Fantasy Football Today - 09/26: Gordon's Return and Start or Sit (AFC) (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: September 26, 2019

We begin our show with Melvin Gordon analysis and how every other Charger is impacted. Do we prefer Gordon or Saquon Barkley rest of season? You may have heard our reaction episode last night, but we've got fresh perspective from Dave and Heath this morning. Then we move on to Week 4 with players who could be surprisingly great this week (15:00) ... Sixty-second rankings disputes (21:00)! Chris Carson, MVS, Wayne Gallman and Adam Thielen. Then a big batch of news and notes (29:40) and "Start, Sit or Flex at Best" (33:00) for some players in the games we're covering at the end of the episode ... NE-BUF (35:00), CLE-BAL (42:10), CAR-HOU (49:00), CIN-PIT (56:30), OAK-IND (1:01:30), JAC-DEN (1:05:00), LAC-MIA (1:08:00) ... Email us at [e-mail] 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

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Here we go! Get your lineup set. It's time for Start or Sit.

Let's go! Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Hey, what's up? Hey, did you know that the Steelers allow the second most passing yards in the NFL? And the Bengals have the third best passing offense in the NFL. So are we starting Andy Dalton? Did you know that four wide receivers have had double digit targets against the Bills without catching a touchdown?

They get the Patriots this week. Did you know Daniel Jones is amazing? Did you know that Melvin Gordon is back? I bet you did know that. We'll get into the starter sit stuff in a little bit, but we got to talk about Melvin Gordon. What's up guys? How you feeling? How you feeling today? Big day in fantasy football. I'll speak for everyone when I say that we're feeling amazing we are we are ready for what should be a pretty good thursday night game between the eagles and the packers and uh pretty interesting week ahead a lot of really intriguing games on the slate i don't ever speak for me yeah i got a weird you're

not feeling amazing i am you're smiling don't ever speak yeah i don't know if amazing is the word i would use but i got a weird twitter notification last night um and i don't know if amazing is the word I would use I got a weird Twitter notification last night and I don't know where it came from it may have come from a podcast or a video show that I missed or something but someone was tweeting at me mad that Adam had said that Austin Eckler is going to be on the waiver wire

soon because Melvin Gordon is coming back I don't think Adam really said that no I mean I said on HQ I said that he could be in a few weeks. I didn't say that on the podcast. But I said that all of my colleagues would probably disagree with me, but I'm not super optimistic about Austin Eckler. Well, I don't remember exactly what I said.

I took a harsher stance on Eckler. You should be accountable for everything you say. Yeah, well, then I'm sure. You didn't mean it. Why did you say it? As long as somebody else doesn't say it for you. I meant it. Hot takes?

I meant it. Look, I just don't think he's going to be that valuable. And I was a little surprised by the results of the Twitter poll I posted last night. If you heard the bonus pod that Jamie and I did last night, I mentioned this. At that point, I had 2,400 votes. I'll try to get an update on it now. But it was, will Austin Eckler be worth starting and about half the people said yes and then the other half were divided between only as

a flex and no um so yes sorry okay yes 47 percent got almost 6 000 votes when Melvin Gordon's uh beginning with his first game of the season is Austin Eckler still going to be worth starting yes 47 percent 34 percent said only if you're desperate and 19% said nope. So I'm in the nope category, but then Jamie and I were kind of talking about it yesterday. And this is kind of the problem with an instant reaction, right?

Like I went on HQ like five minutes after it was announced that he was reporting. And then I did a little more research. I dug into it a little bit more and Jamie and I talked about it. And I guess I'm feeling like maybe Melvin Gordon doesn't get the same passing downs work that he got last year.

And maybe Eckler's earned that a little bit more, a little bit bigger piece of the pie because he really didn't have a lot of catches when Melvin Gordon was on the field last year. So I sort of backed off that stance a bit. But your reaction is really what people want to hear. Go ahead. I think it's a flex.

And then I almost think it's not even like matchup dependent. I think he's at minimum of flex moving forward. Well, I think with Eckler, you know, just to kind of piggyback what we talked about last night, Adam, it's going to be better in PPR than non PPR. We're dealing with bye weeks now, so there's probably going to be a situation where he's starting in most PPR leagues, or has the chance to. I don't think he goes back to

the role that he had last year, because I think he's earned a bigger piece of the touches, and the coaching staff loves him. The other part of it is that it's not going to be Melvin Gordon walks in week five, and he's 20 touches. They're going to work him back into it slowly because they have to. It's not going to be Melvin Gordon walks in week five and he's 20 touches. They're going to work him back into it slowly because they have to.

It's not – unless they just don't care about his long-term – and by long-term, the rest of the 2019 season because they're going to let him leave. But do they care about him getting hurt or rushing back too soon? Because we see that with holdout running back. So I think Eckler goes from – like I said last night, he probably goes from somewhere on the high end of 10 to 15 touches, uh, 12 to 15 touches week five. And I think eventually it settles into somewhere between eight to 12 total touches on a week, which is what we saw last year. Yeah. Yeah. You look at it last year and basically the games they played together,

I believe Gordon averaged right around 19 touches per game. Austin Eckler averaged right around 9 touches per game. I would expect that's closer to like a 16-12 split this year after what Eckler has shown, and not a 16-12 split next week. I'm going to project next week, unless I hear something totally different, I'm going

to project Eckler for more touches next week than Melvin Gordon. Yeah, it's going to be a sliding scale. It could be, I would probably say like week seven until we see Melvin Gordon back to his, close to back to his workload. But that's, I think depending on how

the Chargers come through these next few games, they should win this game obviously against Miami. Then Denver we'll see. After that, it's kind of just, let's see how Melvin Gordon looks. So Gordon, his workload last year, they did scale it down a bit in the running game. His first nine games before the second injury of the season,

he was on pace for about 250 carries, but I think 75 catches, just a ton of like seven receiving touchdowns, yeah, 800 receiving yards. So that was pre-injury first nine games and he was amazing uh and they like they like justin jackson too it could get ugly i mean you know it's not like jackson's gonna get a a big role it's not gonna be the 49ers i don't think but you know jackson's averaging six yards a carry you know he's playing really well they just haven't given him a ton of work and so i think it's just one of those situations where like i said to you last night adam now is the time if you want to get the best out of Melvin Gordon from a trade perspective,

trade him now. Because we don't know what's going to happen. He could be thrust back in and be great. Be the same guy. But I would look to the Saquon Barkley owner who's going to be in need of a running back. Somebody that's struggling a little bit that could need some help at that position. And say, I'll give you Melvin Gordon for top 15 player and see if that could happen. How about this? You go to the Saquon Barkley owner, who's not

two and one or three and oh, so he's on tough times and he can't use Saquon. You've already gotten by this long without Melvin Gordon. What if you offer Gordon straight up for Saquon and you carry Saquon on your bench for a while, but you've already gotten, however you've gotten by in your fantasy season, you've done it with Melvin Gordon on your bench. The way I've gotten by in the, I think, I believe I have three leagues where I own Eckler and Gordon. I think that's the way some of these Melvin Gordon owners got by, was they had Austin Eckler.

And so you have to decide, do I still feel okay with Austin Eckler as a starting running back if I can upgrade another part of my, like, are you okay with Eckler as a starter until Saquon comes back? If I'm 3-0? Absolutely. Look, I mean, Saquon Barkley might miss eight weeks. That's possible here. How can you give up Melvin Gordon?

I guess that... If you're 3-0 without Melvin Gordon, Melvin Gordon's not startable the next two weeks. You just got... Well, I don't know about that. I mean, he's obviously not startable this week, but I feel good starting him. Most people are going to start him next week. Yeah, I mean,

he's going to be back. I can't, I know what you're saying, Heath. It may not be a great situation, and I don't know how we're going to rank it because we don't know what's going to happen

in week four, but I can't imagine that most people, unless we find out, we get reports, oh, you know, he's getting limited work. Here's the report.

He will be eased back in. Right, or he's out of shape and they need to give him more time to get ready. It could be a million things, and that's part of the risk in what his value is right now. Is he more valuable than Saquon Barkley right now? Not on the trade chart. I've got Saquon higher.

If it's a four-week injury for Barkley, obviously not. If it's an eight-week injury for Barkley, absolutely not. If it's an eight-week injury for Barkley, absolutely suffer. So I'm just telling you straight up, I'm offering you Saquon Barkley for your Melvin Gordon. Dave is apparently accepting that trade. Jamie and Heath. I'm taking Saquon. Only if I'm 3-0. Yeah, it's totally dependent on your record.

Maybe 2-1. All right. Definitely, I'm 2-1. No chance 1-2. Gordon was clearly one of the elite players at Fantasy last year. Jamie said yesterday on our bonus pod that he values him more as a top 20 player. So, David Heath, how do you value Melvin Gordon moving forward? Higher than top 20.

But it's on the assumption that he's in good shape. And we know that he's been training this whole time. We've seen all the videos on social media. And it's on the hunch that he will eventually be the lead back in, in LA. Here's the name that just popped into my head that I think just fits perfectly. It's Todd Gurley. And I don't know,

I don't rank Todd Gurley or trust him as a top 20 player. He's just outside of the top 20, probably a top 25 guy. I think the Gurley Gordon comparisons relatively similar. Who are you taking? Um, I would probably take Gurley because I can start him this week.

Yeah, at least he's playing and at least he's got a big role. We know what it is. We know what he's capable of. So I want to talk about the impact on Philip Rivers, on Keenan Allen. And yes, this is a bit of a repeat from what you heard last night,

but not everybody heard that show last night. And Dave and Heath were not on that show last night. So I will just say that I think Austin Eckler, like I said about Tariq Cohen a few weeks ago, will be droppable in a non-PPR league. I will live with that. I don't know about a PPR league, but we have to wait and see. Obviously, I could be wrong. I would not drop Austin Eckler.

Absolutely not. I mean, can't do it this week. He's going to be a must start. So in terms of Keenan Allen, in terms of Phillip Rivers, Mike Williams, anyone else, you know, one of the underrated things about Melvin Gordon last year

was that he was second on the team in targets inside the 10-yard line, one behind Mike Williams. He was third on the team in red zone targets, and it was Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Melvin Gordon. They were all separated by two targets. So he was so involved in the passing game near the goal line, and I wonder what impact that might have if that repeats itself. So Heath, how do you see the rest of the Chargers non-running backs being impacted here? I don't believe it will affect Phillip Rivers. I'm still going to start Rivers against the right matchups

and not start Rivers against the wrong matchups. Keenan Allen might be the one guy who gets a little bit of a ding if they throw even more to their running backs. But right now, like what happened coming into this year, we were excited about Hunter Henry finally being there as a tight end. We were excited about Mike Williams taking a step and getting more work in the passing game. Neither of those things have happened

which creates a situation where there's plenty of room for Melvin Gordon to come in and get targets on top of what they've been doing and everybody still be awesome. So Keenan Allen's not going to have a 37% target share the rest of the year but if Melvin Gordon takes 10% of the targets, it's still going to be a 27% target share and he's still

awesome. Yeah, I think Hunter Henry's return would have a bigger impact on Keenan Allen and melvin gordon's return okay well keenan allen's never had more than six touchdowns in a season he's already got three now he had four and eight games one year but i i don't know maybe i'm just and he had a ton of red zone targets last year right yep he had a good amount he led the team in red zone targets, yes. You're just a little bit unlucky. Yeah, probably. Probably. Okay. Anything else, guys? Or just see what happens. Okay.

Oh, here's an ethics question. You get the alert on your phone. Breaking news. Melvin Gordon is reporting. Then you go offer Austin Eckler up in your league, hoping nobody saw the report. Is that okay? How would we regulate that? I mean, that's on the person that's accepting the trade.

So there's nothing wrong with that. You don't think so? He's not hurt. He's not doing it. We're still talking about him like he's a starter. Right. You would love to have Austin Eckler just for this week. So depending on what the trade is, you would accept it. What if it was Austin Eckler for Saquon Barkley?

If I'm 0-3, I'd probably accept that trade just because I need to win. I was offered Austin Eckler for Tyreek Hill you wouldn't do that you wouldn't give up Hill for Eckler nope I didn't it's a shady thing to do it's very shady but it's not illegal I don't think it's shady

if I was 0-3 I might have to consider giving up sure I understand but you know something that somebody else might not know but that's on them I can't disagree with that giving up yes sure i understand but you you know something that somebody else might not right right but that's on them no not really i mean not everybody disagree with that okay news adam that's so if i send somebody out responsible if i send somebody trade offer of austin eckler for whoever and i don't know if they've seen the news or not how am i supposed to know that well okay you're not responsible in my scenario just put melvin gordon is coming back right right a little

kissy face emoji just so they know that we're all on the same page. Well, in my scenario, you are doing it solely because you think this person doesn't know the news. You're basically trying to. You're the only person that thinks like that. No, I would never do it. You're just a bad person. I would never do it. We're good people.

I'm admonishing the people who would do it. The problem is if you know the person you're making the trade offer to is just oblivious to the world. That's the person that you're preying on. Well, I mean, people knew about it at different – okay. You know what? Forget it. We have an iTunes mailbag. You can vent about it if you want, if you leave us a nice five-star review.

Our mailbag is on Saturday. That's a silly scenario. I just think it probably happens. People probably do those things, And I personally would not do it I would never make a trade offer I'd say here I'll give you Austin Eckler Being like this guy doesn't know Or this girl doesn't know

I wouldn't do that but other people would That was a shady voice First the shady question Then the shady voice I think we know Who the dirt bag of the podcast is. That may be. Hey, check out that shirt that Heath is wearing.

If you're watching on YouTube, youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday. And by the way, hats off to our producer, Ben Schrager. He has helped grow our YouTube audience, and we have a pretty big one now, so I really appreciate it, everybody. Thank you. But Heath is wearing a Fantasy Football Today T-shirt, and if you join our Facebook group, it's just called Fantasy Football Today. We are just right about at 10,000 members here.

So we want to be at 20 by the end of the season. But help us out. Keep on joining. Who do you hold the fantasy grudge against? I saw someone that might be the frontrunner right now. The fantasy grudge, even though he's out of football, CJ Spiller. Oh, my gosh. What a disappointing season.

I remember I took him like third overall that year. Which season was the disappointing season? Our first big fight, I think, between Adam and I was over CJ Spiller. Aw. Well, now that's special. He's just launched so many future fights. And Ion Fantasy Football is our Saturday night radio show, 10 p.m. to midnight Eastern on CBS Sports Radio on Sirius Channel 206.

All right, we got a lot to get to here. Let's do the Tell-A-More-Do segment, guys. It's game time. It's telly time. It's time for the player of the week presented by Tell-A-More-Do. So Dave, Jamie, and Heath are going to select a player that they think will surprise you and show out during this weekend's slate of games. So Dave, you ready?

You want to kick it off? Yeah, I'll kick it off. I think we're going to continue to see good things from this Chiefs passing offense. And I think McCole Hardman on that fast track in Detroit could have maybe two big catches. We've seen him get one each of the last couple of weeks. We know that Darius Slay limited with a hamstring in practice on Wednesday. If he ends up not playing, it just makes the matchup all the better for Kansas City. So McColl Hardman is somebody that I think could have a real nice game.

The perfect type of boom-bust flex for your lineup. Heath, you ready? Who's your telly player of the week? Yeah, I'm going to go. Well, this guy's in the rankings dispute, so we might just have to do it right now. But I'm going to go with Andy Dalton.'s in the rankings dispute, so we might just have to do it right now. But I'm going to go with Andy Dalton. And it really shouldn't be that big a surprise.

He's been a top 12 quarterback so far this season. He's second in the NFL in passing yards. He's facing a defense that's giving up 9.1 yards per pass attempt. I think Andy Dalton is just a fine streamer this week. All right, then. Let's go. 60-second rankings dispute. We already heard it from Heath.

Jamie, you have him 23rd, Andy Dalton. Dave doesn't even have him ranked outside the top 24, so maybe just behind where Jamie has him. And Heath has Andy Dalton 14th. So, Jamie, make your case against Dalton on Monday night. You said it right there. What day is the game?

I did look at his last four primetime games, though. I'm sure you have, too. No, he's been better. Two stinkers, less than 10 points. One 22-point game, which I think was against Pittsburgh. And then a huge game against Baltimore on a Thursday, week two last year. That was like a four-touchdown game. No, he's been better.

I think the Steelers' defense, adding Fitzpatrick last week, is going to make the secondary better, as we saw against the 49ers. I don't trust Andy Dalton in this spot. I don't trust the offensive line in this spot. If Dalton's been a guy you've been starting, stick with him. He's fine in two quarterback leagues. I am in a two quarterback league where I have to decide between Baker Mayfield and Dalton.

I'm playing Mason Rudolph over both. I don't trust Andy Dalton in this particular game on the road. I think he's going to vomit all over himself like he typically does. Guys that we started last week, Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield, Jameis Winston, and Carson Winstonite. I would start Andy Dalton over all four of them. Who started Baker Mayfield last week? I guess some people started Baker Mayfield last week. I don't know why they did.

Dalton's 29th for me. So I'm definitely on Team Jamie on this one. Just bad track record against the Steelers. And I said it last week that Minka Fitzpatrick was going to make this. New system, new coach. That's all that stuff's out the window. Minka Fitzpatrick. I think the Steelers' defense is definitely better with Minka.

No, based on what? He had an interception. But Jimmy Garoppolo averaged like 8.7 yards per attempt or something like that. He threw the ball all over the field on them. They just had these stupid turnovers. It led to those stupid turnovers. No, the Dolphins were known for turning the ball over a little bit. I don't trust Andy Dalton.

I don't think he's going to be that good. All right. Forget it. Jamie, it's game time. It's telly time. Who's your player of the week? I'm going to start the week, and that's Jared Goff. He's not been a good

fantasy quarterback. Going back to their bye week last year, he's got two games with more than 20 fantasy points in his last 11. That's including the three playoff games that he was eligible to participate in, including the Super Bowl. In those 11 games, he's averaging just 13.5 fantasy

points per game, so he's been atrocious. I know this Tampa Bay defense that he's facing this week has played better, but I think a lot of it is circumstantial because Garoppolo did lose two touchdowns because of penalty, and they lost two possessions because of turnovers from the Tampa Bay offense. I think they got exposed last week by Daniel Jones. I'm expecting Goff to use all of his weapons at his disposal, which means Robert Woods has a good game along with Cooper Cup and Brandon Cooks.

So I think this is a get-right game for the Rams passing game, and Jared Goff is the top five quarterback. All right, Dave has him ninth, but Heath and Jamie have Goff fifth. Yeah, if you can't start Goff this week, then we're going to have to reevaluate. So the Tell Them What We Do Players of the Week

are Nicole Hardman for Dave, Andy Dalton for Heath, and Jared Goff for Jamie. And Goff is the only one that really is unanimous.

So just check out the rankings. You can go to CBSSports.com slash fantasy and check out all the rankings. Speaking of

rankings, we have 60-second ranking disputes coming right up with Marquez Valdez-Scantling, Chris Carson, Wayne Gallman, and Adam Thielen

in a tough matchup against the Chicago Bears. That's up next right after this on Fantasy Football Today. Metrolinx and Crosslinks are reminding everyone to be careful as Eglinton Crosstown LRT train testing is in progress. Please be alert

as trains can pass at any time on the tracks. Remember to follow all traffic signals. Be careful along our tracks and only make left turns where it's safe to do so. Be alert, be aware, and stay safe. Well, this is a Start or Sit episode. We also have a lot of news to catch you up on,

like Case Keenum's foot injury and T.Y. Hilton mispractice and Damian Williams doesn't look good for this week. But let's do some rankings disputes here. 60 seconds to be divided between two analysts. This will be Jamie versus Dave. Marquez Valdez-Scantling.

Jamie, you've got him 20th. Dave, 39th. That's a non-PPR. Fairly similar in PPR. Jamie has him 26th. Dave, 40th. And Heath is at 33rd on MVS. Jamie, kick it off. Go ahead. Love the setup for him tonight

against this Eagles secondary that's down Ronald Darby. So I think you saw last week that they're not afraid to feature him with 10 targets. I think there's going to be a get right game for the entire Packers team. And the Eagles have already allowed

five receivers in three games to go over 13 or more PPR points. So I think Valdez scaling is in a great spot. I probably haven't ranked a little too high. I'll probably adjust that a little bit, but it's not going to be outside my top 30. I think it's a big game for all the Packers receivers. And I love the setup for MVS as the second guy opposite about that. I was startled to see that you had him in the top 24. That's, that's big time confidence in MVS. He's made three good plays through three games this season. Kind of like McCall Hardman, but I of like Nicole Hardman, but I just trust Nicole Hardman more than Marquez Valdez-Scantling at this point. And by the way, MVS does technically have more targets than Hardman, but Hardman hasn't played.

Has more targets than Devontae Adams. That's a good point, too. But I think this is the get-right game for Devontae Adams. You heard Rodgers talk about it this week. I think he goes off, and Rodgers is only attempting like 31 passes per game. I don't mind MVS is like a flex play, but I can't look at him and say that's a top 20, top 25 type of wide receiver. Too many other receivers that I like better. All right, well, let's go to Chris Carson here. We're going to go with Dave versus Heath. Chris Carson is fifth for Heath and 19th for Dave

and pretty similar in PPR. He has had 15 carries in each game, but hasn't really done that much with it. But we also know he's been involved in the passing game. Chris Carson. Go ahead, Heath. Why don't you kick it off? You're the high guy on Carson.

The very first big caveat to get out of the way, Rashad Penny, not projecting him to play in this game currently. If I was projecting him, he'd be down closer, probably still where in between where Dave and Jamie have. I wouldn't have him all the way down at 19th, even with Penny. But this is a fantastic setup against an Arizona defense that isn't very good. Going to be one of the more high scoring games of the day. And I just expect Carson to get right.

I would hope that you're right. I don't know if he's top five, but I would love to see him as a top 12 running back because you know how I feel about him. I'm nervous about what happens if he gets the ball punched out one more time. And I know that Pete Carroll came to his, came to his side and said, watch how we commit to him this week. Does that mean that he's going to play as much as he has the past couple of weeks? We've seen his target share go down over the past couple of weeks. Certainly two weeks ago, he only had three targets

and he's locked in at 15 carries per game. So I think he's good. I just don't think he's great. And I think the Cardinals run defense is a little underrated. I think that they're actually better than, you know, what people think they are. It's kind of interesting.

They have been a very good run defense, except for a 76-yard touchdown run by Christian McCaffrey. Other than that, they did very well against Kerryon Johnson and Mark Ingram and the other 23 carries by Christian McCaffrey. All right, so that's – Is that the game that Lamar Jackson ran for 100 yards, though? He's not a running back.

Well, he's a quarterback. It's still a running game. Yeah. All right, Wayne Gallman's next. This is Dave and Heath again. Okay, Dave, you have Wayne Gallman, 26. Heath, you have him, 16th. That's in non-PPR and actually also in PPR.

Jamie has Gallman, 22nd in non-PPR, 20th in PPR. Jamie's right in the middle there. So Dave and Heath, have at it. Gallman and Dave, you can start as the low guy on the hot waiver wire ad, Wayne Gallman against the Redskins. Maybe I'm a tad too low in PPR because I do think Wayne Gallman can catch some passes, but I just think that he's an okay back on a team where the coaching staff loves Daniel Jones. And I think they're going to ride with Daniel Jones. And I don't think that the Giants defense is going to put Gallman in a position to have a

lot of carries in the second half. I think that they're going to put some points on the board too. I think Jones is going to do his thing. He's going to put points on the board. And I think if you're starting Gallman, you're hoping he finds the end zone. It's as simple as that. I don't see a hundred total yards in his future. I don't think he gets that much work. And if he doesn't score, he's going to leave you disappointed. I've got him as a flag. Yeah. You're giving me 15 touches in a game with an over under around 50 against a bad defense like Washington. It's going to be a top 20 running back, no matter what his name is. His name could be Dave Richard, and he would still be in the top 20.

I don't run as fast as Wayne Gallman. All right. Probably not. Adam Thielen is our last guy. I don't run as fast as a stone. Like a stationary stone stuck in the ground for thousands of years. Like a stone. Great song.

Audio slave. Adam Thielen. All right. Who's Thielen it this week? Dave is Thielen it. Featuringave right now 14th uh for dave 24th for jamie in non-ppr 21st and ppr now heath really should be debating day but we can't do that three times in a row because he has uh why not because i feel bad for jamie you know i'm fine i like i like listening to the third time he likes me all right all be the judge at the end of the debate.

Fair enough. Fair enough. Okay, Dave has Thielen 14th, and Heath has Thielen 30th going up against Chicago. 29th in PPR for Heath, whatever. Heath, go. I don't think that there's going to be quite as big a split in terms of production between Thielen and Diggs as there has been so far this season, and that's really bad news for Adam Thielen if they're not. Because Kirk Cousins, really, if they split those targets up

relatively evenly between the two of them, there's not enough work for either one of them to be a top 24 wide receiver, especially in a game against the Chicago Bears. I think Thielen's going to continue to get work. I think Cousins is going to have to throw in this game. And I think the pressure's going to be on him. So he's not going to be able to take those five and seven step drops to look for digs downfield. Thielen

is going to be his target in short areas. They use Thielen in a much more diverse way than they used to find digs. Proof of that is last week when he had that rushing touchdown wouldn't count on him for that, but I do think he'll lead the Vikings and targets catches and yards. And I think he's the most likely guy to score for Minnesota outside of Dalvin cook. He's averaging less than four catches per game. I hate this Minnesota passing attack. It's so frustrating. It's especially frustrating for Diggs'

fantasy owners. You've been lucky with Phelan. Anything Phelan has given you, it's been just a bonus because he scored in week one, the numbers weren't there. Week two, 75 yards is kind of a blessing at this point. And then last

week, if you're counting on him scoring rushing touchdowns. Yeah, forget it. You can't do that. But he also caught a touchdown. No, but I'm saying that that's not the norm. That's just not something you rely on. If you take away the rushing touchdown, he's the number 29 wide receiver in fantasy so far this year. No way. Really?

Yes. He's been bad. He's the number 29 wide receiver in fantasy so far this year. No way. Really? Yes. He's been bad. But he's had... Did he hit... Okay, he did not catch a touchdown last week, Adam Thielen? He did, but what Heath is saying, he had minimal production in week one, but he scored. And that was in non-PPR. How about this? PPR, he beat 35.

And if you take away the rushing touchdown from last week, he's under 15 PPR points three straight weeks. We've saw it against Green Bay. This team will throw the ball. And I think that Thielen's going to benefit. The thing that I disagree with you is that I think this is going to be low scoring on both sides. Because I don't know if Chicago's going to have success moving the ball. So the theory of Kirk Cousins having to throw, I don't see that.

I think this is, I mean, this could be a 9-6 game. It would shock me if it's 13-10. You know, these just aren't explosive offenses, and they're going to try and hold time of possession and sort of control the clock. And I just don't see Cousins having to wing the ball all over the place. It's why I'm nervous about both Thielen and Dick. And I see it a little bit differently.

I think Chicago will have the lead. All right, so, sorry, that game's tomorrow, and we've got to get to the AFC home games here. All right, so news and notes as we're going to look at Case Keenum. First, though, I've got to tell you about Harry's razors. It's weird that I actually get excited to shave because usually when I used to shave before I had my Harry's razor, if I would go like three or four days without shaving,

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That's harrys.com slash FFT. I really love this product, and I think you will too. harrys.com slash Fcom to start shaving better today. Fellas, we'll go through the injuries news and notes here, and you can just give a quick reaction. Case Keenum has a foot injury. Do you think he might miss the game against the Giants? Yes.

Would you consider starting the Giants DST if it's Haskins? Yes. It might be Colt McCoy. They said he was going to practice today. Yes. Okay. Yes. Lamar Jackson says he hates running.

Do you hate hearing that from him? Does it matter at all? Yes. No. Hate hearing it. Doesn't matter. Okay. T.Y. Hilton mispracticed.

Do you think he plays? No. No. He's not going to. Rashad Penny did not practice. Rex Burkhead was limited with a foot injury. We expect Burkhead, right? Maybe. As of now.

Apparently he had x-rays after the game. Damian Williams and Ido Smith, are we thinking both missed the game this week? Yes. Amari Cooper had an MRI on his ankle. Are you worried? No, I think it was precautionary. Okay. Mike Williams missing practice due to a back injury. Is that serious? Don't know.

He's dealt with back issues before. If he misses another practice, that's when you'd get nervous. Now the Dolphins have a chance. Let's see. Julian Edelman practice. That's good. Chris Godwin did not practice. Do you think Chris Godwin plays? Yes.

I'd like to see him practice, though, before it happens. Concerned at all about Mark Andrews and his foot injury. I don't like that he's missing so much practice time. Yeah, and the other tight ends got a lot of targets last week. Boyle and Hurst. So I don't know if that's foot related, but he disappointed last week. Vance McDonald could play this week. I don't know why they gave up fifth round pick whatever it was for but I just don't

get that because they don't like their other tight ends and they're really bad at fifth round picks anyway fifth round though I mean that's not nothing offensive line stuff Carolina guard Trey Turner is an ankle injury Seattle left tackle Dwayne Brown is a biceps injury but Pete Carroll expects him to play

defensive stuff greedy Williams and Denzel Ward Cleveland's corners they miss practice they miss last week's game injuries. Seattle left tackle Dwayne Brown has a biceps injury, but Pete Carroll expects him to play. Defensive stuff. Greedy Williams and Denzel Ward, Cleveland's corners, they mispracticed. They missed last week's game, but safety Demarius Randall is back. Darius Leonard mispracticed, so that could be really big news for Josh Jacobs. The Colts defense has been terrible either with or run defense has been terrible with or without Leonard.

Jalen Ramsey, probably not going to play this week. We will preview that game. Miles Jack is going to play. He's out of the concussion protocol. Denver could be without two key pieces, Josie Jewell and Derek Wolfe against Jacksonville. Jewell, a linebacker, Wolfe, a defensive end.

If you need someone in IDP, take a look at Todd Davis. He played last week. He didn't do much, but he had over 100 tackles last year, and he's 18% owned. And there are some other defensive injuries. Darius Slay, he'll be up in the air. Akeem Hicks looks like he will play against Minnesota. We don't know that for sure, and check out Green Bay pass rushers Zedaria Smith. He's questionable for tonight's game. Tampa Bay, very beat up on defense. All right, instead of the start-o-meter, let's do start, sit, or flex at best for the games that we'll be previewing late in the show.

Mike Williams at Miami. Start, sit, or flex at best? Flex at best. Justin Jackson. Flex at best. Yeah, flex. I'd rather flex in than Williams. Agreed.

Kenyon Drake. Sit. Press the touch. Flex at best. Okay. He had 15 touches last week. You need the cut option on this. I don't think anyone else would be there except maybe this guy,

Preston Williams. You can cut Preston Williams. No, what do you mean? He's moving in the right direction. He got 12 targets in Josh Rosen's first start. Flex it best. Flex it best. Deep leagues, you should hold on to him.

That's about the only format that you're looking at Preston Williams. Would you start Kenyon Drake or Preston Williams? Preston Williams. Kenyon Drake. In PPR, I'd go Williams. I'd go Williams either way. Leonard Fournette at Denver. Start, sit, or flex?

Got him. Not. Although we did have an interesting conversation with Pete Prisco on CBS Sports 8 yesterday where he said some people in Jacksonville are hinting that Rock Armstead's going to get more work. Whoa, really? All right. Yeah, he said that they're not happy with Fournette right now. He's dancing a lot. That offensive line's not helping him either.

That is interesting. DJ Shark. Here's sneaky. This is sneaky. This is a sneaky move that a smart fantasy player did. When we're sitting up there and Pete says, I hear some things about the kid. And I said, rock Armstead.

He goes, yeah, I look over and somebody next to me is filling with their leagues. And he's coming, goes and picks up rock Armstead in our office league. Just to see. That's awesome. Good for you.

It's right. Well, by the way, insider trading right there. Uh, yeah, I like that. It's using some Intel.

Okay. DJ shark at Denver starter, sit or flex. Flex. DeeDee Westbrook. Sit in two receiver leagues. He's a flex. DeeDee Westbrook.

DeeDee Westbrook. Flex at best. Sit. Sit. Emmanuel Sanders and Cortland. I guess I have to wait for all three of you to answer. Emmanuel Sanders and Cortland Sutton. Sanders gets a boost if Ramsey's not there.

So I would say flex at best, but not sit. I'd consider flexing both. Yeah, flex both. Sanders over Chark, Sutton behind Chark. Phillip Lindsey and Royce Freeman. I think Lindsey's good enough to start. Start flex. Okay.

All right, guys, here we go. Seven games to preview. Can we do them in five minutes per game? That's the challenge. Buffalo just lost defensive tackle Harrison Phillips for the season. He's not an every down guy. He's more of a run stuffer, it seems. Plays about 40% of the snaps.

But that's setting it up for the Patriots running game. Anyway, let's start with the Patriots and Tom Brady. Dave, you're the only one that hasn't been the top 12. You have him eighth. And I think people are a little afraid of the matchup here. He has

not been good. He has not scored more than 18 fantasy points in any of his last four starts against the Bills. I think he's going to throw a decent amount in this game. I don't think he's going to throw deep very much. I think it's going to be a lot of checkdown passes and Brady finds

ways to make plays. He's got three good receivers now to throw to. He's got two running backs that he can throw to with James White back and I think he can come through with one of those 250 and two touchdown games. I agree with you 100% and that does not make him a top 12

quarterback this week. I think it's a low scoring game. Sean McDermott has played Brady well as a coach calling the defense there. And I think it's going to be one of those situations where they win this game low scoring, a typical September Patriots game. They've been able to put up big numbers because of who they've played through the first three weeks, including most likely an injured Ben Roethlisberger. So I think this is a game where the Patriots win.

They win a close one. And the numbers for Brady aren't exactly eye-popping. Maybe in a negative way. Which quarterback would you prefer in this game, Allen or Brady? Oh, Brady. Brady. Is there anyone in this game that you're excited about?

Well, I guess I have to say Brady since I've got him as a top 12 quarterback. So yeah, Brady! You think 250 and 2 is top 10 this week? I think it can be there this week. There's some quarterbacks that are going to struggle that I just don't think are going to... You starting him or Daniel Jones? I've got him one spot ahead of Daniel Jones.

Oh. So... I think I have him one spot ahead of Daniel. No, I have Jones one spot ahead of him but 10 spots away from him if Keenum plays I'd start Keenum over Brady I like Kyle Allen better than Brady too so I think the only guy

that I'm super excited about is Edelman because he just seems he's Edelman right yeah Tredavious White did a good job against Josh Gordon last year so we'll see if that carries over to this season we'll see I mean again it to this season. We'll see. I mean, again, it's a different offense. You know, are you going to see them try and spread out the bills and see if they have enough guys to sort of contain everybody?

But I think Buffalo does a good job of keeping everything in front of them. And so that's the one thing about it is who's going to be the one finding the two touchdowns? Because I don't know if they're going to be able to have a lot of success running the ball because this is going to be a different offense. Also, without James Devlin in there. If you want a good breakdown of what the Patriots will look like running the ball now, Ben Volin, our buddy for the Boston Globe, did a good analysis on what the Patriots look like without

Devlin comparatively to with Devlin. So this could be a James White, Rex Burkhead type of game, but do those guys help get Brady multiple touchdowns? I just don't see that happening. I think it absolutely happens

because there's no devil in there. Starter, sit, Sony, Michelle. No, no, no. Brady having multiple touchdowns. That's one. Multiple passing touchdowns? No, no. I don't see those guys

doing enough to help Brady be a top 12 quarterback this week in terms of those guys being pass catchers and elevating Brady's game. Starter, sit, Sony, Michelle. I would sit Sonny Michel. Better in non-PPR, obviously, than PPR,

but he's just been miserable all the way around. And he could get replaced. Yeah, so obviously James White is not someone that we look at in non-PPR, but in PPR or half PPR, Heath, how do you feel about James White this week? I'm ranking the Patriots running backs, Rex Burkhead, James

White, and then Sonny Michelle in PPR. I think Burkhead's a good flex. He might even be a starter this week. He's right in that same range. But this is the Rex Burkhead experience. Just when we start to get excited about him, he's hurt. Always, yeah. For what it's worth, Le'Veon Bell had six catches, 32

yards and a touchdown. Barkley had three for 28. Mixon had two for 34 and a touchdown. So that's three guys with about 30 yards and two of them scored. It's really not that. When you consider it's Bell, Barkley, and Mixon, they haven't been that bad against pass-catching running backs. The Bills' defense, that is. Good defense.

It's a very good defense. Would you start White or Josh Gordon? White in PPR. Gordon in none. Yeah, I think that's right. And then Philip Dorsett this week. Good third receiver. Yep.

I view him as more of a kind of a boom bust flick. Mike Williams or Philip Dorsett? Dorsett. Williams. I think I'd go Williams. Hashtag Dolphins. Okay, how about Philip Dorsett or Nicole Hardman? Hardman.

Hardman. All right. Hardman and non-PPR Dorsett and PPR. I mentioned four wide receivers have had double-digit targets without a touchdown against Buffalo, but they are Jamison Crowder, Benny Fowler, Tyler Boyd, and Auden Tate. Nobody of Josh Gordon's caliber. So I guess, where do you guys have Josh Gordon ranked?

Is he a top 30 guy? Yes, but in that range. I haven't, if you're looking at my rankings now, Adam, I'm going to change Gordon because seeing what White did against him last year, it's troubling. It's not just that. There's just so many other receivers that I've got ranked behind Gordon who shouldn't be there.

McLaurin against the Giants, for example. I'd rather go with him. Tyrell against the Colts. I'd rather go with him. And maybe even both Chiefs receivers, I'd rather go ahead of Josh Gordon. They use him as a deep threat type of receiver. And there's something about the way he plays.

He just has this body language of being lackadaisical that just makes me wonder how into it he really is how plugged in he really is body language is lackadaisical watch him play there's just something about the way that he plays out there where he's just like i don't know i'm obviously not describing it the right way but there's something there that's just not making me feel quite as confident. All right. So for the Bills, is there anyone you want to start? No.

Yeah, really? No. John Brown. John Brown or Philip Dorsett? Brown. I'll take Dorsett. I'll take Dorsett also. The fun Gilmore is going to make things tough on John Brown.

I mean, look, the Patriots have the best defense in the NFL right now. They'll be tested a little bit more this week. You'll find out a little bit more, but you can't feel comfortable with the Bills. And the Patriots DST is top 10. They're 9th for Dave, 10th for Jamie, 2nd for Heath. All right. So if you have been riding the Patriots

DST, and they have who next week? They have the Giants next week? Or somebody crappy next week? They have the Giants in two weeks. I don't know. They don't play. They're at Washington. They don't play any good teams this year. At Washington in week five.

Then the Giants. Then at the Jets. I think they play Kansas City, but. No, their second half of their schedule is tough. Second half is tough. Then they play Kent State. And then after that, they're against, you know. No, they have some tough games.

Southeast Missouri. All right. Cleveland and Baltimore. I think they play both of those teams, as I recall. Cleveland and Baltimore. Stat of the game. Jarvis Landry leads all Cleveland receivers with four red zone targets and three targets inside the 10-yard line.

And Odell Beckham has just one red zone target this season. Now, Heath, when I tell you that, Jarvis Landry— Can you file that under crappy stats that don't matter? I mean, let me go to Heath because he didn't get in much on that Patriots game. I tell you that Jarvis Landry's got the most red zone targets, the most inside the 10, and he's getting at least seven per game.

Do you see any appeal with Jarvis Landry? Because let's be real, Baltimore's secondary has been crap this year. I've got Jarvis Landry ranked ahead of Mike Williams. I've got him ranked ahead of Nelson Aguilar. I've got him ranked ahead of Philip Dorsett. So yeah, there's some appeal there. He's not a top 36

wide receiver for me, so he's more of a desperation flex. You'd rather have Landry on your team than Dorsett? If I've got somebody on my bench that I'm hoping hits, I'd rather have Dorsett. I'd rather start Landry this week. Interesting. Let's stick with the Browns here.

That crap pass defense you talked about has only allowed four touchdowns through the air. They allow the sixth most passing yards per game. They give up huge plays. They have bad communication. They've talked about it two weeks in a row. They played the Chiefs. You played the Chiefs and you only played three games. They also played the Dolphins. They should not really. They played the Chiefs. Right. You played the Chiefs and you only played three games. They gave up 349

yards. So they've been on both ends of the spectrum. It's not like they've been consistently against quality opponents. They played Kyler Murray's first road game. 349 yards for Kyler Murray. Yes, and he played very well. And then they played Mahomes, so that's on a different level. And they also played the Dolphins,

which is on a different level. And now they've got the Browns, which I would say is closer to the Dolphins than the other two teams at this point. You guys really, you have Baker Mayfield 20th, 21st. So you're saying sit him, and I get it. In the back of your mind, you're like... That offensive line is a disaster. And that's only half the problem.

Maybe they should revisit trading Zeitler for Olivier Vernon. For Olivier Vernon, yeah, I would say so. Although their run defense is actually halfway decent. Their play calling is bad. All right, so look, I'm not going to dwell on it. They're not doing anything creative. Obviously, people are getting away from Baker Mayfield. Daniel Jones, Kyle Allen, you can start these waiver wire guys over Baker.

Nick Chubb, you're going to start. Beckham, you're going to start. And we're sitting Landry, right? Yes. All right. Uh, Lamar Jackson is top five.

Any concerns at all? No. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I think just to on a bit of a tangent here, like they did well, the Browns did well against golf last week,

17 fantasy points, and they were so beat up in their secondary. Like that is so disappointing. They did well though, because golf also had two picks. Yeah, he didn't play well. This was more about Goff. I can't believe that he didn't do better last week, but he needs to

turn it around right now. Alright, so we go to Mark Ingram here. How do you feel about Mark Ingram coming off a three-touchdown week? And also, he had four catches, which was nice to see, but he's had a very easy schedule so far how do you feel about um him against the browns who are giving up 3.7 yards per carry to running

backs no doubt it's a tough matchup no doubt i'm gonna start him you just start him yeah he's just got too much work in his favor it's obviously a priority when they get deep inside the red zone he's he's gonna continue to put up good numbers. Okay. Ingram or James White in PPR? The only game where he didn't have good numbers, Adam, was when he got hurt. And then he even came back into that game. Yeah, I'm sorry.

So Ingram or James White in PPR? Ingram. Ingram. Starters at Marquise Brown. Probably starting him. Must start. I would try and get him in there. He had nine targets last week.

Six of them were deep. Four of those six deep targets were overthrows. Eventually, they will connect. And yeah, I mean, he's just... He's got to get up to another boomer bus type of speed receiver that's going to get looks. 22 targets in his last two games? Yep.

That's it. Marquise Brown or Adam Thielen? Oh, Brown. I've got Thielen higher. Brown. That's not close. Well, I knew it would be for Dave. I've got it pretty close. Marquise Brown or... Well, I know you're going to

put him ahead of Josh Gordon. Marquise Brown or Odell Beckham? Odell. Beckham, easily. Terry McLaurin is a good one. Okay, who would you go with? McLaurin. I'll go McLaurin.

McLaurin. McLovin. Okay, Mark Andrews is top five in non-PPR, top seven in PPR. And, yeah, we're just... Look, he had a bad game last week, but he still had seven targets, so we're going back to him.

And the Ravens DST, Dave and Jamie more confident in them. Top five for Dave and Jamie for the Ravens. 12th for Heath. I just don't know how good they are, to be quite honest with you. But Cleveland is allowing the third most fantasy points at DSTs. Would you start the Packers or the Ravens? Packers.

Okay. Well, you're not going to be starting the Packers in or the Packers, rather, in your FanDuel lineup because, you know, they play on Thursday. Now, you can play a Thursday slate. There are all types of different contests on FanDuel. First of all, the URLs you need to know, FanDuel.com slash FFT. FanDuel.com slash FFT.

That's where you go to sign up, and you get $20 in site credit, $5 per week for four weeks if you make a $20 deposit. The other URL, and please get on there now before it fills up, fanduel.com slash league slash FFT. That is our exclusive Fantasy Football Today listeners contest. $5 per week. I cashed last week. We're all going to be in it. You can compete against us every single week. It's really fun. Fanduel.com slash league slash FFT. But Fanduel is great. You can play a single game slate. Those's really fun. Fanduel.com slash league slash FFT. But Fanduel's

great. You can play a single game slate. Those are very interesting. You can play full with Thursday night, Monday night. You can play just the Sunday main slate. Just explore the games that are on there. You want to play for a dollar? You want to play high stakes? Fanduel's got everything. Get the Fanduel app on your phone or sign up right now. Fanduel.com slash FFT. Make a $20 deposit. Get $5 in site credit for four weeks. So that's 20 total. And you could use those $5 to join our contest. How about that? FanDuel.com slash FFT. Sign up right now at FanDuel.com slash FFT or get that FanDuel app. All right. Carolina's at Houston. We're going to get to that game in a moment. The video portion, for those of you who have been watching on YouTube,

you know what happens. We have to leave the video studio. So you will continue to get the audio. Not exactly the same type of video. So that's starting right now. Big thank you to our video crew for doing their thing today. And we'll be with Carolina and Houston in just a moment. Stat of the game

Carolina's defense has been pretty good yes I'm using the word stat liberally there but yeah I don't know this doesn't seem like a great matchup they've done pretty well against the Rams the Bucks and the Cardinals done pretty darn well against wide receivers so far so uh I'm sure Deshaun Watson's going to be started for just about everybody. And DeAndre Hopkins as well, even though he's coming up a couple disappointing games. Is there anyone else on the Texans you feel good about this week? Nope. Yeah, I can't say feel good about.

I can see a lot of situations where someone flexes or maybe even starts Carlos Hyde this week. He's definitely getting the work. He's better than Joe Bixson has. Sonny Michel has. He's had 10, 20, and 10 carries in three games. Okay. Yeah, seven to nine fantasy points in non-PPR in all three games,

but it feels a little lucky. Yeah. I mean, nobody's making an impassioned case here for Carlos. No, I'm just like, I think you can make an argument for Carlos Hyde over Sonny Michel. In fact, I would start Carlos Hyde over Sonny Michel.

Hmm. Interesting. Dave, Jamie, agree? In PPR, I'd go with Hyde probably non-PPR it's too hard to trust him neither of them are going to catch any passes I don't think promise neither is Duke Johnson

Hyde has one catch in three games and Michelle I think has zero Hyde's on pace for like five catches that's a much better season than Sonny Michelle Will Fuller though really I guess is the question here I don't know why he's a much better season than Sonny Michel. Will Fuller, though, really, I guess, is the question here. That's what I wanted to point out. I don't know why he's a question.

I felt like last week was the week to give him one last shot. Seven targets. You like that? Five catches. You love that. It's the second straight week. He averaged 10 yards per grab. He had a big grab.

He had a 30-yard play. I can't trust him there are too many other receivers that have come out of the woodwork that i'd rather have probably means that this is the week or next week when absolutely no one starts and that he scores two touchdowns but but i'm not gonna i'm not gonna start it because of that we also saw kenny stills get six targets last week and i don't know if that's taking away from Kiki Cutie or if it's taking away from everyone. How about from Hopkins? The Patriots are the only team in the NFL giving up less yards per pass attempt than Carolina.

Right. Okay, thank you. That's a good way to sum up their defense so far. Kyle Allen. Heath, you're not feeling it with Kyle Allen. Jamie's got him 12th. Dave 15th. Heath 23rd. Yeah, this doesn't...

We just said all those things about how good Carolina's defense is, but I don't really expect their offense to put up a lot of points in this game against Houston. Houston's been up and down as a defense, but this is a much different challenge than Allen has faced in his first two starts. When have they been up?

When who's been up? Houston. Houston, Texas. They've had a good defensive performance this year. Jacksonville, week two at home. They weren't bad last week, were they? They've shut down Gardner Minshew like no other team. You said they haven't been good or bad, Adam?

No, last week against – Rivers scored 22 fantasy points against the Texans last week. He did that on more than 40 pass attempts. And Kyle Allen has made two starts in his career, and he's thrown 26 and 27 pass attempts. So I just want to bring that up. I think this Texan secondary is terrible, and their pass rush is not the same as it was without Clowney there. I think this is a—

Sorry, I'm choking. The thing we saw last week, and you know I like these intangibles. He went home to Arizona, right, where he's from? Yep. You know where he went to college? Texas Tech? Houston. He's a Houston Cougar.

So he's now going back two straight games now where he's going to, I think, have a little bit extra motivation to play and play well. I like the setup for him. I think he's – the things that we thought about Cam, we saw from Kyle Allen. Yeah, right. Not to the same extent. Different style, obviously.

But getting his receivers the ball. This is a... You pluck... Decent player. I don't want to say good player. Decent player into good receivers, great system, great play caller.

I still think North Terrier is one of the best play callers in the NFL. And you saw what the upside could be. He won't be as good because his defense is better than the Cardinals. But what Dave said, 250-2, I think that's where Kyle Allen will be. I'll take Kyle Allen over to Tom Brady. I think he could be 250-2, but I'm a little worried about a turnover there. And I think that he can – I think that he's an okay player for this offense. I'm right in the middle on the Texans defense with where Jamie and Heath are.

I think they're going to improve. I think their pass defense will get better. I'm not sure they're good. They're not good. They haven't been good. I'm not sure they're bad. But I think they can get better. They're starting a rookie corner. He's going to be good. Their pass rush will get better. They've got some good talent there. I'm not 100% sure about how I feel about the Carolina offensive line. I think they're okay. This is a tougher matchup for Kyle Allen.

I can't be as bullish on him as Jamie is, but I don't think he's terrible either. I think the 250-2 and one or two interceptions, I think he can get you that, so he'll be okay. Kyle Allen or Matthew Stafford? Stafford. Stafford.

I love Stafford. 100 miles. Okay. Are you looking at our rankings when you're asking these questions? Yeah, I think one of you has Allen ahead. Oh, no. Jamie's got them back-to-back. Okay.

No, I know I'm back-to-back. I just refreshed your rankings. I have Stafford at 11 and Allen at 13, I believe. You have Allen at 12. Oh, okay. I do have back-to-back. Sorry. Okay.

It's not that crazy of a question here. And then Dave has Kyle Allen one spot ahead. No, one spot behind. Okay. Screw you guys. Well, two spots behind. Two spots behind. Back-to-back-to-back.

Screw me. All right. So anyway, the wide receivers. Start McCaffrey. The wide receivers, DJ Moore, Curtis Samuel, what do you think? Better in PPR than non-PPR, especially in the case of DJ Moore. Don't get thrown off because DJ Moore only had one catch

last week. It was an amazing catch. It was a great throw, too. I think that they're going to continue to be involved. While I think the Texans' secondary is improving, they're not great. They're not there yet. Oh, Jonathan Jones has been terrible. Yeah.

I think that you're going to see. I think that's where they go to take advantage. I think they go there. And I think they try and eat up the middle of the field. And Bradley Roby in the slot. That's a liability for Houston, too. That might be their biggest. So what are they?

Are they number two wide receivers or what? They're in that group of guys like the Chiefs guys, like Thielen, like Gordon, like guys that you should consider starting depending on who you're comparing them against. The thing that we struggle with because we have to label these guys as number ones and number twos, there's 30 guys you could be able to start this week, and they're in that 30. Moore is a high-end flex. Samuel's a low-end flex for me. All right.

Greg Olson's a top 10. Tight end, Olson or Waller? Waller. Olson. Olson, non-PPR, Waller, PPR. Olson or Andrews? Olson. Andrews.

Jordan Akins is a dart throw. He's about 20th in the rankings. And are you starting either DST? No, but I like the Panthers actually better. They've been getting out to the quarterback very, very well. Brian Burns has been playing well for them. I have the Texas Tire. I'm not starting either of them.

Right. They're both not good starts. I agree. Cincinnati's at Pittsburgh here. We talked about the stat of the game. The Steelers giving up the second-most passing yards per game, and the Bengals have the third best passing offense. They are 14th in yards per attempt, though.

They haven't beaten the Steelers since 2015. We already had our Andy Dalton debate. You can hear that at the beginning of the show. If you just look at the time codes, it's in the 60-second rankings disputes. 23rd for Jamie, not ranked. 29th for Dave, and 14th for Heath. Do you have Kirk Cousins ahead of Andy Dalton this week? Yes.

Wow. Joe Mixon, start or sit? I'd rather sit. Start. No, I'm starting him. Yeah, come on, Heath. Come on, Heath. The Steelers' run defense is not good.

The Steelers' defense is not good. Well, their run defense has been better than their pass defense this year. Yes, that is true. They are allowing the fourth most fantasy points to running backs. Not terrible on a per carry basis, but not good either. And they were really awful last week. So, okay.

Mixon or Eckler? Eckler. Okay. Mixon or Kenyon Drayton? No, just kidding. Alright, how do you feel about Boyd and Ross this week? Start Boyd, sit Ross. That works for me. That's good enough for me.

Why sit Ross? Why we jump the ship? Because I think the Steelers can... They don't always play zone. They'll do some man, too. But I think that they'll play more zone this week to try and keep Ross contained. You can flex Ross if you want to. He's a boomer

bus player. He still drops way too many passes. I don't really know that he's that much different than Demarcus Robinson and Michael Hartman. He's worse than them because he's gotten it done in a pokey way. He's worse than them because it's Andy Dalton versus Patrick Mahomes.

He gets more targets. He's had 12, 8, and 6 targets in three games. The way he's scored has just been so fluky. But not if he's that kind of guy. You kidding me? It is. No, it's not. They're getting four to five targets per game.

It's fluky. They might do it a few more times. Robinson, in particular, has made some excellent catches. So has John Ross, though. I mean, John Ross has made some big plays. He's a speedy guy. No, he's just fast. Yeah,, though. I mean, he's made John Ross made some big plays. He's a speedy guy. He's just fast. Yeah, I know. I mean, that's a skill.

I don't know. I feel like we're jumping off because he had a bad game against a team that is literally the best in the NFL at eliminating big plays, and the Steelers are not the Bills. I would start him over both those Chiefs guys, but I'm still saying flex him. And then Tyler Boyd must start.

I mean, he's had 10 or 11 targets in all three games. Yes. Must start in PPR. You don't have to do it in non. All right. Would you go with DJ Moore? I've got a top 12 in both.

DJ Moore or Tyler Boyd? Moore. Boyd. Boyd. Tyler Eifert is outside the top 20 in PPR. He's 19th for David, non-PPR. But if you're looking for a tight end stash, Tyler Eifert is outside the top 20 in PPR. He's 19th for David, non-PPR. But if you're looking for a tight end stash. Tyler Eifert?

He plays the Cardinals next week. Oh, okay. I thought this was going to be a mustache joke. All right, how do we feel about Mason Rudolph against this Bengals defense? Not a bad streamer. I can't trust him. I think he might have made one very good throw last week.

I'd rather start him than Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen. Would you start him over Mitchell Trubisky? Yes. No. James Conner. Who do you feel better about, Conner or Mixon, this week? Conner. Yo, listen, the Bengals stink against running backs. I like Conner. Who do you feel better about, Conner or Mixon this week? Conner. Yo, listen, the Bengals stink against running backs.

I like Conner a lot. If you have to like Conner. He needs to. He needs to get it going this week. Conner or Eckler? Eckler. Eckler. Eckler's top three this week.

And Conner fits in that Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff. There's many others. Devontae Adams. That group of guys that like,gers, Jared Goff. There's many others. Devontae Adams, that group of guys that like, okay, do it this week, or we actually are going to start questioning you. Right, right. Deontay Johnson. Okay, I'm assuming you're going to start Juju. I think he's like 14th or so in the rankings.

But would you start Deontay Johnson or James Washington? Johnson. Johnson. No, I mean either. Yeah. He's number four. I don't know. It's not worth talking about them.

Okay. Going back to the too many receivers comment plus they're not usable in DFS unless you're talking strictly the Monday slate. Johnson is a stash. That's the only thing that you should be looking at Deontay Johnson. Okay. And then Vance McDonald, if he plays, are you going to go with him? No.

No. Okay. He's a low-end starter if he plays. Yeah. Rudolph in Week 2 threw 19 passes. Four of them went to McDonald. Both of his touchdown passes went to McDonald. You can't judge him based on Week 3 because he got hurt.

But I understand the hesitancy there. Hesitance? Pittsburgh DST, they're 61% owned. And they're 21st for Heath, they're 7th for Jamie, and 4th for Dave, and that's just the way that Heath and Dave and Jamie see this game going. Heath is much more confident in Andy Dalton.

The Bengals right now are allowing the fifth most fantasy points to DSTs. Oakland is at Indianapolis here. Stat of the game, Jacoby Brissett, 646 yards, seven touchdowns through three games. T.Y. Hilton has 27 Stat of the game, Jacoby Brissett, 646 yards, seven touchdowns through three games. T.Y. Hilton has 27% of the targets, 30% of the catches, 30% of the yards, and four of the seven touchdowns.

So, I mean, he is the offense. And how would he impact Jacoby Brissett as a streaming option here in this game? If he plays? Yes. Positively. Brissett might be my option here in this game? If he plays? Yes. Positively. Brissett might be my favorite streamer if he plays. Yeah. Like over Daniel Jones? Daniel Jones is not currently my favorite streamer.

Who is? But over Daniel Jones if Case Keenum doesn't play. Of the guys that were available that we talked about on waivers, I would go Jones 1, Brissett 2, Allen 3, Keenan 4. That's if T.Y. Hilton plays. And I like all four of them. All right, so if T.Y. Hilton doesn't play, are you starting any Colts other than Marlon Mack?

No. I think if you're stuck, Doyle and PPR, Ebron and non-PPR, because it's a rough week for tight ends. Tight ends are interesting. Yeah, sure. And Mack is like a stud, right, this week? Yeah. So, Josh Jacobs.

I know there's some tough matchups coming up, and he just had one last week, and he was awful. If they can keep it close here, then he should be good, right? I mean, this run defense has been terrible. It's bad. If Darius Leonard is out, you remember last year with the Falcons when they lost Deion

Jones and Keanu Neal and the middle of the defense was just completely exposed for the Falcons? That's what the Colts defense is. Right. And they just lost Malik Hooker. It's almost the exact same thing. And no Leonard. Yeah. I've got Jacobs ranked too low. He's got to be much higher.

Like minimum top 15. Because this is not going to be a game where they're chasing points in a dramatic fashion. Unless just Derek Carr vomits all over himself. It should be a close game, but Colts, I think, pull ahead late. I agree. I generally trust Vegas

quite a bit on those things. This is right on the border of a game that I would consider a 7-point underdog. If you're more than a 7-point underdog, I'm generally pretty worried about how much you're going to run. I wonder if the line changes with Hilton's rule. I don't know. I don't know if it would change that much either way. I think

John Gruden talking about Josh Jacobs catching more passes and being more involved is going to raise his score quite a bit. He tried to throw it to him twice last week. I think they've got to keep trying, and this is a good game to do it. Would you start Josh Jacobs or LeSean McCoy? McCoy.

Jacobs. Yeah, I'm going to go with Jacobs. Would you start Josh Jacobs or Aaron Jones? Jacobs. I'm worried about Jones. I'd go Jones. Jacobs. Last one. I love Jones. I do. Josh Jacobs or Tyrell Williams? Jacobs. I'm worried about Jones. I'd go Jones. Jacobs. Last one.

I love Jones. I do. Josh Jacobs or Tyrell Williams? Jacobs. Jacobs for sure and non. It's not very close. In PPR, it might be kind of close. Yeah, Tyrell's not catching a lot of passes.

He's only averaging like five, under six targets per game is what he's averaging. I think Tyrell Williams is very good. Because last week he barely got thrown to. I think he's a good sell-high candidate if you could flip him now. All right. Well, he's a good sell-high candidate if you could flip him now. All right. Well, he had seven targets against Denver,

seven targets against Kansas City, three at Minnesota. Are you starting Tyrell Williams? He has scored touchdowns against Denver and Minnesota. I like him closer to a flex than a number two receiver. Yeah, he's a number three receiver, but he's in that 30 of guys you should consider starting. Josh Gordon or Tyrell?

Tyrell. Tyrell. Darren Waller is a top eight tight end. He's actually top five for Heath in both formats. He's top five for everyone in PPR. You can start him. And I think that is about it for that game. Indianapolis DST, 12th, 8th, and 9th for Jamie, Dave, and Heath. Two more games, and they should be fairly easy.

Jacksonville at Denver. We are avoiding Gardner Minshew. And we already talked about the wide receivers in this game. D.D. Westbrook, D.J. Chark. They're more flexes. Would you start D.J. Chark or Tyrell Williams? Tyrell. I believe I have Tyrell higher, so yes, Tyrell.

Alright. And then, you know, Fournette, we're still he's got 87 and 94 total yards in each game. He's got to get into the end zone. He's got four, four, and six catches in three games. So I know you guys are going with Fournette. And this Denver defense is a little beat up right now. Fournette or Josh Jacobs?

Fournette. All right. I'll take Jacobs. Oh, okay. But we still have faith in Fournette. Sure, yeah. Number two running back. He's been... I mean, really, But we still have faith in Fournette. Sure. Yeah. Number two running back.

I mean, really, it's just that he hasn't scored a touchdown. Right. Break down the Broncos. Go. They're going to split carries almost evenly as long as they're both healthy between Lindsey and Royce. And if Jalen Ramsey doesn't play, I think that opens up things quite a bit for Denver's offense.

I think you can look at Emmanuel Sanders' flex and Sutton is a flex too. Probably a lower end flex. Yeah, Saxonville is back. They are going to beat the snot out of Flacco. Yeah. That offensive line is terrible. Pass blocking right now. Lindsey's a low end number two.

Royce Freeman's a high end flex. Emmanuel Sanders is a high end flex. Courtland Sutton's a low end flex. Agreed. Now remember, Freeman and Lindsey have both been pretty involved in the passing game each of the last two weeks. I think Lindsey has three straight games with four catches, and Freeman has one, five, and four catches in three games.

So they probably are actually a little bit better in PPR. And then, yeah, if Jalen Ramsey, Gordon Ramsey, doesn't play, how much would you like Emmanuel Sanders? Still high in flex. Slightly better. I do think this is the game where Denver's defense goes off. Me too. They're so due.

They have no sacks. I know. Who has more sacks? They would be Saxonville this week. Jacksonville or Denver? Denver. Jacksonville. Jacksonville by a lot.

Denver's the ST 53% owned, not a bad streamer. They're like top 13 for all three of our analysts. I've really struggled between... Yeah, it's probably true. Have they scored a fantasy point yet? Probably. I think in one of my leagues on a different site, I looked and they had zero fantasy points.

Really? One point in CBS. Podcast producer Ben Tracker says one fantasy point. They scored one fantasy point in CBS leagues. Yeah. I mean, Joe Flacco might get murdered in this game. This has to be the first time ever a defense has scored one point through three weeks. But I'm looking at one of our leagues.

Not a bad streamer. They have 10 in one of our leagues. They've been bad, but it depends on the scoring. They have zero in one of my leagues. Yeah, defense scoring is annoying. All right, Chargers at the Dolphins here. I'll just bring this up. Both Tom Brady and Dak Prescott needed rushing touchdowns to have very good games against the Dolphins here, and I'll just bring this up. Both Tom Brady and

Dak Prescott needed rushing touchdowns to have very good games against the Dolphins. So, you just don't have to do that much as a quarterback against the Dolphins. Do you have any concerns about Phillip Rivers being ranked too high? I don't really. This is going to be an unpopular opinion.

I kind of almost shared it on FFT yesterday. I expect this game, like, the Dolphins score some points in this game early. You've got the early start for a West Coast team going to Miami to face a Dolphins team that's just been embarrassed. I don't really expect the Chargers defense to show up ready to play. And it is a Chargers defense that still has a very beat up and beatable secondary,

but they also have a great front seven that can get after the quarter. Just rewind what we said, what I said about Joe Flacco, insert Josh Rose's name in there and he may die. Oh boy. All right. So who, which quarterbacks would you start ahead of Phillip Rivers?

Holmes and Watson. I would start golf over him. I would start Goff over him. I would start Lamar Jackson over him. I would start Dark Prescott over him. Russell Wilson and Mahomes for you. Mahomes and Wilson. Okay. So he's sixth for Jamie and he's third for Dave and Heath.

Everybody's starting Eckler. Justin Jackson. Would you start Justin Jackson over a Broncos running back? I'd start him over Freeman. I would not, but I would start him over Sonny Michel. I'd start him over Freeman in non-PPR leagues, but not in PPR.

Okay, then. And we're sitting the Dolphins. Chargers DST is a must start. Number one, number one, number three for Jamie David Heath. Start Keenan Allen. Also, I would start Justin Jackson over any running back playing tonight besides Aaron Jones. Okay.

Sure. That's fair. Ooh, I don't know. Miles Sanders or Justin Jackson? Really? I don't know. I mean, how many carries do you need at 3.1 yards per carry?

Yeah, I don't know how you can feel. I'm forced to start Miles Sanders in one league, and I don't like it. YPC for life, Adam. Come on. Yeah, well, YPC also stands for yards per catch, and he was like 40 last week or whatever. All right, that's it for fantasy football today.

Starters hit for the AFC All-Camp. Wait, wait, wait. The smell is so good in here. I got to go buy. I'm so glad you guys did not pass out from the smell. For Dave, for Jamie, for Heath, I'm Adam saying... Na, na, na, na, na, na, na. God. That I'm saying.