win, everybody's got.
Something gun for.
We're all gunn into takedown Matt to make sure Matt doesn't win two back to back years.
One in our long running one. Christian Peterson is currently the champion in that one. And uh, it's over ten grand in the Empire Pot this year.
And poor Christian who has won three times in the last five years, but he's alternated it's every other year.
Yep. Yeah, he's got he's got a tough roster this year. So you kind of have to prop up some other teams to beat that chime as well to help Tope. Oh, we never do that though.
Nobody's like, oh, you know, I got to prop up some I gotta improve, I gotta make a bad trade, I do you do You've made bad trade?
No, I've made I've made trades that help teams eliminate the current champ. It doesn't necessarily have to be a bad trade, but you got it. You gotta send good, good players out to and to the the current contenders and get some good draft picks back.
So if you think Caleb Williams is the quarterback of the future for Chicago this you know, the re signing of DJ Moore extension is great news. I mean that puts him on the team. He's on the team, signed through twenty twenty nine. Yeah, now, and I don't know, you know, sometimes the final years of these things are, you know, not real years. But still, I mean that's as a long time.
There was over eighty million dollars and guaranteed money too, so it was It's a pretty big deal. Maybe it's just me, but I've always kind of been a DJ more doubter. I don't know why. He did score nine times last year times nine and had Yeah, and it was his quarterback justin fields in that sense, had ninety six catches and over thirteen hundred yards. But he was the only receiver in town last year. The Bears only had one hundred and fifty eight wide receiver receptions last year and DJ Moore got ninety six of them, So more crowded.
Now, obviously you'rean and Allen Roma Dunsay exactly know that how many targets are going to go to DJ Moore.
Well, and let's break that down. Let's say Caleb Williams is much better, yeah, and as probable as a passer, and we bump that Bears wide receiver catch total up to two hundred and ten, which is a little bit above average. That's so fifty two more receptions to wide receivers. If you're going to believe that DJ Moore will get ninety six receptions again, that would leave one hundred and fourteen for the other ones. In the last seven seasons where Keenan Allen has played thirteen or more games, he's had at least ninety seven receptions in every game in every season. Sorry, yep, So does that leave twenty one receptions for Romo Odounza and the rest of the wide receivers. It it's got to be more of a split. I can't see a scenario where DJ Moore is far and away the receptions leader on this team over Keenan Allen and Romo Donsey. I think will be third in the pecking order. But he's not getting twenty receptions this year.
He's gonna get six seventy. Yeah, probably, So Dunes might be great.
Keenan Allen could be.
The odd man out. I mean, why what a huge, very variance. Yeah, there is potentially coming for Keenan Allen. It could be that in his whatever eleventh season, uh, that Keenan Allen is basically cooked and that he's going to drop Roman Dunesday's going to pass him in terms of you know, in just in terms of the focal point of the offense, and that Keenan Allen just doesn't get the ball lot or he's just a vacuum who brings in everything the rookie received. He's always gonna be in the right spot, he's gonna catch everything that goes to him.
Usually plays from the slot often.
And that he could end up vacuuming up ninety receptions and I wouldn't be surprised.
Yeah, so it it's a little tough for me. I know, DJ Moore, where's he going in in ADP right now? It's like twenty wide receiver twenty Okay, I thought it was higher than that. But yeah, there's no truth or lie here because it's just we're saying that he signed an extension, correct, So that's the truth that he did sign. Okay, Well, we'll take truth on this. That brings us to three truths and three lives. So but I'm a little hesitant to think that he can repeat the numbers that he had from last year. Being the only showing down. Let's go to Carolina.
Miles Sanders getting a ton of first team looks in Carolina m H. Now, as you know, rookie Jonathan Brook's fourth rounder is rehabbing from an ACL injury that goes back to November of last year's He is not expected to be ready at the start of the season, and he's not going to be a factor here. Miles Sanders potentially could be your opening day starter again.
This year like he was last year. But last year he was terrible.
He averaged three point three yards per carry, granted running behind a bad offensive line that did get better in the offseason, and ultimately Sanders lost his job to the very pedestrian Chewba Hubbard, who was much better than Miles he.
Was better, at least somewhat better. Yeah, so if he's if he's very pedestrian and much better than Miles Sanders, what does that make Miles Sanders? He had one touchdown last year? Oh, what a disaster one. And I think that most people coming into that season thought, hey, rookie quarterback, they're gonna just hand Miles Sanders the ball ton. He's gonna have ye close to three fifty four hundred touches. Maybe he could just be an absolute belkow.
And they signed him to that big deal he's like twenty four million or something, and then he was just horrible.
Yeah, he was just bad.
So and by the way, Shure mentioned one you removed from thirteen hundred yards and eleven touchdowns with Philadelphia exactly.
So doesn't it seem like maybe he's getting first team looks to see if a he still has some value when playing with the starters, because he'd probably look like absolute trash behind the second or third stringers. It could be or be to maybe feature him as some sort of trade chips so they can get out of paying him four million dollars.
Maybe his deal is guaranteed for four million, So I don't think anybody trade anything for him.
There's got to be a couple of teams out there that are running back needy in some way. Maybe it's just a seventh round pick swap kind of a thing. Yeah, and just to get out of the four million dollars. But this has got to be a lie. There's no way that they think that Miles Sanders is going to be the answer running back for the Panthers.
So we're taking a we're gonna lie. Yeah, lie, detector says, lie in Miles Sanders next Minnesota. JJ McCarthy is look good in early training camp. To me, the Reds are a little slow, but the arm talent to me looks good.
So am I saying if you're lying or telling the truth?
Almost universally the repoorts you guys know me it's all lies.
Is that he's looked good in training camp.
Yeah, I think his reads are slow, but he's showing arm talent. Sam Donald's continuing to get almost all the first team reps, but Kevin O'Connell says that they'll get they'll start working JJ into more first team reps later. So true or false? Do you think that McCarthy's look good enough? Here to change the overwhelming thinking, which is that Sam Donald's gonna have a long runway and they do not want to start JJ McCarthy.
I guess that's a lie. I think Sam Donald's still gonna start. I think Donald will almost certainly start the year under center. But I think that he needs to go at least two and three or three and two in those first five games to keep the job after the Week six by which means he'd need to beat the Giants, Niners, Texans, Packers, and Jets. That Jets game is in London. He'd have to win that Jets game. So I think he needs to win the Giants and the Jets games in order to hold the job. Then they come back after a bye. If he survives through the bye, he'll almost certainly get the next two games because Week seven is against Detroit and then they play immediately Thursday night in Week eight, so they won't install quarterback in a short week.
So it'll either happen at the bye or well after it.
Yes, it'll I think it'll either happen after the bye or after the Week eight game on Thursday night against.
Them, we'd have ten days to ramp up.
YEP. So Kevin O'Connell has said they'll know when it's time to start McCarthy. If they're one and four under Donald, it will be time.
I don't know the wins and losses are going to be as important as you you think. I believe they're really taking a long term view with a twenty one year old that says we're not putting him in the game until he's ready. Even if Donald's bad, I think they could go to Nick Mullins. If JJ's not ready and Sam's bad, it could be bombs away Nick Mullins, just like it was in the second half of last year. And you know, let Mullins throw for four hundred yards one game and then four interceptions the next game.
I think the thing is, and this is coming from a Viking fan, and I know you're a Viking fan as well, charged I think their defense is going to be kind of sneaky good. And I think if the defense is holding up their end of the bargain and they're holding some of these high end opponents to seventeen or twenty points a game, yeah, and Donald in the offense is just floundering and they can't get JJ going, and Aaron Jones, isn't isn't cutting it enough. I think that they're going to try to make a change, especially if the if Brian flores his defense looks like it's holding up there end of the bargain and it looks like it's an offensive problem, They're going to make a switch at quarterback.
All Right, You and I see it a little bit differently, but I think we both The central premise of our lie detector is JJ McCarthy's look good in training camp.
I think that's mostly true. I think I think that part's true. I think I think Donald starts.
Let's go to Arizona. Rookie running back Trey Benton getting third team reps behind James Connor and Amari Day Mercado charge.
This is called hazing, and Arizona is one of the forty four states where hazing is illegal. Illegal, Okay. Hazing has three components.
By the way, I didn't know it's an official yep.
It's in a group. It involves humiliating, degrading, or endangering behavior, and it happens regardless of consent. And Trey Benson is on the team, he's not consenting to running the third teamers, which is humiliating and dangerous. Yes, so this is hazing, This is a lie. There's no way Imari de Marcado is going to hold off Trey Benson here from at least being the second option out of the backfield. I do think James Connor probably still gets the bulk of the running this year, but particularly early. I think Trey Benson as as the year wears on and James Connor has quite a bit of an injury history. He does if if Trey Benson is available on your waiver wire and James Connor goes down, that's gonna be one of those situations where people are spending sixty seventy percent of their fab to get.
I love Trey Benson in college. I felt like he had on a very weak rookie class, and we've talked about this on our rookie shows in the past. This offseason, I thought Trey Benson looks like he's the best built for fantasy success inside runner, goal line guy. He's got a lot of wiggle and some bursts, and there's a lot to like about Trey Benson. But James Connor ran well last year. Just the reality is he played well and he's going to start the season. Coaches love to go as sure things and guys that aren't going to mess up pass protection and other things. So James Connor is.
Going to be the guy. I hope you're right that this is a lie.
On We're not out there scrapping for a Mari de Mercado after week one when he surprises us with twelve touches.
No, I'll be disappointed. Yeah, all right, last one. Yeah.
Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Zach Robinson said Tuesday that Bejon Robinson's backfield mate Tyler al Jeer, will have quote a big role and be leaned on at certain points during the season, certain points like if that's like one game, fine, might worry is certain points of the season might be like the second, third, and fourth quarters of games.
I don't know.
I mean this is this thing may be much more of a shared backfield than we want to think. Do you believe this is a truth or a lie?
Coach talk? Let's start with Tyler Algier is a good running back. He's not bad. He's he's a good running back, and I think he will have a pretty nice role this year. I don't think Zach Robinson's lying. I think that's the truth. It's going to paint a lot of fantasy owners who are drafting Bijeon in the first round yep. But there's also saying that is we use it in sports all the time. Rest is a weapon. Putting Bijon on four hundred carries or four hundred touches is not a good way, and that's not to do anything four hundred. If the Falcons want to be title contenders, and it seemed like they might, they'll have to feature Algier some of the time, and they're gonna have to pass more than the nineteen times per game pass attempt average. On average, I mean, Desmond Ritter was pretty bad, but I think Bijeon, who is a better pass catcher, is born there specifically. But Algier had two hundred four touches last year and Bijon had two hundred and seventy two. That's painfully close to painfully close, yes, And and really it was Bijon taking the lead on receptions. It was like sixty five to seventeen receptions. So I think people want to believe that Bijon's numbers will jump significantly here, but Algier might see more work running between the tackles than people want to admit. And Bijon might be the second and third down guy, but Algier might be the guy who's in during first downs where they want to go five yards in a cloud of dust up the middle.
Yeah, I get the feeling it's going to be more frustrating than we want it to be so far heading into the season where I still have most of my drafts to come. Yep, I have zero rosters with Bijon Robinson. Yeah, it's for where he has to where you have to go to take him, like pick five. That's to me, that's just it's too early for as the settle his offense is.
And and and I thought about looking this up, but I didn't. But I was trying to remember a great receiving threat in a Kirk Cousins offense. Running back, running back. Yeah, it doesn't seem like it's been overwhelming. And he's got weapons out there. Drake London and Kyle Pitt's not bad options, right, Darnel Mooney and uh oh, I'm spacing on the the other guy road kill Moore, Ron del Moore. Yes, it'll kill your Gullotem team. I can tell you that. Yeah, I mean those guys aren't bad second and third options at the wide receiver position. So I think I think Cousins is putting the ball downfield a little more, which should open space for both of the runners.
Now, the other side of it is Desmon Riders horrible. And you know, if Kirk Cousins plays anything like he played last year when he went down, he was leading the NFL in passing yards, this Atlanta offense could just explode into a top five offense.
Robinson might be, could be a juggernaut. It might be. We'll find out.
Thanks Matt, tons of fun we get to watch watching real football guys and pads. Yeah got you know, well quasi reel the preseason games. I mean they never meant a lot before. No, now they're even Now they're even worse, you know, all thanks to Sean McVeigh. McVeigh proved you don't have to play your starters at all in the preseason and they can just roll right into the regular season and be just fine.
Well. I think one of the things that has come out of that, though, is you kind of get the in depth look at the inner squad scrimmages, Like I know the Vikings are going to Cleveland to play the Browns and some scrimmages before their preseason matches.
Every I think I think every team is now scrimmaging.
Yeah, at least one for business, it is, And that way you can control the reps a little bit more. Your quarterback doesn't have to get hits on them, that kind of thing. But I think we can learn a lot from kind of seeing the video on Twitter slash x about what people are doing in those in those inner squad scrimmages. I think that those are probably more important right now than any preseason action that we're gonna find from baby.
So maybe so all.
Sounds sad, you know, it's just the preseas. I was always preseason defender.
Yeah, I was like, you know, okay, sure, I know the elitists just you know, all tune into the regular season, and you know, but I love football, and you would get to see your starters would play in the first preseason game would play like a quarter, and then the second preseason game like two quarters, and then the dress rehearsal the third preseason one was like three quarters, and then they all took the fourth one off, and I'm like, fine that you know that, I got long looks at actual starters, and you could you could glean some things from that.
We can't glean anymore.
It's very hard to glean. No, we're in a total, a glean free zone. Now that's the season. And every you know who loves to glean. Everybody, everybody, especially the NFL, has they've taken our glean.
It's it's weird that you've got a tattoo that just says glean across your chest.
Yes for just and now now I got to cross it out.
It's also also weird that you're not where a shirt right now. Peculiar, but I got to show off my tattoo.
Yes, all right, thank you, Matt. This has been a ton of fun. I appreciate listening everybody. Guillotine Leagues coming online for this season really really soon, maybe by the time you hear this. I don't have an exact date, but it's coming real soon.
Now. I'm excited. Thank you.
And yeah, you're in Guillotine. You're playing Guillot.
I sure do.
I play in Keillotine Leagues. We can't wait to turn on, turn it on for this year. Lots going on behind the behind the scenes, behind the curtain, under the hood and you'll get to see it all momentarily. Thanks for listening, everybody, Bye bye. Fantasy Football Weekly is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.