Fantasy Football Today - Week 15 Tough Calls, ATL-TB Preview, Fantasy Feud! (12/10 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 10, 2025

A quick round of news and notes to start the show and then we talk about the Week 15 tough calls! At quarterback (5:05), can you trust Bo Nix, Dak Prescott, Patrick Mahomes or Jacoby Brissett? At running back (14:45), can you trust D'Andre Swift, Omarion Hampton, Devin Neal or Ashton Jeanty? What kind of role will Jeanty have in the passing game? ... Tough calls at wide receiver (28:15) include Michael Wilson, Courtland Sutton, Tetaiora McMillan and Christian Watson. We also discuss Tyler Warren (37:15) and some DSTs (40:35) ... Start or Sit for Falcons-Bucs (44:15)! How does the potential return of Mike Evans change things? Who are we starting Kyle Pitts over? And we finish with some Fantasy Feud (59:00)! ... Email us at [e-mail] Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts Watch FFT on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop our store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shop.cbssports.com/fantasy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FFT Dynasty on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE to FFT DFS on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dfs/id1579415837⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You know, some trips are just better when you can really unplug. Spend time with family, see friends, or hit the course with the guys on our yearly golf trip. This year, me and the boys stayed in a home on Airbnb, which happened to be a guest favorite, and it was right on the course. We could walk straight to tee off every morning, and it was just a short stroll to the local shops, bars, and restaurants. Staying in a place on Airbnb gives you plenty of room to spread out, cozy living areas to hang out in, and all the privacy you need. Staying somewhere like that makes everything feel more like a home than a hotel, and you get a real feel for the neighborhood. I'm already planning on how to go bigger and better next year. Luckily, there's so many options to choose from on Airbnb.

So whether it's family, friends, or golf getaway, my biggest tip is to check out Airbnb, check out their guest favorites, which are the most loved homes on Airbnb, and you'll be amazed at what you find. Hey, Ontario, come on down to BetMGM Casino and see what our newest exclusive the Price is Right Fortune pick has to offer. Don't miss out. Play exciting casino games based on the iconic game show, only at BetMGM. Check out how we've reimagined three of the show's iconic games, like Plinkgo, Cliffhanger, and the Big Wheel into fun casino game features. Don't forget to download the BetMGM Casino app for exclusive access and excitement on the Price's Right. Fortune Pick. Pull up a seat and experience the Price is Right Fortune Pick. Only available at BetMGM Casino. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager. Ontario

only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor, free of charge. BenMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Tyler Reddick here from 2311 racing. And Bubba Wallace. You know what's the worst part of a race? A rain delay. Sitting around, waiting for the track to dry is dull.

But instead of waiting, we hang out with Chumba Casino. Social casino slots, bingo, solitaire, plenty of fun to keep us entertained. So why let a rain delay slow you down? Play now at chumbacasino.com. Let's Chumba Sponsored by Chumba No purchase necessary BGWCWCorpware

Prohibited by law 21 plus terms and conditions apply This is fantasy football today from CBS Sports What a play And you believe this It's a no idea It's time to dominate your fantasy league

Off to the races And he stays at his feet It's just going to go the distance Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath Tough calls Tough calls this week, people. We're going to help you out as we welcome you to fantasy football today,

presented by Bette MGM, Make It Legendary. Dak Prescott against this red-hot Vikings defense, a struggling Patrick Bohomes against the Chargers. Devin Neal in an amazing matchup. How about the, really the Packers' Broncos game is a little bit difficult? How about some DSTs? Like the Broncos DSTs, you know, the Broncos DST is facing a team that gives up the fewest fantasy points.

Two DSTs. So who can you trust this week? We also have a Falcons Bucks preview in-depth. This is a game with some tough calls. And which game do you think we're playing today, Dave, Richard? I hope it's Who Has More. It is not Who Has More. It is the feud.

We're going to play Fancy. Yeah. Who Has More is such a fun little game. It is. Very fun little game. I agree. That's the right F word to use for Who Has More. Someone said say,

the chat ban ties and who has more, which I think is fair. I'll try my best to ban ties. All right. By the way, if you were going to go out for a fancy event, would you rather wear a tie or a bowtie? Are you a horrible Redenbocker? Yeah, I hate bow ties. Boatty's suck. I've never, I don't think I've ever worn a bow tie. My grandfather exclusively wore bow ties. Yeah, they suck. It's funny you mention that because one of my best friends posted a picture on Facebook. He went to some like gala for his job, and he was wearing a bowtie, and I just sent him a picture of him and Orrudebocker. I said, do you make the popcorn, or do you just sell it?

That's good. News and notes, the Chargers signed Philip Rivers to the practice squad. He might play this week at Seattle. The Colts. The Colts signed Philip Rivers. Why did I say the Packers? You said the Chargers. Why did I say the Chargers?

Oh, because he used to play for the Chargers. Yeah, he did. I don't even know the mistake I made. Thank you. The Colts signed Philip Rivers to the Practice Squad, and he might play this week at Seattle, and if he is on the practice squad, he can still, he doesn't reset his Hall of Fame eligibility clock. If they sign up to the active roster, it does.

D.K. Metcalf was hospitalized with a stomach issue on Sunday, but he should be ready to go this week. And tight end, Darnell, Washington's in the concussion protocol. They have Miami on Monday. Still haven't seen an update on Devon A. Chan. Kate Otten, mispractice, Mike Evans, J. Lynn McMillan, left tackle, Tristan Worf's. They were all limited.

We might not get Otten. We might get the other guys. this week. But we'll see. Wednesday practice report will be very telling. Buck's Guard, Ben Bredesen, is on IR, and Hassan Reddick was limited, and in the spirit of bringing the old guys back, Jason

Pierre-Paul is now on the Buck's practice squad. For this Atlanta, Tampa Bay game, Drake London missed practice, so still not expecting him, and Kyle Pitts was limited. Arizona left tackle, Paris Johnson's week to week, and Baltimore, running back Keaton Mitchell, has a minor

knee injury. And that's it for your and notes we have a lot of other podcasts for you to check out cbsports.com slash podcast now's a great time to be listening to ffti dynasty if you're looking ahead to next year college football podcasts are great um we got basically any type of sport we more or less have a podcast for it cbsports dot com slash podcast all right let's start with the tough calls so you guys gave me some i crowdsourced on twitter and the four quarterbacks that i thought uh we'd talk about were jacobie brissette at Houston Patrick Mahomes

against the Chargers Bo Nix against Green Bay and Dak Prescott against Minnesota Reset at Houston Mahomes against the Chargers Knicks against Green Bay and Prescott against Minnesota

three of those quarterbacks are at home Heath are any of those easy calls I don't know about easy calls because the Vikings defense has been really on fire lately, but we've seen DAC go into some games

where the defense has just been dominating quarterbacks and still is a easy start. So as long as C.D. Lamb is out of the concussion protocol and cleared to play, as you can see here, we all have DAC ranked as a top seven

quarterback. We might feel a little queasy about it at some point in that game, but we're all starting him. Is he the best one of this group of four? Yes. Okay. So then, Jamie, how do you rank the next three? That would be Bo Nix against the Packers, Brissette at Houston, and Mahomes against the Chargers?

Mahomes, Brissette, Nix. Dave? I currently have Brissette two spots higher than Mahomes, both of them ahead of Nix. Heath? Same as Jamie. Mahomes Brissette, Nix. Does anybody want to start Bo Nix? Not even a little.

I mean, he's typically been great at home. in his young career, but I think you just look at how they're playing right now and the defense that they're playing with the pastures that they're playing. Like, don't feel like this is a great spot for him. It wouldn't surprise me if he gets that 18 to 20 point range, but it just feels like it's a tough ask for him to get there right now. So I would rather start Mariotta if he plays in place of Jane Daniels, and I'd rather start C.J. Stroud with his matchup against Arizona,

you know, just two guys that we mentioned on the way we're worship. I agree completely, and we had a tough call. from the chat, who has a faster 40 time, Philip Rivers or Adam, and I think this is today because you're in prime tennis shape and Philip Rivers is coming off of his couch today. If you were to go to Indianapolis's practice and race Philip Rivers, who do you think would win? Chargers practice. I honestly think I would win. What do you think? I think you would too. I'll take Philip Rivers. Because while he's ancient in football man years, yeah like he's like what seven years older than you no he's only three years older than i

three years older than you yeah i don't think you have any chance i think i do dave break the tie rivers rivers oh no dave your video's frozen if you want to hop out and come back in we'll get dave look good there though oh you're back he's back all right you're good we still have time for the fog to creep in all right so nobody wants to start bo necks he's he's in the 20s in the rankings How about Mr. Jacoby Brissette? So we talked about him yesterday, but Heath, you weren't on yesterday's show. I did give this stat that that the Texans have faced the top three quarterbacks in fantasy this year. Stafford, Allen, Mahomes, I don't think in that order.

They have scored a combined 28.2 fantasy points in six point for passing touchdown leagues. That's insane. That's a little bit more than nine points per game for those three quarterbacks. Do you trust Prissette? Not. I don't. And I think this is the toughest call because he has been so awesome. Like 20 fantasy points, automatic.

23 fantasy points like 80% of the time. And he's faced some tough defenses. But I just think we have to draw a line between tough defenses and the Houston Texans with what they've done specifically to Mahomes and Josh Allen in the last three weeks. and I just I can't get there with starting Brissette I Jamie said he would start Marietta

I would start Mariota over Brissette assuming Daniels is out would you start Daniels over Brissette if he played yeah against the Giants yes probably I I don't know why they would bring him back

after he had the same arm yeah all right like you'd have to have some concern that he would play a quarter and a half and be done. Brissette has scored the third most fantasy points of any quarterback against Green Bay, the fourth most against Seattle, the fifth most of any quarterback against the Rams. If he were to do that, be somewhere in the three to five, the third to fifth best game against the Texans, that would be around 20 fantasy points.

I think there have been five quarterbacks who scored 20 or more, but only one who scored anything significant. Only one that's lines a mess. Like there's a lot of reasons. to be concerned for this week. Like, he's, he's been, he's been heroic for fantasy managers. He's,

he absolutely has. Like, he's been for a time when Lamar Jackson was struggling, and Baker Mayfield's been struggling, and, you know, Jane Daniel's out before Joe Burrow came back. Like, he's been, you know,

we mentioned this yesterday, and I'm going to have a tough call because the, the season long situation is Stafford's the best waiver wire quarterback we have. You can't compare that. But, like, at a time when we picked up players in the middle of the season, this has been the best waiver wire quarterback.

quarterback for what he's done yeah all right so like it's it's hard to sit this you know because he's he's he's done it like you said some of the matchups on the road you know seattle he did it against that like he's just been he's been good but i mean Houston's just a different animal right now like they're destroying offenses and so somebody asked in the chat does that mean you also sit michael wilson and for me not at all because like a third of jacobie's passes go to michael wilson And it's easier in full PPR to be a good starter without a good day from your team's offense. Right. Brissette can go for 180 passing yards in this game and throw three picks, but you could also have 80 yards and a touchdown to Michael Wilson.

Yeah, I think we want to know if the Texans can put up points against them. They've scored more than 30 points twice. They've scored 26 or more points four times this year. They've faced some pretty good defenses. This will be one of the worst defenses they've faced this year. I think Woody Marks can put up some points. I've used 32 points per game to running backs allowed by the Arizona Cardinals in their last five games.

Whoa. Whoa. That's amazing. Our last one here at the quarterback position is Mahomes against the Chargers. You've got him. Let's see. Heath, I think, the highest at seven, I want to say. Yeah, that'll probably come down a little bit.

He's going to be in that 11-12 range. All right. So, Dave, you're the lowest then at 15th on Patrick Mahomes. who scored 6.3 fantasy points last week and has been 17.1 or fewer in four of his last five games. The only time he had a good game was on Thanksgiving against Dallas, and that's one of the easiest matchups in football. I talked about it earlier this week, the Chargers.

They've gotten it done one way or another, 19 or fewer fantasy points to 10 of the last 12 quarterbacks that they face. That's a tough matchup. And you even think about Jalen Hertz, if you had taken away every turnover that Hertz had on Monday night, how many fantasy points would he have had? Like 10? Yeah.

And then even if you give him the touchdown that A.J. Brown dropped in the end zone, the one later in the game, not the one of those. I would say which one. Right, right. The one later in the game, he would have had 17, 18, maybe. So it's, they do a really good job. This is a step down in class going from Houston to the Chargers. but I've got the same offensive line concerns that we have with Jacoby Brissette.

And just like Jacoby Brissette, the way that Mahomes would get it done would be via volume and via rushing, perhaps, which is what he did in week one against the Chargers. That's the only game in three against Jim Harbaugh that he's managed to put up north of 17 fantasy points. So I am nervous to start Mahomes. I haven't done the full deep dive yet in him versus Brissette. So it's in pencil right now. said is over Mahomes, but it's based mostly on track record than anything else at this point. All right. Let's take a look at our running backs here. Before we do that, how about this awesome

second chance offer from BetMGM? So let's say you bet on your favorite player to score the first touchdown in the game, but his teammate scores first instead. Well, if this happens, BetMGM wants to give you another chance at the end zone. With BetMGM's second chance promotion, you'll get your stake back if your first touchdown score scores second instead. That's right. Bet on any pro football player to score the first touchdown of the game. And if you're right, you win. And if your player scores second, you get your stake back in cash. With BetMGM's second chance offer, you have a chance to keep the fun going after the first

player crosses the goal line. So try a first touchdown scorer wager with confidence today. BetMGM make it legendary. All right, based on your feedback and based on crowdsourcing, who were the running backs that are tough calls. D'Andre Swift against Cleveland. Omari and Hampton at Kansas City. Devin Neal against Carolina.

Carolina's allowed 72 or more rushing yards to seven running backs in their last six games, including Alvin Camara in week 10. And Ashton Genti at Philadelphia. Genti coming off a bad game with only 5.8 fantasy points. The first two games of Greg Olson, as their coordinator, the Raiders have not even run 50 plays yet. They ran about 48 plays, I think, in both games.

So anyway, it's been tough sledding for him, but he's had the catches. Okay, so it's Swift, Hampton, Swift against Cleveland, Hampton at Kansas City, Devoniel against Carolina, Genty at Philadelphia. Jamie, anyone in there are not a tough call, or do you agree with this list? I mean, mostly agree. I think, you know, we got this question yesterday on CBS Sports Network. do you play best player or best matchup? And it's such a case-by-case situation.

But I think, like, in the case of Mahomes and Genti, and you could probably throw Swift in there based on his season, these guys are hard to bench because you see what they're capable. Like, you think about the game two weeks ago for Swift against Philadelphia, where it looked like the Eagles were just such a dominant matchup. And we didn't know, obviously, Jalen Carter was not right, but still, like, it was hard. to recommend. It was hard to say Swift is an easy start, right? So most people probably still

started him. But Genti was a first round pick or a high second round pick for many people. Jefferson obviously was a first round pick. Mahomes is, you know, one of the top quarterbacks. And you bench these guys in the playoffs. And now you have eight months, whatever it is, 10 months to think about this is why I lost my fantasy team because I played C.J. Stroud or I played Devon Neil, or I played, I saw Popinsky had the question of Darius Slayton or Justin Jefferson. Like, imagine how that goes when it goes wrong in your brain and your psyche for that, you know, amount of time. So I think in the case of, I'll just, you know, this Gentis is one that starts me. Like, it's awful for him. Like, you know, we've gone from, okay, his talent

will win out. Well, okay, that hasn't necessarily materialized because the situation is so bad. Well, okay, now he's been involved in the passing. Well, now that's disappeared the last couple weeks. And, you know, now you're talking about an Eagles defense that may have to carry this team to the playoffs because the offense has been struggling so badly. And here comes this team with this terrible offensive line and a backup quarterback potentially, if you don't even consider Gino Smith to be that good of a starter. You know, now you're throwing Kenny Pickett behind this line. So, like, I feel bad for the Genti managers. I lost my two of my nine teams that missed the playoffs have Ashton Genty on them. And he's not the only. He's not the only,

reason why, but he's a big reason why. And so, like, I'm glad I don't have to make that decision. You see where I have him ranked. You see, obviously, Dave has a similar, you know, feeling about this. Like, it's just, it's, he's just in a, in such a piss-poor environment. It really sucks to watch. I just wanted one thing. First of all, Jamie said he missed the playoffs with nine teams.

Jamie only played in 10 leagues this year, so tough, tough season. No, 28. And he actually was only bad in the passing game, this past game. It's only been one game. He's had eight targets in three straight games, only had two catches for eight yards against Denver last week on four targets. Denver, meanwhile, that's like Denver has not allowed more than 11 receiving yards to a running back in any of their last six games.

Holy cow. So that was tough for him. I will get Heath's take because Heath has, has Genty ninth. Dave and Jamie have him outside the top 20, but we're going to take a real quick break, come back and talk about Ashton Genti, D'Andre Swift, Amari and Hampton, and the other. guy that I forgot in this group after this.

Who? Devin Neal. After this. From holiday parties to festive roast by the fire, the holidays are full of moments to share a drink with friends and family. Being ready for the next morning still matters. That's why I have to tell you about this game-changing product I use. It's called pre-alcohol. I'll be honest.

I'm heading out to a show this weekend in New York City. A lot of money to get there. It's Geese, the most popular band right now on the internet. And I know it's going to be a heavy drinking weekend. I already know. So I prepped everything. You know, I got the ticket ready. I got my train ticket.

I want to make sure that the day is going to go great. But then I said, I forgot the most important thing. And I looked to my cabinet, and there it was the pre-alcohol. So I cannot wait to take that before the concert. It's going to be a long night. But it's not going to be a long morning with pre-alcohol. Make the most of every toast this holiday season. Just don't forget to bring pre-alcohol along for the ride.

Go to zbiotics.com slash fFT to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use FFT at checkout. Tyler Reddick here from 2311 racing. And Bubba Wallace. You know what's the worst part of a race? A rain delay. Sitting around, waiting for the track to dry is dull. But instead of waiting, we hang out with Chumba Casino.

Social Casino slots, bingo, solitaire, plenty of fun to keep us entertained. So why let a rain delay slow you down? Play now at chumbacasino.com. Let's Chumba. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. Law 21 Plus, Terms and Conditions Supply. Ella McKay, coming to theaters December 12th.

Your father's here. Why? A heartwarming new comedy from James L. Brooks. I'm a different person. I have never been in my life out this way about any other woman. Jesus! I wasn't counting your mother! It's a perfect holiday comedy about an imperfect family. You can use a scream, Ella. Starring Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Camel Nanjani, Iowa Debrie with Albert Brooks and Woody Harrelson. You should do that every afternoon.

LMAK All right, Heath, you can make your case for Ashton Genti. Yeah, I think in non-PPR, I have him ranked very close to where Dave and Jamie do. The split is the biggest amongst any running back who's in the top 24. And I just mostly think the past volume last week had to do with the Broncos. You look at his last four games now. He has 28 targets. Eight in three of those, four in one.

So I still have him projected for a pretty enormous role in the passing game. And that makes a very big difference in where you rank a guy in non-PPR versus full PPR. I don't have a problem with the role. I've got a problem with the efficiency. And he's had 12.1 or fewer full PPR points in three of his last four games. If he does not score, if he does not have two breakaway plays, I'm talking like 15 plus yards, not 50 yards or Tony Pollard type. plays from week 14, I think he's going to disappoint you. And so that's what makes me nervous, particularly with the Eagles defense, showing us that

they can be okay. I mean, obviously, the 60-yard plate of Vidal on Monday was kind of an accident. And I don't know if you can count on that to happen in Gentie's favor. But I do see Gentie as someone that carries a lot of risk. I do think this, like, just based on the numbers, is Ashton Gentile. best matchup in over a month. Eagles have not been good against running backs. No, they're like 23rd against running backs.

They don't have Jalen Carter right now. And they give up 4.4 yards per carry to running backs. Fourth most receiving yards per game to running backs. They've been a little better lately except for that 60 yard catch L.O. Well, and Hampton scored on a pass. He did, but they haven't allowed more than two catches to a running back in three straight games. But for the season, they've been a little vulnerable. against past catching running backs.

All right, so that's Gentie. Obviously, Heath would not. Dave and Jamie, would you start Devin Neal over Gentie? No. No. This is tough because Neil getting a ton of work, or he did last week. But no, it's two straight weeks with 17 or more touches. And Carolina is just awful against running backs right now.

So I think it is going to be a tough call. I mean, certainly belongs on the show notes. Would you start him over D'Andre Swift against Cleveland or Hampton at Kansas City? Nope, no. Don't have it that way as of now. I don't want to start Hampton. I mean, Dave, how you feeling about Amari and Hampton? I can say, thankfully, I have a buy in my Hampton League,

so hopefully he can take over, but he didn't take over last week at all. It was his first game back, and so we played 31% of the snaps, and I felt like we got really lucky with the touchdown catch that he had, but he had some decent runs in the beginning of the game and toward the end of the game, and I am hoping,

that he gets more opportunities this week. It's a tough matchup, man. Kansas City's run defense is definitely good. But I don't know how the Chargers operate in a normal place for them, given all the issues they have with their offensive line, with their quarterback, and therefore I think they have to lean on their running backs. I feel like, I don't know how you feel about Heath

because you watch the Chiefs closer than anybody, but I feel like we've got a low-scoring game coming our way. Yep, Vegas does two. Chargers have an implied total of 19, which is part of the reason. And I'll just say, like, I've got him at 25th in the rankings. And this is one of those guys that I moved up from where he was in the projections, thinking that he probably would see an increased role this week. I think the big problem is, like, it wasn't just past blocking,

but the huge split was in routes run. Vidal ran more than half of the team's routes. Hampton ran like a fifth of the team's routes. And so if he's an early downs back only against the chiefs in a game where they have an implied total of 19, that's a pretty bad recipe. I've still got him ahead of Devin Neal. And I think that to Jamie's point earlier, this is just kind of one of those things where I think O'Marion Hampton's a lot better than Devin Neal. And it's not like the Saints are implied to score more than 19 points. But I think there's a big risk.

Okay. especially and listen there's no reason with the way the chiefs have played the last month to think this will happen but if they're playing from behind it could be really bad for him Jamie let me get your thoughts on dandre swift who had 13 carries for 63 yards three catches for 19 yards for 11.2 fantasy points at green bay and he gets the browns this week who are 12th against running backs they allow 3.9 yards per carry to running backs but in their last i want to say eight games now it's since week four. The Browns are allowing 4.3 yards per carry to running backs.

They really haven't been that imposing defense they used to be. But Swift, he can still, he can, I think we've seen in a few games recently. He can play well, like at Minnesota, 21 carries for 90 yards. Last week, 11.2 fantasy points and not have a good fantasy game. It's kind of tough. Your thoughts on Swift. Well, I mean, like you said, he's come through in some tough matchups. I think the workload, you kind of know what you're getting because he's going to split with Menongai.

He's going to lose touchdown opportunities to Monongai. And so those are things that are, you know, part of the issue here. But we just saw Tony Pollard run through this Browns defense. Like, they weren't even there. And so, like, knowing how the Bears are program right now, where they don't want to put too much on Caleb Williams. And against an offense that, yes, looked amazing last week with Shadur Sanders, is still a Brown's offense that, for the most part, are struggled. struggle in the first two starts with Sanders, so how much that was just facing the Titans. So assuming the Bears do what they typically do, and you asked this question about the Bears'

DSD, I do think the Bears have a good DSD. I do think that there's turnover opportunities for them every time they step on the field. It's just how they play. So they'll probably turn over their bounds a couple of times. They'll probably be some short fields. There'll be some opportunities for Swift. I think you just know what you're getting at this point. So I have Hampton ranked too high. We know when I looked at and saw 16th. That's too high. I think this is a right range. We're all in a similar spot except for sports line on Swift, you know, right around 20th on average. So he's just a number two running back that I think you just know what you're getting. If he scores, he's going to be amazing.

If he doesn't score, he's going to give you somewhere around 10 ppr points. And I think you just get that floor and you're safe with it. He's not an elite running back in this scenario because of Monagai. If Manangai were to leave the game early, like we probably get a monster game from DeAnders. Like the Bears just want to run the ball. And it's a great rushing offense since things have sort of clicked for them. So I just think you treat them as a number two running back and don't even think twice. To Jamie's point, the Bears had that five-game winning streak week nine through 13.

It was right, like they're winning and it's right after they changed to the really more run-heavy approach. They're averaging 71 offensive plays and 35 rush attempts in that five-game winning streak. So, like, yeah, it's probably going to be close to 50-50 on the rush attempts, but it might be 17 for both Swift and Monge. It might. Unfortunately, it's been like that stat of how many running back carries per game has sort of been like Kamani Vidal fantasy points. One week up, one week down, one week up, one week down. It's not a consistent 35s per game. But I think in this game, you feel like they are in a position to be running the ball a lot against Cleveland, which would be great.

And they're kicking everyone's ass on the offensive line. I mean, they really, I think, won that battle against the Packers. didn't really get a big run in that game, but a very, very consistent running. All right, let's move on to the wide receivers here. You know what? Wide receiver, wide receiver tough calls like,

everyone? So at what point, I'll look at the consensus rankings. JSN, Chase, Puka, St. Brown, Rishi, oh, sorry, I thought Dave was interrupting me. Just clearing. No, sorry, just caught him.

Tried to move the mic away. My apology. That's okay. Rishie Rice is five. Does anybody consider him a tough call, because he actually has not been good in tough in good matchup and bad matchups.

Okay. Chargers are second against wide receivers. C.D. Lamb, we have him in right now. Nico Collins, George Pickens. Lamb and Pickens against Minnesota.

Are they tough calls? No. As long as they're playing. Yeah. A.J. Brown. Michael Wilson has got to be a tough call, right? I mean, Jamie's 14th, Dave 10th.

He fifth. right now. I'm Michael Wilson. And I still think he's a tough call. There's only been four wide receivers all year who have done well. I understand what you're saying. And I'm a little too high on him, although his target share. And if you see sports, if you're watching and you see the sports line rank, I think they probably have Marvin Harris and they do back in until he's ruled out. So that'll be much higher. But everybody can't be a tough call. Like the reason that these guys, are ranked in the top 14 is because the guys

15 through 28 are so much worse and much tougher calls. So, like, I think you just have to start those guys. I'm not saying everyone is a tough call. I only read 10 names there. But you read the top 10.

Yeah, yeah. Those guys aren't tough calls. But Michael Wilson, I feel like has to be a tough call against Pittsburgh. You can't, if Marvin Harrison Jr. is out, no matter how tough the matchup is, you can't sit a guy who's averaging over 30 fantasy points per game in these exact circumstances.

Well, you know, but I think, I mean, I'll speak for myself, you know, ranking him 14th, you know, kind of your process without the projections teeth. Like I forced him in that spot, essentially, because like of what the hope is that he still gets that because like we're still looking at a guy who has been a monster in three games. And for the most part, the Rams, you could say it's tough matchup. Like, they've been pretty favorable situation. Like, this, we just watched this team, you know, the Bill's game's different because even though Shakir played well, like, they destroyed Josh Allen.

And they destroyed Rashi Rice. They destroyed Patrick Holmes. Like, they're a destroyer. You know, like, this is what they do. And so, like, how good will Wilson be? Because he's been dominating targets. He's been an absolute superstar. Like we, if you were to say right now, like reset the season to week one and Marvin Harrison is out for the year and we get this, the first game of the season, yeah, spend, I don't know, you know what this is?

This was, this was Pukunakua, week one of his rookie season, like what we're getting from this. Yeah. And is it sustainable in this type of matchup? And so I love that you have, but believe me, I have a billion Michael Wilson shares. Like couldn't be more excited to finish this out if Marvin Harrison doesn't, you know, play the rest of the season. I hope he does for his health. But obviously for, you know, Wilson's fantasy managers, you'd like to see to continue. But like, this is, this is the test.

This is the test. Like, how good is he? Because, I mean, he's been, he's been Marvin Harrison Senior when Marvin Harrison Jr. is not there. Dave, there have been. I'm doing this just like on the spot. How many targets you want to give him, Wilson? For this coming game? Yeah. Baker's dozen at them.

All right, so let's say 10 or more. JSN, Puka, and Shakir, they had 10 or more targets against Houston. They all had 19 or more fantasy points. Mike Evans had 11. Mike Evans had 11, and he had 11 targets, and he scored 10.6 fantasy points. Parker, Washington, and Troy Franklin had 10 or 11, and they had terrible games. So that's three out of six who had 10 or more targets, had huge games, and three had pretty bad games. But I think if you got 10.6 fantasy points from Michael Wilson this week, how would you feel about that?

I'd be disappointed. That's not what I'm signing up for when I start Michael Wilson. The only point I'd want to add here is the way that Michael Wilson is playing and how he's utilized. This is a big, rangy physical receiver, kind of like Mike Evans, which kind of scares me a little bit. I'd like to look more at that game that Mike Evans had. But he runs a lot of short and intermediate routes. He's not a downfield guy. and he can just turn around, box out the corner, and make the catch. And so I think he can do enough of that where he's gaining a lot of receptions

between, let's call it, eight and 15 yards and, you know, rack up his way to fantasy points and then throw in a touchdown in there if he can get so fortunate enough to get one against his Houston defense, that's what I'm starting him for. I don't expect Mike Wilson to go and catch a 40-yard bomb on the Texan defense. I don't know if Berset's going to have that kind of time to throw downfield and make those kinds of plays. I think this is going to be a dink-and-dunk offense from Arizona, and the two guys who have been benefiting should continue to benefit. Okay.

And now all of this, the last five minutes of the show, if Marvin Harrison Jr. plays, you can just skip through it, and I'll just edit it out because it changes everything. All right, the other three guys I wanted to talk about a wide receiver, Christian Watson at Denver, Cortland Sutton in that same game against Green. Bay and Tetaroa McMillan at New Orleans. Heath, how would you rank Christian Watson, Tederoa McMillan, Cortland Sutton? Oh, very uncertainly is how I would rank them.

I think all three of them I've got as low-end wide receiver twos. Currently, I have Tetero-McMillan a couple spots ahead of Christian Watson and Watson one spot ahead of Cortland Sutton. I think Watson is probably the most troubling, just because, like, it's three of the last four weeks now. He's scored 18 or more fantasy points with four catches exactly. And generally speaking, guys who catch four passes in a game are not guys. You're super excited to start.

Those are your boom bust number three wide receivers. We've just gotten three booms in the last four weeks. Now you're facing the Broncos. I've got them at 24 and I feel like that's more too high. than too low, but it is wide receiver, and I'm not going to start Justin Jefferson over Christian Watson. You're not, okay. I might not.

Yeah, Jefferson's got that dream matchup against the Cowboys. Yeah, I mean, we've never seen Justin Jefferson against a dream matchup. I know, I know. It's not like he faced the commanders last week. Yeah, I know. Watson, Watson, yeah, four catches, but for his career, he averages 17 yards a catch. So if he can do that, then you actually have a 10-point fantasy game there.

as the floor, but I don't know that I'd make that argument. Well, I don't think four catches as the floor, because I think at least one of those games, he also had four targets. Last week. Yeah. Jamie, what would you say, how would you rank Watson, Teterea, McMillan, and Sutton? Sutton, McMillan, Watson. Dave?

Sutton, then a gap, and I've got Watson and McMillan back to back. Sutton pretty close to having a touchdown last week. He still ended up with a decent game, six catches, 62. yards, but 10 targets. So kind of encouraging stuff in three straight games. Eight targets, then six targets, but a big game against Washington and then 10 targets last week.

Is Sutton moving away from this tough call status or is still there? I do not ever trust John Payton. And so, like, we had a month where Troy Franklin was the number one wide receiver on

this team, and now he's playing behind Pat Bryant. I don't know. I wish I was in Sean Payton's brain. I could see what he thought the way to attack this Packers defense was. But if he gets 10 targets, then yeah, he probably deserves to be in that 15 to 16 range where Dave and Jamie have him. I think that there's a possibility also. I believe teams have generally tried to run the ball more against the Packers than pass the ball. And it could be a six target game for Cortland Sutton, in which case I'm

too high on them in 25th. Okay. You know, the thing that's encouraging, though, all three of these games post-buy. So what wasn't working before the buy, hopefully has been corrected after the buy. Two games. Maybe conversations were had, you know,

about getting the ball more. Two games. For Sutton. They had a week 12 buy. So one of the games was before the buy? Yeah. Chiefs game, buy at Washington at Las Vegas. All right.

look wide receivers is going to give you fits hopefully you have some ones that you like tight end real quick here is tyler warren i didn't have a ton of tight ends on the list but who are some guys that you would start over tyler warren jamie i would start don quincade over him this week i would start harold fanning over him this week and i would start kow pitts over him this week any disagreements there guys nope not for me i'll add one more because i am mr blue this week I would start Theo Johnson over. I thought you were going to say Jake Ferguson

when you said blue, but I get it. Yeah, Ferguson, I think, would be an easy call if Lamb didn't play. If he does play, it's probably not that easy if a call. If Lamb plays, you go in Tyler Warren in a brilliant matchup at Seattle or Ferguson against the Vikings. If Lamb does not play?

If Lamb does play, then I would go Warren. I'm going to Warren anyway. I think I'm going to go, Ferguson anyway. I think it'll be a high-scoring game for the Cowboys and the Vikings. I think they're going to put up points. I don't think there's going to be a lot of great defense

throughout the game on either side. And I don't know what to make of this Colts offense now. I'll give you probably the only example that you need, Dave. How bad was Max Rosemary against Seattle? Oh, he was absolutely horrible. And who had his best game of the season against him? Was it Hawkinson or Oliver or both? It was Hawkinson.

Yeah, and how, you know, Kirk Cousins was very good, and Kyle Pitts had a big game. Yeah, I mean, they just, this is the one position that they're, there's, they're Cincinnati light, you know, it's, uh, it, and Warren's clearly more talented than those guys. Like, Brett Rippin is going to probably go out there and throw the ball over the place. I can't imagine bringing Phillip Rivers in to not throw the ball a little bit. Um, if he's going to start, they're going to try and run the ball, but this is going to be a game where they probably get behind early. So I think Warren will still be okay. like he's not oh yeah he's not he's not as safe as it used to be but like right i i feel pretty good about him in this matchup no matter who the quarterback is so i feel exactly the same way like

still a top 10 type of tight end but other tight ends who have emerged recently some of them have great matchups too i think you've got to trust them i've got joan over him too oh interesting yeah joan makes me nervous kisicky makes me nervous um oh wait i'm not where i'm out with Schultz are likely. I might move likely out of Warren. I might move likely ahead of Warren because that's the matchup. I have them back to back. Yeah, that's how I have it to.

If there was no Andrews, then I feel much better about likely. I'd go Warren because I think there's a chance that it's marketing, like Jamie just said, like for the last month, if we could just start the Ravens' tied end, it'd be fantastic. Yeah. I keep thinking both of them could end up doing

well. Likely. They could. They both did fairly well, I think, in the first matchup two weeks ago. Andrews got hot late and then the flowers fumble sort of killed any momentum there. Okay, let's go to the DSTs real quick. The three that were suggested were New England against Buffalo. I think you can pretty much get away for them. Dave has New England 10th.

Jamie and Heath have them way outside the top 12. But Denver against Green Bay, Packers give up the fewest fantasy points to DSTs and the Rams against Detroit. Packers haven't really faced a lot of good DSTs. So they've had sort of an easy schedule in that. regard, Denver against good offenses. They were terrible at the Colts, good at the Chargers, good at the Eagles, bad against the Giants, who are like an average offense with Dart, bad against the Cowboys, good against

the Chiefs. So up and down for Denver. And Sir Tan missed a couple of those games too. Okay. And the Rams against Detroit, you know, that's a tough one as well. Jamie, what's your DST strategy this week if you have Denver or the Rams? I think Dave gave a good outline yesterday about what you do at this point in the season of you know you can carry two ds if you need to you could i'm carrying in our podcast league i'm

carrying three ds with the hope i make it to the championship game i don't want to give up the patriots because they play the jets in week 17 so like i picked up one for give myself an option for next week and then hopefully get to week 17 if that happens but um you can you can just carry the broncos don't drop the broncos don't give them to somebody else and pick up the 49ers pick up the jaguars I just think that there's Like I'm not going to go to the cowboys for example Even though they may be great against J.J. McCarthy We've seen McCarthy clearly vomit all over himself cover your ears Thomas

There's there there's some of those like borderline ones like the dolphins have been playing great Yeah You know I still would probably trust the I mean I haven't ranked so I still would trust the broncos DST over the dolphins so um rams what about the rams The rams I don't want to trust against Detroit you know When Detroit is on, and this is an indoor game that could be the highest scoring game in the week, wouldn't shock me if the Rams stink. And we've seen the Rams stink.

You know, I mean, this defense has been very up and down. They've been much better home. And Geragoff does not have a great history facing his former team. He's actually played them three times. But I just think there are so many crappy offenses out there, like, and DSTs that are available, you know, 49ers being the best one, and Jaguar is not far behind. All right. Let's take a break. We are going to talk about a game that's full of tough calls.

Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it has some tough calls. Atlanta at Tampa Bay when we come back on fantasy football today. This holiday season, Instacard is bringing magic to the people who make it magic for others. Whether it's a last-minute holiday decor emergency, coverage for the holiday party, or just avoiding going out in the cold, Instacart is here with everything you need. Plus, with no markups at select retailers, you get in-store prices on groceries, electronics, beauty, toys, and more. Download the Instacart app to get a little.

Little Magic delivered today. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. What's good, y'all? It's Vaughn Miller, Super Bowl MVP, Sagmaster, and now your host of Free Range. This is where NFL meets Real Talk. Every week, I'm bringing you inside the game from locker room stories to league-wide headlines. You want football IQ locker room insight in real conversations with the people shaping the league.

Welcome to Free Range with Von Miller, where nothing is off limits and every down counts. New episodes every Wednesday. Listen and follow free range with me, Vaughn Miller, wherever you get your podcast. Canada's Wonderland is bringing the holiday magic this season with Winterfest on Select Nights now through January 3rd. Step into a winter wonderland filled with millions of dazzling lights, festive shows, rides, and holiday treats. Plus, Coca-Cola is back with Canada's kindest community, celebrating acts of kindness nationwide with a chance at 100,000 donation for the winning community and a

2026 holiday caravan stop. Learn more at Canada's Wonderland.com. Thursday night football. Nah, nah, nah, nah. Yeah, all right. We've got Atlanta at Tampa Bay, an updated stat of the game. Ten wide receivers have 83 yards

or a touchdown against the Falcons in their last seven games. So that's pretty cool. But of course, bucks wide receivers are not doing that at all. All right. Heath, I'm going to, I'm going to start with the Atlanta Falcons

for you. Okay, good. Easy peasy. Knock it out. Yeah, I think you should start Bijon Robinson and I think you should start Kyle Pitts and I think you should ignore everybody else. Kyle Pitts is top five for everyone.

So, Pitts or Kelsey? Pitts. Yes. Who would you start over Pitts? So, McBride, Bowers. Who? Harold Vannon. Oh, Kittle McBride Bowers

And Fannin Yeah, I agree with Heath Fannin Jamie Pitts over Fannett for me Okay, but it's basically Kittle McBride Bowers And then Pitts comes into the That only changes if Drake London plays

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah It changes in a big way, I assume In terms of Fannin, yes In terms of still starting Pitts, I would still start Pits He's been awesome, I believe, against the Buccaneers He has been awesome, him against the Buccaneers. He's been solid with Kirk Cousins in the four games.

Three of the four have been very good. So he was great against the Bucks in week one, or 12 PPR points against the Bucks in week one. We don't call it great. But that was with London playing. So I still would start him, but he's top four for me with Drake London, not there. Okay.

He has one touchdown this year, Kyle Pitts. He has one end zone target. So that's kind of an issue. But right now, 18 targets in his last two games, very good target share and he's the guy Tampa Bay's 14th against tight ends all right on the other side of the ball

Jamie which which bucks are you confident in starting oh boy Chase McLaughlin I think for Buckie Irving I'll go right back to him I know he got a little bit banged up in that game with the ankle that took him off the field and then Sean Tucker kind of got rolling a little bit

and then Bucky had the big run late but for me I'm going to trust that This is a game where they can lean on in the Falcons run defense has been absolutely abysmal lately. So, uh, Bucky Irvin's a must start. It's really the receivers in Baker. You know, so Baker's track record against Atlanta is enough to buy into. The fact that this may be his first game with his entire, entire receiving court, I think the entire season.

All year. Yeah, all year. Yeah, right. So, especially in McMillan plays. So hopefully that helps. Uh, Worves back helps, uh, Falcons defense. against quarterbacks and passing games helps. So there's just a lot of things working in his favor,

but Baker just has not been right. So for me, I'm, like, he's 12th. He's right behind Mahomes. Like, that's kind of where I start to get a little bit, like a lot of questions at quarterback. So if I've been starting Baker and getting by with it, like I'm moderately encouraged for this week. If you have the ability to still pick up Jackson Dart

or Brock Purdy, as we talked about on Tuesday, easy change for me. I would pivot to those guys. but I'm not starting Marioota or CJ's job, for example, over Baker-Macon. Dave, Heath, do you have any difference of opinion there? Not really. I also have Baker 12th. As of right now, I think I do have Marioo one spot ahead of Baker,

but he is the most borderline top 12 quarterback there could be. And the receivers obviously are tough to trust right now, because Abuka has been getting targets but doing nothing with them, and we saw the drop last week. Evans in his first game back, we already know there's been two examples, one good, one bad, of what they thought they were going to do

with a guy coming back from an extended absence. Chris Godwin barely played, did nothing. Bucking was supposed to not play very much and was still awesome in the 50% of the snaps that he played. So how much does Mike Evans coming back from a pain tolerance situation and a lack of playing time versus, you know, a knee injury or a foot injury, etc.

You know, so if he is, if his conditioning is, good. He's going to play a lot of snaps. That's the one area where you have to have a little bit of, you know, question and concern. I just think, like, you treat them all as number three receivers. To me, it would be still a Bucca the highest, then Evans, then Godwin, just with the hope of Evans catching a touchdown and being somewhat successful. I am too high on Mike Evans right now and I'll lower him a little bit, but I do kind of think with the way a Buka has played lately and particularly the drop issues that almost everyone's had and the fact that Mike Evans had a

30% target share earlier this year when he was playing with Baker-Makefield, and that's his guy. And he's not, as Jamie said, he's not coming back from a soft tissue injury. He's not coming back from a high ankle sprain. He's coming back from a broken collarbone, which sucks. I'm sure it hurt really bad. But he should be fine. So I'm a little more optimistic that Evans really has a high target share. And if you've got a high target share against the Falcons, you've been great lately.

Dave, I want to get your thoughts on these receivers. But one other factor here is that they did play in week one. And A.J. Terrell mostly shadowed Mike Evans. And I went back and I watched, if not, I think like three quarters of that game. And he got open against Thorell. He just didn't really get targeted against Terrell. So there is that factor as well. That could happen, and that freed up Abuka to have a good game in week one.

But how do you see the wide receivers playing out? I think Jamie said he'd go Abuka, Evans, Godwin. Heath, how would you rank them? Heath froze? Or is it me? Dave, how would you rank them, and how do you see it playing out? I see Abuka is the best, but he's a low-end number two receiver. Evans, a high-end number three receiver.

Godwin, somebody I really don't want to trust, maybe a low-end flex at best. I think Evans is the steadying force here because he touched on this. It really, I was happy that he did. The target share for Evans, huge when he was playing earlier in the year. The target per route run rate that's a little bit different than target share. But Evans was the highest there against zone coverage. What did the Falcons do the most? Zone coverage.

And I think that that's going to be an easy, reliable, trustworthy receiver that Baker should be on the same page with. pretty quickly. Hopefully they've been practicing for more than a week. So hopefully they've got their timing down. I don't expect Evans to dominate on downfield throws, but I also don't think he's going to get a bunch of like

three and four yard routes either. I think he's going to hit that intermediate area and that's where you can win against Atlanta. If the Falcons adjust too much to that, that's going to open up Abuka. I feel like there's been miscommunications between Abuka and Baker, and that's part of the reason why

Abuka hasn't been playing well, or at least why he didn't play well last week. I'll call it that. But to me, the whole key to anything on Tampa right now is Tristan Worf's. If he plays, that offensive line should be good enough to give Baker Mayfield all the time he needs to throw accurately downfield. If Worf's doesn't play, then I get a little bit nervous about all these guys. So not the highest of expectations, but I think Evans is definitely going to be the reason why, A, Baker has a decent game, and B, why a lot of people in the passing game for Tampa can be effective.

Well, you're not going to start Kate Auden. That's an easy call. We pretty much are going to start Bucky Irving. I expect Bucky's start percentage to be. I start percentage is a little tricky right now because there are so many teams that are eliminated. But in a normal week, I would think it'd be about 90% just given the state of the running back position. But I mean, we need to see he's even on the injury report. If he's not on the injury report, then I think anything that we're talking about from last week's game,

where we weren't sure how healthy he was, didn't play much of the second quarter. kind of 50% in the second half. Right, he got banged up. If he's not on the injury report, though, I would expect him to be the lead back for Tampa. And in this matchup against Atlanta, I believe you touched on it, Jamie, just like they're giving up gobs of numbers to run backs.

And wide receivers. I mean, like I said, 10 receivers with 83 yards or a touchdown against the Falcons in the last seven games. Cooper Cup just caught a touchdown. Adonai Mitchell had 102 yards in a touchdown. Teterole McMillan scored like 40. or something like that, right?

Xavier Lee Get had 83 yards and a touchdown on eight targets. So this is one of the best matchups for receivers. That's why this is so tough. So let me see what we've got in the chat here. I have a brutal, brutal decision to make Thursday. Let's hear it. So it's our Office League playoffs

where we start one wide receiver, one running back, and two flexes. And I have Baker. Keep that in mind. So I have to make a call with Evans. Wilson, because we don't know if Marvin Harrison, we'll be back. Devin Neal and Trevianne Henderson. So I have to pick three guys from those two players, from those four players.

I'm a little hesitant with Evans, honestly. I do think the AJ Terrell factor is real. I don't disagree with you, but if Harrison plays, I want no part of Michael Wilson against the Texans. I mean, who would? So then you think I think you have to play. Evans, because then you could just sit Neil. No, you, or sit Trayvion. No, because I have to play one wide receiver.

So I have to play Evans. You play Evans. You play Evans like receiver. I would play Wilson over Neil if Harrison is in. Right. That's what I'm saying. So you, not knowing the Michael Wilson, Marvin Harrison situation, you start Evans and then if, and then you, yeah.

That's what I'm leaving. It basically comes down to Wilson versus Neil because I do think Henderson is, I like Henderson better than Neil. We've previewed this entire game, assuming Mike Evans is going to play. If he doesn't play, then Abuka is what? Still a number two receiver. Still a high-end number three-receiver. And Godwin is?

A number three-receiver. I have all of them as number-the-resceivers. It's basically like Ibuka's in the mid-20s. Evans is in the low 30s, and Evans is like around 36-37. I mean, I think- I'm sorry, Godwin's around 36-37. Yeah. I think he had eight targets last week.

He had five targets the week before, and he dropped a touchdown. And, you know, he ran more routes last week, 86.1% of the, of the snaps. This is going to start to get, like we said, the chargers were early in the season. Yeah, you know, this stretch run for them. We, you know, last year we got lucky

because when McMillan got hot, it was Godwin was off the field. And so, you know, I'm worried the most about Abuka because of what's been happening to him and Bucks, you know, sort of going into a shell a little bit, do they just try to go back to what's familiar for Baker?

And Godwin in the slot could be awesome. You know, that's where he's had his most success. And so you have Abuka and Evans on the outside, and now Godwin becomes just a target hog and closes the season on a tear. It's hard to count on that because we haven't seen it. But again, now you have the trustworthy guys there plus their high-profile rookie who got off to such a hot start

and now it's just been struggling. Because the target's still been there for Bucca. Clearly Baker's been trying to get him. him going the offense has been trying to get him going it's not just the target it's these opportunities for huge plays have also been there for a buca and it almost feels fluky it feels like a fluka that they haven't happened whether it's been an you know an overthrow or a drop or whatever there have been fantasy points that have just been left on the field but what a bad no no joke that you just made what did you just say did you say it you have to go back and listen no

okay i'll i believe the word he used was freaking at him okay good um all let me read some chat questions here pick three irving henderson harvey et n dowdell full ppr irving it would be uh et n irving and harvey yeah that's my three and probably in that order as well abuka mcconkey fanon geez there's a lot here jaylyn warren rickie rick Dowdell, Devin Neal, pick three. Abuka, McConkey, Fanon, Jalen, Warren, Dowdell, Neal. Yikes.

Man. Does Abuka make the cut? He does for me. I'm torn between Abuka and McConkey. I go Fanon. Dowdell and Abuka? No. Doudal is probably, no, Neil's my least favorite.

I go Fanon and the receivers Cortland Sutton or Chris Godwin Sutton Sudden Sutton or Abuka Sutton Sutton or Abuka if Evans is out Sudden Sutton Sutton Sutton Abuka Flowers or Tracy PPR Flowers I have Abuka one spot ahead of flowers

Abuka or McConkey I think we just We did Abuka I'll go McConkey Evans or Tederoa McMillan Ted Agreed Evans Myers-Wilson

Sit 1 Ooh Wilson if MHJ plays Right Yeah but we won't know Oh we might know We might know by Thursday I mean look if

Harrison misses practice Wednesday and Thursday Then You should feel somewhat confident That he's not going to play Like misses practice Okay

You get limited Then you got to be worried That was a thorough preview of Atlanta and Tampa Bay. It was long. I forgot the theme song. Yeah, well, before you get back to the theme song, Heath had a power outage, so he's coming back now. But, oh, damn, what was I going to say?

Oh, yeah, remember, remember, hey, Heath. We did that basically the entire preview and answered those questions, assuming that Evans is going to play. If Evans does not play, it changes things, check the rankings. And that was Thursday, Night Football.

Na, nah, nah, nah, and now it's time to finish the show

with the fantasy feud. All right, who do we want for our first category? Well,

the third one is about movies. So I think I'm going to save Heath for that one. There you go.

So first category, give me, Dave, give me, Jamie. All right, the top six

answers are on the board. You have to buzz in by saying your name. If you get the number one

answer you choose pass or play. If you don't get the number one answer, the other person has a chance to guess that. All right. Top six answers are on the board. I'm looking for running backs with 50 or more catches. Jamie. Jamie. Chris McCaffer. That is correct. He is number one. Pass or play. Oh, pass. All right, Dave, you get to play. Running backs with 50 or more catches. The top six answers are on the board. I think the only six answers are on the board. Who are we looking at? Jemir Gibbs.

Jemir Gibbs is your number two answer. Hey. Does Gentie have 50 catches? You want me to tell you? I want you to let me know if I'm right or wrong. Is that your official guess? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 45.

Okay. What about? Why am I blanking on this? Why am I blanking? Three. Bejohn, Bejohn, Bejohn Robinson. Bejohn Robinson is correct. He's the number.

Running backs in rankings. Is he in there? Number three. Oh, look at that. And what are you looking for? How many of the top six? Top six. Who is the first one you said?

I said Gibbs, then Genty, then Bejohn. Right. So you've got the top. Y'an's got to be up there. You've got the top three. You've got the top four now. McCaffrey Gibbs, Bejohn, A. We've got two more running backs with 50 or more catches.

Oh, Chase Brown has caught a lot of balls. Is Chase Brown had 50 catches. My man, Chase Brown. Good job. He's number five. And now I'm stuck. Jalen Warren. Jamie, I'm going to ask you to please not look at the chat or just go to the private chat or something so people don't spoil it.

Come on, guys. Somebody just accused me of cheating in the chat. I'm not even playing this game. All right, Dave, you have one more guest, running backs with 50 or more catches. three two uh one Jamie has a chance to steal

so far we have McCaffrey Gibbs Bijon Devin A Chan Chase Brown and last answer five seconds James Cook oh James Cook is the yeah

do you sure Dave now James Cook has somebody catches as James Cook has have 29. How do I forget James Cook? He only has 29. All right, okay. No one was going to get this.

Kenneth Gainwell has 50 catches. I guess the wrong Steelers running back. All right, Dave gets the points in the first round. Second round, give me, Dave, give me Heath. The top six answers are on the board. Very simple. Top six wide receivers and PPR points per game. Dave.

Dave. Puganakuwa. Pugua is, let's see. what answer is he is. Why did I guess? He's not number one. No, but I know who is. Okay, Heath, the board is yours. Puginakua is number two. Heath.

Heath. J.S.N. J.S. that is correct. Pass or play? I mean, I'll play. Okay. Why not? Top six wide receivers, PPR points per game. We have JSN and Puka Nukua. And go ahead. Rashi Rice?

Rish is number four. George Pickens Number five Amon Ross St. Brown? Ooh. Number eight. Tied for seventh. So what am I have a question?

Is there a limit on how many games played? Well, Rash has played seven games, so I'll just say seven or more games. Okay, okay. All right, good. What numbers do I have, please? You have JSN1, Puka 2, Rice 4, Pickens, 5. So we're looking for number three and number six. You have one strike.

Jamar Chase. Correct. Number six. Who is number three in fantasy points per game? No looking at the gym. I feel like it's somebody who is not playing any longer. Three, two, one. CD Lamb.

CD Lamb is tied for seventh. Tied for seventh. So I need number three or number six? Number three. You got number six. It's Jamar Chase. We're down to one name, right? Yeah, JSN, Puka, Rice, Pickens, Chase,

and who's number three in points per game? In five, four, three, two, one. All right, Dave, you have a chance to steal here. So I was, because you said seven games or more, I was debating between two guys that hadn't played a full season. It was Lamb in London. Heath guessed Lamb, so I will say London. Oh, Dave, for the win.

Oh, it's right. It's right. You're about to buzz me. Play the game of the week song. So, Dave. Yeah. Is it Jamie won the first one? No, Dave won the first one.

So why did Dave play in the second one? How do you determine who plays in the third one now? Because the third one is always triple the points anyway. You and Jamie play. Okay, so Dave can't win. You can't win the third one. He already won the first two. But the third one's triple points.

Are you playing in this? one that it's not triple the points it should have been me and jamie in the second one and then the two winners play in the third one all right it's triple the points triple the points all right but let's see and i have absolutely no chance to all right here's here's how we're going to do this triple the points but usually the the person who passes the person who passes gets you are so terrible at this no no like do you just sit around before we play a game and think how can i mess this game up this week i wasn't going to make this triple the points but you're insisting So I have a fun wrinkle on this.

Okay. It's triple the points, which means Dave would automatically lose. However, the person who passes usually gets one chance to get the answer, right? Right. I'm going to give the person who passes three chances. And if you don't get it on three, then Dave wins this round also. So I'm going to give Dave an opportunity to win this round, even though he's not playing. All right?

Here we go. If Richard Ross and start changing it. passes one chance and then if they don't get it, give Dave the next chance. I like that even better, even better. Because no, because that's, oh, shit, talk about you. All right, all right. That sets up Dave for failure, I think. But all right, fine.

Top five answers are on the board. And I want you to listen to the whole thing before you buzz it. Top five Christmas movies, according to IMDB. However, I'm going to limit it to 1980 or later, 1980 or later. Top five Christmas movies according to IMDB, Jamie and Heath, go.

Heath. Heath. Home alone. The number one answer. Pass or play? I'll pass. Okay. Jamie?

And Dave, you got to be thinking, too. It's 1980? 1980 or later. So that eliminates. When you say or later, does that mean 1980 through 2025 or 1980 since the start of electricity? No, so I'll tell you the movies

that are eliminated. It's a wonderful life, a Christmas carol, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer would have been on here, but I'm going 1980 or more recent than that. Sorry.

There's only one answer you can give here, Jamie. Christmas story. A Christmas story is on there, yeah. It's number three. Diehard. Diehardt's number two.

Here we go. I'm sorry, Christmas story is number five, not number three. And how many other? Five. Home Alone one, die hard two, and a Christmas story.

is three. Elf? Elf is four. Christmas vacation? Oh, a clean sweep for Jamie. This is an easy category, actually. Congratulations. Jamie Eisenberg, you won.

You tripled the points. You suck today, Dave. I was destined to name all the Christmas movies from 1980s. Gremlins was also on the list. And I resented, like, is that really? I don't remember. I haven't seen Gremlins in so long.

It's 100% of Christmas movie. Is it good? I feel like it's not good. Very good. Not good. All right. Well, that's... You think Dan has seen Gremlin's.

Dan has never heard of Gremlins. Have you seen Gremlins at him? Yeah, I've seen Gremlins. I've seen Gremlins, too. I just, I don't remember. I'm going to see if I can text Dan real quick and see if he's even heard of it. Ors I've seen Gremlins. There's no...

Oh, seen it. Are you kidding? He's never seen Rocky. You think he's seen Gremlins? He's watched... Have you heard of the movie Gremlins? Okay, let's see if he responds in the next 15 seconds while we do our sign-off here. What did you say, Jamie?

He hasn't seen Gremlins, but he's watched a documentary, bud. He watched the Gremlin series. All four seasons, everybody binged. All right, I'm trying to kill time to see if Dan responds, but he has silenced his notifications, so I'm not optimistic. Listen, I've got to promote something. We have such a hilarious follow-up to a fantasy cop from last week that you're going to have to wait for the mailbag for you'll enjoy it we got a fc home games tomorrow nfc home games friday and have a wonderful wednesday everybody we will talk to you later on fantasy football

today and still nothing from me and see you