The Ringer NFL Show - Galaxy Browns | The Dantasy Football Podcast

Episode Date: November 22, 2019

We break down the fantasy implications from the highly anticipated Cowboys-Patriots game and discuss whom you should actually start against New England's stout defense (3:00). Then we buy tons of stock in the Browns against Miami, find a secret gem at tight end, and build our daily fantasy lineup for the weekend (19:30). Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode of the Dynasty Football podcast is brought to you by State Farm. When you need a game plan for protection, State Farm agents are here to help. With personalized service, agents are available to talk in person, over text, or through the State Farm app. So go with the one with coverage and agents you can count on. Find an agent in your neighborhood today. State Farm. Talk to an agent today. The Danesie Football Podcast on the Ringer NFL show, on the Ringer podcast. podcast network. My name is Danny

Hyfitz and I'm joined as always by my co-host and my co-danny, the hero we need and the analyst we deserve. The Dark Knight himself! Danny Kelly! How are you doing, D.K.? I'm having a fine day. How are you, Danny? A fine day. I am fantastic.

You ever seen the Italian job? You know what fine stands for? What's this stand for? It's freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional. Maybe you're not having a fine day. Are you fine? It's not what I was getting at at all. I was just kind of trying to speak with a little bit of like a southern flavor, I guess. Why? Having a fine day.

Oh, okay. All right. Also, Craig, you're here. Craig, you're alive. I'm buried the lead. How are you feeling, Craig? I'm getting back to it. Today's really the first day where I can eat human food.

Human food. I had food poisoning over the weekend. Yeah, tell us the story. What happened, man? So I've been trying to be a vegetarian for the past, for the month of November. And I went to a vegan burger spot, and I will say, its name, Monty's Good Burger. It's supposed to be really good.

Like, it's highly touted. We went there, it was really, really good. It's like the in and out of vegan burgers, right? And then, I don't know. It's overrated. It takes too long, but... How dare you? In and out is amazing.

It's not quick. The name is wrong. That's because so many people are there. That's the only reason. Anyway, keep going. Anyway, I got, I basically went to bed, woke up in the middle of the night, got really, really sick.

Felt so bad that I drove to Rite Aid at 4.30 in the morning with my girlfriend. friend to get like peptobismal and like ginger ale because I had nothing and I wanted to fix my stomach. And I threw up seven times in a ride-aid parking lot at around 5 a. On Sunday. How do you tell when you've hit rock bottom?

That's how you tell when you have throw up on your new shoes in riding. I've thrown up out of an Uber before. Oh, wow. That's maybe worse. Maybe worse. No, I didn't get any in the car. I gave the guy 20 bucks because I felt terrible. Nice.

Because you're a professional. I didn't get any in the car, though. That's professional. Anyway, I've been eating like toast for a week, but I'm back. We're thrilled you're back. Thank you. It's good to have you back. Thanks very much.

I don't know how to segue from any of that. Let's just get going with the show. Wow. We stumped the master of transitions. Wow. We're going to run through a bunch of players you like in their matchups this week. Hopefully no one will make you vomit. in a right aid parking lot.

We're going to break down our Fandul lineup of the week at the end. But first, we're going to run through some categories. First up, well, first of all, Fandle, half PPR. So keep that in mind. And first up, we got Go Big. D.K. Who's an expensive player you think is worth the money this week? I'm rolling it back with Christian McCaffrey of the Panthers.

Going up against the Saints this week, he's $10,500 on Fandul. That's the most expensive running back, $2,100 more than the next closest running back. I don't think that matters. I think he is just absolutely matchup proof, quarterback proof, everything proof. The Panthers scored three points last week, and he still got 24.6 fantasy points on the Fandual scoring system. Per my guy, Ryan McDowell, he finished as the overall RB1 without scoring a touchdown, which is the first time that's happened this season

for any running back. And that's only happened five times in the last two decades. Wow. Holy shit. Did you guys see that he joined the 99 club in Madden? Wow. Can you name the other running backs who have been given a 99 overall score on Madden? There are 1-2-3-4-5.

Yeah, Thomason and 07 Madden or whatever the year after that. I don't have the year, but I just have the guy. Tomlinson? Yep. Tomlinson? Yep. Oh, that's a good question. Sean Alexander, because he was on the cover.

No. Oh, no. It's Barry Sanders? Barry Sanders. Marshall Falk. And the last one is Chris Johnson. Oh, I was going to say. Damn.

And now McCaffrey. C.J. 2K. Okay. Anyways, yeah. My point being, McCaffrey is just, I mean, he's just as safe as you get.

If you're going to spend big money, I think he has an extremely high floor. Love him. It's almost like an every week thing at this point. Yeah, bold, but you hit me. That's five times without a touchdown. I know.

The number one running back in a week. That's actually really amazing stat. Five times since 2000. Yeah. My big this week, going big is another one. The Falcons, they're playing the Buccaneers this week. Julio's $8,400 on Fandul.

That is the second most expensive receiver. Also, the Buccaneers are really bad in past defense. They have the worst past defense in football. Their outside perimeter cornerbacks are Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy Bunting? Having bad seasons of pro football focus grading. Carlton Davis is the 50th graded cornerback and Murphy Bunting is 68th. Julio Jones Top six great in pro football focus

Not that we need that to know Julio Jones really good He's dealing with a photo injury But usually plays through those kind of things I mean obviously make sure he's full practice On Friday or Thursday But I'm not concerned about the injury The Bucks have given up the most fantasy points

To the slots Like you could try to maybe take a dart On Russell Gage But I think Julio's gonna be fantastic this week And this could be a week The Falcons' offense is kind of woken up Their offense could awake against the Buccaneers this week The Bucs allowed the most

Fantasy points to opposing wide receivers in standard NPPR and have allowed the second most receiving yards this season. Julio has not scored a touchdown since week three, and I think that changed this week. Get him in the freaking end zone. I'm sick of this. It'll happen this week against poor Carlton Davis. I'm with you.

Actually, I think I put Julio and then changed my answer. So yeah, I like this one too. Speaking of not getting into the end zone. Not getting your vomited or trash can. True. My go big this week is good old Leonard Fournette. He's back. he's back on the list.

Your guy. Your guy. Yeah, he's $7,000 on Fandle. He's the 11th most expensive running back. I don't really know why. This is rude to let him for him. My feelings are for him. He's only had 8 and 11 carries over the last two games,

but both of those were because they got down big really early on in the game, and they kind of just had no reason to run the ball. But he salvaged both those days because he had 12 catches in those two games. So he had around double-digit fantasy points in both of the games. Doug Marone pledged to be more balanced and cited that he became impatient with basically the game script and just moved away from Fournet on the ground and said like, we need to get back to the ground and pound because it opens up the past, which like isn't really true. I think we found out, but whatever.

For fantasy, it works out. If anything, Fournett's got a high floor because of his touch floor and his kind of his receiving totals in the past like two or three games. And the Titans have given up the fifth most catches to running backs this year. So I like Leonard Fournette. I am obsessed with this Jags Titans game. Really? Because. No one's ever said that.

only game on during Patriots Cowboys. There's nine one o'clock games in Eastern time. There's two games at 4 p.m. Eastern. Patriots Cowboys, the two most valuable franchise in America, probably two of the biggest fan bases in America. And then Jaguars Titans is what's competing with it. I know that there's a reason that the NFL does it. Is it TV rights and things like that?

Why did they schedule it like that? Well, so the Niners Packers was an afternoon game two. They flexed it with Eagle Seahawks. And I think, I don't know how exactly it works, but basically I think they realized that there was no point in competing with Patriots Cowboys, so CBS moved it. It's Eagles, Seahawks is just at 1 o'clock now instead of four.

So now you basically have two Sunday night footballs unless you're going to watch Jags Titans for some reason. You have Pat's Cowboys and then you have Niners, Packers. So, but if a game falls in the forest and no one's there to watch it, does Leonard Fournette make a sound? At the risk of infuriating two fan bases,

Is there a less interesting matchup between two teams? I guess maybe like... That Redskins Dolphins game. Yeah, Redskins' Dolphins actually was the one that was coming to mind. But I mean, this is sort of... No, because, no, people hate Washington, but, like, hate isn't the opposite of love. It's indifference. And I think indifference is Jacksonville and Tennessee toward those football teams.

Especially with Minchew on the bench, man. I'm still mad about that. All right. Now that we've infuriated people, that was go big. Now it's time to go home. who, D.K., who is a player this week that is too rich for your blood? Speaking of that game, Dallas, New England,

I'm staying away from Amari Cooper this week. 7,700, he's probably due to get matched up against Stefan Gilmore, who is elite, maybe the best quarterback in the game right now. Outside of that Ravens game last week, the Patriots defense is still just giving up jack shit on defense. Probably going to be a low-scoring game,

I would guess, at least if New England's defense doesn't completely fall apart. And based on, again on that Ravens game, it wouldn't surprise me if Dallas tries to like establish the run and do that, do all that stuff because that's kind of been, you know, that was obviously what the Ravens did, just different team. But I just can't see Cooper going off against this very, very good New England defense. And so kind of just avoiding that matchup in particular. Gilmore is surrendering a 43.5 pass rating and coverage this year per pro pro football ball focus. He's given up just 28 catches on 61 targets and 321 coverage snaps. three picks, zero touchdowns allowed, and Pat's defense is giving up the fewest points for receivers and the fewest points on the perimeter.

So love Cooper. Everything about this matchup just looks kind of scary, though. So my go home this week is actually Ezekiel Elliott, so kind of sticking with that theme, but I just wanted to highlight, we don't think of the Cowboys. I don't think as an elite or the elite offense, but I just want to read some stats. They really are.

Here's the thing. The Cowboys' offense and the Patriots defense are both number one in the following category. So yards, the cowboys have the most and Patriots have allowed the fewest. But yards, yards per play, third down conversion percentage, and DVOA for football outsiders,

which is efficiency. They're both top two in first downs, passing yards, 20 plus yard pass plays, and passing DVOA. And the Cowboys have allowed the fewest sacks in the league, and the Patriots have the third most.

And the Cowboys' offense is only fourth in points per game. But everything else, they're first. And DAC leads the league in passing yards per game, passing yards per attempt. We still have this kind of framework of like the Cowboys are a running team. Cowboys are a passing team. And that's why I think actually this is like a really interesting matchup, because this is kind of like two Titans. And it seems like, oh, the Patriots run defense is their weakness, if they have anything resembling a weakness because they're only 13th in DVOA.

But Evan Silva, established run made a really good point, which is the Patriots have allowed five rushing touchdowns. this year, but four of them have not been to running backs. The first, the only rushing touchdown they've allowed to a running back was Gus Edwards trotting in for a 12-yard touchdown a few weeks ago, and that was a play before Mark Ingram had a really long run. So it's not as strong as their past defense, but the run defense in New England's really good. And also, Zika, it's not been that great this season.

He's been fine. He's playing behind a good offensive line, but he's not adding a lot of yards beyond what the line blocks. I mean, he has not been making players miss. He's 22nd of 30 players. minimum 100 carries in PFF's elusive rating. And he doesn't break off big chunks of yardage. He has one run of 20 plus yards this season.

So I don't like Elliot. I don't think they win this game with Elliot. I don't love Cooper in this either, but I do think DAC is going to have to win this game for them if they do it. I don't think they're going to be able to run it down New England's throat win this game. Those are some really interesting matchup numbers. I don't know if I realized like how elite both teams were on and all those crucial stats. So how many times do you think the broadcast is going to mention the unstoppable force for

versus the immovable object. If this were a Chris Collins with him, then that would happen a lot. I was going to say Jerry Jones and Bobcraft. Oh, yes. That's really the shadow war here. I wanted to use this to ask you guys about DAC this week.

He's not in our rundown, but I wanted to just discuss him a little bit. Yeah, I think that's a really fascinating question. He's the third most expensive quarterback on Fandall, and we didn't put him on the go home segment. Are you guys bullish on him or bearish on him? What do you got? My issue is that he's not being discounted.

Like if he was being discounted for the matchup Like if people were like Oh well I'm not gonna play him because he's like The Patriots and maybe if he was like the seventh or eighth most Or lower than that I would be like Oh yeah we're getting value here But top three is a little concerning I think that actually he'll do better than people expected

I know the Lamar everyone kind of shied away from Lamar Jackson a few weeks ago Obviously he did great Dack is having a completely different season The Lamar Jackson's not really comparable In the way they're going about their offenses I don't think DAC is necessarily going to get two rushing touchdowns like Lamar Jackson did, but I do think there's a chance

to be able to throw on him. Like, there were throws the Eagles could have had against the Patriots last week that Carson Wentz didn't really get to make, but again, the Cowboys have better pass protection. The Eagles kind of collapsed

when right tackle Lane Johnson went out of that game, but the Cowboys have allowed the few of sacks in football. And the Patriots have, I said, the third most. If they can protect Dak Prescott, I think that there will be a few windows over.

So if you have him in like a season-long league and, you know, normal 12-team league, would you consider starting Dak Prescott's door? or would you drop him and pick up a guy like Carson Wentz who might be on the way of wire to start this week? Well, Wence is a good matchup against Seahawks. I'd probably rule the Wentz over Dak.

Yeah. What about, like, Sam Darnold? Like a streamer option. No, I'm a big fan of Dance with... Dance with Who Brungia. Yeah. Like, Dak's been doing it. Unless you have someone that you're confident about,

like, I'm confident about Wens versus Syokes this week. But I'm not afraid of him against the Patriots this week. He's been crushing it. DK, would you do Wens or Dak? It's really tough. I'm actually specifically trying to make the decision of DAC versus Sam Darnold this week in one of my leagues. I'm trying to make Go with Dax. I'm going to go with Dax.

But I think Wence is sort of in the middle range where I could easily get talked into that. Yeah. But I still think, I kind of agree with Danny, though. Like, DAC has just been so, so good. It's almost like he's an automatic start at this point. Press got, so one of our NBA colleagues, Jonathan Charks, is a big Cowboys fan. And he asked me the other day, what does Dak have to do? do to, like, be an elite quarterback.

And I kind of thought about it for a second, I was like, he's already doing it. Like, that drive he had against the Vikings was as good as he possibly could have played. Eliteness is just, can you do that consistently? The only difference between Dak and, like, Aaron Rogers is how often Dak plays at that level. This week, to me, I'm fascinated to see if he can play at that level. Because if he opens up the Patriots this week, like, he's arrived. He's here. That'll change some narratives.

Yeah. Eliteness is more narrative-based, I think, than anything, to be honest. I think the narrative's already changed because Dak, Prescott, the game manager on the run-first team, leads the league in passing yards, and I think that kind of says everything. It's a very similar parallel to like Russell Wilson's career, you know, because for a long time, it was like, oh, his defense is so good. Oh, his running game is so good. But now everyone, well, not everybody. I think there's fewer people that kind of doubt that Russell Wilson's elite.

I think, DAC is going down that same road. I fast think, you know what? Good on the NFL for clearing out every game from this time slide, except for Jack's Titans. All right, Craig, do you have someone your expensive you're out on this week? Yeah. Kenny Goladay is the fourth most expensive wide receiver, and I don't know why. I mean, they're playing the Redskins who are like a middle-of-the-road defense to wide receivers from a fantasy standpoint. And Matt Stofford still has no estimated return date because, you know, he's got no, he's got fractures in his spine.

And so uncertain. I can't believe you'd play professional football with that being the case. I know I'm not doctor. He's questionable with spine fractures. Meanwhile, I'm questionable because my stomach feels good. And the guy Jeff Driscoll, who's been fine filling in. He hasn't been great, but he hasn't been bad. But in the last two games with Jeff Driscoll,

Galdives had four catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. One of them was like a weird, improvised 40-yard touchdown. So besides that, he's got three catches for 50 yards and two games. So I have no idea why he's the fourth most expensive wide receiver. So I would go home on him. I knew Stafford was having a good season, but when I was doing that Cowboys work, I didn't realize that the

that Stafford actually leads the league in 20 plus yard, or sorry, the lines lead the league in 20 plus yard throws, or their second with the Cowboys. Like, I didn't realize that they had that many. I was like, damn, like, they really are taking, like, it's really just Stafford and Dak and all the deep categories, 20 yards, 40 yards,

deep passing rate. Darrell Beville. Fantastic. He's turned it around. I like it. I mean, obviously, Stafford deserves a lot of credit for that too. I mean, they were just so checked out under, what's his name?

What was his name? Jim Bob Cooter. Jim Bob Cooter, who I'm, you know what, we were going to take a break and we're still going to, but I have to say that Jim Bob Cooter was the Lions Offensive Coordinator for four, like four years, whatever it was. And in that span, they famously did not have a 100-yard rusher for like three years, which was almost an NFL record, the worst running game by any metric for a three-year period. And then Jim Bob Cooter left and became a running back's coach on the Jets.

Sometimes I don't understand how this stuff works. All right, let's go on, but before we do, let's take a quick break and talk about Sonos. This holiday season, immerse yourself in all your favorite holiday classics with a new home theater system from Sonos. Enjoy speech enhancement mode, a unique feature that clarifies the sound of the human voice. Perfect for when characters whisper or the action intensifies. Turn it on in the Sonos app and never miss a moment of the story. Plus, play carols and more when the TV is off. Hosting family and friends?

Sonos works with all your streaming services and controls simple with the app, Apple AirPlay 2, and your voice using Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant. You can also wirelessly connect all your speakers to create your perfect sound system. My Sonos move has been absolutely life-changing in that my day-to-day. I'll podcast in the morning or I'm cooking at night or whatever I got music going,

new music Friday. It is just unbelievable. And I'm hearing things. I never knew we were supposed to be there. Watching movies, there's like sounds and stuff in the background. It's like, there's a depth. Sound.

It was 2D to me for so long. There's layers like an onion. Yes, donkey. Love Sonos. Go to sonos.com to learn more and complete your holiday shopping. All right, let's get a middle range sweet spot, Goldilocks territory, DK,

who is someone not too expensive, not too cheap that you're into this week? I like Jameson Crowder of the Jets. Going up against Oakland this week, he's 6,500. He's just been a huge, huge part of that passing game, one of Sam Darnold's favorite targets from 4-4 football, CJ Hernandez. Crowder's 28.6% target share over last month. It actually ranks eighth among all receivers in the last four games.

So that's really, really strong usage. And again, it's like he's got a really good trust with Sam Donald. He has three straight games of 5 plus reception, 75 plus. yards and a touchdown. And the Raiders ranked 24th against opposing quarterback. So I just like Crowder. He's been solid in terms of being able to get into the end zone lately too. So that's helpful in this half PBR format.

Yeah, just love Crowder. Yeah, Robbie Anderson's dropped off a cliff, I think, in that same thing. He's got like a seventh of the Jets targets, which is not great. But Jameson Crowder and Sam Darnold, got to respect the chemistry. All right. Is that an inside job? that I completely miss. It's from Breaking Bad.

I added the sound drop like one time of Brian Cranston saying that. I love it. You know what? Gotta respect the camera. I'm catching out. I'm catching out. Get with the program. Okay.

Speaking of someone who's going to get with the program this week, Odell Beckham on the Cleveland Browns, it's happening. It is happening. You heard it here first. Not really, I think a lot of people like him, but that's the point. $7,000 this week. They're going against Miami. Odell has been bad this season.

He has one touchdown. Minkin Fitzpatrick has like. 70, and he plays defense. O'Dell has had 11 multi-touchdown games as a giant, and he has one touchdown this whole season. Not to make excuses, but it's the schedule. Cleveland's last eight games, they've played the Steelers, the Buffalo Bills,

the Denver Broncos, the New England Patriots, the Seattle Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Los Angeles Rams. That is six of the top 10 teams by defensive DVOA. So what? You're saying O'Dell can't beat good cornerbacks? Good Stats Bad Team guy? He could have when he was on the Giants, I don't know what happened.

So what he's the Devin Booker of wide receivers? Well, it doesn't... Yeah, sure. Yeah, he's just dropping 30 against bad teams. Well, actually, yes, because here's the thing. Odell has two games of more than 100 receiving yards this season. Both have come against two of the only three teams he's played that are below average past defenses. I'm surprised you're so down on your beloved Odell Bet.

I'm propping them up. I'm saying it's been bad, but it's going to get better because here's the thing. Again, his two best games have been against the two teams he played. The Seahawks and in week two, the Seahawks were in week six and then in week two, the Jets, and he crushed it those two weeks. This is the, not only and below average team,

the dolphins are the worst past defense in football by DVOA, by almost anything you want to say. It's really the bucks in the dolphins. All the Florida teams suck at defending the past. He's going to crush it this week. Not only are they bad, they're all hurt. Zavvy and Howard's been hurt for weeks, but here's the thing.

The dolphins put both their safeties on injured reserve this week. Rashad Jones and Bobby McKeon are on injured reserve. Akeeb DeLeave got traded to them. He hasn't played for them. He's not going to. I forgot he was on the dolphins. Yeah, we all have. Miami, he probably has.

He's just at the beach. Miami's three highest paid defenders are all in injured reserve. So as much as the numbers say they're the 32nd in DVOA in passing, past defense, they're actually going to be worse this week. I love the Browns to crush the dolphins. I love Adele to get not only a touchdown this week to double his total, but I think it could be a further one, like 20 yards plus. So love O'Dell, finally, it'll happen.

Let's do it. I'm in. Lock it in. Craig. Who's your Goldilocks this week? DJ Chark, who is the same price as Odell Beckham, $7,000 on Fandall. He saw his most targets of his season last week with Nick Foles' first game back.

He had 15 targets, which he turned into eight catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns. The Titan's secondary has been vulnerable on the outside, and that's mainly because Malcolm Butler went down with a broken wrist, and his backup has been given huge numbers to outside wide receivers. But yeah, this is just just right in that sweet spot.

Isn't that Goldilocks range, DJ Chalk. You love 15 targets. Yeah. You always love to see that. Where are you going to get that in that mid-range? Odell Beckham. That's why we got him on this list. Do we want to make some kind of...

Since there's the same price, who do you think does better? Odell or Chark. Oh, you hesitated. You already lost. Yeah. Okay. I don't want to make any bets because I'm already winning the other one, the streamer of the week. I don't want to make out of this. Way to get that in there.

Yeah, he had to get that in after missing last show. All right, Galaxy Brain Play of the Week. This is my favorite category now. I love this one. I've come to again. Okay, so this one, it's not just about being right. It's about being on a higher plane of football knowledge. It's cosmic apotheosis.

I'm breaking down my choice, like, as the meme would go, from normal brain, expanding brain, even bigger expanding brain to galaxy brain. Oh, I like that. Wow. Oh, yeah, scaling it? Okay, yeah, what's your right? Yeah, I'm going to scale this up. So I'm going with the Falcons defense against the Buccaneers this week.

It's $4,300. The normal brain, first box in the meme, would say the Falcons defense has been insanely good over the past two weeks. And they've scored 26 and 10 points, so it's a good pick. Expanding brain would say, however, it's probably mostly only due to turnover in red zone variance, the typical types of variance you see in football. Players have said that nothing really schematically is different. Obviously, they've made some swaps with the coaching staff. Rahit Morris is on defensive side now,

so that's something that people have talked about is maybe why this is happening. Hawaii's Falcons defense is the best defense in the NFL. All of a sudden, even after starting the season as literally probably the worst defense in the NFL. However, that's the expanding brain. I think it's just variance. Even bigger brain, they're due for regression to the mean.

We'll get boat raced. They're going to get boat raced by the Buccaneers this week. And then Galaxy Brain is, no, they're not. Maybe they have just completely evolved. Everyone is now magically better because they put Morris on the defensive side. Boom, DFS gold.

The Falcons are going to lock it down. James Winston's going to have five turnovers, which is actually not very Galaxy Brain. But obviously we've seen the Buccaneers been able to score points in bunches. They have very good receivers. Anyways, I think I've lost exactly. I love it.

I mean, we have, but I still love it. Anyway, that was fantastic, D.K. Oh, my God. Did you just talk all that out to your infant child? Can you see, like, the electrical currents and stuff in my brain coming out to me? The synapses are firing. I just saw you wandering around your living room, like, explaining all of this to your infant child as you stared back to you. Who's adorable, by the way?

Do you know the meme of the girl who's like, well, well, yeah, well. Oh, yeah. Yeah, Cabocha girl. This is my brain going through this whole scenario. So, bottom line is, Falcons defense against the box, 4,300. I love it, D.K. I don't know what just happened, but it's fantastic. I'm just going to do that again on the fly.

I was going to recreate. I love that format. That's beautiful. My Galaxy Brain, Mitchell Trubisky, quarterback for the Bears, $7,000, $18th most expensive quarterback. Now, normal brain, you're like, well, you know, got the hip injury, he's awful against the Rams. You can't play Mitchell Trubisky.

But then you go one level up. We're like, well, look, the Giants are terrible, right? I mean, as D.K. What do you always say about the gym? Giants defense. Yeah. What Giants defense? Tell me about them.

Yeah, yeah, all right. I was trying to flip it, but don't worry about it. Anyway, they're terrible. But then you go level up and you're like, but it doesn't matter because Trubisky's hip and this team is so terrible. Like rock bottom, they're going to get back to the run game fundamentals, eke out this one over this Giants team. Maybe they go with Chase Daniel. He could be benched by halftime. Might not have to be healthy.

Why would you do this? But then you go back and, no, the Giants are that bad on defense. This was a terrible thing for me to read. realized today. I looked up cornerback grades on pro football focus. There are 113 cornerbacks that qualify. DeAndre Baker,

the Giants first, the Giants rookie, was last. He's the lowest graded cornerback. He's a rough year. Of all of them. That blew my mind. The number one guy on the team is Janoris Jenkins who has just famously just been getting torched all year and Giants fans are a little

up and down with. I think Alan Robinson, I don't know who on this this team can cover Alan Robinson. I mean, last time this team, past defense is so bad. Tariq Cohen threw a past touchdown against the Giants last year. So I think Trubisky is,

I don't know, look, he has no floor. He has a sinkhole for a floor. He could have zero. He could have negative. But the ceiling against this team, you'll be the only one to have him. Love you'll be the only one.

Yeah, that is Galaxy brand. You're trying to win a million dollars? There you go. Hey, are we calling him Mitchell these days, or is it Mitch? I have a cousin who, he always called Mitchell. And then when he went to college,

he came back and he was like, I'm Mitch now. And I kind of want to ask him what he thinks of Trubisky going from Mitch to Mitchell and kind of back. Because he has a preference. Are either of you ever going to go to Daniel? No, Daniel's my father.

I was Daniel growing up. I was Daniel growing up and then people called me Dan for like 10 years. All my high school friends call me Dan. And then I decided to change my name to Danny as an adult because I thought it would be funny.

So you've gone through all stages of Daniel. Yeah, I've always been Danny. Yeah. And I thought, you know, maybe when I become a professional and have a bylines at a podcast, I'll have to change that. And I was like, nope, didn't do that. Do you want to be Daniel? No, I like Danny. Cool.

Didn't see the need to conform. Dan Hifitz. I don't like that. That's such a different. I don't like that. That is such a different sound. Oh, my God. When you meet your daughter's boyfriend one day, you're like, Dan Hifitz, that's how you're going to speak.

And I'm like, hi, I'm Danny. You're like, hello, I'm Dan Hifitz. She needs to be home by 10. Like bad boys, too? Exactly. Reg! Reggie! All right, Craig. Who's your goal?

It's been a galaxy brain. My galaxy brain is Josh Gordon of the Seahawks, D.K.'s favorite team. You had to think about that. I was like, what team is he on now? It's been a lot. He's super cheap. This man is $5,100 on Fandul, right around the Tevin Jones-Nehil-Hary range. So...

Tevin Jones is a guy? He's in the Steelers. There we go. There we go. So here's what we know. Tyler Lockett had a really scary chin injury that he's still contemplation. from and he was hospitalized after there was like blood flow problems about

potentially his like Yeah, it was scary. Yeah, yeah, his shin wasn't getting blood. Compartment syndrome. Yeah, yeah. He's been limited in practice this week, so we don't know. He might play.

I feel like he will. But even if he does, we don't know if he's going to be 100%. But in either case, Josh Gordon only played 37% of snaps against the Niners two weeks ago before his buy. But he made two big third down catches

in the fourth quarter. They're playing the Eagles secondary, which is terrible. They give up the fifth most points to wide receivers. and he had a buy week to theoretically learn the playbook. So... Love to know the playbook.

The 37% was like his... It was his first game with the team, so I was still working in. He played behind guys like David Moore and stuff, but if Lockett's not 100%, they're playing the terrible Eagle secondary. Josh Gordon's obviously talented. He's had the buy week. You know, the ducks are aligning to make this a galaxy brain pick of the league. So the Eagles are aligning?

The Eagles secondary... The ducks are in a row. The stars are aligning. Duck Hodges? Ducks are all Hodges. I'm just, I'm such a big Steelers fan. Duck Hodges. Eagles cornerbacks, Jalen Mills is back.

He's playing really well. And then across from him on the other side of the outside is Ronald Darby, who's not playing well. And then Avanti Maddox is back in the slot who would be covering against Tyler Lockett. And he kind of had his first game back since a kind of scary, like a full game back. And he didn't do great against Julian Edelman, but they still kind of held him. So I think that Lockett would have a pretty good matchup on Maddoch. but if Lockett isn't 100% or whatever, anyone going against Darby,

whether that is Josh Gordon or DK Metcalf, I think we'll do well in this game. I think that they'll be targeting Darby, and I think the question is if Gordon or Metcalf is the guy doing it. But Josh Gordon against Ronald Darby right now is, I mean, I like it. And for his damn price, which is ridiculous. Like, if you've built your whole lineup with guys you like and you need to fit somebody in and you're thinking,

oh, Nikiel Harry or Josh Gordon, it's a no-brainer. So this has nothing to do with exactly Josh Gordon, but I think it's just fascinating that the Seahawks have eight wins and seven of them are seven points or fewer. They're like the charges, but opposite. Yes. Yeah. I think it's, I mean, because the line for this game is like,

I think the opening line was like Eagles giving three or whatever. I think right now the Eagles are giving one and a half, which I'd still, I don't know why. Well, that's my point is it's moving toward the Seahawks, right? Yeah. And I think that's because a lot of people look at this line and be like, Eagles giving three at home so the Vegas thinks these teams are even, but there's a three-win difference.

But again, it's those close games. So I could see this being like a lot of passing, but, I mean, the Eagles pull out of win. at home because the Seahawks have were 7 and 1 in one score games. D.K. You're the Seahawks fan. Anything I just say off? Well, no, I think you're right.

The question for me is what defense we get from the Seahawks this week. I mean, the defense to start the season was like, frankly, just really bad. Last week or two weeks ago, they just had their five. Two weeks ago against the 49ers, the defense came alive. We saw J. David Clowney.

Like, dominate. And I think, you know, With Russell Wilson, you're always in it. You're always in the game. But if their defense can finally come play a second straight game, then I think the Cucks will win. But that's just a big question mark for me. And it's crucial if Lane Johnson plays.

Bill Barnwell noted in his column this week that Carson wins his passer rating, he's 20 points higher when... Yeah, the splits are crazy. Yeah. So question, does Clowning move around along that line? Or would they put them up against the backup tackle, it would be Vaitai? Yeah, they play them from both sides and sometimes from the inside. So he kind of moves around.

and, you know, they can do different things based on what matchups they want to get. That was the best game. The 49ers game was the best clownies played since he was in college. Is that fair to say? I was blown away. I wrote about that game.

I don't know if I would say, like, it was his best game ever, but it was certainly up there. It was, he was absolutely dominant. And he was very, very good against both the run and the past. He had a couple of key plays late in the overtime period against the run that were really crucial. Yeah, he just was all over the place.

He was open up, opening up for other guys get sacks. I mean, he just, yeah, he was just on fire. So hopefully they can keep that up because, you know, obviously that's a huge, huge deal for the Seahawks. They don't want to just be one-dimensional with Russell Wilson. Yeah, and to circle back to like 20 minutes ago when Craig was wondering about Carson Wentz.

If Lane Johnson plays or not, it's a huge factor for me. Oh, yeah, good call. Bargain play of the week. You're filling out your lineup and eventually you run out of money or almost. D.K., who's someone you're kind of scraping from bottom of the barrel? Bargain bin, can't speak. But yeah, I'm intrigued with Tim Patrick of the Broncos this week. Going up against Buffalo, $5,400.

And I think, you know, crucially, Cortland Sutton, who has been really, really freaking good. This season is probably going to get coverage from Trudevius White, who's one of the best corners in the NFL. That leaves Patrick, you know, to kind of get the number two guy there. And so he came in off the injured reserve last week, got eight targets, four catches, 77 yards. he had one target in the end zone that he maybe could have caught at the very end of the game that would have been probably the game – I think it was either game winner or game tying score. I can't remember off the top of my head, but he was a huge, huge target in that offense.

Brandon Allen looked to him a lot. In his first came back, he had 72% snap rate. He ran a route on 79% of his snaps, 20% target share. So the numbers are all really, really strong. And if you go back to last year, he had four starts at the end of the season. he caught 19 of 30 targets in those four games. That's seven and a half targets per game for 242 yards. So he was actually a pretty big part of the offense last year.

People just kind of forget about him because he's been on the injured reserve for the whole season until last week. And so he has been on the injured list, injury list this week, but I saw Vic Fangio say that I think he's going to play this week. So that's something to keep in mind. But yeah, I think Patrick is like he's potentially going to get a good amount of volume for being so cheap, you know, for being as cheap as he is. So I like this play. Tim Patrick for Denver. He was excellent down the stretch last year. He's a big guy.

He's like he's a contested pass catcher type guy. I like him. A good person to keep in mind for fantasy playoffs if someone gets hurt and you're looking for a streamer or just don't want to come in last. My bargain bin this week is Kareem Hunt. Running back for the Browns.

He's $5,600. He's the 27th most expensive running back. I think he's better odds of coming top 27 than that. I mean, Nick Chubb is the fourth most expensive running back this week on Fandd. Super small sample, but from the last two weeks

of week 10 and week 11, half PPR scoring, Cream Hunt is the running back 15 and Nick Chubb is ranked 19th. So Cream Hunt has outscored him. So look, small sample, but again, Nick Chubb, fourth most expensive guy this week, Cremont, 27th most.

Hunt is playing 55% of snaps the last two weeks, 13 catches in his last two games. The game's a blowout, Hunt could see a lot of garbage time work because Nick Chubbs is getting a ton of usage from the first half of the season. the other players in Cream Hunt's price range are like J.D. McKissick on the Lions

Kalin Belage on the Dolphins. Cream Hunt is way more upside than those guys. And then Matthew Berry pointed out in his love hay column on Thursday, three times this year, Miami has given up 11 plus points to two running backs in the same game. So I don't think it's Nick Chubb or Cream Hunt. I think that they can both have a good week this week,

but the difference is Kareem Hunt is really cheap. So I like Cream Hunt to fill out your lineup. To that point, you know, they've been playing. both guys at the same time, you know, a good amount of time. So, like, they'll line hunt up as, like, a slot receiver. You know, he's kind of moving them all around. They're definitely using him as the pass catching back.

The Browns have had so much trouble filling out who their third option is because they've had Odell Jarvis and Joku got hurt. Higgins, I think, is good, but he got hurt. Calloway is not consistent. Yeah. They have so many, they've just not been able to find, like, filling out, like three or four consistent options. And it's funny to have Hunt and Chubb in the same backfield. they're like, oh, we're just going to do both.

Hunt is going to be basically a third or fourth receiver. Yeah, exactly. I mean, yeah, it's just getting your best players kind of on the field and figuring it out from there, and I think that's what they're doing. All right, Craig, who's your bargain bed of the week? Craig Olson on the Panthers. Craig for Greg? Craig for Greg.

Our man is the 17th most expensive tight end. Can you name 17 tight ends in the league that are healthy and playing? In the last three games, Greg Olson's had 16 catches for almost 200 yards. other tight ends in the league in the last three games who have had more than 16 catches are Zackerts. Are Zekerts. So I don't know why he's the 17th most expensive tight end. They're playing the Saints who, albeit, are a solid defender of tight ends.

However, Cameron Brayt just had 10 catches for 73 yards against them last week. So $5,100. Don't you just love to see that, Craig, by the way? I know. Oh, yeah, we can make fun of you for this. See, this is where I think, though. How did you double down on O.J. Howard? What were you thinking?

Well, I mean, he had a bad drop, and then they basically played Camember 8. So those are essentially O.J. Howard's catches, those 10 catches. He was, yeah, you were on the right track. It's so facto. That was O.J. Howard technically catching those 10 balls. That's my theory. But this week, Greg Olson, 5100 on Fandul, you got to do it. All right, yeah. No. Are you, well, we'll still see. Yeah, we won't even give you the loss of the O.J. Howard thing. It's still a win. So there you go. You're one for one of the title. it affects. Pretty good.

All right. Well, speaking of Fandul, the Ringer NFL show is brought to you by Fandul's Sportsbook, now available in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Indiana. Fandle's sportsbook wants to know what you'd bet if you knew you couldn't lose. Will Greg O'Send have more than 16 catches this week? Who knows? Well, the Cowboys beat the Patriots.

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and expires 14 days after receipt, terms apply. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or in West Virginia. Visit www.1-800 gambler.net or in Indiana, call 1-800-9 with it. All right, let's get to our Fanduil lineup of the week. We list one lineup using our knowledge and a few hunches, and let's roll with it.

We saved $200 this week, so only use... What are we going to do with her $200? spent on anything. Not getting an impossible burger, I'll tell you that. All right, well, leading out, we got Baker Mayfield at quarterback, mentioned the Browns against the Dolphins. Yeah, we're all in on the Browns this week. We're all in on the Browns this week.

Kind of basic, but, you know, it's okay. It's what the Galaxy brains for. So we got Baker, and we also have Odell from that Browns Dolphins game, and we're banking on, look, when Odell went to Miami that famously did not go well with that whole boat thing. So now Miami's coming to Cleveland. Maybe it'll go better. That's what we're hoping for.

And then we've also got Kareem Hunt in that lineup because he's so cheap. And then Dika, you want to take it from there? Yeah, so then we're going with running back Jalen Samuels of the Steelers going up against a very bad Cincinnati defense with James Connor on the shelf this week. Very few actually players in their offense are healthy. So I think Samuels could end up getting a good amount of volume at the running back spot. So I like him. And then we're going with Julio Jones at our other receiver position going up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Obviously, that's a good, good match.

matchup for him. Hopefully get him in the end zone this week. He's 8,400. And then the other receiver we've got to go with Julio and Odell Beckham is Chris Godwin of the Buccaneers. You know, again, not much to say about Godwin. He's been really, really good this year. Got in the end zone last week.

Hopefully he'll keep it going. He kind of had a little bit of a lull there. But I think he's due to get back to kind of like what he was doing earlier on in the season. I like that because it's a win-win because if he doesn't do well, then your Falcons, Galaxy Brain take was correct. And if not, then our lineup does that smart. A little bit of hedging there.

So, Craig, do you want to take us down the stretch there? Sure. Then we got our recently mentioned Greg Olson at Tide End, $5,100. That's our bargain bin there. As Dandy Hiveadz laughs at my pick, he's like practically throwing up his water. That's not funny, dude. I just threw up. Then at our flex for $6,500, we have also the previously mentioned James and Crowder,

great matchup against the Raiders this week. And to bring it on home. What do we decide for Dia? Are we doing Pittsburgh? Are we doing the Bears? I like Pittsburgh. We're going to do Pittsburgh. I mean, have you seen Ryan Finley?

Unfortunately, yeah. They don't have any receivers either. So they're just, yeah, their passing game is really, really rough right now. So, yeah, Pittsburgh against the Bengals, same price as the Bears playing the Giants. But we're going to go with TJ Watt and the Steelers. Thanks for playing that cool. I wasn't laughing. I was choking on my water and almost dying, but Craig did nothing.

Oh, really? Oh, I thought you were making fun of me for my Greg Olson thing. No, I was actually just choking. So I don't know. I guess my thoughts are, look, when it's Daniel Jones versus the Bears or Ryan Finley versus the Steelers, you know, it's just an embarrassment of riches. So, two paths their version of wood, don't worry about the other one.

Just roll with the one you're on. Give us a rundown on the entire team real quick. Oh, I thought you meant the Giants and it was like, do I have to? I don't want it. Yeah, no, I want you to start, starting with the defensive line, start in the trenches, give me your impression of every single player on the Giants and where they're going.

No, I'm just talking about our line. I would, though, that's the thing. All right, let's just stick with our lineup. Baker Mayfield at quarterback, running backs are Jalen Samuels and Kareem Hunt. Receivers are Julio Jones, O'Dell Beckham Jr. And Chris Godwin. Tight end is Greg Olson, receivers, Jameson, Crowder,

and defense is Pittsburgh Steelers. So love it. I'm excited. It's going to go fantastic. Craig, we're happy you're back. Thank you. Not happy you're winning the streaming thing, which I'll give you the props.

So if you had just never come back, that would have been okay. But we're happy you're all right. That's the point. Is you're healthy? It's great. and, you know, I don't have many rules, but as I always say, never throw up more than seven times

in a right-aid parking lot. If it was eight, then it would be a problem. Eight is a problem. Eight's like illegal, but seven, that's a lucky number. Welcome to park. Thank you to that, thank you to that right-aid parking lot.

Thank you to Craig. Thank you to D.K. Mm-hmm. Thank you to everyone for listening. We'll see you guys next week. And thank you to Sonos, this holiday season. Immerse yourself

in all your favorite holiday classics with a new home theater system from Sonos. Whether it's your favorite playlist or your favorite podcast, or this one where Craig is describing his 5 a.m. on Sunday. You can hear it with 3D sound, instead of the 2D I've been listening to my whole life. Go to sonos.com to learn more and complete your holiday shopping.