Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Starts of the Week + Week 5 Breakdown! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 10/3

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

Week 5 is here! On today’s fantasy football podcast, matchup previews and Starts of the Week! Lots of injury updates with fantasy football start/sit implications for Week 5! Get advice from Andy, Mike, and Jason as they deal with tough decisions for their own fantasy teams. Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for October 3rd, 2024. (00:00) - Intro (03:40) - NFL News (13:55) - Starts of the Week (14:20) - Quarterbacks Starts of the Week (16:15) - Running Back Starts of the Week (21:15) - Wide Receiver Starts of the Week (25:15) - Tight End Starts of the Week (29:10) - Fantasy Forecast (29:25) - Jets at Vikings (36:20) - Panthers at Bears (40:50) - Ravens at Bengals (47:15) - Dolphins at Patriots (52:55) - Browns at Commanders (01:00:25) - Colts at Jaguars (01:05:35) - Parlay Partay Connect with the show: Subscribe on YouTube Visit us on the Web Support the Show Follow on X Follow on Instagram Join our Discord Check out today's sponsors: News & Notes presented by USAA. Visit https://www.USAA.com/Insurance  Fantasy Forecast presented by DraftKings Sportsbook 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. It's football time. It's football time. Once again. I kind of forgot. That it was football time? Yeah, so my intro, my welcome, it went really, it went pretty long. I was going to cut you off no matter what. I appreciate that. I want to see that someday.

I want to see you just come in right through it. I just want him going, ah. Cut the mics. You just football time all over him. You can't stop football time, Jason. No, you can't. I don't care if you want it or you don't want it. It's football time. Yeah, it's Thursday.

There's going to be a game. I believe I heard yesterday that starting today, we have – now this is between collegiate football and NFL football. We have 55 consecutive days of football. Yeah, as in – Is that too much football? Not for me because I don't care about college. And if you do care about college, if you love college football and you love the NFL, then probably not.

You're probably jazzed about that. Yeah, yeah. It's a lot of football. They tried to cancel football time last week. The Cowboys and Giants did their best. Yeah. But we get a different game tonight. Oh, man, that game was so. But we get a different game tonight.

Oh, man, that game was so bad. It was a rough game. So my in-laws currently live with me, and they got home. I'm watching the game, and I'm just – I'm sure my face is looking – it's reflecting what the television is projecting into my eyes. And they're like, how's the game? I'm like, this is the worst game I've ever watched. Well, we turned the page. We've got football time tonight.

We've got a better game. You get to watch Kyle Pitts run routes tonight. We get to watch Laser Mayfield, baby. That's true. That should be fun. Welcome into the show. We've got our starts of the week today. We're getting into the matchups for week five.

We've got news to catch you up on. We've got players we hope are going to play that we don't know are going to play because they've been banged up and they have anything from a mild low ankle sprain to a mild high ankle sprain to maybe some other kind of – It's in his elbow now. Yeah, it's moving. Moving target. But lots to talk about.

I want to invite everybody listening to jointhefoot.com. Become a supporter of this show. Get access to our incredible community of Foot Clan supporters. You get to be part of the Discord, 50,000 plus over there. You get premium tools and resources for in-season,

including the Start Sit tool and the Ultimate Dashboard and the extra episodes every week. And our dev team working very hard to get the Foot Clan perks out to our free in-season app, which you can pick up on the App Store or the Google Play Store. So check that out. And you can learn more at jointhefoot.com. Let's jump right into the news. News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance. All right, Devontae Adams is not expected to play.

Shocker. What? You know, the hamstring, from what I hear, it's going to get better soon. So it was reported, I forget who it was who looked into it, and they are saying that the injury is real, that it's a legitimate injury, because there's got to be the question. Everyone has the question. I'm sure the teams trying to trade for Devontae Adams are like,

okay, is he healthy? When we trade for him him is he going to be able to play week one um i forget which reporter it was diana racine she said i mean i've been told it's a real injury he's expected to miss this week but you know could be back next week if there's no snags so i mean the snag is what jersey you have to put on and what locker room you're in when you're putting it on. The trade talks are going to heat up. Devontae Adams has played his last down as a Raider. Is it the Jets? Is it the Steelers? Is it the Saints? Is it somebody else?

Mike, you mentioned it yesterday. You were spot on. If the Raiders are willing to pay some of the money, a deal's going to get done, and you're going to see Devante Adams play for somebody else and and so it's going to be very interesting for fantasy and one of the players we didn't bring up I mean we talked about Trey Tucker and Jacoby Myers and stepping into the void at wide receiver but Brock Bowers is is positioned to be the new alpha of this passing game, and that needs to be noted because maybe after a bit of a down week, you could swing a trade for him or something like that. Probably not.

Malik Nabors unlikely to be ready for week five, dealing with the concussion. It's still a possibility, but it seems like a long shot, according to ESPN reporting. This sucks. We want to see neighbors out there, but the concussion was always going to be a challenge. Yeah, you usually miss one game.

We kind of had hopes that because they were early that they'd have 10 days and he'd be able to get back. It looks like that's not going to happen. Devin Singletary has... Oh, I'm going to cry. Let me check groinindex.com. Oh, he's still going to be there. He's hurting.

Oh, we got it. Zemir White, though, did say, and I quote, ah, my groin. Oh, that was Zemir. Okay. He did get added to the groin index. Your addition of Alexander Madison. I mean, I'm rolling him out there. He's got the backfield to himself.

I am lucky. It's not that bad. No, you could do way worse. Anyways. He sucks, but he's not going to suck this week. Singletary has a shot to play this week, but he is hurt. I view that as 50-50 right now. The Giants offense, a lot of people might be running to the waiver wire

to pick up Tyrone Tracy in case Singletary is gone. Which he did. I got him for $0. A lot of people like me. Well, I mean, I put a $0 people like me well I mean I put a zero dollar bid I didn't I assumed I would not you walk to the waiver I walked to the waiver wire and I said all right come on okay come on get get in the truck you're let's go uh you're on my team now um it's going to be tough sledding this is the the Giants offense is going to be rough, I think, without neighbors.

Yeah, I mean, you can dart throw Darius Slayton this week. You can also, I mean, Wandale Robinson. Yeah, Wandale's a good play. Should have, you know, 15 passes his way. So, yeah, Devin Singletary dealing with the groin. Says he feels better. We'll see. Trey McBride, limited. Should be back this week.

Khalil Shakir didn't practice due to an ankle injury that's a little bit yeah he got banged up during the game unsettling the bills bills being talked about as a possible destination for uh Mr. Devante Adams which uh I don't you know I don't know if they want to go down that road again but maybe I would yeah I I think that Devontae Adams is just too good of a player. Any team that gets him right now, their championship odds. A lot of times you see an injury happen, a trade happen, and nothing, unless a quarterback goes down, you don't see lines move a lot, whether it's for a weekly game or Super Bowl odds.

I would imagine the team that receives Devontae Adams, their Super Bowl odds will improve. Yeah, no question. So they'll be in contention. Joe Mixon didn't practice on Wednesday. He had practiced at the end of last week. I was talking to Matthew Betts. He was still kind of thinking he's going to play.

Maybe it was Kyle. Maybe it was Kyle. I thought he was going to play. But you've got to monitor this because it could be Cam Akers again, which I've – No. It's just not – No.

It's not Cam Akers is the story because it seems like it's going to be Cam Akers, but what it really is is it's Cam Akers sometimes, and then in two-minute and in third down, it's Daria Gumbawale sometimes and then in two minute and in third down it's daria goomba wale and that combination is not enough like you need mixing was a three down back cam acres would be a fool me thrice and i'm not going for that yeah i mean two weeks ago he had nine fantasy points five fantasy five fantasy points this last week and that was a good matchup against the jacksville jaguars he only played 40 that's the problem the matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He only played 40% of the snaps. See, that's the problem. The matchup seemed great. Well, and the matchup seems great against Buffalo.

However, it really is a for me thrice situation. I'm going to be fooling myself thrice. I mean, if Mixon's out, I don't have a choice. I got players on by like Jameer Gibbs and ready to be hurt again. All right. Cordero Patterson, Jalen Warren didn't practice. It's a Sunday night game. Najee was awful, but on the field enough to do some things in the passing game.

I think it was like 13 for 19 on the ground. It was brutal. He had a big play through the air, and this is unfortunate for – despite Devin Singletary playing poorly against Dallas last week, I'm still going to target them, especially with the deletion of two of their top-tier defenders.

If Najee's alone, that's an easy start. Just volume and hope he gets into the end zone. Clyde Edwards Dallaire was designated to return from the NFI list to further muddy the backfield in Kansas City. That one seems to me like it's probably Kareem this week. The big question then becomes the week after that,

once Clyde has had two full weeks of practice, does Kareem look good this week and they stick with him, or does it turn into just a full three-man rotation with him and Samajian? I don't think he needs the week. This wasn't a physical injury. This was a mental time, and he knows the system and knows the playbook. I mean, Kareem Hunt came off the street, and they gave him work. But they had him for a full week.

No, but to Jason's point, I mean, Clyde already knows everything, and he's not recovering from a physical injury. Yeah, you're going to see this week what their plan is. I don't think it's going to be like they're slowly going to put him on the field and then next week unleash him. I just don't see the reason for that. P. Ryan had 40% of snaps last week too. So right now, if I've

got to start one, it's obviously Hunt and we'll just find out as the game plays on whether Clyde is just a backup that is active on the team or whether he's really involved Nick Chubb designated to return from the PUP the videos of him returning to practice were awesome incredible recovery what do you do what do you do with him because I think everybody in the world is rooting for him yeah nobody doesn't love Nick Chubb. And also, he is a superhuman. He is truly a superhuman.

He has come back from horrifically devastating knee injuries already before. And when he was back from that was, you know, Derrick Henry. He was Nick Chubb. But this is an injury you bet against at an age that you especially bet against it so i have a hard time deciding whether i want to like buy into maybe he will return to form or just go he might be a he might feel like a superhuman but in truth i believe he is actually a human yeah i think he is actually a human and if he is actually a human odds are that he's just a regular human.

Then he should not be able to come back to previous form. I mean, they took more time. That's good. Him hurt is probably better than Deontay Foreman healthy. So, you know, I think he'll always be. I don't think there's ever going to be a point where we're looking at this team this year and Nick Chubb is getting old school numbers in terms of snaps and opportunities.

But could it be a great complimentary one-two with Jerome Ford? I think that's in the cards. I mean, not right away. I wish I could tell you the medical side. I don't know how he feels. None of us do. So we don't know if two weeks in he feels great or if this is going to be a really long process

because it was just a severe injury that he's just getting out there. So I think having him on rosters is probably important. This team's going to get... By the way, they're one of the worst offenses. The Browns statistically have been one of the worst.

David Njoku is coming back this week okay Judy has been you know a contributor so far Amari Cooper the return of Nick Chubb like the offense in general and Cleveland should improve there should be more opportunities around the goal line coming up for somebody to contribute I mean Mike do you have a different perspective no I don't want to beat it into the ground. It's just, we don't know a lot about how he feels. Yeah. I think once he actually hits the field, I think you're still a few weeks away. He's, it's a, it's a good player to stash. I mean, his roster percentage is extremely high. So this would be, you have to, if you don't have them, you're going to have to go trade for him. He's

not going to be on your waiver wire at this moment, but the, the offense, it should be better, but it's still, it's still Voldemort. If they lose a couple more games here coming up soon, I think they'll trade Amari Cooper. This is one of those towards-the-trade-deadline chief targets for Cooper, which could obviously hurt the offense as a whole. Yeah, could make David Njoku a good pickup right now. Yes, it could.

That was today's News and Notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com slash insurance. Starts of the week. All right, it's time to jump in. Some of those confidence plays, those players that maybe you're on the edge of feeling good about and need somebody to tell you, yeah, you got permission to put that guy in there and be confident.

Oh, man. Call the blacksmith, boys. Oh, you got some of these? Oh, I got some spicy ones today. Okay. Great. Let's start at quarterback. I'm going to go Jordan Love against the Rams this week.

It started slow last week. We're in the middle of mocking Mike for making the Jordan Love over Sam Darnold decision. I was mocking myself, yeah, with tears. And then he did pretty well. Yeah, but then who got it right, boys? You're a genius. But I'm going Jordan Love.

He's had a couple of great starts while he's been healthy, quarterback 11 and quarterback 2. It's not always pretty, but, you know, Dontavian Wicks, the weapons he has with obviously Jaden Reed, Tucker Craft looked good last week, Romeo Dobbs, and the Rams dead last in yards per attempt allowed. We're expecting big things from the Packers this week, and I'm excited for Jordan Love.

I adore that start. I came into the dock to make that my start of the week and was very disappointed because you had him. Instead, I'm going to have to go with C.J. Stroud against Buffalo through the first month of the season. We've had two good, one meh, one bust game. It's kind of been a mixed bag for Stroud as their play calling has been stupid without Joe Mixon. But I wouldn't pivot off of him this week for a streaming quarterback.

Buffalo just lost Vaughn Miller to a four-game suspension. And if you look at C.J. Stroud's six touchdowns so far this season, five of them have come from a clean pocket. You get Tank Dell back and this game has a nice 47 point over under. So I think Stroud is a solid play this week. Brock Purdy against the Arizona Cardinals in his three starts against Arizona. 38, 35, and 45 points scored. San Francisco has the highest implied team total of the week. Brock Purdy, look, he's second in passing yards. Arizona's defense sucks, and as long as

Jordan Mason doesn't take every single touchdown this week, Brock Purdy's going to be a really strong option. Alright, my running back is complicated. Because it's not... Like Avril Lavigne? Exactly, Mike. Thank you

for that reference. It was going to be Joe Mixon against Buffalo. The matchup's great, and the Bills are dead last in yards per carry allowed. Receptions to opposing running backs, schedule adjusted fantasy points to running backs. It's not Cam Akers, though. So if Joe Mixon plays, I'm telling you right now, go play him. Put him right into your lineup and play him. But the lack of a practice yesterday, and we don't know today,

and I've told the producers, break in if we get a practice report out of Houston. But right now we just don't know if he's going to be out there. There's some confidence by some people that he's going to be out there, so I would say play him if he is. But my backup start of the week, Chuba Hubbard against the Chicago Bears. He has been incredible.

He has. And it's not like he's on the field every single day. Like, Miles Sanders, we were getting annoyed how many opportunities he had last week. Also, Carolina, get him out of here. Sanders, stop it. Whatever they're doing is working because Chuba's been over 100 yards rushing two consecutive weeks.

It could be higher. He's got nine receptions in each of those games. Nope, not in each. Sorry. Not in total. I was like, oh. In those games combined. I struggled to hit my over last games. Nope, not in each. Sorry. Nine total. I was like, oh. In those games combined. I struggled to hit my over last week.

I know he didn't have nine. I mean, you get 20 opportunities with Chuba Hubbard. Yeah. So 20 opportunities against Chicago, I'm okay with that. Yeah, and to clarify, as things are coming into, you know, as we are starting to have clarity on defenses. The Bears' defense is really, really good, but they are much, much better in the passing game.

It's difficult to pass on them. Their pass rush is great. Their corners are good, but you can run on them. They're kind of turning into a run funnel, so I really like the Chuba confidence play. And they're just scoring points with Dalton, so it gives them a chance at a touchdown every week. All right, Running back, Jason. Running back. I'm going to go with Travis ETN. I know, I know. It's been a slow plotting start for the Jacksonville Jaguars and for ETN.

I went back and I watched. RB2 on that team. I watched. Stop it. Well, you know, when Andy's my guy, Tank Bigsby is looking so good. Goodness gracious. I went back and I watched Travis Etienne's film yesterday. I wanted to see, like, does he look bad? Does he look injured? And I didn't see anything that I didn't like. It didn't work out for him. He hasn't been great yet. But I think this matchup is too good to bench him.

Teams are running the ball nonstop against Indy. 37.8 times per game. That is most in the NFL through four games. They've seen the most opponent rushing attempts of any team over the last decade. So you know ETN is going to get the work and they're also giving up the second most rushing yards allowed per game. They are 24th in scheduled adjusted fantasy points to the running back. Last year against these Colts, who they played twice, he was the running back 6 and the running back 3. This is a great matchup for ETN. Let me throw something out there on ETN

by the way. The Jags are 0-4. And they picked up the 5th year option on him, but there's been some word out there. Jeremy Fowler from ESPN talked about teams could inquire about travis etn because they may not want to extend him and if they believe they have a player in tank bigsby that they can move forward with paying running backs is not necessarily a

commonality like a uh popular don't do it if you're a losing team it's also not something you can do when you pay when you made your quarterback the highest quarterback in nfl history like that you can't pay both. I'm just throwing it out there. I mean, more injuries at the running back position by other contending teams could put him in trading contention. It has nothing to do with this week's start of the week other than Tank Biggs, we should be on a roster.

Yeah. My running back, look, the forge is heating up. I don't think I got a call in the Smith just yet. Oh, boy. But this is all about process. I'm taking the running back on the opposite side of that game, Jay. I'm going Trey Sermon against Jacksonville. Of course, this is only if Jonathan Taylor doesn't play,

but he has not practiced. Yesterday, he didn't practice. I believe he's not practicing today. Despite whatever they're trying to do at Indianapolis of promising everyone this is the mildest of mild high ankle sprains that they've ever seen. But opportunities will be there. Should be 15 or more for him, and the matchup is juicy. Jacksonville ranks 29th in schedule adjusted fantasy points to the running back.

They've allowed the fourth most running back receptions, and we've seen backups. You sound like me last week with Cam Akers. It's the exact same situation. So I sure sermon's better than acres and but it's part of the confidence is look we've seen guys zach moss who were basically their career seemed like it was toast they were just a backup guy and then the backup comes in for for the colts and they are able to get some things done because of how they play, how fast they play. So this is totally trusting the process.

My turn on wide receivers here? Yes, sir. Well, I'm going to go ahead and correlate with my start of the week at quarterback, Stontavian Wicks. Stontavian Wicks against the Rams. Going to stack with Jordan Love here. The biggest waiver wire pickup of the week by not Jason. And you can slide him right into the starting lineup this week.

Almost. Really close. He actually leads the team in red zone targets already this year. And this is without Christian Watson missing a full game yet. And, you know, been targeted on 31% of his routes. I watched all the Dontavian Wicks in the past week. They missed the connection like the first seven times. Yes.

Or six of the first seven targets, and he still ended up with two touchdowns in a big game. So, you know, we talked about the Rams secondary. I like Wicks. He gets open. He's big. He's fast. I really like him.

If you picked him up, I – He just needs to use more of the stick'em. Yeah, the hands are a little suspect. Yeah, go touch some sap. Okay? Is that the new thing? You grab a tree? Yeah. They've started planting trees on the

sidelines so wide receivers can just go over. Sap up? Sap up. We are so dumb. So I'm going to do some anti-correlation with mine, but it will be causation. Brian Thomas Jr., the wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars, will score touchdowns early in this game, setting up Travis Etienne to run the clock out. You're going double Jags? I'm going double Jags.

This is a get-right week for them against the Colts who are reeling with their own injuries. They are desperately in need of this, and it's a matchup that's really good. I'm playing Brian Thomas Jr. because of his talent. He is really, really good. The biggest knock at LSU was we weren't sure. We weren't sure if he was good enough to be the one. No, I mean, he was a first-round pick. No, I just mean, like, don't say we.

I still like Brian Thomas. Andy's just... I was sure. I'm just saying, I was sure. You lied. We as a whole, we as a community, we're not sure because he had 19% of his target on 19% of his routes run last year in

college because of Malik Neighbors. This year, through his first four games as an NFL starter, he's already up to 23 percent target share on his route runs he has been really really great the Colts are allowing the second most passing yards in the NFL we talked about on the ready to roll segment certain run funnels certain pass funnels and certain defenses you just want to target all of them. And the Colts are one of those bad defenses across the league where they can score points and their defense isn't good. So I think both the passing game and the running game is going to work for the Jags this week.

Steel Underpants. It's Jordan Whittington, rookie wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams. It's following the entirety of the story. He was the name of the off receiver for the Los Angeles Rams. It's following the entirety of the story. He was the name of the offseason for the Los Angeles Rams, but it was how does this kid get on the field? When you have Cooper Cup, you got Pukunukuwa, and you got Demarcus Robinson. The path seems very limited.

Then Cooper Cup and Pukunukuwa both get hurt. It's been a slow rise for Jordan Whittington, but he took over. 97% of the snaps, he was the guy. Look, 2-2 is a fine play as well, but Jordan Whittington, he's coming through with the promise of what Sean McVay has talked about, targeted on 25% of his routes this year. That is an absurd number. He will be hitting the cross.

He's going to be hitting the plays, essentially, that Puka and Cooper Cup run. And the Packers secondary, it is beatable. 27th in scheduled fantasy points, allowed to wide receivers. So if you're desperate, he might even still be on your waiver wire. I think you should pick him up even if you're not going to play him. But if you're desperate, I think that you can get away with Jordan Whittington this week.

Whittington or Mooney tonight? Oh, goodness gracious. I think I'd probably still go Mooney that one. Tight end start of the week. It's a big hat. I'm going Jake, turd Ferguson against Pittsburgh. It's a funny hat. Brandon Cooks is now out one to three weeks.

Ferguson was already a great start. He might be one of the best tight end starts in football here on out. Seven plus targets. I expect that tonight. He's been the tight end three and the tight end nine since returning from injury. And the Steelers haven't covered the tight end. So he's a very, very strong potential tight end one overall pick.

Yeah, this week, some weeks you're struggling to find a tight end streaming guy. And this week I think there's a couple good options. I like all three of our picks. I'm going to go with Tucker Kraft going with your love stack over there, Andy. The love stack. That's what I heard too. Last week you had Tucker Kraft on the field for the Packers. Nine targets, six for 53 and one.

More importantly, he played 86% of the snaps. We saw this in week one with Love. He played 90% of the snaps. You had Musgrave as the rookie tight end last year who looked like, oh, wow, this is going to be an important player for the Packers offense. Had a lot of big fantasy games. If you haven't paid attention, there's been a full switcheroo. It's Tucker Kraft.

He is the starter. This last week, 86% of the snaps while Musgrave was 33% of the snaps. Routes run, everything. Participation, obviously the targets were there last week. The week two and week three kind of throw the whole Packers offense out as they were trying to figure out life without Jordan Love. I think this is a player that might be good the rest of the season. And the matchup this week is fantastic against

the Rams. Another one of those teams we want to target basically every position against. Titanium underpants. You got to upgrade this one because it's Jawan Johnson of the Saints taking on Kansas City. Look, process-wise, Kansas City dead last. Tight end receptions allowed. Tight end receiving yards. Schedule adjusted points to the tight end position, and it was not just Isaiah Likely. Remember that

weird game against the Bengals where Mike Gasicki all of a sudden was a relevant player? That's true. And then scores negative points last week? Because that's where you can beat the Kansas City Chiefs right now. And the rise, the takeover, I think it's happening for Juwan, up to 68% of the snaps and ran 27 routes. That was the third most on that team.

I think Juwan, I'm hoping that we get the touchdown because that's probably what you need this week. But in the tight end streets, things are rough. Let me just make sure that I understand what start of the week means. So would you go Jawan Johnson over that purple and black tight end from

Mark Andrews? Yeah, that guy. That scored zero two weeks in a row? If you have the courage necessary. All right. And then Jason, Tucker Craft, or the guy who doesn't ever score any points? I prefer Tucker Craft, but I actually want to speak to Juwan Johnson and say- Oh, get him on the horn.

Yeah. You want to talk to him? Yeah. Let's bring on Juwan. Juwan, listen up. You should be in practice. This man put on titanium underpants, and I don't think he needs them. Because usually –

It did seem a little intense. Usually, when Mike puts on these crazy underpants, it's a great thing for the rest of us because we don't have to smell the dump in those pants. That metal protects it. There's not going to be a dump in the pants this week. The play is really good. I would play him ahead of Mark Andrews,

and I've been the one saying don't get rid of Mark Andrews. If you've got him, I think you could still start him. This is a man that's starting Jawan Johnson this week. Yeah, I've got Jawan Johnson as my tight end 11 this week, so I am starting him over a lot of other relevant, like Zach Ertz, Colby Parkinson, Tyler Conklin,

Dalton Schultz. I would start Jawan Johnson over all those guys. Alright, let's take a break. Jump into the matchups. It's time for Fantasy Forecast, presented by DraftKings Sportsbook. All righty. We're jumping in. The Jets. The Vikings.

Technically, the Vikings are the home team, but this is a London game. Mike, are you ready to rise and shine? Yeah, the alarm's set. 6.30 a.m. our time, 9.30 Eastern. Kill me. The Vikings are 4-0. The Jets, 4-0. The Jets 2-2 and the

DraftKings Sportsbook line Minnesota minus 2.5. The over-under is just 40 points. Revenge game for Sam Richard Darnold. And I remember when he was coming out, the talk about Sam Darnold was just how incredibly young he

was. He was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, quarterback drafted in the last 25 years. So when you talk about development, we got a lot of name submissions yesterday because Sam Darnold was originally the sacrificial baby. And the one that I think we've decided is the prodigal Sam. He's coming home, baby. The prodigal Sam has arrived and he has been incredible he was Jason's hungry for more this week 11 passing 11 passing touchdowns um this is

an area where the Jets defense has been great they are number one in 2024 and fancy points given up again uh to opposing quarterbacks they don't give up a lot. They have a great defense. This will be another test. Now, it's not, you know, this is a neutral site game. You've got Justin Jefferson and the return of Jordan Addison. It's been great for Sam Darnold, but I feel like this game overall, from a fantasy perspective, is a temper expectations because I love the defenses for both teams.

I haven't loved what I've seen on the offensive side from the Jets at all. Like, Brees Hall looks, on film, worse than Braylon Allen. Less explosive. He may be more versatile, but less explosive. Like, I went back and watched. Like, people are confused right now about Brees Hall because what you're seeing on film is not good enough. One of the surprising things though in the

plays, and maybe it's not surprising because defenses are focusing on Brees, but if you look at the yards before contact between Braylon and Brees, it is drastic. Even though it's the same offensive line, it's like they are opening up holes for Braylon and not for Brees.

I think that's not the offensive line. I think that as defense is going, we've got to focus on stopping Brees Hall. The Vikings are a really good rushing defense. They can stop Brees in this game. However, they give up one of the highest rates of receptions to the running back position, and that is kind of where Brees thrives for fantasy. So I think Brees is going to be okay here, but not in the running game, just more in the passing game.

Aaron Jones' rushing line on DK is 65.5, which is 15 more than Brees' haul. So confidence with both those guys starting this week. It's a low over- over under but I can't imagine you bench either is Braylon Allen a flex consideration for you in a week where you're losing some running backs to the bye no not not for me I mean there there is a world where he can sneak in a touchdown but I think without that against the Vikings this is a tough matchup he is still the backup you're you're you You're going to get around 10 opportunities. I just don't think that's enough in a poor matchup to start him.

Let's say we know Singletary's ruled out. Would you rather start Braylon Allen or Tyrone Tracy? If Singletary was ruled out, I don't know. I'd take the shot on Tracy. I don't know. I'll take the shot on him, but how about Brees' yards per attempt this year are 3.1, down from 4.5 last year. That's

unfortunate. Always popular for me to talk about Jay, Rico Dowdle against Pittsburgh, which you're concerned about that matchup, or Braylon Allen. I would go Rico. Okay. Are you guys...

My biggest question here is... Are you cooling off on Sam Darnold in terms of starting him this week? Are you playing Sam Darnold as a top 12 option? And I have... Right now he's 13 for me. So he's just outside of that top 12. But the Jets, yes, we know their defense is very good i'm not going to take away from them but like they've played against brock purdy this year week one

it was they and purdy had like uh 200 something yards he didn't have any touchdowns but then it was levis jacoby brissett and then bo Bo Nix. Bo Nix this past week. So they haven't really been tested just yet. So would you just keep him in there, stay in the flames? I think I probably would, yeah. Garrett Wilson. Garrett Wilson has not finished inside the top 24 at the position at all this year. In fact, in his entire career, it's only been 37% of the time that he does that anyways.

You have Mike Williams getting healthier. You have Alan Lazard who has the connection with Rogers it should happen this week I can't imagine like the question of every week's start is still probably yes as a flex but this is a team that could trade for Devontae Adams as well so you need to be on your guard yeah for sure

I think you just changed. Like Addison or Garrett Wilson this week? It's a legitimate question. I would go Garrett Wilson because the target volume is more assured. He is still a talented wide receiver. It's been frustrating. I think we just need to change expectations. He's not a wide receiver one.

We're hoping he's a wide receiver two, and I think he will be from here on out for the rest of the season. In this matchup, he's more of a flex option. But with the targets he's getting, I don't know how you could ever bench him. The Carolina Panthers are one of the next games we're going to cover, but I want to stay here on this game. One last note because we didn't cover it in the news. Hawkinson is having his window returned to

practice, opened. However, they are doing something where they're not activating it until Friday. And the reason that that is important is because they play Thursday night football on the 24th. So the window actually, usually you've got to be back, you know, you count three games, but it could be four games. So it could be November 3rd to be back. You know, you count three games, but it could be four games. So it could be November 3rd if they choose. I mean, the fact that they're waiting until Friday says that maybe they are wanting to extend that. So just I don't think they're going to rush Hawk back. I love the comment from Nathaniel Hackett about Garrett Wilson.

We want to make him the focal point, but we can't force him to ball. I've never heard that about Jamar Chase. Never heard that about Justin Jefferson. I've heard we need to force him the ball. I've never heard that about Jamar Chase. Never heard that about Justin Jefferson. I've heard we need to force him the ball. That's what I've heard from the elite of the elite. Not on the same page. To be fair, they have forced him the ball for about three years. Carolina is one and three.

They take on the two and two Chicago Bears. The DK Sportsbook line here, Chicago minus four. The over-under is 41. Chicago, pretty heavy home favorites here. This is one where I, this is the first time in it's the first time in a little while where I'm teetering.

Yeah. Teetering. Oh! Andy's almost upset of the week. I, you know. I don't mind it. It's a four of the week. I, you know. I don't mind it. It's a four-point line. It's pretty big.

And the Panthers can score points. And that's the concern with the Bears is just scoring points. DeAndre Swift kind of a resurgence last week. I was. Are you back in? I was briefly tempted for this week to make him a start of the week me too you were as well and we decided we didn't want to live in that world but the matchup is there it is the panthers are historically bad hold on hold on hold on

he's deandre swift yeah that's that's why we didn't make him a start of the week he deserves an apology from this show because oh did call him the worst football player that has ever played in the NFL, which I think, looking back, possibly hyperbolic. Possibly. We'll find out this week. He had a big week. Carolina, if you're ever going to start DeAndre Swift, this is the week to do it. I mean, at home, favorites, Carolina giving up 30 points a game to running backs. Swift

should be fine. You say this is the week to do it because Carolina is one of the worst defenses against running backs. But Jacksonville is also one of the worst defenses against running backs. Washington Commanders, one of the worst defenses against running backs. Arizona Cardinal, maybe the worst defense

against... Those are the next four matchups for Swift. I think it'll be... He's either going to make us eat crow or prove he's terrible. Last week showed me that this team has committed DeAndre Swift beyond our whims.

They paid him money and they gave him opportunities last week. We heard Roshan might get an extended look. Swift looked great. You just have to accept that. He looked as bad as he could look for three weeks. He looked fast. He looked good.

He got in the end zone. He caught the football. Again, Chuba, start of the week. Swift, start of bowl. Yes. And that's where you stop at running back. Now, at wide receiver, you've got a tremendous amount of confidence right now in Deontay Johnson. And Xavier Leguette is a flex, in my opinion.

I agree. Leggett is going to get more and more involved. He had some drops, still had to put up a big game. And without feeling, and with Andy Dalton, both of those players are very viable. They are underdogs, according to DraftKings. So Dalton's 37 and 40 passing attempts should continue, and I think Carolina's going to give them a game.

It's just will Chicago score enough points? Because that's been difficult. The drives, sustained drives, they've been a challenge. Will you play any of the wide receivers from Chicago? Because being in a matchup, the matchup is good. It's across the board against Carolina. Yeah, DJ Moore

should still be a flex play. Yeah, for sure. I mean, DJ Moore right now is for sure. He has 34 targets on the season. They have not been connecting well,

but if you look at the last three weeks, like DJ Moore has sucked for three, let's call it three weeks in a row. He had 8.3 fantasy points,

11.2 fantasy points, and 9.7 fantasy points. Those are totally serviceable. He's on pace for 100 receptions in that run. Yeah, this is totally serviceable. I would push back and just say week one was 5 for 36.

Keenan Allen played. Keenan Allen doesn't play the next two weeks. That's when he gets the 10 targets of 10 targets. Keenan Allen comes back last week, drops down to 6, and he's three for 22. Yeah, he scored a touchdown. Yes, I'm not taking that away, but I'm saying in the two weeks that Keenan Allen has played, and it's been all three wide receivers, five for 36, three for 22. That's my concern. Why don't we order the wide receivers then? Because you've got a Dunzay there who, to me, looks like he might

be the best wide receiver there he didn't do much uh last week when keenan came back this is a matchup you are fine to start against the panthers so who are you starting i would it's more by by a leaps and bounds above the other two i would go more odunze allen i'd go more allen odunze that's how i would do it too but I don't want to play any of them. Yeah, Baltimore's 2-2. They're taking on the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati. Bengals are 1-3, saving their season last week.

The DraftKings Sportsbook line, Baltimore minus 2.5 on the road. The over-under is a beautiful 49 points. The game opened at 51. It was bet down a little bit. This is a, I mean, this should be a fun game. Cincinnati is full strength in the wide receiver room, which has meant Joe Burrow has been getting it done.

A little bit better, at least. And then Baltimore just pulverized. Pulverized the Bills last week. The running game was unstoppable. They're still favorites here on the road. Where are your difficult decisions in this game? Because Lamar is going to be in your lineup. Burrow, I think, at home with a high over-under.

You're definitely playing him. And obviously, Derrick Henry has been unbelievable. I think the difficult start question is over on the the Bengals side of Zach Moss his rushing line is at 43 and a half yards but the and he's been the main guy and he's been good but last week the opportunities went to 50 50 so it's just do you have the confidence in Zach Moss here in a bad matchup where Chase Brown looks like he's encroaching. 18 opportunities for Chase Brown. He was the running back six last week. Yeah. I mean, I don't want to start either. I mean, in my situation, I would love to start either, but if you've got other options, this is a 50-50. I still think it is going to be more 60-40 with Moss over Brown.

But Brown is really involved, and they both are important players to this team. But the Ravens right now, they're number three in fantasy points given up to running backs, averaging 14.4 fantasy points per game and half PPR scoring. So if they just stay on average and then you're splitting that in half, I don't think you're going to be excited. You're basically saying, is my player going to get a touchdown or not? Part of that is they're throttling teams too. So it's just can the Bengals – if the Bengals can keep up,

the running backs will have more opportunities. But they've been up by like three scores at halftime the past two weeks. They're both sketchy, sketchy opportunities there because you have to make a lot of your opportunities against them. And like you said, if they blow out the Bengals, you're going to be in trouble. The one thing I will say is that the Ravens do – they give up passes to running backs.

And maybe that's because they've been throttling teams, and so the dump-offs are there. But that leads me to being Zach Moss. I mean, Zach Moss is already ahead because of the 60-40 split. But in the receiving game, Zach Moss has been more involved. Five receptions two weeks ago, four receptions last week. I think he will get four receptions going forward this week. Let me do something

very... The Ravens have been... They've hurt us. They've hurt us if we were people that spent on Isaiah Likely. They hurt us if we drafted Mark Andrews. They hurt us if you drafted Zay Flowers. Zay Flowers has been non-existent

for two weeks. You can craft whatever storyline and narrative about the way they the ravens win games i mean when you score 35 points and 28 points you might hope that zay flowers and mark andrews are a part of it i mean it's like if you have to paint this super narrow picture of a game script to make a player relevant every once in a while for the Ravens that's a huge problem now that being said I mean there's a world where Justice Hill is a better flex than Zay Flowers or Mark Andrews because it's he's on the field he gets thrown the football and their identity is executing in the passing game and using these tight ends to block.

And, you know, Zay Flowers has been, you know, if you had told me he had two bad games but he got targeted a bunch, I'd be like, cool. It's two bad games with six total targets between two games. He feels like he's completely boom or bust on one big play. Zay Flowers is so pumped that Mark Andrews is stealing the headlines. We're worried about Mark Andrews. But Zay Flowers has

been brutal. He's completely shielded the poor production behind Mark Andrews' lack of production. Four games in, wide receiver 49. I don't remember if we said Mark Andrews' receiving line on DK. No. But it's 22 and a half yards. That's the over-under.

That's not an alt line. Can we boo that? That's just the actual betting line. And I'm looking at that and I go, which side do you take? The thing is, is the last two weeks, and I hear what you're saying, Andy, the Ravens are good and they're going to blow a lot of teams out. They're going to win this way often. And so you've got to look

at the game script and say, well, what do we believe is going to happen? I do think... They've got to blow teams out with the players you like, though. No, no, no, I know. But they're 35 points scored. Right, but if they can... The Ravens want to do that all on the ground, if possible. You know what I mean? They would love to just run very Chargers-esque.

And they have been able to. It's really a matter of is the team across the field able to keep up? We thought a couple weeks ago the Cowboys were going to be able to keep up, and they didn't. It was a blowout. The final score looked close, but it wasn't. It was crazy end of the game and onside kick and whatever.

Last week was a blowout. So the question I have regarding this game, and it's specifically to you, Andy, do you think the Bengals will be able to score points throughout the game on the Ravens? Because that to me is whether you can start Zay Flowers or pray for Mark Andrews. I mean, yeah, I think Cincinnati is going to keep up. Okay. But I don't think that I would start those players. No, but we might come back next week and have a slightly different view of the Ravens when they're actually in a competitive game. And I hope this isn't a competitive game. They lost their first two games.

Right. Mark Andrews' week two was actually not bad. It's hard to remember that, but he wasn't bad when they lost against the Ravens or the Raiders. Anybody else from this game you want to talk about? Nope. I mentioned earlier, but just keep your eye on eric all jr rookie tight end for the bangles for dynasty i think miami's one in three new england's one in three and they get to play football against each other this week in new england the draft king sportsbook line new england minus one the over unders 36 and

a half i was i was it because that's really high? I was shocked when I saw that line because it was way higher than I thought it would be. Genuinely, it was. We talked about Ramond Ray Stevenson and Antonio Gibson in yesterday's show. The fact that the team has come out and said, look, we may have to start Antonio Gibson because Stevenson

has fumbled four straight games. If you go look at the DK probabilities for this Patriots offense, Stevenson's still the best odds to score a touchdown of any player in the entire game. But it's not strong. They're not favoring the touchdown. Right.

Plus 125, so it's like a little bit less. He's the best of this game because this game is bluff-tacular. He's also the favorite of the Patriots to score the first touchdown in the game. So when you talk about start, not start, he's still the favorite there. Romandre, I think you've got to play him. I mean, if you have him, you've got to play him. The way that we're talking about these other peripheral maybe starts, the Cam Akers and the Madisons and the peripheral options.

I agree. The Dolphins' defense has been horrible against the Reds. I don't get the minus one. I think the Patriots win this game by at least a full touchdown. I am on the Miami side. Are you? Okay. Fight! No, I don't think we care. I am on the Miami side. Are you? Okay. Fight.

No, I don't think we care. I don't think we care. What's funny is they waited the dueling grounds for us, and neither of us are showing up. You're at home watching football? I'm not dying over this game. It's really not a big deal. It's hot outside.

I've been waiting for you guys on the dueling ground. Let's go have a beer. I don't care. You want to switch sides on the bet? I don't care. I don't care. The Tualis Dolphins defense is totally different. When this

offense can't score anything, can't move down the field, the way that the other team plays against them is basically to just keep running the ball at them. You don't need to do much to keep up because you're already in the lead. And the Dolphins offense is completely inept so far with their backup quarterbacks. Odell Beckham Jr. is on the way back. Does that change anything for you, Jason?

He's not playing this week, though, right? I remember the... Just stop. Yeah, I mean, it's irrelevant. Stop with the Beckham. No. No, no, no. He's passing the eye test at practice, guys.

Okay. We'll see that. I think he comes back right around when Tua comes back. You know who I was... That's what I would do if I were Beckham. Like, oh, no, I need a couple more weeks here, guys. I want to be 100%. I wish they told me Tyler Huntley was passing the eye test at practice.

Would you believe it? No. Because I don't believe the Beckham one either. We talked a lot about the Tyreek Hill start. I don't want to be rolling out another flex option at wide receiver that has to catch one big play. They don't have the ceiling. Or give me nothing.

Tyreek's ceiling is – like he was complaining profusely on the sideline to the point where he had to come out yesterday in public and say, I'm committed to the Dolphins because trade speculation was happening yesterday. He was irate on the sideline. I think they're going to – if you're going to lose anyway, force the ball and make your best players happy. Sure. So I think Tyreek's fine.

If you're in a full PPR, he could get 10 for 5. But let me ask you some legitimate names. Your start of the week, Dontavian Wicks. If you have Wicks off the waivers in a game where you know he has the explosive upside. I'll play Wicks if I actually had to choose those two okay Christian Kirk against Indianapolis no Tyreek I would 100% play Christian Kirk personally um that's not even close to me um JSN Tyreek Brian Thomas Jr. Brian Thomas T Higgins probably T Higgins okay where stand, Mike? Because I think we're a little bit further apart. Are you more on Andy's side of...

I was pretty much in lock with what Andy just said on that one. I'm not going to force him out of my roster, but I'm not going to force him in if I have... I'm not playing Trey Tucker over him this week. I'm playing Tyreek Hill over Trey Tucker. Yeah, I agree with that. In League of Record. Devon Achan, do you grin and bear it and put him into

your lineup? I mean, seven points and four points the past two weeks. You probably have. What if you had to flex Achan or Tyreek? Achan or I would go Achan. Achan's going to get more manufactured touches for sure. Also, if you look at the

just the actual way that the Patriots play defense and what they have given up to running backs in the passing game, it does stand to reason that he should have four receptions in this game. I think A-Chan is going to be not very good, but I think he'll be close to 10 fantasy points. If you had Ramondre and A-Chan. I'd rather play Ramondre.

That's where I am too. This is not a great, exciting game. Let's get out of here jaylen waddle hits the bench then and you're playing uh you play michael pitman and mooney and those guys over waddle yeah as of now yeah and then you're not playing any more of those patriot players no so can we like not talk about this anymore yes please all right let's take break, come back with some more matchups. All right, the Cleveland Browns, 1-3, taking on the 3-1 Washington Commanders. This is the highest team total for the Commanders since week five of last year because they are three-and-a-half point favorites. The over-under is 43-and-a-half,

and their implied total is almost 24 points. Right now. They're leading the division, right? Yes, they are. And right now you cannot stop their offense. I mean, we watched it firsthand last week. They are hyper-efficient, executing at a high level. Looks like they're the second highest scoring NFC team.

The Saints are the most because of those first two fraudulent weeks. Jaden Daniels is a must start every week. He's scrambling. He's rushing on design runs. He's completing 80% of his passes. He has a big play guy in Terry McLaurin. He has check down guys that you can trust right now. The Washington side of the football,

Cleveland's a very formidable defense, but the fact that Washington's at home and that they're on a roll and nobody's been able to stop them yet makes me very excited about what we will get this week. Is there a chance that the commanders here,

they've looked unbelievable. Two and a half games or so of no punts, no turnovers, and almost every single one of those drives being a touchdown, not even a field goal, just unstoppable. They're the number one offense against fantasy defenses. Like, you know, if you're creating a lineup and you're looking to stream defenses, you go, oh, I don't want to play against the commanders.

They're unstoppable. Is there a chance that it's way more fraudulent than we think? I mean, the matchups that they have this two-and-a-half-game stretch, the New York Giants, the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Arizona Cardinals. They have dominated those teams. But the Cleveland Browns are a legitimately good defense. No. You don't think there's any chance?

No. The problem? I mean, they're not going to do they're going to perform at some you know impossible repeat level so if that is deterrent if doing what they're doing is considered fraudulent if they don't complete 85 of the passes never punt no i'm saying sure they come out and have a bad game like a just a like a bad offensive performance no i don't think so yeah the that's's my thought. The trouble for the Browns is that the defense is great, but the offense is so bad that eventually the defense breaks.

I think Cleveland will keep up in this game. The Washington defense is not good. David Njoku should be returning. Are you willing to stream deshaun watson yes i know that's a hard thing to say no i'm not you're not no not with the other options we've discussed this week i mean sam darnold or deshaun watson i would play darnold yeah i'm gonna stay i'm gonna stay in the touchdown i'm looking at who can throw three touchdowns i don't think watson's throwing two. Anthony Richardson with no

practice against the Jags or Deshaun Watson. I'll play Watson, yeah. Okay. That was a... Yeah, we were different there. That's more of an Anthony Richardson take.

Andy's very anti-Anthony Richardson. That's why I was posing, like, how low is Watson? Yeah, I mean, this game in the matchup looks good. Caleb Williams against the Panthers. I'll play Watson. Okay. Yeah, I mean the Washington defense struggled.

They did stop Kyler from being productive last week. They kind of stopped themselves. But getting Njoku back is helpful for the offense. Amari Cooper's receiving the line 51 and a half. If you go watch that stupid stupid play last week 82 yard touchdown called back on a phantom holding call.

It's really unbelievable. Had nothing to do with the play. Wasn't to hold. The Browns would have won the game. Browns would have won the game and Watson would have had a monster game. Yeah, everything is viewed differently from the Cleveland Browns if a fraudulent play call if they were 2-2 right now

if they were 2-2 and Watson's coming off a great matchup and you're playing against the commanders you're going of course you start Watson this is a great game for him what was the original one that I said I would Darnold yeah I'd still play Darnold but what was the other one Richardson Darnold and then Richardson

I'm worried about re-injury with Richardson that's fair and the single digit Yeah, I'd still play Darnold. But what was the other one? Richardson. Richardson. It went Darnold and then Richardson. I'm worried about re-injury with Richardson. That's fair. And the single-digit accident. That's fair. But if he's healthy, if you could guarantee me Richardson's going to play the full game, he'll probably score more fantasy points than Watson will. But in this game, Cooper, you're starting.

How do you feel about Terry McLaurin right now as an asset in fantasy like are you is he a buy sell hold I would love to sell him personally off of two back-to-back games while the commander's offense looks unstoppable I think people are in and he is the number one target 10 targets last week was great touchdown in two straight weeks but I mean you it's not going to always be roses week one he had 17 yards week two he had 22 yards I think that personally that the commanders are at their peak right now of the season like like right this week they are literally viewed as one of if not the best offense in the league that's not what they are that's not what this Cliff Kingsbury rookie led offense with one wide receiver actually is and so

I if I could capitalize on Terry, I personally would. Let me give you the schedule. Cleveland this week, that's tougher. Baltimore on the road, but Baltimore has been the pass funnel. Then Carolina. Carolina's good. Baltimore's bad. Chicago. Very good defense.

And then Giants. And then Pittsburgh. I mean, it's just a back-and-forth sled of pretty good defenses. I would say over the next month they play majority good defenses. Sure. Brian Robinson didn't practice on Wednesday. Austin Eckler, we expect to be back. Monitor Brian Robinson because he's been a must start.

And if he doesn't play, I mean, Ecklerler is a good start he would be if Eckler was alone he has been excellent on a you would play him this week if he was active 100 percent concussion I wouldn't do that why well because without Robinson oh without Robin yeah oh I thought you said with no no no without Robinson I think he's an excellent play but with that with Robinson back with Robinson back he's just a like – like I would play him over my – you know, I'm starting on Alan Lazard or Tyrone Tracy or like scrap heaps. He's looked really, really good on a per-touch basis. He's been awesome.

And because it's a concussion, not a – like a soft tissue issue, I don't worry as much about the re-injury. Okay. Yeah, he's not there for me. Zach Ertz is hashtag not a goose. If you need not a goose at tight end, there's your option. And Njoku, would you put him right back in your lineup if he's in there this week with how he looked to start the season?

Just because of the state of the tight end. He only played 37% of snaps in week one and got hurt. He was the tight end nine that week. He was the tight end nine. Yeah, that's why. I mean, but he went to him a lot. Like at least our little teeny bit of evidence of what we hoped would see was that he's going to get targeted a lot.

And the way that – who's taking the most sacks in football? Watson. Yeah, Watson. Deshaun Watson. So the underneath, the quick release, I think that is going to be a crucial step for getting the Browns into the red zone. They need

David Njoku. Jerome Ford? Yeah. Play him? Yep. The Colts are 2-2. They take on the 0-4 Jacksonville Jaguars. The DraftKings Sportsbook line here is Jacksonville minus 3. The over-under is 46. I like Jacksonville in this game. I'm with Jason

on the double starts of the week where I think this is the get-right game for Jacksonville for sure. I like the over-under in it. We talked about ETN. We talked about Brian Thomas. Not messing around with Trevor Lawrence, despite that confidence. I think he's a fine streamer.

Or Deshaun Watson. I would play Lawrence. I'd go Watson. But I see them as the same tier, so we're similar. Christian Kirk has had 10 and 12 targets the last two weeks. Where are you feeling? He had two just absolute disappearing acts and two great games. I mean, it's sort of similar to how last season started,

that they forget Christian Kirk is on the team, and then they go, oh, yeah, yeah, no, that guy's pretty good. We should target him 10 times and then 12 times. The wild card is Evan Engram, which he was limited practice on wednesday is he back how does he acclimate is he ready to go right back into the full-time evan engram role which that could take away from christian kirk so that's that's the thing to watch is he right back in your lineup if he's at room yeah in this as long as the economy as long as the news is positive. Or if we can get – I feel like we've got to get one full practice.

On the other side of the football, Jonathan Taylor is the questionable situation with Trey Sermon being your start of the week. If Taylor's active, how nervous are you in this matchup? Because of – like we've seen – this is the same ankle, by the way, that we dealt with a couple years ago where we would get a start and a stop and a start and a stop. And if he's out there on the ankle and you know what the re-injury risk is going to be, are you just, you know?

I'd still play him, but I don't think he's playing. Yeah, I agree with both of those things. I wouldn't be nervous at all because of the Jaguars defense I would be excited to play him and I mean I guess I would be nervous while I watch him run every time being like stay strong stay strong Jonathan but um the matchup is just too good if he's out there I expect him to be a top three back on the week oh that, that's why. Oh, there is. Anthony Richardson is out there in pads. Yeah, it does. It really does seem like all the reporting.

I expect Anthony Richardson to play this week. He's been practicing. So it's not even like he's just not going to practice and go in. I fully expect him to be the starter in this game. Okay, so then what does that do to the wideout? Yeah, Josh Downs and Michael Pittman targeted. Josh Downs targeted on 36% of his routes in two games that's an unbelievably good number he's a good player Michael Pittman is a good player but Richardson has just not given us the yardage that we need what's funny is that when

Anthony Richardson is in the game I I feel like a better start, and I wouldn't start this player, but Alec Pierce or Adonai Mitchell, when there is fantasy value to be had, it's a 70-yard pass. It's not two passes to Michael Pitt. Exactly. It's not Adonai. No, sure. He's only in for a couple of plays, but those plays that he comes in, my point is I could see Adonai Mitchell

coming in here and playing 20% of snaps, running 12 routes, and ending the game with the best fantasy game because he came in on one of the nine routes that he caught a 55-yard touchdown. My point is I don't want to start any of them. Yeah, I don't really want to either. It's a nerve-wracking. It'll be a nerve-wracking game even if you're starting Richardson in terms of re-injury underperformance turnovers all of that stuff yeah I match up is good but it's also you know the re-injury risk is legit if you want to if you want to worry and pivot off of

him I don't blame anyone out there for doing it personally you know I drafted Anthony Richardson my team needs big blow-up potential this is here I mean Anthony Richardson. My team needs big blow-up potential. This is here. I mean, Anthony Richardson, he can either get re-injured and have negative fantasy points on your roster, very volatile, but he could absolutely easily have two rushing touchdowns in this game, one bomb touchdown, and end up as the quarterback one this week in a perfect matchup. I will say this for this game.

It does appear that very high chances of rain in this game. A little bit of rain. A little bit of rain. That's going to help his 50% accuracy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's good stuff. By the way, a couple injury updates. Malik Neighbors not practicing again. Going to be a final decision

leading up to the game. Devin Singletary not practicing again. No sign of Joe Mixon at practice yet. Not a great situation. They talked about him being day-to-day. And then Andy Reid said that they're still waiting for Rashi Rice's knees swelling to subside before he undergoes

additional testing. What is going on? He did mention there is no greater sense of optimism yet. So we just don't know yet. The swelling is obfuscating the testing. This is the weirdest injury situation I can remember. All right, we do have one more segment, guys. Oh, yes, we do.

Go ahead and hand them out, baby. The parlay partay worked out. It worked out last week. Yes, it did. We got three crowns we got to put on our heads today. We three kings of orange. Oh, yeah, baby. It's a good thing.

It's a good thing. Last week, Mike, went Nico over 70 yards. Yeah, we did. Got it done. Chuba Hubbard, Jason, over two and a half reception. We made it. It took a long time to get there, but we got four quarters, baby. That was a sweat.

And then Garrett Wilson under 65 and a half receiving yards also hit. So for the first time this season, triple crown. Very happy to see that. And you might as well just throw the clown wigs away. This week, I'm going to go with Zach Ertz, 25 plus receiving yards. Zach Kurtz has been over the 25 receiving mark in three or four games. He's averaging four receptions per game. Last week he caught a two-point conversion. It doesn't go on the stat sheet, but he's still a go-to receiver.

You've got a pass rush to worry about this week against Cleveland, and I think Zach Kurtz is just so reliable for those eight to 10 yard catches. He just needs two and a half of them. So I think, I think I'm going Zachary is 25 plus. Yep. I'm going to take a touchdown this week, which is sometimes a spicy bet, or sometimes you're playing against the Arizona Cardinals and you are the San Francisco 49ers. They have the highest team implied total of the year 29 points expected to be scored that's three touchdowns is

what DK's saying you should mention who your guy is it's Jordan Mason baby anytime touchdown I mean he's seeing 39 percent of the 49ers total team rush plus targets which is the same as Christian McCaffrey last year. Remember Christian McCaffrey went on this year-long run of scoring touchdowns, and you got to the point where when you were betting whether Christian McCaffrey would score a touchdown, it was like minus 250. It's like, yeah, it's going to happen. We all know it's going to happen.

So I think Jordan Mason against the Cardinals, he's going to get a touchdown. I'm going Joe Burrow, 250-plus passing yards. We already broke down that matchup. The Baltimore Raven to get a touchdown. I'm going Joe Burrow, 250 plus passing yards. We already broke down that match of the Baltimore Ravens are a pass funnel. Historically, Joe Burrow, they have unleashed him and the passing game against the Baltimore Ravens since

he ranks fifth in pass rate over expectation. And look, the Ravens are allowing the third most passing yards per game. So that's why I'm in on Burrow. All right. Ertz, Mason, and Burrow. That was Fantasy Forecast presented by DraftKings Sportsbook. New DraftKings customers. Bet $5 to get 200 in bonus bets.

Instantly download the Sportsbook app and use the code BALLERS. Only at DraftKings Sportsbook, the crown is yours. The crown is ours, fellas. We look good. That's going to do it for today's episode of the show. Thank you for joining us and supporting this podcast. More matchups tomorrow. Fantasy face-off tomorrow.

Good luck tonight. And remember, take those players out of your flex spot. Put them in running back and wide receiver. Goodbye. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. In New York, call 877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY 467-369. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling.

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