Fantasy Football Today - Week 13 Recap: Winners, Losers and Injuries (12/03 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 4, 2023

Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts Our biggest winner is De'Von Achane (2:40)! But we'll tell you why his stat line isn't as encouraging as it looks. Our biggest losers (5:25) are Austin Ekeler and Breece Hall! Can you trust them going forward? We've got a lot of injuries (9:50) to talk about including injuries to Tank Dell, Kenny Pickett and several starting running backs ... An early look at the waiver wire (16:50), Buy or Sell (19:15) for Zack Moss, Dameon Pierce and more, and we ask our YouTube audience for their winners (30:00) and losers (37:50) ... Recapping each game with our Fantasy thoughts (46:35) ... Email us at [e-mail] SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. What a play! Can you believe this? Can I know I can? It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races, and he stays on his feet. This is going to go the distance. Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.

What's up, everybody? Let's recap week 13. Looking at the leaderboard, it's a lot of 49ers and a lot of Seahawks this week. DK Metcalf, still your number one scorer, outscoring Brock Purdy by one point so far, but Geno Smith, Debo Samuel, they're up there as well, and Nico Collins

with a huge game. Nine catches, 191 yards, and a touchdown. Welcome to Fantasy Football today. A lot of injuries today, and as many great performances as there were, we also had some stinky duds out there like Austin Eckler. Stinky duds, Dave. Not just regular duds. Stinky duds. Yes, the worst kind of dud. The worst, yeah. So we'll talk about it all. Good evening, Dave. How are you? I'm doing better than you sound. I hope that you're feeling better and that you got some rest during the games today.

I did not. You always like to take the temperature on the week's games at the start of the podcast on Sunday night. I think it was a good slate of games. There wasn't a lot of drama. We got an OT game for AFC South contention, I guess, sort of. At least, you know, I don't think Tennessee was really in it, but Tennessee gave Indianapolis a game. Colts found a way to win that game. The lions built a huge lead on the saints.

The saints came roaring back and then they lost their car. And you'd think this is it. Jameis Winston's coming in. They're going to be awesome. And I think it was Jameis Winston that ultimately ended up costing the game. You saw a defensive showdown between the chargers and the Patriots. I watched none of that game. I don't know what happened in that game, but the Broncos and Texans didn't score as many points as I thought they would.

I think we've got some disappointed fantasy managers if you started any of the quarterbacks in that game, but not if you started Corlin Sutton or Nico Collins. I think they gave you plenty of good stuff. It was a week full of good stuff, and that's where we're at in week 13. Pretty good. All right. I like the optimism.'re at in week 13. Pretty good.

All right. I like the optimism. You know, I know obviously the injuries hurt. Tank Dell out for the season. That's the big one. Some players got hurt and came back. Some players left with concussions, which is not a good thing,

but it's often a one week thing. So we'll see. Let's go through it right now. We get the biggest winners and the biggest losers. And by the way, Heath is not here tonight. So we're going to need your help. You gave me my buy or sell segment. That was great of you. You're going to give your help. You gave me my buy or sell segment. That was great of you.

You're going to give us winners and losers a little bit later in the show. The biggest winner, Dave, is whom? I'm going to go with Devon Achan, who actually led the Dolphins among their running backs in snaps played with Tua Tungavailoa. He led the way on third downs. He had six of their 10 snaps on third downs. And no, he didn't average 10 yards per carry, but he did have 17 carries for 73 yards, multiple rushing touchdowns, three catches and 30 yards, 20 touches for Devon Achan. Late this past week, I went and I looked back on how many snaps did he have early on in his game two weeks ago and he had three of the first four snaps so it got me thinking that you know what maybe the dolphins are going to use them more than i thought that they were going to use them because they were using them early on before he got hurt now it did seem silly blowout win on the road jamie mentioned the surface in washington

it was horrible and nonetheless devon a chain out there, played well into the fourth quarter, had himself a monster game. I hope you guys started him. I hope you guys did. They did. A lot of people did not because they had other running backs that seemed safer. Hopefully, it doesn't cost those fantasy managers a shot at a playoff berth. Yeah, so he was started in 45% of leagues, CBS leagues, seven, 17 carries 73 yards,

two touchdowns, three catches 30 yards. But there's just a little, a little pushback on this. He had 12 carries after Raheem Mostert's last carry of the game. So Mostert ended up with 11 and HN had five at that point, I believe. That would be the case.

12, 17 minus 12 is five. Yeah. And then 12 carries after that, including on the very last possession of the game. Eight carries for 44 yards and a touchdown. And the game was well

out of hand. This was Mike White territory at this point. So, he did not, I don't think he took over for Mostert. I'm not saying he's not a winner. Big winner. But so much of it was in garbage time. Almost all of his production, really. Well, he had a touchdown earlier, but eight carries for 44

yards and a touchdown on the final possession of the game for the Dolphins for A-Chance. So it's just something to keep in mind, but it didn't make me feel any better about Mostert. I'm glad he scored, but again, I think he had one target in this game and he's clearly going to be splitting with Devon A-Chance. I don't think he's going to be splitting with Jeff Wilson, though, target in this game, and he's clearly going to be splitting with Devon H.

I don't think he's going to be splitting with Jeff Wilson, though, based on this game, because Wilson got all four of his carries, I believe, on that last possession. 2% of the snaps played for Jeff Wilson, so it's over for J-Dub. Don't have to worry about that. Okay, Dave, how about the biggest loser? I'm going to call this a new category. This is the biggest loser other than Austin Eckler because he's in buyer's cell.

We'll talk about him later. Who's the biggest loser other than Austin Eckler? You just had to keep Austin Eckler to yourself in buyer's cell. Eckler is the biggest loser, but Brees Hall is the next biggest loser. Started in 84% of leagues. 16 yards on 13 carries. That's not good.

Six catches for 29 yards. That's not good. Six catches for 29 yards. That's not good. And it came against the Falcons. Yikes. Not what we were hoping for. Not even close to what we were hoping for. Just something that there are people out there. I know it.

They started Brees Hall over Devon HN and it's going to cost them. If I had known, if we had known that Devon HN was going to get 20 touches, then I think we might've made the case to start him over a lot of people. I don't think we played it wrong with Achan, really. I mean, yes, he did have a decent game even before the garbage time. He had the touchdown, but it was too risky. He just didn't know what it was going to be. If this game had been relatively competitive,

it may have been 12 touches for him. For Hall, though, it's unbelievable. He's probably under two yards per carry in his last eight games now, or right around there. What's his fantasy points in his last five? It's not that bad, because he keeps getting so many catches. In full PPR,

his last eight, it's 28, 20, 21, and then it gets bad. 10, 10.5, 18, 12, and then today was what? Today was like 11-ish. But that's in full PPR. If you're not in full PPR,

then you're really struggling with Brees Hall. Then you're not getting much at all. You might have been benching him already if it's non-PPR. You benching him against Houston, one of the toughest run defenses next week? I think it's a safe bet that Brees Hall's best games are behind him and that it's too risky to start him unless you are just absolutely decimated at running back Houston next week,

at Miami after that, Washington in week 16, probably the next time I would consider starting Brees Hall. I think they should go back to Zach Wilson. I think it's Robert Sala can say, all right, guys, you want it? You wanted it. You got it. And now you know that he's still the best option we have.

And maybe he gets their offense going a little bit better. But Dalvin Cook with nine carries, I guess he was supposed to get more work today and he did. So that was also disappointing for Hall. We've got Sportsline. Dave, tell about the great content we can get on Sportsline. Promo code Dave. So I don't know if it's Dave or promo code Richard.

Promo code Richard. My bad. Let's go with promo code Richard. Okay, so Sportsline is for the guys and gals out there who like to bet on sports. And it doesn't have to be the NFL. It can be any sport out there. They've got experts. They've got guys who have been betting on sports for

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Multiple projection sources. I think I already mentioned the projections. I know I said he'd stay with it. Anyway, it's all for $10 a month, but not your first month. When you use promo code Richard, it's $1 for the first month and you can cancel anytime. So maybe you only want to bet. I don't know. Maybe you're just sitting at home during the holidays and you want to bet some college basketball or something like that. You pay the dollar for the month. You take a look at their picks. You take some of the picks,

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Sportsline.com, use promo code Richard. Okay, good stuff. Or use promo code FOLLOW and get 60% off an annual subscription. If you want my best bet, I don't even know if I have the line yet. Bet Rutgers over Miami. Miami's going to be on their third. I'll be at the game, pretty sure, baby. Pinstripe Bowl, here we come. Third-string quarterback, going to be without probably their three best defensive players. i think i see an early line by any favored so i would bet rutgers i don't know anything i

don't know the first thing about rutgers i only know what state they're from cold weather forget it we can't play in that you're welcome folks you don't even you need you you don't even need sports line for that one news and notes uh tank dell going on ir with a broken leg and uh what was he doing on a play in so the play that he hurt his leg on it was a short yardage goal line touchdown for damian pierce and he just got caught up in the in the mess of it yeah why is he even on the field especially when he came into the game hurt but yeah it's a shame yeah that's going to be the one of the themes of today's show is why is he on the field? Do you think this hurts his dynasty value at all or just now he's good next year?

Usually when players break a bone, they can recover from that pretty quickly. Tony Pollard is I believe Pollard broke a bone and he came back and he wasn't the same guy. So there are exceptions to that rule. But he's young, he's fast. I'm sure we'll get reports during the OTAs next May about how fast he looks. And that's really all that we need to hear.

All right. Derek Henry left in the fourth quarter with a head injury. Ty J Spears, 61% rostered. Ramondre Stevenson left in the first quarter. I am going to lose a must win game. Probably going to get eliminated because Dan Schneier started Ezekiel Elliott and the 93% of the snaps,

nine of 10 snaps on third downs. If Ramond Ray misses significant time, it's the Zeke show in this Patriots offense for the rest of the season. And I don't know if I want to watch any of it. Oh, by the way, they play on Thursday night against Mitchell Trubisky and the Steelers. We're going to love that game.

Yeah, so that's Zeke, Spears, and Antonio Gibson are all about 60% to 65% rostered. If they're available, Dave, Spears against Miami, Zeke at Pittsburgh, Gibson on a bye. That's the problem there. So you're never going to use Gibson on the buy. We don't know how serious the injury is to Brian Robinson. It's hamstring.

So that might be a long one. I don't know. It could be. They could just shut him down for the rest of the year. And then Gibson will get a ton of work. Chris Rodriguez would be the running back behind him. Their schedule after their week 14 by at the Rams at the jets 49ers in week 17. I wouldn't want to use Antonio Gibson there and feel very good.

Who's your favorite? That's my question from that group. Spears, Zeke Gibson. Well, Zeke would be the favorite. If we knew that Romandre was going to miss more than a game. If it's just one game,

I'll take Spears because Spears will probably play close to a hundred percent. He's already been working in passing down situations. And I got a feeling the Titans are going to be playing from behind against the Dolphins, actually. Just a hunch. Yeah. And so maybe Tajay Spears can get you 10 PPR, 12 PPR,

maybe scores on top of it. Zeke hasn't looked like a total dinosaur this year. He's had his moments where he's played well. He had double-digit points this game, did he not? Oh, yeah. Yeah, and I'm going to lose because of it. It was okay. But we have to see how bad it is for Ramondre Stevenson.

If Stevenson's going to miss more than one game, Zeke's your guy. I think he had four catches, Zeke. Okay, Jalen Hurts. Before I get to Hurts, DeAndre Swift got thumped late in the game. He left. I got the sense he could have come back in unless it was a head injury. There was no need to put DeAndre Swift back in, but Kenneth Gainwell might be someone we're talking about on Tuesday.

Jalen Hurts left in the third quarter. He was checked for a concussion. He returned. Puka Nakua left with injured ribs, but he returned. Amari Cooper did not. It almost looked like Puka had an injury that was going to sideline him a while. Amari Cooper did not return. He has a concussion, just seeing now that Ramondre Stevenson is going to sideline him a while. Amari Cooper did not return. He has a concussion.

Just seeing now that Ramondre Stevenson is going to have an MRI on his ankle. And I think I also have... X-rays were negative, but they'll need the MRI to know the extent of the injury. That's from Schefter. And Kenny Pickett,

according to Jerry Dulac, is going to be out for an extended period of time. Not a good ankle injury, and he be out for an extended period of time, not a good ankle injury. And he's out for an extended period of time. Okay. We'll see. Well,

it's true. It's Mitchell Trubisky now. So either Trubisky proves that he can play in this league or the Steelers season is over. Do you think this changes anything for any of the Steelers options? I, I think don't quote me on this, but I think that Trubisky and Deontay Johnson have always had a

connection. They certainly did at the end of their game this past week. What if, if that connection is legit, then Deontay Johnson really comes alive. Yeah. You're absolutely right about that. Derek Carr has a concussion,

a shoulder injury and a back injury. Jameis Winston's up next against the Carolina Panthers. We've got Tyler Higbee evaluated for a concussion. And apparently Gardner Minshew has Zach Moss on his fantasy team. And so do I, Gardner Minshew. And it didn't work out very well for either of us today. Nope, me neither. And he had the work, man.

They gave him plenty of opportunities. He played a ton of snaps. Game went into overtime. Played every single third down snap. Played every single snap inside the... They had eight snaps inside the five, Adam. Yeah. Zach Moss couldn't come through.

He got every opportunity. Just a really bad game. Tough matchup. The Titans run defenses. No joke. Teron Armstead left with another injury. Miami's left tackle. Detroit center Armstead left with another injury. Miami's left tackle.

Detroit center Frank Ragnow left in the second quarter. Not sure if he made it back. I don't think he did. And their offense looked very different for a long time without Ragnow. They got it going toward the end of the game. But it was great early and then bad late with Ragnow out. Other key non-skill position injuries. Atlanta offensive lineman Caleb McGarry,

Steelers left guard Isaac Sam Malu, Atlanta cornerback A.J. Terrell left with a concussion early, and Pittsburgh safety Mika Fitzpatrick broke his hand and played through it. And linebacker Alandon Roberts left with a groin injury and he did not return. All right. Oh, and Colts blocked two punts. That was cool. Early waiver wire. You know what? We'll take a break. You want to know who's on the early waiver wire? We'll tell you. Got some names for you. We'll tell you after this break on Fantasy Football today. It's hockey season and you can get

anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So, no, you can't get an ice rink on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Gold tenders, no. But chicken tenders, yes. Because those are groceries, and we deliver those, too. Along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials.

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And the ability to reach further with access to over 1400 airport lounges worldwide redefine possible with business platinum that's the powerful backing of american express terms and conditions apply visit amex.ca slash business platinum welcome back everybody let's take a look at the early waiver wire, Dave. Those three running backs we discussed in shallower leagues, Tajay Spears, Antonio Gibson, and Ezekiel Elliott. What about... There's like Jonathan Mingo's putting it together.

There was someone else I had that was better than that. Oh, oh, Elijah Moore. Elijah Moore. Big game for him with Amari Cooper leaving with an injury. How do you feel about Elijah Moore? He had four catches for 83 yards on 12 targets, and next up he gets the Jaguars. You love the targets.

You hate how many targets he actually caught. True. That's pretty bad. Two-thirds of the targets he didn't catch. Yikes. He's got some history with Joe Flacco. I think that showed in this game. Hopefully it showed in practice.

Hopefully Flacco gets to keep throwing for Cleveland. He gave them a pretty decent semblance of passing. I don't know. As a bi-week replacement, if you've been starting Terry McLaurin, A, condolences. B, yeah, you could look at Elijah Moore as a replacement. Yeah. Who else is at Elijah Moore as a replacement. Yeah. Who else is there?

Let's see. Well, I don't know, Dave, do you, we should be able to go through this. I'm sure we're going to get some questions about DeMarcus Robinson, but I,

I, I can't see him becoming a thing for the Rams, especially since Puka is still a thing. And Cooper Cup actually found the end zone today. That was kind of cool to see. Curtis Samuel's 59% roster, and I know he's going into a bye. Bye. I don't think people will be excited about him.

Odell Beckham will be one for me for sure. Isaiah Likely, another guy that you could make a case for. But I think those three replacement running backs will certainly be at the top of the list. And then I knew he didn't do anything today. And actually he's not even that available, but Noah Brown, 74% rostered. Well,

he might get dropped. Yeah. And that would, that would be a huge mistake. So if you've got no Brown, hang on to him. But if another dummy in your league drops Brown, go get them. Cause he could end up being the number two receiver pretty quickly

for CJ Stroud and company. Let's take a look at his routes today because I know he came into the game banged up and he ran as many routes as anyone. So just a bad game for Noah Brown. And Nico Collins getting a 46% target share in this game. All right. What do we got next day?

We have buyer sell next. Wonderful. Here we go. I asked our audience, our lovely audience for some buyer sell. And here's what they came up with from Kurt, from Cody, Kirti,

uh, buyer sell. Austin Eckler's days as even an RB2 are over. Eckler with 14 carries for 18 yards and two catches for nine yards in a rainy, ugly 6-0 win at New England. Buy or sell, he's not even an RB2 anymore. I will sell that. I think he's still got the workload to be at least an RB2,

and he's got the schedule to be a decent RB2 with maybe even an RB1 week left in the year. Denver in week 14, at Vegas in week 15, Buffalo after that, at Denver again in week 17. I still think that he's going to be the main running back for the Chargers. I didn't love that Josh Kelly got as much run as he did. He played 43% of the snaps, and he actually played more snaps on third downs. But the game between the Chargers and the Patriots is going to be up there

for one of the worst of the year. The Chargers didn't have any snaps past the Patriots' 20-yard line. The Patriots didn't have any snaps past the Chargers' 30-yard line. 50 yards of the field did not get used in this game. That's crazy. it's pathetic and so pathetic game pathetic teams um but Eckler still deserves at least starts as an RB2 moving forward the the only reason you sit him at this point is if you've got better options at running back and you might it's possible but is he a top 10 guy anymore no i would sell that he's top 10 but top 20 yes i

would still say he was since coming back from the high ankle sprain austin eckler is averaging three yards per carry he is averaging 0.64 yards before contact per carry which out of 43 running backs with 50 or more carries since week six ranks 40th uh Hard to win like that. And he does have three straight games with seven, 9.4 and 4.7 PPR fantasy points, but the three games before that he scored 21 or more points. It is easy to forget that. He still has that opportunity to score

touchdowns and be very involved. This one comes from player of the game, by herself, Zach Moss, who had 21 touches for 57 yards. Zach Moss is who had 21 touches for 57 yards. Zach Moss is not a league winner. I guess I can buy that he's not a league winner. That term is usually used for guys that become must-start mega studs, especially down the stretch.

I don't love his schedule. I think it's okay. He's got Cincinnati next week. It's a short week for the Bengals. I don't think their schedule. I think it's okay. He's got Cincinnati next week. It's a short week for the Bengals. I don't think their run defense is particularly great. Then after that, it's the Steelers. I know the Steelers got stomped today by James Conner. That was another surprise.

Conner's got to be a winner today. But that'll be harder for him at Atlanta. I'm not going to buy that the Falcons' defense is suddenly great after they shut down Brees Hall. What don't you like about their schedule? Pittsburgh's bad. The other three games are good. Cincinnati, Atlanta, Las Vegas. Good. Is he a must-start

running back? Maybe with the same expectation as Austin Eckler? He had every running back carry in this game. Faced a good run defense. I don't know if he's Kyron Williams and Rashad White, like those unexpected great starts,

but he's definitely a good start and a potential league winner. The workload was outstanding for him today. Agreed. Yeah. Okay. And it's not just that.

Weeks two through five, he was phenomenal. This is from Lockett. One game And it's not just that. Weeks two through five, he was phenomenal. This is from Lock It Up. One game, I wasn't so phenomenal. Okay, right. But he had 18 carries for 70 yards in that game. Lock It Up says, I had Ramondre Stevenson and Tank Dell in both my leagues.

Buy or sell all my belongings and move to the woods to live out my years as a recluse. I sell it. Don't do that. Yeah, don't live in the woods. Fantasy gumbo. Buy or sell. Damien Pierce is the RB1 in Houston.

I don't know if there really is an RB1 in Houston. They were rotating series. It was very close between the two of them. Singletary played 44% of the snaps. Pierce was at 38%. Pierce did play three of three snaps inside the five, but I think that was a byproduct of it being his series. And so that's what a lot of teams do is they'll give one running back the first and 10 play to begin a drive. And then when that running

back gets tired, they put in another running back. I think that's what Houston did. But something annoying that they did on top of that was use Daria Gumbawale on most of their third downs against Denver. And that was kind of annoying that hurt the target potential for both of the running backs. I think Pierce just had the touchdown. Am I ready to say that he's the number one running back in Houston? No, I'm not. I just don't know if there's one that fancy managers can say, okay, that's the guy, and that's going to make it a problem. That makes them both losers because you're never going to know which one to confidently start. Well, he had the goal line work too, Damian Pierce. This was really a big surprise to me. I thought Singletary was the guy,

and they're both losers. That's what you said, right? Yeah. I mean, that just stinks. Who's going to have confidence in one of these guys at the Jets next week? From Sam Moore, buy or sell Justin Herbert is droppable. Eight and a half points at New England. Justin Herbert is droppable, and better streaming options can be found. He has Denver next week at Las Vegas, Buffalo at Denver.

Can I go back to Pierce real quick and those snaps inside the five? Two of them came on the same drive. That was in the first quarter. And then another one came in the fourth quarter. In fact, on the Nico Collins touchdown, Pierce was in the game instead of Singletary. So I don't know if it's necessarily, well, Damian Pierce is the short yardage goal line guy. Yeah. It's just how it, how it shook out.

Okay. I'm not cutting Justin Herbert, but i'm okay with you benching justin herbert if you so choose okay buyer we already know their schedule with eckler buy or sell from the ff crew noah noah buy or sell nico collins is a top five wide receiver next season or this season rest of season season. Sorry. Without tank Dell there, we got a big, big taste of how CJ Stroud feels about Nico Collins. And we actually saw it from the very beginning of the game.

He had two 50 yard receptions before halftime. Awesome game for Nico Collins. I was thinking back to Pete Briscoe asked me today. He's like, did you guys know that Nico Collins was going to be this good? And I said, yeah. And he goes this good. I went, okay, maybe not 191 yards. Good beat.

But this is a guy that we saw in the preseason that looked like he would be a pretty good wide receiver. And CJ Stroud is the one that makes him great. And he should be in line for double digit targets moving forward as a top five receiver. I think I could name five receivers. I'd rather start than Nico, but I don't know if I can name nine. And so he is a wide receiver one, basically taking that mantle from Tank

Dell the rest of the way. Right, and it's even a better mantle because he doesn't have Nico Collins to deal with. Tank Dell was great, but Nico Collins was there. Now, Nico has, I think, probably more of a target share than Tank Dell had. And finally, from Julio

Pena, and I included this one not for laughs, but buy or sell, fantasy football is 10% strategy and 90% luck. Sounds like Julio had a bad week. You know, I sell

that, but I think it's probably 50-50. We should have a pretty decent. I've been doing that. I've been playing fantasy for 30 years. I should have a pretty good idea of what percentage it is. I don't know if it's 50-50. I might say 55-45 in favor of luck. Whatever it is.

It's always helpful when you're dialed in to your fantasy teams and you make the moves and you pick up the right players off the waiver wire, you draft the right players, trade falls in your lap. That makes sense for you and accepting those trades. Now, listen, all that can be negated by luck.

Player gets hurt, player gets benched and so on and so forth. I think the luck factor is higher than the skill factor, but I'm in a lot of leagues. There are people that win the leagues consistently every year, and there are people who lose the leagues every year. And people, if you're like one of these perennial losers, I don't know if that's luck. I don't know if it's bad luck that you lose, lose, lose every year. And then there's three or four managers that take turns winning the league every year.

If that is the case. Yeah. Now there's a lot of luck to it, obviously, but I think it's probably more skill than luck, to be honest with you. But when you're in this community where, you know, everyone we play with is either an analyst or someone who listens to our podcasts all the time. We don't really have any edge any edge right everyone knows all of your sleepers and all your breakouts all your bus everyone has your rankings you don't have any edge over them uh and you know and so in that case i think it probably a lot of it probably comes down to luck i would hope that for those of you who are super fantasy diehards if you're playing in a league, people who aren't, I would hope that you do well. It doesn't mean you win every year,

but I hope that you do well. But yeah, I don't know. I only have one league like that. That's just people who will, casual, I only have one league with casual fantasy observers, participants. So,

you know. So I'm in a couple and it's those leagues where, like I, I wouldn't do it with a microphone in front of my face, but I could tell you which teams in those leagues are the patsies. And usually it's the teams that don't pay attention. They're in the fantasy league. They want to have fun with their friends. They want to try and win some money, but yeah, they're, they're not making moves in week three. They're there when they feel like they're out of it. They don't even bother checking in with their lineups anymore. I think you have to be dialed in to cut down on the luck

factor considerably. All right, let's get some winners and losers here from the audience. I love this. I hope this works out. Everybody's on YouTube. And so what we're going to do, we're going to just ask them to give us their winners and losers. Yes, YouTube, give us your winners. Let's start with winners. All right. Fire away. Who are some of your winners this week?

And if we don't get any good ones, which I'm sure we will, I am the winner. We have plenty that we can draw back on. Don't give us losers. Just give us winners. Jamie's about to join the show. Dave,

I know you had a whole list of winners. So while they, Sam Laporte is a winner. Yeah, he's a winner. He, you know, but he's the show. Dave, I know you had a whole list of winners. Sam Laporte is a winner. Yeah, he's a winner. He's the man. Nico Collins is a winner. Debo is a winner. You can give us those names, but we're not going to give you any kind of

amazing fantasy analysis. This is a good one. Chuba Hubbard is a winner. Got almost all the work. Scored two touchdowns. This is from good one. Chuba Hubbard is a winner. Got almost all the work. Scored two touchdowns. This is from Matt. Hey, Jamie. Hey, guys. Yeah, so are you buying this Chuba Hubbard guy?

Let's see the stat line for Chuba. It's awesome. Yeah, it was 25 carries, 104 yards, two touchdowns at the Bucs. I think he had one target and didn't cash it, or two targets. And he's at New Orleans next week. Buying it? No. I think it was a byproduct of Levante David, Devon White being out for the Bucs.

We've seen this Bucs run defense the last couple of weeks be a little bit suspect. And so while I think he's clearly better than Miles Sanders, if we still had a trade deadline, I'd be selling Chuba Hubbard as fast as I could. So good performance with a new coach. I still think this offense is definitely struggling. I don't think you're going to get consistent production from him. And I think we'll see whoever's healthy for the Saints. They had some key injuries on defense today as well.

So just keep that in mind. So if we don't get Werner back, if still dealing with a banged up defensive front for the Saints as well, then maybe that'll help Chuba Hubbard, but I don't think you're going to consider him a must-start guy when you have everybody back off by. Buy the workload, sell the production. Bijan is a winner despite a bad game.

Usage was consistent in a tough game. You buying that? Yeah. I'm going to call him a winner, but yes, it's better to see him getting the touches as opposed to him struggling and not getting the touches. So yes, absolutely.

I think you can put them in that category if that's the one to, that's the way you want to frame it. Tampa Bay next week at Carolina. After that Indianapolis, after that at Chicago, after that, that one will be as tough as matchup. Maybe Tampa Bay if they,

if their linebackers get healthy, but I, I agree. Well, look, I don't know if we can call him a winner, Adam, but he's getting the workload that we want, and that's good. The Jets did a nice job. I was watching that game. They did a nice job against him.

I feel like they really sold out against him. Why were you watching that game? Because that's the only game I was on in New York. I was watching Red Zone. I had that on my computer. But I said to myself, I wish I had tweeted this. It would have been very prescient, if that's how you pronounce it. Presence.

Presence. Yeah. They needed to go play action with Bijan in the game and hit their tight ends. I thought that to myself. They did that two plays in a row. One of them was a touchdown because the linebackers were really crashing in on Bijan. Winner, Tayson. Yeah, it was great to see one of their tight end score.

I know. Great. It is prescient. I was wrong. Prescient. Taysom Hill is a winner. Yeah. Especially if Derek Carr's banged up.

You know they'll use him probably a little bit more than maybe normal with Jameis Winston under center. But yeah, I mean, look, Taysom with the wide receiver injuries, you know, we thought there was a chance maybe he'd be a little bit more in the passing game. It didn't seem like that was the case. But certainly anytime he's going to get those goal line opportunities,

you're going to be thrilled about that. So it's really, you know, he's a touchdown or bust type of player. But yeah, I think you got to feel good about Taysom Mellon anytime he does something significant. Yeah. All right. Let's see other winners. We'll... Chris Olave, if there is no Derek Carr, if you want to stay with the same team. Yeah, we were. Let's see. Other winners. We'll... We'll...

Chris Olave, if there is no Derek Carr, if you want to stay with the same team. Yeah, we were asking the audience, but that's fine. I think I'm over that. Audience... James Conner. Yeah, James Conner.

We're talking about James Conner because this is another... Revenge game, baby. It was. It was a great game for him. 25 carries, 105 yards, two touchdowns. And, you know, look.

We didn't expect them to go into Pittsburgh and win 24 to 10. They go on by, then they get the Niners. The two of their three playoff games are the Niners and the Eagles. The other is the Bears. Tough run defense, but maybe they'll play from ahead. But that's always the concern with him is that if they get behind, what happens to James Conner?

So is this a Chuba Hubbard situation where you'd sell him if you could yeah 100% okay who are some other winners for you guys how about Gardner Minshew coming through as a bi-week replacement at quarterback at the buzzer

well I mean it was the last play of the game so I don't know if it's at the buzzer but the touchdown to give him two on the day came through with a great stat line, got you well more than 18 fantasy points. And maybe somebody you hold on to, even if you don't need them just to have a backup quarterback on your squad, or, or if you've been streaming and you landed on him this week. Maybe you just stick with him. He's got Cincinnati next week. And as long as Zach Moss is going to struggle, that's going to put more on his shoulders. He's going to have to kind of help carry this offense. I don't know if it's a byproduct of Zach Moss struggling or the Titans run defense, as we've seen over the course of the season. Maybe didn't give enough credit coming into this game that they played a lot better lately.

So I would anticipate Zach Moss having a lot better lately so i would anticipate zach moss having a much better game against the bangles next week knowing how the bangles run defenses looked and they're going to be on a short week so it feels like it'll be more of a zach moss game as opposed to maybe a gardner minchu game but yeah i don't think it's a bad idea to hold on to him um i think elijah moore could be a winner with joe flacco stays under center with amari cooper dealing with a concussion obviously taj Spears. I don't know if you talked about that. Yeah, we talked about Spears, Zeke, and Gibson. That's going to be one of the

biggest waiver wire claims, which is frustrating because in every waiver wire column I think I've written this year, I've said hold TyJ Spears or add TyJ Spears in the shallow league section that we usually do. But his roster percentage has gone down.

And now he may be people fighting for him to get him, depending on how long Derrick Henry may miss time with a concussion. They do have an extra day to get him cleared because they don't play until Monday against Miami. But yeah, no, Elijah Moore for sure. Okay. One more winner. I want to know if you guys are buying it or not.

Matthew Stafford. This is two huge games in a row for Stafford, and I know we're not going to start him against Baltimore. He scored 29 points against Cleveland this week. He scored 31 last week at Arizona. So we won't start him at Baltimore, but the playoffs are Washington, New Orleans, and at the Giants. Yes.

Feeling it with Matthew Stafford? Yeah. To a degree, because I think at least one of those games against the NFC East, he'll probably end up not having to do much. But the other one, he might have to put up enough numbers to get quality fantasy numbers. I think, would you rather have Stafford or Minshew? I think I'd rather have Minshew. Close call.

I'd rather have Stafford. Well, I don't know if I want to have, if I can pick between the two, I like Minshew's schedule much better than Stafford's, even if it's just because of the Baltimore game. Yeah. I, I, I think there's one sort of theme.

If you want to tie it all together, it's the last two weeks. It's the first time with their big three skill players, healthy, you know, of Puka Cooper cup and Kyron Williams or Kieran Williams, depending on how you want to call him. Kyron. Kyron.

But yeah, I think for that, you know, the threat of a run game opening up a little bit in the passing game. We saw it last week with Tyler Higby against the Cardinals. We saw it today with, you know, Puka with a big play down the field. Cooper Cup finding the end zone, you know, so both guys making some plays. I don't know if that's necessarily something that is the reason why, but, you know, Stafford getting players around him, that's good for any quarterback most times.

I do think it's good that he had this kind of game against the Browns. Because the Browns, we thought, was a tough defense coming in, and they had their way in the second half. All right. How about your losers? Losers. Go ahead, Adam. Take your victory lap.

Florida State is a loser. Take your victory lap. Oh, don't. What victory lap? Raheem Mostert. No, I already went through this. Well, look, I don't know if you saw the breakdown, but A-Chin had five carries and most had 11.

Uh, when, when most are left the game or didn't get any more carries, HN had 12 carries after that in garbage time, including eight on the last drive of the game. So no, I'm not going to call most of the huge loser or anything, but he's definitely not a winner.

But anyway, we talked about that at the top of the show. Um, sorry, your losers are Eckler and the joke. So we talked about that at the top of the show. Sorry, your losers are Eckler and Njoku. So we talked about Eckler. Njoku a loser. Was this just a one-week blip for him?

Harrison Bryant caught the touchdown? Or is this a, uh-oh, it's Joe Flacco. This is bad news for Njoku. I'm not ready to get away from Njoku if there's no Amari Cooper next week. I need to see who's on the waiver wire at tight end before I get rid of Njoku if there's no Amari Cooper next week. I need to see who's on the waiver wire tight end before I get rid of Njoku. Okay. The best one

you'll probably find that you'll like is going to be Isaiah Likely. Maurice Smith says, Brees Hall, yes. Eckler, yes. Mostert, we discussed. But Jameer Gibbs is not somebody we discussed. And yes, I think that's a great call on Jameer Gibbs getting no involvement in the passing game, getting removed near the goal line, of course. And this is two bad games in a row for

Jameer Gibbs. So what's your level of concern for him? Is he not in the same boat as Devon Achan? Guy who splits reps, has explosive abilities, could take any touch that he gets to the house, but is capable of having a whimper of a game like he had today. Do you feel differently about Jameer Gibbs if that run is a touchdown? Well, no. A 36-yarder? Yeah, I mean, look, it'd be great, but it's still nine touches for him. It's still one catch on two targets.

I think that's the part that people are going to get hung up on. I just think it's going to be hard for him to score touchdowns. Hung up the most on. It's going to be hard for him to score touchdowns. And Montgomery scores one every game, at least one. And it's frustrating. He had a great day. Eight carries for 60 yards.

He was lightning every time he touched the ball. Again, it's guys like Kyron Williams and Rashad White moving ahead of him, I think. Right? And Zach Moss. I would say Zach Moss would be ahead of him. I don't know if you agree with that. I mean, I had all three of those guys ranked ahead of Jameer Gibbs this week, so I would have said that prior to this game. So yes. All right. You got to worry about the state of the offensive line for the Lions. A Frank Ragnar's injury. I mean, I don't know what I might be saying that he might be out for the year and it's already been I mean, I don't know what I might be saying that he might be out for the year and it's already been reported.

I just don't know. But that line's been struggling a little bit lately and he's a huge part of it. And if he's out, that's really bad for Montgomery. I mean, it'd be bad for Gibbs too. Yes, it's, it's bad. But when you say nine for 60, that's not really an offensive line thing. That's a touch thing. Well, when he's averaging, you's averaging almost 10 yards a carry.

We're hoping that Ben Johnson sees this and says, you know what? This running back is hot. Why aren't we giving him more work instead of giving Montgomery? No chance. First of all, to be fair to Montgomery, before this game, he was killing it. His yards per

carry, whatever. He was great. He's earned that. I'm not saying that he won't get more than eight carries, Gibbs, but he's never gonna take over that job for Montgomery. Dan Campbell loves David Montgomery, and he's given him good reason to. By the way, update on Ragnow. Dan

Campbell, this is from Kyle Meinke, beat reporter. Dan Campbell says Frank Ragnow's injury was initially believed to be more serious, but now they think it might not be so bad. Won't know definitively until further testing tomorrow. We need to hope that it goes back to what we had against the Chargers a month ago. Sure. Gibbs

had 14 carries Montgomery at 12. You would even take a Green Bay on Thanksgiving. Montgomery at 15 carries Gibbs at 11 carries. I think Gibbs had a decent haul in the receiving game too, right? Eight targets, four catches. Oh, thanks. They were losing. Yeah. All had 11 carries. I think Gibbs had a decent haul in the receiving game too, right? Eight targets, four catches. They were losing. Yeah.

That could be a big factor too. Let me move on here to our next loser from M Gemma. Marquise Brown. Yes, another dud. Are you dropping him? He did get hurt. I didn't know that. He got hurt in the game. He left with a heel.

Let me check his... It's so hard to say because I think with the weather delay, for a player that didn't practice all week with a heel injury, how much did they want to run him back out there? Do you keep him or hold him through the bye? He's definitely on the cut list,

but it's got to be more so 10-team leagues than 12 or 14-team leagues for sure. It's got to be more so 10 team leagues than 12 or 14 team leagues for sure and it's got to be for i'm dropping him for tajay spears i'm dropping him for maybe elijah moore i'm dropping him for someone i'm definitely gonna start this week not necessarily someone i'm speculating on like i'm not i'm not dropping marquise brown to pick up jaylen hyatt that's fine he played three snaps in the third quarter, no snaps in the fourth quarter. Oh, all right. I'm sorry I missed that injury. All right, last one here is Jalen Waddell. Yeah, what did he have, about 55 yards or something like that?

He should have had a much bigger game. He had an ugly game. I believe he had a very bad drop on the first quarter. He did have a bad drop. If I remember the play correctly. So, I mean, look, I'm shocked. First of all, to only through like 23 times, I think 24 times

18 of 24 Miami through 25 passes in total. They're home against the Titans next week. Nobody's benching Jalen Waddle in that game. Alec Pierce just went for 100 yards against the Titans defense. Like I mean, Jalen Waddle's got so much upside this week. Okay. Yeah, it was bad game, but keep starting Jalen Waddle. All right, let's week. Okay. Yeah, it was a bad game, but keep starting, Jalen Waddell.

All right, let's take a break, and when we come back, we will get into all of the games and go through some of the almost touchdowns and things of that nature. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football today. Miller Lite. The light beer brewed for people who love the taste of beer and the perfect pairing for your game time.

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For more than 65 years, Securian Canada has been helping Canadians build secure tomorrows. Their insurance solutions are designed to help protect you and your loved ones financially, giving you the peace of mind to focus on what truly matters. Welcome back. All right. Goal line work. Anything we need to know about here? We saw both Mostert and A-Chan work there. We saw Damian Pierce work there. We saw Kamara get some goal line work, which was very nice.

In fact, I think he scored another touchdown. For some reason, it was not counted as a touchdown. And then Taysom Hills came in and scored. He also took one away from Taysom Hill, too, if I'm correct. Yeah, Hill had a chance on a goal line play. Didn't get in. Then Kamara came in and did get in, so they just went back and forth. I was disappointed in Jerome before.

I thought he was a big loser, even though he caught an open 34-ish yard touchdown. Pierre Strong was in at first and goal at the eight late in the game, fewer carries than Kareem Hunt, so there's that. Almost touchdowns. Rondell Moore dropped a deep ball. I don't know if it would have been a touchdown. Curtis Samuel

came up a yard short. CJ Stroud, I thought, actually didn't have a very good fantasy game. He actually, I thought, missed a few, maybe two or three touchdowns. I think he's a little off today, CJ Stroud against the Broncos. Tyquan Thornton dropped a deep ball for the Patriots. Quentin Johnston had a bad drop. No way.

Yeah, I know, right? Jerry Judy came up a yard short of a touchdown. Then Russell Wilson scored on a sneak. Chuba Hubbard had an almost touchdown. Actually had two, scored after one of them. And Rondell Moore had a deep touchdown. So he dropped a deep ball, and he had a deep touchdown catch called back on a holding penalty.

So a game of almost for Rondell Moore. Yeah, whatever. Could be a name to pick up if Marquise Brown is out for a while. Did you talk about Devin Singletary being a loser? Yeah, we did. Anything you'd like to add? What? Jamie, anything you want to add on that?

No, I mean just look, we thought we were heading in a direction of Devin Singletary being the guy, and probably not the case. All right, to the games. Atlanta 13, Jets 8. Yeah, let's start with this one. Why are we starting with this one? I have to do the buy or sell.

It's just the order that I put them in at the start of the day, so we'll keep it there. They all have fantasy implications, right? Buy or sell. My fantasy team would be better if I never had to start Drake London again. Buy. Buy. Tampa Bay next week, no?

Sell. Tampa Bay's got a little bit better against wide receivers, but yeah, this was disappointing. One catch for eight yards on five targets. Buy or sell. Garrett Wilson is not a top 24 receiver unless Zach Wilson is his quarterback. Sell. I think I'll sell also.

You think he's a top 24 guy no matter what? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, bad game today. Seven catches for 44 yards and a touchdown against the Dolphins on Black Friday. And then three catches for 50 yards on seven targets today. How often is he third on his team in targets? Yeah, not often.

More importantly, how often is Tyler Coughlin first on his team in targets? Might be next week. Next week is Houston. Yeah, the matchup. Tight end matchup. All right, let's go to Detroit 33 and New Orleans 28. Buy or sell?

Jameis Winston is good for Chris Olave. Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye. You have to buy it. Do you? But he was not, he wasn't good for him coming in cold off the bench today. He threw five passes.

Yeah, well, I think his last three were, two of the last three were, or maybe it was three of the last four were off target. And he was looking for Olave a bunch and he just couldn't make it happen with him hopefully a week's worth of practice it'll do him good but the one thing that would make me nervous about jamis and this is more of a jamis thing than a lobby thing is that tasemill is going to take away a bunch of work i don't this coaching coach could have benched Derek Carr three other times this year. They didn't do it.

They like Carr. Now that Winston's in the game, how much are they going to trust Winston? Olave's going to be a must-start guy no matter what. Of course. I said it's not about Olave. Last year when Jameis started,

Chris Olave was the king of air yards, the absolute dominant player in that stat category. And that's going to be the case again. Jameis will take shots down the field that Derek Carr won't because that's just how Jameis plays. Yeah, I would prefer Carr, I think, just because I feel like he's a known quantity, whereas I think Winston could be so bad.

You know, he's so sloppy. Jameis is not a known quantity with a 5,000-yard season on his resume. Not at this point. You know, I don't know what to expect. I couldn't disagree with you more. I love this for Chris Olave. But it doesn't really change it.

I don't think Carr was bad for Olave. I think Olave was doing just fine with Carr. So I'd rather not rock the boat. If you told me Jameis Winston was starting all season long, Chris Olave would be a top-five receiver. No way. No, he wouldn't. be a top five receiver. No way. No, he wouldn't. 100%.

He doesn't score touchdowns. And that's what happens when you run the ball every single time you're near the end zone. You don't score touchdowns. He's got three touchdowns this season, I think. Yeah, I think that we'd see a lot more plays down the field for Chris Olave. I don't think Derek Carr is like this check down guy that everybody thinks he is. He's not. But Jameis is the exact opposite of every other

quarterback in the world. He just throws the ball down the field as much as he can. Arizona 24, Pittsburgh 10. Buy or sell that Heath is better than Adam at this. Buy or sell that you should go right back to

Najee Harris next week against the Patriots. Buy. Short week at home with week against the Patriots. Bye. Short week at home with Mitch Trubisky. Yes. You saw Kenny Pickens would be out for a while, right? Yeah. All right. Patriots have been sort of running back slayers the last two weeks.

Barkley and Eckler have stunk. No concerns? Some, but the short week factor means something to me at this point in the year and the Steelers probably know they can win this game just by scoring a point like if they get a safety they're like all right cool we're just gonna hand off to the running backs the rest of the game because the Patriots can't score unless we let them score enter Mitchell Trubisky um I think Najee will get his work next week. I would start him as an RB too.

Got to talk about Fryermuth here. Up to 92% rostered, 78% started. I'm afraid of this. He has his history of a big game followed by a total flop. I talked about it on the Start-Sit episode. But it doesn't necessarily mean anything for next week, right?

So what do you do with Pat Fryermuth? If he's your starting tight end because you didn't like who you had before, then you stick with him. If he was somebody that you picked up and have a second tight end, like let's say he's your Dalton Kincaid replacement or was your Dalton Kincaid or Cole Komet replacement,

then you go back to those guys. But I don't know really what to make of this game, to be honest, because of the weather and the quarterback being lost. So how much of this just threw everything out of whack for the Steelers from what they were hoping to accomplish or maybe even accomplish last week so is it completely on picket going out maybe is it completely on the game plan being changed because of that and how the you know game unfolded that they were chasing points that's not what they're made for they're not what they're made for.

That's not what they're built for. As much as we want to say the offense was changing, this is still they want to run the ball, play with the lead, and then throw to open up some things. At least that's the impression I got. I don't know if Pat Fryer's move is completely done as a starting fantasy tight end, but it's not an easy matchup next week.

The Patriots have been fairly successful against tight ends for the majority of the season. No, I just think that you, I don't think you can approach Friar Muth as a must-start tight end. Not that you were, but right. But if anybody was, they shouldn't, right? Right.

Yeah. Correct. He could still get what Gerald Evercott against the Patriots this week. Eight PPR. Yep. Look, the thing I like about Fryermuth is last year, I don't remember what the number was.

It was 70 yards, 75, 80, whatever it was. He had the most, I think it was 70-yard games of any Steeler last year receiving. So he has that big game potential in him. That's the nice thing about Pat Fryermuth, unfortunately, being part of the Steelers' offense. He has some bad games in him. Houston 22, Denver 17.

Russell Wilson with 18 fantasy points, and I think people might be a little bit surprised to know that in five of his last seven games, C.J. Stroud has scored 21 or fewer fantasy points. He's had a

52-point game against the Bucs, had a 52 point game against the bucks, a 35 point game against the Jaguars. And quite frankly, he's been kind of met other than that. It's just kind of weird. I don't think you really do anything with that. I understand. Well,

there's something you do with tank Dell being out. I mean, that guy was responsible for a lot of the big plays for CJ Stroud and the defense that they face from here on out will be different. It'll look different because tank Dell isn't on the field. All right. So then buy or sell CJ Stroud is no longer a must start quarterback. So if we say buy, that means he's not. If we say sell, that means he is. I'll phrase it. So it's a little better buy or sell CJ Stroud is still a must start quarterback bye

have you seen the quarterbacks who are playing in the NFL right now like I'm not starting Gardner Minshew over no I don't think I'm ready to do that would you consider obviously not next week but Sam Howell type or Kyler Murray well Sam Howell

Kyler Murray on a buy. Yeah. That's what I said. Not next week. That's why I said for not next week. Yeah. Yeah. I'm saying that. I think it can be a little bit better than that on a week to week

basis. I think. What do you do if you've got Justin Herbert and CJ Stroud and you got to. Well, Herbert has a good matchup next week, so I don't think that you'll start Herbert. Um,

it's going to be interesting to see how Jordan love finishes game or his touchdown, you know, and the way he's been playing, you know, so Love versus Stroud's a good one. Yep. Stroud wasn't even really.

That's where Stroud is. That's the point. Okay. Right. That is the point. That's what I'm saying. Like Stroud wasn't even really a question mark up, you know,

now you're saying he's kind of on the low end starter scale. Well, I mean, you know, we're getting, you know, just looking at this week, for example,

you're getting Fields back, you're getting Lamar back, you're getting Allen back. All those guys Lamar back. You're getting Allen back. All those guys are starting over him. Fields might be a questionable one, but I like his matchup against Detroit. We've seen some up-and-down play from Jared Goff. We've seen up-and-down play from Stroud himself, from Justin Herbert. He's still a top-12 quarterback.

He just may not be in the top five. He's probably closer to 7th or 12th. Okay. He has Tennessee twice in the fantasy playoffs, so that's excellent stuff for him. We already said it'd be a mistake to drop Noah Brown. Do not do that. On the Broncos' side, how much confidence

do you have in Javante Williams? Let's say compare Javante, who has the Chargers twice, the Lions, which is tough, the Patriots, which might be tough. Javante versus struggling Brees Hall and Austin Eckler. How do you compare him to those guys? He's behind them for me. He's behind them for me, too.

Share is just way too much. And I don't. He had a couple of nice runs. There's no question about it. But he's like physical grinder guy with a couple of decent catches from week to week, but he doesn't come like Russ stole a short yardage goal line touchdown. Yeah. And P Ryan didn't play nearly as much as, as he had been, I guess, certainly the workload wasn't that much form. Um, Javante is playing about two thirds of the snaps and he's just, he's just kind of okay.

I think the other running backs you mentioned are better and have more upside. There's enough of a body of work to tell you that he's not going to be a consistent touchdown scorer. He's caught two touchdowns, no rushing touchdowns. This team has not had a lot of running back rushing touchdowns. I believe there's three, two by McLaughlin and one by Pirine. That's what their offense is. two by McLaughlin and one by P. Right. So it's just, that's what their offense is, you know?

So, you know, will that change? Maybe I think he's a flex number two running back. I mean, you know, look, we just may not have Derek Henry this week. Deandre Swift got banged up at the end of the Eagles game.

You know, we might be missing some guys again. And so if you have Javante, you'll be okay with that, but must start guy. No way. By the way, back to the first game we talked about. Still,

through 13 weeks, no running back has rushed for a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons. Yeah. Next up is Indianapolis 31, Tennessee 28. Tennessee's really tough at home. This is their first loss at home this year. So Minshew scores almost 23 points,

but he probably had about 14 in regulations. He did get saved there. We've talked a lot about Moss. Oh, Josh Downs. Buy or sell. Josh Downs is a fraud. We shouldn't have bought into him, and he is a sit going forward. Oh, it hurts my heart to say that I'm buying it.

Especially because this was a game. It should have been the perfect type of game script for him. The run game couldn't get going. So he can be an extension of it and on short passes. And instead, Minshew leaned on Pittman for everything. And then Alec Pierce,

Jamie mentioned it. He had over, he had a hundred yards on the dot, a couple of big catches in the game, deep downfield. I mean, so it kind of stinks that Josh Downs really hasn't been the same since he got hurt.

All right. Anything else? Will Levis looked okay, actually. How about Hopkins? You know, I think we shouldn't talk about Henry because he might miss next week's game. And Henry, we know he's very game script dependent, but DeAndre Hopkins with five catches,

75 yards and a touchdown on 12 targets. And he's actually started in 77% of leagues, which I think is a good job by all of you out there. I was not that optimistic about Hopkins. He had, whatever, he's been struggling. But this was a great game for him. And next week is Miami on the road. Miami.

How are you feeling about Hopkins? I think it's bad that he's playing against, he'll see a lot of Ramsey for the Dolphins I think it's good that Will Levis will have to throw a lot and so maybe he just falls into some decent production but it'll be like this it'll be a lot of targets not a great catch rate his quarterback isn't accurate and you're hoping that he finds the end zone I would I would say that he's a number three receiver. Yes, definite starter in three receiver leagues. Depends on who you have in two receiver leagues.

And you brought this up. I forget who you're talking about, Adam, but three receiver leagues in a flex. Two receiver leagues in a flex. PPR, it's probably in your lineup too. Okay, Chargers six, Patriots nothing. And we've spoken about Herbert, Eckler. We're going to excuse this game from Keenan Allen.

So on the other side of the ball, buy or sell, Ezekiel Elliott is a top 24 running back at Pittsburgh on Thursday. He might end up there by default, but not someone you're going to be excited about starting. I mean, look, they are miserable offensively, absolutely miserable offensively. And so just because he's going to get a lot of work does not mean he's going to be great with that work. That being said, Ramondre Stevenson had been

fairly consistent with his production in this bad situation over the last month or so. So definite flex, somebody you want to add, I would make make if we're talking about priorities if you were to tell me right now that derrick henry is missing week 14 i'd rather have tajay spears and i'd rather have spears long term but we know thursday turnaround is probably tough for remandre while monday turnaround for a concussion might help derrick henry so you may be using ezekiel elliott sooner based on his workload more so than Tajay Spears. So let's say we learned that Ramadre is done for the year and Henry just has the concussion.

He misses one game. Do you still prioritize Spears over Elliott for just one game? Um, no, I wouldn't, I would go, I would go long-term there. I would have to go long.

It also depends on what you need. Like if you just need to win one game, I'd rather go with Spears against the Dolphins, as tough matchup as that is, with Ezekiel Elliott and his matchup as well. The thing about Zeke and both of these Patriots quarterbacks, they just throw the ball to the running backs so much.

I think you'll get some cheap PPR points there. It's a good point. We'll talk about it on Tuesday for sure. We'll see. Maybe we'll be talking about Quintonentin johnston who even though he had the bad drop he didn't lead the team did he lead the team no he almost like he was second in targets 52 tied for the leading catches hey back to the patriots their run game is going to stink right would that open the door for demario douglas if he comes back next week to see double digit targets, there should be a decent wide receiver three and PPR. I mean,

with their run game, if you want to call it successful, he had back-to-back games with nine targets and back-to-back games with six catches. So yes, he's absolutely worth putting on your team and maybe putting in your lineup. What's his roster ship percentage. He was in,

he was 61% roster. I believe on Tuesday, I'm sure he was probably dropped for teams that couldn't stash him. He's probably in the 50s. 50% on the dot. Okay, let's go to our next game here. Miami 45 and Washington 15. And we've spoken about pretty much all of the Dolphins.

So, buy or sell, Terry McLaurin is droppable. No way. When are you starting him with any semblance of confidence? I'm still not giving him to a team that if he does get back to what he was doing earlier this season, that they're going to have him

for the fantasy playoffs. So unless my roster is in a crunch that I have to drop him because I need someone who I trust more, I'm just going to hold them. Week 15 at the Rams. Week 16 at the Jets. Nope.

Week 17 versus San Francisco. No. When will you feel comfortable starting Terry McLaurin? Okay, but Sauce Gardner gets hurt or San Francisco gets hurt. I mean, look, there's still scenarios out there. Why do you always do that when we play matchups? Are you always injure all the defenses? Well, I mean, you know, San Francisco gets hurt. I mean, look, there's still scenarios out there. Why do you always do that when we play matchups? So you always injure all the defenses. Well, I mean, you know, again, it's still something that could happen.

And Howell, you know he's going to be throwing the ball a lot. So instead of maybe him running for two touchdowns, he actually decides to throw it to his best receiver in the red zone. He threw the ball 23 times today. That's a rare occurrence. That's the first time in seven games that he hasn't thrown for 42 or more passes. Yeah, it was weird. And it wasn't even a time of possession thing.

It was weird. I don't know how that happened. I don't know how they ran. I feel like they ran so few plays in the amount of time they had the ball. But, yeah, I guess I probably wouldn't drop McLaurin, but it's weird. I feel the same way. I'm not dropping him to stardom. I'm not keeping him to stardom.

I'm keeping him because he is Terry McLaurin. He has such a good history. We know he's a great player. And, and throughout the season, we have seen stretches of him throwing to the, of how we'll throw into the tight ends a lot and then throwing to McLaurin a lot.

And now he's throwing to Curtis Samuel and throwing to the running backs. Like he just changes his mind. He could, the next three games, he might throw to McLaurin a bunch. You never know. Uh, but this was a bad,

I guess I'm going to go watch and see if Jalen Ramsey was on him, if that maybe was the reason for it. I'd have no idea. Well, I mean, look, it's also, how many players could we go through their rosters and say, these are fantasy options? I mean, I'll give you a perfect example. How many people felt comfortable starting DK Metcalf this week?

I felt the comfortable. I'm not saying you didn't start him. You probably didn't. I started him. Yeah. What percentage of our managers started this week? Cooper Cup. I did not feel comfortable.

But that's what I'm saying. But you probably still started him. What did I say? Start percentage was 77%, something like that. Cooper Cup was at 73%. Okay. So 73% of people were starting Cooper Cup. DK was not having a good game.

67%. He scored. He scored a have a good game. 67%. He scored a touchdown and still got you 15 PPR points. There are players, I say this phrase a lot, pockets of the season where they're good and pockets of the season where they're not so good. But you can't drop them because when they get hot, you're going to be pissed off that you dropped them.

You want to hear what McLaurin said after the game today? He said, I ran a lot of cardio today. Yeah, that's right. That's funny. Okay, let's go to our next game. Go to the late slate here. Tampa Bay 21 and Carolina 18. Buy or sell?

It's over for Adam Thielen. Buy. Actually, sell. It's been over for Adam Thielen. Bye. Actually, sell. It's been over for Adam Thielen. This was the last gasp for me. Who do you have more confidence in, Thielen or McLaurin? McLaurin. Oh, gosh.

I think I'll say McLaurin, but I really, I don't have confidence in either of these guys. At best, they're bench receivers, or if you're just stuck, you start one of them. Is Chris Godwin in the same boat? I know he had a 19-yard rushing touchdown, but catcher- Absolutely, he's in the same boat.

I don't even know. He might be the most droppable of the three. I don't know if he's even allowed in that boat. He might be in a smaller boat. Yeah, he's not the same boat. I don't even know. He might be the most droppable of the three. I don't know if he's even allowed in that boat. He might be in a smaller boat. Yeah, he's not in the boat. He's in a life preserver floating near the shore. Yeah, he's on the little piece. He's on the piece of wood that's floating next to the Titanic

that Rose would not let Jack on. She's so selfish. So selfish. There was totally room for both of them. I'm just disgusted by it. Jordan Love is awesome, by the way. Jordan Love is awesome. He's looking great. I think he's becoming a real boy.

Kate Otten really let me down. Didn't have a single freaking target in this game. Rams 36, Cleveland 19. Oh, gosh, man. I don't even know. Buy or sell, Jerome Ford is... Good for 11 fantasy points a week.

Is he even that... Isn't that what he's been? Yes. All but one week? What is he, though? What is he, Jerome Ford? He's an NFL running back. He's slightly better than Javante Williams.

So borderline number two running back slash flex, depending on what your team needs. You start him. If not, you get away from him. So I'm like five minutes behind you. So I just saw the touchdown. If you wouldn't mind indulging me, I have the make or break game and I am now down by 10 points

and I have Christian Watson left with, with let's like 40 minutes of football to play. down by 10 points and I have Christian Watson left with, with, uh, let's like, uh, 40 minutes of football to play. I need 10 more, 10 more points for Christian Watson. I just went up against Debo Samuel and Nico Collins and I am needing every

inch here. Come on, please. Uh, I'm, I'm so into this. I, I,

I'm sorry for taking over this and talking about my teams. I know people hate that, but I just want you to know the way you... I try to stay kind of even-keeled about fantasies throughout the season or it'll drive me crazy and I have to focus on my job. This is everything to me.

I need to win this game. Come on. I think people like to see us when we're passionate about our teams. I hope so. I don't do it that often, but this is it. I like my team.

If I lose, I think I'm probably eliminated. I need this game. Let's go. All right. Anything else from the Cleveland Rams game? How are you feeling about Cooper Cup and Puka Nakua? Nakua had a 70-yard touchdown run, catch and run.

Didn't have much else, but he missed some time with an injury. Cup had a late touchdown. And they have Baltimore next week, So maybe we pump the brakes there, but in general, how do you feel about those two guys? Puka also had a long run that was called back on a holding penalty by DeMarcus Robinson. So I feel pretty good about Puka. You know,

I think he sort of said it best at some point this week that, you know, he's kind of in that just number two wide receiver range. And I know he said it on our show this morning on, on HQ that if he had a bad game this week, he was probably going to bench him. Um, cup to me was a little bit more still,

I'm still a little bit concerned about cup because the touchdown saved him a little bit. It just seems like he's not separating like he normally does. He looks a little slow staffer, not leaning on him to the same degree, you know, and that's a problem because it was always kind of like, okay, you know he's getting double digits in targets,

and we're just not seeing that consistently as well. So as long as Puka comes out of this game okay, it was great that he came back into the game after leaving with, it looked like a shoulder injury, ended up being a rib injury. But the fact that he was in the game smiling, you know, the Toradol is a great thing. So hopefully he's, you know, okay for week 14

despite the matchup. But to me, Cup is still going, going to be the number three receiver range and Puka's in the back end of the top 20. I was slightly more encouraged about cup compared to last week. Last week, he, he just could not separate and he ran all these short routes and even on the short routes, he couldn't get anything going. The Rams got smart with how they use them. Go back and look at his touchdown. He's in motion before the snap gets a free release, gets into a spot in the end zone. Stafford hits him. It's a

touchdown. So they're still finding ways to use him. I think the eight targets might be a little bit of a by-product of Puka missing time. So I agree. Puka is easily the better wide receiver of the two, but I'm looking forward to seeing, I think cup got some separation or at least he got open more in this game against the Browns than he did last week. So maybe there's, maybe this was like a, a step forward game for Cooper cups. So if you benched him for somebody else, hopefully it didn't sting you. And next week or two weeks from now, cause I don't think we'll feel great about him against Baltimore. Two weeks from now,

Cooper cup can be back and maybe that wide receiver to range. All right. Last game is the Niners 42 and the Eagles 19. Wow. And Dave, was anybody bombed? Was anybody bombed about this game? Not being close.

You know, I thought it was such a great week that I was sort of okay with it. So it was such a great week that I was sort of okay with it. It was close early. Plus, I kind of feel like Nick Sirianni needs a little bit of humble pie every now and then. Everybody does. If they had won this game, because what he said to the Chiefs fans after that game, he needs to be taken down just a peg or two.

But anyway, yeah, Dave, I wanted to give you credit for several weeks ago talking about Brock Purdy as a good buy-low. We talked about his matchups, and he's taking... I know he had a bad game last week, but he's been... He was terrible last week, and he bounced back this week. He was awesome. 29.8 or more fantasy points in three of his last four games. I'm pretty sure that was since you

made that call, so good job. You know, here's my, here's my fantasy question for you, Jamie, let's say Dallas Goddard's back next week. What does that mean for Devante Smith? Cause it is pretty clear that his season has really taken off and coincided with that injury. I mean, look, I don't think many people were benching Devante Smith before Dallas Goddard's injury. You're just getting the type of production that we got at the end of last season from him. So,

you know, if you have a loaded roster and you're that concerned, then sure. You can bench Devontae Smith just to see what happens, but I don't know if there's a guarantee that Goddard back is Goddard back. He might just be playing, you know, I'm playing through an injury.

Hopefully he's back to being that guy. But look, I think Devontae Smith is, was always probably a little overpriced. I remember you saying this in the, in the preseason, you know, Hey, keep in mind, a lot of his production came when Goddard was out and that sort of played itself out and is playing itself out now. So, you know, where I, I don't know where Dave and Heath have been ranking him for me., he's been easily in the top 15 in most cases the last couple weeks, the top 12. Some of that is with the bye weeks.

He'll probably go back to being closer to maybe 15 through 20 with the return of Dallas Goddard, but I'm not benching him across the board. And just in case people have been hanging around for an hour and 10 minutes, wanted to hear about DeAndre Swift, who had a terrible game. Where do you guys stand on him? Let's just say he's fine.

I know he left very late with an injury, but do you still think DeAndre Swift is a must-start guy? He's got the upside to back it up. And if he's okay, I'm still going to start him against the Cowboys, but I think it's time to lower expectations a little bit. Maybe you take his expectations down a peg or two. Lowered expectations. So, okay, he's not going to be someone that you can shoot for 100 yards

and a touchdown from, but maybe 60 total yards, a couple of catches, a touchdown. Is he in the Eckler Hall boat, or is he soaring ahead of them? I think he's on the top deck of the Eckler Hall boat or is he soaring ahead of them? I think he's on the top deck of the Eckler Hall boat. And they're on the poop deck, which is a boat term. Is that what they call the fancy deck on a boat? The poop deck? I don't know what the poop deck is, but it's a thing.

Someone tell Adam what a poop deck is. A poop deck is the deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the rear or aft part of the superstructure of a ship. That clears it up. There you go. Starbird. Okay, we're out of here, folks. Thank you so much. We'll talk to you tomorrow

with Beyond the Box score. By the way, that fantasy matchup that I was talking about, it's me versus Schneier. So I need it. Which league? Which league?

Fantasy Football today. Our flagship league. And I'm 6-6. That's the one everybody wants to win. That's right. So watch out, everybody. Okay. Thanks for tuning in, everyone.

Have a great night. Talk to you on Beyond the Box score. I'm Brian. See ya.