Fantasy Football Today - Beyond the Box Score! Bucs RBs, Cowboys Offense, Best Playoff Schedules and More (10/14 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: October 14, 2024

Recapping Bengals-Giants (3:30) and talking about what the Giants offense might look like if left tackle Andrew Thomas misses time. For the Bengals, should we value Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase as the Top 5 players they currently are, or are there some concerning signs that can't be ignored? ... News and notes (15:00) and advanced stats (18:15) from Jacob as he talks about Tyrone Tracy Jr., Drake Maye, Bucky Irving and Christian Watson among others ... Four Big Topics: How to value the 49ers pass catchers (28:30); Why you should or shouldn't buy low on the Cowboys (38:30); What to make of the Bucs backfield (49:00); Players with the best schedules going forward and in the Fantasy playoffs (56:10) ... Email us at [e-mail] Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday SUBSCRIBE to FFT Express on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-express/id1528634304 Follow FFT Express on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qyGWfETSBFaciPrtvoWCC?si=6529cbee20634da8 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 FOLLOW FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 SUBSCRIBE to FFT DFS on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dfs/id1579415837 FOLLOW FFT DFS on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zU7pBvGK3KPhfb69Q1hNr?si=1c5030a3b1a64be2 Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." Visit the betting arena on CBSSports.com for all the latest sportsbook reviews and sportsbook promos. 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

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He's just going to go the distance. Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Well, what's going on, everybody? Welcome to Beyond the Box. We're here with advanced stats from simple people as we welcome you to Fantasy Football Today, presented by BetMGM, the sportsbook born in Vegas. Adam Azer here with amateur botanist Jacob Gibbs.

Jacob seems like new plants every time we see you on Monday afternoon. Yeah, it's kind of a running joke with the Beyond the Boxcore listener. Somebody even said, like, you should have a new plan every single podcast. So I kind of have just been rotating them in, you know, just keep everybody on their toes. It looks really peaceful in there. Very impressive.

You know, I think it's cool that Jacob's doing it, and I don't think this is something you or I could do, Adam, for a multitude of reasons. Now, I will say this. I'm still waiting to see one specific plant on that desk oh geez dan come on that's really why would he have a cactus he doesn't live in arizona there we go that's what i was talking about got some cactus oh he does have cacti back there excuse me okay from his arizona days um all right so we'll start with the Bengals and the Giants, 17-7 Cincinnati. A lot of stats to talk about in this game.

We will talk about our four big topics, which are someone asked, why does Brandon Ayuk hate me? So I actually reached out to him, and so we'll answer that question. The Cowboys, they're going into their bye. Can they improve? Will they improve? The Bucs running back situation, and one that I'm actually pretty excited to talk about here,

even though it's fairly early in the season, we're starting to get a little bit of a sense of what's a good matchup, what's a bad matchup, and which teams now have the best playoff schedules. And not everything we say is going to be accurate. Things are going to change a lot in 10 weeks, but we can maybe give you some useful advice. I would just tell you right now,

the Philadelphia Eagles, I mean, this upcoming week at the giants might be, they have Pittsburgh later, but it might be their toughest matchup of the season. The Eagles have an amazing schedule for Jalen hurts. Nine of his last 11 matchups are against teams that are currently bottom 10 against quarterbacks in terms of fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks. So hopefully they can get it going.

But this actually might be a tough week because Giants defense hasn't been that bad. And that's where we'll start. Dan, how are you feeling? You were at the game. You were up late doing a big blue banter podcast. And obviously you're pissed off that the Giants lost 17 to 7. But what were your takeaways from your vantage point at MetLife Stadium? Yeah, I'm on like two and a half hours of sleep today, which is never great. But I will say this. I had the perfect vantage point. The

three I think the best seat in the house for all football games. I'll go to war with this take is 300 tier. Yeah, you heard me right. 300 tier first row of 300 tier 50 yard line. Cause that's how you watch the all 22 angle of football games being at the football game. You see everything post-nap safety rotations, anything you could want. Um, and my takeaway is this,

the giants defense played a very heroic performance in this game. This, I believe on tape, I'll confirm it. When I watch the rest of the tape will be the best defensive performance they've had since the Seattle game in 2020, when they broke Russell Wilson. And I think this is better adjusted to the opponent. The Bengals were number one in EPA. They got Burrow rattled early. Burrow looked rattled. The pressure was there all game for sacks. And this was despite being on the field over and over and over again, because on the

flip side of the ball, the giants offense couldn't do anything. Now we have so many of these games in our lifetime. Now, Adam, where Daniel Jones just looks rattled early, and then he can't throw a football accurately for a full game. He had an intended air yards last night. Daniel Jones of 2.2 air yards, a career low for Daniel Jones and a disgusting number. That's so despicable. And you ask yourself why? And the reason why is early when he threw three or four deep throws, the Wandel Robinson, the Slayton, the Hyatt, they were four to five yards off target, nowhere near the intended receiver. So if you're Brian Dable and you're watching an opposing defense, do what the Bengals did, which is put all 11 guys, 10 to 12 yards off the line of scrimmage. They didn't even play a deep safety. They didn't even play one or two

deep safeties. You still can't throw deep because you don't trust your quarterback to be anywhere near accurate because he was rattled. And when he's rattled, he has games like that. He's now one in 14 in primetime and can single-handedly, in my opinion, lost them that game. I will be willing to say that despite the old line, not playing well, um, and some other issues when your quarterback plays that poorly, you can't win. And that's my rant.

I'm done with it. I'm sorry to do it. This is beyond the box score, but it had to be said. The life of a Giants fan. You ask yourself why. More importantly is that Andrew Thomas, their left tackle, is having an MRI on his foot. And if he misses time, it is huge. Absolutely huge.

We've talked about the Giants having a solid offensive line this year, and they're running a lot of plays and are doing things that are good for offense, and they've been somewhat surprising. Remember, they haven't had neighbors the last two games. But this is my question for you guys. If Andrew Thomas has an extended absence, misses a few weeks, is Malik Neighbors, who also, by the way, has an amazing schedule, I'll just tell you that right, is Malik Neighbors, who also, by the way,

has an amazing schedule. I'll just tell you that right now. Malik Neighbors, eight of his last ten opponents ranked 21st or worse against wide receivers, but if Andrew Thomas is out, is that bad news, Jacob? Do you think that's going to hurt Malik Neighbors? I do think so. Unless we see them get

Neighbors involved more with the layup-type targets, more slot work and stuff, because he's working down the field a lot and it just takes some time for some of those routes to develop. That's a great point. And I hope they do move neighbors a little bit more into the slot. The issue being they can't really do it because Wando Robinson operates that role and they don't trust Hyatt. And for good reason, he had another,. He struggled a bit last night, um, on the outside. So I do think neighbors will still have that outside role and hopefully they'll have the time to connect with him on those. But, um, Josh Azudo, I think would be the next man up at him, not Evan Neal, which is crazy to think about. Um, and that's a disaster because Josh Azudo, they they're trying to make him an offensive tackle, but every time

he's gotten that opportunity, he's been like disaster league or so yeah it could be bad for neighbors when they didn't have thomas last year it was laughable it was like what the heck is going on right now so it's a big deal he's an all-pro left tackle and uh really i mean you could argue he's the most important player on the giants offense now on the bengal side and then tyrone tracy guys i mean we'll see i was hoping for a better performance it's quite frankly i thought he he looked better than the numbers. I thought he did. Much better than the numbers.

Didn't he have over 100 total yards and a touchdown? Well, he had a lot. Yeah, he had 17 carries for 50 yards and a touchdown, six catches for 57 yards. Obviously, you know he's good in the passing game, but the yards per carry is terrible. I was hoping that he was going to be better so that he could really take the role from Devin Singletary,

but we'll just have to wait and see. He deserves to have taken the role. I'm going to say this from watching the tape and seeing it live. He played much better than those stats in the rushing game. He made a lot of plays that should have been blown up for nothing, and I'll tell you why. The Bengals, like I mentioned earlier, played all 11 defenders within 10 to 12 yards of the line of scrimmage,

drove on all quick game, and drove on all run plays. So that made it really difficult for Singletary or Tracy or anyone who would have been back there. Some of those runs he had on third and fourth downs, they were all him finding the right hole, creating yards after contact. I actually thought Tracy looked phenomenal last night, especially considering the passing game.

I'm at the point where I don't believe that he should be benched for Singletary. I think he should be the starter moving forward. I agree. I don't know if it'll happen, but I agree. Jacob, on the Bengals side of things, it was kind of a disappointing night, but maybe we just...

People underestimate the Giants' defense. It's really not that bad. Burrow with 19.8 fantasy points per game. He is a top-five quarterback per game. Did I say 19.8 fantasy points? I'm sorry. He had 19.8 fantasy points last night in six-point-per-pass and touchdown leagues,

but he didn't throw a touchdown pass, so same in four-point. He's top-five per game, but he didn't throw a touchdown pass, so same in four-point. He's top five per game, but he's had two huge games against Baltimore and Washington, I think. And yeah, and he hasn't been above 21.2 points in any of his other six games. Everything looks great.

I mean, his completion percentage, his QBR, his passer rating, he, on paper, looks like one of the best quarterbacks in football. I don't know if there's anything, like, is he basically just what he is on paper, a top five quarterback per game, or do you see any worrisome signs? Because it's four of six weeks where he's been underwhelming.

Mm-hmm. I think it's basically what we have on paper. They throw so much. For fantasy, I think he's basically in that range. I do think people sleep on the Giants' defense. Four sacks in this game, a lot of pressure, and that's a consistent thing for them all year. For the Bengals, I don't have a whole lot.

Tee Higgins out-targeted Jamar Chase for the third straight game, which is interesting. And then the big note for the Bengals for fantasy purposes is Chase Brown. Moss didn't get banged up in the game or anything, right? No, he fumbled and that was it. He was gone after the fumble. That was his last touch. Chase Brown ran more routes than him for the first time ever.

52% route participation. Had more carries than him. So yeah, that's really exciting for him. Yeah, that's great news. I'll give you the first half stats though because they're not quite as encouraging. I mean, I don't know if I have those stats exactly, but it was basically the same. yeah first half stats zach moss they had the brown had one more touch but moss played four more snaps he played seven of eight snaps on third

down the only time he really played after the fumble was uh on third down zach moss so we'll see if they and then chase brown fumbled himself you know he fumbled the almost he almost blew the game maybe i don't think giants would have scored but they both fumbled himself. You know, he fumbled. He almost blew the game, maybe. I don't think the Giants would have scored. But they both fumbled. But Moss' fumble was huge. And that was, I think we all see it. You know, as much as I'm a Zach Moss guy, I have a lot of teams. I wish I could change that now because we all see it that Chase Brown needs more snaps, needs more touches.

He's just running the ball so much better than Zach Moss. I actually have one more note on the big ones. We have to mention our guy, Eric, I'll just kind of track him throughout the season. I actually have one more note on the bag. It was, we have to mention our guy, Eric all just kind of track him throughout the season. He had only one few rather than get sick. He gets sick. He didn't have a target. So like,

I think he's slowly getting there. And one note on what Jacob mentioned regarding Jamar chase T Higgins target chair. I don't have the numbers in front of me. Just I test based on watching the tape, the giants game plan was to put their number two corner on chase and roll double to him the entire game. So it was a Belichick in game plan was to put their number two corner on chase and roll double to him the entire game so it was a belichickian game plan from jane bowen um and i think a lot we'll

probably see that a decent amount this year where some dcs just say you know what we'll leave higgins one-on-one with our number one guy use our number two corner on chase but always roll the safety over the top and double team him every play yeah chase right now is the number three receiver per game and non-ppr number number six in full PPR. But, man, like his target per route run rate is 19.4%. That is not what you think of from what's a career low, and it's not what you expect from an alpha wide receiver. 22% target share.

In the last four games since T. Higgins is back, Higgins has six more targets than Chase. Chase has one game with more than seven targets. Again, should we just look at Jacob? He's a top six receiver in full PPR per game, number three in non-PPR. Just look at that and say, that's what Jamar Chase is?

Or are there some concerning signs sort of under the hood here? His first three target rate has just been steadily dropping for like three years now. That was something we talked about last week with the Fantasy Points data team is that we're going to talk about Brandonon iuk too so this might be a good segue these receivers who like held out um it's maybe just taking a while or maybe it's just

going to be the case all year where they're not as incorporated as like the clear-cut like first read as often um and that's that's definitely affecting both chase and iuk that's interesting i didn't even know i didn't really think about that i like that that line of thinking like is it just you know they weren't really involved in the in the in the preseason they weren't involved in training camp and it's going to take them time to get them involved as more first reads there's another guy i mean he had 14 targets last week so it's probably not the same but going into week six cd lamb yeah was yep. Yeah. Yep. Here's the other one. Targets were really low for him,

and we will talk about the Cowboys offense in a little bit. Yeah. Oh, Dan wasn't happy with what he saw from the Cowboys offense. Oh, man, wasn't happy? The total opposite. What do you mean? It's the only joy I can get. Oh, well, as a Giants fan you were.

As an analyst, you were not so happy with what you saw from the Cowboys offense. Beyond the box score, you guys record on Thursday, another episode there with really great in-depth analysis and fantastic guests from around the industry. The newsletter, you need to subscribe to that, cbssports.com slash newsletter. Just get the Fantasy Football Today newsletter. Jacob writes it, and it's a great, great resource, especially, I think, for setting your lineup. You get these really detailed matchup breakdowns that, unfortunately, I would say you don't get on the podcast. I wish we could try to incorporate more of that

from Jacob's newsletter, but you could just get it right to your inbox. We're going to take a break. Got an update on Tuatango Bailoa when we come back and some advanced stats and much more after this. Did you know 66% of utility damage is caused by not requesting a locate? Don't let your project become part of this statistic. A quick locate request can save you from unexpected downtime,

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Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. Okay, let's talk about the news and notes. I'm not going to go through everything because I did yesterday. So Mike McDaniel, he expects Tua back this season, but he didn't say when. So that does- I told you you were jumping the gun on that week seven thing. He didn't say it's not going to be week seven. I think he said there's some testing I think they're doing this week. So hopefully we get another update.

But I cannot acquire Tyreek Hill or Jalen Waddell or A-Chan expecting Tua back next week in week eight cannot do it. So just be aware running back news. Travis ETN is week to week. Great opportunity for Bigsby. If they can stay competitive with the Patriots and they have been horrible, horrible against running backs. So we'll see where we start him.

Oh, we will see where we have him in the rankings. Tank Bigsby wide receiver uh don tavian wicks is week to week i don't think that we have it long-term injuries here what was i'm sorry i didn't get a chance to look at the snap shares what was uh do you guys know mike evans snap share he got banged up a little yeah i think it was on the low end i'll tell you right now mike evans played only 57 of the snaps okay yeah i think i banged up early i think came back hopefully he's uh gonna be okay we know aiden hutchinson is almost certainly out for the year maybe he can come back for the super bowl but he had surgery today yes it did suck uh they also lost defensive tackle Kyle Pico,

who's a rotational defensive tackle, and Carlton Davis left with getting hit in the head and evaluated for a concussion. So rough day for the Lions, even with an amazing victory. And now they're at Minnesota next week, the undefeated Vikings. Jets edge rusher Hassan Redick, hopefully he's close to coming back.

He hired a new agent, agents, Drew Rosenhaus and Ryan Matha. I hope I'm saying that name right. So it's possible the Jets could get a big piece of their defense. I don't want to say back. He hasn't played for them, but on the team, the Cardinals face the Chargers in week seven and the Cardinals are a team. And I don't know the severity of the injuries, but they lost four defensive players yesterday in a loss at the Packers. A safety, a defensive tackle, a linebacker, and a defensive back, and it's the cornerback, all left with injuries. Again, we'll check.

That roster was already so super short from a talent standpoint on defense. Yeah. Patrick Sertan left with a concussion almost immediately, and Thursday game at New Orleans, it's hard to see him playing in that one. Houston linebacker Aziz Alshire left. Cornerback Darius Slay for the Eagles. He left with an injury. If you have not signed up yet for BetMGM,

now is the time. Let's do it and use the bonus code FANTASY and you're going to get up to a $1,500 first bet offer on your first wager with BetMGM. And here's how it works. You download the BetMGM app, and you sign up using the bonus code FANTASY. Deposit at least $10.

That's it, just $10. Place your first wager on any game, and you're going to receive up to $1,500 in bonus bets if your bet loses. Just make sure you use the bonus code FANTASY when you sign up. Jacob, you are up. Let's get some advanced stats.

What do we got this week? All righty. So yeah, we already talked about Tyron Tracy, but I did just want to point out how insane the role was. He had a 72% route participation. That's up from 41% last week. He had more pass blocking snaps than Eric Gray as well. So like after last week, I was like like somebody asked me like going into the week

is tracy even the guy who'll be on the field if the giants find themselves at a like large deficit and i really didn't feel any confidence that he would but now it's clear that he can play like all three downs and that is really really exciting like he had the highest snap rate and highest rap participation rate of any running back in week six. Wow. Which is just, yeah, for a relatively inexperienced running back. I know he played in high school,

but over the past five or six years, he has less than 200 rushes. That's pretty impressive to see an NFL team trust him with that type of a role. Yeah. Drake May. I was really encouraged by the results um he this was statistically the best performance against houston's defense this this year but i wasn't i

wasn't expecting anything from as a passer honestly there's still some underlying things that are concerning like he took four sacks his average time to throw was over three seconds 3.06 and so that him and jayden daniels both were that was something i was really concerned about them coming in is like they are really appealing fantasy options because they scramble a lot and i they have big arms and can deliver downfield throws pretty accurately um but the sacks are drive killers it hasn't been a huge problem for jayden but he also just just because he's been so spectacular as a passer he's made up for it um i don't know if you can expect that from may necessarily so that's something to monitor going forward because obviously the offensive line is a problem did you guys get to watch any of them yet i haven't got to

go back that's one that's. I really want to watch that. I haven't had a chance to yet. That's exactly the number one on my list. I want to watch Drake. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. It'll happen though.

Cause I was a big, big, big, big time May fan coming out. Yeah. Oh yeah. You were, you were like obnoxious about it.

Yeah. That, I mean, I think you saw it. Uh, you saw some of the flashes from him. Well, he's awesome

and he's like kind of divisive like some people yeah right yeah because he still has a long way to go he's a raw prospect as i always said but i like to bet on guys with that that kind of arm talent that kind of size that kind of frame that kind of movement and that kind of ability to create natural plays and that's the biggest difference i see with some of these good and bad quarterbacks like can you do what's on script and lock onto your first reader? Can you actually do things off script? And that doesn't just mean out of the pocket. It sometimes just means someone's open.

That's not in the progression. Can you, can you recognize that he's open and getting the ball? That's something I saw may do on tape. Yeah, for sure. Uh, Bucky Irving, just really, really impressive stuff. Obviously, um, his backfield mate, Sean Tucker was also awesome. Ended up with 34 fantasy points. A lot of that did come in the second half, but both players were phenomenal.

Bucky didn't have quite as many running lanes, but he did make some really big plays. He had a 65% route participation, which is really, really good for a rookie. That was second to only Tyrone Tracy. Um, and in the first half, let me pull this up. Come on, true media. While you pull it up, I will say this. It's fun for me to see some of my takes from last year, like taking these long loading takes like tank Bigsby, who I loved last year and he was bad last year.

And, and Sean Tucker was another one whose tape was really fun to watch at Syracuse. And he just didn't look like that guy at all last year when he was bad last year and and Sean Tucker was another one whose tape was really fun to watch at Syracuse and he just didn't look like that guy at all last year when he was given the opportunity and he looked like that guy yesterday at Syracuse he was decisive with his running he was explosive he's a compact runner I think he's got talent for sure um and it's I'm very interested to see how that running back room shakes out once White comes back healthy I tweeted out videos of all the runs for both guys and they're both just so fun to watch sean tucker's feet are literally like always moving like he's really really cool hey damn where did he go to college sean tucker thought he went syracuse unless i was mistaken i just it's not s-e-r-r-a-c-u-S-E. It's just a weird way to pronounce.

Syracuse? How do you pronounce Syracuse? Syracuse. What? How would you pronounce? How do you pronounce? What do you pour on your pancakes? You pronounce it Syracuse like a syrup?

Well, yeah. Well, that's how it's spelled, dude. What do you put on your pancakes? Everyone I've ever heard it pronounced it as Syracuse. That's just the wrong pronunciation. I didn't know you went to Wisconsin. I can't even confirm that I've actually even ever heard that, but I've always pronounced it as Syracuse. I'd never heard Syracuse. I don't know. That's, I just go by phonetically here. You know, I don't know if you're right

either. I'm seeing a bunch of Dan is rights in the chat. And you know what? I even saw a couple chats that I like I did. I didn't put this one up earlier, Adam, and I could have, and now I might, you know, now I will. Oh yeah. Well, will. I'll hang you to dry on this one. I wasn't going to. I wasn't going to. First of all, you said one person says that you got it right, and you're like, oh, I'm seeing a lot of people. No, here's another. Adam is wrong. It's all over the place.

How about this one? Syracuse, Syrup, Syria. Yeah, exactly. How about this one from the guy who lives there and says I was right? Oh, that's bad. That's bad on my end. We need to move off. How would you pronounce it that way?

That's like people calling it Worcester. You can't just make up pronunciations of towns and cities. Listen, my friend, just understand that for the most part, you're like at a 70 to 80% wrong clip on your takes in general. So just default to thinking you're wrong most of the time. And it'll be a lot better. Most people do. All right,

Jacob, back to you. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay. You got a good one. I saw that good one coming. I went to Syracuse. Even the guys that live there,

even the guy that lives there is wrong. Yeah. I mean, I'm going to text my cousin. She went to Syracuse. Okay. Yeah. You let us know what she says. Okay. I will. lives there is wrong yeah thank i mean i'm gonna text my cousin she went to syracuse okay yeah you let us know what she says okay i will 10 carries for 107 yards in the fourth quarter for sean tucker wow yeah he had one carry in the first half we're still on this yeah i mean i do

think it's important to point out because i like a lot of yeah yeah go ahead keep so yeah it was six carries for bucky to one for Tucker. Bucky had a 74% snap rate in the first half. Brian Thomas Jr. led the Jaguars in routes run. I want to double check that because sometimes the tracking data gets updated after my initial look. First time all year, right? Yep. No, it's still there. He had more routes than Gabe and Christian Kirk, which is yeah the first time he's been slowly working his way up um so i'm still really really

excited for him obviously the drop touchdown was frustrating um i don't know what the heck was going on with jackson phil in that game they had like four drop touches like the sun they were weird too they're like the ones where the receiver lets it get all the way into his body and just like totally looks like he gaffed but i don't know um tank adele need to bring that up he led the way for houston xavier hutchinson really did nothing he had two targets uh hutchinson only ran around on like half of the drop x um stefan diggs was used less in the slot as the texans just used fewer three receiver sets in general and so digs actually worked down the field a little bit more. And I think he could have had a bit,

yeah, he had 20 fantasy points, still Diggs did well. But that's just a really encouraging note for Tank Dell to see him get going a little bit. I want to get back and watch that film too, because they haven't been using Dell down the field as much as I thought they would. Have you guys watched any of the Houston game? I didn't get a chance to do Houston. No, this is the one game,

because I wanted to see who Christian Gonzalez was covering, and I wanted to see Drake May. So this was Houston game? I didn't get a chance to do Houston yet. No, this is the one game because I wanted to see who Christian Gonzalez was covering, and I wanted to see Drake May. So this was one game that I didn't get. Yeah, that's going to be a good one. The only other thing is that Christian Watson came back and had a full roll right away. 74% route participation. Obviously, Wicks got banged up. But yeah, only Romeo Dobbs ran more routes than him.

So that's good for people who drafted him. He looked freaking good on that one touchdown, man. That's the Christian Watson I know and love. Sorry, someone sent me a voice note of how to pronounce. I really think this is going to be in one of the 10 to 20% of the things that I'm going to get right because I just texted another friend. So we'll see. So far, I think I'm going to win this one. All right. Yeah. You know, with Christian, you can, you can win this one and I'll win the battle. And by the battle, I mean, six to six. Oh, okay. So are we good moving on? Cause we, all right, cool. Yeah.

There's another thing I want to bring up something Dan said last week that there was a little bit of pushback on. So let me just go ahead and get that from my text messages. I got a text from a friend who's hopefully listening. And he said, out of the blue, he says, studies have shown that workers that gather up the shopping carts actually enjoy that part of their jobs. They get a break and fresh air. So it's actually good to leave your cart willy nilly. Oh my God, is this guy serious? I think he was serious. It kind of makes sense.

It kind of makes sense. What studies are you showing? Every single time I've returned the cart at the end, when I go to Trader Joe's, I get a thank you from the guy who's like, I thank you. And it's like always like this thank you, like, thank you, man.

Like a kind of like a sigh of relief. Thank you. Like, thank you for like being one of the few. I'm not saying this in the sense of I'm a hero. I'm saying in, thank you for like being one of the few. I'm not saying this in the sense of I'm a hero. I'm saying in the opposite sense of like, wow, this guy is like taking a deep sigh of relief. Thank you. Like, as in like most people won't do this kind of thing. Like, you know what I mean? Like, he's like, oh, thank you. Like the rest of these people are just leaving it for me out there. So most people want, but damn Schneier will.

The hero that we deserve folks, Dan Schneier. No, I'm not saying that, but I am saying that, again, it's a sigh of relief of like, wow, you're one of the only – too many people are not doing this type of thing, right? There's no way these people are enjoying running around the parking lot, bringing carts back to the thing. That study is terrible i could see i mean if i if i had if i worked at the grocery store i think well i mean like six to seven eight months out of the year maybe winter time no i wouldn't really what about yeah i gather i could see going outside gathering up the cars walking around i could see that being a nice little respite i could i could see that all right why don't we get into our four big topics and rachel has the first one. She says, why does Brandon Ayuk hate me?

I don't think Brandon Ayuk is a top 50 wide receiver per game right now. He's coming off two catches for 37 yards on four targets at Seattle. And Brandon Ayuk, you mentioned Christian Watson, Jacob. The Packers, the 49ers, Ravens to a degree, they're similar. You've got guys who aren't going to get a lot of targets, but they're probably going to be very productive with the targets. Ayuk is basically on pace for the same amount of targets

he was on pace for last year, if you just look at his healthy games, but he's doing nothing with it. He's cashing 56.1% of his targets, which is super low. So, you know, it's like last year he was so efficient. I didn't draft Brandon Ryuk in any leagues, but the holdout had a lot to do with that.

I just thought this was going to be kind of a disaster year for him. I think you could definitely make the case to buy low. It's very important to note, he is getting the same amount of targets per game, although it's a little deceiving because he had 10 in one game without Debo and Kittle. So maybe I shouldn't be saying that because really without that game, the targets are a little

bit low. But the efficiency is ridiculously low. Ayuk is a better player than this. Anyway, why does Brandon Ayuk hate his fantasy managers, Jacob? The targets are low. Other than his second season when Shanahan hated Ay iuk this is the worst season of his career in terms of target per run rate the first three target rate is down as well

i i keep thinking that he's going to pick it up obviously because he's such a good player but also because brock purdy is to me seems to be looking down the field more than we've ever seen um and so like that just feels intuitive like it's going to lead to more looks for iuk um but i guess maybe not if joan jennings just keeps winning all the time down the field too uh yeah i i think he'll pick it up but yeah he hates me too i've got a dynasty team that i'm bailing on this week um because i made a big trade for iuk and calvin rid. And that did not go well. I'll add something here. I think one,

we can lean back to what something Jacob mentioned earlier about these receivers who held out of camp weren't in good shape. Like, but I remember reading a story when I returned to camp, like he's not, he's not running wind sprints. Like he can't, he's not in the shape yet.

So maybe he needs to still round himself out into form. I don't feel like he's looks bad on these routes. i think a bigger factor could be something we haven't considered which is this offense looks entirely different without christian mcafree right like the way defenses are playing the niners is totally different because mason is not doing what mcafree can in the past game he's not the threat that mcafree is in the past game they don't have to respect him that way so that opens up a little bit that doesn't open up a little bit of the middle of the field type stuff that was working those deep crossers which has been iuk's game since he got to the niners so that's one thing that could get better because mcafree is supposed to return at

some point in quote unquote early november we'll see what ends up happening there and when that actually does happen but there is some optimism on that front the separation scores and stuff like that do look good for iuk still I do think he's getting open. But I thought, I thought about that. Like you talk about a guy who has his worst target per out run rate, his second worst of his career. And the 49ers are 31st in running back target rate.

Right. So that's it. While you're, you get the benefit of McCaffrey drawing coverage. If you go back and you watch, you probably watched it, but the Debo Samuel 76-yard touchdown, I think it was, Brandon Ayuk drew three defenders in the middle of the field.

And that was happening a lot. Not necessarily three defenders, but deep crossers, right? He's drawn a lot of double coverage in the middle of the field and really opening things up against Seattle for other players. But yeah, so what happens with McCaffrey? Did things get opened up for Iuke or do we have the now they're going to start throwing the ball five times a game to Christian McCaffrey? And this is terrible.

I think it's good, though, even if you lose those five times a game, just the attention that he takes away from the way that defenses have to scheme to play the offense versus when he's on the field versus when he's not i just think it opens up so much more space i think it's basically what's predicate that whole pass game is predicated on though they haven't been bad like jacob has said like birdie's been awesome this year behind the curtain like if you look at the tape and if you look at the numbers he's been awesome but i just think that often can be even better with mcafree on the field and there will be more space for iuk and debo, but mostly Iuke. I think Jawan Jennings really is affecting things. That too.

Yeah, that's fair. He's been playing out of his mind. His target per round rate, even when Iuke, this is only on plays that he shared the field with Iuke, is 23%, which is much higher than Iuke's and is way, way higher than it's ever been

in Jawan Jennings' past. Last year, it was 14%. Yeah. Now, here's the thing. So there was the one game where Debo and Kittle didn't play, and IU had 11 catches, 175 yards, and three touchdowns on 12 targets. But even in the next three games, when everybody's been back, six, four, five targets for Juwan Jennings. That's a problem.

I mean, you'd rather that be two targets, you know? It's not that it makes Jennings relevant. It really doesn't. But it definitely hurts the other guys. And then I wonder, the other part of this is, we buy low on Iyuk. Let me just give you some Iyuk or. Would you rather have Iyuk or George Pickens?

Iyuk. Iyuk. Brian Thomas Jr. or Iyuk? BTJ. I'm going to say Ayuk with the hope that McCaffrey will help when he gets back. What about Debo Samuel and George Kittle? George Kittle is the number one tight end in fantasy, and he is blowing everyone out.

He is three and a half points better than number two per game. Number two, Brock Bowers in PPR. He has five touchdowns, and it just doesn't feel sustainable. And then, the touchdown rate, anyway. Debo, he's got three straight games with five or fewer targets, I believe, after having, like, 19 targets combined in his first two games. And he is getting some rushing

work, yeah. But I don't know that I, like, I don't really want to give away players on the 49ers. That's just, they're just going to be better per target than most let's say this i and i agree with you on that i'm like just thinking about this and i don't have the stats in front of me maybe jacob has him not he's never gonna have in front of this was a ridiculous task by me or asked by me so this won't be the case but with mcafree off the field from a schematic

standpoint don't you feel like they're hitting on so many fewer explosive plays? I know they hit the one Debo one last week, but don't you feel like there's just so many fewer explosive plays in this offense in general? I'm not saying they're not as efficient. They are not making some of these 17 to 20 yard throws, but they're just so, it just feels to me like this offense has lost an explosive element because McCaffrey was a making explosive plays, but just be grabbing so much attention from opposing defensive coordinators. I don't know, though.

That's how I feel. I don't know that I agree. They have a much higher ADOT. Are they first in ADOT this year? But how about just 40-plus plays? Yeah, so let's get the explosive play rate. I think we can find that. I'm talking 40-plus, not the 20-plus.

All right, I'll just look explosive. I mean, that might be true. Explosive per drop back their fourth. So that would be what is that in true media, Jacob? That is like a 17-yard pass? Yeah, I think it's 16 or higher, so it's not what Dan's looking for. Okay. Well, they are fourth best in explosive per drop back.

They were number one in explosive per drop back last year. Second in ADOT. Anthony Richardson's always going to be first. Yeah. Yeah. explosive per drop back they were number one in explosive per drop back last year second in a dot anthony richardson's always going to be first yeah yeah i i i feel i i know what you guys are saying i'm gonna do 30 yards i'm gonna do 30 yard completions okay last year i'm not even really referring to that i'm talking about the touchdowns like those big play touchdowns they had last year and i know we can't really find the stats for that it just feels to me like last year watching the 49ers there were tons of plays week in week out where purdy would hit mccaffrey or purdy would hit iuk or debo on these huge plays um some of them that went for touchdowns i just don't feel like i've seen that as much from this offense and that might be but they are

they were first in the nfl in 30 plus yard completions last year with 32 and 17 games. They're second in the NFL this year with 1130 completions with, with yeah, in six games. So I, it's, it almost feels like they're playing really well. You may not know it. Their numbers are so good.

It almost feels like it could be even better to me anyway. But I guess my final thought is like, would you try to sell Debo Samuel or George Kittle? Or just keep them? I'm just keeping on both. I mean, Kittle's one I would consider selling, but I don't know what you can really do because you kind of need a tight end, right?

If you could turn Kittle into Brock Bowers and something else, I would do that in a heartbeat. Yeah, maybe. All right, let's take a break. And when we come back back we'll talk about the cowboys yeah i'm gonna let dan he's probably fired up i'll let dan talk about the cowboys first when we come back on fft dan still wears the pajamas with feet attached um no i think you're probably looking at dan's pajamas right now if i know that's not true i told you i don't i sleep

in the nude oh well then you're definitely not looking at that. All right. Let's get to our second big topic here is from Berlin. The Cowboys improve enough after the buy to consider them by lows in fantasy. What do you think, uh, Dan Schneier? So it's really interesting, Adam, while I discussed this, I would like, if you can possibly to get up their schedule. Cause I'm curious how that looks. The rest of the season, we went over Eagles, who have a really good opportunity schedule-based. I'm curious to see what the Cowboys see. It's pretty good, I think.

It's San Francisco on the road. So you have to get, I think, a little bit out. But at San Francisco, at Atlanta, then it's Philadelphia, Houston, at Washington, Giants, Cincinnati, Cincinnati at Carolina Tampa Bay at Philadelphia Washington again in week 18 gets better as we go but I don't think there's only two or three in there that sounded good the fantasy

playoff stretch run is pretty good they're one of the six defenses I highlighted for the last question Washington in France but what is the fantasy playoffs because we don't need to count the 18 week 18 Carolina Tampa Bay, Philadelphia. Carolina's in there. Yeah, which is good. I'm not running away from it.

Let's put it that way. I'm not running away from the schedule. I'm not running away from that schedule either. I also don't think that that's an amazing schedule. But I will say this about their offense and them being a potential buy now. Look, my concern with the Cowboys going into last year was Mike McCarthy's offense, similar to what we've seen from Daniel Hackett this year and Aaron Rogers is really not with the times, right? He doesn't use a lot of pre-snap motion. He doesn't do a lot of the things that Jacob refers to in the newsletter and other places as cheat codes for NFL offense.

Now, somebody say, look, you say, well, there's ag and the cow and the offense. We did work last year. Zigging while there's ag that, that and the offense, we did work last year. Zigging while there's zag that Dak Prescott was playing really good football last year. He works through his reads, works through his regressions and processes defense faster than most quarterbacks this year. It hasn't worked as well. Part of the issue is the offensive line.

They've made their investments, but this offensive line has been banged up and they haven't been, what are you laughing at? Jacob, a comment. Yeah. Okay. We can get to that in a moment. And pulls his pants all the way down when he pees that's hilarious uh so weird it is weird but funny um the weirder comment came to after that yeah that one i'm not reading that's it up but um so look when the offensive line is not protecting as well as it has in the past because

of injuries and because of injuries and because of just losing guys like Tyron Smith, among others, Zach Martin getting older and playing hurt, it's not going to work as well in a Mike McCarthy offense. We're seeing this with the Jets and Nathaniel Hackett this year. When your offense doesn't use pre-snap motion, doesn't use the cheat codes and is relying on one-on-one matchups to win, you need to have pass protection. You need to have confidence in the offensive line. And I don't see that with the Cowboys right now. I thought Detroit had an amazing game plan to stop this type of Cowboys-Mike McCarthy offense.

I don't know that every team's going to be able to do it because I don't think every team has the personnel or the, I guess, the wherewithal for a defensive coordinator to change his scheme or operate a sit, you know, change what his game plan is for one specific opponent. I don't see that a lot in the NFL. Some coordinators do it.

Most don't. So I still think we're going to be fine on this front. By low, though, I wouldn't call this a by low. I think this offense looks pretty broken to me just from a schematic standpoint. And they're going to rely again on guys like Dak and CeeDee to pull them through, which isn't happening as much this year. They can't run the football, too.

That's another huge problem with the Cowboys. In the past, they've been able to run the football. They can't run the football, too. That's another huge problem with the Cowboys. Yeah, it's a big problem. In the past, they've been able to run the football. They can't run the football at all. You know, they ran the ball pretty well at Pittsburgh two weeks ago. Very well. And then they just couldn't

run the ball in this game because they got behind so big so early. And Detroit also has a great run defense. I hated how much Zeke was on the field when the game mattered.

I hated that. I read an article that he was a little disappointed with his role. Well, honestly, he's just not getting it done. So please give Dowdle more touches. Not that he's the answer, but there are gonna be better touches than Zeke.

I would buy low because I don't see how it can get any worse, honestly. CeeDee Lamb is like something like wide receiver 15 per game and non-PPR, 12 per game and full PPR. I just can't even see a scenario where he is that bad rest of season. Um, you know, look, they were, they were pretty disappointing at this point last year. And then they had basically the best offense in football from, it was like a week earlier. I think it was five bad games. And then a week six, they got things turned around, but they did get things turned around.

They were missing their left tackle. Mike McCarthy talked about that. Tyler Guyton did not play yesterday. And he basically, he put a lot of the blame on the offensive line. He was asked about Dak. He said he was under pressure all day. He was asked about the lack of a running game.

He put it on the offensive line and said, well, we really weren't opening up holes for those guys. So, um, it hopefully Tyler Guyton, their left tackle comes back after the buy, I'm almost certain that he will, and they play better there.

But I would buy low because I just, this is only on Dak and Lamb, and Ferguson too. I just don't see how Lamb could not be a top six wide receiver and how Dak's not going to be, you know, a start worthy quarterback going forward personally. But even if there are problems on the offense, it can't be this bad in my opinion. Jacob. Agreed.

You guys nailed it. Okay. All right. Um, and then it's a good time to buy low because they're going to no buy. And I think that's the CD land. Like it's going to be tough to pry a CD lamb away because the CD land manager's going, I don't want to give away this guy and then see him go off.

And like, it's going to eat at you. And you're going to remember last year that Dak Prescott would be a sneak year by low. Because I think that's got to sing your below. I think Jalen Tolbert's a sneak year by low. I know it didn't happen yesterday for him, but it happened two weeks ago for him.

And I liked what I like, got a chance to watch his tape from two weeks ago in Pittsburgh. And I really liked what I saw. What do you think about trying to turn Jaden Reed plus into CD lamb or Jamar chase or Justin Jefferson or something like that? It's so interesting. Cause like what, that's what,

like, what are we doing? Jaden Reed. And cause, so we'd rather have a land. I don't want to trade Jaden Reed, Jacob. I am like, this guy's just going to.

I'm just trying to think of somebody who you realistically could get Lamb for, and I think it's him, someone like Lamb. I mean, it's not unrealistic. I just think Jaden Reed is such a phenomenal player, and at times I've undersold him. I tried to trade him in Dynasty this past offseason, and now it's not even on my radar. I'm like, wow, I'm just going to stick with this, this past off season. And now it's like not even on my radar because I'm like, wow,

I'm just going to stick with this guy with Jordan love. But the problem with trading Jordan love or read, I think is that you're trading away a wide receiver. Who's really talented. And I honestly think might be playing in the, let's think about how I should say this. Is it one of the most wide receiver friendly offenses in the NFL? Yeah.

Right. In a sense, but at the same time, he has 21 fewer targets. Oh, it's not a target based thing with Reed. I know, but it's like, you can't, you can't keep that up. Can you? We said that last year. It's why we were so low ranked. That's why I ranked him so low.

I regret it. Take a look at Ayuk. You know, it's just like, you can't. And by the way, he only has one more carry than CeeDee Lamb. Lamb has eight. Reed has nine. That's why I ranked him so low, and I regret it. Take a look at Ayuk. You know, it's just like you can't. And by the way, he only has one more carry than CeeDee Lamb. Lamb has eight. Reid has nine, except Reid's nine carries have gone for 110 yards and a touchdown. And Lamb's eight carries have gone for 37 yards and no touchdowns.

Right. I would definitely do it. I think CeeDee Lamb is clearly ahead of Reid. Can I bring in one more name? Of course. We've got time here. Yeah. Chris Godwin. clearly ahead of read uh can i bring it one more name we've got time here yeah chris godwin um i'm really curious where you place him among these elite guys because i think you can make a case

that he's as good as anyone for fantasy um he his fantasy point per route run number is third in the nfl and part of that is that he has five touchdowns already this year, which is the same amount of touchdowns he had in the past two years combined. Yeah. But fantasy points per outrun, you've got A.J. Brown, then Nico Collins, then Justin Jefferson, then Chris Godwin, above neighbors, above Jaden Reed,

above Jamar Chase, Amon or St. Brown, Drake London. So part of that's touchdowns, but also his target rate is way higher than it's ever been. 27% target per run rate and then his first down per run rate which we had ryan heath on last week fantasy points he told us about how that stat correlates more strongly with future fantasy point production

than even yards per outrun um godwin's been between 9.2 and 10.7% every year of his career. This year he's at 15%. It's massive. It's, I think, second in the NFL. And so, yeah, like on paper, he looks like one of the best receivers, one of the best fantasy players out there. And I think he just looks amazing on the field. Yeah, he looks great.

I was going to say, I test-wise pass for Chris God godwin this is the best i've seen him look since before the injury some of these touchdowns he's had he's had have been post catch yards after the catch explosive runs after the catcher man that like you didn't expect or see if you watched his tape last year and that's one year removed now he's more than one year removed from the acl a lot of people talk about this. It affects different athletes, different ways. Um, obviously Brees Hall still was pretty explosive last year after it, and somehow is not doing anything this year, which I blame the Jets align for, but, um, Godwin clearly looks like a different player. And I think that's the case.

The case to be made now is like, where do we put Godwin in all this? Because the Bucks offense under Liam Cohen is one of the most fun offenses to watch from a schematic standpoint on tape liam cohen is doing an insane job as an offensive coordinator baker mayfield throws for like 350 to 400 on a weekly basis at this point so godwin is the key cog in that as jacob just broke down um i know edward evans is still there but if evans is a little banged up playing a little hurt this could be big for like godwin could be creeping into like what is he like where would we rank he's fifth in points per game right right ahead of jamar chase that's why i brought that down with touchdowns yes i think i think he's one of the guys who you could pry away a cd land from somebody with um but i don't even know if that's the right move

like i don't i think you could push him as high as one basically like if i don't think so but i i you know for well if evans is hurt maybe look godwin was a phenomenal talent before the injury and he looks kind of back to what he was right yeah and they're playing him in the slot more and he also said that he wasn't fully healthy even last year because like obviously in 2022 he was coming off the ACL injury. So we didn't expect him to be healthy, but he even said in 2023, he wasn't really back to normal.

So it looked that way. Yeah. So he's, he's awesome. And then, you know, I think that brings us into our next topic. Our third big topic is the bucks running back situation.

Fat Pete, the pH fat Pete says the bucks running back situation. What's happening here is white just on the trade bubble and being kept healthy? That I don't, that seems like a little bit of a conspiracy theory to me, but maybe. But yeah, I mean,

well, this is where I'd start, Jacob. Does the Bucs rushing success, because it's going to get better if they stop giving the ball to Rashad White. I'm sorry to say it. He's just not as good as Bucky Irving. I think I feel comfortable saying that.

Is that going to hurt Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin? Is that going to hurt the passing attack? Possibly. We've seen Cohen be somebody who will lean on the run at times. And he's, you know,

we spend time on McVay who likes to play that way. And I don't think it's, you're, I think you can say confidently that it would be better without Rashad White. Rashad White's been a less effective runner than Leonard Fournette and Chase Edmonds the past two seasons when sharing the back foot of those guys. I think it could lead to more running, but also Tampa Bay, I think,

just gets in a lot of shootouts and really does like to pass. So I don't think it's like... Here's what concerns me. They have the most touchdown passes from the five-yard line or closer. Yeah. And that is like they have not had a good running back near the goal line. So I always joke Mike Evans is their goal line back. And the Bengals, by the way, are second with six touchdowns here.

But, yeah, it could lead to fewer touchdowns. It really could. The Bengals, by the way, are crushing the field in pass attempts from inside the five-yard line with 16. Bucs are second with 11. Buckey's the guy you want. I think no matter what direction it goes, he's going to be really important for this team.

I don't think there's any conspiracy theory to trade Rashad White. It doesn't make any real sense because, one, NFL teams don't really give up any assets for running backs to Rashad White is on a rookie contract and it's, you know, they don't have to, it's a great team friendly deal, but at the same time, Sean Tucker looked really good. And Bucky Irving had, it was responded to handling some of the responsibilities that Rashad White had previously, you know, handled. I still think he's probably their best option in the passing game and on passing downs, White.

So maybe they just look at it like we can run a three-back system. But I don't foresee Sean Tucker going fully back to the bench after this one. And I think he'll get himself a few touches a game, which is going to further complicate things in this backfield. Let's see. Rashad White. No, I'm not going to give this stat because it's just wrong. I was going to say they both had 30-yard runs, Tucker and White. No, I'm not going to give this stat because it's just wrong. I was going to say they both had 30-yard runs,

Tucker and Irving, in yesterday's game, and I wanted to see what Rashad White's career long was, but he actually had a 56-yard run two weeks ago. We all remember his best run of his career. But still, 3.7 yards per carry on 452 carries in his career. So you say Irving is the one to get. I would agree. I wonder, though, when Rashad White is back,

I just don't know that passing down's work is going to be there from Bucky Irving. He might be a one-to-two catch guy. He was really good in that regard in college. Yeah, he was. But I got to give Rashad White credit there. You know, he's not a good rusher, but he's pretty good in the passing game. Yeah. All right.

This this offense is humming and good for them. Right. And Baltimore shoot out against Baltimore next week. Hopefully that's a big game. All right. And then our last topic, the best players with the best playoff schedules. I just did players with the best playoff schedules. This question's from Shaq, right?

This question is from Shaq. That's cool. Yeah, did you see him photo bombing or interview bombing on the sideline on Saturday? No, I missed that. Yeah, he was like they were doing a sideline report on the LSU sideline, and he was just like, in the background, like, hey. Did you guys see the trick play that Penn State ran with their tight ends?

Their tight ends became the center, snapped the ball. I missed the explanation for why it was legal. So the line shifts. He becomes the center, but he's practically on the end of the line of scrimmage. I mean, there must have been somebody out wide. No, because he couldn't

have been covered, right? If he had been covered, he wouldn't have been eligible to go out. So he snaps the ball and then he just like runs a deep pattern and catches a touchdown.

It was incredible. Amazing catch. Yeah. I missed the explanation on why it was legal, though. I really would like to find out. I'm fascinated by that play. Anyway, I did some research on this it was legal, though. I really would like to find out. I'm fascinated by that play. Anyway, I did some research on this.

Did you guys look into best playoff schedules? Yeah. Okay, go ahead, Jacob. What do you got? Hopefully we have some overlap. Ketchup and syrup on eggs? Oh, yeah. There's been some takes in the chat right now.

What is going on in the chat? First of all, let me make some things clear. Somebody said Dan's the type of person who uses ketchup on his scrambled eggs. No, let me make some things clear. Somebody said Dan's the type of person who uses ketchup on his scrambled eggs. No, let me make it clear. Ketchup is the most overrated condiment in the game. Really just trash. I like it on fries and potatoes only. Burgers, I will accept it on, but a good burger should never need ketchup.

It's just a sugar trash product loaded with disgusting amounts of corn syrup. As far as eggs go, another strong take coming from me, scrambled is the worst way to eat eggs. I don't like my eggs when they're scrambled. I find them kind of dry. I find them kind of hard to be at a chew a lot. You got to get them down. Taste isn't great. Yes. You're scrambled eggs. You can have fluffy version. It's still not good. You don't have to chew a lot, but in general, it's just not a good bite. Now the way to eat eggs by far is fried because you cut into them. You let the yolk run out and now you got the egg juice.

You soak up each bite with that egg juice. That's what makes it taste good. Gross. So no, that's what makes it taste good. They call it yolk. A great take here from Johnny Vang is sriracha on eggs. Yes, that's acceptable. Hold the disgusting corn syrup, sugar, ketchup, and put sriracha on.

Yeah. I mean, I mostly agree with ketchup. I put ketchup on things that I'm not enjoying. It's a great way to say it. Besides fries. They're great with fries. Yeah, I mean, they are great with fries. Like, oh, I'm not enjoying this sandwich.

I made a turkey burger a few weeks ago, and it was horrible. I was like, I'm just going to put ketchup on it and eat it. God, a turkey burger. It was horrible. Did you bake it too? No. I don't know if it was my fault or not. Can you imagine anything drier and more disgusting than, a turkey burger. It was horrible. Did you bake it too? No, I don't know if it was my fault. Can you imagine anything drier and more disgusting than a baked turkey burger?

It was bad. I don't do this anymore, but when I was a kid, this is so good, and I don't understand why everyone is repulsed by it. I've said it on the show before, so you might know it. Eggs with strawberry jam or jelly.

Eggs and jelly. I'm not repulsed. I'm almost in some ways intrigued by this. It goes in with every break, right? You put it on your toast. I don't know why you, if you could put ketchup on eggs, why wouldn't you put like a better sweetener on eggs? Like eggs and jelly is delicious. It's delicious.

I'm intrigued by this. I'm not as a, I'm not, I don't find – I'm very intrigued by this. I might – I don't think I'll try it, but if somebody handed it to me, I would eat it. All right. What was this – you said they call it yolk. What was – Oh, yeah. He was calling it egg juice.

Yeah, no, it's egg juice. Yeah. That's egg juice. I refer to it as egg juice. The runny egg juice, yes. Okay, let's get this – That's what it's used at. You soak it up with – it's – listen, that's what it's used at you soak it up

with it it's it's just listen that's the best way to eat eggs i stand by it i do yeah i agree but i just don't call it you just don't like to call it egg juice respect all right all right jacob the saints who knows what's gonna happen with their car um but like this is probably the absolute cheapest alave is ever gonna to be uh they have a bye week and week 12 and then they get the rams and then the giants not a great matchup and then their fantasy playoff schedule is washington at green bay potential shoot out there and then the raiders no i don't you know those aren't amazing matches washington is rams are um so i do think things will be better for them in the second half and it's been kind of a tough go for Olave here.

So I think that's interesting. I still believe in him as a player. Olave? Yeah. Yeah. They call it. He is legendary. That was a great lie, Jacob. It's an all-time liner for beyond the box score right there by Jacob Gibbs.

If you trade for Olave, though, you should be prepared to have him suck for three weeks. I don't know if he's even going to play this week. And then he could be good with Rattler. I'm not saying he won't be, but you've got to be prepared for him to be bad with Rattler. Go ahead. I felt like they completely adjusted to Rattler in the second half of that game. I'm a little bit worried as we move forward with Ratt.

Yeah. If you're a team that can afford to wait, if you feel like you're good, you're like in the top two or three year league. Like, I think that makes sense to go get a lava. Um, for the Falcons, it, the,

the buy window on Drake London is closed. Oh yeah. But, um, maybe Mooney after kind of a down game, I thought it made sense for Mooney to have a quiet game in this matchup. The Panthers run a ton of cover three, and that's been a coverage he hasn't done well against typically,

but some potential shootouts these next three weeks and then after the week 12 buy um they got a couple gross matches but then they have the raiders giants and then commanders uh commanders in the fantasy championship week is just really really exciting that might be like a top 20 spot for darna mooney or whatever. I had Cousins on my list, yeah. Yeah, Cousins too. That makes sense. I hope you bought Bijan if you could. Would you sell on Bijan?

Because Dave was kind of making the case that this is the time to, obviously to sell super high, but this is the peak of his value. I guess if you can sell him at like the 101, 102 where he was drafted this year then yeah would you sell them for cd lamb sure if it makes sense position i think yeah okay yeah if you have the depth they're running back go ahead jacob dallas we already hit on but i do like their playoff schedule the jets i don't know who this uh note is really going to be useful for i guess gary wilson um but they all they have, starting in week 10,

they have the Cardinals, and then they have the Colts. It's just been like Garrett Wilson's face to the toughest cornerbacks possible, and then at the second half of the season, he gets his reprieve. By week in week 12, Seahawks, potential shootout week 13, Dolphins week 14, Jaguars week 15, Rams week 16. That's amazing.

That's about as good as it gets. It's incredible. And then Buffalo is giving up the second most fantasy points to running backs. I think it's an even better schedule for Brees Hall. It's one I'd highlight. And then the only thing with Garrett Wilson is the whole Devontae Adams thing. That's just got to factor that in. I think that might help.

You're not going to see 22 targets or whatever, but I think it might help to have somebody else that defense doesn't have to worry about. This next one, I really don't know who it's going to apply to. These next two are the Browns and the Broncos. You hate when terrible teams have the good matchups at the end of the year, but that's kind of what we've got. They just had the Commanders and the Eagles, the Browns,

and they were horrible, and I'm just done. I'm done. I mean, Chubb may be able to win. It could be Jameis by then. It's totally fair. If it's Jameis at the end of the year, they've got Cincinnati and Miami in Week 16 and 17. If it's Jameis by the end of the year,

we might be talking about weird things, like Jerry Judy being on the fantasy radar, waiver wire radar. I feel like it's not going to be. Miami's been horrible against the run, but they've been really good against the pass this year. I do want to point that out. I think second best against quarterbacks or something,

which is probably a little bit of matchups, but not exclusively. They've gotten crazy pressure. I've been really shocked at how high they keep appearing on pass rush win rates and stuff like that. The Broncos have a week 14 buy. There's so many week 14 buys, it feels like. And then the Colts, Chargers, and Bengals

to close things out. Anytime I can find a match against the Colts, I'm taking that. Yeah, right. They're great. And the Jaguars, which brings me to Tony Pollard, who faces both of those teams

three times, actually, in his last four games. He goes Jaguars in week 14, Bengals, who honestly got healthier at defensive tackle. Maybe they're not going to be a layup for running backs.

They looked better last night. It was tough for Tracy. 10 yards before contact last night for Tracy. What was that? 10 yards before contact on like 17 rushes or whatever. Oh, wow.

Yeah, so Tony Pollard has an amazing schedule beginning in week 14. And we're not including week 18 just for everyone's benefit here. Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Jacksonville Tony Pollard has an amazing schedule beginning in week 14, and we're not including week 18 just for everyone's benefit here. Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Jacksonville for Pollard. Brees Hall, I think, has the best running back schedule just in the last four weeks of the season.

James Conner would be right up there too. New England, Carolina, and the Rams. They're 27th, 32nd, and 25th against running backs. James Conner's playoff schedule was great. And the Bucs running backs, to continue that theme, their last five games are Panthers, Raiders, Chargers, who have been very good against running backs, Cowboys, Panthers.

So in their last five games, they get the Panthers twice, Tampa Bay, which is also good for everyone on the team. And they get Dallas and the Raiders. Those teams have been horrible against running backs. The quarterbacks I wanted to highlight were Kirk Cousins, Dak Prescott, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia in the playoffs, and Justin Fields, Philadelphia. Now, Philadelphia is 17th against quarterbacks.

I don't really buy it. I think they're a good matchup. So Justin Fields has Philadelphia, Baltimore. They're horrible against the pass. And then Kansas City, which is a bad matchup. So Justin Fields has Philadelphia, Baltimore. They're horrible against the pass. And then Kansas City, which is a bad matchup in week 17. Wide receiver, I love Deontay Johnson's playoff schedule. I like George Pickens' playoff schedule except week 17. And I am very worried about Andrew Thomas missing time.

I really, I think it's a huge deal. But Malik Nabors on paper, it'd be hard to find a lot of wide receivers who have a better schedule going forward from this point on. I mentioned this earlier. Eight of his last ten opponents ranked 21st or worse against opposing wide receivers. That is Malik Neighbors. And he gets the Colts in Week 17.

So that rocks. And teams with bad schedules in the playoffs, the Colts, Denver, Tennessee, and the Giants, two of those three games are on the road. The Jaguars get Tennessee in week 14. Then they get the Jets at the Raiders in Tennessee. Kansas City is at Cleveland. This one's interesting because at Cleveland, then Houston. Those defenses have been very disappointing. But at Cleveland, Houston, and at Pittsburgh.

And then Miami's got a tough schedule. Jets in week 14. And then their playoff matchups are, again, teams that are good on paper but haven't been great. At Houston, San Francisco, at Cleveland. Honestly, I don't know if it really matters for the Dolphins. Those matchups look worse on paper than they actually have been. IRL. So that's it for me.

But, yeah, I mean, I want to highlight those running backs again. Brees Hall, James Conner, Tampa Bay's running backs, and Tony Pollard. Phenomenal, phenomenal schedules late in the season. All right. And Tony Pollard might benefit from, I'm sorry, what did you say, Jacob? I said when you say James Conner, you mean Trey Pinson? Yeah, well, that could be.

Yeah, I know. That was an interesting development. But Conner's been so good for a year. He was banged up a little, too, in this game, Conner. Exactly. I'm loosening it up on little too in this game, Connor. Exactly. Loosening it up on the side. I think he'll be fine, but I think the Pollard one's really interesting to me because it could also, that easy schedule in the playoffs could also impact DeAndre Hopkins and Calvin

Ridley if, and only if, and I think they will, the Titans make decision to bench Will Levis by then. Mason Rudolph, not a great NFL quarterback, but we watched Mason Rudolph keep an offense somewhat on schedule last year with Pittsburgh with a lot worse offensive line situation, a lot worse weapons there than what the Titans have. Mason Rudolph can keep this passing game and offense somewhat on schedule. Will Levis cannot keep it even remotely on schedule.

He's one of the worst quarterbacks I've ever seen a team trot out for this amount of time. You were very high on him in college, though. No, you're kidding. Yeah. I just wanted to see if I could get steam to come out of dan's ears it was appalled yeah i mean i never understood like anyone who watched leveson college was like this guy's got arm talent i'm like what what are you watching like yeah he has good velocity but arm talent is the ability to

change trajectory arm talent's ability to, to throw on time, ball placement, touch. These are things he never had. You know what's funny? How did you feel? We'll wrap it up on this. How did you feel about Will Levis when he made his debut? His debut. You had been saying since the draft you did not like Will Levis.

He went 19 of 29 for 238 yards and four touchdowns. He scored 34.6 fantasy points in his debut. What were you thinking at that moment? I was thinking I was going to have to eat a lot of crow on Will Levis and I just got it wrong.

But not really. I mean, the reality of the situation is a lot of quarterbacks have good debuts. Daniel Jones, remember him versus Tampa Bay? Unbelievable debut. Teams don't have any tape on them, right? Drake May. I hope that's not the case with him. Teams don't have any tape on these guys.

They don't know how to adjust. And then they figure out the concepts they like to run, the concepts they can run. They take those away, and it's on the quarterback to adjust. Obviously, that's not something Will Levis can do. I can't imagine the Titans will keep playing him all year. It's different than most situations because the Titans didn't invest the first-round pick in him.

They only used the second-round pick. So I think they're going to be more willing to bench him at some point. And eventually, the locker room is going to get to a point. I think I saw – did you see the Calvin Ridley stat yesterday, Jacob? It was like – what was that stat? Do you mean that he had five of his eight targets in the fourth quarter or that he had over 100 air yards and no receiving receiving yards 100 air yards and no receiving yards at one gosh wild all right well i just put up a twitter poll i should have done it earlier how do you pronounce

syracuse a like syrup or b s-e-r-r accuse and we'll see who wins so far the two people i reached out to who went to syracuse both said syrup, you know, so I think I'm willing to admit I might lose this one to the public, but she goes back to a lot of things I pronounce. It's a New York Jersey style accent pronunciation of a lot of words. Like you, I was actually born in New York, so don't tell me how to pronounce things. You lived most of your life in Florida. Yeah, but my mom has still has a New York accent, so I do like how to pronounce Florida. A lot of people get mad at that one, too. I think I say it that way, Florida. Yeah, but my mom still has a New York accent. And do you like how I pronounce Florida? A lot of people get mad at that one, too. I think I say it that

way, Florida. Florida. It's basically, I basically pronounce it F-L-A-R. Like an idiot. Oh, you say Florida? Yeah, I don't like that. Alright, we gotta go, everybody. Thanks for watching Beyond the Box Score. Thanks for listening. We'll talk to you tomorrow with the waiver wire on, guys. Have a good one.