Fantasy Football Today - Week 17 Tough Calls; Fill in the Blank (12/29 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 29, 2021

Who are the toughest calls of Week 17? How about the Cowboys DST (4:00) and D.K. Metcalf (7:10)? Can you really bench the #1 DSTin Fantasy? And can Metcalf come through in a good matchup, finally? ... We remember John Madden (12:30) and go through the news and notes (15:00) before getting back into Week 17 tough calls: Russell Wilson (19:15), Cordarrelle Patterson (23:00), Russell Gage (26:00), Michael Carter (31:40) and Javonte Williams (35:40) ... Fill in the Blank (41:30), dynasty TE risers and fallers (53:00) and your emails (57:30) and Apple Podcast questions (1:06;00). We debate Pat Freiermuth's dynasty value! ... Your emails at [e-mail] Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. This is touchdown. Oh, he's done it again. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath, and Ben. Welcome to the show on this Wednesday, December 29th. Dave, remember I used to give the date every day all the time? You did. You were like a vocal calendar. Yeah. I'm going to bring that back for the last couple of weeks of this season.

It's December 29th. Aren't these shows supposed to be sort of timeless? I mean, not timeless in terms of the fantasy season, but like... Like a different word besides timeless. Yeah, they're not timeless. They're supposed to be informative, entertaining, fun, but not necessarily...

You don't have to tell people, I guess, maybe the date of when we're recording. The time, does that matter? Maybe. What the hell am I saying? This time of year? Absolutely. Like, four hours from now, we might matter? Maybe. What the hell am I saying? This time of year? Absolutely. Like four hours

from now, we might have 65 players coming off the COVID list. Man, I hope you're right. That sounds good. If you're looking for the best way to track who's on the COVID list, go to CBSSports.com. Open an NFL roster and look at it, and there you go.

Somehow, I think Washington has one player right now uh go to cbssports.com and either go to cbssports.com slash nfl or click on the nfl arena and every week lately we've had an article basically pinned in the headlines with a covid tracker and it's got every player on every team that's on the covid list including the date that player went on the COVID list, and it's very helpful. A lot of stuff kind of sneaks by. Basically, the entire Colts defense is on the

COVID list, so we will get into that and also tell you... Oh, see, there it is, the COVID-19 tracker. And we'll also tell you... We'll also tell you... What was I going to say? I don't know. I think you were going to apologize for laughing at me last night on so much stream.

Last night's stream. I was in a really bad mood last night, Heath. I apologize to you. I just took it out on you. You were not in a but the funny thing is like you didn't come off

as if you were in a bad mood. Oh, I'm very talented, I guess, in hiding my bad mood. You came off just kind of mean-spirited and ha-ha-ha. Like on that note, how did that start um yeah what happened i gave an opinion on players oh wow that's different yeah yeah i guess i disagreed with it which is not different like a dozen of them most notably i think the cowboys defense who may be one of the

toughest calls this week he doesn't have them in his top 24 and i just thought that was a little shocking i moved him up to 15 okay but like but again and this is probably my fault but i don't know how are people making decisions based on whether a defense is ranked 15th or 30th? I don't know. I just thought that was interesting. I can't think of any reason they would. I think someone will look at your rankings and say, all right, what does he think about my DST?

And if they see a DST that isn't in the top 12 and they see one that's on the waiver wire that is, I think that they would consider making that swap. The reason I said that was I don't put a whole lot of effort into who is ranked between the 16th and 30th at DST. Aren't they the number one DST this year though? They are, but a really smart analyst told me earlier this year, I pretty much just pay attention to the matchups, which is why I think people have started the Dallas Cowboys over the last month against the

Washington football team twice and Mike Glennon and Taysom Hill, but they might be a little bit scared of them against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals. Well, they haven't. Yeah, I get that. It was a little shocking to see them not in the top 24, but that's fine. All right. Anyway, what's the toughest

call if it's not the Cowboys DST? What is the toughest call? Heath, I'll let you start. Give me one tough call for Week 17. I mean, I do think that the Cowboys DST is a tough call for somebody who's gotten 60 points out of them over the last three weeks, and now

they have Kyler Murray, and you have to decide are you... I talked last night about the Football Gates Players Championship. The top five teams in that contest, tens of thousands of teams, Now they have Kyler Murray and you have to decide, are you like, I was, I talked last night about the football guys, players championship, the top five teams in that contest, tens of thousands of teams all have the Cowboys defense because they've been so good over the last three weeks. And now they're facing Kyler Murray. But is it really that intimidating to be facing Kyler Murray the last three

weeks, you know, without Deandre, two weeks without Deandre Hopkins? Well, I believe the Arizona Cardinals opposing defenses, DSTs, are averaging four and a half fantasy points per game against them, maybe five and a half. I just saw this number.

Okay. So, yeah, it's a terrible matchup for DSTs. Is that, okay, I just want to look at the post Hopkins, if that's the same. Yeah. What was that's the same. Yeah. What was that? How many games has Hopkins missed? Two or three?

I believe it's just like six. Well, yeah, right. Oh, sorry. Kyler and Hopkins. In the last three weeks, they've allowed 10, 10, and less than eight fantasy points to an opposing DST. Mm-hmm. Okay.

All right. You know, it is actually pretty interesting because we should be talking about this. I mean, this is not just a throwaway topic here. You know, you would drop the Cowboys for who? The Bears? I would. But the Bears, I don't think,

are even in Dave and Jamie's top five DSTs. So, like, the Eagles, if they were available. Oh, in a heartbeat. That's awesome. I would drop them for the 49ers. I've got them ahead of the 49ers right now, but I can make that case too.

I would still rather look. I love the talent that they have. I don't like the way that Kyler has been playing and i just i i wonder just how how many points the cardinals are going to end up putting up the other thing is the cowboys are not a good dst because they hold teams to a low amount of yards that's true amount of points it's the touchdown scored a bunch of touchdowns and that's not like every year we look back and say this defense was number one or two or three because they scored seven touchdowns. They're not going to repeat that.

But they get a lot of turnovers, you know, and that's also a little bit of luck. It is to a degree. That's always the first basic point that you look for with a DST is how good is their pass rush? How many sacks can they get? How much pressure can they put on an opposing quarterback? All right, let's get to our next tough call. Dave, give me a tough call for Week 17. A tough call for Week 17.

How about someone who hasn't been a tough call for a real long time? DK Metcalf going up against the Detroit Lions. He had a touchdown last week, but he still failed to get you 15 PPR points. Is it super easy to just walk away from him knowing that the Lions have been okay against the pass lately? I don't think it's super easy at all. The only thing you said that I would disagree with

is that he hasn't been a tough call for a long time because it feels like he's been a tough call for me for two months. I was being sarcastic. I thought he was joking. I missed the sarcasm. Yeah, I got it. I got it. I'm sorry.

I should have given you the… It's not easy to sit him at all. I concur. There's a lot of wide receivers I would sit him for, including Amon Ross, St. Brown, and Hunter Renfro. Sure, put Isaiah McKenzie on that list if Cole Beasley's out. Oh, man, really? Oh, that's an easy one.

I wouldn't be easy for me if Gabriel Davis was back. If both Davis and Beasley were out. I'm in on McKenzie even if Davis plays. McKenzie is the slot guy replacing Beasley. But Beasley is like every other game as this right it's not like beasley has been so good and reliable no but mckenzie has still managed to get a lot of targets and get himself open in one game gosh alan no at one game last year too without cole beasley okay oh a target over 20%. I think it's even over 24% hit two touchdowns in the game.

You'll say it's a throwaway game. Cause it's from week 17 of last year. Alan played, he played a half growing. I don't know. Do you know, it was awesome. Do you know the splits in the first half and the second half?

Because I could look it up if you really wanted to. I see six for 65 and two touchdowns on nine targets. And I start salivating. No, I think that is really something to look up because Diggs only played a half of that game. So that was week 17 of last season, back when week 17 didn't matter for fantasy. But Josh Allen threw 47,

this is now becoming an Isaiah McKenzie discussion, threw 47 passes last week against the Patriots. And that's basically what I've been saying all year long about Cole Beasley, right? Whenever Josh Allen throws a lot, Cole Beasley has eight or more catches every single time. And by a lot,

it's usually about 40 or more passes. Sure. I've got it. What's going to happen? Okay. In the first half, McKenzie had four catches for 47 yards and two touchdowns on five targets from Josh Allen.

That's pretty good. Okay. That's pretty good. All. That's pretty good. All right, so that's a good case. Metcalf against the Lions who give up. Listen, they give up a ton of yards per attempt. Third most in the NFL. I think the fifth most yards per catch to wide receivers.

But they just don't give up a lot of attempts. They don't see a lot of passes. Neither does DK Metcalf. Neither does DK Metcalf. He hasn't had more than eight targets in, what, six or seven straight games. And for the season, there have been, I want to say, six wide receivers who have had a good game. Yeah, six wide receivers who have scored 13.7 or more.

I usually go to 14, but 13.7 or more PPR fantasy points against Detroit with eight or fewer targets. Justin Jefferson, Jamar chase, Darnell Mooney, twice van Jefferson, KJ Osborne. So it hasn't happened that often where you eight or fewer targets and you get a good game against Detroit.

Anything you want to follow up on there? Are we good with Metcalf? I don't think you can look at Metcalf and say he's a candidate for a hundred yards. Hasn't done that in a while. So that means he's got to score a touchdown or get a ton of targets and a lot of catches to come through for a big fantasy game. The only time he's had a ton of targets is when Tyler Lockett was out.

Correct me if I'm wrong on that. Yep. That's what I meant. No more than eight targets in any of the last six games with Lockett. If he was getting eight consistently, I would say that's a ton of targets, but I know he doesn't get that consistently. So he's got to score. And if he scores and gets his 60 yards and four catches, that's 16 PPR. So clearly not even close to a number one receiver. That's the easy part. And he's not even a high end number two receiver. He's at best a low end number two receiver. There's a lot of receivers that are like that though. So I, I, I feel like he's the best of that class of wide receiver and his floor is just as low as pretty much all these other receivers that we could discuss guys like Tyler Boyd and Devante Parker and McLaurin for crying out loud, Terry McLaurin.

You want to talk about another tough call? I mean, I almost feel like it's easier to start DK over McLaurin, to be honest. I don't think McLaurin is it. Yeah, you just sit Metcalf. You sit McLaurin, right? I sit McLaurin. Well, I mean, I'm probably sitting Metcalf, too, but I'm sitting McLaurin if I have those two. Okay.

Yeah, me too. All right. If you want an edge with your DFS lineups, please check out the Fantasy Football Today DFS podcast, bringing you all of the insights you need to dominate DFS. Frank Stample, Mike McClure, Sian Ajad provide cash and GPP analysis on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Deep diving into pricing and matchups.

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Please show your love. Okay. Oh, you know what? Before we get into all the COVID stuff, Dave, would you like to share your John Madden story? Okay.

It's not like an exciting story, but maybe it's a glimpse of what everybody else has been saying about john madden where he's just like down-to-earth cool type of man i was covering a monday night game it was the ricky williams rain game against the bears on monday night football in miami got to the game early and i was on my way to the field to pregame just to, you know, watch football players warm up, I guess. And coming the other way on a golf cart was John Madden. And, uh, I just kind of gave him a head nod and he, I'd never met him before, never talked to him. And he just smiled and waved back at me, you know, happy-go-lucky, easygoing guy. And

he went up to call the game and I watched players warm up and then asked Ricky Williams about playing Madden after the game. That's kind of what my beat was back then for the NFL. So just wasn't pretentious in the least. I think everybody kind of has that sense about John Madden just from watching him broadcast and talk about football for however long he's been doing it. And greatly missed definitely an icon in the national football league and i think look vince lombardi was an amazing

coach and obviously the coach of the team that won the first super bowl i would love it if the nfl renamed the trophy the madden trophy the guy is football right yeah is there one one person who who embodied football more than john madden one person who represented football more than madden i don't think so he's football um yeah and uh we had i mean like i could name other people who who embodied football but just not to the level of John Madden. Boom! And we had a question on the live stream last night. What was the best Madden

video game? Which year? I'm not an expert on that, but... I wore out Madden 2001. I know all the songs from it. I knew the cheat plays on it. There were cheat plays? Oh, man. I was a master of that game and then i had kids ah yes i played maddening along and now my kids like my son ryan will crush me in madden now because i haven't played and you know i'm not very coordinated

to begin with i can't wait to play video games with my kids when they get older. But all right, for all of you in the chat, go ahead, tell us your favorite Madden video game. I'm sure you guys are more into that than I am. Best Madden edition, I guess. I can't remember which one. I played the ones in the late 90s. And I guess a little bit in college too. But yeah, just awesome stuff.

He was really funny in Little Giants. And he will certainly be missed. All right, let's get to the COVID stuff. So Mike Evans, along with two cornerbacks, Jamel Dean and Sean Murphy Bunting, are on the COVID list. They're going to be at the Jets this week. So that's the good news, I guess. Is Elijah Moore back this week?

Eligible, but also on the COVID list. And Jamie and I talked about him on the Waver Wire show because he's only 60% rostered. The quotes from Robert Sala didn't feel so optimistic about him playing. So we'll keep an eye on Elijah Moore, but not the worst player to pick up. And by the way, there are new protocols. You probably are aware of it.

It's now easier for players to get back. So nobody who went on the COVID list yesterday has officially been ruled out. Even unvaccinated players like Carson Wentz, who's on the COVID list. They get the Raiders this week. A lot of key players on the Colts defense are on the COVID list. Julio Jones and Nick Westbrook are on the COVID list. Arizona linebacker Marcus Golden at Dallas. He has 11 sacks.ok are on the COVID list. Arizona linebacker Marcus Golden at Dallas. He has 11 sacks.

He's on the COVID list. You already know about Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis. This is, by the way, a very incomplete list. Two key Carolina defensive players at New Orleans, Brian Burns and Shaq Thompson. That would be good news if Thompson's out for Alvin Kamara. Cincinnati defensive tackle DJ Reeder. Cleveland center JC Tretter.

Denver nose tackle, Mike Purcell. Detroit wide receiver, Josh Reynolds. Green Bay cornerback, Kevin King. David Johnson's on the COVID list. So how about this for Daria Agumbawale, or whoever's going to be the lead running back there, likely Agumbawale. Two starting offensive linemen, Andrew Norwell

and Brandon Linder on the COVID list for the Jaguars. But for New England, they Agumbo Wally. Two starting offensive linemen, Andrew Norwell and Brandon Linder, are on the COVID list for the Jaguars. But for New England, they have three linebackers. One of them, at least, more like a pass rusher. But Josh Uche, I believe. Matt Judon and Jawan Bentley, all on the COVID list. Two Chargers cornerbacks, Michael Davis and Chris Harris, are on the COVID list.

Philadelphia defensive end Derek Barnett and Tennessee linebacker Bud Dupree. Those are some big names that are flying under the radar. Yeah, I would and again, for the most part, over the past year, I guess, if we were at Wednesday morning

and players were on the COVID list, we're really anticipating they're not going to play this week. We're hoping maybe they'll somehow test out. I pretty much view it as if 80% of the players currently on the COVID list will not be on the COVID list Sunday. Right. It's almost like a waste to go through it. It's like trying to forecast the weather right now.

You know my feelings about weather in football games. Tell me what the weather is like an hour before the game, and I'll tell you whether or not it's going to forecast the weather right now. You know, my feelings about weather and football games. Tell me what the weather is like an hour before the game, and I'll tell you whether or not it's going to impact the game. I almost feel like we should just wait till Friday. It's very helpful. I know, but weather changes all the time. There's nothing that we can do about it. So if I'm telling you that there's going to be a snowstorm in Buffalo this week, and then we get to Sunday, and it's a clear day in Orchard Park we're just you know we're wasting people's time you almost feel like you have to wait until Friday or Saturday to get a real good idea of which players are going to be in and out but at the

same time like that impacts everything of course like I said last night Vegas lines are going to move um my projections it already has did you see what happened with the Colts line? Yes. Went from 7 to 1 to 5. Yeah. Crazy. Really, ask FFT Sunday morning is going to be really important. And I've got a lot of questions about where players are in the rankings already.

There's no Thursday game this week. Thank goodness. We don't have to make any decisions until Sunday morning. And our rankings are going to look a lot different, more than normal Sunday morning than they do now. So let's get into some more tough calls for week 17.

Let's start with, well, we did DK Metcalf and we did who was the, oh, Dallas DST. Russell Wilson. I guess we should get into Russell Wilson. You know, only one quarterback has scored more than 19 points and six points for passing touchdown leagues against Detroit in their last eight games.

Now, that's 19 non-decimal points, so maybe that's 20 to 21 in decimal scoring, something like that. But only one quarterback has really turned in a good game against Detroit in their last eight. That was Kirk Cousins. Meanwhile, Wilson has been between 20 and 24 fantasy points in each of his last four games with Tyler Lockett. So this was Dave's, I believe, right?

Russell Wilson? Yes, sir. All right, go ahead. Where are you ranking him as of right now? Well, I've got him 12th among quarterbacks because I think he can hit that low floor of 20 to 22 fantasy points. We talk about that number all the time. I wouldn't expect him to get into the 30 range.

But just to give some context, here are the quarterbacks that the Lions have shut down over those last eight games. Matt Ryan, Kyler Murray. I'm not sure which quarterback it was for Denver. It was Bridgewater. Okay, cool. Bridgewater. For Chicago, it was Andy Dalton. For Cleveland, it was for Denver. It was Bridgewater. Okay, cool. Bridgewater. For Chicago, it was Andy Dalton. For Cleveland, it was Baker Mayfield.

Mason Rudolph threw 50 passes against them and only had 16 fantasy points. Jalen Hurts threw 14 passes against them and didn't have to do a whole ton. Matthew Stafford is the second guy. I guess that was nine games ago because you said it was their last eight. So Stafford's last nine.

So they haven't played a lot of amazing quarterbacks. Does Russ qualify as an amazing quarterback anymore? I'd say no. He's a step below that, whatever that means. He's still very good. And so I think he can find a way to get to that 20-point mark. I just wouldn't expect him to get to that 25-point mark. He's a tough call comparatively to like Joe Burrow, who we know, like it's so silly to say,

how can you, you know, sit Joe Burrow after what he did last week? Well, he's playing the Chiefs. That's a good defense. It's going to be tough. I'd still rather go with Burrow over Wilson, but I understand why some people might view that as a tough call. Yeah. I mean, I think it's a tough call because he's bounced between 20 and 24 fantasy points, but he's needed two touchdown passes on 31 or fewer attempts to do that most weeks. And I just don't know what the ceiling is for Russell Wilson. He hasn't thrown for 300 yards in a game since week two. He hasn't thrown for more than two touchdown passes in a game since week one. He hasn't thrown for more than two touchdown passes in a game since week one. He doesn't run

anymore. I don't really struggle with Wilson compared to anybody you might want to start. I struggle with Wilson compared to Trey Lance. And right now, I would start Lance over Wilson. Okay.

Oh, Dave left. All right. Let's go to one of Heath's tough calls then. How about Cordaro Patterson? Is he a tough call or is he just a sit? I think it's still a tough call in that he was so good for most of the season. And it's been two awful games, but even one of those he scored a touchdown in um he's a borderline number two running back i think he's still in that same michael carter type range i mean it was just three weeks ago that he had 16 carries and five targets in a game

and really it's just been the last two that he's been completely erased from the passing game he had five targets in against tampa bay as well so there's still some hope that he's been completely erased from the passing game. He had five targets against Tampa Bay as well. So there's still some hope that he could have double-digit carries and a handful of targets, and that generally is a starting profile. Adam, what day is it? What time is it? It is Wednesday the 29th, 8.58, 9 a.m. I guess we had an appointment scheduled at 9 a.m. for the pest control guy,

and that's what the ruckus was over here. You know, normally I'm at the office doing this show. Yeah, oops. But I'm not right now, so sorry about that, everybody. All right, we're talking about Cordaro Patterson. He's calling him a tough call. He is facing Buffalo. And, you know, you say, oh, Buffalo, that's a tough matchup.

They've been pretty terrible against the run in their last four games. Fournette carved them up. Damian Harris had the long... I guess I wouldn't say they were terrible in that weather game against Patriots. It was basically one long run. They were good otherwise. They were terrible last week, though, against Damian Harris. And even Chuba Hubbard had,

I think, eight carries for 40 yards, whatever that's worth. And Star Latulale has missed, if not, I think, three of those four games. And he's their best defensive tackle. He's their best run stuffer. I'm not sure that he's going to be playing this week, but gosh, it's,

I, I mean, I, Keith, I don't want to start Cordero Patterson. I imagine you don't either. I don't think really any of the tough calls should be guys you want to start.

I don't want to start Russell Wilson. Um, I, I get to kind of the point of a tough call. The question is, how much does the last two weeks usage inform what the Falcons are going to do this week?

Because, like I said, if he's getting 15 carries and five targets, which he did basically the two weeks before the last two weeks, then he's really hard to sit. If he's getting 8 carries and 2 targets like he did

last week, then it's really easy. He doesn't look good. It looks like I think you said this, Heath. He looks like a 30-year-old receiver turned running back hitting a wall in a year where he's getting a 30 year old receiver turned running back hitting a wall you know in a year where he's getting a career high in touches he he doesn't have that same type of explosiveness

to the edge certainly on a consistent basis he can't do it and the offensive line is brutal like he's running oh yeah he's just he's not only does he not have great vision where he's missing clear lanes where he's supposed to go but like even when he does hit the hole the right way, he's being met by a defender pretty quickly and not getting many yards. He's a big dude, but he's not plowing through defenders. Really, he's a touchdown or bust fantasy running back at this point. And I think the Falcons know it. I think they know that their offensive line isn't very good. And I think they know that they can't lean too heavily on Cordero Patterson, and the last two weeks have been proof of that.

How about this? The last three weeks, he's scored 24 PPR fantasy points. Half of them have come on touchdowns. So if he doesn't score, he's averaging four fantasy points in PPR per game. That's what I think his ugliest floor is against Buffalo, and I agree the Bills' run defense has been atrocious. And you'd think the Falcons would try and capitalize on that. I just don't know how successful they'll be.

So Patterson is a flex for me this week. I do not wish to start him. Well, let's talk about Russell Gage in this game. Because I actually think this one's pretty interesting. We can make cases for and against. Dave, you had him as a tough call, but I think you're leaning Sid on Russell. We can make cases for and against Dave. You had him as a tough call, but I think you're leaning sit on Russell gauge.

I am leaning sit on him. And I don't sit on Russell. He's still, I'm not going to do that. He'd be probably push me. The Falcons didn't throw a lot last week. They didn't win the time of possession battle at all. I think the same thing could happen this week against Buffalo where they're just,

they might have to throw to play from behind. I think that's pretty easy to say, but not if Buffalo is crushing time of possession like they normally do. And that means that leaves the Falcons with 20 to 25 minutes of game clock for them to do their, to do what they can. Kyle Pitts has started to step up and play better over the last two or three weeks. We've talked about him starting to look a little bit better. And I just, I worried about russell gage not getting enough targets even in a pass friendly game script to be useful in ppr leagues and it's the bills they've been awesome against wide receivers five receivers have scored against them all year long i think four all year have had 15 plus PPR fantasy points.

I do not want to... This will sound ridiculous, but I will start DK Metcalf ahead of Russell Gage. Heath? Yeah, I would start Gage. And again, this is kind of one of those situations where it's basically one bad game for Gage. The week before, he had eight for 91 and a touchdown on 12 targets

in a game that they lost 31 to 13 against the 49ers, who always dominate. I don't know what the time of possession was in that game, but I assume they got dominated in time of possession in that game. No, it was very even. It was 29. It was basically 30-30. Look, the reason why he had the same type of target share that

he normally gets last week, Matt Ryan only threw 24 passes. So, yes. So, I mean, if you think they're going to run 45 plays or whatever again, and they might, but I don't think that's very likely. It's hard to project that. Well, so let me break down the last six games for Gage, right? That's when he started really entering the starting discussion here. He had two huge games.

11 catches, 130 yards on 12 targets against the Bucs. Eight for 91 and a touchdown on 12 targets at San Francisco. What do those two games have in common? Blowout losses. They lost 30 to 17 and Ryan threw 41 passes. They lost 31 to 13. Ryan threw 32 passes. The other four games, he hasn't been more than 64 yards. He did score in one of them, but he's had a five for 49, a four for 64, a four for 39, and a six for 62 and one. What do those games have in common? They're three and one in those games, and the one game they lost was to New England, which is a terrible matchup. They did lose 25 to nothing, but that's a tough matchup. Now, are the Bills a tough matchup?

So basically what I'm saying is I can make the case that they're going to lose this game like they did against Tampa Bay, like they did against San Francisco. Ryan's going to have to throw more than he did last week, and then he throws most weeks, and that's really good for Russell Gage. But are the Bills a tough matchup? I think that's the question. They have been all season long, but since they've lost Tredavious White, they've played the Patriots twice.

Once in a gale storm. I think it was the Saints, and it was the Bucs was the other one. No, it wasn't the Saints. It was the Niners. Who the hell did they play? Yeah, it was the Saints. I'm sorry. And the Bucs. And the Bucs had a huge game against them. Basically, the only time

they played without Tredavious White with... It was the Panthers, right? No, I'm talking about who have the Bills played since losing Tredavious White. Oh, it was the Panthers? Yeah. Okay, so they faced the Patriots. The last four games have been Patriots, Bucs, Panthers, Patriots. Okay, yeah.

Right, so pretty easy matchups except for the Bucs, excuse me, who threw all over them. So yeah, that's my question, I guess, is if you can make the case for Ryan throwing the ball a lot, then you start talking about, well, does that matter against the Bills? They've been so good. They're number one against wide receivers,

but are they really that good? I guess is the question. I just think like talking about those games with Russell Gage, most of the bad games you mentioned were in that 10 point fantasy range. That's a good game for DK Metcalf over the last two months. If you're telling me that, if you tell me I'm getting five for 60 from Gage, I'll take my chances with Metcalf.

Exactly. And I'll find other players to consider out of both of them. Yeah. That's probably, I mean, I, but, but again, of them. Yeah, that's probably the case. But again, we're saying, if we're acting like the projection for Russell Gage is his bad games, I think it is, given the opponent.

He said, yeah. Those aren't just his bad games, though. He had five for 49, he had four for 39. It's not like five for 60 is his bad if you if you had had dk metcalf versus five for 60 over the last two months you should have taken five for 60. okay uh you know i completely get it i think i think we're making the case that both of them are sits and that the one who's got i guess you're saying he that the one who has more upside is gauge and in ppr i guess you can well

i mean he's sense of that and he has been right i think he has three games over the last six weeks that are better than dk metcalf's best game over the last seven do you think do you know it because no it sounds like i think you're right two two of those are definitely true i'm not sure if dk has a 16 point game or not no i No, I don't think so. So three games over the last six weeks, better than anything DK's done since Russell Wilson returned. All right, let's talk about Michael Carter. I thought this was an interesting one, Heath,

because immediately I say Michael Carter sharing carries with Tevin Coleman facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who allow the fewest fantasy points to running backs. There is no way I'm starting Michael Carter, but you made a good case, I think, last night. So go ahead, make your case why Carter is a tough call. And again, like I said, all of these guys are in situations where in the fantasy championship, you hope that you are not starting them.

It wouldn't be a tough call if we wanted to start them. But I do think, first off, we've seen Michael Carter have a little bit of success against bad matchups when he's been used in the way that we want him to be used. The question is, will Zach Wilson throw to his running backs? The last two weeks with Michael Carter hasn't looked like it. He has five targets in two games, but in those two games, Zach Wilson's thrown 23 and 24 passes. He's not going to throw that number of passes in this game against Tampa Bay.

The last time they had a matchup like this was actually, I believe, three or four weeks ago, and he threw 46 passes against the Saints. He's averaging a lot more passes than he's been throwing lately, and in that game, Ty Johnson

had seven targets. I think Ty Johnson had every running back target, though. Right. So that was then. How much goes to Coleman? How much goes to Carter? Did Coleman have a target last week? Yeah.

He had one catch. I don't know how many targets he had. I'm sorry. I've got him projected for five targets because I think they're going to throw probably 40 passes. Coleman had one target last week. Okay. He had zero the week before.

Ty Johnson played last week. So I don't know Ty Johnson. I think Ty Johnson played one snap. Yeah. I don't think... And again, things change every single week. But I think our expectation should be that the first game back for Michael Carter was the get your feet wet. Now he's pretty much back to his role. It's not quite as good of a role with the other quarterbacks because they were throwing 25% of their passes to running backs and Zach Wilson's closer to 15%. But if they throw 40 passes, you should expect four or five of them to go to Michael Carter. He's had some success against bad matchups already,

and you can have success catching the ball as a running back against Tampa Bay. You know, the snap numbers will agree with you, Heath. Last week, 73% of the snaps for Michael Carter. He played 12 of 17 snaps on third and fourth downs. Those are usually passing downs. And nine of 14 from 10 yards or closer now i'm i'm mildly encouraged that they even ran 14 plays inside of 10 yards but it was against jacksonville so i don't think they're gonna have quite that many probably not even half as many

against tampa bay but at least carter was there because the week before he played about half the snaps. He was in, I think, on either one or two snaps inside the 10. Tevin Coleman was in on five of them. So the role definitely changed. It definitely looked like he was a better running back last week than he was two weeks ago. There's a chance for him in this game. There's going to be an opportunity for him to do well. The way I look at it is basically the switch flipped week seven, and he had a four-month stretch where he was the clear lead running back

for the Jets, and he averaged 20 touches per game in those four games. He got hurt week 11 and had 10 touches and a third of the team snaps left the game. Came back last week. It was his first game back. Last week, he was basically back to his role. 74% of the snaps, 18 touches. I think he's a lead running back.

As much sharing as it looks like. I would tend to agree with you, especially based on last week. Would you say he's a top 20 running back this week? No. No, if he's a top 20 running back, I wouldn't say he's a tough call. I think that guys who are in the top 20 should be viewed as tough

calls right now, just given that we're in the championship, right? Would you start Boston Scott over Michael Carter? Scott, I know Howard. Carter, if Howard's there.

It's probably the right way to play it. How about Javante Williams? Last guy, because we won't go too far into this. We've got other stuff to do. But Javante Williams was another name you submitted. And he's at the Chargers. They were horrible last week against Burkhead. I will tell you, I honestly feel like they were a lot better before that. They had gotten

better against the run, but still giving up points, giving up production. Yeah, so Javante Williams. Is he a tough call? I think Jamie likes Javante Williams quite a bit based on what he said yesterday. I'll check the rankings. But is Javante a tough call? He is for Heath. Dave, how about you? I think he's a tough

call. He doesn't register as a top 20 running back. I've got him two spots ahead of Michael Carter right now, even in full PPR. But a lot of that is just based on the opponent. And that I think, I didn't watch the Broncos game. So I don't know exactly what happened that caused them to only give each of their running backs 70 carries. Exactly what happened.

Please. They started Drew Luck. First of all, they had the ball for 21 minutes. They ran like 42 plays, something like that. Well, what happened in the first half? They went 1 of 10 on third down, and ESPN Stats and Info had something like all but three of their carries,

they were met in the backfield by a defender. So they had no chance in that game. It was a terrible game up front by the quarterback, by everyone. So I hope we can flush it. But the quarterback situation there matters a lot to me, Dave. I don't know about for you. I think it definitely matters.

And my guess, this is just a guess. I could look and see right now how many eight in the box plays that those running backs had last week. But my guess is that the Raiders just wanted to dare drew lock to throw because remember the raiders were one of the worst run defenses there's a fabulous matchup for both of them that's why i like both of the running backs last week and then they ended up splitting 50 50 with whatever limited touches that they ended up having what i said last night dave was i i don't i think we would just view williams a high-end flex, low-end number two running back like we did for the first 10 or 11 weeks of the season if it had not been for the week that he had without Melvin Gordon.

And Melvin Gordon's there. If we just look at the games with Melvin Gordon, that's what he is. Except for the last few games with Melvin Gordon, that's what he is. Except for the last few games with Melvin Gordon. Right. Not the last few games, because the last game he was awful. No, but I'm saying going into Vegas. Hold on, hold on. He was playing well, and I think he had an edge. I think it was almost

like 60-40 on Melvin Gordon in terms of snaps. Yeah, it's just I don't know how... It was 59%, according to what I'm looking at right now. i don't know how it was 59 according to what i'm looking at right now i don't know how much it matters the difference between 49 of the snaps and 59 of the snaps if we're talking about two plays i think it's more than two plays but it might not be more than two carries or two touches so so here's the right last three games he played with Melvin Gordon. Not factoring the Chiefs game.

He had 14 to 15 carries in all three games. He had three catches, one catch, and four catches. So that's 17 touches, 16 touches, and 19 touches. I think that is why people wanted to start him. I'm not saying it was wrong to start him last week. So then what about this week? I did not see this coming. What's the setup?

It might not be wrong to start him this week either, but last week's floor is still in the equation. Especially if the Chargers come out and look like the Chargers offense and put up a big number. Yep. I want to know if you guys are interested in these numbers. Javante saw eight

in the box on 16% of his runs last week. Is this last week? I'm sorry. Come back to me in 15 seconds. Okay. Well, why don't we take a quick commercial break? And when we come back, we'll wrap up our thoughts on Javante Williams. We'll do some fill in the blank, talk dynasty tight ends and read your emails and your Apple podcast questions to finish off the show. We will be right back. 4,222 incidents a year. Don't let your next dig be one that causes costly delays or safety risks. Before you break ground, make it a point to request a locate. It's not just the law, it's a step to keep your team and community safe. Visit ontarioonecall.ca and avoid unnecessary damages to get the job done right. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. And we're back. Dave, have you finished your research?

I did. 14% of his carries last week, Javante's carries last week, were against eight in the box. I'm double-checking for Melvin. What is that? That's one time? Because he had seven carries. Is that one out of seven? It was not the Raiders stacking up and daring Drew Locke to throw, which makes it all the more

frustrating. It was a terrible game. They could not get it going. Terrible game for them in every respect. All right, Jamie is pretty high on Javon. The leader in eight in the box, by the way, last week was Alvin Kamara. Not surprising. That does make sense. And Kamara is a tough call, too, and he's

coming up in our fill in the blank section so here we go fill in the blank from our listeners thank you very much for participating here from Bandman Dez blank

burn me this season but I'm giving blank another chance next year are we including players with injury sure hey no okay because mcafree comes to mind but yeah sure i'll give him another another chance you will mcafree yeah i'm i i feel like i can't give him that chance as a top five pick with all the injuries he's had over the last couple seasons, I don't think I want to entrust him. You think he's more of an injury risk than Delvin Cook next year?

I think I almost think Cook has earned it over the last few seasons. He's missed time, but so has pretty much every running back. Missing a couple games here or there. McCaffrey missed all but three games two years ago and half the games this year, more than

half the games this year. Who do we think has missed more games in their career? Dalvin Cook or Christian McCaffrey? Over their career? It's probably going to be Cook because he missed pretty much a full season. Yeah, like his first two years in the league. But I'm looking at recently.

Who's missed more games the last two years. Let's answer the question here. Blank burned me this season, but I'm giving blank another chance next year. Just Terry McLaurin comes to mind for me. Got a little quote of Justin Fields. Justin Fields.

Okay. From James in 2022, the most likely team to be the equivalent to the Rams' greatest show on turf is blank. And then he puts in parentheses, the Bengals are the answer. That's probably right. They're going to get better this offseason. They're going to bulk up that offensive line. They'll be good.

I think the Chargers could give them a run, but they just got to commit to playing better and smarter. The thing is, do the Bengals want to be the greatest show on turf? Or do they want to run the ball 25 times a game and just throw it like that on occasion? When they need to. The Cowboys really come to mind. I thought they would be this year.

Yeah, I know. I'm not exactly sure what happened. I guess their defense was probably... This is a dark horse, but you know who it could be. Could be the Chiefs. From Ghost Dogs. Hold up. Could the Broncos be that team if they make

a major upgrade at quarterback? Sure. And where's Deshaun Watson playing next year? Ghost Dogs FF. The number of running backs drafted in round one next year will be blank. Eight. Seven. Seven or eight.

Would you like to name them? No. Yes. Jonathan Taylor. Yeah. I'm sure Gallagher. Christian McCaffrey is going to be in the first round what is this your order no okay christian mcafree dalvin cook john derrick henry derrick henry

alvin alvin um deandre swift mixin i don't think swift is. Mixon, I would say yes. Eckler is going to be there. Thank you, Ben. Yep. That's seven. Anyone else? Maybe Swift. Najee?

Najee will be a second-round pick, but if the Steelers go... If they make massive strides this offseason, that quarterback and that offensive line especially, then maybe he can creep in there at the back end of round one. Alright, two dark horses for you, or three dark horses. One is

Tony Pollard, just somehow Zeke is not on the team. Two is not even as much of a dark horse. Javante Williams, if he's the lead running back. He's got a shot too. And could be a rookie. Rookie ends up in the right spot. Chubb could be too. Chubb in in the right spot. Chubb could be too. Chubb in non-PPR.

Chubb in non-PPR. Yep. All right. Jesse says, the second year wide receivers were blank compared to the rookie wide receivers. Better? I think better was the word he was looking for.

No, but, you, but obviously the expectations were very different. And yeah, this is a good one. Okay. The second year wide receivers were blank compared to the rookie wide receivers. And if you put it in the context of preseason expectations, sure they were better, but were they better based on preseason expectations? Well, I would say Justin Jefferson met or exceeded his expectations t higgins met or exceeded his expectations cd lamb met his expectations assuming that the last two weeks don't go bad um i was thinking that today like the the all the energy we spent on amari cooper and cd lamb and i conceded that one like a month into the season and we're one week where amari cooper

does his blow-up thing and cd lamb doesn't have a good week from cooper being better than lamb but per game yeah cooper's at 13.8 lambs at 15.6 yeah lamb lamb is limping to the finish line higgins is exploding but higgins was aiggins wasn't so good for much of the season. I think Michael Pittman exceeded expectations. Iyuk did not. I guess they had a pretty good year, the year two guys. Yeah. They did.

But you can name a bunch of rookie receivers that exceeded expectations. Chase and Waddle, chief among them. I'll tell you who disappointed from the second year. The first guy that came to my mind was Claypool. Yeah. He stunk. Devontae Smith has been pretty much a bust. Right.

So yeah, the second year guys were better than the rookie guys. I don't know. I would guess that to be the case again next year and probably the year after that. Well, based on... But was this a year where we can say hey second year guys they're the true breakouts I said it a lot in the preseason

I love your two wide receivers I hated the setup for basically all of them none of them really except for Pittman I guess and Jefferson was a different beast but none of them really, except for Pittman, I guess, had a and Jefferson was a different beast. But none of them had a clear path to leading the team in targets. They were just in these bad situations.

You look at Dallas, you look at Cincinnati, you looked at Pittsburgh and San Francisco. These four promising rookie receivers who they did so much, I think they were sort of held back by their circumstances a little bit. I don't know if of held back by their circumstances a little bit. I don't know if it's going to be the case next year, especially with Waddle and Smith.

I don't know. We'll see what happens, but you know what I'm saying. Did we get a return to the old school third year breakout wide receiver? Debo? Hunter Renfro? It's the best year of Deontay's career Marquise Brown

Best year of his career Is it the best year of Deontay's career? Yeah, I'm not sure about that He's never had a 1,000-yard season before He's already over 1,014 games What about his touchdowns and catches? I mean, he's got seven and 92 catches I think he

I think it's definitely Like, he hadn got seven and 92 catches. I think he's dead. He hadn't actually been good before. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I can buy that. And Brown started off amazing. But even if he doesn't catch another pass, it's almost the best year of his career.

But DK Metcalf and Terry McLaurin. Yeah. AJ Brown. Not every third-year wide receiver is going to break out. Jacoby Myers broke out and scored his first touchdown. Hey! Yeah. All rightJ. Brown. Not every third-year wide receiver is going to break ahead. Jacoby Myers broke out and scored his first touchdown. Hey! Yeah. All right, next question.

If Mike Evans is healthy, do I start him or Antonio Brown? That's not really a fill-in-the-blank, so I'll rephrase it. If Mike Evans is healthy, I should start blank. Tom Brady. I'll lean toward Brown. Yeah, me too. From Jorine. Those'll lean toward Brown. Yeah, me too. From Joreen. Those targets are just insane.

I will prioritize quarterbacks. She says more in two QB leagues and pick sooner. Yes. Agreed? Agreed. What? It's a two QB strategy. It's prioritizingQB strategy.

It's prioritizing quarterbacks earlier, picking sooner. There's no blank here. I know, I know. I will prioritize quarterbacks blank in 2QB leagues. This is more of a New Year's resolution than it is a fill in the blank. But the resolutions will come on a later time. I don't know that my opinion on quarterback and 2QB league, quarterback strategy in 2QB leagues changed this year.

I don't know what your strategy is, so you're going to have to lay that out. I have no intentional positional strategy. It's a new thing that I came up with this year. You do, though. It's a lie. You're living a lie. We'll see what the rest of the league does. I can't imagine doing a 2QB league where I don't have at least one great quarterback.

That's how I got to the finals doing that. I had Dak, and then I was basically streaming the other quarterback position. I don't know how you pulled it off. I mean, there were some weeks where you were starting Trey Lance when he wasn't even playing.

Listen, I started Lance. I had Davis Mills. That is not a good strategy. That is not a good strategy that is our super flex league that i am about i think i think i have a 50 point edge right now in the final week of the season that dave and i are in my three quarterbacks are lamar jackson carson wince and andy dalton and there were no waiver wire moves allowed so those were just my three quarterbacks for the entire season. I mean,

it comes back to the most basic strategy, no matter what your format is, get good players. Yeah. If you've got great quarterbacks, hopefully the rest of your team is good and you'll blow everybody out week after week. The rest of my team in that two QB league is definitely meh,

but I just, I had great running backs, found a way to win with Dak Prescott anchoring the QBs. Yeah, well, one thing I'm not going to do is gamble on quarterbacks who could lose their job or rookie quarter. I just don't

think there's enough upside, but there's plenty of upside, but there's too much downside, and the waiver wire stinks in a two QB league. One thing I did in one league, I didn't really like my quarterbacks. I drafted four of them and I was able to trade Jameis Winston for Robert Woods,

which ended up being a wash. But there's such valuable pieces that if you kind of, if you don't really like your team, draft extra quarterbacks and you can trade them for something better than what was available on draft day i could pretty much guarantee that that certainly works better in a 2qb league than a regular one quarterback yeah that's what i was saying yeah but there were also a lot of quarterbacks that emerged off the waiver wire and provided qb2 type value throughout the year and you had to spend 40 of your fab on that you did you had to spend 40% of your fab on that.

You did. You had to go a little hog wild on Case Keenum. Alright, let's talk Dynasty tight ends. It's almost like the zero RB strategy, but with quarterbacks. I would never do that, but it worked for Dave. It might work if you're in a

league that doesn't have fab. Okay. Alright, Heath. Dynasty tight ends. Give me a league that doesn't have fab. Okay. All right. Heath dynasty tight ends. Give me a riser and a faller. Probably your best call of the 2021 season was Dawson Knox. And he is the biggest dynasty riser. He is now,

I've got him as of the December update as tight end eight in dynasty, he'll be 25 years old at the start of next season. Looks to be maybe like moving forward the second or third best option in the Bills passing game. Where is he related to Pat Friermuth? Oh, they're not related. I have him a couple spots ahead of Pat Friermuth, but I do not believe in Pat Friermuth.

Hmm. Really? Interesting. You don't believe in him in being a contributor to fantasy leagues, or you don't believe in him being a breakout type of tight end? I don't think he is going to ever be the type of guy that has like 100-yard games as a tight end. Fair.

Knox does? Yeah, he plays with Josh Allen. And maybe there's a really good quarterback, and Pat Fryermuth also develops the same relationship that he had with Ben Roethlisberger. Because the only thing Pat Fryermuth has done this season is score touchdowns. He's got 422 receiving yards. He's C.J. Uzama. Okay, I agree with Knox being ahead of Fryermuth,

but I think that they're fairly close, and I know there's some excitement for Fryermuth in Pittsburgh to be a fixture in the Heath Miller type of staple for that. But you're right. He quarterback. Right. Sure. But I don't know if Dawson Knox is that much further ahead,

even with Josh Allen as his quarterback. Okay. How about, well, you know, look, if you, if you looked at Rob Gronkowski's rookie season,

you might've said the same thing, right? All he did was score touchdowns. Score touchdowns, and then he just erupted a second year. Hunter Henry, it's a pretty impressive thing to just score a lot of touchdowns, even as a rookie. So yeah, I am saying that Pat Frymuth is the next Rob Gronkowski. Heath, who's your dynasty follower at tight end?

Wow. I did not expect a Pat Frymuth- Rock Gronkowski comparison on the podcast today. There were multiple, but I think probably the biggest for me were Austin Hooper, who really isn't that old yet. years old to be 27 going into next year and so i still had some hope that he could get back to what he had been earlier in his career that hope is pretty much gone and logan thomas who is just old and got hurt again and probably isn't going to be around for the start of next year sounds like two guys that you're not going to be able to get anything for in a dynasty trade like maybe not even a third round pick in a rookie only draft and And I'd probably throw Robert Tunyon into that as well. You'd throw Robert Tunyon in there. Maybe a better comp for Pat Fryermuth than Rob Gronkowski. Okay.

Let's read some emails. Can I ask? I think we should do one poll. Whose career will Pat Fryermuth's most resemble? And what are the options? Rob Gronkowski, Robert Tunyon, or CJ Uzama. No, you have to have, I think you have to go Rob Gronkowski, Hunter Henry, CJ Uzama, or something like that.

I like that. Uzama and Tunyon are way too similar. And I bet the answer will be Hunter Henry. Yeah, I would say so. That'll be the one that gets the most votes, and that's the one that I would agree with. Yeah, I mean, I'd vote Gronk, but it's Henry. I think we need to take the middle option out

so that you can pick a side. I want you to pick a side, Uzama or Gronk. Oh, Uzama. I'm never going to expect Gronk production, basically. Okay, so what if the only options were Hunter Henry and Yuzama? I'd probably choose Henry because Henry's a weird dude. He's had, what, three or four really good six to eight game stretches for fantasy purposes.

But Hunter Henry, at 28 years old now, has never had a 700-yard season. But he's always been a fantasy-relevant tight end. Because of the touchdowns. And Uzama hasn't. He's someone who we've always drafted as a fantasy-relevant tight end, yes. Uzama's a poor man's Hunter Henry. Yeah. And I think Fryermuth will be better than that.

All right, let's go to the emails. This is from Nick. I've been rolling with Najee Harris, Alvin Kamara, and I have Ronald Jones in the flex. Do I sit any of them for Gibson, Cordaro Patterson, or Daryl Williams? Give me the names one more time at the top, because Daryl Williams is the one that I'm thinking about. Najee Harris, Alvin Kamara, and Ronald Jones.

No, I think you're good with those three. Yep. This is from Ian. Dear Lewis, Gilbert, Poindexter, and Booger. Nerds! This is from a city northwest of the Venice of America. Northwest of the Venice of America? That could be Coral Springs.

That could be, I mean, it could be Louisville, Kentucky. It could be Mankato, Minnesota. I'm pretty sure it's Seattle. Oh, Fort Lauderdale. That's definitely Northwest. Yeah, Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale is apparently the Venice of America. Of course.

And Seattle is Northwest of that. For sure. Did you know that Fort Lauderdale was the Venice of America? Yes. west of that for sure did you know that fort lauderdale was the venice of america yes that's a really bad clue because like 99 of the cities are northwest of fort lauderdale yeah it's true that's why i said coral spring i didn't know that about fort lauderdale that's bad on my part all right ian's question like grow up here i sure did i'm in a two-week final that runs through week 18 but i didn't grow up in fort lauderdale i grew up in a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. You grew up in a suburb northwest of Fort Lauderdale.

It's true. Called Coral Springs. I've been rolling with Russell Wilson and a bunch of streamers. I'm looking to add a second quarterback in advance of week 18. Who do you like best for week 18? Wentz at Jacksonville, Carr against the Chargers, or Tannehill at Houston? Wentz.

Same. Wentz at Jacksonville feels like a 22-pass attempt game. It feels like that for Tannehill as well. I'd probably go Carr, but I guess you guys are going Wentz. Carr's been so bad. Is there any chance that Wentz could not need to play next week? No. Like they've locked up a four through six.

Mm-mm. Mm-mm. Because I think Tennessee clinches the division with a win this week. And the Colts clinch a playoff spot with a win, right? Right. So why would they play? I guess that's possible. I guess.

For now, I would stick with Wentz. From BT. How are you? The Colts clinch a playoff spot with a win this week? I was asking. Oh, I thought you were saying. I think. I think they could go from anywhere from like three to

nine or something with a win or a loss this way. Something wild. Hold on. I can look this up real quickly. I don't know if they can necessarily clinch a win solely, clinch a playoff spot solely with a win, but I definitely think there's a lot of scenarios where they can absolutely do it with a win. Right. They're nine and six right now. They're a game behind Tennessee.

Tennessee holds the tiebreaker. Tennessee has to lose out then, and Indy has to win out in order for them to win the division and get a home game. But they can win this week. They would be 10-6. There would be no one else in the division that could catch them. They would be a wildcard team. You're right, Heath.

There is a chance that Wentz could sit out Week 18. We've got a... I think we have a possibility of a pretty normal Week 18, especially compared to previous Week 18s. I know if the Chiefs win and the Titans lose. All those week 18s we've had. If the Chiefs win and the Titans lose, there's no race for the one seed. I think if there's no race

for the one seed, then there could be a lot of teams not playing the AFC. Because there's no bye. But you might want the home game. You know, they still try to get the division. It's possible some of these teams could have their division clinched as well.

Kansas City has already done that. They can clinch the one seed with a win. Tennessee can clinch their division with a win. I think Cincinnati clinches their division with a win and a Ravens loss. Okay. Buffalo and New England is the one where they're tied going in.

So from BT, I have Kyler Murray. We can do the NFC next if you want. Who would you start? Kyler, Joe Burrow, or Tua? Not Tua. No. I think it's Kyler, but I don't love it. I would go Kyler and four-point-per-pass touchdown,

Burrow and six. Okay, this next one is from Derek. Hopeful Super Bowl champ an hour southwest of Houston. Hour southwest of Houston. It's got to be Dallas. No, are you kidding? What? Have you ever looked at the map?

He said hopeful Super Bowl. Look at this. Hopeful Super Bowl. Mexico's an hour and a half southwest of Houston, isn't it? No. Well, then he said hopeful Super Bowl champ. Arizona? I don't know.

Arizona. Well, I'm just thinking like. Southwest of Houston. I don't know. I don't know where Houston is. Maybe he means like Super Bowl champ in his league. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Yes, I think so.

That threw me off. I guess I don't know Texas geography very well. Neither do I. I haven't named a city. Galveston is due south and then west. Goodness, I don't know. Is it Padre? There is no city southwest by an hour and a half.

I mean, there's a city. It's just not one that's like... Literally not a city. Okay, well, that's his fault, not mine. PPR League. It's definitely not Dallas. He needs two... Well, he said Super Bowl champ.

Okay, that threw me off. Technically, I think it could be, if it was West by Southwest, I think it could be San Antonio. All right, wonderful. So, PPR League. Are you sure that's not South by Southwest? Shut up!

He needs two wide receivers, two running backs, and a flex. A.J. Brown, Deontay Johnson, Jalen Waddell, CeeDee Lamb. Pick two. Hmm. Okay, if nobody's going to speak, I'll say A.J. Brown and Deontay Johnson. Yeah, that's probably the way I'd go, too. But having Waddell out of there stings a little bit.

Lamb is the easy one to sit. And Najee Harris, Sonny Michel, and Zeke sit one. Yeah, that's probably the way I'd go, too. But having Waddle out of there stings a little bit. Lamb is the easy one to sit. And Najee Harris, Sonny Michel, and Zeke sit one. I'm sitting Zeke. And then pick a flex. Waddle, Lamb, Zeke. Oh, Waddle. Good, I can get Waddle in there.

There you go. Okay, this is for Matthew. Pick two running backs and a flex. Chubb, Damian Harris, Penny, Michel, Gronk. Chubb, Damian Harris, Penny, Michelle, Gronk. Chubb, Damian Harris, Penny, Michelle. Pick two. Blessing, Texas is an hour and 33 minutes southwest of Houston. Blessing.

Okay. You're stealing my gimmick, Heath. I think I would go with Chubb, Harris, and Michelle, provided that Ramondre Stevenson does not come back. If Stevenson comes back, put Penny in for Harris. All right, great. From Jack, standard scoring, pick two running backs. Ronald Jones, Rashad Penny, Alexander Madison, Alvin Kamara.

Ronald Jones, Penny, Madison, Kamara. Pick two. I would go with Madison and Jones if Cook is out. If Cook plays, I would go Jones and Kamara. Okay. I guess you can just chill here. From Rosie, Dear Elijah, Henry, Johnny, and Ezra.

Elijah, Henry, Johnny. Johnny spelled J-O-H-N-N-I-E. They're whiskey brands, according to Rosie. She made the finals in all four of her leagues. 10-team PPR league. She needs a flex. Kittle. She's got Kelsey.

Kittle, Metcalf, Swift, Edmonds, Justin Jackson, Madison. A lot of moving parts here. You know, if Conor's out, Cook is out. Definitely right. If Conor's out, then Edmonds enters the equation. Okay, so let's just say that everybody who is currently on the COVID list is out. They don't play. So no Dalvin Cook.

Well, that's not— Conor isn't even on the COVID list. Conor doesn't have COVID. Let's say he's out, too. You know what we should do? You take Madison over? We should do like a mailbag show on Friday where we answer these types of questions after we have a little bit more information.

I would probably go with Madison if all those guys are out. I may go Edmonds if it's full PPR. If Connor and Cook and Eckler all play, then who do you go with? Kittle? Edmonds is my number one running back if James Connor doesn't play. Okay.

But if he does play, if Edmonds, Jackson, and Madison are not the starting running backs, then you go down to Kittle, Metcalf, and DeAndre Swift. Is Swift playing? If Swift is playing, he's the pick. If he's out, Kittle is the pick. DK Metcalf is last. I would go Kittle, Metcalf, and DeAndre Swift. Is Swift playing? If Swift is playing, he's the pick. If he's out, Kittle is the pick. DK Metcalf is last.

I would go Kittle over Swift. And our Apple podcast questions from Gambino. Start a running back, a wide receiver, and a flex in PPR. David Montgomery, Eli Mitchell, Sonny Michel. From those running backs, I would pencil in Montgomery and a wide receiver, Deontay Johnson or Debo Samuel. Deontay.

Probably Deontay. Then a flex. Mitchell, Sony or Debo. Sony. Plan on Sony from Pat fan 1982. That's tough. I dynasty's tough Dynasty Lance is the quarterback

it's probably the way to go Dynasty grade the trade gave Joe Mixon and Ronald Jones for Travis ETN and the number three pick in this in next year's rookie draft Mixon and Ronald Jones for Travis ETN and the number three pick

I don't think I like it Mixon and Ronald Jones for Travis Etienne and the number three pick? I don't think I like it. Like, obviously, whatever Mixon and Jones are going to do this week doesn't matter to you. Right. I'd prefer Mixon to Etienne, but it's not that far apart, and I'd greatly prefer the number three pick to Ronald Jones,

even though Jones is a sneaky dynasty add this offseason because he could end up with a starting job. I'd give it a C-. Yeah, I don't... That number three pick is going to be a pretty good one. Decent trade there. Alright, that's it for today's show. Oh, Schrager

did the Twitter poll. Hunter Henry, Gronk, or Uzama? Henry's 71%. Gronk, 23%. Uzama, 5%. Gronk got more votes than Uzama. That's insane. That's the

Western Pennsylvania contingent weighing in. Western Pennsylvania, very close to Dallas from what I understand, and Houston. We will talk to you tomorrow on Fantasy Football Today. Thanks a lot, everybody.