Fantasy Football Today - 12/15 BONUS: Mailbag and DFS Advice (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 15, 2018

With Beckham out, Conner practicing and Hilton's status uncertain we've got plenty of questions to answer. We've also got Dave's updated thoughts on Elijah McGuire and some DFS advice (32:50). 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! It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Let's go! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. And we've got your Saturday mailbag, folks.

Yeah. And we've got Giddy Dave Richard. I'm not Giddy. You are Giddy. You have that. It's Friday afternoon. I'm about to go home for the weekend. Pepping your step.

Going to have some pistachios. Really? I don't know. Saying silly stuff, I guess. Maybe you're right. Maybe I am in one of those moods. I'll tell you, I'm in a bit of a bad mood. Oh.

I just made a really bad purchase. What'd you buy your wife now? No, I bought paper towels, like a big box, like 10 rolls of big bounty paper towels. Open them up. They are not Select-A-Size. Life is really difficult. Who doesn't get Select-A-S that it's ridiculous very environmentally can you clear up what select the size is yeah those of us who might not know you don't know i didn't say that of course i know what select the size select the size is you know

when you have a roll of paper towels and every sheet you can sort of rip in half. They have like half sheets. Or you can pull – like you can select – you really don't know? Like if a normal paper – What a size select is? Yeah, I'm telling you. If a normal paper towel sheet is like, I don't know, a foot wide. The Select-A-Size sheets are six inches wide, but it's easy to pull. It's easy to do a six-inch sheet, but it's also easy to just do two six-inch

sheets. You get the normal size, but it's your choice. Anyway, I just wasted a lot of money on paper towels I don't want. Paper towels are expensive these days. Odell Beckham is out. Sterling Shepard is what? He remains a low-end number two receiver. Probably safer as a flex, but if you need to use him as a low-end number two, you can. I think the Giants are going to have to throw a little bit more in this game than in last week's game.

This isn't going to be the same type of thing. And I think it'll be a competitive game, too. I think Tennessee will come to play. Yeah, and... Oh, okay, next news item. I want to compare Sterling Shepard. And is there a Colts wide receiver? Because T.Y. Hilton didn't practice on Friday.

He genuinely may not play this week. Is there a Colts wide receiver that you would pick up? I liked what I saw from Zach Pascal last week. Yeah, I just think that Ryan Grant isn't that good. Don'trell Inman has made plays

earlier this year. Chester Rogers. That's the guy. Chester's the one? T.Y. Hilton missed two games earlier year, and he got hurt in one of them. In those three games, Rodgers had 10 or 11 targets in each game. He had eight for 85, eight for 66, and four for 55 and one in those three games. He seems to have sort of taken a backseat to Dontreau Inman, though. But Rodgers was kind of a must-play in PPR when T. when ty hilton had previously been hurt but so what it was

was he was the slot guy and his volume made him really good but they were thin on receivers when that was going down and now obviously they're going to be thin if they don't have ty hilton i'm not sure where they're going to use him if they're going to make him the main slot receiver. Pascal played in the slot last week quite a bit, and I like that matchup a lot against Dallas. That's really where I want to go. I guess my question is, are you handcuffing T.Y. Hilton? No, not to any of these guys.

All right. All right, so Hilton may not play. Let's hope he does. James Conner was limited in practice. Are you expecting James Conner to play? I think he's got a pretty good chance to play. I know they need him. I don't think he'll be at 100%.

But these are always the trickiest injuries to figure out, and not just the high ankle sprain, just the simple fact that he kind of practiced on Friday and is now questionable. So, your guess is as good as mine. I wish I had a better beat on it. Maybe we'll learn something more about it. Where are you going to rank him if he plays?

I think he's probably going to fall closer to 15 than 12 among running backs for me. I can't buy into him being what he was way earlier this year. I think he'll be touchdown needy, and I think there's a pretty decent chance that even if he plays, the Steelers will realize, well, he's not giving us what we want in the run game.

We might as well let it rip with Roethlisberger, and now you're looking at 12 carries for 35 yards from James Conner and whatever he can contribute in the passing game. And if he's not moving around that well, it could be Jalen Samuels. I got an interesting question on Twitter. This is from somebody who could start Jalen Samuels at tight end. He was planning on doing it. But if Connor plays, then you're not going to feel good

about starting Jalen Samuels at tight end. His alternative is David Njoku, who plays on Saturday. Oh. So what do you do in that spot, hot shot? And I think the answer is either play it safe with Njoku, or you cut Njoku for a late-game tight end emergency replacement in case Connor is active. That's what I'd do.

I think that's probably what you'd have to do. Yeah, I mean, if Ian Thomas is available on Monday night, that's the easy thing. Perfect. Absolutely perfect guy to go and get. Yeah. Benjamin Watson would be another desperation tight end. I don't feel great about Benjamin Watson. Of course not. I don't feel great about David Njoku.

Yeah, sure. Niners news. Seems like they're optimistic about Matt Breida. And Dante Pettis is questionable with a foot injury, but we're expecting him to play. Allen Robinson expected to play. Austin Hooper will play. Deshaun Jackson is out.

Miami cornerback Zavian Howard is doubtful. And Kiki Cutie is out. Time for some emails. Fantasy Football at CBSi.com. Also, join our FanDuel contest. FanDuel.com slash FFT. It's five bucks. Join it up. FanDuel.com slash FFT. It's five bucks. Join it up. FanDuel.com slash FFT.

I don't know why Amari Cooper is not more expensive. He should be in your lineup. This is from Jathan. 10-team PPR. Down 13-0. I need some... You're not... I'm confused.

Because this is important. You? No. He's either down 13-0 because he has Keenan Allen and... Eh, forget it. Who cares? Pick two. Pick two of these guys in PPR. Aaron Jones, Nick Chubb, Dalvin Cook,

Tariq Cohen, Stefan Diggs. I think Chubb would have to be in there. And I think I'd go Dalvin. Over Diggs and Cohen and Jones? Okay. Yeah. And Cam Newton or Dak Prescott? I'm a Dak guy this week.

Dak it up. From Nathan, half point PPR, pick one. Pick one and half PPR. Jordan Howard, Aaron Jones, or Mark Ingram? That one I'd go with Jones. Different league, same format. Aaron Jones, Phillip Lindsey, David Johnson. So am I picking one again?

Oh, he's got to pick one. It's Lindsey. From Ben, dear Nick, Winston, Schmidt, Coach, he's got to pick one. It's Lindsey. From Ben. Dear Nick, Winston, Schmidt, Coach, CeCe, and Jess. Dave, you should watch New Girl. Very funny. Is that what this is from? It is what it is.

Which one of these is the new girl? Jess. Oh. Yeah. Standard League pick two. Josh Gordon, DJ Moore, Alan Robinson. Thank you. You guys dope. Cool. I, Alan Robinson. Thank you. You guys dope.

Cool. Uh, I'm sitting Robinson from Jordan, Jalen Samuels, Chris Carson, Lamar Miller, Julian Edelman. Those are four names.

What am I doing? That's all you need to do is guess the greeting for players. Uh, if you need, I don't know what he needs. Yeah. Jordan didn't send in what he needs, what the league format is. Hold on.

Let me search my inbox. Otherwise, he's just sending us random names. Some people put it in the subject line. No, this is on me. I need two flexes in non-PPR. Samuels, Carson, Miller, Edelman. I would go with Carson and Miller. Jordan, I'm sorry for making you look bad. This is from Dan.

Dear full funny, half funny, standard funny, and mean. Ooh. Oh, that's funny. Like half PPR, full PPR, standard. Half PPR, league. Rank these three. Adam Humphries, Dante Pettis, Elijah McGuire. I'm going to go...

Pettis is the one that I like the best of the group. I'm a little hesitant to say Humphreys next, but then do I do it or do I go with McGuire? Maybe I'll go with McGuire over Humphreys. I spent some time watching McGuire and the Jets in general before the mailbag show, and color me unimpressed. A lot of it has to do with the offensive line and defenses stacking against the Jets because it's Sam Darnold throwing

the football. They are not an impressive offense. I think they're going to have a hard time putting up points on the Texans. Call me crazy, but McGuire should be in a situation where he gets minimum half the total touches and he can catch three or four balls. Capable of working at the goal line. He did that. He scored the game-winning touchdown last week. I think

he could probably get you around 60 to 70 total yards, a less than 40% chance of a touchdown, but four catches on top of that. So what does that sound like? About 70 yards, something like that? Sure.

I hope he scores. I'm starting McGuire in one league. Okay. I'll take McGuire over Adam Humphreys. Wait, but Pettis was one? Pettis was one. Yeah. Because I happen to have Pettis and McGuire in that league,

and I will start both of them. Going to be a fun week. From Andy, full PPR, start two. Dalvin Cook, Phillip Lindsay, Nicholas Chubb. Cook has to be in there. Just the way that he's been, what we're expecting from him, and the way that the Vikings should be effective against Miami. It's just such a good matchup.

I think Lindsey's got to be the other one. I think Chubb is actually the odd man out. Yeah, wow. Okay, here's a question from NoNamerCity, Dave. Who we got? It is Dallas from Sacramento. OBJ is out, so I need help at Flex. PPR League, Jared Cook, Kenyon Drake, Elijah McGuire, and Jeff Wilson Jr.

Jared Cook, Kenyon Drake, Elijah McGuire, Jeff Wilson Jr. Well, I don't know if I can even go with Jeff Wilson Jr. because we don't know if Matt Breida Sr. will play. Let's assume that he will. He practiced enough this week, and that'll ruin Wilson to play. I'm going to go with Jared Cook. I think he's kind of the obvious answer, actually. From Ben, PPR, rank these guys.

Well, or just pick two. PPR. Lamar Miller, James White, DJ Moore, Doug Martin. I'm going to go with Miller and Moore from this group. Doug Martin scares me a little bit. That offensive line, there are questions about whether or not both of his starting guards, I don't have their injury report as of this recording.

But you can check in to see. I think it's Gabeabe jackson and caliche osimile if they're out if one of them is out it's bad if both of them are out it's terrible it's a good point yeah it's such a great matchup too if they're both playing then that's very good for doug martin okay i don't have a name here but i'm guessing he's from washington he says hey alex colt mark and Josh. It might be Donald. What does that mean? Oh, yeah, it might be.

Somebody from Washington. Someone who lives in Washington. I started Keenan Allen in my PPR league. Oops. So I need to maximize my upside because I played against Damian Williams. So fill the four remaining spots in my lineup. Julio Jones, Devante Adams, Nick Chubb, Leonard Fournette, and David Johnson. I'm sitting Johnson from that group.

Would you start Evan Ingram or Ian Thomas? Thomas, especially in PPR. This is an email from Craig from a city in Silicon Valley. San Jose. I think that's right around that area, right? I don't know. It's a good question. We're kind of idiots.

We don't know all the cities in Silicon Valley. Yeah, I don't know any of them. San Francisco. I mean, I know it's in California. I don't even know what that is. There's a tech guru listening to this right now going, what the hell? Isn't it like near Stanford and stuff? Yeah, look it up.

He says, hey, Tom, George, Kenny, and Jim. Did you know there was a show called Silicon Valley? Apparently it's amazing. Yeah, you're right. It's right around the San Francisco Bay Area. Oh, it is? San Jose is the valley's largest city.

Boom! In your face, map. Now, who are Tom, Jim, Kenny, and – Tom, George, Kenny, and Jim? Those are males. No, those are 49ers coaches. No, they're not. Two of them are. Okay, let's move on.

Half PPR. Who are they? I don't know. Tom, George, Kenny. The George and Jim made me think of 49ers coaches, but then there would probably be a Bill in there and maybe a Steve. Who is Kenny? Ken O'Brien?

No. I killed Kenny. Pick O'Brien? No. I killed Kenny. Pick two. Half PPR. DJ Moore, Tyler Boyd, Alan Robinson. I'm going to go with Moore and Boyd. Oh, hint for the names. One of them is a snake.

Tom, George, Kenny, and Jim. One of them is a snake. Tom, George, Kenny, and Jim. One of them is a snake. Oh, okay. So Kenny is Stabler. These are Raiders. Okay. Jim Plunkett, Kenny Stabler, Tom Flores. And I'm blanking on the George.

I feel like a total moron now. Not like the time when I thought I knew where... George Blanda. George Blanda? Yes, I think he was a Raider, but I don't know if he was a part of those great 80s Raiders. George R.R. Martin. I think it's George of the Jungle.

Hi, my name is Aaron. I'm in the semifinal of my half PPR league. Congratulations. I need my name is Aaron. I'm in the semifinal of my half PPR league. Congratulations! Two receivers to start. Kenny Galladay, Adam Humphries, Corey Davis, Curtis Samuel, Josh Reynolds. I will nervously recommend Davis and Galladay.

And I need to fill my tight end and flex spots with Aaron Jones, Jalen Samuels, and Rob Gronkowski. I think the safest way to go is to bench Samuels. Gotta go win. Bye, he says. I like that. From Micah, I need some... For Micah? Is that what's in your

kitchen? I love the laugh. Alright, Larry Fitzgerald, Robbie Anderson, or Cortland Sutton? And it's a half PPR? Yeah. Sutton. Sutton it is.

From Mike, Deshaun Hamilton or DeeDee Westbrook? DeeDee. From Jared in New York, New York. I'm hanging out with a friend, Jared, who lives in New York, New York tomorrow. Is this who sent in the email? I don't think so. Did he befriend you and that's how he got his email read on the podcast? No.

I have a great story to tell you after this. Okay, who do I start? Boyd, Godwin, Tate, or Deshaun Hamilton, PPR. Boyd, Godwin, Tate, Hamilton. It's Boyd. Oh, pick three. So sit one. Oh, wow.

So the one that I would sit would be, you can take a chance and sit Golden Tate. Okay, from Sal. Hey, Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. One that I would sit would be, you can take a chance and sit Golden Tate. Okay. From Sal. Hey, Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Heath, start one at running back. Sonny Michelle, Tariq Cohen, Kenneth Dixon. Standard scoring. Cohen.

In standard scoring? Not even thinking twice about it. Quarterback question here. Matt Ryan or Lamar Jackson? I have Ryan ranked higher. I feel better about his upside than Jackson's, but I do like Jackson too. Half PPR, Tevin Coleman, Alan Robinson, or Elijah McGuire? E-Mac.

Yeah, you're going to go with McGuire? Over Coleman and Robinson? It's probably the right way to go. There is one wrinkle here. Tevin Coleman might be the only guy in that backfield. Leto Smith showed up on the injury report with a knee. He's questionable. If he ends up not playing, then Tevin Coleman's going to be the lead back for Atlanta.

In the past, that's been a very good thing. The matchup is exceptionally good. I would love to have Tevin Coleman available to me, which means that I would pass on McGuire. Unless we hear something about Ito Smith. Yeah, he's going to play. Don't worry about it. But I would pass on McGuire and have Robinson ready to go if Ido

is active. If Ido is inactive, Tevin Coleman. Oh my gosh. Yeah, that'd be nice. I could really change things. Spencer in Omaha, who would you start? Joe Mixon or Phillip Lindsey? Mixon. Mixon is top five for me.

All right. By the way, we're going to do FanDuel in a little bit at the end of the show, so stick around for that. Greg, from a city in the San Francisco Bay Area. A city, not an area? Yeah. Screw it, man. San Jose, everybody's living there.

Pick four in PPR. We can do a san jose podcast listeners league um pick four and ppr uh one running back one wide receiver and two flexes brita wilson gus edwards dion lewis i think it has to be edwards and lewis and you might be able to talk me into brita if brita is active And it goes without saying that if Breida is inactive, then Wilson is the way to go. Okay. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to forget about Deion Lewis. Gus Edwards is in.

Wait, but you only need one running back. Oh, I thought it was two. Well, you need two flexes. So we'll come back to that. Oh, one running back, one wide receiver, and two flexes. We're only at the one running back part? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, right now it's right now, really, it's Wilson because we're not expecting Breida to play. But once we rank Breida, then it's going to be a mess.

So Gus is probably where you're going. Josh Gordon, Corey Davis, Allen Robinson. Pick one. Gordon. Gordon. And now Flex. Corey Davis, Robinson. I think the answer is Corey Davis and either Brita or Wilson.

All right, this is Josh from a borough in New York City. Hey, Ed, Ed, and Eddie, you ever see that show? Never. Weird cartoon. I'm the commissioner of a small keeper league. Each team can keep two players for the next season at a three-round premium. That means you can't keep anyone drafted in the first three rounds. Because of this, we don't have a trade deadline.

This has never been an issue until last week when, after the playoffs started, a team who missed the playoffs traded Leonard Fournette, a non-keeper, to a playoff team for Julian Edelman, a potential keeper. Half the league was up in arms, but there's no specific rule against it. Since then, several non-playoff teams have traded their best players, Todd Gurley, Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, the remaining playoff teams in exchange for draft picks next year. What are your thoughts?

I'm beyond livid, and I consider it a cheat, with or without a rule, for these types of trades to be made after the playoffs start. Yeah, it's kind of gross, the fact that this is happening after the playoffs start. A commissioner should have stepped in and said, no, trading allowed. Trading shouldn't have been allowed a couple weeks ago. This is kind of preposterous. It sounds like a league that needs to get its act together

and create a hard and fast deadline. What's your funny story? We have more emails coming up. What's your funny story? I'm getting ready for FFT today, which is our live show noon every weekday on CBS Sports HQ, the free 24-hour,

seven-day-a-week home of CBSSports.com in case you didn't know. Anyway, I get a call from our front desk of our building where we have this really amazing security guard. Her name is America. She says, there's a guy here to see you, and he's got a bag with him. That's all the information she has. Now, normally I'm pretty easygoing guy. Someone comes to see me. I'm fine with it. But

when they don't have a name and they've got a nondescript bag, I get a little sketchy. America says, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. Five, 10 minutes goes by. She calls me. She says, okay, come. The bag's up front. Person left it here for you. And the person was gone. And person left a note saying, Dave and everybody, thank you so much for all the fantasy help. It was a fan. His name is Brian. He left a note, and he also brought a giant tray of chicken nuggets from a well-known, very delicious fast food chicken restaurant. That's so funny. And I mean, I am talking mammoth. Like, even I can't eat all these.

I'm going to need some help. So we divvied him up. Brian was very, very generous. It was great for him to stop by and bring us some flavorful chicken nuggets. Hey, thank you, Brian. Did you get in touch with him?

Yes, yes, yes. I thanked him via DM on Twitter. That's awesome. Which is how I thank everybody for any gift anymore. Parents buy me something, send them a DM. Yeah, really? I mean, how do you thank people? Oh, gosh.

I write a thank you card all the time. I got one from you for your wedding. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's right. Yeah, I gave you a good gift. It was very nice for someone who didn't... Don't you dare forget it. For someone who didn't go to the wedding, gave me an excellent gift. It was very nice for someone. Don't you dare forget it. Someone who didn't go to the wedding gave me an excellent gift. It's very nice of you.

Not every day you get his and her onesies. Let's get back to the show. Read some more emails at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com right after this. 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

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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. All right, this is a question from Ryan. Who would you sit between Carson, Ingram, Jones, and Jalen Samuels? Ryan in a city in the cold north. This is nice for Ryan. Samuels is the one you sit unless Connor is active.

If Connor is active, then you sit Mark Ingram. Or if Connor is inactive, you sit Mark Ingram. From Matthew, I need help, Matt Ryan, Dak Prescott, or Lamar Jackson. I like them all, but Matt Ryan is going to be my favorite of those three. Angel in Milwaukee, 12-team PPR, says, Dear Peanut Pretzel, Crisp, and Caramello. Sounds like things that are involved with chocolate. They're M&Ms.

He says, What's your favorite M&M? Peanut butter. I like. They're M&Ms. And he says, what's your favorite M&M? Peanut butter. I like the peanut butter M&Ms. The peanut butter or the peanut? Peanut butter. Did I stutter when I said butter? But why do people love peanut butter M&Ms and not Reese's Pieces? They're very, very similar.

You're talking to a guy who likes both of them. Exactly the same. But people obsess over peanut butter M&M's. Nobody obsesses over Reese's Pieces. I'm not talking about peanut butter cups. I'm talking about pieces. They're the same candy. It's a little more chocolate, I think, in the M&M's.

They're bigger. I think it's not necessarily the chocolate. There's a little more chocolate, I think, in the M&M's. They're bigger. I think it's not necessarily the chocolate. There's a little more chocolate, but there's also a significant amount more of peanut butter. And I believe it's a little creamier than what's inside a Reese's Pieces. My favorite is peanut. All right, here's the question from Angel. I need two. Aaron Jones, Matt Breida, Jeff Wilson, Gus Edwards, Kenneth Dixon, Elijah Maguire.

I would go with Edwards and Jones. Unless Breida's out, then it's Jones and Wilson. Then it's Wilson and Jones. Okay. From Yuri. Hey, Tommy, Alfie, Arthur, and John. You don't know that? Maybe I do. I'm not not gonna tell you what it is uh golf or luck

if ty hilton is out then it's golf oh we didn't talk about that if ty hilton's out what do you do with andrew luck you've got to downgrade expectations i think he's barely a top 10 quarterback and that's really honestly it's on the basis of him just playing so well. I actually think it changes the whole dynamic of the game. All right, let me just look this up here. Because T.Y. Hilton missed New England and the Jets. I'm pretty sure Andrew Luck had two awesome games. But let's talk about that.

It's pretty much everything he does. I know, he's been so good. He plays against Washington or Jacksonville. He had 28 fantasy points on 59 pass attempts at New England. So actually not that great of a game. I mean, it was good for fantasy, but Well, that's what we're talking about. 59 pass

attempts is not something you can rely on. Then he had 30 fantasy points on 43 pass attempts at the Jets. He threw 7 touchdowns in those 2 games without T.Y. Hilton. Okay. Maybe I won't have him as low. That's pretty compelling.

And I also think that Indy will have a hard time running the football against Dallas. So it probably means another high-passing day for luck. And he makes his receivers better. That's been clear this year and several years before. He's one of those guys. Ingram and McGuire are going to be your top two.

I would probably put, if it's full ppr i might go hamilton then dixon then adams i am very cold on the eagles from jonathan ravens dst or bears dst i believe i have the bears higher all right no name let me to confirm that? Yeah. I do. No name on this one. Richard, Dan, Steve, and William. Richard, Dan, Steve, and William. Those are

members of the 1985 Chicago Bears. Did you say this was from Gloria? Yes. I need two in a half PPR league. Jeff Wilson, Mark Ingram, Samuels, Doug Martin, and Corey Davis. It's Samuels and Ingram if Connor is out, and it's Martin and Ingram if Connor is in.

And what's frustrating is you're not going to know about Connor when you need to make a decision on Martin and Samuels. You might end up just having to stick with Martin and Ingram. He also has Jeff Wilson, or Gloria also has Jeff Wilson. Right, and in that case, yeah, I'm not sure who I'd get rid of here from that group. If Wilson is the only guy in a half PPR, that's the case, right?

What? Yes. Martin and Ingram are probably who you're going to end up starting. Okay. By the way, Tommy, Alfie, Arthur, and John as Peaky Blinders. I only saw one episode and it was terrific. I would love to get back into that. Never heard of that program.

It's on Netflix. This is Mark from an affectionate city in Colorado. Isn't there a place called Loveland or something? Sure. There is now. Dear Mickey, Peter, Mike, and Davey. Is that the monkeys or something? I think that's the monkeys.

Yeah, sure. It seems as though running backs perform better on the short week on Thursday night with the defenses being tired. Do you ever rank players differently based on this? Is there data to support the theory? I did have data to support it. It was pretty good. And past couple years, it's been debunked a little bit, especially earlier in the year when the players are fresh.

But it's absolutely been the case to a certain degree. The last Thursday game of the year between the Chargers and Chiefs, it worked out. The week before, it worked out great for Derrick Henry. Not so much for Leonard Fournette. I think it's much easier to buy into the home team running back and easier to buy into the home team in general on

these Thursday night games. Yeah, we used to say, when in doubt, Thursday's out, remember? I do remember. And we don't say that anymore. Things have changed. I feel like these teams have sort of learned how to deal with the short week. Some have. Some have not.

Yeah. Some better than others, sure. From Josh, Tate or Cobb? PPR. I might say Cobb over Golden Tate. Alex from Kansas. Phillip Lindsay or Alvin Kamara? Standard scoring.

It's Kamara. Mike from Albany. Adams, Shepard, Fitzgerald. PPR. Oh, Mack, Adams, Shepard, Fitzgerald, PPR. Oh, Mack, Adams, Shepard, Fitzgerald. Half PPR, it's Shepard. Full PPR, you might make the case for Fitzgerald. He does have a safer floor in full PPR. Half PPR question here.

Curtis Samuel, Golden Tate, Marquise Goodwin. Samuel. From Jesse in Indiana. Dear Omaha, Geek, and Robin Hood, who are some players drafted late this year or picked up as free agents that have major value in next year's draft? Obviously a guy like James Conner, but I'm specifically looking for keepers who might be sitting available still

due to drops like Alex Collins. I always start with Hunter Henry. First name up on the tip of our tongues this week in the uh national mainstream yeah i don't know if like jhi would fit as well i don't know if jhi is gonna fit with an nfl team i don't know if people are gonna be very excited uh i wish i could have been a little bit more prepared. Darius Geis probably would have been kept already anyway. Here's a sleeper that I like. He's going to be competing for a roster spot, but Chris Warren in Oakland was very, very good in the preseason, and then he hurt himself and

was put on IR. But he's got some talent. Okay. I like that got some talent. Okay. I like that, Dave. Good stuff. Deontay Foreman could potentially be that guy. He'll be a year-plus rehab from the torn Achilles. Marquise Lee from his knee injury could be interesting as well. Still the best wide receiver in Jacksonville.

Yeah, but that's still not saying a whole lot. They need a whole new group of receivers there. And a quarterback. This is from David. Pick one to flex. Elijah McGuire, Josh Adams, Deshaun Hamilton, Larry Fitzgerald. Standard scoring. I'll go with McGuire.

This is from Hardy in Milwaukee. Dear Greg, Walter, Derek, and White. Greg, Walter, Derek, and White. Huh. I played against Mahomes and Williams last night. I have an uphill battle. Do I start Cam, Cousins,

or Josh Allen? Six points for passing touchdown. I would go with Cousins. Greg, Walter, Derek, and White. The only White I know is White Goodman from Dodgeball. And then from Michael. Half PBR, Elijah McGuire, Marlon Mack, or Josh Adams. It's going to be McGuire again.

Greg, Walter, Derek, White. Greg Maddox, Walter Johnson, Derek Jeter, Whitey Ford. I don't know. Dave, let's do some fan dueling. Let's do it. Go to fanduel.com slash FFT. I love my lineup every week. Have you made money the last two weeks?

No, I haven't. I have. I know you're on fire. That's right. I'm taking your money, Adam Azer, and I'm spending it on pickles. They're so gross. You're weird. I had pickles on a burger today at lunch.

I'll have you know. Sergio Gonzalez says hello, by the way. Oh, hi, Sergio. So where do you start at FanDuel? Like, who's the guy? Well, you go to FanDuel.com slash FFT. First thing I would do is put Amari Cooper and probably Dalvin Cook in my lineup. I've got one of those guys.

Yeah, who? Dalvin. Cooper's 6,600. Dalvin Cook is 6,200 By comparison Julio Jones is like 8,800 Cooper's 6,600 It's a huge difference The most expensive running back

On the Sunday slate is Saquon Barkley He's like 9,200 9,400 I think Dalvin Cook's 6,200 So huge difference there Okay so that's where I'm starting With Cooper and Cook Dalvin Cook, 6,200, so huge difference there. Okay, so that's where I'm starting with, Cooper and Cook. And my team, which you probably shouldn't copy because I haven't been doing all that well lately,

is Zeke and Cook at running back, Dak Prescott at quarterback, Antonio Brown, Stefan Diggs, Dante Pettis at wide receiver, Amari Cooper at quarterback, Antonio Brown, Stefan Diggs, Dante Pettis at wide receiver, Amari Cooper at flex, Evan Ingram is my tight end, and the Vikings DST, which is the cheapest one I would consider, by the way. Nice. Yeah, nice. I like.

Yeah. So I'd like to do a little bit better than Dak Prescott, but there's no Mahomes on this slate. There's no Rivers. There's no Deshaun Watson. There's no Baker Mayfield. There's no Monday night game with Breeze and Cam. So, you know, Rogers is really expensive.

That's an easy fade. I went with Dak. Nicely done. Yeah. You know, FanDuel, I think, is a lot like seasonal. If you have an edge at tight end, you could be in really good shape. So I would

like to do some more lineups, and I'd love to get Gronkowski on there. The Steelers have just been so bad against tight ends. And I don't know how popular Gronk will be, because he's pretty expensive. But in this particular one, I went with Evan Ingram, who I think will not kill you now that Beckham's out. Gronk is only 6,900.

Right. He's not the most expensive tight end. No, Kittle is, right? Kittle is the most expensive tight end. And Kittle, like the Seahawks, I'm not saying Kittle's going to have a bad game. But the Seahawks have been great against tight ends And two weeks ago they faced Kittle And he had six catches for 70 yards

Ertz has got the Nick Foles situation So Gronk would probably be my favorite Of the premiums Oh Ebron I love Ebron But I just couldn't afford him So I went down to Ingram Gotcha

Anything you want to share? I'll give you my lineup, but you're not allowed to copy it. All right. Actually, before I forget, I just want to say the availability of James Conner and Matt Breida is going to have a significant impact on our lineups because Samuels and Wilson are very cheap. Sure. So it's something you've got to pay attention to. I don't have either of them, but if they're the guy, I'll downgrade somewhere, put in one of those guys, and upgrade from Prescott probably or maybe from Ingram. Go ahead, Dave.

Joe Mixon is going to be my running back in every single lineup I have this weekend. I love the matchup against Oakland. I think he can come through with a top five performance. I'm going to pair him with Chris Carson, and my flex will be Dalvin Cook. My receivers are going to be Amari Cooper and Antonio Brown. I believe you have both of them. Tyler Lockett is someone who I'm going to go with at wide receiver. I like that matchup against San Francisco.

I think he'll do very well. Gronk is my tight end. The Bears are my defense at 3,700, not even close to being the most expensive defense on the board. Wow, who is his quarterback, folks? Oh, the Bears are at $3,700? Yeah. So I've got this loaded lineup, so I had to have gone cheap a quarterback.

Can you guess who I have? Nick Mullins. Nick Mullins! That was my guy. That was my guy. And then I had like $900 left over, so I went with Dak. And I do apologize. But everybody's going to go with Dak.

You think so? Yes. He's going to be probably the most popular daily fantasy quarterback this weekend. I said the Vikings are the cheapest. I don't know why I didn't see the Bears. They're one spot below $200 cheaper, so I would consider them too. Oh, wow. Nick Mullins. Yeah.ullins yeah all right i like great first guess you really had no idea it's not like i stooge it off you can't see my computer you know your your camera into this office you can't see what's

on my computer i hope you didn't hear my cat meowing today by the way i did not hear your cat meow okay she was She was making noise. At one point, she was right in front of you. Yeah, she gets up in my face. Usually I kick her out, but I felt really bad, so I said, let's chance it. Maybe she'll just chill. She didn't chill. Maybe she had a fantasy question.

I just feel like it's Friday night right now. I know it's Saturday when people listen. It's Friday night. I just don't care anymore. I'm just going to say whatever the hell I want right now. I know it's Saturday when people listen. It's Friday night. I just don't care anymore. I'm just going to say whatever the hell I want right now. Talk about the cat. Wait, if you can kill time. Yeah, sure.

I can kill time. I know exactly what to do. I want to find an audio clip. See if I can play. Sure. And what better way for me to kill, say, 30 to 45 seconds on this podcast by reminding everyone that I on fantasy football will be live at 10 PM. Eastern time on CBS sports radio. Of course you can hear CBS sports radio online,

CBS sports radio.com or on serious satellite radio channel two Oh six or the good old fashioned radio dial CBS sports radio is on in over 220 cities in North America. Adam and I will be there. We will take your phone call. So if you've got a fantasy question that you didn't get answered in today's mailbag, you can call us up. Should I give the number? Why not?

I'm killing time. Do you know the number? 212-4227. Write it down now and call us later on Saturday night, 10 p.m. Eastern. We'll take your call. We'll talk on the air. You can say, gotta go by or na-na-na-na-na-na-na. You can write a rap like Pat from Ohio does every week.

We have a great time and we help people win their fantasy leagues. There's no way I'm going to find this clip unless I pause it. I just did an amazing job. It's up to you if you want me to find it. But I know the genesis of na-na-na-na-na-na-na. I have the music that we maybe unintentionally stole from. And I can cue it up if you give me a minute.

So I'm going to pause the podcast, ladies and gentlemen. And when I come back, you are going to hear the magical music that inspired Dave Richards' signature outro. Be right back. And we're back, Dave, the thief who stole, in my opinion, from this. What do you think? I don't think that's it. Can you play it? I'm going to do my version over what you found.

Okay. All right. The music is still playing do you have any control of your sound no i don't okay here we go no i'm gonna go back again here we go see mine's faster it's a little more peppy so it's very difficult it's not dramatic like you're setting up a huge boxing fight. All right, Dave. We're out of here.

Ready? Thanks, everybody. Thank you for listening, and have a great day. We'll talk to you on the Saturday night. Na, na, na, na, na, na, na.