Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Footie Award Nominees + Week 18 Recap, Brock Nasty - Fantasy Football Podcast for 1/9

Episode Date: January 9, 2024

The NFL Playoffs are set! On today’s fantasy football podcast, find out the nominees for The Footie Awards! Your chance to vote for last year’s Steal of the Draft, Rookie of the Year, Best Show Moment, and many more fantasy football awards! Plus, Week 18 reactions, Arthur Smith news, and a look ahead to Wild Card Weekend! Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for January 9th, 2024. Vote for the Footie winners at FootieAwards.com Get the DFS Pass for Free during the NFL Playoffs! DFSPass.com Connect with the show: Subscribe on YouTube Visit us on the Web Support the Show Follow on Twitter Follow on Instagram Join our Discord Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by McDonald's. Monopoly is back at McDonald's, everybody. This is an alert. It's time to get back to Mickey D's. Monopoly Double Play is back at McDonald's, and it's easy to get into the win. First, you peel on pack, and then again in the app. There are millions of prizes to be won,

including a new chance to win cash every minute in the app. Get into the game with Monopoly Double Play at McDonald's. While supplies last, one in five chances to win game piece prizes at outset, chances to win Double Play prizes based on time of code entry, and draw prizes based on number of entries in each draw. See rules in the app. Get a credit card annual fee waiver and earn C-plus points faster with the Scotiabank Ultimate Package and bank more entertainment. Learn more at scotiabank.com slash banking packages. Conditions apply. Scotiabank. You're richer than you think. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.

Welcome in! yeah yeah yep yep catch that exhale mike yep off season time you watch uh football to enjoy football? Oh, man. Yes. This weekend was so great. It was so great. It is hilarious because, I mean, look, clearly we love fantasy football. It is amongst my favorite things.

But so is football. And when you have now a weekend and weekend and like the playoff games I'm watching this football game to enjoy the greatness of the game of football and hopefully see some good performances but I'm not you're not keyed in on that one player yeah I mean they got they got to do well they got to do well or look like a look like a schmuck. If you played pickup basketball and you love basketball, you love being out there on the floor. You love shooting, running, defense, maybe some full court press, but you know

what else feels nice? When you get like a couple minutes on the bench to drink some Gatorade and just watch it. You know? Yeah. Majestic. This weekend, I watched some football. I did not watch every minute of every football game.

Understood. And, you know, I tweeted earlier in the week. I am still having like some, I don't know what you would call it, but those internal reactions that happen about 45 times a day where I'm like, oh, I got to go check my team. Oh, I got to go get a trade. Oh, I got to go make a tweak. The waiver wire. The machine hasn't turned off yet.

No, no. But then I check my phone and I'm just the champion and I don't have to do anything. You know? Yeah. Like the work's already done. I get it. It's already been done, Al.

Can you believe it? We're in the off season. Al's there. I'm here. He watched football because his his packers got it done they did the good franchises the packers the stealers they just find a way into the playoff and then there's the falcons oh man and then there's the falcons i'm sorry kyle i mean actually no i'm up. No, I'm happy.

I'm happy for y'all. Because they've been freed from the clutches of the evil one. Number two. There is hope. I mean, you go into next year, Falcons fans, the ones who are realistic and not just the, you put your head in the sand sand my team is the best at all times there is an opportunity to improve now it's I mean your probability is still low because finding a good head coach as you see every single year it's it's difficult finding the right quarterback for a franchise finding the right head coach it's you're going

to be wrong more than you're going to be right. For those who don't know, Arthur Smith has been terminated. Yes, he has returned to the force. He has returned to the ether, yes. This is the second time that one of our arch nemesis on the show has been fired. Adam Gaze was the first. It's a little sad because now I know that one of these other coaches, maybe a coach I thought I liked, will become the villain.

There will be another number two. Yes. There is always homeostasis. Yes. There is at least one number two in the NFL at all times. Yeah. And on the way next year, we'll figure out who it is. But Arthur Smith is gone.

Ron Rivera gone. Black Monday already happened. And, you know, this whole offseason is going to be filled with Bill Belichick, Chatter, and Jim Harbaugh, Chatter. And who knows? Who knows who else comes back into the coaching world? Right. So we are going to talk a little bit about the Week 18 performances.

Today's show is about the footy nominations as well. So all of our Fantasy Football Awards, you can start voting on them. Brooks, what's that web address that they need to go to? Footyawards.com. Let's see. That was smart of's that web address that they need to go to? FootieAwards.com. Let's see. That was smart of us. That's a good place to go. FootieAwards.com.

Vote before next Monday. We'll go through all the nominations on the show today, but you can go over there and vote. You're going to be able to watch a video of all of the best show moments as well because we always have you vote for your favorite show moment of the year, and there are some good ones we'll go through today. I've had a sneak peek of the video. Yeah.

It's a lovely, lovely walkthrough of the year. Everything's lovely except for that small portion of the video where I had recently shaved my face. And, you know, YouTube, when you put a video up there, they- They're measured. They're nice. I mean, but video, they choose like three random screenshots to be the potential- Oh, for the thumbnail? To be the potential thumbnail. And they did select one with my bare face.

And I was like, you know, that wasn't a good time. Yeah. But yeah, Taylor Swift makes an appearance as well like in the history of humans has anyone shaved their beard went yes oh thank goodness i should have done this forever brad pitt probably pitt yeah well because he does whatever yeah you can do whatever he wigs like oh i should have been wearing this ratty t-shirt forever because I look great. Will there ever be a time when we officially just declare that all men are required to have beards? Is that in the Constitution? We could do an amendment, right?

We could, but we have our friends out there who can't grow beards. Yeah, and those guys when they try. Yeah. Yeah, that doesn't look so good. Everyone in here has some form of facial hair, so we're good. Yeah, because we all have things to hide. Mostly our faces. If you didn't notice, Jason's not here today.

Just taking a little break from 2024. The most Jason thing ever. We're a weekend. I'm out. I need a week off, guys. No, he's doing some good stuff, but he's not going to be here this week. And so, wait, Al. The amendment has a weight threshold.

If you're over 210 pounds, you're required to have a beard. That's right. To hide stuff. Yes, sir. Okay. Yeah. You either have to have just one chin or just one beard. That's the rule.

Yeah. Yeah. A couple quick reminders. If you brought home a title, go to fantasychamps.com. You'd use that code free ring over there and they will give you a free $59 championship ring if you buy a trophy or belt. And right now, we also have the

DFS Pass for free. So $0. What? Yeah. We did this last year for the first time. It runs through the NFL playoffs. The DFS podcast is still going, but the DFS Pass is now zero money. It costs you zero money to get it. This is something that we're really proud of. The DFS Pass is now zero money. It costs you zero money to get it. This is something that we're really proud of. The DFS Pass has done a great job this entire year. Great riders, great resources. So if you play DFS, if you're through the regular season, and you want to give it a shot, it will cost you zero money. Or if you've never played DFS and you're like, hey, I want to jump in,

maybe learn some things. Jump in for free. Yep, there you go. So dfspass.com. You can go over there and enjoy it for the playoffs, the final four weeks. And there you go. Because, look, there are – we talked about –

I like – we're at the point of the year where I can watch football and just enjoy football. Some people would rather have some skin. Yeah, and that will be me as well. Yeah. Yeah, I noticed that. I forgot we have all these uh like on draft kings i had some of those year-long bets like the garrett wilson numbers where everybody was expecting great things by the way garrett wilson said worst year of his life that's that was a direct quote from garrett wilson yeah but um yeah let's let's talk a little bit of news first.

News and notes from around the league. All right. Arthur Smith, goodbye. Ron Rivera, see you later. Yep. You know, both those jobs are not bad jobs. Washington has the number two pick, most cap space in the NFL, new ownership. That's a good job. And then the Falcons, the reason I say that's

not a bad job is because they have elite offensive weapons and they have a winnable division. That division does not have any long term dominant forces. Baker Mayfield is not a long term dominator of the division. Derek Carr? Not a long term dominator of the division. Derek Carr, not a long-term dominator of the division.

Bryce Young, Mike? Not a long-term. Not. I mean, we were talking about that this morning. C.J. Stroud continues to blow your mind every single week with how good he is. And then Bryce Young. Yeah. He plays quarterback.

Stroud and the Texans won the division, and Bryce Young didn't score since week 16. The Cardinals have the Texans pick, and when the season began, they were the odds-on favorite for the number one pick in the draft. That's how Vegas saw them? The Cardinals thought when they made that trade? I guarantee you they did not think they were trading

for the 18th pick in the draft. No. I wonder if you can do the hindsight analysis, get an actual honest answer from them and say, now that that's settled and you've seen Will Anderson play, who was the player that you bypassed by trading down, is that still a good trade? No, it's not.

And the Cardinals have done this before. Remember Terrell Suggs? Yeah. Yeah, we traded down, passed the Cardinals have done this before. Remember Terrell Suggs? Yeah. Yeah. We traded down, passed on Suggs. Who needs that guy? Hometown guy from ASU. Don't bring him into Arizona to be the most dominant pass rusher you've ever had. We'll trade down. I think Calvin Pace was part of that trade down. Yeah. So careful what you wish for when you want your team to trade down. I mean, I think it's usually the right move, but sometimes when it fails, it fails bad. He doesn't even have Tank Dell right now, and he's getting it done.

The Panthers, their owner, David Tepper, fired everybody. No GM, no head coach, no quarterback. Fire yourself. Yeah, well. Mike, you said it. I feel bad for Panther fans. Yeah. You traded everything for your opportunity at a quarterback.

I wonder if that is, you know, if you're Chicago, let's just talk for a minute. It's the offseason. We can do whatever we want. Let's go. If you're Chicago, you have the number one pick. You have a decision to make on Justin Fields. Didn't play well this week. Played well the week before.

Didn't play well the week before that. That's how it goes. Now you have two cases. You've got the Stroud mistake, and you've got, or I'm sorry, the Stroud home run and the Bryce Young mistake. Both outcomes are possible for you if you move on from Justin Fields. You've got to make a decision on a 50-year option for Justin Fields. Do you end up with the Stroud?

Then you're thrilled. You trade down, you keep Fields, do you end up with the Stroud? Then you're thrilled. You trade down. You keep Fields, and you end up with Bryce Young. It's a disaster. Right? Yeah. Is there any world? Let me ask this.

It's a fifth-year option, right? He doesn't have to get an extension long-term. Yeah, he's going into year four. Were you right on that, Kyle? You hear Kyle? Kyle fell asleep. It's 2024. He said correct, yeah.

We always have to make up something Kyle was doing when you don't hear from him right away. And this time it was sleeping. Yeah, so he'll be going into year four, which means they will have to make the decision. In this offseason, do they pick up the fifth year? You have two years of a pretty cost-friendly quarterback. So what if you don't pick up the fifth year, but you still have two years of a pretty cost-friendly quarterback.

What if you don't pick up the fifth year? You still get them for a year, right? You'll have year four, and then you can franchise. I guess I've never heard anybody tease out the idea of taking a quarterback and keeping Justin Fields. There is that at number one?

Yeah. You've got all the draft capital in the world already. You're picking at, what, eight as well? Nine? That's old school NFL. I mean, we just – in the modern world, it's – you're going to have so much pressure of – if you take a quarterback at number one and the team is 0-3,

I mean, it will be deafening from the media, from fans, everything saying put the rookie in. And I think there is – unfortunately, there's value to letting some of these kids sit. I mean, look, the Green Bay Packers. With Jordan Love right now, the fact that he got to sit. If Jordan Love goes from the draft into playing for the Packers, does he have the success that he had this year? I would say probably not.

Especially with all the reports that we kept getting of, Jordan Love is not ready. Jordan Love is not ready. He was this year. Yeah, and I don't think you can probably pull that off with the number one pick i mean when you draft a quarterback second round or something you can sit that guy behind field see what you have as an asset but just interesting and then we had some we had injuries in week 18 yeah the big one was sam laporta i mean this one, knee injury, bad hyperextension, hyperextension

with a bone bruise. That's devastating. It is. They're at home, right? They're the three. It's hard because the immediate reaction of everyone is, and Twitter if you jumped on, this is why you can't play your starters. You're playing in a meaningless game.

But they technically had a chance to get to the two seed. And to me, going from the three to the two is a pretty big deal. If they were in the two seed, they would be hosting the Packers if they had been able to do that. Now, Dallas would have had to lose, right? Yes. That's why I said –

Instead, they're going to be facing the Rams. Right. And that is going to be a game to watch. Yeah, I would, no offense, Packer fan, I'd rather play the Packers than the Rams right now. I am worried. Yeah, I would be worried. You play to win, but it stinks to have your rookie sensation missing time now.

Well, and the other big game that took place and concluded last night, the Buffalo-Miami game, I mean, there couldn't have been higher stakes. Like, Buffalo was already – they had already clinched due to the previous activities of the day. But you win, you host the Steelers. You lose, you go, and you play a negative two degrees in Arrowhead with your high-flying Miami offense. That's what's going on with Miami, and now you don't have Bradley Chubb?

It's going to be rough for Miami. Goodness, I'd be shocked if they beat the Chiefs. And that makes me sad because I want to see new blood. I don't mind seeing Miami move on, but we do have one of our devs here, Mr. Andy Schneider. He built a bracket maker for the playoffs that you can go to at myplayoffpicks.com. It's just a free tool. It gives you a screenshot of your bracket. So if you in your office or at home or your friends, whatever,

if you want to go make your predictions on who's going to win the big game and all the other games. Yeah, and the medium games and small games. Thank you. Yeah, all the different size games. It does all the reseeding for you based on your picks. Brooks would like you to be reminded of that fact. And you can just go and –

That's a problem. You ever done a bracket on paper and you get to the end and someone's like, well, that's not a possibility. Yes. And you're like, oh, crap. So far, and I'm seeing only four of our office mates have put in their predictions. I've not done mine yet. I have not done mine either.

But we've got three 49ers and one Ravens as the four champions so far. Okay. I got to get into it. I got to dig in. Got some cowards in the office. Yeah. Mike is going with the Steelers. Of course.

Mason Rudolph, world champion with Mike Tomlin, Deontay Johnson. Yeah. Someone out there is. Crazy people. You can tag us on the social media if you check that out. What, at MyPlayoffPicks.com? MyPlayoffPicks.com. Yeah, we'll do ours, and we'll bring them up on the Thursday show.

Jalen Hurts dislocated his right middle finger, not fractured, day to day. A.J. Brown was down on the ground writhing in pain. Do we know anything about the knee injury? I have not heard anything. He went into the tent. He wasn't carted off, I don't think. Gabe Davis left early. Romeo Dobbs, chest injury.

Packers wide receivers keep hurting their chests. I don't know why. Yeah, but it doesn't matter because as soon as Romeo Dobbs goes down, then there's just someone else to jump right in there and be great. So our first matchups this upcoming weekend, what do we have? We've got the big weekend, right? Six games? Yeah, super wild card weekend.

Cleveland? Super. Super, yeah. Because they've expanded. Oh, we can say super there, huh? Yeah. Cleveland taking on the Houston Texans. That should be a game.

Miami in Arrowhead against Kansas City. Kansas City's favorite. Cleveland's favorite by two and a half. Pittsburgh going to take on Buffalo. Buffalo favored by nine and a half. By far the biggest favorites of the week. Green Bay taking on Dallas. Dallas seven and a half point favorites at home.

Los Angeles taking on Detroit. Yeah. Detroit three point favorites. Double revenge. Right. Detroit three-point favorites. Double revenge. Right. It's incredible. And then the Eagles taking on Tampa Bay. Philly's two-and-a-half-point favorites.

Oh, because Tampa's at home. Yeah. Oh, you thought it was too low. I just was – yeah, I still think that's a little low. That tells you that – I mean, the momentum for Philadelphia right now. Yeah. And that's a little low. That tells you the momentum for Philadelphia right now. Yeah. And not good. No, no, it is not.

All right, let's take a break. We'll talk some studs, and then we'll get into the footy nominations. So let's dig in here. studs from week 18 you may have had them you know it's good to talk about because some of you won championships in week 18 scoundrels out there yeah and then sometimes these these last week performances get ignored and then you don't know the trajectory of some of these guys heading into next year this week's fantasy stud muffins and then you don't know the trajectory of some of these guys heading into next year. This week's Fantasy Stud Muffins. But here's how I want to do it.

Okay. I just want you to tell me who you care about at each of the position groups of what they did in the year. So, you know, at quarterback, the big weeks, Dak, big week. Josh Allen ends the year as a quarterback one again. Derek Carr had a four-touchdown week. What do you care about? I care about all three. You know, we wanted to see Dak finish strong.

31 for 36. I mean, 279 to four. I mean, he's just absolute dominant stretch of football in fantasy football. Josh Allen, you know, staying as the quarterback one on the year. And then the Derek Carr one is just like, hey, you can do it. Derek Carr, we knew it. We knew you could run this out there. But out of the last four weeks, quarterback seven, three, 17, and one.

I mean, it's inside of you, Derek Carr. It's there. Yeah, no. You just got to believe. I don't know. You got to see Kendrick Miller for the first time. Yeah. Really.

And he had himself a game. I wonder what the future will hold. For Kamara and – Would you – I think Kamara's there next year. had himself a game. I wonder what the future will hold for Camara. And would you, uh, I think Camara is there next year. Yeah. But would you rather, do you think Camara or like in drafts,

you think Kendra Miller or Camara is the better pick? Oh man. Let's just ask the question now in the quarterback section of studs, where it belongs. Let me, let me, how old is Camara? He'll be turning.

He'll be 29 in July. Kendra had a good game. The thing about the age cliff for running backs is. And he's definitely not as efficient on the ground. Yeah. But it's. Yeah, he could still be a great pass catcher. But you think it's.

You think it's not coming. Even though we know every time it will. It comes for everybody. It came for Austin Eckler this year, the number two overall fantasy pick, and then just poof, it seems to be gone. That's the hardest part about it is if you are right, like you went on Derek Henry. He still helped you all year long, but you also know the future. Yeah, there was a couple of dud games, but he still had a great year,

a great final game. So it didn't poof, but when it goes, it's immediately gone. So depending on where they go in the draft, I think because Kamara is such a skilled pass catcher, I'm still okay with it, but I'm not okay taking an early pick on him. Yeah, I wonder what the offseason will look like for that team in a lot of facets. But speaking of running backs, has anybody been as impressive as James Conner over the last five weeks of the year? Dude, just a beast.

His last five weeks, 5th, 11th, 5th, 3rd, 1st. Absolutely dominant. Brought his yards per carry on the season up to 5. That's how he ends the year. First 1,000-yard season of his career despite missing four games. So with those four games factored in, he would have ran for almost 1,400 yards this year. So he didn't hit 1,000 that year in Pitt?

That blew my mind. No, 973. But, I mean, James Conner utterly dominated defenses over the last five weeks of the year. And he's also turning 29. I know. Now, at least he was a case of, like, didn't he have a little bit later start than others?

No, not really. No. Not really. And I don't think the age cliff cares. Well, yeah, 2018. So how old is he? He's going to be 29? Yeah, he is 28.7, according to our website.

So he's going into year seven. Yeah. For all intents and purposes. Brees Hall dominant, again, 37 for 178. I don't know that giving Brees Hall 37 carries in a meaningless game in the snow against New England is a good team process. Did you see, though? Robert Sala, he said that they had got the math wrong.

He ended the year with 994 rushing yards, but he thought that he had gotten Brees Hall to 1,000. Oh, no. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect job. You couldn't even get him to 1,000. Is there no one on that team that can do simple math?

I guess not. It's addition. Jonathan Taylor, 34-188. Joe Mixon had a huge game. He ended as running back five. That's pretty wild. Saquon Barkley, two touchdowns again. So.

The Saquon offseason is going to be very tough. Do you want to read this tweet? Yeah, so. Pat Leonard. He was asked. Saquon was asked, you know, kind of about the end of the season. And Barkley said, I'm not going to go do the exit interview. Power move here.

But then he said, quote, talking about the franchise, they did it last year, so I'm numb to it. I don't have any feelings toward that at all. If you're going to do it, just don't wait until March 5th. Get it over with. If not, let me go. Simple. No feelings.

He said the Giants. No feelings. Yeah, right. That's like a papa josh didn't care if he won or lost against me why why do we have to pretend that we have no i'm not mad about it it's like yeah you mean if you're gonna if you're gonna actually answer the question and not just no pr speech about what you we'll see what happens if you're gonna actually answer it don't pretend you're not you don't have feelings toward what you're... We'll see what happens. If you're going to actually answer it, don't pretend

you don't have feelings toward it. You're mad. Put these guys in order of older running backs you'd rather have. It's going to be a task because we just talked about them. Henry, probably a new home. Yes, for sure. Kamara, age cliff.

James Connor, under contract for one more year in Arizona. Yep. Saquon Barkley. If I had to guess, I think he's back in New York, but it might be franchise tag again. Oh, man. But he won't have any negative feelings.

No, I mean, he played well. Henry Kamara Conner. I was writing the names down on this board, and I wrote Henry, Kamara, Saquon Barkley, and then I wrote James Contract. So that's not his name. James Connor, under contract. Put them in order.

Of those, I'll still go Barkley. Barkley. Then Henry is just impossible. If Henry is a Baltimore Raven, that'll be exciting. I mean, his touchdown upside will be incredible. But based off of the information I have right now, I would go Barkley, Connor, and then I'll bet on Henry and then Kamara. Okay.

What about based on the information from the future? What would you do then? I will let you know when I have it. Bijan, he ended with only 11 for 28 on the ground, but he had 7 for 1. He had the huge touchdown reception. 7 for 103, big 70-something yard reception. Finished as the quarterback or as the running back nine.

But if you had to qualify like if you had to be binary with your decision on whether he had a good or bad season if you have to happy or sad uh you have to be binary i will go i'll say happy okay i'm gonna go sad because i don't think that teams that had bijan rob Robinson got what they needed this year from where he was drafted. I get that. And I would be very curious how many teams ended up in the title games with B. John Robinson as your first running back selected.

We'll talk about this, and we'll have an upcoming top 10 things to remember. So I guess just a preview of one of the things that I've really been thinking about is the making sure you don't look at your roster and you're always happy about it because the first month honestly would have been great for Bijan. You're the RB eight, RB eight 25 against Detroit understandable. And then RB 10 against Jacksonville. So that's really a full month of a top 10 running back that's a fantastic start and as long as you were still diligent in making sure that you're

like not just I got Bijan I nailed the pick see you later I'll see you in the championship suckers as long as you're still active and moving and making sure that you're building up some running back depth to weather that middle storm that happened. I think you were happy with him. Najee into the year very strong. 26 for one, 12 and one against the Baltimore backups. Derek Henry, snow

model, undefeated. 19 for one, 53 and one. They knocked Jacksonville out of the playoff. Yeah. So maybe Mike Tomlin gave him a call. Said, get it done. Henry looked great. I mean, he had a really vintage, long Derrick Henry carry.

What was not vintage is he didn't finish the touchdown. But also then on his touchdown run, it was perfection. I mean, it was like following, not rushing it, following the block, setting up a defender with a juke, and it was like Henry's an outlier. We already know Derrick Henry's an outlier, but it's going to be very

difficult to gauge him for fantasy next year. Wide receiver standouts for Week 18, Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb do what they did, did what they have been doing. 13 for 98 and 2 for Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, doing work. Did what they have been doing. 13 for 98 and 2 for Lamb, 12 for 192 and 1 for Jefferson. Nico Collins

finishes the wide receiver 9 this year. For all of you believers out there. Yeah, amazing. Remember Jason was pooping all over that man. But every time he had a chance to perform, it was a little bit like Robert Woods in Buffalo in the early days. Yeah.

When you watched Robert Woods back in Buffalo, you were like, that's a good receiver. He's just never had the opportunity. And this year, C.J. Stroud afforded it to him in ways that we never thought possible. Amon Ra. Amon Ra is a monster. Monster.

Absolute monster. Jacoby Myers scored a touchdown. And Calvin Ridley, 6-4, 106. What a boom-bust season for him. Yes. Calvin Ridley. Kyle, is Ridley finally a free agent? Yes.

Okay, that's going to be a really tough decision for Jacksonville because Calvin Ridley is going to walk that shmoney. But already 29, being streaky. tough decision for Jacksonville because Calvin really is going to want dash money, but already 29 being streaky. I don't know that he's worth the money. And I got some sad news for you. I mean, Oh no. Well, that's, that's a little loud actually, but Evan Ingram. Oh, Oh, Oh man. Anything you want to say? 10 catches for 79 and a touchdown. Just the – it was awesome. So if you somehow missed what we're talking about,

Evan Ingram was 12 receptions away from tying the tight end all-time record for most catches in a season, obviously 13 for breaking it. Jason and I had a very spirited debate about the possibility of it happening, and I said, I think he can do it. I wasn't – You were dead wrong. I was not anyway. Dead wrong.

Proclaiming it was a lock, but it was a – when you're that close to a historic record, it can happen. And the way that the pace shifted for Engram through this game was absurd. I mean, he had multiple catches on the first offensive drive, so he was easily on pace. Disappears from the offense. Before you know it, we're going into the fourth quarter, and he has 10 catches.

10 catches at the top of the fourth. We didn't get there. Seemed like he was going to. And then we did score. Somebody scored a touchdown. Yeah, baby! Big Montana! You got to hit the button

when you can hit the button, Mike. And you got to dunk on people when they're not here. Jason canceled the bet. Jason canceled the bet. What a coward. After the last Jimmy Graham touchdown, he said, no, I can't take any more. Yeah, he said, I got to get out of this bet.

I'm going broke. I can't handle Jimmy Graham versus Will Disley touchdown bets anymore. I'm out. And he would have been up another $100. Yeah, yeah. Coward. Yeah, and Laporta scored. McBride scored.

Not big yardage numbers. Isaiah likely back into the end zone as well. And then other players played bad. Yeah. Like Austin Eckler. Dude. And now he's a free agent. And can I be honest?

Yeah. I just feel bad saying anything negative about him. Yeah. I totally understand that. We're living in the world of like the fantasy football world. Yep. And so the stuff we say should hopefully be contextualized in that world. But I also know Austin Eckler, and Austin Eckler is an amazing dude,

and nobody works harder than Austin Eckler. And the Lord knows that he was not handed a good situation there this season in Los Angeles. So, you know, it's still hard for me to see Austin Eckler going someplace and being more than a compliment. But I will say this. We didn't expect James Conner to go to Arizona and become the James Conner that we got.

In fact, he was dying in Pittsburgh. The James Conner signing by Arizona was up here. Arizona did it again. Gave a really old running back a bunch of guaranteed money. But Conner has been great for them. Three years in Arizona when we thought he was dying out. Yep. So maybe Eckler has the situation and the health like that's the part.

It's easy to say to blame it all on an age cliff because it's just really, it's the high level view. But if he's hurt, I mean, you brought up Josh Downs. Yeah. Oh, what happened to Josh Downs? I'm telling you, in the middle of the season, Josh Downs, he wasn't just performing for Indianapolis. He was the leader in a ton of advanced metrics when it comes

to yards of separation from the defenders. He was picking apart defenses. Then he got hurt. Let's not just throw out the baby with the bathwater, so to speak. Sure. We've got

Mike Evans into the year limping through. Same with Pittman, Jamarar chase welcome to next year jamar chase same with metcalf jsn george pickens what full gabe davis didn't score so yeah and then drake london you're free you're free to fly but they got to find a quarterback and they pick at number eight again atlanta does and i'm going to tell you right now you Yeah. And then Drake London, you're free. You're free to fly, but they've got to find a quarterback. And they pick at number eight again. Atlanta does. And I'm going to tell you right now,

they're going to have to trade up if they want one. I don't think that'll be the move. That won't be the move. No. Russell Wilson. Yeah. You'll find a stopgap quarterback, and it's fine. And I'll do a pre-congratulations here to michael pitman who he was talking about his contract and he said both him and the team they you know a

a joint decision of we're gonna table negotiations until the season is over aka i'm betting on me you're betting against me. Whoops! Because his demands have skyrocketed. That guy could go to the Colts and say, make me the highest paid wide receiver in the NFL. No, he can't do that. Yeah, you can. No, you cannot.

You can. No, that's outlandish. He doesn't deserve more money than Tyreek and Jamar Chase and Jefferson. He's not even on those levels. I'm not saying he is on their level, but every year the contract just goes up. Let me change the language. Okay. Make me the highest paid possession receiver in the NFL.

That's what he can say. Give me that Jarvis Landry money. He'll get money. He will get a big, big bag of money. Who gets more money, Calvin Ridley or Michael Pittman? Michael Pittman. Okay. Just age?

And production. Who would you rather have on your team? Michael Pittman. Hmm. I don't know. Oh. Maybe. He's a good player.

Michael Pittman is a great player, and you can't just disappear. Calvin really vanishes for lengths of time. And if you're a true number one wide receiver, you can't disappear like that. He disappeared a little bit. He's a B in our consistency. Didn't do nothing the last three weeks, maybe dealing with injury. Yeah, he definitely it was here's

the thing michael pitman doesn't have a in my opinion he doesn't have the top five finish in him like that's not an outcome and i don't think anthony richardson's gonna help that i think he's just i think he's solid like t higgins who'd you rather have t higgins or michael pitman that's the tier to me t higgins is going to get a bag. Teagans is going to get a bag. They're both going to get a ton of money, yeah. But I don't think either one is necessarily the kind of – I don't know. He's not my prototypical number one. But that's not a disrespectful thing. I mean, 1,100 yards.

That's fine. With a backup quarterback. I know. It's 18 games, though. I mean, that's not crazy. That's not crazy. I think it's pretty crazy to have a backup quarterback and you put up those numbers. Okay.

I feel like you always think I'm trying to disrespect Michael Pittman. Michael Pittman. Well, that's only because of the large history of you always crapping on Michael Pittman. That's 72 yards a game. Are you happy with that? 72? Yeah. I mean, those are good numbers. Yeah, I guess I am crapping on him. I'm trying to find a game. Are you happy with that? 72? Yeah. I mean, those are good numbers.

Yeah, I guess I am crapping on him. I'm trying to find a lane. That's ridiculousness. All right, hit your button then. What button? I mean, build the city if you want to. Oh, I don't even have that button anymore. For the offseason. I think they took it away from me.

Oh, get Andy out of there. Not allowed anymore. You're out of the city. Look, I wouldn't invest my entire future money on Michael Pittman you can spend it spend it elsewhere but you're either

you pick Michael Pittman and move forward with you do you think he's back with the Colts? yeah I do but I'm saying the situation that the Colts are now in because they didn't extend him before the season started is now you his demands. It was his best year.

You can do the whole NFL business. We're going to franchise you, and then Pittman will say, well, either I'm going to play or I'm not. So that's in the playbook. But if you don't keep Michael Pittman and your wide receiver crew, like who's your best wide? Then Josh Downs is your best wide receiver? You will fail.

Would it be considered an insult if I were to call him Big Lots Michael Thomas? Would that be a mean thing to say? It's not nice. But it's right. It could be meaner. It's right though, right? Sure. Okay.

Nothing wrong with Big Lots. Yeah. You can find a deal. And back when he was actually healthy, nothing wrong with Michael Thomas. No, exactly. All right. We're too much Pittman. We're moving on.

This is what people came to listen to the footy award nominations let's rock that's right baby the fantasy football season has concluded it's award season for everybody yes it is mike have you got your ring in the mail yet uh it is it's been ordered yes it's in the mail oh man all right footy awards.com vote before next monday the winners will be announced on next tuesday's show we'll have jason back for the announcements the awards the footies here we go mike why don't you start by introducing our first nomination the first category we will discuss is the performance of the year. Which single week performance was the most impressive? And this one is, it is usually

difficult to narrow it down because there are huge weeks, but you know, sometimes they're done a little bit earlier in the season and maybe less important. It feels not as impactful, especially when you're talking about wide receivers. But here we go. The nominees are Dak Prescott, Week 10 versus the New York Giants, where he went 404, also had a rushing touchdown. Lamar Jackson, Championship Weekend. Yeah. Versus Miami, 320-5.

Then at the running back position, you had the Devon Achan breakout against Denver. That was so wild. 2-0-2 on the ground, two receiving touchdowns as well. Then you had Christian McCaffrey in the first week of the playoffs, 18-1-15 with a touchdown, 5-72-2 through the air. Then a three-pack of wide receiver performances, Jamar Chase, which i believe fantasy points wise is the biggest one of the year but week five against arizona 19 targets 15 for 192 and three

amari cooper a man near and dear to do that that's gonna be hard not to vote near and that but that's what i'm saying it's week 16 is you have some emotional attachment. You played Amari. I played Joe Flacco. So this performance means a lot to us, but does it mean a lot to everyone else? Week 16 at Houston, 15 targets, 11, 2, 65, and 2. And then the man, CeeDee Lamb, championship weekend, 13 for 227 and a 92-yard touchdown. Last year the winner was Joe Mixon who had a five-touchdown game. All right, the second nomination that you'll be voting for,

the Fantasy Reapers Man of the Year, which player's injury hurt fantasy managers the most? Last year, Cooper Cupp took it home. This year? Who will it be? Nick Chubb. J.K. Dobbins, both early injuries. Aaron Rodgers, as early as it gets.

Joe Burrow. Justin Jefferson slicing up the middle of your season. Yeah. And then Mark Andrews. You had an unfair advantage at tight end, and then you didn't. Yeah, you didn't. Aaron Rodgers. So I play a decent amount of Fortnite now with my boy.

Yes. And they give you an award. Like, I don't know, you know, a little bit to mock you, a little bit to say, hey, get back in there. If you're the first player eliminated, you get a little XP bonus. Really? Yeah. They're like, hey, first elimination, good for you.

Have you got that? Oh, I've gotten it. You got that bonus? Oh, yeah, several times. All right. What else do we have? The Po the poopiest pants award. Yes. Very. This one's illustrious. If you get that. Yes. Uh, despite high expectations, this, this player let you down over and over again. Oh man. Last year's winner was in fact, Kyle pits. I don't think his pants were big enough to win it this year, but the nominees

Austin Eckler. Sorry, Austin. Running back two off the board. Travis Kelsey at the 105. Started great. Patrick Mahomes. Started great. Quarterback one. Tony Pollard, the RB8 in the second round. Damian Pierce

in the fourth. He was the running back 18. And Miles Sanders sitting atop his wondrous bag of gold as the RB20 did nothing. You know, that one will be a very interesting vote to see who really felt the pain. Because Pollard, Mahomes, Kelsey Eckler especially really hurt people. I will be extremely curious to see who wins that. Our fourth award, the Waver Wire Wonder,

which is the undrafted Waver Wire stud that was the best signing. I have a hunch on who will win this one. But there's a couple. There's a couple close ones. Last year was Justin Fields. The nominees this year, Kyron Williams, Puka Nakua, Nico Collins, Jaden Reed, and Brock Nasty. fields the nominees this year kyron williams puka nakua nico collins jayden reed and brock nasty brock i don't know brock purdy brock purdy sorry that's what i meant

i don't know trying a new nickname on trying to up his street cred honestly when you read through those names and you get to brock purdy you're just like but he was great. Did you see Christian McCaffrey talking about Brock Purdy growing facial hair? No, but this is what I'm talking about. This is why I gave him Brock Nasty as a nickname. It's a pretty funny clip. Can't do it?

They were asking McCaffrey, like, why don't you do the beard? And he was getting on himself. He's like, yeah, I don't connect, which fellas out there, I know it. I mean, I didn't connect until like my 30s. Yeah. It was real patchy. Did you ever try to fix that problem, like with the rollers or get hair to grow? I did not.

You just lived with it? Yeah. Well, I didn't look into it. I didn't realize there was things I could be doing. I don't know. I don't know if it works. But he was talking about that, and then they asked about brock purdy and he was like oh he's never had a single hair grow out of his face in his life yeah i believe it um but oh so

the yeah so that was the waiver that'll be a tight race between two people uh the fantasy quarterback of the year last year's winner was jalen hertz this is the one This is interesting, too. Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts back in the conversation, Lamar Jackson, and Dak Prescott. Because you have the number one guy, but then you have players who were really impactful. Lamar was incredible but inconsistent, and yet if you made it to the championship week with him, you won. See what people do.

Fantasy running back of the year nominees. Last year, Josh Jacobs won this. The nominees this year, Christian McCaffrey. Josh Jacobs, still a game-time decision. Yes, even for week one. Yeah. Raheem Mostert. Yeah, I mean, what a steal Mostert was.

McCaffrey was the one-on-one. Mostert was late. I mean, what a steal Mostert was. McCaffrey was the one-on-one. Mostert was late. Kyron Williams, unbelievable. Rashad White, maybe the best value. Jameer Gibbs came on really strong. So good competition there for a fantasy running back of the year because we want you to factor in draft position, big game performances. Mike, who are the wide receiver of the year?

The wide receiver candidates this year, CeeDee Lamb. Oh, yeah, my sweetie. Sorry. Tyreek Hill. That's who I'm voting for. Amon Ross, St. Brown, Mike Evans, Puka Nakua. This one is brutal. Yeah, those are all great.

Brutal. Tight ends. Last year, Kelsey won it. This year's nominees. Kelsey's not even in it. Sam Laporta, TJ Hawkinson, George Kittle, David Njoku, and Evan. Just missing the record, Ingram. We kind of figured as a group that despite Travis Kelsey's finish on the season,

you cannot be up for poopiest pants and the best tight end of the year. Agreed. Yeah, so that'll be a close vote. We're consistent here. That's what we're about. Yeah. Then what do I have? Oh, breakout player of the year.

Last year, with Justin Fields, won it. He won the hearts of many of us for fantasy football. But this year, the candidates are Rashad White, Kyron Williams, Isaiah Pacheco and his angry feet. Yes. Nico Collins, Sam Laporta, and Puka Nakua. The rookie of the year. Last year Kenneth Walker took it home.

This year Jameer Gibbs, Bijan, Devon Achan, Puka Nakua, and Sam Laporta are the nominees. Yes, and Brooks would like us to remind people, the honorable mention goes to C.J. Stroud because while it was like for the NFL, it was quite the ride. No, let's put him in. Put him in? Put him in.

He's the QB11. Don't matter. Okay, we can put him in. You don't want to put him in? I don't think he deserves to be in. The QB 11. Don't matter. Okay. We can put him in. You don't want to put him in? I don't think he deserves to be in. The QB 11? And not a ton of- It's not by points per game though, right?

Not a ton of game. Yeah, I don't know where he is. He got banged up and everything? Points per game we could see because he did miss two games. I don't know. I think when you start a season as a rookie and you come on late, I wouldn't look at the end of year finish. I'd be looking at like, what was his peak like?

His peak was very small for fantasy. All right. If there's a rebellion, it's at FF Hitman. Well, let me, okay, I'll read it off to you. Quarterback, 22, 13, 12, 10, 17, 12. Mute his mic. 23. Here we go. One, nine, 13, 17, 12. Mute his mic. 23. Here we go.

1, 9, 13, 4, 15. Okay. Yeah, we don't have to do it. Same. I just wanted to give him some. When you're up against. He won't win, so it's fine. Yeah, stop.

He won't win, so stop wasting people's time. That's what I said. Am I back up? Yeah, comeback player of the year. Comeback player of the year. It's short and sweet this year. Raheem Mostert, Baker Mayfield, Joe Flacco. Just three, huh?

And Michael Pittman. Just three. Just three in contention. Can I put Michael Pittman in Comeback Player of the Year? No, no. Oh, man, come on. Steal of the Draft Award. Which player was the absolute best value in their draft compared to their average draft position?

Last year, Josh Jacobs, the fourth-round pick, was the winner. This year, Rashad White in the seventh round. Mike Evans in the seventh round. David Montgomery in the seventh round. Oh, man. The seventh was hot. A hot seventh. Devon Aitken in the 11th, or Sam Laporta in the 13th round.

All right. And the playoff king. Who drove fantasy managers to a championship during playoff weeks 15 through 17? Last year, it was Jarek McKinnon. Oh, yeah. The playoff king, Jarek McKinnon. It was wild. It seemed like it was going to happen again, and then Jerick McKinnon was hurt.

But here we go. Lamar Jackson. Joe Flacco. Joe Flacco in here. Yeah. QB 9-1-5. Unbelievable. Yeah, we're looking at just weeks 15 through 17.

Kyron Williams. James Conner. CeeDee Lamb. Amon Ross. St. Brown. And David Njoku. Good luck. Good luck voting on this one, everybody.

Will they give me multiple trophies to hand out to some of my guys here? Sure. Okay. Nickname of the year. Okay, the final two awards always. These are the good ones. Very, very fun. And when you vote for these, footyawards.com, you get to vote for three.

Your three favorite, and then we'll see who wins it. The nickname of the year and the show moment of the year. I'll go through the nicknames. Last year, Al, make sure you have this drop ready for us. But last year's winner,

Leonard Fournette, the dump truck. Oh. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Almost wasn't ready. He was ready. I talked slow and everything. I appreciate it.

Yeah. Leonard Fournette took it home with the Dump Truck last year, but listen to these nominees, guys. And my goodness, there's a lot. You got Gabe the Babe for Gabe Davis. Okay. Oh, you guys. Yeah, we did.

JK Two Legs. JK Two L, man. JK Two L for JK Dobbins. That. Oh, you guys. Yeah, we did. JK two legs. JK two L, man. JK two L for JK Dobbins. That's stupid. All right. Schoonman for Luke Schoonmaker. How can you go through any of this list and say, oh, that one's stupid. Stupider.

Cameron for Cam Akers. Okay. I rest my case. Bananarama for Will Levis. Oh, we've got Rippin' Farts for Brett Rippin. We got Fergalicious for Jake Ferguson. We got just

Huge for Quentin Johnston. We got Bilbo Bajent for Tyson Bajent. I forgot about him. We got T. McBee for Trey McBride. Ah, Fat Thor for Josh Jacobs. Fat Thor wasn't even really a...

Coming into the season. Supposed to be a nickname. Fat Thor. It was more of me joking around, but I don't know. It stuck around. Brevin Almighty for Brevin Jordan. Danny DeVito for Tommy DeVito. Come on, guys.

How is that? Come on. And then we've got Arthur Sith for that mean old man. Danny DeVito? What are we doing here? These are all Jason approved. I was going to say, was Jason in charge of this? Yeah, he was.

Where's Brock Nasty? All right. That'll be 2024. Yeah, I guess so. Those will be the nominees. And then, Mike, we've got some show moments. And when they go to footyawards.com and they get to the show moment of the year,

there's a link to a YouTube video with all of these moments. Yes, the 2022 winner, who can ever forget, Andy's voice crack as I think you were coming back from COVID. That's right. You were coming back from some sickness. You didn't know if you had the show opening in you, and you didn't. No, no, I didn't. But you went for it.

Yeah, and that's all I meant. So this year, the nominees are Taylor Swift joins the show. Yeah. Kind of talked about that. Waver rankings. Rankings. Rankings. Yes.

Oh, old man Thielen made the list see the reason you don't like that as much because you didn't get to do the voice i just tried it on for size it's delightful it is making fun of old people is great okay all right and they deserve it all right uh old man feeling uh the mock draft anger when jason got repeatedly sniped during a mock draft. That was funny. The show 1500 musical number. Okay. Jason wanting a game.

Hashtag game perv. I want this game. Yeah, that devolved quickly. The wheel of shame candidate from this year. We went with the Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Geese Talk, where these two clowns didn't know that a goose and a swan are different animals. We had Late Edition. Jason gets a not thought, where Jason missed the word not and reported false news. And then the Trade Betrayal Saga between our fearless host, Andy,

and the betrayer, Papa Josh. And his sidekick, Al. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Let's not forget that part of it. He would happily have me forget. All right. Brooksy, we're announcing these winners when?

Next Tuesday. Okay. Beautiful. FootieAwards.com. Go vote. We'll hand out some footies next Tuesday to some very deserving winners. And I think

that's going to wrap us up. And some deserving losers. That's true. Yeah. Look, when you get the Poopy Pants Award in the mail, which obviously they're all going to be in the mail after we announce the winners, that's a tough one to put on the mantle. A lot of people don't put it on the mantle. I say if you receive it, Arthur Smith, if that's you, put it on the mantle.

I agree. Yeah. All right. Thursday we're doing a Fantasy Footballers AMA, so there will be some opportunity for you to put questions in out on the social media world over on X at the FFBallers or on Instagram, Instagram.com slash FantasyFootballers. And we'll have the footy award show next Tuesday.

And then next Thursday, the truth series begins. The truth. So for those that don't know what that is, we'll start looking at the truth of the fantasy finishes at every position and whether players legitimately helped your team, which we kind of got into it today about, like, you know, Bijan. What's the truth about Bijan? We'll dig into the numbers, the consistency, all of that stuff.

And if you want extra episodes of the show, we're in our off-season schedule. So shows are Tuesday and Thursday. There's an extra episode of the show that you can listen to at jointhefoot.com. That is for those that support the podcast on Patreon. And I think we're done, Mike. We did it. We did it.

We did. And, man, the season's over. Wow. Thanks for being with us. Or is it just beginning? Goodbye. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode

Of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast Join our fantasy football community On jointhefoot.com And follow us on Twitter At the FFBallers