The Ringer NFL Show - The Tight End Apocalypse l The Dantasy Football Podcast

Episode Date: October 15, 2019

Danny Kelly, Danny Heifetz, and Craig Horlbeck discuss the Rams offense plummeting off a cliff and into the sea, how Patrick Mahomes and the rest of Kansas City’s offense is suffering from defensive ineptitude, and what to do with Amari Cooper and the Cowboys(1:30). They also look at why rushing quarterbacks are the saving grace of the season and how the tight end position is bad (but not as bad as everyone thinks). Finally, the Dannys stop Craig from stealing the first Sleeper of the Week victory (35:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode of the Danesie Football podcast on the Ringer NFL show is brought to you by State Farm. When you need a game plan for protection, State Farm agents are here to help. With personalized service, agents are available to talk in person, over text, or through the State Farm app. So go with the one with coverage and agents that you can count on. Find an agent in your neighborhood today. State Farm. Talk to an agent today. Welcome to the Danesey Football Podcast on the Ringer NFL show on the Ringer podcast. Network. My name is Danny Hyfits, and I am joined as always by my co-host and my co-danny,

the hero we need, the analyst we deserve, the Dark Knight himself. Danny Kelly, what is on your mind, D.K.? Oh, man, not a whole lot, not a whole lot. How are you doing? I'm doing splendid. Fantastic. Exuberant. What was the word Craig taught us two weeks ago? Ebullient. That one. Don't know what it means, but that. How are you doing, Craig? I'm pretty good. Even though I kind of faded Leonard Fornett, he was still pretty good, so I kind of won both ways. So I'm feeling pretty soft.

So your fence sitting is working out, Craig. Yes, it is. Cowardly hedge from Craig last week and he's proud of it which is somehow worse. Well, I mean,

I'm glad that you can mention Leonard Fornett first on this show. Thank you. Lenny Forns. Lenny Forns. We love Lenny Forns here. I was going to jump right into what's of the week,

which the things that made us go what this week. It was the fourth quarter of the Rams game when I looked at Jared Gough and he had 52 passing yards. Dude, what that? So Jared Gough

finished with 78 passing yards. Worth noting Sam Darnold had a 92-yard pass on Sunday. Yeah, Jared Goff paid a lot of money this offseason, $134 million, which is almost twice of 78. Not good for Jared Goff. Or great. Think about how much he's making per yard.

One point one fantasy points on Sunday. Is that plural or no? It's one point one fantasy point. Because you're rounding down, 1.1 point. I want to add some context to this performance, if that's what you want to call it. Per pro football reference, quarterbacks this decade with 24 plus pass attempts and less than 80 yards passing in a game. Ryan Lindley in 2012. San Diego State alum.

Wait, really? Yes. Oh, boy. Ryan Linley? The way that I remember Ryan Linley, and this is nothing, you know, it's not saying anything about who he is as a person, but he's pretty much roundly considered the worst starter of all time in the NFL. What about Nathan Peterman? Actually, Peterman might have overtaken him,

but he's still in the NFL, so we'll see. All right, so who else is the list? So it's Goff, Ryan Linley, and then Charlie Whitehurst, touchdown Jesus himself, clipboard Jesus, or whatever you want to call, in 2014 of my beloved Seahawks. And so yeah, that's the three of them, Goff. Wait, that's the list?

Goff, Lindley, and Whitehurst. So is that as 24 attempts in less than 80 yards? Linley might be passing off some of his knowledge to Baker Mayfew because he's the quarterback's coach for the Browns. Oh, wow. Good for him. Or bad for Baker. So we've found the culprit.

I just want to mention, I mean, the Rams, I mean, there's been a lot written, and there will be more when they missed the playoffs about how bad the Rams have been. I mean, real quick, the Patriots destroyed them in the Super Bowl, and they really unmasked their offensive line. John Sullivan retired after the game. He was their center. And Andrew Whitworth, who's their left tackle, who is 37 years old, has not been the same since. He's getting bull rushed.

I mean, there was that video going around of Nick Bosa, driving him past. He passed Jared Gough, and then their left guard Joseph Nobom, who was not playing well this season, was carded off with an injury. The Rams' offensive line is disintegrated. And obviously, Todd Gurley was out too, and he has his own injury history. But their offensive line is just falling apart, and Gough is not good under pressure. So I don't think this is going to change. Yeah, their whole offense is kind of just – and this speaks to how many things need to go right for an offense to function, and how many things can go wrong at the same time.

I mean – Yes, but also Jared Gough, specifically. I think that there's the, how many things need to go right for Jared Goff to function. And like the two years he was better in McVeigh system, it's worth pointing out that was the healthiest offense in football for two years in a row. I mean, he's being paid like a guy who can transcend a bad offensive line, but he's not doing that. He's what's the opposite of transcending, descending, whatever the opposite of trends, gone backwards. The other person who is, I'm not comparing Jared Goff and Patrick Mahomes, but the other one of the week for me, 41 passing yards for Patrick. Mahomes in the second half against the Texans.

We thought there would be a shootout. It was just a shoot-in. I don't know. One team was shooting. It was the Chiefs, but it's not at all like golf. What happened was Mahomes looked really good. And then he aggravated that ankle injury in the second quarter. He got hit.

That's what I was afraid of. It was not the same. So really instructive piece to this. Mahomes started the game. He went, completed 10 of his first 16 pass attempts for 189 yards and two touchdowns. But then he completed nine of his next 19 for 80. for 84 yards, a touchdown, and a pick. The ankle injury was so apparent,

I mean, those numbers, also so apparent if you were watching the game. You just started hobbling. He started limping around. This is now two weeks in a row where he heard it originally in week one, but two weeks in a row now, it's been aggravated mid-game, which, you know, really undoes a lot of the,

you know, therapy and rest you're giving it during the week, and he just hasn't looked the same. And the Chiefs could not get a pass rush, could not stop the run, and they couldn't hold on to the ball because Houston had the ball for 40 minutes in this game. They had the ball more than the second. and a half, then the Chiefs had the ball

in the whole game. And it's basically the same game playing that Colts used last week where there's really, it's back to the AFC championship game. The Chiefs ended their season last year with Mahomes watching on the sideline and the defense couldn't get him the ball. And now we're just, they spent the whole offseason they got Frank Clark instead of D. Ford.

They got Tyrone Matthew. They fired the defensive coordinator Bob Sutton, hired Steve Spagnolo. And they're right back here. They can't get Patrick Mahomes the ball. It's just the NFL filibuster. You just never stop. Should we go and call the Chiefs, the Phil. Craig's so proud of that joke? The filibuster.

You are, oh, wow, look at it. He's beaming. No, I'm not. No, I'm not. No, that's filibuster. I like that. Wait, so let's spin this into a fantasy perspective. What do we think now about the Rams and the Chiefs?

The Chiefs, I don't think there's much to take away there, but I think the Rams are a much more interesting conversation. Yeah, I think it lowers the ceiling of Robert Woods, Brandon Cooks, Cooper Cup. I mean, Cooper Cup is still, I think, going to be a pretty safe fantasy option just based on the fact that Jared Goff is not passing it deep anymore, but I think it does hurt Cooks and Woods by extension, just the fact that their offense has not been nearly as good. So I saw this stat today on Twitter,

per sharp football is rich, rich rebar. Jared Goff has completed just 30% of his pass attempts of 15 plus yards, which is ahead of only Josh Rosen and Daniel Jones so far among qualifying quarterback. So his deep passing has completely fallen off the map. And obviously, we know that he's turned. the ball over a bunch. He's got 14 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in the last 14 games, plus a bunch of fumbles, I think 12 or 13 fumbles in that stretch. So it's just, I mean, it definitely hurts the bottom line for those two receivers particularly. The chiefs part of this

in terms of how this goes, because obviously, you know, a big part of fantasy is you want to target good offenses. Here are two good offenses we thought were going to be good, two of the best ones last year, that are just really bad so far. And now different reasons. Mahomes are being hobbled, changes things. defense can't hold the ball. But what that does when the Chief's defense can't get off the field, Kansas City had 11 rushing attempts. Eight of them were to Sean McCoy. Damien Williams touched the ball twice, which was wild. Dorell Williams also touched the ball twice. McCoy, eight carries. The Chiefs running back as a whole person, as one person is so valuable. But then you split it four

ways and the Chief's offense isn't the Chief's offense anymore. And it's just, it's an actual cluster. I'm trying to curse less because my grandma listens. So the Chiefs are playing the Broncos on Thursday night. What Chiefs running backs are you starting? So the Broncos defense was garbage fired his first two weeks and they're picking up now. So Von Miller and Bradley Treps hurt. But Von Miller looks like Von Miller again. The Broncos D is a little better and the most important that they're secondary is better

because Cream Jacks, I mean, I think he had a pick this week. Chris Harris had a really good game. He's their slock owner, probably the best slot cornerback in football. The Broncos D is doing better. Short weeks are always weird. I don't know about you, D.K. my gut, as a general rule of thumb on Thursdays, just roll with the better coaching staff.

Because ultimately, it's about health because the players have a short week and its coaches preparing with like three days less than they normally do. Yeah, but do you feel confident enough to start? Like, if you've got McCoy, do you feel confident enough to start him? Or if you have Damie Williams?

I'm guessing Dorell Williams is probably off the fantasy map for a while. I feel, yeah, Dorel Williams, farewell. I feel confident with McCoy because I think that he got benched last week because, he fumbled. And I think that if you look at the last month, which is three games where he got a lot of snaps, and then one game where he fumbled and basically just did not go on the field again, it's not about the usage. It's he clearly seems to be the person who, especially when Mahomes is hobbled, they seem to trust the most in past protection. Whether that's because Damien Williams missed time

and he wasn't practicing, I don't know. But if it's a short week, I don't think it's going to change. I think if they want Mahomes healthy, you got to protect him. Kevin Clark has been beating this drum. and that means they seem to clearly think Lashon McCoy is the best grip on their past protections. So I think he's going to be on the field. DK, do you think there's a RAM that you can sit, maybe a receiver on the Rams that you can sit going forward or do you still have to start all three?

That's really tough because, I mean, if you look, the Rams, Jared Goff in particular, had thrown the ball 117 times for 912 yards and three touchdowns in the two games prior to this one. So they're not going to be playing San Francisco every week, which is clearly a big deal because San Francisco's defense is elite. I mean, it looks like one of the best two defenses in the NFL right now.

So is somebody like Robert Woods a matchup-based play? I still have a hard time benching either of those guys, to be honest. You know, I feel like I still have to see the sample grow a little bit. Goff is clearly going in the wrong direction, but it's still difficult for me to bench either of those guys. It's just, I think you just have to look at them as wide receiver two's, clear wide receiver two's instead of, you know, potentially like Woods being a hundred, higher, like a wide receiver won. I just don't think that's necessarily in the cards. Jared Goff is seventh right now in passing yards in the NFL.

He is the 17th fantasy quarterback. Yeah. Well, that's what happens when you start throwing like 68 attempts in one game against Tampa Bay. Your overall numbers look sick, but it's like you have to throw 68 goddamn passes to get there. It's not impressive to throw passes. He might be a wait and see guy that you're not starting for much longer. The important takeaway from this conversation is the Rams are not out of the Robert Woods yet. neither is D.K.

Oh, okay. Now look who's proud. Let's get to Next Man Up. Yes, I am proud of. Let's get to Next Man Up. Injuries happen every week, and we're going to look at the people who got hurt, the notable fantasy players and the people who might fill in for them. Number one, I think the most prominent name from this week is Amari Cooper,

receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. Try to make a diving catch along the sideline against the Jets. Kind of landed weirdly on his hip or so, but it was described as a quality. quad injury. He left after just one catch for three yards, but Dallas is leading receiver in this game. Obviously, Cooper left. It was Tavon Austin?

Yeah, where the hell did that come from? That was so random. I mean, fun fact, my soul, a part of it died when last year the Giants gave up a long touchdown to Tavon Austin. That was his first in literally years. But anyway, we'll see how much time Amari Cooper misses, but his absence affects a lot more than just Amari Cooper and people have Cooper because the Cowboys

really in the Dak Prescott era have sank. I mean, the numbers are like without Azique Elliott. Really the numbers are without Tyrone Smith. He's played terribly and without Amar Cooper. And the on-off splits, if you will, with those players is night and day. Smith didn't play this week. Neither did

right tackle L. Collins, so they were without both tackles against the Jets. We'll see whether any of those players this week and Amar Cooper comes back. But it really affects Prescott. It affects Michael Gallup, who's behind him, who is a much better as a complimentary piece than a primary one. It affects Zika Elliott because if they're not

winning the game, then they're not going to be rushing as much in the second half. And the Cowboys are having a really tough schedule coming up. Eagles, By week. Giants, Vikings, Lions, Patriots, Bills, Bears, Rams, Eagles. That's their fantasy schedule through Week 16. Cowboys just lost to the Jets 22, 24. So, you know, you can try to pick up Randall Cobb.

Devin Smith is the deep threat. D.K., would you do anything here? Or is it more just the Cowboys' offense is not going to be good if Cooper, especially Tyron Smith, is out? I think if there's anything to do in this scenario, Cobb might be an option. Of course, he missed this week with a back injury, so you just have to monitor his situation. But I think, yeah, I mean, it's just you downgrade the entire, you know, Cowboys' offense, passing game in particular. But I think, yeah, Cobb could be a potential option to pick up a little bit more volume.

Obviously, I think it's a boost for Gallup if Cooper misses time. But I don't feel super confident in, like, picking up Devin Smith. He was inactive this week. I'm not going to go for betting on Tavon Austin being a thing again. So, yeah, I think there's not a huge amount of action items in this. I'd say Cobb, if he's out on the waiver wire, it could be a look. Another person, this is another player who left big name. James Connor, running back for the Steelers.

He had an incredible game, unlike Cooper. Yeah, he looked real good. Cooper left the catch in three yards. Connor did not play the fourth quarter. Still had, going into Monday night, the most fantasy points among all running backs are 30. PPR. Seven catches for 78 yards. Plus he had, oh, I lost the carries. He had a lot of points. That's the point.

31 PPR points. But he left the game with a quad injury. The Steelers are on by this week, so we don't know how serious this is. We do not yet know whether he's going to be suiting up the following week. But his backup, Jalen Samuels, is out too. So Benny Snell Jr. is the player you want. If Connor misses any time, even one game, you want to have Benny Snell Jr. in your lineup. Snell had 17 carries for 75 yards.

Actually, more than Connor. Conner had 16 carries on Sunday night against the Chargers as Benny Snell iced the fourth quarter. He also had a catch for 14 yards. The Chargers could not tackle in this game, which is neither here or there. Also, James Connor seems like one of the hardest running backs to tackle. He was really good, man.

Yeah, he was breaking a lot of tackles. You're a Steelers fan. I'm a Giants fan. You're D.K's a Seahawks fan. And of the three teams, he's the easiest to tackle of the three teams that we root for. I can't wait for Levion Snell references next week when Snell ever did that. Someone was going to do that. No one was going to do that.

Okay, maybe I saw it. I saw it on Twitter. The point is you should add Benny Snell if Conner's injury is at all serious. Samuels will be back. I think he was supposed to miss about four weeks. And after that, I think Snell's value goes down significantly. I would sell James Connor off this game. If you watched it, the charges could not tackle. I don't know. He's been pretty good for three straight weeks now, and he's like the true focal point of the offense. They're getting involved in the passing attack, too, though.

If Devon Hodges... Devlin. Devlin? No, if... You know what? Whatever. Like, the point is, if this duck caller dude, he goes by duck, okay? If the duck caller guy, it just has a bad month,

and Mason Rudolph comes back and he's not great either. And James Connor isn't great. You're going like, wow, could have sold high off that Sunday night football when Duck Hodges shredded... I'm using air quotes because he had, like, no pass it. He had no pass completions over 10 yards last night. And the Chargers still decided, even though, again, no completions over 10 yards

the charges decided to let him check down to Connor who was essentially uncovered for this entire game instead of covering James Connor I would not I do not think this performance is a harbinger of what is to come for the Steelers offense it was a perfect situation for them they got two turnovers off the bat I would sell

him if you can convince anything else who's gonna buy James Connor at this point I feel like I don't know someone wants a running back that's not my problem and he's on buy yeah he's fine another person who's fine Alvin Kamar running back from the New Orleans Saints. He tweaked his ankle and practiced last week,

played through it, left the game briefly but returned, finished with 11 carries for 31 yards against the Jaguars, also had seven catches for 35 yards. It's probably good to go this week, just like last. How healthy he is, we will see. But they're playing the Bears, so it's already a bad matchup.

He's already not healthy, so it's definitely worth keeping track of whether he's a full participant at practice throughout this week. If he's out, Latavis Murray is a start option, although, again, not a great matchup versus the Bears. So although Josh Jacobs, it just plays extremely well against them in London.

Yeah. I was going to say, I think Murray, if they're going into the game and Camara has been really limited in practice and stuff, I think Murray, even if Camara is going to play,

potentially become startable again just because I think that they'll probably try and, you know, do the snap, the workload 50-50, closer to 50-50 this week if he's kind of limited and stuff like that. So we've seen Camara

like dominate snaps and carries in the workload over the last few weeks, but this week it was a little more 50-50. So that's the thing going forward. Monitor the injury report, and Murray could potentially be worth plugging into a flex spot this week.

Classic load management. It's like, you know, when Kauai is sitting for the Raptors last year, you got to add Fred Van Lee. You know what I mean? Latavis is only 47% owned. So there you go. Oh, there you go.

Check the league. Next up, Will Disseley. This one's hurts. I'm sorry, D.K. Tighten to the Seattle Seahawks, injured on a non-contact play. Believe is a torn left Achilles. Last year, he missed all before games last year with a torn right Patelor injury to his knee.

It's like two of the worst injuries that you can suffer. To both legs. Seattle traded away Ted and Nick Vinette to Pittsburgh earlier this year. Dysley was the fifth best tight end by total PPR points this year. Sixth best by points per game. Searct beat the Browns 32 to 28 but lost their emerging tight ends. So Dekez, does this hurt you right in the fields? Yeah, that sucks because he was looking really, like he had a very good chemistry

in connection with Russell Wilson. That was like Russell Wilson's guy. You know, he's way more dynamic than anyone thought he would be as a pass catcher. I don't necessarily think there's really an action item here. I mean, keep an eye on Luke Wilson potentially. We'll talk about this more. But the tight end position is pretty weak right now,

so he's, you know, potentially a guy to keep in mind. But I don't think there's going to be like a one-to-one comparison the way that they use him. Keep an eye on Luke Wilson is so bleak. I know, right. Hard Knox didn't, doesn't he have like a boat that he's just riding around with his dad on? He looked really happy. Luke Wilson's awesome.

Like just, you know, not necessarily fantasy-wise, but he's just awesome. Not on football, but like in life. He seems like a nice guy. He's just cool,

yeah. All right. Other injuries, Emmanuel Sanders receiver for the Denver Broncos. He left the game with an knee injury, did not return. He's expected to be fine for Thursday night football by all reports. They're playing the Chiefs on Thursday.

So really the short week is the main reason we didn't even bring him up because it really seems like he's fine. So, yeah, Manuel, Fine, going to play Thursday. Other quick news. Saquan Barkley and Evan Engram running back and tied in for the Giants.

They both practice on Monday. Saquan's recovering from that ankle sprain. Evan Engram was a surprising midweek injury and ended up missing the Thursday night football. But they practiced. We'll see whether they play. And then Sterling Shepard receiver who had his second concussion of the year two weeks ago took part in drills, which is a step forward. Also not the same as participating in practice, to be clear.

And then pass receiver, Nikiel Harry, first round pick. resume practicing this week. That's interesting. Yeah, it is interesting. Philip Dorset tweaked his hamstring. So Nicol Harry's return is timely for the Patriots. And then they also had an injury to their tight-in, Jacob Lacos. Matt LaCose?

And Josh Gordon. I don't remember. LeCoss. I always wonder if he's on the team because Belichick likes to lacrosse. But they added Ben Watson to replace him, like, you know, a few days after they cut him. Cold World and then a World won on New England. And then Mason Rudolph, quarterback for the Steelers, may return in week eight from his concussion. Again, the Steelers are on a buy, but we'll see whether Devin, Devlin Hodges, Duck Hodges,

and Mason Rudolph will compete for a week eight quarterback battle on Steelers. Well done. Thank you. All right, let's take a quick break. Pepsi takes all NFL celebrations to the next level, whether it's a Hail Mary touchdown, a defensive stop on the goal line, or a Super Bowl win. When it's time to celebrate, it's time to crack open a Pepsi. fantasy football requires a lot of celebration.

You picked up Darren Fells and he has more receiving yards than D'Andre Hopkins who you're playing against? Time to crack open a Pepsi. Got Evan Engram scores a long touchdown coming out at half time against the Buccaneers. You cheer for Daniel Jones and you cheer for our football team because Craig and I have Evan Engram. And we crack open a Pepsi. When you see the Seattle Seahawks celebrating with bye-bye-bye, then you can see celebrate two if you have Tyler Lockett. And you can crack open a Pepsi or a four.

If Marquez Valdez Scantling can outdo Aaron Rogers and Kenny Goladay tonight on Monday night football by 37.4 points, Craig and I will be cracking Pepsi's to celebrate. And when the Patriots defense gets a punt block touchdown because the ball careens off the helmet of a Giants blocker, lands in the arms of Chase Winnevich who returned to for a touchdown, I was sad because I knew the Giants would lose, but I was happy because we have the Patriots defense. Pepsi. When it's time to celebrate, it's time to crack open a Pepsi.

Pepsi, the official sponsor of the NFL, reminds you to always be celebrating. All righty, let's run through some categories. First up, deceiving yards. Guys who are fools gold, who is not fools gold, D.K. What's a deceiving or not-so-deceiving stat line from this week? I think running back Adrian Peterson The Redskins is ultimately going to be ending

ending up looking like fools gold before too long here. It was obviously good thing for Peterson that Jay Gruden was fired and Bill Callahan was hired. Callahan is an old school, offensive line coach, immediately talked about how they needed to rededicate themselves to the run. So you knew going into this Miami game

that Peterson was going to get a heavy workload. But him and Jay Gruden really seemed to publicly spar in a way that players and veterans don't or veterans and coaches just don't. Jay Grun was so annoyed and just implied that Peterson can't play in the passing game? Yeah, that was, yeah. That was like a very pointed comment.

It was very pointed. Yeah. So the coaching change overall seems like a good thing for Peterson. He rushed for 23. He rushed 23 times for season high, 118 yard. He had two catches for 18 yards.

Again, though, this was against the dolphins. So the game script was in his favor, certainly. And I'm not buying that happening going forward, at least in the very short term. Peterson is, I don't think he's going to be as big of a factor. The Redskins have really tough matchups coming up against San Francisco at Minnesota and then at Buffalo. Three very good defenses.

I could see the Redskins falling behind in those games pretty early. And so I just can't see him getting like 20, 25 carries in games like that maybe the Minnesota one if it's like a really like heavy run game maybe the Buffalo one but Buffalo's front is so good it just can't seem getting much traction so bottom line is if you got Peterson you can try and sell them high at this point I'm guessing you probably won't get many takers but yeah really down the stretch I just don't have a whole lot of hope for Peterson becoming like a regular starter at running back down the stretch I mean they got the Jets in week 11 which is a potential for him to you know plug him in there but then

they got Detroit week 12 at Carolina at week 13 at Green Bay week 14 against Philly week 15 Phillies past defense is terrible but their run defense is really good and then week 16 I guess if you want to circle that they got the Giants I mean just thrown out these team names it's crazy I mean 49ers Vikings bills Carolina those are those are you know four of the best six defensive lines in all football yeah so it's that's really concerning and watch schedule does not line up well with Peterson having a strong finish

to the season, in my opinion. And yeah, and that's assuming Dwayne Haskins doesn't come in to be some sacrificial lamb

at some point in the next few weeks. So I like this call, DK. So maybe Chris Thompson's the guy to own in that backfill, I think. I don't think there's,

I think that every year, maybe just avoid it. Every year, there's three or so teams that just, there is no answer and there's not any amount of volume worth it.

The dolphins are one. I think Washington is the other. And we will get a third as the season wears on. The Rans. Except for McLorrin. The Rams. There we go. Rams, Dolphins, Washington.

All right. Next category, the guy you're not supposed to worry about. We're swapping out this week. This is the position you're not supposed to worry about. Because tight end is worrying everyone. Dek, have you seen all the anxiety about tight end position on the inner webs this week? I have. You know, obviously with O.J. Howard being a major bus this season and then Disley going down last week,

I should say this week on Sunday, it's just looking really, really grim at the tight end position. I feel like people are really down. on it. I know I feel pretty terrible about it. And in a few of my leagues, it's kind of dire straight. So what did you think? Do you think it's as bad as I think people perceive it is so far? So I was really interested because I saw all this, I mean, for lack of a better word, complaining about the tight end position. So I went back and I looked and I averaged the last, since 2015, the top players at the position, kind of simple. I just took what was the total amount of PPR points from the top eight tight ends and the top 12 tight ends from the last, since

2015, last five seasons through six weeks. You know what the numbers say? What? Everyone's whining. It's fine. That's what they say. So the average... Or it's just as bad as ever, I guess, is what you're saying? Well, it's bad as ever, but it's the same. We know the tightens not great, but it's the same not great, same as it ever was. It's if you, the top eight tight ends through six weeks, their average PPR total, if you combine all of them from 2015, to 2019 is 643. That's how many points the top eight guys will combine for in a given season.

This year, 643. This year it's 667. It's more. It's higher than average. If you average the top 12 tight ends in PPR, you take all the top 12 tight ends. You add their PPR points together, and then you do that for the last five years, you average them. 8.71 points.

This year, it's 887. So you're really, like, I think the difference, and I think why maybe we feel it, is there's a little more acute because Travis Kelsey hasn't blown up, and some people say he was a first rounder. George Kittle has not been as productive in the end zone as we thought he'd be, even though his yards per route run are very good and pro football focus, and his underlying numbers are very good.

And O.J. Howard ghosted the NFL, not even fantasy. It's just not, it's unbelievable. So I think it's worth, we're going to break down. So just that's the caveat to all this, is that there's a lot of panic. the position, it's, it's still, it's bad, but it's the same bad it's always been. Having said that, we're going to help, because unless you have Austin Hooper, who's fifth in the league in receptions, eighth in receiving yards, that's not among tight ends, that it's total.

He's lapping Julio Jones on his own team. Wow. He's the tight end one. He's the tight end one. So if you have Hooper, Mark Andrews, Kelsey, Evan Engram, congrats. You're probably doing very well in your league. But for everyone else, we're going to run through a couple solutions to this. First up, Hunter, Henry,

Henry, eight catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday. I think he came back for his injury a lot quicker than people thought. He's owned a 63% on Yahoo, 50-ish percent on USBN. And if he's a free agent in your league, I would commit light treason to acquire him. Sneakily came back. I feel like nobody knew he was playing in this game. Sneakly came back. Well, maybe it's because everyone, maybe it's because there's no Chargers fans.

And they were just, maybe like the 2% of Chargers fans at that Steelers game were screaming it from their lungs, but nobody heard them. They all had him fired up in their lineups. Yeah, they were singing Renegades so loud. This just feels like... It just feels like a low blow for all the remaining Chargers fans. But him returning to this form

is potentially a league changing move for your fantasy league if you have him on your team. He immediately looks like a top five tight end. I would do anything to acquire him if he's on your waivers, but if he's on a team and owned, he's probably not a good week to trade for him.

So, assuming you cannot get Hunter Henry for free, the person I would target is Chris Herndon that tied in for the Jets. He was suspended for the first four games of the year, but the Jets had a week four by so he wasn't set to return until week six, which is this week, but he hurt his hamstring,

missed this week, might miss week seven against the Patriots. So why would you want a guy who isn't going to be able to play until halfway through the year? He's still worth adding. I'm serious. The Jets offense is clearly

worlds better with Sam Darnold, so anyone who hasn't seen that yet, like it is so true. Herndon's only owned an 18% of ESPN leagues. He would have been a very trendy sleeper if he was not suspended to start the year. He's 6'4, 253 pounds. He was the Jets' fourth rounder last year.

He had 502 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie. That's good numbers for a rookie tight end. Really hard position to adjust to in the NFL. He has a good rapport with Donald. We know that the power of chemistry between Donald and Jameson Crowder and Herndon and Donald might have the best chemistry after Jameson Crowder. So the reality is streaming tight ends suck. Like it's the worst.

If you don't have one of those eight guys who you can plug in every week, it just sucks to decide if you should like, do you hold on to Jason Witten or do you think that like, oh, Darren Fells scored a touchdown two weeks ago so like should I add him or great? If you don't have one of those eight guys, it's just, it's so annoying

because it's a hard problem, but it's also the least fun problem you could possibly have in fantasy. And Chris Herndon, of all the available tight ends, is the only real person on waivers right now who actually might join the top eight. The rest are like high-end streaming options.

Herndon might be a guy you could just be a top 10 tight end going forward. And that's worth it. It's worth holding on for a week or two if you could just not have to spend the month of November, December, looking for tight ends. A sign of how bad and bleak the bottom of the...

I think it's the bottom of the tight-ed ones is where everybody gets panicked because I think the names just look worse this year than they have in the past. Right now that Tide-in 12, which means they are technically a Tide-end 1 is Darren Fells and he has 4% owned in Yahoo. And he is a Tide-end 1.

First of all, Tide-in 1, let's settle the strat. 10 team leagues are standard. Get out of here with 12-team team bias. False. False. Excuse me? No, who plays 10-team leagues? That's literally the standard on ESPN and Yahoo.

I have zero 10-team leagues. You're a fantasy football expert, DK. We hold you to a higher standard. 12-10 team leagues are like the easy mode. Come on. Wow, you were just shit-talking our entire audience right now. Oh, my God. Or not, or maybe our audience is full of 12-teamers.

We'll find out. We'll go find out one way or the other. Well, I'm going by the standard fantasy ranking from all time, which is 10. Okay, the tight end 10 is Monday Night Football's Jason Witten. Yes. Yeah. Well, he's a cowboy now. He's retired from Monday Night Football.

But first of all, I do want it on Darren Fells. I know he's kind of a joke. But the Texans are using tight ends way more, and their offensive coordinator used to be their tight ends coach, and they used to not throw to tight ends. Now their tight ends are running more routes. So might not be a fluke. That might be...

Phelz has double digits in PPP. He already has double-digit points in three the last four weeks. That might be what happened when you promote your tight-ins coach to your office coordinator. And Jordan Aiken's, the other tight-in of the team, has only scored three less points than Darren Fells. I like Fells more than Aiken's because Aiken's had like a couple,

like his first two career touchdowns. They came in the same game. Fells had two touchdowns, but he's just been more reliable. I think technically Aikins is the number one tight end. But if you watch the games, like Fells just seems, I mean, he's 33 and Aiken's is like 24. And I think that is apparent with how he gets open. Yeah.

Wait, I can't believe the D.K. You think 10 teams leagues are weak. Wow. I don't think they're weak. I just don't play them. I'm only 12 team leagues. That's how my brain works. It's like, I don't really do, I have a few standard scoring leagues, but I very much prefer

PPR, and I very much prefer 12 team leagues. It's just like how my brain works. Well, we all know how I feel about PPR. Also, so I have friends in my current league, we're both looking to sell Zach Ertz and Travis Kelsey. I do not recommend that to anybody who owns them. Zach Ertz is number one amongst tight ends and targets right now, and he's going to regress positively.

So I would definitely hold on to him and Travis Kelsey. Travis Kelsey. I would not trade Kelsey, no. He's on pace to put up only 11 less receiving yards than he did last year. It's the touchdowns that are lowering his totals, which are known to positively regress. Touchdowns come back. It's a fancy word for shit comes around. Yes. So hold on to Ertz and Kelsey.

Don't panic. Yeah, and I, on that note. The underlying numbers for George Kittle are, I know that I'm just saying this over and over, but George Kittle is, I believe, you can change what you set to qualifying for tight ends so you can kind of a moving target. But his yards per rat run,

which is among the stickiest of stats, like most predictive, is so, it's two plus yards per rat run, which is so good. He's so much, the underlying numbers say Kittle will be fine, and I'm sticking with it. Oh, yeah.

And they used them as a fullback When Kyle, I can't pronounce it. Use check. Use check. Yeah. Leased them as a fullback for portions. He'll be fine. He's a versatile player.

All right. Let's go to what's on streaming for all you cord cutters out there. D.K., got any streaming advice? Yeah, so I think a theme from this week was the Konami Code, the rushing sort of loophole for quarterbacks paid off for a lot of guys. Pending Monday Night Football for the top five and seven of the top 12 scoring fantasy. quarterbacks this week, either had 30 plus rushing yards or rushing score or both. So it's just a really nice way to add a little bit to the bottom line of passing

offense or of the passing scoring that quarterbacks get every week. And yeah, I just, there's a couple guys I think that have some good rushing floors that are good potential streamers going forward. This week, Daniel Jones of the Giants. Yeah. Yeah, 29% owned. He's obviously had a few. Rough outings as a passer the last couple of weeks.

It's insane as 71% of Americans don't recognize the best quarterback in football when they see it. He's had a couple really tough matchups. He played Minnesota and New England. Didn't do a whole lot in those two games, but going against the Cardinals this week is a chance for him to kind of get back on the map, get back going fantasy-wise. Arizona just gave up 350 yards and four touchdowns of Matt Ryan. you know, they're probably the worst.

Yeah, they are giving up the most fantasy points of quarterbacks through six weeks, so that's a great matchup for him. I think he has a solid floor as a rusher. It's kind of easy to forget, but against Tampa Bay, he had four carries, 28 yards, and two touchdowns against Washington.

He tacked on 33 yards on five scrambles. You know, those three extra points is nice. I'll take that for a quarterback who can also, you know, he also brings the potential to pass like two touchdowns. So I think that's a great streaming option if you're looking for a quarterback this week. The other guy I'm looking at. So what if people don't have the privilege, the honor, the blessing to have Daniel Jones, whether in your real or fantasy team? What would you recommend then?

The other guy that I'm looking at going forward, actually for a few weeks in a row, is Josh Allen in the bills. He's only owned in 51% of fantasy leagues right now. This week he's going up against the dolphins. We know about the dolphins defense. They're number two in points allowed to quarterbacks and fantasy this year. And then going forward, he gets Philly, whose secondary is just Swiss cheese. And then Washington, those are his next three games. So Allen currently is fourth among quarterbacks in rushing.

He's only played five games to everyone else has played six. So 41 rushes, 158 yards and three touchdown. So that's about eight rushes in 31, 32 yards per game. And he always, last year, I think he had eight. rushing touchdowns. It's not necessarily a very sticky stat because it's a little bit fluky. But I think he just, he brings that upside to kind of,

you know, add a few yards to his bottom line with this rushing. His passing is actually improved slightly from last year as well. If you look at the numbers, 2018, he had 52% completion rate, 172 yards per game, 10 touchdowns of 12 interceptions,

6.5 yards for attempt in 67 rating. So far this year, his completion rate is up to 62%, 10 point jump 224 yards a game which is a very good improvement he's still prone to throw a few interceptions he has five touchdowns seven

interceptions this year his yards per attempt is up to 6.9 and his pass rating is up it's not up very much but 75.2 so he's still developing clearly as a passer but his ability to scramble is what makes him you know such a

good streaming option when you might not have very good options this next couple of weeks. He's got really good matchups. Still developing as a passers, the nicest thing I haven't ever said by Josh. Averaging 8.2 rushes the game. Second most amongst quarterbacks.

This was a huge thing we talked about, and DK., you were hammering in the off season that rushing quarterbacks are the, I think you kept saying, the cheat code in fantasy football for the simple reason that, I mean, the rules in fantasy football, I mean, if we can all pull behind the curtain rail now,

pretty stupid that, like, for 100 rushing yards is, you know, that's 10 points for a running back, and 100 passing yards is four points. It's perhaps worth revisiting. But until it happens, it's really cool to have quarterbacks who can rush from where you are, like more points when they get. I agree with that rule. It's easier to throw 25 yards and to run for 10 yards.

You're wrong about a lot of things. It's unsurprising. But until the powers that be, the gatekeepers, who's they? I don't think anyone thought that the rushing stuff would be so prominent immediately this year. So, D.K. What's talking about Lamar Jackson, quarterback one is just crushing? We just need to add, yeah, we just need to add a little. postcript to the quarterback rushing talk because Lamar Jackson is just going off this year.

He had 152 rushing yards in week six, which is actually the most of any player, not just quarterbacks. He became one of just four quarterbacks in league history to rush for 150 plus yards, joining Michael Vitt, Colin Kaepernick, and Tobin Rote, who I do not know much about. I was going to ask you. And by that, I mean, I don't know anything about Tobin Rote. Do you guys know anything about Tobin Rote? That sounds like a really old player.

Sounds like a country singer. Tobin wrote played from 1950 to 1966, obviously. There we go. Led the league in passing, 1954 and 56. His picture on Wikipedia is a drawing. That it is. Okay, so for all intents and purposes, he's one of three players joining Vic and Kaepernick.

I often think of Tobin wrote with Michael Vick and Colin Kaepernick. the so okay getting back on track fellas Lamar Jackson has an incredible incredible floor as a rusher as we saw last week we saw the week before too I think he had 70 yards to salvage what was a terrible passing game but he's also been pretty good passing this season um you know his yards per attempt is up

his completion percentage is up and he's just looked he just looks a lot more comfortable as a passer he's more accurate he's more in rhythm um he's gonna have like any second year quarterback his ups and downs, bad games there, here and there. But his improvements and his development as a passer, combined with his incredible rushing floor, gives him just incredible ceiling.

And that's why he is through six weeks, the quarterback won. Considering he was an eighth round pick on average, 108 or something, ADP, that makes him like a league potential winner. You know, you're just getting such amazing value with him. And he was your guy. He was your quarterback this offseason coming. Yeah, I have him in a lot of places.

And I'm really, yeah, it's really exciting to see him kind of develop as a passion due because I just liked him as, you know, he's a good late round pick because of his floor, rushing floor. But then, you know, having him be a good passer this year has just been a cherry on the top. Also, I misspoke. He was my guy coming to the free season. But that's okay. He was our guy.

We shared him. Another thing I definitely won, Sleeper of the week where we're going to pick a Controversy. A skill player owned by 40% or less on Yahoo and ESB. and we're going to pick them to outscore each other's players each week and the first one last week you know you guys can have the most

you guys can have the streak but you'll never have the first. Never forget the first. Kiki Kootie Kootie brings it home for me with a whopping 8 PPR points. It doesn't matter. I have the belt for sleeper the week and who do you guys want to cower

in fear over next week while you lose once ago? Let me let me break in here real quick. There's some controversy because I don't think we ever did discuss whether we were going half PPR or PPR. Craig votes half PPR for obvious reasons because he would win if it was half PPR. He would have won if his PPAR half PPR. Dante Pettis went, had three catches, 45 yards, which would have been six half PPR points,

just barely edging out CQT's 5.9 half PPR. I chose Gerald Everett and ultimately, Jared Goff really ruined that. He had actually, he had Everett wide open downfield late in the fourth quarter what would have been a 54-yard touchdown. He just missed him, which just drives me insane. Save it for your memoirs, D.K. Look, the point here is, one, PPR's stupid.

Two, no, we did not specify whether we're doing half for PPR. But everything else we talk about half the time is PPR. Why? What are you talking about? We really don't. D.R. D.K. is famously an elitist who does not care about 10 team leagues or anything other than full PPR. It's very clear established. It is at PPR. If you want to change the rules going forward,

we can be open to it. This was a PPR contest. I'm one and O. Let's just stick. This week, I am picking Anthony Miller on the Chicago Bears receiver. The Bears are playing the Saints, which is a bad matchup.

But Marciaun Lattimore, who's an excellent quarterback from New Orleans, will likely be plastered on Alan Robinson. Taylor Gabriel is the bear's number two receiver, but he is still recovering from a concussion. even if he plays a bit of snaps are limited. The bears are coming off of a buy. They've had Matt Nagy, who's a good coach,

is it two weeks to figure out a way to pass the ball in New Orleans. I like Robinson to get a decent amount of targets and yards here. I wouldn't expect wide receiver won numbers from him, but I just have to beat your guys, which isn't that hard. Anthony Miller, baby. It's like you don't have to be faster than a bear.

You just have to be faster than your friends. That is exactly how this game works. Faster than your slowest friends. Faster than Dante Perez. That's the name of the. game. Almost had a touchdown. Yeah. Oh, I know he had one foot in, too. Oh, so close.

We should just start that. We should start that fantasy league. Almost. Almost. Almost. Almost. If you had targets in the end zone are worth like six. Will Fuller is just killing it right now. Oh, my God. Yeah. Wow, we should actually get on that. We'll mark that. We just put that out in the world and now it's like... All the

called back, all the called back type touchdown. George Kittles is killing it right now. George Kittle, yeah. Well, we got to trademark that because, wow, people are just going in that already. Okay, so I'm going with running back Chase Edmonds and the Cardinals this week. He's 34% owned on Yahoo. I like how he runs. He looked really good in this last game.

He's looked actually pretty good in the last two games. Against the Bengals, he had eight carry 68 yards and a touchdown, added three catches for 18 yards. On Sunday against the Falcons, you rushed five times or 34 yards, added two catches for 33 yards in touchdown. So he's had 17.6 points in PBR and then 14.7. PBR last two weeks. One thing that does give me a little bit of pause on this is that he only played 20 snaps last

week to David Johnson's 52. That wasn't as big of a role. I think as we were hoping, especially because David Johnson's back was hurting. But, I mean, I think he's shown enough that the Cardinals could potentially try and get him involved a little bit more. Bottom line, even on those limited snaps. So he's done enough to, you know, really impress me. And this week, they're going up against the Giants who, Danny, tell us about the

Giants defense. What Giants defense? Exactly. They've given up the 10th most fantasy points to running backs this year. You know, the pickings are pretty slim when it comes to the guys owned 40% or less. It's why we did it. We have a high bar here. A low bar with a high bar. Pretty slim pickings, but Edmonds, I like his potential just because he's, you know, added a little bit of juice to that offense. Craig, who's your guy? So this is PPR? Yes. We decide of that? All right, I'm going with old reliable Cole Beasley. That's a weird way to say you forfeit the competition.

Oh, yeah? I don't think so. Colby's got 26 catches in those last three games more than any year, guys. So they're playing the Dolphins. We're practically a college football team. And he's just PPR Gold. You can rely on Col Beasley. He's the ultimate, oh, crap, I got a guy on by.

Who do I play? Colby's. Yeah, when I think of gold, I think of crap, I got a guy on buy. Let me turn to my gold that I was saving for the guy on by. He's 15% owned. and now that we're doing PPR, I'm excited for this week. Thank you. I like it personally.

I mean, I think it's a good one. Josh Allen's security blanket. Craig's snaking his way into trying to score this half PPR and then also hedging on Leonard Fornett after he already hedging on his hedge for Leonard Fornett to bookend the show at start to finish. I will give Craig no credit. I think I accurately assessed that game. He only ran for like 67 yards or something like that. His passing game kind of lifted his floor and he had 14 points in half PPR.

The point is you hedge the hedge And the point is you hedge the hedge. Gone fishing. Would you guys sell high or low on Stefan Diggs? Drop a line or use him as bait? Now would certainly be the time to do it. He had 43.5 PPR points this week. Three touchdowns.

He just went off against the Eagles. But if you look at his point totals throughout the season, 5.7, 9.9, 4.5, 15.8, 7.4. And then boom, 43.5. I personally would look to sell high on him right now. I think maybe this is a sign that the Vikings' offense has kind of hit its stride and it's going to use those guys, him and Theelin, in the passing game a little bit more.

But I still think there's going to be fighting over targets. I still think it's going to be feast or famine a little bit for digs. I personally just will not feel super confidence starting digs week in and week out. And they're not going to find the Eagles every week. The Eagles defense, the Eagles secondary has been awful. It's October 14th on Thanksgiving. If you look back, and I think that this Vikings, just two-game stretch of them Thieland destroying the Giants

and then Diggs destroying the Eagles, we'll say far more about the Giants and the Eagles' depth in the secondary than it says anything about Minnesota. Yeah. They were still competent against the Bears when they played poorly, and they are competent against the Giants and the Eagles. They're still competent at best, but like not much better than that.

And this passing game, the Eagles cornerback depth of like Sidney Jones. Ronald Darby was heard of Vante Matt. Like these aren't, this is the same story. It's been Eagles fans are just like tired of this because it's been three years of this. They have no cornerback depth. And the Giants have little death. The Vikings are going to have much tougher sledding. Yeah.

I don't think it's going to be like this going forward. So the only thing that it gives me a little bit of pause in recommending to sell him right now is that he could still be traded. It doesn't look like he's necessarily going to get traded. That is a very good point. It doesn't look like he's going to be traded in real life football. Well, to get meta, it's the same thing in real life, isn't it? In a way, the Vikings front office is to decide if he's a front sell high too. Because the NFL trade deadline is two weeks.

It's Tuesday, October 29th. Is that 29th? I don't know. About the dates. It's two Tuesdays. If he does end up getting traded, that would, like, say he gets traded to the Patriots, that was like a rumor or whatever. You're going to really probably really regret trading him.

fantasy, if that's case. So that's something you just have to balance. It doesn't really look like he's going to get traded. It looks like he's going to be stuck on this Vikings' Vikings Fast Havins, which I think is going to be volatile week to week. But yeah, that's the only thing that gives me a little bit of pause. Well, we can pause it right there.

Beautiful. Thank you, Craig. Thank you, D.K. Thank you to everyone for listening. Go Anthony Miller, the Bears, down with Cole Beasley. We will see you guys later this week. Pepsi takes all NFL celebrations to the next level, whether it's a Hail Mary touchdown, a defensive stop in the goal line, or a Super Bowl win when it's time to celebrate,

it's time to crack open a Pepsi. I'll be cracking open a Pepsi when Anthony Miller outscores Cole Beasley this week, which is a gimmy. And Craig and I will also be cracking opening Pepsi's together when we go 5 and 1 in the Ringer Fantasy Football League tonight. And if not, maybe we'll console ourselves. Either way, we'll be doing it with Pepsi. Pepsi, the official sponsor of the NFL, remind you to always be celebrating.