Fantasy Football Today - 09/28 Fantasy Football Podcast: Start or Sit (AFC); Rest of Season Rankings
Episode Date: September 28, 2017Before we break down the AFC home games, let's discuss some rest of season rankings and expectations for Jay Ajayi (2:20), Rob Kelley (5:10) and Chris Hogan (8:00) ... A bunch of injury news (10:50) i...ncluding our thoughts on dropping Andrew Luck, TE streamers (24:00) and Week 4 bold predictions (25:30) ... We preview the AFC home games! NO-MIA (29:30), PHI-LAC (36:01), OAK-DEN (41:18), WAS-KC (46:15), CIN-CLE (51:00), CAR-NE (54:00), JAC-NYJ (59:00), PIT-BAL (1:00:40) ... Your emails at fantasyfootball@cbsi.com 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
Transcript
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This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports.
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Email us at fantasyfootball at cbsi.com.
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Get your lineup set. It's time for Star Tours 6.
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Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Hitty.
Alright, welcome to the Thursday show. We got football starting tonight.
We got the Bears and the Packers. I'm Adam Azer. I got Dave Richard. Heath Cummings here. Dave Richard, say hello to the audience.
What's going on, audience? It's good to see you. It's week four. Let's rock and roll.
Oh yeah, Heath Cummings brings some fairly equivalent energy.
What's up, guys?
Ah, boo.
What do you mean, boo? If all three of us were like that, this would be an extremely obnoxious podcast.
Like roided up maniacs for an hour.
We got one.
Ryan Suckup is going to be the best kicker in week four.
That's awesome.
One of that is awesome.
I sound like the monster truck guy.
Three of that would be terrible.
You should have gone, in week four, four, four.
You know?
Could have done that.
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All right, so we tried something different this year.
It was tough calls on Thursday,
starter shit for every game on Friday,
and I didn't like it.
So I said to myself, you know,
I think our podcast,
and I don't really listen to other fantasy football podcasts,
not because I hate them,
but because I want to be unique, don't want to be influenced at all. But I still think that our podcast, and I don't really listen to other fantasy football podcasts, not because I hate them, but because I want to be unique.
I don't want to be influenced at all.
But I still think that our podcast, based on the feedback I've heard,
does game breakdowns more in-depth and hopefully better than any other podcast.
So why get away from that?
Let's go back to our strengths.
And we're going to go start or sit for the AFC home games on Thursdays,
start or sit for the NFC home games on Fridays.
I still do want to make the first, the early portion of the Thursday show a little bit more season-long stuff.
And then, you know, maybe a little less time than usual on starter sit.
But let's go back to the old format and do what we do best.
So I hope everybody's cool with that.
And thank you for your patience.
Let's start with a tweet.
Tweet of the day is from Eduardo.
Sneaky fantasy move, says Eduardo.
Trade for Bucks and Dolphins players
because they've already had their buy.
What do you think?
I think that really makes sense with Baldwin and Ajayi.
I think those guys could end up being good for that reason.
I think they're going to end up being good in general.
Who's Baldwin?
Who's Baldwin?
Huh? Who is Baldwin? I said Baldwin? You said Baldwin, yeah. I don't mean to say Baldwin. I think they're going to end up being good in general. Who's Baldwin? Who is Baldwin?
I said Baldwin?
I don't mean to say Baldwin. I'll start over.
Billy Baldwin?
No, I meant to say Doug Martin.
Oh, Doug Martin.
Going to be one of those shows.
Dave, I do it all the time. Don't worry.
I think those guys are going to be good anyway. I don't really care that they already have their box.
I think it's a nice little edge, but I still –
I just want good players on my team.
I brought this up a lot.
Then you want Alec Baldwin.
I'm worried about Ajayi's knee.
Not having a buy week scares me for Ajayi.
For everybody else, I think it's good.
Then you should trade him.
I don't have him, but I would.
If you had him and you're worried about it, then you should trade him because I've already been asked the question,
who do you get as the handcuff if the Jai goes down to carry him now?
Nobody.
So there's Damian Williams.
FanDuel.
Not even Doug Baldwin will help you here.
It's Damian Williams and it's Kenyon Drake, and they're both very...
Right. Well, and to this point, the vaunted Miami Dolphins offensive line has not looked as vaunted as we were hoping.
I've got to tell you something.
They looked dreadful against the Jets.
Just terrible.
And Jay Cutler looks like a guy who got paid $10 million and doesn't really want to play football.
Well, look, they had a bad game.
The Ravens had a really bad game.
I am scared to cheese it over the Dolphins moving forward.
But what I was going to say is, all right, well, that's interesting.
I think they did fine in week one.
Look, or week two for them.
It was week one for them, week two for everyone else.
It was a great win.
They got a great win on the road in Los Angeles in week two.
And I don't want to just completely forget about that.
And Jay Ajayi ran for 120 yards in that game.
And he's got the Saints this week.
So, you know, we can revisit this after the Saints game.
Right.
Well, the problem is it's going to be a lot harder to trade for them after the Saints game, most likely.
I mean, look, if he goes out and has another huge game, then everybody's going to think he's a stud top five, top six running back.
Right.
So it would be easier to trade for him right now.
Oh, trade for him.
Yeah, I'm talking about from my perspective, a little concerned about the knee.
Maybe you start thinking about trading away JGI if that is a concern of yours.
But, I mean, true or false, if he's healthy, he should be really good.
True.
Right.
So let's, you know, you don't have to have The same concerns that I have
But
He came into the NFL
With knee issues
He had knee issues
Before he even played
One game this year
And they don't have a bye
So that's a little scary for me
Alright next segment is
I'm gonna sing it
I've been thinking about you
Oh man
Not only do you sing
But you're singing stuff
From like when I was
13 years old
I hate that song
You weren't even born.
It's so bad.
That was one of your worst singing efforts.
You said that to me last week, too.
Every Thursday.
You were way too high.
Heath, can you name a good singing effort that Adam is good at?
No, sometimes Adam really hits it, but that song's not in his wheelhouse.
I've been thinking about you.
You don't need to try to sing higher
okay okay that's what they do just sing in your normal voice that's the problem dinner's ready
like you are already have a higher voice than 99 of the male population that's true and you're
trying to go higher that's what this was a male singer that's what they do i mean all right um
so i've been thinking about a couple of players one of them is Rob Kelly, who may or may not play this week.
First of all, do you expect Rob Kelly to play this week?
Nope.
Not yet.
They're at Kansas City on Monday.
I think that when he gets back, I'm pretty interested in what you expect from him.
And what really encourages me is that Samaj P. Ryan had 40 carries over the last two games.
One of those in relief of Rob Kelly, who was off to a great start at the Rams,
and one of them without Kelly on Sunday night against the Raiders.
I don't know that I love Kelly in PPR because I'll never catch the ball,
but is Rob Kelly going to be a workhorse running back when he's healthy?
Yeah, I think he is.
He is one of two guys, Kelly and Terrence West, that are being dropped in leagues that I think is pretty foolish.
I expect Kelly to be a borderline number two running back when he gets back.
West makes a little more sense.
But he's still, even if Javorius Allen's a thing, it's going to be mostly a thing in the passing game, I still expect.
I still think that West has flex appeal, as long as this offense isn't just a dumpster fire it might be i think people see
that kelly has 10 carries in week one and then 12 carries in week two and that he hasn't scored
a touchdown and that he doesn't catch the football and that chris thompson is getting all these
amazing numbers in washington and they're flipping out. They're wrong. They're going to lose their Cheez-Its, or whatever I said earlier.
Keep Kelly on your bench.
That's what I'm doing in my leagues.
He'll be back, and he'll have some workhorse-type games.
Would you like him better than Rob Thompson, than Chris Thompson in standard?
I think so, but things can change.
And I can't help but wonder if Jay Gruden is going to change his mind on the usage of Chris Thompson.
Not to say that Chris Thompson is going to suddenly become a 20-touch back,
but I feel like they've been hesitant to give him even 10 touches a game.
They are.
Maybe they start moving him toward a dozen,
and then the occasional week with 15 when they're playing from behind.
And that would cut into Kelly's numbers, but I still believe that he does have number two
running back potential.
The other person I've been thinking about is Dave Richard.
No, it's Chris Hogan.
That's weird.
Yeah, Chris Hogan.
Two huge games in a row.
Twelve combined targets in those two games and only one fantasy point in week one.
But my goodness, I mean, 78 yards and a touchdown at the Saints,
68 yards and two touchdowns against Houston.
How good is Chris Hogan going to be rest of season?
Hey, Adam.
Yeah.
What happened in week one to the Patriots that didn't happen in weeks two and three?
Danny Amendola was involved.
No.
Oh, they were trailing.
That's true.
They lost in week one, and they've won in weeks two and three,
and Hogan has been a part of the win.
That's true.
Yeah, yeah.
And I think it's pretty simple here that they just go ahead and roll with Hogan
continuing to be a key player in the offense.
He's going to see single coverage every single snap.
Tom Brady trusts him the 12 combined targets in the two games can uh can attest to that and he's a pretty
good player i like him and and i love the matchup for him this week and i think just that the
matchup will dictate that the patriots throw the football constantly against the Panthers. I think he's a pretty good player. I am a little worried that people are getting too excited over –
Dave just completely blew my mind with that move.
Sorry.
That's okay.
Getting a little too excited over him.
I don't think he's going to be a consistent number two wide receiver.
I worry that there are going to be some Amendola weeks and some Hogan weeks.
Exactly, yes.
Yeah, so one of our emailers wrote in.
What's his name?
Craig from a town of Dave's Choice.
Biloxi, Mississippi.
Biloxi, it's pronounced so bad.
And he wants to know Chris Hogan.
What did I say?
Biloxi?
Biloxi.
Bulgagi?
Bulgagi.
Chris Hogan or Devontae Adams? Bulagi? Buloxi. Bulgagi? Bulgagi. Chris Hogan or Devante Adams, rest of the season?
Adams, easily.
All right.
Chris Hogan or Willie Sneed?
Hogan, brother.
I just did the Hulk Hogan, like, put your fists together and flex.
Okay.
While shaking my face.
Okay. So those are two players
that I've been thinking about, and now I have no more
songs to sing for the rest of the show.
You never know. Your local
NFL on CBS games are streaming
live on CBS All Access.
Start your free trial right now at
cbs.com slash NFL.
Go to cbs.com slash
NFL if you want to watch your
local CBS game on any mobile device or a laptop or whatever.
I do it every week now.
It's a good, cool thing.
Free trial, cbs.com slash NFL.
All right, let's go through the news and notes.
I have a ton of them, so let's go quickly here.
Do you expect Sam Bradford against Detroit?
Nope.
Andrew Luck will not practice this week.
We don't know when he's coming back.
Should you drop Andrew Luck at this point?
There was a report, I think it was in the San Diego Tribune,
saying that it's looking unlikely that Luck will play in October.
So it wasn't really a report as much as it was an observation by a doctor who writes that report.
So it's not like a source says he's not going to play in October.
No, he's just saying that
two to three weeks is a short time frame from
once he starts practicing. And it makes perfect
sense how you can't put this guy
in practice for a week and say, okay, go out there and play.
Go have fun. He's got to get his
body in shape. He's droppable.
Really?
You would drop him? I'm not saying you
should drop him. I'm saying if
you're in a pinch, if you've got an 0-3 team, and you need to make a move, I understand it.
The move is to trade him, not to drop him.
Nobody's giving up anything for Andrew Luck.
Someone who is in a 3-0 team, a 2-1 team with a lot of potential, but doesn't have a great quarterback situation will trade for Andrew Luck. What if the guy you want is not on their team? And doesn't have a great quarterback situation, will trade for Andrew Luck.
What if the guy you want is not on their team?
Because you're going to get a bench player for Andrew Luck.
You're getting a...
Right.
You're not going to get a...
The guy you want is on the waiver wire.
Not on their team.
Yeah.
Then I question the integrity of your league.
No, I see what he's saying.
Look, I have...
I don't know if there was a player I drafted more of than Andrew Luck.
It's killing me.
And because, one, I'm a wicked quarterback.
And two, I'm going to'm a wicked quarterback, and two,
I'm going to be a wicked quarterback for a while.
And three, look at Cam Newton.
Can we really expect Andrew Luck to come back and be Andrew Luck? We have to be
a little concerned about his performance.
I'm not condemning him to be Cam.
Yeah, but they're two different people, so I don't
know if the situation's going to be exactly the same.
You're right, but we can't just assume
that Andrew Luck is going to come back from shoulder surgery just like him and be Andrew Luck.
So it sucks.
This was a total dud for me, a complete mistake on my part of drafting so much Andrew Luck.
So now here's the next question, Adam.
It's a league where you don't have Andrew Luck on your team, and he hits the waiver wire.
Do you consider picking him up?
Yes, but I think
that answers the question. No, it doesn't
because at the same time, he can be droppable
and addable. It depends on your situation,
your record, your team. You would
have to have a loaded bench
where everybody else on your bench
is just someone that you don't want
to get rid of to cut Luck.
Would you rather keep Luck or David Johnson?
That's an excellent question.
I've had luck ahead of David Johnson.
I think I would cut Luck there just because of his position.
Yeah, I've had luck ahead of David Johnson for the last couple weeks
in the Stash rankings that I write,
and I kind of came to the realization yesterday that it's time to drop him.
Although I'll tell you something.
Corey Davis. If the Cardinals— Great one. I think I time to drop him. Although I'll tell you something. Corey Davis.
If the Cardinals –
Great one.
I think I'd rather have Davis.
Another guy who's killing me.
If the Cardinals continue to stink, what's their motivation to bring back David Johnson?
That's a good point.
No, see –
For Andrew Luck.
Well, I mean maybe, but NFL teams don't really think like fantasy owners.
NFL teams want – these guys want to play.
That's what they're paid to do.
They want people to buy tickets.
They do also want that.
David Johnson isn't selling tickets if the Cardinals are 3-10.
But like Andrew Luck is 90% owned, 89% owned still.
Corey Davis is 57% owned.
That is someone you should drop Andrew Luck for.
Corey Davis?
You can't drop anybody else.
Okay.
Okay, guys.
More quarterback news.
Deshaun Watson donated his game check to three women who were affected by Hurricane Harvey.
Good for him.
Awesome stuff.
Good for him.
We're going to talk a lot about Watson today.
And former NSYNC quarterback Justin Timberlake will perform the Super Bowl halftime show.
Not going to sing it.
Not going to sing it.
Running backs.
You want to.
You want to.
I bonanzaed Matt Forte by interviewing him, and now it appears he will miss this week
with turf, though. How excited
are we about Bilal Powell? I know we're going to preview this
game, but Bilal Powell, I actually picked up
Elijah McGuire in a couple of leagues, just
to see. I think McGuire's a good
stash. Dave's laughing at you. I'm not laughing.
I'm laughing because you're like, how excited
are we about Bilal Powell? I added
Elijah McGuire. Well, I would have added Bilal Powell. You know what?
That's kind of how I feel about Bilal Powell, too added Elijah Maguire. Well, I would have added Bilal Powell. You know what? That's kind of how I feel about Bilal Powell too.
Elijah Maguire has half as many carries as Bilal Powell
and nine fewer rushing yards.
You are misrepresenting my feelings on Bilal Powell.
I couldn't pick up Bilal Powell.
He was 85% owned going into this week.
I would have added him over Maguire, but, you know.
But now we've got an opportunity here.
I mean, Jacksonville, three running backs in their last 12 games going back to last year have scored double-digit fantasy points against Jacksonville.
But Powell, is he a top 24 guy this week?
Nope.
Not for me.
Melvin Gordon's on track to play.
CJ Proceiss might miss this week's game.
They got a Sunday night game against the Colts.
I would expect him to be out.
Yep.
Do you expect Jordan Howard tonight?
Yes. Do you expect Jordan Howard tonight? Yes.
Do you expect Rob Kelly or Samaj P. Ryan?
Not as of now.
So who's going to get the work?
Mack Brown and Chris Thompson.
Mack Brown's a little bit of a...
I mean, look, it's not a good matchup, but...
Oh my god, I'm desperate for a running
back start. Yes, I agree completely,
although I will say in their
limited workloads in their NFL careers,
Mack Brown has looked like a better running back than
Samajipi Ray.
Most people have. Wide receivers.
Sammy Watkins was limited in practice.
Do you expect him? Just waiting
for him to get cleared out of the concussion protocol.
Hopefully that happens soon. This was a good step
though. If he had not practiced at all, I would have thought
there was no chance. Michael Crabtree
practice. Expect him?
Same thing I just said.
We'll rank him before Friday.
All right.
Crabtree good.
Doug Baldwin expects to play.
Kelvin Benjamin was at practice but probably not going to play this week, right?
He didn't practice.
He attended practice.
Right.
You know, I've attended a practice before, didn't I? I'm going to play in a game.
Same thing with John Brown.
We don't expect
him right well he was limited he actually did participate in the practice so he went beyond
attendance okay he didn't just stand there and the coach said john brown and raise his hand and
that's that's it he actually went through some drills there's a chance he plays and that would
hurt the upside of jerron brown jj nelson even a little bit of Larry Fitzgerald, too.
I think it would make all Cardinals receivers other than Larry Fitzgerald unplayable in fantasy.
Corey Davis will not play.
Will Fuller will play this week.
Any interest in Will Fuller, just even adding him for long term?
He's a stash guy, but kind of a deeper league stash guy.
I think his return helps Deshaun Watson.
Tight ends.
Ben Watson has a calf injury. Yes go or
no go for Ben Watson. You should
cut him either way. He shouldn't be
on a fantasy roster. You like the matchup?
I don't necessarily like
the matchup, but I don't.
He's a tight end that's going to get
targets. I would rather
start him than Jack Doyle.
I would rather start him than Jack Doyle too. would rather start him than Jack Doyle, too.
Yeah. Doyle, I just cut. He has a foot injury
and I wasted $22
on him and Fab because I thought luck
would be back probably next week, but
that's not going to happen. Jimmy Graham mispracticed
with an ankle injury. He should be able to play through it.
And do you expect Jordan Reed?
Nope. Not as of now.
Vernon Davis is 12%
owned at Kansas City on Monday Night now. Vernon Davis is 12% owned at Kansas City on Monday Night Football.
Vernon Davis is 12% owned.
You need a tight end.
The problem is you're screwed if Jordan Reed plays,
and that's a Monday night game.
Hopefully we'll know more later this week.
Offensive line, both Green Bay tackles are doubtful for tonight's game.
Randall Cobb should play, though.
The Packers allowed six sacks against Cincinnati last week,
but I don't think it's going to change our rankings of any Packers
with the tackles out.
It's just something to watch.
Right, and I think it will impact Rodgers a little bit.
It will impact the run game a little bit, too.
That Bears defensive line, I thought, played pretty well.
Detroit guard TJ Lang mispracticed due to a leg injury. More bad
news for Amir Abdullah as they face Minnesota.
Saints tackles
Teron Armstead and Zach
Streif return to practice. That doesn't mean they'll play this
week, but it's good news.
They have a bye next week, so maybe in week six they get healthy
on the offensive line, the Saints.
And Atlanta right tackle Ryan Schrader
still in the concussion protocol after missing last
week's game, and the Falcons get Buffalo this week.
On defense, Patriots linebacker Dante Hightower has a chance to play.
He's very good against the run.
Cleveland is hoping for Myles Garrett, number one overall pick to play this week.
Doesn't call 50-50 for now.
Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox may miss this week's game due to a calf injury.
That would be good news for Melvin Gordon.
That's good for Phillip Rivers and Melvin Gordon.
Both Steelers' safeties are questionable to play.
Mike Mitchell and Sean Davis.
So there's that.
And Tampa Bay is getting healthier, except at linebacker.
Levante David and Quan Alexander, they could miss this week's game.
But defensive lineman, defensive end Jacque Smith, defensive tackle Chris Baker,
they practiced yesterday and so did Brent Grimes.
Makes Eli Manning probably a little less attractive.
I was going to read some emails and tweets.
I think we can do a few real quick.
Brian from Cornwall.
Smallwood or Bernard, rest of season?
I would take the upside with Smallwood.
I like Bernard better in PPR, Smallwood, and Standard.
From No Name.
Joe Mixon or Chris Carson rest of season?
Mixon.
Mixon, but it's close.
I think this CJ Procise injury,
there's not a pass catching running back on the
squad now. I expect Carson to get the targets
that do go to that position. That bumped
him up just a little bit for me, and they've called
Procise week to week, so by the time he comes
back, Carson could have secured that role as well. A lot of zeke owners want to know if they should keep
alfred morris and darren mcfadden what do you guys think i wouldn't you wouldn't keep either
one of them i don't know not if not if there's good players on the waiver wire well sure if
there's good players on the waiver wire i would have dropped either one for wendell smallwood
this week sure and he was 17 owned I think people are worried about that suspension
coming back to haunt
us and taking away Zeke for
six games. It's possible.
That's the thing. I mean, I feel
like... I don't think it's likely.
I feel like we've got one more week before
we find out, hopefully
for good, if Zeke is suspended.
So, why not
just wait it out if that's what you've been waiting for?
Don't you – which one would you hold then, Adam?
I know which one.
Morris, I guess.
I'd go with that.
But he's been inactive.
That's the problem.
You want to know why he's inactive?
Why?
Because they don't need him.
They've got Ezekiel Elliott.
But what's the point of –
To just rest him and then when the time comes, if Zeke's out, then Morris is going to still be a backup in McFadden.
The classic Cameron Artis Payne.
Exactly, yes.
Yeah, no, you might be right.
But it might work better than the real Cameron Artis Payne.
Yeah, I cut McFadden.
Maybe I should go pick him back up.
That was stupid.
Maybe you should.
And finally, Randall Cobb or Chris Thompson tonight?
This is from John.
Randall Cobb tonight or Chris Thompson?
Kind of want to say Cobb.
I do too.
And Vic or Ryan?
We get that question all the time.
You don't get it.
It predates you, Ethan.
Yeah?
Yeah.
It's a way of somebody letting us know that they've been listening to the podcast for a long time.
Yeah. What happened? Six plus years. It's a way of somebody letting us know That they've been listening to the podcast for a long time Yeah
It's gotta be six plus years
No I don't think it was that long ago
But it was a week where
I guess Vic had a good matchup or something
And I was doing a starter Sid episode
And I said hey Vic or Ryan
And then like I just kept saying Vic or Ryan
And I was like okay I'm sorry
And I don't know why I kept forgetting that I had already asked Vic or Ryan. So everybody, yeah, it is a nod to past years of fantasy
football today. All right, let's get into the games. Just one moment. Also bold predictions
for this week. So I got an email to read from Owen. Owen says, I was listening to a recent pod
with my kids in the car. I had no idea they were even paying attention. But when Adam started
talking about
how amazing Harry's razors are,
my eight-year-old busted out laughing and said,
that guy really likes selling razors.
What's his name?
When I told him Adam Azer,
he started laughing even harder
and said his name should be Adam Razor.
For the rest of the ride,
they could hardly hold themselves together
laughing about Master Razor salesman Adam Razor.
Adam Razor.
So call me Adam Razor, guys, because I do love my Harry's Razor, and I do want you all to love it just as much as I do.
In fact, I love it so much, this is true, I bought three Harry's shave kits for friends and family.
I did that on Father's Day. So this is a really
good idea for a gift if you don't want to get your dad another tie. How about a Harry's razor
kit? And maybe he won't know that you're only going to pay a few bucks for shipping because
you can get a free trial offer, a free trial set at harrys.com slash FFT. That's a $13 value for
free when you sign up. All you have to do is pay for shipping, harrys.com slash FFT. I love a company that's so confident in its product that it's going to give it away for free when you sign up. All you have to do is pay for shipping. Harrys.com slash FFT.
Look, I love a company that's so confident in its product that it's going to give it away for free.
Once you try a Harry's razor, you'll be hooked. And if you need more blades, Harry's sells blades
for half the price of the leading five blade razor. It's really outstanding stuff. Get that
free trial set. Harrys.com slash FFT. H-A-R-R-Y-S.com slash FFT. On Thursday, Heath, I'd like to let you talk about some tight end streamers.
If you want to give us a few that might be available other than Vernon Davis, who's 12% owned.
Other than Vernon Davis, who's 12% owned, he's not my favorite.
It's still Charles Clay.
I don't understand why Charles Clay is still a streamer.
He should not be.
He should be your starting tight end.
If you were misfortunate enough to draft the ghost of Hunter Henry, a.k.a. Ladarius Green, or on my advice, Eric Ebron, Charles Clay is getting targets.
He is the guy that Tyrod Taylor trusts to be where he's supposed to be when it comes to route running.
And I like Clay's opportunity to get six to seven receptions in PPR,
and he also has the best chance of any Buffalo Bill pass catcher to catch a touchdown pass.
If I had to name one more, I'd still go with Benjamin Watson.
Okay.
Two good games in a row for Watson, although one of them was very lucky.
You like Cameron Bray or Ben Watson better this week?
Bray.
Okay.
But I like Clay better than Bray.
And those are all guys who are, well, I don't know Clay's ownership off the top of my head,
but Brayton Watson are owned in less than half of CBS Sports League's.
Vernon Davis, 12% owned.
And Jared Cook, 75% owned.
He's at Denver.
Our guys like him as around 12 this week at tight end.
I want some bold predictions for week four as we get into the games.
And Dave, you got a bold prediction for us?
Phillip Rivers will finish as a top five fantasy quarterback this week.
Oh, interesting. Wow. Not top 12, top five fantasy quarterback this week. Oh, interesting.
Wow.
Not top 12, top five.
Great matchup at home against the Eagles.
They're making the cross-country trip.
They're doing it without Fletcher Cox.
That's their big defensive tackle.
They're doing it without Ronald Darby.
He's still on the shelf.
That's their best cornerback.
I don't know if their pass rush is going to be great.
And the Chargers are in must-win
mode at this point. They are 0-3 and desperado. So I think you're going to see Phillip Rivers
have a monster game. Heath, you have Rivers 15th. Dave has him 5th. As I mentioned,
watching the Eagles game last week, their secondary is bad right now. Why do you have,
and Dave is taking advantage of that.
Why do you have Rivers 15th?
I am just a little bit worried about Phillip Rivers.
He threw three interceptions last week.
Four, right?
He threw like nine interceptable passes.
Am I wrong?
Wasn't it four?
Kansas City Chiefs defensive backs had more catchable passes than the San Diego Chargers wide receivers did.
I was wrong.
Damn it, it was three interceptions.
Shame on me.
But four for the season.
Yeah, he had a bad game.
No question.
I mean, not just a bad game.
It was atrocious.
It was the type of game that makes a head coach say,
you know what we should really do?
Run the ball 35 times and try not to let Phillip Rivers lose the game for us.
Okay.
Heath, bowl prediction from you.
I'm going to be buying a Deshaun Watson jersey for my 8-year-old son for Christmas
because he got Madden for the first time this year.
And you remember playing Madden, the most fun quarterbacks to play with were always the mobile quarterbacks.
Vic Orion.
So he loves Deshaun Watson already.
He saw the video.
He loved that.
And this week he's going to watch Deshaun Watson have his best week yet as an NFL quarterback.
I know he just threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns.
He's going to score more fantasy points this week against the Tennessee Titans defense
that cannot stop number one wide receivers.
They certainly can't stop DeAndre Hopkins.
The difference this week is Watson's going to run for a touchdown as well.
Wow.
All right.
I mean, I like it.
It is bold.
He's 43% owned to Sean Watson.
But you guys, I'm a little worried just because his first two weeks, he did not even throw
for 130 yards.
Well, his first week, he only played a half a football.
That's true.
I keep, why don't you keep forgetting that? All right. But he, he only played a half of football. That's true. Why don't you keep forgetting that?
All right, but he threw 105 yards and a half of football.
So still pretty low.
And then second week, it was right around 105.
Second week, I think he threw for 125.
And the Patriots have legitimately the worst defense in the NFL right now.
So that's who we crushed last week.
I think the Saints are still worse.
But statistically, the Patriots have given up the most points in the NFL.
They are the worst so far.
Well, that's because they had to go against Deshaun Watson.
That's true.
And Alex Smith.
Let's not forget that.
And then my bold prediction is less bold than the other two.
I'll give them that.
Joe Mixon, 14 or more fantasy points in standard scoring leagues
against the Browns.
So that's like 80 yards and a touchdown.
Yeah.
I don't think that's terribly unbold.
You're predicting that Mixon scores his first NFL touchdown.
That is the least bold thing I've ever heard.
Oh, come on.
With the preface of bold prediction in front of it.
But keep in mind, the Browns have been very good against running backs.
They are allowing 3.4 yards per carry so far this year.
You had him for 14, right?
14, yeah.
I, each week, kind of try to set my expectations for what each player is going to be,
and that's what my rankings start with, and then I move them around throughout the week.
I actually had him for 82 yards and a touchdown, 14 fantasy points.
So that's my expectation.
That's your bold prediction.
You have very bold expectations, Heath.
All right, let's get into the games and start with a London game.
And I'm going to give a stat of the game to introduce every game.
And most of them will be about football.
I'll give you some London stats.
2016 quarterbacks in London, four out of six scored 21 or more Fantasy points so the games weren't quite
As sloppy and bad for quarterbacks
As we might have remembered
So I guess that means you can be okay with
Drew Brees he's top four for everybody
But here's your stat of the game
This is the only one that won't be about football
In 2008 Burger King
Started selling a burger in London
For 95 pounds
Which I think is about $200
Or was at the time
And here's what the Telegraph
Had to say in 2008
The world's most succulent Japanese beef
Is complimented with white truffles
Onion tempura prepared in Cristal champagne
And Italy's finest
Patanegra prosciutto
So could you imagine paying
$200 though for a burger.
Probably not.
Sounds cheap.
Man, I thought Five Guys was overrated.
All right, Drew Brees is top four, as I mentioned.
Let's not get too complicated with that.
Tell me about the Saints running backs
and how you are approaching them
as the Dolphins are allowing just 3.1 yards per carry
after leading the league allowing 4.8 yards per carry last year. So Saints running backs, guys,
take it away. I'm okay with Ingram. I think he's the number two running back this week.
I still believe he's the lead guy for New Orleans, but I do think that Sean Payton does have a little bit of excitement in his veins for
Alvin Kamara. And I think Kamara is going to continue to play a role. I think he's a decent
flex in PPR. I would not want to trust Adrian Peterson. And I don't think it's a horrible
matchup for them. I know the Dolphins have looked good against the run, but they allowed a touchdown
each of their first two games.
They will probably allow another one.
My kind of hunch, if they are going to allow one,
is that it's going to go to Ingram,
and that just helps his profile even more.
I like him.
Yeah, I don't disagree with much of what Dave said.
My hope for this game is that Adrian Peterson enjoys flying across the Atlantic Ocean
and decides he'd like to just travel the world.
He's got enough money to do that.
Stop playing football.
Get out of Mark Ingram's way.
I don't want to start Kamara, but I like stashing him.
And if we could just get to where this backfield was, Ingram and Kamara, they'd both be startable in PPR, I think.
Aren't we kind of there, though?
I mean, I think Peterson had nine carries.
I mean, Adrian Peterson's not getting a ton of carries.
Right, but it's just enough.
Yeah, it's enough to be annoying.
Peterson, by the way, mispracticed today, but it's probably just a rest day.
He did have 11 touches last week.
Maybe he's sightseeing, and he's starting to come around on the idea of retiring and traveling the world.
I think it's a great idea.
So Ingram or Mixon?
Mixon. Mixon. Ingram or Gilleslie? idea. So Ingram or Mixon? Mixon.
Mixon.
Ingram or Gilleslie?
Ingram.
Ingram and PPR, Gilleslie and Standard.
All right.
Saints wide receivers.
Michael Thomas is a must start.
Anyone else?
Any Coleman, Ginn, or Sneed?
Nope.
No, I feel that I have to move Sneed down in my rankings.
Maybe got a little too excited about him in his first game back.
It's a good matchup against Miami, but we don't know how much he's going to play.
We don't know how effective he'll be.
I just think it's a good time to just kind of take one more week on Snead,
if you can help it.
So we'll be starting Randall Cobb over all those guys.
Yep.
And Devonta Adams, obviously.
Starter sit, Kobe Fleener.
How does he compare with Charles Clay and Watson?
I would sit him down.
I would drop him.
If you're not going to play him against this matchup,
then I don't know when you're ever going to play him.
And he saw, like, I expected once Willie Sneed came back,
he would see a reduction in his role.
But last week against Carolina, he only played 14 snaps and only got one target.
That sucks.
Weird.
All right.
I mean, we know that the Dolphins have had their struggles with tight ends last year
and in week two against the Chargers.
Hunter Henry and Gates combined for 15 points.
Safarian Jenkins only had three.
Okay.
I guess I've got to get some Flina replacements.
Let's go over to the Dolphins.
What do you think about Jay Cutler?
He's 53% owned.
I guess you like Deshaun Watson better than Cutler?
Oh, yeah.
Who was that?
That was Heath?
Yeah.
Heath got into it.
I like it.
Dave disagrees with me.
Oh, no, no, no.
I really don't like either of these guys, and I moved Cutler way down after what I saw last week.
Couldn't it have just been one bad game, though?
Like, the Dolphins were terrible last week.
Yeah, but they played the Jets, and this is their third straight road game.
And it's in London against the Saints, who are getting back two starters in the second.
They are—come on, they're bad.
I don't think they're as bad as you're going to make them out to be.
I think Cutler can make them look even worse.
I think they're terrible.
I would start Cutler over Cam, over Stafford, over Derek Carr, over Trevor Simeon.
So there are four quarterbacks that I would start him over.
Over Simeon?
Oh, interesting.
I would still start Cousins over Cutler.
All right. You know, Carr, boy, just wait until we
preview that game because I've got a stat that's going to blow
your mind. Jay Ajayi is a
must-start guy.
Which Dolphins receiver do you like
better this week?
I think it depends on format.
I think I like Parker
better in standard, but not by much. And I like
Landry better in PPR.
Marshawn Lattimore has been playing very well.
He missed last week, and the Patriots,
the Panthers really didn't even take advantage of it.
But do you guys like both Parker and Landry a lot this week?
No, I don't.
Yeah.
Where do you have them ranked?
I have Parker 12th in standard, 15th in PPR.
I have Landry 20th, 21st in Standard, and 12th in PPR.
Both of them are outside of my top 20 in Standard.
Why?
Like, Parker's good?
Because I don't trust Cutler.
All right.
All right, and we're not going to trust Julius Thomas this week.
Oh, Dave has him 16th, Jamie 20th, Heath 24th in standard, about the same in PPR.
He's not doing much.
He's ranked as if he might catch a touchdown category.
It's the Mercedes Lewis, I don't want to not have him ranked category.
Just in case.
All right, Philadelphia at the Chargers.
Your stat of the game.
A running back has rushed for 80 or more yards in all three games against the Chargers so far this year.
Jay Ajayi and Kareem Hunt had more than 120 rushing yards.
However, all three of them had 17 or more carries.
All three of the running backs, including C.J. Anderson, who rushed for 80 or more yards.
Do you think there's an Eagles running back that could get to 80 or more yards this week rushing?
There is, but I question this early in the year,
because the Chargers also lead football in missed tackles.
But they've gone against C.J. Anderson, Jay Ajayi, and Kareem Hunt.
They have faced three running backs that are much better than anyone Philadelphia has. I don't really like Smallwood or Blunt this week
as anything more than a kind of a boom-bust flex.
Which one do you prefer?
Blunt for the touchdown.
Blunt and standard, Smallwood and PPR.
The thing about this Smallwood and PPR thing,
I think he had like six catches last year.
He has three so far this year,
and he didn't catch passes last week when Sproles got hurt. So is he really a PPR thing. I think he had like six catches last year. He has three so far this year, and he didn't catch passes last
week when Sproles got hurt. So is he
really a PPR guy? We're going to find out
this week. I thought the same thing. Alright, yeah.
Let's find out this week.
Carson Wentz. Top ten
for you guys, huh?
The Chargers have allowed the fifth fewest passing
guards in the NFL, but
on fewer attempts.
Actually, no team has seen fewer pass attempts than the Chargers so far.
So Carson Wentz, top 10.
They haven't played a team that wants to chuck the ball all over the place yet.
Denver, conservative offense.
Miami, I know they've got a lot of stars.
I don't think they want to trust Jay Cutler for 35-plus passes, and Kansas City didn't
have to do it last week.
And the set you just gave really tells the whole story.
This is all Philadelphia really can do is throw the ball.
Yeah, it's a volume, volume, volume play.
Kind of like Eli Manning.
By the way, would you rather start Wendell Smallwood, LeGarrette Blount, or Mark Ingram?
Ingram easily.
Ingram, yes.
So Alshon Jeffrey, he's pretty interesting to me.
He's had a bad year
But three fantasy points against Josh Norman
Five fantasy points
Largely against Shannara Jenkins
Fifteen fantasy points at Kansas City
He's had seven or more targets in all three games
You feel good about Alshon Jeffrey
Finally getting away from an elite cornerback
But he kind of doesn't
I think you'll see a lot of Casey Hayward this week
And I think that makes it a difficult matchup for him.
Is he really that good?
Do you hold him?
He's been playing great, and he's the best that Los Angeles has.
So how do you feel about Alshon?
I don't love him.
I don't love him.
He's a number two for me.
Alshon or a Raiders wide receiver?
Alshon.
It's going to be Alshon. Alshon or a Raiders wide receiver? Alshon. It's going to be Alshon.
Alshon or Ingram?
Alshon or Mark Ingram?
Yeah.
Probably Ingram.
I think I like Ingram better.
Okay.
Zach Ertz, top three tight end, start him.
Yep.
Melvin Gordon, start him.
Keenan Allen, start him.
And Phillip Rivers, we already talked about.
If you missed that, that was in the bold prediction segment.
So any other San Diego wide receivers worth starting?
Travis Benjamin has a little bit of sleeper appeal.
Yeah.
Because I expect Phillip Rivers to throw.
He had eight targets last week.
And I think he's part of the reason why Tyrell Williams just hasn't taken off.
It's because Benjamin has been getting a lot of those deep looks.
I think that is part of the reason.
But Tyrell is still playing more snaps and running more pass routes than Benjamin,
so I don't know that it continues.
I don't want to start either one of them.
That was my answer.
Are you worried that last – Benjamin had eight targets last week.
Williams had seven.
So I would say that they're both starting to get a little bit more attention.
Or Benjamin is starting to catch up to Tyrell.
Yeah.
And I wonder if that's just going to be something that continues.
And we are sitting the tight ends?
Yeah.
I want to take a long look at Hunter Henry.
The fact that he's not running many routes is troubling to me.
I have it right here.
He ran 15 routes last week on 43 snaps.
No target.
So would you start Cameron Bray, Ben Watson over Henry?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Hard time trusting Hunter Henry.
Martellus Bennett tonight over Henry?
Yep.
You have to.
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Oakland at Denver.
Stat of the game.
Denver has allowed the ninth most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.
They allowed the fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks last year.
Last season, only three quarterbacks all year scored more than 16 fantasy points
and six points for passing touchdown leagues against the Broncos.
This year, each quarterback they faced, Rivers, Prescott, and Taylor,
has scored between 19 to 23 fantasy points.
So is Derek Carr really that bad?
I want to break down how those quarterbacks got their numbers.
Touchdowns, not yards, but touchdowns.
Prescott and Taylor didn't run against them?
Nope.
Nope.
And they are giving up the fifth fewest passing yards, I think, in the NFL.
So it's not that they're getting thrown all over, but
quarterbacks have been throwing touchdowns. Seven touchdowns.
Only New England has given up more passing
touchdowns than the Broncos.
Tyrod's performance is the only one that I wouldn't say
that seems weird.
Like, Rivers threw for 170
yards and three touchdown passes.
That's weird.
Prescott threw the ball 50 times that's weird
can't run on them and a lot of garbage time there you can't run on them so i mean car could throw 40
passes yeah he might throw 40 passes i'm not starting him period i don't like the track record
i don't like that oakland's on the road for the second week in a row i think it's a tough place for them to play and i think it's a difficult matchup as well what would it
take for derrick are getting 200 yards i think we can all expect that possibly derrick car throwing
a couple of interceptions i think that that's entirely possible as well we know he's not a
great deep ball thrower and then where do the touchdowns come from? Jared Cook. Cook could get one.
I don't disagree with that.
And maybe Seth Roberts gets another one, but I don't know if I want to trust it.
So I agree with you guys.
Or I agree with Heath, rather, that Derek Carr is a risky start.
I didn't say he wasn't.
I just was bringing up the question.
I know.
It's an interesting stat.
Yeah.
Jared Cook.
Is Jared Cook, by the way, the only Raider worth starting?
Yep. Because of his position? Yes. Right. the way, the only Raider worth starting? Yep.
Because of his position?
Yes.
Right.
But that's the only reason why.
You might start a Giorgio.
Would you?
Get a thin air.
They could get to the 40, 35.
The Broncos have allowed a touchdown to a tight end in two straight games.
So let's go over to the Raiders.
No, to the Broncos, pardon me.
Facing the Raiders.
Same game, believe it or not.
Trevor Simeon is 64% owned, still available in some leagues.
Simeon, Watson, Cutler, rank them.
I think it's in that order for me.
You're going to take Watson.
Watson, Cutler, Simeon.
You've got the totally different order.
Yep.
I don't mind Simeon.
I think he's a safe start.
Okay.
The Denver running backs.
Go ahead.
It's C.J. Anderson, who you should continue to trust.
If you think that Jamal Charles can score in consecutive weeks with just 10 touches or so,
put him in your lineup.
I think at best he's a flex with a floor of 40, 50 yards, and that's it.
C.J. Anderson or Mixon?
Mixon.
No.
I might go Anderson.
Anderson.
Anderson.
Okay.
We like Anderson a lot.
Which Denver wide receiver do you like better this week?
I'm sticking with Demarius, but I like them both.
I'm taking Sanders.
I think his speed makes a difference.
Simeon's played well at home.
So has Sanders this year.
And the Raiders secondary just continues to be a big weak point for them.
It's just so weird, though, because they're not giving up fantasy points to receivers.
Yeah, I'm not sure that it is, but Garyon Conley – no, it probably is.
But Garyon Conley has gotten off to a nice start.
He mispracticed Wednesday, though.
I talked about him last week when we were discussing Terrell Pryor, who obviously was a huge dud.
I think Jermaine, no, Josh Doxson.
Jermaine Kirst and Josh Doxson have had big games.
Doxson had one catch.
Kirst had two touchdowns.
But, you know, they haven't been that bad against wide receivers, the Raiders.
If they don't have Conley, that would hurt.
Like, I'm not using that to say I think the Raiders. If they don't have Conley, that would hurt. I'm not using that to say
I think the Raiders' defense is good.
It's just, it's another,
there's a lot of weird defensive statistics
like the Seahawks giving out the most yards
per carry, the Broncos not being great against
quarterbacks. I'm just not sure
how many of those things I believe this early in the year.
How many big-time receivers have they really gone up against
this year? The best of the
best is Terrell Pryor.
And Rashard Matthews.
I guess in week one that counts.
Corey Davis played in that game.
Yeah, I don't know.
They've invested so much in their defense that you'd like to
think eventually these guys would start playing well.
But yeah,
jury's still out.
So, Emmanuel Sanders
or
Stefan Diggs
Diggs
Diggs
Emmanuel Sanders
Or Jarvis Landry
Landry
Sanders
Okay
I think that's it for this game
Denver DST
Sixth
For Jamie and Heath
Third for Dave
Redskins
At Chiefs
And
Stat of the game Number one Wide receivers Against the Redskins at Chiefs. And stat of the game.
Number one wide receivers against
the Redskins. Alshon,
five points. Watkins, three
points. Cooper, zero
points. If you follow
that trend, Tyreek Hill
should score negative four fantasy
points this week.
But in all seriousness, is
Josh Norman going to cover Tyreek hill and should we sit
him no and no josh norman a is gonna stay on one side of the field like he typically does at least
that's what i would expect and b if norman followed around tyreek hill he would get very
tired chasing after him because hill's speed would uh would cause him to probably pull a hamstring
or something trying to keep up.
I think Hill's uncoverable.
Okay, so he's like a top 12 guy.
We're starting him.
Why so low on Kirk Cousins, guys?
Let's go to the Redskins.
Why so low on Cousins outside the top 15?
It's not just that the Kansas City defense is good, which it is.
It's held Brady and Rivers to 10 points or fewer.
But I don't – that stadium on Monday Night Football, that's not a good place for a quarterback.
Why not?
You've been there.
You can probably quantify this.
It's absurdly loud.
Defenses are impacted by the home crowd more than offenses are.
I don't think they can protect Cousins.
I don't believe their receivers can get open
outside. They haven't
been able to yet all year.
So it just comes down to, can Kirk Cousins
be a starting fantasy quarterback
for a second week in a row because of Chris
Thompson?
Cutler or Cousins?
I've got Cousins higher, but I'm just anti-Cutler.
I have Cousins one spot higher, and I don't feel good about it, and I'll probably go back
and forth.
I've got Dalton ahead of Cousins.
This is a case for Deshaun Watson, is it not?
Oh, I've got Watson ahead of both of them.
Me too.
How much do you like Chris Thompson this week?
I'm scared that everyone's going to jump on the Chris Thompson bandwagon, and he's going to finish with 35 yards. Same here. And this could be this week. I'm scared that everyone's going to jump on the Chris Thompson bandwagon
and he's going to finish with 35 yards.
Same here.
And this could be the week.
We know.
We've seen it.
And the Chiefs have seen it.
And I figure they're going to start game planning a little bit more for Chris Thompson.
And maybe that means a little bit more for Cousins off of play action.
He could fake it to him and then go downfield to his tight ends or to Crowder.
Maybe that's how it ends up going for him,
but I'm worried that Thompson's been so touchdown dependent
and big play dependent without getting the workload
that we normally like to see from fantasy running backs.
I think he's a flex at best.
I've got him as a number two running back, especially in PPR,
more of a flex than standard.
So I just want to give this stat real quick.
Past catching running backs so far against the Chiefs,
James White, three catches for 30 yards.
Darren Sproles, two catches for 30 yards.
Melvin Gordon, no catches on two targets.
Brandon Oliver, four catches for 18 yards on six targets.
They've done a very nice job,
and they allowed the third fewest receiving yards per game
to running backs last year.
So it seems to be a strength for them.
Would you start Jonathan Stewart at New England or Chris Thompson at Kansas City?
Thompson.
It's not necessarily a hot hand thing with Thompson, but just what he's been able to
give you.
Well, maybe it is a hot hand thing because he's playing so well, and you can't figure Stewart to have a big game.
So how about McCaffrey or Thompson?
I'd go McCaffrey.
I think McCaffrey does well.
Okay.
Yeah, and New England often struggles against pass-catching running backs,
more on that in a bit.
Washington wide receivers in this game, do you trust any of them?
No.
Not a lot.
Flex at best.
I don't really want to do that.
Would you start Chris Thompson over Terrell Pryor or any receiver?
Yeah, absolutely.
You have to at this point.
The matchup's real bad for Pryor,
who's lining up on the outside against Peters and Mitchell.
Vernon Davis, as of now, we have him ranked as a top eight tight end.
So, again, he's very, very available. He's 12% owned. Alex Smith is number 14 for all As of now, we haven't ranked as a top eight tight end. So again, he's very, very available.
He's 12% own.
Uh,
Alex Smith is number 14 for all three of you,
or at least he was this morning.
That's,
that's nice.
Uh,
symmetry there,
synergy,
whatever the hell it is,
but we like Smith more than cousins.
We don't love Smith.
I'll compare him to some other quarterbacks a little bit later in the show.
Start Kareem hunt,
start Tyreek Hill,
start Travis Kelsey.
The chiefs are pretty easy. By the way, the Redskins have the number two run defense in the NFL. Start Kareem Hunt. Start Tyreek Hill. Start Travis Kelsey. The Chiefs are pretty easy.
By the way, the Redskins have the number two run defense
in the NFL. Start
Kareem Hunt. But I'm very interested to see
how the Redskins respond
after last week. They looked like
a legit playoff contender against the
Raiders. They looked great on both sides of
the line of scrimmage. And I want to see what
happens. I think it's a really exciting game.
This one, not so much. Cincinnati at Cleveland. Andy Dalton. Oh, stat of the game. Dalton has
scored 20 or more fantasy points against the Browns in four straight games, while not throwing
more than 28 passes in any of those four. Very efficient. Does it happen again? Do we get more
than 20 fantasy points, two touchdowns from Dalton. Yes, and I think he'll throw more than 28 passes in the game too,
but just not much more than that.
This is the get-right opportunity for Cincinnati.
Both these teams looking for their first win,
but the Bengals are far more talented on both sides of the football,
and I think Dalton ends up helping carry the day for Cincinnati.
A.J. Green, big game.
Don't see how the Browns shut him down.
And maybe even a little bit of Brandon LaFell getting involved for Cincinnati
to help Andy Dalton's stats along.
Yeah, LaFell's a nice sleeper.
He's 8% owned.
He didn't have a big week last week, but without Tyler Eifert last year,
he scored four of his six touchdowns,
and he scored five of his six touchdowns without
Eifert if you include the game that Eifert, his first game of the year where he barely played.
I gave that stat out on Tuesday. Deep sleeper Brandon LaFell. Andy Dalton or Alex Smith?
I'm going Alex Smith. I am the low guy on Andy Dalton.
You're not buying it.
You made me feel a little better with that stat about throwing 28 or fewer passes in all four of those games and still getting
20 fantasy points, I do
think he can get to 20. I don't see
a lot of upside beyond that.
Last week, 20 fantasy points
was probably right around QB 16,
which I think is where I have him.
Would you start
Heath, Dalton, or Eli Manning?
I've got Eli higher right now.
Eli's ranking could move anywhere from 10th to 19th over the next couple of days,
depending on what Tampa Bay defensive players are playing.
Yeah, it looks like Grimes is going to play, and their D-line is going to be healthy.
So probably moving him down for now, but we'll see.
We'll check on that.
We like Joe Mixon a lot.
Joe Mixon or Chris Carson?
I have them back-to-back, but I have Mixon one spot higher.
Okay.
I believe I do too.
And any interest in Giovanni Bernard this week?
PPR desperation.
Yep.
How about this?
Rank the four running backs in this game.
Mixon, Bernard, Crowell, and Duke Johnson.
Mixon, Duke, Geo, Crow.
I'd put Crow over Geo, but that's the only change.
So I guess we're sitting Crowell?
I would.
I would try to with all my might.
He's been terrible, and he's starting to lose work To Duke Johnson
Are you starting any Browns this week
I'm trying to think of one
No
Not even Zane Gonzalez
Okay no no Browns
Let's go to Carolina at New England here
Carolina at New England
Super Bowl rematch
Stat of the game. Not much
of a stat, but the Patriots basically
have the worst defense in the NFL.
And here is a stat. Pass-catching running
backs against the Patriots. Kareem Hunt,
98 yards and two touchdowns.
Alvin Kamara, 51 yards.
Deontay Foreman, not even a pass-catching running back.
65 yards. So a
pass-catching running back has had 50 or more yards
three straight weeks
against the patriots oh my god i love christian mcafree and ppr this week it is absolutely a must
i think he's a great play in daily fantasy and this is a week where cam doesn't have greg olson
that's not happening anytime soon kelvin benjamin as of thursday morning hasn't practiced i don't
know if he's going to end up playing who's left? And McCaffrey is this nice short area target
Who can be used a million different ways
And Cam can just kind of lean on him a little bit
And let him make plays against these New England linebackers
I'm looking forward to seeing a big game from McCaffrey this week
So would you start him in PPR over Carlos Hyde?
No
I'm not
that much in love with
him, but it's...
I could be talked into it, actually.
What did he have last week?
Full-point PPR Hyde versus McCaffrey.
And we know Hyde's banged up.
He had nine catches for 101 yards last
week. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm going
with McCaffrey over Hyde.
I'm not. No? Okay. So, alright. McCaffrey's a good start. Is he a good start in standard?
Yeah. Borderline number two for me. I'm more excited about him in standard. I think he's a solid number two running back.
I would go with Mixon and Carson ahead of him, and I'll take Hyde ahead of him in non-PPR.
Agree or disagree?
I think there's a ton of upside here.
Agree or disagree?
Cam Newton is a good daily fantasy tournament play.
He's a great daily fantasy tournament play.
That's an excellent call, Adam.
Yeah, I mean, the Patriots are so bad, and they struggled.
I was reading yesterday on – looking for the website here.
Whatever.
I'll get it.
But they struggled a lot just keeping Watson in the pocket.
They were really hurt by his legs.
Cam Newton.
Cam Newton is the last quarterback to rush for more than 50 yards against the Patriots.
That was in 2013.
Yeah.
Yeah, when they played Cam.
Cam was great in that game.
You know, I was excited to say that.
He's a good tournament play.
I'd say he's – I don't know what his price is because I'm kind of assuming that he's a good tournament play I'd say he's
I don't know what his price is
Because I'm kind of assuming that his price is low
Same
I don't know I'm assuming the same though
Or is it going to be in the
8,000 range because
He's Cam Newton
It's not going to be in the 8,000 range
Most of the quarterbacks this week are between
7,000 and 8,000
I would expect that's
the same for cam i don't know that you're getting a huge discount by playing him is the only problem
right but from a contrarian point of view he's a great contrarian play let's let's put it that way
right because he really doesn't look great and if he doesn't have calvin benjamin then he's he's kind of playing with one hand tied
behind his back and his other shoulders clearly giving him problems okay he is 7300 which is the
same price as jamis winston and deshaun watson okay so like but watson will be more owned than
cam yeah it's a contrarian play we're not starting him in our seasonal leagues. Devin Funchess is 55% owned.
Devin Funchess or Bilal Powell, actually.
I think I'd take the chance on Funchess.
I'd probably go with Powell.
Funchess or LaFell.
I don't know.
I'm just not really believing.
Funchess or LaFell.
Funchess.
Okay.
Not the worst gamble.
It was pretty bad last week
But if it gets 10 targets
You know
Adam that's also based on
Kelvin Benjamin not playing
Yes exactly
Tom Brady is our number one quarterback
Do you like any Patriots running back in this game?
Tough to run against the Panthers
When Luke Keekly's healthy
We've seen it now
Throughout his career
They've only allowed two rushing plays
Longer than 15 yards this season
And one was the Camara run in kind of garbage time-ish last week.
I don't really like any of them.
So would you start Christian McCaffrey or Mike Gillislee in standard?
McCaffrey.
Would you start James White or Jonathan Stewart in PPR?
That's tough.
I'm a little nervous about White after seeing Dion Lewis get a couple of catches last week.
I'm not sure what's going on there.
Who's your second favorite Patriots wide receiver?
Hogan.
Do you like Danny Amendola at all?
Would you rather have Amendola or Funchess?
I would have lunch with Danny Amendola.
He seems like a nice guy.
Probably talk a lot of football.
I don't know if I would start him in fantasy.
Funchess over Amandola?
Interesting.
All right, Jets at Jags.
Amandola or Bilal Powell?
Amandola and PPR, Powell standard.
Powell in both.
Guys, we have three games left.
Let's see if we can do this in five minutes.
You ready?
Yep. Leonard Fournette is top eight in standard, topell in both. Guys, we have three games left. Let's see if we can do this in five minutes. You ready? Yep.
Leonard Fournette is top eight in standard, top 12 in PPR.
Which Jaguars wide receiver do you like better?
Hearns.
Lee.
Well, give me the targets.
Hearns gets plenty of targets, too, and he doesn't have to deal with Morris Claiborne.
Okay.
Hearns or a number two Cardinals wide receiver?
Hearns.
Lee or Jamison Crowder?
I think I have Lee Heider.
Lee probably has more upside.
We don't like Mercedes Lewis.
He's outside the top 20.
So, Bilal Powell or Jonathan Stewart?
It comes down to this.
This is the ultimate question Of the week
I'll go Powell
I mean the thing is like
Powell was so good last year
When Forte was out
So good
He didn't have to share
And he had some pretty good matchups
And it was late in the year
When his legs were fresh
And everybody else was dog tired
Alright I'm going to put him in my league, in my lineup as a PPR guy,
even though he hasn't caught a pass in two weeks, I don't think.
And like I said, the stat of this game, Jacksonville's been great against running backs.
Only three have scored double-digit fantasy points in standard in Jacksonville's last 12 games.
Do you like Robbie Anderson or Jermaine Kearse this week?
Kearse is an okay flex option.
Yeah, I like Kearse's chances better.
Okay.
No receiver has more than 55 receiving yards against Jacksonville this year.
And the Jaguars' DST is number two for Jamie, number four for Heath,
number four for Dave, number three for Heath.
So, yeah, we like Jag's DST.
Pittsburgh at Baltimore, useless stat of the game.
Antonio Brown has never had a 100-yard game at Baltimore.
He did score twice against the Ravens last year,
but just three career touchdowns against the Ravens.
They've kind of had his number.
Of course, they're starting Antonio Brown.
Brandon Williams watched practice, did not participate, but he was dressed,
which is good.
We like that.
Ben Roethlisberger.
Heath, you got him in the top 10.
Dave, you have him 17th, actually.
So big difference here, and Jamie's in the middle at 13 overall for Roethlisberger.
All right, starter Sid.
Heath, make the case.
Here is what I struggle with,
and this comes back to my methodology of how I do my rankings each week and that I really struggle with this whole road thing.
But it exists.
It has existed for sure.
This is not something that should be predictive.
So far it has existed and it is stupid.
All right.
But even still, this is not an easy matchup here. Yeah. So far it has existed And it is stupid That's my problem
This is not an easy matchup here
Yeah
I didn't think it was
But you saw what happened last week
They were unprepared
Their travel was bad
Their game plan was bad
They sucked in London
They are going to put that behind them
I really think they do too
I think this is a get-right game for Baltimore in their defense.
I didn't think Roethlisberger looked too great in the preseason.
I watched the game last week, and I don't think he looked great in that game, too.
He was close to having a big game.
Very first play of the game for Pittsburgh is a deep ball to Martavis Bryant.
It bounces off of his hands.
Roethlisberger might have led him a little too far.
There were other passes that Roethlisberger made that were off target.
And when he has had good matchups, even at home this year,
he hasn't put up huge fantasy numbers.
This is a place where he typically does not do well.
I am nervous about Ben Roethlisberger in general,
and I'm certainly scared to start him this week.
Alex Smith or Ben Roethlisberger?
I'm going to take my chances with Alex Smith.
I currently have Ben higher.
You're starting to get a little nervous.
Oh, I've been doing it all week.
I'll be completely honest.
Just looking at the numbers, I had him sixth to start the week.
I dropped him down to tenth because he's on the road at Baltimore.
How do you feel like the pass catchers match up
with the Ravens? No, I'm sorry. We don't have time
for that. So we're starting Brown. What
about Martavis Bryant? Flexish.
Flexish. Martavis or
Emmanuel Sanders? Sanders.
Martavis or Mixon?
Mixon. Mixon,
easy. Martavis or Chris Carson?
Carson. Carson.
Okay. Any Ravens
running back? Any Raven?
I like Macklin's matchup.
Watson is streamable. I don't
like Macklin. You don't?
No.
I don't mind Mack in this one. I don't know that
Joe Flacco gets enough time to throw the ball to
a receiver. Sealer's
defense is getting healthy this week. They played
last week without to it and what
those guys will be back javorius is a fine flex and ppr jonathan stewart of divorce alan
and ppr javorius and standard stewart i'll take alan either way why are we so anti terrence west
i think the matchup plays a part in it but maybe it shouldn't after what the Bears were able to do last week.
Yeah, I've got West as a borderline flex, so I don't know if I'm anti him.
I don't know how much work he's going to get at him.
West or Powell?
I think I'll take West over Powell.
Do you think that what Alex Collins did in garbage time last week gets him some opportunities that would otherwise go to West this week.
I'm not saying he's going to take the job based on garbage time, but do they give him a series in the second quarter?
Do they give him a – you know, West gets a couple runs, he's off the field, and here comes Alex Collins.
That's reasonable.
Yeah, I mean, Collins did look good last week.
He was the only Raven that really looked good last week, and it came in garbage time.
But maybe there's something there that the Ravens kind of check into.
Okay.
All right, we'll save Tennessee-Houston for tomorrow's show
after we recap Thursday night football and do the NFC home games.
I want to thank Dave and Heath.
I am Adam.
Thanks for listening, everybody.
NFC home games, Thursday night football recap coming up tomorrow.
See you later.
It's all right.
I've got Le'Veon.
It's all right. Not George Le'Veon. It's all right. See you later.