Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (AFC): Dolphins and Colts RBs, Russ, Pittman and More (10/05 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: October 5, 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 One of the biggest questions hovering over Week 5 is what the Colts backfield will look like. We start the show with our thoughts on Zack Moss and Jonathan Taylor and then tell you who we love this week (5:30) and who to avoid (9:45). Breece Hall is our Start of the Week! But we still don't trust Joe Burrow .. News and notes (12:00) and One Question for Each Game (20:30). Do we trust Calvin Ridley, Michael Pittman, Garrett Wilson, Zay Flowers or Chris Olave this week? ... Start or Sit for Jets-Broncos (27:15), Packers-Raiders (36:03), Jaguars-Bills (44:35), Giants-Dolphins (50:30), Saints-Patriots (57:25), Titans-Colts (1:02:45) and Ravens-Steelers (1:06:25) ... 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. Week 5 is here, and Fantasy Football Today is here to help you set your lineups. What's up, everybody? We've got seven AFC home games to talk about today. Jets are at the Broncos. Very, very interesting game from a fantasy standpoint. Packers at Las Vegas on Monday night. Jacksonville at Buffalo in London.

The Giants are at Miami. The Saints are at New England. Tennessee's at Indianapolis. And Baltimore is at Pittsburgh. And Heath and Jamie are on the podcast today, guys. And how many 4-0 teams you got that are looking

to make it to 5-0, Heath? I know that I have at least four because I have four leagues that have first-come, first-served waivers. And I believe I'm 4-0 in all of those, which is really frustrating because I never get a chance to add anybody. In two of them, I'm not even that good. I've just given up the fewest points in the league.

So it's like a paper 4-0, and I'm not adding anybody. So I think 4. All right. That's very impressive. Jamie? Same. 4. Nice.

And FFT Open, are you still 4-0? Still 4-0. Let's go. All right. You're not supposed to. I mean, you're allowed to win that, but I'm rooting against you. This will be the first week where I have a bye week concern. I had to drop somebody to replace Justin Herbert. Oh, man.

I guess that leaves the first week. Anybody has any bye week concerns? I was going to say, I was going to say. Do you have any roster concerns? You know what was nice? To have an undefeated team and not play Devon Achan until last week. That is really nice. Yes.

Nice little weapon you got there. All right. So I think the big question before we get into the players we love and the players to avoid, the big question this week is what are we doing about the Colts running backs? Heath, I'll give you the first stab at this one. Of course, they have to be facing the Titans, which is never good. But what's your read on the Colts running back situation here and what to do? And I guess we can start by comparing them to the Thursday night guys. I think it's funny that every single week

the Titans match up against a running back is somebody that we're really talking about. Either they were just a waiver wire ad or now it's Jonathan Taylor returning. It's going to depend on when we get to Friday, the news and information that we have. As of right now, and I think with the Thursday guys, I'm just going to

start Brian Robinson and Khalil Herbert over them. Um, I mean, technically, and I think people should remember this for roster management purposes, Jonathan Taylor is still in the pub Cooper cup still on IR. You don't be moving them into your starting lineups yet. Let's let's leave them save those extra roster spots. Um, I will start the Thursday guys over them. If we get full practices all week from Jonathan Taylor, I'm probably going to get more aggressive and move him up into the top 25. Right now, they're both around 30 for me.

Jamie, you agree to start the Thursday guys over them for now? And we'll wait and see? Yes. The only thing that he said that's, I think, interesting... I'm sorry. The thing that is interesting about what he said a lot of things the thing that the thing that is interesting about what he said in terms of roster management is when you get to the thursday guys if there isn't somebody you want to drop you got to be a little bit careful of that so like there

there may be people that have a 10 team league that has jonathan taylor on ir and you want to drop roshan johnson you know so just be careful about that when you're leaving guys on ir to have to elevate players you know you might not want to drop your receivers or your other players like that you know so just keep that in mind um yes i do agree i think based on the tough matchup uh for these guys like i have no interest in zach moss if he was the if you told me right now zach moss is starting he's a flex at best and and there's no don taylor uh with both of them i think they're still flexes because as Shane Steichen said, the quote that just I can't get out of my head

is, we'll rotate him in. So what does that mean? We'll rotate him in as the lead guy. We'll rotate him in as we'll ride the hot hand. We'll rotate him in as he's going to get a few snaps. It's a little troubling, I think. If this was an easy matchup, you'd say, okay. It's a tough matchup. I'd say try and avoid must-start status for those guys.

All right. Got to call Jamie out on something here. Jamie's a big, fat liar. Of course, it's Thursday, and he's wearing a hat. So, you know, earlier a couple weeks ago, he reprimanded me for not realizing that he only wears hats on Wednesdays. I didn't reprimand you for this. He did not wear a hat yesterday either. There were people in the chat questioning why he was hat free yesterday.

So you posted that and I figured, you know what, I'm just going to keep switching it up and I'll do it. Okay, because people are wondering, are you getting another haircut? Because that was your excuse last week. He was getting a haircut. Well, that was a valid excuse last week. So the one thing, and I was thinking about this this morning as i put a hat on to take my kids to school um i i showered last night for the second time of the day uh to make you happy uh but my my son had a baseball game last night so i was coaching his his team and uh yeah okay i didn't take a shower oh good for you okay so when you shower you have

to wear a hat or that makes sense and then I will shower again after the show. Wow. Geez. Save some water, man. Alright, time for the players we love. Who is... I know who it is. Who's the star of the week, Jamie? I'm a little nervous. Why are you nervous?

I mean, I'm... Go ahead. I think it's... Why would you be nervous? I'd be nervous as well. I think it's – Why would you be nervous? It's Brees Hall. Yeah. I think after this week, I'll stop just following the Broncos around. But Brees Hall is in a good spot. You know, I was very excited when Robert Sala said no more pitch count for him.

So that's the first thing that's encouraging. I love the narrative for what this week is. Nathaniel Hackett going to face the Broncos. This is the, this is the place where Brees Hall suffered. His torn ACL was at Denver in week seven last year, but really the biggest thing is the Broncos think, and they've allowed four running backs in the last three games to score at least 22.2 PPR points. I mean, that's just insane. Those are quarterback numbers. Um, and four guys have done it. And you know, for those that have forgotten the last three weeks, it was the stellar group of Brian Robinson, Jr. Uh, Raheem Mostert, Devon HN, and last week, Khalil Herbert. So, you know, there's, there's obviously a lot to like about those guys, but they've made them look like hall of famers, uh, 11 total touchdowns for that group.

And this is a winnable game for the jets and. And the game that they won, Brees Hall had their biggest impact. It was week one when he had over 140 total yards. 147, I believe it was. And he looked good last week against the Chiefs. You know, 6 for 36, I think it was. So trending in the right direction. Got an opportunity to get a full workload. Broncos stink.

Good opportunity here. So he's a top 15 running back for me. Yeah, it was six carries for 56. Even better. He's had an 83-yard run, a 43-yard run, and a 26-yard run. Remember what we used to say about Ken Walker last year? That's

very boom or bust per carry. That's Ben Brees Hall. He actually has the... Let's see, out of 38 running backs with 30 or more carries, he's 37th in percentage of carries for zero or negative yards. He has the second highest rate of nothing, of bad plays. But he also has an 83-yard run and a 43-yard run and a 26-yard run.

So let's just give this guy the ball. You remember what his numbers were against Denver before he got hurt? I don't know specifically, but I know that he was killing carries for 72 yards in the touchdown before he tore his ACL. Yeah. I mean, you just figure like if this guy can get 15 carries, he's probably going to break at least one. That's the thing is like this. No pitch count is, is really encouraging.

Does it mean that Dalvin cook and his $8 million are just going away? Because that's what should happen. Like if they're legitimately trying to win football games, I think the carries that don't go to Brees Hall should probably go to Michael Carter right now. Well, I think part of that narrative, Heath, is the reason he was brought in was probably because the quarterback who's not playing wanted him there. And as they've found out that without good blocking, he's not making anything happen for them.

So there's still offensive line concerns. And I don't want to say Zach Wilson's fixed after just one solid performance against the chiefs. You know, he's still got a lot of work to do, but this is just a good opportunity for Breesall. So, um,

yeah, I would, I would say that you're right. Michael Carter should probably be getting those, those second opportunities over Dalvin cook. So we'll see. We'll just see how much that they use somebody else in tandem with Bresol.

All right. Bresol is not a top 12 guy. He's 15th for Jamie, and Jamie's the high guy on him. He's 28th for Heath. So you obviously have some workload concerns, I would guess. Yeah, and I've boosted him up quite a bit from where he's been in the rankings. He's been an RB35-ish kind of guy,

and I boosted him up because of the Denver matchup. But I don't know. There's a difference between there's no workload concerns and we're just going to cut the other guys out. There's still been three backs involved in this backfield. Yeah. All right, who do you love this week, Heath? Who do you love?

It's the guy that I had questions about last week. But sheesh, Alvinvin camara how can you doubt that um no reservations whatsoever unless we get to this week and suddenly derrick carter and throw downfield but 14 targets they did not hold back on him at all he's a must start top 10 running back all right who are we avoiding this week heath you can start first give me an avoid um i shouldn't say joe burrow no no everybody knows that one no well i mean i think so but you got four players on by so it's like okay well i like let's just talk to the lengths that i'm willing to go to avoid joe bur. I would start, like Jamie said, Zach Wilson isn't fixed or may not be fixed yet. I'd start Zach Wilson over Joe Burrow this week.

I'd start Josh Dobbs over Joe Burrow this week. I would start Sam Howell and CJ Stroud, of course, and Jimmy Garoppolo, assuming he's out of the concussion protocol, and even Daniel Jones, I would start over Joe Burrow this week. So I'm not even 100% convinced that he's a must-start quarterback in a two-quarterback league. All right, he's at Arizona this week, Joe Burrow. Jamie, who are you avoiding? I would like to avoid Miles Sanders this week.

I think you got some potential lingering injury concerns with the groin problem. I didn't see what his practice status was yesterday but archul um clearly not 100 as we saw last week first time this season where tuba hubbard played more snaps than him in a competitive game against the vikings but really this matchup is brutal i mean the lions have yet to allow running back to go over 43 yards rushing uh he's gonna have to score and we haven't seen that from miles sanders uh he'll have his his usual you know opportunities in the passing game but i don't think this is going to have to score, and we haven't seen that from Miles Sanders. He'll have his usual opportunities in the passing game, but I don't think this is going to be a game where you want to start him

from a total yardage perspective. So he's outside my top 24. I don't love the setup for him. Like, for example, if you tell me right now Jonathan Taylor's playing, that's an easy one. I play Taylor over Sanders, and if you said Taylor was out, I'd play Zach Moss over Sanders too. Okay.

We have a live stream tonight to help you set your lineup. It's at 7.30 p.m. Eastern before the Bears-Commanders game. Take you pretty much right up until kickoff. Dave Richard and Jacob Gibbs will be joining me. YouTube.com slash Fantasy Football Today. YouTube.com slash Fantasy Football Today. You should go there. You should subscribe to our channel. That way you'll be notified whenever we do an episode. You can set that up in your settings notified whenever we do an episode you can set that up in your settings whenever we do an episode you can watch our podcast live you can watch Heath's Dynasty podcast our DFS podcast there's so much great content

there we cut videos up into shorter clips so if you don't have time to watch the whole thing and then you can see if we look like what you thought we looked like based on our voices which we never do so anyway youtube.com slash fantasy football today we'll see you tonight at 7.30 p.m. Eastern. Your news and notes.

Joe Burrow has said that he said after the game, this is the best he has felt after a game. But yeah, he practiced in full last week, and I thought maybe that was a good sign. So we need to see some more from Burrow, obviously. Kenny Pickett says he'll play this week. Matthew Stafford practiced in full. Derek Carr threw during practice.

You know, Heath already alluded to it with Alvin Kamara, but you had to kind of see it to believe it. I finally went back and I watched Derek Carr every throw he made. I don't understand what they were doing. I think they just forfeited the game, basically, by playing him.

I think they thought if they can just keep the game low scoring and not let the Bucs score enough to win the game. But he was a very poor offensive game plan. There are a lot of people questioning the system right now. They might feel justified in their decision, considering that Jameis came in through one pass and it was picked off. Yeah, and Jameis was really bad in week three, too. I get it, but he just couldn't throw down field. And that's a huge question lingering over this game. I mean, almost every time. He made a

deep ball throw to Shahid, I think, in the end zone. That was a pretty good throw and it was knocked away. But just how quickly he was getting the ball out of his hands, how obvious it was they were just Kamara, Camara, or somebody at the line of scrimmage. It's a question that I'll be asking you soon about Chris Olave, you know, how much you can trust him this week. So we'll get to that. Jonathan Taylor is practicing.

He has three weeks technically to be activated now that he's off pup. Austin Eckler expects to play in week six. Brees Hall no longer on a pitch count, as you know. Javante Williams mispracticed in that same game. that he's off pup. Austin Eckler expects to play in week six. Breeze Hall, no longer on a pitch count as you know, Javante Williams, mispractice in that same game. Kyron Williams mispractice, but it was precautionary and Saquon Barkley practiced.

Are you guys ranking Saquon Barkley yet? Not yet, but the clip I saw him running looks like he's going to be good to go. So, okay. You got to make a decision Thursday night, Matt Breida versus those guys. I'd wait. What if it's Sa. Matt Breida versus those guys, I'd wait.

What if it's Saquon Barkley versus those guys? I would start Brian Robinson over Saquon Barkley this week, just given the matchup against the Bears. What's your question? When you said Matt Breida over those guys, you'd wait. You would start both the Thursday guys over Matt Breida, right?

Yes. T. Higgins mispracticed. Cooper Cup had a normal practice. Are you ranking Cooper Cup? We have, yeah. I'm so excited. To potentially get Jonathan Taylor and Cooper Cup

back in Zay Jones. Next on my list here. What a great week this could be. This could be so much fun. I'm just excited to see how the targets get split up between cup and puka like that's that's really exciting I I agree and I mean puka is off to is the best start in NFL history I think it is I mean yards wise it certainly I mean, yards-wise, it certainly is. So it's pretty awesome. Yeah, Zay Jones Limited, we'll preview that game. Beckham and Bateman practiced on Wednesday.

And Jonathan Mingo was out of the concussion protocol. At tight end, Pat Friermuth mispracticed. Irv Smith for the Bengals, he practiced. Maybe that's what Joe Burrow needs. Jawan Johnson mispracticed. And offensive line news here. Laramie Tunsil and Titus Howard practiced both tackles for the Titans, but Dave has informed me that Titus Howard is going to play left guard.

And don't know if they're actually going to play this week, but it seems like the reports are saying that Titus Howard is going to play left guard next to Laramie Tunsil. Pittsburgh left tackle, Dan Moore missed practice. I think he's expected to miss some time. The Jaguars are getting Cam Robinson, their left tackle, back from a four-game suspension, but he's not guaranteed to play this week, according to Doug Peterson.

Doug Peterson wants to see how Cam Robinson practices before facing the Bills. Peter Skowronski for the Titans, their first-round pick. He practiced. He missed three games after an appendectomy. Baltimore left tackle Ronnie Stanley practiced. Three Giants offensive linemen, including Andrew Thomas, they missed practice.

Patriots guard Cole Strange was limited. He's missed, basically he's played like one and a half games out of four so far, so they could use Cole Strange for New England. And Rams left tackle Joe Noteboom missed practice. basically he's played like one and a half games out of four so far, so they could use Cole Strange for New England. And Rams left tackle Joe Noteboom missed practice. On the defensive side, two big ones tonight, Eddie Jackson and Jalen Johnson,

two defensive backs for the Bears. They are out, so that only helps Sam Howell and the receivers there. And safety Jaquan Brisker is questionable for the Bears. Tough news for the Patriots. Christian Gonzalez, a player that I was really enjoying watching, thrown right into the fire. Go shadow Tyreek Hill. Go shadow CeeDee Lamb. And he's out for likely the season. I don't know if that's official, but he has a torn labrum in his shoulder. And they traded for JC Jackson from the Chargers, a former Patriot. For the Jets, cornerback DJ Reed is in the concussion protocol, but Robert Sala is confident he'll play. Eagles cornerback Sidney Brown practiced

after missing week four. As if Miami wasn't going to get enough sacks of Daniel Jones already, Jalen Phillips could play this week. Maybe their best edge rusher. I know they have Bradley Chubb as well. I don't know if I'd call him their best, but anyway, he's very good, Jalen Phillips. Baltimore cornerback Marlon Humphrey practiced.

That was good news. Denver's getting healthy. I don't know how this matters to you with the Jets, but Denver might be getting significantly healthier. I don't know that all of these guys are going to play, but Justin Simmons, Frank Clark, Josie Jewell, Baron Browning, Mike Purcell, a lot of them key players on defense.

They were all limited in practice and hopefully going to play some of them for the Broncos defense. Saints hopefully getting two defensive backs back this week. Philadelphia defensive tackle Fletcher Cox is unlikely to play with a trip to the Rams this week.

Did you mention T. Higgins? I did, yeah. And I said Zay Jones and his potential return, as we all remember, too. We're super excited to see it. Did D.H. Higgins? I did, yeah. And I said Zay Jones and his potential return, as we all remember, too. We're super excited to see it. Did D.J. Reid have the funniest play maybe in NFL history? D.J. Reid, I don't know his play. Heath should know, right? What was it?

I don't remember it. A thousand miles an hour at Patrick Mahomes. I ran right by him. Oh. It was like the Olay. I think he went for the ball and he didn't get it. You didn't see this, Adam? No.

Google it while we're talking the next thing. How about Evan Neal blocking Darren Waller? Did you see that play? That was pretty funny, too. That was pretty funny. And Evan Neal running his mouth was not funny. Good for him. He's not happy with the Giants fans. And Adam, that's you.

You were there. I didn't boo him. You were part of the problem. He deserved it. I mean, he shouldn't have said the flipping burgers thing. But I think fans, fans, I'm almost never on the fans' side when it comes to that kind of stuff. I will take a break.

Right, but just don't antagonize the fans. It doesn't really matter. He's going to get beat like three times anyway. I shouldn't have said that. Now I feel bad. Because I feel badize the fans. It doesn't really matter. He's going to get beat like three times anyway. I shouldn't have said that. Now I feel bad. Because I feel bad for the guy. I'm always on the fan side and then proceeds to critique the guy. Yeah, that was so hypocritical.

Like so hypocritical. I can't believe I just did that. I wish I could edit it out. We'll take a break. When we come back, one question for each game. I'm rooting for you, Evan Neal. Go out there. Get it done.

We'll be right back. Can we come back? One question for each game. I'm rooting for you, Evan Neal. Go out there. Get it done. We'll be right back. safety risks. Before you break ground, make it a point to request a locate. It's not just the law. It's a step to keep your team and community safe. Visit OntarioOneCall.ca and avoid unnecessary damages to get the job done right. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. Yeah, alright. Welcome back, everybody.

If you recall, I used to say Bonanza for games that I thought were going to be super great for fantasy. And they were always wrong, of course. But then a listener came up with, well, if it's not a Bonanza, if you think it's going to be a really bad game for fantasy, it's a Costanza. So my first question is Jets at Broncos, Bonanza or Costanza? Bonanza. I'm going Bonanza on both sides.

I think there's obviously the fun motivations for Hackett, but I think you're getting a pretty motivated Russell Wilson as well. And he's been playing relatively well. I think both teams put up some points in this game. All right. Green Bay is at Las Vegas. Rank the wide receivers after Devante Adams. And are any of them must start guys?

Heath. Jacoby Myers, Romeo Dobbs, Christian Watson, Jaden Reed is how I would rank them. Are any of them must start guys? I think you're, I'm probably starting Myers in a three wide receiver league.

I wouldn't say must start, no. It was Myers and then it was Watson or Dobbs? Dobbs. Okay. Jamie, how do you rank them? Dobbs is definitely a must start guy. Then Myers, then Watson. Alright, so you like Dobbs better. Okay. Yes. So does Jordan Love.

No, I mean then Myers. Give me a 15 second ranking dispute. 15 seconds for each of you. Jamie, take Jordan Love. No, I mean, then Myers. Give me a 15-second ranking dispute. 15 seconds for each of you. Jamie, take Dobbs. Heath, take Myers. This is so interesting, right? Yeah. Go ahead, Jamie.

Dobbs has 25 targets in his last two games, coming off a nine-catch game where Christian Watson was on the field, and the Raiders absolutely stink everywhere on defense, except for Max Crosby. Jimmy Garoppolo is winging it down the field. Jacoby Myers targets are more valuable than Romeo

Dobbs targets, and so they'll both be in the same target range, but you're going to see more fantasy points for Myers. And also, I've got them separated by two-tenths of a fantasy point. I don't have a strong feeling either way. They are like back-to-back. Jacksonville at Buffalo in London. If Zay Jonesones plays how would

you rank the jaguars wide receivers kirk ridley jones yeah i think i'm gonna stick that way i just wonder if if what they've seen from kirk the last couple of weeks has been kind of a reminder of yeah we need to play this guy. He's been the most reliable Trevor Lawrence option. I'm really hopeful that Zay Jones doesn't come back and Kirk goes back to 65% snaps. Giants at Dolphins

rank the running backs if Saquon Barkley plays. H. H. H. H. H. H.

H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H.

H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H.

H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H.

H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H.

H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. H. h and barkley most i was thinking h and most or barkley but yeah h and most or barkley so if barkley plays you're not gonna rank him the way you typically would he will be a top 10 running back but yeah let's um and like eventually this thing will get sorted out with the dolphins. And I think we won't rank them both as top 12 guys. I still have them both as top 12 guys.

Um, but right now I think there's enough uncertainty and enough upside for both that they should both be in the top 12. All right. Uh, new Orleans is at new England. Here's my question. How much can you trust Chris Olave given Derek Carr's shoulder injury?

I'm trusting him enough that I'm still starting him. You know, like I have a couple of teams where I have, you know, drafted Nico Collins and I'm playing Nico Collins over Chris Olave for this week. But I'm just hopeful that Olave in the leagues where I am starting him without somebody that's playing at a very high level, can he can still get the job done but the you know look you gotta be concerned after what we saw last week with kamara coming back with derrick car shoulder and it's still i know they're down their best pass rusher and arguably the best corner the patriots but it's still a bill belichick defense that i'm sure will try and take him away as best they can okay yeah top but it's funny because we've seen the the patriots kind of do

both things this season. I don't know if they're more interested in taking away Kamara because they don't think Carr can throw downfield or if they're going to take away Olave. But I mostly agree. He's a number two wide receiver, Olave. Tennessee is at Indianapolis. Who do you like better, DeAndre Hopkins or Michael Pittman?

I'm not buying Hopkins yet until I see a better game and I know the matchup is fantastic but I'm going to take Michael Pittman I think he bounces back this defense still is very bad in the secondary Pittman's a low end number two Hopkins is a mid-range number three if you're starting three wide receivers

I'm fine starting both but Pittman's better Baltimore at Pittsburgh is there a good start in this game, other than the Mark Andrews and the Mar Jackson? A good start? Yeah.

Justin Tucker? Maybe a DST, but in terms of Najee, Warren, Pickens, Zay Flowers, anybody? Or just let's avoid. Gus Edwards, you know. I mean, at this point,

I don't know how you can start Najee over Warren in PPR. He's been better than him. Warren has been better than Najee in PPR in every game this season. Some of it by decimal points, but still better. And Pickens, again,

he's going to get opportunities, but you have a banged up quarterback against that defense getting Marlon Humphrey back. Like, I'm out on Pickens, again, he's going to get opportunities, but you have a banged-up quarterback against that defense getting Marlon Humphrey back. I'm out on Pickens. For the Ravens, I think Zay Flowers is an okay number three receiver. The secondary has been bad for Pittsburgh. We've seen that.

But is it going to be enough opportunities with the other two guys back? Flowers is the best receiver in this game. I still like pickens over flowers but they're and i like warren over naji i think warren's pretty close to a top 24 guy in full ppr the the targets is tied for the lead or second amongst all running backs and catches this year he is he is top five he's not he's not quite there but he's top five oh good for him. Yeah, he has outscored Najee in full PPR every week.

Najee, of course, I'd say a lot more likely to get a touchdown if that ever happens for these Pittsburgh running backs. But, yeah, I mean, Warren, I have to look. By weeks, I have to start him in a league, maybe two. So I'll take 10 points from a bi-week replacement PPR. Hopefully a little more. All right, let's go to the games. Oh, by the way, one last question. Like, gosh, how bad, how disappointing are these MLB

playoffs? Sweep, sweep, sweep, sweep. I haven't been disappointed once. Well, they're doing their job. They wanted to get out of the way for Thursday Night Football. There you go. Jets at Broncos. Stat of the game. The J Football. There you go. Jets at Broncos, stat of the game. The Jets have allowed four touchdowns to tight ends

and only one to wide receivers, which of course is not me saying start a Broncos tight end, but it is me questioning how much do we like the Broncos wide receivers against these cornerbacks, assuming DJ Reed plays. I don't love them this week. I think you got a little bit lucky with Cortland Sutton last week because of the touchdown. And he's been good.

I mean, let's give him credit. He scored a touchdown in three or four games. He's been over 11 PPR points, I believe, in all of them. But he's going to see very good secondary. So is Jerry Judy. So it's going to be interesting to see how creative Russell Wilson is and Sean Payton is in this game. I agree with Heath.

You're starting Russell Wilson, but he's barely inside the top 12 for me. This is going to be a little bit of a challenge. I think there's going to be a game where they can run on the Jets, and I think that's why you like Jaleel McLaughlin this week, because of the opportunity. So I think the running backs in the passing game will matter. There probably will be some fluky Adam Troutman

or whoever their new backup tight end is catching a touchdown this week. But I agree with you, Adam, you can't start him. But yeah, you've got to be a little bit concerned about the receivers for the Broncos this week. I don't want to discount the Jets' pass defense. They're really, really good. But I'm still starting Cortland Sutton. I've got confidence in Russ.

Sutton's been so good so far this season. And the Jets have played two good wide receivers this season. CeeDee Lamb and Stephon Diggs. And they both scored 25 or 26 fantasy points. Yeah, they did have huge games. Other guys, Gabe Davis had a terrible game. The Chiefs wide receivers were terrible.

The Patriots wide receivers are terrible. Yeah, right. The Patriots wide receivers are terrible. Yeah, right. The Patriots wide receivers are terrible. Who have they good games against? Rasheed Rice. All right. Don't let Jacob Gibbs hear you say that. You know.

No, I'm with Jacob Gibbs. As soon as Rasheed Rice can learn enough of the offense to play more than half the steps, he's exciting. Yeah, that'd be nice. All right. So you like Sut sudden better than judy uh how about deandre hopkins as a reference point would you start the broncos guys over hopkins yes definitely sudden i i have judy and hopkins in a very similar range but yes hopkins over

or judy over hopkins too all right um. So staying on the Broncos here, I was a little surprised that you guys had Wilson in your top 12 and Heath, you have him eighth. You have him ahead of Jared golf. Who's at home this week, right? Against the Panthers. I think I have them back to back one,

one direction or the other. I think. Yeah. All right. I have Wilson, eight golf, nine. What I'm looking at now,

Jordan love, Justin Fields, Lauren. I mean, that was, that's a pretty big vote of confidence for Wilson here. Yeah, he's been good,

you know, I would say. If I wanted to poke holes in that, I would say the Hail Mary against Washington and the fact that he played the Bears. Other than that, you know, he hasn't really been that good,

but that's just kind of me playing devil's advocate for the sake of it. I don't know. I was surprised that all three of you had Russell Wilson in your top 12. I mean, again, you can make the argument Sam Howell and Brock Purdy.

Howell with the matchup. Purdy's been I don't know, right there with Russell Wilson, but he's also had very good fantasy production as well to start the season. And his numbers at home have been good. And that game is projected, I think, to have a higher score. So if you're looking at point totals. But, yeah, I think you've got to give Russ some credit

for the way that he's performed. Sean Payton losing this game is going to be a nightmare for him after all the crap he said about Nathaniel Hackett. I'm rooting against Sean Payton. I'm rooting for Nathaniel Hackett. Heath, go ahead. Get your point in. I'm sorry.

That's okay. You've got to remember, Justin Herbert's on a bye. We don't want to start Dak against the 49ers. Joe Burrow doesn't currently exist in his normal form. You can't start Trevor Lawrence over Russ, or I can't at least. So, yeah, it's a little bit of a tough week. All right. Yeah, but like the guys that you mentioned,

I like Love better. I like Off better. I think they're just better situations this week. Denver running backs. So you said Jaleel McLaughlin, you like him. I guess, Jamie, you're right now assuming that Javante will not play this week. I mean, the fact that he left the game last week

and didn't practice on Wednesday, not a good sign. So at this point, you should be assuming that McLaughlin and Samaj P. Ryan are going to share touches. And it's just a matter of how they're going to split them up. So playing time was favored for Samaj P. Ryan. Production clearly has favored Julio McLaughlin from last week, at least. So I think P. Ryan's a good flex. I think McLaughlin you can buy into as a number two running back for this week. It's an opportunity for him to build off what we saw with 10 total touches,

over 100 total yards, scored a touchdown. He's got the only two touchdowns for the Broncos running back of the season. I hope there's more of that to come. Because of the playing time and the fact that P. Ryan's seen so many more targets, I actually have P. Ryan projected higher. McLaughlin ranked one spot higher, but I think they're both low-end number two running backs. Would you guys start Jameer Gibbs or McLaughlin?

McLaughlin. McLaughlin. Would you start Damian Pierce at Atlanta or McLaughlin? McLaughlin. Would you start Cortland Sutton or McLaughlin? McLaughlin. Sutton. Sutton.

All right. So we talked about the Denver wide receivers. Let's go over to the other side of the ball. Zach Wilson coming off one of his best games, I believe his fifth best game, fourth most fantasy points he's ever scored, 23.2, and he's never had back-to-back 20 fantasy point games. Is this going to be the week that Zach Wilson

has back-to-back fantasy point games for the first time in his career, or 20-point fantasy point games in his first time in his career? Ooh. I'm going to say no, but not because he struggles. I think it's because we're going to get a lot of Brees Hall. All right. The Denver Broncos allow the most fantasy points to quarterbacks.

So Brees Hall, you guys, well, we've already talked about this. Jamie likes him a lot more than Heath does. Rewind back to players we love. If you want to hear about Brees Hall. Heath, I know Jamie's answer is Hall. Heath, are you starting McLaughlin and Pirine over Hall right now? I am right now, yes.

Starter sit Garrett Wilson, who actually has 14.4 or more fantasy points in three of four games. He also should have had a 30-yard touchdown catch. He abused LeJarrius Sneed on that play. Garrett Wilson, Zach Wilson missed him. Starter, Garrett Wilson Heath.

Pretty close to a must-start wide receiver for me. It feels like he's overcome. The offense is trending in the right direction, and it's a bad defense. So he's a top-12 guy for me. Yep, top-10 for me. Any concerns about Patrick Sertan shadowing him and taking him out of the game? Has there been a

number one receiver to struggle against the Broncos this year? Yes. DJ Moore? Devontae Adams had six catches for 66 yards. Yeah. So DJ Moore, so I did go back and watch all of the routes and he had eight catches, 131 yards and a touchdown on nine targets

against Sertan. He had three catches for 52 yards. And I think that's kind of the point. Right. Wilson's not going to see Sertan on every play. Right. Okay. It's a bye week. We need some replacements.

How are we feeling about Tyler Conklin against the Broncos who are 26th against tight ends? He's in the top 15. And if you want to get, I guess, risky, I don't know how risky it is, but you want to start him over Dallas Goddard, George Kittle, or Kyle Pitts. I don't know if I can make a strong argument against that because he's been more productive than those guys, at least consistently. So yes, it's a good matchup. And yes, he's playing moderately well from a production standpoint, but he's been five targets, six targets, five targets,

and four catches, five catches, four catches. So lots of touchdown to CJ Uzama. They're using Jeremy Ruckert as well. And then you're still trusting Zach Wilson to make all these things work. So there's a little bit of things working against him. But yeah, it's a good matchup, good opportunity. So I know for me in one league where I stupidly, because of roster super flex league

roster construction situation dropped Jake Ferguson had been chasing tight ends ever since I never draft a a good tight end to begin with um I was third on waivers Cole Komet and Jaleel McLaughlin were both available I thought okay at least maybe get a shot at I thought I get Komet and both those were the first two waiver claims in that league. I'm playing Tyler Conklin. All right, Greg. Oh,

by the way, start a DST in this game or no? Um, you can take a chance, I guess on the Broncos. If you want to bet against Zach Wilson being Zach Wilson or bet on Zach Wilson being Zach Wilson, but I would try to avoid it.

These defenses have certainly not shown to play at the level that we thought that they were going to, especially in good matchups for the Broncos. All right. Let's go to Monday night. Green Bay at Las Vegas. The Raiders have lost three games in a row. They allowed 38 points to Buffalo,

23 to Pittsburgh, 24 to the Chargers. Stat of the game. Uh-oh. Josh Jacobs' longest run this year is 10 yards. In fact, he has now gone nine straight games, dating back to last season, without a run longer than 18 yards. And Jacobs has gone seven straight games

without a run longer than 12 yards. That is wild. Here's the good and the bad news. The Packers have allowed the second most running back carries of 10 or more yards. But oddly enough, they have not allowed a single running back carry of 20 or more yards. One of six teams was not given up a truly big play to a running back. So again, I was a little surprised. I mean, certainly I knew we were going to talk about Josh Jacobs as a start, must start guy, but you guys have him third. All three of you, I think, have him third overall. I thought that was a little high for someone who's struggled as much as he has. A little high. Yeah, I mean, he was a top five running back last year. He looked like he regained his form last week. Was it, what, top five guy last week? Yeah, he was. The Packers haven't been good as a run defense.

I think he's an easy start he was he's top five and running back targets per game which i think will continue no matter who the quarterback is um he's going to get you know the majority of the work in a matchup that i think is still favorable and this packers run defense well yes some things suggest better just allowed a three touchdown game to David Montgomery. So there's plenty of opportunities here for Jess Jacobs to have some success with Jimmy Garoppolo back. Let's talk about that philosophically here.

When you look at what David Montgomery did against the Packers last week, yes, he did score three touchdowns. What was the final number? 32 carries, 12 he did score three touchdowns. What was the final number? 32 carries, 121 yards, three touchdowns. Jameer Gibbs had eight carries for 40 yards. But it's just a question of like, how much does that actually matter? Does that show that the Packers were bad against the run? I mean, I would argue that it does not show that. I mean, they did a good job against Montgomery for the most part. Montgomery did score the touchdowns, but it's not like they struggled. Not like they got torn up by Montgomery.

Well, I think that that's the difference. Watching the game, they did get torn up by David Montgomery. They could not get off the field. I understand that four yards per carry or 4.2 or whatever is kind of a benchmark where we determine successful or unsuccessful, but he was just continually picking up first downs and then getting into the end zone and they were dominating the Packers. So I,

I do think that, that he kind of dominated them. He, he, you know what? He was really great in the second half. He, he really wore them down.

Um, all right. It was more of a physical. No, I mean, look, you don't want to compare one game script to the next, and they're different kind of players, but I think that's what also benefits Josh Jacobs is he's going to catch passes. He's going to work in the passing game.

You know, and look, this is an interesting game for him because he's going to get a better quarterback play because a no-connell struggled. He's at home in a game that I don't, I don't think they're going to win, but they have a chance to win their favorite or no, they're, they're, they're,

they're underdogs. I'm sorry. But they have a chance to win. And the, the work that he's getting while still probably getting his legs under him is the most encouraging part. And I do want to say, because I won't talk about David Montgomery this week. There was there's a clip on Twitter and I know who shared it. Matt Harmon of him talking to Austin Eckler.

And it's Eckler talking about why David Montgomery is playing so much more than Jameer Gibbs and the things that David Montgomery does really well that don't necessarily show up in yards per carry. It was really interesting, just about why Eckler praising David Montgomery. That's interesting. All right, Jordan Love, top 10 for you guys, coming off a bad performance. Bad for him was 19.6 fantasy points. He's been running the ball a little

bit so scored a rushing touchdown so you guys like him the uh the raiders are giving up the fifth most fantasy points the quarterbacks as far as the running backs go um again i was surprised by the ranking of aaron jones he was lower than i thought i mean i honestly i would have thought that you'd have jones ranked higher than jake i don't know about that but close at least but he's not even in your top 15 he's top 10 for Dave, unless you guys have moved Aaron Jones up. But, I mean, that doesn't even scream total must-start for me. Like Kyron Williams and Brees Hall, maybe, for Jamie. The Dolphins.

The Dolphins, guys. Why not hire on Aaron Jones? For me, I need to see that he's back from this hamstring problem and playing like Aaron Jones. I mean, I don't know how he's back from this hamstring problem and playing like Aaron Jones. I don't know how many people have Aaron Jones or are sitting him. So yes, if you have Kyron Williams, you have Brees Hall, you have Devon Achan, you can make certain

arguments if you don't play flex to bench him. But I just need to see it first. To put him at that level. Like, you're still, again, still top 15 guy. Okay. I've probably spent a lot of time, way too much time,

talking about the players that everyone's going to start. So let's talk about the other ones here. Heath and Jamie have Romeo Dobbs ranked ahead of Christian Watson. As you heard earlier, Heath has Myers ahead of Dobbs and Jamie has, but barely basically tied and Jamie has Dobbs ahead of Watson. So, um, where Jamie is Romeo Dobbs and where are Romeo Dobbs,

Myers and Watson in your rankings this week? Dobbs is in the top 20. Myers is, uh, right around 23, 24, 25 in that range, depending on the format. Uh, Watson's just inside the top 20. Myers is right around 23, 24, 25 in that range, depending on the format.

Watson's just inside the top 30. Let's not forget the Packers here. This may be a 20-target game for Devontae Adams. You're right. Oh, yes. I'm a little bit lower on all of them.

Dobbs and Myers, I think just 28, 29 range. Watson just barely inside the top 40. Jamie, are you starting Brees Hall over all these wide receivers? Yes. Yes, I am. Heath, are you starting Brees Hall

over any of these wide receivers? Definitely over Watson. And half PPR over Myers and Dobbs as well. Full PPR, I'd still go with Dobbs and Myers. Starter sit Luke Musgrave if he plays. Sit. Probably a sit, but he's in that Conklin range for me. I think, and I need to look at this,

but I know the first few weeks of the season, the Raiders were just not letting people get the big plays against them, and teams were peppering them with underneath targets, which is another reason I'm concerned about Christian Watson. I'm not sure if that's continued the last couple weeks. I want to make sure it has, but that's kind of been their defensive strategy early in the year. The Raiders? Okay, yeah, no, I have on the Packers.

I don't think I have that on the Raiders. No, actually, the Packers have allowed the fifth most receptions of 20 plus yards, I believe. No, 20 plus air yards. They've allowed the fourth most completions of 20 or more air yards. All nine of those completions were to wide receivers. That's the Packers, which sets up nicely,

I think for Garoppolo, because Heath, as you mentioned, and I read it in your story that he's, what is he, the leading in air yards per pass think, for Garoppolo because Heath, as you mentioned, and I read it in your story, that he's, what is he, the leading in air yards per pass attempt, Jimmy Garoppolo? He's heaving the ball downfield. Maybe even more impressive than that because the narrative, and I think probably rightly,

I don't want to say the narrative like it was wrong, was that Jimmy Garoppolo not only wouldn't throw deep, but was super inaccurate. He leads in completed air yards per attempt. Gotcha. So it's not just attempted it. It's not just like they're making him throw deep and he can't do it he's hitting myers and adams 15 to 20 yards deep regularly all right so the first game that they're going to have their secondary healthy since week one with butler and alexander playing probably maybe week two i don't know but. But Alexander's missed two in a row.

All right, Jamie's nervous about Garoppolo. He has him 23rd. Heath's more optimistic. He has him 16th. And I think we can wrap up on this game now. Packers DST. Dave likes them. Heath and Jamie, not so much.

Let's go to Jacksonville at Buffalo here. This game, of course, in London. Didn't have a great stat of the game, but here's one. The Jaguars are 28th in third down conversion rate, and that is a storyline that you keep seeing, keep hearing about it for Jacksonville. They can't stay on the field.

They cannot convert on third down. Anywho, Trevor Lawrence this week, or Brock Purdy. What do you like? I've gone back and forth on this. I still would take Lawrence, but it would not surprise me if Purdy. Who do you like? I've gone back and forth on this. I still would take Lawrence, but it would not surprise me if Purdy's better. I'll take Lawrence.

All right, so they're very close. He's taking Lawrence. And Lawrence or Dak? Lawrence. Oh, Lawrence, easy. Okay, Travis ETN or James Cook? Who's the best running back in this game? I'll take Cook and PPR.

ETN and none. I've got ETN, but they're both mustards. How are we feeling about Calvin Ridley? It's very interesting without Travis White there. How this is all going to unfold and you know look the bills have been very solid defensively for the majority of the season

getting yvonne miller back would would change some things i think for this past rush in a positive way for them in a negative way for jacksonville and so really is a borderline number two receiver just on the cusp of a number two and number three guy. Yeah, it's a big week. It'd be nice to see him score a touchdown where he's not just standing in the end zone and the defenders seemingly forgot about him. Yeah, thank God for that play. I mean, this completely saved him.

Otherwise, we'd have a one-target game. All right, And would you start Jaleel McLaughlin or Calvin Ridley? Oh, boy. That's a good one. I'd probably go with McLaughlin if there's no Javante Williams at this point. I'll go with Ridley. Would you start Jacoby Myers or Calvin Ridley? They are essentially back-to-back for me

with Ridley like one or two spots higher. I'll go Ridley. Christian Kirk or Jacoby Myers? Kirk. Kirk's ahead of Ridley. Okay. Christian Kirk. Right, that's right.

I forgot about that. For you, he is. For Jamie, he's not. Three straight games with 15.5 15.4 or more fantasy points for Christian Kirk two of those three coming without Zay Jones and the

bills so far one of them don't get hurt right so kind of like all three of them right the bills so far giving up the sixth fewest fantasy points the wide receivers but obviously huge injury to their secondary, which are Davis White last week. On Buffalo side, Ingram is a must-start.

He's top five. Josh Allen must start. James Cook, at this point, you're starting him. And Gabe Davis. How do we feel about him? Three to four targets in three of four games. And three straight games with a touchdown. Starters at Gabe Davis.

He is a high-end number three receiver, which is where he'll probably be every week. So play this on a loop. If you don't have three wide receivers, you want to start Gabe Davis, maybe he'll score a touchdown. Would you start Brian Robinson or Gabe Davis in full PPR? Brian Robinson is a top five running back for me this week so he's a top 15 running back for me so yeah he's a he's well ahead of gabe davis how about khalil i got does gabe davis even catch

more passes no i was gonna say yeah i don't even full ppr it's not even an advantage for him for gabe davis he's a non-ppr guy yep uh khalil herbert or gabe davis uh khalil davis khalil guy. Khalil Herbert or Gabe Davis? Khalil Davis. Khalil Herbert. I'll go Herbert. Okay, here's a tough one. Jalen Warren or Gabe Davis? I will go with Gabe Davis. Warren and

PPR Davis and none. Any interest in Dalton Kincaid? 75% rostered as of yesterday. This is the week. Is it? I'm just going to say it every week. He had a 25% target share last week. Very similar range to Tyler Conklin.

Yep. The Bills have won three straight games by, gosh, how much? 20 or more points? They've slaughtered three straight opponents. I have it somewhere in my notes. I don't know if it really matters. Yes, they beat the Raiders handily. They destroyed the Commanders, and then they beat the Dolphins by 20.

Crazy. It might have been like 28 or more points in all three games. All right, we'll take a break. When we come back, game of the week. We'll see. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football today. Yeah, your game of the week, Giants at Dolphins.

Stat of the game. Tell me if you, let's take kind of a longer term approach here. That was a joke. It's not the game of the week. I would have played the song. The Dolphins were eighth in pass rate last year in two as healthy games.

They're 21st this year. So does Jalen Waddell, Dave was talking about him being a fourth round value right now. And I was saying, I'm trying to make offers for him. Am I overvaluing him? Am I missing something here? A big story that the Dolphins are going to be more run heavy, much more run heavy than they were last year?

It's a risk that I didn't think was a risk before the season, but I don't think it's been a large enough sample size to assume that's just the way that it's going to be. If the Dolphins keep averaging seven yards per carry, which they probably won't, but they might against shell coverage, then teams are going to have to adjust and they're going to be able to throw a little bit more. But so yeah, I do think that's a risk for Jalen Waddle. And we knew that coming in, like if something happened to Tua, it was a risk for Waddle, but not for Hill. If they go more run heavy, it's a risk for Waddle, but not for Hill. If they go more run heavy, it's a risk for Waddle, but not for Hill.

Tyreek Hill's getting his. I think, again, just to go back to what we talked about on Wednesday's show, that there's a huge buy-low opportunity on Jalen Waddle because there are going to be some big games. There are going to be some of these big plays that we saw last year. There's going to be some situations where he's better than Tyree kill. And you want that, you want that type of potential.

You want that type of upside. And so do it today because if he has a big game this week, which he's certainly capable of, we've seen this giant's defense enough. And at some point there's going to be a squeaky wheel game coming. Like you're going to miss out on that. You're not going to be able to get them cheap. So make some offers for Jalen Waddle.

And it, look, it would not be surprising if he has a top 10 finish. As far as the Giants go, sit Daniel Jones, sit, I'm guessing sit Wanda Robinson, not interested in him. He's somebody you want to stash just to see again, the production is starting to pick up. The playing time is starting to pick up.

There's a lot to like about his potential, but this whole Giants offense is just a mess. It's just like start to pare down some of these receiving options. I know Brian Dayball, I'm sure, is trying to make everybody happy, but nothing's working right now. So get your best playmakers on the field. Get Darren Waller some targets. Give him some opportunities.

Get Zayquan Barkley back, and we'll see what sort of offense you can salvage from this disaster. I was surprised surprised i don't ever bid enough to get guys on waivers apparently so i spent a lot of time looking at who everybody else dropped to see if i could find somebody there that i want and i actually saw i think wandale drop just about as much as i saw him added people had added him speculatively and i guess were already disappointed i'd like to stash him but no chance i'd start him right i dropped him in one league you might see me drop him heat but no chance I'd start him. Right. I dropped him in one league. You might have seen me drop him, Heath,

but it was for Michael Wilson, just to swap out potential upside-type players. And I think Wilson has more upside for sure. Wanda Robinson is a 4.3-yard ADOT right now, so he's just catching passes and not doing too much else. Darren, okay, anyway, by the way, the Giants said they're going to get Sterling Shepard more playing time this week.

Good. I know, right? But they also said that they need to get Darren Waller the ball. So, he's been horrible. 6.6 or fewer points in three or four games. Start or sit. Well, I see you guys have him as a start, but is there anyone that you would have picked up off waivers

that you'd start over Darren Waller this week? Not Cole Komet. Not Jake Ferguson. Earths? Those would be the only two. Who? Earths? No.

Well, I mean, you might have picked him up on waivers a week or two ago, but Sam Laporta for sure. Okay. Yeah. I have those two in one league, and I'm first in the Dynasty League, first time starting Laporta over Waller. Okay, Barkley. Where would you rank Barkley if he plays?

Top 10. That's right. Yeah, 8 to 10. All right. Nervous. And if Barkley doesn't play, where would you rank Brita? 30.

Top 150. No, I mean, give the guy credit, right? He's come through, sort of. He's got eight catches in the last two games. He scored a touchdown against San Francisco. He had 78 total yards. He would be in the top 36, you know, flex option if you're desperate.

Would you put rank Breida ahead of Jalen Warren? No. No. For the Dolphins, start Tua. Is he an easy start this week? Are you worried about they blow him out and, you know, run the ball? Again, like, who are you starting over to?

Anthony Richardson? Yes, I would do that. It's fair. I would not. Okay. Kirk Cousins? Yep. Yeah. You would? Okay. Yeah. Interesting. yes i would do that it's fair i would not okay kirk cousins yep yeah you would okay yeah interesting uh miami running back you give us suggestions to start over too what'd you say i'm kidding like i said oh yeah no problem uh you really wait you're starting

cousins over to uh i think so let me check no i might have Tua one spot higher, but I shouldn't. I would start Tua over Richardson. Tua's fourth for me. I'm sorry. Yeah, right now I'm seeing Tua as quarterback two for Heath. I don't know if that's going to change. Mahomes one, Tua two. Cousins.

Yeah. Cousins four. They're both top five. I was looking at projections. I actually have Cousins, yeah. Cousins, four. They're both top five. I actually have, I was looking at projections. I actually have Cousins ahead in the projections. I'm not. Okay. All right.

Two is right behind the big three of Mahomes, Allen, and Hurts. So we already said that both Dolphins running backs are top 12. I guess my question is, I get it with HN, why for Mostert? I mean, look, prior to last week, he was amazing. And so, you know, did the torch get passed? Is now HN the number one running back because he had more playing time? And it makes some sense. You know, he's been explosive and maybe they feel more comfortable giving him a full workload. But I think at this point, you still got to buy into him being the lead guy, you know, even if it's just in name only.

But it's a good matchup. He's going to get work. It's a favorable point spread where you expect the Dolphins to be playing with the lead. So I would play HN over Mostert, but I would try and play both if you can. Yeah, I mean, he's had 12 targets over the last two weeks, even with H&N exploding. Yeah, and they didn't really go away with, I mean, a little bit maybe,

but with Waddle coming back last week, Mostert still had three. Yeah, I mean, I guess they did kind of go away. He had seven catches without Waddle against Denver, and he had three with Waddle at Buffalo. He had seven targets and then five. Okay. He just didn't catch all of his targets this time.

They also didn't really have the ball that much, I think, against... Nah, they did. All right, New Orleans at New England. Stat of the game. The Patriots allowed three rushing touchdowns to running backs in all of 2022. They've allowed four already this year in four games. But honestly, they have been a pretty tough matchup. The only

running back that's really done well against the Patriots was Mostert. And we remember the way that they were covering, that they were defending the Dolphins, kind of setting up Mostert for a big game there. So you guys, even with that said, you know, Kamara, Heath, you said you loved him earlier. Easy start,

easy call, just put him in there. Top ten running back. Top five in PPR. Who do we have? Two easy starts in this game? Because you're going to go back to Olave and then Stevenson and Michael Thomas would be kind of question

marks? Is that what you're seeing this week? I would try and sit Stevenson if you can and I would try and sit Thomas if you can. We saw the downside for Michael Thomas last week, again, similar to Olave, but there's much more upside and potential with Olave. But Kamara back, targets were down, catches were down, Carr struggling with a shoulder injury. So we thought that might benefit Thomas just in terms of, you know, the routes that he runs and safe, easy target.

But I still don't want to trust him this week. You know, you have no touchdowns on the season. You've been kind of living in that 11 PPR point range without Kamar on the field. And then you saw the downturn, nine, whatever it was, PPR points, but under 10. So he's an easy guy to get away from. Stevenson, I think, again, another buy low candidate.

And hopefully this is something that helps Mac Jones with some easy throws. But the passing game work has cratered. The rushing production has been inconsistent. They're still playing Ezekiel Elliott too much, and the Saints run defense has been fantastic. So I'm not going to trust Stevenson this week if I can avoid it. So who are some guys you'd start over him? How about a Broncos wide receiver or Ramondre Stevenson?

Yeah, Sutton over stevenson i would start four broncos over stevenson sutton judy mclaughlin and p ryan p ryan i mean p ryan has been so bad did his role change after giovante left because i really don't think it did i think his role is kind of locked into what? Because I really don't think it did. I think his role is kind of locked into what it is. The hope would be is that if the receivers can't get open, which is certainly a question mark in this matchup, is that an outlet for Russell Wilson to finally lean on? The Jets have been a pretty strong funnel towards tight end and running back targets.

And P. Ryan has three times as many targets as McLaughlin this year. That's not fair. Yeah, that's not fair. You have to compare him to Javante, I think. What's that? I think you have to compare the targets to Javante's targets. They're about even. Yeah. No, but look, I mean, I would say if Javante were playing, I would expect

very little from Samaje P. Ryan just because he's done nothing, really. But maybe P. Ryan has a bigger role. Maybe they're not ready to just give McLaughlin the, you know, the more of the carries it's possible. Yeah. It has been a tough matchup though.

The saints run defense for Ramondre Stevenson. They're giving up 3.6 yards per carrier to running backs. They faced Derek Henry, Miles Sanders, AJ Dillon, and Rashad white. If he could average 3.6, that'd be almost a full yard better than what he's averaging this season.

And Henry had the best game against them. They haven't allowed a touchdown to a running back yet this year. And he had just over 13 PPR points, but he had 56 receiving yards, thank you. Yeah. Well, I forgot about Hunter Henry. How do you feel about Hunter Henry? So did Mac Jones. I think he's back in the top

12 conversation with the teams on a buy he should have had a touchdown last week mac jones missed him in the back of the end zone when he was open so you just know what you're getting i don't know if he's strictly touchdown or bust because again you go back to those first two games you take away the two scores he still was averaging 10 and a half ppr points per game but he's in that cole comet jake ferguson slightly ahead of tyler conklin group so you just got to hope that there's averaging 10.5 PPR points per game. But he's in that Cole Komet, Jake Ferguson, slightly ahead of Tyler Conklin group. So you just got to hope that there's some better catchable passes in his direction. And I've got him a little bit higher than that just because,

I think even if you took Hunter Henry's touchdowns away, he's probably been, or took everybody's touchdowns away, he's probably been better than Waller, Kittle, Goddard, Pitts, all those guys. I agree. I would start him over those guys too. And the one thing that is positive,

Marcus Mays now missed two games with the suspension. And in those two games, Cade Unscored last week, and I believe somebody else the week before had a good game against them from a tight end. Luke Musgrave had six catches for 49 yards. Yeah, so.

That's pretty much what Hunter Henry does. Hunter Henry has the seventh most yards among tight ends. It's Sam Laporta, Evan Ingram, TJ Hawkinson, Cole Komet, Jonu Smith, Hunter Henry. That's your top seven in yards. Andrews is eighth. He's only played three games.

Johnnie Smith has only played three games, by the way. And he's sixth in yards. That's wild. Okay, so you're saying you would start Henry over Waller? I would not start him over Waller, but I would start him over Kittle and Degard. Okay. I've got him ahead of Waller.

Okay. That's it for that game. Saints defense. You can start against the Patriots. Two more games, ladies and gentlemen. Let's go to Tennessee at Indianapolis. That of the day of the games. That of the game.

It's really not a great one. Four games played so far for the Titans. Five wide receivers have 80 or more yards. They are Shahid, Olave, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Amari Cooper. Jamar Chase had, I think, 73 yards. So the good wide receivers have done pretty well. Pittman,

I don't know. I don't really know what to make of it. I mean, last week was such a wake-up call. Because Richardson threw, what, like 20 passes or something and that was always my concern he threw yeah 25 in an overtime game um so yeah i don't know you can't be feeling great about pitman going into this right for the most part and i think it depends on where you were like you were skeptical so it's like oh there it is the thing

and for the most part of a guy has one of those games out of four i'm mostly just okay maybe i'll downgrade him a little bit because of that risk but he's still a top 20 wide receiver for me this week same yeah i haven't been one league and i'm starting him i'm not super down on pitman i think he's gonna be better than i thought but uh i'm just not i don't i'm not super down on Pittman. I think he's going to be better than I thought. But I'm just not, I'm not like thrilled to start him this week. Even in the, which is, you know, it's Tennessee. So you'd usually love starting wide receivers against Tennessee, but he's not really doing anything downfield. They targeted him downfield a lot last week,

and the connection just wasn't there between him and Richardson. But the ADOT's mostly been pretty low for Pittman. We'll see if he can get downfield. He had like a 16-yard ADOT in week four. Before that, it was super low. No surprise, even with some crappy quarterbacks, he's got a good history against Titans, too. Is there any scenario where you're starting a Colts running back

over Derek Henry? No. No. Okay. Also, this should be the game of the week. This? Playing for first place in the division. Jonathan Taylor's first game back.

This is an exciting, important game. Yeah, it doesn't really have game of the week. The Titans, I really don't think, could be involved in the game of the week. Over under 43, yeah. I know you guys don't love DeAndre Hopkins. Heath, you said you're okay with him right he's a low end number three richardson is fifth for jamie and heath

start him oh cousins or richardson richardson cousins and i started the show but that's by the way it's always six point for passing touchdown leagues leagues for us. I'm sure in four point, you both would take Richardson over Cousins. Yes. I started the show with a how do you approach the Colts running backs situation. So I don't want to repeat it too much. You can give me a quick thought on it. If you want a more in-depth take on it, just go to pretty much the very beginning of the show. But Jamie, the Colts running backs against this Titans defense go.

Jonathan Taylor is a low-end starter or flex at best. Again, with what Shane Steichen said, that they're going to rotate him in. Speaks to Zach Moss still having a role. We really haven't seen that since week one of a shared situation in this backfield. So who knows if Shane Steichen is just giving coach speak. But I think the fact that we have not seen Jonathan Taylor since week 15, no training camp, no preseason missed the first four games.

There's going to be some rust and this matchup is brutal. I know they've gotten away with playing some backup running backs, but the Titans run defense even last year was really good. So I would be a little bit cautious with Jonathan Taylor this week. Anything else here? These are kind of easy teams. And we'll keep an eye on the running back situation as it unfolds. Last game, Baltimore's at Pittsburgh.

Kind of weak stat of the game because I couldn't really find anything good here. Lamar Jackson has thrown to tight ends. Just looking at weeks 2, 3, 4, when Mark Andrews played, 25.9% of his throws have gone to tight ends. That is a career low for Lamar Jackson. In 2020, it was 28.9%.

In 2021, it was 27%. It was only 1% higher than it is now. But last year, he threw to tight ends 42.3% of the time. So it's a career low, and that's without Bateman and Beckham for most of it. They don't matter to Mark Andrews at all. Okay, that's fine. Just throwing it out there.

Like I said, it's probably good. I would say it's a career low. It's also, I don't know where it ranks currently, but if it's that number at the end of the year, it will rank in the top three or four in the NFL. This could actually be a legit start of the game. Pittsburgh allows the fourth most fantasy points to wide receivers. They've mostly, look who's killing them, though.

It's kind of these bigger outside receivers in some cases, right? It's Ayuk, Cooper, Adams, Jacoby Myers, who's an outside receiver now. Nico Collins, just destroying Pittsburgh. So I don't know what that means, Jamie, for Zay Flowers. That's not his type of... He's not that type of player. No, but I think you're still looking at him as a number three receiver for fantasy managers. So not a must-start play by any stretch. But this is a chance for, I think, if they can protect Lamar Jackson to get his passing production up a little bit and maybe

see what this Todd Monk in office looks like. Or it's just, we're just going to get our win and go home and try and establish ourselves as the best team in the AFC North. So it's an interesting game. You know, Pittsburgh, typically we've seen this before when their backs are against the wall, their defense shows up and makes a lot of plays. Um, they are getting healthy for, for Baltimore, you know, in terms of the offensive line, mostly. So I, I think if you're just looking at Flowers, if he's been in your lineup as a number three receiver, you start him again. If you have some better options, then you can pivot away from it. But I don't really worry about Bateman and Beckham coming back. I think he's still going to be the guy that they try to get going in this matchup. Can you make a case for Gus Edwards

against the Steelers? Steelers run defense has been really bad, which isn't a surprise without Cameron Hayward. They're giving up 4.86 yards per carry to running backs. I would say inconsistent. Sometimes they've been good, sometimes not so much. But Edwards had 15 carries last week. Is there any, in a bye week here, in four teams on a bye, any case to be made for Gus Heath? He's a flex.

He's a fine flex. I just, I think he's still going to share. You don't know if the three carries last week from Justice Hill were just because he was in his first game back and he's going to see a larger share. Everybody was basically better running the ball than Gus Edwards was last week. It's just a flex, but it is a good matchup.

All right. Steward side of the ball. You guys like Jalen Warren better than Najee Harris. And Pickens. Who's the best flex out of those three? Warren Pickens or Najee? I would take Warren. I'll go Pickens,

Warren Najee, I think, but Warren and Pickens are really close. I don't really understand how Baltimore's been as good as they've been against wide receivers. Hats off to them. All the injuries they've had. And sit the Pittsburgh Titans.

And the Baltimore DST is a must start. They are top four for everyone. That's it for today's show. If you have more questions, please join us for our live stream tonight, 7.30 p.m. Eastern. Thank you to Jamie and Heath and to Schaefer. Dave and Jamie will be on tomorrow.

We'll have to get them with Game of the Week. The thing is, like, it's going to be Dallas, San Francisco, right? Or do I have to kind of come up with something else? Do you really want to be telling people on air and having them spoil it again? There's only one person, I think. So maybe that guy learned his lesson. I might have to throw a curveball here.

I mean, San Francisco might crush Dallas. I don't even know if I think that's going to be the game of the week. But I'll think about it. We'll see you tonight at 7.30, everybody. Enjoy football. Later.