Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (AFC): Austin Ekeler, Tee Higgins, Derrick Henry and More! (12/28 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 28, 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 Which players will lead you to a Fantasy championship? We start with the players we love (2:30) including our Start of the Week D'Andre Swift! Then we tell you who to avoid (5:45) this week with De'Von Achane feeling a little risky and we revisit the Browns passing game (10:30) with Amari Cooper questionable for tonight's game. Plus, news and notes (14:55) ... One Question for Each Game (23:05)! Who should you start over Tua Tagovailoa? Are we trusting Ken Walker this week? What about Derrick Henry? Should you start Joe Mixon and Clyde Edwards-Helaire? ... Start or Sit for Dolphins-Ravens (35:25), Panthers-Jaguars (40:35), Bengals-Chiefs (48:00), Patriots-Bills (56:50), Raiders-Colts (1:03:35), Steelers-Seahawks (1:07:40), Titans-Texans (1:10:55) and Chargers-Broncos (1:17:15) ... 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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He's just going to go the distance! Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. And we are getting set for Fantasy Week 17, your fantasy championship for most of you. Now, if you're playing into Week 18, we're going to have a normal week next week. Of course, we'll look forward to 2024 a little bit more, but we will help you out in Week 18.

But for most of you, this is it, and it starts tonight, and it might start without Amari Cooper. He is questionable for tonight's game, and we'll update you on that. Today, we have eight AFC home games, actually seven AFC home games, plus I'm going to throw the Pittsburgh Seahawks game in there. Are we going to go right back to Ken Walker this week? Are we starting Raheem Mostert?

Probably, but I'll probably try to scare you a little bit on that one. Do we like Joe Mixon this week? Austin Eckler? There are also non-running backs that we are going to talk about. We're going to talk about the Raiders defense, which has been really awesome for a while now and what that means for the Indianapolis Colts. All right.

Good morning, Heath. Good morning, Jamie. What's going on, guys? Good morning. Hi. I'm just looking at where I have the Raiders defense and seeing if you're going to yell at me to move them up or down. Probably up. Yeah, I've got them too low to yell at me to move them up or down. Probably up.

Yeah, I've got them too low. I'm going to move them up a little bit. Oh, they're 20th. Okay. They're up. They've been, well, they've scored four touchdowns in their last two games.

That helps. Well, how many touchdowns have they given up? Like three? Right. No. I mean, they gave up some garbage time stuff to Easton Stick, but they've been just very good,

even before the Antonio Pierce hiring and Josh McDade. Easton Stick had a better game against them than Patrick Mahomes did, correct? Yep. Yes, yes, he did. All right, well, let's talk about some players. You know that the NFL memes handle? Yeah. On Twitter.

They did a Photoshop of Mahomes' jersey, Mac Jones. memes handle on Twitter. They did a Photoshop of Mahomes' jersey Mac Jones. And then the other one they said was, this is what Mahomes would look like if the Bears actually drafted him. Could be. Oh, man.

Alright, let's talk about some players that we love this week. Jamie, who's going to take us to a fantasy championship? DeAndre Swift to start the week. Excited about his matchup with the Cardinals because everybody does well against the Cardinals. They've allowed 16 running backs to get at least 12.7 PPR points this season. And if you haven't been counting, there's 17 weeks so far of the season.

So it's pretty much a great situation to be. The Eagles have definitely made an effort to get Swift going the last couple of weeks, 18 carries two weeks ago, 20 carries last week against the Giants. He scored. I know the concerns are definitely there of what happens at the goal line with the tush push and the lack of receptions. He did have three targets and two catches two games ago against Seattle. So they are still getting in some opportunities in the passing game, but not much like you would like, not as much as you would like,

but really just about the matchup. The last four, last five running backs against the Cardinals have gotten over 19 PPR points. So there's a chance for, you know, potentially big game here for, for Swift.

So borderline number one running back for me and should definitely be in your lineup for sure. Yeah. I have Deandre Swift with five great matchups so far this year. Washington twice, Kansas City, they have terrible run defense, Seattle and the Giants. He has scored 14.4 or more PPR fantasy points

in four of those five games. So he's come through when the matchups have been good. All right, DeAndre Swift, start of the week. Heath, how about you? Whose player do you love? Clyde Edwards. We didn't see any Isaiah Pacheco at practice yesterday. And so it's yet a very short period of time to get through the concussion

protocol. We've already got Jarek McKinnon on IR chiefs. Running backs have been heavily involved in the passing game and in the red zone this season, we've seen 15 touchdowns for them. We've seen about six targets per game. Edwards. A layer is going to be sharing with either LaMichael P. Ryan or generic Prince.

So I don't think those guys are going to see the same normal workload as the normal RB2 in Kansas City. And we just saw him score 20 fantasy points against the New England Patriots, who are actually a good defense. The Bengals have been one of the worst defenses in the NFL. And they've given up a touchdown to a running back in five of their last six games. And 10 of their last 12 games. It's a rushing touchdown for neither of their last six games. And 10 of their last 12 games. It's a rushing touchdown for not even the receiving stuff. Oh, man, it's great stuff for Clyde if Pacheco is out.

In the two games that Pacheco just missed, Clyde and McKinnon combined for 15 carries and five catches in one game, 17 carries and seven catches in another game. Would you start, both of you, would you start DeAndre Swift or Clyde Edwards-Ziller assuming Pacheco's out? Probably Clyde in PPR and Swift in none. Yeah, definitely Clyde in PPR.

I think they're both very similar in none. I have Swift just ahead of Clyde in none. In half, I'd still go Clyde. Alright. It's just a shame Clyde's on such a terrible offense. Just kidding. Okay. Players to avoid. You know, we don't get a lot of...

I like the Chiefs, just so you know. But there's just not that many times you can make fun of the Chiefs in the last five years. So you gotta jump at your opportunities here. Yeah, you got like two and a half weeks left. You think they're going to turn it? You think they're going to snap out of it? Or you think they're just going to be out?

I think it's like 50-50 if they just flip the switch and everything's fine. Yeah. All right, players to avoid. Jamie, who are you benching this week? I would bench Saquon Barkley this week. I know that's tough to say, but they are facing arguably the best defense in terms of running backs. I shouldn't say arguably. They're facing the best defense in terms of defending running backs.

In the last five weeks, the Rams are number one over that span in terms of shutting down running backs. You say, okay, who have they played? They did it to Alvin Kamara last week. They did James Conner in the stretch. So they've been good against two running backs that I think are on par with Barkley. I know Barkley came through in what seemingly is a tough matchup because the Eagles going into that week were top five in terms of fantasy points allowed to the position.

But we know that this Eagles run defense has certainly not been the same, but in two of Barkley's last four games, he's been under nine PPR points. So he has shown us the ability to have some stinkers during the stretch. So against this defense, which we know has been great. You've pointed this out time and time again, Adam,

in how they defend past catching running backs. They do give up receptions, but they don't give up yards. Their top five and yards allowed a fewest yards allowed to receiving, receiving yards for running backs. I'll get that right at some point, but you get the point. But in any event,

I think Barkley has a terrible game here against the Rams. If he does not score. And I don't know if he's going to score based on what the track record has been. Yeah. Rams give up the second fewest receiving yards per game. The running backs, only the Panthers give up more.

All right, Barkley. I am really enjoying this. Me and Dave being aligned and Jamie being the outlier. I normally have to be the outlier. It's nice to not, not be that guy this week. You like Barkley.

Yeah. I mean, it's a similar thing with Zeke in that, what do you have? 26 touches in their last game. 23, two and a half games ago. They're playing their best quarterback again. This game's got some weird line movement. I noticed last night, I wanted

to see if it changed this morning. It's five and a half now, so it shrunk down to four and a half last night in terms of the spread. But still, less than a touchdown spread but the way the Rams have been playing and the way the Giants have been playing? Giants are one of those teams that are so bad on the road and a lot

better at home, but if the Rams are actually good, they'll probably stomp the Giants, which is what good teams do. We'll see. Rams' defense has been a problem, but not their run defense. It's been their pass defense. How about you, Heath? Who's a player to avoid? I would like to stay away from Devon Achan,

and we talked about this a little bit yesterday, but his high usage games have come exclusively in blowouts. He does not have more than 12 touches in a game that's been within 30 points this season, or 20 points this season, three scores. And really, even his big games that have been 12 touches for 100 yards and two touchdowns have been blowouts one direction or the other.

So I just don't think, unless Raheem Mostert's out, you have any reason to expect really even double-digit touches from H.A.N. I know the Ravens give up a lot of yards per carry, but it's still a terrible matchup against a great defense in what's probably a low-scoring game. Well, you have not only Mostert banged up, A-Chan didn't practice yesterday also. So you've got two guys dealing with injuries here. I mean, we may be underselling Jeff Wilson,

not necessarily from, as you said, a good matchup because it's not, but just from a touch standpoint. So he should probably be rostered in more leagues or at least with the idea of an insurance policy in case, you know, he doesn't go or you're trying to replace Pacheco or trying to place Josh Jacobs still. And you couldn't get, you know, Zamir White or Clyde. He's not a bad just stash on your bench. Remember, at this point, the guys you've been sitting on to see what happens, Zach Charbonnet, for example, somebody like that. You could put them off your team and maybe take somebody that can,

might help you or at least block your opponent from doing something this week. Yeah. So for A-Chan and Mostert, they did not practice. We have a lengthy practice injury report to get to here. Mostert never practices on Wednesday, but he also got banged up. You mentioned yesterday, Jamie, that he wasn't even mentioned in the coach's press conference, so we just kind of assume Mostert's fine. I'm assuming he'll be limited today, but it's something to keep an eye on.

And then A-Chan, I'm not surprised he didn't practice because he mispracticed last week and was kind of a question mark. But, you know, obviously Thursday will be more telling, and then Friday will be the most telling for the practice reports, and we'll keep you updated throughout the week. And with that said, I think we should probably get to the injuries, including the game tonight. But before we do that, if you updated throughout the week. And with that said, I think we should probably get to the injuries, including the game tonight. But before we do that, if you're enjoying the show,

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There's a link in the episode description. We love you. I feel like yesterday when I talked about the Browns-Jets game, I didn't really ask you much about Joe Flacco unless I'm just forgetting. So I feel like I skipped him a little bit, and I shouldn't. He's the number three quarterback in fantasy over the last four games. He leads.

I know, Heath, you know this. You said it yesterday. He leads the NFL in passing yards over the last four games. Do you know who's second? Second in passing yards over the last four games four weeks yeah four weeks or four games well over the last four weeks for most

of them it's both over the last four weeks who's second in passing yards behind Flacco Baker Mayfield I was gonna say Baker or Derek Carr Jake Browning those two guys love this game yeah so it's gonna be fun to see and and i hope our audience can can oblige here in uh sending us who their fantasy quarterback was

who their quarterback was in their championship if they win yeah i guess win or lose doesn't really matter but like who's who are you starting this week you Because it's easy to say, okay, Josh Allen or Mahomes or Hurts. Hold on, not Mahomes. But Josh Allen or Hurts or Brock Purdy even. But did you actually get there or win it with a Jake Browning or a Derek Carr or Joe Flacco, one of those guys, Mayfield? I don't see a lot of that because you and I, it's Mahomes and Stafford. I've got another one where it's Lamar versus Goff. This is a super flex.

There's a Heineke, I guess. But Purdy, Goff, and Mahomes are the other three quarterbacks. I don't have a whole lot of those guys. But yeah, I'm sure there will be some. Yeah. All right. Well, let's see if people are relying on Flacco. But I think it's relevant to talk about this because Amari Cooper might not play.

So, Jamie, where are we on Flacco, but I think it's relevant to talk about this because Amari Cooper might not play. So, Jamie, where are we on Flacco right now? I think he's still in the top 15 through 20 range, depending on where he might end up. For me, I'm just thinking about it. I think right now he's 15 or 16. If Cooper plays, I'll leave him there. If Cooper's out, there's no chance I would play Joe Flacco at all. It's just, there's, like, he's been he's been very good he's been good in some tough matchups this is a

tough matchup and you know the the jets have just been absolutely fantastic and so you take away his best arguably his best i don't want to take anything away from david ajoku who's been been awesome as well so you know one and one one A in terms of his pass catchers. But, man, does that ramp up the Elijah Moore revenge game factor if there's no Cooper. But, yeah, it would stink if Amari Cooper doesn't play. Imagine that he gets you there with 50 points last week. And you think, okay, at least get 12 to 15 from what he's been doing. He's obviously been great at home.

We know that narrative for the most part. And to not have him would just absolutely stink. Okay. So, yeah. So, Elijah Moore, if Cooper's out tonight, would Elijah Moore be ahead of a guy like Gabe Davis or Tyler Lockett, something like that? I think it's easy to say he's ahead of Gabe Davis now. You know, I don't have it ranked that way, but I'm sure a lot of people looking at it would say,

why am I taking my chances with Gabe Davis? But not ahead of Lockett, no. He'd be still a number three receiver at best. Yeah, he's at 46 for me. I do have him ahead of Gabe Davis right now. Adam, you want to help me make a lineup decision so I can blame you? Yeah, yeah. I'm playing Jamie, soie doesn't get a vote um but i for i have two lineup spots with the injury concerns i have jordan addison i have zamir white i have khalil herbert i have elijah moore

about i'd obviously like to wait for two of those guys but herbert has foreman back now as well i need to just start elijah mo, right? Oh, yeah. You need two of them? Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Not even a question. Elijah Moore.

Elijah Moore, right? Oh, yeah. Hell yeah. All right. Last thing real quick here, Jamie. Oh, yeah. Hell yeah. Oh, yeah.

Now I'm rooting so hard for Elijah Moore. I'm looking at one of our leagues, our 2QB league. Jack, he picked up one, two, three, four people without dropping a single player. He is four... God, Jack does that all the time. You need to punish him and just make him forfeit the 2QB League final.

Just drop the most recent players he picked up that he picked up illegally. Well, it's not illegal. You can't do that. But he's just taken so much advantage of this. Unbelievable. Okay. News and notes here. Jared Stidham. Holy cow.

We're getting really long here, so I feel like it's going to be a two-hour show, but Russell Wilson, what is going on? Jared Stidham is going to start for the Broncos these last two games. This one's against the Chargers, and Russell Wilson reportedly expects to be released this offseason.

Why are they benching him? Because if he gets hurt in the next two games, we saw this with Derek Carr last year, if he gets hurt in the next two games and can't pass a physical by March, he's guaranteed an additional $37 million. So they might be. NFLPA going to continue to be okay with this? They should.

Guarantees for injuries is insane to me. Well, their job is to represent the player's interest. And guys are getting benched just because they're afraid they'll have to pay them more if they get hurt. Well, regardless. But they're not losing money. They're still getting their game checks. Yeah. Yeah.

And the flip side of it is obviously another player is getting a chance to play. All right. So Stidham plays. Yeah. If, by the way, if you're an NFL quarterback and the team signs,

Jared Stidham run. Exactly. That's Derek Carr last year. You think, you think Russell Wilson's on the Broncos next year? No, no, no.

I hope he's on the Raiders. That'd be fun. That or the Falcons. All right, we're going to talk about the Chargers-Broncos. I don't want to talk about it. Brock Purdy practiced in full. Terod Taylor's starting for the Giants.

Jacoby Reset is starting for the Commanders. Will Levis could play this week. CJ Stroud could play this week. That'd be awesome. Kyler Murray mispracticed, but it was an illness, so he should be fine. Kenny Pickett was limited. As of now, we're still expecting it to be Mason Rudolph. And Trevor Lawrence mispracticed.

Running back, H. Anand Mostert mispracticed. Pacheco mispracticed. Brian Robinson was limited. So they get San Francisco. Josh Jacobs mispracticed. Ramondre Stevenson is on IR. So he's out. so they get San Francisco. Josh Jacobs mispractice. Ramondre Stevenson is on IR, so he's out. Zach Moss was limited.

Not sure if that will matter for you with Jonathan Taylor. And Deontay Foreman practiced in full, as Heath mentioned. Khalil Herbert gets Deontay Foreman back. Wide receiver Amari Cooper we already told you about. It could be a game-time decision. Jamar Chase mispractice. Jordan Addison mispractice. Jalen Waddle has not been ruled out. He's got the high ankle sprain,

but they won't rule him out yet. Cortland Sutton's in the concussion protocol. Zay Flowers, they did an estimated practice. He was listed as a DNP. Remember, he wasn't practicing much last week. He ended up playing. So we assume Zay Flowers will play. Nico Collins was limited. So that's good. I mean, he played about half the snaps last week play. Nico Collins was limited. So that's good.

I mean, he played about half the snaps last week. Debo Samuel was limited. Marquise Brown missed practice again. Chargers. Keenan Allen and Josh Palmer did not practice. Allen has the heel injury. Josh Palmer's in the concussion protocol there at Denver. Zay Jones back at practice. He was limited.

Michael Pittman was limited. That's a good sign. We're hoping for Pittman to get back out there. He was limited. Michael Pittman was limited. That's a good sign. We're hoping for Pittman to get back out there, and that's a good sign to start the week limited. He has a shoulder issue and a concussion. Michael Thomas, he can come back, but he missed practice. Then we look at the Packers wide receivers. Christian Watson and Dontavian Wicks missed practice.

Jaden Reed was limited. Is Jaden Reed going to be potentially a must-start guy this week if he plays? Yes. Potentially. Yeah. All right, Michael Mayer mispractice, Cole Komet mispractice, and Hunter Henry was limited. If you need a tight end, how do you feel about Hunter Henry this week

if he plays at Buffalo? No. Not great. If you need a tight end, how do you feel about Hunter Henry this week if he plays at Buffalo? No. Not great. But, I mean, again, how desperate are you? Just lost Hawkinson, can't find anybody else? Sure. Buffalo, by the way, two games back of the Dolphins. If the Bills beat the Patriots and the Dolphins lose to the Ravens,

then it is the Bills and the Dolphins playing for the division in Miami in Week 18. It's amazing how much that loss to the Titans could be crushing for the Dolphins. I know, I know. By the way, sorry, go ahead. No, go ahead. No, I was going to say something stupid. I was going to say, very likely,

if that happens, Adam, and the Bills win, that those two teams are playing again in Buffalo the next week. I hate that, though. I don't like that. Love it. And that game should be the one that's flexed to primetime. I mean, you've got the chance to be the best game of the week. What I was going to say is,

would you take a free ticket right now to Chargers-Broncos? No. Easton Stick versus Jared Stidham. Potentially no Keaton Allen, no Josh Palmer, so you're looking at Quentin Johnston and Jalen Guyton. Alex Erickson, right? That'd be their top three receivers.

I'm trying to decide who I'm going to go to the pinstripe bowl today, Jamie. I got enough bad football. It's the something something. The bad boy mowers pinstripe bowl or something. Let's go to the offensive line. I was at dinner last night with a couple of hurricanes fans and they were

like, so excited about the game. Like why? Third string quarterback. No, thanks. Offensive line, two Falcons offensive lineman got hurt last week.

They were both limited. That's good. Trent Williams was limited, but another starter on the 49ers line, Aaron Banks, who got hurt on Monday. He missed practice. Ryan Ramchick, right tackle for the Saints.

He mispracticed. Braden Smith could be back for the Colts. He's been out a while. Right tackle for the Colts. Tyron Smith mispracticed for the Cowboys and left tackle Cam Robinson for the Jaguars. He's practicing. I wouldn't expect him to play,

but hopefully he can be back soon. In terms of kicker, Greg Zerlein, if you're starting Greg Zerline tonight, just be aware. Kicker for the Jets, he's questionable. You might want to get away from him. Remember I talked about the coin toss thing with Jair Alexander? They suspended him for that. I don't remember

if I talked about that on air or off air, but they suspended him. Did you hear his answer? No. Oh, he said he wanted to do it because he's from Charlotte. Oh, yeah, right. Yeah. But he crashes the—that was crazy.

All right. Legereus Sneed mispracticed with a calf injury. That is a big one. We'll keep an eye on that. He gets to the moon. Dallas defensive tackle Jonathan Hankins. We know how important he is. He mispracticed.

The Colts' pass defense has actually been really good. They've been a tough matchup. They put their starting safety, Julian Blackman, on IR. Philadelphia. Philadelphia's run defense, Jamie already mentioned it, it's been bad lately. However, two linebackers, Cunningham

and Morrow, they both were limited in practice. And so was cornerback, Avante Maddox, who's been out since week four or something like that. So they could be getting healthier on defense. So could Seattle in the secondary. And Pittsburgh still beat up on defense with Minka Fitzpatrick and linebacker Landon Roberts. Fitzpatrick practiced, right? Or he's limited?

No, I have him as missed. Okay. Maybe I saw earlier in the week that they expected him to come back this week. Okay. Okay. The Houston Texans defense getting a little healthier. Denzel Perryman and Blake Cashman, two linebackers, they practice. Will Anderson could play this week.

They've been struggling without Will Anderson lately, and they get Tennessee this week. And that's going to do it, I guess, for the news and notes. All right. We're going to get to one question for each game after this quick break on Fantasy Football today. Did you know 66% of utility damage is caused by not requesting a locate? Don't let your project become part of this statistic.

A quick locate request can save you from unexpected downtime, financial penalties, and keep you safe. Don't let avoidable damage cost you time and money. Click before you dig. Ensure your next project is safe. Visit OntarioOneCall.ca. It's free. It's easy. It's the law. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. Welcome back, everybody. Miami's at Baltimore. Heath, give me some quarterbacks you would start over Tua. And does that change of Jalen Waddell plays, which I assume you're not expecting at

this point? We are not expecting Jalen Waddle. And so the answer is most of them. He's not a top 15 quarterback for me this week. I would start all the guys you've been starting as top 12 options. Definitely. I would start Baker Mayfield and Matthew Stafford and Joe Flacco. I'd rather start Trevor Lawrence. If he plays,

would you guys start Derek Carr at Tampa Bay or Tua at Baltimore? Car easily. Carr's been very good. For two games. Well, better than the last game for Tua. Yeah. Yeah. Can't worry about names at this point.

No, but the last two weeks don't erase the the whole season either well neither doesn't match up that's not changing i just want to say this about to it he averaged 9.3 yards per attempt against the jets they allow six yards per attempt he averaged 7.9 yards per attempts against the cowboys they they allow 6.8 yards per attempt and i did go back because i missed it at first it was christmas that pass he threw to Tyree Kill, I actually think it was a really good pass and should have been a deep touchdown. The first quarter?

Yeah. I don't think he's playing. But where were those two games? Yeah, they were at home. All right. All right. Yeah, okay. Flacco tonight without Cooper or Tua?

Tua. Okay. Right. So with Cooper, Flacco, without Cooper, Tua. Okay. Right. So with Cooper, Flacco, without Cooper, Tua. Yeah. All right, Jamie, I'm going to give this one to you. I know Ken Walker was a disappointment last week. Pittsburgh at Seattle.

Are you going right back to Ken Walker this week? If he was in my starting lineup, yes. If he was a borderline guy, probably not. He's just inside my top 24. I wonder how much the shoulder injury is a problem. Probably should have revisited that last week. I know he still got his touches, but it was not the same.

Didn't feel like the same type of guy that we saw the previous week against Philadelphia. And also, you know this was one of my concerns. How much of the passing work was Drew Locke and how much of it was Geno Smith? Well, probably it was Drew Locke because we did not see that from him at all. Yeah.

Okay, Tennessee's at Houston. Which running back do you prefer in this game? Derrick Henry, last time he faced Houston, it was one of the worst games of his career. Or Devin Singletary. Heath, who do you prefer? I will still go Derrick Henry, but they are not as far apart as you would expect with those two names.

They're both a borderline number two or high end flex options. I'll take Singletary, especially a stride place. This has blow up potential. Cincinnati at Kansas city. Do you guys like Joe Mixon this week? The chiefs have allowed 13 and a half or more PPR fantasy points to a running back in seven of their last nine games.

Do you like Joe Mixon this week? I'd start him over Ken Walker and Derek Henry and Devin Singletary, but I would start Clyde over him in full PPR. Agreed. All right, so he's good. So he's good, solid, number two running back. Chargers at the Broncos. Are you confident in any player in this game?

And would you take a free ticket to this game? No. I looked at the weather, too. I don't know at the time of game, but it's supposed to be 44 degrees on Sunday in Denver. That's not so bad. I think they'd probably take that. No, but it's bad for me.

You're on the golf course? Yeah. It's a little drizzling right now. I'm confident in Eckler. His's a little drizzling right now. I'm confident Eckler. His history against Denver is awesome. Absolutely awesome. Sort of. Nickler.

Man, I tell you, I feel like every week you get like 10 to 15 running backs who we just talked about. Mixon, Eckler. I guess Ken Walker would be decidedly behind them. But I don't know. Brees Hall, Zeke, Swift. Pollard. Pollard, yeah.

Pollard for sure. He's the king of this group. ETN. Yes, ETN at least has the cake matchup. But Eckler. No, but I mean in terms of the weekly canoe. We think it's the big canoe. Eckler's in the canoe this week, right?

Oh, yeah. At least he's not out of the canoe. No, not this week. No. He's ahead of the canoe? Oh, yeah. He's top 10 running back this week. All right. He did score at the front of the canoe. Against the Broncos. All right. Patriots are at the Bills. Which running back do you prefer

in this game, Zeke or Cook? I'm going Zeke. I'm going to go back to Cook. All right. The Zeke rankings are wild. This is my favorite thing of the week. What? Yeah. I'll probably pull back a little bit

this afternoon, but not much. This is just part, probably a good glimpse into my process. When a running back is averaging 22 touches a game over the last month and seeing six to ten targets almost every single game, he's going to project to the top five running back. So I'm not going to project him at two yards per carry. So that is what he did last week.

Yeah. Let me let it before Jamie get in there. Let me just say what the rankings are at the moment. In non PPR, Jamie has Zeke 28th. Dave has him 32nd and Jamie has Zeke 28th, Dave has him 32nd, and Heath has Zeke 4th. In full PPR, Jamie has Ezekiel Elliott 19th, Dave

has him 26th, and Heath has him 3rd. So, I think this is worth a debate right now. Go ahead, Jamie. No, the only question I had is, you're taking, and I know there's an injury part of this, but you're taking the recent production from Zeke and factoring that into your ranking. Why not Carr or someone like Carr? Well, it's twice as long for Zeke and the injury.

Like there was a major thing that changed. Well, there is a major thing that changed for the Saints too. Taysom. What is that? Taysom's not playing. Well, I... Do you know that's going to happen this week? Yeah, Taysom could easily...

I don't, but do you know that Kevin Harris may not get more work this week? I mean, there's... That is true. Kevin Harris has definitely been creeping in on some of the Zeke carries. Let's see. He has to. You're going to throw it to him 11 times. You can't hand it to him 20 times also.

His last four games have been one game. Stevenson got hurt one game. And then the other three, he just missed 13 points for Zeke and PPR 27, 9.6 against Kansas City and then 21 at Denver. And in the two big games, he caught a touchdown. He had seven catches or more in both of those games. That Chiefs game is the one that scared me.

They should blow out the Patriots here. They really should. And I got to say, I would be decidedly right in the middle of your rankings. I feel like he's in the canoe. You know? Yeah.

Oh, he's definitely in the canoe. Well, I think the way you have him ranked, well, you have him in the 19th PPR. Okay's in the canoe. You know? Yeah. Oh, he's definitely in the canoe. Well, I think the way you have him ranked, well, you have him in the 19th PPR. Okay, that's canoe. All right, so different viewpoints there on Ezekiel Elliott and the Bills. They do give up the fifth most receiving yards per game to running backs.

They do struggle there. It'll be a fun one. All right, Vegas at the Colts. When you look at Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman, do you fear the Raiders' defense? Is this a matchup to avoid? I initially started the week with Taylor a little bit higher

than he is now. They've been great against running backs. I mean, it's hard to overlook what they've done since Pierce has taken over. And you're saying Pittman, I'm sorry. Yeah. I would not fear starting Michael Pittman at all. No.

Taylor is like I would start Eckler over Taylor, for example, which is not something I thought I'd say. OK. I wonder just how much the thumb is going to hinder his work in the passing game because we didn't see that last week. We did not. We almost never see it. It's weird. It's like Minshew will throw to any running back other than Jonathan Taylor, it seems. Well, I guess just Zach Moss.

Isaiah Pacheco is the only running back to score more than 12.6 PPR fantasy points against the Raiders in their last six games. That includes Brees Hall. But he's done it twice. No, he did not do it last. Oh, more than 12. 12.6 was what he scored in the other game. Right, he wasn't that good last week, 12.6.

He's had the two, Pacheco's had the two best games against the Raiders in the last six games. Brees Hall was bad, 10.5 points. Mostert, 10.3. Vikings running backs were bad. Eckler, 7.8. Running backs are averaging 3.4 yards per carry

against the Raiders in their last six games. And since week five, they were one in three. Okay, since week five, they've given the third fewest points in football. Only the Steelers and Ravens, only the Ravens and Steelers have allowed fewer points per game than the

Raiders since week five. Carolinas at Jacksonville. Starters at Calvin Ridley. Who is playing quarterback for Jacksonville? Right now, we're projecting Trevor Lawrence because he's literally never missed a game because of injury. And so as long as Trevor Lawrence plays, I will start Calvin Ridley as a number two wide receiver.

If it's C.J. Beathard, then I will get off of Calvin Ridley. Okay. But he's never good in bad matchups. If you consider thisley. Okay. But he's never good in bad matchups. If you consider this a bad matchup, he's never good in these matchups. I'm so conflicted about whether or not this is a bad matchup. It's a bad matchup. It's week seven. But I sort of agree.

But they have the worst pass. They have the lowest pressure rate in football. And they have the fifth highest, I think, blitz rate in football. It's incredible. That's such a bad pass. And yet, every week. Well, I mean, blitz rate in football. It's incredible. That's such a bad pass. And yet, every week. Well, I mean, there's two things at play here. Prior to this last game, he had nine targets.

He had 25 targets in his last two games. It's not like they've been trying to avoid Calvin Ridley. They've been doing everything possible to get him the ball. And in two of those games, he's been awful. Whether bad call, bobbled catch, something has gone wrong for him to make him not produce at a high level. You got a bad court, a quarterback who's struggling right now with an injured shoulder, probably still an injured ankle. Who knows where Trevor Lawrence is at? And there's so much coming out of Jacksonville about why they're not running the ball more whether successfully or not well here come the Panthers the easiest team to run against like if

there's ever a situation where take pressure off of your injured quarterback or your backup quarterback and just run the ball against a team offensively that has struggled for the majority of the season there is no easier situation for Travis Etienne to have 20 plus touches in this week, in this game. So you don't like Ridley? I do not like Ridley, no. Would you guys start Chris Gobbin over Calvin Ridley? Without hesitation.

I definitely would if Beathard was the quarterback. I would not if Lawrence was. Would you start in that same game Adam Thielen or Calvin Ridley? There's more upside with Ridley. I would start with him. It's a Beth or Lawrence question again. Okay.

This is what I would say about Ridley here. The Panthers, one thing they don't do is they just don't give up the big play. They are fifth best in terms of 20-plus yard completions. I look at it differently. I look at 20-plus yard completions. I look at 20-plus air yard completions. They're kind of average in the air yard thing. And that's when Ridley's good, he makes big plays.

He has faced six teams that are currently top 10 in completions allowed of 20 or more yards. So it's a 10 among the best. He's faced teams that are good at stopping big plays. He has scored more than 11.8 fantasy points once in those six games. He scored 5.2 or fewer PPR fantasy points points once in those six games. He scored 5.2 or fewer PPR fantasy points three times in those six games. So to sum it up, when he faces teams that don't give up big

plays, he sucks. And the Panthers are fifth best. They give up the fifth fewest big plays, which True Media and I define, whatever you want to say, it's a 20 plus yard completion. Again, they're a little bit more susceptible to the deep ball, and that's been all Trevor Lawrence has done since he sort of turned his season around. He's just throwing it deep a lot more. And Ridley's benefited. But it's just, this is not on paper when Ridley is good.

All right. We spent a lot of time there. When we get to these guys in the games, I'm probably going to go quicker just so everybody knows. Let's go right to it. Miami is at Baltimore. Again, we just talked about Tua. These guys want to try to get away from Tua Tungavailoa. Try to get away

from A-Chan. Is he in your top 20 this week, A-Chan? No. Not in my top 30. Okay, so like Singletary. I think he's 28 for me. Singletary, Chuba Hubbard, those guys ahead? Yes. Chuba for sure. Chletary, Chuba, Hubbard, those guys ahead? Yes. Chuba for sure.

Chuba's been better. Yeah, I'd probably go HN over Chuba. Steelers running backs? Najee for sure. Warren's right there. I'd probably go HN. All right. Mostert.

Any hesitation with Mostert? The Dolphins, if they lose, they're a three-point underdog. I won't even bring this up. But the only time Mostert's been really bad when they really lose, when they lose by double-digit points. But they're a three-point dog, so we'll give him some credit here. Any hesitation with Mostert, guys? No.

He's not a top-12 guy for me. I'm probably starting him as a number two, but there are some guys that I would start over him. I've got a little bit of concern. I think, like I said,

I think Baltimore's defense could hamper the Dolphins. Yeah, he has, what, like seven catches and his five catches. If they win this game, do they lock up the one seed? Oh, they must.

Yeah. So, okay, anyway, seven catches in the last nine games. Mostert or Clyde if Pacheco's out? Right now, Mostert, but I might go Clyde. I'll go Clyde in full PPR. I'll go Mostert

and anyone else. All right. And Tyree kills a start. Clyde in full PPR. I'll go Mostert and anyone else. All right. And Tyree kills a start. If Jalen Waddell does play, I mean, we can revisit that on Sunday, obviously. Where do you think you'd rank him? 20?

Somewhere between 24 and 30. Okay. Sit the Dolphins tight ends. Lamar Jackson. Who would you start ahead of Lamar Jackson this week? Allen, Hurts, and that's it. Purdy.

Prescott. Prescott. Sorry. Deck. Okay. Okay. Okay. So, yeah. Start Lamar Jackson. Okay. How do you feel about Gus Edwards? okay okay so yeah start Lamar Jackson okay how do you feel about Gus Edwards

he may not play next week this is his last MVP showcase if he wants it how do you feel about Gus Edwards and versus Devon Achan and throw Justice Hill in there as well as he got a lot of work last week too Gus over Achan somewhat easy call um hn just has not gotten in the end zone recently at all and hn over gus and people yeah yeah it's uh gus hn

hill and non hn gus hill and ppr i'd like to see if Waddle doesn't play, which is what we're expecting. I'd really like to see them get A-Chan seven catches. I would just love to see them get the ball in his hands. He's obviously the second most dangerous player with the ball in his hands. I'd love that. That would save his bacon a little bit,

but certainly I understand the hesitation. Zay Flowers, we talked about yesterday. Jamie likes him, I think, more than Heath does, little bit but yeah no certainly there's i understand the hesitation um zay flowers we talked about yesterday jamie likes him i think more than heath does but he's a number two or three wide receiver yeah uh would you guys start zay flowers or calvin ridley flowers ridley with lawrence flowers if not okay i'm doing that myself in a half ppr championship where i have to make a decision on a third receiver. And for me, it's Flowers, no matter who the quarterback is. And we can't trust Odell Beckham, right?

No. No. How about Isaiah Likely? I would call this an average matchup. They've been good at times. They've been bad at times against tight ends. Dolphins' defense in general has been better since Ramsey came back, but this is a road game.

They're better at home. But yeah, likely. What are we thinking about likely this week, Heath? Right around like the most borderline top 12 tight end you could be. It's a, it's a not a great week at tight end,

especially with Hawkinson going. So I don't love him. I think I've got him 13th. You hope you have a better option, but there's one streamer. I would start Gerald Everett over him. I would start Tucker craft over him. I think I've got him 13th. I hope you have a better option, but there's one streamer. I would start Gerald Everett over him. I would start Tucker Kraft over him. So two streamers, I'd start over him.

Oh, okay. Everett. Everett has had eight targets in three straight games, by the way, and gets a great matchup. Everett and Tucker Kraft. And how about you, Jamie? Are you higher? I feel like you're higher on likely.

Yeah, I would still start lightly. Targets have still been there for him. Trusting Lamar. I think, again, the Ravens should have an opportunity here for a big win and likely has been good in two of three games. I think they continue to feature him, and this Dolphins defense has definitely been very good against tight ends, but still trusting him as Lamar's guy as opposed to Tucker Kraft,

who may get Luke Musgrave back and over Gerald Everett. All right, Ravens DST is top six for everyone, so you can start the Ravens DST. Let's go to Carolina at Jacksonville. Let's see. I already gave you the Calvin Ridley stat. How about this stat, though, if you are considering Adam Thielen coming off a good game?

The Jaguars have allowed more than 13.9 or more PPR fantasy points. I usually go 14, but 13.9 or more PPR fantasy points. I usually go 14, but 13.9 or more PPR fantasy points. Who was it that had the 13.9? Was it Godwin? I don't know. I think it was Nico. Anyway, the Jaguars have allowed 13.9 or more PPR fantasy points on receiving totals alone

to nine wide receivers in their last eight games. Deontay, Iuke, Hopkins, Nico, Tank Dell, Chase, Amari Cooper,

Mike Evans, and Chris Godwin. So it's a lot of good receivers there. I will say that, but what a matchup this has been. How are we feeling? Does anybody have faith in Adam Thielen? Are we feeling Thielen?

Are you, are you feeling it? as I used to say? He's a number three receiver. We've certainly seen the pitfalls. I'm moderately more curious in how DJ Chark will do because he's coming off a huge game, and this now will be his third revenge game of his career. In his previous two. in his previous two he played the jaguars as a member of the lions and had six catches for 98 yards when he hadn't

been doing very much at that point it was week five so take that into account first year with detroit then this year as a member of the panthers he he played the Lions and scored a touchdown. So I think he feeds into it a little bit, um, playing his former team. So not that you would start Tark over Thielen, but good DFS play for sure. Uh, based on the matchup. So yeah, Thielen's, uh, you know, I think it's just one of those depends on who you have type of guys. So he's in the same range for me as Ridley, as Tyler Lockett, as I'm trying to think of the PPR guys.

A little ahead of Deontay Johnson, those type of players. I think I like him just a little bit more than that. He's a low-end No. 2 wide receiver. He does have almost no floor, but we've seen still enough glimpses of what we had early in the year, and it is a fantastic matchup. Yeah. All right.

And Bryce Young looked very good last week. First time he's looked actually more than competent. Now, in fairness, being a quarterback playing against the Packers has been the free space over the last few weeks. Of course, so has Jacksonville. I don't know. I think I heard on Red Zone that going into last week's game, the last two quarterbacks who had faced the Packers

had won NFC Offensive Player of the Week. You heard that on FFT as well. Really? When did you say that? Last week. Before the game. Sorry. It was Puka Nakua last week. It was not Bryce Young.

Okay, Jamie, I have a FanDuel lineup open, and the first player I put in is DJ Chark. So let's go. I will not be stacking with Bryce Young, though. So the people are here. I'm sorry it took 42 minutes for this. The people are here for the Chuba Hubbard debate today, guys. So Jamie is pro-Chuba Hubbard, and Heath is not so pro-Chuba Hubbard. Jamie, go ahead. Make the case for Chuba against the Jaguars. I mean, he's just been as consistent from a scoring standpoint as you can find with I think it's 11.1 or 11.9 in five games in a row.

17 or more touches in all those games. Jaguars, as we know, are terrible against anything when it comes to any time you throw against them. They're number one in terms of receptions in that stretch. He has a five-catch game. So I would hope that they get him the ball in the passing game a little bit more than they have the last couple of weeks. Miles Sanders, I know, practiced yesterday,

but came off the game last week a little bit banged up, and we know they don't really like him at all. So, you know, you're looking at probably 16 to 20 carries. I don't think they get blown out in this game, because especially if C.J. Beathard plays, the Panthers have played tougher the last couple of weeks, and Chuba's been a big part of this offense. So against this defense, I don't think you should be sitting Chuba Hubbard at all.

That's how I feel. He does have a five-catch game in this stretch. It's also his only game with more than two targets since November the 5th. He's just not really been involved in the passing game. And that 11 to 12 point range is kind of a number three running back, right? No. I know I did this a few weeks ago with Ramondre Stevenson when Dave and I were debating Stevenson. 11 basically is top 15.

On a weekly basis? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, it's 11.6 PBR fantasy points in five straight games for Chuba Hubbard. Jacksonville's run defense is the only thing that's not terrible, right? I mean, they are not bad against...

Stopping the run. Yes. Right, well, Chuba catch the passes. I just... I think 11 might have been top 15 when we had six teams on a buy or something but Gus Edwards is averaging 11.4 this season and he's already 30 in

PPR per game. Yes. Yeah. So I think there's a difference. I've done that too. There's a difference between like looking at what a player averages and then just week by week and you're right. The buys obviously play into that but go ahead. How many how many running backs there were no buys last week.

How many running backs scored 11 PPR fantasy points? I don't know. Like Pacheco is averaging 14.2 and he's RB 15. I'm actually curious. But last week. Yeah. I'm actually interested in this. Austin Eckler was RB 24 at 11.6.

Yeah, I don't think 11 is so great. But I bet 11 is good for the running backs that were actually talking. I think it's probably a lot better in half PPR. Yeah, I'm sure.

Alright. Great stuff there. But if that's his floor, then that's good. You know, then his floor is borderline 24. Right, yes. Yeah, I don't have a strong feeling on Chuba Hubbard. I think I've got him maybe just a little bit too low. I think he should be right around RB24.

I might have him 27 or 28. All right. And then on the other side of the ball, where would you rank Lawrence if he plays? We have him ranked now as if he's playing. So he's just inside the top 20 for me. I think I have him 15th. 17th for Jamie.

18th for Dave. 14th right now I see for Heath. Okay. ETN, we talked about it yesterday. He's top 12 for everyone in sort of format start etn uh we already went over calvin ridley i i did think you guys were too high on him i was surprised jamie is the lowest at 22 heath has him 18th 24 as of yesterday okay he moved him down all right um and then uh yeah does z Zay Jones factor in at all? Does he hurt Calvin Ridley?

Is he playing? He was limited. So that was a good sign. He unlocks Calvin Ridley. Actually, that could be. That could be the case. How about Evan Ingram? Must start.

Not even in hesitation. Okay. No matter who the QB is. And on paper, it's a bad matchup, but he has done well. You know, Cleveland is a tough matchup.

He was amazing. Since Kirk has gone out, he's been a monster. Yep, absolutely. Okay. Except that Baltimore game. All right. Sit the DSTs,

I would say. Yeah. Jaguars are a borderline streamer. Cincinnati is at Kansas City. I've already used up all my stats for this one. No love here for Jake Browning.

As I mentioned, second most passing yards in the last four weeks. I mean, you saw the first game without Jamar Chase, and it wasn't pretty. He threw three interceptions. I think he still threw, I think, 42 passes for 330 yards or something like that. But you're right.

I mean, it wasn't pretty. You're right. The only way would be is if Sneed's out. Yeah, I'd rather start Terod Taylor. So we're talking about this game as if Chase is out, right? Yep. He did not practice again on Wednesday. There was a little bit more optimism for him,

but in terms of playing at this point, I would bet against it. I asked them about Mixon earlier. He's a solid number two running back. He's top 20. He's not top 12. Brees Hall tonight or Joe Mixon? Hall. Hall.

That's close. Are you going to start Zemir White or Joe Mixon if Josh Jacobs is out? Mixon. White. All right. So again, we talked about T. Higgins yesterday, but where do we stand on him? Are you not terrified of T. Higgins yesterday, but where do we stand on him? Are you, are you not terrified of T Higgins?

If Snead plays, I'm not terrified of Higgins, but certainly lower expectations. I think he's a high end number two wide receiver with no, no Snead, like top 15. And he's a low end number two wide receiver. If Snead plays like around 20 to 25.

Yeah. I'd probably have him a little bit higher than that. He'd be a number one receiver if Snead's up. It's tough, man. When you start getting to about 24 or so in the wide receiver rankings, it's not like I can look at these studs that are behind T. Higgins and be like,

well, how come you're not playing this guy over him? But how about Jaden Reed? Would you start Jaden Reed over T. Higgins? like, well, how come you're not playing this guy over him? You know, but how about how about Jaden Reed? Would you start Jaden Reed over to Higgins? No, probably not. If he was like 100 percent playing all this time and producing like he had been, then yes. But, you know, who knows how bad this toe injury is if he's just trying to play through it. OK.

So. Mahomes, let's get back into that. I know we talked about this yesterday, but Stafford or Mahomes? Stafford. Mahomes for me. All right, Mahomes is ninth for Jamie and fourth for Heath. You can listen to yesterday's show if you'd like, but Mahomes ahead of Stroud, Heath. Yes. How many points do you expect from Mahomes this week?

21, 22, 22, okay you have anything else you'd like to say that's not four i don't i just threw a number out there uh i probably haven't projected for 24 it's probably more likely, but no, I think it's, it's a good matchup and it's just, it would be different for me with my homes. If it was that he was legitimate, like last week was bad, but for most of the season, it's just been a drop here, a drop there,

a deflection off the hands. And I just, I'm not going to believe that's going to continue happening. It might. I understand if somebody wants to sit him for CJ Stroud. Okay. It's a, it's a great matchup. I mean, look, Mason Rudolph just threw three touchdowns against them, you know? I understand if somebody wants to sit him for CJ Stroud. It's a great matchup. Mason Rudolph just threw three touchdowns against them.

There's certainly reason for optimism here for Mahomes. Actually, I think it's better for Mahomes, honestly, that Pacheco is likely out. Because there's an easier reliance i think on okay we can just ride our running back here to a big win as opposed to oh my god we got to rely on spider was there uh because of the dj reader absence but this should be a game where he has some bounce back potential here to get some confidence for this team going into the playoffs. So they have not played well. Offensive line has not played well.

Receiving core has not played well. Mahomes has obviously been a byproduct of that, you know, so this is not that type of defense. They just have not been saying. Does this count as a squeaky wheel game for Travis Kelsey after his rant on his podcast? Did you see that? Yeah. I mean, I read the transcript.

He is... Yeah, he's not happy. Not pleased with himself or the team or anything. How many tight ends are you starting over Kelsey? None. None. Rasheed Rice is still a must-start, right? Yep, 100%.

Definitely the best wide receiver in this game. Even if... I mean, he's still a number one receiver to have done against this team. Yep, 100%. Definitely the best wide receiver in this game. Even if Chase... I mean, is he the number one receiver to have done against this team? Oh, you mean the Bengals? I mean, I guess not. If you put Pickens as the number one guy? I mean, but I wouldn't.

But... No. Well, I mean, it's funny because Addison was better than Jefferson. Pickens was better than Deontay. But Jefferson also played well in that game. Yeah, 7 for 84. This is a great matchup.

Don't even... So, like, would you start him over... Would you start Rasheed Rice over Puka or Cooper Cup? No, but right there. I think I have it Puka-Rice Cup. Okay. Cup of Rice. And Clyde, we already talked about. He's Heath's player that

he loves. He's a good, he's a real solid running back option. Assuming Pacheco is out. If Pacheco's in, then you start Isaiah Pacheco. I hope I didn't ask this, but Travis Etienne or Clyde Eberziler? Etienne.

Etienne. All right. Okay. I think we'm good with this game. Chiefs DST is startable again. Patriots are at the Bills, but first we're at commercial break. We'll be right back on fantasy football today. Welcome back, everybody. Nice job there by Schaefer.

I went to commercial break very abruptly on YouTube there, and he had the commercial queued up. I want to shout out Thomas Schaefer. We've got the Bakeburger Dynasty League in its first season. We raised a ton of money for St. Jude and he is in the championship. We have four, I think four players,

four people in the league who are from England. So we've got, we've got an international. Why did I forget how many it is? We've got an international championship. We got one of the London guys versus Schaefer. So Thomas Schaefer is representing our country this weekend in the championship. What is the preferred burger cooking method in England?

It's not baked. I think they pretty much eat what we eat, you know, normal burgers. Oh, you do? Yeah. You think the cuisines are pretty much the same thing? I've never been there, but from what I understand, they are very much like us in that regard.

Except if you order chips, it's not the same. If you order fish and chips, it's not the same. Anyway, good luck to Tom and Schaefer. I'm rooting for you, buddy, to win the Big Burger Dynasty. It's still one of the more amazing stories that I've heard from you in that you were in this dynasty league for how many years?

10, 10 years. Then you took over the league when it disbanded and kept some of the original members. Correct. Yeah. And then in setting up the draft with some of these people that you've been in a league for 10 years,

you just discovered that they live in England. I had no idea. Yeah. Well, I had never spoken to them. You know, it was not a very active dynasty league. So,

but it is now. It's a great league. I'm very happy about it. Yes. And I don't think either of you have paid your dues. So you're going to have to do that. I thought we had this conversation.

You didn't, right? You said I did. And then you said you didn't. No, I said it was because of what you owed me for the baseball league that I paid for. Oh, okay said you didn't. No, I said it was because of what you owed me for the baseball league that I paid for. Oh, okay. I don't know, whatever.

Patriots at Bills. And let's talk about, I did have a question here. Zeke or Clyde Edwards-Ziller in the chat? Zeke for me. Clyde for me. You guys are pretty split on Zeke. You heard that debate earlier. Please listen to it.

How do you feel about James Cook, though? What happened last week was, if you looked at the air yards for Josh Allen since Joe Brady took over, it was pretty low. Not like crazy low, not like Daniel Jones low or anything, but lower than usual.

Last week, it was over 13 yards, which is really, really high. Gabe Davis did it. He didn't throw to James Cook once, but Cook still got his, I think, 20 carries. So Heath, how do you feel about James Cook against the Patriots, who at times have been just phenomenal against running backs? Yeah, I'm nervously viewing him as a must start. He's a top 15 running back for sure, pretty much going right back to him.

He still had 20 carries. You know, it's not like the usage was bad. Just the production was bad. The fumble was bad. You know, so I wonder if that was, let's take advantage of the Chargers secondary and see if we get Josh Allen going a little bit. You know, from a downfield perspective. I think they go back to what's been working for them.

Well, Stefan Diggs has's been working. Well, uh, Stefan Diggs has not been working for them and we had a long talk about him yesterday. Do you like James Cook or Stefan Diggs? Cook. Cook. Zeke.

I know it's going to be Zeke for Heath, but Jamie Zeke or Diggs? Zeke is probably the right answer. Let's see if anyone in the chat has any Stefan Diggs questions. I'd be curious to know what decisions people are making. We had a long chat on yesterday's show, so I'll just refer all of you to that if you want to hear it. There's a time code for it.

But I'll also look for some. Would you start Nico Collins over Diggs? Is that easy? I'd go Diggs. Oh, really? I'd go Nico. I mean, the history at... Do you know what he does at home?

He's averaging, I think, it's like 25 points per game at home this year. What if it's not CJ Stroud, though? Then it's Diggs. Then it's Diggs, okay. But at this point, I think Stroud's playing. I hope so, because he's in my fan-duel lineup

with DJ Chark and Nico Collins. There you go. All right. So should I ask the eight ball one last time? No, we've got the Gabe Davis versus Patriots history overrides the eight ball, right? It's bad, right? Not good. I assume it's bad.

I thought you told us. I thought last time it was awful. I think it was the Jets. I'll look and make sure. I think it was the Jets history. The Jets is the one that's awful, yeah. The Jets history is like worst player in football history. Yeah, the Patriots history is not good either, but it's not as bad as the Jets.

We're sitting him. How do you feel about Demario Douglas? How do you feel about Devante Parker? Douglas is a low-end number three PPR receiver at best. Yeah, we definitely like Douglas more than Parker. I think he's around wide receiver 33, 34 for me, seven or more targets in five of his last six games and double-digit PPR points in three of his last four

and still hasn't ever scored a touchdown. Did you say this, the practice status of micah hyden epinesa i actually did not say that uh i do not know i want to say limited but i will check right now two key players on the uh injury report for the buffalo bills i i'm amazed at how how good their defense has been with how many injuries they've had. Just don't even like their personnel that much. Let's see. Epinesa was limited and Micah Hyde was limited. Okay.

So good news. Trending in the right direction. Any, anything else from this game? Am I missing anything? Tight ends. Sit, sit them.

Yeah. Josh was great against the Patriots the last time Josh Allen has been not amazing lately do you have any hesitation with him

is anyone you would consider Purdy or Dak would you start them over Allen I would start Dak over Allen Purdy no

that's close yeah okay all right moving on Bill's DST or Chiefs DST this week that's close. Yeah. Okay. All right. Moving on. Bill's DST or Chief's DST this week?

Bill's. Yeah. I'm trying to see if there are any questions in the chat. Hmm. No, not really.

I see one. Diggs, Debo, Higgins, Cooper. Pick two. Diggs, Debo, Higgins, Cooper. Pick two. Diggs, Debo, Higgins, Cooper. Okay, go ahead. Pick two. Ken Holm.

I don't see it, but go ahead. Diggs, Debo, Cooper who? Oh, there it is. Higgins, Cooper, Debo, Diggs. Pick two. Debo and Cooper as of now. But that could change wildly as the day goes on. Yeah, Debo for sure.

If Cooper's out, then it would be Higgins. Over Diggs. I'd go Debo and Diggs. Yeah. All right. So Debo, everyone would start Debo. We're looking at Diggs, Debo, Higgins, Cooper. It's interesting. Philosophically, right? It's interesting because if you think Cooper and Diggs are close, then I don't know how you you do think they're close, then I would play it safe, which I think is what Heath is doing. And then I've got enough concerns

about T. Higgins facing Snead that if Snead plays, then I would take Diggs. You're just low on Diggs, Jamie. Well, I mean, there's six weeks of data to suggest why. I know, but there's also like a whole career. It's just you would... Yeah,

career doesn't matter at this point, man. He's still Stefan Diggs. His target share is still really good. His target share is good, but that's a big part of this is that Josh Allen's not throwing as much. Yeah. And five of six games, he's been under 50 yards receiving. I mean, there's something going on there.

There is. And that's why I wrote about this last week. And I didn't this week, but this is the time of year where you've just got to trust what you trust. And if it's recent form, then lean into that.

If it's the name, then lean into that. Like, everybody's got, if it's target share, or if it's, like, whatever it is, like, trust what you trust. Let's go on to our next game here. If I can find it,

I believe it is the Indianapolis game and they are facing the Raiders. All right. Talked about how good the Raiders defense has been third, best in points per game since week five. All right. Who are the easy starts in this game? Las Vegas at Indianapolis. Easy starts.

Heath. I'm starting Jonathan Taylor. I'm starting Michael Pittman if he's okay. If Josh Jacobs plays, I would start him. Okay. How much better? I would say I'm starting Raiders running back. Yeah.

How much better is Jacobs than Zemir white? If Jacobs plays compared to Zemir white, it's, it White? It's hard to say much better because Zamir White has been very good. Give him credit. 145 yards rushing last week and what he did is his rushing and receiving against the Chargers scored a touchdown. That's basically

from a production standpoint, Josh Jacobs. Now you can say Jacobs might have been better with that. I can't fight you because he's a better player, clearly. But he's still produced at a level high enough that you can say, okay, I feel good about this. So, yeah, Raiders running back for me. Must start. Okay.

And would you start them ahead of Jonathan Taylor? Because I think I can make a case against Jonathan Taylor. First of all, he just hasn't really been that good this year. I think he's at 3.9 yards per carry. He really doesn't have a lot of explosive runs. So we haven't seen that Jonathan Taylor. First of all, he just hasn't really been that good this year. I think he's at 3.9 yards per carry. He really doesn't have a lot of explosive runs. So we haven't seen that Jonathan Taylor. Zach Moss was limited, so he could play this week. I don't know if that would even matter. And then the Raiders have, I said all that stuff earlier, I think it's 3.4 yards per carry to running backs in their last six games. And only Pacheco who had a two touchdown game has had like a really good game that would justify a top 12 ranking.

So, yeah, I mean, and, and then he just doesn't get thrown to, uh, so I think the, the,

the Moss injury may, may sway this, what I'm about to say, but I wonder if Jacob's coming back, especially since he didn't practice on Wednesday. Now we know Wednesday and what that means. But the fact coming off a long injury, you think he would get back if he's close to playing. I wonder if the Raiders are going to give him more work now.

Has he earned enough to not just be the bench guy? You know what I mean? Does it become a little bit more of a tandem? Has he done enough? Because I think he has. It feels as if, and look, we know the Jacobs is playing on a one-year deal. Is Amir White there running back in the future?

So who would be your highest rank running back in this game? Is this going to be Taylor? It would be Taylor, but Moss coming back may change that. That's what I'm getting at. Like, you know, we know they use Moss too. Yeah, they had gone away from that, but we'll see what happens now. change that is what I'm getting at. We know they use Moss too. Yeah. They had gone away from that, but we'll see what happens now. It's a big game

by the way. Adams or did you say this? Pittman or Adams? Pittman. Yeah, Pittman. Adams or Diggs? Adams.

Adams or Ken Walkerer half ppr yeah okay i feel like i'm done here did i miss anything quarterbacks no uh well no if pitman doesn't play it's a big part of this Josh Downs was six catches last week Conley Granson was good you know you have two

potential streamers if there is no Pittman I probably wouldn't oh Jacoby Myers any interest in Jacoby Myers no okay and I mentioned that

Colts past defense has been pretty good their run defense has been well they give up a ton of points to running backs. A ton. But they did lose, like I said, starting safety Julian Blackman. We'll see if that has any impact for them. Which DST do you prefer, Colts or Raiders?

Raiders by a mile if Pittman's out. You saw what the Gardner looked awful last week. Absolutely atrocious. I think I skipped the Pittsburgh game. I meant to do that earlier. So let's go to that game. Let's go to Pittsburgh at Seattle. That's our next game here.

Right. We didn't talk about this game, right? Nope. All right. Who do you like in this game, Heath? Who's an easy start in Pittsburgh at Seattle? An easy start? There isn't one.

DK is the best start. He's a low-end number two wide receiver. Walker's probably the next best start as a low-end number two running back. Do you think Metcalf's an easier start than Heath does, Jamie? Walker's probably the next best start as a low end number two running back. You think, do you think he met calves easier start than, than Heath does Jamie? I mean, I'm not benching DK Mecca at this point,

so he's a must start guy. Okay. And Gino Smith, how do we feel about Gino Smith or Trevor Lawrence this week? I know you guys don't love Lawrence. Gina. I would go with Lawrence. Who has

big game potential here? Weak winning potential? Just DK? Absolutely. Pickens. You think so? Are you legitimately interested in starting him? He's a boom plus number three. That's what you asked.

He has big play potential. I guess, but so does Gabe Davis right would you start who's okay fine who's the second best wide receiver in this game after DK Metcalf Lockett I would say Lockett who's the third best

Pickens Pickens if you were desperate in the two-quarterback league, would you start Mason Rudolph, Jacoby Brissett, Tarod Taylor, Jared Stidham? Who would you go with?

Taylor. Taylor or Brissett. Not Mason Rudolph. Not Mason Rudolph. Okay. Ken Walker or Deontay Johnson, PPR? Walker.

Deontay. Ooh. DK Metcalf or Stefan Diggs? Metcalf. Diggs for me. And then what do we expect from the Steelers running backs? I mean, it's pretty clear. Najee Harris, if he scores, he's good.

If he doesn't, he just should not start him. And Jalen Warren is probably in the 10-point PBR range, although he's had a lot of catches lately. Just can't seem to do much else. He's been the passing downs guy. Right, but the catches had gone away, really, with Deontay back, and the catches have come back. He's got, what, like four more catches

in three straight games or something, Jalen Warren? Yeah, I've got Warren just ahead of Najee in full PPR. And what range are we talking about? Who's in that range? Just behind Walker? Yeah, I'll play Najee as a number two running back here. The Seahawks in their last five games have allowed five touchdowns to running backs.

And so we know that's his MO. I think he scores again. All right. Well, that'd be good. Would you start Ty Chandler against the Packers or a Steelers running back? Najee, Chandler, Warren for me. Interesting. I think I have it Chandler

or not. Warren Najee Chandler. All right. We are done with that game. Tennessee at Houston. We didn't do this one, did we? All right, let's go to Tennessee at Houston. Your stat of the game.

The Texans have allowed 19.7 or more fantasy points to five wide receivers in their last seven games. That is a lot. That's Tyler Borden. You know who's the two of the seven? What'd you say? You know who's in the two of the seven? No, who?

Hopkins. Oh, yeah, that did not. Yeah, DeAndre Hopkins did not, right? But it's a good matchup. But I remember I watched all of the targets for DeAndre Hopkins in that game. He had a terrible... He's going to say Jimmy Ward.

No, I mean, look, I know they've already said Jimmy Ward. But in that game, it was on Levis. Hopkins could have had a huge game, especially one play in particular. He could have had like a 75-yard touchdown. And that's kind of the thing with Hopkins, when was on Levis. Hopkins could have had a huge game, especially one play in particular. He could have had like a 75-yard touchdown. And that's kind of the thing with Hopkins. When Levis is playing, he is a boomer bus guy. He is a deep ball guy, high A dot.

Levis airs it out. But he had his opportunities, and Levis missed him a couple of times in that game for big plays. What was the stat line? It's like two catches on nine targets or something like that. It was terrible. But do you have any interest? It was two's like two catches on nine targets or something like that. It was terrible. But do you have any interest? It was two catches for 21 yards on nine targets,

but he definitely could have had some big plays in that game. But I think the problem with Hopkins is what he did last week has nothing to do with what he's going to do this week. So what do you do with DeAndre Hopkins in, I think, a pretty tasty matchup here? Borderline numbers receiver. Yeah, I was going to say high-end number three, the second-best wide receiver in this game.

Yep. If Stroud plays, I just love Nico. Yeah. You want me to give you his numbers, Dom? You can give me his numbers at home, but you give me his numbers with Stroud and no Tank Dell. I mean, we're talking about 150-yard potential here.

So, four games prior to his calf injury, at least 13.5 PPR points in each game, two with at least 23 points. In eight home games this year, this is a quarterback. 21.8 PPR points per game. Like, that's insane.

That's what he's averaging. That's crazy. Yeah. Heath, you seem a little hesitant on that well no it's it's there's nothing to be hesitant about it's true it's um there's still been a lot of three for 50 four for 60 like he had a couple of six target games without tank dale earlier right like i just i don't feel quite as confident in it, but he's a great boom bust number two wide receiver. I just think the bust is still possible. Any interest in Noah Brown this week? No, I thank you. Not really.

Okay. So talk to me about the right. Why are you so low on Derek Henry, Jamie? I think you have him 30th or something like that. Well, it's not just what he did against them last week. I mean, this run defense has been awesome. And I know they gave up the two touchdowns last week to the Cleveland guys. But really, for the most part, when they've faced some of these offenses like this, they've been great.

But here's what they've done. They haven't allowed a running back to rush for more than 56 yards in the last five games. That's against ETN, Javante Williams, Brees Hall, Derrick Henry, Jerome Ford. Ford and Hunt, the only ones who were touchdowns in those five games. And on the road this year for Derrick Henry, forget about the scores, just on the road, he's averaging just 10.1 PPR points per game. So hasn't exactly been good away from his building. I just think this is going to be a down game for him. If Stroud plays, this feels like there could be a blowout.

And the home road thing actually, to me, makes perfect sense because we've said it all along. It's got to be game script. If they start losing, if they fall behind, it's bad for Derrick Henry. And they are much – they're actually a good home team. It's tough to go into Tennessee and win, but they're not so good on the road. They're not even close.

So, Heath, what do you think about Derrick Henry this week? I think he is like the definition of that borderline number two, high end flex type guy, somewhere in the 24 to 30 range. He's still Derek Henry. He could still like, if he breaks through and stiff arms, three guys and runs for 75 yards and a touchdown,

I'm not going to be all that surprised, but there's a low, low floor. And if they score a touchdown, it's a good chance. It's going to be Derek Henry, but all right. Running,

passing or, or, or catching. Are you expecting Levis at this point or Tannehill? Is this a real toss-up? I think the fact that Levis practiced in full, you should expect Levis. Oh, he practiced in full? I thought he was limited.

I thought I saw practice in full, but I'll check. Okay, either way, Thursday we'll know more. Okay, anything else in this game? Where would Nico Collins rank if Stroud did not play? Levis was a full participant in practice. He was off the injury plate. Excellent, excellent.

Where'd you say he? 30? 30? Jamie, where would you rank? He did not play? Collins with Mills. 20. Right now he's top 10. All right, so difference of opinion there, I guess, on the NFC.

Oh, Dalton Schultz. We can't forget about him. Unbelievable. Yeah, so Tennessee gives up the fewest fantasy points to tight ends, but the last two games have been against the basically two best teams against tight ends for Dalton Schultz. He scored 9.8 PPR fantasy points at Tennessee, 14.1 fantasy points against Cleveland, and that was without C.J. Stroud.

But Cleveland's not the same defense without Dalton defending tight ends. Fine. But he had 11 targets and 8 catches, whatever. It's not like he's tearing it up. He's been fine. But anyway, how do you feel about Dalton Schultz this week? Low end starter. I'd prefer Gerald Everett and Tucker Kraft. fine. But anyway, how do you feel about Dalton Schultz this week? Low and

starter. I'd prefer Gerald Everett and Tucker Kraft. I agree with that. I would start Schultz over. He's right in that 10-12 range. I would start him over likely. I would not. How about the Chargers at the Broncos? Let's talk about the Chargers at the Broncos. Why don't we just do every

game? Forget tomorrow. Forget what? Forget tomorrow, Schultz. Let's do every game. We've almost done a double, so this has turned into a double shift. I think this is our last game. I got completely screwed up with my notes. It's been hard to follow along on the notes. You've not

got an order. I haven't, right? What the hell happened here? We did Miami at Baltimore. We did Pittsburgh at Seattle. We did Tennessee at Houston. Cincinnati at Kansas City. We did New England, Buffalo. We did Miami at Baltimore. We did Pittsburgh at Seattle. We did Tennessee at Houston. Cincinnati at Kansas City. We did New England Buffalo. We did Las Vegas Indianapolis. We did Carolina Jacksonville. Our last game is the Chargers at

the Broncos. Chargers at the Broncos. I asked you if you were confident in any players. Jamie said he was confident. I said that to everybody else. Obviously, there are wide receiver opportunities here with Sutton in the concussion protocol,

Keenan Allen not practicing, Josh Palmer in the concussion protocol. Does anybody emerge as a top 30 option? No. No. I mean, you could go with the narrative of Jared Stidham, Peppers is number one target with, first number one receiver with targets.

Who's the number one receiver? Is it Jerry Judy? Like, you know, it could be Brandon Johnson, for all we know, with what Sean Payton is doing right now. You know, so can't trust Judy. Would not surprise me if he plays well, but there's no chance you're starting him in your championship unless you're absolutely stuck or you start five wide receivers.

And Everett's a great streaming option. He's been very consistent. It's a great matchup, but you're still, again, relying on Easton Stick. So it's just, yeah, Eckler to me is the only one. And I know he's not been good, but at least you saw the one good game that he's had in the last month was against the Broncos. He's from Colorado. I think this game matters to him.

You know, this is a defense that he's beaten up on throughout his career and just did so two weeks ago. Eckler's an easy start. Everett's a maybe start. Good luck with the Broncos wide receivers. Good luck with Quentin Johnston if there's no Palmer or Allen. Javante is not a starter running back, but I would start him over any wide receivers in this game.

Yes. Would you start Javante Williams or Najee Harris? Najee. Javante for me. All right. And we're really starting Eckler? He does not have a carry longer than 10 yards in his last

five games. Yeah. I mean, look, I think what he did last week is probably the floor. You know, three catches, got you 65 yards rushing. Denver's been the layup all season. Like, there's no reason to go away from it when he just did this against them. Yeah. As recently as what, three weeks ago?

What did he do? It was 10 carries. 100 yards? Yeah. It was a five for 49 receiving was very encouraging. 10 carries, 51 yards and a touchdown. Five catches for 49 yards. He scored 21 fantasy points.

That is awesome. It is pretty impressive to average 5.1 yards per carry and not have a carry longer than 10 yards. I know. I was thinking that. That is impressive. A lot of good runs. And you're also taking the two best receivers off the field for the Chargers. I don't think we have any more games to do.

So, that's good. There's a reason why I accidentally saved this game for last. What about the DSTs? They're both in play as streaming options given the quarterbacks that they're facing, but they're both awful defenses. The Broncos are an awful defense? I prefer the Broncos.

Yeah. Let's go to New England at Buffalo. No, I'm just kidding. All right, we're out of here, everybody. We will talk to you tomorrow. We have a live stream tonight at 7.30 p. Yeah. All right. Let's go to New England at Buffalo. No, I'm just kidding. All right, we're out of here, everybody. We will talk to you tomorrow. We have a live stream tonight at 7.30 p.m. Eastern to help answer your questions. YouTube.com slash Fantasy Football today.

And tomorrow we'll get into the NFC home games in order. Good luck tonight. See you later.