Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (AFC): Texans, Bengals, Jaguars and More! (12/07 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 7, 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 We've got some good players with either tough matchups or bad quarterback situations and we'll have to make difficult roster decisions this week. First, how about some players we love (2:30)? Justin Fields and Austin Ekeler should deliver, but you might want to avoid (6:40) D'Andre Swift and some committee backfields. We'll also give you a lot of updated news and notes (9:30) ... One Question for Each Game (19:05): Start or Sit James Cook? Are we confident in any Texans, Jets, Jaguars or Browns? How do we feel about Joe Mixon and Derrick Henry? ... Start or Sit for Bills-Chiefs (28:15), Broncos-Chargers (37:30), Texans-Jets (47:40), Jaguars-Browns (55:15), Rams-Ravens (1:02:00), Colts-Bengals (1:11:25) and Titans-Dolphins (1:16:25) ... Email us at [e-mail] SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Visit amex.ca slash business platinum. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. What a play! Can you believe this? Can I know I can? It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races! And he stays on his feet!

He's just going to go the distance! Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Welcome everybody to Fantasy Football Today. It is week 14. Patriots and Steelers tonight. Is Najee Harris going to play? We'll talk about that in a little bit when we update you on the news and notes. Today's episode is presented by Salesforce and we're happy to have you here with us as we try to make the playoffs. All right, big week for a lot of people here. I know I've got, I think, three leagues. At least three. No, honestly, I think I have five leagues

where I could either get in or out this week. And that's half my leagues. I was going to try to figure that out on Friday or Saturday. Just like, what leagues do I actually need to pay attention to? Because I do have two or three leagues where I think I'm eliminated. And I think I have

a few leagues where I've locked up a bye. But I want to know what leagues do I really care about this. So when I'm scrolling through on Sunday, constantly checking scores as I do, I know which leagues to keep checking. Yeah, well, there's a lot at stake this week for sure. We'll tell you who to start and sit. Jamie will be here soon.

Heath and I are going to try to guess before Jamie gets here who the start of the week is because we don't know so all right it usually started in like fewer than 70 of leagues or something like that um what do you think here what do you think i've got i've got a guess based on a comment that jamie made now it wasn't he didn't tell me who it was but he just made a, well, I hope so. And I don't know if he was doing that because he has this guy on a lot of teams. But I'm thinking, although he seems like he would be

started in too many leagues, except for the fact that he's coming off of a bye. Justin Fields. Justin Fields. Okay. Against Detroit. That makes a lot of sense. I was actually thinking maybe Josh Dobbs. That would be pretty bold at Las Vegas. But I think you're right.

I think it is going to be Justin Fields. Oh, man. You know who would be a sneaky start of the week? A.J. Dillon at the Giants. Man, I don't know. What are you talking about? They have a terrible, terrible, terrible game script. Terrible run defense.

All right. Well, you know what? I want to know who Heath's start is, who Heath's player he loves is. So let's get into that. Did you know that across Ontario, utility damage happens 19 times a day? That's over 4,222 incidents a year. Don't let your next dig be one that causes costly delays or safety risks. Before you break ground, make it a point to request a locate.

It's not just the law. It's a step to keep your team and community safe. Visit OntarioOneCall.ca and avoid unnecessary damages to get the job done right. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. Heath, oh yeah, see Heath, sorry. Who do you love this week? Since I said that Justin Fields might be too started, Austin Eckler is probably too started, but we're getting a lot of questions about should I sit Austin Eckler and a lot of comments, some people calling him names that they probably shouldn't. And so I just want to give a little bit of love to Austin Eckler. Maybe the best matchup in fantasy.

Even as the Broncos have become a good defense, even as the Broncos have become better against the pass, they still really struggle against the run. I think Austin Eckler is going to give us a glimpse of what he used to be with 20 touches and 20 fantasy points this week. Okay, okay. I like the optimism there. Keep our fingers crossed for Austin Eckler.

And Jamie is here. And let's see if Heath was right. Jamie, who is the star of the week? Justin Fields is the star of the week. Hey, Heath wins. All right. Way to go. Justin Fields against Detroit.

Okay, who are you starting Justin Fields over? I'm starting him over Justin Herbert. I'm starting him over Jordan Love. I'm starting him over Jordan Love. I'm starting him over CJ Stroud. I'm starting him over Jared Goff. How about Brock Purdy

in a rematch against the team that just did very well against Brock Purdy? Purdy, I think, has sort of elevated himself to almost must-start top-five status at this point,

especially when he's at home. He's just slam-dunk at home in every start that he's made home. He's just slam dunk at home in every start that he's made in the huge sample size of all eight of them in the regular season. Okay. All right.

So Justin Fields we like, and Heath says Austin Eckler. All right. Do you know where Austin Eckler's from? Denver. No, but he went to high school in Colorado and he went to Western Colorado. I believe he's from Nebraska.

But he crushes the Broncos. Absolutely crushes the Broncos. I think it's like eight games he's played them since he became the guy for the Chargers. And seven of those games, he's like 15.7 PPR points or more. This is always a fun game to play. So, Adam, what part of Colorado is Denver in? It's kind of like in the, you know, it's in, I guess I would say it's sort of geographically not really clear.

It's kind of, I would say, more centrally located. More centrally located. Okay. So, like, right about in the middle? Yeah. You're not far off. More centrally located. Okay, so like right about in the middle? Yeah, I think – You're not far off. You know, look, it's not far from the east. It's not far from the west.

I've actually been to Denver, and I have no idea where it is. Isn't the airport like almost in Kansas? Yeah, I think it's – I think you could say central, and you wouldn't be that far off. Yeah, that's kind of what I – yeah, yeah. I once accidentally shoplifted in Denver. I walked out with a Colorado Rockies hat and didn't even – I don't even know if I realized. My mom was like, oh, what are you doing? Go put that back.

So that was my brush with the law in Denver. I'm not allowed back. I'm not allowed back. Did you ever shoplift? Never. No? Heath? Yeah, I don't. I don't claim the fifth I once when I was myself when I was a kid I uh I took a toy out of a store and my mom made

me return it um it was a great life lesson uh I think I was probably I was under 10 I don't remember how old it was but like she she made me go like I didn't know what I was probably, I was under 10. I don't remember how old I was, but like she, she made me go to like, I didn't know what I was doing. I just took him what, you know, and, and she made me go, it's like, what are you doing? This isn't yours. Go take it back. And I remember just being so embarrassed. Oh yeah.

That's exactly what I would be in Denver. Yeah. All right. Let's talk about players. We are avoiding here. Jamie, who's a player to avoid this week? It was a player to avoid. I would like to avoid Deandre Swift.

He did not play well against the Cowboys the last time these two teams met. Dallas is really good against the run. I'm glad that he's healthy, but we've seen a little bit too much of Kenneth Gamewell lately. And I think what could be a problem for him is I know he had six targets in the game last week in San Francisco, but it does not feel like he's been as involved in the passing game of late. And so tough matchup, a little bit of a lack of work lately, and he's not a top 24 running back for me this week. And just to update everybody, Kenneth Gainwell,

if you put in a claim for him, maybe you shouldn't have. But yeah, Swift was not on the injury report yesterday, so it looks like he's good to go. But Jamie would like to avoid him. I assume he's still in the top 20? I'm sorry, did you say that? He's 25 to go. But Jamie would like to avoid him. I assume he's still in the top 20. I'm sorry, did you say that? He's 25. Wow.

Okay, he's 20th for Heath. He's 16th for Dave. So that's, okay, so you really want to avoid him. Heath, how about you? Yeah, I'm going to give a collection of teams. I was going to say Evan Ingram, but then there's nobody that anybody could add to start over Evan Ingram.

So I don't know that that makes much sense. I would start likely over him this week. I would not. I'd like to avoid over Evan Ingram. So I don't know that that makes much sense. I would start likely over this week. I would, I would not. I, I am, I'd like to avoid Isaiah likely. Honestly,

I understand why people want to add them and have them on their bench because of the potential upside. But I, I'd like to avoid the Steelers running backs, the bears running backs, the Vikings running backs, the, the Ravens running backs.

You might change it. If Najee's out, right? Najee's going to play. Okay. He's questionable with a knee injury, but apparently. No, I believe somebody, one of the people tweeted out. Rappaport said that he is expected to play. Okay.

Yeah. Okay. Pittsburgh running backs, Bears running backs, and Vikings running backs. I kind of like Madison this week. I like Madison better than Swift. I saw that. That was really surprising. Madison at the Raiders and Swift at the Cowboys.

Yeah, I think we're going to see a better Vikings offense with Justin Jefferson back on the field. So we get some more touchdown potential. So hopefully he falls into the end zone for the first time this year. But the majority of his best games came in the beginning part of the season. I know it wasn't huge games, but best games for Madison. And he's still playing more than Ty Chan, at least the last game he was. So good matchup against the Raiders. We've seen them struggle lately against the run.

So I don't, I don't, I would not be surprised if this is his best game of the season. Okay. Sportsline's new show, Inside the Lines, takes you behind the scenes with the brains behind the Sportsline simulation, showing you line movement throughout the week,

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with data and analysis that you can't find anywhere else. You get that on Inside the Lines. It's exclusively at youtube.com slash sportsline, youtube.com slash sportsline, and it's Monday through Friday at 1 p.m. Eastern. Love it. Great stuff. youtube.com slash sportsline, Inside the Lines. Here are your news and notes. We've got a lot of them. Zach Wilson's going to start for the Jets. Josh Dobbs is going to start for the Vikings at the Raiders.

Dorian Thompson Robinson was able to practice. He's still in the concussion protocol. Do we have any info on whether or not it's going to be him or Flacco if Thompson Robinson clears the concussion protocol? I hope it's Flacco. I don't think we have a definitive answer yet. I guess it would be a matter of what's best for this offense versus what's gotten them wins and losses. Because Thompson Robinson won his last game, right? If I'm not mistaken, when he got concussed.

Didn't they win two games ago? No, I think they lost. They're on a two-game losing streak? I think so. But, I mean, it doesn't. To answer your question, I think the coach said that they have not made a decision and they're going to

try to figure it out through the week. They won. I'm sorry. Oh, no. I'm looking at their 2022 made a decision and they it's they're gonna try to figure it out through the week they won i'm sorry so oh no i'm looking at their 2022 schedule that's not helpful uh they lost yeah they lost to denver 29 to 12 and they lost to the rams 36 to 19 yeah okay yeah so we don't know uh derrick car is in the concussion protocol but apparently the other other stuff is fine. So Derek Carr, maybe he miraculously comes back again in plays. And it's pretty, like he was listed as a partial participant, right? So he has to have at least made some progress. Yeah.

So there's a chance Derek Carr plays. There's a chance Trevor Lawrence plays. It seems unlikely at this point. His backup, C.J. Beathard, has an injured left shoulder, but he's expected to play according to Ian Rappaport. And Tommy DeVito will start for the Giants this week, not Terod Taylor. Daniel Jones, meanwhile, only has an ACL tear, no other damage, so that is good news for his recovery. At running back, Ramondre Stevenson is out. Najee Harris, as you just heard, is expected to play. Zach Charbonnet and Ken Walker, surprise, surprise.

Some optimism from Pete Carroll. But we'll see how the week unfolds. They both did some stuff at practice, so we'll keep our fingers crossed for those guys. They did some stuff. Although hopefully we'll keep our fingers crossed for just one of them. We'll be better. Jarek McKinnon was limited in practice.

Brees Hall mispracticed with an ankle injury. I don't think that's anything too serious. Deontay Foreman practiced in full, perhaps one of the reasons why Heath said he wants to avoid the Bears running backs against the Lions. And as I mentioned, DeAndre Swift not on the injury report. But Jamie, you know, you have him 25th in PPR, but their coordinator, Brian Johnson, said he wants to run the ball.

I don't know if that matters to you. So Philadelphia wants, they got away from Swift. They got some criticism for it, I think, last week. They want to reestablish that this week. I hope they do. I mean, look, I'd rather be wrong on Swift. He's been a great fantasy running back

for the majority of the season. But, you know, he's not playing well lately. You're not producing well. I shouldn't say not playing well, not producing well lately. But if they have success running the ball, does that mean he's getting touchdowns well we know that's hard to come by because of the tush push is he a significant factor in the passing game well i mean that's not exactly been a consistent part of his you know production so he can hopefully

run for 80 plus yards i don't know how many running backs have done that i guess cowboys have to look but their third in terms of fewest fantasy points allowed to running backs. This isn't just a Swift thing. This is a Cowboys thing too. Yeah. I'm going to guess no running backs have rushed for 80 yards. I will tell you right now. Yeah, good. I'll keep reading the news. Wide receiver

Justin Jefferson expected a play. Rashid Shaheed mispracticed. Josh Palmer has 21 days to be activated from IR, so you can start stashing him if you don't have an IR spot. You know, it might be tough, but Palmer could make an impact down the stretch. Demario Douglas is out tonight.

Juju Smith-Schuster and Devante Parker are questionable, and Christian Kirk is out six to eight weeks, so you can certainly drop Christian Kirk. And like I said yesterday, you know, not the worst idea to pick up Zay Jones or Parker Washington because Trevor Lawrence, maybe he plays this week, maybe he plays next week. But it's hopefully not

a long-term absence for Lawrence. It is a long-term absence for Kirk. At tight end, Dallas Goddard expects to play. Where are you guys ranking Dallas Goddard? Just inside the top ten. Yeah, tenth, just ahead of Evan Ingram. And Tyler Higbee, I think I mentioned this yesterday,

he has a stinger. I don't know if he'll play at Baltimore. Dalton Schultz was limited, so that's a great sign as he tries to get back for this game against the Jets. Darren Waller, not unlikely to play this week. He's aiming for next week. Taysom Hill has foot and hand issues. It's better than foot

and hand and mouth disease. Yes, it is much, much better. That's not a good one. We haven't had that one yet. That's next month, I'm sure. It's coming. It's coming. Dawson Knox has a chance to play this week.

Can we go back to one thing before you get into the very important offensive line and defensive injuries that I always really enjoy? Dawson Knox has a chance to play this week. Can we go back to one thing before you get into the very important offensive line and defensive injuries that I always really enjoy? Do you do the hard G on all words that have the NG combo in the middle? Like, is it hanger? Anger? There's obviously hanger, stinger. Anger, stinger.

What did I say? Stinger. As opposed to? Stinger. Boy, I say? Stinger. As opposed to? Stinger. Boy, I didn't even. My wife says hanger, but she doesn't say like what you would put your clothes on in the closet. But she doesn't do it with any other words. So I'm wondering if you do it with all of them or just with stinger.

Well, I have a cut on my finger. Yeah? Was that a hard G or sort of a subtle? I think most people do the hard G on finger. Well, fine. Let me know. Offensive line injuries. Jacksonville left tackle Walker Little is questionable. Frank Ragnow, Detroit center, he missed practice.

Atlanta had two linemen out missing practice. They faced the Bucs this week. On defense, the big defensive injuries would be I mentioned yesterday Detroit defensive tackle Ali McNeil on IR, but Alex Anzalone making progress. Dexter Lawrence is questionable for this week's

game against the Packers. I think they have some optimism that he'll play. Saints still a little beat up on defense. Marcus May and Cameron Jordan mispractice. Actually, Marcus May went on IR. Defensive tackle Malcolm Roach went on IR. He plays about half the snaps. And Cam Jordan's injured as well.

Eric Armstead for the 49ers is out this week. That's a big loss for them against Seattle. Could help Ken Walker or Charbonnet. Marlon Humphrey, cornerback for the Ravens. He's expected to play this week. He's been in and out of the lineup. Denzel Ward, big news for Denzel Ward. Okay, so Miles Garrett was clearly playing hurt last week.

I don't think he had a tackle last week. And Denzel Ward was out, and they got lit up by the Rams. Hopefully Garrett's a little healthier. I mean, I know he's going to play. I can't tell you what his shoulder status is going to be. But Denzel Ward practicing is a great sign for the Browns defense. And if Beathard plays, you're going to want to start the Browns defense. That's pretty much it.

Did you say Pete Warner or no? Pete Warner back at practice for the Bears, for the Saints, but they're so injured. That's the one piece of good news. Actually, Bucs news. Levante David is coming back. He practiced in full, but still Devin White, no practice. Jamel Dean, no practice.

Vita Veya, mispractice. All right. Catch my breath. There's one running back who's gone over 70 yards against the Cowboys. Can you name him? Yeah. No.

He just had a huge game in week 13. Big surprise game, too. Oh, God. I can't even think of any running backs. It's going to be a long show. Who was it? It was a revenge game for him last week.

Wow. Mr. Pittsburgh himself. James Conner. Revenge game for him last week. Mr. Pittsburgh himself. James Conner. James Conner, okay. In week three, 14 carries, 98 yards, and a touchdown. Cowboys lost to the Cardinals that week. Now we got one question. 19 carries, 51 yards against the Cowboys.

Yeah, really good run defense for sure. We all take a break, and when we come back, one question for each game on Fantasy Football today. Buffalo at Kansas City. I will get the eight ball out in a little bit when we get into that game. This doesn't feel sort of like an eight ball game, but how about James Cook? Starter set James Cook against a leaky Chiefs run defense.

I actually kind of love James Cook this week. In the two games with the coordinator change, he's been fairly fantastic. Working the passing game again, which is what we were hoping for. I think it's 10 catches in those two games. I believe it's 13 targets, if I'm not mistaken. They're

probably going to be chasing points. There's a good chance of that. I guess they may not, based on how the Chiefs have performed. Chasing points? probably going to be chasing points you know there's a good chance of that um so i i think that i guess they may not based on how the chiefs have performed but um chasing points they're going to be salting this game away with james hopefully there i think the chiefs show up uh there's there's a good chance that uh he's involved in the passing game again and he's not he's he's getting carries as well. So it's actually been a good thing for him with Joe Brady taking over.

If you want the exact numbers, I can get it for you. But I like him this week. Yeah, I think you see here a 51% start percentage. That sounds about right. He's a number two running back with the top 12 looking like it does. It's very believable that somebody has two or three running backs that they like better than James Cook this week. But I don't feel bad about starting him.

I think he could have an 80-yard game and catch three or four passes. Good question from the chat. Just to put it in context, though, start percentage right now is a little tricky with the guys coming. We have six teams coming off a bye. And a lot of teams, a lot of fancy teams, have not either checked their lineups yet or are checked out. So as somebody who has to use start percentage for start-sit stuff,

it's a little weird. Like, oh, wow, DJ Moore's only started in 64% of leagues. Well, no, that's not accurate. I think 51 is probably like 71. I always bump it up like 20, depending on the guy. Right, that's where I would expect him to be this week. He's about in the 70% range. Yeah, which, I mean, everything he said is right,

but like 51% is like, whoa! Only half our leagues are starting him. I don't think that's the case. I think it's more like probably 70% of the leagues that people are still paying attention with James Cook are starting him. Right, Cook or Zeke? That's a good question from En starting him? Right. Cook or Zeke? That's a good question from Enzo in the chat.

Cook or Zeke? Cook for me. I've got Zeke higher. Okay. I didn't know I was going to ask that question myself, Enzo. You beat me to it. All right, let's go a little faster here. I'll give you a little bit more info on the James Cook carries

when we get to the game, but I will say that he has had his two highest target shares of the season in the two games with Joe Brady. 11 targets, yep. Denver at Los Angeles. Heath, which quarterback do you prefer? Justin Herbert, but they're both fine starts. Not great starts, but fine starts.

Houston at the Jets. Jamie, who are you confidently starting in this game? Houston at the Jets. The Texans DST. What about Nico Collins? Are you confidently starting him? I'm starting him, and I'm starting Garrett Wilson. Nico over Wilson.

But it's not with a ton of usual optimism, certainly for Nico. You know, he's going to get targets. That's the fun thing. But this is still a really good secondary and Stroud's numbers on the road. Stroud's numbers without Tank Dell have not been very encouraging. So if Nico can perform well, I'm expecting more like a 12 to 14 point game as opposed to a 15 to 20 point game. So I think he's still a serviceable number two wide receiver. I think the same thing with Garrett Wilson, with Zach Wilson back, that's been better for him than it has the last two weeks.

So that's kind of where it is. And then in terms of the running backs, Brees Hall's a mid-tier number two running back. Like I'm at the point where I'd rather start ezekiel elliot i think um overhaul um i don't have it ranked that way yet but i might by the end of the day and good luck picking the best texans running back and this is um i think this game is a good time to say this early in the show i don't usually adjust projections for weather until friday or saturday because weather forecasts on Tuesday for Sunday are pretty questionable. But we've already seen the totals crash in a couple of games because of projected bad weather. And the Jets game is one of those. We've got multiple games, I think four of

them, where the wind's supposed to be right around 20 miles an hour and they're supposed to have rain. So this one's down to 33 and a half now, which5 now, which is pretty normal for a Jets game, but pretty terrible for a Texans game. It's another bad weekend here. Why do we live here? Jacksonville and Cleveland. It's freezing here today. Yeah?

What is it? It's like 70. Oh, no. The high is going to be 70. It was in the 50s when I woke up this morning. I have a hoodie on. I think it was in the 20s. It snowed a little yesterday in New York.

Jacksonville at Cleveland. Same question I had for the Houston Jets game. Heath, who are you confidently starting? Jacksonville at Cleveland. Well, since I mentioned cratering over-unders, there's been a lot of talk about this game tonight having an over-under of 30. Jacksonville at Cleveland is 30 and a half. So it has a lot to do with the quarterbacks.

But I'm starting. I'm not actually considering sitting Travis Etienne. And that's probably about it. I'm not sitting David Njoku for anybody i could have added or streamed so i'll say etn and joku okay i'm i'm very curious if uh flacco starts there is a big opportunity for hopefully jerome ford but one of these running backs in the past game my god jacksonville is like lapping the field in terms of receptions to running backs. Right, and it's more likely to be forward than anyone else. Rams are at the Ravens.

Who is the best wide receiver in this game? The Ravens allowing the third fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Puka. Yeah, it's still Puka. Who's the best Ravens wide receiver? Flowers? I'm ranking Flowers over Beckham, but it would not surprise me if Beckham is better.

But yeah, I think Flowers is the one you should start if you have to make a decision on the two. I think the real key with Beckham is, was his snap share so low the last couple of weeks because he was not healthy, and is he now healthy? Or is he just going to be a guy who plays half the snaps? Because when he's on the field, he's earning targets at an incredible rate.

I guess a better question for this game was who's the second best wide receiver. Is it copper flowers? I currently have cup ranked. I think like one or two spots ahead of flowers. I agree completely that they are, they are right in the same range. I have it cut two spots over flowers,

29 and 31. Okay. Let's go to Indianapolis at Cincinnati or sit joe mixon coming off a somewhat shockingly huge game at jacksonville i'm i'm gonna start him i've gotten more optimistic about him as the week has gone on that i i think if you look at the game plan that they had against jacksonville again they just bleed receptions to running backs, but it was getting the ball at Jake Brown, Browning's hands quickly. And Mixon was a huge factor in the passing. Like, I don't care about the 19 carries. That was great. You know, and you can come back with, okay, Chase

Brown was involved that that could be a negative. Um, but really it was more about just the work in the passing game and how I think the, the same thing with Chase, you know, just get them the ball as, as quickly as you possibly can. and then they got the shot over the top. When Mixon has been involved in the passing game, you could say this for a lot of running backs, but when he's been involved in the passing game, his numbers have popped. I think it's like four times this season when he's had four plus receptions.

Very successful, but they are getting Grover Stewart back, and that could be tough for him to run against. Don't count on him with his run production, but I think you count on him with his role in the passing game. Okay, Heath, Tennessee's at Miami. Start or sit, Derrick Henry. It's not the type of game script that we really like for Derrick Henry.

In fact, it's awful. And so if I could get away from him, I would like to. I've got him behind James Cook. I've got him behind Joe Mixon. I've got him behind DeAndre Swift. But he is still inside of my top 25 running backs. I'm not going to start any of these bad running back committees over Derrick Henry. All right.

And since that's the last game we'll talk about, I'll give you a bonus one just for the people who can't hang around. Start us at DeAndre Hopkins. Number three wide receiver. I'm starting him if I start three wide receivers. I'm sitting him if I start two, hopefully. Who's a better flex in a half PPR league, Henry or Hopkins?

Hopkins for me. I am looking at the projections. It's 13 points for Henry. It is 10 for Hopkins, so I'll go Henry. I was really surprised when we did Fantasy Feud yesterday to learn that Derrick Henry is second in the NFL in rushing yards.

That just surprised me. But he has three games this year of less than six points. When it's bad for Henry, it's really bad. Well, those are all three games that they lost by more than eight points. There you go. Buffalo is at Kansas City. Here we go. We've got a couple stats of the game.

One, I already told you. James Cook has the two highest target shares of the season in the two games with Joe Brady at coordinator. And the Chiefs, by the way, very good against pass-catching running backs. Second fewest receiving yards per game in running backs. But here's the thing about Cook. I know people are going to start him, but 16 and 17 carries in those two games,

that's only 54% of the Bills running back carries. They've just ran the ball a lot. So he's still in a three-way split now with Ty Johnson and Latavius Murray, but kind of unclear how that's going to shake out. But it's kind of like what I said about Bijan last week. It's like he's had all these carries, but he was splitting with two other guys.

But anyway, we said our piece on Cook. Stat of the game number two is the Bills have allowed 22 or more fantasy points to a quarterback in five of their last six games. Mack Jones, Baker Mayfield, Joe Burrow, Russell Wilson, and Jalen Hurts. Okay, so start Mahomes. I know it's whatever it is

kind of crazy but this is a good week for my homes right yeah and like i think we should be a little bit more realistic with the way that we talk about my homes i know he has been a bust i know he's been a disappointment if you drafted him in round two or round three but bad my homes has still been someone you like – he's not like he's produced as someone you wouldn't start. What is he, QB eight on the season? Yeah, he's eight per game. We got a lot of questions last week about Stroud versus Mahomes. I wonder how many people are going to have Purdy versus Mahomes because that's the tough one, I think, if you just look at what Purdy has done.

Now, I don't think many people would do it because your mind doesn't say, I'm saying that at all. But, I mean, Purdy's been better the last month. Yeah. All right. Well, what would you guys do? Purdy or Mahomes? I still would start Mahomes. You know, it's like in a game

where the projected total is 48 and a half, you know, and it's those two quarterbacks going head-to-head in his building, it's those two quarterbacks going head to head in his building it's very difficult to think that mahomes is going to have a bad game now will pretty have a better game potentially i mean but he did struggle against seattle in seattle if that's the choice you have to make but i i like i these are these are the tough decisions that people have to deal with you know and you hope it's a it it's a 29, 28 point difference. And you, you know, you didn't make a tremendously bad call, but if a tap,

what happened last week, Oh my God, I'm, I'm, I might be done with starting my homes. If I have Brock party. Okay. Yeah.

You're starting my homes for, I am. And yeah, you know, in my super flexing, I have my homes and Purdy. And at some point I might just make a statement and switch Purdy to quarterback and Mahomes to superflex.

Just kind of let Mahomes know, like, dude. What's the difference between those two this year in fantasy points? I have no idea. I could look it up for you. So we talked about James Cook. Pacheco's not even a question anymore, right? You're starting Pacheco? Yeah, no, especially against this defense.

I think he's – is McKinnon back, right? He hasn't Pacheco. Yeah, no. Especially against this defense. I think he's... Is McKinnon back, right? He hasn't practiced? No, he was limited. Yeah, the thing about Pacheco, he's got all these catches lately, but I don't know that McKinnon really has anything to do with it, because Clyde took the third down roll,

and the catches are coming, I think, mostly on first and second down anyway. Well, it's not like McKinnon was doing a ton in the passing game, but it's just another, you know, hey, this snap is now yours. This play is now yours. This situation is now yours. So he's just been awesome. It probably helps Pacheco stay in near the goal line

because we do see McKinnon get in there sometimes in those situations. We talked about James Cook. He's a good number two running back. Stefan Diggs, you start. All right. He's a good number two running back. Stefan digs. You start. All right, here we go. Big one here.

Magic eight ball. Should I start Gabe Davis this week? Yeah, I really don't agree. The magic eight ball says you can count on it. That's the official magic eight ball prediction is a start for Gabe Davis. I look at the only times he does well is when the Chiefs,

when the Bills score like 30 points, basically. Or he has a really good matchup. And I just, they are missing Brian Cook. I don't know if that's a huge deal for the Chiefs, but it's a deal. It's something. I don't know.

I'm not really feeling so optimistic about Gabe Davis this week, guys. How about you? No, no, no. He's usually been better at home than on the road. Would it surprise anybody if he gets a big play? No, but you don't want to bank on that. So I'll go back to something he said earlier in the season,

which is, I think, still appropriate with him. If he's been your number three receiver and you don't have any better options, then you just stick with it. But I hope at this point you have better options just because it's been very tough to trust Gabe Davis. He's a good blocker. Very good blocker.

I think the Chiefs, when they have had trouble against wide receivers recently, have mostly been number twos and number threes. Well, yeah, they're going to stick Snead on digs, and it's going to be exciting. So that gives you an opportunity for Davis to do something. That is a good point. Thank you.

Well, you always make good points. But who have his good games come against? They've come against Las Vegas. Actually, not that bad against receivers. Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia. It's usually a really good matchup. The answer is the same as it mostly is.

It's a three-wide receiver question. Do you have three-wide receivers you really like? Then no, you don't start Gabe Davis. If you don't have three-wide... I just lost Christian Kirk in a couple leagues where I have Gabe Davis. If you don't have three, I just lost Christian Kirk in a couple of leagues where I have Gabe Davis. I feel great that I'm moving Gabe Davis

into that wide receiver three spot. And let's just hope. Khalil Shakir, any interest there? Desperation play, you know, and he's had really one good game. You know, it was the big catch against the Jets. So it's not like it's been consistent production from him. I don't think we're going to get Dawson Knox active for this week,

but that's still a possibility. So just keep that in mind. I haven't seen the practice reports, but clearly the window's now open. So if they feel he's ready to go, they'll play him, I guess. And that just puts another wrinkle into this offense, but a problem for not only kincaid but also shakir because they'll go most likely back to doing a lot more tall personnel yeah so i'm sure you're going to start kincaid if noxus out are you going to start kincaid if noxus

in uh yes i would start kincaid still, but it's closer to the Njoku-Ingram range at the bottom end of the top 12 as opposed to the Laporta range where he's been. Okay. I think the guy who I could see people having both of them, if it's a healthy Taysom Hill, then Knox might be the difference between starting Kincaid or Taysom Hill for me uh random thought here just on Khalil Shakir if you're in a league where you have to consider a guy like Khalil Shakir I like Dontavious Wicks this week if you need like a PPR number three receiver uh yeah I mean between Wicks shakir they're all kind of the same you know they're they're they're desperation place i've settled on wicks in that group sure i don't know if you guys have strong feelings there but i would put cedric tillman there too if flacco starts and there's no amari cooper all right uh mahomes pacheco rashi rice is yeah creeping up into

must-start territory definitely definitely over Gabe Davis. I'm assuming at this point you'd start Rushie Rice over a struggling Tyler Lockett. I'm starting over Cooper Cupp. Cooper Cupp, wow. Over Drake London or Rushie Rice? Rice. Half PBR, Derek Henry or Rushie Rice? Rice.

Henry. Full PBR, Heath, Rice or Henry? Rice. Rice, okay. And start Kelsey. rice uh henry full ppr heath rice or henry rice okay and start kelsey and that's gonna do it for bills and chiefs let's go to denver at the charge by the way uh you you like to promote cbs sports hq we are sending um i believe it's first time in season we are sending a crew uh p prisco danny canal uh brian mcfadden i think for sure going um and they're going to be at the game doing some pre-game stuff post-game stuff so should be some fun stuff on hq this weekend is this is this pete's first trip since the frozen face uh no i believe he went the following year okay um to the afc championship game if i'm not

mistaken i'm just gonna say i'm sure all those guys are thrilled to leave south florida right the following year to the AFC Championship game, if I'm not mistaken. I was going to say, I'm sure all those guys are thrilled to leave South Florida right now to go to Kansas City. Well, BMAC lives in Atlanta and travels frequently

to Stanford, so he's been up in your neck of the woods quite a bit. And, Pete is not happy now. All right, Denver's at the Chargers.

Here's your updated stat of the game. Need a tight end this week? Well, the Broncos have allowed 50 yards or a touchdown to a tight end in 9 of 12 games. That includes Tyler Conklin, Josh Oliver, Harrison Bryant, and Brevin Jordan. It's a great matchup for Gerald Everett. We don't love Gerald Everett, but it's a great matchup for him. I would love a Josh Palmer now that the window is open. Say that again?

Keep an eye on Josh Palmer and his return. That could impact Everett a little bit, but yes, the matchup is fantastic. I was just going to say, I would love him if it wasn't for the fact that Donald Parham exists. They could give up a touchdown to a tight end this week and Gerald Everett could still have a bad game.

I think Chargers tight ends have eight or nine of 21 touchdown catches for the team this year. Yes, that was one of my, yes, eight of 21. But Stone Smart has one, and Donald Parham has four. Russell Wilson is a low-end starter. 12th for Heath, 15th for Jamie. At least that was the case yesterday. I don't know if the rankings have changed.

He's, you know, three straight games with fewer than 19 points. But the Chargers are just a terrible defense. They go up the fourth most fantasy points to quarterbacks. Russell Wilson or Gardner Minshew? Minshew for me. Wilson for me. Russell Wilson or... Hold on.

Let me make sure I'm not saying anything stupid here. Russell Wilson or CJ Stroud at the Jets? That's one that I may adjust. Right now I have it, I think, Minchu, Stroud, Goff, Wilson. 12, 13, 14, 15. And I feel like I like Wilson better than both Goff and Stroud, so I'll probably make that change. Yeah, the Wilson-Goff one was a change I made last night.

So right now I still have Stroud one spot ahead of Wilson, but they're very, very close. Here's a funny question from the chat from David. Can we get analysis about Cortland Sutton from Chris? It's the most frustrating. It's that what's that GIF. They can't keep getting away from this, getting away with this, because it is like super frustrating for a guy when you have a 12% touchdown rate and you keep saying week over week, he can't keep doing this. And then he just keeps doing it. I know. And the

deep ball variety last week too, it was so weird. Cortland Sutton keeps getting, we'll get Sutton in a second. Let's talk about Javante Williams. Uh, why so low on Javante Williams guys? He's barely, he's hanging around 24th. Uh, Jamie, why so low on Williams?

Oh, sorry. He, he, he can go. No, no, Joe Hill head.

Jamie. I mean, I, I would start him over Derek Henry and Deandre Swift this week. Uh, just taking a chance on the matchup because I think the matchup is favorable. Um, I think they'll be playing with an opportunity.

They have an opportunity to be playing with a lead here, which has kind of been favorable for Javante. I would not be surprised after Russell Wilson was a turnover fest last week that this is kind of where Sean Payton leans a little bit more. So I think Javante has a bounce back game. I was just thinking, like, isn't hanging around 24th where Javante's pretty much been in terms of ranking.

That's where he lives. He's not anywhere new. Yeah. Uh, right. But that's not a big vote of confidence, I suppose. I do.

Well, I mean, guys, touchdowns, it's a problem. Yeah, it is. It's been a little,

uh, imagine how much for yours. Yeah. Touchdowns. It's a problem. It is. Imagine how we would feel about Javante Williams and Alexander Madison if they had five touchdowns this season. Just a small number. Moving on to Sutton. Not going to start Judy, I assume, but Cortland Sutton or Rashi Rice.

I have Sutton slightly ahead, but they're basically kind of similar. They're touchdown dependent to a certain extent. You know, Rice lately has been better in terms of his targets and catches. But, you know, great matchup. I mean, you know, this is an opportunity. You know, he may score twice against the Chargers

with a couple of plays down the field. Just how many big plays they give up. Yeah, it's Sutton for me. Okay, he's around 20th for the guys in PPR. Sit the Denver tight ends. Justin Herbert, we should probably talk a little bit more. Another low-end starter. You guys have Herbert ahead of Russell Wilson.

We talked about this yesterday sort of in depth, but he just hasn't been good against tough opponents. And the Broncos, what is it now? Eight straight games? Week four was the last time they allowed a quarterback over 20 fantasy points. There's been a couple of 19s in there. But yeah, 20 fantasy points. Under 20 fantasy points since week four.

That's eight straight quarterbacks. That includes Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes twice, Josh Dobbs when he was red hot, and CJ Stroud, who like I said, CJ Stroud should have had a big game last week. He missed opportunities. So, yeah, I mean, do you think Justin Herbert gets the 20? I do.

I said this yesterday. I think he breaks the streak. He gets the first 20-point game since week four. Agreed. Heath loves Eckler this week. He has him seventh in PPR, 12th in non. Jamie, you like or love Eckler? He's a top 12 running back,

so building in some of the risks that we've seen. I didn't like the fact that the great Brandon Staley, mastermind that he is, said that Joshua Kelly is going to get more work. They're concerned, clearly. There's no doubt about that Eckler's been struggling, but I let Start Sit this week with, this is still a week to trust Eckler, and then the I let start sit this week with you know this is still a

week to trust Eckler and then the schedule is very favorable moving forward in the playoffs so you want to see him come out of this game with a strong performance feeling confident that you can still have Austin Eckler being that guy for you but I mean look three straight bad games he's been awful sub 10 PPR points 14 carries for 18 yards against the Patriots season low 4.7 PPR points last week like that's ugly so you know history matchup I still think opportunity is all there for him and I hope he takes advantage of it it's it's going to be super stressful next week if we're giving advice for the fantasy playoffs and Austin Eckler was bad against the Broncos yeah yeah that's going to be one of the most stressful rankings of the week.

I got to tell you, I don't have a lot of faith in him to run well because he's had – like the Chiefs have a bad run defense per carry. The Jets have a bad run defense per carry. But nobody's close to the Broncos. No, you're right. But he averaged 3.2 yards per carry against the Chiefs, 3.4 against the Jets. So I just – he's a good matchup for a run defense, I think

at this point. And the Chargers, as I've said six times this week, lowest graded run blocking team in football, according to PFF. Can he get more involved in the passing game? I have an idea. That's a good idea for Brandon Staley. He should give Joshua Kelly more work on early downs

and throw the ball to Austin Eckler seven times. Fine by me all right uh yeah denver averages gives up 5.6 yards per carry to running backs that's terrible part of that though is still from the dolphins game part of yeah incredibly it is it was 12 yards of carry in that game yeah but i mean part of it's I mean, James Cook, 12 carries for 109 yards. Ty Chandler, 7.3 yards per carry. Jerome Ford, like 7 yards per carry. Anyway, all right, so start Eckler.

Eckler or the Lions running backs? Gibbs, Eckler, Montgomery for me. And PPR, Montgomery, Eckler, Gibbs, and Nunn. Agreed completely. Start Keenan Allen, sit the, Gibbs, and Nunn. Agreed completely. Start Keenan Allen, sit the other guys, right? Mm-hmm. Start Keenan Allen, sit the other guys, yes. Palmer will be interesting.

Don't think you should start him if he plays, but you certainly would be wanting to roster him if you're able to. And if you have an IR spot, just stash him there and then see what happens. And if he plays, I'd probably play him over Jerry Judy. I did read an article

on ESPN suggesting that Patrick Sertan could shadow Keenan Allen, which would be surprising to me since Allen's in the slot so much, but you can't sit Keenan Allen. Sertan has a knee injury too. Gerald Everett, we already discussed. We had this conversation in the green room on Sundays.

Is Sertan the best cornerback in the NFL right now? I don't even know anymore. Denzel Ward, I know, is having an amazing season. Sertan is phenomenal. Well, he's playing this week, I think. I would say, because I'm pretty skeptical that he's going to go into the slot and shut down Keenan Allen. I would say if he goes into the slot and shuts down Keenan Allen, then yes, he's the best week, I think. I would say, because I'm pretty skeptical that he's going to go into the slot and shut down Keenan Allen. I would say if he goes into the slot and shuts down Keenan Allen,

then yes, he's the best corner in the NFL. Yeah, I mean, Sauce Gardner's had a little bit of a down season by comparison. You have to hold him to a certain standard. Obviously, Jalen Ramsey's not that guy right now. Trying to think of the elite guys. It's not Darius Slay. It's not Slarius Slay. It's not Slay.

You know, Snead. Snead's had a big good season. I love Snead. But the pass interference penalties have to be taken into account. Sure. You know. Jair Alexander hasn't had the same season. Banged up. Lattimore's been banged up.

Yeah. Javis White's out. Off the top of my head, I would say it's either Ward, Gardner, or Sertan. And Marlon Humphrey deserves some credit, too. He's had a good season. Went healthy. Yeah. I was just trying to think who might be the top graded.

I think probably Deron Bland. Oh, yeah. Good point. He scored five touchdowns. I got five games left, guys, so we'll be right back. Talk about Houston and the Jets. Sauce Gardner, right after this. I asked Jamie earlier who he was confident in this game.

He said Nico Collins was a number two wide receiver. I think when you look at the Jets, my stat of the game is that I think you could argue that Stefan Diggs, in one of the two games against the Jets, is the only good wide receiver that has not done well against them. And they never use Gardner to shadow receivers. So I feel like they might be a little overrated. I think they give up the fewest fantasy points to receivers,

but competition has something to do with that. So Heath, where do you, Jamie has Collins as a number two receiver. Well, before Heath answers, you're making it seem like I'm telling people to sit in Nico Collins. To say he's a number two receiver, Before Heath answers, you're making it seem like I'm telling people to sit Nico Collins. To say he's a number two receiver, I haven't ranked 15th. There's no situation, I think, that is not where you don't have a loaded roster where you're sitting Nico Collins coming off the game that he just had

knowing that he's going to be force-fed targets without Tank Dell on the field. He would have to be playing prime Deion Sanders to sit him at this point. Okay. All right. You know what? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like that. So start Nico Collins. We'll skip that. Jamie hates Nico Collins. Heath, what do you think? Let's talk about CJ Stroud. One thing the Jets are really amazing at is they just don't give up

deep balls, and CJ Stroud lives on that. He is so good at improvising and creating deep ball opportunities. So I'm fascinated to see how this game plays out. So Heath, how do you feel about Stroud this week? I would rather not start him. He's just inside of my top 12, the Russell Wilson range, the Gardner Minshew range. The problem is I don't really love those guys either. So I think if Stroud's someone who was your second quarterback, but you've been starting him over a low-end QB1,

then I'm probably sitting him. But if he's someone that's just been your unquestioned starter, I'm probably sticking with him. Here's what Stroud has done in the games that Tank Dell left early or missed. So he left the game against Atlanta with a concussion. 16.2 fantasy points for Stroud in that game. 18.2 points next game against the Saints. 18.1 points against the Broncos last week.

You said he should have had a touchdown, but he didn't. So still under 19 fantasy points in all three of those games. On the road this season, he's averaging just 17.1 points per game. All of his big games for the most part have been at home. So you have potential bad weather, as Heath said earlier. I know I'm not allowed to say alluded to anymore. Heath said earlier. And no tank Dell.

So you have missing key piece of the offense. You have potential weather. You have struggles on the road. Like this could be ugly for him. It really could. And it's not like he's playing an easy opponent either. You know, I know the jets,

like you said, they've given up some, some plays to some, some big receivers. They're tough as hell. They're tough as hell against quarterbacks. Yeah. I mean,

you know, you just look at two or two weeks ago, it was a 9.6 fantasy points for him. And you know, that's some supremely underwhelming. So, um, yeah,

like I said, I, I, I, I'm'm gonna make the adjustment put russell wilson ahead of him i would start gardner minchie over him i would start josh dobbs over him uh for this week you know as much as he struggled so um i don't i don't love the setup for cj stroud which is unfortunate okay are you guys starting a houston running back no no are you starting noah brown noah thank you would you know i hope not would you start noah brown or deandre hopkins hopkins hopkins um okay noah brown or don tavius wicks brown brown okay and i know you keep saying

wicks let's just make sure sure that Watson's ruled out first. Yeah, yeah. Well, Wicks is getting about five targets per game pretty consistently. Seems like you could get like a seven-point floor in PPR, whereas Noah Brown had literally zero points last week. So it's just kind of a consideration there. But Brown also, you know, he could have a huge game. He has two games this year with more than 24

points. But the Jets are tough. Man, both of those were without Collins, not without Dell. I think one of them was without Collins. I think Collins played... I don't know for sure. I'm pretty sure Collins missed two with the calf injury.

We left early. It doesn't really matter. I think left early and missed one is right, but I'm not sure Collins missed two with the calf injury. All right. It doesn't really matter. I think left early and missed one is right, but I'm not sure how early he left. We both win. Okay, it's Alton Schultz coming off five targets in his last two games and missed last week's game, but no tanked out. So that's obviously a factor here. The Jets are 19th against tight ends.

Did they have any games this year where everybody was healthy? I don't think so. Two weeks ago, maybe, when Brown first came back? Week one. I would say week one was the only week. I remember that game, though.

Dell didn't really play. Yeah. No, they really haven't. So, you guys like Dalton Schultz? Are we going back to Dalton Schultz if he plays? I have him behind the PPR behind Everett and Conklin. So two streamers for this week.

But I think he said it in regards to somebody else. I wouldn't be dropping someone to pick up someone if you don't have to. So if you kind of went – like I know one league, for example, I went – I just handcuffed the Texans tight ends because they were playing Denver and just went with Brevin Jordan. And so I'm just dropping Jordan and playing Schultz. Okay. Heath, let's talk about the Jets.

Brees Hall and Garrett Wilson, go. Yeah, I think that most people are probably starting them. I am probably starting them. Wilson's a number two wide receiver, Hall's a number two running back. It's possible that you have two of our top 12 or top 15 at that position, and then you're sitting them. I think Zach Wilson being back will be better for them

and better for the offense. And I know Texans have a great run defense. Not sure that really matters. What's Breesall going to go from two and a half yards per carry to two yards per carry? He's going to catch five to seven passes, and you're just hopeful. I still think it's possible that he could break the big one at any moment.

Would you start Puka Nakua over those Jets options? Jets options? Yes. I have it right now. Puka, yes of both hall and wilson well not puka just ahead of both in ppr i'd go hall and half probably i'd probably go hall and half and none would Would you start Garrett Wilson or Rasheed Rice? Rice. Wilson. All right. And that's pretty much it for this game.

Which DST do you like better? Oh, Conklin. Wait, wait, wait. Conklin. Another guy. Houston's so bad against tight ends. Conklin. You said Conklin over Schultz, right, Jamie?

In PPR. In non, I would take a chance with Schultz, just more touchdown potential because Conklin doesn't score any. But they did just put CJ Uzama on IR, so there's maybe a few more snaps for Conklin. And look, he's been very spotty, but did come off a game, different quarterback, but nine targets last week against Atlanta. So I think there'll be some chances for volume because we've seen that with Zach Wilson as well.

But yes, it's all about matchup here. You know, the Texans have been really, really awful against tight ends. So Conklin's a good replacement option if you lost McBride with a bye week. I'd go Schultz just over Conklin. They're both in that 13 to 16 range. And the Texans DST or the Jets DST? Texans. I'm going to go Jets.

Okay. Both of them are worth using this week. Jacksonville is at Cleveland, stat of the game. Jacksonville, so Jamie alluded to this earlier. Alluded. Jacksonville has allowed 38 or more receiving yards to seven running backs in their last seven games. And in that stretch, a receiving touchdown to Kyle Juszczyk.

They are just a layup for running backs in the passing game. Jerome Ford, I think he's one of the weirdest players, right? He scores double digit PPR fantasy points almost every week. He does it a different way almost every week. He almost never has a big game anymore. Yep. So what the hell am I supposed to do with Jerome Ford, Jamie? You pencil in 11.9 PPR points, which puts him in the top 24. Because I looked this morning. I think it's right at like 24. There's like 24 guys averaging 11 PPR points or more at the position for the season.

So that puts him in borderline top 20 range because he's almost at 12 at 11.9. But in any event, you just kind of i think expect that and the thing that i like well from flacco last week was uh the three catches led the team at that position and so you know flacco's a statue so he's going to get the ball out of his hands to his running backs or to his uh check downs as opposed to trying to escape with his legs like dorian thompson robinson would so i'm hopeful that based on what this defense has allowed and the role that Ford plays, that's where he'll win.

It's a win in the passing game. Cause I don't think he's going to have a lot of success running and you can look and say, okay, it makes an ad two touchdowns on the ground. That's just still a really good Jaguars run defense. That's only the second time they've allowed, or it's the fourth rushing touchdown they allowed last week and two of them

came by mixing. So they allowed two running back touchdowns on the ground for the season prior to that. So I just think that Ford, if you're counting on him to run for a big day, that would be a surprise. But his total yardage might matter here, and this could be a five-catch game. Do we know why, and I probably just missed this,

why Kareem Hunt had more carries and touches last week? They've been kind of mixing and matching a lot lately. It's every week. It's like Ford plays so many more snaps, but the carries always seem to be, often seem to be fairly even. And they have, I don't feel like they've been near the goal line much lately,

but that's often Kareem Hunt. So I don't know. You need him to get wide open on a wheel route against a defense that completely forgot about him and the Rams, who, by the way, are great against pass catching running backs. And then he stumbles into the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown catch, which is what happened for Ford last week. But he finds a way. Being super involved in the passing game is just really beneficial. And he is their passing downs guy, and he runs a lot of routes.

All right, so having said that, okay. I don't know. This game sucks. So if Lawrence is out and if Amari Cooper is out, is Elijah Moore the best wide receiver in this game for fantasy? I have him ranked one spot ahead of Ridley in PPR. I still would take Ridley in non. I'd take Moore in half.

I mean, I think you just look at the 35 targets for Moore the last four games and the 12 targets that he had with Cooper playing a portion of that game. I feel like he's in a little bit better spot because Denzel Ward's probably going to shadow Ridley. What is this comment all about, Heath? I don't know. What is the comment?

I'm trying to find it. It said, Heath deserves a pay raise and a big Christmas bonus. Well, that... I mean, the people have spoken. No. Thanks, Ken. Appreciate you.

Good guy. Yeah, I think I still have Ridley ahead of Elijah Moore. There's been several games this season where Elijah Moore's had like eight or nine targets and just produced nothing. Oh, he averages fewer yards per target

than Alvin Kamara, Brees Hall, Joe Mixon. Three running backs. He's got one of the worst yards per target among wide receivers in football. He has such a low catch rate. It's like 55%, and it's been 55% every year of his career, and his ADOT hasn't changed. So this is a guy who just does not catch targets.

It's amazing, Elijah Moore, one of the least efficient wide receivers in football basically throughout his career. It's crazy. But he's got a great opportunity. The Jaguars, we saw it on display. They stink against the pass, and he's getting a lot of targets.

So if Amari Cooper plays, I assume you'd be pretty optimistic about him? Yes. With who at quarterback? Flacco. Yes, only with Flacco. And the same goes for Moore. I'd only start Moore ahead of Ridley if Flacco's a starter.

And would you start DeAndre Hopkins or Calvin Ridley? Hopkins. Hopkins. Evan Ingram or David Njoku in this game? Njoku. Yep. I did all the work, so I might as well just say it, even though the stat is completely useless.

But George Kittle in 2018 averaged 78.6 yards per game with C.J. Beathard. And in 2020, 160 yards in two games that Beathard starts. So fire up Evan Ingram. Okay. If you were desperate for a quarterback, who would you start? Beathard or Flacco? Flacco.

Flacco. Do you expect a good game or a great game for Travis Etienne? Good. Yeah. Yeah, I think good's the right expectation. I don't think great is out of the question brown's run defense is not uh great it's pretty average so hopefully we can get a good game here from etn and i think jamie talked about it earlier this week or whenever it was like

bethard it looks like he could be leaning on etn a little bit more in the passing game i think that's what we're hoping for all right i, I think that's it for this game. Which DST do you like better in this one? Browns by a lot. Yeah. Are you even giving any consideration that Lawrence might play, or are we just going with Beathard? I'd be shocked if Lawrence played, but look, he shocked us before.

So I'd love to see it, because forget about this week. That would mean he's going to hopefully be close to being healthy in the fantasy playoffs. Yeah. Like the last thing you want, you know, he's talked about,

you know, being a nightmare for Eckler next week. Like imagine we get a gimpy Trevor Lawrence next week and having to make that call. Well, that's good. It is much more reasonable to try to play quarterback

after six days on a high ankle sprain than it is running back. So I haven't completely ruled it out. Look, if the very mediocre Patrick Mahomes can do it. Exactly. Which he did last year. Then the, what is he, the prince that was promised?

Yeah. Trevor Lawrence certainly can. All right, let's go to the Rams and the Ravens here. Stat of the game. In their last five games, the Rams have allowed 13 or more fantasy points in PPR. Two, Jake Ferguson, Luke Musgrave, Trey McBride, and Harrison Bryant.

That's the thing, Heath. It's like, I know, I'm kind of with you on likely. He hasn't done anything without Andrews. His ADOT is 3.7 yards, so he's not used downfield at all, but this is a great matchup. The Rams have now entered the Bengals, Texans, Broncos discussion as a great streaming matchup for tight ends. Does that do anything for you? I'm a little bit more optimistic. I hadn't, hadn't seen those numbers yet. I wonder how many of those are touchdowns. I think you're going to need a touchdown from Isaiah Likely for him to finish as a top 10 tight end.

The involvement in the actual receiving targets without Andrews has been just abysmal so far this season. But, you know, yes, it's easy to say that. And to me, it's a two-game sample size. It's week one of a new offense when Andrews didn't play. And it's the last game that they played when, how many, I believe Lamar Jackson had 32 pass attempts. Yeah.

And six targets went to Isaiah Likely. And the 32 pass attempts is actually a lot for Lamar Jackson. Not a lot, but I don't expect it necessarily. It was the first time he threw more than 30 passes since week four or five. If you're going to have six targets with an eight out under five, I think you're going to have to score a touchdown. Right. Most likely, but to me that was encouraging.

I'm not looking at that as a like i'm not looking at that as a negative i'm looking at that as a start of potentially now they went into their bye week with him having been a part of the playbook and how do you build off that and so i hope that's what the case is plus this matchup is is fantastic like you said i think the key is probably well maybe not but to me it might be odellell Beckham and his shoulder and his health. If Odell Beckham's on the field for 70% of the snaps, then I think that Lamar's probably going to throw it to him. I would anticipate that probably being the case, but most likely those targets could come also at the expense of what they got from Bateman and Aguilar last week. Not that it was a significant number, but I would think that's where it's coming from. I don't think that we're going to see a lot

of those guys being involved. If you're tiering the Ravens pass catchers, I think likely third behind the two receivers. Bateman did have five targets last week, and he was awesome. He had two catches for 21 yards. Last game. Last game, yeah. He was

terrible. I'm joking. You're sitting Matthew Stafford, but I will say this about Stafford. He's got 29 and 31 points in his last two games against Arizona and Cleveland. 31 against Arizona, 29 against Cleveland. If he throws a lot when Cooper Cupp's been on the field, he has been an

automatic stud. I understand. Baltimore is elite. My question is, let me lay it out. guys love kyron williams and i understand why and the ravens defense run defense isn't as good as his past defense um but for and higby's a sit and stafford's a sit and i get why stafford's a sit but if stafford is a sit i am a little surprised that you have puka nakua i think like a top 18 wide receiver. He had the big play at a 70-yard touchdown catch against the Browns, but

I thought he'd be a little bit lower. So, Heath, how much confidence is there in Puka Nakua this week? He's right in that Garrett Wilson range. That should tell you something. He's been a guy who I've pretty much kept in the top 10 range. I think last week I said, this is the last week. I'm going to leave him there for one more week. He's been a guy who I've pretty much kept in the top 10 range. I think last week I

said this is the last week. I'm going to leave him there for one more week. Part of it is maybe you shouldn't still factor this in, but the highs that Puka Nakua has been to this year and the extent to which he's produced wide receiver one must start weeks versus Matthew Stafford, who has had a couple of good weeks here recently, but has mostly been irrelevant for fantasy football and at the quarterback position. Um, so yeah,

I, I downgraded Puka probably 10 spots because of this matchup, but maybe the Garrett Wilson thing. I should have just stopped after that. Last week was the first time we saw Stafford big game with both receivers being significantly involved. The week before it was Higby scoring twice and Kyron Williams scoring twice on the four touchdowns against Arizona. So we've seen Stafford, his earlier game this season, which was the only time he was over 20 fantasy points. I believe that was the first game with a cutback week five.

I think it was against Philadelphia. He's gotten his numbers in weird ways, and the receivers have been productive without Stafford having big games. So for me, I think this is like a 6 for 75 for 80 type of game for Puka, 13 to 15 PPR points. If he scores, you're thrilled. Okay. I'll take 13 because the he scores, you're thrilled. Okay. I'll take 13, you know, because the Ravens are just so good.

All right. So Cup, I think I asked you this earlier, but Jamie, I think you said you had Cup. I'll just re-ask it instead of guessing. Who's the second best wide receiver in this game for Fantasy? I have it ranked right now. Puka one, Cup two, Flowers three, and those guys are very close.

And then Beckham four. Yep. And when you say those guys are very close, you're talking about Cup and Flowers. Correct. Not Puka. Some questions from the chat. Cup or Olave?

Olave. Olave by a lot. Flowers or Ridley? Olave, O lot. Flowers or Ridley? Olave, Olave. Flowers or Ridley in half PPR? Flowers. I think I have Ridley just ahead. I mean, just on Olave, I understand why people are asking,

because Carolina, basically Mike Evans is one of the only guys who's been good against them. Jameis. Keaton Mitchell. We haven't talked about the running backs yet. Keaton Mitchell, Jordan Addison, or Noah Brown. Pick my flex. The floor

is definitely with Addison. The ceiling is definitely with Mitchell. Yeah, I'd probably start Mitchell. I would start Mitchell as well. So what are we doing with those Ravens running backs? I currently have them back-to-back Mitchell slightly ahead of Edwards. I would not be surprised if I move Mitchell a little bit ahead. I feel like, though, when we get away from Edwards,

he falls into the end zone twice. So if he scores, you're going to regret hitting him. If he doesn't score score you're getting the production that he had against the Chargers when he got less touches than Mitchell and gave you I believe it was 8 carries for 26 yards like that's the type of downfall that you have and the pitfalls

you have with Edwards now Mitch only had 9 carries in that game so it's not like it was a oh my god he blew him away from a touch standpoint are they behind? I know, Jamie, you don't like DeAndre Swift. I would not start a Ravens running back over DeAndre Swift, no. Okay, so they're number three running backs.

Correct. Yes. And the last time we saw Lamar Jackson, he scored a whopping 17 fantasy points at that brutal Chargers defense. He's so frustrating. Lamar Jackson has scored, what, 17 or fewer points in four of his last five games. Starter set, Heath. You're starting Lamar Jackson.

Yeah, I think it's hard to get away from Lamar Jackson knowing the upside, but yes, he's been in the patch from a Holmes frustratingly disappointing for as good as his nfl production has been i mean those two guys are still mvp candidates that's the thing i'm hoping for for lamar jackson like he's looking around and saying all right maybe purdy's in the conversation mcafree tyreek to uh the homes if i have a good stretch run i could win this thing and and it'd

be fun it'd be fun to see. I mean, look, they're a touchdown favorite home against a good Rams team. That shows you what the, you know, Vegas thinks of, of, of the Ravens at this point.

And, um, part of the reason I was a little late this morning, I was listening to Albert Brewer on the radio, uh, cause I enjoy his commentary. And he was talking about the MVP and that Lamar Jackson, you can make a case that the Ravens have two of the biggest statement wins

this season, what they did against Detroit and what they did against Seattle just how they destroyed those two teams now that's not necessarily a Lamar thing that's as much the defense as as anything but you know he could come out and really just make a strong statement to say the MVP is mine and the Ravens lock up the one seed in the AFC sounds like a team that the selection committee should put in their final four if you ask me uh if if we're judging it now, no. But if we're judging it a month from now, when we have to make a decision on the postseason, then yes.

How could you say no on the Ravens? It's just crazy. They are so clearly one of the four best teams. I think the bigger case that you should have been making was, just because the ratings for TV ratings over the past five years would bear this out. If you're going for ratings, then you can't leave Patrick Mahomes out. Yeah. Yeah.

If you want a good quarterback, then you can. You're going by production this year. Colts and Bengals. Colts and Bengals. All right. I'll give you five minutes on two games. Let's see if we can do this.

Colts and Bengals. Bengals have allowed a rushing touchdown to a running back in eight of their last nine games. So I'm fired up to start Zach Moss. I was, you know, we talked about start percentage earlier. I was like, please be under 70. Please be under 70. Yeah, Moss was going to be my start of the week if it was low enough.

But he was at like 88%. So what am I telling people? Yeah, start him. Yeah, this should be. I mean, like last week was so annoying. 21 total touches, 19 carries, and he did bubkis. Yeah, he owes us one. Okay.

And then nine running backs have scored 13 or more PPR points in the last nine games against the Colts. So it's a good matchup for Mixon. That doesn't always matter, but it's a good matchup. But Stewart's coming back. That's true, yeah. That's a great, great point. Gardner Minshew is around 12 for Jamie, but lower for Heath.

You're not feeling it for Minshew. Was he 15th? He's a fine QB, too. Oh, sorry. I had him at 18th, so it must be updated. 13th. Okay, you moved him up. I did these games early, this one anyway, so that's probably Tuesday.

All right, so yeah, number two quarterback. I will just point out he scored like 15 points in regulation against the Titans last week. I think that's important. We were talking about Lamar with the 17. That might still be a starter. Minshew with 15 or 16, that might be a top 15 quarterback. It's just the expectations are so wildly different. Mitch, oh my god,

thank god he got me 17. Oh, bleep, Lamar. Michael Pittman's an automatic. Josh Downs, any interest in going back to Josh Downs? Three receiver leagues and a flex. If he has been in your

lineup, I would probably stick with him. But yes, last week was frustrating watching the Alec Pierce, Kylan Granson game. And that's a good sleeper too, is Granson. I mean, we talk about what tight ends have done against the Bengals. My God, they made Pat Fryer move to Nevin Ingram with the Hall of Famers last two games. So if you are stuck, Granson could be a really interesting desperation flex play or tight end if you need somebody. But he hasn't exactly been the same type of player like those other two guys, for example.

So I don't want to trust Downs if I don't have to. I just wonder what's going on there because a lot of targets two games ago, not a lot with it. Disappeared last week. We know the injury, the knee injury, the two games before the bye. So it feels as if maybe he hit a little bit of a rookie wall.

Yeah. And would you start Josh Downs or Gabe Davis in PPR? Downs. Gabe. How about this? Jake Browning is the most added non-DST in fantasy.

He is now 59% rostered, so we definitely have to talk about him. I mean, are you, Heath, what are your expectations for Browning after a 28.7 fantasy point game at Jacksonville? I think if you look at the way most of these Colts games have gone this season, there's going to be a lot of possessions. There's going to be a lot of plays run by both teams, and there's usually quite a few points scored.

And so I don't mind Browning. He's my second favorite streamer behind Minshew. They're not separated by that many points. It could absolutely be a fooled you moment from last week and that Jacksonville defense was very bad, but he was really good last week. So I, I I'm okay. If you get stuck in a position where you have to start him. And I think he is a good start as a number two quarterback or a super flex. He has one job for fantasy managers, one job. And it's just look at number one often, early, a lot.

And we talked a lot about this throughout the season because we had a lot of backup quarterbacks. You're one for two right now. Jamar Chase has one great game and one stinker with Jake Browning. Let's keep a 700 win percentage if we know, if we can, you know, for that. That'd be good. And that'd be awesome. Jake Browning or Josh Dobbs from the chat?

Dobbs. I'll go Dobbs. Jake Browning or Geno Smith? Browning. Browning. All right, Joe Mixon's a number two running back. We've talked about him quite a bit. And Jamar Chase is a start you're starting jamar chase nico collins jamar chase chase chase sitting higgins

sit higgins okay yeah colts dst all right let's see if this is updated last time i checked top five for dave and jamie 23rd for heath uh they are not top five for Dave and Jamie 23rd for Heath. They are not top five for me anymore. Cause I'm with Browns ahead, but they're, they're, they're in top 10 and they are not, not top 25. That's what 24 for Heath.

Well, I just told you that I thought Jake Browning was a really good number two quarterback. So it wouldn't make much sense if I really liked the Colts also. Well, they have 21 sacks or something in their last four games. They're getting after the quarterback a lot. Yeah, 21 sacks in their last four

games. Maybe I'll move them up to 19. I don't know. I don't know if they really have a good pass rush, but they've been all over Carolina, New England, Tampa Bay, and Tennessee. Speaking of Tennessee, here we go. Tennessee's at Miami. Let's knock Miami out of the way. Start to Lamar Jackson. Start all,

start your dolphins, period. All right. I mean, I would like to talk a little bit more about HN and Mostert. I think we, well, we did it yesterday in depth,

but for those of you who didn't hear that, I'll, I'll do that. Cause everybody watches every minute of every show. They're 11. Yeah. Go ahead. No,

they're, they're, they're top 15 running backs. Both of them start them. Right. Uh, would you start, uh, who's your, who do 15 running backs, both of them. Start them. Right. Would you start... Who do you like better, Most or A-Chan? A-Chan.

A-Chan one spot higher. Kyron Williams or A-Chan? A-Chan. I have A-Chan. Zach Moss or A-Chan? Moss. Moss. Moss. Saquon Barkley or Dolphins running backs?

Barkley. Barkley. Okay. Tennessee, Derek Henry or Joe Mixon? Mixon. Mixon. Any issues at all with Jalen Waddell, who's been pretty disappointing lately?

Can't sit him, in most cases, against this defense. Stored him. HN or Waddle? We get the penguin on Monday night. Oh, he's going to score for the fourth time this year. Both. Storage HN and Waddle HN, and Waddle. HN or Waddle.

Yeah, I mean, it must be nice to play in 18 leagues where you can sit. I have a league. No, it's two running back, two receiver, a flex league. I have Lamb, Waddle, Puka, Mostert for three spots. So it's Waddle, Puka, Mostert for three spots. So it's Waddle, Puka, Mostert for three spots. And I'm sitting Puka. I would too. Yep.

Half PPR. I have Waddle and HN in the FFT opens. So I need both of them to deliver. All right, let's go. And the Dolphins DST is top seven. At least they were yesterday. Yeah, they're two for me. Actually, no, I did this game this morning.

So they're two for Jamie and seven for Heath. Chico Conquo, I am unfortunately starting him. I have a lot of Trey McBride. Chico Conquo, he had 63 yards. I would start Granson over him. No, I'm going to start Conquo. Okay, why? I think he's going to get you like 50 yards.

Why? Because he's been around. get you like 50 yards. Why? Because he's been around. He's been 45 yards and 62 yards in his last two games. He's scored. He's had his two best games. He's got four to six targets in five of six games with Will Levis. All right. Let's make a bet. Okay.

Double or nothing. Because I clearly lost the Oconquo-Kincaid bet. Right. So double or nothing. Granson versus Oconquo this week. Okay. Oconquo-Kincaid bet. Right. So double or nothing. Granson versus Oconquo this week. Okay, Oconquo. Granson could easily have zero yards. He easily could.

Oconquo is going to get his five targets. Maybe more. They're going to have to throw a lot. So when you say double or nothing, you've already shaved lines in your head, Jamie. So Adam has to shave double the number of lines. Yeah, actually, I think it was just lunch. Okay.

Yeah, it was just lunch. It was Kincaid versus Okonkwo. Yeah. Adam's afraid to make like real bets. There's some truth to that. Yeah. All right. That's it.

Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll talk to you tomorrow with a recap of, I mean, we'll skip the recap of Thursday night's game. Now we'll recap it. Whatever the game, you're going to love this game. Makes how you like watching football.

Yeah, I like, as long as it's close, it's great. See you later.