Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Playoff Push + Hungry For More, Strategic or Evil? - Fantasy Football Podcast for 11/29

Episode Date: November 29, 2023

Get ready for Week 13 on today’s fantasy football podcast! Tough Week 13 start/sit decisions, players we want more from, and a preview of Thursday Night Football! Which Seahawks players can be trusted in fantasy lineups this week? Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for November 29th, 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. Wednesday episode of the Fantasy Footballers. Jason Moore, Mike the Fantasy Hitman Wright, and I am Andy Holloway. We welcome you in. Busy day. Should be a lot of good conversations. We're talking NFL news today. We're going to preview the Thursday night game, answer some questions. We have hungry for more on the show.

Apologies to everybody out there. If this show is getting out a few minutes late. Yeah. I mean, really, I'm just glancing in Deucer's Alley direction. I don't know who is responsible, but we were ready. We do. We get here on time. Yeah.

I mean, I think. We're professional. I've been here for two hours. We are prepared. We're ready to go. And we can't record because. Somebody. Somebody.

Somebody. Deucer's Alley broke something broke something I don't know I mean I I've uh I guess we'll move forward we don't have a choice if you even are hearing this

if they were able to record this episode and publish it we don't even know at this point no trust no we don't know if anybody's here oh yeah hit that button that felt good um we love we love you guys yeah i noticed they didn't toss the camera back there at all during that period of time now you're making us boom shakalaka ourselves you can't even find the drop yourself that's right yeah you just dumped on yourself you're making us boom shakalaka ourselves because we're incapable of finding the button

oh man also don't like wholesale quit you guys because we don't know how to do anything here anymore oh my goodness uh yes in, one and all. Thank you for joining us. A heads up, when you get done with this delicious episode, we have a new Dynasty podcast episode. Those come out weekly. This one was Matthew Betts, Kyle Borgannoni, Jason Moore, and you were talking Dynasty differences?

Yeah, we brought up a lot of players that have either risen up, you know, what would be the startup rankings or fallen a lot, just different perspectives and kind of some like, is it prescriptive? Is there a lesson to learn? It was a lot of really good conversation. Well, I see Austin Eckler's name was brought up on the show. Do you want to tease any of the thoughts on awesome? Yeah.

Excellent. I would say the main thought that I had was the equivalent of trying to hold your breath forever. Yeah. That's how Austin Eckler feels to me is like. And then no exhale, just expiration. Okay. So check that out out he's still trying he's how how long could he go uh about 15 more seconds i think you're i think his watch his watch is yelling at yeah this good something is wrong yeah are you breathing um shout out to everybody uh that is

throwing he's still going we're to get a really big X. We're going to get like 50% of the company soon. Shout out to everybody on Twitter. Sharon, the air, uh, Spotify wrapped. Yeah. Yeah. Those are always fun to see. They are.

Especially those of you that I see that are in like the Austin Eckler. There he is. There he is. What are we doing? That was, uh, was uh the dynasty show yeah it's just silent yeah it's a real good episode um yeah but no it's it's cool to see everybody's uh sharing their their listenership of the podcast and um we actually they gave us a uh what would that be a publisher's wrapped so they gave us some, including like the most popular episode of the year. Do you guys, well, Jason already knows, Mike.

Did you see this? I did. Okay. Which is. So much for guessing. It's not a shock. Yeah, that would be the My Guys episode. Yeah, people want to know.

That was the top episode of the year. 205 episodes published. 12,569 minutes. I think they did the math wrong. Yeah. It's going to be 12,000 hours. Mike's math. No, it's 205,000 hours.

And we're always curious if people, because most people don't share our show. It's a really good business model we have. We create something that feels like secret knowledge for you to win your league. But there was a most shared episode from mid August. Al Borland, did you see any of this information? I did not. Yeah, top

10 tips and tricks to win your league. So, some people shared some of our episodes with others. Thank you. That's very nice of them. And we've tried all sorts of angles to get you to share our show. Yeah. And the one we go with most often is like challenge yourself.

I dare you to share this show. The one I'm going to go with now is Pretty Please. Oh, you're going to go to begging? Yeah. Pretty Please is not a beg. Just kindness. Pretty Please? That's a beg. No, pretty please is not begging he went right to pretty please if you say please that's asking if you say pretty please no no no if you say please

pretty please begging yeah but he went right to it so you're saying that was still okay that was still the initial ask okay all right fair enough not begging thank you so uh pretty please well now we're begging what are you doing it's wednesday man it's hump day it's wednesday i'm sorry everybody uh let's move on welcome to hungry for more presented by Uber Eats. All right. Who are you picking for the Hungry for More segment this week? Somebody we've had some nibbles, maybe some flashes in recent weeks.

And you want to see this solidified, Mike. You are hungry for more. I will jump in. It is the note from Kyle. Michael Keaton Mitchell starting running back of the Baltimore Ravens. Things have just continued to escalate. Week 12, 9 for 64. We also saw two targets,

46% of the snaps. Since he's really gotten back from his injury, week 9, the snaps have gone up every single week and probably correlated. Gus Edwards' snaps have gone down every single week in that time as well. Gus Edwards will probably still get a bunch of touchdowns before the end of the year. But Keaton Mitchell has serious juice, and that is the archetype of running back. That's why I was so excited for the potential of J.K. Dobbins because when J.K. Dobbins is healthy, that's a juicy boy. I mean, he has real top speed, real shifty,

and that's who Keaton Mitchell is. And if he continues to climb in snaps and opportunities for the Ravens, he could do some real damage over the fantasy playoffs. I feel like we're in a Jaleel McLaughlin situation with Keaton Mitchell, except there's no Javante Williams to return. Do you know what I mean? I think if McLaughlin had just been given that role and Williams never came back, he would have been one of those players

that was very key to your season, especially with how Denver's playing. So, Keaton Mitchell, you're hungry for more. Jason? For me, it's a guy who has been heating up, and I want it to be solidified. Breakout sensation week one. And Calvin Ridley, who then disappeared for months, and now the last two weeks is back.

They found him? They found him. They are utilizing him in a much better way. Obviously, Zay Jones has been back. There's correlation between Zay being on the field and Calvin Ridley being better, but that's not causation. It's just a funny little anecdote that basically I think it's really just –

It could be. I mean, the routes he's running are different. They are different, but ironically, a lot of the touchdowns that Calvin Ridley has had have been while Zay Jones isn't even on the field. Oh, just like a sideline like, go, it's really, I think that's what it is. I think it's more about, like, the cheerleader who is, with a helmet on in Zay Jones is really helping Calvin Ridley. But he's got a great matchup this week against Cincinnati on Monday Night Football,

and they are starting to use him the way that he should be used around the red zone. He's turned his three red zone targets into three touchdowns. He had two total red zone targets over the previous eight weeks before this stretch where he's been really great. And he even dropped a touchdown. So was his, was his drop a outside the red zone? Yeah.

The drop was a bomb. This is courageous of you to, to pick Calvin Ridley here. Cause he's, he's on the cusp of on fire and you're squaring off against him this week did you real you remember that no yeah it's uh look i uh i have had to struggle with my own matchup and advice on the show and i have i am just going to say what I believe is good

and right for the Foot Clan, and Al can play whoever he wants against me. Yeah, he'll be playing Calvin Ridley. I'll tell you that right now. If that was a way to imbue that that was a choice for him, is that what that was? Like, yeah, if he wants to go with him, he can. No, he's got some tight end decisions to make as well okay all right i don't think calvin's one of those decisions are you really on the edge

with calvin i will not be starting calvin ridley at tight end okay all right good good look i'm gonna i'm gonna go with um you know one of the more difficult players this season to evaluate we've had a ton of rookie wide receivers making contributions, and this guy has not had the opportunity that he deserves. But last week we saw maybe the tantalizing potential of Rashi Rice, wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs. Ten targets last week. Led the Kansas City wide receivers in routes run for the first time this year.

That was the first double-digit target game. Went eight for 107 and a touchdown. And you get the ball in his hands enough, and you get a big play. He is not Debo Samuel in every way, but that part of his game is very similar in that you give Debo enough chances, you get a long play. You give Rbo enough chances, you get a long play. You give Rashi enough chances, you get a long play. The no-cadareous Tony and Hardman situation really consolidated opportunities.

You saw Justin Watson with only one catch because, come on, that's enough. Sure. And, you know, I like what I saw. So I'm very encouraged just with the opportunity he has. The offense has been struggling, so there's some narrative street reasons why Rashi Rice should be getting more work. Like, hey,

it works when you get him the ball. So hopefully that's what we see. He's my rising, or my hungry for more, and I'm excited. So, by the way, I mean, the producers would like to remind us they did fix the problem that they made. Oh, that's true.

That's true. They would like credit for that. Like, they were the ones that remedied the issue. I mean. Like a firefighter that starts the fire. Right. And then comes and rescues the people in the house. Thank you for putting out your fire.

That was Hungry for More, presented by Uber Eats. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats in O-Line. No. Carton of OJ. Yes. Order now on the app. Product availability may vary by region. See the app for details.

News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance. Not, I mean, not to spend our whole show talking about the Ducers, but I didn't realize the bald gradient we have in Ducer salad. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Like, I'll take off your hat for a second, because I'm sure you want to do that. You've got hair. So that's a full head. And then, Brooksy, you're in your Christmas best, but. Yeah. You know, the gradient. Yeah, he's not taking that off. All right.

This was the big news yesterday, but let's follow up. Let's talk about it. Jonathan Taylor. Now, is this official? Official? The report is that he will undergo thumb surgery and is expected to miss at least two or three weeks. That report was shared, and the source was documented that it was Jim Irsay. So it should be a reliable source.

Well, I mean, I had somebody message me, and I'm sorry to throw this person under the bus a little bit, but it's always interesting when you, when someone asks you for your opinion in fantasy on, on a trade, you share your opinion and then they argue with you about your opinion. Like maybe, cause,

cause we all have like a bias with the trade and when we're asking for help and they were like, somebody offered me Jonathan Taylor right now for a Devon H hand. And they were like, somebody offered me Jonathan Taylor right now for, uh, Devon HN. And, you know, he's talking about the fact Jonathan Taylor could be back in time to be

helpful. And I'm like, and I'm like, there's no way in the world I would be doing that. Like not trading HN away for Jonathan Taylor. Is that the same view you would have in that situation? Cause I, I just don't know if Taylor hits IR.

I don't know if the recovery takes longer. Like, we're in the nitty-gritty of the season. Yeah, so it's a thumb injury. The report that we got is he's expected to miss two to three weeks, but they're also not ruling out IR at this point. But, I mean, we're in week 13. Right, so let's just say that he gets on IR. So he misses 13, 14, 15, 16.

That means the first game you could have him back would be championship weekend if he comes directly back. I would be willing to start him that week right off of IR. But to illustrate Andy's point, if he ends up on IR, which today we do not know, and honestly, they probably won't announce that until close to Sunday, where they'll have to make that decision so that that first game can go towards his IR stint,

or whether, you know, if they don't put him on IR by Sunday, then that's a good indication that they don't believe he'll miss four games. Because they're in the playoff hunt right now. The Colts are 6-5. Right. So they are in the thick of it. Let's play it out.

Here we go. Here's the schedule. Tennessee this week. They should win that game. Oh, man, they should. They should win that game. It's on the road. It'll be close.

In Cincinnati the week after, win a bull, but I think we'd give them one-on-one on this. Yeah, let's go one-on-one. So that puts them at seven and six. Pittsburgh at home. They're at home. Yeah. Okay, I'm going to say they win that game. I'll take the Steelers.

Okay, so seven and seven-ish. I'm on Mike's side, so we'll go 7-7. At Atlanta, winnable. Las Vegas, winnable. Houston, winnable. All of these games are. That's why they haven't IR'd him just yet. They're like, well, we could maybe get through.

We don't know what we are. But the point being, he's gone for at least two weeks. I'm going, I'll guess three. And then at that point, it's if the Colts lose some games here, do they bring Jonathan Taylor back for a week? It wouldn't make sense. His contract's locked up, so it's not that they couldn't do that. It's about when you're out, let's see if anyone else on this roster needs to be around next year.

There are just so many variables with Taylor actually coming back. Let's try something on for size. Jason, how does this sound? Okay. Zach Moss, fantasy MVP. That sounds likely. It's not my favorite phrase to utter, fantasy MVP. That sounds likely it's, it's,

uh, it's not my favorite phrase to utter, but I will say that, um, E D M B P. I will say that the funny Devon H and versus Zach Moss debate we've had this year. It's really gone.

It's been swinging back and forth. That's true. Unexpected fashions. That's, that's funny. Zach Moss in the three games he played without Jonathan Taylor this year, 90% of the running back carries, 90% of the touches, had an 8% target share, forced a bunch of missed tackles.

He was dominating for fantasy teams. The schedule we just read is not a scary one, and the fact he's involved in the passing game so often also helps mitigate the bad run defense matchups. Hopefully you spent whatever fab you have on Zach Moss. I mean, I think it was worth it. We got that news yesterday on the Waiver Show. Vikings have officially activated Justin Jefferson from IR.

He will play in Week 14 after the team's bye. Okay. Right back into your lineup. Yep. Could have a new quarterback, though. Kevin O'Connell mentioned that. And who will it be? I don't know.

But the quick point I wanted to make for everyone with Justin Jefferson, be happy that your elite wide receiver is coming back. He probably will not be the savior for your team. Yeah, I mean, if Jamar Chase had been out a few weeks and was coming back to Jake Browning, it's the same situation. The Giants have mentioned, Brian Dable said, we'll see if whether Darren Waller will return. Which is exactly what I tell my kids who ask for something, and I know the answer is no.

Right. We'll see. I just don't want you to grumble. Yeah. I'm not dealing with this. I don't have time to argue now. Right. Let's argue later.

Yeah. When you figure it out. Yeah. We'll see is just a credit card swipe of we'll deal with this later it really is it really is i don't have time to explain all the reasons why the answer is no so we will see uh we will see a big no coming in the future it would be so hard to have any confidence in the wall or universe um but pay attention i guess can you pick it dealing with ankle soreness could have limited practice he's had a few injuries where he always

ends up playing so i'm not too worried about that has arizona he's actually a streaming quarterback candidate this week hasn't thrown an interception in like 220 passes or something which is a new record for the steelers well his accuracy problems also translate to the defenders. The Buccaneers are optimistic that Baker Mayfield will be able to suit up against the Panthers. He played through the ankle injury during the previous game. Obviously, he could swell up. He's so tough.

He really is a tough guy. He is a very, very tough guy. Both Pickett and Mayfield will just be playing on slightly hurt ankles. That was today's News and Notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com slash insurance. And we'll take a quick break, come back with the TNF preview and some mailbag. All right, let's get ready for another island game in the world of the NFL, and all signs point to this one being interesting. Thursday Night Breakdown.

The Seattle Seahawks at 6-5 take on the 8-3 Dallas Cowboys. The DraftKings Sportsbook line, Dallas minus 9. They're at home. The over-under is 47. I've reached the point in my fantasy season, personally, as the DAC and CDLAM manager, where I weekly approach the team and ask those guys to come close. And then I hop on their backs and I say, carry me to victory, especially during this by apocalypse of sorts. Um, you expecting more of the same from this Dallas offense against

the Seattle Seahawks in this one? Yep. I think they're going to wipe the floor with Seattle, to be honest. Geno is still hurting. We just saw the offense completely inept at home against a great San Francisco 49ers defense. Now they're traveling on the road and playing a great Dallas Cowboys defense. And, you know, when the Cowboys have faced teams that are reeling, aren't great, they have smooshed them. So there's a nine-point line in this game, and I feel like I'm on the... You're going to take it.

I think I'm going to take the line. Since week eight, Dallas has scored 43, 23, 49, 33, and 45 points. Seattle... McCarthy's got to be so pissed all the it's just too much to handle you know you you do what did you say um when we found out you were a little bit of an Arthur Smith sympathizer earlier this week uh-huh uh-huh I I said I think he's more Loki than just a supervillain. Not pure evil. Yeah, not pure evil. He's got some redeemable qualities.

Are you that way with McCarthy? I am. Look, Mike McCarthy is – You're getting fooled with Dak on your team. Maybe. You got those blue-colored glasses on right now. What's to be fooled about? They're 8-3 scoring a billion points a game.

I mean, you have to. I mean, he's... You have to... I mean, you don't have to because we get to say whatever we want into the microphone. But when a coach has the kind of shade that Mike McCarthy has had thrown upon him, the departure

of Kellen Moore. How's that working, Los Angeles? And then Mike McCarthy takes over, and then you see him open the offense up. You see him getting the ball into the hands of his best player frequently. I mean, CeeDee Lamb is pure alpha right now. Other than Tyreek Hill, he's like

from a metric standpoint, the best receiver in football. What is he not doing that we would want him to do? Like at this point, buy me a t-shirt. I want Mike McCarthy fan club started. Don't go that far. I went a little crazy.

But yes, give him the credit that he wasn't just stingy, grumpy man of a completely broken offense that was. It doesn't feel old. It wasn't doing anything. And then he said, I don't know who made all of these decisions, but Mike McCarthy is the head coach, so we will credit him with him changing it, saying, okay, let's go. Let's air it out like we've been doing in the past years.

And it's been very fun. They are a fun team to watch. Dallas, because of the whole the Americas team, I think you get a lot of pushback of like, well, they're not my team, and then people hate on the Dallas Cowboys. But, dude, I love the Cowboys right now. So I guess I am with you, that I will give McCarthy some credit for being willing to change halfway through the year.

You want some equity in the fan club? No, no. Dak Prescott, over eight weeks, number one quarterback over the last eight weeks, Josh Allen, number two, Dak Prescott. But in points per game, he's number one. I mean, he's number one over Jalen Hurts, then Allen, then Stroud, then Murray. I believe he is PFF's highest graded passer at the moment. I mean, that eight-week span he has completed 70% of his passes.

He's thrown two interceptions and 18 touchdowns. And again, I will give him credit because we were quick to jump on deck in the interception problems from last year. People questioning whether he had long-term viability as the quarterback, and that's an insane run. And I know the matchups have been good. Everybody's going to quickly say they don't play a lot of winning teams. They lost to Philly, but that's a great run.

Yeah, I mean, you can't criticize them for beating bad teams. They didn't make the schedule. It is fair to point out that they have played almost exclusively bad teams. They're not just winning. They're crushing them. Right, right. They've looked good, and their loss to Philly was close. Yeah, 23-28.

They will have a stretch coming up here where we'll find out what they're really made of when they play. After this week, they've got Philly, Buffalo, Dolphins, and the Lions. So they've got a month of real juggernaut matchups. It still will be fine for fantasy, but I think we'll find out the true Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys barometer. How are they? So start-set decisions in this game.

Let's stick with the Cowboys side. Jake Ferguson, whatever the opposite of a heater is, that's where he is right now. Two bad performances outside the top 20 at tight end. Brandon Cooks is another start decision for people. He's been a top 24 receiver in four of six weeks. I don't think that's a tough decision. That's a start.

Yeah, Brandon Cooks has been putting up big enough performances with Dak being on fire that Cook should be in your lineup. The real question for Ferguson is, are you looking to... Who's your other options? Right. I mean, I've got Ferguson in two different leagues, and there's basically no one on waivers. You're chasing Higby's touchdowns or something like that. Now, if David Njoku was out there... Even if it's not uh dorian yeah i still think he is the short yardage his targets were super high before for

whoever's quarterback he was he was sitting seven eight nine targets already for for a long stretch he's actually been david njoku is on a six-week stretch of top 12 performances at tight end. 9, 8, 6, 9, 15, 9. And Omari Cooper's banged up. Yeah, that's a fair point. I'm still good with Ferguson. His production has not been there. Has his snap count been the same?

That's something to double check real quick. I'm only asking that because of the Shun Man's touchdown, which happens here and there. It's been a little lower. So Jake Ferguson, oh. But they've been blowing people out, so that might be why. 72% the last two weeks. See, I'm still good with it because you have a quarterback

who's putting up just maddened levels of numbers right now. They just haven't gone to Ferguson recently but if your quarterback's going to put all that up and you've shown you have a connection I'm going to go I still have Ferguson in yeah he's not been the kind of he's not the kind of tight end it gives you big yardage numbers if he doesn't like if he doesn't have a touchdown you're probably bummed out but he's one of the higher probability to score a touchdown. He's still running the routes. Okay. So you're staying with him, Jason?

Yeah, I am. But you're not super confident based on that tone of voice? Correct. I'm begrudgingly putting him out there. I would definitely play the Muth over Ferguson right now. And Taysom Hill with their limitations right now on offense? Yeah, I mean, honestly, I think I would play Juwan Johnson over Ferguson right now. I would roster

both if that player was available. I'd pick him up and play him. Fourth straight game that Dallas has been favored by 9+. On the other side, you know, Metcalf had a good game two weeks ago and then a disappointment last week like you know same amount of targets but the week before scored 94 yards last year last week only 32 yards the

Geno Smith problem is real it actually makes it really hard for me like I have Tyler Lockett in the league right some people have JSN some people have Metcalf like I feel like you're you don't really have good odds that two-thirds of these guys have a good game. I feel like it's like one-third of them. I think you have good odds that zero-thirds of them have a good game. For this week. For this week, yeah. So you'd play Brandon Cooks over any of them?

Yeah, I would rather have Brandon Cooks than DK Metcalf, which feels... Let's get dirtier. Curtis Samuel after last week or these three guys? I would not go that far down. I think the targets can go anywhere for the Manders. So I'll stick with the Seahawks there. Mike, how do you feel about those

guys right now? Sad. Sad? Very, very sad. Yeah, I'm looking at, I'll tell you my decision, is a flex with Tyler Lockett. If A-chan's not back out there, I'm playing Jeff Wilson over Tyler Lockett. That's going to be the decision I make because I don't like the matchup. Dallas gives up 23 total points to the fantasy-wide receivers. That's total.

That's ninth in the league. They've been even better over the last six weeks. It is risky business, as it is with Zach Charbonnet. I mean, I think you put him out there, but if you had to guess his fantasy point total for the end of the day, it is what? I think he'll end up with 11.5 half PPR points. I think he can break 10.

Okay. I had him around 9 or 10. So hopefully he gets some targets, right? The pass rush may – is Micah Parsons going to be healthy? That is a question I think matters in this game. Because I know he was out with an illness, I believe. Let's look it up. Because that will affect things a little bit. But Geno, it's not good.

Out of practice as of 18 hours ago from Sports Illustrated. Last year, Geno Smith led the NFL. He had 15 touchdowns of 20-plus yards. What happened? This year, he has three. You added JSN, and you subtracted all of his talent. How's that? It makes some sense from the standpoint of Geno Smith has been in the NFL

a very long time, and we've never seen him play like that. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt of we've never seen him in a real position to succeed, and he was given that chance with the Seahawks. And he had to earn the starting role. Back when the trade happened of Russell Wilson, the assumption was Drew Locke is going to be the quarterback and Geno will be a backup.

But he outplayed Drew Locke, so they gave him the starting job and then he was the most accurate quarterback in the NFL. So maybe he just had that one magical season or maybe the injuries that we aren't hearing about have just stacked up and he can't get through them.

Lockett, 32. Metcalf, 34. Is that where they are in the year? JSN, 52. Those are your three Seattle wide receivers in total fantasy rank. 32? I did not realize. 34, 52.

That DK and Lockett were that low. It's been brutal. It's almost like if this was exactly what happened last year, everyone would have been like, that's what we expected. Yes. With Geno Smith. Yes. Yes, this is exactly what we expected last year.

Do you want to hear the schedule for these gentlemen as you head into your playoffs? I know the next two weeks are not nice. You want to play? You're in Dallas this week. Then you travel to this kind of a fun place, San Francisco. And then don't worry, you get to stay home the next week, but you play Philly. At least you could pass on Philly.

Yeah, you should. It should work. Should. Yeah, I mean, you know. There's been a lot of shoulds. To me, it's like Gen gino if he's going to be facing a pass rush that forces him to be exceptionally good this year that could be a problem so um did get a little update for you as we move on from the thursday night game which

i look i am excited to watch that game yes mostly. Mostly because it's not – it doesn't include the Jets. No, it's mostly because you've got the seedy Dak Stack. Jerk. Anyone with seedy Dak Stack in your league right now is crushing. They're winning every week. I literally, when the game starts, I start dancing. I believe it. And I don't stop until the end.

Little update on Jonathan Taylor. Head coach Shane Steichen indicates that the Colts will not make a move at running back in the wake of the Jonathan Taylor injury, strongly suggesting that Zach Moss will get the overwhelming majority of all carries just like he did early in the season. Well, yeah. I thought that was, honestly, when I started that update because I hadn't read it.

I thought that was like an indication that he wouldn't go on IR. I thought that's where they were going with that. If they're saying they won't make a move, that has some value. Like if they're not going to actually bring anybody in. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. Anything else from that Thursday night game you guys want to discuss or are we ready to move on? Let's move.

Let's do it. Mailbag. Mailbag. Mailbag. Oh yeah. Alright. That's all I have for you. If you have a question, Mike. That's the most disappointing.

Alright. Alright. That's enough out of you. Part of me was just rooting for a real traditional one and you gave you know you gave without a flourish no flourish i was looking for no flourish this week i'm sorry that's no longer traditional there's always a flourish always pretty much yeah i mean maybe that's what i'm disappointed about okay i got something

real bland coming up next no just here and there here and there. I mean, just to make the flourish stand out. You know, there's always a flourish. I can't wait to hear how bad yours is going to be on purpose next time. No, it won't be bad. It will be excellent, but it will be what it is. Cut off. Yeah. What it is.

All right. If you have a question for the show, go to the website, thefantasyfootballers.com. Click the submit a question button. Or you can dial our voicemail hotline, 302-464-TFFB. Brooksy, do we have some voicemails today? Yes, sir. Alright, let's hit one.

Hey, Ballers. Love the show. Quick question for you. In a full PPR league, how much do you trust Joshua Palmer coming back from his injury? He's supposedly going to be healthy, but would you play him over someone like a Deontay Johnson? Thanks, guys.

Look, I'm willing to be wrong here. The question was a Joshua Palmer health, basically. Yeah, and look, I'm on the side of, like, I had Joshua Palmer on my league of record team. He was great. I thought I had the number two guy in Los Angeles, which was very valuable. Got hurt.

Had to make the decision, do I keep him on my roster in the IR spot or do I let him go? At least weeks ago when I was reading, there was not a lot of optimism he was going to be back immediately upon his eligibility. Now, I could be wrong. He could have made a great recovery. I don't hang out with Joshua Palmer. I definitely think Joshua Palmer will be valuable as soon as he is back. But when he's back, I'm not going to put him

in my lineup week one I want to see the successful game without re-aggravation of the injury Deontay is playing Arizona he isn't the type of player where you know this isn't Justin Jefferson coming backwards like week one you put him in your lineup because the ceiling isn't really the same so when Josh Palmer comes back I would pick him up if he's on your waivers right now because he's Like week one, you put him in your lineup because the ceiling isn't really the same. So when Josh Palmer comes back, I would pick him up if he's on your waivers right now because he's eligible to return, might not be back this week. But I'm not starting him week one. He's got to prove the health. Okay.

Do you agree with that, Mike? Yes. And Deontay has a good matchup. Like the specific question of Palmer at New England this week, if he was back in Deontay versus Arizona, you got to go with the player that's guaranteed to be back. Jake Goodnight says, how do I go on now that I'm out of the playoffs?

What is my purpose in life? Your purpose is to watch the world burn. You are playing against teams who are trying to make it into the playoffs. And while it hurts to not make it into the playoffs. And while it hurts to not make it into the playoffs, it feels a little bit good when you remove someone else from playoff contention. So I... That would be making the world burn, really. Not just watching.

Oh. You're the one setting some fires. Yes. With your efforts. Yeah. So that's what I recommend. Look at that because you have people in the league that are your friends that you respect, but you want to see them fail in the game of fantasy football.

So you keep playing. Fill your bench with all the insurance running backs. Now, there are people with very strong opinions opposite of that, saying once you're eliminated, you're not allowed to pick up free agents. That's the argument of in the playoffs. We are not there yet. We're still a few weeks out. Fair.

So, if people are riding dirty right now, like the person who has Tony Pollard is just yucking it up without Rico Dowdle on the bench. Go get Rico Dowdle. In the event that they need them, they'll go to the waiver wire and you will laugh in their face. If you...

Trade deadlines closed. Mike is certainly... If you want to be trained, he has a master class on vindictive management. Grudge holding 101. We actually talked about this. I think you had already left. like if you want to be trained, he has a masterclass on vindictive management. Yeah. Grudge holding one-on-one. We actually talked about this.

I think you had already left or you were doing, I think you were doing the dynasty show yesterday. But if there was like a special power that each manager in our league has, like we've got one manager whose special power is they will not accept the offer without giving you a counter with a slight tweak because they want the last word. Yeah. Daniel.

And then there's a manager like Mike, and Mike's secret power is that he will, to the detriment of his own team, not accept the trade he determines to be unfair just so that you burn. And at the trade deadline, like Mike was talking about this, he was trying to unload Tua for whatever. Not whatever, but for a decent trade. He was trying to unload Tua for whatever. Not whatever, but like for a decent trade. He was not going to be kept for my team. I had other quarterbacks.

I'm out of playoff contention for the league. Some might say just get whatever you can. Yes, which it's a fair strategy. I'm fine if that's how people want to do it, like just anything because this player has no value. But I look at it as if this player is going to help you win a championship, you're going to compensate me for it. And so I was negotiating with Josh.

Josh was trying real, real hard to pay nothing in the trade. And then he's like, yeah, this is not going to work, so I will actually negotiate, which we did. I had my starting. But you were willing to go to the grave with Tua. Yes, absolutely. And there was a 0%. If the trade didn't happen, that guy would be on my bench.

He would not be dropped. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you've got to be predictive with your goals. Last week, Mike paid attention to every team that turned down Michael Pittman in trades, did the math on their teams, and whether they had accepted his offer if they would have won and then reminded them of what their circumstances were. But anyway, so another thing you can do is make sure you're still paying attention because a lot of stuff happens right now through the end of the year players rise from out of nowhere and you have to to be more prepared for 2024 know what's going on right now don't miss out on these late breakouts or whether they like you can have an early jump of is this a real thing or is this just a flash

where this player just had happened to have a couple weeks because of circumstances. And I will also say this. I think it is, you know, some people are built that way, but it's also very human nature if your team is eliminated to lose interest because that happens. And if you're in a league where the other managers are not, you know, they kind of fade away. There are things to be done. I mean, you can convert your league to a basic keeper

league of any shape and size that keeps people involved because then you're picking people up. You don't know. I mean, two weeks ago or three weeks ago, I don't know if Tank Dell looked like a keeper. Now he looks like a keeper. Jaden Reed, maybe. So you're more incentivized in a keeper league to just toss those guys in your bench. And then the other thing that Mike has brought up before, if you are in a paid league, a money league, you can have weekly prizes. If you have a weekly cash prize for the high score of the week,

then players are incentivized to keep competing as well. So there are some peripheral ways to make that happen. Let's grab another voicemail. Hey, I'm just wondering if you guys would trade zach moss for zay flowers um i'm looking for a wide receiver too and i think the rest of his season schedule is pretty good thanks love the show let me know oh man so trade zach moss right now for zay flowers i i which reminder zay is on a bye week right now. Yeah, personally, I would not do this.

Zach Moss, in his starts without Jonathan Taylor, has been like a league-winning type of player. His production, his performances are consistent and impactful in a way that few, you know, like Kyron, where he's putting up massive amounts of fantasy points in one spot Zay Flowers I know that he's got two games without Mark Andrews both great games but he's also got you know we're 12 games into the season and he's got two great games right so what if you don't have an action like your optimal starting roster doesn't have a spot

for Zach Moss I know that's it could unlikely, but what if that's the case? I mean, if you're not going to put Zach Moss into your lineup, then I'm fine shopping him around and seeing what you can get. I wonder if you can't do better than Zay Flowers, though. I don't think Zay Flowers, he doesn't strike me as someone that's going to help you win a championship. And maybe the upcoming schedule mixed with Mark Andrews being gone will prove that to be an incorrect thought. And, you know, this is the voicemail from like you have your beliefs in flowers.

Like if you want to call your shot and say, hey, I'm looking at this schedule. I believe in the talent without Mark Andrews. I think he's going to be a league winner. Then, yeah, then go ahead and call your shot make that move you know I I uh thought Tank Dell was going to be a league winner and I went to try to trade for him stupid Andy beat me but like there is something nice about if you see something if you believe something calling your shot and doing it so I don't have like this isn't an absolutely not but for me I don't think Zay Flowers is going to be a league winner, and I think Zach Moss could be.

I think one key component here is like Zach Moss is guaranteed to be something for your team, could have an expiration date with the return of Jonathan Taylor. So if you're not fighting for the playoffs now and you view like the later weeks is more valuable, that might be a reason to take the Zay Flowers side of that transaction. But right now we just don't have a lot of clarity on how long Jonathan Taylor is going to miss.

Like if you told me he was going to be out the rest of the year, there's no chance I would do that move. This question comes in. I mean, we've got Puka questions coming in everywhere. This comes in off of Twitter. K says, do I sit Puka Tank Dell or Brian

Robinson in a half point PPR league? Brian Robinson this week has the Miami matchup and then Tank is in right tank is you're not possibly benching Tank Dell right now. Would we agree with that i think that's the consensus i would agree cleveland is the matchup for puka this week uh which is a tough

one so i think tank has a lock because of that i mean the denver matchup is tough too actually versus wide receivers oh man i mean i so to me this is between Puka and Brian Robinson. That's how I view the sit decision. I, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What is the status of Denzel Ward? Is he going to be back in business? That's a good question. I don't know that we know right now.

So Denzel Ward was out against the broncos um shoulder injury who is cleveland giving up those points to to start the game last week two two scores right away what was that matchup why am i blank are you talking about the against denver yeah it was denver it was denver so like like they did give up some production in the passing game without Denzel Ward. It was my point. I think I'd play Puka. Eileen Puka and Sid Robinson as well. Yeah, I mean, Robinson's

got a higher floor. Puka's got a higher ceiling to me in this week. I would agree with that. Robinson has to catch passes, which he has been. We do have Gibson back yeah with Gibson back Curtis Samuel back and healthy and obviously very involved last week we saw you know the the previous weeks Brian Robinson was six receptions seven receptions with those guys back and healthy only had two receptions last week. Yeah, I'm going to sit Brian Robinson.

Smithy FGC on YouTube writes in. He says, should I trust Najee Harris going forward after a strong performance in the new system? 15 for 99 and a touchdown, but zero targets last week. You should definitely

trust him this week. Trust the heck out of him this week. Yeah, trust him this week, but this is still week to week. He'll be mentioned on tomorrow's episode. Yes, he will. As will his running mate. Man, looking at his upcoming schedule,

these are some pretty soft defenses. So you got Arizona this week, New England the next week, which that could be more bottled up. But then the Colts, that's one of the best teams to run on. The Bengals have not been able to stop the run recently. Seattle, despite getting Leonard Williams, is one of the worst run defenses. Last six weeks for Seattle, they are terrible.

The worst. And then that's championship week. So Najee with the new corner. Maybe you do. Ethics question and maybe our final question. We'll see. Bryce in Wisconsin. Earmuffs, Josh.

And Jeremy. Ethics question. Bryce in Wisconsin. You have the number one seed. First round by locked up. You play the number 60 this week. And you sit your best players because you want to keep that much better number seven seed team out of the playoffs. Is this strategic or is this evil?

And here we are again. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome one and all to the depending on who you are ethics question. Right. Because if you're the number because it could be both.

If you're the number seven seed trying to get into the playoffs and you're playing the sixth seed and the other team's playing the sixth seed and they bench their players to keep you out of the playoffs you're going to lose your mind. Yes.

I mean that is true. So you slip your you're going to lose your mind. Yes. I mean, that is true. So you slip your shoes onto that person's situation, and that's your perspective, right? Like the seven teams battling to get in, they see that the number six seed has to play the number one seed. They're like, yes, I got a shot to get into the playoffs. And yet this whole personal autonomy do whatever you want league be darned situation it is that i you know that some people believe that it is strategically evil

um i think that i am a formally opposed i i, we've been asked questions like this for years, and it's pretty much always been the same answer, right? First of all, you have to start an active lineup. That's not – you can't bench your players and not have a lineup. That's completely against the game that we are playing. As far as how egregious can you make these decisions, the way that I have always viewed it, the way I've said about it for years, is simply if you've got a questionable decision,

like we just talked Puka or Bryan Robinson, right? And we lean sitting Bryan Robinson. And you're like, yeah, I don't think he's the right player. But we had to work through it. We had to work through it. Maybe put him in. Be like, yeah, I think he's maybe the worst matchup. And so put that guy in there's no problem there but you're not going to take someone like you

know royce freeman and put him in dal puka those guys and just yank them and throw them on the yeah so on the band i think there's um i think there's just a reasonable gamesmanship you can play but you can't you know outright tank there's no way we're recording right now. There's just no chance this episode is being recorded, edited, none of that. You're not hearing this. Why? Well, because, look, this ethics debate we had, I'm going to just tease it. I won't bring it up.

It gets brought up on the Dynasty Show. If you want to hear some things that took place in the Dynasty League that brought this exact type of ethical debate, you can go listen to the Dynasty Show because it got brought up in there. So different opinions, some right, some wrong. You know? How opinions go. Just, you know, be careful what you wish for, too.

Yes, yes. I agree with that. I mean, this whole idea that we know, yeah, look, I mean, that team might have Zach, might've had Zach Moss on the bench and you wanted to play him and then an injury happens and now you're facing Zach Moss. Cause you thought they were the easier team. Yeah. That is, um, I mean, we were looking at the playoff matchups in our league of record yesterday, Jason, and you're like, I kind of hope you lose. So I can kind of get this matchup in the first round. And it's like, you never know, man. You look back and things change quickly.

So oftentimes I think you just kind of press forward. The truth is, is like if you have a better team and you have the better players and you play them the right way, you're going to win your matchup. And there you go. Anybody can beat anybody in the playoffs for sure because of, you know, one giant, uh, what was it?

Mike Evans, three touchdowns with Tom Brady. Oh yeah, baby. Yep. That happens. It happens. And then,

you know, we just put ourselves through it again next year. Reminder before we close things out, drop it like it's hot, uh, waiver wires. They went through this week. Also reminder.

That is a reminder to pick up players that others have dropped. Yes. In addition to picking up players, other players have dropped. This is the season where you must be looking at your matchup. You must be looking at what your opponent needs. If he's got a quarterback on by next week, if you know, then then you need to block on defenses, on tight ends, on quarterbacks. It's not just, well, I don't need a quarterback.

I've got Jalen Hurts. It's like, well, yeah, but if your opponent needs one and there's one good one out there, you need to start taking that approach as we enter these final playoff weeks. Agreed. Yeah. Yeah, block it like it's hot, Brooklyn. Yeah.

I like that. This is a time of year to start thinking defensively, not just offensively. All right, tomorrow starts of the week. The matchup previews Friday. The Wheel of Shame makes its return. Once again, we'll get into Fantasy Face-Off. More matchups on Friday. Hopefully have some injury updates for you as you get primed and ready for it.

Is this week 13? Week 13? Yes, it is. How? Crazy. How? Crazy. How? Is that how time works? It just goes.

There's no stopping it. We'll be at Chris. Well, not yet. No. I mean, we're working on it? Yeah. Looking into it. Is that the Zach Morris pause?

Yeah, the timeout. Yeah, I'll use that and I'll swap some starters for my opponent. Alright, that is going to do it for today's show. Shout out to the Deucers sitting over there on the ones and twos. Judge Giamatti, thank you. Hal Borland, I love you. And then Papa Josh is over there as well. Alright,

take care. 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.