Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Starts of the Week + Week 17 Breakdown, Title Time! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 12/28

Episode Date: December 28, 2023

Week 17 matchup previews on today’s fantasy football podcast! Andy, Mike, and Jason do their best with tough start sit decisions to make! Plus, Starts of the Week, injury updates, and the Boom Boom Kicker! Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for December 28th, 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 Starts of the Week presented by Purina Pro Plan. Visit https://www.purina.com/pro-plan/dogs/sport-dog-food?utm_campaign=prp-sport2023&utm_medium=display&utm_source=youtube_spotify_callout&utm_content=cr-fantasy_football_podcast_sponsorship_pt-na&utm_term= 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,

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Oh, welcome in. Hi. It's title time Oh man Anxiety Starts tonight Yes Welcome in Hope you got DSTs tonight Thursday episode of the show

Championship week Andy, Mike and Jason the fantasy footballers Back with you Thursday episode of the show championship week Andy Mike and Jason the fantasy footballers back with you Mike is not wrong anxiety permeates the air and this studio and you're not doing well no I'm okay

is this one of those denial your friends can tell you you're not doing well no i'm okay i really know no no is this one of those denial yeah your friends could tell you you're not doing well i have a decision to make we all have a decision to make amari cooper put up a record-setting afc player of the week worthy 48-ish fantasy points depending on your league scoring with joe fl last week. And unfortunately, we weren't dealt the cards of, you know, a juicy matchup the next week to just roll right into. Instead, we get a short week, a Thursday night game against the number one defense in terms of fantasy points given up to wide receivers and quarterbacks.

No practices. Hasn't practiced due to a heel injury. If you watch the 70-yard touchdown he had, at the tail end of that play, Omari Cooper is limping. And clearly he is actually dealing with something, although they listed on the report that it was more rest. And it makes sense. Well, he's resting an injury.

Right. It says not injury-related rest, heal. Not H-E-A-L, H-E-E-L, as in his heal. So fantasy players, look, you don't get points for loyalty. Let me tell you where I'm at. You tell me whether I'm here in an hour we'll see you won't be but where i'm at right now is that i am probably benching amari cooper tonight uh with the news that there was a news blurb this morning and uh do we have it here

can we get the full tweet from Tom Pelissero, please? Yeah, I'll try and pull it up. He hasn't practiced. It's sort of a game-time decision. It says he's hopeful to play tonight against the Jets, but his status remains up in the air. The short week is tough. Cooper knows his body well.

They'll get a better sense close to kickoff. I appreciate that line. That he knows his body well. Better than anybody. Yeah. Most players, not in tune. kickoff i appreciate that line that he knows his body well yeah better than anybody yeah like most players not in tune have no idea what's going on with that's my knee but amari cooper he knows his body yeah it's really interesting to me the report that he's struggling hoping to play knows his body like that makes it clear that this is an injury but their actual official

like I pulled it up right before the show just to make sure that on theirs they say not injury related how can you how can you have these two conflicting things like and it makes a difference to me like if I knew they were just giving him rest that is is far, far better to me in a tough matchup where you could still have him get 13, 14 targets in this game, difficult targets, good cornerback, or if he's actually struggling with his health and then you go, okay, is he going to be a little bit more limited injury risk in addition to the difficult matchup. That's like a tiebreaker for me. Yeah, and the reason that I'm going to likely make the decision to bench Amari Cooper this evening is because the potential outcomes

for Amari Cooper this evening, I think, I think can be replicated by other players. And the potential negative outcomes for Amari Cooper this evening are significant. If he has a re-injury or he cannot play, you're devastated on Thursday. If he's shut down by a team that shuts down the passing game, I mean, they give up – how many yards did Amari Cooper have last week? 265, I think.

Okay, they give up 168 on average to the opposing offense or to the opposing offense, or to the opposing passing offense. And, okay, so Amari Cooper toughs it out. Is that 10 points? My goodness, the Jets passing defense against wide receivers. It's brutal. It's not average. It's not above average.

I mean, we know it's number one. So you say, oh, it's the best, but sometimes that's, that's different, right? Sometimes the, the number one wide receiver in fantasy at the end of the year, barely scored more than the second place. And sometimes it's Cooper cup from, you know, two or three years ago where he lapsed the field. That's what the jets are doing. And I'm, I was like, well, what about recently, you know, now that Now that they haven't had Zach Wilson and maybe they're giving up short fields or whatever. And my goodness,

this last week against the Manders, 18 points below their expectation. The week prior, 10 points below expectation to a good Dolphins. The week prior, 28 points below. Go to points given up and read them that's more i think that's easier to process uh so just if you just switch it because they're

they're the best in that too it's just okay so last week to the washington manders they gave up 11 total fantasy points to all their wide receivers the entire wide receiver room the week prior against miami 28.9 now that's yeah it's Miami that's great sure I mean that was still double digits below what their wide receivers usually average the week prior Houston five the week prior Atlanta one um they gave up 36 to Miami again but uh you know pretty much this is there's only been three games on the course of the entire season where they have given up a chunk of like call it 25 fantasy points to that wide receiver room and those games are twice against miami and once against buffalo yeah they they've given up points

the defense has given up 28 to the commanders 30 against the dolphins 34 against the dolphins 32 against the bills um they gave up six to Houston. Stroud got knocked out. That was the rain game where Wilson won it. They've given up some points, but it's a tough call. And it's not bench Cooper no matter what. It's bench Cooper based on your options. I'll tell you my situation. I can bench Cooper and I can play Devin Singletary as a home favorite

with C.J. Stroud against the Titans. That's an option I'm looking at. I could play DeAndre Hopkins if he gets Levis back. It's really difficult, and I know that everybody out there is going to have a different reaction because you have different options. So it's not a requirement to bench Amari Cooper.

Kyle has poisonously chosen to reveal that Amari Cooper last year against the Jets in week two, 9-for-101 and a touchdown on 10 targets, but that was a long time ago. So I'm not saying this is a final decision. It's the way I'm leaning right now. And that's the best we got for you because the news reports,

I didn't expect Tom Pellicer to come out and talk about his heel. I had pretty much said, hey, I'll just ride him. But you know what? This week, this week's made for tilting it certainly is now where are you with the decision i'm i'm so i'm at the bottom of the well you guys are looking down at me i i lean at this point for your particular options i think i would play them over amari cooper which is i've been amari cooper this whole week but i mean this is you're getting a little weak in the knees now this is just a this is a wrinkle to and it's be okay with your process

like you need to make you did say this yesterday you have to make peace with this of like i'm making this if you're gonna start amari cooper or bench. Know the reasons you're doing it. And, yeah, it'll be really, really frustrating if you end up with the incorrect decision. But know the reasons why you are making the decisions you are making, and it makes it a little easier. I think if you were to handicap the potential of 20-plus fantasy points from Amari Cooper tonight, that that would be so minuscule of a potential outcome.

That's sub-10%. And that's the only way that you're really, really happy. You could be okay with 10 points. Maybe. And I'm also a team that has David Njoku and the Cleveland defense. So the idea of having a lot go down against that past defense. I'm laying it out because it's the biggest decision fantasy players have for this evening.

We've got all the matchups to get into today. We've got the news and notes to talk about. Just my last note on it because part of it is I think it makes, in my process, it makes benching Joe Flacco easier where oh he's not going to be able to get it done with that like if Amari Cooper is if Amari Cooper can't separate if Amari Cooper has to take a bunch of plays off yeah in Joku he'll be fine like I think that I'm still playing him but um if it's Flacco or you know these other streaming options that we had brought up I'm still playing him, but if it's Flacco or these other streaming options

that we had brought up, I'm definitely moving over to them now. News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance. If I could see the future, it would be so much easier. It would. Well, Russ can see his future, and it's not as a member of the Denver Broncos. He has formally been benched for the remainder of the season, and they're expecting him to be cut.

It escalated rapidly from we're considering doing this. It was, I mean, minutes later. Yeah, no, we actually told Russ he's not going to play. Unlimited. The background going into it was, at least we're hearing, Russell Wilson's camp was told weeks ago, if you don't waive your injury protection against guaranteed money because of the way it's working out, he –

They just wanted it delayed pretty much he has a physical coming up in march that should he not pass it he it triggers a whole bunch more guaranteed money for him and so the team was saying no we don't want this right here if you don't like work with us and negotiate either get rid of it or move it whatever it is then you're gonna get benched and we don't know when but of it or move it, whatever it is, then you're going to get benched. And we don't know when, but you will get benched. And here it is. You got benched.

He chose not to play football. Yeah. If he was given that ultimatum. I don't necessarily blame him because he will still get a whole lot of money. And Russ will find a team. No doubt. You tell me if Russ hits the free market, the Atlanta Falcons should be drooling to go get Russell Wilson.

Not that he's anywhere close to. You think they should be? I think they should. Oh, man. Compared to what they have. Jake London is the only person in the entire league praying for Uzzah Wilson right now. Yeah, that's tough.

Jared Stidham will take over. Remember last year he took over and was very relevant. I mean, against San Francisco, the Niners in his first game, he was 365-3. More importantly, seven carries both weeks on the ground. He'll run. Probably not someone you're starting this week, but Superflex Leagues, if you lost someone,

I'd start him over Joe Flacco personally. Oof. I heard an audible whoo from the producer area. Because it's spicy. Isaiah Pacheco didn't practice with a concussion. Not a lot of optimism there? No. Jordan Addison didn't practice with a concussion. Not a lot of optimism there? No. Jordan Addison didn't practice with the ankle. Cortland Sutton didn't

practice with a concussion. Zay Flowers did not practice with a calf. It was an estimation as the team held a walkthrough. I'll make another estimation right now. I estimate you will be tilting very soon if he doesn't practice again. Very much because it's either I put Garrett Wilson in tonight.

Oh, no. Oh, wow. Or I hold out for Zay Flowers. Welcome. What would your pivot be at that point? Like Dobbs, Romeo Dobbs. Welcome to the pit of despair. All are welcome.

Keenan Allen did not practice. I mean mean keenan allen is done for the year i think i would imagine he should be he really should be the chargers have no purpose in getting him injured yeah i i have him on our my matchup against mike and i have no expectation of playing him because i just don't think i'll be back. Chris Rodriguez, commander's running back on injured reserve. Brian Robinson, limited in practice. Okay. I'm thinking he's back, but if not, then Antonio Gibson will receive all of the pain slash opportunity against San Francisco this week.

And Josh Palmer also didn't practice. So, you know, the Gerald Everett conversation yesterday, if there's no Keenan, no Josh Palmer. Yeah, he's in play. And Eckler. The matchup is perfect for Everett conversation yesterday. If there's no Keenan, no Josh Palmer. Yeah, he's in play. And Eckler. The matchup is perfect for Everett as well. It's going to be Easton Stick versus Jarrett Stidham. Is that what we're doing?

Yeah, baby. Great. Can't wait to break that one down, guys. That was today's News and Notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com slash insurance. Fantasy forecast. We have a Saturday night special. The highest over under the week at 53.

The Detroit Lions at 11 and 4 taking on the 10 and 5 Dallas Cowboys. The DraftKings Sportsbook line Dallas minus 6. Can we finally have a 50-point game hit the over? I think we can. Only five have been in a dome this year, but 11 of 12 have not hit the over. This is the highest total since the beginning of October. Very, very, very important game for both teams, and the Lions' defense has not been looking great.

I do think we get the over here. I want pieces in this game. This is a championship week type of matchup that you're really hoping for. The only player that I feel scared about is Tony Pollard. Of the guys that, like, yeah, you're probably going to play them. Right. But Detroit is, uh,

good against the run, bad against the pass. And Pollard's had a lot of duds this year. Yeah. Pollard has been bad as a runner in games with much better matchups. I think Matthew Barry, I saw him talk about the fact Rico Dowdle has the same number of goal line touchdowns as Tony Pollard with 47 fewer opportunities in the red zone. So efficiency has been a problem.

The defense for the Lions fourth against running backs over the last six weeks doesn't mean Pollard is a bench. I don't know if I mean, Devin Singletary or Tony Pollard is that where we're at with Tony I think that is where we're at and I think that's a fair assertion you look since the the bye week I mean this is a long the last nine games he had three of those games where he hit eight fantasy points and so this isn't like well at least he's got a floor maybe he doesn't get a touchdown in a tough matchup his floor is very often around five fantasy points, and that's going to crush you in a championship matchup. Would you play Brees Hall tonight over Tony Pollard?

I would. Would you play? I got a nasty one. Okay. It's Saturday night, so you may not have official word. Clyde Edwards, Allaire. Yeah. Pacheco is out.

If Pacheco is out, I would rather have Clyde. Yeah. I was going to ask the Zemir White-Josh Jacobs side. That too. I'd rather have whoever is the Raiders starting running back that week. If you have both, then you can wait to find out. Some of those situations, though, I mean, let's be real, we won't know about Pacheco, I don't think.

Yeah, if Pacheco doesn't practice at all this week, by Saturday night, you can have a pretty strong conviction that he's not going to play. Yeah, we may have word at that point. Home games for Dallas are beautiful. They're beautiful for Dallas. They are number one in points per game at home, 40 a game. 71 plays a game.

Six of the last seven Detroit games have hit the over. So we're optimistic about this one, which means that, you know, despite Dallas' defense, which has softened of late, Jared Goff is going to have a lot of opportunities in this one, whether he can deliver in a big dome game. So it's really tough. Follow my logic here on Goff and really on anybody playing against the cowboys it feels like you either if you get down then the pass rush and you can't run the ball just is really really really good against you so the lions best chance to win this game is to really

focus on running the ball which worked against d Dallas with Buffalo a couple weeks ago. Exactly. So it almost feels like if you're down and you want to catch up, it's going to be hard and a bad game for Goff. But if the Lions are good, it's going to be a bad game for Goff because it's going to come on the ground. I know Mike has a number of uninspiring quarterback options for his dynasty matchup, and I know that he's trying to will Jared Goff to a good game. The play of Jared Goff, you are game. It's the play of Jared Goff.

You are hoping that just that the touchdowns come. I'm not expecting like a 300-yard passing game for Jared Goff. You're hoping that it's 200. They get inside the five. Montgomery or Gibbs gets stuffed, and then they do a play-action rollout to Laporta. Like that's the path that Jared Goff has a big game. Yeah, Laporta could...

Because they will score. The Lions, I think, will put up a decent amount of points. Right now, a 23 implied team total. The three touchdowns, you're hoping that two of them are passing. The fringe players, I mean, obviously

CeeDee Lambdack, you're hoping for big games there. Jameer Gibbs is a lock. Amon Ra is a lock. The fringe players, I mean, obviously, CeeDee Lambdack, you're hoping for big games there. Jameer Gibbs is a lock. Amon Ra is a lock. The fringe options, Brandon Cooks, I am optimistic about him in this game. Yeah, it makes sense. I like him a lot. And, you know, Laporta's back in. Ferguson, I think he's in your lineup.

Yes, Ferguson's a play. Where are you with the David Montgomery progression? I guess that would be the last question. Are you just, you know, he's been not what he was in the first half of the year, but he's still been a top 24 back. He's been great, and he was even great last week. He got a touchdown but then was injured and left the game. Didn't play much.

Still had 17 attempts. Really, to me, it's a matter of, you know, is he on the injury report right now I don't believe not to my knowledge no no he's not on so I'm totally 100 down playing David Montgomery all right the New England Patriots at 4 and 11 take on the 9 and 6 Buffalo Bills in Buffalo where Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo is 13 they're 13 point favorites the The over under is 40 and a half. According to the DraftKings sports book, both those won three straight games. New England beat them in week seven, 29, 25 at home, but I don't think they're going to beat them this week.

You don't think so? I don't think so. So, uh, pretty heavy favorites here. Josh Allen. Uh, he's obviously in your lineup. He has had some success against New England in recent memory. James Cook, of course. Stephon Diggs is the big storyline from the final week on trusting him.

It's so hard. This is a matchup. It's not fair. The last four games against New England, Diggs has 14.8, 18, 18.7, and 19.9 fantasy points. He has been great for his entire tenure as a Buffalo Bill until the last two months. In the last two months, they changed coordinators. They run the ball more. There are fewer deep shot opportunities to Diggs, and this is a game where you would expect.

Obviously, they lost last time and the NFL is crazy anything can happen but you would expect process wise that the Bills are winning this game are running the ball not needing to push the ball down very very good against the run they are yes they are

very very good against the run much more beatable with wide number one in rush yards per game average. I mean, if you got to the championship and you've still got Diggs in your lineup, you're playing Diggs. Let's be honest. You know what it reminds me of? I feel like we've said that for four weeks.

We have, but we kind of said that about Mike Evans last year. And there were some people who got to championship week with Mike Evans. And all of a sudden, he won everybody a championship because he had his three-touchdown game because he's Mike Evans. Diggs is great. You're playing Diggs. Okay, but you're not playing Kincaid. You're not playing Gabe Davis.

No. So, Ramondre Stevenson was placed on IR. So, this is, guys, this is legit like Zeke and no one. That's what I think. I mean, Hunter Henry, if he played, but you're coming off an injury, it's nerve-wracking. You get maybe Juju back to mix with Parker and Demario Douglas. I think it's Zeke and no one on that team.

It's Zeke and no one on that team. If you have to start Henry if he's active because you don't have another option, you could do worse. I mean, I played Gerald Everett over Henry, though. I would as well. Gerald Everett's a pretty good play this week. All right. Quick break.

Done with that matchup. Coming back with the Bears-Falcons. The Atlanta Falcons. 7-8. Chicago Bears 6-9. DraftKings Sportsbook line. Chicago minus 3. Over-under is 38.

This game projects to be, do we have the music for Joyke Bell? Can we play that music? What, the lumberer? I mean, that's what this game. All right. Oh, we do. Yeah. I mean, pace of play-wise, Atlanta is going to want to run the football.

Chicago, they did get good news that DJ Moore is not on the injury report after the turned ankle. It's obviously not severe. Came back out on the field. You know, what are your expectations for fantasy contributors in this one for championship week? I am still fine playing Justin Fields. This is, you know, the Atlanta Falcons,

they are not great against quarterbacks. The last six weeks have been good, but their matchups have also, you know, haven't been the scariest. To me, if I've got Fields, I'm, you know, I'm playing him over golf. If I've got a golf Fields decision, so he's probably in most lineups that are, If I've got Fields, I'm playing him over Goff. If I've got a Goff-Fields decision,

he's probably in most lineups that have him in championship week. I'm really curious. You're going to have to track Cole Komet. He's been pretty solid this year, especially with Fields, but he didn't practice Wednesday, so that's just keep monitoring. I don't think I'd play him. Really? Yeah, I want to, but the risk is too high when you're a week off of getting knocked out of a game.

Well, put it this way. Let's say both Hunter Henry and Cole Komet are active. If they're both active, it's Cole Komet. Yeah, okay. Of the injured Titans, he wins the day for sure. Okay, Cole Komet is active or Gerald Everett. Well, what about you? What would you do is active or Gerald Everett. What about you? What would you do, Mike?

What would you do? You'd go Cole Komet? I would go Cole Komet. Cole Komet's been really good the last four weeks, top 12 every single week. No, he looked awesomeless. He had 100 yards before halftime. Yeah. Yeah, he's been tight end 10, 12, 10, and 5 the last month.

Deonta Foreman is going to be back. Full practice on Wednesday. Khalil Herbert had the big game last week. Atlanta's a brutal rushing defense. Honestly, I'm going to sit all my Bears running. 100%. Foreman kind of muddies it. I presume that Foreman would go back to being the primary grinder.

But who knows after Khalil Herbert did what he did last week. But with the matchup and everything, if you want to take a shot in DFS, great. But in my championship, I'm not doing it. A lot of folks want to know what to expect from Bijan this week. Dallas has been the best defense on the ground in terms of yards per game dallas i'm sorry chicago but they've given up a lot of running back receiving yards bijon's in your lineup yeah bijon's in your lineup it's are you chasing anything about what algier has done no no i don't i don't i don't want to do that in a championship

game and i can't trust Drake Lund. I just can't. Like the last two weeks, Drake Lund hasn't just kind of hurt. You're probably not in the championship you've played in the last two weeks. Yeah, this isn't a great matchup either. The Bears' defense has been pretty solid all around most of the season, and they've got stronger down the stretch. What about Pitts versus Komet?

Because Pitts the last two Heineken starts seven for 105 and a touchdown in those games or would you go to Cole Komet knowing that the yardage is probably better there? I would go to Cole Komet. It was four targets last week. They hit.

He had a 24-yard reception. Had the touchdown, but I'll take the volume. The Raiders. Raiders, 7-8. They're on fire. Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run. Yeah.

Taking on the Indianapolis Colts, 8-7. The DraftKings Sportsbook line, Indy minus 3.5. The over-under is 43.5. Antonio Pierce is 5-3 since he took over. And this game matters. I mean, for both teams. Wild card. Yeah.

Up for grabs. If the Raiders win this game, they even up record-wise with the Colts. And they have a shot to beat, what, Denver in the last week? Yeah, I mean, and then Raiders will have the tiebreaker over the Colts. The Colts are in right now. Like, the Colts are the seventh seed. It's an incredible – I mean, Shane Steichen's in the Colts. The Colts are in right now. Like, the Colts are the seventh seed. It's an incredible... I mean, Shane Steichen's in the short list of Coach of the Year.

Sure, for sure. Which, you know, just a great job. Aiden O'Connell, Josh Jacobs, Zemir White situation, Devontae Adams. Man, what do you do with Adams? I mean, I don't think you can bench davante adams in your title game under this like a under the same argument that jason made for stefan diggs adams had a i mean he's coming off of an eight for 101 and a touchdown uh two weeks ago i think one of the

big differences though is the quarterback and and the the the style of play of the offense this is a team that just won throwing 63 yards now that's the outlier that's not going to happen yeah they won for 248 yards on two different occasions Aiden O'Connell has so I would expect them to not throw the ball for only 60 something yards but when you look at the matchup against the Colts it really is exactly how the Raiders want to play. They want to run the ball 30, 40 times if they can and just keep grinding and not pass the ball. And that's how you beat the Colts. They're really susceptible on the

ground and they haven't given up a ton to wide receivers. So, Devontae Adams to me is a he's someone where you look at your matchups. Andy is not happy because he has them in the dining room. Cooper or Adams, Jason.

Here's the good news. Amari Cooper tonight or Adams. Here's the good news for Adams. You had week 10 through 15 where he was averaging about 80 receiving yards a game. And then you had the incredible dud. He's going to get targeted a bunch. Let's hope that Michael Pittman plays. They're not favored.

So the idea of them playing from ahead and the majority of this game, maybe not, you know, on the road is maybe not a realistic thing. The five previous games, he was on pace for, you know, seven touchdowns,

1400 yards. He was, he was normal. I'm going to play him. I think that you're right though, to ask the question of Cooper or Adams. We've talked so much about Cooper that I think people know where we're at with him. He's not like a must bench, but he's a take a look at your other options.

If you could flex another player like a Devin Singletary, I would. Remember when Andy tried to tell us he was okay? I would put, yeah, the hoodie says otherwise right now. Because I didn't even have this as a possibility to be dealing with Adams' decisions. I'm fine, by the way. I think Adams is right in line with Amari Cooper. If I had both, I would put Adams in ahead of Cooper. Because he's not hurt.

Right. And he's not playing the Jets. Exactly. That's what I'm going to do. Josh Jacobs, Amir White. Amir White was the running back 12 and 15 over the last two weeks. Josh Jacobs didn't practice on Wednesday due to the quad. I would have liked to see a limited from him on Wednesday.

Yeah. I mean, he tested it during the game last week in warmups before, yes, before the game. And so that makes you think, think okay if he was close enough to really consider playing obviously he didn't that he will play this week but he didn't practice all last week and so it shouldn't have shocked us that that he it was inactive if he doesn't

practice this week they're gonna say the same thing oh he's gonna warm up he's gonna test it out and see um i do think it is worth trying to wait on this information. If you've got to hold off on a Thursday night player so that you can figure out if you've got Zemir White, if you picked him up off of waivers, I would do that. I would look at a later week pivot off of Zemir White if he's not starter because whoever is the starter here, if Jacobs plays, he's 100% in my lineup. If Zamir White is the starter and Jacobs

isn't playing, he's 100% in my lineup. It's such a good matchup. On the other side, Jonathan Taylor. Yeah, you playing? Michael Pittman. He is limited, trying to get back from the concussion. If you missed it last week, Michael Pittman was back from the concussion. If you missed it last week,

Michael Pittman was progressing through the concussion protocol very rapidly. Was all but said. A little too rapidly. Michael Pittman's going to play. Don't even worry about it. And then Sunday morning, the reports came out that the concussion symptoms resurfaced for Michael Pittman, so he was ruled out. He did get a limited practice in on Wednesday. So, I mean, that's the trend that you want to see.

I mean, if Michael Pittman plays, I'm playing Michael Pittman, but it's a just monitor his practice reports. If Michael Pittman doesn't play, I really have a little bit more difficult time seeing the Colts win this game obviously they can run the ball well with Jonathan Taylor they got destroyed last week by Atlanta yeah without Michael Pitt I I think I think the Raiders are going to come in here and just completely control this game Gardner cannot I don't think destroy withoutman, I don't think he can move the ball well. I think that's something to watch. I think you're right about that.

If Michael Pittman is out, the Raiders DST, even if Pittman plays, I think that the Raiders are a good play. But if Pittman is out, this defense is just so fired up. Yeah. And I feel like fantasy players aren't paying enough attention to how well they are playing. If you're struggling

on your defensive options and you feel like there's nothing there, go have a peek. See if the Raiders are. Believe that they are number one in points per game since Antonio Pierce took over. For the DST? The Raiders DST. It might be in recent weeks.

They're definitely number one in points per game over a handful. I mean, they had the monster game, obviously, against the Chargers, but they are up there. Antonio Pierce is – He's going to get the job, right? He is delightful. I love Antonio Pierce. He is the old school that I like. I know what you're saying. Usually you

hate the old school. This is like, no, we're going to run the football. But it's like, no, but they're like, we talked to Antonio Pierce and he said to his locker room, I want you to come out with hate in your heart and violence and just destroy the other team. You're like, whoa, man. What are you doing? You're playing a sport. But this is serious business to Antonio Pierce. But you're in. Oh, yeah.

Visualize slitting their throats. Whoa, whoa, Pierce. What are you talking about? You know, win the football game. It's a metaphor. But destroy them. But kill their families. Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Figuratively. Whoa, Pierce. On the game. Yeah. It's a metaphor. But destroy them. But kill their families. Whoa.

Whoa. Figuratively. On the field. Yeah. Give that man the job. Castrate them. Oh, my God. Oh, man.

Did you take a second to think about saying that? Yeah, I did. I know you did. I can feel the pause. And I made the right decision. Yeah. Yeah. Here's the funny thing. If you did. I can feel the pause. And I made the right decision! Here's the funny thing. If you ever wonder if coaching matters in football, you've got what? 22 players on both

sides of the ball? Same players. Different outcomes. Yep. And are we done with Josh McDaniels? Can we just retire that son of a gun? I mean, he won in Denver while he was cheating because he was cheating for a little

while in Denver he won with the Patriots with Tom Brady when they were when they were cheating yeah I mean you talk and by the way just reflecting on the Chiefs performance over the last few weeks is that game on are we previewing that today Brooksie probably not right tomorrow because that's the afternoon game

but put a pin in this. The Matt Nagy offense situation. How real is that? The budget magician strikes again. Yeah, and by the way, with Josh McDaniels that just reminded me of Matt Nagy.

That's all I'm saying. Alright, the Rams at 8-7 taking on the 5-10 New York Giants. The Rams. And this is a shout-out to RestoreTheRoar over on Twitter, who tweeted out, the Rams offense with Matthew Stafford, Kyron Puka, and Kup on the field at the same time, number one in EPA per play,

number one in dropback EPA, number one in dropback success rate, number one in success rate, number one in rushing success rate, number one in points per drive, number one in yards per play one in rushing success rate number one in points per drive number one in yards per play they're five and one in their last six game the two teams to me that like I would love to see the Raiders play the Rams right now because they're both just playing so hard and on fire and these are teams you don't want to run into right now the Rams are playoff bound and they've got a shot to to really upset someone so going against the Giants I don't think they're going to let off the gas I expect them to I mean they're five and a half point favorites on the road I think they cover that I think they go in there and

and really have their way that's that's the way I see this game going Kyron Williams missed four games Kyron Williams is number two in the league in rushing like what this this is unbelievable this offense is is getting right at the right time and they are going to be a scary team to face in the playoffs. Since Kyron is back from injury, okay, how many rushing yards do you think he's on pace for through those five games? I mean, he's averaging like over 100 a game. He is on pace, and this is just rushing yards. 2,043 rushing yards is the type of numbers he's put up over the last five games. My goodness.

And that's adding, just add in another 60 receptions for 300 receiving yards really rather have him this week against the Giants than I would Alvin Kamara against Tampa Bay let me just whoops the doozles let me just say that um Saquon Barkley he had a big game against Philly scored 23 opportunities so Kyron and Saquon both in your lineups, even though the matchup against the Rams is difficult. Saquon is terrifying, but yeah, I mean, when you get the – Saquon could easily have a really bad game here. The Rams have been a brutal matchup on the ground, and we've seen two weeks ago against the Saints,

who have a good run defense, sub-five fantasy points. Now, Tyrod being there, I think, is helpful. I think Saquon is just a low-end RB1, an average RB2 this week. I really like the part of the show where we go through each matchup and the players I have in each matchup you're terrified of, don't want to play. Yeah, so that would be Saquon, Devontae Adams, Amari Cooper. So far. So far.

Let's keep going. I mean, we'll get to Kamara. Matthew Stafford, yesontae Adams, Amari Cooper. So far. So far. Let's keep going. I mean, we'll get to Kamara. Matthew Stafford, yes. Kyron, yes. Cooper Cup, big time. And Puka Nakua, 9 for 164 and 1 last week. Of course, you play him. You could have a desperation flex option into Marcus Robinson.

It would be desperation to me. That's DFS for me. I don't think I can rely on it for a championship week. I know he's been involved. He's been great. Four weeks in a row as a top 24 guy, but also two receptions, three receptions, four receptions total among that stretch. So I don't think he's someone you can rely on, but you're right.

He's been good for a DFS player. Demarcus Robinson or Josh Downs? Demarcus Robinson. I mean, if you're in like a 14-team league with three wide receivers, I think Robinson is him. Darius Slayton on the other side or Demarcus Robinson, the third wide receiver for the Rams? I will go Robinson.

I think I lean that way as well. I'm basically just picking Stafford here. Yes, I agree. Anybody else you want to talk about in this one? Tyler Hidby? Darren Waller. Has to be discussed. He's back on the field. It hasn't been great. You saw the snaps

from 42% in his first game against the Saints up to 63%. Six targets first week, five the next. And he was targeted by Tyrod. And his Tyrod games have been pretty good. And the matchup against the Rams is okay. At least the last six weeks.

You'd play him over Higby? Over Higby, yeah. Okay. But now in that Everett-Cole-Komet territory, that's a lot tougher. The Cardinals are 3-12. The Eagles are 11-4. The DraftKings Sportsbook line, Philly minus 11

with their highest team implied total of the year at almost 30 points against Arizona. The over-under is 48-1. The Eagles are going to, like a knife through butter, destroy the Arizona Cardinals this week. I mean, it will be easy work. I would put, like, I don't know if there's a way you can bet whether Jalen Hurts plays in the fourth quarter.

That's how I feel about this game. Really? Yeah, and you won't need him. Now, Mike, you had a different opinion. You thought this game, like you said, you'd take the Cardinals to cover. Yeah, I'll take the points. Not that I, again, Cardinals are a different opinion. You thought this game, like you said, you'd take the Cardinals to cover. Yeah, I'll take the points. Not that I, again, Cardinals are a terrible team. Just with the way that the Eagles are playing right now,

Eagles, I think, easily win the game. So I'm not calling it almost upset or anything like that. But I think that the Cardinals can, you know, keep up a little bit and handle the 11. Well, let's put that to the test for fantasy. Is Kyler Murray a streaming slash emergency option? Like, are you playing Derek Carr, who was brought up as a streamer? Are you playing Kyler Murray?

I would play Kyler. I think Kyler is an okay streamer this week. He's my quarterback 11 on the week with the Eagles implied 29 points. There's going to be some garbage time. There's going to be some rushing yards from Kyler. They're beatable and they're secondary. It's a good matchup for fantasy quarterbacks. Kyler's been scary.

Kyler's been disappointing. But I do think he is an okay play this week. I would put him just behind the Justin Fields, and I'd put him ahead of Jared Goff. Kyler is one of the most popular questions brought up on the Mailbag episode yesterday, people submitting questions about him. Jalen Hurts, of course, you're going to play him. He's already fifth all-time in rushing touchdowns.

Thank you, Tushbush. Thank you, DeAndre Swift. Yeah. Dude, DeAndre Swift, he's the king. He goes down at the one like Jalen Hurts pays him to do it. You see this quote from Jason Kelsey? Oh, it's spectacular. Kelsey on a podcast that we're not even going to talk about.

He says when Swift goes down on the one, he says, I'm so sorry, man. You know exactly what we're about to do. He just tells Swift, I'm so sorry. All other running backs, you know, when they break a huge play, they get tackled at the one. They get up. They're juiced because they know. Time to score.

The coach is going to reward me with an opportunity here to punch it in. The Eagles are like, thank you for your service, Swift. Can you push Chandler Hurston to the end zone for us? Please. Please help us get there. I mean, the thing is, it's a guaranteed touchdown. It's funny because Eagles fans. Love what you did.

Can you just push him in the butt? Push his butt? There's never been a time when a player gets tackled before the one. You don't. You're like, darn, they didn't score. Yeah, upset you're like no he didn't when they when you see an eagle as an eagles fan i'm not an eagles fan but if i was watching as an eagles fan when my player gets tackled at the one i celebrate a touchdown i go get some concessions yes i put my hands up and i say we scored because the next play is a touchdown.

It's crazy. Yeah, the running back in this game, though, DeAndre Swift, I love. I love. Oh, yeah. We'll talk about him. Same with James Conner, Mike. Are you in on Conner? I am.

The Eagles' defense against the run, it bears out in the numbers here. On the year, yeah, they're sixth against the run. Over the last six weeks, 24th in fantasy points allowed to running backs. Conner's been doing it against tough matchups anyway. Yeah, Conner's – They don't got nobody. They got nobody else. It's Conner on the field by himself. Conner is more the reason why I think that the score is tighter.

Zeke or Conner? Ooh, that's a really good question. If you're in a PPR, I... I'm going Zeke either way. Really? Yeah. I think PPR, I might just take the five-plus receptions. I know that Zeke will get...

Has Connor outscored Zeke the last three weeks? The last three? I don't know. I'm curious how close they are. Curious how close they are. I've got Zeke's if you've got Connor's. This last week, Zeke was 16.5. Connor was 19.7.

Seven the week prior, Connor was better. 16.4. And then 23.5. 22.5. Okay, so over the three weeks, Connor has been better. Both good options. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hollywood Brown didn't practice. What's with the heel injuries everywhere? We've got heels. The heels are a problem this year. Heelindex.com. Don't start that. No, no. We don't need to register that.

A.J. Brown, Devontae Smith. A.J. Brown hasn't scored since week 12. I think he's going to score this week. You know what? Oh. Touchdown guarantee. Okay. A.J. Brown.

Get to the books. Got to get a drop. I'm sure that'll make a big difference on whether you play A.J. Brown, right? Yeah. The fact they made that guarantee. Philly is, they're delightful and easy of everyone starting. Yeah, Goddard too. Yeah, Goddard is in.

Then on the other side, James Conner is in. Trey McBride is in. The end. That's it. The end, yeah. New Orleans at 7-8. Which really is ridiculous because – Well, you like Kyler this week too, but there's no wide else to pick.

Exactly. Philly, 30th on the season against fantasy wide receivers. There should be someone here who gets it done. Michael Wilson has had seven targets over the last two weeks. How many has he caught? I believe zero. Zero. Zero.

Oh, that's less than two. If I'm playing anyone, I'm going to put the door shut. Remember when I swapped Michael Wilson for Lockett in our Dynasty League? Yeah. Remember when you were like, I don't know if I should do this. You didn't want to do that? Guys, I'm scared. Yeah, you paid me back, just like the big Waddle CD trade.

Yeah, that still upsets me. You guys have no idea. Every time we talk about C.D. Lamb or every time we talk about Jalen Waddle, I'm mad at you guys. Every time. I should have CD Lamb on my Dynasty roster. I mean, I turned the trade down. I rejected it.

Yeah. We shamed you. You shamed me into thinking I was so wrong. You should have stayed strong. Yeah. That's on you. Okay. Courage, man.

Also, CD Lamb, he's in the Dynasty final. Yeah. Don't worry about it. Yeah. That's on you. Okay. Courage, man. Also, CeeDee Lamb, he's in the Dynasty final. Yeah. Don't worry about it. Yeah. He would have been for me as well. For those not following at home, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, when Waddle was on fire for about four weeks in a row, we may have persuaded Jason that he was a better Dynasty player than CeeDee Lamb,

which he still could be. The trajectory of Waddle at that he was a better dynasty play than CeeDee Lamb, which he still could be. The trajectory of Waddle at that time was full superstardom, and CeeDee Lamb looked like he was just going to plateau and rest in the, like, oh, he's really good. It's been the last year. And those things are both true in complete reverse. One of them is a superstar, and one of them is, hey, pretty good. All right, one more matchup here before the starts of the week.

The Saints at 7-8 taking on the 8-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay has won four consecutive games. Go Tampa. They're also favored by 2.5. Otherwise, I would have picked them. I wasn't sure where this line was going to end up, but do like tampa in this one over under 43 you know there are a lot of fantasy football implications for this game you know you have derrick carr who who mike you know brought up on our he's the stream the stream of the week and you like him more than that

it's the we will talk about him that starts the week because I'm trying to find the fringe starter that I'm interested in. He is in my lineup. I'm in a CBS experts league that we do for St. Jude. Geno Smith, Gardner Minshew, Joe Flacco. No, it's Derek Carr. Derek Carr is starting for me. Yeah, I know.hew, Joe Flacco. No, it's Derek Carr. Derek Carr is starting for me. Yeah, I know.

I know. I lost Herbert in that league and I've been playing randos every week. It's Dynasty, so I'm forced to go with Goff. I would love to have Derek Carr over Jared Goff this week. And somehow I'd love to play against Derek Carr too.

That's the conundrum of Derek Carr is that uh but Baker's been on fire he's the he was the quarterback seven against New Orleans in week four would you rather play Carr or Baker if you had those guys Tampa's at home it's tough because I think I'd be playing Baker favored but the matchup is just so doggone good for passing the passing game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You just want it. You want pieces. You want whoever's playing against them and you can't really run on them. Well, so Camara is going to be a big question mark because a lot of times what's said is like, oh, you can't run on them. You could throw on them. Well, thankfully, Alvin Kamara is a pass catcher that's really not how it is it's how they guard the running back position in totality including the passing game you know Aaron Jones wasn't super involved in the passing

game uh in one of those type of matchups this is one where you do worry about Kamara like Saquon to have potentially uh another down game but the passing, the receivers, the tight ends. It's weird, man. I'm looking at the quarterbacks that played against Tampa the last four weeks, and they've all stunk. They've all stunk? Yeah, talk about it. Okay.

All right. Let me pull this back up here. Jacksonville, you know, last week. Jordan Love the week before. Atlanta the week before that.ana the week before that carolina the week before that i mean you don't have strong quarterbacks right let's see uh so lawrence yeah i mean jacksonville is lawrence got hurt where lawrence was already hurt and then got knocked out of the game i don't think you've had a top 10 performance against them in quite a while despite the fact they give up tons of points to the wide receiver.

I'm just observing that right now. I think it's been a minute. Yeah, it's worth talking about. Yeah, wasn't Desmond Ritter the quarterback two? Was Ritter against Tampa? Yeah. Desmond Ritter was the quarterback two, 25.4. Okay.

And that is his one good game. Yeah. I will say this. That's good to know. Even though Tampa has not been passed on by running backs recently. Oh, by running backs, huh? That's good. That's good defense against the running backs.

Passing two running back on them recently. They faced Derrick Henry, apparently. Fair. The last time that they did get smoked by a running back in the receiving game was 14 targets to Alvin Kamara. Does that give you hope? Yeah, I mean, I'm playing Alvin Kamara, and you just expect – I mean, Alvin Kamara had the worst game of his season last week.

Every other game of the entire season has been inside the top 22 running backs, and most of those have been much, much higher. So, you know, i think that the team made a strategic error and not involving him in the passing game early in that game they got destroyed because of it and so you just you just have to put alvin camara has such a high floor on a regular week that i think you just have to put him in there sure rashad white of course mike evans of course godwin the targets have been going up and I think he's going to be a challenge for me to start this week just because the Saints defense I mean if you look at their

last six weeks they've given up 13.8 points to opposing wide receivers if you're favoring Evans it's hard for me to look at Godwin and say Baker has been favoring Chris Godwin lately though it's just crazy because Godwin gets all these targets but like two of those three games where he's had over 10 targets he ends up wider series 37 and 32 yeah yeah I mean no touchdowns but six catches for 78 yards yeah it's Jacksonville and you know who's back this week Marshawn Latimer back is that when is that a day ago was reported that Michael Thomas and Marshawn Lattimore are expected to return against the Bucs. What? We've seen all reports that he is 100% out.

We looked on Monday. Lattimore, maybe you read it wrong, because Lattimore and Thomas are not expected to return against the Buccaneers, according to the reports I'm reading. That is exactly the word. It's not. Guess who's not? I read that report exactly opposite. Say guess who's not back. Can you who's not back can you re-say it say it again i like mike evans this week because the evans killer marshall latimore

not expected to be back i mean it's a very important word in the sentence it's three letters mike i got three letters wrong i mean it's not and there's a bunch of other letters that got right. Percentage-wise of that sentence was like 97% correct. I mean, cut me some slack. Three letters. Honestly, we thought you were breaking crazy news because Mike and I were looking that early. Yeah, because it's pretty important. Mike and I are facing each other, I've got Evans and I was like, but I'm also facing Evans in another league.

And I'm like, I don't know if I want Lattimore back or not. No Lattimore. Yeah. No, Michael Thomas. You do have Chris Olava who is limited, but should have a big game.

Rashid Shaheed. The suit is not black. Oh man. I, I, you know what? No Lattimore. There you go. Do, do, do, do, man. You know what? No Lattimore. There you go.

Do-do-do-do-do-do. Are we Rashid Shahid or Chris Godwin? See, I would go Shahid in that situation. Shahid is. There's no way Derek Carr and Shahid don't have breakfast together. Shahid is... There's no way Derek Carr and Shahid don't have breakfast together. Shahid is the... But he's... Dude, he either hits or he doesn't.

And it's far more doesn't. But last week, 82% of the snaps, that was a season high. Nine targets. Like, I wish I knew what was going on. Like, why did... I mean, I know Olave was hurting, so maybe that's why they played Shahid a little bit more. Like, if I knew that Shahid was in on 70-plus percent of the snaps, that would be easy.

I'll take Shahid. Well, Shahid's superpower is the deep ball, and right now Tampa Bay is allowing the fifth-highest rate of 20-plus yard completions in the NFL. So I think I would take Shahid there. I don't think you're going to be happy with Carr this week without Shahid involved. Yeah, it's going to take a Shahid bomb touchdown to take him from someone that was okay to like, oh, I'm so glad I played Derek Carr this week.

Welcome to Starts of the Week week presented by purina pro plan welcome into a very big starts of the week hopefully we can deliver some names that deliver for you i am going to do something I don't want to do. Oh. Most important league, I have to face this guy. Which tells you that, unfortunately, it's just, I just believe it. Patrick Mahomes against the Cincinnati Bengals. This has been a rough rollercoaster ride of doom for Patrick Mahomes.

I think a lot of you have decided to move to someone else, potentially. But he's at home. He's against Cincinnati. He's got a 25.8 team implied total. The Bengals are 25th against quarterbacks over the last six weeks. They average the highest yards per attempt in the NFL. And, you know, look, I don't know if teams can get it right this quick. You know, a lot of frustration in that offense. Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey throwing his helmet.

They haven't figured it out. Every week you look at a team like that and say, well, they're going to figure it out. I think they're going to figure it out at home. I do. I think they're going to figure it out at home. I do. I think they're going to figure it out against Cincinnati. It's just the opportunity, the defense, the matchup.

I'll be shocked if Mahomes doesn't give you at least a couple of touchdowns with major upside potential. Now, I don't know if you guys agree with me. I hope you don't. I agree with you because of a start of the week you're going to talk about in a minute. I will go with my quarterback start of the week, Brock Purdy.

Obviously, he just had a four-interception turd fest from last week, and you can forget about that thing. Put that in a brown bag, light it on fire, put it on a porch step. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Billy Madison style. Let someone else step in it. Look, San Francisco, they have the highest

team and played point total of the week with 31 points. He's been great all year, had a bad game against a really good Baltimore team. Now he plays a really bad Washington team. 31st in expected points per pass attempt. 32nd in schedule adjusted fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks.

The most passing touchdowns allowed I think you're going to want every single 49er you can Brock Purdy I'm not afraid of last week and I'm going to stick with Derek Carr uh last two weeks three passing touchdowns each game sending the car 7.9 yards per attempt you know Rashid Shahid last week certainly helped out and the matchup is absolutely there. I will give a shout out to Nick Mullins who may or may not be

the starting quarterback for the Vikings. If you were off of Twitter yesterday, you missed some spectacular Jair Alexander drama. That's just ridiculous, but the outcome is he will be suspended this week. So Mullins is also in play as a streamer should he be the starter,

but there's the chance that he gets benched. So I'm going with Derek Carr. Must-win game for the Saints. He's produced the last two weeks. My running back start of the week is Chuba Hubbard against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He's been a top 24 running back five consecutive weeks. My running back start of the week is Chuba Hubbard against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He's been a top 24 running back five consecutive weeks, 22 opportunities per game for Chuba Hubbard. He is entering the budget star category at this point in time. The volume has been insane.

Jacksonville's run defense has been bad recently, 29th over the last six weeks and schedule adjusted for running backs. And they give up a ton of receiving work to opposing running backs, including six receptions to Singletary and Mixon and Rashad White last week. Jerome Ford even had five receptions. Chuba's involvement is too significant to ignore. He's my start of the week. And he's looked good. Yes. He's actually impressed me with some of his runs which he has not done most of his career um i'm gonna go with deandre swift against arizona love it should be an absolute full stop yeah full yeah against arizona next but last week 20 carries his second most opportunities of the season the eagles have their highest team-implied point total of the year, and when you full stop at Arizona, it's because

they rank 32nd in rushing yards allowed. They're on pace to face the fourth most rushing attempts over the last decade. Because people just want to do it. I want to run against them. They're like, hey, dude, you see how easy that was? Hey, call

that play again. Just hand the ball off. We're up by two scores. And DeAndre Swift. Khalil Herbert last week just went crazy. I'm going to call a DeAndre Swift touchdown guarantee. All right. Same game as yours. Now, he won't go down at the one?

No, I think that the Cardinals won't be able to unlock that power of his. Okay. James Conner against Philadelphia. He is on a heater. He is on fire. Running back 5 running back 511 5 that's a player I have you're talking good things about the opportunities have been there we're talking 33% of the rushing

attempts and targets in that span that is elite workhorse usage so I think he'll see the volume plus the matchup Eagles you know over the last few weeks since week 12, 24th in schedule adjusted points, James Cook, Pollard, Ken Walker, Saquon, all the running backs are producing right now.

And Arizona's offense has to run through James Conner, and it has been running through James Conner. All right, I'm going to go out on a limb here with my wide receiver start of the week because it has not been consistent. Oh, dude, I like it. Brandon Cooks against the Detroit Lions in that Saturday night, 53-point over-under game, the highest of the week. Cooks, he's been a little bit quiet lately because the offense, Dak, the six-game run

they were on, it slowed up a little bit. No one can be that hot forever. No, but I need them that hot this week. Yeah, bounce back. Detroit, the secondary is so vulnerable. You don't run on them. Pollard can't run anyways. 28th in yards per attempt.

29th in schedule adjusted fantasy points allowed to wide receivers. Brandon Cooks. If you had Cooper tonight and you had Brandon Cooks on your bench, you – Yeah, I'd have to say I'm going to play Brandon Cooks. Yeah. Okay. My wide receiver start of the week. That's on tape, what I just said.

That is. Christian Olave. Chris Olave last week, he gutted it out on Thursday night football, playing through an ankle injury. So you're going to have him limited this week, I'm sure, at practice. I'm not going to worry about that. He gets extra time from that game because it was a Thursday night game to rest. ankle injury, so you're going to have him limited this week, I'm sure, at practice. I'm not going to worry about that. He gets extra time from that game because it was a Thursday night game to rest.

He was the wide receiver 12 last week. This is a must-win game against Tampa Bay. We just covered it about how you can throw on Tampa Bay. They're 29th in schedule adjusted fantasy points allowed to wide receivers. And just look at the big games that they've given up to good wide receivers. Brandon Ayuk just had 156 yards against the pity city 107 yards Drake London's monster 172 yard game it was against Tampa Bay Dontavian Wicks had 97 yards Calvin Ridley last week six for 90 and two so Chris Olave let's win some people some championships, Chris. Do it. And a fringe wide receiver starter at this point who I would put in is – sorry, Andy.

Oh, man. It's DeAndre Hopkins. You want some narrative straight? It's the real revenge game for DeAndre Hopkins. As a couple weeks ago he played, it did not work out for the Houston – or I'm sorry, did not work out for Hopkins against the Houston Texans in that game because you would see two for 21, nine targets. That's the important thing.

That was a really strange game for the Tennessee Titans. That was, I think, the worst game of Derrick Henry's career. Everything went wrong for them, and then they had more of a bounce back the next week. Are you doing that with Tannehill? I think I'm still willing to play him as a wide receiver three, even if it is Ryan Tannehill. With Levis, the target share has been fantastic.

But over the last six weeks, including that game against the Titans where they were shut down, Texans 31st in schedule adjusted fantasy points to the wide receiver. Houston has flipped where last year it was all run funnel, and that's why we were so excited at the beginning of the year looking at Derrick Henry's playoff schedule, but that's upside down now. It's quarterbacks and wide receivers who are getting it done,

and Hopkins I think he's still in play as a flex or a wide receiver three. Would you play Amari Cooper or DeAndre Hopkins? That one, I'd probably still go Cooper. Travis Kelsey is my start of the week at tight end. Who would have ever imagined that that could be a sentence allowed in this segment? But you just read it, Jason. Ninth in points per game over the last six weeks. Travis freaking Kelsey gets to play Cincinnati.

I mean, that is what it is. Cincinnati has been one of the worst. It's been one of the worst defense against tight ends on the year. Travis Kelsey, Patrick Mahomes, I think they get right I think you end up not regretting the fact that they're on your roster of course if you're in the title game you overcame them at this point but I think Travis Kelsey this week

gets it done alright yeah I the reason I think the Chiefs unlock their offense is because Kelsey slowed down a bit and he hasn't been able to dominate other teams but when a good matchup like this comes along I think he will so good start of the week sorry you have to play him uh Mike has to play him too oh yeah all right you

got him and you're against him so my start of the week this week T. McBee baby training bride uh I'm not playing him as a tight end. I mean, he'll be in my tight end slot, but he's the wide receiver one for the Arizona Cardinals. We talk about, oh, can you play Hollywood? Will it be active? Will you be able to play the Dorch or Elijah Moore? You can throw on the Eagles. Well, they're going to with Trey McBride.

I know last week he just dutted six for 31, obviously in a PPR league. Six is pretty good for a tight end to get. I expect a lot more this season. He is this team's wide receiver one. He leads the team in targets per route run at 27%, in yards per route run at 2.14, and expected fantasy points per route run. And the Eagles are super bad against wide receivers. They're bad against tight ends, 25th. They're super bad against wide receivers they're bad against tight ends 25th

they're 32nd against wide receivers this is their main passing option you have to throw against Philly 39 passing attempts a game just like the Cardinals are on pace for a top five rushing attempts against them the Eagles are on pace for a top five passing attempts against them. So Eagles are going to run. Cardinals are going to throw, play Trey McBride. And this is for our people out there who lost TJ Hawkinson. Maybe Cole Clement doesn't go for you and you're really scraping at the waiver wire. Juwan Johnson, the matchup is there since week eight. Tampa Bay dead last in schedule-adjusted points to the tight end position. Kincaid, Schultz, Kittle, Kyle Pitts, Tucker Craft, guys that have gotten it done against Tampa Bay, all with touchdowns.

And then last week, Evan Ingram didn't score, but 10 for 95. And Juwan Johnson, at least the last two weeks, rounding back into the form of the player that we had hoped we were going to see for the entire season and that's the the targets per route run have been at 20 that's great tight in nine and tight in four and this is chasing a touchdown like I think Gerald Everett is also a a solid play should everybody be out for the Chargers. But the touchdown upside, I'm going to go to Juwan Johnson. This is his success last year. It was touchdowns

and of the guys on the waiver wire with matchup with quarterback and everything combined, I think Juwan Johnson is your best desperation play. Alright, those are our stars for Championship Week. Thanks again to our sponsor, Purina Pro Plan Sport. Pro Plan Sport provides fine-tuned nutrition right those are our starts for championship week thanks again to our sponsor purina pro plan sport

pro plan sport provides fine-tuned nutrition for strength and stamina that enables dogs and owners to take on life's adventures together pro plan sport high performance fuel for active dogs it all starts here Jason Moore's Ironclad Locked and Loaded 100% Guaranteed Boom Boom Kicker of the Week Last week on the Boom Boom Kicker, I Merry Christmas to the Notties with a lump of poop. At year's end, I need a long nap to take a full boom-boom victory lap

and retire from these kicking suckers. So I waddled into their kicking HQ and clogged all their toilets with doo-doo. Sayonara to the Ravens' Justin Tucker. I'm done. I'm done. I'm out. That's it. That's the retirement. That's it.

That's what I thought. No more stupid boom boom. All right. The boom boom. It's gone. The boom boom turned into the poo poo. Yeah. We'll find you.

That's a lot of doo doo. We'll find you a segment you don't want to do. Yeah, that's true. Be careful what you wish for no so you're not even boom booming for week 18 or is that the like uh what do they call it the epilogue you know do an epilogue boom boom uh tbd stay tuned i just i'm in our i'm in our show doc right now and uh got to the segment where boom boom kicker is i'm trying to get to the bottom of the show i have to scroll through so many weeks and pictures of this

boom boom story. Is Kyle on the microphone here? I'm here. Kyle, how do you feel about this retirement? And to retire with Justin Tucker. That's the way to do it. I want to retire with Jason. We're out. We're done. Let's go. You guys are finished?

All right. Tomorrow more matchups. The fantasy face-off. I managed to lose for a third straight week trying to – It was great when Mike had lost three in a row. I was like, you suck. And then, well, I've been humbled. I've been humbled. So, Mike, you got out of it by just going full DGAF.

That's right. So, we'll see. We'll see what happens. YOLO is the only way to go. The season's almost over, isn't it? Thank you for supporting the show. We appreciate all your reviews over on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, wherever you're listening.

That's an easy way for you guys to support us, and we do read those. We appreciate it. Good luck as you head into Thursday night. I'm talking also to myself. I hope I make the right decision. I hope you do as well. And that's what this show is all about.

We want to equip you with as much information as possible. Every league is different. Every roster is different. Every scoring system is different. But we want to equip you with the most information you can have to make the best decision you can make to give yourself the highest odds in this game called fantasy football. That is it for today's show.

We'll catch you tomorrow. You can watch us, if you want, youtube.com slash the fantasy footballers. Goodbye, everybody. Goodbye. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter at the FFBallers.