Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (AFC): Browns, Colts, Rams RBs and More (10/19 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: October 19, 2023

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 Jerome Ford is out Start of the Week! We'll tell you which players we love (2:30) and which players we are avoiding (7:15) this week as Michael Pittman and Trevor Lawrence could struggle in Week 7. We also talk about players who could be traded before the trade deadline (11:15) and all of the news and notes (14:30) you need to know ... One Question for Each Game (24:00)! Do we like Jahmyr Gibbs this week? What do we expect from Zach Evans? Are we still starting D.J. Moore with a backup QB? ... Start or Sit for Browns-Colts (31:45), Lions-Ravens (38:05), Packers-Broncos (46:15), Steelers-Rams (58:10), Raiders-Bears (1:04:30), Chargers-Chiefs (1:07:35) and Bills-Patriots (1:12:00) ... 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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Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. All right, hope you're ready for week seven, everybody. We are pretty much at the midway point of the fantasy season, the regular season anyway, and we have got some AFC home games to take a look at today. On today's show, it's Cleveland at the Colts, Detroit at Baltimore, Green Bay at Denver, Pittsburgh at the Rams.

I know that's an NFC home game. So is Las Vegas at Chicago, Chargers at Kansas City, and Buffalo at New England. Yes, we have more NFC home games and AFC home games this week. Tonight we have the Jaguars and the Saints, so we'll keep you updated on that. I'm Adam Azer with Heath Cummings and Jamie Eisenberg. If you're watching on YouTube, thank you very much. Please hit the Like button if you like the content.

YouTube.com slash FantasyFootballToday. And you can see Heath's's uh heath's name on youtube is subscribe to fft dynasty and he's just got a text right now from a new subscriber i'm thinking is i just subscribed to fft dynasty um so anyway listen to that show every tuesday if you want some dynasty content what's up guys heath you ready for halloween it's less than two weeks away my wife told me last night um that the party the date of the party i said it's already halloween and she said yes and she told me the date and she i said she didn't tell me what i'm dressing as yet but i'm sure i'll be dressing up

as something i'm excited you guys gotta do um what everybody else is doing the kelsey taylor swift costume there we go that would be great that would be great. She's not. You can grow a good mustache. I could grow a mustache by Halloween, and I've not shaved for three days, so I've got a head start. So does she know? Do you have a Kelsey jersey? There is a Kelsey jersey in my house that would fit me. Thankfully, both my boys now are basically wearing the same size clothes that I do, so I can wear any of their clothes. I can.

Does she know what the costume's going to be and just hasn't told you, or she hasn't figured it out yet? I have no idea. All right, all right. Well, Heath is the Grinch who stole Halloween. He'll be turning his lights off and not giving out any candy. 100%. Yeah, we like to tease him about it. All right, let's get into players.

We love in players to avoid for the week seven slate. Jamie, who do we love this week? Uh, Jerome Ford, start of the week. Um, really excited about the,

the situation with Grover Stewart, not being there for the Colts. Um, Adam, as you know, I texted you earlier in the week and I was like torn on, uh, Jerome Ford and Brian Robinson.

And as the giants fan that you are, you told me Robinson. Um, but I, when I saw Stewart get suspended, that was kind of the thing that swayed it for me. I think we're going to see the Browns. I like what I saw from him last week against the 49ers, the three runs in the fourth quarter setting up the two field goals, three runs of 13 yards or more against San Francisco.

I know Kareem Hunt obviously has a problem, so we'll see what that means throughout the course of the game. But coming out of these three games where we saw him deal with those tough matchups, I was really encouraged. And we'll see if Deshaun Watson plays, but I think the Colts have shown you enough that their run defense is good, not great.

Now they're missing certainly a key part of it, maybe their best run stopper. So I think Ford will have a top 12 finish this week. Yeah, there was a quote from Kevin Stefanski from Cleveland.com about the running back, specifically about Kareem Hunt.

Kareem hadn't been tackled in a while, but felt like we wanted to get him going early. So we started Kareem Hunt in this game and got him a screen early. But I can't say enough

about Kareem and Jerome Ford. Those guys are running hard, hitting it. It's not always pretty, but I'm really proud of those guys. I recommended Brian Robinson just because of Kareem Hunt. That was what my hang-up was for Jerome Ford.

Because it was a bigger role for Hunt. I mean, in the passing game as well. He just played more. He ran one fewer route than Ford, whereas Ford was blowing him out in that category in the previous two weeks. The routes were almost even. Ford still had the third down roll, though. All right, Jerome Ford.

And Ford played 10 more snaps, too. Yeah, and the Grover Stewart news is big news for sure. So, Jerome Ford's our star of the week. Heath, who do you love this week? Listen, I think you almost have to choose a running back if you're trying to choose someone surprising, because I've got 15 running backs in my top 24 that I don't know wouldn't normally,

but Brian Robinson going up against the giants. Okay. I, uh, I think I, and I got him just slightly ahead of four. I think I have them 14th and 15th. They're both great starts this week.

Um, I like Robinson a lot more in games where the commander should be ahead or competitive and they should be both of those things in this game against a Giants defense that looked a little bit better last week, but I still don't think is any good. Okay, so Jerome Ford. Jamie was deciding between Jerome Ford and Brian Robinson for start of the week, so you might as well just make both of them co-start of the week. Officially, it's Jerome Ford, but Jerome Ford and Brian Robinson, we like them this week.

You like them more than Jameer Gibbs, assuming Gibbs plays. Montgomery won't, but assuming Gibbs plays this week. Do you like Ford and or Robinson better than Jameer Gibbs at Baltimore? Yes, slightly. If Gibbs gets a full practice in, then no. If Gibbs is limited going into Sunday, then yes. And I'll tell you one more thing, just what also why I picked Ford over Robinson. For what the the the reason why we do a start of the week is kind of somebody that's not obvious.

Robinson was when when I started writing it, he was like at 81 percent started. And and by the time, like I made the decision, it was like 84 percent. You know, so he's trending in that direction of, okay, everybody's starting him. What am I telling people? Gotcha. It's funny. I have only broken down half the games so far. Yeah, I'm sorry.

I'm looking at it right now. 90%. 90%. Okay. Well, what's Ford? Ford right now is 74%. But that typically, when we do the start of the week, i usually like to think that there's like a 10 bump with that whether i'm right or i'm wrong but there's always just like a 10 bump because it's like you know screaming on over all of our

headlines sure uh yeah so plus i mean the start percentage is probably gonna be pretty high this week for a lot of players because six teams are on a buy correct um but i was doing the you know i've done just half my notes basically you guys have broken down every game so far. You're always ahead of me in that regard. But I'm just finding a lot of a lot of players to sit, I think, more than to start. You can't do it. But I'm finding, you know, in the slate we're going to talk about today, I feel like I can find more negatives on players than positives but uh we'll try to especially as as heath alluded to with with the running back position like you know for what what i do for a start set like to come up with usually it's usually 10 names per position just to start and sleepers like it was yeah i'm giving you like six good luck i can't uh i just got a note on my phone here about Trevor Lawrence.

Where is this, though? Confident he'll play this week. Just want to make sure. Okay, I'll just make sure we get the source here. Trevor Lawrence confident he will play. And Jameer Gibbs is trending in the right direction. We got some more news updates for you later. Players to avoid.

Heath, who will be sitting this week? Can I say, does this have to be a Sunday guy, or can I say Thursday players here? Oh, sure, Thursday. Like the guy you just said, I would like to do everything in my power to stay away from Trevor Lawrence. It's a terrible matchup. They've not figured it quite out yet through the passing game.

He's kind of kept himself afloat in some games with his legs. I wouldn't expect any rushing. I get almost like Joe Burrow rushing in this game. And so without the rushing against the terrible matchup and a game that last i looked at an over under a 40 um i would really like to stay away from trevor lawrence not a top 15 quarterback for me even with all the lies yep i have so many lawrence leagues i have to check but i know in one league i'm starting sam howell over him and in the podcast league i think I'm pretty much stuck with Trevor Lawrence. Jamie, how about you? Who are you sitting? Pick a Colt, Michael Pittman or

a running back. I would like to avoid them against the Browns. The Browns have been unbelievable against wide receivers. And I know Pittman has been great with Gardner Minshew and he's really had a fantastic season, better clearly in PPR than the other formats. But as we've seen from this Browns team, they've just really eliminated almost every wide receiver aside from the 71-yard play from George Pickens. So I started the week with Pittman still in the top 15, and then it was like, why? I think he's going to struggle. I think Gardner's going to struggle, and I think the running back's going to struggle, especially as we saw last week, the split got closer in terms of the playing time. And if you get the Jonathan Taylor game, not that he's going to struggle, especially as we saw last week, the split got closer in terms of the playing time.

And if you get the Jonathan Taylor game, not that he's going to have a great game, but just in terms of being the lead guy, Zach Moss, I think, is going to struggle. So I would try to stay away from those guys if you can. Again, difficult with the teams on a bye and the injuries, but still lean Moss over Taylor, but I don't really love any of the Colts this week.

Yeah, Pittman's exactly what I was talking about. You know, it's just as much as I like Michael Pittman, God, Cleveland's defense is so good. I just think, I feel like he'd get double-digit targets again. So to me, I'm fine with him in PPR. I think at 11, like he might catch five for 60, might be a Michael Thomas special. That might be a top 24 wide receiver this week.

He has had, you know, I mean, as good a season as he's had, he has had two duds. Now that hasn't come with Gardner playing a full game, but still, again, he also has a face of defense like this. You're okay with him as a flex, though, Michael Pittman, Jamie? Oh, sure. I mean, look, almost anybody that is of significance that you may hear me say, I'm sure Heath probably feels the same way, sit or avoid aside from quarterbacks.

It's very difficult in a three-receiver league to sit a receiver like that. It's very difficult when you're playing flexes and PPRs to the player like that. Like it's almost impossible this week, you know. So when it comes like Zach Moss, like how much do you trust what you've seen from him, especially in tough matchups versus Zach Evans? You know, so I totally get if people are going to still go with Moss over Evans.

Totally get it. We can't answer all of your questions, obviously, but if you want your questions answered, one way to do that is to join our Facebook group. And no, it won't be us necessarily on there, but a bunch of your friends, basically virtual friends, in the

Fantasy Football Today community can help you out. We'll have topics. We'll have waiver wire topics. We'll have starter sit threads, those types of things. You can post your question. People will weigh in. You can just get opinions from other Fantasy Football fans and other listeners and viewers of our podcast. It's just great content, great information in that Facebook group.

So just go to Facebook and search for Fantasy Football Today. Also, go to YouTube and search for Fantasy Football Today or really go to YouTube.com for Fantasy Football Today. Also, go to YouTube and search for Fantasy Football Today, or really go to youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday. You can watch all of our content. Some of my favorite comments are, I just watched your show for the first time, and you look nothing like I thought you'd look. Somebody said, I thought Dave would look exactly like Heath does.

Yeah, but you know, yeah, we get that kind of stuff all the time. So see what we look like, but mostly join us for our live streams thursday night okay tonight 7 30 p.m eastern we'll help you set your lineups join us youtube.com slash fantasy football today about 40 minutes of content there 7 30 p.m eastern trade deadlines coming up it's on halloween if it interferes with my trick-or-treating i'm going to be very upset, just so you know. But what's one trade you guys would like to see happen? I saw two

potential rumor situations today. One was actually, I don't follow this site, but it just popped up on my Twitter feed with the for you, or the X feed with the for you section. I don't even know how that works anymore. That suggested that the Titans are

actively shopping Derrick Henry to try to get him to a contender with what's happening there. And then Devontae Adams, there was the tweet from Schefter from one of their ESPN writers covering the Raiders that said he's unhappy with his diminished role. Those two make a lot of sense.

Not so much Adams while the Raiders are three and three, unless they are going to just say, okay, we're not a contending three and three. We're just lucky to be three and three. And they can get a haul for him because he's going to clearly command a lot. But Henry makes so much sense, you know, for a team that's struggling and he still has some value to them. Clearly, if they get through the season, he's going to have almost no value as a 30-year-old running back

that anybody would want. So if they can get something for him now, do it. Can you push the button, Adam, for Adams? What? Oh, the squeaky wheel? Oh, yeah, sure. Come on. It's the squeaky wheel.

Squeaky crickets. Zach Ertz literally anywhere. I don't care where he goes. Just get out of the way, please. Trey McBride is exciting. This team wants to target their tight ends. McBride could become a top 12 tight end for us. I think he's averaging almost exactly twice as many yards per route run

as Zach Ertz this season. It's like 2.01 to 1.02. almost exactly twice as many yards per route run as Zach Ertz this season. It's like 2.01 to 1.02. And with Kyler Murray back, maybe not back playing this week, but back on the practice field, this offense could be kind of exciting. Tajay Spears is 74% rostered, and he's on a buy.

If anybody drops Tajay Spears, this is a guy you absolutely need to stash. I had a difficult decision in the 10-team team league where just beat up with injuries and bi-weeks and i had to make a decision of dropping miles sanders or tajay spears and i dropped sanders like that's where wow where i'm at in terms of like when i'm healthy i'm fine you know so i don't really need to play sanders but i don't want to give up on what he might become you know spears look at this. Jamie looks like a poor man's Bradley Cooper. Wow. That is a nice thing to say.

Must be somebody that spells their name that way because not me. Yeah. No, it's so funny. I mean, like Jamie's name. Did you? I did not click that. Did I? I didn't.

Oh, my bad. Jamie. Jamie sounds like the stern parent. I don't know. I don't think so. I think you're Oh, my bad. Jamie sounds like the Stern parent. I don't know. I don't think so. I think you're a pushover. Like the Stern parent or like the Howard Stern parent? Like he does a parody of his parents.

He does? I don't know. I don't think you're the mean Stern parent, though. Depends on which child of mine you ask. By the way, if you can't spell Jamie's name right in YouTube, come on, it's right there next to his face. All right, news and notes, a lot of them. Anthony Richardson's out for the season.

Trevor Lawrence is questionable, but trending in the right direction. That was an Ian Rappaport thing. He's probably going to play tonight. Jimmy Garoppolo, back injury. We know that. You guys ranking Garoppolo? Not yet. Not yet.

Deshaun Watson, no timeline for his return from a rotator cuff strain, and he said he may not get back to 100% this season. So what does this mean for you guys for Amari Cooper? I mean, look, if he has another good game, like last week where it was really just one catch, sell. Yeah. He's a number three wide receiver yeah cooper juked uh lenore the defensive back for the 49ers so bad broke his ankles figuratively but got wide

open for a big catch yeah and then he also had like a leaping catch on the sideline not not the most necessarily sustainable stuff um all right dan Daniel Jones practiced, but still seems likely to miss this week's game. He hasn't been cleared for contact yet. Kyler Murray practiced, so now he has three weeks to be activated.

Yes. I haven't checked the roster percentage. Anybody want to guess? Let's check it right now. It was 55% when the news came out yesterday because I tweeted it at the time.

60%? So I'm going to guess he's probably 60s. 60. Yeah. The thing about that is, though, you want to carry him while you can't use him as an IR spot. That's true. Right now, with everything going on with bi-weeks and injuries, it's a little challenging.

Now, when they open up the window, he doesn't come off IR, right? No, no, no. But if you have an IR spot, I would assume those leagues he's mostly rostered. The question is if you don't have an IR spot. Oh, right. The question I got multiple times almost immediately after it was announced was, I'm starting Sam Howell this week over Trevor Lawrence. Would I rather have Kyler Murray or Trevor Lawrence rest of season?

I have a hard time. I can't think of a case for Trevor Lawrence. I'd rather have Guyler. I just don't know what to expect from Kyler Murray. I'm not sure he's going right back to being Kyler Murray. And we all know his splits in his career with and without DeAndre Hopkins. So I'm a little skeptical. I would keep Lawrence.

I don't know that Kyler's going to run that much. That's the whole key to it right now and and that was the pushback i got from a lot of people when i tweeted i said go roster him now if you can and it was he's not going to be the same and so if he's not going to run you you don't want him for just his passing i mean that's just not the allure of what kyler murray is but still if he does bounce back and look, you know, we have so many different scenarios of guys with ACL tears, even at that position that hopefully he'll move a little bit. You know, he doesn't have to be a 60 yard runner per game, but if he's a 40 yard runner per game,

that's pretty good. I did look at it last year. I think it was 24% of Kyler's fantasy points came from on the ground, which is almost exactly the difference between Kyler Murray and Trevor Lawrence in terms of fantasy production. Okay. So I just did a poll. This is a great question. Let's say you're not starting Trevor Lawrence this week. Who would you rather have rest of season?

We'll see what people say. I got to go a little faster with the notes. Justin Fields is likely out with a thumb injury running back. Kyron Williams could go on IR. He's expected to miss multiple weeks. Ronnie Rivers is already on IR, so Zach Evans is really a must-add player right now. Should we also?

We hope. We hope. He's 85% rostered. Royce Freeman, would he be the number two guy there, you think? I don't even know if it's a guarantee Zach Evans is the number one. I mean, that's really the mystery of all of this because Daryl Henderson knows the system, and he may walk in and be the guy that Sean McVay trusts the most. Miles Gaskin's coming from being with Kevin O'Connell for a month,

and he's going to run a similar system to what McVay runs, so there's going to be a lot of the same terminology. So it's very, very much a mystery to me. But I would assume, again, hard to do that. We know what that means, that Evans should be the guy. But, I mean, you're going to yell at me, Adam, when you see what I did in the baked burger. Not on purpose, but I put in claims for all of the non-Rams guys

that weren't rostered, all the non-Evans guys that weren't rostered, and I ended up getting all three of them. Oh, you didn't drop players? Not yet. I mean, I'll do it as soon as I can, but I picked up Henderson, Freeman. No, I had an IR spot because I had Rivers. So I put in claims for all those guys,

and they all went through. Good for you. All right. Okay. Jameer Gibbs was limited, and Craig Reynolds actually missed practice. I think they had a walkthrough, but Craig Reynolds, he's got an injury

but he's designated to have missed practice. Jeff Wilson is ready to go. Don't know if he'll be activated, but he could be back this week, Jeff Wilson. Rashawn Johnson missed practice still. You could get another week of Deontay Foreman getting pretty good work. Travis Homer did return to practice for the Bears.

Kareem Hunt missed practice with a thigh injury. We'll keep an eye on that. Ramondre Stevenson was limited with an ankle. Buffalo running back Damian Harris mispracticed. Aaron Jones was limited in practice. Zach Charbonnet mispracticed with a hamstring injury. At wide receiver, the Chiefs acquired Mecole Hardman and a seventh-round pick.

Welcome back. Welcome back. What do you think about this? Does this affect Rishi Rice? Is Hardman worth picking up right now? Chiefs fan Heath. I would not be picking up Hardman. I don't know what's going to happen with it,

but Justin Watson's banged up right now. They said they didn't think he was going to go on IR, but I wonder if you put him on IR just to make room right now. I think he does a lot of the things Tony does, so if Tony has problems, he's definitely their best option as a kick and punt returner now, so maybe that's just the role that they want him to fill. They didn't give up hardly anything. Last four games that he played with the Chiefs before his injury, these are weeks five through eight last year, he scored 12 or more PPR fantasy points in every game. He had three receiving touchdowns. He had two rushing touchdowns. He had five, four, four, and nine targets. Devontae Smith mispracticed. Again, I think they had a walkthrough,

but Devontae Smith has a hamstring injury. Zay Jones is out tonight. Deontay Johnson practiced in full. Wandale Robinson mispracticed with a knee injury. Guys mispracticed on Wednesday. We don't think it's a huge deal. Kansas City wide receiver Justin Watson mispracticed. Juju Smith-Schuster was back. Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf were both limited. At tight end, Pat Fryermuth practiced in full, so he and Deontay are going to be good to go. Juwan Johnson is out tonight. Dalton Kincaid is on his way back. He practiced in full. Hunter Henry mispracticed with an ankle injury. Hunter Henry got hurt last week, came back in the game.

Same thing with Wanda Robinson, so I don't think those are big deals there. On the offensive line, the Giants, it's a familiar thing here. No Andrew Thomas. They placed his backup on IR.

Two others starting offensive line when we're missing from practice, though Evan Neal should play. The Saints offensive line is pretty beat up for tonight's game. Jacksonville is going to be without Walker Little, their left

guard. Colts right tackle Braden Smith missed practice. The Patriots practice report, 20 players on the Patriots injury report right now. And left tackle Trent Brown is one of them. Good news for Cleveland, Joel Batonio was limited in practice, their left guard.

And Philadelphia right tackle Lane Johnson missed practice. I think right now you have to assume he's not going to play this week, and we'll hope for good news there. But Lane Johnson dealing with an ankle injury. On defense, Buda Baker. So Kyler Murray can come off IR in the next three weeks, so can Buda Baker, their best safety. Miami cornerback Jalen Ramsey practiced.

He will not play this week, though. Jacksonville is going to be without cornerback Jalen Ramsey practice. He will not play this week, though. Jacksonville is going to be without cornerback Tyson Campbell and defensive tackle Devon Hamilton tonight. Buffalo DT Ed Oliver missed practice with a toe injury. Jeremy Chin for the Panthers. The Panthers are just really beat up. Jeremy Chin could miss up to six weeks. Their safety.

A couple of Saints injuries. Teron Matthew, keep an eye on him. He was limited but to Mario Davis linebacker he's a game time decision tonight two players for the Ravens Marcus Williams at safety

Brent Urban at defensive end they missed practice and good news for the Eagles Darius Slay and Jalen Carter were limited in practice we will take a break I can't wait for that game I cannot wait for that game

I know right I mean yes so excited for that game. I cannot wait for that game. Oh, I know, right? I mean, yes. So excited for that game. Eagles-Dolphins Sunday night. Okay, one question for each game when we come back on Fantasy Football Today. Whether in the game or in life,

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Life's full of choices. Smart water is a simple one. Let's start with start of the week game. Cleveland at Indianapolis. This is a silly question now. Who's the best running back in this game? Jerome Ford. Well, who's the best fantasy

running back for this week? It's Jerome Ford, the best running back in this game. You said it. You said Jerome Ford's better than Jonathan Taylor. Heath, you seem a little hesitant. Oh, I've got, yes. Not that I definitely disagree. I know I have them back-to-back. It's Jerome Ford and then Zach Moss.

Basically, it goes Brian Robinson, Jerome Ford, Zach Moss for me. I'm starting all of them unless I hopefully have better options. I'm so worried about starting Moss and at some point Jonathan Taylor is going to get

the work. Forget about the production, just the work. And Moss can still be productive even if Taylor is getting the work, but it, the gap got closer, got smaller between the two. And you know that they're just itching to get Taylor back on the field more and more. Like it just feels at some point we're going to get the, oh, why do I start Zach Moss game? And then, you know, you factor on top of it. This is a really good defense. Like they're just annihilating people so i i definitely think moss pitman taylor like those

guys that jamie's avoiding and i understand why in full ppr i feel a lot better about them than i do in non because minshu's gonna have to throw it 45 or 50 times it might be five catches for 18 yards for moss but that's six PPR fantasy points. And let's see what he does on the ground. All right. Don't spoil the whole game preview. Detroit said Baltimore, just kidding.

Detroit of Baltimore, Jameer Gibbs or Zay Flowers is the way it's trending right now. Who's a better flex Jameer Gibbs or Zay Flowers. It's so funny because how they use Gibbs in week three when Montgomery wasn't there. Yeah. You said, okay,

17 carries 19 touches. Sign me up all day, but it was just an empty stat line for him. So I'm going to go flowers and PBR. I'll take Gibbs and not, I'll take Gibbs, but I'm not really, I can't imagine sitting either one of them this week.

Green Bay at Denver. Who are you confident in starting in this game. Green Bay at Denver. Who are you confident in starting in this game? Green Bay at Denver. Aaron Jones. Yeah, right. Christian Watson. Luke Musgrave. And then Javante.

What? Really? Yeah. Relatively speaking, because both quarterbacks, Aaron Jones and Luke Musgrave. Okay. Yeah, I'll take Love too.

Not Wilson, but I'll take Love. Yeah, we have a nice Russell Wilson rankings dispute coming up. Pittsburgh's at the Rams. Who's the best running back in this game? And bonus question, which Steelers wide receiver do you prefer? The Rams, by the way, allow the fourth fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. So who's the best running back in this game, and which Steelers wide receiver do you prefer?

I will take Zach Evans just on the hope that he's the guy for the Rams, but I would rank them Evans, Warren, Najee. And then I will take Deontay Johnson over Pickens. I'll go Evans as well, although I feel kind of ridiculous saying it's basically just I don't want to start the Steelers running back. And I will say Pickens. All right. Las Vegas is at Chicago. Can you trust these wide receivers with backup quarterbacks, assuming it's two backup quarterbacks in this game, Hoyer versus Bajent. Can you trust the wide receivers, Heath?

I motion to not use the word trust again until week eight because this has nothing to do with trust, but you're starting Myers, you're starting Adams, you're starting DJ Moore, and they're all top 20 guys for me. Agreed. Okay. Chargers at Chiefs.

Who's a better wide receiver play in this game, Josh Palmer or Rushie Rice? I'll take Rice. I believe I have them back-to-back. Palmer should have had a much better game last week. Had three games where – or three catches for like 50 yards that were called back because of offensive line penalties. And a touchdown, right?

What's that? And a touchdown, right? Yep. Yeah. So, like, they're very, very close. I will go Palmer over Rice. Okay. Chiefs have been very good against wide receivers. That's like, that's, I think think the why I asked.

Buffalo at New England, going right back to Ramondre Stevenson? Yes. You don't have a lot of choice this week. I mean, you might though, right? I mean, you could have Zach Evans, you could have Jerome Ford, you could have Colts guy. All these guys are picked up off waivers. Are they ahead of Ramondre Stevenson?

I have Ford ahead of Ramondre, but the thing that was the most encouraging to me about Ramondre was the work in the passing game again. You know, that, that had disappeared since week two and they went right back to it in week six. So hopefully that continues. Yeah, I would have Ford and Moss ahead of Ramondre.

I have Ramondre just ahead of the backup running backs. By the way, in that game, Ramondre Stevenson or James Cook? Ramondre Cook for me. All right. Yeah, that's the last game we'll talk about. It's kind of an interesting game, actually, at least in terms of the running backs and just the history of what the Bills do to the Patriots. Basically, every time they play them,

they just destroy the Patriots, or at least offensively, they just put up huge numbers on the Patriots. But one guy who's more or less left out of the party is Gabe Davis. Sort of. I've done all these qualifiers. Gabe Davis scores a lot,

but he has never had 40 yards in a game against the Patriots. All right, I want to check in on the FFT Open. We raised $22,000 for St. Jude on the Fantasy Football Today Open. Eight divisions. We're each commissioner of one of them. How are you guys doing in the FFT Open?

Four and two. The two-game losing streak. The first loss was a stupid line of decision by me, and I lost by, like, decimal points. And then I got blown out last week. So hopefully get back on track this week. Jamie and I are both wearing our FFT Open shirts. I saw that.

I wore it yesterday. That's good. Five and one. Lost week one. Won five straight. Have Justin Jefferson and Jeff Wilson on IR. Oh, wow. All right.

Good for you. I'm three and three. And shout out to American Nightmares, who's leading my league. And I don't even think your team is so great. No, well, no, it is. It is Cooper Cup. You're good. I don't know how you got to five and one, but you have Mostert and Adam Thielen.

That's a pretty good team. And you have the number two quarterback per game, Justin Herbert. I don't know how you did this. You get the best, the best running back in fantasy and the best wide receiver value in fantasy. I don't know.

I don't know how you're so good. He doesn't have the best running back in fantasy is Jonathan Taylor. He has James Cook and Jonathan Taylor. It's at running back. I thought you said he had most dirt. Oh, he doesn't. Okay. Most. Sorry. And Oh, Oh, he doesn't. Okay, most, sorry.

And oh, oh, wait, wait. He has HN on IR too. This team's pretty good. Good job, good job. Honestly, like, my team is better. I don't understand how you're better than me. Like, my team's better than yours, but all right. Okay, let's go to the games.

Cleveland's at Indianapolis. Stat of the game. The Browns, I mean, we've talked so much about it. Yeah, it was pretty bad. Sorry, Morgan. Cleveland at Indianapolis. We talked a lot about this, but the Browns allow the fewest fantasy points

to wide receivers. They've allowed only four passing touchdowns and an average of 144 passing yards per game by quarterback. So we have discussed Michael Pittman. We can keep doing it. And again, I want to tell you all, if you have any questions in the chat

about this game specifically, please fire away and I'll read those. And I'm getting crushed for my evaluation of that guy's team. I'll read those and yeah, we'll help us out. But okay, let's if Deshaun Watson plays,

is he going to be even a top 15 quarterback? No. Top 15? No. All right. It's probably going to be PJ Walker, who threw for 192 yards, no touchdowns,

two interceptions. And okay, in terms of the Cleveland running backs, we've spoken a lot about Jerome Ford. Would you start Jerome Ford or Michael Pittman this week? Ford. I would definitely go Pittman in full PPR, Ford, and everything else. Pittman or Flowers from Hannibal? Flowers.

Pittman for me. Okay, and... from Hannibal? Flowers. Pittman for me. Okay, and... Do you know how many wide receivers have gotten double digits in PPR against the Browns? Yeah, just one, right? Two. Pickens? Pickens?

Pickens and... Ayuk. Ayuk. Ayuk, yeah. Ayuk. Four for 76 on 10 targets. Okay. Kareem Hunt. How are we feeling about Kareem Hunt this week?

He had 15 touches and a touchdown last week. He's not a bad desperation flex. Again, you know, he's facing the same defense that Ford's getting, and he got plenty of opportunities last week coming off their bye week. He did show up on the injury report Wednesday he's not a bad desperation flux again. You know, he's facing the same defense that Ford getting, and he got plenty of opportunities last week coming off their bi-week. He did show up on the injury report Wednesday with a thigh injury. Again, how much of that is a veteran day or is he actually banged up?

He didn't leave the game with any, uh, any sort of problem. But I, I think in terms of, uh, in terms of what, you know,

was last week the start of something or was last week as, you know, Kevin Stefanski alluded to, or, you know, he's coming off start of something or was last week, as Kevin Stefanski alluded to, or he's coming off a bye and maybe just a little bit different look. But I think you could expect him to be playing and playing with a lead and potentially getting double-digit touches again. So given the week, given the circumstances, given the matchup, I think it's a good flex play.

Kareem Hunt or Jonathan Taylor? Taylor. I hope it's a good flex play. Kareem Hunt or Jonathan Taylor? Taylor. I hope it's Taylor. I would start Taylor, but I couldn't say with any certainty. How about Kareem Hunt or Justice Hill against the Lions? Hunt. I would go Hill.

Okay. And Amari Cooper. Did I ask you Cooper versus Pittman? I don't think I did. I would go Pittman and PPR. Cooper, none. Yeah, I'll go Pittman. And Cooper and none. I agree with that.

Alright. These guys, Cooper is a top 24 guy. You guys have him basically right around 24. Dave is more confident in Cooper. He has him right around 12. It really just was the one catch last week. You take that away. It was a miserable day for him. 58-yard catch.

Yeah. I mean, should we? Yeah. You're right. He had eight targets, four catches, 108 yards on eight targets against the 49ers, including a 58-yarder where he just schooled the defensive back. Now, again, this matchup's easier. Right.

Yeah, the Colts have gotten a little bit better, I think. You know, they played better recently against the pass, but that's been their vulnerability. We're not going to start David Njoku. We're not going to start Gardner Minshew. And then, yeah, Heath, you like Moss better than Taylor. Jamie, I'm not sure. How do you feel about that?

I like Moss better than Taylor, too, but it's not with a lot of confidence. You know, again, you look at the production. Clearly clearly moss has been better in the two games that they played together but you know you saw um what was it 20 more snaps for taylor from week one to week two from week five to week six um i think it was i have it here you want me to get it um so he's he's he's getting more opportunities you know in as he's getting his legs underneath him. And so at what point do we see the switch being flipped of it's now Taylor's backfield and Moss is a clear backup? Now, as Heath alluded to, he can still be the passing downs guy.

He can still be the goal line guy. So last week it was he played 10 plays in week five and he played 23 more snaps in week six. So up to 33 snaps last week. And I don't know. I mean, at some point, we're just going to get that Jonathan Taylor game. Not a huge production game, but just playing more game.

And it could be really bad for Zach Moss. Forgot to ask about Josh Dobbs, or Josh Downs. Sorry, we have a question here. Downs or Dobbs from Jeff? I'd go Dobbs this week. Yeah, it's... One guy's playing the Broncos.

It's not rocket science. Yeah, but don't you... Yeah, but, I mean, who's getting more targets? Who's getting more catches? Who's got the safer PPR floor? Because Dobbs was basically shut out last week. If you're using a one-game sample size

of each game that they last played, it's downs. If you're using the Minshew games versus Dobbs season, it's Dobbs still. Prior to week five, his last game, Dobbs had 25 targets in his previous game. Who didn't play?

Watson played one of those. He played what in week one? He played week four. They played week four together. How many games has Watson played this year? Two. Watson's played two. Okay, okay.

Dobbs had a miserable game in week five against the Raiders. The game prior to that, though, I think it was either 12 targets or 13. Oh, I don't think Watson played a full snapshot that week. I think he played like half the snaps. All right. You are correct. He did score a touchdown, I think. Okay.

So you don't want to say. Not only is Cleveland great against wide receivers, they've also allowed the fewest yards to receivers out of the slot this year, which is basically exclusively where Josh Downs lines up. But again, Heath mentioned it. Could get a lot of pass attempts, could get a lot of targets and some catches

to give you a little bit of a PPR floor. Would like the Browns DST, I assume? Yes, number one. Detroit at Baltimore. It's that of the game. All right, we kind of poo-pooed this a couple weeks ago, but that Mark Andrews target share, or target per route run rate, is super low.

20.6% target per route run rate. By far a career low. His previous career low was 24.6%. Of course, you're starting Mark Andrews. This is more of a season-long question. Do we have concerns about Mark Andrewss living up to third round value i i think it's it's we do need just a little bit more context because the 20.6 super low comment it's super low for mark andrews it's still fantastic for a tight end um that i don't i I have a little bit of concern

that he's not going to be worth a third-round pick, but I'm thinking maybe he'll be worth a fourth. All right. All right, let's go to this game here and start with the Detroit Lions. Jared Goff on the road. After last week where he scored 26 points at Tampa Bay, that's now 20 or more fantasy points

and only two of 11 road games dating back to last season. Start or sit, Jared Goff. Now 20 or more fantasy points and only two of 11 road games dating back to last season. Starter sit Jared golf. Given the week, given the way he looked last week, given some of the injuries on the Ravens defense, I think he's a must start guy for this week. I'm not quite that enthusiastic, but he's a top 12 guy for me.

And I'm, I'm probably starting him. There's like, I'd start Sam Howell over him. I would agree with that. The Ravens have had a lot of injuries on the defense all season long and they've not given up 20 fantasy points to anybody.

Well, it's also look at who they played too. It's not exactly like they played Murderer's Row from a quarterback standpoint. It's true. It's very true. I do think you look at that was the first game for Goff. Granted, he's down Montgomery, but the first game with all of his past catchers available to him because he didn't have Jameson and Amara St. Brown for the first time that those two guys were there.

He kind of got lucky with the Jameson touchdown, the way that, you know, it, it sort of happened if you saw the play. Yeah. But that's the potential of the home run threat now on the field with LaPorta, with St. Brown, with Williams, with, with Williams, with, um, Reynolds.

And now maybe, well, I shouldn't even say that he didn't have Gibbs last week as the, as the pass catcher out of the backfield. So I'm just going to take my chance. I don't think it's going to be three 50 and two, but two 50 and two, I think that's doable against Baltimore. And you could argue that no David Montgomery is better for golf because Montgomery scores six touchdowns a game. So that could work in golf's favor.

Yeah, I thought it was six and a half. All right, Jameer Gibbs. Will he crack your top 12 if he plays? No, but he's just outside of it. I just worry about the, you know, you just alluded to what the thing we love about David Montgomery. Is that going to be Gibbs? Will he get those goal line chances or will it be somebody else? Will it be, I mean, Thomas, you should probably bring him on because he's added Divino Zigbo in every league I'm in with him.

So he has some sort of feeling on something there. But whether it's Reynolds or Osigbo or if they sign somebody else between now and the end of the weekend because of some injuries, I don't know if Gibbs gets those goal line chances. That's my fear. And I added Craig Reynolds in like four or five leagues. Knowing full well, it may be worth it. I didn't drop anyone that good for him, but it is what it is. Obviously, Gibbs would have to miss the game,

and Reynolds would have to play. He missed practice yesterday. All right, we'll do some Jameer Gibbs stuff here. I think I asked you Gibbs or Flowers, and Heath said Gibbs, and Jamie said Flowers and PPR. Start him on with St. Brown. Do you have any interest in Jamison Williams or Josh Reynolds this week, Heath?

I don't have either of them ranked as a top 36 wide receiver. I think Jamison Williams is the perfectly fine boom bust flex on a week where we don't have enough players we want to start. I'd prefer Josh Reynolds, but he's a high end flex with a higher floor, but he's a high-end flex with a higher floor, but a similar ceiling to Jamison. So even though we're not super excited about Michael Pittman or Amari Cooper, you wouldn't start Josh Reynolds over them?

I would not. No, not while St. Brown's healthy. Would you start Josh Reynolds or Josh Downs? Downs and PPR. Yeah. Okay. Got a question here. Goff or Purdy this week?

It's difficult without having Debo and Christian McCaffrey to say Purdy's safe as he usually is. It's a better matchup, clearly, but I would take the upside of Goff. That's the other thing. Maybe we will by Sunday know about one of golf. And we don't, that's the other thing is we, and maybe we will by Sunday know about one of DB, Debo or McCaffrey, but we don't know for sure that he doesn't have those guys.

I've got it right now. Pretty 11 golf, 12 golfer, love from Matthew love. Um, I would go with golf, but they're back to back for me. All right.

Let's say Jameer Gibbs is out and Craig Reynolds is in those. I wants to know, would you start Craig Reynolds or Zach Evans? Unless we hear Zach Evans is the guy, I would take my chances with Reynolds volume. I mean, he had 10 carries last week. Once Montgomery went down, it wasn't pretty. But I think a full week of prep, it's not like either one has a slam dunk matchup. You know, I know the Steel' run defense hasn't been great,

but I still think that they're better than average, and they're better than what they've shown. So I would lean Reynolds. I'd probably go Evans, but it makes me want to throw up thinking about it. I'm sorry. I don't want that to happen on your beautiful FFT Open shirt. Start Sam Laporta.

Start Lamar Jackson. I know he struggled the last couple weeks, but you're going to start Lamar Jackson. You know, Detroit's defense is pretty good, so this might not be such a bonanza here. Ravens running backs

we're avoiding, if we can, I assume. Flexes. I mean, is there a better run defense than Detroit? I don't think so. Ken Walker's the only running back to score

more than six points against the Lions, and he scored two touchdowns, but he had 17 carries for 43 yards well anybody get over 43 yards rushing that's the number for the ravens no no way i'd say maybe labar jackson yeah but a running but no running backs in it uh baltimore wide receiver oh that's that's the high. Ken Walker is the high. 43 rushing yards. Wow. 43 rushing yards is the high.

Wow. That's Bijan Robinson at 33. Miles Sanders at 32. All right. Oh, that was a season high. Baltimore wide receivers. Uh, Zay Flowers is a start and that's it. Oh, he's, he's a start.

Is it top 24 guys, Zay Flowers, or just outside? Start him. Yeah, I love late Zay Flowers this week. All right, start him. Start Mark Andrews. And would you start Zay Flowers or Devante Adams? Adams. Not there with Adams yet, but one more week and yes.

It's a squeaky wheel game. Zay Flowers or DJ Moore? Still DJ Moore. Still DJ Moore. I like what is Bajent, right? Bajent, yeah. Did you hear what he said? I did not. He went to the coaches and said, don't change anything in the game plan.

I can do everything you need me to do. And then he said that he's ready for anything you want to put in the plan this week. He's a confident kid. I like it. I watched his throws. He started off horribly, got better as the game went on. He targeted DJ Moore a lot. We're going to talk about that game in a bit.

Did you see this Brandon Staley third down controversy? I guess the fans are killing him for something he said. I just stumbled upon this. I thought it was funny. We'll get to Green Bay and Denver in a second. He was asked about his third down defense, and he said, we have statistically one of the best third down defenses, which is true,

unless you factor in penalties, because they commit so many penalties on third down that it actually makes them a below average third down defense, and fans are just crushing him. I don't think Chargers fans are so enamored with Brandon Staley right now. Oh, I feel bad. He's getting fired if they don't make the playoffs. No doubt about it.

All right, Green Bay is at Denver. Nope. Wait, did we do that game? Did we just do that game? We did not. We did not do that game. So why do I have it as we did it? What's with me? I don't know. Okay. Green Bay is at Denver. We need a Russell Wilson debate.

Big time here. Heath, you have him what? Eighth. And Jamie, you have him 17th, I think. And Dave's even lower than that. So Heath, tell me why you're starting Russell Wilson. I think that he is actually tied with Jordan Love in terms of fantasy points per game for the season. And my stat of the game for this season

is that Russell Wilson has the lowest number of off-target throws on the season. The quarterback he's facing, Jordan Love, has the second highest number of off-target throws. I actually have these guys back-to-back in the rankings. I don't think the Broncos are going to have a whole lot of success running the ball with anybody. I think 250-2 for Russ this week. He'll score 20 fantasy points. I definitely start him over

Trevor Lawrence. Uh, there's only one quarterback over 16 and a half fantasy points against green Bay so far this season. That was the great Desmond Ritter. Um, they fell Justin field under that number, Derek golf under that number. Uh, they're number nine in terms of fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks. They're coming off a bi-week. I think there should be as healthy as they possibly have been in weeks defensively. And Russell Wilson looked completely. He looked finally, his statistics matched how lost he's looked at times this year, last week against Kansas city.

And I just feel like things are just spiraling out of control in Denver. I hope I'm wrong because I'd like to see him play well, but I have no interest in starting Russell Wilson this week, unless I'm absolutely desperate. And in one league, I'm absolutely desperate. Like I could like to see him play well, but I have no interest in starting Russell Wilson this week unless I'm absolutely desperate. And in one league, I'm absolutely desperate. I could not find anybody else better than Russell Wilson. I picked up Deshaun Watson to start the week, and the minute he had no practice, I had to go pick up Russell Wilson.

That's how bad my quarterback situation is. Yeah, I'm starting him in a... No, I'm not. I'm sitting him, actually, in a super flex league for Purdy. Heath, I assume you would not do that? I would not. Okay, so... By the way,, Ritter with those 22 fantasy points against the Packers

he had a rushing touchdown so they've been very good against the pass You mentioned the off-target throws for Jordan Love he is one of the most off-target quarterbacks he also has the highest air yards per pass attempt so those are very correlated more air yards per pass attempt. So those are very correlated. More air yards per pass attempt, more off-target throws.

And then the highest off-target rate, I think, is Kenny Pickett. And unfortunately for Kenny Pickett, he's not throwing the ball downfield nearly as much. He's just really inaccurate. And I think I'm just more skeptical of Jordan Love. I've got Love as a startable quarterback, but I'm he might he might prove it this week against the broncos although i don't know if you can prove anything against the broncos well that's the thing about the broncos is i mean they have gotten healthier i don't know that they're such a laughing stock they were dvoa is a metric that i don't cite maybe i should it's you know it's like it's evaluating every defense compared to the rest

it's better than just looking at normal stats. They have, and according to DVOA, now the Broncos have the second worst defense in NFL history. Before last week, they had the worst defense in NFL history. So they're getting better. But yeah,

I don't know. They were, they were so injured. They got some key players back. I mean, like most teams, how do you cure your defensive? Well,

just by the chiefs. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. All right. Anyway, I mean, like most teams, how do you cure your defensive? Well, just play the Chiefs. Exactly. Anyway, I'm wasting a lot of time today. I'm sorry. So I want to focus here. Jordan Love is in your top 10, right, guys? Please put that comment that just popped up from Blessum Breaks.

Oh my gosh. As a Chargers fan, I painted my toilet seat as Staley's face so i can go poo-poo on him every time he loses us a game that is unbelievable wow okay uh third down especially uh jordan love you guys have in your top 10 you did when i did all right yeah i mean again so they've only improved by one spot to become the second worst historically. We're expecting Aaron Jones to play. I know he's still limited in practice, but by all accounts, he seemed to be doing everything yesterday.

And that's a huge weapon out of the backfield. We saw that in the first game of the season with what Jordan Love leaned on him. But I think it just changes how defenses have to play them. And you saw the big play potential from Watson in week five, 77 yard reception. That's certainly going to be something that they could take advantage of. I think Dobbs bounces back.

Musgraves should have a decent game. So there's a lot working in love's favor. So I want to judge him when everybody's there, you know, and I hope that he comes out and bounces back from that miserable performance against the Raiders. Okay. So Aaron Jones must start guy this week. We talked about Ford and Robinson

and the Colts running backs. Jones ahead of all of them? Without question. Sid A.J. Dillon? If you're completely stuck, he could fall into the end zone, but you're begging at this point for that to happen because he's had one good game when he's been starting or in backup, and it was

against the Raiders when he had over 20 carries carries I think he's in that Kareem Hunt range okay um Christian Watson versus Romeo Dobbs Heath how do you see this one I think it is this like there's a lot of the Steelers Rams game is the biggest one of these where I've got a lot of questions that I just want to have answered by the game this is kind of one of those as well I've got Watson slightly ahead of Dobbs. They're both number three wide receivers for me. How do you see it, Jamie? Watson versus Dobbs?

I agree. I was disappointed that Dobbs fell off as much as he did in that Raiders game, but I don't think that's the game you want to judge him on. You have to put him in the number three receiver range, and you've got to hope that what we thought was going to happen that watson would be the alpha whether it's leading them in targets or reception but just in terms of production like this is a big game for christian watson he should absolutely dominate this defense okay by the way um i have to say it was sports illustrated.com but it was one of those fan

nation stories on si about the DVOA. They were the worst since it's been tracked. I shouldn't say of all times. Since they started tracking DVOA, now they're second worst ahead of only the 1998 Cincinnati Bengals. And I wonder still how much is the

Dolphins game still impacting that? That was an historic performance and 17% of their season so far. No doubt. Apparently, they're simplifying things on defense. Let's see if they can make some improvements. Luke Musgrave is only 50%

rostered or something like that. It was yesterday. Would you start Luke Musgrave over Darren Waller, over Kyle Pitts, Dallas Goddard? Would you start Musgrave over Darren Waller over Kyle Pitts, Dallas Goddard. Would you start Musgrave over any of those guys? No, but I do think you're looking at somebody in two of his last three games in the two healthy ones where he was heavily involved six catches.

But again, Watson did not play or he was on a snap count in one of those. No, he did not play in one of those. The week four game against Detroit, he got the concussion. Right. And then he came back and had a six-cash game again. But that was without Aaron Jones on the field. So he should be rostered. If you are stuck this week, he's a good option.

Like I would start him over Logan Thomas. I would start him over Johnnie Smith, who's been playing very well. I would start him over John Smith, who's been playing very well. I would start him over Mayer. Yes. Although there is the interesting tie-in of the Notre Dame guy going back to Chicago. Then you just look at Musgrave.

It's a great matchup. The Broncos have been miserable. Why not just, even if they're getting better, quote-unquote, you take your chances in this situation. Okay, we talked about Russell Wilson. Jamie, you said you were confident in Javante Williams. He had 10 carries. He had no catches last week.

And the routes last week, McLaughlin had 11. Javante ran five routes. Pirine ran five. Michael Burton ran four. Third down was pretty even. Javante did have the most third down snaps, but it was four snaps, and he didn't run a route on third down.

I will go on record saying I am not confident at all. And Javante was originally a McLaughlin. Yes, that's probably the smart route to go. But in terms of what the week is, I think he's going to lead them in touches. P. Ryan did come off the injury report. He did leave that game with a thigh, and I think it was thigh injury.

So he seems like he's fine. So that makes matters a little bit worse in terms of how much these guys will split things up. And then Burton also being involved as well. But I don't know how much of that was Pirine getting hurt and just not trusting Javante coming off the hip injury. But I think as long as he's healthy, he's the leader in touches and playing time. McLaughlin will work in as well. They're both borderline number two running backs for me because I like the matchup.

I don't think Green Bay's run defense is solved. They've certainly struggled a good portion this season. And I think they will continue to struggle. So I will take my chances with Javante Williams as number two running back this week. All right, the Packers give up the fourth most fantasy points to the running backs. Fifth most receiving yards per game to the running backs.

Heath, how do you feel about the Denver receivers? Interested in one of them? I definitely prefer Sutton over Judy. They're both number three wide receivers. I looked this up earlier in the week. Sutton has seven targets in the end zone this season. Jerry Judy has zero. Yep, there it is.

That's basically the difference between them, but I don't have any reason to expect that the way that Wilson is trusting Sutton right now to change and so until it does it's Sutton over Judy and they're number threes that should have been your stat of the game by the way that's a great one

I thought the Wilson love one was pretty great as well I just you know it always bugs me when the when the perception of everyone else is so much different than what it seems to me. And it seems like everybody thinks Jordan loves playing much better than Russell Wilson. Yeah, I don't think Jordan loves playing all that well.

But it's easier to make the case for him before last week, his last game. Dobbs or Sutton? PPR. Sutton for me. Watson or Sutton? Sutton for me. Okay, so he's your highest-ranked receiver in this game. He is. McLaughlin or Elijah Moore?

McLaughlin. I'm just reading some chat questions here about this game. And McLaughlin is my highest-ranked Broncos running back. Okay. Should Javante be on waivers in a 10-team league? I think there's probably somebody in a 10-team league? I think there's probably somebody in a 10-team league who should have him on the roster, but I could see a lot of my 10-team rosters

where I wouldn't have room to pick him up. All right, let's take a break here. Real quick check on the Twitter poll when we come back. Who would you rather have rest of season, Trevor Lawrence or Kyler Murray? We'll tell you that, plus we have three more games to get to. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football today. Metrolinx and Crosslinks are reminding everyone to be careful as Eglinton Crosstown LRT train testing is in progress. Please be alert as trains can pass at any time on the tracks.

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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. Welcome back, everybody. We are looking at the rest of the AFC home games today.

Actually, some NFC home games mixed in here, like Pittsburgh at the Rams. It's coming up. Want to look at that Twitter poll I put up earlier today? 762 votes right now. Let's say you're not starting Trevor Lawrence this week. Who would you rather have rest of season, Lawrence or Kyler Murray?

And Lawrence has 65% of the vote. And I forgot to do C results. I'm sorry. Pittsburgh at the Rams. Do we have to get a little Matthew Stafford rankings debate here? Last I checked, we got Jamie with Stafford eighth. Dave has Stafford ninth, and Heath has Stafford 14th. Jamie, the high guy on Matthew Stafford against the Steelers.

Stardom. tell me why. I think he got unlucky last week with the touchdowns that were dropped by Tyler Higby and Pukunakua. You have a run game that's clearly very suspect right now, so I don't think Sean McVay is going to trust that group, no matter who he likes the best. They're not Kyron Williams and what he's done in leaning on him. And I think we're going to see a situation where the vulnerability

of the Steelers has been their secondary to a high degree this season. Those two receivers are playing great. So I'm going to trust Stafford's going to have a big volume game and he's going to come through with getting that second touchdown and being over 20 fantasy points. And Heath, you're not so sure about that. Right. I think this, like Jamie said a couple of times that he doesn't think the Steelers run defense is as bad as their stats say. And I think that might be true, but I think it's easier to run against the Steelers than it is to pass against them. And Stafford's had like, he's had a touchdown problem all season long.

He's gotten into the end zone twice, once all season long. Um, I don't know if that's entirely a function of his problem or the Rams offensive problem, but I do think that it's more likely that they can have success on the ground and he throws for 260, 270 yards and one touchdown.

It's interesting. I mean, if you look at who the running backs have really beat up on the Steelers, it's McCaffrey and Chubb, and then you had Jerome Ford with the 69-yard run. They've been kind of hit or miss there. Also, so the Rams passing game, or the Steelers, you know, we'll get to the Steelers later. My stats are game about the Steelers. Let's stay on the Rams passing game or the steel, you know, we'll get to the Steelers later.

My stats are game are about the Steelers. Let's stay on the, let's stay on the Ram. So Stafford, Jamie likes more than Heath does. Zach Evans, you guys have ranked as like a number two, low end number two running back right now.

Yeah. So if you guys have any, there's not really much analysis on it. I mean, it's, it's, it's almost a hope and a prayer. Here's one.

100%. Would you start Zach Evans, Cortland Sutton, or Deontay Foreman in half PPR? If there's no Roshan Johnson, then Foreman's easily my favorite of this group. Right now, I would go Evans over both. I have no faith in Cortland Sutton this week whatsoever. Okay.

The Rams wide receiver start cup. Nakua is top 12 in both formats he's top eight in ppr i'm assuming sit uh sit tutu atwell yeah yep and sit tyler higby yep oh yeah and sit kenny pickett yep if you can uh which steelers running back do you prefer the one who's been better all season long in terms of his production. I mean, Jalen Warren has outscored Najee Harris in every game so far this season.

It is definitely Warren. It is also true that there's a target question to be answered here because he's been six targets almost every week. He's been playing without Deontay Johnson and Pat Fryermuth or just Deontay Johnson most of those games. The target math doesn't work the way things have been,

but also I think there's a possibility we just see Jalen Warren as the lead running back coming out of the bye because Najee Harris hasn't been any good. Yeah, so then we'll go to those Steelers running backs, or receivers, pardon me. And one of you said, Jamie likes Johnson better. Heath likes Pickens better this week. And Heath, you kind of like Pickens.

You have him in your top 24, right? He's right around 24th. I'm just hoping, and we talked to Matt Harmon on Tuesday on the Dynasty show, and he was kind of saying the same thing, that he doesn't think that you can put that back in the box.

But we may find out, it's not a high confidence play we may find out he goes right back to dionte dionte leading the team in targets the thing that scares me about dionte if you remember week one when he was healthy and played the whole game he didn't have a big target share in that game alan robinson actually had more targets than him i think george pickens had the same number of targets as him so i i'm i'm pretty skeptical on Deontay until I see it. At what point did he leave the game? Okay, so I have in my notes that he only played 43% of the snaps. Was it that early?

I will double check. Okay, I will too. Yeah, he played 43%. I mean, the snap for sure might be right. Yeah, 43% of the snaps and he had six targets. Okay. Yeah. Okay.

Okay. And Jamie, I mean, I guess you prefer to avoid these guys both of them right jamie yeah i don't want to trust dionte coming back in his first game because it'll probably be a little bit of a shake the rust off performance on top of that him coming back is clearly going to impact pickens he's averaged over eight targets per game i can't imagine that's going to be the same number with dionte back on the. So you have a target scenario that's going to impact the guy who's been great, or at least productive, versus the guy who I still think from this point forward is going to be their target leader in Deontay Johnson.

So I'm hoping if you want to count on Pickens to continue to do this, that there's less attention, better opportunities, Pickens now trusting him, and we start to see that and if you go back to their last game um i believe if i saw the story correctly pickens picket audible out of matt canada's play call on the touchdown pass to pickens to win the game oh and so if they're giving him that type of ability to change plays, then that's a good thing because Canada stinks. But, you know, that shows that he's trusting his receiver.

By the way, the Rams give up the fourth fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. And that's part of it, too. Yeah. But look at what they face. They face great receivers. Seattle, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Arizona. And they've done a really good job against some very good receivers.

But I do believe they might be without their starting cornerback, Darian Kendrick, who was arrested and did not practice yesterday. So his status is up in the air. Would you start Pat Fryermuth or Luke Musgrave? Musgrave. Musgrave. That's start Pat Friermuth or Luke Musgrave? Musgrave. Musgrave. That's close. Pat Friermuth or Logan Thomas?

Friermuth. Thomas for Heath. All right. All right. That's it for this game. Pittsburgh's DST is startable. Vegas. Those are him.

Okay. Vegas at Chicago. All right. Josh, Jake, like you're starting Jacobs out of his Myers basically, right? Just start. Yes. Okay. I just have to say that Brian Hoyer did look all right.

I mean, threw the ball downfield a little bit. He was only pressured on one of 10 dropbacks, and the Bears, we know they have a lot of trouble getting to the quarterback. So then what about Michael Mayer versus Cole Komet? Heath, how do you see that tight end battle? I definitely am excited about Mayer's long-term upside, but I would need to see more than the one week,

so I'd go with Cole Komet. Same. Okay. Deontay Foreman, Jamie, your thoughts on this running back situation with still Johnson not practicing but could obviously come back. I want to be hopeful and say that if Johnson clears the concussion protocol, he's going to be the lead running back, lead the team in touches for for the bears but you know you're still asking a rookie who's missed a lot of time recently to come in and be the lead guy

which is something he's never done before even in college so i don't know if that's going to happen right away so i i think if you tell me he's he's playing roshan I'll still give him the benefit of the doubt over Foreman because I just think Foreman is who he is. But if there is no Johnson, then I think for Deontay Foreman, the amount of work that he'll get in this matchup puts him in the running back two range and probably close to top 20. Who did we just talk about that we didn't like very much?

That was about 20th. Oh, Zach Evans. If Roshan Johnson's out, would you start Foreman or Evans? I would start Foreman over the Rams guys. If there's no Roshan Johnson, I would start him over the Colts guys and I would start him over the Broncos guys.

Okay. DJ Moore. Yeah. Sort of. okay uh dj moore uh yeah uh start him really should i five or 51 on eight targets last week he did have a lot that might be a top 20 wide receiver this week he had he had six targets on 14 pass attempts from bajan so that was good And two of them were wide receiver screens. So they definitely wanted to get the ball to DJ Moore when Bajan came in the game. All right. All right, fine. Let me look at the rankings here

and let me see how I feel. DJ Moore or Jordan Addison against the Niners? Moore? Moore. DJ Moore or Calvin Ridley more more

fine DJ more DK Metcalf Metcalf I have them back to back I have more one spot higher you should change that I don't know all right Chargers and Chiefs.

Which quarterback do you like better in this game? I don't know. All right. He's got a better matchup, that's for sure. Here's the stat of the game here. Stat of the game number one. Only one wide receiver has more than 80 yards against the Chiefs, and it was Christian Kirk who had 14

targets. Amonra St. Brown, Calvin Ridley, DJ Moore, Garrett Wilson, Jordan Addison, the Denver wide receivers. They had at most 71 yards. Chiefs have been great against receivers. This is not a Keenan Allen stat. It's a Josh Palmer stat. Jamie, how do you feel about Josh Palmer this week? Desperation

number three wide receiver, and that's usually what he's going to be most weeks, but this week is even worse because you would think with all the teams on a buy-in injuries that it would be a better situation for josh palmer but the matchup is uh is not good yeah he's he's a number three but you don't need 80 yards to be a number three no um most guys don't get to even like 70 but uh desperation is a harsh word for Josh Palmer this week, Jamie. It's a tough matchup, man. It is. Stat of the game number two,

dating back to last season when Pacheco became the starter, basically, when Isaiah Pacheco had the expanded role. This is 15 games now. He has scored more than 16 PPR fantasy points once, but he has scored double digits 16 PPR fantasy points once, but he has scored double digits in 11 of those 15 games.

That's a number two running back. Very, very consistent with very, very few big games for Pacheco. What do you think? Is he a great start this week or just that number two running back that he always is? He's been great this season.

But he's been good this season. He hasn't been great this season. He's been great this season. But he hasn't. But he's been good this season. He hasn't been great this season. He's been good this season. I mean, he's been working in the passing game. He's been scoring touchdowns. He's been everything that you could ask for. I don't know what more you want

for what his opportunities are and his role is. In half PPR, he's RB16 per game. He's been great, game. I'm not, he's been great, but his role isn't that great. I mean, you're never going to really see him rarely going to see him get a 20 carry game.

He doesn't get a ton of catches, you know? I mean, didn't he have a six catch game recently? Yes, but, but, but,

you know, but it's not, no, it's just, it's not, look, the numbers are the numbers. What I just say is RB 16 per game and half? He's RB 16 per game and half PPR.

He's RB 17 per game and full PPR. He's very consistent as a number two running back. This week, a number two running back is a number one. I'm not saying to sit him. I'm just saying, Jameer Gibbs or Pacheco? Pacheco for me. I would go Gibbs and full PPR if he's a full go. Start Eckler.

Start Allen. Sit Quentin Johnston. Start or sit Gerald Everett? Sit. Sit. Is there a burp? Did I hear a burp in there? No.

Okay. Patrick Mahomes is top four. Okay. He sucks. No, I'm just kidding. I'm frustrated. He's fifth on the season. What is your problem? I think he's seventh per game. No, I'm just kidding. I'm frustrated. He's fifth on the season. What is your problem?

I think he's seventh per game. No, he might be better than that. You know what my problem is, Heath? It's personal. I never have ever have Patrick Mahomes. I finally have Mahomes this year, and it's his worst year. All right, let's get it going, Patrick Mahomes. He thinks the offense is close.

Who are the quarterbacks you're starting ahead of Mahomes? I mean, you got Mikko Harvin back. Now, here it goes. There is close. Who are the quarterbacks you're starting ahead of, Mahomes? I mean, you got Mikko Harman back. Now, here it goes. There you go. Who are the quarterbacks you're starting ahead of him? This is ridiculous. Ahead of Mahomes? You just complained.

You just complained about wasting time. And now you ask this question. Well, because people might say. Allen and Hurts. That's it. I would start two over him, but that's it. Okay. We talked Pacheco.

Give me your thoughts on Rasheed Rice. Who would you start? Just so we wrap up this game. You hate Pacheco, and we should be discussing. What? I'm just telling you the facts on Pacheco. I think he's having a really nice season, but he just. Let's go back to reviewing the other team.

That's terrible. The Chiefs suck. They're terrible. Hey, who are the guys you got right? Just behind Travis Kelsey. All right. Kelsey's good. Hey, who are the guys you got right just behind Travis Kelsey? All right, Kelsey's good. Start him. Rasheed Rice.

Rasheed Rice or Michael Pittman? Pittman. Pittman. Yeah, Rice is the desperation number three like Palmer. Rasheed Rice or Jalen Warren? Warren. Oh, sorry, Jamie. I realized I was boring you so much.

Fine, you know what? I'll make things more exciting. Buffalo at New England. Our last game. In the last seven meetings. I'm going to Azerstat this and I'm going to remove... Yes.

Yeah. You know which game I'm removing, right? You know which Bills-Patriots game I'm getting rid of. I'm sure there was bad weather at one of them. They played in December like seven straight times. No, it was the worst weather game that I can remember. If you remember that. Worse than the Cleveland games? That Cleveland Saints game last year was really bad. But that Buffalo New England game, Mac Jones threw three passes.

I'm getting rid of that game. That was a 14-10 Patriots win. The other six games in the last three seasons, the Bills have won all six of them. They have scored 24, 38, 33, 47, 24, and 35 points. Bill Belichick cannot stop the Bills' offense. So do you guys think that's going to happen? Because the Patriots' defense is pretty good. Are we going to see a big number from the Bills?

And what does that mean for Fantasy Heath? I am skeptical that we're going to see. Like Allen, I would start ahead of Mahomes, I said. He's a top two quarterback. I'm not considering sitting him or Diggs. But I am skeptical we're going to get a big number from the Bills. They're just not quite right. Allen's not quite right.

The running back thing is a little bit of a mess. I'm starting Cook as a number two running back. Latavius Murray's a flex. Gabe Davis is a flex. But, meh. Interesting. And, Jamie, Gabe Davis does have interesting history against the Patriots. Never more than 39

yards, but he's caught a touchdown in three of the last four games. Start or sit Gabe Davis, Jamie? High-end number three receiver. Gabe Davis or Josh Palmer? Davis. Heath, you like Davis? You have him 24th? I might move it to 25 so I can say high-end number three and not low-end number two.

But yeah, I'd definitely start him over Rasheed Rice and Josh Palmer and guys like that. Hey, man, Gabe Davis has two games with more than four targets. In those two games, he has 92 yards and a touchdown and 100 yards and a touchdown. Just don't really know that Allen's going to have to do so much in this game. Right. It's like the double-edged sword with him. If they're blowing out the Patriots, is he going to do much?

But he could be a huge reason why they're blowing out the Patriots. How do you feel about, I asked you this about 45 minutes ago, James Cook versus Ramondre Stevenson. Heath, first word. Slight lean to James Cook, but they're both number two running backs. Ramondre is actually doing the things that we want James Cook to do. Yeah, man. Latavius Murray is really creeping in on that passing.

Jamal Williams will be activated and play tonight per Ian Rappaport. Wow. Okay. Would you guys rather start Ramondre Stevenson or Calvin Ridley tonight? Ramondre. I'll go ridley remandre stevenson or um alexander madison against the niners remandre yeah stevenson or brian robinson against the giants robinson robinson any interest in Kendrick Bourne?

Stash candidate. I want to see what happens with Juju and Demario Douglas back. I've got him right behind that Josh Palmer, Rishi Rice range. So good flex. Not quite a number three. Sit the tight ends in this game? Yes. Yeah.

What's the spread here? Eight and a half? All right. I'm taking the the bills i'm gonna put i'm gonna put i'm gonna put eight eight dollars and fifty cents on this eight and a half spread i think everybody should take the patriots uh my last my last best bet was resounding win 49ers minus three and a half over the cowboys i haven't made a bet since then so i'm back i'm going back to the bills if. If I could bet their team total, I might do that. What's their implied total here? 24 and a half?

24 and a half? Oh, they're going way over that. Oh my God, I gotta find that bet. They're scoring 30 points. I honestly think that no Judon, no Gonzalez is a big deal. The Patriots defense cannot really be looked at based on what they've done all season. So,

okay, that's it for the show. Thank you. Thank you for watching. We'll talk to you tonight at 7.30 p.m. Eastern. Me and Dave hanging out with you. Couldn't be better. Maybe we'll make Dave eat yogurt again. That was really fun. Talk to you later, everybody. Good luck tonight.