Matt Okada - Fantasy Football Analyst, panthers Event: NFL Fantasy Football Show | Date: 2026-09-17 | Full transcript (primary source).
Matt Okada, Fantasy Football Analyst, spoke during the NFL Fantasy Football Show on September 17, 2026, providing insights on player performances and matchups for the upcoming week. His analysis focused on key quarterbacks, including Bryce Young and Baker Mayfield, as well as their potential impact on fantasy football leagues.
Transcript
Okada: Yeah, absolutely. I'm starting with Bryce Young. He has been kind of quietly breaking out since late last year in tandem with fantasy's current top scoring receiver, Jalen Coker. Since mid-November, Young is averaging more than 19 fantasy points a game. That is sixth among quarterbacks better than Joe Burrow, better than Jalen Hurts, among others. And he has simultaneously been more aggressive and made fewer mistakes. And that resulted in 230 passing yards of game 15 touchdowns, just five picks. And the game that started this breakout yammer was the overtime thriller in Atlanta, where he threw for 448 yards, three touchdowns, top 31 fantasy points. So look for an encore this Sunday.
Okada: And then I've got to take Baker Mayfield in the revenge game against Cleveland. Look, his week one performance was kind of a tale of two tales. On one hand, he completed 82% of his passes. That's 15.4% over expected and rushed for 30 yards and a touchdown. But on the other hand, he lost three fumbles and Bucky Irving lost a fourth, which took a ton of yards and probably several points off the board for Tampa Bay. The last time the Bucks lost four fumbles in a game, the yammer was 2014 with Josh McCown and Mike Glennon. It's not happening again in week two. So Mayfield is a big rebound candidate against his former team.
Okada: Yeah, this is less about Justin Herbert, to be honest. It's more about the health of Lad McConkie, who's currently day-to-day with a rib injury. Trevor actually had a great post after Sunday's game that highlighted how much worse the Chargers offense was when Lad was off the field in week one. It was atrocious. And even if Lad is back, I think he'll probably be limited. Plus, don't look now, but I kind of like this Raiders defense who added the Kobe Dean, Quay Walker, Quiddy Pay, rookie trade and Stukes at safety all around Max Crosby this past off season. They all looked great in week one. I think there are several other quarterbacks worth streaming over Justin Herbert.
Okada: Yeah, I'm starting Remondre Stevenson against the Steelers. Whether or not Trayvon Henderson returned from his ankle injury, which currently sounds possible. And look, Stevenson was extremely inefficient on the ground against Seattle. But I frankly don't care for two reasons. One, it's Seattle, who's probably the best defense in the league. Two, I am playing Stevenson for the receiving upside in PPR. Even against the Seahawks, he had five catches for 44 yards last Wednesday. And Bijon Robinson, who played Pittsburgh, had eight catches for 90 yards in a touchdown. So if Henderson plays, I think he'll see limited usage and Stevenson will have a great shot at a sort of Bijon Light fantasy performance.
Okada: And then I'm actually starting two quote unquote plodding runners against ASU North opponents. Give me David Montgomery versus the Bengals coming off his three touchdown outing against Buffalo. Houston reached the red zone five times in week one. That was tied for the most by any team. That is extremely good news for Montgomery and his fantasy managers, because that is where he is going to score the majority of his points. Plus, dating back to last year, since he has allowed the most fantasy points to running backs. I don't think he'll be an RB1 all season, but Montgomery will be an RB1 for at least one more week.
Okada: Yeah, listen, he's very talented. So this is risky, but he was also out snapped and out carried by Tyler Algier in week one. Now that could have been a little bit of maintenance for Love's ankle, but it already gives me pause and then he's playing the Seahawks. So I just talked about, they crushed New England's ground game last week and they have been extremely tough against this position since last year. No running back hammer has scored 17 fantasy points in a game against the Hawks since week six and the lead back in those 13 games has only averaged 10 fantasy points. So sadly, for now, I am not feeling the love.
Okada: Yeah, listen, I was concerned about the soft tissue injuries in the age and the 2025 regression for Mike Evans. Through one week, Yam, I'm taking a loss on this one. Evans looked great in Melbourne. He was a menace on third downs. He snagged a vintage, I'm bigger and stronger than you touchdown from the goal line that we just saw. Plus, Dajon Stripling is now out and George Kittle is still working back to full health. So Evans is the clear king of this passing attack, which is led by Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy. That is a very dangerous combo for fantasy. I think until further notice, Evans is must start material and that definitely includes week two against Miami.
Okada: And then fortunately for me, because as wrong as I was about Evans last week, I was right about Terry Maclaurin. He looked like an afterthought in Washington's offense against Philly. And Staphon Diggs is the guy who stepped up into the wide receiver one role in his stead. 31% target share, 33% air yards share. That translated to 15 and a half fantasy points for Diggs. And in week two, he draws a juicy matchup with the Cowboys who have allowed the most fantasy points to the position since the start of last season. This is projected to be the second highest scoring game of the entire week hammer. And I want pieces wherever I can get them. So Diggs is the guy.
Okada: Yeah, speaking of drops. Look, Metcalf saw 10 targets in week one, which is encouraging, but he caught just four of them for 40 yards and he did not look good or in sync with Aaron Rodgers. And that included one officially counted drop for Metcalf. But honestly, for this week, this has more to do with who he'll face on Sunday. History and data suggest that Metcalf will be heavily shadowed by Patriots cornerback, Christian Gonzalez, who completely smothered him the last time they met back in 2024. So unless he has a big play on one of the snaps, he doesn't draw Gonzalez, a la Jackson Smith and Jigba last Wednesday. I think Metcalf posts another dud in week one and there could be more to come in that realm.
Okada: NFL.com slash start sit, Matt, you're the best man. Always appreciate that insight, your tight ends and your defenses. You can check out once again on NFL.com.
