The Ringer NFL Show - Lombardi's Week 6 Watch List and Last-Second Fantasy Advice | GM Street (Ep. 321)

Episode Date: October 12, 2018

The Ringer's Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier discuss Eli Manning and the Giants’ loss Thursday night to the Eagles (02:00) and list the best games to watch this weekend (12:15). Then Danny Heifetz and Danny Kelly of 'The Dantasy Football Podcast' give out fantasy football advice (29:15). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everyone, it's Liz Kelly, and I want to tell you about the second annual Ringer NBA Palooza we've going on next week on Tuesday, October 16. We'll be streaming a live marathon countdown to tip off with Bill Simmons and the Ringer NBA crew, featuring live podcasts, special guests, ringer original shorts, and culminating in a sixer Celtics watch party. You can check it out live on Tuesday across all of our social media platforms. And don't forget to check out our brand new NBA Paloosa merch on the ringer.com slash shop. Welcome to GM Street, part of the Ringer Podcast Network. It is Friday. It is October 12th, and this is what we do every single Friday. And I am joined by Mr. Michael Lombardi. Lombardi, how are you doing? I am great. Tate Fraser. How are you? What's new?

I called you little Jimmy. I don't know if anybody listened to this Cousin Sall's podcast the other day. So I called you a little Jimmy. That was meant as a complete compliment, because I do think you're the next gym, Nats. I really do. Some people may be upset and think that I would be shook by the little moniker at front, but there's been a lot of great little. Little Richie, Little Wayne. so I appreciate you saying that and obviously anytime I get

compared to Jim Nance by you, Lombardi it's just an utter compliment so I'm very excited though we have a lot to talk about we had Eli Manning last night the Giants they didn't quite show up for Thursday night football maybe they forgot that it was happening so quickly

quick turnaround for those guys but the Eagles did show up Carson Wins did show up and they dominate three touchdowns for Wins 34 to 13 for the Eagles and Lombardi we just got to talk about what is going on in New York and what is going on with the G-Men Well, look, I mean, let's face it, we've been, how long has we been talking about this?

There was a time, I used to call Parcells and I used to talk all the time when he was in New England. And then when he went to the Jets, he would call because Belichick, and he would call me up and we would have conversations. And sometimes I go on my typical rants with him and I be ranting. And he'd say, hey, hey, hey, kid, kick, stop. The horse is already dead. Quick kicking it. Like, this Eli conversation's already done. We got to quit kicking it.

Like, it's over. Like Dave Gettleman, John Marry. the whole crew in New York. They decided, look, this was a conspiracy from the beginning. When they fired Ben McAdoo, they fired Ben McAdoo,

it was with the understanding that Eli could still play. They went out, they searched for a general manager. Jerry Reese, his replacement. They hired Ernie O'Coursey, who was in the organization.

So Ernie, who drafted Eli, okay, he's not getting rid of Eli. Plus, Ernie's very politically connected. He could control the narrative in the New York market. So he went out there. they hired Ernie. Ernie hired Dave Gettleman, who he got him the job in Carolina. He's friends with Gettleman. So all of a sudden, all these things are lining up for what? So that Eli can be the quarterback. Nobody was ever going to question whether Eli, the guys that came in for the interview, no chance. It was Eli's team. And now Pat Shermer, who I feel bad for because, A, he's got a coach a declining player. And B, he's stuck with a team with no quarterback. And we got to the point last night where we saw Eli do the classic Eli phase.

which he just looks disheveled and shocked at what is actually happening around him at this point. And, you know, we joke all the time about, you know, the Joe Buck, Troy Aitman, what they're actually talking about. But they did bring up quite a few times about Sequin Barclay being, I don't know, the next Barry Sanders or insert any great running back. They continue to bring it up and point to the fact that he has been a success, and that was a really good pick for the Giants as far as what he's been able to provide for them. Obviously, you know, 13 carries last night, 130 yards to touchdown.

you know, had that big, almost Marshawn Lynch as play where he just didn't go down. So there are reasons to be excited for the rookie, but like we were saying, there was a main problem with this team, which is they didn't have a legitimate quarterback to help with those weapons on the outside. We've seen OBJ, Ferris Bueller complain about this. Sterling Shepard, you know, is one of those guys that people thought would step up and make a difference for this team. But it all goes back to Eli, and it does seem like the fingers are starting to point back

at Eli. We remember last year when Ben McAdoo benched Eli and broke. his starting streak and that pretty much set the tone for everything. But like you said, they course corrected to build this team back around Eli again. But at one in five at this point, what do you do you do you just kind of have to buy in and continue to roll it out? Or do you, for lack of a better term, tank for the rest of the season and try to get another top draft pick? Oh, they're going to, whether they try to tank or not, they're tank and they're not good enough.

I mean, they're not going to beat anybody playing the way they play. I mean, they went down to Houston and they had a good game against the Texans and won that game. because the Texan secondary was atrocious and they were able to make some plays. I mean, it's going to come down to once teams start figuring it out that Eli can't throw the wall down the field, which they all should. I mean, they're not going to win any games. They're going to win three games, maybe.

And so they're going to have a high draft pick. And now they've got to decide, I mean, who they're going to put in there, Alex Tanny, they're going to put the kid from Richmond in there. You know, that's going to be really horrendous. They're going to go, and we're going to watch 10 more games of Eli Manning, and he's going to throw checkdowns. And it's hard to evaluate other players on the team. I mean,

you know, even last night, I think you saw Shermer say throw it down the field. I know he had denied it afterwards, but it's so obvious on the tape. It's so obvious. You can't draw it up any better than it's been drawn on the tape, and yet he won't do it. So the Giants have made their bed. They've got to lay at it.

They've got to start scouting all the young quarterbacks who's going to come out there in the draft because they're going to have a top pick for one. And it does come down to the point, and we talked about this as it was playing out, and we talked about the fact that Sean Payton is a guy that was forward thinking and did make this trade for Teddy Bridgewater and gets him down to the Saints. But

there were so many opportunities early on in the season or even in the off season where, you know, the Giants could have brought someone else into, you know, that quarterback room to maybe push Eli, like what we saw when, you know, the Ravens and Ozzy decided to draft Lamar Jackson with a 30-second pick. They put them in the room with Flacco. Flacco gets pushed a little bit and we've seen Flacco, you know, play up to or back to a level that we'd seen him play before, maybe back in the 2014, 2013 years, at least early on in the season. And Eli didn't have that push from anyone. when they let Webb go, and like you said, you got the kid from Richmond behind him, but there really is no one pushing Eli. There is no one in that room that is making him feel uncomfortable.

Is there a chance that Gettelman maybe tries to find that guy or try to sign someone at this point in the season to make Eli, at least have some sort of pressure on him or at least to see if they can push him to that level, or at this point you just got to write it out? I think this is their bed, they got to lay in it. I mean, this is their bed. They got to lay in it. I mean, look, we bitched about, you know, they should go after 10. Bridgewater. I mean, Pat knows them. He coached them all last year at Minnesota. You know,

the Saints who are rich a quarterback, they go and take the guy, you know, and meanwhile, across the river, the Giants have no interest. Look, this is who you are. You can't find a quarterback out on the street. You know, Davis Webb wasn't good enough for them, so they cut him. Alex Tanny's not going to be, none of these guys are going to be good enough. They're just going to have to sit there and bite the bullet and admit that they made a mistake. Here's the hard part. The reason there's nobody in the room, Tate Frazier, the reason there's nobody in the room is because they didn't want anybody in the room. They are convinced that Eli was the answer.

This is what they've been convinced all along. And so this is what I preach about all the time on GM Street. The hardest thing to do in any sport, basketball, football, is to evaluate your own players correctly. And the Giants just didn't do that. And now they're going to pay the price. And fortunately for Gettleman, he's under a new car. He's just got there.

So he's not going to fire the general manager after a year. Pat Sherman, they're not going to fire him. So he's going to get a chance to rebuild. and John Marrow owns the team and he's not going to fire himself. And I just want to say, I mean, it is wild that it apparently has taken to week six for us to realize that this is the situation with the Giants. I mean, I don't know we talked about on this program here on GM Street that that was the case, but it seems like now everyone's coming to the realization that Eli is not the answer at quarterback. But it comes back to if you're in the preseason or if it's week one and you're Gettoman and you see Eli is not willing to throw the ball 15 yards down the field, You know, maybe you call the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who at the time had James Winston the doghouse and try to get him for cheap, or maybe you call the Colts who are feeling good about luck and try to get Jacoby Brissette early in the year.

Just to get some sort of answer behind Eli, you know, if you don't think he can be the guy, instead of waiting until week six when the season is basically lost at this point. Well, you don't have a need if you don't admit you have one. And here's the thing that blows me away about the Giants is they were 30, they are 34 and 52. since 2013. They're four and 19, I think, since the boat ride that Ferris went down, took the team down on. I mean, this is not a pattern of just having a bad season. This is five years. You're almost 20 games below 500.

There's a reason. There's a freaking reason why you're this bad. And if you don't want to admit it, that you're never going to get any better. This is what all the people that went in there for interviews. Some people rejected interviews with the Giants because they knew they would, nobody wanted to coach Eli. I said last Tuesday on the podcast. that it was that

Phil Jackson didn't want to coach Michael Jordan. No, I was wrong. It was Kobe. He didn't want to deal with Kobe when Kobe was in a decline. Now Pat Schumer's got to deal with it. Look, the horse is already dead. We got to quick kicking it. We got to move on to something else because the Giants are living.

As Parcells often would tell me, they're watching a different game than we're watching. They're not watching the same game. They're seeing a different game. So all the questions you ask are great questions, except for the people that you're asking them to don't see it that way. Oh, Eli's fine. Eli can get it done.

Like, I watch Bernie Kosar, okay? Like, Millie must elbow me in the ribs a thousand times when I'm watching a game. And I'm saying, this reminds me a Kozar, Mill. This reminds me a Kozor, Mill. This reminds me of a Kozor look like. And she's like, don't you say that. Don't you say that. You know, it's like, because, you know, Kosar was a legend.

Kosar didn't even win Super Bowls. We got ran out of Cleveland because Belichick and I released Kosa. So, you know, this is just the reality of what you're dealing with. And it's hard. look, I have great respect for Eli. It's not an easy thing to do to talk about a declining head hall of fame if he goes in the Hall of Fame player. He's won two Super Bowls.

His name's going on the Ring of Honor. It's hard. But the end happens to so many people. It's just going to happen. It always is. Time always wins in the end, unless you believe time is a myth. And we're going to get to, we need to talk about the Eagles quickly just before we get to the five games that you have selected for this week.

we should say the Eagles, that pass rush that we've been preaching about them trying to get back to it, it seemed like last night. Granted, the New York Giants, their offensive line is not that great, as we both know. But the Eagles seemed to bounce back last night on defense and sort of got their identity back a little bit. Unfortunately, Jason Peters, it has been reported that he suffered a torn biceps. So it's an unfortunate injury for that Eagles front line on the offensive side of the football. But overall, the Philadelphia Eagles a nice win for them. And they've won eight of the last nine against the Giants. Yeah, look, I mean, well, look, when you only have won 32 games in the last five years, everybody's beating your ass.

You know, you become the Washington Nationals, right? So, I mean, so let's face it. But look, I think here's the reality for Philadelphia. Going into the game, they were 16.7% on red zone third downs. Last night, they executed every third down in the red zone. They played really well. Last year, they were 51.4% on red zone third downs. I mean, that's a huge gap.

That's why they were struggling. They fixed that there. They also had the six most third downs in the red zone last year. They were down in those numbers. And then the red zone defense has always been strong. They've always been good. And I think what they did last night was they didn't fumble the ball. They got the one fumble.

They won that. Their penalties were down. I only had four penalties. And they were able to stay out of those three-and-out drives. Going into the game, they were 24th in the NFL and three-and-out drive. So they fixed their offense, which then made their defense look better. This is always the case in Philadelphia. It's about their offense.

It's about their offense, and I've said this a thousand times. You went on the road when you have an offense that can control the pace, and that's what they did last night. And that's what Carson Wentz did last night, and they looked like, you know, signs of the MVP that we saw last year. A little sloppy at times with the Eagles, but it does seem like they're getting over that Super Bowl hangover and starting to clean things up a little bit, which is nice to see. Let's get to the games for week. So Lombardia, we always do this every Friday. The Friday sit down. We pick five games to watch out for.

The first game that you have on the docket this week is the Chicago Bears, the Mitch. Trubisky-led Bears going down to Miami to take on the dolphins who have lost two in a row. The good news if you are a Bears fan is that this defense, one of the best in the league, they do not blitz. They get to the quarterback without having the blitz. They average about four and a half sacks per game, which is the best in the NFL right now. Lombardi, what are you planning to see in this game from the Bears taking over the Dolphins? You know, I just said offenses that can take over the game.

On the surface, I think this is a slam dunk for the Bears, right? I think this is a slam dunk that bears win this game. I don't think it's an issue. You know, it looks like, okay, the Vegas doesn't have the line right. And then when you peel back some things, you're like, okay, wait a minute, can this really work? I mean, first of all, you got Dowagens, who's the offensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins, who was in Chicago for two years. So he knows Vic Fangio's scheme really well.

And Miami plays much better at home. There's no doubt. It's harder to play in Miami, the heat and humidity, get the people, even though it's early October. It's still a factor. I think Miami will play this game tough. I don't think Miami's a great team by any means. I just think they won't turn the ball over. I think they need their they need Tunzel to play left tackle.

If he doesn't play, all bets are off. But I think this game for me, even though the numbers say that Miami shouldn't win, I think there's a chance because of Tribisky not being to the level. I think Miami has a chance to pull this out. The Bears are one of the best teams in the NFL in eliminating rushes and completions. They only allow 41. I mean, and then Miami only does 40. So the bears have to turn the ball over for in this game. I think Chicago wins. I just think it's going to be a closer game. I think what the line is three or something like that. I think that's what it'll be. I think Miami will keep it close. Yeah, the line is three. The bears are favored by three in this game. And one of the stories that came out this week was that Nagy and that offensive staff is really pushing for Trubisky to keep on the sleeve with a bunch of the signs and the play calls and sort of this stuff. So people were pointing to that as, uh, as not good signs for the Mitchell-Tribisky era, but I will say this. Oh, that's a definite.

He'll be fine. That's the problem. I mean, you know, that's the problem. He needs a tutor. I mean, he needs some help on the field. There's no doubt. And if they're not going to get it. We got tutors.

We got plenty of tutors. There you go to Chicago. I'll tutor him. I'll go to Chicago. A little study hall never hurt anybody. Yeah, whatever it takes. The next game that we have up, the Carolina Panthers are going to take on the Washington Redskins.

Thomas Davis, defensive leader for the Panthers, is back. Greg Olson, the offensive leader. for the Panthers is back. Cam Newton said the band is back together. Very excited about all those things. Then obviously we've got to talk about Washington. They lose Monday night football to the New Orleans Saints. But in the past three years, Jay Gruden and his team has been able to bounce back after losses, 14, 6 and 1 record after a loss in his three seasons there with the Redskins. But looking at this game, Lombardi, what are you really looking out for? Washington is favored by one at home in this one. Yeah, I just wrote a column

about the Redskins on the Athletic and I talked about the reasons their team struggles and I talked about the thing, why the fan base is losing out and why Daniel Snyder has kind of lost and he basically should become George Costanza and just do the opposite of every instinct

he has. But this game to me and then I kind of contradict myself at the end because I think the Redskins will win this game because Carolina's defense on the road has not been very good. Carolina can't cover anybody. They give over over eight yards. They don't play good in the red zone as they did, before. They struggle really when they go outside to handle receivers. I think this is the game that

it's tailor made for the Redskins. Now, I also think this could be a track meet. I think this game could go back and forth. I think both offenses will score. Cam Newton scored over 80 points that last two times he's played the Redskins. So you know they can score. But I think the Redskins will prove out to be the better team. I think bad lines don't travel well. I still think Carolina's not a great offensive line. I think the Redskins can put some pressure. And I think their backs are to the wall. The Redskins play that way. Now, I think next week is a whole. different story. But I like Washington here because I think they were embarrassed. They'll have their attention. They'll be able to go in there. And Carolina is just not the same team on defense.

There's just no way. I agree. As much as I do think the three and one is great for the Carolina Panthers to open this season. I do feel like they have gotten away with some things early on. And that Washington team, like you said, they seem to bounce back after a loss for whatever reason. That's just kind of who they are as a team under Jay Gruden. The next game, we have, we have the Jacksonville's who we're going to go down to Dallas to take on the Cowboys. Jacksonville is favored by three in this game. Obviously, the Jaguar's defense is probably, you know, chomping at the bit to go up against Dak Prescott, a guy that has been struggling to find his flow and rhythm on offense.

And the fingers are starting to point in Dallas at Dak. But looking at this game, Lombardi, what do you expect to see? I think Jacksonville bounces back. I don't think, I don't think Dallas has enough to really attack Jacksonville's defense. I mean, they're going to have to run the ball. Tennessee had 150 yards rushing against. them. The Giants had 114 Russian, you know, most of it on one play. Kansas City had 126. So they're going to have to try to find a way to run the ball. And we know running the ball

don't score a lot of points. This will be a zone game. I think Bordals will know exactly what the coverage is before. They'll be able to design some scheme breakers to help him out. And I think the Jacksonville defense will wear down the Dallas offense. I just think that Jacksonville is the much better team. I don't think they're going to lose two in a row. And I think this will be the key. Dallas can't make big plays. They just don't make big plays. And Jacksonville doesn't give you big plays. So my feeling is where does Jacksonville, where does Dallas get enough points to win the game?

The only way I think Jacksonville could lose this game is if my man, if bad Blake Bortle shows up. The great equalizer. The great equalizer. I mean, of all the nicknames I've given out, that's my person. I mean, that defines it perfectly. Nobody can dispute it either. Nobody can dispute it. He is the great equalizer, Tate Fraser.

Yeah, going into any Jaguar's game. game, just as a viewer, the objective viewer, you have to be excited to know that Blake Bortals, no matter how great the defense plays for the Jaguars, how many turnovers they can create for themselves, Blake Bortals can always do that for the other defense and help them out. So I think it's good for competition's sake at this point. So we appreciate that, Blake, as always. The next game that we have up, we have the Los Angeles Chargers traveling to Cleveland to take on the Cleveland Browns. I don't know if you saw this, but Huey headlines, they asked him about, you know, all the new fans, all the new Browns fans that were

coming out of the woodwork. And, you know, he said if you were on the wagon before, you can stay on the wagon. But if not, you can circle the wagon. He doesn't need any new fans. He wants to know who all these new people are that are coming out of the woodwork to cheer on this 500 team. But that's where we're at with Huey headlines. So that's exciting. Anyways, the Chargers are favored by one in this game.

Russell O'Coon should be back. Barkstale should be back to help Rivers as far as the men that he has up front in front of him. And then, you know, Greg Williams is known for blitzing and Philip Rivers is known. for making defenses pay when they do blitz. So that's something to watch out for. What do you expect in this game, Lombardy? I think this game really comes down on one thing. The Chargers can't turn the ball over.

I mean, that's why the Browns have won two games. They're plus eight in turnover, take away differential. I mean, and I think the Chargers have extra motivation. They were the last team to lose before the 2018 season to them. So I think they have a grunge here, a grudge that they got to repay. And when you look at it, the Browns, just to me, just don't have enough execution. I think in terms of their offensive things that they're able to do, they just aren't consistent enough.

I think Baker Mayfield's really good, but I think the pressure at Melvin Ingram kind of got going last week for Los Angeles, excuse me, he got going last week. I think Rivers will throw the ball. They make a lot of explosive plays. I think they'll know how to attack the Greg Williams scheme. I think the Chargers are the better team, and I think the Chargers, this is a game the Chargers better win.

This is a game, the Chargers better go back. The weather's not going to be a factor. they should be used to it. This is a game they better win. They make big plays down the field, and I think the Browns will give them big plays. I think their defense has to step up, and God hope that Caleb Sturgis doesn't miss any more extra points.

You realize they've missed nine extra points in the last two years? That's unbelievable. It almost feels like I'm made up stat at this point. It seems like they are cursed on special teams. And it also seems like this is the perfect trap game for the Chargers. If you've been watching the Chargers, you know that this is a game that you're probably scared to see. I thought last week was going to be the trap.

game. But here's the thing. People talk about the Browns' defense is so good. The Browns are 30th in the NFL in allowing 54 rushes and completions a game. So you take the rushes and you take the completions, you add those together. That means what's happening. People are moving the ball on the Browns. They're just turning it over. They make mistakes. And I think Rivers is too smart of a quarterback to make these mistakes. He'll know what Greg Williams is doing. He's competed against him. He'll understand it. And I think they'll be able to take advantage of the secondary of the Browns. Look, Denzel Ward's a really good player, but there's other guys you can attack in the secondary. If they block Miles Garrett,

which if O'Coon's back, they can, I think they'll win the game. And we should point out, Denzel War, a guy that we talked about when he got drafted, fourth overall. People thought that might be a bit of a stretch, but he's been great so far. I think he actually leads the NFL and interceptions right now with three at this point.

So one guy to watch out for it. On the back end, final game of the week, we have the Los Angeles Rams, the Shaw-McVeigh-led Rams taking on the Denver Broncos. Van Schoves heading into this game said nobody stopped them. And now it's our turn to try. The Rams are favored by seven in this game. Brandon Cook's Cooper Cup, two guys that went through

concussion protocol. Apparently will be available to play in this game, so that's something to watch out for. The Rams obviously undefeated. Going down to Denver to the Malheye City, we know how great Denver can be at home at times. Lombardi, is there a chance that the Broncos can write the ship here and get a nice win against the Rams? I think the Rams win, but I don't think they're

going to cover the spread. I think the Rams can win. Look, the Rams are supposed to be a top defense, yet they rank 31st and allowing third intent, allowing third intents. they rank 30th overall and third down conversions. I mean, they're not very good. They're not able to stop the running game. And I think they can't stop the running game for some reason.

I think that then this allows Case Keenham, who's not played particularly well to have more balance. And he can get things going. Plus, I think this is a huge game for Vance Joseph. I think it's a huge game for Vance Joseph. I think if Vance Joseph doesn't win this game, I think the writing's on the wall and he won't be back. I think he's got to send a message to the front office

and win this is all or nothing to me. This is one of those where if he doesn't win, things are going to be a problem. You know, when I talk about the Rams run defense, they allow over five yards of carry on first down. That's 25th in the NFL. And so these are really two bad teams play run defense. I just think to me, the Broncos will keep it close because I think they'll be able to move the ball on them. The other thing that Tate Fraser is Vaughn Miller's got to show up. I mean, they got a pressure.

He's got to show up. He's got to be the difference in the game. That's what I was going to say. I feel like the only way that this Denver Broncos team can really live up and play up to a potential on that defensive side of the football is if Von Miller is pinning his ears back and just becoming that in a ridiculous machine that he was back when they won the Super Bowl not too long ago. So that's something to keep an eye on to see if Von Miller really shows up on Sunday against those guys. One more game I want to talk about before we get out of here. The Patriots are going to take on the Chiefs. This could be the first time three times in a row that a team has beat Brady and Belichick since 2001.

that's Andy Reid and the Chiefs. They've won back to back against these guys. So that's something to look out for. Tom Brady has a chance to get his 200th career regular season win, which would be the first quarterback in NFL history to do that. That's something to keep an eye on as well. Just in that game in general, Lombardi, the Chiefs have always, in the past couple years at least, have called some problems for that Patriots team,

especially that Patriots defense with some of that speed. Is that something that we're going to see again this Sunday night? Well, I mean, the opener last year was caught the Patriots a little bit. off by guard. They weren't ready defensively. I think now they've had 10 days to prepare for this, and I think they kind of have a, they'll have a plan on what they feel like they can do to stop. But this game is going to come down to the Patriots offense. Can they control the pace of the game? Can they control the football? I mean, Mahomes is going to get his plays. They can't let the ball get thrown over their head if you're New England. You've got to make them work the ball down the field,

play good in the red zone, keep him from moving in the pocket, especially when he gets in the red zone. Try to win the red zone battle. If they can do that, I think the Patriots will move the football in this game. I don't think there's any problem with that. Justin Houston's not supposed to play in the game. They'll protect. They'll be able to attack these corners, and I think they'll make plays. I think this could be a little bit of a track meet. I think it's going to come down to the fourth quarter with Tom Brady. I think both teams will struggle to stop one another, but I think pace of this game favors New England. I think New England can be the first team to beat Kansas City. And it'll be, I think this is the week, right? Both those undefeited teams, the Chiefs and the Rams,

the two teams that everyone has been talking about, and basically, you know, vaulting the to a point where we expect them now to be Super Bowl contenders or teams to watch out for, especially in those conferences. But this could be the weekend where the Broncos maybe show up, Vaughn Miller shows up and they can upset the Rams. And if the Patriots do what we've seen the Patriots do a million times and dominate a game at home in Foxborough and get a win,

then maybe we have some more talking points and maybe some people change their minds about, because everyone's so fickle these days, Lombardi, you know, people will change their minds quickly if those two teams lose. Exactly. But I think, look, look, whatever happens, in Denver, whatever happens in New England. Both teams are good teams. I just think Denver

sets up perfectly to play the Rams this week only because they can run the football. Denver makes big plays down the field of passing game. They're fourth in the NFL and plays over 20 yards in their passing game. Even though Case Keenham doesn't play well. If he doesn't throw interceptions, Denver hasn't fumbled all year. So you know Denver can protect the football. If they can

run the ball and do some things and get some plays on this Rams team, you know, in terms of their defense makes some plays, I think it's a huge game. And whenever teams are back to the wall and they're home and you're points. I take those. Yep, absolutely. And one more thing before we get out of here, producer Jim, just send me this tweet. Gino Smith, the backup quarterback for the Los

Angeles Chargers, just tweeted out, y'all owe my boy Mackin' apology. So maybe we owe, do we owe Bid McAdoe an apology? Should we all put on our sunglasses and say, I'm sorry? No, I don't think we owe Ben McAdoo anything. I think he should be fortunate he was one of the 32, an elite club that's harder to get the United States Senator. So look, look, the way McAdo handled that, he doesn't deserve an apology because he didn't really have an answer for it. I think that, you know, look, if he was honest, now the word was he walking around the building telling everybody Eli couldn't play, so it was pretty clear that he wanted,

he wanted it to not, he wanted him out of there. And I think when you break it down and you analyze it, it's pretty clear that that he was right in the sense, but he was wrong in how he handled it. And he just, you know, he just believed in Gino Smith. What can you say? What's wrong with that? We all got to believe in Gino Smith sometimes. We all got to believe in something, Tate Fraser. You all got to believe in something. This has been another Friday sit-down edition of GM Street. Week 6, we're very excited about this heading up this week, and we're going to see what some of these big contenders are, you know,

who they really are. Lombardi, we're going to learn who they really are this week. All right, buddy. Well, thank you. We'll talk back back Tuesday, Tate Frazier. Yep, and we'll be back on Tuesday. We'll break it all down again. We'll do Lombardi's Week 6 reactions.

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Watch live NFL games on the Yahoo Sports Mobile app now. And now. the Danesie Football Podcast Hey everyone my name is Danny Hyfitz I'm joined by my co-host Danny Kelly

What's going on? We're the host of the Danesey Football podcast and we're going to toss out some last second fantasy advice to you guys before

the weekend we're going to start with a lightning round of players on your bench you might be wavering on whether to play or not you know we don't

know who else is on your team so we're just going to tell you whether we are in or out on them this week shall we dive in DK let's do this

first guy wanted to look at vexing person Kenyon Drake of the Dolphins They're playing the Bears this week, obviously. So his week five performance actually was roughly what he had done in weeks one to four combined. Really nice to see because obviously the first month of the season, he had almost split 50-50 stuff with Frank Gore, who I believe is your age, Bill's age, I don't know.

He's really old. That's a rude. But it was nice to see them actually use him as a receiver. This is not a good matchup against the Bears. Full-time Craig, she points out that they have the allowed the least. 30-second most, who knows? we didn't all argue about that. A bad receptions and fantasy points to running backs.

It's a bad matchup, but I actually think they're going to be using Drake properly going forward as a receiver. I think this is actually a good time to buy low on him if you want to trade. I'm in on Drake this week and for the rest of the season. He's got to be one of the most probably disappointing draft picks for a lot of people so far this year. We'll get to another disappointing draft pick later when we discuss. Larry Fitz.

Who's next for you, D.K.? Mike Davis of the Seahawks going against the Raiders in London. obviously he's in timeshare with Chris Carson They split carries last week Kind of almost an even market He was out touched by Carson 20 to 14 last week But he made the most of it He had 12 carries 68 yards and a touchdown

He's pretty you know he's they use him in the passing game a little bit on screens and things like that I think the Seahawks have just been running the ball so much lately That I think it creates an opportunity for two like there's just enough volume in that back for to have two guys. And so I'm in on him if you need a flex. If you're really desperate at the running back position because it buys or whatever, he earned a spot in week four when he started and he played really well. He earned a spot in that rotation. I think the Seahawks like him. He hasn't been on the injury report this week. So it's looking good for him in London. So I'm in in on him. I feel that. The London games are weird, but you know what NFL games are weird? I'm

kind of tired of the London games are weird narrative coming out. Yeah. To be honest. The next one, similar guy in my mind, which I don't know how this happened, but Royce Freeman somehow reminds me of Mike Davis now. Totally. They're playing against the Rams, which somehow have a bad rushing defense so far, even though they have Sue and Aaron Donald. Freeman has,

he's been getting out touched by Philip Lindsay last week, but on the season they're actually pretty similar in terms of snap counts. It's weird because Freeman has basically become he's going to get 40 to 70 yards, essentially, and he's gotten enough yards, but he's kind of touchdown dependent on whether he's going to be worth playing.

And actually against the Chiefs a couple weeks ago, he had this play where he actually became he scored from like 20 yards out, but the Chief just missed six tackles. And it's not like Freeman made them miss. They just whiffed six times. And that's kind of actually how I feel about him now. You can play him and it can work out,

but you really kind of need to get lucky. And it's no longer just about his talent. It's about the usage. And also, I actually think there's a chance he could do well this week if the Rams are letting the get down field, get a goal on carry. But I'm kind of out on him on a week-to-week basis.

He's not a bad play, but he does inspire any confidence for me anymore. So I'm out. Yeah. I'm out too because I'm a little bit worried about the game script in this one. Just keeping up with that Rams offense, it seems like they're going to have to pass a lot, kind of have to really rely on that passing game. And so I don't know how much he functions in that area and how much he's going to, you know,

be a part of that. So I'm out on him this week. My next guy, Philip Dorset, Patriots versus the Chiefs. Obviously, we're still trying to figure out kind of the lay of the land with the Patriots passing game and who's going to kind of emerge. I know that Chris Hogan was a very popular drop person this week in fantasy football. RIP. Yeah.

He was another one of those disappointing high draftics. I was expecting so much more out of him. But I think Dorset, I am out on him just because I just think there's too many mouths to be in that offense. I mean, obviously with Edelman, Grong, you know, James White is essentially a receiver in that offense. Now they're going to have Gordon kind of ramping up his thing, Patterson. I'm just, he to me is a very, very big boomer bust kind of guy. Obviously, Brady has a little bit of chemistry with him, but he's one of those low floor guys. Like he literally had, I think, zero targets a couple games ago.

So it's just to me, I'm just a little bit worried about it. I'm out on him this week. I actually disagree a little bit. I think Kendall Fuller, who's the chief slot cornerback is their only good player in the secondary. And I think Dorset actually on the outside. So Edelman might be a little better or a little worse in matchup-wise and that Dorset actually I think he's going to go against Orlando Scandrick, who sucks. I think Dorset has a shot to be good this week.

But going forward, who knows? That's fair. Who's your next dude? Doug Baldwin, another Seahawk going against the Raiders this week. He played a lot. He played actually quite a bit last week. Only had one target, you know, was basically a non-factor in the CX offense. They didn't throw the ball very much.

And full-time Craig notes the Seahawks have thrown the ball just 42% of the time over the last three weeks, which is last in the NFL. again, goes back to the Mike Davis thing. They're just running the rock and they really want to kind of make that their identity. I'm out on Baldwin until he kind of proves that he can get open. I think he's just looked a little bit off still.

Obviously, he's coming back from two different knee injuries. You know, and the Seahawks have kind of had other guys step up. Tyler Lockett has been good. And David Moore kind of showed out last week, too. So I just, I don't really trust the Seahawks passing game in general and especially with Baldwin nursing those knee injuries. I'm out. I understand that I definitely want to see something from him before I play.

Having said that, if you've waited... I love Baldwin, but it's just... I don't know, I'm just worried about that. It's tough. My last guy, Austin Hooper against the Bucks. The Bucks suck. The Bucks, you know, they're coming off the buy,

but the Buccaneers have three rookies in their secondary, and they've allowed the most fantasy points to tight ends per game on the year. Thank you, full-time Craig. And the Falcons, I think they're going to shred them. So I don't think he's going to have actually as many yards or targets as he did last week. He had like nine catches, 12 targets for 77 yards, but I think he's got a really, really great chance for Red Zone targets this week and a score.

I think the Falcons are just going to shred them. It'll be really interesting. But I think Hooper is a really good bet. Although I hear full-time Craig has a vendetta against Austin Hooper. Well, we went to middle school together and we battled on the intermural field a couple times. Did you ever cover him? We actually only played baseball against each other at intermurals. What position were you?

Pitcher, baby. What position was? Did he bat against you? Yeah. Did he off you? We played Little League together too. We've a long history of me and Austin Hooper. Did you strike him out?

He sounded a little bitter. He's all right. I'm happy for him. He got a touchdown in the Super Bowl. Good job. Representing San Ramone well. We'll continue this off there. Wow.

Okay. Wait, real quick. Did he get a hit off of you? Yeah. Yeah. If you struck him out, you'd have a very different tone. Moving on. Stargazing.

Yeah. These star players that are keeping you up at night. This is just keeping you up all season. Larry Fitzgerald, who was, I think... He's like borderline not a stuff. Well, in fantasy, he's not a star player anymore. I think so. I mean, he's got to, he was fourth, I think, in PPR last year, like on the season among receivers.

And when, I mean, he was like a top 30 or so pick and drafts this year has just sucked. He, I mean, he's been, I mean, to be fair, he's been bothered by hamstring injury. Right. And San Bradford was bad. I don't think you can play him again until he does something personally. Having said that, I think that he, Rosen's improving the offense, which we've discussed. I think Rosen being more aggressive downfield, I love him. I think he was my favorite quarterback in the whole draft this year.

But I think that I would wait for Larry Fitzgerald's first, like, 120-yard-two touchdown game, and then I think about trading him. But I would not play him nor trade him until he does something, if that makes sense. Full-time Craig made a great note. He's averaging 5.4 targets per game, only 2.5 per game with Rosen. He has 10 targets, 7 catches and 72 yards in the last 3 games combined. I mean, that's just he's not a starbable player at this point until he proves otherwise. That doesn't bother you so much.

The Christian Kirk touchdown that was like 85 or whatever yards last week. It came on like a fake to Fitzgerald and it's one of those things that we talk about what does opening up the offense mean. And it kind of makes them, well, now they have to respect Kirk in a new way because he basically that touchdown actually was very hopeful to me because obviously to go to Fitzgerald. But I think that it will create more opportunity for him going forward that Rosen can open up things. So I actually see better things from going forward. But I wouldn't play him. Not this week. Not this week.

Yeah. Not today, Satan. A streamer's starting lineup, if God forbid. you had to make a whole starting lineup but the players owned under 50% of leagues after waivers went through we threw together some things first one quarterback controversial pick this week

DK. We were debating between Derek Carr against Seattle and then Case Keenham versus the Rams would you go with? I lean Keenom obviously both guys are sort of borderline Keenom is owning 20% of Yahoo Leagues right now he's averaging 273 yards per game five touchdowns and seven interceptions

on the year I'm kind of just going with him based on the matchup, I think. Number one, the Rams past defense has been a little bit disappointing in the last couple of weeks. And obviously, that has a lot to do with injuries because Marcus Peters just has not been himself. He's actually been one of the worst cornerbacks in the NFL over the last three weeks. 106 ranked corner out of 111 per pro football focus in last three weeks. He's given up 14 catches on 17 targets, 255 yards, and five touchdowns. He was absolutely torched last week.

So I'm just looking at the game script number one. I think the Rams are going to score a ton of points as they do. And that's going to force the Broncos to kind of come back and go to their passing game a lot. I think that means just Keenum is going to have to go out there and be a gunslinger. And so the Rams have given up eight touchdowns in the last three games, 226 yards to Phil Rivers, 422 yards of Cousins, 200 yards and three touchdowns at Wilson. But their past even just hasn't been strong. I think in that sense, he might throw a couple of picks or

whatever, but I just think he's going to have to throw like 50 times in order for them to stay in this game. And so he could be kind of a sneaky guy to stream. And Corton Sutton has been kind of flirting with a long touchdown all season. So... Yeah, he has. It would actually be fun if he beat Marcus Peters for a touchdown. Looking at running back for a second, I have a pair of dudes who, these are swings, but you kind of have to do that. The first one's Ronald Jones against the Bucks who was not active for the first few games of his NFL career. He played 20 of 63 snaps in week four before their buy and out touched Peyton Barber in that

game. I mean, this is obviously, I'm biased because I enjoyed him at USC. He's probably going to end up the starter this week, which is weird, because there's a lot of variables here. On one hand, well, actually the only constant is that the Buccaneers line sucks. They're dead last and run blocking per football

outside of adjusted line yards. They're really bad. But the Falcons have given up the third most fantasy points per game of running backs, a lot of which is because they can't cover them anymore in the receiving game with Dion Jones, who's like they're like all world linebacker and then they all spelled safety so they've really struggled to really

rein in any running backs passing wise so you have this weird dichotomy of like terrible blocking and like just a bad situation in Peyton Barb we don't even know if he's gonna play or whatever but if you actually need to take a shot and play someone because it buys this week you could do worse than Rojo because like he could actually play.

Yeah. The next one for me is Kyle Juishish, Yushch. Use check. Use check. Like me check, use check. Yeah, use check. Like I'm from New York. Oh, use check. Exactly. Hey, my use check. Hey, use check. Okay. Hey, Kyle, I'm just going to call you.

Can you just do this whole segment in your New York accent? My New York guy, Craig's shaking his head, so I kind of want to do it. Kyle, my buddy Kyle, okay? So Kyle, he's a fullback. I usually don't recommend fullbacks, right? No, all right, I won't do. I can tell Jim is upset with this. I usually don't recommend fullbacks.

I think without Matt Brayder, they're going to have to pass a ton. He's paid a lot of money, I think the most for a fullback, like ever, basically, because he can do stuff in the past game. Design plays for him. For this week and this week alone, you could do a lot worse than someone who might get like 10 targets in this game. That's a swing. I like it, but that's fine.

You're plugging and playing running backs from your streamers. You have to take a little risk. But who's your next dude? Chester Rogers from the Colts going up against the Jets this week. And it's kind of the same situation as last week in the sense that the Colts are just really banged up in their past catching core. Like Tyre Hilton, Jack Doyle,

even Eric Eron was really banged up. So I'm worried about kind of that whole, basically everybody in that passing game right now. That means I think that Andrew Luck is probably going to look to Rogers quite a bit. And the Jets are pretty banged up as well on their defensive secondary. So yeah, I mean, he's a guy in PPR

that could really have some value this week just based on the fact that they have so many injuries. No, I feel that. And then luck obviously has just, I think, been getting better and better every single week. He's been getting better and he's been throwing a shit ton.

He was literally the most attempts in a two-game span in NFL history, I believe, in the last two games. So that is, that's a nice little fantasy boost there for you. Yeah. And then my final one,

Cameron Brayt, against the Falcons this week. So obviously the bucks were on a buy last week, but now OJ Howard's still out. Cameron Bray, you've mentioned this a lot this season that he's just like a red zone machine. He is basically up there with Devante Adams and who like leads the NFL in touchdowns

the last couple years. In Red Zone touchdowns, yeah, in terms of Red Zone touchdowns. His last two games, he's had a Red Zone touchdown. He's only owned like 30 VSPN leagues, but he's a fantastic option against the Falcons where we were just talking about how the Falcons are probably going to shred the bucks.

The bucks might just shred them right back. Bray and Hooper. actually both great tight-end streaming things this week. I got Brayette going this week in a couple of leagues. The one thing to know, OJ. Howard did practice Wednesday. He's coming back from a knee injury. So keep that in mind. Can I watch the injury report over the weekend?

Because if he ends up playing, which it's uncertain at this point if he's gunner or not, but that could eventually, you know, that could potentially affect things. That said, I mean, even if Howard plays, like Brate has, you know, just such a good chemistry with James Winston that it might not matter. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if Howard keeps developing just because he's such a great athlete and stuff or just he had a great chemistry with Fitzpatrick or something in between.

But, all right, DK, I think that's all the time we have. Yeah. Thank you guys for listening, and we'll see you next week.