Dislocated fingers, Pop or Drop a fantasy superstar and our Midseason Awards | Ekeler’s Edge

Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler describes to Yahoo Sports’ Fantasy Expert Liz Loza what it’s like to suffer a dislocated finger and then explains the process to reset it in order to stay in the game. Liz and Austin play a game of fantasy Pop or Drop for week 10 and beyond. Finally we unveil our midseason awards, focusing on some great performances turned in by three of Austin’s fellow running backs.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

AUSTIN EKELER: I ended up dislocating my pinkie. It's super swollen right now.

LIZ LOZA: What happened?

AUSTIN EKELER: I don't know how to explain it. But yeah, it was just up on top. This part right here was up on top. And you just had to pull. You've got to pull in the ligaments to pull itself back down.

LIZ LOZA: Oh.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

What's up, everyone? Welcome to "Ekeler's Edge." I'm Liz Loza. And this is, of course, Chargers' running back, fantasy football superstar, and hot Cheetos stan, Austin Ekeler.

AUSTIN EKELER: I love me some hot Cheetos. But yeah, welcome back to another great episode.

LIZ LOZA: Yeah. We got a great show for you. We'll preview the Chargers' match-up with the Vikings, play a little game of fantasy pop or drop, and hand out our midseason awards.

AUSTIN EKELER: Let's do it.

LIZ LOZA: Austin, your Chargers ended a two-game slide with a hard fought 27-24 victory over the Eagles in Philly. The win moved you guys back into first place in the tight AFC West. So what stood out to you from the victory?

AUSTIN EKELER: That's the first time I ever played in the Eagles Stadium. And if you know anything about Philly, man, they got some some dedicated fans out there.

LIZ LOZA: They're not quiet.

AUSTIN EKELER: They're not quiet. You're rolling in on the buses. There's a lot of things being said, a lot of signals being shown to you, but I like it. I like it, the hostility, OK. We're coming in, all of us versus all these people. Definitely, it was a hard fought win. It came all the way down to the last few seconds. That's the NFL nowadays. The NFL is close games. When you're able to come up on top, it's usually because you're the most consistent team.

LIZ LOZA: Well, last week, you predicted over 100 total yards and a score for yourself. And you fell just a little bit short, 82 scrimmage yards, no touchdown. How would you grade your performance?

AUSTIN EKELER: Last time I ever give myself a prediction, I tell you that.

[LAUGHTER]

But it was a battle up there up front. I ended up dislocating my pinkie. It's super swollen right now.

LIZ LOZA: What happened?

AUSTIN EKELER: I don't how to explain it, but yeah. It was just up on top. This part right here was up on top. And then, you just had to like pull. You've got to pull, and the ligaments pull itself back down. So as far as my performance, I felt like I would give myself a B. I felt like I did solid. We had a couple of red zone opportunities, but it just straight carnage. I couldn't end up getting in. Just bodies everywhere on the ground, in front of me, just running it into a pile. Sometimes, you just got to get back to the line of scrimmage. But we'd like to see myself just capitalize on a few more runs that I had in there, just making a guy miss here and there, which can spur me to that 100-yard game that I was looking for. But another opportunity coming up this week against the Vikings, so I'll see if we can get it done this week.

LIZ LOZA: Yeah. Well, you mentioned it. This Sunday, you host the 3-5 Vikings at SoFi. They've been extremely generous to opposing wide receivers. So do you think that could lead to a big day for Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, who if we're being honest, have been a little quiet since week six?

AUSTIN EKELER: Hey, I think you can throw Austin Ekeler in there as well. I mean--

LIZ LOZA: OK.

AUSTIN EKELER: --if you're saying receivers, that just means catching the ball, right?

LIZ LOZA: I mean, is J. Herbs clearing 300 passing yards?

AUSTIN EKELER: Hey, I'm saying J. Herb even gets the good pass rush. He's going to have a 300-yard passing game.

LIZ LOZA: That's all I want to hear, Austin. Let's move on.

[LAUGHS]

AUSTIN EKELER: You're efficient. You're efficient for that.

LIZ LOZA: All right, let's kick things off with one of I think the most underrated wide receivers in the league, Tim Patrick. He found the end zone last week versus Dallas even with Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy on the field. He draws the Eagles, so do you think he pops or does he have to be dropped?

AUSTIN EKELER: Yeah. Tim Patrick, he's a big body, which down in the red zone is going to be an advantage. He just hasn't been getting a lot of love. He's been getting a few targets here and there. And he's been making the most out of them. You can see from his yards per carry and obviously getting in the end zone. But I think versus the Eagles, knowing from experience from last week, down in the red zone, it's hard to run it in against these guys. And so I think that's going to open up some opportunities for Tim to get some red zone passes thrown to him. Obviously, he's 6'4''. He'd go up, get some fades, do some crossers. I'm going to say pop.

LIZ LOZA: Last week, Noah Fant wasn't available for the team. He was on the COVID list. He's expected back this week. And Philly is allowing the most fantasy points to opposing tight ends. So I think, ultimately, the situation in Denver is that you've got Courtland Sutton. You've got Jerry Jeudy back and healthy. Now, you've got Tim Patrick. You've got Noah Fant. You've got these two great pass catching running backs, but you don't have a high volume passing offense. You don't have Teddy Bridgewater clearing 40 pass attempts every week. And so one of these guys or two of these guys even can be left out in the cold. And because of the depth chart, I think that's going to be Tim Patrick more often than not, so I'm going to give them the drop.

AUSTIN EKELER: Wow. All right. We shall see. I'm saying if my man finds the end zone, he can give himself 12-13 points this week, maybe a couple of catches. So we'll see. We'll see.

LIZ LOZA: That take is hotter than the bag of Cheetos you were eating before the show. Next up is Jets' rookie receiver, Elijah Moore. This is a player that was highly touted coming out of Ole Miss, but he was a bit buried on the depth chart in New York. Over the past two weeks, however, he's been more involved. In fact, he found the end zone twice in week 9 at Indy. In week 10, he draws Buffalo's top rated defense. So are we popping or dropping with the rookie Moore?

AUSTIN EKELER: The Jets, I'm not really sure what's going on as far as quarterback situation over there. But hey, they're making it work. They're still putting up some yardage. They're still putting up some points. And then, Elijah, he's been up and down. He's had a great game last game, obviously. But coming into this week against the Bills, I just don't see it happening. So I'm going to say drop.

LIZ LOZA: I mean, I just feel like Moore add so much explosiveness.

AUSTIN EKELER: You're saying pop?

LIZ LOZA: Because this offense-- hold up-- it's a bit of an asterisk. He's so good--

AUSTIN EKELER: OK.

LIZ LOZA: --the catch. This kid is not 98 percentile agility. I mean, Jamison Crowder is a fantastic slot receiver, but Moore just adds a little bit of this extra oomph. And what are the Jets doing? If they're not trying to see what they can get out of Moore at this point, I may not play him in week 10. But I am not dropping him, because I think given the schedule and his talent and the way this team is going, he is going to pop more and more, even if it isn't this Sunday.

AUSTIN EKELER: I agree with down the road. I'm saying this game against the Bills.

LIZ LOZA: Finally, let's talk Julio Jones. Tennessee is paying him a base salary of $11.5 million for this year and again in 2022. But he hasn't been able to get on the field much this season because of a lingering hamstring issue. Obviously, fantasy managers aren't as locked in as the Titans. So should they drop him before week 10 versus the Saints? Or is it just a matter of time before he pop?

AUSTIN EKELER: We're all looking for that signature Julio Jones game, where he's running by people, stiff arming people. But you just haven't seen it. You haven't seen it in the past couple of years. And like you said the hamstring, that's something that I can relate to. If your hamstring is bothering you, you feel like you're a different person. What you used to be able to do, you feel like you're so limited. And he's been dealing with this thing for a couple of years now.

LIZ LOZA: Yeah.

AUSTIN EKELER: So that's even more significant than my two months outing. Julio is one of the legends who honestly continue to be great. But just as far as right now, right now with this hamstring this week versus Saints, I'm going to be putting Julio on the bench.

LIZ LOZA: But you're not dropping him?

AUSTIN EKELER: No, not dropping him.

LIZ LOZA: I don't like the match-up for him. I do think that the hamstring issue is clearly lingering. And even though Derrick Henry is not a part of this Titans offense as we talked about last week, Tennessee is still finding a way to stay with the run. I mean, D'Onta Foreman looked pretty good. AP was back. He carried the ball, double digit carries. I think they're going to try to maintain the same identity. And I'm just not sure there's going to be enough passing opportunities here for Julio, especially if he's not as electric as we anticipate him to be.

All right, Austin, it's tough to call an exact midway point to a 17-game season with byes. But this week, we're going to hand out some midseason awards anyway.

AUSTIN EKELER: Awesome. I'm looking forward to see what we got.

LIZ LOZA: Let's start with the player who has earned the title of best draft value. He was drafted as the RB 38 but now ranks as the RB eight overall. He leads the league in total touchdowns with 11. 10 of those have come on the ground. It's the Cardinals James Conner.

AUSTIN EKELER: Yeah. This man has definitely jumped his value up, man. Wow. James Conner came in and produced and has been consistent. They're using him down in the red zone, which has been advantageous for him and his fantasy owners, but he has definitely jumped. I'm really happy for this guy. And he definitely deserves that award.

LIZ LOZA: Yeah. And it doesn't hurt to be attached to such an explosive offense that regularly puts their playmakers into scoring position. And so he's found the goal line these 11 times. That is a lesson for fantasy managers. You always want a running back that's attached to a pretty good quarterback and elite offense, right?

AUSTIN EKELER: No doubt.

LIZ LOZA: Moving on to the next award, this is for the best waiver wire ad. And this guy is on his fifth team in his ninth season. We underestimated his long term impact on a previous episode. No one knows whether to call him a running back or a wide receiver. But he is top 7 at both positions, the Falcons' Cordarrelle Patterson.

AUSTIN EKELER: This man can literally do it all. The Falcons have found a way to, hey, how do we get this man the ball so he can be effective, because we know he can run hard? From your runners, what do you want? You want them to run hard. Well, that's all this man knows. So yeah, we definitely owe this man an apology. I do anyway, because I said no, I don't think he's going to be able to hold it. And he's proved. And I'm actually glad that he proved me wrong, because I love to see offensive players pop off. He has been consistent and just producing. Good for him.

LIZ LOZA: The reps that he's taken at all of those different positions have put him in a position now to succeed, especially as Calvin Ridley steps away from the team. And one of the things he said that I absolutely love, especially being raised by a single mom myself, he said, if my mom can work three jobs, then I can play three positions. And I thought that was just incredible. I love this good story as well.

Our final award is for the most improved. And we once again stay in the backfield for this one. A season ago, this guy was the RB 50. Through nine weeks this season, he is the RB 14 overall. It's the Patriots' Damien Harris, the player we were both high on frankly to start the season.

AUSTIN EKELER: Yeah. With Damien Harris situation, James White going down, Sony Michel being traded, there's been an opportunity that's been presented to him. Actually, this made me remind me of my opportunity. One time, we were at a joint practice. Todd Gurley came up to me. It was the year Melvin Gordon was holding out. He's like, hey, man. You don't get opportunities like this very often. Make sure you take advantage. And I think that's the same situation Damien was in. He's like, hey, you have an opportunity to show if you could be the starter. And man, this guy has been running so hard. I like watching him run down in the red zone, because he gets in the end zone. So I'm happy for the guy.

LIZ LOZA: That's an awesome story. It gave me chills. And I think Harris and Patterson and Conner, all of the players we discussed, the thing that they were able to do was keep grinding. So that when they had the chance to get after it, they could prove themselves. That's going to do it for this edition of "Ekeler's Edge." Austin, good luck this week versus the Vikings. You know that me and this whole crew and all your fantasy managers are obviously going to be cheering you on.

AUSTIN EKELER: Yeah, absolutely. I'm looking forward to this match-up. Always nice to be back in SoFi Stadium. I love that place. And good luck to everyone else in the fantasy world, especially if you have me on your team. Let's get out there. Let's get another win. But good luck, everyone.