The Week 8 Waiver Wire MUST ADDS + MNF Recap | Fantasy Focus 🏈

Summary

Fantasy Focus Football – The Week 8 Waiver Wire MUST ADDS + MNF Recap | October 21, 2025

Overview

In this episode of ESPN's Fantasy Focus Football, hosts Field Yates, Daniel Dopp, and Stefania Bell (Mike Clay is referenced in bits but not present throughout) provide an in-depth recap of Monday Night Football (MNF), break down the latest injury news, and deliver essential Week 8 waiver wire adds amid “Buymageddon”—a week loaded with byes. The show hits on midseason fantasy MVPs, breakouts, busts, and fields questions from the YouTube audience. The crew’s energy remains upbeat and insightful, balancing fandom (especially Daniel’s Lions joy) with actionable, data-driven tips for fantasy football managers.

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Monday Night Football Recap – Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

[00:43–10:44]

• Standout Performance: Jameer Gibbs

  • Daniel Dopp highlights Gibbs' explosive performance: 17 carries, 136 yards, 2 TDs, 3 receptions for 82 yards, totaling 36.8 fantasy points. “Jameer Gibbs was unbelievable. Clearly the best player on the field.”
  • Field: "When I watch Jameer Gibbs on the TV... it's like I'm listening to a podcast at 1.5 speed. That 78-yard run was just out of control." [01:06]
  • Stefania: “He’s so fast… I love watching the little speedometer going up and up and up because he’s just accelerating all the way through.” [01:20]

• Lions Notes:

  • Secondary was decimated, yet played “unbelievably good football.” Daniel celebrates this as a fan.
  • Amon-Ra St. Brown also shined; Jamo (Jameson Williams) was a letdown.
  • Sam LaPorta was silent.
  • David Montgomery (Monty): 13 carries for 21 yards—ineffective and increasingly sidelined.

• Buccaneers Takeaways:

  • Baker Mayfield struggled, in part due to pass rush and injuries to his key receivers.
  • Stefania detailed Mike Evans’ brutal landing, which led to a concussion and fractured collarbone. Evans is expected to miss most or all the remaining regular season. “That quest for another thousand yard season is likely over.”
  • Chris Godwin’s status is unclear.
  • Ameka Egbuka (rookie WR): Played through a hamstring injury, received 12 targets but converted only 4 catches for 60 yards. Stefania observes, “He looked 20, 30% less explosive—with the hamstring, probably... the most important thing to me was that he came out of it appearing healthy.” [08:55]
  • TE Cade Otton: Significant bump in opportunity (7 catches, 64 yards on 9 targets). “When everybody is hurt for Tampa, he becomes the lead singer of the band.” [07:30]
  • WR Tez Johnson: Emerges as an add-worthy option (9 targets, 22-yard TD).
  • Daniel: “Mike Evans, unfortunately, is droppable for fantasy.” [09:38]

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MNF Key Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Daniel Dopp on Lions’ unknown secondary:
  "There were four guys that played in the secondary that I was like, I maybe know one of them from the practice [squad]..." [01:47]

• Stefania Bell on Mike Evans’ injury:
  “[He was] motionless on the field for a few seconds, clearly unconscious... fracturing his collarbone. He is expected to now miss most of the rest of the season.” [06:15]

• Field Yates on Tampa’s pass-catchers:
  “Kate Otten, when they are healthy, is almost like a backup dancer. When everybody is hurt... he becomes the lead singer.” [07:30]

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Houston Texans vs. Seattle Seahawks Recap

[12:22–21:03]

• JSN (Jackson Smith-Njigba):

  • Daniel: “JSN is really good at football... Full on superstar at this point. The kid is unbelievable.” [13:41]
  • Field ranks him top five Dynasty WR.

• Seahawks Backfield:

  • Zach Charbonnet—12 carries, 49 yards, two TDs.
  • Kenneth Walker III—17 carries, 66 yards; looks better, but lacking volume/receiving.
  • Field: “During Buymageddon… probably RB20s, but ideally both are RB25 or later.”

• Houston Texans:

  • Dalton Schultz: reliable with pass-catchers out (18.8 fantasy points).
  • Nico Collins left with a concussion, uncertain for short week.
  • Rookie WRs (Jalen Noel, Jaden Higgins) are desperation plays.
  • CJ Stroud's play and decision-making have regressed behind a “disastrous” O-line.
  • Stefania: "It's hard to watch because you feel like [Stroud is] devolving in front of you—but there's too much talent there."
  • Field: “New rule: No more anointing of players after one season.” [21:03]

• Notable Quote:
  Field on the Texans: “Houston has to take some looks in the mirror right now because they're 2 and 5... you might as well kiss the division goodbye.” [15:59]

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Fantasy Focus Show League + Playoff Fun

[22:38–28:52]

• Daniel bests Field in their league, thanks to big games from Gibbs, Addison, Jake Ferguson.
• The group debates potential loser punishments (Waffle House, paintball gauntlet).
• Field's frustration: "My team scored a total of 48.28 fantasy points. Maybe the worst in war room history."
• Stefania: "True or false: When you are losing like that, at least you can stop caring. I've moved on." [27:13]

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Waiver Wire – Week 8 “Buymageddon”

[31:01–43:38]

Quarterbacks

• Top Streaming Options:
  • Jackson Dart: Clear priority. “Averaging 21.9 fantasy points per game over last four. QB6. Leads all QBs in rush attempts, yards, and TDs last month.” [36:29]
  • Others: Michael Penix (facing Dolphins, if healthy), Joe Flacco (vs. Jets, especially if Sauce Gardner out).
  • Caution: Michael Penix is dealing with a bone bruise—a true game-time decision.

Running Backs

• Tajie Spears: Committee RB with passing game involvement (9 targets in two games). "He’s gonna get the job done. Out-snapped Tony Pollard last week." [32:27, Mike Clay via video]
• Woody Marks: Led his team in rushing attempts Monday but not a strong add. Both are deep-league or desperation options.
• Deep Add: Brashard Smith—seeing consistent passing work (3+ receptions four straight games).

Wide Receivers

• Josh Downs: Seven targets in two straight—but has yet to break out this season. "Yet to reach 55 yards in a game." [39:46]
• Darnell Mooney: Has a juicy matchup with the Dolphins; upside only.
• Deep: Alec Imanor (low ceiling), Chimere Dike (Dynasty/stash).

Tight Ends

• Cade Otton: Big bump after Evans' injury; top add if available.
• Oronde Gadsden: “Unbelievable. Seven or more targets in three of five.” [41:11]
• Colston Loveland: Emerging, especially if Cole Kmet remains out.

Stefania on Otton:
"I would rather have Cade Otton in this matchup." [41:11]

Daniel on Gadsden:
"Had seven or more targets in three of his five games, including two really nice back-to-back outings." [41:13]

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Midseason Awards

[46:42–52:41]

MVP

• Christian McCaffrey (CMC) – Unanimous selection.
  Daniel: “As a running back, Christian McCaffrey is my MVP because he's averaging 9.7 targets per game... every game, just through the air, he's giving you an 11-point floor.” [48:40]

Breakouts

• Field: Jake Ferguson (Cowboys TE) – "Zero TDs last year, near league lead this year—guy you got for free." [51:30]
• Stefania: Emeka Egbuka (Buccaneers WR) – “Five TDs... scoring, consistent, and you didn't pay much."
• Daniel: Jackson Smith-Njigba (Seahawks WR) – "He is wide receiver one in receiving yards... full-on superstar, almost 40% target share." [50:38]

Busts

• Daniel: Saquon Barkley – Massive scoring drop for a top pick: “You could've had CMC, Taylor, Bijan, Gibbs… he’s at 13.5 ppg.” [53:00]
• Field: TreVeyon Henderson – RB, Patriots. Sky-high ADP, “now droppable.”
  “He moved all the way up to like 42nd overall. Not sure if he's top-42 RB any week right now." [54:59]
• Stefania: Brian Thomas Jr.—WR, Jaguars: “Four out of seven games with fewer than 10 points… WR32 on the season… now injured.” [57:21]

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Injury Updates and Strategic Outlooks

[44:00–46:42]

• Jaden Daniels: Knee MRI not deemed serious, but Monday game clouds status. “Too soon to say if he’ll be available; you may need to pick up Marcus Mariota as insurance.” [44:00]
• Lamar Jackson: Hamstring—no firm commitment yet post-bye; keep monitoring.

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Listener Q&A

[61:37–64:13]

• Joe Flacco or Jackson Dart (rest-of-week starter)?

  • Unanimous: “Jackson Dart for me this week.” – Field [61:46]

• Would you trade CeeDee Lamb for JSN?

  • Group says: Hold JSN for the floor and volume; both fine, but prefer JSN.

• Start Kareem Hunt or Isaiah Pacheco or pick up Tajie Spears?

  • Field: “I would rank them as Pacheco first, Spears second, Hunt third. Hunt has best shot at a TD, but Pacheco trending up.” [63:37]

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Memorable Quotes

• Field (on Texans’ struggles): "Stop trying to make these big plays down the field... let's get these short, quick screens—can we have some semblance of a running game to get Stroud going?" [19:13]

• Daniel (on bye week carnage): “Good luck on the waiver wire... it kind of sucked on a week in which there are six teams on a bye.” [43:40]

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Summary Table: Notable Week 8 Waiver Adds

| Position | Priority/Target | Context/Reason | |----------|------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------| | QB | Jackson Dart | Elite rushing, QB6 in last 4 games; best streamer. | | RB | Tajie Spears | Committee lead, passing role, Tony Pollard out. | | | Woody Marks | Lead in recent week; not strong but desperation add. | | | Brashard Smith | Deep PPR, solid receiving role. | | WR | Josh Downs | Receiving volume in competitive matchups. | | | Darnell Mooney | Good matchup vs. Dolphins, some upside. | | | Alec Imanor/Chimere DK | Very deep/dynasty leagues. | | TE | Cade Otton | Injuries vault him to top add. | | | Oronde Gadsden | Huge volume, back-to-back games with big usage. | | | Colston Loveland | Stash, Bears could feature him more post-injury. |

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Episode Tone and Vibe

• Conversational, enthusiastic, and occasionally irreverent—especially during Daniel’s “Lions fan” moments and fantasy league banter.
• Analysis is detailed but listener-friendly, offering clarity in the midst of “Buymageddon.”
• Hosts reference their own teams and strategies, providing real-life context to advice.
• Injury analysis is clinical and forward-thinking; roster adds are pragmatic (“none of these RBs are inspiring, but depth is depth”).

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Final Word

Field, Daniel, and Stefania roll with the season’s chaos, highlighting key injuries, waiver options, and midseason accolades while commiserating about the random pain and glory of fantasy football. With six teams on bye and injuries mounting, managers are urged to scour the wire for RB/TE fill-ins and pivot to volume-driven breakouts like Jackson Dart, Jake Ferguson, and Cade Otton. CMC is the clear MVP; Saquon the season’s biggest letdown. The hosts’ camaraderie shines, making this a can’t-miss episode for fantasy managers navigating the toughest part of the year.

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• MNF Recap & Lions/Bucs Analysis — [00:43–10:44]
• Texans/Seahawks Recap — [12:22–21:03]
• Fantasy Focus Show League Banter — [22:38–28:52]
• Waiver Wire Recommendations — [31:01–43:38]
• Midseason Awards — [46:42–52:41]
• Injury Updates — [44:00–46:42]
• Q&A — [61:37–64:13]

Transcript

[Daniel Dopp]

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[Stefania Bell]

Fantasy Focus.

[Daniel Dopp]

What'S good friends welcome on into fantasy focused football presented by Little Caesars alongside field Jake and Stefania Bell. My name is Daniel Dopp. I promise I'll try to keep my analysis slow so that you can catch it because if I do it too fast like my buddy Jameer Gibbs out here, I'm afraid you guys won't be able to catch it.

[Field Yates]

I see what you did, right?

[Daniel Dopp]

I wore my Jameer Gibbs jersey for a second day in a row. You know why?

[Field Yates]

Because he's awesome.

[Daniel Dopp]

Because he's really good at football.

[Field Yates]

He is amazing. He definitely moves. I feel like I'm watching, I'm listening to a podcast at 1.5 speed. When I watch Jameer Gibbs on the TV. That 78 yard run especially was just out of control.

[Daniel Dopp]

The defense, I think, also thinks they're watching someone run at 1.25 speed.

[Stefania Bell]

He's so fast. I love watching the game live. When you're watching like the clock, the little speedometer going up and up and up because he's just accelerating all the way through. Tell me how happy you are as a Lions fan to see what you saw last night.

[Daniel Dopp]

Unbelievably happy. This part is not a fantasy football side, but our secondary was so banged up. Yeah, I know.

[Stefania Bell]

I promise, you guys look like they were combing through, you know, files to be like, okay, who is this guy coming on?

[Daniel Dopp]

I know this Lions roster as well as anybody else and there were four guys that played in the secondary that I was like, I maybe know one of them from the practice.

[Field Yates]

Whitehead.

[Daniel Dopp]

Correct.

[Field Yates]

Yeah.

[Daniel Dopp]

And the other three guys, I was like, I don't know who you are. And they played unbelievably good football.

[Stefania Bell]

Inspired.

[Daniel Dopp]

It was so cool. Not a fantasy thing, but like, as a Lions fan, it was super great to be able to see was.

[Stefania Bell]

And the fact that it. It limited Tampa Bay's off production.

[Daniel Dopp]

Let's dive into this. We got a bunch on the show today. Obviously, Monday Night Football recaps. We got the Week 8 waiver wire. We're going to dive into some injuries we're also going to look at the halfway point, maybe give out some MVPs, breakouts and grids. So let's dive into Monday Night Football. First game with the Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions. As we get into this, I want to tell you guys something that I do every Tuesday and Friday. We have an island game, right? We have Monday Night Football, then we have to recap, and then Thursday Night Football. So I'll connect with our producer. Tyler and I always go into the doc that we have our note and I'll write down a headline from the future. Like, for example, for the Seahawks and the Texans, I wrote JSN and Nico Collins combined for 375 receiving yards. I write something astronomical just because I think it'd be fun. And if that happens, great. For the Detroit Lions game, I wrote Jameer Gibbs over 200 yards. Total insanity. And then it happened. And then it happened. You manifested. Unbelievable.

[Field Yates]

So we get credit.

[Daniel Dopp]

Jameer Gibbs was unreal when you look at what he did last night. 17 carries, 136 yards for two touchdowns, and three receptions for 82 receiving yards. His longest reception was only 30 yards. So when you only have three receptions for 82 receiving yards, that means you're getting huge chunks for every single thing that he did there. 36.8 fantasy points. Jameer Gibbs was unbelievable. Clearly the best player on the field. Just super fun to watch because honestly. And we'll dive into the rest of this game. The rest of the game kind of was a letdown based on what our fantasy expectations were. Coming into this. Jameer Gibbs was the only, like, not major letdown he was.

[Field Yates]

And probably one of the things that hasn't been discussed enough so far this year is that, remember this season, we came in with the expectation that Jameer Gibbs and David Montgomery would be a thing in fantasy. Monty no longer in that. Really. Give me the stat line for Monty Specific.

[Daniel Dopp]

David Montgomery was not great. He had 11. Excuse me. He had 13 carries for 21 yards.

[Field Yates]

So Monty obviously not as efficient as Jameer Gibbs, which you expect. But Monty's role has really changed this year. Jameer Gibbs had a massive, massive play last night. And then from the goal line, the Lions said, here you get the ball again, which in prior years you feel like maybe it goes to Monty. Jameer Gibbs was amazing. Amon Ra was awesome as well. JMO got an absolute zero last night. Literally a zero for Jamo. So Sam laporta was quiet last night. It was the Jameer Gibbs and Amon Ross St. Brown show for the Detroit Lions.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yep.

[Field Yates]

And it wasn't much better on the Bucks side.

[Daniel Dopp]

No.

[Field Yates]

But I thought one of the biggest takeaways from last night was Baker struggled. And we'll get into the injuries that may, in some people's eyes, explain part of it, but part of what has made Baker so insanely good this year is that he's gotten the job done anytime, any place, and with any teammates available.

[Stefania Bell]

Right?

[Field Yates]

Agreed. Mike Evans has missed time. Chris Godwin has only played one game or two games, and he was kind of a shell of himself. Ameca Abuca was a big question mark coming into last night, and Baker still struggled against a Lions team that, as Daniel mentioned, was playing practice squatters in the secondary. So I get it. There were some injuries that impacted it. But if you had Baker going into Monday night and you thought there was a chance for 20 plus fantasy points, it turned out that wasn't the case.

[Stefania Bell]

Lions had a pass rush.

[Daniel Dopp]

They did.

[Stefania Bell]

They had a pass rush. I don't think, honestly that Tampa Bay was expecting that. I thought that was a big part of what frustrated Baker Mayfield. And, you know, he was having to throw the ball quickly and it was off target and things that we haven't seen. Didn't even have a chance to make plays. Took a couple sacks. I mean, I. I thought the Lions defense surprised him, and then it was compromised even further, obviously, by the loss of his pass catchers. I mean, obviously my. My biggest takeaway. We had question marks coming into the game with Evans and Igbuka, but we felt better about Mike Evans because it felt like he had been gone for a while. More confidence in the hamstring, and he goes up to try and make a catch and he comes down hard, landing on both knees. Then his should head and you know, instantly I think everybody's reaction was like, oh, no, did he re. Injure his hamstring? Because that was what we saw happen last year and that's your immediate worry. But he was motionless on the field for a few seconds, clearly unconscious. Mecca Buca talked about when he got next to him that he felt like he was still unconscious. So there was a concussion injury, but also the way he landed on his shoulder. He ended up fracturing his collarbone. He. He is expected to now miss most of the rest of the season. That quest for another thousand yard season is likely over. But I think what was hardest to see was just his struggle to get off the field and his emotion as he was carted into the locker room.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, yeah.

[Field Yates]

Gigantic bummer for Mike Evans, a pro football hall of Famer in my eyes, fantasy hall of Famer in all of our eyes as well as we spin things ahead because Tampa has one more game before they're by. We don't know on Chris Godwin, but it seems less likely than more likely that he's available. Which means next week it could very well be Baker Mayfield. Throw into Ameca Abuka, who they were judicious early in the game and they.

[Stefania Bell]

Were sort of forced faulted to doing more with him. I will say the thing I was looking for was every time he ran and when he had to run a little bit further, was there an issue with that hamstring? We didn't see it. So if he comes out good today, you know, they were lucky with that. Um, but then Tess Johnson. Yeah, to me is the spark going forward. We saw a little flash of it in last week's game and then I thought he really stepped up last night. To me, he's the other pass catcher that you want to roster.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, there are three of them. It's Mecca Abuca. It is Tess Johnson with a rising tide role here. He had an 18% target share, nine targets for Tez. He found the end zone with 22 yard wide receiver screen. And then finally Kate Otten, who feels like. And everybody's been making the same exact observation. Kate Otten, when they are healthy is almost like a backup dancer. And then when everybody is hurt, which unfortunately over the past two years, everybody has been hurt for Tampa, he becomes the lead singer of the band as he last night had another seven catch effort. Did Kate Otten, was it seven? Yeah, seven for 64 on nine targets for Kate Otten. So in this game in which it's really hard to find tight ends, Kate Otten will be on the radar next week. Again, huge, huge loss for the Buccaneers. They have one more game going into their bye. I thought emeka Abuca was 10, 20, 30% less explosive last night because of that hamstring. Almost assuredly. That being said, if I told you blindly, independent of knowing exactly where he was, health wise, that he was going to get 12 targets, you would say.

[Daniel Dopp]

I'm playing him especially against the secondary that we thought they were going to have. I would absolutely take 12 targets for that.

[Field Yates]

And he ended up with 9.8 fantasy points. It's not like he went out there and he got you two fantasy points and like you needed barely anything and you got barely anything. Like 9.8 fantasy points isn't great. But, you know, if I told you. Oh, I'm sorry, I just Said if you, if you knew coming into it you're going to get, you know, nearly 60 receiving yards and 12 targets, you'd probably say, fine, I'll live with it.

[Stefania Bell]

You know, like to the eyeball test, though, early on there were a couple passes that Baker threw a little high. I think 100% healthy book makes that catch. There were a couple times where I just, I just thought he looked off. He just, the way he was turning on the ball didn't get quite the same, you know, spring into the air. But probably, you know, he hadn't done anything except for one tiny limited practice. So the most important thing to me was that he came out of it appearing healthy. Let's see how it is going forward. But four catches out of 12, you know, it's only 30% of what he was thrown. So obviously they need to involve him in the game. And I would think if he's good, like, he is going to be the focus of that past.

[Daniel Dopp]

Absolutely. This week. Heading into week eight, Lions will join Jameson Williams on a buy because he was already in a buy in week seven. Obviously they didn't have any catches. And then when you look at the rest of this team, I mean, I would probably, I hate to say this, Mike Evans, I just got that. You just got it. Joins James Jameson, William, Mike Evans, unfortunately droppable. Hopefully that when they say, like, he can likely going to miss the rest of the season for the Bucks most.

[Field Yates]

Of the year, is what Todd Bowles said.

[Daniel Dopp]

My, my hope is that maybe if they make a playoff run, he can come back for like the end of the playoff run just to have this not be the end of things for him.

[Field Yates]

They will make a playoff.

[Stefania Bell]

Typically, you know, it depends. We haven't heard is he going to have surgery to repair it? Is, are they just going to allow, you know, a lot of fact into determining whether you have a surgical repair or not? But you're looking at, you know, it can be like eight weeks to 12 weeks depending. And sometimes, you know, if, let's just say if you were to spin it forward to Tampa Bay making the ultimate playoff game, you leave that door open for a player like Mike Evans.

[Field Yates]

We are now going into week eight. So like fantasy, the timetable that you would need would be like if for some reason he's four weeks away. But it sounds like that is completely off the table.

[Stefania Bell]

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[Daniel Dopp]

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[Field Yates]

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[Stefania Bell]

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[Daniel Dopp]

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[Stefania Bell]

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[Daniel Dopp]

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[Field Yates]

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[Stefania Bell]

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[Field Yates]

Let's get moving on to the next game.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, Texas and Seahawks.

[Field Yates]

Ugh.

[Daniel Dopp]

I'll tell you what. Again, in this game there was one guy that was just like unbelievably good.

[Stefania Bell]

What could be Jackson Smith?

[Daniel Dopp]

Njigba is really good at football field. Jades. What else do you have to say about that guy?

[Field Yates]

Not a whole lot other than he did it against one of the premier corners in the NFL. Last night we joked that Mike gave him a downgrade from wide receiver 1 to wide receiver 2 overall for the week, right? I think you and I both had him at wide receiver one.

[Daniel Dopp]

Oh, and Amonra was wide receiver too, right? Looks like you and I got the right call there.

[Field Yates]

But I think wide receiver one for the week was Jamar Chase. But the point is that JSN's unbelievable.

[Daniel Dopp]

I thought you meant in rankings. My bad. You and I ranked JSN number one. Number two.

[Field Yates]

Yes, yes, yes. So he was amazing again last night. Death, taxes and jsn. Sam Darnold played pretty effectively last night, even if not a monster fantasy night. They largely solved this Seahawks defense. JSN lock them in top five wide receiver every week as far as our rankings are concerned. And that's probably too low. Dynasty. He's a Compelling. Is he the number? Like how many wide receivers do you prefer over jsn?

[Daniel Dopp]

I was going to ask you this.

[Field Yates]

Question, Mark Chase, cd, Lamb, Puka, you know, Malik, Neighbors coming off of an ACL next year, maybe not anymore. Like, it's a pretty short list of players you would prefer over dynasty over JSN and Dynasty.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, he's. He's right in that top five to seven range of the wide receiver position for me. Full on superstar at this point. The kid is unbelievable. No worries about what Sam Darnold is able to do here.

[Field Yates]

That was kind of it though, from the game.

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah. You, you had mentioned death, taxes and jsn. I think you could say the same thing for the Seahawks where it's death, taxes and it's still confusing backfield in.

[Field Yates]

Seattle, you know, it's, it's, it's not confusing anymore.

[Daniel Dopp]

It's not confusing, but it's frustrating. Right.

[Field Yates]

I was going to say it's, it's, it's not confusing in the sense that ideally you don't use other players.

[Daniel Dopp]

Correct.

[Field Yates]

Zach Charbonnet cashes in twice last night in the end zone, both on short touchdown runs. He ends up with 19.5 fantasy points because he has 12 rushes for 49, 49 yards. So a little over four pop. That's not bad right there. But just two catches for six yards. Meanwhile, Kenneth Walker the third, once again, I thought looked better to the eye test. 17 carries for 66 yards. It's actually fewer rushing yards per attempt. He had zero in the passing. The passing game though, did Kenneth Walker the third. So I think we've just kind of settled into the spot where during Buymageddon they're both probably like they're on. They're on a buy this week as well. Excuse me, but like in a week in which there aren't a lot of other running backs available, they'll both be right around RB20. But probably in an ideal all teams are playing world, they're more like both RB25ish.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yep. Unfortunately, it feels that way the other.

[Stefania Bell]

Side of the ball. Yeah. Listen, if you're looking for a tight end who's going to be doing a lot of work, Dalton Schultz, who actually managed to score 18.8 fantasy points last night. And the Texans are down past catchers because now Nico Collins suffered a concussion late in this game in the fourth quarter, you know how it is. And it's a short week and we never like to say that it's predictable players going to miss a game, but I would Think it even less likely given the short week. Christian Kirk was already out for the Texans with a hamstring injury, so no idea whether he'll be back. You got a couple of rookie pass catchers, but obviously CJ Stroud did rely on Dalton Schultz somewhat. So to me that's somebody to keep your eye on. They play the 49ers this week at home.

[Field Yates]

They do one o' clock game on Sunday. So I think a new punishment for those that either lose in a fantasy league or lose starts of the week is they should have to watch the Texans playoffs.

[Daniel Dopp]

It's so bad.

[Field Yates]

It's awful. It's awful. C.J. stroud is a completely different player than the one that we saw two years ago.

[Daniel Dopp]

Agreed.

[Field Yates]

One of the first drives of the game he took an 18 yard sack. It was weird and like he nearly. It was nearly a safety for some reason it was not reviewable. I wasn't sure why that was the case, but Stroud's decision making has really fallen off a cliff. Nico Collins had a bad drop last night too, right over the middle. That could have been probably a 20 plus yard. The running back situation was a mess. Woody marks at 10 carries to Nick Chubbs five. Yes, they were playing from behind for much of this game, but they're in complete disarray right now. And this team maybe thought coming into the season they had some margin for error because of the division they play in. Right. They have controlled the AFC south for multiple years despite the fact that they haven't necessarily been a dominant team. Right. They have not made it to the conference championship in the past few years. That's not the case anymore. Like Houston has to take some looks in the mirror right now because they're 2 and 5 and they're so far behind the Colts. Like you might as well kiss the division goodbye. Like you're almost gearing up for 2026 at this point for Houston. If Nico Collins is out, I do think their two rookie receivers, Jaden Higgins and Jalen Noel are going to be thrust into a bigger role. Jalen Noel, their third round pick out of Iowa State, had four catches last night. Jaden Higgins was quiet last night because the Collins concussion was suffered very late in the game. That being said, he has a similar profile in terms of size to Nico Collins. So we could see more of Jaden Higgins this upcoming Sunday.

[Daniel Dopp]

Let me ask you about this message because right now, first off, when I watch the Texans, I think there's like one main takeaway for me and it's.

[Field Yates]

Like why Did I do that?

[Daniel Dopp]

Why did I make this decision? Yeah, it's. It feels like and this is not. I did not look this up. It feels like CJ Stroud both has like the deepest air yards per target. I feel like he's always trying to throw the ball deep and he also has the fewest like the least amount of time to throw. Like that offensive line immediately lets everybody into the backfield and I feel like when they're trying to plays develop downfield for their guys like Nico Collins, it's just not working for them. If you had to choose one of these guys, would you rather have Jalen Noel as like a short yardage target adult and Schultz a Jaden Higgins knowing that we're going into by Magedon and we likely won't have Nico Collins do any of them with how this Texans team is playing even reach the level of a waiver wire option.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, Dalton Schultz does in a 10 team because of the tight end. Tight ends are hard. I would love to sit here and tell you like I confidently believe that they're going to scheme up touches for Jalen Noel, that short yardage explosive slot receiver. But how can you put any level of confidence in this offense if you've.

[Daniel Dopp]

Watched it, you can't.

[Field Yates]

You can't. So I think both of them are like 12 team or larger considerations but that's it. We are just going to that Nico Collins is able to advance through the concussion protocol by the end of the weekend. But as Defaunia said, he is racing against the clock. There were a few teams this offseason that made some gigantic bets, right. They were almost like tempting dare trades. The Seahawks traded the way Geno Smith and signed Sam Darnold. That one has paid off. Remarkably. The other side of that is the Raiders have traded for Geno Smith rather than finding some other avenue for a quarterback. That has paid off horribly. The Texans reshuffled their offensive line to me and it's been just a disaster.

[Stefania Bell]

It just looks like they did exactly that shuffled like there's not an improvement, right? Exactly. And I think what you're talking about Daniel with CJ Stroud to me feels like this combination of a lack of decision making ability but also a little bit of panic of trying to make something happen. And I think some of that is due to the pressure, the consistent pressure that he really there's no confidence there. So it starts making the decision making worse and it's hard to watch because you feel like he's devolving in front of you. But there's too much talent there for to just say, well, that's him. I don't believe it because I saw it in his rookie season. So I don't believe that this is just on him. But he is in effect changing because of what's around him. So how do you fix that mid season when you don't have the parts? It feels like what you're talking about. Stop trying to make these big plays down the field and let's just get these short quick screens. Can we do have some screenplays and combine that with some semblance of a running game to get him going.

[Daniel Dopp]

I feel like this is what I want. What I want them to do is what I felt like I saw the Bengals do with Joe Flacco. It's like you get a little slant Flocko. I said it right. Thank you.

[Field Yates]

I got.

[Daniel Dopp]

I got nervous for a second, but it's just like I want you to have like a. We're looking at slants. We're looking at drag something quick and out to your main guys to be able to get the ball out quickly because your offensive line obviously has been an atrocious offensive line all season long. I don't know if they do that, how do they fix it? Their offensive line needs to change because as field you said he does not look like the superstar that we thought he was two years ago.

[Field Yates]

New rule. New rule. You guys ready for this last thought on this game that we can move forward to show league stuff and then eventually waiver wire and buy McGeddon stuff. No more anointing of players after one season.

[Daniel Dopp]

Agreed.

[Field Yates]

Just in life in general. Right. Two years ago, CJ Shroud was already a top three quarterback in the NFL. Last year Jaden Daniels was still was already a top five quarterback in the NFL. Those guys might get there. It's possible for both of them. They're both incredibly talented guys and I still feel really good, especially in the case of Jaden. But if we're doing we were talking about this before first draft yesterday. If you're redrafting the 2024 draft class has Drake may now leapfrogged Jaden Daniels? If you were doing it it's a.

[Daniel Dopp]

It's a discussion at the very my.

[Field Yates]

Point is like could we give these guys like a few years before we start to cast them as the ones right. CJ Stroud was and I think it was deserved and like the praise was deserved. The conclusions don't need to be drawn that fast. So we'll have more thoughts on that in real football Conversations going forward on.

[Daniel Dopp]

The other side, too.

[Field Yates]

Yes.

[Stefania Bell]

I was just gonna say because this is the year of the resurrection.

[Daniel Dopp]

That's right.

[Stefania Bell]

Sam Darnold, who actually showed that in Minnesota and was helped along and also had a relation with Kubiak before at 49ers at that quick stop. So you've got Sam Darnold playing out of his mind now Baker Mayfield, who is like their franchise quarterback, never gonna go anywhere after so many doubts in the way that he left Cleveland.

[Daniel Dopp]

You've got a backup quarterback and Mac Jones that has been playing really well. I want to be able to give them a little bit of time even if they don't play well at the beginning, too. Not only do we not anoint them too quickly, but we don't write them off too quickly as well.

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah. Including based on their situation of who they are. It's not all on them.

[Daniel Dopp]

I'm with you, Stefania. Let's dive into the game of the week here for the fantasy Focus show League. Oh, so sorry about this field.

[Field Yates]

Not really much of a game, Daniel.

[Daniel Dopp]

I had Jameer Gibbs on this one and I beat field 150.8 to 97.4. To be honest, Field, a lot of your team just underperformed in what shouldn't have been an underperforming situation.

[Field Yates]

I would agree on that. Well, I mean, I don't know about.

[Daniel Dopp]

Rashad White was tough. Brian Thomas was difficult for you. Jalen Waddle we thought was going to do so much more than 2.5. Nico Collins, unfortunately, you had a lot of underperforming guys. I got very lucky with Jordan Addison and Jake Ferguson and Jameer Gibbs. I had to start Michael Penix Jr. This week because I did not have Lamar Jackson.

[Stefania Bell]

So I see you took my Jake Ferguson advice.

[Daniel Dopp]

I did, I did. Jake Ferguson is working out very well. And even with starting Isaiah Pacheco and Cam Little who got me zero points, I still was able to come away with a win. Let's look at the standings here for a fantasy focus show.

[Stefania Bell]

No, I don't think we need to.

[Daniel Dopp]

We'll do real fast. And Stefania not at the bottom.

[Field Yates]

She's not. I think, though, like, are we again? I am tied. I am in ninth place, but I'm tied for the worst record. Five and nine. There's four of us that are five and nine, four of us that are seven and seven, two eight and sixes, one nine and five and one eleven and three. I still believe. And we're going to have to get at least a majority if Not a unanimous vote on this. I still believe the loser of this league should enact some sort of punishment.

[Daniel Dopp]

Agreed. I'm with you on that.

[Field Yates]

Like Waffle House, you name it. Something funny.

[Daniel Dopp]

I would love to do that. I think Stefania, I'm.

[Stefania Bell]

I think I'm okay with it, but we need to discuss with the punishment.

[Field Yates]

Let's get email going.

[Stefania Bell]

Waffle House.

[Field Yates]

Okay. Well, I do think we should at least consider some options here, decide whether we want to. Because I think what will be funny is whatever the punishment is, obviously the regular season is over after week 14.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yes.

[Field Yates]

So you have three weeks. I was thinking, like, we could do a video and then week 18, when it's very, very quiet on the fantasy front, we could have a video that we could play as part of the podcast that week.

[Daniel Dopp]

Oh, that would be fun.

[Field Yates]

Be funny, right?

[Daniel Dopp]

That would be really good.

[Stefania Bell]

Says the guy at the top of the league.

[Daniel Dopp]

If you want to do like a. I would do it. I'm seven and seven. I would do it. Absolutely. But if you would not. If you don't want to do those.

[Field Yates]

Coming out today, I'll work on paintball gauntlet.

[Daniel Dopp]

Stefania, you want to run through a paintball gauntlet while we all shoot?

[Stefania Bell]

That sounds like a good plan.

[Field Yates]

Can I. Can I just add being off the cuff here that is sort of tied to crappy fantasy football teams?

[Daniel Dopp]

Absolutely.

[Field Yates]

All right, so you guys are all familiar with the war room, and I told Deep, I've heard of it becoming the war room, which Stefania won the league two years ago. 16 team, highly competitive league, but 16 teams. So obviously keep that in mind when you talk about a roster. All right, I want to read you guys my roster from this week. 16 team league, by the way.

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah, I know. I've had to replace half of mine with injuries.

[Field Yates]

I was in fourth place going into this past week. Right. This is not some bottom feeding team. 16 team, you ready for it? Yep. Caleb Williams, J.K. dobbins, Ashton Genty, Nico Collins, Xavier Worthy, Darren Waller, Roma Dunes, the Dolphins defense and Michael Badgley. That felt like highest scoring.

[Stefania Bell]

Good on paper.

[Daniel Dopp]

Underperforming this week.

[Field Yates]

Fourth place in the league, guys. In a 16 team league. My highest scoring player last week was J.K. dobbins at nine fantasy points.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yikes.

[Field Yates]

My team scored a total of 48.28 fantasy points. The worst. I'm certain that's the worst of any team any week.

[Stefania Bell]

In war Room, you and Riddick had had a contest. I played Riddick and he had a similar thing. We and some of our team.

[Field Yates]

I mean, his team scored 68. I 48.

[Daniel Dopp]

Hold on. How many. How many of your guys were on by or injured, though?

[Field Yates]

Well, Waller got hurt during the game.

[Daniel Dopp]

Okay, so one.

[Field Yates]

Yes.

[Daniel Dopp]

And that's it. You had the full complement of your team.

[Field Yates]

This is my team. Like, this is the team that was in fourth place going into the week.

[Daniel Dopp]

Okay, so you weren't, like, replacing anybody. Like, you just. You had your full starting line.

[Field Yates]

My team was like, hey, you play fantasy football because you're a certified psychopath. That is a glutton for punishment. I just wanted to take that on the chin there. Like, I just wanted to congratulate myself for putting together the single crappiest week, maybe, in the history of the war room. And I don't care if I never win the thing. I don't care if I win the thing 30 times. Nobody, and I mean nobody might ever surpass in a negative way the week that I just put out there. So you're welcome.

[Daniel Dopp]

It's gotta happen sooner or later. Why do we play this stupid game?

[Field Yates]

I don't have no idea.

[Stefania Bell]

Because that.

[Field Yates]

But that's a decent team.

[Stefania Bell]

True or false. When you are losing like that, you're like, okay, at least I can stop. Like, there's no way my team, I'm done, and I've moved on.

[Field Yates]

So we have Nico Collins. I was in my own brain saying, no. I Like, what if this thing comes down to Nico Collins and I'm sitting there at, like, 12:57? Like, come on, baby, one more catch, Nico. Instead, I was like, yes. So, yeah, I just got gobsmacked by rex Ryan by 130 points.

[Daniel Dopp]

Not great.

[Field Yates]

Yeah. The funny part is that the irony of it all is it doesn't really matter when you score great or bad. Like, you just want to score really well, and you don't want to score really poorly. Is that Rex put up the highest scoring week?

[Stefania Bell]

Oh, it was.

[Field Yates]

Beat down any team in the league this season?

[Daniel Dopp]

No way.

[Stefania Bell]

So you didn't just lose.

[Daniel Dopp]

So the disparity between the two, it's.

[Field Yates]

Got to be the biggest.

[Stefania Bell]

Getting into smithereens. Yeah.

[Field Yates]

Yeah. I mean, it's hilarious. There was a year a few years ago, and we used to have an extra. We used to have two flexes, so scores were definitely higher. But there was a year, you may recall this Stefania. I dropped like, 155 points in that league, which is a gigantic number. And Stefania dropped 215. I don't remember this Will Fuller when he had 53 points remember that Will Fuller game? So it was like, I'm used to.

[Daniel Dopp]

Some goofy stuff happening.

[Field Yates]

I'm convinced. I just want to say shout out to me, like, pat myself on the back for the single worst week ever.

[Daniel Dopp]

You know what? In the war room, I say this whenever people ask me about their bad fantasy football teams.

[Field Yates]

We get them too.

[Daniel Dopp]

Fantasy basketball is right around the corner. The association starts tonight, my friend.

[Field Yates]

I believe Stefan's warriors play Lakers, right?

[Daniel Dopp]

That's right. Yeah. We get to watch some basketball tonight. So don't abandon your fantasy football teams. However, if you want to go out and draft a fantasy basketball team, the game is open. Please come and join us here at ESPN Fantasy.

[Stefania Bell]

Welcome all comers.

[Daniel Dopp]

Absolutely. All right, let's talk about the Week 8 waivers. A bunch of teams on a buy here. Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Seattle Seahawks.

[Field Yates]

I think I feel better getting out.

[Daniel Dopp]

You're getting it out. You feel it? All right, good.

[Field Yates]

We're turning the team around. I had to take off a button. I'm a little hot now.

[Stefania Bell]

Love it.

[Field Yates]

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[Daniel Dopp]

Whoever you're repping this season, carry the team like a pro with ultra durable officially licensed YETI drinkware.

[Field Yates]

Whether it's the NFL, ncaa, mlb, NHL or mls, YETI has you covered with.

[Daniel Dopp]

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[Field Yates]

So if you're a serious fan, now's the time to get serious about your.

[Daniel Dopp]

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[Field Yates]

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[Stefania Bell]

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[Daniel Dopp]

All right, let's dive in. We got the week eight waivers. Before we dive into this though, we had a lot of fun on Sunday. We Decided we would bring it back because on Sunday doing fantasy football now Mike Clay, Tyler Ful did a little bit. Joined by Mike Clay and Tyler Fulghum. Right now we are preparing for buy.

[Field Yates]

Mcgetty over here next week by mcgetti.

[Daniel Dopp]

Top looks homes on a buy. We've got the Cardinals, the Raiders, the Seahawks, the Jaguars, the Rams. Not the Lions.

[Field Yates]

Not the Lions.

[Daniel Dopp]

No.

[Field Yates]

Get him. Come on. Daniel.

[Daniel Dopp]

Get back here. Get back here.

[Field Yates]

Daniel. Okay.

[Daniel Dopp]

Oh my gosh. Not my Detroit Lions. Oh my goodness. Listen, we got guys like Trey McBride, Amon Ross, St. Brown, Puka Naku, Jackson Smith and Jigba. We're gonna be out of all of those guys. So we gotta get ahead of this as best we can in order to survive. By Mageddon Mike. Let's look at the quarterback spot. Alright? If we're gonna have one guy that's gonna be able to help us out, a gunslinger. If you've got Matthew Stafford or Jared Goff. Would you look at either Spencer Rattler or Michael Penix?

[Field Yates]

We're gonna. Michael Penix here, he's gonna save us. Alright.

[Daniel Dopp]

18 plus fantasy points in two games already this season.

[Field Yates]

And and key here is the opposition.

[Daniel Dopp]

That he's up against, the Miami Dolphins. They can't stop anyone. We can crush them for sure.

[Field Yates]

Second most fantasy points of quarterbacks this season.

[Daniel Dopp]

They've allowed 18 plus points in five of six games.

[Field Yates]

So Michael Penix is a guy that could save us.

[Daniel Dopp]

I like that.

[Field Yates]

I like that one as well. Spencer Rattler. I know they're playing with a lot of pace in that New Orleans offense but it's really hard to trust them to score points. I can at least trust with what we saw last game from the Falcons that they can get in the end zone.

[Daniel Dopp]

Absolutely. I'm with you on that. All right, let's talk about running back. Running back's been really bad this year guys. Let's say you've got Jameer Gibbs or Ashton Genty or Kyron Williams. Okay? Do we have somebody that can help push us through this wasteland? We're talking either Taje Spears or Woody Marks. Which direction are we going?

[Field Yates]

We're going to spear through the zombies with Tajie Spears. He's going to get the job done. Out snapped Tony Pollard last week. 35, 25. And did you know guys, his last three games he played last season was the number five scoring fantasy running back.

[Daniel Dopp]

So there's some hope here as he.

[Field Yates]

Goes up against the Colts. I like it. That doesn't give me much hope for optimism I don't like either of these options. A Tennessee Titan? Are you kidding me?

[Daniel Dopp]

Well, we don't want you to live here, right?

[Field Yates]

You're the first man out.

[Daniel Dopp]

Okay.

[Field Yates]

We're trying to save myself and might.

[Daniel Dopp]

Be the first one to die here. All right, at wide receiver managers without multiple top five options here in week five, right? We got Devonte Adams, you got Aman Ross. St. Brown, you got. You got Puka Nukua, you got Brian Thomas Jr. Where are we going here in week eight, Mike? We got Josh. Downs.

[Field Yates]

Guys, look out for. Get down, get down, get down.

[Daniel Dopp]

Get downs, downs, downs.

[Field Yates]

Get downs.

[Daniel Dopp]

Against the Titans, 6 for 41 and a touchdown last week.

[Field Yates]

Now, seven targets in two straight games.

[Daniel Dopp]

And he gets those Titans next week.

[Field Yates]

They've really struggled against wide receivers. So downs.

[Daniel Dopp]

By the way, people dropping him because he's out this week.

[Field Yates]

Scoop him up. You can play him next week. I know the moon looks dark up there, but. But we like Michael Pinnicks as our streaming quarterback here during Buymageddon. I wonder if it's not a bad idea to stack him though, with Darnell Mooney. Just a thought. This guy's full of bad ideas. We need to get him off this team.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right, well, maybe we have a tight end that he can take that the rest of us don't want. Let's look at this because it's been a wasteland at tight end, right? Just like right now, Trey McBride is going to be out, Brock Bauer is going to be out. Sam laporte is going to be out. We're looking at KDOT and Mason Taylor. Mike, where are we going?

[Field Yates]

We could use a Mason for a.

[Daniel Dopp]

Few reasons as we work through the apocalypse.

[Field Yates]

Let's go.

[Daniel Dopp]

Mason Taylor, available in over 70% of.

[Field Yates]

ESPN league, 65 plus yards and two straight before that dud last week. By the way, the Bengals most fantasy points to tight end. So Mason Taylor, he's on our team.

[Daniel Dopp]

I like it.

[Field Yates]

This one. I'm with you guys here.

[Daniel Dopp]

I think the plan of attack is.

[Field Yates]

With Mason Taylor, Garrett Wilson, as Stefania just said, maybe dirt injured as well dealing with that injury he's got. So Mason Taylor could be a focal point of that.

[Daniel Dopp]

I think we should eat.

[Field Yates]

I think we should eat Tyler first.

[Daniel Dopp]

I think so. Tyler, why don't you go first and then we'll follow directly behind you, like right behind you. But why don't you go right now?

[Field Yates]

All right, guys, go ahead.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right, hold on.

[Field Yates]

Let's wait.

[Daniel Dopp]

Let Tyler go.

[Field Yates]

It's all right.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right, best of Luck to everyone out there. May you survive. Biden again in a week eight. That was fun.

[Stefania Bell]

Committed to the bit, but leaving Tyler to go off and just, I mean, vanish on his own.

[Daniel Dopp]

He was the one. I mean, I mean, to be honest, Tyler didn't really add a lot in that segment. A titan. I don't feel good about this, guys.

[Field Yates]

But honestly, pretty succinct in acting.

[Daniel Dopp]

He was pretty succinct, yeah. All right, well, let's dive into this a little bit. We're going to kind of use that video jump off because obviously we taped that on fantasy football now on Sunday. We've played games since then, so actually there have been some things that have happened. So we had talked about would you rather have Michael Penix or Spencer Rattler? I actually would rather have neither of them. If I had to pick one, I would pick Michael Penix because of the matchup that Mike talked about. But if I had a streaming quarterback this week. Week, I'd rather have Jackson Dart.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, Jackson dart for sure would be on my radar. Tyrod Taylor as well. It's just brutal.

[Daniel Dopp]

It's brutal. Yeah.

[Stefania Bell]

I just want to point out that Michael Penck Jr. Was injured in that game and is dealing with a bone bruise in his ankle. So not even sure that he'll be available yet. So kind of keep an eye on what's happening.

[Field Yates]

Honestly, I'd prefer Kirk Cousins if he plays. If he's in there for Michael Pennix Jr. I like that more than if Michael Penix Jr. Plays. Right now. Pennix is a con is kind of at a conundrum as a player. Just quickly though, it's Penix or whoever starts against Miami who's allowed the fourth most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. That's what it is with Pennix is over his last every game since week one. He has 11 carries for 22 yards. He's under 18.7 fantasy points in every week since week one. Spencer Rattler has a decent matchup against Tampa Bay, but he has 16.1 fantasy points in five or straight games. And I think that Spencer Rattler is getting close to Justin Fields territory where the team's really bad that at some point you might just see a quarterback shake up. And as we know with Fields, if he started him last week, not only was he playing poorly, but he got yanked. And that probably crushed you in your week.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, I have. If I had to pick one of these quarterbacks, my priority AD at the quarterback position would be Jackson Dart. Based on what he's done with his Legs over the last month, the last four games, Jackson Dart is quarterback six. He's been awesome, averaging 21.9 fantasy points per game. Leads all quarterbacks in rush attempts, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. And you know, this is a. I think this has been awesome over the last month. You know how that both Dak Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford, they've all been slinging it. Tons of touchdowns. They've all been doing a bunch. Jackson Dart is fourth amongst quarterbacks in total touchdowns over the last month, both with his legs and with his arm. I love him, so I would grab him against the Eagles this week as my priority ad if you need a streamer. I think I'd actually rather grab Joe Flacco this week than Michael Penix, if possible. Joe Flacco taking on the jets last week, if you remember, 18.76 fantasy points and one of the reasons why I like him. We'll see how it works out with this jets secondary. But Sauce Gardner currently in the concussion protocol, so if that secondary is banged up, we've already been talking about how the guys outside of Sauce, you can maybe take advantage of. Uh, and so it feels like that might be a streaming option if you need someone here this week at the running back spot, Mike had Tajie Spears and Woody Marks. To be honest, there is no, like Kamani Vidal or Trey Benson this week. Right.

[Field Yates]

Let's. Let's not be labeled choosing between Tajie Spears and Woody Marks is choosing between six in one hand and a half dozen in the other.

[Daniel Dopp]

I get that reference now, by the way.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, Tajie Spears has nine targets over the past two games. If you're looking for the sliver of hope there. Woody Marks, as we know, last night led the team in total rushing attempts. I guess it depends on whether you think they're going to be getting smoked by the 49ers or not. Yeah, if you think they are. Stefania.

[Stefania Bell]

Well, listen, I don't want to get out over my skis on this. We've been getting lucky and having some wins with some inspired play, but I.

[Field Yates]

Think it's a Masterclass from the 49ers.

[Daniel Dopp]

You guys have played so well.

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah.

[Field Yates]

If they. If the Texans keep things kind of on track on Sunday, then I think that Nick Job probably will lead the team in carries. So neither of these are good options. That's the bottom line.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, I think I understand. Especially in deeper leagues if you want to have them, because they are a running back and we need a running back depth. I get it. A couple other guys in deeper league targets. Kyle Manungai looked pretty well this week. He looked nice in that secondary role. Again, it was a nice matchup. So I don't think that this is all of a sudden just going to become a committee with Kyle.

[Field Yates]

Good matchup in this week though.

[Daniel Dopp]

He is taking on the Ravens which is really Great. He had 81 rushing yards on the season heading into week seven. He had 81 rushing yards in week seven alone. So they're starting to use him a little bit more. Like I said, not a full committee, but we're starting to see a little bit more of a second running back in that backfield. He could be on rosters and I want to say one more very deeply Gad, but I have been really pleased with what I've seen from Rashard Smith as a pass catcher. He basically he didn't only play in the fourth quarter but a lot of his production came in junk time because they were just up by so much over these Raiders. But he is playing unbelievably well. 14 rush attempts for 39 yards plus five targets five catches for 42 yards. He has at least three receptions in four straight games. So he's getting some passing game work. That's not a thing that either Kareem Hunt or Isaiah Pacheco was doing there. So not thinking that he's someone you need to add in a 10 team league league but in deeper leagues or if you have big benches. I like Brashard Smith as someone the wide receiver spot Mike gave out. Josh Downs or Darnell Mooney again guys, it doesn't feel like there are a lot better options here this week.

[Field Yates]

Well, there aren't a lot of better options, but neither of these guys is a great option. No, Josh Downs is a good player as is Darnell Mooney. Josh Downs has yet to reach 55 receiving yards in a game this season. He's he has one receiving touchdown.

[Daniel Dopp]

He is the he. I don't he's also hurt the Colts. Kind of remind me a little bit of the Lions where it's like they just this at this point in time they have a little bit of everybody and so some weeks you're just not going to get yours. So Josh Downs, if you go for him, you're hoping that Michael Pittman or Tyler Warren or Alec Pierce doesn't get theirs that game in order for him to get his. So going to be a tough one there.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, Darn has a good matchup against the Dolphins.

[Daniel Dopp]

Talked about it with Pennix last week.

[Field Yates]

So Maybe if you're looking for some upside there, that's what Darnell Mooney brings to you. I might have to start him in that godforsaken war room league because of Nico Collins.

[Stefania Bell]

And if Kirk Cousins ends up playing, you do get Darnell Mooney had some success with Kirk Cousins last year.

[Daniel Dopp]

Absolutely. Deeper league ads. I would look at both of the potential Titans just to say it. I've been, we've been talking about Alec I manor. I still like him. But like such a low ceiling there it is.

[Field Yates]

Such a low ceiling.

[Daniel Dopp]

Chimary DK in very deep leagues or dynasty or keeper leagues came out did something nice this last game. So something to maybe think about at least in very deep leagues. Let's talk about tight ends because I actually think there's a handful of tight ends that you could count on this week. We had Kate Otten or Mason Taylor. Now that was before Monday Night Football with Mike Evans getting hurt and Kate Odd and looking the way he did. I think Mason Taylor was actually a really good tight end. I would rather have Kate Otten in this matchup if I had to choose between the two that we did in that beat.

[Field Yates]

Yep, I would agree. Excuse me. Yes.

[Daniel Dopp]

However, my priority ad if I had to choose one would not be Kate Otten. It would be Orande Gadsden. Yeah, he was unbelievable. Had seven or more targets in three of his five games, including two really nice games. Back to back outings. Eight targets for seven catches and 68 yards in week six. Nine targets, seven catches for 164 and a touchdown in week seven. And unlike week six, in that week seven game, the Chargers had their entire receiving court in week six. There was no Quinton Johnston.

[Stefania Bell]

That was my. That was going to be. My point is that he performed that well with Quentin.

[Daniel Dopp]

With everyone back.

[Stefania Bell]

Even though, you know, who is to know if he's truly at full health. I mean that was a very quick turn on him. But still, I think once you've made your mark like that in Jim Harbaugh, in Jim Harbaugh's presence, you know that's going to continue.

[Field Yates]

The biggest question mark for him this week would be if they play this game with a lead, they're probably not going to be throwing nearly as much. Last week was the perfect storm for him. Keenan Allen, lad McConkey, even those guys were. They were throwing the ball every single play.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yes, they were.

[Field Yates]

50 passing attempts. Whatever it was for Justin.

[Stefania Bell]

I like when the Chargers are down and have to play like that.

[Field Yates]

We do. No doubt. I Just what's your confidence that the Vikings can get a big with potentially Carson Wentz again this week? Yeah.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah. That doesn't feel quite as great. One more thing on Rhonda Gadsden has played at least 75% of the snaps in back to back games. So he's looks like a full time tight end in this offense.

[Field Yates]

They've been desperate for one.

[Daniel Dopp]

I have another tight end that isn't a deeper league AD and he's not a full on priority target, but I think he's a medium priority target.

[Field Yates]

Joanne Johnson.

[Daniel Dopp]

It is not okay. It's Colston Loveland.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, baby.

[Daniel Dopp]

Rostered in 25.6% of leagues. Cole Comet got hurt in this game back injury. So we're going to continue to monitor that. They're playing the Ravens, but Cole Comet was only targeted once on Sunday as a part of him leaving colson. Loveland had three catches for, excuse me, four targets. Three catches for 24 yards. Not a ton, right? Not a lot of production. But he played a season high 46% of the snaps. So. Excuse me, 46 snaps, not 46%. So it feels like we talked about coming out of the buy. Do we maybe see a shift at that tight end spot? We start seeing a little bit more of these young guys work their way into the Bears offense. I think because of the fact that it's the tight end position. If you are looking for someone and you want to throw a dark. Colston Loveland, he hasn't done anything yet. That's why he's not a priority ad. But I think that there is something that could be unlocked for the second half of the season, which is why he's a medium priority guy for me.

[Field Yates]

All righty. All right.

[Daniel Dopp]

That's going to do it for the waiver wire, which kind of sucked on a week in which there are six teams on a buy.

[Field Yates]

It does.

[Daniel Dopp]

This would have been great if there was like. And obviously we don't want injuries but like if we had one of those. Kamani Vidal, Trey Benson, like someone just pops in a week in which you have all these guys out. It's not happening this week. So good luck on the waiver wire to be able to figure out what you need for your team. Let's dive in to.

[Stefania Bell]

Can I add one thing because we don't necessarily. It's not here on our scheduled rundown. But I just want to mention because Jaden Daniels we talked about yesterday with the injury. The results of the MRI came back. Coach Dan Quinn said it wasn't A serious. They didn't think it was a long term injury, but too soon to say whether he'd be available. They play on Monday night. So this is potentially problematic for you if you roster Jaden Daniels because Dan Quinn said, you know, they don't have to report until Thursday. So we're not even going to get our first hint about Jaden until Thursday. You think with the injury, would they put him back out there on a Monday night given the fact that he had a knee injury on the opposite side just two weeks ago? This one could be one. Another one of those that it takes up until we get very close to the game. So if as for your planning purposes, if you're thinking you might have to get a quarterback. And also Lamar Jackson, remember with the hamstring injury, had a bye week. We thought Lamar Jackson coming back from the buy, no problem. Not at practice initially. So they're, they're being tight lipped about it, not saying much of anything. I think John Harbaugh said basically same as what I said last week or right before, something along those lines. So people are like, okay, well you. It hinted he'd be back after the bye week. So we think we're going to see him. Keep your eyes on what's happening in Baltimore.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, that's a gigantic one to monitor this week.

[Daniel Dopp]

And with that Monday Night Football game, I was actually pumped the Commanders were playing Monday night so that we could have the two wide receivers get a little bit more time to get healthy. But with Jaden Daniels, there's like a strategy thing here where if he's not going to play, you either need to play a lesser quarterback in the week knowing that Jaden might still play. You got to make that decision and be okay with it, or you potentially have to waste a roster spot and move someone from your bench to grab Marcus Mariota just to be safe. It's one of those two things potentially we'll see as we get closer.

[Field Yates]

On the plus side, when it's a notable quarterback like this, generally have a little bit of sense by Sunday. Right. Like not always. Not always. Yep.

[Stefania Bell]

And they've been pretty good. Washington about kind of, you know, I think, I think Dan Quinn's pretty good in his pressers when he talks about where players are at. And to that point point last week he was very positive on Terry McLaren and we thought McLaurin was coming back because he said he was getting back into practice. They had, you know, had him run some football style routes, but they worked him out after the practice when they Decided to push it because practice was only a jog through and it was after that that he took a downturn. So again, I applaud the team for testing those things before putting him in the game so that they didn't see him have this setback in game. But, but everything about that, we learned it along the way. Terry McClure was on the rise and then back down. So I'm not sure that he's ready by Monday. We'll see.

[Daniel Dopp]

Oh, Stefania, come on. All right, well, let's talk about some positive things here. Let's do some midseason awards here. We're about halfway through the football season.

[Field Yates]

Halfway through the regular season.

[Daniel Dopp]

That's right. That's right. MVP breakouts and busts. We're going to give each one of those. We've got that. Stefano, why don't I start with you at the MVP position?

[Stefania Bell]

Shock you. Who do you think it could be? I don't know. This running back for the 49ers. Oh, maybe Brian Robinson for the 49. Brian Robinson Jr. Brian Jr. It's Christian McCaffrey. I mean, he's got to be a lot of people's fantasy MVP at this point. If you took a chance and rostered him because you're like, I'm going to spend this first round pick on him, maybe you took him at six spot, maybe as late as the eight spot. Some people were moving him up to the third spot. He probably wasn't the 1.01 unless you were me in a couple of cases. But he has paid off in spades. He's on the field. He. I think he touched the ball 31 times in this last game. The rushing hasn't been as, you know, dominant for him as the receiving, but it is now catching up. And now he has rushing touchdowns on top of it. So, I mean, he's outscored. He's the number one player in fantasy right now.

[Daniel Dopp]

And we say this every time, but like what he does as a pass catcher, as a running back just should be illegal in the NFL. He's so good.

[Field Yates]

Yep. And we mentioned this yesterday. He's been a top eight running back every single week as Christian McCaffrey. I'd be hard pressed to argue for anybody not named Christian McCaffrey for fantasy football MVP.

[Daniel Dopp]

He's my MVP on the list.

[Field Yates]

The only way that you can make an argument would be if you wanted to argue for Jackson, Smith and Jigba and you say I didn't have to pay a first round pick.

[Stefania Bell]

Sure value Prop Yes.

[Field Yates]

So. And yeah, most valuable player. So JSN would be in the conversation. Jonathan Taylor again, also on the podium. Jonathan Taylor, you were getting like somewhere between 10th and 17th maybe. So it was a slight discount on CMC, but not the kind of discount that Jackson, Smith and Jigba was. So cmc, the mvp.

[Daniel Dopp]

Can I tell you why? Because I thought about those guys too, why I picked CMC over those two. Because as a running back, Christian McCaffrey is my MVP because he's averaging 9.7 targets per game.

[Field Yates]

Sure. Yeah.

[Daniel Dopp]

Like if you're a wide receiver and you can average 10 targets per game, there's like three of them in the NFL right now. And as a running back, for him to do that, his lowest receiving floor game is six receptions for 50 yards. So basically every game, just through the air, he's giving you an 11 point floor as a receiver. Unbelievable. Christian McCaffrey is incredible.

[Field Yates]

I would agree. He.

[Daniel Dopp]

Who do you have as your mvp? Did you also have cmc?

[Field Yates]

Yeah.

[Daniel Dopp]

Okay.

[Field Yates]

He was across the board there.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right then let's go with your breakout field. Jayce, who's your breakout?

[Field Yates]

Okay, so actually I'm going to let you guys take the floor because I have a pick, but I figured there was a chance somebody else would take him and so I substituted somebody else in. But I have the backup ready. Who do you have for your breakout out?

[Stefania Bell]

I have a Mecca Buka wide receiver, six on the season, five touchdowns, which is as many as Jamar Chase. Only Amar and Ross St. Brown, George Pickens and Devonte Adams have more. And by more I mean Brown has seven and the other two have six. So he's been scoring for you, he's been consistent for you, which I think is something that I value so much in fantasy. Sometimes I think we look at total fantasy points and you know, we have this column where we can look at average fantasy points, but it's not necessarily average in terms of how it plays out for your team. Right. Because you can have a gigantic week and then same player might disappear for a week or two. And in Igbuka's case, I think the expectations were uncertain. Obviously Tampa Bay knew that they were going to plan to use him a lot with the status of Chris Godwin up in the air. But I don't think anybody really knew they could count on him week in and week out for the type of production that he's delivered. And where were you drafting him? You didn't have to pay hardly anything for that. So I think we thought there was potential for him, but for him to break out in terms of fantasy production the way that he has, I don't think many people saw that coming.

[Daniel Dopp]

Mine is going to be Jackson, Smith and Jigba because I think he's just been unbelievable at the wide receiver spot. He has, and I quote, a 38.8% target share. He is wide receiver one in receiving yards. He's top three in basically every statistical category. And you talked about the expectation with the quarterback for the guy that you were just talking about, or, excuse me, expectation of production with a Mecca Abuka. There was an expectation potentially with JSN where it was like, we don't really know because of Sam Darnold and this Seahawks offense, but if you invested in it and you took that shot, you've got a guy that is. We've already talked about him on the show. I believe he is a top five wide receiver in fantasy football right now because of the injuries that have happened and all the things that have been happening in here. Sam Darnold and JSN are locked in within each other. Give me a guy with almost a 40% target share as a breakout.

[Field Yates]

He's been amazing. Hard to argue with either of those picks. Jake Ferguson's my pick for the als.

[Daniel Dopp]

I like that.

[Field Yates]

Jake Ferguson, it's zero touchdowns last season. This year, he is near the very top of the leaderboard in terms of receiving touchdowns. As Stefania has already alluded to and referenced, he's been sensational. It's a really, really hard spot to find anybody of value. As a matter of fact, a lot of the guys taken early at tight end have not been good values. Brock Bowers because of injury. TJ Hawkinson and Sam Laporte has even been uneven. George Kittle because of injury, Ferguson was going way, way, way late. He's been awesome. If we did ranked choice voting, which is where you vote for several players and you just go, my number one pick is this. My number two pick is this. Et cetera. Drake May was right there on the heels of Jake Ferguson. Drake May has been awesome for the Patriots, both in real life and in fantasy. He's put himself into that tier of, you know, first, you know, probably top six, seven quarterback, probably rest of season.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, thank you for that. I like it, I like it. I got it, I got it.

[Field Yates]

We'll catch you up to speed. So Drake May has been remarkable. He's doing it with his arm and his legs as well. Not a ton of design runs for Drake May. Like, this is not Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson being unleashed with 125 carries in a single season, but very effective as a scrambler. He has been great. The Patriots are 5 and 2 as a result of it.

[Daniel Dopp]

I almost went with Jake Ferguson just because of how bad the tight end position is. If you can get a guy like Jake, you feel like you're set week in and week out. So I think it's a really great call. All right, let's talk about some busts here. My bust I will start. I think you guys know where I'm going to go with this.

[Field Yates]

Probably Saquon Barkley, right?

[Daniel Dopp]

It's going to be Saquon Barkley.

[Field Yates]

Yep, I had him on the ready in case no one said the trend.

[Daniel Dopp]

Continued in Week 7. Unfortunately, rushing inefficiency this season for Saquon Barkley and major touchdown regression. And part of the reason why Saquon is a bust is because you could have had CMC, who's averaging 26.7 fantasy points per game. Jonathan Taylor is averaging 25.6 fantasy points per game. Bijan is averaging 24 points per game. Jameer Gibbs is averaging 20 points per game. Saquon's averaging 13.5. Yeah, 13.5. In an Eagles offense, you know, it's not like this is Ashton Genti where we're talking about like, you know, what sucks? The Raiders offense. Everything about the Raiders offense is terrible, Objectively bad. Geno Smith isn't doing well. Feels like the offensive line isn't good. Ashton Genti still has more fantasy points than Saquon Barkley. With all of the things that we've talked about, with how bad that Raiders defense is and the Eagles aren't scrubs on offense, but you used the number three overall pick on Saquon Barkley and it just has not worked out. The one thing I want to do on Thursday's show, I want to reserve some time to ask Mike Clay about Saquon's strength of schedule for the rest of the season because it's supposed to get a little bit lighter and I wonder if there is hope for the second half of the season that it's not going to be what we thought it was going to be, which is this historical regression coming out of a huge workload season, I didn't expect it to be this big, down to 13 and a half points per game, but I did expect a little bit of regression. So for me, just because of what you drafted or where you drafted him, you could have had basically anyone other than Jamar Chase and Bajan and you could have had, you know, any of the running backs that I mentioned. That's why for me, Saquon Barkley is the bus this year.

[Field Yates]

Okay. Hard to argue with that pick right there.

[Daniel Dopp]

He I did think about Derek Henry because Derek Henry's actually been worse than Saquon Barkley.

[Field Yates]

Derrick Henry is a name. Genty is a name to a degree. Right. Absolute two sort of real guts.

[Stefania Bell]

It's really, if we define bust, it's performing at a level that is below the preseason expectation. Right. Doesn't mean that you are not talented or that you won't eventually be good. In fantasy is where we projected you to be and where you're showing up.

[Field Yates]

Yep. Yep. I mentioned this guy yesterday and I already said he's the biggest bust in fantasy football. So I'll just reiterate it. It's Trayvon Henderson to me, a guy whose ADP soared during the preseason we're talking about skyrocketed. Nobody had more momentum during the preseason as far as increasing draft value as Draveon Henderson did. He moved all the way up to like 42nd overall. I'm not sure if he's top 42 running back in a given week. Right now the Patriots are hardly playing him. He had half of a fantasy point this past week. The Trayvon Henderson, so he is unusable. The only hope going forward, I guess, is if something happens to Ramandre Stevenson. But Henderson is an abject bust. He is droppable right now. Hard to do so during Buymageddon week. Well, I guess it's not. On the one hand you might have to play him because you have no other running backs. On the other hand, if you need to add somebody and you have decent running back depth and you want to grab a quarterback or a tight end, then yes, you would be on the jobable list.

[Daniel Dopp]

We were tagged in a tweet by someone named the Real Billy Vanilli and he said, I drafted Treveon Henderson 42nd overall like an idiot. That punt return had me hyped this offseason. Is it safe to drop him now because Mike Vrabel just refuses to use him? Yeah, I know we all feel that way because that punt return we helped like the Juice in this like draft stock, right? Like, he looked so explosive.

[Field Yates]

You know, it's interesting is you guys, I'm sure you guys will recall these names, but Josh McDaniels was recently asked the Patriots offensive coordinator about about Trayvon Henderson and he was like, he to me is just on pace relative to where a lot of our running backs that we have drafted pretty high over the years have been Steven Ridley. You guys remember him?

[Stefania Bell]

Yes.

[Field Yates]

Shane Vereen. James White.

[Stefania Bell]

Yep.

[Field Yates]

Remember Shane Vereen?

[Daniel Dopp]

Of course. I'm just thinking like these names are not like Travion Henderson names to me.

[Field Yates]

Here's the thing. All of those guys were very. Were quiet as rookies, especially James White. Red shirted as a rookie. Basically, how good of a player did James White become?

[Stefania Bell]

And so solid. And touchdowns.

[Field Yates]

Guy was like, yeah, he had one of the greatest performances in super bowl history. Did James White. I say that only to say that maybe the Patriots are like, listen, a year from now he's going to be a big factor for us. But right now that ain't it. And it's not changing even with the depth that we have or lack of depth we have at running back.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah.

[Field Yates]

So maybe dynasty. I'm trying, I guess I'm giving a glimmer of hope to the dynasty investors in Travion Henderson. Who's your biggest bust?

[Stefania Bell]

My bust is Brian Thomas Jr. Yeah, I mean he. Because we had such high hopes after what we saw last season and I just think the contrast makes it feel more painful even than it would be if we didn't have last season to compare to four out of seven games with fewer than 10 fantasy points. Not what you were expecting. Wide receiver 32 on this season right now behind names like K, Sean Booty, Romeo Dodge Boy, Rashid Shahid. All doing better than Brian Thomas Jr. And now he's got a right shoulder injury coming out of last week to boot. Yeah, this doesn't feel good. And that's also a function of where you're like, I don't know what to expect out of this offense. You know, I look at the Jags, I'm like, well, their defense has been playing lights out. Their offense is wildly inconsistent. To me, sometimes I look at Trevor Lawrence and I think, okay, things are starting to click. And then other times it looks completely out of sync. Brian Robinson dropping some passes. Oddly at times where I feel like I'm not sure why that's happening.

[Field Yates]

It's a problem now.

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah.

[Field Yates]

Liam cone was asked about it after the game and you sometimes these coaches right after the games are the rawest, especially when they lose. You get the best answer insight by Wednesday. It's, you know, the thing about like Mike Frable, when he keeps getting asked about Ramon Dre Stevens, he's like, you know, it's a team thing. You know, like the blockers got to make sure they help out the quarterback has to make sure they help out. And I'm like, dude, I think it's probably the best. He's. He's so emotionally off the charts that he understands it. But I'm like, that's good, coach. Because after the game on Sunday, Liam Cohen was like just, he was just sort of like flummoxed. He was like, I don't really know what to say. Like, it's, it's, it's obvious to all of us how much of a problem it is for Brian Thomas Jr. And.

[Daniel Dopp]

As a Brian Thomas Jr. Manager, watching him not only get hurt, but then seeing Travis Hunter go off for the first time, it was like, man, that doesn't feel. Because if that train gets rolling, it might feel like we're going to all of a sudden see a shift right there with where they drafted Travis Hunter.

[Stefania Bell]

So for fantasy purposes, depending on your strategy when you were drafting, he might have been your first wide receiver.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, BTJ probably was.

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah. Because if you.

[Daniel Dopp]

Based on your strategy.

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah, exactly. Based on your strategy, you're like, well, that's fine because I can still get him as my number one wide receiver and he's going to be awesome for me. And that just has not worked out.

[Daniel Dopp]

Was there anybody else that you guys had? I mentioned I almost had Derrick Henry as a bust. He's only averaging 12.2 fantasy points per game. He was a high second round pick. The reason why I didn't choose him is because it felt like with Lamar not being there, there were like team contextual reasons. It wasn't just Derek Henry.

[Field Yates]

Nico Collins. Collins.

[Daniel Dopp]

Nico Collins. That's a fair one.

[Field Yates]

He's in that, I think, a similar category.

[Daniel Dopp]

Obviously we're staying away from all the injured players. Right. We're not talking we. I mean Joe Burrow, you know, male neighbors, those kind of guys. So yeah. Anyone? I think that's because it kind of felt like at the top there's like a handful.

[Field Yates]

Brown, five names. Coming off a great game, but.

[Daniel Dopp]

Coming off a great game, but that one was a bad one. Yeah. All right. All right.

[Field Yates]

All tight ends. We had a couple hours.

[Daniel Dopp]

Do you guys remember the breakouts that you chose? We wrote an article.

[Field Yates]

Yeah.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah. Mine was Jameson Williams, so I think mine was worse than yours.

[Stefania Bell]

Oh, wait, I have the winner. Mine was Marvin Harrison Jr.

[Daniel Dopp]

Okay.

[Stefania Bell]

Well, I thought this was going to.

[Field Yates]

Be the year that'd be a bust too.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah.

[Field Yates]

Marv could absolutely break out to bust, lads. A bust.

[Daniel Dopp]

We've got a Lad's a bust halfway through the season.

[Field Yates]

He's Been better the past couple of weeks. So maybe lad is more lads. Probably redeemed himself enough to take him out of that conversation, but he hasn't been great.

[Daniel Dopp]

So I think JMO and Marvin Harrison Jr are more belonging in that list.

[Stefania Bell]

Do you guys have as bus in the preseason?

[Field Yates]

Oh, God, I don't even name Joe Mixon.

[Stefania Bell]

Patrick Mahomes.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, Patrick Mahomes. D.J. moore, John, ooh, Smith, like, oh, and.

[Stefania Bell]

Travis Kelsey to go with Patrick Mahomes. Because these are guys that look, you're like, they're on their last legs. And relative to some of the people who look like rising stars, I thought, well, they can stay flat and the team can still be fairly successful, but we cannot love them in fantasy. Turns out that's not the case.

[Daniel Dopp]

I got my quarterback wrong. You guys said Patrick Mahomes. I said Baker Mayfield, which was just as bad of a choice. Baker's been unbelievable this year.

[Stefania Bell]

Look at this, right? Like, thank goodness they actually play the game. So that NFL, right? It really doesn't hold true, does it?

[Daniel Dopp]

I also, my other busts were Saquon, Jerry Judy and Travis Kelce. Okay, well, you got too bad.

[Field Yates]

Pretty good.

[Daniel Dopp]

Not too bad.

[Field Yates]

Pretty good right there.

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah.

[Daniel Dopp]

Let's dive into a couple of our YouTube questions, my friends. Our buddy Eric Moody is hanging out in chat right now. Samantha Crutchfield wants to know. Joe Flacco or Jackson Dart.

[Field Yates]

Jackson Dart for me this week.

[Daniel Dopp]

I agree. Jackson Dart.

[Stefania Bell]

Yep.

[Daniel Dopp]

Under 50% rostered. Still, go out and grab him while you can.

[Field Yates]

He's a quarterback for sure.

[Stefania Bell]

Plus he's going to run all over the field.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yep. This is. He kind of reminds me, it's the idea of even without wide receivers, just because of what he can do with his legs. I don't want to say without wide receivers, he doesn't have a ton of great pass catchers. So he's doing this in spite of that. So Jackson Dart is the number one answer for us there. Another question here from our YouTube chat. This one comes from Red Alert 206. Someone offered me CD Lamb for Jackson, Smith and Jigba. What do you feel about that?

[Field Yates]

Why would you make a. Yeah, I'd hold on.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, I think I would too.

[Field Yates]

Yeah.

[Stefania Bell]

Just because Target share, I think that's, to me, the selling point. Like CD Lam can have amazing games. The Dallas offense is excellent. They're going to be productive. But JSN is number one in target share week in, week out. That's not changing.

[Field Yates]

But there's really, honestly, like, you can make this trade it's entertaining. 1. It's. I'm not sure it accomplishes much.

[Daniel Dopp]

That's what I think. Either way, it's like a wash to me. I can.

[Field Yates]

I understand the trade and someone will lose the trade, but both of these players are amazing if you have five wide receivers.

[Daniel Dopp]

CD Lamb, you like that offense or situation more because you think the Cowboys are just going to score more schedule or something. But the problem for me is, I.

[Field Yates]

Don'T know, these things are sometimes done because it's fun to make.

[Daniel Dopp]

It's just a fun. Yeah, I would rather have JSN for.

[Stefania Bell]

Me to give away my best player.

[Daniel Dopp]

I agree with you.

[Stefania Bell]

Why would I want to trade something that's working for?

[Daniel Dopp]

Take it as a compliment that someone's trying to trade you a top seven draft pick for the guy that you drafted in the third round. Like that's what you're thinking about. Someone's trying to give you CD Lamb for jsn. That means you drafted well. So congratulations to you. All right, one more question here before we get out of here on a Tuesday. This last one comes from Lorenzo. I am out Gibbs and Kyron this week. I have Cook. Should I start Kareem Hunt or Isaiah Pacheco, or should I grab Taje Spears off of waivers?

[Field Yates]

I would rank them as Pacheco first, Spears second, and then Kareem Hunt third. Hunt has the best chance to fall one yard into the end zone.

[Stefania Bell]

Yep, he could fall into the end zone or just short of. Of it.

[Field Yates]

Just a little better from Isaiah Pacheco of late. Far from dominant, but trending up just a little bit over the past couple of weeks.

[Daniel Dopp]

This guy, this. This guy knows what he's doing. Because the whole point is both of those Chiefs running backs are not starters. They're clearly bench depth for his team. He doesn't have to. He's not like me having to wonder, do I roll out Isaiah Pacheco this week? Not this week.

[Field Yates]

Kyron James, Cook and.

[Daniel Dopp]

And Jameer Gibbs.

[Field Yates]

You have a great team.

[Daniel Dopp]

You've done really well at the running backs.

[Field Yates]

Three players to be in your draft.

[Daniel Dopp]

Good for you. All right, that's gonna do it for our show on Tuesday. Thanks for hanging out with me, guys.

[Field Yates]

Of course.

[Stefania Bell]

Congrats to your Lions.

[Daniel Dopp]

I wanna say one last thing. Today is my son Manny's 21st birthday.

[Stefania Bell]

Whoa.

[Field Yates]

Happy birthday.

[Daniel Dopp]

I just wanted to say happy birthday, Manny. Cannot wait to celebrate with you. Love you, bud. So proud of who you've become. And I can't wait to get out of here and go do some stuff with you. So I'm gonna leave these hooligans, go hang out with my family. Love with you guys. Today's show was presented by Little Caesars. Go check out Little Caesars. Get some pizza. Pizza. Don't forget to love each other. Be kind to yourself and we'll see you guys on Wednesday. Eight years ago I blew my football career.

[Field Yates]

He dropped it at the one yard line.

[Daniel Dopp]

Chad Powers has arrived on Hulu. If I can't play as Russ, I'll play as someone else.

[Stefania Bell]

My name's Chad and last name from.

[Daniel Dopp]

Executive producers Eli and Peyton Manning. Remember, you're wearing a prosthetic mask. This is acting and starring Glenn Powell.

[Stefania Bell]

He thinks you're a rubber chew toy.

[Daniel Dopp]

Not rubber. I'm a man made of flesh. The Hulu original series Chad Powers is.

[Field Yates]

Now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundled subscribers. Terms apply. New episodes Tuesdays.