Fantasy Football Daily - 2021 Week 13 Matchup Podcast

Episode Date: December 2, 2021

John Hansen (@Fantasy_Guru) and Greg Cosell (@gregcosell) preview Week 13 NFL action. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time for the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by FantasyPoint.com. Top level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle, from numbers to the film room with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. Here we go, the week 13 match a podcast here at FantasyPoint.com recording this on Wednesday, December 1st, 738 p.m. Eastern, if you must know, I'm John Hansen, Greg Kosell. been in the film room ready to rock and roll with some insight that we can hopefully use to our betterment in week number 13 Greg what's up how are you ready uh sure why not well we'll fool him again john yeah we're good we're good uh hit that little bit of uh that little tiny little post thanksgiving

wall or power through it though uh no doubt and uh Greg we can get it started here this is just a little teaser of the content over at fantasy points.com. Obviously, the podcast here is a free item here. Greg's notes are published every week on Fantasy Points. We do the one and a half hour live stream with Adam Kaplan, go over every single matchup. And little secret, if you're listening to the podcast now and you're not a subscriber to the website, go there, create a free account. It's called a basic account, no credit card. And it does trigger a seven-day trial subscription so you can check out the goods. Greg, week 13 kicking off in New Orleans.

You saw both teams here on, I guess, both sides of the ball, but we do have a quarterback change in New Orleans. It does look like they'll have full complement of running backs here, Camara, I guess maybe a game time, but looking good there

and Mark Ingram. So I guess do we start over here when we try to break down this passing game with Trevor Simmy in the last three or four weeks? Is there a guy that you could see Taysom Hill kind of, you know, working with. It's a tough one. He did click a little bit with Trey Kwan Smith. Obviously, he clicked mostly with Michael Thomas, who's no longer in the mix. But your thoughts on the same offense, we know he's going to run,

but when they do throw it, you know, what does Taysam Hill bring to the table? What are we looking at? You know what, John, I don't mean to cop out, but your guess is as good as mine. Yeah, yeah. I really don't know here. You know, he hasn't played quarterback in quite a while. Obviously, he's practicing as this daughter, I'm sure, you know. But I don't really know the answer to that. It wouldn't surprise me if they really try to focus on the run game and see, obviously he's a significant part of that.

They're at the point where they're kind of playing for their season. And I think the best way for them to play offense with Taysam Hill is they won't get as extreme is let's say the Ravens do with the run game, but I think you'll see an awful lot of run game elements in the context of that offense. I really do. Now, that could help offset a guy like Parsons who, I mean, Greg, is he the nastiest rusher in football, top two this year?

He's the best edge pass rusher in the NFL right now, John. I've been saying that for two, three weeks, and every time I watch tape, and I've seen the, I think I've seen the cowboy defense almost every game this year. And I made the point maybe two weeks ago, I think it'll be true, even when DeMarcus Lawrence comes back, I think that Parsons will stay as an edge player because it's more of a premium position than a stacked linebacker. And I think they're perfectly comfortable with Keanu Neal and Kyle Vanderresches.

They're stacked backers. And certainly as they go forward, even though he got hurt and missed this season, they did draft another stacked backer in Cox from LSU, who's on IR, but he'll be back next year. I think Parsons will be a first-level player. He'll be a D-end, and they'll move him around in their sub-fronts. But I think he's the best edge pass rusher right now. Wow, that's high praise here. It looks like the old line, at least they're going to be a little healthier.

It looks like here. I'm looking at the injury report, and it doesn't look necessarily dire for these guys. Is Ramsick back this week? I believe he is. Okay. Well, this will be a good test because he'll have Armstead on one side and Ramchick on the other side. So this will be a good test. Well, you know, I say this.

And they're both out of practice, but they're questionable. So I don't know what that means, you know. I'm questionable too, John. Yeah. I know. But, I mean, if they were doubtful, okay, that's very definitive. But, man, this is a, yeah, so we don't know about that. But we do know it's a, they're going to be smart to stay with that run for sure.

And then over on the other side of things, you know, it seems like Dak Prescott is playing quite well, maybe a little up and down, but some weird, you know, hiccups, but also flashes of brilliance. But really the story with Dallas is Ezekiel Elliott and their running game or lack thereof. Is that what you see on tape? Yeah, their run game has not really been a factor at all. And I think, I mean, it's easy for me to sit here and say they got to get back to it. but I think they have to try to run the football. I mean, I really like that Prescott as a player.

The tape tells you that. But I guess Amari Cooper now is going to make the trip and could well play, but he's also missed a lot of time. Yeah, so, you know, even though he can be great in any given game, we don't know what you're going to get from Amari Cooper this week. I guess C.D. Lam is, he's okay to go, right? Yeah, he's going to go. Yeah, so, I mean, they have their full time.

complement of receivers, which could easily make them think it's time to throw it around. And the Saints can be a difficult defense to run against. But in some ways, I feel, and maybe they disagree and maybe they'll tell me I'm wrong, but I feel that the Cowboys need the run game to be a factor no matter who they're playing against. And it has not been a factor. They could not run the ball well at all. They did not run the ball well at all against the Raiders.

Yeah. Yeah. And then is there a matchup here that we see in the passing game for DAC, whether it be getting lamb in the slot? I guess that would be ideal. What do you think of the cornerback play here? I mean, they do have a Debo, Latimore, and Roby. That's a pretty good threesome.

Yeah. I don't think there's one match. I mean, Adibo is a guy who I would go after, okay? because I think number one, I think he can be beaten on double moves. He does not have great recovery speed. He's a solid guy. I think he's a good zone player more than a true man player.

So then it depends on how the Saints choose to play. But I think he's the guy you want to attack vertically and see how he handles it. Yeah, well, that would be Lamb for sure. Or Gallup. Yeah, oh, that's right. Of course. Yeah, no question.

No question about that. And then Saints not going to have Daven port here. Right. With that shoulder. Greg, moving on to other things that you saw. Well, speaking of the Saints, you saw the Bill's offense. Are we shifting a little bit and phasing out Zach Moss?

And it's kind of a new day in the Bill backfield here as well as maybe their commitment to those guys a little bit more. Well, it looks like Breedah is definitely a factor now. He started the last game. Singletary ended up with more. carries, but it looks like it's Breed and Singletary. You know, Breedda gives them some juice. See, the thing is, is they have not been very explosive offensively.

You know, Josh Allen's numbers are actually quite good, and they're on pace for what he did a year ago in terms of yards and touchdowns and all those things. But they have not been as explosive with the big pass plays as they were a year ago. So they're looking for some explosiveness in their offense. And, you know, teams are playing a little more in a two-shell against them. And they do need to run the ball to some degree. I don't think, John, they'll ever be what we would consider a running team. But I think the run game has to have some production. And Breed at least gives them some big playability.

Plus, he's really good at the screen game. Plus, he's fresh and it shows. Yep, that's a good point. Dawson Knox, I asked the last week, if they were designed plays for them. And you said not necessarily, but it seemed like those two touchdowns were designed plays for him.

This week in that game. Well, we had the, let's see, he had the 24-yard touchdown, which I'm trying to remember. The seven-yarder on second and goal was a, you know, a quick one. Right, right. Knox motion,

I'm reading my notes because I made a note about this play. But, God, it's weird that I can't visually see in my head. Well, it's weird that he only gets, he has a huge day. Oh, no, no. That, that, that, yes. The, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the 24-yard touchdown was designed for him. Yes, that was a design play.

Because in many ways, now I remember it exactly. I just had a senior moment there, John. Sorry. Yeah, it's fine. It was in many, very similar in concept to the 26-yard pass play to Gabriel Davis earlier in the game. They were both short-yardage plays. So they were schematically similar out of different formations to different guys, but they were both short yardage plays.

So yes, that play to Knox for the touchdown was fourth and two, and it was designed for him, yes. You know, I love Knox. The kid can run. I don't really have a comp for him out there in the league. You know, he's, I don't know. For Dolphin Knox, I'm looking at the teams, John. I'm trying to...

He's a former quarterback. He's an athlete, you know? I kind of think of... He's what I wish Evan Ingram was in some ways. I mean, he's on a different team that doesn't necessarily feature him, but doesn't he move? I mean, couldn't you...

Let's say you put him in the Ravens office. Mark Andrews, I knew you were going to go there. Yep. Athletic. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. That's a good one. really good um all right that's a good thought there um well this week you know how do you even

break down the matchup for josh allen to me it comes down to execution obviously turnovers and all that but you know we know the the patrons are going to devise a good game plan and they they need to deal with that they know each other well and if they can execute you know he'll be okay if not maybe not i mean right i mean it's a tough matchup though overall probably the toughest in the league for them. And what you'll see, and this is what we know, what you'll see for sure is you'll see situations where they double digs based on down and distance, based on field location, based on where digs lines up in the formation. You might see situations where they double Beasley because Beasley is clearly a go-to guy in specific situations. And believe me, Bill Belichick

will know this. And by the way, Sean McDermott will know this too. I mean, this is not going to news, you know, but that's what's going to happen. And then it comes down to how Josh Allen and the bills respond to it. Have this feeling that I think, I'm sorry, John. One thing I think where Josh Allen has improved is I think he's much better at deciphering things post-snap. I think a year ago, even when he had the great year last year, you know, and certainly before that, I think you could get Josh Allen post-snap. I think he's better at that. Yeah, and very good last week, by the A clean game for him, right? Yeah, I mean, he threw the two picks, but they were, you know, one was, I'm trying to remember.

One was to Diggs, and I don't think that was necessarily a bad thing by Josh Allen, because I remember the play. He thought Diggs would break inside and he broke outside. So it wasn't, you know, it wasn't one of those where he went, oh, my God, what's he doing? I guess I bet clean game for the offense, you know, because they were in, it was like havoc out there. for a couple of weeks with Buffalo. Yeah. No, I think they're better. And by the way, that seven-yard touchdown you were talking about for Knox was designed for Knox.

I just have this feeling that Belichick, and I'm probably wrong, looks at Knox and says, you know what, this guy is pretty damn good, you know, we don't get beat by that guy. We'll take our chances with Cole Beasley for, you know, because Knox is a big, I mean, you could argue Knox is their most explosive player this year. Yeah, I mean, I think that'll be situational, John. I mean, that's the way Belichick does it. It's, you know, do I think he'll think that he has to take away Knox on every play? No, because that's not the way the bills play offense.

But I think there'll be clear situations where that's true. Yes, I would agree with you 100% on that. Yeah, I really do think he's the most explosive player, really overall here. Speaking of those Patriots, you know, I was a little surprised the game was honestly as close as it was. It seemed like Mack Jones, another very solid performance, but maybe not up to par, with some of the more recent games that we saw? Yeah, I don't think it was his best game. I didn't think he threw the ball as well as we've seen him.

I thought he missed some opportunities that were there. There were some plays he didn't see his clearly post-snap. The numbers were good, you know, but I think when you watch the tape, you know, obviously I do not have a direct line to Josh McDaniels, but I would bet that they would feel that there were some things in this game that need to be corrected. That was my sense watching the tape. I know you're like everybody, I guess, impressed by Ed Oliver, former.

Yeah. He's the number one pick, right? Yeah, he was really dominant this week, really dominant. Yeah, they have a lot of talent. They got, you know, those linebackers. They've got some edge rushers, some bulk inside here. Tough matchup overall. No Chardavius White.

I'm not that worried about Mack Jones, though. But, but you know McDermott, bills. It seems like they, they kind of, more often not just kind of polite things kind of straight, straight away, straight up, if you will. But, you know, maybe they've changed this year. But, you know, what type of a challenge you think this matchup is for Mack Jones? Yeah, I'd be very curious as to how they play because obviously White's gone. And White was not truly a matchup corner, as we've discussed many times, John. He was the boundary corner, a very high percentage of the time. The bills are a 100.

percent nickel defense, okay, which is a very interesting thing. They have not played a defensive snap with three linebackers since week six. Keep that in mind. And now they're playing a Patriots team whose starting point is clearly the run and that plays with a fullback. So the question becomes, and you never know in big games like this, do the bill say, you know what, maybe we need A.J. Klein on the field at times. I don't, you know, we're just spitball in here.

That's what we do on Wednesday nights, you know. We kind of throw it against the wall and see what happens. I don't know the answer to that, but I know that Terran Johnson, who's their slot corner, is a very, very physical and competitive run defender, and that's why they play nickel literally 100% of their snaps. Gotcha. The other thing we don't know because White's not there is,

will that decrease the amount of man coverage they play? Now, the Patriots' receivers, you know, certainly guys are having good years. Kendrick Bourne's having a nice year. But I don't think they would look at those receivers and say, man, we got to lock them down. Yeah. So I don't know. You know, could they play more zone than man?

Absolutely. You know, I think that you got to deal with Hunter Henry, particularly when you get into the red area. That seems to be, you know, the guy they go to quite a bit that they design things for. Yeah. Are they changing? Are they evolving at all? We did see a little John Hussmith this week, and you mentioned Boren, who's kind of emerged. Yeah, they're a very schemed past game, John.

So it's how they want to attack their specific opponents. Right. And, you know, I'm trying to figure out how they might attack the bills. I think Milano and Edmonds are really good linebackers. Yeah. I think it's what you said. Run it downhill on their asses. Yeah, that could.

To me, that'll be the starting point. Yeah, yeah. But I know in the past game, they'll have something where they feel like, hey, this is where we can attack. I'm just, I mean, I think their safeties are really good, Poir and Hyde. Yeah. I don't think the bills have that dominant pass rusher, but I think they're a really, they don't have a bad player on their defense. Yeah, I'm not coming up with anything either. I mean, there's no real weakness.

You mentioned the slot corner. He's a good player. He's a good player. Yeah. Well, it's a it's a challenge for sure here for Mac Jones. That's a great point, too, about schemed up because that guy like Kendrick Bourne is very difficult to evaluate because he doesn't get a ton of snaps or targets, but they hit on these scheme plays. So the numbers are big, but yet when you look at the usage, you're like, give this guy 100 yards, you know. And you look at the longer touchdown he called last week, which was just.

just a seven-yard pass and really shoddy tackling. So how do you factor that into a projection going forward? You know, that's got to be a tough call for you. Well, you look at the YPR. I mean, you go off of that. You know, the dude's averaging 14 yards of catch over the last four weeks. Yeah. You got to look at that.

I mean, so it's a pretty decent sample size. Moving on, Greg, listening to the week 13 matchup podcast here at FantasyPoints.com. This is just a little teaser, a little sample, because Greg's still in that film room. Well, I was surprised to read your notes on Jalen Hertz. You didn't seem that negative on Hertz. It sure seemed like a very poor performance,

but we did also have some drops. So a weekly price check here on Jalen Hertz and the Eagle offense. Yeah, I mean, you know, I didn't, I watched Red Zone on Sunday, so I didn't see the game as it happened. And I'm sure for Eagles fans watching it as it happened, it probably seemed horrendous because, you know, obviously, then we scored one touchdown. But when I watch the tape, and maybe it's because I'm a little more realistic based

on having watched to play in college, really studied his Oklahoma tape and some of his Alabama tape in great detail, seeing every snap last year, seeing every snap this year. I guess maybe some people expected after the last couple of weeks when really the run game was the foundation that this guy has reached the level where, oh, he's great. I mean, I know last week a lot of commentators on TV were like, well, the Eagles have their guy. This guy is really good. I guess I didn't see it that way, you know, just based on the tape study, John. So, you know, when he struggles at times, I don't view that as, oh, my God, this guy's awful. I still think he's working through being an

NFL quality passer. He has moments. And certainly, he made an unbelievable throw to Rager that he dropped at the end of the game on the deep ball down the left side line, you know, a tough catch because he had to work through contact, but he couldn't have handed it to him any better. But when I watched the tape, I didn't think it was as bad. He had some really bad plays, individual plays, but I thought overall it wasn't terrible. You're like a professional athlete. You never get too high or too low, you know? Yeah, I mean, obviously the end zone interception was horrendous, and he knows that.

The third interception, he did a really poor job of manipulation. the deep safety who was McKinney. That's his responsibility on a deep ball. And he does not have a big deep ball arm. His deep balls lose energy on the back end. But he's always been like that. So that, to me, was not news. Well, he's started 16 games.

That's essentially a full season. I mean, at some point, we're going to need to say, well, this is what he is. We're not there yet. It'll take longer because he's not a natural passer. So ultimately, the question becomes, and this is a question that doesn't help for fantasy for this week, but just as we're talking ball,

which is kind of what we do on Wednesday nights, is he does give you, in some ways, the Ravens-type offense with the run game. Sure. Because the Eagles are adding layers to their run game each and every week because the run game starts with hurts. He's the foundation of the run game. So the question is, is that enough?

Can that compensate for the fact that he may never be a, you know, a higher-level pass? We don't know where he'll go as a passer, but my guess is we're never going to talk about Jalen Hurts the way we talk about, you know, the higher level passers. So that's a question for another time and, you know, a different deal. But he's going to be week to week as a pastor, John. How often is Devante Smith open and the ball doesn't go to him or goes to him poorly play? It feels like a guy's like always open. I wouldn't say he was as open this week as maybe some other weeks.

You know, in fact, it's funny because I actually thought the guy who looked really good, and then, of course, you had the two plays at the end. I thought Rieger looked really good this week. I thought he looked really good running routes. Wow. Then, of course, he had the two drops, and, you know, the second one in particular is just, you know, inexcusable. I mean, you've got to catch that ball. Yeah, man.

First one, you've got to catch two, but that was a tougher catch. That's a shame. You know, if he's still working hard to, you know, show well, then he makes those, you know, mental errors, I guess. Damn, that sucks. You know, don't forget, too, that war dropped a touchdown late in the second quarter right before hurts through the pick. So that should have been a touchdown and we never would have gotten to that pick.

I mean, is Boston Scott a better player this year than Miles Sanders just generally? No, I don't get that, but that's just me, John. You know, that's just me. Well, I mean, for fantasy, he's better. But he might be. And I guess Sanders is still nursing an injury. So it may be Scott getting the majority of the carry. So for this week, in fantasy, Scott may be the guy.

Yeah. But you're okay with Sanders showing on film this year? Oh, yeah. Yeah. It just, it always seems to be something, though, a benching and injury. Well, he seems to, you know, he wasn't benched this week, was? He wasn't. No, the week before he was, right?

Yeah. For a couple quarter or a quarter, I believe. Yeah, I don't know what's going on there, but he's a very talented guy. But I can't speak. I don't know the answer to that. I mean, we're trying, we're waiting patiently for, you know, I mean, he doesn't have a touchdown yet. I mean, that's number one.

It's week 13. I know. That's a little weird. What's that? That's a little weird. You're right. Yeah. Yeah.

We're just waiting for like a nice, complete performance. And we really. You follow this more than I do. Did they, did they resign him or is he still on his rookie deal? Believe he's still on the rookie deal. Well, it's going to be interesting. then, you know, what they think of them, what this coaching staff thinks. I know in training camp, everybody was raving about him.

Everybody. Yeah, you don't want to give up at a guy. Then it turns out to be like Joe Mixing the next year, you know, but on the other hand, he's been. Oh, oh, that's my point. Yeah, you don't want to lose him. And then he looks like Joe Mixen, which is another way of saying, he looks awesome. Yeah, well, he has signed through 2022.

Okay, so he's basically ready in his mind to get a, new deal for big money. So the Eagles may not be the team that wants to do that. That'll be the final year of his rookie deal next year. So he is playing through 2022. So they got another year to evaluate him. And then maybe not a complete pushover though this week against the Jets. I saw you actually saw their D. Yeah. The Jets are, you know, I think the Jets D is a little better than people think. And this week, they had an historically bad stretch. We know that. They lost players too, Greg. What's that? They lost players. A ton of players. I think they've kind of come out of that a little bit.

And I thought, again, I know who they played this past week, so I don't want people to think I'm sitting here saying, wow, this D is awesome. But I thought they played with a lot of energy, a lot of activity. They have some speed at linebacker with Mosley and Quincy Williams. You know, the secondary can be a little rough at times, although I think Bryce Hall at one corner is a pretty good player. And actually, would have been a much higher draft choice

if he didn't get hurt his last year in college. So he's not, you know, just some guy off the street. And their front has some people. Franklin Myers has played well. Quinn and Williams is a good player. Sheldon Rankin's has flashed. I don't think this is a terrible defense from a personnel perspective. Efforts pretty good.

I can tell you that. You know, the guys play hard for sure. And that's Oldbridge, right? Isn't he a former nineer guy? He was a former player, yeah. Holbrook, yeah. Board of linebacker. Yep.

Moving on here, a couple more tidbits here. Speaking of the Niners here, good game for Jimmy G. Elijah Mitchell looks like a two-time pro bowler out there. Feels like he's really rolling. And also your thoughts on Joanne Jennings, who essentially is the Debo Samuel replacement, different players. But I remember you kind of liked Joanne Jennings last year coming out of Tennessee. Yeah, I really did. What killed him was he ran a 4-740, which was, by the way, two-tenths of a second faster than Anquan Bolden's 40.

Wow, yeah. It does look like a tight end out there at times. Well, he's about 6-3-215. He's super competitive, really physical, great hands. He played super well in the SEC against, you know, obviously high-high-level five-star athletes. So it's not like he came out of Tennessee as a nobody. He was pretty big time in college. I think the other guy I want to talk about is Brandon I, you.

class four weeks, 25 targets, 17 of those on in-breaking routes. On those 17 targets on in-breaking routes, John, he's got 15 catches for 258 yards and two touchdowns. He's back. The guy who everybody thought, I guess, was in the doghouse early in the season. Now that Samuel's out for at least a week or two, I think Ayuk is a really good play right now. Yeah, yep, he's back.

And that's why we buy low. We buy the dip. And these guys, I say it all every year, you know, Brandon Ayuk was being drafted as the 50th player overall for a reason. It's like you had millions of people being sampled and they all agreed he was worth the top 50 pick essentially. I mean, people forget, he was a first round pick. He's the 25th player chosen, if I'm not mistaken. And his college tape was good. And he ran a lot of in breaking routes in college too. And that's where their past game is. You know, they work between the numbers. So, but I agree with you. I think Jennings will be Samuel's replacement. He's not

Samuel. He's not going to be in the backfield. But he can catch. That's his game. He's physical and competitive. He's going to catch those in breaking throws. I feel like it'll be a kiddle game this week in Seattle. They're at Seattle D's hanging in there. They're not horrible. You know, they play hard still. They're not good, but they're not horrible. Yeah. Yeah. I kind of like Kittl here. They do give up some numbers. Yeah, Kittle and he's not had a lot of targets recently.

I think that's going to change with Dibo out though, because remember Debo's getting those carries. You could be right. That's a good point. You could be right on that. Yeah. Offense is like going through Debo, basically. And why wouldn't it?

Let's see. I had one or two other ones here, Greg. Well, speaking of, well, let's talk Seattle offense here. Just how bad is it? At this point with Russell Wilson, is it mental? Or can you tell maybe it's mental or might it still be physical with his injury? I think he's missed a couple of easy throws that could be a result of the finger, you know, because he's kind of airmailed really simple throws a couple

of times. So my guess is that's probably, you know, injury related with his finger. But I don't think Wilson's played particularly well either in what he sees. I don't think he's seeing things real well. I mean, he's never. I don't think he's clearly or fast enough at times. And therefore, he's leaving a lot of throws on the field. You know, I mean, I have a thought based. on just watching probably every Wilson game since he's been in the league, and maybe I'm wrong, and maybe people will disagree. But it's just a thought based on film study. They brought in Shane Waldron, who came from the Rams, okay? Yeah. That's an offense that's so based on precision, so based on precision, as you well know. And I think Wilson, while he's capable of playing that way,

I think at his core, he's more of an instinct player. And it just feels like they're at a stalemate here. Like it just feels like there's some sort of stalemate. It does feel that way, doesn't it? When you watch them, I would agree with you. Yeah. It's like Pete or Russell, one of them's leaving, basically. That could be the case.

Could well be the case. But yeah, that's putting a square peg in a round hole, man. If you're trying to get a precision timing-based offense with Russell, freaking Wilson out there playing streetball, you know? And the issue has been that those big-time streetball plays have not occurred. with the frequency that they have in the past. So when that doesn't happen, and they're not running it well enough,

their offense kind of shuts down. You know, Tyler Locke is still streaking open, though. And where the hell's D.K.? Obviously, he was not targeted. That was bizarre. I'm sure there'll be some sort of correction this week, but that was weird. His first target came middle of the third quarter

and he wasn't even the primary. Yeah. That feels like they're in an argument or something. They're fighting. I mean, it's weird. Yeah, that's the, doesn't feel right. I would agree with you on that. Something's not right there. Washington offensive football team. How about our guy

Antonio Gibson? It only took like three months, but this is the guy we thought we were getting and he's running hard. I think he looks good coming out of the break. And obviously he's a major foundational player the last two weeks. Yeah, we'll see if that continues. I mean, he's a straight line power speed runner with great competitiveness, strong finishing traits. He's got sustaining traits. I don't think he's shifty in that way, but he's, like I said, he's a power speed runner.

And, you know, the game played out this week that he had 29 carries. It probably won't happen that way every week. But I think they'd like him to be the starting point in the foundation. You know, A.J. Dillon is kind of like a gigantic Gibson in some ways, to your point. Power speed, though. But AJ Dillon gets in, he gets an open field. that dude can run. Yeah, I don't know if he can run like Gibson can, but...

Right, right. Yeah. He is a freak athlete, though, AJ Dylan. We haven't seen much of it, but there will be a time where he will surprise, I think, people with the long speed, but Gibson does look very good. Seems like Taylor Heineke has kind of fought through a little bit of a rough patch there, and he's back to sustaining, you know, an acceptable level of play, you know. Without question.

You know, Heineke is, he's kind of an interesting guy. I mean, I'm not saying he's your guy. going forward and they don't need a quarterback. But he's been efficient in their three-game winning streak, John. I mean, he's quick to see it. He gets the ball out. He takes what's there. He keeps the offense on schedule.

He's shown some second reaction dimension to his game. And despite his size, he's got a little bit of a physical competitive feel to him. So, yeah, is he somewhat limited as a passer? Yes. But, you know, he's one of those guys that you can kind of line up and play with. I mean, you know. He's got grit. Yeah.

He does. He's got moxie. He does lead the league, though, not by official count, but just my count. He leads the league in hospital balls, though, throwing the receivers. I will say that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There are some balls of his that come out and it looks like it's going to take a week to get there. Yeah, I mean, that ball down the seam to Logan Thomas in the first half.

I'm like, oh, my God, the guy's been out two months, man. But Logan Thomas looked good. I thought he was running. He looked fresh. And Bengal offense quickly. Joe Mixon's own run game has become the major driving force of what they've been doing the last couple of weeks. I was going to ask, are we going identity? I'm not there yet, but you would know better.

I think they'd like it to be. Yeah, I think they'd like it to be. So I think they're going to stay with it until otherwise it's stopped. But yes. Right. You know, Mixon is a big man. Oh, yeah, he looks great. Yeah.

But I would argue, like, I don't think this is sustainable. I mean, he's going off every week. No, that's not going to happen every week, but that's a different question, I think, than the identity, you know, so. Yeah, and then, you know, again, I would say watching them play the last month, oh, he's the identity, but you do have Joe Burrow. That's the number one pick of the draft. Oh, they're not going to try to hide Joe Burrow.

Yeah, yeah. I think they would like to give the ball to mix and 20 times a game. I think it speaks, though, to their excellent balance. I mean, geez, you know, they can beat you in any way. and how about the O line that seemingly don't suck this year? No, it's, it's, and I think O lines get better when you run the ball. I think that's just kind of built into running the ball. You know, going to get fired up.

Greg, we can wrap it up here. We left some meat on the bone here. We do have some more notes that we'll cover on the live stream with Greg and Adam Kaplan tomorrow night. Greg, we'll wrap that up now here on Wednesday evening. Good luck to everybody week 13. Remember, go to fantasy points.com. if you're not a subscriber, sign them for a basic account.

It's free, and that will trigger a seven-day trial, and you can check out the goods for Greg O'Sill. I'm John Hanson. We'll talk to you next week. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Remember to subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite platform, and come join the roster at FantasyPoints.com.