Fantasy Football Today - 11/11: Injuries, WR Talk, FAAB Strategies (Fantasy Football Podcasts)

Episode Date: November 11, 2019

Dr. David Chao of ProFootballDoc.com joins us to update the listeners on Saquon Barkley, James Conner, Matthew Stafford and more. Then Will Brinson and Chris Towers hop on to look at five big Fantasy Football topics. What is the state of the WR Position through 10 weeks (14:00)? Which committee backfields are most concerning right now (26:40)? Which struggling QBs could take advantage of playoff matchups (33:00)? How should you be spending your FAAB as the playoffs approach (41:00)? And what kind of haul should you expect if you trade Lamar Jackson (44:40)? 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

Kick off an exciting football season with BetMGM, an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League. Yard after yard, down after down, the sportsbook born in Vegas gives you the chance to take action to the end zone and celebrate every highlight reel play. And as an official sportsbook partner of the NFL, BetMGM is the best place to fuel your football fandom on every game day. With a variety of exciting features, BetMGM offers you plenty of seamless ways to jump straight onto the gridiron and to embrace peak sports action. Ready for another season of gridiron glory? What are you waiting for?

Get off the bench, into the huddle, and head for the end zone all season long. Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older. Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem? For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario helpline at 1-866-531-2600.

BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. Here we go! It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Let's go!

Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. As many of you are getting ready for Monday Night Football, or perhaps you are listening on your Tuesday morning, we say hello. We get ready for Week 11. Look back at Week 10 a little bit, as Will Brinson and Chris Towers are going to join me in a bit. I'm Adam Azer, and right now I'm going to be joined by Dr. David Chow

to talk football injuries. We welcome you to the Fantasy Football Today Road Tour, presented by Little Caesars. Pizza for dinner tonight? How about ordering your favorite online from Little Caesars and using Pizza Portal Pickup? It's the latest, greatest, and hottest way to pick up a pizza without even going to the register.

Dr. Chow is from profootballdoc.com, and he is at profootballdoc on Twitter. He is a must-follow. It is a great website and a great resource. And good afternoon to you. How was your weekend, Dr. Chow? I'm doing fine. You know, the players in the league were nice to me.

Relatively few injuries, but, of course, there are always injuries. So there are some still. Good. Well, I guess that's a good thing. Last time we talked, you gave us the Cyborg nickname for Matt Breida. And sure enough, he went full cyborg and played on a Thursday after an injury on Sunday so good call on that

we'll see what we have in store this week as far as Matt Breida is concerned I mean, fool me once, fool me twice fool me three times, by the fourth time I figured it out the guy is unbelievable it's good to know, the fifth time we'll know for sure, alright so Saquon Barkley, he had

x-rays. He's got this ankle issue. He's thankfully got a bye coming up. What do you think going forward for Saquon Barkley? I get it. We're right now society. 13 carries, one yard. Oh my gosh. He's being checked

on the sidelines, his back, his shoulder. He's getting an x-ray, what's going on. I think he's fine. Sometimes these games happen, he's got a bye coming at a good time, and everyone's a little banged up this time of the year. I think he's going to come off fresh after this bye and be just fine. Oh, all right. That's good to know. So that will make us have less of a priority to pick up Wayne Gallman. James Conner is expected to play this week. They've got a Thursday game.

He has missed two straight games. What do you expect from James Conner, if you possibly could know what to expect? I know that's a tough question. But what do you think? Yeah, I mean, from the game, you know, against the Dolphins with about two minutes to go was pretty clear to me and an AC joint sprain. And Mike Tomlin agreed after the game, said AC. And that is another word for it is shoulder separation.

But, you know, I thought he would have played the last two weeks with an injection. Josh Jacobs has done that. Now, maybe there's more to his injury. Maybe the Steelers are smarter than everyone and said, you know, James, just sit out. We've got these next two games. They certainly have won the last two games without him. But I do expect him to play this Thursday against the Browns. And he was listed as full practice today if the team had one. And that's about the right timeline where he can actually practice

and get into game shape and run plays for the week and play. So I fully expect him to play this Thursday after this two-week absence. And it looks like Le'Veon Bell is not going to miss time. He had some sore ribs. But he's been a little dinged up as he gets ready for the Redskins this week. Have you seen anything telling from Le'Veon Bell? Not really. I mean,

you know, there was some question of a knee issue, but then he came back into the game and sore ribs, which I'm sure he'll play through. The bigger issue is his teammate Chris Herndon, the tight end, who hasn't really gotten off to a start this season yet with the suspension and then hamstring and now cracked ribs, some rib issues that will –

the potential pneumothorax even that will have him out a few weeks. So his ribs are a much bigger deal. Le'Veon, not so much. Now the Falcons had a bad day in terms of injuries. Austin Hooper with a knee injury and Devontae Freeman with an ankle injury. Do you think we're going to be looking at long-term situations here? Well, I don't think either one's going to be long-term. Austin Hooper, by the time people listen to this podcast,

maybe they'll have results of his MRI. By video, it looks to me as an MCL sprain. I think he's going to miss time, but I think he's going to play before December. So, you know, is it a one-week absence, two-week, three-week at worst? Relatively low-grade MCL sprain is what I'm hoping for, ACL spared. And then Devonta Freeman looked like what was reported as a foot sprain of some sort. By video, I didn't see much. And sometimes when you don't see much by video, fingers crossed that is good news.

At least it's not a Danny Trevathan elbow from this Sunday, which is pretty dramatic and pretty obvious when you look at it by video or by picture. And so hopefully that means a relatively short absence. And the Falcons, it seems like the Falcons liked their head coach, huh? Dan Quinn was potentially on the chopping block and they came through for him. Absolutely. Okay, so you just got me thinking,

and now I'm going to get sidetracked a little bit, but you talked about how it's not that bad when you look at it. And has there ever been, you don't even have to say which one because that might be, you know, something you don't want to share, but has there ever been, you don't even have to say which one, cause that might be, you know, something you don't want to share, but has there ever been an injury that you looked at either live or on video

and be like, Oh my, like you as a doctor were, had trouble seeing it. The one that comes to mind for me was the Louisville basketball game. Whenever that, that NCAA tournament game, the broken leg, but is there anything for you that that's made you kind of queasy? I don't know about queasy, but that guttural feeling in my stomach, absolutely. There was one that really stands out. I mean, you know, when I was in the NFL and doing stuff, you always feel for players because you know them. But the Ryan Shazier incident far and away stands out in my eyes as a player and someone that I didn't know

yet. And I'm even getting it now as I think back to when I saw it. I mean, the results couldn't be any better, but in real time, you know, on Periscope and on Twitter, like I was like, I don't even want to go where I, where I think this is going. I mean, it looks like the guy is paralyzed the way that he went limp when went limp on the hit and the way literally as he rolled over, he rolled his upper body over and his legs sort of flopped behind him. And that was a look of, oh my gosh, this guy could be paralyzed. Now, thankfully, you know, he's made this great recovery and he's helping the Steelers coach on the sideline. And we've seen all the videos of returning to walk.

But, you know, concussions are bad, and head injuries are bad, and CT is bad. But the one as a doctor I always feared was the paralysis hit. And that Ryan Shazier one stands far and away as one where I went, this is not good. It's got that queasy feeling about it. Absolutely. It's a good call. It was very emotional just watching that.

Now, yep, bringing it back. Well, yeah, thankfully it was a happy ending there for Shazier. Back to the Week 10 injuries. Matthew Stafford did not play. Broken bones in his back. What do you think for Stafford? You know, I wrote an article for the San Diego Union Tribune. It seems to me it's transverse process fractures. Believe it or not, I believe he played through

some of those last year. On my podcast, the Pro Football Dog podcast, Matt Breida's had his chances as the beast of the week. This week, it's going to be Matthew Stafford because he finished that Raiders game with those fractures. And you couldn't really even tell. And week, it's going to be Matthew Stafford because he finished that Raiders game with those fractures and you couldn't really even tell. And I think he's going to be back sooner than people think. Of course, you hear back fractures and you think IR and he's done for the season, but these are bony projections that are not near the spinal cord or canal, not near nerves. And quite honestly, these types of chip or avulsion fractures don't really heal. And you don't have to wait for them to heal to return to play.

You can play with these not healed or broken. So I think you can book it here that Matthew Stafford for sure will be there for the traditional Lions Thanksgiving Day game. But I think he probably even beats that. Well, he didn't play very well last year, and I don't know how much of it was related to the back, but do you think this is something that could affect his performance? Well, absolutely, because it's still painful.

It may not be structural where you might be paralyzed or something. It's still painful. No question it could affect his performance. And the good news is usually within two and certainly by three weeks from injury, the pain subsides pretty much. This week, you know, hats off to him. It sounds like he would have played if the doctors didn't stop him. And, of course, he's got that 136-game streak, Ironman streak at quarterback, second only to

Phillip Rivers, who's approaching 220, I think. I don't know the exact number, but those are the two Ironman streaks, and Matthew Stafford's unfortunately ended. But I think he's going to start another one. I put him probably at 50-50 for playing this coming week. And like I said, by Thanksgiving, I think it's essentially a lock that he's going to play. When Philip Rivers' streak at some point ends, is he going to thank Dr. Chow for, you know, as you were his doctor, is he going to thank you for getting him through the tough times?

Well, you know, the thing that comes to me is that, believe it or not, this is how unbelievable Guy Phillip is. Ten years to the day, he actually texted me from his ACL and said, it was ten years ago today that I tore my ACL. Thanks again for fixing it. I've done great. Obviously, da-da-da-da-da. And I was like, wow, the fact that he would remember and text me in January at the 10-year anniversary last year, that was pretty cool. He's a good guy. He really is a good guy.

I consider him a friend. But that's also the kind of guy he is. Out of the blue, he just texted that. So I'm not expecting any shout-outs for any of this other stuff. That private text was meaningful enough for me any of this other stuff. That private text was meaningful enough for me. Oh, that's really cool. That's a great story. Thank you for sharing that, and thank you for coming on, Dr. Chow.

It's good to have you back. Thank you. Welcome. All right, we'll talk to you next time. Follow Dr. Chow at ProFootballDoc on Twitter and ProFootballDoc.com, and as he mentioned, he has a great podcast, so plenty of great injury information that can be helpful for fantasy owners.

We will talk to Will and Chris when we come back. Whether in the game or in life, the right coverage can make all the difference. Securian Canada gives you that coverage. For more than 65 years, Securian Canada has been helping Canadians build secure tomorrows. Their insurance solutions

are designed to help protect you and your loved ones financially, giving you the peace of mind to focus on what truly matters. Find their products through banks, credit unions, and associations, or visit SecurianCanada.ca. Securian Canada. Insurance designed for life. Five big topics to talk about on today's show with Will Brinson and Chris Towers. Welcome back to Fantasy Football Today. Thanks a lot to Dr. David Chow for stopping by. All right, here are the topics we're getting to. The state of the wide receiver position in 2019 through 10 weeks, almost 10 full weeks.

Backfields that might concern Chris and Will. Struggling quarterbacks with great playoff schedules. And two more, fab dollars late in the season. And Lamar Jackson, is he untouchable in trade right now? Chris, what's going on? I started dancing to the song, and then I realized that I don't have a camera that's participating in our Skype call, and so

I was just sitting in a studio, and there's a window into the studio in the New York office that goes right into the cafeteria. So I was just dancing for my own benefit, and potentially for the benefit of the people in the cafeteria. Which made me feel a little weird. I kept doing it.

It made everyone feel a little bit better about themselves. So we thank you for that. Will Brinson, welcome back to the show. How are you? I'm doing excellent, Adam. Thank you for inviting me. I didn't dance and I won't dance. Are you curious about your intro music?

Go ahead. Talk, Will. A lot of love? Expose. You love them.'s not what this is well you don't know that song no that's one of those given the conversation, Careless Whisper would have worked really well if you had been on your toes. Do I have a Philadelphia accent? I was not aware of that. I'm now concerned about it. One Twitter user was like, yeah, you know, you sound like you might have a little Philly in you.

Like, I'm from the South, bro. Yeah, Will's got a strange accent. I don't really know what it is, but somebody wanted to know. So you can tell us if you'd like. But let's start with the big topic, the state of the wide receiver position. It's kind of weird this year. You know, last year, if you looked at average draft position in 2018, the top 12 in ADP, all of them except for A.J. Green, and he got hurt.

He was good when he was healthy. All of them finished in the top 15 at the end of the year in just PPR. Antonio Brown, Hopkins, Beckham, Julio, Michael Thomas, Keenan Allen, Devontae Adams, A.J. Green, Tyree Kill, Mike Evans, Stefan Diggs, T.Y. Hilton. So it was a predictable position and has been fairly predictable, especially compared to running back. This year, though, not so much. Only five of the top 12 in ADP in PPR are currently top 12 in points per game.

I'm using points per game instead of total points because, you know, some players haven't had their bye. But again, five out of 12. Now, if you remove Antonio Brown and you put in Amari Cooper, who was 13th in average draft position, will now become six out of 12 being in the current top 12 and even in the current top 15. So it's a big difference from last year. And Chris, what do you make of that? The other thing that we notice is that if you just look at like 17 points per game, that's really good in PPR.

There are fewer guys doing that this year than there were last year. So what did we say? It's like three more. So that's like a top 10 wide receiver in PPR, 17 points per game. There are like three more who were doing that last year than this year. So, you know, it's just been kind of a strange position, not what we usually get from wide receiver. Yeah, I think there are a handful that make sense. And, you know, maybe in retrospect, when an elite wide receiver changes teams in the way that Odell Beckham did, we should account for that.

And, you know, there were some concerns coming into the season that he wouldn't be quite as good as he had been in the past. But this is a completely different level. And I think the assumption was wrongly, as it turned out, that things couldn't get worse. Like maybe he was going to a Browns team that wanted to run the ball more than the Giants and he would have fewer opportunities. Or maybe the presence of a really good possession receiver like Jarvis Landrieu would cut into his volume. But there was no concern about the quality of the targets that he was going to get. And obviously, Baker Mayfield is playing worse than I think anybody expected.

Even, you know, there weren't many doubters coming into the season, but he's playing worse than any of them. Well, well, it was a doubter apparently, but not a, not a Baker Mayfield doubter, but I was a Browns doubter. And I think I'd like Freddie kitchens calling the plays and trying to be a first year head coach has created a disaster on offense, not just from an Odell Beckham usage perspective, but from a play-calling perspective. Nick Chubb had 113 of his 116 rushing yards yesterday in formations where Kareem Hunt was on the field with him.

And then when they got into the red zone, they kept Kareem Hunt out. He was doing a great job blocking as a borderline fullback for Chubb and playing really well. The other counterpoint I would throw out is that Amari Cooper changed teams mid season last year. Yeah, sure. And, and was much better. So that's not everything, but then you look at like the Vikings receivers.

First of all, Adam Thielen, he's 30th and fantasy points per game right now. But if you take out the last two games, uh, both were partial games. He scored a touchdown in one. He had one catch or no catches in the other before leaving. Uh, he'd partial games. He scored a touchdown and one, he had one catcher, no catches in the other before leaving. Uh, he'd be 14. Okay. So it's a little better if you account for that. But for the most part, I think the Vikings guys, that was another situation where the

team told us everything that the team did after installing Kevin Stefanski as the offensive coordinator said that they didn't want to throw the ball unless they absolutely had to. And that's been the way they've run their offense so far this year. And maybe we shouldn't have just penciled both of those guys in. Two guys in a low-volume passing offense, we penciled them in as top 12 fantasy wide receivers. Maybe we shouldn't have done that.

But, you know, I agree. And I was off Diggs. I wasn't really feeling him. So that makes sense. Feeling him basically been performing, but more in a non-PPR way than a PPR way. He's even catching so many touchdowns. But let's look at the actual top 12.

It's Michael Thomas, who's on pace for 153 catches, by the way, which is insane, and could stand to get more touchdowns because we know his catch rate is over 80%, yet he's only caught 33% of his targets inside the 10 yard line. So I don't know. Could he get even better? He's only on pace for seven touchdowns. So maybe he could be even better in terms of touchdowns,

probably worse in terms of catches and yards, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Amari Cooper, Tyler Lockett, Cooper cup. Um, I,

why is Tyree kill not on this list? He should be on this list in points per game he's fifth in points per game okay he's fifth in points per game and he's actually second if you remove week one when he left with an injury so it's michael thomas tyree kill evans godwin amari cooper lockett cup hopkins julio edelman gallaudet charke and yeah what'd you say will tyree are you looking on the... That's weird. I don't know why he's not on my list either.

Yeah, it's strange. I've been on your list, guys. He's there. Yeah, no, he's definitely... I'd be sorted now. I'm looking at our fantasy football today list. Yeah, he's there now. Okay.

Carry on. So, well, anyway, just in general, I think, you know, not looking specifically player by player, but just this position in general, Julio Jones is... He's not quite getting the volume that he's got. But he's a top 10 receiver in points per game. Hopkins is a top 10 receiver in points per game.

But I think you look at Michael Thomas, Tyreek Hill, Mike Evans, Amari Cooper. I'm going to ask you, how many guys are in the, oh crap, I'm playing against them list? Because those might be the only four right now where it's like, uh-oh. I'm playing against Michael Thomas. I'm playing against Tyreek Hill. I'm playing against Mike Evans. I'm playing against Amari Cooper.

I'm in some serious trouble right now. Do you feel that way about anyone else, Will? I don't even know that those guys necessarily meet the, oh crap, I'm playing against him. If you're playing against Michael Thomas, he's probably going to put up a digit on you, but it's not like he's going bananas in the red zone and that he's scored a ton of touchdowns.

He's just been a PPR monster. His floor is really nice, but his ceiling has been fairly limited outside of one big explosion. He's just been a yardage monster. Like his floor is really nice, but his ceiling has been fairly limited outside of one big explosion, right? I mean, he's just been a yardage hog. Evans, you know, the thing with Evans is he's splitting with Chris Godwin. I mean, they've had off and on games where one guy's been great and one guy hadn't been. I think the only guy that I would look at and say, oh crap, I'm playing against him is probably Tyreek Hill because he's just so dangerous in terms of putting up a monster long touchdown run. Even, I mean, Hopkins and Julio haven't had those big seasons. I mean,

like you have to, you have to be wary that they could go off at some point in time. And I still think those games are out there, but I don't know. I mean, I just don't think, I don't think there's a whole lot of elite terrifying wide receivers. And if there are like, you probably, I mean, you know what I mean? Like if you're a decent team, you probably have one of these guys because of where they were drafted. It's not a list of the first eight guys drafted. It's a list of guys who were drafted in the first round, second were, and Devontae Adams too. And I have a lot of faith in Devontae Adams, to be honest with you, but ADP was Hopkins, Adams, Julio Jones,

and then Michael Thomas. Do you think those top three receivers, Hopkins, Adams, and Julio Jones, are going to be, oh crap, I'm playing against them type of players? I feel better about the prospects of Hopkins getting there than either of the other two. For one, he was the number one guy coming into the season. And for another, there's just no reason to think

that he's gotten worse or that the offense has gotten worse or that Deshaun Watson has gotten first. It's not like they're giving a ton of red zone work to their running backs. It's that Darren Fels has randomly caught a couple of touchdowns recently. Like, yes, they're getting their tight ends more involved in the offense. I think their tight ends already have more targets this season than they did all of last

year. Yes, Duke Johnson is a little bit more of a factor. So DeAndre Hopkins hasn't quite had the volume, but he's still on pace for about 160 targets. So it's not like that's been a concern. So I think of all those guys, like DeAndre Hopkins isn't going to keep averaging under 10 yards per catch. Devontae Adams, I think it's really interesting to think what's going to happen to the Green Bay offense moving forward.

Are they going to continue to give Aaron Jones all this work in the red zone? And Jamal Williams has also been a factor down there, which has really hurt Devontae Adams in addition to the time that he's missed. He's actually been, I think, more efficient than he ever has. I think he has a higher yards per attempt than he ever has, which has always been one of the knocks on him is that he's been a relatively inefficient receiver who just dominates in the red zone. But if Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams are going to continue to be such a big part of their red zone offense, and I don't think there's any reason to think that won't be the case with Matt LaFleur. You know, Devontae Adams could continue to disappoint.

And with Julio Jones, he's playing more like 85% of their snaps every week, and he's not getting the volume that they've had in the past. Maybe Austin Pooper's injury changes that a little bit. I would peg Julio as the guy to maybe pull it off. I just think the matchups, he's got Tampa Bay in week 12, Carolina coming up, James Bradbury's been dinged up, missed obviously against the Packers. We don't know how long if Marshawn Latimer's going to be back

for week 13 against the Saints, and if he's not, then Julio could have a huge game, Carolina again, and then Jacksonville in week 16. How does this work for fantasy scoring purposes? Do we stop counting after week 16? Because it counts it for the whole year. No, you don't. But I mean, obviously, I don't usually look at week 17 in terms of schedules.

I got to be honest with you. I think all three of those guys are going to be really good. The concern for Hopkins is that when Will Fuller was healthy, and Kenny Stills is there, and the tight ends are getting more involved, and QT's healthy and whatnot, he didn't have the target share that he's used to having. The concern for Julio is that he never catches touchdowns, but I know he only had 79 yards in this most recent game at New Orleans,

but he had been pretty much 100 yards or close to it every week. 93 or more yards in six straight games. No, three straight games, sorry. And then Adams is getting 11 targets two games in a row, or 11 and 10 with seven catches. He's going to get healthy after the bye. I think he could explode

because they have no wide receiver two. He is their guy. I'm not worried about the target share so much with Adams. So I think all three of them are going to be really good, particularly in PPR. It's going to come down to touchdowns.

Aaron Jones is going to score three touchdowns every game or whatever. I think it will be pretty strong at the top, but it's not the same position it was. That's kind of what I wanted to highlight. It's not the same position that it has been. But I would point out that it's less that wide receiver isn't the position it has been, and more that 2018 was a pretty significant outlier

especially at the top of the position uh you had i'm trying to pull up the note i think it was like you said eight guys who had at least 17 fantasy points per game yes and this year there are five no there were 13 in 2018 and there are eight this year. Yeah. You had six guys average at least 20 fantasy points per game. You had Adam Thielen at 19.2 and Juju Smith-Schuster at 18.6. That hasn't been the norm for the wide receiver position in recent years. In 2017, you had two guys who had at least 20 fantasy points per game, and nobody else was at 19 fantasy points per game, and only one other guy was even at 18. So that, I think, is...

We're always... It's a constant thing in fantasy. We're fighting last year's battles, and then in-season, we're fighting last week's battles, and so it's hard to know when these trends are going to reverse themselves, but we might have overreacted to wide receivers having their best year since, I think, 2015 last year collectively.

Yeah, no, that's fair. I'm not so much talking about the points being down. I'm really talking about the unpredictability in terms of matching ADP with production so far. That's what has really surprised me. All right, let's move on. Let's get to our next question. Which backfield tandem are

you most concerned about? Before we do that, I have another question for you. Have you ordered a pizza online from Little Caesars yet? If not, you are missing out on Pizza Portal Pickup. What is Pizza Portal Pickup? It's like getting a pizza right out of the oven yourself. You walk in, you enter a code on the portal, a door opens, and you're off with your favorite pizza. And whatever pizza you order, it's going to have crazy, crazy amounts of toppings. It's fun. Give it a try, but it's only available at Little Caesars Pizza Pizza. All right, Will.

So I was looking at those backfield tandems that we kind of learned about in Week 10. We talked about this on the Sunday night show, but I'll ask you guys. Cleveland, Kansas City, New Orleans, Arizona, Buffalo, Tampa Bay. We've got some backfield by committee. Maybe not Kansas Kansas City excuse me New Orleans Arizona Buffalo Tampa Bay we've got some backfield by committee maybe not in Kansas City uh which one concerns you the most Will Kansas City really versus who who else did you say well I think most people probably would have said Arizona maybe New Orleans I. I mean, Arizona's just like I don't really own any David Johnson. I mean, I guess Oh, well, it doesn't

hurt Will, so it doesn't matter. I don't have any David Johnson. Everybody else can struggle. You did ask him, who are you most concerned about? From a fantasy perspective, yes, yes. No, go ahead, Will. I'm sorry. No, I just think that we've been so used to for like a decade plus now of Andy Reid running backs being fantasy monsters year in and year out.

You know, you would anticipate that whoever plays on the Chiefs and is starting for the Chiefs is a high-end fantasy option because, you know, the freaking Chiefs are Patrick Mahomes. And it just doesn't seem like outside of maybe Damian Williams breaking a big run. He had that 91-yard touchdown run two weeks ago. And then I think one long run against Tennessee. I mean, it just doesn't seem like there's going to be a ton of value there. We can't really tell what he's going to do week to week. But, Will, what about what he just did? I mean, 19 carries, five catches, about 110 total yards, 120 total yards, and 110. And, you know, and 110.

And he did fumble, but he dominated the touches, which is that's just why I was surprised he went with the Chiefs because it seemed like of all the backfields, this might be the one where based on week 10, and we don't know that it's going to happen in week 11, but based on week 10, this is the one that had like the guy dominating all of the touches basically, you know? Well, I mean, the Cardinals didn't really run the ball. I mean, I think they're going to utilize Kenyon Drake in the passing game.

He had six targets. It doesn't seem like David Johnson is that healthy, right? I mean, he had five carries and one rushing attempt. I just don't think that he's healthy. And they can't cut it. He's not somebody who's on the final year of his deal. They're not a team that's winning a bunch of games. I think they'll be perfectly willing to lean on Kenyon Drake

as the quote-unquote feature back for this team down the stretch because they know that they need David Johnson healthy for next year, and Kenyon Drake's a free agent who they're probably going to let walk in the offseason. So to me, I just don't know that – I mean, I just don't know – I feel like the situation with Arizona is kind of transparent, whereas with Kansas City, it sort of morphs week to week. Chris, which one concerns you?

I'm going to go with Arizona. And partially it's because I just don't have a lot of faith that that offense is going to produce a lot of value. Like Chase Edmonds had the one big game. Kenyon Drake had the one big game. But for the most part, we're going on two years now of this not being a particularly great offense for fantasy running backs. Kyler Murray has certainly breathed more life.

I think I have to disagree with you. David Johnson was a must-start top-10 running back before he got hurt. He did it mostly with the passing game. I mean, he had only two games with more than 12 or 13 carries. But, I mean, he was a no-doubt-about or 13 carries. But, I mean, he was no doubt about a slam dunk start. And he was a borderline. Like when we did the midseason draft, I think he was a first-round pick in that format. If not, he was a top 15 pick for sure.

And last year, he basically just accumulated because he got a ton of touches. But he was a top 12 running back. But, I mean, I agree it wasn't a good year for him last year. But this year, he's been great just in an unconventional way. But unfortunately, he had one catch and Kenyon Drake had six. And Kenyon Drake had twice as many carries. And that was, it seemed like, related to the fumble that David Johnson had fairly late in the game.

So, I mean, I agree that I'm worried. But I disagree with your saying that they don't have a lot of value because they do have a lot of value. I'll say I don't have a lot of faith that this is going to be a running game that provides a lot of value. I think there is a lot of room in the passing game because we know David Johnson, when he's healthy, they will split him out wide. We saw before David Johnson and Chase Edmonds both got hurt that those guys were sharing the field a little bit. I think Drake and Johnson were only on the field together for one or two plays yesterday, but that's a possibility because Drake is an effective pass catcher in his own right. I just, I guess because they're going to have to rely on the, the passing game

for value for the running backs. If those guys are splitting it, and I don't really think Kenyon Drake's someone that I want getting 15 carries anyway, it's going to lessen the impact those two guys have. And there's not clarity that it's going to be one or the other right now. Additionally, they have the 49ers coming out this week. The Cardinals do. Then they're on their bye. Then they have the Rams, who are a good rush defense. Then they have the Steelers, who are shaping up to be a really

good defense. The Browns have a pretty good defense. And then they have the Seahawks in Week 16. I just don't think that this is going to be a team that gives you... I'm with Chris. I don't think... Not that you're going to trade David Johnson at this point because he's banged up and not seen the carries. You're not making a move for

Kenyon Drake or whatever it is. I just don't know how much you can trust what Cliff Kingsbury does on a week-to-week basis with these guys i don't know how much we learned in week 10 unfortunately like because i feel like a week 11 could be a lot different for these backfields but one thing i do feel comfortable with is like nick chubb is going to dominate the carries but he's not going to catch as many passes as he did in his first eight games it It's really interesting that he played, I think, his highest snap share in like three or four weeks. Yeah, he played 81%.

It was his highest since week six. They shared the field, I think, on 18 different plays. Kareem Hunt split out wider in the slot 14 times. They were really, really invested in Week 10, the Browns were, in getting both of those guys on the field and getting the ball in their hands. Whether that will be the case moving forward remains to be seen. Okay. And in Buffalo, you had Frank Gore getting the goal line work.

In New Orleans, you had Kamara dominating with the catches, but Latavius Murray actually had one more carry than Kamara. They barely ran the ball. So we'll see what happens in Week Orleans. You had Kamara dominating with the catches, but Latavius Murray actually had one more carry than Kamara. They barely ran the ball. So we'll see what happens in week 11. Let's go to our next topic here from Fantasy Graphics Guy. Which struggling quarterbacks, or well, it wasn't really a question. He just wanted us to talk about these struggling quarterbacks

with great playoff schedules and how much we're buying them. And he gave us three. Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, and Jared Goff. I do not think that Jared Goff has a great playoff schedule, but I do think Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield have some really good matchups coming up. And it's a matter of how much do you trust them.

And then I'm going to throw Nick Foles in there because three of Nick Foles' last four opponents, not including Week 17, are among the four worst against quarterbacks. He gets Tampa Bay in week, let's see, that's 13, Oakland in week 15, and Atlanta in week 16. Foles might have the best late season schedule of any quarterback in the NFL. So Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Nick Foles, these are not guys that you're going to look at on your roster and go, whew, I got my league one league one chris towers but what do you think about these guys who haven't been great for fantasy

but you know could be great going forward gross um i don't know i i guess it was nice to see sam darnold finally have a decent game but i'm not gonna stake my unless i've just been forced into streaming all season and that happens uh occasionally there are a few leagues where like you know i i drafted philip rivers and he hasn't been quite what we expected or something like that where you kind of do have to but i'm not going away from someone who i have any amount of faith in to start sam darnold in the fantasy playoffs at this point like his schedule has been good for the last couple of weeks, or at least two out of the last three games. And he hasn't really done it. So

I just, we'll see what Nick Foles can do. I guess that would be the one wild card because we haven't really seen him this season. We saw him for a quarter. Gardner Minshew did play well. They do seem to have a decent collection of offensive weapons so we'll see if foals can get healthy and get up to speed quick enough because I do like that scheduled uh Oakland in week 15 Atlanta in week 16 but for the most part there's nobody that I'm looking at and saying well I feel comfortable that I can ride this guy through the fantasy playoffs I mean does Sam Darnold count? I mean, does Sam Darnold, does Daniel Jones count?

Because Daniel Jones, he's only 73% owned. I know that's probably above the threshold. Obviously, he had a monster game with four passing touchdowns on Sunday against the Jets, but he has the Dolphins and the Redskins. And I've been banging the drum on the Giants. And the Eagles, Will. It's Eagles, Dolphins, Redskins in the fantasy playoffs. Actually, it's a great call because I think he's going to get,

I think Daniel Jones is going to get dropped in a lot of leagues going into the buy. I mean, we kind of said on yesterday's show, you can drop him. He's been either elite, like one of the best quarterbacks of the week, three times,

or he's been 14 or fewer fantasy points in five games, which is just garbage. You can't start that. So yeah, I'll throw him in the mix. Go ahead. It also seems like one guy that we have to be concerned about too, Matthew Stafford could be out for a couple of weeks, back injury.

This is a team that's not going to be involved in the playoff hunt. The one problem is he's got Tampa Bay in week 15. So you're dropping them at your own risk that someone who doesn't have a quarterback might pick him up and play him against you in the fantasy playoffs. Like I said, I love Daniel Jones. I think, are we sort of underrating Derek Carr? I mean, is he a viable option? Maybe. He's got the Chargers and the Jaguars. He showed he can throw over the Chargers. We're getting Derwin James back.

So that's not a perfect setup. The one guy that would be free, too, if you have a good setup already, and you mentioned his name, but he's not the starter, Gardner Minshew. What if Nick Foles comes back and gets hurt or gets benched? Cause he stinks. Minshew would then draw the Raiders and the Falcons in the playoffs. So yeah, I mean like I'll definitely invest in Nick Foles if I miss out on him and I

need a backup quarterback though. Minshew is going to be for free. I mean, he's not going to be owned and if Foles gets hurt and he's been hurt plenty of times in his career, or if he's benched because he stinks, which is not out of the question that I think Minshew could be a factor too. The problem is two of them are on the road, but he's at Tampa Bay, at New Orleans. New Orleans is 21st in fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks, and then Carolina in Week 16.

That's just a middle-of-the-road kind of matchup. Jacoby Brissett at Tampa Bay, at New Orleans, Weeks 14 and 15 could be pretty good. Oh, the other guy too that I threw out, I assume he's only 59% owned right now, maybe getting dropped some more, but Baker Mayfield. Did we mention him? Yeah, he's in this list. See, that's the thing. The question is do you have faith in these guys even in good matchups? For Darnold,

for Mayfield, I really don't, especially if... I think I'll have faith in him against the Dolphins, but Cincinnati, Arizona, those are weeks 14 and 15. I've heard two weeks in a row with the Dolphins with the guys going against the Dolphins guy. Do I have faith in Baker Mayfield?

Well, they're going to be able to run the ball against Cincinnati and Arizona. He's been just awful. I don't really have that much faith in him to pop and have a huge game. Whereas I actually do think Nick Foles could have a huge game against Tampa Bay. Could have a huge game against Oakland. Could have a huge game against Atlanta. Daniel Jones could have huge games against Philadelphia, Miami, and Washington. It's possible. I think the Daniel Jones call is a

pretty good one. I don't think you're going to use him certainly in his bye, but then Chicago and Green Bay, I don't think you're using him then. So you probably don't have to own him. I imagine he's going to be a free agent. He's probably going to be owned in less than 50% of leagues by the time week 14 rolls around. And Daniel Jones is looking at the Eagles, dolphins and Redskins in his next three games. Look,

we're in the fantasy football today league. And I've got Matt Ryan as my starter. He's got the 49ers in week 15. I picked up Daniel Jones because I wanted a backup option. I'm probably going to play Daniel Jones over Matt Ryan in week 15 when the Falcons are at San Francisco. All right. Well, you can go to that game, Will, if you'd like.

All you got to do is use the SeatGeek app. Use the SeatGeek app, everybody, and the promo code FFT to take $10 off your first purchase. All right. So what do we got going on right now? We got the NFL. This is a great, great time of the sports year. College basketball has started.

In fact, I'm going to be in Florida around New Year's, and there are two games that I want to go to. College basketball has started. In fact, I'm going to be in Florida around New Year's, and there are two games that I want to go to. I want to go to Duke at Miami, and I want to go to the Orange Bowl, which somehow, someway, my alma mater might actually get into, even if they have four losses because the ACC is that bad. What are you talking about? You don't think so? Listen, here's the scenario.

If any team other than Miami wins the Coastal, which is likely, and then loses to Clemson, Clemson's going to be in the playoffs, and if there are no ranked teams in the top 25 teams in the playoff rankings in the ACC, then Miami has a very good chance to go to the Orange Bowl. That's how bad the conference is. Because they can pick basically whoever they want. They're going to pick Virginia or Pittsburgh or Virginia Tech instead.

No, they're not. You have a terrible football team and no fan base. They all have a terrible football team. They're going to sell the game out. It's in Miami, Will. Sell out Miami games? What are you talking about? That promise you. Unbelievable content right here.

Well, anyway, if they go, I'm going to go and I'm going to use SeatGeek to get there. Okay? The SeatGeek app is the way to go whenever you want to go to a game and use that promo code FFT because here's why.

You don't want to have to search, oh, man, where am I going to get the best tickets? Where am I going to get the best prices? Let's go here. Let's go there. Let's go to this site. Just do it all in one stop at SeatGeek because they bring in tickets from all

over the web and they give you the best values and they show you where the best values are. And every purchase is fully guaranteed. I know you might be a little hesitant to buy tickets online. Don't be with SeatGeek. Every purchase is fully guaranteed. So again, use the SeatGeek app and the promo code FFT for $10 off your first purchase. Promo code is FFT for $10 off your first purchase. What's the value of late season fab? How much did you save for the playoffs? You shouldn't have much left.

The leagues where I've got a decent amount of fab, I feel like a failure. Because that means that you've missed out on the guys who could help you when there's more season left for them to help you. Your best case scenario right now is that a guy might help you for six games. Now, they're really important games, but you're holding your money for a situation that may never come. There may not be anybody. Who is there now?

Brian Hill. You probably want to go if you've got a significant amount of fab left right now. for a situation that may never come. There may not be anybody. Like who, who is there now? Brian Hill. You want, you probably want to go. If you've got a significant amount of fab left right now, you probably want to get Brian Hill rather than saving it for some perspective. Brian Hill, who could come in three weeks.

I wholeheartedly disagree. I mean, I mean, like it's all situational, right? Like if you're, I mean, if,

if you're sitting there and you're about to be 6-4 or 5-5 and you're on the fringe of the playoff and there's a guy who could potentially help you win this week, then you make it rain and get the guy because you have to win this week to get in the playoffs. However, if you're a team that's like 7-2 and you're in first place, you're two games up, I'm literally looking at standings in a league while we're talking about this. Maybe you moved to eight and two, right?

And you're guaranteed to make the playoffs at this point. I would rather be cautious with my fab because we've seen so many times guys pop late in the season because of injury. I don't want this to happen, but just hypothetically, Chris Carson goes down. And Rashad Penny, who is widely available in leagues because everyone has dropped him at this point, suddenly becomes a league winner. He's only 46 percent of leagues. It'll probably go down after this week because he had what? I mean, he's playing tonight. Yeah. Yeah. You didn't have any carries on Sunday. I was like, but yeah, I mean, like unless he unless he does something good. And so I think that in that sort of instance, you need to be prepared to swoop on somebody, and you want to be able to have –

what you should do, too, is look at what everyone else in your league who might make the playoffs has in terms of fab. You want to be able to go up top on an offer if somebody pops like that. I'm not saying they will. They don't always do. But in the event that someone does – remember, David Johnson, his rookie year, didn't really take off until about Thanksgiving.

And he was a league winner his rookie year. This happens all the time with guys down the stretch. So I would be cautious about burning a waiver claim in a non-resetting situation or about using up all of my fab now if I'm already in a good spot to get to the playoffs. But that's what I'm saying is Brian Hill could be one of those guys. I don't think Brian Hill is this especially great talent. But we just saw him dominate the touches after Devontae Freeman left the game. We know that the Falcons are already missing Ido Smith, maybe Devontae Freeman.

We'll see what the MRI comes out today, and maybe he's fine. But I would think there's a chance it could be a multi-week thing. Brian Hill could be that guy. I'm just saying you don't want to pass up on a potential 15 to 20 touch running back on waivers because that's usually what we're looking at. I think Darius Slayton's another guy actually who could be a late season star.

Maybe with those matchups. I don't know. But I mean, if Shepard and Ingram are back, who knows? But that's a topic for tomorrow. But I would say this. First of all, most important thing is get there, right? Don't be saving your fab to make the playoffs. You know you're going to make it. But look, last year, two guys come to mind, maybe even three, but it was Jamal Williams was a league winner,

and Elijah McGuire was actually pretty good. And those types of players are going to pop up all the time. And then in Week 17, who was – well, Brian Hill himself was good in Week 16. Week 17 for the Panthers. Oh, Cameron Artis-Payne had a good game. So, I actually like to have some fab because I want to play some defense too. I want to keep those guys away from my opponent if I

can. There are going to be great DSTs to stream. Weeks like the late season games are just so wacky because these guys come out of nowhere due to injury. A lot of teams are just folding. They're so injured on defense. You get these great matchups. I would like to have some fab, but get there first and worry about it then.

And finally, from Teacher Man, is Lamar Jackson untouchable in the fantasy trade market? If not, what should the return be for trading Lamar Jackson, Will Brinson? I mean, I would probably want, at this point in time, a legit number one running back. And there aren't very many of them. I would also need to have, I think, a quarterback on my roster who was doing some serious damage because so far, you know, I mean,

outside of really Russell Wilson, Lamar, I mean, Lamar and Russell are the two big difference makers in points per game, right? 30 plus points per game and six passing touchdown, six point passing touchdown leagues. Mahomes, Watson, Dak, Stafford was up there above 25 as well. Ryan above 25 um you know I would need to probably have Russell Mahomes or Watson on my team as well as Lamar Jackson to make that trade if I if I wanted to do it and would need to be getting back I mean no don't get me wrong I would probably make a move like that for a Michael Thomas or uh Julio Jones or DeAndre Hopkins if I have another

quarterback option but Lamar has such a high floor based on his week-to-week rushing yardage. Even if he doesn't have a bunch of passing yards and passing touchdowns, that he's going to have a huge week. I would do it for McCaffrey or Dalvin Cook or Aaron Jones, obviously. I don't know about Derrick Henry or maybe Chubb as well, but you've got the whole factor with Kareem Hunt coming back. I think you really have to get a monster. You have to get a stud wide receiver or running back and have some safety there at quarterback to do it.

Wow. He sounds like a top 20 overall player for you. I mean, he's averaging over 30 points per game. I'm just saying, the way we value quarterbacks is different. Look, I'm with you because when we did that midseason draft, I was the one. I took two quarterbacks in my top 24, and I got kind of mocked for it. But I think Lamar Jackson is a league winner.

You need guys that are going to – Once you're done with the buys, the depth becomes a little bit less important, and you just want to have stars at every position, or as many as you can, and he's a star. So I think the difference is in a six-point-per-passing touchdown league, he's not even the number one quarterback right now. It's Russell Wilson going into going into Monday night. Wilson hasn't had his bye,

but Wilson's still been just a little bit better on a per game basis. Whereas last year, my homes was so much better than everyone else. Jackson isn't quite there. Like Jackson, Wilson, and even Watson are sort of lumped together. I think based on what we saw from Mahomes yesterday,

I think even though he hasn't done it so far, I'm pretty optimistic that he will be in that group. I don't know. Last year, there was one guy, and he was so much better than everyone. This year, there might be three or four. That's also a cautionary tale for Jackson. Yes, he has been this good, but

the argument against taking Patrick Mahomes in the first round, if we had thought Patrick Mahomes was going to continue doing what he did last year, well, yeah, he would have been worth taking in the first or second round. The question is whether Lamar Jackson can continue to be, and we'll throw Russell Wilson in there, can continue to be that guy who gets you two, three, five more points every week than the average starting quarterback, or even the average very good starting quarterback. Patrick Mahomes was that guy last year. He hasn't been so far.

Can Lamar Jackson be that guy for the final seven games of the season the way he has been for the last nine? That's the question. I would expect at least a little bit of regression. Well, Chris, you're giving up Lamar Jackson. What are you looking for in return? Would you davante adams nick chubb it it would depend i i want to say yes it would depend on who i have i'm not going to give up lamar jackson and then have to stream the quarterback position because i do feel very comfortable that like he's

going to give me 7 to 14 points with his legs every single week. And that's just that's such an advantage. Like that's we're going to have to talk about the fact that the running quarterbacks give you this advantage that is so valuable. But you could have James Winston. You could have Kyler Murray on your team. If I had one of those guys in addition to Lamar Jackson, just the way either waivers or. And I don't know. I mean, I would.

That's the exact example I was looking at, Chris, in terms of Kyler. The problem is, like, he had seven points against the Giants. No, I wouldn't feel great about it. And I'm starting Devante Adams is one of my three wide receivers now. Like that. That's where it starts to get tricky. If I'm, you know, if I'm going from DJ shark to Devante Adams, I probably do that, but it depends on who I'm replacing. Yeah. If you're going from DJ chart to Devante Adams. So if you're going from DJ

chart and Lamar Jackson to Kyler Murray and Devante Adams, I'll take that gamble because I think Devante has the upside down the stretch, stretch. But I'm not going to flip Lamar Jackson for Cortland Sutton. Yeah, and I think you can probably, if you're in the fantasy playoffs, you can find guys on waivers at quarterback that could have a huge game more easily, I'd say, than wide receiver. Although Robbie Anderson comes to mind as another guy last year who was basically a league winner

until he faced the Patriots in either week 16 or 17. But, you know, like there's not a lot of competition on waivers, right? Because a lot of the teams are eliminated. And you can get guys that just slip through the cracks like, oh, the Phillip Rivers is available, whatever. So it's easier to stream quarterbacks in the playoffs than wide receiver if you want a great player. And I would do that. Yeah, I think it's a good call. So that's a great player. And I would do that. Yeah, I think it's a good call. So that's a great comparison. Kyler Murray and

Devante Adams or Lamar Jackson and who was it? And DJ Chark. Yeah, we're going to be on the Murray Adams side there, but it's obvious the way we're talking that Lamar Jackson is a top 20 to 24 overall player for us going forward. And worth noting

too, and I think it is worth noting because a lot of leagues are four point passing touchdown leagues he's you know by far the best quarterback in four point passing touchdown leagues because he's more valuable with his legs he scores those rushing touchdowns um he's averaging 28.85 or 28.9 i guess points per game in four point passing touchdown leagues the next highest russell will no next next highest is Patrick Mahomes at 27.6, then Russell Wilson at 27.1. Right, but it's not as big of a gap, even in four-point, not as big of a gap as it was between Mahomes and everyone else last year.

So just something to keep in mind. But if you have Watson and Jackson or Mahomes and Jackson or Wilson and Jackson, you are in a great spot. And you should probably be looking to trade them. But get something great. Get something great. One huge thing, too, for the Ravens, just really quickly. The Steelers being good again and making a playoff run is enormous for Ravens people

who didn't want to see Lamar Jackson not doing anything at the end of the year. I mean, they're not going to have some huge lead and be sitting on this two or three game divisional lead. It doesn't look like. Pittsburgh has a very easy schedule whereas the Ravens now have Houston, the Rams, San Francisco, Buffalo, and then the Jets, Cleveland, and then Pittsburgh the last week of the season. I think the Ravens will be full bore, pedal to the metal in terms of their offense for the rest of the year. All right, everybody.

Thank you to Will and to Chris. Thank you all for listening. We are done for today. We've got the waiver wire tomorrow. Have a good one. pod is on the hunt. But these aren't your average orcas. These guys are organized. Marketing team, did you get those social media posts scheduled for the seal migration?

Aye, aye, Captain. We even have an automated notification for all pod managers when they go live. They use Monday.com to keep their teamwork sharp, their communication clear, and their goals in sight. Monday.com. For whatever you run, even orcas. Go to Monday.com to dive deeper.