16. Preseason Reactions, News, QB Battles

The host of the Play Action Podcast, Ryan, discusses the excitement of being on episode 16 and the upcoming NFL season. He highlights the importance of watching preseason games, especially for fantasy football managers, as it provides insight into the performance of rookies and players on new teams. Ryan mentions several standout players from preseason week one, including rookie running backs Emmanuel Wilson and Elijah Dotson. He also discusses the potential impact of preseason performances on fantasy football, highlighting players like Adam Troutman and Khalil Herbert. Ryan then moves on to discuss preseason storylines, such as the performance of quarterback Sam Howell and rookie Zach Wilson. He emphasizes the importance of following preseason storylines for fantasy football and NFL fans. In the second part of the podcast, Ryan covers news about running backs Dalvin Cook, Ezekiel Elliott, Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jacobs, and JK Dobbins. He discusses the implications of Cook signing with Hello, everyone and welcome back to the play action podcast I'm Ryan your host and I'm back here to bring you what episode is this now? This is exciting. We are getting far into the play action podcast. Let me actually look how far into this are we? This is episode 16 that we're recording that is that is Actually incredible that we are now 16 episodes in to this show This just started back in March of this year, and now we're in August preseasons here We just finished preseason week one. We're getting ready for the season Lions chief Kicking off on September 6. We're hyped the NFL community is just hyped for the NFL season to get here, but I do want to tell you guys if you guys have not watched the Hall of Fame game Not watch the first week of the preseason. I'm telling you now Watch the preseason free you still have time for preseason week two and preseason week three These are cool things to look at especially if you are a fantasy manager because Like you see these rookies have big games like a minute Rookie running back for the Green Bay Packers. I forget his last name. His first name is Emanuel I will look that up right now, but um you look at this and What here let me check his name Emanuel Wilson Rookie running back for the Green Bay Packers. He's only 12 percent rostered in Dynasty leagues on sleeper Had a fantastic preseason week one Over a hundred yards a touchdown was great Elijah Dotson running back for the Chargers had a fantastic first week Malik Cunningham the quarterback for the Patriots Fantastic first week Dorian Thompson Robinson has really just been lighting up the preseason Had a great Hall of Fame game had a great first week of the preseason That he's got a bright future. So There's an induced Vaughn roster in most Dynasty leagues, but running back for the Dallas Cowboys Looked great out there on the field was in with the first team And you think he's probably the guy that will give the most competition to Tony Pollard at this point Plus you see for the Bears Khalil Herbert With getting the reps with the starters Getting the reps with the starters DJ Moore had a great touchdown like there Adam Troutman was in with the first team tight end for the Broncos So you see all these things that could very much affect Fantasy maybe for example Adam Troutman being in the first team that doesn't necessarily mean Adam Troutman is gonna be a superstar for fantasy We kind of know at this point Adam Troutman's not that great But that does have a lot of downside for say Greg Dulcich Who the second-year Broncos tight end who we have a lot of hype for so, um there's a lot of hype surrounding these players preseason week one Hall of Fame game these two Weeks of the preseason have really provided a lot of insight to how some of these rookies and younger players Maybe players on new teams that kind of thing are going to Factor into this offense and how these offenses are going to look Another preseason storyline. I want to hit here at the top Sam Howell had a fantastic Preseason week what I believe he played two drives. I did not watch that game. So I could be wrong we but He looked great apparently just like he did lap at the end of last year against the Cowboys He's off to a hot start he was in with the ones Jacoby Brissett came in with the twos So he obviously has the lead right now in the QB battle and I'm very hyped for Sam Howell I just took him in the 18th rounds of best ball league very very excited about his potential So another big storyline there involving him another storyline a hit on Zach Wilson has looked great in the Hall of Fame game And in the preseason week one, especially this past week He looked great so Maybe he could have a bright future after Aaron Rodgers leaves. So there's just a lot of stuff to follow So if you haven't been watching the preseason so far start watching it now Or even if you don't watch the games at least just follow some of the storylines surrounding it It will definitely help you as a fantasy manager and as an NFL fan So on today's show we do have some news to cover here and Some just two big running back names were signed to teams We have some Jonathan Taylor updates and Josh Jacobs updates Jk Dobbins updates a lot of running back news going around right now and We also have had some injury scares involving a couple people so a lot to break down here that we're gonna get into and then After that, I'm just gonna be answering some questions from you guys Not a ton to talk about here as we're gearing up for the season. I've already revealed my rankings all that so Let's get right into the news With the big two storylines that came out yesterday. There were a lot of storylines that came out yesterday But the first one that we would like to break down is Dalvin cook he signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets and Then Ezekiel Elliott signed a one-year deal with the New England Patriots just a few hours before So Dalvin was probably between the Patriots and the Jets. They see the Patriots signed Zeke so he Goes to New York Just I think it was like two hours later He signed his deal with New York, so These two players for fantasy purposes have a lot of implications. Let's just talk NFL purposes right now Zeke will be used I've kind of you'll see Zeke as an older slower Ramon Dre Stevenson at this point. He's a power player that can catch the ball That's really what Ramon Dre is at this point. So Those two will be a one-two punch But it'll be interesting to see how I'm a little worried as we kind of move into the fantasy side here I'm a little worried for Ramon Dre Stevenson for fantasy Just because these two are such similar players in Bill Belichick went out and spent six million dollars To get Ezekiel Elliott on this team. Could he just be glorified depth? Possible but we already know the Zeke's great on the goal line We know he's on third and short, you know, the Ezekiel Elliott is gonna be in the game, you know We can catch passes. So With New England not being a great offense already you get a little worried to see if Zeke will really affect Ramon Dre Stevenson for fantasy football because When these two plays different similar roles bill went out and spent money on Zeke he drafted Ramon Dre a few years ago with a late-round pick We saw Damian Harris a lot of hype around him being the one And it was Ramon Dre easily gonna be the two it's gonna be the Damian Harris show This was I believe just last year that we all thought this Harris goes out starts the season a little banged up and Ramon Dre just kind of takes over and now Damian Harris is a backup With the Buffalo Bills just one year later. So I Don't know. I'm I don't I'm not saying that'll happen for Ramon Dre Stevenson But I'm also Not very excited. Like I've already been avoiding Ramon Dre and his draft price. I already had him ranked remarkably low I don't know how much this changes my ranking of Stevenson for me because before this news broke I was actually gonna move him up a little bit I think I was being a little too mean with Ramon Dre's ranking But now I'm just could probably keep him right around where he is Maybe a spot or two lower because I feel like that's realistic with Ezekiel Elliott's in town So worried about Ramon Dre rest of the offense doesn't really affect Because the Patriots offense isn't that good. I don't know how many touchdowns there's gonna score anyway So I'm just steering clear not of just this backfield. I'm really just steering clear of this team for fantasy this year the New England Patriots Then you got Dalvin cook complete other end of the spectrum Dalvin cook goes in and joins what is a very loaded very hyped New York Jets Football team there you have a ton of talent on offense and defense and now they add Dalvin cook to the puzzle And then it came out today The day after Dalvin cook was signed they're activating Brees Hall off the pup list So Brees Hall, they're saying it's healthy and good to go and he's gonna play week one. So Is Dalvin the backup is is? Brees the backup like Wouldn't you when I look at it? I don't think either of those are correct I think that they spent eight point six million dollars to bring Dalvin cook in for this year and They did that so they have a committee Brees, so where are Brees Coming back from such a large injury doesn't have to shoulder a massive workload cook can get 12 carries Brees can get 12 carries until Brees is at full health You'll probably see Brees his workload go up in Dalvin's workload go down as the season goes on So for fantasy purposes like with the Patriots backfield I'm steering clear of this backfield unless Brees Hall ADP dips into like the sixth round Then I will consider drafting Brees Hall But other than that, I'm just steering clear of this backfield because what I said both these guys Are probably only gonna get at least to start the season around like 12 touches the game max And that's not even carries. It's just touches. So It'll it'll be interesting to see what happens with this backfield This is a one-year deal. Dalvin cook will probably not be in New York yet next year So if you have Brees and dynasty, this is definitely a hold You can even trade for him on the dip. I would not mind that So I would not be scared for brief long term. But for this year, this really hurts Brees Hall's fantasy value Okay so Moving over to some Baltimore Ravens news You have that both Rashad Bateman and JK Dobbins now Bateman was about a week ago Dobbins was just yesterday His news kind of got shoved under these running backs signing contracts news But those two two guys were both activated off the pup list and are both good to go and are gonna play week one so That they're back at training camp. They're practicing in full. They're doing great That's great to hear as a Ravens fan. That's also just great to hear as a fantasy manager That both these guys are gonna be good to go and the Ravens offense is going to be loaded. That's good to hear that Because he's back at camp and without a new deal And doesn't seem to be griping about it at all that this thought this was not contract related like everyone thought this was actually He was just making sure that he was healthy from an injury going into the season, so I'm very excited for JK Dobbins potential. I'm very excited for a shot at Bateman's potential I'm very excited for Lamar Jackson's potential this news. Sure. It helps Dobbins. Sure. It helps Bateman But this news is great Awesome for Lamar Jackson if you're drafting him in your fantasy leagues, this is awesome for Lamar Jackson Because Lamar now gets to have all of his weapons right there He gets JK Dobbins and Odell Beckham jr. And Rashad Bateman and say flowers and Mark Andrews Devin DuVernay All right away. I would say they are likely as well But he got an injury scare in the preseason looks like he's gonna be okay, though And it's gonna be good to go week one. So he should have Isaiah likely there as well. So I Don't really know What this is really gonna be this Ravens offense I don't know how they're gonna distribute the ball But I know Lamar Jackson's gonna get points for whoever they throw the ball to so Lamar Jackson big winner from These moves by the Baltimore Ravens And then you go over to the San Francisco 49ers George Kittle Had a strain as he often does and missed all did not practice all of last week Did not practice all of this week So what they say they expect him to be there week one But George Kittle who's often hurt. Anyways, he gets hurt all the time. Anyways as you see this Going on you get a little scared You get a little nervous because I'm already a little nervous About Drafting George Kittle in the first place because there's so many weapons there with the quarterback that we don't really know how good they are in Brock Purdy With all these weapons George Kittle is probably not the one in this offense He may not even be the two thing on what you think of Brandon Iuke. I do think he is the two I do think he is ahead of Iuke but McCaffrey also catches the ball. He's gonna get a ton of targets And now you add in yet another injury scare I'm just not really drafting George Kittle where he's being drafted right now. I'm kind of steering clear of George Kittle either taking one of the big I'm usually either taking Mark Andrews in the third round or Waiting for a later tight end like Dalton Kincaid in the 10th or 11th round with high upside so That's really just where I'm thinking about George Kittle You if you believe George Kittle is the one and it's gonna get a ton of targets and this injuries can be fine Go take him But his ADP will probably dip a little bit because of this so you will get him at more of a value Devontae Adams also had an injury scare did not practice all of last week is not for kind of practice this week They also expect him back week one now with Devontae Adams completely different situation Devontae Adams has not been hurt often in the past Devontae Adams is definitely needed by this team and Devontae Adams is clearly the number one on his team With the quarterback, we've seen well say what you will about Jimmy Garoppolo. He's definitely been able to sustain QB once so I This injury as long as he's good to go week one does not affect Devontae Adams in my rankings at all. He's still my wide receiver three in my rankings And he's gonna stay there unless they say he's going to miss time now Cooper Cup also got himself an injury. He has This was about a week ago and he's just gonna miss the rest of training camp They say not because he needs to if they needed to get him back out on the field They could but just as a precautionary measure they lost him for half of last season They do not want to lose Cooper Cup again this year. So as a precautionary measure, he's not gonna practice He's not gonna play in the preseason until the season starts, so Hopefully this is just a precautionary measure if it's not you're in trouble drafting Cooper Cup He's still my wide receiver one in my rankings. I'm still very high on Cooper Cup but if he ends up not having a good seed like just Actually being hurt and having a slow start. We'll know where it came from. So injury for Cooper Cup Jonathan Taylor is Expect I can't speak now Expected to report the camp soon when he's healthy. So really it's we don't really know what's happening with Jonathan Taylor So I guess that's a wait-and-see situation and then you have Josh Jacobs We've heard zero news about Josh Jacobs. No one knows where Josh Jacobs is. He still is not a camp We've heard zero news about him. So will Josh Jacobs play? Hopefully Is he for sure gonna play? I don't know So Josh Jacobs will continue to fall in fantasy drafts So if you want to buy the dip you can but it's a risky pick at this point All right. Um, just one other quick thing. This is a play-action podcast related news Before the season starts in under a month. We have two shows currently planned with special guests At least one maybe even two Maybe we'll even get a third special guest on here and just have four guys sitting here for one of the episodes You'll understand why when I say it We are going to have a hot takes episode at some point before the season starts Where there will at least be two of us here, maybe more Sharing our hottest takes for the Upcoming NFL season that will be before the season starts and then we will Have a mock draft episode. That's the one I was saying We can even have up to four people here and just have the rest be controlled by sleeper CPU So we want to have a mock draft episode for you guys coming up. So Hopefully you guys can Just stick around Look at the episodes see what it may come out. Look what they are because we have a lot of cool stuff And then we'll cover a few quick questions before we get out of here and we're back here on the play-action Podcast and while we were on break There was some news about Anthony Richardson and that he would officially start for the Indianapolis Colts week one. I Mean if I'm being honest, this is such a big mistake I mean, you know, I mean, you know, I mean, you know, I mean, you know, I mean If I'm being honest, this is such a big mistake This is such a big mistake And the Colts don't know what they're doing. They don't know that they're making such a big mistake They think they have this huge great prospect, but they know they think I'm not even gonna sugarcoat it. They do know what they're doing They do know they're making a mistake They know that Anthony Richardson is not a pro ready quarterback We saw him on he played two drives in the first week of the preseason and He did not look good But apparently the Colts have seen enough to name him the week one star Now he seems like a great kid. I hope he succeeds but I Have my doubts. I do not think he will succeed and When it comes down to it Anthony Richardson Anthony Richardson is just not to be able to be it for this team right away he's not a pro ready quarterback and Apparently the Colts think they've seen enough to put him in over Gardner Minshew I think then she needs to play the first half of the season if not the whole season to let Anthony Richardson develop But apparently the Colts think the best way for him to develop develop is throw him into the fire So and that works as long as you have a really long leash because it's not gonna be great to start So as long as you have a long leash That could work So maybe they just gave him a really really long leash to work with. Um, so now We're gonna do this is gonna be a shorter episode than usual. We'll probably just cover a few Questions you guys have sent in to finish off the episode and then call it here We've talked about a lot of news and preseason reactions and By the way on the hot takes episode. It's gonna be a bit of a longer episode So if you guys have any hot takes you guys can a hundred percent submit them and we will react it to them So feel free to submit that at the exact same place that you would submit your quick questions Just a reminder. You can submit that through the reviews tab on Spotify or Apple podcasts So whether you get your pocket listening to this through there if you're not those are the places you can submit your product your Not only your reviews, but that's how we get our quick quick questions and all that good stuff so When it comes down to it The this question I have very I have a very strong opinion about and the question is Will you take Jonathan Taylor at his ADP? so his ADP started at the end of the first round of the draft and the answer is yes, because as I as I said his ADP end of the first round and That was his ADP his ADP now Is the middle of the third round? It is in a free fall because people think Jonathan Taylor will hold out I have gotten him in best fall at the end of the third round to the beginning of the fourth round and That is insanely good value for Jonathan Taylor I at this point, I think he's gonna play for the Colts. He's gonna play great. I Would pick him at the 112 for example, I would pick him there, but his ADP is not there I can get him at back around the turn at the 312 so I'll take I take somebody else at the 112 and 2-1 and then wait and use him get him with my third round pick and get an absurd value and I know I'm Getting an absurd value. So I Mean yes, the answer is quick answer. Yes. I'm taking Jonathan Taylor as current ADP. I do not have any concerns I'm taking him. All right, and that was you might have noticed I didn't read a name because I was an anonymous question This question comes in from Linda. She says How do you feel about will lettuce? versus Ryan Tannehill That's all she said so pretty much which I believe she's implying is Who do you I think should start week one and then I'll also answer who should start By the end of the season who like should be starting by the end of the season week one This is easy. Ryan Tannehill should start week one Over will lettuce and Malik Willis also factors into this debate. I've never been a big believer of Malik Willis. So Malik Willis in my opinion. He's the third string quarterback So For me, this is easy on who should start week one. It should be Ryan Tannehill will lettuce is not ready and Ryan Tannehill should start week one and Who should be starting at the end of the season? The answer is Ryan Tannehill should still be starting at the end of the season after this year I think the Titans should move on from Ryan Tannehill, but Tannehill should start the whole year They should give Ryan Tannehill this year let will lettuce develop and then maybe we'll lettuce gets his shot next year Because the Titans at this point are a team that are going into a rebuild Derrick Henry's getting older. Kenny Hill's getting older. AJ Brown's already gone. Kevin Byard's getting older all these pieces That they were using to get into these late Playoffs first like staying alive late in the playoffs even made an AFC championship appearance had a number one seed Just two years ago so When it comes down to it those pieces are just getting older so you they're not gonna be viable anymore and you're gonna have to use good draft picks and start fresh and Will lettuce I could see him just turning out as a Ryan Tannehill type player just panning out. Oh, yeah He is pretty good. Yeah, will he get into the Super Bowl? Probably not, but he's pretty good Right weapons Sure, he can be pretty good. I could see will let us being Ryan Tannehill another player that falls into that discussion Well, I do think this player is probably better than Ryan Tannehill Kirk Cousins It's kind of that same way though. Oh, yeah, he's pretty good Teddy Bridgewater. Oh, yeah, he's fine Well, I do think Cousins is much better than both of those other players. That's kind of just an example of What will lettuce I think could turn out to be he also has the upside to be the next Josh Allen And just be the superstar He also has the downside to just be awful and be like the next like Ryan Leaf or Jamarcus Russell Just just this player that everyone is projecting go really high and in those two guys cases They did go really high and then they just suck. You could also throw Johnny Manziel in that category. Maybe Zach Wilson I wouldn't put him there yet I'm still I still believe a little bit in Zach Wilson, especially after what we've seen this preseason so far So I wouldn't throw Zach Wilson in there right now too early to tell but he that's his downside But his upside is Josh Allen. Where do I think he'll fall somewhere in between and that Tannehill Bridgewater? That type of player that middle of the pack. Yeah, he's just kind of fine QB So Yeah for this season the entire season should be Tannehill year to give Will Leavis the shot move on from Ryan Tannehill's massive capet So we can work in one more question here. Let's go to Robert Robert submits What is your opinion on the commander's wide receiver core for fantasy? Will it be Terry McLaurin as the one will it be Johan Dodson as the one? Um so what Robert forgot to mention here is Curtis Samuels also there he could very much be the one do I think he'll be the one probably not but Curtis Samuel also deserves a mention he's a very good player and Is going to have a good role on this team. So with those three players there Terry McLaurin will probably be the 1a and Johan Dodson will probably the 1e I believe in both players I think both players are very talented. I think both players could be the wide receiver one on this team I think they will be a good combo maybe not quite this good, but Jamar chase and T Higgins ask or AJ Brown and Devante Smith ask I think a good comp for him would be maybe DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett ask They could be something like that. So Just a good pairing of very good wide receivers That have elite upside that's really what I think Terry McLaurin and Johan Dodson are at this point I think Sam Howell if he's going to succeed he's in a very good situation This commander's offense is sneaky underrated they have a great receiving core a good running back room with the one-two punch of Brian Robinson as the Thunder and Antonio Gibson is the lightning their offensive line is surprisingly decent at this point. So Sam Howell is in a good situation to succeed He now has a fantastic offensive coordinator and Eric the enemy running the show call in the plays. So I'm telling you I would not be surprised if the commanders had a very good year on offense this year and their defense have already proved They've been good. The commanders can be a sneaky good team this year if Sam Howell pans out They're kind of like the Falcons on us although I do think their Pieces are a little better than the Falcons on both offense and defense It kind of feels that way because if their quarterback is good They can be a sneaky good team if their quarterback is bad. They're just gonna be very very bad this year So that is gonna wrap it up here for the play action podcast I hope you guys enjoyed today's episode and Stay tuned for that hot takes shown that mock draft show all coming out within the next few weeks. Have a good one