The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Dr. Roto's Fantasy Football Feature Week 14

Episode Date: December 5, 2019

Dr. Roto's Fantasy Football Feature Week 14

All right, folks, you know what that music means? It is time for Dr. Roto on the Matt Thomas show this Thursday. It's playoff time. We've got to get after it. I know there's a lot of you who don't care about your teams anymore, but we've got to get to the important stuff. It's crunch time right now, Dr. Roto, isn't it? It is.

I mean, these are the next three weeks. It's week 14, 15, 16. If you want to win a fantasy championship, it's got to be done right now. So I'm going to tell you this. Okay, this is the theme I want to go with. game over name, meaning I want the matchup over the name, just because we know a guy doesn't mean he's got the best matchup. It's about winning. I like that.

I like that a lot. You know what? Real quick, before we get to the games, I saw a debate raging on Twitter, and I'm guessing you saw this as well. there was a lot of people upset about people who are out of the playoffs making claims on the waivers and people who are in the playoffs getting a little bit upset about people claiming teams that they, players that they wanted. So what do you think about that? Should people, teams who are out of the playoffs be able to make waiver claims?

Well, look, it all depends on your league structure, right? So if you're in a dynasty league, well, you can make claims. If there's a non-winners pool, right, if there's a pool from people that didn't make the playoffs, and there's a reason to make claims, I like it. If you're making claims just to be a jerk so that this other guy doesn't win, then I don't like that. So you've got to fix that. So it all depends on your league and why they have it. I normally think if I'm out and there's no reason to play, if there's no reason for me to make a move.

All right. I kind of like the spite move, too, though, that the guy's being a jerk. That's just me, though. That's just how I roll, Dr. Roto. Another quick question. So what is your ideal playoff? How do you like, let's just do year-long leagues that aren't necessarily dynasty? Do you like 14 weeks of regular season and then two weeks of one matchup?

Or do you like, how do you like the playoffs? Because I kind of like the two-week matchups, but then you have to, if you're going to throw away week 17, you have to start the playoffs really early, which is what I do in one of the leagues that I commission. Well, you've got to throw away week 17. That's just the worst ever. So normally what most leagues that I'm in, we have 13 weeks. And then week 14, often there's two teams that have a buy, right? And then there's four other teams who play.

and then week 15 you have the semifinals and week 16 you have the championship that's the norm if you're playing week 17 i get it you want to play you love fantasy football but but i don't want some third string quarterback costing me a two thousand bucks that's not what i want i play fantasy football so i think you've got to figure out a way to get it done week 16 all right let's go ahead and get to the matchups here with dr rhodo starting up tonight with the cowboys versus the bears i mean we know the cowboys dacquesquette d'ecallie to marie cooper you're probably playing all them, but what do you think about the Cowboys against going up on the road in a short week against the Bears' defense? I mean, I know if you're Jerry Jones, you're starting everybody

because he says they're making the Super Bowl. Well, you know, Jerry's a little delusional, but what can I tell you? Watch Amarie Cooper, though. He does not perform well on the road. He does not. He's much better at home. So if you're asking me which receiver I like more tonight for the Cowboys, I think it's Michael Gallup. And don't be shocked. I mean, I'm not telling anybody to Bench Cooper, but I'm telling you temper your expectations with Cooper because when he only gets, you know, five for 50 and you're like, wait a second, how come he's not doing more? He just doesn't do as well on the road.

I like Dak. I like Zeke. I mean, I'm okay with Randall Cobb, but I'm not thrilled. I think I'm going to play Gallup, and that's about it. On the other side of the ball, I'm going to play Anthony Miller. We saw what Cole Beasley did to the Cowboys. Slot receivers destroyed them. I think Miller's actually playing very well.

Will I start Allen Robinson? I will. David Montgomery has just been the biggest pain in the ball. butt this year because when you think he's good, he's terrible. When you think he's terrible, he's good. I will play him, but only if I absolutely have to. What do you make of Alan Robinson, by the way? I mean, because he's obviously got the talent, and he's got a couple of big games, and he's been pretty steady, but he's not necessarily one of the first names that you think of when you're thinking of number one ride receivers,

but he's been there pretty much all year. Look, Alan Robinson's really good. He just plays for the really bad quarterback. You put Alan Robinson on the Patriots, and you're going to talk about a guy's got 1,400 yards, the 15 touchdown. You put it with Mitch Chibisky, and it's a potluck. Who knows what you're going to get? So sadly, it's just a great player and a bad situation. All right. Let's move on. Let's start with some of the noon games on Sunday. Let's go with the Panthers and the Falcons. NFC South matchup. Panthers changing of the guard at the head coach spot. Is there anything you ever factor in with anything like that, especially probably not since he's such a defensive-minded coach?

Well, I don't know if it's about that. I think it's about the team responding in terms of how do you just feel now? Maybe you just want to give up. You don't feel good about this. The season's over. You know, you're looking for another coach. That's a hard one to project. I mean, we know Christian McAfre is going to bring it. We know DJ Moore is going to bring it. Greg Olson is probably not going to play with a concussion. I think Ian Thomas is going play. And I think Curtis Samuel is the wild card in this situation. Could he have a good week? Sure, but he's very unreliable. For the Falcons, I think this is this is their Super Bowl week. I really feel this way. I think that

Julio Jones may get shut down at some point. I think they have a big week this week at home, and I think they basically are done at this point. But I play Julio Jones. I play Calvin Ridley. I play Devonta Freeman. I play Matt Ryan. And obviously you're benching Christian McCaffrey because he only got 17 PPR points

last week. Could you imagine that's his worst week of the year? And he's still putting up 17. Unreal. Just amazing. All right. Let's move on. Let's go with the Ravens at the Bills. You know, I I had you a couple of weeks ago when Matt was out, and I said, you know what? What do you think of the bills?

You said, hey, they're a really good team. They're beating bad teams, but they're still beating it. And then they had the nice win on Thursday night against the Cowboys. So they're a pretty good team, but they're going up against, in my estimation, you probably agree, the best team in the NFL. Yeah, this is a good game. I think it's going to be an ugly game. I think it's going to be a lot of good defense. I think there's certain things to watch out for.

So firstly, with the builds, John Brown is going to get shut down by Marlon Humphrey. Marlon Humphrey is one of the best cornerback that you've never heard of. He plays for the Ravens, and John Brown's going to be a nonentity. I think that we're going to see Cole Beasley have another good game. I think we're going to see Devin Singletary have to step up in this game because they're going to need him to catch passes out of the backfield to give a little speed against his Baltimore Raven defense. I think there's a big game for Josh Allen.

He's going to see tons of pressure. He's been a lot better recently. but look, doing it against the Ravens is not easy. On the other side with Lamar Jackson, Lamar Jackson hasn't faced a defense like this in a long time. I mean, the bills are really good defense. So I like Lamar Jackson. Everybody else is okay, but there's nobody I'm dying to start.

I'm certainly not starting Marquise Brown. I'll start Mark Andrews. Ingram is okay. I think it was just going to be a tough game, a lot of field goals. I think Lamar Jackson makes a player too, but I think we're looking maybe 2317, but I think a fun game to watch. And is there any December and Buffalo always scares me? Is there any word about any bad weather or anything going on there up this weekend?

I haven't seen, but you know, I rarely like looking at weather on Thursdays and Friday. Right. It's usually off. I like looking at it more Saturdays because things change so quickly. But look, Lamar Jackson, what he showed you last week, though, was interesting. He didn't throw the ball that much. Only through like 105 yards, but he ran it more. expect that this week. He's going to run the ball much more against Bill's defense.

All right. Let's move on. Bingles and Browns. You got Andy Dalton back. Tyler Boyd coming out of hibernation, so he's looking better. What do you make of the Bengals' offense now with Andy Dalton? Yeah. Okay. So the biggest mistake that fantasy owners can make is chasing last week's results. Last week, the Bengals wanted to win. They tried to win. They went out of theirs because they didn't want to have a zero by their record this year. Now they have one big win, and now they can stop because this way they can have the number one, traffic. They don't want to win more games. What do you think they want to have a coin flip with the Giants for who's the worst record? I think they want to end up with one win. They'll get Joe Burrow.

So please don't chase points this week with the Bengals. I think the Browns this one can win this convincingly. I think Beckham scores. I think Landry scores. I think Chubb scores. I think it was going to be a blowout. Yeah, Odell Beckham, I think it was limited practice with the groin injury. Any concern there? And even when he has been healthy, he hasn't been the Oldell Beckham of old. He hasn't. But this is a get-weck. well game. This is one of those. If he's standing out there in the field, there's no way that

they can cover him. I think he gets at least 80 yards, and I think he scored this week. All right, let's keep it moving here. Redskins at Packers. What do you think of the breakout game from Darius Geis? Wasn't a lot of touches, but he made the most of them. Just overall thoughts on Dwayne Haskins, Darius Geis, and the Redskins offense. Yeah, Haskins sucks. I mean, he's terrible, terrible. But what I like about what Bill Callahan is doing is interesting. they were down by a lot last week to the Panthers, but they kept on running the football. And they just kept on grinding it out and grinding it out

because they can't throw the football because why? Dwayne Haskins is terrible. Now, Green Bay has one of the worst run defenses in all the NFL. And I think that they're going to continue attacking them with Darius Geis. And I think that Geis is going to have a good game. Now, what's interesting is he only had like 10 carries last week, but he made a lot of those carries. I think he could have 10 or 12 carries this week,

maybe get another 80 yards. I don't think they win. I think the Packers win. And let me give you a sleeper name in case your league looks for waiver wires. A guy named Alan Lazard, I think is turning into the wide receiver two for Green Bay. People still think it's Allison and Valdez Scanling. It's not. It's Devante Adams is the one and Lazard is the number two.

All right. Let's keep it moving with one more before a break. Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings. I think I sat Marvin Jones last week because I was like, okay, well, The quarterback situation is really bad there, and then he got a touchdown, and Kenny Gonday hasn't been too bad either. What do you think of the Detroit Lions' offense and especially the running back situation? Yeah, look, I shot Galdaday on Thanksgiving, too.

It's hard to digest my turkey after knowing that he had such a good game. Look, the Vikings are susceptible in the air. They're very strong on the ground. I don't think this is a Beau Scarborough week. I think he gets like 40 or 50 yards. Is Matthew Stafford going to play? I don't think we know that. I mean, I think he's probably not going to play.

Do I think the third-string quarterback can do what he did last game against the Bears? Maybe, maybe 240 yards and one or two touchdowns. We know that Marvin Jones plays very well against the Vikings. I think we've got to pick Golades and play as well. Look, Vikings are going to win this game. Are they going to cover the 13? Probably. But I think the Lions are going to try their best this week to keep it close.

It's a divisional game. And can you start Madison with confidence if Dalvin Cook is out or No, he's dealing with an injury issue as well. Chest and shoulder, I think, right? For sure. You fire up Madison right away. Dalvin Cook says he's going to play. He's saying everything right. I expect him to play.

That said, if the last second they decide not to play him, you put in Madison, you put him in seasonal, you put him in DFS, you put him in wherever. All right, time for a quick break here. It is Dr. Roto and your fantasy fix this week on the Mad Thomas show. Got to take quick break when we come back. We'll look at the Texans game, talk about streamers, and get the lock of the week.

All that coming up here on the Matt Thomas show on Sports Talk 790. Welcome back, Matt Thomas show. Second segment of two. It is crunch time with Dr. Roto and your fantasy fix here on the Matt Thomas show. Dr. Roto, let's go ahead and just start it off. Texans and Broncos. How do you see this one playing out? Cortland Sutton, of course, having a big game last week.

We know the Texans secondary, although they're solid, they can get got. What do you think, first of all, Broncos' offense heading to play the Texans at noon on Sunday? All right, please don't kill me, Ross. I never would. I'm just saying the following. This has trap game written all over it. The Texans had a magical game against the Patriots. Couldn't have played any better.

And next week, the Texans have the Titans, a big rivalry game that could decide the division. Oh, and now this week we have the Broncos. Do we really care? Are we really giving 100%? Bill O'Brien says we're looking at the tape and we're only focused on Denver. He's given us a Belichick line. I already heard him say that yesterday.

I'm just telling you that, man, I think that Denver is going to cover. And I think that they're going to, they may even, I don't know if they're going to win this game. I think the Texans are better. They're not going to win, but it's going to be like a last second field goal and you're going to be nauseous. That's how bad it's going to be this week. So just watch and see if I'm right. I hope I'm not, but I think so. In terms of the game, Denver, they're going to run the ball.

Carlos Hyde's going to run the ball. And Denver is very soft in the middle, and the running defense is weak. They are very good at covering number one receivers. I think Hopkins has a good game, not a great game. I think this is a Will Fuller week. I think this is a Kenny Stills week. So I like Hyde, Fuller, and Stillers. What do you think about the running back split with the Texans?

I think nine carries for Duke Johnson, 10 for Carlos Hyde, and he also got that receiving touchdown. Yeah, but that was more designed. and I remember we talked about this last week. Remember I told you that like Hyde against the Patriots. I told you like Duke Johnson, Darren Phillips. Styles make matchups, right? A matchups decide, you know, fantasy. This is a Carlos Hyde week. This is one of those weeks where Carlos Hyde runs right up the gut and gets 20 carries for, you know, 84 yards in a touchdown. This is not a Duke Johnson week.

All right, moving along in the matchups, Niners and Saints, definitely a big one, two of the best teams in the NFC. You know what, off topic real quick. Who's the best team in the NFC? Who is the best team in the NFC? I think for my money it's the Saints. I do. I think it's the Saints. But, you know, I could be convinced otherwise. I think the 49ers are playing great football. I'm really intrigued by this game.

The 49ers Saints this week is a great game. I think there are a lot of good – I think there are a lot of good teams this year and bad teams. I think the Saints, the 49ers are great, the Ravens are great, the Patriots have a great defense. You know, and then there are some teams that are not so great. But I think we really haven't seen Drew Brees do his thing yet. when he does his Drew Breeze, 380-yard thing, and the Saints play really good defense. So I think this may be their year. All right.

And if I had to start one 49ers running back, who would I go with? You won't start Kevin Coleman because he's going to get killed. I think I would start brighter or moister. And I think brighter does come back this weekend play. All right. Let's keep it rolling here from a good matchup to a horrible one. Dolphins and Jets. Devante Parker, though, I mean, this is his breakout season that we've been

waiting for for like five years. Just what do you make of the Dolphins' offense and the way Devante Parker has been playing? Yeah, you're absolutely right. If I told you the number one receiver in week 13 would be Devante Parker, you'd probably have my head examined, but he has been terrific. And I think Ryan Fitzpatrick has helped him because

he's fearless. He just throws the ball wherever in coverage. He doesn't care. And Parker comes down with it. Look, Parker, I'm not saying is motivated by money, but he may be motivated by money. It's a contract. It happens. Yeah, somebody's going to pay him. and he's playing really well.

This is a guy that, like you said, we've been hoping to see forever. Could he do it against the Jets? Yeah, and would I start him? You bet. All right. And on the other side, Levy on Bell, I just, I keep waiting. I mean, he's been steady. He's had a couple of solid weeks, but last week he disappointed,

and he just never has had any one of those, like a Leveon Bell game, where he gets a couple of touchdowns and like 60 receiving yards and 120 rushing yards with two touches. He just never has had that big breakout game with the Jets. No, you're right. And I think that's a fair point. I think the Jets haven't used them well. I don't think Adam Gase has been fully bought into Levy on Bell. He wasn't his guy.

It's already been documented that he really didn't want him. And I don't think that he's done what he can for Bell. I think with a guy like Bell, you've got to build your offense around him. And they haven't done that. They've built the offense around Sam Darnold, and they've incorporated Bell. So with Sam Darnold, they have good weeks from Robbie Anderson and James Crowder and Ryan Griffin. But you're not seeing Bell do him. his thing. I think this week he finds the end zone. I think maybe he gets 100 total yards from

scrimmage. But are we seeing Bell from the Pittsburgh days? Not at all. All right. Let's go. How about Colts Buccaneers? Anything to highlight here? Godwin, Mike Evans, we know what they are. And James Winston, if you're a regular Tampa Bay Buccaneer fan, you're probably not that thrilled with them because of all the interceptions. But as far as fantasy, he's been pretty productive. Yeah, this is where you have to separate fantasy from reality. James Winston, if you're a Buccaneer Frank, you're making gaucious. And I'm telling you this right now. Never trust the Buccaneers. When you think they're going to play well, they don't. And I think the Colts are going to come and beat them this week. I do. I think Marlon Mack is going to play well. I think

all these things you watch. The bucks are going to lay an egg this week. That said, Winston should be able to put up 250 yards. He's a good quarterback. The question is, does Bruce Ariens think he can win the Super Bowl with him? Because they have to make a decision on James. Mike, you know, Mike Evans is an outstanding player. Chris Godwin is sensational, but it just seems like both guys don't do well in the same week. One guy has a big game. One guy has the big game the next week. I think this is an Evans week, but I think the Colts are going to be slowing this game down. Brissette's going to have a good game and watch for Marlon Mack. He will be back from the injury. All right. You just made a rhyme there. Marlon Mack is back. Let's go to the big matchup. Chiefs

at the Patriots. Obviously, we know what's going on. on with Pat Mahomes and Tyreek Hill and the, well, I guess I do have a running back question for the Chiefs. You can answer that. But also on the Patriots side, what is going on with Tom Brady? I mean, against the Texans, whose defense is solid but not great. He was to look completely lost at times out there. He was yelling at his receivers. I mean, what are we going with the skill position players of the Patriots? All right. There's a lot of stuff to talk about here. So very quickly on the Chief's side, be careful with Tyree Kill. I think he's going to see bracketed coverage. I like him. I don't love him. I think a sneaky guy that nobody's talking about that I would

get off waivers right now is a guy named Darwin Thompson. I think he may be a game changer because he's very fast out of the backfield. And Damien Williams is going to be out and Darrell Williams is going to be out as well. And I'm not bought. I haven't bought into McCoy. I just haven't. I don't like Sammy Watkins at all. I do like Travis Kelsey. I think you start Mahomes because he's Patrick Mahomes. But the Patriots are in a better spot this week because the way you beat the chiefs are two ways. One, you play great defense, which the Patriots do, and B, you run the football, which the Patriots do with Sony Michelle. I think this is a Sony Michelle week. Now, I think the big problem you had last week was that the Patriots receivers were not getting

any separation. None. And that's what Brady was screaming. Like, you guys have to get open. I think he'll have a much easier time of his receivers getting open against the chief secondary, which is the weakest part of their game. And I think they'll be a little bit more successful this week. I think this will be a little lower scoring game than people imagine, more ball control, more running, but it still should be a very good game. All right. Let's go with the, how about the Titans and the Raiders? Derek Henry, he's dealing with the hamstring injury. Is there some worry there? And how about Ryan Tannahill? He hasn't been so bad. I mean, since he became the starter, number five quarterback in the entire NFL. I don't even say a bad word about Derek Henry. I love this man. He is a ronot child of the extreme. I can tell you that right now.

Now, Ryan Tannehill, you're right. And I went through the numbers. If you go over it, they had five games with Marcus Marriota. I think they went at least two of them with Tanahill, at least two with Tana Hill, and that they waited so long it could cost them. Really could. Tana Hill is what we call a high floor guy, right? His ceiling is not going to be 350 yards and three touchdown.

But his floor is always going to be like 220 and one or two. And he runs a ball a little bit. So he's never going to kill you, and he's good enough because when they give the ball to Derek Henry 25 times, Tana Hill's efficient enough to make plays. I like this kid, A.J. Brown. He's becoming better and better each week. I'm not a Corey Davis fan. Watch A.J. Brown this week.

Watch Henry this week. This is a big game for the Titans. I think that you expect the Titans to win, but it is hard to play on the road in Oakland. All right. Let's go to Sunday night football, Seahawks, and Rams. Can you please wake up Tyler Lockett for me, Dr. Roto? Okay, so let's stop for a second because Lockett cost me a playoff spot in the league, cost me a lot of money. So here's what happened.

Lockett was injured last week, and if you want to, he wasn't feeling well. If you watch what they were doing, they were using him as a decoy. Decoy on every single play, he was running behind Wilson going left, going right, trying to move the defense around, but they never had any place for him. So it was a decoy. I think Lockett is used this week, and he plays much. much better. So if you have Lockett, don't fall into the recency bias. I know he sucked last week. I get that. I think

he has a bigger week. That said, I think there's going to be a high-scoring game. The Rams play always much better at home. I think Cooper Cupple do well. I think, as we call him, Bobby Trees, Robert Woods will do well. But for Seattle, look, can Aaron Donald put pressure on Russell? I doubt it. I think Wilson does well. Chris Carson's out of his mind. Penny startable. This is a really great game. And quickly, just how about if we're looking for streaming defense, what do you think are a couple of good options this week?

Look, I think the Vikings are always good defense playing at home against a third-string quarterback. I think the Browns are a good defense against a Bengals team who I think wants to lose. And I think the Chargers is a good defense against the Jaguars team who have absolutely quit. All right, and now let's go ahead and get to it. You listen for it every week.

It is the best player on the board, and it's Dr. Roto's lock of the week. I have to apologize for last week's fiasco. I really believed that the Jaguars were going to play well against the Buccaneers. I am sorry. It cost me money in DFS. It costs me in seasonal. I went down with the Titanic as well, so I apologize. But this week, here's what I like.

I like the Packers a lot. I really am all in. I think Aaron Jones finds the end zone. I think Devante Adams finds the end zone. I think Aaron Rogers throws for at least two or three touchdowns. So if you need a team to rely on, rely on the Packers, they will win convincingly. Okay.

That's the Packers' offense. Dr. Roto's lock of the week. All right, Dr. Roto, thanks for the time. As always, go ahead and let the folks know where they can find all your stuff. And, of course, on Twitter at Dr. Roto. Well, you can find me at Sports Illustrated at s.i.com backslash fantasy. I'll have my visionary plays of the week up there, as well as my start-tit column. And you can find me at full-time fantasy, enter the promo code Roto 50 for 50%

sign off your first two months, and of course, at Twitter at DRROTO. All right, Dr. Roto. Thanks for the time, man. We'll talk to you next week, and good luck. You too. Take care of. All right. All right.

Dr. Roto, there you can find him on Twitter at D-R-R-O-T-O-S-I-S-I-com slash fantasy. We're going to take a quick break here on the Matt Thomas Show. 7-13-2-1-25-7-90. Your number to get involved back after this short break.