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Field Yates
What'S good, friends? Welcome into Fantasy Focus, presented by Little Caesars alongside Mike Clay in a NASCAR shirt and field still wearing half his pajamas from last night. My name is Daniel Dopp. We are here to have a fun show. Does it kind of look like the top to a bottom, like a pajama set?
Mike Clay
A little bit. Can I feel that?
Daniel Dopp
Yeah. Please do.
Mike Clay
Yeah.
Daniel Dopp
Terry clock. Do you guys wear pajamas like pajama sets?
Field Yates
No.
Mike Clay
Okay. I don't.
Field Yates
Do you have any though? I would love to have like a pajama set to be in a ton.
Daniel Dopp
I have one Christmas themed pajama set that I got a long time ago that just like hangs around to be used once around Christmas time.
Field Yates
Gotcha.
Mike Clay
And by the way, I'm a man of pop culture, a man of the people. I was told today we wear orange today. Taylor Swift's new album. Oh, look at you, the color. So I'm just following the lead. And. And by that, what I actually mean is Little Caesars is orange.
Field Yates
That's right.
Mike Clay
That's what I meant to say. Also, shout out Taylor Swift, why I'm missing's owner, Redding Zone from. From my old neck of the woods.
Field Yates
What is the. What's the name of the new record?
Daniel Dopp
Mike of a Showgirl.
Field Yates
Life of a Showgirl.
Daniel Dopp
Mike and I got here a little more Daniel this morning and we were talking about, like, music. Mike was like, Daniel has no idea who Taylor Swift is. I was like, he probably. He probably thinks Taylor is DeAndre sister.
Mike Clay
Yeah.
Field Yates
Yes.
Mike Clay
But she could be mainstream for you.
Field Yates
That's right. Yeah. She's a little. Little too mainstream. Little too mainstream. No big deal. We got a very fun show planned for you guys today. We got a Thursday night football recap as well as part two of our week five preview. We're also diving into some of our starts of the week, and if we have time, we'll get to a mailbag. We'll see how that goes. But before we get into all this, I want to set the table on some things that we're going to need from our YouTube audience today because we're going to need some Participation from those of you in the YouTube chat. As a reminder, Field lost starts of the week last week, which means this week the punishment was stat chat gets to pick his starts. So here's how this is going to work. Throughout the show, I'm going to let you guys know that a new poll is open. We're going to start with the quarterbacks, then we'll go through each other position. We're going to going to have four players for you to choose from. One of those four is actually a quarterback or running back or wide receiver or tight end that Field wants to start.
Mike Clay
Yep.
Field Yates
You sent over a list of four people that you would love to be able to start. But you guys in chat get to decide. Do you want to pick the one that maybe you think Field wants to start to help him get a win or are you trying to troll him and you want to give him another player to hopefully lose?
Mike Clay
Are there some egregious ones in there?
Field Yates
Not like egregious egregious. They're all close enough.
Mike Clay
But I mean last night you were forced by, you had no choice but to start Mac Jones against me. And that went great.
Field Yates
That went so well.
Daniel Dopp
We have a dynasty, super flex league.
Mike Clay
Don't be afraid to get cute with it.
Daniel Dopp
You know, my team is Lamar, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flocko and, and Mac Jones. I tell you, I gotta be honest with you, after last night I was thinking to myself like Mack deserves to be starting somewhere next year, so maybe that Mac Jones piece could be become pretty valuable.
Mike Clay
Turn to look at him like the next Baker Mayfield next year.
Field Yates
He should be starting next week for the Cincinnati Benjamin. Guys, come on.
Daniel Dopp
He signed a two year deal with San Francis and yeah, so you can vote on starts of the week throughout the week. I wish you guys had voted for Mac Jones. We'll of course dive into that because we got this one wrong. Gentlemen, this to me is why sports are so cool. Is that I don't know how many games I felt more confident in going into it than last night thinking like, yeah, the Rams are going to take care of business against the 49ers. They're just so banged up. No, obviously Brock Purdy, no Juwan Jennings, no Ricky Piersol, no Nick Bosa. It was just ripe for the Rams come out there and take care of business. And as I'm sitting there watching that game last night, man, Kyle Mac Jones was exceptional. He was so, so good. He was cool as the other 22.2 fantasy points. But gosh, how awesome is Kyle Shanahan? Too.
Mike Clay
Yeah, and that's what I said. That's what I said in the off season when I was worried about the Niners because their roster didn't look that great. And what I said yesterday too, all day it was like, it seems like an easy Rams win, but I, I don't like being in the business of doubting Kyle Shanahan. But on the other hand, I don't like being in the business of doubting Sean McVeigh. And what a letdown for this team. This is a good team at home. It's this beat up Niners team. They're a better. I think, I think objectively speaking, the Rams have a better team and they lost this game. I can't believe they lost it.
Daniel Dopp
Well, let's talk about the things that they could have done differently to avoid losing that game. They missed an extra point with around 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Mike Clay
Fit your field goal game.
Daniel Dopp
They cannot, they cannot block on 48 yard field goal as well. Earlier on in the game from Josh Car, they also fumbled like the 1 inch line. Kyron Williams.
Mike Clay
Yeah, when the game, if he gets in there.
Daniel Dopp
But here's so like. So a lot of things that could have showed a Wooda and they get stuffed on 4th and 1 in overtime. That was the final play of the game. But for fantasy purposes, the one thing I'll say about the Rams is that like the Rams just do exactly what we need them to do, right? Yeah, they are just steady Eddie, you know, like Puka Nakua sort of started slow last night. Three catches for 24 yards in the first half and then he ends up with 10 catches for 85 yards and a touchdown. And you're like, oh yeah, he's the best player in the entire game.
Mike Clay
Breaking the mold. We talked about this on EBL last night. His catch prop is eight and a half that we've only since the start of 2023, including the playoffs. That's only the fourth time that someone's had a catch prop that high. No way. They almost always go under. The only one that went over before Dakua did last night was CD Lamb. And that was that packers playoff game where it was like 48 to 32. That's what it took for Lamb to get over that number. And Nakua just, you know, just another day at the office wouldn't have felt.
Field Yates
Like Nakua would have been able to get there because the game script, I would have thought that the range would get up so much. Right. You might even get to eight and A half.
Mike Clay
Yeah.
Daniel Dopp
So I think that like for the Rams we can leave it be here. Like the guys largely did what you expect them. Chop, chop. Kyron Williams did have that key fumble but 31.1 fantasy points with his first career multi touchdown game as a receiver.
Mike Clay
Yeah, and yeah, we've talked about that. It's rare to catch a single receiving touchdown, let alone two. He only has a handful of those in his career, but he played 90% of the snaps. Some of that was Blake Corum with that bad fumble early in the game. He also had a drop. So Kyron cemented himself as you know what we, what we thought you build it into existence.
Daniel Dopp
Daniel.
Field Yates
I unfortunately had just getting everything back to Kyron Williams. I saw just on that play really quickly with Blake Corum, that fumble, I saw a really funny tweet. I don't know if it's actually funny, but that fumble is counts as a rushing play for Matthew Stafford and because of where that took place. Yeah.
Mike Clay
Oh yeah.
Field Yates
It actually increased his rushing total for the season because it counts as a zero yard rush. That is a fumble. And because he had negative yards coming in, he went from like negative 0.25 yards per carry to negative 0.2 yards per carry or something like that.
Mike Clay
So good to get some. Yeah, some.
Field Yates
I'm the stat guy in the show. Everyone knows that. I love nerdy stats and I get a kick out of them.
Mike Clay
Speaking of stats, Kyron Williams, really quick, just a little respect for him. 16 plus touches and 69 plus yards and all five games so far this season, had a career high in catches with eight and receiving yards last night as well. On top of the two touchdowns, he has four touchdowns in five games. And check this out. Going back to the beginning of two seasons ago, his last 33 games, he has 35 touchdowns. 35 touchdowns in 33 games. He continues to just get the job done. One of the highest floors in fantasy.
Daniel Dopp
He has money. Along the same lines, we should probably pay Respects to Christian McCaffrey because he was unbelievable again last night. If Christian McCaffrey had zero carries for zero yards, he still would have finished the night with 22.2 fantasy points.
Mike Clay
Insane.
Daniel Dopp
He has held up. Remarkable.
Mike Clay
That is. That's awesome. From a fantasy perspective. The problem is that rushing output has been horrific. He's averaging 3.1 yards per carry this season.
Field Yates
Oh, he's in Saquon Barkley territory. How bad he's been.
Mike Clay
I know. What is with these guys.
Daniel Dopp
Niners have this very interesting split where they're amongst if not the best pass block win rate team in the NFL right now, but very near the bottom in terms of run block win rate. So it's. It's fine because Christian McCaffrey is catching like the second most passes in the NFL right now. But 27.9 fantasy points for CMC has been just remarkable. As long as he holds up, he's going to end up being one of the three to five most valuable players and all of fantasy beyond that. It got crazy for the 4 KB.
Mike Clay
One more quick nugget on CMC. 39 catches. Now in five games, he's on pace for 1.32.6. If he gets to 132, that would be seventh most all time. The record is 149. So he could literally break the receptions record this year.
Daniel Dopp
It's possible, yeah. He also, of course, would be shattering a record for running backs. I believe he actually already holds that. Christian McCaffrey is always close to. There was one year where Larry centers had like 110 catches as a sort of fullback, but also kind of a running back as well. But beyond CMC, everything last night was goofy for the 49ers. So I wanted to come in and ask like, is there anything that is potentially sticky as we look ahead to week number six?
Mike Clay
I wouldn't say sticky. I mean, 11 targets for both Kendrick Bourne and Jake Tonjas, but we expect 10 days of rest to have some healthier other players for the 49ers. George Kittle eligible to return next game. We don't know for sure if he will. Even then I think Ton just like, yeah, he had the 11 targets, but he hasn't been at that level in the other games.
Daniel Dopp
Cool story.
Mike Clay
Probably not a tight end one. And Kendrick Bourne, same thing. The only way we consider him is I think if both Jennings and Piersol are out for their next game. So no, I and I'm not going to race to waivers to pick up Kendrick Bourne. I mean, he's essentially their fourth receiver. So the only way I consider picking him up next week is if it's not looking good for the other receivers.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah. So let's keep an eye on both Tuan Jennings and Ricky Bearsall and of course Brock Purdy for week six. They play the Bucks, as Mike just mentioned, Kendrick Bourne, Mac Jones. It was the 2020 Patriots flashback.
Mike Clay
It was born.
Field Yates
Was good.
Daniel Dopp
Was Good Obviously in 2020 for Patriots and Mac Jones, just really cool story. 33 for 49, 342 yards, two touchdowns, 22.18 fantasy points. It almost Looked like Mac Jones was going to be out of the game.
Field Yates
Was that before halftime and full times.
Daniel Dopp
He had sort of a knee brace issue and it sounds like he got cramps at the same time that his knee brace got uncomfortable. But he's been awesome. He's been rock solid for this 49ers team. A great story and a huge win. The Niners are now four and one at least until Sunday afternoon atop the NFC west. And they could emerge from week five atop the NFC West, NFC west alone if the Bucks beat the Seahawks.
Field Yates
I just don't understand how this team is four in one with all the injuries that they've had. Like, good for them to be able to elevate, like the idea that you've been dealing with all this and you're still here. Set your actual NFL team up.
Daniel Dopp
So they have an amazing head coach. Yes, they do also have an outstanding defensive coordinator. I know that Robert Salo did not have a lot of success with the jets as a head coach, but man, it feels like he is just fit to be that 49ers.
Field Yates
One of those things is not like the other. I think the 49ers and the jets.
Daniel Dopp
But I tell you, they came into the season with some defensive question mark. They lost their best. Well, Fred Warner is also probably incredibly awesome, but Fred Warner and Nick Bosa are the two best players on that defense. And one of those two was out for the entire season. How fun is Fred Warner to watch, by the way?
Mike Clay
He's awesome. Just a difference maker.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah, I mean, one of the great players that we have seen over the last nine years he's been in the NFL and an amazing play on that fourth and one stop in overtime to end the game.
Field Yates
When you guys watch, are you watching the actual broadcast? Do you watch it, Mike? Do you watch it with all the analytics on the screen when you do it?
Mike Clay
I mean, I. I'm keeping an eye on, you know, snap counts and all that sort of stuff in the background on my computer.
Field Yates
So you're not even watching the game. You're just watching your competitor.
Mike Clay
Who's watching?
Field Yates
I do both.
Daniel Dopp
I don't both, sir.
Field Yates
That's fair. Okay. All right, let's dive into our. Anything else? You want us to talk about it before we move on from our.
Daniel Dopp
Let's get into the important style.
Mike Clay
Let's do it.
Field Yates
Week 5 Preview Part 2 Head on back to yesterday's show. If you want to hear the first part of our preview heading into week five, Mike, play question or no, I will of course allow IT field. Thank you for asking.
Daniel Dopp
Thank you for granting me permission. Are you announcing the polls as they go live or are they just in the chat?
Field Yates
As they. As they go live? It will. They will just already be in the chat right now. If the producers get in my ear, I'll let them know a new poll is up. However, at the very end, we will find out who everyone picks.
Daniel Dopp
Got it. Let's talk biggest storylines for week five. Mike is going first.
Field Yates
Mike's gonna go first.
Mike Clay
We have to talk about the Ravens because some fella by the name of Lamar Jackson. Who. He's been good in fantasy. I mean that guy and in the NFL, he's been a good player. Pretty important, I would say. I would say he's not playing in this one, so it's gonna.
Daniel Dopp
Don't think.
Mike Clay
Yeah, some implications. Yeah.
Field Yates
We don't get dad jokes set up. I was waiting for a dad joke there because I felt like that's.
Mike Clay
I mean, you know, that was sort of a dad joke. Just like. He's good, right?
Field Yates
He's good, right? We've heard of this guy named Lamar Jackson.
Mike Clay
Yeah. It wasn't my best effort, but we went with it. He's likely out. Cooper Rush will step in as the replacement there. You know, I think someone's going to talk about Derek Henry here.
Daniel Dopp
Right.
Mike Clay
So I'll leave that go. We'll just focus on the passing game here. I look back at last year. Cooper Rush subbed in for Dak Prescott in Dallas. In those seven full games that he played. Eleven touchdowns, four interceptions. His efficiency like completion rate 62% YPA was a little below average. But 233 passing yards per game is a pretty solid number. At least one passing touchdown in all of those games. CD Lamb was wide receiver 14 those weeks, which is not the level we want from him, but not bad. I mean, he's at least hanging on to good fantasy starter. This is a tough matchup. Houston second fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks. They've been not as dominant but still pretty good against wide receivers as well and tight end. So, you know, obviously we're not stopping starting Cooper Rush again. We'll get to Henry. Zay Flowers. Eight or more targets and exactly seven catches in three or four games this season. We're not maybe as confident in him. Although I will say this. Cooper Rush is not going to run at all.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah.
Mike Clay
So that could be. That could mean five more pass attempts, maybe target opportunities for someone like Zay Flowers. So I'm going to start him. I moved him down. He's wide receiver 20, but I'm still going to start him. Mark Andrews little trickier. He's been kind of all over the map. You're hoping for a touchdown. But he does have 13 catches, 121 yards and two touchdowns on 14 targets over the last two weeks. 20% plus target share in both of those games. So trending in the right direction even with Isaiah likely back last week. So Andrews fringe starter Zay Flower still a lineup block even with the downgrade Cooper Rush. We're not starting no one else. We're starting Rashad Bateman. Borderline guys? Nah.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah, this week. So we should just take it right from there to Derek Henry and just knock that out while we're on the conversation. So the question to me, the key point for Week five is can Derek Henry get back to his usual self? I thought about bringing some numbers and I did. Henry is averaging 12.5 fantasy points per game going into week five. He's RB22 on the season. The Texans have been 13th in terms of defending opposing running backs this season and fantasy points allowed. So middle of the pack ish. Not super dominant, but definitely not bad either. And Derrick Henry's highest percentage of snaps in a game this season is 58%. On top of that, Mike just mentioned there's no Lamar Jackson. It could be more passing attempts. It also might mean more rushing attempts for Derrick Henry if the team can keep things competitive. Given how much the Texans offense has struggled, maybe they will find a way to keep things competitive here. But putting the numbers aside, there are certain players we just say to yourself, like who cares about the matchup, the numbers, the metrics, all this. Like he's Derek bleeping Henry. Like can he just get it going? Because even if Derrick Henry plays against the 85 Bears, like he can rush 17 times for 200 yards and a touchdown. So a lot of different ways that you can slice this, but will Derrick Henry look like his usual self? Can he rumble, stumble and bumble his way to over a hundred yards and a touchdown? He is RB15 for me going into this week. Lower than where you were used to seeing him, at least early on in the season, but still a guy that I will have in my lineups this week.
Mike Clay
Yeah, Houston has allowed the third lowest EPA against the pass, right. So they've been very good against the past, but the seventh highest against their run. So you look at that as you know from a Baltimore's perspective. You think, all right, no Lamar Jackson, we have Derek Henry. Look at this matchup. We're going to run the ball as much as we as humanly possible.
Field Yates
Keep the ball out of Cooper Rush.
Mike Clay
As long as it's competitive. They're going to run it as much as they can. But of course Houston knows that, you know, so they're going to try to try to adjust to that. But again, Henry should be very busy certainly in the first half.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah, you would think so as long as his game stays competitive. But that flips to the other part of the first point that I wanted to get to today, which is can the Texans passing offense make hay against this Ravens defense? You guys see that Ravens could be without seven defensive starters this upcoming week.
Field Yates
That is brutal.
Daniel Dopp
Names that includes, by the way are Namdi Matabike, who's definitely out. He's their best defensive lineman. It's not close in the middle of that defense. Kyle Hamilton, their best player not named. Lamar Jackson, I would argue on the roster all pro safety. He sounds like he is not going to be able to play on Sunday. Marlon Humphrey not going to be able to give it a go. Nate Wiggins their top two out of their top three corners they're two top two. Their top two corners not going to be able to give it a go. Roquan Smith unlikely to be able to give it a go man. Kyle Van Noy, unlike to get unlikely to be able to give it a go.
Mike Clay
Anybody else that I'm Roderick Washington hasn't been up to speed yet. He's not ready to play. He's been a healthy scratch.
Daniel Dopp
So man, it's a Bangedarius Raven.
Mike Clay
They lost in the off season. I mean in the preseason.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah, so it's a very, very very depleted Ravens defense and we know the Texans offense hasn't been great, but they maybe found some things last week and I think Woody Marks we we've already discussed him this week right outside our top 20. But there is a case for Woody Marks in your lineups. We'll see whether he plays about the same role that he played last week. Few maybe a few more snaps, maybe a few fewer snaps. That being said, right on that borderline for top 20. But it's just a week that C.J. stroud has one of those like rookie season C.J. stroud games. Nico Collins go off against this Ravens offense defense. Excuse me, there's really not anybody besides Nico in the past catching group that you are comfortably or confidently starting right now. But maybe this performance after last week's performance can help build a little bit more consistency and momentum for an offense that coming out of week three when the Texans were zero and three felt like one of the shakiest in the entire NFL.
Mike Clay
Yeah, I mean, look, we saw the injury plagued 49ers rally last night and pull off a win. Maybe the Ravens do it here. I mean, it is the Baltimore's, at least at home that helps a little bit. But this is an opportunity, not counting anything to. To go into Baltimore. I mean, this is a game we would have said, all right, that's an L for Houston. Everyone would have assumed it's an L. Maybe not. You know, they have an opportunity and they only have one win. So much like Baltimore, they need it, I believe.
Daniel Dopp
And you guys can. Can cross check this when you had your computers ready. I think Nico's all the way up at like wide receiver three for this week in our consensus.
Mike Clay
Oh, and our views. Yeah, I have met two, but yeah, two, three right in that range.
Daniel Dopp
And Puka obviously has been removed with him out.
Mike Clay
Yeah.
Daniel Dopp
Yep. So Nico, you know, the. The stars are at least aligned for a potential big day for Nico Collins. Of course, no other Texans wide receiver is a sure thing to have a big role except for Xavier Hutchinson, who will find his way into the end zone.
Field Yates
All right, that's a long shot. Yeah. I was actually really hoping that Christian Kirk, like I was hoping eventually that in this offense, I'm just, I'll say this and move on with how bad we thought the offensive line was going to be. They have been about as bad as advertised. And I thought maybe Christian Kirk as like a slot guy closer to the yard of scrimmage. Like maybe he can just be like a nice safety blanket for C.J. stroud. That has not happened so far this year.
Mike Clay
Maybe it was her right. Just came back a couple games. So.
Field Yates
The Baltimore Ravens have allowed five touchdowns in the slot so far this year, most in the NFL. So maybe there is a Christian Kirk situation here. All right, I'm going to give you guys A quick Week 5 injury report, a couple of injuries to monitor just to make sure there are a handful. Please jump in and stop me if there's something you guys want to talk about. Otherwise I'm going to rip through a bunch of stuff for our people here. We're going to start with Bucky Irving in the running back spot. Did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. He has actually been pulled out of our rankings for right now. Rashad White put in his spot. He is currently a low end RB2 consensus has him as running back 22 against the Seahawks this week. You should plan on not having Bucky Irving, unfortunately.
Mike Clay
I'll stop you there. Tough matchup against Seattle for sure. 3.3 yards per carry allowed to running back so far this season. That's fourth lowest. Also zero rushing touchdowns allowed. However, this should be a ton of work for Rashad White. Remember two years ago, 299 carries and 69 catches at 10 touchdowns. Also in a lesser roll last year still had 53 catches and nine touchdowns. He's going to be the lead back with Sean Tucker as the two so I still feel good about him as a starter even with with, you know, the tough matchup.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah, I'm going to largely back down, but Jeremy Fowler reported just minutes before we got on the show that Bucky is not going to play this weekend and there's question about whether he'll play next Sunday.
Field Yates
Francisco all right, as we know, Mike Evans ruled out with a hamstring injury. Chris Godwin just to make sure that everyone knows coming off of last week.
Mike Clay
Good.
Field Yates
Yeah, he was full practice both days right now. ESPN wide receiver 21 for us. Brock Bowers unfortunately downgraded at practice this week. Went from limited practice on Wednesday to not practicing on Thursday. He's currently our tight end three but that's something to continue to monitor because if he doesn't go, you're going to want to make sure you have another tight end in your roster to be able to play put in his place.
Daniel Dopp
10:21Am I don't feel like it makes me a little bit uneasy. I'd probably be adding an insurance plan already just in case, but I hope by like 3:30 this afternoon Brock's back.
Field Yates
On the he's back on the practice field.
Mike Clay
Yeah.
Field Yates
Friday practice report will be big, big for a lot of these guys. Gaia will not be big four. Unfortunately Terry McLaurin has been ruled out as has Noah Brown again. So it looks like this is going to be the Deebo Samuel Show. Debo did not practice. Thank you very much guys. You're so good at this injury stuff. Debo did not practice either Wednesday or Thursday. He is traveling with the team. So there is a question like is this just extra arrest because they already know they're going to be without those guys. This Friday practice is going to be really big for Debo as well.
Daniel Dopp
Seems that way.
Field Yates
If he it's probably important as well just in case that you have a backup for Debo. Just knowing that he hasn't practiced the first two games. Just not someone in that 9:30 game. A reminder there is another 9:30am Eastern time.
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Field Yates
Chuba Hubbard did not practice Wednesday and Thursday is not going to go this week. It does not sound like which means Rico Dowdle Mike is going to be the next man up. What are we thinking about Rico Dowdle against the Dolphins?
Mike Clay
So I just put this projection update through right before the show started because I was like on the fence. Is he going to practice today or not? But he's rolled out so Rico Dowdle is in position for a big role. They are playing the Dolphins. They've been bad against. They're bad defensively across the board, but that includes the run. Rico Dowdle, remember in Dallas last year was over thousand yards. He was a solid player for them. He should be the clear feature back. Cause remember, there's no Jonathan Brooks there. So it's Rico Dowdle and it's Trevor ETN rookie and he'll get some run. I wouldn't be surprised if he has eight touches or so in this game, but it's going to be the doubt will show and he could very well have 17 or 18 carries and three or four targets in this game. And that's RB2 numbers. So he projected out pretty high 14 points. I have him at 18. I could go a little higher, but he's very much in that cluster of RB twos and if he's out there on waivers, scoop him up now while you can and start him.
Field Yates
Would you rather start Rico Dowdle as a backup running back this week or Rashad White who was also going to get the start?
Mike Clay
I'm going to go. I have have. It's a toss up. I do have White.
Field Yates
They're real close.
Mike Clay
But the matchup is definitely in favor of Dowdle.
Daniel Dopp
Right. It's like you could totally see Rashad White rushing 11 times for 28 yards but snagging seven catches for 60 yards.
Mike Clay
Is that Christian McCaffrey or is that Rashad White?
Daniel Dopp
Rashad White sounds like a CMC light last season. Two seasons ago. Excuse me. Yeah.
Field Yates
All right, couple more players here. Calvin Ridley did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. The good news is he was on the sideline working out in uniform. So this Friday practice is going to be important. I doubt you want to start Calvin Ridley. You haven't really wanted to so far. To start the season, he's wide receiver 31 against Arizona. If he doesn't go, Alec IO Manor would be the wide receiver one in this offense that you could look at.
Mike Clay
Maybe he's not a playmaker.
Daniel Dopp
I think the question I have here is I'm with you. I prefer not to start Calvin Ridley right now, but if he doesn't play, I'll be curious. Does that mean like are we getting 12 targets for Alec IO Manor? Yeah, he's already had a really solid target share to start the season. Or is it, hey, Calvin Ridley is out. It has no clear and obvious impact on elegy o Manor. It just means that somebody else steps into the Calvin Ridley snap.
Mike Clay
Of course though, Ridley finally like a decent matchup. Cause you know, a big part of his problem so far has been, you know, rookie quarterback, you know, figuring that. But like he's been shadowed a lot. He's dealing with some serious one on one coverage with some of the best corners in the NFL. He finally draws an injury plague Arizona secondary, a chance maybe to get going and he's beat up. So we'll see.
Field Yates
The Arizona Cardinals have given up at least 12 fantasy points to five different wide receivers. So if there is no Calvin Ridley, then maybe Elle Manor is sort of a flex option for you if you need it. Another one. Michael Pittman Jr. Was limited on Thursday.
Daniel Dopp
New ad.
Field Yates
Yeah. Was not on the practice report on Wednesday and then ended up being limited on Thursday with a hamstring injury. You never liked the midweek downgrade, so that's something to continue to monitor. Friday practice is going to be important. However they are playing the Raiders this week. Another really good matchup. Who have given the fourth most fantasy points to wide receivers. So if Pittman goes, he'll be like a top 20ish guy. If he doesn't. Is there another pass catcher? Is there another wide receiver? Because I think Tyler Warren is already a must start for us right now. Another wide receiver you'd want to start?
Mike Clay
I think you can pick from any of the three, honestly, because Alec Pierce we expect back from the concussion, he'll be an option. Josh Downs should see a little boost. He's been underwhelming. And A.D. mitchell, if that guy steps across the out of bounds line onto the field, he's probably getting targeted. That's just the way it works. He doesn't play a lot, but when he does, he gets targeted a lot. I know he had the huge mistake last week, but you know, he is a guy that is a playmaker for sure. So I would, I think any of those three are fine flex lottery tickets if you're in a tough spot. Love that.
Field Yates
That's our big injury report heading into week five. There's a lot of guys there. Hopefully if you have a few of them, you can be able to make a couple of plans here for your lineup.
Daniel Dopp
All right, and my next big takeaway or my next big preview point for week five is if you are somebody that has been starting Brock Purdy, you obviously already been doing this dance or Lamar Jackson, you could be in this situation right now. Maybe you have Jordan Love as your starting quarterback or even Caleb Williams your starting quarterback. You are looking for a backup. A streaming option. Is Bryce Young the best option available for you this weekend? Bryce Young, of course plays against a very leaky Dolphins defense.
Mike Clay
Yep.
Daniel Dopp
How about this? The Dolphins have allowed 26.5 points per game to opposing quarterbacks this season. Second worst in the NFL behind only. Can you guys guess?
Mike Clay
Oh, Cowboys.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah, the Cowboys. Who Bryce Young, by the way, plays next Sunday. So this could be a two week stay in your lineup for Bryce Young opportunity if he can pay off. I said this on the show a couple of days ago. You know, Bryce maybe has the most important two week stretch of his career coming up because if he can build confidence like the numbers suggest, he should be able to build confidence over the next two weeks. Not only will the Panthers be better off for it, but Bryce could sort of cement that like he is the kind of guy that you can build a franchise around. The question I think people are wondering for fantasy is okay, it's a great matchup, but how much upside is there for Bryce Young as a Player. You know the guys the Cowboys have faced. Jordan Love, very good quarterback. And Justin Fields, an excellent, excellent fantasy quarterback.
Mike Clay
Prescott, you mean. But this week you're talking about who he's playing this week.
Daniel Dopp
Oh, for the Dolphins. Sorry, for the Dolphins. I'm already thinking head to Daniel Jones.
Mike Clay
May, Josh Allen, Justin Field. So there's guys, they're guys that have been QB ones, which he is not exactly.
Daniel Dopp
So I looked at his, Bryce's career. He does in his, you know, basically two full seasons playing. Cause he missed time last year after he was benched. He has six top 10 finishes each of those games. He finished, no surprise, with 20 or more fantasy points with Bryce. He's one of those players who doesn't run much, but can run right back in week one he had a big game when he was rushing a lot, sort of by accident or due to scrambles. He has just 13 rushing yards over the last three games. So do I think there's a 20 point possibility here from Bryce Young? Yes, I do. It's less certain than the four guys that the Dolphins have faced so far because each of those four on top of, I think being better slash more accomplished quarterbacks than Bryce Young. I think each of them clearly is a better runner than Bryce Young. Right. We talked about Josh Allen, right? Duh. Justin Fields, duh. Drake made duh. And Daniel Jones also duh. So he has right around. I think he's quarterback 12 for me after going into the week. I don't think neither one of the starting quarterbacks last night was ranked ahead of quarterback 12. And that might be quarterback 11 now with Lamar removed. But the point is like he's not quite in the top 10, but he's darn close.
Mike Clay
Yeah, I would try, I would want to avoid if possible. I mean he's been under 12 fantasy points in three or four games and his one big game was 21 points against Arizona. I mean, I, I don't know that's.
Field Yates
What you're hoping for here.
Mike Clay
Ceiling under 160 passing yards in three of his four games. I just don't know if it's there for me. I mean you're right. If you're in a tough spot and you need to stream them, you have worse options. It is a great matchup, but I, I don't, I, I feel like he's one of them guys. A great matchup gets him from like QB 25 to 15 or in this case with guys, you know, 12, whatever it may be. I'm at 14. Yeah, but that's probably it.
Daniel Dopp
I don't know if I'd go the available quarterbacks this week. There's not a lot of other super.
Mike Clay
Yeah, I, I hear you. Yeah, I, I hear you.
Field Yates
I think he potential starts of the week. Mike, if we want to jump into the YouTube chat, we could vote for field to have to start Bryce Young.
Daniel Dopp
Okay. You guys can do that. Yeah. Anyways. Yeah. So Bryce has on paper it's a really good opportunity. Not just this week, but next. The question I think becomes how much upside is there? Which Mike also questions himself.
Mike Clay
And I'm doing a write and vote. Dylan Gabriel.
Daniel Dopp
Who you got?
Mike Clay
Mike, next up for me, what do you got?
Daniel Dopp
I should say.
Mike Clay
All right, I have a list of receivers for you guys. You're going to tell me, are they back a little bit? Are they all the way back? So back or all the way back, how you feel about, you know, potentially firing these guys up for your fantasy lineup, we'll start with Jordan Addison. 96% of the snaps last week, nine targets, 114 yards. Guys, he's at least eight targets in eight of his last 10 games. Going back to last year. 16.3 fantasy points per game during that span. Most of that was with Sam Darnold, of course. However, say what you want About Carson Wentz. 350 passing yards last week, has two passing touchdowns in both starts so far this season. Cleveland kind of mid pack against wide receivers. So what do you think? Back or all the way back?
Daniel Dopp
I would say back.
Field Yates
I agree.
Daniel Dopp
Because a lot of that yardage last week came on one gigantic play, which maybe that was the sign that he had been out for three games. He was running into daylight with no one around him. And then all of a sudden, next thing you know, he gets tackled by Steelers defensive back at like the four yard line. So I'm going to go back. Not all the way back, but back.
Field Yates
I think he's back as well. And I will say whatever I want about Carson Wentz. He's been fine. He's been only fine so far. I think if we had a better quarterback situation, I would feel better about Jordan Addison. That's a big part of why he's only back for me, not all the way back.
Mike Clay
But I guess the point there is like some quarterbacks, you're like, we're not, you know, we have no chance to win the super bowl or make the playoffs with this guy. But we also might be like, that's true for that team. However, he can get the ball in the hands of his playmakers and that's what we care about.
Field Yates
You know, we see another 300 yard game here, I'll be. I mean I might feel different about Carson Wentz.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah, I'll go back.
Mike Clay
Yeah. All right. I agree. Next up, Xavier Worthy. Week 4 Only 59% of the snaps, guys, so probably limited a bit. However, two carries and eight targets. He led the Chiefs not only in receiving but also rushing in that game, which says something about the Russian game too. That's a topic for another day. But you look at his last seven full outings and keep in mind this was without reference Rasheed Rice as well last year. So he was the number one as he is now. 8.3 touches, 93.7 yards and 20.9 fantasy points per game.
Daniel Dopp
That includes the Super Bowl.
Mike Clay
That includes the playoffs. That includes the playoffs as well, which I think should count. Those are the toughest games you're going to play as well. So he's been impressive even in those situations. The Jags past defense has been terrific. So tough, tougher matchup, we'll say. But what do you think? Back or all the way back? Any reservations? I guess is the better question.
Daniel Dopp
I'm going all the way back.
Field Yates
I would. That's what I was just going to say after last week. I was. I felt very trepidatious coming into last week. I wanted to see it on the field. After what I saw on the field, I feel very confident. If I have Xavier Worthy, if I could get out of the Xavier Worthy business and someone really wanted him, then I would consider the move. But I'm not going to like sell short just because he's coming back from an injury. I thought he looked really good so I would go all the way back as well.
Daniel Dopp
Keep in mind some of the data that Stefania shared via the Predictors last Sunday on FF now that like usually in weeks one, week one, you see like a 10 to 13% diploma in production. So if Worthy has room to grow as soon as this week, that's a good sign. And that if you get to like week four with the shoulder thing, you're probably out of the woods for the most part. Like of course anything could happen to any player at any time. But by week four, you start to feel really good about that player's chances of staying on the field for the rest of the season.
Mike Clay
Yeah. Remember Patrick Mahomes, after not being great in fantasy most of last year, really picked up steam the final month or so. You wonder when he has Worthy and Rasheed Rice, what that offense might look like. There's still a lot of hope for them to be very productive. So keep an eye on.
Daniel Dopp
I'll go back for me.
Mike Clay
Yep.
Daniel Dopp
Top 20 for me.
Mike Clay
I agree. I'm at 11, so I'm in. All right, next up on the list, we have two more Chris Godwin. Okay, Chris Godwin comes back. We mentioned him briefly before. Only 26 yards on three catches, so not great. However, he played 81% of the snaps and had 10 targets in that game. Guys, last year when he was the number two scoring fantasy receiver, he only had one game with 10 targets, so a high volume game for him. They're playing Seattle again on the road. This is the. The Seahawks have led the second fewest yards and third fewest fantasy points to receivers. They've been really good and that's with Devin Witherspoon injured. I mean, they've been struggling there. They might trade Reek Woolen. I mean, that's not the best set of circumstances, but they're still slowing wide receivers with that Mike McDonald defense. So he's the most man in all of Baltimore.
Daniel Dopp
Mike McDonald.
Mike Clay
Yeah. They could use him right now to coach up that group for sure. So Chris Godwin back or all the way back?
Field Yates
I want to ask you, when you say this, when you say context, like last time we saw Chris Godwin, he was wide receiver two in fantasy football. I don't think he's back to that. I don't think he's all the way back there. So what. When you say all the way back, what does all the way back mean?
Daniel Dopp
Like healthy, should be in lineups like top 25ish wide receiver.
Field Yates
I think Chris Godwin's all the way.
Daniel Dopp
Back then he's close to me. He's like right there on the, on the borderline for me. The two downgrades, Mike alluded to one or one of them is just the matchup.
Field Yates
Right?
Daniel Dopp
The Seahawks is no joke. They are no joke defensively. A little bit of rust last week, which stands to reason, right. Three out of those ten targets were caught. Did not look quite like his usual Chris Godwin self, which is zero surprise whatsoever. I think a week or two from now we will be talking about Chris Godwin being a good.
Mike Clay
Yeah, I would agree with that. I feel like I have him at 23 this week. Again, it's a tough matchup, but I feel like if he was a hundred percent and especially with Mike Evans out, we'd be like, he's fourth in our rankings, right. So he's not there yet. So I kind of. That kind of leads to your qu. You know that's kind of the answer to your question, right? I would say not all the way back.
Field Yates
Okay, so you would say back, not all the way back.
Mike Clay
So.
Field Yates
Well, this week with.
Mike Clay
He has a lineup lock though.
Field Yates
We've got DK and DJ Moore and Roma, Dunes A and Drake London. Like there's a bunch of guys that I feel like maybe pushes Chris Godwin into the. I might be starting him this week.
Mike Clay
I would. I would definitely start him in 12 team leagues and probably in 10 team leagues. All right, next one, last one here is Stefan Diggs. He's going revenge game, fellas. He's going to Buffalo. Revenge game here for Diggs. Weeks one through three, when I give you a quick comp here to show why I have some optimism here. Yep, weeks one through three, 54% of the snaps, 14% of the targets, had 112 yards on 15 targets last week, up to 63% of the snaps, 41% of the targets and add six catches for 101 yards and seven targets. He had almost as many yards in this game as he had in the first three combined. Obviously he was on the field more. He's 37th in fantasy points right now at wide receiver despite being 72nd in routes and having zero end zone targets. So the reason I lay that out is because he hasn't really played a lot yet and he's still top 40. So what does it mean when he actually is a full time player and we're starting to see that or we started to see that last week. The Bills, by the way, have allowed five touchdowns or receivers already, six most in the NFL. So I'm feeling very optimistic. I feel like this is what we needed for Diggs and now he's back into that lineup loss situation.
Daniel Dopp
Okay, already back, so all the way back.
Mike Clay
I think he. I have him 25th, so I think that's where he'll probably hang. I thought that was probably his ceiling could be a little higher, but I would say all the way back.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah, I'm going to go close to all the way back. But just back for right now.
Field Yates
I just want to say that the committee doesn't agree with you saying that Chris Godwin at 23 is only back, but at 25, Stefan Diggs is all the way back.
Mike Clay
I think Godwin's ceiling is higher at his age and what we've seen from him.
Field Yates
I have a problem with the premise of your game.
Daniel Dopp
Okay. I think that's what I need to break this up.
Field Yates
I think it Maybe we might have. We might have some words.
Mike Clay
No, I agreed with you on Godwin.
Field Yates
But you have a guy ranked higher. But I mean, again, we're talking semantics here.
Daniel Dopp
So that's. It's objective game.
Field Yates
I think that Chris, I think Stefan Diggs, we even saw this the first week that he came back. He had only like 11 routes run, and they threw him the ball six times. Like, it's clear that when he's on the field. And I think that's part of what you're saying. When he's on the field, he is their number one guy, without question. It's just. Can we get him on the field a little bit more? Yeah, it's been ramping up.
Daniel Dopp
Patience is a virtue, and I think both these guys will end up being really solid values based off where you got them during draft season. Diggs is getting there for sure. The Patriots offense is trending up for sure as well. Drake May looks every bit the part of, like, this really solid next NFL. Sorry, this really solid part of this next wave of NFL quarterbacks. It's a gigantic matchup on Sunday night. Not to. This is probably more of a real football conversation than a fantasy conversation. It reminds me of what I said about Bryce Young. But Patriots came into this year as sort of this trendy they can make the playoffs team if they win Sunday night in Buffalo.
Mike Clay
Giddy up.
Daniel Dopp
They play the Saints the following week. If they lose. I think it's like, we're not quite ready for prime time yet.
Mike Clay
Patriots big spot. Yeah, it's a good measuring stick for where they are in that division.
Daniel Dopp
Man. The Bills are wearing their. Their. What do they call the rivalry uniforms this weekend? Have you guys seen them?
Field Yates
I mean, I still don't understand when we call them rivalry, do they have a rivalry against the thing that their uniform is?
Mike Clay
Right.
Daniel Dopp
So I think it would have made a little bit more sense if played rivalry uniform games in which, like, it was whatever. Steelers and Ravens put them on. Packers and, you know, Bears put them on.
Field Yates
That makes sense.
Daniel Dopp
Awesome, right? Bills and Patriots have a rivalry. I just don't get why the Patriots aren't wearing them this weekend, too.
Field Yates
So, like, when the Cardinals wore them.
Daniel Dopp
Against the Seahawks, do they have.
Field Yates
That's because they have a rivalry with the Seahawks, not a rivalry against the sand. That was their uniform.
Daniel Dopp
Like the. Go ahead.
Mike Clay
Which one?
Daniel Dopp
Dolphins. I liked Dolphins. I liked. And I actually liked the Bills this weekend, too.
Mike Clay
I haven't seen them, so I'm gonna let it. I'm just gonna let it happen.
Daniel Dopp
We should Take a moment to acknowledge that there is on the short list of the best possible uniform matchups that you will find did you guys see the Bucks and the Seahawks are wearing their 50 years ago throwbacks this weekend?
Mike Clay
No, I can't wait.
Field Yates
We're getting a creamsicle and not creamsicle.
Daniel Dopp
They're going all white because they're the home team has preference of color. Yes. Even the all white Buccaneers throwback are awesome. So that right there uniforms, I miss those. I want the NFL to just go back to all the throwbacks. There are very few teams I guess like the packers and the Chiefs and the Raiders don't really have throwbacks. The Cowboys as well, but there are very few teams whose jerseys are better now compared to where they were like 30 years ago.
Field Yates
I would agree with that. Although I do love being able to have the color rush. Some of the color rush jerseys are now Anyways, let's talk about some football. I got one more takeaway here and then we'll dive into a few more things. We were just talking about Patriots wide receivers other side of that football game. Let's talk about Bill's pass catchers right now because we've been waiting to see has someone really established themselves as like the number one pass catcher for Josh Allen in this offense?
Daniel Dopp
Negative.
Field Yates
No they haven't.
Daniel Dopp
Nope.
Field Yates
I think they're all streaming bye week options is the way that I would kind of look at everybody here. Dalton Kincaid tight end 7 and fantasy points per game. When you look at where he's at amongst tight ends, he feels better than what his actual like like on the field. I test really tells you he hasn't topped six targets so far this year. He is a touchdown dependent tight end right now and he has been a tight touchdown guy. He has three of them so far to start the season. So without those touchdowns he probably wouldn't be up there in the top 10. But he is a streaming option if you need someone to tight end this week. And then I think the two wide receivers are the epitome of what you talk about where Khalil Shakir is a floor play and Keon Coleman is like that boom bus Play. Khalil Shakir 12 and a half fantasy points in three of his four games. Nine targets in week one but he had five or fewer in the other three games. I would have thought that there was more target share for Khalil Shakira with the way they utilized him last year as kind of a safety blanket, but he's been kind of the safe play and then Keon Coleman had that huge week one, 25 fantasy points. We all remember he had like 11 targets, eight catches over 100 yards. It was great. Exactly. Three catches in the next three games in each one of them. So he has been under 8 fantasy points in all three. If you need to utilize any of them, I think they're just streaming options this week and you're kind of asking yourself, what do I need? Am I looking for just floor, give me 10 to 12 fantasy points. I think that's your Khalil Shakir play. If you need more than that, then, then Ken Coleman is your dart throw. And it kind of feels like this is just going to be the Bills for the rest of the season. After the first month, we just haven't seen anybody really materialize as the number.
Mike Clay
One pass catcher here over, under any bill getting six targets in a game. I mean you're lucky to get to six. They all are five or fewer basically every game so far this season, including Kincaid. The only silver lining for him is his goal line work is up from past years. I don't know if that's going to sustain though because it didn't happen. It didn't the first two years in the NFL, so. And by the way, to your point on Shakir, his floor is not near where it was last year, down from 23% to 16%. Terrible. So they're just spreading the ball around and I think they're, they go into weeks like, all right, we're going to get Elijah Moore going this week. Last week Curtis Samuel was involved and was kind of, was kind of up there in terms of usage. They'll throw it to Tyrell Shavers. They'll get Dawson. Jackson Haas had a big, played a big role last week. Duncan Concate only played a third of the snaps. They had Jackson Oz playing the fifth, fifth round rookie. Fifth round, I think fifth round rookie.
Daniel Dopp
From Georgia Tech via Yale.
Mike Clay
Wow. All right. Yeah. Okay.
Field Yates
That's not a normal path, is it?
Daniel Dopp
Usually pretty unconventional.
Mike Clay
Yeah.
Daniel Dopp
And the thing with the Bills is this falls into that category of can you blame them? They're four and oh, they look like the best team in the.
Mike Clay
From their perspective. Do whatever you want. I, you know, they're, they know how to win games. Sean McDermott's terrific as well. Another one of them difference making coaches. But from a fantasy perspective, the anti Rams. Yeah, we hate it.
Daniel Dopp
Yep, we sure do.
Mike Clay
Except for James.
Field Yates
Yeah, James. Yeah.
Mike Clay
Those guys are like those two guys.
Daniel Dopp
Yep.
Field Yates
Just clip, if you guys could just clip the beginning of that sentence and put it out on Social where Mike says we just hate all the Bills. Forget the Josh Allen and James fans are totally normal.
Daniel Dopp
Yes, they wouldn't for a limited time.
Mike Clay
At McDonald's, get a Big Mac Extra.
Daniel Dopp
Value meal for $8. That means two all beef patties, special.
Field Yates
Sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun and medium fries and a drink.
Daniel Dopp
We may need to change that jingle. Prices and participation may vary.
Field Yates
Talk about stepping up. It's time to level up your game. Introducing the all new ESPN app. All of ESPN all in one place. Your home for the most live sports and the best championship moments. The electricity is palpable. Step up your game with no annual contract required. It's the ultimate fan experience. Level up. For more on the ESPN app or at stream.espn.com sign up now. Eight years ago I blew my football career.
Daniel Dopp
He dropped it at the one yard line.
Field Yates
Chad Powers has arrived on Hulu. If I can't play as Russ, I'll play as someone else.
Commercial Narrator
My name's Chad and last name Liu.
Mike Clay
Jeff from executive producers Eli and Peyton Manning. Remember, you're wearing a prosthetic mask.
Field Yates
This is acting and starring Glen Powell.
Daniel Dopp
He thinks you're a rubber chew toy.
Field Yates
Not rubber. I'm a man made of flesh.
Daniel Dopp
The Hulu Original Series Chad Powers is now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundled subscribers. Terms apply.
Field Yates
New episodes Tuesdays Coming after you at all for no reason whatsoever.
Daniel Dopp
I love Bill's Mafia.
Field Yates
Anyone else you want to talk about? Any other big takeaways here in Week five?
Daniel Dopp
My last big preview point for Week five? We talked about that Bucks Seahawks game already a couple of times. My question is, does Kenneth Walker III continue to take control of the Seahawks backfield? Last week when they played Arizona on Thursday night, KW3 had 20 touches. Zach Charbonnet had 14. So that wasn't a total domination by Kenneth Walker III. And neither one of these guys has been super involved in the passing game. Charbonnet has just two catches for 5 yards all season. Walker has three times that many catches, six. But really, both of these guys have been utilized almost exclusively as rushers. And here's the point that I wanted to bring up with Kenneth Walker III. In terms of efficiency, he is at 0.85 ppr points per touch this season, again, mostly as a rusher. That's 0.26 points better per touch than Zach Charbonnet. Like a good total for Kenneth Walker iii. A bad number for Zach Charbonnet. So he has been A far more efficient player. I get it. And it's been talked about. It's like the most popular talking point when we discuss the Seahawks running backs. There's might be three good things from Kenneth Walker the third, and then he'll take a run where there was an obvious hole for 5 yards, try to bounce it outside and lose 3 yards instead. And that drives the coach up a wall. Right, Zach?
Field Yates
Get in there, Zach.
Daniel Dopp
Exactly right. Zach Charbonnet is kind of like do the steady stuff. I just think the Kenneth Walkley III is like a markedly better player. Yeah. And in a game that could be decently high scoring, even with Seattle's great defense, the Bucks are no joke offensively, even with their injuries. Maybe they have to get more explosive plays after out of Kenneth Walker the third. I would like for this Tide to continue to shift in the direction of KW3.
Field Yates
Do you think that's really frustrating for coaches where it's just like, man, this guy's clearly. You look at the eye test like this guy's clearly got more juice. He's more explosive, he's the better like on field running back maybe. But then it's like, I mean, I'm.
Daniel Dopp
Sure, I'm sure it is. It definitely is frustrating. But I spent a decent enough time around like running back coaches in my time in the NFL and the common thread amongst all them is they just like. Like the guys that know what to do, where to be and how to do it.
Mike Clay
Yeah. I don't think people know Field was in the NFL. He was a left tackle. People don't know.
Field Yates
People don't realize.
Mike Clay
Yes, clearly.
Field Yates
Yes, you slim down a lot, as a lot of left tackles do once they come out of the show.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah. The Mark Schlerith plan posted my playing correct.
Field Yates
Exactly.
Mike Clay
Yeah. Just wanted to make an observation. It doesn't seem like it, but Walker has either 110 yards or two touchdowns in three strike games now. So you had the bad week one. But regardless of this debate about playing time and what's going to happen with sharpening and distribution, he still is delivering three weeks in a row.
Daniel Dopp
Now my sense is that this will continue to grow in the favor of Kenneth Walker iii. I don't know that will ever get to the point that I think all of us feel it should. But after a disappointing, very disappointing start in week one and some concerning snap counts for Walker in weeks one and two, it at least is moving in the right direction.
Field Yates
You may have said this already. For some reason my brain is thinking, Mike, that you said it earlier Whether it was this week or in previous weeks. But as part of this, just the idea that we've seen Ken Walker III have a difficult time staying fully healthy so far to start his NFL career. And this is part of the. The devil you dance with when it's like, you know what, we'd love to not bring him off the field, but also we do want to manage his touches season long because he's had problems with health.
Daniel Dopp
We're seeing a lot of that around the NFL. Right. Like I was talking about Breece hall yesterday and Breece feels like he's playing a good amount and feels like he should be in line for even more work. But even this past year, Monday night when Braylon Allen gets hurt early in the game Breeze hall plays 63% of the snaps. So there are very few players that are on the Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey plan of 80 plus percent of the snaps.
Field Yates
Yeah, Mike, do you have another takeaway or is that it for you?
Mike Clay
Did I do all. Oh, I did one more. I have one more in here. It is our friend Evan Ingram. So let's talk about if we feel like there's reason for optimism after last week.
Field Yates
Only we have to even talk about.
Mike Clay
Was a rough start to the season. Obviously was injured as well. Only played 44% of the snaps last week. But. But season high in route participation. 59%. That's a pretty decent number. He had seven targets and four catches in that game. He did only have 29 yards. He's been under 30 in all three games so far. The Eagles have been very good against tight ends so far, but I'm just kind of wondering, is this a guy and I know you were high on him and I don't mean that. It's like an insult. Like I'm sure you have him on some team, so I'm wondering like you have him probably on the end of some rosters right now. He did see that boost in usage. Now again, back to full health. Played a lot more. This is a good offense. Played very well last week. Are you feeling like I might get my tight end one back here? Where are you at? Where's your head at?
Field Yates
I don't have Evan Ingram on most of the rosters that I drafted.
Mike Clay
So you already cut them loose?
Field Yates
I've already because of where the tight end position was at. I've either grabbed a Jake Ferguson or a Tucker Craft or Tyler Warren. Even was available in a few of like the shallower leagues that I've been in. So I have completely gone away from Evan Ingram. I think I have him on one roster still and that's just because I have an expanded bench, not the normal bench size.
Mike Clay
I think there's a. There's at least hope. I think now I feel a little better. It's not like he came back and was clearly buried behind Adam Troutman again. They actually gave him some run in in when they were throwing the football. So I think there's some hope here. We're not. But we're not all the way back. We're not back or all the way back. We're not even. I wouldn't even say we're all the way. We're. We're back yet. We're getting there though, like a push in the right direction last week. So maybe there's hope here.
Field Yates
He's rostered in 52% of leagues right now, so obviously, yeah, very available.
Mike Clay
Monitor, you know, if he's on waivers, put him on your watch list to see what happens this week situation to monitor.
Daniel Dopp
We're doing stars of the week here in just a moment. But when you said a lot of the rosters that Evan Ingram was on your team to begin the season, he's no longer on your team. I presume some of that's via drop. Some of that might just be benching him. Maybe some trades. Have you guys had any cool trades so far in redraft leagues this season?
Mike Clay
Yeah, I just had one. God, you got. You guys go.
Field Yates
I have not done any trades so far to start the the season.
Daniel Dopp
I the only trade that I've made Recently, it's our 16 team war room league. So it's deep. Obviously I have Brock Purdy as my quarterback. A lot of people do carry two quarterbacks in that league. Like Caleb Williams is a backup to somebody. Stefania has Lamar, but she also had Daniel Jones off of waivers early in the season. So the options are pretty thin on the trade market. Excuse me. On the waiver wire, I ended up trading Trey Tucker for Bryce Young to a team who has sort of a confluence of factors like they have a good quarterback but also have a lot of players in a buy this week.
Field Yates
And they just need bodies.
Daniel Dopp
Need bodies. Yeah.
Mike Clay
So we'll see.
Daniel Dopp
I mean Bryce, I need him for the next two weeks. Potentially that's helpful in it of the matchup because of Bryce. Excuse me, Brock Purdy's health.
Field Yates
I almost feel like 16 team leagues lead to more trading like that because the waiver wire is so desolate.
Daniel Dopp
It's just basically like I know this Wide receiver or quarterback isn't that great.
Mike Clay
Right.
Daniel Dopp
But they're like a usable piece potentially versus what's available on the waiver wire.
Field Yates
Sixteen team leagues, once you get to.
Daniel Dopp
Buy leagues and defenses are being added off the by waiver wire.
Field Yates
Oh, and I'm sorry by the way about saying go out there and grab the Rams and start them against the 49ers last night.
Mike Clay
I mean, jeez, the process seemed great there, but it was a swing and a miss.
Field Yates
Yeah. Not great.
Mike Clay
Yeah. Mine is shout out to my friends in the Canada Life Insurance League. Shout out IBM as well. I got an offer yesterday and my situation is I am 1010 team league. I'm loaded with receiver options because I picked up like Quentin Johnson and or whoever may be. Anyway, I have. My bench is just like all starting caliber receivers and it's just a good situation to be in. However, I have Sam Laporta at tight end. He's been underwhelming a little bit. So I got offered Keenan Allen, who I believe in, and Trey McBride for Ameka Buka and Sam Laporta and I took it.
Daniel Dopp
You know, that's just like a totally fair and even trade.
Mike Clay
I mean I feel like, I feel like I, I got in low on McBride and he's gonna be terrific and.
Daniel Dopp
Catch 90 to 100 balls height enough trade in the receiver.
Mike Clay
Yeah. And a book. I feel like I traded at his ceiling because when Mike Evans is healthy and obviously Chris Godwin's back now, it's just like I feel like he's going to come down a little bit from where I think if I'm not around where Keenan Allen is.
Daniel Dopp
Mecca book has been amazing. I'm not trying to take anything, I am not trying to take anything away from him. I think he has 15 catches in four games. Yeah.
Mike Clay
The volume is already a little bit concerning long term for, for the level he's at fantasy points wise. Right.
Daniel Dopp
So that's my word.
Mike Clay
My worry is my number. My worry. Yeah, but your stands for catches and when you have a healthy Evans in Godwin, what happens to a book? Is he going to be more boom, bust. I think he's going to end up at that Keenan Allen level. So I'm thinking if I could get that huge boost to tight end for a similar receiver when I have so many other starting options. Yeah, that feels like an easy, easy trade to pounce on.
Field Yates
Well, speaking of some starting options, why don't we dive into our starts of the week. Here's the question that I want to start with. Do we Want to unveil fields teams first? We do first and then let's chat. Okay. All right. So, Mike, why don't you go first? You were the number one team last week. I'll let you pick your team before I.
Mike Clay
Well, let's just do it again. We're going to start with Jackson Dart at quarterback. Yeah, I think he can get the job done here.
Field Yates
That guy sounds like the real deal.
Mike Clay
Hey, Real deal. Through a touchdown yesterday. Yes, sir. Threw a touchdown last week. 54 yards and a touchdown on the ground as well, gets the Saints top five. And with nine passing touchdowns already allowed to opposing quarterbacks, all four quarterbacks they face have scored at least 16 points. So give me Jackson dart. Rashad White's my running back again. I talked about the tough matchup in Seattle, but I think the volume will be tremendous here.
Daniel Dopp
You may climb up inside the top 20 soon enough, too.
Mike Clay
Yeah, you think so?
Daniel Dopp
Maybe he is.
Mike Clay
For me, he was outside for consensus.
Daniel Dopp
He might get there.
Mike Clay
Yeah.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah.
Mike Clay
That's what I kind of do remember, like, I look at higher on this than. Than you guys. Wide receiver. I'm gonna go devonte Smith here, and again, I'm gonna. Sometimes I try to apply things we talked about on the show. I expect Pat Sartan to be on AJ Brown in this game. That should open the door for Devonte Smith in this game against Riley Moss and Jaquan McMillan in the slot. So I think an opportunity for Smith to have a good game. Tight end. I'm gonna go Brenton Strange on this.
Field Yates
Oh, I thought about that.
Mike Clay
Not a guy I was super high on in the preseason, but he's trending up. Seven targets, six catches, and 10 plus fantasy points in two straight games. I talked about this earlier in the week. The Jags have trailed at the lowest rate in the NFL. They haven't had to throw the ball in the second half a lot, but in more competitive games, including this week against the Chiefs, there's an opportunity for him to see more targets. The Chiefs have been good against tight ends, but the competition's been light there. So not worried about that.
Daniel Dopp
So go.
Mike Clay
Written strange.
Field Yates
Love it. All right, Mike, I have got one crossover with you.
Mike Clay
Okay.
Field Yates
And that is the real deal. Little Caesar, start of the week, Jackson Dart.
Mike Clay
We're all in on this.
Field Yates
I feel like I got to be in on this guy in part because I just want free pizza. Not free pizza. 15% off on pizza on Monday. So, like, I'm. I'm very in on Jackson Dart actually materializing. The things we've Talked about, however, against the Saints. Feel really good about the situation. You laid out all the reasons why.
Daniel Dopp
Okay.
Field Yates
For the running back spot, you took an Eagle. So I thought to myself, well, I obviously have to take a Detroit Lion.
Mike Clay
No, I took a.
Field Yates
You took an Eagle. Not at the running back spot, but in your lineup. You took an Eagle. His name is devonte Smith. My line is going to be David Montgomery. Last week was not a Monty week. This week is going to be a David Montgomery week.
Daniel Dopp
All righty.
Field Yates
On the Cincinnati Bengals. Bengals have allowed the second most fantasy points to running back so far this year. Maybe a little bit of garbage time for David Montgomery in this one at the wide receiver spot. I'm going to harken back to my CSS DFS days for all those that miss it and go with a little bit of a stack here. Jackson Dart with Wandale Robinson maximizing some upside here. So I'm going to do a stack, doubling up on fantasy points. If Wandell gets involved right now, we think he's going to be the wide receiver one of this offense, unfortunately, with Malik neighbors out. So again against the Saints, good matchup. We'll kind of see. I'm flirting with some danger here because if one of them tanks, I could be in a really bad spot. Yeah.
Mike Clay
Because this is like. This isn't like a DFS tournament where it's first or last. You want to not be. I want to not be last. You're going first or last.
Field Yates
Yeah, a little. I like to put my. Yes, absolutely. I like to put my money where my mouth is, so. And the last one that I have here is a tight end I talked about a little bit earlier on in the show. Dalton Kincaid.
Daniel Dopp
Okay.
Field Yates
Three tight ends have hit at least 11 fantasy points against the New England Patriots so far this year.
Daniel Dopp
Yep.
Field Yates
Maybe there's a chance that Dalton Cade finds the end zone again. So my starts of the week are Jackson Dart, David Montgomery Wand Robinson and Dalton Kincaid.
Mike Clay
I feel like you said a lot of negative stuff about the Bills pass catcher, so that's a strange pick.
Field Yates
You know what I mean? I. I wanted. Oh, my God.
Daniel Dopp
Early on Friday. All right.
Field Yates
All right. Why don't we.
Daniel Dopp
I'm going to pull up the picks that I sent to Tyler a couple.
Field Yates
Of days ago, and I want to do this. We're going to throw up the polls. We're going to look at the polls as to who was available with where we were at. Who should field start at quarterback? Not even close. 59% said Jared Goff over Bryce Young, Jake Browning and Geno Smith. I almost took Jared Goff but I couldn't do the running back and the quarterback.
Daniel Dopp
This is a pretty good lineup.
Mike Clay
They did a good job for you.
Field Yates
Here at the running back spot. Mike, who does he have at the running back spot?
Mike Clay
Right, the running back, woody marks.
Field Yates
Okay. 60% over Amari D. Markado and Chase Brown and Ramon Ray Stevenson. Who would have thought in week five we would have said. And Chad did me right by letting me start Woody Marks over Chase Brown. That's how bad it is.
Mike Clay
They did you right on. I think every single one of these.
Field Yates
Yeah. Wide receiver position Alec IO man are 43% over Malik Washington and Keon Coleman and Cooper Cup. I like that call as well. And at tight end, Zach Ertz, 40%. Just Barry barely narrowing out Brenton Strange at 36%. Mark Andrews and then Chigo conquo were the other option.
Daniel Dopp
So I think this is just a testament to the fact that our chat knows ball. Yeah. I actually do love like I love the chat, just how engaged they are. So thank you to everybody who is a part of the community on a daily basis or even on a non daily basis. But I love the passion of you guys and in this case I love your picks as well.
Mike Clay
I'm hopeful.
Daniel Dopp
I actually feel pretty good about this. I don't. Yeah.
Mike Clay
I don't love this. I was hoping they would sabotage. Yeah, me too. But this tells me is they like you more than us. Which I don't like that.
Field Yates
I didn't need that in my life.
Mike Clay
Yeah.
Field Yates
I gotta be honest.
Mike Clay
I can't blame them. But I'm still unhappy about it. It.
Field Yates
You know, I think. I mean, listen, I think it's going to come down to one of two things. Right. It's going to be either Jared Goff or David Montgomery. Because when Montgomery scores three touchdowns on the ground, it's going to be really tough for you. Field.
Mike Clay
That's.
Field Yates
That's sort of my hope right now. So if.
Daniel Dopp
If I win, maybe you should bring me your Jared Goff jersey that I.
Mike Clay
Can win for a day.
Field Yates
Oh, why not? Why not?
Daniel Dopp
That'd be a punishment. That was a punishment previously.
Field Yates
It was. It was.
Mike Clay
Might have a Zach Ertz Eagles jersey.
Daniel Dopp
There's a job. If. If I win and Daniel loses, Daniel has to wear a Zachary. Sorry. A Jared Koff shirt.
Field Yates
A Jared Goff. That's. Yeah, there we go.
Daniel Dopp
Greatest punishment you've ever received.
Field Yates
That would. There'd be nothing wrong with that. I would be fine with you.
Daniel Dopp
Happiest guy on campus.
Field Yates
There is a little bit of chatter that chat actually, you know, was trying to. There were enough people in there trying to be able to give you bad picks, but the overall consensus field is that you just look so pretty. People are like, we can't do that.
Daniel Dopp
I have a question. Is there like a potential, like, where we just make this a weekly thing where chat votes for its own team. Team and we play against chat? I don't know how we reward chat, but like, we could almost get them involved in like.
Mike Clay
Or pick someone from the chat each week to make their own team. Might be the way to do it.
Field Yates
Oh, yeah. One person to be tribute for the chat every single week. That'd be a fun thing to be.
Daniel Dopp
Able to figure out.
Mike Clay
Find some way that you earn that opportunity. Well, yeah, we'll have to brainstorm this.
Daniel Dopp
Who can do the most push ups while also commenting 30 times.
Field Yates
That's it. Hey, shout out to our buddy Eric Moody as well, who's always hanging out in the YouTube chat with you guys. Love being able to have Eric in there. Do we have any time for questions today? Before we close out the show? Why don't we do a few questions from our mailbag.
Mike Clay
Hey, hey, hey.
Field Yates
Like I said over there on YouTube, our buddy Eric Moody. Follow him on social media at Eric and Moody. The first question we have. Not going to. This is from a guy. Someone in our chat wants to know. Full ppr. Travion Henderson, Rico Dowdle or Chase Brown.
Daniel Dopp
That's from. Just to be clear, that's from maybe K. O K. Yes.
Field Yates
K. Okay.
Mike Clay
Yeah, I don't see any problem with that. And I don't see the question. I think one of those. We're eliminating trivia and Henderson. Right.
Field Yates
So it's probably Rico Dowdle or Chase.
Mike Clay
Brown or Rico Dowdle. I. I have it. I've been back to back. I'm going down here.
Daniel Dopp
Yeah, Sam, I'm going down.
Field Yates
I as well would go.
Daniel Dopp
Rico doubt any pain in saying that or no, no.
Field Yates
With Chase Brown. No.
Daniel Dopp
He's got to set him free. Right.
Field Yates
If you love, let him go. That's yes. Field. That is it. That's where I'm at right now.
Daniel Dopp
Questions from a K. Okay.
Field Yates
Yeah, one more. We got another question here from our YouTube chat. By the way, thank you so much to you guys for hanging out with us every single day during the show. This one comes from slimes.
Mike Clay
It.
Field Yates
I don't know. I don't know. No, keep going. Mike, why don't you do this one?
Daniel Dopp
Let me see, though.
Mike Clay
Daniel's canceled if.
Field Yates
There you go. All right. I have Omarion, Hampton, Ashton, Genty, Breeze, hall and Quinshaw. Judkins went heavy on the rookie running back.
Mike Clay
You don't need us.
Field Yates
Which three should I roll with? This week's a little worried about the Raiders O line versus the Colts. You're. You can just replace Colts with every team the Raiders play. We're always worried about that.
Daniel Dopp
I think Hampton and Breeze are locks out of those three. Out of those four.
Mike Clay
And I have Judkins one. Yeah, go ahead.
Daniel Dopp
I was. I think it's just a coin flip between Gen Z and Judkins. Yeah.
Mike Clay
I have Judkins one spot ahead. So I I his lot. He. It sounds like he wants to bench Genty. I'm fine with that. That's why I haven't ranked yet.
Field Yates
I am okay with that as well. Way to go. Have. That's a solid running back room. I'd love to know what the rest of the team looks like. All right, one more question here from our chat. This one is going to come from our friend Xavier Xavion wants to know Tet McMillan or George Pickens? PPR. No, CD Lamb. George Pickens has been really hard right now.
Daniel Dopp
Really hard to bench him right now. TMAC has a good matchup as well against the Dolphins. But how do you bench George Pickens?
Mike Clay
Yeah, well, Sauce Gardner on the other side. It's the tricky part. But I still have Pickens ranked.
Daniel Dopp
It's been a slow start for Sauce this season.
Mike Clay
Yeah, he hasn't been as dominant, but I mean, no time like the present.
Daniel Dopp
To get on track.
Mike Clay
Yeah. Remember, the two guys he has shadowed so far were both similar perimeter number ones and they had 12 points. I think it was Evans and metcalf. They had 12 points and 13 points. So he fine against him. So this is the third one. It's going to be George Pickens.
Daniel Dopp
All right.
Field Yates
I would go with George Pickens in this one as well.
Mike Clay
Me too. I'm still. I'm still going with them even if we after all those things. Even though again, it's not like the Carolina passing game has been lighting it up. Bless you.
Daniel Dopp
Bless you.
Mike Clay
Match up here.
Daniel Dopp
Bless you again.
Mike Clay
Oh, yeah.
Daniel Dopp
You need like thunderous snore.
Field Yates
I don't mean to sneeze or. Yeah, yeah. I don't mean to. Usually I'm a four or five sneeze person. I'm glad it was only two. So that was great. I want you to know that Mama Dot texted me and said I tried not to pick the best player. For the record, I want to build feels character through losing. So I just want you to know my mom was actively rooting for you to not have good players.
Daniel Dopp
I really respect that from her.
Field Yates
Yeah, this. This is how it works. This is why you hang out and chat right now, my friends. That's what it's all about. All right, that's going to do it for us. Today. Fantasy Focus presented by Little Caesars. Don't forget to love each other. Be kind to yourself. Come hang out with us on fantasy football now. 10am and don't forget, Sunday, 9:30am There is another football game. Set your lineups accordingly.
Mike Clay
But don't watch.
Field Yates
No, don't watch the game. Just set your lineup and then come hang out with us on fantasy football now. We'll see you guys there.
Daniel Dopp
Tron Aries has arrived.
Field Yates
Hostiles.
Daniel Dopp
Repeat, we have hostiles.
Field Yates
Mating.
Daniel Dopp
Mating. Oh, my God.
Field Yates
There's hundreds of them.
Daniel Dopp
On October 10, we came here from the digital world.
Field Yates
The war for our world begins. What in God's name is that even imax?
Commercial Narrator
This is the end to this world.
Field Yates
No, it's not.
Daniel Dopp
But I can help you, Tron. Ares. We did. PG 13 may be inappropriate for children under 13. Only in theaters October 10th.
Field Yates
Get tickets now.
Podcast: Fantasy Focus Football
Hosts: Field Yates, Daniel Dopp, Mike Clay, Stephania Bell
Date: October 3, 2025
In this episode, the Fantasy Focus crew dives deep into Week 5 of the NFL season, offering injury updates on key RBs and WRs, discussing strategic lineup decisions, debating start/sit options, and spotlighting their “Starts of the Week.” The team also injects their signature humor and camaraderie throughout, while interacting with their YouTube chat, who this week get to vote on Field’s start/sit selections as a form of punishment.
[03:41] Unexpected 49ers Win
[05:13] Rams Missed Opportunities
[05:40] Fantasy Standouts
Field’s YouTube Chat Team (voted picks):
This episode’s tone is energetic, informative, and playful as the Fantasy Focus crew delivers a sharp mix of strategy, injury analysis, and bold takes. The unique community feel—with real-time chat participation and self-deprecating banter—makes a must-listen for weekly fantasy managers seeking up-to-the-minute context. All key injuries, start/sit dilemmas, and breakout player trends are covered with insight, stats, and accessible fantasy advice.
Want quick hits?
For more, tune in live on YouTube for community polls, mailbag, and the weekly “starts of the week” segment.