Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Week 16 Studs & Duds + Mike's Blood Sacrifices - Fantasy Football Podcast for 12/22

Episode Date: December 22, 2025

Fantasy Football show for Dec 22, 2025. Week 16 fantasy football playoff recap! Reactions to the devastating duds, and the studs that helped carry managers to the Championship! Plus, NFL News, injury updates, and Monday Punday. Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast.(00:00) Intro(07:15) Monday Punday(09:40) NFL News(20:40) Fantasy Studmuffins(20:50) QB Studs(28:05) RB Studs(34:00) WR Studs(40:15) TE Studs(43:05) Fantasy Duds(43:30) QB Duds(48:20) RB Duds(53:20) WR Duds(56:05) TE DudsConnect with the show:Subscribe on YouTubeVisit us on the WebSupport the ShowFollow on XFollow on InstagramJoin our Discord Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the fantasy footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. The Fantasy Footballers podcast. If you're watching on YouTube, we're focused on one camera right now. And it is the camera of a man who is dead. Well, I have no soul. It was taken from me by Mike Wright. The fantasy hitman, they call it. So did he end up winning?

It's not over yet. Let me check in on what I need. I've got Jonathan Taylor. Yeah. That is pretty cool. And my team did fairly well. You know, it's, you know, they showed up. Obviously, Josh Jacobs.

That sucked. Got five points there. But I just need doing some quick math here. Jonathan Taylor needs to outscore Christian McCaffrey and George kiddle by 60. So Mike went new. I mean, Mike just like he whipped me like a rented mule.

And he took some anger out. Yeah, your day went from because you talk a lot of pessimism all the time. It's a coping mechanism. I'm sure your doctors have talked to you about that. Yeah, many times. And so you had been like last week, you thought you're going to lose last week and then you won last week. And then this week, you said you were going to lose to Mike.

In your heart. Oh, in my heart. In your heart, you thought, what if I win a championship? Well, in the beginning of the day, things were going well for both of us. Dak was a little better than Burrow to start the day. Yeah, Dak got off to a good start. Burrow got off to a good start. This is going to be a fight.

And then everything changed, I think, when Chase Brown. Like Jake Paul. Oh, you did. You broke your jaw in two places. Yeah. Yeah, you, the Chase Brown stack with Burrow twice right in your face. Here's the truth. Jason went home.

about right then here's here's the truth Mike had the most magical weekend humanly possible it really was I don't know what happened yeah Mike yeah Mike is in almost every championship that matters to us there's a couple the listener league right now you you've got a little bit of the magic of the listener league it didn't completely come through no because you had a concussion of trade I should have easily won again Currently, we are the top two projected totals. So, I mean, that's how it's got to go. We have another league where it was like my one saving grace.

That'll be the title game I'm easily in. I have Puka, James Cook, Devon A-chan. I stopped checking on that league. Mike stopped checking on it. And then all of a sudden we see Jalen Warren go for a 45-year touchdown. And I think to myself, I think I'm playing Warren someplace. And I go and look and it's against Mike, but I'm like, whatever. I'm still pretty.

At one point in the middle of the morning, I'm projected to win by 70. 65 points and then I was like oh my gosh Jalen Warren and then he did it again yeah Jalen Warren was

pretty good pick I mean the way Jason feels isn't even as bad as the way Al Borland feels because I'm going to the deusers alley right now oh man Al Borland is wearing

and let me be clear Alboran is the biggest Packer fan on the planet we had a Christmas party on Saturday night he had a bet apparently I learned five minutes ago he had a bet with Jake

the biggest Bears fan on the planet. And while the bears came back in a miraculous fashion, I, at one point after the ending of the game, I glanced outside my backyard and saw a grown man throwing his cheesehead into my pool umbrella. That man was Al Borland, who is now wearing a Brian Arlacker jersey, I believe, with Jay Gris back behind him. And you got a bear's mug. How are you feeling, Jeremy? What's you doing? It's not my best day. The Bears. There it is. There it is. He's got some contractual obligations this morning. So it's a man of honor. It makes me feel happy. It's because suffering around you. Misery loves company. I am miserable and it makes me very happy, Jeremy, to see you be miserable. How does that make you feel? Slightly better. Dabairs. There it is. So there is pain, all of our good fortune absorbed by Mike, who is living a good life right now. And we are here to reflect on a semi-final weekend that still has one game left.

Still have Philip Rivers on a Monday night football evening where John Jennings and Christian McCaffrey and Brock Purdy and George Kittle have relevance tonight and Jonathan Taylor. So we will get into it. We have your reactions from the weekend. some stuff went really, really sideways. I mean, there were a handful of players that from out of nowhere, oh, by the way, the team that Mike's going to beat me with with Jalen Warren, he also started Quentin Johnston from injury to 19 points. It's the Cowboys.

Yeah, I get it. I get it. But he was so, like, not even going to be active. And then he was, I just can't take it. But we had some players like Trame McBride that everybody counted on that didn't have big weeks. We had Jacobi Brissette, right? The matchup was so perfect, and he's under 15 fantasy points.

So there were some disappointments for sure. We'll reflect on all of that today. Don't forget we're here all year round. After the season, the footie awards, the Truth Series will be into the draft and free agency. It all happened so fast. So you can stay with us.

YouTube.com slash the fantasy footballers. That is the best way to view dead. man in a bear's jersey in Ducers Alley, YouTube.com slash the fantasy footballers. He is a dead man in a bear's jersey who is also in our dynasty finals. Oh, I'm sure he's very happy about that, but I

feel like his skin is crawling to have that jersey on. What if that was sent to his... What do you got to say about that, Ter? I feel like such a traitor. The Bears. So, there you go. So, like, every

time we talk to him, he has to, He has to throw it de bears in there. Interesting. Did you have fun at the Christmas party? Oh, good question. Yeah, we kicked some butt at Cornhole. We did. Duh, bears. I don't think he's going to get a hold.

He's an honorable man. I'll give him that. We sent the call out on the Twitter sphere for your Monday Punday reactions. Strong feelings on a semi-final weekend. So let's start with the good. Like tremendous Lawrence. Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

goes who? Pooka Nucum. Basooka Nuka. James Cooked. And truly Kenneth Greatwell. Yes. Jared Go-off? Yes, it's a... Jared, go-off.

It's a tough one. Go off. Jason got to butcher. He's trying to make it more like golf. Yeah, but you ruined the pun. Jalen's scoring. Chase Crown and Trace Brown. Yes. Three touchdowns.

Smashed and genty. Holy crap, Ashton Tachian. Ashton of plenty. And Jason, yeah. Chris OLAV. Hey. Hey. Hey. All those Olave touchdowns, I knew how happy.

Worthless. You would have been if they had mattered. We had some bad like Amunrah stained brown. What? Oh, and runaway McBride. Oh. Trey McHide. Yeah.

Trey McHide. And we got the combo. Jackson Fart. Josh Fakubs. fake London Colby Fartkinson Yeah, that'll work Oh man

Oh, this will cost me a league Rico doubt it Yeah This didn't help me Audrick Overestimate No That's a good one

An DKO Metcaffe What? I don't know why It's DKO But yeah But what is the McAfee I was tracking the whole time

And then I think the Y must have gotten thrown in by somebody there. Do you want to try it again? D.K.O. That's great. Well, there you go.

Freaking D.K. Metcalf. That guy. Well, I mean, I'm going to. More interested in punching fans than playing football. Yeah, I don't know. I'm going to try not to overdo it on Metcalf, not knowing what exactly happened or what exactly was said. Because I think reports, some reports this morning came out and said

There were racial slur. Oh, yes. I assumed it was about, like, the worst of the worst. Not that you should punch him. Yeah. And it's the, I mean, the whole situation is unfortunate. But also it was his fancy points. Yeah.

Yeah, that was, that was intense. We had a lot going on this weekend. Let's talk some news. News and notes from around the league. Presented by Progressive Insurance. All righty. The league is looking at that situation. Monday night football updates.

We have no Ricky Pearsall. I heard on the Metcalf thing that someone would, one of the reporters was covering and saying the precedent is more than likely a fine. Really? Yes. Wow. Is it because he didn't make direct contact? Yeah, but I don't know.

He kind of whiffed. This is what they said that the precedent, like, of course, it could be. upgraded to this might have been pro football talk i can't remember who was saying it but it could of course could be upgraded to a game but i would assume a suspension hitting a fan is like that that's that that's where you've got to set a precedent for the future of like it doesn't matter what's said it doesn't matter if they throw a cup on you yeah you you can't do that yeah i mean it's just brutal like if the fan hits in it's like that fan is banned for life yeah i would i'd be i'd be shocked if it's just a fine we'll see what happens

Sean McVeigh said Devante Adams is not expected to play this week. I thought he was maybe going to play last week. Lies. McVeigh is one of the biggest liar coaches. We forgive him because he prints fantasy points. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's fine, but you cannot take him

at his word. It's really unbecoming. Sean McVeigh. Yeah. Tell the truth. Super Bowl champion liar. That doesn't sound too bad. Quinn John Judkin suffered an ankle fracture and a dislocation, very similar to Scataboo. bad one one of those where they don't show the replay and you're sad that you saw it live

yeah jordan mason left with an injury didn't return erin jones not to be outdone left with an ankle injury did return that one watch this that one was a big bummer of both guys were in a great spot and then both guys were just banged up yeah and then jang jim McCarthy went out with another injury x-rays negative he'll have an MRI on the hand it might be max brosmer next week it's weird that the x-rays were negative to me just because he was ruled out so quick it was like hey he's going to the locker room ruled out the rest of the game it's like he went and got x-rays and then they're like it's negative he can't play that's one of the Christmas uh Christmas Day games yeah it's it I mean he's got a got some tendons or something ripped up in there um

Lamar Jackson exited late in the second quarter with a back injury and um I I'm not going to say Mike was facing the Lamar Jackson manager with a negative projection, and then he totally just pulled that out of his butt. I don't know what you- But that's what happened. I don't know what you sacrificed, Mike. Yeah, do you still have all three of your- Are all your three personal problems still?

Okay. One of them's around. But-oh, gosh, you had to sacrifice two? He's two championships, guys. Okay. One per. Rules or rules. I mean, yes.

the Lamar left and the Ravens are ready to leave the playoffs because let me just stress this again, Josh Allen, go win your championship right now. Because no Lamar, no Mahomes is the most likely outcome. I mean, the fact that right now it seems highly likely that the Ravens, the Chiefs, and the lions don't not make the Super Bowl. They're not in the playoffs. Those would have been the three highest, like, preseason, maybe I had the bills in there. Those four teams were probably the highest picked teams to, like, who's your favorite Super Bowl winner?

And three of those teams aren't in the playoffs. Now, the Lions and Ravens, I think, have slim, slim chances if everything went right and they went out and the right teams lose. But they're probably all missing the playoffs. Right now, the AFC is a Broncos, Patriots, Jaguars, Steelers, Chargers, Bills, Texans, playoffs. Josh, you got to get it done, man. This is either, I mean, if you just look at it, and this is what will make it exciting, right? Like, you're either going to have Josh Allen accomplish the dream and the goal, or you're going to have a monumental moment for either Bo Nix, Drake, May, or Trevor Lawrence, right?

You've got three young quarterbacks that haven't had those, or Justin Herbert, right? Or Aaron Rogers does something that we don't like. Oh, my goodness gracious. I mean, at least it's a storyline. This is why the NFL is so much better than every league is because, I don't know, there's so much can happen with injuries, so much can happen with the, yeah, Detroit 8% chance to make it Baltimore, 11% chance. Well, and real quick, just on the Baltimore game, as Underdog tweeted it out.

Derek Henry had zero touches after putting the Ravens up 24 to 13 with with 13 minutes left in the game like it's inexcusable and I watched Harbaugh talk about it afterwards and he said in hindsight he wishes he had Henry there which is the thing that is frustrating about that is it's you're the coach but it isn't hindsight yes it's not hindsight everyone watching it live was like what the heck. The commentators literally Collinsworth was like I think the other team's got to be sending a Christmas card to not have Derek Henry on the field and the excuse from Harbaugh was well they were they were rotating and he was

supposed to come back in on that drive but the drive stopped. Why do you think the drive stopped? Why are you rotating? Why do you think the drive did not continue going it was because Derek Henry wasn't on the field? You dummies? And this is not

this is what I promise this is not fantasy football related I got the points I needed from Henry and I'm sure most did there's probably some teams that are real frustrated they fell a little short but like football what are you, like Derek Henry

is destroying the Patriots he's getting five yards of carry every play was just easy for him so insane man and then you do two plays well it's not like their entire season was on the line right? No I know and then it's like

as soon as you do a not Derek Kenry. It's like, oh, shoot, our drive is over. That's what they call it. They got a play sheet and there's a side. This is Derek Kennedy. And then they have the not Derek Henry side. I mean, let's give it to Keaton Mitchell twice on this really important fourth quarter drive. I mean, just. They won't see it coming. I mean, he should

have come out and said, yeah, he twisted his ankle. As soon as Lamar left the game, it was Derek Henry's going to get 30 more touches. And they're like, no, that would be too easy. Well, I mean, 24 to 13. We're going to big part of tomorrow's show on waivers is going to be talking about teams with playoff motivations that's still, you know,

this is the time of year, playoff motivation, and then the contract incentives for veterans and big time players. Right. Yeah, I mean, you're going to see like the Lions, right? I mean, they're still kind of playing. Yeah, Baltimore too. But it's, we saw it with the Chiefs this last week. Yes, we did.

Back on track with the almost upsets. When those great, goodness. When those really great teams, not the average franchise, but the ones that aren't used to being are out, it's different for them. Did you see that? So Detroit, the only way Detroit makes the playoffs is if they win their final two games and Green Bay loses their final two games. Well, speaking of that happened. Speaking of Green Bay.

If that happened, how mad would you be, Al? Pretty mad. Duh, bears. Thank you. Jordan, if you missed it, Jordan Love was knocked out with a concussion. And apparently Malik Willis, who is the backup quarterback for Green Bay, is pretty sore. from a right shoulder injury suffered in the loss. Oh, who's playing quarterback for Green Bay this week?

And you got the same situation with the Chiefs. Gardner Minshu. Yeah, insane. That's insane. It looks like a torn ACL. I don't think it's confirmed, but that is the fear, which means that's what it's probably going to be. Do you guys want to yell some more?

Brian knocked out with a car crash. I mean, he got hit so hard. Concussion, neck injury, went to the hospital, was discharged. What are you doing? Sean Payton, Bo Nix, your team is down 14 points with how much time

was it left? Andy, do you remember it was like a minute? No, it was 30 seconds and they had 90 yards to go down 14. 30 seconds. Yeah, right around that. And you throw Pat Bryant a crosser hospital ball and he literally ends up in the hospital for nothing. For nothing.

Now Pat Bryant just on his career. now has this massive concussion for literally nothing. Freaking morons. Goodness gracious, man. Yeah, this thing where like we try to lose by less is an insult to all the players involved because they... It's not week two. It's not week three where you're like, okay, hey, hey, let's get some stuff going.

The game is over. Your team is positioning for a playoff run. You know who else could have been hurt on that play as a number one seat? Bo Nix could have been hurt on that play. I mean, it's just, R.J. Harvey could have been hurt on that play. So idiot. Your offensive linemen, it's so. Need out.

And guess what? After the injury, what did they do? They need it out. Well, I mean, they threw a flat and then nobody tried to do anything. It's okay. The fans understand there is a minute left and you're down by two touchdowns. It's impossible. Yeah, it was embarrassing.

Just knee it out. Josh Allen was evaluated for a foot injury. I believe this was the second lowest fantasy production by Josh Allen in his entire career. So you talk about like, if you went into your semi-final with Josh Allen, Tray McBride, you felt so good. And this is fantasy football. You did everything you could do. It won't feel any better today, but you didn't make a mistake.

You just. You need some fortune and luck in the place. Yeah, you lost the luck there. That was news and notes sponsored by Progressive Insurance. Quote today at progressive.com, progressive casualty insurance company affiliates and third-party insurers, is not available in all states or situations. Coverage subject policy terms, limits, and conditions will take a break, and we'll hit the studs. This is funny before I get into the studs.

I believe that Al Borland technically told one of our, told Brooks not to play Josh and to bench him. What great advice. Incredible foresay. What exactly made you so convicted about that, Al? I'm playing against Brooks. this week. Oh.

Oh, yeah. Anything else to say? That bears. Thank you. Yeah, you did win. So, congrats on that one. Let's talk studs. This week's fantasy stud muffins.

Presented by Lowe's. True contenders? Goodness. Yeah, for sure. Trevor Lawrence. Number one. What? And I watched, Mike and I were watching this game.

What happened? I think we were all watching this game. Every plus. was decisive by Trevor Lawrence. That's the word that I would use the most. Decisive, but also accurate, good decision-making, escapability in the pocket.

This is the best defense in football, one of the best defenses. You put up a number one fantasy production week. You win by two scores on the road in Denver. There's nothing more definitive than what Trevor Lawrence did this week with this team. And they made the commitment to Jacoby Myers. he has a big role on this team.

Britt and Strange was great. Mike's start of the week. And, you know, I don't know. I just so impressed. Trevor Lawrence, we were kind of like quietly mentioning, you know, when the stretch of good runs were going on. You're like, are you guys watching Lawrence?

Like things, somehow, what are we in year, what, five? We're in year five, over halfway through year five. And all of a sudden, you're like, something has. clicked. Trevor Lawrence and this Jags team just, they look fantastic. He's the quarterback four. Yeah, hopefully it's Liam Cole. Before the by week,

Trevor Lawrence had appeared in the top 12 for fantasy quarterbacks one time. Through seven games, he was just hot garbage for fantasy. Ran some updates on the software. Well, that's the hope. I see that byweek split for him. And you look at, this is the first year with Liam Cohen, the system figuring it out.

and that by week, he came out. He was 59% accuracy. He was 59% accuracy going into the by week, first half of the year. He's been up in the mid-60s most weeks since then. The yardage hasn't changed, but his quality of passes has really gone up. He was on pace for 21 touchdowns prior to the buy week. He's on pace for 34 after the buy week. So to me, it's just like the system is clicking. It's so, I mean, it really is a testament to that head coach.

It is. Matthew Stafford, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, Jared Gough. Those are the rest of the top five scores of the week. You know, Mike, you said in one league you had the Burrow Gough decision to be made. Yeah. It would have been a two and a half point decision for you. Yeah. It wasn't looking that way for Jared Gough.

the golf performance was very much I'm still pretty shocked and Jared Goff was one OPI from another touchdown What in the world was that last play What in the world was that entire last minute of that game It was drunk Yeah I mean the games

The game ended five times They're like nope there's a penalty I still just don't even under I honestly maybe you guys can explain it The way the guy called it The way he announced it Oh man Which somebody summarizes basically like

Rick rolled them You start with like, hey, there is a touchdown on the field, but also screw you, no touchdown. That was the announcement. I love this. He's like, the ruling on the field was a touchdown. And the crowd goes crazy. But there was a penalty. You know, the final sentence was there was no touchdown.

You started with there's a touchdown and you ended with there is no touchdown. There's probably protocol. Gotta go. Where the way that the refs have to say. the you know say what happened during the play not on that one not that all goes away and you just say those were inside thoughts you say there was a penalty on the offense the game is over it doesn't doctor from arrested development like that's it's like he looks like he's not going to make it oh my gosh no he just looks like he's sleepy oh my god he's he's all left oh is that the

reveries getting out of town yeah so look that game was crazy and it was super consequential as well. Justin Herbert had a great day against Dallas. We can't be too surprised about that. The Dallas Cowboys allowing the most fancy points per game to quarterbacks of the last five years. Just kidding. All time. We thank you for

your service. Yeah, they have been, they're the real MVP. You want a footy for best performance of the year? Yeah, yeah. In fantasy, it's Dallas defense. Yeah, they should be up there. I want them in contention for a vote. I wouldn't mind sending all those guys an award. It's the only one they'll get this year. Joe Burrow.

Do we have any health update on Marcus Marriota yet? Because, oh, I'm sorry. Mariotta. There you go. Yeah. Marietto. We now have like three. I know. I was going back to blowing around.

I was going back to the draft there. He did you play the Cowboys next week? Yes, he does. I see. I see. Now I understand. I thought that was just you breaking in for one of your teams in the middle of Stugs for no reason. No, no. No, it was the Cowboys. Joe Burrow got it done and then has EraZona. got it done and Mike was fine because he like in our league where our our scoring you can you usually win when you hit 130 that's like a high score um I I think I was projected about

130 got near there Mike is currently projected for 190 so it was um it did nothing mattered you but Joe Burrow didn't play with like a whole quarter of the entire fourth quarter it was It was unbelievable. He did all this damage. It's unfair that he's like not the quarterback one on the week. He was a point or two off. He would have had probably six touch. He was the best quarterback of the week.

If Miami, if guys, uh, Quinn, you were. Oh, it didn't work out. No. I mean, it worked out for. We were to write his name in the duds if anybody had started him. It worked. And if his name didn't already sound. Ew.

It, I mean, it worked out for McDaniel of the report. coming out that morning saying most likely scenario was Tua's gone. Coach McDaniel will keep his job. They lose. They get a little bit of a better draft pick. It worked out for them. Drake May finished the job last night. MVP votes heading that direction.

Man. Do you need to thank Todd Monkin? Yeah. I'm watching this game halfway through. You're like, what happens to Drake May's MVP votes? If you lose to Tyler Huntley, As you should have, what, like, can you possibly give that man an MVP? It's funny, too, because I saw a lot of the next highest score, Caleb Williams.

Both Drake May and Caleb Williams did a lot of their damage really late in that game. Both of those teams were, like, should have lost to the other team's backup quarterback. Yeah. But Malik Willis, like, that game was over. They needed an onside kick recovery. How many have even converted this year? usually like five percent i think it's like the third one or something so yeah both of those were were pretty crazy where they should have lost the backup quarterbacks but they both came back

in crazy fashion well here here was um oh my gosh i mean ashton jinty was the number one yeah i'm sorry everybody on the week number one oh my goodness against houston 24 for one 28 and one one through the air i don't yeah you were cringing when this happened that's yeah i like i I apologize. I fall on that sort. If I had Ashton, Genty, I would have never played him. Three weeks against tough opponents as well, nine, four, and six. Andy, we were going through the scenario of Christian McCaffrey. Because the league where we're facing off, I have McCaffrey and I needed like 14 points.

And I'm like, dude, that game's not over yet. There's, you know, and you said, Christian McCaffrey has not hit that threshold once. it was against Houston Christian McCaffrey single digits who is scoring a bagillion points every week against Houston even he couldn't get it done

and then Ashton Genty goes out and has goodness gracious I think some of our starts the decisions during the week where we did bring up sometimes you're just choosing talent versus like if you're sitting

I would not have done it Genty and Chris Rodriguez you're going to sometimes make the call that just who can who's got the special stuff yeah i just wasn't i didn't believe that ashen gentie had the special stuff to get it done this week chase brown three touchdowns now the rb 13 on the year jason kind of shook his head because it

felt fresh again it did it did it was not fun playing i thought i was playing the burrow chase stack yeah which i was and and then samar jane p rind had a rushing touchdown but yeah i know it's but it was really not the jemar chase joe burrow stack i was playing it was the chase brough Joe Burroughs stack with the multi-touchdowns. As, you know, the very famous quarterback running back stack. Yeah. Oh, cool. Jalen Warren, 14 for 1, 43 and 2. Our wounds from Mike, Andy, they feel fresh.

I think, I do think that every single, every single person out there who played fantasy football this weekend and lost, I have to believe they all played against Mike. Like, that is how, that's how it feels, because everyone around here who was in anything. Yeah, we're all dead. because of one man. Yeah, it's like, let's all unite. And we like him, sort of. Yeah.

I don't know what to root for next week. You'd love to see him be happy, but not this happy. Yeah. There is too much. This is too much, man. Is there a depressant that we could give him? Because I know there's antidepressants. I'm going to need some anxiety medicine this week.

You're going to need a prescription for a depressant. That's all I'm saying. You are cooking. Dude, you're fine this week. He's slack last night. I only won half of them. People, everyone was talking and. commiserating about, you know, this was some tough football this last night.

And Mike said in Slack, like he lost two years of his life last night or something. And I was, I was pissed. I was like, from the weekend. Okay, from the, I was like, from having everything go well? Yes. You poor thing. But here's the thing. I won everything.

No. No, no, no, no. During the process. Another tough weekend winning everything. There was, there was a few moments of drama before I won. I did win, but Andy can attest when you left because I had thoroughly defeated you and I had moved on to the other matchup, I was unwell for the afternoon games. Well, I'm happy to hear it.

My yacht sank, I had to buy a new yacht. My new one's way bigger. It's almost too big. My yacht's so big I can't get it out to see. It takes ten minutes to walk around. the whole thing. You know how much crew I have to have just to run my yacht. I like this. I like that's Mike. This is how we have to deal with this, Mike. This is why I have it. But I'm not doing that. I said one sentence that it was how it feels. When you're on the losing side and the

winners are complaining. The odds of you being in as many title games is you're in. Almost impossible. Oh my gosh You're in them all You definitely sacrificed a goat or something That sheep had no spots Oh yeah Thank you My goodness

I like that sheep The one I had to kill The poor thing I'm sorry baby Oh my gosh All right Let's talk about more guys My cat

Bijon Robinson Bijon he did bench Kenneth Walker in a matchup that he already had won. Oh, oh, yeah. So, no, I like, he could have had more points. I did bench Jalen Warren against Jason too. Did you really? I played D.K.

No way. You could have scored 200. You could have. You could have scored for 200. Yes, I could have. Goodness gracious. That lamb was awesome. Oh, man. He was very plump. Derek Henry, also Mike's guy in the studs here. 18 for 1, 28, and 2. Hey, James Cook is.

in here. I had to play against that. You know, RJ Harvey put up a big performance, had a big touchdown, and thank goodness for Papa Josh and his team, because they are still on the cusp of losing, but RJ Harvey Harvey might have saved the day. Jamir Gibbs? This is weird, man. He had seven carries for

two yards. Mike was playing against him, of course. Yeah. So, Jamir Gibbs, really a bad performance. But also... He ended up with two touchdown, or with the, with the 66 yard.

13 targets, 10 for 66. He was a wide receiver. A lot of those targets were the prototypical, we're losing checkdown, gain a couple yards, ends up with the touchdown in the last couple minutes. Puka Nakua had the monster week. Chris Olavay number two on the week. I had to play against him. Yeah.

You know, yeah. He has been, look, since Tyler Shuck came on. Four and three, Tyler Shuck, is that he you're talking about? Should be five and two, Tyler Shuck. All other rookie quarterbacks. Tyler Shuck. Tyler Shuck. I like what I see.

Six games now. Chris Olave has played with Tyler Shuck. His 17-game pace, 164 targets, 104 receptions, 1,300 yards, and 14 touchdowns. I mean, it's, it's, he is, this is like Chris Oliva has always been one of my favorite wide receivers as far as talent. Like, I just think he's so good. He hasn't had that quarterback.

Maybe Shuck is the dude that can get him, get him the ball. Did you get to watch the Chrysolawe comments and press conference afterwards? I have seen none of it. Unbelievable. Great listen. You should all go watch it. It humanizes all the stuff that, look, we've been here, always through the fantasy lens and your starts it decisions, all the concussions.

But he talked, he said, you know, part of one of the quotes from the press conference, I'm sitting here this off season at 24 contemplating retirement. Oh, wow. Had to talk to his family, had to talk to everybody. like and then you go through training camp and then you go through all that but you don't know what it's like to play in a real game again is what he said you know it's like you have to go out there and you have the nerves of those first handful of games this year for him after deciding to finally come back and play like he could have retired he had so many concussions I hope he made the right decision in the in the fact that I hope it goes well for the rest of his career right and I will say that I see his adjustments is tyler locketing um more and more You should. Which is so good. Like for him specifically. For those that don't know, like Tyler Lockett would catch the ball. And if he knew he was going to get tackled, he would go down early. Yeah, there was a play this last week. He got open in space in a zone. It was fantastic. Caught the ball. And there were, he was like in a triangle of three defenders. And those defenders were, this ball was already 20 yards down the field. So he had made a great play, got a first down. And these defenders were going to close in on him. But he easily could have got three or four. four more yards, you know, if he just grabs it and just goes and gets tackled.

And he just laid down right in between those three. The right move to make, like, genuinely, just get up. You had a great play. Get up and keep playing football for a career. It's funny. We also love the dogs. We love the scataboo. I think it depends on the, I think it depends on the human.

And so, like Tyler Walker. Like Tyler Lockett is a way undersized guy who played a long career. Yes. because of how he played. If you're D.K. Metcalf, if D.K. Metcalf were to do that and sit down, like, you're bigger and stronger than these cornerbacks. So it just depends on the person.

Chris Olivae in seven games played with Tyler Shuck as the starting quarterback. His 17-game pace would be 97 receptions, 1,300 yards, and 12 touchdowns. Yeah, he had. And seven games. I mean, like, it's fun to play the extrapolate game. Seven games is not a tiny sample. in his first 39 career games he only had 10 total touchdowns he's had eight in his last 15 weeks he's the wide receiver six on the season with some hope and optimism around the quarterback yeah i mean tyler suck had a 300 yard game parker washington dominated six for one 45 and one seemed like he was always open making you know the punt return plays after the catch you know that's that's his special skill he's had multiple punt returns this year

But in open field, can stop on a dime. I can't imagine many people played Parker Washington. No, they didn't, but they did play. Like, it's just an interesting thing to me. They're winning by utilizing all of their weapons, regardless of what we think about them. Whether it's Brian Thomas Jr., like that's the real, like long term, I don't understand a world where Brian Thomas Jr.

ever reaches his former view in Jacksonville. It just doesn't make sense to me. You have Travis Hunter. you have just paid Jacoby you have Brenton Strange healthy like when he went nuclear last year it wasn't all it wasn't Trevor Lawrence

and there was no one left well it was it was the Ammon Rae St. Brown and I when I going through the analysis of watching of Brian Thomas you know reviewing everything

it's like I don't want to make the Amin Ra mistake of a guy broke out yes the other targets were gone so that that feeds into the narrative. But he was so dominant. Like Amin Ra was that rookie year, and people weren't sure whether or not to buy in.

And if you didn't, you missed out. You missed out on Amin Ra. And it was like, I don't want to miss that again. And it seems wrong now. I think he'll be traded. I don't see him as a future part of this team because I think he wants to be something this team won't let him be. I think when you have Travis Hunter back

and you have Parker Washington and Strange and Jacoby, he will never like you're if he's got any locker room issues like that sometimes we're inferred i feel like they would just move him yeah he'll get a high price that'll that'll that'll be the thing because it's like but also he's on a team that's the jaguars could win the super bowl i am fully convinced though that this is a legit team that defense is real and things have changed for trevor lawrence so it i mean maybe maybe the winning will be perfectly fine for Brian Thomas, but I mean, for the Jags to give

him up, they would have to get so much because he's a great player on and they have him very, very cheap if they win a playoff game, which is totally realistic and in the cards. If they win a playoff game, I think they bring the whole team back. Everyone's feeling great. They want to go further and further.

It comes down, does Brian Thomas then go divo wide receiver? Which I don't know that we've seen he would do that yet. I don't know if there's any incidents I don't member. J.S.N. 13 targets 8 for 96 the Thursday night game. In the second half. DJ Moore with the insanity on Saturday night. Dude, that was, five for 97 and one. That touchdown was ridiculous and the majority of his production. Yeah, I mean, we, it was like a 40-year touchdown.

We started him everywhere. He was like pretty much a must start with the other inactives there. And it felt bad. Until it felt good. Until all of a sudden it was like, what a great game. Do you remember that was a near, mirror, identical touchdown to the one he had in Carolina where he took his helmet off? Yes. Forced the extra point to be further away that they missed and then they lost in overtime. Sveon Diggs? Okay. Nine for one three eight.

Jay, one week early. Well, I mean, it's that contract. He needs that, that yards, that those, those receptions and that shmoney. And didn't, um, didn't booty get hurt again? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Dave Flow. On the weirdest, on the most insane nonsense.

insane non-pass interference goals? Nothing to see here. He just tackled them before the ball was there. Big weeks for Zay Flowers, Cortland Sutton, Romeo Dobbs with the big touchdown from the backup. And Tetero McMillan, baby. Ten targets, six or seventy-three and one. We'll take a break and I guess we'll commiserate on some of these.

Oh, no, we still have tight ends. All right, let's do that first. Harold Fanon, 17 and a half, loved him this week. Kyle Pitts, great week. 15.2 back into the end zone. And then Joanne Johnson. I'll throw him out there too. Yeah, Juan Johnson. Just a lot of volume. Nine targets, eight for 89.

And they play Tennessee next week. If Devon Veil remains out for the Saints, then Joonson is going to be very interesting for volume. Elijah Higgins of the Arizona Cardinals, 7 for 91. I'm allowed to be upset about Tram McRide, right? Yes, absolutely. Tray McBride not pictured here. Sorry, that's Elijah Higgins spot in the studs. That was upsetting. So weird. To see Elijah Higgins get seven for 91. It's Elijah Higgins.

That has to be his career high. You know, he looked kind of good in the open field, like an athlete. I just thought it was kind of wild. Cincinnati next week for the tight-in position for the Cardinals. If you got through a Trey McBride, which you might not have, you're going to be. pretty happy. Mike is going to win so many titles. So many championships. Or he won't be here next week. Because I guess with great... Yeah, you could lose them all. With great opportunity comes great opportunity to be Jim Kelly.

Yes, right. So you could do that. All right. Now we'll take a break. One good thing that happened to me this week was I'm not the shame anymore. Yeah, you did it. I broke a streak of, what was it, six to eight years is what it felt like? That was getting Christmas presented on the show. That was your sentence.

Yeah, Mike and I are going to have to do a Monday night football tiebreaker. Yeah, so I don't, and I don't care who wins, not even a little bit. Duds, Josh Allen, Jackson, Dart. The Allen won. I mean, that is just crushing. 12 for 19, 1.30, no touchdowns. And then the Jackson Dart, I'd not sure what the plan was for the Giants. He passed for 33 yards, dude.

He only threw the ball 13 times. I mean, they, I can't remember how many runs. The first 16. Was it 16? The first 16. There was technically one that was a play call that he scrambled on, but it was the first 16 plays were all rushing attempts. It was the weirdest thing. And this is a player who, obviously, the man.

matchup wasn't great against Minnesota. You could see that coming. But I mean, you look at his starts. 20 points, 15 points, 23, 28, 20, 27, 26, 13, 22, zero. Yeah. He scored zero points. I mean, just this was a... Kafka is auditioning for the job. And that was weird. It's really, really weird to me that you with your franchise your franchise QB you're trying to get him reps you're like you need them to see scenarios and then you go out and you run

16 times in a row in a game like it doesn't matter if you win you know that they're the number one pick game is next week yes yeah the Raiders and Giants play each other up in Alaska and whoever loses that game gets the number one pick oh man go Raiders

man Jacoby Brissette hugely disappointing against Atlanta. Had Marvin Harrison back, couldn't do it. Was that the problem? Yeah, probably. Also not throwing to Tray McBride was a problem. Yeah. Also, yeah, I mean, you, Jacoby Rosset, I think

was a, I mean, very confident play this week against Atlanta. Yeah, it was for me. I mean, high over, under, everything looked good, and in the beginning of the game, it was like, okay, this is exactly what we're kind of expecting and hoping for here. Very disappointing. This one was, I mean, the fact that he did what he did against Houston last week to pump fake us into the excitement of at home against Atlanta

and then this next week against Cincinnati if you still have him probably a good play but very disappointing at least at least the Cardinals lost quarterback 27 quarterback 18 quarterback 19 quarterback 14 quarterback 18 that's Baker Mayfield I don't know that he's got big boy pants anymore people haven't been starting him you know he's averaged 155 passing yards since week 12.

So you're talking, this was a former, like, he was MVP candidate. Six weeks and MVP can't. The MVP chance at his home stadium that Taz thought were for him, and then all of a sudden, complete and utter collapse. This is where I'm waiting for whatever surgery he gets in the off season or something. It's not good.

Josh rode in. No, it's not good. Flashlight Mayfield? I think it's a laser Mayfield thing, and he thinks the I think he thinks the inverse of a laser would be a flashlight. What? Let's go ahead and zoom in on that. What? Flashlight?

Now, Baker sounds like laser. It's a weaker. Baker does not sound like flashlight. I, blast. No, it doesn't. So we're always happy to throw in your good stuff. Yeah. What did you think of that one, Al?

It was pretty bad. the bears thank you now taser mayfield would have worked even that sounds cool but a taser's like a like a dumb down version of something

like a laser is cooler than a taser yeah a taser mayfield would be okay but i i kind of see what mike's saying it feels like he still could do some damage i can start in star trek though don't they that's a phaser they go from no i know phaser mayfield they go from kill so like stun

that's what taser is it's like stun mode that's all i'm saying i just at least it rhymes i don't the the leap of a laser to a flashlight we don't need to okay we don't moving on uh flashlights are really big during his era a mecca abuka had one he was more candlelight

oh candlelight mayfield that's that's probably Josh was very excited about that that just rolls off the tongue candlelight mayfield I see how we got there um what were you talking about I said uh I said

first round wide receiver ameka abuka first half superstar had one catch well mike evans had how many yards 20 something not enough he got a price fix yeah i mean five for thirty one old oil lamp mayfield

nice that's a good one out oh my gosh running back duds jason was on pins and needles all week for josh jacobs to be active he was active on the goal line Did you hear the comments about whether he was injured or benched? I am the one that shared this.

So you did. So I did, yes. I was unaware that you were the one that shared those. But he wasn't. Not injured. He was not injured. But what was crazy about that when I was listening to the comments, it was like he had no say. LeFleur had no say.

The head coach. And didn't know. And he's like, that was between. that was between Jacobs and the O.C. I imagine. I don't remember who he was naming. I think you had some say more than you knew. The head coach, the man in charge. Yeah, it was really weird. Is saying there was nothing I could have done. The Henry and Jacobs utilization, if Jacobs wasn't hurt, and then you don't put him back out there on the field. I mean, he said he thought

Emmanuel Wilson was playing well. But he also said he thought Jacobs was running well. Well, he fumbled on the goal line and didn't really see the field anymore and ended up in single digits. And you lost the game that you were up. Okay. Head coaches. You don't get to say these things.

You're in charge. You do not get to say, I don't know. It's the old Andy Reid. You're like, why didn't Jamal Charles touch the ball more? He's like, oh, man, I'm going to have to go look at the tape. I don't know. You don't get to say that crap.

I mean, the truth is there's, you're in charge. There's personnel packages, and you're not the one telling each, you know, like the head coach isn't necessarily saying who's going out there for each play, whether that's the offensive coordinator or even the running backs coach. I don't know who makes those decisions. You can be on the head. You can override it. Yeah, you can be on the headset, say, I want Jacobs out there. Yeah. That's all you got to do. Yeah. Ian Rappaport said that Josh, this is a news update. Josh Johnson seems like he will likely be starting for the commanders against the Cowboys. Oh, man. Josh Johnson, ultimate stream. This is actually really bad news. oh for really bad for the game for cd deck and pickens because the competitive balance of the game mariotta was able to do stuff this year i mean this is i i don't like that when i you know it's similar to what you saw from well i mean that's that's the counterpoint is joe burrow put up four touchdowns the if you get to the fourth quarter and you are up by that many points it's because your team has done massive damage. Maybe it's like Javante gets three rushing touchdowns.

That would be horrific if you're in on the passing attack. But it doesn't stop me from playing anyone in the Cowboys. Mike, you have to, you have to get into the Listern League Championship. I know it's close. I'm really trying. You need, you need Kittle. I forget your situation. I need a big game from Johnny Taylor.

A big game from Johnny Taylor. Well, we can we can root for that together because I'm, I'm, that's the one league I'm in. I made it to the championship in the listener. league. My team has no chance to win next week. I was rolling with Marcus Mariotta after losing Daniels. So now I will be playing Josh Johnson if I can afford him. Kyle has reminded us, reminded us the Christmas Day quarterbacks, because there's three games on Christmas if you were unaware. It seems we will see Josh Johnson, probably Max Brosmer. Is it Brosmer or are we going with Brosmer? Brasmer. Brasmer? Yes. Okay. And then Chris Ola-Docoon.

great i gave that i gave him my best shot what a christmas treat we have in store yeah the um it's crazy it's crazy by the way the the great michael carter amari du marcotta debate turned into six points versus three but who won michael carter yeah and mike won of course uh bucky irving 19 for 71 kind of disappointing no targets brise hall de andre suv rico dalo chuba those guys let you down and then monte did almost nothing David Montgomery only played. We're back into a hellish split. If Rico and Chuba are going to be getting,

it's nine carries for Rico, six for Chuba, no one can get in the flow. You at least had the six targets for Rico Douda, but it was against Tampa Bay, that was a big time bummer. And I don't know if we mentioned him. We probably could have. Amarian Hampton was definitely a stud this week,

got into the end zone. Kamani Bidale only had five total carries. Second game removed from the injury. It's nice to see what the plans are for him, even going beyond into next year, like it's going to be the Amarian Hampton show. Yeah, and he's looked way better than he did earlier in the year. Yeah, I don't have his final stat line in front of me,

but he had a pretty good game, and he looked the part. So other duds. Hampton, real quick, just for you, Andy, 16 for 85 on the ground. Only one for 10 through the air. We'd like that to get bumped up. Scored, right? He did, yeah, currently the running back 15 on the week. getting into the duds at the wide receiver position where there's some names that stood out to you i mean

drake london drake london was very disappointing and you you would say oh well it was his first game back and maybe you know they they were easing him in he had eight targets he just didn't do much with it with um kirk cousins there three for 27 very disappointing and then amin raw is the best wide receiver to have the worst game because he's automatic he's guaranteed he's you know you You just assume I'm getting 15 points from him as kind of a baseline and four for 54 at the end of that game. I think honestly, Pittsburgh needs a little bit of credit and love, especially from me, because I haven't been doing that. But when we talk about all these teams getting in the playoffs, I feel like the one that is just dismissed. Dismissed outright is the Steelers because old man Aaron Rogers and they're just kind of this treading water above 500 team.

But they've done some good work. I mean, they lost JJ Waugh, and they shut down the lions. I mean, for most of the game. They lost them because they also never had it. Oh, T.J. Wawah. Yeah. Gotcha. You got them.

The fan of the perfection of fantasy football that Omina Ross St. Brown and Jamison Williams both had, like, J.M.O. was fine. He's five for 70. But I'm saying, Jared Goff had a great game. Those two guys did not. Trevor Lawrence had a great game and yet Brian Thomas Jr. and Jacoby Myers did not. Did not. Yeah. That's called the old knife twist. Yeah.

Matt Kaff was just four for 42. Yeah. Had a touchdown called back in this one. We'll see what happens with all the discipline stuff. He's come out and kind of said what he said. Yeah. He said what the fan said. Said words you do not say.

And then Nico Collins, four for 59, was double covered all game long. the mecca abuka won for 40 at least you got a 40 yard bomb dude the downfall of abuka is it's impossible it's how do you start like that and then we get here I don't we're gonna

he was like the best wide receiver in the NFL for the first half and is irrelevant the well when you're averaging in 155 passing yards you basically cut in half the production of Baker Mayfield that he had in the first half of the year and you then split it. Jalen McMillan is on the field a lot. There were a lot of plays I was watching where Abuka was off the field and Jalen McMillan McMillan was on the field. Because of personnel packages.

And it seems like first read, second read is still Evans and Godwin, whether that's good or bad. Tray McBride, we talked about it. Bummer. Jake Ferguson keeps not getting it done. Arronday Gadsden, just one catch for seven yards. That was disappointing. where did that sound come from Mike's mouth Oh okay

I thought it might have been you or something else Colston Loveland is three for 30 on it Yeah that was a Mr. Loveland Nothing from the Bears Because there was nothing from Josh Allen

Nothing from Andrews and likely again Colby Parkinson Or as you called him Parkinson And then Kelsey did nothing Darren Waller three for 40 The Kelsey one You know

When you were talking about Hey incentives Kelsa thousand yards was within reach for Travis Kelsey and if you haven't heard Travis Kelsey talking lately about the Chiefs

he was talking about Patrick Mahomes returning from injuries like yeah the chiefs will get Patrick Mahomes back not we no and he was talking very much as a man who will be done he I mean I think he was pretty close to retiring last year

but they were so close we got to run it back and then coming into this week he had no just under 800 yards three games to get to a thousand i thought maybe they would try to force feed Travis kelsey and that was not the cases he had six yards uh another dud i mean we audrick estimate i know we mentioned him a little bit but one thing that that reminded me of talking about Kelsey the fact that he's about to retire you know potentially the emotional side the man Tayson Hill was someone that on the course of the season you forgot he existed he had done nothing he was still literally nothing yeah I mean he was he was basically not really a part of

this team and we just forgot like that was his potential final home game for the Saints and they talked a lot about that after the game and it was like a just it was a big whiff and a miss because in the running game it was like oh yeah I mean 12 carries for tasem hill which we're looking at that whole estimate versus evan hole that's that's just a complete and oversight so tasem hill what was the the number Kyle you probably saw it of like he's now the first player to have a thousand thousand receiving thousand rushing and a thousand passing yep in the history of the NFL he threw one of the two touchdowns by the way to yes to Olave Olave because if Shuck had thrown it it would have hurt Mike in one of his leagues right so

It's like, listener league. Yeah. Oh, good, good, good, good. Listener league. So he's like, hey, you know what? I need you in there. We got to win this for the footland. Someone else throw this touchdown and then they listen to Mike.

That was Studs and Duds presented by Lowe's. Lowe's, no Sundays are for NFL football. Earn Your Sunday with Lowe's official partner in the NFL. We would keep going, but we can't. Mike has to get back to his yacht repairs, which are a burden, a brutal burden. Because he has to tell those guys what to do. I got to tell them what to do on my yard. Oh, my goodness.

Do you know how much money I would have to spend at our draft, Jason? So you need Jonathan Taylor to outscore George Kittle by about? By a lot. 11. By 11. All right. Oh, my gosh, I hope you lose. I hope you lose so bad.

And we need George Kittle to score fewer than 10 in Dino Jr. Do you have any matchups still going now? Yep. I do. You do? What ones? It's going to be me and Mike facing off on the Dino Championship. Oh, I just met this week.

You don't have anything you're waiting for him. Monday night football? No, sir. Just waiting to get out of that. The Bears. Yeah, okay. Also, the bears still suck. Go pack.

Oh, oh, my God. Oh, man. Oh, man. That feels like he has to do it for another show or something. That would be like a prison break. All right. We are done. We'll be back tomorrow.

Good luck tonight. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on Join the Footballers. and follow us on Twitter at the FFBallers.