Fantasy Football Today - 09/14: Mailbag! (Recorded Fri.) (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: September 14, 2019

Answering your questions from iTunes and from our email inbox. Plenty of Start or Sit, injury updates on Joe Mixon and others, Fantasy Regulators, Grade the Trade and Ben's very interesting takes on O.J. Howard and T.J. Hockenson among others. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Here we go! It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Let's go! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. It's the Saturday Mailbag.

We're answering your questions from iTunes, and from our inbox, fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. We're grading your trades, a lot of starter sit, and some regulating to do. What's going on? I hope everybody's having a great weekend. Right now, it is Friday afternoon at 3.30 p.m. Eastern. So, Ben, Gretch is here.

Ben, how do you think your weekend is going so far? Like, since time of recording to time of publishing, it's Saturday morning. How do you think your Friday night was? My Friday night was good, yeah. And Saturday morning, I'm probably heading to some fun stuff because it's my daughter's birthday, fourth birthday on Monday, but I'll be writing my big Stealing Signals article, so we're celebrating on Saturday. I'll probably be doing something fun while this drops.

What are you doing? We're going down to the Science Center and doing some stuff in the city. Nothing says fun like science. That sounds like a great birthday. Well, we've done the zoo and the aquarium for my other daughter. That's what we always do on their birthdays. So we're mixing it up just because we've kind of beat those to death a little bit. Okay, cool.

So I have an important announcement to make. Ben, you're the first one that's going to hear this. You and the listeners, I guess. But you're going to hear it first since it's Friday for us. This is actually my last show. I am retiring probably Sunday night. So yeah, big news. I'm pretty sure my FanDuel lineup is going to win a million dollars.

It is the best FanDuel lineup I've ever made. I'm not going to share it on the show because I honestly don't want anyone else playing it. So I just want to thank you for being here on my last show. You might as well do your victory lap now because that is in the bag. I love it. It's just like... I basically

feel that way every time I make a FanDuel lineup. Like, oh, this lineup's amazing. But this one is amazing. Okay, email of the day. You can't even tease us on... Yeah, a little bit of a Raiders stack. A little bit of a Raiders stack. All right.

Dear Adam, Heath, Dave, Jamie, and Ben, I listened to Wednesday's show, and Ben was so high on Nicole Hardman that I traded Joe Ross and Evan Ingram for him just to secure Hardman before he gets his Ross and Evan Ingram for him just to secure Hardman before he gets his 150 yards and three touchdowns. Now I see Andy Reed saying that Hardman and D'Anthony are going to split the workload.

Oh, do I trade Hardman now or keep him and my head up? This is from Grando who is desperate in Cincinnati. Yeah. Couple of things. Like many things. Joe Ross is what he wrote in the email he's a nationals pitcher um i think he meant john ross right probably john ross yeah you know he might

be in one of those inner sport leagues yeah and like training i don't think bed ever would have told you to trade evan igram for mccall harvin i told grado this was a terrible trade. What is your reaction to this? He followed your advice and made a terrible trade. I mean, you didn't even read the subject of the email. The subject was like, Ben ruined my team. So, Grando, this is my message for you. I apologize for ruining your team. But now, Grando, I'm going to need you to just fast forward this podcast 30 seconds really quick to

everyone else don't do a grand oh yeah i'm very high on miko hardman that does not mean that you trade evan ingram plus john ross who i was also very high on the same podcast right it's like i think you were even higher on john ross than hardman and he traded him and evan ingram to get miko hardman i sent him an email and told him it was a bad trade, and he goes, his follow-up was, yeah, it was unlike me to make a trade like that. I think I must have blacked out. Thanks for the advice. Okay, so that's a fun email to start the show.

Injuries, news, and notes. Le'Veon Bell will play on Monday against Cleveland. Joe Mixon practiced, and right now I would say expected to play. Let's assume he is playing. Would you start Mixon or Gio Bernard? I'm a little nervous about him splitting work, which he just hasn't done with Gio since the beginning of last year, basically. What do you think about Mixon if he plays against San Francisco? Yeah, I mean, I don't think you can expect what you were expecting from Mixon if he plays against San Francisco? Yeah, I mean, I don't think you can expect

what you were expecting from Mixon where you drafted him. I don't think you can play Bernard in that scenario. He'd be like a large field GPP play, maybe as an upside guy if Mixon were to go out of the game and Bernard actually got to 15 touches. But he's not somebody I would play in a seasonal league. Mixon, I think you can can play but it would just be fully dependent on your other options if you have solid other options and you don't want to mess with the injury i'm all i'm a big supporter of that don't get too caught up in the the name value because it can really sink your week if he re-aggravates that you know first quarter early second quarter something like that so uh but if you don't have other good options yeah i mean if he's playing you you got to go with him. Would you start with Sonny Michel or Mixon?

Oh, that's a good one because I don't really know what to make of Michel this week. I mean, I think Michel is a really strong play by everything that you would normally look at, right? Like massive favorites. That should be his game script. They have a huge team total. They should score a lot of points. He should probably score at least once potentially a two touchdown guy this week um i i think it'd be hard i think i'd probably go with michelle i

think it'd be hard to pass that up knowing that my other players injured unless we get just a full clear uh clean bill of health on mix right okay and i'm gonna hang on to geo i'm not gonna start him but you know there's always a chance of a re-aggravation of the injury. So I'd like to hang on to him through the end of the week and see what happens there. More news items for you. Dante Pettis expects a bigger role this week. He's been dealing with a groin injury. Possible that he is kind of a sleeper out there.

Not to start, but to own. So if people drop Pettis, I'm actually going to look through all my leagues to see if Pettis is available. Sterling Shepard's out. Buffalo DST certainly in play. Mark Andrews mispracticed, so that's interesting. He's got to be questionable for Sunday's game. Trey Burton's

questionable. Albert Wilson for the Dolphins, he's out. Does not want to see what the Patriots are going to do to them. Darius Geis is on IR. He's out at least eight weeks with a knee injury. Do you think he's droppable not want to see what the Patriots are going to do to them. Darius Geis is on IR. He's out at least eight weeks with a knee injury. Do you think he's droppable, Darius Geis? Yeah, I think so, unfortunately. Jordan Reed is out.

Vernon Davis in play against Dallas. Mike Williams was limited in practice. Kiki Cutie has a chance to play, and Tyler Lockett looks like he will play. And did you see during the game on Thursday night, the Rudy two commercial with Sean Askin? That was awesome. That was so funny. Yeah.

I mean, I don't know. You didn't like it. It's advertising, right? Like, I mean, it was all right.

It was all right. I'm kind of forgetting the premise of it. I'm just remembering. I put it in my phone Thursdayursday night rudy too so i would bring it up on the friday it was like rudy too he's colonel sanders now oh he's colonel sanders that's right that's right i thought it was great i loved it all right itunes mailbag so i have so many emails on the show so we're gonna go a little more quickly and i apologize that i can't get to everybody's i'm getting completely overwhelmed with emails. Keep them coming.

I try to respond to some. I try to read some on the shows. A lot of them are just going to go unanswered and I apologize, but that's just kind of the way it is. All right, from iTunes. Low in the cut. 10 team half PPR. Matt Breida, John Brown, or Devin Singletary?

Yeah, I mean, obviously we don't have a clean full bill of health on on brita yet but i do really like him i'm always kind of the low guy on john brown and maybe i'm wrong on that i think if brita looks healthy you can play him and he's a good play i mean cal shanahan lead back would be would be a good situation to be in he was very good last year when he was healthy and playing. You know, a little bit of concern that Cincinnati's defense was pretty good against Chris Carson, other than Carson's touchdowns. He was not particularly efficient in terms of yards per carry or yards per touch. But I still think Breida's probably the play here. And if Breida doesn't look healthy, then I think he'd go with John Brown. I like Devin Singletary a lot. I

thought he had an awesome workload 70% snap rate but I think these other two are better plays this week from Connor week 2 question 12 team non PPR um D.D. Westbrook or Will Fuller yeah

I mean tough one because Fuller's got Jacksonville we just saw Sammy Watkins light them up but that's a tough matchup. I think I'm leaning Westbrook in non-PPR. I think in PPR, it's got to be Westbrook. He's on the other side of that game. In non-PPR, I think I still will lean Westbrook. Okay, yeah, but closer in non-PPR.

From Zerline Steak Tips. Very good. The commissioner traded away Matt Ryan and Brandon Cooks. Oh, I honestly think there is some collusion going on. And received T.Y. Hilton and Alvin Kamara. Ryan and Cooks for Hilton and Kamara. The league is set to commissioner approving trades. Need I remind you, the guy that received Matt Ryan already has Lamar Jackson

and another quarterback on his bench. I was pretty upset that the commissioner did this, and I want to know, am I overreacting? Commissioner getting Kamara and Hilton for ryan and cooks um it sounds like there's some sort of side deal this is a money league what do you think i mean it's obviously a bad trade like dy hilton and alvin camara for brandon cooks and a quarterback and no matter how good you think matt ryan is he's a quarterback it's a terrible trade but unless there's more to this comment that it sounds like there's some sort of side deal like if you have some information that there was a side deal then that's then collusion but yeah i don't know what you do here i don't think you could just

like veto a trade um i think think you want to hear the one guy who traded away Kamara explain this, though, don't you? Absolutely. This is terrible. We're sort of regulating here. That's why I don't believe in this, like, well, you can't veto anything. Like, this is a ridiculous trade.

But I think in a lot of leagues, you're talking about... Okay, it's really not that ridiculous in a lot of leagues, and I'll say why. Because Matt Ryan was probably taken before T.Y. Hilton in many leagues, not in ours. So you are talking about giving up players 1 and 4 on draft

day for 2 and 3. You're getting Hilton and Kamara. I think Hilton may have been the last guy taken for Ryan and Cooks. So I think it's a bad trade, but no, it's not vetoable. Just, I don't know. Maybe get an explanation.

This is from Rob Mack. I'm the Eckler owner. I'm looking at a trade to the Gordon owner for Eckler for Tyreek Hill. Hill's out six to eight weeks. Would you give up Eckler for Tyreek Hill? I don't know if I'd do it before now. I mean, this pod's obviously going to drop on Saturday.

You probably can't get it done before this week. I think, obviously, it's an interesting thought, right? One guy's out right now, and one guy's going to smash and then probably won't be able to later. So it's a win now versus win later move. Wait it out one more week. Let Eckler have another big week. I expect him to do well this week and then try and make the trade.

It's four to six weeks, by the way, not six to eight, but still, I'm a little skeptical of that timeline. Just such an uncertain injury. Rest of season, Jameis Winston or Andy Dalton from Kansas Ed? Jameis or Dalton? Yeah, Winston looked a little better last night. I think I'm going to take him, but I do like Dalton in the

Zach Taylor offense. It looked pretty good in week one. All right, this one is from Brewster. Someone offered me AJ Green and Sonny Michelle for Josh Jacobs. Would you rather have Jacobs or Green and Michelle? 10 team standard. I would rather have Jacobs right now. I mean, especially he said it's 10 team and you want the better talent in a 10 team situation. And he has a pretty solid squad that he wrote in the, wrote into the email as well.

From OC dog. If I were to offload Josh Gordon now, who do you think are some targets for Gordon? I mean, it depends what position you're looking at and all that. I personally, I think the perception on Gordon is probably worse than reality right now. I think everyone knows obviously that Antonio Brown's there and there's

probably some concern about Gordon. I still think Gordon's going to be very good. I think this is a situation where if Antonio Brown's actually playing a lot and playing well, that the whole offense is going to be better. But Gordon is a guy who can be very good on limited targets. He's a high-efficiency player. So I would actually want to wait and let him produce a little bit, because I think he'd be selling low. If you were going to try to sell right now, I'd want something like fifth or sixth round value after he scored in week one. It was pretty solid. Would you take A.J. Green for Josh Gordon?

Yeah, probably. Probably. Me too. I think that's a realistic trade. I think you can get that done. This is from Tom. I'm 0-1, 10-team league. Would you start McColl Hardman over any of these guys?

Cup, John Brown, Mike Williams, if he plays. Valdez Scantling, James White, Miles Sanders, David Montgomery, or Devin Singletary? I mean, this is great. This follows along with our opening email from, what was it, Grando? Like, no, you're not starting Mikko Hardman over these guys. No one thinks Mikko Hardman's going to be Tyreek Hill. We're just saying that he's going to play those snaps and play in that role,

but he's still a rookie in his second career game. I could see this week starting him over Valdez-Scantling. Valdez-Scantling against the Vikings, Hardman against the Raiders. I think it's possible. Oh, yeah. I mean, there's a couple guys in here that you could make the case for starting him over, but you're not starting him. If this is your whole team, you're starting Kup or potentially James White,

but I think you're starting Kup. From Piang23, Matt Breida or Aaron Jones? DeeDee Westbrook or Will Fuller? We already answered that one. Westbrook is the answer there, but Breida or Aaron Jones? I'll go Breida if he looks like a full go. I'm concerned about Jones in the passing game and tough matchup again for him.

Carson Wentz or Dak Prescott? Yeah, that's one of the toughest ones yet. I mean, Dak's offense, the Cowboys look so good. Kellen Moore schemed such a good offense. I think I'm leaning Wentz this week on this, but it's a tough, tough call. Very tough. Very tough.

Yeah, I'd probably go Wentz. I think that's a shootout on Sunday night. Yeah. Garrett T., PPR, I am starting Devontae Adams and Alshon Jeffrey. I have Deshaun Jackson in the flex. Josh Gordon and Jamison Crowder are on my bench. Should I make any substitutions?

So it's probably going to be Gordon and not Crowder here. Oh, you tell me. Devontae Adams, Alshon Jeffrey, Deshaun Jackson. Adams is in for sure. I wouldn't play Crowder. I wouldn't probably play both the Eagles receivers. I just like to maximize upside when I have another good option. I would play Gordon over Deshaun Jackson here, I think.

All right. We have a fun email. Now, today is still technically Friday the 13th, so we're going to read this one. Oh, I don't have a name. I'm sorry. Not so much a fantasy question, but an observation. But if the Browns and the Cowboys were to play each other this season,

the coaching matchup would literally be Freddy versus Jason. Oh! All right. That's a good email. Yeah. Do you know this? Dave didn't know it.

Jamie did. You don't look like you know it. I don't know what it's from. No. It's Friday the 13th. What is... That's like... I never watched that.

I used to get nightmares from those types of movies when I was a kid. I watched that Urban Legend movie when I was a kid. Oh, man, that one killed me for a while. Wow, Urban Legend. Wow. You're like my age, right? I'm 35. I'm 32.

You're a little younger. Do you have any older siblings? I do. Yeah, I have an older brother. And that's who I watched. It was like his birthday party. How old is he? He's 34.

Oh, okay. All right. So my siblings are in their 40s. So I'm kind of an 80s child. And I saw those cheesy horror movies when I was a kid. Yeah, Friday the 13th, it's terrible. It's an awful movie. But Kevin Bacon's in it.

So if you like to play that game, six degrees or whatever. How many degrees of Kevin Bacon? I think it's six. Six or seven. I think it's six. Yeah. Seven-minute abs. All right, we're going to take a break on fantasy football today.

Do you get that reference, seven-minute abs? That's SNL, right? No, that's something about Mary. Ben, come on! I'm sorry. I mean, I'm not. Oh, man. All right, we're going to take a break.

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First, some trade emails, then some starter sit. Also regulators email about kickers. That'll be fun. This is from Ben, a Ben who probably gets some references. Uh,

hi Adam. Good morning. Perhaps I'm especially hurt for drafting a Patriots running back after promising myself I won't every year, but it really seems like if we're going to talk about Carrion or Jameis or James Conner being blessed, we're doing an injustice by not going more in-depth with Sonny Michel. I mean, if he doesn't get at least 80 yards in a touchdown against Miami,

we'll have to be really concerned, right? I mean, you should be concerned already. We've been talking about, I've been talking about Sonny Michel as a trap back most of the offseason, but yes. Yeah, if he doesn't get 80 yards in a TD, he absolutely has to smash this week or else you're in dire straits. Yeah. Any running back who doesn't catch passes, it's just – it's dicey these days.

From Cody, dear Tony, Steve, Clint, and Bruce. Those you know. Clint Eastwood? Bruce Willis? I don't know. I'm pretty sure these are stupid Avengers. Okay. Yeah.

Panicking from the Tampa Bay's offense edition of Grade the Trade. Give up Zeke and Fournette. This has nothing to do with the Tampa Bay offense that I can see. I guess it's other members of his team. Anyway, Grade the Trade. Give up Zeke and Fournette. Get Connor and Tyreek Hill. What? No.

Do you think Connor is suddenly Christian McCaffrey or Alvin Kamara? I mean, even still, it wouldn't be a good trade. This is an F. This is a legitimate F. If you had done this before the Tyreek Hill injury, it'd be a fine trade, but no. You didn't uh from

ryan good afternoon mike dustin will and lucas that's stranger things just go watch stranger things yeah i i mean you guys gotta i don't know i don't maybe i'm not watching the right shows i watch plenty of shows but you like the avengers no i mean i didn't really even get into the avengers oh all right all right well yeah i mean the ending of the first one's pretty bad as i as i noticed the other night i i am in uh the like the 2012 avengers movie i'm in an auction standard league and i've been offered julio jones for my josh jacobs and kenny galladay would you do that trade would you give up jacobs and galladay for Julio Jones? But it doesn't really,

he's got, he's got Fournette, Eckler. Yeah. Fournette, Eckler, Damian Williams and Miles Sanders. Yeah.

I mean, at this point in the season, especially when you're in these leagues where you have deeper rosters and this guy does, you want to be doing these two for ones. You want to be giving up two players for one elite talent and then looking and using that extra roster spot. Think of that as one elite talent and then looking, using that extra roster spot, think of that as the other side of the trade.

Use that extra roster spot, go get a high upside player off your waiver wire. Like a Dante Pettis that Adam mentioned is getting dropped in a lot of leagues. P.S. Adam Azer, don't let them hate on you for carrying two quarterbacks because look what Cam Newton did. Let's just go on to the next question. From Nathan,

grade the trade, give up Phillip Lindsay and Will Fuller for Devante Freeman in a PPR league. No, no, no. I mean, I don't really even like Philip Lindsay that much, but Devante Freeman played 50% of the snaps. Somebody, I wish I could give credit here, but somebody on Twitter mentioned to me that he fumbled and lost a lot of work after that fumble. That's exactly what happened.

I don't think Ido Smith had a carry before the fumble. But still, is Lindsey and Freeman that much of a difference? To me, it's probably no. And then Will Fuller, I still expect really big things from him, so I would not make this trade. I think it's a big difference. I would be inclined

to say no, because I do like Fuller, but I'm not as adamant as Ben. Lindsay and Fuller for Devante Freeman. I'm also nervous about Freeman this week, but the schedule will get better. Okay. This is from Adam in Toronto. Do you like any of these deals? I have Hunter Henry. I need a tight end. Tyrell Williams for TJ Hawkinson. Tyrell Williams for Hawkinson and Sterling Shepard. Williams and Chris Thompson for Hawkinson right now, basically. I mean, Detroit ran a ton of plays.

We know they're going to be a really slow-paced team. They played five quarters in their only game so far. They got the extra period. They also played against a team that ran uh the fewest amount of uh seconds per snap they ran the fastest pace arizona so they they ran over 80 plays in this game which is so many more than uh than they're going to most weeks they uh matthew stafford i believe threw more passes than any game since like week two of last season any of his last 14 games last year this is a team that's going to be a lot more slow-paced going forward.

Danny Amendola outproduced Hawkinson, even had more targets. But a big reason I think Hawkinson had a big first game is just the whole offense was a lot of elevated volume. I think he'll be good this year, but he's not somebody that I would be trading Tyrell Williams for. Maybe this Michael Gallup trade, but yeah but he's a tough guy. You're buying high on a guy who's probably overproduced in his first game. I just don't want to give up Tyrell Williams. I don't either.

I think you're going to get this reference. This is from Tim in Austin, Texas. Hello, Falk, Gesser, Bledsoe, and Leaf. Yeah, Washington State Cougar quarterbacks there. That's your alma mater and Leaf. Yeah, Washington State Cougar quarterbacks there. There you go. That's your alma mater?

No. God, no. Oh, you're Washington. I'm Washington. We hate the Washington State Cougars. Okay. In my standard league, I am in need of a running back. I have Julio, Devante, Cooks, and Boyd.

Brita and Carrion are my running backs. Would you pull the trigger for James Conner? I must be missing something here. Would you pull the trigger for James Conner? Yeah, I would. Would you give up Julio or Devante Adams for James Conner, I guess? Let's just say that. I would.

In a standard league, yeah, I think so. When you already have this type of receiver depth, I can see it, yeah. From Cortez. PPR League, I've been offered Darren Waller for James White. I'm the OJ Howard owner, and I'm tilting. I have Zeke, Mack, Brita, Justin Jackson, Justice Hill, excuse me, Rashad Penny, Malcolm Brown. So you have Zeke, Mack, and Brita as running backs.

Would you give up James White for Darren Waller? I wouldn't do it if you're the OJ Howard owner. I mean, I think if you're in really desperate need, this is an okay trade if you have decent enough running backs. But I'm not that concerned about Howard. I know people are really tilting about it. He actually ran a higher percentage of routes per drop back in week two on Thursday night. I know it sucks, but he's a guy who is low volume. He had a no catch game last year. He had a one catch game last year. He still was top six

in standard and PPR in points per game, both formats. He's going to have the high efficiency plays. He was running routes down, downfield in this week, two game, James hasn't looked good so far. Right? So if this offense does get going a little bit, Howard's going to have some splash plays. He's going to have some long touchdowns. I would not be trading James White to go acquire a tight end on a team where I already have a guy that still is worth

rostering and playing every week and will have big games. Yeah, I mean, Dave kept mentioning that O.J. Howard only had ran 20 routes. He mentioned it on the podcast. He mentioned it on the video show. I didn't know if that was a lot or not because Jameis Winston only threw 25 passes.

They ran the ball a ton. So it wasn't great. He ran a route on 55% of Jameis Winston's dropbacks in week one. And Cameron Brate was right there at 44%. So that was a little unnerving. But that's also very similar to their splits throughout last season. And Howard was still a top six player in both formats last season. So we weren't seeing

the jump forward that everybody was hoping for the reason you drafted OJ Howard in the fifth round, but he's still an extremely efficient player when he gets the volume. It just wasn't there yesterday on Thursday night or in week one, but in week two, in this Thursday game, his routes per dropback actually raised up to 69% from 55%. Brait's went from 44% down to, I think, 31%. So we actually saw a wider gap, even though Brait caught a couple passes and Howard didn't in week two. It actually looked more like what we were hoping for in terms of Howard getting out in a higher percentage of routes per drop back.

But again, you know, you just noted that Jameis Winston didn't, didn't really have a great game week one. And then they were extremely run heavy in game two. We're not going to see those scripts from Tampa Bay throughout the season. They're going to have to pass more. All right.

Good stuff. I mean, very interesting takes on, on Hawkinson and Howard here. I like it, Ben. I like it. Okay.

Back to the Howard over Hawkinson. If you're comparing the two. Okay. I don't think a lot of people would right now, to be honest. That Howard here. I like it, Ben. I like it. Okay, back to the... Yeah, you'd still have Howard over Hawkinson if you're comparing the two. Okay. I don't think a lot of people would right now, to be honest. That's fair. I mean, I know that... I think you're right.

I think that's a fair position, but I would still have Howard, definitely. Okay. I do... I know... I get people's point that Bruce Arians has never used a tight end and that stuff.

Yeah, but I mean, if he's running the amount of routes that he's running, even if it's just 55%, like that's where he was at last year, he was so efficient. His average depth of target the last two years has been over 11.5 both years, which is extremely high for a tight end. His yards per target is like two yards higher than Gronk's, who is the all-time leader, if you put any kind of reasonable minimum target number on it it as far as the tight end yards per target rate his touchdown rate both of his first two years is over 10 he's been massively efficient his average depth of

target in the first two games so far is 5.8 he hasn't got these downfield targets I actually tweeted out a route from last night it was the play right after the two-minute warning in the first half and Jameis checked underneath to Cameron Bray, but Howard was running down the seam wide open. It was a single high safety look, and the safety was shifted over, I believe, to Mike Evans' side of the field. You can't get a great look on it. We'll have to look on the All-22.

But it looks like Howard is just running wide open down the seam, and Jameis just took the underneath throw, the safe throw to get the first down. It was third and four, and they converted. But it could have easily been a 25-yard touchdown for Howard. and Jameis just took the underneath throw, the safe throw to get the first down. It was third and four, and they converted, but it could have easily been a 25-yard touchdown for Howard. Those types of routes that he's running and those types of plays, they will hit at points this season. I like it.

Very comforting to me, the O.J. Howard owner. Okay, one more thing here, Ben. All right. Let's regulate. We got some starter city emails after we regulate, but this is Rick from somewhere in the bluegrass state. Rick says, hey, Marlon, Khalil, and Big. Marlon, Khalil, and Big.

Those are... Max. There you go. And you said it. You timed it perfectly with the beat. Nice. All right. I put in a waiver claim dropping my old kicker for Sly, Carolina's kicker. And that went through on Thursday morning.

The day got away from me with work and other life things, and I forgot to move Sly from my bench to my kicker slot. Now that the Thursday night game has been played, he's locked, and I can't move him to my starting lineup or drop him for a different kicker. In this instance, I think because I had no other kicker on my roster, my intentions were clear to play him this week as my kicker. Am I wrong for thinking the commissioner should be allowed to move him from my bench to my starting lineup?

What say the regulators? I mean, this is not a best ball league. You got to put the guy in your lineup i but he only had one kicker i've been there i have done this man i have done this i've the day's gotten away from me i'm in too many leagues and i've missed something that i was gonna make some kind of change before lock but you can't especially after the guy made four field goals you're not gonna get this like you're not gonna get any love from me on this so i i think i don't this can't be a cbs league because i do not think cbs leagues behave like this if you drop one kicker for another kicker that kicker goes right in your starting lineup right um i

can't stand when this happens and you have to like say you're starting the only kicker on your roster so what what i personally would do if i were the commissioner is I would give you a kicker. I would have to give you like a different kicker on waivers. I would, I would allow you to pick someone else up, but I wouldn't give you sly because he had too good of a game and I would punish you somehow for that. Yeah, no,

I think that's a reasonable take, especially if it's a shallow league or his only option is to like not play kicker or drop a legitimately good player. But I, you're definitely not getting slides points. Like, that's your bad. Yeah, he had too good of a game. And it's been regulated.

All right, start or sit. Here we go. We're going to knock these out. From Jeff, Aaron Jones or Tariq Cohen in PPR? Oh, actually, the question is this. Are Aaron Jones and Tariq Cohen sittable in PPR, oh, actually the question is this. Are Aaron Jones and Tariq Cohen sit-able in PPR for Josh Gordon, Devin Singletary, Larry Fitzgerald, or Gio Bernard if Mixon doesn't play?

Yeah, I mean, they are sit-able. God, that's tough. I mean, I'm definitely starting Josh Gordon over Tariq Cohen. Yeah, I'm playing Gordon in this too. It's just too good of a matchup. We just saw Miami get absolutely shredded down the field I am not 100% sure that the Vikings are going to have a very good run defense this year Especially on the road

They are better at home than on the road They don't have Sheldon Richardson anymore Their run defense was good, not great last year So I don't like Aaron Jones that much this week But I think I'd start him over Singletary and Fitzgerald. But actually, I think there's a pretty good case to be made for Fitzgerald. Oh, by the way, if Mixon's out, Gio's an easy start. Fitzgerald, I think, is a tough one to play in Baltimore.

Singletary is a reasonable play, too. Yeah, if Mixon's out, you play Gio and Gordon, I think. I'm kind of thinking Gordon and Cohen in PPR. Why are you so down on Cohen? I don't know. He got zero carries in the first period. Yeah, because he ran in the slot. He lined up in the slot 40 snaps.

He was basically playing receiver. I like him more with Burton out, which is either... I forgot what the update was. Either he's definitely out or he's probably out. He's questionable. He's like practicing. He's probably out. I kind of don't or he's probably out. He's questionable. He's practicing. I don't think he'll play, but maybe he will. Trey Burton. Yeah, I don't know.

The reports were sort of negative. Yeah, I don't know because they... If they are leading in this game against Denver, I think I'm just not a Tariq Cohen guy. I think he's going to lose targets. I think they're going to run the ball more, and it's not going to be with him.

But fine. I have always been the down guy on Tariq Cohen, so you're probably getting some very one-sided takes. Josh Gordon, put him in. That's the bottom line. Josh Gordon, yeah. Again, I think Singletary's in play here too. I agree.

It wasn't great to see Gore get the, the early down rushes, get the, the rush out of their own goal line where they felt like they needed to secure the ball. He got tackled for a safety and get the late game salt away. The game carries, but Singletary,

even though I only got four carries, he played on 70% of the snaps. He started, he was in there for a lot. They just passed a lot. They, they threw, I think the first 17 plays of the game.

I know. How weird. How weird is that? All right, let's get moving here. Dan from the Jersey Shore. Hey, Michael, Jason, and Freddie. Do you know who they are? Those are just villains.

We just did this. Jason and Freddie, and now we got Michael from Halloween, right? I'm very proud of you. I need a flex suggestion. ppr pick one james white john brown jameson crowder and matt brita half point ppr i man i think i gotta take white you know like he can have a bad game this week they don't need to throw a ton, but the Patriots are going to score so many points on the Dolphins. They're like 20-point favorites.

What's the line at right now? I mean, it's like legitimately over two touchdowns. Yeah, the history of teams with this big of a spread or like huge spreads, I think of them covering is not good. Sure, but we should expect them

to score plenty of points. I completely believe. There is this weird rumor going around on the internet about james white have you seen this rumor no i no i have not there's a rumor that he is going to miss the game due to the birth of his child but and i wouldn't ordinary like if this were like he's gonna miss the game because he's getting arrested or something i would never read it but since it's something as you know happy as the birth of his child um this rumor is going around on twitter right now so interesting yeah so you know look i if it's look they don't need them

they got like four running backs and they're going to be fine against miami but it would make sony michelle a better play and it would definitely make you not want to start him here it would make rex burkhead a pretty interesting yeah as well um yeah all right so we'll go brett white if he plays and i would probably go brita if he doesn't yeah i'd go breed if he doesn't have ppr i'm not doing very well with the pace of this show here uh stevie d everybody's like why why are you making it so you know why are you hurrying well honestly like i want to go have dinner with my wife and kid right now. And it's been a long day. I try to keep these mailbags kind of short so people can hear their question in a reasonable time without having to hang around for 50 minutes or so.

Well, you shouldn't have chosen me. All I do is just deep level analysis. I've been pretty loquacious. Stevie D in the city. Darren Waller or Tyler Lockett? Half PPR. I'm playing Lockett. I've thought about flexing Waller, but I'm playing Lockett. Waller's going to win me a million dollars this week. From Brian.

Half PPR. DeeDee Westbrook, Will Fuller, Terry McLaurin, or Darren Waller? DeeDee Westbrook, Will Fuller, McLaurin, or Waller? I think I could see Waller here. Or else Didi. I mean, that's who it is for me. No, it can't be. Oh, yes, yes.

That's right. Didi over Fuller. That's right. From Diego, Prescott or Deshaun Watson? Oh, I think you got to stick with Deshaun Watson. But that's another real tough one. Prescott is in that range. We've reached that point.

How good their offense looked in week one and how different their scheme was, you have to consider him as a top six to eight quarterback. And if you're knocking Watson down a little bit, they're in the range together right now. Yeah, boy, wouldn't it be great to have both Cam Newton and Dak Prescott? Mitch from a small town east of Indianapolis, New York City. I am a big believer in running back safety, so that's who I usually go with in flex, but he has Coleman and Geis, so now he needs some flex help. Pick two of these four.

Michael Gallup, Nicole Hardman, Marquise Brown, Marvin Jones. Just now noticing all of their names start with M, and my name is Mitchell. Pretty cool. Air five. So pick two out of Gallup, Hardman, Brown, Marquise Brown, and Marvin Jones. I'll go Gallup and Hardman. Brown's, I believe, questionable.

I mean, he was phenomenal last week, and I'd love to play him if he plays and he's a full go, but the fact that he only played 14 snaps last week and is questionable is a little bit concerning. I think they're going to get Hardman involved with some early easy touches, some jet sweeps, some tip passes, what have you. He scored on one of those in the preseason. They need him. They need him to step up with Tyreek Hill out, so I think they're going to try to get him involved early and often.

And then I think Gallup is pretty much a wider receiver three right now. I think I'm the only one who likes Marvin Jones this week. He won't get the toughest coverage from the Chargers. I mean, in such an up-tempo game, for him to not get very much production while Hawkinson and Amendola were both smashing, that's tough. One game. Now he's pissed off.

Maybe he bounces back. All right, from Aldo. DK Metcalf or McCole Hardman? Ooh, that's good. Metcalf. Because Metcalf was very involved as well, and I think you've got to like Metcalf or McCall Hardman? Ooh, that's good. Metcalf. Because Metcalf was very involved as well, and I think you got to like Metcalf. And I think that game with Pittsburgh

got some chance to shoot out a little bit, but I think I got to go with Hardman. I got to go with Metcalf. All right, we disagree there. From Jake, PPR, I need to drop one for a quarterback. Will Fuller, John Brown, Justin Jackson, Alexander Madison, or Malcolm Brown? Wow, that's tough.

Justin Jackson because he only played about 25% of the snaps and has a shelf life to when Melvin Gordon might come back. I mean, that's probably it. That's probably the one that's not going to come around and bite you in the playoffs. Yeah, I know. That's kind of where I was leaning. It's tough.

If you're loaded at wide receiver, gosh, it'd be tough to drop John Brown. But Jackson, Madison, and yeah, forget it. Just drop Justin Jackson. All right, from Matt, start two, non-PPR. Montgomery, John Brown, MVS, Justin Jackson, and Brandon Cooks. Well, Cooks. Yeah, Brandon Cooks and... John Brown.

It's interesting, but it's probably Justin Jackson who we were just saying you can cut because he doesn't have a long-term ceiling, but he played well. I'm going to go with John Brown. His matchup is so good, and Jackson isn't. Yeah, okay. All right, I wasn't looking at Brown.

I'll go with you. I'm going to follow you on that. There you go. Cooks and Brown. This is from Neil from a city in Connecticut. Stanford. Hey, dude, Walter and Donnie, I need a running back, a wide receiver, and a flex in half PPR.

Pick a running back. Sonny Michelle, Devin Singletary, or Tariq Cohen. I will, in half PPR? Yeah, you got to play Michelle. Pick a wide receiver, Diggs or John Brown? I'm going to go Diggs. I believe that they're going to throw a lot. They're going to throw a lot more most weeks.

10 pass attempts is fewer than any team through all of last season. And pick a flex, Devin Singletary, Tariq Cohen or John Brown? Who you got? I'll go Cohen, but I know you don't like him. You can go John Brown here, too. But Singletary's a decent player. I mean, that's a really tough one. I know.

I could see Singletary having a stupid game where they don't use him. Right. That's why I don't necessarily want to use him. For me, it's Cohen probably or Brown. P.S. Adam, your recent takes on movies may be your worst yet. The Big Lebowski is a classic, and Three Billboards is quite possibly the worst movie I've ever seen. No exaggeration. You're insane, Neil, from Stanford, Connecticut.

You're insane. Three Billboards was like a critically acclaimed classic. It's from Steven. Didn't even see it. It's legitimately awesome. My wife didn't want to see it I'm gonna have to watch it I'm gonna have to go back

very very heavy though not like a hey it's a fun Friday night let's watch a movie I think that's what she heard and she's like I don't really want to get into this yeah

would you start Josh Allen or Jared Goff I would start Jared Goff for sure I'm not that worried about how he played on the east coast long travel

early game. He's going to be good this week. Most turtle or Tavius Murray? Ooh. I'll take Who does Murray have? Why am I blanking on who New Orleans is playing? The Rams.

I think I'd probably play Murray, but if Breida's like if we get some indication that Breida's going to only play like 50% of the snaps and you're going to get a lot more out of Mostert, you can go with Mostert. Bob from Canada. DST, rest of season, Broncos or Packers? I mean, I think you just play matchups.

I don't look at DSTs for rest of season. I just... That's not how I play. I can't even answer that question. I'll answer with Broncos. And then from Rusty, for the record, Adam, I've won many championships on your two quarterback idea. Don't let Heath put you down. Thank you. But I need a flex and PPR. Marlon Mack. Rusty, you're playing in weak leagues.

Marlon Mack, Matt Breida, or Darren Waller? Flex start, full point, PPR. Oh, this is a pretty sharp question because i think most would say mac and i'm not really that high on mac so i i think you go burrito here if he's gonna be healthy if not you go mac i don't think you can quite go waller like over these types this class of running back okay it's a great matchup for Waller, though. You got to admit that. I saved the best for last. This is from Jennifer from the land of disco fries and diners. I don't have time for clever names.

This is too important. My husband is a fantasy football genius. Every time we match up, except one time, I'm winning. Then bam, some random player needs 47 points, ends up with 53, and I lose. I need to destroy my husband this week i want that smug look off his face this is very healthy by the way it's a ppr league who should be my flex the sean jackson or mark andrews who might not play by the way yeah i think it's the sean jackson

i mean i i think even if andrews plays it's the sean jackson we just saw some really promising stuff from him he's gonna be like the e Eagles have been an air yards offense for several years. Deshaun Jackson has always made his quarterbacks better and always been very good as a deep threat. Except James Winston was like the only one. If you look at his career numbers by quarterback, he struggled with. He has the potential to be a legitimately really strong play throughout the entire season not just a one week wonder and week one now that he's back with a guy like carson went to who likes to air it out and is pretty darn accurate down the field and jennifer

says we both listen to your podcast so in case you read this on the air doug you're going down i'm showing you no mercy i won't be a good sport winner like that one time. I will gloat. I will gloat hard. I just want to know how random players put up 53 points. What's the scoring system here? Yeah, that's a lot of points. It's always Lamar Jackson against the Dolphins every time. Thanks for the emails, everybody. Good luck.

Talk to you on the radio show Saturday night. Join our Facebook group. It's free and it's fun. I do the Q&A there on Friday afternoon. I'll hopefully do another one on Saturday or Sunday. Ben, thanks for joining me. Yeah, it was a good time. I will brush up on my pop culture reference.

Just start watching stuff, you know, so you can be on the mailbag. And hey, listen, I really enjoyed my job for the last 10 years, but I'm a millionaire now, so you know, next week it could be you. FanDuel.com. See you later. Talk to you Sunday night, everybody. Good luck.