Fantasy Football Today - Waiver Wire and 2022 Talk (01/04 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: January 4, 2022

Was your Fantasy championship decided on the Najee Harris TD run? If so, what a way to win or lose! We'll talk about the Browns-Steelers game and then get into the waiver wire with the top priorities for Week 18 (14:00) ... News and notes (22:40) and then a look at the QBs (25:10) and RBs (28:40) you could be adding on the waiver wire. Trey Lance or Tyler Huntley? Le'Veon Bell or Jaret Patterson? How are we approaching the Eagles backfield? ... On to WRs (33:00), TEs (41:00) and DSTs (42:40). K.J. Osborn and Gabriel Davis could still be available. Which Bucs WR do we like? And at TE, should you add Gerald Everett or Cole Kmet? ... 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. One last waiver wire show or just a victory lap. Congratulations. And you know fantasy championships were decided on that Najee Harris run. That was pretty exciting stuff. We're going to start with that game.

Not from the other side of it. But it was exciting. I mean, just from a neutral standpoint, I had nothing riding on that game. It was exciting. I was texting with our buddy Darst, our colleague, and he had Deontay Johnson and his opponent had Najee Harris, and they were in a dogfight the whole game. And in the fourth quarter, his opponent with Najee pulled ahead by about a point.

And the way it was playing out, you know, the Steelers had the lead. This is not looking good for you. They're just going to run it. They're going to run it. And they get the ball back. Let Ben throw. Just let him throw one more time. And Najee breaks off that run.

And I said to him, man, oh, wow. Look at this graphic we have here. Anyway, I said, at least you didn't lose on that play because he was down like two points before that touchdown run. But I don't know, Jamie. You know what? That was a pretty sweet way to cap off the fantasy season. Well, I mean, for most people. Obviously, there are people playing in Week 18.

But yeah, again, unless you're on the other side of it. I tweeted when it happened. I'm sure he decided many fantasy titles, and I got a flood of other side of it. I tweeted when it happened. I'm sure he decided many fantasy titles, and I got a flood of both sides of it. Him ruining people's nights and saving people's nights. So that happens. It certainly could have gone the other way if Nick Chubb had gotten the touchdown instead of Harrison Bryant

and the late score there for the Browns also. For a lot of people that were relying on Nick Chubb, that probably pissed a lot of people off also. For a lot of people that were relying on Nick Chubb, that probably pissed a lot of people off also or saved a lot of people. So, yeah, we'll see. We'll see if there's any crazy moments in week 18, probably from some very unknown places based on some of the teams that could be resting, guys. Yeah.

Yeah. Do you feel, Dave, I'll throw this to you. Do you feel like this is a more... This week 18, do you feel like is the most normal week 18 we've had? No, just in terms of players resting. I mean, we don't have that many seeds decided. And we might have a fairly normal week.

Does it feel that way to you? Or do you think there's going to be a lot of benchings? I think a little bit will depend on what happens in the Chiefs game. Basically, once the Chiefs win, there's going to be a couple of teams that probably won't even bother. They shouldn't even bother trying to play their guys. Actually, there's only one, the Bills, or the Bengals, rather.

The Bills have something to play for. So they might rest their guys. And I think the Eagles are getting in line to rest their guys after the COVID outbreak that they had on Monday. But every other team, like the Packers, Aaron Rodgers is talking like he's going to play, he wants to play. Mike McCarthy said the Cowboys are going to play their guys. Bruce Arian said the Bucks are going to play their guys. It does seem like pretty much everybody's going to play. You've got to watch out for the Bengals and the Eagles. That's it.

I'd be very surprised if the Packers played more than a half and maybe not even a quarter. It just makes absolutely no sense for them to play their guys well. I agree, but when Aaron Rodgers is talking like he's talking, you've got to give it some... Well, I mean, there's obviously some gamesmanship involved. He kind of indicated last night that he wouldn't have an issue sitting as well. I just think it's stupid if they play their guys. They have nothing to prove, nothing to play for.

Get to the playoffs healthy. Last thing you want to do is see somebody from the Packers get hurt, and that could ruin what looks like the best team in the NFL right now. Yeah, after the game, they had a lot of quotes, but LeFleur said it kind of felt like a long time to be off. So it felt like one of those let's play them for a quarter, play them for a half situation. Yeah, I think that's all you'll see them.

If they play a full game, that's just stupid. Probably, yeah. They have locked up the one seed. I don't know how many teams have locked up a seed in general. I know teams have clinched. The Bills were locked into the four. Okay. So the Bills don't have anything to play for?

Who? The Bills don't have anything to play for? The? The Bills don't have anything to play for? The Bills have to win the division. They could fall to the five. I'm sorry. The Bills can fall to the five. They can't move up. Oh, okay, okay.

So Buffalo at best will be the four if they win. The Patriots will be the five if they win, unless the Bills lose. Then they're the four. The Rams and the Cardinals can swap spots and fall anywhere from two to four and the packers are locked into the one the titans win they're the one and like dave said if the chiefs win the best the bangles can do is the two i'm sorry no the chiefs win the bangles locked into three well I'm going to give the Chiefs some advice.

You should lose and get the three seed so the Chargers don't kick your ass in the first round and upset you and bounce you from the playoffs after they beat the Raiders on Sunday night. You heard it here first. A half-hearted prediction that I think could actually happen. It would be scary, I think, for the Chiefs to face the Chargers. I think I want to get this correctly. Let me make sure I got it.

I think if the Colts lose to the Jaguars, which I believe they're 2-2 against them in the last two seasons, then if the Chargers and Raiders tie, they're both in. They're both in. Yes. They have to... The Colts have to lose

to the Chargers for that to happen, to the Jaguars for that to happen. Right. Yeah. And then they play Sunday night so they could just say,

hey, why don't we just... Why don't we just tie? We both get in. Everybody's happy, right? How crazy would that be? We just saw the game that everybody's waiting to see last game of the regular season they just take knees across the

board hopefully you don't have any fantasy uh fantasy implications there all right let's uh let's go to pittsburgh 26 and cleveland 14 uh how do you throw 34 to i don't have the numbers in front of me with 34 times for less than 100 yards in the first half. Was that Roethlisberger? Oh, okay. I thought you were talking about the whole game. The whole game was 46 times. They both did 38 times.

They were both under 185 passing. It was really a pretty bad display of quarterbacking. Dave, give me a fantasy takeaway from this game. The Steelers have a lot of work to do in their passing game going into the offseason. Roethlisberger's out the door. Mason Rudolph isn't the answer. They're going to have to find somebody else

to redeem the values of Deontay Johnson, Chase Claypool, and Pat Fryermuth moving forward. Oh, and they also need a whole new offensive line, basically. Not all five spots, but a lot of them. I wonder how people are going to view Najee Harris. He's obviously in the discussion as a first round pick, but the yards per carry so bad, but last night it was so good.

He had had some, some pretty weak games, a couple of them lately, but right now, is he a top 12 guy for you overall next year? Yes. He is, just to give you a sneak peek, we are doing our position previews on HQ for 2022. And today we're revealing our top 10 running backs.

And he is a top, I think, 8 guy for all of us. Myself, Dave, and Heath. Yeah, I got him 7th. Ben Roethlisberger, eight guy for all of us. Myself, Dave, and Heath. Yeah, I got him seventh. Ben Roethlisberger, by the way, first half, 34 pass attempts for 96 yards. How is that possible? I mean, how is that possible? That's horrible.

There was a lot of, it's third and seven, and let's throw it two yards. Oh, that's, all year they've been doing that. Right. It's third and seven, and let's throw it two yards. Oh, that's all year they've been doing that. Right. It's incredible. Yeah, you're right about Nick Chubb not scoring that goal line touchdown play action. They throw to Harrison Bryant. I couldn't believe that.

And Chubb, you sit there. You can't believe the whole game. He's not getting more work, and their game plan was so ridiculous, but he was dealing with it. Oh, Danny Manning was screaming about it. It was a third. Yeah, actually, my dad texted me and told me the announcers were bothering him because they were being too negative. I said, no, you don't understand that the Browns deserve this criticism.

But Chubb has had injured ribs. What's that? Yeah, he got hurt during the game. We didn't know that at the time. But, yes, he had injured ribs. And Dearness Johnson, maybe, since they've been eliminated, Dearness Johnson 36%. Maybe it's eliminated. Dearness Johnson, 36%. Maybe it's his turn in Week 18.

But, all right. Anything, I mean, Jamie, if you have Baker Mayfield in a Dynasty League, you give him a pass for what we've seen the last half of the season because he is obviously playing hurt. I mean, I guess you give him a slight pass, but I think you've got to see what happens. There was the report, I think it was last week, about them bringing competition for him. So clearly there's frustration, and understandably so, with his performance.

And yes, you could chalk it up to injury, but he hasn't taken the step forward. And you could say he regressed with the coaching staff from year one to year two. You thought you saw some strides in year three in terms of what he performed, the way he performed last year and getting them in the playoff run. But, you know, it's, it's pretty clear that they need some help with the receiving core. You know, they, they need a legitimate number one guy. They don't have that Jarvis Landry is not that option. So I think that'll certainly help. And I'm sure they thought that that was Odell Beckham, but in any event, a this falls on Baker and so he's gotta he's gotta improve so as a dynasty option um no I'm

not satisfied with what I have in him as a starter in a one quarterback league but in a two quarterback or super reflexly yes I still think he's he's a starter in that format what are the odds that he stays the starter in Cleveland 95 percent Yeah, I think so. All right. QBs don't grow on trees. I don't think that it's like 50% or 60% or something like that. I don't know if I'd go 95%. By the way.

Who are they getting? I don't know. They'd have to see what other options are available to them or if they draft somebody, but I don't know. They're not picking high enough to get one of these guys. That's true. Unless they trade up. I don't know if they can. And they're not picking high enough to get one of these guys. That's true, unless they trade up. I don't know. I just don't know if they can win with Baker,

so they're going to be stuck in the middle. And that's always a bad place to be. You either want to rebuild, get it over with, and start to look toward the future, or you want to try and make a splash move. And I don't know if they can. Well, the argument for Baker is that he played very well down the stretch last season,

carried them into the playoffs, won them a playoff game, and you could blame the injury. I don't know who could be successful with these wide receivers, but yeah, obviously, for a number one overall pick, it's not great right now. By the way, Nick Chubb, I want to guess right now, as of after week 17, where he ranks per game in PPR. RB what?

14. 15. 12. And who's number one? Per game? Yep. Is this among everybody? So it could be someone like McCaffrey who didn't play? Correct.

Derek Henry. Derek Henry. Derek Henry. Oh, okay. Henry, Taylor, Eckler, Fournette, McCaffrey. There's your top five in PPR per game scoring. Well, all right. Let's tell you about DFS. Because if you're not playing fantasy football anymore

because your season's over or you lost or whatever, and even if your league's playing into Week 18, you can play as many DFS lineups as you want. And the best way to get ready for that is through the Fantasy Football Today DFS podcast with Frank Stample, Sia Najad, and Mike McClure. These are experts in the field. They know what they're talking about. They'll help you set great lineups, help you win some money.

So check out the Fantasy Football Today DFS podcast. Here's another thing to check out. Our social media team put together an amazing music video. If you're watching on YouTube, you'll be able to see it. Or just go to youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday and check it out in our podcast. And if you're just listening at home, you'll be able to enjoy it anyway. So we're going to take about a minute and a half.

Check out this amazing production from our CBS sports social team. I missed my niece's birthday, but I'm sure she'll understand. I was watching red zone with a cell phone in my hand, updated injury lists, checking out tight ends on the waiver wire. I grew this playoff stash to win a bunch of cash. My wife thinks it's disgusting, but she's probably jealous. I'm a fantasy champion.

Torturing losers week by week. And I'm a fantasy champion. I make my best friend cry when I feel the fight within. Fantasy. Champion. I'm the perfect combination of luck and research. Fantasy. Champion.

I'm the great I.E.J. You rock this gun under the bleacher. I'm the miscom.K. Your rock has come under the bleak. I'm the Miss Lombardi of every draft party. Fantasy. Champion. Champion. is outstanding isn't it awesome it was great way to go man for all the people who worked on that congratulations a real a smash hit all right now for the reason why we're here today let's talk about the waiver wire for fantasy week 18 and jam, who are the top guys we're looking at?

Oh, it's a great list. I think you got to start. The receivers are the better options. You know, the best running back, which, you know, this is kind of a lot of if this guy doesn't play or if the situation doesn't happen. But the receivers, I think, you know, if you still find KJ Osborne, you go back to him. It was great if you started him and he scored for you last week. But most likely, Kirk Cousins is back and it's a good matchup against the Bears. So I like him

the best. He just meets the threshold. After him, I think, you know, you look at some of these guys who have been in some very good situations lately and playing well. Um, the next guy I would actually go to would be Cyril Grayson, uh, just with the opportunity to step in for, uh, Antonio Brown, not being there and Chris Godwin, not there. Um, you know, he obviously stepped up last week, but he's got at least 81 yards in each of the last two games. He had 81 yards against the Panthers two games ago when there was no Godwin, no Evans. So I think he's worth buying into as a, as a starter and three receiver league. And then the next two guys are kind of tied to other players. So Braxton Berrios and Zay Jones have been playing very well. But does Elijah Moore and Jameson Crowder come back this week?

And what does that mean for Berrios? And does the return of Darren Waller sort of put a damper on what Zay Jones has been? So I think they're worth picking up just because we don't know what's going to happen with those two scenarios. But those two would be the next two options for me. Well, why not Elijah Moore? Would you pick him up? He's about 60%. I just don't know if he's going to play. You obviously could pick him up and just, you know, we'll see what his health factor is.

But if you're looking at the Jets receivers right now, obviously, at least the way I would approach it is, you know, going with a hot hand of Berrios. So let me ask you this. Who would you rank higher? Elijah Moore if he plays or Braxton Barrios if Moore and Crowder don't play? Barrios.

Okay. Dave, why don't you give us some running backs? Actually, it's a pretty good week for running backs, I think.

You've got the Tampa Bay situation. You've got the Philadelphia situation. You've got Jared Patterson potentially. So who do you like at running back? Well, there's a lot of if-then situations at running back. So you've just got to keep in mind that what we tell you now

might not necessarily be what's accurate come Tuesday night, Wednesday night, or even Saturday night. So a lot of moving parts. Le'Veon's at the top of the list for me, and it feels gross. All these names feel gross because there's a lot of uncertainty. You just don't know which running back is going to get the big opportunity. But we know that Keyshawn Vaughn got nicked up. We know that Ronald Jones hurt himself.

If those guys are out, even with Giovanni Bernard coming back, you've got to think Le'Veon Bell has a chance to be a part-time back in this Tampa Bay offense, and it's a great matchup. So he's at the top of the list for me. If there's no Antonio Gibson, Jarrett Patterson, he might even jump ahead of Le'Veon Bell, honestly, just because if there's no Gibson, the matchup against the Giants should be really good for him. And then there's just like a bunch of names that are just okay. There's Ogumbo Wale.

He's ahead of Duke Johnson. He's out of Rex Burkhead. The guy that would be toward the very top of this running back list, and maybe the must add, would be Kenneth Gainwell. And that's if we knew for sure that he would be the guy dominating carries and catches for Philadelphia. But even if he is, if Boston Scott, Jordan Howard, we know they're on the COVID list.

If they're out, they don't play. And the Cowboys do decide to play their starters on both sides of the football. It's going to be a bunch of backups in Philly running against the starters for Dallas. I don't know how good Gainwell will be. So there could be a good opportunity for him. We don't know how many touches he'll actually get. We don't know who else will be healthy in that Philadelphia backfield. So it's one that I'm just not so sure,

and I'm not confident to say that Gainwell is going to save your week 18. You got a couple other guys, too. You have Samadji Pirine. It's a very similar situation to the Eagles. Most likely, if the Chiefs win, I would imagine Joe Mix and Joe Burrow, the receivers, are probably sitting. So Pirine could be the lead running back there. But again, you're talking about backups versus starters.

But it's also the Browns probably resting a couple of guys also just based on injuries and not having their full complement of defensive guys out there so p ryan could be in a good spot in that scenario um deeper leagues you can look at patrick taylor uh i would guess again if the packers start to pull guys off the field they're pulling off aaron jones and a.j dillon and we saw in mop-up duty against the Vikings, Taylor had six carries. So, you know, he's the next man up. So that's a good opportunity for him in deeper leagues. Dave mentioned Agumboale. I actually think Rex Burkhead's in a better spot just because of what he did

in the passing game last week with six catches. That was impressive. So hopefully that continues if David Johnson's out again. But I think even if David Johnson does come back, I don't think he has a role. And then you have the situation with the Jets in deeper leagues also. If they go back to Tevin Coleman, which would be my guess, if he clears the COVID protocol, Carter's in the concussion protocol. Robert Sala saying they're hopeful to get him back.

It's not a good situation based on matchup, but at least you know that he's gotten the work in the three games that Carter missed with the ankle injury earlier. He had 14 or more touches in two of those three games. Are we sure that Pirine would get a lot of work? Or would they go right to Chris Evans? I don't know what they would do. I would just assume that they'd go

with Pirine based on how they've operated. Yeah, but they've used Pirine with Mixon in meaningful games. I wonder if they would rest him too and just give the rookies. Yeah. Welcome to week 18. A lot to sort out.

This is why we don't play fantasy in week 18 in our leagues. And it's so weird. You know, for the Cowboys, for example. I mean, they said they're going to play, but. Or for the Bills, you know, for the Patriots. Do the teams really care if they have the four or the five seed? Well, the Patriots are talking about a home game versus a road game. All right.

So the Bills are absolutely playing their guys. Yes. That's true. The Cowboys, I mean, look, you have a chance to. Now, it's obviously you're asking for a lot of help in this regard, maybe not so much from the Rams' perspective because they have a tough game against the 49ers, but you are asking the Panthers to beat the Bucks in Tampa to help you move up a spot.

Now, I think for Dallas, for example, why I think they're going to play by comparison to the Packers, even though, you know, they're probably going to get locked into the four seat. They're struggling right now. So you'd like to go out and put a good performance on.

It might not be four quarters, but you probably expect to see them out there more so than the Packers, at least the way I would approach it. So the Eagles are interesting because they, they can move up a spot that could be locked into the sixties, but I don't know how much that matters six or seven you know just uh on on how you're approaching things from philadelphia's perspective i think you want to be healthy so the fact that they had 12 guys placed on the covet list i think kind of forced their hand because they're not gonna be

able to practice with these guys this week and they play saturday so those guys have less time to come back and they still can clear they can clear by Friday. Could have them out there, but again, why would you take a chance? We've seen how some of these guys coming back from COVID have performed. I don't know if Philadelphia wants to have that going in the playoffs if somebody's less than 100%. Right now, if the playoffs started today, Tampa Bay

is the three seed, and they would face the six seed, which is San Francisco. Who wants to play San Francisco right now if Garoppolo comes back healthy? I mean, you know, and San Francisco could miss the playoffs. This is the one spot that's up for grabs. It's either going to be San Francisco or New Orleans. The Niners are in with a win.

If they lose and the Saints win, the Saints get in. The Saints, I guess, would get the seventh seed, and Philadelphia would move up to the sixth seed, although I don't know what would happen if they both finished 9-8 if Philadelphia lost on Saturday night. But, yeah, I mean, wouldn't you rather – how much would you rather play the Saints than the 49ers? You know?

A lot. The Rams or the Bucs? I think if you're – the Bucs, I don't think they care based on how they got to where they got last year, having to go on the road for three straight games. So I don't think that they're looking at it like, oh, we want to play this team versus that team. I would imagine, though, both of those teams, Rams and Bucs respectively,

would like to avoid a division opponent for the third straight time. I guess I should say the Bucs don't really play the Saints very well. So maybe they are the one team that would rather face the 49ers than the Saints. But I hope we get the Niners in the playoffs because they could really make some noise, you know, and I think they probably need Garoppolo back. But that does bring us to the waiver wire and Trey Lance, and we'll talk about it in a minute.

Let's do some news and notes. Julio Jones is off the reserve COVID list. He is 71% rostered in his last two games, which he was not healthy. He had a combined one catch on two targets. Would anybody consider starting Julio Jones this week? No. Desperation flex play.

Darren Waller is expected to play Sunday night against the Chargers. I'd start him. Yeah. But their slot cornerback, Nate Hobbs, was arrested for DUI. So don't know about his status for this game. Philadelphia will not have Miles Sanders back this week. They're hopeful to have him back for the playoffs.

And as we've already mentioned, Dallas Goddard is on the COVID list. Boston Scott, Jordan Howard, defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. I mean, it's a host of starters. Center of that offense line. Yeah, it's a really, I mean, it was almost all of their best players, basically, going on the COVID list. And they get the Cowboys at home on Saturday night. Derrick Henry could practice this week.

He's not going to play this week, but he could practice in hopes of getting them back. If they win at Houston, they have the one seed, they get a bye, and then maybe you see Derrick Henry in their first playoff game. Scary. Very scary. Yeah. Michael Carter, concussion. They're hoping to have him back. We'll see if he clears. their first playoff game. Scary. Very scary. Michael Carter, concussion.

They're hoping to have him back. We'll see if he clears. Elijah Moore has a chance to play. He's 61% rostered. Mike Glennon is out, so it's going to be Jake Fromm. So Washington's DST is going to be a popular ad this week. The Giants have given up, I think, 24 points or 24 or more points to DSTs in two straight games,

depending on your scoring. It's pretty crazy. Hold on. It's, uh, it's at least 24 in the last two, at least 17 in the last three, and at least eight in one,

two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine straight games.

Yeah. They're the best matchup right now. Yes. Um, and then there's a bunch of like offensive line injuries. Also, obviously, you know,

Ronald Jones has an ankle injury, but also Keyshawn Vaughn hurt his ribs. So both those guys out right now, but hopefully they can get back in time. One thing I did not realize is that Rashad Penny rushed for 137 yards in the first half. I knew he had a huge game, but 137 in the first half. Holy cow.

Drew Locke expected to start for Denver. Michael Gallup torn ACL. And no Bobby Wagner this week for Seattle. All right, so let's just do the waiver wire. We won't do the top three at each position. We'll just break down the positions here. And let's get to the quarterback. So Trey Lance, Jamie facing the Rams,

who have given up one touchdown pass in their last five games. Do you expect the, you know, the Rams defense or an easier matchup basically for Lance, if he's quarterbacking this week? I don't think there's, well, first off, there's not a really good quarterback streamer for this week just because

the, all the, the top options have tough matchups, you know? So the thing you're hoping for Lance is that what he showed you in the second half last week and, you know so the thing you're hoping for Lance is that what he showed you in the second half last week and you know the system um helps him get to a a certain point I'm gonna guess 18 to 20 fantasy points is probably where he'll be 22 points was what he had last week and that was his best game so far so he's run for 31 yards in each of his three appearances I'm gonna guess

he's in that range again. So that gives him at least a decent floor. If you can limit the turnovers, you know, you're probably talking about, like I said, an 18 to 20 point day at best. So not a huge ceiling, but, you know, we're talking about some of the guys who may be sitting. If Aaron Rodgers sits, if Joe Burrow sits, you know, and you're trying to find a pivot play,

I'll take my chances with a running quarterback in this offense over some of the other stiffs that are out there. And those other stiffs would include? Well, I don't know if these are all stiffs, but Tyler Huntley, Gardner Minshew, Taylor Heineke, and you could gamble on Jordan Love. I'll throw Mac Jones out there. I don't know how much we expect the Patriots to play.

Oh, no, we say they're going to play. Mac Jones coming off a huge game. He's been every other game good, and I don't think that the Dolphins' defense is as bad as it looked. I mean, they didn't really give up a lot of plays in the passing game, so their secondary is still good. So I don't think Mac Jones has a huge

game. Alright, so it's Lance, Huntley, Minshew, Heineke, Jordan Love. Dave, you want to comment on these guys? Lance is number one. I do think Mac Jones has a chance to have a safe game, maybe somewhere between 17 and 21 fantasy

points. If you take out the win game in Buffalo, he's giving you at least 20 in three of his past four games. That's really about it. There's a little bit of hope for Huntley and Andy Dalton, I guess, because of their matchups. There's not a lot to love once you get past Lance.

Could be fields this week too. I don't know. That's true. How much interest would you have in him against the Vikings? He would probably be the best of the group behind Lance, behind Lance. Yeah. I feel to be the best of this group for me.

You put him ahead of Lance. Okay. How about Garoppolo? if he plays at the Rams? No, I don't think Garoppolo does well in this matchup. Yeah, okay. I agree, because it's a tough matchup to begin with if you're not going to run the ball, and we don't know how his hand is going to feel.

Mm-hmm. All right, let's take a quick break here. We'll come back, and we'll talk about all the running backs you need to know and lay out the scenarios for you here on Fantasy Football today. Back to talk about waiver wire running backs. And, oh, I wish I had the Le'Veon Bell song. It's all right, I've got Le'Veon. Yeah, anyway, I hope you all remember it.

I'll try to find it and play it. Be a nice little encore. Also, is Giovanni Bernard coming back this week, Jamie? So there's a chance of it. Uh, Bruce Arian said that he could return. So that's just something to keep in mind when you're talking about Le'Veon Bell. And Vaughn hasn't been ruled out yet. You know, Ronald Jones probably not going to play.

Just the fact that he's going for an MRI on his ankle on, or he went for one on yesterday, on Monday. Um, but Vaughn could play through the rib injury, so it could be a messy backfield. So that's why I don't think these running backs are great. I think what Dave said makes a lot of sense about jared patterson i feel the same way that if we find out gibson's out then patterson is the best running back this week so just look for him on your waiver you know the problem is like the audience that we're talking to is is so small that i would imagine a lot of people that played in week 17 picked up jared patterson

so bell might be the best of the guys who are out there. Yeah. Okay. Bell's 7% rostered. Patterson is 20% rostered. These roster percentages don't mean much these days. And then, yeah, you could even have Keyshawn Vaughn. Let's say Keyshawn Vaughn played. Would you guys like him? Love him?

I'd like him a lot. I would like him better than Le'Veon. Sure. If Keyshawn Vaughn plays and Gio plays and Gio practices all week, I don't know if Le'Veon sees the field that much. Vaughn would be my favorite running back to add. Right. So it's like we always do this on Tuesday.

It's not a bad move if you're in your league and you lost Ronald Jones and that's the guy you've been starting to pick up both Bucs guys. So you can pick up all three Bucs guys if you want to. We're going to keep our eye on the Bengals' backfield. Jamie has Samaj P. Ryan listed here just in case Joe Mixon sits. Remember, if the Chiefs win on Saturday, then the Bengals game, it's meaningless? Bengals are locked into the three. If the Chiefs win?

Yes. Correct. Okay. Technically, they have an outside shot at the one, I believe. They do. They have an outside shot at the one if both the Titans and the Chiefs lose. Right. If the Chiefs win, then that's done.

Why? They can't get the two? They don't have a head-to-head tiebreaker over Tennessee? I guess they could. They can't get the two if they win and the Titans lose. About the same theory, right? Unless it's the three-way tiebreakers. What's the difference?

Well, they'd have the three versus the two seed. Yeah, but they'd all be tied then. No, if the Chiefs won. I'm sorry, then the Titans and the Bengals would be tied then. Yeah, I don't know who has the tiebreaker in the two-way scenario. I'm going to guess the Titans probably. No. No, the Cincinnati's 8-3 in the conference

and Tennessee's 7-4. They didn't play each other, if I recall. I don't think so. No. I guess they can play for the two if they want. Yeah, all right. So if the Chiefs win on Saturday, then the Cincinnati could still theoretically get the two seed.

They would need Tennessee to lose to Houston, and they would have to beat Cleveland. Okay. Anyway, we'll see how much they're invested in that. Like I said, there's no buy get the two seed. They would need Tennessee to lose to Houston, and they would have to beat Cleveland. Okay. Anyway, let's see how much they're invested in that. Like I said, there's no buy for the two, so I don't know what their incentive is, how much they want to go for it. What do we got here? We got Gainwell, obviously.

And Boston Scott might still be available. Jordan Howard might still be available. So you see how that one plays out, but you could pick up Kenneth Gainwell because those guys have to come off the COVID list on Friday for a game on Saturday, and they might rest them anyway, so it could be a lot of Gainwell. Patrick Taylor for the Packers.

Rex Burkhead, Tevin Coleman, Daria Gunbowale. Those are the last three on the list. Dave, any thoughts on you like Daria better than Burkhead and Coleman? I do. It's just because we know that he's going to figure to be the main guy and he'll work in the passing game a little bit. He wasn't impressive. He had a nice catch and run for a touchdown last

week and it was late, but I don't know. I think he's got a chance to probably get the most. I don't know about the most touches because Rex could get the most, but I don't like the matchup for Burkhead. I want to say to be honest, Darius split with right ball. Armstrong. Let's see what for Burkett. I don't like the other guy, to be honest. Darry split with Reichwald-Armstead.

I want to see what the snap counts for. I've got the percentage. He played significantly more, but the touches are about the same. 67% for Agumbo-Wall-A, 28% for Armstead. Any interest in Duke Johnson against the Patriots? No. A little bit. I thought he looked okay last week, but it's still going to be a multi-pronged rushing attack.

Maybe you get lucky and he gets a little bit more work than what he had last week. And we've got a potential scenario where we're talking about Austin Walter and Ty Johnson later in the week if neither Carter nor Coleman can play. All right, to the wide receivers. K.J. Osborne, 62% rostered. This is contingent on Cousins playing.

I know we caught a touchdown with Mannion, but you would not start him against Mannion, I'm assuming? I would not start him against Mannion, no. With Mannion? I might start him against Mannion. With Mannion, no. He would not be trustworthy, but I would be very surprised if Cousins doesn't play.

Yeah. Okay. And then you've got Braxton Berrios. You've got Cyril Grayson. Now, Grayson is more of a deep threat. He's got a pretty high A-dot. He does have two straight games with 81 yards. So why would it not be Ty Tyler Johnson?

Who's, you know, been pretty solid when he's had, you know, his six to seven targets and he had four for 50 on six targets and he could have, he almost had a touchdown at the jets. So why are we favoring Grayson over Ty Johnson?

I think Brady's locked in with Grayson right now. Seems to like him a lot. Bruce seems to like him a lot. So we'll see. I mean, Ty Johnson, Tyler Johnson could be fairly safer. I think you're still looking at Mike Evans and Rob Gronkowski dominating targets,

so that's the main part of this. But the Bucs have to start to figure out what they have, more so for the playoffs. And I think Grayson's kind of developed a little bit of a niche and a rapport with Brady right now, so I'll buy into him more than Tyler Johnson. He's an interesting story, too. He didn't play college football.

He was a track star at LSU, 4'3 speed, bounced around practice squads for a few years, and now he's just getting an opportunity with the greatest quarterback of all time on a team that's headed to the playoffs. So this one's a lot of fun. I love the fact that he can stretch the field and Brady can get him the ball downfield, so that explosiveness makes him appealing to me. Hey, Dave, remember on Sunday night, somebody said the three best wide receivers in the NFL

are all from LSU. We couldn't figure out who the third was. Maybe this is the third. Cyril Grayson was the guy. Cyril Grayson. Zay Jones. Jamie already mentioned the problem here for Zay Jones. He's getting a lot of targets,

and he had 120 yards at the Colts, but Darren Waller's coming back this week, and that could put a damper on things. That probably puts him in the flex at best range. So then why not just play it safe and go with Jacoby Myers, 52% rostered? You kind of know if the Patriots are playing to win, which I think they will be, trying to get that division title, you know what you're getting from Myers.

You've got a pretty good floor there, and he's coming off a great game, but coming off two great games, right? No. Better lately, though. Anyway. How about this? He's giving you at least 10 PPR points in each of his last four games that weren't played

in Hurricane Simulator. Right. So that's the safe floor that you're talking about. PPR points in each of his last four games that weren't played in a hurricane simulator. Right. So that, that's the safe floor that you're talking about. It's rare when he scores. I know he scored last week and it also feels rare when he gets more than six catches in a game.

And he did that last week too. But if you're looking for someone that can get you 10 to 12 PPR at minimum, I think he can do that. The dolphins are, you know, They can get you 10 to 12 PPR at minimum. I think he can do that. The Dolphins are not bad against the pass, obviously, but they're not great against slot-wide receivers. They give up the ninth most receiving yards to slot-wide receivers. Jamie, how do you feel about Marquez Calloway with 97 or more yards in two of his last three games and facing the Falcons?

And those two games have come with Taysom Hill. It seems as if, remember last year when Taysom was leaning on Michael Thomas? He's done that now with Marcus Callaway. And it's been fun to see. You know, it's unfortunate that it happened so late in the season because, you know, Callaway was somebody we had high expectations for

after a strong preseason. But this has become Taysom's guy. And it's, you know, too little too late. But for this week, if you still need him, I think it's worth trusting because the targets have been consistent. The production's been consistent. And so matchup's good i think calloway's in a good spot so uh who do you like better next season michael thomas or calvin ridley who's the quarterback for each team

gosh i don't know matt ryan and uh tasem hill i guess i don't know. Matt Ryan and, uh, Taysom Hill, I guess. I don't know if Michael Thomas is on the saints. Uh, it's fair point. There's also a chance maybe Russell Wilson's on the saints too.

So, um, I think if it's Taysom Hill and Michael Thomas and Matt Ryan and Calvin Ridley, I'll go back to Calvin Ridley. Okay. Yeah. It was tough to leave Michael Thomas off top 10 wide receiver list for next year. Sure.

You can't lose sight of what he was before this year. But then I thought, is he just saying Mark Lee? Is he just broken down? What did you say? There's a chance that he could just continue to deal with injuries and never be the guy that he once was. If you're in mega deep leagues, Laquan Treadwell, he's like Jacoby Myers, basically.

Yeah, I'm writing this now, and it's the same thing. Yeah. I don't think he's got the upside of Myers, though. Not that either one has great upside. I mean, you take away the touchdown last week, it's the same numbers for the last month. Yeah, it's pretty remarkably consistent for Treadwell.

And Sed Wilson filling in for Michael Gallup. He had a touchdown last week. And Antoine Wesley seems to... I don't have the numbers, Dave. I don't know if you could quickly look this up, but I feel like in the last three games without Hopkins, Wesley might lead the team in end zone targets. I feel like in the last three games without Hopkins, Wesley might lead the team in end zone targets. I feel like he's getting the DeAndre Hopkins treatment.

He lines up on the left side. He goes in the end zone, and Kyler Murray throws it to him. I think it's absolutely what he's been doing. He's got three touchdowns in the three games without Hopkins. Oh, so he must have some end zone targets. Yeah, anyway. Facing Seattle. Last three games, Wesley has six end zone targets. Get the hell out of here.

That's incredible. In the last three weeks, the leader in end zone targets in the National Football League is a tie between Stefan Diggs and Antoine Wesley. wesley that's funny all right good stuff uh gabriel davis is still available 45 alan lazard 37 you guys want to take a look at them

uh yeah i didn't realize davis was so low absolutely okay i'll double check on that i could be wrong but he's got the jets laz Lazard. I'm not starting any Packers. I just do not think, well, maybe if Rogers, I don't know, but I just think like Lazard is too risky if they play a half. Uh,

yeah. Davis is 44% rostered. So yeah, he should be number one on those. Oh, all right. Hey, how about that?

Gabriel Davis, number one against the jets. Let's go. He had nine targets last week. Hey, Shrag, have you seen Billy Madison? Yeah, I have. I think we've talked about this. It's like the one movie I've seen.

I forget. Yeah, you haven't seen anything. You like it? Yeah, it's hilarious. Okay. I know you saw Tommy Boy within the last few years and you liked that one. Billy Madison was better. I think I'm set now.

Billy Madison is better than Happy Gilmore. Over the years, I've gone back and forth, but it's set in stone. It's Billy Madison. So just remind me. It's definitely sillier. It's just better. That's probably what makes it better

is that it's just so zany. All right, let's talk tight ends here. How's this week looking at tight end, Jamie? Not great. Really? There's not really a standout replacement option, but there are some guys that may have been dropped. You look at Tyler Higbee, good targets last week, you know,

not the greatest of matchups, but I think Van Jefferson, there was some talk about him getting benched in that game. There was some questions, did he get hurt? You know, it could have been after he had the, I think it was a tipped intercept or a missed catch that led to interception. But Higby, I think is kind of safe.

I'll go back to Jared Everett again. I don't think he's necessarily going to disappear, so I think he's also worth starting this week, so both those guys, depending on who you like better. Cole Komet, last time he faced Minnesota, had a very strong game. I think it was six catches for 71 yards, so he's worth looking into again. We'll see if the quarterback is there.

John Bates could be the starter for Washington in a good matchup against the Giants with Ricky Seals-Jones dealing with a concussion, and then if Kyle Pitts doesn't play because of the hamstring injury, you have Hayden Hurst, who could come off the COVID list and be a streamer in deep relief.

Cool. All right. So just to repeat the name, you got Higby, you've got Everett, Komet, John Bates, Hayden Hurst. Dave, you like anyone?

I like Everett the best of the group. I'm just not ready to trust Higby. He feels like one. He's like the Treadwell of tight ends where he can get you eight or nine PPR points. Maybe 10. That's okay if you're streaming, but I think Everett's got a little bit more upside.

He's had a lot of end zone opportunities over the last four weeks. Yeah, the problem is that his matchup is brutal because the Cardinals have actually done a really nice job against tight ends for the most part. They have.

And even though Hayden Hurst had a lot of, or sorry, Dalton Schultz had a lot of targets. I think he had six catches last week. He didn't really do

much with it. They've been great against tight ends for sure. And you know, it's tight end. Good luck to you out there.

So maybe you're going to have better luck streaming a DST. Jamie's got the Chiefs number one going up against the Broncos at home. Titans number two at Houston. The football team, their third. Let's move them up, Jamie. What do you think? Let's move them up to first.

I like the Chiefs better this week, but I can see the Washington football team ahead of the Titans. I've got them ahead of the Titans. Chiefs, Washington, Titans for me. Okay. And that's assuming you can't find the Colts who take on the Jaguars, and that's like the holy grail of DST matchups.

I don't think anyway. I think it's the Giants, honestly. Giants are the worst team in the NFL right now. At the very least, the Colts are a mix of a good defense taking on a very bad offense. How good is the Washington defense? Did the Giants score a touchdown last week? No, I don't think they did, right?

No. So that's four touchdowns in their last five games. And three of them in guard. I get it. I wonder if things will be a little better with from no no did you see from two weeks ago yeah it's terrible maybe he's gotten it back

together after a week of practice no they're probably just gonna end up to saquon 20 times again yeah they basically just went wildcat uh from how many yards did he throw for 25 yards he threw for yes oh when he Did he throw for 25 yards? He threw for 25 yards. Six of 17 for 20. Even Ben Roethlisberger's laughing at that stat line.

Yeah, that's incredible. You have to want Joe Judge fired, right? No, I don't want Joe Judge fired. Why? He's got more early draft picks? You know, this is a football thing. It's not just about the Giants. When an organization just spins through coaches,

it's not the coach. Okay? You know, this would be... Yeah, you need the GM gone, and you need the coach gone, too. The GM's gone. Bringing in a GM with the same coach is such a recipe for disaster.

They're not going to demand... From what I understand, they're not going to demand that the new GM keep Joe Judge. They are not going to fire... But they're not firing Joe Judge as part of the hiring search. They're not firing Joe Judge. If the GM wants to fire Joe Judge. They are not going to fire. They're not firing Joe Judge.

If the GM wants to fire Joe Judge, he'll be able to, from what I've read. He should. They are not going to fire him because I agree with it. I think Judge could be fine. I just think they need better players. Nobody could win.

Vince Lombardi could not win with this team right now. I don't disagree that he needs better players, but everything he says is such buffoonery that he just needs to go. The press conference was not a good look. Which one? The one two days ago was not a good look. But I don't know. I kind of like him. I don't think it's his fault. Now you know he's a bad coach. I don't know if I kind of like him. I don't think it's his fault.

Now you know he's a bad coach. I don't know if he's a bad coach. I don't know if he's a good coach. I don't know if he's a bad coach. It's tough to judge. Yeah, pun intended. It's tough to judge. But it would be Ben McAdoo two years fired,

Pat Shermer two years fired, Joe Judge two years fired. And it's just like maybe they did hire the right coach, and they just need to give him a little bit of time, especially when you hire a first-time head coach. But that's the thing with these bad organizations. They cycle through coaches, and it's not necessarily their fault. So I guess I don't have a strong point.

They hired the guy. Who's out there? Who's the coach? Who's out there that's going to be this great coach? I mean, if they're willing to leave. Yeah. So McDaniels would be certainly an upgrade. Another Patriots failure?

I mean, how many? They just did that with Judge. I think he's going to be much better in his second stint than he was in his first stint because he's learned from it. Maybe. I mean, if Jim Caldwell would take the job there, I think he would be suitable. Doug Peterson, if he would take the job there, I think he's learned from it. Maybe. I mean, if Jim Caldwell would take the job there, I think he would be suitable. Doug Peterson, if he would take the job there,

I think he's suitable. I don't know if Leslie Frazier in a second time around would be the right guy. But obviously, Todd Bowles, I think, would be good in his second time around, too. I don't know. And I get your point, too, Adam, because there isn't a great coaching candidate

that's out there right now well mcdaniel's is i i guess mcdaniel's is but he does have this stain of of being from the patriots and almost every single one of the patriots coaches end up i don't know if they're bad because coaches always go to bad teams right so it's not always their fault but you know you know what I'm saying. I mean, most of the coaches plucked from the Patriots fail. Yeah. So including McDaniels who had a pretty bad stint. Think about what happened to him after he left the Patriots

and went to Denver, struggled there, went to the Rams and got fired and then went back to the Patriots in the same year. And then he was going to take the job with the Col fired and then went back to the Patriots in the same year. And then he was going to take the job with the Colts and then ended up turning it down. I'm sure there are a lot of NFL owners that would be very hesitant to give the job to McDaniels.

Not what you're hearing, though. Well, again, it goes back to who else is out there. How about Bill O'Brien? Bill O'Brien coached well. Just don't let him make any personality. Bring back Jason Garrett. Look, Bill O'Brien was a pretty successful coach.

Doesn't get enough credit for that. Real popular with the players. Guys love playing. That's probably not true. Well, if you ask Joe Judge. According to Joe Judge, everybody wants to play Joe Judge. Who was he talking about

that went to? I think somebody said it was Dalvin Tomlinson and somebody else who left last year. I don't know. Dalvin Tomlinson, yeah,

that was the key. I don't know. Yeah, I can't think. It's another defensive guy. It wasn't Janoris Jenkins. I saw the report, I don't remember who it, I can't think. It's another defensive guy. It wasn't Janoris Jenkins. I saw the report. I don't remember who it was.

No, he's been gone for too long. Whatever. All right. Well, fun Giants conversation. Thanks, guys. At bare minimum, you should want Gettleman to take a hike. Oh, you don't have to want that. That's happening.

Yeah. Now it's just a matter of two top 10 draft picks. How are they going to screw this one up? All right. Have a great day, everybody. Good luck to you in week 18 if you're playing. Tomorrow we'll talk 2022 and a little bit of week 18 as well. We've got a regular week of podcasts,

so we'll see you right here on YouTube and in your ears wherever you're listening. For Dave and Jamie and Shraggy B, and our social team for producing that amazing video, I'm Adam. Talk to you tomorrow.