Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Week 13 Waivers & QB Streamers + JTT Troubles, Crazy Like a Fox! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 11/28

Episode Date: November 28, 2023

Week 13 Waiver Wire and big Jonathan Taylor news! On today’s fantasy football podcast, make a playoff push with waiver pickups at each position! Plus, QB streamers, injury updates, and a recap of Monday Night Football! What does the future hold for Justin Fields? Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for November 28th, 2023. Connect with the Fantasy Footballers Podcast: 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 Welcome to the Waiver Wire presented by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Visit https://www.callofduty.com/playnow/modernwarfare3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

Welcome in. the fantasy footballers podcast mike right jason moore andy holloway tuesday edition of the show nfl news waiver wire quarterback streamers on today's episode and some chitter-chatter about all sorts of stuff. I intentionally didn't say Monday night football recap. I am just really dragging. I'm really tired today. So trying to wake up with the music.

It comes to the point and I'm like, oh, what day is it? Is it football time? And I'm like, okay, no, it's not. And then I remembered the game that I watched last night. Which also wasn't football time. Which, what? I mean. The string of tweets of people saying, is this the worst game of all time?

And I would laugh because before I read people's tweets, I'm like, this is the worst game I've ever seen. It was real bad. We all watched it, and it was terrible. Yeah, I mean, the winning team did not have a touchdown. That happened. It was the pumpkinning of Joshua Dobbs. Yeah. Clock struck midnight on tops.

Yeah. And it has for every team he's ever every team he's played on. They've got to stop teaching him the playbook. He does so well when he first comes in has no idea what the playbook is or the names of his teammates. And then as soon as he like, you know, gets plugged into the offense, it's like, ah, it doesn't work. And now they're talking about making a change at quarterback, whether it's Mullins or going back to the rookie. Yeah, that was bad. We've had a lot of bad island game football this year. And it did seem like it kind of went faster last night.

Not for me. Not for you? Not for me because I did watch it in its entirety. I am one of the three people in America that did stick around for the whole game. I think as bad as Joshua Dobbs' pumpkin-ing, Justin Fields, I don't know exactly how much to blame him because the play calls were clear, designed. They're coming out of the huddle, and they are running a screen.

Every play. Yeah, but they won't see it coming this time. I can't. Did you see the numbers? There were four completions total between both teams beyond the line of scrimmage. Four! I have never seen any kind of game with that many passes sideways or backwards.

I can't wrap my head around how you... It's not good football. It's not good offense. It's not good play calling, not good play design. I don't care what you saw about the the vikings defense that's like oh i think we can beat him with this play you can't just run an offense where you did and they won and they won well four interceptions for josh dobbs yeah it didn't help matters for one of the most ridiculous Jordan Addison plays I've ever seen.

And I rewatched that clip because – He did a drop? No, I'm talking about the sideline. The sideline run out of bounds? He had more separation from the defender than I've ever seen. Like there was no one around him. And I watched it because at first I thought that Dobbs let him out of bounds and that was the problem, which Dobbs clearly could have thrown a better football.

But it was all Jordan Addison. Like I watched it slow-mo and like Addison on the sideline, instead of making the sideline catch, turns his body backwards to backpedal a ball with no awareness of the sideline. That would have been a touchdown. He mingled? Yeah, Jonathan Mingo did that this week too.

I mean, it was tough to watch. It was 12 to 10 i mean that tells you everything you need to know let me let me ask you this as sort of a quick question of the day before we get into everything justin fields has played 35 games as a starting quarterback which is that's a is he going to be the quarterback of the Chicago Bears when snap one happens at the beginning of next season? No chance. You cannot roll into the third try here. You did this already.

You traded that pick for a haul. You got a better team. And honestly, you look at the Bears, and the Bears' defense is playing better. They traded for sweat. You traded that pick for a haul. You got a better team. And honestly, you look at the Bears, and the Bears' defense is playing better. They traded for sweat. They're looking like a decent team, but they're still barely winning games or losing games. I don't believe that you can pass up. You're going to have the number one pick with Caleb Williams on the board.

I don't believe that Justin Fields will stay a bear. Mike, what do you think? Because Caleb Williams, Drake may have had poor senior seasons. The quarterback options, I don't think, like when I look at it compared to Kyler, the Cardinals are going to have a top three pick too. I think the Cardinals should stay with Kyler. I don't think you're getting better at the quarterback position in the draft.

I think that Fields had to really – like he had to play well every single game for the remainder of the season because it's been too hot, too cold. When you open the season the way that he did, like if he had played fantastic for that whole opening stretch then got hurt, things would be different but going into year three not 100% sure year four

that would be year four? Correct. This is year three of you? This is already year three. When Jason said third time I'm like it's a fourth time. Okay then it's an easy decision. Well you're resetting the money too. Because you're going to have to make the Daniel Jones decision on Justin Fields

in a year, right? That would be the number one reason to move on. I do want to see if Fields moves on, him to go to a team that wants to use his skill set because he can throw the ball downfield decently well. He can run, run obviously as good as anybody in the league screen passes oh baby he just he can't pocket awareness has been a problem and it's there's there is a processing an information processing which people were

talking about at the beginning of when he would be in the pocket and actually have a ton of time looking down the field, it's how can you be like four seconds into this situation and nobody's open? I mean, maybe. I didn't break down the all-22. They're open. I mean, maybe last night they weren't, but previous games this season there were lots of open guys down the field. That Seam route by Herbert a while back that he just didn't even see him.

It's hard to play quarterback. There's a reason we have like 10 guys that can do it. Yeah, so it's unfortunate, but I lean that that's what will happen. So for Dynasty, you're kind of feeling very uncomfortable. Yeah, you're feeling uncomfortable with Justin Fields, the security of his future. I do think he will get a job, be traded, have a team that says, yeah, we can work with Fields next year, but I don't think it'll be the Bears.

Fantasy takeaway last night, my biggest takeaway was Roshon Johnson. Yes. Very, very involved. Ran ahead of Khalil Herbert. Was involved in both the receiving game and the running game. Looked good. Herbert was involved in both the receiving game and the running game looked good I have been a non-believer in Roshan's ability to break into a fantasy relevant role this season with you know Deont Foreman and uh Khalil Herbert ahead of him but he was basically the start of this game I think there's no reason for them not to give him a go. And he looks good.

With a head of steam, Rochon's a pretty powerful bat. DJ Moore keeps performing with Justin Fields. That's the other story. 11 for 114 on 13 targets. That was good. Hawkins had gotten to the end zone to save your day. Addison,

it was disappointing. 10 targets turning into six for 39. The Josh Dobbs experience was not good there. The play calling from Minnesota was so confusing to me. I thought Madison was running pretty well. There was at least a couple burst runs where you're like, dude, Madison has some juice giving the ball. But then they would run these stretches to the outside. That's not Madison's game.

And then Ty Chandler, they'd put him up the middle. You're like, no, he's small and fast. Send him to the outside. And then they let Dobbs throw the ball 32 times when it was very, very clear early on that Dobbs should throw maybe 18 times in this game. Yeah, it was not a good football game. Let's move to brighter things.

Oh, yeah. Thank you for all who entered the Spicy Surprise Megalodon giveaway. Had a fun time doing the Megalodon show this year. And hopefully everybody enjoyed it over the Thanksgiving weekend. Congratulations. We've got three winners. We've got the DK Metcalf signed jersey that went to... At Jason FFL.

No, no. At Stairway to Evan 17. Congratulations. Javante Williams signed jersey went to at Kevin underscore underscore. Oh, the double underscore. Honan. And then AJ Brown signed mini helmet went to at... At Kevin underscore underscore. Oh, the double underscore. Honan. And then AJ Brown signed mini helmet.

Went to at Ski Mask Pickens. Nice. So there you go. We went with the Twitter handles. And check your notifications over there. And you can claim your prize. Thank you for everyone contributing. Some spicy surprises over the Thanksgiving weekend.

So it was, it was a good time. You can follow the show over on X slash Twitter at the FF ballers in the community. Join the foot.com, which is a, it's going strong. We also have the largest fantasy football discord, which you can join for free at ballers discord.com and join the conversation.

Papa Josh in charge over there. And I will say he puts in above average effort over on the Discord. That's very fair. Slightly below great. Yeah, but best for him. Yeah, right, right, right. What do they call it? Grading on a scale?

Grading on a curve. Grading on a curve, yeah. We're saying he puts in above average best for him. Yeah, right, right, right. What do they call it? Grading on a scale? Grading on a curve. Grading on a curve, yeah. We're saying he puts in above average effort for him. Right. Right, okay. Right. Yeah, I completely agree. Yeah, of all the efforts he makes, he's the best of them.

Yes. And he's sitting in Ducer's Alley today. You're going to see more of Papa Josh in the coming months, unfortunately. Yeah, sorry. Or fortunately, if you're his Kids and family Alright into the news we go News and notes from around the league

Presented by USAA Insurance Two thirds of Deucer's Alley Have betrayed me In a trade Brooks we need you to step it up Get that betrayal hat on Hards of Deucer's Alley have betrayed me in a trade. Brooks. We need you to step it up. Get that betrayal hat on. Darn, the deadline passed.

Yeah, the deadline's over. All right, here we go. Rasheed Shaheed unlikely to play this week. I was asking Mike in the studio yesterday, like there's a chance that the Saints have no one. I mean, like Michael Thomas is on IR. Chris Olave has a concussion. I don't think he plays.

And then, which, I mean, our Scotty Fish team is toast. Oh, yeah. We made it through to the next level of the playoffs. We've been great all year. We have a lot of bye weeks. I mean, no Josh Yellen. I mean, this week, the bye week story in the waiver show today, that is a big part of the fantasy season narrative

because the league decided we're going to throw a wrench onto all your rosters and make you scramble with six very, I would say fantasy relevant teams on by this week, but Rashid Shahid's hurt. Yeah. Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, Rashid Shahid out. I don't know what the line is on Alvin Camara receptions.

Oh, that could save me this week. But as soon as it comes out, you probably want to go over on that. Yeah, and the other options they have, just to throw it out there, deep leagues, Lynn Bowden Jr. A.T. Perry. And A.T. Perry. And I lean the Bowden side.

And Juwan. And Juwan Johnson, who also got banged up but is okay. He's okay, yeah. And take some hill sure flexible they need a uh they need a receiving option baker mayfield's ankle mri came back negative uh he plays carolina i expect him to play yeah should be good but if you want to follow along at home if he doesn't this guy over here is starting tim Boyle at quarterback in our dynasty league. Well,

because Josh Allen's on a buy and Baker was my backup. Is Kyle Trask not available? He probably is. I shouldn't have brought this up. I could have went and looked. That would have been a much better solution. I don't think you need to worry. Let me take a little, I'm sure Trask is rostered by Jason.

That's my bet is that Kyle Trask. Look, he is rostered. I do love. Not by Jason? Not by Jason. Do you have a is that Kyle Trask. Look, he is rostered. I do love. Not by Jason? Not by Jason. Do you have a trader for him? Brooks.

Brooks has like 800 quarterbacks on his roster. It's Troy. Okay. All right. Amari Cooper's rib x-rays were negative, so we'll see if he's back out there. Amari Cooper has some small amounts of hope attached to someone else playing quarterback named Joe Flacco. Yeah.

Small amounts. I think that's a pretty heaping amount of hope. Like if Flacco plays, if Flacco plays, I think Amari Cooper has a good game. It's just, does Flacco have anything left? He has a statue with both feet inside of cement.

He didn't have anything left when he was playing for the Jets, and it was great with Garrett Wilson. Yeah, yes. That was fun. Because he threw the ball like 40 times a game. I'm just saying, like, these guys, if he was willing to be a backup, maybe he saw this as the only, he's like,

well, I can actually be a starter if I go here. But he didn't have another backup job. Joe Flacco, he played three games, like the first three games of last year. His pass attempts are comedic. 59, 44, 52. Nice. He managed to, and this may be a record, 3.4 fantasy points on 52 pass attempts. Wow.

Yeah. So you want to revise your statement, Jay? Three fumbles, two interceptions in the same game. Yeah, I guess. Add 10 points to his line right there. I'll bet Garrett Wilson was fine in that game. I'm curious now. What week was that?

That was week three. Okay, I'll check. Yeah, I mean, 285 passing yards and negative 10 on turnovers. Kenneth Walker, DNP. Cool. Seattle plays on Thursday again? Yep. Is that just permanent? Is that the Seattle rule? T. Higgins could play this week,

Mike. No. Zach Taylor says, I think so. No. The problem is you've got Jake Browning at quarterback. He won't. I don't know if you guys, Jeremy, I don't know if you remember the stat, but I quoted it on on sunday live from joe goodberry who's a uh bengals guy locked in on on twitter good follow and it was

t higgins has appeared i think the number was 68 of the possible snaps that he could have appeared in 66.66 any any change of opinion that we talked about Austin Eckler and the way this season has transpired and what ends up happening in free agency. T. Higgins is much younger. T. Higgins obviously has shown his potential on the football field. Don't get it, D. Is there a better chance he goes back to Cincinnati because of the way this season has gone?

I don't think so. The free agent market for wide receivers is the exact opposite of what it is for running backs. Teams are clamoring to get a wide receiver and there's not enough out there, so I think he probably gets a big bag from someone even if he sits out the rest of the season. Also as an update, week three, Garrett Wilson

last year with Joe Flacco. Yeah. Ten targets. Okay. Six for 60. Eh. I would take that for Cooper. That's what I was going to say. If Amari Cooper had six for 60, we'd be like, okay. The rib injury is concerning, though, because Cooper is a downfield guy. He's a jump and make a contested

catch guy. I'd be a little nervous if we don't hear... I guess probably pretty good odds it's PJ Walker this week. We'll keep an eye on it. We'll let you know. One more. Dallas Goddard will push on it. We'll let you know. One more. Dallas Goddard will push to play this weekend against the 49ers.

Don't push too hard on that arm. I won't be pushing to put him into my lineup. This is wild. Fractured forearm. Never went on IR. Possible to play this week. I think you have to take a wait and see approach. I mean, that's got to be a little fracture, right? A little fracture. If it's I mean, that's got to be a little fracture, right?

A little fracture. If it's a fracture, it's either healed or it's not, right? I mean, healed enough, maybe. And then you can wear a brace or something. What, a cast? Is it going to be under a full cast? That would be awesome. Just forearm-ing guys.. Just like when the guys

have the big ball over their hand. I don't know, man. I've never hurt my forearm like that. Not a doctor. No. So we'll ask doctor friends. That was today's News and Notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com

slash insurance. Welcome to the Waiver Wire waiver wire presented by Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. The Bears with Justin Fields and DJ Moore. The Bills with all of their weapons. The Giants, Saquon Barkley, the Raiders, Jacobs and Adams. The Ravens with Zay Flowers and Lamar Jackson and the Vikings. No, Justin Jefferson returned. No, Addison.

No, Madison. And and so we get to look and do the dance. I get it. You don't care about our fantasy teams. You should care at least a little bit. We help pay your bills. We do better than this. Do better. This is ridiculous. You should care about our a little bit. We help pay your bills. Do better than this. Do better.

This is ridiculous. You should care about our fantasy teams. Yeah. You should care because we are. You like those big checks that you get? Yeah. The oversized checks we write you. I feel like I've seen a lot of commercials of like.

Yes. AWS is running trillions of combinations to get the schedule perfect. It's like, I don't think you want to advertise that. There's been nonstop bad scheduling. Like, the bye weeks are a mess. The primetime games suck. Somebody snuck in a, like, screen pass only part of the algorithm. They need a couple more tries.

Bezos loaded up with teams with none of these players. So, look, we want to help you. We want to help you get those. This is a spot start situation. We are moving pretty much well past the stash and hope they develop situation. There is spot

start waiver pickups, and then there are insurance backs that you can add to your roster to protect yourself from injury. But when you look at spot start opportunities, the lowest rostered player anywhere near the top of our waiver rankings, which you can go to the website, thefantasyfootballers.com, we've got our waiver wire rankings every single week.

But by far the lowest rostered with the highest opportunity this week seems to be the Jeff Wilson jr situation in Miami he's the number one pickup to me and he's not a lock to be great because you could still have Devon Achan come back this week if Devon Achan comes back Jeff Wilson probably might not even be active he's on the bi-week or yeah he's on a bi-week you certainly can't play him even if he's active if DeFon Achan is. As of right now, though, Jeff Wilson's my number one waiver pickup of the week. People need running back starts. There are not other good options. I think there are two other options that you could pick up off the waiver wire and start this week. Jeff Wilson

against the Washington Manders. Got enough run last week. Looked good. Looked healthy. I think that he could have a very, very good fantasy week, and he's available most everywhere. Keaton Mitchell was 9 for 64 on the ground, two targets. He is on the buy.

Right. He can't be a spot start. He would be a player that you stash maybe someone drops him because they have to or maybe he's out there. He's 61% rostered and then you were going into next week and you've got Brian Robinson on buy

or James Conner on buy. We want to throw that on the radar because maybe you don't need a spot start this week. Maybe you're the one lucky human on the earth. If I don't need a spot start. Maybe you're the one lucky human on the earth. If I don't need Jeff, who, again, comes with a tremendous amount of risk, if I don't need that, I am picking up Keaton Mitchell. Not that I expect humongous things, but he's at least trending up. Since week nine, his snap count has gone up every single week,

up to 46% this past weekend in week 12. So he's the type of player that over the fancy playoffs, he could take over. It is in the range of outcomes. You can't guarantee it, but it's possible. So he, assuming you don't need to pick up Jeff and start him, I'm picking up Keaton Mitchell. The only other two players to me at running back that are pick-up-and-play spot starts would be Ezekiel Elliott and Samaj A. Pirine.

Both of these guys are backups on their respective team, but they are getting enough work, and they have looked good enough recently, and their matchups are not the worst. Now, I will say Zeke plays against the Chargers. The Chargers recently, their run defense has looked much improved the last couple of weeks, whereas Samaje is playing against the Houston Texans, who is a very decent matchup.

Which one of those two, if you're out there in a pinch, need a running back, and it's just Zeke or it's Samaje who are you picking up for me it would be Zeke for me as well I did like Samaje scored last week but he was down to what 27 percent of the snaps and he scored because Javante was currently missing the game well he I mean he came off the field because he had a neck injury yeah for that snap and then he came back in and so it Zeke neck injury for that snap. And then he came back in. And so Zeke is – I think Chuba, if he's somehow out there, would be in that same category for me. Oh, man, that's really tough.

I know he got a rushing touchdown, but I believe that on the course of the year, the Carolina Panthers have three total rushing touchdowns, including the two from last week. I'm just more interested in the receiving work. Yeah, 19 opportunities. To me, he has the odds of catching the same amount of passes as Pirine, but get more groundwork. Such a weird thing, too, with the change at head coach.

You just don't know, like, is Chuba going to be more involved, less involved? That's why he's worth the dart throw to me, just because it's tough, man. You start Samajay Pirine, I think your floor is lower with Pirine than it is with Hubbard. I agree. But obviously the Broncos, they're 6-5 now. Yeah, they're hot. And they're playing well.

I think they've won the most games in a row of anybody in the NFL right now. Well, they started one in five. They've won their last five games. Yeah. Probably Sean Payton is really exhaling with how this season has turned around. Including Buffalo and Kansas City. I mean, crazy.

They're second in the division then, right? Because the Chargers are below them and then the Raiders are below them. Right? I mean, that has to be the case so they're currently second in the division with it with a better with a better record than the buffalo bills the buffalo bills are in the 10th seed in the afc right now crazy what a world so would you drop damian pierce um for any of those guys? No. I don't think so.

I mean, I think he fits in the same category of spot start as those guys. I agree completely. Maybe. I'd drop Herbert, Khalil Herbert. Yeah, I'm okay doing that. I might drop Pierce for Keaton Mitchell, assuming I don't need Damian Pierce this week. No, I could see that. That's fair.

That makes sense. If you're not looking for a spot start, yes. 82% of snaps for Singletary last week. There's still a lot to watch because Pierce was just coming back from his ankle injury. Was that what it was? Yeah, it was. It was.

But before he got hurt, Singletary was already kind of starting to take the over-the-time share. So, again, that's a number that you have to pay attention to and watch, but it was still very positive for Singletary. Even though the output wasn't what you were hoping for, he was still getting the work. Before we move on to wide receivers, I do have a surprise question for you, and it's putting you on the spot.

I don't know if you'll have a name that just jumps out immediately, but I'll give you some time to think about it while I answer it myself. I've seen the question to say, you know, who's your best pick that you made this past year? And, you know, some players you believed in and you took higher in the draft and they worked out. But then I've seen

who's the worst pick you made? And for me... Oh, like in our actual drafts? Well, in our drafts or like yeah any draft that you've done like who is the worst pick and to me my answer was Damian Pierce like I bought into the way the preseason looked and you combine that with inefficiency at the top of the year with the o-line and then the injury like Damian Pierce is by far the worst pick that I've made. The one that has hurt me the most because I picked him everywhere was Cooper Cup. Cooper Cup was like, he was a player where I was at times in the offseason

willing to take him with the number one spot. I usually wouldn't, but it could be the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh pick. Sometimes he'd fall, and he's never getting past me around pick five in the offseason. I had him in so many best ball drafts and obviously a lot of it's been injury, but he's also had disappointing games out there. He's crushed me. Do you have a worse

pick candidate, Mike? Maybe maybe Waller just because of the way that it was great. Basically a lost season. Yeah, it was of the way that it was great. Basically a lost season. Yeah, it was pretty good, then it was terrible, but you kept playing him, and then it was trending up,

and then it got hurt. Yeah. It's a lost season for Waller. All right, quick break. Back with the Whiteouts. I'm not sure you needed us to say it, but there are some insurance backs. Elijah Mitchell, Dearness Johnson seems to be getting a lot of opportunity

behind ETN, Rico Dowdle for Tony Pollard, and then Zach Moss back into the workflow. I think before we move on to wide receivers, because we have some breaking news here. Okay. Uh, Colts running back, Jonathan Taylor. Fresh off. Uh, this is from Rappaport. He suffered an injured thumb that is requiring further evaluation and puts his status.

Is that why we didn't see a lot of him? Puts his status in doubt. Going forward. Oh, no. New number one wafer wire pickup of the week. Hold on. Deucer's alley cam, please. Deucer's alley camera.

Who's got his head in his hands? Is it one of the betrayers? Papa Josh. Is it one of the betrayers? Yes. All right. Splice this at the foot. Betrayer.

Number one pickup of the week. Zach Moss. I mean, it really is., splice this at the front. The betrayer. Number one pickup of the week, Zach Moss. Yeah, I mean, it really is. He's available in half the leagues. Shout out to Matthew Betts for tossing that breaking news into the equation. This was, wow. So it's funny. And that matchup is Tennessee this week. It's not great for running backs, but they've been a little bit looser on the ground.

I was just about to bring up conceptually, kind of like what Mike was talking about. If you had someone like Damian Pierce on your roster, and he is a bench player, would you drop Damian Pierce for someone like Elijah Mitchell, or I was going to bring up Zach Moss? These guys were – because I think if Devin Singletary went down I'm not convinced that Damian Pierce would be better than if Christian McCaffrey went down and Elijah Mitchell got the start I think it's a fair question yeah that that's that's definitely fair um yeah Mitchell would be better than Damian Pierce would be.

It feels weird at this point to drop a player who's getting work like Damian Pierce for someone that's just a backup, but it might be the right strategy at this point in the season. It would be the right strategy. The only situation where it's not is that Pierce is an emergency player. You can put it into your lineup. Mitchell isn't. Maybe Mitchell would still be that,

but I would be looking at my roster and saying, do I have two running backs and then Pierce? Or do I have like three or four running backs and then Pierce? And then it's a completely different equation. Correct. If I have at least one other running back pivot option, I think that's the right move. I think that's the smartest move.

That's the league winning move because Mitchell would win you the league. Yeah, but I agree with you. Don't assume you have depth just because he's the first guy in your business so we left the running backs well and the last because I just remembered it but there was um uh was it I think it was Vrabel someone from the Titans was saying we're still trying to figure out how to get Tajay Spears more involved who knows if that materializes but they're at least talking about it. Oh, that's a really weird statement after giving a guy

two carries. I agree. To me, he's off my list of pickups. Maybe that was the context of why did Spears plummet in work when he'd been doing well. The matchup this week is so good for Derrick Henry. Yeah, it is. I mean, it's the best running back matchup you can is so good for Derrick Henry. Yeah, it is.

I mean, it's the best running back matchup you can find pretty much. Right? On the course of the season, they're 26th. Yeah, but look over the last handful of weeks. I thought they were much worse than that. They're definitely a team to target, them being the Indianapolis Colts. So, yeah, so the breaking news ends up kind of usurping the running back segment entirely where, you know, Wilson, Mitchell, Zeke is a spot start.

But, like, Zach Moss is the number one pickup. And follow this news through the end of the day. I'll say that because if we find out that it's something he's going to manage, then Moss is not worth a huge fab drop. But this is why you save some of your fab moments like this because Zach Moss will dominate if he gets all the work. We've seen it already. Yeah, it's tried, true, delivered. Wide receiver pickups.

Until the PED pops. Until Zach Moss PED. Oh, you got to have an explanation for this. I got to have one last jab. There's gotta be some reason he's doing this, huh? In year. What is it?

Year four. Well, it's your system. It needs to get in the right system. I guess so. He's played so good. He's played so good. He's,

he's certainly made me eat crow. It's calm. It's comedic. It's crazy. Cause he sucked for three years and then was the best running back ever. All right. Wide receiver, waiver wire pickups. I'm going to let you guys segment this.

50% rostered or higher group, and then 50% rostered or lower group. So in the higher group, you had the breakout performance from Rashi Rice. First double-digit target game of his entire career you know cadareous tony gone nicole hardman ir it was huge for rashi rice and they got him involved eight for 107 and a touchdown what is your confidence level right now because obviously tony could return uh the ball gets distributed everywhere predictability has been a problem in that offense. Does this performance change your perspective at all?

It does a little bit because of the combination of Henry, Kadarius, Tony, and McCall Hardman being out. And then you saw MVS kind of used in a different way where he wasn't just the every down type of player. What was his snap count? 53%. Oh, beautiful.. What was his snap count? 53%. Oh, beautiful. MBS was down to 53?

You're figuring it out, Kansas City. Was he tired? 53%, yeah. Marquez Valdez-Sidham. Did you guys catch the – I think it was the all-22, you can see it, but the Rice touchdown? I have not seen the all 22 of it. MVS is

like 15 yards further down the field and wide open. Maybe Mahomes saw him. Maybe he didn't. But it was like... I know which player can catch this ball. So Rashi Rice is heavily rostered. Has Green Bay, Buffalo, New England.

Christian Watson had a good performance. 5 for 94 and a touchdown. It was against Detroit, which you can target Detroit's passing game. This week, a lot tougher. I mean, Christian Watson should be getting a lot of sneed this week, which is concerning. It leads me to almost prefer Jaden Reed, who is more widely available. He has also been very, very good. Jaden Reed has been, you know, Andy, you've said for about a month that you thought Jaden Reed was

the best wide receiver in that room. And I think they've got a really young, talented wide receiver room with Christian Watson and Dobbs and Reed and others. I mean, Wicks and Musgrave, if he was healthy. But you've got a stretch run here for Jaden Reed since the bye week in week six, where he's pretty much been a relevant fantasy player all but one week. I think if they were both there, I mean, it depends on what you're going for, the ceiling is higher on a Christian Watson ceiling game but I feel like the consistency is much more on Jaden Reed's side I might if both of those guys were out there I'd prioritize Reed because of the Sneed matchup for Watson or in general the Sneed matchup for Watson this week and in general I think he's just the more consistent player it's too bad we don't get a Sneed on Reed situation that is right you're could have a whole Dr. Seuss book about it.

Right. Brandon Cooks, I love targeting Brandon Cooks right now, the way this offense is cruising. Four for 72 and one. Like, there are, I mean, of all the players, I can put up 150 plus. You know, Brandon Cooks is in that category and 64% rostered. So those are kind of four names out of the 50% and above Beckham is also in that group of like,

you know, if the other guys are gone and Beckham's there, then you could look his way. But it's gone back and forth for Brandon cooks. He's had like a dud game than a big game than a dud game than a big game. But he, you know, since week six,

he's had four big, big games, double-digit fantasy points and half point scoring, one of them 27.8 points, big blow-up performance. We've talked about Dak's schedule the rest of the way. Well, that obviously goes to the wide receivers as well. So Brandon Cooks, to me, if he's out there, might be the best pickup of everyone mentioned. Yeah, I think that's how I ranked it or very close to that. I want to bring Curtis Samuel's name up. Under 50% rostered. He was hurt.

He got dropped by a lot of people. He does have a bye week coming up the week after this week. But 12 targets. Every time I was watching this game, I felt like he was catching a pass. I mean, it was nonstop. He was 9 for 100. If you're in a PPR league, especially. Full PPR certainly helps, but man alive, I just feel like we're at the point

where I need to know what I'm putting in my roster to the best of my knowledge. And if you tell me that Curtis Samuel gets 10 targets and Jahan Dotson gets one next week, or you tell me that Curtis Samuel gets 10 targets and Jahan Dotson gets one next week or you tell me Curtis Samuel gets one and Jahan Dotson gets 10 or it's a Logan Thomas game or or uh Gibson and Robinson end up with 12 combined targets like every week you know Sam Howell's throwing it a ton and against Miami he's going to throw it even more he's he's going to drop back 45 times. So Curtis Samuel is a fine play, but you just can't.

He's not really been the one omitted. I'm going to convince you. I'm going to convince you right now. I know how to do it. Because I'm going to read names that are in the under 50% category that you could choose to spot start instead of Curtis Samuel, and you're going to say no to all of them. Okay, Curtis Samuel

against Miami, or? Demario Douglas with the concussion. Curtis Samuel. and you're going to say no to all of them. Okay. Curtis Samuel against Miami or? Demario Douglas with the concussion. Curtis Samuel. Okay. Jalen Hyatt. Oh, he's on by. See, he told you. Justin Watson, who had three targets and was one for three and a touchdown. He did run a lot of routes

against Green Bay. I'm going to go and say that. Go do it. Curtis Samuel. A.T. Perry, Greg Dortch, Noah Brown, who's inactive. Don't know if he's coming back. workouts against green bay i'm gonna go ahead and say that go do it curtis hamill uh at perry greg dorch noah brown who's inactive don't know if he's coming back guyton give me another i mean lynn bowden stepping in i would say greg dorch might be worth considering the last two weeks eight targets nine targets both with Kyler. You need Michael Wilson out, though. Right, but Michael Wilson, he didn't even practice once last week after the re-aggravation.

So, I mean, it's too early to know for sure, but I presume he is going to continue to be out. Curtis Samuel, in games where he's had good snap counts, has been all right. I mean, I wouldn't go dorks, but maybe you could dork it. Yeah. I don't feel good about any of them. Hope Brandon cooks out there.

Yeah. I mean, it's really, it feels top heavy at the wide receiver position. Um, what did you make of the Deontay Johnson play? Cause I mean, he's in the drop candidates,

but by the way, Brooks, the fumble play. Yeah. Brooks finds that when I mentioned drop candidates, these are names straight from Twitter. These are names people are actually thinking about dropping. So hopefully you don't find it too outlandish because these are real names

people are considering. Deontay Johnson's on that list. Yeah, I'm talking about the fumble play where he basically, like, obviously the play didn't involve him. It was going to be a running play. He didn't engage the defender. Then a fumble happens. He didn't even care.

He got in a fight with Minkazpatrick in the locker room the i would have to watch it again but but my memory is he like i think he was so disengaged from the play he didn't even notice yeah no he didn't he was that's the indictment though yeah the indictment is it was a run play so he just stood there like the ball was snapped and he didn't move it was like i've never i mean you just don't see nfl players do that yeah it's it's a really bad he got paid he got like a little baby deal a mini extension yeah okay but okay but four for 50 i mean that's it that's not full sabotage of of a flex spot and the way that their offense was just so much better. And they're playing Arizona.

I would not drop Deontay. Yeah, if you said, do I have to start Curtis Samuel or Deontay Johnson, I would start Deontay Johnson for sure. The wide receiver, 39 on the season. Last four weeks, 75, 37, 41, 57. I needed to move on. Chris Godwin. I needed to move on Chris Godwin I needed to move on so long ago

I kept looking at the targets 7 targets 12 targets 7 targets last two weeks 7 targets 7 targets that should be good he's on pace for 80 receptions 936 yards and 1.5 touchdowns he was one foot from a touchdown

last week 6 fantasy points the. Last week, six fantasy points. The week before, 6.9 fantasy points. Not very nice. The week before, 7.4 fantasy points. The week before, 2.6 fantasy points. I mean, Chris Godwin has been a targeted, irrelevant player. It's crazy. I mean, he played.

So in his last, how many games this year? And these were good matchups for him. In his last 14 games, one touchdown. Yeah. I think I want to look elsewhere. T. Higgins, are you dropping Higgins? You're not getting Burrow back. You're dealing with injury.

I think you can. Yeah, I would drop T. Higgins. How would that feel, Mike? A great sense of relief. He's still on my roster, technically speaking, in the League of Record. And me and Kyle were running through some scenarios where we're like, well, if we do this, you realize we have to keep T. Higgins. Oh, in different scenarios of who you would be keeping?

Yeah, and Kyle's just like, no, no. And I'm like, well, hold hold on he's a free agent what if what if because this is in the world of free agents you get to play the game what if what if t higgins goes to the kansas city chiefs i've seen that name brought up a lot yeah it it legitimately could happen it should happen if you're the chiefs. Yes. And then what do you do if you've been experienced two full years of T. Higgins pain? I was going to say, your story with T. Higgins, the diary entries you must have. Dude, because I still believe he's a great player. He just is hurt all the time.

Yeah, and eventually the clock runs out on those guys. Yes. But, I mean, he's young enough to where i don't know you're going into next season like we did the dance with mcafree's injury history right and then we did the dance we're gonna do the dance with christian cooper cup next year because of the injury history and the situation at quarterback and t higgins is going to be in that discussion of like you bet and you either win or you really lose. I mean. It feels so much worse. I mean, one, he's been on my main roster for the past two and whatever years.

And I have caped for him so many times on this podcast. And he just makes me look the fool every time. You got to stop doing this to me. Come on. I'm on your side yeah we were we were working on building mike's ultimate uh roster this past weekend of like players that he's been fans of like aj dylan starting at running back for him sure for sure for sure clyde clyde edwards a lair yeah oh yeah he actually started at running back this past week. And almost had a touchdown. I thought he did have a touchdown. He had two attempts. When I saw the play, and I saw what I believe, I saw Clyde Edwards-Alaire get into the end zone.

I went, are you kidding me? Mike started him and he got a touchdown? Mike was screaming. He was screaming, crazy like a fox! Crazy like a fox! But instead it was a terrible one. What is going on with coaches refusing to review touchdowns this year? It is frustrating.

I feel like I've seen at least five where it's like, that's a clear touchdown. Now the Chiefs, they got theirs. Pacheco got right in. They took it away from Clyde. They gave Clyde another chance. He didn't do it. Another chance.

He didn't do it. Then Pacheco got right in. We've seen plays where they get in, but they run up. Oh, catch him off guard. Maybe we got it. And you clearly got in. If you would just take a moment and look at the review, you got in. And then they kick a field goal.

Or worse, they turn the ball over. You get two challenges per game, right? Yeah, or possibly three. And if you lost a timeout, you would have lost it in the first half. Right. Of a lot of these games. It's so bizarre. It feels egregious this year. One more drop candidate that's come up. Well, actually two more, but one more

that I want to discuss the kind of this season about. People were talking about the JSN catch which was an amazing catch. Sure. Obviously, there's challenges for JSN this year with Lockett and Metcalf and Geno. People were asking on Twitter, you know, is JSN about to be a league winner? No.

I was like, no, not this year. But are you willing to drop him? I mean, I'm willing if there's certain players. Yeah, if you need a start. Right now, he's going up against Dallas this week, which is as bad as it gets, and then San Francisco the next week. Both of those are on the road. He literally just is coming off of a game against San Francisco where they were at home and they put up 13 total points.

He scored five fantasy points, so you're not starting him for the next two weeks. If he's a league winner, you're talking about only in fantasy playoffs when you're going to start him without ever having him had a breakout game. Cooper Cupp. You don't drop Cooper Cupp. That's silly. Do you play him is the question. Which we will get to later this week.

Yeah, we'll get to it later. Why decide now? Yeah, yeah. Oh, man. Push that pain get to later this week. Yeah, we'll get to it later. Why decide now? Oh man. Push that pain to the sides, Cleveland. Is Denzel Ward going to be back? I don't know. I think so. It seemed the way that they were talking about him, he would be.

Alright, tight end, waiver wire pickups. Pat Frymuth takes the cake this week. Seeing the integration into the offense, the throws to the middle of the field. Pat Frymuth of the Steelers, 9-for-120 last week. 48% roster. You got to go get him. You got to go get him.

He was out in the middle of the field. He was actually, the utilization and how they used him lined up in the slot was very, very different than during the Matt Canada era. So this is a schematic change that is really great for Pat Fryermuth. He plays Arizona this week. Arizona started the year pretty solid against tight ends. They've kind of given it up a little bit. I mean, Tyler Higbee just got two touchdowns against them this last week. So he's the clear number one tight end pickup. He might

be the number one pickup across all positions. If he's out there, which he's out there in more than half of leagues, according to Yahoo data, this is a must pickup. And I am, especially like if maybe you have to burn a priority or whatever to get a spot start I'm picking up the Muth I don't know that the Muth is going to you know continue to be great but he is he we know he's a good player and if the scheme is built for him he will succeed but I'm picking up the Muth to block like I don't want anyone else in my league who needs a tight who needs a tight end to get the Muth so I will put him on the back of my bench block. I don't want anyone else in my league who needs a tight end to get the mute. So I will put him on the back of my bench and say,

you don't get to play him. Yeah. I was really sad to see my opponent this week had the mute on his bench. I was like, Oh, dang. Well, the reason why you pick up the block is because there aren't guarantees

elsewhere. They're correct. Everyone else you pick up, you're playing roulette, and people are going to chase Tyler Higby's two touchdowns. That's dumb. Yeah. That's dumb because now you're chasing. Now you're saying, Tyler Higby, have two consecutive good games.

The odds of that are not very good. Certainly not against Cleveland. Gerald Everett, I mean, he splits time, and he got into the end zone, but that was a grotesque game to watch. I mean, Kate Otten, at least he plays 100% of snaps. That's my Kate Otten argument. We brought his name up earlier, Mike did, but Juwan Johnson would be the second-best tight end pickup to me, so long as you're looking for a start,

because Isaiah Likely might still be better, but Isaiah Likely's on by. Juwan Johnson, we brought up. There's no one to throw the ball to. He saw 20% of the targets. Yeah, seven targets this last week. I know he was banged up a little bit, but I believe he's good to go health-wise. And if he's good to go and no other wide receivers are, he will get utilized a lot. I mean, any kind of PPR leagues, he should have five receptions and if you're

telling me i can bank on my tight end having five receptions that's good enough for me off the waiver wire okay anybody else want to talk about a tight end uh i mean the the last like the deepest of the deepest of deep leagues is tucker craft deepest of the deepest of the deep i just want to make sure like i'm not Jules Verne wrote about him. Yes, he did. There's monsters and giant squids. But Tucker Kraft, he caught a touchdown for the Packers. And the latest we have heard on Musgrave is that he's probably done for the season.

Defensive questions. There are a bunch of names. You know, you're trying to plan ahead a little bit. If your roster can support it, it's hard to do that. In a week when you have six buys, it's hard to hold multiple defenses when you would like to, including, like, the Baltimore defense is a great defense, but they are...

I'll probably still hold them. Yeah, I'll hold the Ravens. They are on buy. Yep. You don't. I would not touch them for two-thirds of the fantasy playoffs. Two-thirds? Yes.

Because I would not play them against San Francisco, and I would not play them against Miami. Okay. Because Miami is too explosive, too much danger. Like, I feel like I can find a mediocre defense playing a garbage Carolina, garbage Jets, garbage Giants. I think you'll have time before you get there. But as of right now, I wouldn't be scared to play the Ravens against Tua.

Yeah, I wouldn't either. That's interesting. That's a different take than what I would have expected. Yeah, I mean, Tua, the Dolphins have given up more fantasy points to opposing defenses than their average. So even though they're an explosive offense, they've turned the ball over enough or taken enough sacks where for fantasy it's been okay. Is that game in Miami or is it in Baltimore? I believe that's in Baltimore.

That makes a huge difference in Baltimore. The Bills defense, which is one that's going on by punt them off a bridge. Yeah, that's in Baltimore. That makes a huge difference in Baltimore. The Bills defense, which is one that's going on by punt them off a bridge because they're on by then they come back against Kansas City. You're not going to play them. Then they play against Dallas. No, thank you. Then they play against the Chargers. Probably not. And the Bills defense hasn't

you know, it's been wrecked with injuries so they shouldn't be rostered anymore. Yeah, it's Baltimore's defense is the number two defense in the league yeah they've been great so um all right uh options for this week who are your top options uh options the the top options are usually you know you you want to play them you want to play the matchups so uh the jacksville jaguars are going up against Browning at home. The Cincinnati Bengals and the Jaguars

have been a good defense. So like the Falcons and the Buccaneers are also good pickups. Can they cover the tip pass? As long as they can shut that down then they're going to be great. Yeah. So you know the way that I sort mine I've got Jacksonville number one against Cincinnati

at home and then number two I've got Jacksonville number one against Cincinnati at home. And then number two, I've got the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because I think they are a decent defense. They're playing against Bryce Young and a coachless team in Carolina at home. And then the Falcons play the Jets. You play Boyle. You want to play against Boyle.

And the Falcons are widely available. They're available in 90% of leagues. So there should be some bidding on them if those other guys aren't available. Mike, any other thoughts? I will just add in that the Jaguars, they play. It's on the road the following week, but they get Cleveland. So it's either one of those three quarterbacks that we've talked about for the Browns, and none of them should be scary. One other defense I'll throw out there,

the Chargers have been much better on defense recently. I think they've cured some of their ails, and they're playing against New England. And so far, New England has loved throwing the ball to the other team. Did we mention the Rams yet? No. Okay, so Rams play Cleveland this week. Again, even if it's Flacco's first start,

I would be happy to play the Rams against them. Baltimore, you're going to want to dodge that. But then you get Washington at home. That's the first week of the playoffs. Of the playoffs. The second week, you get the Saints at home. And then you get Tommy DeVito on the road. So the Rams, aside from week 14, have a pretty solid run coming up.

That Saints defense playing the Panthers, playing the Giants, being under 50% rostered is delightful as well for upcoming matchups. Yeah, a lot of good options. Today's Waver Wire was brought to you by call of duty. Modern warfare three face off against the ultimate threat in single player subtle old scores on 16 iconic maps and multiplayer and survive the hordes in a co-op open world zombie experience. Call of duty.

Modern warfare three available now rated M for mature full stream ahead. Modern Warfare 3, available now, rated M for Mature. Full stream ahead. Well, you guys have two streaming quarterback options I like a lot more than my risky options, so I'm going to let you go first. Well, then Mike should go first because this is who I wanted to put in, but you got to the dock first. I will jump in. The Broncos defense has been playing much better. The offense has been good enough to win the games.

But now we get to play Houston, and it's Russell Wilson, Texans. They rank as 29th in schedule-adjusted points to the quarterback. Houston allows the third-highest completion rate in the NFL, and we're looking at a 46.5 point over-under. That's tied for the second-highest of the week right now. I think that if you're in a pinch, which there's a lot of people in a pinch this week, Russ should be a solid play. I'm going to go with Baker Mayfield.

Baker Mayfield this week plays at home against the Carolina Panthers maybe they'll be all juiced up from their coach being fired but this is actually not one of those situations where like with the Raiders I don't think anyone on the team liked their coach and they were like celebrating that he was gone this was like everyone loved Frank Reich they're sad that he's gone this doesn't seem like a motivational push forward this seems like a dysfunctional team uh that is you know going to give the number one pick to the Chicago Bears but Baker's been pretty good man he's got four of his last six starts are actually top 12 quarterback finishes and I don't know if you remember. Oh, I do. Yeah, you do. Because champ, champ, champ. Mike Evans went off last time he played Carolina for three touchdowns in week 17 last year.

Won people championships. And Mike Evans is Baker's number one guy. He's his favorite guy. Mike Evans has been so good. He is. Also, Mike Evans started the week oh is he? Mike Evans has been a lock

all season long and it's crazy because I saw this and I wish I could give credit because I don't remember what I saw it on a reel or something but like if you look at the numbers between Mike Evans and Devontae Adams over the last handful of years they're basically identical

and everybody looks at Devontae Adams over the last handful of years, they're basically identical. And everybody looks at Devontae Adams as this, you know, as one of the top five, top three talents at the wide receiver position. And here Mike Evans is putting up the same numbers. Darn right he is. Every single year. And, like, cumulatively. Cumulatively.

Cumulatively. He's doing it cumulonimbusly. He's been doing the same stuff. By the way, I formally withdraw my full stream of head candidate. Oh, no. We're leaving it at two. Look, the name was Gardner Minshew because of the matchup. Gardner Minshew is not going to be good enough. He's not.

He's not going to be good enough. He hasn't had a two-touchdown game in the last three starts. Look, the matchup's nice against Tennessee, but he is as risky as – super deep leagues. If Baker and Russ are not there, you can put Gardner in. You can pray. Would you go Gardner or would you go the resurging Kenny Pickett against the Arizona Cardinals?

Pickett. Yeah, that's why I'm withdrawing. I'll switch it. I'll switch it to Pickett. All right. A Pickett switch. Live on the show. That is it.

That is it for the streaming quarterback candidates. We've got Hungry for More, Thursday night preview in Mailbag tomorrow. Starts of the week, matchup previews coming on Thursday and more matchups in the Fantasy Faceoff. And Mike's spinning that delightful wheel again on Friday.

Shout out to the Ducers over there in Ducers Alley. Thank you very much for taking care of business today. Al Borland, Judge Giamatti, Papa Josh, and his Jonathan Taylor shares. 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.