The Ringer NFL Show - Prepping for Fantasy Playoffs and Initial Advice After Week 10 | The Dantasy Football Podcast (Ep. 343)

Episode Date: November 13, 2018

Josh Reynolds and Anthony Miller lead this week’s Initial Advice roster (1:00), Rashaad Penny and Lamar Jackson are among the top players to add off waivers this week (18:00), and Malcolm Brown and Austin Ekeler lead the group of signature players to grab while you still can as playoff preparation season has officially commenced (34:30). Hosts: Danny Heifetz and Danny Kelly Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Federal Credit Union app. Message and data rates may have blocked. Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Dannysi Football Podcast. Brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network. My name is Danny Hyfitz. I'm joined by my co-host and co-danny. Danny Kelly, how are you doing, D.K.? I'm doing excellent. What's going on, man?

I'm doing good. Let's just get down to this. Jim's not here. We're with full-time, Craig. We were just arguing about Rashad Penny. I don't even, like, just say it, Craig. Just say it. Tony Gwyn, Kauai Leonard, Marshall Falk, Rashad Penny.

San Diego State. Wait, Marshall Falk? Yeah. We were talking about Marshall Falk in the office the other day. San Diego State alum. He was fine, okay? He was fine.

He was all right. 12 rushes, 108, touchdown, looked elusive, quick. Got some wiggle. We hadn't really seen that before. Yeah, DK's our local Seahawks fan. What do you think, DK? Okay, so I think on the last spot, I was talking about how we hadn't seen any first round traits.

I'm not necessarily sure we saw any first round traits on Sunday, but I was pretty impressed with his his ability to cut horizontally the quote wiggle. Maybe that maybe called that oily hips. I don't know.

That's like scouting parlance. I don't think he is oily hips. That's scouting parlance, but I liked him. I think he looked pretty good. I think you're confusing your parlances, but keep going. In typical Seac's fashion,

he had a couple of really nice runs early on and then they went away from him for about two quarters, so we didn't really get to see exactly. And that's the whole story of his season, I guess. So, but we'll get into Rashad Penny later. But let's go, let's get into the initial advice now.

We can talk about Penny later before we lose everyone. Fine. But you know some fantasy annuals? I don't hate the players. I don't hate your teams. You're like, you know what? I hate Rashad Penny. Everyone else, I'm fine with it.

I do hate Rashad Penny. He doesn't need you. Maybe he does. I don't know. All right, let's just get into this. Who's on Bides this week? Bills, Browns, Dolfins, Jets, Patriots, 49ers. Thank God.

Also known as no one on your fantasy team. I was going to say, I was going to break that up later. Like, yeah, but... No quarterbacks other than Brady, so that's good. It's just the Patriots. All these other teams suck. Yeah. All right, D.K., who's your first dart night this week?

All right, Anthony Miller of the Bears, going up against the Vikings this week. He was one of my favorites in the preseason. I mean, he was a baller in college, really, really good athlete, really dynamic. I mean, he posted insane numbers in college. He started to break out over the last few weeks. On Sunday, he had six targets, five catches, $12. two yards in a touchdown. His snap rate has gone up.

He's been a bigger part of the offense. And Trubisky is actually passing deep a little bit more, which is great for him. I saw this stat from JJ Zacharyesian on Twitter. He's got 12 targets of 15 plus air yards the last four weeks, which is six most among receivers. And six most in the league. And then he leads the bears and targets during that time. Obviously, Alan Robbins has been hurt a little bit, so that's a factor. But he just seems like he's more ingrained in that offense.

they're passing more. Trubisky, like I said, he's going deep more. Now, going forward, the Vikings obviously have a very good pass defense, so that is a factor. But I think Miller is on the verge of kind of like breaking out. He's hit that, he's kind of hit his stride, I think, with this offense. So he's a must pick up at this point. Yeah, I'd pick him up.

I don't think I'd play him yet. I mean, I think Alan Robinson being, I think he's all the way back. He's talking about guys with Wiggle. I mean, he obviously had the ACL last year, and I thought that he finally had the explosiveness this week. and yeah, wiggle. I'll go with that. Not oily hips, but I think he's got the wiggle back. So I don't think Miller is someone I'm going to trust for quite some time yet.

This week, yeah, Vikings have given up the third least fantasy points for a game to receivers, so that's something to keep in mind. All right, who's your first guy? Oh, I mean, this is probably the obvious one of the week. I mean, we haven't done no shit Sherlock, but this is the one. I mean, Josh Reynolds, obviously, Cooper Cup tours ACL. That's too bad. So the Rams obviously have like the Super Bowl this week against the Chiefs in Mexico City.

I think so Josh Reynolds filled in fantastic when he was in that game he had when Cup didn't play he played like 69 of 78 snaps which is almost 90% and he looks fantastic and the Chiefs obviously don't have a good defense but it doesn't matter like the Rams are the talk about oily hips the Rams are the most well-oiled machine in the league yeah you're going to hear a lot of stuff this week about Andy Reid and Sean McVeigh and why they're good coaches tell me tell me if you disagree DK I think in a nutshell one of McVe's breakthroughs is they don't have 10, tendencies. The defenders lining up pre-snap can't really say, well, we know based on how they aligned, they're not going to do this. Everything is in play until the absolute last second. So, 94% of their plays are in 11 personnel, but not like the way the Giants did it that I ranted about earlier this year, like in an intelligent way where they're moving people in. It's like they have the same people on the field. They're never lining up in the same spaces. Like, it's all looks completely different, even with the same things. And do you want to let them know, people know in case they don't know what 11 personnel means.

Oh, what? Thank you full-time, Craig. Yeah, so it means one tight end and one running back on the field. So you've got Gurley and either Higbee or Everett most of the time. And you can line up the same literal way. You can put those pieces in the same spot every time, which is what the Giants did under Ben McAdoo. It's what the Cowboys have often done under Jason Garrett.

Those same people go to the same spots. McVease sends mostly the same people out there, puts them all over the field in interconnecting ways, similar to how the Patriots have done it a lot. And so it's really the definition of, is the ultimate next man-up system. Everyone can go into it, and then everyone's set up to succeed.

They're doing play action by far the most. They've got 38% of golf's passes are play action. Next is Mahomes at like 30. So even when the ball is snapped, you still don't really know what's going to happen. I mean, so much of Gurley's touchdowns this year have just been play action to Gurley, you roll out, you give it back to Gurley.

Because, you know, defenders are thinking run, then pass, and it's easier to forget, oh, yeah, and you're still lose track of the running back. Add in the sweep action, too, which is, I think, stretching out the defense, you know? So that's the long-winded way of saying, I don't care, like, RIP to Cooper Cup, but he's a cog in this amazing machine,

and Josh Reynolds will probably be 90% as good of Cooper Cup, might not even give him the job back, like next year. No. No. I'm just saying. I think Josh Reynolds is very good. I would 100% pick him up, and I think he's the rare,

a rare, legitimate handcuff. I think you might have gone a bridge too far there, but I do agree with you that he is a cog in that machine and the brilliant thing is just McVeigh Schemes guys open so he's going to have opportunities so I like Cooper Cup but I think in the fantasy realm

this guy makes a lot of sense Josh Reynolds go ahead and pick him up and I think you could probably be confident playing him going forward my next guy quarterback Marcus Mariotta Mario did I say it right

can we get it get the drop Marioza Marcus Marioota Titans going up against the Colts this week last two games he's had 122 rating 69% completion percentage

468 yards, four touchdowns, no picks, plus 12 rushes and 53 yards in touchdown. I mean, he's playing like we kind of thought he would before the season when we were really excited about Matt Lefleur. Wait, Matt what? Lefleur. Lefleur. He's playing with more confidence.

He just doesn't really look overwhelmed out there, which was the case for a while. Like, it was, you could tell, like, when you're watching the Titans play, like, he just looked kind of overwhelmed. And you haven't seen that last couple weeks, which is great. As opposed to being whelms, like many quarterbacks.

He was whelming. Going forward, I'm not necessarily completely sold that they suddenly fixed all their problems, but that was a pretty dominant win over the Patriots. I think that they're trending up, certainly, and this isn't time to get in on the Mario de second half, I guess. Because he's got so much upside as a runner, too, and that's kind of a big thing in fantasy.

So if you're looking for a quarterback this week, you know, Tom Brady or I guess if you're running with Baker Mayfield or whatever, you need to stream someone, he is an option. Yeah, I like Mario. I like Mario a lot. I think you're right. I think him looking overwhelmed, actually, is very apt for the beginning of the season, and he looked very much up to speed again. He had looked like that, in my opinion, in years, maybe 2016 or 15 almost.

He just looked like he had it going and he was doing pinpoint things, but he was also just so much more consistent. I was really happy about that, and the Titans is all just look really good. If you bought low on Corey Davis, hats off to you. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I'm with you on the Titans. Another one, tight end this week.

Who's on by? George Kittal and Djoku. And if you have Gronk, sucks to suck. It's easy to, like, you maybe stream and, like, chase Jono Smith on Tennessee, while we're talking about Tennessee because he's got, like, two touchdowns in two weeks. But I don't think it's ever wise to chase touchdowns.

Or at least it's a huge gamble. I would rather roll with Ricky Seals-Jones. He had nine targets this week. It's not an accident. I mean, it's by far his season high. I don't think he'd pass six until this week. And it's not random because Byron Lefwich, He's their offensive coordinator now,

which makes most people feel old. He wants to get him the ball. I mean, obviously he's returned to like, I mean, I don't even want to say back to Aryans. Like, I think that's like being overdone. It's more like back to common sense. Right. Let's make David Johnson good again.

Like, it's just, it's kind of like, let's have a, like, a modern offense. Let's give the ball to our best players and then let them do stuff. It's amazing. So obviously, I think David Johnson had his best game of the season, basically. But that's good for everyone on Arizona

because you're opening up the offense and, and as you say all the time, D.K., you're changing the geometry of what they have to do and David Johnson is as good as that as anyone in terms of making the offense or the opposing defense account for them. And they're playing the Raiders, who suck. And I think they're officially

really close to giving up on Gruden, which it wouldn't be the earliest ever, but like we're getting there. Year one. Love it. Well, a lot of them are like on expirings and are going to go. I saw a tweet from a beat reporter who was saying that like a veteran walked by with another veteran passed the reporters

and was like, I got to get the hell out of here. Gotta get the hell out of here. Maybe it wasn't hell. I think it was the F word. Yeah. And like, saying that in front of a reporter,

like, you know, and that's kind of like, you know, that's a probably savvy way of leaking like, yo, screw this guy. I think this could be a disaster game

because if the Raiders get blown up by the Cardinals, it'd be pretty great. That would be, that would be a low. This offense obviously still has a long way to go. I wrote about them a little bit

last night. Yeah, I mean, they're going in the right direction. They're doing things that are actually logical, which is a huge jump from what McCoy was doing early in the season. So there's definitely reason for optimism. At the same time, they got pressured on like 50% of their snaps yesterday against the Colts. That's not going to happen against the Raiders, though, because the Raiders actually, I think,

are the, I think I'm pretty sure I saw this. Maybe this might be like a week or too old now, but they've gotten the fewest pressures on opposing quarterbacks of any team in the NFL. It's kind of what happens, I guess, when you trade the best pass rusher in the NFL. But, yeah, so I think this is a good play in terms of if you're looking for a tight end of stream this week. He's a good option. Going forward to see,

I got Dante Moncrief next, Jaguars receiver, going up against the Steelers. I don't, you know, obviously we don't, I don't love any of the Jaguars receivers at this point

just because that offense is so inconsistent. Yeah, but my boy Keel and Cole has really fallen off. We were excited about him before the season, man. And he had a couple of big games, but again, just too inconsistent.

Right now, Moncrief looks like the most consistent guy that offense. He's had a team high, 44 targets over the last six games, and he caught three catches last week for 98 yards and a touchdown. One big touchdown,

I think it was like an 80 yarder or something like that. You know, you got a low floor potential with him. He had a goose egg in week six, so you have to kind of keep that in mind. But he's actually averaged almost 12 points of PPR a week since week four. So he's kind of one of those guys, like if you need a flex or like if you need a low-end wide receiver

to plug in on a buy week. He is an option. I've actually done this with a couple of my teams lately, and so, you know, he's kind of this, he's a low floor, low ceiling type player, but he's not the worst option you can ask. So I think he's an option for you guys this week

if you're, you know, dealing with buys or whatever. I'd actually push back on this one a little bit. I mean, he had the touchdown against the Colts, and, you know, he used to play for the Colts, but that was just more like the safety kind of just dove, missed the tackle, and then sides, like, swipe the legs.

of the other cornerback who could have made the tackle and as well those like 60 yard touchdowns that like well it should have been like 20 and like you know first down and it became like a huge play I would actually go it was a fluke it was a flukey touchdown

I don't think this is going to be a great match for the Steelers I don't put a lot of stock into tweets and stuff all the time but when I do I do and to think about how much the Jaguards have coalesced as their identity of like you know us against the world like more than any other team

in the league the last couple years and like they just hate the Steelers. That is like their number one team they hate. And they beat up on them. And they beat up on them. That was their game. Last year, in week five, that was the, or whatever week it was.

Then through five picks. Yeah, and that was the game. They were like, yeah, we're real. And then everyone had to admit it. And they then made him in the playoffs again. No one believed him again. And they beat him. Well, it was all about that dumb Jesse James catch that they didn't call a catch.

Steelers were on the Super Bowl if I didn't have. I literally forget Craig. Oh my God. I forgot, too. I forgot to. I forgot until right now. I think the Steelers are going to crush the Jaguars this week, and I'm not even kidding.

Because Jalen Ramsey tweeted that today, and Jalen Ramsey said that you guys are going to miss me when I'm gone, like, not even kidding. And he tweeted that. I'm like, damn, they're going into Steelers Week, and Jalen Ramsey is not talking about the Steelers. I'm not kidding. I actually genuinely believe that's a big problem for Jacksonville.

They don't believe in themselves anymore. They're going to get crushed. I think Steelers crush him. Not an undie. Dante Moncrief, that's a long witness. of coming back, DDK. Fair enough. Sorry about that.

Who's your next guy? So I'll give a short win. Chris Godwin. They're playing the Giants. The Giants suck. We're recording this on Monday. I can't imagine what would happen on Monday night football tonight for me to be like,

oh yeah, no. The bucks weren't pass on the... Yeah, and they didn't get the points. I feel like everyone's probably seen the stat at this point. They basically... They had 4, 67 yards or whatever, and teams doing that average like 37 points

in the bucks at three, obviously. But Godwin and Fitz just have great chemistry. And we keep saying that, but it still's true. He leads the team in red zone targets. And he just does really well fits. And even they didn't score. He had 100 yards this week. I mean, Godwin has command of more of the route tree than I think people would have thought this earlier in the year.

And definitely has better chemistry fits than anyone would have thought. So yeah. He had, he caught like, I can't remember. It was just, I was watching and I was watching like eight different games at once. But he caught like five or six passes right in a row. They come in bunches with him. And I actually really believe in that kind of thing because, I mean, sometimes it's just they have a corner. around them that can't stand the field.

But if you, in the NFL, like, that's like a JV football thing. You know, you call the same play eight times a row. In the NFL, when someone gets the ball four or five times in a row, I think it's worth paying attention to, because that's like Gronk does that. That's like when the Patriots want to win a football game. Like that Steelers game, Craig knows. They went to Gronk, like, what, four times in a row? Yeah.

And it's like, that's a, not everyone can do that. I'm always impressed when that happens at the NFL level. But can we talk, can we talk real quick just about the Buccaneers having over, was it over 500 yards of offense and only scoring three points. That was incredible. I've never even heard of that. There was another stat that was incredible. They had 501 yards and three points.

What the hell? I think Fitzpatrick had four turnovers. Well, here's the thing. Next week against the Giants, they're going to have like 180 yards and like 70 points. So I'm really excited about, you know, they're going to regress to the mean. You know what I mean? Yeah, all right. I didn't even realize I made a mean pun there.

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ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. All right, T-K, we're going to go into a little waiver wire lightning round right now. Let's, Craig, do we actually have to hit Rashad Penny again right now. We're talking about Rashad Penny, whether you like it or not. Yeah. Well, it's not. So just get into it. It'll be quick.

So he's probably the top waiver wire ad of the week, I would say. 100 yards, touchdown, look great. Pete Carroll seems to be happy with this performance that he demonstrated first round value, as D.K. said earlier. And I'd say, worth a shot. Bottom line with Penny is you got to monitor what's going on with Chris Carson. I know on Thursday, or sorry, I'm. On Monday, Pete Carroll did say that Carson is going to be ready to go for the Thursday game. That's a tough turnaround.

We don't really know for sure. You can't really always believe Pete Carroll. So just monitor what's going on with Chris Carson before you plug him into your starting lineup. I'm always monitoring Chris Carson. Carol said the other day that, and I think this is definitely true with him, is that Penny is a volume guy like you need to get him going in the flow of a game. And so I'm wondering if they're going to have. Love your first round running back needs to get a lot of work before you can do good work.

That's the Seahawks. Don't try and find logic in the Seahawks, Danny. That's your first problem, buddy. They just got done, I mean, I'm definitely not comparing him to this, but Marshawn Lynch, he was the engine that ran their offense. They wanted a guy who they can give, like, I think they want a guy who can, like, take 20 carries a game. That's not going to be, that's not going to be a small,

you know, that's not going to be a small guy or, like, a injury prone guy. I think I can kind of, like, talk myself into the reason that they decided to take, this guy. I will admit, I was watching that game, and then Mike Davis broke this, like, 38-yard run. And I was like, yeah, Mike Davis looks good. And I was like, oh, shit, that's

Rashon Penny. Shit. He got up, and I saw the number. I was like, no. So, like, I'll admit that I was wrong in that he was capable of doing one thing on an NFL field. Well, he did 12 things for 108 yards.

I'll say this. Like, the Rams are actually, the name value detractions. from how bad the run defense is. Even the Packers probably have a better run defense than the Rams, which is weird to think about, but it's true. And it's a short week, and it's weird to like for a running team. It's probably even a little harder to, I don't know why the Seoogs still think they need to establish the run, but they do.

So it's harder on a short week. So fine, go ahead. Add Rashad Penny. Go ahead. Play them in the fantasy playoffs and lose. As long as we're doing a little Mia Copa session here, I'm sorry if you traded, I'm sorry if you traded Eric Eron and then he scored three touchdowns last week.

You know why? Just freaking absurd. Even if you were right and you listed D.K. And you traded away Ebron. Whatever you did, like you got roasted in your group text was probably just alone. Just doesn't matter what he could just like not play for the rest. How many people added me to their people to kill list last week?

Oh, like what's that movie, Billy Madison? Let's double down though. Let's say that Ebron's going to suck from here on now and you still sold him high. It's double down. Yeah. You're ahead of the curve. His touchdown, Ebron's touchdown rate is absolutely absurd. His touchdown, let me put this way,

his touchdowns to targets slash touchdowns to snap rate is, it's not, I mean, it's not viable. It's not going to last. He's like the 20, he's like the Kamara of tight ends this year. It's a rough day for us when Rashad Penny was breaking off 30 plus-yard runs, and Ebrod's got three touchdowns in the first quarter. We're just like, oh, what are you going to do? Ebron had three touchdowns on four touches.

And Doyle out snapped him by a lot, too. Yeah, all right. Well, the wheels are coming off. Like, sometimes there's just weird shit in fantasy football. And Ebron is that guy. If you want to keep riding him, because maybe he's just going to score a touchdown every time he touches the ball.

Jeez, D.K. Couldn't even stick by the guns. Staying in that game because the wheels have come off here. Derek Henry, speaking of guys, we didn't like. Henry had like four rushing touchdowns in his last three games and suddenly looks alive. I'm going to go so forth as to say, I don't think my thoughts have actually changed on Derek Henry.

Like we were talking about before, we don't have to go with this in two depth, but my thoughts have changed on that type. I think they're a fundamentally different team. I think their defense is keeping them in games. Defense has given up the fierce points in the league. The offense looks alive and I think Henry's just going to get more opportunities to score. I don't think him as a rusher is significantly different,

but I think his opportunities are different now. He's been dropped in like half of league, so he's out there. Yeah, he's available. That's a good playoff ad. That's a good December ad because, I mean, you know, he's still a bowling ball at the goal line. I'm still going to be really reticent about starting Henry, but... But pick him up.

Yeah, having them on your roster is not a terrible idea. Speaking of that, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens going up against the Bengals this week. So it's Monday afternoon. We do not know exactly what's going on with the quarterback situation in Baltimore. Reports were that Joe Flacco is injured, potentially something serious. It's his hip. And then John Harbaugh comes out today and he's kind of doing the old, you know, he's taking the Patriots tack where he's not really telling us what's happening with the entry.

So the Bengals have to prepare for both guys We don't really know what's going on I think it's worth adding Jackson Just to see how it all goes Like if you have an extra spot on your roster Go for it I did that in one of my leagues I'm not going to start him

But I just want to see how this kind of all plays out Obviously he's got so much upside as a runner That he could potentially be a fantasy factor down the stretch You know obviously he didn't look great in the preseason He's kind of had you know They've only been using him basically as like a wildcat type receiver or receiver slash quarterback or whatever. So we don't really know what it would look like.

But to me, the upside is there. It's worth speculative ad. I'm not going to start them yet, though. How do I put this delicately? Well, no, what's that thing Lombardi always says a little time? You know, sometimes teams are one injury away from having a good team. I'll just say this happening as they go into their by week and John Harbaugh is very much on the verge of being fired. At the very least, it is a, the timing is convenient.

A happy accident? I'm sure he's injured. The extent of it will see how much... I think there's a chance that this is like a shadow benching. Right. And look, I'm sure his hip is injured and all those things, but I will just say that I think after the Ryan Grant situation from the offseason where basically the Ravens signed Ryan Grant

to a large contract... Pretty big contract. And within a couple days, Michael Crabtree was released, and then hours after he was released, the Ravens failed Ryan Grant in his physical, which is a, like the signature move of the Baltimore Orioles. Questions were raised about the firewall between the medical staff and the team. That's all I'll say.

That's all you'll say. I think I'll just, so perhaps that's, you know, let's put that aside and say, I think Lamar Jackson plays the rest of the season, you know, for who knows why. Okay. I think he's going to play. If that's the case, do you like his option? You have to pick him up. I think that's obvious.

I mean, he's incredible. and he just has a, like, his rushing ability will have such a big floor. I think he can be incredible. The only reason I think you wouldn't pick him up is you worry about playing time. I think you do not have to worry about his playing time for December at all.

The Ravens are going to be out of the playoffs and he's their future. Joe Flacco does not have a future in Baltimore. Joe Flacco has, like, he can save them double-digit millions of dollars if they cut him. John Harbaugh might go. John Harbaugh will only stay

if he can prove that he can build an environment of success for Lamar Jackson. Jackson will be playing in December. I'm very confident about this. I'm shocked that you guys don't. I appreciate that. I'm shocked you guys don't feel the same way, honestly.

This feels like a weird time to me to be like, all right, we have a potential chance to make the playoffs. We have a huge division game coming up. Let's sit Joe Flacco and just put in Lamar Jackson and say, hey, you now need to make us make the playoffs. Like that's an insane ask of him for a guy who has literally not played all year. I think that John Harbaugh is a better chance to save his job, missing the playoffs and making Lamar Jackson.

look great than making the playoffs and losing the first round with Joe Flacko? Well, then why not do that week four? The Ravens don't have great foresight is the thing. They did draft Hayden Hurst before they took Lamar Jackson. Yeah.

Which does not make any sense to me. All right, let's move on. We are just off there, moving on, D.K. John Ross, another guy. I don't love John Ross. Maybe I'm just, I was so biased because the Bengals, like, flirted with, like, making him a quarterback

for five days last year. year in the middle of the season. To me, that was like a indicting factor of like, I'm concerned about your ability to play football, which I normally don't like to do, but I can't believe they even consider that. But he's looked good, and I don't

actually love him as a receiver, but Bengals' offense now their defense seems so bad. They're going to be in shootouts. They're almost like the bucks in that their defense is abysmal. They're going to be constantly in shootouts, and the Saints just made a mockery of them, but AJ Green's gone. Someone's going to need to be cashing touchdowns,

And I don't love him as a confident flex play. But in terms of upside and stuff, if you're scraping the bottom of the barrel, he's probably like a fantastic option off waivers. If you don't really know who you're going to war with in December, he's probably a good option. Yeah. Two catches, 39 yards and a touchdown last week. Played 83% of the snaps.

So, yeah, I mean, he was a big part of the offense. Until AJ Green gets back, he's going to have opportunities. And this is why I liked him in the preseason. I thought he could have a breakout year. It turned out it was Tyler Boyd. who did that. But, yeah, I mean, it's just an opportunity thing right now. And he's playing a lot, and they're probably, like you said,

they're probably going to be passing a lot. So, you know, who knows? This is like the Des Bryant Memorial pick. Basically, Brandon Marshall now takes the place of Des Bryant in New Orleans. You could swap out everything we said about Des Bryant last week and insert it here for Brandon Marshall. Like, he's going to play potentially that Marcus Colston, slash Jimmy Graham hybrid role where you kind of are a red zone target use your size box out

fade routes in the red zone type thing that's the upside that's kind of like the thought um I would still say Marshall is still kind of a desperation option if you're really looking for upside in the receiver position you don't have anything else he could have upside as a touchdown guy but I mean I watched him I had high hopes for him in Seattle I watched him in Seattle he just didn't do anything yet a lot of drops not getting any separation uh I'm not super optimistic, but again, Drew Breaz and the offense is so good that, you know, it's

just maybe potentially worth an ad to see how it all goes, because, again, that offense is so good. You know how you, everyone was really excited about Des Bryant and the Saints? And you know how now nobody's excited about Brandon Marshall and the Saints? That is kind of interesting. This is how you should have felt about Desd

is quite a bit younger though, isn't he? But this is how you should have felt about Des. Both are washed up to varying degrees. I don't think either will do anything. Brandon Marshall is probably going to be able to get some jump ball touchdowns. I don't think you'll have any ability to predict it,

nor will the teams they're playing against, and it'll be complete random luck if you play them and get him in your lineup and he has two touchdowns, like great. I'd be absolutely,

because here's the thing. He just signed. He will not play for them until after Thanksgiving in any meaningful way outside of like a jump ball at the fade. And we know Danny's theory

that receivers on new teams they won't do well. Oh yes, yeah. Come at me, Craig. Come at me. I don't know if Amari Cooper did well. What are you talking about Amari? Come at me.

Six catches, 75 yards, 10 targets. route running jeans. And how did Golden Tate do after a whole buy week? He played 14 snaps. He played 14 snaps. I guess that kind of confirms Danny's thing, though. Yeah, I just 100% stand by this.

So you just still think Amari Cooper's bad? I think that they trade it. I think Amari Cooper, again, let me restate. Like, we kind of universally accept when rookies come in. Rookiebacks can adapt much quicker because rookie receivers need to learn the quote unquote, the speed of the game. and how much of the NFL game is timing-based chemistry and also just learning to break out of your route the exact moment

because the difference between college and the – well, it used to be. Now it's a little less so. But like the ball's being thrown before you even open. And now that's changing a little bit. So much of the NFL game is timing-based that you can't just do that in two weeks. You can't just do that over your by week. Like a lot of off-season work goes into it.

What were we saying about Joe Flacco? He's been better this year because he actually worked with his receivers this off-season, right? I do not think anybody can just come in and two weeks later be like a great receiver. I mean, Brandon Marshall spent, was with the Seahawks and they cut him. I don't think it'll be better than he was in Seattle. Maybe he can like have a different role in the Saints. And like with Amari Cooper, I actually do think it's different because I think Amari Cooper was brought in because, one, they had nobody there. It's like the Saints don't have receivers.

And two, Jason Garrett's job may very much depend on can you use Amory Cooper. That is not the case with anyone else. Doug Peterson or no receiver, Demeris Thomas, like whoever you want to name, I can't even think of one. Nobody's job is on the line if you use this piece. And like that, not to, I mean, it's annoying that I'm like, oh, it's the exception to the role. No, I think that's a worthy argument.

But I actually do think it's the exception. Like, Jason Garrett might get fired if Amory Cooper was not good the rest of the year. Yeah. I should have thought of that. I wouldn't think that it would work. I didn't think he could do it. But they're doing it. Because he's now, you are starting Amari Cooper if you have him weekly.

Yeah, no, they're dedicated to force-feeding him. And he looks good. He looks better than I, to be fair, it looks much better than I would have thought that he could have done doing this. I don't think any other team has the Cowboys' incentives to, we need to use this piece now all the time. The other side of that Sunday night game was

the Eagles look terrible. We could go through that forever. It's just like a lot of paper cuts. There's no like gash wound in their chest. This is more of a stash, but I mean, Josh Adams is a rookie. He led the team in carries and rushing yards. He looked good. He also looked bad in short yardage, which is annoying,

because on paper he should be their goal lineback. That play, are you talking about the fourth down stuff? Yeah, well, they got... I can't see. That was not. I cannot say his name. Vaitai. I cannot say his name.

But Vaitai, the right tackle replaced Lane Johnson. Got blown up by DeMarcos Lawrence. He was hit, like, basically, when he got the handoff. But I kind of think that that might be the Eagles season. Like, part of me is like, oh, well, that play, well, I think their line might not be as good anymore. So I'm torn to just be like, I'll write that away. I think if you're looking for this week,

I think Wendell Smallwood against the Saints is intriguing because the Saints have allowed the fewest rushing yards, but I mean, that's just because of game flow. It's because they're passing more. Well, they also have a, yeah, they're just very good against the run too. Like they've been, I think, the best running defense in the NFL. Well, yeah.

So, I mean, they've given up the fewest rushing yards, which kudos to them, but at the same time, um, opponents have also attempted the third fewest rushes against them. So I think it's more of a product of like, just teams are just always losing to the Saints and you need to chuck the ball downfield which is why the flip side of that is like

oh like the Saints have a terrible secondary well no the teams are always passing on the Saints which is why you should always be a little wary of like per game numbers in a vacuum so anyway I think that Adams is probably still going to lead the team in carries for the Eagles but might not have a huge game this week because they might have

even be turned they might be forced to turn as small wood and Clement more this week because they're down but beyond this week I think that Adams could still be like their main rusher. So I'm still helpful there, and I have him in the Ringer League, and we'll see. My favorite Hobbit, Wendell Smold. All right, TK., before we move on, let's take a quick break. Football season is underway, and we already have major regrets about our season-long fantasy teams. Rashad Penny. I'm sure most of you fantasy players feel the same way. We spend all of our

off-season researching and getting excited for the draft, and then comes the pain. That's why we are so excited to be playing on Fandul all season. Over at Fandul, we get the excitement of researching and building a team each week, regardless of the outcome. Plus, Fanduel has never been more fun or easy to play. We've been playing in the Gridiron Pickham contest every week. It's a free contest where all you need to do is pick winners, no spreads, and then $10,000 is split amongst the top pickers. Trust us, if you're not a fantasy expert, then Fandul is clearly the place to play.

Plus, new users get a $5 bonus when they make their first deposit. So come play with us at Fandul.com slash the rest. ringer. That is fanduil.com slash the ringer. All right, DK. Now we're going to go into a little prepping ahead of fantasy playoffs because it's almost Thanksgiving time and it's around the time you kind of got to, I think as we said, chess not checkers.

So it's time for some chess moves. And full-time Craig had a couple good chess moves that he was proposing for the second. They're moving guys around the board. Yeah, what do you got, Craig? Well, so as the playoffs approach, I think that this is the time to get rid of those guys that are sitting at the bottom of your bench. The dudes that you probably drafted in the ninth round and you're still holding on to because they have three catches a game.

Like you're James and Crowders, your Chester Rogers, you're Alan Hurons. I think it's time to get rid of those guys because no matter what's happening in the playoffs, assuming you will make the playoffs, that's who this segment's for. You're not going to be starting those people. Eliteist.

It's time to start handcuffing all of your elite guys. Although, to be fair, just to be quick, even if you're still on the cusp of the playoffs, you should still be doing this, but like for the next three weeks, because if you make the playoffs, great, figure all that out then. Don't not worry about week 14 if you might not make it, but you should put everything into just thinking short term. Exactly.

And in the playoffs, you're only going to be starting your studs or the backups to your studs if they get hurt. Those are really the only two options. So owning a guy like James and Crudder is never going to help you because you're never going to play them. So you would drop him and, you know, we'll get into a list of guys right now of elite handcuffs you should have if you have these guys.

This is also kind of, I don't, we'll figure this out kind of as we get closer to the playoffs, but if guys are sitting, if teams are sitting players, sometimes this can come in handy also, right? Absolutely. Yeah, I think it's too early for that because I think mostly cut out week 17, right? Fantasy championship is week 16 normally. That's standard, that's like standard across the board everywhere. I can't remember the last time someone sat week 16, right? It was like Peyton Manning the Colts like one year.

Yeah. Because the Rams sat week 17 last year. That's not as big of a factor. This is injury. This is injury insurance right here. Injuring insurance, yeah. All right. So, who's your first guy?

So, I mean, this is when Craig has been on for a long time. I can let, but I love this. It's the only tight-end handcuff that exists. Zach Ertz and Dallas Gotter. It's really, I mean, I could be wrong. My God, Ertz went off this week. Yeah, so I believe Ertz has the most targets of any tight-end ever, like, through how many games he's played. I could be wrong with that.

I think that's actually a certifiable fact. This is a good fantasy pod. Yeah, right? But no, I come back to what Michael Kendrick's RIP said in hard knocks, which is that Ertz is a receiver. He's tied in next to his name, and Dallas Goddard would take up that role in the offense. So I think this is brilliant, so I love that.

Yeah, I have a crazy stat that my friend Chris sent me. It says, Zach Ertz now has four career games with 13 or more catches, and in NFL history, only Wes Welker has more than that. That's incredible. And again, just to put all this perspective with Ertz, he's fourth in the league in targets. There are four players with more than 100 targets. It's Jarvis, Adam Thiel, and Julio Jones, Zacherts.

And Goddard's not just a handcuff in the proverbial sense. Like, he passes the eye test. He's talented. And when you watch him, he looks like he can fill in. So that's the only tight-end handcuff I think I've ever believed in, and it's fantastic. What about you, D.K? How do you feel about Melvin Gordon? Well, I mean, yeah, Melvin Gordon, we've talked about him before,

kind of like the Todd Gurley light. I think if Austin Echler is still out there in your leagues, and he might not be because, you know, he's been kind of hit or miss this. year but he's definitely worth handcuffed just because they're gonna put so much volume through their running back position that's been a huge part of their offense this year especially in the passing game Echler has proven he's extremely efficient when he touches the football like if Gordon got hurt and he obviously missed a game earlier this year if Gordon gets hurt in the fantasy

playoffs like Echler has a chance to go off so just stashing him on your line in your lineup if you've got Gordon even if you don't really it could be a really smart option he can do everything Gordon does. Yeah, he can do everything Gordon does. So he's, he's like, I think, a one-for-one replacement. He's a square peg and a square hole. He's one of the more underrated running backs, I think, in the NFL,

just the sense that everything, like, he's a really dynamic player, and people don't really realize it. They think of him as kind of just like this change of pace guy, but he's actually like a good running back. The flip side of that situation, I think, is actually in Carolina where Christian McCaffrey has just been doing everything. If you watch those tonight, he was the only reason they were even

competitive, really. And there's no backup really behind him, honestly. Like, C.G. Anderson has been the proverbially handcuff. He got released on Monday, and they don't really have anyone behind him who can do things. They have Alex Armagh is the only other guy I think who's gotten a carry for them, I mean, who isn't like a receiver. He's like a fullback, really. He's a big, bulky guy, but he's probably not going to be doing in the passing game when McCaffrey does. And then there's also Cameron Artis Payne who has been inactive for most of the season, just healthy scratch.

So I have McCaffrey in one of my oldest leagues, and I actually don't even know if there really is a one-to-one handcuff. Armagh and or Artist's Pain, but I think it's actually we need to see another week there before, but it's probably still worth grabbing him because the amount of volume is crazy. That's an interesting situation. I wonder if they would even, like my, just off the top of my head, I'm wondering if they would use like DJ Moore and

Curtis Samuel more as like running back types too, if that happened, if McAfra got hurt. Yeah, I think that that's a good example that would be distributed around the rest of the offense. The flip side is Todd Gurley, who this isn't a one-to-one, but it's more like Todd Gurley's so good that if Malcolm Brown gets 70% of what

Todd Gurley does, then he's, you have to start him. At first, I think before the season John Kelly was maybe in the mix of the Rams backup job. Malcolm Brown has established himself. Probably doesn't have the same ability to breakaways, but like, I mean, I actually talked about Ram's training camp. I'm just going to be like, oh, I talked to me in training camp.

Nice name job. Craig gave me a face. But he actually acknowledged that like, so I'm not being mean, is my point. He acknowledged that his biggest issue is breaking the last guy. like beating the strong safety and like breaking the end of the run. Right. And obviously,

Tiger was really good at that. But he's still going to get the carries. I've seen, I've seen people picking Malcolm Brown up a little bit the last couple weeks. I'm like, ooh, this is, this is looking ahead.

So this is exactly what we're talking about. Another guy you could do that with potentially, Spencer Ware, if you've got Cream Hunt on your team, he's obviously been a, you know, pillar for a lot of fantasy teams this year. Spencer Ware is actually another guy.

I mean, he's a really good running back. I think he had over a thousand yards a couple years ago when I can't even remember what the situation was Jamal Charles got hurt and so he's got experience he is a he's a dual-threat guy he can catch the ball too very physical runner I think Ware is actually really a good running back so if Cream Hunt were to go down then he would be a really good fantasy option

yeah um an example so like Ware I think Ware is a mostly one-to-one with Kareem Hunt I mean he's not as good as Kareem Hunt but I think he's probably going to be able to do everything the Chiefs Ask if him in that same category, I'd throw in Alfred Blue and Lamar Miller. Miller's not a fraction as good as Hunt, but Blue can do everything Miller does. And to a lesser extent, Gio Bernard

and Joe Mixon. Oh, yeah. Gio's not as good of a straight runner between the tackles and stuff as Mixon, but they don't, I don't think they really trust the, I think Mark Walton's the third guy. I don't think they trust him. No, Gio's already shown this year when Joe Mixon got hurt with that MCO injury that he, I mean, he was putting up like 15, 20 fantasy points a game.

Exactly. And Gio, she was like healthy again because he missed like a or so, but he's back, so he's, but square pegs and round holes, guys that you can roster but are not, probably going to be worth, but Rod Smith and Zieg L. Eliot are not similar players. I mean, that's a guy who's not going to be able to do 60% of what Zeeke does in the field. I mean, you saw the Eagles last night, like, just he does everything for them now, finally, which is, he should have been doing everything from, Rod Smith is not going to be able to do the Cowboys.

And then one last thing. I locate, I like, I like Rod Smith, I think more than most people. Please, take the floor. I did not know anyone with Rod Smith. No, I'm with you. It's obviously not Ezekiel Elliott, but I think he's actually a really good player. Again, it's like Spencer Ware kind of the same deal.

You get buried behind a superstar, and people kind of forget how good they are. Rod Smith came in during Elliott's suspensions, and he was pretty solid player. Like, you know, he's not the same guy, but there's production to be had there. Here's a deep cut for you. If James Conner,

and James Conner right now is going through concussion protocol, so he might not even play this week. It's looking like he probably will, but if he doesn't, rookie Jalen Samuels is the guy to keep in mind. Yeah, speaking of guys buried behind superstars, Connor and Bell. Yeah.

I mean, this is recording this on Monday, but I imagine that all reports seem to indicate Bell will not show up. You can drop Bell if he does not show up on Tuesday because he won't play for the rest of the season. So suddenly you go from thinking you have Bell and Connor to, yeah, Jalen Samuels and Stephen Ridley suddenly. Ridley might get more of the carries and stuff, but Jailen Samuels looked like a far more interesting dynamic.

player. He has tight end eligibility in Yahoo, which is very... He's listed as a tight end. And a running back. So that's kind of interesting, too. That's super rare. RIP to my Tavon Austin,

hatred. Maybe I do hate players. But yeah, I think Samuels and or Redley, but probably in that order are worth grabbing for this week. I mean, that might be guys you play this week. Like, I would maybe play Jaylon and Sammas a tight end this week if you need someone. Connor is out, sure. Yeah, if he's out.

One last one, again, receiver handcuffs are not quite the same thing. But full-time Craig proposed this, I like it, but I have a tweak. He proposed Lequan Treadwell, if you have Diggs or Thielen. Probably just Thielen, but, Craig, you have thoughts here. Well, you just look at his production. I mean, with Thielen and Diggs playing pretty much the whole year, he's having, his last, like, seven games, he's had four or three catches in every single one of those games. So I feel like numbers would show that if one of those guys is out,

he's probably going to be worth starting as like a wide receiver three on your team. But you like Aldrich Robinson. I do like Alderick Robinson. I mean, first of all, on Treadwell, it's pretty easy to forget he exists. They took him in the first round, like in 2016, he's done nothing.

Pretty anonymous because they got feeling. He's okay this year. There's been like a bunch of those guys. It's a first round pick who doesn't even play. The Kevin Whites, the La Cuan Treadwells, the Bresad Perrimands, you know? Exactly. He gets lumped in.

But anyway, I actually think Alderick Robinson has looked better. him? Am I allowed to say that? I actually think Aldrich Robinson's good and they looked him in the red zone actually and he's actually pulled on a car. I think he really was great in that Rams game. I think that was Thursday night and

I would actually, I could actually roll with Aljc Robinson as a flex if Theelin was down. I think he's been fantastic and would be much better in an offense that didn't have those two guys. So yeah, D.K. There's your handcuff index because it's cuffing season. Just a couple guys that just potential

breakout guys. We mentioned Rex if you have an IR slot, maybe Hunter Henry if you have an IR slot. And then real quick, thoughts on Royce Freeman. Well, I mean, this is kind of the same deal of like handcuffs thing. Like if Philip Lindsay got hurt, Freeman showed like he can run, man. He's actually, you know, he was picking up yards out of the catch. He was bowling through guys, but he just wasn't at the volume that Lindsay was getting. And Lindsay's been just generally more dynamic.

But again, it's the same situation as Penny. Like if the rotation changes in in Baltimore or in Denver, then I think Freeman could have some really high value going forward. And the other guy that I kind of circled, this is a super deep cut, but it's looking at offenses that you trust, teams that evaluate receivers that you trust, the Steelers just know receivers and they always get production from the receivers. So going forward, I'm going to probably stash James Washington in a league or two.

If either Antonio Brown or Juju Smith-Schuster were to get hurt, I think James Washington rookie could get a lot more looks. Right now he's actually playing quite a bit. He's had he played 46 snaps last week, 70 the week before. Kind of seems like Ryan Switzer is maybe like their third guy, but it's actually been Washington. He hasn't gotten a ton of targets in the offense yet, but the playing time is there.

I think the production could catch up, and especially if there were going to be, if there was an injury in that receiving core, he could be in line for a ton of targets and potential production. I know he's a ringer editor, Ben Glickman, is a huge fan of James Washington. So I trust that. I just think he's one of those guys that just stash.

If you have that spot, it's like a penny stock. It might not work out. Rashad Penny stock? Are you going on Rashad, Craig? How do you think Rashad Penny does this? No, I'm sorry, we're out of time. No, I'm sorry. We will not be able to finish.

That is all the time we have this week. D.K., I will see you on Friday. Yeah, play the music. Play the music. We're so excited to be playing on Fandul this football season because over a Fandul, we get the excitement of researching and building our teams each week, regardless of the outcome so I can not pick Rashad Penny week after week after week instead of just in August. Plus, there are tons of ways to play, like the Gridiron Pickham contest,

where you just pick winners, no spreads, and then $10,000 to split amongst the top pickers. Trust us, if you're not a fantasy expert, then Fandul is clearly the place to play. and new users get a $5 bonus when they make their first deposit. So come play with us at fanduel.com slash the ringer. That is fanduil.com slash the ringer.