September 4, 2025 • 42 mins
Get ready, fantasy football owners! 🚨 This Week 1 Injury Update breaks down everything YOU need to know to dominate your league. From Christian McCaffrey's calf concerns to Justin Jefferson's hamstring status, we’ve got expert insights to help you navigate the season. Join Dan and Dr. Brian Scott as they deliver accurate, up-to-date analysis on key player injuries and their fantasy impacts. Whether you're worried about Joe Mixon's foot or Darnell Mooney's shoulder, we've got you covered.
Make sure to subscribe, hit that notification bell, and join our ever-growing community of fantasy enthusiasts! 💬 Drop a comment with your questions or thoughts—who's in your starting lineup this week? 🌟 Don't forget, the NFL season is a marathon, not a sprint. Stay ahead of the game with weekly updates, expert advice, and tips to help you crush your league.
🏈 Follow us every week to unravel the latest #NFLfootball injury news, player updates, and fantasy strategies. Let’s tackle the season together and make your team unstoppable. Need more advice? Head to FantasyFootballAdvice.com and take your fantasy game to the next level. Let’s win this season, one injury update at a time! 🔥
#fantasyfootball #fantasyadvice #injuryupdates #NFL #ChristianMcCaffrey #JustinJefferson #JoeMixon #DarnellMooney #NFLWeek1
#nfl #fantasyfootball #fantasyfootballdraft #fantasyfootballdraftstrategy #underdogfantasy
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
03:18 - Christian McCaffrey Highlights
06:41 - Miami RBs Analysis
10:22 - Najee Harris Performance
13:50 - Joe Mixon Insights
16:46 - Nick Chubb Breakdown
18:14 - Justin Jefferson Review
22:41 - Matthew Golden Profile
24:44 - Stefon Diggs Discussion
27:55 - Buffalo Bills Team Review
37:10 - Player Injury Recap
40:27 - Where to Find Dan
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/operation-domination-football--6152403/support.
Make sure to subscribe, hit that notification bell, and join our ever-growing community of fantasy enthusiasts! 💬 Drop a comment with your questions or thoughts—who's in your starting lineup this week? 🌟 Don't forget, the NFL season is a marathon, not a sprint. Stay ahead of the game with weekly updates, expert advice, and tips to help you crush your league.
🏈 Follow us every week to unravel the latest #NFLfootball injury news, player updates, and fantasy strategies. Let’s tackle the season together and make your team unstoppable. Need more advice? Head to FantasyFootballAdvice.com and take your fantasy game to the next level. Let’s win this season, one injury update at a time! 🔥
#fantasyfootball #fantasyadvice #injuryupdates #NFL #ChristianMcCaffrey #JustinJefferson #JoeMixon #DarnellMooney #NFLWeek1
#nfl #fantasyfootball #fantasyfootballdraft #fantasyfootballdraftstrategy #underdogfantasy
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
03:18 - Christian McCaffrey Highlights
06:41 - Miami RBs Analysis
10:22 - Najee Harris Performance
13:50 - Joe Mixon Insights
16:46 - Nick Chubb Breakdown
18:14 - Justin Jefferson Review
22:41 - Matthew Golden Profile
24:44 - Stefon Diggs Discussion
27:55 - Buffalo Bills Team Review
37:10 - Player Injury Recap
40:27 - Where to Find Dan
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/operation-domination-football--6152403/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Operation Domination is underway. The ultimate game plan to dominate
your with your host.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
You gotta be confident about your achilles.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
I got it. Be great, I'm dominated.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
All right, all right, all right, welcome back in the
Operation Domination, the special injury episode that will be bringing
to you every single week.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Just FYI, we record.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
This on Thursday night, so that way you have it
early Friday morning, so if we're not updated with the
Friday reports, that is why. But I do bring on
the expert, mister doctor Brian Scott.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
My man.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
I just got an email from the Sea Geek saying
that they've authenticated Carolina Panthers tickets people for the season.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
I don't know if we should be excited or what,
but I just.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Like, I'm like, okay, please come to our game. Yes, yeah,
like they're really reaching now. So but thanks for having
me on, Dan Gadre to be here. Thank you for
bringing that up. Guys, this is Thursday night. We're doing
this right before the start of the game. We will
be as accurate as we can be given all the
reports I get all my stuff for this show and
(01:31):
all the shows I do, which I do multiple shows.
By the way, since we might have a lot of
new viewers this year, Dan, which is great.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
That is the idea well deserved, by the way, well deserved.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
And most of the stuff I get is what you
read it reports, what you get from your sources on
the internet, social media and whatnot. I'm not getting any
inside information. But where I separate myself from everybody else's
I've got the experience in the background to know how
to decipher all these reports and stuff, so it's going
to be about as accurate as it can be actually
(02:00):
being there on the sideline. And trust me, when you
hear sources, it ain't coming from the medical professional. That's
coming from like the custodians and the rock locker room
attendance and maybe some interns who are you know, just
happen to be present and you know, want to butter
up to some of these reporters and stuff and someday
(02:20):
maybe work with them, so they're gonna tell them what
they saw. But you're not gonna get much as far
as detail goes until the medical people start talking, and
that doesn't usually happen very often. But that's why you
come here to watch the show. Follow me, Dan, and
we'll make sure you get all the latest, up to date,
most accurate injury updates.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, of course, and I'm here to give the fantasy
football impact of all the injury analysis that Brian has
to give. By the way, make sure checking out doctor
Brian's got on the Injured List podcasts throughout the year
because you cover all the sports. So happy to have
you on and happy to do this with you, and
happy to have people go your direction. All right, so
let's dive into this thing because I know it's week one.
(03:00):
The good news is because it's week one, there are
no bye weeks, so you should still have options. And
if you drafted somebody who is injured, likely you already
knew about their injury and had a backup plan, or
at least I'm hoping so if you were watching and
listening to this show otherwise, I haven't been doing my job,
so don't tell me I haven't been doing my job.
But first, up, first, and foremost, let's just do this
(03:22):
because this one literally dropped right before the show, So
we're just gonna head and knock this out the way. Becau.
I think it's gonna be umber one name and everyone's
mind going into the Friday practice reports Christian McCaffrey popped
up with a limited participant in practice with a calf issue.
Now everyone, of course is their bus got real tight
on that, right, because it's like, oh man, this is.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Gonna be the same thing as last year. It's all
deja vu all over again.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
And I will say from one standpoint, it's a little
concerning because he wasn't listed with that calf issue at
all this training camp, but they have been rotating him
in his Thursday. So, Brian, what do you make of this?
Speaker 4 (03:57):
I mean, first of all, these are literally popped up
as we were talking in the green room there, and
from what we were able to decipher going back and
forth together looking at various social media posts and looking
on the internet, it sounds like this was just a
precautionary thing due to some calf soreness that he experienced
in practice following yesterday's full session, which he participated in.
(04:20):
So it wasn't like he got hurt, had to get
card off the field or anything serious like that, you know.
Heading in the week one, he hasn't had any setbacks
this preseason. It sounds like things are good. They're going
to be very cautious with him given all the stuff
that happened last year in the preseason heading into the
opening Week one, and I don't expect him to take
(04:41):
any chances with his health this year because, let's face it,
the guy's had major injuries over the few years. Over
the last few years, he's lost some time due to injuries,
He's getting older, He's a running back. I'm as already
short as it is at that position for most NFL players.
They're gonna want him when he's out there to be
prime tip top one hund ready to go. So I'm
(05:05):
not overly concerned about it. I don't think fans and
people who have him on their fantasy roster should be
overly concerned about it.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
It sounds like it.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Was just a precautionary thing, and that makes sense from
a sports medicine healthcare perspective. There's no reason to push
a guy through some unexpected or new onset soreness in
a body part that he previously dealt with injuries on
at this stage of the preseason as you hit into
Week one, because if you try to push somebody through
that or you ignore that, that's when things linger. That's
(05:36):
when they potentially become more serious down the line, and
that's when you end up on IR or season ending injuries.
So smart move by the medical team, smart move by
the organization.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
I'm not worried. I don't think anyone else should be. Yeah,
and just a reminder, this is not like last year.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Last year he was listed with the calf injury, was
not practicing throughout training camp. We kept being told to
come back and then just didn't happen. All the counselors,
McCaffrey has looked like his old for himself throughout the
entire summer. So again, do not panic on this. The
fantasy impact would be if something were to pop up. Well,
we all know Brian Robinson, the newly acquisite, you know,
(06:15):
trade asset that they got from the Washington commanders over
there with the forty nine ers. He would definitely be
the primary backup with Gorendo likely being a compliment from
a lightning standpoint, more of a speed standpoint, But they
brought Brian Robinson because they wanted someone to be that
number two. It looks like they did not trust Garndo
to take on a full workload as the backup running
(06:35):
back to Christian McCaffrey. But he is a playmaker. But
Robinson would be the guy to play if you have him. Okay,
so let's go to Devon Achang. This is somebody we
actually did have on our list. And while we're at it,
who was supposed to be his backup originally?
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Jalen Wright dealing with a lower Lake issue too.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Yeah, so the whole Jalen Wright thing is a bit
of a mystery. Multiple reports have said he had a
small or minor procedure done on his leg. I don't
know what that means. I have not found any specific
detail that goes into what exactly that procedure was. However,
coach McDaniel characterized his return as sometime in the foreseeable
(07:16):
future and likely going to miss several weeks. He's not
going to be available for week one. I think that's
been confirmed. My guess is if it was a quote
unquote minor procedure, then what they're probably waiting for is
to make sure that whatever they did, if it required
some type of sturgical incision, that that heals adequately. And
(07:36):
in that case, there may not be anything structural that
was needed to be done during this minor procedure, and
so they're just letting things heal in a timely fashion
so that there's no risk of a woundy hissance or
some type of complication. So I'm going to guess that
he's out at least two weeks minimum. That could be
pushed up by a few days here and there depending
(07:57):
on the timing of the procedure, but definitely this week.
We'll have to see what happens during practice next week's
but very on, very limited information coming out about what
that procedure was.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Now.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Devanah Shane on the flip side, has actually practiced in
full today is expected to play Sunday against the Cults,
and McDaniel was clear in saying that he's very optimistic
that he's going to be ready to go at a
very high level and that this was a minor setback
and they wanted to make sure he was going to
be ready to go, knowing that Jalen Wright was having
(08:32):
this procedure. So it sounds like everything went smooth with
his therapy that were being very aggressive in his rehab
beating up to week one, so it sounds like he's
ready to go.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
All right, Well, that's the good news, right If you
drafted davan a Chan, you're going to be able to
use him week one, and that's what we were hoping for,
and that's what we were told the entire time, although.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
We can't always truss the coaching staff.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
So I understand that if you drafted Devon a Chan
and you knew about this calf as you knew, you
were probably gonna want to handcuff him, plus him being
a smaller back, plus Miami's offensive line sucking. All those
factors is why you probably should have handcuffed them if
you're going to draft them anyway. Now, the thing was
that you're drafting in early August, you were drafting jailing
right the handcuff him. Maybe you got lucky enough and
(09:14):
still got your hands on Ali Gordon. Hopefully you did.
That would be the number two. Now to go further
in depth on that, for a split second, we don't
know exactly the right timeline. The last ive thing I
saw was that sometime late September was seen to be
the targeted date for him to come on back. Regardless
right was not looking very good in preseason in training camp.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
There's a lot of notes about that. Now.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I'm not the biggest Ali Gordon guy. I think he's
the definition of just a dude. A dude who can
do a little bit of everything, which makes him a
quality backup, but not somebody who can actually explode and
make plays the way Jalen and wright physical skill set is.
But we haven't really seen him be able to put
that together, and from what I understood, it wasn't coming
together all that much in training camp either, and then
got shut down short with the injury that he had
(10:01):
and he missed last few weeks of it anyway. So
all that is to say, there's a real chance that,
regardless of jal and Bright coming back from this injury,
Ali Gordon might be the handcuff for Devon hen for
the rest of the season moving forward anyway. So you
should have him on your roster ready to go, and
we'll tackle that when Wright comes back to see exactly
how that all shakes out in the depth chart. Let's
(10:22):
talk about the game. It's gonna be tonight. If you're
listening to this on Friday, like you should be. Uh
Najee Harris eye injury says he's gonna play.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Brian.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I gotta ask you, though, because we talked about this
before training camp, and we talked about it then and
you didn't have much concern, but then it took all
of training camp for him to get back, like he
his first practice was we want to practice.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
So what do you make in that timeline there? Again,
this has been very limited information. They called it, I
think I think they called it a superficial eye injury
or something to that effect, which in theory shouldn't really
preclude him from being on the field, maybe avoiding contact,
but at least doing something out there. I'm not sure
(11:09):
what to make This was a fire cracker, firework incident,
by the way, in the off season, reminiscent of a
New York Giant who we won't talk about. But you know,
I don't know, man, It's hard to say exactly what
it was. It didn't require surgery, it wasn't anything serious,
but yet he wasn't on the field until recently, like
you said, so, I'm guessing it was just a superficial,
(11:31):
corny little brasion or something to that effect that just
needed some time to heal.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
And they were being cautious.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
I'm sure that if he does come back, he's going
to be playing with advisor, if you or some form
of eye protection if he didn't before. But yeah, kind
of a mystery as to why it took so long
to get him back on the field. If this was
nothing serious, that's really I don't really have much more
to say than that. I mean, it's not an extremity injury,
it's not a sports related injury. Should not affect his
(11:59):
condition an ability to perform at a high level, unless
he's still still dealing with some type of visual disturbance,
which may have been the reason why it took him
so long.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
They haven't said that, So my assumption is that he's
good to go. He was medically cleared, according to the team,
to return to practice and be ready for the game,
and they're saying he's ready for week one, so I
have no reason to think otherwise based on what limited
information they put up.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah, it was just a very weird situation, and I
kept him out all of training camp, and I that
we were told to your point, wasn't supposed to be
all that serious. But so here's the fantasy of it all.
If you think Najie Harris is going to have a
significant role week one after joining a new team with
a new regime, not practicing at all throughout training camp,
(12:50):
you're crazy. Like I've heard people who own a mari
and Hampton who are actually freaking out about this. Like,
first of all, if you drafted amar In hamp did
you did so knowing that you wanted him to get
the bell cow workload by the end of the season anyway,
and you just got like pretty much a treat with
the Naja Harris situation that week one, you're gonna see it.
I know Greg Rohlman came out and said there's gonna
(13:11):
be a rotation. No running back gets one hundred percent
of the touches. So I don't know why. I don't
know what makes you think there wouldn't be another running
back getting involved in some capacity anyway.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
But Amarin Hampton.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Is a special kind of beast who fits that system
really really well. I don't see this guy coming off
the field fifty percent of the time Like this is
going to be a guy who I think has a chance,
a real chance for a seventy plus percent total opportunity
share out of that backfield this season and week one
it's a tougher magic ins Kansas City. I'd be more
worried about that, But he's in my top twenty of
(13:44):
running backs. You're locking in you're playing him. I don't
check to see much of Najie Harris in this game,
all right. I wanted to get this one out the
way because, I mean, we talked about this, we kind
of saw the same way, and it looks like it's
gonna be correct. So Joe Mixon in his foot issue
back on the IR he's not going to play this week.
But do you think he's gonna play it all this Season's.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
That's a tough call. We we don't know exactly what
he did either. I've guessed all along that is possibly
some type of list frank injury, which is pretty serious,
and if I would have to look back through my notes,
but I know he's had some foot and ankle issues
throughout the years in the past when he was with
the Bengals. If that is in fact what he did,
(14:27):
or if this is a reaggravation of a previous list
Frank injury, this is very, very bad for him and
his season and we in our show here together, you know,
I predicted that this was going to be a long
term thing. I wouldn't even touch him in fantasy drafts.
And that's about as big a fantasy analysis as you'll
get from me and so truth you know, be told lying.
(14:51):
Behold here, he's on IR, which is not unusual given
the whole circumstance here, And this was an injury that
occurred in the offseason apparently, so whether during.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Training or whatever, we don't know.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
He's out four games minimum, But then the team still
has twenty one days if they are going to activate
him once he starts practicing, So we may not even
have an answer for up to seven weeks possibly as
to what he's going to do, if he's going to
be even available at all, and if they're even gonna
consider taking him off IR and activating him to the
active roster. So this is going to drag out for
(15:25):
several weeks into the season. We may not get a
lot more updates or information until we get closer to
that timeframe. So I don't anticipate talking about him much
for quite some time going forward. If you had watched
their shows and listened to the reports that we gave,
you would have forse it foreseen this to come and
avoided him at all cost.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Oh oh, I know, and we talked about this.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I talk with people during the expo, and there are
drafts going on to the expo. Joe Mixon in the
you know, the draft night out league that I was in,
went in like the seventh eighth round. I'm like, dude,
you're gonna regret that pitch, Like, even if he plays
at some point the season're gonna regret that pick.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
And here's the problem their backup is who's now going
to be their starter is Nick Chubb, who people are
also very high on. And I know it's because he's
very fantasy relevant when he is healthy. But that's the
problem with Nick Chubb is he's not often very healthy.
He's got coming off major knee injuries times too, and
(16:25):
this is another year where he's coming off a major
knee injury. If you watch me talk about Nick Chubb,
I'm very very cautious with what we can expect from him.
And he's basically a ticking time bomb. His knee is
a ticking time bomb. So you have to be very
careful with what your expectations are of him. And now
the Texans are relying on him as their number one.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Well, and that's say ways perfectly into what I was
about to talk about, with the Texans backfield being a
complete and utter mess. Look Nick Chubb, like even this week.
It was hard for me to get Nick Chubb as
a starting running back in the NFL. Jon Say Williams
falls into this too, to even get crack the top
thirty six in my running backs like like that that's
how that's how hard it was for even get him
that high, because that's how much I don't think you
(17:07):
should bother playing him like this. This whole thing, you're
gonna probably see Damian Pierce more. You're probably you're gonna
see some sort of mixture of dari A Goomble and
Woody Marx like and Woody marks the whole thing. Like
everybody was like, well, maybe Woodie Marx could be the
guy because he's a rookie. Well now he got pushed
way down the depth chart. I talked about this on
the show yesterday and I said, I think there's a
non zero chance that Woody Marx is healthy inactive.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Coming up for this weekend, depending on how the special teams.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Are going to work with where he's placed it right now,
Like you just don't know. This whole thing is complete mess.
And when you have a guy like you know, Nick Chubb,
who was last year was three point three yards per carry.
He wasn't that explosive, and the reports in training camp
have been he hasn't looked really that explosive. He still
looks like he's a step slow. I don't know what
you're expecting. If anything, you're hoping he falls into the
(17:55):
end zone. He never gave you much as a pass catcher.
And if he doesn't have an explosion, which is what
made him so special in the first place, I don't
know what you're gonna get, which is why I do
think we're gonna see a full blown committee and the
Texans are just gonna wait for somebody to get a
hot hand to rite and that's how this whole thing's
gonna play out. So I think you've been playing Russian
Roulette with that Texans backfield. All right, So let's talk
(18:16):
about the wide receiver. Justin Jefferson hamstring, big name there.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
What you got.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Not worried, not worried at all. He's cleared to play.
He's going to play. They were just being extra cautious
with him. I don't expect this to be a lingering issue.
He's the All Pro All Star, I mean, you name it,
the guys, they're number one, and is one of the
number ones across the league, so they're gonna treat him
(18:40):
with kid gloves. They've had enough time now in the
preseason to make sure he's been right. I don't foresee
it being an issue.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, if anybody can skip training camp, it would be
Justin Jefferson, the bigger conservative, Jordan Addison being suspended, and
guys like Jalen Naylor and some others a ty Felton
all getting banged up, which is why they made the
trade for Adam Thielen. All Right, Jaden Reid Jones fracture,
thinks he's going to try to play through it this season.
But woo, this doesn't make me feel pretty good.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Yeah, kind of surprising. I'm sure this is not what
was recommended to him. I can almost guarantee you that
when he saw the team doctor, they were pushing for
surgery and he probably talked himself out of it. I mean,
you can do it. It can be done. I've seen
it done. It's difficult to do in football, not going
(19:28):
to be easy. It's really becomes a pain, kind of
threshold pain management issue. There's really not any special brace
or tape job or anything major you can do to
make it better. While you're out there on the field playing,
you can treat it beforehand and afterwards to try and
leave some of these soft tissues swelling and the pain.
(19:48):
But the problem is these have a high rate of
non union, meaning they don't yel and if you're playing
through it, there's almost a complete one hundred percent guarantee
that it will not heal and that it's going to
chore surgery at some point. The question then becomes when
when do you bite the bullet and pull the trigger
and get the surgery, And a lot of that could
(20:10):
be determined by his performance on the field, which if
it suffers, which it possibly could trying to play through this,
that could be sooner rather than later. Or if the
Packers are doing well and he's able to play through
it and be successful, they might hold off as long
as they possibly can to see if the team has
any playoff aspirations, and if he's a part of that,
then they're probably going to let him go as long
(20:30):
as he possibly can and wait till the end of
the season or off season to fix it. But it's
all going to come down to how he feels, what
his pain management threshold is, and so what I foresee
going forward is a lot of limited practice sessions, him
popping up on an injury report every day throughout the
weeks going forward, until either they decide this is enough,
(20:52):
is enough, let's fix it, or you know, the team
is out of contention, and then they say, nah, you're
done and they shut him down. So it's gonna be
like this basically for as long as he continues to play.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
So can be talking about Jade read every single week
is basically what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Much he's going to be on there unless we have
any major new updates or I see anything we are
going on or something that I think maybe they're gonna
shut it down.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
It will just be the same, the same talk every week.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Okay, well, I'll be sure to leave him off unless
there's an update that say the.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
First game that he plays will be telling yes, and
it doesn't.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
It doesn't necessarily look like it's going to be this
week because he has not participated in practice as a.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
Yeah, it might not be, and you know, hey, maybe
that's part of the plan. Maybe is to see if
we can actually get him ready by week two. And
then they made turn around and say, you know what,
forget it. He tried it's not going to work, and
they might actually make a determination then to have surgery
and maybe put him on IR. But the fact that
they didn't do it already h is not good management
(21:53):
because now you've taken a roster spot from somebody else,
from somebody else who potentially could they could have signed,
and you might have to elevate a practice squad player.
It's gonna be hard to find somebody through free agency
now who's not already taken. So not good roster management
on the part of the Packers if they're theyn't going
to turn around week two or something and say sit
him down, you know. But again, his first game action
(22:17):
is going to be telling, because that's going to give
you a clear insight into how he's going to perform.
It's probably only going to get worse as the season goes.
It will not likely get better, let's just put it
that way. So if he has a good game his
first game out, it's probably gonna get worse from there.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
So hopefully it's a great right, Yeah, hopefully it is.
This is not not a situation where wearing tear's gonna
help us it. It would help it.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
So But with that though, so I've been big on
Matthew Golden being a powerhouse sleeper type of player that
you could target later on your drafts, going usually somewhere
between the eighth to tenth round.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
It's all going the seventh in some drafts.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
But even this week, EASTRS got him outside the top
thirty six. I got him down on why receiver forty
and I said this yesterday. I got him ranked that
wide receiver twenty six. Heading into this week, I think
he's a must play wide receiver three, at least in
your flex if nothing else. It's a great match up
against Detroit that could be a back and forth divisional
rival shootout potentially, or at least a higher scoring game potentially.
(23:16):
With that being in Green Bay, He's going up against
Terry and Arnold, who was awful last season.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
I know there's a lot of talk.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
That he's playing much better now, but Arnold was the
guy who was part of that secondary that led up
the fifth most points to Fantasy wide receivers a season ago.
So as a juicy matchup, Jayden Reid's probably not gonna play.
He already beat outd on Tavian Wicks to be the
starting perimeter wide receiver on the opposite side of Romeo Dobbs.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
We know what Romeo Dobbs is.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
He's a six to seven hundred and four to five
touchdown type of player, great situational player, great little depth
piece to have a competent starter, but fantasy relevancy is limited.
They have been desperate for a wide receiver that can
take the top off Christian Watson. There's a reason why
we were big on Christian Watson in this offense because
the big plays and the touchdowns. Well, guess what, Matthew
(24:08):
Golden does both. And I think he's a better route
runner than Christian Watson ever was, which makes him a
little bit more dynamic and more of a chance that
he could actually take on the role of being an
alpha wide receiver. Jordan Love, do not believe for a
second when matt Lafor sits there and says, we don't
need an alpha wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
We're just gonna pass around. We have a bunch of
good wide receivers. No, no, no, no.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
For an offense to properly function, they need a go
to weapon when the chips are down in situations where
they need that guy to win his matchup. That's what
they're looking for that's what Matthew Golden has a chance
to be. That's what I'm going to play him as,
and he has the opportunity to.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Do so with the Jaden Reid injury.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Okay, so now let's talk about Stefan Diggs. This one
has me just puzzled in my brain because we have
a guy who's about to be thirty two coming off
in ACL somehow miraculously is healthy and ready to go.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Earlier than we ever expected.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
And I'm just for sunny to see, like, is it
all a farce or is this actually Stefon Diggs.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
From a medical standpoint, what do you make of this situation? Well,
I mean it's not unheard of. He is a professional athlete,
so he's been rehabbing for the last ten months basically
since day one from the injury, which gives him an
advantage over somebody from the general population. So ten months
is a reasonable time frame to return to full sport
(25:24):
activity competitive sport, a little early by NFL standards these days,
most guys you're probably looking at closer to a year.
But if it was a clean, isolated ACL injury with
a very straightforward reconstruction, that didn't go. You know what,
that was uncomplicated, with no major setbacks during his rehab.
(25:44):
There's no shock in him being available and ready to
go week one. I wouldn't have predicted it myself, given
like you said, his age and the injury itself, but
that it's not unheard of. And what you have to remember, however,
is that despite his being cleared and his readiness and
(26:05):
him being active for week one, I don't expect to
see Stefan Diggs of old quite yet. And that may
not come to fruition until well into the season, because,
as we talk about a lot with ACL reconstructions, it
takes most players eighteen to twenty four months before they're
kind of psychologically physically feel like they've made.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
A full recovery from this surgery and injuries.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
So and that pretty much goes across the board, and
then as you factor age.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Into it, it may even take a little longer.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
So even though he's going to be out there, I
don't think he's going to be quite as agile and
elusive as he may have been in the past. He'll
be a target, he'll definitely make receptions, but I wouldn't
expect the explosiveness that you may have seen from him
in the past. I wouldn't expect him getting wide open
(26:57):
on major routes down the field like you may have
seen in the past, at least not for quite some
time as we head into the season, and even then
it may be longer than that.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
Okay, And that's kind of what I expected.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
And now look with Stefon Diggs again, this is another
guy you were taking probably towards the double digit rounds,
maybe the back end of the single digit rounds in
your drafts.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
And when you were drafting him, you were.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Doing so especially from a full point PPR standpoint, that
he could be maybe a wide receiver three. He was
somebody you could plug and play into your starting a
line to get a base floor. Because the fact is
the Patriot wide receiver room, as much as I love
Drake May, is awful, and we're waiting for somebody, and
that guy is gonna have to be Stefan Diggs. If anything,
I think they're going to force targets to him regardless,
(27:43):
just because he's out there.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
On the field.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
So if you have Stefan Diggs, I got him ranked
at wide receiver thirty four this week. Just I'm not
expecting much upside outside of being a volume based wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Three.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
All right, so let's talk about those bills. Khalil Shakir
ankle issue. How's he going to do on Sunday night.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
I think it's gonna do good. He been dealing with
this Hinekel sprain for a while. It sounds like they
treated it very cautiously and aggressively in his rehab. It
was a Highinkeele spring. Don't forget so these do tend
to take a little bit longer. But it happened pretty
early in the preseason. He's already been back to full
participation in practice. He's been on track to play Week
one for a while now, and they're fully expecting him
(28:23):
to be available. I see no reason why not. As
far as I know, he's not in any setbacks. I
expect him to be ready and we should see him
perform at a fairly high level.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
All right, Well, cool, and look when it comes to
the Buffalo wide receivers, it's still a wait and see.
Shakira was the quote unquote go to guy, but it
was a super sparer offense in every sense of the word.
They brought in Josh Palmer again or not I shouldn't
say again they brought Josh Palmer to add to this
wide receiving corps. On top of it, they just signed
Gabe Davis. That's not going to mean anything though, So
(28:55):
you're looking at it, is Keyon Colman gonna take a
second stab Bob or is Khalil Shakiir just continue to
be the consistent guy that you can plug and play
as a wide receiver for flex type and PPR only leagues.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
That's what we're looking to see.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
I do have Shakir in that wide receiver for potentially
flex territory at the moment. PPR only, by the way,
not half point PPR, not standard. But Keyon Coleman is
the one who has the upside. He's got the touchdown ability,
he's got the big body. He's the one that they
spent the high drafted capital on. He's the one I
(29:27):
think they want to see become that guy. Is just
a question of will it be And we'll get to
see some of that on Sunday. So Josh Down's hamstring,
is he gonna go? Yeah, he's gonna be ready. He
was taken off the week one injury report. I think
actually today and practice fully he's been seen doing well
(29:48):
practice since he started practicing in full and he's expected
to play.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
He's been cleared, so I see no reason. Again, this
was a guy who this happened quite a bit ago,
and they've been taking a slow with his recovery, and
I think that's the right thing to do.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Good news, because I got him as a low and
wide receiver three for PPR purposes as well even half
point PPR.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
I haven't a wide receiver thirty six.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
I expect him to be the favorite target of Daniel
Jones and Brian as you know, as a Giants fan,
loves to target the middle of the field short as
much as he possibly can.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
So you got him on two teams. I've got a
good teams for that exact.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Reason, yep.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
And I mean, look, is Daniel Jones the starting quarterback
all year long?
Speaker 3 (30:24):
Who knows we'll have to see.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
I do think he's gonna have quite a bit of
a leash though, because the fact they didn't go. Anthony
Richardson tells me that stychen And is trying to coach
for his job at the moment, and he's gonna have
to admit defeat if he makes that move. So I
do expect this to last for at least a while,
if not the entirety of the season. All right, So
Juwan Jennings, he gets a contract bump. It was a
three million dollars deal based on playing time incentive, so
(30:49):
he got a little extra money. He is back at practice.
This calf issue, what do you make of it?
Speaker 4 (30:54):
Well, after that contract, it is CAF feeling a hell
of a lot better. Hence he's back on the practice field.
They actually did an MRI as well, and that may
have something to do with the contract, ironically, because that
all happened around the same time, so they were probably like, well,
if we're gonna do this contract, let's check to see
how bad your CAF is with an MRI. And they did,
and apparently the confirm that he's good to go and
(31:15):
healed up, so he's clear and he's expected to play.
Hopefully this won't be a lingering issue now that he's
got his new contract in there with incentives to play.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
So but I can guarantee you, I can almost guarantee.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
You that that is not a coincidence that he got
that MRI before they did that redid that contract.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
No, the time, it makes perfect sense, then we're gonna
give you a little bit and bump.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
We want to see if you're actually gonna be healthy,
especially when it's based on playing time in sensive. He
probably wanted it for himself as well, like, Okay, how
much am I actually gonna be able to play in
order to make this work? But with Juan Jennings heading
into week one from a fantasy standpoint, look right now,
I have him kind of ranked in that low end
wide receiver for territory. Remember it was the very first
week of August. He has not practiced at all since then.
(31:57):
Now they do need him. He is going to be
the other starting perimeter receiver across from Rickey Pearsaw, assuming
Christian McCaffrey is good, and we do expect him to be.
If you missed the first part of the show and
George Kittle and Pearsaw there there are a lot of
weapons for the forty nine ers to go to with Seattle.
I don't know how much I want to play a
guy who is still trying to prove that last year
(32:19):
was not just a fluke when he's missed off of
training camp regardless, So I think I'm gonna let it
ride one more week, see how he looks. If he
looks good, then we're talking about Juwan Jennings as a
wide receiver three heading into next week. If you had
Ricky Piersoll, if you're gonna play him this week, then
continue to play him this week. I'm actually still aggressive
on him because of the fact that Juwan Jennings hasn't
(32:39):
been around, because Ricky Piersol has been building up his
chemistry at Rock Party and we saw it even in
the limited action preseason, and how much on the same
page they were.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
It was like Party had only eyes for Pearsaw.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
I don't think it will go that way when McCaffrey
and Kittle are both on the field. But Piersaw, and
I said this before, he's going to run those Deebo routs,
those yards after catch designed or routes in motion.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
Those are the X factors in the Shanahan system.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Juwan James I played more of a brand a UK role,
and while he's very good on third downs, I think
it's a bit much to think that what we saw
of Juan last season in a fifth year with a
guy who doesn't have a great physical explosive skill set
is suddenly that caliber of wide receiver now, so I
would play pearsall. I benched Juwan Jennings for now. We'll
come back again next week on that. Darn Al Mooney
(33:26):
dealing with a shoulder issue.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Is he going to be good to go?
Speaker 4 (33:29):
I hope so, because I got him on my team
as well. He's dealing with the shoulder injury that he
actually sustained last season, and I think he might have
missed some time from that, but didn't require any offseason
surgery or anything, and actually was doing very well and
then during camp injured it again or aggravated it again.
He missed some time and then was officially listed as
(33:51):
day to day heading into Week one. It doesn't sound
like he's going to be ready for Week one, that's
almost certain, even though I don't think they've officially listed
him as out. That might not happen until tomorrow. But
hopefully we'll see him back in action relatively soon. I'm
guessing at most maybe two weeks, hopefully not more. We
(34:12):
don't really know the full extent of what the injury is,
so it's a little hard to predict, but it sounds
like it was probably a reaggravation of something he had
similar to last season, but.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Not as bad. Okay, Well, we expect him to be
out there.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
We do want him out there because we want the
defenses to not have the only key in on Drake London.
That's basically what that boils down to me, Darnel mood.
If he's out there though, in a game against Tampa Bay,
this could be a shootout NFC South matchup, He's definitely
in y receiver four territory for me. Okay, so this
one got interesting today. Christian Kirk hamstring issue not sounding great.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Christian Kirk.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
He's been on my injury reports a lot over the
last couple of seasons, and this is a hamstring strain
and unfortunately it did not happen early in camp. So
that is a problem because this is when you run
into the possibility of this lingering for several weeks. I
think it's going to be at least two minimum. He's
already likely unavailable for the Week one home opener, and
(35:11):
that's not unreasonable if this injury just kind of happened.
So hamstrings, like we talk about, have a high reinjury rate,
as high as like twenty something percent within the first
few weeks from when they had the original injury. So
even if he feels good, sometimes that's not an end
all be all. It still requires them to slowly work
(35:33):
their way back into game action. So that's where a
lot of the mistakes happen with recovery and this injury is.
Guys feel good, they look good with initial stuff, but
until you actually get on the field and perform game
speed activities and game speed movements, you don't know what
you got, and that's often how the re injury occurs.
So they should take this slow. I'm anticipating at leak
(35:56):
at least a two week absence.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
That's what it sounds like from the reporting is it's
gonna be at least two week ab since out this
week and then we'll see next week, but probably out
next week two. This just means double down on Yugo Collins.
I know what everyone's thinking in their minds. Okay, Christian
Kirk's out, and we talked about this, you know, especially
in Dynasty time, if Kirk goes out, Jalen Knowle comes in,
does he ever get to see his job back? Because
Jalen Knowle looks like one hell of an explosive slot
(36:22):
wide receiver. There's a lot of debate right now, what
the depth chart for the Texans, even when Christian Kirk
was expected to play, was even going to be. Like,
there's there's several debates amongst other unofficial depth charts out there,
whether Xavier Hutchinson or Jaydon Higgins was going to be
the third starting wide receiver or if even they'll go
(36:44):
with a bigger slot if Kirk is out instead of
going Jalen Noel. So I'm a big fan of Jayde Higgins.
I'm a big fan of Jalen Noel. I think their
time will come. But there's too many things in flux
that we just don't seem to know the answers to clearly.
And you it's week once, you should have other options.
So to me, I'm looking at this like, look double
(37:04):
down Nico Collins's value. Outside of that, I'm leaving it be.
I'm gonna see how this whole thing kind of plays out. Okay,
So lets well not what we've got two tight ends
to talk about. So, Kate otten leg issue, what do
you got there?
Speaker 4 (37:18):
Yeah, from what I've seen, it sounds like it was
probably some type of groin strain or some groin discomfort
or soreness that limited it in practice earlier in the week,
but apparently today he returned as a full participant, is
going to return and has been cleared for Week one.
In all likelihood, it was probably just some soreness. It's
really Groin injuries in football are not very common, not
(37:39):
like in hockey and soccer where we see them more so.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
So I don't think it's anything serious.
Speaker 4 (37:46):
Most more than likely probably just a little tweak or
maybe some soreness that kept him on a limited sessions
earlier in the week.
Speaker 3 (37:51):
But it sounds like he's good to go.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
If you're playing, like I don't have Kate Otton starting
my top twelve the tight ends, but he's definitely a
sleeper streaming option and you're playing I kind of like
the guy. Remember when Chris Godwin was out and I
know they got Miko Buka, I know, but when Chris
Godwin's out last year and Kada was getting significant target share, he.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
Was a tight end you really wanted in your lineup
last season.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
So even with a Mika Buka there, it's still a
tall task to say this rookie's just gonna take over
completely the target share that Chris Godwin was going to get.
Right off the rip with Mike Emizde two. I think
Kada gets sprinkled then. I just think he's an interesting
name to keep in mind for some of those deeper
leagues or some of those DFS leagues. This week isay
(38:31):
a likely the foot issue.
Speaker 3 (38:32):
What do you got with him?
Speaker 4 (38:34):
Yeah, so he broke a bone, and I'm not sure
exactly which one. I haven't seen re ports that specified.
It doesn't necessarily matter. It sounds like it was a
single fracture of a single bone, maybe one of the metatarsals.
That's very common, and that happened about four weeks ago
when he underwent surgery, So four weeks now it's a
(38:55):
little early to get him back into football action. He's
getting close, though, I'm guessing possibly week two, week could
be ready, but maybe week three. Definitely, I don't think
he's gonna be ready week one, and I think they
may have already confirmed.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
That he's going to be out at least week one.
Speaker 4 (39:12):
And I think that's legitimate foot fractures, not like other
fractures in the body, depending on where it is. So
five to six weeks you can expect a full recovery,
but by four weeks you can start ramping up your
activity if everything looks good and they anticipate full healing,
which it sounds like they do. So I expect that
he'll be doing some football activities heading into next week
(39:33):
during practice sessions.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
He may or may not be ready week two.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
We won't know that until the end of next week,
depending on what he's able to get through a practice.
But definitely out week one.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Okay, uh, that's great for Mark Andrews. Mark Andrews is
actually one of my top five tight ends and everyone
seemingly has fallen off of him. And I explain this
during our Best Bus of Sleepers tight Ends Drift show.
The accident I think had a lot to do with
Mark andrew flow start and what we saw last year
Ixiah likely was that we came out hot week one.
(40:05):
After that nowhere to be found really for the rest
of the season. And Andrews took off. He started getting
his touchdowns in the latter half. I think Mark Andrews's
top five tight end. He's a must play this week.
I got him the top five heading in the Week
one too. Without Isaiah likely there it's Zay Flowers, its
Mark Andrews, and please do not talk to me about
DeAndre Hopkins. That is not going to be a target
factor this season. With that, it's gonna wrap up the show.
(40:28):
Brian has always I want to thank you for coming on.
I want you to tell everybody where the follow you
at and what you got coming up next.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
Yeah, so follow me on X at Injured List Pod.
I should have put that down below, but I didn't.
At Injured List Pod, That's where I do most of
my updates throughout the season. If I get news updates myself,
I'll pass some information along. I'll sometimes do a quick
little synopsis of what's going on with the player TSS Fantasy,
(40:57):
Blonde Blitz, No Wedding in the fall. You'll see me
on a bunch of shows throughout the year on that
sports podcast network of which I am a member and founder,
so please check us out. We've got a bunch of
shows over there too that are quite entertaining. And of
course you'll see me with Dan every week. I love
doing Dan's show. It's probably the most thorough injury at
(41:18):
break down that I do anywhere. So this is if
you're gonna watch one, this is definitely one to watch
if you're looking for more of an entertainment side of things.
Come check us out on TSS and at that sports
podcast network. And then I've been very slow with putting
out my podcast episodes. I've got a lot of old
stuff that's still worth listening to where I interview players,
(41:39):
former players, current players, and sports medicine professionals. So you
can always check that out on my website, theinter list
dot com and my social media handles which you can
find all the stuff linked there. But yeah, we'll be
back next week and it man, we're here full Swim
regular season. Hard to believe it flew by, But another year,
(42:00):
another show. Absolutely, I can't wait for all the weeks
to come up. I will be back again tomorrow with
Chaz Florida from Sports Betting Weekly to talk about our
best bets for week one.
Speaker 3 (42:10):
Lining your pockets.
Speaker 2 (42:11):
Make sure you check out the Playbook episode from yesterday
if you have not already, to get you ready for
your fantasy football matchups of week one, and find me
on the huddle now. I'm dropping articles weekly, prop bets
articles every single week. I dropped the futures article the
other day to kind of get you guys ready for
some values that are available there now before Week one
(42:33):
kicks off and all those values go away because the
books get smart after that, so make sure you check
that out on the huddle. Guys, I'll see you tomorrow. Everyone,
be good till then, and enjoy Thursday night football.
Operation Domination is underway. The ultimate game plan to dominate
your with your host.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
You gotta be confident about your achilles.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
I got it. Be great, I'm dominated.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
All right, all right, all right, welcome back in the
Operation Domination, the special injury episode that will be bringing
to you every single week.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Just FYI, we record.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
This on Thursday night, so that way you have it
early Friday morning, so if we're not updated with the
Friday reports, that is why. But I do bring on
the expert, mister doctor Brian Scott.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
My man.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
I just got an email from the Sea Geek saying
that they've authenticated Carolina Panthers tickets people for the season.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
I don't know if we should be excited or what,
but I just.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Like, I'm like, okay, please come to our game. Yes, yeah,
like they're really reaching now. So but thanks for having
me on, Dan Gadre to be here. Thank you for
bringing that up. Guys, this is Thursday night. We're doing
this right before the start of the game. We will
be as accurate as we can be given all the
reports I get all my stuff for this show and
(01:31):
all the shows I do, which I do multiple shows.
By the way, since we might have a lot of
new viewers this year, Dan, which is great.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
That is the idea well deserved, by the way, well deserved.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
And most of the stuff I get is what you
read it reports, what you get from your sources on
the internet, social media and whatnot. I'm not getting any
inside information. But where I separate myself from everybody else's
I've got the experience in the background to know how
to decipher all these reports and stuff, so it's going
to be about as accurate as it can be actually
(02:00):
being there on the sideline. And trust me, when you
hear sources, it ain't coming from the medical professional. That's
coming from like the custodians and the rock locker room
attendance and maybe some interns who are you know, just
happen to be present and you know, want to butter
up to some of these reporters and stuff and someday
(02:20):
maybe work with them, so they're gonna tell them what
they saw. But you're not gonna get much as far
as detail goes until the medical people start talking, and
that doesn't usually happen very often. But that's why you
come here to watch the show. Follow me, Dan, and
we'll make sure you get all the latest, up to date,
most accurate injury updates.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, of course, and I'm here to give the fantasy
football impact of all the injury analysis that Brian has
to give. By the way, make sure checking out doctor
Brian's got on the Injured List podcasts throughout the year
because you cover all the sports. So happy to have
you on and happy to do this with you, and
happy to have people go your direction. All right, so
let's dive into this thing because I know it's week one.
(03:00):
The good news is because it's week one, there are
no bye weeks, so you should still have options. And
if you drafted somebody who is injured, likely you already
knew about their injury and had a backup plan, or
at least I'm hoping so if you were watching and
listening to this show otherwise, I haven't been doing my job,
so don't tell me I haven't been doing my job.
But first, up, first, and foremost, let's just do this
(03:22):
because this one literally dropped right before the show, So
we're just gonna head and knock this out the way. Becau.
I think it's gonna be umber one name and everyone's
mind going into the Friday practice reports Christian McCaffrey popped
up with a limited participant in practice with a calf issue.
Now everyone, of course is their bus got real tight
on that, right, because it's like, oh man, this is.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Gonna be the same thing as last year. It's all
deja vu all over again.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
And I will say from one standpoint, it's a little
concerning because he wasn't listed with that calf issue at
all this training camp, but they have been rotating him
in his Thursday. So, Brian, what do you make of this?
Speaker 4 (03:57):
I mean, first of all, these are literally popped up
as we were talking in the green room there, and
from what we were able to decipher going back and
forth together looking at various social media posts and looking
on the internet, it sounds like this was just a
precautionary thing due to some calf soreness that he experienced
in practice following yesterday's full session, which he participated in.
(04:20):
So it wasn't like he got hurt, had to get
card off the field or anything serious like that, you know.
Heading in the week one, he hasn't had any setbacks
this preseason. It sounds like things are good. They're going
to be very cautious with him given all the stuff
that happened last year in the preseason heading into the
opening Week one, and I don't expect him to take
(04:41):
any chances with his health this year because, let's face it,
the guy's had major injuries over the few years. Over
the last few years, he's lost some time due to injuries,
He's getting older, He's a running back. I'm as already
short as it is at that position for most NFL players.
They're gonna want him when he's out there to be
prime tip top one hund ready to go. So I'm
(05:05):
not overly concerned about it. I don't think fans and
people who have him on their fantasy roster should be
overly concerned about it.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
It sounds like it.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Was just a precautionary thing, and that makes sense from
a sports medicine healthcare perspective. There's no reason to push
a guy through some unexpected or new onset soreness in
a body part that he previously dealt with injuries on
at this stage of the preseason as you hit into
Week one, because if you try to push somebody through
that or you ignore that, that's when things linger. That's
(05:36):
when they potentially become more serious down the line, and
that's when you end up on IR or season ending injuries.
So smart move by the medical team, smart move by
the organization.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
I'm not worried. I don't think anyone else should be. Yeah,
and just a reminder, this is not like last year.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Last year he was listed with the calf injury, was
not practicing throughout training camp. We kept being told to
come back and then just didn't happen. All the counselors,
McCaffrey has looked like his old for himself throughout the
entire summer. So again, do not panic on this. The
fantasy impact would be if something were to pop up. Well,
we all know Brian Robinson, the newly acquisite, you know,
(06:15):
trade asset that they got from the Washington commanders over
there with the forty nine ers. He would definitely be
the primary backup with Gorendo likely being a compliment from
a lightning standpoint, more of a speed standpoint, But they
brought Brian Robinson because they wanted someone to be that
number two. It looks like they did not trust Garndo
to take on a full workload as the backup running
(06:35):
back to Christian McCaffrey. But he is a playmaker. But
Robinson would be the guy to play if you have him. Okay,
so let's go to Devon Achang. This is somebody we
actually did have on our list. And while we're at it,
who was supposed to be his backup originally?
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Jalen Wright dealing with a lower Lake issue too.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Yeah, so the whole Jalen Wright thing is a bit
of a mystery. Multiple reports have said he had a
small or minor procedure done on his leg. I don't
know what that means. I have not found any specific
detail that goes into what exactly that procedure was. However,
coach McDaniel characterized his return as sometime in the foreseeable
(07:16):
future and likely going to miss several weeks. He's not
going to be available for week one. I think that's
been confirmed. My guess is if it was a quote
unquote minor procedure, then what they're probably waiting for is
to make sure that whatever they did, if it required
some type of sturgical incision, that that heals adequately. And
(07:36):
in that case, there may not be anything structural that
was needed to be done during this minor procedure, and
so they're just letting things heal in a timely fashion
so that there's no risk of a woundy hissance or
some type of complication. So I'm going to guess that
he's out at least two weeks minimum. That could be
pushed up by a few days here and there depending
(07:57):
on the timing of the procedure, but definitely this week.
We'll have to see what happens during practice next week's
but very on, very limited information coming out about what
that procedure was.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Now.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Devanah Shane on the flip side, has actually practiced in
full today is expected to play Sunday against the Cults,
and McDaniel was clear in saying that he's very optimistic
that he's going to be ready to go at a
very high level and that this was a minor setback
and they wanted to make sure he was going to
be ready to go, knowing that Jalen Wright was having
(08:32):
this procedure. So it sounds like everything went smooth with
his therapy that were being very aggressive in his rehab
beating up to week one, so it sounds like he's
ready to go.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
All right, Well, that's the good news, right If you
drafted davan a Chan, you're going to be able to
use him week one, and that's what we were hoping for,
and that's what we were told the entire time, although.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
We can't always truss the coaching staff.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
So I understand that if you drafted Devon a Chan
and you knew about this calf as you knew, you
were probably gonna want to handcuff him, plus him being
a smaller back, plus Miami's offensive line sucking. All those
factors is why you probably should have handcuffed them if
you're going to draft them anyway. Now, the thing was
that you're drafting in early August, you were drafting jailing
right the handcuff him. Maybe you got lucky enough and
(09:14):
still got your hands on Ali Gordon. Hopefully you did.
That would be the number two. Now to go further
in depth on that, for a split second, we don't
know exactly the right timeline. The last ive thing I
saw was that sometime late September was seen to be
the targeted date for him to come on back. Regardless
right was not looking very good in preseason in training camp.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
There's a lot of notes about that. Now.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I'm not the biggest Ali Gordon guy. I think he's
the definition of just a dude. A dude who can
do a little bit of everything, which makes him a
quality backup, but not somebody who can actually explode and
make plays the way Jalen and wright physical skill set is.
But we haven't really seen him be able to put
that together, and from what I understood, it wasn't coming
together all that much in training camp either, and then
got shut down short with the injury that he had
(10:01):
and he missed last few weeks of it anyway. So
all that is to say, there's a real chance that,
regardless of jal and Bright coming back from this injury,
Ali Gordon might be the handcuff for Devon hen for
the rest of the season moving forward anyway. So you
should have him on your roster ready to go, and
we'll tackle that when Wright comes back to see exactly
how that all shakes out in the depth chart. Let's
(10:22):
talk about the game. It's gonna be tonight. If you're
listening to this on Friday, like you should be. Uh
Najee Harris eye injury says he's gonna play.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Brian.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I gotta ask you, though, because we talked about this
before training camp, and we talked about it then and
you didn't have much concern, but then it took all
of training camp for him to get back, like he
his first practice was we want to practice.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
So what do you make in that timeline there? Again,
this has been very limited information. They called it, I
think I think they called it a superficial eye injury
or something to that effect, which in theory shouldn't really
preclude him from being on the field, maybe avoiding contact,
but at least doing something out there. I'm not sure
(11:09):
what to make This was a fire cracker, firework incident,
by the way, in the off season, reminiscent of a
New York Giant who we won't talk about. But you know,
I don't know, man, It's hard to say exactly what
it was. It didn't require surgery, it wasn't anything serious,
but yet he wasn't on the field until recently, like
you said, so, I'm guessing it was just a superficial,
(11:31):
corny little brasion or something to that effect that just
needed some time to heal.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
And they were being cautious.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
I'm sure that if he does come back, he's going
to be playing with advisor, if you or some form
of eye protection if he didn't before. But yeah, kind
of a mystery as to why it took so long
to get him back on the field. If this was
nothing serious, that's really I don't really have much more
to say than that. I mean, it's not an extremity injury,
it's not a sports related injury. Should not affect his
(11:59):
condition an ability to perform at a high level, unless
he's still still dealing with some type of visual disturbance,
which may have been the reason why it took him
so long.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
They haven't said that, So my assumption is that he's
good to go. He was medically cleared, according to the team,
to return to practice and be ready for the game,
and they're saying he's ready for week one, so I
have no reason to think otherwise based on what limited
information they put up.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah, it was just a very weird situation, and I
kept him out all of training camp, and I that
we were told to your point, wasn't supposed to be
all that serious. But so here's the fantasy of it all.
If you think Najie Harris is going to have a
significant role week one after joining a new team with
a new regime, not practicing at all throughout training camp,
(12:50):
you're crazy. Like I've heard people who own a mari
and Hampton who are actually freaking out about this. Like,
first of all, if you drafted amar In hamp did
you did so knowing that you wanted him to get
the bell cow workload by the end of the season anyway,
and you just got like pretty much a treat with
the Naja Harris situation that week one, you're gonna see it.
I know Greg Rohlman came out and said there's gonna
(13:11):
be a rotation. No running back gets one hundred percent
of the touches. So I don't know why. I don't
know what makes you think there wouldn't be another running
back getting involved in some capacity anyway.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
But Amarin Hampton.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Is a special kind of beast who fits that system
really really well. I don't see this guy coming off
the field fifty percent of the time Like this is
going to be a guy who I think has a chance,
a real chance for a seventy plus percent total opportunity
share out of that backfield this season and week one
it's a tougher magic ins Kansas City. I'd be more
worried about that, But he's in my top twenty of
(13:44):
running backs. You're locking in you're playing him. I don't
check to see much of Najie Harris in this game,
all right. I wanted to get this one out the
way because, I mean, we talked about this, we kind
of saw the same way, and it looks like it's
gonna be correct. So Joe Mixon in his foot issue
back on the IR he's not going to play this week.
But do you think he's gonna play it all this Season's.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
That's a tough call. We we don't know exactly what
he did either. I've guessed all along that is possibly
some type of list frank injury, which is pretty serious,
and if I would have to look back through my notes,
but I know he's had some foot and ankle issues
throughout the years in the past when he was with
the Bengals. If that is in fact what he did,
(14:27):
or if this is a reaggravation of a previous list
Frank injury, this is very, very bad for him and
his season and we in our show here together, you know,
I predicted that this was going to be a long
term thing. I wouldn't even touch him in fantasy drafts.
And that's about as big a fantasy analysis as you'll
get from me and so truth you know, be told lying.
(14:51):
Behold here, he's on IR, which is not unusual given
the whole circumstance here, And this was an injury that
occurred in the offseason apparently, so whether during.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Training or whatever, we don't know.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
He's out four games minimum, But then the team still
has twenty one days if they are going to activate
him once he starts practicing, So we may not even
have an answer for up to seven weeks possibly as
to what he's going to do, if he's going to
be even available at all, and if they're even gonna
consider taking him off IR and activating him to the
active roster. So this is going to drag out for
(15:25):
several weeks into the season. We may not get a
lot more updates or information until we get closer to
that timeframe. So I don't anticipate talking about him much
for quite some time going forward. If you had watched
their shows and listened to the reports that we gave,
you would have forse it foreseen this to come and
avoided him at all cost.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Oh oh, I know, and we talked about this.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I talk with people during the expo, and there are
drafts going on to the expo. Joe Mixon in the
you know, the draft night out league that I was in,
went in like the seventh eighth round. I'm like, dude,
you're gonna regret that pitch, Like, even if he plays
at some point the season're gonna regret that pick.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
And here's the problem their backup is who's now going
to be their starter is Nick Chubb, who people are
also very high on. And I know it's because he's
very fantasy relevant when he is healthy. But that's the
problem with Nick Chubb is he's not often very healthy.
He's got coming off major knee injuries times too, and
(16:25):
this is another year where he's coming off a major
knee injury. If you watch me talk about Nick Chubb,
I'm very very cautious with what we can expect from him.
And he's basically a ticking time bomb. His knee is
a ticking time bomb. So you have to be very
careful with what your expectations are of him. And now
the Texans are relying on him as their number one.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Well, and that's say ways perfectly into what I was
about to talk about, with the Texans backfield being a
complete and utter mess. Look Nick Chubb, like even this week.
It was hard for me to get Nick Chubb as
a starting running back in the NFL. Jon Say Williams
falls into this too, to even get crack the top
thirty six in my running backs like like that that's
how that's how hard it was for even get him
that high, because that's how much I don't think you
(17:07):
should bother playing him like this. This whole thing, you're
gonna probably see Damian Pierce more. You're probably you're gonna
see some sort of mixture of dari A Goomble and
Woody Marx like and Woody marks the whole thing. Like
everybody was like, well, maybe Woodie Marx could be the
guy because he's a rookie. Well now he got pushed
way down the depth chart. I talked about this on
the show yesterday and I said, I think there's a
non zero chance that Woody Marx is healthy inactive.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Coming up for this weekend, depending on how the special teams.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Are going to work with where he's placed it right now,
Like you just don't know. This whole thing is complete mess.
And when you have a guy like you know, Nick Chubb,
who was last year was three point three yards per carry.
He wasn't that explosive, and the reports in training camp
have been he hasn't looked really that explosive. He still
looks like he's a step slow. I don't know what
you're expecting. If anything, you're hoping he falls into the
(17:55):
end zone. He never gave you much as a pass catcher.
And if he doesn't have an explosion, which is what
made him so special in the first place, I don't
know what you're gonna get, which is why I do
think we're gonna see a full blown committee and the
Texans are just gonna wait for somebody to get a
hot hand to rite and that's how this whole thing's
gonna play out. So I think you've been playing Russian
Roulette with that Texans backfield. All right, So let's talk
(18:16):
about the wide receiver. Justin Jefferson hamstring, big name there.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
What you got.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Not worried, not worried at all. He's cleared to play.
He's going to play. They were just being extra cautious
with him. I don't expect this to be a lingering issue.
He's the All Pro All Star, I mean, you name it,
the guys, they're number one, and is one of the
number ones across the league, so they're gonna treat him
(18:40):
with kid gloves. They've had enough time now in the
preseason to make sure he's been right. I don't foresee
it being an issue.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, if anybody can skip training camp, it would be
Justin Jefferson, the bigger conservative, Jordan Addison being suspended, and
guys like Jalen Naylor and some others a ty Felton
all getting banged up, which is why they made the
trade for Adam Thielen. All Right, Jaden Reid Jones fracture,
thinks he's going to try to play through it this season.
But woo, this doesn't make me feel pretty good.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Yeah, kind of surprising. I'm sure this is not what
was recommended to him. I can almost guarantee you that
when he saw the team doctor, they were pushing for
surgery and he probably talked himself out of it. I mean,
you can do it. It can be done. I've seen
it done. It's difficult to do in football, not going
(19:28):
to be easy. It's really becomes a pain, kind of
threshold pain management issue. There's really not any special brace
or tape job or anything major you can do to
make it better. While you're out there on the field playing,
you can treat it beforehand and afterwards to try and
leave some of these soft tissues swelling and the pain.
(19:48):
But the problem is these have a high rate of
non union, meaning they don't yel and if you're playing
through it, there's almost a complete one hundred percent guarantee
that it will not heal and that it's going to
chore surgery at some point. The question then becomes when
when do you bite the bullet and pull the trigger
and get the surgery, And a lot of that could
(20:10):
be determined by his performance on the field, which if
it suffers, which it possibly could trying to play through this,
that could be sooner rather than later. Or if the
Packers are doing well and he's able to play through
it and be successful, they might hold off as long
as they possibly can to see if the team has
any playoff aspirations, and if he's a part of that,
then they're probably going to let him go as long
(20:30):
as he possibly can and wait till the end of
the season or off season to fix it. But it's
all going to come down to how he feels, what
his pain management threshold is, and so what I foresee
going forward is a lot of limited practice sessions, him
popping up on an injury report every day throughout the
weeks going forward, until either they decide this is enough,
(20:52):
is enough, let's fix it, or you know, the team
is out of contention, and then they say, nah, you're
done and they shut him down. So it's gonna be
like this basically for as long as he continues to play.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
So can be talking about Jade read every single week
is basically what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Much he's going to be on there unless we have
any major new updates or I see anything we are
going on or something that I think maybe they're gonna
shut it down.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
It will just be the same, the same talk every week.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Okay, well, I'll be sure to leave him off unless
there's an update that say the.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
First game that he plays will be telling yes, and
it doesn't.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
It doesn't necessarily look like it's going to be this
week because he has not participated in practice as a.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
Yeah, it might not be, and you know, hey, maybe
that's part of the plan. Maybe is to see if
we can actually get him ready by week two. And
then they made turn around and say, you know what,
forget it. He tried it's not going to work, and
they might actually make a determination then to have surgery
and maybe put him on IR. But the fact that
they didn't do it already h is not good management
(21:53):
because now you've taken a roster spot from somebody else,
from somebody else who potentially could they could have signed,
and you might have to elevate a practice squad player.
It's gonna be hard to find somebody through free agency
now who's not already taken. So not good roster management
on the part of the Packers if they're theyn't going
to turn around week two or something and say sit
him down, you know. But again, his first game action
(22:17):
is going to be telling, because that's going to give
you a clear insight into how he's going to perform.
It's probably only going to get worse as the season goes.
It will not likely get better, let's just put it
that way. So if he has a good game his
first game out, it's probably gonna get worse from there.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
So hopefully it's a great right, Yeah, hopefully it is.
This is not not a situation where wearing tear's gonna
help us it. It would help it.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
So But with that though, so I've been big on
Matthew Golden being a powerhouse sleeper type of player that
you could target later on your drafts, going usually somewhere
between the eighth to tenth round.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
It's all going the seventh in some drafts.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
But even this week, EASTRS got him outside the top
thirty six. I got him down on why receiver forty
and I said this yesterday. I got him ranked that
wide receiver twenty six. Heading into this week, I think
he's a must play wide receiver three, at least in
your flex if nothing else. It's a great match up
against Detroit that could be a back and forth divisional
rival shootout potentially, or at least a higher scoring game potentially.
(23:16):
With that being in Green Bay, He's going up against
Terry and Arnold, who was awful last season.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
I know there's a lot of talk.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
That he's playing much better now, but Arnold was the
guy who was part of that secondary that led up
the fifth most points to Fantasy wide receivers a season ago.
So as a juicy matchup, Jayden Reid's probably not gonna play.
He already beat outd on Tavian Wicks to be the
starting perimeter wide receiver on the opposite side of Romeo Dobbs.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
We know what Romeo Dobbs is.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
He's a six to seven hundred and four to five
touchdown type of player, great situational player, great little depth
piece to have a competent starter, but fantasy relevancy is limited.
They have been desperate for a wide receiver that can
take the top off Christian Watson. There's a reason why
we were big on Christian Watson in this offense because
the big plays and the touchdowns. Well, guess what, Matthew
(24:08):
Golden does both. And I think he's a better route
runner than Christian Watson ever was, which makes him a
little bit more dynamic and more of a chance that
he could actually take on the role of being an
alpha wide receiver. Jordan Love, do not believe for a
second when matt Lafor sits there and says, we don't
need an alpha wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
We're just gonna pass around. We have a bunch of
good wide receivers. No, no, no, no.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
For an offense to properly function, they need a go
to weapon when the chips are down in situations where
they need that guy to win his matchup. That's what
they're looking for that's what Matthew Golden has a chance
to be. That's what I'm going to play him as,
and he has the opportunity to.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Do so with the Jaden Reid injury.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Okay, so now let's talk about Stefan Diggs. This one
has me just puzzled in my brain because we have
a guy who's about to be thirty two coming off
in ACL somehow miraculously is healthy and ready to go.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Earlier than we ever expected.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
And I'm just for sunny to see, like, is it
all a farce or is this actually Stefon Diggs.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
From a medical standpoint, what do you make of this situation? Well,
I mean it's not unheard of. He is a professional athlete,
so he's been rehabbing for the last ten months basically
since day one from the injury, which gives him an
advantage over somebody from the general population. So ten months
is a reasonable time frame to return to full sport
(25:24):
activity competitive sport, a little early by NFL standards these days,
most guys you're probably looking at closer to a year.
But if it was a clean, isolated ACL injury with
a very straightforward reconstruction, that didn't go. You know what,
that was uncomplicated, with no major setbacks during his rehab.
(25:44):
There's no shock in him being available and ready to
go week one. I wouldn't have predicted it myself, given
like you said, his age and the injury itself, but
that it's not unheard of. And what you have to remember, however,
is that despite his being cleared and his readiness and
(26:05):
him being active for week one, I don't expect to
see Stefan Diggs of old quite yet. And that may
not come to fruition until well into the season, because,
as we talk about a lot with ACL reconstructions, it
takes most players eighteen to twenty four months before they're
kind of psychologically physically feel like they've made.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
A full recovery from this surgery and injuries.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
So and that pretty much goes across the board, and
then as you factor age.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Into it, it may even take a little longer.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
So even though he's going to be out there, I
don't think he's going to be quite as agile and
elusive as he may have been in the past. He'll
be a target, he'll definitely make receptions, but I wouldn't
expect the explosiveness that you may have seen from him
in the past. I wouldn't expect him getting wide open
(26:57):
on major routes down the field like you may have
seen in the past, at least not for quite some
time as we head into the season, and even then
it may be longer than that.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
Okay, And that's kind of what I expected.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
And now look with Stefon Diggs again, this is another
guy you were taking probably towards the double digit rounds,
maybe the back end of the single digit rounds in
your drafts.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
And when you were drafting him, you were.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Doing so especially from a full point PPR standpoint, that
he could be maybe a wide receiver three. He was
somebody you could plug and play into your starting a
line to get a base floor. Because the fact is
the Patriot wide receiver room, as much as I love
Drake May, is awful, and we're waiting for somebody, and
that guy is gonna have to be Stefan Diggs. If anything,
I think they're going to force targets to him regardless,
(27:43):
just because he's out there.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
On the field.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
So if you have Stefan Diggs, I got him ranked
at wide receiver thirty four this week. Just I'm not
expecting much upside outside of being a volume based wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Three.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
All right, so let's talk about those bills. Khalil Shakir
ankle issue. How's he going to do on Sunday night.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
I think it's gonna do good. He been dealing with
this Hinekel sprain for a while. It sounds like they
treated it very cautiously and aggressively in his rehab. It
was a Highinkeele spring. Don't forget so these do tend
to take a little bit longer. But it happened pretty
early in the preseason. He's already been back to full
participation in practice. He's been on track to play Week
one for a while now, and they're fully expecting him
(28:23):
to be available. I see no reason why not. As
far as I know, he's not in any setbacks. I
expect him to be ready and we should see him
perform at a fairly high level.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
All right, Well, cool, and look when it comes to
the Buffalo wide receivers, it's still a wait and see.
Shakira was the quote unquote go to guy, but it
was a super sparer offense in every sense of the word.
They brought in Josh Palmer again or not I shouldn't
say again they brought Josh Palmer to add to this
wide receiving corps. On top of it, they just signed
Gabe Davis. That's not going to mean anything though, So
(28:55):
you're looking at it, is Keyon Colman gonna take a
second stab Bob or is Khalil Shakiir just continue to
be the consistent guy that you can plug and play
as a wide receiver for flex type and PPR only leagues.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
That's what we're looking to see.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
I do have Shakir in that wide receiver for potentially
flex territory at the moment. PPR only, by the way,
not half point PPR, not standard. But Keyon Coleman is
the one who has the upside. He's got the touchdown ability,
he's got the big body. He's the one that they
spent the high drafted capital on. He's the one I
(29:27):
think they want to see become that guy. Is just
a question of will it be And we'll get to
see some of that on Sunday. So Josh Down's hamstring,
is he gonna go? Yeah, he's gonna be ready. He
was taken off the week one injury report. I think
actually today and practice fully he's been seen doing well
(29:48):
practice since he started practicing in full and he's expected
to play.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
He's been cleared, so I see no reason. Again, this
was a guy who this happened quite a bit ago,
and they've been taking a slow with his recovery, and
I think that's the right thing to do.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Good news, because I got him as a low and
wide receiver three for PPR purposes as well even half
point PPR.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
I haven't a wide receiver thirty six.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
I expect him to be the favorite target of Daniel
Jones and Brian as you know, as a Giants fan,
loves to target the middle of the field short as
much as he possibly can.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
So you got him on two teams. I've got a
good teams for that exact.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Reason, yep.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
And I mean, look, is Daniel Jones the starting quarterback
all year long?
Speaker 3 (30:24):
Who knows we'll have to see.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
I do think he's gonna have quite a bit of
a leash though, because the fact they didn't go. Anthony
Richardson tells me that stychen And is trying to coach
for his job at the moment, and he's gonna have
to admit defeat if he makes that move. So I
do expect this to last for at least a while,
if not the entirety of the season. All right, So
Juwan Jennings, he gets a contract bump. It was a
three million dollars deal based on playing time incentive, so
(30:49):
he got a little extra money. He is back at practice.
This calf issue, what do you make of it?
Speaker 4 (30:54):
Well, after that contract, it is CAF feeling a hell
of a lot better. Hence he's back on the practice field.
They actually did an MRI as well, and that may
have something to do with the contract, ironically, because that
all happened around the same time, so they were probably like, well,
if we're gonna do this contract, let's check to see
how bad your CAF is with an MRI. And they did,
and apparently the confirm that he's good to go and
(31:15):
healed up, so he's clear and he's expected to play.
Hopefully this won't be a lingering issue now that he's
got his new contract in there with incentives to play.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
So but I can guarantee you, I can almost guarantee.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
You that that is not a coincidence that he got
that MRI before they did that redid that contract.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
No, the time, it makes perfect sense, then we're gonna
give you a little bit and bump.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
We want to see if you're actually gonna be healthy,
especially when it's based on playing time in sensive. He
probably wanted it for himself as well, like, Okay, how
much am I actually gonna be able to play in
order to make this work? But with Juan Jennings heading
into week one from a fantasy standpoint, look right now,
I have him kind of ranked in that low end
wide receiver for territory. Remember it was the very first
week of August. He has not practiced at all since then.
(31:57):
Now they do need him. He is going to be
the other starting perimeter receiver across from Rickey Pearsaw, assuming
Christian McCaffrey is good, and we do expect him to be.
If you missed the first part of the show and
George Kittle and Pearsaw there there are a lot of
weapons for the forty nine ers to go to with Seattle.
I don't know how much I want to play a
guy who is still trying to prove that last year
(32:19):
was not just a fluke when he's missed off of
training camp regardless, So I think I'm gonna let it
ride one more week, see how he looks. If he
looks good, then we're talking about Juwan Jennings as a
wide receiver three heading into next week. If you had
Ricky Piersoll, if you're gonna play him this week, then
continue to play him this week. I'm actually still aggressive
on him because of the fact that Juwan Jennings hasn't
(32:39):
been around, because Ricky Piersol has been building up his
chemistry at Rock Party and we saw it even in
the limited action preseason, and how much on the same
page they were.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
It was like Party had only eyes for Pearsaw.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
I don't think it will go that way when McCaffrey
and Kittle are both on the field. But Piersaw, and
I said this before, he's going to run those Deebo routs,
those yards after catch designed or routes in motion.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
Those are the X factors in the Shanahan system.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Juwan James I played more of a brand a UK role,
and while he's very good on third downs, I think
it's a bit much to think that what we saw
of Juan last season in a fifth year with a
guy who doesn't have a great physical explosive skill set
is suddenly that caliber of wide receiver now, so I
would play pearsall. I benched Juwan Jennings for now. We'll
come back again next week on that. Darn Al Mooney
(33:26):
dealing with a shoulder issue.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Is he going to be good to go?
Speaker 4 (33:29):
I hope so, because I got him on my team
as well. He's dealing with the shoulder injury that he
actually sustained last season, and I think he might have
missed some time from that, but didn't require any offseason
surgery or anything, and actually was doing very well and
then during camp injured it again or aggravated it again.
He missed some time and then was officially listed as
(33:51):
day to day heading into Week one. It doesn't sound
like he's going to be ready for Week one, that's
almost certain, even though I don't think they've officially listed
him as out. That might not happen until tomorrow. But
hopefully we'll see him back in action relatively soon. I'm
guessing at most maybe two weeks, hopefully not more. We
(34:12):
don't really know the full extent of what the injury is,
so it's a little hard to predict, but it sounds
like it was probably a reaggravation of something he had
similar to last season, but.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Not as bad. Okay, Well, we expect him to be
out there.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
We do want him out there because we want the
defenses to not have the only key in on Drake London.
That's basically what that boils down to me, Darnel mood.
If he's out there though, in a game against Tampa Bay,
this could be a shootout NFC South matchup, He's definitely
in y receiver four territory for me. Okay, so this
one got interesting today. Christian Kirk hamstring issue not sounding great.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Christian Kirk.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
He's been on my injury reports a lot over the
last couple of seasons, and this is a hamstring strain
and unfortunately it did not happen early in camp. So
that is a problem because this is when you run
into the possibility of this lingering for several weeks. I
think it's going to be at least two minimum. He's
already likely unavailable for the Week one home opener, and
(35:11):
that's not unreasonable if this injury just kind of happened.
So hamstrings, like we talk about, have a high reinjury rate,
as high as like twenty something percent within the first
few weeks from when they had the original injury. So
even if he feels good, sometimes that's not an end
all be all. It still requires them to slowly work
(35:33):
their way back into game action. So that's where a
lot of the mistakes happen with recovery and this injury is.
Guys feel good, they look good with initial stuff, but
until you actually get on the field and perform game
speed activities and game speed movements, you don't know what
you got, and that's often how the re injury occurs.
So they should take this slow. I'm anticipating at leak
(35:56):
at least a two week absence.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
That's what it sounds like from the reporting is it's
gonna be at least two week ab since out this
week and then we'll see next week, but probably out
next week two. This just means double down on Yugo Collins.
I know what everyone's thinking in their minds. Okay, Christian
Kirk's out, and we talked about this, you know, especially
in Dynasty time, if Kirk goes out, Jalen Knowle comes in,
does he ever get to see his job back? Because
Jalen Knowle looks like one hell of an explosive slot
(36:22):
wide receiver. There's a lot of debate right now, what
the depth chart for the Texans, even when Christian Kirk
was expected to play, was even going to be. Like,
there's there's several debates amongst other unofficial depth charts out there,
whether Xavier Hutchinson or Jaydon Higgins was going to be
the third starting wide receiver or if even they'll go
(36:44):
with a bigger slot if Kirk is out instead of
going Jalen Noel. So I'm a big fan of Jayde Higgins.
I'm a big fan of Jalen Noel. I think their
time will come. But there's too many things in flux
that we just don't seem to know the answers to clearly.
And you it's week once, you should have other options.
So to me, I'm looking at this like, look double
(37:04):
down Nico Collins's value. Outside of that, I'm leaving it be.
I'm gonna see how this whole thing kind of plays out. Okay,
So lets well not what we've got two tight ends
to talk about. So, Kate otten leg issue, what do
you got there?
Speaker 4 (37:18):
Yeah, from what I've seen, it sounds like it was
probably some type of groin strain or some groin discomfort
or soreness that limited it in practice earlier in the week,
but apparently today he returned as a full participant, is
going to return and has been cleared for Week one.
In all likelihood, it was probably just some soreness. It's
really Groin injuries in football are not very common, not
(37:39):
like in hockey and soccer where we see them more so.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
So I don't think it's anything serious.
Speaker 4 (37:46):
Most more than likely probably just a little tweak or
maybe some soreness that kept him on a limited sessions
earlier in the week.
Speaker 3 (37:51):
But it sounds like he's good to go.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
If you're playing, like I don't have Kate Otton starting
my top twelve the tight ends, but he's definitely a
sleeper streaming option and you're playing I kind of like
the guy. Remember when Chris Godwin was out and I
know they got Miko Buka, I know, but when Chris
Godwin's out last year and Kada was getting significant target share, he.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
Was a tight end you really wanted in your lineup
last season.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
So even with a Mika Buka there, it's still a
tall task to say this rookie's just gonna take over
completely the target share that Chris Godwin was going to get.
Right off the rip with Mike Emizde two. I think
Kada gets sprinkled then. I just think he's an interesting
name to keep in mind for some of those deeper
leagues or some of those DFS leagues. This week isay
(38:31):
a likely the foot issue.
Speaker 3 (38:32):
What do you got with him?
Speaker 4 (38:34):
Yeah, so he broke a bone, and I'm not sure
exactly which one. I haven't seen re ports that specified.
It doesn't necessarily matter. It sounds like it was a
single fracture of a single bone, maybe one of the metatarsals.
That's very common, and that happened about four weeks ago
when he underwent surgery, So four weeks now it's a
(38:55):
little early to get him back into football action. He's
getting close, though, I'm guessing possibly week two, week could
be ready, but maybe week three. Definitely, I don't think
he's gonna be ready week one, and I think they
may have already confirmed.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
That he's going to be out at least week one.
Speaker 4 (39:12):
And I think that's legitimate foot fractures, not like other
fractures in the body, depending on where it is. So
five to six weeks you can expect a full recovery,
but by four weeks you can start ramping up your
activity if everything looks good and they anticipate full healing,
which it sounds like they do. So I expect that
he'll be doing some football activities heading into next week
(39:33):
during practice sessions.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
He may or may not be ready week two.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
We won't know that until the end of next week,
depending on what he's able to get through a practice.
But definitely out week one.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Okay, uh, that's great for Mark Andrews. Mark Andrews is
actually one of my top five tight ends and everyone
seemingly has fallen off of him. And I explain this
during our Best Bus of Sleepers tight Ends Drift show.
The accident I think had a lot to do with
Mark andrew flow start and what we saw last year
Ixiah likely was that we came out hot week one.
(40:05):
After that nowhere to be found really for the rest
of the season. And Andrews took off. He started getting
his touchdowns in the latter half. I think Mark Andrews's
top five tight end. He's a must play this week.
I got him the top five heading in the Week
one too. Without Isaiah likely there it's Zay Flowers, its
Mark Andrews, and please do not talk to me about
DeAndre Hopkins. That is not going to be a target
factor this season. With that, it's gonna wrap up the show.
(40:28):
Brian has always I want to thank you for coming on.
I want you to tell everybody where the follow you
at and what you got coming up next.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
Yeah, so follow me on X at Injured List Pod.
I should have put that down below, but I didn't.
At Injured List Pod, That's where I do most of
my updates throughout the season. If I get news updates myself,
I'll pass some information along. I'll sometimes do a quick
little synopsis of what's going on with the player TSS Fantasy,
(40:57):
Blonde Blitz, No Wedding in the fall. You'll see me
on a bunch of shows throughout the year on that
sports podcast network of which I am a member and founder,
so please check us out. We've got a bunch of
shows over there too that are quite entertaining. And of
course you'll see me with Dan every week. I love
doing Dan's show. It's probably the most thorough injury at
(41:18):
break down that I do anywhere. So this is if
you're gonna watch one, this is definitely one to watch
if you're looking for more of an entertainment side of things.
Come check us out on TSS and at that sports
podcast network. And then I've been very slow with putting
out my podcast episodes. I've got a lot of old
stuff that's still worth listening to where I interview players,
(41:39):
former players, current players, and sports medicine professionals. So you
can always check that out on my website, theinter list
dot com and my social media handles which you can
find all the stuff linked there. But yeah, we'll be
back next week and it man, we're here full Swim
regular season. Hard to believe it flew by, But another year,
(42:00):
another show. Absolutely, I can't wait for all the weeks
to come up. I will be back again tomorrow with
Chaz Florida from Sports Betting Weekly to talk about our
best bets for week one.
Speaker 3 (42:10):
Lining your pockets.
Speaker 2 (42:11):
Make sure you check out the Playbook episode from yesterday
if you have not already, to get you ready for
your fantasy football matchups of week one, and find me
on the huddle now. I'm dropping articles weekly, prop bets
articles every single week. I dropped the futures article the
other day to kind of get you guys ready for
some values that are available there now before Week one
(42:33):
kicks off and all those values go away because the
books get smart after that, so make sure you check
that out on the huddle. Guys, I'll see you tomorrow. Everyone,
be good till then, and enjoy Thursday night football.
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