Fantasy Football Today - 09/30 Fantasy Football Podcast: Mailbag and Forte Interview

Episode Date: September 30, 2017

On our latest mailbag (recorded Fri.) we update you on NFL injury news, discuss the best streaming QBs for Week 4, debate Isaiah Crowell's value rest of season, answer start or sit and commissioner questions and grade some trades. Stay tuned to hear from Jets running back Matt Forte (30:30) as he touches on NY-style vs. Chicago-style pizza, when RBs start to break down, what we can expect from the Jets backfield going forward and even some video games he enjoys. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. Here we go! If you still draft quarterbacks in round one, we're here to help. Let's go! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Jake, Jamie, and Ian. Yo, what's up, everybody? Welcome to the show.

Bonus show, mailbag time. Recording this here on Friday afternoon. Friday afternoon, 2 p.m. Eastern, Adam Azer and Dave Richard. Both of us, without even knowing, we both want to tell each other about the lunch we had. How about that? Now, I think we should guess what each other had for lunch first. Then we'll tell each other what they had. Okay.

And then we'll get on with the emails Because people really don't care about our lunches You will never guess But mine is sort of football related I do want to say That you all should enjoy the ultimate football watching experience With Xfinity One You can now get live CBS Sports fantasy football stats In the same place you watch your games

Learn more at Xfinity.com slash sports. Xfinity.com slash sports. When you go there, you're going to see Dave and Jamie smiling back at you. It's very cool. All right, in honor of – oh, yeah, you're supposed to guess. Okay, I'm going to say you had a brisket with carrots. That's more of a dinner Than a lunch Yeah I don't know why

You are incorrect Now do I tell you What I had Or do you You can guess mine Go ahead I had a turkey burger Oh

Really good It wasn't one of those Frozen turkey burgers It was like a legit blend With Ketchup Mustard Relish

Grilled onions Fried egg It's a lot of flavor A lot of flavor It was pretty crazy I loved it with ketchup, mustard, relish, grilled onions, fried egg. It's a lot of flavor. A lot of flavor. It's pretty crazy. I loved it. We both had eggs, Dave, so I'll give you that hint. Ooh.

I'm going to say you had breakfast for lunch, so pancakes and eggs and bacon. I had an egg and cheese sandwich on an English muffin because the Bonanza, the windfall is in London. So I went English muffin, egg and cheese. on an English muffin because the Bonanza the windfall is in London. So I went English muffin egg and cheese. It's delicious. Did you just mistakenly call the windfall the Bonanza? Remember now, there is no more

Bonanza. It is gone. We're replacing it with windfall. Hopefully, no, this has to be forever. At least until you jinx the windfall. Evil, evil wizard. Should be this has to be forever. No. At least until you jinx the windfall. Evil, evil wizard. Should be this week as Willie Sneed popped up on the injury report. So let's do injuries news and notes real quick.

Then your email is at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. And the interview I did with Matt Forte on Tuesday afternoon will play at the end of this episode after our mailbag. Doug Baldwin will be a game-time decision. That is not a good thing when he plays on Sunday night. So I guess Paul Richardson could be a backup plan, and I think we usually know more about these situations

on Sunday morning. Somebody breaks some news, and you can watch Fantasy Football today to find out about it at 11 a.m. Eastern on CBSSports.com. Sammy Watkins is going to play. Willie Sneed does have a hamstring injury, Dave. This makes it easier to get away from Willie Sneed. Absolutely, and it will probably limit his carries if he's even active.

Remember, the Saints are probably very happy with what they've had out of Brandon Coleman. So let Brandon Coleman do his thing for one more week. And Matt Forte is out because I interviewed him. I didn't tell you this, but I actually stepped on his toe three or four times. No way. Just kidding. Like, did you mean to do it? Like, angrily?

Yeah, angrily. Were you, like, going, Bonanza, Bonanza, Bonanza, and then laughing? I said, hey, Matt, I own Bilal Powell in one league. Can I see your foot real quick? Sabotage. Kenny Galladay mispracticed Friday. Probably not going to play at Minnesota. A lot of fans here might have to make a decision

on whether or not they want to stay on the Kenny hashtag Kenny bandwagon. I don't know their schedule off the top of my head. I do. After this week against Minnesota, they've got Carolina and then at New Orleans and then a bye. So there's obviously some decent opportunities ahead.

But if he's banged up and he didn't do anything great the last two weeks, I can understand if people want to cut him. Ride a hot item like Josh Doxson or Deontay Foreman. Devontae Booker. Put those guys on your bench instead. I get it.

I might do it. We knew the Lions had a tough schedule, so it's not a shock that he struggled at the Giants. put those guys on your bench instead. I get it. Yeah. I might do it. Look, we knew the Lions had a tough schedule, so it's not a shock that he struggled at the Giants. It is a little surprising that he caught two touchdowns against Arizona. Anywho, Devontae Adams has a concussion but no neck issues. Calvin Benjamin will play, and Brandon Williams, defensive tackle for the Ravens, will not play. Start Le'Veon Bell.

We have the latest on the Packers running back situation as well. Jamal Williams got an MRI. The results weren't bad, but he's going to miss at least a week. And we will have updates on what Mike McCarthy had to say about his running backs on CBSSports.com. You can find them right now. Or on our radio show tonight, Saturday night. Yes, tonight. You can absolutely hear all about it.

Ion Fantasy Football, 10 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Radio, cbssportsradio.com. Emails and tweets from Mario. Who would you stream? Blake Bortles, Carson Palmer, Deshaun Watson, Eli Manning, or Case Keenum? I like Palmer's matchup the best. And there's a lot to like about palmer's matchup the 49ers secondary got blown up last week it's not very good palmer's at home second straight week for that decent track record against san francisco i'd say and he's going to get john brown back or

at least it looks that way right right and if if he does and he's got brown and brown and nelson and fitzgerald and the offensive line and is key, the offensive line is expected to be stronger this week than it was last week, a couple of starters coming back, then I would say that Carson Palmer could finish as a very, very good fantasy quarterback this week. By the way, who's your second favorite Cardinals receiver this week? I don't have one. Okay.

Can't pin me down on it. I'm not going to say because I don't have one. All I will say is that I think J.J. Nelson is worth stashing. From Grant. Where is Grant from? Grant is from Bel Air, California. Trevor Simeon or Matthew Stafford? I'm going Simeon.

And I started the week with Stafford. And we talked about this on Friday's show that I feel like I get into a trap with Stafford sometimes. Seeing a matchup where it's going to be hard for the Lions to run and expect Stafford to fall into production. Well, it didn't happen against Minnesota twice last season. He finished with 18 fantasy points both times. And I think Simeon's got a little bit more potential in his matchup against Oakland. So give me Simeon at home. He's done well at home this year. Let's see him do it again. Eric in Maryland. Suggestions for Week 5 DSDs? Trying to beat the waiver wire.

We talked about this one on Friday, too. I think that the Giants qualify. They've got the Chargers coming to their place in Week 5. Lions against the Panthers. In my stupid head, I've already got the Chargers beating the Eagles in Week 4, and then the Giants are going to crush them in week five when they make the cross-country trip. I like the Lions, Dave. 33% on. They got the Panthers.

I like the Lions. There's not an obvious defense to get for next week. The Bengals were an obvious defense for this week. For next week, the Jets and the Browns play each other. Like we said on yesterday's show, it's hard to really love those guys. So Lions and Giants seem pretty good.

If anybody by any chance drops the Vikings, they are at the Bears. I don't know what the Bengals' ownership percentage is at this time, but I know that they were dropped in a bunch of leagues. They've got Buffalo at home in Week 5. That's not a bad matchup for them. The Bengals are 81% owned because they got the Browns. So they're not going to be out there in many leagues. Okay, this is from Colin, someplace that will get my email read.

Chicago, Illinois. There you go. Dear holders of fantasy knowledge, I do not know what to do with Isaiah Crowell. Last year, Jay Ajayi was dropped in our league around this point, and he blew up in Week 5 and had a great rest of season. What hope do I have rest of season for Crowell? Also, Terrence West or Crowell rest of season?

Oh, boy. Poor Colin. And poor me. I've got Crowell on a bunch of my teams. I bought into him, and it's been a tough start. We could say, you know what? He had a tough schedule to start the year, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and then Indianapolis. But he also just hasn't been getting a lot of work, and he hasn't been catching the ball.

And inside the red zone, we've seen Deshaun Kaiser run it a couple of times, and he's got a rushing touchdown on the year. So it's tough to look at Crowell and say, oh, well, the best is yet to come. The situation is what it is in Cleveland, and Duke Johnson might start taking work away from him. I don't feel good about having Crowell in my starting lineup. In the next week or two, if he continues to struggle, then I'm probably going to cut him.

And the biggest thing of all that bothers me the most is the number one reason why I bought into Crowell was because of the improved offensive line. That line, according to Pro Football Focus, is the number one pass-blocking unit in football, and their run-blocking is not even close to the halfway point. So they've got a bad run unit and a great pass blocking unit. Well, it could get better.

Which running back do you think will do better? Yeah, Johnson, but it could get better. I mean, Crowell could be like an ultimate buy low if you just have flex expectations for him maybe. I don't want to start him. I'll buy low instead. I don't want to start him. I'll buy low. I don't want to even buy low, Adam, because if he has a bad week this week against Cincinnati, which is to be expected, he's got the Jets next week at home, then the Texans, then the

Titans, then the Vikings. Oy vey, this schedule is terrible. No, it's not. I mean, the Jets and the Titans. We'll see. Actually, the Titans have been pretty good against the run, but I don't know how good the run is. The Titans have been good against the run, and the Jets just shut down J.H.I.A. last week.

They did. Not to say that they're going to be great. Yeah. But I just – what is the – what will it take for Isaiah Crowell to get you 13 fantasy points? You got to figure a touchdown. Yeah, of course. 70 yards and a touchdown. And then 70 – even 70 yards?

Doesn't that seem like a lot? Let's move on. From what we know. And go to Casey. I hate it. I hate myself for saying it. If I could, I would punch myself in the face. I could, I guess, but I'm not going to.

Yeah, I wouldn't do that. This is from Casey. Hey, Brian. If I could, I would punch Adam in the face. Oh, don't do that. Hey, Brian, Reggie, and Randall. Former Eagles? Yeah, that sounds right. Oh, he's from Philly. So, Brian, Reggie, and Randall. Former Eagles? Yeah, that sounds right.

Oh, he's from Philly. So, yeah, Casey from Philly. Who do I sit in a half PPR league? Sit one. Tyreek Hill, Michael Thomas, Stefan Diggs. I got to sit one of these guys? Mm-hmm. Woo.

I think I have to lean toward Diggs. Okay, sit a running back. McCoy, Dalvin Cook, or C.J. Manderson? I would sit Anderson. Now pick a flex, Diggs or Manderson? Half point PPR, give me Diggs. Thank you. And cheers.

Keep up the best fantasy podcast. Every other show thinks they're funny, and it's just awful. I can deal with you guys. That should be our tagline i love it the cbs sports fantasy football today podcast i can deal with yeah you can deal with us james from phoenix would you trade cory davis for tevin coleman and mike williams in a 10 team dynastyam Dynasty League. Corey Davis for Coleman and Mike Williams. No. Okay.

Chris in Texas. And the reason why is because I'm not sure what Mike Williams' history or future history. I'm not sure what Mike Williams' future will be like, given his back and Coleman becoming an every-down starter. That doesn't seem like it's happening anytime soon. All right. Now, Chris in Texas. PPR just got offered Golden Tate and Mike Gillisley for Crabtree and Ingram. Give up Crabtree and Ingram.

Get Tate and Gillisley. I think I like Crabtree and Ingram better, especially in PPR. Gillisley doesn't catch the ball. From Keith. Did you know that Duke Johnson's real name is Randy? Randy. It's Randy. He's Randy Johnson Jr. He's the little unit. LOL. Why do you think he wants to go by Duke?

That's awesome. Oh, man. So I don't think you should be drafting Duke Johnson in a draft league. It's a little bit too shallow, but it is my new favorite app. If you love fantasy football, you're going to love draft. What's the best part of fantasy football? It's the draft, right? It's kind of sad when the drafts are over. So you know what? Make sure the drafts are never over. Download the Draft app or go to PlayDraft.com. Promo code to use is FFtoday. FFtoday.

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All right, Josh in Mobile has a commissioner question. Ready, Dave? It's a lot here. Let's go. So what happened was a guy in our league sent a bad trade. The trade was Ajayi and Lamar Miller for Chris Thompson. He's 1-2. He's had some bad luck with his team, and alcohol may have been involved.

Anyway, the Thompson owner accepted, but the next day, the guy realized he made a mistake offering Ajayi and Lamar Miller for Chris Thompson. He messaged the owner he traded with to try to work it out and cancel the trade, but that owner wouldn't respond because they wanted the trade to process. So the guy who wanted to back out contacted some other people in the league to vote against it, and the trade was vetoed. Obviously, the Thompson owner and a few guys in the league are mad that he backed out of the trade he made. Now, I feel like clearly the guy took advantage of the veto option because he called people and said, hey, veto this, veto this. But clearly he tried to work it out with the other owner first, and the other owner obviously knew it was a bad trade and tried to take advantage of that by not responding to the message.

As commissioner, I care about the integrity of the league. Is this a situation that just sucks from both ends of the deal and both teams should just move on, or is there further action that needs to be taken? I think it is as simple as vetoing the trade as the commissioner because it definitely doesn't seem fair at this point. But then I also would say to the owner who made the offer regardless of what his mindset was at the time he's got to do something

for the enjoyment of the league to pay the league back for this annoying and stupid situation that never should have happened you never should have offered a Jai and Lamar Miller for Chris Thompson. Don't screw around like that and waste everybody's time. So I would suggest he has to get dressed up like a girl, go to the busiest intersection in Mobile, Alabama, and it's not near Ladd People's Stadium, but it's near there, and he's got to do a sing and dance, a good ship lollipop. That's the move.

Alternatively, I am very much into weekly recaps from your commissioner. They can be very fun, very funny. This guy should be in charge of writing a funny weekly recap for the rest of the season. He could always send a very long apology note as well. That might work out better than dressing up like a girl and doing the good ship lollipop routine. I'm scarred for life when I had to do it. You had to do that?

No. You had to do that? No. I look forward to that story one day. Justin from Nantucket. There once was a man from Nantucket, Dave. He says, Dear Bill, Pete, and Bill, Patriots coaches, what are your thoughts on the Ravens running backs?

I would try and not start them this week if I could help it. But I still think Terrence West is the best one. I don't know if the coaches will necessarily agree. I don't know if they're going to see what Alex Collins did last week and go, ooh, let's give him more work. That would eat into Terrence West's workload. We do know West practiced all week long. He's not on the injury report.

He's going to play. That should be a good thing for him. That means Buck Allen's going to handle a passing downs role. I almost think that when we look back at the Ravens, we toss out week three. I think it's going to be a total anomaly for them on both sides of the ball. That being said, I'm not sure they're going to have a great run game without Marshall Yonda.

Yeah, that's a big loss. But they're not as bad as they were in week three in London. From Dan, start two of these guys. Tevin Coleman, Paul Richardson, Michael Crabtree. I hate starting Crabtree this week given the matchup, but I think you have to by default, and I would go with Coleman with him. From Nancy, 12-team standard league, pick two wide receivers and a flex. So two of these, Doug Baldwin, Keenan Allen, Devontae Parker,

and Martavis Bryant and Amari Cooper. Baldwin, Allen, Parker, Martavis, Cooper, pick two. I'm going to go with Baldwin and Allen, provided that Baldwin plays. Now, that's going to be tricky because we're not going to know, but if there's a report on Sunday that says, well, he's not looking good, he's not going to play, watch out, then I would go ahead and sit him down. Four.

And if that were to happen, I would go with Parker with Keenan Allen. And what did she say, One running back or one flex? One flex. Which would be Martavis Bryant, Cooper, Christian McCaffrey, Amir Abdullah. I like McCaffrey this week. I think the Panthers are going to have no choice but to lean on him a little bit. Not sure how healthy Kelvin Benjamin is. He's expected to play.

Cam's expected to play. It's a game where they're going to be chasing points. He's going to play a lot. Struggling Panthers fan in Atlanta says, Dear Adam Razor, with Bill Belichick's style of, Who am I going to take out of this game? Does it make sense to start Christian McCaffrey? I think Belichick is probably going to try and limit Cam's movement in the pocket

and dare him to throw, which would work for Kelvin Benjamin and McCaffrey. So this guy, struggling Panthers fan, his name is Robert, wants to know, Lamar Miller, Mike Gillislee, Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey. All right, Shiv needs three of four, so you've got to sit one. Keenan Allen, Sanders, Julio, Hogan. Oh, boy. Those guys are studs.

I would probably lean against Hogan. Okay. Brother. Where's Craig from? Craig is from Tampa, Florida. I need a quarterback for next week. Carson Palmer at Philly, Eli against the Chargers

Alex Smith at Houston Jay Cutler against Tennessee Probably Palmer at Philadelphia And Dave in Brooklyn Wants to know He says, Dear Cameron, Cyrus the Virus, Diamond Dog And Marietta Mangler I think I know this

What is it? Con Air. Uh-huh. I think. I mean, that's Cyrus the Virus. Uh-huh. How do you feel about carrying two defenses whose schedules complement each other? I have the Jags and Vikings.

And then he goes on to list how they do sort of complement each other. How do you feel about that? He has a deep bench. That should be noted. If you really have a deep bench, then I guess I'm fine with it. It saves you the trouble of having to stream them. Yeah. Yeah, if you have a deep bench, it's a good idea.

But it's really crucial. We're talking like when I say deep bench, I'm thinking at least seven bench spots. That's what he has. Okay, fine. Then that's a deep bench. I'm happy, Dave, to say that our podcast has saved a lot of people money over the years, and it's this simple. You get a simple app and a simple promo code. You want to save $20?

Download the SeatGeek app, and when you make your first purchase on SeatGeek, use the promo code FFT. $20 off your first purchase. Promo code is FFT. So what is SeatGeek? It is your new way to find tickets to games, to concerts, to theater, to comedy. You're going to see. SeatGeek's the best. I have it on my phone. I use it all the time. It finds the best prices for you by searching multiple sites. SeatGeek grades every seat based on value so you can easily see which tickets to buy, and every purchase

is fully guaranteed. You can shop for tickets on SeatGeek with confidence. I have people ask me all the time. In fact, I got a tweet earlier today on Friday. What's the promo code? I forget the promo code. That's fine. I'm happy to help. It's FFT. If you want to go to events and you want to save money, you do that on SeatGeek.

Again, download the SeatGeek app and enter the promo code FFT. That promo code is FFT for $20 off your first SeatGeek purchase. Back to the emails. Ryan in Dallas. Grade the emails. Ryan in Dallas. Grade the trade. Half PPR. Give up. Diggs and Gilly Boy.

That's Mike Gillisley. Amari, everybody knows that. Get Amari Cooper and Carlos Hyde. Diggs and Gilly Boy for Cooper and Hyde. I think it's close. I think it's really close. I don't necessarily mind the Hyde and Cooper side. I think it's close. I think it's really close. I don't necessarily mind the Hyde and Cooper side. I think that's the way I would lean.

All right. This is Kevin in a town outside of Boston. Uh, oh. Everett. Dear Antoine, Corey, Kevin, and LeGarrette. Those would be former Patriots running backs Antoine Smith, Corey Dillon, Kevin Falk, and LeGarrette LeGarrette I never remember that, Dave, I don't know

LeGarrette Who deflects half PPR? Gilly Boy, Deshaun Jackson, Hearns, or J.J. Nelson? I don't know if I like this Gilly Boy thing that you're doing I feel like it's a pseudo-windfall. I was reminded by you on Friday's podcast about Deshaun Jackson and his troubles with Dominic Rodgers-Gromardi. And I'm wondering if that's part of the reason why you would shy away

from Deshaun Jackson this week? I think I would go gillisly over Deshaun Jackson, but he'd be I would go Gillis Lee over Deshaun Jackson, but he'd be second on this list. I might go Hearns ahead of the ball. If he sees any of Eli Apple, Eli Apple has been bad this year. I don't know what is going on with him. You'd go Hearns over all of them?

I think I would go Hearns with all of them. I like his matchup against Buster Screen Of the Jets It would be so great if he broke up a screen pass It would be so great Peyton says Rest of season, T.Y. Hilton or Golden Tate I'm going to say Hilton just for the luck factor

The Andrew luck factor This is from Caleb Yes, that Luck factor. Where's Caleb? Not like a ball's going to bounce off of six people's helmets and he's just going to catch it like a baby and walk into the end zone backwards. Where's Caleb from? Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Pick one combination. Zeke and Charles Clay. Gurley and Jimmy Graham Fournette or Jimmy Graham So let's simplify Who do you like better Gurley or Fournette I like Gurley better than Fournette So pick a combo

Zeke and Clay or Gurley and Graham I think I'm going to say Zeke and Clay Wow Don't get suspended Zeke Zeke is definitely I'm just going to say Zeke and Klay. Wow. All right. Don't get suspended, Zeke. Zeke is definitely – I'm just going to tell you now. Zeke is 100% not getting suspended this year. Oh, my God. You're doing it again.

Windfall. Oh, my God. Okay, here are – Now he's going to get suspended for seven games because of you. Here's an email. Hold on a second. Hold on a second. Now he's going to get suspended for seven games because of you. Hold on a second. Hold on a second. If he gets suspended, for real, will you end this?

No. Will you admit that you've got just the most unbelievable jinx in the history of fantasy football? I mean, yeah. Say if he gets suspended, I will no longer bonanza or windfall or put the whammy on anybody. I can't do that, Dave. Say it. I can't. I can't do that. Bonanza.

So email from Andrew somewhere in Indiana. It's got to be Chererville. Hey, Terrell, Calvin, and Larry. Those are really good football players. I don't think you've got a chance to weigh in on this. I think Calvin Johnson is the second best receiver of all time. I think he's better than Randy Moss. I think he's better than Larry Fitzgerald.

What do you think? How would you rank wide receivers like 2, 3, 4 after Jerry Rice? There was once upon a time where I thought if Calvin Johnson stayed on pace and played at a high level well into his career, which he now has short-circuited, that he would surpass Jerry Rice as the best receiver to ever play the game. Now it's Jerry Rice. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. And I think Moss is still number two. You think so? Yeah. All right. I do think that Calvin averaged more catches, more yards per game than Moss, and also, for sure, very close, more yards per catch. I know he averaged more yards per game, not that close.

There were also some years for Randy where I don't think his heart was into it. Well, doesn't that count? I guess. I mean, Calvin Johnson, yeah, all right. They're both going to make the Hall of Fame. They're both considered amazing receivers. Maybe that's a reason to knock Randy Moss is because of that. Yeah, absolutely.

Maybe that's what you're doing. Calvin was never a headache. All right. As a scared Amari Cooper owner in a 12-team half PPR league, I've been picking up stash-wide receivers. What are the chances that one of the following becomes a top 20 wide receiver? Corey Davis, Tyrell Williams, Josh Doxson. I think Davis has a shot in the second half of the season.

We've talked about that on the podcast in the past. I think Doxon's opportunities might start coming now. He just has to stay healthy, and he's got to find a way to prove that he's worthy of eight-plus targets per week. Williams' situation is getting worse and worse by the week. He has not been able to contribute anywhere close to his 2016 season. Mike Williams is on the way back. Keenan Allen has stayed healthy. I think Davis is number one and Josh Doxson is a low, low number two. Tyrell Williams brings up the rear. Rapid fire to finish the show from Brian. Start two, half PPR. Baldwin, Cooper,

Garcon, Rashard Matthews, Crowder. I would make sure Matthews is in the lineup. I would pair him with Baldwin. If Baldwin doesn't play, here's what I would do. I would cut Crowder and go pick up Paul Richardson or if Dante, not Paul Richardson, and then you're going to go with a Seahawks receiver with Rashard Matthews. From Matthew, the person who has Matthew Stafford on his team has no wide receivers. I have three good wide receivers. Dez, Keenan Allen, Golden Tate.

My quarterbacks are Simeon and Tyrod Taylor. So he was going to trade Tyrod Taylor and Jordan Matthews for Stafford. That's not going to get it done. Not even close. But you can't trade Dez, Keenan Allen, Jordan Matthews for Stafford. That's not going to get it done. Not even close. But you can't trade Dez Keenan-Allen or Tate for Stafford. You could. You just need to get somebody back with Stafford. That's true.

Yeah, but not straight up. All right, from Taylor. Who should I play? Standard scoring. Hogan or Alshon? Hogan. Smallwood or Powell? Smallwood.

From Eric. Jameis Winston or Alex Smith? Smith. From Andy. In a New Winston or Alex Smith? Smith. From Andy in a New England beach town where Taylor Swift owns a house. It's westerly Rhode Island, apparently. Oh, apparently. Like you didn't know that?

I didn't. He put it in the email. Sure he did. Oh, come on. Sure. You just jinxed Taylor Swift's house. Sorry, Taylor. We are never, ever getting back together. Wide receiver three in PPR, Willie Sneed, Terrell Pryor, or Michael Crabtree?

Crabtree. And you just cross your fingers that he plays and gets a decent amount of receptions. From Nick, Titans, Bucs, or Pats DST? Bucs. From Paul, Dalton or Mariota? Dalton. Buck Allen or Gilleslie? Gilly.

Eagles or Rams? Rams. From Dave, grade the trade. Give up Gurley and Martavis Bryant. Gurley and Bryant for Mixon and Evans. I like it. I like getting Mixon and Evans. I like it. I like getting Mixon and Evans. That's an A.

Oh, no, it's not an A. It's a B. Excuse me. It's an A. Okay, fine. He's taking our advice. He's selling high on Gurley. He's getting a star player back in Evans and a potential difference maker in Mixon.

Well, Matt Forte is going to tell you just why he was in New York City to talk to me on Tuesday. He's going to tell you about a cool partnership between CBS and Comcast. I'm also going to tell you right now. Picture yourself on Sunday afternoons. You're watching football but also trying to keep track of your fantasy matchups and some roster trends. Well, you can do that all now in one place with Xfinity X1. Everything is right there on your TV. You get a voice remote.

You talk into the remote, and you say, fantasy football. And whammy, all of your scores come up. You can see roster trends. You can see matchup information. It's really cool. I'm glad I got a chance to see it this week. Again, with Xfinity X1, never miss a moment. Get live CBS Sports fantasy football stats in the same place you watch games.

Learn more at Xfinity.com slash sports. Xfinity.com slash sports. Dave, I want you to take a listen to this Forte interview. Find out the official best pizza, New York or Chicago style. That's easy. It's Chicago. No, I disagree. We'll let Matt Forte break the tie and find out,

do running backs suffer more when they take hits from defensive linemen as opposed to defensive backs? How does he feel about your theory, you know, a common theory about running backs breaking down after about 2,000 carries, 200 catches? Interesting stuff. Nice guy. Awesome interview.

Dave, thank you very much, and I'll talk to you Saturday night. See you. Here's Matt Forte,, and I'll talk to you Saturday night. See you. Here's Matt Forte, everybody. Thanks for listening to Fantasy Football today. Another show coming tomorrow as we recap week four. All right, what an honor to be here in New York City talking to Matt Forte. Matt, thank you so much for coming on Fantasy Football today. No problem.

Thanks for having me. And now you're here for Comcast. Tell us what you're doing here. Yeah, I'm here excited to tell you and all the fantasy owners and fans out there about how Comcast has teamed up with CBS and has provided something awesome for them on the Xfinity X1 platform where while they're watching games, they don't have to leave the game or take their eyes off of it while they're watching that

or to check their fantasy football team or check the stats of anybody. They can do it right there on the TV. And, uh, it's pretty cool because it brings up all the stats, um, in real time on fantasy, which sounds funny because it's fantasy,

but in real time, but, um, brings up all the stats, uh, brings up your team, your fantasy team. If you're,

um, in a CBS league where, uh, you can see how your team's doing, the, how the players are doing on there and compare, uh, different players or different teams and bring up a lot of information and statistics for you right there. But the best thing about it, actually, I think is how you can prepare for a game coming up

where you kind of you can do your homework right there on the TV and you don't have to click off or go on your computer or cell phone. Yeah, I just saw a demo of it, actually, and what you're talking about is really cool. So during the week as we prepare for the games and we tell people who to start and sit, one of the things we look at is how many fantasy points do players score, do quarterbacks score against X team,

and that's what you're talking about. You can see all those matchups. You can see which players have good matchups. It's really cool. And I want you to play fantasy football again. I know you used to play fantasy football. We've got to get you in a league next year. And from what I understand, maybe asking a kicker to be in a fantasy football league would be a good idea.

Yeah, that's a better idea. They have a lot more time on their hands than we do. A lot of times kickers, they go out there. They're specialists. They're not having long meetings like we have. So no discredit to them. Their job job is very important but they have a little more time on their hands than we do all right now let's talk football first of all congratulations on the week three win thank you big win for you guys and now you've got jacksonville and cleveland coming

up you've got a chance to really maybe go to three and two and get back into the picture and how are you guys feeling right now i'm feeling feeling good. I think last week we played well as a full team, offense, defense, and special teams, and I think each game, if we can do that. Our defense played lights out last week, and with JGI, to stop the running game like they did was pinnacle in us winning that game. Made a lot of fantasy owners very disappointed, by the way. J.J. was supposed to be pretty big. Unfortunately, you know, that's how the nature of the game goes.

And, you know, our offense, I mean, Josh McCown was on fire out there. You know, Robbie Anderson had a big play right before halftime where we were able to score. And, you know, when we came out and after halftime and continued to run the ball pretty successfully, our offensive line did a good job up front against, you know, Cameron Wake and Domkin Su, which are two, you know, premier defensive linemen in this league. So our offensive line did a good job with that and, you know, special teams came in and played with our punter who, you know, had, I think, almost a 50-yard net for the day.

So if we play together like that as a team, I think we can get back to pass 500 or get to 3-2 in the next two weeks. All right, now for fantasy purposes, we don't like running back by committee, but the Jets got one for sure, and you got some good backs. What can we expect from the Jets backfield going forward yeah um this can continue um you know he's going to continue to rotate us like we have been um you know I don't mind it because we get to stay fresh when you're out there uh you know when I was in Chicago for you know eight years I had to play every single down you know basically and And this gives you a chance to be

healthier longer during the season. But also you get a little break during during the game where you're not so worn out, you know, because you're taking every snap. I mean, you know, it's it's fun to go out there and to be, you know, at your full potential on every single play. So I look forward to doing that type of stuff. So that's interesting. I guess there's the school of thought maybe that running backs need a lot of work to get into a rhythm and they'll be better in the second half or something like that. So where are you in those two different schools of thoughts?

Keep me fresh or give me a lot of work and let me get going. It's a fine line between each one of them. I think it works well when you can rotate backs like that and it's a change of pace. Different styles too because in the second half it's kind change of pace you know different styles too because uh you know in the second half it's kind of when you know the running game really gets going when you get into a rhythm

and you you try to wear teams down because you know there comes a point in the game whether that be four minute offense or if you're uh trying to keep the ball away from the other team's offense where you have to run the ball and run it a lot in the second half and if you can wear down the defense with multiple backs, then that makes it easier on you. Now, one of our fantasy analysts on CBS, Dave Richard, he talks a lot about running backs that enter a season with about 2,000 carries, 200 catches.

It's kind of a red flag. How do you feel about that? Is it harder now? You've had so much tread on the tires. Do you take longer to recover from injuries? I know you're dealing with a toe injury that you said is not so bad right now, but should fantasy owners, I know you don't really care about that, but is this a time when it's difficult for running backs

to really have a lot of success after so much work? I mean, the statistics speak to that, but it depends on, I think, the player and the system that he may be in. If he's in a system where they're going to give it to him still after that many carries and catches, they're going to still give it to him 20, 30 times a game, he may be productive but maybe not for long because of so much of the load. But if there's a guy who had that much and he can kind of, you know,

somebody's there to take the load off of him in certain, you know, situations and stuff, then he can still be successful and stay healthy. I mean, nobody can predict, you know, when you're going to get an injury or what happens, and this game is full of them. So it's kind of inevitable that you would avoid it, especially a running back. But, you know, you got to take your chances. Is there a big difference between being hit by a defensive lineman on a carry, let's say, and by a linebacker or a defensive back on a catch?

You're obviously very good in the passing game as well. No, not so much. Sometimes, you know, well, sometimes it is because D linemen are obviously way heavier than defensive backs and linebackers. But when you get out to, you know, catching the ball, you know, well, sometimes it is because D linemen are obviously way heavier than defensive backs and linebackers. But when you get out to, you know, catching the ball, you know, deep like that or, you know, out in the open in the field, sometimes the speed of the hit is a little worse than the weight of a D lineman. So, you know, it kind of adds up to kind of both kind of shaking out the same almost. All right, let's get a little personal. personal so i gotta ask you the big controversial question it's gonna alienate half your fan base but you're the best person to ask chicago style pizza or new york

style pizza i knew you're gonna say that oh man i thought it was a clever question it is it is okay it is um well for for me i i like thin crust pizza because there's so much so much dough like i can only eat deep dish like maybe once every five years because after you eat it you had one pizza in chicago in eight years no i had i had it a few times but it's like man after you feel it you just hate yourself after eating so much i went to chicago last year for the first time i was like this is good but but, man, this is heavy. Yeah, yeah. I mean, as soon as you eat it, you feel 20 pounds heavier.

Well, good answer. Thank you. All right, tell me a little bit about, I'm going to give you some stadiums. I just want you to tell me about Soldier Field. Soldier Field, man, it's a remarkable place to play in and a team to play for. I mean, I still have memories of now just walking out, you know, out of the tunnel when they call your name, and especially like on an opening day when you're at home for the first game

of the season and everybody's stadium's packed. So that's a great stadium to play in. A lot of history there, you know, guys like Walter Payton, who played there as well, and 85 Bears and stuff. So it's a great venue to play at. Lambeau Field. Lambeau Field? Not so much. When you play for the Bears and you drive into Lambeau Field,

I mean, it's like weird. You're driving, you're on a bus, and you're riding through a neighborhood, and then boom, the stadium pops up. It's like, wow, that's weird. It's right in the middle of a neighborhood, but it's only a nice place to play there if you get a win. Do you like going to a hostile environment? Or would you rather just kind of go to a calm place where the fans aren't that into it?

Early in my career, you know, it was kind of like, you know, I didn't really care. I always liked home games. But now, I mean, I like home games. But, you know, I welcome the competition of going into a hostile environment because that's what the sport is all about is to compete. And there's nothing better than going to a away game and getting a win there in their stadium. Because you can even when you're on the bus headed to the airport, like the the feel of the victory is still there. And you can all see the fans like, you know, from all that tailgating and all that stuff for no reason. How do you like MetLife?

MetLife is really nice. I mean, we got a very nice locker room. It's really cool. You know, when we come in from halftime, you can actually see the fans that are there like right there behind the bench and there's like a lounge area where they can see us and stuff going into the locker room. A great stadium.

I mean, it's bigger than Soldier Field, which I was used to, you know, playing at. Huge. Huge stadium. And, you know, I just love hearing the Jets chant right when kickoff takes off. Very cool. What's Jay Cutler like? You know, as football fans, we watch on TV, and the commentators don't often have the nicest things to say.

But, you know, you played with him. What's he like? Jay's cool, man. Everybody, you know, gives him a bad rap, and the commentators do. That's why I think it'll be funny when he starts commentating or being in the broadcast booth. Maybe he can give some of those guys a hard time. But everybody, you know, talks about body language, which, which you know people look at body language more than what you actually say and the way Jay is is you know the camera's always on him so much

and he gets a bad rap from that but I mean I've seen him grow from you know when he first got to Chicago to you know being a husband having kids and being a father and stuff like that I see him grow as a man. And so, you know, he's a good friend of mine. All right, just a couple more questions. Wikipedia says you like Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3. Is that true? It is about Call of Duty.

Halo, I struggled with Halo because I wasn't as good. But Call of Duty I was way better at. So definitely was a lot of Call of Duty played in my basement before I had kids. My wife was so mad because she had to just sit there and watch. Soon enough they'll be old enough to play with you, right? And I can't wait for that. I can't wait for that because I played video games against my dad and used to crush him. But he used to love playing it against me, so I can't wait until my kids like video games so I can do it to them.

But not when they're good enough to beat you. That not going to be fun and uh what's what's the future like for you how long you want to play i don't know about when i was younger and i was in my fourth fifth you know sixth year in the league i asked a lot of the uh the guys in their 10th you know year going you know further uh how much longer they wanted to play and the answer was always you know consensus was pretty much you know you take it. And the answer was always, you know, consensus was pretty much, you know, you take it year by year after that and, you know, how you feel, how your body feels and that stuff. But also, you know, people, you know, talk about, you know,

not only how you feel but, like, you know, your family life and, you know, wanting to be there when the kids are getting older and all that type of stuff. So, you know, it just depends on how everything shakes out you know um you know no telling where i'll be at you know i have an unguaranteed guaranteed year left with the jets which is next year you know no telling if i'll be there or you know they may release me whatever you know happens so it's a lot of circumstances to kind of figure out and a lot of things to shake out to see what happens well good, good luck. We really enjoyed watching you over the years, owning you on our fantasy teams. You've given fantasy players a lot of glory. Thanks for coming on Fantasy Football today.

No problem. Thank you. That's Matt Forte. Thanks for listening, everybody.