Richardson’s Awkward QB2 Life | Sep 4, 2026

Show Notes

Michael Wilson’s new Cardinals deal leads the day, with fantasy fallout for Anthony Richardson, Zay Flowers, Rome Odunze, and Christian McCaffrey. Plus, Ravens and Bears injury notes, Cowboys cap space, a Jacksonville survivor pick, and quick hits from college football and the U.S. Open.

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Welcome to The Sports Hangover Daily, I'm Michael Benatar. Today on the show: Michael Wilson’s Arizona payday, Anthony Richardson’s awkward QB2 life, Ravens and Bears injury watch, and one Friday survivor spot. Coffee first. Then chaos.

Michael Wilson just got paid, and I love this for Arizona.
Three years, seventy-five million dollars for Wilson. Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter had it first, then the Cardinals announced it. That’s real money for a receiver who just went from nice young piece to, okay, he’s in the plan.
Fantasy people, this matters. Wilson isn’t some contract-year shrug at the end of your draft anymore. Arizona just gave him role security in this offense. That doesn’t make him Justin Jefferson. Please don’t be that guy. But the target tree is a little cleaner now.
This is how you do it when you’re a bad team trying to grow up. Pay the guy before everyone else agrees he’s good. Don’t wait until he catches ninety balls and his agent walks in wearing sunglasses indoors.
The Cardinals still have bigger problems. One receiver getting a bag doesn’t fix the roster. But it gives their quarterback room a stable outside target, gives fantasy managers a cleaner projection, and gives Arizona a rare adult decision.
For once, the Cardinals did the boring smart thing.
I know. Weird morning.

Quick lap around the league: in Indy, Shane Steichen named Anthony Richardson the number two quarterback behind Daniel Jones.
Richardson beat out Riley Leonard for the backup job, but come on. This is awkward as hell. He requested a trade in the offseason. Now he’s one Daniel Jones wobble away from becoming the loudest backup quarterback in football.
His preseason line was fine: sixty-three point six percent completions, two hundred forty-nine passing yards, one pick, sixty-eight rushing yards, and a rushing touchdown. In fantasy, he’s not startable. In superflex, he’s a chaos stash. If he gets starts, the rushing upside shows up right away.
Baltimore got better injury news. Zay Flowers returned to practice after two weeks out with an undisclosed injury. That matters for Week one and for his target-share floor. If Flowers is active and moving normally, I’m not panic-discounting him.
Nnamdi Madubuike also started team drills while dealing with a neck issue. He’s day to day before the Colts game. That one matters less for your fantasy lineup, unless your league is way too deep and you need help. Then I respect the sickness.
Chicago had the practice report that ruins lunch. D’Andre Swift left with cramping, which sounds annoying but not terrifying. Rome Odunze exited with an apparent injury, and that’s the one to track. If Odunze misses time, those targets don’t disappear. They slide toward the rest of Caleb Williams’ pass-catchers.
Dallas created a little more than nineteen million dollars in cap space by restructuring Jake Ferguson, Kenny Clark, and DaRon Bland. No move is confirmed. But Jerry Jones finding cap room in September is like your friend saying, “I’m just browsing Zillow.” Nobody believes this is casual.
The forty-niners landed in Melbourne ahead of the international opener against the Rams. Travel games are weird. Sleep gets weird. Routines get weird. Fantasy people should keep an eye on Christian McCaffrey too, because RotoWire had him listed questionable on the depth chart. If he’s limited, the handcuff market gets loud fast.
Model note: our board has Miami by four point five while the market has Vegas favored by three point five. That’s an eight point edge. Number to watch, not a sermon.
My survivor pick this week is Jacksonville over Cleveland. Our local board has the Jags at seventy-eight percent to win, best on our sheet. Football reason: I trust Jacksonville’s offense more than Cleveland’s to avoid the total faceplant. Pool reason: you get safety without burning Seattle or Denver. Trap: Jacksonville laying a touchdown-plus can get ugly if Trevor presses.
College football gave us a few scores too. Illinois beat UAB forty-two to twenty-three. Number twenty-one Utah smashed Idaho sixty-six to fourteen. Colorado slipped past Georgia Tech fourteen to thirteen. Nothing subtle there — just September football being drunk again.
At the U.S. Open, Coco Gauff beat Paula Badosa six-four, seven-six, taking the tiebreak seven to five. Learner Tien beat Gael Monfils in straight sets, ending Monfils’ Grand Slam career. That one stings. Monfils was fun in a sport that takes itself way too seriously.

The Hangover Take: Anthony Richardson is going to start meaningful games for the Colts this season.
Not because the Colts planned it. Because the NFL laughs at quarterback plans.
Daniel Jones is the starter, and fine, I get why. He’s safer. He’s steadier. He probably gets the call sheet moving on time. But “safe Daniel Jones season” does not sound like something defensive coordinators are stressing over.
Richardson is sitting there with the arm and the legs that made him a top pick. He’s also sitting there with trade-request baggage. That combo gets loud if Indy starts two and four.
The Colts didn’t bury him. They kept him close. They know the upside is still sitting right there.
By Halloween, this gets real. And if Richardson gets the job back, he’s not giving it away quietly.

That's your hangover. Go hydrate. I'll see you tomorrow.