Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (NFC): Minshew, Kamara, Foreman (12/30 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 30, 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.  We'll tell you who we have gut feelings about this week (2;42)! Is this finally the week for Mike Evans? Then we recap Cowboys-Titans (5:25) go through the news and notes (8:00) with updates on Alvin Kamara, Jalen Hurts and more ... One Question for Each Game (14:10)! Start Gardner Minshew? David Montgomery in a tough matchup? How are we approaching the Packers running backs and the Commanders wide receivers? ... Start or Sit for Saints-Eagles (24:00), Bears-Lions (32:30), Packers-Vikings (40:00), Panthers-Bucs (50:00), Cardinals-Falcons (1:01:10), Browns-Commanders (1:08:00) and Colts-Giants (1:15:50) ... 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.

A very happy Friday, everybody. Is it a happy Friday for you guys? Dave, you happy today? Oh, I'm in just the most kind of moods ever. Yeah, Dave's right about Dalton Schultz. I'm super happy after Ezekiel Elliott gave me

so many fantasy points and Dalton Schultz did not. Would you bench Dalton Schultz? You played against Dalton Schultz. Yes, I did, actually. Me too, me too. For Hawkinson. It was fun.

Zeke. Great. Zeke Elliott last night tied his career low for yards per carry in any game with 10 or more carries. 1.9 yards per carry. It was truly one of the worst performances of his career. And stunning against a team

that was sitting half of its defensive starters. He did score a touchdown. If you were to say before the game he had 19 carries and a touchdown, you'd be a top five running back. Now imagine that this game was week one. We would be running for the hills from Zeke.

It's true. And no catches. I don't know that. The fact that he had 19 carries in the touchdown, I don't think that we'd be running from him. I don't know how many coaches stick with a guy if they're averaging under two yards a carry. Well, if there was no Tony Powell, yes, that's true.

Yeah. There was no Tony Powell, and it was a big game for Dalton Schultz. We'll talk about that. I have a couple of questions for you before we get into the game. I had a great prop tonight. That was fun. What was your prop? So, again, I'll say this for anybody going into the weekend.

Look at anybody close to a milestone. Lamb over 5.5 catches. He needed 9 to get to 100 for the season. That was an easy one. And then Haskins under 50. It kept dropping, under 49.5 rush hour. Right. On the other hand, Zeke, I 48, kept dropping, under 49.5 rush hour. Right. On the other hand, Zeke, I mean, they tried, right?

Zeke is, he's not going to get 1,000 yards now, I don't think. You don't think he's getting 140 yards next week? Right. He needed like 180 yards. So I thought, that's why I thought he'll have a decent workload. They're trying to get him to 1,000. And he did have a decent workload. Again, they tried.

All right. Who do you guys think, this is a trivia question, who sits atop the most added list this week? What was the Giants on Wednesday? It is the Giants. Giants, DST. I saw their roster percentages. Whoa, a lot of people are still playing fantasy football

because they are up to 60-something percent. Other question for you. Who do you have a gut feeling about this week? Maybe it's not reflected in your rankings necessarily, but just trust your... Dave, let's talk about your gut. What's your gut feeling this week? My gut feeling guy is Brandon Ayuk.

I think Brandon Ayuk ends up having a good game against the Raiders. He didn't play that way yesterday, though. I know, but I just, it's all when it's a gut feeling, I'm not going to like rationalize it any other way. I'm not going to try and force it. Right.

Yeah. It's like, I don't want to say he's going to do well. Right. The data says that he's not going to have a big game. Right. That's another one. Again,

145 yards away from a thousand yards. Jamie, who's your gut feeling guy? I5 yards away from a 1,000-yard season. Jamie, who's your gut-feeling guy? I mean, I said it Tuesday, Richie James. You know, I like what slot receivers have done against the Colts. He's coming off a strong game. He's actually been good, really, for the majority of the last five weeks.

And I think that's the one area where Daniel Jones can certainly have some success throwing the ball. Okay, I had one guy, but I have an even gutsier call. Tyler Boyd this week. I think a total shootout. Gut-feeling Tyler Boyd.

I like it. You do? I do. He's had a good track record. That's the game of the week, yeah. I don't like Tyler Boyd at all. But that's the game of the week, yeah. The Bills at the Bengals, hey.

So everybody should know that before the show started, Adam goes, I'm going to get Jamie this week on Game of the Week. And I used a word that I can't say on the show. But I told him, you're going to get me, and I know exactly how you're going to get it. And I thought it was going to be a little bit different way, but he got it this way. And so kudos to you. I had no idea how I was going to do it until just before the show. I was legitimately going to do a gut feeling player, and it was going to be Mike Evans.

I have a gut feeling about Mike Evans this week. And then I thought, maybe I can get Dave on this. Yeah. Wow. I can't believe it worked. No, Boyd's got this track record. I think it's six of nine games where he's had at least 10 PPR points when he's played with Chase and Higgins. And I agree, it's going

to be a high-scoring game. I don't love Boyd. He's a flex at best, but it wouldn't surprise me. That's a good gut call. I do not have a gut feeling. It's a to be a high-scoring game. I don't love Boyd. He's a flex at best, but it wouldn't surprise me. That's a good gut call. I do not have a gut feeling. I think you should take credit for that one. It's a fake one. It was all a ruse. For me, it's Mike Evans.

Top two cornerbacks are out for the Carolina Panthers. All right, Dallas 27, Tennessee 13. Yeah, we got just Tom Brady. That's the problem. I know. Well, he'll have 70 pass attempts for 250 yards. I don't know about that. Dallas 27, Tennessee 13. Ugly game, but in the end, it was an easy pass attempts for 250 yards. I don't know about that. Dallas 27, Tennessee 13.

Ugly game, but in the end, it was an easy win for the Cowboys. Well, it ended up being one. Josh Dobbs going to start next week, you think, guys? For sure. Yep. Yeah. And makes it a little interesting for Trayvon Lewis. He may never start again.

Yeah. I mean, obviously, most people are done at this point, not playing into next week. But, Jamie, any takeaways from this game? I mean, for the Titans, you know, it's not really much. You know, Dobbs has got an audition to see if he can be a backup somewhere next year. So we'll see what happens there.

But, no, you know, I like that Traylon Burks continues to make plays. You know, so if they can figure out their quarterback situation for next year, he's going to have a lot of upside. For the Cowboys, it's the same old thing. Whenever there's a good matchup for – I didn't rank it this way, but the matchup was great for Schultz. So he was still a low-end starter for me, but didn't expect to score twice. Lamb, again, you continue just to see what he does,

and then you'll see what happens with Pollard when he's playing. Hopefully he's fine next week. What made the matchup great for Schultz? The Titans think against Titans. Not lately, they hadn't. Well, for the season, they did. Yeah, but who cares about what they did in week two? Plus, they were a sitting guy.

Yeah, and no Pollard. Again, I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but Schultz's targets have gone down recently as Pollard's have gone up. And I will see how that plays out going forward. But I thought that might help him. And, wow, 10 targets, 7 catches, 56 yards, 2 touchdowns. Dak likes to look for his tight ends in the end zone. Hopefully it's Schultz.

And today or yesterday it was. And then Zeke, you know tight ends in the end zone. Hopefully it's Schultz. And today or yesterday it was. And then Zeke, you know, it's the same story. I don't think anything's... If you're playing into Week 18, I don't think you're going to change your opinion on anyone, really. Too many turnovers for Dak, man. Two interceptions. One was not his fault.

And a fumble. Okay. So, yeah. That's pretty much it. We've got a Start-Sit live stream on New Year's Day at the normal time, 11.30 a.m. Eastern time. That is Sunday. All the games are on Sunday now,

well, and Monday, but no Saturday games. So we'll see you on Sunday for our New Year's Day Start or Sit. Hopefully you'll join us for that. HQ as well at 10 a.m. Eastern. So let's rock and roll. Let's get one more win or two more. We are here next week doing our normal shtick.

No live streams next week, though, just podcasts. They'll be live on YouTube, but I mean no Tuesday night, no Thursday afternoon, no Sunday morning live streams. Okay, news and notes. So let's see what's new here. Jalen Hurts was limited in practice. And that's about it. So let's talk about Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson.

Dave, do you expect either of them to play this week? I think there's a chance for Hurts, just the fact that he practiced on Thursday. So if he ends up practicing on Friday, I think you can feel good about his chances to take on the Saints. Are you going to feel good about his fantasy prospects? Yes. If he's on the field, I'm starting him.

Yeah, you know, as like a top three guy or top seven, like would you go Cousins over him? I'm not sure about Cousins over Hurts. That one might come back to haunt me, but I think Cousins will be good against Green Bay. But he'll be up there. Top seven. He'd be seven for me.

Okay. I'd start Goff over him. I'd start Fields over him. And I would start Cousins over him. And you can check out our mailbag in case there's any update on Lamar Jackson. We'll have an update by the time we do the mailbag whether or not he practices on Friday. But right now, still not looking great for Lamar Jackson. For running backs,

anyone you're concerned about missing the game? Austin Eckler, Miles Sanders, maybe, hopefully, I guess Damian Harris for Stevenson's sake. Ken Walker, Aaron Jones, Alvin Kamara.

What's this Kamara situation all about, Dave? That he has a quad injury. And a personal issue. We'll see what happens on Friday. They might rule him out by Friday afternoon. Okay, keeping on him, would you be interested in David Johnson if Kamara does not play? If I had a time machine and could go back to the late 20-teens, sure.

Denver signed Tyler Beatty from their practice squad, a rookie running back. Do you think maybe that is just... Is that yet another reason to avoid Latavius Murray, Jamie? If you're stuck with Murray, you think Beatty could... I don't know anybody in a championship that would be starting Latavius Murray. So, yes, obviously, if he's the only guy you have, you should be concerned.

But if you can get away from him, clearly get away from him. Okay. And Antonio Gibson still not practicing. Wide receiver. Jamie, where are you at on Tyler Lockett right now? If he gets into full practice, he will be a low-end number two receiver. And same as Metcalf, right? Yes.

Do you move Geno Smith up the rankings? Yeah, he'll be closer to 12, but will not be my top 12. Okay. And other wide receiver news, Chris Olave has been limited. Top 24 guy this week, Chris Olave? No. I don't think so. Hamstring injury for a speed receiver

usually takes him a little longer than one game to come back and be at full strength. Plus, it's Philly. Yeah. How about Olave or Mike Evans? I'd probably lean Evans, as silly as that sounds. Oh, I would start Evans. A non-PPR Olave might make more sense than Evans.

Please, Christian Watson. Please play. He has still not practiced. Two straight games. Dave's without practice. Yeah. So what should we be? I think this is one of the first games we're going to talk about.

We'll talk about all the wide receivers in this game. But if Watson's out, Alan Lazard is what, Dave? High-end flex. Low-end number two receiver. Okay, not much difference there. And that's about it. Oh, Debo Samuel practice and Chase Claypool practice. I think we're still not expecting Debo Samuel.

But we talked about that game yesterday. Jamie, if Debo Samuel plays, he'd be what? Low-end number two receiver. All right. So if Samuel plays and Watson sits, would you start Lazard or Debo? If Samuel plays

and Watson sits, I would start Lazard and PPR, Debo and none. Yep. Okay. Tight end news. Looks like Hayden Hurst is going to go.

I didn't see an update on Noah Fant. Did he practice yesterday? He did not. Limited. Okay. That's good. And on the offensive line, the Bears, looks like they're getting healthier. Cody Whitehead and

Tevin Jenkins both practiced in full. That's good. Miami left tackle Teron Armstead is on the injury report. He has four injuries. He's really beat up. Tampa Bay is getting a little healthier on the offensive line, or at least maybe guys are playing through injury. I don't know if Ryan Jensen is going to play this week. They're center. Not this week. No? Okay.

No. And then on defense, anything big here? Jordan Davis. Jordan Davis is in the concussion protocol, but I think he's going to play. He's making good progress through the concussion protocol, so that is Alvin Kamara's matchup if Kamara does in fact play. Raiders lost two starters.

Yeah, I did mention that yesterday. But yes, Denzel Perryman and Chandler Jones. We got to keep an eye on Deshaun Elliott. I didn't talk about him yesterday. Safety for the Lions. He was sorely missed last week against the Panthers, and he missed practice yesterday, I believe, and they get the Bears this week.

So that would be good news for Justin Fields if Deshaun Elliott does not play. We're going to take a break. When we come back, one question for each game on Fantasy Football today. Let's start with New Orleans and Philadelphia. Jamie, are you confident in any Saints in this game? I'd start Kamara if he plays, for sure.

That would be it. You know, desperation play, I'd go with Rashid Shaheed if Olave is out. I have no interest in Olave at all, so I would definitely start Mike Evans over him based on the previous question you asked. So, yeah, it would be Shaheed in deeper leagues if no Olave.

And I guess non-PPR leagues, I would start Taysom Hill at tight end and then desperation play any format, Jawan Johnson. But I'm not as excited about Taysom Hill this week as I am last week, unless there's no Alvin Kamara. If there's no Kamara, then Taysom Hill should see more work in the run game, and I'd want to use him.

Dave, your ranking of Alvin Kamara is very, very high. You have him sixth. Jamie and Heath have Kamara 16th. He's not catching passes anymore. I don't get it. Yeah. Dave? Kamara? Yeah. It's just where he came out

in my initial projections. It's probably not going to be where he stays. Okay. All right. We'll get into that because I think like on the live stream yesterday, I mean, Heath was saying try to say something nice about players. Cause it's very easy this week to,

to go to, you know, give reasons against players. I finding myself in that mode and Camara to me has more strikes, more, more concerns than positives. Um, and that'll be the first game we talk about.

So we'll get into that in a moment. But yeah, it feels like it could be an ugly running back week with Zeke just setting the table for an ugly running back week. Chicago's at Detroit. Okay. Can David Montgomery score 12 PPR fantasy points, Jamie? 12 for Montgomery, over or under?

12.5. Oh, okay. Dave, 12.5 or over under. He'll go higher than that. All right. So Camara or Montgomery? Montgomery. It's got to be Montgomery.

All right. Minnesota's at Green Bay. Joke question. Are you feeling it? And real question, how do you approach the Green Bay running backs, Dave? Are you feeling it? And how do you approach the Green Bay running backs?

See, this is where I think the game of the week was going to come in. Oh, no, I guess I got the real game of the week. I'm going to put my hands up. I am not doing a double dip this week. We're not feeling it, right? I'm not feeling

it. Oh, it's hard to like him as anything more than a PPR. Your hands are down. Yes, but that's because I'm embarrassed because I have three band-aids on my hand right now from some kitchen mishaps and other things. I couldn't type last night because I kept cutting. I cut my fingers twice

last night doing the dishes. How do you cut your fingers? Well, okay, so first I was slicing an orange and I actually cut my fingers slicing the orange. And then as I washed the knife, I cut a finger on okay. So first I was slicing an orange, and I actually cut my finger slicing the orange. And then as I washed the knife, I cut a finger on the other hand washing the knife. So it was a rough night for me.

Okay. Anyway, Dave. Green Bay running backs. They're really so weird. This is going to be such a good game of the week. I think that Dylan will be the lead guy again. He's been picking up a lot more work lately, certainly near the goal line. I would expect him to score. It should be a high scoring game. I think he can get better than 60 total yards to number two running back

for him. And Jones is a number two running back as well. I still think he's got potential to get you a hundred total yards. I'm very nervous though with him, just with the injury, you know, the fact that he's just been struggling through this. Hopefully he's fine, but yeah, you should still start Jones, but I think Dylan's just a little bit safer right now. So, yeah, it stinks because with Jones,

this is where I really don't envy you having to do rankings. We just don't know, right? It's all about health. Can't really realistically project him. It's not like the matchup matters with Aaronaron jones or anything like that to be honest like rankings to compare to your starting lineup are so different because you know you have to have a loaded team to say i'm sitting aaron jones at this point you know so can you can you can you as a fantasy manager bench aaron jones for tyler algier or brian robinson or one of these guys that have probably a better situation?

Most people are going to say no. It's just the nature of how you play this game. We get these questions all the time. Jones versus blah, blah, blah. We could sit here and say to our blue in the face, these guys might be better. I like Tyler Algier better than Aaron Jones this week. Most people are not going to do that. Well, I think it's

much easier to do in non or half PPR. Sure. Scary in full PPR, but I have to decide between him and Pacheco, and I'm probably going to go Aaron Jones. The thing is, I'm also starting A.J. Dillon, so I don't know if I want to go both of them. And that's another part of it. Do you want to trust both of them? How many times have they both been

good this season? Yeah. Two weeks ago. And other than that, that's another part of it. It's like, do you want to trust both of them? How many times have they both been good this season? Two weeks ago. And other than that, that's it. You probably need Jones to catch passes if they're both going to be good. All right, next up, Carolina's at Tampa Bay. Deontay Scorman or Deontay Floorman? Scorman. So you like him? I like Deontay Floorman? Scorman. So you like him?

I like Deontay Scorman. I thought you were going to go Deontay Snorman. I hope he doesn't hit his floor, man. Yeah, it's definitely possible, but I don't think this is going to be a blowout. Usually his numbers suck when the Panthers are getting blown out. I don't think they're going to get blown out. I actually think they're going to beat the Bucs.

And I think Foreman will get over 15 carries. He's had over 15 carries six times this year. He's had over 110 rushing yards five of the six times. And he always has potential for over 20 carries. And his player prop is something like 65 yards, and he's probably going to go either under by 50 yards or over by 50 yards. Arizona at Atlanta.

The only thing that makes me a little nervous about Foreman is that this feels a little like the Steelers game, though. Like, the Bucs run defense can certainly shut down this team. And it wasn't a blowout in that game either. Did you say the Bucs run defense? Yeah, the Steelers game. This could easily be a Steelers-type game for the Panthers. So, Vitavia was limited in practice. That's a big right. Yeah, he Steelers game. This could easily be a Steelers type of game for the Panthers. So Vita Veya was limited in practice.

That's a big... Yeah, he played in the 20s in total. I'm not sure if it does. I did the splits for with and without Vita Veya. And unless I did it wrong, they're averaging about the same yards per carry against with him or without him. You're 100% right. That stood out to me too. And with Hakeem Hicks. I thought,

alright, well, maybe if both Hicks and Veya are on the field at the same time, because there hasn't been too much of that, and still they're giving up something like 4.4 yards per carry to the waybacks. It's weird. Where there's a discrepancy is the number of long runs, like 10-plus yard carries.

There's twice as many without Veya than with Veya. So a lot of chipping away might have to be a lot of them. It could be like 15 carries 80 yards and you're praying for a catch or two for Foreman and a touchdown drop touchdown

visit, not drop. I don't want him to drop anything. Yeah. Arizona at Atlanta Dave Drake, London or Greg Dorch London. Just kidding to drop anything. Yeah. Arizona at Atlanta. Dave, Drake London or Greg Dortch? London. Just kidding. Just kidding. Yeah.

You're on red alert. Dave, Jamie, Drake London or Greg Dortch? London. Okay. I have an awesome Greg Dortch stat. Stay tuned. Cleveland. No, I'll do it right now.

He's played 71% of the stat. Let me get it. Hold on. He said this on% of the stats. Let me get it. Hold on. He said this on the show yesterday. Okay, yeah, 71% or more of the snaps in five games. He has nine or more targets in four of those five games. He has scored 13.3, 15.5, 17.0, 19.3, and 22.3 PPR fantasy points in those five games.

Absolute must-start in the five games that he's played, 71% or more of the snaps in PPR fantasy points in those five games. Absolute must start when he, in the five games that he's played 71% or more of the snaps and not in PPR must start. How many games did he play? Like 10% of the snaps with Rondell Moore without Rondell Moore. Oh, that's a good question. Without Rondell Moore, probably the same number that he played 70%.

I'm not sure. And the other, the other negative to that stat is that he's only played one game of those five, Greg Dortch, with Marquise Brown and DeAndre Hopkins. And it was last week when Brown was playing two-thirds of the snaps. He was not 100%. And it was with a weaker quarterback who had a hard time making throws to the sideline. All right.

It is interesting, though. Okay. Cleveland at Washington. Jamieie rank the wide receivers uh terry mclaurin johan dodson amari cooper donovan people jones colta giants start anyone other than saquon barkley in this game richie james is the number three receiver you're not going james Pittman, are you? I am. Wow.

Well, I will tell you that Daniel Jones is averaging 25 pass attempts in Giants wins. Does that scare you? Well, you think they're going to lose, so... I think they could. They're five and a half point favorites. I think the game started as minus three. Okay, Dave Pittman or Richie James or Slayton? I will put James at the bottom of that list,

but it's pretty tight between those three. Pittman's at the head of the table, but I really don't think he's going to get more than 13 PPR points. Hard to see him scoring. He never does that. And he has nine red zone targets all year. Let's go to the Saints at the Eagles. Since week eight, the Saints are allowing 15.6 points per game and the fewest yards per play in the NFL.

They continue to be great defensively. Have they faced any good offenses in that stretch? They shut out Las Vegas, and they held the 49ers to, what, 13 points? Tampa Bay to 17 points. This will obviously be a much stiffer test. But, yeah, let me give you the first stat of the game. So this is a good Saints stat, Jamie, and tell me, you know, you brought it up yesterday when I talked about Dallas Goddard.

The Saints allowed the fewest fantasy points to tight ends, and no tight end has 50 yards yet against them. So start or sit Dallas Goddard? Again, I think you're starting him. There's no streaming option that was available that is better than him. Now, you know, 10-team league, you may have found. Well, I think first off, you've probably picked somebody up along the way when Goddard was hurt.

So whoever that guy may be might be better for you. So if Dawson Knox was dropped and you picked him up, I'd start Knox over him. If it's Tyler Higbee, I'd start Higbee over him. You know, Cole Komet, if he was dropped, I'd start Komet over him. So there's a handful of guys that still may be out there, but I'm not benching Goddard for Jawan Johnson

or Noah Phan or Taysom Hill or any of these guys, Tyler Conklin. I just think you trust the best player, and hopefully he succeeds. I'm sorry, you said Higby in that mix? Higby and Kemet are probably the two non-obvious ones. I guess Knox as well, but I think they're all in somewhat better standing based

on their matchups. Okay, and stat of the game number two, and this is... The Eagles Eagles run defense is a little confusing. I don't know if it's good or bad right now, but Kamara is usually very good in good matchups, but usually very bad when the Saints lose by a touchdown or more. He has scored single digit PPR fantasy points in four or five games that the Saints have lost by seven or more points. He has 11 or fewer carries in four of the five games. So, Dave, Kamara's coming off two straight games with 20 carries.

They were both wins against the Falcons and the Browns. If things don't go right for the Saints in this game, what do you think about Kamara? How low is the floor? Is he a trap this week, potentially? He is. First of all, I can't justify why I had him ranked where I had him ranked. He's going down.

Single-digit PPR points. That's what the floor is for him. Tough to see him scoring. I do think that this Eagles run defense is good. And Jamie said it. Two catches each of his last three games. And now he's not practicing this week. I think it just makes him even more of a dangerous play.

I don't think they get blown out, though. Yeah, they might not. I mean, the defense is playing terrific. I mean, you look at it like I'm looking at their game logs. They've lost two games by more than 10 points. Three games. No, two games. And that's going back to Pittsburgh and I guess San Francisco,

they lost 13. Um, but they've been, I mean, they've been, you know, should have beat the bucks, beat the Browns in Cleveland in the snow.

You know what I mean? They're hanging around. Yep. Totally. Um, so Miles Sanders, especially with Minshew, Miles Sanders or Alvin Kamara?

Sanders. Uh, I'llvin Kamara? Sanders. I'll go Kamara. I think, again, it comes down to, A, well, first of all, he's healthy. But he's going to get more work, I think. Sanders looked bad last week. I don't know what's going on with him. The fumbling is a problem right now. You're talking about two guys that are limited in the passing game.

So they're close. They're very similar type of players. But I'll buy into more of the Saints run defense at this point than the Eagles run defense. Okay, so we already talked about the Saints wide receivers. Not really super interested. The Eagles have allowed nine touchdowns to wide receivers in their

last six games and particularly struggling against the slot this season. But the Eagles wide receivers, no questions, right? You just start them both? Yeah, I like Smith better than Brown, just based on the targets that he's been getting. And, you know, you're starting both of them.

Again, it's a matter of rankings versus what you have. So if you have both, you're most likely going to start A.J. Brown over Smith. I get that, but, you know, you can't start them both. They've just both been so, so productive. And, you know, again, I think it's ride the hot hand at this point. As bad as any matchup may be, which this is not a bad one, but I think as bad as any matchup may be,

these two guys are just too hot. So let's save Minshew for last, Dave, and we can talk about the tight ends in this game. Goddard would be the best, but what do you think about Hill and Juwan Johnson? Taysom Hill and non-PPR is still worth starting. I like him even more if there's no Alvin Kamara. Mentioned that already on the show.

Still playing 40% of the snaps, still getting around like 9, 10 touches per game. He can score. That's what you're starting him for. That makes him a streamable tight end, even in full PPR. But obviously, if catches don't count, his value is up higher because at best he'll catch one pass, something like that. Jawan Johnson's a flyer. You should be able to do better than that. I think Tyler Coughlin is a better streamer than Jawan Johnson this week, and he's out there in a ton of leagues.

Okay. Yeah. By the way, Taysom Hill, I think it's a rushing, passing, I think it was receiving, passing, rushing, right? In each of the last three games. He threw a touchdown to Jawan Johnson. He ran for a touchdown, and he caught a touchdown. Yeah, crazy. In the game Johnson missed. In the game Johnson missed, exactly.

Okay, so Gardner Minshew, guys. Like him, love him. Dave, what do you think about Gardner Minshew? 26.7 points at Dallas last week. Would it be silly to say that this is a tougher matchup for him this week? No, I would 100% agree with you. Yeah, I know. I know he's at home. I think it's going to be a little bit tougher for him. Lost one of his starting right tackles. That's a big chess piece in that offense. And and I just I feel like he could come back down to earth a little bit in his

second game. He's outside of my top 12. If you started him last week, you don't want to trust Mike White. You don't want to trust Geno Smith. You don't want to trust Jared Goff. I get it. You should go ahead and start Minshew over them if you don't want to use them. But I wouldn't do it. I think that he's got, he might get 18 fantasy points like Dak did last night. Well, first of all, why would you not trust Jared Goff? Isn't Goff?

I'm saying if people don't want to trust Jared Goff, I'm trusting Jared Goff. The problem with judging the Saints defense is they really haven't faced a good quarterback in ages. Lamar Jackson, they did a nice job against, but a lot of people were doing a good job against Lamar Jackson. So this will definitely be a stiffer test. And then, you know, the Eagles, I feel like they could score on anyone. Even if the Eagles put up a big number, that doesn't mean the Saints don't have a good defense. But no, you're right. This is tougher than the Cowboys with the way the Cowboys secondary has been playing lately.

This appears to be tougher. Jamie, you're right. This is tougher than the Cowboys with the way the Cowboys secondary has been playing lately. This appears to be tougher. Jamie, you're a little more optimistic. I would say take three to six points off of what Minshew did last week. Okay, so somewhere in the 20 to 24 range. Yep. Okay, so Minshew. Still a good low end starter. Aaron Rodgers or Gardner Minshew?

Rodgers if he has Watson. Yep. Great. Okay. And where'd you come out on mike white versus minshu white's a little bit ahead of him for me minshu white rogers and then all those guys over like brady and russ and those guys okay should be noted that heath is very high on Miles Sanders this week. He has him, I move him down a little bit. He has him 13th in PPR. Dave has him 18th. Jamie has him 19th. There is really a pretty big group of running backs from what, 15 to, I don't even know, just a big bunch of running backs. It's going to be kind of a toss up as I look at your rankings. It's like 14 through 25, something like that, would you say? No, I think it's even

earlier than that. Well, let's see. I guess for you, 13 is Montgomery. Montgomery, Akers, Dillon, McKinnon, Jacobs, Miles Sanders, Najee Harris, Aaron Jones, Tyler Algier, Nick Chubb, J.K. Dobbins. Right, and yet there's still tons of running backs

who are going to see less work than those guys who are going to be even harder for people to make a decision on. Hmm. Like at least that range of running backs, those guys, you can pretty much pencil in 15 touches for most of them. Yeah. Okay. And a lot of them aren't going to catch passes.

I think that's what sort of lumps a lot of them together. Sure. All right. Eagles DST is what sort of lumps a lot of them together. Sure. All right, Eagles DST is a start. The Bears are at the Lions. Stat of the game, David Montgomery has caught three to four passes in five straight games. That has been really big for his fantasy value. The last time he didn't catch three to four passes was the Detroit game.

He had one catch. Khalil Herbert also played in that game. The Lions, Jamie, they allow the fewest catches and the fewest receiving yards per game to running backs. But I did look at Montgomery recently. He has faced a couple or two or three teams, or two teams that are top five in catches allowed to running backs. And he had three catches at Dallas.

He had four catches against Buffalo. So he still caught passes even in those brutal matchups. But I think, obviously, that could be a really big deal for him this week because only Carolina has run well on Detroit in the last nine games.

So your thoughts on David Montgomery? I'm nervous. Nervous because of, again, I think you said it, is this the Lions defense we're going to see from last week

or is the previous eight games the one you have to expect to show up? And so maybe some personnel like you alluded to, you know, Wilson not being there, that could certainly change some things as well. But I think if they shut down the run and you're just relying on him to catch passes and he doesn't find the end zone, then he's probably going to end up more as a flex play than as a number two running back.

But again, he's been so productive. If he's gotten you to this point are you going to bench him for an algier or robinson you know one of these type of guys that have some potentially better situations so i i get it uh you just have to you know understand that this lion's run defense looked awful last week and if they look awful again then he's gonna have a big game but it's also probably gonna be a big justin fields game if field is right so you, I can still help out Montgomery, but maybe not to the same extent that it's been the last couple of games

when Fields hasn't been Superman. Dave, you're confident in Justin Fields? You have him fourth? Just start him? Yeah, I think he bounces back, and he had a monster game against the Lions last time he played against them. He's not playing in a wind tunnel against the Buffalo Bills this week. He should be healthier. Offensive line's healthier. I'm good with Justin

Fields as a top five quarterback. I think everybody's got him. Fourth and Goff. This is an easy quarterback game. We just expect a lot of scoring. I thought Goff would have a monster game against Chicago earlier this year, and it was a 31-30 game. A ton of points were scored in that game.

This could be the game of the week, Adam. But Goff only had the one touchdown. Pretty efficient game. His running back scored two touchdowns. I loved Goff until Jamal Williams came back. And now I still like Goff a lot and I'm going to start him. But he makes me a little nervous. Just a little bit. Because you know

it's Jared Goff. But at least he's at home. Yeah. Right. It's the at home. Yeah, right. It's the home factor. He plays better at home. Oh, and they said that they wanted to get Jameson Williams a little bit more work. They're slowly ramping him up, and they talked this week about getting him a little bit more work.

So if he connects on a big play with Williams, Chark keeps doing his thing. St. Brown keeps doing his thing. You got to like Goff. Do you like Chark? Because the Williams thing St. Brown keeps doing his thing. You got to like Goff. Do you like Chark? Because the Williams thing did stand out to me, Jamie. They wanted to get him more involved, and I think he probably plays a similar role to DJ Chark

just in terms of they're both home run threats. Chark is obviously very big play dependent, but he usually makes them. By the way, Goff has thrown 37 to 42 passes in five straight games. very big play dependent, but he usually makes them. So, um, and by the way, golf is throwing golf is thrown 37 to 42 passes in five straight games. Uh, but yeah, Jamie starter said,

uh, DJ Chark. He's a start in a three receiver league and he's not a start in a two receiver league. Better than non PPR than PPR. Okay. Would you start DJ Chark or, um,

or a giant wide receiver? I would start Richie James over DJ Chark in PPR. I would start Chark over any Giants receiver in non-PPR. I'll take Chark. Okay, and how about Chark or Evans? Evans. I think I have Chark ranked ahead of Evans Okay Hawkinson's a start

How about the Lions He's not on the Lions anymore Has Shane Zylstra started No The new TJ Hawkinson Yeah there you go How about the Lions running backs Are we starting Barry Sanders in this game, guys?

Where is Chavid Best? Jamal Williams, you know what the deal is with him. He's got to score a touchdown in order to be good. He's got the chance to do it against Chicago. It's a bad run defense. I'm nervous about the workload for DeAndre Swift. He's a flex and not PPR. Okay, I said all those running backs, right?

Dobbins and Brian Robinson and struggling Nick Chubb and David Montgomery, Miles Sanders, that whole group that could be ranked in so many different ways. Where's DeAndre Swift in relation to that group?

Behind. I'm sorry, what's the list again? Oh, it's not... Okay, for you, Jamie, it would be Algier, Kamara, Montgomery, Dillon, Sanders, Robinson, Chubb, Aaron Jones. Yeah, behind all those guys.

But right behind. Okay. Yeah. Then it's Bam Knight, and then it's DeAndre Swift for Jamie. You got him ahead of Deontay Foreman and Najee Harris and J.K. Dobbins. In PPR, yes. In full PPR, yeah. It's just weird.

It's like, what's the difference between Najee Harris and Nick Chubb or, you know, or Brian Robinson? Why are those guys ahead of Najee? Well, Robinson could be an absolute monster this week against a very bad run defense, and I think he will be. Najee is playing a very good run defense, and I think he will be. Najee is playing a very good run defense,

and I'm not buying the fact that he caught six passes last week, so I want to see him do that again. So I don't really trust Najee. And anybody else? Eh, whatever. It's fine. They're all number two, low-end number two running backs. Cole Komet.

Who scores a touchdown, basically. Yeah, exactly. Cole Komet, man. Great match back. Who scores a touchdown basically. Yeah, exactly. Cole Komet, man. Great matchup. Great matchup for him. He's been pretty matchup dependent. He scored two touchdowns against the Lions last time he faced them. Dave, where'd you come out on Cole Komet? He's outside of my top

12. Closer to the top 12 in full PPR than non-PPR. But it just makes me nervous just in general how bad he's been. He's top 8 for me in PPR, top 6 in non-PPR. Love the setup for him this week. I'm trying to find

a stat. Where's the stat? Here's one. 4 for 74 and 2. What he did against him the last time. Oh, I was giving a stat on something else, but it's not that good of a stat, so I'm going to mock it. The stat was that the Bears in the last five weeks or so are bottom five in yards before contact allowed a running back.

So we're going to talk more about DeAndre Swift and Jamal Williams. They have been so bad against running backs. They have just given a runway to running backs, basically. But we're talking about Komet. So, would you guys start Cole Komet or Mark Andrews? Komet, even if Jackson plays.

I'll take Andrews. Cole Komet or David Njoku? Komet and non-PPR. Njoku and PPR. I'll take Njoku. Darren Waller. Kemet, no matter what. I have Waller over Kemet,

but that's one that I might switch on. I think that's it for this game. Minnesota at Green Bay. Oh, here's two stats of the game. The first one, I am only going to tell you I feel like I'm about 95% sure it's right. There's a chance I missed a game or two.

But I went back, I tried to look at every single December and January outdoor game that Kirk Cousins has played in his career. Even the ones, for some reason, I included the games like at the Chargers and the Dolphins, which have no factor here. But 22 games I counted outdoors in December and January, including home games when he was on Washington.

And in 22 games, he scored fewer than 20 points in 12 of them. He scored fewer than 16 points in 11 in half of those games, fewer than 16 points. Uh, so that's, you know, he's been,

he's been home and indoors for a while now, and it's been very good for Kirk Cousins. Doesn't have as much success, I think, in the cold weather. And the other stat of the game is that the Vikings have allowed 300 or more passing yards in eight of their last 10 games. That is not something that Aaron Rodgers has done all year, 300 passing yards. So with those two stats, Dave, which quarterback do you prefer?

Hit the music. It's not, which quarterback do you prefer? Hit the music. It's not. I'm telling you. There's only one game of the week, and it's the Bengals and the Bills. I thought you'd do two. See, there it is. The first thing I did when I checked on Kirk Cousins was, what's the weather going to be like?

Is it going to be really bad? And on Sunday, 37 degrees, 9% chance of rain, 7 mile an hour winds. It's going to be a really good day for football. So you don't have to worry about the weather as much as you normally would. The way that this offense has been playing, the way that they've been moving the football, and the way that they've been pass-oriented leads me to confidence in Kirk Cousins.

I like him as a top five or top six type of quarterback this week. Go off for Cousins, guys. Cousins. I like him as a top five or top six type of quarterback this week. Goff or Cousins, guys? Cousins. Goff. But you like Cousins too, right, Jamie? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're very close. I have it right now.

Fields, Goff, Cousins. All right, and then, Jamie, give me your ranking of Rodgers with and without Christian Watson. With Christian Watson, he has top 10 potential. I would put him ahead of Mike White and without Christian Watson. With Christian Watson, he has top 10 potential. I would put him ahead of Mike White and Gardner Minshew. Without Watson, I'd put him just behind him.

I still think he'll play well. Minnesota is that bad. I still think even with Lazard and Dobbs and whatever he gets out of the old man combination of Cobb and Mercedes Lewis and Robert Tunyon, you know, whoever else they throw in there, he'll still get enough production. So not a huge game if Watson doesn't play, but still good enough that you can start. Like, yeah, I'd start him over Brady for you.

Going back to talking about gut feelings, like this is usually the spot where Aaron Rodgers shines too. He's fighting to keep playing. Playoff berth is there for the taking. He's got to win next week too in order to really get it, I think. This does feel like a spot where Rodgers is going to ball out. The case against him is that he was bad at the Bears. They're awful. Because they ran. He was bad at the Dolphins

last week. The Vikings are just kind of another level, though. Really. It's amazing. They're a three-loss team. Do they have the worst defense in football? No. Not in football.

They have the worst defense of a playoff team. Who's got a worse defense than the Vikings? Overall? Yeah. Arizona's got to be up there. Yeah. Minnesota's got a worse defense than the Vikings? Overall? Yeah. Arizona's got to be up there. Minnesota's up there, though. Minnesota's up there, but to say that they're the worst, it's... Seattle's pretty bad.

Minnesota is allowing the second most yards per play in football. Only the Lions are worse. And Minnesota is allowing the second most yards per play in football. Only the Lions are worse. And Minnesota is allowing the second most yards per game in football. Only the Lions are worse. Answer this.

Whose defense has played worse lately? Minnesota or Houston? Minnesota. They have the worst defense. It's incredible. I think they're the worst defensive team in football. And they're underdogs by the way 3.5 point underdogs

they just win every one score game it's wild and they come back all the time so any hesitation on Dalvin Cook? not to the point where you're taking him out of your lineup and okay we'll get into. We'll get into

the Jeff Jefferson's start. How about the wide receivers? Other than Jefferson, is there a must start in this game? Yeah, why are the Vikings in the entire NFL this week? Well, yes,

Watson's a number two wide receiver. If he practices on Friday and plays on Sunday. If not, you can make the case for Lazard not to be a number two receiver, but to be a high-end flex, a high-end number three type of wide receiver. I could make the case. Here's the case.

He's playing Minnesota. If Watson doesn't play, let's pretend Watson never came back and Lazard was still doing what Lazard had been doing. He'd be top 12. Right? Against the Vikings, he gets all the red zone targets. 70 yards. He'll be borderline top 20 guy for me if Watson's up.

Please play Watson. Please. I love him. He's so exciting. Looking forward to his career. I just wish he'd stop making mistakes. We'll talk about Romeo Dobbs, Jamie. I think Romeo Dobbs becomes a decent number three receiver if there is no Watson.

So doesn't get the same bump, but certainly gets a bump. 10 PPR points? I'd take the over if there's no Watson. I'm not the biggest Richie James fan. I know you are, Jamie. I'd start James out of Dobbs. Without Watson? With?

That's I think I'd still do it even without Watson because he's still making mistakes too. Okay. Can I say start TJ Hawkinson in this game? And then I guess

if you want to spend a little bit more time on uh on the packers running backs i guess jamie what do you expect uh so i went back and looked by the way they had uh two games this season where both dylan and jones scored north of 12 ppr points together only three games where they were both over 10 ppr points together so not exactly the best case scenario for both to have success but again this happens as recently as Dave pointed out two games ago against, or three games ago against Philadelphia, whenever it was.

So, you know, hopefully we get both guys producing. I think you laid out the scenario for how it will probably happen. Dylan scoring a touchdown and Jones being a factor in the passing game. So again, if Watson doesn't play, that probably helps Aaron Jones' role, catching the ball.

So I think you're starting them both. but for me, Dylan's over Jones. The fact that if Jones was 100% healthy, I would stick with Jones, but the fact that he's still banged up makes me nervous. The only area where Jones has been more efficient than Dylan over their past four games together has been through the air. As a running back, Dylan's averaging almost five yards per carry. Jones is at 4.2. Jones has more runs or a higher percentage of runs of zero or negative

yards than Dylan does. I think that there's definitely a chance where they're both good, but I would double down on A.J. Dylan being the better running back for fantasy in this game. I guess the counter to that is that the one thing that the Vikings do well on defense is they're fairly stout against the run. 4.1 yards per carry in their last four. Yeah, that's not bad. For the season, I think they're better than that a little bit.

And look at the last two games that A.J. Dillon's played. The Rams and the Dolphins are also good against the run. He had 11 carries for 36 yards against both of them. He scored three touchdowns on the ground. So, I mean, he is also catching passes. He has 13 targets and 11 catches in his last four games. But that's just the case. I don't know if I believe I would start Dillon over Jones too, but he's not running the ball well this year,

and this isn't a good matchup in that regard. No, the one game that he did with Chicago is when Aaron Jones, I think, first started dealing well this year. And this isn't a good matchup in that regard. No, the one game that he did with Chicago is when Aaron Jones, I think, first started dealing with this problem. Yeah, Jones left the game. And Dylan had 18 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown. Okay. So, let's do wide receivers.

A.J. Dillon or Christian, whoever the number one wide receiver is for the Packers? Watson, Dylan, or Larkin? I'll take Dylan over both. Really? Yeah. Wow, okay. Only way I would do that is if Jones was not playing.

Would you take A.J., Dylan, or Garrett, Wilson? Wilson and DPR. Dillon or Devontae Adams? Dillon. You son of a... All right, let's take a break. When we come back, Carolina's at Tampa Bay. We'll talk about that huge game in the NFC South.

We'll be right back. Okay, Carolina, Tampa Bay. Dave already called his shot and said the Panthers are going to win. And I want to agree with you, Dave. I haven't made up my mind on this one. Jamie, who wins? Bucs win on a field goal. They are three-point favorites. Okay. So, stat of the game, the Panthers have allowed 13.5 or more ppr fantasy points to eight wide receivers in their last five games that has all been since cornerback dante jackson left with a season-ending injury those eight wide receivers with 13.5 or more ppr points are demarcus robinson courtland sutton marquise goodwin dk metcalf ty Tyler Lockett, Deontay Johnson, DJ Chark, and Amandra St. Brown.

And now they're without JC Horn, their other top cornerback. So it's a great matchup for wide receivers right now. And I guess for quarterbacks. So, Jamie, what do you think about the Bucs passing game? There's certainly a path for Brady to play well. It's just a matter of can Brady do it? You know, he's been so turnover prone he's just been awful throwing the ball for the majority of the game until we get into crunch time I just

don't understand why it's taking you know till end of fourth quarter or overtime lately for him to start looking like Tom Brady again but maybe he's just having fun with his opponents uh but I doubt that in any event there is a chance for him to have a big game here like you said the cornerback situation is bad for for Carolina Their run defense is still very good. And so this is a chance for them to make some plays down the field. If you made it this far with Brady as your starter, congratulations. You probably should stick with him. If you, you know, have made it in spite of Brady and you want to pivot to Mike White or Gardner Minshew, I certainly understand that. And that's probably the route I would go. So I just don't trust Brady at this point.

Dave? I don't think Brady's got a ton of upside, and so that's why he's at best a low-end starter. I think Mike White has more upside. I think Jared Goff has more upside. I'm starting those two ahead of him. If you think Minshew's got more upside and Minshew ends up starting for the Eagles, go for it.

Start him over Brady. They could be the same as far as fantasy points go. Leonard Fournette's an easy start for you guys. It's not an easy matchup, but his role in the passing game is just so hard to overlook. I mean, coming off a nine-catch game, he's back to being playoff Lenny again as they're getting closer to

what hopefully is a postseason run for them. I would love Brady and Fournette more if they activate Ryan Jensen this week. So then you get another piece of that puzzle back on the offensive line, which I think is why they could be a little scary in the playoffs if that unit can get back to being potentially the point where they thought it was going to be. Obviously, the tackles from last year, or the guards from last year are not coming back.

But they get everybody center and the two tackles healthy, then I think you're looking at a much better offensive unit as a whole. And so if Jensen does play this week, I might change my opinion of Brady as well. So I think Fournette, you've got to start him. He's definitely better than Rashad White, but I don't know if he's going to run for a touchdown or have a lot of production on the ground, but his role in the passing game is just too hard to overlook.

I read a report saying that Jensen wasn't going to be back this week and that they're focusing on next week. If that changes and he ends up playing, I think Brady will feel a lot more comfortable than where he's been basically all season long. That's a big piece for their offense. I'd like to see him back there. And the tackles obviously matter too.

There's an interesting player prop. Leonard Fournette over 27 and a half receiving yards. Why is it only 27 and a half? Only one piece of data I found that might suggest why it's there. And it's that the Panthers have been outstanding against running backs out of the backfield. Their top two in catch rate allowed, yards per catch allowed, yards after catch per reception allowed over their past four games. He only had seven receiving yards.

White wasn't really a big factor when they played Carolina the first time. Seven receiving yards against Carolina the first time they played him. So I wonder if there's something to that, but I also think that Brady's going to continue to just pepper him. Yeah, it's interesting because I actually looked at what they have done as pass catchers, white and four net in games against teams that are really good at limiting pass catching running backs. And for the most part, they've struggled Dallas in week one that they combined for 17 yards, new Orleans in week two, nine yards, Carolina in week seven, 15 yards. New Orleans, though, in the rematch in week 13, 73

yards and a touchdown. And against San Francisco, that was another team that going into week 14, the 49ers allowed the seventh fewest receiving yards to running backs, and Fournette and White had 11 catches for 54 yards. Mixed results, I'd say. I think there were about

five games where they faced teams that are really good in this area, and three times they were terrible, and two times they were really good. I would go over on that prop. I'm sure we all would. Yeah, I think so. And that's also part of it is you look at who Carolina has played. A lot of the teams that they've played, not quarterbacks that throw to their running backs very much.

Yeah, let's see. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, it's a tough week for running backs, and Fournette's been pretty damn reliable. Now, would you start in full PPR, Deontay Foreman or Rashad White? Foreman.

Foreman. Would you start Deontay Foreman or Najee Harris? Foreman. I'm warming up to Foreman. Foreman or Najee Harris? Foreman. I'm warming up to Foreman. Foreman or Brian Robinson? Robinson. With or without. Especially, but if there's no Antonio Gibson,

I'm going to be very bullish on Brian Robinson. I don't know that Gibson matters. When Gibson left the game last week, Robinson's role didn't change i i'm sorry i'm blanking on jonathan williams jonathan williams he came in and he got gibson's role he played all the passing downs got a few carries so i just because gibson's you know what i would expect a healthy gibson have more carries than a healthy than jonathan williams yeah that's the point you know i think if you're talking six carries for Gibson, it's probably four for Williams.

And you're talking maybe three catches for Gibson, two for Williams. It's a minimal number. Okay. But just the prospect of, we'll talk about that game in a minute, but the prospect of 20 carries against the Browns is pretty exciting for Browns.

I mean, you gotta look at just what Robinson was doing prior to facing one of the best run defenses in football last week. He was 100 total yards or a touchdown in four straight games, you know, so, or four or five games or what, um,

he'd just been so consistent, you know, so you're looking at a game where he's getting, I mean, he had 20 touches against the 49ers. They're not going to go away from that against Brown. He had 17 carries in the first half against the Niners. I,

I, I, I wish everyone played a non PPR league so I could be so excited about Brian Robinson. Anyway, back to Carolina and Tampa Bay. Rank the top three wide receivers in this game. You know what? Let's rank Russell Gage, too.

Rank the top four wide receivers in this game. Why are you going to poop on Terrence Marshall? Yeah, I'm going to rank the top five. Whatever you want. Because you're about to if we're ranking Terrence Marshall with these, with these guys, uh, more,

uh, Godwin, more Evans, gauge. That's my order too. And DJ Moore is a must start. Yes. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, the bucks might have some issues too. The bucks have cornerback issues? Why? Who's hurt for them? Isn't Carlton Davis not at 100%?

I don't know. I think he's... I was not aware of that. I feel like he's been playing pretty well. Did a great job on Jamar Chase a few weeks ago. So, here's the thing with Moore. I talked about this on Monday. He's practiced two days in a row.

Oh, okay. DJ Moore has seven or fewer targets in seven straight games. So, it's hard for me to, it's hard for most people to consider anyone who can't get more than seven targets

to be a must-start guy. Now, maybe this will finally be the game that Sam Darnold throws more because he's throwing a lot to DJ Moore. He's just not throwing a lot in general. But in his last four games, DJ Moore is averaging 18.5 yards per catch. That's fourth best since week 12.

11.8 yards per target, which is insane. His career rate is 8.4 yards per target. He's averaging 11.8 yards per target. He is second since week 12. He's second among all wide receivers in fantasy points per target with a minimum of 10 targets, by the way, behind Rashid Shahid. He's sixth in route depth. He's second in ADOT. So what I'm saying here is DJ Moore, I'm sorry for being repetitive. You heard this earlier

in the week. He is, has been with Sam Darnold, simply a deep threat. And he is catching those balls. But does that profile make you nervous? Because it is a typically very volatile profile if he can't shake it. Again, week 17, championship week. How did you get here? If he's helped you get here. Well, he has the last month. Yeah, I guess so.

But he also had that zero, right? He had the zero against Seattle. Right? One game in his last four has been bad. Awful, but bad. Go ahead, Jamie. I kept cutting you off.

I'm sorry. No, I mean, three of his last four games was Sam Darnold. Basically, you know, you look at his season, the non-Baker Mayfield games, he hasn't been bad.

One of those was against the Bucs. It was P.J. Walker when he started the first game without Christian McCaffrey. And he was good he was good you know so obviously there's different ways it's happened it you know he had a higher target share or more targets in that game uh in the first game and you know you alluded to the seattle game if you believe that they are going to run through the tampa bay defense like they ran through the Tampa Bay defense the first time and ran through the Lions last week,

then you should probably be a little bit concerned about DJ Moore because that's what happened in the Seattle game, that they didn't have to throw very much. Now, Tampa Bay's offense, if it doesn't show up and they're just completely dominating this game, then he may not have a big game. I just don't see them running through Tampa Bay's defense this week. So I think it's going to be a little bit of a trouble, a little

sluggish for them with their rush attack. They'll still get production. You should still start Deontay Foreman as a low-end number two running back. I think DJ Moore will still get probably seven, eight targets. I think he'll come through with five or six catches. I think he'll get you at 70, 80 yards and score a touchdown. Okay.

I think you've got to hope eventually they're going to have to throw more than 25 times because if they do that, then he can definitely get more than seven targets. All right. Well, if they don't, then it means that the run game is really in full force and the Bucs are probably going to lose.

Okay. Tom Brady or Daniel Jones? Brady. Jones right now. I may change that, but neither one in the top 12. Tom Brady or Brock Purdy? Brady. Purdy. And that's pretty much it. That's pretty much it?

Pretty much it. No tight ends in this game. All right, Tampa DST is top 10. Arizona's at Atlanta. I gave you the stat of the game about Greg Dortch. He's played 71% of the snaps or more in five games. He's come through in all five. And the funny thing is,

I gave you the fantasy points, 13.3, 15.5, 17.0, 19.3, 22.3. That's actually in order. So he's scored more fantasy points each game that he's played 71% or more of the snaps. And, all right, anyway, let's talk about Tyler Algier, Jamie. He's the start of the week.

What do you expect from him, and who would you start Tyler Algier over? I'd start him over a lot of guys. He's a top 12 guy for me in non-PPR, top 15 in PPR. So ahead of Miles Sanders, ahead of David Montgomery, ahead of Foreman Harris, the Ravens guys. I don't know how much you want me to keep going.

Ahead of the Packers guys, unless Dylan is a solo act. It's just an unbelievable matchup. The Cardinals have been so bad. It's five running backs in a row The Cardinals have been so bad. It's five running backs in a row, 17 or more PPR points. 15 have gotten at least 13 PPR points against them on the season. So to me, that's kind of where the floor is. If he continues to do what he's done the last two weeks, where he scored at least 15 PPR points in back-to-back games, what he did against Baltimore was extremely impressive. The fact that he was involved in the passing game is fantastic

if that continues. And again, you know, you're just looking at a small sample size, but two games with Desmond Ritter, one of those where he leaned on him as a pass catcher. So bad defense, just lost Buda Baker, who's a big part of the run defense. And so I think, you know, just looking at everything, how it's unfolding, it should be a big game for him.

That being said, my start to the week can be terrible. So I apologize if it goes awry once again. But I hope this is one that you can trust because I believe he's going to have a good game against the Cardinals. I was a little surprised that you went with him because he has kind of a similar profile to the last two, Pacheco and Dobbins. Well, you asked the question, does anybody have a worse defense than the Vikings?

And the Cardinals are in the conversation. And so now you're talking about a long road trip for a team that has no interest. I'm sure in getting on a plane to play a one o'clock East, you know, Eastern start 1. PM Eastern start, you know,

that's always seems to be troubling for these West coast teams at times. And so I think just no interest defense. No, the only thing I think that you could, you could say is, isn't maybe a factor that the defense shows up as JJ Watts retirement. You know, they want to play for JJ.

But, you know, I, I don't know how long that'll go. I think the Falcons win this game. I think their run offense has just been tried and true throughout the season. Patterson missing practice on Thursday,

for whatever reason is only a slight boost for Algier, but maybe something's going on there. Personal. I think he said it was just personal, but you never know. But in any event, the fact that he's played more snaps than him by a significant margin last week and two of the last three, he's played more snaps than him. So it's trending in the right direction for Tyler Algier,

and I think he comes off with a big game. It's as simple as this. He's had over 100 total yards each of his past two games. He should have had a touchdown last week. He tripped on the turf monster. Keep in mind, last week they played against the Ravens. That's one of the best run defenses in the league, and that offensive line made

some great plays for him. That O-line should push around the Cardinals' front, even J.J. Watt, quite a bit in this game. Don't have to worry so much about him like you would in a normal week. I think he's going to be a number two running back. And he got all three of the carries inside the five-yard line last week.

They were all in the same possession, but he got them. Okay, so Dave, give me the 20 to 30-second overview of this game, starts and sits. It's a fairly easy game, I think. I think it's fairly easy. If Connor is okay and he's healthy, he's been battling an illness. He hasn't practiced the past couple games. You're going to start him. You'll start him over Algier. Patterson is a desperation flex play. A wide receiver.

Hopkins with Colt McCoy, you can feel a lot better about him than last week. I like Drake London to continue putting up targets. He's been doing great with Desmond Ritter. Keep him in your lineup as a number two wide receiver, especially in PPR. More of a flex in non-PPR. And then the rest of the receivers, Dortch only in PPR. Look for him to get 10 to 12 PPR points. Brown, I'm not really trusting.

No one else on the Falcons I'm really trusting. I think I got everybody. Why only 10 to 12 PPR points for Dortch? Because he's got a quarterback. Do you want to hear the stat of the game again? What's up? Do you want to hear the stat of the game again? No, up? Do you want to hear the stat of the game again? No,

no, no. I'm just kidding. And Cole McCoy has connected with him for one of those big games. But I just think with, if Brown's playing Hopkins is there like Colt McCoy can connect passes that trace McSorley couldn't connect last week. And I know it sounds silly because it's Colt McCoy that we're talking about,

but it's trace McSorley that we were talking about. All right. So how about Drake London? Because the rankings are actually pretty different. You guys are similar on London. You got him about 20th. Heath has him 34th in PPR. Three straight games with 9-12 targets, 6-7 catches, 70-96 yards, no touchdowns.

Three straight games with 12-15.5 PPR fantasy points. He also has two fumbles in those three games. That part sucks. Drag down the PPR points a little bit. But again, nine to 12 targets in three straight games, doing well with it. And that was against Pittsburgh, New Orleans and Baltimore. New Orleans and Baltimore are very tough matchups. But the thing is, you know, Jamie, I don't know if Buda Baker, is he the reason I see the difference? Again, this team, for some reason, two years in a row, they just seem to do very well against number one wide receivers. So your level of confidence in Drake London is what?

It's fairly high, you know, and I think for Heath, I know just because he said that yesterday, so I don't want to, I hope I don't mistake what he said, but he expects it to be a lower target game for London because they were chasing points in those games and he thinks they're going to be playing with the lead in this game so the volume will not be the same which does make sense in theory but I think again you know you're looking at sample sizes as small as they may be four games without Kyle Pitts three of them targets have been significantly up for Drake London two Two of the games with Desmond Ritter, he's looking for Drake London. So, you know, you've said this many years that as rookie receivers

tend to grow, they produce at the end of the season. And this is, you know, the stretch of games where you're starting to see Drake London, maybe feel like he's more comfortable. But for this game in particular, I think you just look at this defense, not being very good, missing a key piece. This guy's locked in targets are certainly being funneled his direction. There's not a lot of other pieces in this passing game I think that you can trust. And so Ritter doing the right thing, leaning on his guy.

So if it goes from nine targets to seven, eight catches to six, I mean, I still think he's going to be productive enough that you can trust him as a number two receiver. Okay, would you guys start Drake London or a Packers running back? London and PPR unless Jones is out.

Dylan, London, Jones. And set the tight ends. Cleveland at Washington. Stat of the game. It's going to be a similar stat of the game for both this game and the Giants-Colts game. Washington has not thrown more than 33 passes in a win

since week one. And in their last three wins, 29 or fewer pass attempts. I don't know that they're going to win this game. But I do wonder if they do win this game, can McLaurin and Dotson both be good? Might be tough. Cleveland's got a good secondary. They've done well against the pass. All right, let's start there, Dave. In the last 10 games, only two wide receivers have had more than 68 yards against the Cleveland Browns,

and that includes T. Higgins. He didn't do it. Miami's receivers, Buffalo's receivers, Mike Evans. They do give up a lot of touchdowns, though. 10 touchdowns in those ten games. Your thoughts on McLaurin and Dotson? There's a piece of me that wants to rank Dotson over McLaurin. McLaurin doesn't have a high target share with Carson Wentz.

Dotson was scoring touchdowns pretty much every single week with Wentz. You mentioned how Cleveland's allowed a lot of touchdowns. I think that that helps Dotson more so than McLaurin. But I think they're both like in that low end number two, high end number three wide receiver range. And that's where I'd start them. I wouldn't start them with the expectation that they're going to have 100 yards. I don't think that's happening. You're starting them hoping that they can get you 10 to 12 PPR points

without a touchdown. And then if they score a touchdown on top of that, that's awesome. Do you want to hear the top eight in yards per target? I'll tell you, even if you don't want to hear it, top eight, top eight players in yards per target, Jalen Waddle,

Dallas Goddard, Darius Slayton, Tyreek Hill, AJ Brown, Justin Jefferson, T Higgins, and Terry McLaurin. He's actually tied for seventh with T. Higgins.

So he's just been, he doesn't get a lot of targets. He does so much with them, man. He's really having a great season. Would you guys start Drake London over both commanders wide receivers? Yep. Wow. Full PPR, yes. Non-PPR, I think I'd probably put him behind both. Who's your favorite running back in this game?

Robinson. I think it's going to end up being Robinson because Gibson won't play. Man, he's Nick Chubb, though. He's Nick Chubb. You know what Nick Chubb has been the last four weeks? Go back to what I said before. You've got to understand that if you bench Nick Chubb,

he can still have a big game. He's the better talent, but he's not in a better situation right now. You should know by now that the worst reason to start somebody is because of what their name is. I'm not disagreeing with that. I'm saying but that's what people struggle with. I know, but if his name

was Bob Gallagher. He's still getting work. It's not like he's not getting the opportunities. It's just a matter of he hasn't found the end zone. He could even work against Washington. So I looked into this since Deshaun Watson became their quarterback. They are throwing in the red zone like 70% of their snaps. Have they been in my inside the 10 and not the red zone? I'm sorry, Adam. Have they been there all that much? No, that's part of the problem is that they haven't been there that much.

So the offense isn't moving like it did last week. It moved a little bit better. That's why I talked about Watson. I thought he really played better. I read a couple articles. They were pretty encouraged with him. And that's why I'm I feel like you could maybe be a little more confident in Cooper and a little more confident in Chubb this week because I don't think Watson

is going to throw for, you know, 140 yards like he's been in three of those four games. It's just been terrible. I don't know. Look, it might have been just a blip, but he definitely took a step in the right direction. Chubb, by the way, four straight games without a touchdown, that is the first time that's happened in three seasons.

So it's just weird. It just doesn't happen that often. If he gets to work again, I just feel like like you said in that group, Dave, it's a lot of who's going to score. I like his chances to score. It's hard to straight up sit Nick Chubb. Right.

I like Robinson's chances too. I do too, because he's got a much better matchup than Nick Chubb does. That's the other point, is that this commander's defense just overall is good. Their run defense is real good.

And this is Chase Young's second game back from injury. So he's just adding more depth to this really good unit. And Chubb, just for whatever reason, has been struggling. What has his rushing average been? Has he been getting five yards per carry like we're used to getting? Not even close. In his last six games. How about this?

His last six games is averaging 3.8 yards per carry like we're used to getting? No, not even close. In his last six games, how about this? His last six games is averaging 3.8 yards per carry. And comparing the last six games for Chubb to the first nine games, his yards before contact cut in half on a per carry basis. His percentage of carries for zero to negative yards have basically doubled. So the line hasn't been as good, probably.

And that's how I interpret those stats. He's getting hit behind the line of scrimmage more often. And the yards per carry has suffered. So there's no question. It's a worse profile. But at the same time, at the same thing about Derrick Henry a few weeks ago, he had the same trends.

Same thing about Saquon Barkley a few weeks ago. And those guys both snapped out of it. So maybe Chubb can do that as well. But obviously he's not as high as he would ordinarily be. He's struggling. Usually he's the top 10 type of running back. Okay, so Dave, as you have

as you watched the Deshaun Watson film this morning, did you get more confident in Amari Cooper? Not really. I just I got more confident in Amari Cooper? Not really. I got more confident in Deshaun Watson. He should have had two touchdowns. One was a drop by Cooper. We talked about that, the wrestling analogy that I gave you.

The other one was a really good throw in the back corner of the end zone, and Donovan Peoples-Jones, it bounced off his hands. It was tight coverage. Harder catch to make than what Cooper had. And then David Njoku dropped a pass on the very next play. So he should have had a significantly better game fantasy-wise than what he actually had. And if you're going to attack the commanders,

it's going to be hard to get it going on the ground. This team has been throwing it more with Watson than they did with Brissette, especially in the red zone. We talked about that. There's a chance he could have a pretty decent game. He might not be so bad in DFS if he wasn't so expensive. To me, I threw out that game last week completely

because of the weather. It's impressive what he did in that weather, Jamie, right? Agreed, but you also had defenders slipping all over the place, you know? So how many of those wide open throws that were dropped? So again, you know,

take that into account that those guys should have made those plays to make him look better. There was defenders falling over. No, that's not what happened in the touch in the one that Cooper dropped in the end. So that was just blown coverage. They just let him go.

Yeah, that was Cooper. But it's also, it's also pass rushers not getting their footing, getting to the quarterback. I mean, there's just a lot of things that play in there. Right, right, right. So I, it's also pass rushers not getting their footing, getting to the quarterback. I mean, there's just a lot of things that play in there. Right,

right, right. So I like, if you go back and you watch him throw the, his passes don't look crisp. The velocity doesn't look good. I would throw that out from last week for sure. Because of the weather,

the wind. Oh, well, okay. So Cooper's number three guy for you. Yeah. Hi, Ann.

All right. Mike Evans or Cooper? I think it's got to be Evans. David Njoku is eighth. It's not just Cooper not playing well with Watson on its own. He's been fighting this hip injury in practice every week since Watson took over. So there's something probably at play there, too.

All right. David Njoku is eighth for you guys. I'm sorry. And that's pretty much it. Sit Carson Wentz. We like Robinson. You heard about Dotson and McLaurin. Don't start Logan Thomas.

And the Colts are at the Giants. The Colts struggled last week. They had the ball for just 26 minutes and six seconds. Maybe they tried to run the ball more, and that could make Zach Moss a little bit more interesting. I don't know. All right, Michael Pittman. You know, 13 points?

Hopefully. Yeah, you think he'll get that? That's pretty much what he's a normal week for him. Yeah, I think he might get 12. Jamie's not feeling it. He's had such bad quarterback play almost all year. Is Foles really worse for him, Jamie?

Yes. He was last week. Understandably, he barely played with them. I don't know if he maybe can be better this week against an easier matchup. Start Nick Foles. No, no. You have to hope for that.

You have to hope that a week's worth or another week's worth of practice has Foles a little bit less all over the place. I mean, he didn't even target Pittman until the second quarter. But I do. I do have hope that that Foles can throw a little bit better. I think the matchup is a little bit better for him than last week. Chargers secondary, man, for what it's worth, they've done a nice job.

They did a nice job against the Dolphins. They had a good game plan against them. I wouldn't give them too much credit for shutting down Nick Foles last week, but they did what they did. I'm not saying Stark Michael Pittman is going to score and have 100 yards, but I think he can get back to where he was before last week. That's a flex. The best wide receiver in this game is Richie James for you, Jamie?

Yes, sir. And for you, Dave? Pittman. Okay. Barkley, yes. Daniel Jones, I guess, is interesting. He's like top 15. He's better in losses than wins.

Dave, not top 15. He, yeah, better in losses than wins. Dave, not top 15? He's around there. As a second quarterback in a super flex, you like him. I wouldn't want him as my only quarterback in a one QB. That's pretty much it for this game. You guys want to talk about Zach Moss? Jamie, you want to talk about Zach Moss? I think he's a flex and non-PPR

and probably somebody you want to avoid completely in PPR. It's weird because he runs a lot of routes. He plays on third down, not exclusively. They just not throw into their guys lately, their running backs, which is such a departure from what they had done earlier in the season.

It's funny because he's got a great role. He plays about two-thirds of the snaps. He gets almost all the carries. Deion Jackson did not have a single carry last week. Can't say that's going to happen again, but great matchup against the Giants, arguably the worst run defense in football. They're right up there,

but we just don't want to trust Zach Moss in our fantasy championship. All right, I guess I'm trying to squeeze some content out of this game, but I think it's basically Barkley and some flexes. And Daniel Jones is about 15th. Could the Giants' DST be a fooled you, DST? I think they'll be pretty good.

They've been pretty good in good matchups lately, like the Commanders and the Texans. There's no better matchup than the Colts. They've pretty much been you know one of the best match ups all year sure and the giants pass rush has been really good lately 16 sacks in their last four games tibido is a beast

i play this week so i don't think so you guys dave you're lower on them than the jamie is jamie has him third and dave 10th but yeah i just i don't want to trust bad dst's i understand all right 10th. Yeah, I just don't want to trust bad DSTs. I understand. Alright.

But I still have them in top 10, obviously, so it can't be that bad. Good show, guys. One more week for us. No. Well, it's true. We're here all off-season. Ten more years for us.

Hopefully. Hopefully. God willing. Yes, absolutely. All right. For Jamie and Dave and our producer, Zach Brooke, I'm Adam Azer.

We'll talk to you with our mailbag later today on YouTube or Saturday morning on the podcast feed. And we've got our live stream Sunday morning at 1130. YouTube.com slash fantasy

football today and CBS Sports HQ on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern. Download the CBS Sports app to watch it. Bye.