Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (AFC): Achane, Jacobs, Cooper and More (12/21 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 21, 2023

To display your continued support of the show, please vote for Fantasy Football Today in the Sports Podcast Awards in the "Best Fantasy Betting and Gaming Podcast" Category https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/fantasy-betting-gaming-sports-podcast/ Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts Get ready for a big Ken Walker week as we tell you the players we love (1:40) and the players to avoid (6:00) in Week 16. Are we sitting Austin Ekeler and Aaron Jones this week? We also have a lot of news and notes (9:25) to catch you up on ... One Question for Each Game (15:55)! Our thoughts on Tony Pollard, De'Von Achane, Amari Cooper, Dalton Kincaid and so many more ... Start or Sit for Cowboys-Dolphins (26:40), Raiders-Chiefs (33:15), Browns-Texans (37:50), Bengals-Steelers (53:40), Commanders-Jets (1:01:30), Seahawks-Titans (1:06:50), Patriots-Broncos (1:11:25) and Bills-Chargers (1:16:00) ... Email us at [e-mail] SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 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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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. This is going to go the distance. Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. What's up, everyone?

It is Thursday. Week 16 is 12 hours away from kicking off with the Rams and the Saints tonight. And we welcome you. I'm Adam Acer with Heath Cummings and Jamie Eisenberg. Start or sit for eight AFC home games. And they are Dallas at Miami, Las Vegas at Kansas City, Cleveland at Houston, Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, Washington at the Jets, Seattle at Tennessee,

the Patriots at the Broncos. Are we going back to Ezekiel Elliott this week? And Buffalo is at the Chargers. Are we going back to Stefan Diggs this week? How are you doing, Jamie Eisenberg? I'm doing very well. How are you guys? I'm good.

Heath, are you ready to rock the vote? I just realized that you're going to ask me a player that I love, and I don't have any idea who I'm going to say. Oh, well, you could love voting for us. I'm going to tell everybody. It's awards season. Oh, it is? Yeah, yeah.

We're nominated. We're a finalist for a podcast award. Well, for a different sports podcast award. I'll tell you about that in a little bit. Today's episode is presented by Salesforce. I am going to let Jamie tell us who his player that he loves is. And while he does that, Heath will go through his rankings and figure out which player he wants to

talk about. Jamie, who do you love? Yeah, I started the week for this week is Kenneth Walker. The third, um, live the setup for him against the Titans with Jeffrey Simmons.

Not there. We've seen this run defense fall apart for the last two weeks. Raheem most dirt two games ago. Not that he's the best barometer because he scores touchdowns on everybody, but he had 96 rushing yards and two touchdowns against them. The next week, however, Devin Singletary ran through them with over 120 rushing yards.

And I thought Walker looked pretty good in that game against Philadelphia, obviously a very tough run defense. And I thought, um, the involvement in the passing game is really something I'm curious about. Was that a drew lock thing? Or is that now maybe part of what his game will entail moving forward uh but seven catches on eight targets in his last two games again coinciding with a

quarterback change but we'll see but in any event um first touchdown on the ground last week since week six and i think he'll score again i think he'll be the catalyst of the offense against the titans and their run defense is very shaky right now. So top 10 running back for me in all formats. And I think you're the only one there that's that high on Ken Walker, who, by the way, is on the injury report with a shoulder injury. Actually, Dave has Walker in the top 12. Heath, you do not as of now. You're not even close.

Ken Walker's 23rd for you at Tennessee. Really trying to decide how much to adjust the split in touches based on last week. Because I think if the touches are the same as they were last week, and the snaps were about even, but if Walker's dominating touches over Zach Charbonnet like he did last week, then top 12 is absolutely possible.

We'll keep an eye on the shoulder injury, but it's early. You know what's funny? We talk about a lot of things going into games. I feel like we never talk about long trips. I don't know. I mean, Tennessee is not exactly on the East Coast, but this is a Monday night team. Right? They play Monday night or Sunday?

They play Monday night. They play Monday, and then they have to travel for a 1 o'clock start. You know I always hate that. I know, but we never really talk about that anymore. I don't know if it's still a thing. Well, I think it's not necessarily as prominent, I think, as it used to be because travel has become a lot easier for these teams. But yes, usually you see West Coast teams with the one o'clock Eastern start.

There is somewhat of an issue. But yes, you're right. It used to be something like, oh my God. Yeah, yeah. You know, you always yell at me. It's not that big a deal. No, I don't know if I did. I used to look into it and look at, oh, here's what they've done.

The last three years they've done this. Here's it. But I don't get it. Anyway, Heath, who do you love? I'm going to say Rasheed Rice. This is a spectacular matchup. We talk about how the Raiders play defense. They take away the big play. They give the underneath stuff. Rice has gotten eight under five this season. He has been

one of the best wide receivers in the NFL in terms of yards after catch. And while the Raiders are actually above average in terms of preventing receiving yards, they give up the fourth most yards after catch. So this is just a perfect matchup. This was the matchup one month ago where Rice turned into the wide receiver one that he now is, had eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown in that game, and has basically been a wide receiver one ever since. He's a top 12 wide receiver for me this week. I would start him over Kupakup and Pukunukua and Chris Olave tonight.

All right. And you know, I think Heath, I think it extends to my homes in terms of the matchup, right? I mean, I kind of brought it up last week, you know, was talking about him being a tough call at New England. Does he struggle against teams that don't give up a lot of yak New England being one of them, but I think he will succeed.

This was his best game. The Raiders game is his best game in a while. I think it just plays into what the Chiefs do, right? I mean, it probably depends on how many balls that hit his receiver in both hands turn into interceptions. But if the receivers catch all of the balls that hit both of their hands, he might score 40 fantasy points.

Stop throwing a Tony. Let's transition now and talk about players to avoid. And Jamie, who's someone to sit this week? I would sit Austin Eckler. We saw a three-way split last week before the game got out of hand with him using Isaiah Spiller, trying to get him involved. We'll see if the coaching change matters without Brandon Staley there

and how the offense looks. But Buffalo's defense is really good, and they just shut down a great Cowboys defense. I know it was in their building, and take that for what it is, how Dallas has looked on the road against some tough opponents. But I think they're getting right at the right time in terms of Buffalo's, you know, run defense. They shut down Tony Pollard.

And so, you know, it's funny because, like, it's easy to say, oh, Austin Eckler is a great player. Think about what the last month has been. He's had one good game, and it was against Denver. And everybody does well against Denver. So, is he really just a set-it-and-forget-it type of guy? I don't think so. So, I'm looking

to get him out of my lineup if I had to. I don't have him in any teams because the teams that drafted him were out of the playoffs. So, this to me is not a slam-dunk start. I would try and bench him if he can. He does not have a carry longer than nine yards in four straight games, Austin Eckler. How about you, Heath?

Who are you trying to avoid? Another old running back, and this one might be controversial because of the matchup, but I am not trusting Aaron Jones. Another guy that really, since he had those two incredible catch and runs in week one. And basically when, even when he's been healthy, hasn't been very good since then. 3.7 yards per carry since then only 4.7 yards per reception had 17 touches last week and produce 70 yards and no touchdowns. I don't like his chances of being efficient.

I don't know that the Packers are willing to throw the ball a whole bunch so that he has a bunch of catches. And so it's just kind of a mess spot for me. I would start Eckler over him. He's not a top 24 running back for me. And I agree with what Jamie said about Eckler. AJ Dillon also practiced yesterday. So that definitely, if he plays, that certainly complicates things for Aaron Jones.

All right, so we love Ken Walker, or at least Jamie does. Rasheed Rice, we are trying to avoid Austin Eckler. And Jamie, are you also trying to avoid Aaron Jones? No, I don't mind Aaron Jones. I think you're looking at a situation where, first off, Dylan's injury matters. But they may not have two of their top receivers. And so how much they throw against this team matters. But if they don't throw a lot, I can't imagine they're not running the ball.

So as much as Dylan may be a part of this, I think Aaron Jones is going to get a lot of touches. And so a lot of touches against the Panthers usually lends itself to a lot of production. So he's a top 20 running back for me. I would definitely start him over. Big news. We need your help.

This is the easiest. I know I've asked you to sign up for things and vote for us. This one is the easiest one. It is so simple. We are a finalist for the best fantasy betting and gaming podcast. It's a category and the sports podcast awards. So to help us bring home some hardware, use the link in the episode description, or we also have a QR code on YouTube. The whole process should take about 30 seconds. But there's a link in the episode description. Also, let me see.

Is it just sportspodcastawards.com? Is that how we get there? Yes, you can just go to sportspodcastawards.com and then you can vote. There's a vote now, but I'm doing this right now.

Vote now, and then it is in the fantasy betting and gaming category. You vote for us. You answer, like, two questions. It is so quick. And please, love to win this one.

Be a nice holiday present for us. Help us out. News and notes. Trevor Lawrence is in the concussion protocol, but he is progressing. We'll see, at Tampa Bay this week. C.J. Stroud is likely out this week. Kenny Pickett was limited. They haven't ruled him out yet for that game against Cincinnati.

And Geno Smith is going to play this week. Running back, Jonathan Taylor was listed as a full participant. Zach Moss was listed as a did-not-practice. Are you guys ranking Jonathan Taylor yet? Yes. And where are you ranking him? Top 10. RB12?

Yeah, 10-12, I think. Bold prediction time? Yes. And where are you ranking him? Top 10. RB12? Yeah, 10-12, I think. Bold prediction time. He is going to be the first running back to score a rushing touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons in 2023. All right, come on. Antonio Pierce said that if he were a betting man, and for those of you who don't remember, he's the coach of the Raiders now.

If he were a betting man, he would bet on Josh Jacobs playing and also their left tackle, Colton Miller. So Jacobs. Probably maybe should change that phrasing from now on if you're a coach. Like, I'm not a betting man, but just clarify that you don't want any investigations into this kind of stuff. No, he's in Vegas. It's fine. I do not believe it is at all. AJ Dillon practicing. As long as I bet on the NFL or bet on the NFL in the building. It's fine. I do not believe it is at all. AJ Dillon

practiced. As long as he hasn't been on the NFL or been on the NFL in the building. That's true. That's true. Ken Walker listed as a DNP. Brian Robinson was working off to the side, so we'll see if he's able to get back for the game at the Jets. Samaje Pirine missed practice. I don't think that's anything. Does he like Brussels sprouts?

What's that? Does he like Brussels sprouts? Off to the side. Off to the side. Off to the side. Oh. Still not sure I get it. Aside. That's okay.

It's all right. Ramondre Stevenson mispracticed. Still not expecting him. Alexander Madison. Sorry, tell me the Rudolph joke again. I haven't gotten to that game yet. I totally planned on it. Alexander Madison mispractice. Still not expecting him. Alexander Madison. Sorry, tell me the Rudolph joke again. I haven't gotten to that game yet. I totally planned on it. Alexander Madison mispractice.

So still hopefully looking like a Ty Chandler week, but a much tougher matchup. Wide receivers. Tyreek Hill mispractice, but that doesn't mean he won't play. Are we expecting Tyreek Hill? I hope so. We are, but

this will have a big... If he gets to Friday and he's not practicing and he's just going to play without practicing, I'm going to be super nervous. Well, there's probably some people that have to make a Puka versus Tyreek decision. Yeah. Or a Stafford versus Tua

decision. I'd start Stafford no matter what, but sure. So, yeah, I mean, Josh McDaniel, like I said, he said that Mike McDaniel. Josh McDaniel? What is he even talking about? I combined the two coaches. Sorry.

He said, look at all this money I'm getting for doing nothing? He said that Tyreek Hill was close to playing last week. Anyway, Chris Olave expected to play tonight. Keenan Allen not expected. Is he ruled out, Keenan Allen? Or just not expected to play? You're getting your Los Angeleses confused. The Chargers play on the weekend.

The Rams play tonight. I know. So he just didn't practice. They did not rule anybody out yet. It's a Saturday game. I think... Okay, they haven't ruled Keenan Allen out. I know he So he just didn't practice. Yeah, but it's a Saturday game. It's a Saturday game. I think, okay, they haven't ruled Keenan Allen out. I know he's playing Saturday, but he missed practice.

So we're not expecting Keenan Allen. Jamar Chase is likely out. Nico Collins was limited in practice. So that's cool. That'll be a tough decision. I think Nico Collins without CJ Stroud at Cleveland. Jaden Reed and Christian Watson mispractice. Zay Flowers mispractice, but I think he should play.

Michael Pittman was listed as limited, so let's keep our fingers crossed that he continues to trend in the right direction, Michael Pittman. And Marquise Brown and Greg Dortch mispractice, with Brown being a bigger concern there. Tight end Hunter Henry mispractice, and Donald Parham is off the injury report, which is, if you were looking at Gerald Everett,

that's not great news for him. On the offensive line, the Dolphins news for him. On the offensive line, the Dolphins are super beat up on the offensive line. Zach Martin missed the first practice of the week for the Cowboys. Ryan Ramchick, the right tackle for the Saints, he's out tonight. Jacksonville getting some good news

on their offensive line. Same with the Raiders. Chicago offensive lineman Tevin Jenkins missed practice. On defense, the big stuff here is that Jonathan Hankins for the Cowboys, the key to their run defense, he missed practice. So did their safety Malik Hooker. Miami's got some injuries in the secondary to keep an eye on. Houston still beat up Jimmy Ward.

Jimmy Ward is a big deal. Quarterbacks do well when he doesn't play, and he's safety for the Texans. He did not practice. He's in the concussion protocol. Carolina's Texans. He does not, did not practice. He's in the concussion protocol, Carolina's top cornerback, Dante Jackson. He missed practice, but the bucks are getting healthy.

So keep that in mind. Uh, the bucks are getting healthy as they face the Jaguars. Vita VEA was limited. Devin white and Carlton Davis. They practice in full. That's actually pretty huge news. Well,

Devin white, we got to see if he's playing. He was a healthy scratch last week. Oh, wow. Okay. Really, Devin White, we got to see if he's playing. He was a healthy scratch last week. Oh, wow. Okay. Really? Yeah. Yep.

Okay. And for Detroit, C.J. Gardner-Johnson practice. He's been out for a long time. Jeffrey Simmons still out for Tennessee. He missed practice. Steelers have a lot of injuries, a lot of injuries. They're beat up. And suspensions.

And the Bills. Their starting safeties are not playing. Correct. And Cameron Hayward's in the concussion protocol and the bills, they got some good news with some key players limited in practice. All right. Time for a break. And then one question for each game.

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through banks, credit unions, and associations, or visit SecurianCanada.ca. SecurianCanada. Insurance designed for life. Let's go to one question for each game. We'll start with the big one in Miami. Dallas is at Miami. Who do you guys like better?

Tony Pollard or Devon HN? I know where he most starts ahead of both of them, but who do you like better Pollard or HN? Pollard. If I was asked this question during one of our ask FFT sessions, I would say Pollard for floor HN for ceiling probably, but like they're very, very close.

I think I lean HN just barely, but probably. But they're very, very close. I think I lean A-Chan just barely. But they're both RB2s. Okay. Are you optimistic about these guys? Because the Dolphins have been really good against running backs. A-Chan's been not great since coming back, except for two late touchdowns against Washington. Are you optimistic about them or kind of nervous about them?

Nervous. Yeah, a little nervous. But they're RB2s. Las Vegas at the Raiders. Are we starting basically all of the key... Las Vegas at the Chiefs. Are we starting basically all of the key players in this game?

I guess. Jacoby Myers is not a key player right no so it'd be jacobs adams mahomes pacheco rice kelsey yes assuming jacobs place jacobs is probably the trickiest he's in that pollard hn range yeah i don't think he's a top 10 guy, but he's most likely starting. Yeah, but what about that Adams versus Snead matchup? He shadowed him the entire game last time, and Adams had 12.3 fantasy points. Yeah, I mean, he's a number two receiver. Like, who's benching him in the semifinals at this point? I don't feel super confident about finding more than 12.3 ppr

fantasy points on my on my bench or on the waiver wire okay yeah like i like if if you were telling me this week for example don tavian wicks was playing the bucks right okay maybe if reed and watson are out that i consider it but against the panthers like that's that's the type of guys available like josh palmer no tyler boyd no way you know like those are the guys that you're I consider it. But against the Panthers, that's the type of guy that's available. Josh Palmer, no. Tyler Boyd, no way. Those are the guys that you're picking up this week. Okay. So Cleveland's at Houston.

There are a lot of flexy players in this game. Who is the best flex in this game? So among all the running backs, tight ends, and wide receivers, who's the best one? So I guess the only must- guys would be Cooper and the joke. Oh, assuming Nico Collins is out. Well, let's say Nico's in.

Uh, he was limited. Nico would be a starter, but I would go with the premise of Nico being out at this point. Right. So I would say the flex options would be Ford, Singletary, Noah Brown, right? No, no. It's not like you guys have Cooper ranked in the top 20.

So he's right around 24. How can you bench Amari Cooper at this point? Well, why is he so low then? Why is he behind a guy like Cortland Sutton? It's not a bad week at receiver. It's like, I mean, if you were to show me one rank list and say Cooper's 15 and one that says he's 22, I'd just, you know, probably, you know,

I'm sure Heath's projections are like, you know, decimal points apart from each other. Yeah, like, yeah, I think Cooper's the best. Like if you're just asking who's the best running back wide receiver in this game, it's Cooper or tight. Who's the best non-quarter. Well,

the joke is like, he's not a flex. He's a, he's a top three tight end. I just want to know who you have, who you think is going to be the best quarterback. Who is going to be the best running back wide receiver tight end in this game?

Who's going to have a good game? Cooper's going to have a good game. The joke. Who? Cooper. All right. But in terms of the flex options, I would say if there's no Nico Collins, I would take Noah Brown over the two running backs.

Yes. Okay. I've got some negatives. Or the seven running backs. Touch the ball. Negative stuff on Noah Brown, though. Can we bench this question? Well, I guess I wanted to get

a gauge of how you felt about this game. Why don't you just say, rank the running backs and receivers in this game? I'm not going to make you rank six players. Cincinnati, there's a lot. No, I didn't. There are a lot of interesting players in that game, I think. We'll get a ton of Amari Cooper questions.

We won't get a lot of Najoku questions, but we'll get Noah Brown and Nico Collins. Devin Singletary is coming off a big game. Jerome Ford questions. We won't get a lot of Njoku questions, but we'll get Noah Brown and Nico Collins. Devin Singletary is coming off a big game. Jerome Ford had his first bad game in a while. All right. Anyway, Cincinnati at Pittsburgh. How much stock do you put into what happened in Week 12 when Pat Friermuth and Najee Harris were good

and everyone else was terrible? Oh, I'd forgotten about that Muth game. I was so ready to just not even consider him. Exactly. 120 yards. Yeah. It's tough to trust him, but if you are desperate, you say, okay, matchup. Because it's not like the matchup.

It's a matter of his performance has changed and he's had some tough matchups himself, but he's gone through three quarterbacks since then, you know, pick it, um, Trubisky and Rudolph. For me,

I actually think Najee Harris is going to play well. And I hate saying that, but DJ reader not being there is huge. It's absolutely huge. And he's got a great history against his team. Um, so the fact that you have third-string quarterback, big piece missing on the defense for Cincinnati,

I think we're going to see a lot of running from the Steelers. Not that that takes Deontay Johnson off the table, but I think in terms of that Week 12 game, just to answer your question, Najee had 15 carries for a touchdown. I think that's a similar stat. Whatever he does yards-wise, you know, you got to throw out because you just don't know what to expect. But I do think he'll get 15 to 20 touches,

and I think he'll score. Got a question here. Pat Fryermuth or Darren Waller? Waller. Waller. All right. It's like the only thing that Pittsburgh has going for it right now is Cincinnati.

It's the matchup. All right. Washington at the— And they're desperate. I mean, look, they need to win this game. Yes. Both teams do. But yeah, so do the Bengals. Washington at the Jets.

Do you think this is a big offensive game for the Jets? That's a good one. Did you write that joke yourself? It's hard to say big offensive game for them when Trevor Simeon is probably starting. But I mean, look, Garrett Wilson should be starting for you. And so should Brees Hall. Okay. Garrett Wilson or Amari Cooper?

I go back and forth. I think Wilson in PPR is a little bit safer. Seattle at Tennessee. Who's a better option? Who do you have more confidence in this week? DeAndre Hopkins or Derek Henry? I've actually gone back and forth on Henry, and I'm settled

on him having a good game. They have two home games left. He's 140 yards, I think, away. 120 yards away from a 1,000-yard season. Would not shock me if they try to get it done this week, and then depending on what happens, because they're eliminated,

they do get Jacksonville in week 18. So, you know, maybe that's the Swan song for him, but, um, this is a team you can run on. And I think he has an opportunity to run well here.

So I would take Henry. I'll go Hopkins and full PPR, Henry and everything else. New England's at Denver. Okay. Heath, are we going back to Ezekiel Elliott? 100%. No doubt about

it. Must start running back. Not even thinking about it. This is the ultimate get-right spot. He's still completely dominating touches. Don't even think about it. Put him in your RB1 spot. Yeah. All right. We did see four carries from Kevin Harris last week

at 11, I think, for Zeke. But a lot for Harris was when they were down by like 17 points or something. So I don't know. But he needs to dominate. He's got now two weeks in a row the two worst run defenses in football. Chiefs last week, Broncos this week. The Broncos are just in another

class. I know we'll get to this in the game. The tougher call for me is Javante. Zeke is easy. Javante's tough just because they're going to have the ball so game. The tougher call for me is Javante. Like, Zeke is easy. Javante's tough just because they're going to have the ball so much, the Broncos,

and that's typically been when he's had, you know, favorable game scripts. Yeah. But he's just so tough to trust. He really is. Yeah.

I was thinking that too. He'll probably have more than 15 carries, but if you think that they're going to have the ball so much, then why is Zeke easy? You know,

Zeke was always receptions. I mean, it's right, but, but he had five catches last week. He averaged 2.3 yards per carry against the chiefs. The chiefs, like I said,

they have the second worst run defense in football. I just don't, I don't know why he's easy coming off such a bad game in a, I don't, I don't necessarily agree that he's easy. He's easy in comparison to starter sit, but it depends on who you easy in comparison to starter sit, but it depends on who you're comparing him to.

I think if the question is, are you playing him or not playing him, I'm playing him because of the matchup. But he's gone from borderline top 15 guy to borderline top 24 guy. Who, Zeke? Yeah. Oh, not for Heath, right? Where do you have him, Heath? No, no, he's the number one running back for me. Top 12 guy.

So you would start Zeke over Walker? I would. Would you start him over, say, Travis Etienne at Tampa Bay? No. Okay. All right, last game is Buffalo at the Chargers. Do you trust Stefan Diggs and or Dalton Kincaid? I think this is the get-right game for Diggs.

I mean, this team's awful. And there's no weather elements. There's no reason to not take some shots down the field. You just saw four touchdowns, five if you want to count the passing touchdown, but four touchdowns from the Raiders wide receivers, two from Trey Turner. I mean, this should be as much of a layup as you could find.

And Diggs has been bad. Look, some of it's been game script, game flow. Some of it's been matchups. He's had tough matchups. The fact that they've won two games with him not doing very much is, I think, telling you where this team is at under Joe Brady and how much they're using James Cook. But, I mean, you want to quiet Stephon digs before he starts to get really pissy. Like this is the week to do it.

Yeah. Digs is a top 12 wide receiver. Kincaid is not a top 12 tight end. He's, he's, he's still top 12 for me, but he's 12. And again,

I think it's just the bills should be able to do whatever they want to. They really should. And you know, it, it, it's like i have one league where we start two flexes and i dropped gabe davis but before i realized i was the last team standing with fab left so i'm like you know i'll just pick up wicks and pick up palmer and i had

to drop two guys so davis one of the ones i dropped but before i before i realized that i was like maybe i start gabe davis just because this feels, I mean, Josh Allen could go for 40 points this week. Yeah, he certainly could. All right, let's get it going. Stefan digs and we'll hope we'll cross our fingers on Dalton. Can came Dallas is at Miami as we take a longer look at all of these games.

How about the lack of sacks? Dallas has three sacks in their last three games, three sacks combined, but they do have the fourth highest pressure rate in the NFL in that stretch. So just not getting home. We saw a similar stretch like that with the 49ers and they came out of that. And it's going to be tough for the Dolphins with all their offensive line injuries. The real stat of the game is something I already alluded to. In their last eight games,

the Dolphins have held DeAndre Swift, Pacheco, Brees Hall twice, Josh Jacobs, and Antonio Gibson to fewer than 12 PPR fantasy points. The only good running backs against the Dolphins in the last eight games were the Titans guys. Derrick Henry averaged two yards per carry but scored twice, and Tajay Spears had a big game receiving. So you already said you're a little nervous

to start Pollard, but you're going to start him. So that stat was 12 points. Most of the running backs are struggling to get there in PPR against the Dolphins. You think Pollard gets 12 points this game? Yes. Yeah, I think 12 sounds just about right. I've got him projected for 14.

It's going to be even better than that. All right. Your ridiculous stat of the game is that only two tight ends have more than five targets against the Cowboys, and they are both named Tyler. Tyler Conklin and Tyler Higby. So I don't think what happened to this game. Who do you like better, Dak or Tua, Heath? Dak by a lot.

Dak is a top three, top four quarterback for me this week. Tua is 10 or 11, and if Tyreek doesn't practice on Thursday, he might be 12 or 13 as I go into Friday, because I'll definitely move Stafford ahead of him right now. I've got him just ahead of Stafford.

So, you know, borderline top 12 for Tua, but what is your Tyreek Hill? Like, how does that factor in Tyreek Hill? He's right now you're factoring. That's expecting Tyreek Hill to play. Okay. If Tyreek Hill doesn't play, Tua won't be in my top 18 quarterbacks probably. I'd sit him for Nick Mullins if he didn't have Tyreek Hill to play. Okay. If Tyreek Hill doesn't play, Tua won't be in my top 18 quarterbacks, probably.

I'd sit him for Nick Mullens if he didn't have Tyreek. My, oh my. Jamie, Dak or Tua? Same, Dak. I think more upside at this point from what we've seen, certainly in the second half of the season. And you mentioned it before, when you asked about Pollard versus Etan,

and you said they're both well behind Mostert. Mostert is probably the safest play in this game. You know, maybe CeeDee Lamb, I guess, and Tyree Kill, if you want to just go based on what they're capable of doing. But, I mean, you just... I'm curious to see who's going to finish more rushing touchdown, Mostert or Christian McCaffrey. They're both at 20.

I mean, Mostert, it almost feels like he's getting to a game at this point and that's hard to overlook you know so you pencil them in for one touchdown and see how it goes and and and i know you know they're getting a key piece back on their defensive line the cowboys or potentially but i mean they could not stop james cook and as well as james cook has played in the last month where he most has been doing that all season so So they should still, despite their offensive line concerns, still be able to run on Dallas. Well, I don't know if Hankins plays, that'd be a big deal, but he didn't practice on Wednesday. So, you know,

Mostert doesn't catch passes. James Cook does. I'm saying run, just run. Yeah. Yeah. And by the way, you said, uh, McCaffrey and Mostert have 20 rushing touchdowns. You meant they have 20 total touchdowns. Mostert has 18 rushing. McCaffrey has 13 rushing, but they both have 20 total. So, yes, that is a fun race there. All right.

I guess my case for Tua would be he was awesome last week against the Jets. And I know it doesn't look like that. Cause he only scored 15 fantasy points, but to go 21 of 24 for 224 yards and a touchdown, have a passer rating of about 120 without Tyreek Hill against the number one, one of the best defenses in football. I, well against the jets,

you know, you can evaluate their defense differently, but, um, I thought that was impressive. So that was great. Uh, Oh yeah, that's my case. And then I think Tyreek Hill is going to play personally,

but I obviously don't know. So that's my case for Tua. A little low. Who are you going to start? You're going to start Jared Goff over him, Justin Fields? Brock Purdy. Purdy, yeah. Yeah.

Men's staff for two. Patrick Mahomes. Purdy, yeah. Yeah. Men's staffer, too. Patrick Mahomes. That middling quarterback. Yeah, that guy. That bust. All right. A lot of starts in this game. Are you sitting anyone that you usually start?

Or is this just kind of a bonanza, or what? Just start them all. Yep. All right, let's do some A-chans. Brandon Cooks. You can sit him. A-chan or, you know what? How about Waddle?

Waddle's been pretty disappointing this year and then obviously had the two big games against the Jets, which was surprising, one of them without Tyreek Hill. But how do you feel about Jalen Waddle with or without, you know, in both scenarios, Jamie, in the Tyreek Hill scenarios? I would assume, based on how things have gone, uh, whoever is,

uh, lined up across from bland is going to see a lot of targets. Yeah. Um, right. But I don't know who that's going to be. I mean, I don't think,

well, look, they move up, they move them around as much. I just like, I know this is the best game. And so we want to be thorough, but I just don't think there's that much to talk about. Like're just we're starting Jalen Waddle we're starting we're

starting all these guys you wouldn't start Chris Godwin over Waddle would you I would not would you start Rashi Rice over Waddle yes I would not would you start Zeke over Waddle? No, I would not. All right, fine. I'll read some questions in the chat. A-Chan or Puka? Puka. Puka. Waddle or Ayuk? Waddle. Ayuk.

I'll just read stuff for this game here. That is fine. Oh, Dak or Lamar? Dak. Lamar. Yeah. I think the complication with anything this time of year is you got stacked teams, right? You got the final four.

So I do think there are some scenarios where people are making tough calls. There are some, though. Like I went through, I have 10 semifinals this weekend. And I was like, does drafting a quarterback make sense? And you may have some quarterback decisions to make. With Baker for example. I don't know how you feel Heath. I like Baker better than Tua this week.

And so that's one. You mentioned Nick Mullins. I don't think anybody's starting Mullins over these quarterbacks but there might be some questions. You don't have, every team's not necessarily stacked at every position. Sure, sure.

Okay. Las Vegas is at Kansas City. And we might be able to go through this one pretty quickly too. But one stat of the game is that Rasheed Rice has nine red zone targets in his last four games. That's tied for the most in the NFL. So he's just, everything's been great for Rishi Rice.

The other stat is how great LeJarrius Sneed has been, basically. And the Chiefs have held Calvin Ridley, DJ Moore, Garrett Wilson, Justin Jefferson, Keenan Allen, Tyreek Hill, A.J. Brown, and Stephon Diggs to 62 or fewer yards. And only in that group, only DJ Moore has scored. So, yeah, I mean, again, like Adams,

if you have a stacked team, he scored 12.3 PPR fantasy points last time he faced the Chiefs. Do you think Adams goes over or under that number, 12.3 PPR? Over. All right. You said maybe Josh Jacobs, Heath,

could be a tough call so talk about what you expect from him this week assuming he plays well i think the reason is because he's coming off of an injury and so is he going to still get the same percentage of touches that he has and we've seen a lot of really bad inefficiency if this turns into a game where the chiefs just do to the raiders what they did to the Chargers last week, and Jacobs is 70%, then how much does he play? So I think it's safest just to view him as a low-end number two running back. It's probably a decent matchup, but he's not a must-start. This was the game, correct me if I'm wrong,

where he was really good against the bad teams after Antonio Pierce took over. Then he had a bad game, I think, and then we were worried about his role in the pass game, and he caught passes in this one. He had a great game. He had 20 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown and four catches for 15 yards against the Chiefs.

So he had everything going for him in that game. That's his only game since week five with more than two catches. Right. That was our concern. Cause the first two games against the jets and the giants, he was just all carries. Yeah.

Cause, because they were, they won those games. Right. And we were like, well, as if they play from behind, is he going to get any catches?

And Aiden O'Connell has kind of up and down in terms of throwing to running backs inconsistent, but they, they lost to the dolphins and he had one target right and they lost to the vikings and he had two catches i don't remember what how early he left that game but he had 13 carries he played most of it very late you know you mentioned the dolphins game because i remember the dolphins game was right before the chiefs game and he had 14 carries for 39 yards and one catch in a loss, not a blowout loss,

but a loss to the Dolphins. They were pretty competitive for most of the game. And so I think we were actually pretty nervous about Jacobs going into the last Chiefs game as we thought they're going to be playing from behind.

He's not going to catch any passes. And he went out, he had an amazing game, maybe his best of the year, 22.5 fans. And I think that's when the Chiefs run defense started to fall apart, right?

That I don't know. All right, so Heath, would you start... I think that's when the Chiefs' run defense started to fall apart, right? That I don't know. So, Heath, would you start... A-Chan or Jacobs? I'd probably start A-Chan. Same. If, what's his name, is out, Madison is out, would you start Ty Chandler or Jacobs? Chandler.

I'd go Jacobs. How Ty Chandler or Jacobs? Chandler. I'd go Jacobs. How about Garrett Wilson or Jacobs? Wilson. Wilson in PPR, Jacobs in non-and-half. How about Pacheco, guys? How do you feel about him? Top 10 running back. Yeah, I'm a little bit more

nervous about him as well, but it's just because of that coming back off of injury and it's Jarek McKinnon season in the red zone. Who are the quarterbacks you're starting ahead of Mahomes? Purdy, Allen, and Hertz. Allen, Hertz, and Deck. And who are the tight ends you're starting ahead of Kelsey? McBride.

All right. Yeah, Kelsey's one or two for everyone with McBride in there too. And Rice is top 14 in both formats. He's been a stud, as I mentioned. Jacoby Myers we're sitting, right? Yeah. I mean, he had a great game against them the first time around, but it's just tough to trust.

Yeah. And that's it. Oh, Chiefs DST. Actually, someone said, I have the Chiefs and the Bills. Someone in our chat, who would you go with, Chiefs or Bills? Bills. Sure. Okay. Mahomes or Fields, we have a question.

Mahomes for you guys. Mahomes, both of those. And Rice or Beans? Both. Rice. Yeah, Rice. And Rice or Garrett Wilson? Rice.

All right. Rice. Okay. To Cleveland at Houston. I think we have a little bit of a rankings dispute here with Joe Flacco. You want us to rank the flexes? Yes. Jamie's got Joe Flacco 12th and Heath 20th.

Is this right? Is this accurate? Yeah. I think that sounds accurate. Go ahead, Heath. You're avoiding Joe Flacco, who has scored 20 or more points in three straight games. Yeah. I just don't really trust it.

And maybe he'll continue throwing 44 passes every game and he'll get the big production in that way. But I don't actually think he's playing particularly well. I think there's been some pretty good fortune on a couple of the longer touchdown plays, including last week. And I think it could absolutely blow up. I get why. I think he scored more blow up. Like I get why he's,

he's going to score more fantasy points per game this season than Patrick Mahomes, but I just don't really trust it. Jamie. Yeah. I mean, it's over 20 fantasy points in the last three games. I would agree that he didn't play well last week, but I think the two games prior to that, I thought he actually played very well,

especially for not having a lot of practice with this team. This matchup is great. Five of the last seven quarterbacks have been over, I thought he actually played very well, especially for not having a lot of practice with this team. This matchup's great. The last seven quarterbacks have been over, I think, 23 fantasy points. And you mentioned they might be missing a key member of the secondary. So I think Flacco keeps going. I don't think they could run very well, and we saw this Texans run defense really step up last week in how they shut down Derrick Henry.

So their run defense has certainly been a lot better than their pass defense, which is a flip from a year ago. But I think Flacco keeps it going. So if I had to pick him up, I would be thrilled about it. I'd start him over Russell Wilson. I'd start him over Jordan Love. I would start him over Kyler Murray. Those are the three name guys, if you're looking at it. I'd start him over Geno Smith.

But yeah, I like the setup for Joe Flacco quite a bit. Yeah, so Jimmy Ward is the guy I talked about. He's their starting safety. And they've played seven games without Jimmy Ward or with Ward playing fewer than 40% of the snaps. And in those seven games, six quarterbacks have scored

22 or five quarterbacks scored 22 or more points against the Houston Texans. Is that all because of Ward? I don't know. And the weird thing is they have given up a lot of rushing touchdowns to quarterbacks in those weird thing is they haven't given up a lot of rushing touchdowns, the quarterbacks in those games. So they've only given up multiple passing touchdowns

three times this year, the Houston Texans. It's an interesting matchup. But they also, Will Anderson is not practicing either. So he's a great edge rusher for them. They're pretty beat up. All right. You've heard two sides of the coin there for Joe Flacco. There you go.

You guys are avoiding Jerome Ford this week? Bye-bye. I would like to. Yeah, I think it's very possible that you're in a situation where he's your best flex option, but you think he's RB30 for me? I'm going to go ahead and make him RB32 now, looking at two guys that had him right behind. So not an awful

flex if you have to but not somebody you want to start as your rb2 the streak was broken yeah now it won't happen again well that's the thing with these guys when they keep scoring fantasy points for him it was 11.1 or more fantasy points in i think eight of nine games before last week they keep scoring it but it seems really fluky. You almost feel like a little obligated to start him or consider starting him. Then he finally has that bad game, 7.1 points last week against Chicago.

And now you feel like, okay, I can sit him. I always wanted to sit him, but now I'm going to sit him. Well, it's, look, again, you know, the Texans run defense has been a little bit up and down. Last week was great. And I think just, he's still splitting so look again, you know, the Texans run defense has been a little bit up and down. Last week was great. And I think just, he's still splitting so much with Kareem. And it's basically the, the offense has changed with Flacco. You know, they've become more reliant on their passing game.

The offensive line has fallen apart a little bit. That's been, you know, an issue also. And so how does he get there? And that's the thing. It's like, you can't say, also. And so how does he get there? And that's the thing. It's like you can't say, okay, he's going to do this. You know, you can say his role in the passing game

was he'd be three catches. You know, I think he's going to have a five, six catch game. And so it's just, it's just not necessarily the best situation. Now, I hope personally he has a good game.

You know, I said it to Sid because he's my RB2 against Thomas in the baked burger semifinals. Going up against the juggernaut. The juggernaut Thomas Schaefer. I'm all in on the Browns. I got Flacco, Ford, and Njoku versus him.

So hopefully that comes through. All right, good luck. It's my Browns. They become my Browns versus Thomas' Vikings. He's got Mullins, Addison, and I think maybe one more. Probably you'd rather have Vikings in general. But no, actually, I mean, I know I have Cooper in that league, but he's not doing anything this week because I've been eliminated.

All right, so no Ford. Oh, Ford or Eckler? Eckler. Eckler. And sit Kareem Hunt if you can. All right, Amari Cooper. Who's been better, though? Ford.

Yeah. Amari Cooper. Who's been better though? Ford. Amari Cooper is top 24 and he has been just really good with anyone other than Dorian Thompson-Robinson. 77 or more yards and 7 of 9 healthy games without Dorian Thompson-Robinson. I went back and watched his

touchdowns. This guy's got the flukiest touchdowns, man. He had a 43-yard touchdown catch. It was wide open, busted coverage. I don't know if you remember the 11-yard touchdown catch. It was deflected up in the air at the line of scrimmage, and it just somehow landed miraculously in his arms in the end zone. Then he had that long

catch and run last week. So touchdowns are hard to come by for him. Njoku is a must-start. He's top six for everyone in both forms. I think he's top five in PPR. Keenum, we're going to sit. Are we even considering the possibility of Stroud playing right now? I mean, what if he does play?

How much would that change things? I don't think it necessarily changes much, to be honest with you, outside of having another quarterback option. Because, like you said, we're sitting Keenum. Stroud plays. He's in that Flacco, Geno, um, Mullins range for me, you know, so like 13 through 15, uh, not a slam dunk, but you know, certainly someone you'd like to have.

The real question is Nico playing because Nico Collins and Noah Brown are tied. In my opinion, tied directly to each other. When, when Nico has been out, Noah Brown has been fantastic. Hasn't been tank Dell. It's been Nico. Now you could say Tank Dell. It's been Niko. Now you could say, okay, Niko and Dell missed last week, and maybe that's what helped Brown. But I think that's a tough call for me.

I'm sure it'd be a tough call for a lot of people. How much do you trust Niko Collins with a calf injury against the Browns with Case Keenum? So he would probably not be a top 24 receiver. He'd be just outside it. So top 30. How much higher would Nico Collins rank if he plays

than Noah Brown if Nico doesn't play? Pretty similar. Yeah, pretty similar. I want to talk about this a little bit. First of all, Nico Collins in tough matchups. He has been so good.

I mean, he had 80 yards at Baltimore. He had 168 yards and two touchdowns against Pittsburgh, who at different times of the year was good or bad. So I don't know if that counts. He had 80 yards against the Saints on only six targets. He struggled at Carolina. And then he had 34 fantasy points against Denver and he was not shadowed by Patrick Sertan in that game for some reason.

Now all of that obviously was with CJ Stroud and who is not, he's not going to play. It's almost certain he's not going to play. Cleveland is number two against wide receivers. So it's a tough matchup. So you said if he played, he'd be like 30th. Top 30.

Yeah. Like I'd start him ahead of Adam Thielen, Tyler Lockett, Deontay Johnson, those type of guys, which is kind of where I have Noah Brown right now. Noah Brown, Heath, I want to know what you think of this. Look at the big games he's had. He's had big games, huge games. Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, and Tennessee. They're all bad against wide receivers,

and they all give up a lot of deep balls. They're all bad. They give up big plays. The Browns do not. So Noah Brown is the new Gabe Davis. So this is not looking like a good matchup for him. So what do you think about him? I just think he's got, if you start three wide receivers and Niko's out,

Noah Brown probably has too much upside to sit. But if Niko plays, it's easy to get away from him. If it's a two wide receiver league, it's probably pretty easy to get away from him. He's just like, he's the new Gabe Davis. Gabe Davis isn't Gabe Davis anymore. But he's right there in that wide receiver 27 to 33 range, depending on how you feel about a lot of those guys that Jamie said, the Adam Thielen range. Yeah.

But the three games you referenced were all three games that Nico Collins missed. Is that true? I thought it was just two games that he missed. It might have been. The first one might have been when he first got hurt. Yeah thought it was just two games that he missed. It might have been. The first one might have been when he first got hurt. Yeah, it was week 10. He had a big game and Nico Collins played in that game.

It was two of three games. But he didn't finish that game, though. He didn't finish that game at Cincinnati? No. Okay. Tank Dell did play in that game. Yeah, I'm telling you. It's directly tied to Nico Collins.

That's the role that he plays. But I would say it's also tied to Tampa Bay, Tennessee, and Cincinnati. Very favorable matchups. Yeah, but I mean, you look in the other games, he's had like the last two games prior to this, he had five targets and no catches. Like his role is different. We've got a request for the Magic 8-Ball.

The Jets and the Broncos, though. Right, those games were the Jets and the Broncos. You have two things at play there. You're right. You have the Nico Collins factor. You also have the matchup factor. And this game is unfortunately, could be no Nico Collins, which is good, but terrible matchup. All right, Magic 8-Ball.

But also just keep in mind for the Browns, no Grant Delpit's pick. It's true, yeah. I think Juan Thornhill was out last week, too, if I recall. Another safety for them. I don't know. Did you do the Magic 8-Ball? No, I can for fun. All right the Magic 8-Ball? No, I can for fun. Alright, Magic 8-Ball, if

Wait, for fun, what was the prior purpose? Generally, you use it for actually making decisions? Just for Gabe Davis. Okay. Yeah. Magic 8-Ball, if Nico Collins and CJ Stroud are out, should I start Noah Brown

at the Browns? Oh, come on now. No doubt about it. All right. You're on the record, Magic 8-Ball. Let's talk lastly. I know we spent a lot of time on this game, but... Did you expense the Magic 8-Ball?

Also, that game is in Houston, which makes it better. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Houston running backs. Why so low on Devin Singletary? Last I checked, not in your top 24. Another one that I struggle with.

He's been fantastic outside of the one game where they decided, hey, let's give Damian Pierce more carries again. So four of his last five, two of those were without Damian Pierce. The last two have been basically Pierce has just been sitting on the bench. Love his involvement in the passing game, and I think that matters here because of the lack of receiving threats out damien pierce the last two have been basically pierce has just been sitting on the bench um love his involvement in the passing game you know and i think that matters here because of the lack of receiving threats without nico collins without tank dell uh john metchie's banged up too so you know if if there is no nico i think he's as not a safe flex but a good flex you know it's like

i i put him in the same range as for me james connorner, Eckler, Conner, Eckler, Chuba. So 23 through 28, I think he's fine. It's hard to find flaws with him, to be honest with you. It's a strange thing, and I wrote about this in the running back preview earlier in the week. Running back's pretty deep this week now there's not a lot of guys that like there are a lot of guys in this singletary range where it's really easy to see how they could be good starts but they've got pretty risky profiles uh so i agree like the difference between 30 and 24 for me is really really negligible okay got some questions here from the chat. I also want to talk about Dalton Schultz, but don't let me forget.

Noah Brown, Wicks, or Zay Flowers? That's never happened. Noah Brown, Wicks, or Zay Flowers? Brown if Collins is out. Wicks if Collins is in. And Reed and Watson are out. If everybody's healthy for their respective teams, Zay Flowers. Sure.

Love Flacco or Gino? Flacco. Love for me. And, you know, Ashley, Jamie, I have a confession to make. When I first did the notes for this game, I'm doing the notes, and I wrote, sit the Houston tight ends. And then I said to myself, like, what am I doing? I forgot him again.

Is Dalton Schultz in your top 12? No, but he's, again, similar, better than Fryermuth. If you need a tight end, look, he got targets last week. Hopefully that was a shake the rust off game after missing two with the hamstring injury. No Delpit.

I'll tell you what, Komet scored a touchdown. Robert Tunyon should have had a huge touchdown if you're just looking at the Bears' tight ends last week, you want to talk about big plays. Justin Fields hit Robert Tunyon in the hands on what would have been a 72-yard touchdown or 62-yard touchdown.

Would have changed how you felt about Justin Fields, I'm sure. I think Delpit's injury is important here, plus the lack of potentially Nico Collins. He's not bad. Man, I'm just sour again now. Why? Thinking about the game that I lost last week on DeAndre Swift's next-to-last carry

that I had Justin Fields. And if you lost by less than 10 points and you had Justin Fields, you could feel like you really got the shaft. Has there been a stat correction yet on the first interception? I have not seen one. Those are usually today, right? really got the shaft. Has there been a stat correction yet on the first interception? I have not seen one.

Those are usually today, right? I think they're Wednesday, but yeah, it could be today. I did lose on DeAndre Swift not scoring because I was facing Jalen Hurts who had this stupid tush-push. It's just a consequential play. I mean, it's changed so many fantasy outcomes. Flacco, Kyler, Tua. Start two of them.

Not Kyler. You're starting Flacco and Kyler, Tua. Start two of them. From Dylan. Not Kyler. You're starting Flacco and Tua? Yeah. Noah Brown or Tyler Lockett? Brown if Nico's out. Brown's DST or Bill's DST? Bill's for me. All right.

See, this is why I asked that question earlier about this game. It's so interesting. Almost everyone in this game is ranked as a borderline start. I just think this is one of the toughest games with the most tough calls. I think we spent about 15 minutes on it. Let's take a break and come back with

Cincinnati at Pittsburgh. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football today. Did you know that across Ontario utility damage happens 19 times a day? That's over 4,222 incidents a year. Don't let your next dig be one that causes costly delays or safety risks. Before you break ground, make it a point to request a locate. It's not just the law. It's a step to keep your team and community safe. Visit OntarioOneCall.ca

and avoid unnecessary damages to get the job done right. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. If you'd be so kind and you're watching on YouTube, please hit that like button. That'd be great. Cincinnati's at Pittsburgh. Stat of the game. In their last nine games,

the Bengals have allowed 84 or more yards to eight wide receivers. They have been a great matchup, stat of the game. In their last nine games, the Bengals have allowed 84 or more yards to eight wide receivers. They have been a great matchup, but the Steelers have thrown for more than 190 yards in one of their last seven games. Starters at Deontay Johnson.

The touchdown guy. Three straight touchdowns. Last time he didn't score, the game against the Bengals. I think he's a good number three receiver. I don't want to say he's a must-start guy, but I think he's a good number three receiver I don't want to you know say he's a must-start guy but I think he's a good number three receiver you know he's gonna get targets they hate George Pickens at this point I mean that play last week that keeps making the rounds of him not blocking and then the excuse of I didn't want to have the tank dealt injury like who was it Warren I think Warren was a running back on that one yep like if he had

better standing on the team he should walk up to him and punch him in the face. Did you see what Warren said about it? No. He said, like, different guys play different ways. He diplomatically said, like, screw you, basically.

He diplomatically said, like, that was terrible. You know, I can try to find the quote, but Warren was obviously not happy, but he was mature about it. No one should be happy.

Yeah. It should have been a touchdown for Warren. It's the team. I mean, look, they're struggling they're in such a tailspin right now and then you see that guy repeatedly with the the uh the gestures and the gyrations on on not getting the ball and the frustrations of the quarterback

plate which everybody can understand but then you do that like yeah come on man i don't even i don't even understand why he's playing i mean that's obviously their call but uh uh warren said i see where he's coming from it is what it is at the end of the day he was doing what we thought was best for him and then he said some people play the game differently if i was in that position i would have blocked for him but we play differently so yeah for him well that's the weird thing is like there's there's a handful at least of videos of him just dominating people in run blocking. Occasionally, he just decides to just plant somebody.

It's weird. He's really unhappy. He could have literally driven the guy back into the back of the end zone and avoided any contact. Yeah. All right. So I got a little off track here. So Deontay Johnson's number three receiver. We talked a lot about T. Higgins yesterday,

but let's do it again here. T. Higgins or Amari Cooper? Higgins. Higgins is one that I really struggle with, but I think I've got Cooper. I'm going to pull it up. This is one I think I've moved these two guys as much as anybody.

I've got Cooper just ahead of him right now. Jake Browning. Three straight games with 23 or more fantasy points. Became the fifth quarterback to throw multiple touchdown passes against Minnesota. Starter set, Jake Browning. Low-end starter at best. You got lucky last week, really really with how he found his way into production in the fourth quarter i think at 140 yards in the first three quarters

um it was not pretty uh this is an easier matchup i mean keep in mind you know the fact that they're down jamar chase the steelers are down there two safeties that's huge right you know so no kz no no fitzpatrick um cam hayward still in the concussion protocol, if I'm not mistaken. Yep. So interior pass rush, not the same. But how much is he going to throw down the field? How many targets is Higgins going to get? Can you trust the quarterback that does not have Jamar Chase,

that's not Joe Burrow? There are a lot of things working against him here too. So he's just outside the top 15 for me lot of things working against him here, too. He's just outside the top 15 for me. I think I have him ranked 16th. So I'd start Mullins over him. I would start Flacco over him. And I would start Gino over him.

And certainly Baker. Guys that may have been available. I think the Browning-Flacco comparison is a tough one to parse. I think I've got Browning at 16 and Flacco at 20. And Jamie's got Flacco at 20 and Browning at 16, but you could, you could make a pretty good argument. Those guys have been very,

they both had some good fortune to produce the fantasy production they have. They've both done some things that they've probably gotten away with. They both have pretty decent matchups on paper this week. Um, both on the road. I think they're both QB twos. Yeah. The difference for me would be

Flacco has all of his weapons, and I think Browning's got a better run game. Browning is 16 for Jamie and 16 for Heath. Flacco is 12 for Jamie and 20 for Heath. I'm not sure if we said that right. I just want to clarify there. So they both have Browning 16. Alright, yeah. The running

backs in this game. Is Mixon a must start? Cringe saying that. Okay, fine. Mixon or Pollard? Mixon or A-Chan? What do you think? Mixon. Mixon or both. Especially if Hayward's not there

and the safeties. I know, I know, but he's just... He's Mixon. He's not good. But... Mixon or Higgins? Pollard's good, though. Pollard at least is on the Cowboys. Pollard

should benefit. That's the funny thing. He doesn't really benefit. He never scores touchdowns. But no, Pollard hasn't been that good this year. I'm not thrilled about Pollard, but I'm not thrilled about Mixon either. Chase Brown or Jerome Ford? Ford. Ford.

Okay. Chase Brown or Jalen Warren? I think there's more upside with Warren this week. I think Warren's going to be good. I like Warren this week. Do you like Najee or Warren better? I have Warren higher. Najee for me.

Why do you have Warren higher, Heath? Well, first off, he's been better for most of the season. He can do it without a touchdown. I think Najee probably needs a touchdown. I think it's a possibility both of them are top 24 running backs by the end of the week. I just think Warren's ability to make explosive plays is better and probably more role in the passing game. Are you starting both of them over Austin Eckler?

No. Najee over Eckler. Eckler over Warren. I think I've got it Warren-Eckler-Najee. To me, Eckler and Warren feel very similar. You need the role in the passing game. Someone asking, Najee Harris or Chuba Hubbard? Chuba.

They are very close. Chuba over all the guys you just mentioned. Okay. He's been great. We keep waiting for him to stink, but he's been great. A ton of work.

Vijay asks, T. Higgins, Beckham, or Achan, or Ford? Who's your favorite there? Higgins, Beckham, Achan, Ford? Higgins and PPR. It's, it's so, I mean,

I think the most important thing here is not Beckham or Ford. Right, right, right. It's a, it's a Chan or T Higgins. I would probably go a Chan, but those guys are pretty close to a coin flip for me.

All right. The total in this game is 37 points. Very low total. And Pat Fryer Muth is, even though he had 120 yards last time he faced the bangles uh he's just not someone we're trusting he would be higher for me if if pickett was back would you guys start a dst in this game i think the bangles are in play but not muster there's so many better dsts out there like so bears are available still seahawks you know yeah you know obviously

the broncos for sure i would take the commanders over them yeah he's i think you got to change i think you got to move the steelers down in your rankings okay yeah i think that people need to start the Steelers now. They have the second. They will move down a little bit. All right. Washington's at the Jets. The Commanders, that of the game. Commanders have allowed 14.4 or more PPR fantasy points to eight running backs in their last eight games.

Seven of those eight running backs scored 19.7 or more PPR fantasy points. I think I mentioned this recently in a recent episode, too, but in case you've forgotten, not only are the commanders terrible against the pass, they are great for running backs. Can Brees Hall take advantage of that, Jamie? Do you like, love Brees Hall this week? Yeah, I mean, I like love. Like love? Yeah, well, do you like or love?

I forgot a word there. No, I think that's the right way to put it because it's hard to love a lot of the Jets players right now, especially with Simeon most likely starting, which is even more scary than Zach Wilson starting. But look, it's a great matchup. Washington's not the best defense. You're just hoping that they turn over Trevor Simeon

from a DST perspective. But I think Brees Hall, his involvement in the passing game the last month has been fantastic. He should have a chance to run well here. This is actually, if you're looking at it, this is their last home game of the season. They played the last two games on the road. So if the Jets want to give their fans something to feel good about

in a matchup that they should have a chance to feel good about... LAUGHTER Yeah, no, it's true. Did you hear the one about Mason Rudolph? in a matchup that they should have a chance to feel good about. Yeah. No, it's true. It's true. Did you hear the one about Basin Rudolph? I mean, they haven't given their fans much to feel good about. No, but this is one of those games, you know.

And so I think you're starting Brees Hall and you're starting Garrett Wilson, but Brees Hall should be good. Yep. So how does Brees Hall measure up with Mixon, A-Chan, and Pollard? Better. Better than all of them. Okay.

How about Jonathan Taylor or Brees Hall? Taylor. I've got Hall right now. Probably Taylor in non-PBR and a half, though. Especially if Zach Moss doesn't play. I don't think they're taking Taylor off the field for Trey Sermon and Goodson. Do you guys like

any commanders? Ronald Ferrer's a nice guy. I've talked to him a couple times. Military history, I'm asking, actually, if you like any commanders. In this game... McLaurin's a borderline number two yeah we should talk about mclaren coming off that uh yeah i mean look mclaren his touchdown came from jacoby brissett you have to wonder how long you know how long is howell stay in the game if he struggles

it's a tough matchup the jets might be good if they benched him right the way brissette looked it might be good if they bench him well that's that's part of it though it's it's it is that's how we'll stay in the game if he's struggling um again so i think mclaurin you're starting him at three receiver leagues i don't think he's a must start in two receiver leagues he's in that noah brown tyler lockett dionte john you know, number three receiver range. Top 30. Yeah, I always mention that the Jets, they don't shut down good receivers. And I just don't know if McLaurin qualifies as that.

Well, to be fair. I know he is a good receiver in real life. To be fair, Tyreek held a zero last week. That's true. Yeah, I don't know if McLaurin really, good fantasy receivers. Curtis Samuel. What's your interest level on him?

Is he in that same range with Deontay Johnson and McLaurin and all that, or is he lower? Lower. In the same range for me. Okay. And, you know, one thing I just want to point out about Curtis Samuel, Logan Thomas has been invisible and that has really, like, I feel like all the Logan Thomas targets are going to Curtis Samuel. I think that's been a big part of it. He did have a touchdown callback last week. He did. He, it was his, he, he cheated.

He totally pushed off to get open, but he did have a touchdown callback. And I, it was funny because the Rams, you know, they're so bad against tight ends. Logan Thomas, we're talking about here, but Thomas has just been so uninvolved lately, and it's benefited Curtis Samuel. The thing about Howell, though, is that he's unpredictable. He had a tight end phase. He had a running back phase, this and that. A selfish phase, for those of you who talk. He's not monogamous.

No, he's not. If Brian Robinson plays, which seems like it's a possibility, would you start him? Would he be in the top 24? Uh, close, but probably like he said, this is a good week for running backs.

So I wouldn't start him over Hubbard. I wouldn't start him over Swift. I'm thinking of the back end of my top 24. I wouldn't start him over Najee. So no, he would not be a top 24. Did, did we hear anything, and I

may have just missed it, about what happened with Antonio Gibson last week? I think they just kept him in the role. But I thought the way it looked like it unfolded to me was that he had a different role in the first half and had most of the touches, and then they just went to Chris Rodriguez in the second half.

I mean, it must have been because he wasn't doing very much with his touches. Right. Okay, moving on. Last question for this game. Washington or the Jets DST? Who do you like better? Jets.

Yeah. Yeah, Jets. Both good, though? Yeah. Commanders by default. Okay. Seattle's at Tennessee. Why should I not love Geno Smith in this game?

It's Geno Smith. And should be, hopefully, please, be a good week for Tim Walker. A big week for Tim Walker, a big week for Ken Walker. Um, look, he, he's had three games, I think with multiple touchdowns,

maybe four at most. Uh, last time we saw him, he was fantastic against the Cowboys. So that's good. But you know, how much will they allow him to throw? How much will he need to throw? I mean,

you know, I don't know what the Titans offense does to make this that much of a competitive game I mean the Cowboys game you knew was going to be competitive game they came out throwing from the get-go um but not a slam dunk and look we we've we've kind of crapped on the Titans defense a lot in terms of what their past defense is they've actually held up fairly well against some quarterbacks yeah I was gonna say they've they've uh they've let one quarterback top 20 fantasy points in the last month and they rank they've given up the 11th top 20 fantasy points in the last month, and they've given up the 11th fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks this season.

I don't think it's necessarily a great matchup. Is there any chance with the way that their game finished last week, if Geno comes out and doesn't play well in the first half, that there's a quarterback change? I don't think so. But I also think you're overrating the Titans past defense. I think, you know, you got to go back. I just gave, I just gave multiple stats. I did not say any, I did not rate them at all. Well, I think you implied something about them. So, but anyway,

no, I didn't imply anything. I said that you've given up the 11th fewest fantasy points to quarter recs and they have allowed one quarterback to top 20 fantasy points in the last month. Yeah. And if you go back a little bit further than that, Trevor Lawrence had 36 points, Baker Mayfield had 22 points. And then not another quarterback top 20 until week three. I do think part of it is Jeffrey Simmons not being there. You can just run on them. Yes, okay. All right, fine.

Geno Smith or Jake Browning, Joe Flacco, Nick Mullins? Flacco, right now, Geno, Mullins Jake Browning, Joe Flacco, Nick Mullins? Flacco. Right now, Gino, Mullins, Browning. For me, I might move Mullins ahead of Gino. Mullins, Browning, Gino, Flacco. Gino Smith or Kyler Murray? Gino. I'm putting Flacco ahead of Gino.

All right. There we go. Yeah. DK Flacco ahead of Gino. All right. There we go. Yeah. DK Metcalf is a start. Any interest in JSN or Tyler Lockett? Number three receivers at best. Yeah. Good flexes.

Okay. Derek Henry. Saquon Barkley. Who do you like better this week? Henry. Saquon.ley. Who do you like better this week? Henry. Saquon. DeAndre Hopkins. I watched DeAndre Hopkins.

What a stat line last week. Two catches for 21 yards on nine targets. That was really a Will Levis issue last week. Levis was bad. Hopkins also had a 42-yard catch overturned. It was underthrown. It could have been like a 70-yard touchdown. I don't remember where the line of scrimmage was, but he beat his man badly. And. It was underthrown. It could have been like a 70-yard touchdown. I don't remember where the line of scrimmage was, but

he beat his man badly. And then it was underthrown and knocked away from it at the last minute. Anyway, Hopkins. Heath, last I checked, these might not be updated, but you had him in the top 18. I think he's a number two wide receiver for me. Yeah, you have some optimism here for Hopkins. What do you think about the Tannehill thing,

assuming that it's Tannehill? Does it matter? I kind of think, I don't know that it does. Like Levis has done some good things. There's been a couple of good games for Hopkins with him. There's also been some absolute stinkers like last week. And I just kind of think that if Ryan Tannehill gets a chance to start this game,

he's playing for his 2024 livelihood. Like he's should be fresh, should be healthy. I wouldn't be surprised if he comes out and has a decent game just because he's he'd like to have a job next year. OK, so I asked like I'm not starting right in Tannehill. He's not a top 24 quarterback for me, but I don't think he'll be a disaster. I'll ask some questions here from the chat. Aaron Jones or Ken Walker?

Walker easily. See if we have any more anymore for this game. If any more for this game? Please fire away. I don't see any more, so I'll ask some. There's one. No, thank you. Jalen Waddell or

DeAndre Hopkins? Waddell. Henry or B. John Robinson? B. John. B. John, but it's close. All right. I think that's it for this game. Yeah.

Seahawks DST. Jamie likes them. The other guys don't. Likes them? Nah, you can do better. I think Jamie has them 12th. New England's at Denver. Yes, but they have a favorable matchup next week, I believe.

So if you are looking ahead. They have Pittsburgh. Yeah. At home. Okay, New England's at Denver. I don't know how much we want to get into Zeke. Should we just not get into Zeke? I think you should give the negative Zeke side.

It's sort of a pro, like the Broncos have allowed 21 or more points to a running back in two straight games, Austin Eckler and Jameer Gibbs. Before that, they really hadn't been that bad because they, as a defense, had been very good, and they just weren't giving up a lot of touchdowns. One thing that has never changed

is they are terrible per carry. I mean, absolutely terrible. They're the worst run defense in football. Maybe the Bengals can give them a run for their money now without reader, but I don't know. Just the, the, the game from Zeke last week did leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. I do think he's a start, so I'm not telling people to sit him, but my guess is I would have him lower than Heath. I'd probably have him in that. I'd probably have him in that Pollard, Henry, Barkley range starting, but not super confident about it. That's where I am on Zeke.

And this could be wrong. I feel like last week we probably saw the floor. And I think a 10-point floor or 9.6-point floor is pretty similar to most running backs. There's a few guys, a handful, maybe even 10, that have a higher floor than that. But he still had, what, five catches in the game. The week before, he had 29 touches. The week before that, he had 21 touches.

This passing game has been pretty running back-centric for the history of the New England Patriots, so I don't think the targets are going away. He's the type of guy who's going to show up really well in the projections. Maybe I'm a couple spots too high on him. Again, the floor feels safe

because of the passing game work. Sure. Absolutely. If that went away, he'd be like, no chance. Yeah, right. That's why I like him.

I hate taking a position where I sound like I'm telling everyone to sit Zeke. Not that. So just start him. I'm sure he'll have some tough calls with Zeke. But he's the high guy. Dave and Jamie like Ze'm telling everyone to sit Zeke. Not that. So just start him. I'm sure he'll have some tough calls with Zeke.

But he's the high guy. Dave and Jamie like Zeke too. He's a start. Okay, wide receivers. Corlin Sutton's probably the only wide receiver we're considering. Obviously the Patriots have a good defense. Who do you think is a better flex? Zeke or Sutton?

Zeke, because you've seen Sutton without a touchdown. Very rarely, but you've seen Sutton without a touchdown. Very rarely, but you've seen Sutton without a touchdown. Last week was a little fluky that he had, what, 7 for 52, I think it was? No, 5 for 71. 5 for 71. Sorry, I flipped it. Sorry.

That's not a normal game for him. No. One of the highest yards games. He averages 52 yards per game. I will just say, that's true, but his last six games, 71, 62, 77, 61, 66, the yardage has been better. It's been up as of late. But it's been with not the same amount of catch volume, though.

That's the problem. It makes a big play. I think he's one of those guys who's a lot better this week in non and half PPR than he is in fully. The catches are miserable. Fourth most end zone targets in the NFL. You like Sutton or Gervonta? Sutton.

Sutton. Jamie talked about Gervonta earlier. The good thing is he does get a lot of work. The bad thing is he's averaging 3.8 yards per carry. I think his longest run is 21 yards. He's just not doing a lot with it. Usually gets three catches a game. Hopefully he can score. The Patriots were

absolutely lights out against running backs until last week. And last week they weren't even that bad. I mean, they gave a touchdown catch to McKinnon and Clyde, a touchdown pass from McKinnon. It's not like those guys... But they gave up like a 30-yard play to Clyde Edwards-Hilaire. That shouldn't ever happen.

They did, but they have a good run defense. I feel confident saying that. I think that's pretty much it for this game. Is it Demario Douglas or anyone else? Any sleepers? Jerry, Judy? Anyone you like here? Desperate. Right.

Yeah, they're flexes. I would go Douglas is my favorite non-sutton wide receiver i'll look for some questions here giovante or chandler chandler chandler sutton or olave olave yeah um broncos or bears DST. Uh, Broncos. Oh boy. Broncos. Yeah.

I almost skipped. I almost skipped Russell Wilson, Russell Wilson, or Nick Mullins. Mullins. I've got Wilson. Russ has been four straight games under 20 fantasy points. That's with some rushing touchdowns mixed in there. I just don't know how much he has to do this week. You know what we didn't mention?

This is the first home game after three straight road games for the Broncos. It's going to feel good to get home. And they're on a bit of a long week as they played on Saturday. Buffalo is at the Chargers, our last game. Your stat of the game is a simple one. Stephon Diggs has scored 8.8 or fewer fantasy points in four of his last five games. But we already talked about him. We're starting.

All four of those under 50 yards, too. James Cook. Fire him up. He's like top six. Start them all. Sit them all. No, because you're not starting Davis or Shakir. You're maybe starting Kincaid.

So it's really just the three main guys for Buffalo of Allen, Cook, and Diggs. And I'm the only one probably that's sitting Austin Eckler. I think Dave and Heath. I know Heath does, obviously, but I think Dave likes him still. Yeah, I'm sitting Eckler in non and half PPR, but in full PPR, I will still start Eckler as a number two running back.

I mean, there's certainly situations where you might be sitting him. There's guys that were free agents or drafted later that you'd start over him. Yeah. Oh, I wish I could sit him. I actually am going to sit him for Swift and Walker. I would too, easily. Yeah, in PPR, I couldn't start Swift over him.

That is a half PPR league. I don't know if that matters. Probably. Well, don't forget, Boston Scott will score. Right. And like Swift's, I don't know, has Swift been better for the last month than Eckler has?

Probably. So you got the Denver game for Eckler. The Denver game for Eckler. And there's probably two... If I was going to rank the games, I'd say probably go Eckler's Denver game, then probably two or three Swift games that may add up to the Denver game. It's close.

They've both been disastrous. Cam Hayward has been cleared by an independent neurological consultant. Nice. Good. Taysom Hill or Dalton Kincaid? Kincaid. Uh, Kincaid in full and half PPR and Hill in none. I mean,

if taste some Hills, not a magic eight ball guy, I don't know who he is. I'd probably go Kincaid. I did this. I don't know if you want to say it for tomorrow, but Boston Scott's numbers against the giant. Yeah.

Say for tomorrow, Keenan Allen. If he, when I tweeted it, by the way, people were like, we're playing Boston Scott's numbers against the Giants? Yeah, save for tomorrow. Keenan Allen, if he plays... When I tweeted it, by the way, people were like, we're playing Boston Scott? I'm like, no. No, no, no. It's just stats. Keenan Allen, if he plays, where would he rank?

Not where he normally does, but top 20 receiver. Yeah, he'd be a start. This is a Saturday game, and he hasn't practiced, so I'm not expecting him. If I was him, I'd probably just rest the year off. Yeah. Someone asked, Keenan Allen or Ty Chandler in half PPR? Allen.

Yeah, but I don't think Allen's going to play, so probably Chandler. All righty. Yeah, you can't wait anybody in tonight's game. Not that you, you know, the three main receivers. You're starting them over Keenell. I think I'm good with this. That's it for today's show.

I'll ask this one, too. Kincaid or Hunter Henry if he plays, if Henry plays. Kincaid. Kincaid. Sorry. I was going to warn you that somebody was sick in my house and I was afraid that you were going to catch it

on today's show and it sounds like you did yeah I don't know what that was it's something in my throat I whatever or I'm out of here we're done we'll talk to you tonight on

our live stream 730 youtube.com slash fantasy football today please vote for us sports podcastpodcastawards.com. We're Heath and Jamie and Thomas. I'm Adam. Good luck, everybody. Let's get it started the right way tonight.

See you.