Fantasy Football Today - 12/29 Fantasy Football Podcast: Start or Sit (NFC) - Sleepers Galore?

Episode Date: December 29, 2017

With several teams - including possibly PIT - resting starters, does that give us a plethora of Week 17 sleepers (5:50) like Landry Jones and Malcolm Brown? ... Are we concerned about the Week 17 weather (9:10)? ... NO-TB (22:00), CHI-MIN (29:25), CAR-ATL (37:05), DAL-PHI (41:30), WAS-NYG (44:15), GB-DET (51:10), ARI-SEA (55:20), SF-LAR (58:40) and some DFS lineups ... 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 fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. Here we go! We're here to help you win your league and have bragging rights on your friends. Let's go! Now, here's Adam, Dave, and Jamie. Welcome to another edition of Who is Resting Their Starters?

A.K.A. Week 17 Fantasy Football. Adam Azer, Dave Richard, Jamie Eisenberg. Guess what, guys? I am feeling very cold today. Very freezing cold. And that is important, because many football players will be freezing cold this weekend on the football field,

and we will talk about the weather. And good morning to Dave and Jamie. How are you feeling today? Crispy and warm, I hope Well, we live in South Florida So, of course, it's nice and temperature pleasant here Temperature pleasant? Temperature pleasant It's, uh, what is it today? Like 75?

Oh, you jerks It's 17 here in New York It's gonna be cold this weekend And that could affect some fantasy players So we'll talk about that Jamie, good morning Good morning Alright, you guys ready for our last start or sit of the season?

This is it How about that? The end of the line Yesterday on the Fantasy Football Today video show Jamie encountered something that I've Encountered for many years. To say start or sit show is very risky. You get the S and the SH confused sometimes.

If you say it too fast, start or sit becomes something. I don't think I screwed it up, though. You did it. No, you did it. No. Well, I did screw it up, but I don't think I said the wrong thing. You didn't say that, no, But it's like sometimes it gets close. I did have to catch myself.

We were very awkward beginning to the show. That's great. Adam got upset that I didn't call him. I said, our good buddy Dave's not here, and he got upset that I didn't say our good buddy Adam is joining us. Yeah, I felt it was a little bit of a diss. Oh, you don't feel like you're a good buddy? I don't know. Maybe just I'm out here.

You probably feel like you're a good buddy if you were in the office every day. That's the thing. I'm the guy on Skype. All right, so let's do an update on who's resting. We'll start with the Steelers. Marcus Gilbert may have spilled the beans. He said Ben Roethlisberger and Le'Veon Bell will sit this week. Is that an absolute fact?

Are you guys treating that like Bell and Ben are sitting? He actually tweeted later less than an hour after it came out that he never said those things which means he probably did say though the reporter he said it to uh made sure that he clipped all the um comments and quotes and he said it 100 yeah so what do you guys think about the stealer we'll probably get confirmation today oh well okay so it kind of makes sense for them not to blame. No, not to me it doesn't. That's just like, okay,

the Patriots are probably going to beat the Jets, but what if they don't? It seems kind of crazy. They're also playing an 0-16 team that they may be able to beat them with their backups, too. I think they will. Last year they beat them with Landry Jones. I think if they're arresting their starters, they don't care if they beat an 0-15 team. I think they will. Last year they beat them with Landry Jones. I think if they're arresting their starters, they don't care if they beat an 0-15 team.

I think that they're just trying to protect themselves for the playoffs. Well, let's talk fantasy, though, because we previewed this game yesterday, and we love Ben, and we love Juju. Obviously, we love Bell, Martavis' number two-ish wide receiver. But if Ben Roethlisberger and Le'Veon Bell do not play this week, what does that mean? Landry Jones played Cleveland last year, and he scored 27 fantasy points. What does that mean for Smith-Schuster, for Martavis Bryant,

for Steven Ridley or James Conner? If they're pulling those two guys, they're pulling Juju and Bryant too, to an extent. They're definitely not going to put anything on film that other teams might be able to get something out of. It'll be a very basic, bland... Smith-Schuster's already had a hamstring issue once in the last month. Might see a lot of Stephen Ridley.

You see a lot of Stephen Ridley, you'll see a lot of Justin Hunter, a lot of Eli Rogers. Okay, so Ridley. All right, we're going to talk about sleepers in a moment. The Rams are resting many of their starters. We know that. Patrick Mahomes is starting for Kansas City. We know that.

Seems like Eli Manning might play the entire game, but probably won't have Sterling Shepard or Evan Ingram. So I don't think. No. But don't forget the other big one is that DeAndre Hopkins is probably not going to play. Yeah. Absolutely. DeAndre Hopkins.

Game time decision with a calf injury. Week 17. Who knows if he's going to play. Yeah, absolutely. DeAndre Hopkins, game-time decision with a calf injury, week 17. Who knows if he's going to play. The Jaguars, they say they're starting their start. We're repeating a lot of things, but it's fine. The Jaguars say they're going for it. What about Dallas and Philadelphia as they face off against each other? How much do you expect to see of the starters in the Dallas-Philadelphia game?

Figured that Friday will be an important day for Philadelphia in whether or not they announce how much their starters are going to play. They're talking like they might. We'll see what they say, but I think the safe play is to assume a half and not more than a half from Foles and

Alshon and Ertz. There's a chance that they could play one series. I would be very, very careful starting anybody on the Eagles. I would bench all the main Eagles guys, Nick Foles, and maybe the receivers you can get production out of in a short period of time. But Ajayi's probably not going to play. If he does, it'll be a little limited.

I would expect to see LeGarrette Blount, Wendell Smallwood, Corey Clement, and Kenyon Barner getting a lot of work. What about Dallas? Dallas is interesting because it's just a matter of whether they play Cooper Rush. Zeke's going to play the whole game. They're going to try to get him to 1,000 yards. Or play the majority of the game. And Dez could either be a squeaky wheel situation because of the conversation this week

that he doesn't think he's lost a step and that he thinks that everything is just fine. He just needs to change up the scheme a little bit. Or he may not play because he didn't practice on Wednesday. Okay. All right, let's talk about some sleepers then for Fantasy Week 17. We, of course, will preview the eight NFC home games. But as we look at sleepers, I got three quarterbacks for you. And they're deep sleepers, obviously.

But do you have any interest in starting Landry Jones, Sean Mannion for the Rams, Patrick Mahomes for the Chiefs? All three of them have good matchups. Jones facing the Browns, who give up the fourth most fantasy points to quarterbacks. And like I said, he scored 27 points against them last year in Week 17. Mannion, the Niners allow the second most fantasy points to quarterbacks. And Patrick Mahomes is facing the Broncos, who give up the second most passing touchdowns in the NFL. Any interest in Jones, Mannion, Mahomes?

Mahomes is interesting because he's got big play potential, and he runs with the ball. He's not going to have anybody playing with him. That's the problem. Well, but neither are any of these guys. Right. That's why you shouldn't play them. When Landry Jones had his three-touchdown game against Cleveland,

the one you mentioned, he was throwing scores to DeMarcus Ayers, Kobe Hamilton, and D'Angelo Williams. So he's gotten it done with backups before, and it's a bad Browns defense. I still think Mahomes has the most upside. Would you start any of these guys over Derek Carr, who I know you don't like very much? I'd go with Mahomes over Carr. No, I'd start Carr if he has his receiver selfie. Okay, what if he doesn't have Crabtree?

I'm sorry? What if Crabtree's out? Yeah, then it's hands off Derek Carr to begin with. Yeah, I guess I'm just looking at the owner who's stuck right now. Like, oh, I had Jared Goff. I had Nick Foles. You know, I'm screwed. There's nobody to pick up.

Yeah, I'm looking at that scenario, but alright. These guys are pretty low end. Running backs. We talked about Sharkandrick West and Malcolm Brown. Two guys that are walking into potentially big workloads, but not great matchups. And then you've got Steven Ridley, who we just discussed. You've got some Eagles running backs.

Who's the best sleeper running back this week when it comes to replacements? My hunch is that it's going to be West in PPR, maybe in Standard 2. I might be blanking on one of the other replacements that could be better. But like I said yesterday, I think Akeem Hunt's going to be the running downs guy, and West will be working passing downs. But it's a guess. I would take West first, Malcolm Brown second.

But if Ridley's going to be the guy there, he probably will be the best of the bunch. But we don't know if he's going to be the guy. Might be. I should mention that I'm not including Derek Henry or Giovanni Bernard in that, obviously. They're a cut above. Gio might not be the guy. Oh, Mixon, yeah, returned to practice yesterday. I'll have to keep an eye on

that. And then, just in terms of other replacements, Randall Cobb. What do you think about Randall Cobb? If Jordy and Devontae Adams are out, Detroit hasn't allowed a touchdown to a wide receiver in, I think, six straight games, but they've allowed 80 or more

yards to a wide receiver in three of their last four games. Can Randall Cobb get you like six for 80? Yeah, he could, but that might be close to his ceiling. All right. I just want to throw that out there. Because a lot of the fantasy players that you've been starting are going to be just benched this week or playing half a game, you might have to resort to some pretty yucky options.

So I wanted to throw some names out at you. All right, should we talk about the weather? Yes, we should. It is going to be frigid this weekend. So you're looking at Washington at the Giants, Dallas at Philadelphia, Cleveland at Pittsburgh, Jets at Patriots. And then according to, remember, we've had Kevin Roth of Roto Grinders on reading his column. Even in Denver, it's going to be between 20 and 30 degrees. In Tennessee, it could be around 20 to 25 degrees.

In the South, that's crazy. Cincinnati and Baltimore should be around 20 degrees. So cold, cold weather this weekend. Are you concerned about that, guys? Well, cold matters, but it's wind and rain and heavy snow that matters more. So until we hear about any of that going down, I'm not shaking in my boots over it. All right. Let's go to some good quarterback options there.

We got Tom Brady, Kirk Cousins. That might be it, actually. And then, you know, the Jacksonville-Tennessee game. Joe Flacco in cold weather, but that's not anything new. Jamie, you agree? Just not really too concerned about the cold? Not yet. Okay.

All right, we'll keep an eye on it. We have a video show on Sunday morning. Fantasy Football Today, live at 11 a'll keep an eye on it. We have a video show on Sunday morning, Fantasy Football Today, live at 11 a.m. Eastern on Sunday. We'll help you set your lineup one final time. So your news and notes, DeAndre Hopkins could be a game-time decision with a calf injury. If he plays, are you comfortable starting a hobbled DeAndre Hopkins?

Yeah, but, I mean, there's three beat reporters saying he's not going to play. So I'm glad that Bill O'Brien is optimistic. He has nothing to play for outside of keeping the streak alive. But what does that matter in the grand scheme of things? So I'm operating as if he's out. He's not in my rankings anymore. I'm going to tell you in a moment when I pull it up who the five most expensive FanDuel players are. I don't think any of them are playing this week.

So kind of an interesting week Melvin Gordon was limited in practice Any word on what to expect from him? It sounds like he's going to play It was funny So NFL Network's Ian Rappaport tweeted That the swelling has gone down

And Gordon replied to him on Twitter How do you know everything? Which I thought was kind of cool. As far as I would approach it right now, he's going to be out there. But another replacement option would be Brandon Oliver if you're looking for somebody to play ahead, just in case. Okay. DeMarco Murray missed practice.

Whether or not he plays, it's hands off, and Henry should get the workload. Joe Mixon did practice Thursday, so that is something we're going to have to keep an eye on. Okay, I know if Mixon's out that you guys like Geo. If Mixon's in, how do you go about starting and sitting the Bengals running backs? I would try to avoid it. Mixon would be the better of the two just based on what his potential workload would be. But it would be a mess. I mean, look, the Gio's banked up too.

Right. Yeah. It's a mess. It is. And then speaking of a mess, several Dallas players say the offense is too predictable, according to the Jane Slater of the NFL Network, which I find this kind of funny.

It's like they've been doing this for years since they put together this offensive line and had DeMarco Murray plowing through it. This is the same offense. It's just they're injured and they're worse right now. I don't know. I thought this was kind of crazy. Do you think they're saying that to try and throw their coach under the bus?

A hundred percent. Yeah, possibly. Yeah, they've done that before. I mean, I think it's the – well, Elliott said he thinks the offense is fine, which is kind of telling that it's benefited him for two years. I think what they need to do is they need to just add some more pieces. Dez is probably more of a number two receiver at this

point than a number one guy. But the guys opposite him have been bad. Sure have. Jason Witten's a very good player, but he's just older and slower. Cole Beasley's a decent slot receiver. They tried to maybe draft a replacement option in Switzer. That hasn't really materialized yet, or at least we haven't seen it. And Cole Beasley is a decent slot receiver. They tried to maybe draft a replacement option in Switzerland.

That hasn't really materialized yet, or at least we haven't seen it. So there are some tweaks they can certainly make. But they're going to end up with nine wins, right, if they win this game? Right. Yeah. They had a respectable season. So that's 22 wins over two seasons. Most teams would take that any day of the week. And they were great the year that Romo was playing like an MVP

and DeMarco Murray had that huge year. Was that four seasons ago? Yeah, the Dez catch, when it should have counted. They probably would have been to the Super Bowl. Yeah, they were great that year. They just can't get past the Packers. So just a quick thought. You guys think that, you know, we talked about this with Frank Gore yesterday.

Jamie seems to think it'll be his last game. Dave doesn't. Could be Jason Witten. He said he's not going to retire. Jason Witten, Eli Manning, not going to retire, but could they be playing their last games for their teams? And does that matter to you guys? I'm curious to see where Eli ends up.

No, I mean, like, for this week. Like, you know. Oh, I mean like for this week. Like, you know, hey. Oh, for them to have like one last little brah? Yeah, exactly. Well, it might matter more for Eli if he's got Evan Ingram and Sterling Shepard back. Yeah. If those guys play, then that would certainly help him out.

The Giants are probably going to add a quarterback to, you know, they can groom. Like the Chiefs situation. Yes. I agree. Jason Witten is still signed for three more years. Okay. Frank Gore is a free agent. It just doesn't make sense that they would bring him back.

They have so many other needs to address. And for, you know, he wants to play, and he wants to play if Andrew Luck is healthy. But, again, if you're Indianapolis, that's the spot you move on from. All right, again, let's do the do you expect game. Do you expect Alan Hearns? No. No. And not Marquise Lee either. And what about Keelan Cole?

I think he'll play. Okay. Do you expect Damian Williams? Not yet. James White? No. Chris Hogan? Even though he's been limited, you don't think he's going to play? He was limited all last week, No. Chris Hogan. He's been limited.

You don't think he's going to play? He was limited all last week, too. It's true. Chris Hogan. No. Sterling Shepard. No. Evan Ingram.

No. Antonio Gates. Yes. Devante Adams. No. Nope. Cameron Brait. Yes. Yeah. Practice. Deshaun Jackson. He'sae Adams? No. Nope. Cameron Brait? Yes.

Yeah. Practice. Deshaun Jackson? He's trending in that direction. I got Evans and FanDuel. Cooper Cup? No. Michael Crabtree?

We've got him ranked. We'll see what his status is in a few short hours. Okay. Maybe by the time you're listening to this, you will know if Michael Crabtree is in or out. How about that? No mailbag show, so it's very important for me to read these emails on today's show and help our people out. FantasyFootball at CBSi.com.

After this, we'll get into the eight NFC home games. This is from Nathan. Where is Nathan from? Baltimore, Maryland. It's PPR. My running back situation is giving me fits. I've got Ingram, Kamara, McCoy, and Deion Lewis in PPR. Who do I sit out of one of them?

Ingram, Kamara, McCoy, Deion Lewis. Who do I sit? Well, let's start with the obvious guy from that group, which is, to me, I think it's LeSean McCoy, just because i think he's going to be the engine for the buffalo offense i think he's going to be great love the matchup for mark ingram and i love it for camara too obviously they're both playing against tampa bay but deon lewis last week was the uh the main man for new england's run game and now gillisley is on the injury report so could it possibly be that they lean on Deion Lewis for every snap?

Going to catch another four or five passes? Going to get another 20 carries? I've got to find a way to get Deion Lewis into my lineup. Well, you can't unless you sit Ingram, Kamara, or McCoy. You sit Kamara. I would sit Kamara. Kamara in PPR? Yeah.

The guy gets five catches a game. Yeah, it's PPR. Ingram catches passes too, and he's more likely to score inside the red zone than Camara. Man, I'm surprised. I thought you guys were going to sit Deion Lewis. Nope. Well, how many do you need? Three out of four.

Yeah, I'm sitting Deion Lewis. Really? I don't know if he's going to play the whole game. Because they're going to be up, and then he's going to probably come out of the game. I mean, look, you've got a great situation, Nathan. Good luck to you. So, Dave, you'd sit Ingram, and Jamie, you'd sit – No, I would sit Kamara.

You'd sit Kamara? Okay. I would sit Kamara. All right, from Sean, who should I pick up as a Keeper League free agent? This is an easy question. Tyler Eifert or Hunter Henry? Henry. Yeah.

Yeah. From Tyler,ert or Hunter Henry? Henry. Yeah. Yeah. From Tyler. Where's he from? Tyler is from Boise, Idaho. Oh, interesting. Boise. Boise. On the show's advice, I traded Todd Gurley for A.J. Green.

Would have won my league championship easily if I hadn't done that. Still mad. I'd like to know when he made the trade, though. Probably earlier in the season when we told him. Yeah, I mean, look, the result was bad, but that was the type of trade you were making. At the time, AJ Green was elite and Todd Gurley was elite. You were trying to balance your roster.

You were probably loaded at running back and thin at wide receiver. And so you made the deal. Sure. It's easy to play hindsight now. Yep. No, you could be bad. We're, you know, Gurley was better than anybody thought. Joe from Spokane. So he's got week 16-17 combined finals.

He's ahead by 24 points. Who would you play at wide receiver two? Baldwin, Goodwin, Gordon, or Tate? Baldwin, Goodwin, Gordon, Tate. I'd go Baldwin. Yeah, Baldwin. And DST, Patriots, Steelers, or Jaguars? As of now, Steelers.

You don't think they're going to sit any of their starters? If they're going to pull the guys on the offense, If they're going to pull the guys on the offense, then they're going to pull the guys on defense. That's why I say Asim now. Big bad Doug Marone says his guys are all in. It's tough to sit the Jaguars. I do have the Steelers ranked higher. All right.

Makes me nervous. If we start hearing about certain players on offense for Pittsburgh sitting, then you've got to figure that certain guys on defense are going to start sitting too. Could the Browns win in Week 17? All right, from Nick. Down 45 points in a two-week final. Pick two wide receivers and a flex. So first the wide receivers.

Pick two. Golden Tate. He doesn't say if it's PPR, by the way. Golden Tate, Marquise Goodwin, Josh Gordon, and Robbie Anderson. Tate, Goodwin, Gordon, Anderson. Pick two. Goodwin, for sure, and Gordon.

I'll take Goodwin and Tate. All right, so then give me a flex. We've got Kenyon, Drake, Christian McCaffrey, Jamal Williams, and the wide receivers. Wow. Drake. Drake is it, but I love all those running backs. Jules from Austin.

Paxton Lynch, TJ Yates, Brett Hundley, Trubisky, Petty, or Stanton in week 17? Or may I suggest Patrick Mahomes? What was the list again? Paxton Lynch, TJ Yates, Brett Hundley, Mitchell Trubisky, Spurgeon Wynn, Chris Chandler. No Jacoby Brissett, huh? Maybe you can get Brissett. You can get Mahomes. I would take one of those two in that order.

Of this group, though, I think I'd go with Stanton. If you have to pick somebody from the group, I'm going to pick Stanton. Yeah. All right. This is from Adam in Spokane. Dear Juan, Christopher, Francisco, Juan, Christopher, Francisco, and Ferdinand.

Feel like explorers to me. Start two of these. Mike Wallace, Peyton Barber, Duke Johnson, Keelan Cole. Mike Wallace, Peyton Barber, Duke Johnson, Keelan Cole. I go Duke and Cole. Okay. Wallace, Barber, Duke, and Cole. And you're go Duke and Cole. Okay. Wallace, Barbara, Duke, and Cole. And you're going Duke and Cole.

And finally, from no name here. So it's called? Barbara. Barbara says, hey, Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Leaf. Give me a wide receiver. Demarius or Didi? Standard scoring. I'll go Didi.

I'll go Demarius. And then give me a flex Jimmy Graham, Bilal Powell Kerwin Williams, Crowell Or the other wide receiver I'll go Didi I'll go Demarius Okay, so start those two wide receivers, Didi and Demarius

To the games This is one of the more interesting ones The NFC South games are very interesting This week New Orleans is at Tampa Bay Stat of the more interesting ones. The NFC South games are very interesting this week. New Orleans is at Tampa Bay. Stat of the game. Here are the last five number one outside wide receivers against the Bucs. Julio Jones lit them up for 38 fantasy points.

And since then, Devontae Adams, four points. Marvin Jones, six. Julio Jones, five. Devin Funches, one. You've also got Michael Thomas coming off a bad game, and he's playing hurt. Is it full speed ahead on Michael Thomas or any hesitancy? You can be hesitant all you want. You know what his upside is in an offense that can still throw the football

in a game they must win. So getting away from Michael Thomas is a tough chore, especially with so many guys that just aren't going to play this week. You've got to just be loaded. There's not a lot of people that are in that lucky enough situation. Okay. Just wanted to see if you guys were fine with Michael Thomas. By the way, I forgot to mention this.

Top four players on FanDuel, Todd Gurley, Le'Veon Bell, DeAndre Hopkins, Antonio Brown. Now, let's talk about Drew Brees. 22 fantasy points in the first meeting. Start or sit Drew Brees this week against the Bucs. It's almost the exact same thing. If you've been starting him all along, he's still worth using as a top 12 quarterback. He's not top five. I don't think he erupts this week, but I think he can find a couple of touchdowns.

All right, would you start Joe Flacco or Drew Brees? I'd go Brees. It looks like Brent Grimes is back to being that clutch corner for Tampa Bay. And he'll probably line up against Michael Thomas more often than not. He hasn't allowed a touchdown in six straight, much less four straight, but he's got a QB rating against of 85.8 or better in each of his last four. It's a bad matchup for Grimes because he struggles with bigger receivers and he doesn't necessarily travel and slot very much.

All right. Five straight quarterbacks, though, against Tampa Bay. Ryan, Hundley, Stafford, Ryan again, and Newton. 18 or fewer fantasy points with three passing touchdowns to four interceptions. So you know what it is with Breeze. Just for whatever reason, the Bucs don't give up fantasy points, even though they have one of the worst pass defenses. They don't give up the touchdowns, and Breeze has just been disappointing.

We're going to start both Saints running backs. You'd have to be loaded like our previous emailer to get away from them. And we're going to start both Saints running backs. You'd have to be loaded like our previous emailer to get away from them. And we're going to start Michael Thomas. So what about Ted Ginn coming off a 4-for-59-1 game in the first meeting and last week 4-for-76-1 in Week 16 against the Falcons? Start or sit Ted Ginn? I don't have a lot of confidence in Ginn at this point. I know that he scored last week.

He did it on five targets. It's the most he's had since a month ago. When he played at the Rams, he had 11 targets in that game. It's the hunch that they're going to continue to be run-focused. They can get away with that in this matchup. Buck's run

defense still isn't that good. I just don't think Ginn's going to see many targets. So can he catch a 54-yard touchdown? That's kind of his thing. If he doesn't do that, though, he leaves you with 10 yards or 27 yards, which is what he did in the previous two games. He's a boomer bust number three receiver. Would you start Ted Ginn over Malcolm Brown and Sharkandrick West?

Yes. I don't know if I would. I think I would over Brown. I don't think I would over West. I mentioned this very weird stat a few weeks ago when the Falcons were in Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay, they give up the most fantasy points to wide receivers, but in seven home games,

they only give up fantasy points to one wide receiver. They've allowed nine or more fantasy points to wide receivers, but in seven home games, they only give up fantasy points to one wide receiver. They've allowed nine or more fantasy points to a wide receiver in all seven home games, but only the Patriots have managed to have two receivers with a second receiver with more than six fantasy points. It's very strange. I don't know if it means anything. It could be a total fluke,

but at home, they don't give up big games to number two receivers. You do with that what you will. Moving over to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jameis Winston or Drew Brees? Brees for me. Jameis Winston or Garoppolo? Garoppolo.

Jimmy to the G. Jameis Winston or Dak Prescott? I'll take Winston there. I'm not sure Dak's playing the full game, so that's an easy one. Why are you guys getting away from Jameis Winston when we know he throws for like 300 yards a game? He does, but he also has a lot of turnovers and certainly a lot of turnover potential. And the offensive line has gotten worse. He was sacked six times last week.

And Saints got to Matt Ryan five times last week. He's been sacked 18 times since he's come back from the shoulder. It's pretty clear that he's going to be under a lot of pressure. But he still puts up numbers. He still puts up numbers. He's had, in the four games, two over 20, and two under 18.

So I think that's kind of where he'll be, right on 18. And you said he has a bad history against the Saints? He's got a horrible history against the Saints. Okay. Starter said Peyton Barber. The Saints, so they've allowed more than 45 rushing guards to one running back, only once in their last four games.

But in those four games, six running backs have scored double-digit fantasy points. They're giving up a lot of touchdowns, a lot of receiving touchdowns. Do not expect that from Peyton Barber. What do you think about Barber? How would you compare him to Malcolm Brown and Sharkandrick West? Behind them. Yeah, I wouldn't be excited. So he's a Sith?

Doug Martin's still going to take away some work from him. That's going to be a little bit of a change. So is Sims. Right. He's only getting like 12 carries a game. All right, what do you think about Mike Evans this week, guys? I was a lot more excited before you told me that Deshaun Jackson is trending in the right direction.

I mean, he'll get a lot of targets, hopefully. Well, that's the thing. If Deshaun Jackson and Cameron Bray play, will Mike Evans get the necessary targets? I guess. I mean, the hope would be he gets at least eight. That's where he's been successful recently. Start or sit? What do you guys think?

Start. Would you start Doug Baldwin, who's been struggling, or Mike Evans? I'd start Baldwin. I think I have Evans right now. Would you start Jamison Crowder in a great matchup or Mike Evans? Crowder. Evans for me. I love Crowder this week.

So is Evans a number two receiver? No. Top 12. Top 12? All right. Starter said Cameron Brate. Saints allow the fifth fewest fantasy points to tight ends, but they have really faced a very, very weak slate of tight ends.

Here are some tight ends that have caught touchdowns against New Orleans. It's a fun list. Kyle Rudolph, Rob Gronkowski in weeks one and two. Darren Fels, Luke Stocker, Nick O'Leary, and Jeremy Sprinkle. What do you think about Bray? You probably liked Bray the week that Luke Stocker scored Nick O'Leary, and Jeremy Sprinkle. What do you think about Bray? He probably liked Bray the week that Luke Stocker scored. Yep, probably. Yeah, I've got him 12th for now.

If he practices on Friday, it looks like he's going to play. He's one of those touchdown or bust types of tight ends. Okay. So we're definitely going like Ebron and Gates over Bray, right? For sure. Yep. What about Ben Watson? Yep, also.

Okay. Chicago's at Minnesota. Stat of the game. Really, it's just about Adam Thielen and how he's been doing lately, which is not very well. How's he been Thielen? I don't know. His owners haven't been Thielen well. He had four fantasy points against the Bears in the first meeting

in the last two games. Combined five fantasy points in standard on 11 targets. 51 or fewer yards on six or fewer targets in three of his last four games. It's very strange. Start or sit Adam Thielen? And second question, do you like him or Diggs better this week?

I still like Thielen better, but he's brought up a good point, though, just about how the Bears have done against slot receivers, and they did a good job against him earlier this year, too. So it's not a slam dunk situation. But I just wonder what Minnesota's approach is going to be if they start scoreboard watching. Well, before they scoreboard watch, they've got to play. And so I think that they're just going to stick with a basic game plan in Chicago where they're going to attack where they think they're weak.

And that could be on the outside. That would hurt Adam Thielen. It could be the run game. I do like the incentive for Thielen that he's five catches away from whatever bonus he needs. So you figure he'll get that, just what he does on top of it. I think he had five for 35 the last time that these two teams met. Okay. Mike Evans or Adam?

Mike Evans, Adam Thiel, and Stefan Diggs. How would you rank them this week? I currently have Thiel and higher. I'm going to have to revisit that because I think I like Evans better. Yeah, I might be there with you, depending on Deshaun's situation. But both over Diggs, still. Alright, what about

Stefan Diggs? You like him this week? He's a good number two receiver. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Okay. If Ben Roethlisberger plays, would you start Stefan Diggs or Martavis Bryant? I'd go Diggs.

Diggs. Okay. Okay. And if Ben Roethlisberger doesn't play, it's a pretty easy decision there. Looking at the Vikings, Case Keenum or Drew Brees? Brees. Brees. Keenum makes me a little bit nervous this week. Keenum does?

Yeah. Alright, how come? I just think they're going to run. Be conservative. So the Bears have done a pretty good job against quarterbacks this year. Look at the first three weeks. Ryan, 19 points. Winston, 14.

Roethlisberger, 13. Then Rodgers killed him. Keenum had 13 fantasy points, but he only played a half against them. Recently, a little bit more success for these quarterbacks. Matthew Stafford, 21 points. Carson Wentz, 27 points. Jimmy Garoppolo in his first start had nine points, but he had a 300-yard game or right around there. And Stafford had 21 points. Carson Wentz, 27 points. Jimmy Garoppolo in his first start had nine points, but he had a 300-yard game or right around there.

And Stafford had 21 fantasy points. So three of the last four quarterbacks, Stafford twice and Wentz, have done very well against the Bears. Keenum's been solid. He's indoors, which is good this week. And he's 11th, around 10th or 11th for you guys. I wonder how motivated the Bears are going to be as well. Last game of the year, coach is gone.

Are we really going to get a huge step-up game from this secondary? Or is it going to be a go-through-the-motions-and-try-not-to-get-hurt type of deal? And if that's the case, then Keenum's going to go off. Dave, which movie did you like better, Step-Up 1 or Step-Up 2? I didn't see either one. What a shame. Are those like gangbanger movies where you have to step up?

No, I think it's... Isn't that the dance movie? I have no idea. I think it is. It's like the dance movie with that girl and that guy. Oh, it's with that girl. What's her name?

And that guy. Julia Stiles, whatever. Is that her name? I feel like I'm so old, I can't remember pop culture things now. But just to get off on a tangent, I watched two movies with Alan Rickman this week, and only one of them was a Christmas movie. I watched Die Hard and I watched Love Actually for the first time last night.

He really shows his acting range in those two films. We watched Die Hard a few nights ago, and then last night during Love Actually I kept going, Mr. Takagi won't be joining us for the rest of his life. Which is the best line in Die Hard. And that's a terrible accent. Sorry about that. Alright, Latavius Murray and Jarek

McKinnon. Who do you like better in Standard? Who do you like better in PPR? It's Murray both for me. Because I think this game flow is going to be perfect for him. He's going to get 20 carries. He's going to grind down the Bears. And McKinnon is on a mission

to get 500 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards. It's pretty close. But I don't know if he's going to get a lot of catches. That tends to happen in games where the Vikings are trailing or maybe down 7 in the second half or up 7 in the second half, and they're trying to build points. So I think Latavius is the better guy to go with. Adam, you think that McKinnon is going to pass him, though, right, based on what you were talking about yesterday?

It's not so much that I think so. It's that I think he should, and I'm worried as a Latavius owner that McKinnon will because Because Murray's been terrible the last three games, 3.2 yards per carry. McKinnon's playing better, and as I've said, he's been in at the end of the game. Last week he was in at the end of the game killing the clock at Green Bay. I just wonder, like they've got a lot to play for, obviously. I just wonder if they're going to start moving toward McKinnon and away from Latavius Murray, or have it be a little bit more balanced, where they're both around 13 carries or something like that. And then McKinnon, I think he makes more sense in PPR to me.

I'm still going to start Murray in standard. But it's really more of just a hunch, which is why I think McKinnon would be a good tournament play in daily. That's about as far as I'm willing to go with it. I almost wonder if they fear Murray getting hurt. Yeah, I don't know. All I know is he's not really getting the job done. I'm willing to go with it. I almost wonder if they fear Murray getting hurt. Yeah, I don't know. All I know is he's not really getting the job done. I'm with you.

I think McKinnon is much better in PPR than Murray. Not much better, but better in PPR than Murray just based on what their roles are. And if, in fact, they do give him those opportunities at the end of the game, that's certainly in a better situation for him. But Murray's still a very safe play. How about this?

Would you start both of them over Jordan Howard? Yes. Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah, I'm nervous for Jordan Howard. Yeah, got to be. No, standard, you still got to start Howard, though. Over McKinnon and Murray or just McKinnon?

Yeah. I'm sorry, Jamie. Over both of them? I cut you off. No, no, over McKinnon. Over McKinnon. All right. I feel like Howard is in line for a game similar to what he had last time against Minnesota.

Which would be decent. Seven fantasy points. Yep. 76 yards. Yeah. The problem is we've seen when they don't have a lot of time of possession or they get blown out lately, he's losing some carries. I think he had 17 carries in that first game. Right.

19. 19? Yeah, 19 carries. And it was a close game. Right. I don't know if this one's going to be as close. I've got to give the Bears credit. I know they're firing John Fox, but I feel like they've been better than I expected.

Like, they hang around. They're a good team for a team with five wins. Right. Or however many wins they have. Yeah. All right. Minnesota's DST is number one or two, depending on which analysts you look at. And Kyle Rudolph, guys, he's playing hurt.

He's got some touchdowns lately, but it's been kind of ugly. Three catches for 23 yards on three targets in his last two games combined. Starter said Kyle Rudolph. Start, but I like the replacement guys better Of Ebron, Gates, Clay And Watson I've got them ahead of Watson They're the same guys

They kind of are One's not playing Cincinnati I'm confused by movies here Step Up was with Channing Tatum It appears Oh so he was that guy What movie am I thinking of by movies here. Step Up was with Channing Tatum. It appears. Oh, so he was that guy. What movie am I thinking of?

Eh, whatever. Carolina's at Atlanta. Week 17 podcasting, everybody. Cam Newton! Alright, 7th for Jamie, 6th for Dave, 8th for Heath. That was as of yesterday. I'm not sure if it's changed. Man, I would hate to have to rank Cam Newton.

You never know what you're going to get from him. What do you guys think we're going to get from him this week? I mean, it's a must-win game. He had, what, 19 points against them the last time these two teams met? Mm-hmm. So I think he's a middle of the pack, probably toward the bottom end, top 10 quarterback. All right. So you'd start him over Keenum?

Yeah. Rivers or Cam? I've got Rivers higher. All right. Well, I think Bortles or Cam? I have Bortles higher. If you were to tell me Bortles is playing the whole game, I'll take Bortles, but I do not expect Bortles to play the whole game, so I'll take Cam.

How do you approach the Carolina running backs? Start McCaffrey, better in PPR than standard. He had a good game against them the last time. 20 touches in that game. Over 90 total yards. And scored. I think they need him for a number of reasons.

Number one, obviously his playmaking ability, but number two, they're out of wide receivers. They've got Devin Funchess, Olsen at tight end. Brentson Burson is probably going to be their other outside receiver. They will use Kalen Clay as a deep threat. And Funchess, thanks. I think you're looking at McCaffrey playing a lot in the slot. And on special teams.

I think he's excellent in daily this week. Yeah, he's in my DraftKings lineup. Okay, cool. And we're sitting Jonathan Stewart? You should. Can't trust him. Yeah. You'd start Jarek McKinnon over Jonathan Stewart?

Yes. And would you start Malcolm Brown over Jonathan Stewart? Yep. I think I would. Okay. Dave, by the way, has recently moved Matt Ryan ahead of Cam Newton, bumping Cam down to seventh and Ryan up to sixth. That Alex Mack injury is terrifying.

Yeah, what's going on there? Doesn't sound like he's going to play after getting hurt in the middle of the week. That's the center for the Atlanta Falcons and a big part of their offense. Yep, especially for a team that gets after the quarterback. Ryan was just sacked five times, but saints. Man, I was really hoping for this to be the big week for Matt Ryan. By the way, I'm guessing sit Devin Funches? Yes, he's got eight targets in his last two games and four catches.

I mean, since Greg Olsen's become healthy, I guess, and that shoulder's been a problem, you cannot trust Devin Funches. He is at best number three receiver. I think he's still top 24. Interesting. How do you have so much confidence in Greg Olsen as a top three tight end after his relative dud last week? He's going to get a lot of targets.

Is he or is he not the best passing option for Cam Newton at this point? By far. He was last week too. If I'm ranking Olsen versus Funches, as much as I think Funches is the number two wide receiver, I'd still rather start Olsen ahead of him. Yeah.

All right, so what do you think about Matt Ryan now? Dave, you're the high guy. You have him sixth. Jamie has him—he had him—you have him tenth now? But are you going to move him down if Alex Mack doesn't play? If Alex Mack is out, then you have to move Matt Ryan down. It's a disaster. But it's something the Falcons can work around a little bit,

but I would lose a lot of confidence. That's his best offensive lineman. Okay. Devontae Freeman is a number two, high-end number two running back. We're going to sit Tevin Coleman. Freeman just hasn't been that great when he hasn't gotten more than 12 carries, and this is obviously a tough matchup. I'll be honest with you, Adam.

I'm worried I've got Freeman too high. Where do you have him? 12th. He's like right on the fence of a number one, number two. So we're starting like Deion Lewis over him. Would you start Alex Collins or Devontae Freeman? I think I might move Collins ahead. Freeman as of now.

But if Mack is out, then I'll take Collins. Right. Julio Jones, must-start guy? Sure, but again, if Matt Ryan's going to be under siege and running for his life, it's going to be hard for Julio to have a monster game against Carolina. I don't really worry about Julio.

Matt Ryan was under siege last week and he had 149 yards against a much better secondary. Julio will still get his numbers. Starter, Muhammad Sanu. Number three, Sanu. Sanu or Ted Ginn? Sanu, especially PPR.

Sanu or any wide receiver in our next game, Dallas at Philadelphia? I still have Dez ranked higher, but if Dez doesn't play, Then I would say Sanu over everyone Well, okay, that's fair Alright, here's your stat of the game In their last four games The Eagles have allowed seven or more fantasy points

In standard scoring leagues That's okay Seven or more fantasy points To seven wide receivers And double digits to four In their last four games They've been a mess against wide receivers So, starters at Dez Bryant to four in their last four games. They've been a mess against wide receivers.

So, starters at Dez Bryant. Again, I'll go back to what I said earlier. I wonder if this will be a squeaky wheel type of game for him where they'll give him 10-plus targets, which I can't remember the last time that's happened. So if that's the case against backups, it could be really good for both Dak and Dez, but it's just hard to expect them to produce after Dez has been so bad, and Dak gave you 18 fantasy points the last two weeks combined.

Especially one of those was a very good matchup. What if I told you Dez is going to get 14 targets? Would that make you rush to start him? I'll start that guy, yeah. The last time he had double-digit targets, it was 14 targets. It was at home against Philadelphia. He had eight catches for 63 yards and no score. Well, that was the Nozeek game there.

It was a Nozeek game. And no Tyron Smith, I believe. Which also will be the case this week. A lot of short passes. No Tyron Smith. Yeah, that was the game we were arguing. I didn't like Dak next week. You and Keith said he'll come through.

He'll find a way to come through. And he had minus two points. That was bad. Okay, so let's sum this game up. This is an easy one. Ezekiel Elliott is a must-star guy. He's number two for Dave and Jamie. Jason Witten, Heath's kind of high on him.

Heath has him around 12th. Dave and Jamie not even close. Outside the top 15. And then the Eagles, are there any Eagles that are safe to start this week? Safe? No. Okay. Now, if they say, hey, we're starting everybody, we're playing them a full game,

which makes no sense, then there would be a lot. There would be some safe starts here. Sure. Trey Burton, sleeper. Trey Burton or Jason Witten this week? I'll take Burton if he's the guy, even with the backup quarterback. Sure. Trust the scheme.

Okay. Now, if there's one Philadelphia running back to take a flyer on, who would it be? I'll take one. I'll take Corey Clement. And how do you feel about the Eagles DST? Hmm. I'll take one. I'll take Corey Clement. And how do you feel about the Eagles' DST? Once we find out what's happening, then I think it's an easier conversation to have. Yeah, it's a tough game to preview right now. So let's go to Washington at the Giants.

These teams will not be resting starters, which, you know, they don't have very good starters anyway. Stat of the game. The Giants have allowed nine or more fantasy points in standard scoring leagues to at least one wide receiver in nine of their last ten games. The only exception being the Kansas City game, which was in the stiff wind, and Tyreek Hill, I think, had seven fantasy points. But other than that, nine or more fantasy points in nine of the last ten games for a wide receiver against the Giants.

So who are some big-name wide receivers that you would start Jamison Crowder over? He's my seventh-ranked wide receiver, so a lot. Wow. All right, so like A.J. Green and Mike Evans? Yep.

I agree with Green. I'd start him over Landry in a non-PPR. Fitzgerald in a non-PPR. Funchess, T.Y. Hilton, Diggs, Dez, Martavis, Goodwin, DeeDee. Gotcha. Rap. What about Josh Doxson? How do you feel about him?

I like him. I think they want to get him involved. That's what 13 Targets told me. That's what he had last week. He didn't do very well with 13 Targets. He only caught two of them, but one was for a long touchdown. He's been pretty consistent with eight points. That's kind of what I think you should expect from him.

I think he's a borderline starter, definite number three wide receiver. I think he's a little better than that. I think you can take a flyer on him in daily fantasy this week. Okay. Sure. But the weather's going to impact him because I don't think you're going to see a lot of downfield throws. But I think you're just looking at, again,

he hasn't had more than three catches in a game in his last five. He hasn't had more than 50 yards receiving. Once was last week. He had 61. And he's kind of touchdown dependent. So if he does not score, then you're going to be really frustrated with him. I don't know how much money you'd have to pay me to go to this game. It's just I would love to go to a Giants game.

I never really get to unless they play Monday or Thursday night. I could theoretically go. There's no way. And I'm sure I could find like a $10 ticket. Bitter cold, horrible teams. No thanks. Kirk Cousins, we. Kirk Cousins. We love Kirk Cousins. Fifth for Jamie. Sixth for Heath. Ninth for Dave.

So you're a little bit hesitant, Dave. I think I'm sixth. Okay. I'm sorry about that. So did you move Rivers ahead of him? Rivers is always ahead of him. What I'm looking at right now... I don't know where he's at. He's fifth. I'm on SeatGeek right now. You can get into that Giants game for $29.

That's expensive. $29 for an NFL team? For the cheapest seat in like an 80,000-seat stadium? For this game? Well, la-dee-da. Excuse me. Yeah, I have Cousins fifth. I'm sorry.

Okay, you have Cousins fifth. So, Dave, how come you still have Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, Bortles ahead of Cousins? You're not quite as high as Jamie and Heath on Cousins fifth. So, Dave, how come you still have Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, Bortles ahead of Cousins? You're not quite as high as Jamie and Heath. Well, I like a lot of other quarterbacks better. It's not an indictment of Cousins and what I would expect, or that I expect Samaj P. Ryan to have some sort of explosive game. Before the Alex Mack injury, I was a huge fan of Matt Ryan. We'll see what goes on there.

We'll take another look at Drew Brees and see if there's something to really be worried about there. Although, I already have Cousins right ahead of him. But guys like Stafford, Bortles, well, they're kind of different. But Stafford could have a huge game. I don't think Cousins could be quite as huge. I think Russell Wilson could have a huge game, obviously. There's a lot of question marks that are ahead of Kirk Cous including big ben portals is a question mark so let's just see what the news is like on friday before we say that cousins is top 10 but not top five yeah i love

his situation if the weather is not horrible because the giants are so bad crowder will find a way to score uh certainly we'll be. You've seen what slot receivers have done against the Giants lately, certainly the last two guys. And he destroyed them the last time these two teams met, 7-for-1, 41 on a touchdown. I think Vernon Davis can find the end zone, just because of the matchup. I know he let us down the last time, but I'll take my chances with him

as a touchdown-robust type of guy. And Doxon, like we just said, has a chance to play well here. This is not a game you have to worry about pass rush. The Giants secondary is just a disaster. So Cousins heading into free agency could have a monster, monster week.

Starter sits Samaje Pirine. He's a... He's worth trusting this week. The fact that he's healthy, matchup is good. He'll get probably around 20 touches, because that's what he had last week. And so if that's the case, I think he has a chance to be

one of those sneaky guys that can end up being a top 10 running back this week. Pirine or Latavius? Latavius. Latavius, but it's close. Pirine or Jordan Howard? Pirine. Pirine. You can get downstairs seats for this game for $70.

That's too much. That is too, too much. How tough are the ticket people, the ushers at these games? Because you could buy the $29 ticket and then kind of sneak your way. You could probably sneak behind the Redskins bench, no problem. That's a great question, Dave. I'm not sure. I'm not familiar with their policies.

I think you should go figure it out on New Year's. Let us know. Vernon Davis, guys, you have him like 11th or 12th right around there. I made the case on the video show yesterday to sit him in PPR because he only has two catches in four straight games, combined two catches. Or no, two catches in each of his last four games. But obviously, it's a great matchup. When I see Vernon Davis 11th, is that more of a reflection of tight end this week?

Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's... He's a tight end who might score a touchdown against a defense that allows a lot of touchdowns to tight ends. Yeah, 13 of them, in fact. The most fantasy points allowed to tight ends. Sure. We've used that argument before with Vernon Davis, and he's ended up doing absolutely nothing. Yeah, no catches against Giants in the first meeting.

Now, Vernon Davis or Cameron Brate? I've got Davis a spot higher. Yeah, I'll take Davis. Okay, would you start Wayne Gallman in this game? PPR, I think I'm intrigued. Yep, he's a good flex. He's been pretty consistent there. Okay, P. Ryan or Gallman, PPR?

I'll still take P. Ryan. No, no, maybe Gallman. All right, 19 catches in his last three games. Pretty impressive. And, you know, he could get you 12 carries. That could happen. So he's had 99, 79, and 62 total yards in his last three games. And the Redskins, they have an okay run.

They let him lead the team in carries last week. Yeah, I mean, it makes sense. I think Piran's got a much better shot at scoring. Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure. Looks like Darkwa lately has still been the goal line running back. Would you start Evan Ingram or Sterling Shepard if they play? Ingram, yes. Shepard is scared of Shepard. Yeah, sorry about that neck injury. They're not going to play, yes. Shepard is...

Yeah, he's scared of Shepard. Yeah, sorry about that neck injury. They're not going to play, though. Washington's DST is 5th for Dave and Jamie, 12th for Heath. Green Bay at Detroit. Got a few games left here. So we've talked about Stafford and his ability to have a big game. Will he throw some passes to his running backs?

Here's your stat of the game. Nine running backs have had either 40 receiving yards or a receiving touchdown against the Packers this year. That's a lot. I think the problem is, like, Theo Riddick, when Amir Abdul has been healthy and somewhat involved, Riddick doesn't do that much in the

passing game. I don't know. Do you trust any Detroit running back this week? Riddick's okay. Love him in PPR this week. You do? I don't know if he's going to get a ton of catches. He doesn't need to get a ton. He had four for 62 the last time these two teams met. That's 10 points right there.

When was that? That was week six. Oh, okay. So Abdullah. No, week nine. Okay. Yeah. But since then, Packers, they're running backs.

10 catches. I'm sorry. 10 catches allowed to Baltimore's running backs in Week 10. Week 12, it was 12 catches for Le'Veon Bell. Yeah. They struggle here. Huh? They struggle against pass catching running backs.

Six catches to Tampa's running backs, and that's not a group that catches the ball very often. Eight catches to Cleveland's running backs. Six catches to Christian McCaffrey last week. So, Jamie, would you start Gallman or Riddick? I'd start Riddick. I think there's a much higher ceiling for him. And, you know, keep in mind, two weeks ago, he was their lead guy before he got hurt. He had a good first half against Chicago.

And then last week, what? He stopped. Last week, Chicago? No, last week was the Bengals, and he was bad. Yeah, last week was bad. So this is a favorable matchup. This is a team that struggles to defend pass catching running backs. It's an easy play

for Stafford here. So I think Riddick's in a good spot. He should be good for three or four catches. It's just what he does otherwise. He's going to get eight carries. He's going to get five catches. I think he's got a score. I think it really comes out of that. He'll give you an okay 10-11 points

in PPR if he doesn't, but it really comes down to a touchdown. Yeah, PPR, he's very safe. Standard, he's risky, he's a flex. What about Tian Green? No. One thing that the Packers have done well is plotting running backs up the middle do not do well against them.

He's going to have to score. Guys like Stafford a lot this week. Marvin Jones has really not been very involved lately. Marvin Jones had a big game, 107 yards and two touchdowns in the first meeting. But in his last three games, four targets, five targets, five targets, combined 199 yards in his last three games. So not very good on 14 targets. Do you still feel comfortable with him?

This week, yes. The Packers secondary is so bad. Not very good on 14 targets. Do you still feel comfortable with him? This week, yes. The Packers secondary is so bad. They've lost a lot of corners. Their pass rush is missing some of its best players. But only one wide receiver has had more than 70 yards against the Packers in their last six games. That's Antonio Brown. However, nine touchdowns to wide receivers in those six games.

Yeah. So that's what you're looking for from Jones. Okay. He's already over 1,000 yards this year. First time in the NFL he's done that. Eight touchdowns. He's giving you the year that I thought he was going to give you last year. Would you start Golden Tate or Jamal Williams?

I love Jamal Williams this week. I think the Packers just beat him. Lots of catches, lots of carries, lots of work. Detroit's terrible against the run. And I think Jamal Williams is a very good start. So over Tate? I would go him over Tate. Over Pirine.

Jamal Williams or Devontae Freeman? Did I already ask you guys that? I'm sorry. I'll take Williams at PPR. I would too. Okay. Standard, I think I might lean toward Williams at this point. Yeah, I'm worried about score here. Right.

Right. Yeah, if they fall behind. All right. If he gets 13 carries, you know what that number is. We love Eric Ebron. And, yeah, he's top five. He's third for Jamie. He's second for Dave. Fifth for Heath. We love Eric Ebron. And, yeah, he's top five. He's third for Jamie. He's second for Dave.

Fifth for Heath. And then you're not really – we said Randall Cobb could get you like six catches for 80 yards. That's probably the ceiling. He's not a terrible sleeper. But Detroit hasn't allowed a touchdown to a wide receiver in six straight games. Randall Cobb or Golden Tate? Tate. All right.

Yeah. Arizona at Seattle Let's talk about Doug Baldwin Your stat of the game In Doug Baldwin's last 7 games Beginning with the game against Arizona No more than 7 targets 22 catches in 7 games

3 touchdowns 4 games with 40 or fewer yards It is weird And he's heavily discounted on FanDuel He's in my FanDuel lineup. But, I mean, he just – like Arizona has not allowed more than 68 receiving yards to a wide receiver in five straight games. So is Doug Baldwin still a must-start guy? Yep, squeaky wheel.

He complained about wanting the football. I think he gets the football. And I don't think he's going to see a lot of Patrick Peterson. Pretty good track record against Arizona, too. I think he's a good daily play, like you said. I think people who have him should continue to start him. Let's not get too cute with Russell Wilson.

I know he's struggling, but he is number one for Dave. He's number three for Jamie. He's number three for Heath. Ben Roethlisberger is ahead of Wilson for Jamie and Heath right now, so he could end up being number one or number two for all of our analysts. Do you like any running backs

in this game, Arizona at Seattle? Let me give you kind of a quirky stat. So Kerwin Williams has had 16 to 20 carries in four straight games. Seven running backs have had 16 to 21 carries against Seattle. Five of the seven scored 11 or more fantasy points

in standard scoring leagues. With that said, do you like any running backs in this game? Nope. It's hard to. Yeah. Would you rather start Kerwin Williams or Peyton Barber? I might go Williams over Barber. Yeah, Williams over Barber in standard.

Barber over Williams in PPR. At least Barber will catch a couple passes. Would you take a flyer on a Sharkandrick West or a Malcolm Brown or maybe even a Stephen Ridley over a Kerwin Williams? The first two for sure. Ridley probably if he's the guy. Right, but we don't know if he's the guy. That's the problem.

All right, Larry Fitzgerald. He's had a lot of big games against Seattle. He's also had some quiet games. What are you leaning towards here with Larry Fitzgerald? He is a number two wide receiver. Better in PPR than Stanton. Okay. Any other starts in this game?

We'll get to Jimmy Graham in a second. But in terms of quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, anyone that we haven't covered? No. Can't trust any of the outside guys for Seattle because of Peterson's presence. And Jimmy Graham's a touchdowner boss. Yeah, so Jimmy Graham.

We've talked about Cameron Bray. We've talked about obviously Ebron over Graham, but Bray, Vernon Davis, that group there, Ben Watson. Where's Graham in relation to them? Bottom for me Top for me Jamie, you have Vernon Davis And all those guys ahead of Graham?

I have Watson ahead of him But not Vernon Davis, I don't think No Would you start Antonio Gates or Jimmy Graham? I'd go Gates I'd go Charles Clay over Jimmy Graham I've got to fix that in my rankings. Clay's an easy one. Yeah.

I just think that he's going to get more volume, and it's just as good of a shot to score as Graham does this week. Seattle's DST is around 10th. Not a great start this week, but startable. And one more game is San Francisco at the Rams.

So you're basically, are we sitting all Rams? Yeah. Okay. Kup is not going to play because he's hurt. I would anticipate, based on what McVay said, that Woods and Watkins will not play. So who can you trust? Right. Okay, Jimmy Garoppolo.

I guess my question for you is how come Jimmy Garoppolo isn't higher? He's ninth for Jamie, 12th for Dave, and 12th for Heath. I like him a lot. He's in a couple of my daily lineups, so I think it's going to be a good game for him. Dave, how come he's not higher than 12th? You got Breeze. I think they run. I think they run like crazy.

I don't think they're going to not feature Garoppolo one more time when they can. I mean, I think they could do both. I don't think they're going to not feature Garoppolo one more time when they can. I mean, I think they could do both. Aaron Donald's not playing. Yeah, it's going to be a great game for the 49ers. I love Goodwin. I think Garoppolo continues to play well. George Kittle's a nice sleeper. Trent Taylor's a nice sleeper.

Okay. So Carlos Hyde, I know he hasn't had a great year. He's had a very, very tough schedule. In my opinion, he's only had four good matchups this year. He scored 21 fantasy points against the Rams early in the season when they really didn't have a good run defense. He scored 18 fantasy points at Washington. I don't even know if that was a good matchup because they had a decent run defense

before Jonathan Allen got hurt, and he had a terrible game of 13 for 28, but he scored two touchdowns and had some receiving numbers. So 18 fantasy points there. He had nine fantasy points against the Giants, just didn't score, but he had over 100 total yards. And he had 13 fantasy points at Houston recently. So Hyde's been good in good matchups. He's just had a very, very tough schedule.

How much do you like Carlos Hyde this week? Do you like him better than Jamal Williams? Yes. Yeah, this is kind of sneaky because he's been sort of like a number two running back for a while now. But is Carlos Hyde a huge upside play this week? Yep. Yeah, man.

It's just a matter of how much Brita will take work away from him. Carlos Hyde or Alex Collins? Hyde. Carlos Hyde or Deion Lewis? Lewis. Lewis. Carlos Hyde or Deion Lewis? Lewis. Lewis. Carlos Hyde or Kenyon Drake?

Drake. Drake. Hyde or Freeman? Hyde. I think it's Hyde. The one thing you've got to worry about is his rushing average,

which has been dreadful in four of his last five. Yeah. Like 3.2 or worse in four of his last five games. He's been.2 or worse in four of his last five games. He's been getting worse. If he can't do it against the Rams without Aaron Donald, then it's a big problem for Week 18.

Right, and clearly it's not stopping the 49ers from using him. Who's a better flex, Marquise Goodwin or Carlos Hyde? Goodwin and PPR. I'll go Hyde in both. Okay. He just doesn't catch passes anymore from Garoppolo. Well, yeah. Goodwin does catch a lot of passes from Garoppolo,

but he doesn't do his score touchdowns. Maybe he gets one this week. He's had three catches in two of his last four, and two catches in one of the other ones. Also, George Kittle is not the worst sleeper, right? He went from averaging over five catches per game. Right. It's down. It's definitely down. To under three. George Kittle is not the worst sleeper, right? He went from averaging over five. Right. It's down.

It's definitely down to under three. George Kittle is not the worst sleeper. Could do worse. That's a nice thing to say about somebody. Yeah, exactly. Hey, let's do some daily lineups. We got FanDuel. We got DraftKings.

I will try to get my FanDuel lineup up here. See if I remember it. It's Russell Wilson. You've got to check out my wide receivers. I have Julio Jones, Doug Baldwin, and Mike Evans. This is a week on FanDuel. Oh, my gosh. You have the same ones?

The exact same ones. Well, this is the week on FanDuel where some of these wide receivers are very discounted because Jameson Crowder we like a lot. He's in that same price range. T.Y. Hilton's a great tournament play. He's a little bit cheaper than those guys. I only play 50-50s. So you've got – I've got Baldwin, Julio Jones, and Mike Evans.

I have Russell Wilson, who's the most expensive quarterback. Kenyon Drake and Giovanni Bernard. I will change Giovanni Bernard if Joe Mixon plays. I have Robbie Gold. I'm sure Dave has Robbie Gold as well. I have the Redskins defense, and Eric Ebron is the 15th most expensive tight end. He's top three for Dave and Jamie, so Eric Ebron

is a must-play on FanDuel. So again, it's Wilson, Drake, Geo, might have to change Geo, Julio Jones, Doug Baldwin, Mike Evans, Eric Ebron, Robbie Gold, and the Redskins DST. Well, I do not have Robbie Gold because DraftKings doesn't have kickers. And my lineup is on DraftKings this week,

and it's probably going to change because my quarterback is Matt Ryan. Great price at $5,900. Big question mark about that offensive line, so that's something we're going to have to wait and see. Love my running backs. Full-point PPR Christian McCaffrey and Duke Johnson. Combined, they are 11,400, and I think there's potential for them to combine for like 35 points.

So that's perfect. Julio, Evans, Baldwin, they're your receivers. They are my receivers. And my flex is T.Y. Hilton. So, Adam, you read my mind on the lineup. I'm going to have to make some changes because I guess that's too common. My tight end is Vance McDonald at 2,700. That would obviously change

if Ben Roethlisberger doesn't play because it might mean that Vance McDonald doesn't play. And my defense is the 49ers. They're 2,100, so they're among the cheapest DSTs that you could use. They're playing against the Rams backups. They don't have to do that much. Two good streaming defenses for daily

and seasonal. The 49ers now and the Colts. If DeAndre Hopkins is out, that's another very good one, just based on how cheap that they'll be. At least the Colts are at home. Yep. I'll give you two. I have one for each league. So for FanDuel, Stafford, and Marvin Jones, I'm going to

stack those two guys because they were good against the Packers last time. Easily could be again. Running backs are Deion Lewis and Derrick Henry. Henry's a good price at $5,800, given what he could do against the Jaguars. Along with Marvin Jones, I went with Crowder and T.Y. Hilton. I went with Gronk because I think they are going to try and get him to his $5 million incentive bonus so he could see 11 catches, he could see the yards that he needs, and I'm almost positive he will score against the Jets.

He kills the Jets. I went Vinatieri kicker and the Broncos defense because I think that they will harass Patrick Mahomes, who is going to be without a lot of talent around him. Yeah, I think, Jamie, I'm going to change Giovanni Bernard to Derek Henry. And then on DraftKings, I went with Jimmy Garoppolo and Marquise Goodwin, 49ers stack there, quarterback and wide receiver. CJ Anderson and Frank Gore at running back. I like their prices and I like their potential.

Anderson has been getting a lot of work. Seven catches last week. So if he's involved in the passing game with a new quarterback, that will be good. I do think Gore is going to have the opportunity to get to the 139 yards he needs to get to 1,000. So he's in a good spot at $4,400. I think Brandon Cooks has a chance to go off against the Patriots. I went with him at one wide receiver along with Goodwin. And I put Crowder in again.

Eric Ebron at tight end, and then Christian McCaffrey at the flex spot, and the Bills DST against Jay Cutler, who's not going to want to be hit in his final game before he goes into retirement. All right, just one thing. You guys can feel free to just ridicule me on our next podcast next week, whenever it is. The fact that you're talking about Frank Gore getting 139 rushing yards is absolutely hilarious to me. He is not a good enough running back.

He will need at least 30 carries to come even close to that. And if he gets 30 carries, he'll have to average almost five yards per carry, like four and a half yards per carry. I think he knows he's not going to get it. I think he knows he's not going to get it. He's not going to get it. That's why he wants to play next year. Yeah, I don't know.

But that's fine. I think he's going to get every opportunity to try and get there. All right. Let's see. You know what? I am willing to put myself out there. You can make fun of me. That is fine.

Also, I believe I was thinking of Save the Last Dance when I was talking about Step Up. So my apologies. All right. That's a pretty long show for you on this Friday. A lot of good info. Good luck, everybody. Our last starter sit, but not our last podcast. We'll be back twice next week.

We will talk to you then. Dave, Jamie, thank you guys very much. See you later. Adios. Bye. It's all right. I've got Le'Veon. It's all right.

Not George Le'Veon. It's all right It's alright.