Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (AFC): Gabe Davis, Pats RBs, Amari Cooper and More (10/06 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: October 6, 2022

Taking a look at seven AFC home games (plus Tennessee-Washington) including two awesome primetime matchups as we tell you who to start and who to sit. First, how much do we like Nyheim Hines (3:10) with Jonathan Taylor out this week? And then Jamey and Heath give you players they love (6:00) and players to avoid (9:05). Can you start both Patriots running backs in a dream matchup? Are we getting away from Najee Harris and Ezekiel Elliott? ... News and notes (14:50) and One Question for Each Game (22:00). Start a Ravens wide receiver? Start Curtis Samuel this week? Good Amari Cooper or bad Amari Cooper? Any faith in Diontae Johnson at Buffalo? ... Start or Sit for Steelers-Bills (31:15), Titans-Commanders (40:10), Lions-Patriots (48:00), Dolphins-Jets (51:55), Texans-Jaguars (58:30), Chargers-Browns (1:05:40), Raiders-Chiefs (1:10:15) and Bengals-Ravens (1:14:55) ... Email us at [e-mail] 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 going to begin in about 12 hours. Welcome to the show, everybody. A Jonathan Taylor-less week five, unfortunately, but we will talk to you about that Thursday night game and what to do if you have Naheem Hines. Melvin Gordon and Russell Wilson will play in that game as well, but we welcome you to start or sit for the AFC home games.

Seven more AFC home games to talk about, plus Tennessee at Washington. We're throwing that one on the schedule as well. So we're looking at Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Tennessee, and Washington. Detroit at New England, pretty interesting game. Miami and the Jets, pretty interesting game. Houston at Jacksonville. Chargers at Cleveland.

Raiders at Chiefs on Monday night. And Cincinnati at Baltimore on Sunday night. Looking forward to this slate. Should be a good one. Heath, random question here. Who wins the Ravens-Bengals game? Well, in the circle of trust, I think that you have to think about the circle of trust. And the Ravens are not right now in the circle of trust.

Neither are the Bengals. Why did you say circle of trust twice? Because we got several comments yesterday about the show. If you say circle of trust one more time. What is it? Is that what you asked? Yeah. Well, it's players that you trust.

And we did that at quarterback and running back yesterday. Jamie is completely off the rails. Is Derek Carr? No, I don completely off the rails. Is Derek Carr... No, I don't think it did. Is Derek Carr in your circle of trust? He is a starting quarterback for me, yes. Okay, I think he's in this...

I think he's in Jamie's circle. On the edge. All right, the whole show is going to be... Not Derek Carr. It's going to be... You want to know a fun stat about Derek Carr? Yeah. He's played in Arrowhead Stadium eight times in his career.

He's had one good game in Arrowhead Stadium. You know what the outlier is? I do, but I'll let you reveal. It was the only game that was non-November, December, or January. Yeah, it's pretty weird. I mean, he's bad in cold weather. He won't have to deal with that unless he's in. You know the significance of that game that he was good in?

No. You remember the story from that game? No. It was October of 2020. And it was the victory lap that John Gruden took the buses around the stadium twice. Man, what did he score in that game? 29 points. That's the only game cars ever won at Arrowhead, I think. It's the only game Carr's ever won at Arrowhead, I think.

It is the only game he's ever won at Arrowhead. It's the only game John Gruden ever won at Arrowhead. Okay. As a member of the Raiders. Let's take that. I'm sorry. Yeah, I guess. No, I'm sorry.

I think it's the only game he's ever won against Andy Reid in Arrowhead. Okay, let's take that victory. Let's hope we get a victory lap for Derek Carr. All right, let's start with the big news here. Jonathan Taylor out tonight. I don't think he wants to see a victory lap. A fantasy victory lap. Just give me 24 or more points.

That would be wonderful. Six points for passing touchdown leads. He hasn't done that yet this year, but he's been around 23 twice. I think he's been at right there 23 twice. All right, Jonathan Taylor out tonight. Heath, how do you rank Naeem Hines? And Russell Wilson and Melvin Gordon are going to play, but I know we talked about this yesterday. Let's review it real quick here. How do you rank Naeem Hines? And Russell Wilson and Melvin Gordon are going to play, but I know we talked about this yesterday. Let's review it real quick here. How do you rank Naeem Hines? Low-end number two, high-end flex and full PPR, low-end flex and non-PPR. Expect

somewhere around 10 touches in the running game and hopefully four or five catches. Whether you're happy with starting him will probably come down to whether or not he scores a touchdown, but I think he gets you four or five catches and probably somewhere around 70 total yards. So you said about 10 carries. That means you must have other running backs getting some work. I think another running back will get some work. Yeah, but what, six-ish?

How many running back carries? Because that's not a lot compared to what you usually see from the Colts, obviously. Ten carries. Yeah, I think they're probably going to have to throw more. My favorite prop for this game coming up on CBS Sports HQ at noon, you should watch that, is that Matt Ryan's going over 33.5

pass attempts. I don't think that they're just going to stick with the same offensive philosophy, considering they've not been able to run the ball effectively with one of the best running backs in the NFL. I don't think they're just just going to stick with the same offensive philosophy, considering they've not been able to run the ball effectively with one of the best running backs in the NFL. I don't think they're just going to pound Phillip Lindsay or Deion Jackson into the line 20 times. Do you know what Naeem Hines did in the one game that Jonathan Taylor missed? Yes.

I'm going to guess he had 18 fantasy points. He had... I don't know the totals there. Let's see. It was 2, 10, 16. 16? Yes. He scored?

And it was 10 carries for 29 yards. There you go. And 8 catches for 66 yards. Oh, wow. And that was 2020. Taylor missed the game for COVID reasons. Naeem Hines has 10 games over his last three seasons with double digits and touches.

Six of those, he's gotten 13 or more PPR points. Yeah. Well, his catches are a big part. I think he only has four games with double-digit carries in his career. All right. So, Naeem Hines or Brees Hall? Hall. Yeah, Hall.

Naeem Hines. One thing that makes me a little skittish is that Hall's on the injury report with a knee problem. Yeah. They say he's nicked up. So if he's limited again, he might want to switch. Naeem Hines or Najee Harris? Hines. Najee and non-PPR, Hines and PPR.

I have Hines in both. Last one. Najee Harris. Sorry, Naeem Hines. Or how about Gabe Davis against Pittsburgh Hines yeah okay well if you're starting Hines tonight let's hope you're

not playing catch up tomorrow all right let's go to the show players with thank you that was actually a really good one well let's let's go to players we love Players. Thank you, Jamie. That was actually a really good one. Well, let's go to Players We Love. Jamie, who's our star of the week?

Well, you brushed off the game, but I'm excited to see James Robinson bounce back after last week's poor performance, and it's a dream matchup. So I'm taking the layup here. The Texans allow the most fantasy points to opposing running backs, and I hope the sliding scale continues because in week two,

it was Kahlil Herbert, I believe. No, that was week three. Week two was... I'm blanking. Denver, right? Week two was Denver? Javante had 15 for 75. That was the only game

where a running back didn't completely destroy them. No, then it's not with... Week one, it was Taylor. Week two was definitely Denver. Week one, it was Taylor. Week three, it was K. Week two was definitely Denver. Week one, it was Taylor. Week three, it was Khalil Herbert. I'm sorry.

It was not week two. It was Taylor, it was Herbert, and it was Eckler. And if the scale continues, then we could be looking at a 30-point day for James Robinson because of the three running backs that have gone over 20 PPR points against this team. They've allowed four running backs to go over 11 PPR points. I think that's the floor.

But Robinson was miserable last week. He'll bounce against this team. They've allowed four running backs to go over 11 PPR points. I think that's the floor. But Robinson was miserable last week. He'll bounce back this week. And really it's more just about recognizing how great Dan Robinson has been this season. So he's, he's, he's got a top 10 upside for me this week. He's a borderline number top five running back in my rankings.

All right. And actually it's, it goes back even further. If you want to go back to last year. Now the Texans have allowed 20 or more PPR fantasy points in three or four games this year, seven of their last 10 games going back to last year to a running back, 20 or more PPR fantasy points. Heath, who do you love this week? I love, I'll give you a twofer, the New England Patriots running backs. This is a dream matchup with a probably either backup quarterback or hobbled quarterback. And I think we get maybe 40 rush attempts from the Patriots.

Both Ramondre Stevenson and Damian Harris finish as top 20 running backs this week. Detroit has allowed eight rushing touchdowns to running backs in four games. Three running backs have gained 96 or more rushing yards. And now this is another team where you can go back to last year they've allowed 94 rushing yards or a rushing touchdown i updated every week seven to a running back in 17 of 21 games would you start both patriots running backs over naeem heinz um In full PPR, right now I have it Ramondre, then Hines, then Harris. And non-PPR, I would definitely start both over Hines.

Harris is my favorite of the three, no matter the format. He might score twice in this game. I would go Hines over Stevenson in PPR. But all three starters. All right. Only pitfall there could be, what if the Lions score a lot of points

and the Patriots stink with Bailey Zappi or whoever it is? Yeah, and I don't really buy that the Lions have a great offense. Especially with all of them missing practice yesterday. The entire Lions basically just sat this very injured team. All right, players to avoid.

Heath, you want to go first or second? I always like to go second. Okay. Jamie, who's a sit this week? Let's see. Let's go with the non-Hall of Fame trinity of James Conner, Najee Harris, and Ezekiel Elliott. Those three guys have been, for the most part, disappointing. Tough matchups this week for basically all of them.

And I think if you can get away from them, that's a smart move. How about this? I was looking at one of my teams. You would have told me six weeks ago that you could have in a super flex league, Matthew Stafford as your second quarterback, you're starting running backs as James Conner and Najee Harris, and your number one receiver is Keenan Allen. I would have signed up for that all day long.

I know. It's such a disaster. Winless. I just spent half my fab because why not on Teddy Bridgewater as a fourth quarterback. This is because I'm stuck. I'm going to play Teddy over Stafford. It's just an absolute,

absolute disaster. Yeah. I was thinking about the teams based on where Javante Williams was drafted. I'm sure there are a decent amount of Javante, Jonathan Taylor teams. He was going later than the turn in our leagues. He was going earlier in ADP. So, you know, that's just ADP. I mean, I bet there are a lot of teams that took Jonathan Taylor

and Javante Williams and are just in fantasy hell right now. So, it's the way it goes. All right. Maybe they also had Kyle pits or DJ more. Maybe. I know. I got, I got a Jonathan Taylor,

Keenan Allen team this week. Uh, I'm not even going to set a lineup. What's the point? Just kidding. I'll set a lineup. I have a, I have a Taylor DJ more team than I started our IDP league.

I started IDP league like that. Oh, um, I think I'm going to turn it. Jamie offered me... No, IDP, I have Jonathan Taylor. Oh, no, no. Oh, right.

You were offering me Jonathan Taylor. That's right. Jamie's trying to give me Jonathan Taylor. I think I have to reject it. He's trying to give me Jonathan Taylor, too. I made a bunch of Jonathan Taylor offers. I'm trying to... I'm winless.

I've had some bad luck in that league and trying to salvage my season so trying to give you one of you guys John Taylor I think after two weeks I was 2-0 and Jamie was 0-2 and he had scored more points than me but last week I scored like 220 so I don't think that's the case anymore but you were very unlucky early in the early in the season all right Heath who we sitting um I'm sitting Matthew Stafford just kind of until further notice. And also, like, I should just say this because he was my guy. I'm trying to sit DJ more this week.

I am really afraid that this is the week that the Panthers are so laughably bad on offense that people get fired just because that 49ers defense is so good and they might score zero points. Yeah. They, they, they hosting the 49ers Niners look like they, they might have the best defense in football. They've been that good. Um, I will say like the East coast road trip on a short week after a Monday night football win against the Rams. That's a pretty bad spot for the 49ers, but still the difference between the 49ers defense and how good it is right now and the Panthers offense and how absolutely awful it is.

Maybe the biggest mismatch of the week. I was listening to just in regards to the firings and it could happen. I don't think you're wrong in that regard. But Albert Breer was on the Fox Sports Radio this morning. He covers the NFL for Sports Illustrated. I'm sorry, Monday Morning Quarterback. And he was saying that he would not anticipate Matt Rule getting fired yet because he doesn't think he's lost the locker room. He thinks if he's going to get fired, it's when the college cycle hiring starts to get hot.

And he said, that's typically at the end of November. So he said, if they don't turn things around by then, he's probably gone, but he doesn't think it was going to happen soon. Again, he wasn't saying definitively one way or the other,

but it did make some sense. Okay. I, yeah, I, and I, that, that whole DJ more video clip from last week makes me wonder about that.

Hasn't lost the locker room, but yeah i was thinking the same thing um but if it's you know i don't know where dj moore is in the pecking order of leadership on that team right and if how many people are feeling the same way um obviously he's feeling that way um if you read his body language um and he might be captain for all you know and and i apologize if that's the case but But yeah, it doesn't sound like unless they get embarrassing, unless they lose in an embarrassing fashion that he's getting fired. But to your point, if they get shut out and the offense looks inept again, that might be the case. He is not a captain, according to the Google.

That would be Christian McCaffrey. Shaq Thompson. Taylor Moten. You don't care care but it's not it's not him and Baker Mayfield is a captain he is the captain right now see how long that lasts

Sam Darnold comes back and says what the line from I'm the captain now alright guys it's a great time great time in the sports year college football teams are losing in Middle Tennessee State, but your baseball team's in the playoffs, and that's great. But no, seriously, hockey is starting.

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Let's do our news and notes. Quarterback news. Tom Brady mispracticed with shoulder and finger injuries. We don't really expect that Brady is in jeopardy of missing the game, do we, against the Falcons? You might want to ask our producer. He made a move in our Superflex League to add Blaine Gabbert. Oh, Jack? No, Thomas. Oh, that producer. He made a move in our Superflex League to add Blaine Gabbert. Oh. Jack? No, Thomas.

Oh, that producer. Our producer. Way to know your producer. I don't know why I went. Because Jack's always making moves. I don't know. And Jack's the Buccaneers insider. That's right. I wouldn't stand for these insiders.

Thomas, what's going on here, Producer Thomas? The only producer I know. You're adding Blaine Gabbert. You're Brady? Well, it's almost impossible to beat you guys on the waiver wire weekly because you guys, this is your work, and you get all the updates. You follow all the guys, so it's really hard to beat you guys. And I saw the Bucs injury report that he's injured,

and I was like, I'm not going to start Greg Dortch. I might as well pick up Gabbert if something happens. I would be kind of screwed without Brady, honestly. You want Teddy Bridgewater? You want Marcus Mariota or Baker Mayfield or Jacoby Brissett? I'll make you some trade offers. No, no, no. Andy Dalton?

You give me feeling. All right. Thank you. Thank give me feeling. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Thomas. All right. Mac Jones, I guess he has a chance to play this week against Detroit. He's hobbling around at practice, but I guess doing better. Mac Jones.

Jameis Winston missed practice. Russell Wilson's playing tonight. Daniel Jones was limited. Apparently looked all right. So I guess right now he's got a chance to start against the Packers in London, Daniel Jones. Running back news, Jonathan Taylor out. DeAndre Swift was one of 70 Lions who mispracticed yesterday. Alvin Kamara says he's playing.

He also said that there isn't much that he can do for his rib injury. This is Alvin Kamara we're talking about here. So that's kind of concerning long-term, guys, for Kamara. I mean, it's great that he's going to play this week, or at least so he says, against Seattle, one of the better matchups. But he missed week two, then he played week three, then he missed week four. And you have to wonder, you know, from a trade standpoint, should you stay away from Camara with this rib injury? Because he said, you know, it's a difficult injury to manage, and there's not much he can

do for it. So I don't know what that, you know, Heath, what does that mean for you in terms of Kamara's long-term value? I really don't want to buy low on Alvin Kamara. That's how I feel about him. If you got him on your team, I don't know that this is the time to sell, but maybe if he has a good game, then it's the time to sell.

I also didn't get any indication of how long this is going to happen. I wish someone, or how long this injury is expected to last. Like, I don't think a rib injury that's going to last all season long that he's playing through. But also, I'd like to,

I wish someone would have asked him, what happened Sunday morning? And should fantasy managers be, no, I won't open that can of worms again. Marking, by the way, 51% rostered. Justice Hill and J.K. Dobbins missed practice, assuming it's rest for Dobbins. Hill, we know, had an injury, though.

But Gus Edwards returned to practice, so he has now three weeks to be activated. Gus Edwards. Brian Robinson practiced. He could play this week. Seems more likely he'll play next week. But Brian Robinson back at practice. Rashad Penny missed practice.

That's always a big deal. You could add Ken Walker. He's about 73% roster. It doesn't mean Penny's going to miss the game, but we're definitely going to keep an eye on him. He always misses practice. I think this is the first missed practice he's had in a while. Yeah, he did miss practice in training camp.

Remember, he had a hamstring or something like that. All right, we'll keep an eye on Rashad Penny. And David Montgomery mispractice. We don't expect him as of now at wide receiver, Amandra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, and DJ Chark all mispractice.

I assume that St. Uh, Josh Reynolds is the only one you're ranking at the moment. Yep. Yes. Okay. Hopefully he's fine. It doesn't sound good for Keenan Allen right now. Uh,

I'm assuming you are not ranking him. Nope. And Josh Palmer or Josh Reynolds, who would you rather start? Reynolds. Reynolds. Palmer's banged up too. Yeah. Jalen Waddell mispracticed with a groin injury. Gabe Davis practiced in full. That was good.

But Isaiah McKenzie mispracticed still in the concussion protocol. This has got to be a week for him, man Davis yeah you know what I think I mean I think it might be the week for him but there's another bill who I think it's it's the week for I think I'm going to call my Dawson Knox shot oh as the anti-Dawson Knox guy I think this is the Dawson Knox week I'm with you on that I hope he's healthy he missed practice also on Wednesday and we should like I say this almost every week but I just he's healthy. He missed practice also on Wednesday. And we should, like I say this almost every week, but I just want to say it every week. Missing practice on Wednesday. It's not necessarily an indication that there's anything seriously wrong.

Yeah. But he's, he's missed practice a lot though. Last week it was with, I believe a foot injury or no, this is a foot injury. Last week was a back injury. I think he's legitimately banged up.

Like I don't, I don't think it's like he's, he's taking a rest day. And a lot of these scenarios, I don't, I don't think it's like he's, he's taking a rest day. And a lot of these scenarios, I don't know how much of these are rest days. When you look at what these guys have been battling for. All right. You're talking about Dawson Knox there, Hunter Renfro practice, but didn't take on any contact. So that's good progress for him.

But right now, still, uh, still out Hunter Renfro. They're at Monday. They're on Monday night at Kansas city. T Higgins has an ankle issue. Looks like he's going to play, but we'll keep an eye on T. Higgins. Kadarius, Tony, and Wanda Robinson were limited in practice, so making some progress there. Zay Jones was limited.

Jacoby Myers back on the practice field. He was limited. Rashad Bateman missed practice with the foot injury. Noah Brown practiced. That's great to see. He had a neck injury in week four, but Noah Brown practiced on Wednesday. And Marqu to see. He had a neck injury in week four, but Noah Brown practiced on Wednesday. And Marquise Brown was out with a foot injury. Another one we'll check on. We don't make too

much of the Wednesday practice reports, as Heath said. But at tight end, Dawson Knox mispracticed. Kyle Pitts mispracticed with a hamstring injury. Cameron Brait still in the concussion protocol. John New Smith is going to miss some time with an ankle sprain. And TJ Hawkinson was among the Lions who were out.

Got a couple of banged-up players on the Cardinals' offensive line. We got some defensive injuries to track. Zavian Howard, mispractice. He may not play. Dolphins' top cornerback at the Jets. Minka Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmonds, two safeties for the Steelers, and cornerback Akilah Witherspoon, mispractice.

They're at the Bills. They could use all the help they can get. You know, Cleveland's run defense, they're facing the Chargers this week. Their run defense was dreadful last week. They were missing three starters on the defensive line. Two of them practiced yesterday, Miles Garrett and defensive tackle Taven Bryan.

Buffalo linebacker Tremaine Edmonds mispracticed. He's a very important player for them. Jalen Johnson remains out. He's missed the last two games cornerback for the Bears. They're facing the Vikings, and he did not practice on Wednesday. Darius Slay, though, he practiced in full. That's awesome. And how about this?

The Bills, no, I'm sorry, the Steelers facing the Bills. The Steelers are the only team since the merger, the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, that has not been an underdog of 14 or more points. They've never been, but that could change this week. I think they're currently right around there at the Bills, 13 and a half, 14. It's going to be the first time in NFL history the Steelers are 14-point dogs. All right, one question for each game. We're going to start with that one. Pittsburgh at Buffalo. Sit all Steelers, Heath? No no I'm not sitting Pat Frymouth and I'm probably not sitting Deontay Johnson like if there's a two wide receiver league I might have to sit

Deontay Johnson it's possible I could have two better options but I'm probably starting him as well I would like to sit nausea if I can and everybody else is it obviously well some people might be on the George Pickens bandwagon uh but they're not interested I want to make sure he's rostered but he 100 we should not make too much out of 13 pass attempts for Kenny Pickett I still project Deontay Johnson to lead the team in targets by a pretty significant margin uh Jamie how about you I would be a little concerned about Firemouth. You're probably not setting in

because it means you have to make a transaction to carry a second tight end, but they are just amazing, and they did it again last week against Mark Andrews. Yeah. Tennessee at Washington. All right, I don't know if these rankings are updated, so you have to tell me.

But as of now, where do you have Curtis Samuel? Samuel will be where he is. Okay, so let's have a 60-second do you have Curtis Samuel? Samuel will be where he is. Okay. So let's have a 60-second rankings dispute on Curtis Samuel because Jamie's got him about 32nd and Heath 18th. Is that accurate, Heath? That's accurate in full PPR, yes. Okay.

Jamie, 30 seconds on Curtis Samuel. Why he's a number three receiver against Tennessee. There are just other guys I like better than him. I think he's a fine number three receiver, but I'm not going to call him a number two receiver yet because he's got to score a touchdown to be in that range. So his six for 50 is great, but I don't think he's going to do much more than that. 18th. Yeah, I'm expecting 10 targets a game and three to four rush attempts a game. And he probably does need a touchdown to finish as a number two, but most of the back half of the number two guys

need a touchdown to finish as a number two. So he's right in that range. If he doesn't score, then he'll be closer to Jamie's ranking. And if he does, it'd be closer to mine. All right, Detroit at New England. I guess we already addressed this. Can both New England running backs

take advantage of this matchup? Should I do a different question for this game? No, we could just go to the next game. Okay. Miami, yeah. So these guys do like both New England running backs, but what is the highest you have your favorite New England running back ranked? Damien Harris

is top 15 for me in both formats. He's definitely top 15 for me in full PPR. I think I have Ramondre at 16, Harris at 18. Okay. Next game, Miami at the Jets. Is Tyreek Hill the only must start in this game?

Miami at the Jets. Yes. No, I'd say Waddle's still a must start guy. And if Brees Hall is a full go the rest of the week then i'm calling him a must-start too i would agree with that okay miami's run defense though pretty elite i don't know how you guys feel about that i don't it is it is very good um i think hall will make some plays in the past game i think it'll matter you know i don't think uh zach wilson's going to kill him like we thought maybe after at least one week so um yeah i don't think hall

has a monster game but i think hall certainly has a serviceable enough game to be a top 20 running back okay i don't know i'm sorry did i interrupt you heath no i'm just not i'm not sure if miami's rush defense is elite or not okay uh well i don't know if you know this about me. I'm a very jealous man. Jealous of Heath being, you know, Heath's exercise. I wish I could run two miles. I'm jealous of Jamie's Peloton. Jealous of everyone's Peloton.

Whenever I hear, oh, I was looking at, I'm house hunting a little bit. You know, houses are just too expensive, so we're just looking. But I went to a house the other day, and they had a Peloton. And I was like, man, if we buy this house, can I ask them to just leave the Peloton for me? Because I really, really want one. They've got world-class instructors.

For a person like me, you know, just right now, I don't have the time to go to the gym or something like that. This would be a great time to get something done, maybe watch a football game while I'm on my Peloton. This is an amazing way to get some done. Maybe watch a football game while I'm on my Peloton. This is an amazing way to get some exercise. And everybody who has one, everybody I know who has one raves about it, including Jamie Eisenberg. There's so many things I know you love about your Peloton. Yeah, it's actually been a little bit of a rough week because of the holiday and some work and stuff. So I haven't got a chance to ride yet this week. But yeah, I'm looking forward to this afternoon, this evening while the game's on to ride the Peloton, uh, and watch the exciting matchup between the Colts and the Broncos. Uh, while the, we're getting that, that great running production from Melvin Gordon and

the, and Naeem Hines, I'll try to match them in terms of my speed on the Peloton. Uh, but it's a great workout. You get great. Uh, the instructors are fantastic. The music is unbelievable. Um, the stuff you can do aside from the bike and the treadmill are great also so you know even if you don't have the space like adam does you can still use the peloton app you can do the band workouts you can do yoga you can do stretching um i've said this a million times we use meditation to put our kids to sleep you know my my four-year-old uh every time he goes to sleep he goes i want meditation i want meditation you know so it's a big part of uh entire lifestyle, not just the exercise. But the bike is fantastic. Can't wait to ride

later today and certainly tonight when I'm watching the game. And I highly encourage everybody to use Peloton. Yeah. And I need motivation. And that's what I'm really looking forward to when I finally do get my Peloton is these instructors motivating me. So this is motivation that moves you anytime, anywhere. Try the Peloton bike or tread risk-free for 30 days. Learn more at onepeloton.com, one P-E-L-O-T-O-N.com. New members only, terms apply. All right, back to one question for each game. How about, where are we?

Oh, Houston at Jacksonville, there we go. Start or sit Brandon Cooks? Only seven targets at Jacksonville. There we go. Start or sit, Brandon Cooks. Only seven targets in each of the last two games. Jamie, are we starting Brandon Cooks? Yes. He has an amazing track record against the Jaguars, as you would expect. I believe his worst game in his last five

is 17 PPR points against them. It's a different defense. Obviously, they're going to make things uncomfortable for Davis Mills, and this pass rush should be a problem. Their defensive front should be a problem, but their secondary secondary still some issues uh shack griffin i think can be beat and so in a situation where i think they're chasing points and some garbage time will matter brandon cooks will find the end zone once again and build off

what he did last week all right jacksonville hasn't really been so bad against wide receivers i mean mike williams had 15 yards and a mean, yeah, yes, cumulatively they were. They gave up four touchdowns. Yes, that was bad. But yardage-wise, not so bad. I'm not even going to ask Heath because I know he's starting Brandon Cooks. All right, next game is Chargers and Cleveland.

Heath, good Amari Cooper or bad Amari Cooper? I rank him right next to Gabe Davis, which is the range of guys who could either make you feel terrible for starting them or make you feel terrible for sitting them. I don't have a good way to know. I know Jacoby Brissett said we can't have him going one for nine. And the last time they talked about getting Amari Cooper more involved, he had a big game. So I think he'll be not terrible, but he's a number three wide receiver that has top 12 upside and bottom 12 downside. Yeah. I watched most of the routes and he saw a lot of AJ Terrell, who's a very good young cornerback. I don't know if he's going to see a lot of JC Jackson, who's another great young cornerback on Sunday.

All right, Las Vegas at Kansas City. Jamie, should we start Clyde Edwards-Ziller and then tell everyone to sell high after the game? Yes, that should be the theme of the season. Yes, you should absolutely start Clyde Edwards-Ziller. They get an interesting comment from Pete Prisco on our show on Wednesday, where he suggested that maybe Isaiah Pacheco is going to start to take some more carries

based on how the team is operating. I found an odd coming off a 19-carry game for Edwards-Alaire, but as Pete noted, they still throw to their running back so much that he should have the opportunity to still be successful week in, week out. So yes, you should start Clyde Edwards-Lair until further notice. Over Josh Jacobs? No, Josh Jacobs is in a little bit better spot just based on his workload right now. By the way.

I'm so curious with Jacobs. I don't want to say he's a sell-high candidate, but it is interesting. Like last year, his reception totals popped when there was no Waller and there was no Kenyon Drake. And right now his reception total is popping because there's no Hunter Renfro on the field. And so will that continue when everybody's healthy in terms of what the Raiders were expecting with their weapons? 19 carries for Clyde.

Nine of them actually came in clock killing time. Nine of them came when they were up by, I think, 17 points in that game in the fourth quarter. The carries were very even before that between him and Pacheco. Cincinnati at Baltimore. Heath, are you starting a Ravens wide receiver? We know Bateman's banged up. Duvernay 40% rostered.

Are you starting a Ravens wide receiver? And they just got Andy Isabella, so maybe that'll be the guy. No, I am not starting a Ravens wide receiver. If Bateman's healthy, then he's a boom bust number three. Duvernay's a boom bust flex if there's no Bateman's healthy, then he's a boom bust number three. DuVernay's a boom bust flex if there's no Bateman. So they'd be behind the Gabe Davis, Amari Cooper group?

Bateman would be right in that group. Okay. But yeah, DuVernay is. All right, let's break down the games a little bit more in depth. Let's go to Pittsburgh at Buffalo. Stat of the game. You said, Jamie, that this needs to be a Gabe Davis week. The Steelers allow big plays.

Not only do they allow a lot of long completions, they allow a lot of long completions that have a lot of air yards. 11 completions of 20-plus yards that have traveled 20 or more yards in the air. It's not just yak stuff. People are beating the Steelers downfield. Their secondary is a little

beat up right now. Those 11 completions of 20 plus yards that have traveled 20 yards, by the way, are second most in the NFL. That's Steelers giving up big plays. But Josh Allen is 23rd in the NFL in intended air yards per pass attempt. He was seventh in 2021. So this is killing Gabe Davis. So Jamie, you know, let's talk about obviously people starting Diggs and people are starting Allen. Heath has Gabe Davis in the thirties. Where do you have him? He'll be right around 30. I mean, you have to still obviously, you know,

bake in some of the pitfalls for him, but I said this to Heath on, on, on HQ. I think it was yesterday that we have to stop making excuses for him. He's got to start to play, but there are legitimate excuses. I mean, you know, he had the two week situation or three week situation, excuse me, of the ankle problem where he was on the injury report. And then you had the weather conditions in Baltimore. But now is a perfect opportunity.

There is no more Crowder for, for the foreseeable future. There might not be McKenzie for this week. So there should be some, some targets and increase in targets, you know, maybe going his direction. You mentioned the matchup is fantastic. The weather shouldn't be a problem in, in Buffalo.

So it should be all systems go. But if he doesn't have another good, if he doesn't have a good week, um, at least on, on the level of what he did against Miami in week one, not Miami one against, uh,

the Rams in week one, um, then you're going to see him drop to some 10 team leagues and and and i get it so uh i hope i'm hopeful for him i'm i'm excited for him but uh he's nothing still more than a number three receiver this is where and you talked about it when you were talking about the defensive matchups adam like this goes back to last year um and that's why like with gabe davis i think it's easier for me to believe that this is just what he is because this is what he always was he was he's never really been what we

were hoping he was going to be this year yet um i do think there are spike weeks coming um it's going to be a super annoying discussion in week six if this is a spike week and then he's facing the chiefs the following week, because there are going to be people that have him ranked top 15. And I'm probably going to have him like 26. But no, I think there are spike weeks coming. You don't have to run away from him. If you have a third wide receiver slot and you just want to shoot for upside, he's as good as anybody for that spot. But he's not yet shown, and there are, Jamie's right, there are excuses. He's not yet shown us anything other than

his snap rate has changed from last year. Are you starting Deontay Johnson over Gabe Davis? And are you starting George Pickens over Gabe Davis? How would you rank the wide receivers? Deontay, well, Diggs, Deontay, Davis, Pickens. I will go Davis over Deontay in non-and-half PPR. I'll take Deontay in full PPR. Okay. How about Devin Singletary? Because we've got a lot of flexy players in this game, a lot of questionable guys.

Allen and Diggs are probably the only studs, and then there's Fryermuth, who Heath likes a lot. Jamie's kind of hesitant, but said, you know, look, he's a tight end. You're probably going to start him. But, you know, is there, who's the, I guess, like,

who's the most appealing player after that? Is it Singletary? Is it Deontay for Heath? Is it Gabe Davis? You know, that's my question. Heath, you can go first. Throw Singletary.

Oh, and Najee in there, actually. Who's the next best player after Diggs, basically? Yeah, Singletary, then Deontay, then Najee, then Gabe Davis is the way I would put it. But Singletary, I've got ranked. I mean, with his usage the last two weeks, I'm probably just going to rank him as a top 20 running back until the usage changes. I understand if somebody wants to sell high because in Buffalo, the usage has a history of changing. But for now, I think he's a number two running back.

75% of the snaps or more last two games. I mean, it's, it's his job, you know, and, and, and the, the messing around with Zach Moss and James Cook, you know, the thing with Cook is they told us at the beginning of the season, and you don't usually get this type of honesty that they're going to work him into some sort of role. He has not taken advantage of the limited opportunities that he's had. He had a drop last week, you know, the fumble he had a couple of weeks ago, maybe it was week one, I guess, against the limited opportunities that he's had. He had a drop last week. You know, the fumble he had a couple weeks ago. Maybe it was week one, I guess, against the Rams. But he's not proving that he deserves more playing time at the moment.

But that might come. I think at this point, though, Devon Singletary, he's the best running back in this game for me. Yeah, I think for Heath, too, right? Yeah. Yep. I think I just have to kind of buy in because I look at Singletary. Let's say 2020.

First four games of the year. He had 16 catches. Last 12 games of the year, he had 22. But, you know, I think more recently is more important. At the end of last year, he was a star. And he's not getting that work, but I just think he's obviously risen to the top here. He's just beat the competition.

Well, if teams start to play this shell defense against the Bills, which I'm guessing they have, and trying to take away the big play, and you don't have Crowder and you don't have McKenzie, I'm sure that's the reason why Heath likes Dawson Knox this week. It factors into Devin Singletary as well. Josh Allen's a smart enough quarterback at this

point. He's taking what's available to him, and these underneath throws are available to him. That's amazing. Devin Singletary already has seven more catches this season than naji harris wow you could have won millions of dollars betting on singletary catching more passes than naji harris and the steelers run defense was awful last year but it's pretty good so far this year so i will say that but you're you know you're hoping for work in the passing game from devin singletary he's not getting a ton of carries. All right. I think that's basically it.

Okay. You like Knox, Heath. Would you like him if Isaiah McKenzie plays? Not as much. Also, speculative add, Khalil Shakir. If there's no McKenzie along with Crowder being out, he might just be their slot wide receiver. And he has more potential upside than Crowder or McKenzie. And Kummer being banged up too.

So are you guys, when we, let me finish with a friar mute. I'm not going to finish. I think this is a game to explore, but let's go to friar mute for a second here. You like him better than Knox. Even if you like Knox,

are you, is there anyone that could have been picked up off waivers like a Gerald Everett or something that you would start over Fryermuth? Because look at, I mean, look at these tight ends.

Tyler Higby had 11 targets, turned that into 39 yards. Mark Andrews had 15 yards last week. You know, so would you, would you get away from Fryermuth if you could? If you have the ability to carry two tight ends,

I would pick up gerald everett and start him over him and i'm going to rank logan thomas ahead of him if uh curtis samuel was out with the illness but i mean the titans have certainly been miserable against tight end so far this season so he's somebody i would consider i'm not going to rank it that way if samuel plays but they're going to be very close uh i think for this week fryermuth is in the Kyle Pitts range of you're starting him because almost almost because you have to i would start everett over him but there's not anybody like ever it's not available on the waiver wire right not really i think he was in the 80s yeah there's not anybody who i could reasonably pick up and start over him that i would

okay all right then and uh that and so you know if you picked up george pickens just this is not the week. But let's see what happens. You got a much more aggressive quarterback in Kenny Pickett. He's probably going to throw the ball downfield a lot more than Trubisky. And hopefully he can make some good things happen. All right. Tennessee at Washington is our next game.

We're going to take a quick break here. When we come back, we'll talk about the Titans and the Commanders. Welcome back to Fantasy Football today. All right. Tennessee's at Washington and your stat of the game. Carson Wentz has thrown 41 or more passes in every game. And all four quarterbacks to face the Titans have scored at least 19 fantasy points,

which isn't a great game. But three straight quarterbacks have thrown for 303 or more yards. Josh Allen, Derek Carr, and Matt Ryan. They've all gone over 300 yards. The first quarterback they faced was Daniel Jones and he scored 19 fantasy points. So, I mean, I am struggling right now with Stafford versus Wentz.

At the beginning of the week, I was going to go Wentz. Now I'm considering, God, Wentz is so bad. He's playing like garbage. Well, you said why? I don't even know where you are on that. Like, who do you like better, Stafford or Wentz, Wentz is so bad. He's playing like garbage. Well, you said why? I don't even know where you are on that. Like, who do you like better, Stafford or Wentz? Wentz. It's that easy?

I mean, I don't think it's easy, but it makes the most sense logically. I mean, you know, we've seen Stafford now against defenses that have a great pass rush, and I think the Cowboys certainly qualify. He's been sacked seven times in those two games. It was week one and week four. I know.

And so now you're talking about him against that defense with the offensive line concerns against Wentz. Basically, it's like a seven-on-seven game, it feels like. So there's a much better opportunity for Wentz. I have a Dynasty 2QB league, or Superflex league. My top three quarterbacks are Matthew Stafford, Carson Wentz, and Matt Ryan. And I have to make a call either starting Ryan tonight, which I probably do, and bench Stafford and go with – I'm sorry.

Or I have Dalton also. Make the call on Matt Ryan versus Andy Dalton because I like all of them better than Matthew Stafford at this point. He's just been struggling. All right. So do you like Carson Wentz this week? Not top 12 like him, but for me, and I don't have Carr

as high as everybody else. And this goes back to a fun joke from the preseason, but I've got Carr and Wentz as basically the same guy. Carr and Wentz. Okay. To be honest, Wentz might have a higher ceiling. Well, he's shown it. He's got two

30-plus point games. Yeah, and then he faced Philadelphia and Dallas. And quite frankly, those are two of the tougher matchups you can have. And Tennessee is one of the better ones. Tannehill or Wentz? Wentz. Tannehill for me, but it's close. Oh, Tannehill or Stafford.

Obviously, that's going to be Tannehill for Jamie. Heath, how about you? Tannehill or Stafford? I have Stafford ahead of Tannehill. Okay. This commander's defense is awful. It is. You want to talk about firings.

How does Jack Del Rio still have a job? I don't understand it at all. They are getting better against the run, though. They were great against the run last year. They were terrible in weeks one and two. Weeks three and four, much, much better against the Eagles. Miles Sanders had a bad game, three yards per carry, and the Cowboys running backs just had 27 carries for 55 yards.

So they have been better against the run, but you're going to start Derrick Henry, who has scored in three straight games and has eight catches in his last two games. Starters sit Robert Woods. Let's compare Robert Woods to Gabe Davis, Amari Cooper. Heath, who do you got? I'm pretty sure I have all those guys ahead of Robert Woods.

I think I'm just low across the board on the Titans passing game. And it's because they're throwing 26 passes a game. And this is a game I expect them to be playing from ahead. So I just, like they might have one of those. And Tannehill's had several over the last three years, just wildly efficient games where he throws 26 times and throws for 250 yards and three touchdowns, but it's hard, hard to project that. So I, I, he's a flex for me, but he's behind Davis and all those other guys. It's a great opportunity for woods without trailing Berks there, you know, so there's probably a couple of more targets coming his direction.

And he's starting to get going a little bit, you know, so maybe the knee injury is overcoming that, you know, he's, he's gotten a 12 point game and a-point PPR game each of the last two weeks. Hopefully, it's starting to get to the point where maybe that becomes the norm with some higher spikes in terms of his production. This secondary is terrible. I'm with you, Heath. I think they're playing with the lead, but they are underdogs in this game.

We'll see how things go there in terms of how the commanders show up offensively. I think this game could actually be surprisingly high-scoring. It could be very competitive, I think. Could be a fun game for fantasy purposes. Yeah. I was just looking. Are the Titans underdogs? I just saw one thing.

I might be wrong. I think the Titans are two and a half point favorites right now okay i saw a wrong spread then my favorite place by the way to get spreads is the cbssports.com scoreboard cbssports.com slash nfl slash scoreboard the spreads are they're updated and you get the over under right there all in one page like it's actually a very very good website so or like web it's obviously a great website but that particular page cbssports.com slash nfl slash scoreboard check it out much easier than going to some other sites to get spread and we get our odds from caesar sports right if you're right i actually i that used to be the case now i just make they're just my odds i just throw them

up there and there's some uh that's where jamie saw yeah yeah it was Adam's odds oh yeah Washington running backs all right hands off what do we think here Gibson McKissick

maybe Robinson anybody starting to Washington running back this week hope not I don't know how you can trust Gibson at this point

I mean if he doesn't score he's just not being very effective now granted the Titans run defense I don't think it's something to necessarily fear, but they did just do a great job against Jonathan Taylor for what that's worth.

You know, and you can say Taylor was less than 100%. He still got 20 carries in that game. So, you know, you would say 75% of Jonathan Taylor, 20 carries against most teams. He's going to have success. I thought he got hurt on his last carry. Or am I wrong about that? Well, he was hurt coming into the game. He may have re-injured himself.

But that was the reason he was missing practice for the first time in his career was because he was banged up last week. So, yeah, I just can't trust Gibson. Okay. So, Naeem Hines over Gibson? Oh, yeah. McKissick's actually my highest-ranked

Washington running back in full PPR. And, Jamie, you have McLaurin over Samuel. I know he has Samuel as a number-two receiver. But, Jamie, you like McLaurin over Samuel. I know he has Samuel as a number two receiver, but Jamie, you like McLaurin better? I actually do like McLaurin a lot this week. I think with the absence of Jahan Dotson, that's going to help both those guys. But I think you're just looking at a situation.

This Titans secondary is not good. They've given up certainly plenty of big plays to receivers. I think it's 10 touchdowns to opposing receivers, if I'm not mistaken, on the season. That could just be their pass defense overall. But it's a great opportunity. I can get you numbers in a second. It's a great opportunity for him to bounce back from last week's poor game. And he hasn't actually been

miserable. I think it's the first three games he was 11 or more PPR points. Some of that was garbage time, as we saw in the Philadelphia game. I just think more opportunities this week without Dotson there, more potential throws down the field. Wentz shouldn't be under pressure as much as he has been, so that should help.

Hopefully the offensive line holds up. They have allowed, let's see, five touchdowns to opposing receivers and six to score at least 11 PPR points. I think that's the floor, and I think he goes north of that probably in the 15-plus range. Starter set, Logan Thomas, 42% rostered. He said, and Logan Thomas.

No, I'm sorry. Starters sit Logan Thomas. Oh, I don't mind him this week. Uh, again, you know,

the, the loss of Dotson, you know, hopefully some, some more opportunities for him. Uh, and, and you heard me mention Curtis Samuel,

you know, he didn't miss, he did miss practice on Wednesday with an illness. So we'll see what happens there, but there's But there's an opportunity here against a defense that certainly struggled last week against Molly Cox and has given up

I think four touchdowns and tight ends in the last two weeks. Yes. They gave up two to Molly Cox and I don't know. That's it, right? Four on the year. Two to the Giants or one of the Giants. Or one to the Giants,

and two to... Whatever. They suck. All right. I think it's pretty much going to do it for that game. All right. Let's go to our next game. Detroit at New England.

Okay. I don't have a stat of the game here. That's fine. Heath, what do you think about this game? A lot of tough calls in this game? So on the Lions side, you're obviously starting Hawkinson. You're starting Jamal Williams. I think if Josh Reynolds plays, he probably has a tough call, but I'm probably starting him. On the Patriots side, you fire up both running backs and don't consider anybody else. Jamal Williams coming off his amazing game. Yeah. Would you start him over the,

is he the best running back in this game? Start him over Stevenson and Harris? Oh yeah. Yeah. Yes. Okay. Yeah. He's top.

DeAndre Swift plays. Of course. Yeah. He's top 13 for everybody in both formats. I think he's as high as eight or something for some of our guys, two of our guys. In the Adam Azer power rankings of running backs, did Jamal Williams move up from the very bottom spot

in the NFL after last week? Not if it'd take you 700 carries to have your best carry of your career. He's still the worst running back in the NFL. No, I didn't say that. But he's not a special running back. But of course, he's great for fantasy right now.

Okay, how about Jared Goff coming off a 41-point game? Start or sit, Jared Goff? It just doesn't feel like the setup for him. With his guys missing on the road, Patriots coming off a tough loss. I don't think

this game is going to get to a point where they, you know, have a back and forth type of shootout. Unless, of course, as he said, the Lions offense, or maybe you said,

the Lions offense shows up and the Patriots are chasing points, but it just doesn't feel like that. I don't think the Patriots defense is like the most dominant, you know, defense that we've seen from them

by any stretch in recent memory, but they should be able to contain the Lions here enough that Jared Goff has minimal production. You know, he's had two spike games and two mediocre games. So I think this is closer to an 18-point game as opposed to a 34-plus point game like he's had in his two big outings.

Josh Reynolds, 35% rostered, and he has 96 and 81 yards on 18 targets in his last two games. He has a touchdown. He had an almost touchdown, and he came about a half a yard short of having a second touchdown in the game in week four. Patriots are middle of the pack against wide receivers

so far. Would you start Reynolds over a Patriots running back in a full PPR league? No. No. Okay. Would you start Reynolds or Pickens? Reynolds over who?orge pickens yes reynolds or reynolds over deontay johnson how about cory davis reynolds reynolds how about garrett wilson they are right dav the same range.

Oh, okay. It's Reynolds as long as... I'd really like to see Reynolds have a full practice, but yeah, it's Reynolds. Okay. Yeah, I mean, who's banged up last? When a guy's banged up last week, the previous week, plays on Sunday,

and then misses practice on Wednesday, it's never a surprise to me, really. But Thursday will obviously be a lot more interesting. Last one. Sunday and then misses practice on Wednesday. It's never a surprise to me really, but you know, Thursday will obviously be a lot more interesting. Last one, Josh Reynolds or Adam Thielen? Thielen. Reynolds.

Oh, about that. Um, and I don't want to just completely write off the Patriots of Jacoby Myers plays, um, because I think he's worth using as a number three receiver in PPR. If he's out, I think Devante Parker is worth using as a number three receiver,

potentially if Mac Jones plays. So this Detroit defense is not good. No, it's not. Detroit has allowed 17.9 or more PPR fantasy points to six wide receivers in four games. And they have the number one scoring offense in football, and they are one in three. All right. Miami's at the Jets. Stat of the game. Miami has allowed one rush of more than 13 yards to a running back.

It was a 43-yard scamper by Zach Moss. So they have been a very good run defense with Wilkinson, and I think his last name is pronounced Sealer up front. I think I've been calling him Seiler, but two defensive tackles who were great last year and good this year. So anyway, that's why I said earlier, Heath, that the Dolphins have an elite run defense. Maybe I probably shouldn't use the word elite, but right now it looks really good. But you still like Brees.

I think you guys have Brees Hall as a number two running back, right? Not in the Jamal Williams range. Like Jamal Williams, Khalil Herbert still over Brees. I think you guys have Brees Hall as a number two running back, right? Not, not in a Jamal Williams range, like Jamal Williams, Khalil Herbert still over Brees Hall this week. Yep. Yeah. Okay. But Brees Hall is not someone you guys are running away from.

He's been really good and you know, he's been promising and you know, increasing his role. Okay. Where are we at here with the dolphins offense? Heath, what do you expect from the dolphins offense this week? I think it will be good, but not great.

Tyree Kills must start. Jalen Waddles almost certainly start. Teddy Bridgewater is not a bad number two quarterback at all. I'd start Teddy Bridgewater. In fact, I believe I dropped Jared Goff to pick up Teddy Bridgewater to start him over Matthew Stafford. So I don't mind Teddy at all this week. But you can't start a Dolphins running back with any confidence.

Not after Mostert got 15 carries in week four compared to five, I think, for Edmonds. Well, we all thought that Chase Edmonds was probably just going to be a touchdown vulture playing inside the five yard line. Yeah. Okay. I think just the word you use is confidence. You can't have any confidence starting them. You might be stuck

because of the Javante injury or the Cordero Patterson injury or the Taylor injury and these guys have been on your bench and so you're hoping Edmonds scores. You're hoping Mostert has another 75 total yard game and maybe finds the end zone. There's just no reason to say confidence with them. I guess I would start them over the Rams running backs.

Okay. Sure. Jamie, you mentioned three guys earlier in the show as sits, if you could. James Conner, Najee Harris, and Zeke. But you wouldn't start the Dolphins guys over them? No, no, no, no. When you have players like that, you got to be Jamal Williams,

Khalil Herbert, Naeem Hines. You know, that level of workload slash passing game role. You know, those type of guys you're only sitting those players for. You know, the mess of Miami, no. You're not sitting those guys for those players. Teddy Bridgewater, Ryan Tannehill, Carson Wentz. Who's your favorite?

Tannehill, Carson Wentz. Who's your favorite? Tannehill. Wentz. Would you start Bridgewater or Geno Smith? Bridgewater. Teddy this week. Oakley doakley. Let's see what else we got from this game. Let's go over to the Jets here.

Going to sit Zach Wilson. He did score 21 fantasy points last week at Pittsburgh. That was nice, but we're not quite starting him yet. They're fluky, though. Fluky. Was fluky? He is really amazing. I'd love to... Oh, yeah. That's true.

That's true. He did catch a touchdown. I would love to go back and just tell us two years ago that Teddy Bridgewater, Geno Smith, Marcus Mariota, Jacoby Brissett are all like solidified starters this week in the NFL. Yeah, yeah. Bridgewater is so funny that Trubisky was a bigger priority in free agency for NFL teams

than Bridgewater just because Trubisky sat and didn't do anything bad for a year. Well, I think also youth. I mean, I guess, but it's not like Bridgewater's old. Quarterback's playing until they're 40, basically. But there's hope. I think there was hope. Mitch was young enough that there was hope that he could improve. I think everybody knows what Teddy is.

He's the perfect backup quarterback. Yeah, he's a great backup quarterback. Okay, Jets wide receivers. So, Jamie, you said you have Corey Davis over Garrett Wilson. Heath, it sounds like you have Garrett Wilson over Corey Davis. Davis, by the way, is rostered in 52% of leagues. Elijah Moore in 78% of leagues. So I don't know if you would make that switch, but you would just drop Elijah Moore?

I mean, you know, it's an unfortunate set of circumstances So I don't know if you would make that switch, but you would just drop Elijah Moore. I mean, it's an unfortunate set of circumstances because I would hope that Elijah Moore at this point in his career is more talented than Corey Davis. But Davis just seems to be a guy that Zach Wilson likes. And I think, I don't know everyone, but I think people tend to forget that Corey Davis was once upon a time a top 10 overall pick in the NFL draft. And you go back to last year, the first six starts with Zach Wilson. Three of them, he had 14 or more PBR points. You get the first game with Zach Wilson. Who does he lean on? He leans on Corey Davis.

You know, so at some point there will be a changing of the guard. And it might be for Wilson. And it might be for Garrett Wilson. It might be for Elijah Moore. But at this point in time, Corey Davis, when healthy, seems to be the guy that Zach Wilson prefers. All right. time Corey Davis when healthy seems to be the guy that Zach Wilson prefers all right so we've talked about that number three receiver range of Gabe Davis and maybe Deontay Johnson's in there or something like that are any Jets wide receivers ahead of those guys no but Corey Davis is right

there I've got Wilson and Davis Corey Davis ahead of Gabe Davis and Amari Cooper and DJ Moore. Start or sit Tyler Conklin. He's in the same range for me as Fryer Muth and Logan Thomas and Kyle Pitts. So, you know, not a slam dunk, depending on what your roster looks like, but also somebody that you can use this week and should be rostered in more leagues. So the offense have been somewhat hit or miss against tight ends. Most of the damage was

Mark Andrews. We'll see how Conklin does. Five targets last week. Not exactly what you're looking for based on where he was, but still dropping down the percentages compared to where Joe Flacco was throwing. It's not bad. I think this is a matchup he can win and have some success, but not a slam dunk. I would start him over

Kyle Pitts. Wow. Jamie, would you? Conklin or Pitts? I probably will if Pitts is on the injury port again, but it's close. By the way, would you upgrade the Jets wide receivers if Xavier Howard doesn't play? Slightly.

To me, this game is really more about can they protect Zach Wilsonson because the dolphins are going to probably blitz them and make them uncomfortable and and that's one of the things like i don't think xavier would it definitely wouldn't matter for garrett wilson because i don't think garrett wilson's going to see xavier and howard um he'll be in the slot and i wonder if his shorter routes will be more in favor this week with the Dolphins pressure. I think we have three games left. I think we might actually get under an hour and 10 minutes today. I'd be very excited about that. Houston at Jacksonville.

I already gave the stat of the game, but it's now Houston's allowed 20 or more PPR fantasy points to seven running backs in their last 10 games going back to 2021. Who is your favorite running back in this game? Because Pierce is obviously an enticing start as well. Who's your favorite running back in this game? Because Pierce is obviously an enticing start as well. Who's your favorite running back in this game? Robinson. It's Robinson for sure in PPR. And none, both. Okay.

Is Damian Pierce a must start? Is he ahead of, let's say, Brees Hall? No. Those two guys in particular make me the most nervous, to be honest with you, of the guys I've ranked in the top. Probably with Singletary also. The thing that's fantastic about Damian Pierce is it's always nice when you go to the box score

and you see one name and one name only. And he had every running back carry last week. Yes. So if that's going to continue, it's hard to get away from him. You saw the big play potential. The fact that they had six catches for him last week. Yes. So if that's going to continue, it's hard to get away from him. You saw the big play potential. Um, the fact that they had six catches for him last week, you know, so they're not afraid to use him in that regard. I know you brought us up Adam in terms of his, you know, third down usage. So that's, you know, still troubling, but you know, we, I think every time we talk about that, people think of teams only throw on third down,

you know, they certainly throw on the first and second down. So Pierce lab is his fair share of, of opportunities that this continues. So 19 total touches or 20 total touches last week. I think that's probably a safe range for him. While Jacksonville should win this game and they are a touchdown favorite, I don't know how much they're just going to run away from this game.

So I think Pierce can still be effective. So yes, it's a great run defense. Jacksonville's proven that despite what happened last week with Miles Sanders. So I still think Pierce is a good number two running back. Yeah yeah and full PPR is more of a flex for me but he's right in that range and close enough that I wouldn't argue too much I'm starting

him over Najee Harris in all formats the Jaguars lost a defensive tackle last week and I didn't see an injury report uh Foley Fodukasi I just don't think what happened to them last week has anything to do with them i don't know they ran into the buzzsaw they did defending the eagles run game is not the same as defending the texans run game or defending any team without lamar jackson or josh allen or jalen hurts it's a different it was also you know circumstantial back-to-back road games you know the peterson bowl you know i'm sure that got into their heads about playing for their coach Josh Allen or Jalen Hurts. It was also circumstantial. Back-to-back road games, the Peterson Bowl, I'm sure that got into their heads about playing for their coach. They played worse

before that? No, no, no. I'm sure they got a little overhyped for that and not necessarily played to what their capabilities are. But they did lose a starting defensive lineman. Yeah, no. I mean, all these things matter. Okay. And I will say this.

Already three running backs have 37 or more receiving yards against the Jaguars, and they are allowing the second most receiving yards per game behind only the Chiefs, who are giving up a lot more than them.

But so, you know, Eckler, I'm sorry, Burkhead, Eckler was one of the guys he had 48 yards. Burkhead could have like 10 PPR points, I'm sorry, Burkhead, Eckler was one of the guys, he had 48 yards. Burkhead could have like 10 PPR points, I guess, but really, hopefully Pierce can piggyback on what he did last week and have some passing game production,

like more than one yard per catch. You guys both have Brandon Cooks in the top 18, so I guess I won't really expand on that. We talked a little bit about that earlier. It's just, you know, you're starting him. Is ADOT's way down? I will point that out. Is ADOT's way down this year?

His route depth is basically the same, though, as it's been the last three years. So he's just not getting targeted downfield, but maybe that changes. Trevor Lawrence. All right. Is he a must start this week? Obviously, we're starting over Stafford.

How about Derek Carr Monday night or Trevor Lawrence? Lawrence. Lawrence. All right. Do you care that Houston really hasn't been that bad of a matchup or that good of a matchup? Let's look at the quarterbacks. Matt Ryan threw 50 times and scored 17 fantasy points.

This is six points for passing touchdown leagues. Russell Wilson scored 12. Justin Fields scored four points. This is six points for passing touchdown leagues. Russell Wilson scored 12. Justin Fields scored four points. And Justin Herbert scored 25, which is good, but it's not probably below what Justin Herbert's going to average. And they don't give up a ton of big plays. So

you're not buying that this is not a great matchup? I'm not buying that the Texans are a bad matchup for quarterbacks. I mean, the one that stands out, obviously, is Russ, but that speaks more to where they were at that point in Week 2, as opposed to this defense. We've talked about this a few times, that Matt Ryan had several opportunities to get that second touchdown

and failed to do so. Had he gotten that, it's a different number. Justin Fields, you know what's happening there. Herbert, in a game where Austin Eckler had two rushing touchdowns, you know, that's not always going to happen. That's part of the problem, though, is they give so much production to running backs. Yeah, I mean, and this could easily be a James Robinson game, maybe even a Travis Etienne game.

You know, if they give him, we saw that, what was it, two weeks ago, where they beat the Chargers and Etienne got some garbage time production, garbage time carries. So it wouldn't surprise me if both running backs play well here. You have to have a lot of faith to trust ETN at this point. I think Lawrence will find his way to 22-24 points. Getting Zay Jones back would certainly help.

I've got a really tough decision in one of my high stakes leagues. I've got Lawrence and Russell Wilson. Right now I have Lawrence in. Interesting. Yeah, i would play lawrence okay how about zay jones guys widely available i think about 40 roster or something like that did he practice in full yesterday no okay so we're still not ranking him right correct okay doug peterson said he expected him to play, I thought. Let's say he does play. Let's just say hypothetically.

Josh Reynolds or Zay Jones? Zay Jones or George Pickens? Zay. Yeah, probably Zay. Zay or... Zay Jones or... That's a great opportunity. Zay McKenzie? Zay you, say the other guy. Zay Jones or... That's a great opportunity. Zay McKenzie? Zay you, say the other guy.

Zay you. All right, whatever. He'll be like a number three, number four-ish receiver. And Evan Ingram. Any interest in Evan Ingram? No. Evan Adam. Heath, are you going to move the Jaguars DST up?

You're too low on the Jaguars DST. You have an 18th. Jamie Hadams. Yeah, I'll move them up. They'll be top 12. Okay, all right. Start the Jaguars DST up? You're too low on the Jaguars DST of 18th. Jamie had them. Yeah, I'll move them up. They'll be top 12. Okay. All right. Start the Jaguars DST.

They're 54% rostered. Chargers and Browns. That of the game in his career. Josh Palmer. Let's say Josh Palmer gets healthy. Does he miss some time in last week's game? And he had a horrible game. He has played four games in his career.

Josh Palmer. Or he's played 87%. What's funny? Because you're about to Azerstat this one. Yes, 100%. 80% or more of the snaps in four games in his career. And he has scored a touchdown in three of those four games, and he had 99 yards in the other.

13 or more PBR points. Okay, thank you. In all four of those games. Three of those games came without Keenan Allen. If he's healthy and Keenan Allen is out, you should expect Josh Palmer to play about 90% of the snaps. That's what we've seen. And he has come through.

Now, I wish the yards had been better in some of those games. It's 30, 43, 66, and 99 yards. He was able to get the touchdowns when he had the bad yardage. But I just want to throw that out there. I don't know. I just seem to really like Josh Palmer. He's a good player. And I'm sure you're not going to stick by your bold prediction last week

where he'll outscore Mike Williams. The second I said it, I didn't stick by it. I said it's just for fun. But he's, I think, in the Zay Jones conversation of, you know, number three receiver that you can feel comfortable with this week. Last week just sucked. It just was really frustrating

because he probably would have had a much better game. Okay. Start Justin Herbert. Start Austin Eckler. Start Mike Williams. If Keenan Allen practices on Thursday, then we can talk about him on Friday. But for now, I think we're just going to assume Keenan Allen's not playing. And Gerald Everett is a top 10 guy. He's number five for Heath.

He'll be near there for me, too, when I adjust my ranking. Okay. All right. Let's start your chargers. Nick Chubb, yes. Kareem hunt he's starters it he's a flex um he's just lives in that rb 25 to rb 32 range on a weekly basis i don't think we're ever going to be able to figure out the mystery of when nick when kareem hunt's going to score two touchdowns and when he's going to score zero touchdowns um but i would start him over oh you froze for a second there you'd start him over whom zeke ah yeah same and obviously over the rams guys yes and the commanders and the dolphins yeah Yeah. Kareem Hunt, Matt, look, I said this on HQ, right? He averaged 14.4 touches per game in the first five games of 2021.

Those were the first five games where both he and Chubb were healthy. Chubb got hurt either in week five or early in week six. He averaged 14.4 touches per game, and he was the number seven running back in fantasy. This year, Kareem Hunt is averaging 14.3 touches per game, and I think he's something like RB30. So he's shown that he can be good with this workload. I don't expect him to be top seven, but he just needs to score. Amari Cooper. I asked Heath earlier, good or bad, and I don't know if this matters to you. I don't know. Good games have been at home. Bad games have been on the road. He has 202 yards in two home games.

He has 26 yards in two road games. They are at home this week. Kareem Hunt or Amari Cooper? How about that, Jamie? There's a higher ceiling for Amari Cooper because we've seen that.

So PPR, I'll take Cooper. Non-PPR, I'll take Hunt just because of how the touches will be distributed for each guy. But I don't i don't think cooper should be like we probably undervalued cooper the two games where we actually we did we certainly undervalued him the two games where he went nuts and then we overvalued him last week you know so i think you just have to treat him as a borderline number two receiver depends on who

you have on your team um and hopefully this is one of those weeks where he does come through and hopefully being in home matters to him. Okay. Heath, I'd like to help you out with something, if you wouldn't mind, if you'd indulge me. Yeah. Okay. Give me one second here. Where's my –

I don't feel like, Jamie, this is going to be a genuine offer of help. I feel like this is going to be the opposite of help. Genuine offer of help. Okay. We'll decide how many touchdowns for kareem hunt i'm going to spin the wheel and let's see i have zero one two three and four on there he is going to score four touchdowns this week there you go five running back yeah top one running back kareem hut you're very welcome. All right, I think that's it for this game. Oh, David Njoku, I'm sorry. How about David Njoku or Kyle Pitts this week?

I'll still stick with Pitts. Don't know if this is a good matchup for Njoku. You know, they faced two very elite tight ends. It was the first two weeks of the season, and they did a good job on Darren Waller and a good job on Travis Kelce. And so...

Waller had 79 yards on six targets. He's Darren Waller. This is David Njoku. Yeah, I know. But they didn't really do that well against him. But they did great against Kelsey.

5 for 51 on seven targets. So what do you think? Yeah, I think... I think if you have Njoku and he's been your guy, you stick with him. If you need someone, if, you know, Gerald Everett been your guy, you stick with him. If you need someone, if you know Gerald Edwards available, then you pick him up.

Okay. I was wrong about the amount of games we had left. I thought we had three. We had four. Two left. Las Vegas and Kansas City. Stat of the game. Derek Carr has the most red zone and most green zone pass attempts in the NFL.

That's partially because his completion percentage is horrible there, but he is throwing a lot and he is throwing a lot, and he's throwing a lot near the end zone. Stat of the game number two, just for football fans out there. Chandler Jones for the Raiders. He has no sacks in the first four games of the season. That is the first time in his career that that has happened. They need more from Chandler

Jones, and that's that courtesy of the Athletic. All right, Derek Carr, low-end starter this week. Bad history against the Chiefs, but Jamie broke it down. A lot of it's been cold-weather games, and in the one non-cold-weather game he played on Arrowhead, he did very well. I think actually three of his last four overall against the Chiefs,

he's like north of 24 points. The one game would be last year in Kansas City. Yep, it's 30 points, 27.6, and 22.2 in three of his last four games. Six points for passing on seven leagues. I haven't looked at everybody else's rankings because I don't. I know I'm the low guy on Carr, and I usually am. I've got him 14th, I think.

But Stafford's the only typical starter that I'm starting him over. Are there other starters you guys are starting Carr over? It depends where you come out on golf and those guys at this point. But yes, I would say that's probably the safe assumption. How about Aaron Rodgers or Derek Carr? I've got Rodgers.

Yeah, probably when I adjust my rankings, I'll have Carr ahead of Rodgers. But that's like 10 through 13. I think you can all mix those guys up. Okay. Everyone's going to start Josh Jacobs, and you like Jacobs better than Clyde Edwards-Ziller. Now, do you like Clyde better than

the group of Reese Hall, Devin Singletary, Damian Pierce, Jamie? You talked about being a little nervous about them. Would you start Clyde over them? I would. At this point, you just have to buy into the production. They're seven or seven and a half point favorites, depending on where you look. The Raiders' run defense has obviously been a little

suspect this season. With what Clyde has done, he's got a good history against the Raiders as well. He's scored in each of his last two games against them. He's just been productive. It's hard to overlook that, whether it's finding the end zone, like we saw two weeks ago, where he gets seven carries for no yards rushing

or just being as productive as he was last week with 19 carries. He's their guy. And I think he will continue to be heavily involved in some capacity, whether it's running the ball, catching the ball, or both. I don't know if you guys care about this, but the Chiefs so far have had a great run defense. Here are the yards per carry for the lead running backs against the Chiefs. James Conner, 2.6.

Austin Eckler, 2.8. Jonathan Taylor, 3.4. Leonard Fournette, negative one. Three carries for negative three yards. They've been great there. They do give up by far the most catches and by far the most receiving yards per game to running backs.

But does that great run defense that they've had so far impact your, I guess it doesn't, I guess you're just starting tail. Uh, uh, sorry. Uh, what's the stupid name?

Josh Jacobs. Okay. I will be less in, in like with Josh Jacobs. If Hunter ran for a place. Okay. Still starting him. There's no question about that,

but he is a number one running back this week with Renfro plays. Okay. Still starting him. There's no question about that, but he is a number one running back this week with Renfro out. He will be a number two running back in front. One of my favorite stats. This is mind blowing. The chiefs have allowed 20 receiving yards or a receiving touchdown to two running backs in each game. That's wild. Okay.

Start Devante last week. And then you've had Connoror and Eno Benjamin. You've had Xander Horvath and Austin Eckler. Taylor and Hines and Fournette and White. Matt Collins, obviously Adams and Waller are starts. What about Matt Collins? He's 33% rostered. Any interest if Renfro's out? He is right at the tail end of that group of

boom bust number three or high-end flex wide receivers, right around wide receiver 40. I would start him over George Pickens. I would not start him over anybody probably that you've been starting. Okay, that's Mac Hollins. Would you start Mac Hollins or Juju Smith-Schuster? Juju. Would you start Josh Reynolds or Juju Smith-Schuster? Reynolds.

Would you start Juju or Najee Harris? Juju and PPR. Yeah. That's it for that game. kelsey sit the dsts cincinnati at baltimore stat of the game number one who leads the ravens in green zone targets guys inside the 10-yard line who leads the ravens jk dobbins no it's a good guess but no devin duberne yes jamie congratulations it is devin duberne that's that of the game number No, it's a good guess, but no. Devin Duvernay. Yes, Jamie. Congratulations. It is Devin Duvernay. That's that of the game number one.

Number two, the Ravens have allowed 28 or more receiving yards to five running backs in four games. So it could be another game where Mixon has a big role in the passing game. However, no running back has more than 12 carries against the Ravens. I would think that changes. Okay, I think easy game here. Burrows top eight. Mixon's top 12. Start, I think easy game here. Burrows top eight, Mixon's top 12.

Start Chase, start Higgins, sit Boyd, right? Yeah. Yes. You guys are sitting Hayden Hurst, start Mark Andrews, start Lamar Jackson. It really just comes down to Dobbins and the Ravens wide receivers. Heath already said earlier today the Ravens wide receivers are not in a great spot. Let me ask you this. Let's say

Bateman doesn't play. Would you start Devin Duvernay or Mac Hollins? Devin Duvernay. I think it would be Hollins for me, but again, they're not, neither one of them are guys I really want to start. J.K. Dobbins, start or sit? I like him a lot this week.

What'd you say, Heath? I said flex. Oh, all right. So what's the difference? We're going to end the show on a J.K. Dobbins debate. Jamie, why do you like him a lot? Well, if Bateman's out, I think we saw this last week, you know, four catches for him.

Second time his career, he's had four catches. I think that will certainly sway how he finishes. But, you know, the fact that he had 17 touches last week, I think that's going to be the norm. Justice Hill is banged up. I don't think that they want to have to rely on Kenyon Drake or Mike Davis. And so Gus Edwards isn't playing this game. So he could be in a very similar situation like we saw with Damian Pierce,

just a lot of work. And so all this Bengals run defense is good. I trust this Ravens rush offense basically against anybody because, as Heath alluded to with, with Jacksonville, when you face a running quarterback like this, you have to defend them differently.

So if Dobbins is going to be involved in the passing game, I think that makes him a must start guy. We can, we can. I'm really curious. I wish I could just hear something like, no, we've got no more restrictions on JK Dobbins or something like that.

Cause he played 45% of the snaps in week one. That was 27 offensive snaps. He played 50% of the snaps last week. They ran 70 plays, so that was 35 offensive snaps. I don't have him projected for a big leap in playing time. I agree with Jamie. I don't think they want Kenyon Drake or Mike Davis to be involved. I just don't know if they're ready to fully unleash J.K. Dobbins.

Well, the Bengals were a pretty darn good run defense, but not quite as good without DJ Reeder, who got hurt midway through week three. He is on IR, so that helps J.K. Dobbins. And that is it for our show. Thank you for watching and listening, everybody. Enjoy the game tonight. We've got a live stream at 2 p.m. Eastern.

If you want your starter sit questions answered, you can join us at youtube.com slash fantasyfootballt football today. For Jamie and Heath and Thomas Schaefer, the only producer I know, I am Adam Azer, and we'll talk to you later on Fantasy Football Today.