Fantasy Football Daily - 2022 Week 7 Matchup Podcast

Episode Date: October 20, 2022

John Hansen (@Fantasy_Guru) and Greg Cosell (@gregcosell) preview Week 7 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

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from numbers to the film room with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. Here we go. Welcome to the week seven matchup podcast here at FantasyPoint.com. I'm John Hansen, Greg Coasell from NFL things. Films is ready to rock and roll. I understand I've had a couple of audio problems the last two weeks. I assure you, hopefully you can tell right now, my microphone is, you know, I got a good one. Okay, I got a good one. So it sounds good, but apparently it's been defaulting to my damn speaker, my computer, external mic, but I think we're good. And Greg, I know you're good.

Season buzzing right by, you know, it's, I feel like it's been a pretty good year for. analysis. I think, like, for me, when something crazy happens, it's like, nobody's blaming me. It's like, I'm not apologizing. I'm sorry, I didn't know Gino Smith was elite. My bad, you know what I mean? I think it's been a pretty good year, though, thus far overall. I mean, they're all good in their own way. I mean, each year to me is different, and they're compelling in their own way. You know, obviously people talk about certain things this year scoring down, you know, those kinds of things. But, you know, every year becomes its own entity. You know, what happened five years ago is not necessarily relevant in any way to this year.

I think I've gotten to the point this year especially where, I mean, I'm getting stuff wrong all the time. Of course, it's like baseball. You know, it's literally like baseball, a game of failure, if you will. I think the things I'm not getting right. I'm like, well, I don't feel bad because there's no way I could have predicted that. Let me ask you this real quick. I have a theory, and maybe I've been complaining about this for a little while. Because, you know, when I started, I used to write a newsletter on Sunday night for the next week, mail it out Monday.

It was more accurate. I mean, it was just so much easier to break things down. I feel like coaches now more than ever are trying to get these secondary guys, these, you know, catch you off guard. matchup guy to get an edge because it's so hard to get an edge these days, you know, analytics and everything's so sophisticated. Any thoughts there that we're seeing these, these like randos making plays? And I feel like coaches are doing it to try and get an edge. Well, I think coaches are always trying to get an edge. You know, I'm not exactly sure what you mean. I mean, it just seems like we, we, we,

in fantasy we we we all bemoan when like a like michael pruit scores a touchdown last week you know like we're i mean see i don't view that as like a random guy this is a team that plays a lot with multiple tight ends yeah in the red zone tight red zone they fake a hand off and they throw it to one of their tight ends i view that totally in keeping with what the falcons do as an offense yeah and it annoys us Because Michael Pruitt is not the guy that from a fantasy perspective, when you look at the Falcons offense, that you're putting, you know, so to speak your money on. You're thinking of London and Pitts.

How about saying it this way? And this is just a off-the-cuff philosophical type of discussion. Do you feel like there are fewer staples? You know, like there are fewer teams that have like, this is our guy and you got to stop our guy. Like, this is a major staple every single week. take that to know. I don't know if I would feel that way.

I mean... Okay. Yeah. I'm not sure about that. Yeah. Well, I think we're looking at it from different perspectives. But neither here nor there. It is, it is, we are seeing a lot of guys like, what?

Who is that? Like, you know, anyways, let's get going. And I guess we'll go, well, I know the Eagles are off. But I just wanted to get a check in on where we are at Jalen Hertz. obviously everything is going amazingly well, but, you know, the attempts have been down. Is that just a coincidence? I know Miles Sanders is running really well. Like where's Hertz at now six games in?

I mean, I think this particular week, it was not a coincidence. I think that the Eagles took a specific approach versus a tough Cowboys defense and their game plan, an offensive approach was meant to minimize the Cowboys multiple fronts. looks, their pass rush. Right. So what did they do? They went tempo, run game, zone read element, RPO concepts, misdirection, quick rhythm, quick rhythm throws.

Yeah. They wanted to prevent the Cowboys from getting it to any kind of defensive rhythm where their pass rush was a factor. Now, keep one thing in mind, though, in each of the last two weeks, as we move forward and every team self-scouts during the by week, so we never know for sure. But as we move forward, John, with the Eagles, in each of the last two weeks, winning time in the fourth quarter when they needed a drive. It wasn't about Jalen Hertz throwing the ball.

It was about the run game. Sure. Okay. So 13 of 17 played drive against Arizona two weeks ago, 13 plays were called runs. Nine of the 13 plays this week against Dallas in the fourth quarter on that touchdown drive were called runs. So, you know, I think this might seem odd to say,

but it comes from tape. While Hertz is clearly an improved player, I think they also know that the run game is a major factor in what they do, and the offense is not solely about Jalen Hertz. He's a piece of it. Yeah. So he's inching closer to being more of a centerpiece, but we're not talking Steve Young here,

putting a team on his back. No. Right. Right. No. How do you think the Lions will approach the Cowboys here this week in Detroit, you know, Jared Goff, he's one of these, you know, the later in the down, the worse he gets. He doesn't deal well with pressure.

I'd imagine they'll look to run the crap out of the ball, but any other thoughts there? Well, it's going to be, the Cowboys do present a tough defense to play against. Certainly, the Lions cannot play the way the Eagles play because the quarterback doesn't give you any run game option the way the Eagles do. so they can't do the, you know, the zone read element. They're not really an RPO team in a sense. So, you know, I would think that they would struggle a bit against this cowboy defense. Yeah. I think that I don't think it's a good matchup for them.

Right, right. What about maybe a guy like DeAndre Swift? That's what I'm thinking. Like he might be like a guy they really need him to make some plays here because you don't want Jared golf dropping back all that a lot. No, and make some plays as relative. I think. I mean, could he break a run and give you numbers for fantasy? Sure. Do I think he's going to run 20 for 130? No. How are the Cowboys against the run, in your opinion? I mean, Miles Sanders seemed to run

pretty well last week. Yeah, although not for a ton of yards. They sustained at times, but they didn't, it wasn't as if the run game dominated. Obviously, on that final drive, they did run the ball, but that was more efficient running than big time running. It was more like five-yard cards, that kind of stuff. In the run game, that's good, obviously, as you know. But I think their front's very good. I don't think that teams just line up and run it against the Cowboys with total efficiency. Sure, sure.

Yeah. And Amon Ra going to come back. I mean, he's probably got a decent matchup here inside. They've got to get the ball to Hawkinson, Amon Rock, quickly. And maybe DeAndre Swift as well. You saw the Niners last week. Obviously a big game here against the Chiefs in San Fran. Jimmy G. is kind of like Jared Gough.

You don't want him dropping back all that much. He doesn't really. I mean, they don't want that. I mean, as you know, John, last week they were put in a situation where he had 42 dropbacks and only 13 called running plays excluding, you know, Garapolo quarterback sneaks. So that's not the way they want to play. I don't think it's the way they'll even attempt to play against the Chiefs. I think they'll feel like, hey, we're coming off a tough loss.

We have people hurt on defense. We need to run the football. We need to control tempo. We need to control the pace of the game. You know, to me, they need both volume and production from their run game this week. They cannot play in a shootout with the Chiefs. No. And Garapolo, God.

was he starting to get, you know, unravel a little bit? I mean, was he... No, no, he didn't unravel. He didn't play poorly at all. Not unravel, but the larger the sample size, the worse he got kind of a thing. Yeah, I mean, look, we know that he's a quarterback that has always struggled the longer he stays in the pocket. He's not really a comfortable late in the down quarterback.

You know, he tends to widen his base, throw a little bit off balance, lose a little bit of his accuracy. But I will say this. knowing Kyle Shanahan, I think they'll take selected shots. It all depends on who plays corner for the Chiefs. Obviously, this past week, the Chiefs played two rookies on the outside. I don't know what Fenton status is at this moment and time as we talk on a Wednesday evening. If they need to start the rookie corner Williams, who was burned for two touchdowns by the Chiefs last week, excuse me, by the Bills,

I would think that Kyle Shanahan would take selected shots. It doesn't mean they're going to be a pass-first offense, but he'll look to create one-on-one opportunities based on formations and motions and shifts. And Brandon Ayuk has looked really good. I'm sure he's looked good on tape. Yep, he sure has. You know, so they do obviously have Samuel and Ayuk. So I think that, like I said, if those opportunities present themselves, depending on the personnel for the Chiefs, they'll be selected opportunities for the 49ers in the past game. Yeah, I just wonder about Jeff Wilson, the sustainability. Like, I feel like David Price is back.

He only played one snap last week, but you have to assume that he'll get more practice time this week. So he's now back. Yeah, it doesn't appear to me that they're going to get by all year with just Jeff Wilson. Somebody else. Because Mitchell's due back probably in about three weeks anyway. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So I think in fantasy, what I'm getting to is he's a sell high guy right now if you don't necessarily need him.

So, yeah, could be a pretty good high-scoring game here. It could be nice here. I don't think the Niners, I mean, obviously the Niners want to score a lot of points, but I don't think they'd like to, I don't think they want to play a game that is 3835. I don't think that's an ideal way they want this game to play out. Well, we'll see about Bosa and Armstead and Jimmy Ward and I guess Trent Williams, is not ruled out. So they've been going without track.

He has a chance. We probably won't know that until later in the week. Right. Moving on here, I know you saw the Seattle tape, maybe the first little bump of the road for Gino Smith, but I'm fine with him. Any thoughts on Gino's performance last week?

And of course, really, Ken Walker was by the story of Seattle last week. Yeah, I didn't think Gino had a bump in the road. I thought he was very effective, very efficient. he's really been precise with his ball placement. He puts the ball right on his receivers. He's decisive. Whatever he decides to do, he does, he's decisive about it. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, bump in the fantasy road, by the way. I mean, he just didn't get numbers. Yeah, because he only had 197 yards passing. Right. And I guess no touchdowns, right? Right, yeah, it was no touchdown. It was a bus kill, but, yeah, I mean, he continues to be for real. It's like an amazing combination.

They're really not asking him to do much. And what they are asking, he's been, like, near perfect probably. Yeah, I mean, he's playing well. You know, I think he's throwing it well. He's seeing it. He's not making it where you go, oh, you know, what are you doing? They want to run the ball, obviously. But he's been really, really efficient.

And he has been, I mean, all pretty much all the numbers from him have been really good. You know, I mean, he's standing on play action this year. I mean, on play action, listen to these numbers, John, on play action. 46 for 56 for 497 yards and three touchdowns. It is amazing how in chunks over the years, these Seattle guys, you know, led by Pete Carroll, have had some just amazingly explosive and efficient runs offensively. Yep. You know, I mean, it's crazy.

And now Gino's kind of doing it. I think what you said there is seeing it and decisive is kind of everything because, I mean, you don't need to be a scout to see like, you know, he looks apart, you know? I mean, he throws a nice ball. He's not getting stuck in the pocket. Right. He's not hesitating. He's not uncertain.

And these were things he showed earlier in his career. Do you see anything with this Cardinals D because, boy, they are stingy. against the pass here. Is there anything in particular that they do well? I think they're pretty multiple up front. They had five sacks this week. It's funny you say that because when I watch them, to be honest with you, I really feel like they're a very beatable defense to throw the ball against

with what they put out in the secondary. Yeah. But I guess it's not quite happening, you know, the way one might think it should. but I don't look at them on tape and say, well, there's a really tough defense to play against. Yeah. So I don't have an answer for that, and I'm just being honest. I mean, they've got, you know, experienced guys in the secondary corner.

You know, the top three guys are pretty experienced, right? I mean, they've been playing together a little while, but yeah. Well, I mean, obviously they have Murphy. They have Murphy who plays outside with Wilson in their base. Murphy comes inside, although they do that funky thing we spoke about a couple of weeks ago, which they're continuing to do. When they play nickel on early downs, Simmons is essentially their slot corner. When they get the third down, Simmons becomes kind of a linebacker, and they move Murphy inside, and they've been playing Hamilton outside with Wilson.

It's hard to, yeah, hard to believe. You know, Trayvon Mullen is like he's the other outside corner. And his career hasn't been that good. But yeah, somehow they're stingy. Good luck, by the way, since we're talking the Cardinals, they do kick off week number seven hosting the Saints. And as we record this on Wednesday, I do not believe we even know who's starting a quarterback for the Saints.

Not sure it matters that much. Everything's going through Camara, basically right now. Troutman won't play. I'm guessing it will be Dalton. but we'll see and then Greg for Kyler I know you didn't see Kyla this week but it's probably Groundhog Day with that I mean the same deal but we do get DeHondre Hopkins back I guess that'll be fascinating to see how much things improve even though we lost Hollywood but you know how much things improve once DeAndre Hopkins is in the mix because the numbers of splits with without

Hopkins are pretty startling you know Kyler just as much better with de Hopkins Any thoughts there? I mean, obviously, when you have a great receiver, you're going to be better because you feel comfortable throwing him in the ball, whether he appears, you know, covered or not. And obviously, D.Hap is the kind of receiver that even when he's covered, he's open. So you would think for sure that that would, you know, make things better. Yes. We'll see, though, because these older guys are not doing well right now in the NFL like Keenan Allen and even Michael Thomas already pushing. 30 and D-Hop is 30, so we shall see, and it could be a little rusty coming out here as well.

Oh, back, a little all over the place here, but we're just talking what you saw from week six and applying it possibly to week seven. The Falcons, and you've seen Burrow too. I saw your notes. It does feel like they're starting to get it going a little bit here. The running game has looked a little bit better the last two weeks. I feel like Burrow and the Bengals, if they can stay healthy, are on a road to be one of the truly elite offenses in the league. Like, for sure.

Yeah, their old line still struggles. And that's, you know, a weekly factor. It depends on who the opponent is. Whether the Falcons can take advantage, that's a question. You know, they play the rookie Ebiketti from Penn State quite a bit on the edge. They have Lorenzo Carter, who's gotten better as a pass rusher, but would not fall into the high level. or elite category as an edge rusher. So it depends on the week. They definitely want to run the ball. Look, mixing is among the league leaders in first down rushes. So they're not just, hey,

let's come out and throw it. They do run the ball on first down quite a bit. And I even think the big Jemar Chase game wasn't exactly like this great, amazing game, right? I mean, the long touchdown was just really all Chase, right? Yeah, it was a back shoulder fade to Chase versus Robby and then it was running after catch. Right, yeah. But I feel like we are trending upward. I feel like this is also a good matchup. They, oddly enough, didn't travel A.J. Terrell last week.

That was part of nine out. It really didn't. You are correct. I don't know if anyone's traveling these days, Greg. I mean, is there anyone traveling? Like locked in... The day of the true matchup corner seems to have fallen by the wayside, John. Yes, it has, hasn't it?

Wow. Okay. Well, there it is. You know, I think maybe in a specific game, someone might travel. I think we've seen Darius Slay at times travel, but I think the days where you pretty much say every week, hey, you're going to play this guy. I think we don't really see that in the NFL. What about if the alignment numbers don't match up? In other words, your top corner lines up most of the time. in this spot, but the top receiver most of the time, or the majority lines up in the other side, the other side of that, do you think teams change that up, or do they just almost stay static nowadays?

I would say as a percentage, you know, again, you're dealing with something that is probably team in case-by-case specific. But I would just say as a percentage, John, the team probably stays with what they do. Yeah, okay. There you go. There you go. And that's why we're charting all this. And that's why the matchup thing, you know, and we've talked for years about matchups, because that's what it really is. Yeah. And it doesn't really happen the way, you know, it's not an easy thing to say, well, no, it's done. It's not. It's not. Yeah. I mean, we, I think we do a pretty good job. I'm usually kind of. No, no, no, I'm not saying you don't. I'm just thinking that kind of matchup. Now, very often you have a corner who's the boundary corner.

And that's where he always plays. And then very often you do have the team number one receiver who might be the boundary X receiver. So they do, you know, they do match up per se. But it's not a strict matchup in that sense, the way we think of it. Now, is that what they did with Terrell last week? Yeah, I mean, Terrell's the boundary corner. And Chase does line up to the boundary, but not at a ridiculously, not like he lines up there 80% of the time. I feel like Higgins does too.

Of course. Yeah, for sure, like a good amount. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, I think it's a pretty good matchup here. And do you have any thoughts otherwise on their offense? Like, you know, with Kyle Pitts, and again, we're not pointing fingers, but how much more in 2020 or maybe you know now, if it continues to be a little bit of a struggle, you know, do we get a feel for, you know, where the struggle comes?

from. Is it Mario-Ota? Is it the play design and the calling? I mean, any thoughts there? It's the, John, keep in mind, Marioita threw 14 balls this week. Right. Lack of volley him. I know, I know. I mean, that's really what it comes down to. This is not a passing team. Even Drake London, his numbers are not off the charts by any means. So, you know, it's going to be week to week. They're not going to be a team where you say, okay, Kyle Pitts, we know for sure. He's not in an offense like Travis Kelsey. You know, that's going to be purely week to week. There might be some weeks.

He goes two for 14. And then there might be another week he gets six for 90. I just don't think from a fantasy standpoint, there'll be consistency to his prediction. And to be honest with you, I'm not even sure it's that dependent on who the opponent is because I think they play a certain way, and that's the way they're going to play.

I mean, Unless the game gets away from them, unless the game gets away from them. Even with all that said, we in the fantasy world, I would think all agree. Okay, Marioita, you're going to make it 20 attempts? Fine. We need seven or eight of them to freaking pits, period. And then how do we need to London? What's that? You know, similar, you know, maybe just a fewer.

You know, look, we'll even take six to eight. Right, right. You know what I mean? I think there'll be games where he does. you know, have 25 attempts. And in an ideal world, you're going to see pits have more, more targets. This, I wouldn't call this game an aberration because I think that ultimately they're not a true passing team in a strict sense. But certainly 14 is, is a small number. Yeah, sure. I don't think that they want it to be 35. Right. Oh, I hear you. We know we hear you loud and clear. I think I'm a little

bewildered or, I don't know, just a little off from just week one, because we actually got some volume in week one and he caught two balls for 19. That game, see, that's where I'm like, Mario, it wasn't very good in that game. So I get that 100%. Yeah. Moving on here, the week seven fantasy points match a podcast. I'm John Hansen, along with Greg Ocell. Oh, by the way, I should have mentioned. Use that promo code, Hanson 22, save 10% off a subscription. Obviously, you can go in there and subscribe at any point, and you'll figure out how to set it all up. You can even do an auto-renew thing, but prices slashed and discounted it off, obviously, with the season underway. Well, let's see what else you've seen here.

Well, you saw that St. D. So I guess back to the game that kicks off week seven, and you have any thoughts on where they are right now? No Latimore again. And I guess it's impossible with Kyler being so, you know, week to week. And, you know, we've discussed this. And I just really have no feel for the Cardinals' offense. I did not see them this week, but obviously they did not score an offensive touchdown. I just don't have a feel for them.

And I don't believe I'm the only one who would say that. Well, how about to say D though? I mean, because I know Lattermore's been out, but they seeming, they've fallen off this year. They're not as good. You know, it feels like... They're not. And, you know, and that's a tough thing to figure out because they still have good people. Obviously, there have been some changes, but they have Matthew, who's a very good player.

Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, I mean, they're not quite the same. And it's hard for me to get a feel for why. Because like I said, you know, you look up front. They still have Jordan. They still have Davenport. They've got good players up there. front. They still have Davis. Now, Warner, the second year linebacker from Ohio State has replaced

Juan Alexander. To me, Warner shows up on film, so I'm not, I can't say that he's not a good player. He shows up on film. I mean, Cam Jordan's 33 years old. I mean, he is a human being. He's getting up there. Right, right. And, but he's, again, I'm not studying him individually, so I can't sit here and say that, you know, what he's done, snap after snap after snap. That would be hard for me to answer. Right. Yeah. Let's see how many sacks he has. He's got three and a half. That's not bad.

I mean, I do notice him out there. So, yeah, I'm not sure why. I've noticed good things about him, so I can't say that, you know, that he's falling off. But again, I'm not charting every play. That's fair. Well, unfortunately, you spent some time watching Justin Field. So we'll go quickly here. I see your notes.

That's the same story. A beat late on throws. And or, you know, you're not sure. is he unwilling to throw it or is he just not seeing it, right? Yeah, I mean, you know, I sort of summarized that, you know, he has issues that need to be addressed and cleaned up. Now, I want people to understand every once in a while you see a really good ball where he throws with timing and anticipation.

Yeah, and you can see it. He had one to Mooney in this game. That was, it was a, I'm trying to remember the length of the play, but it was just, it was really, really well done. And, oh, it was on St. Juist. 26-yarder to start the second quarter possession. And it was just beautifully done. And then, of course, the touchdown he threw to Pettis.

He just dropped right in the bucket. It was a beautiful throw. Yeah. But we know he's capable. Yeah. But the issues are this. Right. Poor eye level.

Lack of priming and anticipation overall. Unwillingness to turn it loose. Does not work through progressions with needed speed and clarity. And he leaves too many throws on the field. You know, so is all this theoretically coachable it is. But now we have to wait and see. There's only in its second year. They owe them a lot of money.

They, you know, they can't just cut them. I mean, it sounds a lot like Jalen Hurts from two years ago. Possibly, and that's why you're wait and see with, you know, with these guys. Yeah. Do you get a feel for the, how the, the, the, the, the coach. coaches and, you know, the play design, like all that. Like, do you feel, you know, does it come to you like, oh, these guys aren't maximizing his ability?

Like, how do you think that end of all this with Fields and this offense is going? The new staff, the new offense. You know, it depends what one thinks a quarterback should do and should be. I mean, Fields has a big arm and he's very mobile. So, you know. I thought to get him on a run a little bit more, honestly, in three. I mean, if there was an offensive coach who was sitting right here. So what would he say?

At some point, you know, I mean, should you be running an offense like the Eagles run? You know, maybe. Maybe that's the way to maximize Fields. Now, Fields is a better thrower than Jalen Hertz just as a pure throw of the football. But, you know, should they be running an offense where everything is so cleanly defined as it essentially is for Jalen Hertz? Yeah. Make that argument for sure. For sure.

that I think that, you know, Luke Getsey doesn't necessarily come from that school. He's a younger coach who has a specific background and he's running his offense. And I'm not knocking Luke Getsy because no matter what offense you run, at some point your quarterback from the pocket has to see it and throw it. There it is. I think that says it all. I don't think we need to add much to that. Let's move on here and final couple of minutes here. By the way, this is just a preview of the analysis and the content that we get from Grecoe sales film study. Greg, Adam, Kaplan, and I do the live stream every Thursday here on the site for premium subscribers, and we give you nuggets on every game here, Giants, offense, and once again,

you know, just to a little side note, it feels like Dayball, one of the reasons he's succeeding is it just seems like they have a good handle on all the little things. You notice that? Like, they just seem to be, is that evident? Like they don't really beat themselves as much as we're used to seeing. Like they're seemingly like doing the little things well. I would say that's fair. But I think Daniel Jones is, you know, remember I told you that I did a study of Daniel

Jones this summer and spent a lot of time looking at third downs? Yeah. And I thought that they were positives, far more than negatives. Yeah. Well, that's showing up through six games. He's been really efficient on third down, not spectacular. In some ways you could say boring. But you know what?

There's nothing wrong for a quarter of. for a quarterback. You drop back, you know where to go with the ball, and you deliver the football at the right time to the right receiver. It doesn't have to look fancy. You don't have to run around. No one's suggesting he's Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes, but he's executing the offense, and he's making big throws in critical situations on third down. By the way, behind a line that's still a work in progress. It's better, but it's still a work in progress. And with a receiving core that- Terrible. Yeah, I mean, by NFL standards.

Burdle, yeah, no question. I think he's playing good football. I really do. Yeah, and it's not a stretch to project him to potentially be considered a top 12 quarterback like next year, given the progress, like tangible, noticeable progress that Josh Allen made in a few years under day Ball's Watch, right? Yeah, I mean. The big question the Giants are going to have, obviously, is what are they going to do with Jones? I mean, and assuming that this year continues as it's going now, I would assume they would sign Jones.

Now, I don't think they have to sign Jones, you know, for Russell, the money or for that. Yeah. But, you know, quarterbacks don't fall out of the sky. Unless the giant season falls apart, they're not going to have a top five pick. Right. You need a quarterback next year. So the quarterback you have now, assuming continued incremental growth, again, not suggesting there'll be a top five quarterback in the league, but assuming incremental growth, that means he

understands your system, he's learning it more every day, why would you start over? We love Wondell Robinson. Yeah, yeah. Finally back. Finally back, what did you see? What can he do? I mean, because they need everything at wide receiver. Can Wondell somehow give him?

them a little bit of everything that they need. He can separate. He can separate and he can run out for catch. He's not necessarily vertically explosive, but I think he can present throws for Jones. Yeah, exactly. Get open, wide open, you know. So you saw that and the snaps were down,

so that'll continue and they'll last. Where are you with the Ravens, D? I know you saw them quickly. They just zoned it up like they all zone nowadays? They're more zoned than they used to be. They play a lot of dime. Yeah, I mean, they're not the same imposing defense they were a number of years ago by any means. Yeah.

Well, I guess it's hard to be like imposing when you're sitting back playing zone, right? Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, they haven't scored a lot of points recently. It'll be interesting to see if their offense can kind of get it together. You know, it's funny. I always send you my notes when I finish, you know, it's usually Sunday morning because that's when I finish. You know, so even I send you, you know, 18, 19 pages for tonight, and then I get the 34, 35 pages by the, by the true end of the week, which for me is often Sunday morning.

And I made a note last week, which, you know, I don't know if you saw it or if it was helpful about how good Kenyon Drake looked the week before. Not this week, but the week before. And then all of a sudden this week, he looked pretty good. Well, we thought, yeah, and the belief was that it seemed like a good fit for. this running game. Right. You know, by the way, J.K. Dobbins, though, ugh. Well, you know, it'll be interesting to see. I mean, don't forget, he had a major, major injury. Yeah. And, you know, you speak to people who've had injuries like that, and they say it takes a long time to really get back. So he may not, look, Kenyon Drake,

coming off an excellent game. Edwards, I think, should be back soon. Maybe Dobbins is just going to be kind of a complimentary piece right now who doesn't get a lot of carries. No, I think he is. And I also think that the Baltimore Ravens desperately need Rashad Bateman to step up. He's back at practice. That seems pretty clear that they need Bateman to be like an alpha. I know Mandrews is the alpha, but can we get an alpha among the wide receivers? Well, keep one thing in mind.

And it's, I mean, that has nothing to do with Bateman per se. You know how many snaps the Ravens played this week against the Giants with three wide receivers on the field? Nine. Three. Yeah. Yeah. Well, what does that mean? I mean, that doesn't.

Think about this. It's a fascinating offense in this regard. And just let me leave you with this. This is fascinating to me anyway. Yeah. On every play, there's five eligible receivers, correct? Okay. Yeah.

Okay. That's football. There's five. eligible. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They run an offense in which one of those eligible is not even thought of as a receiver. Patrick Ricard. So they're running an offense in which they have five eligibles on every play,

and they're essentially by choice choosing to play with four eligibles. Yeah, but when you play heavy like that, I would imagine, you know, teams are gearing up with the stop the run. They're worried about Lamar. But it just seems, I'm not saying I'm right. That just seems in, something to me is not right about that. And I could well be wrong, but just something seems not right about that to me. In this current NFL or for Lamar or...

In general, you have five eligible receivers on every play. And you're choosing to play with four eligible receivers. And record is blocking his ass off the whole time, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean... Or he might release into a route, but they never throw it to him.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I guess it's not to go deep into it, but on, you know, their protection's probably aided by that extra guy, right? Well, yeah, if you put an extra guy in protection, certainly, yes. Yeah. And then you've got two tight ends on the field. One of those guys probably blocking, right? A lot?

Or, you know, in other words, I just feel like, Bateman is the number to clear cut number two option in the passing game when he's back in healthy. And while it's low volume and all that, on that note, we will end it here and hopefully

this is still recording and you can hear this, but we're going to end it anyway. So wrapping it here in pretty ugly fashion, I'm John Hanson. Good luck this week. We'll talk with Greg Costell next week. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points Podcast.

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