Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (NFC): Barkley, Goff, London and More (12/22 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 22, 2023

To display your continued support of the show, please vote for Fantasy Football Today in the Sports Podcast Awards in the "Best Fantasy Betting and Gaming Podcast" Category https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/fantasy-betting-gaming-sports-podcast/ 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 How about that bonanza last night!? We recap Saints-Rams and talk about our interest level in Demarcus Robinson, if we have any concerns about Alvin Kamara and more. Then we've got updated news and notes (12:45) including a reason we might downgrade Dak Prescott ... One Question for Each Game (19:50)! Will Ravens-49ers be a shootout? Will David Montgomery bounce back? Start Drake London at home? Do we trust Saquon Barkley or Jonathan Taylor this week? What about Ty Chandler and Chris Godwin? ... Start or Sit for Ravens-49ers (30:45), Lions-Vikings (38:50), Colts-Falcons (47:25), Jaguars-Buccaneers (54:50), Giants-Eagles (1:04:00), Cardinals-Bears (1:12:00) and Packers-Panthers (1:15:30) ... 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

Kick off an exciting football season with BetMGM, an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League. Yard after yard, down after down, the sportsbook born in Vegas gives you the chance to take action to the end zone and celebrate every highlight reel play. And as an official sportsbook partner of the NFL, BetMGM is the best place to fuel your football fandom on every game day. With a variety of exciting features, BetMGM offers you plenty of seamless ways to jump straight onto the gridiron and to embrace peak sports action. Ready for another season of gridiron glory? What are you waiting for?

Get off the bench, into the huddle, and head for the end zone all season long. Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older. Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem? For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario helpline at 1-866-531-2600.

BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Whether in the game or in life, the right coverage can make all the difference. Securian Canada gives you that coverage. For more than 65 years, Securian Canada has been helping Canadians build secure tomorrows. Their insurance solutions are designed to help protect you

and your loved ones financially, giving you the peace of mind to focus on what truly matters. Find their products through banks, credit unions, and associations, or visit SecurianCanada.ca. Securian Canada, insurance designed for life. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. What a play! Can you believe this?

No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Bonanza. What a way to start fantasy week 16. Not Camara. Not really Cup. But honestly, pretty good. Not Camara. Not really Cup. But honestly, pretty good.

Pretty good overall. And not the Saints DST either. But it's Adam, Dave, and Jamie here on Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Mailbag coming up later today. You know that. But right now we'll talk about seven NFC home games, including the game of the week. Yeah, the Baltimore-San Francisco game.

Detroit-Minnesota, Indianapolis at Atlanta, Jacksonville at Tampa Bay, the Giants at the Eagles, the Cardinals at the Bears, the Packers at the Panthers. Jamie, I know you had that one league where it was like all Thursday.

Which players did you have in that? I forget. I had Kamara and Kyron, so one or two are good, and Puka and Olave. Very happy. Oh, all four of two are good, and Puka and Olave. Very happy. Oh, all four of them. Okay.

Yes. Three out of four ain't bad. I was playing against Haversick, and I don't pay attention to kicker rules. Apparently, we get negative points for missed kicks, so I was happy on the first missed field goal. Oh, okay. He ended up having, I think, a pretty good game. He did. He did.

Should we start incorporating that more in leagues that have kickers, or should we just continue to say don't have kickers in fantasy? I don't mind incorporating that. It's fine. I think if you're going to use kickers, include the negative scoring. Yeah. And then as one of our colleagues says, when they miss kicks, just choke them. Choke them.

I choke them. I choke them. Haversick, I feel like he does miss a lot of field goals. Well, I think he did and then they brought in Mason Crosby and put him on the practice squad and then he started making his kicks and then they cut Mason Crosby and now he's missing kicks again.

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I didn't pick him up. He's 3 for 4, 2 for 3. Yeah, he misses. He's a misser. But he gets a lot of points. They're scoring a lot. Alright, so we'll talk about that game. let's go to that one right now how about that Derek Carr actually had a better game than Matthew Stafford not IRL but in fantasy uh Carr scored about 30 points Stafford 25 points and are you going to start either of them next week Stafford at the Giants and Carr is I'm sorry who's got Otis Carr at Tampa Bay on the right Tampa Bay so

yeah they're both in play to start but Stafford just rolling hot right now offensive lines giving good protection he's I liked how he was moving around like being able to hang in the pocket move out of the pocket that's something that's a little bit different not a statue like he's been before and uh the accuracy is amazing the touchdown to to demarcus robinson was awesome he's been playing great i don't see how he's not a top 10 quarterback next week at the giants and then yeah how about demarcus robinson's i think for if you miss the game cooper cup dropped two difficult but catchable touchdowns. One of them was followed by a Pukunukuwa touchdown catch. One of them was followed by a field goal.

So Cup had a couple of chances, and he had 12 targets, I think. He just didn't have a good game. But I think the two big storylines would be Kamara with a total dud, and Demarcus Robinson with a great game. And maybe Shahid too. So, Jamie, does anything change for you going forward with some of these players? Well, Shahid, you know, last week's game was disappointing.

Week 15's game was disappointing because no Olave, and he had been, you know, I don't know, shake the rust off game because of the absence with the thigh injury because nobody has thigh injuries. But I think if you saw the two games before he got hurt and it coincided with Michael Thomas getting hurt. So the first game that Thomas was either hurt or out, he had nine targets in that game and really was a focal point of the offense. Then against Atlanta, which is the game he got hurt, he had five targets. I think it was in the first quarter of the first half before he went out.

So they were really trying to get him involved and you mentioned this uh when we previewed the show that the less tasem hill has played the more their car has obviously been have opportunities throws which which is clearly benefiting the receiving core there and i wonder how much that might may or may not change coming off of a loss because tasem hill has been a non-factor for two straight weeks one win one loss so as long as Thomas is out I think especially next week Shahid's in play as a number three receiver in three receiver leagues and for Demarcus Robinson it's just one of those I think dart throw type of guys you know if you're if you need a wide receiver you know we'll see what injuries come out of this week you know Jamar Jamar Chase, let's say, for example, doesn't play next week. Not a bad guy to pivot to because the Giants won't be able to cover all the Rams.

And clearly Robinson right now is a factor. I know there was the 2-2 Atwell return. Maybe that was going to be something people worried about. But Robinson, four touchdowns in four straight games of the touchdown, that's hard to overlook with the way Stafford's playing. Ten snaps for Taysom Hill, by the way. That number went down from last week, I believe. Yeah.

There could be a phasing out here. It could be finally happening just in time for week 17. Yeah, and they didn't even use him on the two-point conversion. I thought they would, and they did not. And I'll say this for Shahid. If you look at his route depth, I think that maybe in the past few games without Michael Thomas, they were trying to change him into something that he isn't. They were making him a short area guy. This game, he was back to 10 plus yards of route depth,

just being a deep threat, which makes him inconsistent and unreliable. But I think it might be the role that he's just better at. So he went back to that in this game. No, they still used him. He still ran a bunch of short routes, too. Well, of course, he's always going to run. That's the problem with route depth. I don't know if that necessarily gives you

a clear picture of usage. Well, I mean, nobody's going to run a deep route every play. But obviously, he had a 15-yard ADOT in this game. That's what I care about. Because now they're using him in a certain way, and they're putting the ball toward him. They're going to. And Kamara next week at Tampa Bay. Now they're using him in a certain way, and they're putting the ball toward him. They're going to him.

And Camara next week at Tampa Bay. I don't know. If Tampa Bay does well against ETN, you might have a little bit of hesitation with Camara next week because Vita Vey is back, and I don't know. It's hard to bench guys like this, though, because there's just still so much upside. And I did mention this. The Rams are absolutely unbelievable

against pass-catching running backs. You had five catches for 16 yards. The Rams are the best in the business. They give up the fewest receiving yards per game to running backs. I started to dig into that this morning, and that'll be something that I'll work on this offseason. One of the reasons why is because they play heavy zone coverage.

And so what that means is that all the defensive players are facing the quarterback. But the other thing that they do a really good job at, and I really can't wait to go back and see this during the offseason, they can sniff out the screens and the dump off passes, the flare passes to running backs. At least they did against Camara. They did it really, really well. And the Saints didn't scheme all of them up very, very well either.

So that's kind of a two-sided thing where the Saints didn't do a good enough job getting Kamara, the play drawn up properly, or was a dump off pass where Derek Hart checked down. And the Rams seem to be really smart about attacking and rallying to whoever's about to get the ball instead of reacting once the player has the ball. Okay. It's going to be interesting to see what their new defensive coordinator does, because Raheem Morris is getting a head coaching job. He could get one. Absolutely. He should be in contention for one again.

They always seem to have good defensive coordinators there. Where does Sean McVay fall on coach of the year rankings? It's him. It's Stefanski. It's Steichen. Shanahan? It's hard to give it to Shanahan because they were expected to be good. I know, but they're really good.

Okay. So, anyway. Oh, Chris. I think Chris is going to write an article. Check it out. We were talking about it last night. Is Pukunukuwa the best waiver wire pickup in history? We were trying to figure out better ones than Puka Nakua.

I suggested maybe Darren Waller when he was tight end two in 2019. But he was drafted. Was that? I don't know if Darren Waller was a pickup back then. Well, not for you, but I think he probably was for a lot of people. I don't know if he was a leg Waller after Hard Knocks because he was so popular. I think in terms of even this year, Kyron Williams. Yeah, I mean, if Kyron Williams didn't miss that four games, I believe,

then maybe you give it to him. And maybe you still give it to him. But they have two of the best waiver wire pickups ever, basically. It's crazy. That's good coaching. Yeah, let's see what Chris comes up with as he kind of digs into that. We got to learn from that this offseason that's another thing we have to do what can we learn from that that we can apply nothing next year yeah so we can you know it's always my goal is

to find those guys before week one well i i mean i think kyron williams is it's complete shock but all right but that's a topic for a different day youtube.com slash fantasy football today that's where you can watch all of our content. That's where you can watch our live stream at 11.30 a.m. Eastern on Sunday mornings. YouTube.com slash Fantasy Football Today, 11.30 a.m. Eastern on Sunday mornings. Before that, at 10 a.m. Eastern on Sunday mornings, tune in to CBS Sports HQ on the CBS Sports app, and you can watch Dave, Jamie, and Heath on Fantasy Football today there. And we will have a Christmas Eve recap show at 9.30 p.m.

We usually start around 8. So it's going to be later. It's not going to change anything for those of you that listen on Mondays. But if you want to watch it live, it's going to be later on Christmas Eve. I want to thank Dave and Jamie for accommodating there because I have plans and family stuff. So anyway, we'll see you Christmas Eve. Yeah. I just want to tell you real quick, two players.

I got a heebie-jeebies segment here. Two players that are giving me the heebie-jeebies this week. Saquon Barkley at the Eagles and Travis Etienne at the Bucs. I'm getting some heebie-jeebies from them. I mean, I think you could factor in Kamara. You could throw in Derrick Henry. You could throw in Austin Eckler. These guys that are hard to say are sit candidates,

but they have difficult situations or struggling or both. And it's like we talked about this a couple times during the week like who are you starting over them it's just this is difficult to say like in the case of any of these running backs let's say you you have a good roster because you know you're in in the semis are you going to play Dontavian Wicks over Saquon Barkman and Flex like no there's not many people that would ever do that. James Cook is easy. A lot of guys have reasoned above him.

If you have great players, I had back-to-back tweets because I did a little AskFFT yesterday before the game. Somebody sent me, who do I sit out of? Diggs, P Puka and another great receiver. And I said, Puka and the guy wrote back, you know, I get it.

Puka had a great game and he wrote back things you can't say on the show. No, I don't, I don't care. I mean, it's, it, you know, you have a great roster. You have a great roster. There's nothing you can do. Somebody is going to have a good game on your bench. And then, but right below it, I had said Puka over zeke it was like you know back to back tweets thanks jamie sorry jamie you know that's exactly what it was yeah and you're gonna have these tough calls you

know so you just have to have the cojones to bench one of these guys when you have you know some questionable calls if you have great players these it's easier. James Cook is easy. Yeah. No, but it's a shame because I think Barkley, Zeke, ETN is so hard for me. I tried to rank them yesterday for somebody, I think, and I was like, they're basically the same. I don't even know. I think I'd go with, gosh, I think I'd go with Zeke in that.

But I'll get into why I'm nervous about Travis Etienne and, and Saquon Barkley coming up and I'll see if Dave and Jamie feel the same way. I mean, the rankings would suggest that they are starters, but well, Jamie's got Barkley 20th. So that's, that's interesting as well. Okay.

News and notes. Trevor Lawrence, unlikely to play CJ Stroud out. Kenny Pickett out. CJ Stroud officially out. No Pickett, out. Is CJ Stroud officially out? No. Okay, but almost certainly out. Kenny Pickett is out.

Mason Rudolph would start. You guys think this is like the right time of year for Mason? Okay, never mind. Yeah, let's spend five minutes on Mason Rudolph. Geno Smith is playing. Okay, running backs. Jonathan Taylor, full participant. He said he wanted to test the thumb.

Do you guys have any hesitation with Jonathan Taylor at this point? No. The fact that he wasn't, according to the reports, he was just wearing gloves. There was nothing bulky on his thumb. So, yes. Does he want to test it out, make sure he's fine? Obviously. Does it sound like he's playing?

Yes. And I think it could be really good for him if Zach Moss does not play. Oh, yeah. Potentially the first running back to have a monster game against Atlanta this year. He's scoring. He's going to be the first to score a rushing touchdown. Josh Jacobs mispracticed. They are playing on Monday, so still time there for Jacobs.

Tony Pollard said he acknowledged that he's beat up, that he was. He's acknowledged that he took a long time to recover from the surgery in the offseason, but he says he's feeling healthier now. Jarek McKinnon mispracticed. That's not necessarily unusual. A.J. Dillon practiced.

We'll talk about that game. Ken Walker, Jamie, he's your star of the week. He hasn't practiced yet. He's got the shoulder injury. What are you doing there. Ken Walker, Jamie, he's your star of the week. He hasn't practiced yet. He's got the shoulder injury. What are you doing there with Ken Walker? Well, obviously, today's a big day. You know, if he doesn't practice, then I'll have to pick a new star of the week. And Zach Charbonnet would be an absolute monster

if there's no Ken Walker. Could be really easy. You just make Zach Charbonnet at the start of the week. True. Brian Robinson. Are we expecting him at this point at the Jets? No. OK. And Alexander Madison is not going to play. Is that official or am I? I think it's not official, but I don't think it's official. But I think it's looking that way. And they O'Connell's been talking up Ty Chandler for like five days now. Tyreek Hill practiced. That's good. Keenan Allen is not going to play.

Devontae Smith has this knee issue, and that's a Monday game. So he mispracticed. He's got a knee thing. We'll see if he practices today. Let's see what else we got. Nico Collins looks like he's going to play. He's trending in the right direction.

What are we thinking for the Packers wide receivers at this point at Carolina? They're all banged up. I think Wicks is just more of a maintenance thing, but he's dealing with an ankle injury that he's been dealing with, I think, for the last couple of weeks. Both Watson and Reed, I believe, were limited. So keep an eye on that. But at this point, I would probably say in terms of who I expect to play,

Wicks would be one, Reed probably two, and then Watson three. Okay. And Michael Pittman, full participant in practice, still has not cleared the concussion protocol, but I know we've all got our fingers crossed for Michael Pittman to get back out there. He's got a good chance to do so. Still no Hunter Henry for the Patriots.

Michael Merriman's practice, but they play Monday, so time for him. And Luke Musgrave is eligible to come off IR. It's not a great matchup anyway, but if you were thinking about Tucker Kraft, just be aware. There's a chance Luke Musgrave plays this week. On the offensive line, I think the Cowboys and the Dolphins might play

seven on seven. They don't really have any healthy linemen, but in seriousness, we talked about this game yesterday. So it looks like Zach Martin and Tyron Smith both might miss the game with Martin having a better chance. And these are two hall of fame offensive linemen for the Cowboys, basically. So Dave, are you thinking about downgrading Dak Prescott? You have to, because we've seen it before from him when he doesn't have a good offensive line, he struggles. And the Dolphins' pass defense, as good as it is,

their pass rush is starting to generate a lot more pressure. I don't think the Cowboys can adapt the same way that the Dolphins did last week. And it's a shame because you'd love to see these two teams play each other at full strength. And now we might be without so many key pieces on both offensive lines. It makes me nervous about Dak for sure. How has Dak Prescott done this year without Tyron Smith? Week three, they lost that game at Arizona,

but I don't think Smith was the only lineman who was injured in that game. I think he was missing like three starters in that game. He scored 16.4 points. The next week against New England, not a terrible game, but he didn't get that second touchdown. I mean, 28 of 34 for 261 and one,

16.3 fantasy points. So that's two games with 16 points, basically. And then he faced the Rams in week eight coming off a bye, four touchdowns, 304 yards, 36.1 fantasy points without Tyron Smith against the Los Angeles Rams. How did he do last week without Zach Martin on the field against Buffalo? Yeah, there were a lot of issues there,

but six points at Buffalo last week. Okay, and yeah, I mean, I'm keeping an eye on Jimmy Ward. I keep talking about how significant Jimmy Ward is for the Texans pass defense. He practiced, so he has got a good chance to play against Cleveland. The Panthers are a little bit beat up, but I think it's actually some illnesses. Some of their best edge rushers missing with illnesses, specifically Brian Burns. See, the Tampa Bay defense is healthy now. Big game for them. some of their best edge rushers missing with illnesses, specifically Brian Burns. Vita Veya.

See, this is the Tampa Bay defense is healthy now. Big game for them. They're getting Vita Veya back, I believe. I think he was limited. I think he played last week, Adam. Oh, he did. I'm sorry. I think he did.

Okay, my bad. Devin White and Carlton Davis practiced in full, so they're getting healthy. And the Giants have a couple of defensive tackles that we should keep an eye on. Dexter Lawrence, who's been missing practice recently, and Rakeem Nunes Rochas, who is practiced. They're in jeopardy, and that would be good for DeAndre Swift. Bills are also beat up, but I don't think that matters for the Chargers.

And I mentioned this to Dave last night. There will be no commercial breaks in the fourth quarter of the Bills-Chargers game on Peacock. But there will be a commercial break right now. And we'll be back after this with one question for each game. What does possible sound like for your business? It's having the spend that powers your scale with no preset spending limit. More cash on hand to grow your business with up to 55 interest-free days.

And the ability to reach further with access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide. Redefine possible with Business Platinum. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms and conditions apply. Visit amex.ca slash business platinum. Metrolinks and Crosslinks are reminding everyone to be careful as Eglinton Crosstown LRT train testing is in progress. Please be alert as trains can pass at any time on the tracks.

Remember to follow all traffic signals. Be careful along our tracks and only make left turns where it's safe to do so. Be alert, be aware, and stay safe. One question for each game. The Ravens are at the 49ers. These are the top two defenses in the NFL in points per game, not in yards per play. In yards per play, Baltimore is one, and San Francisco is actually 12th. But the top two defenses in the NFL, Jamie, are we getting away from anybody that we would

typically start on Baltimore or San Francisco? I guess say Flowers would be the one, if you're saying typically start. But everybody else, I'm starting all the main 49ers guys, and I'm starting Lamar Jackson. I don't know if Isaiah likely falls in the always start guys, but I would start him this week too. Okay. Detroit and Minnesota. Dave, are we worried about the running backs in this game

against two very good run defenses? I'm not. I would rank them Gibbs, Montgomery, Chandler, but I think that they're all in play as at worst number two RBs. I just don't think there are enough running backs to take any of them out of the top 24. Would I say that any of them have a chance to do like what Ty Chandler did last week?

I have a hard time believing that, but if there's one that I think did have a chance, it would be Gibbs because he could be utilized more in the passing game than the other two. The only two running backs have scored more than 15.1 fantasy points against the Minnesota Vikings. And they were, if you remember the DeAndre Swift game back in week two or three, and Christian McCaffrey was the other.

So that's tough. You think Jameer Gibbs gets 15 plus PPR fantasy points? I think he can get there. Yeah, he's pretty good. I mean, we're still dealing with, at least in the case of the Lions,

a very good offense and a very good offensive line. And yeah, I think, you know, kind of what to expect from Montgomery. He's the one that might make me the most nervous, a little too touchdown dependent at this point, but he gets a lot of work.

Yeah. And Chandler Chandler is going to get a lot of work too because i don't think madison plays and i don't think anybody i don't think kenny no wong who's gonna take much work away from him either no and the uh the man what's the stat i have on this game it's like 22 or more carries for a running back in four of the last five games. No, it's three of the last four games for the Vikings. They have this many running back carries. No, it's four of the last five.

25, 28, 25, and 24 running back carries in four of their last five games. That's 24 or more. And Chandler got all of them except for one last week. So they are trying to run the ball a lot. Now Justin Jefferson's back. Well, we'll get in that game a little bit. But even last week with Jefferson, they ran the ball a ton. Colts are at the Falcons.

Jamie, we got Drake London at home, but we don't have Desmond Ritter at home. Starters at Drake London at home. Love Drake London. 14.1 PPR points in his last five home games. At least 14.1 PPR points in his last five home games. At least 14.1 PPR points in his last five home games. Over 19 points on average in those five games. So he's been an absolute monster at home.

And so, yes, quarterback change. Yes, tough defense. Colts have been really good against opposing wide receivers. I think they're number 10 in fewest points allowed to the position. But I'll take my chances with that guy at home. So, yeah, must start guy. Top 12 receiver. 10 and fewest points allowed to the position but i'll take my chances with that guy at home so yeah must start guy top i'll save the quarterback stats for the falcons when we get to that game oh what he's done with drake london no well i mean i have that that won't impress you but you might be more encouraged to start london when you hear the differences between heineke and ritter

yeah well now i have that won't that don't impress me much in my head. So thank you for putting. I mean, they're both unimpressive quarterbacks, but I'll tell you what the difference is between the two of them. Little Shania now. All right. Jacksonville at Tampa Bay, Chris Godwin or Calvin Ridley. Who do you like better? Godwin.

Yeah. Is this target share the last two weeks is like 40%. It's not quite that high, but it's over 30%. No, it's, it's the,

I think it's, Oh, actually that might be a target for outrun rate is like 39, 40%. Yeah. That's, that's pretty great too. Anything over 25% there is good when it's 10 percentage points higher than

that. It's amazing. The question is whether or not they're going to keep doing it. My guess is that they will. Godwin looks healthy. He made some amazing, a lot of it, we talked about this on Sunday. A lot of it had to do with the Packers defense just playing poorly. But Jacksonville's defense has been playing poorly against the pass lately too.

And so there's going to be huge opportunities, especially if the Bucs run defense is good. It's going to force, or I'm sorry, if the Jaguars run defense is good, it's going to force Baker to throw a little bit more. And Godwin's been really great lately and he doesn't have CJ Beathard throwing to him. Yeah. Well, that's, that's a big X factor. Jaguars have allowed more than 14 PPR fantasy points on receiving totals alone to seven wide receivers in their last seven games. Giants at the Eagles. Saquon Barkley or DeAndre Swift? Barkley. I also have Barkley higher. That's close.

Yeah. I remember I said my gut was saying I wanted to go Swift over Barkley, but I look at Swift's game log. He has single-digit PPR points in five of the last six games. I think I'd have to back off on that gut feeling. But if there's no Dexter Lawrence, you'll know that is important to the matchup. The Eagles will know that that's important

to the matchup, and I think they want to keep running the ball. They did a good job of it against Seattle, so I don't think we can totally write off DeAndre Swift as a bad fantasy play. It's just, does he have the upside that Saquon has? And I think that's the discussion that we need to have. It's that stupid tush push.

Arizona at Chicago. They had a change up to it last week where I think it was Swift who got the ball. Swift scored, I think his most recent touchdown was on a tush push formation. Fake, gave it to Swift and he ran

it in. It was either his most recent or his second most recent. But still, he got down to the one-yard line, you know? Maybe twice, but definitely once in that Seattle game, and then they Hurts-ed it in. In Adam's Fantasy League, he wants to award points for when a player is down to the one. Arizona at... Yeah, I have Calvin Ridley. I'll take that. Arizona at Chicago.

James Conner or one of these recently relevant running backs or all of them. Chuba Hubbard against Green Bay. Devin Singletary against Cleveland. Ty Chandler against Detroit. Would you start Conner

over any of them? No. All except Chandler. I would go Chuba over him. That one's kind of easy for me. Chandler's easy for me if there's no Madison. Singletary's tough, but I would take my chances with Singletary over Connor this week. No, I kind of like Connor.

I don't. Why do you like him, Dave? Because I think he's the main running back for Arizona. I think that offensive line certainly played well last week. I'm tired of doubting him. He went to Pittsburgh, had a monster game, went to San Francisco, had a good game. Now he's playing Chicago. I don't think it's going to be a bear's blowout.

Game script will favor him. He'll get a lot of work. The catches aren't great. He's averaging like two and a half since he's come back from injury per game. And the yardage that comes with it is a joke, but I still think he's going to get a good amount of work, and I think he's got a decent shot to score. So when you line him up against all those other running backs that are touchdown dependent,

I kind of put him at the top of the list. That has him at 22 for me in my PPR rankings. He's more touchdown dependent than the other three guys you mentioned. Well, I don't know. When's the last time Chuba even scored a touchdown? It doesn't matter. He's been very good without the touchdowns. He's been pretty good without the touchdowns.

Well, you take away his, you don't give him a touchdown and you take away James Conner's touchdown. Add the three. Who's been better? That's a good question. Who's been better the last two weeks without touchdowns? Chuba.

I don't know about that. I don't, I don't think he's, if he's better. You're saying if we take all the touchdowns away, so basically he hasn't scored and he's been better. Well, Chuba has 11.6 and 11.6 and 12.3 PPR fantasy points in his last two games. Chuba Hubbard without touchdowns, without touchdowns. I think James Conner probably, yeah. I think you're probably right here. Yeah.

St. Louis Terrier was awesome last week without a touchdown. I actually think it's super close. It's super close. I think you're probably within one to two points over the last two games. But, okay, fine. Chuba had 11.6 and 12.3 without scoring a touchdown last week james connor had 11.9 without a touchdown so like basically right in the middle of what chuba had done the prior two games then i got to look up what he did in week 13

this is exciting week 13 james connor had 22.5 you take away a touchdown from there that's 16.5 that's better than what chuba had been there to me it's two touchdowns though okay i thought i had 10.5 without the touchdown okay so that's lower than chuba it's very close between the two all right green bay at carolina's our last game here for this segment. And that's another Chuba Hubbard question. Chuba Hubbard or Aaron Jones? Who do you like better in this game?

We know the great matchup for Jones. Jones. As long as Dylan's out. If Dylan's in, I'll take Chuba. We talked about this on the live stream last night, how Matt LaFleur kind of lamented that he didn't give Jones more work after he got off to a hot start last week. And I would love to see that overcorrection by the coaching staff to feed Aaron Jones more.

He looked good when he did get the ball in the first quarter. But A.J. Dillon's got to be out for me to really buy into Aaron Jones. By the way, my stat of the game for that game, I called it the stat of the game that makes me nervous because it might convince me to start Chuba Hubbard, which could go wrong because he's Chuba Hubbard. But the stat is that the Packers have allowed 18.6 or more PPR fantasy points to five running backs in their last six games. That's Jalen Warren, Najee Harris, Isaiah Pacheco, Saquon Barkley, and Rashad White.

All of them scoring 18.6 or more PPR fantasy points. They all had 15 to 21 carries. And Chuba Hubbard's had 22 or more carries in three straight games. It is lining up. What's that? He's been fantastic. He has been, except they just have a bad offense. So it doesn't, he doesn't catch a lot of passes.

The Panthers though, they run the third most plays in three games ago. Yeah, but almost his entire career. He just doesn't really catch a lot of passes. The Panthers though, they run the third most plays in three games ago. Yeah, but almost his entire career. He just doesn't really catch a lot of passes. It's just not he's just not good at it. I think he had four catches in week 12 and for this season, he has 17 catches in 10 games. Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'm looking at James Connor.

He had five catches in week 12 and for the season, he has 32 catches in 14 games. All right, that's it for one question for each game. Now, let's go a little bit deeper into these games. We'll start with Baltimore at San Francisco, and I can't imagine anyone's taking Debo Samuel out of their lineup, but I alluded to this on Wednesday when I tricked Dave with the game of the week thing, that there have only been five wide receivers who have had real big weeks, week winning types of weeks or close to that. More than 16.7 points against Baltimore. And they all had double digit targets. And that

has only happened once for Debo and once for Iyuk. So again, no one's sitting Debo. But Iyuk's coming off a bad game. And he's really only had one big game in, I think, his last seven. He's usually in the 13, 14-point range, something like that. So against Baltimore, is Ayuk someone, Dave, that you struggle with at all? Hmm? Is Ayuk someone that you— No, I swear I'm not doing it. I don't want you to do it because I think you'll beat a dead horse if you do it. Exactly.

I don't struggle with that, Yook. I think he's going to be fine. He's got upside to get you at least 15 PPR points. He's done that three of his last four. So I'm rolling with him. I'm liking him over Diggs, for example. Oh, wow. Okay.

It's just funny. It's almost like as we look at this game and then, and you see the Niners are five and a half point favorites. Oh, I just worry. Are we disrespecting the Ravens defense? You know? Oh,

totally. But still you have to buy into what San Francisco has done and they're at home and what they've done at home. Um, again, you know, you go back to the Rams game a couple of weeks ago. Yep. Yeah, I know.

They faced a good offense that was at full strength, and they got beat up on. Fair. Okay, so how about all those running backs? Same type of offense, too. Schematically, they're very similar. The Chuba Hubbard, Ty Chandler, Aaron Jones, James Conner group, would you start them over Brandon Ayuk?

No. All right. You know, I'm not going to linger on this game if we don't have to, just because we love the game and we can't wait for it. By the way, who are you guys picking with the spread? Niners minus five and a half. Niners. Okay.

I mean, Gus Edwards is now the main guy in Baltimore. Yeah. Likely, obviously, coming off two strong games. They're facing a very good defense. Do we know the status of Armstead and Hargrave? Did not practice. Yeah, that's big. But this was their first practice of the week.

But Oren Burks, another kind of a reserve linebacker, plays a little bit. He also didn't practice. But that's two great defensive linemen that did not play last week, and they got destroyed by the Cardinals running back. Big reason why Conner had a good game. Yeah, and DiMarcato had a 40-yard run. So, yeah, how much would that change things for Gus Edwards for you?

I don't mind Gus as a flex. I don't want to trust him as a must-start guy. But, I mean, you saw after the injury, they went right back to him. Justice Hill has kind of been what he, I think will continue to be what he's been, which is, you know, seven to 10 touches at best for what they're looking at. They're going to try and run the ball. I mean, you know, especially if those guys are not there, that's what they're going to do. You know, they don't want to necessarily put it all on the marb and make him have to,

you know, win the game for him. Not that I don't think he can, because he's capable of doing that against anybody. But I would imagine if they can get Gus in the 20 touch range, i think there's a stat i'll go back and look at it there there there's a stat of how many carries he gets to what their win loss record is makes a lot of sense you know obviously when he's rolling it it works out but if you're stuck at running back this week i don't think he's a bad play he's obviously not going to catch a lot of passes but they get near the goal line they've been running the ball and i think he'll have an opportunity to do so he had what 10 touchdowns or nine touchdowns in that five game streak um not not not awful now that uh mitchell's out of the way so define

stuck like you have him ranked ahead of james connor because i do uh no uh yes and non-ppr do okay what about uh deontay Foreman? Oh, Gus Easy. Najee? No, I like Najee this week. Okay. Yeah, no DJ reader. I like him this week. We're totally backward on how we feel about Gus. I agree that he's a good fill-in running back,

but I'm looking at my PPR rankings. The only running back I would consider starring him over is Najee because I don't care if DJ reader's playing, not playing. I just don't think Najji's like rolling well right now and with the sealers talking about making all these changes i wonder if that includes it running back and they use our um foreman also yeah all right by the way people are asking why there's no game of the week song right now i did it on wednesday in case you it, but I'm glad people are still into it. So, okay, fill in the blank. I would start these quarterbacks over Brock Purdy.

Okay, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen. I would start these quarterbacks over Lamar Jackson. Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Brock Purdy. Dustin Fields also. Okay. He's so annoying. He should be so much better every week. Oh, yeah.

Of course he should be. He should be so much better every week. It's so frustrating. Little mistakes every game or every other game kind of cost them but in the games where you see him having like 30 plus fantasy points those are like the games where he's awesome there's a couple like the first pittsburgh game he was outstanding his receivers cost him numbers. Yes. He's an MVP candidate for a reason. He's having a really good year statistically when you look at him throwing the football.

Completion rate's great. Is he running the ball as much as we thought that he would? Maybe not quite as much. Last week, notwithstanding. He's how they're going to win this game. That's not an obvious statement at all, right?

But I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up exploding on the ground this week. And which tight end do you like better? I should say likely. I don't get a right tire, but I kind of like likely more. I love that he's running more routes than everybody except for Zay Flowers. I like the way that he's like a big bodied option, red zone option, seems to be on the same page with Lamar.

Adam, this is your cue to play the music. I'm not, honestly, I'm not playing. The thing I mentioned about Kittle last week is that he, much more so than Ayuk or Debo, is very much tied to how many yards Brock Purdy throws for. And just looking at the game log for Purdy, when he hits 270 or more yards, George Kittle has a great game almost every time.

When he throws for fewer than that, for fewer than 270 yards, he struggles. And last week, he had 54 yards on four targets and Purdy had 242 yards at Arizona. I can't sit here and tell you when he's going to throw 270, but I can tell you

that's kind of what's been going on with George Kittle. 270 against the Ravens is going to be tough, but Purdy can obviously do it. All right, and the DSTs, do you guys like either of these DSTs no I like the Niners because I think they can get some turnovers and sacks I do not like the Ravens CST what if Armstead and Hargrave are out still not still going to start the Niners okay there's so many better DST options you could

pick up this week. So that's the thing. I would agree. If you can find the Bears DST, Colts DST, I would start them over the 49ers. Broncos, better this week. Yeah, that's another one. That's fair. I don't know if they're out there, though. Are the Bills still out there? For two weeks. Bills are not

out there. You get those guys for two weeks. Yep, I out there. You get those guys for two weeks. Yep. I agree. Detroit at Minnesota. Two DSTs I would not want to use this week. I already gave a stat of the game. It's the Minnesota running back carries in their last five games. They're 13th in run rate in those five games.

And I do think that, you know, obviously got to point out, Justin Jefferson didn't play in three point seven five of them, but they are maybe changing it without Kirk Cousins. That's good. You need carries against Detroit. How do you rank them?

Gibbs, Chandler, Montgomery? No. PPR, yes. PPR, it's Gibbs, Chandler, Montgomery. Talk to me about Gibbs and Montgomery. That's if Madison's up. Gibbs really doesn't get a ton of touches, but he's so good.

And Montgomery, obviously, kind of know what he is. Three straight games with right around 12 PPR fantasy points, but three games before that, he was more like 17. But we know he needs to score. But yeah, I mean, Jamie, you talked to me about the Detroit running backs and the confidence level

you have in them. And again, a tough matchup. I think for Gibbs, it's just, you know, you're, you're looking at the big play potential.

You're looking at, you know, when he's involved in the passing game, he's been fantastic. Um, can, can win your fantasy week on one play. It's a tough matchup

but i'm still starting him without really hesitation he's top 12 running back uh montgomery said it he's got a score and so this run defense has been fantastic really for the majority of the season but we know what detroit's offense is like when their offensive line is healthy and rag now back last week was you know a big boost that even though Montgomery didn't score, still got you 11 PPR points, I believe it was. So yeah, those guys are kind of easy to figure out at this point. I think Montgomery just more of a number two running back, better in non-PPR than full, just with the touchdown potential. And then for Chandler, you saw the usage last week. Kevin O'Connell just continues to rave about him as the week goes on, maybe more so because of Madison

seemingly not being able to go. But that was their best running back performance of the season by a mile. And I think with the quarterback change to Mullins and the fact that Dobbs was not necessarily going to throw to his running backs, where Mullins I think will because he's more of a statue statue back there that will help his role in the passing game so that's why I would take him over Montgomery and his usage he's not coming off the field really for anybody uh whereas you could see you know Gibbs and Montgomery continue split I'm just worried that a lot of Chandler's production was because of the matchup last week sure reader being up that's why and I think that the line even if reader had played,

I still think that Chandler would have had a good game. Probably not as good as he actually had. Lions have only allowed five running backs to have 12 or more PPR points against them. Uh, only three have had a hundred total yards, only seven running backs have 10 or more PPR points. None in the past two games.

It makes me a little worried about Chandler. I get where you're coming from with Montgomery, starting Chandler over Montgomery, because Montgomery himself, good rushing metrics, and he gets a lot of work, but he hasn't been delivering the touchdowns, and that's the thing. So I go back and forth between those two as well.

I wonder if Chandler kind of has a down game because of the matchup this week. Well, I mean, look, let's face it. They're both facing tough run defenses, you know? So these are two of the best in the league. So it's just a matter of who you feel has more potential. And like I said, I'll go with Chandler getting a few more catches than Montgomery,

and that's why I would take the edge over him. Yeah, you know, it's pretty interesting with the Lions, right? Dave just gave some stats about how good they've been against running backs. But in their last eight games good they've been against running backs, but in their last eight games, they've allowed four running backs to score 16.8 or more PPR fantasy points, and they all scored.

So that's always a big factor here. But they played two games without defensive tackle Aleem McNeil. And in the first game, they gave up 4.6 yards per carry to Deontay Foreman. And you say, oh, maybe it was a pretty big deal.

And then the next game, they completely dominated 3.3 yards per carry to the Denver running backs. Much worse than that for Javante Williams specifically. But I haven't ruled out the possibility that they are going to struggle a little bit without Aleem McNeil, who apparently was their best run stuffer on that defensive line. So we've only seen two games, one good, one bad. But I just want to throw that out there as maybe a bonus for Ty Chandler. Jefferson and Amon or St. Brown are easy, right?

Obvious must starts. Starting them. I was actually a little surprised by your Jordan Addison rankings. Surprised to see him in the top 30. A little bit of confidence there in him after the two-touchdown game. Well, it's the matchup. It's the Lions cornerbacks versus Jordan Addison, and Addison being able to shake free,

and Mullins at least giving me confidence that he can locate and throw to Addison. Now, there is a wrinkle that we have to talk about. There's a chance C.J. Gardner-Johnson plays for the Lions, and that could take away the middle of the field, which has been open for a lot of pass catchers against Detroit lately. But I still love those perimeter receivers because even though they can break in on routes like Jefferson does all the time,

they can still possibly – they won't see Garner Johnson as much. So still like Jefferson a ton, and Addison's got the matchup. He'll have those outside matchups for sure. It's also the Hawkinson revenge game. Yes, I was about to say that. Which tight end do you guys like better? Laporta, but it's close. The door.

That would be Laporta, if I recall. No, in Italian, Laporta. Oh, okay. Hawkinson, Laporta. I'm guessing McBride and Kelsey are ahead of them. Anyone else? In PPR, they are. Anyone else?

Are they three and four? No, those are my top four. Yep. Those are your top four. Njoku right behind them at five. Gotcha. Quarterbacks in this game. They're on a different level here,

but do you like golf? This Minnesota, very tough matchup. I know that you had Jake Browning with the two touchdowns, one of them a prayer, but he was the first quarterback to do well in about two months against Minnesota. Golf coming off a 41-point game. Starter sit Jared Goff, and then we'll get to Mullins. He's a starter, low-end starter um but indoors his last two indoor road games he's been good so you don't have to worry about that um yes it's a tough matchup i know it's a different defense

but he did really well against minnesota for example last year so somewhat of the same personnel but different scheme but in any event i think as long as his offensive line is healthy, you trust Jared Goff, especially if there's no weather conditions. And he doesn't have any weather conditions for the rest of the season. So I think he's still a top 10 quarterback. And he's coming off a 21-point game. The way to beat the Lions is not to necessarily run on them, it's to throw on them.

And with everybody healthy, Jefferson, Addison, and Hawkinson should be able to have some success against this Detroit defense. I've got Mullins just outside my top 12. Jared Goff is inside my top 10. Can you run me down the list of the quarterbacks that the Vikings have done a good job against in the last five weeks? Yeah, sure. I'd love to. Last five weeks, I'll go back to Brock Purdy, 13 points. Jordan Love, 16 points. Taylor Heineke, sure. I'd love to. Brock Purdy, last five weeks, so I'll go back to Brock Purdy, 13 points.

Jordan Love, 16 points. Taylor Heineke, 16. Saints quarterbacks, 17. Russell Wilson, 16. Justin Fields, 9. Remember that game, Monday night? Aiden O'Connell, 4. And then Jake Browning, 22.

That's really impressive. I know there are some duds there, but there's Purdy with 13, Love with 16, Wilson, 16, Fields with nine. And with 59 rushing yards, he scored nine points. I would just argue that aside from Purdy, Goff is a step up from all those others as a passer. And that makes me kind of believe in him a little bit more.

We've seen Hurts seen hurts Herbert Mahomes. They've had at least 23 fancy points. We just saw Brian Browning have 22 and he was attacking them downfield. And so I, I just wonder if golf has too many weapons and isn't just so in sync with this offense right now that you just can't get away from him. It would be different if his offensive line was bad, but it's not Mullins or Flacco?

They're back to back for me. I go Flacco. I'm the same way, but I'm going to reserve the right to change my mind because Flacco looked so terrible last week. It was so bad. Mullins or Jordan Love?

Mullins. Agreed. I think we're done with this game. Let's go to our next one. Or Jordan Love? Month. Agreed. All right. I think we're done with this game. Let's go to our next one. In my notes here. Where's my notes? We have the next game, which is...

Oh, there it is. Indianapolis at Atlanta. I got a lot of notes. I have 33,656 words in this document. Gardner Minshew. Any interest starters at Gardner Minshew coming off a nice 26.6 point game against the Steelers? He's in a better standing with Pittman healthy,

but there are just a lot of good quarterbacks this week. So we've seen Minshew with a healthy Jonathan Taylor, and he hasn't exactly put up a lot of great numbers. And so with Taylor back, I would lean away from starting him. But super flex to QB if you need a guy and he's been on your bench. I think it's a decent start this week. I start him over Russ. I start him over Kyler.

Borderline between him and Jordan Love, but I might lean Love. But still, with Pittman back, it makes it a lot easier to trust Minshew if you need to. Mullins and Browning ahead of Minshew for me. As it stands now, it looks like Jonathan Taylor will play and Zach Moss will not. So all the running backs that we've been talking about, like Zeke and Ty Chandler and Chuba Hubbard,

but obviously we're going Taylor over them, right? You said it, your bold prediction. He's going to be the first one to score a rushing touchdown against them. I mean, I would personally start him over Barkley and Etienne. Would you? Easy. Yes. How about the starting Seahawks running back or Jonathan Taylor?

I have Taylor right now ahead of Walker. Same. All right. Michael Pittman. This is a tough matchup. They give up the fewest fantasy points to wide receivers, Atlanta, and the second fewest fantasy points to running backs, I was going to say. But, yeah, start Pittman.

If he does not play, is there any Colts receiver or tight end? Just say no so we can move on. No. Alec Pierce would be the DFS tournament dart throw. Okay. Sit Taylor Heineke. All right. I'll get to Bijan in a second.

Dave, Jamie already said he's excited about Drake London. What did you want to say about the quarterbacks? Heineke challenges downfield more. He's got a higher ADOT on his throws. He's got a higher past attempt of 15 plus air yards than Ritter does. He's got a lower interception rate than Ritter does and a higher touchdown rate than Ritter does. He's got a lower interception rate than Ritter does and a higher touchdown rate than Ritter does. They've only played, I think it's

23 snaps together, Heineke and Drake London. Three targets, that's it. Two catches for 28 yards. But I'm encouraged by Heineke being more willing to fire downfield and London being there. And London can dominate in one-on-one opportunities because he's got this gargantuan size. So you should be encouraged to start Drake London. Don't know if I love him as a top 12 wide receiver. I think that's where Jamie's got him. I appreciate the boldness, but he should be in the majority of fantasy lineups,

especially in PPR leagues. Let's talk about Bijan Robinson now. Well, before we do that, I'll just say Kyle Pitts is not ranked as a starter, so don't start him. No, but he's gotten it. He's got a little bit of an edge with Heineke too.

Uh, okay. Against Minnesota. Right. Really? Right. It basically only one full game of Heineke. Heineke came in,

in the fourth quarter against Tennessee, played a full game against Minnesota. And then he was terrible against, I think it was Arizona. And he hurt his hamstring and he left. But he didn't throw that much. They ran the ball all over Arizona. Okay, anyway, the Colts give up the third most fantasy points to running backs,

the fifth most receiving yards to running backs. However, how about this? When Grover Stewart plays, and he's going, Super Grover is going to play 3.5 yards per carry allowed to running backs. When he doesn't play, 4.6 yards per carry. And those are big sample sizes. That's eight games with him and six games without him.

It's a yard, a little bit more than a yard better. So that's, you know, that's bad. However, are you guys feeling good about Bijan this week? He's another one of those Barkley, ETN, Derek Henry. I don't know what else you want to put in that canoe. But not exactly someone you could sit, but not someone that you should say is going to win you your week. Number two running back. Yep.

So of those four running backs, Bijan, Etienne, Henry, Barkley, who do you have the most confidence in? Etienne. Bijan, Barkley, Etienne, and whom? Henry. I have Barkley the highest against Philadelphia. Okay. I would say Bichon.

I think you get a lot of different answers. The best matchup is Henry. Right. Yeah. Oh, man. Henry, yeah. I just, I don't know. I have so much faith in Bichon, but I think it's being tested.

He did, two weeks ago, he scored 19.8 fantasy points against the Bucs. Last week, he scored 0.4 fantasy points at Carolina. And in his last five games... Half PPR, or non-PPR, was negative fantasy points. Half PPR was negative. It was negative. Half PPR, I know.

That's why I said half PPR. Oh, I thought you said non, sorry. It's okay. He sucked. He absolutely sucked. Three of his last five games, he's got more than 17 points. So that's good. It's good.

Again, you're not benching any of these guys. But you might have to make a decision between these guys. You could have gotten to the fantasy playoffs with Barkley, B. John, and I don't know who the third guy would be. Coach, any of those guys. For me, Dave, this is tough this time of year because I don't necessarily treat these shows like I would in week eight when you're talking

to an entire league. You're talking to the best teams that are remaining, and I just assume that they have tough calls since they have the best players. That's why I would probably just have moved on from Bijan and be like, he's the number two running back, whatever. But I feel like a lot of Bijan managers might have better options.

Is Drake London a better option than Bijan Robinson? As a flex, yes. Absolutely. They're really close, but I'd have Bijan higher. All right. Let's take a break. We got Jacksonville at Tampa Bay. We got four games left when we come back.

We'll be right back on Fantasy Football today. Mama, look at me. I'm going really fast. I just got my license. Can I borrow the car, please, Mom? Kids go from zero to 18 in no time. You'll be relieved they have 24-7 roadside assistance with intact insurance. Mom, can we go to Nana's house tomorrow? zero to 18 in no time. You'll be relieved they have 24-7 roadside assistance with Intact Insurance.

Mom, can we go to Nana's house tomorrow? I want to go to Jack's place today. I'll just take the car. Don't wait up, okay? Kids go from zero to 18 in no time, don't they? At Intact Insurance, we insure your car so you can enjoy the ride. Visit Intact.ca or talk to your broker. Conditions apply.

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. Jacksonville's at Tampa Bay. Here's why I'm getting the heebie-jeebies on Travis Etienne. In his last six games, he has scored more than 12.6 PPR fantasy points only twice. And those are his only two games with a touchdown in that stretch he has become a touchdown dependent running back in the other four games without the touchdowns he scored 6.4 8.9 12.6 and 9.9 ppr fantasy points that's

three really bad games he's gained travis etn has gained fewer than 60 total yards in three of his last five games. He has one run longer than 16 yards in his last eight games. And just, I mean, he's averaging 3.3 yards per carry in his last nine games. And he doesn't have Trevor Lawrence.

I don't think that's good unless there are a lot of dump-offs. That's the only thing I could see. That's what I would expect. I would good unless there are a lot of dump-offs. That's the only thing I could see. That's what I would expect. I would expect this to be a very Travis Etienne game for the Jaguars because why would you put it on C.J. Beathard to try to win the game? Yeah, I just don't know that he can get it done. I think this is going to be a really good run defense again. They're healthy.

They got their linebackers back. You can't say healthy because Devin White was a healthy scratch. Okay, that's true. But they have the linebackers that they want back. How much of a difference maker is he? Like, what are their numbers? He might be worse, but it's still, you know,

you keep mentioning he's back. He was back last week and they decided to bench him. No, but he was not the only linebacker that missed time recently, right? Right, Levante David like matters more.

But David's been back for a week. Right, but now Vea and David are back and they are just healthy on defense basically. Yeah, no, Vea is huge. Yes, I've seen him.

But I think in terms of what he can do in the passing game, I would expect Doug Peterson to make this a lot about Travis Etienne. You have to. Like, why would you put it on C.J. Beathard? There's no Christian Kirk. Zay Jones is banged up. Like, let Beathard go out there and try and just, you know,

chuck it to Evan Ingram and Calvin Ridley all day, or try and slow the game down a little bit, especially with the way the Bucks offense has been. All makes sense. They've used what, what's been the usage for Travis ETN over the past few weeks, but Trevor Lawrence has been healthy. So it doesn't really matter.

Well, no, because we're seeing like, I want to see what the usage has been and, like, what the numbers have been. Not great. He gets four catches. No, he had one game with 18 touches against Cleveland,

and he had over 17 PPR points. That felt good. Fantasy manager saw the touchdown. That was a good game against a tough defense. He had 15 touches against Cincinnati, a lesser defense, high-scoring game, scored in that game 17.9 PPR points. Yeah. You, you could almost put them in the same situation as the other running

backs that we talked about before, but he's got more upside because we know he's a faster player. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, I, I'm hoping he does get three to four catches basically every week. So maybe he'll get more. Hopefully that would be a safety blanket and would really help him.

Are any confidence in anyone in the passing game for the Jaguars? It's a, it is a great matchup. I think you look at Ridley as a high end number three receiver. He's certainly better if, if Lawrence plays and Ingram again, you know, are you starting Isaiah likely over Evan Ingram?

I think if likely had a better matchup, you might go that route, but not for me. He's been awesome since Christian Kirk has been out, and now Zay Jones may not play. So I think you just look at Ingram as a plug-and-play set-and-forget at tight end and not worry about it. You'd feel a lot better about all these guys if Lawrence is out there. Parker Washington would be a decent pickup for this week. Jamal Agnew, if you're looking for a desperation play,

might be decent this week. I think Beathard is going to be a little more careful than Trevor Lawrence has been. The career numbers on Beathard, 60% completion rate, 59.5% if we want to get specific. 6.9 yards per attempt. Touchdown rate is 3.4. ADOT is 7.2%. Um, I went back and watched some games of his a few weeks ago. Cause I thought Lawrence was going to miss

it with the ankle and he doesn't have the best arm. I mean, he's a backup for a reason. And so I wonder if he is more of a caretaker and checks down. And if he does, given the matchup, I kind of like Ingram a lot because I think he could get a lot of targets and pick up some decent numbers that way. And Ridley, between the mistakes that he makes and the fact that he's got a quarterback that doesn't have as much confidence in his arm and might not see the field the same way that Lawrence does, certainly doesn't have the same velocity as Lawrence does. No better than what Jamie said, which is a high-end number three wide receiver. Let's not forget Doug Doug Peterson, once upon a time, won a Super Bowl with a backup quarterback.

Yeah, it's true. That quarterback had a better arm than this one. Baker Mayfield, you guys are pretty confident in. He's top nine for everyone, for Dave, Jamie, and Heath. And I guess I keep bringing up the pass attempts. That doesn't seem to matter for you guys. This Jacksonville defense is so bad. They're not getting great pressure on the quarterback.

They're trying, but they're not. Last week was a little bit of a different story. Okay, last week they were definitely in Lamar Jackson's kitchen, and Lamar just got out of every situation. I don't expect Baker to do that, but I think Baker still on 30 to 33 pass attempts can find two touchdowns. And the way that Godwin's been playing,

the way that Evans has played over the balance of the season, I think there's some big yardage that could be there. Maybe not 300 yards, but 250, 275, somewhere in that range. Hopefully no turnovers. Okay. The numbers I keep giving is that he's thrown 30 or fewer passes in five of his last six games. They've been very, very run heavy lately.

You're getting 20 carries basically on a weekly basis from Rashad White. He's running the ball well. Obviously, people are expecting. I think the Jaguars could easily win this game. It's only a three-point spread. But the Bucs obviously are favorites at home coming out on a three-game win streak here. So pass volume does concern me a little bit, but it's very concentrated.

I mean, that's a good thing for Godwin if he, if he gets the targets and Evans, um, we haven't really seen both of them get a lot of targets, right? You know, it's like Evans has taken a step back as Godwin,

Godwin, where did he crack your top 20 Chris Godwin? Uh, PPR is right there. Non PPR. He's just outside. Yeah. He's 23 Chris Godwin? PPR, he's right there. Non-PPR, he's just outside. Yeah. He's 23rd for me in PPR. Before I move on to Godwin, I'm sorry.

Who are some quarterbacks you would start Baker Mayfield over? Love, Kyler, Chino, Placo, Tua. Assuming Tyreek Hill plays, you're still starting Mayfield over Tua? Yeah. Yes. Okay. Chris Godwin or, I hope I didn't ask you this, Drake London. London.

London. Chris Godwin or Nico Collins? Godwin in PPR, Collins in none. Jamie, do you have London over Mike Evans too? No. Nico Collins. Godwin and PPR, Collins and Nunn. Jamie, do you have London over Mike Evans too? No. Okay. Mike Evans, is he still top eight or whatever?

Yes. Ten? Yes. Ten, whatever. Okay. Jacksonville's bad. It's true. But Cisco and Campbell, two starters in their secondary,

both limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday. So they could be getting those two pieces back. Rashad White's top six in both formats. Start Mike Evans. I almost was tempted to put White one ahead of McCaffrey this week. It's so good. Oh, yeah. He's incredible. It's amazing.

I mean, if there is a chance for a record in receptions for a running back, it could happen this week. Jacksonville is that bad, and that's why Rashad White just lives. But he doesn't lately. That's the funny thing is he's been running the ball more. Yeah, but this is the week, though. Well, that's true. That's true. That's the great thing about White.

If they're in a good game script, they will rely on him with carries. If they're not, they will rely on him with catches. He is perfect. All right, last thing here was, would you start Godwin over ETN, Saquon Barkley, Derek Henry, and the fourth guy in there, Pijon? I think Henry's the only one that I would start him over in full PPR. Who'd you ask?

I'm sorry. Those four running backs, ETN, the heebie jeebies, Barkley, ETN, uh, Henry,

heebie jeebie canoe. Yeah. And who, whoever, who Godwin, we just start Goblin over any, um, in PPR.

No. Okay. Non PPR. No. Okay. Non PPR. Definitely not. Yeah. Like you don't want to get too excited about God, right? Cause two weeks ago he had 11 targets.

It was five catches for 53 yards. Yep. So you don't want to get too, but I'd say he really games ago. It was even worse. Well, you have five catches for 53 yards. And then the game before is when he had his rushing touchdown,

but three targets and no catches. Pretty safe floor of having around 10 PPR points. I think you can guarantee yourself that with Godwin. But the breakout games have been few and far between this year. We'll see if it continues. He's had two great games. One came when Mike Evans left. Absolutely.

Yep. Giants are at the Eagles. Here's how the Giants do against elite teams this year. They lost by 40 to Dallas, by 18 to the 49ers, by 15 at Miami, and they had a pick six in the end zone in that game, so that could have been a lot worse.

That was a 14-point swing. They lost by five at Buffalo. That was good, and they lost by 23 at Dallas. These teams destroy the Giants, and it's usually really bad for them in fantasy. So, yeah, I've got more stats here, but I'll just shut up and let you guys talk.

Your thoughts on the... Is this game pretty easy? You just, like, start all Eagles? Well, Devontae Smith, you got to keep an eye on his knee. Uh-huh. You know, hopefully he's okay, and I think that kind of sways Dallas Goddard. You know, if Goddard does not have Devontae Smith, you got to keep an eye on his knee. Hopefully he's okay. And I think that kind of sways Dallas Goddard. If Goddard does not have Devontae Smith,

you got to be a little bit more encouraged by it. If there is Devontae Smith, Goddard has a terrible history against the Giants. In his last five games, it's like 17 catches, 140 yards, I think it is. And no touchdowns. And obviously he's not played great the last two games since coming back from the injury. But it should be a decent game for DeAndre Swift,

unless, of course, Mr. Boston Scott comes to play. You want your stats? Yeah, let's get the Boston Scott. This is fun. All right, let me find it. Just give me one sec. Talk about something else. I'll add this with Goddard.

The Giants have allowed 8.6 or fewer half PPR points to a tight end in nine of 12 games. Jawan Johnson had 10 in week 15. You'd have to go back to week 10 to find another tight end that did well. It was Jake Ferguson. So tough matchup. Jamie mentioned the history and we've seen Dallas Goddard take a big time backseat since coming back from his,

from his injury. I have to disagree a little bit though. Um, Tucker, Tucker craft and Jawan Johnson were fine. Well, no, I mentioned Jawan Johnson had 10 half PPR points, and Tucker Kraft had 10 PPR points.

10.4, I think. So the Giants have given up 10.4 to 12.6 full PPR fantasy points to a tight end in four of their last five games. They have only given up one big game to a tight end all year. It was George Kittle. So it's more about the catches than it is them like being leaky yardage wise.

And then Jawan Johnson with the touchdown last week, I think the giants defense, which has been a little confusing and Demi is, is totally a home road thing. I mean, they are much, much better at home. This is a road game.

Their defense stinks on the road. As we saw last week. Sorry. Here's Boston Scott. Eight games against giants in his career. 86 carries 414 yards, nine touchdowns, 17 catches,

222 yards and one touchdown on 22 targets. He has a touchdown in eight games in a row against them going back to 2019. Does that include the playoff game? I did not include the playoff game. That's only regular season. Okay. And now he's playing at home against this team on Christmas. And everybody knows about Boston Scott's great against the Giants.

By the way, Jamie. Would he try to if he had a touchdown he scored in the playoff game six carries you 32 would it surprise you if he had one carry for one yard all right well start over one carry for two yards and a touchdown it would be just fantastic if they just did the tush push with him once not Not for anybody that's clearly starting Dylan Hurst because you want him to get those points. But if this is a blowout, Boston, you're in. I think he can score the first touchdown of the game. How do you feel about Darren Waller?

Low-end starter. I mean, again, you're talking about a bad secondary that hopefully this is where the Giants can have some success and keep this game competitive. You saw last week, 4 for 40. It's funny because I'm hoping the same thing. It's totally random, but it was the exact same stats and targets. Isaiah Likely's first game without Mark Andrews

was 4 for 40 on six targets. That was Waller's exact stat line when he came back, and then he blew up afterwards. I kept referencing that for like two weeks because of the waiver wire column um I just hope he's more involved look he looked okay uh in in his first game back they clearly need help everywhere and so you know DeVito is going to be under a lot of duress and you know chasing points and so should be an uptick in targets. If he can get double digits in targets, he should have an opportunity to play well. Will he score? Who knows?

But low-end, tight end one, I think he falls in that range. And you'd start him over Goddard, I would assume. Unless Smith is out, yes. Yeah, I would rank it likely Waller-Goddard, assuming Devontae Smith plays. Yeah, agreed. Dave, you're the high guy on Barkley. I've been in your top 10. You want to... The Eagles have been very bad,

quite frankly, against running backs lately. Six of the last running backs... Well, six of the last eight, whatever. There's that in there somewhere. But they've been... Oh, last three running backs. McCaffrey, 22 points. Pollard, 16.6.

He had seven catches. Ken Walker, 20.2. Yeah um yeah go ahead you want to make the case for Barkley the case for Barkley is that he gets more work this week than last week and the matchup isn't as uh unfavorable as it looked like a month ago you just talked about how running backs have been doing against them the thing that I just took a look at and this is in the first half last week Saquon was not on the field for third downs. Right. So he played about two-thirds of the snaps in the first half of the game,

but it was Matt Breed on third down. So there was a change there in how they were using him. I wonder if he's not at 100%. And if we knew that for sure he wasn't at 100%, there's no way that he should be in the Hebe-Jebe canoe. He should be floating behind the canoe, clearly with heebies and jeebies. Read the list of running backs that have done well against him. McCaffrey, Pollard, Kenneth Walker.

Yeah, and two of those obviously great offenses. One, you've got to figure the Eagles have just been beat up and tired. I mean, the stretch of games that they had was ridiculous. And so, not that they're rested, but to come back home and have to face this team. I mean, look stretch of games that they had was ridiculous. And so not that they're rested, but to come back home and have to face this team, I mean, look at the spread. You know, this is going to be a blowout. And so how much is Barkley playing in the second half of this?

So must sit guy? No. Must start guy? Barely. Barkley has seven touchdowns this year. They came in four games. Arizona, which is the best matchup. Washington twice, which is one of the best and green bay

which is becoming a really good one for running backs too uh he just has a lot of really disappointing games and devito doesn't really throw the ball to him that much doesn't throw the ball that much to begin with all right uh for the eagles jalen hurts is like a top two quarterback he should get back on track um dave mentioned on the live stream last night he hasn't been completing the deep ball. That was mostly last week. He went over four on pass attempts of 20 or more area yards. Remember he's playing sick.

So we'll see if we can get back to that. Deandre Swift. So where's Swift rank with the, with the Aaron Jones's and the Chuba Hubbard's and the Devin Singletary's of the world, Deandre Swift this week. He's right behind, but I think I'm, I'm, I'm going to change your mind, Adam.

Play Swift over Barkley. Really? Yeah. Okay. So I don't have that actual decision, but I do have, I think I know I'm starting him over Eckler. So. I like that.

Swift over Eckler. Yeah. Yeah. And this is where Saquon comes into play. We if we're worried about Eckler because he hasn't looked right and he's not getting the workload that we're used to seeing and he's going to get blown out. And so what's the difference between that and Barkley? Like I'm thinking about this right now, recognizing that I've got Saquon too high, but like if, if I knew that Saquon wasn't going to, if he was going to have the same type of workload this week as last week, I'd still start him over Eckler. But this is when I would get nervous about Saquon being a good fantasy start. All right, we have two games left. We got to get going a little bit here.

But so my last question for this is, first of all, you guys do like the Eagles DST. Jamie and Heath love the Eagles DST. Dave has him seventh, I believe. I've moved him up. They're top five. Okay. And then Devante Smith. If he plays, is he a must start?

He's number two. All right. Arizona's at Chicago. The Bears have 12 interceptions in their last four games. Holy cow. We have talked a lot about James Conner. Conner or Swift? Swift. I have Conner. If you want to hear lot about James Conner. Conner or Swift? Swift.

I have Conner. If you want to hear more about James Conner, we did a Tough Calls segment on Wednesday about him. We talked about him earlier on this show in one question for each game. Dave likes him more than Jamie does. Kyler Murray is a sit. He's like 20th.

Sit him. Not going to start. I don't even know which wide receivers are going to play for the Cardinals. So just Trey McBride basically is the only must start for the Cardinals, and he's number one or number two in the rankings depending on the analyst. All right, Jamie, you seem to have

a good deal of confidence in Justin Fields. You have him fifth. Dave has him ninth. You can have the first word on Fields. I mean, the Cardinals are terrible, so it's easy for Fields to have some success here. He's done well in these type of matchups. Last week was a tough matchup for him against Cleveland.

His stat line would have looked so much better if, first off, Robert Tunyon catches that ball down the right sideline. Would have been a 70-yard touchdown for him. I hope, I haven't checked lately, but the stat correction should have come that the first interception should not have counted because it was dropped on the Hail Mary at the end of the first half.

But in any event, he'll get back to running only 30 yards rushing last week. He'd been over 50 to the last two weeks. Um, I just think they're going to have the ball all day and the bears should be able to do whatever they want to against the Cardinals defense. So DJ more huge game coming, uh, hopefully Cole come at as well. Um, they should be able to run the ball. Also. I just think this could be a bear's block. more huge game coming. Hopefully, Colcomette as well. They should be able to run the ball also. I just think this could be a Bears blowout. And Dave, you're a little lower on Justin Fields

with him ninth. That's behind Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff. It's not because of the matchup. It's not because I think that the Cardinals' defense is good. I think the Bears are going to be able to run the ball well. So Deontay Foreman's kind of like a sleeper for me. Cardinals have allowed 4.6 yards per rush on the season, but 5.7 yards per rush in their past four games. Fields attempted 40 passes last week. He only completed 19 of them. Should have been 21,

as Jamie alluded to, but I still feel like the Bears want to get back to being balanced. So I'm a little more cautious about Justin Fields, but he's still top 10 for me and still somebody that I've got confidence in coming through for a good fantasy game. DJ Moore is a must-start guy, but it's kind of weird.

The Cardinals, in their last five games, they've held Drake London to 6.6 points, Puka to 6.7, Cup to 4.8, Ayuk to 6.7. It's 4.8. Ayuk to 6.7. It's been a little strange, but

start DJ Moore. How about Cole Komet? Is Cole Komet ahead of, say, I think it was Likely, Waller. Is Komet ahead of them? Yes. One spot ahead. I might move Likely ahead of them.

On paper, it's a tough matchup. They're fourth best against Tyler. Yeah, I like likely better than Komet, but he's right in that range. Okay, Arizona's actually held Mark Andrews, Dalton Schultz, George Kittle twice, Logan Thomas, Jake Ferguson, Kyle Pitts, David Njoku, and Pat Fryermuth to fewer than 50 yards.

Some of them did score, though. And we like the Bears' DST. And our last game is Green Bay at Carolina. All right. One more time. Last time for the record, Aaron Jones or Chuba Hubbard? Jones without Dillon. Chuba with Dillon.

Sounds about right. Okay. Jordan Love. No thanks. How much will he do? Yeah. It's the same story every week with Carolina. But to be fair, they're not just good against quarterbacks.

They give up the fewest points to quarterbacks. Not just because they give up rushing work. Seventh best in passing yards per attempt allowed, too. So I think they have a legitimately good pass defense. And you got the wide receiver injuries, too. Would you start Flacco and Mullins over Jordan Love? Yep. And Bryce Young.

No, liar. I'm kidding. Minshew or Jordan Love? As of now, Love. But that might change. Dave, give me the scenarios in which you would start a Packers receiver. If Jaden Reed or Christian Watson were to practice on Friday

and get the green light, I'd feel okay starting them as number three options. That's about it. If they're both out, then Dontavia and Wicks is the one that them as number three options. That's about it. If they're both out, then Dontavia and Wicks is the one that is the number three option. If Luke Musgrave doesn't play, would you start Tucker Kraft or Dallas Goddard? I think I have Kraft over Goddard, assuming that Devontae Smith plays. Okay.

And Sip Bryce Young, he has scored single-digit fantasy points as a quarterback in six straight games. Chuba Hubbard... It's going to go down as one of the worst draft picks ever. I hope you're wrong.

Wait, can't you give him a chance for next year, though? Oh, sure, but you have to factor in what they traded to get him. And so he's got to outperform all those picks to justify the move. Oh, I don't think anybody liked the trade for Carolina when it happened except for Panthers fans. And now they don't like it for obvious reasons. Or the Bears loved it. Oh, yeah.

Well, they should have. It was a fantastic trade. Finally, they made a good trade after the Claypool trade and 100 other trades that they've made. But I want to give Bryce the benefit of the doubt in year two. Different coaching staff, hopefully a better offensive line, schemed up better. He has to be schemed up.

That's just how it is. But I'm not ready to write him off as a total dud. His guys don't really get open either. Definitely needs a wide receiver. Chuba Hubbard is about 21st in the rankings. Adam Thielen. Adam Thielen? I'm glad you brought him up.

I kind of like him. Just because of how bad this Packers defense is. Kind of like him. I think he's a number three receiver this week in PPR. He's a number three receiver every week in PPR. And I kind of like him. Yeah, well, I'm not going to rank him as a top 24 guy.

Let's not go crazy, but... Unfortunately, he's been kind of like a number four. These are his PPR fantasy points in his last eight or nine games. 1.2, 5.5, 12.4, 1.2 5.5 12.4 8.3 10 12.9 4.2 7.2 i mean that is terrible i i think he can get 13 ppr points against green bay that would be his most since i don't even oh no you know what i screwed up I screwed up. I screwed up. I read some... You had one good game there. I read some of Jonathan Mingo's stats in there.

All right. So in his last eight games, 15.2... Game eight for DJ Chark. Game nine for Jonathan Mingo. Game 10 for Terrence Marshall. Oh, there's that. My bad. No, he has been really bad, though.

I mean, it's 12.4 or fewer in six of his last eight games. In three of his last four games, it's 8.3 or fewer PPR fantasy points. And one of the big differences is he's barely out-targeting Jonathan Mingo. So Mingo has not done anything, but he's taken targets from Thielen. You know what though? It's funny because we hate that clearly

because Thielen's been a decent fantasy option. That's smart on the Panthers. Get their young guys going. Yeah. Okay. Sit to the Carolina tight ends. Would you start the Packers DST over the Ravens and Niners? Yes.

Not over the Niners, but over the Ravens. I'm just going to read this question because it's funny. Because it's two commercials. K-R-A-F-T or the touch, the feel of Otten. Oh, look, I get a chance to sing. Yeah, totally. I think Adam singing makes the Otten one better. But it has to be Adam singing.

How does the, is it K-R-A-F-T? Is that how it goes? That's it. But no one remembers that one. Most people remember the hot one. Yeah. Alright. Later, everybody. Good luck. That's the question. We get a hundred chat questions every show, and that's the one you answer.

It's too bad the Falcons didn't draft Kraft because then we could have Heineken to craft. Beer cheese. Instead, they drafted Pitts and that offense is the Pitts. Someone says, remember Oil of Olave? Of course I remember Oil of Olave. Still the best team name I've ever

had. Speaking of that, I can't wait to talk to Dan today. Yeah. What are we going to make fun of him for today? Oh, he'll just do something on his own. I told him to watch Just Friends and he refused. He's like, I don't have time for Just Friends. It's like, come on, man. He refused?

He said he was too busy. Are you confusing him with me? Because I told you I wasn't going to watch it. I'm telling everybody to watch Just Friends. It's that funny. Such a good movie. Yeah. All right.

Hey, Adam. What? Who does your son think is going to win between the Eagles and the Giants? Oh, yeah. Jamie, my son walks in. He loves football. He's obsessed with football right now. Gets home from school yesterday, washes his hands, goes to the table to have a snack.

He goes, unprompted, he goes, the Eagles are going to crush the Giants. Nice. Okay. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate that. All right. Don't force your son into your misgivings. No, he only likes teams based on how cool their mascot

or their logo is. He likes logos. Don't force him to be a Hurricanes fan. Don't force him to be a Giants fan. He's a Jaguars fan. Don't force him to be a Yankees fan at this point. Nick's a Jaguars fan.

Forget it. Happy holidays, everybody. We'll talk to you later on the Mailbag.