Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (AFC)! Jake Browning, Zeke, Zack Moss and More (12/14 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 14, 2023

Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts It's time to win a Fantasy playoff game! We'll tell you who we love (2:10) and who to avoid (6:00) this week. Matthew Stafford should be great, but be careful with Drake London in Week 15. We also have news and notes (11:40) as we update you on the Chargers offense with Keenan Allen ruled out ... One Question for Each Game (21:30): Start or Sit James Cook? Ezekiel Elliott? Jaylen Waddle? Zack Moss? DeAndre Hopkins? ... Start or Sit for Cowboys-Bills (29:30), Vikings-Bengals (37:40), Chiefs-Patriots (49:30), Jets-Dolphins (57:45), Bears-Browns (1:03:45), Texans-Titans (1:09:30) and Steelers-Colts (1:13:00) ... Email us at [e-mail] SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Visit amex.ca slash business platinum. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. What a play! Can you believe this? I had no idea. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. This is going to go the distance. Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.

All right, week 15, we'll not have Keenan Allen. We'll talk about that, and we'll get you ready for Thursday night's game once again with the updated Start City Advice. And, oh, special guest, 10 seconds into the show, Dave is on. I did not know Dave was coming. Hello, Dave Richard. Just finished my radio spot in boston where they promote our youtube live stream by the way cool and they always say to me at the end of the show how come you're here

with us instead of on the live stream and i i tell them i'll be on the live stream don't worry and today i told the truth you good i'm on the live stream and i'm here let's talk week 15 let's do it and good morning jamie good morning all right Dave, you have a little bit of time to think about your player that you love and player to avoid for week 15. And after we do that, we'll go through the news and notes and talk about the Chargers pass catchers without Keenan Allen in this matchup tonight against the Raiders. Today's episode is presented by Salesforce. The eight games we're talking about today, the AFC home games, Dallas at Buffalo. All right.

Minnesota at Cincinnati, Kansas City at New England, Jets at Dolphins, Bears at Browns, Houston at Tennessee, Pittsburgh at Indianapolis. Boy, once you get past that Dallas-Buffalo game, it seems like a lot of low-scoring games.

Anyway, Jamie Eisenberg, who's the player that you love this week our start of the week it's Matthew Stafford top five quarterback for this week he's obviously been playing great and I have sort of pooped on him for the last couple weeks not expecting to play well in some of those tough matchups and he's come through with just absolute stellar performances over 28 fantasy points he's pitched the last three games against Arizona, Cleveland, and Baltimore. And the latter two, I didn't think he would play as well as he has. He's been fantastic.

And now he gets the layup of all matchups, which is a layup start of the week, hopefully, as he takes on the Washington Commanders, who are number 31 in fantasy points, allowed to opposing quarterbacks. And the last four quarterbacks against them have scored at least 23 fantasy points. 11 quarterbacks on the season have gotten to at least 20 fantasy points. So hopefully that's the floor. And he can get you that and you'll be happy about it. But he could be just an absolute stud once again.

His receiving core is seemingly healthy. It doesn't seem like Cooper Cup is at 100%, but playing as close to 100% as he possibly will be. But, I mean, look, they're finding different guys. Davis Allen last week stepping up with a strong game. It just feels like everything is falling in line for the Rams to make a potential playoff run here. And it's been, it's been fun to watch Sean McVay sort of concoct this offense and Matthew Stafford have a little bit of a Renaissance here at the second half of the season. Yeah. And there are four quarterbacks that both of you guys have ahead of Stafford. They are in some order, Hertz, Allen, Dak Prescott, and Lamar Jackson.

You both have Stafford and Brock Purdy back-to-back. Right now, Jamie has Stafford 5, Purdy 6, and Dave has Purdy 5 and Stafford 6. So it's good company for Matthew Stafford this week. Dave, Richard, who do you... What'd you say? Sportsline has him third. Sportsline has him third.

All right. Heath has him 10th as of now. But I will not, I'll try not to bring up Heath's rankings. Cause I know sometimes he changes them. Sometimes they're just as projections and then he'll make changes. And I, plus I would, I want to let him,

you know, I'd let him defend himself anyway. I'll do my, I'll do my Heath impression. Yeah. The projections have him just a few points behind. So when I make my rankings adjustment, he'll be probably six. That doesn't sound like Heath at all.

Go ahead, Dave. Adam, you know how Heath sounds. Yes. And? Oh, sorry. You were cuing me up there, huh? I was trying. All right, Dave, who do you love this week?

You know, when you think of stud fantasy football running backs, you think of 28 plus year old guys that are on their last legs on losing teams. You think of Ezekiel Elliott and man, could I have been more wrong on him last week? I don't think it's possible. And this week I'm not going to fall into the trap again. He's got a good matchup against Kansas city.

They've allowed at least 13 non PPR points to a running back in six of their past seven games. We used to look at the chiefs and say, Oh, they're just going to blow teams out of the water. They're going to put up a ton of points. It's going to force their opponent to throw and not be able to run the ball. I don't know if this chiefs offense can do that anymore. And I think this Patriots defense is actually playing well across the board. Maybe they could be a little bit better at their pass rush, but I think you could see new England, maybe force Kansas city to keep the score at a relative pace where Ezekiel Elliott isn't taken out of the game plan.

I think he's going to get a lot of work. I think he's going to catch a lot of passes. I think he could be a top 15, if not top 12 running back for the second week in a row. All right. And I know he has him fourth or something like that. So Jamie and Dave have Zeke 12th. Heath has him fourth.

Sportsline has Ezekiel Elliott at 17th. And tonight you got Austin Eckler. Probably not Josh Jacobs. Zeke or Eckler? Zeke. I've got Eckler. All right. So those are the players that we love.

Now we'll focus on the players that we are trying to avoid. Jamie, who's a player we're avoiding? It's tough after the way he played last week, but Drake London home versus Drake London road is just dramatically different. It's crazy. So at least 14.1 PPR points, five of his six road home games this season on the road, six road games,

he's averaging just 7.9 ppr points per game and in his last two on the road prior to this week's game that he's playing at carolina 6.6 ppr points at arizona 1.8 ppr points at the jets so he just does not have the same magic in uh away from atlanta so i think you just look at it and say, okay, is he definitely a sit? No, because he's capable of, of, you know, playing at a high level as we've seen, but you look at home road splits and his worst home game, ironically enough, was against Carolina when he had one target, no catches. So this defense has just done really good job against opposing passing games. A lot of it is because teams run on them. And I think that's, we'll, that's what we'll see from Arthur Smith.

If you need a sleeper this week, Tyler, I'll do you're not bad. But in terms of just Drake London, only a starter and three receiver leaks for me. And certainly much better in PPR than not. Do you think it's really a home road thing, or do you think it's a game script thing where.

I think it's a home road thing because doesn't rid her also plays much better at home. I think it's more of a game script thing. There just hasn't been that many games this year where the Falcons have been able to put it on cruise control because the opponent that they play can't put points on the board. Literally the only two games where that's happened are Carolina in week one and the Jets game. You referenced both of those games and they were both games where Drake London did bupkis because Ritter didn't throw that much and they didn't have to throw in that game. They needed to throw last week and we knew that going in so i like that call a lot i think drake london's

gonna have a lean game i would be very nervous to start him how about you dave who's the player to avoid christian mccaffrey is a good football player so i'm not gonna say him let's go with tua that offensive line is really beat up for the dolphins i think that you're gonna see them struggle to protect tua anytime he holds the ball for more than two seconds. He doesn't do that a lot. He does get the ball up pretty quickly. They'll try and adjust with that, but this is a tough defense with the Jets. We saw it earlier this year when Tua played against them, had a terrible fantasy game, even though Tyreek had huge numbers. Now Tyreek isn't at a hundred percent. We've talked about what we've seen on film with him. I've got Tua outside of my top 12. It feels a little uncomfortable because we know what his upside is and what he's

capable of, but the jets have done such a good job this year of embarrassing quarterbacks week after week after week. It's hard to find quarterbacks that have put up good games against the New York jets. I think this is going to be another tough game for Tua. I would be very hesitant to start him easy to start Matthew Stafford ahead of him. That's a piece of cake, but I'll also start Russell Wilson ahead of him. I'll start Jared Goff ahead of him. I'll start Sam Howell ahead of him. And this is the piece to resist us. This is the one that might make me look silly. I'll start Joe Flacco over Tua Tungabailoa this week, unless we, unless we hear word that the offensive line gets a little bit better and that Tyreek Hill has a full practice

and that there's nothing wrong with him, then I'll move Tua back up. But until then, he's behind all those guys. Tyreek said on a Twitch stream that I believe he does every week that he's fine and he's playing. Okay. Well, I'm glad he's playing, but is he the same guy? And even if he plays, we saw it earlier this year,

I think he had like nine catches for 120 yards and a touchdown against the Jets. And Tua still had a bad game. Yeah, and Waddle had a big game too. Waddle, yeah, had one of his best games. Tua threw some interceptions in that game. Yeah, one of them was kind of...

You know, usually what happens when Tua has a bad game, almost every time, one of his running backs has 90 or more yards and multiple touchdowns. So, you know, that's... That was the case last week.

That was the case against the Jets. And that sort of feels like it could be the case again this week. But not just that. The Jets, I believe they give up the fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks. They are number one, yes. We talked a lot about this on yesterday's show. So I'm sure most of you who are listening today probably heard that. Also, you probably, if you listen to this show,

you know who Ryan Wilson is. He's one of the hosts of the Pick 6 podcast. and he comes on our show during draft season all the time. You definitely know Rick Spielman. He's the guy that drafted the fantasy studs Adrian Peterson, Dalvin Cook, and Justin Jefferson when he was the real-life GM with the Minnesota Vikings. And Ryan and Rick, they have an NFL draft podcast called with the first pick. And I will tell you personally that I listened to the, this show all the time last year to get me to get myself ready for the NFL draft. And it was so good and so helpful. I learned so much about all of these, uh, all these players.

Uh, they did a tremendous job and not only that, they really have a great rapport, a very funny show. I think you're going to really like it. It's called With the First Pick. So it's mock drafts, prospect profiles. Football fans, you will love this. Dynasty fans, you will love this. Check out With the First Pick.

We had a question of the day from the chat. It was from Jose. And he said, which of the FFT crew would you most want to be your neighbor? Not you. Why not me? You're always sick. Yeah, that's true. I don't want spider crickets in my house.

Not Heath. Obviously, you can't trick or treat with him. No, but he barbecues the most. You're going to get to smell all that delicious food. Will he invite you, though? I'm just going to show up. See, I would say it's Dave or Jamie. Now, Dave only has one kid in the house, so that's less noise.

Jamie's got three little ones. Not these days. I got two now. I got two? All right. He's got two teenagers. That could be kind of noisy. House party.

I'm going to say Jamie. Jamie, congratulations. I'd like to live next to you. You think having three kids under the age of 13 is going to make for a quiet house? But they're cute. You know, you like you don't mind it. They're not like drinking and throwing beer bottles on your lawn. Like you're crazy, unruly kids, Dave. Yeah, I know my 16 year old daughter is out of control. Yeah. All right, let's go to our news and notes. CJ Stroud mispracticed. He's still in the concussion protocol. They say he is improving.

If he plays, we will talk about this game, but where would you rank CJ Stroud? In the two-a range, outside the top 12. But I have a really tough call in one super flex league where I lost Burrow, I lost Richardson. Stroud has been my guy the entire season. I've just been kind of mixing and matching the second quarterback. So now I have to start Joe Flacco and Gardner Minshew or maybe Nick Mullins.

It's just gross. So if, if Stroud plays like in that scenario, I'm definitely starting, but in, in, in most one quarterback leagues, I would look to avoid them.

I mean, Nico Collins, mispractice also no tank Dell. It's he's been again, bad on the road this season. You know, Nico Collins, mispractice also, no tank Dell. Uh, it's, he's been again, bad on the road this season. You know, this isn't one,

one of those matchups I think that you fear, but, uh, not, not the most encouraging scenario, but you do, you do, you would rather see him out there.

And, and for what it's worth, Dalton Schultz did practice in full. So he's, he's good to go. Stroud or Browning. Oh, Stroud.

Okay. Okay. I can see that Stroud or Sam Howell., Stroud. Okay. Okay. I can see that. Stroud or Sam Howell? Howell. Howell's had a two. Two or Stroud? Stroud.

All right. Thank you. You guys have basically cut down on what I need to say when we talk about that game. All right. What else? Aiden O'Connell is expected to start. Antonio Pierce didn't commit to a quarterback, but it's supposedly going to be Aiden O'Connell is expected to start. Antonio Pierce didn't commit to a quarterback,

but it's supposedly going to be Aiden O'Connell tonight. Will Levis has an ankle injury. He should be fine. And Trevor Lawrence practiced in full. At running back, Josh Jacobs is questionable at the moment.

We are not expecting him. We'll have a live stream tonight before the game, 7.30 p.m. Eastern, youtube.com slash fantasyfootball today. Devon Achan mispracticed with a toe injury. So this guy just keeps getting these little dings.

Hopefully he's fine. Wednesday practice reports are pretty unreliable. A.J. Dillon mispracticed with a thumb injury. Aaron Jones was limited. Brian Robinson did not practice. That's a pretty big deal. Coming off their bye. Same with Marquise Brown.

Marquise, yep. I'll get to that. Jonathan Taylor, again, did not practice. Alexander Madison did not practice. And they have a Saturday game, so it's looking like Ty Chandler right now. Same with Mar, they play. Keenan Allen out with a heel injury, Jamie. So what does this mean now for the Chargers? Well, I mean, if there was ever an offense to target, first off, make sure the Rams DST is not available in your league.

They are top three this week looking at the situation that they're dealing with with Easton Stick and no Keenan Allen. I mean, it could be a great performance by that DST. The Raiders DST? Yeah. Okay. You said Rams, so I didn't know. Oh, I'm sorry.

Going for next week or something. Okay, so Raiders. I'm sorry, Raiders. All right. I apologize. Yes, the Raiders DST. Great, great situation. I just got Rams on the mind.

You know, so I don't want to trust any of them. You got Josh Palmer coming off the IR, you know, six-game absence with a knee injury. You have Quentin Johnston with a backup quarterback. You know, Gerald Everett battling through an injury. It's really Austin Eckers, the only one I would trust. And I dropped him from a number one running back to a mid-tier number two guy because it's just going to be try and shut him down as best you can. So not a slam dunk like it was prior to this,

when at least Keenan Allen was healthy, take some pressure off it. So I don't like this chargers scenario at all. No. Okay. I thought I moved the Raiders DST up this morning. They're definitely startable. How about this?

The chargers have allowed at least 12 fantasy points to a DST in each of their past three games. And that was with Justin Herbert playing in those games. Now it's Easton stick without Keenan Allen. Okay. I just thought maybe without Keenan Allen, we could be looking at like a eight to 10 catch game for Austin Eckler or something.

You could. Yeah, you certainly could. You know, didn't stick throw like 20% of his targets to Eckler. Yeah. Yeah. He's not a,

he's not a sit. He's not a, he's not a sit. He's not a sit by any stretch, but it's just, what's the touchdown potential. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Okay.

Back to the notes here. Tyree kill mispractice, but Jamie already said that Tyree kill says he's going to play Jamar chase versus Justin Jefferson this week. Both of them are injured, but both of them say they will play Marquis Brown. Yeah. Marquis Brown mispractice. Michael Wilson did Brown... Yeah, Marquise Brown mispracticed.

Michael Wilson did practice, though, for the Cardinals. DJ Moore mispracticed with an ankle injury. I assume he's fine. Nico Collins did not practice. Devontae Parker and Mario Douglas were limited. Jaden Reed, Christian Watson, and Dontavian Wicks mispracticed.

Remember, they played on Monday. They get Tampa Bay this week. Rashid Shahid practiced, but Chris Olave was out with an ankle injury. So again, not going to panic there, but nice that Shahid is trending in the right direction. And Deontay Johnson mispracticed with a knee injury. They're playing Saturday. We'll see.

I mean, I assume he'll play Deontay. Dalton Schultz, as Jamie mentioned, is practicing in full and looks like he will be back. Taysom Hill back on the practice field. That's great news. Darren Waller is hoping to play this week, so that would be Taysom Hill versus Darren Waller

in a tight end battle for the ages. Dalton Kincaid was limited. Tyler Higby was limited. He might be back this week. Greg Dulcich eligible to come off IR. Offensive line injuries you have to keep an eye on. Dave talked about eligible to come off. I are offensive line injuries. You have to keep an eye on Dave talked about this one. The dolphins offensive line is a disaster right now. I mean, probably as injured as any line in football.

Do you know that every single starter from week one is either on IR or on their current injury report along with a backup from week one. Wow. They're all on the injury report. Kansas city left tackle Donovan Smith, mispractice with a neck injury. one. They're all on the injury report. Kansas City left tackle Donovan Smith mispracticed with a neck injury. He could miss another game. I'll just say this now

because we're going to talk about the Patriots game. I can't find a reason. If I had no idea who he was, and this is my first year watching football, I can't find a reason to start Patrick Mahomes this week. Other than the fact that he's Patrick Mahomes. But, and I'll, you know, I will start him. I assume, oh, I mean, one thing I haven't been, I have a bye.

But, just saying, like, no left tackle, not playing well, Patriots on the road. Anyway, we'll get to that. I haven't been left tackle one league, and thankfully I have a bye because I want to see how he performs this week. Not that I'm going to bench him, but I want to see something. Right. I mean, there's even more.

It's like he faced the Bills, who were giving up 22 or more points to something like four of the last five or five of the last six, and he struggled against them. He faced the Eagles, and he struggled against them. And some of it's been bad luck with non-calls and dropped touchdowns six and he struggled against them. He faced the Eagles and he struggled against them. You know, it's, and some of it's been bad luck with, you know,

non calls and drop touchdowns and this and that, but it's been, he missed rice on a touchdown last week. That would have changed some things. Yeah. There's been a lot of bad luck for him. Okay. You're looking for two touchdowns.

I think he's got a shot at getting two touchdowns. I think 300 plus yards is something that's kind of out of the question. And I said that the left tackle replacement did a good job last week. It was serviceable at best. I'm looking at PFF right now. They've got three starting linemen, including both tackles, giving up at least five pressures each

against Buffalo last week. Right. Buffalo's got one of the best pass rushes around. Right tackle is a mess for them, obviously. Jawan Taylor, yeah. Good news on the O-line, though. Detroit left tackle Taylor Decker and center Frank Ragnow were limited in practice as they get ready for the Broncos, who have a lot of injuries on defense. Speaking of

which, some defensive notes. The teams that are, I won't go through everything, but the teams that are really beat up right now through the first practice report are San Francisco at Arizona, Houston at Tennessee, Tampa Bay at Green Bay, and Cleveland. Cleveland against Chicago.

Grant Delpit, they're starting safety. He's on IR. Denzel Ward still not back at practice. This may not be that tough of a matchup for Justin Fields. They just lost their second-leading pass rusher in terms of sacks, I believe. Oh, that's right. That's right. I'm not going to pronounce his name, but

Oboe. Yep. They lost him for the season. And Denver's a little beat up, too. Denver lost an edge rusher. So this is big for Detroit, and we'll talk about this game tomorrow, but Denver, Oboe Okoronko, for Denver's out for the season, or could be out for the season. Nick Benito,

the linebacker, and safety PJ Locke, they both mispracticed. The Bills are also pretty beat up against Dallas. Alright, we'll take a break, and when we come back, we got one question for each game, and then we will start really breaking it down. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football today. Dallas is at Buffalo. Here we go.

Which running back do you prefer, Dave Richard? Well, I think when you look at this game, you look at James Cook. He's been pretty good. And Tony Pollard's been better lately. I think I'll lean Cook, but it's really close. They're both RB2s.

Okay. Jamie Pollard or Cook? I lean with Pollard, but it's very close. I like the fact that Pollard had seven catches last week. I think that's huge. If he's that involved in the passing game, that's going to be very important. Look, Dallas' run defense has been amazing, and James Cook has been amazing since Joe Brady's taken over. So we'll find out which of those two things went out.

But the fact that he's gotten three straight games of 15-plus touches is important, and really the work in the passing game for him as well. So I think they're very close, but I'll give a slight edge to Pollard. Okay. A running back has caught at least three passes in all but one game against the Bills, so I'm looking for that for Pollard, who's been very involved in the passing game

for about five or six weeks now in a row, something like that. Minnesota's at Cincinnati. Are you feeling Joe Mixon this week? You know, he had the big week two games ago. I don't think everybody was really bought in, but now it's two in a row. Are you feeling Joe Mixon? Yep, I think he's a good number two running back.

You know, it's clearly a very good defense, what the Vikings have done lately in terms of shutting down running, but really the whole season, what they've done in shutting down running backs. His role in the passing game has been fantastic. A little too much Chase Brown for, for Joe Mixon fantasy manager, you know, especially that he's taking away some of those big plays because you saw Mixon do, you know, have, have a big screen play as well. So if he

had gotten both those opportunities, maybe he has those two long runs, but I mean, look, it's a, it's a lot of work. It's, it's involvement in the passing game. It's goal line opportunities. So you really have to have a loaded roster to sit Joe Mixon, but he's not a top 12 guy this It's a lot of work. It's involvement in the passing game. It's goal line opportunities. So you really have to have a loaded roster to sit Joe Mixon, but he's not a top 12 guy this week just based on magic. I've got him 13th. He has at least 21 PPR points in three of his last four games, two of them, each of his last two with Browning,

at least 21 and a half if you go with the decimals. Only four running backs have scored more than 11 PPR fantasy points against the Vikings. So I hope you didn't say that. No, it's tough, but I think Browning and just his style of passing helps Mixon. I think the offensive line has been playing a little bit better too. His style of passing is in like barely beyond the line of scrimmage.

Yeah. All right. Yeah. It helps. All right. Let's go to our next game targets for mixing and chase Brown last week. Dave, I'll give this one to you.

You said you wanted to start Ezekiel Elliott. You you love zeke kansas city at new england would you start ezekiel elliott against the chiefs who by the way give up the second most yards per carry to running backs over travis etn against baltimore eckler at las vegas and breeze hall at miami uh i'll start them over ETN. Okay, but Eckler and Hall, you're going to take over Zeke. Yeah, they're close with Eckler and Elliott, but I'll take the lean with Eckler against Las Vegas. I think that's a better matchup for Eckler.

And I've got Brees ahead of them all right now. All right, let's go to our next game. It's the Jets at the Dolphins. Jamie, starter sit Jalen Waddell. Definite starter in three receiver leagues, borderline starter in two receiver leagues. One of his best games, you mentioned this, was against the Jets. And so I don't think it's necessarily one you have to run away from

just because the defense is so good. But clearly there's a little bit of, I think, a cap ceiling here because the Jets secondary is still one of the best in football. And you get a banged up offensive line for Tua. How much time will he have to throw? How much time will he have to throw how much time will he have to connect with Waddle so he's outside the top 24 for me but just outside so not a slam dunk but um it's not because I think based on him we have no teams on a buy you know really two significant injuries I think of guys you would rank ahead of him most at least I would most times which would be Keenan

Allen and um Nico Collins at this point you know. So if those two guys both being out, Kelly Keenan Allen is, that's why Waddle's a little bit lower than he normally would be. But I wouldn't necessarily say he's a sit. Okay, and you're saying he's just outside the top 24? Well, let me tell you that per game, he is just outside the top 24 this season. Jalen Waddle is the number 27 wide receiver per game in non-PPR and number 25 per game in full PPR Chicago's at Cleveland

I talked about those Cleveland defensive injuries Dave is Justin Fields a must start quarterback? Yes his rushing floor is great I think his passing gives him a shot to put up some good numbers as well. The safeties for Cleveland are a mess. We don't know about Denzel Ward and whether or not he'll play. And the best pass rushers from Cleveland are still going to play. Their top three will still be there, but their depth is really going to get tested quite a bit. And the Bears offensive

line, this is another offensive line that started to play a little bit better as the season has rolled on a little bit. It's really because they've stayed healthier. And it all just kind of comes together for fields who can give us, should give us another top 10 week at quarterback. Houston is at Tennessee. Has DeAndre Hopkins reached must-start status? He's getting there. Touchdown three of his last four, 24 targets in his last two games.

Really connecting well with Will Levis right now by comparison to where it was, you know, at least the first game after the Atlanta game when he had the four touchdowns. But even then, it was just really the big plays. Three touchdowns, excuse me. In terms of the matchup, it's the second time in his career he's played against Houston,

which is the team he started his career with. And the first time he played them, he had seven catches, 53 yards, and a touchdown. That was with Arizona. So I think this matchup matters to him. I'm sure Mike Drable, knowing the type of he played them, he had seven catches, 53 yards, and a touchdown. That was with Arizona. So I think this matchup matters to him. I'm sure Mike Drable, knowing the type of coach he is, will do whatever he can to get Hopkins back in the end zone. And so top 20 wide receiver.

Not a top 10 or top 15 guy, but top 20 for sure. All right. Waddle or Hopkins? Hopkins. Hopkins. Jamar Chase or Hopkins? Chase. Agreed.

Okay. Also in this game, just a stat, just in case for those of you who won't be here in an hour, Derrick Henry in his last five games against the Texans. It's a much, much different Texans run defense. Much different. But in his last five games, he has rushed four. 211, 212, 250, 2 219 and a measly 126 yards with three two two

two and one rushing touchdown in those games uh so i'm looking forward to talking about henry because it is a tough matchup but gosh you can't best history he's got to have the best history i feel like josh allen against the dolphins derrick henrick Henry against the Texans are the two that stand out to me. Best history by any player against one team. He's a must-start fantasy running back. I'm sure I'm missing some, but those are the ones that I can recall. Pittsburgh at the Colts. Can Zach Moss finally do something with the touches?

Actually, I shouldn't say finally because he did earlier in the year. But in this little round without Jonathan Taylor, I mean, look, the two games without Jonathan Taylor have been bad, you know, and you would have thought, okay,

you're giving him based on the efficiency that he had when he was the guy earlier. And even when he was still sharing with, with Jonathan Taylor that, you know, 20 plus touches, he's going to be an absolute star and he's been miserable. He's been absolutely miserable.

But look, the last two running backs against the Steelers has been different ways. James Connor on the ground, two games ago, a hundred yards rushing and two touchdowns. Ezekiel Elliott through the air last week, you know, Moss has the ability to beat them both ways from what we've seen them from in

the season. So I don't think like for me, at least, you know, I was ranking him as a top 10 guy each of the last two games because of what the opportunity was and what he had shown. And clearly he has been a flop in that regard. So I'll be a little bit more cautious this week and he's more of a top 20

guy, but still feels like there's a breakout game coming and hopefully it's this week. You, you hope so, especially against the Steelers defense. That's been, um,

kind of destroyed by running backs lately. Um, he, he does look like he's lost a little bit of burst, at least last week he did. Maybe like too patient after getting the ball off the handoff. But he does have some good quickness once he does get going. Jamie, you mentioned it, the fact that he can catch the ball in the backfield. If the Colts are paying attention,

they can attack the Steelers the exact same way that the Patriots did. And they can do that with Zach Moss. I have him as a top 20 running back as well. Okay. All right, then let's dive right into it. Dallas at Buffalo, random stat of the game.

These two teams have combined to allow one catch of 30 or more air yards. They are best against the deep ball, basically. So I will ask this stupid pile of garbage one more time. You let me down last week. Should I start Gabe Davis? You better say no, dumbass eight ball. Prospect good. All right. I have to talk with the eight ball.

We're not starting Gabe Davis, right? So you know what? We can probably do this one fairly easily. We'll save the running backs for a little bit here. But passing game, Jamie, just sum up the Cowboys at the Bills. There's two must-start guys at the wide receiver position. There are two must-start guys at the tight end position. And then just a lot of maybes.

Like, I would not trust Brandon Cooks in this spot on the road. He just does not play well in that regard. Hasn't got enough targets, I think, to warrant starting him in this matchup. Obviously, Gabe Davis has been a disaster three of his last five games without a catch. Khalil Shakir with both tight ends playing. No, thank you. And so, you know, Michael Gallup, no way.

You know, so I think you just, you start Lamb. He's the number one receiver this week. You start Diggs with the hope that the slump buster is coming at some point and, you know, maybe facing his brother's team. His brother's talked a lot of trash. I know he's not playing, but still, that this is a game where he steps up and has a big performance. It's a really good Dallas defense, you know.

So I know they've beaten up on a lot of really bad offenses, and this is not one of them. But they're still going to make things tough on Josh Allen and that passing attack. So Diggs, Lamb, Ferguson, and Kincaid.

And Kincaid gets a little bit of a downgrade from where he's been just because Knox is back and he's a little bit banged up, but you're still starting those guys. So yeah, Kincaid did run the most routes, I think, of any bill or something like that. It was up to Jacob mentioned this on Beyond the Box score.

So that was encouraging. But he's slumping a little bit. So I mean, what do we got here? The last three games, 10.6, 8.8, and 7.1 fantasy points for Kincaid. So is he must start? I mean, is he still? Yeah, he used to be like top five. He's better than Goddard.

He's better than likely still for me he's better than you know anybody that you'd be looking to pick up off waivers if tasem hill plays i'll probably play hill over him you know so if there's just somebody coming back just based on his matchup against the giants because i think i'll run on them so that's really it you know laporta obviously has superseded him mcbride has superseded him. What about Komet? I'm over Komet. I would probably go with Komet over Kincaid. Right now I have Kincaid ranked higher, but the Delpit injury is big.

So it's close. Maybe just take the shot on Kincaid in the shootout. If the Cowboys are good at limiting the deep ball, then underneath play should be there for Kincaid. Diggs, you know, if anybody has questions, he's not in the top five this week, but he's in the top, like, 14 for everyone. And I will say, I mean, look,

obviously Dallas has a good defense, but they are not, to me, the last three games that Diggs has been horrible, three of the last four, have been against Denver, the Jets, and the Chiefs. For a guy like Diggs, those to me are tougher matchups. They have better shut down corners than the Cowboys. Did Gilmore do a good job against A.J. Brown? Yeah.

But did A.J. Brown also have like 90 yards? Yeah. And you look at the Cowboys, they haven't shut down that many good wide receivers. Usually good wide receivers do fine against the Cowboys. So I'm hoping this is the turnaround for Diggs. I did mention some underlying issues. I think it's only one wide receiver

scored against them in the last four games, right? It was DK Mecca? Yeah, he scored enough touchdowns for everyone, though. But yeah, but like Smith, but you throw a lot against, well, actually, that's the weird thing. You don't throw a lot against the Cowboys. You try to, but they blow out a lot of teams. But maybe touchdowns, yeah.

But in terms of like Smith and Brown were both really good, right? They both had at least 12.3 PPR points. Curtis Samuel had 100 yards. Adam Thielen had eight catches for 74 yards. All short area type receivers predominantly. And that's kind of what Diggs has been lately. I mean, it's just been a much more conservative Josh Allen.

But all right. Yep. He's been more conservative and they've given more work to James Cook since the coordinator change. And I don't know if you said this, but you like Ferguson better than Kincaid this week? Yes, I do. Okay. All right. How about

Dak and Allen are easy, but how about the running backs now? You guys were a little split on Pollard versus Cook. Pollard in the last four games is the number three running back in fantasy, but he's number 10 per game. Yeah, I don't know. Very involved in the passing game, as I mentioned. Alright, these guys are starts.

Cook may be a little bit tough recall because his role is just kind of different. But Dave, what do you think about Cook? I probably misspoke earlier, but I do like them both as top 20 type of fantasy running backs. Cook's just gotten a lot more work since the coordinator change. We're talking about... That's the game of the week, yeah!

Yes! A third Thursday game of the week! Come on, man! The Bills and the Cowboys! And it's the game of the week, hey! I think they can all go and play. You can't end up talking about the matchup. I was waiting for you to get it earlier in the show.

Bring him on Thursday and get him on the Thursday. I knew it was coming, and I knew it was this game. I wasn't sure if it was going to be when we talked about the game or when we did the one question for each game. And I was so thrown off on the one question for each game, I screwed up my analysis of the running backs. I noticed a little hesitation there. Yes, I noticed that.

I was getting ready to start dropping all the old school names like I just did while you played the music. All right, all right. You got to repeat what you said about James Cook. And the thing is, like, recently, this Cowboys team has just been unbelievable against running backs.

So, yeah, go ahead and repeat what you said about Cook. Last three games, these were three games with Joe Brady calling plays. It's 19 touches per game for James Cook, 114.3 total yards per game, 20.1 PPR points per game. It's a huge jump compared to the first 10 weeks of the season where he was under 15 touches per game, under 12 PPR points per game. It's a tough matchup, but I think Buffalo is still going to commit

to James Cook in the matchup and still give him opportunities both on the ground, and it would make so much sense to use them through the air to try and negate the Cowboys pass rush a little bit more through hit those underneath throws. Like we talked about, I think that benefits Kincaid. I think that benefits cook, but no,

it's not enough to start cook over Pollard. I will start Pollard, but it's very close. All right. Would you start HN or James cook? If HN is okay, I think I'd probably lean into his upside over Cook, but it's really tough,

and I just want to see if A-Chan can practice first. Devontae Adams or James Cook? That's Cook. All right. I mean, the Cowboys have been sort of like running back slayers, but let's go. Come on, James Cook. All right. I mean, the Cowboys have been sort of like running back slayers, but let's go. Come on, James Cook.

All right. Who wins? Buffalo. Yep. And you want to try to avoid the Cowboys DST? If possible. Yeah. All right.

I'm sorry. Who do they have next week? I'm just wondering, should we stash them or should we go Buffalo? No, the Cowboys. Miami. No.

Yep. At Miami. Droppers. Dallas has Miami. Buffalo has the Cowboys. Miami. No. Yep, at Miami. Dropper stash. Dallas has Miami. Buffalo has the Chargers. You can stash the Buffalo. And give me a pick. Give me a pick.

Give me a pick. Cowboys at Bills. We just did. You picked the game? Yeah. I asked you that? What'd you say? Is this a bit?

I have no recollection of this. None. This is cold medicine kicking in. Who'd you pick? We're not telling you. You've got to go back and listen. I think I like the Cowboys. Minnesota's at Cincinnati. Dallas Bills, maybe.

Wow. I remember when they played in the Super Bowl once upon a time. Minnesota at Cincinnati. Your updated stat of the game. baby. Wow. I remember when they played in the Superbowl once upon a time, Minnesota at Cincinnati, your updated stat of the game, the longest running, the longest rush by a running back other than Deandre Swift against the Vikings is 15 yards. I have no recollection of that at all.

Are you sure you're okay? No, I'm not. Okay. I get it. We can handle this. If you want to go, you know, take a nap or go to the emergency room. Do you know your name?

Did I do Game of the Week yet? I wonder. Did I do that or should we do that again? All right. Minnesota, Cincinnati. Anyway, running backs are horrible against Minnesota. You already talked about Joe Mixon. Did I ask you to rank Joe Mixon with Pollard and Cook?

That I don't believe you did. He's behind them for me. He's ahead of them for me. Yeah. Okay. What game are we on? Let's talk about Ty Chandler. Good matchup.

How are we feeling about... There was a running back that we were a little hesitant on earlier. Oh, Zach Moss. Ty Chandler or Zach Moss? Moss, but it's close. Yeah. All right. Jamie, expectations for Ty Chandler? Assuming Madison's out?

I mean, again, you saw a game last week where it was a low-scoring affair, and it was 12 carries and three catches in a game that Madison started and was on his way to a big game. Nine carries for 66 yards before he got hurt. So I think he's looking at 20 plus touches. And it's an offense that has clearly not been great for its running backs.

I mean, they have one rushing touchdown between the two of them. And it was Chandler. It was the first game that Cam Akers was out. He does have three catches in two of his last four games. So they have thrown the ball to him, whether he's been, you know, a significant route runner, asers was out. He does have three catches in two of his last four games. So they have thrown the ball to him, whether he's been, you know, a, a significant route runner, as you pointed out, Madison's run more routes, but there's still an opportunity there for, I think Nick Mullins, who's more of a pocket passer that will lean on his running backs, as opposed to

Josh Dobbs will escape the pocket. So it's an evolving offense, new quarterback, Jeff Jefferson back, hopefully for the full game and Chandler stepping in as a running back. So I think if you treat him as a flex, you're fine. If you need a number two running back, I think he's okay. Um, I wouldn't necessarily say, oh my God, I have to start Ty Chandler, but you see where I have him ranked 22. So a low end number two running back. Yeah. Do you, do you get a little nervous with that? Because he just, he hasn't, I don't know. I think you're starting them because of the workload and the matchup and those are important things. But how much work is he actually going to get?

Is he going to share a little bit? I think I'm playing devil's advocate more than anything here, but I don't think you could have full confidence in him compared to other running backs that have, you know, similar workloads, but we've seen them do it again and again. Well, I, I, I've been starting him over James Connor facing the 49ers. I'm starting him over Najee Harris and the Steelers duo. I'm starting him over Javante Williams. I like his matchup a little bit better. And so again, you're talking about guys that are going to get 15 plus touches.

Let's just be conservative here. Um, the running back taking on the Bengals to me is a little bit more appealing in an offense that I think will be a little bit better than we've seen the last couple of weeks because different parts. And, and what I would hope is better parts from mostly just Nick Mullins being a little safer and more productive than what Josh Dobbs has done. Plus you get Jefferson back. So there should be a little bit more opportunity to score for this team. Okay. So how are we feeling about Justin Jefferson? Must start. Yeah. Not the same type of expectation that we would have normally for Justin Jefferson and certainly not the same type of expectation as last week, but at least a number

two wide receiver. I've got them ranked pretty conservatively as a top 20 wide out, but not in the top 15. It's just, you want to, you want to make sure he's a hundred percent. You want to make sure there's a connection with Nick Mullins. I'll say the same thing I said last week. If you have Justin Jefferson, it's very difficult to say I'm sitting him in any stretch, in any capacity. You know, so you just got to hope. You know, who knows what he would have finished, what his stat line would have finished like last week if he had stayed healthy. You know, probably six, seven catches, right? He was on that line.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And six, seven catches for him is typically a pretty big stat line. So you got to feel pretty good about that. He's trending in the right direction to play. And for what it's worth, Nick Mullins is a good fit for the scheme that they have in Minnesota. It's a West Coast offense. He's been running that since he's been in the NFL.

And his numbers aren't that bad when you look at backup quarterbacks. His completion rate, I think, in his career is in the 60s like 64 percent and I think he's he's capable of like throwing an accurate ball inside of 15 yards and he will take some deep shots I think it's actually a pretty decent fit for the Vikings offense based on what the Vikings offense was before Dobbs got under center yeah that's what I said initially if you recall when he first went cousins first went down I said don't be surprised Nick Mullins is starting. He's the guy that knows the system the best. And if they want to stay on pace, on rhythm,

he was a better fit. Yeah, that's what they want. They want the offense to run through Justin Jefferson, who, by the way, had three targets, played 18% of the snaps. So if he had played basically the whole game, probably would have had 15 targets and 10 catches. That's how it works. Jordan Addison, would you start Jordan Addison, Brandon Cooks, or Gabe Davis?

Oy, Addison. I think Addison is where I'd go. Okay. And K.J. Osborne would be only in play if Jefferson... No, don't start him. T.J. Hawkinson, you're going to start. But has anyone jumped him like Ferguson? No.

I think just given this matchup, how bad the Bengals have been against tight ends, you've got to love it. Now, Dobbs was just tight end-centric. I mean, in Arizona and his first couple games in Minnesota you know whether it was the Hawkinson game or the Oliver game the Josh Oliver game with Jefferson back you gotta be a little concerned um but still you know this this team just bleeds fantasy points to tight end so yeah Hawkinson's number three guy for me this week

he's number one for me I think he continues to this trend of Cincinnati struggling against tight ends I don't think the Bengals should or will come up with a solution to slowing him down when everybody else is on the field. And just so it's out there, Adam, Jefferson percentage is good when it's 25 yeah this was 37 and a half percent i think i know where the vikings are going to want to go with the football i think nick mullins can get it to him i might have jefferson right too low and jamie would you start tj hawkinson chigo conco or kylan granson oh you did you won the bet yeah i should have said Colts tight ends versus You should have. Absolutely. Jake Brown. Did I help you win, by the way? I don't remember.

Actually, I think I ended up dropping him for Gerald Everett or something like that. Okay, that worked out better. Jake Browning is outside the top 15 for you guys, or at least he was when I did this initially. Of course, I don't remember where my house is these days, but yeah, he's outside the top 15 for you guys.

So he's playing great, 27 or more points in two straight games, but this is a much more difficult matchup. Minnesota's just a good defense right now. I mean, it's just that simple. So Browning or Flacco? Flacco for me. Flacco, but it's close. Browning or what's his name?

Kyler. Kyler. Agreed. People are really good. Adam looks like Jay. I don't know how to pronounce that guy's name. He's knocked up when he gets pink eye. Yeah. I do look like that guy. That, in Knocked Up when he gets pink eye. Yeah.

I do look like that guy. That guy's even skinnier than I am, though, which is hard. Browning, I have a question here. Browning or Geno Smith if Geno plays? Geno. Geno. Browning or Tua? Tua.

I have Tua higher. Look, Browning has played really well, but he's just not taking many chances with the football. And so you almost have to count on more of these catch-and-run type plays. He's played for three games now. Do you know how many times he's thrown into the end zone in those three games? Browning, I'm going to say three. One.

To Jamar Chase. One pass into the end zone. Do you know how many times he's thrown a ball? I'm going to disagree with that. I'm going to disagree with that. I'm going to disagree with that too. He had a pass interference, pass interference, ball on T. Higgins.

That was one. I saw one to Jamar Chase. Those must have been the two. That was the one to Chase, but those are ones that aren't going to count. So yes, he has thrown some that were penalized, but it's not a lot. And he's also only thrown,

and again, this is not counting penalized plays, nine throws of 15 or more air yards over 87 pass attempts adam looks like a malnourished carrot i have an orange shirt on that's really good i like that i should probably eat more carrots all right joe mixon let me give you some joe mixons here joe mixon or let's say uh j Waddle against the Jets. I'll take Mixon. Joe Mixon or Derek Henry? Henry. This really

could be a letdown spot for Mixon. The Vikings run defense is good. You're not benching Mixon, but this could be a letdown spot. So good, but let me tell you this. They have, in the last three games with Jake Browning, the seventh highest run rate in the NFL. Before that,ing, the seventh highest run rate in the NFL. Before that, they had the seventh lowest run rate.

I didn't include the Baltimore game, which was half Burrow, half Browning. But with Burrow, seventh lowest run rate. With Browning, seventh highest run rate. That's what they want to do. And Nixon's not running the ball any better. He's been below four yards per carry. He's just getting so much work.

He's got a quarterback that dumps it off a lot. So that's the average. But also Chase Brown's working there too, don't forget. Yeah, absolutely. But it is a lot of work for both of them. Nixon has 19 carries and 21 carries in his last two games. By the way, half Burrow, half Browning ended up 23 fantasy points that day. Yeah. His upside cannot be understated here.

The fact that he's capable of getting 20 PPR. I don't know if he ends up with 20 PPR given the matchup, but he's in such a good spot right now given the quarterback. Yeah, okay. Jamar Chase is, let's see, 18th. Let's see the updated rankings on this. I had it as 18th for both of you guys for Jamar Chase. He's higher for me. 15th now for Jamie, 18th for both of you guys for Jamar Chase. He's higher for me.

15th now for Jamie, 18th for Dave, and 8th for Heath. Again, it's, you know, they're just a good defense. And Chase has been kind of bad in two of three games with Browning. It's a good defense that's going to blitz him a lot. That's what the Vikings tend to do, and it's a lot of short passes. Now, Chase did hit on one big catch two games ago. It was an awesome play, and he's capable of that. I just don't want to rush to put Chase as a top-ten,

must-start type of fantasy receiver. You want to see the Vikings playing with the leader for Jamar Chase. Absolutely. Which could happen. I'm not going to ask you for a pick because I'm just going to forget it. But T. Higgins. Let's put T. Higgins with Brandon Cooks, Jordan Addison, Gabe Davis. Where's Higgins?

Addison, Cooks, Higgins for me. I've got Higgins at the top of the list. Very close between him and Addison. And I'll just throw a little love Tanner Hudson's way. He's got 7.5 to 10.1 PPR fantasy points in five of his last six games. I think he can do better, but I just wanted to mention Tanner Hudson's name.

And do you like the Vikings DST? Not horrible, but there's so many other options out there. All right, let's go to Kansas City at new england it's that of the game the chiefs have allowed 13 or more dave already mentioned this he actually mentioned in non-ppr but in ppr the chiefs have allowed 13 and a half or more ppr fantasy points to a running back in six of their last seven games so that's one of the reasons we like Zeke. But the question I had earlier is, like, what is a reason to start Patrick Mahomes other than he's Patrick Mahomes? Which is a fine reason. But can you tell me some other reason to start Mahomes?

No. It's crazy. It really is. Like, Stafford's easy for me. Purdy's easy for me. I'm starting Justin Fields over him this week. That's really it. You know, you can certainly make a case for Jordan Love and Trevor Lawrence.

You know, Lawrence, his last four games, he's been fantastic. And Jordan Love, great matchup. And prior to last week, he's been fantastic, especially Christian Watson plays. But, I mean, when you look at what Mahomes is capable of, and even in a tough matchup, even on the road, there's still nine and a half point favorites, which is a little crazy, but still there.

He's got the potential to go off anytime, you know, and look, Belichick, I'm sure is going to have a great game plan to try and take Travis Kelsey away. And then it's a matter of can, can rice and maybe somebody else step up.

You know, I think the, the, the hope would be, you would be get a little bit more creative with McKinnon in the passing game because that certainly helped him last year. Find somebody else to step up and make a play. I mean, MVS, Guy Moore, Richie James, somebody step up and make a play.

Good luck with that. I know, that's the problem. That's been a huge problem. How about this? In his last six games, he has won with more than 21 fantasy points, none with 25 plus. So I feel like that upside is just, it's the missing piece here.

I think he's safe for, you know, put him in that 20 to 23 point range. But I have a tough time expecting him to get to 30 fantasy points against this defense. Now, that being said, Trubisky had 22 last week against the Patriots in a game where he had to throw a lot. And I think that Mahomes will have to throw a lot here. I've got some confidence in Mahomes. I just

don't have enough to say that he's got that huge, huge upside. I feel like that's been missing. It has been missing for the last half of the season. Would you start Kyler Murray or Patrick Mahomes? That's Mahomes. Yeah. Okay Kyler Murray or Patrick Mahomes? That's Mahomes. Yeah.

Okay. Someone's asking, Mahomes or Purdy? Purdy. Brock Purdy. Yeah. Okay. Running backs. So, okay.

I said the Cowboys were running back slayers. How about the Patriots? Their last four games, Jonathan Taylor did score 14.5 points, but he had 23 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown. Barkley scored 6.2 points. Eckler scored 4.7. And the Steelers' running backs combined for 15.8 points. Neither of them was any good.

So do you like a running back? I mean, obviously, the if scenario with Pacheco. But Dave, do you like a Chiefs running back in this game? I like McKinnon as a PPR sleeper. That's about as good as it gets. They're still going to take work away from each other, McKinnon and Clyde Edwards-Hilaire. I think we know how the split's going to work, but it's going to be close to 50-50 in terms of overall snaps. And the valuable touches, the one that leads to fantasy points, the passing downs work, work inside the five. That leans toward McKinnon over Edwards-Hilaire.

What if Pacheco plays? Where would you rank Pacheco? Assuming he gets a couple of practices in and all that. Yeah, let's say probably like top 12, top 15, somewhere in that range. Oh boy, it's just such a tough matchup and he'd be playing kind of hurt, maybe. Right. That's why he's not top five.

I think shoulder injury is a little bit more able to stomach from an injury standpoint, although stomach injury would be tough. But to stomach, then he's trying to play through a lower leg injury. We got a question in the chat before I forget. Chiefs DST or Raiders DST? So I would rather roster the Raiders. I mean, the Chiefs DST, I think they're close. The Chiefs next week get the Raiders at home.

So I'd rather just have them for two weeks. Yeah. All righty. And we'll go to Rasheed Rice. I think it's like the third time I'm asking you this week. Rasheed Rice or Jamar Chase? Chase. I have Rice one spot ahead of Chase.

Okay. Rishi Rice or Devante? Rice. I've got, oh, Devante Adams or Devante Smith? Adams. I'm sorry. Adams. Rice over Adams.

Devante Smith over Rishi Rice. Yeah. Obviously, you couldn't tell the way I was spelling it by the way I said it, Dave. Come sorry. Adams. Rice over Adams. Devontae Smith over Rashi Rice. Yeah, obviously you couldn't tell the way I was spelling it by the way I said it, Dave. Come on. Sorry. All right, Rashi Rice is a top 20 guy, and he's on fire as a target share for at least 25% in three straight games.

I'll just move on here. Start Travis Kelsey. Sit Bailey Zappi. I think we've spoken enough about Ezekiel Elliott. He's a top 15 running back. Heath has him fourth. Rashi Rice or Zeke? Zeke.

I believe I have Rice higher than Zeke in full PPR. It will be interesting to see what happens to his catches if Douglas and Parker play. Sure. Mostly Douglas. I mean, I went back, I looked at the targets every game for Zeke and Stevenson combined, and they've had six to eight targets in eight of the last 10 games.

So it's just a big part of their offense. Well, prior to last week, so just taking what Stevenson had done, he was top 10 in targets for running backs on the season. Yeah. And then you look at what they've done as just receptions, their top five in terms of receptions at the position. So it's been a staple of their offense, whoever's been at wide receiver for them. And really whoever's been a quarterback for them. The question is, is he going to get three to four catches or is he going to get five to seven catches? And so that's the concern. If

he doesn't get the five to seven catches, he couldn't run the ball last, last week at all. He had the one run at the end of the game when the game was trying to put the game away. He just was not running the ball well. The reason, and I said this last week, the reason you're starting Ezekiel Elliott is not because of what he's going to do as a rusher. You're starting him because of the role in the passing game. And so that was the constant last week. We saw it. He scored the touchdown. It was fantastic.

I'm a little concerned that if he's three to four catches, we're looking at maybe no touchdowns, which I hope he does, but maybe no touchdowns. And if he doesn't score and you're getting, let's say, three for 25, three for 30, you know, four for 30, and 68 yards rushing, it's an okay day. It's not a great day, though. It's not top four. If Demario Douglas plays, would you start him or

Jordan Addison? That whole group. Douglas and PBR. I'd take the shot on Addison. More upside. All right. And if Douglas doesn't play and Parker, I don't know. I'm wasting time here.

Hunter Henry. Juju's in that conversation of the guys you mentioned before of T. Higgins and Brandon Cooks and those guys. I mean, look, he had four for 90. It was a good connection with Bailey Zappi.

It was a game they were playing with the lead, so who knows if they're chasing points. Yeah. You know, like you expect. He might have, you know he had four for 90. It was a good connection with Bailey Zappi. It was a game they were playing with the lead, so who knows if they're chasing points. Yeah. You know, like you expect. He might have, you know, a six-catch day. And it's his second straight revenge game. That's right.

Okay, we're going to take a break. The Jets are at the Dolphins when we come back on Fantasy Football today. We welcome you back. Jets are at the Dolphins. By the way, the Chiefs DST is a good play. They're top seven for everybody. I left that one out, but slumping a bit,

but hopefully gets back on track. Jets at Dolphins. I'll start with the DST. Would you start the Chiefs DST, the Jets DST, or the Dolphins DST this week? Dolphins. Dolphins. Dolphins, Jets, Chiefs is how I have it now

based on the Dolphins injuries. I'll go Dolphins, Chiefs, Jets. If the Dolphins heal up, then the Jets will be easy to put behind Kansas City. I'll go Dolphins, Chiefs, Jets. Sorry about that. Yeah, if the Dolphins heal up, then the Jets will be easy to put behind Kansas City. I don't want to shortchange this game, but we've spent a lot of time yesterday talking about Tua, today talking about Tua, Jalen Waddell, all that. So if Tyreek Hill plays, which he expects to do,

you're starting Tyreek Hill. Waddell is a number, borderline 2-3 receiver. And Tua, we're trying to get away from, you know, just give me four guys. Dave, you already went through the list, but four guys,

you'd start over to, uh, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen. No, I'll give you some names. Stafford, uh,

Trevor Lawrence, Russell Wilson, Jared golf. And you said Flacco too, right? Flacco as of now. Okay. Jamie,

that can change. No Flacco for me. But the other guys, Lawrence, Stafford, obviously. Yeah, Barrett's defense is really good too, so I don't want to shortchange their point. No, no doubt. All right. So Mostert, A-Chan, Brees Hall.

How are we ranking them this week? Mostert, Hall, A-Chan. That's how I have it. Do you have full confidence in Brees so i was thinking about this you know after last uh week's game brie's hall had a huge game 26.6 points eight catches 86 yards and a touchdown against houston and he said believe it or not we should stop asking questions about brie's hall and i said yeah of course yeah i don't know i mean i don't want to just completely excuse how disappointing he's been, especially in any format format other than full PPR. He's still 40 or fewer rushing yards in six of his last seven games, seven

straight games without a rushing touchdown. And the dolphins, by the way, have been really good against the run lately. So is he just in that automatic start category, Resau? Yeah. Especially the last two games with the role in the passing game. That's been very consistent, but what's the difference between him and Zeke? You got guys who are on crappy offenses, unlikely to score a touchdown,

but all they do is catch passes, basically. Yeah, and you could probably argue that the Dolphins' defense is better against the run than the Chiefs' defense. Oh, it's not even a question. Who do you like better, Brees or Zeke? I have Brees ranked higher. This is in full

PPR. It's because of the receptions. I actually thought Zach Wilson played well last week. I think there's that connection there between Wilson and all we've seen it a lot of times this year where he's finding hall through the air and halls making good plays as a pass catcher. And the Dolphins are fair share of touchdowns to running backs too. If I was having this conversation with Heath,

I would use Heath's argument against him on hall in that comparing Holland and Zeke hall can change the game on one in that comparing Hall and Zeke. Hall can change the game on one play. Zeke cannot. Yeah, it's just we haven't really seen that from Brees Hall. No, I know. But again, you're talking about, okay, who's going to get to five catches? I'd say they both have the opportunity to do that, right?

We've seen it. Yeah, but I'd lean Hall there over Zeke. I would too, but I'm saying we've seen it now. For one game sample size with Zeke, but basically the position for the Patriots, and we've seen it now for Hall for a few weeks now where he's been doing that. In terms of matchup, I think they're somewhat similar. You lean a little bit more toward Hall's potential because I think just of career at this point, where they are in their careers. And again, Hall's still a difference maker to me.

I know we haven't seen it very often, Adam, that's fair, but I still take my chances with Hall or Razik. Okay. Hall or Oates? They don't like each other anymore. They don't? Oh, that's so sad. I think one sued the other one.

Oh, man. I guess he wasn't making his dreams come true. Garrett Wilson or Jamar Chase? Chase in non-PPR, Wilson in full and half. There it is. true. Garrett Wilson or Jamar Chase? Chase and non-PPR Wilson in full and half. There it is. Yeah, Wilson never scores, but very reliable with

Zach Wilson. It's double-digit targets. It's seven or more catches, basically. It's 80 or more yards. It's happening almost every time with Garrett Wilson. The Buffalo game was a total flop, but very reliable with Garrett Wilson. But he also scored a total flop, but very reliable with Garrett Wilson. But he also scored against them. He scored.

That was such a stupid game. The Tim Boyle game. Yeah. All right. Conklin. Yeah, Conklin's another guy. You could get eight, nine fantasy points out of him. But he hasn't scored a touchdown this year.

And that's pretty much it. Dave, what are your expectations for A-Chan? Well, if he plays, I think he can still get around 12 touches, and you're hoping he breaks a long one against the Jets. But we saw last week what happened. It's the opportunities, but it doesn't

come through. It's kind of a sucky game, and you're upset that you start them, especially when most are table. It's clear that most, or it's the guy that they trust the most. And most of that limits the upside of HN. You're starting them for the upside.

You start them as a number two RB. I got some questions here. Most sort of Bijan. Oh, I like them both. I've got most for one spot ahead of Bijan. Bijan is my number two running back this week. He's going to go absolutely crazy against the Panthers.

You hope so. I hope so. Zach Wilson or Nick Mullins? Mullins. I think I have Mullins behind Wilson for now. Tua or Jordan Love? Love. Love.

These are all from the chat, by the way. Conklin or Otten? Conklin. Okay. And just one more name. If A-Chan is not practicing and you need a running back, Jeff Wilson. We already saw against the Jets. He had a nice role and played all right.

All right. That's it for this game. Chicago's at Cleveland. Two stats of the game here about the Bears' defense. Number one, they had 10 sacks in their first nine games. Five of those 10 sacks were against Washington. Is that amazing? I mean, horrible pass rush.

They have 11 sacks in their last four games. And Montez Sweat has played five games. So they have 11 sacks in five games with Sweat. 16th in pressure rate with Sweat. They were 31st before the Sweat has played five games. So they have 11 sacks in five games with Sweat. 16th in pressure rate with Sweat. They were 31st before the Sweat trade. Stat of the game number two. Chicago has held Rasheed Rice, Cortland Sutton, Terry McLaurin,

Jordan Addison twice, Devontae Adams, and Amonra St. Brown to fewer than 13 PPR fantasy points. All those guys plus Keenan Allen, Chris Olave, and Jacoby Myers, I think, fewer than 70 yards. Tough matchup for wide receivers. I know you don't love Jalen Waddell,

so we'll put him on the Waddell scale. How do you feel about Amari Cooper? I'd start Cooper over Waddell. I like that there's high target potential for Cooper with Flacco throwing the ball. And Flacco, he's going to continue to throw deep, and that just gives him more opportunities to make splash plays and chunky artage for his wide receivers,

and Cooper's the one who should benefit. I've got Cooper as a low-end wide receiver, too. Fair enough. For Cleveland, so Flacco, yeah, where are the rankings as Flacco? Mid, QB2.

It's not an easy matchup. Behind Tua, behind Goff, behind Kyler, but right there. I feel like this game has a lot of okay starts. Flacco, Cooper, probably Jerome Ford will get his 12 PPR fantasy points, roughly.

Who's a great... Is there a great start? You believe in DJ Moore and Justin Fields? Are they great starts? I'm not saying them. Yes. There's some downside here for DJ Moore, but not enough to say I'm sitting him. I mean, he's still top 10 receiver.

Yeah, he's been number seven, I think, for the season. So you just cannot sit DJ Moore. Justin Jefferson or DJ Moore? Moore. Moore right now, yeah. How do you feel about Deontay Foreman? I see he's outside the top 24. Cleveland's allowed six rushing touchdowns

to running backs in their last five games. Dave, Deontay Foreman. I kind of like Deontay Foreman. I don't have him ranked as a top 24 running back yet, but I think he's the lead running back. I think he's the preferred running back for Chicago. If there's a guy who's going to score, I think it's him. And the Browns defense, we've already talked about losing Grant Delpit.

He was their leading tackler at safety. And we talked about the depth on the defensive line it's all going to get tested chicago's going to try and work that and i think foreman's going to be the one that sees the most touches he's got a shot at 15 touches and a couple he had a couple of catches last week ran more routes than any other bears running back last week uh he's he's a low-end rb2 high- RB three. If he doesn't score, you're getting another empty stat line though. Well, what did he have last week? It was like nine PPR yards and a couple of catches.

Yeah. He had a nine, 9.2 PPR fantasy points against. I think that's pretty close to his floor. So that's why he's not like a slam dunk top 20 type of running back. See, I would say that's a ceiling without a touchdown. Well, a ceiling without a touchdown is not exactly a ceiling right i mean you're hoping for a touchdown i don't i don't think he's getting 70 total yards and two catches against his defense i think he could but that's not why you're starting him you're starting down a form because you don't

have anybody else at running back and maybe you find them off the waiver wire. Like Ty Chandler is an easy start ahead of Deontay Foreman. All right. I'd start Chuba ahead of him. As of now, I'd start Antonio Gibson ahead of him. Like, it's not like he's a, he's a,

how about this? I'd start him over Najee. I wouldn't. I think he can be better than I think they're in the exact same boat. I'm going to sum up. I would agree with, but I think now she's got a higher ceiling. It's cold. All right. Yeah. I'll sum up Najee in a that I would agree with, but I think Najee's got a higher ceiling against Colts. Alright, yeah. I'll

sum up Najee in a little bit. The Browns run defense really hasn't been great. 4.3 yards per carry allowed at running backs. Nothing special there. Cole Komet's about 10th in the rankings. 9th or 10th. Evan Ingram over Cole Komet? Easy. Definitely. Komet over Likely?

Yes. I've got Komet and PPR over Likely. Non-PPR, I don't think I can do that, though. That's interesting. I don't think I have the Baltimore-Jacksonville game in this show. In fact, I definitely don't. I don't know what happened there. We talked about it three minutes ago.

What are you talking about? That might have happened. Njoku or Komet? Njoku happened. Njoku or Kemet? Njoku. David Njoku. Njoku or Ferguson? Njoku. Ferguson.

Njoku or Kincaid? Njoku. Kincaid. Bears actually allow the fifth most fantasy points to tight ends. It's a little deceiving, though. They give up touchdowns, not a ton of yards. What am I missing here? I think we've got to do a little more Justin Fields.

I know you like him over Tua. I know you like Stafford over Fields. Would you go Justin Fields or Patrick Mahomes? I'll say it again. Yes, I would. When did you say that? This game or the Chiefs game? The Chiefs game.

Okay, I do repeat. I repeat during each game because I know people skip. You'd start Fields over Mahomes. Dave, how about you? Same. Fields or Russell Wilson at Detroit? Justin Fields. Alright. Alright, I'm going to finish

up on this game here. Which DST do you like better, Cleveland or Chicago? Cleveland. Chicago. Houston's at Tennessee. Stat of the game in the last five... Oh, I already did that one. Derrick Henry, with all the history. Maybe the stat of the game is that the

Titans are a two and a half point favorite. And we know how game script dependent Derrick Henry is. It's so stark how good he is when they are either competitive or win. And when they get blown out, he sucks. But, you know, is Derrick Henry a top 12 running back against, I believe the Texans allow the fewest yards per carry

to running backs in the NFL. It's really low. It's like 3.3 yards per carry. And I have no problem starting Derrick Henry this week, as long as the Texans offense is like down to backups, Davis mill starting no Nico Collins, hard for them to move the ball. They're probably going to punt a lot.

It sets up the perfect game script for Derek Henry to eventually break through against the Texans. Do you have any faith in any Texans? Cause I feel like Collins is not going to play. Stroud, I would think, has a better chance. Even against Tennessee, I don't really want to start C.J. Stroud without Tank Dell or Nico Collins. Offensive line's

a little beat up. Laramie Tunsil didn't practice where that's worth. I don't know. Do you have any faith in any Texans here? No. Not really, no. I mean, can't trust Singletary. Too tough. The Titans run defense, I know they gave up yards last week to the Dolphins,

but it still feels like this is a matchup that they can still have some success, even if Jeffrey Simmons doesn't play. So, no. No faith. And like you said, even if Collins does play, how healthy is he? And what about Schultz?

I mean, the Titans give up the second fewest fantasy points. They haven't given up a touchdown to Titans. Yeah, no, it's not a starter by any stretch. Okay. I think you should stash Dalton Schultz, though. You never know. He's got a great opportunity for targets. If you can get him, sure. Will Levis, I know, encouraging game, but still going to sit Will Levis.

Henry, we just talked about. Hopkins is good or great. Jamie this week. Very good. Where do you have them? I've got them as a top 20. Yes. Yep. Receiver.

Okay. Let's see if I have any questions here in the chat. And Chico Conco has basically become Tyler Conklin, 45 to 62 yards and three straight games, eight and a half to 9.6 PPR fantasy points for Chig in three straight games 8.5 to 9.6 PPR fantasy points for Chig in three straight games I'm just looking for oh, Tajay Spears, I haven't talked about him

Spears, Gus Edwards, or Jordan Addison in PPR? I'd say Addison because I'm not sure how much work Spears is going to get this doesn't feel like a game script game that's good for Spears I'll go Spears you've seen now the upside the last two weeks one was with injury to Derrick Henry doesn't feel like a game script game that's good for Spears. I'll go Spears. You've seen now the upside the last two weeks.

One was with injury to Derrick Henry. One was in game that they did need him. But how do you go away from using him at this point? He's been fantastic. Oh, they're going to use him. He's their third down guy. But it's just a matter of how often he'll be able to have. Oh, no, I agree.

There's a reason why you're asking that question about those three guys because they're all in questionable situations i mean addison addison at best is the third target for a third string quarterback and gus has been completely not phased out but feels like he's getting phased out for keaton mitchell so i'd rather take the guy who's been productive and has a chance to be explosive like Spears does. Would you be surprised if none of these three had 11 PPR points or more? Yes, because they've done it more times than not lately. Okay. And we have a question in the chat.

Derek Henry or Tony Pollard? PPR, I'll take Pollard. I'll take Henry. Oh, man. All right, so I definitely forgot a game, but that's okay. We'll do Baltimore-Jacksonville tomorrow, and we'll finish with Pittsburgh at Indianapolis.

And here is the summary of Najee Harris. He has scored a touchdown in four games. He has scored more than 15 fantasy points in all four of those games. He has not scored more than 11.3 fantasy points in any game without a touchdown. And in six of nine games without a touchdown, he's actually scored fewer than 11.3 fantasy points in any game without a touchdown. And in six of nine games without a touchdown, he's actually scored fewer than eight PPR fantasy points,

six out of those nine games. So when you talk about the word, the phrase touchdown dependent, it is Najee Harris for sure. He does have a good matchup, though. But does anybody want to start anyone other than Michael Pittman in this game? Well, Zach Moss. Right, but you've already said, I do remember some things. You're not thrilled about starting Zach Moss.

I don't know. It's funny. I want to go back to him. Tough matchup. Steward's run defense is usually really good, but this is a guy who plays almost every snap. You just don't find that. I think he had a touchdown call back last week.

He did. Holding penalty. I'd like for them to run the ball a little bit more. They've been very pass heavy. But I, of a guy like ranked like in the 20s, I actually do want to start Zach Moss. I don't know if that makes sense because I do see more upside him

than like a Jerome Ford or something like that. Oh, for sure. I mean, you've seen it. you know, so you've seen 30 point gains from him, you know, you've seen multiple 20 point gains from him. So yes, I think you're starting him and you know, it's just a matter of, does he turn all those opportunities into something productive? And, and yes, maybe it's just a touchdown that changes the opinion of it or the perception of, or the, or just the, you know, the overall stat line, maybe it's just a touchdown that changes the opinion of it or the perception of it or just the overall stat line. But it's not anything that you say, okay, this is a constant. Like he's gotten catches but not a lot of yards with it.

He's gotten a lot of carries but done nothing with it the last two games. And so, look, Pittsburgh's run defense, again, just on a run defense perspective last week was great. But they couldn't stop Zeke in a passing game. And the week before, they couldn't do anything to stop James Conner. You know, and that's exactly what Mike Tomlin said going into the game. We can't let James Conner do James Conner things, I think is what his quote was, because he's familiar with him. And that's exactly what he did.

So their run defense is struggling, or their defense on running backs is struggling. And as we said earlier, Moss has the ability to do both of those things. You know, so if he's not getting work and he's not producing on the ground, they could throw to him, but it just hasn't been a lot of stuff with it. So I think you're just starting him as number two running back, as opposed to what the perception has been, where he should have been a top 10 guy based on all these opportunities. He's a high volume running back in a matchup where game script shouldn't hurt him. Definitely has a chance to score. Hopefully it sticks this

week instead of last week. I think that's the epitome of an RB two, a middle to low end RB two. I believe both of those last two games were on the road. So maybe come back home, change some things too. I would like for them to get Braden Smith back, but I don't think that's going to happen or one of their linemen. He did not practice on Wednesday.

All right. Pittman. We'll see how he does in a somewhat tougher matchup, but he's been more or less matchup-proof. And Deontay Johnson. Would you start Deontay Johnson or Najee Harris or Jalen Warren? Who's the best stealer to start? Deontay.

I'd go Deontay. I like the connection with Trubisky. I would count on that. Don't be surprised if Trubisky gets I would count on that. Don't be surprised if Trubisky gets benched in this game. That's fair. The connection's been a little bit overrated because each of the last two games,

he had a garbage-time touchdown, and then he had a garbage-time long catch on the last play of the game. But he does have a touchdown in two straight games with Trubisky. I mean, that's all he does is score touchdowns. Yeah, right. Exactly. You know,

you know, Deontay Johnson, um, Deontay or Jalen Waddle. Waddle. Deontay or Tyler Lockett. I'll take Lockett. And which DST do you like better?

Steelers. No, Colts. Sorry, Colts. I have the Colts higher. Okay. Yeah. The Steelers have been terrible Colts. Sorry, Colts. I have the Colts higher. Okay. Yeah, the Steelers have been terrible the last two weeks,

but hopefully they can bounce back. This was going to be the game of the week, but I think I went with Bill's Cowboys. Actually, Ravens-Jaguars was also in contention. But sorry, I forgot that one. We'll save it for tomorrow. It's obviously a great game. You can forget about it tomorrow.

We had a great discussion. Trevor Lawrence versus Lamar Jackson. Well, I'm sorry that I forgot that one. We'll save it for tomorrow. It's obviously a great thing. We had a great discussion. Trevor Lawrence versus Lamar Jackson. Well, I'm sorry that I forgot it. I'm glad that the other guys did not forget it. And I'm sorry about my three months of illness. It's a sinus infection, in case anybody's curious. Just take care of yourself,

buddy. It's a Heath infection. I don't get it. P's a Heath infection. I don't get it. Sigh. That was pretty good. Do I have a good Heath sigh to take us out? Yeah, that's it for

the show, everybody. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Well, actually, join us tonight for our live stream at 7.30, youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday. And we'll talk to you tomorrow with Starburst Sip for the NFC home games. See ya.