Fantasy Football Today - 10/27 Fantasy Football Podcast: Start or Sit (NFC); Collins or Ajayi ROS?

Episode Date: October 27, 2017

Recapping the Thursday night blowout (2:05) and wondering if Alex Collins is better than Jay Ajayi going forward ... Dave had a weird dream about Adam (8:33). Also, the impact of the injuries on the WAS offensive line, the No Touchdowns Club (16:44), Beat the Waiver Wire (18:40) and Week 8 Bold Predictions (22:28) ... HOU-SEA (24:15), SF-PHI (35:00), CAR-TB (42:00), DAL-WAS (49:14), CHI-NO (54:21), PIT-DET (58:45) and a FanDuel lineup ... Email us at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Here we go! Get your lineup set. It's time for Star Dwarf 6. Let's go! Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and T. Friday. Happy Friday, everybody.

Getting ready for the weekend. It is October 27th. Getting ready for Halloween. Got some fun times ahead. We've got some fun football coming up, hopefully, here in week eight. Not such a great start. 40-0 Baltimore over the Dolphins. This is Fantasy Football today. We've got a Saturday mailbag coming up.

That's going to be me and Heath answering your questions. Right now, it's me, Adam Azer, and I meant to sound like that was two different people. It's not just one person. You and Adam Azer. Yeah, a lot of hosts today. And Dave Richard. Hey, good morning. Good morning. How are you, bud? Doing well. Jamie's going to be joining us in maybe 10, 15 minutes. He's got some video assignments in the morning there in Fort Lauderdale, so he's going to jump in probably after we talk about the Thursday night game. Anything going on in your life, Dave? Anything big?

Anything going on in my life? Just a normal weekend? You had the big weekend last weekend. Yeah, no, it's going to be a chill-out weekend after last weekend. Big life events. You know what? Usually followed by relaxing. I had a crazy dream last night.

Right. I wanted to talk about that. Can we do that after the ball? I'll do it whenever you want. It's G-rated. Okay, good. So just remind me. Very friendly dream.

Friendly dream. If I forget, maybe you were dreaming about FanDuel. FanDuel is awesome. I don't know if I dream about FanDuel, but I'm currently setting a lineup. As we speak, I have two more spots to fill. Go to FanDuel.com, I don't know if I dream about FanDuel, but I'm currently setting a lineup as we speak. I have two more spots to fill.

Go to FanDuel.com, click the Join Now button, and use the code CBSPOD, and you're going to get free entry into the NFL Sunday Million with over a million dollars in cash prizes. That's a lot of money you can play for free when you use the code CBSPOD on your first deposit on FanDuel.com. Void where prohibited. All right, so we will start with the game. We will go to Bold Predictions, Beat the Waiver Wire, the No Touchdowns Club, the Bonanza. We'll talk about it.

We'll talk about it. And I'm really looking forward to previewing Houston-Seattle. That will be our first game of the six NFC home games. Baltimore 40, Miami nothing. And here's an – yeah, awful. Here's an email from John. How about that cat last night, huh? Shake and bake. I think the Dolphins need to give the cat some work and bench Jay Ajayi.

Well, the cat's definitely with the Ravens, not the Dolphins. That's true. It loves the color purple. Terrible. You dog, you. Ah. Yeah, the cat was fun. It was like two minutes left of the game,

and it was an adorable cat dancing, prancing around the field, turning upfield and avoiding the sideline. But who would you rather have rest of the season, Dave? Jay Ajayi or Alex Collins, who had his breakout game? I thought you were going to ask me if I'd rather have the cat. It's Ajayi because I don't think Alex Collins is going to be in a position to do what he did week in and week out. But there's no doubt that he's now the best running back in Baltimore.

In case there was any doubt, it's wiped out now. But you see their matchups coming up. Actually, at tennessee should be fairly decent for him maybe i'm wrong here then the buy then at green bay i think that's another game that alex collins could do well in houston at home after that detroit at home after that maybe i should have looked at the schedule a little bit more closely i think, the schedule is not everything. There's two factors in play. One, obviously the schedule. Later in the year, they've got a game at Pittsburgh.

That's not going to be a good one. Maybe the game versus Detroit will be tough. But number two, if they don't have a passing game to go with, teams are going to start to key in on the run, and he's not going to play on third downs. That's just still going to be Buck Allen's territory, and it could become Danny Woodhead's territory when he comes back. So there's a lot of excitement about Collins,

and maybe there are a couple games coming up where he'll get 15-plus carries. But the thing I'm most excited about is that he finally started to play in the red zone, near the goal line. But they didn't give him all the goal line work. It was so frustrating. It was frustrating. They got cute down there, and they went with Allen, who didn't even get in. And when Allen couldn't score, and one time when he was close to scoring, he fumbled the football into the end zone.

Oh, God, the Chris Moore. It was a great story. The Chris Moore touchdown. That's right, buddy. Well, just to say, I solicited some advice. I needed some advice. Do I start Chris Moore or Mike Gillisley? Someone told me to start Chris Moore, and he didn't catch one pass,

but he fell on a ball in the end zone that was fumbled, and he scored, and that counted for me. So he'll probably, six fantasy points is probably better than what Gillislee will give me. Unless Gillislee scores, right? Yeah, well, he ain't going to score, whatever. All right, so what's your answer, Dave? Not calling him Gilly Boy anymore. It's still Ajayi, but it's a lot closer than you think.

Is Ajayi a guy that you can rely on? Number two running back. I think the Dolphins can bounce back from this. Let's talk about their schedule coming up. They've got Oakland next at home. I think that could be the ultimate get-right game. This is a Raiders defense on the road now two weeks in a row for Week 9. And that should be an opponent that the Dolphins offensive line can beat up a little bit

and Ajayi can run well against. I would say next week is the make-or-break week for Ajayi. Yeah, look, they touched on it on the broadcast. The Dolphins have been one of the best teams in football since October 16th of last year, so like a calendar year plus some. At that point, they ran off a six-game winning streak. They won nine out of ten. Within that stretch, they lost 38-6 to Baltimore on the road.

So Baltimore's had their number. Baltimore's crushed them twice. They responded with three straight wins after that Baltimore loss last year, home against Arizona at the Jets and at the Bills. And they scored 26 or more points in all three games. So, you know, this is not dooming Miami's season. They played a horrible game. And, yeah, they could get right.

Jay Ajayi needs better game script. They need to win because he needs more carries. They got behind. Also, if you missed it, they had a screen pass set up for Jay Ajayi. That was a great play call, and it was a touchdown if he caught it. He did catch it, but he fell to the ground as he was catching the ball. You could see the look on Adam Gase's face. He was really angry because he knew he had a touchdown dialed up.

Tony Romo was talking about it, so this could have been a better game. But, no, I mean, people are going to be frustrated. I guess I'll ask you Ajayi or Smallwood, rest of season. I'll still say Ajayi, pending Sunday's game. Ajayi or Hyde? Hyde. All right. Again, pending Sunday's game.

Same game as Smallwood. All right. Any interest in Jeremy Macklin? Not really. It was a great play, great throw by Flacco. But this is the other problem with Alex Collins being this super-duper breakout is if Joe Flacco misses a couple of weeks now because of this hit he took, and it was a vicious hit, I don't care what you call it,

Ryan Mallett's going to be under center. He's not very good. He can't make throws like the one Flacco made to Macklin. Flacco wasn't making throws like the one he made to Macklin. So I'm not ready to load back up on Macklin. I don't think we have to go too much in-depth on this game. Hopefully you started the Ravens defense. And you saw Joe Flacco, by the way, is in the concussion protocol.

That was ugly, and that was scary. And then it got uglier. Miami defensive end William Hayes poked Baltimore offensive lineman Austin Howard in the eye. There's video of it. I mean, he poked him right in the eye. And then Dominick and Sue grabbed Brian Mallett by the throat. So these idiots, I don't know what they're doing. And they could be suspended next week against the Raiders, which would be interesting.

I think Alonzo will. Yeah, right. Maybe Sue. Maybe all three of them. Probably not. I'm not in a position to make that call. I don't know. Probably not.

And then Kenny Stills led the Dolphins in receiving. He had 10 targets. He had five catches for 65 yards. This was a bad day for the Dolphins. There's no question. And let's see, 15% of people started Jeremy Macklin. And Ben Watson was only 19% owned. He caught a six-yard.

He had two catches for six yards and a touchdown. So, Dave. Yeah. You had a dream last night? Yeah, I had a strange dream. I don't remember exactly how it started. I'll pick it up from what I remember. I was in our office cafeteria. And you were there. I don't remember exactly how it started. I'll pick it up from what I remember.

I was in our office cafeteria, and you were there. It was just you, and you had two naked taco breakfast tacos from Taco Bell. With the fried egg? Right. So the outside is like a fried egg. I don't know how they do this. I've never had one. First of all. I've been tempted by it.

Yeah, I'm not really that tempted by it. by i love taco bell i'm not really that into that but you say i'm in the cafeteria with two naked and then breakfast tacos is the next thing that comes out of your mouth like that was really that was a letdown right there but well a letdown i thought that would be a relief anyway Anyway, they're covered in bacon. So these are naked tacos with bacon on the inside, little bacon bits on the inside. And like I said, I've been interested in having one. You offered me one. I took a few bites.

I didn't like it. And that was the end of the dream. So you were not a fan? I was not a fan of the naked taco in my dream. But you were just as generous in my dream as you are in real life. You gave me half of your meal. You're a swell guy. Thank you.

That's a really boring dream. Yeah, usually I have better dreams than that. Some that I can't say on the podcast and others that have to do with football. I've had dreams where players have a big game. And then they go out and they have a big game, and sometimes they don't. When was the last time you had fast food? It's been a while. I'm trying to cut that out of my life. Good for you, Dave.

Good for you. Well, next time you have it, picture me with you there, two naked somethings, and we'll have a nice time. Now you made it weird. I won't be naked. You can picture me in my Ind, two naked somethings, and we'll have a nice time. Now you made it weird. I won't be naked. You can picture me in my Indochino suit instead. Indochino.com, buy a suit. The promo code is FFT for Indochino's best deal ever. FFT is the code on Indochino.com.

You can shop. You can do everything online. It's really easy. Dave, I was an idiot for a long time. I didn't realize how important it is to look good. Not all the time, but I don't look that good right now. But if I go out to a wedding, if I go out to an important function, I want to dress well. It's important. It makes a statement about you. And it's expensive, but not with Indochino. Indochino makes it easy and affordable. So I love my Indochino suit. I get compliments all the time when I wear it. I'm planning on getting another one.

You can have a custom made-to-measure premium suit for Indochino's best price ever, which is $359. These types of suits go for $800 or more. This is $359 on Indochino.com with the code FFT at checkout. So go to Indochino.com. Design the suit. Every detail, including the monogram on the jacket lining. That's really fun. It's go to Indochino.com, design the suit, every detail, including the monogram on the jacket lining. That's really fun. It's going to fit you great. You're going to look great. You're going to be excited to wear it. Again, $359 for any premium suit when you enter

the code FFT during checkout. That's 50% off the regular price for a made-to-measure premium suit, free shipping, amazing deal, Indochino.com. FFT is the promo code. News and notes, Danny Amendola may not play this week. He's questionable with a hyperextended knee. They have the Chargers coming to town. Dave, we have an email from Andres. I was wondering if I should drop Danny Amendola for Doxon, Juju Smith-Schuster,

or Jordan Matthews in a PPR league? I would do it if he doesn't play this week. And then you basically turn that roster spot into a player that you're speculating on. And you can do it with either Doxon or Juju. A little worried about Doxon ever being a high-catch guy. Don't know if he's going to get a lot of targets from week to week. I think the Redskins have kind of settled on spreading the ball around. Might cap himself at five or six targets per game for Doxon.

Yeah, the thing is, Amendola's got to buy next week. So keep that in mind. He has a good call. He hasn't been good lately either. He's like 40 yards most games. Right. He's playing with a bad knee. He's really only usable in PPR, and he was limited in practice on Thursday,

so I'd say he has a chance to play. This might be a decision that you make Sunday morning. Yeah, hyperextended knee, that doesn't sound great. All right, but you said out of Doxon, Juju, and Matthews, Doxon would be your favorite if you were going to drop Amendola? I might actually go with Juju in a PPR just to see how he does this week, what his role is against Pittsburgh or against Detroit. We don't expect Martavis Bryant to play. Maybe it's the start of bigger

things to come. If Smith-Schuster goes out there and has a big game, you're going to want him on your fantasy team, and Martavis Bryant won't be back on the field anytime soon. San Francisco wide receiver Marquise Goodwin is questionable with a back injury. Carson Palmer's on IR, so he's out until at least week 16. Josh Norman could play this week. And I think this is one of the major storylines of the week. Could the Redskins be without four starters on their offensive line? And they will be without their top backup offensive tackle.

He's out for a few weeks. Yep. But, I mean, this takes – there is no reason not to love Kirk Cousins this week, except maybe he'll be without – I doubt all four are going to miss the game. But bottom line, this is a bad look for the Redskins O-line, Dave. It definitely is. And my guess is that Trent Williams will play, but he's playing through some

ankle issues, and I think he's just going to try and tough it out, but he could leave the game. And if that happens, especially against that defense, there could be a lot of trouble ahead. Dallas' pass rush has been really, really impressive lately. Yeah, they have, I think, 22-ish sacks on the year, which is a pretty good number for six games. And I was so excited about Rob Kelly getting healthy. Because I thought he was going to run behind. One of the best offensive lines. I thought he was going to get 15 carries or so a game.

I thought he was going to be really good in standard. Totally sneaky by low. Or even pick up off waivers. Don't really feel that way right now. Because this is a great matchup for him against Dallas. We're going to preview this game. But after this it's at Seattle and Minnesota. So can you trust Rob Kelly. Without his offensive line. And then this week. And then Seattle and Minnesota. So can you trust Rob Kelly without

his offensive line and then this week and then Seattle and Minnesota and his next two games? I don't know that you need to own Kelly. It's a shame because I really liked having him. I don't know that you need to own him. What do you think? Would you own Rob Kelly? I've got him in a couple of leagues and I would love to trade him. I'd love to package him with another player on my team and turn him into one better player. The problem is that people will realize what you just said, and it's a really good call, that it's not going to pan out

so soon for him. And if you cut him, you kind of feel like you're giving him away for nothing. Alright, here's good news for some owners, bad news for the Marvin Jones owners. Golden Tate looks like he's going to play this week. Sunday night game against Pittsburgh, coming back much sooner than we thought. But, yep, that game is on today's slate.

We'll talk about it. Dave, do you expect the following players who are on the injury report? Melvin Gordon at New England. Yes, I expect him to play. Emmanuel Sanders at Kansas City on Monday. No. Matt Forte against Atlanta. I think Forte will play.

There's a story in one of the papers in New Jersey about Forte possibly getting traded. Really? Which makes sense. Last year of his deal, I believe, for the Jets. Maybe they get a little something for him. So would you like to own Bilal Powell? I want you to say the team name that you have with Bilal Powell's name. Don't forget to bring a Powell.

There it is. He's 92% bring a Powell. There it is. He's 92% out. Powell is stashy. Okay. But like you said, he's pretty highly out. What about Elijah McGuire? Deeper leagues. If you really definitely have a dead roster spot and he's out there, you could do it.

Okay, so Juju Smith-Schuster, do you expect him to play? Yeah, I think he's going to have a chance to play. And Stefan Diggs. This is exciting. Practiced in full on Thursday. We'll see what he does on Friday. That practice might wrap up while we're recording the podcast. And I think he's got a great shot to play and play well against Cleveland. So Dave, as we wait for Jamie to get in, we've got the no touchdowns club, which I think is going to be a regular thing. I think we can do a fun game out of it.

We'll do it like golf, lowest score wins. So every time you're wrong, you get a point, and you want the fewest points at the end of the year, obviously. But the thing is, you and I are the only ones competing this week, so we've got to get it right so we don't lose ground to Jamie and Heath, who got it right last week with Julio and McCoy. You and I said, I think, Demarius and Ajayi. So a good thing I didn't put Ajayi in the no touchdowns club this week. One of us probably would have taken him. So here are the guys I came up with. Pick one to score a touchdown. Rob Kelly, Crowell, Forte, Rawls, Lacey,

Thielen, Demarius, Garcon, and Tyler Lockett. It's getting tough. Kelly, Crowell, Forte, Rawls, Lacey, Thielen, Demarius, Garcon, Tyler Lockett. I'm giving myself first pick because I gave you priority last week. Okay. I have to take Demarius Thomas, right? That's the obvious guy here. So Demarius is my guy. Well, that seems like the obvious guy. And I feel like you could pick him each week

and feel like you've got a chance to be correct on it. But he's been incorrect for the last 12 games. I'm going to take a guy that will touch the ball more than Thomas. It's Matt Forte. That's who I was going to take. That was my second pick. Because he'll get a handful of carries, and he should get plenty of catches too. And I can't help but wonder if he's going to end up cashing in against Atlanta.

I think he's got a good chance to do it. All right, now GM, honestly, if you were on the clock with the first pick, would you have taken Demarius or Forte? I think I would have taken Thomas because of the matchup against Kansas City and because I think the Broncos have to try and bounce back after two very embarrassing losses. Let's play Beat the Waver Wire. Looking at Fantasy Week 9.

I'm telling you, there's not a lot here. So we can probably do this quickly. But yeah, there are six teams on by next week. Here's some DSTs you might want to target. The Rams are 68% owned. They're at the Giants and they're playing better. The Cardinals are at San Francisco. The Lions are at Green Bay.

The Rams, the Cardinals, and the Lions, these three teams can't be highly owned. I mean, two of them are on by, and the Lions are facing the Steelers this week. So those are some DSTs. Which one's your favorite of those three, Dave? The Rams, the Cardinals at San Francisco, or the Lions? I think I'd probably say the Cardinals because of the matchup that they have at San Francisco. But I'm curious why you don't have the Giants on that list. You know, I don't think they – well, the Rams are the highest scoring team in the NFL, I think.

If they're not the highest, they're right up there. I don't think the Giants have that good of a DST. They don't really force a lot of turnovers. It's fair. They'll probably have Olivier Vernon back. I would think they would, and they'll have the Rams at home in Week 9, and then they're at San Francisco in Week 10. So the matchup that we like with the Cardinals in Week 9,

you get with the Giants in Week 10, and you get the Rams at home with the Giants coming off a bye on top of it. They're not a very good DST. They're on the field probably all the time. Offense sucks. They've had one good game this year, and it was at Denver. They had to pick six. That's why.

CJ Fedorowicz might be able to play next week at Indianapolis. That could be kind of sneaky. What do you think? Eh. Yeah, right. He doesn't excite me. And then, unfortunately, this guy's already like 85% owned. Ted Ginn's got Tampa Bay next week.

So the Bears this week, Tampa Bay next week. Yeah, man. I didn't really have much. It was a pretty lousy week of beat the waiver wire. Any running backs that you would speculate on? I didn't really see any. Also, yeah, well, I was going to bring up something about the Eagles, but not worth bringing up.

No? Are you going to start LeGarrette Blount this week? Absolutely. Okay. Because I was going to say if you weren't, his next two games are Denver and then a bye, his next two weeks. So you could theoretically cut him loose, but you should be starting Blunt because he's got a great matchup.

No, I don't see running backs, Dave. Adam, what about Darren McFadden? I've been making the case all week. Yeah, of course you should own Darren McFadden. I think McFadden, I think Matt Forte and Bilal Powell, Martavis Bryant, all these players that could come into some newfound fantasy value by the time the trade deadline ends are worth kind of keeping around. Worst case scenario, you keep them until Tuesday.

The trade deadline passes. Nothing goes on. You move on from them. And that's really in the case of Bryant. McFadden isn't necessarily a trade deadline type of player, but when we get the word about Ezekiel Elliott and whether or not he's suspended, well, you'd like to have that guy on your team in case the suspension is upheld for six games. And I think you should consult Heath's stash column because there are a lot of guys

that maybe aren't waiver wire specific, but Josh Doxson I think is still under-owned. And I've seen Terrell Pryor dropped in some leagues. I don't know if there's a great reason to pick him up, but I still feel like there's potential there. Eventually you have to throw down outside receivers. I don't know if I'd feel the same way. With his playing time going down? Yeah, I don't know if that's a one-week thing or not.

I don't know either. It's a concern. Corey Davis is available in 60% of leagues. There you go. Kenny Galladay, when he comes back, hopefully he can. He's the third receiver now. He is, but he's a deep threat for that Lions team that throws a lot. All right, do you have any bold predictions for Week 8?

I've got one. It's not necessarily fantasy-centric, but I think the Chargers beat the Patriots. Oh, interesting. I think Melvin Gordon, I've moved him up quite a bit since the week started. I think he can have a big week. Hunter Henry will have a big week. Keenan Allen gets a get-right week. Phillip Rivers should probably move up a little bit in my rankings.

But the loss of Dante Hightower in the middle of that defense for New England, I think that's huge. Yeah, it is. My bold prediction is that Matthew Stafford is a top-10 quarterback this week. Well, with Golden Tate coming back, I think that has a chance of hitting. Yeah, and it is bold because you guys have him around 20th, and I'm not suggesting you start him. You don't make start-sit decisions

based on a bold prediction. But I just don't think they can run the ball. They don't have a good running game. It's not that the Steelers have such a great run defense, but I just don't trust the Lions' running game. I think they're going to have to throw. And, you know, the Steelers do so well against wide receivers. They do so well against quarterbacks, but they haven't really faced a receiver who's gotten a ton of targets.

My original prediction was that Marvin Jones was going to have the best game of any wide receiver against Pittsburgh. But then I saw Golden Tate was probably going to play. That changed things. I don't know how that distributes the targets. But I think Stafford could be all right. I have to start him in one league. It's him or Bortles. Bortles is on a bye, so I think I'll just bite the bullet with Stafford.

No, it's not. Nothing on the waiver wire. It's him or McCown. It's him or McCown. I forgot I dropped Bortles for McCown. So that's going to be a tough decision for me. I think I'm going to start Stafford, Dave. All right.

Well, good luck. Thank you. Let's go to the games. If you'll permit me, though, I would like to skip the Bonanza this week. Oh, by all means. All right. No Bonanza this week. It was going to be Dallas-Washington, but all that offensive line stuff, no.

Houston is at Seattle. And here's your stat of the game. Wide receivers with eight or more targets against Seattle. First of all, do you think DeAndre Hopkins will get eight or more targets? Yes. All right, here's what they've done. Eight or more targets against Seattle this year. Jordy Nelson, 13 fantasy points in standard.

Randall Cobb, eight fantasy points. Rashard Matthews, 14. Robert Woods, six. Cooper Cupp only had four, but he dropped the game-winning touchdown. He could have had like 11, maybe more. I don't remember how long that pass was. So I see Nelson Matthews with 13 and 14 points. I see Cobb with 8.

I see Cupp who could have had double digits. What do you think about DeAndre Hopkins? Well, you're starting DeAndre Hopkins if you have him. The real question is whether or not you use him in daily, and to answer the question about whether or not he'll get eight or more targets, he's gotten that in all but one game. The only time he didn't get it was against Cleveland, and that was a game that the Texans rolled in.

They didn't have to necessarily throw a ton in that game. You're the high guy on Hopkins, though. You have him top ten. I'm the high guy on a lot of Texans this week, and the reason why is because I think that they're a pretty good team. There are certain things that worry me. I don't know if that offensive line can hold up. And that's typically something that I look at and I value. But if Dwayne Brown's playing, I think that helps. And I think that Deshaun Watson, he's worked around that offensive line so far. I think he can do it again. It's obviously a tough environment to play in. I don't see a game script where Deshaun Watson

doesn't attempt a bunch of passes. We've seen him put up garbage time numbers in wins, in losses, on the road, at home. I would not be surprised if he attempts over 35 passes in this game. He hasn't done that yet this year. He's averaging over seven yards per attempt. It's way more than that if you throw out his first two games. I think he's going to fall into production. I think he's going to finish as the top 12 quarterback. He's not ranked high. I believe I have him 10th.

Yeah. You have Watson. Yeah, you are the high guy. Put it in perspective. Dave has Watson 10th. Jamie has Watson 14th. Heath has Watson 15th. Dave has Hopkins around 10th in standard and 13th in PPR. Jamie has DeAndre Hopkins 15th. Heath has Hopkins around 20th in standard and PPR. So Dave is the high guy. Now, man, it's tough to score 20 fantasy points for a quarterback at

Seattle. I looked at every quarterback over the last two seasons at Seattle. It was tough, but it actually wasn't quite as hard as I thought. In 2015, three quarterbacks out of eight scored 20 or more fantasy points. One was Cam Newton. One was Carson Palmer. He had 48 pass attempts. One was Ben Roethlisberger. He had 55 pass attempts.

I don't know if you can bank on that. In 2016, nine quarterbacks played at Seattle. They had a playoff game. And two quarterbacks scored 20 or more. They both scored 27 fantasy points. That was Matt Ryan and Tyrod Taylor. You'll notice that the league MVP, Cam Newton, did it in 2015. Matt Ryan in 2016.

But I will also say that with Ryan and Taylor last year, they scored 27 fantasy points apiece. Cam Chancellor missed both those games. So we know it's a tough place to go in and put up numbers. So how many fantasy points are you expecting from Deshaun Watson? I'm ballparking him between 20 and 25. Not one of these crazy 40-point games where he has five touchdowns. No one's expecting that, which is why I'm ranking him among other quarterbacks

that are in that same type of range. Yeah, so you go Dalton 9, Watson 10, Taylor 11, Phillip Rivers 12. It's a pretty interesting group there. And I'll tell you what, I think the guy I've had the most trouble with this week is Phillip Rivers because I think there's a chance he can go to new england the cross-country trip totally lay an egg we know that this patriots defense has been getting better but we also know that philip rivers has been playing a little bit better of late and it should be a game where he's going to have to throw a decent amount of passes i think melvin gordon's going to get a lot of run

too melvin will also catch a lot of passes. So I go back and forth on Rivers. There's something Jamie actually said on the show yesterday about how the Patriots have been bad against quarterbacks all season long. The only one that wasn't good was Matt Ryan, and Rivers isn't Ryan because Ryan just isn't himself. I just don't want to spend too much time on Rivers just because, you know, we've got to talk about the Seattle-Houston game. Okay, but I'm just saying, I think for me these are close calls for guys like Jamie. I know that he doesn't like Deshaun Watson. He'll easily start Phillip Rivers ahead of Deshaun Watson.

Totally understand why. It's going to come down to how you feel about the Seattle Seahawks defense and the New England Patriots defense, I think. But you can't discount what Deshaun Watson's done this year. All right, what about Lamar Miller? Worried about him, too. I'm worried that he won't score because he hasn't done much of that this season. And certainly catching passes is how he's going to have to make numbers.

I think he's a low-end number two running back this week. I hear the rumbling of Jamie Eisenberg. Yo. There he is. Hey, I got a question for you. Uh-huh. Do you know more about football than a former football player? Of course.

You do? Yeah, obviously. I know more than John Beeson, I'm assuming, is who you were talking about. Yes. Where is this coming from? I asked John if Jerry Maguire is a football movie. So stupid. Without hesitation, he said it's the best football movie.

It's not a football movie. It's one of my favorite movies, but it's not a football movie. The best football movie. Yeah, okay, great. He's not a movie buff. Talk to me. Calm down there, Skippy. No, it's ridiculous.

This, like, I concede Caddyshack is a golf movie. If I had said it wasn't, I was— He's finally come around on it. I was wrong. There's no wayyshack is a golf movie. If I had said it wasn't, I was – He's finally come around on it. I was wrong. There's no way Jerry Maguire is a football movie. Look, if the movie were called Rod Tidwell, it would be a football movie. But it's about Jerry Maguire. He doesn't even play football.

It's not a football movie. You can tell John Beeson. Now, don't tell him anything. That would be a really bad idea. I'm not going to talk trash to John Beeson. All right. We're going to spend like too much time on this game. Jamie,

why don't you give me your counter-argument why you're not quite as high on Hopkins, who you have 15th, and Watson, who you have, I think, 14th. They're facing their best defense that they've played all season. It's easy to take apart the Patriots, the Chiefs, and the Browns. This is a much different opponent.

It's hard to get away from DeAndre Hopkins. It's hard to get away from Lamar Miller. It's easier to get away from Will Fuller. And this is an easy week to get away from Deshaun Watson. So you should bench Deshaun Watson. Yeah, Lamar Miller. Would you guys start LeGarrette Blunt or Lamar Miller? Blunt.

Blunt, easily. Would you start Deion Lewis or Lamar Miller? Lewis and standard. Miller and PPR. It's a weird thing to say. Just because, like, throw the ball to Deion Lewis or Lamar Miller? Lewis and standard. Miller and P. Pure. It's a weird thing to say. Throw the ball to Deion Lewis. We know they never do. But we know they can catch it.

Maybe they might. Makes sense. With Houston wide receivers, Hopkins is at worst at number two. And Will Fuller is what? Number three. Okay. Going over to the Seahawks. Russell Wilson, top six quarterback, 30 or more fantasy points in three of his last four games.

And the good quarterbacks that Houston has faced, they've done very well. Brady, 45 points. Alex Smith, 31 points. And Mariota, he didn't play great. He had two rushing touchdowns, though, in one half. He scored 14 points in a half. Just keep in mind, this is their first real test without Watt, without Merciless. They played one game against Cleveland.

Right, so we don't need to go too in-depth on Wilson. You're starting him. Alright, would you start a Seattle running back? Would you start a Seattle running back? They could be without their starting center. You can't trust them until you see something. Agreed. I still think it's worth stassing Thomas

Rawls. And Daryl Belville came out and said he's trying too hard, just needs to slow down a little bit. They want him to be their guy. He will be their guy. He's still going to help a lot of people down the stretch. So if you have an open roster spot, stash him. You know who should be their guy? Yeah.

Alex Collins. That's right. The Irish dancer, as Tony Romo wants us to call him. The one that got away from Seattle. Okay, so definitely Lamar Miller over Rawls. Over Rawls. Doug Baldwin, top 12. Only two wide receivers have scored more than seven fantasy points in standard scoring leagues against the Texans.

Those were in the same game, Brandon Cooks and Chris Hogan. A.J. Green scored six fantasy points. Tyreek Hill scored six fantasy points. Do you have full confidence in Doug Baldwin this week? Yeah, the A.J. Green game I threw out because that was still under Zampezi. So that was the game he complained. Plus the Texans' pass rush was a lot stronger then. Yep.

Okay. Any other Seahawks receivers? Paul Richardson is a flyer this week, certainly a DFS tournament type of play. Yeah, I'd like to see him get more targets. I mean, he had the big catch, which shouldn't have been a touchdown, and it was only on two targets that he had. And I wonder what's going to happen with Jimmy Graham after the bobbles from last week. Well, they still went back to the game.

Yeah, I think they did. I know they did, and he scored. But I wonder if they try and get him going, or do they try and limit him because of the possible mistakes that he could make. I think we'd have to see that before we base lineup decisions on that. You guys all have Graham in their top six. Yeah, there's no hesitation. He's actually been pretty solid for four games in a row now.

And the Seahawks DST. He would have been a monster last week. Yeah, he sure would have. Seahawks DST, six for Jamie, fifth for Dave, third for Heath. Texans DST you probably want to get away from this week. But as Dave mentioned. Seattle at home doesn't give up a lot of turnovers. And as Dave mentioned, you could go with Paul Richardson and Daly.

And I just finished my FanDuel lineup. We'll give you that later. But, yeah, come on. What are you waiting for? Get on FanDuel. You can play for a dollar or you can play for a lot more and try to win a lot of money. And 2.5 million players have won a cash prize playing fantasy sports on FanD including the three of us plus heath plus everybody you've heard on this podcast go to fanduel.com and click the join now button and when you do that use the code cbs pod when you do that

you get a free entry into the nfl sunday million they're giving out over a million dollars in cash prizes make your first deposit on fanduel visit fanduel.com and use the promo code CBSPOD. The promo code, again, is CBSPOD. That is void where prohibited. And I think it's great. I mean, I love FanDuel. I love playing daily fantasy football. Why? Because it's simple. It doesn't take long to make a lineup, and there's a lot of strategy involved, and you're trying to match wits with other fantasy football players. What's not to like about that? CBS pod is the code. Voidware prohibited. San Francisco at Philadelphia.

Stat of the game. Pass catching running backs against the Niners. Four touchdown catches allowed to running backs. 72 or more receiving yards allowed to a running back in three of their last four games. Ellington, Thompson, Elliott. Those three guys. So, Jamie, do you think Wendell Smallwood is a good play this week? I do. I do.

And I was actually, if you're going to ask me, I would consider starting him over Lamar Miller, just given the matchup, and maybe even Doug Martin if Keekly plays as expected in PPR. He's going to get more work. I think last week was get him back acclimated. You saw him in the beginning of the game, didn't really see him in the second half of the game. It's risky because they are going to use multiple guys.

But I still go back to they want him to be their Sproles replacement. You saw what the first game was when Sproles went down in the Giants game. They come back next week against the Chargers. He has the 14 touches, four catches, scores a touchdown in that game, played more snaps than LeGarrette Blount, played more snaps than Blount the week before, too. So I actually think both Eagles running backs are in play

if you're stuck. Smallwood probably better suited as a flex than a must-start guy, but I still think there's a big opportunity for him here in this game at home. Here's what annoys me about Smallwood, is that we say, you say, Jamie, that he should be the Sproles replacement. And I'm with you all the way on that.

I think he should be. But he has one game with more than two catches. He's had one game since Sproles went down that he played. That's true. And what was that? It was the Sproles went down, and then he had four catches. That game, not including last week. Last week was his second game without Sproles.

Yeah, but I guess that's what Jamie has. I don't necessarily view last week's game as a baseline. Whenever you have guys that are not must-start players for their respective teams, let alone fantasy options, and they come back from injury. If Willie Sneed plays this week, he's part of a four-man rotation now at wide receiver. Is he their featured option? No. So he's going to have a game where he maybe gets a few targets. And then next week is the game I think you judge him off of if he's good or he's bad. This is the game you judge Smallwood off of. If he comes out and he plays, look, he missed two

games and he's not a between the tackles type of guy compared to LeGarrette Blount. They played him one less snap and he barely played in the second half. That shows you what their game plan was going into the game, was they want to get this guy going. And so he may not have a dominant performance, but I do think that there is certainly worth picking up because Blount's still 30 years old, a lot of wear and tear from last year, starting to get a lot of wear and tear, I think, this year. There's going to be an opportunity for Wendell Smallwood to help your fantasy team.

And it may be this week with six teams on a bye. So I like my chances with him in several different formats. Certainly better in PPR because of the numbers you just laid out. And you know that the Eagles like using multiple running backs just generally, whether it was Blunt and Sproles or now Smallwood and Blunt. And Smallwood, three games with Darren Sproles not playing. Obviously, the game against the Giants, 12, 10, and 8 carries. Blunt hasn't had more than 16 carries in a game this year.

So even if it is a big blowout and Philadelphia runs away with it, I'm not sure LeGarrette Blunt's going to get every single one of those carries. Smallwood could get in there and take some away. But you like Blunt better than Smallwood this week? Oh, yeah. It's not even close. You just have to based on— Even PPR?

What role is it? PPR, it's close because Blunt's not going to catch the ball. But I do think that this could be a two-touchdown game for Blunt. I mean, he's got the opportunity because San Francisco is so bad. Traveling across the country, one o'clock game. He's going to get a lot of work. The only concern I have for him, and it's small, is the offensive line woes.

The fact that they lose their left tackle and shifting guys around, that could be problematic. And so, would you start Carlos Hyde or LeGarrette Blunt? Blunt. Hyde and PPR. I think I'd start Blunt in either one. Yeah, Carlos Hyde, look, he's facing a really tough matchup.

Seven or more fantasy points in six of seven games. Actually, you look at Carlos Hyde's schedule. He's faced really tough run defenses. This one might be the toughest yet, though. Hyde's the number 13 running back in standard, number 12 in PPR in weekly scoring. But he is facing a team that allows the fourth fewest fantasy points to running backs. Just hopefully he can get involved in the passing game. Starter sit Pierre Garçon.

Man, I was disappointed with what happened to him last week. I thought he'd get way more targets and play much better than he did. And Bethart did a nice job of spreading the ball around. Used Goodwin a lot more. I don't like him. Okay. Yeah, he is the number 38 wide receiver in weekly scoring. That factors in buys in standard and number 32 in PPR.

Just hasn't scored. So would you start Smallwood or Garcon as a flex? Smallwood. All right, George Kittle is a flyer. Carson Wentz, top four quarterback. I mean, yeah, he's great. And the last two quarterbacks to face the Niners scored 31 or more fantasy points. That was Cousins and Dak.

So it's going to be an NFC East sweep here of the three good teams anyway. The Philadelphia passing game, which wide receiver do you like better? Aguilar is safer, which is surprising to say. But I think this could be a game where Jeffrey goes off. And I know I've said that the last two weeks, but San Francisco's just bad. And you look at the teams that have beat them up, it's been the number one guy. You could argue again that Aguilar may have passed Jeffrey as number one guy, but the

targets don't suggest so. Even as well as Aguilar's played recently, Jeffrey's still at target in 19-16. So, I'm not getting away from Jeffrey, but in the rare instance that you have both, if you feel more comfortable with Aguilar at this point, you can certainly go with Aguilar because he's been the one giving you fantasy production.

Would you start either Eagles wide receiver over DeAndre Hopkins? No. No, I think you could certainly make a case for it, but I don't think a lot of people are going to end up doing that. Would you start either Eagles wide receiver over Amari Cooper? Probably not. But, again, you can make a case for it. You're going to start Zach Ertz, but it's kind of interesting.

This has actually been one area of strength for San Francisco's defense. Jason Witten last week scored 11 fantasy points, but he's the first tight end to score more than four. That includes Olsen, Graham, and Reed. But I think Zach Ertz will get more than four. Just while you're there, nobody's benching him in seasonal leagues, That includes Olsen, Graham, and Reed. But I think Zach Ertz will get more than four. And Philadelphia. Just while you're there, nobody's benching him in seasonal leagues. But Heath on our video show yesterday made a case, and I agree with him,

why paying for Zach Ertz in daily is not worth it. Yeah, man. I didn't. I took Hunter Henry. He's got a great price this week. And Ertz, yeah. You know Ertz is obviously expensive. And he said the same thing. I don't know if you guys talked about the Cowboys game,

but he also said the same thing about paying for a Zeke. Oh, that's interesting. All right, Philadelphia, their DST is number two, number two, and number seven for Jamie, Dave, and Heath. Let's go to Carolina at Tampa Bay. And stat of the game number one here. Babe Ruth hit a 587-foot home run with the Red Sox in a spring training game in Tampa. That was in 1919.

And it is noted as his longest home run ever, but there is some controversy there. So keep that in mind when you think about this game. But stat of the game number two. Tampa Bay allows the second most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. The Bucs have allowed 90 yards or a touchdown to a wide receiver in every game. So who do you like better, Funchess or Kelvin? Kelvin. Kelvin has a tremendous track record against the Bucs.

Oh, having my FanDuel lineup is a good thing, huh? Me too. I've got a lot of Panthers in my FanDuel lineup. I think that this matchup is perfect for them, given the state of their offensive line, given the state of the Bucs' pass rush, which is depleted and terrible. And the secondary hasn't been playing well

either. Lots of matchups to like here. You know, their best corner is Brent Grimes. And he's fantastic. He's had a great career. The one thing he's struggled with over the course of his career, though, has been big physical receivers. And so this is a game for both guys, whoever gets matched up with him, to take advantage of it.

And certainly those guys can take advantage of Vernon Hargraves. I rank the Eagles and Panthers receivers. Benjamin, Eagles and Panthers receivers? Mm-hmm. Did I say that right? Well, you did. You're taking receivers from two different games. That kind of caught me off guard.

I might have Funchess ahead of Aguilar and Jeffrey, and Jeffrey might be last. I'd have to double check. I'll put Funchess last, but they're all number two guys. Okay. Benjamin is number one, but the other three are number two guys. Just to let you know, in the last four games against Tampa Bay, Benjamin has 25 catches, 359 yards, and two touchdowns,

and he's had at least seven fantasy points in all four games. Some of those came without Cam, if I recall. Two came without Cam. The first two, that was with Derek Anderson when Cam got hurt in the 2014 season. Yeah, Calvin was solid in both games last year, and Mike Evans was too. He scored in both games. And here's a fun stat. Jacquez Rogers was the lead running back in both games between these two teams last year.

In the first game that Luke Keekly played, he averaged 3.4 yards per carry. In the second game that Luke Keekly didn't play, he averaged 4.4 yards per carry. Which brings second game that Luke Kuechly didn't play, he averaged 4.4 yards per carry, which brings us to Doug Martin. Start or sit, Doug Martin. It's almost start by default because of the workload he gets, because of his potential, because he's at home.

But if Luke Kuechly's back, I think that makes things harder on Martin. Yeah, absolutely. I was just looking at it right now to see what Kuechly's game logs have been compared to what their run defense has been. And so, Adam, you gave the two matchups with Tampa Bay. Much, much different, though.

And last week they did great without him, but it is a big difference. Would you start Doug Martin or LeGarrette Blunt? Blunt. Blunt. Doug Martin or Calvin Benjamin? Benjamin. Funchess or Martin? Funchess.

I have Martin higher. Okay. Christian McCaffrey or Doug Martin? In standard. They are currently back-to-back in my rankings, and I think once we get the green light on Keekly, I'll feel a lot better about moving Martin down. But they're not back-to-back in PPR, right?

No, no, no, no no no ppr it's an easy call from a gaffrey um which quarterback you like better james or cam cam cam do you like cam because you like because you actually like cam or because there are six teams on by i like him this week i love the match look cam think we're going to have to revisit Team X in Chicago because they've been very good at home. They have. Yeah. I know.

We might have to revisit Cam is good because he doesn't look good. He had a two-game stretch where he set the world on fire. Sure. And I thought he was back. Is it that Philly's defense is actually good, which I think it certainly has the potential to be, and Chicago's defense at home is actually good?

Because those have been his last two games. I think Cam is somewhere between those two performances. And the thing that's going to be bad for Cam is chasing points. He'll get some good fantasy production when that happens, but he's not the best thrower. And so when everybody knows he's throwing, he's erratic.

Yeah. Now, Tampa Bay, I feel like they've gotten a little better. Just real quick, just to help his cause, fumble off of Curtis Samuel, minus two. Ball bounces up in the air on the pass to Kelvin Benjamin, intercepted, minus two. And the snowball effect happens from that. That's true. All right, so Cam is eighth for both of you, sixth for Heath. And Jameis is not far behind. He's right there.

He's around eighth or ninth. Yeah, I have Cam one spot higher. Would you start Jameis or Tyrod Taylor? Jameis. Jameis, but they're close. I think Tyrod's going to have his best game of the season. All right, now Jameis does not have that. Well, you know what?

He might have a good matchup because the leader of the last five quarterbacks against Carolina, Breeze, Brady, Wentz, they all had 24 to 26 points. Stafford had 19. Trubisky had four, but whatever. All right, Mike Evans is a must start. Deshaun Jackson or Funchess? Funchess. I? Funchess. I have Funchess.

Deshaun is ranked where he is for me kind of by default. I think there's a drop-off at receivers that he makes the cut on before it gets real ugly. He's been better than I anticipated this year, and I think you've got to give him some credit for how he's performed. But he could be so much better. If he were in sync with Jameis, he'd be dominant. Sure, but he had what could have been like a 50-yard catch call back last week on a penalty. That would have put him over 100 yards and would have given him, I think,

three straight games with double-digit fancy points. So he's a number two receiver. And they take deep shots with him every game. Yep. Cameron Brate is a top 10 tight end. Panthers, really, they've been pretty solid against tight ends, but they've given up some touchdowns lately. It's tough to get away from Brayton.

And then you're sitting Jonathan Stewart, right? Yeah, I kind of like him. I think if you're desperate at running back, he might be able to score against this defense. Yeah. Smallwood or Stewart? Who? Smallwood. I think I have Stewart higher.

Oh, I'll take Smallwood. Smallwood PPR. I mean, Stewart is just terrible. Yeah, he should be benched. I mean, he's just terrible. Yeah. And then, you know, for McCaffrey, people are starting him, but consider this. Tariq Cohen had 55 yards and a touchdown receiving.

Cook had 72 yards. Wayne Gallman caught a touchdown. James White had 57 yards. They Gallman caught a touchdown. James White had 57 yards. They've got, let's see, they've got four running backs who've caught five or more passes against Tampa Bay. So this is a good matchup for McCaffrey. And I think we've pretty much covered it. Dave, you have a feeling about Ed Dixon this week? You have 11th in standard, 14th in PPR? Yep. I think Tampa Bay is struggling covering tight ends. And I think that if Cam's going to have a big week,

he can go and attack them with his tight end just as well as anybody else. Okay. You're the high guy on Ed Dixon. Gets pretty ugly with the streaming tight end. Yeah, just keep an eye on his health. He's not 100%. Dallas is at Washington. Like I said, Jamie, you missed it, but there's no bonanza this week.

But it would have been this one, except for all those damn offensive line injuries. But Josh Norman, do we expect him to play? He's trending in that direction. I don't want to say he's definitely playing. All right, look at this stat of the game. No number one wide receiver has more than five fantasy points in standard scoring leagues against the Redskins. That includes Alshon Jeffrey twice, Sammy Watkins, the Oakland guys, Tyreek Hill, Pierre Garcon. So Dez will be the best,

but still, no more than five fantasy points? Are we sure Dez Bryant's a must-start this week? Yes. Why? I don't expect Norman to play. Okay. What if he does? Then he's still a must-start guy, but you just have to lower your expectations.

There's six teams on a bye. I mean, you're not benching Des Bryant. These guys have drawn cartoons of each other, commercials, battling commercials. It's going to be a big showdown between the two of them. No, seriously, I think Des is just too good to sit. You know he's averaging a career low 11.7 yards per catch. He's had one game of more than 63 yards. He's not burning it up.

But Des Bryant leads the NFL in red zone targets and targets inside the 10-yard line. That's what he does. He catches touchdowns. Okay, so Dak is a must-start. Zeke is a must-start. Not in daily? For the price? His point was, which is fair, is that he's

the highest price running back on one of the daily slates. He did not have his price point matched based on his stats against the Redskins last year.

Came close in one of them. In one game, he had both games under 100 yards rushing. One game, he scored twice. One game, he scored once. I guess he was saying that it's probably smarter for you to spend your daily dollars on other players rather than Zeke. Cool. Jason Witten.

So, Jamie's got him 7th. Heath has him 10th. Dave, you have Witten 14th in standard, 11th in PPR. Even with the matchup, huh? Yeah, it's a good, juicy matchup, but I'm not convinced that they're going to take advantage of it. Why not? Because there have been other good matchups for Witten earlier this season,

and he's gotten four targets and one catch for three yards. But they weren't good matchups. Yeah, what was a good matchup? Arizona and the Rams were those two games. Those aren't good matchups. Not like Washington. Now, to be fair to Washington, they faced Zacherts twice and they faced Travis Kelsey once.

But Gerald Everett had 95 yards. Jared Cook had 43 yards and a touchdown. I think it's five of six that have gotten at least nine or more finishes. Yeah, and George Kittle was like a half a yard away from joining that club. He had 46 yards, and he just missed a touchdown. And Witten has been very good in three games. Good in four games, really. I mean, he just missed a touchdown when he had eight for 61.

He's been such a huge part of this offense outside of two games where they just— Arizona's tough, and the Rams are tough. All right, Kirk Cousins. Jamie Evans seventh, Dave Evans second. Are you going to move Kirk Cousins down based on the offensive line? Absolutely. If that offensive line isn't good, then he's got to get moved down. He won't be protected. I've already talked about how this Cowboys pass rush is good.

There's a chance he could fall very far if that line isn't set. Like behind Andy Dalton and Tyrod Taylor? Yeah, could fall very far if that line isn't set. Like behind Andy Dalton and Tyrod Taylor? Yeah. Could fall real far. Could be an ugly game for him. Oh, man. That's frustrating.

Okay, Washington running backs. Chris Thompson must start, right? Yeah, have to at this point. What about Rob Kelly? What do you think? Nope. No. Because of the line.

Yeah. And rank the of the line. Yeah. And rank the Redskins wide receivers. Art Monk. He was good. Top five. I'll still take Doxon first. Well, who would be second? You can't start Terrell Pryor with any kind of confidence at this point. I mean, Crowder will get some catches.

They're all the same. I don't think they're all the same at all. I think Doxon's the one that's got the most upside. But a good game for Doxon at this point is just a touchdown. Jordan Reed is a must-start. I think that would be a great game for Crowder and Pryor, given what they've done this year. But it doesn't seem like you guys are so gung-ho about the Redskins.

Like, Thompson and Reed are must-starts Yeah And right now Cousins is But Cousins has played well for the last four games Without his receivers doing really much of anything I mean you get a touchdown here from Dox and a touchdown here from Grant No but it's the line, Jamie It's four starters on the offensive line banged up

Yeah but all four aren't expected to miss the game Right They could all play. They could. Sheriff seems pretty unlikely. Yeah, he's really the only one that seems unlikely, though. Okay. So if they have three or four in there, then maybe Cousins is fine.

Chicago is at New Orleans. Sit the DSTs in that game, by the way. Now Chicago is at New Orleans. Stat of the game. Only one quarterback, what? at new orleans stat of the game only one quarterback what has scored 20 fantasy points against the bears it was aaron rogers and he's the only one with multiple touchdown passes against the bears that includes ryan winston roethlisberger and cam newton say what are we worried about drew breeze nope that's going to change this week breeze has a good track record against this play caller for Chicago.

And Bears defense going to New Orleans. Breeze typically plays better at home. I think the full receiving core will be on the field for New Orleans. He'll get Snead on there. Coleman and Ginn are going to continue to make plays. Michael Thomas should have a good matchup. This is going to be hard for the Bears. The only concern that would be there for New Orleans is the state of their offensive line.

A couple of guys you've got to keep an eye on, Teron Armstead, Larry Warford. If they don't make the game, and at this point I think one of them will, I think Armstead definitely will, if they're not there, then that could hurt Drew Brees because he needs time to throw. I know that you guys like Chris Thompson, as we just established, and why wouldn't you? But unless I'm forgetting anybody, we've got Thompson. I'll throw James White in there. Thompson, James White, McCaffrey, sorry, and Kamara,

four big-time pass-catching running backs. How would you rank those four, Thompson, White, McCaffrey, and Kamara? Kamara's number onerey, and Kamara? Kamara's number one. Yeah, Kamara, Thompson. He's been playing the best. Kamara, Thompson. What was the other two? White and who?

McCaffrey. Would you put McCaffrey ahead of Thompson? No, because Thompson's doing more. Kamara, Thompson, McCaffrey, and then James White. I would flip Thompson and McCaffrey. I would have to say that Thompson's been playing the best. Like, Kamara and Thompson. He's scored more fantasy points.

I think Thompson has. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. Either way, I mean, yeah, this pass-catching running, this is such a big part of football now. And I feel like every week I try to chart, you know, who's doing well and who's doing poorly against pass-catching running backs.

So many teams do poorly against pass-catching running backs. So many teams do poorly against pass-catching running backs. I don't know if that's because they're bad at it or just because the offenses are getting really good at incorporating running backs into their passing game. You know, our buddy Pete Prisco has been talking about that for years with his airbacks. That's his phrase that he's used

going back to, I don't remember, five, six years ago? Yep. About just how these guys are better suited for being better caliber players for their teams. And so it just makes sense. All right, let me sum up this game quickly here. Jordan Howard's top 10, Mark Ingram, Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Drew Brees. Let's just start with Howard and then the four main Saints guys before we get to Ginn.

Do you see any bust potential in there, or are they all obvious starts? Howard, Ingram, Kamara, Brees, and Thomas. They're all obvious starts. Correct. Okay. Would you start Kamara or Jordan Howard? Howard, standard, Kamara, PPR. All right.

Ted Ginn or Deshaun Jackson? I have Jackson barely higher. I moved Ginn ahead of Jackson earlier this week when Thomas' knee injury popped up. Now that Thomas is fine, I'll move Jackson ahead of or get behind Jackson. Ginn's been getting some good opportunities since the bye. His playing time hasn't really gone up or down. Yeah, but playing time doesn't matter. Targets are what matter to him.

So 11 targets are what matters. And he's caught them all. Yep. He missed on five targets. He's dropped one pass. Ted Ginn or Doug Martin? Ginn PPR. Martin in standard.

I don't know Ginn's price, but I imagine he'll be an interesting daily play this week. I think he'll be a popular daily play this week. We're not starting anyone in the passing game for the Bears, right? That's a good one. Like Zach Miller or Deion Sims? Yeah. I could see them. Look, they haven't let Trubisky throw the ball.

They're going to be chasing points here, so they're going to have to make him throw. And they'll play Kendall Wright more. So if you're really, really stuck, you want a flyer, he's going to be on the field. And slot receivers against the Saints have done well. Zach Miller, you know, he threw the ball seven times last week. Is that right? Yep. And three of them went to Miller.

So you see that at least, you know, where he's going. So I think those two guys are in play. And then we'll see if Don Trellam plays at all. This is a funny comment. He threw the ball seven times last week, and they won. Pittsburgh at Detroit, our final game here. Which quarterback do you like better? Stafford.

Okay. Especially now that – Oh, Stafford? Yeah. Oh, with Tate. I'll take Roethlisberger. Stafford's going to have a bad game against the Steelers. They've been great against everybody.

You missed my bold prediction, which was that he's going to be a top 10 quarterback. Roethlisberger or Stafford? Stafford. But it's a silly bold prediction. Sure. Could happen. Yeah, I mean, who do you want to start on Detroit? No one. I'm okay with Tate. I think

they move him around so much that he can come away with a lot of catches. Let me tell you where I was going with it with that bold prediction. So the Steelers, this is your stat of the game, they allow the second fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Obviously they're great against quarterbacks too. Only three wide receivers have had more than six targets against Pittsburgh. So I looked at those three, two of them scored a touchdown.

Mike Wallace had 55 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets, and Brandon LaFell last week had 28 yards and a touchdown on seven targets. So I almost feel like it's a matter of opportunity. I don't doubt the Steelers' defense. It's good. But they have faced many, many terrible offenses. And I sort of felt like Stafford would have to throw. So, fine, if you want to sit Stafford, that makes perfect sense.

But do you not see an opportunity for Jones or Tate here? Well, I mean, again, targets certainly are important. And the number one guys against them have not gotten a lot of targets. And so when you go back to week two, it was Stephon Diggs, six targets, two for 27. You know, it's the same thing fun with numbers. You know, Heath makes fun of me with this all the time. Seven targets versus six targets. So LaFell got seven.

He scores. Diggs gets six. He doesn't. But I see one of them getting ten targets. They could. It would have been Jones if Tate. Yeah, I was really excited for Jones. I was so excited for Jones.

I want a lot of Jones. Not me. I think this actually helps Jones if Tate plays because now the attention is not focused on him as much. All right. Because they know they have to stop him because Galladay is not going to play, and the tight ends are terrible. And so Jones is going to see probably Joe Hayden and some rolled coverage his way too. Okay. I think you look at it again.

Stephon Diggs, six targets, two catches, 27 yards. AJ Green, six targets, three catches, 41 yards. Who's the third one? Tyree Kill, seven targets, five catches, 34 yards. He's the one guy who had six or more that didn't score. Yeah. I mean, it's just one of those things. And you also have to probably take into account that the reason these guys are getting their targets capped is because they're not open.

That's very possible. By the way, we just got an email that said, Adam probably thinks Rocky is not a boxing movie. That's not true. That's not true at all. All right, finishing up here, start Le'Veon, start Brown, Juju Smith-Schuster, or a Lions wide receiver? I would go Tate over Smith-Schuster or a Lions wide receiver? I would go Tate over Smith-Schuster. I'd go Tate over Smith-Schuster too, but I'd take Smith-Schuster over Jones even if Tate is out.

I think this is an opportunity for him to get more targets for, you know, the first time in his career. Not the first to get more targets, but get a good target share. And the Lions have given up production of wide receivers. You know that you're going to see Ben Roethlisberger throw. I think Roethlisberger can get you the type of game he got you last week, which I'm going to be surprised. You know, minimal production, but right around 20 fantasy points.

Okay. Amir Abdullah or Doug Martin? Martin. Martin, but they're close. Amir Abdullah or Marvin Jones? Abdullah. I'll say Abdullah. Here's my fan new lineup

I don't love it But now that I know Kelvin Benjamin is so good Maybe I do love it Carson Wentz, Mark Ingram, Christian McCaffrey Julio Jones, Mike Evans Kelvin Benjamin, Hunter Henry Jake Elliott Yeah and the Bengals

Wentz, Ingram, McCaffrey Julio Evans, Benjamin Hunter Henry, Jake Elliott and the Bengals. Wentz, Ingram, McCaffrey, Julio, Evans, Benjamin, Hunter Henry, Jake Elliott, and the Bengals. Raise the roof. Look at you raising the roof. I raised it. Jake Elliott might be one of the highest-started players in daily this week. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.

He's got like $100 more than the minimum for kickers. He's at home against the Niners. Everyone will pick him. Yeah. Hooray for Jake Elliott. That's a good team. You've got a lot of star power on your team. Thank you. home against the Niners. Everyone will pick him. Yeah. Hooray for Jake Elliott. Hooray for Daniel. That's a good team. You've got a lot of star power on your team. You did it at receiver. I think that's good. I think I'm going to have a successful week. Guys, have a great weekend. Appreciate

your time. You're welcome. That's all. Goodbye. Bye.