Over the past few years during the NFL season, Ted Schuster and I have been doing a segment on the SiriusXM radio show called “Right, Wrong or Indifferent.” Basically what this means is a scorecard for all of the predictions, rankings and recommendations we gave out during the previous week for fantasy football.

I feel very strongly about users (readers, listeners, customers, etc) holding fantasy analysts responsible for the information and advice they pass along. To be honest, its way too easy for us to disguise our analysis on a week in and week out basis because there are thousands of excuses to be made. After all, we aren’t the ones playing the game, right? Well, nah, eff that. We need to be held accountable. If we aren’t then its too easy to become soft and not pay as much attention or not watch the games that we are trying to make sense out of. You guys deserve better.

Thus, I will be putting our radio segment down on paper and posting it right here each week on the Fantasy Alarm site. I encourage you to help be hold myself (and Ted!) accountable for the information that we provide. Now be careful here because if you are going to try and come at me with blame for something I didn’t say or take my thoughts out of context than I reserve the right to fire back at you. And you had better believe that I will. Just stick to the actual things that I say and we should have no problems.

This is a good spot to post your submissions for our Haterade segment on the SiriusXM show as well. Just light me on fire in the most negative way possible in the comments section, on the Fantasy Alarm Forums or on Twitter (@Jeff_Mans).

Here is my Right, Wrong & Indifferent for Week 1:

RIGHT

Matthew Stafford, QB, Lions

This seemed easy to me but evidently many folks didn’t see the writing on the wall late in the preseason. The Lions are going to be a heavy passing team and the Saints defense still stinks. When you combine that with the Saints offense playing so well at home, we all should have known that a shoot-out was inevitable. Granted, I thought the Lions receivers would have done more of the damage but having pass catching RB’s like Abdullah and Riddick is another allure of Stafford for fantasy football.

Andrew Luck, QB, Colts

Miss one half a season due to a lacerated kidney and suddenly the world forgets about you. Well fortunately we did not as I had plenty of shares of Luck in both seasonal and DFS. This Colts defense is absolutely awful and on top of that they are banged up big time. So, Luck and company will be airing it out a lot this season.

Carson Palmer, QB, Cardinals

This is kind of just my way of saying that I predicted the Patriots beating the Cardinals this week. Palmer though has been awful this preseason and if he doesn’t improve significantly, the blessed season the Cardinals thought they were going to have could go down the drain quickly.

Spencer Ware, RB, Chiefs

I received so many nervous messages about Ware leading up until game time that on the SiriusXM Fantasy Football Pregame show I made a public service announcement to everyone listening stating “You MUST play Spencer Ware!!” Despite a slow start by the Chiefs offense, Ware was an absolute beast and came through for everyone that trusted him and I. This was quite honestly my proudest decision of the entire week because the tide was turning on Ware and the hardest thing to do is stay strong in those situations.

Ryan Mathews, RB, Eagles

I already know that my season is going to be tied directly to Ryan Mathews production. Nobody was higher than I was heading into this season. I honestly was not thrilled with Mathews performance this week as he churned out a pedestrian YPA against one of the worst defenses in the league. But, the touches were there (carries only, though!) and the touchdown put him right where I had stated that he would be all offseason.

A.J. Green, WR, Bengals

No, I didn’t predict this kind of game out of Green but I did tell quite a few of you that there was nothing to worry about in terms of the matchup with Darrelle Revis. Green torched Revis this week and many of you now realize something that I have been trying to tell you. Shut down corners are a figment of our imagination. Cornerbacks can always be thrown on but when you get enough of reputation as a playmaker, QB’s become scared of throwing your way. I don’t think anybody is going to be scared of Revis after watching the film from this past Sunday.

Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Cardinals

It’s so weird how little fantasy owners value Larry Fitzgerald. He’s absolutely the Cardinals top receiver and that alone should be quite valuable. Then you factor in the fact that he’s one of the best wide receivers of all time and a first ballot hall of famers and you should be comfortable with him as your WR2.

Tajae Sharpe, WR, Titans

It makes me happy when I hear folks tell me that the first time they had ever heard Tajae Sharpe’s name was either on the SiriusXM show or in one of my Training Camp Reports this summer. Sharpe didn’t have a sensational game but he was by far the Titans lead WR and returned plenty of value as a FLEX play or value play in DFS this week. This kid is going to be special providing the Titans offense can comply with his level of talent.

Dwayne Allen, TE, Colts

I hope that all of you read my Coaching Systems breakdown in the 2016 Fantasy Football Draft Guide. If you didn’t, I really believe that you are playing from behind because the more you know and understand these systems, the less you’ll be surprised by performances like the Colts TE’s catching three touchdowns in the opening week. Allen unfortunately left the game in the fourth quarter which led to Jack Doyle’s two TD grabs, but he was still productive enough to be a top TE this week.

Jared Cook, TE, Packers

I’m sorry but if you fell for the Jared Cook hype, you really are naïve. Again, if you understand the systems and know what it is that Mike McCarthy, Aaron Rodgers and this Packers offense wants to do then you know that doesn’t involve the tight end. Cook will have some good games this season, but that will be matchup based only. Green Bay does not like throwing to the TE spot plain and simple.

Others I Was Right About

Arian Foster, RB, Dolphins

Matt Forte, RB, Jets

Sammy Watkins, WR, Bills

Gary Barnidge, TE, Browns

 

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WRONG

Tyrod Taylor, QB, Bills

I really thought that Taylor would be able to eat up yards both through the air and on the ground against his former team but that just didn’t happen on Sunday. He isn’t a pocket passer but if he is going to earn the investment the Bills made in him, Taylor is going to have to go about it the Russell Wilson way and make plays while on the move. It’s not going to get better for him next week against the Jets.

Devonta Freeman, RB, Falcons

Freeman did have a TD that was called back due to a false start on TE Austin Hooper but he also split time with Tevin Coleman which creates a big problem. I am not too worried about Coleman as he is going to get his touches but as long as Freeman makes plays his job will be safe. This Falcons backfield situation will sort itself out and when it does, we’ll be left with a top five fantasy running back.

Melvin Gordon, RB, Chargers

You can have Melvin Gordon and all of the Chargers running backs for that matter. I don’t want anything to do with any of them. You may be wondering why Danny Woodhead isn’t on the list here for the “wrong” category. That’s because I was actually “right” on Woodhead this week. Danny boy is very game flow dependent and when it is in his favor he’ll be fine. But eight to ten times a year it will not be in his favor and then he will be completely useless for fantasy purposes.

Devin Funchess, WR, Panthers

Probably my single worst call of the week when I said that Funchess would outproduce Kelvin Benjamin on Thursday night football. That didn’t happen and obviously I feel bad for ever even having those thoughts.

Will Fuller, WR, Texans

Fuller is a very intriguing talent and I love how the Texans used him in week one. I’m still not buying him for the whole season but we saw first hand that when presented with an opportunity, Fuller can be a big time fantasy producer.

Jalen Ramsey, CB, Jaguars/Randall Cobb, WR, Packers

I completely botched this one. I had Ramsey covering Jordy Nelson on the outside all day which to me would drive the reads toward the middle of the field toward Randall Cobb. Well, Ramsey wound up covering the slot more often this week and thus matched up with Cobb quite a bit. These are the screw-ups I really, really hate because it impacts so much. When you miscalculate a matchup like this it messes with the projection for Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams, Aaron Rodgers as well as Randall Cobb.

Crockett Gillmore, TE, Ravens

I’ve been talking up Gillmore ever since Ben Watson went down with a season ending knee injury. After all, he was the presumed starter here for the Ravens. But instead it was Dennis Pitta who drew the start and who played 80% of the snaps for Baltimore in week one. Gillmore was used scarcely and thus is no longer a viable fantasy commodity.

Others I Was Wrong About

Jameis Winston, QB, Buccaneers

Christine Michael, RB, Seahawks

Chris Hogan, WR, Patriots

Willie Snead, WR, Saints

 

 

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INDIFFERENT

Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys

I didn’t rank Dak very highly in my seasonal rankings but did have him in the DFS NFL Playbook this week mostly because of his crazy value. He actually played very well in this game but didn’t translate that into fantasy points. I am still very pleased with his rapid development and optimistic about his future.

LeSean McCoy, RB, Bills

McCoy could be in the “right” category this week but because he was in all of my DFS NFL Optimal Lineups, I will put him as indifferent. He reached his floor which is exactly why I believe he has so much value this season. He’s going to have to gain more than 3.5 yards per carry going forward to reach the level that I hope he does this season.

Jordy Nelson, WR, Packers

He got saved by his six yard TD reception because Jordy had nothing going for him on Sunday against the Jaguars. Of course, he was open a couple different times in which the ball was thrown completely over his head and once behind him and should have been intercepted. I have zero shares of Jordy this year and if I did I wouldn’t be too excited about his start to the season.

Michael Thomas, WR, Saints

Thomas wasn’t as involved as I had hoped that he would be especially in a very back and forth game. He did grab all six of his targets for a total of 58 yards but he didn’t get a single red zone target which is what I was excited about all week. I absolutely loved this debut from a seasonal perspective but in DFS this just wasn’t enough for me.

Zach Ertz, TE, Eagles

It’s a shame that Ertz suffered the rib displacement and will be out for a few weeks because he was off to a very solid start to the season. The Eagles are going to use the TE’s a lot this year and thus it is time to go out and grab Brent Celek at least for a couple of weeks while Ertz is out.