Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots October 7, 2018 - Sunday Morning Tailgate

Episode Date: October 7, 2018

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Hey there everybody, welcome on into a Sunday morning tailgate installment of Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield sliding into the big chair for your NFL Sunday. Going to get your day kicked off right here. We're going to do some injury news and note stuff at the outset. We're going to talk some DFS recommendations for you fantasy guys and girls out there. We're also going to recap yesterday's slate of college football action with an eye towards some quarterback stuff.

I know for probably 90% of you listening out there, today's more of a relaxed NFL Sunday as the Patriots obviously are off today, coming off their Thursday night victory over the Indianapolis Colts. But you've probably got some fantasy things you're curious about. You've got some DFS stuff you might be wondering about. Maybe you missed some of the college football action yesterday. I know it's wedding season out there, so we're going to do what I can to get you guys caught up. For the rest of you guys and girls out there that aren't

Pats fans, well, here's some stuff that might be pertinent to your team and what you're going to be looking for as you settle in for a nice long day of NFL action. Before we do, though, a reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Check out the work at places like InsideThePylon.com, Pro Football Weekly, The Score, Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio, Big Blue View, Minnesota Rivals. Minnesota's struggling right now, but we forge on. As I've said before, though, if there's a website, if there's an outlet that's covering football, college or pro or even high school,ances are I'm doing some work for them. Let's get into it now. Let's get into some injury news and notes. And we're going to get to the

Chiefs' Jacksonville stuff in a bit, but some other stuff coming out as well as Patriots news, if you can believe it or not. We do have some Patriots news to talk about. Cyrus Jones waved. Second time he's been cut from the Patriots. The 2016 second rounder could re-sign to the practice squad if he clears waivers. Another Patriot, maybe future Patriot, in the news? Mike Gilleslie, released by the New Orleans Saints. Gilleslie not needed with Mark Ingram coming back from suspension. The Patriots, we know, are thin on running backs right now. He might end up back in Foxborough. Some other Week 5 injury news and notes, though, that you might want to know about before you finalize your lineups this morning.

Paul Richardson, wide receiver for the Redskins. He has been removed from the Week 5 injury report. He practiced in full Saturday after he was being limited in practice the past two days. He's in line for an expanded role. Josh Doxon has a foot injury, and he is questionable. Alvin Kamara, completely healthy right now. He was removed from the Week 5 injury report. He was limited in practice this week, but the Saints are just kind of managing his practice reps.

Now, Ingram's back, but I don't think Kamara's touches are going to take that big of a hit. I think he's still such a valuable weapon for that Saints offense that I wouldn't have any sort of hesitation about, you know, making him, you know, obviously putting him in your lineup. So no worries about Alvin Kamara. Another player that looks to be good to go, Adrian Peterson. He was removed from the Redskins Week 5 injury report. He rested Wednesday but practiced the past couple of days, so he should be good to go. Doxon, however, he's still listed as questionable. He was on a walking boot on Friday. I wouldn't expect Doxon to go. If you have Doxon on your roster, you might want to go with a Maurice Harris-type handcuff if you don't have any other type options. Some other Saints news. Ted Ginn

has been ruled out against the Washington Redskins. So Traequan Smith, he's probably going to see a bigger role. Smith got more snaps than Cameron Meredith last week. He's probably somebody that you're going to want to have in place. If you've got him, make him a flex option this week. With Ginn down, it's a potential breakout spot for Smith after a quiet first month. Some other news. Cameron Wake out for this interesting Week 5 clash between the Dolphins and the Bengals. Wake did not practice all week.

Was surprisingly considered doubtful rather than being labeled as out. But he is now out. That defensive line for Miami, they're in a tough spot. Andre Branch, he's listed as questionable as well. And they're already suffering some other injuries on that defensive line. Some other news around the league. Marvin Lewis reportedly does not expect to fully unleash Joe Mixon in Week 5 against the Dolphins.

Again, staying with that Cincinnati-Miami game. We're going to see which 3-1 team is for real in that one. Lewis reportedly noted there were limits for Mixon due to his condition and taking a hit during his rehab. Without Giovanni Bernard on Sunday, Mark Walton could get a lot more snaps than initially expected. So that's something to watch. Cowboys center Travis Frederick placed on injured reserve. The Cowboys were hopeful Frederick could return with a Goodyear-Barr syndrome. He hasn't practiced since being diagnosed with that two months ago.

He's eligible to come back if cleared by doctors for the final three games, but I'd expect we're going to see a lot of Joe Looney at center. David Irvin added to the 53-man roster, and we just hope for the best for Travis Frederick. Marquette King placed on injured reserve by the Broncos. Colby Waldman promoted from the practice squad. He can return if his thigh fully heals later this year. Evan Ingram.

He was seen running and doing some light, cutting off to the side of Saturday's practice for the New York Giants. He won't be back this week, and they've got a short week against the Eagles on Thursday night, so I wouldn't expect him back in week six. Those of you like myself who are all in on Evan Ingram are going to have to either remain patient or just cut bait right now. I'm going to remain patient so that's the route I'm going to take. Let's now talk. Obviously the big game this week that's gotten a lot of buzz, that Chiefs-Jaguars game. That's a game

that I'm certainly excited to watch. Eric Berry with his heel injury remains doubtful for this game against Jacksonville. He'll miss his fifth straight game. He has yet to practice this season. He remains out indefinitely. Sammy Watkins, hamstring injury. He is listed as questionable for week five against Jacksonville. Flipping it, though, talking about those Jaguars for a second. The big one, Leonard Fournette. He is ruled out with a hamstring injury. In a moment, I'm going to play some audio for you. The guys over at Locked on Jaguars sat down with a former Jacksonville Jaguars team doctor

to talk about Fournette's injury. Thought this audio might be very interesting for you. Some other people to watch. DJ Hayden, Jacksonville cornerback. He is out with a toe injury. Tyler Patman will continue to fill in as their nickel corner. TJ Yeldon was not listed on their final injury report for this game against the Chiefs. He's been limited. He might not see as much passing down work. Corey Grant might see that, but Yeldon will probably get the workman's share of snaps at the running back spot.

Austin Safarian-Jakins with a core injury. He should be good to go against the Chiefs, so that's something to watch there. Right now, though, I'm going to play for you that audio of the guys over at Locked on Jaguars talking with a former team doctor about Fournette. Just with your experience and your history with just athletes, can you just kind of tell us how serious or how nagging these hamstrings can be and maybe what maybe the best course of action could be for leonard fournette moving forward hamstring injuries in and of themselves can be

very nagging particularly on those um skilled position athletes and football players so and i don't know fornette's history like did he have a hamstring injury while he was at lsu but i would imagine he may have because i know he was kind of injury prone when he was there as well um but anyone anytime you have a hamstring injury you're more inept to have another hamstring injury and continue to have them over time. And him coming back in the Jets game kind of showed us he probably came back a little too soon. And a lot of times we don't know. We don't know when to say, OK, when is he good?

He may feel good. He may feel good running drills in practice. But game time speed is always going to be different than practice. And so you can't really put the stress on any part of your body as much as you can while you're in the game. And so I believe this will always be a nagging injury for him. Now, how long is it going to take for him to get back? We don't know.

Now, there are studies that show that initially it showed that MRI can help us determine, well, how long is this going to take? It's going to take two weeks, four weeks, or six weeks, depending on the grade of injury to the hamstring it is or where the injury in the hamstring is it? Is it at the muscle belly or is that where the muscle and the tendon come together or is it in the tendon and is that going to determine recovery? Well, there are other studies that negate that. They basically say you can't really tell. So it's a-by-day, week-by-week type of thing. We just have to figure out how he's doing. It's very tough to say Fournette's going to be good in four weeks or Fournette's going to be good in two weeks. Very difficult to tell.

Again, what you heard there was Dr. Aaron Bates of Southeast Orthopedic Specialist, former Jaguars team doctor, joining the guys over at Locked On Jaguars to talk a little bit about Fournette's hamstring. So give those guys a follow. Give those guys listens as well. Up next, I'm going to be back with my DFS recommendations for today's slate of games. That's ahead on this Sunday morning tailgate

installment of Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you on this Sunday morning tailgate installment of Locked On Patriots, helping you start off your NFL football Sunday the right way. Hope you've got your breakfast, your coffee, your tea, your beverage of choice getting ready. Maybe, like me,

with the Pats not playing today, you're a Pats fan, you're going to do some other stuff. Maybe get a choice, getting ready. Maybe like me, when the Pat's not playing today, you're a Pat's fan, you're going to do some other stuff. Maybe get a good little Saturday plan, some Home Depot, some Bed Bath & Beyond, maybe even Lowe's if you get a little bit of time. Take me along for the errands. By the way, when you're there, make sure to stock up on all the stuff you need to get your garden ready for fall planting. I've already got my onions, my shallots, my garlic in the ground. Had a bumper crop of both shallots and garlic that I'm replanting. Really excited about what next spring's crop is going to look like.

And my banana peppers, crushing it right now. If you need gardening advice, you can check out my new show, Locked on Gardening. That's a joke for now. But let's talk some DFS stuff, you guys and girls out there. Get your blue chip picks, your value plays at each of the skill positions. Let's start, of course, with quarterback. Matt Ryan at Pittsburgh is your blue chip pick, $8,300 over on FanDuel.

And this is, first of all, a facet in a game. Both the Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, this might be a must-win game for both of those teams. Matt Ryan going up against a defense that has allowed 28.9 points per game to opposing passers this season. That's on FanDuel. That Steelers defense is struggle town right now against the pass. Quarterbacks have put up huge numbers against them. Obviously, we saw what Ryan Fitzpatrick did just a couple weeks ago. And so I think Matt Ryan was off to a pretty good start.

He might make a lot of sense for you if you wanted to spend a little bit at the quarterback position this week in your DFS plays. Stidler's also given up an adjusted net yards per attempt to opposing quarterbacks of 7.4, which is ninth most in the league. It's not quite what Tampa Bay has given up, that 10.0 number, which is Mahomes-esque right now, but it's still a big number. If you want to go value, Blake Bortles.

That's right. Blake Bortles, the boat, going up against a Kansas City Chiefs defense that has surrendered eight touchdown passes, that has given up 7.9 yards per attempt, 8.3 adjusted yards per attempt, over 328 yards per game to opposing passers, given up a quarterback rating of 100.1 to opposing passers, adjusted net yards per attempt of 7.5, seventh most in the league to opposing passers. This Chiefs pass defense, in terms of expected points contributed by passing defense, minus 56.95. Another pass defense that is struggling. Blake Boyles is going to put up some numbers against these guys. He's going off right

now $7,000. That's it on FanDuel. So you can really load up at other positions and go with the boat at quarterback. Let's switch gears now. Look at running backs, your blue chip selection, Christian McCaffrey versus the New York Giants. Why McCaffrey? Well, a number of reasons. First, they're coming off a bye. I expect them to get him involved big time against this Giants defense. A Giants defense giving up 27 and a half points per game to running backs. That's on FanDuel. That's sixth most in the league.

And in terms of a run defense, what are the Giants doing run defense-wise? Well, they're giving up 126 yards per game to running backs. That's fourth most in the league. This is a run defense that is struggling. Expected points contributed by the Giants run defense right now, minus 9.55 per game. Christian McCaffrey is going to get some touches. Yeah, he's $8,100 on Fandu, but he might be worth every penny. If you want to go cheap, though, Matt Breida.

I'm all over him this year. He's been helping me so far against Arizona. That's another run defense that is struggling, giving up 141.3 yards per game. In terms of what they're giving up to running backs, an NFL worst, 34.4 points per game on FanDuel. I think Brita is becoming a focal point for this 49ers offense. Obviously, with Jimmy Garoppolo down, they're going to run the ball more. They're going to try to work the clock a little bit more with C.J. Beathard. Brita is going to have a big bonus as a result of that. So, as somebody that's just going $6,200 on FanDuel,

might want to be all over that one. Let's kick it to the wide receivers right now. If you want to go with a Ryan Julio Jones stack, I think that would make a ton of sense. Julio's $8,800 on FanDuel right now for all the same reasons we talked about going up against that Pittsburgh defense. But if you want to go in a different direction,

Stephon Diggs, $8,200 on FanDuel going up against that Pittsburgh defense. But if you want to go in a different direction, Stephon Diggs, 8,200 on Fandu going up against the Philadelphia Eagles. Why Diggs? Double moves. He runs them so incredibly well. Jalen Mills doesn't cover them all that well. I'd expect to see a couple of out and ups early in that game. Maybe hit some deep shots from Kirk Cousins to Stephon Diggs against Jalen Mills. That might be a pretty smart play if you want to spend some money at the wide receiver position. If you want to go on the cheap, Jordy Nelson, Raiders at Chargers, he's just 5,600 on FanDuel right now. This Raiders offense, I've talked about it with Matt Waldman and others. Marshawn Lynch pointed it out that they're just a couple of plays away from really

putting it all together on the offensive side of the ball. And I think this isn't the John Gruden, my way or the highway type of offense. They've done a little bit more of a modernization to that West Coast offense. The Chargers on defense, giving up 37.8 points per game to wide receivers. That's a big number. Fourth most in the lead, just behind the Steelers, and then a little bit more behind the Bucs and the Saints. Jordan Nelson, pretty cheap, might be a very good option for you if you want to go value at the wide receiver position. Tight ends, a bit of a curious position this weekend. Tight end has been a position that has kind of been curious all season long. There have been some bad matchups for tight ends this year. There have been some

weeks where Gronk, for example, who might be your sort of blue chip pick on a given week, just didn't really play well. And so it's been a strange year when you're trying to fill out your DFS slate, pick your guys at the tight end position. And this week, it's really no different. You could go Travis Kelsey, but against that Jacksonville defense, do you really want to go that route? Especially when you see what this Jacksonville defense has done against tight ends. 5.4 points per game on FanDuel.

That is the fewest in the league. So maybe you want to shy away from Travis Kelsey. I certainly do. Then you might look at Zach Ertz. Going up against Minnesota. Well, Minnesota's given up 9.7 points per game on FanDuel. That's not even in the top 10. Now, maybe you don't want to do that.

And I'd understand that. What are you going to do? Are you going to go George Kittle? I mean, you might do that, but then you're betting on C.J. Beathard. You know, you could go Jared Cook. You know, that wouldn't be the worst option in the world, but Cook's going up against a Chargers defense that just 8.7 points per game to tight ends.

And so it's a strange week. And so our blue chip pick, believe it or not, is Ricky Seals-Jones for the Arizona Cardinals up against the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers are giving up 13.7 points per game on FanDuel to the tight ends. They struggle a little bit covering tight ends. And the reason why I like Ricky Seals-Jones is, check out the piece I wrote for Pro Football Weekly about Josh Rosen's first NFL start.

He, Rosen, and Ricky Seals-Jones are already showing some chemistry. Rosen's second NFL start. I think he's going to keep looking at Ricky Seals-Jones. Yeah, he's just $5,100 on FanDuel. I think it's a very good value pick, even though it's our, quote, blue-chip selection. Our value selection is Jordan Leggett of the New York Jets against the Denver Broncos.

Denver giving up 15.1 points per game, two tight ends this year. And Jordan Leggett, he's obviously not the sexiest name out there at the tight end position, but he's a player that I also think is showing a little bit of chemistry with his rookie quarterback in Sam Donald. I mean, you look at what Jordan Leggett has done so far this season. Not huge numbers, just five targets, three receptions, one touchdown. But this is a tight end position for the New York Jets that he was probably their go-to guy, him or Christopher Herndon. And so maybe it's a bit of a wild card here.

Maybe it's a bit of a shot in the dark, throw it a dartboard, but that's what sometimes wins DFS games. So if you want to stomach it, Jordan Leggett. So those are your DFS plays, guys and girls. Hopefully we do some good work this week. We're a little shaky right now.

Hopefully this week's a little bit better. Up next, we're going to recap some of what was unfolding yesterday afternoon into yesterday evening and last night on the college football stage. That's ahead on this Sunday morning tailgate installment of Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now on this Sunday morning tailgate installment of Locked On Patriots. Going to quickly close this out with a recap of just some of the news and notes and highlights from yesterday's college football slate.

Starting at the top of the top 25. Yesterday wasn't the best slate of games. Not by a long shot. You know, you get Alabama just steamrolling Arkansas. That Arkansas team looks bad right now. 65-31. You know, Tua might win the Heisman and not even attempt

might not even see the most action for Alabama quarterback because he's out of so many games by halftime. This was a game that Alabama was up 41-14 at the half. Nobody gave Arkansas a chance at that point. Ohio State, Indiana played them close. Ohio State

though with 14 points in the fourth quarter to pull away late, 49-26 over Indiana. Dwayne Haskins, 33-44 for 455-6, count of one, two, three, four, five, six tutties. Kick and play. I know a lot of people, myself included, are really saying Justin Herbert is kind of pulling away right now in that sort of QB1 discussion. Now, there are some other guys that I like, but I think he has the most promise that I've seen. But Haskins, if he decides to come out, which he might, especially if Herbert decides to go back to school, which he also hinted at this week, then we might have an interesting decision. Clemson, a week after, soon to get a little bit of a scare with Syracuse. Back to form here.

63-3 over Wake Forest. Trevor Lawrence settling back in as their starting quarterback. 20-25, 175, and two touchdowns. And perhaps the two games in the afternoon slate where they're the most excited. Florida knocks off LSU. 27-19, scoring 13 in the

fourth quarter. Joe Burrow, though, LSU's quarterback. 19-34. I was starting to wonder, is Burrow legit? Should I start studying him? 19-34, 191, but two interceptions. Texas knocks off Oklahoma in the Red River Battle. 48-45 on a late field goal. 40 yards with just nine seconds left.

That was a really fun game to keep tabs on. Will Greer. Four more touchdown passes. He's really helping me in my dynasty CFB league right now. West Virginia rolls 38-22. Miami knocks off Florida State 28-27. That was an interesting one. This was an interesting score.

Northwestern comes into this game against Michigan State, struggling, just 1-3 overall, Just 1-1 in the Big Ten. Clayton Thorson hadn't been playing well. He really needed a big-type game to get back into the discussion. Clayton Thorson goes 31-47 for 373-3 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Brian Lewerke, who a lot of people were looking at, hey, don't sleep on this kid, 31-51 for 329-1 touchdown, one interception, a QBR't sleep on this kid. 31-51 for 329, one touchdown, one interception,

a QBR of just 38.4. He's sort of really fallen off in that sort of quarterback discussion after really getting out ahead of it. NC State, they knock off Boston College 28-23. Ryan Finley continues to roll on, just smart, efficient football. 25-34, 30, and two touchdown passes. I was on radio out in Oregon Friday afternoon.

I was asked about Ryan Finley. And yes, I made the Patriots connection again, that NC State sort of pipeline. Colorado knocks off Arizona State. Steven Montes, another quarterback people need to start paying attention to. 24-33 for 3-28, two touchdown passes. Let's kick it down a level. You know I like talking about the FCS stuff. Well, looking around the FCS slate, wasn't a ton of interesting stuff that went down. When you look at some of the games, some of the results, some of the finals, New Hampshire, nice 28.

Nothing victory of a Holy Cross. New Hampshire's first win of the season. I was surprised that they started off 0-4. Trevor Knight, a quarterback that I studied, 37-4, a touchdown passes. Anthony Lawrence for San Diego. They moved to 2-0 in the in-conference. 3-2 overall. Anthony Lawrence throws for 3, 54, 19 of 30 for five touchdown passes.

He was a fun guy to study. He's just an undersized quarterback. The Pioneer Conference, last I checked, was a non-scholarship FCS conference. Still, I liked watching Anthony Lawrence. Some other FCS games of note. Georgetown over Fordham. Samford. 66-28 over Western Carolina.

Samford getting it to just a 2-4. This is a team that, remember, they almost knocked off Florida State. Devlin Hodges, 44-60 for 5-62 and 6 touchdown passes. Hodges set three school records in this game, if you can believe it. He set or tied six school records, including six touchdown passes. He also had eight carries for 24 yards on his score. He had scoring passes of 26, 23, 16, and 32 in the first quarter, plus a 19-yard touchdown run to give Sampert a 45-0 lead after just one quarter. After 68 and 3-yard touchdown passes in the third quarter to give them a plus a 19 yard touchdown run to give Sampert a 45 nothing lead after just one quarter after 68 and three yard touchdown passes in the third quarter he had

accounted for seven touchdowns tying the school record Hodges Devlin Hodges with a huge game I'd love to see him in like a shrine bowl type situation this summer anyway that was kind of a look at some of the quick CFB slash college quarterback stuff. That will do it for today's show. I will be back, give you a little preview as to how this week's going to work. Obviously, it's a little bit different. Monday's show is going to be more of a NFL recap type flavor. Tuesday, we are going to do Tape Tuesday, but I'm doing it a little differently. Tape Tuesday in the trenches.

I was thinking about it today, going through the morning routine, thinking about what I was going to do for you guys this week. And it hit me that I spend so much time talking about the quarterbacks and the passing game and the skill position. I don't give the guys in the trenches enough love. So I'm going to re-watch that Thursday night game, just looking at the guys up front on both sides of the ball. That's going to be our Tape Tuesday focus. Wednesday, we'll get into the crossover stuff. We've got a big one to talk about. And the week ahead, it's going to be a fun one.

As for now, though, enjoy your NFL Sundays. For you Pats fans like me, it's going to be a little bit relaxing. Not as stressful, but hey, still a day of football. Until tomorrow, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots. you