Fantasy Football Today - Waiver Wire! Good RB Options, Tyler Shough, Brenton Strange, DSTs and Many More (12/23 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

It's Championship Week and we need to know who to add and who to start this week. Who are our top priorities this week (4:00)? Michael Carter, Tyler Shough and Brenton Strange will be popular, but who else do we need to know about? We also share some bad beats and dramatic wins from Week 16! ... News and notes (15:00) and our Top 3 at each position: QB (20:10), RB (22:00), WR (24:35), TE (25:45), DST (31:00) and Kicker ... Options in shallow leagues (36:15) and deep leagues (39:30), a 49ers-Colts recap (43:30) and a longer look at the waiver wire (49:00) at each position with discussions on who to start these players over, how to rank the running backs and much more ... Email us at [e-mail] Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts Watch FFT on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop our store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shop.cbssports.com/fantasy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FFT Dynasty on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE to FFT DFS on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dfs/id1579415837⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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

Ready to level up, Chumba Casino is your playbook to fun. It's free to play with no purchase necessary. Enjoy hundreds of online social games like blackjack, slots, and solitaire. Anytime, anywhere, with fresh releases every week. Whether you're at home or on the go, let Chumba Casino bring the excitement to you. Plus, get free daily login bonuses and a free welcome bonus. Join now for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. Play Chumba Casino today.

No purchase necessary VGW Group void were prohibited by law 21 plus TNCs apply. You know, some trips are just better when you can really unplug. Spend time with family, see friends, or hit the course with the guys on our yearly golf trip. This year, me and the boys stayed in a home on Airbnb, which happened to be a guest favorite, and it was right on the course. We could walk straight to tee off every morning, and it was just a short stroll to the local shops, bars, and restaurants. Staying in a place on Airbnb gives you plenty of room to spread out, cozy living areas to hang out in, and all the privacy you need. somewhere like that makes everything feel more like a home that a hotel and you get a real feel for the neighborhood. I'm already planning on how to go bigger and better next year. Luckily, there's so

many options to choose from on Airbnb. So whether it's family, friends, or golf getaway, my biggest tip is to check out Airbnb, check out their guest favorites, which are the most loved homes on Airbnb, and you'll be amazed at what you find. Tyler Reddick here from 2311 racing and Bubba Wallace. You know what's the worst part of a race? A rain delay. Sitting around, waiting for the track to dry is dull. But instead of waiting, we hang out with Chumba Casino. Social Casino slots, bingo, solitaire, plenty of fun to keep us entertained. So why let a rain delay slow you down? Play now at chumbacasino.com. Let's Chumba. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group 4. Prohibited by Law. 21 Plus. Terms and Condition

supply. This is fantasy football today from CBS Sports. What a play! Can you believe this? It's a no idea. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. This is going to go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.

Who are you going to rely on in week 17? Apparently you're not going to rely on Dave. He left. He's back. Welcome everybody to fantasy football today, presented by FedMGMGF, making Legendary. It is Tuesday, December 23rd, a fun festive time of year and hopefully a happy week 16 for those of you who are here or you just want to hang out and listen to the podcast. We appreciate that. Michael Carter, Jawar Jordan, maybe Bryce Young, hopefully Marcus

Marioita can play? Who are we going to rely on Parker Washington? Can we go back to Parker Washington? Are we going back to Jacoby Brissette? And I think we should probably have a little bit of a Jared golf discussion too as he faces the Minnesota Vikings. Good morning, Dave. What's up, Adam? How are you, buddy? How many championship games will you be in? Oh, we don't need to talk about, you know, silly little things like that.

Let's talk about week 17 and, you know, the importance of this week and making really good lineup decisions. It's really what matters here. Not, oh, how did you do? No one cares. Let's just get right on to your teams, helping everybody else's teams. That's what matters. Well, I can tell you that Dave and Jamie are going to be competing for the Podcast League Championship, which is really cool. And Jamie, congratulations. You have made it to the finals of the FFT Open.

Thank you. Yeah, it's exciting. We'll see how I fair. I think I was sixth out of eight teams or five fifth out of eight teams. So a lot of work to do to bring this home. But yeah, it's fun. Cool. All right. How many finals for you, Adam? Only two. I had five semifinals, but one with Scott Fish. I wasn't going to advance there. So I made two of four of my redraft leagues. So we'll 50% sounds about normal. No, 2 of 4 of my semifinals, not 2 of 4 of my leagues. Two of 10. No, no, no, 2 of 4 of your semifinals. I meant that.

50% of your semifinals. Sounds familiar. Oh, okay. All right, all right. It's a little disappointing. I was hoping for three, but it's okay. Again, I don't think we should talk about this. Let's get to it.

Who's going to help our viewers and listeners win their fantasy leagues? Top three waiver wire priorities, Jamie. Right now, it's Michael Carter. it's Tyler Shuck, and it's Brenton Strange. So a quarterback, a running back, and a tight end you can start. There's really not a receiver that is a must-start option. There's several guys you can start in three receiver leagues. But I think in the case of Shuck, you can pivot to him.

I know I'm going to do that in one league as a Jared Golf manager. In the case of Michael Carter, he ran very well, didn't catch the ball at all, but I had two targets, but I think that will change in the game against Cincinnati. And then for Strange, he's had really one disappointing game, and it happened to be against the Colts. But he did get six targets in that game. And the way Trevor Lawrence is playing right now, I think you want pieces of this offense.

Yeah, absolutely. And that's why I think Parker Washington's going to be one of the top waiver wire priorities at wide receivers. It's a little tough. We talked about this on Sunday night, but you did have Brian Thomas Jr. being shadowed mostly by Patrick Sertan. You did have Riley Moss contributing about 75 extra yards to Parker Washington by being completely unable to tackle him in the open field.

but you just saw the Colts in action last night. Their defense is really struggling, and Jackson was playing great. Just checking Trevor Lawrence, 88% rostered. And I am one who dropped Trevor Lawrence last week, you know, because he was facing Denver. So I'm trying to get him back this week. But probably the first trip you want to make

is just check to see if Trevor Lawrence is available. There's a lot of check-to-see options, you know, so Juan Johnson, first. example, would be the best tight end to go get, or Dalton Schultz, you know, two guys that are available in close to 30% of leagues. There's the Patriots DST, for example, because they've been dropped in several leagues, or maybe may have been dropped in several leagues because of their most recent matchups, plus their buy week. And so they get the Jets this week, you know, so there are several scenarios across the board where quarterbacks may be available, you know,

Daxon Dart may have been dropped, and you might want to pivot to him taking on the Raiders, for example. So there's several situations where you might have someone available. I told you the story yesterday where I dropped because it was the worst player of my roster to pick up Emmanuel Wilson with Josh Jacobs questionable last week. I dropped Ramandre Stevenson and now he is a must start running back if there is no Trevion Henderson. So there's going to be a player or two potentially or an option or two because of the STs, but an option or two in every league that may be automatic starts. So just make sure you check out your waiver wire and and hopefully you get lucky with one of those players. Okay, Dave, who are your top three? I'll just repeat Jamie's

real quick. Michael Carter with the best matchup for running back. Cincinnati gives up the most fantasy points. Tyler Shuck and Breton Strange. It really comes down to what do you need this week? What are the holes in your roster and who are you comfortable with off the waiver wire over a starter that's gotten you to this point in the season? So I can't say that in a vacuum, it's a slam dunk, that there's any player that should be

up there. But I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Chargers, DST. They've given us at least double-digit fantasy points. seven other past 10 games. Houston offense didn't look great last week. That would be a DST that I would consider, and they're out there in about half of CBS Sports Leagues, depending on what other DSTs that you have at this point.

I agree on Michael Carter. I know he was a dud last week, but that match against Cincinnati is too good, and it looked like he was their running downs back. He really didn't play much once they were in hurry up mode and second half. I don't know if they're going to be in that mode this week. I think Michael Carter could get a pretty decent workload.

And I'll say Brenton Strange. Hopefully he gets more. more work again this week against Indy. I'm not sure what this Indy defense is going to be like, what it's going to play like. The game means nothing. I don't know what their offense is going to be like or who their quarterback is going to be.

This could be a matchup where the Jaguars just stop them. And so getting pieces of that offense, I think Jamie talked about that. Parker Washington makes sense. He seems to pop a little bit more whenever they're in like high scoring shootouts. I don't know if that's going to be this kind of game. So strange if you're looking for a tight end, he would be the best one.

But again, it does come down to two, two things. Number one, we already talked about it. Check to see who's available. Number two, what do you need? And number three, what is your opponent need? Is there somebody that you can pick up off the waiver wire that you could keep away from your opponent? Remember, you've got to keep these players and that if you're a good faith fantasy manager, you're going to hold on to them all the way through the week. You're going to have them on your bench for the fantasy championship game. You're not going to pick them up and drop them and then find somebody else. And the very next moment, pick them up and drop them to. Don't be a jerk. Just be ethical about it. But playing keep

away is a strategy. And this is the, the time of the year to deploy that strategy. Sure. And we did a little breakdown of Michael Carter on Beyond the Box score yesterday. If anybody wants to go back and listen to it. And I think my concern is that Corey Kiner would be their goal lineback if they get down there. But that's just a guess because he's got the size.

But also, again, you know, first game all season where the Cardinals running backs didn't have a catch. I expect that to change. The Bengals give up the second most receiving yards per game to running backs, in addition to the most fantasy points to running backs. So definitely Carter is an option. You know, if you have Josh Jacobs, for example, you might want to pick him up and just see, we don't know. I mean, I assume Jacob's going to play, but it's a little ify.

One other thing I want to mention, I was just looking at a little bit of weather because I woke up today with my driveway and backyard blanket and snow. If you have Drake May, it looks like there could be some bad weather in the northeast this weekend. So we're five days away from that game, but just maybe, maybe plan for it. I think as of now, it's like a 70% chance of precipitation on Sunday in New Jersey. So just keep an eye on that. The move there would be to just pick up a quarterback just in case. Right. Like we're going to talk about a lot of quarterbacks in Jamie Metzen, Tyler Shuck,

and that's probably one of the best ones that you can go and pick up to carry on your bench just in case you are freaked out by the weather in that game. But also, you shouldn't be freaked out about the weather until right before kickoff, maybe an hour before kickoff. Okay. So programming this week is a normal week. We'll have a show on Christmas and that'll be fun. And then next week is a little bit different. We'll have all our normal weekend stuff too, mailbag Sunday morning stream.

Next week's a little bit different. No be on the box score. No Thursday show, week 18. We'll have a starter sit on Friday for the entire slate. and no Sunday live stream in week 18. But there's always BetMGM, all right? It is time for football at BetMGM. Register with BetMGM to get instant access

to the best variety of Parlay selection features, no sweat and boost tokens, live betting options, and much more. New players can receive up to $1,500 back in bonus bets with the bonus code fantasy if they don't win their first bet. You don't want to miss out on any of the hard-hitting action at betmgm place your money line parley bets and more today betmgm make it legendary boy i can't

imagine how many matchups were decided last night by the 49ers not reviewing the jake tongus or tangus potential touchdown and then throwing it to becafrey the next play yeah because it didn't impact brock purdy right and it certainly i mean nobody was starting tongus and everybody was starting CMC. And so you might have thought, oh, man, thank goodness he didn't score there. And then, oh, bleep. It was a wild game. I have a couple of bad. I have a couple of bad beats I want to read from Matt from Australia. It was the number one seed. I was left with a 50-50 chance of winning. I had McCaffrey and Jennings and I was going up against Purdy and I was plus 15 points going into the game. I thought I was more or less

done at halftime. I was down 16. Oh, no, he was down 15. I was down 16. I was down 16. I was down I watched my team Claude's way back. After Brock Purdy's late interception, I was only down 0.2 fantasy points with three minutes to go. To then cheer for the Niners to play D and get the ball back so they could kneel the clock out for the most unlikely win. I was heartbroken to see them roll out Mack Jones to take the final three kneel downs and lose three tenths of a point.

Fire Kyle Shanahan. All right, that's a bad run. Kevin in St. Louis is one of many people who lost on the pick six at the end of the Colts game. So a couple of bad beats I saw in the email. I have one. What do you got? So just so everybody is aware, I'm an idiot and ruined my own fantasy team the same way I advise you to ruin yours. So I started Colby Parkinson over Tyler Warren.

And I started Audraguestime over Jalen Waddle. And so went into last night's game. Plus I had Monra St. Browns, that whole wild. roller coaster of the Sunday night game where he scored, didn't score, scored, didn't score. That was fun. And so went into last night's game in a league where DSD scoring is crazy, and I have the 49ers, so I'm down 20.

So the Niners in that league were basically hovering around the 20-point score for a good portion of the game, and then started to dip a little bit. So I was down 141, 133, and then I get the interception, pick six. ends up being tied. And that's how it ends. So we're tied right now. And the tiebreaker is total yards. Wow.

Which I'm... That should never be the tiebreaker. It's what it is. So the tiebreaker is total yards. And at least it's arbitrary. You know, so it's not anything where it's, you know, this is set in stone. But whatever. In the case, so right now I would lose.

But there's so many wild DST changes. that I'm waiting to see if there's a scoring change. So the fact that I'm still in it is a miracle. But, I mean, I ruined my own team, essentially. We've talked about before the playoff tiebreaker that should exist is the better seed. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. There's a tie in my wife's Fantasy League, and it's bench points is the tiebreaker.

It's like, oh, you can't. That's such a bad tiebreaker. Schaefer, throw up that screenshot of a close game that you were involved in. What do we got here? Oh, my gosh. Wow, man. You won by 0.28? Let's go with the Jonathan Taylor touchdown.

Yeah, I almost gave up at one point because Kittle was just going up, going off, and then I checked later after the touchdown. And, you know, Kittle was on the bench at that point. But yeah, Kittle was on the bench. And we think he's going to be okay. We're hoping anyway, but we'll talk about that. All right, let's get to some quick news. Poor Haley, she would have won it if it wasn't for the touchdown for St. Brown being called back.

It's true. What, Jamie? He spoke after the game. He ran over and celebrated one of the touchdowns. I think it was probably just precaution. Yeah, I hope so. News and notes, Lamar Jackson has a back injury. So they are at Green Bay on Saturday. And I'm hopeful there. Josh Allen's day-to-day with a foot injury, and they're expecting him to play.

He's a superhero. Gardner injury did not tear his ACL, but he's going to miss some time. Jordan Love concussion. Yeah. Yeah, he's not coming back. Malik Willis, shoulder injury. So we'll see who's playing quarterback for the Packers. Tyler Shucks, good to go.

And Mariotis, questionable with the finger and quad injuries. He was listed as a did not practice. And these are not my updated notes, so I'm a little bothered here. J.J. McCarthy left with a hand injury and X-rays were negative, but they have a Thursday game against Detroit. So I think this goes into the Jared Gough Calculus, too, is who's going to be the quarterback for the Vikings. And Brady Cook is going to start for the Jets.

So Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones both listed as did not practice. They have a Thursday game against Detroit. Quintz on Judkins out for this season. We'll see if Dylan Samson can get back. Remember, Judkins didn't play in week one. Samson had a lot of work, had a big game because of receiving totals. And Rahim Sanders actually did score in that game back in week one. Kamani Bidell is day to day with a neck injury.

They got Houston on Saturday, and Trayvion Henderson has the concussion. Still not expecting Devante Adams, but he hasn't been ruled out. They're at Atlanta. Big one here, D.K. Metcalf suspended two games. Come on. Can't be doing that, man.

He's appealing the suspension. According to CBSports.com, if the suspension is upheld, it's going to avoid at least $45 million in guarantees for D.K. Metcalf. He can make them back over the next two seasons if he's on the team. What's that? Expensive punch.

Expensive punch. Amon Ross St. Brown was listed as it did not practice. They play Thursday against Minnesota. Romeo Dobbs has a wrist injury. Rishie Rice plays Thursday, and he's in the concussion protocol. I assume that even if he plays, we're not going to start Rishie Rice. I mean, I would start him in three Cedar League's for sure. So I don't think you have the luxury of benching somebody still with his upside.

You wouldn't start him with the same amount of confidence. All right. We got the Kisham Booty and DeMario Douglas injuries. Pat Bryant. playing Thursday, seems unlikely to play. And Ryan Flannoy, I think, was able to, was, I think he's going to be okay. And Ricky Pearsall, again, he didn't play this week. Apparently was close.

He might play against Chicago. Tight end, Foster Morrow left. We talked about that on Beyond the Box score. It might be a good thing for Joanne Johnson. And that's pretty much it for the skill position players. A lot of offensive line injuries. Giants are beat up. Eagles are getting Lane Johnson back, most likely.

Minnesota's beat up in their center left. of the concussion and that's a Detroit was on their third string center and the Chargers left tackle left in the first

quarter against Dallas and now they get Houston. That's going to be a tough one for them. We're going to take a break. That's their backup guard turned backup tackle.

That's how bad it is for the Chargers offensive line. Who's a tougher call for you this week? Jared Goff against Minnesota or Justin Herbert against Houston?

Tougher call to trust? Yeah, I guess so. Who'd you rather start? I'd rather start golf, but I'm trying to sit both. I'm, golf is ahead of Herbert for me as of now. They're both in my top 12, but barely. Okay. And, but yeah, we'll go to break here.

But just for the golf manager out there, before, before Minnesota went on this crazy streak, one touchdown pass allowed in their last seven games, Jared Goff scored, I think, 23.4 fantasy points against them. Right, week nine. And the two games before that, they gave up 30 fantasy points. on 25 or fewer pass attempts to Herbert and Hertz, and then they went on this crazy run. I think Max Brosmer would scare the crap out of me,

that they might score 10 points because everyone's scoring on Detroit. Anyway, topic for another day. We'll be right back on fantasy football today. Top three at each position, Jamie quarterbacks. Tyler Shuck would be one. Mariotta, if he plays, would be two. And then it gets a little dicey about who's three.

But I have Bryce Young third, just with the hope that Seattle's missing a couple of guys defensively, and he's going to have to throw. And for the most part, when he's had to throw this season, he's had a good fantasy day. So I don't expect him to be a top 12 quarterback, but comparing him to Kirk Cousins versus the Rams and McCarthy, if he plays, we'll see how that's going to go. That's somebody I think we could consider against Detroit. But Cam Ward, I don't know how many people are going to want to trust him.

So it's really just a one and then maybe a two and then potentially a third. a third option for this week. But Tyler Shuck would be the one you want to go get. Shuck is at Tennessee. Obviously, it's a great matchup. Shuck's getting you about 20-21 fantasy points most weeks. Marcus Marietta against Dallas on Thursday. And Bryce Young against Seattle.

And I didn't mention Seattle's injuries. So first of all, they have linebacker Derek Hall suspended one game. They're not going to be without three defensive backs. They're definitely going to be without one. Colby Bryant, their safety. I think Eamonwary, their other safety is fine. They have Julian Love, too. They're pretty deep there, I would say.

Rieck Willen is the one that's the question mark right now. So they could be without only one of the three defensive backs that left with an injury last Thursday, but maybe two for Seattle. Okay, Dave, running back top three, top three running backs. Michael Carter's number one, the match against Cincinnati. We talked about that. I've got Chris Rodriguez number two. It's the commanders won a running back against Dallas. I know if Quinn and Williams comes back,

it does change the way that that matchup would look. But I don't know if there's another running back that I really like. I think there's a big drop off between Carter and Rodriguez and then everybody else at the position. We can talk about the Browns running backs. If Dylan Samson were healthy, I'd be more inclined to potentially put him at the top of the list because of what he can do as a pass catcher.

But we don't know if he's going to play. I don't want to necessarily tell people to run out and get Dylan Samson if he's not going to play. So Sanders, I guess, is the placeholder at number three, and those are my top three. Carter, one, Rodriguez, two, Rahim Sanders three. So Ramadre Stevenson, if available, it would be number one? Yeah, but he's only out there in like 20% of CBS leagues. So you can check for him, by all means, do that.

Check for him. Check for Blake Corum. But outside of those two and like maybe Alger, I don't know if you're going to find a running back that you can pick up and start. So did I miss? Any Woody Marks news? Why are we not talking Jawar Jordan here against the Chargers? The Chargers, by the way.

Because we don't know if Woody Marks is going to play or not. Right. So the Chargers are going to be without Denzel Perryman, who apparently is their best run defender. He's suspended for two games. And they've had kind of a leaky run defense to begin with, some not last week. But this is kind of the week where you maybe gamble.

I don't know. Do you gamble on picking up Jawar Jordan just because he's only one other team competing here, right? So what do you think about that philosophy? Unless you've got a third place game in your league or you've got a toilet bowl in your league. And then there are some other teams that could pick up. So you've got to be aware of that. But if it is down to two people, yeah, you could take the gamble on Jordan or Samson.

And then if they end up not playing, you just make a move to somebody else off the waiver wire. Yeah, Joward Jordan is at the Chargers on Saturday. He had 20 touches, but only one snap for a Houston running back inside the five-yard line. And it did go to Nick Chub. All right, Jamie, so Tyler Shuck, Marcus Mariotta, Bryce Young at quarterback, Ramandre Stevenson, if available, Michael Carter, Chris Rodriguez. Look at the Cleveland situation with Dylan Samson or Rahim Sanders. They're facing Pittsburgh and Jawar Jordan at the Chargers.

Jamie, who are the top wide receivers? Parker, Washington would be number one, just coming off the game where he had 10 targets and six catches, 145 yards. And the touchdown, like you said, the tackling was an issue there for Denver. Denver, but this is now two games in his last four with at least 18.1 ppr points and Trevor Lawrence is on fire right now. So taking on the Colts as we saw that secondary, not very good. Matt Collins would be second with Keishon Booty potentially out, Tamara Douglas potentially out. We saw two games for Hollins without booty. And in those two games, 10 catches,

170 yards on 15 targets. So good opportunity there for him to once again be involved. He's been involved the last two weeks as well. I have Luther Bird and third, kind of the same talk that we had last week. Like if he plays and if Romo Dunezay is out, then you would be starting him the last time we saw him in week 14, excuse me, week 15, six for 84 on seven targets. So I think it would be a big part of what we're looking at here for the bears. But again, dealing with an ankle injury and who knows how cautious they'll be with him. If you can't get him, the next option would be Josh Downs.

Got to keep an eye on the quarterback situation there for the Colts. But he now has 14 targets in the two starts with Philip Rivers. and I think based on the way, based on the way Rivers plays, Downs will continue to be heavily involved. Okay. So Parker Washington, Matt Collins, Luther Burden, Josh Downs.

And tight ends, Dave. Check for Joanne Johnson. Check for Dalton Schultz. Check for Colson Loveland. All three are available in about 30% of CBS leagues. Joanne Johnson looks like he's going to be a factor. So hopefully he's out there on the waiver wire. And you can get him.

start him. Brent and Strange is my favorite tight end to pick up four games with six plus targets, 10.5 or more PPR points in three of those four. And then it's a mess. It's Theo Johnson. It's Mike Asicki. I'll even give you a bonus name. Maybe you've heard of this guy.

I've sworn him off him. We'll never put him on my fantasy team ever, ever, ever. It's Colby Parkinson. But it would be so like the fantasy gods for Colby Parkinson to have a two touchdown game. The week after we needed him to have a two touchdown game. But he's fourth on the list for me. Strange, it's Theo, and it's Mike Gisickey. Who is the, you said, Joanne Johnson at Tennessee, Dalton Schultz, and Colton Shultz, and

Colston Loveland. Colson Loveland, right? At San Francisco. How would you rank Brenton Strange with those three? He's behind all three. Jamie, how about you? John Johnson, Dalton Shultz, Colson Loveland, Brenton Strange. The only one that's close would be Loveland and Strange at this point.

I think you got to look at John Johnson and what he did last week in the first game without valet against the Titans. this week should be fantastic. Schultz has just been amazing. 11.1 PPR points or more than six of his last day games. Loveland, if the receivers come back, will definitely be behind Brent and Strange. If the receivers remain out,

then I think there's a big opportunity for him. So I would start him ahead of Strange, but they're basically in the same range. The one guy that I would just throw into the mix here is, if it happens again, is Taysam Hill, because, I mean, that was the best running back for the Saints. And I don't know if that was just, hey, it's your last game in New Orleans. Potentially, let's give you this celebratory moment.

Or this is your last run with the Saints. Let's give you this chance to continue it for another two games. So we'll see how this plays out. Because, again, first game for them without their top three running backs going into the season of Alvin Camara, Kendrae Miller, and Devin Neal. And he leads them and carries with 12. So coming off of a win, do they just continue to do that? And if that's the case, Taysam Hill is a must-start tenant. And he even had four catches last week.

Yep, and through a pass. Yeah, through a touchdown. Six targets last week, he had seven targets all season coming into the game. So that was unexpected. But they threw the ball a ton. They threw the 50-something passes in that game or 40. Let's see, Tyler Shuck had 49 passes in a blowout win against the Jets. And then Taysam Hill had one pass that went for a late touchdown.

So that was just... 58 yards to Olave. Yeah, weird game. Chris Olave, I could double check, but Chris Olave, I think, was probably on the teams that advanced in the FFT open semifinals. Probably the best draft pick this year. Olave, let's see how many. We had only two guys with Olave, including the highest score.

Yeah, both of the teams who started Olave of the 24 division winners moved on to the semifinals. I think maybe I'll add like a superlative team this year of the all. all the best draft picks this season. So forget about the waiver wire guys, like the best draft values. So I think you've got to look at Javante Williams, Pittman and Olave. I think the tight end would be.

Was Tyler Warren for a while? Yeah, I think it's probably still Tyler Warren. Yeah. Okay. The other running back would be. Tadle was a waiver wire guy. Fanon was a waiver wire guy, correct? Yeah.

Fanon was a waiver wire guy, yeah. Was Kyle Pitts a waiver wire guy? I think he was drafted late, be my guess. So you might want to put Pitts in a wire. I hate to say that because I love Tyler, but I mean, Pitts has really come through. Yeah, who could be the other running back? It was like a good late round value.

Jalen Warren, Kenneth Gamewell. Warren. Now the Gamewell wasn't drafted. I would say DeAndre Swift is. is the first mid... Yeah, but he was... Oh, E.N. Cat, can. No, not scatterable.

Well, E.N, you had that whole tank, Bigsby, and J.O.2. No, you're right. E.T.N's definitely in their conversation. Because I'm looking at... Here are the top running backs. McCaffrey, Gibbs, Taylor, Bijon, A. Chan, James Cook, Kairn Williams, Josh Jacobs, Travis E.T.N. Javante Williams. I think it's them. I think it's those two. Top nine. Do you remember what E.N's ADP was? I can look it up if you don't have it. It was certainly round six or later, would be my guess.

Yeah. I mean, some people would be the best there is because there's a bunch of other running backs that had partial seasons. Like I kind of said Scataboo. Right. He can't qualify. J.K. Dobbins, he can't qualify.

Right. Yeah. There's just not enough. So maybe by default, it's our guy. Jamie, give us a DST to stream this week. Right now, it's the Giants, just because the Raiders. I know they looked better last week,

but still, they have been terrible. I think you got to keep an eye on a couple of situations here. One, the day brought up a go on the Chargers. That's one you can pivot to if you want to say that the Texans defense, Texas offense is going to be miserable. The Lions could be great if we get Max Rosmer starting. So that's one to keep an eye on. The Cowboys could be great if we're down to Josh Johnson starting and Quinn and Williams returns.

But just basically playing against the Raiders has been, for the most part, a great dst to pivot to and the Giants coming off a strong defensive game against the Vikings and can certainly they're actually favored on the road which is crazy

so they can they can hopefully get after Geno Smith and cause some havoc there so I like the Giants the best right now and the first thing you should do is check for the Patriots they're 73 72% rostered

and the Jaguars too Steelers also maybe even the Rams that one's a little more dicey yeah what about the Browns with the Steelers not having Metcalf. The Steelers are a tough matchup. They just don't turn the ball over. Yeah. I mean, there's going to be so many DSTs that I'm going to say that I can't trust

because they're just, they're not good defenses. And right now, the Browns are not a good defense. The Giants aren't a good defense either. The Giants are horrible against Minnesota. Right. And it's hard to trust those. And I might have been encouraged if Gino Smith went out there and just, you know, laid another egg like he's done all year, but he was passable. So I wonder if the Raiders actually try and like muster up together one more big effort for good old Pete Carroll and that could end up hurting the Giants. I would be nervous to trust the Giants defense.

Yeah, I'm sure Jamie's nervous about it too. It's not a great week. The other thing is you look at the giant schedule and I would say we knew going in they had the hardest schedule in the NFL on paper. The only game I can look at me like, oh, this was a good matchup was New Orleans in week five and they were awful.

They scored zero points and last week against Minnesota and they scored 18 points and they had a and by the way they had a pick six called back so they almost had like DST1 last week but it wasn't to be. Who wants to lose that game more?

Yeah, I mean And the Giants have been so good at finding ways to lose games. Now let's talk kickers and Jamie I saw your list the one I would just throw one cautionary flag to is Boregallus for the same thing I said about Drake May. I think we're going to, we could have some bad weather on Sunday in that Jets Patriots game.

Could. Don't freak out. But who are the kickers to pick up? The two guys facing each other Monday night. So you have Eddie Pinero and Cairo Santos both kicking very well at the moment. And both offenses are obviously going to move the ball based on what we've seen. And then Evan McPherson is still available in about 37% of leagues. So taking on the Cardinals. And that's been more. one of the best matchups the season. So you mentioned the other one that I list. I think there's a couple more.

So McPherson, Pinero, Santos, Borgalis, Harrison Mivas, indoor at this point is something that you want to pivot to if you can. And then Chris Boswell, I think we'll see the Brown's defense hopefully hold up. I mean, it's a rivalry game. So I'm sure they'll come to play and get Miles Garrett a sack. But with the Steelers' offense, maybe getting a little stagnant, Chris Boswell can have some kicking opportunities. Just another game you want to keep it on in the weather. All right.

We'll talk shallow leagues, deep leagues. and a little bit about Monday night football and I really want to hear more of your thoughts on guys like Michael Carter and Tyler Schock and who do start them over and we'll be right back on fantasy football today. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking,

but it requires actionable steps. Now is the time to modernize Canadian laws so that adult smokers have information and access to better alternatives. By doing so, we can create lasting change. If you don't smoke, If you smoke, don't start. If you smoke, quit.

If you don't quit, change. Visit unsmoked.ca. All right, Jamie. So who are the prizes in the shallow leagues? Certainly Trevor Lawrence. Where is he, is he like top five this week against the Colts? He's pretty close. He's probably going to be a start of the week as well.

So just, you know, great setup for him coming off that amazing game against the Broncos and just playing as well as anybody. Now, it's funny because the MVP race has kind of been a two-man show. with Stafford in May, and I think Lawrence, the way that he's performing in the last, you know, six weeks, has put himself on the ballot, which is kind of exciting considering where he's come from and the disappointing season we got from Brian Thomas. So, yeah, Lawrence would be somebody to go get. And I still think Jacoby percent. I know it was bad. First game under 20 fantasy points in his 10 starts that he's made so far in place of Kyla Murray.

He gets the Bengals this week. I think they'll be better offensively and have an opportunity for more production. And so Jacoby Perced is still hovering around that 80% number. He thinks 83% rostered right now. But yes, Tyler Shuck would be the – I'm sorry, you wanted to the shallow look. Excuse me. For the running backs from Andre Stevenson is the prize. Dave mentioned Blake Corum.

Those would be the only two that I'd go look at that are in that 66 to 80% range of running back options. Can I cut you off? Just ask a quick question. So Stevenson would be ahead of Michael Carter and all that. What about Blake Corum against Carter and the rest of the gang? I still just, you know, Corm, three straight games with 11 plus carries. He scored five touchdowns in his last four games.

If he doesn't score, you're going to be very disappointed. That said, he's facing the Falcons. This is a game that they should have a lot of success doing whatever they want to. So he's a high-end flex. I just think Carter is a little bit safer because you know what kind of role he's going to have, whether that is a great role or a minimal role like we saw in terms of his fantasy production. I still think you can call him a number two running back. For me, Corm is more of a few spots behind him in terms of the ranking.

So I would put Carter ahead of him. But that's the only one. You know, I think you look at, unless, so I have a few different guys that are running back. Emmanuel Wilson would be somebody I would take a chance on George Jordan. I would take a chance on over Rodriguez, for example. Those two guys just with the potential of if they start, they're going to be much better than potentially even Carter. So you want to add those guys. So those guys would also be ahead of Corm for me.

At receiver, the best options of the Shalick, sorry for the dog. But the best options for the shallow league guys would be Troy Franklin. I think he's the headliner there. Just what we've seen from him without Pat Bryant, certainly the last game, which was two weeks ago, in a matchup where they could do whatever they want to against the Chiefs defense, which they're not trying at this point. And then the tight ends are really probably the best players in this category. When you talk about Juan Johnson would be one, Dalton Schultz would be two. I would put Hunter Henry third and then Colston Loveland, fourth of those guys that are. not widely available, but potentially available,

just because Henry's been so good and another great matchup against Jets. How about Alec Pierce? Any interest there? I mean, depending on who the quarterback is. You know, so he did well with Riley Leonard in the half that they played together against Jacksonville. He certainly looked great last night against the 49ers.

You wish he would have had a few more targets. I mean, for a guy playing for a contract, it's a great opportunity. Sure. He's got a huge, he's going to be one of the break. breakout players that we talk about in 2026. Who will be? Alec Pierce.

Why are we talking about Alex Pierce? He's not available in my league, Dave. I'm into deep leagues. Who should I be picking up? I'd say, at quarterback, it's tough. Obviously, you're going to look for Mario, if he plays for now, you can pick them up and then pivot if he doesn't end up playing.

But Tyler Shuck, Kirk Cousins, Price Young, all available in 60%. Is 60% deep enough for you, sir? It's not. It's definitely not. No, no, I'm not asking you, Adam. I'm asking the old prospector. Oh, yeah, to 60%. I'm talking 6%. Okay, so you're in deep trouble.

You're looking at somebody like Cam Ward, Malik Willis, or Gino Smith. Those guys are available in 80% of leagues. Hopefully you're not in that bad of a situation. I give you one more just in case he starts as Josh Johnson just because the Cowboys just... That's good. That's good.

Throw him in there and I might even take him ahead of all those names. Malik Willis has played pretty well, I think. And I know it's been spot. he's been okay he's been okay it's and it's been very very sparing so yeah but he made two starts last year and he scored 15 points one was bad yeah 15 points against the colts 27.4 fantasy points and the other one uh he ran for 41 or more yards in both games go ahead okay so and it's like the raven's pass rush is suddenly going to force him into a ton of mistakes that defense is really struggling right now all right running backs rahim sanders 99% available dylan samson

i believe is available in a bunch of leagues as well i don't have the percentage in front of me, but those would be the first two that I would look at. Those would probably be the only two. Samson is 13% roster. What's up? Samson is 13%. There you go. So you're looking at a Brown's running back. Yikes. And then there's other guys too. Like George Jordan is 74%. Audrake estimated 76%. Again, sir, I don't know if that's deep enough for you, but that's pretty close to 80% of fantasy leagues. Wide receiver, Jamie brought up Mack Hollins. I think that call is cool. I just hope the Jets keep it competitive enough so that Mack Hollins can get a bunch of targets, Luther burden, 68%.

That's not deep enough. Chimrii-DK, 85%. That's pretty deep. He could be out there. He's a little touchdown depending. He has five or fewer targets in three of his past four games. But I wonder if that battle between the Saints and Titans ends up being defense-free. And it's just a bunch of passing and a bunch of numbers for everybody involved. And then a tight end, it's not great.

You can take the chance on Taston Hill. You can take the chance on Mike Kisicki. It feels like you're chasing points. in both cases, but at least with Kaseki, you know that he's got a good matchup against Arizona, and the Bengals are, I think they're just going to keep doing what they're doing, and that's just be a juggernaut on

offense. I wonder. I'll give you one more running back. Trayvion Williams, just in case Samson is out. He had four catches. And that role, that role seems to be sort of locked into whoever's going to be healthy. And so in a game where they're probably chasing points and having to throw, that could be something that might even be better than

Rahim Sanders. Do you think that Adam Thielen or a tight end? Is there anyone on the Steelers that becomes part of this deep league discussion? D.K. Metcalfe punched somebody in the face, knocked his teeth out. So, yeah, is there anyone that becomes interesting in that regard? Thielen is my highest ranked Steelers receiver because Calvin Austin is also dealing with a hamstring injury. So they're pretty beat up there right now. So I think you just look at it like between him and MVS and, you know, Roman Wilson and all these guys.

Like the tight ends are too tough to trust. You know, it could be Friermouth. It could be Washington. It could be John Smith getting carries like we saw. Like it's just too all over the place. Dealing just had his best game with the Steelers. So he's not even in my top 48, but he's just outside of that. I think if you're looking for 10 to 11 PPR points without a touchdown, he just had, I think, like, eight and a half.

Like, that's kind of the range you're hoping for. All right. Those are the deep leaguers. Any thoughts on, let's be quick on this. I'd rather just talk about the waiver wire more and who to start those. guy's over. But San Francisco 48, Indianapolis, 27. Dave? I think one of the craziest stats from last night is the 49ers have not punted since November. Is that true? I heard Joe Buck say that. I thought he was joking. No, they showed since the last punt that they had was November 30th. So they may go

the entire month of November without punting, which would be crazy. If I'm them at this point, like, if it's anything close to the 50-yard line, like, I'm either going for it or, you know, within Eddie Pinero's field goal range, like, why not? You know, They're just on fire right now. Imagine the season we would have gotten from Brock Purdy if he stayed healthy the entire year. Like we'd be talking about top five quarterback. We would be talking about him as the fantasy pickup of the year

or the draft pick of the year. Yeah. Yeah. And he did it last year too. He scored 25 fantasy points in week 16 and then he scored 36.3 in week 17. So pretty impressive stuff for Brock Purdy. All right.

This is a great offense. in the sense that their defense kind of staying. They're good against the run, but they give up points and they throw the ball a ton. So, yeah, your thoughts on Jake Tonggis, who these were his fantasy points in the six games he played without Kittle or with Kittle leaving early. 10.5, 7.1, 4.1, 14.8, 17.1, 11.8.

Honestly, I have a league with Parkinson and Tyler Warren. And I don't think anyone's going to pick. I don't think that my opponent's going to pick up Jake Tongass, but I might pivot to him if Kittle were out. Dave, would you consider Tongis? I would. And you just have to look at all the other tight ends that are available, and it's a bunch of drek out there once you get past the guys to look for on the waiver wire

and Brenton's Strange. You can maybe make the case for Theo Johnson ahead of him, but I don't know if I'd want that. I think I'd rather go with Tongis without George Kittle playing in what will probably be a high-scoring game against Chicago. it would be if you're looking for the shallow leagues I would probably go Taysam Hill 1 and then Tanger's 2

I mean the deep leagues Yes All right I think I flip it I think I think Taysom got what he got Because it was his last game in New Orleans It might be It might be but you know

We know what happens I'm just looking at the running back options right there Right but just the simple fact that there's a question on it Versus a tight end that we know Is going to be or at least we think we know That he's going to be the number one tight end end for the 49ers. I'd rather, and we've seen him do well without Kittle on the field?

No, it's definitely, definitely something to consider. I mean, if Tase Mill was taking on a tough opponent, I would say, okay, maybe it's something to be a little bit concerned about, but we know what happens with that guy. Like when he gets in these roles, when he gets these opportunities, there's huge game. Hopefully, George Kittle just plays and we don't have to make it. Yes. Yeah, let's, let's say, all right, last thing on this is, uh, Jonathan Taylor, since week 12, let's see where he ranks per game.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 20. He's RB 22 per game. Since this stretch where we do, it was going to be tough. Tough matchup after tough matchup. Jaguars are a really tough matchup, save for that one run by R.J. Harvey last week. And the last time he faced him, he had 21 carries, scored a touchdown and only scored 11.4 fantasy points.

Taylor does have six catches in two games with Rivers, so that's good. But would you start any waiver wire running backs over Jonathan Taylor, Dave? No, I would still go with Taylor over Michael Carter, Browns running backs, Chris Rodriguez, all those guys. And there's a little bit of encouragement because of his ability to catch passes and because of the checkdowns.

And we're going to talk about what will the Colts do a quarterback this week. If it's not Philip Rivers, how does that impact the run game and all that stuff in Jonathan Taylor's target volume? I think if it's Riley Leonard, I think you'll still see targets going to Jonathan Taylor. If it's Anthony Richardson somehow, then I would be really worried because we know that, sure, maybe there's a hike in rushing efficiency, but Richardson probably won't throw that much to begin with. And then when he does, he's going to look downfield, he's not really a checkdown guy. So that would concern me a little bit more if Richardson was playing for Indy when it comes to John the Taylor.

But Taylor, I think you've got to view them as like a high-end number two running back at best. So the thing that would concern me is now that they're out of playoff contention, and if they start to, they lost their center last night, for example, see how healthy he is. He is now second in rushing yards for the season. So are they going to try and give him the opportunity to lead the league in rushing? He was the leader in that category for the majority of the year.

So James Cook has now passed him. So will they make that something that's a focus for Taylor or will they say, you know what? You had a great season. We're not going to overwork you and we want to make sure we're good for next year. So I just wonder like where the mindset's at because the quarterback situation being what it is. Like they're, you know, they did what they tried. You know, they tried to go get rivers. They tried to go see what they had available and, you know, losing the last two games clearly was tough for them.

So I just don't know what the potential is for Taylor to play his normal snapshot. I'm going to guess it's fine, but you know, you just never know. All right. And that's it for Monday night football. Doodoo-de-de-de-do-d-do-de-do-d-d-webiver-wire. That's the theme song for Monday night football. It is now. All right.

Jacoby Brissette or Tyler Shuck, if they're both available. Preset. Preset. Yeah. Yeah. Look, I don't want to be phased by what happened last week with Prisset. I know it stunk and I got burned by it too. But Jamie talked about this on Sunday.

He had two passes that were on the point on target that were not caught in the end zone by his top two pass catchers. Theoretically, his top two, maybe we'd say top three when it comes to Marvin Harrison. But the point remains that he was a touchdown away, one touchdown away from a good game, two touchdowns away from the typical Jacoby Brissette game. And it's such an easy matchup form against Cincinnati that I have no problem starting him again. Yeah. Did you know that in their last six games, four of the last six quarterbacks have been bad against Cincinnati, including Drake May,

Lamar Jackson twice, and Quinn Ewers? Lamar, though, come on. I mean, we know how those two games unfolded. Twelve passes in the second game. Yeah, yeah. Two drop touchdowns and two touchdowns

that should have counted in a 50-yard pass that was dropped. Like, I don't think, look, you could, you go back and down. dissect this Jacoby Brissette season. And there's a lot of like, I can't believe he did this. I can't believe this happened. I mean, did this against Houston. He did this against Seattle.

He did this against the Rams. Like there's a lot of, okay, how did he get there? But he got there and he was successful for you. And he got a lot of people into the fantasy playoffs, through the fantasy playoffs. You know, I advanced in a couple leagues with him still. I don't know. I mean, it's tough. No, you go Trevor Lawrence in this case.

You go Trevor Lawrence over Brissette. Yeah. Absolutely. Trevor Lawrence or Jalen Hertz. Lawrence over Hertz. Lawrence is going to be top five for me. I'm done fooling around with this. Tyler Shuck or Lamar Jackson?

Lamar. He's a lot. Heavy plays. Okay. Now, if you have Jackson Dart at Las Vegas, if you have Jared Gough against, home against, home against Minnesota?

At Minnesota. At Minnesota. And Justin Herbert. Facing Houston. You starting Tyler Shuck over them? I believe I have DART ahead of Shuck, Shuck ahead of golf. Gough is, I'm terrified.

I'm not terrified, but I said the same thing about DART last week against Minnesota, and the Giants decided not to throw the ball. Like, they literally said their game plan was just to run the ball as much as they could.

That sucked. I don't think that's necessarily what the Lions are going to do. They could. But I'd be a little surprised if they did that. I would be worried about the matchup. I would also be worried about the game script.

Because if it's Brosmer at quarterback, how many points are the Vikings going to put up? So the Lions could end up having like a 24 to 24 to like 7. Well, it's not like they put up a lot of points with McCarthy either. They did against Minnesota against Detroit. They scored 27 points with McCarthy against Detroit. They only averaged 4.4 yards per play. They had something like 260 total yards.

So it wasn't like they really dominated. But, you know, McCarthy had two touchdowns throwing and one rushing in that game. Everyone's scoring on Detroit, but I don't think Max Brosmer will. That's a big part of this, of this projection here. But, all right, like, all right, so anyway, that's. And if we're going to, if we're going to downgrade golf, then we probably need to downgrade St. Brown and JMO, too. Oh, I have them.

Yeah, Jamo's not my top 24, and St. Brown is 13th right now. And Dart, by the way, I think if Andrew Thomas doesn't play, and I don't think he's going to, just please keep that in mind. Yeah, I'm staying away from Dart. I know it's Las Vegas and all that stuff, especially after what the game plan was last week. Not that they're going to do the exact same thing this week, but they might. They might be trying to protect Jackson Dart and let them play without necessarily playing. And if that offensive lines and batch, if they're down to more starters on that front five, that's a real problem. All right, so Shuck, well, they'll get at least one of them back.

Maybe two. Oh, yeah, the one who, Runyon. Runyon had a baby. His wife was in labor, so he didn't even play the game. So he'll play. Marcus Mariotta, it faces Dallas. Every quarterback has been in the top 12 except for Gino Smith and Jared Gough against Dallas.

So Mariotta, it's got an opportunity here if you can get healthy for this Thursday game against the Cowboys. And do you think he'll score more than 21 fantasy points? Marioo? Yeah. His worst game of his best games was 20.6. So I think that's a good number. Yeah.

And I can't rule out Josh Johnson getting into 21 fantasy points too. Kirk Cousins scored 21.6 fantasy points last week at Arizona on 35 past temps. And the Rams have been kind of vulnerable lately, and you know they're going to put up points. Yep. Bryce Young also scored 21.6 fantasy points.

We wouldn't even consider him against Seattle, but we're going to keep an eye on the injury report for Seattle. It's also a long trip for the Seahawks from Seattle to Carolina. Yeah, but they've played awesome on the road. That's been a thing ever since Mike McDonald took over as head coach. So you, I mean, look, outside of a Shuck, because I think based on body of work and matchup, you can say I'm pivoting to him if he's available in a lot of situations. Jordan Love, Mahomes, Lamar, like, there's a lot of potential quarterback injuries of borderline must-start guys throughout the season. And Shuck has just

been awesome. His worst game was last week with 19 fantasy points since he's gotten rolling here in the last half of the season. After these guys, it's really, really tough to say they're safe. You know, Cousins has been playing well, but you look at who he's done it against the last two weeks. Now taking on the Rams in what is a must-to-win game for the Rams, not that they haven't been, but you get the point. Young must-win game for him, must-win game for Seattle. their defense, like Dave said, has traveled very well. It can easily be a very low-scoring game between those two teams. Josh Johnson could be the one with the most upside, you know, just, again, based on matchable.

I didn't even mention him, but I think I wrote about him in Mariotas' write-up. So just something if you're reading the column. But would you rather start Malik, if you were in 2 QB League but needed someone, you had some injuries? They had a ton of quarterback injuries. Would you rather start Josh Johnson against Dallas or Malik Willis against Baltimore? Johnson against Dallas because of the matchup. Where would Tyler Huntley factor in if he were the starter? Near the bottom.

I mean, I think after what Harbaugh has faced with the firing squad in the last, that game was Sunday, right? In the last 48 hours of not planning Derek Henry, like we're getting 48 Derek Henry carries. Yeah. Right. All in the first three quarters, obviously. Okay.

There's, J.J. McCarthy could be a decent option. I mean, that was one of the most crazy things I've ever seen. And what about Philip Rivers if he starts? I mean, how would he compare to some of these guys against Jacksonville? He's only allowed three touchdown passes in their last six games, by the way. I mean, Jordan Lewis is probably going to be out for the Jaguars with his foot injury. So keeping on that. But in the case of Jacksonville, like, I don't know, I don't want to trust Rivers right now.

And I think as Dave alluded to, and like you said, they kind of mentioned the broadcast, like, we may not see Rivers. Yeah. I think the 49ers adjusted and just it was not a good second half for Philip Rivers. Well, once they got it, like, I like their game plan early. You know, once they got into sort of, you know, down, they cut it to seven, but then, you know, once they got down again, 14 and then 17, it was like, okay, we know that he can't throw the ball down the field. So we're just going to sit back and, you know, see what we can do. All right, guys. Let's go to the running backs here.

So Ramandre, you might even be able to start him if Trayvion Henderson plays. Like he was, he started the game. They basically kind of split evenly. It was really annoying. But if he doesn't play, he faces the Jets who have allowed 23 touchdowns to running backs. Honestly, the run defense hasn't been that bad, but they just give up a ton of fantasy points. There's Blake Corm as well. Jamie already talked about him.

He's outside the top 24, but he keeps scoring touchdowns. He just doesn't really catch the ball. We do expect Michael Carter to start catching. the ball so usually gets you four or so and he had zero last week but that was weird he's our number one running back priority but if i told you that woody marks were out would you rather have michael carter against the bangles or jawar jordan uh at the chargers carter but they're basically back to back i mean you know i i think you can't overlook that they had nick chub active we got the report sunday morning remember it was a rap report saying

expect a lot of nick chub whatever we phrased it oh my gosh yeah And it was 20 total touches for Jaward Dorden with five catches. Right. That's the thing. Like we've been begging for that for Woody Marks. You know, remember the first Titans game where he was so involved in the passing game? And then it was just kind of like, okay, he's getting 18 carries, 17 carries, 18 carries, no catches, no catches. Like, I don't understand what happened there because I think that's a big part of what Woody Marks is good at.

And so if Jordan is going to be that involved in the passing game with Woody Marks out, like right now again, I have it Carter won, Manuel Wilson. two, Jordan three, you can make a case just because we've seen Marks now leave a game and miss a game that Jordan should be two. And in your case, Adam, should be one. I think I can talk myself into Jordan over Carter, just because I don't think Carter's that good. And I know the matchup is obviously better for Carter, but I don't know what to expect from him in terms of catches. Adam, you said that, you know, we're hoping for four catches from Carter. And then last week we were hoping for that. We got absolutely nothing. Jordan continues to prove that he's the, I'm going to use the term best,

but he's the best of what's left amongst Houston's runners. And this is a game where I wonder if they're going to end up trailing. It certainly should be competitive. And charges play a ton of zone coverage. So there's going to be a lot of short throws underneath open. And Jordan can cash in on some of those. So maybe the move is Jordan to put him on your bench

and just see what happens with Woody Marks during the week. Because if Woody Marks doesn't play, I'm going to be a little more optimistic about Jawar, Jordan. All right. So at the end of the day, if Woody Marks is out and Dylan Samson is out, and Josh Jacobs is out, which again, I mean, he played last week, but let's just say he's out. Give me your ranking. I mean, you saw what LaFleur said, right? I think so.

About his lack of playing time? What did he say? He said he wasn't punished from the fumble, and it wasn't because he was hurt. It was that Emmanuel Wilson was playing so well. That's why they kept him in late in the game. I just don't know what to expect from Jacobs this point. Like, you know, not practicing all last week and does he practice this week? You know, like they clearly need him, but Wilson was, I don't want to say great, but 14 carries for 82 yards didn't have any catches.

But it was certainly, again, running better than Josh Jacobs in that game. So if you stack them all up and you say starting running back, back for the Packers, starting running back for the Cardinals, starting running back for the Texans, starting running back for the commanders. Like, I'm taking Emmanuel Wilson O'Rollah. Absolutely. So where is he on your list then? He's available. The only reason I have Carter first is, we know what his role is. He is the guy for the Cardinals in whatever times here he's in, but he's still the starter. And so Wilson may not be the guy there. Jordan may not be the guy there. Rodriguez, is to me is another version of like quorum like you know Williams looks like I think

William's going to play the fact that he was you know close to playing let this past week like I don't I don't know clearing the concussion protocol just I guess he didn't get the I'm sorry not clearing the concussion protocol we're practicing in full on Friday I'm going to guess that he plays this week but that's still a wild card and it would certainly help Rodriguez if Williams is not there but you know what he is at this point he's touched down robust so I just look at it like Jordan role in the passing game is there. Carter I think will be more involved

than the passing game which should be like it was it was a little shocking that it wasn't a more high scoring game between the Falcons and the Cardinals. Like that was the hope you know for the most part. It got a little,

got going a little bit late in the game. But in any event, I think Carter will be more involved than the passing game. I just think you know what you're getting from him. You know, so there's no injury concerns. There's no anything. And let's face it.

There's, I know it's, he's available in 40% of leagues. He's probably not available in a lot of our 12 team competitive leagues. All right, so then we'll put it like this. You've got the Cardinals starting running back against the Bengals. I'm sorry, is that game at Cincinnati? In Cincinnati, yes.

Cardinals starting running back at Cincinnati. Packers starting running back against Baltimore. I know that's going to be number one. Yes. Texans starting running back at the Chargers, missing their top run defender. Brown starting running back against Pittsburgh. They've been better, pretty good against running backs lately.

And commanders starting running back against Dallas, we think probably get their top run defender back, but we don't know. Dave, can you rank those five situations? So the Packers running back would be number one. The Brown's running back would be number five. I'm pretty sure I put the commanders running back at number four. And then so what's left? It's the Texans running back and the Cardinals running back?

Yes, sir. The problem with the Texans running back is that I know that Nick Chubb is going to get in the way. And in Arizona, it's going to be Amari D. Mercado getting in the way. And Kiner. Don't forget about Kiner. Yeah, that's true. All right. I'm going to say the Texans running back over the Cardinals running back.

Okay. And which Brown's running back are you just going to go with the healthy one right now and Rahim Sanders? So this comes down to how much work do you want to do and how upset would you be if you missed out on Dylan Sampson? We have no indication that Dylan, unless Jamie, you know something I don't about Dylan Sampson and what they've said about him. in the last 24 hours. I don't know. But if Dylan Sampson were to play, I'd be a little more interested

than I would be in Rahim Sanders. If Samson played, you'd prefer Samson to Sanders. Correct. Yeah, I don't know any. I mean, missed the last two games with a calf injury. You know how soft tissue injuries can go. Yeah, those are tough. If there's any concern about his Achilles,

like I would not be surprised if they shut him down, but they haven't put him on IR yet, so who knows? All right, so I would be annoyed if I spent my number one waiver claim on Dylan Sampson. And then my opponent picked up Michael Carter and, you know, somebody else, Emmanuel Wilson, and then I missed out on those guys. It's not a big enough priority for me to get a Browns running back. Other guys, if you're desperate, Taije Spears, Isaiah Pacheco,

just dominated snaps and had six catches, which was interesting. But you got, you know, backup quarterback in their third string quarterback. Pacheco had the highest target per outrun rate of his career. So I wouldn't expect that. His best game in the season. Yeah. And Denver, they are. tough, very tough, and they allow

the third fewest receiving yards per game to running backs, and no more than 19 receiving yards to running back since week seven. Audrick Estime, tough to trust him, and the Titans, by the way, have a dominant run defense lately. Keep that in mind for Taysam Hill as well. And Sean Tucker is finding the end zone recently. Faces the

Dolphins, and actually, that's all he's doing. The Dolphins allowed two rushing touchdowns last week. Those were the first rushing touchdowns by a running back since week eight against Miami. Yeah, they've collapsed since the Steelers game and obviously last week they've collapsed, just completely collapsed on defense. Yeah. Well, I don't know about the run defense, but not having Minka Fitzpatrick could be really hurting their past defense. So for

wide receivers, we've got Troy Franklin and we've got Quentin Johnston, although, you know, a much different matchup this week against Houston than against Dallas last week. The whole Packers situation, you know, we love to see Jordan Love in there, but, you know, Christian Watson, Jaden Reed, read more available than Watson. So then it's Parker Washington, is one, Matt Collins is two, Luther Burden is three for Jamie, even though he may not play.

Josh Downs is four, probably would like him more with Rivers. Chimray DK5, Jalen Coker, Trey Tucker, Adam Thielen. These are other guys to think about Alec Pierce,

maybe in shallow leagues. I guess we're going to move away from Adonai Mitchell. I keep saying Ricky Pearsall, I think, I'm not going to even think about picking him up now, but if he starts practicing, maybe you think about it.

And I also wanted to mention Conada Mumfield, who had eight targets for the Rams last week. He only ran 51% of the routes, but obviously no Devante Adams. Did Xavier Smith run more? I don't know. Actually, I'm not sure. Yeah, I mean, that is,

that's for the really deep leagues, man. Like super deep leagues. Hey, I have a friend. All right, so would you start Parker, Washington over Jameson Williams? No. Parker Washington or Wondell Robinson No

Ladd McComacko No No way All right so I'm going to move on to tight ends Because none of these wide receivers Are going to be top 30 guys Right Washington is like 34, 35

Yeah I would start him over Brian Thomas this point I don't know if I'm going to do that this week man Not against Indianapolis It's a different layer out for them. That defense for Indy, not great against the past. I think Brock I don't disagree, but the entirety of the season, Washington has been better. In their last month, if you take their total fantasy points, Washington has been better. Washington missed a game

in that stretch. He did not play against the Colts in the first game. But he hasn't been good with Brian Thomas since he came. They had three targets in each of the last two games since coming back. Well, he missed one of those. What's that? He missed one of those. No, I'm saying Parker Washington's previous two games, he had three targets at Tennessee, three targets against the Jets. Brian Thomas Jr. played in both of those games. I don't think that there's any rhyme or reason why one will be better than the other, aside from the fact

that the Jaguars like Parker Washington more than they like Brian Thomas right now. All right, let's go to the tight ends and they like Brenton Strange as well. But there are so many good shallow league tight ends. There's Hunter Henry. Who's your favorite? Hunter Henry,

Dalton Schultz, Juan Johnson, Colson Loveland. John. Do you worry about Dalton Schultz matchup? On paper, it's tough, but three of the last four tight ends have been great against the Chargers. I mean, he just went against the Raiders who were top four at the position and had a solid game. He scored a touchdown each of his last two. I don't know.

I think he just got to trust it at this point. Yeah, at this point, I'm not starting him for the touchdowns either. I'm starting him for the volume and the targets that he gets. I think he'll keep getting that. He only doesn't get a lot of targets in tough matchups, five targets last week against the Raiders, four targets against the chiefs, four targets against the bills. But the chargers have been pretty leaky against tight ones lately. Okay.

And then you've got Brenton Strange. So we're going to start Brenton Strange over the Ravens guys. We're going to start. Over Chavez Kelsey. Yeah. Tyler Warren. Yeah. How about?

A word of caution on Kelsey. Is this his Taysome Hill moment? Is this his last game in Kansas City? Obviously, the matchup's impossible. The quarterback stinks. You downgrade expectations. But do the chiefs make an effort to just throw him the ball 12 times? I'm sure they do.

I'm also sure Denver knows that. You know, they don't love. It's not like I'm saying must start Travis Kelsey. Ooh, I got a good one here. I wonder if they try and just like pepper him. Dallas Goddard at Buffalo. I'd rather start. Strange.

I've got Goddard. How about Tassum Hill or Dallas Goddard? I mean, that's one where I'm going to be keeping an eye on everything coming out of New Orleans. If Taysen Hill is going to be their lead running back again, like, I'm going to start Taysmill. All right. And don't forget if you're in deep leagues, Jake Tongass. Mike is sickie against Arizona. It's a great matchup.

Remember, just forget about the celebratory thing for Tays and Hill. They're receiving core is a mess right now. And the fact that he had that role in the passing game, especially if Foster Morrow is out again. like and the DSTs look for the Patriots for sure and probably some other good shallow league DSTs

Steelers Giants are 48% roster coming off a great game Raiders go up the second most points to the DSTs the Vikings

ooh man I don't know about this one this is a tough one they've been good to great in three of their last four games at Seattle home against Washington at the Giants

they've also been terrible at Green Bay and at Dallas recently so it's tough and terrible against Baltimore as a DST, not as a defense, just as a DST. And Detroit allows the second fewest fantasy points to DSTs. So tough call on the Vikings.

The Ravens, I think, you know, it's possible the Packers are on their third string quarterback. So the Ravens are 54% roster. That'd be huge. Cowboys at Washington. Oh, man, they suck. I don't know. And the Bucks, I kind of like the Bucks at Miami.

I don't know how you guys feel about that. um their defense has been so bad yeah they suck too yeah mcfearson pinero santo sporadales mevis boswell at kicker good luck everybody there's one more player that you might want to pick up that we haven't mentioned yet and it's it's not a player to start it's a player to put good karma on your fantasy team and a little bit of good luck on your bench and you can wait until saturday or i guess thursday to do it if you wanted to. And I do this every year. I try and find a player to just put on my bench to just, I don't know, we're all going

to do it together. We'll all have a player on our bench for some good luck. And this year's good luck player is a cancer survivor, a guy who we all root for, and he got hurt early in the year, and it absolutely sucks. And I wish that he were still playing because this week he would go off. James Connor, you can even put him in an hour spot. He is the good luck player of week 17 of the 2025 season. and you can make them your last priority off waivers,

bring a little good karma to your fantasy team in the fantasy championship. I love it. Yeah, he would have had a really pretty good season, I think. Unfortunately. All right. Have a great day, everybody. We'll talk to you at 1 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Network for more waiver wire talk. Dave, Jamie, Thomas, I'm Adam.

I'm Adam.