FFT Express - Biggest Question For Week 1: Hubbard vs Brooks, Steelers Backfield, Colts Pass Catchers, & More! (09/09 Fantasy Football Podcast)

0:00Hey, before we jump back into the show, let's take a quick break. But not just any break. This is a refreshing break with Snapple. We all know about Snapple's iconic real facts. So let's take a minute to go over some of my faves. Snapple Real Fact 1-9-8-3. The first player drafted a play pro football, never played in the league. Snapple Real Fact 1-1-1-9. The Grand Canyon could hold about 900 trillion footballs. Snapple Real Fact 2-0-6-4. The first college football game broadcast on TV was on September 30, 1939. Snapple Real Fact 1-8-9-6. The tradition of playing football on Thanksgiving originated with college football in 1876. So grab a Snapple, take a second, and enjoy the moment because let's be honest. This might be the most refreshing part of your day. Snapple, make your break more interesting. Alright, now let's get back to the show. I'll be honest with you, I've never really enjoyed shopping for clothes.

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2:03That's up next here on Fantasy Football Today Express. I'm Jamie Eisenberg, that's Dave Richard. We're going to see what happens in week one to hopefully get some answers that we've been discussing throughout training camp throughout the preseason. So Dave, let's go right to it. A lot of ambiguous backfields will start in Pittsburgh where we have Rico Doudel and Jalen Warren or Jalen Warren and Rico Doudel. They're taking on the Falcons. Are we going to find out who the best Steelers running back is by the end of week one? I don't think we'll find out who the best guy is after week one. It's going to be a week to week thing. I would expect both of them to play a lot. I expect the Steelers to play with a lead and that might help Rico Doudel get more in terms of carries. Maybe a slight edge in targets and catches for Jalen Warren. If there's something to appreciate about Doudel, it's that he's been better in goal line situations. Steelers can probably get to the goal line against Atlanta. I think leaning Doudel, especially in half and non-PPR, makes a lot of sense.

3:07I just wonder if we get a frustrating situation all season long. What's your kind of eventually worked out well where you got great PPR production from Gainwell and Jalen Warren will still good. I'm just hoping that we don't have to, oh, this week it's this guy, this week it's that guy, you keep picking the wrong player. If you're drafting Tuesday when we're recording this, who are you still taking for? It's still doubtful for me just as a season long play. It's who I'd rather have. That'd be the easiest match up in terms of past rush pressure that Aaron Rogers will have all year long. Because Atlanta is starting the year, they just acquired Dervon Dexter from Chicago. He's arguably the best past rusher and he's an interior defensive lineman. He should have time to throw down field. The Steelers should be able to put up a decent amount of points. Doudel salting the Gameway is certainly one way that this game could end.

4:07I'm going to go to another ambiguous backfill next and that is in Carolina where we thought we may have an open runway for Jonathan Brooks because Chuba Hubbard suffered a hamstring injury. Then lo and behold, we get to the practice reports for the first week of the season as Carolina is taking on Chicago. And Brooks is now missing practice or being limited in practice and Hubbard is working his way back. If you are drafting Tuesday or coming out of week one, would you expect to be the best Panthers running back for the season? If I'm drafting on Tuesday, it's Brooks and coming out of week one, assuming that he practices a decent amount by the time Friday gets here, it's still Brooks. I think that's the guy that the Panthers want to have as the primary runner in their offense. Chuba will work alongside him. I have a hard time believing Chuba is even going to get a lot of high value touches. We know that Brooks was a great past catcher at Texas. It's something he can certainly do in the NFL. It's something that's been talked about in training camp. And then when you get to the goal line, I think intuition says that it's Chuba, but I think

5:09they're going to want to reward Jonathan Brooks and give him some of those goal line carries as well. I think he's a feel good story for the team and I think they're going to pivot to him. Being the better back provided that he's healthy. Let's see what the Wednesday practice report says. That's the first time the Panthers have to actually divulge what's going on with him. I wouldn't necessarily discount Hubbard still being a big factor and big contributor, even if Brooks is healthy because who knows how much the Panthers want to put on Brooks's shoulders right now knowing that he went through the entirety of training camp and now he's still not feeling right. Even if it's just something, you know, discomfort, soreness, whatever, he's still not that guy yet or ready to be that guy yet. At least if he's not comfortable or 100% healthy and the fact that we don't know how this would have been discussed if Hubbard was practicing and getting those chances maybe in limited pre-season action, just how this all would have gone.

6:09So I'm very curious to see what will happen in week one. Let me ask you real quick, do you have a Panthers running back in your top 24 for week one? No. Neither do I. No. Do you have a Steelers running back in your top 24 for week one? No. Yeah. Both these guys are in some interesting spots, huge upside for maybe one of them, good upside, potentially for both of them, but you know, still something to see. I hope by the time we get to, let's say week four, certainly for Carolina because maybe by that point we get the tackles back and then this offensive line, which was really good last year, can make one of these guys hopefully a top 24 running back. All right, we're going to take a break. We're going to come back and again into a couple of more murky situations that we hope to get some answers for fantasy managers after week one. If I got an alert every single time my teen used their debit card, it would be for $5 iced coffees before school every single morning. For all of the parents out there with teenagers, we know you're already thinking about a million different things and trying to keep things under control.

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8:13We had a lot of questions about will he even play in week one? Now we're expecting him to at least be on the field. The reports are he may not have his full snap share may not do everything that they hope for him to do. But since he's been out at the start of camp, Josh Downs in and out of the lineup due to injury as well seemingly fine, but they add keen an out. So how do you view the Colts receiving core? Who's your favorite and what are you expecting to see in their first game against Baltimore? Is it taking the cheap way out if I say Tyler Warren is my favorite? He's the one that had the highest target per round run rate with Daniel Jones. Yes, we're just talking their series. Okay, so I'm going to go with Josh Downs next. Downs is the one provided again that the practice report discloses that Downs is okay. And he's going to be out there. I like the roll change for him. I know he's going to lose some of those easy targets, those layup targets to Keenan Allen. But we saw it last year with Daniel Jones. He had a 22.5% target per round run rate against zone coverage. I'm expecting zone coverage from Baltimore.

9:14That's just a staple with what Jesse Mentor does. Pierce was actually fourth. Pitman in a house, so a 22%. That actually encourages me with Downs because I think Downs will take some of that pitman roll. Whereas Keenan Allen is going to be that short area target that we've seen him be. He runs around, makes a cut, gets a target. That's it. Pierce was at 17.9%. He was their man beater last year. And I don't see the Ravens doing a lot of that. And even if they do, they've got some solid corners that can line up with Pierce and contend for those jump balls down field. Pierce is in 100%. I think this is an easy week to leave Pierce on the bench. Downs would be my favorite of the three. But the only one I'm starting with superior confidence is Warren. Two more receiving cores that may be relevant to fantasy managers at some point this season. We'll go to Miami first where we didn't expect Chris Bell to maybe even play in week one and got off the pop list. And the reports have been very positive. Caleb Douglas at the start of camp was getting rave reviews. And Malik Washington seems to be the third option in the, at least pecking order right now. How do you view the three receivers from Miami? And is there one that you're trying to get on your roster?

10:17The one that I'm trying to get on my roster is Bell. But it's with the idea that I'm stashing him for the first month of the season to see what happens. And if he can actually break out, I'm not discouraged by Malik Willis, the thrower. I saw enough on film last year where I felt like Malik Willis can do a decent job reading coverages and then still get the ball on time with anticipation to his receivers down the field. If you're looking for a cheat code in PPR, it's Washington. I think he's going to end up getting in the neighborhood of six or seven targets every single week. He can catch most of those. He's kind of doing that thing that Josh Downs did last year. Chris Bell is more of the downfield target. So it was Caleb Douglas. I'm sorry. Chris, did I say Chris Bell? That's right. Okay. Finally, Chris Bell is the one that I would stash. I think he's got the most upside both short term and long term. I'm looking to see what his roster ship is right now and see best sports. He's available in 77% of leagues. So you might have drafted some bum with your third to last pick before you took your defense and your kicker. You can drop that bum if it's not somebody that you want to see more from who's obviously

11:19healthier than Chris Bell. You can stash Chris Bell and see how it goes in week one against Las Vegas. That's a fairly favorable matchup. Willis is obviously going to have to get the ball out quick because of Max Crosby being opposite him. But there could be some good opportunities in this game for Chris Bell. I'd especially interested to see if he just plays a lot. Let's see which wide receiver plays the most for Miami in this game. If Bell's route rate is high, then that's simply going to be an encouraging side. I don't really want to start any of these guys and I don't think you have to. Other side of the ball in that same game, we have the Raiders receiving core where you got Trey Tucker getting some mid camp positive reports. Jalen Nailer really hadn't gotten any sort of buzz, which is unfortunate. Then you have Jack Bash and maybe Malik Benson, the rookie that they drafted. How are you viewing the Raiders? Is there anybody you want to have on your roster from them? Tucker is another stash. I think I'd rather have Tucker than Bell to begin the year. If it's like a keeper league or some sort of long-term format, I'd flip that.

12:19I'd rather have Bell. Tucker is out there in 46% of CBS Sports League. He's another interesting tech stash. I think he's going to be the number two target getter for Vegas this year. It took me a little while to come around on that. I was thinking that Nailer would be that guy. He's under-seeing in practice and understanding how he's tried to change his game this off season where he's trying to just have a better understanding of the coverage as they are seeing and being on the same page as his quarterbacks. Knowing that his quarterbacks are better this year, I think that there's room for Trey Tucker to certainly see a lot of playing time to see his target share go up and to be a factor, maybe not a huge factor, but a factor nonetheless for Las Vegas. If there's a player that I'm going to stash, and this is an idea, you can start the year with Tucker instead of Bell. If after week one, there's better science for Bell than Tucker. You make the switch. If not, you stick with Tucker until you find another wide receiver or another player at any position that you can use on that roster spot and you get rid of Tucker. That's if Tucker doesn't impress to begin the year because there's a chance that he does.

13:23I think most games for Las Vegas this week might not be one of them, but most weeks for Las Vegas, they're going to be chasing points. They're going to have to put the ball in the air. We'll certainly benefit because teams are going to be focused on Bowers. Tucker feels like his ceiling is more limited than Bells. Bells floor is probably worse than Tucker. So depending on your roster build and what you need and what you're hoping for a long term, that's going to probably determine which player you like the best or it could just be, hey, look at Caleb Douglas. He's awesome or look at Jack Besh. Maybe he's the best receiver for the Raiders. We'll find out. That's what we're waiting to see in week one. Some of the questions we've been talking about are trying to figure out. We'll get the answers for after we see live game action. For Dave Richard, I'm Jamie Eisenberg. Thanks for watching and listening to Pannins and Football Today.