Jason and Dave bring on special guest and drinkfive.com contributor Tad Bukowski to discuss the preseason fantasy breakdown of teams in the NFC/AFC West divisions. You've seen how the Raiders have been faring so far on Hard Knocks - do we see things any differently? How about the Cardinals in the NFC West with their new acquisition, #1 pick Kyler Murray? Tune in for an action-packed discussion on the best possible fantasy picks from these teams. We're getting closer and closer to the start of the season - make sure you're prepared to make a run for the championship this season!
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Listen to the Fantasy Finish Line, 8/14/2019: 2019 Preseason, NFC/AFC West
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Today was a Big Day for Jonathan Martin, who was traded from the Miami Dolphins to the San Francisco Forty-Niners for a conditional 7th round pick. There he will be reunited with his former college coach Jim Harbaugh. Things couldn't have worked out better for him in that regard, he had to leave Miami and with the Niners he can fly in under the radar as a back up to established vets Joe Staley and Anthony Davis. I am happy for Martin because he is back in California where he grew up with a coach he is familiar with. If the former 2nd round pick can now reach his potential it will have been a steal for San Francisco.
On the flipside there is Richie Incognito, who has reportedly checked himself into a mental hospital. His life has been in the spotlight since early November with progressively more shocking headlines that only Riley Cooper could be happy about. I can't help but feel a little bad for the man. Sure the his actions were appalling, but the Dolphins' staff allowing it to go on was worse. If they handled this properly both men involved could have been spared the media frenzy and the team probly makes the playoffs.
Incognito's aggressive personality is what made him good at football and the Dolphins were willing to put up with him if he performed on Sunday. Some have said Martin should have ended the harassment by retaliating with violence and that might have worked. But when Martin reported incidents to the Dolphins that had to be the end of it. Allowing the harassment to continue was a disservice to everyone in the locker room.
It starts in High School (maybe earlier) - athletes can get away with murder as long as they perform. This look-the-other-way attitude creates a dangerous culture where horrendous acts like the ones that occurred at Penn State can flourish. The Dolphins only reacted after Martin went public, which is too little too late in my opinion. The NFL needs to investigate this situation for proof of complacency on the Dolphins part. The franchise should be punished to discourage this behavior. Hopefully everyone involved in this situation can learn something from it and become better individuals going forward.
A lot has gone on between the games that sometimes it's all anybody talks about. Let's figure out a few things that we learned ON the field on Sunday.
- Jay Cutler and the Bears have reminded us, once again, of the importance of winning the turnover battle. This week, only 3 teams that won had a turnover, and each of those three forced at least one turnover from the losing team. So no matter how favored you are against a team *coughninerscough*, you aren't going to win when you have 4 turnovers and don't force any of your own.
- J.J. Watt can do it all. He's appearing in commercials everywhere, on the SNF intro and now he's catching touchdowns. He currently has the same number of sacks as he has touchdowns. I think they should get him in there every game!
- No one is safe from injury. We saw a flood of injuries throw a stick in the spokes of fantasy football yesterday. Ryan Mathews, RG3, A.J. Green, Carson Palmer, Jamaal Charles, Doug Martin, DeSean Jackson, Vernon Davis were all guys who were fantasy starters, or almost in Palmer's case, who disappointed owners on Sunday. It's a long season guys, as long as I didn't recite your whole roster, you'll recover.
- Never count Aaron Rodgers out, especially at home. At one point in the second quarter, the Packers were trailing 21-3 and had only a 12.2% chance to win. After a beautifully executed two-minute drill to close the first half, he threw two more touchdowns in the second half on his way to being the leading QB of the week, throwing for 346 yards and 3 TD's. Rogers is the only QB to throw over 300 yards on Sunday.
- The Washington Redskins tied a franchise record with 10 sacks of Chad Henne on Sunday. Despite RG3's injury, Washington was able to put up 41 points and break a losing streak stretching way back into last year. My reason for directing your attention here is simple though. Blake Bortles will be starting in Jacksonville sooner, rather than later. Weel ahead of their week 11 bye.
- Arian Foster has shut up all of his draft doubters. After logging another 28 carries yesterday, he's at a league leading 55 carries, with 241 yards and 1 TD (4 rec for 29 yds as well). The Texans are sitting pretty at 2-0 with everything going their way early in the season. Reminds me of a recent season they've had, maybe 2013? While i don't think that Fitzpatrick is going to go on a crazy pick-six streak, don't think for a moment that people in Houston aren't thinking about last year a whole lot right now.
- There will be lots of good pickups on the waiver wire this week. Knile Davis, Bobby Rainey, Donald Brown and Kirk Cousins all performed very well when called upon this week and all, except maybe Rainey, are expected to get the start in week 3. In fact, rumors in Washington are that Coach Gruden prefers Kirk Cousins anyways. He's certainly looked better than Griffin over Washington's last 6 or so games.
- Marc Trestman seems to have a little Belichick in him. After rumors all week that Jeffery and Marshall would not play, including a very bleak outlook on Sunday morning, both of them were on the field to start the game on Sunday night. While Jeffery may have looked like a decoy, he still made a few important catches. Marshall, on the other hand, reeled in 3 TD catches(!) and is tied for the league lead. This is a game that the 49ers had a 98.7% chance to win at one point, definitely the best comeback of the week.
- Antonio Gates is apparently living like it's 2009. He's been targeted 17 times already, has 13 receptions for 177 yards and 3 TD's. As long as he stays healthy, he will be Philip Rivers' security blanket. He's moved firmly back into the higher end of Tight Ends, currently second among ALL TE's in the league. He's going to be a starter every week for the foreseeable future.
- Leaders so far - after two weeks, the leaders at rushing, receiving and passing yards are not surprises by any stretch, none of them are studs that were expected to take this role. Passing: Matt Ryan, 679 yds, Rushing: DeMarco Murray, 285 yds, Receiving: Jordy Nelson, 292 yds. The fantasy points leader is, of course, who we all expected it to be. Jay Cutler. WHAT?!?