Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (NFC): Replacement RBs and a Bucs-Eagles Recap (10/15 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: October 15, 2021

With Damien Williams out this week, Khalil Herbert has a big opportunity. We start the show with a ranking of the top replacement RBs for Week 6. Darrel Williams is the head of the class, but how confident are we in the others? We also recap Bucs-Eagles (8:40) while ranking the Bucs WRs rest of season and hoping for a Miles Sanders breakout ... There are a lot of injured star players this week (16:00)! Who is in jeopardy of missing Week 6? And we've got a very important edition of Beat the Waiver Wire (21:00) as we prepare for the Week 7 byenado. Plus, the Startometer (25:00) for Bengals-Lions, Vikings-Panthers and Chiefs-Washington ... Start or Sit for Cardinals-Browns (30:00), Rams-Giants (38:10), Packers-Bears (48:30), Bengals-Lions (55:40), Vikings-Panthers (1:01:00) and Chiefs-Washington (1:05:15) ... Email us at [e-mail] Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday 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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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. On his way to the end zone. Tell you what, that was a spectacular play. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. What a play. Off to the races.

Touchdown. Oh, he's done it again. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath, and Beck. Welcome to our Starter Sit episode on Friday the 15th. Bucs 28, Eagles 22. Antonio Brown played 49% of the snaps, and he had nearly as many receiving yards as Jalen Hurts had passing yards. And yet Jalen Hurts scored five more fantasy points than Tom Brady. We will get to that, a full recap of the game, rest of season thoughts, plus a lot of injury news.

This could be a week of replacements, especially at running back. I'm Adam Azer. I got Dave Richard and Jamie Eisenberg here. Kind of a dud last night, right? It started off good. It did. It started off great. It did. It started off great. It did.

Fournette was the king and Antonio Brown very good as well. But, all right. We got some catching up to do in terms of fantasy points. Guys, I want to come back

to that a little bit. I think we should start, though, with the replacement running backs for this week because now, with Damian Williams on the reserve COVID list and he's not going to play

this game against the Green Bay Packers. That thrusts Khalil Herbert into the spotlight here. So Dave, I'll let you go first. Is Khalil Herbert, when you look, am I missing any replacement running backs? You got Khalil Herbert. You got Darrell Williams at Washington. You got Chuba Hubbard most likely against Minnesota. You got Devante Booker against the Rams. Am I missing anyone? We're good, right? I don't think so. I mean, as we roll through it,

maybe there might be one or two other players, but I think you got everybody. Just the backups playing me? Yeah, yeah, the now starters. No, I think that's the list. All right, we got the big four. Khalil Herbert, Darrell Williams, Chuba Hubbert, Devontae Booker. How do you rank them, Dave?

Well, there might be one more if Jacobs doesn't play. And another one in Seattle if Chris Carson doesn't practice. That's right. Let's put Collins on there because Carson hasn't practiced yet either. In other words, one-fifth of the NFL's teams have backup running backs. Yeah, exactly. Awesome. How do you rank them?

It's only week six. Darrell Williams is at the top for me. I just really like the opportunity. Awesome. How do you rank them? And it's only week six. Damian Williams, or not Damian, Darrell Williams is at the top for me. I just really like the opportunity. I like the vote of confidence from Andy Reid this week. I love the workload that he got last week after Clyde Edwards-Hilaire got hurt. And I like the reps that he was getting when Clyde Edwards-Hilaire was healthy. I think he's locked for 15 touches. I think he's going to work near the goal line. I think he's got a good chance to get you 15 fantasy points in the PPR. Okay, give me one through five. So it's Darrell Williams one.

You got Herbert, Hubbard, Booker, Collins. Hubbard will probably be next up. I don't have him ranked right now. I'm waiting for McCaffrey to get ruled out. I'm sure we're all waiting for that. And if he plays, he's got a shot to do what he did last week. So he would be second for me. Devontae Booker would be third.

Right behind him is Khalil Herbert. They're basically the same guy where they're getting a lot of opportunities, a lot of touches. Easier matchup for Herbert, but the inexperience has to weigh on you a little bit. And the things that we've seen him do, he ran pretty nicely against Las Vegas. He had good pass protection against Las Vegas. He caught the ball in the preseason. He had five catches this preseason. Four came from Justin Fields. These are things that might encourage you to start him, and maybe you're just in a pinch and you have to run your waiver wire to start him,

but I'm not sure if he's able to translate it, especially in a game like this against Green Bay where the Bears might be trailing quite a bit. So he would be next up, and then Collins would be. I think Collins would end up being behind both those guys. I think he'd be last. Okay. All right. So you go Darrell Williams, Chuba Hubbard, Herbert Booker,

or Booker Herbert basically tied, and then Collins. And by the way, obviously, if Alexander Madison is starting, he's number one with a bullet. He'd be way ahead of the pack. Jamie, how about you? How do you see these backup running backs? I'm torn between Hubbard and Williams just because at least I've seen what Hubbard's done

in the featured role. Last week was impressive. He might have the easier matchup just looking at how Washington's defended the run versus how Minnesota has. But they're neck and neck. And then I agree with Dave. I'd take Herbert over Booker, but they're back-to-back also.

And then Collins a distant fifth. Is that more about the double you know and the double you don't, Herbert and Booker? I just think the Giants are going to be in trouble across the board. So not that the Bears aren't, but at least you know with the Packers, they're beat up defensively, you know, mostly in their secondary, but they're still beat up. And the bears are going to force the run. You know, I, I think the giants,

you know, where Booker can win in the passing, I'm sure, but the giants, when they get behind, you know, they're going to be throwing all day. The bears are going to think they're going to keep this game relatively close early. And so Herbert will have a chance to, to run the ball. I mean, we haven't seen the Packers pull away from anybody, you know, so, or at least consistently, you know, so I think you'll see this game a little bit closer

in the first half. Well, that's interesting. Well, if Daniel Jones plays and he's trending in the right direction, who keeps the game closer? And that is important, right, for Booker and Herbert here, but they both could be involved in the passing game. Who keeps the game closer,

the Giants at home against the Rams or the Bears, this game is at home? I think the Giants. At home against Green Bay. Who keeps the game closer, the Giants at home against the Rams or the Bears? This game is at home against Green Bay. The Bears keep it closer. Okay. I would lean that way as well. Couldn't you see both games being one-sided pretty quickly? Couldn't you see the Rams just going into MetLife Stadium and just stomping the Giants?

Couldn't you see the Packers teaching Justin Fields a lesson in his first matchup in this? Yeah, but they just don't have the guys. I mean, you know, no Alexander, no Z'Darrius Smith. Like, their defense is just so beat up. So, in theory, yes,

they should be able to teach Justin Fields a lesson. But, you know, I think what you've seen from the Bears is they're not – I don't think they're going to get blown out early home. I can see the Giants getting blown out early home. There's one other factor, and it's Matt Nagy.

And I just – I can't say for sure that Herbert's going to play in passing down situations. He didn't do a lot of that last week. He didn't have a target last week. Yeah, but what did it do? Is that crazy? Maybe. yeah i mean they weren't they they threw 17 20 times and they like clung to it so i i just i i i have trust issues with that coaching staff in general so that on top of the fact that this is a rookie running back

making his very first start it I'm leaning toward Booker. I don't feel good about it. Yeah, I'd probably go Booker, PPR, Herbert, non-PPR. Would you start Zach Moss over these guys? Easy. Yes. Over Darrell Williams? No.

I thought you meant the last two. I'm sorry. No, it's fine. I should have gone with that. I would start Moss over Williams. I'm a little kooky for Zach Moss these days. Okay. All right.

Well, listen, running back is interesting. Chris and I were goingooky for Zach Moss these days. Alright, well listen, running back is interesting. Chris and I were going through it on the Monday show. About half the league has a different starting running back this week than they did in week one. It's like 14 to 16 teams, something like that. It's right around half the league. That tells you something. It's like a closer. It's like

a relief pitcher in fantasy baseball. Okay, we've got our HQ show. Usually it's 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday mornings with the London game Usually it's 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday mornings with the London game. It's 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Sunday just like it was last Sunday. So tune in to CBS Sports HQ. You can watch it on your app. You can watch it. Well, I

watch on Roku and my smart TV, but if you get the CBS Sports app, you can watch CBS Sports HQ wherever, whenever. And Shakira watches it. If you want an edge setting your DFS lineups, check out the Fantasy Football Today DFS podcast. They've got all the DFS insights so you can dominate.

It is Frank Stample, Mike McClure, Sian Najad, cash lineups, GPP analysis. Tuesdays and Thursdays, the episodes drop. They go into pricing. They go into matchups. It's really good fantasy football talk, and it's great DFS advice. Me, I've got Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Terry McLaurin,

and I think Daryl Williams. I want in on that game. And you can find out our DFS lineups on Fantasy Football Today, noon Eastern on HQ today. So we'll see you there. Okay, here we go. Tampa Bay 28 and Philadelphia 22.

The Bucs had the ball for almost 40 minutes. They basically doubled up Philadelphia in time of possession. And the Bucs lost another cornerback. Richard Sherman left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. Jamie, major takeaways from this game. I would just like to make a request for Dave

that whenever he has a prop against a backup tight end, if he could let me know ahead of time, because I'll make that guy the star of the week. You had the prop of his under receiving yards. He did that almost on one play. O.J. Howard, it was? He did. On his second play, he did. His longest reception.

It was longest reception, not just overall under, but he caught the touchdown. O.J. Howard caught his touchdown. I was like, oh, great under, but like he caught the touchdown. OJ Howard caught his touchdown. I was like, oh, great. That's his catch of the game. That's it. Nothing else is going to happen to him. And then his very next catch, it went for exactly 11 yards.

And I was like, that's it. That's over. Lost again. So is it, is it next week? Is it going to be Austin Hooper? The Thursday night tight end? Well, it could be him. It could be Njoku.

It could be Harrison Bryant. You're just going to have to stay tuned. I'm going to hold off on the start of the week. It was on the last week. It's just funny how that's worked out. I think, you know, I hope that Nick Sirianni got the message from watching what Miles Sanders did and the crowd reaction when he finally got a carry that there's some market correction coming next week against

the Raiders because you can run on the Raiders. He looked good when he touched the ball and this offense needs something to change because, I mean, you saw the way the Bucks were playing. They didn't care about the run. I mean, not that they really care about the run anyway. But they were just trying to keep Jalen Hurts in front of them and not let the receivers get behind them. It happened a couple of times, and Jalen Hurts held the ball on a couple of those throws. It turned out to be some pass interference calls. But they just got to change something.

This doesn't look like it's working. Yeah, they might be a little bit too pass heavy. They've got Las Vegas next week. They've got Detroit after right uh they've got las vegas next week they've got detroit after that they've got the chargers after that so these are not bad matchups at all for miles sanders i i think that it could end up working out in his favor if if the coaches actually do this meanwhile we have a legitimate number one running back for the bucks it doesn't seem like this is changing leonard fournette is the guy and like we were talking about on the thursday on the thursday stream at 2 p.m we do the thursday stream he's the passing downs guy geo is the two minute drill guy

but he's got three or more catches in every game and he had six last night he had 28 touches and he scored twice fournette was started in 84% of leagues. Is this a sell high, or is this a legit starting running back in fantasy now? It's legit. Yeah, I say it's legit. Okay. I mean, look, he's not explosive. You see what he does?

I mean, he's just running into the line of scrimmage, and if he finds the hole, he's getting to the hole. But the total yardage is what you're looking at here. I mean, he's just so involved in every aspect of the game. And now you're seeing the touchdowns come three in two weeks. Last week was his first one, twice last night. And so I wonder how much – I know Brady threw the ball 42 times, but he didn't have his best game at least. I know

he was efficient early in the game. I think he started 10 of 11 if I'm not mistaken. Are you going to bring up the thumb here? It didn't look right for him. Did you hear what Aikman said? No. So toward the end of the first half he had, the last drive of the first half or the second to last, he had two misses. Missed Evans, missed Brown.

Brown was pretty open. And Aikman said that he saw Brady kind of bang his thumb up a little bit, like hit it, you know, made contact with something throughout the course of the first half. And he said, I wouldn't be surprised if it's bothering him. Aaron Andrews during halftime asked Bruce Arians about it. And Bruce Arians said, no, he just made bad throws. It's not bothering him at all.

But Aikman, but I mean, you can't just take his word for that, right? So Aikman saw what you saw and he felt like it was a possibility because he was on fire at the start of the game. And then late in the second quarter, Brady just didn't seem right. And then even a long, a good throw to, or a good play late in the game, kind of seal it with Antonio Brown. He was behind Antonio Brown on it. Brown made a great catch. So I agree. I mean, I think it's possible that short week that the thumb played a role here because it seemed like he got dinged a little bit at some point in that game. Right, but he still threw 42 times, though.

So you would have expected some better numbers. And give the Eagles credit because they could have folded after being down 21-7. And so they were able to hang around. I think their defense was a big part of it. And they were keeping everything in front of them, too. Darius Slade did a great job on Mike Evans, you know, so you see now a couple of times this season where there's a corner taking

Mike Evans out of the game and Brady not going to him as a result because there's so many other guys here, you know, this last night was, was OJ Howard helping out Antonio Brown. Uh, the Chris Godwin usage was weird. I mean,

he was doing a lot of blocking, um, on, on some of the crackbacks with, uh, Fournette going through the hole. So we were in here about Godwin because I mean, he was doing a lot of blocking on some of the crackbacks with Fournette going through the hole. So are we worried here about Godwin? Because, I mean, this is five disappointing games in a row.

A little bit, but I think there'll be some market correction coming. I thought the market correction was going to come in this game. Well, give me your rankings. Give me your rankings of the three Tampa Bay wide receivers now rest of the season. This will probably change week by week, but how would you rank them right now? Brown, Evans, Godwin. I mean, it feels like that's what you have to do this is now three times in six games that evans has been shadowed he was shadowed by diggs he was shadowed by jc jackson and by darius slay so it is interesting that when opponents shadow a receiver it's him uh and then you got latimore in a couple weeks he always does well

against evans you got trayvon digs at some point um so that's interesting you know he already had i mean i'm sorry you have uh tradavious white uh later in the year okay and on the other side of the ball jalen hurts let's just call him a better fantasy quarterback than real life quarterback he's still learning and davante smith three games with 31 or fewer yards, three games with 71 or more yards. I can't call him a must start. He was only started in 55% of leagues, and I thought he was going to have a great game. Very disappointing. How do you guys feel about Devante Smith?

And we'll wrap with that. Oh, I'll ask about Ertz too. Go ahead. I do think part of it has to do with the fact that they only had the ball for 20 minutes and that if they were able to convert more third downs they would have been able to throw a little bit more and i think more targets would have gone davante smith's way but that was part of it and then just jalen hurts not being you know pinpoint accurate with his throws all the time that definitely plays a role and i thought he was i thought the two were kind of over that over the last week for sure um if not the last two weeks i think that they kind of

corrected it and they were playing a little bit better but it just didn't turn out that way and then there just wasn't enough volume for for davante smith or really anybody in this passing offense we're going to be happy with what zackerts gave us and the six targets were a team high but i just feel like there should have been more for everybody in this game. There's also this rumor, Jay Glazer said, not a rumor, that he wouldn't be surprised if either Hurts or Goddard were traded this week. So don't drop Zach Hurts. He's 74% rostered and don't drop Dallas Goddard, who's on the reserve COVID list right now. News and notes, DK Metcalf mispracticed with a foot injury.

That was not good. So we'll check on that. Friday practice reports are huge and we'll keep you updated and we'll let you know. We'll do the mailbag show. We'll have the updated practice reports. But Chris Carson mispracticed.

Russell Wilson was limited in practice and they have not put him on IR yet, which is a minimum three game absence. So it is possible that he has a shorter absence than we anticipated. Well, their bye week is week nine, so it would be three weeks until then. Okay, so

yeah, all right. So maybe he can come back in week 10? Maybe. Yeah. I would be surprised if he's not on IR. I mean, he was just out there. I saw their office coordinator saying they asked him, would you let him throw left-handed? And he said he probably throws left-handed

better than most guys throw right-handed. So, or something to that effect. Yeah, he's not playing. You know who didn't like that comment? Lefties? Gino Smith. Allen Robinson missed practice. And Darnell Mooney, I think,

missed practice or was limited. He was limited. Robinson missed. There's a lot of guys that missed practice on Thursdaynell mooney i think missed practice or was limited he was limited robinson missed there's a lot of guys that missed practice on thursday which is not a good sign yeah i know i mean we're in huge names justin jefferson nick chubb mcafree who we have some questions about tyreek hill mike williams deandre hopkins he has an illness lamar jackson illness but you know between robinson jefferson kareem hunt adam thielen you left out a couple too kareem hunt adam thielen yeah so chub Oh, Kareem Hunt, Adam Thielen. You left out a couple, too. Kareem Hunt, Adam Thielen. Yeah, so Chubb and Kareem Hunt.

So, I don't know. Should we be making contingency plans or wait another day? I think like you saw last night when we found out that Damien Williams, you're going to see a lot of people running to their way for water and trying to pick up a prior. Yeah, I hope we're going to get these guys back. But the midweek downgrades are always the ones that are concerning. So Metcalf going from limited to DNP. McCaffrey going from limited to DNP.

Jamal Williams going from limited to DNP. Those are the ones that you've got to be a little concerned about. The ones that did not practice Wednesday and Thursday, I'm sure a lot of it's maintenance. Like the Browns guys, I'm sure it's maintenance. Justin Jefferson today is going to play. So I would imagine the Vikings receivers are out there. But again, something to keep an eye on.

But yeah, if you want to get ahead of it, go pick up KJ Osborne now, just in case one of the two guys are out. Go pick up, I guess it would be Felton, if you're looking for the third Browns running back, if you're trying to get ahead of it. You know, I don't think you're going to look at anybody else in Detroit, or Seattle for that matter. I don't think anybody's going to trust Freddie Swain with Dino Smith as

the quarterback. If, uh, if DK Metcalf's out. Right. So how about Julio Jones and AJ Brown practicing in full? So they look like they're good to go this game against Buffalo on Monday. Does Julio Jones presence help or hurt AJ Brown, Dave? I think it helps him. I think that's going to force the Billills defense to not focus all in on AJ Brown, which they might have done if Julio Jones didn't play in the game. They have to respect them

out there. So they play a lot of zone coverage straight up anyway. I would imagine that that'll be part of their doctrine for Sunday's game or Monday's game against Buffalo or against Tennessee. So then, since we already previewed that game yesterday, let me refresh it here. Would you start A.J. Brown or Robert Woods? Woods.

I believe I have Woods higher. Would you start A.J. Brown or Emmanuel Sanders in that game? Brown. A.J.B. How about A.J. Brown or Brandon Cooks? Cooks going up against the Colts. Cooks? I think I like Cooks better in PPR.

Not in PPR, I could see myself taking AJ Brown. Yeah, I'm not changing my opinion on Brown much because Julio's playing. Okay. And then Julio Jones, is he going to crack your top 30? He's outside there. He's, I think, 34 in PPR and like 36 and on. All righty.

Damian Harris was limited in practice as he faces the Cowboys. London game, we got Miles Jacks starting linebacker for the Jaguars leading tackler. He's out this week. And Devontae Parker is looking like he's going to play. He's traveling with the team. Dallas left tackle Tyron Smith is having a precautionary MRI on his back. This guy has missed time, I want to say five straight years

or something. I don't even feel like looking that up, but it's been several years in a row. Tyron Smith cannot stay healthy unfortunately. Jared Goff says he wants to get Amonra St. Brown more involved, and you may not need him right now, but my goodness, we have Binato next week. We've got the Bills, Cowboys, Jaguars,

Chargers, Vikings, and Steelers. So any warm body you should get, especially one who's getting targets. So if Amonra St. Brown is available and you have bye problems next week, pick him up. Eight targets in each of his last two games. 13 catches. There you go.

Washington offensive coordinator Scott Turner said that Antonio Gibson is not limited because of his shin. That's good. And the three Giants wide receivers other than Kenny Galladay, they were all limited. So they're all trending in the right direction. So is Daniel Jones, Joe Mixon mispractice,

but it may have been a maintenance day and Josh Jacobs mispractice, but that was with an illness. So hopefully he's okay. Can get ready for Sunday. Beat the waiver wire. This is an important beat the waiver wire week, fellas. Yeah, you just made it clear. Yeah.

All those things on by. So if you have Josh Allen or Dak Prescott or Justin Herbert or Kirk Cousins or Lawrence or Roethlisberger, you need a quarterback. I like how your voice changed.

Or Lawrence or Roethlisberger. Yeah. You need a quarterback. Those guys are kind of okay this week, by the way. What's that? Both of them? Yeah, I kind of like both those guys. Yeah, I just don't know how many people

in a one QB league have just those guys. But anyway, we've got plenty of options. We've got Tua against the Falcons. Matt Ryan, if he's available, against the Dolphins. Daniel Jones against Carolina. Carolina's got a good defense. Sam Darnold, if he's dropped, he's at the Giants. They don't have a good defense. Sam Darnold, if he's dropped, he's at the Giants.

They don't have a good defense. Ryan Tannehill, if he's dropped, he's 86% rostered. He's against the Chiefs. Taylor Heineke's at Green Bay. I don't think you're going to trust Justin Fields, but he has Tampa Bay. See if anyone dropped Derek Carr.

I've seen him dropped in a couple of leagues. He's against Philadelphia. Carson Wentz is at San Francisco. I don't know. Is there name that really jumps out i think i feel like matt ryan might be the most realistic one to get that we also would like i i think that he would be the one that i would chase if just for one week i lost russell wilson in a 14 team league and i raced to the waiver wire as soon as the injury happened last Thursday. And I got Carson Wentz. I literally looked at who everybody was playing in week number six. Carson Wentz is playing Houston.

Okay, that's good enough for me. But I like the next two games for Carson Wentz at the very least. And I like his last two games and what he was able to do. So Ryan would probably be my first choice. Wentz would probably be up there as maybe my second choice among the quarterbacks that could actually be available in your league. We're excluding Tannehill

and Darnold and guys that are 80% plus rostered. Yeah. Okay. New England's DST is 76% rostered. You're not starting them against the Cowboys this week,

but if they're available, they have the Jets next week. So get the Patriots DST. You know, some wide receivers. Well, first of all, if you're in shallow leagues, I know this is silly for most of you, but if you're in shallow leagues, Michael Thomas is 91% rostered.

He should be 100%. And Jerry Judy, the last I checked, he was about 80% rostered. So you can look for Jerry Judy. Amandra St. Brown, I mentioned. Rashad Bateman, maybe. Jamie, anyone else that's out there that you might want to stash and take all the names.

And it's, I shouldn't do that. Oh, here are all the obvious names. Hey, Jamie, anyone, you know,

my mind went to which running backs are starting right now and playing hurt. And so like the, the first name that I thought of was Antonio Gibson, because he's got this stress fracture in his shin. So is it worth carrying Jarrett Patterson just to see what happens there? Maybe. But we've already seen it now. You'd mentioned what you talked about with Chris Adam,

that half the league has a different starting running back now than week one. I might do a thorough check of every starting running back and what their health is based on the injury reports and based on what we know about them. And anybody that's not 100%, that backup should be on a bench. I go pick up Derek McKinnon just in case, if Darrell Williams struggles. I would pick up Jerry McNichols if you have an open roster spot

just in case something ever happens to Derek Henry. I'm trying to think of any other. You know, McNichols has been catching the ball a little bit, too. We had a big game when everybody was hurt against the Jets two weeks ago. I would see if people are dropping Sonny Michel. He's a good stash candidate, just in case something happens to Daryl Henderson that we know has an injury track record. Yeah, if there's any backup running back that you think could get work

if there's an injury, for example, Daryl Williams was available in one of my leagues last week. I picked him up just because. I felt like I had a roster spot to spare, and there you go. You never know. All right, it's time for the Stardomeeter. The last three games we're going to get to, we have six games to get to today.

The last three are going're going to get to, we have six games to get to today. The last three are going to be Joe Burrow at Detroit or going to be Cincinnati at Detroit. Joe Burrow is bringing the rest of his friends to Detroit. Minnesota at Carolina and Washington and Kansas City. Kansas City is at Washington. So let's do start-o-meter. Zero to ten. How confident

or how start confident is start-o-meter? Joe Burrow at Detroit, zero to 10. Seven. Seven's good. Okay. Yeah, so we were looking this up, by the way. They are, Chris helped me out with this.

They are dead last in pace. I was wondering how on earth did they have two overtime games and they've ran the fewest plays in the NFL. They are, the Bengals are the slowest team. And that means from the end of the play to the next snap, they are the slowest team in football. They're slower than Green Bay? They are slower than Green Bay.

They are the slowest team in football. It's crazy. Joe Burrow is a seven. Joe Mixon, a 15? Okay. Yeah, you're probably starting him. T. Higgins? Seven.

I'd say six. I wouldn't be thrilled to start Tee Higgins. He's looking more and more to me like a touchdown or bust fantasy receiver. And that is all because of pace, you know, and their run-heavy nature. He's a red zone target for them. All of his career touchdowns have come 20 yards or closer, and he's just, I don't know how explosive he is. He can make a big play if a defender misses a tackle,

if there's a bust in the secondary. But I really don't see him as an explosive playmaker type. We know who that is on Cincinnati. Higgins is a 6 or a 7. How about Tyler Boyd? He's like a 3 in non-PPR. And sure, five in PPR. I will say, I know we're going to get to this game later,

but I am worried about maybe 26 to 28 pass attempts for Burrow. I think we all would have to be, right? Sure. But he is having a great year, given the attempts. He's thrown multiple touchdowns in every game or four or five games. All right, DeAndre Swift on the other side of the ball. Zero to 10. 10.

10. Swift or Mixon? Swift and PPR. Jamal Williams? Four. Two. All the replacement running backs over him? Yes.

Amonra St. Brown against the Bengals. Six, PPR, three and nine. Yeah, sure. Hawkinson. You're starting him. 7. 5. Okay.

Cousins. Hold on. You would start Knox and Schultz ahead of him. I would start Noah Fant ahead of him. Who else are you starting ahead of? I started Ertz ahead of him, and I would start Hunter Henry ahead of him. Who else are you starting ahead of? I started Hurts ahead of him, and I would start Hunter Henry ahead of him. Okay. Knowing what you know now.

That's the state of Lions tight ends right now. You think Hawkinson will have a better or worse game than Zach Hurts? I mean, I think he'll have more catches, or I don't know, more catches. He'll have more yards, but I don't know if he'll score. Right.

Four catches, 29 yards, and a touchdown. So that's 13 fantasy points in PPR. He's playing hurt, and teams are taking away, and the Bengals have been good against tight ends. You know, so it's... Yeah, I don't want to start him, really, but I have to. And this is a byproduct of St. Brown getting so much work is that Hawkinson's being taken away

and not being thrown out as much. Well, it's also that Cephas is out and Raymond is Raymond. Yeah. That's true. Nobody loves him. Kirk Cousins. Go to Carolina. Kirk Cousins. Five.

Yeah. Thielen, if he plays. Eight. Seven and non-PPR. Six in PPR. Sam Darnold against Minnesota. Four. Same as Darnold against Minnesota. Four. Same as Darnold.

Same as Cousins, five. Who do you like better? Cousins. Chuba Hubbard. I mean, 10 if McCaffrey's up. Okay, Robbie Anderson. Negative 12. Darryl Williams.

We go to this last game here. Darryl Williams we go to this last game here Darryl Williams at Washington he's a negative okay Taylor Heineke uh 8 6 and a half

Antonio Gibson I'd start Heineke over both Cousins and Darnold I would too how about Antonio Gibson 10 um yeah he's an 8 JD McKissick I would too. How about Antonio Gibson? Ten. Yeah, he's an eight.

JD McKissick? Five in PPR, zero in none. That works. Ricky Seals-Jones? Five. Four. Okay. All right, let's get to the slate. I started with Arizonarizona and cleveland

i think it's a it's you know it's a very interesting game i don't know how fantasy difficult it is but we'll we'll start with this game it's the best game on this nfc home game slate so uh and it's not even an nfc home game so but it involves an nfc team and i had to balance the two shows out a little bit so there you go let's start with the nfc home game. But it involves an NFC team and I had to balance the two shows out a little bit. So there you go. Let's start with the NFC home game slate with the team that's not playing a home game in the NFC. Yeah. But it does have an NFC. But there are too many AFC home games this

week. You've somehow azer-statted how we're previewing the games. You should have saved the London game for NFC. No, I... No, because it didn't have an NFC home game. I know. It didn't have an NFC. No, I... No, because it didn't have an NFC home game. I know. It didn't have an NFC team in it.

But you could have just said it's not playing in an AFC home stadium. But that's basically the Jaguars' home stadium, so... Or home country anyway. Okay, stat of the game, number one, Cleveland has the most rush attempts in the NFL, and Arizona allows the second most yards per carry in the NFL.

Sad of the game number two, Kyler Murray's only two games with more than 25 fantasy points are against Tennessee and Minnesota. He's a little lower than you might expect. Seventh for Jamie, fifth for Dave, eleventh for Heath. Obviously still a start, but I'm not going to get too much into Kyler Murray. You're starting Kyler Murray. He is as low as 11th for Heath.

I don't have to tell you to start Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb. Let's go to the Arizona running backs then. Jamie Conner and Edmonds, what do you think? It's the same thing every week for me. Edmonds is a start in PPR. He's a flex at best in non-PPR. Conner's a start in PPR. He's a flex at best in non-PPR.

Conner's a sit in PPR, or a flex at best, I guess, in PPR. He's a flex in non-PPR. If he doesn't score, you're screwed. If he scores, you'll be fine. That's a great way to say it. And that's really affecting Kyler Murray's fantasy points, too. Okay, so replacement running backs or Chase Edmonds, Dave? Would you start Darryl Williams, Chuba Hubbard,

Devante Booker, Khalil Herbert, or Chase Edmonds? I would definitely start. I think I'm at the point in PPR where I would gladly start everybody except for Darryl Williams behind Chase Edmonds. So Darryl Williams, Chase Edmonds, Chuba Hubbard, etc. Okay. And last week was just a bad week for him him he was still getting 13 plus touches before last week i don't think it's necessarily they're they're getting away from chase edmunds or they don't like chase edmunds

i think that they know that they need to maybe work around that run defense of cleveland a little bit and uh edmunds could be a factor in the passing game just as much as he had been in the past. So I'd go back to him as a number two running back in PPR. The thing that you should hope for, obviously, is what Austin Eckler did last week in the passing game. But I think to your point, Dave, about his bad week, I don't know how much the shoulder injury is impacting him because he barely practiced last week.

And you saw more activity for Rondell Moore. I don't know if that was just by design or because of necessity. So I just keep an eye on the shoulder situation for him. I hope he's 100%. I just wonder if they're trying to be cautious with him a little bit. Okay, that's Chase Edmonds. And last week, Austin Eckler had five catches, 53 yards, and a touchdown against Cleveland.

Go to the Arizona wide receivers. Are you starting anyone other than DeAndre Hopkins? And this Cleveland defense is weird. At one point, sometimes they look and go, oh my gosh, see how well they did up against Minnesota. And then they were just embarrassed

by the Chargers. And number one receivers have destroyed them, basically. So anyway, Hopkins, I'm assuming, is a must start. Anyone else, Jamie? I mean, this is the ultimate guessing game of who the second best receiver

is going to be for the the cardinals on a weekly basis uh kirk's been quiet for a while so maybe he's due uh again i'll go back to ron down more last week i like that they were being creative to get him the ball but you know he's he's risky to trust green had been the safest one in the three previous games but he disappeared last week so we'll see i don don't know. I wish I had an answer. Maybe A.J. Green going back to Ohio if you want to bank on something. Oh, there you go. Bi-week replacements, all these guys. I think you'll probably feel the least confident in Kirk

just because he hasn't done it lately. But I think if Moore didn't have such a nice game last week, you'd start Kirk over Moore in general, and Green probably ahead of both, just as maybe the safest floor play i would start a monroe st brown over all these guys in ppo it feels like that's the better way to go yeah yeah not hopkins but the other three yeah not starting baker mayfield he has four touchdown passes in five games best game that was last week it was 26 fantasy points, he had a really good game. First game with more than 19 fantasy

points. And Arizona, you know, Arizona's defense is interesting too. They've been really good, but they've faced Tannehill who, you know, 15 points for him. No, that was legitimately good. He had both of his receivers, so that was a good job. Cousins scored 30. Stafford scored 23.

The other two games were Trevor Lawrence and Trey Lance. So don't know what to make of that. And by the way, whenever I say how many fantasy points a player scores, a quarterback, I'm always using six points per passing touchdown, just so you all know. Hey, which Cleveland running back do you like better? Still Chubb. Still Chubb. He has three straight games with more than 20 carries that's wonderful kareem hunt has five or more catches in two of his last three games he is absolutely on

fire you know they're just they're like on steroids right now they're just running so much you knew they were a run heavy team but these two guys are getting even more work than we could have imagined. Like I said, Cardinals awful against the run. Kareem Hunt has a touchdown in four or five games. He's gotten to the point where you're starting him, no questions asked. Both these guys are number one fantasy running backs. I'm sure Chubb is, but Hunt ahead of Darrell Williams? Yes. Will you start any Cleveland wide receivers?

No. I'm thin at receiver this week. This has actually been an impressive part of Arizona's defense. They've given up some touchdowns, but they've faced Julio,

Brown, Jefferson, Thielen, Cup, Woods, Debo, and the Jacksonville guys. And only two wide receivers have more than 65 yards and they're KJ Osborne and Van Jefferson. So it doesn't look like a good matchup for the Cleveland wide receivers. Any interest in David Njoku who had seven targets last week and Austin Hooper had none and you need to see it again before I probably think it's a trend but any interest in Njoku I'd pick him up if you have a roster spot and tight end issue just to see but start him I think you're probably risking it he had three for 76 in week one and I think he had five targets combined in the next three games. So they go away from him.

It's unfortunate that they do because you see what he's capable of doing, but this has kind of been the story of his career. Yeah, he's had back-to-back games with touchdowns twice in his career. He hasn't done it since 2018. He's had 60 yards in back-to-back games once in his career. That was at the end of 2018. He's just been very, very inconsistent. It would make sense for them to use him more

after doing what he did last week. Yeah, get him out there. Baker Mayfield needs targets not named Odell Beckham that he can connect with and play well with because there's obviously some sort of Vulcan mind block that's keeping him from working perfectly with Odell Beckham. So it would make sense if they kept using him, but

when have the Browns consistently done that with Najoku? With anyone. They don't use anyone. They do it with their running backs pretty well. In the passing game, they don't throw them. If you're stuck in deeper leagues, it was a decent game last week. It just kind of went unnoticed for Donovan Peoples-Jones

and for Rashard Higgins. And so if Landry's out again, if you are expecting this game to get sideways and both these teams are doing what happened to the Browns last week with the Cardinals doing what the Chargers did, then those guys will have an opportunity. But you've got to be really desperate to trust them fully. Let's sit the DSTs and let's go to the Rams and the Giants. Matthew Stafford, you know, I don't know how everybody out there is viewing his fantasy

season so far. He's been like a lot of other quarterbacks. He's had these big games, but then a lot of like, kind of like Brady last night, just kind of meh games. He's had three of those and two huge games, But stat of the game, Matthew Stafford, career-high completion rate, career-high yards per attempt, career-high touchdown percentage. The rates are probably going to come down as we play more games. But he might just be like a sleeping giant because he's been really good.

So he is, you know, would you rather start Stafford or Prescott this week? I know he's in your top 10, but how high Prescott or Stafford? I'll take Stafford. I think last week was a little unlucky for him because it was a season high in yardage. And if he gets another touchdown on top of it, he has another big game. So, uh, I like both, but I'll, I'll take Stafford ceiling. I think here, cause you never know what the volume for Dak Prescott. I know that the volume is an issue for Dak Prescott,

but David Smills just threw for over 300 yards against his Patriots defense. There's something with them that's not the same as last year. And even if he doesn't throw a ton, we've seen him get three-plus touchdowns on a number of occasions. So I like Dak better. Okay.

Stafford is a start, though. Basically, to sum it up, the Giants have a bad defense. They have one of the worst pass rushes, and as long as they're not jet-lagged, the Rams should do just fine. Okay, how much do you trust Daryl Henderson with the increase in role for Sonny Michel, who had 11 carries last week and a touchdown at Seattle?

Dave, how much do you trust Henderson against the Giants? I trust him a lot. I would absolutely start him. He's a running back who's currently healthy with 15 plus touch potential who's shown us that he can be successful in fantasy. The end. Okay. So Henderson or Darrell Williams? Henderson. Henderson or Kadarius Tious Tony PPR I think I'll probably lean toward Henderson there okay

Jamie how about you Henderson easy okay Giants run defense stinks 4.82 yards per carry to running back seventh most fantasy points

and they do allow the fourth most receiving yards to running backs some of that is Cordaro Patterson. Rams receivers cup is a start. Robert Woods, start or sit?

You know what? Better question. Who's the second best wide receiver in this game behind Cooper Cup? Robert Woods by a mile. What do you mean? Come on, Kadarius Toney. Gators. Yeah, I mean, look.

Tony's going to be good. But Woods, they're not going away from him after what they did last week. Hey, they went away from Deshaun Jackson after they gave him his squeaky wheel. Yeah, after his three target game, they went away from him. Yeah, five target game, three catches, yes. I like them both as number two receivers. I think Tony's got

more upside. Oh, you're going Tony? I think he's got more upside to get more targets, more catches, more yards, more explosive plays than Robert Woods. Woods is safer because we don't know if Tony can really keep this up. And especially if Sterling Shepard's back and if Darius Slayton's back, it could mean a little bit of a target drain. He's not going to get 30% of the target share like he did last week, but I still think he's got a chance to make more plays than Woods does.

He definitely has a chance, but I will take my chances more so with the Matthew Stafford receiver, as opposed to potentially the Mike Lennon receiver. That's a big tiebreaker. That's a big issue here. You know, I'm going to be much more confident in Tony if, if Daniel Jones plays for sure. I hope he does.

Obviously we all hope he does. Tyler Higbee is 10th and 11th for you guys, depending on format. Heath is lower on him. He has him 15th and non 17th and full P on format. Heath is lower on him. Heath has him 15th and non, 17th in full PPR, and he is touchdown or bust, but this is the team to be touchdown or bust again

against. This might be one of the few teams that truly stinks against tight ends. So hopefully another week where Higby can find the end zone. Let's see, Higby or Seals Jones. Higby can find the end zone. Let's see. Higby or Seals Jones?

Higby. Higby still, but it's close. Dan Arnold? I've got Higby one spot ahead of Arnold and Arnold one spot ahead of RSJ. Okay. Any interest in Daniel Jones if he plays? No.

I'd prefer to limit him to two quarterback league only. I'd rather start Wentz. I'd rather start Bridgewater. I'd rather start Roethlisberger. I just want to say, I don't know that the Rams are the worst matchup anymore. First of all, Darius Williams is on IR, starting cornerback.

Yeah, it's true. And Aaron Donald's a little banged up. And they're not shadowing Jalen Ramsey or anything like that. They're not shadowing. And they haven't been that defense. You know, you guys all have their DST ranked number one right now. Well, that's what the assumption is. Okay, okay. Yeah, so that's right now as of this week, you have them number one.

They're borderline top 12 for the season. So I just don't know that we've come around on the idea that the Rams are not a dominant defense. They're still good. Don't get me wrong. They're not a dominant defense anymore. They might be, but I haven't seen it yet. And the Giants, obviously, are such a juggernaut offensively, right?

Okay, not starting Daniel Jones. Devontae Booker, we have discussed. As of last check, 57% rostered. For starting running back, it's kind of low. He's probably higher than that by now. As of last check, 57% rostered. For starting running back, it's kind of low. He's probably higher than that by now. I'll double check. 57% rostered for Booker?

That must have been on Wednesday when I did this. Yeah, no, he's much higher than that. Okay, because you know what? A lot of leagues, I think, do run their waivers Wednesday night. He's 84% now. Yeah.

As of Wednesday, he was only 57%. So that gives you an idea of how many leagues are running their waiver wires the following day. You guys have talked about it. It's not bad. You've talked about it. I don't know.

Anything else you want to say about Booker? We hit him on the top of the show. I got to hope that he scores. I don't think the total yards are going to be great. They can't run the ball, but do you think he gets basically every running back touch? Yes.

I think he gets most of them. How much are they running it in this game? You seem to suggest that there's a chance that the giants could be competitive i think there i i do if daniel jones plays i think there is yeah i do all right well then he's definitely got a shot at north of 15 touches i mean it could be 15 carries and three catches okay giants wide receivers so tony shepherd Slayton's going to be last, but you like Tony better than Shepard? Yes. I do.

Give me the scenario, the expectations for Tony with and without Daniel Jones. Jamie, with? With the Saints game. Six for 75, that range. Okay. Without Jave?

We saw it last week where Glennon was firing Adam deep and Tony was making plays to get the ball. To me, there's not that much of a difference. I'd probably have Tony ranked a little too high right now, but if I'm taking him over Robert Woods with

Glennon under center, then I would definitely take him with Daniel Jones under center. What do you have him ranked? He's a top 20 wide receiver. He did that last week without anybody else on the field with him. Now he's getting the two guys back, and Shepard's going to be a problem for him.

He's going to be a problem for Shepard. No, he's definitely a problem for Shepard. Shepard's better than him. No, he's going to be better than Shepard. But there is now a legitimate threat on the other. Last week, Galladay left the game early and there was nobody else there. If you're looking at it, there's Kadarius Toney

and there's Colin Johnson. I mean, where are you going with the ball? You're going to go try and get Kadarius Toney going. Now there's legitimate threats on the field. Yeah, and a better defense. And there's also a book on him. Oh, come on. It's a great book. It's the best book I've ever read. It's a great book. It's a bestseller.

I hope there's another good chapter. Yeah, there you go. Well, I think, let me just finish off on Tony since he's one of the most added players. So how would you compare Tony to the backup, the replacement running backs, the Darrell Williams, Chuba Hubbards? Both those guys over Tony in non-PPR easily. And in PPR, I probably would still start them over Tony. I wouldn't.

I would take Tony. But Jamie, you would go with Booker. You would go with Tony over the Booker. Yes. Yes. Tony over Booker. Tony over Herbert. I'd go Herbert over Tony in non-PPR.

All right. All right, then. That's Kadarius Tony. Sterling Shepard is what, like a number three guy for you? Yeah, we haven't ranked him yet, but yes. I want to check roster percentages on Shepard because, again, Shepard, four straight games with like 90 or more yards going back to last year.

He's 62% rostered. And, again, next week you might need a wide receiver. And if Galladay, I feel like Galladay is going to be out next week. I don't know that for sure. They said one week. They didn't say. I'm with you, but I'm just telling you what they're okay. Fine. Shepard is a guy

you could think about for next week. And that will do it for that. Evan Ingram. That's it. Right? Yes. Rams DST. Would you look to replace them if Jones and that will do it for that. Evan Ingram, that's it, right? Yes. Rams DST, would you look to replace them if Jones plays? No. We will take a break.

We got four games left. Green Bay at Chicago. We'll tell you about the red zone in this game and why it might matter. We'll be right back. Did you know that across Ontario, utility damage happens 19 times a day? That's over 4,222 incidents a year. Don't let your next dig be one that causes costly delays or safety risks.

Before you break ground, make it a point to request a locate. It's not just the law. It's a step to keep your team and community safe. Visit OntarioOneCall.ca and avoid unnecessary damages is your stat of the game. Last year, the Packers scored a touchdown 80% of their red zone trips. That is historically great. One of the best numbers ever

in the last 20 years. This year, they are 27th in the NFL. They have scored a touchdown on 55% of their red zone trips. Meanwhile, the Bears, is their defense good? Hard to know. They've been pretty good statistically,

but they have been great in the red zone. They have the third best red zone defense in terms of touchdown percentage, not field goals or anything like that. How many times do teams score a touchdown when they get in the red zone? So something to keep an eye on there. Dave, when you look at Green Bay at Chicago,

are there any surprises here? Any guys that you like? Because this is a fairly obvious game, I think. We'll talk a little bit more about Khalil Herbert. But are there any guys that you like that maybe people don't? Any guys that you don't like that maybe people do like? Any surprises here, or is it a straightforward game? I think it's mostly straightforward. I think the only

player in this game that you might get questions about is A.J. Dillon, just because he's had 12 touches each of the last two weeks. He had four catches last week, and he's definitely fun to watch. I just feel like he's more of a low end flex at this point. I don't necessarily see Aaron Jones as a top five type of fantasy running back, but I could see him easily having a good game and finding the end zone. You're going to start him. I just, Dylan needs a couple of big runs and or a touchdown in order to come through. Is he, is he worth starting this week as a bi-week guy? Yeah. As a desperation flex? Sure. As a number two running back?

Otherwise, no. I'd rather you just keep him on the bench. How about Aaron Rodgers? People always ask about Aaron Rodgers. They often have Aaron Rodgers and someone else. Rodgers or Stafford this week? I'd go with Stafford over Rodgers. The Bears defense has been pretty good.

A lot of it does have to do. No, I take it back. I've got Rodgers out of Stafford in my rankings. I just double-checked. They're back-to-back, but they're both top 10. I'll take the chance on Rodgers against Chicago. Definitely the type of track record that you look for there. But the Bears' defense, you mentioned it.

They've been great in the red zone. I like to think a lot of that had to do with who they've played. They've played Las Vegas. They've played Cleveland. They've played Detroit. They've played Cincinnati. I think a game against Cincinnati is a good example of what they're capable of doing to an opposing offense. But in week one, they took on a great quarterback in

Stafford at the Rams and they got punished pretty badly there. They gave up 34 points. And 30 to Stafford. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I'd like Rodgers to have a nice game this week. Is there another... Who's the second best wide receiver in this game?

Jamie? For overall or in greenback? Yeah, first Dave, then Jamie. Yeah, overall. Overall in the game, I think Mooney is probably ranked behind Devante Adams for me. I just liked the way that he's being utilized in the offense. I think he's better for Justin Fields. I've been talking about this for weeks now is average route depth is higher than,

uh, Alan Robinson's. He gets targeted downfield more often. Uh, he's just somebody that's absolutely better suited to make more explosive plays from fields. So I look at Robinson. I think Robinson could get five catches in this game. I think Chicago's going to trail. So there's going to be an opportunity to get a lot of targets for both receivers. But I think Mooney does a little bit more than Robinson.

I didn't realize Jamie had left briefly. Welcome back. Thank you. I have my seven-year-old at home, so he's making a little too much noise. Okay, so Jamie, we have talked a lot about this game already, but how do you feel about,

what are your expectations for Khalil Herbert? I think he's going to get north of 15 total touches because that's what the Bears do. So you saw last week in a game where they were playing with a lead, but both running backs had a significant workload. They're not going to try and say, hey, Justin Fields, go out and throw the ball all over the place.

They're going to try and slow the game down, grind it out. And so Herbert's, I think, in a good spot. So I could see him having another 75 total yard game. I don't think he's going to be much better than that chance to score. So he's a number two running back. You know, he should be added across the board and you know, the Packers defense is just a little bit beaten up right now. So we'll see how they,

they perform the run defense right now, I think is safer than their past defense, which is good for this game. But you know, I, unless you know, Rogers comes out, which is certainly possible and puts up,

you know, a big number early, then Herbert's going to be negated. But if the bears can keep this game close, then he's going to have an opportunity to get, you know, the touches number early, then Herbert's going to be negated. But if the Bears can keep this game close, then he's going to have an opportunity to get, you know, the touches that he needs. Okay, it is now 12 straight games dating back to last year.

The Packers have not given up a carry longer than 20 yards to a running back. They have a, you know, they have an amazing run defense, but they do not give up big plays. So you need to get working. This is the problem that I talked about last week for Pirine when I thought it was going to be Pirine.

What happens is the Packers they kill the clock. They score points. They force you to throw. Most teams don't run the ball that much. The Bengals did. It surprised me. They ran 21 times with their running backs. But most teams don't get past 15 or 16.

But this team won't. This team will? The Bears? I don't know that they will because they've won their last two games. I don't think they're going to win this game. I don't think they're going to win the game either. They can't throw 20 times in this game. This is how they're going to operate, though. They're going to try, but the Packers don't really let you, you know?

I mean, that's going to be the chess match here. But it's the same thing with the Bengals. Yeah, I was surprised. But at the same time, what I say about Joe Burrow, going into last week, forget about week one. Week one for the Packers, they got blown out by the Saints.

Winston threw 20 times, threw five touchdowns. Every other quarterback had thrown 36 or more or 38 or more passes against Green Bay. Burrow threw 38, but 36 of them were actually in regulation.

So you are seeing teams that have to throw. They throw 36 or more times against Green Bay every week except for week one, which was just that weird blowout win. So that's going to be the hard part for the Bears. They want to run the ball. Can they do it?

You seem to think that they can keep close enough where they can, you know. I think their defense will hang tough enough to allow them to stay in this game. I just, the offensive line for Green Bay worries me a little bit, just with their pass protection. We've seen some breakdowns with the new guys there,

and it's probably showing up in the red zone performances as well. And the Bears lead the league in sacks. Oh, wow. Did not know that. Any reason to consider Allen Robinson in this game? I mean, the reason would be is that Jair Alexander and Kevin King may not play.

So if there is a hope for Robinson, like you said, Adam, if they have to throw and maybe they let just fields play free, which is what we're waiting to see, let him be who he is. Let him run. Let him get out of the pocket. Let him make some throws down the field. And hopefully it benefits Robinson to some extent, but you can't trust him. You've got to be in a really tough situation to be trusting Alan Robinson right now.

Okay. Let's go to our next game. Packers DST is top 12. Four solid games in a row. And yeah, they're top 12. Cincinnati is at Detroit. Bengals DST or Packers DST? Let me start with that. Bengals.

Bengals for Dave? The Bengals is what I think it is. The Lions have allowed at least eight fantasy points to every DST they've faced, including 12-plus each of the last two weeks. All right. Stat of the game. Four running backs have had 17 or more carries

against the Lions. All of them had either 100 yards or a touchdown. And Mixon has been at 16 or more carries in all four of his healthy games. So if he's healthy, he's probably going to get there and that is a very good thing for Joe Mixon. Meanwhile,

Burrow, okay, I know you guys have Rodgers and Stafford very close. Burrow's right in that mix too, right? So of those three, who's your favorite? Stafford, Burrow, Rodgers? Rodgers. Stafford, Rodord, Burrow, Rogers. Rogers. Stafford, Rogers, Burrow. Okay. And Burrow

or Heineke? Burrow. Burrow, but it's close. I have it four in a row. Rogers, Stafford, Burrow, Heineke. Burrow has thrown multiple touchdowns in every game.

He has scored 22 to 25 fantasy points in four of five games. Like I said earlier, though, if there is a concern here, and how concerned are you when it comes to Burrow and nobody sitting Chase, Burrow and Higgins in particular, that they just run the ball so much, don't have to throw even 30 times, that they go all Cleveland Browns on us, and you get a letdown in the passing game. You might.

I don't know how much auto-bowling you're going to hear from Burrows since he can't talk. I'm sure they want to get their win and go home. That's kind of been their MO, it feels like. We'll see. I hope the Lions put up a little bit more of a fight offensively. We've seen their defense hang tough for Dan Campbell, but I want to see their offense show up a little bit more.

I mean, they're so undermanned. I think, by the way, that this is the best red zone team. Hold on. I'll check. Holy cow. The Packers have given up a touchdown on every red zone position, on every... They've only allowed five. No.

What is this? What am I seeing? You're looking at the red zone efficiency numbers, right? Yes. So it shows what percentage of red zone trips a team has against them that have resulted in a touchdown. Yeah.

And the Packers have allowed a touchdown to... Every time a team has had a red zone possession against the Packers, it's ended in a touchdown. And the Packers have allowed a touchdown. Every time a team has had a red zone possession against the Packers, it's ended in a touchdown. Yeah, but you're saying it's only five? They've only had five on the season. I'm pretty sure that's right. I see 13. Is it 13? I'll double check.

Yeah, double check because that is really interesting. Anyway, I think the Bengals are the best red zone offense in the NFL, but who cares? Whatever. So Higgins so Higgins. Higgins or Tony? Tony. Tony.

Higgins or Shepard? Higgins. Higgins or... I think I'll take Sherling Shepard and P.P. Okay, Higgins or Julio Jones? Higgins. I'll probably go with Higgins there.PR. Higgins or Julio Jones? Higgins. I'll probably go with Higgins there. T. Higgins or Khalil Herbert?

Herbert. Alex Collins or Chris Carson or T. Higgins? Higgins in PPR. I'll take Higgins in PPR, too. Actually, I'll take Higgins over Collins if he's by himself. If Carson plays, I'll take Carson just on the hope that he's healthy. Okay. How about Tyler Boyd?

In full PPR, is he even a top 40 receiver this week? In PPR, he's close. Okay. On the other side of the ball, DeAndre Swift is a must start. And would you start Amonra St. Brown or T Higgins? Higgins. Cool.

TJ Hawkinson, which tight ends would you start over him other than, you know, as Kelsey Waller, Andrews, who else over Hawkinson? Schultz, Knox,

Henry, you said, you said Earths, who else over Hawkinson? Schultz, Knox, Henry, Higby, non-PPR. You said Ertz. You already started over him. And Ertz, yes. I'm sorry. Okay. So Schultz, Knox, Hunter Henry for Jamie, and in non-PPR, Tyler Higby. How about you, Dave? I'm sorry.

I was looking up the red zone efficiency numbers. You're asking me about tight ends to start this week with Hawkinson? I'm starting Schultz, Gasicki to start this week with Hawkinson. I'm starting Schultz, Gacicki and Knox ahead of Hawkinson. Oh yeah. Gacicki also. Okay. And Travis Kels.

Travis Kels. Oh, that's right. That's his name. You're right about the red zone numbers. Um, the Packers have allowed the fifth fewest red zone drives with 13 on the season.

Ah, but all three have resulted in touchdowns. All 13 have resulted in touchdowns, which have resulted in touchdowns which is dead all 13 yeah sorry bangles dst is 10th for jay truly the worst there as far as red zone efficiency and red zone drives allowed is kansas city they've allowed the 30 30th most red zone drives with 22 and they're giving up a touchdown on over 77 percent of their red zone drives against so that's a big plus for gibson for heineke and for everybody else in washington let's go to minnesota at carolina and by the way i'm sorry if you want me to jinx the bangles dst here it is heath is way too low on the bangles dst he has them 20th. Holy cow, Heath.

What are you thinking? Now they're going to be 20th. He's been right every time you say this. Yeah, I know. I know. That's the running joke. But we're going to stop that streak this week. So Carolina hosts Minnesota,

and you guys have Cousins and Darnold basically back-to-back. I think you like Cousins one spot better. You're going to start the Minnesota running back. You're going to start the Minnesota running back. You're going to start the Carolina running back. You're going to start Justin Jefferson. Dave, why are you confident in Adam Thielen this week if he plays?

Last week, Kirk Cousins completely ignored him until the end of the game, and then toward the end of the game, he picked up 40 yards on two catches against soft zone coverage. I think he's going to see a decent amount of soft zone. Carolina does play more man than most teams do. It's not that they're man-dominant, but against zone coverage, I think he's going to see a decent amount of soft zone. Carolina does play more man than most teams do. It's not that they're man-dominant.

But against man coverage, Adam Thielen's fine. He can still break away on his routes. And I think we'll see Kirk Cousins have to throw a little bit more than we've seen in a couple of other games, certainly more than he did against the Lions. And I would expect Thielen to bounce back this week. He's a great No. 3 receiver, maybe even a borderline number two wide receiver, but I'm not running away from him just because he had one game without seven plus targets.

But he's had so many games, two thirds of his games in the last 28 games. I get it. Or 27 games. I think it's 18. The last 27, he has fewer than, than 60 yards.

And that doesn't even count games that he was injured in just games. He's had a full snap share. So he's tough to trust. He'll score, and that doesn't even count games that he was injured in, just games he had a full snap share. So he's tough to trust. He'll score. If he doesn't score, you're screwed. This is a good Carolina defense. I mean, Dallas humiliates everyone, but I think we could say,

I mean, look, they face the Jets, Saints, Texans, and Eagles, so maybe they're not that good. I don't know, but I think they're pretty good. I would say the game against Philadelphia last week could make the argument that Carolina's past defense is good. I don't know, but I think they're pretty good. I would say the game against Philadelphia last week could make the argument that Carolina's past defense is good. Right. But this is a test. This is a test, if you ask me.

Okay. And Tyler Conklin is, you know, he's outside the top 15. Yeah, I'd rather go with Njoku and Ingram and Seals Jones. It'll be great if one of the other guys is out, though. Oh, I was wrong about Sam Darnold, by the way. Dave does not have him even close to Kirk Cousins. You do not like Darnold. Scared to death.

The offensive line is starting to fall apart in Carolina. Darnold played terribly last week because of it. Vikings are top three, I believe, in both sacks on the season with 17 and quarterback pressures. That's interesting. They really suck against the pass, though. But that is interesting that they're getting – and he makes mistakes when he's under pressure.

That's what's scary about Darnold. He's got five interceptions. Start running again. Start running again, yeah. And that was the other thing. He's got these five rushing touchdowns, and you say, oh, that's not sustainable. But you say, oh, well, maybe they could have been throwing touchdowns.

Only one of them came after a pass play that got them down to the one-yard line. So it wasn't like, oh, he got robbed of a passing touchdown. There was two five-yard runs, an 11-yard run, and two one-yard runs, and one of the one-yard runs was just after the pass play. Were they just nine runs, Adam? Do we know that?

A couple of them definitely were. They were read option and option play, where he kept the pass. Were they designed runs, Adam? Do we know that? A couple of them definitely were. They were read option and option play where he kept the ball. Yeah. Okay. But yeah, all right. So Chuba Hubbard would be basically a must start. He had 24 carries and five catches last week.

And the Vikings gave up 4.76 yards per carry to running backs. My notes, I did all the, you know, here's what the running backs have done, and I just highlighted their bad against running backs. So that is how I'd sum it up. DJ Moore bounced back this week? Yeah.

Yeah, he's not getting shadowed by Darius Slay. I think volume will be there for him. Chance of another 100-yard game with 7-plus catches, something like that. Darius Slay might be a guy that we start sitting receivers against. Expecting a little more, yeah. Let's see who they got next week. The Raiders.

Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Sit rugs. What else? That's it, right? Tommy Tremble, sit. Which DST do you like better, Carolina or Minnesota? Carolina.

I think I have Minnesota's higher. All right. Nope. I've got Carolina's higher. Kansas City is at Washington, last game here. I don't know if I can justify that. Would Mahomes be an easy start if Tyreek Hill does not play?

Yes. Yeah. You want to know what he did last time he didn't have Tyreek Hill? A billion yards? Well, he had a six-game stretch without Hill in 2019, if you include week one.

Hill got injured almost right away in week one. In those six games, he threw for 300 yards every... 315 or more yards in every game. However, he... That was when he hurt his ankle too, right? That was just before he hurt

his ankle. He did have two games where he... I'm sorry. I said six. There were five. Well, no. He hurt his ankle, but then he hurt his knee. Oh, okay. I'm sorry. Right said six, there were five. Well, no, he hurt his ankle, but then he hurt his knee. Oh, okay, I'm sorry. So, right, he hurt his knee against Denver. So 350 and more yards in all five games.

He had three huge fantasy games. He had two games with fewer than 20 points because he didn't get the touchdowns. And then late in the season, Hill left with an injury pretty early against the Chargers, and Mahomes had kind of a crummy game. He had scored just 16 points. So if you look at just fantasy, it was three brilliant games,

more than 30 points, three bad games, fewer than 20 points. If you do not get Tyreek Hill, would you start Nicole Hardman? Yes. Yes. Would he be better than, say,

Kadarius Toney? No. But he'd be better than... He, Kadarius Toney? No, but he'd be better than... He'd be close to top 30. Darrell Williams we've spoken about quite a bit. Start him. And McLaurin is an easy start. Love McLaurin.

We love McLaurin this week, right? McLaurin's an easy start. Gibson's an easy start. Ricky Seals-Jones is a tight end streamer if you're stuck. Obviously, you're starting Gibson because he scored in three straight games and he's good. But if there's anything that concerns me here, it's like, what if they just have to throw, throw, throw?

What if they fall behind? He's still not involved in the passing game almost at all. It's two catches a game. Right. It's a total possibility. There are three or five games he has 14 or fewer carries. I can't make a case to sit him but I am probably not going to play him in DFS because I see

a downside. I agree. I agree and I think he's closer to a top 15 fantasy running back than he is a top 12. So who's the best running back in this game? It's Gibson, but it's not by a lot. And then McKissick,

you know, this team, the chiefs, they give up a ton of receiving yards, six most receiving fifth, most receiving yards to running backs. And I don't know. It just,

there's no rhyme or reason with him. With McKissick. Well, I mean, if you feel that the game is going to get sideways for the Washington football team, which it clearly could, then McKissick's a good flex play in PPR. Yeah, but they got blown out by the Bills. And he had two catches for 15 yards. You know? Different defense, though.

Oh, yeah. Big time. And you got Curtisuel banged up and it's a good spot to buy into mckissick if you if you want to or you need to yeah he he's i i don't know what they said on the dfs podcast but i imagine he's kind of a sneaky absolutely sneaky play his price is very affordable on draft kings he's in my draft kings lineup okay and that's it ricky seals jones is actually top 15 he had nine targets Absolutely. Sneaky play. His price is very affordable on DraftKings. He's in my DraftKings lineup. Okay. And that's it. Ricky Seals-Jones is actually top 15.

He had nine targets last week against the Saints. The Chiefs allow the fourth most fantasy points to tight ends. They faced some good ones, though. Yeah. But, yeah. The Chiefs have allowed 57 or more yards to five tight ends in five games. That's Najoku, Andrews, both Eagles, and Dawson Knox. I want to see the Chiefs. both Eagles, and Dawson Knox. I want to see the Chiefs. The Chiefs are two and three.

I want to see them step up. I feel like a big game's coming here. It's a good stretch for them coming up. That's it for the show, guys. Thanks for listening, everyone. Good luck. We will see you. We got a mailbag show

that airs Saturday in the podcast feed, Friday on YouTube. And we've got the HQ at 9 a.m. on Sunday and the live stream at 1130 a.m. right here on YouTube. So enjoy your weekend, everybody. And for Dave and Jamie, I'm Adam. Good luck. Yeah, you got it right. We'll talk. Yeah, but I called you Jave.

I called you guys Jave earlier because I didn't know who to go to. So that happened. All right, we're out of here. See ya. For a limited time, switch to Shopify Point of Sale and you could save up to 20% and improve your bottom line. We're so serious about savings, we've made this ad 20% shorter. That means you get six seconds back. Just enough time to visit shopify.com slash POS20. Now that's an efficient ad. Eligibility requirements apply. See shopify.com slash POS20 for details.