The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Dr. Roto's Fantasy Football Feature Week 11

Episode Date: November 14, 2019

Dr Roto joins Matt with his Fantasy Football advice as the NFL Season rolls on into week 11

The good doctor is back with us here on Sports Talk 790 for a 30-minute conversation about all things about fantasy football. We'll start tonight with Pittsburgh and Cleveland. This game feels a little more intriguing than might have been maybe, say, two or three weeks ago. Is that fair to say? Yeah, it's a divisional game. It's two teams that hate each other. It's Thursday night. We're ready for football.

So it is intriguing. You know, look, Pittsburgh has James Connor coming back. I think that is huge. Jaylen Samuels is good out of the backfield catching the football, but not. really good running the football, everything will go through Connor and the Steelers will be better. They needed him desperately. The problem is Mason Rudolph hasn't thrown for 300 yards ever, right? He's had four games of filling under 200 yards.

So I don't expect a huge day. And the problem is when you've got a young quarterback like that, you know, one player does well, but four players don't do well. And that fantasy wise is a nightmare. I play Connor for sure. Maybe Juju the rest of it, I just don't feel great about. But for the Browns, I absolutely was wrong about Baker Mayfield. I thought he was going to be a star. But you know that he has more interceptions than touchdown passes?

I mean, that's really embarrassing at this point. But look, Nick Chubb is always in play. Kareem Hunt, if you're in a PPR league, is in play. And Beckham loves the bright lights and he likes being on TV, so he should make a play tonight. You were talking about Rudolph. And I think a lot of it is because of so many injuries are starting quarterbacks. But has the quarterback position this year top to bottom kind of let most of us down? I think it has.

I mean, I just think that, you know, the game itself, we love football, right? We love watching football. But I don't think the game's as good as it once was. A lot of backup quarterbacks here, not very talented. Maybe these guys aren't getting enough reps in practice. Maybe they need more. I mean, Rudolph, I loved him in college. I watched this guy play.

I was like, wow, this guy could be a pro. He looks lost out there. So, you know, is everybody good? Of course not. But we have expectations that these guys are going to get in the lineup. and they've just been big disappointments. All right, I was in New Orleans last week. The Saints laid a big time egg against the Atlanta Falcons.

Can they bounce back at Tampa Drew Bree? You seem to think they can. Oh, they're going to bounce back in a large way. So, I mean, the Bucks have no secondary to speak of. Hargraves was cut. Another guy there is injured. They are in big trouble. Michael Thomas should have, I don't know, 27 catches this week.

Something crazy. Jared Cook is going to score. Kamara's going to score. The Saints are pissed off. And rightfully so. They laid a big egg. And kudos to the Falcons who played the best defensive game. They played the last 10 years.

All right. Let's get to now, Kirk Cousins. We teased it last week about the fact that he plays well in noon games, not so much the other time slots, although he was really good. So were the Vikings against the Cowboys last week. Are they due for a letdown after that big win at Dallas? Well, look, the Vikings are a solid team,

and they are all dependent on the running game. They beat Dallas last week for 10. two reasons. One, Dalvin Cook was the best player in the field. And secondly, Dallas started to run the ball at the end of the game, which made no sense to anybody on planet Earth. Right. If Dalvin Cook can run the football again, they win. It's as simple as that. Denver's run defense has been horrific, but recently it's been very good. And they've got a shutdown cornerback in Chris Harris, who can shut down Stefan Diggs. I think this is one of those 1916 really ugly games. Maybe Cousins gets 220, 230 yards and a touchdown, but I don't see much more than that.

Yeah, honestly, when you say 1960, that means I'm kind of shying away from some of those Minnesota players, right? As well, you should. I mean, look, we love Cook, we play Cook. But if I don't like Diggs, do we really trust Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith and B.C. Johnson? I don't think any of those guys are playable. I'm only playing Cook happily and Diggs if I have to. All right, Buffalo's at Miami. me, the Dolphins have a winning streak. We don't care about the records. We care about how those impact players are fantasy-wise. Had their skill position players amped up a little bit in the last couple weeks?

Well, look, Fitzpatrick is not a bad quarterback. Kaelin Belage stinks. Never play him, please. Preston Williams, sadly, is out for the year. But Devonte Parker looks pretty good. I think he's a guy that you can play. The problem is that Buffalo's past defense is really, really good. So Tadavius White is one of the best cornerbacks in football.

I don't know where Miami's going to score their points this week. I just don't see it. Belage is terrible, and if you can't throw the ball, Parker can't get open, they're in big trouble. For Buffalo, I'm all in on Devin Singletary this week. This should be a 20-touch game for him. He needs the football. He's a special player, and I'm going to give you a little narrative there. He played at Florida Atlantic.

He's going to want to have a big game. All right. Can we stay away from Jacksonville, Indianapolis, completely? I mean, quarterback unrest or who's healthy, who's not? disappointing performances offensively the last couple weeks. Is there any value in this game at all from a fantasy perspective? Well, yeah, Leonard Fournett is value. I mean, that's a good player.

Now, here's the thing with Nick Foles. Foles doesn't suck. It's just his first game back. And I think, you know, if you look at his schedule, I really like his schedule in the fantasy playoffs. I just think he's going to struggle for the first couple of weeks before he gets, you know, as he finds his rhythm. I like Leonard Fornet a lot. I think DJ Chark is always in play. D.D. Westbrook is always in play.

For the Colts, look, they're a much better team with Djokobo Berset back. You've just got to look back at last week and just throw that out. So you had Brian Hoyer there. That was bad. You've had no T.Y. Hilton. And he's their best player by far. So you're not seeing the true Colts team. The Jaguars can win this game if Nick Bowles plays well.

Everybody that caught a pass in the Dallas game was putting up huge numbers. You talked about the fact that they went to the ground game, late in the contest, which made absolutely no sense. So I'm going to presume that it's not like Detroit's secondary is amazing. Dallas should repeat those numbers again this week, right? Well, they should, but Detroit has very weak run defense number. They're one of the five worst in football. So I'm surely going to want to start to establish Zeeke.

But the truth is, Prescott, to Cooper and Gallup and Cobb, it's pretty much unstoppable. I don't see how Detroit can stop those guys. So I think what they just have to run a balance offense this week, get Zika's carries, but I don't know who did the play calling there at the end of the game. Dallas lost that game. Minnesota didn't win it as much as Dallas lost it. But I'll tell you this, Cooper has been sensational and watch Michael Gallup. If Gallup was on most of the teams in the NFL, he'd be a number one receiver.

All right, Dr. Roto, how about this Atlanta falcon team? As we mentioned, surprise the world beating the Saints in New Orleans. We've always been thinking about Atlanta being this high-octane offense, just haven't scored a lot. Could they have some success against Carolina this week? I think that's going to be a high-scoring game. Those teams always play a high-scoring affair. So let me give you four names, five names on the Falcons. Obviously, Matt Ryan, we play.

Brian Hill, right? He's going to be the starting running back. Maybe a lot of people haven't heard of him. He played last week. He played at Wyoming. He was a pretty solid player. Freeman's out. Eto Smith is on the IR.

Brian Hill is legit. You want to put him in your lineups. Julio Jones, we know. Calvin Ridley, we know. And a guy named Russell Gage, nobody knows. But he is the third receiver there. Austin Hooper is out for about a month. You will see a lot of gauge on the field.

So those are the guys you're looking for. For Carolina, Kyle Allen is not a bad little quarterback there, but McCaffrey is the best player in the game. And then I think DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel both have big weeks. Isaiah Oliver might be the worst cover quarterback in the NFL. I think he gets a match up with Moore, Samuel. Whoever he's on, you start that guy. All right, let's get to one three o'clock game.

And we'll go with New England and Philadelphia. the Patriots, you know, people don't seem to be buying in on the 8-1 side of things, more so because the offense has been so sporadic. Are we seeing any consistency in the Patriots the last month or so, or is it more of up and down when it goes with Tom Brady? Well, look, I think that this game is going to come down to one thing, the Philadelphia Eagles' ability to run the football. The last couple of games, we've seen the Patriots show that their run defense has not been great.

If Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders can run the ball, then Carson Wentz can go to some play action passing and find Jeffrey and Ertz and Goddard and stuff like that. If New England is stopping the run, this game is over because you're not going to be able to pass on New England because Alshon Jeffrey's not being able to get open against Stefan Gilmore, who's the best cover quarterback in the NFL. As for New England, never worry about Tom Brady, okay? Never worry about him. Edelman is a star. He's got James White, who's been pretty. Sanoo is getting incorporated into this offense. Remember, Brady's really been working with one receiver all year.

Edelman, it's got no tight end. They've got to figure this offense out. As long as they stay afloat into the playoffs, once they get to the playoffs, it's winning time. All right. More with Dr. Odo coming up, including his lock of the week, plus who is sitting and who is playing in the Texans versus the Baltimore Ravens. But first a word about the Black Friday sales event going on at Beck and Maston-Bewick GMC, where the 2019 inventory is all at Black Friday prices, even here in the month of November. We're talking about Sierra 1500 at $14,000 off the MSRP, a 2019 enclave, $11,000 off the MSRP.

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Online, Beckandmaston.com. The Good Doctor with us for another few minutes here on Sports Talk 790 and the Matt Thomas show. Good doctor, I have had to go through a plethora of quarterbacks. I have finally settled in on one. his name is Derek Carr, the Oakland Raiders, sneaking in the AFC playoff chase and putting up some decent numbers for me. This week they're going against winless Cincinnati. Yeah, no, I like Carr.

He's been much better than I anticipated. I don't know if he was going to make it to Las Vegas with him, but he's looked good. Problem is he's never thrown for a 300-yard game all season, but he has thrown for multiple touchdowns. So I think the big problem in this game is that people are going to assume that they're going to light the Bengals up, and they probably will, but it's going to be with the running game.

Josh Jacobs is going to run a muck against the Bengals, probably 120 yards and two touchdowns. I think Carr has a day, maybe 220, two touchdowns, but not the huge day. They're going to need them to be behind. The Raiders would have to be behind for that to happen. Is the Rams offense ever going to wake up this year, or is it just going to be just one of the big disappointments so far in the NFL? Well, look, I think there's two parts. The first part is that their offensive line is terrible. They lost a lot of guys, and they've had a lot of injuries, and Jared Gough has no

time to throw. Secondly, Jared Goff looks skittish on the road. There's something about when he plays at home where he's confident and he goes on the road and it's a different player. I like them this week. I mean, but going back to the last week, Cooper Cup, zero receptions. I mean, that's unforgivable. I've got to think that they write the ship this week. I like golf at home. Don't love them. This is going to be an ugly game, but I mean, Mitch Trubisky might be the worst quarterback in the NFL, so I'll take the ring. I had a buddy of mine, have Kyler Murray on his bench this past week. He was going against me in fantasy and took the loss. Kyle Murray's Cardinals don't seem to win much anymore, but is he going to put up big numbers

the rest of the year? Maybe a friend should be listening to the Dr. Rodo program here, Mentee. That's what I'm saying. Kyle Murray's a good player there. Murray is a very good young player with one problem. He hasn't learned to convert the field goals to the touchdowns. And when he starts doing that, he's a top five quarterback. Last week, he was able to do that because Christian Kirk just filleted that defense in Tampa. This week is a different proposition, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how the 49ers bounce back after that loss. Jimmy Garoppolo did not play exceptionally well, and the Cardinals' defense has stepped up in

recent weeks. If Garoppolo continues to play at this mediocre level, the Cardinals can sneak this victory here. Now, look, the 49ers, Matt Brida is out, Kittle is out, Sanders is not 100%. So you're looking at Debo Samuel and Kevin Coleman and those are the best players. I think the Cardinals can win this game. It's going to be a question of can Murray do enough? And David Johnson looks terrible. I beg everybody out there is listening to me.

Stop playing him. He looks like he runs at 8.2.40. They're playing Kenyon Drake over Johnson. You've got to get him out of your lineup. Did you just say 8.2.40? Yeah, that's how slow it looks, dude. Good gracious. All right.

Kansas City at the L.A. Chargers really in Mexico City. I don't mind the international games, but it always feels like the turf is going to be a problem in Mexico City because of rain or just poor turf conditions in general. Does that make you gunshine anybody involved in this game? So funny you said that because when you started talking about this game, that was the first thing I thought about. If there's always bad turf down in Mexico, I don't get it. I don't know why that always happens. So yes, I'm my little skittish, I don't feel good about it. it. At the same time, I've got

to hope that the trainers know what cleats to put on and that these guys will play well. There's a lot of opportunity here. Mahomes, right, Tyree Kill, Kelsey, Damien Williams playing again. Sammy Watkins. Philip Rivers, Melvin Gordon played well recently. Mike,

Williams hasn't scored a touchdown this year. He's due. This is one of the best fantasy games of the week. I think we just have to be all in and we just have to hope for the best and hope that the turf holds up. All right, a couple of questions coming in from folks on Twitter. Hit or miss on Jarvis Landry or Cole Beasley, and also is Juju and OBJ still must-starts? All right. I don't know whether Jarvis Landry and OBJ can coexist

in a game, right? Because you've got the running game. I think this is more of a Beckham night than a Landry night, so I won't play Landry. I will play Beckham. As for Juju, I just don't feel great about it. I mean, Conal will be back. He'll get his 20 touches. I think Juju gets maybe four or five catches. I don't see him big night. As for Cole Beasley, I love the player, but this is one of those games when you're playing Miami, they're not going to need him to do that much. What are we looking at four for 40 and maybe a touchdown? That's probably the best case scenario. As far as tight end is concerned, who should start? Fells or Rudolph? Kyle Rudolph was good last week for the bikes. He was good, but, you know, that's interesting. Rudolph might be a play because if Chris Harris

is covering digs. Rudolph might be a play. I might go that direction. All right. Who would be this week's Jonas Gray? Ask a Twitter person, aka a one-hit wonder. You got somebody out there this week?

Well, you mean that they're going to have to be good this week or that they were good last week and bad this week? Probably both. Is there any one-hit wonders out there? I like Jared Cook. Yeah, I like Jared Cook a lot. A couple weeks ago I gave everybody Jacob Hollister from Seattle. I like Jared Cook this week.

Tampa Bay is the worst team in the NFL against tight ends. I think the first or second worst with the Arizona Cardinals. Jared Cook will find the end zone this week. All right. Chubb or Ingram this week from a listener? I don't really trust Ingram. I don't think he gets enough touches of the football. Chubb touches the football 15 to 20 times.

I'll play him. All right. Now, Texans, Ravens, this is to me the game of the week in the NFL with the two of the three or four leading MVP candidates. Let's just get right. And it's compared to saying, well, you've got to play everybody, what are you anticipating from skill position players from both the Texans and the Ravenside? Yeah, it's a great question. So firstly, Marlon Humphrey is one of the top cover cornerbacks in the NFL.

Okay? So he hasn't been shadowing players now that they brought in Marcus Peters. So Hopkins may have a tough day. I mean, he is still one of the best receivers in football, but I don't think he has the big day that we're anticipating. I don't think this is a Kenny Stills week. Could this be a Stel's week? Maybe it may have to be, but Baltimore has been pretty good against tight ends too.

So I think this game comes down to actually two players for the Texans, Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson. So I think the receiver is going to be held in check a little bit. They're going to have decent days, but not the big day. If Hyde can run the football, it's going to help them a lot. If Hyde can't run the football, then they're going to have to use Duke Johnson out of the backfield. and I think he's a very sneaky start. For Baltimore, you're all in on Lamar Jackson. I don't love Mark Ingram this week, but remember that the Ravens play this triple-tide-end offense.

Mark Andrews, Nick Boyle, Hayden Hurst. Andrews has been very solid. The Texans historically have him great against the tight-ins, even though this year they've been a little better. I would start Andrews, and I think Lamar Jackson's just to be very interesting to see how the Texans defense do against him. Before we wrap things up, let's get to the one player this week that Dr. Roto believes will be absolutely without a doubt. A must play. That's Dr. Roto's. Lock of the week.

What do you got? Good doctor? Yeah, the lock of the week. I mentioned it earlier is Michael Thomas against the Buccaneers. There's no other wide receiver there. Tracon Smith, Ted Ginn, all these guys aren't worth anything. Vernon Hartgreaves was just cut by the Buccaneers. There's nobody to cover him.

I mean, if this guy doesn't have 15 catches this week, He should have at least 10. He could have as many as 15. That's how big it could be. All right. And that is Dr. Roto's lock of the week. Good doctor. Remind the folks where they can find you between now and Sunday.

Absolutely. You can find me at full-time fantasy.com into the promo code Roto 50 for 50% off your first two months. You could find me at s.i.com backslash fantasy. I have my visionary plays of the week on Sports Illustrated. And, of course, at Twitter at DRROT. Amazing stuff as always. Talk again next week. Thank you very much for the time.

Dr. All right. Take care, M.C. You got it. That's Dr. Roto with us here on Sports Talk 790. Now a message for the Shell Federal Credit Union. Auto loan rates on new vehicles, used vehicles, and refinance vehicles available as low as 1.99% APR. I repeat, 1.99% APR. Plus, you'll get $250 in cash back. You get two skip a pays, and you get to work with a company that has been lending and helping with financial services since the 1930s with 10 Houston area locations. For more details about this great low rate, 1.99% APR, you go to shellfCU.org. While you're there, you can apply online. ShellfCU.org, because with ShellfCU, together, we're family.