Fantasy Football Today - Cousins and Gibson Out! Plus a Mailbag! (12/31 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 31, 2021

We'll rank Justin Jefferson and Jaret Patterson and give you the rest of the news you need to know before answering your Apple Podcast questions (10:50) and emails (21:50) at [e-mail]. Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday 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." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ 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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Touchdown. Oh, he's done it again. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath, and Beck. Welcome to your mailbag for week 17. And Kirk Cousins is out. We spent a lot of time talking about Kirk Cousins on Friday morning. And that was a waste of time. He is out. Jerry Judy is out.

Mike Evans is off the COVID list but uncertain to play. Antonio Gibson is out. We're going to update you on everything. All right, Jamie. You know, I want to say something I haven't said. I mean this wholeheartedly. Let's go Bearcats, okay? I have nothing against Alabama.

Good for them for beating everyone's butt all the time. But we're all Bearcats fans today, unless we're Alabama fans. So good luck to them. It would be a great Cinderella story, in a sense, even though they're good. I hope they win. I just wanted to get that off my chest. Happy New Year, also.

There you go. Yeah. All right, to the news. By the way, we have so many emails today, and it will be an unsuccessful mailbag unless Jamie can get three greetings right. All right?

People, dear blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Jamie has to get three of them right. Okay. All right. Kirk Cousins is out. Sean Mannion will start. In two career starts, Mannion has thrown for 169 yards and 126 yards. No touchdowns.

Two interceptions. One in 2017. One in 2019. Both were Week 17 games, and I think both were sit-your-starters, throw-in Sean Mannion. So it's not like he was throwing any good players. But I'm assuming we're sitting Osborne. What about Justin Jefferson?

You're not sitting Justin Jefferson. You're just lowering your expectations for Justin Jefferson. You brought up some other scenarios of players with backup quarterbacks and how they've done over the last couple of years. My counter to you was Mark Andrews and how he's done with Tyler Huntley. So it goes in some cases in the positive,

obviously you probably would lean toward the negative. I hope that, that, you know, Sean Mannion just peppers, Justin Jefferson with targets, probably going to be some garbage time situations here. Packers DST was dropped and pick them up because they're a must start now.

But I think you still look at Jefferson as at least a number two wide receiver. Dalvin Cook is a must-start running back. Stay away from K.J. Osborne if you can. And it stinks. It just stinks to not have the best players in their optimal situations in the championship week. How do you feel about the Packers' DST now? As I just said, if they're available, go pick them up.

But where did you rank them? I haven't changed my rankings yet, but they'll be in the top ten. Okay. I can peek ahead. We have an email that's asked, Bears, DST, or Packers? Packers. Okay. Colin, we just had your question answered,

so I'm deleting it from the notes now. Jamie's going Packers over the Bears. Antonio Gibson out. Any interest in Jarrett Patterson or anyone else? Jarrett Patterson and Daria Gumbawale are basically the same type of scenario to me backup guy bad situation tough matchup I would prefer not to start them but I know

if you're desperate you're looking at touches and so Patterson's probably going to get in the neighborhood of 15 total touches we'll see what he does we'll see what Jonathan Williams does as the second guy there so if you lost James Robinson you lost Miles Sanders you lost Clyde Edwards you don't have capable backups, I would go Ogumbo Wally first, Patterson second. Just want to make sure everybody in the chat,

somebody wrote, did Adam forget to hit play? I don't know what that means. We're live. Just please confirm that you are seeing this broadcast and that we're not having an issue here. So I know you're watching on YouTube. Keith, you're freaking me out with that. So I know you're watching on YouTube and Keith, you're freaking me out with that. Did Adam forget to hit play thing? Okay. No. Okay. We're good here. Yeah. I don't know.

I don't want to talk about my teams, but just a Patterson dilemma. It's for me, it's PPR. It's Devante Smith, Alan Lazard, Patterson and Jacoby Myers. And I think I'm down to Patterson versus Devontae Smith. And I don't know what I'm going to do there. I'm probably going to go with Patterson. Really? No, I'm probably going to go with Devontae Smith.

That's been your guy. Stick with your guy. He has not been my guy for a long time. Well, he was your guy coming into the season. Yeah was i was coming off a good game you heard i was a huge jared patterson fan coming into the season we didn't stop you were um it was devante smith amari rogers jared patterson mike evans is off the reserve covet list but he's questionable with a hamstring injury antonio brown has an ankle injury how are you feeling right now about Tom Brady? Obviously, he needs one of those two guys to be trusted.

If he has both of them, you feel really good about it. It's a great matchup, so he still might have some success, even if he doesn't have both of those guys out there with Gronk and with the combination of Brashad Perryman, Tyler Johnson, Scott Miller. But again, it stinks to not have those guys out there now there are a couple of things at play here um one is mike evans is 101 yard yards away from keeping his streak of a thousand yards intact so he could obviously do that next week but i'm sure it'd be a lot easier if he did it over two games

so keep that in mind uh if he wants to go out out there and if he's able to go out there and make that happen. And I'm not going to get the exact number correctly, but Greg Allman, who covers the Buccaneers for the Athletic, says that Antonio Brown has some playing time incentives tied into his money. And so that could matter as well. Now, Harold Goodwin, who is stepping in as the interim head coach for the Bucs right now because Bruce Arians is dealing with a COVID situation, so he's not with the team, he said that Brown can still play despite missing practice time. So I think when we get to this point in the season,

you have to take that into account. Typically, when we have guys that miss multiple practices, certainly Friday practice, we're a little bit concerned, but I would have a backup plan in place. But I would hold out hope that Antonio Brown does play on Sunday. James Conner missed practice. So you already know the deal there. Edmonds would be number two, I think, right, for you?

Yes. They have some offensive line concerns. So two questions, two running back questions. Are you at this point, since neither Connor nor Jordan Howard have practiced this week, if they both end up playing, are you just going to rank Edmonds and Boston Scott ahead of them, regardless now? Edmonds and Boston Scott ahead of Connor and Howard?

Yes. I'm going to rank Edmonds and Boston Scott. Yes. Okay. I was so surprised I saw Betty White just died. Yeah, yeah. People were saying that in the chat. Betty White has passed away.

I don't want to report that as a fact, but I mean, it is all over the place. I just haven't seen it from... Yes, apparently it's a fact. Okay. Yeah. Oh, that's such a shame. 99 years old. Just before she was about to turn 100. I thought she was 100. Yeah, no, she's a fact. Okay. Yeah. Oh, that's such a shame. 99 years old.

Just before she was about to turn 100. I thought she was 100. Yeah. No, she's 99. I'm looking at it, and I guess two days ago, she tweeted, or whoever tweets for her, she was on the cover of People Magazine with her Betty White turned 100. Yeah, I know. That's why I thought she was 100.

Oh. Well, that's amazing, though. 99 thought she was 100 oh well that's amazing though 99 wow what amazing life um you probably think golden girls i think golden girls but also lake placid uh lake placid was great uh we were talking about round ryan reynolds movie she was great in the proposal oh i never saw that. You should watch that with your wife. It's a good one. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.

So, yeah. My wife doesn't like chick flicks. I'm very thankful for that. I wouldn't say she doesn't like them, but she actually likes horror movies, action movies.

Yeah. So, maybe we'll watch. You married a good one. I did. She didn't, but I did. All right uh let's see andy dalton's gonna start for the bears clyde edward ziller has not been ruled out yet doesn't seem like he's going to play but he has not been ruled out yet lamar jackson also hasn't been ruled out

yet for what it's worth they know that this is a must must win and if he can play he's gonna play uh sean mcveigh just said it's looking more likely that Canmakers will not play. And Jerry Judy and Bradley Chubb are on the reserve COVID list. They are not going to play at the Chargers. Does that matter at all to you, Cortland Sutton, without Jerry Judy and a Chargers secondary that's a little thin right now?

Well, no Tim Patrick either as of now, too. That's right. That's absolutely right. Between him and Noah Fant, they're going to get a lot of targets, but they're going to be probably a lot of errant targets from Drew Locke. That's pretty interesting, though. It's sleepery.

If you had KJ Osborne, would you start Sutton over him? Probably not. You know what's weird? I feel like most years, these questions would not really be entertained in championship week. But this is just different.

I do feel like we're going to have to go deeper into the player pool this year than most championship weeks. I mean, obviously, most of the questions we're answering are from our emails and Apple podcasts. But we do six days a week on HQ. We do Ask FFT, which you guys send us your questions usually,

and we answer them on our social media accounts. We answer them on the air on that show. And the last couple of days, it's been very challenging questions because it's deciding between Amari Cooper, Tyler Lockett, Amara St. Brown, just guys that have been great. And it's much more tougher choices that people have to make because the rosters are loaded. That's why they're new championship. But you have these,

some of these scenarios that are in some, some deeper leagues that you got by because your third receiver was kind of like a rotation of these caliber of wide receivers and you have some tough choices to make. So, yeah, um, I think we do see that a little bit more right now.

And, uh, Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. I'm really scatterbrained right now. I'm sorry. Uh, so for those of you in the chat, I see a lot of questions in the chat. Let's do the Apple podcast questions, then the emails, and then I will finish the show with your YouTube chat questions. All right. Apologize. Apologies for my, uh, lack of focus. I don't know a lot going on news coming in and all these things. So this Apple podcast,

let's start with Matt Berry's smallest fan. Okay. Well, that's fine. You can like two shows. That's great. Half PPR. Who do I start at running back? Eckler. Montgomery. You need three, by the way. Eckler, Montgomery, Nick Chubb, Ronald Jones, Daryl Williams.

See, this is what I was getting at. Look at how loaded this team is. So, Nick Chubb, David Montgomery, and Austin Eckler would be my three. From Razm, with DeAndre Swift returning, pick two. Swift, Montgomery. It was a very similar

question. Swift, Montgomery, Darrell Williams, Ronald Jones, Chase Edmonds. PPR. Swift, Montgomery, Darrell Williams, Ronald Jones, Chase Edmonds. PPR. Swift and Montgomery. That, by the way, was Rob from Bellingham. So Jamie says Swift and Montgomery. However, if Chase Edmonds is the only guy, he's going to start Edmonds over who? Swift or Montgomery?

I would start Edmonds over Swift. Okay. From After Sunset. I don't know how many we need here, so rank them. T. Higgins, A.J. Brown, Devin Singletary. Full PPR. T. Higgins, A.J. Brown, Devin Singletary would be... A.J. Brown, T. Higgins, Devin Singletary. From GRG, Greg, I don't know, Gerg, from SoCo.

Is that South Korea? I don't know. Gerg, from SoCo. Is that South Korea? I don't know. Maybe, well. SoCo as in KO? Yeah. Probably. Okay. Dear Suga, Jimin, V, and J-Hope. Alright, Jamie, can you get this? This is going to be one of your three.

Tell me again. S-U-G-A J-Min, J-M-I-G-A J-Min J-M-I-N V and J-Hope no idea I think this is K-pop or something yeah it must be

from Korea BTS K-pop do you think Sean McVay is lying when he says he will not call play Sunday with an eye toward getting Cooper Cup any records? Well, doesn't he have two weeks to get Cooper Cup records? Or in theory, they would sit him in week 17 if they have nothing to play for? Maybe.

I don't think they'll know unless the Bucs lose. I mean, the Packers lose. I don't know if he's lying. Oh, no, I guess the Packers win. They don't have a chance, right? No? I don't know if he's lying. Oh, no, I guess the Packers win. They don't have a chance, right? No, I don't know, actually. If he's lying, it won't be very obvious because it's almost like he calls plays every week

to set Cooper Cup records. Right. All right, the question from... I guess it would be more like, are you trying to get Tyler Higbee records? Okay, living in South Korea, fantasy football is one of the few avenues that allows me to keep in touch with my friends

across the pond. I guess if I had just read that, I would have known where he was from. Thank you very much for the kind comment. Here's the question. Superflex, standard scoring, half point for first down. We need two quarterbacks. Rodgers, Taysom Hill, Tua,

and Goff. Goff is not playing. Rodgers, Taysom Hill, and Tua. Pick two. Not Tua. I would take the other Tua. Rodgers and Taysom Hill. Choose five. Two running backs, two wide receivers, and a flex. So the running backs are Cook, Zeke, and Sonny.

Cook, Zeke, and Sonny need two? Yeah, and it's half point for a first down, and it's standard scoring. I would take out Zeke. And two wide receivers, Devontae Parker, Debo Samuel, Jalen Waddell, and Amonra St. Brown. It could be Devontae Smith, but it doesn't matter. Two out of these three, Debo, Waddell, St. Brown. It could be Devante Smith, but it doesn't matter. Two out of these three.

Debo, Waddle, St. Brown. Debo and Waddle. And then Amonra, St. Brown or Zeke. Remember, half point for first down. Amonra, St. Brown. Okay. Bears defense or Rams defense? Bears defense or who?

Rams at Baltimore or Bears against the Giants. I've been struggling with that one myself. I'm going to go with the Rams defense. I think you trust the better unit here. Okay, I also forgot to mention this, but I personally am probably going to drop Vikings kicker Greg Joseph this week and look for a different option. I am very afraid of that offense.

I don't blame you. I have Greg Joseph in one of my consolation games, and I'm going to drop him. Yeah, he's been really good. Yep. Coslow 23. If you're looking for a kicker who's widely available, Brett Maher should be available to you.

Okay. Coslow 23. I have an embarrassment of riches for championships. Okay. Kozler, 23. I have an embarrassment of riches for championships this week. Pick three in standard scoring. Chase Edmonds, Joe Mixon, Ronald Jones, Najee Harris, Jeff Wilson.

So are we assuming that Mitchell's out? Well, you can give me the scenarios either way. If Mitchell plays, obviously it's not going to be Wilson. So yeah, if Mitchell's out, then what? Okay, so it's Wilson, Najee, who else? Najee, Wilson, Rojo, Mixon, Edmonds. You need two?

Three. Standard scoring. Mixon, Najee, Rojo. Unless Conner's out and then... Oh, I'm sorry. For some reason, I keep hearing Evans and not Edmonds. Edmonds. Edmonds.

Mixon. Ronald Jones, Najee Harris, Jeff Wilson. Ronald Jones? Edmonds, Mixon, Rojo. Okay. From Nall820. All right. Here we go, Jamie.

Your second chance. Hey, Steve, Chris, Mike, and Matt. here we go Jamie your second chance hey Steve Chris Mike and Matt Steve Chris Mike and Matt Steve quarterbacks of a certain team Steve Chris Mike and Matt Steve

Falcons yes well done with Wentz out can I trust Falcons. Yes. Well done. With Wentz out, can I trust... Oh, I was supposed to get the music up. I'm sorry. Hold on. With Wentz out, can I trust... Pittman or pivot to Patterson or Devante Parker?

Pivot to Cordero Patterson or Jared Patterson? Cordero. Um, I think Wentz is going to get cleared. So I think it'd be okay if he doesn't. And I would pivot to Pittman still. Okay. From Emily.

All right. Here's another chance for you. Hey, Ralphie, Randy flick and scut. It's good. Happy Randy. Hey, Ralphie, Randy, Flick, and Scut? Happy, Randy, Ralphie. Ralphie, Randy, Flick, and S-C-U-T. No idea.

That's got to be a Christmas story, right? Yeah, Ralphie's the only one I know. All right, so Jamie's only got one so far. Please set my lineup. All right, full PPR only got one so far. Please set my lineup. All right, full PPR. Two running backs, two wide receivers, two flex. Okay, actually, she's pretty got, she's got most of her lineup set.

So she needs a flex and a running back. Chase Edmonds. Well, she had Edmonds and Gibson, so it's going to be Edmonds. Now we need a flex. Iyuk, Pittman, or St. Brown? St. Brown. Oh, that's it for Apple Podcasts?

I think I have one more Apple Podcast. One second. It is from Josh. Flex advice. Oh, how about this? Tell me if you agree with this. This is the best fantasy football podcast across the nearly 10 I've listened to.

Parentheses, pro tip, their baseball one is even better, so give that a try too. Oh, man. Oh, fine. I'll take it. Yeah, our baseball show is great. Frank Stample.

You think that our baseball show, which is great, is better than our football show? You have to choose. You're going to listen to one podcast the rest of your life, Adam. You're a fan of both sports. You like both sports equally.

Which podcast are you choosing? Man. I don't know. It's hard for me to say. You have to choose. Otherwise, your wife dies. Oh, my God. What the hell was that?

What a ridiculous thing to say. Football. Jesus. I do this to Pete Prisco all the time. time i say your wife's life is on the line you have to choose quarterback to save your life tasem hill or gardner mitchell you know i would say saying your wife's life is on the line is a lot gentler than what you said to me my god um all right 12 team it right. It is just different. I was very uncomfortable with that. 12-team PPR.

I'll rephrase it. Your wife is going to leave you if you don't choose one of these two podcasts. Football. All right. So start three. Two wide receivers and a flex. He's starting cups, so now start two more.

Stefan Diggs, Antonio Brown, Jalen Waddell. Stefan Diggs, Antonio Brown, Jalen Waddell. Diggs and... Brown or Waddell. Well, I guess you got to go Brown if he plays, Waddell if he's not. Also, this email, this Apple podcast review says, it's Josh here. I'm looking for flex advice.

And then he signs it, best, Chris. So that's weird. All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back, we got your emails. Fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. And we still need Jamie to get two more greetings right or else it will be an unsuccessful mailbag show. Back right after this on

Fantasy Football Today. Thanks for the emails. We had a ton of them this this week so i got more than usual in the show notes so we'll fly through them from mike hey fridge junior and spike fridge junior and spike um this is little giant it has to be i don't remember a fridge it's i you know. What was her name? Ice. Ice box. Ice box. Yeah.

Let's call it ice pack. Ice box. Yeah. Fridge, junior spike. Start James Connor, Elijah Mitchell, Deontay Foreman, or Daria Gunbowale. PPR. James Connor, Daria Gunbowale. What else?

Elijah Mitchell and Deontay Foreman. Boy. Mitchell, he plays. And if he's out... Conner, Foreman, Darryl. Conner, I guess, will be next if he plays. I would actually start Darryl over Foreman.

Dolphins have been just amazing. Vinny from a town 30 miles east of New York City. 30 miles east of New York City? That feels like it's in the Atlantic Ocean. Yeah. You mean west? It says east.

First, I want to give a shout out to Ben Schrager. He always takes the time to answer my Twitter questions, and because of it, I am playing in my championship round. That's awesome. With that said, my question revolves around the Bills wide receivers. Adam, I know you said that in order for anyone other than Diggs to have a good game, Josh Allen needs to throw 35 plus passes. Actually, pause right there. That's actually, that's just kind of a Beasley thing because he's so volume dependent. He doesn't get a lot of yards or touchdowns. He just catches.

So it's really a Beasley thing. So I'm struggling at PPR wide receiver and flex. I have McLaurin, Gallup, Beasley, and Gabriel Davis. I guess he needs two of them. So yeah, McLaurin, Gallup, Beasley, Gabe Davis. Pick two. Is it weird that Gabriel Davis is my favorite? No.

No. No. I guess McLaurin. Gabe Davis and McLaurin. Okay. From JM, pick one of these fringe tight ends and half PPR. Higby, Gasicki, Friermuth, Moreau.

Higby, Gasicki, Friermuth, Moreau. Higby, Gusecki, Fryermuth, Moreau. We got that question basically similar on the HQ. Yeah. I think Fryermuth has the most upside. Yeah, I think I said Gusecki, but it's very close. All right, Fryermuth for Jamie. Also, I've got Devante Parker as a wide receiver three. The waiver wire pool is thin. I'm leaning towards gambling on a wide receiver three. The waiver wire pool is thin. I'm leaning towards gambling

on a wide receiver that could boom. Who would you suggest I look at to replace Devontae Parker? If somebody dropped Gabriel Davis, I'd look there first. I would look at Brashad Perryman if any of the Bucs guys are out. I would look at Tyler Johnson

if Antonio Brown is out. K. Jones. Zay Jones. Zay Jones. Okay, but would you really start those guys over Devontae Parker or just stick with Parker?

I would start Zay Jones over Parker. I would start a Bucs receiver. If you tell me right now that Mike Evans and Antonio Brown are out, I would start both Tyler Johnson

and Brashad Perryman over. Okay. I have no faith in Parker. I mean, they had no targets last week. I know, but he's had a pretty good year other than last week. I don't know what that was all about. Yeah, I just can't trust it.

Titans are really good. Not against receivers. I think they give up the fourth most points to receivers. I don't think I'm going to convince Jamie. It's fine. Ryan from a Cali city by the bay. Just say San Francisco. Okay, here we go.

Number three for Jamie. Hey, Foghorn, Marvin,horn marvin bugs elmer and wiley um yeah right i think i mean yeah i'm in my championship i have to start three out of chubb ronald jones rashad penny sony michelle and zeke so three chubb, Ronald Jones, Penny, Michelle, Zeke. It comes down to Penny and Michelle. What's the format? Does not say. So non-PPR, I'd go Michelle either way.

You know, Michelle is the guy that you, me, everybody, we've all been just saying to start, and I'm so nervous about it. I worry that I'm too high on Sonny Michelle this week because you know it's the Ravens it is the Ravens Dave said something which I don't necessarily agree with he said he's been involved in the passing game it's been like two catches at

most when he's been involved in the passing game so he doesn't really have that aspect going from like Joe Mixon did last week where Mixon I think had six catches and really helped his production um michelle is getting 20 touches in whatever capacity whether it's 18 carries and two catches or 20 plus carries he's going to get that it's probably a game they're going to win especially if lamar doesn't play or lamar is less than 100 so it's a matter of do you think that rashad penny in his matchup against the lions which is very good can continue to be this type of guy and he can so i have no problem if you want to say rashad

penny over sony michelle i just feel a little bit more comfortable with what i've seen from michelle and trusting that more so than penny who's again penny's been really good too this is from don't have a name here but but from a beer city in Michigan. I'm in the championship game, 12 team PPR. And do I start Antonio Brown or Ronald Jones? Well, I mean, the nice thing is you have that decision made for you if we get to Sunday and Brown's inactive. If Brown is active and it's PPR, you said?

Yeah. You got to go Brown. And this is from Marcus. Start two in non-PPR. Rashad Penny, Patterson, Dillon, Eli Mitchell. Rashad Penny and Mitchell if he starts. Patterson if he doesn't. From David Allegria, half PPR.

Huntley, Lance, or Taysom Hill? That's the question of PPR, Huntley, Lance, or Taysom Hill? That's the question of the week. Huntley, Lance, or Taysom Hill? Hill. I currently have a Hill, Huntley, Lance. If Marquise Brown is out, I will go Lance over Huntley, but I may go Lance over Huntley anyway.

I'm so torn on those guys. I pretty much talked myself out of Huntley. I feel like I can build a strong case against him. One, he's facing the Rams. Two, Marquis Brown. Three, he's coming off the COVID list, which scares me. That's basically it. I'm not disagreeing with you.

You know, the thing about it is, and this goes back to the earlier question, you know, earlier discussion we were having, like how many people are making this decision? Because you're pivoting from Cousins if he got here, but how many people got to their championship in a 12-team league? There's obviously 14-team leagues, 16-team leagues, different stories. But how many people got here because of Kirk Cousins? So are you trusting Lance or Hill or Huntley in how many of your finals?

Now, I have that in three of my matchups this week. Two of them are championships. One's a consolation game where I'm starting some combination of those quarterbacks. One league I'm starting Hill. One league I'm starting Huntley right now because I only have the Ravens. I think it's our telethon, draft-a-thon league, and I think Scott Fish. I had maybe priority on waivers. I don't remember what he did.. I had maybe priority on waivers. I don't remember what he did.

No, he had priority on waivers. He picked up, because this is the league I started, Josh Johnson, last week. He picked up Trey Lance, and I have Huntley and Lamar Jackson. So I don't really have a choice. So I'm going to start Huntley. Quick question for you. Who do you want to play, Huntley or Jackson?

Oh, Huntley. Because Jackson's hurt, right? Yeah. I think Huntley will be okay. I like him obviously better if Marquise Brown plays, even though Brown has been struggling, but at least gives him a different threat. It's just the rushing is what you're hoping for.

I mean, he went from 40 and 40 in his first two appearances to 79 against the Packers. He just looks so good against the Packers. That's the thing. It's like, you know, here we're saying it's a tough matchup against the Rams, and it is, no doubt about it. But the Packers were a tough matchup that week too. You know, it wasn't like the Packers had fallen apart completely in that game.

You know, we've seen it. That was the, you know, game where they looked terrible. They looked bad in week 16 as well, I think. And then week 17, you know, the comeback effort for the... I'm sorry, no. They looked bad in that Week 15 game, and then the Browns had that comeback effort in Week 16. Yeah. I mean, they... Who'd they play before that?

They played the Rams before that. They gave up, like, three long touchdown passes. I don't know. Look, it was impressive with Tyler Hunt. The Vikings game, too? Yeah, yeah. The Packers had been struggling, but still, the rushing yards are so enticing but you get that with all of them with huntley lanson hill it's really interesting i mean they they're so similar for obvious reasons all right and then uh

i don't i don't really know what this okay i'm good there thank you david let's go to Kyle. Dear Dan, Philip, Drew, and Ryan. Dan, Philip, Drew, and Ryan would be Dan Marino, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, and Ryan Leaf. I think that's probably Dan Fouts. I'm guessing these are chargers. Oh, Dan Fouts. Yeah, good call. Am I crazy to think about sitting Eckler?

Bad matchup. First week post-COVID. Jackson may have earned more touches. I also have Keenan Allen and Justin Herbert. So, I don't know. Oh, he has Sony. He has Edmonds and Damian Harris that he could play instead of Eckler.

I mean, Edmonds, yes. If Conor's out. If Conor's out. If Conner's out. Everyone else, no. Okay. But it's legitimate concerns. But I do think the fact that the Broncos are still potentially down a cornerback, right? Yeah, at least one.

I get so confused with the... So, yeah, it's Bryce Callahan's on the COVID list. Right. And I thought Michael Davis was also. Let me check on that. And you have now Bradley Chubb, not there. Yeah, and their nose tackle, Purcell. No, Michael Davis is back as of yesterday.

But, yeah, they're thin on defense for sure. I don't know, man. I like Edmonds better than Eckler. I'm not saying Eckler. Yeah, I'm not saying Eckler. But I would for Edmonds. Yeah, I'm not for Michelle and Harris. Not for guys who aren't involved in the passing game.

From, I don't know who this is from, but he says, hey, Barry, Buck, Mills, and Stipe. Barry, Buck, Mills, and... Stipe. Stipe. Yeah. No idea. The only Stipe I know is Michael Stipe

from REM. I have concerns starting Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins this week. I started Burrow last week, but I sat Higgins. I still won by 30. I have the same issue this week against the Chiefs. I'm thinking they're going to either boom or bust. So starting both feels risky.

If I start Burrow and not Higgins, I get some of the boom and some of the bust. I know you should just start your best players, but wondering what you think about this. I also have Taysom Hill for Burrow. And who else does he have that he could bench Higgins for? think about this. I also have Taysom Hill for Burrow. And who else does he have that he could bench Higgins for?

Oh, Zeke. He could bench Higgins for Zeke. And it is PPR. I'm playing Higgins and I'm playing Burrow over Taysom Hill. Yeah. Because think about it. Even when Burrow hasn't had good fantasy games,

Higgins has. He's got 100 yards and four of his last five. Higgins has been awesome. I think I saw something like he was on pace. I wish I could find it. He was on pace for like 1,900 yards over his last five games for a 17-game season.

Barry Buck Mill... Oh, okay. Barry Buck Mills and Stipe is just REM. From Nathan, I need a running back, a wide receiver, a flex, and a DST. So pick a running back, Dalvin Cook or Javante Williams. Still Dalvin Cook. A wide receiver, Waddle a DST. So pick a running back, Dalvin Cook or Javante Williams. Still Dalvin Cook. A wide receiver, Waddle, Higgins, Chase.

Waddle. And a flex. Javante, Higgins, Chase. Higgins. And the Dolphins DST or the 49ers? Dolphins. Alright, we're going to keep going here. We've got from Alexander. Sit one in half ppr dalvin cook

eckler mixon ronald jones is it crazy to say dalvin cook now no it is not you can't do it though um sit rojo dalvin cook eckler mixon ronald jones sit rojo what about mixin what about mixin rams run defense is elite mixin really hasn't run the ball well lately it's happy br yeah yes it makes me all right from jack this is for all the bragging rights in my wife's family league. Standard scoring, I need a flex. Amonra St. Brown, Cole Beasley, Mark Andrews, or A.J. Brown? Sit one? No, start one. So it's A.J. versus Amonra.

No, it's A.J. versus Andrews, I think. And Amonra. Oh, Andrews is part of that? Yeah. I mean, you're starting Andrews. Over A.J. Brown? I mean, he's been amazing. Okay, Andrew's a part of that? Yeah. I mean, you're starting Andrews. Over A.J. Brown? I mean, he's been amazing. Okay, that's fine.

That's cool. Pick two of this group. It's not a cakewalk for either one. I mean, think about it. A.J. Brown's got to go against Xavier Howard and Byron Jones. Yeah. Yeah, it's a much different matchup

than San Francisco without Mosley, sure. Yep. So this is from Nate in Louisville. Pick two in PPR. Jeff Wilson, James Conner, Chase Edmonds, Darrell Williams, Boston Scott, and Jordan Howard. So he's got a lot of if scenarios here. Chase Edmonds with it looking likely that James Conner's out.

Jeff Wilson would be the second guy if Elijah Mitchell is out. If Mitchell plays... He's got Darrell Williams and the Eagles. Then I go Darrell Williams. Okay. From Kevin, he's got a half PPR league

and he needs a flex. James Conner, Dalton Schultz, Keyshawn Vaughn. Conner, if he goes or Schultz if he doesn't just seeing big fan said that Cortland Sutton might be added to the COVID list oh my so what does that mean for Javante

and Melvin Gordon a lot of touches and a lot of stack boxes. Yeah. I don't know if this is good or not. You would think they'd catch more passes. I actually feel like maybe you've got to start moving Noah Fant up. What do you think?

I mean, maybe, but they're just going to get smothered. Well, not when you have Albert O on the other side. We'll see what happens here. You know what would be poetic justice what Kendall Hinton yeah QB eligible

huge fantasy game okay so Camden needs to beat his brother in fantasy this week he needs three running backs standard scoring did everybody in a

standard scoring league write us an email this week what is going on here all the standard scoring pick three Zeke Damian Harris Swift Jeff Wilson and Penny Did everybody in a standard scoring league write us an email this week? What is going on here? All the standard scoring. Pick three. Zeke, Damian Harris, Swift, Jeff Wilson, and Penny. Zeke, Damian Harris, Jeff Wilson, and who?

Swift and Penny. And how many? Three. Standard scoring. I'm torn on Swift. We're going to put him compared to those guys. Uh, let's go with Zeke, Damien Harris,

Swift, Jeff Wilson, and Penny Wilson. If there's no Mitchell, if there is Mitchell, it would be Penny. And Harris. And I would go Penny over Harris with Wilson.

Right. But if Mitchell plays, you need a third. Zeke or Swift? Oh, I'm sorry. Swift. All right. This is from, I told you we had a lot today. Want to help as many people as we can.

No name on this one. Dear Petey, Harry, Lloyd Lloyd and a hint of Dorothy. So PD Harry and Lloyd is Dumb and Dumber, and he said that Heath is Dorothy from the Golden Girls. He thinks they have identical personalities. That's Bea Arthur, right? I think so, yes. Yeah.

Very fitting we have a Golden Girls one today. Non-PPR, again, pick two. Alvin Kamara, David Montgomery, and Ronald Jones. First two. From Adam in Toronto, I have both Eli Mitchell and Jeff Wilson. Do I start Mitchell if he's cleared to play? I also have Darnell Mooney in PPR.

If everybody's active, I would rank them Mitchell, Wilson, Mooney. From Ed, half PPR, six point per passing touchdown, bonus at 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards. Start two of these four. It's half PPR. Darrell Williams, Swift, Sonny Michelle, and Ronald Jones. Ronald Jones, William Swift. Stafford or Hertz?

Stafford. From Max, I need a flex. Cordaro Patterson, Boston Scott, Jordan Howard, Tony Pollard, or KJ Osborne?

If everybody plays Howard, would be the guy. I thought we were going with Scott over Howard. No thought we were going with Scott over Howard. No? You were.

Maybe so. Okay. Since you have both, you just wait until Sunday. I'm sure there will be some report about one guy over the other. Yeah, the reporters are pretty good. They know fantasy managers need stuff. And Mike is southwest of New Hampshire. And he's got Patterson, Ayuk.

I'm assuming that's Cordaro. Cordaro, Patterson, Ayuk, Tyler Boyd, and Kendrick Bourne. And he needs two. Who would you start? Tell me again. Patterson, Ayuk, Boyd, Bourne. Patterson, Ayuk. Jameson Crowder is doubtful.

Elijah Moore is still on the cover list. Yeah. Fryermuth or Foster Moreau at tight end? Fryermuth in non-PPR, Moreau in PPR. All right. That's pretty much it for the mailbag, but now we're going to turn our attention to you YouTube folks here.

I'm sorry we didn't have a top five list today. Top five New Year's movies, Jamie. Top five New Year's movies? Yeah. Ghostbusters 2. Fine. When Harry Met Sally, Ghostbusters 2.

Let's see. Get Bill Murray going, Happy New Year! What are New Year's movies? I have no idea. Let's Google it. There's a movie, New Year. New Year's movies.

I know there's some romantic ones. Trading Places is a New Year's movie? The Holiday, New Year's Eve? No, Trading Places is a New Year's movie? The Holiday? New Year's Eve? No, Trading Places is a Christmas movie. Okay, this is just what Google's telling me. Don't take it out on me. While You Were Sleeping? Holiday? These sound terrible.

Ghostbusters 2? Four Rooms? Are We There Yet? Really? Yeah, yeah. All right. That's all I got. Hmm.

Five best lines from a league of their own. Five best. Okay. I can do this. You promise the cows you'd write. That's one of them. Uh, go home.

Give your wife a pickle tickle. I don't remember that one. That's John Lovitz. Okay, best lines in League of Their Own. How about, oh, piss on your red hat. That's got to be up there. I mean, I told you one of my favorite scenes. There's no crying in baseball, okay?

Of course. Or, I got him when he hits's no crying in baseball. Okay. That's or, uh, uh, I got him when he hits the wall with the glove. Yeah. We're going to win. Um, there's a,

uh, come on. Ellen. So Ellen, so what? Yeah. Uh, I'm not one of my,

when Tom makes his ping and Madonna goes, shut up, Doris.'s oh yeah yeah i love when uh when he wakes up from his like drunken sleep on the bus and she's like luke and somebody says luke quinn he goes who's luke that's after he kisses her though yeah yeah what is it baby um i also like when uh he leads them in prayer and he thanks the waitress thanks god yeah he was saying your name last night yeah amazing movie just i don't know why it's like criminally underrated it's it's like barely gets talked about as a sports movie i was i was watching it the other night i forget what channel it was on but they were doing like some commentary in

the commercials and i think they said it's the it i, I don't know if this is, I'm going to, I can Google, I guess highest grossing baseball movie. Really? It deserves to be. Cause it might be the, it's right up there with any movie. I mean, I prefer major league, but it's so good. All right, here we go. Um, first question. I don't know what I saw. Does Justin Jefferson lose value based upon Cousins injury? Yes, he does. But how much value? He loses value. I'm still starting him.

I don't know if I'm still alive in any Justin Jefferson leagues, but I haven't ranked him yet. But I'm probably going to rank him somewhere between 12 and 15. Okay. Are you going to go with Amonra St. Brown or Jefferson? I'm going to go with Amonra St. Brown and PPR and Jefferson and none. Yeah, and somebody pointing out, again, Cousins has COVID. I'm sorry.

He's not injured, but either way. Pick a half PPR flex. Howard. If I start Waddle over him, I would start Antonio Brown if he plays over him. I would start Tyler Lockett over him. Oh, okay. Half PPR. Howard, Berrios, Brashad, Perryman.

Howard if he plays. If not, I would go Perryman if the Bucks guys are out. And if Bucks guys are in, I would go Berrios. I have no faith in Bateman. Lance or Huntley? Huntley right now, but I may... Huntley for

sure. I'm sorry. Lance for sure if Marquise Brown is out. If Marquise Brown is in, then it's close. Check the rankings before Sunday. Edmonds, St. Brown, Brandon Cooks. Pick one. Edmonds. And if Connor plays, then what?

St. Brown. Huntley or Tua? Huntley. Pick three half PPR. Rojo, Michelle, Elliott, Darrell Williams. Rojo, Michelle, and Darrell Williams.

Nobody calls him Elliott. That threw me off. Javante, Williams, Chase Edmonds, Sonny Michelle. Sit one. I would sit Javante. And if Connor plays? Oh. I might go Edmonds, still PPR. I would sit Javante. And if Conor plays? Ooh.

I might go Edmunds, still PPR. Niners or Cowboys DST? Cowboys. How about Jamar Chase, Keenan Allen, or Ramondre Stevenson, PPR? What scenario are you benching Keenan Allen ever in PPR? It's got to be him. KJ Osborne orenan Allen ever in PPR? It's got to be him. KJ Osborne or MVS, full PPR?

MVS. Mike Evans or Justin Jefferson? That's interesting. Oh, that is interesting. If Evans plays, I would start Evans over Jefferson and non-PPR, Jefferson and PPR. Packers or 49ers? Packers. Christian Kirk or KJ Osborne? Jefferson, and PPR. Packers or 49ers? Packers. Christian Kirk or KJ Osborne?

Kirk. Full PPR. Mixon, Sonny Michel, Kamara, AJ Dillon, Daryl Williams. A lot of guys here. Pick two running backs and a flex. Can you read it? Yeah. Kamara, for sure.

Sonny and Mixon. Okay. And how about one more terry mclaurin kj osborne or alan lazard uh lazard well i want to wish everybody a very happy new year it's been a lot of fun hanging out with everybody for 2021 it's been a trying year i know and the last two years really so the fan support's been incredible we really appreciate it. I'm so glad that you're all in your finals. And if you're playing into Week 18, remember,

we still have a regular slate of podcasts scheduled for next week. So don't go anywhere. Check us out. And we'll spin it ahead to 2022 as well. So enjoy your New Year's. Enjoy Week 17. Let's win some championships. And have a great day, everybody.