Fantasy Football Today - Week 18 Start or Sit! Who Can We Trust in this Wacky Week? (01/02 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

Which teams are resting their starters (3:10)? Which players have contract incentives they might hit this week (6:15)? We tell you that and go through the news and notes (8:40) before previewing every game on the slate (23:30). We ask a 2026 question and go through the starts and sit for each game. Can we trust guys like Tank Bigsby, Kimani Vidal, Bryce Young, Dak Prescott and Drake London? Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts Watch FFT on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop our store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shop.cbssports.com/fantasy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FFT Dynasty on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE to FFT DFS on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dfs/id1579415837⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's just going to go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Happy Friday, everybody. Happy New Year, everybody. Welcome to the show. It's fantasy football today presented by BedMGM. Make it legendary. in the entire week 18 slate today.

Ooh, monumental task ahead of us. Who's going to be resting starters? Who can you count on this week? And for each game, we'll have a 2026 question. For those of you are not playing in week 18, there still will be some relevant content for you. Good morning, Dave, Richard. I did not even think Dave was going to be on the show.

I do he traveled to the fiesta bowl. He fiesta this week. And welcome back. Oh, my gosh. If my fiesta, you mean, cotton. Oh, yeah, right. My best.

I am not a time traveler. If I were, I'd be a lot better at fantasy football. Are you going to, let's go to the Fiesta Bowl together, me and you. Oh, I don't, I don't. Okay. You gotta go. You can't go to one and not the other. That's why these bowl games have such affordable tickets.

It's really a lot to ask of these fan bases to keep traveling. I mean, you could have gotten into the Orange Bowl for like 30 bucks yesterday or something crazy. About the same price for the Cotton Bowl, too. Shout out Miami for charging me for base value. You got to go. I don't know. That's a lot. It's a lot to ask.

You can't put the one and not the other. You got to go. The money isn't the issue. It's the flight. That's a five-hour flight. You got to go. You got to go, obviously. Can I borrow the private jet, Jamie?

You got to go. However you get there, you got to go. Oh, man. Well, anyway, it's been a joyous week for me and Dave for sure. and we won't talk about that anymore. Let's get into week 18. I'm sure we won't. I can't imagine it was a lot of fun for you guys to do rankings this week.

Which teams do we know, Jamie, are sitting players right now? Packers are not going to start either of the top two quarterbacks, so you assume they're going to sit some of their key guys. I would assume Josh Jacobs, for sure, Christian Watson playing through whatever injury he's been playing through, was probably going to sit as well, especially after what happened to them last year, Week 18. The bills sound like they're going to sit Josh Allen, which means they're probably going to sit. James Cook would be my guess. They're two top offensive players.

I don't know why you would risk that if you're going to sit Allen. We know that the Chargers are going to sit Justin Herbert, so they're probably going to sit some guys with Marion Hampton is on the injury part with an ankle problem. So I wouldn't expect to see him, which means you can't trust the receivers with Tray Lance. and the Eagles are going to sit a good portion of the guys. The one that's tricky is Sequin Barclay because he has a $250,000 contract incentive for, I think it's like 83 total yard or something like that. 87. 87.

So my guess is they do some sort of, here you go. Thanks, Sequin, for everything that you've done and don't play, but here's your bonus. So there's a few of those situations that you've got to keep an eye on, but I think right now, from what I understand, I might be missing a team, but Buffalo, Green Bay, Philly, and the Chargers from the playoff teams. I think those are the ones that you've got to be concerned about. Okay. Does anybody worry about Dallas pulling their starters?

It's possible. Feels like that's been suggested. Right. I don't think Brian Schottenheimer said anything to dispel that. So I'm still ranking them like they're going to play at least three quarters. So the starters are in my rankings, but I think there's a chance we see some of Joe Milton. and some other players as well. I started building some DFS lineups for the story that I write every Friday,

and it was fun and tricky at the same time because there's a lot of different options you can use, but at the same time, like, you obviously want to get some players that are great matchups, and how much of those guys will play Dallas was one. And, you know, I'm keeping an eye on the Wanda Robinson injury because will he play. And if he doesn't play, that takes away a little bit of the allure of a giant stack of Jackson Dart and one of his receivers, because I don't know if you want to trust any of the other guys in terms of, you know,

there's plenty of boom potential, but there's also plenty of bus potential as well. I think another one to watch is New England, and when is Jacksonville plays at one. I'm sorry, did we figure out the scenario of New England and Jacksonville? Jacksonville wins and New England loses, Jacksonville gets the two. Okay, correct. But if Jacksonville and New England both win,

then New England is the two unless Denver, loses and New England is the one. Right, right. But Denver's playing Chargers backups at 425 Eastern. New England's playing Miami. So it's possible with some scoreboard watching that New England could be pulling starters in the second half, but not if Jacksonville wins necessarily at 1 o'clock against Tennessee. All right.

So a lot of scenarios and the incentives, some other players that have incentives this week, Dawson Knox is seven yards away from $100,000. and one touchdown away from another $100,000. Khalil Shakir going to get $150,000 for each of his next two receiving touchdowns, but we're not expecting Josh Allen at this point. Maybe that's a little. He will probably take a snap to keep his streak intact and then sit. I was talking to my friend last night and I was like, my brother,

I was like, it's going to be so annoying. He's going to play one snap or one series. And then I'm going to have to Azer stat his entire season, just like I did last week, last year. He's going to have zero points. He's going to kill his average. Rico Dowdell, seven yards away from a million dollars, but one touchdown away from 250 extra. Yeah, he's playing.

I would expect that. Yeah. Marquis Brown, $750,000 for each of his next two touchdowns. Kareem Hunt. So he might hit that incentive by 2027. Yeah. Kareem Hunt, 31 total yards away from 25,000. Stefan Diggs is eight catches away.

from 500,000. Do you think Stefan Diggs gets it? No. That's a big ask. Yeah, it's a lot. We'll see. That's one where I think takes into account, you know, will he play the full game?

Hunter Henry, five catches away from $250,000. That could happen. Mack Hollins, four catches away from a $400,000 incentive. That's not happening. He's on IR. Oh, yeah. My bad. Sequin Barclay, 87 total yards away from $250,000,

as Jamie mentioned. Debo Samuel is, 10 catches, 93 yards, and two touchdowns away from big incentives. It's Debo Samuel, and he'll be facing Eagles backups. By the way, Eagles backups last year in Week 18, went out and beat the Giants, 20 to 13, with Tanner McKee at quarterback. It wouldn't shock me if he gets the yards, because they'll probably try and do that. Sam Darnold has a lot of money he could make with a good game on Saturday at San Francisco.

And this one's interesting, Tony Pollard, who's got 300-yard games and an 80-plus-yard game in his last four. He's 66 rushing yards away. Tony Pollard from $250,000. That's a tough defense he'll be facing in Jacksonville. All right. News and notes. Lamar Jackson's

going to play. Yay. Josh Allen, we're not so sure about at least playing anything significant. Patriots said they're going to play their starters. Eagles resting starters. Marcus Mario is doubtful, so it'll be Josh Johnson at Philadelphia. Gino Smith is out. We could see Kenny Pickett

and Aidan O'Connell, according to Vincent Bonsignor of the Las Vegas Review Review Journal. Hey, Aaron Rogers might come back next year about that. Brady Cook is starting for the Jets again. Clayton Toon is starting for the Packers. J.J. McCarthy practiced in full, so he might play against Packers' backups. And Anthony Richardson practiced in full, but it's going to be Riley Leonard, right? Yes. A lot of running back news.

Breeze Hall missed the practice, but he came back. He practiced on Thursday, but Josh Jacobs limited. We're not expecting Jacobs. Kyron Williams was limited with an ankle injury. He should be fine, but Blake Corum missed practice. But you do. Do you wonder about Kyron Williams and how much he'll play? I think it comes down to, again, what happens in the game Saturday night,

and do they still have a shot at the five seat? Right. So they need the Niners to win. Sorry. They need Seattle to win. In New Seattle to win in order to have a chance of five. I think that's correct. No, that's right. The Rams need to win and a 49ers loss to get the five.

Yeah, I've got all the scenarios here. And the five is the coveted spot because you'll face Carolina or Tampa Bay. Right. Let's see. We got Devon A-chan. He's been missing practice with a shoulder injury. Jalen Wright could be in play at New England. New England's got maybe Milton Williams coming back, but Kyris Tonga, another defensive tackle and linebacker Roberts Palais, they're hurt. Chase Brown's been out with an illness. We'll see about that.

Javante Williams and Malique Davis are both banged up. So Jaden Blue could be a week 18 winner at the Giants. Jordan Mason practice in full, but Aaron Jones has been missing practice. And they've got the Packers theoretically a lot of their backups. I wouldn't be surprised if this is Aaron Jones' last game in the NFL because he's just turned 31. I heard on the radio broadcast, he took part in the media's broadcast camp, you know, to get guys ready for broadcasting careers.

So he did that last off-season. So I wonder if facing the Packers would be a good way to go out for him. That'd be cool. If this is what he decided to. He does have a 2 million roster bonus on March 15th. So I would imagine a decision from the Vikings if he doesn't make a decision will be made before then. Chris Rodriguez is going to play. Bejel Tootin practiced in full.

Alvin Camara missed practice. Jamie mentioned Omari in Hampton with an ankle injury and Kamani Vidal who missed last week's game he practiced in full so Vidal with Trey Lansett quarterback

will be facing Denver who needs a win and Rico Doudal's good to go a wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is out Jack Besh is back Wondale I mean we'd be so excited

I think I would be for Wondale Robinson this week but he's been missing practice so keep an eye on that and we were excited about Tyler Shuck, but Chris Olave, thankfully, he's going to be fine, but Chris Olavet has a blood clot in his lungs, should fully recover in the next month, but he will be out. And Mason Tipton mispractice. Are there any Saints-wide receivers to look at Atlanta? Yeah, Kelvin Austin,

Jr. He's played a lot recently since Devon Valet's injury and coming off a decent game. If you're desperate, Dante Pettis will also get some opportunities. So I think this is just, you trust Tyler Shuck to make these guys better. They're great DFS dart throws because we've seen this falcon secondary prior to the last couple of weeks, but for the most part, they were struggling down the stretch. So with the way Shuck is playing, if you think there's going to be a lot of opportunities, then these guys will get targets and hopefully deliver. But obviously, Juan Johnson is the one you want to look at and just say he's safe at his position.

I don't know how great he'll be now that he'll get some additional coverage, but he's certainly going to get opportunities. Yeah, and Shuck is no longer really an attractive option for Dave and Jamie. I mean, they have him 19th and 20th. Devante Adams not expected to play. Kayshan Boutty and DeMario Douglas could play this week. Pat Bryant looks like he's good to go for Denver. Romo Dunezay probably not going to play,

but Luther Burden probably will play, Dave. Is that fair to say? Fair to say. All right. Rashid Shaheed is going to play for Seattle at San Francisco on Saturday and Amon Ross St. Brown. That's one we're keeping an eye. I'm keeping an eye on anyway.

They've been eliminated. He's been playing hurt, and he was limited in practice, St. Brown. At least he got in the limited session. It sounds like he's going to play. Yeah. Tight end. No to Joku or fan in it practice for Cleveland. Dalton Kincaid limited. Theo Johnson's still missing practice with an illness that kept him out of last week's game. T.J. Hawkinson missing practice.

How about Sam Laporta? His back injury could sideline him until training camp or later. That's tough. Keep an eye on Chico Conquo. He's got a touchdown in two straight games. I think he has seven or more targets in three straight games. and Gunner Helm mispractice. So that could lead to more targets for Oconquo. Darren Waller mispractice. Greg Dulcich would be the guy there.

George Kittle expects to play. You guys rank Kittle? Yep. Must start. Cool. Big surprise. And Jake Ferguson was limited with the calf injury that he left last week's game with.

On the offensive line, the two big ones for Saturday, Charles Cross, Seattle's left tackle is out. And Trent Williams, San Francisco's left tackle is questionable. and the defensive injuries to know. Seattle safety, Kobe Bryant, is doubtful. Detroit defensive tackle, a Lee McNeil mispractice. He got hurt last week. Their run defense was much worse without him.

So that's for Chicago. They're running backs against Detroit. Tampa Bay is going to be without linebacker Anthony Nelson and cornerback Jamel Dean. I mentioned the Patriots defensive line update, and the Packers claimed Trayvon Diggs off waivers. They're a little beat up at cornerback, so they need the help. listen if you're going to if you're playing for a championship in week 18 it is vital to stay on top of the inactives you should be doing this every week anyway but there are going to be so many players that are either surprise inactive or you're you're thinking maybe they'll be inactive and then they are this is the week where this happens you've got to stay on top of it inactive typically come out 90 minutes before kickoff if a player isn't ruled out in advance anyway so stay on top of all these injuries so you know what's up with your lineups in week 18 and

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We will not have a show on Sunday morning. And unfortunately, we will not have a mailbag. This is our last show of the week. We will have shows Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday for the next five months, basically, beginning next week. And we will take a break. And when we come back, we're going to help someone win $4,500. Okay, ready to make Bo, our listener, some money here? Yes.

He's going to donate some to charity if we can help them out. All right. Joe says, or Bo says, $4,500 are on the line. Join a league where every week we pick any time touchdown. You start with three strikes, and if your guy scores a touchdown, you don't lose a strike. If they score two touchdowns, you get an extra strike. Leagues started with 100 people. It's down to the last week.

There are eight left. I currently have a one-point lead, because he's gained extra strikes. And we are picking two guys this week. You can only use them once. So that doesn't matter anymore. He needs two players that you think are going to score a touchdown this week. He's deciding between Jackson Smith and Jigba at San Francisco, Cortland Sutton against Chargers, likely backups,

Chase Brown against the Browns, DeAndre Swift against the Lions, or are Bill's running back against the Jets. So we need two touchdown scores. JSN, Sutton, Chase Brown, DeAndre, Swift, Bill's running back. It's so funny because the first two names that popped in my head were Swift and Ray Davis.

I didn't know what the stipulations were, but those are the first two names that I thought of when you started to say this. So when you got to the end, I was like, oh, interesting. Can you pick a random bills running back or have to pick the specific Bill's running back? Yes, to pick Ray Davis or James Cook. Yeah, that's crazy because I love Ray Davis this week if James Cook doesn't play. even with Bill's backups against that Jets run defense. Swift would be one for me.

I'm a little nervous about Chase Brown. You mentioned you were going through the teams. Chase Brown's on the Indry Port. I love him this week, obviously, if he plays. But I don't know if he has any incentive to play at this point, with what he's accomplished and how he looks. And so will the Bengals be a little bit cautious with him? But I think if he does play, he's going to have an awesome matchup

against the Brown's team that clearly doesn't have any incentive to play for neither of the Bengals. But Chase Brown has just been amazing. The receivers are great, but you know how receivers go. I mean, Cortland Sutton had two touchdown opportunities last week and dropped on both. Man, that's why he bounces back this week. I would go, he has picked two?

Yeah. Swift is one for me. Really? Okay. I mean, Bear's running back scored touchdowns almost every week. You don't know who it's going to be. It's risky, but again, you know, you are talking about him against his former team. How do you do against the Eagles when he played them?

um he also scored against the the lions in week two so with the way the run defense looks right now and that team trying to get the two seat i think swift has a as much opportunity as anybody so i'll let you guys pick the other one i'll take swift sudden was the first name that came to my mind so i'm glad that he can use him this is bow nicks against chargers backups that means a backup pass rush backup secondary we we saw the broncos last year in a game that they needed against backups and Bo Nix went berserk. And it doesn't sound like you can use, I guess you could use

quarterback so then they have to run for the touchdown. They can't throw for it. And even if they could, I don't know if he's used Bo Nix anyway, but if you can't use Nix for a passing touchdown, I would use Cortland Sutton. And I don't hate JSN one bit because that 49ers pass rush is bad to begin with. Their secondary

isn't great. And I think Seattle's going to throw plenty. So I don't mind JSN as a second name. And I feel like both of them are a little bit safer than Swift, but I agree with Jamie, like the offensive line for Chicago is great. Detroit's defense is banged up. We don't know how motivated Detroit will be. They probably will be. But Swift is a good option. I think Sutton and JSN are better. I would go with JSN. He'd be my first one. You got a 47.5 point total. And, you know, obviously

a huge game. They need to play. Whereas I really do like Sutton versus the Chargers, but what if the Chargers don't, like, don't score any points, right, against Denver, and they just don't have to throw. So that, I like Sutton, just, that's in the back of my mind. If Chase Brown, Chase Brown has an illness. It's not the injury report with an illness. So I think I'd go with him if he plays. I'd go with Ray Davis if they rule, I'd go with JSN number one.

Number two would be Ray Davis if they rule James Cook out. I don't think I'd go with Cook because I'd be nervous about him playing limited snaps. So one would be JSN for me. Two would be Chase Brown if he plays, then probably. swift than Sutton just get like I go JSN over Sutton personally for goal receivers

me too Dave said Sutton first I'd take Sutton first okay I'll give you another dark horse receiver who's only scored twice this year so you might be nervous maybe you've heard of him

his name is Justin Jefferson no way against the Packers back it's a dark horse maybe this is something for like no you want to go on bet MGM and taking any time touchdown prop I just I feel like

with McCarthy back It's a quarterback upgrade. Backups on defense for Green Bay. One last hurrah. He's a few yards away from 1,000 to begin with. 53 yards. Yeah, 53 yards there. Thank you.

All right. Good luck to you, Bo. And we appreciate your charitable donation. Let's get to the games. Okay. So, 2026 question for each game. Carolina at Tampa Bay, if everybody comes back,

let's say the Buccaneers have the same. wide receiver core who's the first bucks wide receiver you're drafting and in what round do you think you take them jamie probably still mike evans and i would say with everybody there round five dave abuka round five or six okay well this is one of the big one the first three games we're going to preview are the big ones carolina tampa bay seattle san francisco Baltimore, Pittsburgh. Dave, who do we like in this game? Could be a low-scoring game.

The Bucks have scored 20 or fewer points and five of their last six. Panthers rarely score more than 23 points. What's the total here? It's 43 and a half. Who do you like in this game to start? Well, there's obvious names, obviously, Mike Evans. And who else is really obvious?

Is Ted Roan-McMillan even obvious at this point? Not after last week. One of the biggest. Yeah, given the, how he's done, but also given just the landscape of the week and so many receivers missing, I feel like people will still be compelled to start McMillian. I had a great game against Tampa before Tampa's secondary is in bad shape, even if Jamel Dean had played, it would have been in bad shape.

I kind of like Rico Dowdell. I like the way that he ran last week. I don't think the Panthers used him enough. And Tampa's run defense has been terrible lately. Levante David's been making some mistakes. And Carolina's offensive line, we talked about it last week with Aquano coming back at left tackle. I think that helps a little bit Robert Hunt will be back

I think this week I think I said that last week and then he ended up not playing but that line will be a little bit stronger I think Carolina runs a lot and I think Rico Dowell can end up finishing the year strong and I don't know if he's got incentives still

you might have mentioned that the early part of the show yeah he's going to get how close is he's like seven yards away from a million dollars but if he scores a touchdown so he's going to get that he's a touchdown away from 250K

okay so ultimately he can help his team make the playoffs. I don't have to worry about anything that happens to in the other NFC South game. I kind of like Dowdell. So low end number two running back for him. I'm nervous about Bucky. There isn't a quarterback I really like in the game.

Godwin is in that flex territory and full PPR. Jeline's interesting too. I like the way that he played last week. How do you feel about Bucky? I don't love him. Low end number two running back at best. So your favorite running back is Daudill. Jamie, how about you?

Dattle is my favorite running back in the game, for sure. Dattle is my favorite running back, but I think Bryce Young also has a decent game here. I mean, the track record against the Bucks has been fantastic, eight straight games with a quarterback at 19 fantasy points or more, including Bryce Young, who had 21 in the first matchup. So I don't know if Tampa can stop anything that the Carolina Panthers want to do. It's a matter of what the Carolina Panthers want to do. And so I'm hopeful, you know, Dave just mentioned all, you know, three of the top four receivers for Tampa Bay. So the question is, can Baker Mayfield play well here? And this is one of those scenarios where I'm sure Dave will agree.

Like, the receivers can get their numbers, but the quarterback doesn't necessarily have a great game. And that's kind of been the M.O. for Baker for the second half of the season since the shoulder injury. And so one of the receivers will probably, one of the, two of the top four receivers will probably be terrible. One will probably be close to great and one will be decent. And I think, you know, for me, I don't know where Dave has this, but Evans destroys this team. His history against Carolina is absolutely amazing. I said it the first matchup. He had another touchdown in the first game.

So I think you trust him just based on how Baker is leaning on him. And then Godwin coming off the game that he just had, and he's actually has 14 PPR points for more into his last three. The one they didn't do it was against Carolina. But he does have two touchdowns into his last three games. So he feels like the second best option. McMillan is interesting because he's coming off this huge game against Miami, but the two previous games, he was terrible.

So it's probably going to be either him or Abuka having a big play or two that will help boost their numbers, but not enough to where I think you're going to start them, even in a week 18 scenario where there's a lot of guys missing. But one of these guys could be decent DFS plays. I think just in the case of Carolina, for me, I'm going to trust Tett as a number two receiver because I do think that Bryce Young will be good enough

that he's a borderline starter. So I actually like Bryce Young better than Baker Mayfield just based on the defenses that each of them are facing. Sorry, I was muted there. Give the Panthers credit. their seventh best against quarterbacks. Basically, the M.O. is, they're pretty good against the pass. They're not that good against the run, but Bucky Irving is just tough to trust right now.

The Panthers have allowed 10 rushing touchdowns to running backs in their last six games. But again, who's... And Sean Tucker had one of them. Who's going to score the... Yeah, that's who scores for Tampa this week. The five catches... And the last time these teams met, there was no targets for Bucky. So he got involved in the passing game against Miami, but then it's just, he's all over the place right now.

And he's going to be a really tough player to evaluate next offseason just based on how good he was to start the year, how awesome he was as a rookie, and how terrible he's been done in the stretch. So Evans and McMillan are starts, basically. Yep. And I think you could qualify Godwin as a start too. Again, going back to a lack of good receivers this week, it just pushes up a lot of the players that would be in the flex range into the low end number two receiver range. Okay. And let's go to Seattle at Stanford. Francisco.

So this is kind of where Sam Darnold would be good, right? I mean, like Sam Darnold or Bryce Young? Darnold. Okay. And it's funny you say that because this is typically when Sam Darnold is bad with a huge game. I know, right? The matchup is good, but, you know, Jamie's right. Just the fact that it's a playoff intense type game.

This is when he wilts. So, this was the exact scenario last year. Exactly. You're right. Is your matchup, though, than last year? The 49ers are, well, no. Last year you played the Lions, right? Yeah, and they were terrible.

They were horrible. They had a pass rush. No, they did not. They lost Hutchinson. They were terrible. They lost everything. I mean, they lost the defense. They were so bad at the end of the season.

They were almost historically bad in December last year. The amount of yards per play, they were allowing. remember that stat. And he fold. And look, he threw two interceptions against the Rams a few weeks ago, right? Got lucky with that overtime game to have a good game. So he's not like a top 12 guy, Sam Darnold. See, he's 13.

Oh, I like him. Oh, he is. Never mind. He's 13th for Jamie's 11th for Dave. He's 18th for Heath. I was speaking for Heath. But that was as of two days ago. Anyway, what about the running back?

Charbonnet coming off an 18-carried game. he had the last five carries and seven of the last eight carries for Seattle. So he basically ran out the clock. Jamie, is he the Seattle running back you prefer at this point? I think you have to. You know, you just look at the body of work and the touchdown potential. And that favors him. He had a touchdown in the week one matchup against San Francisco as well.

I think just looking at what makes their team go is using both running backs. And when they get down to the goal line or inside the 10, it's, it's Charbonate time. And he's been involved in the past game almost just as much as Walker recently. So just looking at, he runs forward. Walker looks for a big place. You know, I would imagine after what they saw last week, like, how do you not give him more opportunities? Because we say this every week about Ken Walker, when Ken Walker has a good game. I just think you treat them, again, given the week, you treat them just a simple fight.

You treat them as low in number two running backs. I prefer Sharper. Okay, yeah. If people in the chat, if you have any specific questions about the game, feel free to fire away. We'll answer them, but we have 16 games to get through today. So the easy calls in this game are obviously McCaffrey and JSN and the 49ers tight end, whoever it may be.

We're expecting it to be kiddle. He says he's going to play. But let's talk about Purdy. And Purdy, he's easy call. Well, I mean, is he? Because look at who he's... All right. I mean, look, the last two games have been against the Colts and the Bears,

and he scored 40. And then the Titans. You still expect the top 12 game from him. Okay. Seattle has had a pretty easy schedule. They haven't really faced a lot of good offenses. And the good quarterbacks have beat them up. Well, not all of them.

Stafford scored 17.2. Brissette scored 21.4. And then that's kind of it. I think it's easier to lower expectations for priority if he doesn't have Trent Williams protecting his blind side. But remember, he didn't. Yeah, go ahead. Williams in practice all week

The replacement last week wasn't very good He was maybe average And I just I like Purdy I'm going to start Purdy But every time I go to my rankings I'm not sure if I want to keep him Where I have him right now he's fifth And I'm thinking if there's no Trent Williams

And this is why you've got to look at the inactive For the game like there's a case to be made To start Trevor Lawrence ahead of him That's an example Yeah, I think Jackson Dart I'm a little worried about Dart's offensive But Dart clearly has the matchup. I think he needs to have Wondale active in order to feel good about him.

What about Piersall and Jennings? Good to go with them? Yep. Jennings is a must-start receiver at this point. I mean, he just scores all the time. And Piers-all, I think he gave him the credit for his last two games, over 95 yards receiving in both 15 targets in those two games. And he had over 100 yards receiving against Seattle in week one.

I won't dispute the Jennings thing because it's week 18 and so many guys are sitting. But the trends are not great for Jennings the last two games when Ricky Pearsall has been on the field. And he only has three games all year with more than 54 yards. So I, you know, it's hard to bank on touchdowns every week. They're saving him. They're propping him up. And Seattle's six best. I mean, I think you said it best.

Like, who are you starting over, Joan Jennings at this point of the replacement options or, you know, like as good as Godwin played last week, I'd still rather trust Joanne Jennings and his quarterback. and his matchup as well. How about just out of curiosity? Evans, Teterola, McMillan, Jawan Jennings. I put Jennings in between those two just because of McMillan's volatility. Yeah.

Agreed. Evans ahead. Next game. Seattle DST, by the way, is round 12th or 13th. Baltimore is in Pittsburgh. Dave, you trust Lamar Jackson? Not really. Oh, wait. I don't know how healthy he is when he did play.

2026 question. 2026 question Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know that was a No, it wasn't it wasn't I just forgot my 2026 question Derek Henry What was the 2026 question

For the last game? Yeah, I know It's too late now We're gone Dave, Derek Henry You look at his numbers With Lamar Jackson Pretty damn good

Can we make a case For him as a round one pick next year? I don't know if I trust it Just because Forget about the age It's the workload that he took on again another year of doing that. And you saw before last week,

the Ravens were taking him off the field more than they really should have. And so if they go into next year with Derek Henry, is it going to be a thing where he's in a timeshare for, you know, the first 10 games of the season? He's only playing 50% of the snaps. He's maxing out at 15 carries. And then he's off the field.

And it's Keaton Mitchell and Justice Hill or whoever. That worries me a little bit. So no, not a first round pick. Okay. Dave, you trust Lamar Jackson this week? not really i don't i feel like he's got to prove it at this point and i know it's week 18 and it's exciting that he's coming back the steelers tend to have his number and he has not given us good fantasy numbers at all since he came back from injury less the first game he came back from

injuries against miami he crushed and then after that he just completely fell apart so i'd rather go to battle with some of these other quarterbacks that we'll talk about including dart Caleb Williams, Bo Nix. Preset isn't a fan. We're not fans of percent anymore because of how he's been playing, but I'd still start him out of Lamar. Would you go to the Bryce Youngs of the world over Lamar Jackson? I'm not there yet.

I would still go Lamar and hope that he can get me to 18 fantasy points. Jamie, how we feel about Zay Flowers? Easy start this week? Yeah, I mean, his last four games have been great. I think having Lamar back is huge for him. The Steelers defense has been fantastic. and their secondary has been playing very well. Some of it's who they have played against.

But I think you just take into account what Flowers has done and the importance of this game and you consider him based on the field a solid number two wide receiver. Okay. We're going to start. He had over 100 yards against Pittsburgh the first time. We're going to start Derek Henry.

I assume we're not going to start a tight end in this game, even though the Steelers tight ends are seeing the increase in targets. They're great DFS plays because one of these guys will probably have a decent game. Yeah. It's a really tough matchup, though. Baltimore is fantastic.

They have not allowed more than 60 yards to a tight end all year. They've allowed four touchdowns to tight ends this season. Baltimore or Pittsburgh? Baltimore. Okay. Yeah, great against tight ends. Okay. On the Pittsburgh side, we're not going to start Rogers or a wide receiver.

Dave, how do you feel about Warren and Gainwell? I think they're number two running backs. I know that the Ravens run defense, their whole defense overall has been very up and down this year. I like Gainwell better. I feel like he's just got like a little bit of an edge in terms of catching the ball, being a checkdown guy, a safety valve guy for Aaron Rogers. And I haven't looked it up to see just how big the difference has been inside the 10 for these guys. But I feel like they've been splitting enough to where that receiving edge is for Gainwell than it is for Warren.

Okay. So the Ravens are third in the NFL and most receptions allowed to running backs. And Gainwell in the first game, he had four carries for 15 yards in a touchdown, but he had six catches in that game, only 27 yards. So the touchdown kind of saved him. But, I mean, he's just been so involved in the passing game. And without, you know, this, this burned me last week by saying this, because I thought it would be the case without D.K. McCaff, and clearly did not happen,

where they used Gainwell in the passing game. There was a report that came out either yesterday today that they used them to chip a little bit too much. And that's something I think that they regret because they didn't get him out in, involved in as a weapon for uh for rogers like they probably will this week so just given the matchup and i think what is at stake and who's missing without metcalf there this could be another five plus catch game for him so i think you trust him more is a little bit tougher um so you know when you start to get into those touchdown dependent guys that are getting a lot of work meaning like manangai and charbonnet and um it's probably it in terms of like who you trust like i i mean obviously

You're not going to go to the Tyler Algears and Sean Tucker's of the world. But I think when you look at the low-end number two running backs, like I don't know if Warren's a slam dunk. Gainwell, to me is. Okay. And remember he was chipping Miles Garrett last week. We won't have to deal with that against Baltimore. Sure.

Do you want the inside the five splits for these guys? No, that's okay. I mean, they both. Let's just say it's pretty close, but Warren has an edge. Questions from the chat from the last game. Bo Nicks or Brock Purdy? Purdy. Pertie has them now.

Jack Charbonnet or Audric Estime Charbonnet Charbonnet Okay And we're going to take a break Ravens DST by the way is 10th About 10th for Jamie And for Dave

Ravens are 11th Okay So we'll take a break And we'll go through the other games A lot quicker And we'll start with Dallas at the Giants When we come back on fantasy football today Dallas for the Giants

Head Coaching candidates No not at all Jackson Dart or Dak Prescott in 2026 Right now, it would be Dak. I think I have dart higher. Dallas has won nine in a row in this series, 16 of the last 17. Dak Prescott has won 14 straight against the New York Giants. And it would be so easy to just start all of your Cowboys, basically.

But we do have some concerns about how much they'll play. So, Dave, how did you go about approaching that? Plus, we don't even know who they're starting running back is going to be. But give me your thoughts on the Cowboys. I think it almost helps them that we don't know who. they're starting running back is going to be because it'll just make it easier to call plays for Dak Prescott, who currently leads the NFL in passing yardage at 4,482 yards. But you might not be the leader by the time he takes the field.

That might be true because, well, who's playing ahead of that? Stafford. Oh, no, Stafford plays same day. No, Stafford plays after him. I thought maybe you were referencing. I keep thinking, I keep on thinking that Stafford's tied into the Saturday game because will he play or will he not play? Sure.

So it really comes down to those two to be the passing leader of the year. And obviously, if Stafford tops DAC, that helps his MVP case and all that stuff. And then we know that the Rams are going to play their starters. So at least they're going to start them. I think Dak plays the majority of the game. And it wouldn't surprise me if he had a good game, even if it's three quarters, let's say he could still get you $225 and two, maybe even three. This giant's defense isn't that good.

And I think we can see Lamb and Pickens go out with a bang-down-year. Pickens, by the way, at 1,420 yards, probably not going to win the receiving crown, because JSN and Pook are so far ahead of him. But he's going to finish with a really strong year. And that is probably going to be something he's interested in doing since he's going into a contract year. Doesn't want to get the franchise tag, but he's probably going to get it.

But at least now he starts to get paid a little bit going into 2026. Yeah. So start your Cowboys basically, but I don't know if I could trust Giovante if he plays. He was limited. I was surprised. I don't think Javante's point. I know,

but why was he limited in practice on Thursday after missing Wednesday? So he was not even practicing. He was just there off to the side. All right. All right. So then, yeah, I mean, Malik Davis would be pretty appealing. And if not, Jaden Blue could be a guy to go with Start, Dart, I guess. Hold on.

So the Cowboys have never had a leader in passing yards. I'm reading this now. Like, think of all the illustrious quarterbacks that they've had. They've never had a guy lead the NFL in passing yards in the season when I'm reading. Oh, we're getting a 500-yard game for deck. Right. I hope so. Please beat the Giants.

Are you basically starting your Giants? I mean, Jamie Grooming real quick or run down on the Giants. I mean, DART is a start no matter who the receivers are because I think of, we saw him run again a little bit last week, which was encouraging with the design runs. But if there's no Wondell Robinson, it makes it a little bit harder, especially if Nothel Johnson as well, because now you're down to, you know, Darius Slayton who can't hold on to the ball consistently and Isaiah Hodgins and, you know, Bellinger and all these other backups that are just not great.

So it makes it very difficult to say Jackson Dart, easy start. But I think low-end starter still just based on his rushing ability. So the Wondale injury is one you've got to watch. Yeah. I think Tracy is a decent number two running back. You know, I wonder how much if he plays at all, Quinn and Williams. You know, dealing with this neck injury, he has nothing to prove. He's obviously established himself as a building block for this Cowboys defense going into 2026.

Like, if he's not 100 percent, is he out there? And if he's not out there, we know what this run defense looks like. It's pretty miserable. So that's one to keep it on as well. Green Bay is at Minnesota. 2026 question for Jamie. Did Justin Jefferson make your top 12 at wide receiver? I haven't done it yet, so I can't say for sure.

But he'll be in the range there depending on how this offseason goes. But man, it just feels gross to not have him there. He's just so good. I like the fact that he came out, I think it was yesterday, and said that he wants to show people how good J.J. McCarthy is. And so if that's the priority, and, you know, here we, what did I say to you the other day? Everything that, why Justin Jefferson was a bust was because we thought it would be Kevin O'Connell making him good.

And we thought Justin Jefferson would help him out here. I'm saying the same thing. So he's got a lot to prove. We'll see how the receivers look and who comes into the NFL and where they go. But he, borderline, let's just say. Okay. Dave, is there anyone in this game you feel good starting? Green Bay at Minnesota?

If there's one running back for Minnesota, meaning, and it looks like it's more likely to be Jordan Mason than it would be Aaron Jones. But if, let's just say Aaron Jones is out and Jordan Mason is in, I'd feel good starting Jordan Mason as the lead back for the Vikings. I guess I'm okay with Justin Jefferson as a number two wide receiver. Again, he would normally be a flex, but so many guys out, just push him up a little bit. He's got 50-something yard, one covered earlier to get to 1,000. I think you could score.

Packers are probably not going to be real interested in playing big in this game. Their backups will be, but they're backups. That's probably about it. There's nobody on Green Bay that I would trust. Not Emmanuel Wilson? I don't even know if Emmanuel Wilson gets a workload that would be deemed feature back worthy. They could end up using two or three guys just to kind of piecemeal their way through this game. How about the Vikings DST?

I would be excited about the Vikings' DSD. Okay. Yeah. I mean, there's always a possibility that the Vikings would have a big day offensively because they're facing backups. And J.J. McCarthy actually kind of scores 20 points. It's never pretty, but he's not the worst out.

Okay, Jamie, if we were redoing the WaiverWire show, knowing Chris Olive is out and J.J. McCarthy looks like he's in. Who's the number one quarterback? Is it young? Is it McCarthy? Who's the best waiver wire quarterback? I would still go Young over McCarthy, but McCarthy would be too.

So I like him better than Cam Ward, who was third. Okay. All right. I'm good to go with that game. Let's go to our next game. It is Cleveland at Cincinnati. Okay, 2026 question. Oh, man.

Sorry, I should have been more prepared for this. I mean, we can get through the game in about 15 seconds. We can do a throwback here. Jamie Start all Bengals, sit all browns? Yeah, basically. I mean, now that Fannin's not looking like he's going to play. So that's the game. I think Samson is an interesting flex, but that's about it.

find your find your 2026 question i think judy is an interesting flex uh because he actually had a pretty nice game last week because fanning got hurt so just a i mean maybe not the way that they defend receivers though yeah and he's pretty much never in the slot so he will see a lot of their top corner but he had seven he had five for 54 on seven targets last week against pitts uh and no concerns about the about like joe burrow's kind of bad history against the bengals about against the Browns? I mean, he's not the top quarterback for me. He's fifth.

You know, so there are four guys I like better this week, but he's still somebody that I would be starting. He's my top quarterback. This Browns defense hasn't played well at all. Oh, okay. All right, I see some questions in the chat. I'm going to kind of go, like in a little bit, I'll go through some of them and it won't be for each game.

Okay, now, question for this game. I asked you about Justin. This could also be just something with the Bengals. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if they start to rest guys. Like, go out and have a couple of big, moments, and then they start to pull guys off. Would you rather draft Justin Jefferson or T. Higgins? Jefferson.

Ooh, Higgins. Wow. Jamie, give me 10 seconds. Why? Well, I mean, you see what he does when he's healthy, and his quarterback is much better than Jeffersons, unfortunately, for Jefferson. So I'll take the upside of the quarterback versus the upside of the receiver. Yeah, Higgins is a guy, like, he's not getting a lot of targets right now.

I know it's, again, this is one of those, it's week 18. What are you going to do? and he's scoring touchdowns, but I'm kind of disappointed in what I'm seeing from Higgins. Hopefully he can go out with a bang.

Indianapolis is at Houston. 2026 question here. Who's going to be your favorite Colts wide receiver in drafts? Pitman, because Pierce will be gone. That's what I think, too.

Unless they franchise him. Any hesitation starting Jonathan Taylor? I mean, I guess, like, what kind of a start is Jonathan Taylor this week against his tough run defense? Good start, not great start. I've got him 12th, I believe. Is that the only Colts player you're even considering?

Yes. I do hope that he continues to be involved in the passing game. He actually has a career high in receptions and receiving yards. So good to see that he's got that potential still, and hopefully that continues with Riley Leonard. really something to keep an eye on with the quarterback situation for next year because if they come back with Richardson, then we know the passing down work is going to be terrible for him.

If they get a pocket passer, which I'm sure they're looking for, or at least somebody that stays in the pocket a little bit more than Richard does, then Taylor's upside looks great. Plus, again, you look out, you look at their third-place schedule versus what would have been a first-place schedule, and I think it helps. How about Daniel Jones as the quarterback? I mean, coming off in Achilles, that will help Taylor, but I don't think that helps the offense. Right. Taylor's got a shot to lead the NFL in rushing on the season.

He's about a little less than 50 yards behind James Cook coming into the week. If Cook ends up resting, Taylor can lead the league in rushing for the year, unless Derek Henry goes berserk Sunday night. Or unless that's something they want James Cook to do. Yeah, that's true. Would you start C.J. Stroud or J.J. McCarthy? Stroud. Stroud.

Strowd or Bryce Young? They're close from me, but Stroud. Agreed. Any, Woody Marks had 19 carries last week, obviously against the bad run defense. He didn't do that much with them. Yeah, sounds like a Woody Marks game. Joward Jordan had eight carries for 36 yards. Who are we starting for the Texans, Dave?

You're starting Nico Collins. You're starting Dalton Schultz. If you're really in a pitch at quarterback, you're starting. starting. So you just drive. You're definitely starting the Texans DST. I suppose if you're really, really in a pinch of wide receiver, Jaden Higgins could come into play. And that's really about it. Let me see where I have Woody Marks, because I'm not a big fan. I like him if you're going to take the over on his rush attempts or something like that. But he's more of a flex than anything else. Seattle running backs or Woody Marks? Seattle running backs. Jacori Kroski Merritt ahead of him, Tyrone Tracy ahead of him. Wow. So you have Jacoby Crosky Merritt. ahead of Chris Rodriguez? Yes. Okay. All right.

That's it. Finish with that game. Saints are at the Falcons. This is a big game because if the Bucks beat Carolina on Saturday, they need the Saints to beat the Falcons.

So if the Falcons... Yeah. If the Falcons win, then Carolina wins the division regardless of whether or not they lost the day before. So the huge game here and no Chris Olave.

It's going to be tough. Tyler Shubon. with someone we really liked, but not so much anymore. Jamie, how about Audric Estime, dominated snaps, 14 carries last week, and had the one cat, had a touchdown at 10. It was in a tough matchup. He came through. Now he'll try to do it again against the team that's been pretty good against running backs lately. How do you feel about Estimate? He's a flex, you know, had a nice 30-yard touchdown run late in the game against the Titans to boost his numbers and get him into the end zone. He's going to need to score. Now, they have used him a little bit in the past.

passing game since Devin Neal's injury, but we're talking about like a three for 14 type of game, you know, not anything I think you'd be thrilled about for him, but clearly without a lobby there, someone's going to have to step up. I do think that, and I saw one report that Tayson Hill now comes back into play for them because of the receiving court being what it is, but I really think if you're just looking at it. The only starter for the Saints that's easy is Juan Johnson. 10.10.3 PPR points, I think it was, 10.1 against the Falcons the first time. They've actually been really good against tight ends, but I think you just rely on what his targets have been. The last two weeks have been fantastic for him without Devon Valle on the field.

So just given his now expanded role in terms of what the target potential could be without a lobby on the field, I think you buy into it. But really it's a lot of dart throws. It's, you know, Tassum's a dart throw, I think Estimay is really a gamble. I do think Kelvin Austin, Kevin Austin, excuse me, Kevin Austin and Dante Pettis are worth a look in DFS. They're so cheap and they're going to get targets. So Austin's my preferred choice. But we'll see how this, you know, goes for them. You know, we're talking about some milestones.

Tyler Shuck still is right now the betting front runner for Ricky of the year. So if he goes out and has a good game without a lobby on the field, I think it solidifies the award for him. If he stinks and let's say Jackson Dart or one of the receivers have a big game or RJ Harvey has a big game, Shuck could lose the award. But right now he's the favorite. Dave, talking about Atlanta here. Bejohn is an easy start.

Is Kyle Pitts an easy start? Yep, because of the position more than anything else. I feel like last week he would have been okay if Bejohn just didn't crush the Rams. If the game script was a little bit different, the Rams were better offensively. We would have seen more targets for both him and Drake London. But Pitts is a start. London I'm nervous about. Certainly Kirk Cousins isn't somebody that I'm rushing to start.

It's really just Bejohn and Pitts. Okay. Danes are actually great against tight ends. I agree with you, starting pits, but they're just fantastic. And they did a great job on him, too, in the first matchup. That was the first start that Cousins had after Pennix's injury. But you can't sit coppits this point. Someone was asking Drake London or Chris Godwin this week?

Godwin. Yeah, I agree. I think there's more upside right now. Such a shame. London's just not himself right now. The 2026 question for New Orleans at Atlanta is Drake London or Chris Olave? Who's the quarterback for Drake Lynn? I don't know let's say it's panics

I've got London two spots ahead of a lobby I would probably take London as well but they're going to be close I would take both over Jefferson without question yep yep all three are in my top 12 Tennessee at Jacksonville Cam Ward

or Kirk Cousins is that for this week yeah that's for this week I'll take Ward all right 2026 question here would be who's your top Jaguars wide receiver and when are you drafting them?

I don't know Brian Thomas is on the team. Yeah. What? Really? A lot of variables there. I'm going to say Jacoby as of now. But if Parker Washington

keeps coming on strong and I like him this week. Oh, wait. You're forgetting about Travis Hunter. Well, but he's coming back from a major knee injury. I forgot about him until just now. So I figured you guys also did.

No, I get it. I think right now it's Myers, but it's going to fluctuate. Washington finishes the year strong. Travis Hunter recovers fully, participates in training camp and is going to play receiver full time. Then, I mean, we're probably going to pivot to Hunter. I wouldn't be surprised if they're top three receivers, if they keep Thomas and Thomas's fourth.

Because Myers, Washington's going to be their slot guy. Myers and Hunter might be their top top. two outside guys. And if we're liking all those receivers, then goodness gracious, Trevor Lawrence is going to be a like top eight quarterback, maybe higher. So, yeah, I mean,

you say that, but then you got to do your rankings and see if you really could put them eight because it's kind of hard. It's really hard. For this game, this game is, this is a good fantasy game. I mean, these are two teams that are going to be going for it. And you know, Lawrence is playing great. He's an easy start. I think it's interesting with

Ryan Thomas, Jr., have two bad games in a row. He got shadowed by Sertan, and he basically got shadowed by Soss Gardner while Gardner was in the game. But I don't see how you get away from Parker Washington. And then Jacoby Myers, to me, is like doing what Jacobi Myers does, which is make us think he's really great. And then we realize he's actually not that great. He's just kind of fine. But he's still very involved, getting a lot of times. I do think this is a very good game for Brian Thomas Jr. based on the matchup.

But it's can you trust him? That's the question. you know so like dave's right washington's been so locked in with trevor lawrence right now like it's hard to get away from 10 targets per game but they just face two teams that are very good against perimeter wide receivers and this team is not titans suck against outside boundary it's really true yeah and this could be a huge game for brian they're going to take shots of brian thomas i mean i i know that they were trying to get him going prior to last week and i think when soss was you know deemed active that sort of changed things a little bit because of how the

matchups were and where Trevor Lawrence going. Plus, Lawrence was a little bit off based on where he'd been in the previous four games. But the thing about Trevor Lawrence is from 26 is Liam Cohen likes his quarterbacks to run. And you saw it with Baker in 2024. You're seeing it with Lawrence now. I mean, he's fantastic in terms of finding the end zone. So their design runs when they get inside the 10. I think it, I know it was last week. I'm guessing it's probably close because they both had two touchdowns, I'm not mistaken. One was through the air for Bijon. He has more rushing touchdowns than Bionne Robinson.

He has nine on the year, four in his last three games. So we like the Jaguars to sum it up. Dave, which Titans do you like? Pollard's okay at running back. Cam, if you're desperate at quarterback, O'Conquo, if you're desperate at tight end, end of list. Arizona's at the Rams. You got a question that, Chad, if you don't answer it.

I have, which one? Kurt. What's just, what's the question? I don't see it. Is Parker Washington, Michael Wilson, or Kenny Pickett, I guess, if it's a Superflex league? Yeah, all right. Pick two, Parker, Washington, Michael Wilson, Kenny Pickett. I would actually start Pickett over Washington in Superflex.

I wouldn't. I'm not sure if Pickett's playing the whole game. Yeah, right. There was that report about it. I don't want a half of Kenny Pickett, even in Superflex. Okay. Yeah, I'm going to go quarterback almost every time. But it's not necessarily.

too, but not here. The full game quarterback. Yeah, if I knew for sure pick, it was playing four quarters, then yeah, probably. All right. Again, I've got a bunch of questions starred. We'll get to them kind of later in the show.

Arizona's at the Rams, Jacoby Brissette. I mean, this is another game where we're going to be starting a lot of guys. Michael Carter, not necessarily, but no Marvin Harrison, Jr. I think we know what that means for Michael Wilson. Top five wide receiver.

Yeah. And Brissette, maybe the magic's running out a little bit, But not this week. Not this week. Okay. No, still a starter. Do we think the, yeah, he's a starter, but, you know, purdy over him, I assume, Dart. Who else?

Not if Dart doesn't have Wanda, I go, Preset. Okay, how about Lamar Jackson or Brissette? They're close, I go Brisset. You guys have Stafford in your top three. Dave, what do you think about, but are you nervous about that? no i think the rams are going to be able to do whatever they want here this cardinals defense is depleted sorry i meant are you nervous about them playing all the whole day morning because that might change right if sunday morning if they end up saying up we're going to set our guys because of what happened on

saturday well they're not going to say that no a report could come out they won't say that but a report could come out saying that they're they're changing their tune but sean mcvay at least like in in the heat of the moment after their game on monday was adamant that his guys were going to play and that they needed the playing time now does that mean that it's going to be four quarters of matthew stafford i would bet against that but three quarters of matthew stafford against this defense could still be monstrous so i'm good with starting the rams players twenty twenty six question marvin harrison jr jr or devante adams who's a quarterback for the cardinals i don't know good question is the so the i think i saw

two two reports if i'm not mistaken that one suggested if they get rid of Gannon, but keep the GM, then Kyler could, I might begin this run, that Kyler could still be the quarterback, could be the other way around, but there is a scenario, I think, in play where maybe it's they get rid of everybody and they keep Kyler, I don't know, but I saw something that either Kyler could be back or Jacobi could be back. If it's Jacoby or someone like him, I'll take Marvin. Okay. By the way, in this game, Colby Parkinson, did he crack your top 12? He did.

Okay, he's eighth for... OPPR, I've got him eighth. Yeah, the only way that he would not be in the top 12 for me is if Devante plays, which doesn't seem likely. Doesn't seem likely, yeah. Rams DST is also one you could look at. Detroit is at Chicago. This is just one thing to keep an eye on here is if you are looking for a desperation play, I wonder if no quorum of Dark West Hunter gets an opportunity late in the game here.

I bet it would be Ronnie Rivers. Could be. Yeah. Okay. 2026 question for Detroit at Chicago. How about Romo Dunzee or Luther Burden? Burden. I think for now it's burden.

Okay. This is an interesting game here. I mean, I think for Chicago, it's kind of like all systems go to remember. of, you know, Caleb, my start of the week. Yeah, I think Caleb, right, he should be great, and Detroit's defense is pretty bad. I think not having a lien McNeil, which I assume they won't have is a big deal for their run defense.

They're not playing for anything. The Bears are. But Detroit, you know, cold weather game. Somebody asks, is there any bad weather? Not really. It doesn't seem like weather's going to be super impactful, but this is not usually the spot for Jared Gough. I'll point out last year he was on fire,

and it didn't matter where he played. And he was on fire before last week this year. But, yeah, I don't know. Jamie, do you think the lion's offense shows up in this game? I think for as much as they want to play, there's a chance for these guys to do well. They obviously have been struggling, so I'm sure they want to go into the offseason playing well. I'm sure they would love to be some sort of spoiler if they can against Ben Johnson, knowing that if they lose in terms of the Bears and the Eagles win,

then that bumps them down a spot in the seating. So minor victory, I think, for Dan Campbell knowing his personality. But my guess is that if they're healthy and these guys are going to be out there, they'll play as much as they can because it's just been such a lost season for them. So trying to end on a high note, I'm sure is a positive for how that team tends to operate. So I think off as good as a low-end starter. Clearly, the pass rush is not a huge issue for Chicago, as we've seen. And the back end of their secondary has been beat up a little bit. So St. Brown and James and Williams are in play here as must start guys.

I mean, I have them ranked basically back where they were prior to facing the Vikings. You know, I was concerned about that last week based on Minnesota's defense. So this is a much easier matchup for them. I don't know. I don't think golf is a top five quarterback. He's not my favorite quarterback in this game. You know, I'd rather start Caleb. So could they start to pull guys off the field if the game is lobsided one way or the other?

Sure. But I think it's going to take that happening. And the only way I think that happens really is if the bears are blowing out the lions and they decide, you know what, we just had enough. Yeah, you know the lions. I mean, they're not going to shy away from anything. They're going to want to go for it. I wonder if they're going to try to get David Montgomery in the end zone and what could be his last game with the team. But you can't start him.

We like DeAndre. Last game was his first time since I think like week eight with more than 10 total touches. Like they're just not giving him work. Yeah. Well, we love DeAndre Swift. He's top 12. Kyle Monong guys, 25th for Jamie, 30th for Dave. So don't start him.

Luther Burden is, we're assuming he's going to play. So he's a must start guy. He's top 12 also. Yeah, he's the number one receiver. How about more, how about DJ Moore and Colson Loveland, Dave? You trust them. Colson Loveland, by the way, his routes, he's been running more routes. And his target share has not been good this year.

Last week was a season high in target share. But his target per route run rate has been very good in four of the last five games. You combine that with more routes and bam, you get more targets. So I like that trend. What do you think about more in Loveland? I think you should be compelled to start Loveland. I've got him actually fifth in full PPR, just knowing that Chicago needs. needs to or wants to win this game.

No Romo Jusei playing. Because it's the game of the week, yeah. Oh. The game of the week, game of the week. It's the game of the week. Yeah. Because it's the game of the week. Hey.

I know Dave likes how many times I say game of the week during the song. The truth is, folks, I forgot about Game of the Week while we did the first three games. Probably would have done it for Seattle, San Francisco. Yeah, I was going to say. So this was my best chance, I think. Okay. Sorry to cut you off, Dave. It's, I mean, I'm freaking used to it. It's been a decade of this stick already.

Loveland's a must start tight end. And the number for Caleb Williams, 271 yards. If he gets 271 passing yards, he's the first 4,000 yard passer in Chicago Bears history. I'm not saying that they're going to make it a point to get them there. but if things are going right and they're winning and Caleb's already having a good game wouldn't surprise me

if they just call a ton of easy pass plays in the second half. Three of the last five opponents against Detroit have given up over 300 yards passing so there's a lot to like about I think he's just 270 though

to get to 4,000. Yeah, 271 breaks 4,000. Yeah, well we just need to be right to 4,000. He's going to get exactly 270 yards then. Yeah, well, asterisk. Sorry that you're going to miss out on that extra point zero.

404 fantasy points if he only gets exactly 270. Lovelland or Pitts? I got pits higher. Right now pits, but it's close. Most of these remaining games are kind of crummy with a lot of guys resting, a lot of bad players.

So Kansas City's at Las Vegas. A 2026 question for this game. Ashton Genti or Rishi Rice. man rice is got such high upside i think in mahomes is ready to go by week one i'm i've got rice higher but they're both round two picks you want to start anyone in this game kansas city at regis gentie's not bad i wonder how much gente will play just because of them

trying like this is this is another week of a tank off for them because the chiefs are trying to lose too to make their draft pick. Can they move up? Who? The Chiefs? The Chiefs, right. If they lose, then maybe they're, they're already in the top 10, right?

I think they're six, I'm not mistaken. Yeah, so Kansas City Chiefs with the top five pick, that'd be crazy. I might be wrong on that, but no, there's, you know, Kelsey's last game,

maybe in his career, which is depressing that this is how he's going out, if that's the case. He'd be the only chief, I would consider. And then for the Raiders, yeah, it's just gently. Oh, no, Michael Mayer. Mayer's, you know, two of three games without Brock Bowers.

He's been 16 PPR points or more. So that's just, I think, where they go from a passing game perspective. Has there been any word on whether they'll try and rest Gentie or whether they'll try and pat his rushing stats? Because he's got an outside shot at 1,000 yards. I mean, they didn't rest him last week, just knowing everything that they were doing. I'd be surprised if they sat him this week. He would need a big game.

I think it's 112 yards to get to 1,000. If the Raiders win, there's a possibility they would lose the number one pick. Obviously, if they lose, they will have the number one pick. So they want to lose Kansas City, yes. They have the ninth pick right now, Kansas City. They're in a three-way tie with New Orleans and Cincinnati at 6 and 10, so they could get to 8th. That's the lowest, that's the best draft pick that Kansas City could get would be 8th.

I think if they win, though, they could fall decently because there's some seven and nine teams behind them and they're six and ten. All right, Trey Tucker, Trey Tucker or DJ Moore? More. All right. Chargers at Broncos, start them all, sit them all?

Yep. Yep. What about Vidal? Nope. He's in a flex conversation just with guys like, I mean, I would start cross-game merit ahead of him, but not an easy matchup still. SMA,

Emmanuel Wilson, like that's where Vidal is. I don't know how much he's going to play. If they're already resting so many starters, Vidal plays a lot, or at least he did before he got hurt. You know, if you want to get him out there

for a drive or two, just to keep him fresh. Let's say you wanted a second Broncos receiver. Would you go Pat Bryan or Franklin? Still Franklin. 26th question. Hampton or Harvey? Hampton.

Washington's at Philadelphia. How do we feel about Tank Bigsby? In that same range, guys. Which is what? Flex. Yeah. I wish I knew for sure that he would be the one that plays all game long.

I mean, if this game, if there were stakes in this game and Barclay were out, then I think it would be. Absolutely. Tank Biggsby would be ranked much higher. So you're just thinking. Maybe that, like, Vidal, he's, that they might just not use him because he's. I'm a little more encouraged about Bigsby than I would be Vidal because the only thing with,

I mean, again, remember, there's only 53 guys on a roster. So they can't sit everybody. And right now, Haskins is in the concussion protocol. Hampton may not play with the ankle injury. So it's probably going to be Vidal and Jared Patterson. How much they use Patterson clearly can be the case, you know, just run them into the ground. But again, it's not like these guys could just keep putting people on their roster, you know. So Tanner McKee, by the way, scored 23 fantasy points last year in week 18 against the Giants.

He's an interesting player, especially in DFS. And would you say Jahan Dotson would be like a sleeper? He's the only one I would consider, sure. Okay, so how about for the commanders? You like Debo or McLaurin better? And John Dotson, yes. No, no. Then them.

You like McClellan the best? Warren over Debo, both in the flex range. It's still Josh Johnson at quarterback. So who's the- Listen, Debo had a great game last week. You know, a lot of it was on a broken play to get to his, he had 95 total yards, I believe it was. I think with the incentives that they try to get him involved heavily.

So he's a high-end number three receiver. McCloran is a low-end number two receiver. I think just with the Eagles resting their guys in the secondary, it gives a huge opportunity for, because I thought Johnson actually played well last week, you know, for first time playing. two years and a 39-year-old quarterback. So if there's no pass rush, which there's probably not going to be a huge...

I can't imagine Jaylon Carter's playing because of, you know, nope, playing is on the injury report. So, like, this should be an opportunity for him to have a decent game. Yeah, it's pretty... This is always one of those interesting spots. Definitely going to do some fandole lineups with some commanders, draft kings, whatever it is. And, yeah, and then Dave, you said you like Bill better than Rodriguez.

Do you have either of them in your top 24? I believe I've got Bill at 25. Okay. So very close. I think he ends up leading the way in terms of carries. And just an explosive player against the team that's going to have some backups in on defense. I'll take that chance as a flex. And he, uh, remember, face them without Jalen Carter the first time, week 14 or 15.

Um, and he scored a touchdown. So he's got four touchdowns in his last three games. Only eight carries in that game. The only problem is it like if they get behind, which, would not be surprised even with backups. He has no catches since week 11. Like, there is no involvement in the past game whatsoever. By the way, 2026 question for this game, Washington, Philadelphia.

Do we act like this season never happened for Jaden Daniels? Mostly, yes. I mean, you have to take into account that running quarterbacks get hurt. And so how risky do you want to be with him comparatively to, you know, as high as like the Joe Burroughs, Brock Purdy's of the world, who don't run? as much, but have, you know, huge upside throwing the ball or, you know, the, even the, the older pocket passer guys that are coming off big seasons in Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott.

So it's funny that you mentioned Purdy and, and, uh, who'd you say, Burrow? Because you know what they did? They got hurt. They missed half the season, basically. Yeah, sure. You know, pocket passers get hurt too. Uh, Miami's at New England. Tough time with the 2026 question here.

but we'll try it. 2026 question for Miami and New England. Where's Ramandre Stevenson going to be next year? And what does it mean for Trayvion? That's great question. I think whether it's Ramondra or somebody else, they're going to have some other person back there. You would hope it would be somebody like Terrell Jennings

where there's not as much upside or not as much, maybe trust. But if they go out and draft another running back or, you know, bring in a veteran guy, you know, that has some opportunities or a mandre-like traits, then, you know, it'll be a little bit concerning. I mean, you see how much upside Treviant has. It's so frustrating. I know. There's just something, the little things that he's not doing well. I talked to Damien Harris about this a couple of weeks ago, and apparently Josh McDaniels is a stickler for even, like, the smallest of things, like, you know, chipping the right way on a pass rush or on your way out of the.

of the pocket. I don't think it makes financial sense for the Patriots to cut Ramandre Stevenson until after next season. There's too much money there. So he's probably going to stick around one more year, and this is going to be the duo that'll frustrate

us between Trayvian and Romandre. If Devon A. Chan plays, I'm sure we're going to start him. If he doesn't play, David, you start Jalen Wright. How would you compare? I would. Yes. The Patriots defense, even if they get Milton Williams back on the defense line, they've struggled stopping the run lately.

And I would be inclined. And I'm encouraged by what I've seen from Jalen Wright at the end of the year. It's the first time that he's really looked like the player that I remember at Tennessee. Early on in the season, when he's sparingly played, preseason games, he just didn't look good. He didn't look right. Now he does. So I'd be okay with Jalen Wright if there's no H.N. Who's your favorite Patriots running back in this game?

Still Henderson, but I have him back to back. If that's the way If A-chan were out Would you start Jalen Wright Over both Patriots running backs? No Nope I do have Romandre a spot higher than Trayvon

It's both number two running backs Where are like at the 20-ish range? Nope 16-17 Okay Not to be confused 6-7 Oh 1617 Jalen Waddle is 26th for Jamie

And 20th for Dave Barely played last week Patriots have been He got hurt. Yeah. Yeah, he's still dealing with a rib injury. Probably going to see Christian Gonzalez. It just doesn't seem like a great game for Waddle.

Yeah. Since Christian, since Christian Gonzalez debuted in week four, only five wide receivers of more than 65 yards against New England. Any interest in Greg Dulcich as a sleeper? I mean, if Swaddles out, then sure, but I'd rather go to Steelers guys, for example. And I think it would help you'd be more encouraged if. Darren Waller didn't play, and I know that he's on the injury report, too. Obviously, that's what I meant.

I know Dols has actually been a little bit better than Waller lately, but... Yeah, he has. No, I would take him over the Steelers guys, because I don't know which Steelers guy to go with. Start Drake May. We talked about the Patriots running backs. I'm guessing we love Stefan Diggs this week. Yeah, Mustarke. I mean, you know, who knows what the off-season, off-the-field stuff that's going on,

that is there any sort of internal punishment? But the only concern would be is, like, they could have. have a lead in this game and start to pull guys yeah okay but he's top 15 and hunter henry's a start hunter henry is seventh for for jamie ninth for dave so start hunter henry he was on the injury port wednesday uh just keep an eye on what's going on there okay knee injury and you can probably start the patriots dst and the jets are at the bills all right 2026 question is where are you going to rank garret wilson who is really having a great game. Obviously, I don't know who his quarterback will be, but it won't be Justin Fields, it seems, a great season he was having, not a great game. But Dave, do you think Garrett Wilson will be a top 12 wide receiver? I do. I think we'll remember those great games that he had will be encouraged by a new quarterback coming in, the offensive line coming back solid. We don't know what the running game is going to look like either. So there's definitely going to be possibilities here for Garrett Wilson to be a target hog and hopefully a better quality.

of target from either a rookie quarterback or a veteran that the Jets pick up, who's an upgrade on Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor. I have no idea what to do with this game for starts and sits. Jets at Bills, I think it's our last game. I think you avoid it, for the most part. I think the thing that would excite me the most would be if James Cook sits and Ray Davis got all the work. What about Breeze Hall?

What about it on that side of the ball? Jamie, Breeze Hall. I think you're starting at Breeze Hall. you know, coming off the game that he just had, Isaiah Davis, I believe still in the concussion protocol. If they're going to sit, Josh Allen, they're going to start to sit guys defensively too. And so for a run defense that's been awful,

the only question would be is, does Breece Hall want to go out there and put a good game on display for free agency? Or does he just feel like, okay, I don't want to get hurt going to free agency? You know, so I'm sure that conversation has been had in some capacity. But look, he came through in a, garbage time situation last week

against a run defense that had been struggling and can easily do that again in a game that may be filled with backup. Just keep an eye on the Buffalo situation, but I think Breesall is, again, given the week, a borderline number two running back this week. Okay. All right.

Cool. That's that's it for that. Let's read some questions from the chat. Bucky Irving or Tyrone Tracy Jr.? Tracy for me. Dack Prescott or Drake May? uh right now may agreed do you guys really think ammanuel wilson is a good start i would think the packers would want to save him no i don't think so he's a flex jerry judy or chris godwin godwin agreed any bad weather games this week so looking at kevin roth on rhodo grinders the two

saturday games he has in yellow because there could be some rain a little bit of wind in the san francisco game, but rain in Tampa Bay, rain in San Francisco. But yellow is not anything to avoid. Miami at New England, he has temperatures in the mid-20s, otherwise fine. Jets at Bills, temperature in the mid-20s, light winds, could see some snow, but not impactful levels. And Pittsburgh hosting Baltimore, temperature in the 20s, otherwise fine. So cold weather, I don't really like cold weather.

Oh, man, it has been freaking miserable up here. Just disgusting. everyday snow and crap and gosh, I hate it. But I don't think I'm going to go to the Giants game. It's just been, like, I don't want to sit outside in this garbage. How much of the tickets? Dirt cheap. I'll pay you to go.

Yeah. I don't even, you know, I'll take a look at the latest prices. But it's ugly, but. You can go watch history. They're starting at $35. You know, this should be cheaper than that. Why just go for like an hour and leave? drive an hour to sit for an hour and then leave i mean if you're having fun then you stay but you know

take andrew to a game and have fun yeah i don't know um get frostbite yeah i took out the garbage yesterday almost got frostbite so uh was a lot of garbage how do you feel about the bengals dsts this week against cleveland uh low end starter yeah not bad they've been playing much better lately estimate or charbonnet or dylan samson Charbonnet. Charbonnet over estimate over Sampson A. Yeah, give me Sampson over Estimate and PPR. Caleb Williams or Jackson Dart?

Caleb. I think I have Dart higher. Jacoby Brissette, Jackson Dart or Lamar Jackson? Right now it's Dart. If Wondale is out, I'll take Perci. All right? I threw a dart to suggest Jackson Dart. Bo Nix, Matthew Stafford, or Sam Darnold? Stafford, as of now,

if we find out that he's not going to play a full game, then Bo Nix could be a good replacement. I think Knicks is the safest. He's definitely safer, but, I mean, I don't know that he's playing against backups. I don't know that Bo Nix is playing against backups. I think, like, I know Justin Herbert's not playing, but we don't know, like, Durbin.

We don't know who they're going to sit on defense. But again, if they're starting to pull guys back, like, right. I think, right, I think it's a domino effect. Uh, McBride or Michael Mayer? I mean, what? McBride. McBride is fine.

It would be, it would be McBride over powers. Yeah. Kamani Vidal, Jaden Blue, or Tank Bigsby, pick two. I mean, if Blue is the starting running back for the Cowboys, he's the easy one. And then I would go tank over by now. Agreed. Uh, we, yes, we do, we do continue. We have three shows a week during the off season, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday.

What do we usually cover? So during the NFL playoffs, we'll have a little bit of playoff talk on the Thursday shows. We'll help set DFS lineups and things like that. But it's mostly going to be rankings. It's going to be, you know, we'll unveil our top 12s at each position and stuff like that. We'll get you ready for 2026. Never too early. Are you guys playing the Eagles DST this week?

Not with as much confidence as I was before. Yeah, I got to move them down. Cool. All right. Good show, guys. Fun times. Happy New Year. Dave, what was it like being at the game?

It was cold. Dallas was cold. Not as cold as you when you take your garbage out in your robe and undies, but it was cold. But that happens to be the best way to serve revenge. What was the split in terms of fans? It was closer to 50-50 than I thought it would be. And the interesting thing that they did was that tickets were dispersed as, such where Ohio State had their side of the stadium and Miami had their side of the stadium.

So I'd say it was like maybe close to 60, 40 in favor of Ohio State. And their fans were really cool, by the way. Like nobody was out of line or yelling or anything like that. If anything, I saw Miami fans that were a little out of line. But a little bit of an edge for Ohio State. But they left with like five minutes. We started seeing fans leave with five minutes to play. Like Miami got the ball, their last possession.

and Buckeyes fans were leaving, even though it was a one- You have to go to the next game. I don't know. I think I'm saving up for the- Well, not you. If it wasn't in Phoenix, I'd be there. Or, you got to go to one.

You got to go to both. Like, you got to commit to it. I didn't go to college station. Yeah, we didn't go to the first one. Yeah, but now you went to this one. You can't stop now. What is this rule? It's bad karma.

It's so funny that, like, they've had these two dramatic wins. If they lose and we're not there, we're going to have to live with that for the rest of our lives. They just beat Ohio State who's just Miami hates Ohio State because of the 2002-2003 festival. Yeah, I'm kind of over it now for some reason. They still have two games to play, hopefully. They haven't done anything yet.

They're only in the semifinals. It's true. It's really crazy. Like the two probably best storylines of Ole Miss losing their coach and getting to this point. And you guys not really expected to be in the- I know. In the playoffs because of how stupid it was.

And now you both have huge upsets and facing each other. I mean, Chambliss was amazing last night. He was incredible. Ole Miss's quarterback was phenomenal. I'm very nervous about it. But yeah. I saw some people saying that Georgia was a better matchup for you.

For whatever it's worth, we're favored against Ole Miss and we would have been underdogs against Georgia. Right. I was nervous about Georgia for sure. And was it going to say? Anyway, what teams now with this 12 team playoff and the four teams who get buys, the teams with buys are now one and seven in the last two seasons. Indiana is the only top four seed that won their first game. Kind of crazy.

They're all for almost four weeks. It's just so long. Yeah, it's not right. It looks like I can fly there for under 500 bucks. You have to go. The tickets are so cheap. It's just long. It's such a long.

I had another buddy who went to the game, too, and I'm telling him the same thing. Like, he's like, I don't want to go. It's so far. I'm like, come on, man. It's once in a lifetime. And I'm old and I'm broke. Like, these are all things that come into play.

You know who's going to be there is Ole Miss fans. So I think, Dave, you do have to go. You have to support us. All right. I won't see you there. Thanks, everybody for watching. You might see one of our former co-workers who's sung-old. To Ole Miss?

Yeah. Don't know who you're talking. about but looking forward to that all right have a great weekend everybody what's on t-in monday on fantasy football today