Daniel Dopp and Liz Loza talk life, fantasy football, pop culture and everything in between in a new weekly "fantasy improv" column, which runs every Friday throughout the NFL season. Joe Kaiser serves as the moderator and attempts to keep things on track.
Liz: I knew Kadarius Toney was in trouble the minute the New York Giants scooped Wan'Dale Robinson in the second round last April. It appears as though neither the current nor the previous Giants regime was interested in the Yung Joka Experience. That should leave Robinson, whose snaps tripled and targets doubled from Week 6 to Week 7, as New York's No. 1 WR (though I still think Darius Slayton is its best prototypical outside option).
Despite being a popular waiver-wire addition this past week (+15.1), Robinson is still available in nearly 75% of ESPN fantasy leagues. Toney, on the other hand, could not have landed in a better place. Less because he's attached to Patrick Mahomes (though that's obvious), but more because he now figures to be utilized by one of the most innovative and player-friendly coaches in the league. Andy Reid will have the whole week to scheme up creative ways to deploy his newest gadget player in Kansas City.
I'm envisioning a good number of end arounds and jet sweeps. The Florida product took most of his snaps out of the slot in college, so there is a chance his looks eat into JuJu Smith-Schuster's and/or Marquez Valdes-Scantling's, but evolution takes time and Toney hasn't even practiced since the first week of October.
Daniel: Well put, Liz! Love me some Wan'Dale Robinson. His low aDot (average depth of target) makes him a boon in PPR leagues, and with the 7-1 NYG getting Seattle, Detroit and Houston over the next four weeks, it's possible some serious chemistry gets developed between him and Daniel Jones as we head into the second half of the fantasy season.
Liz: Every year I forget how wild the trade deadline makes the week heading into Halloween ... until I find myself frantically tossing candy wrappers into the trash after having bingetastically devoured my kids' trick-or-treating booty.
Joe: On the candy scale, what is Toney to this K.C. offense after a few weeks of learning the playbook? Are we talking Snickers, 100 Grand, Kit Kat type of stuff here, or are we more in the Lemonheads and Krackel territory?
Liz: For the Chiefs, Toney is a full-sized Butterfinger (just gotta hope it doesn't immediately crumble). For fantasy managers, he's more of a Mr. Goodbar mini ... great to find in your pocket but not something you're actively hiding in a secret compartment of your freezer or pantry.
Joe: That's the hardest I've laughed all season ... And I was watching the Broncos' 64-yard field goal attempt live in the season opener.
Daniel: Nerds. Come on, can we be a little more serious about this? People do actually need this analysis. Here's what I think. Toney has Mounds of fantasy potential and has delivered some Whoppers when healthy, but can this offense still support Three Musketeers? As for Wan'Dale Robinson, I think you can start him Now and Later. I don't think we'll see his Starburst this season with the way he and Daniel Jones, who's looking for a major Payday after the Giants declined his fifth-year option, have started to vibe over the past two weeks.
Joe: Toney would be a decent pickup now. Who are some of your best pickups of the season so far?
Daniel: I was able to pick up Kenneth Walker III in one of my home leagues (10 teams) where I had serious RB2 problems (Cam Akers or Melvin Gordon), so snagging him off of the waiver wire is almost literally saving my season because there are so few consistent RB options in this game. It also doesn't hurt that I liked Walker coming out of Michigan State. He's a dominant runner who just needed the opportunities to prove himself. Stoked to see how he develops over the season.
Liz: Last year, leaning into Cordarrelle Patterson early helped bolster my teams to numerous playoff appearances. This year, though, it's been grim. I've mostly used the waiver wire to stream defenses. In one league, I was able to grab Josh Palmer. Not that it made much of a dent, as I've been trying to overcome an early Trey Lance hurdle. The Carson Wentz-to-Trevor Lawrence-to-Daniel Jones carousel has been equal parts dizzying and ineffective.
Jones deserves snaps coming off of a 107-yard rushing effort. He's not the QB3 in total rushing yards (343) and the QB4 in rushing attempts (58), which is more than Kyler Murray and Marcus Mariota. His Week 7 output, obviously, skews his per-game average, but it's worth noting that he's cleared 20 rushing yards in every outing this year save one (Week 6 vs. Baltimore). His next three matchups scream stream: SEA, HOU, DET (with a Week 9 bye between the Seahawks and the Texans).
Daniel: And he has three games with 60-plus rushing yards. That's 1.5 passing TDs from his legs! He's on pace for just north of 800 rushing yards, something that no QB did in 2021.
Joe: That Seahawks matchup will sure be interesting, as there are a lot of good vibes in Seattle right now about that defense turning it around and figuring things out. Jones and the Giants will put that to the test.
Liz: Every Tuesday I review the week's matchups and take a look at the opening odds. I always jot down three things that surprise me and then base my work week around them. Here are my "three things" for Week 8:
MIA @ DET is the only game with an O/U above 50 points.
MIN with the highest implied total (29.25 for the week).
PIT with the lowest implied total (16.75) for the week.
Joe: That's interesting ... especially with the Vikings playing a Cardinals defense that has kept them in games and -- as we saw last week -- helped win games for them as the offense has sputtered.
Liz: The Cardinals' pass defense is stout. Through seven weeks, Arizona is the No. 2 pass-defending unit, per the Loza blocking metric (not sure if you knew, but she has a model). If the Cards are weak somewhere, however, it's over the middle. Arizona has allowed six TDs to opposing tight ends. Irv Smith Jr. is likely to find the end zone for a second straight game.
Joe: Any advantage that can be gleaned as far as TEs are concerned is worth considering. It's Kelce, Andrews and then ... yikes.
Here are the PPR scoring leaders at the position through week 7:
Travis Kelce 146.8 (21 fppg)
Mark Andrews 115.2 (16.5 fppg) -- left TNF with an injury
Zach Ertz 85.0 (12.1 fppg) -- and now Deandre Hopkins is back
David Njoku 79.2 (11.3 fppg) -- out 2-5 weeks due to injury
T.J. Hockenson 74.5 (12.4 fppg) -- 39.9 points came in one game vs. Seattle, so 34.6 points came in the five other games (6.9 fppg).
Kyle Pitts is TE22 (39.8, 6.6 fppg)
Darren Waller is TE23 (39.5, 9.9 fppg)
Dawson Knox is TE26 (35.8, 7.2 fppg)
Liz: And Tyler Higbee is coming off of a season-low number of snaps (49) and targets (2), which coincided with Allen Robinson II's highest receiving output (five grabs for 63 yards) of the season. Robinson's snap share and target volume weren't out of the ordinary in Week 6, but I don't think it's foolish to assume -- especially after weeks of hand-wringing about his role and coming off a bye -- L.A.'s efforts to keep ARob involved.
Daniel: You didn't even list George Kittle, who now gets the best RB in the league to share touches with! Next year, I swear I'm taking Mark Andrews in the first, Josh Allen in the second and I'll figure it all out from there.
Joe: Good point. It's probably not a good sign for Kittle that I forgot to even mention him among those second-tier tight end options. Speaking of the 49ers, what's the vibe you're getting heading into Christian McCaffrey's second game with SF ... facing the Rams?
Daniel: I'm starting CMC and Deebo confidently. I'm starting Kittle, but less confidently, and Brandon Aiyuk is a flex play. Jeff Wilson becomes a bench stash. I think it'll be that way pretty much every week, with one question surrounding Jimmy Garoppolo and his worthiness as a streaming option at QB.
Joe: Other than Deebo last season, it's hard to think of any go-to guys on a 49ers offense under Shanahan.
Daniel: Yeah, Kittle is a boom-or-bust fantasy TE right now, but since TE is so shallow, it's hard not to keep rolling him out there. Doesn't mean I feel good about it, though!
Joe: With Andrews hobbled and with Kelce on a bye ... everyone is a boom-or-bust fantasy TE.
Daniel: Even Kyle Pitts, Joe? You promise there's still some boom left?
Joe: I'm ashamed to admit that I looked this up today: Players who enter Week 8 with more fantasy points this season than Pitts in ESPN PPR leagues:
J.D. McKissic
Daniel Bellinger
Dontrell Hilliard
DeAndre Carter
Jerick McKinnon
Braxton Berrios
Deon Jackson
Nobody saw this coming, at least not to this degree.
Daniel: I just threw up in my mouth a little.
Joe: Nothing a little Halloween candy can't fix.
Follow Liz Loza (@LizLoza_FF), Daniel Dopp (@DanielDopp) and Joe Kaiser (@joekaisersports) on Twitter. Liz Loza and Daniel Dopp's fantasy football rankings appear every week during the season.