The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Dr. Roto's Fantasy Football Feature Week 9

Episode Date: November 1, 2019

Dr Roto joins Matt with his Fantasy Football advice as the NFL Season rolls on into week 9

This is all pro running back, Ricky Williams. Stay connected to Houston Sports, even when you're not in town. Listen to Sports Talk 790 on the IHeart Radio app. Who's that really? Let's get with a good doctor with us here on Sports Talk 790. Doctor with us normally on Thursdays, and we appreciate the flexibility. Understand, good doctor, we were having to mourn the Houston Astros losing last night. So I appreciate you moving to Friday.

How are things? I'm sorry, MC. That was a great world series. Can you imagine not one home team winning a game? I mean, that's got to be unheard of. But I'm sorry it worked out the way it did, but you guys read back next year. It is literally unheard of. It's never happened in any of the other sports, including basketball, baseball, or hockey,

where a road team has won every single game. Let's get to the NFL slate. Kansas City situation involving whether or not Pat Mahomes starts. Where are we on this? I mean, again, it's not up to us, but from a fantasy perspective, how much do things change if there is a quarterback change? Well, I mean, Matt Moore can't throw for 300 yards as much as you want him to. I mean, he's the definition of a jag, just the guy, right?

I mean, he's better than some backups, worse than others. I like Sammy Watkins this week. Trey Wayne's not a great cover guy. I like Tyree Kill this week. I think Javier wrote is a little bit overrated. It's the running game that's been a problem, and they can't stop the run. How are you going to stop? How are the chiefs going to stop Dalvin Cook?

I don't see it possible. How the chief's going to stop step on digs. I don't see it possible. So I think the Vikings could go in there and win, and that's a little shocking, but it's true. All right. There have been some backup quarterbacks that are doing quite well, including what's going on in Carolina right now. What do you like in this Tennessee-Carolina matchup? Well, look, I mean, Samuel is not 100%.

Cam Newton just got a vote of, you know, he's still injured. He's going to see Robert Anderson. He could be done for the year. I mean, there's a big problem. Kyle Allen has been okay the last couple of starts though not nearly as good look Christian McCaffrey is great and you play them all the time after that do I feel good about DJ more a little bit but I don't feel great about Samuel I don't feel good about Greg Olson for Tennessee it's all about Derek Henry I mean he's the

star you play him every week all right Indianapolis at Pittsburgh the Texans a couple weeks ago saw some really fluid passing moving down the ball I'm moving down the field where the Colts with Jacoby and then they kind of got stuck a little bit despite they got the win at the very last second. Mason Rudolph, how much are you gaining confidence if you are at all with him in Pittsburgh? As those two teams meet on Sunday afternoon. Yeah, I think this is going to be a better game than most people think. I think it's going to be a higher scoring game than most people think.

Mason Rudolph is not a bad player, and he will be the starting quarterback for the Steelers one day when Ben Rothersberg is finally done with this game. I would love this kid, Deonté Johnson, and I just am not sure about Juju Smith. I think we also need to worry about James Connor. Is he going to play? Betty Snow is out for two or three weeks. Jalen Samuels is back. He will play this week. For the Colts, last week I thought it was a Marlon Mac week. This week I don't. I think the Steelers will stop Mac.

I actually like to Kobe Brissette. And take a look at the tight end. Ty Houghton, dealing with a calf injury. He's very questionable right now. I like Jack Doyle or Eric Ebron, one of the two, find the end zone. All right, Levyon Bell is unhappy about the amount of touches he received for the Jets. They go to Miami this week and by far the worst game of the week. If we have Levion Bell, are we hesitant to go in against them,

or is it Miami so porous that he should explode this week? No, no, you've got to play Levion Bell. I mean, firstly, as much as I hate Adam Gase, and I do, you know, he knows that he messed up by not playing Bell nearly enough against the Jaguars. Bella's going to get 20 to 30 touches this week. You start him. You start St. Donald. I mean, he won't be seeing ghosts and goblins and ghouls in this one.

you're looking at the Dolphins where their best cover guy is now out on IR. I like Robbie Anderson to make a play this week for the Dolphins. I don't know. Maybe Mark Walton is interesting. He's their new starting running back. If anybody needs a running back, Kenyon, Drake, obviously, he's now with Arizona. Walton's there. And maybe this kid Preston Williams, who continues to look good.

All right. Detroit and Oakland meet. I don't think either defense can stop anybody. So can we just pick up every available Detroit and Oakland skill position player and load them out on our rosters this week, especially with teams that have some buys? Yeah, I really like this game for fantasy purposes. So firstly, for Detroit Stafford, it's a much different team right now without Carri-on-Johnson.

When Carri-on-Johnson was there, there was a one first team, now it's a past first team. So I don't really like Ty Johnson this week. I would stay away from him. Love Kenny Goladay. You want to start him. You want to start Danny Amindola. The Raiders are very bad against slot receivers, and you want to start T.J. Hawkinson, the Raiders are really bad against tight ends.

Look what Selves did last week. for the Raiders. Derek Carr should have a good week. Josh Jacob should have a good week. Tyrell Williams should have a good week. Hunter Renfro might even surprise because the lines are terrible against

slot receivers. And finally, Darren Waller, who is an absolute star. All right, one more game in this early segment. Cleveland at Denver, again, not very sexy record-wise. Cleveland has been a massive disappointment. And Denver's out with Joe Flacco for a significant period of time.

With two dog teams, with a quarterback gone, who is playing this week for our fantasy squads? Yeah, in Denver, look, you can't trust any of the receivers. And I like Cortland's son more than the next guy with Brandon Allen there. What is he going to do? So I think you start Royce Freeman. I think you start Philip Lindsay. For the Browns, I mean, look, how good is Nick Chubb? The Patriots couldn't even stop him, so you start him for sure.

I worry about Beckham. He's going to get covered by Chris Harris. He's going to get frustrated, which means to me I think Jarvis Landry should have a better week. I still don't like Baker Mayfield. He looked terrible right now. I think you need to. I mean, I'd much rather Derek Carr this week than Baker Mayfield. Now, is he the fantasy dud of the year quarterback-wise?

It's pretty close to it. I mean, it's not that he's so bad. I mean, he is bad. Don't get me wrong. But it's bad in relation to when you took him. He was going as like the fifth and six quarterback off the board, and he's probably been like the 22nd guy. And that's the problem.

If you took him in around 16, you'd say, all right, I expected them to be garbage. But when you took him around six or seven, you weren't expecting him to, like, literally hand the ball to Lawrence guy on that stupid interception last week. Sounds like something personally happened right there. Yeah. Just saying.

All right, back with details on the Texans. A really good Sunday night matchup featuring New England and Baltimore, and we'll get Dr. Roto's lock of the week as well. Rockets' PA announcer and sports talk show host. One might get the impression Matt Talk loves to hear Matt Thomas's voice. Go ahead, Matt, talk for us.

1247, Matt Thomas from New York. Trying slowly but surely to get ourselves in a football mood again. We'll get some college news with Joel Glad at Fox in about 10 minutes from now. Brian T on the Astros Press conference earlier today, and your phone calls all in between. It's 713212.125790. Let me tell you, we just got word. Good, wrote, doctor, that T.Y. Hilton's out three to four weeks. What's your first blush thought about that?

I expected it. I saw the, you know, he was dealing with a calf injury, he had to been practicing all week. Look, a lot of people are going to panic now and not want to start to Kobe Brissette. This is when you have to embrace the crazy, and I think it's a contrarian play, especially in DFS. Hilton makes them better, but they've got a lot of guys. Harris Campbell, Zach Pascal, Chester Rogers, Doyle, Ebron. So it is a big loss, but if there's any team that can handle it, it's the Colts. They are, honestly, I think they're the most well-coached team in the NFL.

Outside of Bill Belichick, right? Outside of Belichick, Frank Reich might be my second favorite coach. All right, New England and Baltimore. I think this is a litmus test for anybody that's trying to figure out if the Raiders, if the Ravens are for real. That New England defense, and again, hadn't played a bunch of great competition. but they have really kiboshed anybody from being competitive. Can they do it this week on the road? Well, we may have seen a chink in their armor. Like last week, Nick Chubb ran really well against them.

If it wasn't for a couple on timely fumbles, it might have been a different outcome of that game. The question is this week, can the Ravens take advantage of it? You know Lamar Jackson's going to run. Will they have Kyle Van Nuys spying on him? I'm not sure. Is Mark Ingram going to find running lanes? I think he's important.

Mark Keith Brown is terrifically important to the outcome of this game. As is Mark Andrews. The last time we saw Mark Andrews, he was dropping easy passes that he should have been converting the touchdowns. So I think it comes down to Brown and Andrews, and I think Jackson will play well. I think that, look, if the Patriots are going to lose, this could be the week because they are going to run the ball. The Ravens are going to run the ball very well against them. Yeah, I guess, you know, I think most people want the Patriots to lose. I just want to make, if you have Patriot players that are in your fantasy watch,

you want them to still get the numbers. So, well, yeah, Julian Edelman is a guy that you must start. I think James White is a must start, right? For sure. Tom Brady is always a must start, right? After that, though, do I feel great about Sony Michelle? Probably not. Do I feel great about Mohammed Sunil?

I mean, 10 points good, but, I mean, Edelman and White, you start every week. Are you all in on this now fluid Green Bay offense that go to the Chargers on Sunday? Well, the charges have been a turnstile on defense. The Steelers ran against them. The Titans ran against them. And you saw what David Montgomery did against them last three hundred and 35 yards and a touchdown. What makes you think that Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams won't run against them? They will.

They will run against the Chargers defense. It's not very good. So now you've got Aaron Rogers and you've got a run game that's going to be good. And now you've got play action passing. And Devonte Adams back, I think Green Bay walks in and absolutely wins this game on the road. All right, let's get to speaking on the road. The Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars are in London. Jaguars go every year, so they're very familiar with it.

We got Deshawn Watson wearing a mask because he got kicked in the face last week. I don't think I've ever asked you in the history of you and I working together whether or not a quarterback's numbers can be depleted because of a said face mask. What do you think the Texans can do against the Jaguars who, you know, again, they played the sucky Jets last week. But Mitch who's playing really well. And as I've told Ross a number of times, I think everybody in this AFC South beats each other over the course of the years. With that being said, could the Jaguars put up some numbers against what is a banged up, literally banged up Houston Texans defense?

Well, you know, it's interesting about the mask. In basketball, one of those guys were masks to cover their broken noses and stuff. You know, you ask yourself, does it affect them? A lot of times it does. So we will know very early on how it affects Watson. him. Let's just assume that it doesn't affect him. You've got to like the Andre Hopkins this week. You've got to like Darren Feld this week. And I think Kenny Stills was such a monumental disappointment last week. I think he rebounds and has a good

game. On the opposite side for the Jaguars, man, Minchew, Fournette. And remember, I don't think D.D. Westbrook is going to play. I really don't. So you have DJ Chark, and you got a guy named Chris Conley. Don't overlook Chris Conley. If you're desperate for a wide receiver and you can be able to be. pick him up, get him. He has performed very well when he's had the opportunity. I think this is going to be a very high-scoring game with two teams right now with a lot of injuries on defense.

All right, for we wrap things up, let's remind folks, the one player we ask of you every week that's going to be absolutely without a doubt a 100% big lock to score us and big points. It's Dr. Roto's lock of the week. I don't know if this is too big or not, but Dalvin Cook running against the Kansas City Chiefs. Are you kidding me?

I mean, nobody stopped Dalvin Cook. entire year, and the Chief's run defense has been a sieve. If Dalvin Cook does it, you know how good Cook is going to be? He's going to run for so many yards. They're going to be bringing Alexander Madison, who's going to run it for another 50 or 60 yards himself because Cook is going to be tired from running

for about 180. So start Dalvin Cook whatever you do. All right, and that is Dr. Roto's Lock of the week. Let's get one call before we say goodbye to a good doctor. Brian and Mission Ben on 790. Hello, Brian. Hey, how's it going, guys? Good.

Cool. So I had a quick question. I'm wondering if I should start Melvin Gordon or Devin Singletary this week. I'm not too sure. All right. There's your running back battle right there. Oh, we lost Roda. Do we lose him? Oh, no, we lost Roto. Oh, Nick, you got to call Roto back. I think I dropped him accidentally. So we will try to reestablish the good doctor here to finish that point off. Singletary or Gordon was the guy.

he was going to. That was totally my fault that I dropped Dr. Roto. I didn't mean to do that. Not at all. All right. I want to remind you that Joe Klatz coming up in about five minutes from now, and we will get some college football conversation going because frankly, we've been so overwhelmed with baseball for all the right reasons. And we'll get more on the A.J. Hinch, Jeff Linow press conference. They had it earlier today. Some of the sound bites coming up in just a few minutes. All right. We've got to get to Dr. Roto quickly before he runs. Dr. Roto, Singletary or Gordon this week from a caller. Say it again? Singletary or Gordon?

You know, it's funny. I think this is the week that Singletary is going to have his opportunities. I think Frank Gore is slowing down, and he is the next generation of that Bill's offense. I like Josh Allen this week, and I do like Singletary a lot this week. All right, remind folks what they can find you before now in Sunday's games. Yeah, absolutely. You can find me at full-time fantasy.com and to the promo code Roto 50 for 50% off your first two months. You can find me at SI.com, that's Sports Illustrated.

s.i.com backslash fantasy and of course at Twitter at DRROTO. Great stuff, my friend. Thanks for the combination of moving around. We'll do this again next Thursday. You got it. Talk to you soon. All right, there you go. The Good Doctor with us here on Sports Talk 790.