Week 7 Fantasy: Mahomes, McConkey & Warren in Trouble?

Hello, hello, hello. This is Fantasy with Babs, the power ranking show that is world-renowned fantasy expert Michael Fabiano. I am senior writer Connor Orr from Sports Illustrated. And Mike, do you want to know how I know my fantasy football season is cursed in a cosmic way? I would love to hear it. I'm sure you have the same exact feeling as a lot of people this year. Last night, going into Monday Night Football, we're down five points. we have Terry McLaurin they have the kicker from the San Francisco 49ers the 49ers kicker misses an extra point i go across the house to find my phone text my co-manager and the minute i hit send on we can do this thing i look over at the television and the entire uh sidelines are surrounding Terry McLaurin i almost submitted a trade package for LaQuan Treadwell and i think oh my gosh if that doesn't signify pure desperation and just an absolutely ugly and disgusting slog of a fantasy season I don't know what does but let's get into it Babs uh we brought up Terry McLaurin at the top of the show and I really like Terry McLaurin in fantasy this year because of his relationship with Jaden Daniels and the infusion of uh new offensive coordinator David Blau Blau just hasn't had time to get this thing going he lost Jayden Daniels for a little bit. Now we lost Terry McLaurin for a little bit. A lot of that Stefon Diggs was in and out of the lineup last night. And so, you know, I thought he would be on this list. And that's the first thing that I wanted to rank my top five offensive play callers in the league right now. I would put him right outside of that because I think he's doing some really interesting things, but he just doesn't have the tenure with this offense to be able to show it off. So at number five, I have Drew Petzing of the Detroit Lions. This offense remains a fantasy machine. It remains an efficiency machine. They're going to keep the Lions in this for the long haul. And the Lions are the perfect recipe of fantasy success. Really great offensive weapons and really bad defense. You need to score 35. I won't mention the Cowboys because I'm not going to get mad because I'm just so infuriated over that team and Jerry Jones. I don't want to go down that rabbit hole. But there are a lot of teams like that. You know, Buffalo's like that. Houston all of a sudden is like that as well. C.J. Stroud is playing out of his mind. I think if you gave me one more week to do this next week, I think Nick Kelly would have been on that list too. Number four, and this one was a stunner for me, but Brad Idzik. And Brad Idzik is the offensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers, Babs. I think he's doing more with less than any other coordinator in the NFL. And he's making me feel very old because i covered his dad john the former gm of the new york jets i think that brad is going to start getting some head coaches yeah no doubt about that i mean carolina is a team that none of us thought were going to be overly fantasy relevant like we all love Tet McMillan nobody saw chuba hubbard being this good nobody saw bryce young being this good and nobody saw jalen coker being this good so uh idzik has certainly had something to do with their success number three it doesn't necessarily show up in the fantasy realm yet fabs but i put declan doyle and I'm, I don't know if you caught this this weekend, but anytime you do this as an offensive coordinator, you endear yourself to my, your heart, my heart forever. He put a tight end at guard and then the guard at the H back position. And then he just offset the tight end just a little bit so he could sneak him out on a route. And he was wide open. You do something like that. I fall in love forever. Declan Doyle, I think is going to be a stud in this league when he gets a chance. Yeah, no question about that. Another coordinator who could find himself being in the head coaching carousel at some point in the very near future. Liam Cohen, number two. Travis Hunter, is he a day-to-day fantasy starter at this point, Babs? Put him in the running back position on Sunday. Nice little choice route, a tough catch in traffic. Are we seeing a little bit of a potential here for Travis Hunter long term? He's played nine offensive snaps. But he scores. I know, but I don't care. i'm not going to start a guy that plays nine offensive snaps i just can't do it um and listen cohen's been awesome right i mean if you want to know how good liam cohen is look how bad baker mayfield's been since cohen left tampa bay and look how good trevor lawrence has become uh he's become basically a weekly starter in fantasy Parker Washington has emerged as a stud I mean Bay Shawn Rootin Tootin's become a weekly RB2 uh in this offense now let's not talk about Brian Thomas Jr. Who I don't know what has gone on with him, but he is waiver wire fodder at this point. But yeah, uh, I don't, I don't think I can start a player who is getting fewer than 10 snaps a game on offense, but some people are crazy out there. They may do that. Jaguars on a bye this week. So it's not going to matter for week seven, two names that are not on this list that I'm going to get hollered at. And I understand Sean McVay I'm talking about right now in the NFL, where's Brian Schottenheimer on this list oh that's right i don't even want to get into it i'm gonna get mad Shanahan i just don't think he's feeling it right now fab some weird play calls there it looks like he's just kind of in fits and starts and Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy and the reason why is because handing off to Kenneth Walker isn't a play so easy oh my god 21 carries on 133 yards a game get out of here number one on my list is Kyle Shanahan talk about guys who are doing more with less. Brock Purdy is your MVP through the quarter pole mark of the season. That's not always a good thing. We've said that about Baker Mayfield in the past. So let's be careful when we talk about stuff like this. However, Shanahan, I think he's doing an incredible job with that roster. All right, fabs, let's pivot to some of your fantasy risers after week six, number five on this. This is a guy that is saving my behind right now. Yeah. Jeremy Bernard has been great over the last couple of weeks 21 targets 17 catches uh he scored a touchdown and typically Aaron Rodgers does not trust rookies and this year that has gone completely in a 180 degree turn he really trusts Bernard, Bernard's been fantastic they're in Paris this week against the Saints and he's certainly a guy who can start Michael Payton Jr injured reserve Roman Wilson injured reserve Bernard is in the good graces of Rodgers and he's in the good graces of fantasy managers too number four you mentioned a Bucky Irving, Tuten of the Jacksonville Jaguars he's boasting lately fabs what's amazing is that this past week the matchup didn't look good because the numbers suggested that Houston's been tough against running backs uh you know those are analytics all that stuff that Troy Aikman really likes um so Tuten averaged 3.3 yards per carry against Houston so he did nothing but he had four catches and two touchdowns as a receiver and he finished with over 24 fantasy points career highs across the board as a receiving option and i believe he's had three touchdowns called back because of penalties so Jaguars as i mentioned on a buy but Tuten has become like that dude he's been better than Travis Etienne has been and of course Etienne was very good last year in Jacksonville this year kind of non-existent and now hurt in New Orleans Mika Buka at number three from the Bucks i predicted at the beginning of the season that he would lead the league in touchdown catches hasn't quite gotten to that point but he's getting there I've loved him he was one of my favorite breakout wide receivers and to begin the year not so good but lately I mean two games with over 17 points and the thing is that they can't push the ball downfield with Jayden Daniels, so they're just using a lot of these you know trickery as they like to call them you know jet sweeps screens getting them out in space just getting the ball in his hand so he can make plays I don't love the matchup this week against Carolina but it's also really hard not to play him right now with all of the injuries and the fact that he's been so good the last two weeks number two is the quarterback of my projected Super Bowl champion Texans it looked rough for a minute there Fabs but he may be playing better than 25 quarterbacks in the NFL right now yeah I mean he's been great um 20 plus points in three straight games 72 completion percentage over that last three-game span. He's only had one giveaway during that time. They have no running game in Houston. It's funny because the Texans have gone completely in the opposite direction of what we thought. Run the ball, play good defense. This year, their defense is not great, especially against the pass, and they are scoring points. And now you're getting Tank Dell back. Marvin Harrison Jr. is there. Jalen Noel is starting to show us that he can do some things. I didn't even mention Nico Collins, CJ Stroud's a very good play and especially this week against the Giants say it with me everyone trade for Saquon bum bum bum bum number one on this list we got him he's back Colston Loveland's in the end zone baby it's all uphill from here bab let's hope so um six catches 65 yards and a touchdown last week over 18 fantasy points and he would add his second touchdown but Caleb Williams under threw him in the end zone he's playing like 86 percent of the offensive snaps for the year which is great and so listen I'm not saying it's going to be a smooth ceiling every week for the rest of the season but at least you're feeling a little bit better about putting Loveland in your starting lineup because it was a bit of a uh concern the the first three four weeks and if you uh bought low on them you're feeling pretty good right now all right let's pivot because I gave you my top five offensive play callers in the league right now let's go to the defensive side of the ball yes fabs that's part of fantasy too i don't know if You're in those no defense leagues. I don't like them. I think it's a big part of what we do here. And number five is Chris O'Leary, the defensive coordinator of the Chargers over the last three weeks of the NFL season, not counting that Chiefs game, Favs. They were the number two defense in the league in terms of EPA per play allowed. One of the reasons why I think Mike McDaniel's got to go because you can't look at this defense playing its behind off and then excuse what is happening on the other side of the ball. I would love, isn't it funny? I mean, we all in fantasy, we're like, oh, this is going to be really good for the chargers and Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel is this and that. And now after six weeks, we're like, get rid of them. Right. It's like every Yankees fan out there, how we, you know, we don't want Aaron Boone, but that's a different story. So, yeah, I mean, O'Leary has also had to deal with injuries, you know, Derwin James banged up. They're off this week. They're terrible on the offensive side of the football. I kind of listen. I mean, Mike McDaniel is going to be fine if he's unemployed for a little bit, he'll be good to go. So if the Chargers bring in someone else, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world in fantasy. We'll see what happens. Number four, Mike McDonald. You can't make a list without Mike McDonald and the Seattle Seahawks right now. They're keeping them in games. It's really Sam Darnold whose interception total has skyrocketed. You're wondering if he's turning back into a pumpkin. Is that still a fair question to ask about Sam Darnold? Yeah, dude. Not for nothing, though, Connor. Not for nothing, okay? I know you want a Super Bowl, but so did Trent Dilfer. And so did Rex Grossman get to a Super Bowl. Sam Darnold has not been a good fantasy quarterback aside from one year in Minnesota. He wasn't good last year in fantasy at all. And this year, he's had one good game against the Commanders. That's it. So yeah, I mean, Darnold, even in the Superflex League, not getting the job done, which is, you know, putting a greater emphasis on that defense for Seattle, going to be a fun game this Sunday night against Kansas City. number three, the inevitable Steve Spagnuolo death taxes and Andy Reid having a serviceable defense alongside one of the great coordinators of all time the Chiefs third in the NFL in EPA per play right now and if you balance that with that Kenneth Walker running game, this is a different Chiefs team than we've seen in our lifetime and Patrick Mahomes is just sitting back there in the rocking chair going, "finally take it off my plate everybody." Yeah, well fantasy managers don't love that because Mahomes has not been great. The last few weeks started off like a house on fire. Uh, and now he's got Seattle this week, so that's not a great matchup, but yeah, I mean, the Chiefs are kind of becoming what the Texans were last year, right? Yeah, run the ball effectively, um, and play really good defense and the Chiefs, I don't think have an elite level defense. Uh, I would put, you know, Minnesota up there, but they're good enough to get the job done. And once again, it's going to be really interesting to see what they do against Seattle this week in that Sunday nighter. Number two, Vance Joseph. Uh, this is my guy. I was pumping him for head coaching jobs last year. And when I was writing a story about him, someone said this, and I thought it was interesting. Is Sean Payton ever going to come out and say how many times this guy's bailed his butt out over the last two years? I don't think so. But every week, Babs, this Broncos defense has got to be a must start. There's pick sixes. There's sacks galore. I mean, this team is doing it all. Yeah, they did have a very strong stat line last week. They've got Arizona coming up this week. So that's a really good play. So they're going to be certainly started in a lot of leagues, you know, and they've had injuries too. I mean, you know, Patrick Mahomes. So Vance Joseph is certainly doing a great job. I wish the offense would do a better job because much like the Chargers, Denver's offense is devoid of any fantasy players that you can trust right now. Absolutely. Number one, though, Brian Flores, how about this as a stat, Fabs? The difference going into last week between the Vikings defense and the number two defense in terms of EPA per play was about as great as the number two defense and the number 20 defense in the NFL. The Vikings defense is on a historic pace. What does that do from a fantasy perspective? Is there any value? Is this a matchup turning defense for people? Yeah, no question about it. I mean, I know that you're playing Jonathan Taylor this week. I mean, that's a no-brainer, but how much do you trust that he can put up a good stat line against this defense, right? I mean, the Colts are not a good team at all. And anytime anybody's going up against the Vikings, you have to worry about a decline in their fantasy production. And I'm not even just talking about, you know, the middling players or the guys you're filling in, the streamers. I'm talking about the high-end players because that defense is that good. So listen, is there any Colts that I trust this week? I don't even know if I trust Jonathan Taylor based on that matchup. And that's what Brian Flores' defense does in fantasy. And if you're in a fantasy league where the Vikings' defense got dropped because they were on a bye last week, you better put in a high claim for them. They are a great play every week, and especially this week. Last but not least, we have Michael Fabiano's five fantasy fallers after week six. My God, the number one name on this list breaks my North Jersey heart. But let's get into it at number five, Fabs. And it's Michael Wilson. You know, once they traded away Marvin Harrison, I'm thinking, all right, Wilson to the moon, baby. 14.5 combined points in his last two games. They're doubling him, Fabs. They're doubling him every single snap. I had him potentially being like a weekly starter and being pretty productive. Now, I don't know what's changed between last year and this year because last year without Marvin Harrison Jr., he was lighting it up. But so far, it's just not been great. And, you know, this week they got Denver. so do you trust him i mean he's kind of due to have a good game but when you can't score more than 7.3 points against the lions i know he was doubled i'm not sure what's going on there so he went from his value shooting up like one of uh elon musk's rockets to crashing back down to earth pretty quick number four uh you mentioned it before Fabs, Patrick Mahomes started off hot we thought we were going to see a ton more of these moon balls off play action in this offense but the injuries at receiver seem to be catching up to the Chiefs, I mean he scored 10 and a half fantasy points against the Chargers, I mean I know their defense is good but come on, 10 and a half points in his last three games, 14.5 points per game now injuries are hurting him, you know like you said Rashee Rice is hurt, Tyquan Thornton's out for the year but also let's not forget you mentioned it, this is the Chiefs that run the ball and give the ball to Kenneth Walker a ton, he's averaging 24 touches a week, he never averaged more than 18.1 in any single season in Seattle so Mahomes doesn't have to do as much and again Seattle this week, boy Ken Walker revenge game that's going to be a lot of fun, number three is another one uh that breaks my heart and I wonder why it reminds me a little bit of Dowdle's last team in Carolina, why wouldn't they just ride the hot hand but Dowdle coming back in Pittsburgh has made life really complicated for Jaylen Warren And Jalen Warren was like en fuego, man. I mean, he had averaged 24.3 points in the three games that Rico is out. in the three games Rico has played, 9.9 points per game That's brutal. That's a 14-point difference I can't even do the math there, Connor So when you're looking at Jalen Warren now, this week he's got New Orleans. New Orleans is bad against running backs, so you're going to play him. But I told everybody who would listen to me to sell high on Warren before Rico came back. and right now if you held him that window is closed and you're hoping for another big game so you can maybe sell high on him i don't care what Mike McCarthy says he lied to us he said Warren was going to be the guy even when Rico returned and Warren still was kind of the guy but Doudle had 10 touches and a lot of those touches would have went to Warren in the previous three weeks so uh you know i love the matchup against New Orleans this week but Jalen Warren's lost some of his luster number two fabs i don't know this guy may be one of the great fantasy one hit wonders uh Hunter Renfrow-esque uh i don't know what you think wow i like that pull he had a huge year one year and then yeah it just disappeared Lad McConkey man what's going on 19 points in the first week you're like yes he's back Laddy Daddy i like to call him Laddy Daddy i get made fun of for doing that it's gonna be the man last four games 19.8 points combined he's had rib injury he's had a foot injury now he's got a concussion he's too small he's not durable the Chargers offense is gross and we talked about it Mike McDaniel could and maybe should be fired but Lad McConkey went from a player that people drafted thinking that he was going to be a draft bargain and you could start him every week to now i can't play him and i don't know if i can the rest of the season number one fabs and and the reason why it breaks my heart jersey heart is not just because his players in close proximity to me but i draft my wife's fantasy football team for her every year and if i draft a running back that's supposed to start for her and he's on the bench the whole time for a game even though he's healthy i get in trouble for this Cam Akers, what the hell is going on that good question uh you know i i was like okay he's not going to start doesn't mean that he's not going to play you know this is sort of a little bit of a punishment from John Harbaugh, although he denied that. I think that's a big pile. You know what? He played six snaps. He didn't touch the ball against the Saints, okay? Najee Harris, listen, I'm sure he's a wonderful human being. He's washed, okay? He started the game and had four touches. He averaged half a yard per carry. Like here, watch this, Connor. Just half a yard, right? He did it. I just did it. It's hard to average half a yard or rush as an NFL running back, but he did that. Okay. So now you're looking at a scenario with that backfield where Tyrone Tracy had two touchdowns. Devin Singletary led the backfield in snaps and Najee Harris started the game. I got to be honest with you. If somebody asked me what to do with the Giants backfield this week, I don't know. Honestly, I guess Tyrone Tracy would be the best play. Now the Texans defense is really good against the run not so good against the pass so i don't know if i trust any of these giants but cam was drafted to be an rb2 last year when he played the majority of snaps it was a small sample size he was averaging 16 17 points per game he was good but it's almost like when jackson dart got hurt and they're best friends that he he you know it's like uh amidala in uh in the uh Revenge of the Sith she lost the will to live i always thought that was so stupid losing the will to live doesn't kill you i mean what are you talking about George Lucas again Star Wars dork whatever but it's almost like Cam lost the will to play football when his best buddy Jackson Dart uh tore up his knee in that game against the Rams and so now you're looking at a player who was drafted to be a prominent member of your fantasy team who at some point might end up getting cut in fantasy now i wouldn't cut him yet but when you go from starter close to being a featured back to literally not touching the ball once and seeing six snaps that is bad we're talking about banishment okay let's stay with the Star Wars theme we're talking about like Jar Jar Binks banishment in the Phantom Menace i always got to bring up the Star Wars things you know who would love this is our pal Mark Sessler um he would absolutely love it so now Cam is the guy that i just can't play at all and i'm really going to be interested to see what the rotation is for the Giants backfield in Houston coming up in week seven request for producer Doug here to play us out with Fabs in the slow motion gaining a yard look at the get off i mean listen here you know basements talking about football no this is NFL level burst from Michael Fabiano um listen i could get half a yard i think i get i'm small you know i did like like MJD i just don't have as much lead in my rear end as he does not big but could potentially get that half yard if you're struggling with Cam Akers don't forget uh just pick up JJ McCarthy because he's on pace to throw for a thousand yards and that crazy that was he threw for more yards in one quarter than any quarterback has ever thrown for in the history of the league unbelievable crazy JJ McCarthy um if that doesn't tell you that anything can happen on a week-to-week basis i don't know what was i might even win a game uh this weekend fabs we'll see what happens as always thanks for joining us on Fantasy with Fabs i'm Connor that's Michael Fabiano check us out on SITV otherwise what are you doing