Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Week 4 Studs & Duds + Spooky Season - Fantasy Football Podcast for 10/2

Episode Date: October 2, 2023

Time to hit the panic alarm? On today’s fantasy football podcast, boom and bust performances from Week 4! Which surprising studs could do it again next week? Plus, injury news, and a Week 4 edition of Monday Punday! Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for October 2nd, 2023. Connect with the show: Subscribe on YouTube Visit us on the Web Support the Show Follow on Twitter Follow on Instagram Join our Discord Check out today's sponsors: News & Notes presented by USAA. Visit https://USAA.com/Insurance 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.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the podcast. That's the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, if you're nasty. I couldn't even make it through the intro. Jason just starts looking into my soul, cackling. Yeah, because we nasty today. This is a nasty boy show. The nasty boys are here. Andy is out. I'm in the captain's chair. That means Jay Grizz, Cardboard Bear, extraordinary, a.k.a. Jay Rizz.

He's going to be rizzing up the set today. Holding it down. He had a pretty good day. Did he? Yeah. Well, he's a big Justin Fields guy. Yeah. Okay.

Justin Fields was great. Great for fantasy. Pretty darn good as a quarterback. The very end of the game it went well for bears fans i don't know if they're happy like i had a bears fan text me saying should i be happy and i told them yes yeah yes you should be happy but welcome into the podcast monday october 2nd spooky season has begun see to me the holiday season has begun oh i was driving my kids to school today and they asked me they go did the holiday season begin now i was like yes

it has because wait so you don't define this as spooky season it's just it's overall holiday season it's the beginning of the holidays october 1st kicks off the holiday months see i go spooky season into christmas season that's fine that's due to uh we can not recognize celebrate our differences mike we could be thankful for them uh a lot to be thankful for over this uh special nfl weekend we had a lot of points going in there a couple quick house cleaning tidbits here foot clan giveaway we are giving away we points going in there a couple quick house cleaning tidbits here foot glen giveaway we are giving away we are still giving away a signed christian mccaffrey jersey value went up yeah that guy that guy oh man i like that guy he's so nice to me so good uh but

foot glengiveaway.com bunch of uh things you can do to help support the show. They are all completely free. Follow us on socials, Instagram.com slash FantasyFootballers, or on X at the FFBallers. I am at FFHitman, at JasonFFL, or you can follow Andy at Andy Holloway. A lot to talk about, but first we must, Jason, we must... Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. I'll start it off with my...

Jason, he might be my best friend. I'm so sorry. Christian McGoatfree. Oh, yes. What is... How about Nakua Matata? It means no losses. Or Hip Hip Hooray, Jay Brown.

Unless he played against them. And Nico Ballins. Justin Fields of Dreams. And we finally figured out how to say this guy's name. It is Devon A. Champ. Because he's a champion. That guy. I mean, ridiculous things are happening.

Also, some bad things. P.U. is that Stank Dell? Yeah. Jordan Sadison. I did not like that one. T.J. Huckaloogie. We're back-to-back Vikings. Nice.

Joe Broken? Yeah, there's a lot to talk about. That dude's broken right now. Chris Nolawe. And, of course, Raheem Most Turd. That was a piece of poop. If you didn't catch that in the verbiage, it was a Most Turd. Yeah, multiple fumbles.

Yeah, he had himself a very poor game, and he was the number one running back in all of fantasy coming into this week. So very disappointed when you go from greatness to really just a destructive performance. It was a disaster. Meanwhile, A-Chan. He's got the beat that make your booty go clap. Yes, he does. All right, let's get into the news. News and notes from around the league.

Presented by USAA Insurance. Adam Schefter reports the Cardinals are not expected to activate Kyla Murray off the pup when he's eligible, which is this week. So they will not be opening up his 21 day practice window. Yeah. And this is something we brought this up on some show a week or two ago. I don't remember exactly which one, but again, we knew this wasn't going to happen, that they weren't going to activate him immediately. Additionally, we know that when they going to happen, that they weren't going to activate him immediately. Additionally, we know that when they activate him, he will not be there that week. They want him at practice for a couple of weeks.

They might use all 21 days in the 21-day window. So don't plan on having Kyler immediately. This is the time, though, where we're going to know which one of these, you know, in the preseason, all these players get put on the pup and you go, well, they're going to miss four games. And so we'll have them in week five. That is only true of the players who are going to be activated immediately when their window of eligibility is open, which is right now. So we have two more pieces of news. Yes, the Colts will open the 21 practice day window for Jonathan Taylor this week. And last week, Sean McVay confirmed Cooper Cup will practice this week, meaning that they're going to open up his 21-day practice window.

And then some, like, they just, you know how news sources, or not news sources, I'm sorry, like businesses and companies, if they have bad news they wait till like friday oh yeah and then they just they just dump it in the afternoon because it's often overlooked or just it doesn't get the full week cycle uh not related to that tyler higby agreed to a three-year 27 million dollar extension what cool i mean you get paid man you usually do that in week four midseason while dealing with an Achilles injury.

It's just as expected. Cooper Cup, I fully believe he plays week five. Week five? I do. I think he will be active and playing. Fantasy managers are crossing their fingers. Other news, during the weekend, quarterback Justin

Herbert, he suffered a fractured finger on his left non-throwing hand. He does have a week five bye. I mean, he went right back into the game. Yeah, he won't miss any time. He didn't play as well once it happened. I don't know if that was just because he has a broken part of his

one of his hands. Yeah, I mean, it wasn't good, but you know, that shouldn't affect your ability to throw the ball with your right hand. It your ability to do anything sure the nice thing is you understand like just because he's not throwing with that hand it hurts tremendously the broken finger he is he is really really tough and that was a part of the uh you saw that last year yeah i mean he played through broken ribs The timing couldn't be better because he already had a good fantasy day in their victory, and then they have the bye week coming up, so you're not going to miss any time. He'll be good to go

when he comes back. It's not really newsworthy, but Brooks is bringing it up, so it's just fun fodder to talk about. Austin Eckler, sir, great friend of the show. Great friend of fantasy football. Does he not know how social media works? He, more than anyone, knows how social media works. He tried to pull one over on everybody. He posted a nice picture of him entering the field or something like that.

It was very much implied that I'm going to be back this weekend. I don't know. His post, to me, when I looked at it, it was him standing on the sideline. And so I was like, oh, okay. He's telling people he's on the sideline. But Mama Bear, she posted like week two, game two, it's on. Like he was going to be active, so whatever. Come on.

We knew he was probably going to miss because of the bye week. He'll be back, but it's unfortunate. As an Eckler manager, it has really been frustrating to have such a great week one performance, and then I don't see him until week five. He just needed to charge back up. Mike Evans of the Bucs, he exited the game with a hamstring injury.

They do have the bye week next week, so that's perfectly timed out. Bengals T. Higgins, he left early with a rib fracture. They're saying he will miss some time. Rib injuries often, like the player can put on the flak jacket and play through it, but it always affects. If you've ever bruised a rib, oh, man, you can't do anything.

Yeah, and this is a wide receiver who's going to be going across the middle of the field. You're telling me you hear the footsteps coming while you've got broken ribs and you're not a little worried about catching that ball? Oh, I'm super worried. Javante Williams of the Broncos, he exited early. It was, I think, at the top of the second quarter. A hip flexor injury.

He did not return, so that will be a very interesting piece of news as we look forward to the waiver wire. Devontae Adams, he hurt his arm, I guess his shoulder. It turned out to be his shoulder right before the half. He went to the locker room, but he came back, and then he caught some more passes. Probably got an injection, and we'll do the same before next week. Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh Steelers, he left with a left knee injury. It is believed to be a sprained MCL, not season ending,

but he could miss some time with teammate Pat Friermuth. The Muth exited with a hamstring injury, and Jawan Johnson of the Saints, he exited with a calf injury. Is there any other news, Jay, any hidden news that we saw over the weekend? No hidden news that I know. I think we're still waiting on an MRI to confirm with Kenny Pickett. Maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe this has already happened, but Kenny Pickett will not be playing next week.

It'll be Mitchell Trubisky. Yes, that's probably what I think as well. That was today's News and Notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com slash insurance. This week's fantasy stud muffins. The studs were studly this weekend. Yeah. Yeah, they were.

The quarterback position really went pretty nuclear. Josh Stallion. Well, hello. We got 21 for 320 and four. Four passing tutties. Oh, wait. Four for 17 with a rushing tutty. Jason's silence says he played against Josh

yeah there's going to be a recurring theme through the stud muffins on today's episode usually the stud muffins is like the fun time not for me I had such a great week in fantasy yeah your guys are in here too

in most of my leagues and in the league of record really the only thing that matters um i i had a great game i scored the second most points but it don't matter when you play against first and of course first place had josh allen he went bonkers um you know it was it was a real awesome statement that the Bills made against the undefeated and seemingly unbeatable Dolphins. They went and smooshed them. They laid the law down, and they said, we are the leaders of this division. Wait your turn. Yeah, they heard the chatter.

The Dolphins' hive, they were getting pretty loud. They were squeaky. The dolphins hive, they were getting pretty loud. They were squeaky. And turns out a buffalo stronger than a dolphin, I guess. That's a fact. I mean, depending on your arena. Fair. Like you put a buffalo in the water, I think the dolphin's going to win.

Yeah, probably. Don't dolphins like kill sharks? They kill, yeah, kill whales and stuff. They can be mean. All right. Anthony Richardson. There you go. I wanted to put some kind of Anthony Filthy Richardson in the puns.

Because it was. It was a little filthy. 11 for 25. 11 completed passes. What a little filthy. 11 for 25. 11 completed passes. What a stud muffin. Except it was for 200 yards and two passing touchdowns. And then 10 for 56 with a rushing touchdown on the ground. In four-point leagues, he is the quarterback two in points per game.

He gets to take on Tennessee and Jacksonville the next two weeks. Hoo-ha. Hey. You got to keep him in your lineups. He was a great DFS play. And not only was he good, but he came back in a game where they were getting decimated. I think it was like 23 to nothing or something like that, where they were just getting absolutely obliterated on both sides of the ball.

And the second half rolls around. He steps up, makes some good plays. They come back. They tie the game. They go into overtime where Puka got the game-winning touchdown and the Rams still were victorious. But it's nice to see not just good performance but resiliency. Now, that line is actually pretty similar to Lamar Jackson.

He was 15 for 19 with 186, two passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns as well. But they were taking on the Cleveland Browns. The Browns' defense, I mean, I guess they were up against it so much because they didn't have an offense. They didn't have an offense. They didn't have an offense. Deshaun Watson was a late scratch, and the rookie was not ready to play. I feel for him as well because they were saying he didn't even know

he was going to start until right before the game happened. I know you can go through the week. The starters is banged up. You're not getting it. You're getting some reps and practice. But then imagine you like I'm sure Watts is telling him like, no, I'm going to be playing. Don't worry. Don't worry.

And then also like, hey, go play against the Ravens. You're like, yeah, well, no, thank you. And I think a lot of people might, you people might be either inflating the Ravens offense or saying, oh, the Browns defense isn't as good as we thought. I don't believe either of those are the correct takeaway from that game. The Cleveland offense with the rookie quarterback could not stay on the field. Yes. And so their defense just collapsed.

Justin Fields, he's in this list. Of course he ran for 150 yards on the ground, right? No, but at least 50, right? Yeah, nope. Only four for 25 on the ground. How many rushing touchdowns? With none. So why is he in studs?

28 completed passes, 335 yards yards four passing tutties what yes that is the correct response what um so speaking of defenses being good or bad yeah the denver broncos so here this is what's gonna be so funny do you know their matchup next week? Do you remember it? The Broncos? Yeah. Who they play? Because it's a real. Is it the Jets? Yes. Oh, my gosh. It's a push comes to shove situation of like, okay, can you start Zach Wilson?

Dude, Wilson? Yeah, he didn't look. Wilson looked okay yesterday. He was not all of the problem. Yes. Yeah, that's a fair way to put it i mean good for you zach i mean look i he made some really good throws he made some zach wilson throws but overall i mean that you had to feel if you're coach solid you have to feel like yeah see i told you i told you we've been sticking with our guy. Yeah, I mean, you want him to do well, obviously.

He's your quarterback. You're hoping that he succeeds, and he played well. So the point, though, is that Denver's defense is trash. Okay, so back to Justin Fields then. 335 passing yards, four passing touchdowns. Did Chicago figure it out, or is Denver just that bad? Denver's just that bad. Chicago did not figure it out. Justin Fields is not going to go and throw for 300 again against Washington or even the next week against Minnesota in a plus matchup. That being said,

I, you know, I was saying personally, I would have started Justin Fields this last week. I will keep starting him. For fantasy purposes, he is, I think, more often than not going to put up large performances. I know it's hard when it was back-to-back-to-back poor starts, but the nice thing, at the very least, even if they haven't figured it out and unlocked how he's just a great passer all of a sudden, there is a confidence thing right like quarterbacks confidence is everything and so coming off of a a really good performance

where you complete 80 percent of your passes you're dropping dimes um that's got to be good to go into the next game have some momentum so Washington is up next for Justin Fields but then Minnesota the Raiders both of those games are at home and then on the road against the Chargers yeah it's going to be a good field to set up here yeah so if are you trading him away I guess I guess that's the big question is I would not be trading Justin Fields away I think at the end of the year and at the end the year, Justin Fields is probably a top six quarterback. Maybe it's top eight because he started the year so poorly, but that's my view of Justin Fields.

I haven't wavered while he was having poor performances. Jalen Hurts had himself a fine game, over 300 passing yards, two passing touchdowns. He gets to take on the Rams next week. Joshua Dobbs. Hey. Both of us just opened our hands like, all right, okay. I mean, he is running a good amount, 12 for 48 on the ground.

That's a free touchdown in four-point scoring formats. And then 265 and two through the air. And this was against the San Francisco 49ers. It was, if you missed the game, it was so bizarre because it felt like the Cardinals were playing pretty good-ish. They were, at the end of that game, or towards the end, they were a two-point conversion away from having it be a three-point game. Like, they were actually in it.

Now, then the very end of the game, it ended up working out for the 49ers to even cover the spread. So you might look at the box score and say, oh, the Cardinals sucked. That wasn't the process. And what is great about this is what Joshua Dobbs has done is show that you can have a little bit more confidence in the receiving option in Hollywood Brown. Michael Wilson had a monstrous game.

And so this is a team where the wide receivers have kind of been waiting for Kyler to get back to have confidence. You know, you can throw these guys in in a pinch, but they look competent, which is shocking. Justin Herbert had himself a big game despite the broken finger, mostly on the back of two rushing touchdowns. He goes on to the bye week, but he's on pace for 43 combined touchdowns. Jason, you, your bold prediction was 50. So you feeling like an idiot? I'm feeling pretty good. He's the quarterback one and he's on pace for over 40 touchdowns. I feel like this is a good enough start to get there. Fair enough.

Baker Mayfield taking on the New Orleans Saints, 246-3, 8 for 31 on the ground. And, dude, the Bucs, the Bucs on the road beat down the Saints. I saw a submission for Monday Punday of Baker may be worth a roster spot. So, I mean, it seems so. And, obviously, they're going to go on a bye week right now. But they come back with the Detroit Lions. That's not the worst matchup. You want to see Mike Evans active for that game?

Sure. But it was also nice to see that in Mike Evans' replacement, when he went out, Chris Godwin looked good. He didn't, you know, he can be the guy. He can be the one. I don't know if Derek Carr is, is Derek Carr in our pooped his pants? Oh, he needs to be. Make sure he's there.

Yeah. Karinar pooped his pants. Oh, he needs to be. Make sure he's there. I don't care if he ended up having 20 rushing touchdowns that game. That dude sucked. All right, put him in so that we'll move the discussion of Derek Carr over to there. Russell Wilson, Andy, start of the week. He came through with over 200 passing yards, three passing touchdowns. He does take on the Jets next week. Yeah.

Yikes. And then C.J. Stroud. Yeah, baby. He's just going to be a superstar. Kyle, are you on the microphone? I'm here. Yeah, the Stroud boys. We're looking pretty good supporting our guy over Bryce.

How's that? Kyle, how are you feeling? How are you feeling about that? I feel amazing. Yeah. That's right. All that nonsense of the Texans aren't even going to take him. Get that crap out of here. They did the right thing, and they are looking set up.

I mean, they don't have a first-round pick next year, but they are. Look, if I'm a Houston Texans fan right now, I am feeling so good. I mean, genuinely, right now, I am feeling so good. I mean, genuinely, right now, C.J. Stroud versus Deshaun Watson. C.J. Stroud is playing actively better. 300 passing yards, two passing touchdowns. I mean, that's already his second 300-yard game this season, so 50% of his games he throws for 300-plus yards.

Second most passing yards by a player in his first four NFL games in history. They dismantled the Jaguars last week. They destroyed the Pittsburgh Steelers this week, 30-6. I mean, they're doing some good work down there. Yeah. Doing some good work with C.J. Stroud. We're going to get into the running back studs of the week, but we got to take a quick break.

At Wealthsimple, we're built for whatever you're building. Built for Jane, who wants to break into the housing market. We're built for Ted, who's obsessed with what's happening in the global markets. And built for Celine, who just wants to retire and explore the world's flea markets. So take a moment and think about what you're building for. We've got the financial tools to help make it happen. Wealthsimple, built for possibilities. Visit wealthsimple.com slash possibilities. Christian McGoatfree, Jason. Christian Magote free Jason man that dude he's he's goating so in the morning I declared when we were all together that I thought Bijan Robinson was the best running back in the NFL yes and early into the 49ers game I said said, I think B. John Robinson is the second best running back in the NFL because I don't understand why Christian McCaffrey is so good. Like, I just don't understand it.

I don't get how no one can ever tackle him. He always makes the right read. He always keeps his balance. He's just like this. It's just always, it's almost like decision making I don't even know how he there's a lot of that yes it's not fair it's not fair every time he touches the ball it's like oh there's another eight yards it was 20 for over 103 rushing touchdowns eight targets seven for 71 with a receiving touchdown and the Shanahanigans, they got us at the end of the game.

They were trying to get Juice a touchdown, which I respect it. Yeah, get your foot back in there. Yeah, the unheralded position, get him some love. He did not make it in. So then they let Purdy rush. That was stupid. That was a strange decision. Give McCaffrey his fifth touchdown of the game. Thank you. He did not make it in. So then they let Purdy rush. That was stupid. That was a strange decision.

Give McCaffrey his fifth touchdown of the game. Thank you. So, look, for the record, it was not greedy. Mike loving his Christian McCaffrey points. Jason's on board of saying give him his fifth touchdown. If you have an opportunity, if you've got a player with four touchdowns in a game and you're on the goal line, you've got, like, just give the man a special day. It's also, I mean, it's also a little weird not not that you quarterbacks always get hurt but it's just you've seen quarterback sneaks go awry not only that so like at the end of a game when it's i mean the game is

done like for there's still time on the clock but I'm saying the Cardinals not come a bag I don't know interesting decision I also think if I'm the coach there forget giving the guy the fifth like charity or making it special how about just call your best play because you know what your best play was all day just give the ball to Christian McCaffrey it was so he's automatic we don't need to talk about him other than to just say he is the new LaDainian Tomlinson. Yep. He plays the Dallas Cowboys and then the Cleveland Browns. Don't care. So what?

Who cares? David Montgomery from the Thursday night matchup from missing games with, I think, the thigh bruise to 32 carries, 121 yards, three rushing touchdowns. It was a great game for him. Kyron Williams continues to be the absolute best late-round pick or the best waiver-wire pickup. I mean, I'm including Puka in that list. To find a running back who is doing what Kyron Williams does,

like this is, you would have drafted this at the this performance at the 102 it is incredibly only you would have only drafted McCaffrey's numbers over Kyron right now it's incredibly impressive that the potential two best waiver wire pickups are both Rams you know nobody went into draft season being like oh you've got to get Kyron, you've got to get Puka. I mean, I liked both players. They were last-round dart throws, but, you know, they weren't people that, you know, their average draft position was undrafted. And so this role, when we were kind of pro-Cam Akers, it was because the role of the lead workhorse back for Sean McVay is very valuable.

So you go, okay, he has it on lockdown. What's he going to be going forward rest of season? He's going to be a top 10 running back. Yeah, he's looked great. He does face the Philadelphia Eagles next, so that'll be a bit tougher for him. Here's a guy that might, I mean, if you're talking waiver wire pickup of the year. Yeah, no no that's

fair that's fair he could make a run for good Devon A. Chan only eight carries but that's all he needed to get 101 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns believe his two first touches of the game were both for touchdowns five targets three for 19 the snaps up. The routes run went up. I will put some pause in to say Mostert fumbled two times in this past week. Could that have something to do with the snaps of HN getting more involved in the game? It could. Or could it just be that HN is just so dominant that you got to get him on the field? I think it's a combination of both. So it wouldn't surprise me to see the snaps flip back to being in Mostert's favor. Not that I'm – I'm not saying I'm benching A-chan or anything like that,

but just saying that the – I'm not looking at the snaps going from 42% to 60% and going, we did it. A-chan's the guy. Yeah. I'm not ready to do that. I don't think he's ever going to, the guy. Yeah. I'm not ready to do that. I don't, I don't think he's ever going to be the guy who gets what like Kyron is getting, where he's going to be on the field, 70 to 90% of snaps and touching the ball 25 times. It's not built for that.

But if you watch the game flow, I don't think it was the fumbles that really, I don't, I don't think McDaniel benched most are in a show of, hey, you're not holding on to the ball. So, you know, 60% snaps for A-chan and 43% snaps for Mostert. Mostert's older and has a long injury history and is very explosive. I think they probably would prefer for this to be about a 50-50. Sure. Although they're going to get more players back when Ahmed is healthier, when Jeff Wilson comes back.

I mean, I think I saw an interview where McDaniel said he wants to use five running backs. Don't like that. Yeah, don't like that. Josh Jacobs, welcome back. 17 for 58. that's not great but he did get the russian touchdown and then eight receptions for 81 yards and he started the week i mean that's josh jacobs formula right now, he is losing the pay me, the give me the money argument that he had with the Raiders. The Raiders betting that last year was more of a holy crap outlier.

Congratulations on doing that. We don't think you're going to be able to do that again. And so far he has not been able to do that again. He's been, I mean, he's holding up for fantasy football purposes, but those are not great rushing numbers for someone who's trying to break the bank. Isaiah Pacheco, goodness gracious, 20 for 115 in a rushing touchdown. Zach Wilson played well. Mahomes didn't play. Mahomes had a bad game yeah Mahomes

did not play great and it was a strange offensive decision here by Andy Reid because usually if Mahomes isn't playing great they go why don't you go out there and throw some more but it was like 20 carries has Pacheco ever had 20 carries? I think he has, actually. How many times? Well, I don't know his exact workload box score by heart. Kyle, look that up for me. If you look at his opportunity to share through the first four weeks, Pacheco's arrow is pointing up. 20% in week one, 23% in week two, 33% in week three, up to 36% in week four, which was a career high.

That's the percentage of team rushes and targets for the position. Which we need to remember, you know, Pacheco missed essentially all of the offseason and training camp dealing with his own injury situation. So him getting slowly ramped up, it does make sense. He had 22 carries in week 12 last year. That is the only other time he's had 20 carries. I mean, it's just, it's, I'm not banking on 20 plus carries from Pacheco every week, but he is really starting to dominate here.

Just four opportunities each for Clyde and McKinnon. It's Pacheco's show. Khalil Herbert. There's that Broncos D. Yeah. Yes. Yes. 18 for 103, five targets for 19 with a touchdown.

I was going to bring up the insider reports of Roshon Johnson pushing this to a 50-50. Not this week. Not even week. Not even close. 78% of snaps for Khalil Herbert. Looked good. Although he was stumbling all the time. It was like he would get to the open field and then fall over.

Like, keep your feet. Khalil Herbert is a momentum guy. And sometimes the momentum, like when you're running downhill. He's running too fast. You trip over your feet. Yeah. It did look like he was doing the thing where, you know, when you start to stumble and you're running,

like he was running so forward just for extra momentum. Derrick Henry, because here we are, of course, because in the matchup against the Super Bowl contending Cincinnati Bengals, super positive game script for the Tennessee Titans, of course uh because in the matchup against the uh super bowl contending cincinnati bangles super positive game script for the tennessee titans of course turned into 22 carries 122 rushing yards a rushing touchdown it was a great performance obviously this was a trade away candidate from from my mouth this last week and and i you're still gonna have big monstrous games one of the arguments of doing it that week was Derrick Henry is so much more valuable and gets the 20 plus carries in games where their team wins obviously at that point the Titans look like they they might not win very many

games Tannehill has looked decrepit and they're playing against the Super Bowl contending alleged an alleged Super Bowl previously alleged Super Bowl content they're playing against the Super Bowl contending alleged an alleged Super Bowl previously alleged Super Bowl they're not making the playoffs like the Bengals absolutely are not making the playoffs I'll I will be blown away if they do um the the bank I mean the Titans it was 27 to 3 they mopped the floor with the Bengals. The Bengals' offense is broken right now with Joe Barocan. And, you know, that's, what, two weeks in a row where they've scored three points? Yeah, Kyle, what was the Bengals' stat you shared? I think he was saying they have three offensive touchdowns.

Pull that up for me, Kyle, because it is truly an embarrassing thing what is happening right now to the Bengals. B. John Robinson, he had himself a fine game. He's getting all the snaps have gone up. Tyler Algier is an afterthought at this point for the Atlanta Falcons, much like Kyle Pitts is an afterthought for them as they turn to John U. Smith. Well, when you've got John U. Smith, you've got to go in on Jonu Smith. Yeah, Bijon is absolutely phenomenal. It is very, very rare for a player to be able to be a top player

at their position in a week without a touchdown. Really, the only guy that's done that regularly, if you can go back 13 games ago, was... McGotfrey. McGotfrey. Christian McCaffrey is so involved he can have enough rushing yards, regularly, if you can go back 13 games ago, was... McGotfrey? McGotfrey. Christian McCaffrey is so involved, he can have enough rushing yards, enough receptions and receiving yards where he could have a phenomenal game

without a single touchdown. This is Bijon's method because I don't think the Falcons are going to score a ton, but he will get the touchdowns that they score more often than not. So here it is. Excuse me. It was a tweet from Field Yates. The Bengals have scored a total of three offensive touchdowns through their first four games.

That's the fewest of any team in the NFL. What is happening? What is happening? DeAndre Swift, he got in the end zone. He had himself an okay game. Alvin Kamara is in the – look, if you're in PPR, you are celebrating the return of alvin camara because he had 13 receptions disgusting 13 receptions for 33 yards that's impossible and

hold on hold on the fewest receiving yards by a player with 13 plus catches in a game ever. The previous record, Jason. 71 yards. So the previous low on 13 receptions was 71 yards. Kyle, that's such a good one. Oh, yes. And he was at 33 yards. Yeah, he said, watch this. Two and a half yards of reception. Now, we talk about a reception is worth, what, like two and a half times a carry?

Yeah. I mean, two and a half yards per carry would be putrid. That would be like, man, you're getting stuffed every play. How could you possibly only have 33 yards? And we know the answer, and we're going to dunk on Derek Carr in a little bit. Jaleel McLaughlin, do you not know that name? That's okay. He's a Denver Broncos running back.

He's the one. Him and P. Ryan picked up the workload after Javante left with an injury. We're highlighting the name right now because he was 7 for 72, three receptions, 32 yards, and a receiving touchdown. I mean, he's undersized, but he has juice. He's also been – his name has come out of Peyton's mouth almost every single time that they talk about the running back room. Sean Peyton has brought his name up, and then he performs, and his opportunity – I don't think he's going away.

Yeah, so he will be – he'll be fun to talk about tomorrow. A.J. Brown, 13 targets, 9 for 1, 75 and 2. Whew, brother, dominating. Stephon Diggs, we came through with a hat trick, everybody. Three tutties, 6 for 120 and 3. He's a great player. Nico Collins, 7 for 1, 68 and 2. He is the wide receiver, 7 on the season.

Nico, and I know tankdale had a bad game but saying these these texans are stroud they are destroying the the analytics of wide receivers with rookie quarterbacks because stroud is balling out nico collins is ascending into looking like he's going to be a true fantasy force. He gets the Falcons next week. Yeah, sometimes. Nico Collins, Jason, is the wide receiver what moving forward? Just off the top of your head.

I think he'll probably be in my rankings around wide receiver 16 most weeks. Does he crack top 15? I don't think he cracks top 15. You've still got different ways that it can go they're they're robert woods is involved tank dell has been involved um you know it's gonna be he's their big play guy but at the same time it's like sometimes in fantasy football the managers that succeed the most on the season are the ones that buy in the quickest on something you see. If you can identify some new change and move in quickly, like A-Chan, for instance.

This was a player that I very much believed in along the way, so when he had his breakout game last week, there was no question he was in my lineup. I wasn't going to say, oh, he's got to prove it again. This is the situation with Stroud. He's legit. Stroud is for real, which means his wide-receiving options will be fantasy relevant.

You've just got to buy in, and don't move away from take-dell either. Yeah, I agree with that. Puka, 10 targets. I mean, he needed overtime, but 9 for 163 and a touchdown. He has the most receptions through four games uh to start anyone's career in history and it was like by nine so he is handling that record very very well previous record was 30 he is that bolden 39 that was bolden and and i mean he's i believe the wide receiver five right now yeah probably justin jeff he's great, six for 85 and two.

He almost had another one. It was called back on an offensive penalty. Then Kirk Huss is through a 100-yard pick six, and for his troubles of trying to chase down the receiver, Kirk was doing the right thing, and he got explosive. Yeah. We haven't seen the play it it's it's pretty fun it's it's a delight uh dj moore nine targets eight for 131 and one if justin fields is gonna have a big passing day it will go through dj moore michael wilson mentioned it earlier but seven targets

seven for 76 and two that is a Cardinals rookie wide receiver, Michael Wilson. Oh, yes, thank you. Who is Michael Wilson? Cardinals rookie wide receiver, has been pretty good, was the talk of training camp, came out okay, and then they kind of got benched, and now he's back in the starting rotation and looking fantastic. At the tight end position, Cole Komet, seven for for 85 and two he can do this in the

right matchup and then he will be a groundhog for some of the other ones yeah the right matchup is vance joseph teams i mean it's true like vance joseph over the last several years when he was the cardinals you would just target the tight end against the cardinals like crazy his scheme does not guard the tight end at all. Unfortunately, next week that means what, like Conklin? I don't know if you can trust it or not. Mandrews. There we go.

Yeah, baby. Five for 80 and two. Only five targets. Don't necessarily love that part, but love the output and like to see that he is healthy, ready to go. The second touchdown was like that was some vintage mark andrews stuff kyle pitts uh six for 95 no no i'm so sorry that was johnny smith same team wait wait wait okay you tell me these were desmond ritter targets yes so now you start having the conversation yep this johnny smith really here to rain on everyone's parade that we can just continue to dunk on Arthur Smith,

continue to dunk on Desmond Ritter, saying, why can't you get Kyle Pitts involved? Jonu is the tight end 10 on the season. Is it a Kyle Pitts problem? I don't know. But more and more, if this continues, fantasy players are going to have a problem. He has more receptions. He has more yards.

He has more fantasy points. Just about the same targets. One fewer target on the season. All it means is Kyle Pitts should be on waivers. You're not playing Johnnie Smith either, but you're not touching. Don't do matchups. Don't do anything. Don't get cute.

Dalton Schultz, he shows up here because he caught a touchdown, which was not Stroud. I can't remember who threw it. It was a trick play. That's what it takes to get Dalton Schultz a touchdown these days. His quarterback is balling out, and he still can't get involved. Jake Ferguson, Fergalicious. There it is.

Seven targets, seven for 77. Oh, it was Devin Singletary. Thank you, Kyle. Jake Ferguson had a 77 yards. That's a great game, and he didn't even get to finish because the Cowboys handled business. He's a legitimate option. It's not going to turn into the doctor's numbers from last year

because they're still playing other guys. Peyton Hendershot is hurt. So the schoonman had to step up. The ridiculous things with the Cowboys tight ends. What have we done? But Ferguson was able to step up while Hendershot was out. We'll see how that goes. All right.

Not everyone had a great game. Pooped in his big boy pants. Kirk Cousins had a down game, just 12 of 19 for 139-2. He did have the two interceptions as well. They won the game. But they won the game. They got their first game. So just to make sure i'm reading the

the math correctly kirk cousins three phenomenal games yeah three losses uh-huh one bad game uh-huh one win okay that makes sense also uh update i did see charge talking to minnesota vikings fans so the win uh not kirk cousins he was not responsible at all for the win, but he is responsible for all the losses. Tua. Yeah. I mean, it wasn't necessarily a bad game. 25 of 35 for 282 and a touchdown.

He threw a pick. It was two rushing touchdowns that went a chance way. Instead of being passing touchdowns from Tua, you're certainly disappointed if you had him in your lineup, but that's going to happen sometimes with this team. Patrick Mahomes, 18 for 30 30 only 200 yards a touchdown two interceptions and a bad one yes like usually whenever you see a patrick mahomes interception it's like oh he hit the receiver whose fault was that and and the the receiver popped it up this was like

a jamis winston long ball to the wrong team what was going on which jamis did get in the game that's right he came in for one play and then threw a pick oh jamis uh okay now it's discussion time joe burrow 20 of 30 165 yards three carries for a yard against the Tennessee Titans. One of the top teams that we target with our fantasy quarterbacks because they are a pass funnel. It's difficult to run on them. Historically been very easy to pass on them, and yet Burrow and company could not get anything going. Burrow was getting demolished back there,

so I'm not saying it's all Joe Burrow's fault, but the Bengals, T. Higgins will be out. demolished back there, so I'm not saying it's all Joe Burrow's fault, but the Bengals, T. Higgins will be out. What do you do with Joe Burrow moving forward? Are we continuing to force him into the lineup? He gets to play Arizona and then Seattle. That could help him get his momentum, get his mojo back. No, no, no, no, no. You are not putting

Joe Burrow in your lineup. You have to wait until he looks healthy. He is destroying. It's not like, like, here's why I kept saying you start Justin Fields, because when Justin Fields was sucking, he was scoring 15 fantasy points. He was not just, he wasn't making it to where you couldn't win matchups. Joe Burrow's fantasy points, 3.2, 8.22 4.7 at the quarterback position you can't have that in your lineup and that's now he loses T Higgins I know it's a even if it's a good matchup against Arizona you have to see that he looks right before you can put him in your lineup it's it's really bad and when I say that the Bengals aren't making the playoffs so you've got two winnable matchups here then they're bi-week good hopefully you get healthy coming playoffs. So you've got two winnable matchups here. Then they're bi-week. Good. Hopefully you get healthy. Coming out of that, you've got the 49ers,

you've got the Buffalo Bills, and then two weeks later, the Ravens. I mean, it's going to be tough sledding. I mean, they're already a three-loss team, and they haven't scored 20 points in three of their four games. They've scored three points in two of their four games. It's just, it's, it's, um, devastatingly bad. If they were to come out on the road against Arizona and lose, which is absolutely possible. I mean, Arizona at home just beat the Cowboys who handed Bill Belichick his worst loss of his career this week. If this version of Joe Burrow and T. Higgins

Bengals comes over and loses, you might see Burrow shut down for a while. Trevor Lawrence, 23 completed passes, 207 yards, one passing touchdown. He did give you 42 yards on the ground. So QB 15 certainly could have gone worse, but that is 207 yards one passing touchdown he did give you 42 yards on the ground so qb 15

certainly certainly could have gone worse but that is very very disappointing so we're talking four total passing touchdowns in four games that's the problem uh i imagine wait oh no ridley won't be on this list because he did catch a touchdown. But Calvin Ridley – so let's do a Calvin Ridley discussion then because it has been all Christian Kirk the past couple weeks here. Calvin Ridley caught the early touchdown. This was at the very beginning of the game. Did anyone watch any of the Toy Story stuff? I didn't.

I wanted to see it. It was novel, and it's funny to see adults on the internet were reacting very negatively on a product that's created for small children. Really? Come on, people. So, I mean, the tech is very interesting. It was pretty buggy, but I don't know.

You know, it's fine. But the point being, Calvin Ridley, early touchdown, ends the game with two targets. Yeah, and really, if you go from week two on, he's not the target leader. Like you said, it's Christian Kirk. I think it's Evan Ingram after that. Like, Calvin Ridley has not been where you want him to be in the pecking order.

He's a little bit banged up. I'm not moving away from him. Maybe that's pig-headed and stubborn, but he's still talented. 34% target share, 20%, 18%, 7%. Yeah, this last week was bad. Where where we're going we don't need roads i do wonder um if he was banged up he got so hurt the the week prior yeah multiple times in that game yes um but you know tbd they've got buffalo in london this coming week so it's not a great matchup up all right here it is Derek Carr 23 completed passes for 127 yards it was impossible to watch it was I don't think you have them all out yeah yeah no at all like you there's a lot more there's 23 farts to get out 23 of of 37 it was infuriating watching the Saints try to play

offense they couldn't do it why was Derek Carr in this game I have to believe this is because of the shoulder is why he played totally differently than he's ever played in his career. I'm going to side with yes. But if that's all you can do is snap the ball and check it down, snap the ball and check it down, if that's really all you can do, you should not be behind center. So like Chris Olave. Chris Olave managers really, really hurt, disappointed. It was a terrible game.

And he had no chance. No chance. I mean derrick carr would not look down the field derrick carr couldn't throw the ball down the field and so man does that scare you for like this coming weekend at new england derrick carr is going to be the starter is his shoulder just magically healed 0.4 air yards per completion 0.4 air yards per completion. What? 0.4 air yards per completion, the lowest number tracked by next-gen stats in over a year. Nice.

At the running back position, Tony Pollard. It was another weird game script that's kind of the struggle point for the Dallas Cowboys' offensive pieces is that they just beat down the opponent, especially on the defensive side of the football. They're not going to beat down the San Francisco 49ers next week.

You're not worried about Tony Pollard. No, no, no. He looks great. It was a disappointing output, but whatever. I don't care. I will say I'm a little concerned about his inefficiencies with the five zone. Week one was great against the Giants, but then the last two weeks, it's only two carries.

You don't get a lot of opportunities inside the five. But both this past week, one carry for negative four yards. The week against Arizona, one for negative two. Their red zone offense is kind of broken right now so that lowers your scoring opportunity remandre stevenson don't worry both him and zeke showed up on this list despite the insider reports that ezekiel elliott is going to quote see starter Yeah. It was nice to see 14 carries for Ramondre, only six to Zeke. Ramondre is still the guy.

This was a very difficult matchup in Dallas on the road. He has another very difficult matchup next week against the New Orleans Saints, and then I will be trading for him. That's how I view Ramondre. I don't mind that. Raheem Mostert, yeah, two fumbles, seven for nine on the ground. Got to move on from that one. Miles Sanders, another.

Miles Sanders, he was struggling with a groin injury, and then Chuba out snapped. And we had some concern for him during the show because a groin strain, it's not nothing. And clearly the Panthers agreed as Chuba was out there, and Chuba looked better because he's healthy. I would not have wanted to start Miles Sanders after getting downgraded on Thursday.

I was telling people to pick up Chuba. Obviously, if he's active, maybe it's difficult to bench him, but I would continue benching him next week. He's going to be on the road against Detroit. That's a bad matchup for running backs. Wait until he gets healthy. James Conner, he could not volume himself into a good game on this one. 11 for 52 against the 49ers. He looks good on a per-touch basis. Those are great numbers, but Joshua Dobbs was stealing a lot of the production. Jerome Ford, he did have six targets, and it was –

man, it's so difficult to gauge are you happy or not yet by picking up Jerome Ford because it was the horrifically bad matchup in his first attempt, which he scored the two touchdowns, and then this completely broken offense. He goes into the bye week. Watson should be ready to go for the next week. But then it's San Francisco. I don't know.

Just give Jerome Ford a little bit of time. It is more of a timeshare than we were expected with Pierce Strong getting work and Kareem Hunt as well. At the wide receiver position, Chris Olave. That was a Derek Carr problem. Jalen Waddell only four for 46. Debo this I know he was hurt and we weren't

exactly even sure he was going to play but no targets, 3 carries on the ground 6 rushing yards didn't need him the team did not need him he was a distraction out there opening things up, Brandon Ayuk had a ton of yardage.

He had a great game. Are you making anything out of this? No, not at all. Not at all. He was hurt. They didn't need him at all. Why put the ball in his hands to re-aggravate the injury if you don't need him?

Amari Cooper, I just chalked that up for the Cleveland Browns, but Elijah Moore should be highlighted for his one carry for negative 20 yards. That play, man. One of the most boneheaded plays that it's so egregiously bad of him just continuing to run back, thinking he's going to be able to turn the field against NFL defenders like this crap. Maybe it works in college against a really inferior opponent, but he just kept going backwards. It was, it was, we were like,

what are you doing? Elijah, go down. No, I could go back even further. So he had negative 20 yards on that one carry. I can't believe the team let him didn't bench him for the next play. It was insane.

It was like, it was like it was like the clock had hit zero and you have no other choice there is this is the last play of the game and the only thing you can do is just not go down you're going that way elijah our end zone is that way yeah it's it was spectacular but again dorian th-Robinson, he's the rookie for the Cleveland Browns. It was just not happening. Mike Evans, he left with an injury. Also tougher matchup against Lattimore. It happens.

Michael Pittman, this one was very disappointing considering, I mean, Anthony Richardson had a fine day. The tight ends did the work, including a Jack is gigantic on this list. Come on guys. How was gigantic or not being highlighted in the studs? You just highlighted them. Now it was only one catch, but it was a beast catch. Yeah.

How many guys did he run over? How many guys are on the field? 11. But anyway, so Michael Pittman only one for 15. He had a two point conversion to, you know to wash the skid marks out a little bit. George Pickens, three for 25. It's going to be up and down. Are you excited for Trubisky with him, or how do you gauge that situation?

I think it could be an upgrade. I don't think it's going to be a downgrade going from Pickett, but it's probably just neutral. I am excited for George Pickett just in general. I think he'll be the number one read and he's talented. This was a bad matchup, a bad game.

The Steelers got just dominated. Yes. It was really surprising. Oh, yeah. The hype shirts. Yeah, I know. i totally forgot about that so if you missed this uh anthony richardson and michael pitman they had t-shirts there were matchy t-shirts the poster of the movie stepbrothers and they had put their faces on them because insinuating did we just become best friends and apparently best friends don't

throw catchable targets to each other yeah i think when i declare some of my best friend i give them good gifts i give yeah yes i give them so many great presents jordan addison oh my i don't understand how i don't understand what happened for the Vikings. They started with a pick six, and then they went on to win the game. But Hawkinson sucked. Kirk Cousins sucked. Addison is only on the field in 11 personnel.

They ran fewer 11 personnel snaps. Such a strange decision to us, but they won the game, so then they're going to pat themselves on the back. Jacoby Myers, it didn't happen. Aiden O'Connell was the rookie who played for the Raiders. Jacoby did have a huge... You talking about Farva?

Yeah. He really wanted a leader of Cola. Jacoby did have a huge catch that was called back on an OPI. They would have saved the day for him. But the fill-in rookie quarterbacks, it was not a great day for them. Tank Dell, not a great day.

George Kittle, one target. Super disappointing. Debo had zero catches. George Kittle had one catch. But Christian McGotfrey had all of the yards. It was basically a two-man show. If they were passing the ball, it was down the field deep to a pretty much wide-open Brandon Ayuk.

And otherwise, it was just give the ball to Christian McCaffrey and let him do his work. That's the issue with the San Francisco 49ers, is that there is not a consolidation. There's four phenomenal, talented players on this roster, and you're not going to usually have more than two of them have a great game at the same time. TJ Hawkinson, also another one that was shocking to me. He only had two for 24, and just a matter of happenstance,

I guess when you're trying to watch nine TVs and you see both of Hawkinson's good receptions you're like oh no Hawkinson's getting worked in no no what a weird day for the Minnesota Vikings um also I get apparently it wasn't good enough for Brooks uh Alexander Madison had himself another really strong game on the ground. Cam Akers was the backup. They said they were going to ride the hot hand. They gave Alexander Madison plenty of opportunity. I think he played the first two drives,

looked very competent again on the ground. Cam Akers will eat into the workload. So how are you now? You guys were not on the Madison side like I was. So how do you feel now about the situation? Two not huge fantasy games because he didn't get a touchdown, but two very strong rushing performances. That looks like this is a starting running back right now.

He just needed that motivation, man. He needed Cam on the team to finally get up there. 5.6 yards of carry. He had a very nice game commanding market share leader in that backfield. It's only the first game for Cam, so I'm not going to read too much into the splits yet. But it says you could keep starting Alexander Madison until otherwise. I think that's probably good advice.

Just start him until – don't bail. He's had two good games. Yeah. I think the Vikings will keep going to him, but there is a chance that he fumbles and then it's done and then it's the Cam Akers show. Dallas Goddard – This is concerning.

At what point do we downsize his pants? Because this guy has been. He's just stunk. Let's see. Let's read the fantasy points so far for Dallas Goddard. Zero. That's a bad one. I hate when I have zero.

5.2, 6.6, and 3.5. Those are fantasy points. Yeah, that's on a per week I mean that's just terrible I don't know where you go Cause I mean I'd rather I think I'd rather Play Dallas Goddard than chasing Some new hotness off the waiver wire

But it's like Fergalicious He might still be on people's Waiver wires I'd much rather play Fergalicious. I would rather play Hunter Henry. I think there are guys that started the year on waivers. They were probably picked up, but they might have been

picked up by the Dallas Goddard manager. And at this point, I mean, we've got a month of not good utilization, and it's with a new offensive coordinator, and the team is undefeated. So it's not and it's with a new offensive coordinator and the team is undefeated so it's not like it's you know it's this could just be the new norm and kyle pitts is here but he'll be here every week kyle pitts doesn't deserve to be here yeah it wouldn't at what point do we downsize his

pants i think last year i mean kyle pitts does not have big boy pants. Kyle Pitts should not be rostered. And you move on. Atlanta, treat him. Do it. Do the right thing. We made it through the show. Does anybody have anything else that we missed? Any breaking news back there, Brooks?

No, sir. No, we're doing all right. So that'll do it for today's show. Tomorrow, it is waiver time. We got some big decisions that we will have to make, a couple of interesting running back targets. But that'll do it for the Ducers, for J-Riz, for Jason, for me. See you tomorrow.

Goodbye. Bye-bye. 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.