Week 14 Waiver Wire + Playoff Difference Makers

Summary

Fantasy Focus Football: Week 14 Waiver Wire + Playoff Difference Makers

Release Date: December 3, 2024

In this engaging episode of ESPN's "Fantasy Focus Football," hosts Field Yates, Daniel Dopp, Stephania Bell, and Mike Clay delve deep into the strategic maneuvers essential for Week 14. Focusing on the waiver wire picks and identifying playoff difference makers, the experts provide listeners with actionable insights to bolster their fantasy teams as the postseason approaches.

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1. Highlighting the Week 13 Standout Game

The episode kicks off with a passionate recount of a thrilling Week 13 matchup that may be contenders for "Game of the Year." Daniel Dopp expresses his excitement:

"This might have been my favorite game to be able to watch this season." [00:56]

Field Yates adds enthusiasm about the game's close finish:

"For a game that finished with a nine-point margin... it was kind of everything just in very few of the ways that you would have expected." [01:02]

Jameis Winston's exceptional performance is a focal point, with Stefania Bell praising his ability to unlock Deebo Samuel:

"It was beautiful last night... he unlocked Jerry Judy." [02:44]

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2. Cleveland Browns’ Offensive Surge

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the Cleveland Browns' offense, particularly the resurgence under Jameis Winston. Bell forecasts a high fantasy ranking for Jerry Jeudy:

"We're going to have Jerry Judy ranked pretty darn high in our wide receiver rankings." [03:52]

Field Yates emphasizes the consistency of Browns' players:

"Nick Chubb had a catch... got a touchdown." [04:32]

The hosts commend the Browns for their increased passing attempts, attributing it to Winston's leadership:

"This offense is so much pass-happy with Jameis under center." [03:52]

3. Denver Broncos’ Defensive Impact

Field Yates shifts focus to the Denver Broncos, highlighting their defensive prowess that can turn the tide in fantasy matchups:

"My season is back, baby. Because of that Broncos defense, especially late in that game." [08:05]

Daniel Dopp remarks on the Broncos' reliability:

"This was one of those best fantasy points from Jameis." [09:14]

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4. Waiver Wire Recommendations

As Week 14 approaches, the hosts provide strategic waiver wire pickups to give teams an edge in the playoffs.

a. Cleveland Browns’ Assets

Stephania Bell recommends targeting Cedric Tillman to complement Jerry Jeudy:

"What does that do to the wide receivers?... where do we value Cedric Tillman coming in." [03:52]

b. Denver Broncos’ Isaac Garendo

Daniel Dopp and Field Yates advocate for adding Isaac Garendo due to his potential upside:

"He can absolutely scoot. He had that big long 87-yard run earlier on this season." [18:39]
"This is the priority. If you are in a league... Isaac Garendo is a must." [18:39]

Stefania Bell supports Garendo's acquisition, noting his past performances:

"He had 10 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown in Week 6." [20:32]

5. Critical Injury Reports

Injuries play a pivotal role in shaping fantasy outcomes, and the hosts meticulously outline the implications of key player absences.

a. Taysom Hill’s Season-Ending Injury

Stephania Bell delivers the unfortunate news of Taysom Hill's ACL tear:

"A big injury we saw him get carted off. Confirmed ACL tear for Taysom Hill." [13:21]

Daniel Dopp reflects on Hill's evolution as a fantasy asset:

"It felt like he had actually turned into a guy that we were able to count on." [14:16]

b. Trevor Lawrence’s Concussion Protocol

The suspension and potential sidelining of Trevor Lawrence are discussed, raising concerns about the Saints' quarterback depth:

"He had a shoulder injury... could be the end of Trevor Lawrence's season." [15:18]

c. Christian McCaffrey’s Injury Setback

The episode covers Christian McCaffrey's ACL injury and its repercussions for the 49ers:

"He's going on injured reserve. So you know for sure you aren't going to have him for four weeks." [16:02]

Field Yates underscores the necessity to drop injured players in favor of viable alternatives:

"So if you have a league that ends in week 17... I don't think you're gonna see Christian McCaffrey this season." [20:10]

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6. Playoff Strategies and Team Assessments

As the playoff hunt intensifies, the experts analyze team performances and offer strategic recommendations.

a. Quarterback Choices

The selection of quarterbacks becomes critical, with Russell Wilson and Caleb Williams highlighted as top streaming options:

"If you had someone this week I actually like Caleb a little bit more than Russ, but if I was looking for someone that I needed for the rest of the season, I like Russell Wilson a little bit more than Caleb Williams." [22:52]

b. Running Back Stability

DeAndre Swift's inconsistent performances amidst a tough schedule raise concerns:

"I'm panicked a little bit here." [35:25]

Field Yates advises caution in starting Broncos running backs unless absolutely necessary:

"You have to guess extremely right. I would do my best to avoid this backfield at least in Week 14." [07:40]

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7. Playoff Difference Makers

In the latter part of the episode, the focus shifts to identifying players who could make significant impacts in the playoffs.

a. Chicago Bears’ Wide Receivers

Daniel Dopp highlights the Bears' receivers Keenan Allen and D.J. Moore as potential playoff stars:

"D.J. Moore is averaging 21.4 fantasy points over that stretch." [40:32]

Stephania Bell underscores the offensive trajectory under Thomas Brown:

"The trajectory is in the direction where we would hoped it would go when the season began." [41:23]

b. Nick Westbrook-Amine’s Surging Form

Nick Westbrook-Amine emerges as a sleeper pick with increasing targets and touchdowns:

"He's coming off a two-touchdown week that takes him to eight touchdowns in eight games." [42:04]

Daniel Dopp emphasizes the importance of volume for fantasy production:

"He's making hay with what he's been given." [43:10]

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8. Listener Engagement and Playoff Race

The hosts share personal anecdotes about their fantasy leagues, highlighting the competitive nature as teams vie for the final playoff spots.

Field Yates recounts a pivotal game-winning interception:

"I needed eight points. I get the pick six. That's eight right there." [53:22]

Stephania Bell expresses frustration over a tough loss despite holding favorable matchups:

"Her team is not good... why did I deserve to lose that game?" [51:07]

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9. Closing Remarks and Future Episodes

Concluding the episode, the hosts encourage listeners to stay proactive with their waiver claims and prepare for the upcoming rankings review in Week 14. They also touch upon the emotional highs and lows of the fantasy season, fostering a sense of community and shared experience among fantasy managers.

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Notable Quotes:

• "Let's plant my flag on Jerry Judy as the wide receiver that's going to be highest ranked." — Field Yates [05:37]

• "Jameis Winston is doing everything he can to help us fantasy managers." — Daniel Dopp [09:43]

• "If you don't give up, you know, do not give up." — Stefania Bell [58:45]

• "This offense is so much pass-happy with Jameis under center." — Stefania Bell [03:52]

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This episode serves as a crucial guide for fantasy football enthusiasts aiming to navigate the final stretch of the regular season. By addressing waiver wire targets, analyzing player performances amidst injuries, and strategizing for the playoffs, "Fantasy Focus Football" equips listeners with the knowledge to optimize their fantasy rosters for championship contention.

Transcript

[Stefania Bell]

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[Field Yates]

Fantasy.

[Daniel Dopp]

Fantasy Focus hello and welcome to Fantasy Focus Football, presented by Wingstop alongside Stefan Yubel and Field Jates. My name is Daniel Dopp here diving into everything that is the end of week 13, my friends. Dude, we have said a couple times game of the year.

[Field Yates]

We have a, we've had a couple.

[Daniel Dopp]

Of island games that have been so much fun. This might have been my favorite game to be able to watch this season.

[Field Yates]

And for a game that finished with a nine point margin, like to be the game of the year has to be pretty special because it was 4132 final for the Broncos. But it had kind of everything just in like very few of the ways that you would have expected, right?

[Daniel Dopp]

Oh yeah.

[Field Yates]

What a game last night was. This was insane.

[Daniel Dopp]

Amos almost through for 500 yards, 497 yards, five touchdowns. Only four of them are to his own team. One was unfortunately to the Broncos as well.

[Field Yates]

Two of them to the Broncos.

[Daniel Dopp]

That's right. You're right. Two of them to the Broncos. David and Joku crush all the pass catchers. Crush it. Let's start with, let's start with Cleveland because I think they're a better fantasy conversation. Denver played their mind out like they're fantastic team. Congratulations to Bo Nicks. We'll dive into them in a minute. But Jamis Winston, like, can we use his name as a verb? Like he, there's no way that he could Jamis any better than what he did last.

[Stefania Bell]

Well, the verb or noun because we say live by the Jamis, die by the Jamis. And this was, it was, it was beautiful last night. And I thought wasn't it a Thursday night football game when he first played? We were like, wow, we got Jamis back. That was just the appetizer for the main entree which was last night. It was fantastic. It was everything that Jameis can deliver and you can feel your. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but to me it was like the, the highs of the highs and then the lows of the lows. So through you got everything. But I thought the most notable thing that he did for me was he unlocked Jerry Judy. Yes. Like that was a performance. I heard that Jerry Judy had more yards. I think Troy Aikman was saying it on the broadcast, but certainly I've seen it since. More yards against his former team than any other player in NFL history.

[Daniel Dopp]

Like the revenge game of all revenge games.

[Stefania Bell]

The revenge of all revenge games.

[Field Yates]

I mean it was incredible. And so we are focusing in on the here and now. But I just want to say this going into next year, please, Cleveland Browns, please, if you're still on the roster, please let us start because for fantasy purposes says it's nice to actually be able to use guys like David and Joku and of course Jerry Judy. And by the way, Judy heating up of late like this right here, not exactly a coincidence. Like this is something that's happening more and more by the week. Over the last half dozen or so games, Jerry Judy has been much, much more productive. He had a stretch not that long ago where he went three games with exactly one catch in each of them. Yep, he's been totally unlocked. This offense is so much pass happier with Jameis under center. The defense wasn't the biggest issue last. The issue was perhaps some self inflicted wounds from Jameis. But the bottom line is the Browns continue to beat in these negative game scripts that allows them to throw the football aplenty. Jerry Judy benefits. Elijah Moore went up over 100 yards. Thinking ahead to week 14, Jerry Judy 16 on a buy. By the way, we're going to have Jerry Judy ranked pretty darn high in our wide receiver rankings which will be out a little bit later on today on ESPN.com it'll be interesting to me.

[Stefania Bell]

You know, if you reintroduce Cedric Tillman who obviously didn't play in this game because of a concussion. Like what does that do to the wide receivers? I don't think Jerry Judy's going anywhere. I think he's elevated himself. But it's more about where do we value Cedric Tillman coming in who had been really a rising star for the Browns.

[Daniel Dopp]

You've been the deep threat it felt like in this offense. But when you look at everything, I'm just going to list off a couple stats in case you didn't get a chance to watch the game last night. David And Joku had 17 targets for nine catches, 52 yards and two touchdowns. Jerry Judy had 13 targets for nine catches and 235 yards and a touchdown. And Elijah Moore had 14 targets for eight catches and 111 yards.

[Field Yates]

Even Nick Chubb had 24 receiving yards. I was so thrilled watching him get.

[Stefania Bell]

Involved because, remember, Mike Clay was talking on Sunday about, you know, that was. The point was Nick Chubb had no catches and we really couldn't trust him. Well, he had a catch, all right, took it right into the end zone, got a touchdown.

[Daniel Dopp]

So, yeah, Rosie needed David and Joku to have a fairly decent night in order to win her matchup and make sure she got the one seed in her playoffs. And David and Joku delivered for her. So we were very thrilled in our household to be able to watch that. But just even if you're not a fantasy player, don't you feel like you had said this field, like, don't you feel like this is just more fun for Browns fans to be able to watch football like this than having Deshaun Watson?

[Stefania Bell]

It's fun for all football. More fun for all football fans. And I think even you gotta see the players. I mean, the players rally around him. There's an upbeat nature. They're confident, they're playing hard. And I think that that's the thing to me is at this point in the season, just as with fantasy football and real football, sometimes you see for the teams where they don't have a great record, are they. You know, how are people playing? Like, you're looking at the body language and the effort. Browns are playing.

[Field Yates]

Yeah.

[Stefania Bell]

Like they are playing hard. And it's fun to see and it's great for us in fantasy because you can start them with confidence.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, you certainly can. They feel like. So I would say if I were, like, planting my flag on the Browns going into week 14, it's Jerry Judy.

[Stefania Bell]

Probably not a good.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, not. Not coming out of rivalry weekend. You're right.

[Field Yates]

No, I'm going to plant my flag on my own yard.

[Daniel Dopp]

I'm not going to go to Daniels.

[Field Yates]

To flying and just try to, you know, barrel through Daniel's deck, which is a very nicely stained deck recently redone by Dan Great as always. He's a very handy individual DIY king. But for. I'm going to plant my flag again on my own yard on Jerry Judy as the wide receiver that's going to be highest ranked, obviously, amongst these Browns wideouts, Nick Chubb will be, you know, again, I think he's going to be kind of where he was because I know you can't just. I hate when people say, yeah, if you take away that one thing all the time, but Nick Chubb, like, Very pedestrian night as far as the rushing was concerned. I do want to hit the Broncos.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, let's talk about it because they.

[Field Yates]

Do go into their buy. But Cortland Sutton was awesome again last night. Six catches for 102 yards. Marvin Mims is a 93 yard receiving touchdown.

[Stefania Bell]

That was my favorite play of the night.

[Field Yates]

I mean the best throw from Bo Nix. One of the best throws of the season. Season. Absolute dart perfect. Well, it wasn't great last night.

[Daniel Dopp]

No, no.

[Field Yates]

He was uneven last night, but obviously does enough to help this team win. And what are we like? Sean Payton is flat trolling us right now. So Jalil McLaughlin has 14 carries for 84 yards last night.

[Stefania Bell]

I'm aware.

[Field Yates]

So early on in the game the bill the Broncos get stopped at like the two yard line. They have a chance to, to go for a touchdown there. They get one yard on the first carry and then Javante Williams punishes for the last yard. He's in. Touchdown. You're thinking to yourself like, oh, maybe it's a Devonte Knight. He finishes with four carries for one yard and a touchdown.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yep.

[Field Yates]

Four carries, one yard and a touchdown. I don't tell you. Right. Like three weeks ago it looked like Audrick Estimane.

[Stefania Bell]

We saw a Little Audrick Estimay.

[Daniel Dopp]

Three carries for 12 yards. That's how much we saw.

[Field Yates]

Right.

[Stefania Bell]

But that's, that's the trolling.

[Daniel Dopp]

Who got the other touchdown in that running back room?

[Field Yates]

Michael Burton.

[Daniel Dopp]

Michael Burton, fullback. Thank you, Sean Payton.

[Field Yates]

So the bottom line is this, is that if you're going to be starting a Broncos running back, you either have to do so because you quite literally no other options or you have to guess extremely right. I would do my best to avoid this backfield at least in week 14. You will not have them because they will not be available.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, this was one of those, one of those situations where it felt like for Denver it's really just Bo Nix and it's Cortland Sutton and there's nobody else. Everyone else is a dart throw, right? Yeah. The defense.

[Field Yates]

Defense who last night.

[Daniel Dopp]

Absolutely.

[Field Yates]

I'm going to table this for a little bit later on because I want to sort of spell it all out for everybody. And we're going to do so during our fantasy focus show league discussion wild series of events that I. I sent a large not fruit basket. I sent a big refrigerator's worth of meat. I figure NFL players probably prefer red meat to like, you know, bananas and plums.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yes.

[Field Yates]

Out to the Denver Broncos defensive room because they saved my bacon or meat puns in an incredible way that we will describe. It's going to be awesome. But I am thankful I am not out of the woods yet by any stretch. But my season is back, baby. Because of that Broncos defense, especially late in that game.

[Daniel Dopp]

I think maybe and this has nothing to do with fantasy, we'll close it out with this. But that two play scenario where it went from a 93 yard touchdown pass to a 70 yard touchdown pass seemingly on the very next play to Jerry Judy was like the most fun I have had watching football in a minute.

[Field Yates]

It's awesome.

[Daniel Dopp]

Just huge explosive plays both in. Watching both of these quarterbacks air it out like this is one of those games where I, I feel like we're going to be talking about at least this performance. Almost 500 yards from Jameis for a while. This is one of those best fantasy points from Jamis.

[Stefania Bell]

Jerry Jeudy with 40.5 fantasy points leading all wide receivers. Remember yesterday we were like, oh, you know, it's probably not going to. Yeah, it's probably going to be the end of the wide receiver. You know, we probably have our leaders for the week. And then Jerry Judy said no, I'd like a word. Not done.

[Daniel Dopp]

Jameis Winston is doing everything he can to help us fantasy managers if we have any of these pass catchers. You are talked about how Jerry Judy is probably going to be the top wide receiver for you feel Jades David and Joku going to be locked in as a starting tight end. Like set it and forget it. Don't even worry about it the rest of the season.

[Field Yates]

Back to back years again. I don't hate that. I'm like, I don't want this to sound personal because it's not. But back to back years, as long as Sean Watson's off the field, David Njoku is a star in Fantasy Football. A Bona 5 star. 17 targets last night, just an amazing amount of volume. Go David Njoku. This Browns offense more fun than I was giving it credit for.

[Daniel Dopp]

Totally agree. All right, when we come back, we're going to dive into a handful of injuries coming out of week 13 and jump into the week 14 waiver wire. We'll see you guys in just a moment. Today is Giving Tuesday a global day of giving. And it's also the start of ESPN's V Week when we continue Jimmy V's fight against cancer. You can make a difference today by supporting cancer research which is needed now more than ever. If you're able, [e-mail] donate that's v.org donate where 100% of your donation goes to cancer research.

[Field Yates]

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[Stefania Bell]

Omg.

[Field Yates]

Yes, it's an absolute riot and the only movie that can be described as.

[Stefania Bell]

So much weirder than the last time.

[Field Yates]

What last time it's the Frequel.

[Stefania Bell]

You ready?

[Field Yates]

We've been waiting for that absolutely slays.

[Daniel Dopp]

What deeply out of touch old person.

[Field Yates]

Came up with that?

[Stefania Bell]

You did.

[Field Yates]

Wow. Don't miss the comedy event of the summer for all ages. Disney's Freakier Friday in theaters this Friday. Get tickets now. Rated pg. Parental guidance suggested.

[Daniel Dopp]

Back here on Fantasy Focus Football Field Chase Stefania Bell. My name is Daniel Dopp. I just got to say in doing that Jimmy V. Read, you know, and, and by the way, one of the best things that we do here at espn, it's always a reminder whenever Matthew was on the show he'd always say donate to help fight against cancer research. And you would always like mix up the idea of fight against cancer and donate for cancer research. So just a little shout out to our buddy Matty B. For that one. Let's dive into the Week 14 waiver wire. I want to start with a couple teams that are on by and then Stefania will jump into. Yeah, there's a lot of teams on by and then we'll dive into the injuries here just in case you did not know. Teams on bye this week, the Ravens, the Broncos, the Texans, the Colts, the Patriots and the Commanders. I think the quarterback position is the position that has hit hardest. It feels like so far at least.

[Field Yates]

Three lock it in starters are out this week, right? Lamar and Jaden and Bo and you know, borderline guys and depending on how deep your league is.

[Stefania Bell]

Yep, yep.

[Field Yates]

Anthony Richardson and also CJ Stroud. Drake May probably hasn't crept up there yet but boy that man is ready for a breakout next tryin. Ooh boy, talking about him a lot.

[Stefania Bell]

This offseason and there's so few running backs that are really solid that you can count on for production each week and you're losing a few as well with Derrick Henry being out mix Jonathan Taylor, who had a nice week. I know.

[Field Yates]

So now that we Andre Stevenson, you're usable. Right. So it's, it's a tough, tough week. Thank you for absolutely nothing whatsoever. NFL we really appreciate the fact that in the biggest week of the fantasy football regular season, about 20% of the league is not blotching and really helps us all appreciate it.

[Stefania Bell]

On top of those being out for bye week, we also have some folks who are injured.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, we saw that yesterday.

[Field Yates]

Give me the wheelback, let's talk.

[Stefania Bell]

Well, I mean I don't love to bring up the injuries that are happening, but we got to start with one of the toughest players in the league who I saw a lot of comments about. We flew too close to the sun because people were really appreciating Taysum Hill and with all the injuries the Saints already had. Taysum Hill's role had really elevated of late, but a big injury we saw him get carted off. Confirmed ACL tear for Taysom Hill with other damage potentially still being evaluated. But clearly he is done for the season that sucks the most because unfortunate.

[Daniel Dopp]

I don't, I don't want to, I don't want to talk negatively about Taysom Hill in previous years, but it felt like he was always more of a gadget player than he was like a consistent fantasy asset for fantasy managers. This year with the last like little bit of a run that he's had, it felt like he had actually turned into a guy that we were able to count on and it was so much fun being able to see this guy that does literally everything on the field. So just a brutal injury.

[Stefania Bell]

Unfortunately for T also in the way that the Saints have been playing of late in the last few weeks and I think it really had, you know, turned around the vibes for that team, unfortunately for Taysom Hill. But we also have Trevor Lawrence again. If you saw him, we, we heard today about a suspension related to the hit that he took. He's in the concussion protocol now. It's, it's nice to say that Trevor Lawrence put out a tweet and thanked everyone for all the support and said that he's feeling better and you always like to hear that. But you have to wonder here if we will see Trevor Lawrence again because he had a shoulder injury, his non throwing shoulder, a significant AC joint separation. There was a question about whether he should try to play it out. There was even conversation about potential surgery which who knows if that's still in the mix as something that could happen. But when that was the debate and then you suffer an injury like this, it does make you think potentially that could be the end of Trevor Lawrence's season. But we shall see.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, that's really unfortunate.

[Stefania Bell]

I think definitive yet.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right, we'll talk about his backup quarterback in just a little bit. Stefania, unfortunately. Let's keep things rolling. Did I see that lad McConkey got hurt on Sunday?

[Stefania Bell]

You did. And if you've been watching any of the Jim Harbaugh pressers to reporters following a Sunday game, the reports when it comes to injuries, you pretty much know the quotes already. Lad McConkey, quote, Working through some things. Will he practice this week? Quote we'll see. That's your information on lad McConkey. So I, I can't help you out much there. They Jim Harbaugh makes it a point of not really saying anything about injuries. Not even unless he's asked about a player. Then he'll say something along those lines. So we will see. Watch your practice reports this week to see if lad McConkey is available.

[Daniel Dopp]

It was like Jim always puts on a master class and just being as vague as possible.

[Field Yates]

With Belichick out of the league, someone's.

[Daniel Dopp]

Got to take it off.

[Field Yates]

Someone's got to do it. And I am more than capable because Jim is truly one of a kind.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, he really is. All right, we're going to hope for the best for Ladd McConkey. We'll continue to watch this.

[Stefania Bell]

Definitely something to watch because he's been on the rise lately and again with all the other teams on by, I would say obviously if you have waiver choices to make, if there's somebody to scramble for, plan accordingly and then hope for the best.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right, let's go with this last one, Stefania. We unfortunately saved the best player in the NFL for last and I know this one is especially hard because it's like a two pronged situation.

[Stefania Bell]

Here it is and we're talking about my beloved 49ers and Christian McCaffrey, who we all know it took 10 weeks to get Christian McCaffrey back after the bilateral Achilles tendonitis goes out in the Buffalo game. Finally looks like he's rounding into the form of Pre injury Christian McCaffrey. What you were hoping for this season and on a potential breakaway play gets a shoestring tackle by Tyler Rapp, goes down hard on his right knee. A fall on the knee, a direct blow to the front of the knee can result in a PCL injury that is in fact confirmed by Kyle Shanahan. That's what Christian McCaffrey suffered. Now Shanahan, when talking to reporters was saying that it's been described as a six week injury to him. You can sort of do the math on that. He's going on injured reserve. So you know for sure you aren't going to have him for four weeks. Will they say it's the end of his season? They won't. But I think the way Kyle was talking about we hope to have him back and we expect to have him back healthy and ready to go next year. And he just sort of reiterated his love for the player, his love for how he works so hard and knows how gut wrenching it is for someone like McCaffrey to just be getting back and then be taken out for the rest of 2024. And on top of that, Jordan Mason, who we all the presumed backup to Christian McCaffrey, suffered a high ankle sprain in that game, somehow finished it out. We didn't know about it till afterward. He also is on injured reserve.

[Field Yates]

Man.

[Stefania Bell]

So guess what? Isaac Garndo is your next man up. But behind Isaac Garndo, it's probably Patrick Taylor off the practice squad. So if you want to go deep, deep, deep and you're just trying to find someone in case Isaac Garendo gets hurt. But I don't know. The 49ers offense is not what it has been. So you're rolling the dice to begin with.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right, well, that's going to take us into our playoff stash brought to you by Wingstop. Talking about guys you want on your bench heading into the playoffs and field Stefan, you just mentioned it. I mean Isaac Garrendo, the next man up in that backfield. We've seen him a handful of times this year and at times he's looked really good in this offense. It just depends on what you're going to need. But available in almost 99% of fantasy, he's a must.

[Field Yates]

This is the rare week 14. Whatever fat budget you have left, spend literally every last dollar. Is there a chance that Isaac Garendo is not as effective as Jordan Mason was early on in the season? And he's more like Jordan Mason in his last three full games as the starter in which he had under 10 fantasy points in all of them? Yes. But this guy has the goods to be a very, very productive player in the NFL. 6 foot 223 pounds, random 43340 coming out of Louisville after starting his career at Wisconsin Lot a lot of time on the bench because he was playing behind some stars in college football, so not a lot of tread on the tires. There's a good thing here for Isaac Garendo. He can absolutely scoot. He had that big long 87 yard run earlier on this season. As we know it has traditionally been a very fantasy friendly offense. So Garendo is the priority. If you are in a league in which you have, you know, you have the capacity to hold onto your waiver spot until you want to use it and you have that first spot, this is the time to utilize it here again, if you play in a fab league, risk it all here. If you play in a league in which the trade deadline is not behind us and you are higher up in the order, but you don't really need a running back, I'd grab Garendo right now, try to make a trade tomorrow morning for a team that might be more running back needy if you are still in contention. Again, that's a lot of exuberance for a player who may not necessarily give you 25 fantasy points in any given week the rest of the way. But we're week 14. The rest of the names that we're going to deliver to you guys are going to pale in comparison to Isaac Rando.

[Stefania Bell]

And by the way, the 49ers obviously had their buy. So you get Isaac Garrendo for good. And if you're wondering how he performed before when he was the one they were leaning on in Week 6, when Jordan Mason injured his shoulder, he had 10 carries for 99 yards. In Week 8, Mason aggravates his shoulder. Garendo goes 14 for 85 with a touchdown, with three catches for 17 yards. So he has proven it to them, meaning they will trust.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right, so both of these guys are going to be out unfortunately with CMC and Jordan Mason for at least four weeks because they've been placed on ir. That would take them up to your first time you could play them would be week 18 if you have a championship. So if you guys had either of these two comfortable dropping them.

[Field Yates]

Yes. I mean most leagues that I play and end in week 17 anyways. But if you do play in week 18, I just don't think you're gonna see Christian McCaffrey this.

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah, I, I don't either. I mean, if the team went for a crazy run, somehow made it to the playoffs somehow, we're looking at late playoff maybe. But it's really. I don't think the team's even thinking that way they're just focused on him getting healthy.

[Field Yates]

All right, agreed.

[Daniel Dopp]

So grab Isaiah Garendo and you can drop unfortunately CMC and Jordan Mason. And that is our playoff stash brought to you by Wingstop. Let's dive into the quarterbacks field. You and I talked about this at the very beginning. All the quarterbacks that are on by this week, I got a couple of guys you can consider and I want to start with Russell Wilson after a 400 yard game this week. Yeah, he's got a pretty good matchup moving forward as well. And he has had a couple of decent games since he came back as the state.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, he started six games for Pittsburgh. Now he has two or more passing touchdowns in three of them. He has three or more passing touchdowns in two of them. He has at least 264 passing yards and four of his six starts. What's been kind of impressive about Russ's take away from Justin Fields as a starting quarterback in Pittsburgh is he has a total of 27 rushing yards this season. For so long, Russ was not just a very talented thrower, but also the kind of guy that might get you 50 rushing yards in a game that ain't happening anymore. And he is still finding ways to cook. He may end up being the highest ranked of the streaming options available this week, but there are other quarterbacks that I would consider as well.

[Daniel Dopp]

Daniel is Caleb Williams being one of them?

[Field Yates]

He'd be the next one and he might even be ahead of Russ. He's got back to back weeks. Does Caleb with 26.1 or more fantasy points, believe it or not, he has four games this season finishing as a top six quarterback. Does Caleb Williams love that? For context, that's only one fewer than Jaden Daniels, which Jaden's obviously had a much higher floor but. But we've seen quite a bit of ceiling here from Caleb this year and he has 33 or more rushing yards in three straight games. In seven games this season, Caleb is not utilized as much as a runner as guys like Jaden Daniels or Lamar Jackson or Jalen Hurts, but very, very good runner in his own right. That adds to the floor of Caleb Williams.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, since Thomas Brown took over as the offensive coordinator, he has looked really good. At least 16 fantasy points in all three games, including over 26 fantasy points in back to back games. So it feels like with this shift in this offensive philosophy, Caleb Williams someone that you can utilize a much tougher playoff schedule than Russell Wilson. So I think I'm with you. If you had someone this week I actually like Caleb a little bit more than Russ, but if I was looking for someone that I needed for the rest of the season, I like Russell Wilson a little bit more than Caleb Williams.

[Field Yates]

To my knowledge. The Steelers still have to play the Bengals one more time, so that would be nice for when Russell has to play them.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right, let's dive into a couple risky quarterbacks. If you're in a 16 team league or a super flex league, just going to throw these names out there, they're not great. But you know what, sometimes you need somebody.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, I would say tread lightly here, guys. I get the. I know that we had some, some excitement surrounding Isaac Garrendo. He's very much the outlier in that regard. Sweet 14. So if you're adding a Will Levis who has been better of late and has a good schedule down the stretch, probably only in super flex. Same for Bryce Young, Aiden o' Connell and Mack Jones. O' Connell gets a good matchup this weekend against the Buccaneers.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right, so field if you had the rest of this. We talked about Isaac Girondo, we talked about the two quarterbacks. I think they're like the top ads. Yeah.

[Field Yates]

Who are the.

[Daniel Dopp]

Who's the next man up in your waiver line?

[Field Yates]

I'll give you just a couple of names you should have on your radar. Parker Washington from the Jaguars who last week stepped into a clear wide receiver two role. He played 80% of the snaps, just a few behind Brian Thomas Jr. As wide receiver one for Jacksonville. He had 12 targets. He found the end zone. This is a talented player. Was a 6 round pick out of Penn State. Has that long punt return touchdown earlier on this season for 96 yards. Good player. The Jaguars have to throw the football quite a bit most weeks because they have been playing from behind very often and then with no Gabe Davis, no Christian Kirk, not a great running game. Pretty good opportunity here for Parker Washington again in a deeper league. And then it is our legal responsibility to mention Nick Westbrook Akine. He breaks every model that Mike has ever come up with. Mike is reshifting the models this week because every time you turn he is scoring a touchdown. This past week though, he got eight targets as well. Those eight targets very notable for Westbrook Aquine who had basically been thriving off of minimal volume but lots of touchdowns. The man is breaking models and that's good enough that you know in this time of the year. Marques Valdez scantling Nick Westbrook Akine players like that who you're going into the final week of the regular season and you need to beat somebody who's projected to beat you by a decent margin. You throw these kind of high risk, high reward players into your lineup and you never know what can happen.

[Daniel Dopp]

And at the tight end spot, if you have one of these guys on a buy or you were rolling with Taysom Hill, I would just say that Pat Fryermuth and Taysom Hill's probable replacement in Juwan Jennings would be the next guys up, although we have lowered expectations for those guys, unfortunately.

[Field Yates]

Last thing that I want to say, and this is not tied to waivers, but it is tied to a player that we have discussed in Taysum Hill. Taysom Hill. Being out means something important for Alvin Camara. Have you guys seen the tear that Camara is on of late? Let me see if I can pull this up. I'm having Internet issues and I couldn't find the note that I had pulled up. But Alvin Camara over his last five games is averaging like 142 yards from scrimmage.

[Daniel Dopp]

100. And like, that's ridiculous.

[Stefania Bell]

Fortunate enough to have him on my Scott Fishbowl team and he's been sustaining it single handed.

[Field Yates]

Zero touchdowns in that stretch.

[Daniel Dopp]

No way.

[Field Yates]

Zero. So Alvin feels due maybe for a bit of a yardage regression, but he also feel due for a touchdown. They play the Giants this weekend. Good opportunity for Camara to go off. Store that thought away for Sunday afternoon.

[Daniel Dopp]

Rico Dowdle just crushed the Giants, so you know that Alvin Kamara should be in a room.

[Field Yates]

No more Dexter Lawrence, by the way, for the Giants. Yeesh.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right, we're going to dive into a little playoff panic or patience here on Fantasy Focus Football. My name is Daniel Dopp alongside Stefania Bell and Phil Jates. These first two, I'm going to do a little blind resume.

[Stefania Bell]

By the way, it's all panic when it's fantasy football playoffs.

[Daniel Dopp]

Feels like it.

[Stefania Bell]

Because every week you're like, is this person going to score for me or not? Whether they've been the most consistent at.

[Daniel Dopp]

Their position, win or go home for a.

[Stefania Bell]

It's a dart throw, you're still panicking. So we're here to try and tell you whether we're panicking along with you in particular or whether we're urging you to be patient.

[Daniel Dopp]

Exactly. Exactly.

[Stefania Bell]

Right.

[Daniel Dopp]

Couple blind resumes just for these first two at least. I want to give this. All right, this wide receiver, I'm going to give you some raw numbers and tell me whether just based on the numbers you would be panicking or be patient with this player. He is wide receiver 49 and 45 in targets on the year, wide receiver 49 in receptions, wide receiver 42 in receiving yards. He has one touchdown on the season and only two end zone targets culminating in a wide receiver 49 finishes through week 13 in total fantasy points.

[Field Yates]

I'm trying to guess who that is based off of the way that you described him. I am going to go with is that Alamode is Zacchaeus?

[Daniel Dopp]

It is not. In fact, it is Debo freaking Samuel, my friends.

[Stefania Bell]

I knew that and I didn't want to say it because it pains me to. I can't even talk about the 49ers anymore.

[Daniel Dopp]

Three straight games under 10 fantasy points. Unfortunately for Debo Samuel, he has not been the guy that we thought he was at this point. Stefania Bell, you watch this 49ers team closer than anybody else here.

[Stefania Bell]

I'm panicking and it's not just of out of the raw emotion of my 49ers. I'm panicking because his involvement just hasn't been there at times when you think it would be. I feel better about Juwan Jennings as wide receiver. I feel about better about George Kittle as a pass catcher in general in this offense than I do about deep. He might become a little more involved with the run game. We have seen that happen before when there's been running back issues, but he hasn't really had any big breakaway plays in the course of the season. So you could make other choices. We talked about this yesterday that you might surprise yourself with some of the choices you would make. But week in and week out, you have to look at what your options are and you may choose to go without Debo.

[Field Yates]

That's really the only thing that I can hope for right now, which is, hey, with no Jordan Mason, Obviously no Christian McCaffrey, Debo gets seven carries a game going forward. Grindo is going to be the guy. Patrick Taylor is going to be number two. As Stefania said, Kyle said yesterday they're going to add a third back somewhere, but you need that from Deebo. It's one of the great mysteries of this season. This is a guy who is getting older but he's not like deep. He's a 2019 draft pick.

[Stefania Bell]

He also hands special team stuff for them as well. And he has been doing kick returns. I mean just it's interesting. I just don't know how much more they're going going to give him or how it's going to play out in terms of productivity.

[Field Yates]

My this would be my own 2 cents and Kyle may disagree. Disagree. You may disagree. Anybody might disagree. The urgency needed on offense supersedes the urgency needed on special teams. That I would be.

[Stefania Bell]

We all agree.

[Field Yates]

Yes.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Stefania Bell]

I don't know if it will happen that way, but that's. Maybe they will use Patrick Taylor on special teams.

[Field Yates]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Daniel Dopp]

Whoever.

[Field Yates]

I don't know who they, you know, whether it's whatever. Jacob Cowing can return kicks. Like, they've got players that I think can. Like your replacement cost is cheaper at that kick return spot than it is on offense. They got to get Debo going and saying this forever. But I, I'm, I, I am. I'm very panicked on Debo. Samuel, I've been talking about for a month now. It's. It's been a rough, rough stretch. We need to see more from Deebo. I am very panicked. Panicked to the point that he is outside my top 30 in wide receiver.

[Daniel Dopp]

I was going to say right now he is the ultimate test of your nerves if you have to start him. If this is either the last week of your regular season and you're trying to make that playoff push or if this is your first week of the playoffs. He's so difficult. I am also panicked.

[Field Yates]

I do still feel good about Juan Jennings, though.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yes. Yeah. I mean, he's been doing stuff in this offense, unfortunately, which is not unfortunately. Fortunately, he's been doing stuff in this offense. He's taken over what feels like that number one wide receiver role.

[Stefania Bell]

No more snow games for the 49ers. So we got that going for us.

[Field Yates]

We do.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right. One more blind resume here. This guy is wide receiver three in targets, wide receiver five in receptions, wide receiver 14 in receiving yards. He's wide receiver 11 with five touchdowns, and he's 11th amongst the position in end zone targets, which culminates in a wide receiver 7 finish after week 13 in fantasy points. Just based on the numbers, that feels like a guy. I would definitely have patience on it does. That guy is Garrett Wilson.

[Stefania Bell]

I feel badly about that.

[Daniel Dopp]

After I say the name. It feels that you feel a little bit less good about it because those raw numbers are really great. But again, you look at what he's done recently. Three straight games, again, under 10 fantasy points.

[Field Yates]

So I, I, you know, you're probably still committed to Garrett Wilson just because of the volume that Daniel laid out there. I was trying to figure out, so, like, what's going on here? Like, how could Garrett Wilson.

[Daniel Dopp]

Well, if you could figure this out, field, everyone would love it.

[Field Yates]

I don't really have a Great answer for you. But what I will say is we have now seen seven games of Aaron Rodgers, devonte Adams and Garrett Wilson on the team. Ten touchdown passes for Garrett Wilson in those, seven for Aaron Rodgers in those seven games. So if it's not the touchdown upside, because touchdowns can go to other guys besides those two wide receivers, maybe you're getting great passing upside right, a la Seattle.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yep.

[Field Yates]

Gino's throwing for a ton of yards, a ton of attempts, just not a lot of touchdowns. Well, he has. Aaron Rodgers does under 250 passing yards in four of those seven games. So it's rare that you're blending both passing yardage upside down and passing touchdowns. So it has just been a completely underwhelming offense this season. Wilson has had bright moments since devonte Adams was traded. Heck, he's been, you could argue about as good as devonte Adams since the trade took place. But neither player has come anywhere close to the expectations that we hoped we were keeping for them, which was the idea maybe being, hey, they have devonte Adams. Let's take this offense into overdrive. Let's find ourselves two top 15 wide receivers. Numbers not close to that, not close to the.

[Stefania Bell]

Hasn't gone above 50 yards receiving since Week 9 against Houston. And here to me, to put it in a nutshell, as far as when I was thinking panic or patients, it's why would we suddenly expect change if you can't point to a reason why this is happening? To your point, like, if you can't understand, if you can't define what the problem is and say, okay, if this happens, it will change. We have watched over and over again hoping for a different result. Does that make us insane?

[Field Yates]

Yes, it does.

[Stefania Bell]

I think it does.

[Daniel Dopp]

I think so.

[Stefania Bell]

Therefore, I'm panicking.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right? I'm. I would say that I am panicked. However, I'm still starting here at Wilson.

[Stefania Bell]

You know, I have a choice this week especially.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, I mean, I. I don't think that. I think that there is. He never met the expectations field that you had just laid out, but he's not Debo Samuel level disappointment because he's still getting production. It's just not the production that we had hoped for.

[Field Yates]

So he's had stretches like Debo since, like week three has been very, very, very quiet. Like, very quiet. Like w been more recently good. Which I think offsets the sting just a little bit. And I think that this next player we're going to discuss is probably in a different category than the first two. This next player is Darnell Mooney, who has coming off of just five fantasy points, three catches for 20 yards on six targets. Here's why this is different. Yep, it's coming into the season. If I told you that you were going to get out of Darnell Mooney, what you've got in this season, you'd say I'll sign up for that no matter how it goes. Right? He was awesome. So just, just three games ago or two? Three weeks ago? Two games ago he had nearly 15 fantasy points after nearly 20 fantasy points. Back to back duds. Here's the wake up call. This is what we're going to find out. Like, I don't think this has anything to do with Darnell Mooney. Obviously this is not a way that this offense is functioning. It's is Kirk Cousins going to wake up or not?

[Daniel Dopp]

100%.

[Field Yates]

And Kirk Cousins in this team finds itself now tied with the Bucks, although they do have a decisive edge because they swept the Bucks. You guys may recall that Kirk Cousins turned into like Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes blended into one when he threw for 9,000 passing yards in two games against the Buccaneers. But they have no margin for error. They got to get it going. Kirk Cousins cannot be as terrible as he was this past Sunday. So I am patient on Darnell Mooney. I still feel pretty good about he and Drake London, who London last week mashed with targets. He had nine catches for 83 yards.

[Stefania Bell]

Right. And I also think like if Kirk Cousins doesn't throw four picks, we have a different Darnell move production day.

[Daniel Dopp]

So yeah, boy, doesn't every team in the NFC just wish they could play in the NFC south right now with how no one just wants to take control of that division. All right, let's talk about another running back here, DeAndre Swift. I mean this dude has been top 20 in basically every single category you can look at as a running back. He's running back 21 in fantasy points per game, but three of his last four games, single digit fantasy points, unfortunately. And I've been disappointed since Thomas Brown took over as the oc only only seven catches in three games. That's just not materialized, unfortunately. And based on Mike Clay's strength of schedule, second hardest schedule the rest of the way. He gets the 49ers this week, which is great. They give up the fifth most fantasy points to running backs. But then he goes back to back against the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions, who are second and third hardest against running backs. So I'm panicked a little bit here.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, I would say like, moderately panicked. And here's the reason why for week 14, again, you mentioned the good matchup. There's six teams on a bye on top of that. But you know, we've been sitting here like, it's almost like you can't have two emotions at the same time. Because one thing we have been praising the Bears for is we've gotten more from Keenan Allen, we've gotten more from DJ Moore. So it's almost like this offense is not talented enough yet or not well oiled enough to have both things happening at the same time. Big day on the ground, plus big day through the air because you have two receivers as opposed to one running back. And the running back is still like, he's still usable as opposed to where Keenan Allen was for that stretch. Or you barely use this guy. Like, because of that, I am moderately panicked. But again, I'm still going to be inside my top 20 for running backs this week.

[Daniel Dopp]

I'm in the same spot as you, but I'm still panicked about it. Doesn't feel great. He's one of those guys. Especially after this 49ers game. It's going to be a tough one. All right, I got one more player I want to throw at you. Kate Otten. I'm just going to throw this out there. Do you remember the hot streak that Kate otten had week seven through nine? At least 18 fantasy points in all three games. 10 targets in all three games. He has more fantasy points in that three game stretch than the rest of his nine games combined this season.

[Field Yates]

Surprised? So a couple things have happened here, obviously.

[Daniel Dopp]

One, Mike Evans came back.

[Field Yates]

Most importantly, Mike Evans came back. Two, Baker Mayfield has kind of cooled off a little bit. Right. This past week especially so because of the position that he plays. Still going to be inside my top 12 for tight end rankings. The big thing here with Kate Otten is that. And again, I said yesterday, you feel like you throw the term league winner around too much. He felt like he was getting into that John who Smith territory for that stretch. Right. We feel like John who Smith currently is and now John who has kind of like stolen that mantle from K Dot.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah. Which is not fair. I would rather, to be honest, both of them. I'd rather have both of them. Yeah. I also think is that we want.

[Field Yates]

Everybody to be great. Which if we wanted everybody to be great, it kind of reminds me when I talk about with. With golf and to be clear, not a great golfer. All right. Like, I aspire to be a great golfer. I'm not there Yet. But what happens to me when I do play golf is this, is that when I play well, I leave the course and I think to myself, I just made that frickin putt on 16. Or if I just not, you know, like gone bunker to bunker on nine, like maybe I'm, I'm parring there as opposed to, you know, triple bogey. And then when I play poorly, I leave and I go, you know what though? I sunk that putt on three. I did hole out on seven. I got up and down on seven, right? So it's like, like you can't have everything go great. So in fantasy, if all these guys are going full John Smith at all times, that's we would be boring. We have nothing to do here.

[Daniel Dopp]

You're right.

[Field Yates]

Just say, hey, you know, play this guy, that guy, that guy, whatever.

[Stefania Bell]

You know, I'm patient with K on. He's still getting a ton of targets.

[Daniel Dopp]

I'm, I'm with. Makes a ton of sense. And field, if you want to start feeling better about your golf game, just ask Mike and I to go golfing with you because Mike Clay and I are both awful at golf.

[Field Yates]

Stefania is pretty good at pip putt though. I know Stefania.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right, we'll see you guys back here on Fantasy Focus in just a minute. Download the ESPN BET sportsbook to claim your new player bonus. And for a limited time, unlock access to 30 days of ESPN to stream exclusive live sports. Sign up with the promo code Fantasy to get started today.

[Stefania Bell]

Abercrombie Kids back to school stock up sale is happening right now. Get 20 to 40% off almost everything including their new year jeans refresh.

[Field Yates]

Shop everything on your back to school.

[Stefania Bell]

Checklist in the Abercrombie Kids app online and in store offer valid in stores and online August 1, 2025 to August.

[Daniel Dopp]

5, 2025 in US and Canada.

[Stefania Bell]

Exclusions apply as indicated online. Price per flex discount on WhatsApp. No one can see or hear your personal messages. Whether it's a voice call message or sending a password to WhatsApp, it's all just this. So whether you're sharing the streaming password in the family chat or trading those late night voice messages, that could basically become a podcast, your personal messages stay between you, your friends and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Who's that 12?

[Daniel Dopp]

He's Daniel Duck back here on Fantasy Focus alongside Phil Jates and Stefania Bell. My name is Daniel Dopp. We're going to dive into a handful of playoff difference Makers, A couple of guys that you can potentially lean on in the playoffs that might make the difference for your fantasy squad. And I want to start this off, if you guys do not mind.

[Field Yates]

Go for it. Yeah.

[Daniel Dopp]

With the Chicago Bears wide receivers, I want to look at this. We've mentioned it a bunch of times. All right. But with new offensive coordinator now, head coach Thomas Brown, we got three games, enough of a sample size for me to be able to kind of extrapolate this a little bit for a playoff picture. Over that three week span, Keenan Allen, D.J. moore are tied for second amongst wide receivers and targets. They both have 30. 30 targets in three games. That's unbelievable. More. And this is over that same span, D.J. moore has more receptions than anyone else in the NFL. Keenan Allen is wide receiver 8.

[Field Yates]

D.J.

[Daniel Dopp]

Moore is wide receiver 6. In fantasy, excuse me, receiving yard. Keenan Allen is wide receiver 18. Keenan has three touchdowns. D.J. moore has found the end zone twice. D.J. moore is averaging 21.4 fantasy points over that stretch. So when I look at what he is doing, knowing that both these guys have 30 targets over that span and you look at what this unbelievable strength of schedule is for the second half of the year, it feels like we are in a really good spot for these guys. 4th easiest schedule the rest of the way. Based on Mike Clay's strength of schedule with both of these guys having 30 targets. And by the way, Roma Dunze, he's got 27 targets over that span as well. The production hasn't been there, but he's been getting the volume. This entire offense is doing this thing. It just keeps getting better and better with Thomas Brown being able to help uplift his rookie quarterback and that helps every single pass catcher in the game.

[Stefania Bell]

I was just going to say, if you want like the good vibe on it, it's that the trajectory is going in the direction where we would hoped it would go when the season began. Like much better that it's going this way than if it started with them all being productive and falling off a cliff. So I think, think peaking at the.

[Daniel Dopp]

Right time, 100% they are, you know, so.

[Field Yates]

But look, so like just last segment, you were saying, you know, you want more DeAndre Swift and you know, so like this is what I'm saying, the balance.

[Daniel Dopp]

You're right, you're right.

[Field Yates]

You know, like all those targets are.

[Daniel Dopp]

Going to the wide receivers and I'm happy about that. So that's, that's very fair. Who wants to go next? Javon, you want to take this?

[Stefania Bell]

I'll go next with A guy we already referenced in the waiver wire section. Nick Westbrook. Aine. Sometimes you need a guy to be a league winner for you. In the end, that is a guy you didn't know you needed.

[Daniel Dopp]

Right.

[Stefania Bell]

We could go and list all the players who are supposed to be productive, but here's a guy that nobody was talking about that Mike Clay insists all the models do not account for. And he's coming off a two touchdown week that takes him to eight touchdowns in eight games. You like that? If you play fantasy now, his touchdown to reception ratio is unlikely to be sustained. He's got eight touchdowns and 20 receptions. That's 40 in the last six games. I know, but his targets are going up. So that means his chances for scoring are going up and his fantasy production is going to be there. Because. Because it also is telling me that Will Levis is increasingly looking for him. So I like that it's going in that direction. These are also. The Titans are a team that does not have a buy coming up. So you don't have to worry about that. You're going to have them available. And best of all, take a look at the super enticing schedule that they face for the rest of the season. The jags in week 14. The Bengals. You know you can throw against them. They're at the Colts and they get the Jags again in an away game. Home to the Texans. Listen, this is an opportunity for Westbrook Akini to shine for your team.

[Daniel Dopp]

We got to project more targets because the production has been there. I just want to feel a little bit better about the volume. Stefania. But he's making hay with what he's been given.

[Stefania Bell]

And don't forget this is a time of year where the waiver wire may be slim pickings. You may not have a lot of great choices. You're not going to get your superstars and you probably can't trade because in a lot of leagues your trade deadline has passed. So.

[Field Yates]

Or tomorrow at noon for those that haven't had it yet.

[Stefania Bell]

For those that haven't. Right. So you may still be able to make a trade, but in most cases you're just trying to pick someone up off the waiver wire. He's available and I think he could be a nice roster stash if you need him. If one of your guys gets hurt when you go into the playoffs. Look, it's not like the roster. If you have a healthy roster in week 14, that's great. But you might get two weeks down the road when your receivers goes down, you could plug him in.

[Field Yates]

Can I ask you guys a question?

[Daniel Dopp]

Yep.

[Field Yates]

Do you guys usually have a consistent time that you do your waivers on Tuesday or like one in the morning? Basically like, you know, five minutes before it's due. I'm the, I'm a morning guy. I'm up with my kids early and so usually, you know, when we're settled in there and they're, you know, playing with dolls or whatever, I try to put some in and just to sort of put my money where my mouth is. Like this morning, other than attempts for Isaac Garendo, obviously, like, it's all defenses and kickers for me. Like just to sort, to sort of underscore that like maybe an occasional Westbrook akine. But it's more, it's much more the, you know, the kickers, the defenses, the, you know, Isaac Correndo, maybe a quarterback. And that's where my pick will land. It's Russell Wilson. We talked about him a little bit earlier on the schedule. Good. In some ways, at least in the short term. And it kind of depends on what you feel about his Week 16 matchup. So the Browns this upcoming weekend. We saw Bo Nix throw for nearly 300 yards last night. Just needed to be a little bit less turnover prone. Eagles in week 15, you don't like that? No. Baltimore in week 16, maybe you like that, right? Because we have seen Baltimore really struggle this season, but they played the Steelers to an absolute. Like that was a pitcher's duel when those two teams played. Pittsburgh won that game with six field goals. Kansas City in week 17, Christmas Day, the Chiefs, that team not playing as great a defensive late. And if you go to week 18, they play the Bengals. You love that. So Russ certainly has a chance based off of matchups, based off of how he has performed. We just talked about it earlier on in waivers to provide you some, some boost there at that quarterback spot. But in order to get to the championship, you're going to have to kind of figure it out for those two weeks, weeks 15 and 16, when he goes Eagles, Ravens, both on the road.

[Daniel Dopp]

Let me ask you this question. I think all of these are great, great choices here. Field, you mentioned defenses and kickers. Last week we were kind of promoting, hey, the Bucks have a really nice schedule and then they almost lost to the Carolina Panthers. Is that because the Bucks are bad or because the Panthers are doing that thing that you talked about yesterday? They're just playing with this fire?

[Field Yates]

Yeah, they're playing better for sure. The Bucks defense leaves something to be desired also for sure. Right. That being said, like for defenses and I want to, I want to talk about this more in our next segment because it is just wonky how defensive scoring works in fantasy football. Like you're just hunting. To me, you're always. I'm hunting sacks and I'm hunting turnovers. Turnovers much harder to predict than sacks. But I'll still take my chances based off of Tampa's schedule down the stretch that they can cobble together a couple of 10 point games.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah. All right. We're going to dive into the good vibes of the week.

[Field Yates]

Yeah.

[Daniel Dopp]

We got one guy that we're going to dive into. I mean there's a handful of people we could talk about a lot of good vibes that came out of this week. I know there was a lot of negative, negative vibes. But you can always find some really good stories to be able to be excited about. And I've been really pumped, man, this last week watching Adam Thielen, old man Adam Thielen, who's 34 years old, come out here and do 8 for 99 and a touchdown. This one handed catch. If you're watching our, our YouTube stream, it was unbelievable watching and making.

[Field Yates]

They're gonna win the game shortly after this. I did too. They had an attempt on a field goal to win it. They.

[Stefania Bell]

Look at that, look at that form. I mean listen, the guy who basically tore his hamstring earlier in the season.

[Daniel Dopp]

And he almost had another catch in the back of the end zone was bobbling it around like it was a shuttlecock back there. Like it was just one of those situations where it like Adam Thielen. Yes. Phil Jates.

[Field Yates]

Shuttlecock.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yes.

[Stefania Bell]

Admitton.

[Field Yates]

Spatchcocking.

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah. So we have, you know, what interesting.

[Field Yates]

Vocabulary on this show of late.

[Daniel Dopp]

I think, I think maybe we're gonna elevate.

[Stefania Bell]

You guys have elevated to more than one syllable.

[Field Yates]

I wonder if. I don't know, I'm not, not to make this about, but do you guys think that the South Carolina Gamecocks deserve a spot in the top 12 tonight?

[Daniel Dopp]

That's a great question. Deal. Jates, that is a great question. But by the way, I mean just I, I want to say this. Good vibes, 34 year old wide receiver that was hurt like you had just said. Stefania, being able to come out and be an incredible veteran presence for this Panthers team.

[Field Yates]

Awesome.

[Daniel Dopp]

And Bryce Young specifically, it's been so cool. I do not know how much longer he's going to be able to play at this level. He'll be 345 by the time that we play football again next year. But this has just been great to see.

[Stefania Bell]

I can't wait till the off season. So we. I'm going to make a whole dossier of all the people that Mike Clay said were too old to play football.

[Daniel Dopp]

I love it. Yes, Stefania.

[Stefania Bell]

And we're going to go through all the running backs and wide receivers and we'll leave the quarterbacks out of it.

[Field Yates]

Because, you know, it actually feels like the only player that. That actually aged this year was Justin Tucker. Like everybody else, you're like, not like they survived the test of time. That's true.

[Stefania Bell]

But. But yeah, it's fun to see. And remember when he was coming back, I said Adam Thielen was so excited about participating in team drills. Like, I've never seen this before. Yeah, no players excited about that. And he was so happy to be out there. And I think that's the wisdom that comes with having, you know, seeing the twilight of your career, having the experience and knowing it can get taken away at any time. And you love the guys who are playing with. With joy. Like. Like that.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah.

[Stefania Bell]

So let's reward it.

[Daniel Dopp]

So much fun to watch. Just. Just shout out to Adam Thielen and being able to feel like there's a lot of good vibes there, inspiring that whole team. Yep. It's been great. Let's dive into. I guess we have to the Fantasy Focus show. I need some inspiration on my show league team.

[Stefania Bell]

Nobody got robbed more than me. I just want to complain.

[Field Yates]

No, no, no, no, no. Somebody did. It's Kevin Pulsifer. But you tell here, so let's just dive in. We can go through it. Daniel, we don't have any visuals to support this. You can just each talk through some stuff here.

[Daniel Dopp]

I don't want visuals.

[Field Yates]

You want to go first?

[Daniel Dopp]

I'll go first real quick. I played the producer, our producer, Tyler Mo, who was on vacation this week. Thank you very much for not being here while we have to talk about this segment. He scored 199 points against me this week. Not even possible like, though, like that's the most of anyone has scored all season long. 199. It didn't make a difference what I did. I put up 137 and we don't have crazy scoring. Like, I had a respectable outcome and I came up over 60 points short against Tyler Mowbray and that was with Rico Dowdle doing some things. I had Lamar Jackson, I had Nico Collins, I had Trey McBride who had a billion targets and really Performed for me, it was. It's just one of those things where sometimes you come up against a buzzsaw, and that's how it works. I think that my playoff run is almost over. I don't think that I have a chance to be able to make it, but.

[Field Yates]

Actually you do. We'll talk about that in a second. Do I? Okay.

[Daniel Dopp]

All right.

[Field Yates]

According to the projections, you have a 55% chance to make it.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yeah, but I know who does those, so I just try not to lean into that.

[Field Yates]

You tell your stories to find. I'm gonna get into the wild ending that took place in my magic.

[Stefania Bell]

I just want to know if there is a bigger underperforming team in the universe than mine this week. So my quarterback, Bo Nix, who's been on Fire, produced 12 fantasy points. I was kind of a highlight. Derek Henry with 14.

[Daniel Dopp]

Highlight of 14.

[Stefania Bell]

I'm not kidding. And then Christian McCaffrey. We know what happened to him. I can't even be mad. I'm just sad. Bad. Cooper Cup, 4.7. What? Roman Dun, 4.5. Okay, I know he's been less targeted, but really. And then let's see. George KD, 1.7. Yikes. Aaron Jones, 9.8. Another. Like, it could have been more, but minus the turnovers. The Tampa Bay D. Excuse me. With two. I know.

[Daniel Dopp]

Panthers.

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah.

[Daniel Dopp]

How many players on your roster then?

[Stefania Bell]

Brandon Aubrey got nine. So again, like one of the highlights coming there. And you know, I benched Debo. I benched Debo because I was in fact panicking. And yet the other two 49ers failed me. And so it was. It was a tough day at the office. In a matchup that I was predicted to win handily over Liz Loza, her sorry team comes back and beats me by six.

[Field Yates]

Oh my gosh.

[Daniel Dopp]

I'm so mad.

[Stefania Bell]

Her team is not good.

[Field Yates]

Hold on.

[Daniel Dopp]

Liz loza won with 77 points.

[Stefania Bell]

That's my.

[Daniel Dopp]

I lost with 137.

[Stefania Bell]

My point. She didn't deserve to win.

[Daniel Dopp]

She didn't.

[Field Yates]

Three players get a zero cuz one of them was out.

[Stefania Bell]

I know.

[Field Yates]

She played. She. She played the. The. The Chiefs kicker in both the Fantasy Focus and the Fantasy Football now league and won both matches.

[Stefania Bell]

This is where fantasy karma did not do its job.

[Field Yates]

Why.

[Stefania Bell]

I mean, why. Why did I deserve to lose that game? And. And I was doing well. And now I'm worried about my playoff status.

[Daniel Dopp]

Well, you should be because you and I. I just realized this.

[Stefania Bell]

I. But I shouldn't be. Based on how I was performing earlier in the season.

[Field Yates]

All right, well, I feel bad saying my story now because I'm like, I got something positive how you tried to.

[Stefania Bell]

Like dominate and say oh no, oh no, no. Oh man.

[Field Yates]

All right. So as things stand, six teams make the playoffs. Four spots have been clinched and congrats to trophy smack who not only has clinched first round by but the number one seed in regular season again dominant back to back seasons of winning the regular season title. They couldn't get past me last year in the title. That actually matters. But that's neither here nor producer. Tyler in Jackson and Jello in Mike Clay also in the number two seed in a first round by up for grabs. There are three teams now tied with a 13 and 13 record, which would mean that Stefania, Daniel and I along with cousin Griffey are and Kevin Pulsar to a degree are kind of fighting. There's two spots left. Really. If the, if the three of us have a good week this week week, then those two spots are going to go to the three of us. But how about this? So as you guys know, I had a slow start to that league going into last night's game. I was up, excuse me, I was down by eight, like seven and change. I needed eight from the Broncos defense to win that game.

[Daniel Dopp]

Okay.

[Field Yates]

My matchup with Kevin Pulsifer. Yep, Kevin Pulsifer. At some point during that game, obviously the, you know, the early pick six. I'm thinking to myself, we're good. We're in the woods now because an hourly you get six points for an interception return for a touchdown.

[Daniel Dopp]

In the woods or out of the woods.

[Field Yates]

I think whatever. You're out of the woods. I'm out of the woods. I have a six point interception.

[Stefania Bell]

I was going to let it go.

[Field Yates]

I'm not level set here. I need eight points. I get the pick six. That's eight right there. Two for the interception, six for the touchdown as well. In this league, however, if you allow more than 30 points, you lose. Lose negative one. If you allow more than 550 yards, you lose seven points. So prior to the pick six, with like a couple minutes to go, the Broncos intercept Jameis Winston, as everybody saw last night. And the defensive player could have just. He actually fell to the ground as he intercepted. He could have just stood there like he could have just said game over. Because all we have to do is take knees and point. Once he realized there was no one around him, he picks up his. He keeps moving and he ends up returning it for a touchdown. That touchdown obviously gets me six more points. I win by 5.1. Six points.

[Daniel Dopp]

Oh, my gosh. So that meaningless interception for a touchdown.

[Field Yates]

I get the win. So now it's you, me and daniel all at 12 and 12. So this upcoming week. Week, yeah.

[Daniel Dopp]

You know who was playing each other this week?

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah. Daniel and side eye over there.

[Field Yates]

Wow.

[Stefania Bell]

You're predicted to win. But I still have McAffrey in my lineup. I haven't done my magic.

[Daniel Dopp]

You can leave them in there.

[Field Yates]

You can. Wow, that's fascinating. So just of note here, if the three of us tie for that last spot, you guys are going to end up getting in over me because I am definitely not going to win the points race. And in, you know, in this. In this case, it would be a points for. So I basically need to sweep Mike to get in because both of you know neither of you can go 02.

[Stefania Bell]

But you now have Justin Jefferson.

[Field Yates]

I do. And I'm playing Mike. You guys decide. America, you decide. Let me let America decide. Do you want me to beat Mike Clay, yes or no? You guys decide because, you know, I was thinking about this. Success is born from opportunity, right? Great success is born from great opportunity. I have a great opportunity. So, Mike, you're probably not listening to this, but if you are, if you don't want to set a lineup this weekend, that's fine. You know why? Because even if you do, you're not going to win. I will be eating you. My team is motivated. We are ready. Justin Jefferson, T. Higgins. We ready to go off this upcoming game. Juwan Jennings going off. Justin Herbert, bounce back. Game on Sunday Night Football. Watch out, Mike Clay. My team is coming. We're like Deion Sanders. We're coming.

[Stefania Bell]

Now.

[Field Yates]

You better watch out. Here comes.

[Daniel Dopp]

I'm going to be without two huge players in Lamar Jackson and one of my main wide receivers, which means you know what I'm going to do, Stefania? I'm going to spend 86 of my budget on Nick Westbrook. Akine to play the guy that you love so much so that I can win. Do you have more than $86 in your fam?

[Stefania Bell]

Not telling.

[Field Yates]

Isaac Grindo also available. Yeah, well, I mean, well, I'm going to do better. I've already put my claim.

[Stefania Bell]

It's not even fair. I mean, let's be honest. So we make the trade, right? That everybody looked at Christian McCaffrey for Justin Jefferson. But I being special, smart, I had Jordan Mason as the backup because I was gonna.

[Daniel Dopp]

Everyone knows you need the backup to the backup, though.

[Stefania Bell]

Well, apparently you need the Backup to the backup.

[Daniel Dopp]

That's so tough.

[Field Yates]

I think Mike. Yeah. His team is okay. I've seen better, honestly.

[Daniel Dopp]

Stefania, you and I are both hoping that Mike wins. And then regardless of what happens in our matchup, we both make the playoffs. Over field.

[Stefania Bell]

There we go.

[Daniel Dopp]

This is the only time I've ever been.

[Field Yates]

Have that happen because Griffey could go 2. 0, and if he does and he outpaces you by a decent amount. Daniel. Daniel. Then if he goes 2. 0 and you. And you go 0 2, then you're out.

[Stefania Bell]

Yeah. And Griffey's so nice. We can't.

[Field Yates]

Or pulse for that matter.

[Daniel Dopp]

So honestly, this is where it comes down to. I love these playoff conversations. For what it's worth. That's going to be so much fun.

[Stefania Bell]

We all have the same problems.

[Daniel Dopp]

Yep. Make sure you get your waiver claims. We are going to close this thing out, guys. It's been a very fun Tuesday show. For what it's worth, we're going to be back tomorrow. Week 14 rankings. Obviously, Mike Clay is going to be here with us. Six teams on a buy, like we've said, a bunch. So we're going to see. See what that's going to mean for our rankings. We'll talk through how you approach the second Bymageddon of the season. Stefania, is there any truth to the rumor that you're flying down to New Orleans to try out for a wide receiver tight end position?

[Stefania Bell]

No, I. I will put a stop to that.

[Field Yates]

Okay.

[Stefania Bell]

Now, it's been. It's something that's been heavy, heavily discussed.

[Daniel Dopp]

It has been. Any truth of the rumor you're heading to the Bay Area for a running back tryout?

[Stefania Bell]

That might happen.

[Daniel Dopp]

Okay. You still squatting? Four and a quarter.

[Stefania Bell]

I'd probably get hurt. I'd probably. I would just add to their injury woes. It would not be good. Would not be pretty. I might go out there for moral support. That, though, why not? Need a visit. I didn't go to training camp this year for the Niners because guess what? They were healthy.

[Daniel Dopp]

You know what?

[Stefania Bell]

See, that is. It's.

[Daniel Dopp]

It's like the reverse curse.

[Stefania Bell]

Curse.

[Field Yates]

Yeah, reverse.

[Daniel Dopp]

I can't believe that. Usually it's the other.

[Stefania Bell]

I'm very sad. I love my Niners.

[Daniel Dopp]

Well, make sure you get in all your waiver claims. Obviously, with all the injuries that we talked about today, there's a lot of people you need to make sure that you have lined up for the end of your regular season here in week 14. And we're going to be back tomorrow.

[Stefania Bell]

And a lot of things can happen. Like, do not give up. You know, do not give up.

[Daniel Dopp]

I think I saw we got a.

[Stefania Bell]

Like the Browns or the Panthers.

[Field Yates]

Yes.

[Stefania Bell]

Inspired fantasy football to close out.

[Daniel Dopp]

Exactly. And also, if you are out of the playoff race, don't add anybody off of waivers because you're not, you're not playing for anything. Leave those for people that have something to play for, my friends, at least that's how I feel about it. All right, that's going to do it for us here on Fantasy Focus for field Jades and for Stefania Bell. My name is Daniel.

[Field Yates]

Daniel.

[Daniel Dopp]

Today's show is presented by Wingstop. Come check us out tomorrow for a Week 14 ranking show with Mike Clay. Don't forget to love each other, be kind to yourself, get your waiver claims in, and we'll see you guys tomorrow.

[Field Yates]

It's no secret, not a mystery. The one that we depend on for all our podcast needs.

[Stefania Bell]

Graduate full sail, you alliance fan through.

[Field Yates]

And through with the hippest beard. I'm telling you he's in your top.

[Stefania Bell]

Who's that? Who's that squirrel? Who's that squirrel?

[Daniel Dopp]

He's in your top.

[Stefania Bell]

Who's that? Who's that squad? He's Daniel Duck.

[Field Yates]

You've seen the headlines, heard the debates.

[Stefania Bell]

The three point ball has created a monotonous rhythm to the game.

[Field Yates]

Has the three pointer ruined basketball? And how did we get here? The rise of the three point shot can be partially traced to an eccentric Kansas genius named Martin Manley, whose story didn't turn out quite the way he imagined. I decided I to, wanted, wanted to.

[Daniel Dopp]

Have one of the most organized goodbyes in history.

[Field Yates]

30 for 30 podcast presents Chasing Basketball Heaven. Available now wherever you get your podcasts.