What we are talking about:
Quarterback conundrums
What are the Browns thinking!?
Donte Moncrief
Fantasy stud in the making
Brandin Cooks
Welp, that was a mistake
What a crazy week for quarterbacks! I mean, I'm one step closer to being the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. Not that their current option is much better. Brandon Weeden is going to be the team's signal caller. I hope he doesn't get swallowed up under the pressure of being the quarterback of America's team.
Did you know Weeden is older than Aaron Rodgers? It does make sense, though. It's been forever since he played Robert Hoover in "Animal House". But the weird thing is the Cowboys traded for Matt Cassel. If he's the answer, I don't even want to know the question. It's a shame there isn't Tinder for quarterbacks or something.
And what's going on in Cleveland? The team is going back to Josh McCown. But you can't blame them. Johnny Manziel committed the cardinal mistake for Browns quarterbacks; he won a football game.
What's worse is the Saints have been forced to turn to his brother, Luke McCown. This is why you don't let your backup quarterbacks film commercials.
There are going to be some crazy quarterback combinations this week. Let's get to the likes and dislikes, yeah?
A big hand to stats maven Careen Falcone for dropping the knowledge.
And without further ado ...
Tyrod Taylor was one of those guys who I picked up for my quarterback needs this week. He's had at least 40 rushing yards in back-to-back starts. That's a baseline of four points to start. Or half of what Andrew Luck gave you on Monday night.
Carson Palmer has thrown 18 touchdowns with just four interceptions in his last four games. He's tied for the lead with seven touchdown passes this season.
Ryan Tannehill has thrown the ball on 70 percent of his snaps this season. This week he has the Bills who have allowed the third-most fantasy points this year.
Colin Kaepernick might seem like a poor play this week. But Jay Cutler really moved the ball well against Arizona before he went down with an injury. So Kap should be fine.
The Seahawks are 0-2 and are about to take it out on the Bears. That should mean a lot of points for Russell Wilson this week. Divine intervention or not.
Nick Foles would be a sneaky start, especially in daily fantasy leagues. The Steelers have allowed the most points to fantasy quarterbacks this year. The most!
ImageI'm satisfied with the conclusion of "Big Brother". I was concerned Vanessa was going to win the whole thing, and even resigned myself to it when she won the first part of the HOH competition. I even started to rationalize why she should win during the show. But thankfully Steve swept the final two comps and made the very smart decision to send Vanessa to jury. My heart wanted Liz to win the whole thing because she was entertaining (not to mention my wife's favorite), but Steve really played a great game so it's hard to argue with the choice. All right, I think it's time for me to try out for the show.
I really don't want to get caught buying-in on Dion Lewis, only to have Bill Belichick do Bill Belichick things. But I really don't want to be on the other side, either.
Giovani Bernard would be my preferred Bengals running back this week. I expect the Bengals to be at a deficit this week against the Ravens which means more Gio.
David Johnson is so amazing. Coach Bruce Arians said he wants to get DJ into the game more this week. You think? He's scored three TDs on nine touches. NINE!
Lance Dunbar is a rather saucy play this week. He's more DFS than traditional for me, but the Falcons have allowed the most receiving yards to RBs this year.
Here's one of the most telling statistics you need to know. Danny Woodhead has been on the field for more than 50 percent of the Chargers snaps this season.
C.J. Anderson will bounce back this week. He's not going to have the huge game many of you anticipated for him coming into the year. But he'll be better this week.
ImageI'm really excited for Kevin Owens and his Intercontinental title run. If you view him as the opposite of John Cena (is fat, actually likes his family), this should be a very interesting contrast to what Cena has done with the U.S. title. Although I do like what Brandon Stroud wrote this week, where he's going to get into a tinkling contest with Cena to figure out which mid-card championship is better. But I hope this is also the opportunity to get Cesaro back to being a legit title threat, too. He's been jobbed out way too much and needs to get back into the title picture.
If you're not sure what to expect from Donte Moncrief after his huge game against the Jets on Monday night, I say you play him every week. I've slid him into the lineup over some of the more disappointing receivers out there.
Who has the most targets in the NFL this season? It's Julian Edelman. And not surprisingly, he also leads the NFL with 11 receptions per game.
I have Allen Robinson working in about half of my leagues this week. I really hope he doesn't disappoint when everybody is playing him. But the matchup sure is great.
I expect the Eagles to upset the Jets this week (it's the NFL), but the matchup is really good for Brandon Marshall so feel safe with him in your lineup.
Amari Cooper leads all rookie receivers with 12 receptions this season. His bomb against the Ravens is the kind of stuff I saw from him last year at Alabama. Minus Lane Kiffin.
ImageI've finally been able to binge on "Gotham" over the last couple of weeks. I had watched the pilot and enjoyed it, but put it on the backburner (you know, with the whole newborn thing). But I've been in a race to catch up to season two and it's great. My wife kind of prefers the campiness of "The Flash" but I kind of like the gritty drama. There is room for both franchises. Plus Batman has long been much darker, so it fits. BTW, the kid who plays the Penguin is just fantastic.
ImageThe "Court of Owls" storyline could be headed to "Gotham" in the near future. Hell yes! If you haven't read "Batman" (New 52), I suggest you check it out. I went heavy into "Detective Comics" when the New 52 started, but I liked "Batman" a bit better. Actually, I liked "Batman and Robin" more, but "Gotham" will have to be on the air a long time for us to get to a Damian Wayne storyline.
ImageThe new season of "The League" is pretty terrific. The season's opening gag with Marshawn Lynch is somewhat predictable but expertly executed. I mean, if you can get Lynch to buy-in on it, then it's going to work out well. And given current events surrounding the show, anytime something bad happens to Kevin, I laugh.
Tyler Eifert has become Rob Gronkowski-light for a lot of us in daily fantasy circles. If you don't want to spend the big cabbage on Gronk, Eifert is more than capable.
Crockett Gilmore is that kid who got to make up his own name, right? His brothers are named Death Star, T-Rex and Gene. (I made up that last part.)
Jimmy Graham is going to go off soon. I don't know if the Seahawks are acting like that kid who kept all of his "Star Wars" toys in the box without playing with them, but his value isn't going up if you don't target him.
ImageSpeaking of "Star Wars", Drop everything you are doing right now and watch this. I'll wait.
ImageThat was pretty amazing, right? Between "The Force Awakens" and "Battlefront" which comes out in November, I don't know how I'm going to find the time. See, this is why I wanted to limit the number of fantasy leagues I'm involved in. Holy smokes that thing was amazing. I'm going to go watch it again.
I'm going to start Andrew Luck this week. Don't make that mistake. But when is he ever going to be held accountable for his mistakes? Everybody just assumes he's going to be great, but maybe this is the best version we're going to get.
Drew Brees has been ruled out for this week's action. This, folks, is why you don't let your backup quarterback make commercials. You just don't.
Donald Trump endorsed Joe Flacco as "elite" this week. Remember when people dismissed Flacco and he went on to win a Super Bowl? Keep that in mind as you head to the polls next November.
Alex Smith has been great on the road (11 touchdowns, two picks in his last nine roadies) and the Packers are due for a letdown; but I just can't. But watch, he'll end up as the fourth-highest quarterback of the week and I'll be super morose.
ImageI'm already out on "Survivor" for this year. Every year, it's the same thing. I watch the first episode of "Survivor" and maybe even make it a few weeks before I hit the eject button. Actually, I don't consciously hit the eject button, it just slips my mind. This year I didn't even engage a little bit. Actually, I just went and looked up who the first person eliminated was. SPOILER. Vytas was voted out. He's the brother of Aras the former UCI hoops player who won Season 12, Panama when the producers cheated my guy Terry Deitz. Wait a minute, Terry is on this season? I might have to reconsider.
Seriously, what do we do with LeGarrette Blount? Could last week have been a one-week reprieve for Blount to teach him a lesson about getting busted?
Jonas Gray has been promoted off the Dolphins practice squad. There is a part of me that is completely scared. There is a part of me ready to step into the Danger Zone.
You know me; I'm the biggest Ameer Abdullah fan going. But that Broncos defense has been legit. So legit, they will make Peyton Manning an MVP candidate again.
Latavius Murray has a really good matchup against the Browns, who have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to RBs this year. That should be good for Marcel Reese.
Doug Martin has looked a lot better this season. A lot better. But the Texans haven't allowed a rushing touchdown this year (like the Broncos) so I'm going to pass.
I'm in complete panic mode with Jeremy Hill. Fumbles are huge, man. Especially when you have a capable back right next to you. I'm starting him but scared.
ImageI really wanted to be pumped up for Charlotte's title reign. But it has come off a little flat for me. I really want to believe the first "Dusty Finish" was homage. But it came off more like a spiteful slap to A.J. Lee and CM Punk. At least Paige's long-awaited turn finally came so there is some hope.
ImageI could not have been more underwhelmed with Chris Jericho as the third member of "The Shield" at Night of Champions. I understand Seth Rollins was a little busy. But why couldn't they have gone for a NXT newcomer to rebrand the team? This was probably my biggest disappointment.
Andre Johnson is completely done. He just doesn't look like the same guy. Don't let the nostalgia lead you to hold on to him longer than you need to. Time to move on.
If I'm going to brag about Moncrief, I certainly need to take my lumps with Charles Johnson. I really expected big things from him this season and he's disappointed.
You can go ahead and drop Johnson and Johnson. There is no reason to hang on to them at this point. Move fast for some of the up-and-comers out there.
I was so ready to have Travis Benjamin in my starting lineup this week. And then the Browns had to you know, go forward with all of the unpleasantness. Oh, Browns.
ImageI'm not ready to jump off the Eagles bandwagon just yet. Sam Bradford missed the 2014 season. He barely played in the preseason. So it stands to reason he just needs a little more time to get his feet under him. But damn, this thing could go south in a hurry. I've already mused about Chip Kelly possibly going to USC for next fall, and you know those rumors are going to start to pick up, too. You also have to figure Texas into the mix here as well. Some might even want to throw Miami into the conversation. But mostly because they watched "The U" 30 for 30 and think it's still the early 2000s.
ImageI'm trying to think which program would be the best to take over. Both USC and Texas have its fair share of unreasonable boosters who expect a national championship every year. FOX Sports college football analyst Petros Papadakis made the assertion USC would never ditch the pro-style offense for Kelly. And Texas also wants to recruit Texas players only. So there are knocks against both of those programs. Miami would also have trouble with boosters. And the moment the program got good again, you'd have all of the enormous headaches of "The U." My only solution would be for Chip Kelly to go to San Diego State. He'd have access to the best recruits in the country, no real admission standards and free reign of the athletic department. Look at what Steve Fisher has done for the Aztec's hoops program and tell me this is ludicrous.
Since I'm making a fantasy mea culpa, I wish I could take a huge mulligan on Brandin Cooks. This was my biggest blunder of the fantasy draft season (so far). Ugh. Thankfully I had him in just one league this year. Yes, that is past tense. I already traded his (expletive). Thankfully it's the NFL Fantasy LIVE league, so it's really not an important league to me. But hot damn, that smarts. (To be fair, the guy drafting in front of me spent the entire summer saying how much he hated Odell Beckham Jr., and then drafted him right in front of me. Which caused me to take Jeremy Hill. Another mistake) I have no idea why I thought we could trust a single Saints receiver, but it's not going to happen. Oh well, now I can move on. I replaced him with Donte Moncrief (for real), and I'm not going to think twice about it.
For the record, you can submit your fantasy questions to NFL Fantasy Live or me on Twitter. But realize, NFL Fantasy Live has 300K followers. Me? Just 14. See, the odds are better I will answer your question, so hit me up both via Twitter or via Facebook (if you're RG3). And if you follow me on Sundays, I'll quote "The Wolf" from "Pulp Fiction" and then it's game on! Although, it's tough to catch me on Facebook. Twitter is your go-to." Plus seriously people, I'm not taking your tweets after Midnight. I'm into the #HashtagWars via @Midnight. I've started to mute people who ask me questions at that time.