Anybody else wake up this morning and throw on their jersey right away? The hustle and bustle of NFL Sundays. Yinzers flooding their local Giant Eagle, Steelers jerseys at Church, and shortened sermons at 12 o’clock mass so everyone can get home for kick-off. NFL Sundays are back and the excitement is in the air.
What fun is making and comparing picks, if we don’t get to “expertly” evaluate each-others selections. Each week, Jag on Jag Crime will review the selections from “Who Yinz Got?” and grade their opponent. We will also release our final rosters for the Sunday games. Now for format…
The late, great National Radio Hall of Fame inductee and voice of the Steelers, Myron Cope used the catch-phrase “Yoi”, signifying something good happening during the game. Further, a “Double-Yoi” was reserved for those special moments where actual words weren’t enough and folklore has it that a “Triple-Yoi” was once spoken. “Yoi” simply put, because a new staple in Pittsburghese throughout Cope’s tenure.
The Jags wanted to honor Mr. Cope for his impact on developing our love of the game, so we turned his most famous phrase into our scoring system:
- Double-Yoi – Can’t miss pick, no questions asked.
- Yoi – Not bad, not good, the jury is still out.
- Anti-Yoi – What were you thinking? Disagree
DJ’s Payoffs:
QB – Carson Palmer; Double-Yoi
- Palmer is in a great matchup at a cheap price. Take advantage.
RB – Todd Gurley; Yoi
- Gurley is intriguing here. Part of me wants to wait a week, but another part of me has him in every line-up I’ve rostered this week (true story).
WR – Larry Fitzgerald; Double-Yoi
- Fitzy is a must-play if you are starting Palmer. If not, he is still a good option against a porous DET defense.
TE – Zach Ertz; Double-Yoi
- Obviously, I picked him too.
FLEX – Pierre Garcon; Yoi
- Strictly due to the PPR format, I think this is a good option. High floor, low ceiling; safe pick. Garcon will get his targets. What kind of stat-line that translates to is TBD.
D/ST – Atlanta; Anti-Yoi
- Anybody rostering a D/ST not named Arizona gets an Anti-Yoi in my book. I can’t justify spending $500 more at D/ST for ATL over AZ.
Payoffs Overall Grade – Yoi
- I love the Cardinals stack he has here, and Ertz is a “can’t miss” in my opinion. The cat’s out of the bag on both Gurley and Garcon, but the Atlanta D/ST is a hard no for me strictly due to price. I don’t think Mike Glennon and company will be making any comebacks 3rd/4th quarter 28-3 comebacks like some people, but I also think Jordan Howard has the ability to run through their defense and score some points.
DJ’s Jagoffs:
QB – Ben Roethlisberger; Ugh…Double-Yoi
- This pains me, but DJ is right. Big Ben is just a different QB on the road. As a die-hard Lers fan, this is a sad reality we all have come to terms with over the past 10+ years. I hope we are wrong and Ben puts up career numbers, but at his price it’s a pretty easy fade.
RB – Darren McFadden; Yoi
- This pick should be a Double-Yoi, but what a cop-out…even admittedly so.
WR – Odell Beckham Jr.; Double Yoi
- Regardless of if OBJ plays or not, stay away. Possibly another cop-out pick, but there is nothing to disagree with.
TE – Delanie Walker; Anti-Yoi
- DJ is right, there are a lot of mouths to feed in TEN now, but Delanie’s sitting at the head of the table, and he’s hungry. If Mariota is going to be successful this year, he is going to need to spread the love. It’s a gamble taking Walker, but the upside is there.
D/ST – Carolina; Anti-Yoi
- Truthfully, I don’t have an opinion here, so I’ll be nice and go with Yoi. Eh scratch that, I’ll go Anti-Yoi just for fun. Plenty of other fish to fry for Week 1 than discussing a D/ST Jagoff pick and knowing my competition, I’m sure he’s wrong on this.
Jagoffs Overall Grade – Yoi.
- DJ did his civic duty. He had great suggestions on players to fade, and it’s hard to disagree with most of them. The McFadden and OBJ picks, although not earth shattering, appear to be accurate. Don’t worry, as the season progresses, I guarantee there will be plenty of disagreements.
Chris’ Payoffs:
QB – Derek Carr; Yoi
– With Chris going bigger picture than fantasy here it’s hard to argue with. The only thing preventing Double Yoi status is I’m concerned how the leg is able to hold up to a full game grind after breaking it last season.
RB – Jordan Howard; Anti-Yoi
– Like Chris said, the Atlanta defense only gave up 105 rushing yds/game last season. They were vulnerable against the pass last season but with a barely mediocre QB Howard will not pay off.
WR – Doug Baldwin; Double Yoi
- Hard to argue with this. Green Bay has a subpar defense and with the uncertainty at the running back position, Baldwin is set up for a massive game.
TE – Zach Ertz; Double Yoi
- Talked about this enough, moving on.
FLEX – John Brown; Anti-Yoi
– Being the third receiver on the depth chart doesn’t mean much right now, but John Brown is not worth rostering this week. Still getting over some nagging soft tissue injuries the Cards will be more careful with Brown in a game that could be a blow out.
D/ST – Arizona; Yoi
- The definition of Yoi being not good, but not bad perfectly describes Arizona’s defense. Losing Calais Campbell could prove to be a huge hit to the front seven, but we’ll see how this plays out.
Payoffs Overall Grade – Yoi
– A very good job by Chris choosing these players. Though I don’t feel as strongly as he does about Howard and Brown, I can understand his thinking. I opted for a safer choice at my FLEX and prefer the high floor rather than the high ceiling like Chris does, but his upside choices could pay huge dividends when it’s all said and done.
Chris’ Jagoffs:
QB – Matthew Stafford; Yoi
– Stafford is very bad against the Cardinals, that much is known. What is unknown is what offense will the Lions be running? Late last year they shifted towards ball control and clock possession. If that Lions team is the one taking field this will be a good Jagoff selection. If they come out throwing, this is anti-yoi.
RB – Zeke Elliot; Anti-Yoi
– The Giants defense is good, I drafted them in multiple season long leagues. This week they will not be good. Zeke is going to run roughshod all over them tonight.
WR – The Colts; Double Yoi
– The Colts without Andrew Luck are terrible. I’m talking New York Jets terrible. With receivers who rely on Luck more than their own skill, ALL Clots receivers should be avoided this week.
TE – Martellus Bennett; Yoi
– The jury is out on the usage of Bennett in the Packers offense. But with a lot of mouths to feed and going up against the Seahawks it’s a safe bet to avoid Bennett for this week.
D/ST – Jacksonville; Anti-Yoi
– Mainly done because Chris trashed my defensive jag, but also because former Pitt QB Tom Savage leads the Texans offense. No good QB has ever come out of Pitt (Dan Marino excluded). Jacksonville worked on their secondary in the off-season and will cause fits for Savage and company this week.
Jagoffs Overall Grade – Yoi
- Zeke is the only bold one here. It’s so bold it may has well have been illegible.
Zeke will be good, he is matchup proof. Everyone else is fairly obvious. As a whole Chris’ jagoffs will be less productive than mine, but that doesn’t make him right, just safer with his picks. SHOTS FIRED!
Final Picks:
| Chris | DJ | |
| QB | Derek Carr | Carson Palmer |
| RB | Jordan Howard | Devonta Freeman |
| RB | Todd Gurley | Todd Gurley |
| WR | Amari Cooper | Michael Crabtree |
| WR | Kelvin Benjamin | Larry Fitzgerald |
| WR | Doug Baldwin | Doug Baldwin |
| TE | Zach Ertz | Zach Ertz |
| FLEX | John Brown | Pierre Garcon |
| D/ST | Cardinals | Atlanta |
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