Fantasy Football Today - League Winners! Tua? Swift? Garrett Wilson? (12/07 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 7, 2022

We start the show with some news and notes (2:30) as Baker Mayfield could start for the Rams as early as this week! Then we'll give you our surprise league winners (7:30)! Are Jerry Jeudy and Christia...n Watson going to carry you to Fantasy glory? ... More "league winner" debates (17:05) as we look at Mark Andrews, Travis Etienne, the Cowboys RBs, a struggling Derrick Henry and a few others and discuss their Fantasy playoffs outlooks ... Previewing Raiders-Rams (34:10): Start Cam Akers? Derek Carr? Then we finish the show with Fill in the Blank (44:15) and the Fantasy Cops (51:40) ... Your emails at fantasyfootball@cbsi.com Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection 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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Starting point is 00:01:16 Visit amex.ca slash business platinum. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. What a play! Can you believe this? No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races, and he stays on his feet. He's just going to go the distance.
Starting point is 00:01:37 Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. League winners. You've got players on your roster. Are they going to be big time fantasy difference makers for you down the stretch? What's up, everybody? Welcome to Fantasy Football today. It is Wednesday. It is hump day. And Heath and I are here. Dave is not, unfortunately. We're trying to get Dave. If he's able to hop on, he will. But his computer broke. So that's kind of a bummer. But he was excited to talk about league winners, Heath. We're going to have to carry the load.
Starting point is 00:02:08 We're going to have to talk about a whole bunch of league winners, like maybe Tua Tungavailoa, guys that are not started in a lot of leagues. He was started like half of the leagues last week. I am so excited for this assignment. I've been pouring over the data,
Starting point is 00:02:24 and I've got some names that are going to win some leagues. People are going to see, I've got this guy on my bench. I'm putting him in my starting lineup. He's going to be awesome the rest of the year. Yeah, Heath rejected my desire to put Tua Tungabailoa on the list. He thought it was too high end. But I think people are losing faith in him,
Starting point is 00:02:39 so I think we have to talk about that. And we will. Your argument is that he was only 53% started against the best defense in the NFL. Okay. I think his start percentage has been kind of low. I'm going to try to look it up. And I can look it up. He's really not doing great in started fantasy points.
Starting point is 00:03:01 No, I think that he hasn't been started. Okay, Houston was the... Okay, I'll tell you right now. 11-27, that was the Houston game. Let's see how started Tua was in that week. He was started in 78% of leagues. Is that a lot?
Starting point is 00:03:16 That's a lot against the team that allows the second fewest points to starting quarterbacks. It was coming off three straight games with 29 or more fantasy points, and he was only started in 78% of leagues. I'm telling you, people have to make decisions to make on Tua Tungabailoa. But anyway, we're going to get to that in a second. What percentage of people that have Tua have quit?
Starting point is 00:03:35 I don't know. That I can't answer. People can't get to 100% start rate at this point, really. But that was two weeks ago. Was that three weeks ago? Two weeks ago. Two weeks ago. They didn't weeks ago two weeks ago two weeks ago yeah they didn't have their buy when they had their buy earlier i don't know um start okay let's
Starting point is 00:03:51 yeah let's get into the show so we got some news and notes the rams claim baker mayfield he could actually start tomorrow because john walford has a neck injury they're facing the raiders on thursday does baker mayfield matter for the rest of the Rams? He matters in that if Walford can't start, then we won't get Bryce Perkins because I don't think they're going to run an NFL offense with Perkins at quarterback. And listen, I think it's worth seeing. I think the Rams made a good decision. Baker Mayfield has never been as bad as he's been this year. There could just be something that didn't mesh with him and Ben McAdoo
Starting point is 00:04:29 or Carolina or maybe he didn't like mustard-based barbecue sauce. I don't know. See him in a different place. It's the vinegar in the barbecue. It's terrible. It's a barbecue killer. It's terrible. Lamar Jackson has a sprained PCL.
Starting point is 00:04:45 He's week to week. Jimmy Garoppolo could return in the NFL postseason. Green Bay could turn to Jordan Love late in the season. They've talked about that. Be aware. Davis Mills is going to start for Houston this week. Is that a boost for you for Collins and potentially Cooks if he plays? I think it's a little better for Collins.
Starting point is 00:05:02 Yeah, we thought, well, Kyle Allen's not going to be worse than Davis Mills has been this year, and Kyle Allen said, hold my beer. Arthur Smith talked about evaluating every job when he was asked about Desmond Ritter, so he's not exactly committing to Marcus Mariota. What do you think? Would that be good or bad for the team if Desmond Ritter took over?
Starting point is 00:05:26 It's hard to imagine how it could be much worse. Yeah. All right, Odell Beckham may not be ready to contribute this season. You can stop stashing Odell Beckham. Denver is, according to Nathaniel Hackett, using Greg Dulcich in a wide receiver role, but nothing on paper really backs that up.
Starting point is 00:05:46 Was that a talk about what they've done in the past or what they plan on doing in the future? Oh, maybe I misinterpreted it because they haven't used him as a wide receiver. I mean, he lines up more in line than anywhere else. He's barely ever out wide. And he plays in the slot a decent amount, but maybe I misinterpreted that. Maybe they will use him more out wide. It said the headline from Roto World or NBC Sports Edge, Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett said the team is using tight end Greg Dulcich in a wide receiver role.
Starting point is 00:06:19 All right, well, look, I don't know. You like Dulcich, right, this week? Yeah, I think Greg Dulcich falls into that potential league winner category quite well, especially if Cortland Sutton's not going to play again. Yeah, that's obviously a big one. All right, so we don't know about Cortland Sutton. He might play this week. We'll find out.
Starting point is 00:06:42 Darren Waller expects to play next week, and he is, I think, 70% rostered. They have the Rams on Thursday and then the Patriots the following weekend. So Waller, do you consider him, is he a potential league winner? Where is he on the league winner-ometer? Well, I think based on the parameters I was given, he was drafted too high for that particular segment. But yes, he's absolutely a potential league winner. Any tight end who could be a top three tight end and average 12 to 14 fantasy points per game is a potential league winner. He should not be on the waiver wire in any leagues. How many tight ends would you rather have than Darren Waller, assuming he plays in week 15? So like right now it's a higher number than it would be then. But I think I would anticipate that in his first game back,
Starting point is 00:07:28 I'm going to rank him around sixth. And as long as he looks like Darren Waller, he will be third rest of season? No, he will be fourth because Dallas Goddard will be back. Hopefully. I don't know for sure that Goddard will be ahead of him. Really? The best of Darren Waller has been better than the best of Dallas Goddard.
Starting point is 00:07:46 It's interesting because he just hasn't really had a good year so far, but it's a very limited sample. And Carr's playing really well right now, so that should benefit Darren Waller. But you could get Waller and Goddard back next week, which would be very nice. Philadelphia defensive end Robert Quinn is on IR with a knee injury, and the Titans fired their GM, John Robinson,
Starting point is 00:08:06 after that bludgeoning at Philadelphia. So we've got a newsletter for you. If you don't have time to listen to the podcast every day or you want to do both, listen to the podcast and read the awesome newsletter, Chris Towers pens it and puts it in your email inbox. Subscribe. Go to CBSSports.com slash newsletters.
Starting point is 00:08:25 You'll actually see all of our newsletters there. Fantasy Football Today, one will probably interest you the most. But it's a great way to stay up to date on the latest news, fantasy analysis, those types of things. cbssports.com slash newsletters. So what Heath and I are going to do is we're each going to give two surprise league winners. These are guys who are outside the top 20 at wide receiver or running back
Starting point is 00:08:45 or outside the top 10 at quarterback or tight end. Probably guys that you did not draft. If you did, you stashed them. So, Heath, you can go first. Give me one of your league winners, and we'll discuss briefly. Yeah, I will say, I'm going with the surprise angle here. Jerry Judy. I was surprised to realize yesterday that in the games that Jerry Judy's played at least 80% of the snaps, he has averaged 14.5 PPR fantasy points per game. He, over the next four weeks faces the chiefs,
Starting point is 00:09:23 the Cardinals, the Rams, and the Chiefs. I might expand this to say that the Broncos could be the surprise league-winning offense over the last four weeks. Just terrible defenses. Judy's been fantastic when he's been a full-time player. He might be even better if there's no Cortland Sutton because the volume goes up. I could see Jerry Judy finishing the last four weeks of the fantasy season as a top 12 wide receiver.
Starting point is 00:09:53 If Sutton plays? If Sutton, 14.5 first off is not that far from top 12. It's 16.9 so far in the year, but that includes Michael Thomas, who's played three games, and DeAndre Hopkins, who's played six. If you just look at guys that so far in the year, but that includes Michael Thomas, who's played three games, and DeAndre Hopkins, who's played six. If you just look at guys that have played half the season, you're looking at 15.5 points to get you into the top 12.
Starting point is 00:10:11 Yeah. Well, I mean, they're the worst offense in football, arguably, so I just don't know how much the matchups matter. They just played Las Vegas, and they scored 16 points. Remember, they faced the Titans coming off their bye where half the Titans' defense was injured. They scored 10 points. They scored 10 points. Remember they faced the Titans coming off their bye where half the Titans' defense was injured? They scored 10 points. They scored 10 points against Carolina.
Starting point is 00:10:32 Carolina's defense is not bad at all. It's been pretty bad the last month. They were without their top cornerback who's out for the year. The Broncos are awful. But I thought the same thing about Judy. Sutton's out. It's a very, very small sample size,
Starting point is 00:10:46 but with Sutton off the field this year, he has a 43% target per route run rate, which is amazing, but it's only 14 routes, so it probably doesn't matter. But you will see an increase in targets for sure. And just to expand on the other guys, I think Greg Dulcich could be a top five tight end, no question.
Starting point is 00:11:03 If they just use him like they did the first three games or the most recent game. If he's getting six to eight targets, he could absolutely, and he's available on the waiver wire. And then Latavius Murray caught four passes in Mike Boone's first game back. The Chiefs have been awful against pass-catching running backs. I know, but Russell Wilson's thrown eight touchdown passes this year. I understand, but Chris Godwin thrown eight touchdown passes this year, so it does kind of tap the luck upside. Chris Godwin caught zero touchdown passes for 10 weeks and then caught two in back-to-back weeks.
Starting point is 00:11:31 We see all year long guys who don't score touchdowns all of a sudden score touchdowns. Yep, you're right. All right, my league winner, one of mine, is someone I'm stealing from Heath. It's Garrett Wilson. The most droppable player in fantasy. All right, my league winner, one of mine, is someone I'm stealing from Heath, is Garrett Wilson. I claimed him. The most droppable player in fantasy.
Starting point is 00:11:47 He was, at one point, the most droppable player in fantasy when Zach Wilson was his quarterback and, more importantly, when Brees Hall was his running back. And they had an incredible running game, a great defense. But Garrett Wilson's got 92 or more yards in four of his last five games, including two of them started by Zach Wilson. One thing that concerns me is like you look at his production with Joe Flacco and Mike White. It's been terrific
Starting point is 00:12:10 five games, but they've thrown 44 or more passes in four of those five games. They threw 50, 52 or more in three of those five games. Can that continue? Well, look who they're playing. The Bills, the Lions, the Jaguars, the Seahawks, at least three of those teams, I think will put up a decent amount of points against the Jets. So I really have no concerns. I mean, Garrett Wilson, some touchdown concerns. But how about this, Heath? He has the eighth most red zone targets and the fifth most green zone targets in the NFL.
Starting point is 00:12:35 So he could catch. He's only got four touchdowns this year. I mean, there could be more coming. He's an absolute must start and certainly a potential league winner. And I don't think you're going to dispute that. So let's go to our next guy. Who's your next league winner? No, this is like a snake draft.
Starting point is 00:12:48 You go, I go one, you go to the next one. All right, Christian Watson. And you will probably dispute this. And I think it's easy to dispute it because he's only had six to eight targets in each of his last four games. But in that stretch, he's faced Dallas and Philadelphia and come through with big games, 100 yards and at least one touchdown in both of them. Um, so now he gets the Rams, the dolphins and the Vikings
Starting point is 00:13:11 in the fantasy playoffs after by this week, I love the matchups for Christian Watson. I'm hoping for more attempts. I think the only thing more attempts from the, you know, more targets, more attempts from the quarterbacks. The only thing that scares me is, is Aaron Rogers, uh, sitting, um, but love maybe is an improved quarterback and can, you know, just get the more attempts from the quarterbacks. The only thing that scares me is Aaron Rodgers sitting. But Love maybe is an improved quarterback and can just get the ball in Watson's hands because he's pretty dynamic. So I'm going to nominate Christian Watson as a league winner. I have no problem at all with that.
Starting point is 00:13:37 I think that he absolutely, both Garrett Wilson and Christian Watson, listen, we said it in the summer, and there's been a little bit of pushback on the C. you should draft rookie wide receivers. I don't know if that's necessarily true because most of these rookie wide receivers ended up on the waiver wire in 40% of leagues at one point this year. And it was a disastrous start to the season. But this is what the good rookie wide receivers do. They catch fire at some point in the middle or towards the end of the season and are just awesome. And I think you could see that same thing with Traylon Burks, if he's okay. You could see that thing with a few of these rookie wide receivers. So I like that one a lot.
Starting point is 00:14:14 All right. What do you got? Who's your next one? I will go with Rashad White. It was a little bit concerning that he was sharing so much with Leonard Fournette, but Tom Brady just has zero faith in his offensive line right now. And so it's dump off, dump off, dump off almost as much as Mike White. And so I do think that there's a potential, even if Fournette and White are playing together for both of these guys to be number two running backs in full PPR, catching a lot of passes. And if something happens to Fournette or if he falls out of favor, remember the game before he got hurt, they started Rashad White.
Starting point is 00:14:47 Then we could see Rashad White in the fantasy semifinals and finals against the Arizona Cardinals and the Carolina Panthers, games that can have a lot of running back touches available as an absolute must-start top 12 type running back. 17 targets in his last two games. Who would you rather have, Zonovan Knight or Rashad White? Because Zonovan Knight's another one. I just didn't want to choose another jet. I think I'd rather have Zonovan Knight.
Starting point is 00:15:16 Both of them have the same type of potential role in the passing game, I think. But I'm more concerned about Leonard Fournette than I am Michael Carter. And I'm more concerned about Leonard Fournette than I am Michael Carter. And I'm not sure that... We lost Heath. Come on back, Heath Cummings. I can't do a full hour by myself.
Starting point is 00:15:38 Oh, there he is. Hey, Heath. You don't have to do a full hour by yourself. You're back. What's up? Okay. Yeah, I don't know what you heard there, but I prefer Zonovan night just slightly. Okay. I heard most of it. That worked. All right, Heath.
Starting point is 00:15:54 I'll tell you what's a league winner. Liquid IV. You got to hydrate right now. It's very especially important right now. All right. I mean, you got to stay hydrated. You got to stay healthy. A lot of illness going around out there. Liquid IV is great. You know, first of all, it's delicious. I know Heath, you're still crushing liquid IV, right? I had a liquid IV this morning. Absolutely. Really? I have it. There's a variety. When I'm being healthy, that really helps me with that.
Starting point is 00:16:18 When I'm not being healthy, it really helps me with that. There you go. And cooler weather makes it easy to miss signs of dehydration, like overheating or perspiration, which means it's even more important to keep your body hydrated right now. And liquid IV fuels your well-being with easy ways to stay hydrated. You just put a stick of it in water. And honestly, I don't even need to use a full stick to have something delicious, but you get all the nutritional benefits. You put that whole stick of liquid IV in there. It's just a powder. You mix it in with your water. You get all these vitamins, five essential vitamins, three times the electrolytes of traditional sports drinks. It's made with premium ingredients, non-GMO, free from gluten, free from dairy, free from soy. And they're on a mission to change the world. To date,
Starting point is 00:16:59 liquid IV has donated over 25 million servings in 50 plus countries around the world. So it tastes great. It keeps you hydrating, dehydrated, excuse me. It's got all these essential vitamins, electrolytes. You're going to love it. You can grab your Liquid IV in bulk nationwide at Costco or get 15% off when you go to liquidiv.com and use the code FFT at checkout. By the way, they have so many flavors. My favorite is lemon lime, personally, but you'll find a few that you just absolutely love. 15% off anything you want at liquidiv.com, 15% off anything you order when you shop better hydration today using the promo code FFT at liquidiv.com. All right, so the theme of the show is the league winners. We had a segment where Dave was going to give one for each team, and then we were going to pick one per division,
Starting point is 00:17:50 and we were going to have a runoff in the conferences, and it was going to be fun. But Dave's not here, so we will pivot. And coming up on today's show, by the way, after we finish with our league winner discussions, and I will also accept some questions from the YouTube audience if you want to talk about potential league winners, but I'll get to that in a minute.
Starting point is 00:18:09 We're going to look at the Thursday night game, Rams-Raiders. Can you start Canmakers this week? We got some fantasy cops. We got some emails, and we got some fill-in-the-blank. Email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Okay. Do you think these guys will be league winners going forward?
Starting point is 00:18:24 Mark Andrews. okay do you think these guys will be league winners going forward mark andrews i if you promised me that he was 100 healthy than i would it's been really disturbing his usage and his production since he came back from the injury i'm just not sure that he's completely mark andrews but i still expect him to be a must-start top five tied in. I'm not sure that he's going to give you the league-winning upside that we drafted him for. He's just not been the same guy. Yeah, and do you care who the quarterback is? Do you think one is better than the other? I don't really buy the Tyler Huntley's better for Mark Andrews thing from last year, so I would rather it be Lamar, but I don't know that there's going to be a huge gap. Huntley's better for Mark Andrews thing from last year. So I would rather it be Lamar,
Starting point is 00:19:05 but I don't know that there's going to be a huge gap. Huntley will throw it to him more. I'd expect him to be more efficient with Jackson. I think it's more about is Mark Andrews okay. It's also about is Lamar Jackson or Tyler Huntley going to be good. In the first six games of the year, Lamar Jackson was on pace for 3,600 yards and 37 touchdowns. Since then, he's been on pace, excluding the one game that Mark Andrews missed.
Starting point is 00:19:28 He's been on pace for 3,244 yards and 14 touchdowns. So a 37-touchdown pace down to a 14-touchdown pace. Well, and I don't know how much that, like the touchdowns particularly, he had three drop touchdowns in one game. He's missed some throws, but a lot of that touchdown stuff is partially Andrew's fault. Yeah. All right. How about Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott?
Starting point is 00:19:51 Since Zeke came back three weeks ago, they're both top seven running backs. They're doing unprecedented stuff right now. I looked at the last five years for teammates that finished in the top 15 per game, and I only found two examples. 2017, Kamara and Ingram were both top seven. And then Jevin Hunt.
Starting point is 00:20:14 No. Per game? Did I miss that one? Because I don't know. I don't know. I don't think so, actually. I don't think Kareem Hunt has been higher than 20th per game with Cleveland. The other one was Eckler and Gordon.
Starting point is 00:20:29 And what you saw, Gordon was RB14 in 2019. Eckler was RB6. What you saw per game, sorry, keep interrupting myself. What you saw with those guys was a lot of catches. You are not seeing that with Zeke and Pollard. They are doing this with rushing yards and specifically with touchdowns. Are they league winners going forward? Their schedule is Houston, Jacksonville,
Starting point is 00:20:49 Philadelphia, and Tennessee. Yeah, and the hard thing about being the league winner is if they're not catching passes and the Titans continue to be this good against the run, then they might lose you your fantasy championship. But I do think Tony Pollard has a much better chance for being a league winner than Ezekiel Elliott just because of his efficiency and the huge plays that he scores on.
Starting point is 00:21:09 I think these guys are both starting running backs. Pollard ahead of Zeke, and Pollard could be a league winner. Will they be able to run the ball this much? The two of them are averaging 31 carries per game, 15 for Pollard, 16 for Zeke in their last three games. But they're blowing teams out and that could continue. Read that schedule again. Yeah. I mean, Houston this week, Jacksonville in week 15, Philadelphia and Tennessee in week 16 and 17 though. I don't know about Tennessee, but Philadelphia won't be a blowout. That's for sure. Yeah. That's the one that they may not be
Starting point is 00:21:40 able to run the ball, but that's also the defense that's, I mean, with Jordan Davis is better against the run, but it's had their struggles with the run. Yeah. All right. James Conner. James Conner in his last three games, you know, he played 77% of the snaps against the 49ers. They lost by 28 points. In the other two games, he's
Starting point is 00:21:57 played almost every snap. So he is basically an every down back. James Conner's schedule is brutal. The Patriots, the Broncos, the Bucs. Wait, I think I'm missing one. Or maybe not. Patriots, Broncos, Bucs, Falcons, I'll double check.
Starting point is 00:22:15 But James Conner, league winner? More in the Zeke range of I think he's definitely a starter and a number two running back, but I don't know. He wouldn't have fit, obviously, because I think he's going to be about what he was drafted to be, a number two running back. Okay, sorry. He gets the Niners in week 18. I didn't include them in the schedule, but Patriots are second against running backs. Broncos are ninth. They're not a tough matchup right now, I don't think, but they don't give up a lot of touchdowns, and Tampa Bay is third against running backs, so those are
Starting point is 00:22:43 his next three opponents, and man, you love the role, but they don't give up a lot of touchdowns. And Tampa Bay is third against running back. So those are his next three opponents. And man, you love the role, but you know he's not going to have a good per carry rate. His yards per catch have gone way down. I don't know how many catches he's going to get going forward, you know, if they're fully healthy in the receiving core. He's tricky to me. It's hard to say to sit him right now,
Starting point is 00:23:01 and he's been so productive lately. There's no chance I'm sitting him. I think he's a high-end number two running back, and I think it's more likely that he's a league winner than a bust. Okay. All right, here's one. How about Justin Fields? Justin Fields is on a bye this week.
Starting point is 00:23:18 He faces the Eagles, the Bills, the Lions in his next three games. Justin Fields, is he a league winner? I view him more like Connor, I think. A definite starter, somewhere between QB6 and QB10. It's hard without any good wide receivers. He's just got to run for 150 yards a game almost to be like what he was over that three-game stretch. I don't think he's going to compete with Mahomes or Allen or Hurts to be a top three quarterback. Burrow? I expect Burrow to be better,
Starting point is 00:23:54 but it wouldn't surprise me if Fields was better. Fields has three rushing touchdowns of 55 or more yards. That's insane. Jalen Hurts' longest touchdown run of his career was 26 yards. Lamar Jackson has, in his career, three touchdowns, three rushing touchdowns of 47 or more yards, but only one longer than 50. And Hurts
Starting point is 00:24:14 has three, or sorry, and Fields has three already this year. Tuatunga Bailoa. Definitely reasons to be concerned here. You look at the last two games, he scored 18 points and 17.8 points. He left the Houston game early in the middle of the third quarter,
Starting point is 00:24:29 and he had thrown for 299 yards at that point. He has thrown for 285 or more yards in five straight games, but you got the Teron Armstead injury. You've got, I think the biggest concern for me is you got a game at Buffalo in week 15 and at New England in week 17. What's the weather?
Starting point is 00:24:44 That could be a problem. But I want to have total faith in Tua and Mike McDaniel and Jalen Waddell and Tyreek Hill, basically. How do you feel about Tua? League winner? I think he has league winning potential. I think it's more likely than it is with fields. The weather is a major concern. What I'll say about those two matchups is Tua did not produce like a league winner the last two weeks. He did produce three to five points better than what those teams have been giving up per game two quarterbacks. And he did that in three and a half quarters against the Texans. Two and a half quarters. Well above what those defenses have given up to the position.
Starting point is 00:25:19 Yeah. He shredded Houston. He struggled against San Francisco. They had a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the game. He definitely struggled. But that was a tough matchup, a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the game. He definitely struggled. But that was a tough matchup, and we knew that was going to be a tough matchup. How important is Teron Armstead to his success? Because I think he can get by the Chargers.
Starting point is 00:25:33 But the Bills got their pass rushers back. I know they lost Von Miller, but they got Russo and Epinesa back, and they were all over Mac Jones last week. And then the Patriots have a great pass rush in Week 17. How important is Teron Armstead's availability to Tua in your mind? I think he's a must start whether he has Armstead or not. He probably needs Armstead to come back for him to be a league winner in the fantasy playoffs.
Starting point is 00:25:56 All right. Derek Henry, in his last four games, quite simply, he's been one of the worst running backs in football efficiency-wise. 2.8 yards per carry. You look at the yards before contact, he's toward the bottom. Yards after contact, he's bottom third. Nothing good for Derrick Henry except a decent amount of work. And you said it on HQ.
Starting point is 00:26:18 It's not like he's had totally bad matchups. I mean, Green Bay should have been an easy matchup. He did have a good game, but not efficient. Anyway, Jacksonville, the Chargers, the Texans, it couldn't get much better than that over the next three weeks. Is Derrick Henry going to be a league winner? I'm not confident that he is, but that's the reason that you have hope that he will be
Starting point is 00:26:38 because those matchups are so fantastic. I mean, you just hope that the matchups are enough, even though, like you said, he hasn't really had a terribly difficult matchup in like two months. Those matchups are fantastic enough that, again, must-start guy, low-end number one running back for me with the potential to be a top three guy.
Starting point is 00:27:02 He has the league-winning potential for sure. Hey, Dave. What the hell, guys? You couldn't start without me? We did start without you. I see. Want to try that again? What the hell, guys?
Starting point is 00:27:16 You couldn't wait for me? There you go. There you go. I've had a very frustrating morning, so apologies all around for being late and for messing up my own joke at the beginning. As for Derek Henry, it doesn't matter what we say,
Starting point is 00:27:33 everybody starts living up. Oh, that is like the worst analysis. Come on. Do you think he's going to be awesome or do you think he's going to be frustrating or somewhere in between? I think the Titans will find a way to make him good again. This is the
Starting point is 00:27:46 second time this season that we'll see this happen where he struggles, goes through a lull, and then they figure out a way to get him moving in the right direction. Stop jamming him between the tackles. Run him to the edges. Use him more in the passing game. I'm sure they'll realize
Starting point is 00:28:02 that and they'll find ways to get him going. I will say this is the first time since 2018 that he has had back-to-back games below 40 yards. He had one game from 2019 through 2021 with fewer than 40 rushing yards.
Starting point is 00:28:18 How about Travis Etienne's? The last one I have for you. Etienne, struggling a bit lately. Obviously, he left two weeks ago. He left almost immediately. He played five snaps, but he's got the Titans this week, the Cowboys who are fifth best against running backs,
Starting point is 00:28:33 and then the Jets who have a good run defense. Then he finishes with Houston in week 17, Tennessee again in week 18. But Travis ETN, do you think he'll be a league winner, Dave? No, I don't think he'll be a league winner. I think he'll be a usable starting running back who will have some good moments the rest of the way,
Starting point is 00:28:51 but I don't think he's going to be a league winner. Another guy, kind of like Mark Andrews, who I'm just wondering, is he actually healthy? I hope so. Yeah, I feel the same way. Well, one thing you look at with ETN is the carries. He had 13 carries last week. He had a low amount of carries three weeks ago.
Starting point is 00:29:12 14 carries, I don't know, whatever it was. They've had some game script reasons for that. They've been trailing big at Kansas City. They were down by 17 going into the fourth quarter. They got blown out at Detroit. So you would like to see them keep it close because for whatever reason, they just don't really throw to him that much.
Starting point is 00:29:28 You know, it's not like, oh, he's going to have a six-catch game because Trevor Lawrence has to throw a ton. It doesn't happen. He's not a natural downfield pass catcher. He could be a natural dump it off out of the backfield pass catcher. Yeah, I don't think that's a feature
Starting point is 00:29:42 of their offense currently. No, it's not. All right, we'll get from our audience here. They want to know, Yeah, I don't think that's a feature of their offense currently. No, it's not. All right, we'll get from our audience here. They want to know, do you think these players are league winners? Dak Prescott. Dak Prescott. I almost nominated him. The problem is that they've got, I think, three games.
Starting point is 00:29:59 They might just be able to run it 100 times. Yeah, I think the league winners on Dallas are at running back, not quarterback. How about Geno Smith or Jared Goff? Geno already has been. He will continue to be. Goff has a chance to finish this season very strongly. Oh.
Starting point is 00:30:20 I think there's a possibility Geno could be a top four or five quarterback the rest of the way, but he's been QB seven or eight the whole year. We haven't talked about DeAndre Swift. I thought you were going to go with DeAndre Swift earlier, Heath. Yeah, he has the potential to be a league winner as well. He didn't fit the parameters because he was drafted in the second round or first round of drafts, and that was not the assignment I was given.
Starting point is 00:30:46 But DeAndre Swift could 100% be a league winner. If he's getting 18 touches per game, you should expect him to be a top 10 running back for the rest of the season. You know, I got to tell you, I think of the three of us here, just throughout our lives, Heath has probably followed the rules the least of all three of us. But he is a real stickler when it comes to these assignments here.
Starting point is 00:31:10 So, all right, I appreciate that, Heath. You've grown into a rule follower. I'll get one more here. James Cook. Do you think James Cook will be a league winner? There's potential. There's definitely potential. He's more explosive than Devin Singletary.
Starting point is 00:31:25 He can do more in the passing game than Devin Singletary. He just doesn't have the experience of Devin Singletary, and he might not be so good near the goal line compared to Devin Singletary. My hunch is that the Bills are going to use both running backs down the stretch, making both of them somewhere between 20th and 30th in running back rankings each week, depending on format. We had this discussion yesterday during the Waver Wire show on CBS Sports HQ. It's on at noon every day, Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings
Starting point is 00:31:53 about Cam Akers versus James Cook on the Waver Wire. And I prefer Cam Akers this week. Great matchup against the Raiders. But I do think Cook has significantly more upside in the fantasy playoffs. I actually have both of them on my bench in our staff
Starting point is 00:32:13 experts IDP league. And I've been struggling with which one to put in my flex against Adam this week. It's a very big matchup. Oh, the IDP league? It's a meaningless matchup for me. My seed has been determined. But you are trying to complete an undefeated... It's unbelievable. I've
Starting point is 00:32:29 never had an undefeated regular season. I honestly... I would not be unhappy if you won. That would be very cool. My favorite part was realizing when I went to look at the scoring preview because this is also the league where I traded you Aaron Jones and someone for Christian McCaffrey.
Starting point is 00:32:46 Tom Brady. Yes. So I have Christian McCaffrey this week against you, and Aaron Jones just happens to be on a bye the week that we play. I think two of my IDPs are going to be on bye because I'm not dropping them. I saw that you had two defensive linemen on a bye. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:33:02 I'm sorry. It doesn't matter for the seating. So, you know, I don't have to apologize apologize i don't think anybody should apologize for that if if you don't have somebody you want to drop and you've already locked up a playoff spot you shouldn't make your roster worse just to make people feel better about who you're starting especially if you're playing a team that's going for a 14 and 0 i mean it's even simpler than that. It's simpler than that. If you don't want to drop a player at all and you're willing to take a zero, you could be playing for a playoff spot.
Starting point is 00:33:30 That's really what you want to do. It's your team. You should do it. Yeah. Heath, with any luck, I'll see you in two weeks. You'll have a bye. I'll be the sixth seed. I think I'm sixth and seventh, by the way, with the sixth seed.
Starting point is 00:33:44 It would feel much better to take a 6-8 team into the fantasy semifinals and knock off the team that went 14-0 in the playoffs. We're dangerous, though. We're dangerous. Oh, you've got a good team. It's a good team. I don't know how we've been.
Starting point is 00:33:57 A quarterback has been really why I've been so bad, Trey Lance and Matthew Stafford. We can hopefully have a late-season surge. All right, we can hopefully have a late season surge. All right, we'll take a break. When we come back, Las Vegas at the Los Angeles Rams after this on Fantasy Football Today. All right, Dave, cue that music. It's the Raiders at the Rams on Thursday night.
Starting point is 00:34:17 Na, na, na, na, na, na. Yeah. I thought you were going to play the sound effect. I wanted to, but I was too slow on it. Na, na, na, na, na, na. I wanted to, but I was too slow on it. Na-na-na-na-na-na. Wait, I don't have it. There we go. I'm sorry.
Starting point is 00:34:32 Yeah, he's back at the circus. All right, your stat of the game. I'm going to try my best to convince you to start Van Jefferson. In his last four games, Van Jefferson has three red zone and two end zone targets and two touchdowns. And the Raiders have allowed 76 to 90 yards to a wide receiver in five straight games. There, bam!
Starting point is 00:34:53 Start Van Jefferson over everyone, right? Who's playing quarterback for the Rams? I mean, nobody's going to start Van Jefferson. But actually, I mean, it is worth asking with six teams on by, you know, is he a number three receiver this week and does it matter if it's Walford or Mayfield? I've spent more time
Starting point is 00:35:14 digging into Brandon Powell and Tutu Atwell than I care to admit. And both of those guys are getting opportunities because of their speed. And Van Jefferson is losing out because he should be dominating. He should have a 25% target share, and he's getting it. You can't start anybody on the Rams and feel good about it other than Akers.
Starting point is 00:35:38 And Akers, you're just going to feel okay. There isn't a good reason to start Van Jefferson for sure. Okay, so that was more of a joke, but let's talk about Cam Akers here because what's actually weird is that the Raiders have a solid run defense. Seventh best in yards per carry, allowed to running backs,
Starting point is 00:35:58 but they give up a ton of fantasy points to running backs. They give up the most receiving yards per game to running backs, but Cam Akers does not do that. Heath, how much do you like Cam Akers this week? Borderline number two running back would feel better if he was in a flex spot than if he was in my number two running back
Starting point is 00:36:17 spot. I think he has two touchdown potential again, but he could also get 16 carries for 57 yards and not score, and that's going to be 5.7 fantasy points most likely because he's probably not going to catch a pass agreed are you guys starting both both bucks running backs in a very tough matchup over cam acres no i'll take my chances with Akers in non-PPR. Half or full PPR, I think half PPR I'll take Akers. Full PPR I might lean toward White. Might even lean toward Fournette just because they're a little safer.
Starting point is 00:36:54 They've got a higher floor because they'll catch a bunch of passes. I have both ahead of Akers. Okay, how about Akers or a Dolphins running back against the Chargers? If I knew which running back it would be for the Dolphins, I would take that guy ahead. I think it's going to be Wilson. So I'll start Wilson ahead of Akers, but not Mostert. I will start Wilson, Akers, Mostert in that order.
Starting point is 00:37:21 Yeah. You know, I think you kind of gave too much credit to the Raiders defensively here because they have allowed a running back to have over 100 total yards five of their past seven games. Running backs have scored on them like crazy. At least one touchdown, five of their past six. There's an opportunity here for Akers, and he looked good early on last week. The offensive line did too, and then as the game wore on,
Starting point is 00:37:44 the offensive line started to struggle. Akers didn't have room, but he's really, it's the best he's looked since 2020. He really ran well. He had good, that cutback ability that you remember from FSU. It was there. Good or good balance. Speed was good. I think he's going to legitimately be the Rams lead back on Thursday. I know I have a lot of issues with it. First of all, I don't think I did under, I don't think I did oversell the Raiders because all I was talking about was their specific run defense and their run defense is mostly good.
Starting point is 00:38:14 It was terrible. A few weeks ago against Jonathan Taylor, if you recall, they didn't have a healthy linebacker in that game. So at least they have Denzel Perryman back now. They are like, look at the last two or three running backs to face them. Ken Walker had 14 carries for 26 yards.
Starting point is 00:38:29 He scored two touchdowns. Austin Eckler had 10 carries for 35 yards. Latavius Murray, 17 carries, 49 yards, and a touchdown. They are giving up touchdowns, but total yards don't matter to me because Cam Akers has three catches this year. The only thing I care about are rushing yards when it comes to Cam Akers, and the Raiders have been good in that area for whatever reason. And Akers isn't a good running back.
Starting point is 00:38:49 I don't care how he looked last week. You've got to look at the bigger sample size. He's been horrible all year. We know their offensive line stinks. It's one of the worst offenses in football. They might have a quarterback that's been with the team for two days starting. And whenever you think you know what Sean McVay is doing, he likes to throw you a little bit of a curveball, right?
Starting point is 00:39:07 So I can't even say for certain that he's going to lead the team in carries. I think he will, but you can find, and it's not like you have him ranked in your top 15 or anything, but you can find more reasons not to like Cam Akers than to like Cam Akers this week. Sure. You can just simply start by saying he's a Ram. Yes, you can.
Starting point is 00:39:24 All right, so he's a borderline number two. He's just outside the top 24. Okay, in full PPR anyway. Let's go to Derek Carr. And, all right, Heath, where do you have Derek Carr this week? 12, which is where I have him almost every week. He is a startable fantasy quarterback who has been red hot lately has top six upside if everything goes perfectly but i could also see a situation where the rams
Starting point is 00:39:54 offense is terrible and josh jacobs gets 27 carries and car doesn't have to do that much in that case you'd need the second touchdown most likely for him to have a good fantasy day. Luckily, he's had multiple touchdowns in each of his past five games. He's the number five quarterback in fantasy in his last five games. And remember last week? At least 30 pass attempts in each of his past five games.
Starting point is 00:40:23 Sorry, I'm not going to do it. Remember last week, Keith, I talked about how maybe he was getting a little lucky because he had so many long touchdown passes. He had two more last week. They were both 31 yards out or something like that, 31 or more yards out.
Starting point is 00:40:36 So that means 11 touchdowns in his last five games. Eight of them have been from 25 yards out or more, which is, I'm pretty sure it's by far the most in football in that stretch. Right. And just like, I'll do it. He did have a stretch before this stretch where he had one game out of four with multiple
Starting point is 00:40:54 touchdown passes. And we probably would have said, well, he can't get two touchdown passes. And then he had five in a row with two touchdown passes. Right. But those are the things that help you build confidence in him. Doesn't make him any more likely to get two touchdown passes. Those are the things that help you build confidence in him. It doesn't make him any more likely to get two touchdown passes this week, in my opinion. It's just the fact
Starting point is 00:41:10 that Devontae Adams is playing out of his freaking mind right now, and he's throwing the ball only to Devontae Adams. I think that's really helped him. He's just tunnel vision on Devontae Adams, who probably has something like a 35% target share in these five games. Is it possible that Renfro is back this week,
Starting point is 00:41:26 or they already ruled him out? I'm not sure, actually. I think it's next week. So would you start... I think he's got a chance next week. Look at that Vikings-Lions game. Would you start a quarterback in that game over Derek Carr? No.
Starting point is 00:41:44 I have it Cousins-Carr-Goff, back-to-back-to-back. Okay. How about Tua at the Chargers or Carr? Tua for sure. How about Dak Prescott against Houston? I have Carr higher because I'm more concerned about Dak not having to do anything than Carr not having to. Heath? Yeah, I've got Dak just higher, but again, right in the same range.
Starting point is 00:42:17 Start Josh Jacobs, start Devontae Adams. Mack Hollins or Van Jefferson? Hollins. Same. Foster Morrow or the other guy, Higby. The other guy. He's been
Starting point is 00:42:31 downgraded to the... Dave, connection. Dave, hop out and come back in and see if we can reestablish your connection a little bit. The other guy. I would go Higby just slightly. I don't know if you heard me. Yeah, Dave, let's hop out and we'll get Dave to reconnect
Starting point is 00:42:48 here, see if we can get... You go Higby slightly. Is Higby approaching your top 12? In full PPR, he is, and it's dumb, but it's tight end. Yeah, I mean, I think when you look at him against the Chiefs, you see the no targets game.
Starting point is 00:43:03 Understand that Tyler Higbee runs a lot more routes when Bryce Perkins is not the quarterback. So he can play a more traditional tight end role when Wolford or maybe it's Mayfield is there. The hope would be
Starting point is 00:43:19 that they can't run the bowl. That you're right about this Raiders defense, that they're inefficient running the ball, and they fall behind. Because last week with Wolford, he did have almost a 20% target share. They just only threw 26 passes.
Starting point is 00:43:35 So if we get into a game where they throw 35 passes and he keeps that same, I mean, he was tied for the team lead in target share last week. You could see him with seven or eight targets like we did earlier in the year. And at some point, he's probably going to score a touchdown. in target share last week. You could see him with seven or eight targets like we did earlier in the year. And at some point, he's probably going to score a touchdown.
Starting point is 00:43:48 All right, last question is the Raiders DST. How much do you like them? I don't want to like them because I don't think they're any good at all. And we've gotten in trouble with defenses like this in the past. They're not in my top 12. They're a high end number two.
Starting point is 00:44:04 I would fully understand if someone wanted to rank them higher because of how bad the Rams are. I just, I get nervous with that game, playing that game. Okay. Yeah, I think they're about 10th for Jamie and Dave and lower for you.
Starting point is 00:44:20 11 sacks in their last three games. They had 10 sacks in their first nine games. Pretty crazy. All right, that's in their first nine games. Pretty crazy. All right, that's going to do it for Thursday Night Football. There we go. Thank you, Dave. Dave is off for the rest of the show. Let's do some fill in the blank. We'll do some fantasy cops. We'll read your emails
Starting point is 00:44:37 to finish today's episode. Luis says, DJ Moore's outlook rest of season is... Oh, Heath just perked up. You heard DJ Moore. He's like, what? DJ Moore's outlook rest of season is, oh, Heath just perked up. You hear DJ Moore's like, whoa. DJ Moore's outlook rest of season is blank. Can I tell you, it hasn't actually been a very positive thing for me most of the time that I've heard DJ Moore's name
Starting point is 00:44:54 in the last three months, especially from listeners. So my ears did not perk up. I think he's a high-end number three wide receiver who has the potential to be a top 20 guy. It's really going to depend on how pass-heavy the Panthers are, because I do think he's going to earn a 30% target share. And so if they're throwing 35 times a game, then he could be a double-digit target share guy with Sam Darnold. And he's basically been, this season, what he's been in the past when he's not played with baker
Starting point is 00:45:27 mayfield he's been right around 13 or 14 ppr fantasy points per game you gotta love the schedule seattle there's i mean actually seattle's been pretty good against wide receivers but their defense in general is struggling a bit it's an interesting matchup though uh pittsburgh gives up the third most points the receivers. Detroit, fourth most. Tampa Bay in week 17, not great. From Cody, Kyler Murray is a top blank quarterback rest of season. I think it'd be better after this week than it is this week
Starting point is 00:45:59 because he's got the Patriots. But six? Are the Patriots. Six? Are the Patriots good? I think they're so phony. The way Cousins tore them apart, I feel like there have been several quarterbacks where it's like, yeah, they're not really that good. Do you know
Starting point is 00:46:20 where Kyler ranks in six-point-per-passing touchdown leagues per game? I'm going to guess ninth. Tenth. Actually, probably ninth if you remove mike white yeah nine good that was a hell of a guess yeah thank you he's a curious quarterback you know well but i think for me the difference is he's played one game with deandre hopkins and marquise brown yeah and zero games of past catchers really matters to him. I can't find him. I'm trying to look him up
Starting point is 00:46:47 and I keep typing in Kyler Hopkins. That's not going to help. Yeah, specifically with Hopkins. But, yeah, I'm pretty confident in him. New England and Denver are... It is a terrible schedule. New England, Denver, and Tampa Bay are his next three games.
Starting point is 00:47:05 But I think he can tear up New England. I think they're fake. Okay, from Dylan. The best New York Jets running back rest of season is blank. I can't think of any reason to say anyone other than Zonovan Knight. He has looked so impressive their first two games. I think Michael Carter could hurt him in terms of hurting his value,
Starting point is 00:47:26 but I don't think Carter will be better than Knight. This is from Chris Phelan, NBC. He's from NBC. I read it like competitor. Screw NBC. CBS is where it's at, Chris. We're enemies. Thanks, Chris.
Starting point is 00:47:43 Thanks for listening. Chris, I'm Thanks for listening. Chris, I'm cool with NBC. A little upset about having to subscribe to Peacock to watch the last two Halloween movies because they were just awful. But other than that, I'm cool with NBC. Deshaun Watson is blank in week 14.
Starting point is 00:48:02 Unstartable. At Cincinnati. Unstartable. Is he droppable I don't want to drop him either he is a must bench player you can't start him you can't drop him I mean a two quarterback league you might have to start
Starting point is 00:48:17 him but he looked awful and I have zero faith but I have a lot of hope. The upside's too high. This is from Hank Bell. The person who would win a King of the Cage WWE style match between the FFT guys would be blank. King of the Cage WWE style.
Starting point is 00:48:39 So if I remember correctly, and my son's not watched a lot of wrestling lately, so we haven't. I'm assuming we have to fight and then climb out of the cage and touch the ground on the other side um i don't think i could do any of those things no i don't i i i think it's probably me or jamie and it may depend on what time of year it is i disagree with you i think it's you or dave okay okay yeah maybe so i was i i think this is more none of us are good fighters um you've never seen me well i i i know i i feel confident saying none of us are good i mean i've had i've been in two fights and i've not ever been punched so So I might have the best record, but it was not because of quality of opponent.
Starting point is 00:49:28 I think the biggest thing is that climb over the fence. And the fence, the cage is generally like 25 feet high. Yeah, Dave would have trouble with that. I'm going gonna say me but I do think if it happens in May Jamie would have a much better shot Jamie's fitness in the off season
Starting point is 00:49:53 his fluctuates a lot more I got a sleeper for you Thomas Schaefer oh Thomas would destroy us he's 15 years younger than us or something. Than you, yeah, probably. I'd like to say you've been in two fights and never been punched.
Starting point is 00:50:14 I think the most amazing thing is not the fights. It's just the fact that no one's ever punched me, because I'm sure thousands have wanted to. All the DJ Moore managers. Well, I would love to hear the story. Can you tell us the story? I don't. Okay.
Starting point is 00:50:30 I mean, yeah, we could do that. I guess it's late enough in the show. Let's finish the rest of the show. Okay. All right. All right. Let's finish the rest of the show, then we'll get to the Heath fight story.
Starting point is 00:50:42 All right. DeAndre Swift, is RB Blank rest of season? 12th. Blank will be the only viable running back for the Bucs rest of season? No, just kidding. I think Rashad White and Leonard Fournette are both viable, so I think they're both borderline top 24 running backs. If one of them
Starting point is 00:50:57 gets hurt, the other one's top 12. Chris Olave will be a top blank wide receiver next season. Ooh. I don't know what the Saints' path is to fixing their quarterback situation. So I'm going to assume that their level of quarterback play is similar to this year.
Starting point is 00:51:16 They don't have a first-round pick, right? They sent that to the Eagles, who have a top-five pick now. Just what they needed. Yeah, I know. Top 20 for Ave. Yeah. I love his ability to get open. I mean, he looks like he's a great
Starting point is 00:51:32 route runner. He and Garrett Wilson are both stars, and the answer to which one of those guys is going to be better may be determined by their quarterback situation. Right. Okay. And Jamison Williams will make a blank impact this season. Negligible.
Starting point is 00:51:51 Yeah. Unfortunately. I mean, he could have a big week 16 or a big week 17. It's just, I think his start at fantasy points might be zero. Exactly. Oh, it's time for the fantasy cops. We're settling your league disputes. This one is from Timothy and you can email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com That's the letter I. Put fantasy cops in the
Starting point is 00:52:14 subject line. Timothy is 11-2 heading into the final week before the playoffs in a 16-team dynasty league. There are two divisions and the winner of each division gets a first-round buy. My buddy, the league commissioner, is also 11-2 and in the same division.
Starting point is 00:52:30 However, he holds the head-to-head tiebreaker because he beat me in Week 1. I brought it up as a joke that we should flex the schedule for the last game of the regular season to play each other this week for the buy and for the division. And now that Week 13 has ended, here's the thing.
Starting point is 00:52:46 Both teams we play this week in week 14 are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. And no matter who wins a matchup between us, the playoff seeding will be exactly the same. One of us will get the one seed and one of us will get the three seed. I'm obviously down for the change to flex the game so that they face each other. And his response was bring it on.
Starting point is 00:53:06 So my question for the fantasy cops is, can we give the people what they want and flex the game so that they face each other. And his response was bring it on. So my question for the fantasy cops is, can we give the people what they want and flex the game of the year to prime time? Or do the fantasy purists say no. Wow. Here's the, I'm really racking my brain for a reason to say no, because it feels like the answer to changing the fantasy schedule in the middle of the season should absolutely 100% be no,
Starting point is 00:53:32 but this is a lot of fun. Yeah. And the only person who's going to be hurt by this seems to want to do it. One of them. Well, that's the only thing I thought of is the only person who could get hurt by it would be the the commissioner who's got the one seat and stands more to lose by doing this but also the the other teams that might play them in the first round of the playoffs like if one team
Starting point is 00:53:59 is much stronger than the other and you'd rather face team a than team b then this is kind of screwing with that potentially right that's but not necessarily yeah the point of this game is we forget this often it's entertainment and fun and this is entertaining and fun if i was the league commissioner and i held the tiebreaker and i'm playing a team that's not in contention no we can't change the schedule in the middle of the season. No way. I would not do this. Yeah, he shouldn't do it.
Starting point is 00:54:30 But for, but if he's willing to do it, what do you think? I think, I think take a league vote. And if you get, it's a 16 team league. I mean, if you, if you get, if you get like 75% saying, yes, 75% of the people to participate in the league vote, I will be shocked. I ran a league vote in our staff dynasty league, 14 teams. All people who work at CBS or in the industry trying to change the playoff structure asked for votes three different times and got five votes. All right.
Starting point is 00:54:59 Somebody did bring up a point. It is a slippery slope and would set a precedent. And I kind of agree with that. I think I have to lean towards no. Okay. I will side with that. It's not fun, but you know, fantasy football's about fun. Fantasy cops,
Starting point is 00:55:14 it's about the letter of the law. That's right. So let's get out the law book here for Jake. Long story short, I'm the sixth seed and seven teams make the playoffs. My league mate, who is in the seventh spot, dropped an egg on... Oh, this is from last
Starting point is 00:55:30 week. Okay, this is from last week. Okay. He dropped an egg on Thursday night with Dawson Knox getting a zero, and he is projected to lose by close to 50. He's literally starting Benny Snell and Ty Johnson at running back. So, he ends up trading his Adam Thielen and Jamar Chase
Starting point is 00:55:45 for Tyler Boyd and James Connor, who's on a bye. And his trade partner happens to be my opponent, who has zero chance of making the playoffs. What should we do? Is this okay? We have no rules against trading when out of the playoffs. Ten years, this hasn't happened. Now, it's
Starting point is 00:56:01 interesting, Heath, is that Jamar Chase actually didn't end up playing last week, but he traded to make the number six, is that Jamar Chase actually didn't end up playing last week, but he traded to make the number six seeds opponent. Jamar Chase played last week. Not two weeks. Oh, wait. Last week was when the Bills played. Yeah, this was last week. Oh, okay. Alright. I'm sorry. My bad. I got confused. I went back
Starting point is 00:56:17 too many weeks. Alright, so yeah, anyway, he traded to make the six seeds opponent stronger because he was in the seventh seed and knew he was going to lose. Seven teams make the playoffs here. What do you think? Yay or nay? I don't really like this at all, but what I would do is I would ask the seventh seed, why did you make that trade? And if his answer is truthful and he says, because I was trying to make another team stronger to beat this team, then I would kick him out of the league. Because that's collusion.
Starting point is 00:56:49 You're making a trade to help somebody else with not trying to help yourself at all. Is that collusion? No, it is helping yourself. It's helping yourself get in the playoffs. It's not helping yourself get in the playoffs. Seven teams get in the playoffs. He's in seventh place. Winning would help him get in the playoffs.
Starting point is 00:57:01 But he can't win. He's going to lose. Then he needs to worry about the eighth seed. The sixth seed's not going to keep him from the playoffs. The sixth seed's already ahead of him. If he's going to lose, he's not going to get ahead of the sixth seed by the sixth seed losing. But he's going to still stay within
Starting point is 00:57:15 striking distance where maybe he'd be able to do that the following week. I think I'm okay with this. No. I would kick him out of the league. Plus, he made his team worst. He did make his team worst, but he got Connor. He's going to trade these guys back for the next week? I don't think it's collusion. Well, he could have an answer that would satisfy me to believe that as well.
Starting point is 00:57:37 But if his answer is, I was trying to make this other team stronger so they could beat this team, then that is. It doesn't feel like collusion. Collusion is when two people get, I don't really know what collusion is. I mean, I know what it is, but I don't want to define it. I've read the definition during this segment 17 times, but I'd be happy to do it again. No, it's not this though. I mean, he is doing this for the benefit of his team. The collusion would be to do it solely for the benefit of the other team.
Starting point is 00:58:07 He is trying to benefit his team. Illegal cooperation or conspiracy, especially between ostensible opponents. They are ostensible opponents. They're not. Yes, they're competing in the same league. You have no friends in a fantasy football league. They're not competing.
Starting point is 00:58:22 Secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy, especially in order to cheat or deceive others. No, it's not cheating or deceiving. I don't think it's collusion. Now, if his argument is, the eighth seed can't catch me, I want James Conner for the playoffs, I have plenty of wide receivers,
Starting point is 00:58:39 then I would take that and say, okay. Now he's just going to say that. Okay, let's read some emails here real quick. This is from Kansas City, or no, from KC. My bad. From KC. Okay, you have to bench one of these players in PPR this
Starting point is 00:58:58 week. Bam Knight, Deontay Foreman. So Bam Knight's got the Bills, Deontay Foreman, the Seahinite's got the Bills, Deontay Foreman the Seahawks, Samajai Pirine, and James Conner. Well, if Mixon plays, then you bench Samajai Pirine. If Mixon is out again, then you bench Deontay Foreman. From Kevin, Donovan Peoples-Jones or Zay Jones?
Starting point is 00:59:23 Zay Jones. Zay Jones. Oh my gosh. My wife just scared the crap out of me. She came in the room and like totally quiet and took something out of a bag and just scared the absolute crap out of me on the air. Okay, I'll get you back for that.
Starting point is 00:59:37 Tampa Bay DST or Pittsburgh DST? Pittsburgh. The other night it was like almost midnight no tampa bay it was almost midnight and i was working and uh it was like quiet as a quiet as a mouse in the house and she came down the stairs
Starting point is 00:59:55 and said something to me and i was like oh my god i freaked out and like almost fell out of my chair and she just laughed at me for a while i'm very easily startled, which would not help me in the cage match. Travis has a trade. His trade deadline isn't done.
Starting point is 01:00:13 Okay. Who would you rather keep rest of season among these pieces? Ramondre Stevenson, Travis Etienne, or DeAndre Swift? He needs two of those. Rest of season? So I have to drop one of these guys? No, she's making trades.
Starting point is 01:00:27 Okay. I would rather have Swift and Stevenson rest of season. Friar Muther, Hawkinson. Hawkinson. Okay. And finally from Caesar. I am on the verge of locking in leg two of the fantasy triple crown in my league.
Starting point is 01:00:47 Most wins, most points, and champion. The triple crown is a big deal, right? I feel like it should be, LOL. Side note, I've had the most wins three or four years. Didn't get past the bye week each year. Can't let that happen this year. So I'm looking at week 16. Who should I start at quarterback in week 16?
Starting point is 01:01:04 Let me get the schedule up here. All right, what are his options? You got the email there? Carr, Watson, Goff, and Cousins are on waivers. Okay, Carr is at Pittsburgh. Cleveland, Watson has New Orleans. Detroit is at Carolina. And who was the other one, Cousins?
Starting point is 01:01:22 Minnesota gets the Giants. That'd be my pick as of right now. Yeah, I'd probably drop Carr and pick up Cousins and start Cousins this week. And the only way that you wouldn't start Cousins is if Watson over the next two weeks looks like himself again.
Starting point is 01:01:40 Yeah. Yeah, that's probably... Yeah. I mean, the Giants could get a lot healthier in the secondary at that point. Keep that in mind. But yeah, that's what I would think right now. You're in a 10 team league. You should have plenty of options. All right first one, I think they both involved a girl. Well, first one was in middle school, and we were at a high school football game, and this really small kid, kind of like you, actually, just kept bugging me about wanting to fight. And I didn't want to fight. I'd never fought before.
Starting point is 01:02:22 I had no interest. And he just kept bugging me and kept bugging me. And then he started, I had a girlfriend there. And so then he started saying things to her trying to get me to. And so at halftime, we left the stadium and went out into somebody's backyard next door to the stadium. And it was the stupidest fight I've ever been a part of. And neither one of us could fight worth a lick. But I hit him in the nose a couple times. So he came to school with black eyes the next day.
Starting point is 01:02:51 But it was a dumb, dumb fight. And I feel bad about it. Sorry. The second one was much worse. It happened in high school in the hallway. And I punched somebody first. And I just kept punching until a teacher showed up. So I didn't I punched somebody first, and I just kept punching until a teacher showed up, so I didn't get punched.
Starting point is 01:03:08 Oh, my God. Did you get in serious trouble? I was suspended from school. Suspended? You were not expelled? I was not expelled. Wow. They didn't used to expel kids for fighting.
Starting point is 01:03:21 I think I got a three-day suspension. Okay. I don't think they're... In my high school, four years, I did not got a three-day suspension. In my high school, four years had not seen a single fight in school. It may have led to exposure.
Starting point is 01:03:34 It's not good. It was bad. Don't fight. I'm not a fighter. Especially over girls who you're probably never going to think about again except for when you think regretfully about punching somebody. No kidding. All right. Things you could tell your middle school self. Thanks for watching and listening, everybody. For Heath and Thomas and half of Dave,
Starting point is 01:03:57 I am Adam. Talk to you tomorrow. It's Starter Set for the AFC Home Games. Later.

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