Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (NFC): Brady, Minshew, McLaurin and More (12/23 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 23, 2022

Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Recapping the Jaguars-Jets game and of course talking about the weather. Did the weather have a Fantasy impact? Did we overreact? The wide receivers were terrible in this game, but are we going back to them next week? ... News and notes (9:30) and One Question for Each Game (17:40)! Let's rank the Eagles and Cowboys running backs. Should you start Darius Slayton and Adam Thielen? Do we trust Brandon Aiyuk? Jerry Jeudy? ... Start or Sit for Eagles-Cowboys (26:40), Lions-Panthers (34:35), Giants-Vikings (42:55), Commanders-49ers (54:15), Bucs-Cardinals (1:00:40), Broncos-Rams (1:08:00) and Bills-Bears (1:13:25) ... Email us at [e-mail] Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Visit amex.ca slash business platinum. 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. This is going to go the distance. Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.

Yeah, fired up for today's show. The NFC slate is very interesting. Much more interesting. What's the word of the year? Yeah, fired up for today's show. The NFC slate is very interesting. Much more interesting than the bleepy AFC slate that we talked about. You said poopy, right? I said the poopy AFC slate. Yesterday's show, those games stunk. I mean, we made a great show out of it. Don't get me wrong.

Well, you know, Heath and Jamie did. But today is going to be much better. The fact that you got Heath on Game of the Week was impressive. Yeah, it was fun. That was a lot of fun. He was very okay. Yeah, I knew he would be sort of unaffected by it. Is that a gag?

I don't get it. Oh, that's what you do? That's what he said yesterday. Oh, he said that to you? Yeah. Oh. Yeah, that's a gag, Heath. Anyway, we got to talk about Jacksonville and the Jets, 19-3,

a big fantasy stinker for everyone but Evan Ingram, and I guess Trevor Lawrence was okay with 18 fantasy points, but not what you were hoping for. And then, of course, we got seven games to preview, including the Eagles and Cowboys. That's obviously a big one. Giants and Vikings is a pretty big game. Detroit at Carolina, that's a huge game.

Washington and San Francisco, they're all pretty big. Tampa Bay at Arizona. Denver at the Rams, not big. And Buffalo at Chicago. All right. Well, guys, 1913 Jacksonville. Jamie, you know, I did see a couple comments like, hey, you know, the Bills game last week,

the Jaguars game this week. Should we stop freaking out about the weather? What's your take on that? I mean, we say it all the time, you know, make sure you check right before kickoff and, you know, see what the forecast is. And if you follow Kevin Roth, who does a great job, and, you know, you had him on the show,

you know, he was saying the heavy stuff is going to come in a little bit later in the game. And so the first quarter, everything was for the most part fine. And there was some rain, some heavy rain. And then it seemed like the start of third quarter kind of calmed down a little bit. I think if you watch the game closely, you'll see Doug Peterson seemed like he planned for it. A lot of short passes, Trevor Lawrence on design runs. They were committed to Travis Etienne. I think he probably even got a little bit more skittish after the sack fumble on Trevor Lawrence, you know, to be even more conservative. Especially when you saw what the other offense was doing. So, you know, they didn't really have to do much to win that game.

And so I'm sure all those things factored into how Trevor Lawrence performed. I'll be honest with you. If you started Trevor Lawrence, you got 18. should have been 20 if he doesn't fumble. You should feel pretty good about it because of what the weather concerns were going in. Evan Ingram was a star. He's clearly become the focal point of the offense. The fact that they game plan for him is exciting. And it's now a month of just amazing performances.

I'm sure probably giving him an opportunity. That's the most yards he's ever had in that stadium, which is pretty telling that he played there for how many years. Um, so, you know, I, I think if you just look at it, okay, this is what it was. If you survive with any Jaguars, start them all again in week 17 against the Texans. Cause I think Kirk will bounce back. I think Zay Jones should bounce back. Uh, Ingram must start Lawrence. I think we'll be a must-start guy. I don't care what the numbers say about their stats against quarterbacks. So I'm perfectly fine with the Jaguars today, man.

Travis Etienne got to exactly 1,000 yards on the season, which is cool. And, Dave, on the other side of the ball, the Jets, I mean, Chris Strevener comes in the game. Streveler, Streveler. Streveler, my bad, comes in the game for Zach Wilson and scores more points than Zach Wilson. They both had 90 to 92 yards on 15 to 18 attempts. It was obviously ugly. Do you need to see Mike White to have confidence? Because you know what?

Look, I think the weather, you know, Jimmy said, I think the weather did play a factor in this game. There were drops. Travis Etienne was like he was begging to fumble the football at a few times. You know, the wind you could tell on the field goals was pretty fierce. And yeah, just very, very little downfield passing

in this game, especially from Trevor Lawrence. So do you throw this game out and go back to your Jets or does it have to be Mike White next week at Seattle? Yes, let's blame the weather for all of the Jets' struggles. It has nothing to do with their quarterbacks. Well, but to be fair, I mean, they had a, you can be as fair as you want to that kid look lost. I know he always does.

And good. He always looks lost Dave, but he's not this bad. He's not 92 yards bad, you know? Yeah, he is. He's terrible. Well, okay. Scared to get hit. Didn't leave his first read very often.

Missed open targets. was off target on throws. He was brutal and they can't go back to him. They were smart to go in a different direction. I wish they had done it earlier in the game. Maybe they would have had a chance to score more than three points, which was basically a gift to them because of their defense. Yeah, you got to see Mike White. And if you see Mike White, then you can feel pretty good about starting Garrett Wilson. I think that's probably going to be the only guy that you'll feel good about starting

because Zonovan Knight was in a three-way heat for work in the run game. Offensive line wasn't very good either. There's nothing there with Elijah Moore. There's nothing there with Corey Davis. You can't feel good about starting those guys. There isn't a tight end. It's a mess right now.

And it's an offense that needs a full retooling starting at quarterback this offseason. I got from a pretty reliable source that Mike White's probably going to play next week. Okay, good. Thank goodness. I think he's going to be their guy next week. Make them watchable.

Geno Smith is going to be an interesting call next week against the Jets because it looks like, I don't know, agree or disagree, if there are two teams where you just lean sit, you have to convince yourself to start anyone, it's the Niners and the Jets. I think if Geno comes out of this game with another big performance,

which he certainly could against the Chiefs, and Tyler Lockett returns next week, then it's going to depend on what you have. This is such an interesting season, and this week is testing it for sure because you have two things to play. Obviously, you know, there's a lot of teams that may have dropped some quarterbacks if they

needed some other moves to make, but this season we've seen so many fantasy teams hoard quarterbacks. You know, I mean, you know, you have how many in your IDP league? Four. Four.

You know, so there are a lot of scenarios where, you know, you don't see so many teams in your league carrying two and we haven't had the opportunity to stream as much so i think if you get to next week and gino's your guy like are you going to pivot to you know maybe mike white you know that right no i i would consider if he's healthy against the seahawks absolutely um you know but there are options to maybe have.

But for the most part, if Geno gets you there and you don't trust Mike White or Brock Purdy or whoever still might be available on the waiver wire, it's hard to get away from somebody like that. Yeah, it was an interesting game. I mean, it was a boring as hell game. But I think the Jaguars really put it to the Jets. I mean, the Jets' defense, I don't think you looked at that game and said they were great. They just didn't give up any big plays.

Everything was in front of them. Nothing over the top. They gave up a lot of yak. And they were good in the red zone. It's also, though, you're looking at, Lawrence has become a superstar. You know, he's evolved in front of us the last month. And he just looks so calm and comfortable.

The only thing I thought that they did really stupidly was late in the game when they tried to have the, I don't know if it was a design roll to the left, and he avoided the pressure and then, you know, got killed on a throw that he shouldn't have made. Yeah. Late in the game, you know, when they're up big. There was no way the Jets were coming back at that point. But, you know, just stupid. But in any way the Jets were coming back at that point. Just stupid. In any event,

everything was just under control. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. He ran when he had to run. Design runs were there. I just think he's different against that defense if it's perfect weather. I think he gets probably another passing touchdown and you have a big day for him.

I think the start percentages, they're very, very hard to make of anything of them right now because most teams have been eliminated. But he was started in 42% of leagues, Trevor Lawrence. People definitely sat him because of the weather. Christian Kirk was started in 73%. Zay Jones in 42%, same as Lawrence. And I think, well, certainly with Zay Jones, you made the right call. All right, let's get to it here and talk about the rest of the stuff,

the news and the games and the schedule, because it's a different kind of week for us. Sunday, we'll have a recap show on Sunday night. I'm not quite sure what time that will be. It's Christmas night, but we'll do something on Sunday night. We'll recap the Saturday and Sunday action. But the live stream, youtube.com slash fantasy football today, it's usually on Sunday morning. We'll be on Saturday morning at 1130 a.m. Eastern. See at youtube.com slash fantasy football today to answer your questions. CBS Sports HQ,

usually on Sunday at 10 a.m., will be on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Mailbag Show is staying the same. We'll record it on Friday afternoon. We'll publish it first thing in the morning on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Mailbag Show is staying the same. We'll record it on Friday afternoon. We'll publish it first thing in the morning on Saturday. I guess I could publish it Friday afternoon. I'll publish it Friday. All right, I'll probably publish it Friday. And we're going to get a Die Hard review from Dan Schneier, who saw it for the first time. I'm actually very excited for that.

He has a strong and wrong take about almost everything. So we'll see what he says about Die Hard, which he saw for the first time a few days ago. News and notes. Okay. Belichick did not commit to Mac Jones starting. So Bailey Zappy in, you know, if you're desperate, in Superflex. What song was that supposed to be?

Because I'm happy. Ryan Tannehill has been ruled out. Nick Foles starting. We know that. All right, running back, Ken Walker is going to play. You guys struggling with this one? We talked about the game yesterday,

but Ken Walker at the Chiefs. Dave, what do you think? What's your level of confidence? I think you start him as a middle to low end number two running back because he should get the workload that you like. He just hasn't been the same since he got hurt.

Clearly playing through something. The offensive line isn't helping him out either. He played one game when he got hurt, since he got hurt. No, no, no. Didn't he get hurt like three or four games ago? Yeah, I think so. He got hurt. He missed a game. And then he played last week. I thought he was playing through something.

Yeah, but I mean, he played a really tough defense, and I thought he actually did okay. No, I just mean earlier, like a month ago. Didn't he tweak something? Yeah, yes. And he's been not quite the same since, or is that someone else? I'm thinking,

is it? I don't remember. I mean, he hurt the ankle. He sat out a game, Travis Homer and the disaster. Yeah. That we remember.

Uh, he came back against San Francisco the following week. He had a big 32 yard catch. He looked fine on that one. Okay. All right. I don't know. Maybe David,

his numbers from like his first three or four games are way better. Oh, he definitely was not producing at the same level, but it's not because of injury. I think it might be. Okay, whatever. Yeah, Dobbins or Kim Walker? Dobbins. Dobbins.

Dobbins. I have a tough call in a non-PPR league between McKinnon and Walker. I'm struggling with that one. Oh, a non-PPR? I don't think it shouldn't be a struggle at all.PR league between McKinnon and Walker. I'm struggling with that one. Oh, a non-PPR? I don't think that shouldn't be a struggle at all. It should be McKinnon all the way. Yeah, I don't know. He doesn't score and catches don't count.

It's a little tough. The confidence you guys have in McKinnon blows my mind. It's more like the lack of confidence we have in Pacheco. In PPR, I have no problem with McKinnon. In non-PPR, it's a little concerning. Okay, other running back news. It's a difference of like what? Five, six points maybe?

Maybe more. That's quite a bit. That's a lot. Nick Chubb is going to play. You know, I was thinking though, this game is the Browns-Saints game is probably the worst weather. And what do you guys think about Kareem Hunt as a sleeper?

Obviously, Chubb, you're going to love. But could they just be running the ball so much and throwing shorts so much that you get maybe the most touches in weeks for Kareem Hunt? Did you guys move him up at all? Where do you have him? I haven't yet, but that's certainly a good theory. You know, I think you could see, especially since he's not 100% in the job,

maybe you get 12 carries for Kareem Hunt. We could see a Ravens-ish game plan. How desperate are you for a running back this week? I think that's what it comes down to. Hard to have confidence in him to have a dozen touches

when he hasn't had that many in six straight games yeah okay and so they're they might use them for as many as eight carries if the weather is truly bad if the wind is just impossible to deal with but the only you're you're starting him and you're hoping for a touchdown we can say that about a lot of running backs this week. He would be low on my list of touchdown needy running backs that you would start in fantasy. I did see a story because I was looking just for something on Kareem Hunt that this

may be his final game in Cleveland playing at home. Not that that really matters, I think, to them, but to him, I think it does. So, you know, who knows what he said to his position coach or whatever. Dude, he might be ready for that. He might be excited about that. No, but he's an Ohio guy, so

they may give him an opportunity for a few more touches. He asked for a trade out of there earlier. That's enough about Kareem Hunt here. This is why you've got to watch the HQ and the live stream that we do on YouTube on Saturday morning. We'll update you on the weather. AJ, Dylan's good to go.

Khalil Herbert's going to play. Do we know about Jeff Wilson? He's got a Sunday game. We'll find out today. Limited practice both days. So probably not the best scenario for Raheem Mostert if Wilson does play. Chase Edmonds is going to play. And Latavius Murray mispracticed, but he's expected to play. At wide receiver.

Just one note on Murray. They kept him out. Nathaniel Hack talked about this practice because they practiced indoors. And they're playing on turf. And he said he didn't want to have more opportunities to play on turf and maybe further aggravate the injury. He's fine. Okay.

At wide receiver, Jarvis Landry and Chris Olave are out. So does that have a big impact? Does it help Juwan Johnson? Does it help Kamara? What do you think? You want to know my draft games quarterback this week? Taysom Hill? Taysom Hill.

Okay. That's clever. It's a shot in the dark, but I understand. No, I actually like it a lot. I think he's going to play probably a little bit more than expected. I mean, they're certainly not going to try and throw without Landry on the field. So Rashid Shaheed takes what could

have been a nice step forward. I mean, do they have 15 past 10s this game? I'm stashing Shaheed in my deeper leagues just in case the injury lingers for Olave. He's looked good, man. He's fast. He can catch those downfield throws. Don't want to use him this week.

And we've seen Taysom play at least 40% of the snaps. I think it's five straight games now. So upping his workload really wouldn't take that much. It wouldn't be that big of a deal for the Saints. Perfect scenario for it against the Browns. What else I got here? Mikko Hardman unlikely

to play this week. So that was a bit of a surprise. Brandon. Brandon Cooks is going to play. Chris Moore looks like he's going to play. See about Julio Jones.

That's about it. Oh, Cortland Sutton was limited. We're still waiting to find out. They have a Sunday game, so we'll wait to find out the Friday practice report

on Cortland Sutton. Tight end. Dallas Goddard. Good to go. I think Noah Fanch is fine. I don't know if he's fine. Okay. Has he practiced?

One of between Walker. I think Fant did practice on Thursday. So, Enlisted is questionable. I think he'll be playing at less than 100% if he's in the game. And Hayden Hurst has been practicing, hoping to play. Inlicit is questionable. I think he'll be playing at less than 100% if he's in the game. Okay. And Hayden Hurst has been practicing, hoping to play.

All right, that's about it. We'll take a quick break. When we come back, one question for each game. We'll start with the Eagles and Cowboys. Can you trust all of the running backs in this game? Well, the three big ones, we'll talk about it right after this on Fantasy Football Today. 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 OntarioOne call.ca and avoid unnecessary damages to get the job done right data sourced from the orcga 2023 dirt report it's time for one question for each game the segment needs a theme song i will work on it philadelphia dallas dave rank the running backs the running back rankings are Sanders, Pollard, Elliott.

Sanders. Wow. Jamie, what do you think? What are your running back rankings? Pollard, Elliott, Sanders. Oh, very different. They're all startable. Dave, why Sanders, number one?

Why so much confidence? Well, he doesn't have a quarterback stealing goal line carries from him like he has for the first 13 games of the season. And they've talked about getting him more involved. They can take pressure off of Minshew by running the ball. I don't think the Cowboys' run defense is so dominant that they won't be able to run it on them. And I think Sanders will be better.

In full PPR, you could talk me into Pollard over Sanders. They're close. But I think Sanders sees a large majority. I think he gets going. I think he scores. You didn't mention what he did with Minshew last year, did you? I did not. I think he had something like 22 carries and three catches.

At least 20 carries, three catches. Yeah, I expect him to have a couple of catches. Carolina and Detroit. Jamie, I expect him to have a couple of catches. Carolina and Detroit. Jamie, how many Lions do you trust? Hello? Oh, one. Maybe that's the same.

Just St. Brown? Yeah. Yeah, outdoors, cold. I'd still start Swift. I would still consider Williams a flex in non-PPR. And Tark is still number three receiver in non-PPR. Giants and Vikings. Dave, are you feeling it? I'm feeling it as a high-end flex.

Could be a high-scoring game. It's crazy. The first 52 plays for the Vikings last week. He had zero targets, and then he got going late. They ran a really nice pick play to get him open for a touchdown late against Indianapolis last Saturday, and I just think that he's still going to be an interesting part of the offense, not a huge part of the offense,

and if you're looking for 13 PPR points, I think he gets you there. All right. Would you start Thielen or Slayton in that game? huge part of the offense. And if you're looking for 13 PPR points, I think he gets you there. All right. Would you start Thielen or Slayton in that game? Thielen in PPR. Jamie, how about you? Thielen or Slayton? Slayton for me. I got an interesting Slayton stat.

Basically just about... Schneier's been talking about this, how the Giants have changed their offense. I wonder if Osborne's actually better than Thielen at this point. He has been playing more. He's actually a good streaming option better than Thielen at this point. He has been playing more. He's actually a good streaming option if you're heard at wide receiver. He's been playing in the slot a lot more. If they continue to use three receiver sets like they have

been, then he's absolutely an option you can pick up and start. Find out more about Darius Slayton and his route depth later on in the show. Washington's at San Francisco. Dave, Terry McLaurin or Brandon Ayuk? McLaurin. Jahan Daurin or Brandon Ayuk? McLaurin. Jahan Dotson or Brandon Ayuk? I think I want to say Dotson.

I'm excited about Jahan Dotson. Yeah, I was watching his targets from the last two games. He is very talented, very fast, and versatile. He's not just a deep threat. Yes. It's something like six of his past nine targets

have been inside of 15 yards. Something like that. It's real close to that type of number. He was great before the bye and great after the bye. We have seen the 49ers just humiliate some teams. I think it's no more than 17 points to any team in seven straight games. You know,

I, the, you guys based on your rankings have a lot of confidence in Terry McLaurin. That might be the only commander you have confidence in, but you know, how nervous are you about that? Uh, Jamie McLaurin just against the Niners knowing what they can do.

I think there'll be chasing points. So I don't think it's a bad situation to buy into. Somebody's going to get a lot of targets. The one concern I think would be as if, and you don't think it's a bad situation to buy into somebody's gonna get a lot of targets the one concern I think would be is if and you sort of alluded to this earlier this week I think it was you that um the commanders may bench Taylor Heineke at some point um for Carson Wentz now that he's healthy don't think I said that but it certainly may happen maybe it was Radom Razor oh I know I'm sorry I'm sorry. It was Pete. It was Pete on HQ. I thought it was you on HQ. We look alike. Yeah, there's some

talk that Wentz might play. Charverius Ward is a big injury to keep an eye on. Actually, I should have mentioned that. He's in the concussion protocol. You saw the way he shut down DK Metcalf last week, starting cornerback for the 49ers. He's not always shadowing guys, but he could shadow McLaurin, and he is questionable. He's trying to work his way through the concussion protocol.

How about Tampa Bay at Arizona? Dave, who's the best running back in this game? I'll still say James Conner based on workload. He's not sharing it what should be close to 55-45 with somebody else.

I expect it to be an ugly offense with Trace McSorley under center. See, this is why the NFC home games, this slate of games is, is, is, uh, you know, fun, but tricky, right? It's like James Connor. He's been very good. He plays all the time. You want to buy into him, but my goodness, how bad could they be with McSorley?

How much would that affect Connor? Um, then the next game we're talking about Denver at the Rams, you know, there are some appealing options here, but do you really want to trust anyone on these two pathetic offenses? Jamie, I'll throw that question to you. Jerry, Judy, or Christian Watson is a question I had. And Latavius, Murray, or Cam Akers. Two questions for that game. I would go with Judy over Watson, even if Sutton plays.

And I would go with Murray over Akers, even if Chase Edmonds is activated. So you guys are cool with Jerry Judy if Sutton plays. It would likely move him back into the slot. He's been playing a lot on the outside the last couple games, and he's been great.

I don't know if that matters to you. And the Rams, still pretty respectable pass defense. But anyway, you guys are good with Judy if Sutton plays? I don't know if they would necessarily move. And, you know, the Rams, still pretty respectable pass defense. But anyway, you guys are good with Judy if Sutton plays? I don't know if they would necessarily move him back in the slot because they're still so beat up. Kendall Linton's not going to play. So, you know, we may not see a very healthy receiving core there for the Broncos.

And my guess would be is it takes the likelihood of Jalen Ramsey shadowing him away if he's moved around and Sutton's on the field. So, I mean, look, he goes from, right now he's number one receiver for me. He'll go back to being a number two receiver, but still somebody that I would be fine. Like the one league I have, I'm not benching him. I think it's closer in non-PPR between Judy and Sutton and not Sutton. Watson. Yeah. Watson has more upside than Judy in non-PPR. I don't think it's a question in full PPR. The last game that I have for today is Buffalo-Chicago, but you could argue this is one that we should talk a lot about,

and usually I save the boring ones for the end, the easy ones. So, Dave, is this an easy game in terms of starts and sits in Buffalo-Chicago? I don't think it's a slam dunk, but the guys that have been mortal locks and fantasy lineups aren't going to get taken out now. You're not going to sit Diggs. You're not going to sit Josh Allen.

And I don't think you'll sit Fields. It really depends on who else you have with him. For example, I would start Gino over Justin Fields. I'm not sure if I have it ranked cousins over fields. I'll think about that one. Um, Montgomery should be a must start, but almost everybody else when we're talking about Gabe Davis, Cole commit Dawson Knox, those are guys that you can certainly make a decision on, and maybe you should make a decision going away from them.

The running backs though. How do you feel about Montgomery and Singletary? Singletary, I think is in the same boat as he's been all year he's he's solid if you need a guy but you view him more as someone who will produce like a number three running back could have had a touchdown late last week but he did what his coaches told him to do and slide just short of the end zone Montgomery I think it's still going to be in line for around 15 touches if not 15 carries even with Khalil Herbert back. The big worry I've got with Montgomery is that the offensive line in Chicago, which already wasn't great, is down two more starters for this game. So that could hurt him a little bit, but I'm still going to start him.

He's still going to get work. He's still the number two fantasy runner. I wonder if we wake up on Saturday morning and this is, this game is just miserable conditions, which is very possible. If, if Devin Singletary gets a boost, you know, it could,

and he might be, but the winds are expected to be very strong. Soldier field is right on Lake Michigan. So it's going to be very breezy winds at 22 miles an hour. Uh, no snow, um, no rain.

It's going to be wind. That's going to be a problem for deep passing, more so for Chicago than for Buffalo, because Josh Allen does have a strong arm. They should rename it Lake Illinois, Lake Michigan. I got to do my bears. Lake Chicago, it should be. I think they got to call it Lake Dick.

Lake Dick, that's what it should have been, absolutely. All right, let's break down the games in more depth, starting with Philadelphia at Dallas. All right, stat of the game number one is a little convoluted, basically. The Eagles, we know, much, much... That's new for you. Yeah, much better with Jordan Davis on the field against the run. Much better.

3.46 yards per carry compared to 4.71 when he's off the field to running backs. I mean, that is unbelievable. But he hasn't been playing that much the last two games since he's come back. Thanks to David Montgomery. And I just wonder, this is obviously, Jamie, the toughest matchup in this stretch for Pollard and Zeke. So ordinarily, they're getting 15 or more carries. They're scoring. They're incredible.

What do you project, I guess, in terms of a game script and the workloads for Dallas? 15 or more carries. They're scoring, and they're starting in your fantasy leagues. They're not going away from what they do. Would you think they'll be able to run with success against the Eagles? Yes. I don't think anybody stops there on you. Okay.

Um, that brings us to a stat of the game. Number two, Dave, there've been 13 wide receivers with seven or more targets against the Cowboys. Eight of them have scored 17.7 or more fantasy points, including four of the last five.

That's important. They are struggling against the pass lately. They've allowed the sixth most completions of 20-plus air yards since Week 10. That's Dallas. So when you look at the Eagles' wide receivers and their passing game in general, what is your level of confidence?

It's high, and that's even with Jalen Hurts. A double game of the week, yeah. The Eagles and the Cowboys. Two games of the week, yeah. It's a week 16 double dip.

All right. I was worried that you'd kill the bed if you did it twice in a week, but I don't think you did. We had to get Dave, right? We had to get Dave. I appreciate it.

I knew the way that every time he was answering your questions, he was off guard today. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was definitely in rhythm. Okay. All right, Dave. Sorry. I didn't hear a word you said.

What'd you say? What'd you think about the Eagles passing game? Dallas has a problem at cornerback opposite Trayvon Diggs. They're not saying who's starting, but whoever it is, it's going to be a liability. And I'm cool with Minshew throwing to A.J. Brown and Devontae Smith. I don't think he'll embarrass himself. I think the offensive line is a big reason why that's a good offensive line protecting Gardner Minshew. And I think there's room for both wide receivers to have a good game. Brown is a must and Devante Smith, even with Dallas got her back. I think files is a number

two wide receiver this week, a little bit because of all the receivers that just have lower expectations because of weather, because of matchups, other issues. I think that's where he comes out, is as a number two wide receiver. Well, I am in three semifinals, and I am starting Gardner Minshew in all of them. Can you believe that? Including against Heath.

Yes. In the league where Heath's trying to go undefeated. Yep. So I have a lot at stake here with this Eagles-Passy game. This is going to be an interesting game. I wonder how many people in the audience are going to root for you to beat Heath, and I wonder how many people in the audience are going to root for Heath to beat you. But Heath is going to be conflicted if Minshew has a big game.

I know, I know. No, he's not. And he has Dak. Oh, he's got Dak, too. Yeah. Wow, this really is the game of the week. Yeah, so who do you guys like better, actually, Dak or Minshew? Right now, Dak,

but I've gone back and forth with him. Yeah, I have, too. It's close between the two of them, but I'll take Dak. They're both ahead of Goff, right? Oh, God, yes. Both ahead of Rogers. Both were ahead of Lawrence. Yeah, good. Behind Tua, behind Geno, right?

Okay. We like the running backs. CeeDee Lamb, yes. How about the tight ends? Two teams that are very good against tight ends. Who do you prefer, Jamie? All right, Dave, go ahead. I'll throw it to you.

What, you disagree? Leighton Van Der Esch has been one of the reasons why the Cowboys have erased tight ends. He is not going to play in this game. As soon as he went out in the first quarter last week against Jacksonville, Evan Ingram started to go off, and he had a really good game. I think Dallas got his first game back. He's coming back from a shoulder injury, not a knee injury.

He should be able to move well. We've seen Gardner Minshew lean on him before. We've seen him throw short before. I think he's the perfect type of target to help support a downfield passing game. If the plays aren't there on long throws, Minshew can check down or hit Dallas Goddard

on out routes. Hertz was doing that as well. I've got him as a top three tight end this week. I love Dallas Goddard, and I'm starting him across the board. Jamie, how do you feel about Dalton Schultz, who's been under six points in three of his last five games, I believe? He's in that

lower tier, number one tight end. There's still always the potential for him to play well. I still think he's the preferred option. They've been using multiple tight ends, and Dak has been leaning on different guys. That's kind of been a problem, but I think this type of game, if he got you to this point, I'm not picking up Jordan Akins,

for example, to start over Dalton Schultz. Sure. What about Taysom Hill? What about Dawson Knox? Yeah, what about your boy Taysom Hill? I would start Knox over him. I would start Taysom Hill over Dalton Schultz on PPR. I'm not there yet, but it's close.

I'm hoping this game gets high scoring and you get a lot of pass attempts here. Because if you get pass attempts from Dak, you'll get targets for Hill. Or sorry, for Schultz, who gets an end zone target almost every week, was wide open in the end zone last week at Jacksonville, and Dak threw to Noah Brown instead,

and Dak threw a touchdown to a different tight end later in the game. So the touchdown probability is higher for Schultz than it is for other tight ends. But you know, just to, just to finish things off here, cause all right,

Dak and Minshew are low end starters. Start the running backs, lamb, AJ Brown or, or must start. I mean, Islam and must start guy, by the way,

cause he's usually around seven targets. Okay. Yeah. Um, and, uh, okay. The last thing here is if you like Dallas Goddard, you know, let's keep in mind Devante

Smith. I believe he was wide receiver 35 per game before the Goddard injury. So how does that play out, Jamie? I mean, is, I feel like Minshew is going to have to be a top five quarterback if all three of them are going to be good. Well, I mean, somebody is going to get left out, you know, so it's just a matter of, you know, Goddard can have three for 18 in a touchdown and davante smith could have seven for 80 you know and and they both still find a way to be productive in their respective positions

so it doesn't necessarily mean that minchu has that high of a or that that strong of a performance but i think you're just you're looking at it the way i was i was approached it when a non-mobile quarterback replaces a mobile quarterback that there should be a few more target opportunities because those design runs are not going to be there and so in a game that's expected to be high scoring where you don't have weather concerns and davante smith has been playing the way that he's been playing and you have the potential what dallas goddard can do especially with van der esch not being there it's hard to get away from all these guys so yes davanteae Smith is probably the most likely candidate to be disappointing if Dallas Goddard is Dallas Goddard.

But if Goddard is not Goddard, then Devontae Smith should be fine. So unless you have both of them, you're probably starting them on your respective teams. And you could certainly make a case that Devontae Smith could be better than A.J. Brown. He's been getting more targets than A.J. Brown in a lot of games lately.

And Trayvon Diggs could be on A.J. Brown more than Smith. So yeah, we have no idea what Minshew's going to do. Because Minshew, you know, he's never be on A.J. Brown more than Smith. We have no idea what Minshew's going to do. He's never played with A.J. Brown in a game, a full game. He's had two opportunities to play with, well, really one opportunity to play with Goddard and Smith

because week 18 they didn't play against Dallas, at least the majority of the game. It's a wild card. It's totally a wild card. We can see Quez Watkins be the guy that he leans on the most, you know, because that's maybe the guy he's thrown to the most. Are you trying to avoid the DSTs? Yes. Yeah.

Okay. All right, let's go to Detroit at Carolina. And stat of the game, the Panthers have allowed 37 completions of 20 or more yards. That is the 10th fewest in football. 14 completions of 20 plus air yards. That is the 7th fewest in football. They've been a little worse lately,

but still pretty good, and I bring this stat up because I think it's a DJ Chark stat, and maybe a Jared Goff stat. We didn't like Chark last week because the Jets were absolutely elite at eliminating the deep ball. The Panthers are not quite there, but they're still good.

So, Jamie, what do you think about the Detroit passing game in this one? I'm going to buy into Goff still struggling outdoors. You know, prior to the Brock Wright 51-yard touchdown, he was at 201 passing yards and no touchdowns last week against the jets. So, you know, he, he saved himself with his second best game away from retiring his best game away from Detroit in terms of fantasy points. So I think you just kind of go back to where he's been. You know, there's enough of a track record for the season to say, okay, he's an easy guy to get away from, even though it's, it's probably, um, not the worst matchup, certainly by comparison last week. Uh, so I think Chark, you know, we'll be better. Uh, it's, it's an easier matchup, certainly by comparison last week. So I think Chark, you know, will be better. It's an easier matchup, easier situation for him.

And I think you just look at him as a number three receiver. You know, he wasn't exactly dominating targets, you know, 13 targets in the two games where he was great, where he had, you know, over 90 yards receiving against Jacksonville and then Minnesota. And so, you know, he's not like it's a 10 target plus guy, like what Zay Jones was doing, you know, so you would buy into that a little bit more because of the opportunities. But Amaro St. Brown is just too easy to start, should continue to be the guy for Jared Goff

and number one receiver in PPR, probably number one in non-PPR as well, but must-start guy. Okay, so the Detroit running backs drive you crazy. You get a pretty good amount of catches from DeAndre Swift, and the Panthers are actually pretty good against pass-catching running backs, six fewest receiving yards per game. But you like Swift better, and how much, I mean, Dave, let's say,

DeAndre Swift or Latavius Murray, Cam Akers in that game? Swift is definitely behind Latavius Murray. He is one spot ahead of Akers in full PPR. Okay, and that's where, like what range are we talking here? Flex, number three running back, top 30 guys, and both Swift and Akers ahead of Jamal Williams.

Yeah, we're really seeing the downside of Jamal Williams lately. He is a touchdown or bust running back who's averaging 2.4 yards per carry in his past two games, and he's had 29 carries in those games. And you mentioned Swift, and you mentioned Williams. There's a third man, and it's Justin Jackson. He's been getting right around the same amount of work as Jamal Williams. Very frustrating to start any Lions running back.

They're all flexes at best. Would you start a Marty Cooper or DeAndre Swift? Swift. I think I'd start Swift if the weather in Cleveland is just absolutely atrocious. Would you start Devante Smith or DeAndre Swift? And then say it 10 times fast. Devante Smith over DeAndre Swift. Okay.

One is fine. All right. Amonra St. Brown is the wide receiver to start. No tight ends in this game, which is a shame because the Lions are such a layup for tight ends. Like, Yuzama! Sorry to steal that from Dave. No, no, no. I will share you Zama with all from a personal standpoint. I'm glad that I have a

league where I'm not going to advance in the Scott Fishbowl. I mean, I'm glad to be in the semis, but I'm not going to make it to the finals. So I get to just, well, it's not going to positive thinking that you need Jalen hurts. I get to sit back and just say, I'm going to start Sam Darnold because I want to have a league where I start Sam Darnold. He's a great DFS quarterback. Yes, he is. He hasn't been throwing much. He's been throwing 19 to 24 times.

I think it's going to be a lot more than that because you cannot run on the Lions anymore. They've had one of the best run defenses in football since their bye. The Lions give up the most fantasy points to the quarterback so is there a redraft scenario where you'd be starting sam darnham would you start them over and say russell wilson no you'd certainly make case for it i wouldn't do it but you could absolutely make case for it you know it's just a matter of a we haven't seen you yet and b you know teams can still be stubborn so the fact despite the fact that they can't run on detroit they'll still try

and run on detroit and so you know they'll they'll have a couple of drives where they get some first downs, but then they'll still stick with it because they still think that's the right way to approach it. Because probably they don't trust Sam Darnold. But, you know, and the other part of this is I don't think the Lions are going to blow out the Panthers to the point where, you know, they're chasing two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. It could happen, but I just don't see it because I don't think the Detroit offense on the road where, you know, they're chasing two touchdowns in the fourth quarter could happen, but I just don't see it because I don't think the Detroit offense on the road is the same Detroit offense. So, uh, Donald is, is, you know, comparing him to Russell Wilson, isn't really much of a stretch because Russell Wilson has been terrible. Um,

but he's in that, you know, crappy quarterback range, you know, the behind the guys like, you know like Daniel Jones and Brock Purdy and those quarterbacks not to the level, I think, of Minchu by far. What do you do with him and Derek Carr? I would play Darnold over Carr. I would too. I've got him higher than Carr. I've got him higher than Huntley, Heineke, Deshaun Watson

because of the weather. One of my favorite stats from last week, the Lions. Everybody watched the Jets game last night, right? You remember the Jets and Zach Wilson? The Lions gave up seven completions of 20 or more yards to the New York Jets last week. It is really unbelievable. They are 6-1 in their last seven games,

and their run defense, I mean, in those seven games, they've given up five carries, five running back carries of 10 or more yards and zero of 20 or more yards. So you, you know, you can't start running backs against them, but their past defense is still terrible. And yet they're six and one.

It's, it's incredible. So that brings us to DJ more. We're going to sit the Carolina running backs, right? Yes. Yeah. If you've got to start one,

I think it's Chuba. If you guys start one, good luck. But you know what else? They give up the fewest receiving yards per game to running backs also. It's crazy. So let's talk about DJ Moore. In that eight-game stretch, it's been one running back to get 10 PPR points. That's it.

To get 10 or to get over 10? One has gotten 210. No one has gotten over 10. Right. Yeah. Who was it? Guess. I can't figure it out.

10 games against the Lions. Seven games against the Lions. It was Dalvin Cook. No. Jeff Wilson. I don't know. I'm just letting you guess. It was Dalvin Cook.

Oh, damn it. All I was Davika. Oh, they have it. All right. DJ more. Jamie starter. Sit. Must start. Must start.

Of course. Oh man. You guys have, how in the world can you say that DJ more is a must start? Maybe because he's got amazing matchup. He's been good with him. Donald. He had back to a 31% target share last week.

I think it's safe to assume that Darnold will throw more than 24 times. It might not be 30 times, but I think he'll throw more. I love the touchdown pass that Darnold threw. It was on a broken play, but it was like a Josh Allen move. He's running out of bounds. He throws into a very tight window. DJ Moore's there to make the catch right on the pylon. That's the DJ Moore that I know and love.

And if he continues to make plays like that, especially against a terrible Lions defense, he should come through. He's a number two wide receiver for me this week. Yeah, in this stretch for the Lions, the only quarterback that threw fewer than 34 passes was Justin Fields. Yeah, and he's obviously a different beast.

So, you know, should get a lot of targets. All right, so then, must start DJ Moore. You say Jerry Judy or DJ Moore? Judy. Judy without Sutton. Moore with Sutton. Ooh, I'll take Judy either way. How about DJ Moore or Devontae Smith?

DJ Moore. I have take Judy either way. How about DJ Moore or Devante Smith? DJ Moore. I have Smith a little higher. DJ Moore or Terry McClure? McClure. McClure, but basically one spot. Okay. And sit the tight ends, as I mentioned.

Okay, Giants are at the Vikings. Based on what the Giants have been giving up lately, what the tight ends, as I mentioned. Okay, Giants are at the Vikings. You know, based on what the Giants have been giving up lately, what the Vikings score, typically, the Vikings should score 28 or more points. Their implied team total is 26 points.

They should score against the Giants. And that's a big deal because it means probably more pass attempts for Daniel Jones, more targets for Slayton, things like that. Dave, what's your level of confidence in Jones? I know everyone's going to start Barkley, but Jones and Slayton in particular. Low for Jones. I just can't do it.

I'm nervous about how effective he'll be throwing the football. You can't guarantee his rushing floor. It's a good rushing floor. Might get you 20 yards on the ground. I don't know how much of it he'll have throwing the football. You can't guarantee his rushing floor. It's a good rushing floor. It might get you 20 yards on the ground. I don't know how much of it he'll have to do. I kind of like the matchup for the passing game in theory. I don't know how much they're going to do it because they can lean on Saquon.

Can they? I think they can. And I think they will. You know what Jamie said about Jared golf last week before the 51 yard touchdown to Brock Wright? Nobody cares about this and everyone's just going to laugh at me. But before the final drive of the game, Saquon Barkley had 12 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown. And then on the final drive, he had six carries for 48 yards. He had more yards on that drive than he had the entire

first three and a half quarters. It's true, but that's against a really good run defense. Minnesota is as good. I mean, they're I think 3.7 yards per carry to running backs. They're terrific run defense. Believe me, I'm not telling anyone to sit Barkley.

They just gave up over 100 yards to the combination of Zach Moss and Deion Jackson. On a ton of carries, though. Again, I don't think... You don't think Barkley's getting 37 carries? I think Barkley gets 37 catches. He's going to end up being used in passing more than we see.

Start Barkley, definitely not getting away from that. But I don't think they're just going to be able to run the ball and not throw. Daniel Jones, I think, is actually a very difficult call. Because he does have that... I mean, he's not rushing that much. But he still has the ability to rush for ball and not throw. Daniel Jones, I think, is actually a very difficult call because he does have that. I mean, he's not rushing that much, but he still has the ability to rush for 50 or more yards. I don't know. You're not that confident in him.

Jamie, how about you? Daniel Jones? I don't mind Daniel Jones. Like, I would start him over Aaron Rodgers, for example. I think there's a higher ceiling based on what we've seen from those two guys. And so looking at what this Vikings defense has been and really struggled against, it's been against quarterbacks.

And so this could be an opportunity for Daniel Jones, especially the Vikings often shows up, which I think it will, you know, where he's chasing points. And so he's kind of, you know, been a little tough to figure out because some of his better games have been because of his rushing totals. So that's always a gamble. But I think this could be a game where he gets the second touchdown throwing or somehow, you know, whether he runs one in.

And I think this is a good opportunity to buy into him. You know, so like we talked about this on Tuesday. If you couldn't get your hands on – there are three quarterbacks I think you should have been looking at to whatever degree. Daniel Jones, if he was dropped. Garner Minshew and Purdy. For me, it was Minshew, Jones, Purdy. And I think Jones is a good low-end straight.

Like I struggled last night ranking it. I kept it the way that – I kept it Lawrence over Jones, but I struggled with Jones over Lawrence because I think Jones is a good low entry. Like I struggled last night ranking it. I kept it the way that I kept it Lawrence over Jones, but I struggled with Jones over Lawrence. Cause I think Jones could have an opportunity for, you know, 22, 23 points this week. What's his floor.

17. I feel like it's lower than that. Maybe if you adjust it for the matchup, 17 is the floor. Yeah. He, you'd like to say, what has he done in good matchups? In my opinion, he's only had three this year and maybe two week one against the Titans. He scored 20 points.

I don't know. I mean, that now that's a great matchup. I don't know if it wasn't week one. You're right. Week. I don't know. Week six or something at the Jaguars. 31 points with one hundred and seven1 rushing yards and a touchdown.

And then 26.6 against the Lions. He threw for 300. And that was with multiple interceptions, which he hasn't really been turning the ball over. He has the lowest interception rate in the NFL, but he had 50 yards rushing and a touchdown in that game. So very successful in good matchups. That's why when I was doing the notes,

I kept going back and forth. I like him. I don't like him. I like him. I don't like him. I like him. I don't like him. Ultimately, you guys have him around 15th, which makes sense. I think 14th for Jamie, 17th for Dave. Ahead of Derek Carr.

I'm sorry. Jamie said ahead of Aaron Rodgers. Dave, how about you? Rodgers or Carver? I'm taking Rodgers all day long. Okay. Start Barkley. Okay.

So here's what I wanted to tell you about Darius Slayton. His route depth in three of his last four games, his average route depth has been between 8.1 to 9.1 yards. Those were bad games for him. And before that, his route depth was almost 12 yards. So he's been between 8 and 9, down from 12. So basically, they've changed their offense. And I give Schneier credit for pointing this out.

More shotgun, quicker throws, not throwing deep as much. And that's what Darius Slayton does. Maybe they go back to that in this game because the Vikings are just awful against the deep ball, but he's another guy. Couldn't figure out how I felt about Slayton. So Dave, tell me how to feel about Slayton. I think he's at best in number three receiver certainly has upside because of his big play ability. I've got him in the thirties, but I think that there's this, this passing offense, they've kind of cultivated some options at wide receiver for Daniel Jones. It's, it's one of the things that would make Jones a little bit more encouraging to me. Isaiah Hodgins has been playing a little bit better. Richie James, no doubt about it,

has been playing a little bit better. And those guys are good short area targets. I'm surprised by that stat. Yeah, me too. I'd figure that with Hodgins and James playing, that they would use Slayton as more of a downfield guy and a clear-out guy. And also a guy that they throw a couple bombs to,

and maybe this is the week where they do that. But he's a significant risk. He's got single digit PPR floor. And obviously you can, you can help you win your week, but he's risky. Last thing on that is in the last, in those games where Slayton had the low route depth face three of the

best pass rushes in football, the Cowboys, the Eagles, and the commanders. They are top four in pressure rate. The Vikings are 16th. So perhaps things change. That would help them. It is the third best matchup in fantasy.

The Vikings give up the third most fantasy points. So we're not telling you to avoid Slayton. He is a number three receiver behind DJ Moore, for example. He's behind DJ Moore, but I've got him ahead of Brandon Ayuk, Deontay Johnson. I really like John Dotson this week,

but I'm starting Slayton over him. I'm starting Slayton over Chark, over Cooks, over the receivers in the Brown Saints game. Okay. And sit Bellinger. Kirk Cousins. With all the crappy weather

and questionable quarterbacks, we can just say start Kirk Cousins, right? 100%. Okay. Should be good. I'm still struggling with Cousins versus Fields. I think the weather might be the tiebreaker there. Playing Buffalo might be a tiebreaker, too, for Fields.

And the offensive line being bad, I think I just talk myself into Cousins over Fields. Since the Giants lost Xavier McKinney in Week 10, they have allowed the sixth most completions of 20 or more yards. They are giving up a lot of big plays. Yeah, there is a... And there's a... Sorry to interrupt you.

Garrett Bradbury, their center, was in a car accident earlier this week. That'll make the offensive line a little bit worse for Minnesota, but I don't think it's enough to make you steer clear of Cousins. Minnesota's easy. You start the big three. They're not that easy because Hawkinson, Thielen, Osborne. Cook, Jefferson, and Cousins are easy, obviously. Jamie, how do we feel about the other guys?

Thielen, Dave's not really feeling it. Hawkinson, Osborne. He's at number three. He's right on the fence. I would start Slayton over Thielen, so just to go there. I think you look at what Thielen has been. He had the good game against Detroit, which I expected, and then fell back the last game,

which is hard to say that's necessarily a byproduct of one game to the next. But you're seeing K.J. Osborne emerge. The last two weeks have been fantastic for him. necessarily a byproduct of one game to the next but you're seeing kj osborne emerge you know the last two weeks have been fantastic for him and so are we seeing the uh passing of the torch you know from the younger player to the older from the older player to the younger one um there's just a lot of mouths to feed in this offense so you know justin jefferson's going to get his and it's just a matter of who will be the second guy hockinson based on his position you're not getting away from him um feeling number three receiver. Thielen, number three receiver. Osborne, borderline

number three receiver. If Osborne has another good game, you're never going to touch Adam Thielen next week. Yeah, and Hawkinson's been pretty lousy lately. Well, I guess two weeks ago against Detroit, he was really good, but maybe he's a matchups guy,

and this is just such a good matchup. I mean, they just cannot stop the pass. So, well, how have they been against tight ends? 22nd. I mean, I think they're terrible against tight ends,

but okay. I mean, I've got many good eight or fewer half PPR points to tight ends and six of their past eight. Is that stat off? No, that might be, but,

um, who they face Logan Thomas twice, Jake stall. Schultz beat them up for two touchdowns. I mean, Jordan Aikens at 72. but who they face? Logan Thomas twice, Jake Stahl. Schultz beat them up for two touchdowns. Jordan Aikens had 72 yards. Hunter Henry scored on them in week 12. Nope, that's against the Vikings, my mistake. Yeah, I mean, they're not a bad matchup.

When they face somebody who gets targets, they struggle. Yeah, they're not a bad matchup at all. Okay, then, yeah. Okay, then Hawkinson or Schultz? Hawkinson. I think I might have Schultz higher, but it's really close between the two. Gerald Everett or Hawkinson?

Wouldn't blame you for going Hawkinson. Gerald Everett. Oh, Hawkinson over Everett. David Njoku. I'm done with Gerald Everett. Njoku. I think the weather makes a good tiebreaker to go with Hawkinson.

Waller and Andrews or Hawkinson? I have Hawkinson higher. Yeah. Okay. Hopefully that's a fun one on Saturday. Hopefully I'll have bragging rights on Thomas Schaefer when we see each other on Sunday via podcast. Okay, that's it.

We're going to take a break. That's not it for the games. We're just going to take a quick break. When we come back, Washington... Do the Lions clinch if they win? No, if they win and two of the Lions commanders and Seahawks lose.

So they're not going to clinch this week. They're not going to win. We'll be back on Fantasy Football today. Washington, final playoff. You know, it's not fair. Washington, if the playoff started today, Washington would final playoff. You know, it's not fair. Washington, if the playoff started today, Washington would be at Minnesota and the Giants would be at San Francisco. That doesn't seem fair. But anyway, Washington's at San Francisco. Nobody wants to face the Niners. Dave, break this game

down. Two defenses that have been fantastic over the last two months. The Niners have not allowed more than 17 points in their last seven games. They are 7-0. The Commanders have not allowed more than 21 points in their last nine games. I think they are 6-2-1 in those games. So is this an avoid game? What do you think, other than McCaffrey? You've got one defense that's going up against Christian McCaffrey? You've got one defense that's going up against Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle and Ayuk and a red-hot Brock Purdy,

and you've got another defense going up against Taylor Heineke and Brian Robinson and McLaurin and Dotson. I think it's a pretty big no-brainer that the 49ers defense has been playing great. They're going to continue to play great. I have them as a top three DST, top two actually. And the commanders I'm getting away from, I thought I'd carry the commanders as my DST for most of the playoffs. I did. I made the switch to the lions. I'd rather start the lions defense against Carolina than the commanders. And if I can get my hands on the chargers,

the Bengals, if someone dropped the bucks, easily trading in the commanders for one of those DSTs, and there's probably other DSTs that I would take a chance on over Washington as well. The only receivers that I feel okay about in this game are McLaurin and Dotson. Dotson much more as a number three receiver. Iuke, you've got to worry about target volume not being there for him. I think the matchup is better against the commanders throwing it than running it, but you've seen enough from the 49ers over the past several weeks where they're just committed to their run game. Why shouldn't they be? They've got Christian McCaffrey. I would expect a nice dose of McCaffrey, a little bit of George Kittle again, and the 49ers probably kind of suffocate the commanders on the scoreboard. Could win this game like 21-6, something like that.

I'm a little surprised at the confidence you guys have in George Kittle because he's been great against Arizona and Seattle. They are the two worst against tight ends. Washington is the best. They allow the fewest fantasy points to tight ends. It's also got to look who they play, though. Okay. It's a big part of it.

Yeah. Who have they played? Let's see. So, you who they played, though. Okay. It's a big part of it. Yeah. Who have they played? Let's see. So, you know, you look at the last. I'm looking at their game long right now. Daniel Bellinger twice. Dallas Goddard twice. He didn't have 30 yards in either game.

No, I got hurt in that game, and he scored a touchdown. So, yeah, he got hurt in one. He actually got hurt in both games, but he left one game early. He scored a touchdown in both games, but he had fewer than 30 yards. I mean, he didn't finish the game. One of the games he didn't finish. The second one. Yeah, that's the one he hurt. No scored a touchdown in both games, but he had fewer than 30 yards. I mean, he didn't finish the game. One of the games he didn't finish. The second one, yeah. That's the one he hurt. No, the first one. The second one, I think he did finish, and then

he went on IR. Okay, well, I mean, that's when he hurt his shoulder. Yeah, he hurt his shoulder. He came back after that. There's only one tight end that's had more than 40 yards, and that's DJ Hawkinson. But again, look what they played. But that's still really good. Oh, they're very good. I agree. Also, Kittle...

Look, I don't think Kittle's having a monster game. Obviously, I wish I would have ranked Evan Ingram over George Kittle. But I think you're looking at... That's the security blanket right now for Brock Purdy. I think that's the easy spot for him to rely on because he's not going to make a lot of downfield throws.

And so, yes, his big games have come against Seattle and Arizona, so he's taken advantage in a big way against those matchups. But I could see him 50, 60 yards on a touchdown in this game. Two things. Number one, I thought it was great that Purdy was able to find Kittle once on a really clever play where he's looking to his left and looking to his right, and then he finds Kittle. That's the Kyle Shanahan play.

Right. So we've seen that before from Shanahan and it worked out Purdy's got a track record of leaning on his tight end I might have mentioned it before certainly going into last week I think I did at Iowa State Charlie Kohler was his guy and something along the lines of 25 percent of his targets went to tight ends in his last three years at Ohio State I really I know the matchup's tough. I don't think it's going to be a deterrent from the 49ers doing what they want to do as far as involving Kittle in the offense. All right.

I just want to say the reason they have a hard time running the ball. That's an awesome change up that they can go to. I think they will try and get the ball. He has had three, five and five targets in three games with Brock Purdy. So he might be a big part of the offense, but he had five targets against Seattle. He turned it into four catches,

93 yards, and two touchdowns. His previous two games with Purdy were terrible. Target share, though. Target share. But still. The percentage is fantastic. Right. He's not throwing much.

I don't want to sit here and sound like I'm telling you to sit George Kittle. I understand everyone's going to start George Kittle after last week, but one good game from George Kittle this year has not meant a follow-up good game. He's just been very hit or miss. He's just so boom or bust.

It never means that for anybody, but certainly I understand your point with Kittle. Purdy, how about we talk about Brock Purdy here? He's been 18 to 25-ish fantasy points in all three games. Purdy or Daniel Jones, guys? I feel safer with Purdy or Daniel Jones, guys? I feel safer

with Purdy. Oh, wow. Okay. Purdy or Russell Wilson? Purdy. I've got Purdy, Wilson, Daniel Jones.

Jared Goff or Purdy? Goff's behind all three of those guys. Okay. So is Derek Carr. All right, he's around 15 in the rankings. Start McCaffrey, Sid Ayuk, start Kittle. McLaurin, you know, I would sit here and, you know, just for argument's sake, make the case against McLaurin.

But, God, wide receiver's awful this week, isn't it? Yep. would sit here and and you know just for argument's sake make the case against mclaurin but god wide receiver is awful this week isn't it yep yeah it's it's especially challenging once you get past like 20th 23rd it's hard to find guys that you can reliably count on and so when you've got a wide receiver like mclaurin who's made plenty of big plays this year. You tack on the fact that the commanders figured a trail in the game. They can't run the ball 30 times like they want to. McLaurin should get some opportunities to make some splash plays. So you take your chances on him. And just look at the stat line the Seahawks guys gave you last week,

and I think McLaurin can easily do that. Yeah, about 13 PPR points. Tampa Bay is at Arizona. Oh, congratulations to Terry McLaurin. Got his first green zone target of the season last week. What's the green zone target? That's inside the 10-yard line. Everybody knows that.

It is common football vernacular. Tampa Bay is at Arizona. And, oh boy, I just want this game to not be a blowout. Because then you can probably get excited about Tom Brady. So, Jamie, let's talk about that. How does that how does that happen how does they not be a blowout yeah tamil bay sucks but yes not as bad as arizona jamie what do you think about brady this week i think he gets you 23 fantasy points. That would be good. They're seven and a half point favorites. Dave, what do you think about Brady this week?

I think I might take the under on 23, but the over on 20. He's right in that range. Low end starter. So I think you guys probably have it different, but Minshew or Brady. Right now, Brady. I've got Brady one spot higher, and I'm kind of thinking that Minshew should go over him that's what I'm doing in the IDP league I don't blame you I left it to my Twitter followers to decide

and they voted for Minshew he has a higher ceiling how much lower is Minshew's floor to Brady's Brady's floor to Brady's? I mean, Brady's floor has been pretty bad. I'm going Minshew over Brady. I'm changing it right now. Wow, the Giants just signed someone pretty big.

Odell Beckham? Michael Conforto. That's their career. He's a former outfielder for the Mets. an outfielder formerly of the mets now he's on the san francisco giants yeah they made it they made a trade so so where's confordo gonna go next right because our giant our guy's signing with the giant right he'll go back to the mets for for 880 million dollars anyway um your stat of the game for this one for for Tampa Bay, Arizona, the Cardinals have allowed

17 or more PPR fantasy points to a running back in eight of their last nine games. And a lot of it's been receiving totals. So, Dave, what does that mean to you when you look at Walker and Fournette? I think it's actually close between those two. I'm not, obviously,

like, in the room when the Buccaneers coaches watch their game film, but I spent time watching what they did last week. And Rashad White was making a few mistakes, and he wasn't as trusted in the passing game. They basically rotated series throughout the entire game. And then when the Bucs went into hurry-up offense at the end of the game, it was all Leonard Fournette, none of Rashad White.

White didn't turn around on a short target from Brady. Brady looked pretty miffed. His pass protection isn't as good as Fournette's. I think they'll still mostly rotate series, but I wonder if there will be a little bit more of Fournette in high-value opportunities. That's why I've got Fournette not just over Rashad White, but as a flex starter, maybe even a low-end number two fantasy running back. It's just such a great matchup against the Cardinals. I think this is going to be one of fournette's best games i think white is more of a flex this is the this was the first game week 15 since rashad white in germany when the the playing time split and

fournette got hurt that he's played this few snaps yeah it was interesting his role was was definitely lower fumbling you know and that's that's something you know some of it's been you know they've recovered and it hasn't been you know killing them but and a couple of those have come in you know some some bad like last week you know getting blown out it wouldn't made a difference in the game but i i think that those things are starting to become a little bit of an issue and they are going to be a playoff team as bad as they've been and so i think you think they're probably starting to ramp up the guys that they want to make sure are ramped up, which is why I think Brady could have a good game

because I think this is a throw-to-score, run-to-win type of game for them. So I actually like Mike Evans this week. I think he'll actually play well. I think Chris Cobb will play the most start guy. It's just a matter of will a tight end step forward? You would hope it's K. Dodden if anybody's been starting him. So hard to trust. But I think Evans right now is sitting at 888 yards

and needs another 112 to get to nine straight seasons of 1,000 yards. You saw the beginning of last week's game. They were really trying to get him going. I think that's just something that they need to happen again. I agree. And we see it in Kansas City where they're starting to lean back toward the veteran running back, the experienced running back, the running back that they've trusted in postseason games before. We could easily see Tampa Bay do the exact same thing with their running backs this week. So how would you rank these two running backs with DeAndre Swift and Jamal Williams?

Four. You're talking about the Buc yeah yeah yeah it's a buck sandwich fournette swift jamal williams rashad white and james connor ppr james connor's ahead of all of them all of them yeah okay would you start fournette or ken walker i've got Walker higher for now. Jamie, how about you? Fournette or Ken Walker? For Walker. How would you rank the wide receivers in this game?

Godwin, Hopkins, Evans. Godwin, Hopkins, a little bit of a break for Evans, and then a gigantic Grand Canyon-sized gap for Marquise Brown. I mean, Arizona's still doing a pretty good job taking away number one receivers, right? Yeah, like last week.

So who are they taking away? Evans, I would say. It would be more their style, because they give up the fewest deep completions in football. Everything's in front of them. And that's, I mean, Godwin should have. I'd be very excited to start Godwin. more their style because they give up the fewest deep completions in football. Everything's in front of them. Godwin should have... I'd be very excited to start Godwin. Eight catches.

But they just don't give up big plays. They give up the most... I don't think Evans is having a big Mike Evans game, but I think you're going to get something similar to what you got last week. Yeah. Again, wide receiver's just not good. You don't have to worry about the elements here. Yeah, and again, wide receivers just not good. You don't have to worry about the elements here.

So that's why we like them. It's the great matchup for tight ends. Can you trust Kate Otten? Trust? No. No. DFS play. Okay, McSorley is top five for you. Oh, no, I'm sorry.

That was Josh Allen, not Trace Bixorly. You are Bixorly mistaken. He did throw... I watched the tape on Bixorly, and it's even worse than the numbers. But he threw 15 passes. Three of them went to James Connor, so that's good, I guess. I guess you have to start

Connor. I don't know what else to say at this point. Bucks run defense has not been what it once was. Unfortunately, they are allowing the fewest or maybe the second fewest, second fewest receiving yards per game to running backs. They're terrific there. I guess correct me if I'm wrong, you just start Connor, but you got to be a little nervous about him,

right? Yes. Yeah. Okay. And then Hopkins is top 20 for you guys, but not top 12 behind Chris Godwin, ahead of Mike Evans. Would you start DJ Moore or DeAndre Hopkins? Hopkins is not there yet, but it's close. Yeah.

Hopkins in PPR is a lot easier to say than in non-PPR. How about T. Higgins or Hopkins? Take it. I still have Hopkins higher in full PPR. How about... AJ Brown. Brown. AJ Brown.

All right. Bucks DST's top five. Denver's at the Rams. It's that of the game that I don't feel great about. A running back has scored 12.9 or more PPR fantasy points against the Rams in nine of their last 11 games. And Latavius Murray has scored double-dig more PPR fantasy points against the Rams in nine of their last 11 games. And Latavius Murray has scored double digit PPR fantasy points in six of his last eight games. This is a very pro Latavius Murray stat. I don't want to be very pro Latavius,

but who wants to be that? I'll tell you why you want to be that. Okay. He's the clear lead back for the Broncos. You just saw how terrible this Rams defense is without Aaron Donald on the field. That's why looking at long-term numbers with the Rams from the season doesn't do me any good. The past three games, it's over four yards per carry allowed to running backs. I think that there's definitely an opportunity here for the Broncos to kind of hide Russell Wilson again, not have him throw all over the place. Their defense should be able to really hold down the Rams offense. I think this could be a 20 carry game for Latavius Murray, and I think he can score.

Does Chase Edmonds matter at all to you? Because the last time we saw Chase, hold on, you can say no. Just let me tell you this. The last time we saw Chase Edmonds, Melvin Gordon got the first carry. Chase Edmonds got the next two. And then he got hurt and went on IR. But you wonder if they'd want to see what they have in Chase Edmonds.

They traded for him. Latavius Murray's not their future. At this point, I think Nathaniel Hackett's trying to just win games. And I think part of his formula for winning games, as kind of pathetic as this sounds, is leaning on the run game. And Latavius Murray is a big part of that.

Okay. So I think we'll see Edmonds. I don't think there's any question about it, but you might see him more in those passing down situations, which Latavius wasn't necessarily playing in a lot of any way. He actually has been, he's been decent on a, on third down, third down playing in a lot of anyway. He actually has been. He's been decent on third down. Third down roll in the last two games.

Murray has played more snaps than Marlon Mack. They're running a similar amount of routes. And even on third and fourth, four or longer, Murray's been playing more snaps than Marlon Mack. So they're kind of splitting third down. So those snaps might go away for Murray, but the others will not. Also, those who come in, I think it's Marlon Mack. I mean, kind of splitting. So those snaps might go away for Murray, but the others will not. I mean, no,

let's be real. It's not like Max part of the future too. So would you start Latavious Murray or the emerging AJ Dillon? Dillon. I mean, I said this to you yesterday, though. That's the group that I'm struggling with right now.

I would start Murray just because, you know, I think you're, you're seeing his guaranteed touches. But they both have interesting matchups. I think the thing that will sway it for me is if Murray has another limited or DMP on Friday, then I'll go Dylan over Murray.

Okay, I know you guys like Jerry Judy quite a bit. If Sutton plays, Judy would end up where in your rankings? Around 18 or 19. Probably right around that range. Maybe a little higher. And if Sutton plays, Sutton would be where in your rankings? Higher than Marquise Brown. 36 at best.

I think I'd say lower. I might start K.J. Osborne over him. You've got to really respect the pass defense here for the Rams. You know, first of all, they're still playing really hard, and they haven't fallen apart without Aaron Donald. So good for them. It's true. Against the pass, I would say so.

Yeah, against the pass. Greg Dolzich is a sit. Fooled you last week against the Cardinals. Sit Baker Mayfield. So why is Latavius Murray ranked so much higher than Cam Akers? By the way, the Broncos this is the myth. If you think

they have a good run defense, they don't. Why is Murray so much further ahead of Akers? I think he's just been a little slightly better. The thing that will sway it, and we don't know, is, you know, he had three catches last week, Akers, which is a season high.

First start with Baker. You know, so is that something that's, you know, by design, or is that something that Baker did, or, you know, however it all shakes out? But, I mean, give Akers credit. He's done a nice job. You know, I think he's a very good flex play. You know, he's found the end zone three times in the last four games. He's, you know, again, 100 total yards last week.

He's run a lot better. I don't think they're getting, you know, the Broncos offense is going to, you know, sprint ahead of the Rams. So, yeah, Akers is fine. Akers will get good opportunities in their past six games. The Broncos have allowed four yards per carry, one rushing touchdown to running backs. They've been worse against the pass

in that regard. A lot of that is Jarek McKinnon exploding in week 14. I don't think Ham Akers is going to do that. I think he'll be lucky to even have three catches again like he did last week. Yeah, they do keep running backs out of the end zone. That's one good thing about the Denver Broncos. That's one

lean that you can feel good about with Murray. What about guys like Adam Phelan and Darius Slayton versus Cam Akers? Non-PPR, it's easy to go with Akers. And half full? I would say everything but full, I would take Akers.

Alright, and that's the only Ram we're starting, right? No Higby? Unless you're desperate. No Higby? Unless you're desperate. No Higby, no. Denver is a top five DST. Yes. So our last game is Buffalo, Chicago. Start Josh Allen.

Dave, it seems like you're a little uncertain about where to rank Justin Fields. You guys both have him sixth, and Heath has him seventh. No, he's down to seven for me, but that's where he's going to stay. Okay. Top 10 fantasy quarterback. Yes, there's a wind issue that's expected.

No, I don't think that's going to impact his ability to run with the football. Definitely like Dawson Knox over Cole Comet. Definitely. The offensive line has been more than the weather for the Bears. Yeah, both of those things are factors. Knox has been basically the number two receiver for Buffalo the last two weeks. more than the weather for the Bears. Yeah, both of those things are factors. Knox has been basically the number two receiver for

Buffalo the last two weeks. I don't even have to ask you about Gabe Davis, do I? Sit. Boom, bust, flex at best. Okay, so then that brings us to the running backs. You said you're starting James Conner but a little nervous.

Do you feel the same way about David Montgomery? Not really. Just good with him? Yep. Because Khalil Herbert's coming back, so I don't know how much that matters to you. There's a lot of bad things happening here. Khalil Herbert's coming back.

We don't know how much he's going to play. Is he going to slide right back into being 40% of the snaps? Or is he going to be kind of babied a little bit as he works his way back? We don't know. The offensive line, Tevin Jenkins is out. Cody Whitehair is out. Those are problems for the Bears, especially against this Buffalo D-line. They're very good. I don't think the wind is necessarily going to impact the types of targets that David Montgomery is going to get from Justin Fields, but he's been benefiting from playing

with Justin Fields. He's been doing a good job running the ball and getting opportunities, and I still think he's going to get those opportunities. I've got him as a top 15 running back this week. All right. If you want a little more confidence in David Montgomery in their last eight games, the Bills have allowed 12 or more PPR fantasy points

to seven running backs in those eight games, 15 or more PPR fantasy points to five running backs in those eight games, and Montgomery's been pretty involved in the passing game lately as everyone else has dropped like a fly for Justin Fields' options, and that's basically it. We're going to sit the wide receivers. Cole Komet's outside the top 12, although Heath has him 10th in full PPR.

And then start the Bills DST. And we'll check on the weather and we'll give you an update in the morning on Saturday. So join us for that. I guess one last thing. Devin Singletary, how does he compare to Latavius Murray and Cam Akers? He is

ahead of them. I've got him behind Murray ahead of Akers. I'm sorry, behind Murray ahead of Akers. Alright, guys. See, that game we didn't need that much time on. No, I guess it didn't. I do wonder

what's going to happen if it's just an absolute maelstrom. Yeah, if it's terrible weather, people are going to try to get away from Allen and Fields. What about Allen and Fields? Is there a scenario where you're going to sit them for a guy

like Tua or Geno Smith? They still run. That's the thing. The weather's not going to impact that. It might help them. That'll help Josh Allen. I don't know. The winds have not going to impact that. It might help them. That'll help Josh Allen. I don't know. The winds have to be like 25 miles an hour for Diggs to be just unstartable. But I've got

him low in my rankings banking on the weather, but if the wind ends up being no big deal on Saturday, then he's moving right back up into the top five. I have to ask you a question that we talked about on Tuesday night. It was a YouTube poll. What is your favorite ice cream

truck treat? I've got to pick one? You want me to give you the choices that Schaefer put up? They were really bad choices. He didn't put that one up. He never heard of that. He put Push Pops on there. That's going to be like 75th on the list. I think I'm a Chipwitch guy.

You know the Chipwitch? Chipwitch. I like the Chipwitch. I like it better when you can get it, the Chipwitch, when it's been dunked in chocolate first. Yeah, that's probably good too, yeah. All right. Choco Taco is a good choice.

King Cone, right up there. All right, Choco Taco is a good choice. King Cone, right up there. All right. Choco Taco for Dave. King Cone might be it for me. King Cone. All right. You look like a King Cone guy. I look like I buy out the whole truck.

All right. Oh, yeah. The Oreo ice cream bar is fire. Oreo ice cream, cooking cream ice cream. Isn't there like a chocolate eclair thing? Chocolate eclair is great. There's like a fudge middle. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. That one's good, too. Chocolate and like crunchies or something on the outside. Yeah. Those are like There's like a fudge middle. Oh, yeah, yeah. That one's good, too. Crunchies or something on the outside. Those are kind of the good humor staples. Jamie, where is there an ice cream truck around here? I gotta go. All right, everybody. We'll see you later. Thanks a lot for watching and listening.

Talk to you on the mailbag. Can't wait to hear Dan Schneier destroy Die Hard. Like, give a terrible take on Die Hard. We'll talk to you later.