Fantasy Football Daily - Playoff Difference Makers | Fantasy Football Questions Answered + Trey Benson And Omarion Hampton Return?

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

We just lowered the prices on all of our packages, and promo code 'GURU' gets you an extra 15% off of our already discounted 50% off price tag. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠���⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fantasypoints.com/plans#⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠/ Theo Gremminger is joined by Brett Whitefield for a loaded Week 14 Fantasy Football Daily, breaking down the ten biggest questions fantasy managers must answer as the playoffs begin. The duo opens by spotlighting the most impressive Week 13 returns, from Terry McLaurin re-emerging to Joe Burrow and Bucky Irving injecting life back into their offenses. They debate whether Oronde Gadsden season is officially over, dive deep into the Detroit Lions target hierarchy without Amon-Ra St. Brown, and examine how the Carolina Panthers backfield could shift coming out of their bye. Theo and Brett weigh trust levels for Trey Benson and Omarion Hampton, assess whether Adonai Mitchell is a one-week mirage or a legitimate playoff starter, and break down RJ Harvey's post-bye eruption after Scott Barrett’s slander. They tackle Ben Johnson’s increasingly productive backfield, discuss whether AJ Brown’s massive usage spike is sustainable, and close with rapid-fire playoff flag plants at every position, plus a sleeper who could swing fantasy titles. Subscribe to Theo and Brett’s newest Podcast: 2026 NFL Draft Podcast Where to find us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://twitter.com/TheOGFantasy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://twitter.com/⁠⁠BGWhitefield⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the Discord here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fantasypoints.com/media/discord#/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Fantasy Points for FREE: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fantasypoints.com/plans#/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Podcast Transcription Here: https://podsqueeze.com/embedded/transcript/4L5xmTDmcEQADLMCB46DP3 Fantasy Points Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fantasypoints.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ NEW! Data Suite - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://data.fantasypoints.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/FantasyPts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/FantasyPts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/FantasyPts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasypts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ #FantasyFootball #2025Rankings #FantasyFootballAdvice #NFL #FantasyFootball #WaiverWire #Week7 #FantasyFootball2025 #FantasyPoints #NFLFantasy #FantasyAdvice #Sleepers #WaiverPickup Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 burning fantasy football questions for week 14 and the fantasy football playoffs. Fantasy Football Daily on the Fantasy Points Podcast Network. I'm Theo Greminger, joined today by repeat guest, Brett Whitefield, resident Ball Knower at Fantasy Points. We're going to break down some key things. you need to know in order to get your team ready, not only for the fantasy playoffs, but to win a very important week 14. And everybody listening to this pod,

you haven't been eliminated. A lot of people who get eliminated from their league playoffs, they just stop listening to my show. I understand it. It's painful. But for the people listening to this, you're either playing for a playoff spot, playing for a potential buy week in week 14,

or your team has already locked it down and you're getting ready for the fantasy playoffs. We're going to help you find an edge here at Fantasy. points. Brett, let's get it started. Last week, we saw a return for a number of key names in fantasy football. Joe Burrow returned. Bucky Irving returned. Terry McLaren returned. We didn't get a couple of guys back that we were hoping for. We'll talk about them a little later. But of the guys that did return from injury, who was the most impressive to you? And maybe with a little bit of forward thinking, who do you think has the strongest stretch here in these next four weeks? That's a great

question. Can I hit all three real quick? Just what absolutely. So Lauren came back. He had a really tough matchup against Denver. And Pat Certain basically shadowed him for most of that game. Despite that, he had a really good production, but beyond the production, I saw some really promising things on tape. I mean, the separation was there.

You go to the Fantasy Points Data Suite. Check out his separation metrics. They were excellent for the week. He got Certain a couple times deep. He had a really nice win in the end zone that didn't come down with a touchdown, but it was still a really nice win. So if McLaurin's going to play at that high of a level and separate against guys like Certain, I think that's really good moving forward. Bucky Irving looked pretty good. I think what you saw from him that's different than Rashad White is that tackle-breaking potential.

He can keep plays alive. Really, like, he did an excellent job sifting through the crap. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive line got beat up pretty bad in this game. They were getting whooped and Bucky still made, you know, a lot out of a little. And I thought that was impressive. I would say the burst didn't look there. You didn't see any burst or acceleration or explosiveness, but the tackle breaking potential was there. I think the burst will come as he gets more acclimated to the game again. And then Joe Burrow probably takes the crown.

I thought his return was the most impressive. I know it wasn't the most efficient day, catchable ball rate was down, completion percentage was down. But you look at those big time throws, those hero throws, that really elevate the ceiling of an offense. They were there. He had four or five just absolute jaw droppers, there's like extraterrestrial type throws that really opened up this game for the Bengals.

So I felt like Burrow was awesome. But I was impressed by all three guys, to be honest with you. Yeah, I think you nailed it. And I think for all three of them, they're comfortably back in our fantasy lineups. McLaurin, the target volume, was incredible. And I think with Washington, I was a little bit worried coming out of the by week that this was going to be a, let's kind of wait for 2026 sort of vibes. But Washington comes out of the by week.

They really care. they give a real scare into Denver. Now they have a winnable game against Minnesota who's reeling right now. And McLaren getting this many targets, had 14 targets. Zach Ertz also a ton of targets in this one. And Chris Rodriguez, I think he's the predictable back in the backfield. So I think we know a lot more about Washington. I think Jaden Daniels genuinely wants to play.

And I think that the franchise wants to get him back out of there. So I'm very bullish about Terry McLaren down the stretch. It's a four-week sample size here. And I think Terry McLaren will do enough in this next month to be drafted sort of similarly to where he was going this year. People are going to be excited about him once again. Bucky Irving also had a touchdown overturned on a holding penalty that was really like an unnecessary hold.

So Bucky, he's locked in. But yeah, all three, you're feeling just fantastic about things if you have any of those three guys rostered. And I think Joe Burrow and the Bengals are going to run it. I think they're going to win the AFC North. and I wouldn't be surprised if they beat Buffalo this week. Your thoughts on just the way the AFC North is shaking out. A little bonus question for you, not fantasy related, but you're a ballmower.

No, they're in a hole for sure, what, four and eight, I think? Four and eight, they got to run it. Fives in Baltimore are, they're less than savory right now. I mean, that team looks beat mentally. I don't think Lamar Jackson looks healthy. It's rough. Derek Henry's season hasn't started yet, which is weird, because normally this is when he starts dominating.

Yeah, so I think Baltimore is beatable. Pittsburgh's awful. Like, they're objectively a bad football team. You got Cam Hayward out there lying about altercations you have with Josh Allen, which is weird. That just shows you that the vibes are bad. So, yeah, I could see Cincinnati for sure going four and one down the stretch here. I don't know that they win the division, but they definitely make a run at it for sure.

The last time that the two of us podcasted, I believe, was on a dynasty life. And we talked about Arronday Gadsen and his ascendance. You had the huge breakout performance in week seven, but you also had week six, week eight, where Ronda Gadsden had several weeks in a row where he was scoring at a very, very high level, a whole month in a row where he was giving you like 12 ppr points or more.

But lately the production has gone downhill, four points in week 10, six points in week 11, and then I was excited to see him coming out of the buy week. The matchup was winnable against Vegas. I used Gadsden in DFS this past week. I had Gadsden in my fantasy lineups. And I know he was tackled at the one-yard line,

but he had only one catch for 27 yards. There's a lot of people making theories here, Brett, saying that the loss of Joe Alt has sort of led to Arande Gadsden, having to chip a little bit more, having to be used as a blocker a little bit more. What's going on here? Can we trust Arrondi Gadsden? Is there going to be a bounceback?

Or do we need to greatly sort of reduce our expectations and maybe put him on the bench for these next important four weeks. Lots of impact there. So let's start with this week's matchup. I know a lot of people were touting this matchup as a good one because it was the Raiders and the Raiders stink. But really mathematically, that just wasn't the case. The Raiders have been good at taking away tight ends all season.

In fact, they're the number one defense in the NFL at stopping tight ends. If you look at schedule adjusted fantasy points allowed. So that's kind of interesting, right? Because I think people just assume Raiders, bad team, we'll get some fantasy points here. but that's really not how you beat the Raiders defense. So I wasn't too shocked to see that stat line. I think the thing that's getting missed here is, is Rhonda Gatson hurt his knee in week 10.

He came out of that game and missed the final 20 snaps of that game. If you put in context with the last two weeks coming out, you know, week 11 where he played injured and coming out of the buy, I've been really impressed to see that his route share has held. It's, it's, you adjust for those 29 missed snaps of week 10. It's well above 70%. He's separating at a higher, clipped in guys like George Kittle and Sam Leporta.

He has the same separation metrics exactly as Trey McBride. So he's in the company of elite tight ends in this league. The catch radius is massive. The twitchy route running potential over the middle of the field is massive. When I talk about or when I think about Joe Alt missing the rest of the season, I think this is good for Rhonda Gadsden. Ball come out quick equals tight end more targets. That's that's just fantasy 101, right?

So, yeah, Herbert having to get that ball out quicker is going to help Gats. He's going to dominate the middle of the field. I think the ebbs and flows are something you will have to live with, though, unfortunately, because there's a lot of miles to feed. You have Alad McConkey who's kind of back and is ascending wide receiver. You have Quentin Johnson, who's pretty good and really good in the red zone. He's kind of their man-beater. And then you have Keenan Allen, the Trident True Warrior.

So every week, you have four guys that you got to feed. And I just think that's part of the problem, right? you're going to have to live with some of the ebbs and flows. But I think Gadsden still looks fantastic. And I definitely, I mean, he's a top 12 tight end to me. So are you starting him over everybody? No, but I think you're definitely starting him if you don't have a, you know, a guy, you know, a top five tight end.

Yeah, I think that's an interesting one. And the next few weeks seem a little bit fantasy friendly when it comes to L.A. L.A. is obviously a winning team. Big game for them this week against Philly at home in L.A. We're probably going to see Trey Lance in that one. But then weeks 15 and week 16 seem like games where they're going to have to score points and put some points up to get wins. On the road in Kansas City in week 15, a chance to sweep the Kansas City Chiefs this season, beat him in Brazil back in week one. And then week 16 in Dallas.

And the Dallas Cowboys just have unbelievably good vibes right now. So I'm interested in seeing Gadsden with a bounceback. I'm going to try to break ties and not use him this week against Philly. Just to make sure this is not the case. But if we can see him get back up to a little bit better target volume, then I might have a little more trust in using him in week 15 and week 16 when there's literally no room for error with your lineup decisions. One more question for you.

You're the resident Detroit Lions, ball knower at fantasy points. I think if we had to pick a team that you know the best, we'd probably go with the Lions. You're in the Michigan area, Brett, and you're really like locked in and connected to the team. We saw Amman Rae St. Brown go down early on Thanksgiving. It was very, very tilting. You had Amman Rae St. Brown in every single fantasy lineup, and it was just like a gut punch for fantasy managers to lose him that early in the game

before he had a chance to do anything. We know Amman Ra is as tough as it gets. We expect Amman Ra to be back in, let's say, week 15. I don't think we've seen the last of Amman Rae St. Brown. And the lines have stressed that this is a lower ankle injury. This is not the dreaded high ankle sprain. but I think it would be crazy if we saw him back on the field this week.

You also have Sam Leporta done for the year, most likely. You have Brock Wright, the other tight end, injured. This team is complete mess in terms of the depth at the wide receiver spot. But they have a matchup that looks like it's going to be extremely high scoring. We know Jameson Williams is going to see probably similar target share, target volume to what he had on Thanksgiving when he went nuts. We know Jameer Gibbs and David Montgomery are going to get touches.

but what lions or lie in would you want to bet on in fantasy football if you had to pick one off the waiver wire and throw them in your lineup as sort of a desperation chase the game flow, chase the targets type guy? This isn't I want to answer your question but before I do I just want I'll say I would bet money

Amun Ra plays this week. That's wild. Dan Campbell said this morning the day that we're recording the show actually that Amunrah is not practicing today, but he's not ruling him out yet. And knowing Amin Ra, he's going to go. He had the same injury in 2023 and played on it and had an eight-catch performance. It was rather inefficient.

I think it's like eight catches for 64 yards or something like that. But point being, I do think Amun Ra, I mean, you're going to have to try to kill him if you don't want him to play in this game. Like, he's that kind of guy, you know. It's also the lower ankle, the sprain variety, not the high ankle. So I think that's a good thing for him. Dan Campbell also said that he has responded well. So far, the pain is way down.

So I think that's a good thing. If he practices on Wednesday or Thursday, I think, sorry, if he practices Wednesday, if he goes through Wednesday walkthrough, I think he's, he's in. However, that said, let's just pretend Amun Ra is not playing. Jamo's been on fire. I know, I know he had the one just random no catch came against the Giants, which is very frustrating for everyone. Was that the Giants?

It was a Giants, right? It was, so it's easy with Jameson Williams. It's the last seven games, five games with 16 points or more, that's a wide receiver one, and then two weeks, two weeks with zeros. So you just, you just ride the storm. You just ride the storm with Jameson. You use them. You're willing to take a zero because you know a 25 pointer is around the bed.

Sure. Yeah, and I look, I just look at like the last four weeks specifically, like he's been on a tear. I think he's got two hundred yard games in there, 144, which is a career high this past week. In fact, I think that led all receivers this week, actually. So, yeah, he looks phenomenal. So I think that's, you know, Dan Campbell again today, spoke very highly at JMO, the work ethic, the route running. It's kind of all come together. It's been a really weird season for the lines.

And I think they wanted to get him the ball more in the seat earlier in the season. That's part of why you went through the coordinator change with Dan Column plays is like John Morton just was not doing enough to get Jamo the ball. Since Dan Campbell's taken over, you know, Jamo's really been on this tear. So I would expect it to be a lot of JMO and a lot of Gibbs. They're going to be down Brock right again, though. So then you're talking like Tom Kennedy, a name to throw out there. He's going to, if I'm on run doesn't go and they're down Brock right, Tom Kennedy is going to get 10 targets in this game.

So you think it's a, and again, Tom, Tom Kennedy had like four catches, 36 yards. I wrote them up in the waiver where I call him. But again, it's Tom Kennedy. So like it sounds like a made up dude for the Lions. This is not exactly a household name. Isaac Tesla is the name that a lot of us really would love to see get higher targets. But you think it's sort of a outside receiver versus outside receiver. Tesla is not like a potential big target earner in this one.

And people should go with the veteran slot guy and Kennedy. Yeah, it's just a trust thing, man. It really is. And Isaac being a rookie and being, you know, primarily an ex receiver type. Kennedy is filled in for Amonamara before, I think back in 2022. Amonra missed a game. Yeah, he had three catches, 54 yards. He's been with the Lions program since 2019.

He's been with the Lions team. So, like, that's a long time. I know, yeah. Yeah, it's not like he's just some schmuck to them. Like, he's a meaningful depth piece to them. He kind of bounces between practice squad and active roster. But despite that, like, he's been a productive player in preseason for them. And I just think there's a trust factor there with him and golf.

And he just plays the Amman Ra role is the key there. And that offense runs through that role still. Even when Amon Ra is not in, I think you'll see Kennedy kind of get a lot of those, you know, more will go to JMO, but then you'll get Kennedy kind of playing that role. Tesla will for sure get more opportunities. He's going to have to. Caleb Raymond's down too. So they're busted up all over the place.

So I think it will be Kennedy, Tesla, and Jamo for sure. But Kennedy will probably get six, seven targets in this game. There you go. There you go. Tom Kennedy, Brett Whitefield signs off, but Brett is saying he thinks Amon Ross, St. Brown goes. We have four teams on. on by week this week. A lot of fantasy starters are missing this week. But there's one team that has a situation brewing that's especially one that we want to keep an eye on for fantasy

football with a huge amount of ramifications. The Carolina Panthers head into their by week with a potential shift at the running back position that we saw in week 13 with Rico Dowdell and Chuba Hubbard. We're going to unpack this situation right after this. All right. Welcome back. Fantasy Football Daily. Theo Greminger with Brett Whitefield. Brett, we're starting a new podcast and we're recording the first episode this week. The 2026 NFL draft podcast, Brett and I are going to talk all things, 2026 NFL draft from a fantasy lens, from an NFL lens. We're going to do NFL mock drafts. We're going to do dynasty rookie rankings. We're going to talk about the players you should be targeting early best ball drafts.

We're going to cover everything down to the Shrine Bowl, the Senior Bowl, the Com Bowl, the Com, vine. This is going to be a lot of fun, Brett. Yeah, I'm very excited. I've always wanted to do a kind of like a permanent fixture draft show. So this is, this will scratch my edge there. And you're the best co-host I could possibly ask for it, Theo. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Yeah. And we did a lot of this last year on this channel on Fantasy Football Daily. We also did some on School of Scott. Everybody's listened to Scott Barrett with Brett on the on the film versus analytics stuff. That sort of breakdown. So we've, we've basically been doing NFL draft content, but it's been on fantasy football daily, it's been on School of Scott,

it's been on Dynasty Life, it's been on First Read, you've covered that stuff. So now we have a dedicated place for it. If you're a Spotify listener, and you're listening to this show right now, you can subscribe to the 2026 NFL draft podcast. The feed is already up. You're going to get the podcast coming right over to you. If you're listening on Apple, just wait until the end of the week. You have to have sort of a show populate for the Apple feed.

and then if you're a fantasy points you like to watch our stuff on fantasy points YouTube the NFL draft podcast we're going to drop that on Sunday so really would encourage you to subscribe to this show support the new show it's going to be an absolute blast we're going to have very cool guests on there and you're going to get Brett and I talking 2026 prospects team needs everything you could handle on the 2026 NFL draft podcast it's going to be a lot of fun let's get back to the Carolina Panthers Brett we talked about the backfield show shift. This was Chuba Hubbard's highest scoring week since week two. Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dattle essentially had the same number of touches at the end of the game, but it was really like a massive shift to Chuba Hubbard in the first half, and then things sort of balanced their way out. Hubbard was used in the passing game. He scored a touchdown. RICO Dattle has been a savior for a lot of fantasy managers this season, getting really RB1 production out of him and RB1 usage for a good portion of the season, is that going to look the same way coming out of the buy? Is it a situation where you're willing to use both of them in the

flex? Or do you think we could see a shift back to Chuba Hubbard as the RB1? I don't think so. I think this is all Rico's backfield still. I think you really got to live within the game script of what happened in that Rams game. One, you know, it's a three turnover game for Matthew Stafford. So the Panthers were gifted three extra possessions where I think they quickly figured out they'd have to spread out that workload. You're not going to set up Bryce Young to fail either. So you're not going to sit there

and have Bryce Young drop back 40 times against that Rams pass rush. I don't think that's a winning formula. So instead you pound the rock and you get Chuba Hubbard. He's more of an early ground grinder type. You get him going in the first half and that opens the door for Rico in the second half who's more of the explosive type. It's the first time we've seen a game script like that in a while.

And you still got, what, 18 carries and two targets out of Rico. Duttle? So 20 opportunities in a game we're worried about a backfield shift. I don't know about that, man. Week 10, Rico Duttle had 10 more opportunities. Week 11, he had like 20 more opportunities than in week 13 and that blowout against the 49ers. You know, Chuba Hubbard barely saw the field. So I wouldn't sweat too much about this. I think this is still Rico Dado's backfield. He's been the far more impressive player to me. Yeah, I think that's sort of a put us at ease type response from you. Dowdell, I think you're sort of pot committed to him coming out of the by, but

according to Brett, we're going to see sort of the RICO Dattle continuing to lead the charge here. Dowdell's been fantastic, and Carolina's a team that really, really cares. They're playing for a lot. We had Dave Canales winning a lot of big games here, beats Green Bay, beats the Rams this year, and they have this late by week, which when you have a coach that we like like Dave Canales, a lot of times we can see the self-scouting and teams making these adjustments. And so I think Carolina is a really fun team to bet on down the stretch. And we'd really love to see a lot of Rico Dattle fantasy numbers for us that have been leaning on him all season long.

I know Scott and I have talked about him being sort of a league winner at cost this year. So really want to see that coming out of the buy. It's, it matters a lot to me, Brett. Let's just leave it like that. Let's talk about another pair of players. We talked about earlier, Bucky Irving, Joe Burrow, Terry McLaren, they all came back. We were hoping we were going to get Trey Benson. Omari and Hampton back in week 13. The Chargers, of course, came back from a by week.

Hampton's been out for quite some time, as has Trey Benson. It's Kamani Vidal has actually had 300-yard rushing games this season. He's been really, really effective in this role. It's been a mixed bag of players in Arizona. They've sort of maxed out the amount of fantasy scoring you could see from a guy like Bam Knight from Michael Carter. But what's our trust level as As soon as they say, O'Marion Hampton is back. He's active this week. And Trey Benson is back. He's active this week.

As soon as you get those sort of trigger words and the players are back in the lineup, they get a full week of practice, where would you be at in your confidence level for these guys? Do you think this could be a backfield by committee in Zona? Do you think Kamani Vidal has done enough to be an annoying presence to Hampton when he returns? Where are you out on these two situations? I think you nailed it already for me. So talking to Arizona, you know, part of me thinks, you know, Bam Knight's probably earned an opportunity to continue playing. So that's going to be frustrating to deal with.

On the other side of that, though, Theo, I think about a team and like team building. This is what a three-win team. And they've never really got a good look at Trey Benson. You know, he didn't really play a lot last year with James Connor being the guy. And then right as he got the job this year when Connor went down, he goes down. And so if I'm there, Arizona Cardinals, I want to get a really. really big time look at Tray Benson. Now, I don't know if he'll be healthy enough for that. I know, you know, he's missed a ton of time and it's going to take him some time to ramp up.

My worry for fantasy, Theo, is that by the time he's ramped up and ready to go and take a lion's share of the work, you know, like a 65% workload, I worry that it's just going to be too late in the season for that. You're talking week 17, week 18 kind of thing. For Hampton, it is tricky with Vidal because Vidal's, he's played very good. He's played admirably. The force and his tackle rate's really high. The yards after contact are, you know, above average. And they're not a team that wants to run the ball. So that's another layer that's really tricky. Vidal is a very good pass protector too. We know that they have pass protection issues. We know that Justin Herbert's going to have this hand issue now for the remainder of the season where he's going to have to protect

that. In fact, they're not going to be able to run the ball from under center looks at all because he can't hand it off. So all that is a factor too where I'm like, man, I don't think I can trust. I I got to wait and see with Hampton. Like, I need to see it before I really buy in. And I know sometimes it's too late when that happens. But so I'm going to sit the fence a little bit more with Hampton. For Benson, I think I'm going to say I don't trust it at all with Hampton. I got to wait and see.

I just know the way that this is turning. It's just going to be fantasy managers luck that have been depending on these guys coming back, that we're going to get like a Trey Benson 30-pointer and an Omari and Hampton 25 pointer in week 18 when the fantasy season is over. It's going to be like a gut punch for all of us. I said this on the reaction show that drops on Monday here that we hate this, though, because it's a leap of faith in terms of usage where it's single elimination football for a lot of fantasy managers that are in the playoffs.

Some managers, like FFPC managers, might have a two-week sprint where it's cumulative score, but you're having to take a leap of faith on usage. Sometimes we see a ramp-up game. We didn't see it with Bucky, but that might have spoiled us a little bit. where, hey, let's get Omar and Hampton 10 carries, give the rest to Kamani Vidal. And then if he looks good with 10 carries, we'll get him 15 next week.

But that doesn't help you in the fantasy playoff. So I hate the fact that we're not getting ramp up games here. I do think that you're probably right with Benson, where it's a sort of a nothing-to-lose mentality for Arizona. 2025 is over, planning for 2026. Let's see what we've got out of Trey Benson. Do we use a top-10 pick on love? this, you know, like Jeremiah Love and Arizona Cardinal, I'd love to see that one.

Do we use the top 10 pick on him? Let's see if Terry Benson can handle the load, even if it's for a three-week sample size. O'Marion Hampton was so good before he went down with an injury. Average, like, 21 points a game for three straight weeks. So I feel like because of the quality of the offense and because Kamani Vidal has been so effective, it makes me want to lean into Hampton, even if it's sort of a 65-35 situation. But I think we need to kind of lower our ceiling expectations. Messed up situation here, though, Brett. We would have loved to see those guys back before.

Let's talk about our wide receiver breakout for week 13. Adonai Mitchell, who I talk about all the time with Scott Barrett. I talked about on the Waver Wire show multiple times this season. I sort of am a Adonai Mitchell truther, even back in Indianapolis days. But he had a fantastic game, 12 targets, eight catches, 102 yards, and a touchdown. everybody's saying the right things Aaron Glenn is praising him Adonai Mitchell is sort of talking in like

big bold statements about how this was like his big opportunity and Tyrod Taylor is leaning into him the air yards have been strong in multiple weeks where are you out on Adonai is this a sign of things to come or is this just going to be a blip on the radar that's going to get fantasy managers in trouble when he comes back down to earth

in week 14 well listen we obviously haven't seen him with Garrett Wilson yet so there's a big caveat coming with that However, I think he looks great. The thing is he's always separated at a really high level. He's a fantastic route runner. I think the thing that's gotten him in trouble is sometimes that separation comes via ad-libbing and in not a lot of route discipline where he's at the wrong depth or he's, you know,

cutting off the wrong step just because he's trying to make sure he wins and separates. Well, quarterbacks don't like that. Quarterbacks want to throw in time and rhythm. But the way the Jets offense has run this year, they have no timing and rhythm anyway. So who cares? But I look at the route, the route rate, like he started at 60%. He got up to around 90% this week. I imagine he'll be over 90% this week with John Mechie.

John Mechie also went through, like he joined the team a week earlier and also steadily his role grew. And then this past week he was over 90%. So I think this is a John Mechie, Adon, I Mitchell, Garrett Wilson team going forward. And then Mitchell, he's led the team in target rate every week he's been there. So I think that's a feather in his cap for sure. If Aaron Glenn is publicly praising him, he's working his ass off in practice because AG does not mess around with anything other than that. Well, I think he also mentioned that the guy was a throw in and sort of a like taking advantage of his opportunity.

So yeah, I agree with you. Aaron Glenn, not exactly the type two. He praise on someone, very serious coach. So I'm in it with Mitchell. I think with Mitchell, you throw him right back in the lineup this week. Maybe it gets you in trouble. But this time of year, chasing a season. dealing is a lot more fun than starting a Tom Kennedy and hoping that the guy has 10 points, something like that. So you've nailed it. You got to play to win in these sort of situations. A lot of times we can get ourselves in trouble by avoiding risk, where teams, when you get

down to this time of year, Brett, in meaningful fantasy football matchups, when you get to the fantasy playoffs, there's the top six in there. You already know that the bad teams have been eliminated. You're going to have to theoretically score more points in the fantasy play. So chasing a guy like Mitchell, I think it's great. And I think with Mitchell, the role is there for him in 2026 if he continues to do what he's doing. I think New York can effectively pass on wide receiver on probably day one and day two and roll out with Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell to very highly drafted, very athletic wide receivers as their starters and concentrate on fixing holes

elsewhere. So I'm in there with Adonai Mitchell, very enthusiastic about him. Let's take take one more break. When we come back, let's talk about a couple of rookie running backs that are trending up for the fantasy playoffs. All right, welcome back, Fantasy Football Daily, Theo Greminger, Brett Whitefield. Now, I think that a lot of times when people listen to School of Scott, I'm like the one that's into RJ Harvey, and it feels like there's a lot of apprehension from Scott Barrett on this one. I've won a couple of bets with him on like raw scoring numbers. And I feel like maybe Scott's coming around. The usage for RJ Harvey, very promising

coming out of the buy week. So 16 touches for Harvey. Scores two rushing touchdowns also has three catches for 27 yards, where Jaliel McLaughlin has seven touches and Tyler Baddy was excuse me, Badegh, Tyler

Badee, was involved in the passing game, but this was really a R.J. Harvey backfield and the production was there. He was RB2 overall in the week with 21.2 ppr points and this has been a trend brett where we've been seeing the scoring numbers trend up for him five three out of his last five games he's had 16 points or more he's got Vegas this week on the road where are you out on rj harvey is this sort of usage very promising to

you what are your expectations for him in week 14 and the fantasy playoffs and then a follow-up question is he really good because i think there's also scott's question the uh athleticism the talent where are you at on this one? Scott questioning the athleticism is hilarious and based on one play. I know. So to give a little, to give a little like context to this, it's not like Scott's doing this in like the everything report.

This was a in our discord with the three of us. So a big shout out to you, Scott. Scott's definitely a ball knower, but is he an RJ Harvey believer? I don't think so. So early in the year, I was a little concerned with Harvey. Like I thought he was lacking some vision.

Not quite like Jalen Wright level blind. but definitely probably shouldn't drive past dark kind of blind, you know. But I actually, in preparation for this podcast, I went and watched every carry, rewatched every carry of RJ Harbor just to make sure I'm not taking crazy pills. And I really encouraged by what I've seen. You've seen growth every week as a runner. One thing to note, too, you know, coming out of UCF, like he was a primarily, it was a gap heavy scheme where he played behind counter and power primarily.

That was just two biggest, you know, run concepts. Of course, there was inside zone and outside zone mixed in there. But it was like his whole job was setting up pollers in trying to hit alley explosive plays, alley driven explosive plays. Well, the scheme is not that in Denver. It's very duo inside zone, outside zone heavy. And so it's a different pace for him than what he's used to in college. And so I think growth was required, some patience was required. And you're seeing the vision come alive.

Now, is it perfect? No. Could he be more decisive at times? absolutely. Could he be more willing to take on a linebacker in a hole and try to shake him? Yes. Yes on all of those things. However, one of the biggest ways I measure vision is how you perform in short yardage and goal in situations. And he's been awesome in those situations. You see the decisiveness. You see the explosiveness in the burst in those situations. And so that gives me a lot of encouragement. I also think they've had some execution issues. And I don't know why the offensive coordinator or the run game coordinator hasn't fixed this. been going on all year. It was happening with J.K. Dobbins, too, where they'll run like an

outside zone from gun. And they'll ask Mike McGlenshey, their 6-8 right tackle to reach block a three technique, you know, on the backside of that play. It's not an easy ask. And if that three-tech has any type of jump whatsoever, the whole play is getting blown up. You just saw it against Washington, an outside zone to the left. And Mike McGlenshey has to go reach Darren Payne. Darren Payne is one of the best three techniques in the NFL. And he, he, he has, hit RJ Harvey Harvey had no he had no chance and it shows up in the data like 51% of his runs have been he's been hit behind or at the line of scrimmage that's that's ridiculous and a lot of that is just scheme it's like there's a lot of early penetration like another

example not to get overly nerdy here but they'll run trap and adam troutman will be the the trapping tight end coming across to pick off a defensive tackle or or a forced defender and he completely whiffs and RJ Harvey gets hit for minus five jk. Diamond's gets hit for minus five So I think Dobbins being the veteran running back was better at sifting through that garbage than Harvey, for sure. But it's not definitely the lack of efficiency hasn't all been on Harvey's shoulders. Yeah, I think it's an interesting one with Harvey. I think week 14, you have a chance to see some really, like, highly productive use on the ground. I think the rushing yards could be up against Vegas.

We just saw Kamani Vidal like rip this defense to shreds. And then it's going to, for R.J. Harvey to really help fantasy managers in the fantasy playoffs, I think you're going to have to see the past catching ability shine. And we've seen it in multiple games this year, Brett, where Harvey's had some pretty decent performances as a receiver. But those three defenses he sees, it's about as bad as it gets for rushing yards. Jacksonville's not giving up any rushing production this year. And then Green Bay and Kansas City are both like bottom 10. in rushing yards allowed this year. So R.J. Harvey, I think the receiver is going to shine in the fantasy playoffs.

We talked about Detroit. You're really locked in. You're also locked in what comes to Ben Johnson offenses. We saw the Chicago Bears statement win on the road on Black Friday in Philly. They had 282 rushing yards against the Eagles. Eagles hadn't allowed more than like 180 in any other game this season. We're not going to talk about the quarterback. We're not going to talk about the receivers.

we're going to talk about Kyle Menangai and D'Andre Swift. Are we at the point where this is sort of a poor man's version of the Jemir Gibbs, David Montgomery experience in Detroit, where we're looking to break ties and looking to use both Chicago Bears running backs down the stretch? Or are you a little bit apprehensive that the production could sort of yo-yo between these two backs over the next four weeks? Yeah. The way they've performed, that's definitely.

definitely the way I'm feeling. Menunga, I was going to use the Monty Gibbs low-hanging free comparison myself. So that's an adequate one. We could say Jamal Williams, Jondrey Swift, if we want to get a little less like enthusiastic. He's disrespectful to Kyle Menonga. He's been way good at it from Maliams. Yeah, he being the Monty of the bunch and Swift being the Gibbs.

You know, they're using Swift as a guy they're trying to generate explosives with and it's been working phenomenally. I mean, his force was tackle rate is extremely high. his explosive run rate is extremely high so they're they're getting the most out of swift it's the best season he's probably had as a pro by far um and then monung guy he's just been an absolute just hammer inside man um swift being you to use more in the passing game so it definitely it lines up the thing that makes me nervous though theo you got green bay twice the brown's coming up and the 49ers that's your that's your final four weeks of the fantasy season right there so that's tough now they just proved they can do it against the best of the best right the you Eagles run defense is phenomenal. Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Morrow or Giorno in the middle there, the linebackers. So they just ran for 284 against them. So they can do it against anybody.

I just don't know that I would consistently bet on that. These are four really tough matchups for them moving forward. Yeah, it's an interesting team because the team's winning a lot. I think it's sort of a team dependent thing here for your fantasy team, whether you're going to use both of these players. But I do think that each of them has shown what a ceiling performance looks like, now we've seen that they can both shine in the same game, which I think is a significant hurdle here.

So I don't know, Brett. I'm believing in the Chicago offense. I think that Ben Johnson is absolutely maximizing what he has on his plate here. And I think Chicago is going to win more games. Every time we think Chicago is going to lose a game, they go and they make a big statement. So, you know, you say two games against Green Bay,

nothing's going to surprise me there. Absolutely nothing will surprise me when it comes to Ben Johnson team. teams, especially this time of year when the offense continues to get better. So, yeah, Ben Johnson could really, really have these things rolling in 2026 when we see some of these younger players get a year older and more of his guys coming in. A lot of changes on the O line as well. So like Ben Johnson really, really getting things done in Chicago, let's talk about A.J. Brown.

And this is an interesting one. I have an NFFC Silver Bullet team, and that's the NFC FC Silver Bullet is a single entry. So like FFPC main event, NFFC prime time, you're sort of competing with some managers who put in like 10 entries, maybe more, but the silver bullet, you get a single entry. And Brett, I drafted A.J. Brown in round two in this one, wide receiver heavy format. So my team should have been sort of dead in the water. But I'm up to like 30th in the whole competition. And my team looks very set to be the one or two seed. and I've really benefited from having Jemir Gibbs and George Pickens and some good picks but the last two weeks

have just been insane production from AJ Brown 25 points and 32 points we've seen A.J. Brown complain at times this year but obviously about Kevin Petulow's play calling but things seem to be trending towards A.J. Brown and Philly now obviously the Chicago game Philly was sort of coming from behind at the end

he had a chance with the game flow, and it benefited Brown. But I don't know. I feel sort of cautiously optimistic about A.J. Brown continuing to play well here over this next month after sort of a disastrous start of the fantasy season based on where he was drafted. Yeah, Brown looks phenomenal. I mean, for my money, I honestly think he's a top two receiver in the league, talent-wise. So this doesn't surprise me. His target share has been over 30% the last three weeks.

So the complaining works for sure because he's getting more opportunities. So I would say it's probably here to stay. My only like pause would be so they play what the Chargers, the Raiders, they're next to those teams have some of the lowest rates of man coverage in the NFL. A.J. Brown has been their man-beater in his best big blow-up 40-point type games come against man-heavy teams. But then you get Washington in Week 16 who run a ton of man.

And so there's a nice balance there. And then week 17, I believe, is the Buffalo Bills, another zone heavy team. So that's the only thing is just not a lot of teams left on the schedule that are going to play a ton of man coverage. But that doesn't necessarily matter. He blew up the Cowboys right in the Cowboys play a ton of zone. So he can definitely do it. It's just, you know, it'd be a tendency breaker to some extent. Yeah, it's just, it's crazy how in fantasy football we have such swings.

Guys are busts and then guys kind of kill it at the end of the year. Nico Collins trending up right now, AJ Brown, the last two weeks. A couple, like, we did this show six weeks ago, we would have said these guys are just, you know, huge bus. Terry McLoren potentially coming back and give, and it's an interesting situation too, because you get these contests like Underdog Bestball Mania,

like the FFPC main event, like NFFC prime times, where there will be fewer AJ Brown teams in the main event when you get to the three-week sprint because a lot of those teams weren't able to overcome the slow start. So the teams that were able to overcome things potentially could have an edge. Yeah, it's really, really a fun discussion to have for sure the swings we have in fantasy football. At Fandual Casino, you get even more ways to play. Dive into new and exciting games and all of your favorite casino classics,

like slots, table games and arcade games. Get more on Fandual Casino. Download the app today. Please play responsibly 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. If you have questions or concerned about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1866-531-2,600, to speak to an advisor free of charge. I had Pat Corain on with Scott and I on School of Scott this week. Highly recommend you listen to that episode.

Really, really a fun exercise. We sort of talked about a number of fantasy playoff related players and situations. And we did bold predictions for all. four positions and a flex where I asked Scott, I asked Pat, and then I shared my answers for this one. And we specifically are looking at players who are non-obvious league winners, guys that you are flag planning for the fantasy football playoffs. So Pat and Scott were good on pretty much every single answer of staying away from the truly elite, truly elite guys, except Scott did have Jemir Gibbs in one of them. So we, yeah, and I let him have it for that one.

but I'll share my answers too at the end of the show, but make sure if you want to hear Scott and Pat Corain, two super, super sharp guys give their answers, some really, really fun stuff to unpack on School of Scott this week. But we're going to go right down the line here, Brett. Quarterback seems very wide open this year because we don't have like the big three like we've seen in previous years where there's just like two quarterbacks

lapping the entire field. It's been a little bit more variance in terms of, of the quarterback scoring, if you had to pick a quarterback that's maybe a non-obvious guy to be the league winner and provide huge edges for fantasy managers in the playoffs, who would it be? Oh, that's so, so like, non-obvious. I'll go real non-obvious. You can go obvious, you can go real, non-obvious.

However, it's, it's dealer's choice here for you, Brett. I'm not going to pull Scott here. I'm not, there you go. There you go. There you go. Let me go, let me go Baker Mayfield for this. I actually have two all toss up. Baker Mayfield, for one.

It's been rough the last couple months. The personnel in and out of the lineup situation, the offensive line being banged up. But their schedule is stabilizing. And they're in a playoff push right now. And I think when the rubber meets the road, Baker's at his best when his back is against the wall. And his back's against the wall right now,

with the panthers breathing down their neck, with the chances of one of those teams making the wild card, basically vanished. He's got the saints, the falcons, the Panthers, and the dolphins left on the schedule. This is a money schedule, like absolutely money. Mike Evans is coming back. Chris Godwin, I thought, looked really good the other day.

Emeka Egg Bucca is there. The offensive lines getting healthy. The run games getting healthy. Yeah, it's just, it's all trending up for Baker just to finish on an absolute tear. I love that one. And we've sort of seen sort of a little bit of a downfall in Baker, but Baker having a big fantasy playoffs would just be awesome, a player that we love to root for.

My answer on School of Scott was Dak Press. Scott. I sort of dive into further context on that one. It's not really, it's sort of not really a under the radar one here. Dak is absolutely bawling out. Yeah, I took a, I took a softball on that one. But I just love Dak Prescott and I have a ton of exposure to Dak Prescott on a lot of teams. So I'm actively rooting for him, but I think he's going to rip it up. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Dallas Cowboys completely run the table here, Brett, and don't lose another game, head into the NFL playoffs with a good deal of momentum. They beat the Super Bowl champions

and the Super Bowl runners up in back-to-back weeks. And I think they take your Detroit Lions this week too, Brett. You better calm your mouth down, sir. There you go. There you go. We'll maybe have to have a little bet off screen on this one. But I think Cowboys Lions Thursday night doesn't get better than that, does it? Like, we don't have too many more Thursday nights left

and we get to watch Detroit, Dallas, in a game that both teams desperately need. This game's going to be awesome. Brett, let's take to the same question. So the running back position this year, it's been continual talk. It's Christian McCaffrey. It's Jonathan Taylor. It's Bejohn Robinson. It's Jemir Gibbs.

It's Devon A. Chan. And you've heard multiple people, okay, me calling these guys the league winner this season. But it doesn't always work like this in the fantasy playoffs. Last year, the league wrecker, the player who completely put fantasy managers on his back, was Jonathan Taylor and I think if we did this exercise last year in like week eight we wouldn't have said

Jonathan Taylor is going to be the league winner Jonathan Taylor is not exactly coming out of nowhere but Jonathan Taylor again if you had him last year in the playoffs you either won your league or you finished as the runner up hands down the guy was killing it

who could be a running back this year that has that same sort of impact and really has a huge impact on fantasy playoffs okay I may have under prepared for this maybe this is a better my answer is better for the flex question um because you're invoking the name jonathan taylor scott throughout jimier gibbs

i don't know maybe i'm a little underprepared here i went we're really not obvious like you're in a pinch you need a guy i put erin jones erin jones has been wildly efficient this year he looks fantastic on tape and he gets washington the new york giants and the detroit lions for the fantasy championship run neither like erin jones owns the lines he always has green bay viking doesn't matter. He's owned the lines. And then Washington in the Giants are two of the worst run defenses in NFL history. So I, it's a phenomenal schedule. They're going to try to protect whoever is that quarterback, whether it's J.J. McCarthy or Max Brosmer. Those should be relatively competitive games as well. I just, you know, I think like I said, maybe this is a better

answer for your flex question and not running back. But like I went, I tried to go off the beaten path here. Give you guys somebody you're not thinking about. Aaron Jones. Yeah, I like that one. and then Jones is dealing with a with a potential shoulder thing we we don't have like a little bit of lack of clarity here but if he's out does this same sort of argument go for Jordan Mason as a fill in well maybe even more so because the competition's not there now you know I like the way Aaron Jones looks on tape way more than I've liked what I saw from Jordan Mason but if you're consolidating the role too that's that's an added cherry on top I'll take I'll take a little bit less efficiency yeah I think I'm there with you on that one we see J. J.J. McCarthy coming back. I think that the Vikings really playing for pride here, playing for 2026 and really looking to get J.J. McCarthy back on track. So leading into the running game, I think we'll help them a lot here. Yeah, Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason, whoever's there, use them. Brett is signing off

on that one. My answer was Chase Brown, which is not like really brave of me. Chase Brown's been awesome. He's had like 16 points or more every week lately. We're seeing. Samajai P. Rhine work in, but we're seeing Chase Brown get that valuable role in the passing game. Seven targets this past week just looks explosive. They're getting them the ball. Chase Brown in the fantasy playoffs this year could look just like Chase Brown in the fantasy playoffs last year. And like you said, Joe Burrow looks fantastic. How about a wide receiver, Brett, a wide receiver you'd want to bet on in the fantasy playoffs? Can I say one thing about Chase Brown? Yes. You get the Buffalo, Baltimore, and Arizona are three of his final four weeks

in the fantasy season. None of those teams are good against the run. Yeah, and Buffalo big run funnel defense too. People are shredding the bills on the ground. Yeah, they suck. Yeah. Is that by design though, Brett? I mean, I always asked this one to Bill's people.

It's sort of like, are they just conceding the run because they've gotten killed by the past in like playoffs and they're sort of like, you want to beat us, you've got to beat us on the ground. Yeah, it started that way. So not to deviate too much, but it started, they were a team that would just sit back in too high. And they played the highest rate of five and six DBs in the league. They literally didn't play base defense.

But it got so out of hand with how bad they were getting gashed that they started adjusting, started playing more, you know, single high, middle of field closed on early down, started playing three linebackers that still hasn't gotten any better. So it was by design, but now that the genie's out of the bottle, they haven't been able to put it back in so well there you go how about a wide receiver i didn't interrupt you on that one no you're good um again i went off the beaten path a little bit here i was trying to because in the notes you wrote not obvious so i went really i took that literally not obvious wandel robinson is the guy i wrote down love that one washington minnesota and the raiders

in the fantasy championship run here the playoffs um wondell's been fantastic 30% target share like seven of the last eight weeks unbelievable jackson dart is back. These guys cooked together. Wanda, I don't know if you saw what Wondell has done the last few weeks to opposing. Wondell's been awesome. I actually, I dropped a post on X about this one. He's going to get a fortune on the open market this year. It's sort of a weaker, wide receiver class. He's 24 years old. Only 24 for Wondell. And he's on track for like 1100 receiving yards this year. And Brett, he's actually has like the seventh most receptions over 20 yards this year.

So we haven't really like associated Wondell with being like a guy who produces a ton of explosive plays. But he's produced a ton of explosive plays this year. And he's caught a ton of passes. Last year, 93 catches. This year he'll be on track for another 90 or so. So Wondell really taken a step forward this year.

What's funny about the explosive play thing is that's all he did at Kentucky. It's super like, but it was all fake. it was all slot against two high you know two-way goes against safety type stuff that i hate and then last year he was kind of a meme because he was only short area guy but now he he's developed he's taking a step forward as a route runner so he has the speed to once he wins with separation he has a speed to maintain that and so i think you're seeing him turn into a complete player and he's a really nice compliment to neighbor so i think they keep him anyways yeah my

answer was jameson williams we talk i mean it's obvious at this point but i think jameson williams is going to have a awesome end of the season. Was a roller coaster ride if you drafted him, but if you were able to sort of survive the first half of the year, you're starting to see the Jameson Williams experience. Thanksgiving was tremendous. I think you see Jameson Williams, the really big performance against Dallas on Thursday night, and he's going to have a ton of momentum heading into the fantasy playoffs. And Leporter was such a big part of this offense that being able to really consolidate these

targets between Amon Ra and Jameson, I'm there, Brett. I'm ready to get hurt by how excited I am about Jameson Williams in the NFL playoffs and, excuse me, fantasy playoffs. It's funny because Jamo's going to finish a season with like 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns and it's going to feel like a disappointment. Not to me, Brett, not to me. I just mean just how painful it was early in the year. You know, it's like he's going to be, and I'll put it in fantasy perspective.

Like there was people that were really angry about where he settled in as like a fourth or fifth round pick this year in redraft. He's going to be so good in the fantasy playoffs, that Jameson Williams will be a third round pick in 2026 redraft leagues. People are going to be so stoked about him. I already told Pat Corain and Scott Barrett, they're both going to put Jamo on like their do not draft list next year. That's how high the ADP is going to run after this fantasy playoffs.

Give us a tight end, Brett. Tight end's difficult. Who's a tight end that you see sort of trending up here for the playoffs? I hate this. I didn't even come up with an. answer. I was going to sarcastically say, throw a bunch of names in the hat and pick one out. I'll give you mine and you can sort of grade it. Okay. I mean, I did come up with one on the fly, but go ahead. Give me yours. Brenton Strange, who will benefit from the

no, no, okay. No, no, done. Yeah, let's do it. Okay, good. Okay. So we're co-signing Brenton Strange. Strange is awesome. He looks fantastic. Uh, I wish I was- And the Parker Washington injury. Parker Washington injury. Trevor Lawrence is always telling the line between absolutely sucks, but is also awesome at the same time. And so Strange gets a lot of dump-offs, and he makes the most of those. I like Strange. It's going to be the 2023 Evan Engram fantasy playoffs run, but with a new tight end for Trevor Lawrence.

I think Brenton Strange gets you like seven catches a game in the fantasy playoffs. And it's like the out-of-nowhere guy that has like a, you know, obviously you're going to see McBride crush. You're probably going to see Bowers put up another smash week or three. You'll see George Kittle play well. Tyler Warren has a chance to like obliterate the Indianapolis Colts rookie records for like a number of receiving

categories and then you're going to see like Brenton Strange and every week he's going to be like tight end four, tight end five, tight end six on the week in the playoffs. So I'm all about it. Anyone else in the tight end spot you want to talk about? No, but you know what? I know it's not a dynasty show. I got

to tell you this trade I pulled off with the deadline. I had a bad team with Travis Kelsey on it. Obviously looking to move him. I moved Travis Kelsey for Brent and Strange and a two. I felt really good about that. I like that one. Brent and Strange and a two, that's a nice,

nice haul. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I acquired some Travis Kelsey on some, some contending team. I did too. Annual tradition, annual tradition for sure.

Okay, give us one player, any position here. We called this the flex. I had Christian Watson as mine. So we're calling this a sleeper. This player, you can sort of lower the bar a little bit. They don't have to be the league. record, but a player that can go into our flex, maybe into our wide receiver three, maybe into

our RB2 spot that might be a little bit under the radar that you think can get you some fantasy utility. Yeah, so I swear to you, I did not see Watson on the show sheet, because he didn't write his full name. Watson was the guy I picked. In fact, I told you I had two QBs. Jordan Love was going to be the other QB I threw out. I know he's been somewhat disappointing from a fantasy standpoint, but he's playing the best football he's ever played right now. And, coming up he's going to have Chicago twice and Baltimore in the fantasy championship.

They're all just complete cheeks against the past. Denver in week 15 is a tough matchup, but if you can get through that, Christian Watson and Jordan Love should carry you, honestly. I mean, they look phenomenal. Christian Watson also playing the best football. I don't even know how that's possible. Like, was he getting super

soldier serum in the off season over in Germany or something? Like, yeah, it looks fantastic. I mean, it's wild. So, yeah, Christian Watson. Christian Watson looks really, really, really good. Ten targets on Thanksgiving. And he could have had a more, he had 18 points, but he had another end zone target

where he almost pulled it in. It could have been a, and I think there was a couple more downfield looks where they were near receptions. Watson looks completely locked in and completely agree with you on Jordan Love. Brett, this was a lot of fun. Again, Brett and I, every single week,

the two of us will be dropping the 2026 NFL draft podcast. go to FantasyPoints.com. There'll be plenty of links for that. Fantasy Points YouTube, you'll find the videos for that. But you can go ahead on Spotify, 26 NFL Draft Podcast. The feed is there. You can subscribe to it. And it should be up on Apple shortly.

So really looking forward to doing that with you, Brett. What else do you have going on this time of year? Yeah, you head over to FanisPoints.com and check out. I put out my early rookie rankings for Dynasty slash redraft, just kind of looking ahead. It is fantasy driven. I provide a little bit of tape analysis on each guy, but that's just kind of the prelude to the podcast,

to the draft guide that will be coming out. And then first read, you know, NFL first read with Joe Marino. That's my main podcast. We record twice a week. It's fantastic. We talk ball, X's and O's analytics. It's great. Yeah, make sure you check out Brett, everything he does. Make sure you're checking out school

of Scott. That's Scott Baird and I every single week. Pat Corain, a really, really sharp guy joined us this week. You know him from ship chasing and also from legendary upside. And then Rich Rebar is joining me on Dynasty Life. So I want to hear a little Dynasty. Make sure you subscribe to Dynasty Life. Rich Rebar, obviously, like, Rich Rebar is like one of the sharpest guys out there. So get a chance to talk ball with the resident ball noer, Brett Whitefield, and get a chance to talk with Rich for Dynasty this week. A pretty, pretty fun job I have here at Fantasy

Points. We're going to help you crush the fantasy playoffs. We're going to help you crush week 14. Make sure you head over to FantasyPoints.com and subscribe if you want to take your game to another level. Use the code Theo and get 15% off. Our already reduced packages makes for a great Hanukkah gift, great Christmas gift, or

a gift to yourself, Brett, if you need an edge in the fantasy playoffs. We'll see you soon. 2.