Fantasy Football Today - Week 17 Waiver Wire and Start or Sit for KC-PIT and BAL-HOU! (12/24 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

Get some awesome Fantasy Football gear here: https://shop.cbssports.com/fantasy We've got a mix of waiver wire and Start or Sit on today's show! What a holiday treat! Who are the top waiver wire priorities (6:40) this week? Should you make the Dolphins DST your top choice? How do we feel about Jalen McMillan and Chig Okonkwo this week? ... News and notes (16:15) and then we get into the waiver wire at quarterback (26:00), running back (32:00), wide receiver (41:30), tight end (49:00), DST (54:30) and Kicker. We talk about Bryce Young, Drake Maye, Aaron Rodgers, the Raiders RBs, the Broncos RBs, the Chargers RBs, Devin Singletary, the Packers wide receivers, Dalton Schultz and many more ... Start or Sit for Chiefs-Steelers (56:30) and Ravens-Texans (1:06:50). Do we like Zay Flowers and/or George Pickens this week? ... 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 Please VOTE for Fantasy Football Today in the Sports Podcast Awards in the "Best Fantasy Betting and Gaming Podcast" category: https://bit.ly/3Zxw3uS Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Shop our store: shop.cbssports.com/fantasy  SUBSCRIBE to FFT Express on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-express/id1528634304 Follow FFT Express on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qyGWfETSBFaciPrtvoWCC?si=6529cbee20634da8 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 FOLLOW FFT DFS on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zU7pBvGK3KPhfb69Q1hNr?si=1c5030a3b1a64be2 Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday 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." Visit the betting arena on CBSSports.com for all the latest sportsbook reviews and sportsbook promos. 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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listen to FFT Express. Jamie talks about him for a little while there. So I apologize for missing Antonio Gibson in this episode, but you can hear about it in FFT Express. We think he's OK to pick up. It's not like Remondre is going to be completely irrelevant in all likelihood, but you should be aware of that situation. All right. Enjoy the show. This is fantasy football today from CBS Sports.

It's time to dominate your fantasy league. This is gonna go the distance. Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Ho, ho, ho. I was, the whole time, I was like, do I do a Santa voice to start the show? Yeah, let's do it. Ho, ho, ho. We come bearing gifts, waiver wire gifts. I was the whole time like do I do a Santa voice to start the show? Yeah, let's do it. Oh

We come bearing gifts waiver wire gifts Dave you've been a good boy you get a chiggo conk. Whoa Jamie you're on the nice list you get a Jalen McMillan. Maybe you've been nicer than Dave Oh, welcome to fantasy football today presented by bed MGM the sports book born in Vegas. Happy holidays fellas I hope you know that Miller Yeah, I don't want a Kendrick Miller in my stocking a lump of Kendrick Yeah, but rough one last night for the Saints Big week for DSTs that you picked up off waivers. So there could be another one this week We just have some horrible offenses with terrible quarterbacks that are doing miserable things.

I was thinking about this this morning. Do you think it's fair? No, it doesn't feel fair. It doesn't feel fair, right? Yeah, I know. I was in the Super Flex league. I was playing against the Falcons DST and I was just so upset.

But of course I think I had the Packers DST in that league. Now the other side of it obviously is,'re managing your fab and whatever you are on waivers and you're taking advantage of being able to pick up these teams. Or I know I did this a few teams, obviously a lot of people have as well. You see what the schedule is coming up and you're picking these a week or two in advance, so there's quite a strategy to it. But it's such, it's so random that the saints have no one at all in week 16 that the Browns have gone to the quarterback situation that they're in. You know, like it's, it, there's a little bit of a cheat code.

But it's no different than if it was week four or week five and a team just gets absolutely destroyed by injuries. We would do the exact same thing. Oh, I'm not saying- We pull them from up and get that DST that they're playing on the waiver. I'm not saying we shouldn't do it, but it's like, it's swaying matchups, like where quarterback through tight end and flex are like even across the board. And then you picked up one of these DSDs and somebody did not. And it's like, I'll give you another example.

Like there was a league I was limited in the first round and I had no DSTs, whatever, like screwed. The only team I had was the Dolphins. You know people are looking for them right now and they can't pick them up. Most of the time. You have them. Is that the one this week? That's the one off the wire wire, the Colts also.

Yeah, Colts are 75% roster, Dolphins are much more available. Who would you guys prefer if you could choose between the two? Right now the Colts, but it's, I would not be surprised if Jameis starts, you know, so DTR has got this calf injury. So there's, there's that little bit of a, you know, opening that maybe they go back to Jameis, but at this point they're, they're equals, you know, they're both going to have an opportunity for big weeks. So they're one in two in my rankings right now, Colts are ahead.

Yeah, an opportunity for big weeks. So they're one and two of my rankings right now. Colts are head. Yeah. The dolphins I've seen enough that that DTR is terrible. I've seen Bailey's Zappie cause I think he'll play if Thompson Robinson can't play and Jamis has hurt too. So I'm not sure who will get it. I they're saying he's hurting. He's got a shoulder injury and that's why he's the three. Yeah. Well, uh, if you, yeah, that's obviously a changes of Jamis starts. I mean, look, you're, you're, you're right. Based on what's the three. Yeah, well, if you're, yeah. Obviously it changes if Jameis starts. I mean, you're right based on what Stefanski said that DTR is most likely gonna start.

Well, that would be great. So go get the, and honestly, the Dolphins could be your number one priority, right? I mean, you're looking at your lineup, right? Sure. Yeah. But there's another one, there's a sneaky injury that kind of flew under the radar

and Tyrone Tracy re- re aggravated his ankle injury. And Devin Singletary was pretty good before Tyrone Tracy, you know, became a factor before Devin Singletary got hurt. He was a solid RB to flex. So, you know, I made it to some I made it to four finals. And I think in every three of those four leagues, I started like some waiver wire bomb at running back and, you know, got lucky with a Madison touchdown or something like that.

And if Devin Singletary gets an opportunity, that would be exciting. So who's who are the top three priorities? By the way, today is not just a waiver wire show. Ho ho ho. We bring you starter sit advice under your tree. We have two games to talk about. We have the two Christmas games, Kansas City at Pittsburgh and Baltimore, Houston. So Jamie, who are the top three priorities? The top three priorities would be in whatever order I mean,

look, there's the Dolphins DST, you got Chigokankwo, you got Jalen McMillan, those to me are the top three guys, three, three players units, whatever to go get. You can make a case for Gus Edwards if there is no J.K. Dobbins because the Patriots run defense is so bad and he's coming off finally a strong game. It's funny, look, when you look at his game logs, the matchups were not exactly easy. You know, we were clearly crapping on him, understandably so, because he wasn't doing anything with it.

But Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Baltimore, where his three starts prior to Denver, clearly not easy. Denver wasn't supposed to be easy either. Right. Short week always helps the running back. Sorry, it wasn't Baltimore. Baltimore was the game. There was somebody else. It was tough. Oh, Kansas City., just looking at, you get a potential starting pen end, you get a potential starting wide receiver, and you get a potential starting DSD. Not bad.

Yeah. All right. And then what do you think about McMillan, guys? He's obviously on fire, but his hot streak started the game after Carolina. And Carolina never gives up good games to multiple wide receivers. It's only happened once this whole season where we've had two wide receivers score 14 or more, I think twice to wide receivers score 12 or more PPR fantasy points. I gave you that stat last week about how McMillan was facing the Cowboys and they almost never give up game good games to multiple wide receivers and true true to form, they didn't,

but it was McMillan and not Evans. But yeah, I mean, like Baker Mayfield actually had a total dud last time he faced Carolina. So is McMillan a slam dunk this week? He's not a slam dunk, but I think when you're talking about the group of receivers that he's in, he's in the conversation. So Darnon Mooney, Devontae Smith, Jacoby Myers, Joann Jennings, Debo Samuel now, those borderline

number two, number three receivers, he's worked his way into that conversation. So I'm not looking at the Panthers defense and saying, oh my God, I'm scared of the Panthers defense. Yes, they've played much better lately and they did a great job against Baker Mayfield. He was awful. Right after that is when he got hot again and a lot of that has to do with McMillan. It feels as if we have this sort of storyline with the 49ers, the game that they lost where they force-feeding the ball to Debo Samuel and it felt like it cost them a little bit.

It feels like Baker's forcing the ball a little bit to Mike Evans. You know, McMillan has been awesome. He's been absolutely awesome. And so, you know, I don't want him to get away from McMillan with the hope of getting Evans his thousand yards. You want to see him get it, obviously,

if you have Mike Evans, you want to see him get his numbers clearly, but keep those six or seven targets going to Jalen McMillan, I think it'll be fine. All right, Dave, how do you see him get his numbers clearly, but keep, keep, keep those six or seven targets going to jail. I think it'll be fine. All right, Dave, how do you see the priorities this week? Same. If you need a DST, uh, Colts are not going to be out there in very many leagues because people already picked them up.

But if they're out there, you can get them. If you're especially worried about what's going on with who will start at quarterback for the Browns and how that might impact your decision making with the Dolphins. But I thought the Dolphins defense played well last week. I'd be totally fine going with the Dolphins defense this week. And then it's, I put Macmillan ahead of O'Conquist. O'Conquist scares me just a little bit because he's you, he was, he is being used in the last six quarters, almost exactly the same way Brenton Strange

was used two games ago. And we saw what happened for Brenton Strange last week, not nearly as many targets. And I'm worried about the bottom falling out there, especially in a game. Tennessee might be able to run very well this week, and that would take away Mason Rudolph throwing to anybody, much less Chig O'Conquo.

So the stats are really pretty for a couple we can talk about that. What i'd rather have a million o'clock and i'd rather chase the ds t based on what we've already been talking about how having the right ds t yes this matters and yes it can help you bring the trophy. I do think i'm just for the purposes of. I'm. Where we are in the season. I know McMillan's in the 50s from a roster percentage. I would guess most people that are still playing have picked him up or had the ability to pick him up already.

Like O'Conk was, and the Dolphins are the two new entities that people can go get. Yeah, and I think a lot of teams made the playoffs with the Falcons or the Packers DST, and we're not starting them this week. Falcons get Washington, Packers get Minnesota. So what you need to do if you're one of those teams, obviously you need to prioritize a DST whether it's the Dolphins or maybe the Colts are out there

or maybe it's the Rams or somebody like we'll talk about other DSTs. But you also should because we're seeing the impact that these DSTs that are facing Cleveland and the Giants are having, you should look at your opponent and maybe your first claim is to block your opponent from getting one of those DSTs. If your lineup is good to go and you don't need to go to the waiver wire, then that, you know, keep that option in mind for sure. This is probably also a good time to mention the fab rule that you talked about a week

or two ago, Adam, which is to check and see how much fab your opponent has left. If you've got 12 fab bucks left and your opponent has none, you can get everybody you want for a dollar each. Yeah. And if you've got 12 left and your opponent has 14, now you're going to have to spend a little bit and hope that you get a guy before your opponent does. But check the fab budgets of both yourself get a guy before your opponent does. But check the fab budgets of both yourself, obviously, and your opponent as well.

And there are a couple of other DSCs that could help you too, which we'll talk about. There's a couple at every position. Yeah, we haven't talked about quarterbacks. I know some people did make it with Jalen Hurts. So you need some help at quarterback. And you know, Anthony Richardson might be available, but Bryce Young could be a good option this week against Tampa Bay. Although that matchup is getting pretty interesting as well.

They seem to be improving a little bit. And we have a lot of important news updates for you, too. So we'll get there. But I want to remind you that the holiday season is here. Of course, the holiday season is here. I'm wearing red for a reason, folks. But it's the perfect time to crown your fantasy football champion. You can get some your fantasy football champion.

You can get some great fantasy football gear. You can be celebrating or you can be dumping on somebody who finished in last place. Just go to shop.cbssports.com slash fantasy. This is the fantasy football today new fan shop powered by ShopSense. It has everything you need, trophies, T-shirts, and all the gear to make your league unforgettable.

There's also just non-fantasy stuff that's great in there for your fan cave or for a friend or whatever you wanna do. It's great for the holiday season. Go to shop.cbssports.com slash fantasy. There's also a link in the episode description and you can scan the QR code. Now, have you voted yet? All right, we're in the championship with holiday spirit.

Hopefully we helped get you here. Maybe you could do us a solid. Go to sportspodcastgroup.com. This will take 30 seconds. Consider it a holiday gift to us. Sportspodcast, excuse me, sportspodcastgroup.com, singular. And go to the best fantasy betting and gaming category. Scroll down, click on fantasy football today and vote.

Dave, are you ready to reveal your lucky player? I'm ready when you are. Everybody knows you gotta get Dave's lucky player. Good karma. You don't have to do it later in the week. But Dave, who are we putting on our bench for good luck? Well, first of all, it's always interesting to get the reactions of people who see that

I'm gonna announce it. Oh, it's gonna be this guy, it's gonna be that guy. One person, I think it was Pete Farmer, was like, it's gonna be Christian McCaffrey. And I was like, no, there's been nothing lucky or good about Christian McCaffrey this year. Absolutely no chance it's Christian McCaffrey. I thought about Nick Chubb.

And listen, the other thing here is, whoever you want it to be, you can make it. You can go and add your own good luck charm. You don't have to go with my guy. It has to be Dave's, otherwise it's bad luck. Well, but some people might not be able to get my guy. Because my guy's already rostered in 25% of leagues. Some people still have him on their bench.

Somebody brought up, hey, Rashishi Rice, he was awesome. Let's get him back. Okay, you can choose that, but I also know that he didn't have the best of luck during the off season. I kind of want to keep that karma away from my fantasy team if you get what I'm saying. So you can go and look at Ricky Pearsall. He's overcome quite a lot.

You can look at Jonathan Brooks, tough luck for that guy. Maybe you don't want him either. And it was tough luck for Chris Godwin, but I think that's the guy that you've got to go with somebody who has win in their last name and he's a great guy. He's a fan favorite. He's a fantasy favorite. He's been a stud for a long time available in 75% of leagues. You can even stash them on your IR.

Chris Godwin, the lucky player for 2024. Jamie, don't keep me from getting him in our leagues. We're both still alive. Chris, go win. Is almost like in his. Go win, Godwin your league. Yeah, there you go. All right, so Chris Godwin is our lucky player.

News and notes. So Dorian Thompson Robinson has a calf injury. He will start if he's healthy. It may be Jamis, it may be Zappie. We just don't know, but this is who the Dolphins are playing this week. It's in Cleveland. Patrick Mahome says his ankle is better.

He's playing at Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Jalen Hurts left with a concussion. Kenny Pickett has injured ribs. Who's their number three quarterback? Tanner McKee. Okay. They have Dallas on Sunday. James Connor knee injury.

Zach Charbonneau could be full go this week. Ken Walker was listed as a DNP with the ankle injury. They have a Thursday game at Chicago. So Charbonneau was limited because of the injury, but they're more optimistic about him getting a full workload or you know, a normal workload, whether that's with Walker or without. Just as so as a concussion,

J.K. Dobbins has been designated to return from IR, so he has a chance to play this week. Isaac Guarendo is expected to practice this week. Does anybody want to start Isaac Guarendo if he plays against Detroit on Monday? Ooh, that offensive line's in bad shape, man. It's tough to trust right now. So he'll be in the low end number two flex range, but much better than Patrick Taylor, nowhere close to peak Garendo. If there is a peak Garendo. It's just, it's hard to trust the running back situation there right now, which is very strange to say. And then Tyrone Tracy aggravated his ankle injuries. So we're looking maybe at Devin Singletary.

But when did we find out when he left the game? No, I'll tell you. I don't know that he left for long. You know, I thought it might be nothing. Yeah, yeah, it could easily be nothing. He the the the tweet I sent you from Art Stapleton who does a great job covering the Giants. He's sent another he tagged another person that had a video or picture of him getting re taped, which doesn't mean that he was significantly injured. Played well into the fourth quarter.

He missed the Giants' last four snaps of a blowout loss. Well, he could have changed things. All right. Hypothetical. If Tyrone Tracy were out, would Devon Singletary be ahead of the Raiders running backs, any other waiver wire running back that might be out there? Yes, for sure. Okay, hypothetical.

Wide receiver news. So Tankdale, torn ACL, dislocated kneecap, and there are other things apparently that they're going to have to fix in surgery. John Metchy could play this week for the Texans. We are going to preview this game. They also signed Deontay Johnson. Are you interested in any other Texans wide receivers? How amazing would it be if Deontay Johnson comes back

against the Ravens and does something significant? It just means what a story. Yeah, it was a good I think it's a smart signing, you know. I agree. Yeah, they there were two teams that put in claims for him. And it was the Texans and the Chargers. Makes sense. Yeah. But are you interested in any of them this week? No. But short remember Alton Schultz is a guy that yeah, we're gonna talk about him.

Would you be interested in him if your fantasy championship is in week 18? I mean, yes, just to see what happens. I'd be picking him up just to see if he does anything. It's it anything. We know he's been a good fantasy option. He hasn't been great. He's been great at times, but he's been a good fantasy option. We've got targets. Think about the quarterbacks he's been dealing with aside from never playing really with

Lamar Jackson. When Roethlisberger retired, he went from the backups there to Carolina with Bryce Young and Andy Dalton and he had some good moments and never really played Baltimore like this this is I wouldn't mind him staying in in knowing what the two receivers that they have injured right now like it's gonna be great great spot for him and and I almost wonder do they use week 18 I wonder if they sit their guys week 18 because they've already clinched the division. Right? The Indy can't

catch them. Yeah, they're in. Yep, they clinched the division. So they could rest guys in week 18, except for Deontay Johnson, who could go out and just have a ton of targets. And then he's implemented into the offense for the playoffs. And maybe he does make an impact in the playoffs. So there is some appeal to him if you're playing into week 18. All right, let's move a little faster here

because we have all these games to preview today. We have Christian Watson leaving with a knee injury. They're at Minnesota on Sunday. And remember the last time he didn't play, there were two games basically. He left one really early and then the next week. It was the Vikings game week four. Yeah, it was Don Tavian Wicks.

That's a really, he had a big, he had big games. That's a really interesting game against the Vikings. Are they finally going to throw the ball because they gave up? You have to. Well, they gave up 34 points against the Lions a few weeks ago and they threw 20 passes or something like that. So we'll see. That was also in the weather, though. No, no, that was the game. Yeah.

Thirty one, thirty four. George Pickens looks like he's going to play this week. Haven't seen anything on Drake. Oh, no, Drake London should be fine. It should be OK. And Xavier Lee get likely out Sterling Shepherd hamstring injury that might make Jalen McMillan a little safer. Mark Eastbrown is going to get some more snaps and the Jets want to get Garrett Wilson the ball. Just when I was ready to just sit him. Now we get the we want to get Garrett Wilson the ball. David Njoku has a knee injury. That's another one we got to

keep an eye on here. If you have Njoku, you might need to make backup plans. Offensive line news. Jamie mentioned the 49ers, their offensive line that Trent Williams out for the rest of the season. Left guard Aaron Banks out for the rest of the season. Offensive tackle Jaylen Moore, who's hoping to fill in for Trent Williams. He is out for the season. And then we have one other Spencer Burford is also hurt. The Bears have a couple of offensive line injuries, but they're hoping that Tevin Jenkins can play this week, but Braxton Jones is out for the season, one of their tackles.

Yeah, that's a problem. Jacksonville left tackle Walker Little is likely out this week. Arizona's offensive line is beat up. The Saints center Eric McCoy left with an elbow injury. Cincinnati lost their right tackle. I don't know the severity there, Marius Mims. And Jets left tackle, but the Bears have a couple of offensive line is beat up. The Saints center, Eric McCoy left with an elbow injury.

Cincinnati lost their right tackle. I don't know the severity there, Marius Mims. And Jets left tackle, Olufoshano is almost certainly out for this season. One big defensive, yeah, we'll give you a couple. Big defensive notes. Looks like Joey Porter is gonna be out, cornerback for the Steelers.

But it does look like they're getting a safety, a cornerback and a defensive tackle back. They were very beat up against Baltimore. They're mostly healthy on defense. I don't know how healthy Watt is. He just didn't look right to me, but I just didn't seem to make a major impact anyway. But it looks like they're going to have a pretty healthy roster other than Porter. And Chris Jones is questionable right now for the Chiefs, their star defensive tackle and defensive back Shamari Connor mispractice as well. All right, if you haven't signed up yet for BetMGM, use the bonus code fantasy. You're going to get up to a $1,500 first bet offer on

your first wager with BetMGM. So you download the BetMGM app and you sign up using the bonus code fantasy, deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. And you'll receive up to $1,500 in bonus bets. If your bet loses, just make sure that you use the bonus code fantasy when you sign up. We got to take a break. When we come back, we'll give you every everyone you need to know on the waiver wire. After this on FFT, which quarterback should you get on the waiver wire? You might need

a Jalen Hurts replacement or you might just need a quarterback. You might not feel great about your QB this week. So in the shallow leagues, Jamie, we got Caleb Williams, Anthony Richardson and Geno Smith. They're about 71, 73% rostered. Caleb Williams at home against Seattle on Thursday, Anthony Richardson at the Giants and Genino Smith at Chicago on Thursday. Who how would you rank those three? Richardson, William Smith. Is Richardson a stud like a must start this week for you guys? He's he's close. I mean, look, he's probably not going to throw

the ball very much again, you know, so that's the concern. But he's been such he's he's been so consistent running the ball that you never want to say you're going to get a rushing touchdown, but he's morphed into Tim Tebow. Think about what the Tebow fantasy season was when he was awesome. You're scared for him throwing the ball and you hope that he's just going to continue to rack up rushing points and that's what he's doing. So it's a good matchup. They could do whatever they want to against the Giants and that's just basically what you're counting on right now. So four point passing touchdown, four points for passing touchdowns. He's a borderline stud and in

six points he's just a number one quarterback. You know, I liked him last week. He delivered what you needed and I think he'll do the same thing. 22 to 25 points. Okay. Would you start Richardson or Mahomes? Richardson. I've got Richardson higher. Oh, interesting. Okay. So, let's get to the guys who are more widely available. We got Bryce Young against Tampa Bay. Of the last five quarterbacks to face Tampa Bay, Bryce Young is the only one who had a good game. Uh DeVito Stunk,

Justin Herbert 17 points, Cooper Rush 17 points, the Raiders quarterbacks 10 points. So it wasn't great competition, but Young 24 points on 46 pass attempts and he had a rushing touchdown. So in other words, Tampa Bay is not really getting beat up in the air lately. Is that just because they haven't faced good quarterbacks? But how much do you like Bryce Young? We also have Drake May, Michael Pennex, Mason Rudolph, and maybe even James Winston. But I also want to throw Aaron Rodgers in there. He's 53% roster. Dave, what's your take on the quarterbacks this week? I don't love any of these guys. And I'm hopeful that you can find one of the barely available quarterbacks on your waiver

wire. I would kind of defer back to rogers. Last week was gross eating give you a huge game buffaloes defense is not played well over the last few weeks and i wonder if rogers just by sheer volume. Can come through with over twenty fantasy points they've given up at least twenty one this buffalo now each of the past three quarterbacks that they face that includes drake may and week sixteen Each of the past three quarterbacks that they face that includes Drake May in week 16. And you know that golf went bananas against them in week 15. I don't think Rogers is going to go bananas, but I think he's still going to throw a lot. Priest Hall doesn't look right to me. This is who I'd probably settle for as the quarterback because I just, I can't trust Bryce Young. The matchup is great.

The numbers last week for him were phenomenal. His floor is too low And that's why I'd rather go with Rogers or Drake May I like May's matchup to against the Chargers, but I don't have high expectations for any of these quarterbacks I would not be surprised if after the Bills struggle that they just Beat the living hell out of the Jets But there I mean they're just struggling a lot like five of the last seven quarterbacks to face the Bills have scored 21 or more fantasy points Well, look at some of those guys and who they are. Yeah, so it's Tua

Mahomes Stafford golf who scored 50 and Drake May Purdy got in there. No Purdy was terrible. He had one point That was right. That was a snow game But yeah, their their past defense has been pretty vulnerable lately. So you don't like Rogers? Like you know, and the weather is supposed to be bad, too. Like I have no interest in their. So obviously, if the weather's bad, you're going to pull back from Rogers as well.

OK, all right. So listen, it's not the best. Again, let's say what I said about Rogers last week, I was nervous about him last week. He did great against the Jaguars in a half in great weather. He did great against Miami in good weather. Like, this is a disaster just waiting to explode. You know where Rodgers used to play though, right? Yeah, I do.

He's been pretty good in bad weather before. Yes, when he was younger. Yeah. All right, well. Hold on, I'm gonna get you the weather forecast for Buffalo. You got to do it in your in the voice though. Like, would you start bright? Let's say Bryce Young, Aaron Rodgers, Drake May. Let's say there are top three. It's not for Jamie. Rodgers not interested, but Dave is. Would you start them over Justin Herbert at New England? Definitely not.

Would you start them over? Bo Nix? No, no chance. What am I saying? No. Would you start them over? Bo Nix, no, no chance. What am I saying? No. Bo Nix might be my star of the week. I gotta make that sense. Oh God. I like Bo Nix.

Bo Nix at Cincinnati or Brock Purdy against Detroit. What do I do? Well, you wanna go Bo Nix or Drake May? No, I'm sorry. I was just looking at the schedule. I just threw a day about. How about Kyler Murray at the Rams? Another guy I have no interest in this week.

Yeah, I'd rather go with Rodgers. I would go with Murray over Rodgers easily. What about Bryce Young? I probably would go Bryce Young over Rodgers. Oh, Murray, Murray. Oh, Murray over Young. I would hope that you're going Bryce Young over Rodgers. That's how you have it written in the column.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. And Drake made- First time to make sure the game's on Sunday. All right, here we go. 53 degrees overcast with rain showers at times. 61% chance of precipitation winds at 10 to 20 miles an hour. Did you say 53?

Yeah, that's the temperature. Ooh, that in Buffalo? We're gonna have a nice weekend. That's terrific. I mean, it's still gonna rain, but I don't think it's gonna be. 53, I thought everybody was complaining about the weather. That's all I saw.

This is what the forecast is for Sunday in Buffalo. According to what site is this? Weather.com. That's not bad. All right, so running backs. let's go to our running backs here in the shallow leagues. You got Jalen Warren here. I know you list them every week. I don't not not this week, right? We don't really want Jalen Warren.

I mean, he's got four passes, four receptions and three of his last six or three of three of the last five, like, they're gonna struggle to run the ball even without Chris Jones there. So but it's interesting, I mean, the Chiefs give up the fewest receiving totals to running backs. Oh, I don't want to have to start them. But again, I mean, think about the situation that several people are in right now.

I almost think if it's PPR, you have to start them over Naji. We've seen them start to overtake Naji. Last week, especially two thirds of the snaps for Jalen Warren last week. How do we feel about the Broncos running backs at Cincinnati, who they have now allowed still the streak extends 90 rushing yards or a rushing touchdown to a running back in every game? I feel like this will be the week that that ends.

But the Broncos running backs at Cincinnati and the Chargers running backs at New England on Saturday. So both of those games are on Saturday, actually. And there's just some moving parts here and injury status is Dave. So give me your takes on Broncos at Cincinnati and Chargers at New England. I'd be okay with Gus as a low end number two running back if we knew that J.K. Dobbins wasn't going to play. But he's practicing. If he plays, I would be very interested in starting J.K. Dobbins. I can't trust these Broncos running backs. I'm going into the game. There was talk that SMA would kind of take over. Here's taking over 20% of the

snaps and a, and a short yardage touchdown. And he looked okay, but Javante Williams is still going to play half the snaps. Someone else is gonna mix in. They're using three guys. I don't, I can't, I can't. Yeah. Well, how about if you started the Raiders running backs, would you? I'd stick with the Raiders running backs. I don't mind Javante this week because I do think we're gonna get a back and forth game like we saw because I don't think they're gonna shut down the Bengals. They haven't done that

in two of their last three games in terms of defensively. And so what we saw from Gervonta was seven catches on 11 targets. Should have caught a touchdown. So PPR, I don't mind Gervonta and I would take him over the Raiders game. Boy, the catches are really interesting. That kind of came out of nowhere. Those seven catches. Right. It's been like two catches every there were a couple of weeks where he had like four, but the last two months he hasn't been a part of the. Well, I mean, I think part of that is the rotation too. So to your point, if they're going to play three guys, they was kind of pared down to two in the second half last week. And

Estimé is going to be touchdown dependent. You know, we've seen what his role is. So if you think they're going to score against the Bengals from a short yard situation, he probably has a good opportunity to do that. But that's hard to trust. I do think there's an opportunity here though for Devante to still be quite involved. This game gets loose like it should. And I haven't seen an update on Jaleel McLaughlin, but would he take a lot of the shine off of Devante

if he plays? Oh, for sure. If McLaughlin plays, it's hands off all these guys. Cause then it's just a wild card of whoever you think could be the best. Not only have the Bengals allowed 90 rushing yards or a touchdown to running back in every game, also there have been five running backs in the last four games who have 37 or more receiving yards against the Bengals. Tank Bigsby is also on this list. He gets Tennessee. I think obviously he's tough to trust, but...

We scored against him last time. He scored touchdown two of his last three games. So again, like a better version of estimate. You know, you know he needs a scorer but he's been double digits and carries in every game in the last month. And so, you know, again, you're desperate. You're hoping for him to fall into the end zone. Did have a fumble too in last game. How do you guys feel about Madison and Abdullah at New Orleans? They are so bad against the run. But I think they're actually pretty good against pass catching running backs. I might be wrong about that. They're okay. But yeah, like Dave, how do you feel about the Raiders running backs this week? If I could get Alexander Madison or Amir Abdullah, they would be at the top of the

list for me. They're clearly a part of what they want to do in Vegas. I don't think this is going to be, call me crazy, a Saints blowout. Not sure they're going to be able to score seven, even on the Raiders. Raiders defense is actually starting to play better and the Raiders want to run the football. So these two guys are going to get a lot of work, a duel in the passing game. The fact that he still got as much work as he did last week that way, I think that's a huge positive. And so I kind of view them a little bit higher than everybody else that we've talked about at Run Back. In fact, I kind of look at Edwards, Estimay, other names that we haven't really brought up. Like there's so much uncertainty and so much like touchdown dependence. They're all kind of the same. And so I'd rather take two guys that I know are going to play who have a good matchup against a tired weak defense over all those touchdown

dependent guys who might play 25, 30% of snaps. And which one would you prefer Madison or Abdullah? I think it depends on format. If it's full PPR, it's Abdullah. if it's half or not, it's a Madison. I mean, Madison was just had just as many targets. Yeah, Madison is awful. I'm sorry. It's just well, it's you got to think about this. Like I said, going into the game against the Jaguars seven of the last eight running backs lead running backs had averaged 4.9 yards per carrier more against the Jaguars. He had 12 carries for 27 yards. He was lucky to get a one yard touchdown, but he did have four catches. That was nice. Abdullah, what did Abdullah have? He had seven carries.

Abdullah actually had one fewer target than Madison, but one more catch. And he's just way more efficient anyway. But they're both going to play. They could both do very well. All right. What do we think about the Cardinals situation right now? Like how it's so yeah, let's let's talk about that. It's all about in place. Yeah, please, Jamie. If you straight Benson plays, that's the guy.

But he missed last week's game with an ankle injury. And then if he's out as Michael Carter. So this this this team scares the hell out of me because, you know, officially eliminated back to back games on the road, playing a really good Rams team right now that Smells blood in the water, you know, so this is not the best situation But Benson would certainly have a little bit more appeal than Michael Carter He did he did a nice job, you know for you know filling in as

You know an emergency situation because the Mercado is on IR and Benson not playing last week And you know, he's been on the practice squad for the majority of the season. So we'll catch a few passes He's not gonna do what James Connor did, you know maybe the lack of a run game helps Kyler Murray and we get no good performance for him trying to play spoiler against the Rams, but This just feels like you know team looking at vacation right now because they've been Bad for the last month when they had an opportunity to win a division and now they got to go on the road and play Really good team. So here's how I would play this this We don't know if Benson's gonna play or not. We don't know if Connor's gonna play or not I think you've got to assume that Connor

They want he says he wants to play and all that stuff but if he's not right, why would they risk it if you can't or don't want the Raiders running backs and All these guys all these other guys that we've talked about Edwards estimate, Estimé, Carter, they're all available. I would target Benson first. He's available in 60% of leagues. Get him, see what happens. And then if he's not going to play or if it doesn't look good by the time we get to Wednesday's games or Thursday's games, Saturday's games, you dump him and you go get one of the other

runbacks. Remember, there should only be two, maybe four teams that are competing with you on the waiver wire anyway right now. So a lot of these running backs that we're talking about that are just okay. They're going to be sitting on the waiver wire no matter what you do. So getting Benson, he would have the most upside probably of any running back that we've talked about, if he plays if he's active, and he's got offensive line problems to the both tackles are beat up for

Arizona, but he'll play he'll get a lot of work. It's just against the Rams. It's not the easiest matchup in the world. But if you think about it, if he plays, I don't think he's playing on third down, right? I don't know how many catches he's gonna get. So if he doesn't play, Michael Carter could be close to an every down running back.

No, because they'll still use DJ Dallas. But he had five catches last week. I know, but DJ Dallas will still mix in. DJ Dallas scored a touchdown, didn't he? He did. Let's go, Cains. Alright, so interesting situation there. And then, yeah, we're not going to have any interest in Patrick Taylor if Garendo doesn't play, right?

No. Alright, let's go to wide receiver here and you can look for Adam feeling Adam feeling if if available. I might take him over the Dolphins DST. Yeah, but but you guys have high expectations for feeling this week. Yeah, I mean, he was good against them the first time. He is insane against 24 fantasy points. And he's been good in

three of his last four games. Yeah, and even his bad game was five for 51 on seven targets in that stretch. Josh Downs, you guys like Josh Downs this week at the Giants? He's in that low end number three receiver mix. Just a matter of the volume not being there. Yeah, I think there are too many receivers

in the low end number three receiver mix for Josh Downs to make it there. And I would think there are too many receivers in the low end number three receiver mix for Josh Downs to make it there. And I would get this should be another game where Jonathan Taylor goes bananas. Not much left for downs. Oh, man, look at this comment. This is so wrong. No one needs assistance in the semi finals of the championship game. If you're here and you still need help, you don't know how to play Happy Holidays. Man, like you know how many people are injured right now?

You had Ken Walker in your lineup last week, all these running back injuries. There are a lot of people that need assistance. This is manager Devante Smith manager. This is this is where you're making tough calls to you know, so it's not just picking up these guys as bench options. Like, you know, somebody, I'm sure many people I'm sure got through with, you know, Jerry Judy, because you started him with the hope of DTR still getting him the ball or like you said, Devante Smith, you know,

some of these guys that just coming off bad games, not necessarily just because they're there's injuries. So yeah, there's a there's lots of chances here for players to help you still. Sure. And your opponents might need that help too, and you can beat them too. So let's talk about the Packers wide receivers with Christian Watson seemingly going to be out for this week's game. Hopefully a shootout against Minnesota. Dave, do you like Dobbs? Do you like Wicks?

I'm not going to trust Wicks. I like Dobbs. I've seen the vikings defense i checked into this there better. Better get slack eyes and there are outside wide receivers in the past five games but anytime you're missing one of those past catchers. You got a fear that the other ones will step up a little bit better not that i'm starting romeo dobs or jane reid with top twenty four confidence. There are also part of this low end number three wide receiver group. including Romeo Dobbs or Jane Reid with top 24 confidence. They're also part of this low end number three wide receiver group that have the potential to do well in a high scoring game. But it's not like I'm going to make them key parts of my offense or anything like that. Key parts of my fantasy, if I should say.

I would start Wicks over Downs if he's the guy without Watson there. I would start Wicks over Judy. Both the other two guys ahead of them. So Dobbs and Reed. And you know, again, you go back to that first Vikings game, Watson goes down. He gets 13 targets in that game. And so this was the pattern at the end of last year when they had injuries. This is the pattern seemingly every time one of these guys is missing.

Most of the time is Watson. So when they throw, there's chances here to your point, Adam, will they throw, you know, so will they will they change sort of their philosophy? The hope would be is that the Vikings come out and punch them in the mouth early. Yes. And then we get a shootout, you know, and the reason for that game was if that's what happened earlier this year, that exact scenario. So that's it. But part of happened earlier this year, that exact scenario. So that's a but part of that though was that was Jordan loves first came back from the

groin injury and there were a lot of questions. Should he play? Is he healthy? How's he feeling? I think it was the groin or maybe the knee but coming back from the injury and he he did not look good in the first half and then they just started opening up the offense in the second half and then all these guys got involved. So if if you're if you're for a Packers receiver to help you,

you're hoping for them to, again, let's make this track meet back and forth. And in indoor game at this point in the season, like it has potential to be. Yeah, but you like McMillan better than the Packers guys. I think he's just safer at this point. Like, you know, Reed could have had a really big game yesterday.

They all could have had a big game if they wanted to. I mean, they could have done whatever they wanted to against things so You know Watson had a huge play that you know Jordan love checked down to Tucker Kraft early in the game before Watson got hurt And let's be let's You know I guess have to look at it how injured is Watson You know was it just because the score and they didn't want to put him back in you know We try to go back in after initially getting hurt, but we know his track record. So it would not be surprising if there's a Don Tavian wicks.

He won new year league type of game this week. Uh, if you have George Pickens and he's your, your last receiver, you know, you're starting two other receivers and George Pickens is your guy. Uh, it's either Pickens or somebody on the waiver wire. Are you just starting Pickens or are you going? Yes. Over the waiver wire guys? Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. I have a very tough call in one final of, because it's two running backs in a flex and I'm playing through running backs because I'm loaded there, of Pickens versus Higgins and Sutton right now. And so like I'm really all over the place with that one. I think I'm sitting Pickens.

Yeah, I'm sitting Pickens. In that situation. Yeah, but Higgins could get Surtan. But yeah, I mean, oh, I don't think, yeah, I don't think he will, but he could, he'll see him a little bit, but Sutton's been a little. The gun's been off, but it's a bangle.

Two last two games, yeah. It is the bangle. And, it is the bangle. And I got to make the call on pickings on Wednesday. Other wide receivers to consider other than McMillan and Wicks, really not much here. Marquise Brown had eight targets in like 20% of the snaps or something. Olamide Zaccheaus with the revenge game against Atlanta.

Jalen Coker at Tampa Bay. You know where he was last year too, right? No. Philadelphia. Philadelphia. Oh know where he was last year too, right? No. Philadelphia. Philadelphia. Oh, and he just had a huge game against Philadelphia. Love that. Jalen Coker, Parker Washington, K. Shambuti,

and then you can take a chance on De'ense Johnson, maybe if you're playing into week 18. They're all desperation plays. All right, we're gonna take a quick break. We got tight ends, we got DSTs, kickers, and then we got two games to talk about. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football today. We welcome you back here to Fantasy Football today coming off a very nice promo for the Masters with that extremely soothing music. And let's head out to Dave Richard. Dave, I got to talk about some shallow league tight ends. Hunter Henry Okay. Yeah, I don't know. Do you want to get, I think I would start Ertz over, over Okonkwo and, and uh, Schultz. You?

I'll say that one more time. So no, it's Ertz and Henry who both have like, Atlanta's been oddly good against tight ends and the Chargers are actually really good against tight ends, but versus Okonkwo and Schultz. I'm not very interested in Schultz. I still think it's a tough matchup for Schultz against Baltimore. They've been great against tight ends over the last month or so. Okonkwo is the interesting one. And so the stats are amazing over the last

two games. And it's really like, it's more like the last six quarters because it's been since Mason Rudolph came in. He's first among tight ends in PPR points per game at 16.5. He's first in total targets among tight ends. 30% target share, that's first two. 2.75 yards per route run, that's second best. He's got 72 yards after the catch, that's great. Some less appealing stats, 8.2 yards per catch.

6.05 A dot, that's very close to the line of scrimmage that's checked down territory how many end zone targets how many red zone targets does he have zero how many explosive plays one all but five targets were within five yards of the line of scrimmage he needs to continue to have that volume if he doesn't have it you're gonna have a game like Brenton strange has or you're gonna get a game with nine PPR points sad Sad thing is that nine PPR points could still beat Zach Ertz or Hunter Henry. So I do look at Chigokanko as a modest floor high upside PPR play and a starting fantasy tight end. I can't imagine starting over Hunter Henry though. I mean Henry's been so consistent but

yeah it's a bad match up. You're right behind that group though. I mean, Henry's been so consistent. But yeah, it's a bad matchup behind that group, though. Okay. So and I feel Calco is ahead of that group. And I almost wonder if it you know, the matchup is going to be harder for the tight ends just because of how the chargers play defense, then it will be for their wide receivers. And plus Austin Hooper is going to take work away from Hunter Henry. Like it's been kind of messy for their wide receivers. And plus, Austin Hooper's gonna take work away from Hunter Henry. Like, it's been kinda messy for Hunter Henry lately. With O'Connor, at least we've seen the upside

in the last game and a half. And I don't know if Hunter Henry can really touch that upside. I don't know, I mean, his upside for the last eight games has been pretty consistent with Drake May. He's had two duds in there. Everything else has been nine and a half or more. So, yeah. Right, but that could be O'Connor's floor, James. That could also be O'Connor's ceiling.

I mean, we're still talking about, you know, you just made all these examples or comparisons to what the Bretton Strange situation is. I mean, that's the kind of situation that it could be. And as you said, which I think is the best example of this is they could finally run the ball this week. And so if they're playing, does O'Connor have those same chances? The Patriots are most likely chasing points. It's a revenge game for Hunter Henry. He's been so involved in this offense and so productive with Drake May.

Like I made the mistake of going away from last week because he hadn't been doing very much. And it wasn't an easy matchup against the Bill's defense that had been good against tight ends. Well, what'd he do? He scored again, you know, so. But he stunk. I mean, you were wrong.

That's all I mean. He had four for 39 and a touchdown on nine targets. I think your instinct was. We're talking about, you know, mid-level to low-level, low-level number one tight end. There's no consistency or guarantees on any of these guys. And so, what are you basing on? And again, you could base it on the two-game track record

of what we've seen with Mason Rudolph starting and Chego Conquist It's a little safer than Brenton strange because you have at least a two game sample size as opposed to one game sample size Plus O'conk was an elite level athlete, you know So the lack of explosive plays is a little disturbing that he hasn't done that but we saw what he did against Houston a few Weeks ago, you know, he took a ball 70 yards and went, you know for a touchdown That the only thing that I'm saying here is I think Henry's safer because we've seen his numbers with Drake May.

How he's gotten them, who cares? He's gotten them. So, Oconquo in six quarters, to your point, has been, they've getting destroyed by two teams that have much better offenses than them. This is not the case. All right. So listen, if you're the Njoku manager, you should probably pick up a tight end. Just see what happens. Don't drop Njoku, but just see what happens. T.J. Hawkinson or Waverwire

tight end. Waverwire tight end Schultz over Hawkinson. All right. And then Ferguson or Hawkinson or like Ferguson or Hawkinson, I guess, is Ferguson's available to. Ferguson over Hawkinson. Yep. Ferguson. All right, and then pretty much, you know what to do otherwise. All right, let's talk about some DSTs here. Jamie, if we cannot get the Dolphins or the Colts, who should we be looking at? So, you have a few different options, I think.

I like the Rams this week. I wouldn't be surprised if they play very well at home against the Cardinals. The Raiders, as we talked about, have an opportunity to play a really bad Saints defense. To Dave's point, they haven't been playing better lately. I think Christian Wilkins coming back, I believe he came back, is a big part of that. And the Seahawks, the Bears don't throw interceptions. That's been a staple of what Caleb Williams has done, but they'll take some sacks. So Seattle on a short week could be good as well. Okay.

So that was Dolphins one, Rams two, Seahawks three, Raiders four. Raiders, that is a wild card, but such an appealing matchup against the Saints on the road. Unless their car does return, then it makes it a little bit better. They could conceivably get car, Camara, and MVS for what is worth back. What about Olavi? It's up to the Saints if they want to actually do this. Maybe they're doing it to throw a bone to Derek Carr. But I think if Carr comes back and if Olavi feels right, then it's possible that we see them get a bunch of players back for this week's game. Well, Christian Wolk hasn't been playing since early October.

Did we skip Olawe though in the waiver wire segment? I mean, do we need to talk about him? I think if to what Dave said about the running back situation earlier, like if you don't have the ability to get a Jalen McMillan or I would put Dante Vianwix, you know, not far behind him for this week only you can pick up a lot of a and just see what happens and then go pivot to a as a kiosk for example, you know if you need somebody or like Hollywood Brown Oh do and say like they're out there different variations of leagues. All right kickers to stream Josh Cardy, Jason Myers, Will Reichard has been really good. Will Lutz, Zane Gonzalez.

What about McManus? He's been good. How rostered is he? It's just another guy. And you want indoor games. McManus is 78% rostered. Never mind. But indoor games are great, like indoor high scoring games. So Will Reichardt be in one of those. Josh Carty could be in one of those for the Rams. All right. Dave, real quick before we get to Kansas City and Pittsburgh, some

keeper, I know you wanted to talk about keeper league stashes. Why don't we save that for an episode of FFT Express? Okay, perfect. Well, it's time for some Wednesday football. Well, it's time for some Wednesday football. Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da. That's the punch out music, which always I get reminded of that by Dave's Thursday Night Music. Anyway, Kansas City's at Pittsburgh, here we go. Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho.

Ha ha ha ha. Love it. Wednesday football, wow. Where's miss football? Starters sit. The only. Why they're playing is cause it's Christmas. I understand. Starters said Patrick Mahomes. Low end starter. I currently have them 13th. Keep in mind that I still have, you know, 24 hours of rankings adjusting to do,

but low end starting fantasy quarterbacks, Steelers have given up at least 25 fantasy points to three of the last four quarterbacks they faced. Two of them have been guys that have run a lot. It's Lamar, it's Hurt. So obviously I don't think we can expect 25 plus from the homes. Though he did run for a touchdown last week with a bad ankle. The guy's Superman. I don't know what to say. If you've got him and you're winning with him, you should start him. He's an easy start over Purdy. I would start him over Jordan Love as of now. Definitely over Kyler. Gets a little bit trickier when

we talk about Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, Sam Darnold, Richardson. Oh, how could you start him over Darnold? Is that, that's, I don't know, just my respect for Darnold. I think he's- No, no, no. I'm saying it's tougher there and I would start Darnold over my homes. You know, Pittsburgh's defense, when they have faced good offenses on the road,

they've been horrible. Washington, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Baltimore, all of those teams scored at least 27 offensive points. I only see two good offenses that they faced at home. They gave up 20 points to Dallas and 16 points to Baltimore. It's been a huge difference. I don't know what to make of that. Also, like I said, they are a lot healthier than they were five days ago. Even without Porter.

Well, but that's part of the problem. He's their best corner. And he's definitely helps my homes and we don't know if TJ Watt is TJ Watt. Chiefs are also healthier than we've seen in a while offensively and they solve their left tackle issue by moving Tooney over to tackle from guard. I'll be looking at chat questions here, but officially you guys are Richardson over my homes. Yep. I don't. As officials, it can be on Tuesday morning. Would you trust the Chiefs running back this week or would you go to a waiver wire guy?

waiver worker. Same too many guys in that backfield. Pacheco is working. Hunt had the big game last week. P Ryan still working on third downs. Carson Steel is still on the team. It's a mess. I'm going to put this question up now so I don't forget it. So we'll just skip ahead

to the tight ends. A question from TB in the chat. Dalton Schultz, Chigokankwo or Travis Kelsey? I'm still Kelsey, but my gosh, he's been bad. You know, I think for anybody that's made it here with Kelsey, like I wouldn't get cute. I broke it down on beyond the box score yesterday. I mean, I think it's pretty obvious if you watch him run his routes, it's just, he's not the same guy.

Jacob talked about how Kelsey's doing pretty much nothing after the catch. Jamie's dog makes an appearance. And he only has four end zone targets all season. Yeah. He was wide open in the end zone and was about to get four end zone targets all season. He was wide open in the end zone and was about to get an end zone target against the Texans. And then it was just kind of a weird route

that Xavier Worthy took. He was, whatever, he ended up undercutting the route and dropping the ball. And so that would have been a Kelsey touchdown. He'd probably be feeling better about it. But okay, so you heard it. It's a tough matchup too. The Steelers have been very good against tight ends.

8.7 or fewer half PPR points to tight ends in seven of the past nine games. The Ravens went off against them with their receivers beat up last week. I don't think that that's an indication that Kelsey's gonna do great, but he's still a top 10 guy because he's Kelsey, plays a lot, you know he's gonna be a big time third down target for Patrick

Malms. I just think if you haven't benched him yet, the last thing you want to do is see him have any sort of good game for Chigokan or don't like. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So let's talk about the Kansas City wide receivers. I asked the guys yesterday, would you start Cooper Cup against the Cardinals or Xavier Worthy at Pittsburgh? And we struggled with it. We struggled

with that one cup. They're out of the elements like this. There's going to be a huge bounce back game for the ranch. I hope you're right. I think on PPR, I think I'm ready to go with worthy. It's full PPR where I could still like, I think it's gonna be close between those guys. Yeah, I mean Worthy had 11 targets last week, but that's a lot for him. He's usually in the six to seven range, five to seven range we'll call it. Right, part of the problem with Cup is

this Rams offense has been rolling with Kyron Williams like crazy. And as long as they continue to do that. Doesn't it just make sense they're gonna do that this week? What do you mean? Just run the ball and just crush the balls They're going to be able to win running the ball against theirs. I think they do whatever they want to. Yeah, probably. All right. But worthy

top 30 guy this week. Yes. He's close. Worthier Macmillan. Macmillan. I'll take worthy. Okay. We're sitting Hopkins and Brown, right? Yes. Yeah. All right. Over to the other side. Starter sit Russell Wilson getting George Pickens back. Super flex to QB Leagues at best.

This pass defense stinks though. They are giving up a ton of big plays. Let's see. They gave up 23 points to Aiden O'Connell. It hasn't been that bad. I mean, it's been. No, so they gave up a lot to O'Connell and then in the three games after they limited Herbert, the Browns quarterbacks sunk and then Stroud had 20.1 fantasy points last week.

Yeah. I mean, but like look what Tank Del did to them. Sure. Fair. Alright so not trusting Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson or Bryce Young? Bryce Young. Bryce Young. Okay how about the Steelers running backs? Who's the best running back in this game? I'll take both Steelers over both Chiefs. I will too but if I've got to put a name on the best running back in this game, it's Jaylen Warren. And Jaylen Warren or Alexander Madison, Amir Abdullah, et cetera. The Raiders guys over the Steelers.

Raiders guys over everybody in this game. Yeah. Okay. Fine. Jaylen Warren or Gus Edwards, PPR? No, Dobbins, I'll take Gus. We're not gonna know. Wednesday game. Then I'm taking Warren.

Then you should play it safe and start Warren. Okay, and George Pickens, where do you guys have him ranked against the Chiefs who are now 18th against wide receivers, but they have allowed 70 or more yards to a wide receiver in seven straight games. Damn. Top 20. Agreed.

I don't want to get too excited about Pickens coming back. Right. But would you start them over Garrett Wilson? I have them back to back in my rankings. I would take Wilson over Pickens. I got some chat questions here about the wide receivers in this game. Worthy or Thielen?

Thielen. I think I'll take Thielen and PPR. Non-PPR I might take Worthy. So we got like. Or. We got a lot of dogs. Sound effects. Those aren't your dog. Yeah. Sound effects. Pickens or Shakir from the chat. Pick it. Yeah. George Pickens. Okay. Uh, all right.

So if we have any other questions about the wide receivers or whatever in this game, you know, fire away, but we like Pickens and worthy is a number three three guy and Pat Friermuth is a sit now with Pickens back. Yeah, for sure. That's not dependent. All right. So we're definitely going with the waiver wire guys over him, right? Yes. Does that include Jake Ferguson? Maybe. All right. Here are some chat questions. Pickens or McMillan? Pickens. Pickens.

Cooper Cup or DeAndre Hopkins, Marquise Brown? Cup. Cup. Pickens or Jerome Ford? Ford. I think I'd be more in line with Pickens. Pickens or Drake London. Pickens.

Yes. Calvin Austin or Jamie Stonk. I'll take Orly. Sorry, that yap. That yap is so, is so loud. All right. Uh, do you like a DST in this game? Chiefs.

I do like the Chiefs DST. I don't mind either one. I prefer the Chiefs. All right, but certainly you could get a better one off the waiver wire, I suppose. Well, the Dolphins would qualify. Colts would qualify. Yeah.

What about the Rams? Yeah, I'm not sure if I'm there yet with the Rams. Okay, I feel like the Chiefs really have not been that good. They've been okay. They've been okay. They've had at least nine fantasy points each of their past four games, 10 plus in each of their last two. I mean, I don't really use that. I don't even know. It's a basic scoring system. Alright, fair enough. Alright, Baltimore is at Houston. Here's your just for fun. All right, fair enough. All right, Baltimore is at Houston.

Here's your just-for-funsies stat of the game. Houston allows the third most yards per carry to quarterbacks. So that's good. Here's your encouraging stat of the game. Because I know a lot of you Joe Mixon managers, you're like, I don't know what to do with Joe Mixon. He has four to six targets in six of his last eight games.

The two exceptions were the Jets and the Chiefs. Those two teams are currently seventh and sixth. They see the seventh and sixth fewest running back targets in the NFL. Baltimore sees the third most. So I don't know if he's gonna be able to run the ball well. I'm hoping Joe Mixon is gonna catch the ball. Where do you guys have Joe Mixon this week?

Right around 15. I think he's just past 15 for me. He's right in that same range. Oh, he's exactly 15. I could see him falling a little bit. I agree that he should catch a lot of passes, but this is another team with offensive line issues coming at the worst possible time, and it's an impossible matchup.

He's gonna have to make plays through the air. Jerome forward or Mixon. I think they're back to back for me right now. Ford scares me against the Dolphins, but yeah, he's got a tough matchup, too. I'll take Mixon, but it's close. Yeah, great. Tony Pollard or Joe Mixon. I think I'm ready to go Pollard over Mixon. That's so hard to trust Pollard, though.

A matchup is great. Just how healthy is he? I go Mixon still. All right, Joe Mixon. It's so hard to trust Pollard, though. A matchup is great. Just how healthy is he? I go Mixon still. All right, Joe Mixon, let's go. Give me give me one more good week out of you. Start Jackson, start Henry Zay Flowers. Actually, Zay Flowers on the injury

report, something to keep in mind here, but assuming he plays I'm sure it's his procedural with short week. Yeah, I hope so. I hope it is. Yeah. What do you think about Zay Flowers coming off a hundred yard game?

His first game all season with anywhere between 12 and 18.5 fantasy points. He's been below that or above that every week or 18.4 or whatever. And then last week he scored 15.3 fantasy points. So starters at Zay Flowers, we talked about Pickens, we talked about Worthy. Where does he fit in with those guys? Behind Pickens ahead of Worthy.

I think I'm going to put them behind Worthy though. This does feel like a big Derrick Henry monster game. And that usually means that like what he did last week is more the ceiling than the median. So it's a great matchup, man. Houston's allowed eight receivers to get 50 or more PPR points in their past eight games. Worthy had 20 last week. But I'm just, I'm worried about just how much work Flowers will get. It's also another island game for Lamar Jackson to enhance his MVP status, you know, so everybody sees him go crazy.

Wouldn't be surprised if say Flowers has a big game too. for Lamar Jackson to enhance his MVP status, so everybody sees him go crazy. Wouldn't be surprised if, say, Flowers has a big game, too. Yeah, once upon a time, Derrick Henry would destroy the Texans. Like, he had this stretch of five straight games. 211 yards, three touchdowns. 212 yards, two touchdowns. 250 yards, two touchdowns. 212 yards, two touchdowns, 250 yards, two touchdowns, 219 yards, two

touchdowns, and then only 126 yards in one touchdown. That was from like 2019 through 2022 or something. Last year against the Texans, if I'm seeing this right, he had 16 carries for nine yards in one game and he had 12 carries for 42 yards. So it just, Yeah, last year the run defense was one of the best in football and he had 12 carries for 42 yards. So it just. Last year, the run defense was one of the best in football and he was on a completely different team with a. I'm just bringing it up. Fair comparison.

I'm not comparing. I'm just bringing it up. Just, just a, another for funsies that like he used to, he used to routinely run for over 200 yards against them. Last year he was horrible. All right. So, sorry, I didn't mean to imply that he's not going to be good.

All right. So is they, Zay Flowers or Joe Mixon? Flowers and PPR. I agree. Zay Flowers or Adam Thielen? Thielen, but that's close. I agree, it's close. I think I'm definitely taking Thielen. If it's full PPR, it's half and none

where I might take Flowers. Zay Flowers or DK Metcalf? Flowers. I'll take Metcalf. Okay, Metcalf, pretty interesting matchup as well. In Chicago, we'll talk about that game tomorrow. The, where are we here? We're at the Baltimore tight ends.

Mark Andrews, just start him at this point. Yep, he's better than Kelsey. Yes. Okay, 10, nine touchdowns this year for Mark Andrews. Pretty good year. CJ Stroud, start or sit? Sit. Sit.

Stroud or Bryce Young? Bryce. Take my chances with Bryce. All right. We talked about mixing, start Nico Collins. Any sleepers at wide receiver for Houston? Robert Woods is probably the best bet of the next guys, unless they, you know, force the aunt,

they Johnson in there, which would be a surprise on a short week. So very, very, very, very, very, very, very desperate. I would lean toward Metchi over woods. And Schultz would be a sleeper as well. I'm thinking more for like Christmas day DFS, for those who cherish the warmth and joy of Christmas DFS games, I'm probably gonna have to start Schultz over to Joku because

it's Wednesday. And I don't hate Schultz. I mean, he's been good and he's been great into his last three. And you've said it and the numbers are there. It's you know, the floor is not bad. He's been right around nine PPR points for a good stretch of games. So the matchup isn't easy by any stretch, but the opportunity now and you know, they're going to be chasing points. All right. Yeah, I'll try to make a case here for Schultz. So he has seven to eight targets in three of his last five games with Nico Collins back. He had four targets against

the Dolphins. CJ Stroud threw only 26 passes in that game. He had a 31% target share in the second half last week and Tankdale got hurt right at the beginning of the second half. All of the targets were in the third quarter for what that's worth, but 31% target share basically without Tankdale last week. So that's the encouraging stuff. And he has had this decent floor. The discouraging stuff, he has two end zone targets. He had two end zone targets last week. That's another encouraging thing, but he has three all season.

And he has two targets from the 10 yard line or closer all year. So he just hasn't been used in a good way. I'm just hoping that with Tankdale out there, and I'm expecting Baltimore to score a lot of points. So, you know, you could see a game script that's favorable to Dalton Schultz, but it's not a big endorsement here. Again, like I'm going to be forced to start him in a league. I wish I didn't have to. He's a top 12 tight end who you're starting for the floor, not the ceiling. And the Ravens defense just has been a lot better since since

that Cincinnati game where Jamar chase just destroyed them and scored 55 points. They've just been a lot better against everyone basically quarterbacks receivers and and tight ends also helped who they played. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I could guess the list if anybody cares, but just dealers Giants game. Yep. Yeah, Russell Wilson, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts.

Jalen Hurts scored 18 fantasy points against them, but I think he threw 19 passes. AJ Brown had a bad game, but again, I think it was 19 passes. You're right. The competition has been easier. Not that this is great competition, but again, you're looking at, we are in week 17 and you're hoping for somebody to replace David Nijoka, or you're hoping for somebody to get you from Brenton Strange to somebody else.

So there's no guarantee Dalton Schultz is gonna be good, but two of his last three games, he scored a touchdown. They need somebody right now. Like there's a path. How do you feel about the Ravens DST? Love them. They are very good. Behind the Colts and behind the Dolphins for me. But they're ahead of everybody else but the Colts and the Dolphins for me. Yep. Same.

And sorry. Oh, there was a name that I did not say throughout the show. And I apologize. I just want to get your thoughts on Tai-Jay Spears, who's also a waiver wire running back that's available. I forget about him in the context of this game, but just Taiji Spears back to the randomly the waiver wire. Final thoughts there. Way to circle back. I mean, he's behind Gus Edwards and Amir Abdullah for me, but he's you know, been amazing for the last two games. It's just so fluky because he's got three touchdowns or four touchdowns over that span. The reception totals are good. They're not great. So Abdul

is doing a better job catching the ball. If you're looking at that. The only thing is, do they shut down Pollard? You know, and I think that's the best still on the table, you know, for guys been gimping around and not practicing for a team that's out of it. Did he get to his thousand yards yet? Oh, I don't know. I'm checking. But by the way, that's what Alvin Camaro wants. Alvin Camaro's never had a thousand yards, so he might force his way back. F.Y.I. I was in 17 yards for Tony Pollard. He did. So it would not be surprising if we get to this game Sunday or Monday or Tuesday or what day is

the game? Sunday. We get to Sunday and, you know, Pollard has in practiced and, oh, by the way, he's inactive for this week. So just take that into account. Actually, I would make Tajay Spears like maybe like a top 15, top 13 type of fantasy running back if there's no Tony Pollard. I think the one worry with Spears is if Pollard plays, what is Spears' role if the Titans are playing with elite?

Yeah. How much work does he actually get? He won't see nearly as many targets if that's the case, but anything short of that game script and Ty J Spears is gonna be pretty good to that point though He did have a first quarter touchdown against the Bengals rushing touchdown. So they gave him that chance early in the game It's such a wild card. Yeah, that game's today actually. That game was just true. All right, I don't know if you guys heard on the broadcast,

Alvin Kamara has the most rushing yards in NFL history without having a thousand yard season. Pretty sure that's what they said. Yeah, pretty cool stat there. Thanks for watching and listening everybody. You know what though, like, I might want that designation if I'm him. Like.

That's a cool, it's a cool designation. Yeah. Like, okay, I never ran for a thousand yards, but look how many yards I did get. Yeah. I have the, and he could just say, I have the most rushing yards in NFL history. And then he could just trail off and not say the rest of it. We're out of here.

We'll talk to you tomorrow. We've got a normal schedule this week. So we'll talk to you Christmas. We've got a normal schedule this week, so we'll talk to you Christmas morning, previewing the Thursday night game, and doing some tough calls for week 17. Have a good one everybody. We'll see you tomorrow. Paramount Podcasts.