Fantasy Football Today - 12/26 Fantasy Football Podcast: Waiver Wire, and Eagles DST TD!

Episode Date: December 26, 2017

Need someone for Week 17? We've got you covered, but of course we have to look back at Week 16 and that Eagles defensive TD that decided a number of Fantasy leagues (4:00). Plus we look at the NFL playoff picture and which teams could be resting starters (7:10) ... Waiver Wire priorities at QB (10:50) including Tyrod Taylor and Jimmy Garoppolo, RB (12:58) including Charcandrick West and Branden Oliver, WR (15:00) including Josh Docston and Kelvin Benjamin, TE (16:08) including Eric Ebron and Antonio Gates, DST (17:04) and IDP (18:40) ... Adam offers a belated Christmas gift you can get your Fantasy leaguemates (19:40), we talk Fantasy tiebreakers (24:42), then we're recapping PIT-HOU (27:25) and OAK-PHI (29:00) before a deeper look at the Waiver Wire at each position (31:30) ... Your emails at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Here we go! Let's hit the waiver wire. Let's go! Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and T. Ho, ho, ho! What's up, everybody?

Welcome to the show, show, show. It is Christmas time. I'm just feeling it. It's a great holiday spirit. Am I talking to three fantasy football champions, Dave, Jamie, Heath? Sure. Yes, I am a champion. All right.

Heath beat me in embarrassing fashion. That was my closest final. Wow. Good for you. I had three finals this week, and none of them were really very close. Although ours was just 23 points. Yeah. Closer than all in your favor? Yeah. Okay, although ours was just 23 points. Close and all in your favor?

Yeah. Okay, good. All right, Heath. Way to go. How about the best balls? Hell, I'm proud of them. Merry Christmas. Yeah, all right.

Fair enough. That was weird. It was profitable. I ended up winning six of them. Okay, best ball contest, all right. Fair enough. That was weird. It was profitable. I ended up winning six of them. Okay, best ball contest, of course, what I was talking about. Yes. We haven't had that contest on the show just yet. So I feel just to keep it on track and not talk too much about championships, give me just real quick the most exciting waiver wire option for Week 17.

Jamie, Mr. Giggle Puss, why don't we start with you? Most exciting option this week. Tyrod Taylor. Really? Yeah. That's as good as it gets? That's as good as it gets. Nacho Flacco? Oh, no. I like Tyrod better. That's interesting.

Alright. He owns the Dolphins. 24 fantasy points in the first meeting. That was just two weeks ago. Dave, most exciting option? There is a young player with lots of promise and potential making his way with the Chargers, and his name is Antonio Gates. That's what I might have said back when I talked about him in 2003. Was it three or four?

I don't remember. It was a long time ago on a totally different website. But here he is again, still playing football, still catching touchdowns. Do you know that – Dave knows this, but Pete Prisco takes credit for Antonio Gates' career? No. Why is that? So, and I did this myself, but back in the day, we used to use all of our available writers, whenever it made sense, to cover NCAA tournament, the first couple rounds of the NCAA tournament. So, like, I did one in Miami.

So, Pete used to do the Central Florida, North Florida, whatever area it was. Uh-huh. And so, when Kent State, that's where we went, right? Kent State? When Kent State was playing there and Gates was on the team, he went up to him after the game and said, you should play football. Really?

Yep. Hey, that's pretty interesting. So I don't know if that's the first person that's ever said it to him, but Pete will definitely take credit for him. And he says he tells Gates every time he sees him, where's my check? That's a great story. I wish Pete had shared that with us last week.

Supposed to have Nick Kostas on the podcast tomorrow, by the way, from the Pick 6 podcast. Not going to happen? He's on vacation. He's on vacation? He's in New York. He's celebrating his undefeated season. Oh, he won? Oh, yeah, he won.

All right, good. Pulled it out. Go follow at the Kostas if you want to see how it all unfolded. Okay, good stuff. K-O-S-T-O-S, the Costas. Heath, most exciting waiver option for Week 17? What's my ownership cutoff here? I don't know, 80%.

I'll give you some leeway. Then I'll go back to Giovanni Bernard, who lost his job for all of, what, a quarter? And then Joe Mixon got hurt again, and now we have to expect him to get all the touches again. All right, cool. Giovanni Bernard. Derrick Henry is going to be popular, but he's 84% owned. Bernard is 69% owned.

There are some good running backs in shallow leagues, not so much in deep leagues. We've got to talk about the playoff picture. But let's talk about that DST touchdown last night. First of all, okay, so in case you missed it, Raiders-Eagles, dreadful game, windy conditions, cold weather, bad for offense.

And last play of the game, Raiders down by three. They try the whole lateral thing, see if they can get a miracle. And for the second time in three weeks? Or four weeks for the Eagles. Yeah, against the Rams. Yeah, second time in three or four weeks for the Eagles. On the last play of the game, they get a defensive touchdown.

And it decided fantasy championships. Did it decide any of your contests? Nope. Nope. Okay, so... No, but it certainly swayed a lot of bets. Yeah. Yes.

And they didn't kick the extra point. So Rick, from a city an hour and 20 minutes north of Boston, any guesses? Burlington. Burlington. Burlington. He won on the Eagles DST. So, Rick, congratulations. Patrick from the forgotten borough of New York City. Would that be Staten Island, maybe?

Probably. Yeah, probably. Just beat my brother with the fumble recovery for a touchdown. I was losing by.3. Now that I won, what is the protocol for tipping the commissioner slash the league runner? First of all, congratulations on beating your brother. Secondly, I've never tipped the commissioner. Have you?

Nope. No. No, but I will definitely take it in the FFT league from all three of you, so whatever you want to give me, I'll be happy. We'll just, I'll take it in the YOLO league, and so we'll be even. How about just a pat on the back? I commission more leagues than you, so you don't want to go with that. I'm only tipping in one. It's not volume-based tipping.

There's your protocol. You don't have to tip. And from Andy, decimal scoring, up by eight going into the final play. She has the Eagles D, fumble, touchdown, tie ball game. I have the Eagles kicker. They kneel instead of kicking an extra point. We decide to split the pot. I lost a couple hundred bucks on that play.

I didn't even see it. I turned the game off. Is that what they did? They kneel instead of taking the extra point? Yep. Yeah, because they don't want to have the return. Now, I did have a question because I get a lot of tweets with screenshots of people that had just won or lost by like tenths of a point because of that play. We all commission leagues.

What's the protocol for waiting until Thursday? Like how close is that to be that you're going to wait until Thursday to pay out? Because there could be stat corrections until Thursday. I would probably wait to send money. I mean you could certainly say here's a scenario that's what's happened. I mean, like, look, we play in a league where it happened. Yeah, last week in the semifinals, yeah. We talked about that where one of our producers, Marone Berkson, won after Monday, lost after Thursday.

And Adam, with the team we share, we ended up winning that league. Good for me. But Marone said, you might want to wait until Thursday because we're up by three. We won by three. So we'll see if there's a lot of defensive scoring changes. But I would anticipate something like that holding. Yeah, but to your point, I think you just wait to send the check. Yeah.

Yeah. All right. Well, Thursday is the end of Thursday or the beginning of Thursday? 6 a.m. Thursday. Okay. That's when all the stat corrections would be processed. Actually, we had an email about that. So there you go.

What's the playoff picture and how it relates to fantasy football this week? Who could be resting their starters? Take it away, guys. I'll take the easy one. The Chiefs are probably not going to play any of their offensive starters. Same with Philadelphia now that they've locked up the one seed. I just wonder if Foles gets another half. I would say the same thing.

I would expect Philadelphia and Jacksonville to play half. And then the Rams also, I don't know exactly where they stand between the three and the four seed, but they can't get a bye, and they've won their division, so they're guaranteed a home game. And there's no promise that their starters will play. I would be stunned if Todd Gurley played at all. Yeah, I didn't even rank Gurley or Fournette this week. They can move to the three seed, though.

And the Jaguars could move to the two seed. They would need the Browns to beat the Steelers. No, they can't. Oh, I'm sorry. They're out of the two seed business. But they could move down or no? Or are they locked in? No, Chiefs are locked into the four.

The three and the four in the AFC are locked in. So are the one and the two. It's just a matter of who's going to get it. And as far as the Rams are concerned, after what you saw last night, wouldn't you rather maybe be the four-seed to line up with Philadelphia? Yeah, probably. But you also, I think, would want the home game if you can get it. Against the three-seed, probably. But you also, I think, wouldn't want it at the home game if you can get it. Against the three seed, right.

Okay, so any other teams that we're worried about sitting? Patriots, no. They have to win. It's just those four. All right. What are they again? The Chiefs, Chargers. The Chiefs, the Jaguars, the Rams, and the Eagles.

I don't know if I said the Chargers. I meant the Jaguars. Chiefs, Jaguars, Rams, Eagles. What do the Vikings have to play for? They need to win to keep the 2C. Okay. Okay. Yeah.

NFC's crazy. I think the Panthers can end up anywhere from 5-2. Correct. Yeah. NFC's awesome. NFC playoffs are going to be great this year. And it's so wide open. Yeah.

They're going to be great. Okay. And there's only two teams that are kind of playing. Oh, they're going to be great. Okay, and there's only two teams that are kind of playing. Oh, you're forgetting something. What, Melvin Gordon? No. What? You got the right initials. I don't know. What's Melvin Gordon's initials?

MG. What was the big topic of discussion last week? I don't know. Something M, something G, something song, something someone lost a bet. Oh, dang. The worst bet ever. The worst bet ever.

Well, the worst result ever. Yes, they were both terrible. It reminds me of a bet I once made with Nathan where the loser had to wear a luchador mask. And the bet was Vincent Jackson versus, I think, Brandon Marshall or something like that. They both stuck. And they both failed to get five fantasy points. Imagine if we bet Cra Vincent Jackson versus I think Brandon Marshall or something like that. Imagine if we bet Crabtree versus Jeffrey. Amazing.

Alright Dave, do you know what you're wrapping yet? I think it's up to Heath and Jamie to pick. This is all Heath's call. I was just kind of a bystander. How long do you feel like you need to prepare for this? Oh, I'm taking three months because Jamie said it was going to be – Three months?

No, no, no. This week. Again, you have to go by his timeline. No, because I would have had – I wouldn't have asked for Wallace. Yeah, but he would have sung right away. Oh, I would have sang that. No, you both would have to do it at the same time.

That's the point. It's a duet. I've narrowed it down to two, and I will – I'll try to decide by the end of the podcast. But take your time. Ski Low, I wish. Oh, nice. Is the early favorite and also considering Gangster's Paradise. Also great. Yes.

Great. Okay. I have an incredible Gangster's Paradise story. You do? If you choose that one, I'll tell it. I don't have any story with Ski Low. All right. Sounds like a front runner now.

All right, guys. Let's take a look at the waiver wire. People are playing in week 17. So let's do it. I don't have any story with the ski low. All right. Sounds like a front runner now. All right, guys. Let's take a look at the waiver wire. People are playing in Week 17. So let's do it. Quarterback priorities. This one goes to Jamie Eisenberg, I believe. Yes.

Jamie, top three quarterbacks this week. There really are only three. I mean, you could throw in Jacoby Brissett and Patrick Mahomes if you're stuck in two quarterback leagues. But Tyrod Taylor would be my favorite. Jimmy Garoppolo would be number two. And Joe Flacco number three. Taylor who two? Garoppolo? Garoppolo.

And Flacco. Okay, guys. All three are top 12 quarterbacks. Anybody else have Taylor ahead of the pack there? No, I don't. Heath? Yeah, I'm a little behind on my week 17 rankings, but I think they're all pretty good options this week.

So I'll give you just his, if we can circle back on it later, but his track record against Miami is amazing. 24 against them, like you said the last time. His last two trips to Miami, 498, four touchdowns, 47 rushing yards, a touchdown. So five total touchdowns in his last two games in Miami the last two years. And he's got at least 23 fantasy points in four of his last five against the Dolphins. So with how Miami is probably going to play in this game,

I'm going to assume they're going to be a little bit checked out. And the Bills having something to play for, I like the scenario for him a lot. I like Flacco. I like Garoppolo too. Obviously Flacco has something to play for. And the Bengals, you would assume that they're probably checked out too. But I could see them sitting on the lead a little bit and running the ball. So I think his ceiling is a little bit capped.

But I think all guys are in that 21 to 24 point range. Well, I can't imagine if you're not ranking Todd Gurley, you've got to imagine the Rams defense is going to take it a little bit easy too, and that's Garoppolo's opponent. It's a really tough matchup. Love Garoppolo's situation. But again, it's sort of a little bit of a risk knowing if they're going to arrest their guys or not. Yeah, it's a tough matchup if they're playing everybody. Only four quarterbacks have scored more than 16 fantasy points against the Rams.

Exactly. Two of them were in weeks two and three. If they're playing, then Garoppolo is not a great starting option. Dave, who's your favorite of those three? It's Flacco. Okay. Okay. Okay. But I've got Flacco ninth.

I think I've Garoppolo 10th or 11th, and I've got Tyrod 12th. All right. Yeah, I'm almost like the same thing, just flipped. I think I have him 10th, 11th, 12th, Taylor, Garoppolo, Flacco. Okay. We'll give you a few more options for deeper leagues in a little bit. Heath Cummings, running backs for this week. Who are three you'd be prioritizing?

I think it's going to be a big Charkandrick West week. I don't expect Kareem Hunt to play. The Chiefs' only other real option to give touches to is Akeem Hunt. It's kind of a Gio Bernard-type situation where he's just going to get a bunch of touches. And this Denver defense doesn't have anything to play for. They just showed that against Washington. Yeah, but they were good against the run. They were pretty good against the run.

They're good against running up the middle. That's not what Sharkandrick West is going to do a whole lot of. I think Gilleslie and Gallman are also good options. Gilleslie, you're just hoping for the touchdown. Gallman, I'm expecting a bunch of touches again. He, I believe over the last three weeks, leads running backs in targets and receptions. Wow. He has 19 catches in those three games.

24 targets. Yeah. He has 19 catches in those three games. 24 targets. Yeah, how about this, though? Does it concern you at all that Eli Manning seems like he has a good chance to get pulled? He's going to start, but it's a good chance he won't finish the game. Does that factor in with Gallman? Yeah, I don't really worry about that too much because I would worry more for the wide receivers.

But a rookie quarterback playing in his first NFL action, I'd almost expect him to dump it off a little bit more. Okay. Also, we should clarify, Gio Bernard would be ahead of all those guys. Oh, for sure, yes. Gio Bernard, Derrick Henry, Bilal Pal, those guys are all ahead of these guys. Of all the guys I gave you, Adam, I don't have any of them ranked as a starter. You mean the running backs? Yes. Of all the guys I gave you, Adam, I don't have any of them ranked as a starter. You mean the running backs?

Yes. Okay. Those would be Chris Ivory, Gillis Lee, Gallman, Sharkandrick West, Peyton Barber, Kerwin Williams. But I'm sure you do have some of the shallower league guys like Geo and Henry and Powell ranked as starters, right? 100%. And Riddick too. And Riddick. Okay. And then Duke Johnson, 80% owned?

Yep. PPR for sure. All right. So honestly, running backs are not that bad this week. I don't think anyway. Well, I mean, if you don't have Gurley and Fournette and Hunt, that's probably not great. Yeah, I meant waiver wire. I meant waiver wire, but yeah.

All right, cool. We'll talk more about running backs in a little bit. Dave, three wide receivers to prioritize this week. Well, I think Josh Doxson tops the list. You've got to love the 13 targets that he had last week, six of them deep balls. It makes you think that the Redskins wanted him to be more involved in the game plan, and the Giants' defense is terrible. I think Corey Davis is worth picking up because, again, Jacksonville,

nothing to play for. Their starting defense probably won't see the field much. Tennessee's got everything to play for, and Davis had a pretty good game last week. So I think the two of them are really good options at wide receiver. And then the third one is Calvin Benjamin, just because of the whole – it's the exact same situation as Tennessee. Buffalo's got something to play for. Their opponent doesn't.

And here's somebody who can score a touchdown. Okay, so that's Doxon, Corey Davis, and Calvin Benjamin. And again, if the shallower league guys are available, like Marquise Goodwin and Mike Wallace. Well, Doxon would be in that group. Yeah, Doxon 69%. 69%. But I assume Goodwin and Wallace and Martavis would be ahead of him? Yes, sure.

Yeah. Okay. So just, you know, you hear us say these names. There might be someone better on waivers. We're just kind of going with a lower ownership percentage there. Tight end. Jamie, three tight ends? Dave mentioned the best one, Antonio Gates.

Well, I guess Ebron still. He's 55% on. Gates would be two. And Charles Clay would be three. Clay had a very good game against him last time. Tight end is actually a good group, too. You have Ben Watson, who's playing really well. Three of his last four games.

And then Vance McDonald took over as the lead tight end for the steelers when he was healthy yesterday jesse james had one target no catches uh red ellison you know what the history is there for uh tight ends against the redskins and without evan ingram he's he saw you know hefty amount of targets last week and same thing with george kittle yeah okay cool he's he's had uh you know he's been their lead tight end for two games in a row, not fantasy-wise, but led them in targets and catches the last two games. And if the Eagles do rest Zach Ertz, you also have Trey Burton. Ebron, Gates, and Clay. Yeah, there are a lot of them,

but those are the three that are available in a lot of leagues that will probably be picked up first. Ebron, Gates, and Clay. DSTs, Heath Cummings, who are we looking at this week? I am not a huge fan of the streaming DST options this week. I agree with Jamie's top options, but they are all on the road. That's not a great situation. The Saints playing in the KLA.

Even the Redskins? The Redskins are not good. Are the Giants? No, the Giants are not good either. But there's been at least twice this year we've gotten really excited about streaming the Redskins' defense. They've just kind of – Agreed. I don't know how the Redskins don't do well.

If Davis Webb is playing and Evan Ingram is out and Sterling Shepard hurt his neck too, I think he's going to play. But, yeah. I agree. I mean, look. It is kind of scary. Maybe you don't have to go with the streaming option. Why would they play Sterling Shepard? He wants to play. You know, these guys, it's what

they do for a living. They want to play. Yeah, but he hurt his neck after dealing with migraines. I mean... If he's out and Ingram's out, I don't know how the Giants get 200 total yards. Seriously. I agree. They're bad. Really bad.

So that's the best option. But the Saints play Jameis Winston. He'll turn the ball over a couple times. And then the Bills against Miami. But again, it's another road game. Yeah. Well, what about the teams that are playing? Well, I mean, Denver's not a streaming option.

But they're playing Kansas City. Dallas has Philadelphia. Would you take a look at Dallas? No. They have nothing to play City. Dallas has Philadelphia. Would you take a look at Dallas? No. They have nothing to play for. No. Yeah. Okay.

All right. Well, so it's not a great week for streaming DSTs. How do you feel about the Lions against the Packers? Like them a lot. Yeah. I think they'll be good. Okay. We'll get more of those.

Dave, you have any IDP? Yeah, I got a bunch. Defensive line. A couple of Clarks. Kenny and Frank. And then Deion Jordan has resurfaced with Seattle. And I think both Clark and Jordan specifically, with the Seahawks having something to play for,

they could continue to play well. A couple of linebackers in Washington, Zach Vigil, Preston Smith. I think they are candidates to help you if you're looking for tackles. Markevious Mingo has been putting up numbers lately, not necessarily because of tackles. And then at defensive back, Mike Hilton of the Steelers, Kenny Moore of the Colts. Both of them have been playing well lately.

And both of them have pretty nice matchups this week. Thank you, guys. I would like to tell you about the gift I received last night for Christmas. Everybody have a good Christmas? Oh, yes. Wonderful. I had a great christmas i was by myself the entire day why uh weird situation my wife and youngest went back

my two teenagers went to their significant other's house for the evening so like four o'clock it's just me and a bunch of booze and sports you're okay with that they were dead okay all right good stuff and the dog don't forget about the dog. Don't forget about the dog. I saw the tweets about the dog. The dog was there, unfortunately. Yeah. So I got a gift from my mother-in-law. It is a candle. Can you see this candle?

Yeah. You see what it says? We see the side of it. Fantasy football failure? It is a fantasy football failure candle. I guess it is supposed to wipe away the stench of a bad fantasy season. And on the back it says, you blame the quarterback, the kicker, and the injury report,

but everybody in the league knows that the real problem was you. Not only could you not play varsity in high school, you couldn't even put together a solid performance in make-believe football. At least fantasy football failure will fill your man cave with that rich smell of the championship field your team will never know.

Keep telling yourself that this was just a rebuilding year. Maybe that will make the disappointment of this train wreck you call the team sting just a little less. So can we have your mother-in-law as a guest? She sounds pretty awesome. It's crazy. Yesterday, Sunday, I was watching football, and my wife was like, so no finals for you, huh? Wow. And she just was making conversation.

I'm like, did you just talk trash to me? I'm getting it from everybody in the family. So good stuff. Actually, a few of us got the fantasy football failure candle. But it's actually a funny gift. It looks like it is from flickingcandles.com. If you want to send that to somebody, flickingcandles.com if you want to send that to somebody. Flickingcandles.com. You gotta be careful with that.

They're not a sponsor or anything, I'm just saying. Why? Why do I have to be careful? Just don't say it fast. Why? I don't get it. Okay, say it fast. Nah, that's okay. I already made the best ball comment, so I think I'll

think I'm good there. News and notes. I mentioned some of these. Eli Manning will start but might not finish the game. Oh, Heath, you lucky son of a... Melvin Gordon has an ankle injury and might not play. Well, that's part of what went into the bet, knowing that Melvin Gordon has never played 16 games.

No. I hope Melvin Gordon's okay. I hope he plays this week, and I hope he scores two fewer points than either Mark Ingram or Alvin Kamara. Who would start at running back for them? Brandon Oliver? Yeah. I don't think we want him, right, against the Raiders? No.

No. No. Sterling Shepard hurt his neck. DeMarco Murray unlikely to play, So Derrick Henry against Jacksonville. It's an interesting matchup. Where do you guys have Derrick Henry right now? Pretty high. He's a top-ten running back.

I have him in the teens. So he's had three games in his career with 15 or more carries, I believe. And he scored 12 or more fantasy points in all three. It's not a huge sample size, but I think you've got to like at least the touchdown potential for Derrick Henry. We'll prioritize him in a bit. 84% on him.

Okay. Any other key injuries that we need to know about this week, guys? James White, do we expect him to play? Not yet. Joe Mixon, no, right? No, correct.

Damian Williams? No. No, hope not. Yeah, I'm not sure what his impact would be if he does play. Wide receivers, Jordy Nelson, who cares? What about Devontae Adams? Do we expect him to play? No.

No. Marquise Lee? No. Also no. Alan Hearns? No. No. Marquise Lee? No. Also no. Alan Hearns? No. Maybe. I wonder if they bring him, because they are really thin at wide receiver. I wonder if they'd like to get him a few reps before the playoffs, but I don't expect

him to play a full game. Chris Hogan against the Jets? Not currently. No. Alright. Jeremy Macklin, Emmanuel Sanders, Deshaun Jackson. Any of them? No. All right.

We'll wait and see. And then we don't expect Evan Ingram to play this week either. Some emails real quick. Some fantasy football talk here. This is from Clayton. Email address is fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. He lost by one-tenth of a point. Let's talk him out of quitting fantasy football because that's his hashtag, quitting fantasy football.

Fantasy football is the worst. I dominated the season. I lost the championship to a guy who barely made it to the playoffs. Head-to-head is the absolute worst thing ever. I'm glad I can switch back to the Fantasy Baseball Podcast now where some knowledge can win you a league. Ouch. All right. I don't have anything to say to make you feel better.

At times it is the worst And at times it is the best But head to head is the best I really love fantasy baseball Love fantasy baseball I do not love roto baseball I love roto baseball And what I would say is Head to head is the best

For fun But I understand why If you're someone that had the best team and just didn't win the championship, head-to-head introduces even more luck. Oh, yeah, definitely. But that's part of the fun of fantasy sports. Well, not when the luck costs you a win. I guess so. All right, Min from Stanwood, Washington. Kicking myself for fantasy football stupidity.

Oh, Dave, this was somebody who didn't apply your superstition properly. Kicking myself for fantasy football stupidity. I dropped all my bench players to pick up all former Seahawks quarterbacks. I ended up with a tie in the finals, and I lost the tiebreaker because of bench score. I had Charlie Whitehurst, Matt Flynn, Tavares Jackson and Trayvon Boykin on my bench. Well, we told you, watch out for the tiebreaker. Make sure you know your

playoff tiebreakers before you go. And I never said pick up a bunch of former Seahawks quarterbacks. I said pick up one player. Also, don't use bench score in the championship game as a tiebreaker. Either chop the pot or the higher-seeded team gets the victory.

No, total yards. It takes all the randomness out of it. Higher seed, because what does that mean? You're the best record in the record season. You're the home team. That's your tiebreaker. It's the one edge you get. Does the home team in the NFL get the win if it goes to the bench? No, they go into overtime where they create more stats.

We don't have that option. Yeah, you do. You get total yards. I like the higher score. You play a lineup in week 17. You do a daily lineup. But if you do total yards, then now you have bench strategy. Now you have to pick up a whole bunch of quarterbacks.

Wouldn't you rather have strategy than somebody – No, I'd rather be – What if you had the better – you had more points in your league, but somebody else had a better record than you? If that's how you want to do it, fine. You pick. You want to do total points, season-long points, or better record, fine. But reward a team that had a better season, not just bench points that week.

Well, that's the whole point of the higher seed. I would rather have strategy, so play on your bench. Well, is it total yards of the entire team or just your starters? Your whole team. Either way, don't drop all your best guys. You could do that in the championship because the guys that you drop on Saturday to pick up for Sunday

don't matter anymore. But if you're trying to win a tiebreaker in your semifinals or your quarterfinals and you're trying to load up on bench points and you have to drop good players to do it, that's to me sort of... Why would you drop good players when those guys give you bench points? Not as many as quarterbacks.

It shouldn't have anything to do with what's on your bench. It should have something to do with the total yards in your lineup if you're going to make that. That's fine. I'm fine with that too, but it shouldn't be higher seed. I thought you liked higher seed. I never heard any – No, I never liked higher seed.

Interesting. I've always liked higher seed. We've always kind of said that. It's easy. Yeah, I don't know. I like it too. All right.. I've always liked Tyra Seed. We've always kind of said that. I've never heard of it. Because it's easy. Yeah, I don't know. I like it too. All right. It's fine.

Good discussion there. And finally, Team Name Tuesday from John, Kamara Sutra. Sassy. It's good. Yeah, I like it. It'd be a good team name for a best balls league. I'm sorry about that. I'm not sorry.

It was a good moment. Pittsburgh 34, Houston 6. What a game. Ben Roethlisberger has scored exactly 21 fantasy points in each of his last three home games, which is pretty good for him. Last three home games? This was a road game, though. Road game.

It felt like a home game. Road games. Apologize. Le'Veon Bell had a touchdown. Blah, blah, blah. Martavis Bryant was disappointing. Juju Smith-Schuster was awesome Any thoughts on this game?

Ooh, the Alfred Blue thing, let's talk about that It's the second week in a row where Blue has had more carries than Miller But I think a lot of it has to do with Miller getting pulled and blowout losses I don't know, you think so? Well, Miller didn't even play the fourth quarter last week And then this week he barely did play the fourth quarter. He got dinged up last week. I know that.

And to be fair, Blue was mixed in and got good carries. He had that long run in the first half. He just looks better than Miller right now. I guess so. I think they're going to keep splitting. This should be a great game for Miller, but it's hard to trust him. Dealer's tight ends. If Vance McDonald plays, he's the pass-catching tight end.

Yep. And that's really frustrating because he only plays about every other week. But when he's in, he's the pass-catching tight end. In Vance McDonald's last three games, which is like over like a six-week span or seven-week span, he's had – look, five fantasy points isn't that bad for a guy that's streaming tight end. He's had five fantasy points, five fantasy points, and he caught a touchdown in the other one. He had like six or seven fantasy points in that game. I think seven. So yeah, like you said, Vance McDonald, when

he plays, he's okay. DeAndre Hopkins, unbelievable catch. Unbelievable catch. He's awesome. Philadelphia 13 and Oakland 10. And just ugly, ugly game. Okay, no catches for Crabtree or Jeffrey.

Any other major takeaways from Philadelphia-Oakland? I really thought when Philadelphia blew that coverage and Amari Cooper had the 63-yard touchdown that the Derek Carr cold-weather narrative was going to come to an end. And then he picked up 90 yards on his other 27 attempts. Wow. I thought Marshawn looked good. Yep.

Yeah, 25 carries, 95 yards. He did fumble, which helped Will Brinson win a championship. Congratulations, Will. He got a lot of work. Yeah, I don't know. There's not much to take away here. But JGI is clearly their guy. He's going to get a lot more carries than the Garrett Blunt in games that they have something to play for,

which is no longer relevant. He caught a touchdown. Yeah, Blunt could be interesting this week. Do you think they play him? Yes. Ajayi could be underrated in playoff contests. Uh-huh. Yeah.

Well, unless you think they're going to win multiple games. That's true. Who are they likely to play? It's so hard to say. Probably the Rams. I think they'd lose that game. Who do you think wins the NFC?

Minnesota. New Orleans. It might be Carolina. They're all so good. And you know what? If Seattle sneaks in, I wouldn't bet against them. That defense is so bad, though. The offensive line is really bad. Yeah.

I like Minnesota. Man, to host the Super Bowl, I think that would be really fun. I think so, too. A little unfair, but I want to see it. I really want to see Brady Breeze. I do, too. But it's not the same Breeze. He's not the same guy.

Well, he is. He just doesn't throw as often. They're still two of the best ever. He's still been good on a per-throw basis. He just doesn't throw as often. Yeah. That's how I feel. I've had that conversation with, like, three people in the last two days.

I think Breeze is playing great. I think they're dangerous. They're scary. Yeah. I don't know who's going to win the NFC. It's going to be awesome. I don't really think Atlanta has a chance. No. I don't really think Atlanta is going to make the playoffs. They're going to lose this week.

They are in a real fight this week. Carolina can't. Right. They have to beat Carolina. Or if Seattle loses. To Arizona. To Arizona. Probably not going to happen. All right.

Back to the waiver wire. No drop-o-meter this week. You all are relieved of that. So rehashing the quarterbacks here. Tyrod Taylor, Joe Flacco, Jimmy Garoppolo in some order. Jamie has it. Taylor, Flacco, Garoppolo. Dave has it. Flacco Jimmy Garoppolo, in some order. Jamie has it Taylor, Flacco, Garoppolo. Dave has it Flacco, Garoppolo, Taylor?

I would go Garoppolo, Taylor, Flacco. And he could go Garoppolo, Taylor, Flacco. Is it fair to say, I mean, look at the Bengals. They have allowed 18 to 22 fantasy points to eight of the last ten quarterbacks they've faced. And based on what Flacco has done in his last four games, 20 to 22 fantasy points? Is that what you expect from Flacco? Yeah, that's the safety zone for him.

Yeah. Okay. And then Garoppolo facing a Rams team where we don't know. We might find out later in the week, hey, we're going to play all our guys. We're not resting, whatever. And then we'll see. It could be a different story. But if the Rams were at full strength playing all their guys, you look at what Garoppolo did last week against the Jaguars.

He had his best game. He had a rushing touchdown that helped. Would you still trust Jimmy Garoppolo this week if he were playing against the normal Rams defense? Yes. Yep. He'd be behind the other two guys, though. Okay. And then Jamie only has two other guys listed here if you need someone.

Jacoby Brissett and Patrick Mahomes. Brissett, Jamie, got that Houston matchup. Yeah, he scored 23 points against them the last time these two teams met. Clearly Houston's not good. They allow the third most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. And so I think this is actually a good spot for him, a good spot for T.Y. Hilton if you want to buy back into those guys. So, again, two quarterback leagues.

If you don't have the potential of Smith, Goff, Bortles, whoever you've been starting these last few weeks, he's a great replacement option. Mahomes' play is totally dependent on the news we get out of Denver this week. It's week 17. They have nothing to play

for. There are several dinged up guys that are just not going to play this week. Then maybe Mahomes is a play. Sounds like Paxton Lynch might play. Yeah, I think Paxton Lynch probably will play. Which changes everything, too, because he's just so bad. Right. But if Mahomes is going up against a full-strength Denver defense

with none of his top weapons, then you don't even consider it. There's one other guy that we got a lot of questions about last week. I guess he was just available in more leagues than I figured. He's 86% owned, but Jameis Winston. How do you guys feel about Jameis this week? Top 10 QB? Yeah, borderline. Do you like him better than Tyrod Taylor, Joe Flacco, Jimmy Garoppolo?

I do. Not me. Yeah, I would probably put him right in the middle of that group. I think I'd put him ahead of Flacco but behind Garoppolo and Taylor. Okay. He is facing the New Orleans Saints. Saints need to win. Last time he faced them, he got hurt, but he was 7 of 13 for 67 yards.

But that was just a tough game for him. He's playing really well. Yeah. Oh, I do want to look that up. If you take away the two games in which he got hurt, is Jameis Winston leading all quarterbacks in passing yards per game? I think he probably is. There's nobody who's throwing him.

I mean, he's going to throw the ball 50 times this week. Okay. All right. So he could be an option for you too, 86% on. Running backs. So let's start with the shallow league guys. We got Gio Bernard, Derek Henry. Gio has Baltimore on the road. Derrick

Henry has Jacksonville at home. Neither of them has a good matchup. Bilal Powell is at New England. Well, teams that run on Baltimore most of the season. Yes, it's weird. So the Ravens, they allow the fifth most fantasy points to running backs. But they only allow four yards per carry. But 12 rushing touchdowns

this year to running backs That's a lot And 3 receiving touchdowns in their last 3 games But I don't know Yeah, Geo could certainly Yeah, he definitely could do that Alright, so Geo against the Ravens Derek Henry against Jacksonville Bilal Powell is at New England

And they give up 4.8 yards per carry 7 of 9 running backs with 13 or more carries against New England Have scored 9 or more fantasy points in standard scoring leagues. Sometimes that's receiving totals. You don't get that from Powell. Theo Riddick has Green Bay, and Duke Johnson is at Pittsburgh. They've only allowed one receiving touchdown to a running back this year. They have been pretty bad against running backs since Jay Zersman. In fact, they've been terrible against running backs, so keep an eye on Crowell this week. All right, so Go, Henry, Powell, Riddick, Johnson. That's how Jamie has them ranked.

Anybody have Henry ahead of Dave Heath? Do you have Derek Henry ahead of Geo? I would start Henry over Geo, yes. Dave, how about you? Yeah, I would too. Derek Henry over Geo? That's close. What about PPR?

PPR, I'll take Geo.? PBR, I'll take Geo. Not PBR, I'll take Derrick Henry. Okay. And these guys are very good starts this week or what? Yeah. Okay. How do you guys feel about Bilal Powell? Low-end starter, flex.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, 19 touches or 19 carries, it's just so frustrating. Why didn't they do this all year? Because they're weird. Also, he split time almost 50-50 with Forte, and I wonder if he got a lot of carries because the game was close.

I don't know if this game against New England is going to be that close. That's fair. So I doubt he gets 19 carries again. No, but he'll get 10-13. Right. New England, they don't have a good run defense, but he'll get 10 to 13. Right. New England, they don't have a good run defense, but they've only allowed five rushing touchdowns to running backs this year. That's something to keep in mind.

And that might just be because they get ahead a lot. But they don't. Like I said, 4.8 yards per carry. Would you rather start below Powell or Isaiah Crowell this week? Powell. Powell. Powell. Yep. Powell, okay.

And then there's Theo Riddick. What do you make of the fact that Green Bay has done very well against Jonathan Stewart and Latavius Murray last two games, but not as well against Christian McCaffrey and Jarek McKinnon, who bear more similarities to Theo Riddick? They are not very good at defending pass-catching running backs. They, other than Isaiah Crowell, have had a little bit of success defending up the gut. Riddick, though, coming off a bad game. Is he even the best Lions running back this week? Yes. Because of this matchup, yes, I think he is.

Tian Green is more of the Run straight ahead into the back of your offensive lineman Okay And then Duke Johnson, 80% owned Who's your Okay, so if Geo's your favorite in PPR Of this Geo, Henry Powell, Riddick, Duke Johnson group

Who's your second favorite in PPR? Henry Yes, still Henry Over who? Anybody else Who's your second favorite in PPR? Henry. Yes, still Henry. Over who? Anybody else. Over Powell, over Riddick, and over Johnson. Yeah, for sure.

Then who's your third favorite? Easier question. Between Powell, Riddick, and Duke Johnson, who's your favorite in PPR this week? Riddick. Yeah, I think it'll be Riddick. Duke. Okay. Now the other guys. Shall be Riddick. Duke. Okay. Now the other guys.

Shallower leagues. Jamie has Chris Ivory. So what's that all about? And no Yeldon? Fournette not playing, and he's had 17 or more carries in each of the three games that Fournette has been out. Okay. Is Ivory healthy himself? He didn't play last week. Right.

I don't know if he is or if he is. Yeah, he was taken off the injury report last week, so they didn't play him because Fournette was healthy. And he's not good. He's not good. None of these guys are great options. No, no. He's bad.

I don't really like the matchup very much, especially with Jacksonville having nothing to play for and Tennessee having everything to play for. But he will get probably the most volume out of this group except for maybe West. All right. Chris Ivory, Mike Gillislee, Sharkandrick West, Wayne Gallman, Peyton Barber. Hold on.

Hold on. I don't know if Ivory gets those kinds of opportunities that we're talking about. Why not? They'll just dump him into TJ Yeldon. I don't think Yeldon plays very much either. I think it could all fall to Corey Grant at this point. Because if Ivory's not 100%, they're going to want to keep him rusted. Obviously, if Fournette's not going to play.

I don't know if he is. He didn't play last week at all. All we have to do is just go on what the information is. If this was a game that Jacksonville had to win and Fournette wasn't healthy, then I bet Ivory would play a lot. But it's a meaningless game. I don't think they have to worry about risking Chris Ivory's health or not if they're comfortable with Leonard Fournette at this point, which he played into the fourth quarter of a game where they were losing.

So I would assume that they feel he's healthy. I say we wait and see. Maybe we'll hear something. I'm anticipating Chris Ivory getting 15-plus carries this week, just based on what the track record has been every time Fournette has not played. Which should mean at least 30 yards. Dave, who would you rather have? From Jacksonville's back?

No, from the waiver-wire running backs outside of the shallow group. Well, I mean, I didn't even rank Ivory because I don't expect him to play, so I'll take anybody over him. Well, who's your favorite? You've got Ivory, Gillislee, Sharkandrick, Peyton Barber, Kerwin Williams, Wayne Gallman, Alfred Blue, Tian Green, Malcolm Brown.

Can I say Capri Bibbs? Does he count? Well, P. Ryan's going to play. Oh, that's right. P. Ryan's going to play. So that's probably not a good one. Well, is P. Ryan going to play because he left with an injury,

didn't he? He actually returned to the game. He did? Yeah, Gillislee, I guess, by default, would be my favorite. Okay. Oh, Dave, thank you for the stat. 301.3 yards per game for Jameis Winston if you take away the games in which he got hurt,

and that would lead the NFL. Thanks, Dave. Anything for you, pal. Yeah, that's all I do is make you look up stuff. I was reading that stat. Did you give a favorite? You said Bibbs. Okay, who else?

But it's not with a lot of enthusiasm. Well, I mean, you are going to get, guys, you are going to get workload from Kerwin Williams and Peyton Barber, right? Yeah, but those guys stink. All these guys stink. I mean, you know, Gallman is probably the best in PPR. West, the last two years of him getting 13 or more touches weren't great for him. Okay.

All right. I'm sorry. Last year. Two years ago, he was good. Last year, he was terrible. When he had four games of 13 or more touches, he was terrible. And on top of them being bad, all of these guys have bad matchups, except maybe Gillisley because the Jets run defenses.

They're not playing some guys. They've allowed four rushing touchdowns in the last three games. The Jets, yeah. The Jets have, yes. So Gillislee is potentially the safest. I'm just looking at these guys as workload outside of really Gillislee. The way I have it ranked, I expect Ivory to get 17 or more touches because I expect Fournette to be out and TJ Elder not to do much in the run game.

I expect Gillislee to get probably 10 to 12 touches. What did he have last week? Six. He had seven touches. Seven touches. That's scary. So, okay, seven to 10. West, 15 to 20.

I don't think they're going to overwork him because their depth is not good. If he gets hurt, they're screwed. I wonder if they go to Hakeem Hunt. I don't. I understand the resting a starter. I don't think we're resting backups. No, but he's their primary backup. They actually use him.

I don't think resting is Sharkandrick West, but I don't think overworking Sharkandrick West. Like, he could be the first half guy and Akeem Hunt could be the second half guy. Or Akeem Hunt works the running downs and West stays in his passing. Ballman's in a very good spot in PPR, like we said, 24 targets, 19 catches his last three games. But you could have the quarterback switch, which could be bad against a Redskins defense that is questionable. But he hasn't exactly been great. He's been better at PPR. And then again, Adam, you mentioned those two guys, Barber and Williams.

The workload could be there for them too, but they're both in spots against teams that are very similar to Chris Ivory, facing situations where their opponent is fighting for a playoff spot. Well, look, Tennessee got shredded by Todd Gurley, but before that they allowed double-digit fantasy points in standard to one running back in six games. Sharkantric West at Denver, we know they have a good run defense. Wayne Gallman facing the Redskins is interesting. The Redskins give up the eighth-fewest receiving yards per game to running backs,

but last week they struggled. I don't know if Zach Brown's absence had anything to do with that, but it's possible. Peyton Barber facing New Orleans. They've been pretty good against the run lately. They've given up four receiving touchdowns to running backs in their last six games, but Peyton Barber's almost certainly not going to do that.

Kerwin Williams at Seattle. I still think they have a pretty good run defense, although it has been great the last three weeks. They've faced Fournette, Gurley, and Zeke. Alfred Blue at Indianapolis is actually kind of interesting. Indianapolis is terrible, and Blue's been playing well, but who knows. They threw the ball so little yesterday that they might run the ball 35 times, and Blue might get half of those.

Yep. And Tian Green against Green Bay, you know, it's a good matchup. Probably better for Riddick, like we said. And then Malcolm Brown against San Francisco. San Francisco has a very good run defense, but this is a great offense. Malcolm Brown could be filling in for Todd Gurley. It's probably not a great offense with Jared Goff out. And same thing with Sharkandrick West.

If they're going to be benching guys, they're going to be benching guys. So it's not going to be first-string offensive linemen either. And same thing with Jacksonville. Okay. All right then. How about wide receivers? So the shallow league guys are Marquise Goodwin, Martavis Bryant, Mike Wallace, Josh Doxson, and Ted Ginn.

Marquise Goodwin, Martavis Bryant, Mike Wallace, Josh Doxson, and Ted Ginn. What are your thoughts on that group? Who do you like a lot in that group? I would say Goodwin and Wallace are my favorite two. Just to keep those two guys forever linked.

I like all of them, to be honest with you. I think Bryant's certainly going to have a chance at home against the Browns. His home track record is for the most part good. Yeah. And if You know, his home track record is, for the most part, good. And, you know, if Doxon's game carries over from last week, targets carry over from last week, you know, they continue, like Dave said, continue to feature him, then he's well worth the look against the Giants.

Two patches on 13 targets? Holy cow. Yeah, but still, it's target volume. That seems like a record. Yeah. Remember Demarius? It's not good, but they're trying. What did Demarius have against the Patriots a couple years ago? Yeah, I think it was two years ago.

I'm going to look that up. He had like one catch on 11 targets or something crazy. All right. Yeah, Doxon, the Giants cornerbacks are an absolute mess right now. Here's something to keep in mind with Martavis Bryant. The Browns, this is not a stat that is kept. I would honestly guess that the Browns are the best team in fantasy football in fantasy points allowed to second receivers.

Not necessarily like the number two wide receiver, but they always give up a big game to one guy, almost always. They never give up a big game to a second guy. Never more than seven fantasy points in standard scoring leagues all season to a second wide receiver in the same game. So does that matter to you

when you look at Martavis Bryant? I don't think he's a must-start guy. I think it's kind of the similar situation. But the other guys ahead of him, you know, in terms of... I guess Walsh should be ahead of him. Sorry.

I don't know why I have it like that. Just to verify, Pro Football Reference has kept track of targets since 1992. There has never been a player besides Josh Doxson with at least 13 targets and two or fewer catches. That's not true. I'm looking at it right now. Demarius Thomas, one catch on 13 targets. Yeah. I'm not

according to this i'm looking at his espn.com game log and i remember the game so well 2015 sports game log one catch i just did a google search one catch for for 36 yards on 13 targets against the patriots on november 29th Take that, pro football reference. Well, I'm not sure why you're citing ESPN over pro football reference. I'm citing me. I remember it super well. Citing me. Yeah, I don't remember it would be 13 targets.

Yeah, there have been a couple of them, actually. Okay. I clicked the wrong box. Okay, there you go. Take that, Heath Cummings. Alrighty. So other wide receivers. Okay, there you go. Take that, Heath Cummings. Alrighty, so other wide receivers. Dave mentioned Calvin Benjamin earlier. Chris Godwin against the Saints.

He had six targets, three catches for 98 yards. Tyrell Williams against Oakland. He's been more involved lately. Had five catches for 50 yards at the Jets last week. Corey Davis. This feels like the ultimate fool Jew, but we'll see. He's got Jacksonville this week. Feels like it to me.

Does anybody have confidence in Corey Davis? No, especially with Rashard Matthews not doing much. I kind of like Kendall Wright. Well, no, I don't. Minnesota? No, I don't. No, you don't. But I'm willing to excuse Kendall Wright's horrible game because the weather clearly hampered the passing game in the Cleveland-Chicago game.

Two great passing teams didn't get to show it off. Heath, you have something to say? Yeah. What if I told you that there was a wide receiver that was just 31% owned and he had four straight games of 99 yards or a touchdown. What? What? What about Keelan Cole? Keelan Cole.

Yes. Keelan Cole. Yeah, I'm not expecting to play very much. That's the problem after all the receivers got hurt. Yeah, I don't know if they have enough. I don't know who they would play. Well, they're probably going to sign somebody off the street to replace Jalen Strong. And I agree with you. I think you're going to see alan hearns play some i just think with marquise

lee down with what they're if portals gets pulled cole and westbrook getting pulled it's interesting though yeah they'll have to play receivers that we are not currently on their roster they've got they have they have they have one on their practice squad, Monte Crockett. Now, before we get into a big breakdown of Monte Crockett, I just want to say that we should probably just pump the brakes a little bit and see what they end up doing. Okay. Kenny Galladay is on this list, Jamie. Yeah, he had a good amount of targets last week.

Yeah, I love him a lot against Green Bay. Yep. Ryan Grant at the Giants. He had four catches for 85 yards last week. Yeah, it's just more Grant at the Giants. He had four catches for 85 yards last week. Yeah, it's just more play against the Giants. Love Crowder this week, right? Alright, so Kelvin Benjamin

and then I'm assuming Benjamin is way ahead of Godwin, Tyrell, Corey Davis, Kendall Wright, Kenny Galladay, Ryan Grant. Okay. Good luck with your wide receivers that you have on your team. Tight ends, shallower leagues, Vernon Davis as the Giants, and Cameron Brait has New Orleans.

Yeah, all right. So who would you guys prefer, Vernon Davis or Cameron Brait? Brait. David. I think it's Davis, but I don't really like either one i agree boy uh so the saints look at this is okay i guess is he though because remember what he did he was one of the biggest disappointments all season in any game with that game against the giants on thanks yeah i think who else are you starting over well i i think for this week the

giants pass rush has not been very good the last few weeks, and so they probably don't need him as much to block. Hasn't been good all year. But he's got five straight games with two or fewer catches. He's not involved. He's a touchdown or bust tight end. Yeah, but Bray was a disappointment last week. There are guys that are less than 65%

owned that I would rather start over him for sure. Totally agree. Give me some names. Let's get to them. Go ahead. Now, Eric Ebron, still just 55% owned. Oh, yeah. Leads the Lions in targets over the last three weeks. Gates, too, right?

Antonio Gates, for sure. Is that third? Charles Clay revenge game? I was going to say Clay. I think Benjamin Watson over him, too. Do we need to rename the almost touchdown for Charles Clay now? Yeah, he's up there. He's had a

bunch of them. Yeah. Does it matter to you, does it bother you that the Packers are six best against tight ends? That's Ebron's matchup. Didn't matter to Greg Olson. Nor to Cameron Braid, who caught two touchdowns. But Olson... I mean, Kyle Rudolph last week had one catch for six yards. Bad weather.

Braid had 39 yards. I don't know how many guys have had more than like 40 yards against them. I'm guessing one. I'm guessing Olson's the only one. No, Witten. Miller had 45. Witten had 61. Olson had 100 and something.

They have not faced good tight ends. I'll say that. So Ebron is the head of the class on the waiver wire, right? Yes. Okay. Gates, Ebron, Gates, and then the Vernon Davis, Cameron Bray group, or Charles Clay before them too? I would take Clay over.

I would too. I would put Bray in the Clay category and Davis behind both of them. I would take Watson overton in the clay category and Davis behind both of them. I would take Watson over both those guys too. Are you just getting away from Brayton because of last week? I don't know how healthy he is. I mean, remember last week he came out of the game two weeks ago banged up. It's true.

Other guys, Ben Watson facing the Bengals. Vance McDonald has the Browns. That's always nice. Rhett Ellison has the Redskins. That's always nice. Rhett Ellison has the Redskins. That's always nice. Rhett Ellison is the Giants' backup tight end. George Kittle's been more involved. He's at the Rams.

And Trey Burton, as Jamie said, if Zach Ertz doesn't play, Trey Burton has Dallas. Any top 12 guys in there, or top 15 guys? Watson, McDonald, Ellison, Kittle, Burton? Watson. Watson, yeah. Top 12. I'm going to make a change.

I'm going to make an addendum to the running back list. Okay. If Gordon is out, Oliver should be the first guy added. Really? Okay. Yeah. Get yourself some BO. That makes sense, actually.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm looking at it now. I'm like, why didn't I put that first? Okay. Brandon Oliver. Because the Raiders are not good against the Rams. And DSTs, we like the Redskins.

We like the Saints. We like the Bills. We like the Lions against the Packers. I'm not sure what their ownership is. Let's look that up. Lions, Lions, Lions. They are owned in 71% of leagues. So they could be available for you.

Let's see, the Patriots. I'm just doing this off the top of my head. Patriots have the Jets, and they are owned in 79% of leagues. So they could be available for you. Let's see, the Patriots. I'm just doing this off the top of my head. Patriots have the Jets, and they are owned in 79% of leagues. So yeah, shallower leagues, the Patriots and the Lions. I didn't love the Steelers going into the Texans game, but they certainly played very well,

and I imagine, I mean, they're 91% owned. Boy, they had a huge game. Wow. They had seven sacks? Did not realize that. Seven sacks. Alright, Stewart's 91% owned. They're not really all that available. So Redskins, Saints, Bills, in deeper leagues,

shallower leagues, you can look at the Patriots and the Lions. Of those five teams I named, Patriots, Lions, Redskins, Saints, Bills, who's your favorite? Redskins. Lions. Patriots. Saints, Bills. Who's your favorite? Redskins. Lions. Patriots. Okay, good stuff. Kickers.

Stephen Hauschka at Miami. Adam Vinatieri against Houston. Dustin Hopkins at the Giants. Robbie Gold at the Rams. Dan Bailey at Philadelphia. Don't forget about weather. You might want to go for a warm weather kicker who's going to be in warm weather or in a dome this week.

I mean, like if you had Jake Elliott last night, you're obviously very disappointed. So we can finish with some emails. Fantasyfootball at CBSi.com. This is from Brian. I made it to the championship for Week 17, but I have Kareem Hunt, Zach Ertz, and Brandon Cooks. Now we expect the Patriots to be playing all out. Yep. I can start Collins and maybe Geo if Mixon is out,

but should I pick up Gates or Ebron at tight end? And is Gillislee worth a shot at running back in PPR? I'd try and stay away from Gillislee, especially if you can get those other guys. And Ebron one, Gates two. That's your order for tight ends to replace Ertz. There you go. Did I give a shout-out to our emailer from Atlanta? Who is that?

Jared Parker from Atlanta. I don't think I did. Jared, I meant to read your email. I'm sorry I didn't, but you had a very nice email. I want to thank you for it. And he said, I went with my family to a movie during christmas day before getting chinese food of course during the trailers it showed classic holiday flicks and diehard was one of them instantly bursted out laughing thinking of the four of you thank you

for thinking of us yeah with that i heard and i wasn't here on friday but i heard that the debate's over i guess over i mean that's's good. But you know why? Because you were wrong. Always. And everyone knew it. Because the writer of Die Hard... The writer of Die Hard said it was a Christmas movie. Yeah. But you were wrong.

Always. And everyone knew it. All right. This is an email from Jeff in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Not Quebec. No, definitely not Quebec, Jeff. Would never have thought of it. Dear Ralphie, Randy, Flick, and Schwartz.

Are those all from A Christmas Story? Mm-hmm. Never seen it. Saw Bits and Pizzas. Watched it two nights ago. Enjoyed it. A little bit of it, anyway. Okay, he's going to win his PPR quarterback Superflex League,

but he needs help with keepers. Pick two of these keepers. Marlon Mack, Samaje Pirine, Bilal Powell, Doug Martin, Devontae Parker, and Josh Doxon. Marlon Mack, Pirine, Powell, Martin, Devontae Parker, Josh Doxon. Pick two. Yikes. I'm probably going Mack and Doxon. Pick two. Yikes. I'm probably going Mack and Doxon.

I feel like Doxon has to be one of them. It's not a great list. We don't know what Parker's future holds. What is it again? Marlon Mack, P. Ryan, Bilal Powell, a crummy Bucks running back who no one should keep, Devontae Parker and Josh Doxon. The keepers? Yeah.

Mack and Doxon. This is keepers? Yes. That's the upside. Mack and Doxon make sense. If it was the quarterback of Washington, that would definitely sway it for me. I would probably go... If Rob Kelly's gone, I'd go Piran and Mack. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, yeah, I guess

Mack. Mack makes sense because if Luck comes back, then he's in a good spot. But I definitely expect the Colts to add one, if not two, running backs. I don't have— Maybe Frank Earl just come back. Maybe. And then they still should add a running back. Jeff, thank you very much for the email.

Looks like Mack, Pirine, Doxon are your upside candidates. Honestly, I still think Devante Parker is upside. I do. Of course he does. I mean, why not? I would say that next year is probably the year. It could be. It could be.

He just has to stay healthy. How many years do you have to play before you stop having upside? Look, it's not a great list. It's not a great list. That's why. He doesn't have upside. He has outside. Devontae Parker has had a better year than Josh Doxson.

Maybe not in touchdowns, but he's further along in his career, so he should have a better year. They'll get Tannehill back next year. Well, that'll fix it. That'll help. He's better than Cutler. He's not better than Cutler. Devontae Parker's breakout year has been 51 catches, 606 yards, and one touchdown.

And injuries. Okay. You know what? I'll be laughing my way to the Parker Bank. And pick up Brandon Oliver, everybody. For Dave, Jamie, and Heath, I'm Adam. Good luck in Week 17. We're back tomorrow with some Week 17 tough calls and apparently not a Nick Costas interview.

See you later. Bye.