Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (AFC Home Games) - Trusting the Replacement RBs? (11/26 Fantasy Football Podcast)
Episode Date: November 26, 2020Happy Thanksgiving! We're extremely thankful for our awesome listeners, so let's reward you with some winning Fantasy advice. Who do we love this week (2:15) and who are we avoiding (4:04)? Let's go r...ight back to Tom Brady and let's stay away from the Rams RBs. And there are a number of backup RBs who could be featured in Week 12 (7:15). Are we going to have any faith in guys like Samaje Perine, Frank Gore, Kalen Ballage and Wayne Gallman? ... News and notes (18:00) and rankings disputes (21:45) on Michael Thomas, Michael Pittman and more. Then we'll do the Startometer (30:05) for NYG-CIN, LAC-BUF and CLE-JAC ... Start or Sit for Cardinals-Patriots (35:00), Saints-Broncos (41:45), Dolphins-Jets (48:30), Titans-Colts (53:00), Giants-Bengals (1:00:00), Chargers-Bills (1:05:00), Browns-Jaguars (1:09:40) ... Email us at fantasyfootball@cbsi.com Listen to the brand new Fantasy Football Today in 5 podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-in-5/id1528634304 'Fantasy Football Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Follow the new FFT Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/FFToday Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCviK78rIWXhZdFzJ1Woi7Fg/videos Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports.
On his way to the end zone.
I'll tell you what, that was a spectacular play.
It's time to dominate your fantasy league.
What a play.
Off to the races.
Touchdown.
Oh, he's done it again.
Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath, and Ben.
Oh yeah, it's that big day.
We love it.
I'm hungry already.
Good morning, everybody.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Adam, Jamie, and Heath.
Jamie, give me 10 things you're thankful for.
10 things.
10 things.
I'm thankful for the three of you and Ben, so that's four.
I'm thankful for my family.
That's five.
I'm thankful for my job.
That's six.
I'm thankful for the NFL playing.
That's seven. I'm thankful for the NFL playing.
That's seven.
Thankful for the election being over.
However you voted, thankfully it's done.
That's nice.
I can't talk about that anymore.
At least that's the hope.
I'm thankful for good friends, good family.
I don't know.
Okay, that's 10.
That's 10.
Keith, give me 20.
I can't leave out Dave.
Thank you for that.
Oh, you said the three of you, and then you said Ben.
I thought you just already meant Dave. It seems like you cheated earlier with your counting.
Happy Thanksgiving, Heath.
Happy Thanksgiving, Adam.
I'm thankful that I get to do a show so regularly with the best podcast host in the world.
Will Brinson, your pick six cameo.
I don't think Will Brinson has any podcast hosting awards.
Somehow, some way I managed to scoop up one of those. I'm thankful for the listeners.
Well deserved. Oh, thank you. Thank you. I'm thankful for, yes, for the listeners,
for the people I work with, and for football, and for the food that we have already cooked
last night
and will continue to cook today, and I cannot wait.
We are basically creating a Thanksgiving feast for like 10 people,
and there will be three of us eating today.
So it's going to be a week of Thanksgiving food.
Thankful for leftovers.
Wait a minute.
You're not feeding one of your children?
Yeah.
Well, you know, the baby doesn't eat food.
There will be three of us eating today.
We're a family of four. It's the truth. It's the truth. She's six months old. She doesn't eat food. There'll be three of us eating today. We're a family of four.
It's the truth.
It's the truth.
She's six months old.
She doesn't eat food.
We just got her first jar this week, actually.
So I guess I think we've got some sweet potatoes there.
Thanksgiving-themed baby food.
All right.
Let's talk about players we're thankful for this week.
Jamie, who do we love?
Tom Brady.
Let's go, old man.
Start of the week this week. I think it's going to be a good bounce back game for him as hopefully it's a shootout between the Chiefs
and the Bucs. You've seen the last two
quarterbacks take on the Chiefs defense have 27 or more
fantasy points. Brady during the day,
he's a much different guy as opposed to Brady at night.
So I think it's going to be a fun game.
And I think Tom Brady bounces back as a top eight quarterback this week.
Okay.
Heath, I understand you had a funny line about Tom Brady going to bed at 930.
I don't know that I can repeat it, but I just that I am also about Tom Brady's age.
And I also go to bed at 930.
And so I understand. Who do you love this week's age and I also go to bed at nine 30. And so I understand.
Who do you love this week?
Heath?
I'll go with another quarterback,
Derek Carr and the dream matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.
They made Taysom Hill look really good last week.
They're going to make Derek Carr look awesome.
Okay.
Would you start Derek Carr or Taysom Hill?
Derek Carr.
Would you guys start Derek Carr or Tom Brady?
I have them back-to-back.
And I told a Raiders fan this morning,
I didn't realize when I answered the question on Twitter,
that it was a Raiders fan until I looked up
and saw the avatar that asked me that exact question.
But I made the switch after I had Brady as the start of the week.
Originally, I had Carr ranking one spot higher.
But my only fear with Carr
is the Falcons' offense doesn't show up
if Julio Jones is there,
and this is the Josh Jacobs show.
Yeah, Julio did practice.
He was limited in practice,
so that is a good sign.
We'll give you all the injury updates.
Kenny Galladay is not going to play today,
and we have our fingers crossed for DeAndre Swift
for that early game. Hopefully he can get
cleared and play. Who are we
avoiding this week, Jamie?
Who are we avoiding?
I'll save it
for the rankings debate, I guess.
Melvin Gordon.
I know it was great last week, but I don't think it's going to be
a good game for him this week. That Saints
run defense is legit and And, you know, he
had been struggling prior to facing the Dolphins. So
I think it's going to be a tough game for Melvin
Gordon and Phillip Lindsay. The fact that he didn't catch a
ball last week was amazing and still
was able to help your fantasy team. But
he has not played well prior to facing
the Dolphins in week 11.
And the Saints are number
one against running backs now. And Heath, how
about you avoid list?
The Rams running backs, all of them, just because we don't like, I don't think we got any clarity at all last week, obviously.
Two weeks ago, Cam Akers at least led the team in touches or carries.
Last week, Daryl Henderson did and was awful against the best run defense in football.
And so we really just don't know anything about these Rams running backs, and I don against the best run defense in football. And so we really just
don't know anything about these Rams
running backs and I don't want to start any of them.
Don't you feel like one's going to
score? It's just...
Yeah. If I could
just start all three and
whichever one gets the points is the one that goes in my
lineup. I'd be for that. Team
RB. We should think about that. Team
RB. Wouldn't that make fantasy football a little easier? we should think about that team rb wouldn't that make
fantasy football a little easier we've talked about that in the past about having leagues do
that but i mean what fun is that i it would have to be like a 20 team league or something like that
you know one of those crazy i'm in a 30 team league but yeah that sucks and actually that
would be bad in a league like that because then you're limiting the amount of running backs you can have. So never mind.
Scratch that.
I am going to be avoiding... Well, I'd like to avoid turkey, but I don't have a choice.
That's all we're making this year.
I think you're an idiot.
I'm going to be avoiding Jamie.
I would probably avoid any salad.
I don't want to fill up on rolls,
but I got those Hawaiian dinner rolls,
so that's going to be a challenge.
Those are the best roles to get.
They're amazing.
They're amazing.
Here's your stat of the week.
I want to talk about replacement running backs, okay?
Because there are a lot of them.
Your stat of the week is,
it's kind of weird.
There may not be as many as they were before, though.
What do you mean?
Well, we're getting some reinforcements back, potentially.
We are, but we're losing, potentially, Geo.
But there's still...
He was a replacement.
Yeah, I guess so.
He was, you're right.
So, Samaj P. Ryan,
I was just looking up,
trying to read about the Saints' run defense,
because it is looking like maybe the best in football right now.
The last time they allowed a one...
What's that?
The best besides Tampa Bay.
I think Tampa Bay without Vita Veya versus the saints,
you know,
it's very close with Vita Veya was this.
It was definitely the bucks since then.
It's maybe this it's they're close.
But the last time a running back at a hundred rushing yards against the
saints,
it has been three years.
And it was, of course, Samaje Pirine for Washington.
49 regular season games ago.
Thank you to Canal Street Chronicles for that note.
So it's 49 straight regular season games without allowing a 100-yard rusher.
That's amazing.
But Pirine is really who I wanted to talk about.
So let's talk about...
What was that? Sorry.
No, I was just going to start talking about Pirine.
Okay, yeah. Let's talk about Pirine against the Giants who... Okay, you heard me talk about their So let's talk about... What was that? Sorry. No, I was just going to start talking about Pirine. Okay, yeah. Let's talk about
Pirine against the Giants who...
Okay, you heard me talk about their defense. Whatever. They do
give up the eighth most fantasy points to
running backs. A lot of it in the passing
game. Giovanni Bernard has a concussion.
But in general, I mean,
a few weeks ago, it was a terrible week
for replacement running backs. Last week, it was much
better. But you've got Gus. You've got
Pirine. You've got Mike Davis still
with McCaffrey unlikely to play.
Don't know what's going on with the Dolphins.
You've got Frank Gore.
49ers, we don't know.
Chargers, we don't know.
Todd Gurley mispracticed.
Then you have Gallman, of course.
You've got Duke Johnson.
You've got the Detroit situation.
So, Heath, in general,
and you did your running back rankings, was it a lot of like, you know, just start the guys you
drafted. This is not a great week for replacement running backs, generally speaking. Well, I think
you would have to be very fortunate to be starting the guys that you drafted because like half of
starting running backs are hurt. So yes, if the guy you drafted is still healthy and starting,
then you should probably just start the guys you drafted.
But no, there are still a lot of backup running backs in my top 24 this week.
We're not ranking P. Ryan as if he's starting yet,
or at least I'm not aware if we are.
It's always funny because we're so plugged in,
but there are still times, and I know this has happened to you guys this year,
where you don't hear the news before you see the flood of emails in your inbox. And yesterday afternoon,
I got the Samaj AP Ryan emails with like six different people adding like what in the world
is going on? He falls into that category where he's like the backup to the backup.
And now on a Bengals offense offense that's starting Brandon Allen at quarterback
like this is the type of backup running back I think you can really get in trouble with
I would prefer like if they if we find out Geo's ruled out I don't imagine P Ryan's going to be
in my top 25 running backs he'll be more in that Melvin Gordon range where I'd prefer to avoid him
but I mean if you listen it's nice to find that
on the waiver wire, if you're in a desperation situation as well. Yeah. I mean, I have that in,
in one league that we're in together. It's our fantasy football today league where
my second running back has been a joke all season long. Um, and I've been starting the last couple
of weeks, JK Dobbins or the Michael P Ryan. Well, that's out the window. So, um, I have a choice
to make within the next couple of hours. Uh, I did pick up some, I JP Ryan, it will be Adrian
Peterson. If Deandre Swift is out, that's how bad it is. Or I'll wait it out to see what happens
with P Ryan or Boston Scott or Jamal Williams. Like that's the, that's my number two running
back situation. Um, I'm sorry. I don't have Jamal Williams. It'll be Boston Scott or, uh,
um, I forget what I think I picked up justice up justice hill like that's how bad it is um so uh i'm hopeful it's samaj i mean right you know for for for that type of scenario so heath is right it's got to be a
desperation situation to want to play him um i have him another league where i have uh the entire
bangles offense um of non-ty Boyd and T. Higgins
players, and it's not fun either.
I have Gio and Samajai Piran.
It's a 2014 league, so it's a little different.
I have Gio, who I've been
playing, and so I picked up Samajai Piran, who I'll have to
play if Gio's out.
I think
we need some breaking news from
CBS Sports' Jason Lockenfora.
What do we got? Ravens have multiple
new positive test results today.
NFL continues
to closely monitor the situation to determine
if the game is still played Sunday.
No changes to status yet.
Also, it's not clear.
There's some other reports on this as well, if it's
players or staff.
If it's staff, they'll still
play the game Sunday. If it's players,
they have to reevaluate it.
Yeah, right now,
they don't really have
a starting center.
Their two centers
are on the reserve COVID list.
And the game has been
bumped to Sunday,
as I'm sure you all know.
Sunday at 115
on NBC.
It's a wacky year.
This, like,
confirms for me
that, especially in full PPR,
I'm starting Duke
and JD McKissick over Gus Edwards.
Okay. What about Adrian Peterson and
Kerryon Johnson? Obviously, Swift would be an easy
call, but how about the Lions?
Or do you say, I'm going to pick up
P. Ryan, I'm going to pick up Frank Gore
and give myself an option?
I think with those guys, I'd probably
pick up P. Ryan or Frank Gore and try to wait it out.
It's still the most likely situation
is they're going to play this game Sunday or Monday or
Tuesday. They don't really have anything else to do with it.
But
I do think
if they have positive tests on Friday and then
a positive test on Saturday,
they're not going to have much choice.
Okay. Man,
frustrating situation.
Hopefully, they can get that game in
and hopefully everyone's feeling good and safe and healthy.
All right, so here's what we're going to do
to finish off this segment.
I'm going to give you a replacement running back.
You tell me how confident you are in starting him.
So you're kind of, you know, not that confident.
I like the start-o-meter.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, it's also, you know, Adam, it's not just that.
I don't know if you're going to these guys, but it's also
what he said in regard to Gus Edwards.
You also have to probably make those decisions
with guys like Kalen Balazs and potentially
Savan Ahmed. Yes, they are
on this list. So
if the game goes,
your confidence level in starting Gus Edwards?
Seven?
Yeah.
Ten in non-PPR, six to seven and ppr justice hill one yeah mike davis at minnesota
10 aren't you tired of him not really doing that well though you got saved you saved your
bacon with the touchdown last week i mean i I think there probably would have been a few more receptions,
A, if it was Teddy, and B, if the game was closer.
So I'm anticipating Teddy playing, because he is, and a closer game.
And 10 PPR points without a touchdown is not a bad day.
It's not. It's not.
Okay.
So then there's, like, I don't know what to do with the Dolphins situation.
We probably should skip that for now.
Sivan Ahmed mispracticed with a shoulder injury.
Miles Gaskin is trying to get back this week, has a chance.
And then the 49ers,
Mostert, Coleman, and Wilson could all play this week.
So you said sit the Rams running backs.
Are we going to sit the Niners running backs?
Or do you think if Mostert plays, we'd start him?
What do you think? I think if Mostert plays, we'd start him? What do you think?
I think if Mostert plays, you've got to be in a really good
situation to bench him because
you've seen what he is when he's
on the field, and obviously it's not the same
49ers team that he left when he got hurt,
but the fact that
it's as close to full
strength as hopefully they'll be. I haven't seen the status
of Trent Williams, but hopefully he's going to play.
They're coming off a bye. They typically have good game plans for almost everybody. It's a great run defense that they're facing, but I still think that he can
cobble his way to a good enough game that he's a number two running back for most teams.
Okay. And then we've got the Chargers with Kalen Balazs limited Austin Eckler practicing. Let's
say Eckler is out. I know if Eckler plays, you're going to start him.
But this is a great matchup for both all the running backs in this game,
the Chargers and the Bills, struggling against the run.
But yeah, like your confidence level in Balazs if Eckler's out.
If there's no Eckler, I'm starting Kalen Balazs.
Top 20 guy.
Not quite as confident in him as I am Mike Davis,
but more confident in him than I am, I think, anybody else we've talked about.
He's better in PPR than non-PPR, but he's a good start in both formats.
Chris Carson is expected to play,
so you're probably not going to have Carlos Hyde in your lineup this week.
Todd Gurley, mispractice. We'll keep an eye on that.
Would Brian Hill be the backup to get?
He'd be the lead guy, but I'm going to guess they use multiple guys
just because why not?
Yeah, be a Hamonito situation probably.
All right, Frank Gore against Miami.
You look at the last five games,
Gore and Pirine combined for 18 or more carries
in all five games.
Your confidence level in Frank Gore against Miami?
Three.
He's not awful. I mean, he's not? Three. He's not awful.
I mean, he's not great, but he's not awful.
He's had two games now with 10 or more PPR points.
So to hit Heath's number.
And one of those was the Dolphins.
The first time he played them.
And how about Wayne Gallman at Cincinnati?
He's eight in non-Pr and a seven in ppr i am a little less confident but a borderline start
five or six all right detroit running backs other than swift uh take what i said about frank gordon
ply to carry on and adrian peterson it's like you know you can't you can't feel any comfort
starting those guys but they're not terrible given the matchups. It is a fantastic matchup.
I'd probably start carry on as a borderline number two
and Peterson as a flex.
Frank Gore or Lions running back?
I'd go carry on.
I would go carry on in PPR and probably Gore in non-PPR.
There is something mentally, I think, in my head about
I feel a lot better starting carry on Johnson than I do Frank Gore.
I carry on Johnson can run.
Yeah, right.
The only thing that that I kind of like about Frank Gore and I'm queasy saying this is his coach is Adam Gates, who loves him.
Yeah. Oh, we love Adam Gates. It's great for.
No, I totally get it. Totally. It's just funny thing to say out loud.
And then Duke Johnson, where do we end up on him? By the way, of course, DeAndre Swift plays. He's the problem is, you know, he's failed in these two
games with this opportunity to take advantage of it. And so I think, like he said, if you have a
decision to make between him and Gus Edwards, and it's funny that you say in PPR, because he's not
catching the ball, which is just so dumb to go with him over, over Gus, which I get, but it's,
it's like maddening. You know,dening. I don't know if it's just
Deshaun Watson's calling his own number whenever
he gets the opportunity to. He's got
four zero and
three catches in his three starts.
That one wasn't a start.
David Johnson left almost immediately.
I don't know. I think you can expect three catches.
Can you?
I think you can expect him to catch more
passes than Gus Edwards.
I would hope so, anyway anyway maybe only two more maybe one more yeah right maybe not enough to really make a difference the two starts how many catches does he have three uh three games
one two of them were starts take the one where he got not the one where he started not the one
where he replaced why he played basically the entire game i know but i wanted i just did
zero and three zero and three so in their last three games for the ravens edwards has three
catches too it's maddening it's maddening that they don't throw the ball to johnson
okay and and that's it that's it for that segment those are your replacement running backs we're
going to go through the news and notes quickly here the saddest news very very sad uh dallas
strength and conditioning coach Marcus Paul
passed away, so sorry to hear it.
Condolences there. Terrible situation.
Baltimore and Pittsburgh moved
to Sunday, as we know, but Heath just gave you the
update on more cases, more positive
tests. David Montgomery has cleared the concussion
protocol. He's going to play. Any
concerns about DeAndre Hopkins or
A.J. Brown playing this week?
None as of now.
Julio Jones was limited.
That's good news.
Adam Thielen is on the reserve COVID list right now.
There was a report that maybe he had a positive and then a negative test.
So we'll monitor Adam Thielen.
Do you have to go with Marvin Jones over Adam Thielen today?
If you have to make that call?
You should.
Yeah.
Okay.
Sammy Watkins practiced in full.
Julian Edelman was cleared to practice.
Not sure we're going to get him this week.
He's off IR maybe next week for Edelman.
I don't think you want to start the Jaguars wide receivers anyway,
but DJ Tark and Chris Conley both mispracticed.
LaVisca Chinalto was limited.
Galladay and Amendola are out today.
Last time I'm going to ask you any interest in Marvin Hall,
a deep league,
but you know,
not much.
If you were considering justice Hill,
I'd rather flex Marvin Hall than justice.
Okay.
John Brown,
miss practice.
So Cole Beasley can be an option for you,
Adam.
We should probably just,
you know,
continue the Gus Edwards scenario of if you have steelers wide receivers or ravens
wide receivers i don't know anybody's playing marquise brown over marvin jones but you know
you should play marvin jones over the ravens guys and probably if you have to make a decision
between cd lamb and the steelers guys you should play him as him as well obviously will fuller and
brandon cooks are in a different sure category same thing with terry mcclernand and mark cooper
but you know the steelers guys if you're waiting out this game in Thielen as well,
you should play Jones or Lamb as the questionable options in this game.
And I would say the same, lesser scale, the Marvin Halls, the Cam Sims,
the Steven Sims of the world too.
Zach Ertz has a good chance to play this week.
He is 73% rostered.
You could still pick up Ertz in some leagues. Logan Thomas today, Dalton Schultz today, or Zach Ertz has a good chance to play this week. He is 73% rostered. You can still pick up Ertz in some leagues.
Logan Thomas today, Dalton Schultz today,
or Zach Ertz on Monday?
Again, you got to play those guys,
and that includes Jordan Akins too.
So factor him in also if you pick him up.
Okay.
Hayden Hurst mispracticed.
Tua Tungavailoa mispracticed with a thumb injury.
Mike Glennon's going to...
I wonder if that's some gamesmanship on the Dolphins' part.
Yeah, maybe.
Gardner-Menschu injury?
I think it's probably legit for Tua,
but hey, let's just get
Fitzpatrick one more game out there.
How much higher would you rank Fitzpatrick than Tua?
Because you guys have Tua somewhere around 24th,
not high, but if Fitzpatrick were starting
against the Jets, would he crack the top
15 or so?
Oh,
number one.
Well,
he's,
he averaged like in weeks two through six,
I think he averaged like 26.5 fantasy points in six points for passing
touchdown leaks.
He's awesome.
He'd be around 15.
Okay.
I'm going to finish up here.
Mike Lennon starting for Jacksonville,
Brandon Allen for Cincinnati decision.
That is Sam Darnold likely to start
this week for the Jets.
The Colts are
pretty beat up on the offense. Actually, it's not beat up.
It's DeForest Buckner and D'Amico Autry
are on the reserve COVID list. We'll see if they
can clear it by the time they play Tennessee
this weekend. Dallas' secondary
is depleted. Detroit's secondary is
depleted. Marshawn Lattimore practiced in
Foles. He should play this week.
And Rams linebacker Micah Kaiser unlikely to play this week.
Whew.
Okay, 60-second rankings disputes.
Holy cow, Michael Thomas.
After a very good game last week
and getting basically half of the targets
in that game for the Saints.
He's top 15 for Dave and Jamie,
but more like top 30 for Heath.
So, Heath, are you really saying that we should think about sitting Michael Thomas?
Go.
I'm expressing my uncertainty about the result we saw from the Saints passing game last week
because it was the Falcons.
You're starting Michael Thomas, I'm sure.
But I don't think, like Heath, you don't project anybody for more than a third of the targets.
And so I do think it's pretty likely that Taysom Hill's pass attempts are going to stay below 30.
So you should expect somewhere in the 8-9 target range for Michael Thomas.
And if he doesn't score a touchdown, then with his lack of downfield plays,
that could make him a questionable start if Taysom Hill's bad against the Broncos,
Jamie,
a rebuttal.
I was listening to the broadcast last week for the saints game.
And they said,
they asked Taysom Hill,
is there anybody you have like a,
a strong rapport from the non obvious guys?
And he goes,
Nope,
I'm just throwing the 13.
I'm sure he was joking
in that regard but it makes a lot of sense and you see what the results were 12 targets 9 catches 104
yards and so um i'm sure thomas is finally healthy over all of his little ailments and that seemed to
be the case in the game against the falcons um i know he if you said it's probably safe to assume
under 30 pass attempts for tasem hill but they gave him 33 pass attempts in his first start.
I would imagine there's probably something similar to that.
23.
Did he?
No, yeah, 23.
He hit 23 last week.
Oh, I'm sorry, 18-23.
He was better than I give him credit for.
He was.
He actually went back and I watched most of his throws.
He was definitely better than I thought he had played.
He was light years better than I thought he was.
I give him full credit.
Sean Payton saw what he saw
and he went with this guy. And Thomas
had a very
un-Thomas-like drop where he was wide open
and the ball went right through his hands.
Let's wrap it up. So you got him top 15.
I mean, anybody's getting 12 targets
and his name is Michael Thomas. I'm sorry.
All right. You've got
30 seconds, Jamie.
Michael Pittman, 65% rostered right now.
You've got him as a number,
borderline number two, three wide receiver.
So not great, but Heath has him out of the top 48 right now.
But Michael Pittman, Jamie, make a case for him
at least as a low-end starter.
Yeah, he's a number three receiver.
He had 15 targets prior to facing Jair Alexander last week,
and he's been productive in,
you know,
his last three games,
the Titans stink.
So I'll go back to Michael Pittman in a game where I think that they're
going to,
uh,
still lean on Phillip rivers a little bit as well.
Uh,
I think Pittman's closer to seven targets than he is to three.
What's the deal.
Heath,
Michael Pittman outside your top 48.
It's mostly just the three targets last week and the lack of a proven
track record over the
there were two really good games in terms
of targets and
that's not quite enough to adjust the
projections but more than that
it's that there's no buys this week
and so I've got like 25 wide
receivers between projected between 11
and 13 fantasy points and he's in that
group he's 51 in the projections
there's not much difference between him and and 13 fantasy points, and he's in that group. He's 51 in the projections.
There's not much difference between him and somebody at 39.
I think the most interesting fantasy game that we're going to talk about today is Arizona-New England,
and Kenyon Drake is in the rankings disputes.
Jamie, you have him 25th in non, 25th I think in both actually,
non in full PPR, and Heath, you have him, Kenyon Drake, 15th in non P, non-in full PPR. And Heath, you have him,
Kenyon Drake, 15th in non-PPR,
19th in PPR.
So Heath, I'll give you the first word.
You're more optimistic about Kenyon Drake.
Yeah, I just,
there aren't very many running backs
who are getting consistently 15 touches.
And I was encouraged by the fact
that he got five targets
in their most recent game. I think he's the fact that he got five targets in their most
recent game.
I think he's the most likely back to score a touchdown.
And this Patriots defense,
according to DVO,
a has gone from being the best in football last year to the worst in
football this year.
It's pretty weird.
They give up the most yards per play or the third most yards per play in
the NFL.
Jamie Kenyon,
Drake starter sit.
I hope what he said is right. That the five targets and four catches is the Kenyon Drake
we see again.
I wonder how much of that played into Kyler Murray's shoulder injury and him not running
as much and getting rid of the ball last week against a very good Seattle game plan, game
pass rush that we saw.
First time that we've seen that from them in a while.
The Patriots run defense has not been as good, but lately, and into account who they played the jets being one of them, but Baltimore being another
in Houston, their last three games, 48 carries 144 yards, no touchdowns to those backfields,
3.0 yards per carry. So if Drake doesn't score, it's been kind of the case all season long.
He's not a great fantasy option if he's not involved in the passing game. So his last week,
the start of something or his last week, the fluke. And so I think he's a, he's not a great fantasy option if he's not involved in the passing game. So is last week the start of something or is last week the fluke?
And so I think he's still a good start.
He's not a great start.
I would consider several other options, though, ahead of him.
Like in non-PPR, I'm starting Zach Moss over Kenyon Drake.
Ah, interesting.
And by the way, you just completely stole stat of the game for Arizona, New England.
If it's a yards per carry stat, you pretty much stat of the game for Arizona, New England.
If it's a yards per carry stat,
you pretty much have to give that to me,
Jamie.
Yeah.
Three yards per carry allowed to running backs last three weeks for the Patriots.
They were terrible against the run though before that.
So we'll see,
we'll see who shows up.
Um,
and then Wayne Gall,
man,
18th for Jamie and non PPR 20th and PPR.
Heath's got him 27th and non PPPR, 31st in PPR.
What are you thinking, man?
He's going to crush the Bengals.
They got one of the worst run defenses in football, Heath.
Give him some credit.
Yeah, I saw this and I thought,
I need to move Wayne Gallman up.
And so I'll make an adjustment to try to move Wayne Gallman up.
I'm a little concerned about the fact that Alfred Morris gets eight to 10
touches every single game.
He does.
And was actually more efficient as a runner.
Each of their past two games than Gallman was.
And the fact that Gallman hasn't caught more than one pass since week
seven.
So those are the concerns,
but he should be higher than like,
he shouldn't be
down to 30th. I'll get him close to 25, but I would rather start Kenyon Drake than Wayne Gallman.
See, it's interesting that you say that though, because you just said about Kenyon Drake,
you like a running back that's getting consistently 15 touches, right? So that's
what Gallman has each of his last two games. And it's three starts that he's made in those two,
three, three starts that he's made without Devante Freeman. So the last two, he's got 15 or more touches. The work in the passing game, obviously Drake
last week was great, but is that Drake moving forward? And so I'll take matchup here where I
think the matchup is much better for Wayne Goleman over Canyon Drake. I think it's probably a good
scenario to think he's going to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 to 15 carries and one
catch because that's what you pencil them in for is one catch uh that's basically what kenyan drake was prior to last week and so
gallman doing a good job finding the end zone five touchdowns in his last uh four games and so i think
it's a good opportunity for wayne gallman in non-ppr ppr you want to make the case drake is
better because what we saw last week i get it but non-ppr i don't think it's close i think
gallman's in a better spot and what what are those last two games have in common where he had 14 and 18 carries?
Both wins for the Giants.
And they are, I think they're like six
point favorites, which is scary.
But you and
Jamie Mazowskis, an apology. You guys
were celebrating the Giants winning the division
and I poo-pooed you.
And here they are. Great chance to win the division.
Don't think it's going to happen.
But kudos to you guys for believing in your team.
Who's your pick?
Cowboys.
Yeah.
Cowboys have the best schedule.
It's a big, big game today for the Cowboys.
If they win this game, they lose this game, it's trouble.
I think whoever wins this game wins the division.
I just don't believe it with Washington.
I think they're crap.
And they've lost to the Giants twice,
so the Giants have that tiebreaker.
And the Eagles are still in first place,
so we'll give them that.
But the Cowboys have the best setup.
I'm going to guess that the tragedy
that the Cowboys have suffered this week,
they may smash Washington.
You know, just home game, Thanksgiving,
emotions running high.
I think they come out and they take it out
in Washington on the field.
All right, let's go to the start-up meter.
Let's do this a little bit differently.
I'm just going to give you the last three games that we're going to preview.
Of course, we'll get more in-depth later in the show
if you're going to hang around for it.
But if you're cutting this show short because you're cooking or whatever,
Giants-Bangles, who are you confident in?
Confident in this game, Giants-Bangles.
Wayne Gallman. Yeah, I don't know that I have a player who I'm confident in? Confident in this game? Giants, Bengals. Wayne Gallman.
Yeah, I don't know that I have a player who I'm confident in,
but Wayne Gallman would be the guy I'm the most confident in.
I take that back.
If Gio played in PPR, Gio would be the guy I was most confident in,
but they're borderline number two.
There's not a must-start player in this game.
I wonder with Gio, and my concern with him is
workload the last two games for him.
13 total touches for him last week.
Is P. Ryan and Travion
Williams getting more opportunities because
they're now going to see what they have in some other guys
just to find out what they have next year?
By the way, I think you're going to
hate me for this, but I think I'm going to...
You hate me anyway, but I'm going to start
Sterling Shepard in PPR over CeeDee Lamb.
I don't hate you for that.
Although I might have to start him over Juju Smith-Schuster instead.
But you know that, you know what I say about wide receivers who get six targets against
the Bengals.
I think it's 14 of the last 15 have had good games.
And Sterling Shepard's had six or more targets
in every game he's played.
I would have thought that that stat
is just drilled into Heath's head
because I gave him that stat
and named that player yesterday with Sterling Shepard.
And I was waiting for him to get it on that clue alone
because you say it so much.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think he may not have had that in week two.
He left with an injury, but it is...
Every healthy game he's played, you're right.
My favorite stat, the Bengals are that bad
against wide receivers.
Okay, next game, who are you confident in?
Chargers and Bills.
Everyone?
No.
Confident, the two quarterbacks.
Stephon Diggs and Keenan Allen. no um confident the two quarterbacks uh stefan diggs and keenan allen and then confident it's hard to say even austin eckler at this point if he's coming back from
injury but i think you're still starting him and i do like zach moss you're you're starting like
you're not confident in hardly any tight ends but you're starting starting Hunter Henry. Oh, this is a great matchup.
The Bills are one of the worst against tight ends
as long as Matt Milano's not playing, which he isn't.
And when he has played, he's been hurt.
So they've been horrible.
I'll give you two numbers for Hunter Henry.
There's two you could fill in the blank.
Here's the two.
Seven targets, four catches.
You fill in the rest, yards and touchdowns.
But it's seven targets four catches
every week for hunter henry and then whatever he does on top of that it's probably about 40 yards
35 and a touchdown yeah that's probably safe well it's but it's like there's so many tight ends in
this category um eric ebron no offense like they're gonna get seven targets and catch three
to four passes now if they score a touchdown we really like them. If they don't score a touchdown, we don't
like them. What about Mike Williams, guys?
It's exactly four. I'm sorry.
Is Mike Williams someone you're confident in?
No. Not confident,
but hopeful. Okay.
I think he sees Tredavious White. I think that's a problem
for him, and so I think it's going to be a down
game for Mike Williams. All right. Cleveland
and Jacksonville. Who are you confident in here?
Oh, we should go back. I would start Beasley over Mike Williams. All right, Cleveland and Jacksonville. Who are you confident in here? Oh, we should go back.
I would start Beasley over
Mike Williams.
I would, too.
If Brown is out.
Yes.
A thousand percent of
Brown is out.
Even if Brown is in, I
would start Beasley and
PPR.
OK.
I mean, Beasley's been
pretty, pretty bad without
with John Brown.
But all right, Jamie, you
got your low on Williams
seven or nine games with
11 or more PPR points, right?
Yeah, he scores some touchdowns.
He's like 30 yards.
It's lucky.
If you like Corey Davis, you like Cole Beasley.
They're the same stats.
Really?
Well, Beasley's had these huge blow-up games.
But if Corey Davis versus Cole Beasley, when John Brown plays,
you think they're the same?
For this week,
if John Brown plays, I would
still take Cole Beasley in this matchup. The Chargers
are terrible. They're like ninth against
wide receivers. They're terrible.
They give up 30 points every
game. Yeah, that's true. All right, Cleveland and
Jacksonville.
The two Browns running backs.
And have a good night.
James Robinson?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I guess you got to put him in that category.
All right.
Browns are third best against running backs,
but you're starting James Robinson.
And I just want to tell you,
this is the last game we're going to preview.
So I'm going to tell you that Beckham has basically missed four straight games.
He got hurt four games ago.
Almost, I think it might have been the opening possession.
Rashard Higgins has had more receiving yards than Jarvis Landry in three of those four games. He got hurt four games ago. I think it might have been the opening possession. Rashard Higgins has had more
receiving yards than Jarvis Landry in three
of those four games. Just think about that.
It's so unfair to
judge them. It really is.
It is, but
just so you know, you can
do whatever you want with that stat. Rashard Higgins
has been better than Landry three or four games.
All right, here we go. Arizona
at New England.
Stat of the game, Jamie Stollett.
Patriots giving up three yards per carry
to running backs in their last three games,
but kind of easy competition except for Baltimore.
Stat of the game number two,
there's only been one team
that has had multiple wide receivers
basically have good games against the Patriots,
and that was Seattle. Last week, two Houston wide receivers basically have good games against the Patriots, and that was Seattle.
Last week, two Houston wide receivers had 80, 85 yards.
They didn't score.
But it's a Christian Kirk question, basically.
Because I don't get it.
The Patriots' defense, Heath, you said they're worse than DVOA.
And they've had some really bad games.
They've also had some really good games.
They gave up 20 points to Vegas, 26 points
to the Chiefs, 24 to Buffalo,
17 to Baltimore. That's really good.
They're 14th in points per game, yet
they're 30th in yards per play.
Do we expect the Cardinals to have
a big game offensively, traveling to
the East Coast, and do we expect Christian
Kirk to be part of that? Heath, first word.
If Christian
Kirk scores a touchdown, he's almost in that
tight end category. He's better on yardage, but
if he gets the big play,
you know he's going to be in that 6-7
target range.
I don't really want to start him,
but I think he's a boomer bust, number 3
flex type wide receiver.
They're going to put Gilmore on
DeAndre Hopkins. I'm just not sure how much that matters.
They have a very good second cornerback who plays opposite Stefan Gilmore that we don't
talk enough about. And that's JC Jackson. He's having a great season. And I think he's going
to make things very tough on Christian Kirk and Kirk the last two weeks, the three weeks prior
to that, he was awesome. But the last two weeks, he's got 12 targets, eight catches, 77 yards, and no touchdowns.
And so I think Kirk is kind of becoming exactly what he said,
or maybe he already was that,
was just a boomer bust wide receiver.
And when he doesn't have a great matchup,
which he thought he did last week against,
at least I thought he did last week against Seattle,
it's hard to trust him.
And I think this is not a good matchup for him.
I don't know if you guys feel this way,
but I think other than Kyler Murray and DeAndre
Hopkins, who might get Stephon Gilmore,
but you're not sitting him,
I really feel like this entire game,
Patriots-Cardinals, is nothing but tough
decisions. Cam Newton,
you guys have him borderline
top 12. Damian Harris,
he's played in seven games.
They've lost five of them, and in three of those five
games, he's had like 11 or fewer carries.
I have that stat.
He makes me very nervous.
Yeah.
And then you go James White.
You don't know what to expect.
You don't know who's going to win.
It's a two and a half point spread.
And then, you know, Kirk is always tricky.
And then the running backs we already talked about.
Edmonds and Drake.
We talked about Drake anyway.
So I don't know.
To me, there's two guys that are obvious starts.
And do you guys feel the same way?
Everybody else is kind of a toss up?
Yep.
100%.
So then who's the next best start after Kyler and Hopkins?
Probably Cam.
I think you go Harris, just based on the workload that you've seen
the last three weeks for him.
But again, you can say Drake is better than Harris.
I'm fine with that.
Yeah. Drake and Harris, I think, are low-end number twos.
Cam's a low-end number one quarterback.
Like, in terms of confidence level, I'm in the same range on all three of them.
Cam Newton or Stafford?
Cam.
You have to play Cam with the injuries that Stafford's dealing with from his receivers.
If Julio Jones plays
Cam Newton or Matt Ryan?
Matt Ryan. Ryan.
All right. Cam Newton or Derek Carr?
Carr.
Carr. Okay. Like I said,
he's inside the top 12.
I would start Cam.
I think I might be on an island, but I would start
Cam over Taysom.
I have that decision to make and I've gone back and forth on it and I'm going to start Taysom, but I would start Cam over Taysom. I have that decision to make, and I've gone back and forth on it,
and I'm going to start Taysom, but they're the same guy.
I mean, you know, it's just you're banking on the rushing production,
and hopefully, you know, Cam gives that to you.
Yeah, mobile quarterbacks have been pretty solid against Arizona.
Bridgewater, 32 and a touchdown.
Russell Wilson, 84 yards.
Tua, 35 yards.
Allen, 38 yards. What's that? The last four games.. Russell Wilson, 84 yards. Tua, 35 yards. Allen, 38 yards.
What's that?
The last four games.
Yeah, Wilson, 42 yards.
So it's like 32 or more yards to five quarterbacks.
Only one touchdown, though.
God, I'm surprised that you have Cam in your top 12.
Like, after 20 fantasy points at Houston,
where he threw like 40 passes?
I don't know.
I'm just surprised.
The thing with Cam is that we haven't seen,
which is maybe from a football sense makes some sense,
is the passing and the rushing have not married each other yet.
You've seen some games where he's thrown the ball well lately.
He has 274 yards or more in two of his last three.
And then the games where he doesn't throw for over 200 yards,
he's running the ball well.
I would like to see him throw the ball like he did
last week and find one touchdown on the ground, which I think he can. So he's in that borderline
starting range. And like you said, you know, you brought up a couple of guys, Adam, Matt Ryan,
if he doesn't have Julio is a disaster. Yeah. So I'd start cam over him there. Stafford is a
disaster without his guys there. So, you know, those are two borderline starters. And then the
other one for me that I struggle with is Roethlisberger. And, you know, those are two borderline starters. And then the other one for me that I struggle with is Roethlisberger.
And, you know, I don't think he's going to have a huge game against Baltimore,
even if they're all beat up.
So that's where I kind of come out on Kim with some comparison.
Kind of feel like it's not a great week for quarterbacks,
even though there are no buys.
Okay.
So let's talk about just real quick in full PPR.
Well, how about this?
Gus Edwards or Damian Harris? Gus Edwards or Damian Harris?
Gus Edwards or Damian Harris?
Gus.
Yeah, Gus.
Yeah, because we'll know by Sunday for sure.
Now in PPR, Kenyon Drake, Damian Harris, Chase Edmonds,
Jacoby Myers, Christian Kirk.
Okay, five players that might be started this week.
Three running backs.
I like that you don't put James White in there.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. James White. Four running backs, two wide that you don't put James White in there. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
James White.
Four running backs, two wide receivers.
Give me your top three flexes.
I struggle with Damian Harris in this one
because I think he can score on the ground.
We've seen the Cardinals give up some rushing touchdowns lately,
certainly in the two games against Seattle.
So I still put Harris first, but I hate it.
I would go Drake, Harris, Edmonds
as my top three from that group.
All of them in PPR
are ahead of Kirk and Myers and White.
Yes.
Yes.
I would put Kirk ahead of...
probably ahead of those guys in PPR
just because he's probably
still going to get four or five catches.
And if he does anything on top of that,
it's probably a little bit safer.
Okay.
Yeah, I mean, most of the good wide receivers
have done pretty well, I guess I'd say,
against New England.
Well, it's kind of hard to say, I guess.
Gilmore missed a lot of time, though, too,
so keep that in mind.
Right, exactly, exactly.
Okay, then.
Let's move on to our next game.
New Orleans at Denver.
Taysom Hill, Taysom Hill.
All right, first of all, there's this stat.
This is, I think, my favorite stat of the week.
I don't really believe it, but I think it's a fun one.
If you get seven targets against the Saints,
you're probably going to do really well.
There have only been 10 wide receivers with seven or more targets. There have only been 10 wide receivers with seven or more targets.
There have only been four wide receivers with more than eight targets
against the Saints.
But you look at the 10 wide receivers who had seven or more targets.
Nine of them have had 73 yards or a touchdown.
And all 10 of them have scored at least 12 PPR fantasy points.
It's not a great game, but it's a really good floor.
Why do I bring this up?
Well, Jerry Judy has eight targets or more in four straight games. Tim Patrick has seven or more in four of his last six games. KJ Hamler had 10
targets in two of his last three games. So you have this high volume passing offense and a bunch
of targets going to these wide receivers. And that usually means success against the Saints,
but the defense is getting so much better for the Saints. So are there any Broncos that you want to start in this game?
No.
There's none that I want to start with confidence.
No, there's some that I'll end up having to start.
But I think what we're going to see happen most likely is there will be some fourth quarter garbage time and somebody is going to catch a touchdown pass.
Maybe two guys catch a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
It's kind of hard to guess
who that's going to be, but the Saints are kind of like the Patriots in that they had this stretch
of the season where they were awful defensively and they've been really, really good lately.
But I think there will be some points scored late. What about Noah Fant? Heath, you're the
highest on Noah Fant and he does have the fifth most catches among tight ends,
so keep that in mind.
Yeah, I'm probably starting Noah Fant.
I'm not going to drop him for a streamer.
There's not anybody available that I'd start over him.
Noah, thank you.
What about the guys today in the Washington game?
I would prefer Noah Fant.
I'd take all those guys over Noah Fant,
including Jordan Aikens.
Wow.
What about Evan Ingram or Noah Fant?
I would start Noah Fant.
That's easy.
Evan Ingram.
Yeah, okay.
We're pretty different on that.
So if we look at...
By the way,
if you had to pick one Broncos wide receiver,
who would it be?
Patrick.
Yeah, I think it'd be Patrick,
but none of them are my top 40 okay Emmanuel Sanders
any interest in him no he had a touchdown called back due to a penalty last week but it should not
have even been a touchdown because it was an underthrown uh deep shot by Taysom Hill that
he should have thrown probably three or four seconds sooner um that's probably not fair two
or three seconds sooner and uh Sanders was open but. Two or three seconds sooner. And Cassandras was open,
but it was called back
due to penalty.
I mean, he's been five targets
or less in the last three games
with Michael Thomas healthy.
Yeah, I think it's every game
with Thomas healthy, right?
Sure.
Five, five, one, and five
in four games with Thomas.
Okay, so then that,
we already talked about.
What's that?
Two touchdowns in those four.
Yeah.
Let's talk about the, we talked about Michael's that two touchdowns in those four yeah uh let's
talk about the uh we talked about michael thomas um alvin camara's top five i know we have a little
concern about his work in the passing game but you're starting him and then this really this
whole discussion is about tasem hill so let's just discuss him uh jared cook though real quick
starters to jared cook no no okay no thank you you. Jamie, would you start Fant over Cook?
I would.
Reluctantly.
Yes.
So, Taysom Hill.
He's around 12th.
He's right in the Cam Newton range.
Denver's actually third
in the NFL in pressure rate.
Thought that was interesting.
But Atlanta's ninth
and Hill did well against them.
Denver is 16th
against quarterbacks,
but they allow the third
fewest passing yards
per attempt
in the NFL.
And every quarterback who has scored 22 or more points against the Broncos
has thrown 35 or more passes.
That's probably not going to happen with Taysom Hill.
So, Heath, give me your expectation for Hill.
I'm really uncertain more than anything else.
I actually bumped him up in the rankings a little bit from where I project him.
I think he was 16 in the projections.
We've seen him pass like the beginner's test for fantasy production.
Now we're going to see him as more of an intermediate test against the Broncos.
I don't think the Broncos defense is good,
but they are much closer to average than the Falcons are.
So he's going to have to rush for 50 yards,
which I think he probably will.
You're not going to get two rushing touchdowns,
but you might get one.
And then it's kind of like the same thing with cam.
Can he put enough passing production with that 50 rushing yards and a
rushing touchdown to be a starter?
Jamie,
are you starting to taste some Hill over Lamar Jackson?
Yes.
Over Roethlisberger?
Yes.
Over Cam?
Yes.
Over Russell Wilson?
No.
Yeah, okay.
So if Julio Jones plays, Taysom Hill or Matt Ryan?
Ryan.
Ryan is probably better, but you have to fear,
like we saw last week,
is Julio make it through the game?
I mean, he's night and day
without Julio on the field.
It's just crazy.
Yeah.
Okay, that's pretty much
our Taysom Hill discussion.
I'll tell you what,
it's just like,
let's lay out quarterback
real quick here, right?
Your rankings.
There are nine guys we really all want to start and they are who they are josh allen patrick mahomes kyler murray russell wilson deshaun watson aaron rogers justin
herbert tom brady and derrick carr and then after that it's lamar jackson cam newton tasem hill Lamar Jackson, Cam Newton, Taysom Hill, Matt Ryan, that group.
Yeah.
And Roethlisberger might be in there for, yeah.
Okay.
So, and then you've got your streamers,
your Daniel Jones, Phillip Rivers, Teddy Bridgewater group.
Tannehill is going to be a little bit of a debate.
We're going to take a quick break here on Fantasy Football today.
Start the Saints defense.
When we come back,
we will finish up with the last five games of the AFC home slate.
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Well, the third game we're going to talk about in this slate
is, of course, Miami at the Jets.
Okay, you're not starting Tua.
What about the Dolphins running backs?
Jamie, break the Dolphins running backs down for us right now.
Zivon Ahmed is a starter.
If there's no Myles Gaskin, if there is Myles Gaskin,
then it's probably something that could be frustrating
because both guys i'm
sure will get touches to what degree i'm not sure but uh if there's no sivan akhmed and there is
only miles gaskin then he's a starter so you just got to play it out and see what happens but you'd
like to have one guy and only one of those guys and then see what happens coming after this game
but they're starting to use malcolm perry a little bit more um it's so funny like they just don't like matt brita and clearly they didn't like jordan howard
so everybody not named those guys has a chance to get touches yeah so if there's just one of them
if it's akhmed or gaskin would you start them over damian harris kenyan drake yes yeah heath Harris, Kenyon Drake. Yes. Yeah. Heath. If there's just one of them.
Yeah, for sure.
All right.
Devante Parker is in the 20s.
He's 21, 20th for around there for Jamie and Heath.
A little bit lower for Dave.
Have you seen what the Jets have allowed the last four weeks?
96 yards or more to five wide receivers in their last four games.
It's staggering, these numbers.
Against Buffalo, Kansas City, New England,
and the Chargers. 78 catches,
972
yards, and six touchdowns
on 104 targets.
Yeah, but also,
it's Josh Allen,
Patrick Mahomes,
who else was it?
Justin Herbert.
Yeah, Cam Newton was bad.
The Jets have been really bad.
They faced some of the very, very best quarterbacks.
They faced Josh Allen twice, Kyler Murray,
Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Fitzpatrick.
Okay, so Gasicki.
Any interest in him?
Heath got him 12th.
Yeah, he's got three straight games with 40 yards.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
And the Jets' pass defense is terrible. 12th. Yeah, he's a boy. Got three straight games with 40 yards. That's good. Yeah. Yeah.
And the Jets past defense is terrible and he's more of a wide receiver than he has a tight end.
Noah, thank you.
We got to start
some tight ends. Yeah.
Schultz, Thomas,
Akins, all better.
Okay. Sit Sam Darnold
and we discussed Frank
Gore. He's outside the top 30.
I mean, I really think he's going to get a ton of carries.
I really think that Ty Johnson and or Josh Adams
are probably going to get 10 carries.
You think so?
Yeah.
Gore.
You can't give like it's it's elder abuse.
Give him 20 carries against his defense.
It's rude.
Christian Wilkins is back,
so that's big for the Dolphins.
Big defensive tackle, he's back.
All right, nobody really wants to start Frank Gore.
Start the Dolphins DST.
The Jets wide receivers, though, are really interesting.
Crowder, last two games,
he has combined three catches, 42 yards, and a touchdown.
Yeah, get Joe Flacco out of there.
Yeah, it seems like Darnold's a better fit for Crowder.
But also, this is what Crowder does.
And I fell for it.
I fell for it with Jamison Crowder,
even though I knew it.
I said it over and over.
He's the most inconsistent rollercoaster-ride wide receiver.
But it's the quarterbacks, though.
Is it, though?
Yes.
Okay, so are you right back to him? Do you think he's going to get 10 or more targets again? rollercoaster ride wide receiver. But it's the quarterbacks, though. Is it, though? Yes. Okay.
So are you right back to him?
Do you think he's going to get 10 or more targets?
Because remember, earlier in the season,
Mims was out.
Perryman was hurt.
You know, there's that factor, too.
He had three straight games before this two-game disaster,
plus some injuries, with 10 or more targets.
One of them was against Miami.
He had seven catches for, I think, 48 yards in that game.
This is a good secondary.
Crowder's not a must-start by any stretch,
especially with Wilkins there putting pressure up the middle.
He's not just a good run stopper.
I think he's a number three receiver.
I wouldn't overvalue him in that regard in PPR as well,
but he's got an opportunity to at least help you if Darnold plays,
and that's the way that it's trending is that Darnold's going to play.
Okay.
Would you start Jamison Crowder?
First of all, is he your favorite Jets wide receiver?
He is.
Yes.
Would you start him over Juju Smith-Schuster?
No.
No.
How about Cole Beasley or Crowder?
I would go Crowder. Jamie, what'd you say? Beasley. Beasley or Crowder I would go Crowder
Jamie what'd you say
Beasley
he's a little higher on Crowder he's got him 25th
in PPR
Jamie actually I don't know where Jamie has him
35 36
okay all right
so that's the Jets we're not starting
Paramin or Mims I assume
no
I would consider them
as decent boom-bust
flex options if Flacco was starting. With Darnold
starting, I'm not starting either of them. Yeah, I wouldn't
start them even if Flacco plays. Dolphins
DST is top three. Start them.
Tennessee and Indianapolis, a
rematch. We saw this game just a few weeks ago.
Colts won it 34-17.
Which quarterback do you like better in this game?
Rivers.
I'll take Tannehill.
So, Heath, last week you were rewarded with your faith in Ryan Tannehill,
but this is another really tough matchup.
I think the Colts allow the second or third fewest fantasy points
to quarterbacks.
And last week against the Ravens,
this was the first game he's had against the top 10 defense
against quarterbacks in the last
two seasons that he's had a good game, I think.
Where do you have him ranked?
Is it just like a kind of start?
Oh, yeah. He's not a top 12 quarterback
for me, but neither is Phillip Rivers.
They're both number two quarterbacks in
the teens.
I would start Taysom Hill over them. I would
start Cam Newton over them. I would start Taysom Hill over them. I would start Cam Newton over them.
I would start Lamar Jackson over them.
So.
Okay.
Here's the thing for Tannehill that may work out in his favor.
And it worked out last week.
The Ravens were obviously not healthy.
And so he took advantage of that.
No Calais Campbell,
no Brandon Williams.
He played well without those guys there.
DeForest Buckner sounds like he's not going to play.
And so that's a plus for Tannehill. It's obviously a plus for Derek Henry, but it's plus for Tannehill as well. played well without those guys there. DeForest Buckner sounds like he's not going to play.
And so that's a plus for Tannehill. It's obviously a plus for Derek Henry, but it's plus for Tannehill as well. So I, I guess have been probably the most anti Tannehill with his offensive line,
by the way, he just lost another lineman. The replacement left tackle is now out. So
factor that in as well, but Tannehill is going to potentially be one of these guys that kind
of lucks into facing a defense that's down a key member
and it may benefit him.
But you said this time and time again, Adam,
that his road home splits, he's now made 20 starts,
10 last year, 10 this year,
and his road home splits aren't the same as well.
Oh, it's not even close.
And Danico Autry is also on the reserve COVID list
and I don't think he's a starter for the Colts. I don't believe so. it's not even close. And they're also, Danico Autry is also on the reserve COVID list and he,
I don't think he's a starter for the Colts,
but.
I don't believe so.
He's,
I'm not quite sure
how much he plays,
but it's depth
on the defensive line.
Okay,
so Derek Henry,
we're starting.
Any hesitation at all
with A.J. Brown?
This was his only
bad game
since he came back
from the injury.
Start him.
Okay.
What about Corey Davis?
In all but one game, he's had a floor
of 11 PPR fantasy points.
Corey Davis, start or sit?
Has he had 11 in every game?
No, he had the Chicago game where he had zero.
Right, no catches.
So that's seven of eight games. It's almost like he didn't play.
There's no evidence that he actually played.
Three targets to somebody
that kind of resembles Corey Davis.
We're not sure if it was him.
Yeah, and this is, again, a tough matchup.
Seventh fewest fantasy points to wide receivers.
So, Corey Davis, start or sit?
I mean, I would prefer to sit him,
but, you know, you kind of know
what you're getting from him.
He's a better PPR than non-PPR option,
but, you know, 11 is a safe number for him. It's probably the
floor and the ceiling.
Yeah, and
the 11's
been only the floor
the last five games that he's
played. I guess the zero's the floor
if you count the Bears game, but
he's also got a 16, a 26,
and a 15 in that stretch as well.
I'm starting him. He's having a very good, a 26, and a 15 in that stretch as well. So I'm starting him.
He's having a very good year.
Corey Davis or Christian Kirk?
Davis and PPR, Kirk and Nunn.
I'm starting Davis.
Davis or Crowder?
Davis.
Davis, yeah, sure.
Davis or Pittman? I'll take Pittman's upside. I'll go with Davis. Yeah, sure. Davis or Pittman?
I'll take Pittman's upside.
I'll go with Davis.
Okay, and then here's your stat of the game
for Tennessee Indianapolis.
A running back has scored 10 or more non-PPR fantasy points,
13 or more PPR fantasy points
in all but one game against Tennessee.
The only exception was David Montgomery
and in that game, Ryan Nall
actually scored
a receiving touchdown.
But yeah,
last time it was Naeem Hines.
Titans give up a ton of
production and running backs. How do we feel about
Jonathan Taylor this week?
I think you gotta go back to him.
Why are you whispering?
I said stardom.
You so softly and delicately said stardom.
I think you got to go back.
I mean, that's how people feel, though.
You can't kiss.
It's not like stardom.
It's Jonathan Taylor.
It's the Colts.
We're now in the cycle,
so it's now Jordan Wilkins' turn.
Right.
So, you know, that's kind of the unfortunate thing
is that we're going to see the carousel spin
and stops on his name.
I still think Jonathan Taylor, if you don't buy into the Colts, if you know, fantasy managers,
he had his best game.
If you watch the game, he looked his best.
If you see the numbers, it's his, it's one of his best games.
His home road splits 13.6 PPR games at home, 9.6 PPR game, PPR points per game on the road.
He's better in his own building.
So take that into account too. So I think this is a game where you the road. He's better in his own building. So take that into account too.
So I think this is a game where you trust him.
He's a number two running back.
Would not be surprised if he has a blow up game,
if he scores,
because what he showed you last week was pretty impressive.
So would you start the wide receivers,
not named AJ Brown in this game over Jonathan Taylor in PPR in any format?
It would go Brown,
then Taylor for me.
Full PPR. Yeah, I? It would go Brown, then Taylor for me. Full PPR?
Yeah, I think I'd still go Taylor over Davis.
Would you start Nelson
Aguilar over Jonathan Taylor?
No.
You're going to start Derek Carr, or you're not going to start
Nelson Aguilar?
Darren Waller, I'm going to start.
You can't do it all, Heath.
Has Carr had a blow-up game without Aguilar?
I was just thinking that,
and that will be something I definitely look up for next week.
Yeah, I'm going to guess probably not.
Maybe earlier in the season,
but no, I think there's probably a very strong correlation.
All right, I can feel a stat of the day coming on over there.
I get credit for it.
Yeah.
What about Johnnie Smith, guys?
Start or sit?
Better than Noah, thank you.
Borderlines.
I mean, he ran for a touchdown last week.
This team's really good against tight ends.
I know they gave a touchdown to Tunyon last week,
but they're still really good in that regard.
Derek Carr did throw for 282 yards
and three touchdowns against the Saints,
and Nelson Aguilar had one catch for 19 yards.
That was week two?
That was week two.
That was the Waller game, right?
That was the Waller game.
Yeah.
And I mean, he was 260 and two against the Patriots.
And Aguilar didn't do anything.
Okay.
So Colts DST is 9th, 10th, 15th for Jamie Dave Heath.
Jonu Smith or let's see, Jonu Smith or Eric Ebron?
Ebron. Yeah, I think I have Ebron higher.
Jonu or let's say Zach Ertz plays. Jonu or an Eagles tight end?
Ertz over Jonu.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
And let's go to the Giants and the Bengals.
Hey, Heath, did you know that
14 of the last 15 wide receivers
with six or more targets against the Bengals
have had either 84 yards or a touchdown?
Except for Jarvis Landry.
I did not know that.
Yeah, yeah, you did.
Here's the problem, though.
A little concerned about this.
Daniel Jones' pass attempts in three wins, 19, 34, and 28.
He doesn't throw a lot anyway.
But, yeah, I mean, I still think Shepard gets his six targets.
He's averaging like 180 yards passing a game or something, right?
Right.
And he's got eight touchdowns, eight passing touchdowns,
something like that.
He's third most rushing yards among
quarterbacks.
That's the problem.
I'm pretty low on the Giants
wide receivers and
Evan Ingram just because when
you're chopping up the pie
and the pie is one of those
little miniature pies that you buy
for $1.99 at the gas station,
if somebody doesn't get the whole pie, then nobody gets very much. little miniature pies that you buy for $1.99 at the gas station.
If somebody doesn't get the whole pie, then nobody gets very much.
Pie sucks, by the way.
But I went to buy a pie yesterday and they were sold out and I was so happy about it.
So anyway, how do you feel about Slayton and Shepard, Jamie?
Because Heath's not really a fan. They're number three receivers. Shepard's better than Slayton and Shepard, Jamie? Because Heath's not really a fan.
They're number three receivers.
Shepard's better than Slayton in PPR.
I would take Slayton over Shepard in non-PPR for the touchdown potential
because Shepard only has scored once this season.
Not that Slayton's found the end zone regularly,
but I think this is a game where I wouldn't be surprised
if the Giants can kind of do whatever they want to offensively.
So, you know, that's not something
you say very much about that team.
But the Bengals aren't good.
The Giants are coming off a bye.
You know, you got to assume
that the Bengals are kind of like
a little shell-shocked after losing Burrow
and, you know, knowing that they went
from a team that had a minimal shot
of winning each week to a team
that probably has no shot of winning each week.
And it's Thanksgiving weekend.
They know the end is near. You, you know, giants are playing for
something. I'll buy into that. Yeah. I mean, it's a really good setup. It's a really good
matchup for the giants, but they're basically, I would say the sec, I think there's a second
worst offense in football. I think the jets are the only one that's worse, but they're playing
better of late. The offensive line has certainly turned the corner of the last month. And you know,
the nice thing about Jones is you're getting the rushing numbers. I mean, he's, he's got at least 64 yards on the ground at three of his last five
games. And so, you know, if you're getting 30 yards rushing, which I think is probably a safe
number for him with the design runs, if he scores on top of that, that's fine. He just needs to get
you, you know, in the neighborhood of 200 yards passing and a touchdown, um, to be around 20
fantasy points. And he's been 20 or more fantasy points in three of his last four.
So yeah,
it's he he's in that,
you know,
Tannehill rivers,
Stafford,
Ryan group,
Lamar Jackson group.
So who's your favorite?
How do you rank the kind of low end?
The guys who are not top 12,
but are borderline top 15.
Who's the best of that bunch?
Lamar Jackson.
Still,
I still take the upside of what he
can be, but I like
Daniel Jones better than Stafford. I just think that
there's more upside with him in
his matchup than there is with Stafford without the guys
that he has around him. Jones, Tannehill, Rivers.
Jones, Rivers, Tannehill for me.
Heath? Yeah, I have almost
everybody ranked ahead of Daniel Jones.
Tannehill Rivers Jones.
Wayne Gallman.
We did a rankings debate earlier in the show.
If you want to hear about Wayne Gallman.
Look, he's been really bad per carry.
I've played the sound once.
He's been really scary at yards per carry,
but this is a much, much better matchup.
He's faced the Eagles twice.
They're great against the run.
The Bucs, they're obviously great against the run.
And Washington,
good against the run.
Why are the Eagles good against the run?
Okay, thanks for that trap, Jamie.
We talked about the Giants wide receivers.
Let's talk about the Bengals.
We talked about the running backs earlier,
but the wide receivers.
Who's the best wide receiver in this game?
Bengals and Giants.
I'll take Tyler Boyd.
Excuse me.
Boyd. All right. Boyd is
what? A number like Boyd or Crowder?
Boyd. Crowder for me.
Boyd or
Jonathan Taylor, PBR?
Taylor.
Not starting T. Higgins?
No. All right. Let's wait and see see there and then I didn't ask you about Evan
Ingram Jamie likes Evan Ingram Heath not so much
okay
he hates the Giants we all know that
I really do hate the Giants
every fiber of my being
but the Giants DST you like
and I didn't used to hate the Giants
I don't know what changed I don't know
a couple of years.
Just got to be some X factor.
Chargers at Bills.
Did I give this stat?
Yeah, I don't think so.
Stat of the game.
A running back has scored 11 or more non-PPR fantasy points,
13 or more PPR fantasy points,
in eight straight games against the Chargers.
Those running backs are Mike Davis,
Ronald Jones, Kamara, James Robinson, Philipindsey davante booker josh jacobs savon akmed and frank
gore you don't have to be a very good running back to do well against the chargers good thing
so let's sack zach moss yeah he's like are you feeling it with Zach Moss? I am not, but that was a compelling case.
They just don't seem to have any interest in establishing the run at all.
And I respect that.
I like the way they're playing, and it's awesome for Josh Allen.
It's awesome for Stefan Diggs and Cole Beasley and John Brown when he plays. But
we've got one game all
season where Zach Moss has
more than 50 rushing
yards. Two games where he has more than 50
total yards. He doesn't
get double-digit carries. He's only
done that once all season.
I just...
It's nothing against Zach Moss, although he hasn't
done anything to earn more carries either.
That's just not what the Bills do.
I don't want to start any Bills running specs.
He's scoring this week.
Who would you start him over, Jamie?
Kenny Drake.
In non-PPR.
Would you consider starting Zach Moss over Clyde Edwards-Ziller?
No.
But I'd start him over Melvin Gordon.
I would start him over Ronald Jones.
I would start him over Leonard Fournette, the Rams guys.
Frank Gore?
Yes.
How about Kalen Balazs?
Let's say Eckler does not play.
Balazs or Moss?
Balazs.
I actually have Frank Gore projected higher
than Zach Moss, but I moved Moss
ahead of Gore in the rankings just because
I don't want to start
Frank Gore.
If Eckler does play,
he's a must start, right?
He's a number
two running back. Better in PPR, obviously
than non-PPR. You just have to trust
that they're putting him out there that they feel he's going to be Austin Eckler.
But at the same time,
we've seen this time and time again,
there's always a little bit of a lull for a guy coming off an extensive injury
with a lower leg problem.
And so,
you know,
does he get his full workload?
Does he have the same explosiveness?
Does he get tired?
You know?
So you just have to,
you know,
sort of judge it like who you're comparing him to.
Let's do these comparisons just for fun.
Justin Herbert or Josh Allen?
Allen.
Josh Allen.
Stefan Diggs or Keenan Allen?
Keenan Allen.
What universe are we in right now?
Just for fun.
Just for fun.
Keenan Allen.
By the way,
the Falcons had two non-coaching members
of the organization test positive for COVID-19.
Falcons?
Virtually today.
Okay.
And Cole Beasley or Mike Williams?
Williams in non-PPR,
but Beasley in PPR,
especially with Don Brown out.
I'll go with Beasley both.
We're really getting away from Mike Williams.
I mean, this guy has been freaking awesome,
except for that one game at Miami.
He has been so good in his last four games.
He put up defense in that game with good cornerbacks.
Well, look, there have only been, in my estimation,
there have only been three good wide receivers
who have struggled against the Bills.
Tyreek Hill had three targets.
Tyler Lockett, four for 40.
Christian Kirk, four for 27.
I mean, this defense hasn't really been that good this year.
No, it has not.
And they've dealt with, you know, many injuries.
You know, obviously the secondary has been in and out.
You know, Josh Norman, for what it's worth,
has missed a lot of time.
Obviously, you mentioned Matt Milano, what tight ends have done against them with him in and out. Josh Norman, for what it's worth, has missed a lot of time. Obviously, you mentioned Matt Milano,
what tight ends have done against them with him in and out of the lineup.
But I think this is the type of corner that can make things tough on Mike Williams.
I view him a lot like I do Christian Kirk.
He could make you feel silly for benching him.
He could have four catches for hundred yards and two touchdowns,
but like he's two of his last five games.
He's got 38 and four yards,
38 yards.
I don't recall that 38 against the dolphins and four against Jacksonville.
Okay.
Uh,
all right.
So let's go to,
I think that's it for this game.
Then,
um,
Hunter Henry must start guy.
Yes. Okay. Yes.
Okay.
Yeah.
And yeah.
Okay.
That's it.
Cordero Cordero.
What?
Why did I just say Cordero Patterson,
Cleveland at Jacksonville,
Cleveland,
Jacksonville.
Does that sound like Cordero Patterson?
Yeah.
Great,
great call there.
What are you going to say?
Cordero Patterson or
Zach Moss. Yeah. What do you think
about Kareem Hunt this week?
Must start guy.
You start him just like you do all the
top 10 running backs.
Do you know that in five games
with Nick Chubb,
he, on a per game
basis, is averaging
15.18 PPR points per game in decimal
scoring.
That would make him for the season.
That would make him RB 14.
How's that?
I'm starting RB 14.
Yeah.
Yep.
Yep.
Are you worried at all about the Jaguars?
Kind of a tough matchup.
No,
no.
Are you starting any wide receivers
in this game?
I would prefer not to.
I haven't adjusted Chark
down, but I need to get him outside of my top
30.
Chark would be my
favorite still.
I think Landry is a borderline
number three as well.
Austin Hooper. start or sit?
Better than Noah, thank you, but don't want to trust him.
And James Robinson or Kareem Hunt?
Hey, if you want to give credit to Rashard Higgins
leading the team in targets or catches, whatever you said,
Austin Hooper led them in targets last week.
Cool.
He had five.
They're not going to throw a lot, most likely.
And you don't need to throw a lot against the Jaguars.
Their past defense is that bad.
They are, I think, the worst defense in football.
I mean, certainly they're right there in the discussion.
James Robinson.
My secondary was so beat up last week.
Or James Robinson or Kareem Hunt?
I'll take Kareem Hunt.
We are going to get a lot of Kareem Hunt questions.
I always do.
So I'll just finish off with this.
Kareem Hunt or Michael Thomas?
I would start Hunt.
Yeah, you got to start Hunt there.
All right, then just start Hunt
over almost everyone in the world.
James Robinson.
You're really uncomfortable with Kareem Hunt.
I'm not going to say.
I'm going to approach him as the way you guys are
as a start.
But if he doesn't have a good game,
I'm going to tell you why I'm not shocked
on Sunday if it happens.
But I am completely going to get over my fears
and just consider him a must-start top 15 guy for sure.
I mean, who do you have on your team
that you're starting over him though?
I don't have him.
Oh no,
we have him in one league.
Uh,
I would start Deandre Swift over him if Swift played.
Oh,
me too.
Yeah.
But I can't think of like three running backs.
I'm glad you're saying that at 9 20 AM Eastern,
uh,
for a game that's going to start.
I was just thinking about the one league I have Kareem Hunt and who's on my
bench right now.
That,
you know,
for the people that are listening to this afternoon.
No, no, he's a must start.
He's a must start.
It's a team that we share, right?
Yes, yes.
Yeah.
This is your best call of the year, by the way.
We're starting Kareem Hunt.
Of course we're starting Kareem Hunt.
Everybody should.
You're starting Hunt over Swift if Swift plays?
We start them both.
We have enough spots.
James Robinson or Tyler Boyd, PPR?
James Robinson.
Yeah, Robinson.
Should we just approach Robinson
as if he's a stud, must start, forget about it?
Take the if, like...
No, give up the third fewest fantasy points
to the running backs.
I'm just asking.
This is a guy averaging 100 yards per game.
Let's go have Thanksgiving.
He's been fantastic. The one thing you got to worry about, though, is they're on 100 yards per game. Let's go have Thanksgiving. He's been fantastic.
The one thing you got to worry about, though,
is they're on their third string quarterback.
I mean, you know, this is not a good passing attack
that may not have DJ Chark as well.
So I get where you're coming from, Adam.
You know, if you're Cleveland,
it's just put, you know, 12 guys in the box
and say, we dare you to throw.
Yeah.
All right, let's go have Thanksgiving, everybody.
Eat up.
We'll talk to you on Friday.
Regular show, normal hours.
Might be published a little bit later than usual. Then we'll have the mailbag on Saturday.
We'll talk to you then. Bye.