Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (NFC): Bucs RBs, 49ers WRs, Dak (12/09 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 9, 2022

Baker Mayfield is BACK! Or something like that! We recap the weird Raiders-Rams game to start the show and discuss Cam Akers and the Rams wide receivers. Then we've got your updated news and notes (10:00) as we touch on the Seahawks backfield and a number of questionable players ... Beat the Waiver Wire (20:15) and One Question for Each Game (22:40)! Kirk Cousins or Jared Goff? Do we like the Bucs RBs? The 49ers WRs? Start or Sit Dameon Pierce? Darius Slayton? ... Start or Sit for Vikings-Lions (31:40), Bucs-49ers (40:00), Patriots-Cardinals (52:10), Texans-Cowboys (59:40), Eagles-Giants (1:06:15) and Panthers-Seahawks (1:11:30) ... 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.

Week 14 is underway with a thud. The Raiders, what a terrible game, and the Rams. You know, actually, to be honest with you, it was an incredibly exciting finish and a 17-16 win for the Baker Mayfield-led Rams. But I started Derek Carr in two leagues, so I'm in a bad mood, Dave. I don't want to talk about it.

Adam, Dave, and Jamie here to break down six NFC home games and last night's crap fest. And as you pointed out, Cam Akers outscoring Devontae Adams. OMG. Yeah, get ready for an exciting week 14 if this is the barometer in which we're beginning with for the week. Baker Mayfield was off target on 25.7% of his throws,

which I think we would all expect since he's barely been with the Rams. But, man, did he make throws when he needed to make them. He actually looked pretty dang good. Receivers made plays for him. It was incredible to watch. And now we're at the point with Josh McDaniels where I feel like there's no coming back from this. I don't see how he coaches next year unless the Raiders cheap out,

which given as much as they've paid coaches, they might do, which is an indictment on Mark Davis. But you think about what their year has been. They were up 23-7 going into the fourth quarter against Arizona. They lost that game by six. They got blown out by Andy Dalton. They lost to the Colts with Jeff Saturday as their head coach. They were up 20-7 with less than a minute left in the half against Jacksonville. They lost that game by seven. They just lost

last week. They're giving up like 15 points per game in the second half. They're 10th worst. They're awful. They're not making second half adjustments. McDaniels is not doing well at all. And just a reminder, he lost 17 of his last 22 games when he was with the Broncos back two decades ago. So bad times

for the Raiders for sure. And bad times for everybody like you, Adam, who started Derek. Oh my gosh. I'm going to tell you something. I have a league, Jamie, our IDP league. I'm in sixth place. I got a one game lead on seventh place. I'm going to lose this week. And I have 130 point lead over seventh place. And now I'm worried that I'm going to lose that gap because Derek Carr was so bad and half my team was on a bye. But what happened to the passing game, Jamie? I mean, I don't understand. It was such a weird, clunky, disjointed game. I don't know what the hell happened to Derek Carr.

What was your take on that? Two points, two freaking fantasy points. One of the worst interceptions I've ever seen. Yeah, what was that? In the red zone, by the goal line. You know, he looked like he thought he can get it. It might have been Foster Moreau in the back of the end zone. No, it was Matt Collins.

Matt Collins. That he thought he can make the throw, and as he's getting hit, you know, he's still throwing the ball. But it looked like he released it before he got hit, and so it was weird how it all unfolded. But, I mean, that's something like you see in a Sandlot game. Yeah. It just, it was, it was bad. And I think part of it was like, they thought 13, three,

you know, it was, it was a little weird because Jacobs had the hand injury and left, you know, to go get x-rays and he was clearly in pain when he came back. And so I don't know if it was just like, let's just get our win and go home. And they stopped being aggressive. But the first play, not the first play, but the first big play to Devontae Adams, you know, it just felt like all Adams was doing the entire game, at least for the majority of it, was just running go rounds. Like, I don't quite understand, like, why they're not being more, why they weren't being more creative and moving him around. You know, granted, you know, throwing at Ramsey is not the smartest thing, why they weren't being more creative and moving him around.

Granted, throwing at Ramsey is not the smartest thing, but all the end-of-rounds to Mack Hollins, it just was such a weird, weird game. It almost felt like they thought, okay, we just show up and we win because the Rams don't have anything to offer us, and then they're throwing in a quarterback that just showed up two days ago, and we should be able to just do whatever we want. It just felt like they had no sense of urgency, no sense of this is what we have to do.

I mean, they were. They're probably not now, but they were a playoff contender. They were. They absolutely were. It just felt like they just thought we show up, we win because of what the Rams don't have. Well, give credit to the Rams. I think when you look at what they did to Devontae Adams,

they shadowed him with Jalen Ramsey. And Josh Jacobs had 27 carries and only went for 99 yards. He did have the touchdown. So I think they tried to run the clock out basically, and they couldn't. They got stopped on that third and one.

And then shockingly, 98 yard touchdown drive by Baker Mayfield. But as we look at fantasy implications here, I mean, next week, you're going to go back to Adams. You're going to go back to Jacobs if you're in the playoffs, for sure.

Hopefully, Darren Waller is back, and we don't have to debate how to pronounce Foster Morrow's last name, but Baker Mayfield with, you know, with some competence at quarterback, Dave, and does that give you hope? Because you're like, Denver could be tough in week 16,

but week 15 is Green Bay. Week 17 is the Chargers. When you look at Akers, maybe Skoranek or Atwell, I don't know what you're thinking there. Do you feel more confident in the Rams offense right now that you might actually use these guys in your fantasy playoffs? We don't know what the injuries will be this week, and we don't know what everybody's situation is at wide receiver, but I think you'd have to be pretty desperate to go after Skoranek or Atwell. Atwell's got speed. Skoranek's got size.

He's like the poor man's Cooper Cup. And he just needed it. Anytime these guys get a ton of targets, yeah, they're on the table to get you at least 10 PPR points. That's what each of them did on Thursday. They each had at least eight targets. Baker might settle on those guys. If you had told me, and here's another thing, and this is kind of a confessional.

If you had told me Baker Mayfield was going to throw the ball 35 times, I would have told you to start Tyler Higby because Mayfield's track record over his career is to lean on tight ends, especially in the red zone. So I was surprised that Higby only had three targets in the game. But I don't know if there's a receiver on the rams that fantasy managers are going to want to trust when we get to next week and playoffs on the line dfs is a different story we might go after atwell or skorodnik in that format but i also don't think that we can look at bigger mayfield and say all right he's gonna you know throw like this and

again off target on a quarter of his throws that's crazy i i don't i don't think we can say, he's going to throw like this. And again, off target on a quarter of his throws. That's crazy. I don't think we can say that he's going to be that great moving forward. Okay. But so then let's talk about acres and we'll finish up with this game and preview six games. Oh, we got Vikings Lions. That's a nice one. We have 49ers and Bucs.

That's an interesting one. Niners are favored there. Fantasy, you know, the other four games are kind of crappy that we're talking about today. But for fantasy, they're interesting. New England at Arizona, Houston at Dallas. Like, honestly, some tough calls in that game. Philadelphia and the Giants.

Can we go with Darius Slayton? I'm nervous about Saquon Barkley. Carolina at Seattle. Who the heck is playing running back in this game? But, Jamie, give me your thoughts on Cam Akers here. Two encouraging games in a row. He was started in 41%

of leagues, and he scored he's not going to tear it up on the ground, but he has scored three touchdowns in his last two games. So, your thoughts on Akers going forward with Green Bay next week? It's the second straight game with the same offensive line. And so that's,

I think encouraging for the Rams that they had the same unit out there and they're starting to get some continuity, which has just been an absolute disaster. Clearly he is going to be the featured guy. The fact that he fumbled and they went back to him is encouraging, especially getting the touchdown late. So that's, you know,

I think another thing in his, in his favor. If the quarterback play is competent and clearly that's going to be something we have to keep an eye on here. then you feel a little bit better about him. So non-PPR, half PPR is clearly going to be the formats that favor him because he's not going to work in the passing game. That's very obvious. So he's touchdown dependent.

I would say he's, at this point, a poor man's Jamal Williams. So if that's what you like and that's what you need and you're stuck, clearly there's a lot of injuries in this position. And we're getting to the point where, you know, finding guys that are getting a lot of work is somewhat important. But, you know, he doesn't score. You see what you're getting. So that's just kind of what the type of player he is.

And I see what you're getting. You're getting this. Look at this shirt. Look at this long-sleeve fantasy football today shirt. Love this shirt. We have so many great things for you to get in our store, in our CBS store. T-shirts, mugs, sweatpants, laser-engraved pint glasses, hats, water bottles, and more to rep Fantasy Football Today or any of our podcasts.

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Yeah, check it out. Get that offer code FANTASYFOOTBALL20. Go to the CBS Sports Store, the Fantasy Football Today section. Again, the link is in the episode description. Or you can just type in CBS Sports Store Fantasy Football Today to the search engine of your choice. Dave, if Google went down today, which search engine would you use? Duck, Duck, Go. That's a thing? Yeah. Duck, duck god never i'd never heard of that

wow that's a good name i like it all right uh oh look at this from aldwin i'm no snitch but adam you only got 47 likes right now come on we can do better than that let's go hit that like button everybody it's friday It's a happy Friday. Let's talk about people who are injured. Are you guys ranking Trevor Lawrence right now? He did not practice again. Yes. I'm ranking him until he doesn't practice on Friday,

and then I will rank C.J. Beathard, and I will do it with a tear in my eye. Yeah. Well, I already have a tear in my eye because Trevor Lawrence is the reason why I started Derek Carr in a league. Yeah, you had to. You idiot! Desmond Ritter is going to start at

quarterback for the Falcons when they come back from their bye. They're at New Orleans. Just two quarterback super flex? Yes. That's it. Good or bad for Drake London? at New Orleans. Just two quarterbacks, super flex? Yes. That's it. Good or bad for Drake London? For now.

Jamie, good or bad for Drake London? I can't imagine it's worse. So I would say good just because it's something different. And the fact that he was featured in their last game, that's encouraging. So it's one game of Zaccheaus and one game of London and the two games without Kyle Pitts where both guys have had significant target bumps.

I would imagine the mantra is, especially if they continue to follow the playoff contention, feature Drake London as much as we can. Okay, we're still not expecting Lamar Jackson and Tua Tungabailoa should be good for this week. At running back, Joe Mixon's the starter. Is he good to go?

Is he cleared? He has not cleared the concussion protocol yet, but there is one report from the team website that says he will be the quote one. So, you know, a lot of talk about is Maje Pirine, has he done enough to make it more of a tandem? According to, you know, I think it's Jeff Hobson's the writer there who's been around forever. Yes.

And he says, no, it's Joe Mixon, and they'll sprinkle Pirine in as they normally do. Okay. Let's see. Okay, Seattle. So Travis Homer practiced in full. That was cool. He's the one you want.

You think so? Yeah. I was going to sing Grease there, but I decided not to. If we weren't in a fight, I would say sing all you want to, but I'm a little mad at Grease. Walker, okay, so we'll see what happens today in practice. But if Travis Homer is the starting running back, by the way, I think Homer is the starting running back,

by the way, I think he's a better running back than DJ Dallas. I'll throw that out there. Has been since college. And where would you rank him? Because I look at some of my teams and say, yeah, I would start Travis Homer over some of these scrubs with six teams on a bye. Where would you rank Travis Homer? High end flex.

Dave? I inflex Dave. I'd probably rank him where I have Tony Jones right now, which is in that same range, but I don't think he'd be alone. I don't think he'd be like what we've seen from Homer is that he's played on passing downs. And so if they, if they give him the,

if he's the guy that you want, then what does that leave for Jones? Are they going to split rushing work? They don't really have like a rushing downs guy. That's the thing. Like, well, I think Jones is the rushing downs guy.

I think actually the most likely rushing downs guy would probably win Gallman. And so I don't think they're going to rush wing Gallman out there. Like it could be that too. Tony Jones is more of a, a, a version of Travis Homer. So I think they go with the guy who's been there.

I don't think so. I would think it would be Travis Homer getting the majority of work. I think Jones is much more of a physical type of running back. I don't think he. I would think it would be Travis Homer getting the majority work. I think Jones is much more of a physical type of running back. I don't think he's a pass catcher like Homer is either. I'm not saying that he's good, but he's I will. I'll say that if if Gallman doesn't come

and we'll get elevated if Dallas and Walker don't play, you'll probably see Homer and Jones split rushing reps and Homer on third down. Who's getting elevated? You know. Goldman!

The original! The OG scary music guy. Back in our lives. It is a happy Friday. I think he's probably better than Tony Jones, too, to be completely honest. Yeah, I don't know. Like Tony Jones. I hope.

Yeah. I mean, Homer's, you know, he almost never gets to run the ball, but he's not bad at it, I think, so far. But yeah, right. He's kind of a smaller guy. Could be a Geno week. Could be a real good Geno week. Yeah. I think he's my FanDuel quarterback.

Deontay Foreman was limited, so that's good. He didn't practice Wednesday. He did practice on Thursday in a limited fashion. He'll go. He'll play. If he doesn't go, I would assume... If he doesn't go and Homer... Sorry. Okay. If both Foreman and Walker miss the game,

I would think Chuba Hubbard would be the highest ranked running back, right? Easy. Yes. Okay. Damian Harris missed practice, so yay for Stevenson. Najee Harris was limited. DeAndre Swift practiced in full on Thursday after he was on the injury report on Wednesday. And Saquon Barkley was limited with a neck injury. And, you know, I don't know if you guys feel this way,

but, man, I feel very nervous about a lot of running backs this week including Barkley for sure but like Barkley ETN maybe a little Derrick Henry Damian Pierce is on the lower end but a lot of guys are starting I don't know I feel I got the

Dalvin yeah I got the he be GB's about them this week alright well what are you going to do about it but yeah I'm glad I'm not alone Dalvin, yeah, I got the heebie-jeebies about them this week. All right, well, what are you going to do about it? But yeah, I'm glad I'm not alone. You're going to start Travis Homer. No, I'm not going to do that. Okay.

Are you going to start Chris Moore at Dallas? Brandon Cooks and Nico Collins are both looking like they're out. Dave, are you going to start a Texans wide receiver? No, not unless I'm completely desperate. Chris Moore and Philip Dorsett would be the two that you're looking at there. I suspect they'll use a lot of tight ends. They're going to need to help block

anyway, so Aikens will see the field a lot, and Brevin Jordan made some plays last week. Don't start anybody in the Texans passing game if you can help it. I think the Cowboys win this game, but we'll see. Mike Williams practiced in full. Jalen Waddell practiced in

full. Rondell Moore mispracticed. Greg Dortch practiced in full. I did see Greg Dortch get added in a couple of leagues. Just, you know, Jamie, we have no idea. We've never seen Hopkins, Marquise Brown, and one of those slot guys,

be it Moore or Dortch. Where are you ranking Dortch right now? I mean, he'll be a low-end number three receiver, but there's plenty of opportunity there. I think they're going to struggle to run. James Conner is going to make plays in the passing game. So I think there's 40-plus passes from Kyler Murray coming, and I could see Dortch getting six, seven targets.

So not a bad number three receiver. He'll be in single coverage every single snap because the Patriots will be far more focused on slowing down Hopkins and Brown. Deontay Johnson mispracticed with a hemp injury. We'll see what happens on, I think I said hemp, hip injury. We'll see what happens on Friday. Cortland Sutton unlikely to play. Amari Cooper was limited with a hemp injury as well.

Traylon Burks doesn't look like he's going to play. Tee Higgins was limited with a hamstring injury. Kadarius Toney continues to be limited to practice. Tight end news. There's not much.

David Njoku is going to play. It looks like. Daniel LaRusso is going to fight and Hayden Hurst is unlikely to play. Teron Armstead got in a limited practice. So it would be nice if he's back for that Sunday night game. The Chargers getting a little

healthier, it looks like, on their offensive line. Patriots, both of their starting offensive tackles mispracticed. One of them, though, was with an illness, so I would expect Trent Brown to play. Not sure about Isaiah Wynn. They did get Yadni Kajust, their starting guard, back.

He was limited in practice. They were really beat up on the offensive line last week against the Bills and hopefully can get a couple pieces back or at least Kajust. And Jets right tackle Max Mitchell is out for the season. We wish him the best. Hope he gets back out there next year. He has blood clots that he's dealing with. Giants defense extremely banged up.

Looks like they're going to be without three of their best players, which is perfect against the Eagles. They're going to do great. Philadelphia slot cornerback Avante Maddox could be back this week. Dave, you were talking to me about how big of a deal that might be. It's a huge deal because we've seen slot receivers do

well against Philadelphia lately relatively, and this is just another guy who makes that defense that much better. But also you mentioned that Slayton had been playing more in the slot. He had been playing more in the slot. So without Maddox, Slayton was actually a decent play.

But now it looks like Maddox will be back. Satan is on the sit list. Satan? Yeah, I love it. Tennessee cornerback Christian Fulton has a groin injury. He's their best corner. That's another defense that's all beat up

is Tennessee. Yeah. Won't matter if it's better. Probably not. All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to help you beat the waiver wire for your fantasy playoffs.

Then we'll get into the games. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football today. Did you know 66% of utility damage is caused by not requesting a locate? Don't let your project become part of this statistic. A quick locate request can save you from unexpected downtime, financial penalties, and keep you safe. Don't let avoidable damage cost you time and money. Click before you dig.

Ensure your next project is safe. Visit OntarioOneCall.ca. It's free. It's easy. It's the law. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. Okay, let's beat the waiver wire. I'm going to throw out some DSTs, and you tell me if they are appealing to you next week.

The Lions at the Jets. the Vikings against the Colts, the Cardinals at the Broncos. You want to stash any of them? The Lions at the Jets, the Vikings against the Colts, or the Cardinals at the Broncos? I think the Cardinals will be my favorite of the three against Denver and Russell Wilson. The Vikings against the Colts for me.

Okay, you can make a case for all these. And the Lions defense has been playing pretty well. But the Jets might not be a great matchup. All right, I got two quarterbacks to consider. One's Desmond Ritter for deeper leagues. What do you think about adding Jameis Winston? Gets the Falcons next week. No idea if he's the quarterback.

I haven't seen anything on it. I think by now they probably would have said something. So I'm guessing no. No, they're on by. They don't have to say anythingcons next week. No idea if he's the quarterback. I haven't seen anything on it. I think by now they probably would have said something. So I'm guessing no. No, they're on by. They don't have to say anything until next week. Yeah, I know. But the Falcons did. But you're right.

I picked him up in a super flex league, Jameis Winston. So I'm just throwing that out there. So that's not a bad idea. Yeah. Just to speculate in case he is the guy. And then they've got Cleveland the week after that. Cleveland, pretty good past events. So the Falcons matchup would be much, you know,

very appealing, I would think. I don't really have much for Beat the Waver Wire, honestly. There are no buys next week. And I don't know. I mean, let me take a look at the wide receiver list. Like, Jamison Williams is available. He should be on the edges anyway.

Yeah, if the Commander's DST gets dropped, go for it. Yes. Drake London is 70% rostered. Just on Jameson Williams real quick. If I could, they've got the Jets in week 15. I'm assuming that his

playing time is going to ramp up as we move forward here. When you get to week 16 against Carolina and week 17 against Chicago, he could end up being a, not every down, but plenty of downs for Detroit. And maybe he can put up some numbers there. He could be a number three receiver

by the time you get to the fantasy championship. Oh, what's Chark? I'd much rather have Chark. Chark is at 57%. Jamison Williams, 56%. And then there's one other guy I wanted to bring up. How about Mecole Hardman? 35%. You know his name. Mecole Hardman.

35%. Houston, Seattle, Denver. Next three weeks for Kansas City. It's time for one question for each game. Minnesota is at Detroit. Jamie, Cousins or Goff? Jamie, look at the camera. I like both.

But I... Yeah. I'd probably go Cousins. Okay, yeah, well. If we could maybe just look at the camera a little bit, that would be very helpful. Are you going to start this again? Well, we talked about it for what? 10 minutes yesterday. I mean,

wait, what? Just a visual medium. You bother me about this again. I'm going to get up and walk away. I don't get, I don't get up all the way, but you have to look at the camera. I mean, it's part of the show. Okay. Okay. Dave, I don't even know what, what, what the hell were we talking about there? You know what you were talking about. What?

You were doing one question for each game. Yeah. And you started with a game. Oh, damn it. It's the game of the week, yeah. Dave figured out the gag. He was all over it. Minnesota at Detroit.

Hey, Jamie, come back. We're not fighting. Damn you, Dave. Our well-laid plans. It was too obvious this time. Was it? We were a cranky old show, though. We laid the groundwork.

I'm just going to give you some pointers here first of all you can't i know which games you're considering yeah that's that's true yeah so you can't do it when i know that we're talking about the game you have to bring up the game like just like you have to make a hard right turn to bring up the game while we're talking about something else it's it. It's getting challenging. It really is. This would be so easy if I had the little buttons to play the music and I was trying to fool you or Jamie, I'd get you every week. All right, Jamie, you can come back now and tell us Kirk Cousins or Jared Goff. Please come back.

Jamie's ghosting the rest of the show. All right, Dave, you can answer it. Who would you rather start, Cousins or Goff? I like them both. I'm going to take Cousins over Goff, but it's not with a ton of confidence. I thought Cousins played poorly last week. He started off slow.

I think it was like one of his first eight passing. And then he started to turn it up a little bit, but it wasn't like he was outstanding. Goff has been playing great for a while now, and I think the Vikings secondary is susceptible. I guess I'm saying I kind of like Goff. I'm starting Goff and DFS, but I do like them

both. Okay. Jamie is on the Peloton, speculates David. Okay. Tampa Bay at San Francisco. Would you start both Tampa Bay running backs over both San Francisco wide receivers

no would you start any Tampa Bay running back over any San Francisco wide receiver I don't think so really I kind of dig Purdy I thought his second half was good.

I thought he made some good decisions with the ball. He can throw on the run. His offensive line's not that bad. I think we're kind of overreacting to him being the quarterback there. I'm not saying he's going to be better than Garoppolo or anything like that, but I got some this will sound a little funny, some Nick Mullins vibes while watching him play. Remember when Mullins

came out of nowhere and had a three touchdown game on a Thursday night and ended up being okay for the 49ers? I think Purdy will end up being okay for them. I like Debo better than Ayuk. I like them both better than any Tampa running back. Really? Against this 49ers team. Yeah.

They're getting all those catches, but hi, Jamie. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't execute it well. Jamie and I talked. Hold on. You're both guilty. You both screwed it up. Nah, if he screwed it up, he didn't do

what I told him to do. That's true. I didn't do what I told him to do. That's true. I didn't do what I told him to do. But Dave was on it right at the jump. That's why I told you you couldn't go right to that game first. Jamie wanted me to go to sell it a little bit more. Go to another game and then figure out a way to bring it back up. The minute that you used the best game, he was going to figure out what was the best game.

Hard right turn, guys. Okay. Next week, make a hard right turn. Lesson learned. All right, so New England at Arizona. Start or sit Marquise Brown? Jamie? Start.

Again, 60 is on a bye. I think he's a low-end number two receiver. Again, a lot of passes coming this game for Kyler Murray, so I think Marquise Brown is a solid play. Six catches last time we saw him in the first game with Hopkins, so I like the setup. Houston to Dallas. Yamey and Pierce?

Look at the camera, Jamie. Yamey and Pierce Pierce or Namian Pierce? It's Namian. Namian? Okay. Philadelphia at the Giants, Darius Yayton or Darius Nayton? Nay. It's a nay. Who would you rather start, Namian Pierce or Darius Nayton?

Slayton and PPR. Agreed. I might take Naby and Pierce. I might take Naby and non-PPR. Just because, you know, Jamie made a great point on FFT yesterday, calling back to the two bad games that Pierce had against really tough run defenses in weeks 11 and 12, I think they were.

And he had 15 total carries in the game. Could very easily see something similar this week against Dallas. Dallas is a really good defense, as you guys know. Yeah, I dug into this a little bit. So there have been six games in which Damian Pierce and the Texans have lost by 10 or more points. And in four of the games, Damian Pierce had a fine game. You would definitely start him, you know, somewhere around 14-ish PPR fantasy points.

One game was a really big game, but four of the games were just fine. Two of the games were dreadful, less than five fantasy points, and that was Washington and Miami. And if you look at the six games in the breakdown, you can see there are two run defenses, two excellent run defenses, Washington and Miami. He was horrible, but also in both of those games, one of them was like a 25-point game at halftime. One, I think, was 35-0 at halftime.

Am I crazy? Was that the Dolphins' score? So they were so noncompetitive, and the other angle of it with Damian Pierce is he's really just not running the ball nearly as well lately as he was early

is it going to be competitive? no it's not going to be competitive but is it going to be is it going to be so non-competitive like the Dolphins game where Tua got pulled in the third quarter I think it was 35-0 at halftime

if I'm not mistaken I mean it might not be far off from that especially if there's no Nico Collins or Brandon Cooks. This is just a bad situation for him. This has the makings of one of the biggest blowouts of the year, for sure. It does. It could be 45-2.

I did think that he ran better last week, just for what it's worth. Well, he played Cleveland. He should have, but over the last four or five games, his metrics are just much worse. Yes. He's played a lot of tough run defenses. Yeah, but just very, very few long carries.

I think he has one carry of more than 13 yards in his last four games and not scoring touchdowns. Okay, Carolina at Seattle. We did talk about the running backs in this game. So, start or sit DJ Moore. I think it running backs in this game. So starter sit DJ Moore. I think it's a really interesting one. Starter sit DJ Moore this week, guys. I've got him as a low-end number two wide receiver.

I like him better than Brandon Ayuk. I like him better than Mike Evans right now. I like him better than the Steelers guys. Unless Deontay's out, then I might move Pickens ahead of him. But what about Gabe Davis? Who do you have there? I like DJ more, but then Gabe Davis. So I think there's hopefully an opportunity to build off what we saw with Sam

Donald. Now, granted, it was only four catches, but you know, you saw a play down the field, you saw an end zone target, you know, so there's, there's things to like about this. And I do think that they're going to be in a, maybe a surprising shootout. So I think Sam Donald is going to actually be a decent play if you're a stuck quarterback. I would not be surprised if DJ Moore has another 15-plus point game.

Carolina wants to run the ball. They only threw 20 times I think last time or 19 times with Sam Darnold, but we are expecting Seattle to score some points in this game, put some pressure on the Carolina Panthers. So we'll go to the games. Start or sit for Minnesota at Detroit. That's where we start. Should I play the music?

Yeah, okay. Minnesota at Detroit is our game of the week. It should be great. I have so many freaking stats in this game. But here's the Acer stat of the game. If you remove the two games that Amonra St. Brown played fewer than 35% of the snaps, he is averaging

21.8 PPR points per game. Justin Jefferson is averaging 21.7 PPR fantasy points per game for this season. So they are basically tied. If you remove those injured games for St. Brown, they're basically tied as wide receiver

five behind Diggs, Cup, Adams. Well, actually that was before Thursday. Adams is going to slide now. Probably not that much. And Tyree Hill. But what's St. Brown averaging even with those two games? I'm not sure.

But I mean, I'm sure he's top 10. But he's amazing. He's just amazing. Here's the non-Azer stat of the game. These two teams allow the most rushing touchdowns from the two-yard line or closer. Jamal Williams managers. That's a great stat. Yeah.

All right. St. Brown's at 18.5 on the season. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. That is 8th best. Wow. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. That is 8th best. Wow. Okay, so... Is Detroit a tough matchup, Jamie? Their defense has gotten so much better.

Their run defense is. Their pass defense is not. Agreed. Right. Yes. All right. Who's your favorite quarterback in this game? I asked Dave.

It's a toss-up, it seems. Jamie, Dave? I like both. I think Cousin is in a better spot. He's got a little bit of an easier opponent. He's been absolutely dreamy in Minnesota, in Detroit, in his career. And I think he's got a better receiving

core. So I also think there's much more of an opportunity for the Lions to run against the Vikings than there is for the Vikings to run against the Lions. And that says a lot because obviously Dalvin Cook is probably the best running back in this game, but clearly he has not had a great season. Their run blocking has not been great. And this run defense for Detroit has been unbelievable for like the last month.

So I think it's going to be a game where cousins has to throw and the Lions will, I think, be a little bit more balanced. So I think both quarterbacks are definitely in play. Golf has been great at home, six of seven games at home, 18 or more fantasy points. So he's good in this spot. So this is the highest projected game of the week, 53 points. And I think we're going to see a lot of offense for both of these teams.

At least that's the hope. So I think both are definitely in play as starting quarterbacks. But I give a slight nod to Cousins. Okay, six straight games for the Lions without allowing double-digit fantasy points to a running back. So single-digit PPR fantasy points for a lead running back in six straight games. Miami, Green Bay, Chicago,

the Giants, the Bills, and the Jaguars. No running back has more than 15 carries in that stretch, and running backs are averaging 3.8 yards per carry against the Lions in their last six games. So with that said, who is your against the Lions in their last six games. So with that said, who is your favorite running back in this game? Swift.

D-A-N-D-R-E. Swift. You forgot about the apostrophe. The apostrophe. Yeah, I know. DeAndre Swift is my favorite. Who's your second favorite? Kenny Nwongu.

Well, look, Jamal Williams has obviously been good, but he only had 11 carries last week. And if Swift is really playing a good job. His role is going to shrink because Swift is playing more. Cook is the second best. Okay. Who's your favorite wide receiver in this game? Jefferson. It's Justin Jefferson by two spots over Amun-Ra.

What about Barakuta? Okuda. Jefferson. It's Justin Jefferson by two spots over a Munra. What about, uh, Barracuda Okuda did great job against Jefferson. Jefferson. Doesn't matter. He's done well against, he said significant help over the top. Oh,

leave him alone. Uh, yeah. Okay. Um, anyway, start them both. Uh,

is there any other receiver you would start in this game? Adam Thielen. Absolutely. They've been miserable against receivers lately. You're feeling it. Yeah. I think... I think Hawkinson will have a better game than Thielen.

Thielen's a flex for me. I think Thielen's also worth starting. He's a flex. Yeah, no, he's number two receiver for me. I think there's a good opportunity here based on how much that they're going to throw the ball. DJ Moore or Thielen? Oh, Thielen.

Wow. Okay, I'll take Moore. Okay, I don't know why I said wow like that. Like, DJ Moore is so good. Because Adam Thielen has been pretty bad himself, especially since... Yeah, he has. ...Hockinson's come around.

There was the one game, it was two games ago, where they used him old school style where he was close to the line. And he did well. And they've otherwise deployed him as a downfield receiver, and he's just not as good in that role. There have been six times

this year where multiple wide receivers have scored 12 or more PPR fantasy points against the Lions. That's a lot. Six times in 12 games, including the Vikings, including three giants, Wandale, Richie James, and Darius Slayton. So yeah, this is a really good matchup.

And if you're stuck starting Thielen, you should feel better about it this week than you usually do. Yes. I have a tough call between... You know what? I think I'm going to do it. I haven't done it once since I had both of them on my team think I'm going to do it. I haven't done it once

since I had both of them on my team. I'm going to start Hawkinson over Dalton Schultz. How do you guys feel about that? Yeah. Great week to do that. I would love that. Hawkinson should be the third best tight end this week. Oh, wow.

Because I know you have Schultz in your top five. An embarrassment of riches for me at the tight end position. All right. Do you like that, though? Because you probably didn't spend that much draft capital. Embarrassment of riches for me at the tight end position. All right. Anything else? Do you like that, though? Because you probably didn't spend that much draft capital. Well, maybe you did.

No, I took Hawkinson in the eighth-ish round, and then I picked up Schultz off waivers. Okay. So that's good. When you've got two tight ends like that, that's a good alternative to having one stud and definitely better than – I'd rather have the stud, nevermind that, but better than streaming for sure.

So you're going to start both of those guys over Kittle. Well, we'll just stick with Hawkinson. You're going to start him over, over Kittle. I mean, look at Hawkinson. Oh,

you're not sorry. I I'll probably land on Hawkinson, Kittle Schultz. Oh, I would definitely go Hawkinson. I don't really love Kittle this week. So I think Hawkinson's a much better play. I don't want to oversell Hawkinson.

He's got four straight games with 33 to 45 yards. He's got two straight games with only six targets. It's a much more difficult competition. It is. That's true. Buffalo, Dallas, New England, and the Jets. They've been the last four teams they've faced, so the Lions give up the fifth most fantasy points to tight ends.

It's really amazing how their defense has turned a corner. Very impressive. Well, they've changed some personnel. They fired their defensive backs coach, and it's worked out for them. I think Aiden Hutchinson has started to play a lot better, too. On the revenge game factor, the offensive coordinator for the Lions, Ben Johnson, talked about how last week, Chark was truly motivated because he was playing his former team. He admitted it.

And then a reporter said, well, couldn't that also work against you this week because Hockinson's coming back? And Johnson kind of had like a moment where he was like, oh, yeah, that's probably going to happen. So Hockinson should be in lineups for sure. I think he was already going to be in lineups, but you can feel even better about it.

Maybe DFS is where you go with him. Yeah, okay. So last on the quarterbacks, Cousins or Dak Prescott or the quarterbacks in this game? This game. Agreed. I'll sit Dak. How about Justin Herbert?

Herbert. I have Herbert behind him. Oh, both of them. Especially. I'll sit back. How about Justin Herbert? Herbert. I have Herbert behind him. Both of them. Especially with Mike Williams back. He's throwing the ball 45 times in that game. I think he averages 42, so he might get to 50. Alright, yeah. This is a game with a lot of starts.

Oh, Jamal Williams. I do think we should spend a little time on Jamal Williams here. Alright, Travis Homer, if he's the guy, or Jamal Williams? Just to get an idea of where you have Jamal Williams. Travis Homer, who? Or Jamal Williams? Homer and PPR. I'll take Williams.

Jamal Williams or Bucs running backs? Jamal and non, the Bucs and anything else. I've got, I currently, I think I'm going to eventually have it for net white Williams. This is a good idea. Let's get a revenge gamometer, Aldwin suggests.

He's had some good comments. A revenge-o-meter? Revenge-o-meter. Yeah, mid-season trade. I think that's got to rank pretty high up there on the revenge-o-meter for Hockinson. Yeah. Okay yeah okay sit the DSTs let's go to our next game Tampa Bay is at San Francisco Tom Brady is outside the top 12 he is I think 14th for Dave as the high guy on Tom Brady this is a you know this is an interesting game obviously with Purdy. I can't really make a case for Tom Brady,

so try to sit him. You wouldn't start like Daniel Jones over him, would you? Not even in your dreams. How about Tyler Huntley or Tom Brady? I'd go Huntley. More upside. All right. More downside also,. More upside. More downside also, but more upside.

So let's talk about the Tampa Bay running backs here because you can't run on San Francisco. They don't really run well on just about anyone. The Niners probably have the best run defense in football. They also allow the seventh fewest receiving yards per game to running backs. And you know, Dave, everything's hunky-dory right now because they threw 15 times to their running backs. And you know, Dave, everything's hunky-dory right now because they threw 15 times to their running backs last week.

They throw, on average, eight and a half times to their running backs per game. And by the way, guess the three teams that lead the NFL in running back targets. They're third. Bucks are third. Who throws to their most running backs?

Yeah, top three teams in running back targets. Chargers? Chargers are one with a bullet. Bucs are third. I don't know if the 49ers are up there now with McCaffrey. No, they're not. The Bucs are one target behind a surprise team. I couldn't believe it. I had to go check the stats to make sure it was right.

They're in the AFC South. That's not the Titans. Is it Houston? Keep going. Oh, it's the Titans. It's not the Titans. Is it Houston? Keep going. Oh, it's the Titans. It's not the Titans. Running back targets? No, it's the Colts. The Colts have the second most running back targets.

Isn't that weird? Very strange. All right, anyway. Well, Deion Jackson did have that 10-catch game. Yeah, I mean, they had Heinz. Remember that one Taylor gets some targets, but they have like 102 running back targets in the, I think the bucks have 101,

but anyway, Jamie, uh, Rashad or a day, I think it was going to you. Sorry. Rashad white, Leonard Fournette.

Who do you like better? Where do you have ranked? I will eventually have Fournette ranked out of Rashad white. Remember earlier this week, we talked about how lucky you were to get good fantasy production out of Rashad White. Fournette played better in the game. He's more experienced. He had more snaps inside the 10. I don't really love either one of them. And it's because of everything that you've talked about. Everybody knows that the matchup is going to be really hard. The offensive line is beat up for Tampa. You're hoping that Brady throws another 15 passes to the running backs again. You're hoping that they catch north of five, five balls. You're hoping they average eight yards per catch and that you squeeze out 11, 12 PPR points from each of them. I think Fournette's the safer bet. Yeah, I'm gonna go the other way. I think Fournette sort

of on the injury report again on Thursday. I didn't think he looked better. I thought White looked better in the game despite the fumble. Fournette looked slow again, running the contact again. I think this is going to be a game where they're chasing points, so I think they're going to use the more explosive back in the passing game. So I like the setup for White better, but I think both guys are a flex place. Damian Pierce or a Tampa Bay running back? Both Bucs running backs.

Agreed. Okay. I also moved Najee down behind them both in PPR. I can't explain why Najee was a top 15 running back for me yesterday. It was ridiculous. Okay. Alright, let's talk about the Bucks wide receivers. Just must start Chris Godwin?

100%. Okay. Of course. And Mike Evans? Start or sit? Jamie? I'd sit him if you can. I mean, again, it's hard to sit guys like Pierce and Najee and some of these other guys we're talking about with six teams on a bye. But Evans is clearly struggling. Four catches, four targets.

Hasn't scored a touchdown in it seems like forever. Tough secondary that he's facing, tough defense that he's facing. Brady's not having a good time throwing the ball down the field right now. So I think it's number three receiver. So if you start three receivers, he's facing tough defense that he's facing brady's not having a good time throwing the ball down the field right now so uh i think it's a number three receiver so if you start three receivers he's fine if you start two receivers in a flex he's your best flex he's fine in a two receiver league where you have better flex options i would say i've got him as a low end number two receiver i noticed this trend this year and it goes back to previous years with brady uh this year there's been four times where evans has seen six or fewer targets in a game.

In the week following the first three times that happened, he bounced back to 10, 15, and nine targets from Brady. We saw it most times last year and the year before that. I'm okay with Evans. Can't say that I love him. You're hoping that he catches

six of nine passes and finds the end zone. Okay. I mean, the Niners, I don't know if this matters to you, but they allowed the 10th most fantasy points to wide receivers. They obviously got destroyed by Tyree Kill, bad against Greg Dortch and DeAndre Hopkins. You know, their defense has not been as good. Their pass defense has not been as good

since Emmanuel Mosley got hurt. That's my theory. So I don't know if I want to look at it as that difficult of a matchup. And I can almost guarantee at least 40 pass attempts for Brady, because they ain't going to be able to run the ball. No chance. And that's what Brady does anyway. I've got a stat and I've got a question,

the stat and this kind of plays into what you were saying, Adam receivers had at least 15 PPR points against the 49ers 10 times this year in eight of them. There's been a target stone. So volume receivers seem to get it done. That's great for Godwin. That should be good for Evans. The question is,

I saw Nick Bosa on the injury report. Is there a chance he misses the game or is it just that they're only giving him one day of practice a week? Oh, that would change everything. Yeah. Um, I think he played through the injury with the Dolphins in the Dolphins game, right?

Yeah. And he made an impact in that game. Look, you could make a case for Mike Evans every week. Right? Like this team, what they do against wide receivers and Brady's going to throw a ton and Evans going to get target. The bottom line is they're just not connecting. So it's just right. But all it'll take is

one big play and then all of a sudden we'll say, all right, they're connecting again. And yeah, you know, you don't want to miss out, but it's such a tough matchup, especially for Brady that if you wanted to miss out this week, there's a there's a decent chance you'll not regret it come Monday morning. There's only two quarterbacks over 19

points against this team. One was the fluky game with Mariota. One was Patrick Mahomes. Well, the Mariota game, their defense was all beat up. Both games. They gave up less than 15 points per game on average to quarterbacks. It's a bad setup. Okay.

How would you feel about Brady if he didn't get those two touchdowns last week under three minutes to go? Same. It'd be even worse. Oh, for sure. Although, I mean, for Brady, he's been, what, like 19 to 22 points in four of his last five games or something? I mean, look, he's been three straight or four straight over 20 points, but it's kind of ugly how it's happening.

I mean, you know, the game in Munich where he had the bad interception, you know, last week he was struggling for the majority of the game. You know, he's throwing underneath, which is why the running backs, I think, are still in play, where he had the bad interception. Last week he was struggling for the majority of the game. He's throwing underneath, which is why the running backs, I think, are still in play, especially in a matchup like this where he's going to be under pressure. Let's not forget, they're still without worse. There's still an offensive line that's going to be under a lot of pressure. So can't run the ball.

He's going to be asked to throw a lot. Coming off a short week, could be a little rough for him. Sit Kate Otten? I would have liked Kate Otten if there was no Cameron Bray, but Brayton full is just, you know, the, the, the bad situation. Yeah. I'm not starting them either, but do you think there's a chance that Tom Brady and Byron left, which say, look, this dude can make plays.

Let's put them out there more. Who cares if Brayton's ready? I would hope so. You know, I would have thought that would have been the case the majority of the time because of what he offers as a pass catcher. But I also think that with their offensive line, Brayton is a much better blocker. So having him on the field, I think, is more of a priority. And you know that Brady likes to have three receivers on the field. So it's a situation where there's just a personnel crunch. He likes to have three receivers on the field, but

is he better off with Godwin Evans gauge or Godwin Evans? He's better off with Godwin Evans, Julio and more protection. And so I think that's what matters the most for him. So I don't care. I wonder that you could have two schmucks running routes for him. If he's on his back, he's not going to do any,

any help. So he'd, he'd much rather have protection. Maybe they use more too tight end personnel because they're taking on the Niners and that pass rush is dangerous and that puts Otten on the field more with a break. Maybe it happens. All right. Brock Purdy is

a sit and I'm going to give you a bunch of reasons to sit Christian McCaffrey just for fun. Ready? He is averaging only 4.1 yards per carry with San Francisco. Perhaps he's just learning the system and the blocking scheme and all that.

The Bucs allow 3.6 yards per carry to running backs with Akeem Hicks on the field. 4.6 yards per carry to running backs with Hicks off the field. He will be on the field for this game. The Bucs allow the second fewest receiving yards to running backs. McCaffrey has faced five opponents

that are standouts in that category in terms of receiving yards allowed to running backs. He's averaging 27.8 receiving yards to running backs. McCaffrey has faced five opponents that are standouts in that category in terms of receiving yards allowed to running backs. He's averaging 27.8 receiving yards per game in those five games. In the other seven games, McCaffrey is averaging 60 receiving yards per game. So he has not done well, typically, in those matchups against teams

that do well against pass-catching running backs. Therefore, Christian McCaffrey is a bust this week. Sit him in every league. You've convinced me. I'm going to sit him for Damian Pierce. It's funny. This goes back to that theme of even the best running back in fantasy

arguably gets one of the best run defenses this week. Christian McCaffrey could just be an ugly week for running back, but of course you're starting him. No, he's working the passing game to save him. Exactly. I know, but that just happens to be something that they're excellent at. I mean, excellent against pass-catching running backs. McCaffrey is an excellent pass catcher.

Alvin Kamara had two catches for 11 yards. Aaron Jones had three for 11. I'm not phased in the least. Okay. No, I'm just messing around. Rank the wide receivers in this game. Because we haven't talked about the behinders, guys. Godwin, Debo, Evans, Iyuk.

I have the exact same order. Why Debo? Is it just the ADOT thing? Like the downfieldness? I think the easiest way for Brock Purdy and for Kyle Shanahan to make things easy on Brock Purdy is a lot of underneath throws. And that's not where Iyuk thrives. I on Brock Purdy is a lot of underneath throws. And,

you know, that's not where I, you thrives. Um, I think we'll see, you know, certainly a lot of chances for Debo. And I still think,

you know, especially in a game like this, uh, with the, the number two running back situation still unsettled. I know Jordan Mason operated as a guy and ran well, but I think that's how you manufacture touches for Debo is you put them more in a running back spot.

Okay. Let's finish this game here with George Kittle. This game's taken a long time. George Kittle, Dave, you have him higher than Jamie. I do. I bet that they connect this week. There were times where Purdy was literally looking

at George Kittle as he was open running down the field and didn't fire. So that just could have been a byproduct of Purdy not wanting to make a mistake. That's why he threw short a lot last week. I I'm kind of optimistic that he'll take some shots to Kittle again this week.

And that Kittle can work as not just a short area target for him, but also with someone that he can gain 15 plus yards with. I really thought Purdy played well, especially in the second really, because I mean, I didn't watch all the well, especially in the second half. Really? Because, I mean, I didn't watch all the throws, but on Monday's show, Jacob Gibbs mentioned his off target rate was very high. It was

way higher in the first half than the second half. Okay, but this is a guy who was throwing to Christian McCaffrey the whole day. He shouldn't have had a high off target rate. His ADOT was really low. So that's a bad combination. The ADOT is... He's got a bad arm. You're hoping that the ADOT was really low. So that's a bad combination. No, the ADOT is your... He's got a bad arm.

If you're starting Kittle or any of the receivers, you're hoping that the ADOT goes up and that you're hoping that the accuracy is a little bit better. But he was not a down kill. At least the accuracy was better in the second half. All right. Yeah, we won't judge him too harshly on his first game, but he's the last pick in the draft.

First game might be better than the second game, though, because now there's tape on him. And a much better defense. Jamie, just real quick, who would you start over George Kittle? In non PPR, the probably the craziest name would be Hunter Henry, just because the matchup. I think there's a better chance that Henry scores in in all formats. I would start Dolchert's over. Speaking of Hunter Henry, here we go.

New England is at Arizona. You know, most offenses seem to do pretty well against most good offenses seem to here we go. New England is at Arizona. Most offenses seem to do pretty well against... Most good offenses seem to do pretty well against New England. They're just... Oh, I thought you were going to say Cardinals. Yeah, the Cardinals are, I think, a good offense.

But New England is such a Jekyll and Hyde team. Anyway, we could probably do this game pretty quickly, right? Sit Mac Jones, Ramondre Stevenson, hooray. Ramond, yay, Stevenson. Jacoby Myers, if he plays, starter sit. He'll be a number three receiver like he always is, PPR. Yep, PPR only.

Okay, so Mike Evans or Jacoby Myers? Evans. Evans. I don't think there's any way he's playing. Although, I mean, he has a long... He's not in the protocol, though. That's the thing. He's not?

He missed practice with a concussion. No, he's got a head injury. Okay. And he's got a longer... Like a bear took a bite out of the side of his head. He has a longer window to get healthy because he got hurt on a Thursday instead of a Sunday. And now he plays on a Monday.

Okay. Unless I'm wrong. I just didn't see him in the protocol. I now he plays on a Monday. Okay. Unless I'm wrong. I just didn't see him in the protocol. I think he was just listening to his head injury. Okay. No, I'm seeing he is in the concussion protocol. Okay, then yeah. Bad news. Probably not playing.

Alright, Hunter Henry is the most interesting Patriot here. Jamie just said he'd start him over George Kittle in non-PPR. Dave, you have him 10th. I mean, it's an easy sell here, but talk about Hunter Henry and who you would start him over. Well, the sell is that the matchup is outstanding, and it just goes without saying

because the Cardinals have been so bad against tight ends this year. You just look and see it's 11 or more half PPR point tight end production in four of the past six games and some huge games allowed. If there's no Jacoby Myers, then it's easy for Henry to potentially step up and be a short area target for Mac Jones. Short area targets tend to do better against the Cardinals than downfield targets. It's part of the reason why I kind of like Jones as a bi-week quarterback.

I've got him ranked in my top 20. So I'm not adverse to him. If you're starting Henry, you're starting him for the stat, not necessarily because of what he's been doing from game to game. They've allowed seven touchdowns and tight ends in the last four games. That's insane.

Pretty insane. Yeah, it's amazing. I mean, they just, they're so bad. Okay, Kyler, we'll go to Kyler Murray here. He felt a little bit low in your rankings.

It's ninth for Jamie, seventh for Dave, eighth for Heath. I guess it's not that. Ninth feels a little bit low. I don't know. Yeah, I should probably adjust that,

but I think it's, there's just, there's some decent quarterback plays this week. You know, I think Gino's in a better spot. The one I struggle with know. Yeah, I should probably adjust that. But I think it's, there's just, there's some decent quarterback plays this week. You know, I think Gino's in a better spot. The one I struggle with is Tua, you know, just because of him being a little bit banged up. And they can run on the Chargers if they decide to. But I think, you know, you look at Cousins,

I think there's a higher ceiling for him this week. And Goff might have a higher ceiling this week. Okay. Yeah, it's, I think it's like a top 10. That's very appealing. And then 11 is Derek Carr for everybody. So those 10 guys are going to do better than him. So start Kyler Murray.

All right, how do you feel about James Conner? Because he has been on fire lately. He's playing almost every snap. The Patriots, though, are going to be one of the tougher matchups. Like two weeks ago, he faced San Francisco. And he did score 13.4 PPR fantasy points. He had 14 carries for 42 yards, two catches for 12 yards,

but of course he scored the touchdown. So New England's not quite San Francisco, but they're not a layup. Dave, how do you feel about James Conner this week? Too much work, potential to score each week, and I'm rolling with him. To me, he's a must-start number two fantasy running back. DeAndre Swift or James Conner? Swift.

Dalvin Cook or James Conner? Cook. Conner. Travis Etienne or James Conner? Conner. Okay. Star DeAndre Hopkins, you said Marquise Brown, I think we said was a number three receiver?

I think he's in that, like, two. Yeah. He's a high-end three for me. Okay. And then let's say Rondell Moore is out, which looks like it'll be the case, but they have more practice time than the other teams. This is the Monday night game. Do you have any interest in Greg Dortch? Do you have any

interest in Dortch or Rondell Moore? Assuming that's the slot guy. Incredibly valuable role. Do you have any interest in those guys, Jamie? Yeah, like I said, I think you could be looking at six to seven targets. I think there's an opportunity here based on what we've seen. Now, we haven't seen it with these two guys on the field in terms of Hopkins and Brown,

but we also haven't seen how all three would operate without the tight end because zach hurts hasn't been there so there's still a lot of moving parts to what this cardinals offense will look like and so getting one of the two guys back you prefer to be rondo more because he's the more talented of the two but again you've seen what kyler murray has done with this position and so will that be the same carryover when everybody's healthy it's not a slam dunk it's not in any situation where you say, okay, I feel like this is going to be a guaranteed 12 to 13 PPR points, which is basically what that position is averaged,

whether it was Dortch early or, you know, Rondale in the middle before we got, you know, Hopkins back and Brown went out. But again, I think, you know, James Conner's numbers aren't going to be pretty. So, you know, you're talking maybe 15 carries at most. He's going to be the only running back really that touches the ball. So you're looking at a lot of throwing from Kyler Murray and a lot of opportunities for these guys. So high end number four, low end number three type of receiver, better in PPR than none. And I think he's worth a gamble if you are stuck. Like for me, for example, I just picked him up, um, in a league where I don't have Pittman and my other receivers

are a mess. So he's my third receiver for this week. Dorch, okay. Would you start Marquise Brown or Mike Williams? I've got a back-to-back Brown hire. Marquise Brown, or how about Leonard Fournette? Brown. Okay. Sit Trey McBride, and if you're desperate for a DST, the Cardinals.

You could do worse than the Cardinals. They're about 13th or so. All right, we'll take a break. When we come back, Houston at Dallas. I mean, we know who's going to win, but can you trust Dak Prescott? He's probably going to play two possessions, and then it's going to win, but can you trust Dak Prescott? He's probably going to play two possessions, and then it's going to be over. We'll talk about the Cowboys passing game a little bit more on Damian Pierce

when we come back on Fantasy Football today. We are back. That was our last break. Nothing but football from here on out. Maybe we'll sprinkle in some movies or TV shows or something. Houston's at Dallas. All right, so I don't want to just redo this segment.

Go back to the one question for each game segment. Check the time codes. I talked about Damian Pierce and all of the blowout losses. Also, he's just not running that well lately. He has one carry longer than 13 yards in his last four games. That's 60 carries.

So you're going to try to sit Damian Pierce. Now over to the Cowboys side. Jamie, how do you feel about the Cowboys, specifically Dak Prescott? I mean, I know we're going to love the running backs, but obviously I get what the fear is with Prescott. He just won't have to throw much, and the Texans are fifth best against quarterbacks.

But yeah, give me the passing game thoughts there. I mean, I think, you know, barring some big plays, it's probably going to be around a low 200-yard day for him. Probably a couple of touchdowns, not a turnover to worry about unless he makes a bad mistake. But a 202 type of game is certainly within the offering here because, like you said, he's probably not going to have to do very much. So it's a little concerning, you know, a 202 type of game is certainly within the offering here because like you said, he's probably not gonna have to do very much. So it's, it's a little concerning, you know, if you're counting on Dak to win your week now, granted, there's always the ability for

them to just say, we're going to do what we want to because they can. And I, I think we've said this time and time again, the Texans past defense, while the numbers are great, I think it's somewhat overrated. So, you know, I, I wouldn't necessarily run from Dak Prescott and go to pick up someone in a waiver wire. If you have the ability to get golf still, that might not be a bad pivot play just if you need to maximize your points, but I'm not starting, you know, Huntley over him. I'm not starting Purdy over him. I'm not starting those type of guys over Dak Prescott by any stretch. So I think Dak's a low end starter. Uh, CD lamb, you're going to start just based on what his upside always is. Um,

Gallup is more of a desperation number three receiver and Schultz is a tight end with a pulse. So, you know, that could be the, the other touchdown that he gets. So, you know, I, I think it's just, it's just not a, not a big ceiling coming for Dak Prescott because it does feel like a game where both Zeke and Pollard can get 200 yards if they wanted to. Yeah. I said fifth best, uh, the Texans are actually third best against quarterbacks.

And I think you saw, I remember this setup going into the Dolphins game, right? It was like, well, is Tua going to be good? Tua ended up scoring only 17 fantasy points, but he shredded them. And then he left, you know. With a quarter. But it's also like what happened,

you know, it's two weeks in a row now where there's a defensive score. Last week there was three, you know, non-offensive scores, right. You know, and those, the, those are the things that are leading to these blowouts and leading to their offense is not having to do very much. Like you, you could, if you really wanted to be creative and try to take a shot at the million play Cooper rush and see what happens, you know, because he may come in in the second half and have some numbers in this game. You know, that's the, that's the, that's the algorithm to, uh, to, to find a way to win some of these tournaments.

Is it Cooper Rush or is it Malik Davis? It could be Malik Davis too. Yeah, it's a good call. Yeah, it could be him too. The first thought I had was, is there anything the Cowboys need to work on offensively? Something that they want to get better at? Is there a player that they want to get going in the right direction?

Prescott's been playing great. Gallup just had a two touchdown game schultz has been good i'm thinking the only thing that they might want to work on if he's active is tyron smith getting back into the swing of things that left tackle and i don't know how much they want to put him out there so this could end up very much being like that Dolphins game, like you said, Adam. Yeah, I think the good news for Prescott is that he's producing basically on a weekly basis with 30 or fewer pass attempts. He's come back. He's played six games. The Cowboys are averaging 35 points per game without the defensive touchdowns. That's just their offensive production. And they're basically the best offense in football since they've come back. And he's thrown 30 or fewer passes in five of those six games.

He's just been remarkably efficient. So somebody asked us in the chat, who would you start over, Dak Prescott? So Goff and Cousins? Yes, yes, yes, yes. It's kind of the obvious names. It's like Tua, other than those guys. Goff and Cousins, Tua, Herbert,

and then obviously Mahomes and Allen. Geno. Geno Smith, yeah. But then obviously my homes and Alan and Gino Smith. Yeah. But then after that guys like, like Derek Carr was behind him, uh, Trevor Lawrence, Tom Brady, et cetera.

Dak is ahead of those guys. All right. Pollard and Zeke, you know, with all the heebie jeebies that we're getting at running back this week. Are you getting them at all with these guys? Oh, we love these guys.

Yeah, I'm fired up. They're both top 12 for me. Yep. Michael Gallup or Mike Evans? Evans. See, what Dave was talking about, the only thing that stands out there is you noticed

a significant better production, significant uptick in production for Gallup for the last two games, maybe just, you know, coinciding with the Odell Beckham rumors, rumors, you know,

so a spike in targets the last two weeks, finding the end zone twice last week, you know, I I'm sure they're all saying the right things about Beckham, but I wonder if there was a private conversation between Gallup and Dak saying, you know what, even if he comes, you're still my guy. You know, you're still the number two receiver on this team. I'm sure they're all saying the right things about Beckham, but I wonder if there was a private conversation between Gallup and Dak saying, you know what, even if he comes, you're still my guy. You know, you're still the number two receiver on this team.

And I'm going to make sure everybody knows that. So I wouldn't be surprised if there's maybe another end zone target or two for him. Yeah. And honestly, it's also coinciding with Chris Godwin getting good, and they both tore their ACLs around the same time, I'd say. So it could just be a health thing for Michael Gallup. So encouraging stuff there.

He is 79% rostered, so you can't really stash him. But he's a number three, maybe even number four wide receiver. It's just, first of all, they allow the fifth fewest fantasy points to receivers, Houston, and then obviously all the things we talked about with Prescott. Okay, Dalton Schultz is top five in both formats. He's got three straight games with 22 to 33 yards, but he is the preferred end zone target.

Six end zone targets in seven games with Dak Prescott. That's huge. There's not much else to say there. You guys said you'd start Hawkinson over him. You wouldn't start Hunter Henry over Dalton Schultz, right? No, Schultz is 4-3. Schultz or Kittle? Kittle.

Okay, all right, but they're close. And the Dallas DST is about 15th this week. LOL, they're first. Okay, Philadelphia at the Giants. Stat of the game. The Eagles have allowed more than 69 receiving yards to only five receivers all year. Two of them were the same guy, Terry McLaurin.

And that's despite 16 wide receivers having seven or more targets. So I know you guys don't love Darius Slayton, but he's playing pretty well lately, and I think the Giants are going to have to throw a lot. I don't understand the spread at all. I don't know how it started as a five-and-a-half-point spread, got bet up to seven.

That's where I saw it last. I mean, this feels like a 15-point game to me. I don't know how you guys feel. But I do think a lot of Daniel Jones pass attempts are coming. So Slayton is one of the only tough calls in this game. Jamie, how do you feel about it? I know we asked Slayton earlier, but give me your thoughts, your updated thoughts.

I mean, just first on the game, you know, let's give the Giants some credit. Despite the fact that things have been falling apart, they hang around. That's Brian Dable, that's Wink Martindale. Their defense has found a way to stay competitive, and so their offense has done a good job. So I don't know if they're going to get blown out. They suck.

But this feels like a game where the Eagles should be able to do whatever they want to offensively. Giants, I think you're starting Barkley and that's it. And Barkley, he gives me the heebie-jeebies. He is just being saved by touchdowns. The Eagles' run defense has been a lot better over the last three or four games. Barkley, it doesn't matter who he's facing.

He's running the ball like crap. I can't sit here and say it's his fault. I don't know. I just know that it's happening again. He is extremely inefficient. I love the fact that he's getting a lot of targets lately. They've been losing games and he's getting, you know, like five, six, seven targets in these losses lately. So that should save you there. Um, yeah, I guess running, I mean, look, 71 yards rushing last week, you know, so he's going to probably use his legs in this matchup too.

Guess where Daniel Jones ranks per game in four-point and six-point for passing touchdown leagues this year. Four-point, I would say 11th. 12th. Six-point, probably 17th.

14th. Surprising. All right, on the other side of the ball, Dave, Hurts, Brown start stole sit Devante Smith and Miles Sanders like them love them gotta have them gotta have them Sanders especially especially if there's no Leonard Williams in the middle for that defense for the Giants and Adoreeson continuing to be out that's a problem for new york and there's just there's too much upside there for davante smith i felt i felt the crunch at wide receiver with six teams on by when it came to ranking him and he's on the good side of my top

24 because of it i the giant secondary look they do usually hang around but they're just so banged up right now and they just i mean yeah they they their secondary is depleted it's really bad it's a great matchup and their run defense stinks anyway and now leonard williams is probably out for this game so i will say in half ppr miles sanders is going to outscore saquon barkley bam oh! Ooh. Yeah. What about Boston Scott, the giant killer? The giant killer every freaking game. Probably not, but that would be hilarious if that happened. Well, I mean, if you're counting on a

blowout, Boston Scott probably scores. Because that means he's playing late again. Look, I think the Titans are a better team than the Giants. Even though the Giants beat them in Week 1. And what the Eagles did last week to the Titans. I mean, the Eagles were struggling a little bit, right? They lost to the commanders.

They won by one point against the Colts. They weren't even all that convincing in that Thursday game against the Texans. But if they play like they played last week, it's going to be a runaway. And this is not me hating on the Giants. I think the Eagles are fantastic. They're just phenomenal.

All right. That's it for this game. Eagles DST is a start. Last game Carolina at Seattle. Stat of the game. The Seahawks have what happened. I just found an ugly stat on Saquon. Go ahead.

He's 34th among qualifying running backs. These are running backs with at least 100 rushes in percentage of runs five or more yards this year. How many running backs? 34th out of 38. He is ahead of McCaffrey, Derek Henry, James Robinson, and Kenneth Walker. Weird names. Well, so yeah, because there are some, and I Walker. That's weird. Weird names. Well, so yeah, because there are some,

and I've been looking at these types of things and I find some running back profiles and two guys that come to mind are Ken Walker and Travis Etienne. And these are guys that have a lot of carries for less than five yards or zero or negative yards, but also a lot of explosive carries. And it's fine to be that kind of guy.

But the problem for Barkley is the explosiveness is just not there right now. I shouldn't say the explosiveness is not there. I'm sure he still has it. We haven't seen it. Right. We haven't seen it. He's 13th in explosive play rate.

Those are runs of 12 or more yards. Kenneth Walker is second with 13%. But if you look at Barkley and you go his last four or five games, I bet he's not even close to that. I bet he's, you know. Want me to tell you? Yeah.

You're going to have to lower the threshold. It's not going to be 100 carries. But yes, you can tell me where he is. I think that's dropped off quite a bit. While you do that, Carolina's at Seattle. And the Seahawks have allowed 13.6 or more PPR fantasy points to six wide receivers in their last four games. Rondell Moore, DeAndre Hopkins, Chris Godwin, Julio Jones,

Mack Hollins, and Devante Adams. It's interesting, Jamie, they do pretty well against stud wide receivers, especially the ones that line up at Tariq Woolen's side a lot like, like Devante Adams and DeAndre Hopkins. They did a really good job against them. But they struggled against Julio Jones and Mac Hollins and Rondell Moore. So you already talked about DJ Moore. You think he could be in the 13-ish point range? I think so. I think it's a matter of how many targets he's going to see. So if they're running the ball with success and you can run on Seattle, that's certainly improving. So if they're running the ball with success, then I think it's going to be a little bit of a boost for Sam Darnold throwing and DJ Moore being the primary beneficiary of that so I think he's on the cusp of a number two number three receiver

you know similar in in the same type of range like a Mike Evans like a Debo Samuel like Gabe Davis do just misuse do you know guys you have question marks on but you know certainly you can see the upside and so if you've been starting DJ Moore then I think you just continue to roll with him if you've been sitting DJ Moore and you I think you just continue to roll with him. If you've been sitting DJ Moore and you have better options, it's easy to get away from him because you've seen the majority of the season. So I don't think Sam Donald is just the complete answer, but clearly of the last two seasons, which quarterback has he been the best with? It's been Sam Donald.

Do you have your updated stat, Dave? Yeah, it's really not that different from season long. Past four games, his five-yard rate, just to simplify it, is 27.8%. That is 26th out of 28 qualifiers, qualifiers being 50 rushes or more in the last five weeks. It's pretty low. No, I meant the explosive rate, the 12-yard carries. He's actually eighth there, 7.6%.

Really? Wow. I wonder what that's like with Neal and Feliciano. Well, Neal's only played one of those games. But, okay, I can guarantee you, I mean, I know for a fact, the long runs have not been there, right? The breakaway runs, the 25 to 30 to 50. No.

The appeal with Saquon is that he's an every down back, 20 touch potential, goal line potential. Yep, yep, scores a lot. The efficiency could be better. Now, in this weird running back week, how do you feel about Deontay Foreman assuming he plays?

Is he just an easy call? I think so. I mean, you look at his numbers since McCaffrey's been traded, it's been pretty fantastic. You know, four of seven games over 100 yards rushing. It's been, you look at his numbers since McCaffrey's been traded, it's been pretty fantastic. Four of seven games over 100 yards rushing. It's been nice to see that they've used him this way.

You'd like to see a little bit more work in the passing game, but that's probably not going to happen. So Seattle's been atrocious in the last three weeks. It's just been absolutely abysmal. Most of that was Josh Jacobs, but still, there's a lot to like about where this team is at. I mean, giving up two rushing touchdowns and 61 yards rushing to Cam Akers last week. Akers last week, right.

They actually did a better job against Akers after the first quarter. And then you look at what the two Panthers guys did against the Broncos the last time they played. You know, 180 yards rushing for those two guys. Yeah, as long as they're competitive, he's going to get a ton of carries. I think so. I think he's gone over 110 yards each time he's had 15 carries. Right. He's just had these two terrible games. One was against the Ravens. One was that

Bengals game where they were trailing 35 nothing at halftime. That might have been the one I was thinking of, the 35 nothing at halftime thing. So you have to accept the downside, but bottom line is, he's had six games without McCaffrey. He's over 113 rushing yards in four of them.

That's incredible. All right, Seattle, we love Geno Smith. Very few quarterbacks were starting over him this week. Would you start Geno Smith or Josh Allen? I was asked that on a radio show, and one of the hosts said, oh, that's such a dumb question because they think it's obvious that Allen's the answer.

I'm not sure that that's so obvious anymore. Gino, I have Allen one spot higher, but I can't sit here and say I'm going to keep it that way through Friday and Saturday. I might move Gino ahead. Allen. And Dave, you have two ahead of Gino. Jamie, you have Gino one spot ahead of Tua, but Gino is top six for everyone.

Start him, start Metcalf and lock it. If Ken Walker plays, Jamie, where do you think you'd settle on Ken Walker? I would settle on Ken Walker as top 15. Oh yeah. Yeah. Okay. I mean, you gotta be a little bit concerned that he's not 100%. Give the Panthers run defense credit. They've been pretty good all season long.

I think you take out the mixing game, and it looks a lot different from the season-long numbers. Walker, and this kind of goes back to whoever the running back is for Seattle, which is why I think the one in the passing game matters more. They've struggled to run the ball. That's kind of saved Walker a little bit, his work in the passing game matters more. They've struggled to run the ball, you know, and that's kind of saved Walker a little bit as working the passing game. You know, the fact that he's found the end zone.

I mean, you go back to prior to last week, he had not been good. You know, you've mentioned this a lot, Adam, that he's been struggling, you know, just to run the ball. And that speaks, I think, to the team. But Walker, I think if he's there, you trust him. If it's not Walker, then again, I'll lean more toward Homer because I think that's his best asset. And it is, I think it's a pretty favorable matchup, all things considered.

And yes, the mix in game is included in this, but the past five games, 5.4 yards per carry allowed, four rushing touchdowns allowed to running backs. So Carolina's run defense is vulnerable. Yeah, they're kind of a hit or miss defense, actually. And they've been worse in the passing game, worse pass defense since they lost their top cornerback a few weeks ago, Dante Jackson. So that should favor Metcalf and Lockett. You know, Noah Fant, we don't...

Oh, wait, sorry, last question on Walker. If Walker plays and Foreman plays, which running back would you rather have? Foreman. Foreman. Noah Fant, we don't talk about too much, but if we're expecting more pass attempts... Walker and PBR.

Walker and PBR. If we're expecting more pass attempts for Geno Smith, do you think Noah Phan, he's third on the team in targets, do you think he benefits from this and actually becomes someone that we could stream? I think it's a little bit easier to trust him if Will Disley doesn't play too.

He's dealing with a calf injury. So, yeah, I think Disley doesn't play too. He's dealing with a calf injury. Yeah. So, um, yeah, I think fans in, in play here. Uh, it's not, it's not horrendous, um, to,

uh, to, to say he can be in that group of, uh, you know, Evan Ingram and, uh, Jordan Akins and,

you know, Okonkwo and, and these guys that you could see a path to success, but you could also see some significant pitfalls because of how they've played the majority of the season. So, you know, low end starter.

Sure. You know, if you're desperate, I think it's not a bad pivot play. If you're playing the fantasy points game, Carolina is only allowed three tight ends to get more than eight and a half, half PPR points against them all year.

Oh yeah. Okay. Well, that's a, it's a strike against... I'm... You're starting fan PPR hoping for eight points, not 11. Well, that's going to do it for today's show.

I'm going to play us out with some new outro music. We're out of here for today, everybody. Dave has gotten too smart for us. No, you screwed up. I don't think it was going to work. But you're right, I didn't do it right If you did it the way I told you to do it We would have got him What was the way to do it? Hold on, I want to know this

I said, Dan, you can't go right to the game If we get into an argument You have to at least let me go for a little bit You guys get talking You got to let Dave feel more comfortable That he's just tailing the show Because we really got in a fight And I'm not coming

back. Well, I don't understand why he's yelling at you to look at the camera when for the last four years you haven't looked at the camera. Why is this a thing now? I don't know. I didn't know that was a thing. I don't know.

It's okay. Anyway, we'll go out on this. All right. It's okay. It's okay. So anyway. Oh, yeah. We'll go out on this. Mailbag. Injury updates. What, buddy? What'd you say? Two o'clock. Two o'clock mailbag.

Why did I just call Jamie buddy? That was weird. A strange ending to a strange show. And we'll talk to you on the mailbag. And goodbye. I just need to end this fun. Later.