Fantasy Football Today - Week 12 Recap! Big Injuries, Winners and Losers (11/28 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: November 29, 2021

Tee Higgins is a big winner (2:00) and Cam Newton is a big loser (4:00) and we're just getting started with the Week 12 recap! Of course we'll touch on the big news (11:30) with Dalvin Cook, Deebo Sam...uel and Christian McCaffrey leaving with injuries ... Fill in the Blank (19:15) for the Bucs offense, RB committees (21:50), Myles Gaskin, the best rookie TE rest of season (24:40) and the best rookie WR rest of season ... We give you our winners (29:30) including Melvin Gordon and Jaylen Waddle and losers (35:00) including Kenny Golladay and Miles Sanders. Then we recap each game with our Fantasy takes (42:35) ... Email us at fantasyfootball@cbsi.com Get some FFT merch here: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/shop-by-podcast/fantasy-football-today 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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Starting point is 00:00:59 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.
Starting point is 00:01:21 Touchdown. Oh, he's done it again. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath, and Beck. All right, it is fantasy football today on Sunday night, recapping week 12. What if you walked in with a lineup of Jalen Hurts, Najee Harris, Aaron Jones, both Bucs wide receivers, Dallas, Kyle Pitts. You would have been more excited about that. Dallas Goddard was pretty bad too. You would have lost more excited about that. Dallas Goddard was pretty bad, too.
Starting point is 00:01:46 You would have lost. That's probably the all-Dud team today. There were more Duds. Plenty of Studs as well. Like Heath Cummings and Dave Richard. How about that segue, guys? What's up? Come on.
Starting point is 00:01:58 That's good. Not your best segue. I want to offer you my condolences on your Eagles loss and my congratulations on your giants win. Thank you. Thank you. And I just want to tell you that the Eagles, your Eagles still have a very good shot to make the playoffs. Literally every team in front of them lost also.
Starting point is 00:02:15 So all the five and all the five and five teams, I believe, or four, whatever they were lost right in front of them. The NFC is like five teams deep and then a disaster yeah but those five teams up top are so good i mean it is loaded at the top and all right so right now the cardinals packers bucks kept the rams are the five seed the the 49ers are nobody wants to play them right now i mean there's six right v. Vikings at five and six are the seven.
Starting point is 00:02:46 What about my other team? All right, they got to have a little bit of a chance here, right? Beat the Eagles again? All right, forget that. All right, guys, let's talk about the biggest winners and losers. Heath, give me the biggest winner from Week 12. I think T. Higgins just resurfaced. Still good at football, it turns out.
Starting point is 00:03:05 It was really great to see Joe Burrow looking his way early and often, focusing on him as the focal point of the passing attack in a game, and then T. Higgins catching those passes and being open. It was a welcome change from what we've seen for a good portion of the season,
Starting point is 00:03:23 and it has to give you hope as someone. I think it puts him firmly in that Mike Williams. You just start him as a number three or a flex. And the good weeks are great. Oh, my God. I believe this was his first game where he had a touchdown outside of the red zone. Yeah, he almost had two, by the way. He had another one overturned.
Starting point is 00:03:46 Name like 10 terrible receivers and I'll tell you how many of them I'd start over Mike Williams right now. I'm so mad at him. Elijah Moore. Absolutely. I'm with you on that one. I was going to say Odell Beckham,
Starting point is 00:04:02 but he had a pretty good game. Would you start Odell ahead of Mike Williams? I'm going to start Van Jefferson over him. Even though Van Jefferson had a horrible game except for one catch, I'm going to start Van Jefferson over Mike Williams next week. Chris Conley. No, but LaVisca Chenault, probably not. How about the three Broncos? Just Judy.
Starting point is 00:04:24 Judy had two catches for 25 yards today. Has he had a good game this season? He's had decent PPR games. I think his best game was before he got hurt. I don't know about it. It's wide receiver stakes, man. Judy has
Starting point is 00:04:39 one game of 70 yards this season and he has not scored a touchdown. That was week one, right? It was. Not crazy. In a half? In a half of 31 snaps. Well, they're not getting good quarterback play right now.
Starting point is 00:04:53 I give Bridgewater played very well in limited action to get 18 fantasy points. I don't know. I don't know how many snaps he ended up playing. It's probably 60%, something like that. But he did well. But he had a rushing touchdown. They just don't throw the ball that he ended up playing. It was probably 60%, something like that. But he did well. But he had a rushing touchdown. They just don't throw the ball that well. All right, Dave, who's the biggest loser?
Starting point is 00:05:11 Is 5 of 21 good when you're a passer? Cam Newton completed 5 of 21 passes. He looked very, very washed. A total 180 from last week when he was getting rid of the ball quickly and guys were getting open in the short area. Just totally different. It's almost like they said, last week was nice, but let's change it up. And then they just looked like absolute doo-doo when they did it.
Starting point is 00:05:38 I don't know how you can feel good about starting Cam Newton again. Well, no, for sure not. Well, I mean, you might after next week but i don't understand because i didn't watch that game and so i haven't seen it yet i saw several plays in the second half where basically cam newton had the ball snapped to him and then went into the fetal position and was sacked immediately it was like the lamar jackson game um for the dolphins defense but then I also saw early in the game, the 50-something yard completion to DJ Moore, 60.
Starting point is 00:06:09 I didn't see all the missed passes, but there were only 16 of them. I guess they just could not get a first down. And how did none of them go to Christian McCaffrey? I have no idea. I know that he was off target a bunch uh the the early throw to dj more was great and then he had a rushing touchdown to end that drive i believe and i just like i thought okay cam's really back this looks good yeah and then he just absolutely wilted did the dolphins
Starting point is 00:06:38 i think they went out they were in his grill a lot. And the other side to it was that Tam, just like he was so slow to react. I was really disappointed in his performance and I was really disappointed in Jalen hurts performance for hurts. Looked like he was just, his throwing motion was so slow. It looked like he was slow to react. It was just a nightmare for both of them. It's yeah.
Starting point is 00:07:01 I think hurts is a little different category for me, at least just because if Jalen Rager is a a i'll i'm gonna be nice if jaylen rager makes plays that he should make the eagles win and jaylen hertz has another touchdown pass and his fantasy days not good but it's whatever salvageable yeah yeah but it's those three interceptions. Some of those picks were so bad. Yeah, he did not play well. But you're absolutely right in the sense that if Jalen Rager catches one of those, the first one was a touchdown.
Starting point is 00:07:35 The second one, he probably would have been down at the one-yard line, and then I don't know what would happen. But also Hurts threw an interception inside the 10-yard line or something like that, and then he ran out the clock at the end of the first half. So he actually had some opportunities. I don't know if you all, I'm sure you guys saw that play. If you didn't, it was third down, I think, at the two-yard line,
Starting point is 00:07:52 whatever it was, and he really needed to just throw the ball away. But he extended the play, and the clock ran out. They cost themselves three points. But Hurts had opportunities for fantasy points. He's a young quarterback. He has ups and downs. It was a bad game. Cam looked like someone who hasn't played all year.
Starting point is 00:08:09 Right. But that's what I expected Cam to look like last week. Yeah, well, he had the easiest matchup in the world last week. I suppose that matters a lot. But I still thought that he'd be able to get rid of the ball quickly this week and at least be better than you know a 20 completion rate yeah i said you know first of all i don't i don't know that matchups matter that much with cam but i guess i guess they do a little bit but he had two great games to start last season
Starting point is 00:08:36 and i don't know i mean i was trying to trying to think of this as more of a macro level it's like you know you can trust hurts to a degree because he ran for 77 yards today. He just had a horrible game. And that happens, you know, to, you can't fault him when Matthew Stafford has horrible games and Aaron Rodgers, right? It happens. But if you're trying to pick, do I start these guys over just better football players?
Starting point is 00:09:02 You know, that's sometimes like, I could never sit Aaron Rodgers for Jalen Hurts at this point, except for next week when Rodgers is on a bye. Even, you know, even if I like the matchup better or whatever, like, I'm just never doing it because I know Rodgers is not going to put up a stinker like this.
Starting point is 00:09:18 But he has twice. But he's capable of doing it, too. Well, he did in week one. He's done it twice this year. No, he did in week one, yes. And I'm not counting the Adams game, if that's the truth. Oh, the Seahawks game?
Starting point is 00:09:27 Yeah, you're right. You're right. But I think he's much less likely. I mean, coming into this game, it was pretty much, I think, I mean, I think Jalen Hurts had been the most consistent number one fantasy quarterback
Starting point is 00:09:39 this season. I don't know if I would say that, though, since they changed their offense. But before that, no, no, if you just looked at those four games, he had not been the most, but for the season, he'd been the most consistent fantasy quarterback this season. Yeah. And in four point for pass touchdown, I think he'd been the number one quarterback this season. So I don't know. Yeah. Okay. No, I mean, I wanted to have more kind of a philosophical discussion about it.
Starting point is 00:10:03 Cause the other one that I debated on the show this morning was Cam Newton, who we all liked, Cam Newton versus Kirk Cousins, and I said I can't start him over Kirk Cousins. So I don't know. It's just I have trouble trusting guys that aren't good passers. But it sounds more like what you're talking about is who is a better pocket passer. Yeah, to a degree, because not only do I not think that Cam is a good pocket passer, I think he's pretty terrible at this point. And Hurts is another guy, he can be so bad sometimes, you know? Right, but every quarterback we've seen so far this season has had those games. Yeah, I guess it's just a matter of...
Starting point is 00:10:41 Mahomes did it, Josh Allen did it. Just awful games. Right, I'm just saying if it's close, I feel like I'm going to favor... I think it's an a matter of... Mahomes did it. Josh Allen did it. Yeah. Just awful games. Right. I'm just saying if it's close, I feel like I'm going to favor... I think it's an aesthetic thing for you. No. No, I'm serious. No, I like the mobile quarterbacks.
Starting point is 00:10:54 I understand the floor that they give you, but I just kind of feel like Cam... I just wasn't really sold on Cam as a player. I mean, I kind of feel like he's just a bad quarterback at this point. You know, who needs his rushing touches? He's a mobile quarterback. He is, but so is Lamar Jackson. I don't feel this way about Lamar Jackson. Not anymore. Okay.
Starting point is 00:11:13 Alright, anyway. Didn't really have the discussion I was hoping for. I guess there wasn't really anything to discuss. Let's get to the big news. So, before we do that, big merchandise news. Go to the CBS Sports. So, before we do that, big merchandise news. Go to the CBS Sports store and you can get 25% off all products.
Starting point is 00:11:31 And do it quickly though. Limited time offer. But 25% off. Go to store.cbssports.com or click the link in the episode description. You can rock an FFT hoodie. You can have a beer in an FFT pint or you can work out in FFT joggers. I'm wearing FFT joggers currently.
Starting point is 00:11:49 Are you drinking out of a pint? I am not drinking out of a pint, but I am wearing FFT joggers. How are they? They're really snug. Fantastic. All right. All right. Didn't need that image. So go to store.cbssports.com. 25% off all merch. Store.cbssports.com. Link is also in the episode description. Okay. Dalvin Cook carted off with a shoulder injury.
Starting point is 00:12:13 We don't know the extent yet. Deebo Samuel left in the third quarter. He's getting an MRI. That's coming next. So I wonder if we... It seemed really serious. It wasn't a typical thing where he jogs off the field after the injury. He was down.
Starting point is 00:12:30 Players were down on one knee from both teams. Cart came out to help him get off the field. That's rare to see for someone with a shoulder injury. This does not look good. I hope I'm dead wrong, but not good. Well, the fantasy analysis is, I guess, kind of obvious. Alexander Madison, I believe he is 78% rostered. He scored more than 20 PPR points in each of the two games that Cook missed earlier this year. So you know what to do there. Dave, tell me what, what,
Starting point is 00:12:57 what do you think about the Debo situation? If he misses time, how does that change things for the 49ers? Well, it certainly opens up targets for Kittle and for IUK. Trent Shurfield would probably take over as the third receiver there, but they're not going to really change their identity very much. They want to be a run-first team, and they were dominant doing that against Minnesota today. I would imagine that you'd feel more confident starting IUK and Kittle moving forward if Debo doesn't play.
Starting point is 00:13:21 Did we hear anything at all about Debo? Because he was pretty jolly on the sideline, like making jokes about watering down Elijah Mitchell because he was so hot at the end of the game. And giggling, and he did
Starting point is 00:13:37 not look like someone who was in a great deal of pain. Yeah, they're hoping it's minor. They don't know. It's a groin injury and hoping it's minor. They're going to do It's a groin injury and hoping it's minor. They're going to do an MRI tomorrow. And that's all I saw so far. By the way, Kenei Nwangu would be another player you might consider picking up in the deeper league for the Vikings.
Starting point is 00:13:55 Ezekiel Elliott, he says he's not going to miss any time. He's obviously got this knee issue. There was a report that they might consider holding him out next week at New Orleans. So we'll see what they end up doing with Zeke. But, you know, it's who's your favorite Dallas running back rest of season if they both play, who are you going to rank
Starting point is 00:14:11 ahead? I'm tempted to rank Pollard just because we know that Ezekiel Elliott doesn't look like himself. And Adam, you can make the argument that you've been saying that he hasn't looked like himself for a long time. Pollard just has more explosiveness to him.
Starting point is 00:14:28 I wonder if he starts to get a little bit more of a nudge in this offense down the stretch. If they're both 100%, I'll still rank Zeke higher, but I think this week I had Zeke at 10 and Pollard at 17, so it's more of a Chubb-Hunt situation. It just seems like
Starting point is 00:14:43 they will continue to give Zeke the gold line work now i mean no matter what yeah he's gonna get those well i wouldn't say that you never know but that's odds on favorite christian mcafree hurt his ankle and he's got a buy this week so hopefully he can heal up some murmurs that he may be in a walking boot. He was. Nothing confirmed. Oh, I mean, a reporter tweeted that. Okay. I didn't see it confirmed. Yeah, Omar Kelly, I believe it was, tweeted it, and that he was in a walking boot.
Starting point is 00:15:16 Yeah, what can you even say at this point? I mean, it's so frustrating. He played, what, 20 snaps out of 55 and well he only played one snap in the second half uh amir abdullah got a lot more snaps than chuba hubbard right i think that was because they were trailing he played two-thirds of the snaps uh seven of eight on third and fourth downs that's only in the second. I don't think Chuba is the same type of replacement that he was before Abdullah got there, though. They like Abdullah in certain parts of the game.
Starting point is 00:15:52 Okay. Well, hopefully we don't have to have this discussion because maybe Christian McCaffrey gets better after the week off. Zach Wilson limped off in the fourth quarter and he's just, his knee is not a hundred percent. So, you know, this is actually a little fantasy relevant, guys, because if Wilson's not good enough to go,
Starting point is 00:16:08 then we want to see Mike White back in there, right? Because we want Ty Johnson to catch him. Can we fly with Flacco? You might get Flacco first. I think they might be more comfortable with Flacco at this point. Remember, Flacco missed this game because he was on the COVID-19 list. So if he clears the protocol, he'll be back. And this would be a revenge game this week, right?
Starting point is 00:16:26 They got the Eagles. Yeah, that's right. In-season revenge game. You don't get a lot of those. They got to let Joe Flacco. I think the problem is if they play Joe Flacco too much, it costs them extra in draft pick, right? Oh, conditional pick to the Eagles?
Starting point is 00:16:42 I think so. Maybe. Teddy Bridgewater left in the first quarter, then he came back in the third quarter. And I believe... That's how bad Drew Locke was. Yeah, right? I mean, Bridgewater was limping around.
Starting point is 00:16:53 Heroic performance. Good job, Teddy. I think their left tackle got hurt. Is that right? The backup to Garrett Bowles? The backup, I believe... I think it was him who got hurt. That's a former Rice offensive lineman.
Starting point is 00:17:07 Yeah, hey, if you're watching on YouTube, the chat, I know you wanted to see the pint. That is a nice-looking drinking glass there with the Fantasy Football Today logo. That is good stuff. Jalen Hurts hurt his ankle, not to the point where he couldn't play, but he got banged up.
Starting point is 00:17:23 Miles Sanders, what's going on here? He did not play much down the stretch. Boston Scott took over, and they're at the Jets next week. I think Nick Sirianni said not only was Sanders hurt, Heath, but also Scott was running better. Yeah, I think that this is a disaster, really. For everything that we hoped. And it's kind of been this way since Sanders went down. Um, we thought it was Boston Scott and then it was Jordan Howard. And then the next week Scott played more snaps than Howard did.
Starting point is 00:17:58 And so I, I just think this is a true hot hand situation. And right now we shouldn't have a great deal of confidence that Sanders is going to get more than 10 touches next week. Hold on though. If Howard is out and if Sanders is out, it's Scott, it's gain well, and,
Starting point is 00:18:17 and maybe there's someone else that they call up. They find a third body to be the next running back. But I think I might feel pretty good about Boston Scott against the Jets because that's a bad run defense. The Texans made him look good today, but it's not a good run defense at all. If I'd actually had
Starting point is 00:18:35 conviction, told people to start Boston Scott, this would have been the best call I ever made. I did in DFS. You saw my DFS lineup. That's right. He scores every time he plays them. Every single time. Yeah, and Sanders, look, Sanders is not like he played poorly, right?
Starting point is 00:18:49 He had nine carries for 64 yards. He had a 27-yard run, but he can't stay healthy. It's very disappointing. Just five second-half snaps. Yeah, I don't know that he's going to miss the game, but he did get banged up. And Philadelphia center Jason Kelsey
Starting point is 00:19:04 left with a knee injury in the first quarter. Let's start talking about these games here and these performances. Here's your wow stat of the day. Joe Mixon has now scored 24 more PPR fantasy points in five of his last six games. He is good. I was hoping this is where you were going to play the clip
Starting point is 00:19:22 of you in the preseason saying, man, I hope Joe Mixon's good because we're kind of the Joe Mixon podcast. Oh, I don't remember saying that, but that sounds familiar. Yeah. All right. Go us. I would definitely say that. Yes. Joe Mixon was good.
Starting point is 00:19:37 It worked. And the Steelers run defense is not. Adam, you were right. We are the Joe Mixon podcast. There you go. Now, wait a second. I was referencing you congratulating us for being right. I know. I flipped it. And you flipped that into you being right. Let's do some fill in the blank here. All right. When it comes to the Tampa Bay offense, I'm worried about blank. I'm worried about everybody being good at the same week. And when I say everybody, I mean the wide receivers and Gronk.
Starting point is 00:20:11 Gronk was fine this week. Fournette obviously was amazing. Just had so many great opportunities to come through for short yardage touchdowns, and he did. But there was also a Rojo touchdown run. Godwin's numbers were terrible. Mike Evans' numbers were terrible. Antonio Brown's going to be back soon. And Brady didn't look amazing until he really got rolling late in the first half. And then he started to kick it up a notch. But they found success running the ball.
Starting point is 00:20:42 So whenever that happens, you know that there's going to be some drain amongst the pass catchers there. I think people might start worrying about starting Evans and Godwin and I get it, but I just feel like there's too much upside with them where you have to say, okay, I'm going to sit them this week. You might miss out on a huge game. And then when they have their huge game,
Starting point is 00:20:56 it could be Gronk who does nothing or it's Fournette who does nothing. Yeah. Okay. Heath fill in the blank. When it comes to the Tampa Bay offense, I'm worried about blank losing in the playoffs because i can't sit them there it is all right that's a much better way of putting what i've said but just to the point out just to point out brady has scored i think
Starting point is 00:21:16 in no particular order 13 17 and 23 fantasy points in his last three games do you feel more comfortable with brady or jaylen hurts brady i mean i can make excuses for brady right to the three games he stays stays in the pocket where he belongs well look at three games ago they had the ball for 21 minutes you know washington had that crazy drive last week against the giants they really uh they struggled in the red zone ryan suck up had 25 yard field goal 30 yard field goal 40 30-yard field goal, 40-yard field goal. And then this week it was the rushing touchdowns. It was just, you know, I think what you're seeing is— Well, it wasn't just the rushing touchdowns. It's not like Tom Brady had a great yardage day.
Starting point is 00:21:54 He threw for 226 yards. He averaged 6.6 yards per attempt. But they scored 38 points. But earlier in the year, those were passing touchdowns. He was just handing off a lot today. My point is the only reason they scored 38 points besides their defense was their running game. Brady was not good today.
Starting point is 00:22:11 Correct. But even if he had not been good, you would expect him to have that second touchdown, really. And he just kept handing the ball off, and I kept punching things. All right. My favorite Jets running back going forward is blank. No. What. No. What?
Starting point is 00:22:28 No. Why? Why would I? They gave you production today. They won. I don't feel good about anyone. Tevin Coleman scored nine PPR fantasy points on 18 touches against the Texans. Alright. Austin Walter came out of nowhere to our fantasy points on 18 touches against the Texans. All right.
Starting point is 00:22:47 Austin Walter came out of nowhere to Bogart the role that we thought Coleman was going to have. Ty Johnson scored four fantasy points. And yes, Austin Walter, 25 year old out of Crosby, Texas, who apparently went to rice.
Starting point is 00:23:04 Okay. Moving on, moving on. My favorite Tennessee running back going forward is blank. That's an even tougher one. I think it's Hilliard, but they did not go
Starting point is 00:23:18 away from Deontay Foreman, even after Hilliard had that big run late in the first half, even after Foreman fumbled. I think they like the physicality that he brings. even after Hilliard had that big run late in the first half, even after Foreman fumbled. I think they like the physicality that he brings. And so I almost wonder if they fancy it as a Thunder and Lightning approach. I think they could be right in the Harris-Stevenson range. But they're like a grosser version.
Starting point is 00:23:39 I don't know. They're all gross. Because Harris and Stevenson still have another guy to deal with. At least there's only two for now in Tennessee. And then after the bye, I bet McNichols comes back and it's a three-headed mess. I'm not going to feel good about any one of them. Okay. My favorite was the third one. My favorite Houston running back going forward is blank.
Starting point is 00:24:03 I'll answer Rex Burkhead for that one. I think it's Dunsville for David Johnson. And Johnson played more this week. Yeah, I was going to say, I thought this was encouraging for Johnson. What was encouraging about it? That he got more touches relative to Burkhead than last week.
Starting point is 00:24:23 Yeah, Burkhead played 64% of the snaps, actually. 13 of 16 on third and fourth downs. And they're going to be trailing a lot. So if Burkhead has that role, also not. Well, this is the first time all season that, I mean, Johnson's had that role all year. And he had three targets in the game as well. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:24:40 I thought Johnson was, he was better than Burkhead today. Yeah, all right, whatever. I can't believe you gave me a real answer than Burkhead today. Yeah, alright, whatever. I can't believe you gave me a real answer for this one and not the Jets one. Because there's three running backs on the Jets. They're all crappy. Hopefully, Michael Carter is ready to go when he's eligible
Starting point is 00:24:57 to come back after two more games, three more weeks. Or is it two more weeks? I don't know. Who even cares? But it's the Titans, guys. If I had to put my feet to the fire, I think I might say non-PPR Foreman, PPR Hilliard, but I don't know. I think Foreman is who they kind of like better.
Starting point is 00:25:17 Okay, let's go to our next one. When you ask me, quote, Hey, guy, who would you rather have rest of season, Miles Gaskin or David Montgomery? My answer would be blank. I still think I'd say Montgomery. Yeah. Gaskin
Starting point is 00:25:35 still has a buy, right? Gaskin still has a buy in week 14. Yeah. Montgomery. Got the Giants next week. After that, it's the Jets. Amazing matchup at New Orleans. Terrible at Tennessee in the Fantasy Championship. Do you think at this point he goes back to his old role when Malcolm Brown returns, if Malcolm Brown returns?
Starting point is 00:25:57 Or do you think Gaskin's just going to be a touch monster? I think he loses touches when Brown returns, if Brown returns. I think Lindsey may have taken over Brown's role. They were talking about big time in terms of pass protection. That's the one thing they don't believe that Gaskin can do. Well, what about the short yard? The other thing is the goal line short yard stuff, because that was Malcolm Brown.
Starting point is 00:26:23 I think Miles Gaskin's acquitted himself well in that area. Yeah. He played all nine of their snaps from 10 yards or closer today and played almost 50% of the snaps in general. They used four different running backs. They had Gaskin for 49%. Lindsey was up next at 21%, which is an indictment on Savan Ahmed.
Starting point is 00:26:42 But most of Lindsey's snaps came in the second half, 11 of 15. So blowout game. They gave Lindsey some run. We could try and interpret what they thought of how he played, but I would imagine that it'll be Lindsey as a supplemental back behind Gaskin and Brown once Brown is back. All right, let's get going here. The best rookie tight end rest of season will be blank.
Starting point is 00:27:11 If Friar Muth is healthy, it'll be him. He left with a head injury late in the game against Cincinnati. I would still probably say Pitts. Just since it's been the Pitts. Yeah. Okay, I have a couple of injury updates real quick. Debo Samuel said he's not too concerned with his groin injury and Dalvin Cook has a dislocated
Starting point is 00:27:31 shoulder and they will get the severity tomorrow with the MRI. All right, so really Fryermuth over pits, Dave? Yeah. The best rookie wide receiver rest of season will be blank. Tomorrow, Chase. Probably Chase.
Starting point is 00:27:53 Okay. I kind of want to say Waddle, though. I really was excited and encouraged by what I saw today. Explosive today, man. Yep. They put him out in a little bit more space. He's got 15. Yeah, I noticed. I don't know what the percentage is this week,
Starting point is 00:28:07 but the last couple weeks he's played out wide more than in the slot. And Waddle's got 15 or more PPR fantasy points in five of six games with Tua. And the one exception was the Buffalo game. So he's just been an absolute, like don't ask Jalen Waddle questions anymore. You're starting Jalen Waddle. We get more Waddle questions. He's one of the most asked about players. Just ask Jalen Waddle questions anymore. You're starting Jalen Waddle. We get more Waddle questions. He's one of the most asked about players
Starting point is 00:28:28 to start Jalen Waddle and obviously start Jamar Chase too. But for Chase, it's now four straight games with fewer than 50 yards. Okay. News and notes. Tredavious White, Buffalo's star cornerback. He is out for the season. Devin White.
Starting point is 00:28:48 Oh, what is this, Schrager? Rodgers is going to make a decision about toe surgery tomorrow morning after additional testing. What? He said he felt good for most of the game, and he's going to get testing done tomorrow. Jeez, he's playing so well. Man, I don't know. Maybe it would be
Starting point is 00:29:06 like quick surgery. I don't know. I'm sure it would be quick surgery. Right. If it's surgery that he thinks will get him back on the field before the end of the regular season, then sure. I hope. Well, we'll find out more about that. Other injuries, a couple of bad ones for
Starting point is 00:29:22 Tampa Bay. I think Devin White came in the game, though. He came back. Jamel Dean, though, did not. That's been their best cornerback this year. They can't stay healthy there. Cordero Patterson had a 27-yard carry in the second quarter. That was the longest run of the season for the Falcons.
Starting point is 00:29:37 Thank you, NFL Red Zone, for that. Dan Arnold left with a knee injury in the first half. Jalen Waddell, forgot to mention this, he waddled after his touchdown. That was a celebration. It was great. Giants cornerback Adoree Jackson
Starting point is 00:29:49 left in the first half with a leg injury. Fred Warner for the 49ers, he left in the third quarter. Randall Cobb ruled out at halftime, and Minnesota linebacker Anthony Barr left in the third quarter. And we know that their run defense has been a lot better when Barr's been playing for the most part.
Starting point is 00:30:09 Okay, winners and losers. Heath, you had Melvin Gordon as one of your... You had T. Higgins. We talked about him. You also have Melvin Gordon, 17 carries for 83 yards. And he almost had a touchdown, got the goal line work after a 42-yard catch and run by Javante Williams. They put Gordon back in. He didn't quite get in the end zone.
Starting point is 00:30:27 But anyway, why did you have Melvin Gordon as a winner, Heath? He had 18 touches coming out of the bye, and he has not lost his position to Javante Williams yet. We have no reason to project that he will lose it next week either. Melvin Gordon is just going to remain a borderline number two running back unless he gets hurt. Yeah, okay. And he did get hurt very early on. First play, or his first carry. is just going to remain a borderline number two running back unless he gets hurt. Yeah. And he did get hurt very early on.
Starting point is 00:30:47 First play. Or his first carry. Yeah. And he came right back in. And they are at Kansas City next week. What do you think about them? Because when you look at the carries here, the splits in wins and losses are just so glaring.
Starting point is 00:31:01 And at Kansas City next week, I'm worried it's going to be eight to ten carries. Could be ugly. Okay. Dave, your winner is Jalen Waddle. I don't know if you want to expand on him. Chase Claypool. I think you summarized it best with Waddle in that we
Starting point is 00:31:17 don't need to get questions about him anymore. You don't need to ask about him. Even in non-PPR leagues, he's more of a number three receiver in non-PPR, but still someone who is absolutely starting to show signs of continued breaking out. Computer continued breakout. There you go. Claypool was interesting as a winner for you.
Starting point is 00:31:36 He was 47% started, 82 yards, three catches for 82 yards on eight targets. This is coming off a 93-yard performance at the Chargers. What do you got on Claypool? It's the targets more than anything else. It's nice that he's getting a lot of shots from Roethlisberger, and it seems like he is starting to connect on those deeper lobs down the sideline. Do you feel confident in him
Starting point is 00:32:00 where you would start Claypool over Mike Stinking Williams? I think I'm at the point where I would be okay starting Claypool over Williams. They're almost the same guy. They're both downfield dudes who make mistakes, but they always have the chance to come through both in the red zone and also on deep balls. But I think Claypool might be making
Starting point is 00:32:20 a few fewer mistakes than Williams. Okay, Chase Claypool or Devontae Smith? And the Eagles still have a bye. Yeah, I'm leaning Claypool. These are ugly questions, and these are not wide receivers that I'm thinking about as surefire number two guys. They're week-to-week decisions.
Starting point is 00:32:46 We're not making trades at this point, so it's probably going to depend on the matchup and the setup. Eli Mitchell was your third winner. 27 carries. I traded him in for Valdez Scantling. I thought Mitchell was so interesting.
Starting point is 00:33:02 We can talk about Mitchell, too. Yeah, bonus winner. I think it's kind about Mitchell, too. Yeah, bonus winner. I think it's kind of elementary with him. Okay, then fine. MVS with what, nine targets today? Nine targets, four for 50, and I like the involvement. I think it's going to continue to happen,
Starting point is 00:33:17 especially if Cobb misses significant time. The only problem with MVS is nine targets, four for 50. Now, sometimes it's nine targets, four for 50. Now, sometimes it's nine targets, four for 90, because one of them was a 50-yard catch. Right, sometimes it's four for 40 in a 90-yard catch. He's got the Brashad Perryman thing going on. If Brashad Perryman had played his entire career with Aaron Rodgers,
Starting point is 00:33:42 I'd imagine he'd have an arc that looks similar, because he does not catch a very high percentage of his targets ever. I believe he's still below 50% for his career. So in a PPR sense, nine targets is like, man, you got to start that guy every week. And Marquez Valdez-Scanling is probably not going to be the same kind of way. No, but I think he's entering the fray as a number three receiver this is all provided that aaron rogers is healthy and playing for them rest of season and not missing time because of toe surgery right and but you also have to make the decision with mvs are you going to pick him up
Starting point is 00:34:15 or hold him through the buy and yeah that's a tough sell i think i feel like this was a season high in past attempts for rogers Did he get to 40 today? I believe he did. 45. Yeah, so his previous season high was 39. Okay, MBS. Let's do some losers. We'll take a quick break.
Starting point is 00:34:38 When we come back, we'll get the losers from Dave and from Heath right after this. Cam Newton was a loser. That was the one Dave gave us at the stop or at the stop, top or start of the show. I combined the two names, the tart of the show. I could also gone with anyway, we're back here in the middle of the show to talk about more losers. Kenny Galladay,
Starting point is 00:34:54 60% rostered three catches, 50 yards on seven targets and at Miami next week at the chargers, not exactly easy matchups. And Dallas Goddard was another one for you. I guess you could just say Giants-Eagles game. Big loser. Yeah. He had one catch for the yards.
Starting point is 00:35:12 Bad quarterback play. Both sides of the ball. Any reason to roster Galladay at this point? I don't think so. We're getting near the end of the bye, so we can't even say that he's a good bye-week replacement at wide receiver. You know what the potential is,
Starting point is 00:35:24 but that potential would be met if he had a good quarterback, someone who was reliable, a quarterback that could handle playing behind a kind of untrustworthy offensive line. Yeah. Okay. So, all right.
Starting point is 00:35:40 No more trust in Kenny Galladay for now. And Dallas Goddard. How much do you trust him after his... Okay, here are his yards in his last six games. 70, 72, 43, 28. He left that game almost immediately with an injury. Then 62, and then zero. How much do you trust him, Goddard?
Starting point is 00:36:03 I don't like that he has three targets in two of his last three games. Three or fewer targets, I should say. But one of them was the game. You're right. To be fair, one of them was the game that he got hurt in. Don't think he got hurt in week 12.
Starting point is 00:36:15 I'm going to be nervous starting him next week. At the Jets, you sure? I think so. He's a tight end. Right. Oh, boy. Is he still a must start though i thought he was kind of the end of the must starts he's still for me he's definitely still a not adding someone else to start over him like what am i gonna go get tyler conklin? Right. Are you going to get Cole Komet? Probably not. Would you roster Cole Komet with Goddard? That's only going to frustrate me.
Starting point is 00:36:54 You're never going to choose the right way between those two. You'll just take the 11 or fewer PPR points that you'll get with Goddard and hope that the rest of your team. Which is what Cole Komet has done for almost his entire career. Really? That's true. I can't say that you're wrong on that, but at least you could possibly play the match. Almost his entire career. Why would you go there? Why would you go there? Because last week he was better than that. I would have said his entire career if it wasn't for you. You can't, you don't count a tight ends rookie season he's had he's had basically one year where he's been you know potentially fantasy relevant
Starting point is 00:37:30 rookie tight ends are almost never good see kyle pitts his entire career come on it's well i know it's technically true but it's deceiving it's deceiving it's like when chris chris said to me a few weeks ago that Devante Adams has been better without Aaron Rodgers than with Aaron Rodgers or something crazy like that I was like it was the most
Starting point is 00:37:52 ludicrous thing well it's true how is it true? he had like an incredible four game stretch without Rodgers I think was what happened I think it's
Starting point is 00:38:03 oh I know why it was true it was because it was true. It was because Adams was really a non-factor the first few years of his career. And so those were with Aaron Rodgers. So it was the most ridiculous... You guys are crazy. Alright, Heath, your losers
Starting point is 00:38:17 are the two Patriots running backs and Miles Sanders. Yeah, we already talked about Miles Sanders. In the Patriots running backs, there was just no separation. This is just, they're going to be blindfold flex plays where it's just only because you don't have someone better. When you say, like, they were dead even in percentage of snaps played. 34% of the snaps each. And Bolden and bolden was 33 third third and a third
Starting point is 00:38:48 good luck with these guys moving forward man like i know that you you got bailed out with harris and they weren't even great the first half was ugly for these guys um bolden was the only one that was good in the first half for the patriots i've decided dave i'm gonna run a twitter poll first and make sure that everyone disagrees with me first, but I'm going to stop playing in two running back and one flex leagues because you just have to start some of these guys. And there's no challenge to it
Starting point is 00:39:16 because you know you just have to start them because you have to start two running backs and a flex. So I'm just going to start one running back and a flex, and then I only have to start the really, really good running backs. I just, maybe Heath, maybe we should just do six flexes. Yeah. And a tight end.
Starting point is 00:39:32 Yeah, but aren't you making fantasy easier by doing that? I was making fun of Adam. Oh man. Like, aren't you tired of starting Mike Williams? I am so sick and tired of starting Mike Williams. If I had played in two receiver leagues, I wouldn't start Mike Williams. Hold on one second. I have to check the one two receiver league I'm in.
Starting point is 00:39:51 I think I may have started Mike Williams in that league. Okay. Anyway, yeah. Also, Heath, I don't know that you can even say who the goal linebacker is. I just feel like they're alternating possessions. Yes. Right? Yeah. Yes. Right? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:40:06 Okay. So disappointing with the Patriots. Exactly what we thought was going to happen after last or two weeks ago, you know, two games ago. Okay. And those are your winners and losers. Any almost touchdowns we need to talk about?
Starting point is 00:40:21 No, there were a few that were called back. The Higgins touchdown, for example, was called back. Jawan Jennings had a touchdown called back. He would have had two. That would have been somebody that we would have been forced to talk about with the 49ers. I think...
Starting point is 00:40:38 What else is there? Yeah, there actually were... Okay, so the Eagles, if you're pissed off about Jalen Hurts, Greg Ward dropped a touchdown. It was not an easy catch, but he could have... Yes, that's actually were. OK, so the Eagles, if you're pissed off about Jalen Hurts, Greg Ward dropped a touchdown was not an easy catch, but that's true. So Hurts could have had a pretty big day if his receivers had come through for him, but they didn't. And then if you were streaming a Giants tight end against the Eagles, Evan Ingram did draw. He drew a pass interference at the end zone.
Starting point is 00:41:02 I'm going to put that in the oval. And then I never. Not the same thing. It's the end zone. I'm going to put that in the Oval Center. That is not the same thing. It's the same thing. And then on the next play, Chris Mayerich, I've never heard of him. The backup tight end for the Giants caught a touchdown against the Eagles.
Starting point is 00:41:17 It was very strange. And AJ Dillon came up a half a yard short of a touchdown and then Aaron Rodgers ran it in. Oh, Van Jefferson had a second touchdown catch from Cooper Cup. He had it overturned. He stepped out of bounds. Yes, he did.
Starting point is 00:41:36 Oh, Noah Fant had a touchdown. What does this mean, Schrager? Noah Fant had a touchdown caught in front of him? The pass was intended for him and it didn't get to him right yeah okay those are your almost touchdowns heath's favorite segment i think i'm gonna do drew a pass interference in the end zone from now on heath do you say i appreciate that all right miami 33 carolina 10 should that get fantasy points as well, Adam? No.
Starting point is 00:42:07 For sure. Good answer. Definitely think it should. Believe it or not, Myles Gaskin is a must start running back. He's close to it. At this point in the year where there's so many other backfields that are just
Starting point is 00:42:23 total guesses as to what you're doing with them. It feels good knowing that you've got a running back who's going to play a marginal amount, at least 50%, if not into the 60% range. And he's starting to find touchdowns a little bit more frequently. That's a good thing. In a one tight end, six flex league, I do not think Myles Gaskin is a must start.
Starting point is 00:42:45 But in most leagues, I do. No, but actually, we should talk about what it means to be a must start. Do you think there are 24 must start running backs? No. Not at all. Okay, good. Maybe like 15 to 18. I don't think he's quite in there.
Starting point is 00:43:02 He's really not so bad. He might be right outside of there. Like, are you going to make a decision? Let's say you only start one running back and you've got Gaskin and the Patriots running backs. Gaskin. You're going to make a, you're going to take a guess on the Patriots running backs each week, or are you just going to go with the guy that you know is going to get work? Right.
Starting point is 00:43:20 Right. But, but I still think we're going to get a lot of miles gas and questions throughout the year. So. Well, that's not, not what determines if he is a must-start, though. In a sense, it does. Because you wouldn't have any questions about him if he were a must-start. We just told people to stop asking about Jalen Waddle. Let's see if it works.
Starting point is 00:43:40 Yeah. See, Waddle, to me, is much more of a must-start than Gaskin. That's so strange because Gaskin's profile is much, much better as a startable fantasy asset each week. I think it's format dependent. Yeah, I'm sorry. I was going to say I was specifically talking PPR. Gaskin's just so not good.
Starting point is 00:44:00 I'm sorry to say, but he just— No, but he's got the opportunity, and we've talked about it a dozen times this year. Of course. Opportunity matters more than talent in fantasy football. Anything else from this game? You want to talk about DJ Moore? He had a very nice game.
Starting point is 00:44:17 He had a very nice catch at the beginning of the game. He must have gotten a lot from PJ Walker at the end. No. I mean, maybe two catches. Okay. He ended up with a hundred yards. Yeah. I'd like to know.
Starting point is 00:44:30 He had over 60 yards from on the very first play. So he only had 40 yards the last 50 minutes. I went over the prior prop that I had for him. I was thrilled with that. Uh, fourth quarter, two or four targets from Walker for 35 yards. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:44:44 30, 35 yards. The end cam Newton Walker for 35 yards. Yeah, 35 yards. And Cam Newton threw for 92 yards and Moore had 60-something of them. Yeah, look, he was started in 92% of leagues. Do you think that makes sense for DJ Moore? Of course it does.
Starting point is 00:45:00 Okay. Sorry. Probably still be in that same range, if not a little higher next week. Would you rather have Cole Komet or Mike Gasicki going forward? And then I have one more follow-up. Cole Komet or Gasicki? Whoever's on my roster now. I'm going to guess that Gasicki is the right answer there, but it's going to be close in PPR. Okay. And last question,
Starting point is 00:45:26 all this love for waddle. Do you think we'll Fuller and Devante Parker jeopardize that? Not the love. I think, I think if one of them comes back, it'll push Wilson off the field or Mac Hollins off the field or Preston Williams off the field. I mean,
Starting point is 00:45:43 all three of those guys will be gone once Fuller and Devontae come back. I think the targets are going to continue to be there. We saw it when Waddle was on the field with one of these guys, whether it was Parker throughout most of this year or Fuller when he was healthy. He's still got a lot of work. I don't think that's going away. And I think the Dolphins, I'm encouraged by how they used him on Sunday, and I would expect him to continue to get opportunities.
Starting point is 00:46:06 And, okay. I would love to know Tua's completion percentage over his last two games. It's probably 90%. He went 27 of, no, not quite. 27 of 31 today. He was 27 of 33 last week. Let's go to Cincinnati 41 and Pittsburgh 10.
Starting point is 00:46:22 Crushed him. What do you got? Najee Harris is hitting the rookie wall. Yeah, that's possible. And the game was over by the fourth quarter, so you can't look at his total snaps for the game and draw conclusions on that. He played 84% of the snaps in the first three quarters.
Starting point is 00:46:45 But I wonder if it's more than just Najee hitting the rookie wall. I wonder if it's Roethlisberger just really getting gross. I wonder if it's the offensive line really getting gross. And all these factors are kind of turning things ugly for Harris, who's been a mostly inefficient running back all year long anyway. Well, okay, so what's the argument against Najee Harris, Heath? This is his second really pretty miserable game in a row, and the efficiency's cratering even further.
Starting point is 00:47:20 And maybe it's more, like Dave said, an argument against just the Steelers' offense as a whole. But I guess the other way you could say it is Najee Harris is going to be more of a number two running back than a number one rest of the season. They've got Baltimore next week. That's going to be tough. I'm going to sell it.
Starting point is 00:47:37 I think, you know, I'm guessing there's probably a big difference in his carries and wins and losses. They had a four-game winning streak, and then they tied against Detroit, and they've lost two in a row. And they've lost two in a row, giving up 41 points in both of them. So that's obviously never good for carries. Yeah, it's just hard to... What do you think, Heath? Are you buying or selling it?
Starting point is 00:48:01 I'm concerned he won't be a top 12 running back for us this season. Look at this comment. I don't know that the schedule really sets up as one where they're going to be ahead in a lot of games and I don't know that ahead's good for him like I kind of thought the best game script for Najee Harris was behind Ben throws 45 passes
Starting point is 00:48:18 you get 12 of them and we're good to go I think the emergence of Fryermuth has hurt him a little bit well but you say it's hurt him a little bit i mean on the positive side he's giving you at least 16 ppr points in one two three four five six seven eight nine straight did he's pretty good so if he's the number two fantasy running back he's going to be toward the high end of that this was a miserable game for pretty much everybody. Before today, yeah. He had 16 fancy points
Starting point is 00:48:48 last week. Yes, he did. He scored a touchdown. He had like 50 yards. He had 59 yards, five catches, and a touchdown. There's no question that he's inefficient, but I don't know if that's necessarily on him. He's so good. I think anyway. I don't know about so good.
Starting point is 00:49:03 He's good. I think he's very good. Fair enough. Yeah, first of all, not only have they had a bad offensive line, they also have a very beat-up offensive line, don't they? They've got some injuries on the line right now. So that maybe is just making things even worse. Talk to me about...
Starting point is 00:49:18 What you almost have to hope for next year is that the Steelers reconfigure the O-line and make it really a strong part of their offense. But what are they going to do a quarterback? They've got a lot of work to do this offseason. Okay, so Burrow, you might not like the production 17 points, but if Higgins scores, it's 23 points and 20 of 24 for 23 points with a rushing touchdown. Okay, but it's also only 24 passes. I mean, what I was going to say is 24 pass attempts.
Starting point is 00:49:46 He completed 20 of them. I don't think he had a bad game. Just when you, you know, it was a bad game script. I don't know. No? But it's three straight games where his numbers haven't been great. We're going to start getting questions. No, we should.
Starting point is 00:50:01 He's not a must-start quarterback by any stretch. No. And, you know, the other thing that I've noticed is that we're running out of must-start quarterbacks. Right. I thought Burrow would be a stud rest of season three weeks ago. He's made me look stupid. Jalen Hurts was terrible today. A lot of people gravitated toward Cam Newton. That's not going to happen. I think he's a must-start quarterback because of exactly what you're saying.
Starting point is 00:50:26 Because there's just no one else to really go with? No, I had him like 15th this week. Who'd you have ahead of him? Cam? Cam was ahead of him. Heineken was ahead of him. Cousins? Do you have Russ ahead of him?
Starting point is 00:50:41 I'm talking about streamers. Which streamers did you have ahead of him? Cam and Heineken? Well, I'm just saying he was not a top 12 quarterback at the beginning of the season. So there's 12 guys that I just normally have ahead of him. Tannehill, out of there. Right?
Starting point is 00:50:58 Sure. So I thought he was right around 12. That's not a must-start quarterback, though. That's if he has a good matchup. You start him. If he doesn't, you don't. But what, though. If he has a good matchup, you start him. If he doesn't, you don't. But what about when his running back has a good matchup? Can you feel good starting Joe Burrow then? Because when Mixon has these huge
Starting point is 00:51:14 games, like he has five of his last six, and they get the Chargers, the last three, and then they've got the Chargers next week. Exactly. It makes me a little nervous to go with Burrow as a top 10 guy next week. It is a pretty bad schedule coming up. Well, what about Jamar Chase then?
Starting point is 00:51:30 Is Jamar Chase... Same thing. Is he not a must start? The problem is that I think you have to have really either strong faith in your other receivers or you just have to be really loaded at wide receiver. I think the difference is... I've got Chase in a bunch of leagues where I have no choice. I've got to use them.
Starting point is 00:51:46 Joe Burrow. Can't make his day in one play. Sure. Chase can. Okay. All right. Atlanta, 21 Jacksonville,
Starting point is 00:51:55 14. Believe it or not. There's anything to talk about from this game. Kyle Pitts is droppable. No, I don't believe that. And someone will pick him up, but this is another tight end that I don't think you should just automatically start.
Starting point is 00:52:13 Mm-hmm. Cordell Patterson, I mean, this is unbelievable. Because previously, he hadn't even been a good rusher. He'd just been doing it all in the passing game, basically. And now he faces a very good run defense, 16 carries, 108 yards, two touchdowns, and now he's like Debo Samuel now. He's all rushing and no receiving.
Starting point is 00:52:39 I mean, I'm just blown away at this season by Cordero Patterson. He is... I want to give a top three of fantasy MVP. Top four. Jonathan Taylor, Cordero Patterson, Debo Samuel, and Cooper Cup. That's my top four right now. Those guys are really good.
Starting point is 00:52:59 14 plus PPR points now in eight of his last nine games. Very nausea. The only one he didn't, he left with an injury. That's right. Who's your MVP right now? You can feel free to do something right in someone.
Starting point is 00:53:13 I think Patterson's ahead of Elijah Mitchell. I think he's ahead of Debo. That's tough to say because Debo's really been great. I just think the fact that you were able to get this guy who you could use as a running back, he's provided ultimate consistency and you didn't even have to draft him. He wasn't even a guy I'm sure after week one,
Starting point is 00:53:31 we weren't going crazy for him or week two, whenever this streak started for Cordero. I don't think we've really were crazy about him. Yeah. And he's dual eligible. There's that too. I think he'd be my pick. It's tough not to go with Taylor,
Starting point is 00:53:49 but I think he'd be my pick, Patterson. Heath, what do you think? The story is yet to be written. All right, fine. We've got people commenting in the chat here. All right, got some differences of opinion there. else from this game i was hoping to see what kadri allison would do for an encore but he did not play he didn't even play russell gage guys in his last six games he has four games with 49 to 67 yards and zero yards in each of the other
Starting point is 00:54:22 two games he also caught a touchdown today, which he rarely does. You're going to pick up Russell Gage, 40% rostered. I started Russell Gage in two different leagues today. That's how bad my wide receivers are in those leagues. I think he's a borderline number three wide receiver every week. Until Ridley's back, if Ridley's back, hopefully. If Ridley's back. Yeah, we don't have...
Starting point is 00:54:44 I feel like it's more of a low-end number three. Would you rather have Chenault or... What's the difference between a borderline number three and a low-end number three? They're basically the same. Okay. Ten spots in the rankings. They're not basically the same. Oh, borderline.
Starting point is 00:55:00 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the exact same thing. Low-end sounds so much harsher. It's a borderline. Borderline makes you brimming with confidence. Yeah, you're like a borderline cool guy. You are a low end cool. I don't like that.
Starting point is 00:55:19 I'm neither. All right. Sorry. Answer this question before we go on to the next awesome game. Chenault or Gage? Gage. Because I can't stand the sight of Chenault. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:55:31 Yeah, Gage for sure. Okay. So Gage is more borderline and Chenault is more borderline. I think I'd take Gage over Marvin Jones. I'd take Gage over pretty much anybody in Jacksonville at this point, except for James Robinson. All right, Dave. Let's go to the next game.
Starting point is 00:55:46 Jets 21, Houston 14. Heath, what do we got? Finally, we're at the game of the week. Believe it or not, Zach Wilson makes Elijah Moore a flex at best. I believe it. I believed it before the game kicked off today. I also believe it.
Starting point is 00:56:03 Zach Wilson isn't good right now. He might not be good until next year. He might not ever be good. Keep going. He's really bad. I'm not quite sure I totally believe it yet. Just because they had no connection at all in the
Starting point is 00:56:27 first half. And it's like they went into halftime and they're like, dude, throw the ball to your best player. And he came out and did that early in the second half. And so if I just looked at the second half and extrapolated, I could see some reason for positive hope. I'm
Starting point is 00:56:43 probably going to start Elijahijah moore one more week against philadelphia against philadelphia i don't imagine he's going to get darius slay philadelphia new orleans at miami dolphins will be coming off their buy for that game jacksonville after that tampa bay in week 17 for your fantasy championship i gotta see i gotta see zach wilson start to put it all together before i look at elijah moore and say no problem start him i mean if the thing this my my counterpoint is for a month before this game he was the number one wide receiver in fantasy yeah and his bad game was 9.3 fantasy points. And a lot of really good wide receivers have had bad games of 9 fantasy points.
Starting point is 00:57:33 Yeah. But they will also have games of 15 plus fantasy points. Well, he was just the number one wide receiver in fantasy for a month. Right. Who was his quarterback? Exactly. They weren't good. He doesn't need a good quarterback.
Starting point is 00:57:47 He had Mike White and Josh Johnson. I get it. But Zach Wilson's awful right now. Yeah. He is. And he's not healthy. I'm not convinced he's going to start next week. I'm not.
Starting point is 00:58:04 So we'll see. Just because of health issues. Well, that would get me to change my tune, obviously. Okay. And Brandon Cooks. Chase Claypool or Brandon Cooks? Cooks. Cooks.
Starting point is 00:58:16 He had a 40-yard touchdown. He had five yards. It was a great catch. The rest of the game. Crazy catch. Yeah. Okay. He's frustrating the game. Crazy catch. Yeah. Okay. He's frustrating.
Starting point is 00:58:27 And to Rod Taylor. But he don't do that on his good games. Like, we've got to deal with Mike Williams today and Cortland Sutton today and all this crap today. When the guys score touchdowns, they're not frustrating. It's 13 and a half points in PPR. It's not that good of a game. It's a good game. It is a good game. I know, but I got it. You got to look under the hood here. It's not like, uh,
Starting point is 00:58:52 Terod Taylor is completely saving him. We're still playing in three wide receiver leagues, Adam. You haven't changed them all for now. That's why it's like, what kind of conference do we even get to have conversations about wide receivers anymore? Or they're all just starts in three receiver leagues. That's what I'm talking about. No, we're not starting LaVisca Chenault. LaVisca, I'm sorry. I said LaVisca. New England 36, Tennessee 13.
Starting point is 00:59:14 Gosh, the one o'clock games are awful. Woo! Believe it or not, both Deontay Foreman and Dontrell Hilliard are startable moving forward after the buy. Well, obviously. And this is one of the best case scenarios that we could have had from this run game after today.
Starting point is 00:59:33 They got Jacksonville in their first game back. I'm sure they're going to try and run it at them. If Pittsburgh's defense is bad, that's the game after Jacksonville. These are guys who are worth holding. And we weren't sure how it was going to shake out in Tennessee, but I think they're worth holding for now and not worth dumping during their bye week, which was a possibility for one or both of them,
Starting point is 00:59:54 depending on how they played in the game. The concern that I have, I mentioned it earlier in the show, Jeremy McNichols will eventually be back. Does that make this a three-headed backfield? What happens to Hilliard's role when that happens? So, still questions that have to be answered, but for now, I wouldn't let these guys
Starting point is 01:00:10 live free on the waiver wire. Man, you run for a 68-yard touchdown, you hit 131 yards. I know he did fumble. They both fumbled. I don't think Jeremy McNichols is going to take his job. You know what I mean? But he could have a role.
Starting point is 01:00:26 He could have that passing downs role. What's stopping them from doing what the Patriots are doing? They each had only one catch, so it's a little disappointing. Which was discouraging after what Hilliard did last week. And by the way, the fact that Ryan Tannehill is rostered in 85% of leagues makes me think that he's been so bad this year that 85% of his managers just have no chance and have completely given up.
Starting point is 01:00:53 What were you doing? If you had Ryan Tannehill, he's facing the Patriots without A.J. Brown, and then he's got a bye. Why on earth was this man on your team? That is just terrible. Not everybody listens to our show, and other people might just be going through the motions with their fantasy team.
Starting point is 01:01:10 I can't defend it either, but I got a feeling his number's about to hit the toilet with the Titans going on. Yeah, I think Adam's probably right. If those people had him this week in week 12, they're probably not dropping him, probably not making waiver claims in week 13. No, I bet they are.
Starting point is 01:01:24 I bet they'll see that he's on a buy and they need somebody else for their team. They'll let him go. It won't be 85% this time next week. It might not be 58%. It shouldn't be 5%. Well, that's an exaggeration. It could be more than 5%. It shouldn't be 30%.
Starting point is 01:01:39 A.J. Brown's not here for two more games at least. Anyway, Mac Jones, he's playing pretty well. a very... A.J. Brown's not here for two more games at least. Alright, anyway, Mac Jones, you know, he's playing pretty well. And he's got 25 fantasy points in three of his last six games. Unfortunately, his next four games, two of them are against Buffalo,
Starting point is 01:01:56 even without Tredavious White. It's probably not a good matchup. And one's a bye. So I said four games. I meant four weeks. What do you think about Mac Jones? Do you think we need to add him at Buffalo next week? Well, he's playing pretty well, you know, and quarterbacks are struggling right now. Okay, so what do you do?
Starting point is 01:02:13 If you pick him up, and it's a one-quarterback league, you're probably not going to be confident enough to start him. And then he's got his bye after that game against Buffalo, you'll probably just return him to the waiver wire after that. If there's a time to pick up Mac Jones, just to speculate for the playoff run, it's on the Saturday before week 14 games kick off.
Starting point is 01:02:35 All right, fine. I was just bringing it up. Tampa Bay 38 in Annapolis. Mac Jones or Jalen Hurts. Hey, Mac Jones or Joe Burrow. You're going to name 12 quarterbacks that you definitely like better than Mac Jones oh yeah probably 15 okay but that's because of
Starting point is 01:02:50 Buffalo or because it's Mac Jones no it's because of Buffalo in the situation that he's in with the tough matchups and he played great today there's been plenty of games where he's played efficient football just not a stat monster I know but he's playing well football, just not a stat monster.
Starting point is 01:03:06 I know, but he is playing well. I mean, let's give the guy some credit here. No, he's playing well. He is. Like, for fantasy purposes, he's probably QB 22 on the season or something. Yeah, but he's playing better. And over the last six weeks on a per-game basis,
Starting point is 01:03:17 he's probably like QB 18. I don't know. Maybe. I mean, he's got 25 points in three of his last six games. Like I said, that's pretty good. Tom Brady hasn't done that in four weeks. So, by the way, just say real quick, Kendrick Bourne, must add? I'm not probably going to feel comfortable starting him.
Starting point is 01:03:37 It's almost the exact same thing as the Mac Jones argument. Okay. No one's going to feel good using him. Let's just go to our next game. We've got a lot of games left. Tampa Bay 38, Indianapolis 31. Believe it or not, Antonio Brown's going to be the best Saints.
Starting point is 01:03:55 Saints. Buccaneers wide receiver rest of the season. That's a fun one. I'm not going to believe it, Heath. I don't believe you. Who is? I'm going to take Evans. Okayath i don't believe you who is i'm gonna take evans okay so you don't get the field i could easily be brown it's it's a great question dave what do you got who's best bucks wide receiver i'll say evans i'll be curious i mean i've changed my mind on this four times this year already right so i mean how can you not choose
Starting point is 01:04:25 after the game he just said i know oh yeah on fire uh he again and it's just like it's always what what is the thing what are the things that you look for i know i have a type dave has a type um like evans is the one that still just scares me to death because this is what four out of six games with five targets or fewer. Yes. That's awful. Yes. True. Agreed.
Starting point is 01:04:53 But he scored a bunch of touchdowns. So he'll probably just do that again. All right. Jonathan Taylor stardom. You good with him next week at Houston? Hmm. All right. Michael Pittman. You good with good with him next week at Houston? Hmm. All right, Michael Pittman. You good with Michael Pittman next week at Houston?
Starting point is 01:05:09 He's now got 12 or fewer PPR points in three straight games, but he did get 10 targets. Yeah, I like the targets, and I know what his role is in this offense. I'm going to be fine starting him against Houston. Yeah, he's a number three. starting him against Houston. He's a number three. But like a high-end number three.
Starting point is 01:05:30 I think he was bad against Houston earlier in the year because Wentz barely threw, if I recall. And that's a concern. I kind of talked about that when we broke down the game on Thursday. Carson Wentz throws 11 more times
Starting point is 01:05:45 in losses than wins. I thought they were going to lose. Oh, they did lose this game. I'm sorry. They had it won. You were right. Adam was right. Adam, you were right. Adam, you were right. Thank you. Thank you, Heath. I didn't even realize I was right. So, yeah, that's an issue here for Pittman. Giants
Starting point is 01:06:01 13, Eagles 7. You should just forget about this week and start Jalen Hurts next week. At the Jets, Dave. Yeah, it's probably a good idea. I agree. What about Devontae Smith? Should you start him next week?
Starting point is 01:06:19 Two catches for 22 yards on four targets. Before that, he had three straight games with six targets. I think I'd rather start Pittman. I was just going to say I think I'd put him ahead of Pittman, but they are definitely in the same range. Like, I'm not sure which one of those guys will be ahead,
Starting point is 01:06:35 but they're right in the same range. What do we do with Saquon Barkley? 53 total yards, four catches. Look, he played a ton. He was on the field a lot. I just wish he had more. He had the one big play, right? And then everything else was
Starting point is 01:06:51 Dudsville. Number two running back. I want to say something. I just want to get the pro football reference pages pulled up so that when Adam starts screaming, I can start doing a little bit of research to make a counter-argument. Is it possible that
Starting point is 01:07:10 Miles Gaskin is better than Saquon Barkley rest of season? Oh, rest of season? I thought that was just an overall question. Oh, yeah. It's possible. This is probably... I can't believe it. They're not the worst offense in football, but they're really close. They're not as bad as Houston. I don't believe it. They're not the worst offense in football, but they're really close.
Starting point is 01:07:26 They're not as bad as Houston. I don't think they're as bad as the Jets. They might be. I think they're in that bottom five range. Jacksonville is a pretty bad offense, but at least Robinson's producing something. Robinson didn't play a lot of snaps today. I'm like, at least Barkley's playing.
Starting point is 01:07:49 Yeah, it's so frustrating. It's just... The two games before he got hurt, he was tremendous. He had 94 total yards, 126 total yards. He scored in both of them. Those are his only games
Starting point is 01:08:04 with more than 11 PPR fantasy points in six games. I mean, that's just terrible. And, you know, he's just not going to, it's this point. It's like, is he going to run the ball? Well, I don't, I don't think so. Yeah. I mean, is Saquon Barkley ever going to be good again? I think is the question.
Starting point is 01:08:22 I wish I could diagnose his life. Yes, i think he will be so all right i guess barkley is a number two running back rest of season and that's the astronaut meme i don't know the astronaut meme i think there's an astronaut astronaut and then the camera kind of pans and there's another astronaut behind him with a gun and it says always was. I don't get it, but I think that's the meme. Always was. Yeah. You said Saquon Barkley. I don't get what that has to do with astronauts and a gun. I don't know.
Starting point is 01:08:55 That's the meme, but Saquon Barkley always was a number two running back. That's what the point was. Certainly with the potential. This is just where he always was. Oh, stop. All right. Denver 28, Chargers 13. What do you got for this game? Believe it or not, Javante Williams and Melvin Gordon
Starting point is 01:09:12 are the only Broncos who need to be rostered. Who need to be rostered? I will push back on that. I don't believe that. I think Fant deserves to be rostered, and I still think Judy is useful as a bench receiver. You can look at him, and every once in a while,
Starting point is 01:09:35 you can pull up his player page and see that he was drafted in the first round, and then you can say, look at how much upside I have on my bench. This guy was drafted in the first round. Okay, Judy the last couple of weeks was not that bad, was he? bench. This guy was drafted in the first round. Okay. Judy, the last couple of weeks, was not that bad, was he? This week, they threw for 160 yards, basically. It's pretty terrible.
Starting point is 01:09:55 They threw 25 passes. Locke had seven of them. It's an offense that will do what it takes to win a game without having to throw a ton, because if they have to throw a ton, they're probably not going to win. And I just feel like that Judy's season ended up being lost when he sprained his ankle. He came back and he looked good, but the quarterback play has been bad. Offensive line hasn't been great to protect the quarterback.
Starting point is 01:10:21 It's an ugly offense. Now, I do think that he'll probably score a touchdown at some point um maybe against the lions in week 14 but his his five game game log now goes 13 7 12 10 4 um okay so the 13 was in a half and then the four was bad first game game back. I think I'm looking at the last two games. No, the four was today. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay.
Starting point is 01:10:50 I'm looking at the previous two games as what I consider to be... 12-10-4. Yeah, 12-10. That's kind of 11 PPR fantasy points. I'm not going to forget about the four. No, because I'm about to tell you why. You're talking about today, right?
Starting point is 01:11:03 Right. They won easily. They ran the ball a ton. They threw the ball 25 times for 155 yards, something like that. You can't, how can you expect them to have a good day when their passing game is this anemic? Typically, they're going to be throwing the ball more for more like 230 to 250 yards or something like that.
Starting point is 01:11:22 So I think, you know, he had six catches each of the previous two games. That's all I'm saying is that this was the worst case scenario for him. I don't see a ton of upside anymore, though. Right. All I'm saying is he's played five games, and you're saying these are the two that I think matter. I think, no, that's not what I'm saying, Heath. Like, I think, first of all, they're not even his best two. Week one was his best one.
Starting point is 01:11:43 What I'm saying is I think the last two games are going to be more... The rest of the Broncos' season is going to be more like the last two games than this game. And if they are just not winning by 14 points the entire game, then he's going to have more production. Yeah, I think that you are definitely right that week 13 will be like that. The next week they play the Lions at home. Yeah, that won't be good. That probably won't be that way.
Starting point is 01:12:10 And then they play the Bengals. That could be a disaster, as we saw from the Steelers today. Or it could be a good situation. That's sort of the 45 pass attempts from the Steelers today. I don't remember what it was, but, you know. Yeah, but you don't know for sure. The Steelers kept Ben Roethlisberger and their starters in a 30-point game with six minutes left to score fantasy points.
Starting point is 01:12:32 We don't know for sure. I'm not giving him a ton of points. I'm giving him six catches for 50 yards. You know what I'm saying? He's a number three guy. He's a six or 60 guy. I don't know that we need to go on this much over jerry judy it's a disappointing year yeah it absolutely sucks the bus label is starting to show up on
Starting point is 01:12:50 him a little bit after two bad years in the league it's just it is what it is and at best he's a number three receiver what about justin herbert how much faith do you guys have in him with uh he did score 23 points it was not pretty it was the ugliest 23 points you'll ever see. Right. I still look at him as a must-start fantasy quarterback. Closer for me to Hurts than Burrow. Okay. And Green Bay 36, Rams 28.
Starting point is 01:13:21 Believe it or not, Odell Beckham is going to be a starting fantasy receiver rest of season one big play is going to change how we feel or is it going to be more about targets yeah the 10 targets was good and the Rams are starting to kind of lose their desire slash success at running the ball which could end up hampering them quite a bit.
Starting point is 01:13:46 Jacksonville next week is nice, sort of. I think they'll be able to do fine in that game. What's the answer? Beckham is the number three receiver next week, and we'll take it from there. Okay, and... If he's healthy, he won't beat up in this game. We have a second one, because I messed up.
Starting point is 01:14:01 Believe it or not, A.J. Dillon will be better than Aaron Jones the rest of the season. That's an interesting one. My guess is no. I won't believe that. But I think they're both going to be in that middle of the number two running back range rest of the season.
Starting point is 01:14:17 I always send my answers to Jamie and Jack for the Monday show when I come up with these. And I just left my answer on that one blank because I'm going to sleep on it. Because there's a big part of me that thinks, I don't think there's any doubt right now, this week, AJ Dillon has more juice than Aaron Jones. And there's a part of me that just thinks he's the younger back. And I will just bet on the guy that currently has the most juice,
Starting point is 01:14:50 having the most juice the rest of the season. The thing that pulls me to Aaron Jones is that, uh, Dylan does not have any rushing touchdowns when Aaron Jones has been healthy, excluding today when Aaron Jones was in the, you know, the secondary role Aaron Jones was in the, you know, the secondary role,
Starting point is 01:15:06 but before the injury, because he's Dylan scored twice in that Seahawks game, but they were both after Jones got hurt. So I kind of see it like a Zeke situation where Jones is their guy. And I think that they're going to get him more involved in the, you know, but the two weeks before the injury, one of those weeks,
Starting point is 01:15:23 Dylan had a lot more carries than Jones. And one of those weeks, Dylan had a lot more carries than Jones, and one of those weeks, Dylan had four catches and Jones had zero. Okay. And that was before Jones got hurt. But you know, the four, I mean,
Starting point is 01:15:32 you know, Jones is the guy in the passing game. I don't know that he is. I don't know about that. Yeah. I think they're okay using Dylan in the passing. They might be okay using him, but he's not Aaron Jones in the past. Right, but I don't know if they're
Starting point is 01:15:46 going to use Aaron Jones like you're making Aaron Jones out to be. Well, I don't know either. He's a consistent five plus catch guy. Five plus? Who has more games with four plus receptions this year? I would guess Jones. I would guess. I don't know how many Dylan had today.
Starting point is 01:16:02 Dylan had five today. Dylan has four of those games. Oh games oh well then i would guess wrong i'm assuming one thing is like four or five six games for jones with four plus reception all right the thing does have a thing with dylan um i no one we didn't really expect him to be as good as he has been in the passing game but in the small sample of the two seasons that he's played, 24 targets coming into this week, so 30-some now, he has been super elite. Because the thing is, you put him out in space like that,
Starting point is 01:16:38 defensive backs can't tackle him by themselves. And he's just averaging huge numbers after the catch and breaking tackles out and and it seems like the packers like that but yeah today notwithstanding i just think that jones is we're gonna we don't want to forget how good aaron jones is you know he's no and i think the bi-week will do a great that job of healing him up a little bit that's the key it could be like a 60 40 split between the two of them. Because I think Adam, what Aaron Jones
Starting point is 01:17:09 was, yes. He's not currently that right now. And hopefully he is in two weeks. But he may not be 100% in two weeks. Alright, by the way, Van Jefferson or Odell Beckham? Beckham. I'll lean with Van. Okay. San the way, Van Jefferson or Odell Beckham? Beckham.
Starting point is 01:17:25 I'll lean with Van. Okay. San Francisco 34, Minnesota 26. Last game. Believe it or not, if Dalvin Cook is out, Alexander Madison is a top five running back rest of the season. I think top five is too high. Oh, better, better better i'm sorry i missed the other i i had to scrub this one from the uh fft tomorrow but debo samuel should be running back eligible no well how does that work but no how does that work uh well people are asking about
Starting point is 01:18:01 because he's because you're opening a can of worms. Yeah, you really are. No, I'm not at all. Because people are already clamoring for it. People are already tweeting us. People are already emailing us. And so I'm going to explain why that's not the case. And it's very simple. Cordero Patterson got changed to running back because the Falcons listed him as a running back.
Starting point is 01:18:20 Correct. If the 49ers came out with a depth chart with Debo Samuel as a running back, then we'd have a conversation. Well, then why didn't we, why didn't we remove? It's not just a depth chart. It's,
Starting point is 01:18:30 and they got to label them as one. Right. And the other key to that is that we don't want this rule to be different because we don't want all these running backs to be wide receiver eligible just because they line up as wide receivers for 15 plays a game. Every single tight end who's relevant in fantasy would be wide receiver and tight end eligible because they line up in multiple places. We don't want it determined by where players line up.
Starting point is 01:19:01 So why didn't we remove Cordaro Patterson's wide receiver eligibility? Because he entered the year with... lineup. So why didn't we remove Cordero Patterson's wide receiver eligibility? I don't believe we entered the year with right. When you enter the year with an eligibility, you don't lose it. Right. It can be added to. Right. He got it added before the season started. That's
Starting point is 01:19:18 also been a part of the protocol that we've used. Yeah. Okay. But he's right. Like if the 49ers came out and said, yeah, Debo Samuels are running back now then we'd have to at least have a conversation about it i think we'd probably do what we've done in the past and just make it up up to the commissioners in their leagues we did that with tasem hill last year where each commissioner had to make the choice about whether or not they wanted to give that competitive advantage to the person that had that player on their team
Starting point is 01:19:44 we got a clear advantage if you've got Debo as a running back. We got so many great fantasy cops questions because of that other site really bungled. Yeah, and it's tough. I mean, sometimes you make mistakes. I get it. But they did not handle the Taysom Hill thing very well, and it was a storm.
Starting point is 01:20:02 All right, we're out of here. Thanks so much, everybody. Hope Week 12 was good for you. And hoping to get a good second half in this mega dud of a game. We will talk to you tomorrow on Fantasy Football Today. What do Mattel, Banana Republic, ButcherBox, and Glossier all have in common? They power their businesses with Shopify. Shopify is the most innovative and scaled commerce platform on the planet
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