The Ringer NFL Show - Lombardi's Week 9 Watch List and the Dannys' Last-Second Fantasy Advice | GM Street (Ep. 336)

Episode Date: November 2, 2018

The Ringer's Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier discuss Jon Gruden’s lack of success in Oakland (01:30) before identifying the standout matchups this Sunday (14:30). Then Danny Heifetz and Danny Kelly of 'The Dantasy Football Podcast' dole out some fantasy football advice (32:45). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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it comes with America's Best Network. Visit your local Verizon store today or learn more at p.0.st. slash the ringer. And now, GM Street. Welcome to GMTree, part of the Ringer podcast network. It is Friday. It is November 2nd and on the line.

I am joined by Mr. Michael Lombardi. Lombardi, how you doing? I'm great, Tate Frazier. I am so great. You know, I feel like we've had the second coming again, Tate Frazier. It's awesome. I mean, you know, we're going to talk about it in a second, but Greg Williams' press conference gave me a sense of relief

that we would have at least for the next eight weeks, at least some form of entertainment coming from the shores of Lake Uri. We did say when Hugh was fired on the last podcast on Tuesday, if he didn't listen, that we were very upset that we were going to lose a major character in the world of GM Street and just in the world in football at large. Fortunately for us, Hugh Jackson is not going anywhere. Greg Williams has stepped to the forefront and delivered,

pointing out that he has at least 11 letters asking him to be a head coach for a multitude of different teams in the NFL. We'll get to all that later. because that's too good to pass up. But first we have to talk about a guy last night that he's getting the ire of plenty of pundits out in the world. And a lot of people in Raiderland are not very happy with what they've seen from the first iteration of John Gruden's team. They get blown out on Thursday night football last night, only able to put up three points in that game. And you wrote an article for the athletic Lombardi.

And I'll read the headline for the people out there. And you said it's time for John Gruden's leadership to extend beyond the boundaries of the offense. And what do you mean by that? and what's next for Gruden in this team because it's not looking good so far? Well, look, you know, I wrote about John in my book when I talked about coaches and the qualities that I think head coaches have to have to be successful. And John loves to run the offense. And John ignores defense and special teams and personnel.

When he was with us in Oakland, he was focused solely on the offense. And I think when he went to Tampa, he was focused solely on the offense and he subcontracted out the other areas. Now that he is the king of all. Kings. He's the $100 million man. And I hate to keep bringing up that number as if it really should be a part of the evaluation. Because let's be real honest, Tate Frazier, you know, if you have a $175 million cap and you pay the guy who runs everything on the team, $10 million, that's not a lot of money, right? And if your franchise is worth over $2 billion and you pay the CEO $10 million,

that's really not a lot. So it's a lot to people that, you know, aren't used to that. number, but reality, I think we got to stop talking about the contract. I think great head coaches are underpaid. I think John got a contract that he's got to prove he's a great head coach. But let me go back to the book. I wrote about John in the book about how he really doesn't want to embrace any of this. And I think what you saw last night, you know, was a malfunction of every part of his team because he's the leader of the team and yet he's ignoring the areas of the team. And that's what I wrote about. He today, he should walk into the office. he should call a meeting and he should address the offense, the defense, the special teams as a team.

And he should meet individually with everybody in the organization and reconfirm where he's going with this franchise. Because I think he thought, I'll come into Oakland, man, and I'll get it going on offense, and I'll be able to do this and do that, and everything will be good. And I bought that because they had the 25th easiest schedule. But, man, it's a long way from that. And when he first started this run with the Raiders, he came out and he put out in the world. You know, he did not mince his words. He said, we're going to build a championship football team here. And, you know, when people heard that, they assumed that he was discussing someone like Khalil Mack being involved in that conversation or Derek Carr being involved in that conversation.

And now it seems like he's going to have to pivot and say, you know, we are playing the long game. We are trying to build a contender for the future, not for today. And a lot of people, when they hear that number, $100 million and they, I see the trade of Khalil Mack and they see the Amari Cooper trade. The narratives that surround John Gruden at the moment, it seems to be all negative. And there's no one that's given him the benefit of the doubt. Like we've seen with Cal Shanahan, you know, people have said, you know, Jimmy G goes down.

We understand they're in a bit of a, you know, a predicament there. But with Gruden, everyone seems to be pointing the finger at him. And from the start, I mean, every single game the Raiders have been in, they bring up the Mac trade and now they bring up the Cooper trade. And it seems like there's just nothing positive to bring up when you look at Oakland, unfortunately. No, and I think where John is having a hard time is, look, Bill Parcells takes over the one in 15 New York Jets and he immediately turns them around. Bill Parcells takes over the Dallas Cowboys and he turns them around, right?

And they took a bad team over and turns them around. I think what you're seeing is you're expecting Sean McBay takes over the Los Angeles Rams and turns them around. And I think John's competing against the field in these areas where he's seen as he's saying, we don't have any players. I can't fix it. And, you know, and people are like, well, wait a minute, if you're a great coach because we're telling us you've given $100 million, you must be, you know, that why aren't you turning my franchise around? Why are these other great coaches in their first year able to put some some magic back into the franchise? And I think it's a fair question. And I think that's the part of my article. That's the part of my article, Tafrasier, is that John has to become a head coach.

John has never in his career really been a head coach, the CEO. He's always been the offensive play caller. And when he took that $100 million and he took that 10 year and he assumed this role, and if he wants to buy all the groceries, then what he has to do is act like the guy running the company. He's got to spend time with the kicking game. He's got to spend time with the personnel department. He's got to spend time on free agents. He's got to do it all.

He doesn't have time to write the scripts. He don't have time to call all that. He can call the game, but he can't do everything. And I think that's really the problem. I think that's the issue. And the team needs leadership badly. I think it's pretty clear. And a team that is in a very similar boat and a team that's looking for a CEO and a guy

that said he was unfortunately asked to be a CEO when he was more of an offensive guru is, of course, Huey headlines. Hugh Jackson came out and we joked about him having a podcast. He's not done with the media. He said that offense is where. his mind is. He didn't believe that there was really any discord. He said there were some disagreements, but not discord. That word was taken a bit too far. He also came out and said that he wanted to draft Carson Wins. He wanted to draft Pat Mahomes. He wanted to draft DeShon Watson. As we both remember,

he tried to trade two picks for A.J. McCarran. I mean, I mean, does anybody really buy what he's saying? I mean, seriously. I mean, I know he went on ESPN's first take today. And I mean, like, he's out-promote. I mean, he's an incredible campaigner. I mean, I'm serious. I know the midterms elections are soon, but I think somebody should be smart to come in here, because this guy can sing any tune. I mean, he can teach the world's flat or round. I mean, he can tell you anything you want to know. I mean, this guy here's on record. I mean, they ripped Carson Wentz. They said Carson Wentz wasn't a top 20 quarterback. Now, Hugh can say he wasn't a part of that. Well, if he wasn't a part of it, then why didn't he raise a stink

then? Try to trade a two and a three for AJ McCarrens and Soshey Brown threw his body across that phone and saved that deal and got Sashi fired. Not that I didn't think, not that I thought Sashi did a good job. I mean, the reality of it is, I mean, when does this guy ever is going to stop this making up shit? You know, like, when's going to stop? And then when are we going to, like, when is somebody going to call him out on it? You don't have to, you don't have to bring the truth for headlines these days.

You just got to say something and it'll get picked up. I did want to ask you, he said that he was brought in as an offensive mind, an offensive guru, and he got away from that because he had to be the CEO. and that wasn't what he wanted to do, but that's what he was asked to do. So he did what he was asked. It feels like something that Jason Garrett will say once he is let go from the Dallas Cowboys in the future. But what is Hugh Jackson's offense? I mean, we obviously know that he worked with running backs before and, you know, he did do a lot of stuff on the offensive side of the football.

But he acted like as if he was, you know, Chip Kelly talking about his vaunted offense that everyone loved and adored. It's really remarkable. I mean, he just thinks people have short memories, I guess. I don't know. you know, I mean, Cincinnati got better. You know, he took over for Jay Gruden when Jay Gruden went to Cincinnati, and never had a top 10 offense in Cincinnati. I mean, you can check it, but never did.

You know, never want a playoff game as a coordinator at Cincinnati. Now, people blame Marvin Lewis, but look at some of those games and look at the offensive production. It wasn't like we're sitting there watching this offense saying, holy shit, they're really good. They're moving it up and down the field. It's if they only had a defense. I mean, we were never singing that song. I mean, Huey's a remarkable.

I mean, look, the guy had more than enough time. you would think this guy would go to Elba or he would go to, you know, to Minsk and just retire, like, live there and like shut up and like, okay, you know, enough is enough. But this come back and start saying, I would have drafted to Sean Watson. They traded the pick away. They gave it. They gave that pick. And to the Houston Texan, that was their pick. Yep.

I mean, remember the quote when they drafted, you know, they drafted the kid from, from USC, the back of the backup quarterback down at down at Jacksonville now. The guy that I, when they drafted him, everybody in the league looked at each other and said, Cody Kessler. Yeah. Are you kidding me? He's a college. He's a free agent. Everybody in the league knew he was a free agent.

Hughes quotes are tied around that. I mean, Greg Williams, I mean, this whole notion, first of all, I've never seen a letter, okay,

to give a sent to a head coach. Like the United States Postal office is not hiring NFL head coaches. Okay, let's just get that out of it. All right. Let's just get that straight, right? There's no mail being exchanged.

And nobody calls them out. Well, why wouldn't somebody say, well, Greg, didn't they email you? why would they send it formally in the mail? Like, of course, nobody says that, right?

Like, are you sure we're using the mail system here? I mean, did Newman carry the letter? Is that what we want to know? I mean, seriously. I mean, give me a freaking break and that people let him get away with it. Like, he just says it with like a straight face. Like, it's true. Like, the guy's lucky to still be in the league with Bountygate.

I mean, you know, the guy's lucky to have a job. People went, I mean, if Jeff Fisher doesn't hire him back, his friend Jeff Fisher doesn't hire him, I don't know if he's getting back in the league. I don't know if he is. And then to say he's got 11 job offers and four written by Newman's postal carrier service, I mean, give me a break. Yeah, the Pony Express came to town.

And I think all those reporters you were talking about, they were too busy laughing at the statement to follow up with any more questions. I give you that. I give you that. I think that's what it was. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. He did come out, Greg Williams, and say that this was not an audition for him.

And that's what led to him saying that he had gotten 11 letters to be a head coach in the NFL. He also said that, you know, he brought up the chair again. This is the, you know, the motif of the Cleveland Browns is all about the head coach chair that Hugh Jackson said. And I like to think that it's, you know, being used by Greg Williams right now in nefarious ways. But he said, you know, you know what's fun about sitting in a chair and being a head coach is coaching football? It's not marketing. It's not ticketing. It's not analytics.

It's coaching football. So why would I not want to do that? And so Greg Williams, again, referencing the chair just as the way Hugh did before. So at least the characters are continuing in Cleveland and we're happy about that here on GM Street. Can I ask you a question, Tate Fraser? Please. How long do you think after Hugh moved his stuff out of there, his Raider game ball and all his stuff out of there out of his office? How long before my man moved in?

My man, Greg moved in. How long do you think he's in there now? I think he knocked on the door. I think that's how I think Hugh, I think John and Jimmy walked in told Hugh the news and then Greg started moving his stuff. I bet you they're redesigned. And let me ask you a question. I want to know where that, where's the Bundy guy today?

Where's the Bundy guy that was telling Hugh this summer how things look so much different, so much better? Remember that? Oh, yes. That was for Hard Knocks. That was for the cameras. We remember pointing that out. That was strictly for the cameras.

Things look so much better. This is good for Freddie Kitchens, though. They talked to Kitchens and asked him about the offense and Kitchens said he just, before he moved on, he wanted to point out that no one had offered him a head coaching job. and so he was very happy to be the offensive coordinator. So I thought that was very nice. It was good for Freddie. He was the best part of it.

I mean, look, Freddie, like, and to me, when Freddie said that, my next thing is, obviously, they're still internal discord because those offensive coaches are pissed off it. They hate great. I mean, nobody's going to admit it, but those offensive coaches don't want any part of Greg Williams. I can promise you that. They're like, no way.

This guy's leading us. This is going to be complete chaos. But you know what they have, though? Tate Fraser, they have collaboration and they have harmony. And so they're going to write some good songs. They're like the Eagles. They're going to be like Don Henley and Greg Fry. They're going to collaborate and write some good songs and life's going to go on.

Yeah, life in the fast lane in Cleveland. That's where we're at right now. Let's get to what we always do on Friday. We do the Friday sit down. You pick your five games to watch out for this weekend. The first game that we have on the docket is the battle of the two best quarterbacks. And Michael Jordan did a nice promo on this for Sunday night football. talking about who is the greatest of all time,

who's the greatest quarterback of all time. A lot of people think Tom Brady, you know, indubitably is the greatest of all time. Aaron Rogers is beloved by many for all of his late game heroics over the years. And now we get to see these two guys face off. Packers 3, 3 and 1 on the year.

The Patriots, of course, 6 and 2. Patriots favored by 5 and a half. And this one, Lombardi, what are you looking for? Well, I think it's a tough spot for the Patriots. Look, I don't think Gronks healthy. I think when you look at Gronks' numbers, and I sweet said this on the Tuesday pod, You know, Gromx had one touchdown. That was opening week. I mean, his targets, he had eight targets last week for three receptions. He's struggling. I think he's really struggling. So that's going to be a problem. Mike Petton, the defensive coordinator of the Packers, you know, had a good game plan last week. And Mike Patton knows how to play this New England style of offense. He packs the middle of the field. If you look at the numbers, I mean, really, when you break Brady's passing game down, he averages 6.38 throwing to the far left. He averages slightly above seven throw into the far right.

Right. But where he's most dangerous is down the middle at 9.3. And I think they'll play it down the middle. And I think it's going to be a track meet a little bit. But I think Rogers will move the football on this Patriot defense. I think he'll be able to move the ball. I think Belichick will hope he can play really good red zone defense. I think that's going to be key. I think it'll be the game plan that he utilized against Kansas City.

Try to mix in some coverage, change things up, take away, take away the passing game, cheat the run game, see if McCarthy's got enough. discipline and stay power to keep handing the ball off. Encourage him to run the ball. Treat this game like Peyton Manning. Maybe in the first quarter, Aaron Jones might get 75 yards rushing, but you don't believe he's going to keep handing the ball off,

just like they never believed Edron James was going to keep getting the ball every week. So I think that'll be the game plan. And I think it's going to come down to which defense really ends up playing their game plan the best, not which quarterback because I think both quarterbacks are great and they're going to play really well. I just think the Packers, to me, I think they got a little bit more going on both sides of the ball. And I think the Packers, I think the Packers, I think most of America is taking the Packers and the points.

And we should point out that Mike Petton, obviously a part of the Rex Ryan, Buddy Ryan. He likes the Blitz. He likes to put a lot of defensive backs on the field to match up with a lot of those fast, quick guys like James White coming out of the backfield. So it would be an interesting chess match that goes on because Petton and Brady both know each other so well. When he plays Brady, though, Tate Frazier, what he does is he puts an extra guy in the

middle of the field. He kind of packs the middle. And he gives up rush. He lets Brady hold the ball a little bit because, he knows if that quick outlet isn't there. He's trying to encourage him to hold the ball and not, because if you blitz Brady, he'll make the quick throw and you could give up a quick touchdown.

You know, and I think for the Patriots, I forgot to mention this, to me, this game for the Patriots is also about third down, where the Packers have not been great to last. They're 11 and 33 on the road on third down, you know, and so they've got to be able to and here. Packers haven't won a road game all year. Have not won a road game all season. You know, and so that to me is a little telling. But I think that's the way.

I think it'll be a close game. I think this is a three-point game one way or the other. Absolutely. Next game we have up on the list, we have the Houston Texans taking on the Denver Broncos. In Denver, you talk about a team that plays totally different at home versus on the road. That is obviously the Denver Broncos that has been the case for quite some time.

We get Demarius Thomas, who was just traded to the Houston Texans to go back and take on his former team. Cortland Sutton has officially been promoted to the number one guy there with Denver. So it'll be interesting to see how that all plays out for them. And then also another thing to watch out, this Texans defense, this run defense has been so great this year. We've talked a lot about what the Bears have done not letting in a rushing touchdown. But this Texans rush defense has been great. Philip Lindsay, obviously, is a guy they're going to rely on in Denver.

And that's really a matchup to watch out for. The Broncos are favored by one in this game. Lombardi, what are you looking for? Well, the lines start out at two and a half and it's down to one. So everybody thinks the Houston Texans are going to win. I think this is a tough matchup for Houston. You know, when you look at Bond Miller and Bradley Chubb, Chubb had not played well early in the year because he was playing outside linebacker.

In this game, he's going to end up playing defensive end. And if I'm Billy O'Brien, I'm in formations, which they don't really run quite a bit, I'm in formations where I force Chubb to play outside. I want to be in base against Denver, forced their base defense to defend the pass, not allow them to get in nickel. But if they're in nickel the whole game and Chubb can rush against Julian Davenport and Lamb, both those guys have really been, really been bad. And they get too many penalties.

I think false starts. They just way too many mistakes when you watch the game and they just give the game away. And I think that's going to be the game right there. I think that element of the game, can the Houston Texans block them? And do they have enough weapons to be able to stop to attack the Denver defense? And I'm not sure they do. I think Denver's a different team at home. I think Denver, you know, I just don't see how Houston's going to be able to generate enough

office. Now, they've got to run the football. And I think when you watch Denver the last couple weeks, when they've played against good opponents, they have gotten shellacked in the run game. I mean, they have gotten killed in the run game. And I think that's really been the biggest problem. They've allowed 412 yards rushing in the last two home games. And if the Texans can run the ball in this game, I think that gives them the advantage. You know, I'm always reluctant to go with Vance Joseph, but I'm going to go with them here because I think playing at home in that pass rush and the tackles of the Houston Texans are not very good.

And I think that's going to be a huge factor in the game. This could be one of those games where Von Miller can make a statement. I kind of look at that Broncos team. They're like a ping pong team. It's every other week they really show up and play well on defense. And that's the only way they have a real chance to win games. So when Von Miller and Chub and those guys up front show up, the Denver Broncos are a scary team.

And they tend to do that in the Mile High City. Let's get to the next game. This is the third game we're going to talk about. We've got the Los Angeles Chargers traveling up to take on the Seattle Seahawks. This game, this is my one advice I can give Lombardi. You should bet the under on this game. These two teams, they both play pretty strong. slow. The Chargers especially, I think they rank last in pace of play in the NFL 30th and plays run per

game at 58 per game. This will be an interesting one to watch. I mean, the Charger. A lot of people are high on the Chargers, even though they have been kind of, they haven't really looked their best, especially that London game was a real dud for them. But the Seahawks have bounced back. That offensive line looks great with Brian Schottenheimer running that offense now. Do you think the Seahawks have a chance to make a statement here and get back into the fold and really get, you know, viewed as a contender again because that defense is really bouncing back? Seattle in this game. I really do. I love Seattle in this game. I think Seattle's played really

well. Quietly, they've played well on both sides of the ball. I mean, offensively, they've played really good. They've had 805 yards rushing in the last five weeks and Wilson's only turned the ball over one time. This game is this game is a cover three battle. The Chargers system of defense is exactly the

Pete Carroll system of defense. So both teams have practiced against one another. And what's really kind of strange is Rivers has only played against Pete Carroll twice. in his career. He's one-and-one against them. The last time they played was 2014 in San Diego, when they won that game 30-21. It was an early-season game that they turned the ball over in Seattle quite a bit, and it was a hard game for them to score. I love Seattle in this game. I think Seattle's moving the ball effectively. I think they can run it. I think Russell's playing really

well. I think this defense, nobody knows who all these defensive players are, but they're turning the ball over at a rapid pace, and that's what they do, and I think they'll turn the ball over. I just don't buy the Chargers. I mean, their four-game win streak is against San Francisco, Oakland, Cleveland, and Tennessee. I'm not impressed. They still have a lot to figure out and a lot of question marks there. And I will say one of the biggest underrated storylines this year has been how great that Seattle offensive line has really turned things around.

And as much of the defense will get the coverage because, you know, those young guys are stepping up and obviously without Earl Thomas and that whole storyline. But that offensive line has been totally different and made Russell Wilson look like the the Russell Wilson that we all know. and adore the next game we have. Hold on, Tay Frazier. That's a great point you just made there. And I think, you know, look, the Raiders' offensive line has struggled like Seattle.

When you look at Seattle's offensive line, they've gotten better. They change their schemes. They're not an outside zone. And all the problems that Seattle had with Tom Cable, after they fired Cable, they're back in Oakland. So I think Cable has to evaluate what he's doing as well, because you can just see it. The line play in Seattle has gotten so much better. Average 805. Last year, they couldn't average anything running the football.

This year, Oakland's struggling. So I think you've got to look at it. Now, Oakland has a lot of young players, especially the two tackles. You know, they're trying to play some young guys. But I think that's a great point you just made there. Absolutely. And we'll get Tom Cable, maybe John Gruden. Maybe they can watch some of the tape on the Seahawks and see what they did to shore up that offensive line and figure things out. The next game we have is probably the headline game of the weekend, a game that everyone is very excited to talk about, especially if you were a fan of the NFC. We have the lone unbeaten team left in the NFL, and then it's the Los Angeles Rams. traveling down to New Orleans to take on Drew Breeze, who at this point, I mean, a lot of people think may be the top pick to be the MVP.

We got Gurley in this game, another guy that people think may be the MVP. We got Camara, we got golf. All these guys are in the conversation to be honored at the end of the season with how things have gone so far. Look into this game, Lombardi. The Rams are one three and one against the spread in their last five games, despite, of course, being undefeated. And New Orleans is a team that's very scary at home and they are favored by one at home. What do you expect to see in this one?

I think it's going to be a great game, Tate Frazier. I mean, look, how good is the state of Louisiana this weekend? And Baton Rouge, they got the LSU Alabama game. And then right down the road, they got the Rams and the Saints. This is a funny game. I mean, when you break down the Rams over the last couple of weeks, especially on the road, I mean, golf has been sensational. The average is over 10 yards per attempt at home.

And this year, he's down to 8-1 on the road. He's thrown three interceptions and just five touchdowns. But what's most alarming, and I think in big games, this is always going to be the most critical factor is those four point plays. Who can convert the four point plays? Who can do it? And the Rams surprisingly have been horrendous. They're six for 25 on third downs in the red zone.

Six for 25. And those windows are tight to throw the ball. And the Saints are 12 for 26. And both the Rams, both the Rams and the Saints have had the most of temps on third down in the national football league. So both teams get down there. both teams end up in third down down there. The Saints just convert them at a higher rate.

And I think that's going to be the game. I think special teams, I think those third and ones and twos are going to be the conversion. I'm going to go with the home team here because I think the crowd noise will help. The Rams run defense, I mean the Saints run defense is really good. They don't have Marcus Davenport in the game, but it's really good. It's the number one run defense in the NFL. I think because of the crowd noise, there'll be a frenzy pace down there. I think that'll make a difference in the game.

I know the Saints will figure out a way to gain an extra possession. because they're going to need one. You know, it's funny, two tape rates of these teams that when you look at them, the Saints have only punted 17 times all season. The Rams just 22. And New Orleans defense has forced just 22 punts all year, whereas the Rams defense has forced 37. Now, they've played a different level of comp.

But to me, I think these punters might not be working very hard. And I know who is going to be working very hard in this game. That's your favorite player in the NFL. That's Taysam Hill. He's a guy to look out for it. Now that they're letting, they're opening. They're opening up the gates for him to throw the football now. We saw that with Michael Thomas last week for like a 44-yard gain, I believe.

So I'm interested to see if Shaw McVeigh or Sean Payton bring out any tricks, you know, maybe an on-side kick to open up the second half, something we've seen Peyton to do, of course, in the Super Bowl. I think those guys, it's going to be a full-on chess match and a fun game to watch for sure in New Orleans. No doubt, no doubt. Somebody's going to try to gain. And look, I think when you go back to it, you know, when you do the, and I'm not, you know, I don't always quote DVOA all the.

the time. But because it's hard to gauge your special teams. And DVOA, the kicking game, I think, will decide this game. And the Saints are the ninth best kicking team, according to DVOA in the league and the Rams are 11th. So I think it's going to come down to penalties in the kicking game. And I think that'll really make a difference in terms of field position. And I think the crowd noise, they've got to be able to contain early.

They've got to force the Rams in a lot of third downs. If they can do that, they'll have a chance to win this game. It's going to be fun to watch, though. And watch out for Cooper Cup. Cooper Cup is back. so that trio of options on the outside for Jared Goff will be in full force again. So it'll be fun to see that Rams offense back in full force and we'll see what happens down in New Orleans. The final game of the week is, I don't know if you did this just to mess with me or if it was just, you know, fun for the audience.

But we have the Kansas City Chiefs and Pat Mahomes traveling to the Cleveland Browns to take on the Greg Williams, the Cleveland, Greg Williams. And we're going to see if Kansas City and can keep this thing rolling. in Cleveland, or we're going to see if the Browns can bounce back with a new head coach? Well, you know, I think it's, I think it's, I had to put it in there, Tate Frazier. I mean, come on, I had to put it in there. You know, because, I mean, we're seeing, we're seeing Greg Alexander Hague Williams, who's now in charge, you know, he's 17 and 31 overall as a head coach, you know, when he was in Buffalo.

And his last HUD coaching win came on 12-7, 2013. So, but look, I think there's a little bit of a, what they've done a great job with in Cleveland is creating turnover, stripping the ball out, making plays. They haven't done a good job of stopping teams. I mean, when you break them down the last five weeks, they've given up 565 yards, 410 yards, 449 yards, 456 yards, 421 yards. They've given up a lot of yards. And I think that's an indication that the Chiefs will move the ball.

The problem is you worry about the Chief's defense against the Browns because the Chiefs will give up plays to the Brown. This could be a little bit of a track meet. I think eventually it favors Kansas City the longer the game goes. One thing about the change, I think it helps Andy Reid. Everybody thinks it's going to help Cleveland. I think it helps Andy Reid because going into this game, if Huey's there, all the players on the Chiefs are going to be acting like, man, we got this one, no big deal.

Change of coaches now, everybody's attention and focus becomes slightly different, and I think that helps Andy Reid, and that's why I think the Chiefs will win. Yeah, and the Chiefs are favored by eight and a half in that game. I mean, that lines a lot of people thought that might be a little bit high going on the road. you know, if Miles Garrett's response to last week where he said the defensive game plan wasn't great and Greg Williams said it didn't matter that he said that and he was fine that he said that. And you already talked about the kitchens dynamic, him making the joke about not getting offered head coaching jobs. I just think the sidelines for the Cleveland Browns is that's worth watching this game.

I don't know if the football will be entertaining, but I do know the sideline will be entertaining because Greg Williams is going to go crazy at some point and I can't wait to watch that. It's going to be who's in charge of challenges. It's going to be so much fun. you know what Greg Williams has given us back if after we lose Richie appreel or we lose Ralphie he's giving us like the dream sequence now we come back with you know Hugh still around and we get a dream sequence coming back in the Sopranos it's so good I mean we can keep this going forever yeah let's tuck in our napkins drink some red wine and enjoy the rest of the pasta

and the rest of the football for the rest of the season this has been another edition of GM street these are our five games that Lombardi wants you to watch out for we'll come back on Tuesday. We'll review everything how it went down in week nine and we'll keep you up to date on all things NFL. We appreciate everyone listening. Thank you, Lombardi. Thanks, Dave Brasier. Quick break to get a word from our sponsor, MyBooky, whether you're an expert or rookie. If you like to bet a little and win a lot, you should be betting at MyBooky. Pick three teams to win and if you hit all three, you could turn $100 into $600. Bet on NHL, bet on the NBA, even bet on UFC. MyBooky has been in business for years and they've got great online reviews and their

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by G Suite. G Suite is a suite of cloud-based productivity tools that includes Gmail, docs, slide, sheets, and drive. These tools improve your work life both in terms of your experience and the outputs you create. Hence their new campaign, make it with G Suite. You know when you have 20 identical versions of a document label final and no clue which is the latest. So you make another version and name that one final final, right? Well, with G Suite by Google Cloud, a range of work apps like Gmail, docks, and slides let you make real-time updates to the same document without having to keep track a version after version of a project. And since all the tools are cloud-based, your whole team can access the same document and work on the same page at the same

time. To find out more about G-suit's productivity tools, visit g-sweet.com. That's g-sweet.com. Make it with G-sweet by Google Cloud. And now the Danesie Football Podcast. Welcome to the Dantasy Football Podcast. My name is Danny Hyfitz. I'm joined, as always, by my co-host and co-danny, Danny Kelly. What is up, D.K.? What's going on, man? How you doing?

I'm good, dude. We are brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network. This is our mini Friday episode. We're going to give you some last second fantasy advice heading into the weekend. I got a text for my mom this week, Danny. Yeah. You know what said? She said, did you know if Sunday was a holiday?

I said, what holiday is Sunday? She said, it's the Giants Pie week. we don't have to watch them. But that's also the theme of the week because there are a lot of buys this week. There are six, and it is really, really tough out there, man. If you're trying to stream. There's some rough lineups.

I got some rough lineups going on this week. Yeah, I know, because we're playing you this week and me and Powell are going to destroy you in the Ringer League. I'm very excited. I'm not even going to try and deny that. You're trying to put something on it this week? Unless Ryan Fitzpatrick just goes for about 60 points. I'm really mad.

I saw you were able to stream him. It was pissed. Anyway, I know everyone cares deeply about this. So, uh, let's get into a lightning round. What do you say? Exactly.

Yeah. So let's hop in. Uh, I have one right off the top. Yeah. Duke Johnson. I have loved the Browns for this stretch. Uh,

it's been a rough stretch for them. There's been some uppercase T turmoil. Capital T turmoil. And obviously there's been Hugh Jackson fired. Todd Haley got fired. So for Duke Johnson, I am out on Duke Johnson for this week, but optimistic for the rest of the season.

That makes sense. So the story goes that the, the front office wanted to play Nick Chubb a lot more and Duke Johnson to an extent also get way more touches. Todd Haley declined and just didn't do and freelanced the bunch of stuff. To the point they actually traded away Carlos Hyde and that is the reason he's gone.

So, and we know that Todd Haley on Hard Knocks was not a fan of Duke Johnson kind of resting and taking time in Hugh Jackson and really were at odds about him. So Haley was not a Duke Johnson fan. Haley is gone. We don't know if that means it'll be good for Duke Johnson. It certainly seems it will be better for Duke Johnson

than Haley's gone. maybe, but we don't know that because maybe it's just everything gets worse and there's dysfunction. Maybe he plays more, doesn't mean he's good yet. I'm optimistic. I would keep him rostered, but I would not play him until we see him do something. I think there's a good chance he does something this week, but I don't trust it. So

dumpster fire, I'd hold on to him, but I'm out this week a DJ. I mean, I get that. I think that makes a lot of sense. This whole thing is just a cluster. I'm with you, though, until we see something a little bit better from Baker, too. I'm just a little bit down on the Brown's offense right now. I was really excited about him

earlier in the year. And they just need to get their stuff together. Hopefully this Kitchens guy knows what he's doing because... Freddy Kitch! They've got so much talent on that offense. And they gave Duke Johnson a three-year deal for the year. So it was like, evidently he was a big part of their future,

but who knows what's going on there. I love Freddie Kitch. Definitely real person, Freddy Kitchens. Freddy Kitchens. 100%. Is his name second best only to Jim Bob Kuder in terms of the coordinators? Jim Bob Kudor. That's one of the names of my fantasy league from home.

Jim Bob's... Freddy Kitchens, though. Oh, my God. Freddie Kitchens. Let's go to Dionne Lewis of the Titans. Playing at Dallas, last week he had one of his best games of the season. 13 rushes, 93 yards, 6 catches, 64 yards. The Cowboys have been pretty good against the run, actually, this year.

But they have given up some catches to running back. So I think that could be where Lewis makes his mark this week. I'm actually tentatively in on him. The Titans' offense does not inspire a lot of confidence, but I think that Lewis in this game script could probably get six or seven targets and make the most of them. So I'm in on him this week. Yeah, my thoughts are actually more about the Cowboys here than the Titans.

Cowboys are, we've thought about them as having a great offensive line for a few years. They're actually now just a team of the great D-line, actually a decently good secondary and just a good defense. So it's more about rephrasing how I think about the Cowboys. Speaking of them, though, Amar Cooper, I have the same thought, almost the exact same thought on Amari Cooper as Golden Tate, even though they have nothing in common as people or careers. I would never play a receiver one week after he gets to the team.

I know they are each basically we're able to get their buy week and integrate. Don't buy any of that. I am willing to risk that he gets a touchdown or three or whatever. He won't. It's so much timing that you have to develop, think about how all off-season, like he's not been able to do anything with the teams and practicing with for like three years. There's no chance he's still learning these guys' names.

It is so not worth the risk to play him. Put it this way. he's on our team in the Rigger League. We're going against your team this week. We have, I think, what's the technical term? Dog shit for receivers, and we're still on playing on Mario Cooper. So I'm just waiting to see how that plays out.

As we talked about it last week, I'm still kind of in the friend zone. Cooper, I'm actually kind of excited to see how this goes. Get out of the friend zone, D.K. No, it's the same. If you have Golden Tate, it's the same thing next week. Imagine if you switch jobs.

Would you do anything in your first week? Would you accomplish anything? You're not starting to marry us either. No, God, no. Absolutely not. Same for him. No, none of them. I think we should circle back on this next week and see if you were right. Please do. I'm so willing to be wrong on that.

Like, okay, if I'm wrong, it sucks. I will not start a receiver for the rest of my life. All right. The next guy we're going to talk about is Jermaine Curse again. So he had 10 targets last week, two the week before, 10 the week before that. So 22 targets and three games. He hasn't done a whole lot with him. I'm out on him this week. I guess since I've kind of been in his corner the last two weeks,

on this podcast, I think I'm just like I got to see more from him in that offense even though he's getting a lot of targets, not doing anything with it. You see Stockholm syndrome. Yeah. See what I did there. Donald has been hit or miss. How do you feel about curse? I don't.

No, I mean, I think, look, I like the opportunity at first. I think it's clear he's not up to being a number one receiver. I think he doesn't have what it takes. And also just Donald and the Jets, the offense as a whole, is declined, and it's hard to expect him of things. Robbie Anderson might come back, but it's also always hard to expect speed guys coming back

from an ankle injury that might be hobbled. It's different than other positions when you're 80 or 70% even so. I want him to be good, but I'm starting to think that it's a lot to ask of the guy. That's fair enough. Next one I want to talk about DJ Moore Panthers kind of had his breakout game last week.

I'm super excited about Moore. I'm in on him. Last week he had five catches for 90 yards, plus 39 yards rushing on two attempts. They kind of used him all over the place. They used him on end around. even one triple option play where he caught it, he kind of caught a pitch on a bounce and picked up about 20 yards or whatever on it. So he's very, very athletic.

They're manufacturing touches for him. I think that gives him sort of a higher floor. And so, especially in PBR leagues, if you got him, that kind of gives him, like I said, that higher floor. That gives him a chance to score some points. And I think they're going to try and make him a bigger part of that offense because he's just so dynamic as a first round pick. Going up against Tampa Bay this week, who we all know has a terrible. terrible, terrible defense. So he could be feasts in this week, and I'm in on more.

My expert advice is the buck's defense sucks. Yeah. Next, I like Kiki QT. We cannot get Drake. Can we, Jim? No Drake. No Drake. All I want is Kiki.

Anyway, I don't think Demeris Thomas affects us at all. First of all, DeMaris Thomas is not the Will Fola replacement. They're not the same player. It's about drawing attention away from DHOP. It's not the same player. I still think QT is going to be the main bed and fishery of, of Fuller being gone. We'll see.

But I want to make sure he's a full participant in practice on Friday. So check him before you put in your lineups. If he's limited, look into that. If he's full, then I think he's a great play. Yeah, he's been battling that hamstring injury. That's what kept him out of the first couple weeks of the season. I think he re-agravated it again. So that's definitely kind of questionable to keep an eye on his health.

I'm actually really interested to see if this means he gets more deep that's going forward. Deep shots, I should say, going forward because of Fuller being out. And, you know, obviously, Demaris Thomas is not necessarily a fast guy on the outside. I think he's more of a possession guy. So it's going to be interesting to see what Coutis' role in the offense is going forward. Next guy I want to talk about Chris Godwin of the Bucks. He is one of Fitzpatrick's, Fitzmagics' favorite receivers going into the – in the games that Fitzmagic has played, he's been his second highest targeted guy only behind Evans.

I saw this per John Daigle, Godwin's target share with Fitson there is 16.6%. It was 14 with Winston, so I think it gives him a bump that Fitzmagic is back. Just 2.5%. That's actually so much, that's not a difference that I thought it would be. Damn. But maybe the targets are more accurate in a better area. The ones aren't going to other players on the other day? He's looking for him in the Red Zone too, because in the full games with Fits,

he scored a touchdown in all three of those games. And so I like him. I think he looks for him a lot. And, you know, if you're, you know, if you're looking for a guy in your flex or whatever, I think he's a good option. I'm in. I like it, man. Next, we want to, we're going to flip something around.

Usually we do stargazing right here. The star player is keeping you up a night, wondering if you should play him or not. I'm going to flip this one around this week. We were just talking about how there are no stars at tight end at all, at least for this week. We got Zach Gertz is on by, and then your VBron on by.

Jack Doyle is on by. Even the likes of C.J. Zomer on by. There are no tight ends. And Craig, the show mentioned, I want you to read this list, Craig. Craig, you had tight ends on your waivers and your 12-te-te-ins league? Yeah, 12-te-n-Normal league, here are the tight-ins available. Jeff Swame, Haydenhurst, Nick O'Leary, Nick Vinette, Ryan Griffin, Jordan Thomas, Jacob Hollister.

You could convince it it was like the new cast of like a Disney show boy band thing. I was like, that's incredible. It's like the highest amount of targets any of those guys have gotten in the last two weeks is like two. The highest own player on this list is 7%. And this came up because we were trying to figure out the streaming starting lineup, like who we would stream at tight end. We're like, is Hayden Hurst the best option?

Who's in a team that has like three or four tight ends in a rotation? And it just speaks to how terrible tight end has been this year. And we know that, but it's particularly dire this week. And we were like, damn, it's like a real shot in the dark. I picked up Charles Clay. Yeah, people are bunkering down and just like grabbing two or three tight ends. There's just nothing in the world. Yeah, it's a drought, man.

Yeah, so I think what we're trying to say is, I don't think we can help you. Sorry, through a dark in the night. I was Charles Clay but Hayden Hurth It's just We can address the tight-in position In the off-season I have thoughts

That's fair With the thing altogether Actually though my Elevator pitch is Eliminate the tight-in position At a third pass catcher slot And a flex So you receive or tight-in

But I'm so into that I'm into that for sure So there's your stargazing Streamer's starting lineup If you were forced to pick a starting lineup From guys under 50%ish own Even after waivers went through who would we play, D.K.

Who's your quarterback this week? Start off with Joe Flacco. Obviously, he's not going to inspire a lot of confidence, just in terms of his real-life ability to play football. But the Pittsburgh defense has been bad against the pass. He had a good game last time they played. He had 263 yards, two touchdowns. Now they're playing at home.

Pittsburgh's given up the fifth most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. I like Flacco this week. He's got a lower ceiling, but generally he's having. had a double-digit floor. He's not going to... Well, he hasn't yet put up one of those singers where he scores like one point and throws two picks and he gets like 150 yards or whatever.

So at least he gives you that double-digit, like 10-point at least, floor. And so I think he's an option with so many buys going on this week. I feel that I still like Baker more. I know I keep plugging Baker and the Browns. Didn't have a great week last week. I don't really care.

Even with this turmoil this week, like the Chiefs are an absolute sieve. They're the best possible matchup you can ask for fantasy wise. I'm actually willing to roll with that over the turmoil. And at the most fundamental level, I actually think the good gut test for streaming is if you play this guy and you lose,

who will you feel stupider for having played? And if you lose by four points and the other person you were thinking of had five, I'll feel a lot dumber if I chose Flacco than if Baker goes like 20 and like rushes for whatever. That's always my rule. So I'm going with that. That's fair.

Speaking of which, looking at running backs, we're cheating a little bit because he's only like 60% of, but Peyton Barber on the books is like still starting running back on, not owned. Ronald Jones is out for a few weeks. Jiquiz Rogers, who I,

shout out Jiquis. Love one of my favorite college players. But he's like the past catching back, but Payton Barber's still starting back and he didn't do well the first half of the season, but they're slowly picking up their blocking. He's improved. So credit where credit is due.

And yeah, man, I just, it's a tough week. Pick up Peyton Barber. If he's gone and not in your league, I weirdly like Buck Allen this. week. I can't really explain it other than again, really shitty week and he had 10 carries for 30 yards in the Pittsburgh game. I think that the way the game flow goes, I can see him

playing more than Alex Collins. Collins has had the fumbling issues. I'm like, I wouldn't be shocked if Buck Allen plays a little more this week than usual, especially when turnovers really turn those games, the divisional games between Steelers and Titans, Steelers and the Ravens a lot. And I mean, Ty Montgomery won't play or be a factor. I don't think this week, I mean, he's been there five days. I don't even think he'll be active.

So, I don't love him, but if you have to, you have to get a flex in this week, you could do worse than Buck Allen. Yeah, that's kind of how I feel about this next guy, Joachim Grant, the Dolphins. Going up against the Jets, whose defense has not been great, they've given up the six most fantasy points for game to receivers. Grant, actually, with stills and Albert Wilson out, they kind of targeted him a lot. He had eight targets. They're all kind of close to the line of scrimmage generally. But he's always, he's so explosive. He's got that kind of game-breaking potential.

he's got the potential to hit a home run. I think he is a solid streamer this week, just because, number one, I think he's going to get targets, and too, like I said, he can hit that home run. So Grant, he's an option in that offense. You know, obviously, Ossweilers,

he's not going to, he's not a world beer or whatever, but he's been somewhat solid in relief of Tannenhill, and so, yeah, I like Grant. I've said before how sometimes you have to suck it up and just roll with his shitty offense and just not,

but you have to draw the line somewhere, right? I draw the line at the bills. You know who I'm adding under the line? It's just the bills. I'm adding the Brock Osweiler-led dolphins. I just can't have a part of it. I don't know why. Kenyon Drake?

Great. Even Mike Gisipi, maybe. But like, I don't know, man. It's so hard to count on them. Maybe I'll be burned by it. I feel that. One receiver, Cooper Cups seems like he'll play this week. If he doesn't, if he's limited at practice on Friday,

definitely check his practice participation on Friday. for any reason, Josh Reynolds is not owned a lot of leagues like one of those dudes who's basically ownership is like

a rounding error. Pick him up. I'm kind of shocked. Like I know Kopp hasn't been healthy, but at the very least if you need a shot in the dark like if Cooper

Cup aggravates that injury, Josh Reynolds seems like a bona fides player in the best offense in the entire league. I would grab him. That's the big thing is that offense is so good.

Yeah, I'm with you. He doesn't get targeted a lot but he has scored a couple touchdown. You could do a lot worse, man. And speaking of which we just went through how tight-in sucks. Look, who's your guy?

Between Haydenhurst and Charles Clay, honestly, Charles Clay is super boring and you're kind of just betting on... Isn't it Nathan Peterman this week? Yeah, and that's... Look, I can't defend myself. I literally picked him up, and my thought as I hit ad was like, yeah, I could just drop him for someone else. So if you use your own theory against you,

would you feel dumb being like, why did I start Nathan Peterman's tight ad? Yes, that is actually... All right, fine. So I'm rolling Haydenhurst. Fine, Craig just literally convinced me. Haydenhurst is exciting. I'm going to tell Mal that you said Hayden Hurst is exciting. You're rolling with the idea that John Harbaugh is going to make a change in his personnel usage this week.

If he were healthy to start the year, Hayden Hurst, I think would be a fantasy relevant tie then. Yeah, so there you go, fine. Hayden Hurst is. Okay. Full-type Craig with the takes. No, I think you're right. So, wow. Didn't he catch his touchdown from Lamar last week?

Yes, he did. Mao will love that anymore. Why are you laughing? I don't know. It just doesn't seem super repeatable, but, I mean, obviously. Obviously, beggars can't be choosers at this point. Tight ends are really, really terrible this week. That should be what we call this segment going forward.

Beggars can't be choosers. That's actually really what we're talking about. Some of these guys are not, they're not inspiring a lot of confidence. This is a tough week. Jim, how many signatures? Six-byes, man. How many signatures do we need in the petition to rename this segment? Beggars can't be choosers?

Zero, that's fine. Oh, wow. In a good mood. Charitable. I'm even going to give a Tom Gun Lod. dot com shout-up right there. Shows in L.A. and San Diego and San Francisco for Jim's show, TomgunnLive.com.

Check it out. Wow. Thanks, Jim. Wow. What a great day. What a great, man. Everyone enjoy your weekend. What a beautiful note.

All right. Dek, I'll see you next week, man. Wow. Sounds good. Don't have to watch the Giants. What a great day.