Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Panic Players + Trade Talk, Combo Platters - Fantasy Football Podcast for 10/4

Episode Date: October 4, 2023

Trade away Jaylen Waddle? How will Cooper Kupp impact Puka? On today’s fantasy football podcast, Andy, Mike, and Jason answer pressing questions including panic players and tricky trade offers! Plus, a new “Hungry For More” segment, NFL News, and a Thursday Night Football preview! Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for October 4th, 2023. Connect with the show: Subscribe on YouTube Visit us on the Web Support the Show Follow on Twitter Follow on Instagram Join our Discord Check out today's sponsors: News & Notes presented by USAA. Visit https://USAA.com/Insurance Hungry for More presented by Uber Eats. Visit https://www.ubereats.com/ 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. The Fantasy Footballers Podcast, Wednesday edition. Mike, the fantasy hitman, Jason Moore, Andy Holloway. Excited to be with you today. Hungry for more fantasy football. Starving. Chatter. Now, I just noticed you're not in a hat today, Jason. I am not in a hat today, Andy.

You broke a really long streak there. That was a hat streak. It was a hat streak. Yeah, they call it a hat streak. A hot hat streak. A hot hat streak. So, congratulations on breaking the street. I'm getting a haircut today.

Oh, are you? Yeah. And so you don't want to go to the haircut place without your hair done? Yeah, if you go to the haircut place with hat on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.

Okay. You're getting the haircut today. Later this afternoon. So today is the first day in, I don't know, at least a month. Right. That you're not wearing a hat. Correct. Because your hair is at a point now where you're like, this is unmanageable.

I need to go get it fixed. Right. But I'm going to show the hundreds of thousands of people on our YouTube. You're welcome. Okay, I'm just making sure. You can't show up to the barber with hat hair. Exactly. He gets it.

I frequently show up with hat hair. What. He gets it. I frequently show up with hat hair. What are you talking about? Mike has no idea because when Mike takes his hat off, take your hat off, Mike. It's not good. Your hair looks fantastic. Your hair looks like a stamos. If I'm a vampire, like in the Twilight series. Today is not your day.

No, because this was wet shower hair that I had to throw a hat on. All right, if you're watching on YouTube, leave a comment whether or not you, if you're going to get your hair cut, would you want to go in with hat hair or not hat hair? I choose to believe that the barber can figure it out. Yes. With cowlicks and all. Do they not, like when you sit down and they start going through your hair? They should get it wet. They spray spray spray. Spr they spray your hair do they just cut everything's dry do you what are you going to

yeah wait a minute they wet your hair yes so what if it doesn't matter if you have hat hair if you do your hair because they wet it down and they mess it up the last thing jason the last thing jason wanted was the one day he chose not to wear a hat. Me to immediately draw attention to it for a five-minute discussion. The fact that Owl immediately came to your defense. I can't believe people live like this. Oh, yeah. I think the vast majority of people live like that. No.

The vast majority. Your hair gets out of most people. The hair gets out of control. That's when the hat goes on. Rap, you're the other producer with hair here would you want to wear a hat to the uh haircut i'm with mike on this i'm going to the barber wearing my hat and they can fix it after stupid no this is absurd you should get a discount on your haircut if you set them up for such success. They're not making them work.

Look, I don't make them work a whole lot anyways. Oh, boy. Welcome in. You notice Judge Giamatti had no contribution. You don't want to jump in here, Brooks? I don't need no haircuts. Yeah. Don't need them.

Don't need them. Is there a place for bald guys to just go hang out for about 20 minutes all right there you go you can set that up uh welcome in reminder drop it like it's hot waivers just went through in our league they went through in your league check on who has been released into the general population. I mean, interesting spending on the Jaleel McLaughlin across our leagues. It just shows to me the desperation for running back and any chance, right? I mean, the spending was up there. Are you that much of a believer in Jaleel? So I do like the talent.

I like what Coach Sean Payton says about him. I like that he was more explosive than Samajay Piran, who honestly has not looked good this year passing the eyeball test. if Javante Williams will miss any games. And he could be the third string running back this week that you're spending a giant chunk of your – I mean, the two leagues that I've looked at this morning that went through was 25 and over 40 on your fab. I'm not spending a quarter to almost half of my fab on someone that legitimately could be the backup to the backup this week. And we just – the opportunities weren't through the roof. I mean, I think it was the same as P. Ryan pretty much.

And the other thing is we had the show yesterday, and it was a barren wasteland of a waiver wire to some degree, and there was nobody at the running back position that we were above 10% fab on. Yeah, having said all that, I do think Gervonta misses this week, so I think you're buying yourself someone who's going to get opportunities at least for one week and maybe more. And maybe what the Broncos have been missing is this type of speed at the running back position.

They've been missing a whole lot. Yes, they have. You know what they've been missing at wide receiver? A really speedy outside guy that could catch 40-yard bombs like crazy. Let's just, they don't need Marvin Mims. Keep him on the sideline. It's going to be your weekly call-out for Marvin Mims, hungry for more. You're always going to be hungry.

I said this. We were coming up with the hungry for more segment today, yesterday, and looking at all the different players. I said, can I just, every single single week say it's Marvin Mims? Like, I'm super hungry for more Marvin Mims. Get him on the field. You need him. He's done nothing but show out.

Stop putting him on the sign line. You need to call up the Panthers and convince them to trade for Judy. No, Mims. You can find us on X at the FFBallers, YouTube.com slash the Fantasy Footballers, and the website is thefantasyfootballers.com. Tons of free articles coming out every day. We got the free app on the App Store, on the Google Play Store. Just search for the Fantasy Footballers.

All right, let's jump in. Welcome to Hungry for More, presented by Uber Eats. All right, we are looking at some players that have been delivering over the last couple of weeks, maybe on the cusp of being on fire even, Mike. Who's your hungry for more pick this week? It is Alex Ander-Madison. I was going to go with Alex Madison, but it felt wrong. I thought you were trying to rebrand him.

Yeah, maybe. Maybe after these two weeks, that's what he needed. Maybe he just needed a little bit. Lex. Lexi. Lexi Madison. Maybe he just needed a little more competition to truly light that fire, or perhaps he just needed the team to actually give him

some volume, which they have done the last two weeks. The past two weeks,'re talking about 18.5 attempts on average over the last two games. Over five yards a carry. Yes, Cam Akers is still a concern because, look, Madison saw the lowest snap count of the season here in week four. But in two weeks when they're actually dedicating themselves to getting him the ball, he is getting it going.

And with Cam Akers on the team, I can't imagine that Madison truly hits that hope, the ceiling that we had in the draft season, that the Madison Truthers had in the draft season, that maybe he finishes as a fringe RB1 because of the volume. But maybe he's better than we've seen in those first couple weeks and we have an actual running back to here Jason if you had to guess because I don't know if you have this number on the top of your head where do you believe Madison is through four weeks in running back rankings um I think he in running back rate like where he is currently he's the running back I would guess he's around 18 yeah Yeah, he's at 20.

Okay. How many rushing touchdowns does he have this year? Oh, I know that one. Zero? Zero. Yeah. So, you know, when you look at all things considered, 4.6 to carry last week, it was a good matchup against the Chargers.

5.6 this past week against Carolina on the road. He's sitting at running back 20. With, I think, a single touchdown? With one receiving touchdown on the year and's sitting at running back 20 with I think a single touchdown with one receiving touchdown on the year and no rushing touchdowns and so you you look at that and you say okay he's kind of held it together I mean week two was brutal against Philly but you know that's not unexpected on the road against Philadelphia needing to come back needing to throw the football only eight opportunities and he's not on an offense that you project won't score touchdowns as as a whole oh yeah you you look at uh damian pierce and you say okay i i'm not sure how many touchdowns i'll get maybe they

will with cj stroud maybe you know it'll be better than expectations but you know what the vikings like they're gonna put up points so the touchdowns at the end of the year, it's not like Madison's going to have three total touchdowns through 17 weeks. Well, they play Kansas City. Not a great week this week, Bob. For this next matchup. Jason, give me your hungry for more player. I've got a combo pack here. I refuse to leave one of these two players out.

First is the aforementioned C.J. Stroud. Yeah. I'm just hungry for more. I want to watch more. He looks awesome. He looks fully legit. If you watch his quarterback finishes over the course of the season, week one, quarterback 22.

Week two, quarterback 13. Then he cracks into the top 12 with a 12 finish. Then he cracks into the top 10. He was the quarterback 10 last week. I'm hungry for more of that. I want like I want this Texans team to be good despite the fact that it'll be great for the Arizona Cardinals to have a great pick yeah I'm rooting for the Texans they look like a fun team CJ Stroud is so fun to watch

they're young um and I I think the city deserves it so um I I want to watch more but the other player that has to go hand in hand with this i am so hungry for more quality play from justin fields this is the exact like i've tasted a little bit of it quarterback special we we just we just last week was like oh oh that's delicious i would like seconds now i don't know that'm going to get seconds because they don't play the Broncos this week. For nothing. Right. Right. I am hungry.

I am famished. This is when they give him the styrofoam container for his second hamburger, and he gets over to the seat, and he opens the styrofoam container up, and there ain't nothing in there. My whistle is wet. I would like it. I'm ready for- What? Whisper. I'm ready for it. I'm ready. What? Whisper. I'm ready for more.

I'm hungry for more. And please, Fields, feed me. 29 starts. I wouldn't say you've been well fed over that duration. For fantasy, you've certainly been well fed. For watching him play quarterback well, no, no. But last week I was yeah I mean well-fed I'm not talking about just I'm saying for the duration of his career yeah yeah certainly well I mean I I were considering you were eating well last season for part of last season yeah

I mean last season really well so. Do you think we're back? I do think fantasy-wise he's going to be good this season. I am hungry for more fantasy. But really, I want him to level up as a quarterback. I do not believe that's going to happen. But you're hungry for more. But I am hungry. I'm going to bring up Michael Wilson again, wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, third-round draft pick the last two weeks.

86 and 76 yards. In fact, over the course of the last three weeks, he's on a 17-game pace of over 1,200 yards receiving in this Cardinal offense, led by Joshua Dobbs, eventually being led by Kyler Murray. It's been a pleasant surprise, their ability to move the football. Last week was obviously a big week for Michael Wilson with the the two touchdowns finished at wide receiver six on the week but um you know you like what you're seeing right now for michael wilson we talked about him yesterday in the waiver show um i'm i'm excited about it i'm hungry for more i want to see them go to him in higher value situations and i'm gonna since combo platters are on the menu today i did not know this uh i will throw in his teammate i'm actually gonna throw a hungry for more for hollywood brown right

now um he has been a little bit better than i think people maybe realized over the last three weeks hit me because i don't realize uh well the the target numbers, 10, 7, 10. He's been inside the top 20 at wide receiver the last two weeks. Okay. He has scored two out of those four weeks. He is the wide receiver 18 on the season. That is much better than I realized. And so I think there's a little bit of, you know,

cardinal blindness right now. Yeah. There we go. Now, was that the old jersey? You guys couldn't update that? They didn't know. They didn't know it was old. That jersey's been updated.

Oh, okay. It's all right. It's all right. No, Michael Wilson, Hollywood Brown. Who can keep up with these guys changing their number every year? Not our team. It's the worst thing to get on your case about ever. I'm sorry. I'm sorry,

Al. Are you all right today? I'm good. Ketron makes those. What a loser. Under the bus. That's right. You've got the It's Football Time t-shirt on today. I said when I sat down I should have saved it for tomorrow because it's not football time. Illegal shirt wearing. Ten yards. Just wash should have saved it for tomorrow. No, it's not football time, bro. Illegal shirt wearing.

Ten yards. Just wash it and wear it again tomorrow. Brooks repping his Orioles. Oh, yeah. Hey, by the way, breaking news before we close the segment out. Don't you dare talk about baseball. I had a tear in my eye yesterday. Don't you dare.

I had a tear in my eye because I'm going to tell the world. I got a text from somebody. Don't you dare tell the world. I got a text from somebody. Don't you dare talk about baseball. I got a text from somebody that turned the game on. You shut your mouth. There wasn't a football game yesterday. You be quiet right now. I got a text from Jason.

He was watching the game. Don't you ruin my brand. Don't you ruin my brand. Jason. This is a lie. He was rocking an It's Baseball Time shirt. Oh, man. It's Baseball Time shirt, too. Oh, man.

It's baseball time. You watched the game? He watched like an inning. I did. But he was good luck. The reverse Tyler Lockett yesterday for Andy. I turned the game on because I knew it was happening. I was like, hey, I want to see what's going on.

We're down. Benedict Arnold. We're down 3-0. And then first play I see. Crack. Home run. Two run homer. Yeah, you need to turn that off. Next play, crack, home run. We're tied 3-3. I'm like, I'm out. Oh, it was good for us.

That's all I saw, yeah. I am now going to be paying him to watch the Diamondbacks. All right, that was Hungry for More presented by Uber Eats. With Uber Eats, get anything delivered. Well, almost anything. Running backs? Nah. Nah. Flapj anything. Running backs? Nah. Nah.

Flapjacks, baby backs? Oh, yeah. Order now on the app. Product availability may vary by region. See the app for details. Let's talk news. News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance.

Well, the 21-day practice window has been opened for Jonathan Taylor and Cooper Cup. Get out your popcorn. Yes. Jonathan Taylor's situation. Does he delete Zach Moss from existence? Does he press this team for 20 and a half days and force them into more trade discussions? Do we see a trade that impacts? At this point

in the season, Jonathan Taylor gets traded. He's either staying and destroying Zach Moss or he's leaving and destroying, insert name here. We've talked about it, but he has to play six games to accrue a season. Whether he pushes the window for a while

to try to force the issue and get a trade, we don't know. I will say that Shane Steichen came out and said he had a great conversation with him and that he's practicing Wednesday. So he's practicing with the Colts for the Colts, has had a great conversation with the head coach. It seems promising that he is ready to go. Steichen said he was in good shape, but we'll see what happens when pads go on. I will say this about Jonathan Taylor. Coming into the season, he was more of a yellow alert, red alert. Red alert with the injury, which that has already played out. Missed the first month, was a bad pick.

But he was a yellow alert when we thought he was going to be ready for week one simply because we didn't know if this offense was going to be any good, if this team was going to be any good, if the pace of play would be really bad, if the running backs would be involved at all in the passing game. And what we've seen is a very fast pace of play, a pretty competent Anthony Richardson. We've seen Moss involved in the passing game at least well enough to where, look, Zach Moss has looked good two games in his career. They were both this year for the Colts. You put even the most ardent Zach Moss believer and truther would never say, oh, he's near the

level of Jonathan Taylor. Jonathan Taylor is an outlier running back prospect, so if he's healthy and he's active for the Colts, I think there's the world where he dominates. I agree. They play Tennessee this week. Not a good matchup for running backs in general. Not sure if Taylor would be back out there this week and whether they'll limit

snaps as he returns. Cooper Kopp, another question mark there around limiting snaps. His window is open to practice with the team. This is a, you know, you're on full watch for Cooper Cup. If you took the draft capital and you invested, you haven't got a return, but that return could be coming soon. The team, you know, Matthew Stafford's playing well. When you look at it on paper, you say Cooper Cup, Puka Nakua,

Tutu Atwell, Tyler Higbee, Van Jefferson. It's actually kind of an arsenal. It's all right. And Cooper Cup and Puka Nakua running routes and finding space. Jason, you're a Puka manager. Puka Troopa. Puka Trutha. Oh, Puka Trutha. Yeah. Not great, but I still liked it.

What are you doing? You're just continuing to play him. And I believe that when, you know, I saw enough flashes from Tutu this last week where I started to go, hmm, you know, Tutu's got his place. He's got a different skill set than Puka. And, you know, there will be times where he might, he might be keeping Puka from complete domination the way that like Robert Woods was, you know, I think the wide receiver 17, the wide receiver 13, he had very good fantasy relevant seasons, even next to Cooper Cup's dominant performances. And Puka's too good. Puka is catching everything thrown his way.

He's getting open. He's creating yards after contact. He's winning games and taking home the game ball after games. He's not going away. Selling it on eBay. So, to me, Puka is someone that's going to be a wide receiver two rest of season after Cooper Cup comes back. Out of,

you know, it's just kind of interesting, the target pace for Puka Nakua right now is 221 targets. The target pace for Tutu Atwell right now is 143 targets. So both players are getting, like, there might be room. I believe that right now, Puka's pace, if we want to talk about how good he's been,

it is more targets, more receptions, more yards than what Cooper Cup did when he destroyed fantasy football a couple years ago. He is, yeah, 221 targets, 165 receptions, 2,029 yards. This doesn't have the touchdowns right now. Yeah, it would be four. To me, it's thinking about this team running out 11 personnel. Like, it's going to be Cooper. Van Jefferson is, like, he's not great for fantasy football,

but he's the field stretcher. And then the choice for McVay is do you put in Puka for the majority of those snaps or do you put in Tutu I can't imagine it's not Puka the snap counts for Van Jefferson are insane I don't know if you've seen him what do we got 93 83 93 87 that's what I mean so he's never not out there he's cardioing it up. He's always there because it's a part of the play design. The defense has to account for Van Jefferson. I don't know that's true. I mean, they think they do.

I'm not sure they should. They do by design because if they don't, then it's just free touchdowns. I mean, you've got to shut down the big explosive plays, and that's why Puka's eating so much. This is true. Pat Fryermuth, big news this morning. Expected to miss two to three weeks. Hamstring injury won't be out there this week.

Yeah. Because, you know, but the tight end position, it's so easy to find somebody, right? Of course. Zach Ertz, anybody? He's probably still on the waivers. Dan Campbell, noncommittal about whether Amon Ross St. Brown will be available for Sunday's game against the Panthers I do not like this I do not like it's just it's probably toe management yeah I mean that's kind of how I

I've seen some people making a big deal about being worried about this but I having not known because it is unspecified I've just assumed is this not just a continuation of the toe issue he's been dealing with, been playing through, looking fine with. So as of right now, I'm unworried. If it comes out on the next injury report that it's like a knee or something new, then I'll be worried, but right now I'm not. I don't care. Robert Sala came out and said Brees Hall.

There we go. There will be no pitch count with him anymore. Here we go. Suggesting that Brees Hall, there will be no pitch count with him anymore. Here we go. Suggesting that Brees Hall will take on a larger workload moving forward. Finally. Daggum it. This is bad news. This is bad, bad news.

For everyone against Brees Hall? For me, trading for Brees Hall, which is right now when I want to do it. You're too late. I am too do it. You're too late. I am too late now. You're too late. Because Owls got him, and I really wanted to make some offers this morning and go hard after Brees and get him. We could still talk because he's probably not going to be good.

Okay? Just so you know. Live on the show. He's been pretty disappointing. I'm doing you a favor. Over the last three weeks jason make the pitch over the last three weeks he has averaged four fantasy points a game capitalized now man yeah i mean what are you offering you offering your second how about puka oh

okay now that now we're talking yeah yeah now we're talking. Yeah. Now we're talking. We are talking, but my team is running back deprived. That's the strategy? Bully people into taking your trades? Look, when you've got a chicken and a coward in front of hundreds of thousands of people, unless he wants to man up right of course yeah i mean i i totally get it why would you want breese hall no longer on pitch count versus the denver broncos this week because you want a future superstar hall of famer and

puka it's still uh look breese hall being on a pitch count or not on a pitch count, it's not like the accumulation of fantasy points at running back have been impressive for the Jets. Getting Delvin Cook off the field a little bit more would be good, but we know what the defense is going to do. The defense is going to put this team in a position to throw the football. Zach Wilson showed – I mean, I didn't get to – I wasn't here Monday for the discussion. Did you guys talk about Zach Wilson?

Yes, we talked about that. Wilson had a good game, and he outplayed Mahomes that week. I found myself rooting so hard for Zach Wilson to have success in that game. I mean, charity feels good. You know what I mean? Like, it feels good to have a heart for the oh my gosh the underserved and underloved so it's like when you root for zach

wilson you're doing we are getting jason on full display today i'm sorry guys guys. I guess I'm in a mood today. You are. You take the hat off, and it's all coming out. Jets play Denver, then Philly, then the bye week. Yeah, so it's going to be great this week. It might be great this week. Yeah, it will. It's going to be great. I know Jason would try to tell Al it's not. No, it'll be great for Zach Wilson. It's easy to throw on them. Garrett Wilson. I've already seen your start of the week, Jason. Deshaun Watson's shoulder will heal in the short term.

They do expect him to play after the bye week. Yeah. The report came out that he was medically cleared to play in week four but didn't feel like he could go. So that's weird. I've never heard of something like that ever where the medical staff says, yeah, you're good. And he's like, nah, I'm not.

I think it's happened a few times. I think there's been a handful of times when you're kind of – he wasn't comfortable playing through the injury for whatever reason. We all suffered eye injuries watching his backup take the field. It was weird. But what isn't with Deshaun Watson? Yeah. And we don't know how.

I mean, perhaps it was just an extreme discomfort. But David Njoku was like, if I can get a helmet on my burnt face, I'm going to play football. Right. So, I mean, in the locker room. That is a contrast. In the locker room. I don't know how that went over.

I can get a helmet on my burnt face. If you missed the report, Njoku had. It was a pit fire accident. He had an accident with a fire. And the coaching staff said, I don't know if he can get a helmet on his injury. He showed up to the stadium with a mask. With bandages over. I mean, he looked like.

He looked like me in the turkey costume from two weeks ago. He really did. But it was crazy. He was not doing the tongue thing, though. They just weren't sure whether or not he'd be able to wear a helmet. He was able to get it on and played through it. It's really hard to give Watson the benefit of the doubt in these situations. But ultimately, maybe it was going into the bye. Maybe it was saying, hey, look, I go into the bye week.

I'm not going to risk re-injuring this and hurting it for the remainder of the season. One more bit of news came out yesterday. It was weird. The Panthers looking to trade for a number one caliber wide receiver, doubling down on the season. Yeah. This is a team that's 0-4. That's not weird to me at all.

I don't think – I mean, this is a team that believes in their number one pick. I've got a name for you. Marvin Mims. What's your name? DJ Moore. Yeah, that's fair. Well, they can't because they don't have a first rounder next year. I mean, I like that they say they want a number one caliber guy

because the player they trade for, if they trade for one, it's probably not going to be one that we say is a guaranteed number one. It also could be Claypool. It is kind of dunking on your wide receivers. Yeah, I agree. Look, you guys are great. We just need a number one. Yeah, I mean, it's funny because that room that that person's talking in,

there's not anyone hanging out in that room. I mean, it's like Mingo's hurt. I mean, Terrace Marshall knows what we know. Terrace Marshall, I think, has like 19 targets in the last two weeks. That's all you need to know. That was today's News & Notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com slash insurance. Quick break.

Back with the Thursday Night Preview. At Wealthsimple, we're built for whatever you're building. Built for Jane, who wants to break into the housing market. We're built for Ted, who's obsessed with what's happening in the global markets. And built for Celine, who just wants to break into the housing market. We're built for Ted, who's obsessed with what's happening in the global markets. And built for Celine,

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I just saw the video. If you're watching on YouTube, you saw it, the drop, the video drop. Sure. Three of us, the pictures in the video drop. We look like we are really excited about this game. So let's see if it's true. The Bears are 0-4, managed to blow it again last week to continue the losing streak.

Really in impressive fashion, too. It really was. Yeah, they take on the Washington Commanders who are 2-2. They're at home. The DraftKings Sportsbook line has Washington minus 6. The over-under is 44-1. We saw good things from Justin Fields and Sam Howell for fantasy last week. Justin Fields was 28 for 35.

At this point, you know, it's hard. Like what percentage of that is facing Denver at this point, a team that is historically egregious now on defense? It's hard not to correlate that because Fields has looked so bad. Then you play the worst defense in football, and then you look good. But at least he looked good. At least he took advantage of it. I mean, there have been some matchups.

We've been calling for Justin Fields' bounce back for three weeks. It finally happened. Yeah, I mean, Joe Burrow should have bounced back against the Titans, and he did not. No, he didn't. And Sam Howell looked really good against Philadelphia. They beat up on the back end, but it was a good performance. He's my stream of the week in this matchup because Chicago's defense is bad, bad, bad.

They are 31st against quarterbacks, 31st against running backs, putting Sam Howell into streaming consideration, and Brian Robinson into must-start consideration. Brian Robinson has been very, very good this year. He has. He is the number four ranked running back for the week on our website, and Robinson is getting all of the work. I mean, I saw two leagues drop Antonio Gibson for the second time in today's waiver wire,

but Brian Robinson's been good. We'll get him again. So Brian Robinson on the year is the RB seven in fantasy football. And he had a good bounce back week last week. And you can't ask for much more than being at home, favored by almost a touchdown against the 31st ranked run D that has averaged giving up 30 fantasy points a week to the running back position. Antonio Gibson has not been very involved. So Brian Robinson is, you know, from here on out,

seems like a must start, especially given the landscape of all running backs. But with this matchup, you should be hopeful for a really big game, at least a touchdown. On the Washington side, I think Howell, Robinson, McLaurin, and I believe Logan Thomas is in the mix in this game. The matchup is very good against the Bears schedule adjusted their 23rd against tight ends I think Logan Thomas is a player that

needs to be on people's radar if you lost Friar Muth like he is streamable yeah I get that and then Terry McLaurin has seen his target share rise every single week from 14 to 18 21 to 26 I mean though that's that's what we're talking about we're up over that 25 percent mark against Philadelphia he's you already knew he was you knew he was a stud player but it's there's weird stuff going on in Washington because McLaurin's on the rise meanwhile Jahan Dotson while he had a little bit of an injury, it's been all over the place, and they're short targets. They're not utilizing Jahan Dotson's superpower. His highest yardage total of the season through four games is 40 yards week one against the Arizona Cardinals.

Managed nine targets last week in that shootout with Philadelphia despite being injured and missing some snaps. Yeah, but four for 27. I don't think you can play him this week. I think the ankle is still a limited practice. I mean, Jason, are you taking the shot on Jahan Dotson? It's always going to depend on who

I would have in there. The matchup says you could start him. Tank Dell or Dotson? I think I would go Tank Dell. He's looked... Michael Wilson or Dotson? Michael Wilson. So I guess I'm not really starting Dotson. Tyler Boyd or Dotson. I think I would go tank Dell. He's, he's looked, uh, Michael Wilson or Dotson, Michael Wilson. So I guess I'm not really starting Tyler Boyd or Dotson. I would go Dotson over Tyler Boyd. I don't, I don't trust what I've seen so far from Joe Burrow. Um, and this matchup is good, but one thing we have to keep in mind with Terry McLaurin has how he's gotten more and more involved as His target market share has gone up every single week.

He started, you know, he was one of the guys that was in contention for a my guy all offseason. I was in love with him. Then he got injured. He started the year. We weren't even sure if he was going to be active week one. And we knew he had a toe, right? Yeah, his turf toe. And so that was one of those things where now we're a month removed from it. Maybe he's just getting healthier and more explosive,

being able to push off a little bit better and create separation, get open. It seems that way with the targets he's been earning. On the other side, Justin Fields, the matchup, Washington on the year, 23rd against opposing fantasy quarterbacks. That just equates to 18.6 points given up. Schedule adjusted, it's ninth. You know, the game's on the road. It's prime time.

Would you play Fields tomorrow night against Washington or Trevor Lawrence against Buffalo on the road? Fields. Well, they're in London. Oh, yeah, that's right. That's right. Well, yes. Still on the road.

Still on the road. And technically the away team, so yes. Yeah. All right. That's right. Well, yes. Still on the road. Still on the road. And technically the away team. So, yes. Yeah. All right. Buffalo just lost to Davis White. That's a close one. I'd probably play Fields after what we saw last week. Would you play Fields or

let's go Jordan Love against the Las Vegas Raiders? Yeah, I'll probably play Fields. But the matchup is very good for Jordan Love. It is? Very good. If I'm an underdog, I'll play Fields.

I don't think Jordan Love's giving you 30-plus points. Okay. Well, then how, I mean, Mr. Super Safety, Brock Purdy, playing the Dallas Cowboys. No, I'll play Fields. Okay. We we gotta stay water my friends and i'm gonna i'm gonna follow last week and hope they figured something out and that it's not just denver it is really funny though the fact that last week he was so good passing

the ball like yeah like really really good he had very few incompletions. You know, one of them was a bomb Hail Mary that, you know, didn't get caught and isn't his fault. But it's like I really wish he was great for fantasy last week with 120 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns because I think that's more sticky for him. Unfortunately, he only ran four times. So it's like – He's on pace for under 600 rushing yards on this season. That can't happen. For him, unfortunately, he only ran four times. He's on pace for under 600 rushing yards on this season.

That can't happen. That can't happen. And I think teams are learning how to defend those plays in particular, whatever they've got. I don't think that's the case. I don't think you can defend his rushing attempts. They're not doing designed runs. They're just literally calling fewer opportunities for him to get out and run. Yeah, but when I've watched the design runs, they're getting stacked up.

I mean, they're getting – it's not like he's – you know, he had 11 rushing attempts the week before, 4.3 an attempt. I mean, there was no – He didn't need to run. There aren't any breakaways. Yeah, I mean, he didn't use to run. There aren't any breakaways. Yeah. I mean, he, he didn't use his legs last week by choice, but it's one of the, when you've got a talent like Justin Fields legs, it's like Lamar Jackson. I just don't think defenses like you're going to scheme. You're

going to try, but in the end you, you just can't catch him sometimes. It's like, if, if, if he gets an edge, it's like, well, he's faster than us. That us that sucks yeah we haven't seen it this year no we haven't Khalil Herbert had a big week 11 for 103 thank you Denver five targets gotten to the end zone had a season high in snaps and opportunities they definitely were having success with him and stuck with him so I he's the biggest question to me in this game because do you he he sucked he was terrible he was borderlineppable, and then he played against Denver and was great. He was terrible for fantasy. Like, his performance on the actual field was not bad. And they're somewhat correlated.

Yeah, I mean, he wasn't getting a lot of opportunities. Yes, but that's what I mean. Well, yes, they can be correlated, but they're also, when your team is getting shellacked. Which is going to be what happens most games. Probably what's going to happen the first half of this game. So you think Washington dominates? I think Washington is a

much, much more competent, more talented team that is at home, favored. So it's like, the reason that Khalil Herbert was able to succeed and continue to get opportunities was because they were dominating in the beginning of this game. The fact that they lost this game, that's not how the game script was.

The game script was they were up by multiple scores and just handing the ball off to Khalil Herbert a bunch. But it's also five targets. I mean, you have to ask yourself, did they look at their offensive output and say, okay, that's more the road that we need to go. We've been trying to do this more of a platoon type of a thing with Roshon Johnson moving up, eating more and more snaps, or do we need to let Khalil Herbert have the primary share?

Yeah, I mean, it's just difficult. There's a team that's lost 13 straight games. You have Fields, Herbert, DJ Moore, and Cole Komet that all had big fantasy weeks, and you have to do the broad view approach, I think, and say, I don't think you can chase all four players unless you want to end up disappointed. I'm going to stay in the flames with DJ Moore, who's been really good lately. I'm going to chase Fields, and I'm going to let the other two prove it.

That's where I'm at. I'm going to chase Fields, and I'm going to let the other two prove it. That's where I'm at. I'm in that situation. I mean, obviously your options are always going to come into the equation. And, look, if you lost Pat Frymuth, maybe Cole Komet's the guy you want to take a chance on. If you lost a running back, maybe you want to throw Herbert out there. But this is Thursday night, and I don't want to lose it on Thursday night just because I'm chasing.

For Cole Komet, it is worth noting the Washington commanders allowing 3.7 points per game to the tight end position which is the worst matchup right now yeah and sometimes you go well they haven't played any tight ends but if you adjust for schedule and who they've played they're still bottom five yeah it's it's amazing because Cole Komet after that last week is now number four at tight end on the year. Yeah, tight ends are so stupid. But yeah, I mean, it's just rough in the streets. So

reminder, if you have a player playing on Thursday night, please do not play them in the flex. Slot them into your starting running back or wide receiver position so that when we get the unfortunate late-week injury news, you have the ability to pivot out of somebody else. So anything else from this game you guys want to touch on?

Nope. All right, let's hit a little bit of mailbag. Mailbag. Mailbag. Oh, yeah. All right, if you have a question for the show, go to the website, thefantasyfootballers.com, click the Submit a Question button, or dial the voicemail hotline, 302-464-TFFB.

We're going to jump right into the voicemail. Zach from Maryland. Do I trade away Waddle because he has been an absolute disappointment. Thanks. Short and sweet. Yeah, do we trade away Jalen Waddle? Jalen Waddle's fantasy finishes this year, 31st, 41st, missed the game,

50th. Last year, Jalen Waddle 60th on the week, 75th on the week, 98th on the week, 68th on the week, 98th on the week, 68th on the week, 41st on the week. Those are some of his fantasy finishes on a weekly basis. Also finished as the wide receiver seven because when Jalen Waddle goes off, he go off. And so I'm personally, I think this is a volatile player. He's not the number one target, but he's the type of player in the type of offense you want big explosive playmaker who can be the wide receiver one on any given week in those in

weeks one and two he was at in a half point scoring format 9.8 and 10.4 so it was a lower finish compared to you know a lot of the field but, but that's still helping your team. Well, this is a player that has been injured, banged up quite often, hasn't performed so far. The question was, would you trade him? Like, would you trade Jalen Waddell for Nico Collins? No. Personally, I would rather have Jalen Waddell. Would you guys?

Probably not. I feel good about moving him preseason right now for Debo Samuel, but he had a bad week last week too. I mean, wide receivers are inconsistent. Would you trade him for? He hasn't played a home game this year. He's on the road against Buffalo, New England, and the Chargers for his three games. He did score this weekend, so maybe you can't,

but would you trade him for Calvin Ridley? Oh I'd do that take Ridley yeah I think the most interesting name would be Puka Puka's you know that now is the time where people are gonna have to decide they don't know if Cooper Cup is back back this week back in the next 21 days how will Puka look when he's back but Puka's been outstanding outside of the top tip top you know Stefan Diggs uh Tyree Kill type names he's the next best wide receiver I think it's what your team needs I mean you brought up his inconsistency you look over his last 17 games played he ranks as a C 41.2 percent of the time he exceeds our threshold for wide receivers of a good game, which is 10.5 points.

So 41% of the time, on average, you're happy with Jalen Waddell. That 41%, you're very, very happy. So, look, if he's leading your wide receiver room, you've probably been super disappointed. He was drafted to potentially be your wide receiver one. Sure. Yeah. That's the problem. But if he's your wide receiver two, I would stick with him. If he's your one and you want to go to consistency, you're probably going to get more consistency even with Kup coming back out of Puka Nakua or even Calvin Ridley, in my opinion. Sure. All right, let's move on. Hey, I don't have any questions, but I just wanted to say love your show.

My fiance and I are in a league together, and actually we get married this weekend and are actually playing each other this weekend. So wish us luck. Into the marriage early this week, Sunday. Well, congratulations. That is awesome. Yeah, that's... Hey, there's a wedding gift from Brooks.

Yeah, maybe don't check the scores for a while. Yeah. Bench both teams. Take the tie. Take the tie. Oh, gosh, Jason. That's pretty gross. What is that?

I mean... Mike is just... He can't handle you today yeah because this guy's ridiculous bench your team take a tie would that be good or bad for you if if you're uh a different manager in that league right like i'm not in that game and both those teams neither get a win but neither get a loss i would see that as advantageous for me. It's better for the league. Right.

What if you say – Maybe. What if you – Well, they lose out on a whole bunch of points too. Well, that part's true, but maybe one of those teams is – you're rooting for them to lose. Or say you're going to bench your team and then don't. Oh, nice.

Pump fake. Well, you still got to bench your team. But then right before kickoff. Yeah. Slash wedding. Waddle follow-up bench your team. But then right before kickoff. Yeah. Slash wedding. Waddle, follow-up question. Waddle or Mike Evans for the rest of the season? Evans going into the bye week.

I'm sure we'd take him. Yeah, it's an easy Mike Evans. His pace with targets was outstanding. Even if you include the game where he missed with the hamstring injury, he's still on pace for 131 targets and 1,400 yards and double-digit touchdowns. He's been outstanding. It does not appear that the – I mean, Godwin had a good week.

Obviously, we had the absence of Mike Evans. But just watching that offense, I think Mike Evans is very secure in that primary target role. Godwin is capable, but, you know, I don't know. I haven't seen old Godwin yet. This last week was the first week that I felt like he looked like old Godwin on film, and he was more of the first retarget. Maybe that was why it just appeared.

Because Evans was gone, you're saying? Yeah, because Evans was gone. But, you know, he looked good to me this last week. Would you trade, this is an Instagram question from iRob, David Montgomery for Jamar Chase? Oh, man. I would do that. I would as well.

Yeah. Yeah. But it won well. Yeah. Yeah. But it won't feel good right now. Montgomery's going to keep cruising. I agree. I don't think Montgomery is going anywhere, but you don't usually have a chance to do a trade like this. And even though you look at last week, okay,

Jamar Chase had 10 fantasy points in half PPR scoring. You're definitely disappointed with that. But he had nine targets, seven receptions, 73 yards. Like, that didn't destroy you, even while Burrow's playing poorly. By the end of the season, Jamar Chase should be back to form and winning people playoff weeks. The only risk there is that they shut Burrow down for an extended period of time,

and you deal with the Browning to Chase situation. And I am worried about the schedule. I'm worried about the loss year for Cincinnati. But I would probably take the chance because you're trying to win the title. Yeah. Not finish third or fourth. Instagram question following up earlier discussions. Love the show, boys.

Puka finishes as the wide receiver what this season? He's currently the wide receiver five on the year. I believe that Puka will finish as the wide receiver 13. Ooh, I had it right there, 14. 14, okay. 13, 14, Mike. You know what to there. 14. 14. Okay. 13, 14, Mike. You know what to do. 15.

There you go. Instagram question. Would you trade Devon Achan for Mark Andrews? Yes. Probably. Yeah, I probably would. Probably would. I mean, I don't know what this future for Devon A. Chan is going to be.

I still don't. I love the explosiveness. I love the ability to, you know, he's gotten into the end zone, and that's been outstanding. But it's going to be a bunch of dudes back there in the backfield, and so he's got to make the most of his opportunities. The last two weeks, he completely has. He went from 18 carries to eight last week.

Now, he averaged 12.7 a carry. He was over 100, right? He was over 100 yards against Buffalo on eight carries. He had a 55-yard run. 55! But look. Oh, and that run. Oh, mercy.

We have watched. Some of his cuts. We've watched... Some of his cuts. We've watched a lot of football. We've seen C.J. Spiller. We've seen speed. And look, there is nothing negative you can say about Devon Aitken other than the fact that he's not going to do that every game. He can't.

Yeah, he's... Unless he's Chris Johnson. I mean... It is always one of those things. It's always in the back of your head. It's Chris Johnson versus C.J. Spiller. That was the argument to me coming into the draft season with Jameer Gibbs. And Jameer Gibbs to me was like, I saw him more as the C.J. Spiller than the C.J. Johnson.

But when you've got these guys. C.J. Johnson. I love that guy. When you've guy Chris Johnson when you've got that kind of speed but you lack the size there are not a lot of examples you can go to in history and you've got some flame outs

and you've got some league winners just keep playing him right now for sure keep playing him but I don't blame anyone that wants to try to trade him at his peak this could be his peak value for the season because right now you've got the combination of extreme production mixed with still potential unknown.

This final question here is about a player that there's a lot of discussion on right now. It comes from Twitter at Browns2008. What is up, ballers? Am I safe to bench Romandre this week? I'm fortunate enough to have good depth to replace him. Would love to hear your feedback. Yeah, yeah, you can do that.

I mean, this has been B-A-D. I mean, Romandre is averaging 2.7 yards per carry, and it's not like he's had no attempts. I mean, this is 60 attempts for 164 yards in the offense. He's scored one time. It's been a really, really bad start, and

the passing game work sometimes saves the day, but you had reports last week that they want to give Zeke more work. If you look at the peripheral metric, Zeke is better in every single metric than Ramondre this year. Explosive runs, yards after contact, yards before contact, yards per carry, and Zeke scored three fantasy points despite the hype. So it is not good right now. You have quarterback changes in New England. If you have the ability to put in a Pacheco or an A-chan or just a different option at running back, I would be fine with you doing that.

I don't have any problem doing that this week. The game against the New Orleans Saints, they have been a multi-year great run defense. You're not expecting a big game from Ramondre. Andy, I don't think you were here for the show where, you know, my plan for Ramondre is wait one more week and trade for him because it's, you know, it's been a bad stretch where you've got to play the Jets' amazing defense, the Cowboys' amazing defense, and the Saints' amazing defense. I don't expect good games there.

After that, you've got run defenses of the Raiders, the Bills, and the Dolphins that I would expect really big games from Ramondre. So to me, that exhale right there. You can go get them, but I'm not making the bet. You can make the bet. But that's why I'm going to be doing it because it's going to be achievable. It's not going to cost me a lot. It's definitely going to be achievable. I'm hoping for a really bad game from Ramondre this week

because then I think I can add him to my roster without destroying it. That is the game. That's my personal plan. That is fantasy football. If he has a really bad game, then that's five in a row. And you're going to – And that's a place where you've got to really – You've got to have the stones.

You've got to stare at yourself in the mirror and say – like next week I still think you're going to be looking in the mirror going, I meant what I said. I did. You meant what you said, Jason. Because one more bad week, that stacks up emotionally. That's why you have to have the plan in place. He may not be good this year.

He may not be good. That is a real possibility. But he will be. For Zappy or for Mac Jones or for – It's still Mac. It is. It's still Mac. They didn't put Zappy in until the game was over.

Correct. I mean, I'm here for all Mack Jones trashing. I've been on record a long time saying that he's not a starting quarterback. I mean, you're acting like we didn't see Mack Jones replaced last season by Bailey Zappi because of performance. Yeah. Zappi's not the guy either. They are circling the guy either.

They are circling the old drain. They just lost Christian Gonzalez for the year, had to trade for J.C. Jackson. The division is brutal. Well, I would agree that the Patriots are not. And Judon just got hurt too. Yeah. Well, I would agree that the Patriots are not an arrow pointing up team. Let's say they go to Zappy.

I don't think it makes a difference for Vermont, right? Snap counts are going down. Just as good. It's the bet. That is the bet. That is the game of fantasy. We're wrapping up. A reminder, we have a brand new Dynasty podcast episode that released this morning with a

trio never before seen. Mike Wright, Matthew Betts, and myself talking trade targets for contenders, trade targets for rebuilding teams in Dynasty. You can check that out, the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty podcast. Tomorrow we have starts of the week, the matchup previews on Friday, the Wheel of Shame, the Fantasy Face-Off, more matchups, lots to talk about. Don't miss an episode. Go over to youtube.com slash the fantasy footballers, subscribe, click that bell.

That way you don't miss a show and you catch Mike on Sunday Live. Goodbye. Bye-bye. 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.