September 4, 2025 • 18 mins
Chris Welsh, Pat Fitzmaurice, and Andrew Erickson are breaking down Week 1's biggest quarterback and tight end ranking differences, engaging in debates, and highlighting the expert consensus for Week 1
Don't miss our deep-dive into this week's rankings, must-start options, and value plays to dominate your fantasy matchup!
Timestamps: (May be off due to ads)
Intro - 0:00:00
Trophy Smack Giveaway - 0:03:30
QB Rankings - 0:04:15
Trevor Lawrence - 0:04:50
Drake Maye - 0:06:57
Jordan Love - 0:08:02
Justin Herbert - 0:10:22
TE Rankings - 0:11:28
David Njoku - 0:11:58
Mark Andrews - 0:13:58
Brenton Strange - 0:16:32
Hunter Henry - 0:16:52
Outro - 0:17:52
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, Friends of Welcome into Fantasy Pros. This is
the Fantasy Football Podcast. I'm Chris Welsh, and we've got
more ranks for you Week one quarterbacks and tight ends.
Joining me, of course, is Pat Fitzmorris and Andrew Erickson.
As we are going to be tackling and hopefully registering
some pretty good ranks going into next week. See how
we are going to finish this bad boy out as
(00:21):
mentioned on some of our previous episodes. Go to fantasypros
dot com slash rankings and you guys can check out
how the ebbs and flows of all these rankings go.
Mister Pat Fitzmorris, there is a lot of volatility I
think at quarterback more than any other position. I know,
I guess I've said that kind of in all the
episodes we've done, but I mean we're talking about a
position where a guy you might have taken tenth overall
(00:44):
at that position and not considering starting. That example is
Dak Prescott. Spoiler alert, he is not in the top
twelve this week due to his matchup. People are legitimately
wondering do I start Bryce Young over him or Trevor Lawrence.
So this positions it is a weird one, especially into
week one, and I expect there to be some weird volatility.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, probably the most matchup sensitive position there is, more
so than running back and wide receiver, which can be
matchup sensitive too. You know, if you've got a wide
receiver going against a shutdown cornerback, or running back going
against some impregnable run defense. But with quarterbacks, like, the
numbers usually lay bare who the pushover defenses are and
(01:29):
who the nasty defenses are, and we adjust our rankings accordingly.
And that's why a lot of people stream quarterbacks, because
you can always find playable quarterbacks with good matchups on
waivers in most cases.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
By the way, just ridiculous flex too. I mentioned in
the RB episode FITZI was number eight in RBS, also
number nine in quarterbacks. Get a life, dude, Stop being
so good at all the stuff. Geez sodine, how we're
not worthy here? Ericson. Just as a quick aside, Do
you think there's anything people should give a little bit
more consideration into a lot drafting dak A. You know,
(02:02):
he was moving up to like eleven and ten on
boards and then not even considering starting him in week one?
Do you think that needs to be considered justin fields
is another good example that was a guy that was
moving into like nine or ten. We've talked a lot
about the Jets in our rank episodes, but now people
are just plummeting him due to a dude to playing
the Steelers. Do you think that needs to be a
little bit more of a heavy consideration for those type
(02:23):
of guys when you're drafting and or do people need
to be considering drafting two quarterbacks if you are going
to be like, should I not start Dak already?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Well, I think that it goes into the late round
quarterback strategy where we all talked about the season where
it seemed like it was picture flavor. This is such
a long tier of guys like ten plus quarterbacks that oh,
I like this guy, like his upside, And I think
that you can use week one or the early season
as a tiebreaker. If you don't feel comfortable Dak Prescott
at the Eagles in Week one, then don't draft him
(02:54):
as your late round quarterback draft Somebody else draft Drake
may So that's what I used, And that's why I
don't have Dak Prescott on any teen is because I
didn't like that look for week one, and I like
that outlook for week one for some of these other guys,
and now you're seeing that reflected in the week one rankings.
It doesn't mean that you can never have Prescott on
your team. If he bombs week one, well you know that,
Hey I still like him, but now he's valued cheaper,
so now I can go and acquire a player like that.
(03:16):
So that's something that again, if you like all the quarterbacks,
then find tiebreakers. I think Week one is a good
way to do that.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Very very well said, we're going to get to those
top twelve quarterbacks, and we've got tight end. It's not
just about quarterbacks. We've got tight end ranks that are
going to be happening. But first, if you want a
chance to win the ultimate symbol of fantasy football dominance,
the Custom Excel Champion Turnover Chain, courtesy of our friends
over at Trophy Smack, the number one destination for epic
(03:42):
fantasy football trophies, then this is your moment. This massive
five pound chain isn't just for show, it's a statement
to enter. All you've got to do is subscribe to
the Fantasy Pro's YouTube channel right now, drop a comment,
below on any of our videos could be this one
or any and that's it. We're gonna announcing a winner
(04:03):
right here on the channel. So make sure you turn
on notifications so you know when videos are up and
so you can claim your prize. This very very awesome
custom Excel Champion Turnover chain could be yours. Gentlemen, let's
jump into this. Let's look at the big board of
quarterbacks here. This is your top twelve quarterbacks for the week.
So your qb ones obviously super flexes. They're screaming at us.
(04:25):
Lamar Jackson comes in at number one, Josh Allen two,
Jalen Hurts three, Jaden Daniels for Joe Burrow five. Nothing
crazy there, Baker Mayfield at six, Patrick Mahomes at seven,
Kyler Murray bow Nicks. Now things get interesting. Trevor Lawrence
at ten, Drake may at eleven, and Brock Purty at twelve.
So those are some new names versus what you were
probably doing in draft season. A couple quarterbacks to talk
(04:48):
about in this list. Let's actually start with Trevor Lawrence.
So Trevor Lawrence, I think kind of jumps out to
me as a player that you know, I don't think
a lot of people were super excited about was into
the lower teens. He is easy. We are ten this
week obviously due to matchup. You guys are on kind
of different spectrum of it. So FITZI, let's start with you.
You are a complete buy of this. You actually have
(05:09):
him one spot higher. You've got Lawrence at nine. So
you're all in on Lawrence on this matchup with his
wide receivers. Let's hear the take.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, I like the matchup at home against the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers gave up the third most fantasy points to
quarterbacks last year twenty point seven fantasy points per game,
and Panthers also gave up a league high thirty five
touchdown passes to quarterbacks. Their opponent passer rating of one
oh five point four was the worst in the league.
(05:36):
And I trust William Cohen to maximize the talents of
Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Mister Andrew Rickson, you are not as sold. You've got
him a little bit closer to like draft equity. You
do not have him as a QB one, probably a
solid super flex in your mind, I'm guessing, but you've
got to make QB fifteen, So you do not want
to get him out here as your starter this week.
I don't know if that means you would start. We
use Dak as an example. Dak did not make this
justin Fields those two players. I don't know if you
(06:03):
have Lawrence still over those guys and you buried or not.
But what's your take on Trevor Lawrence this week?
Speaker 3 (06:09):
I do have him over those guys that you mentioned,
so Fields Prescott to me, he's still a waiver wire
quarterback stream, but he's the top guy right if you
are feeling concerned about the guy you drafted, then Lawrence
is probably the first guy would go to that's on
waivers that you could go and pick up and start
this week, assuming that you don't have to drop a
good player from your bench. So I'm just I'm just
(06:31):
a little bit hesitant to buy into the Liam Cohen
Trevor Lawrence experience hitting in week one, because sometimes it
takes time with some of these guys learning new offenses,
new receivers. Travis Hunter is a rookie, He's going to
be out there, so that's the only reason why. And
the Panthers, yes, they have tried to improve their defense
but that being said, Lawrence is still the best streamer
you can get off waivers.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
A little bit off book here. I want to ask you, guys,
because Patriots and Drake May's godfather. Uh, Drake May, where
are we at on him? He's eleven on this board?
FITSI you are the conductor of the Drake May train here,
He's a QB one in this range? Yeah or nay?
Do you have Drake May higher than Trevor Lawrence this week?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
One spot behind QB ten.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Okay, so he's a QB one. Any take any takeaway
on Drake May for you? For him this week.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Playing with confidence like I think he's going to run.
I'm excited about the running upside for Drake May. I
think he could give us eight hundred plus rushing yards
this year.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
All right, Top ten quarterback ericson Show Me Quarterback nine
caller Murray.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
That's why I quarterback nine, Drake Mas QB eleven. You're
starting Drake man boo starting Drake May starting? All right,
but Fitz wins. Fitz is still the godfather and the conductor,
so he gets all of that. This is true, and
I'm just vague.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, yeah, you're so much lower it's so ridiculous how
you've had him, but he is a QB one in
both your guys agreeing with with the consensus here. This
is a really big gap between you guys, and even
though he didn't make this list, we are going to
do like a quarterback that you like outside of the
top twelve. This one has some I think big implications
(08:13):
because Jordan Love is Ericson's QB eight this week. FITZI,
you've got him at seventeen, so you've got him way down.
So this is a huge quarterback gap here, So Ericson,
let's start with you, Jordan Love. All in, wide receivers
are kind of messy. What the running game is just
I mean, Sell, you got him higher than Drake May,
(08:34):
you got him higher than Kyler Murray. You are all
in on Jordan Love for week one.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I just like the matchup against the Detroit Lions. I
know that their defenses expect to be better after they
all got hurt last year, but they're still dealing with
some of the injuries from last season. Not all those
guys have come back into the starting lineup, and yes,
in Hudredson is back in the lineup as well, but
He's also coming off a season ending injury. Is he
going to be as effective against a Packer's offensive line
that I feel relatively good about? So yes, the receivers
(09:01):
are a little bit banged up. But the two guys
that I care about the most in terms of Jordan
Love's weapons, Matthew Golden and Tarker Craft, those are guys
gonna be out there and I think they're gonna be
firing in all cylinders. So I like Jordan Love a
lot in this matchup.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Fit SI very disappointed. What's up with you and Jordan Love?
What's going on?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
It's just that the Packers wide receiver situation is so
up in the air. I mean, Matthew Golden might be
the number one receiver, hasn't played an NFL game yet,
Jayden Reid playing with the Jones fracture in his foot,
Romeo Dobbs, Dontavian Wicks, math, and I do like Tucker
Craft a lot as much as ericson, but the Lions
are stingy against tight ends, and to me, it's just
(09:41):
I don't feel great about this matchup. The lines of
an excellent secondary. They're getting Aiden Hutchinson back from injury
to terrorized quarterbacks. And you know, Love missed some time
with that non throwing thumb injury in late in training camp,
and Love didn't play especially well in two starts against
the Lions last season, eleven point nine fantasy points and
(10:04):
fourteen point five fantasy points in those two starts with
only one touchdown pass.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
I'm a little bit more than fifty on this. So
just given a hard time. QB seventeen versus QB eight
quarterback that did not make this list, a quarterback that
is not in the top twelve that you think should
be fits You've got an interesting name, let's hear it.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, so my top twelve matches the ECR Top twelve.
But the guy you just missed for me was justin Herbert,
and Herbert just usually plays well against the Chiefs for
whatever reason. In nine careers starts against Kansas City, Herbert
has averaged two hundred and sixty six passing yards and
two touchdown passes per game. He's also run for three
touchdowns against the Chiefs, and he's averaged seven point nine
(10:45):
yards per pass attempt.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Erickson, are you sticking with the You kind of just
did give us the guy Jordan Love was not in
the top the top twelve, and is that your guy?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Yeah, I was stick with him, and if I had
to list off another quarterback, it would be the guy
he's facing, and it would be Jared Goff. So definitely
I was fading Jared Goff through Audrey draft season. But
I mean, is it all going to come crumbling down
in Week one for Jared Goff? Maybe not so. Look,
this Packer's lines game has a pretty high game total,
so I mean there could be points.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
So hard to score fantasy points when you're getting bear
hugged by Micah Parsons ericson.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah, well he's got his back injury, so we'll see
how much he plays.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah, if he's got the epidural out. All right, let's
go talk about some tight ends. We've got the top
twelve tight ends with a couple interesting notes here. Looking
at the big board, Brock Bauers comes in at number one,
Trey McBride two, George Kittle three. There you go, easy stuff,
Sam Laporta at four, Travis Kelcey, TJ. Hockinson, David n Joku,
Mark Andrews, Evan Ingram, Tucker Craft. That's your top ten,
(11:47):
followed by Tyler Warren and then Jake Ferguson comes in
at number twelve. So pretty again as you would expect,
as it pretty much should be in Week one. Not
too many crazy crazy things in here. Let's start with
a player that you guys have way higher than consensus,
and I was kind of doing the same thing here
and we talked about this in the Wide Receiver episode.
(12:08):
The Bengals are not a great defense and someone's going
to eat them up. You guys are saying it's David
and Joku. He is ECR tight end seven. You both
have him at four. Ericson, why don't we start with
you all in on David and Joku this week.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
This week one matchup was why it was so hard
for me to keep David Joko low in my redraft
rankings because I knew Week one was against the Bengals
and I knew he was going to smash just like
That's how confident I am about in Joku this week.
He destroyed the Bengals last season when he played them,
and when we saw him play with Joe Flacco, the
guy was an absolute monster. He's averaging nine targets per game,
(12:45):
twenty nine percent target rap per route run last season,
he led all tight ends and end zone targets per game,
thirteenth overall in targets per game, not at just tight
end among all players that caught pass his last season.
So look, I think maybe his usually just a little
bit if they use a little bit more of Harold Fannin.
But for Week one, expecting a third round rookie to
eat into this veteran who's established has rapport with Joe Flacco.
(13:09):
If this game turns into a shootout and joke, who's
gonna go for over one hundred yards and maybe scored
a touchdown. So he is if you went late round
tight end and Joko, or if somehow and Djoko didn't
get drafted, that's the guy whosed to start this week, FITZI.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
It's just the big three that are above him.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
For you this week it is and ericson nail, the
and Djoku angle. The other angle is this matchup against
the Bengals defense that gave up the most fantasy points
to tight ends last year. Here are the numbers compiled
by tight ends against Cincinnati in twenty twenty four, one
hundred and eleven catches, one and fourteen yards and ten touchdowns.
(13:43):
So basically tight ends collectively against the Bengals last year
were like peak Rob Gronkowski.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
We'll take that. We'll take that all day long. Mark
Mark Andrews. That's pretty good, and that sounds pretty pretty good. Sold.
Next up on the list, let's talk about Mark Anne
and ecr tight end eight. You've got him at seven, Ericson,
you've got him at ten. I feel like, ironically, Tucker Craft,
who we're not going to talk about again, we kind
of already talked about. You guys are on like different
(14:13):
sides of that, maybe the matchup, and actually he might
be part of the reason. You know, one is higher
and one is lower on specifically Mark Andrews. It's the
Tucker Craft effect. But Fitz, you tell us you're a
little bit higher on Andrews here. So what do you
got for him in Week one?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Well, Andrews really wasn't a guy wanted to draft, sort
of a fade for me in draft season. But I
think the time to feel good about him as early
in the season because Isaiah likely is not expected to
play in Week one. He's recovering from a broken bone
in his foot, and that makes the target outlook a
little sunnier. For Andrews, or at least better than it
would be if likely were around.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
All right, Ericson, you are not quite as excited. You've
got him at ten at tight end, You're not doesn't
look like you're bench in him or anything like that.
But do you think production is going to be a
little bit muted?
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Think this is probably where my ranking is wrong. So
someone that will probably have to move up, because like
we's out, this is prime time for Mark Andrews to
vacuhim up touchdowns, especially in a game against the Buffalo
Bills where there could be no defense.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
I mean it's Lamarrvus Josh Allen.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
There should be points galore. Maybe your guy Delta Kinkaid
Welsh can catch a touchdown too, maybe he can get involved.
So I think I probably have to move especially in
the half PPR ranks where I mean right now at
an Ingram ahead of him, I don't think that that's
necessarily going to stay like that, Kelsey, he has to
catch a touchdown. I think doubt score Mark Andrews, so
I'm probably gonna move him up. But I get I
(15:36):
struggle when I put him next to guys like Craft
and Tyler Warren, where I just see the explosive yards
out to the catch. I think maybe those guys see
a little bit more volume here in Week one. But touchdowns.
I mean, if I don't know what the touchdown odds are,
but if you look and at Mark Andrews is pretty
close to even money or a plus one hundred to
catch a touchdown in Week one.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
He had one in He had one in each of
his two games against the Browns last year.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Touchdown And like I said, I feel like Tucker Kraft
was kind of like a piece that moves Andrews for
both of you, whether you like Kraft not you dislike Kraft,
but you know, I FITZI, you had mentioned like the
matchup could be a little bit tougher. You're all in
ericson on Craft, so that might have the effect that
pushes him down. You know, you say Kinkaid would be
one of those tight ends that did not make the
(16:21):
top twelve that I think I would push into the
top twelve. But let's say what you guys think. So
one deep tight end he didn't make this list, maybe
it's a guy that is going to get there or
someone that people should be taking a look at.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Fits who do you got Brenton's strange for the Jaguars,
now the starting tight end following Evan Ingram's departure, and
he kicks off this season with a plus match up
against the Panthers, who gave up the second most fantasy
points to tight ends last season. They allowed eleven touchdowns
to tight ends.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Okay ericson what do you got for us going to
Drake May's red zone target Hunter Henry against the Las
Vegas Raiders. I think Henry's gonna have a big red
zone role. Saw that with Josh McDaniels and McDaniel's last
or the last time they played together or coached together
in New England. So yeah, I think if the Patriots
offense scores points, I think Drake Bay's gonna be throwing
(17:10):
touchdowns the Hunter Henry. And when it comes to these
late round tight ends or guys you're streaming, you catch touchdown,
bang your top five tight end on the week. That's
all you gotta do.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Easy money, easy money. Go to fantasypros dot com slash
rankings if you guys want to check out what the
tight ends are looking like all the way up until kickoff.
If you're going to help you make some of those decisions.
We can also help you make those decisions where we've
got our Sunday stream We've got our Sunday streams are
back a couple hours before kickoff. Hopefully you guys join
us over on the YouTube YouTube dot com slash Fantasy
(17:39):
Pros answering your questions. I'll be there. There's always a
rotation of different guys and ericson and Pat will be
in there sometimes I'm betting pros. But we got two
hours of coverage for you. If you missed any of
your fantasy questions, we got just set that's going to
do it. Quarterbacks and tight ends in the books for
Andrew Erickson and Pat Fitzmorris. I'm Chris Welsh. Thank you
guys so much for hanging out with us. Good luck
(18:00):
in week one and we'll talk to you next time
right here on Fantasy Pros.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
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If you love the show, the best freeway to support
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Speaker 1 (18:16):
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What's up, Friends of Welcome into Fantasy Pros. This is
the Fantasy Football Podcast. I'm Chris Welsh, and we've got
more ranks for you Week one quarterbacks and tight ends.
Joining me, of course, is Pat Fitzmorris and Andrew Erickson.
As we are going to be tackling and hopefully registering
some pretty good ranks going into next week. See how
we are going to finish this bad boy out as
(00:21):
mentioned on some of our previous episodes. Go to fantasypros
dot com slash rankings and you guys can check out
how the ebbs and flows of all these rankings go.
Mister Pat Fitzmorris, there is a lot of volatility I
think at quarterback more than any other position. I know,
I guess I've said that kind of in all the
episodes we've done, but I mean we're talking about a
position where a guy you might have taken tenth overall
(00:44):
at that position and not considering starting. That example is
Dak Prescott. Spoiler alert, he is not in the top
twelve this week due to his matchup. People are legitimately
wondering do I start Bryce Young over him or Trevor Lawrence.
So this positions it is a weird one, especially into
week one, and I expect there to be some weird volatility.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, probably the most matchup sensitive position there is, more
so than running back and wide receiver, which can be
matchup sensitive too. You know, if you've got a wide
receiver going against a shutdown cornerback, or running back going
against some impregnable run defense. But with quarterbacks, like, the
numbers usually lay bare who the pushover defenses are and
(01:29):
who the nasty defenses are, and we adjust our rankings accordingly.
And that's why a lot of people stream quarterbacks, because
you can always find playable quarterbacks with good matchups on
waivers in most cases.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
By the way, just ridiculous flex too. I mentioned in
the RB episode FITZI was number eight in RBS, also
number nine in quarterbacks. Get a life, dude, Stop being
so good at all the stuff. Geez sodine, how we're
not worthy here? Ericson. Just as a quick aside, Do
you think there's anything people should give a little bit
more consideration into a lot drafting dak A. You know,
(02:02):
he was moving up to like eleven and ten on
boards and then not even considering starting him in week one?
Do you think that needs to be considered justin fields
is another good example that was a guy that was
moving into like nine or ten. We've talked a lot
about the Jets in our rank episodes, but now people
are just plummeting him due to a dude to playing
the Steelers. Do you think that needs to be a
little bit more of a heavy consideration for those type
(02:23):
of guys when you're drafting and or do people need
to be considering drafting two quarterbacks if you are going
to be like, should I not start Dak already?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Well, I think that it goes into the late round
quarterback strategy where we all talked about the season where
it seemed like it was picture flavor. This is such
a long tier of guys like ten plus quarterbacks that oh,
I like this guy, like his upside, And I think
that you can use week one or the early season
as a tiebreaker. If you don't feel comfortable Dak Prescott
at the Eagles in Week one, then don't draft him
(02:54):
as your late round quarterback draft Somebody else draft Drake
may So that's what I used, And that's why I
don't have Dak Prescott on any teen is because I
didn't like that look for week one, and I like
that outlook for week one for some of these other guys,
and now you're seeing that reflected in the week one rankings.
It doesn't mean that you can never have Prescott on
your team. If he bombs week one, well you know that,
Hey I still like him, but now he's valued cheaper,
so now I can go and acquire a player like that.
(03:16):
So that's something that again, if you like all the quarterbacks,
then find tiebreakers. I think Week one is a good
way to do that.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Very very well said, we're going to get to those
top twelve quarterbacks, and we've got tight end. It's not
just about quarterbacks. We've got tight end ranks that are
going to be happening. But first, if you want a
chance to win the ultimate symbol of fantasy football dominance,
the Custom Excel Champion Turnover Chain, courtesy of our friends
over at Trophy Smack, the number one destination for epic
(03:42):
fantasy football trophies, then this is your moment. This massive
five pound chain isn't just for show, it's a statement
to enter. All you've got to do is subscribe to
the Fantasy Pro's YouTube channel right now, drop a comment,
below on any of our videos could be this one
or any and that's it. We're gonna announcing a winner
(04:03):
right here on the channel. So make sure you turn
on notifications so you know when videos are up and
so you can claim your prize. This very very awesome
custom Excel Champion Turnover chain could be yours. Gentlemen, let's
jump into this. Let's look at the big board of
quarterbacks here. This is your top twelve quarterbacks for the week.
So your qb ones obviously super flexes. They're screaming at us.
(04:25):
Lamar Jackson comes in at number one, Josh Allen two,
Jalen Hurts three, Jaden Daniels for Joe Burrow five. Nothing
crazy there, Baker Mayfield at six, Patrick Mahomes at seven,
Kyler Murray bow Nicks. Now things get interesting. Trevor Lawrence
at ten, Drake may at eleven, and Brock Purty at twelve.
So those are some new names versus what you were
probably doing in draft season. A couple quarterbacks to talk
(04:48):
about in this list. Let's actually start with Trevor Lawrence.
So Trevor Lawrence, I think kind of jumps out to
me as a player that you know, I don't think
a lot of people were super excited about was into
the lower teens. He is easy. We are ten this
week obviously due to matchup. You guys are on kind
of different spectrum of it. So FITZI, let's start with you.
You are a complete buy of this. You actually have
(05:09):
him one spot higher. You've got Lawrence at nine. So
you're all in on Lawrence on this matchup with his
wide receivers. Let's hear the take.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, I like the matchup at home against the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers gave up the third most fantasy points to
quarterbacks last year twenty point seven fantasy points per game,
and Panthers also gave up a league high thirty five
touchdown passes to quarterbacks. Their opponent passer rating of one
oh five point four was the worst in the league.
(05:36):
And I trust William Cohen to maximize the talents of
Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Mister Andrew Rickson, you are not as sold. You've got
him a little bit closer to like draft equity. You
do not have him as a QB one, probably a
solid super flex in your mind, I'm guessing, but you've
got to make QB fifteen, So you do not want
to get him out here as your starter this week.
I don't know if that means you would start. We
use Dak as an example. Dak did not make this
justin Fields those two players. I don't know if you
(06:03):
have Lawrence still over those guys and you buried or not.
But what's your take on Trevor Lawrence this week?
Speaker 3 (06:09):
I do have him over those guys that you mentioned,
so Fields Prescott to me, he's still a waiver wire
quarterback stream, but he's the top guy right if you
are feeling concerned about the guy you drafted, then Lawrence
is probably the first guy would go to that's on
waivers that you could go and pick up and start
this week, assuming that you don't have to drop a
good player from your bench. So I'm just I'm just
(06:31):
a little bit hesitant to buy into the Liam Cohen
Trevor Lawrence experience hitting in week one, because sometimes it
takes time with some of these guys learning new offenses,
new receivers. Travis Hunter is a rookie, He's going to
be out there, so that's the only reason why. And
the Panthers, yes, they have tried to improve their defense
but that being said, Lawrence is still the best streamer
you can get off waivers.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
A little bit off book here. I want to ask you, guys,
because Patriots and Drake May's godfather. Uh, Drake May, where
are we at on him? He's eleven on this board?
FITSI you are the conductor of the Drake May train here,
He's a QB one in this range? Yeah or nay?
Do you have Drake May higher than Trevor Lawrence this week?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
One spot behind QB ten.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Okay, so he's a QB one. Any take any takeaway
on Drake May for you? For him this week.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Playing with confidence like I think he's going to run.
I'm excited about the running upside for Drake May. I
think he could give us eight hundred plus rushing yards
this year.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
All right, Top ten quarterback ericson Show Me Quarterback nine
caller Murray.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
That's why I quarterback nine, Drake Mas QB eleven. You're
starting Drake man boo starting Drake May starting? All right,
but Fitz wins. Fitz is still the godfather and the conductor,
so he gets all of that. This is true, and
I'm just vague.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, yeah, you're so much lower it's so ridiculous how
you've had him, but he is a QB one in
both your guys agreeing with with the consensus here. This
is a really big gap between you guys, and even
though he didn't make this list, we are going to
do like a quarterback that you like outside of the
top twelve. This one has some I think big implications
(08:13):
because Jordan Love is Ericson's QB eight this week. FITZI,
you've got him at seventeen, so you've got him way down.
So this is a huge quarterback gap here, So Ericson,
let's start with you, Jordan Love. All in, wide receivers
are kind of messy. What the running game is just
I mean, Sell, you got him higher than Drake May,
(08:34):
you got him higher than Kyler Murray. You are all
in on Jordan Love for week one.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I just like the matchup against the Detroit Lions. I
know that their defenses expect to be better after they
all got hurt last year, but they're still dealing with
some of the injuries from last season. Not all those
guys have come back into the starting lineup, and yes,
in Hudredson is back in the lineup as well, but
He's also coming off a season ending injury. Is he
going to be as effective against a Packer's offensive line
that I feel relatively good about? So yes, the receivers
(09:01):
are a little bit banged up. But the two guys
that I care about the most in terms of Jordan
Love's weapons, Matthew Golden and Tarker Craft, those are guys
gonna be out there and I think they're gonna be
firing in all cylinders. So I like Jordan Love a
lot in this matchup.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Fit SI very disappointed. What's up with you and Jordan Love?
What's going on?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
It's just that the Packers wide receiver situation is so
up in the air. I mean, Matthew Golden might be
the number one receiver, hasn't played an NFL game yet,
Jayden Reid playing with the Jones fracture in his foot,
Romeo Dobbs, Dontavian Wicks, math, and I do like Tucker
Craft a lot as much as ericson, but the Lions
are stingy against tight ends, and to me, it's just
(09:41):
I don't feel great about this matchup. The lines of
an excellent secondary. They're getting Aiden Hutchinson back from injury
to terrorized quarterbacks. And you know, Love missed some time
with that non throwing thumb injury in late in training camp,
and Love didn't play especially well in two starts against
the Lions last season, eleven point nine fantasy points and
(10:04):
fourteen point five fantasy points in those two starts with
only one touchdown pass.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
I'm a little bit more than fifty on this. So
just given a hard time. QB seventeen versus QB eight
quarterback that did not make this list, a quarterback that
is not in the top twelve that you think should
be fits You've got an interesting name, let's hear it.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, so my top twelve matches the ECR Top twelve.
But the guy you just missed for me was justin Herbert,
and Herbert just usually plays well against the Chiefs for
whatever reason. In nine careers starts against Kansas City, Herbert
has averaged two hundred and sixty six passing yards and
two touchdown passes per game. He's also run for three
touchdowns against the Chiefs, and he's averaged seven point nine
(10:45):
yards per pass attempt.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Erickson, are you sticking with the You kind of just
did give us the guy Jordan Love was not in
the top the top twelve, and is that your guy?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Yeah, I was stick with him, and if I had
to list off another quarterback, it would be the guy
he's facing, and it would be Jared Goff. So definitely
I was fading Jared Goff through Audrey draft season. But
I mean, is it all going to come crumbling down
in Week one for Jared Goff? Maybe not so. Look,
this Packer's lines game has a pretty high game total,
so I mean there could be points.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
So hard to score fantasy points when you're getting bear
hugged by Micah Parsons ericson.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah, well he's got his back injury, so we'll see
how much he plays.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah, if he's got the epidural out. All right, let's
go talk about some tight ends. We've got the top
twelve tight ends with a couple interesting notes here. Looking
at the big board, Brock Bauers comes in at number one,
Trey McBride two, George Kittle three. There you go, easy stuff,
Sam Laporta at four, Travis Kelcey, TJ. Hockinson, David n Joku,
Mark Andrews, Evan Ingram, Tucker Craft. That's your top ten,
(11:47):
followed by Tyler Warren and then Jake Ferguson comes in
at number twelve. So pretty again as you would expect,
as it pretty much should be in Week one. Not
too many crazy crazy things in here. Let's start with
a player that you guys have way higher than consensus,
and I was kind of doing the same thing here
and we talked about this in the Wide Receiver episode.
(12:08):
The Bengals are not a great defense and someone's going
to eat them up. You guys are saying it's David
and Joku. He is ECR tight end seven. You both
have him at four. Ericson, why don't we start with
you all in on David and Joku this week.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
This week one matchup was why it was so hard
for me to keep David Joko low in my redraft
rankings because I knew Week one was against the Bengals
and I knew he was going to smash just like
That's how confident I am about in Joku this week.
He destroyed the Bengals last season when he played them,
and when we saw him play with Joe Flacco, the
guy was an absolute monster. He's averaging nine targets per game,
(12:45):
twenty nine percent target rap per route run last season,
he led all tight ends and end zone targets per game,
thirteenth overall in targets per game, not at just tight
end among all players that caught pass his last season.
So look, I think maybe his usually just a little
bit if they use a little bit more of Harold Fannin.
But for Week one, expecting a third round rookie to
eat into this veteran who's established has rapport with Joe Flacco.
(13:09):
If this game turns into a shootout and joke, who's
gonna go for over one hundred yards and maybe scored
a touchdown. So he is if you went late round
tight end and Joko, or if somehow and Djoko didn't
get drafted, that's the guy whosed to start this week, FITZI.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
It's just the big three that are above him.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
For you this week it is and ericson nail, the
and Djoku angle. The other angle is this matchup against
the Bengals defense that gave up the most fantasy points
to tight ends last year. Here are the numbers compiled
by tight ends against Cincinnati in twenty twenty four, one
hundred and eleven catches, one and fourteen yards and ten touchdowns.
(13:43):
So basically tight ends collectively against the Bengals last year
were like peak Rob Gronkowski.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
We'll take that. We'll take that all day long. Mark
Mark Andrews. That's pretty good, and that sounds pretty pretty good. Sold.
Next up on the list, let's talk about Mark Anne
and ecr tight end eight. You've got him at seven, Ericson,
you've got him at ten. I feel like, ironically, Tucker Craft,
who we're not going to talk about again, we kind
of already talked about. You guys are on like different
(14:13):
sides of that, maybe the matchup, and actually he might
be part of the reason. You know, one is higher
and one is lower on specifically Mark Andrews. It's the
Tucker Craft effect. But Fitz, you tell us you're a
little bit higher on Andrews here. So what do you
got for him in Week one?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Well, Andrews really wasn't a guy wanted to draft, sort
of a fade for me in draft season. But I
think the time to feel good about him as early
in the season because Isaiah likely is not expected to
play in Week one. He's recovering from a broken bone
in his foot, and that makes the target outlook a
little sunnier. For Andrews, or at least better than it
would be if likely were around.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
All right, Ericson, you are not quite as excited. You've
got him at ten at tight end, You're not doesn't
look like you're bench in him or anything like that.
But do you think production is going to be a
little bit muted?
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Think this is probably where my ranking is wrong. So
someone that will probably have to move up, because like
we's out, this is prime time for Mark Andrews to
vacuhim up touchdowns, especially in a game against the Buffalo
Bills where there could be no defense.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
I mean it's Lamarrvus Josh Allen.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
There should be points galore. Maybe your guy Delta Kinkaid
Welsh can catch a touchdown too, maybe he can get involved.
So I think I probably have to move especially in
the half PPR ranks where I mean right now at
an Ingram ahead of him, I don't think that that's
necessarily going to stay like that, Kelsey, he has to
catch a touchdown. I think doubt score Mark Andrews, so
I'm probably gonna move him up. But I get I
(15:36):
struggle when I put him next to guys like Craft
and Tyler Warren, where I just see the explosive yards
out to the catch. I think maybe those guys see
a little bit more volume here in Week one. But touchdowns.
I mean, if I don't know what the touchdown odds are,
but if you look and at Mark Andrews is pretty
close to even money or a plus one hundred to
catch a touchdown in Week one.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
He had one in He had one in each of
his two games against the Browns last year.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Touchdown And like I said, I feel like Tucker Kraft
was kind of like a piece that moves Andrews for
both of you, whether you like Kraft not you dislike Kraft,
but you know, I FITZI, you had mentioned like the
matchup could be a little bit tougher. You're all in
ericson on Craft, so that might have the effect that
pushes him down. You know, you say Kinkaid would be
one of those tight ends that did not make the
(16:21):
top twelve that I think I would push into the
top twelve. But let's say what you guys think. So
one deep tight end he didn't make this list, maybe
it's a guy that is going to get there or
someone that people should be taking a look at.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Fits who do you got Brenton's strange for the Jaguars,
now the starting tight end following Evan Ingram's departure, and
he kicks off this season with a plus match up
against the Panthers, who gave up the second most fantasy
points to tight ends last season. They allowed eleven touchdowns
to tight ends.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Okay ericson what do you got for us going to
Drake May's red zone target Hunter Henry against the Las
Vegas Raiders. I think Henry's gonna have a big red
zone role. Saw that with Josh McDaniels and McDaniel's last
or the last time they played together or coached together
in New England. So yeah, I think if the Patriots
offense scores points, I think Drake Bay's gonna be throwing
(17:10):
touchdowns the Hunter Henry. And when it comes to these
late round tight ends or guys you're streaming, you catch touchdown,
bang your top five tight end on the week. That's
all you gotta do.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Easy money, easy money. Go to fantasypros dot com slash
rankings if you guys want to check out what the
tight ends are looking like all the way up until kickoff.
If you're going to help you make some of those decisions.
We can also help you make those decisions where we've
got our Sunday stream We've got our Sunday streams are
back a couple hours before kickoff. Hopefully you guys join
us over on the YouTube YouTube dot com slash Fantasy
(17:39):
Pros answering your questions. I'll be there. There's always a
rotation of different guys and ericson and Pat will be
in there sometimes I'm betting pros. But we got two
hours of coverage for you. If you missed any of
your fantasy questions, we got just set that's going to
do it. Quarterbacks and tight ends in the books for
Andrew Erickson and Pat Fitzmorris. I'm Chris Welsh. Thank you
guys so much for hanging out with us. Good luck
(18:00):
in week one and we'll talk to you next time
right here on Fantasy Pros.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football podcast.
If you love the show, the best freeway to support
us is by leaving a positive review on Apple podcasts,
at Fantasypros dot com, slash review, or on Spotify.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Follow us on x.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros and subscribe to our
YouTube channel at YouTube dot com. Slash Fantasy Pros
Hosts And Creators
Andrew Erickson
Joe Pisapia
Derek Brown
Thor Nystrom
Ryan Wormeli
Pat Fitzmaurice
Matthew Freedman
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