Week 8: Who to Start, Who to Sit & Who Stays HOT! 🔥 | Fantasy Focus 🏈

Summary

Fantasy Focus Football — Week 8: Who to Start, Who to Sit & Who Stays HOT! 🔥

Date: October 23, 2025
Hosts: Field Yates, Mike Clay, Daniel Dopp (Stephania Bell not present)

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Overview

This episode kicks off the in-depth Week 8 preview (Part 1) with ESPN’s fantasy football experts breaking down essential start/sit decisions, trending players, and the crucial wide receiver–cornerback matchups. With "buymageddon" (six teams on bye) shaking up lineups, the crew unpacks RB and WR roles, injury updates, and sleeper options—from hot takes on breakout rookies to geeky analytics from Mike's Playbook. Expect actionable insight, playful debates, and a few deep-cut sleeper picks.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Running Back “Heat Index”: DeAndre Swift & Beyond

— [03:58] Field: DeAndre Swift is white hot, lighting up with back-to-back 100+ yard games and top-12 RB finishes in both Week 6 and 7. Despite the Ravens’ defensive reputation, they’ve actually allowed the 2nd-most fantasy points to RBs.

• “Swift is banged up… treating his DNPs as maintenance. He was obviously great last Sunday when he barely practiced all week. I’m assuming Swift is just fine and should be in line.” — Field [07:07]
• Swift projected as a locked-in top 15 RB.

— [05:13] Mike: Caution flag on Bears’ rookie Kyle Manungai. While he broke out for 17.4 points last week (81 yards/TD on 13 carries) and may be on benches as a desperate flex, Mike says: “He’s not a flex option for me… Swift is the clear lead back.”

• Manungai: “Maybe someday, but we’re not there yet.” — Mike [06:24]
• Projects him for just 7.8 pts.

— [06:40] Consensus: Swift fully green-lit despite minor injury, Manungai is more bench depth than starter.

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2. Wide Receiver Strengths & Concerns

— [07:38] Daniel: Raises concerns about Panther rookie WR Ted McMillan and whether Andy Dalton boosts his value with Bryce Young struggling.

• “Is Andy Dalton enough of a bump to get more out of Ted McMillan this week?” — Daniel [08:33]

— [08:47] Field: Not completely tied to Dalton; last two weeks skewed by context (facing Sauce Gardner in shadow coverage, Jets D). Expects normal volume bounce-back but notes risk if Carolina dominates via run.

— [09:46] Mike: “Andy Dalton is probably just similar to [Bryce Young]. It’s a wash.” Details will appear in the Shadow Report tomorrow, noting that Dalton’s not a material upgrade.

— [10:51] Field: “If they sign Deontay Johnson, I’m starting him.” (Joking about Dalton–Deontay chemistry from a previous team.)

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3. Is Rashee Rice the Chiefs’ WR1 Already?

— [11:19] Field: “He’s the clear preferred pass catcher for Mahomes.” Despite just 16 routes last week, saw 10 targets (!) — “63% of the time he ran a route, the ball went his way. Absurd.”

• “Doesn’t matter: WR1, 2, 3 or 4, you’re starting him.” — [12:11]

— [13:20] Mike: If Rice is white hot, Xavier Worthy (who returned week 4) is cooling off: “121 yards in week 4, then just 125 total in next three with only one TD.”

• Target priority: Rice > Worthy, but both have high value in KC's past-heaviest offense.

— [14:11] Mike: “If there’s an offense that can support two top-20 WRs, it’s the Chiefs.”

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4. Jalen Warren: Tempering Week 8 Expectations

— [17:55] Daniel: Big last week (20 touches, 158 yards, 4 rec, 19.8 pts), but Packers have allowed 5th fewest RB points, just 3 RBs over 9.5 points.

• “Consensus RB10 feels high… more a low-end RB2 due to ‘buymageddon.’”
• “Still going to start Jalen Warren, but temper expectations.” — [19:24]

— [19:53] Mike: Pushes back—Warren’s role is terrific, dominating carries and catches, and snaps are up. “If you’re just talking about running backs’ roles in their offenses, there’s not many better.”

— [21:16] Small tangent: Aaron Rodgers notched “revenge games” but hosts agree, given his consistent play, the spectacle is overblown.

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5. Injury Updates & Waiver Strategy

— [21:47] Mike: Joe Burrow—out for now, maybe back for final 3 games (reports). Debates stashing on IR.

• Daniel: “I wouldn’t hang on to him, but I’d mark my calendar and grab him… not worth burning an IR spot for.”
• Mike: Only worth it if you have a back-end QB1 and want fantasy semifinals upside (Week 16 vs MIA, 17 vs ARI).

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6. Panthers’ RB Backfield Split: Rico Dowdle vs. Chuba Hubbard

— [26:00] Field: “If ever there was a week to start them both, it's this one (vs. Bills run defense)."

• Dowdle outplayed Hubbard last week, but “I’m leaning slightly toward Dowdle, but both are usable flexes.”
• Mike: Snap split is more incidental than planned ("just rotated"). 50/50, but ride the hot hand.

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7. Quarterback Streaming Tier

— [29:42] Mike:

• Startable: Jackson Dart — "Fringiest of fringe" but 3 top-10s in 4 tries, faces Philly (good test).
• Bo Nix — "Top 5 streamer for the week," Dallas gives up 17.7+ fantasy points to every QB, has high volume.
• Daniel Jones — "MVP favorite," dual-threat. Faces Titans (struggling secondary).

— [36:09] Daniel: “Start-Bo Nix, Bench-Daniel Jones, Cut-Jackson Dart—just for this week.”

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8. Tight End Streaming & Evan Engram vs. Dal (Cowboys)

— [37:32] Daniel: Evan Engram faces the most generous pass D in the league. “Put him in with the Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert tier.”

• Mike: “This tight end tier is wild this week. I have 12 guys projected for 10 points, Ingram included.”

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9. The Raheem Sanders Monopoly Fund: Deep Sleepers

— [64:01+]: Weekly deep shot betting pool (hit 5 out of last 6 weeks!).
- Field: Broncos FB Nate Adkins (0% rostered) for a random anytime TD (+2500… if even available). - Mike: Arian Smith, Jets WR (rookie, 0.1% rostered)—gets increased usage if Garrett Wilson sits. - Daniel: Connor Heyward (Steelers TE/FB, +1300).
- Producer: Tyler Johnson, Jets WR (0% rostered).

• “There’s never a good or bad justification—it's always vibes.” — Field [68:14]

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10. Wide Receiver / Cornerback Matchups — The Playbook

Upgrades:

• Titans WRs vs. Colts (Calvin Ridley if healthy, or AO Manor, etc.).
• Broncos WRs (Courtland Sutton) vs. Cowboys.
• Bucs WRs (Emeka Egbuka, Tez Johnson, Sterling Shepard) vs. Saints.

Downgrades:

• Bengals WR Jamar Chase — If Sauce Gardner plays (check injury report), he’ll shadow; substantial bust potential given Sauce’s track record.
  • “Downgrading Chase a bit, but still can’t bench him.” — Mike [48:13]
• CeeDee Lamb — Faces Denver’s Pat Surtain II, who’s held every WR under double digits except one. Lamb still an auto-start, but clear bust alert.
  • “Seriously, no WRs have scored 20+ against Denver all year.” — Mike [52:02]
• Dolphins WRs (Waddle) — Atlanta has allowed just two WRs with 12+ this year; expectations must be tempered.

Other Shadow Matchups:

• Drake London vs. Rasul Douglas; AJ Brown vs. Paulson Adebo; T. McMillan vs. Christian Benford — mostly neutral.

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11. Thursday Night Football Preview: Vikings vs. Chargers

— Aaron Jones status: Questionable, could play, but likely flex only, hard to trust if limited. Jordan Mason the safer RB2/FLEX. — Jordan Addison vs. Justin Jefferson Gap Shrinking?

• Addison's three games: 15.4, 15.1, 21.8 pts, nearly matching Jefferson’s output. Daniel argues Addison may belong right behind Jefferson—a board bet is made on which will score more tonight. — Chargers RB Kamani Vidal: Little confidence; volume is “king,” but he's not explosive.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “If he’s white hot, does that make Kyle Manungai red hot?” — Mike, riffing on heat metaphors for RB trends [05:04]
• “63% of the time he ran a route, the ball went his way—which is just absurd.” — Field, on Rashee Rice, [11:54]
• “Dowdle was clearly the more effective player… If there was ever a week to start both, it’s this one.” — Field, on Panthers RBs vs. Buffalo [26:36]
• “Can I just randomly disrupt this pod for one second…” — Mike, pausing for a classic waiver wire tangent [22:32]
• “There’s never a good or bad justification [for a Monopoly bet pick]—it’s always vibes.” — Field [68:14]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Swift & Manungai RB Discussion: 03:58 – 07:10
• Panthers WRs & Dalton QB Effect: 07:38 – 10:51
• Rashee Rice/Worthy in KC: 11:19 – 15:25
• Jalen Warren & Packers Run D: 17:53 – 21:35
• Joe Burrow IR Debate: 21:47 – 25:03
• Panthers Backfield Split: 26:00 – 29:15
• QB Streaming Tier (Dart/Nix/Jones): 29:42 – 36:09
• TE Streaming / Evan Engram: 37:32 – 39:52
• Monopoly Fund Deep Sleeper Picks: 64:01 – 68:16
• WR/CB Playbook (Upgrades/Downgrades): 42:45 – 55:36
• Thursday Night Football & Addison/Jefferson Talk: 57:13 – 62:46

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Final Takeaways

• DeAndre Swift remains a must-start; Manungai is a deep bench hold.
• Rashee Rice is an every-week must, and Chiefs’ WRs as a group are still rising.
• Jalen Warren is a fine start, but expectations should be checked against Green Bay.
• The Panthers’ RB split is truly 50/50, but both are usable this week.
• Deep sleeper bets have become cult—don’t be afraid to go gross with your picks.
• WR/CB matchups give DFS edges: beware studs facing elite shadows.
• Thursday Night: All eyes on the Vikings’ WR pecking order and who emerges at RB for the Chargers.
• Always trust “the vibes” for those desperation darts—and good luck this bye week!

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Tone & Vibe: Fast, friendly, data-rich, and loaded with playful banter and fantasy inside-jokes—classic Fantasy Focus chaos with lots to take away for owners navigating a messy, bye-heavy Week 8.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Welcome into Fantasy focused football presented by Little Caesars. My name is Daniel Dopp alongside Phil Jates and Mike Clay. Very excited to be here on a Thursday. Let's go. We're week eight preview part one on our doorstep. Gonna dive into a bunch of good stuff here. A little bit of the wide receiver cornerback matchups as we always get to Playbook is out on Thursday. Is it out right now Mike, or does it come out later today?

[C]

Well, you should head over to ESPN.com and check it. Check it out and see.

[B]

All right.

[C]

Because I'll tell you why I don't know the answer to that. Okay.

[A]

I was gonna say I think the answer is go to espn.com and you're gonna have to keep scrolling because the NBA is basically like up in flames right now.

[B]

Right now.

[A]

Notable stories taking place in the world of basketball that have nothing to do with the basketball. No, it does not. Warning here.

[B]

Yes it is.

[C]

I believe it's there though. Yeah.

[B]

All right.

[C]

You think I would know that, but I don't.

[B]

Well, we'll dive into that. We got a bunch of really good stuff going on in the show today. Shout out to our friends over at Trophy Smack. Head on over to trophy smack dot com. Use the promo code focus10 for 10% off of your order. And in our YouTube chat today, our buddy Eric Moody is hanging out. So make sure to ask him some questions. If you are hanging out in our YouTube chat today, we'll try to get to a few with a little little bit later on in the show.

[C]

Can you get me 10% off a new car? Because I think I need a new car.

[B]

Oh no, the old.

[C]

Heard about that old BMW is having a hard time.

[B]

Oh no.

[C]

Shop right now and I think it's time.

[A]

But that's to a hundred thousand miles.

[C]

I did, I got recently but it's had a. It's had a good life, good run. Had it about 10 years.

[B]

So 10 years. I still like it.

[C]

I would keep it for another 100k but too many. It's. Once you hit that number it seems like it's.

[B]

I can't believe. I mean that's only 10,000 miles a year, Mike. You don't drive as much as I thought you did.

[C]

Oh, no, I do more recently, but I didn't used to very much. It would just be like here and back. But yeah, I think I need to go car shopping. Which, you know, midway through the fantasy season.

[A]

Totally good time. You better win a bunch of leagues this year.

[B]

I was going to say maybe we should start putting some money on our anytime long shot touchdowns to see if we can help you make a little bankroll there, Mike.

[C]

Well, we'll see because I have another deep cut this week.

[B]

All right, all right, let's save it.

[A]

Could be deeper than mine.

[C]

Is that right?

[A]

Mine is so deep cut, by the way. I'm like, I'm not a car guy at all. Like, I just find zero interest in cars. I just want a car that has four wheels and four wheel drive and preferably enough room for two kids seats. But I can't wait to see what kind of car you get, Mike. I feel like, Mike, you might be a Lambo guy.

[C]

Yeah, I'm looking for Lambo. No, new Mike. New Lambo. I'm aiming for more trunk space because my sedan doesn't have enough to go on vacation. Giant minivan. If you show up with the minivan.

[A]

It will be the crowning achievement of your life.

[C]

Or maybe just like a cement truck because then the kids can all go in the back and then we could spin them around.

[B]

That sounds like it would be fun. All right. All right.

[A]

My kid tries to climb inside of the laundry machine. You cannot do that. But they see it spinning around and they're like, this would be awesome. I'm like, no, it wouldn't.

[B]

Would not. No, it would not.

[C]

That's my. You guys can hold down the fort tomorrow and Sunday on FF now and then probably all the next week until I go from dealer to deal around. You're just going to get one.

[B]

Is this going to be like couch shopping? Where you go couch shopping? Like you go car shopping, Mike.

[C]

My gosh, what's more riveting?

[A]

Couch updates. Lambo updates.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's it.

[C]

All right. I can't wait to hear. I'm not thrilled about this. All right. I have objections to update. I don't have time for this.

[B]

You're right.

[A]

All right.

[C]

You're right.

[B]

Let's dive in then to our week eight preview, part one. We each brought a couple of topics to the table feel. J, I'm going to start with you.

[A]

All right, Daniel, we kind of touched on this already, but does DeAndre Swift stay white hot against the Ravens? Ravens Coming off of their bye perhaps getting a little bit healthier on both sides of the ball, but they have allowed the second most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. That started all the way back in week one where James Cook was awesome for the Bills. But we have seen running backs play really, really well against Baltimore throughout the course of this season and DeAndre Swift has played awesome especially over the past couple of weeks. He has running the ball very effectively, up over a hundred rushing yards in back to back games. Back to back 20/ fantasy point games back to back finishes as a top 12 running back in week six and then actually week five and then. No no week six and then week seven for DeAndre Swift. And on top of his rushing efficiency, he's 11th in the NFL in rushing yards per game. He's fifth amongst running backs and receiving yards per game. Love that you're getting a little bit of what you need and and all departments from DeAndre Swift. It's a good matchup. The Bears seem to have found something with their running game. So I am in on DeAndre Swift as a top 15 running back in week eight.

[C]

I like it. And if he's white hot, does that make Kyle Manungai red hot? Yeah, because it's like white is above right.

[A]

White is the hottest and then red.

[C]

Yeah because I would say Swift is a little hotter than a Mananga has been on the field. However, manangai A lot of you out there might be thinking is this a flex option or even an RB2 after what we saw six teams on a buy last week. Six teams on a buy. Yeah. Career day week 81 yards and a touchdown and 13 carries. Also had three targets in that game and added 13 yards. Guys, he had 17.4 fantasy points in that game his first five NFL games. Of course he's a day three rookie, 16.9 points. So he has made the leap last last week and had his best game by far. Love that. However, I would say he is not a flex option. First of all, you just laid out Swift. He's about back to back great games. He scored in four of his last five games. He's clearly the lead back. It is a good matchup that makes him maybe palatable if you're in a tough spot. I know I have some teams this week where my RB2 spot is looking disgusting and I'm going to have to. I'm digging deep for for guys so maybe in that scenario but I haven't projected for 7.8 points gain 7.8 points for this week with Swift still as the lead back in an offense that obviously feeds its pass catcher. So interesting story but he's not there yet. I don't think this is. This isn't Ben Johnson with with Gibbs and Montgomery just yet. We're not there. Maybe someday but we're not there yet. They got to score four touchdowns a game. Like you're lying. So also now he's a backup.

[B]

We want 2023 or 2024 Montgomery for Kyle Manangai not 2025 version. Yeah we don't want that last thing.

[A]

I'll say on this to sort of only reinforce Mike's point and I believe that was your first takeaway was Manangui's role.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Is the past couple of weeks the Bears have held serve against teams they should beat. By the way, beating the Saints is a game and the commanders two weeks ago in a game where the very limited. Right. Like if they play Baltimore and Lamar is back this could be more of a shootout than these past couple of weeks have been there. So Swift will stay hot. Manangai definitely a worthy bench stash. Swift is banged up. He's got that groin injury that cost him practice yesterday.

[C]

He'll be on benches for sure.

[A]

For now, I'm continuing to treat DeAndre Swift's DNP or limited during the week as maintenance. Right. He obviously was great this past Sunday when he barely practiced last week. So I'm assuming that DeAndre Swift is just fine and should be in line. What do you got for your first.

[C]

Oh no, wait.

[A]

You.

[C]

You add Swift. I am a nun guy. So do you want Roshan Johnson or do you want Travis Homer?

[B]

I am actually going to go with Matt Forte in this one.

[A]

He was awesome.

[B]

Really good at football. Yeah.

[C]

Jeremy Langford.

[B]

Yeah, let's get a little Jeremy Langford, a little throwback there.

[C]

There you go. You got some options.

[B]

Mine is going to be sort of based around a veteran. You guys remember a couple weeks ago Joe Flacco just understood the assignment. Come into this Bengals team and just pepper your top targets as much as possible.

[C]

Remember that?

[B]

Do you believe and this is a little bit of a question to you guys, I'll give you some stuff but do you believe that with Andy Dalton under center that Ted McMillan gets a little bit of a veteran bump here against the Buffalo Bills Weeks 1 through 5 TE McMillan was seeing 8.8 targets per game. Last two games he has seen 5.5. He is absolutely like cratered when it comes to targets when it comes to that. Looking at it, however when you look at the Bills, every single wide receiver with at least nine targets has scored at least 15.9 fantasy points. That's science. So like, don't look into like it's science. Yes, very much.

[C]

It's.

[B]

That is rock solid science. If you get nine targets, you're going to score at least 15.9 fantasy points.

[C]

Period.

[B]

End of story.

[C]

Everyone that plays to match.

[B]

Honestly, yes. If you get nine targets, yes. So do you believe that we're in a situation now like Carolina has been a little bit back and forth, offense hasn't been great. But does Andy Dalton give you enough bump at that quarterback spot to think that maybe you get more out of Ted McMillan this week?

[A]

I don't think it's like my confidence in Ted McMillan is not tied to Andy Dalton, likely replacing Bryce Young the past couple of weeks. Let's talk about these weeks a little bit closer. Last week they played who, the Jets?

[C]

Yep.

[A]

Sauce Gardner shadowed Ted McMillan. Mike told us all week, be wary of that. Mike, as usual, nailed it. Right.

[B]

And the Xavier Leggett call last week.

[C]

Mike wide receiver too.

[A]

And then two weeks ago they played a game in which Rico dowdle had over 230 scrimmage yards. They didn't really need much from the passing game, so I think they bounced back. It's a great matchup for the running game this week. The Bills cannot stop the run at all. So if Carolina can control the line of scrimmage and they can run for 150 yards in this game, then maybe the entire passing game has a quieter effort on Sunday. But I'm anticipating a usual T. Mac roll.

[C]

Yeah, I know that. And also Dowdle did that two weeks in a row. So before he did that as well. I mean, as someone who just traded for Ted Ron McMillan in our FF Now League, I'm hopeful I will get more into that this matchup for this week in the Shadow Report. Ok. I will say this though, about Andy Dalton, which actually I'm going to talk about that a little tomorrow. You know, his sort of passing output, like there's a reason he's not an NFL starter. So I think like you're going from I think we can agree Bryce Young is playing like one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL over the last couple years.

[A]

He's careful now.

[C]

He's near the bottom. Andy Dalton is probably just similar to that. I mean similar ranges. Young's playing because he's young and you're hoping he gets to the next level. Dalton's toward the end of his career, I think it's probably about a wash. Maybe it's a little better if he feeds Tetaroa, but again, I'll get into more numbers on that tomorrow. But I think it's relatively the emotional.

[B]

Side of me when I look at this, it's like, let me get the veteran under center, start peppering my guy with targets like we saw in Cincinnati. I just want the same thing to happen in Carolina.

[A]

He was doing that, as you noted, he was doing that earlier in the season. So I think the last couple weeks are a bit more circumstantial.

[B]

They are. And that's a good point with Rico Doddle, with all the rushing that he's had. It's also with those targets, though, he wasn't as efficient as I want him to be because he's lead. The lead, not leading. He's one of the league leaders in targets. He's top 10 at the wide receiver spot.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But he doesn't have as many receptions as a lot of those other guys do.

[A]

So there is one way that my pass catcher outlook could change for Carolina by Sunday with Andy Dalton under center is if the team signs Deontay Johnson between now and Sunday. I'm starting him.

[C]

Remember that. Okay.

[A]

Deontay Johnson, that's what I was going.

[C]

To talk about a little bit tomorrow between a certain quarterback and the last time he was a regular starter. Of course, Deontay Johnson was terrific in fantasy. So, yes, we'll talk about the numbers tomorrow. But yes, that does give me some. Some optimism.

[A]

Okay. All right. We want you back.

[B]

Love that.

[A]

All right, so my next talking point is he has played one game and is it already fair to wonder whether Rasheed Rice is wide receiver one in fantasy?

[B]

This was going to be one of my topics. I'm really glad you brought it up. Like, how high is too high for Rasheed Rice? Honestly.

[A]

So this comes down to Mike actually said it last week about Rashee Rice. It doesn't matter where you rank him, like you're starting him or you're not. And nobody was not starting him. Yes. And I think we've. That's kind of where we're at with Rashee rice. He had 10 targets last week. How many routes do you think Rashee Rice ran this week?

[C]

He was limited. He played like half the game.

[A]

He ran 16 routes.

[B]

16.

[A]

So 63% of the time he ran a route, the ball went his way, which is just absurd.

[C]

Remember, they only had, I think it was four series that Mahomes played. They scored a touchdown in all of them. Maybe it was five, but. And he was rotating in too, so he wasn't even a full timer on those drives.

[A]

So what I would say is that it doesn't really matter whether you have him ranked as wide receiver. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. He's going to be somewhere in the top 10. Now is he going to see a 63% every time he runs the route? There's a 63% chance he gets the ball. No, that'll level off dramatically. Say again.

[C]

Is that an analytic you just made up? Yeah, I just made 16% every time you run a route to what's it every ety. Yes, we need some sort of etyr.

[A]

That's just the beginning of iter eater. Run routes, score touchdowns, make good plays, lots of fantasy points. Anyways, 10 targets on 16 routes. But as we saw last year, this is not just like 20, 25 or she. Rice, he played three full games last year. He got hurt in the very, basically the very beginning of their fourth game of last season. You guys recall that game against the Chargers. So if you go back to last year, you include the 10 targets from week seven of this season. He now has 39 targets in his last four games. I think that he is the clear preferred pass catcher for Patrick Mahomes, which Mike, I think once again, fortuitously my point dovetails with your next point.

[C]

Yeah. So field, if Rasheed Rice is white hot, does that mean Xavier Worthy is ice cold? Yeah, he's close to it. Yeah, I know. It's cooler than cool. We are on the same page. Yeah. Yeah. We had the Bears running backs, now we have the Chiefs wide receivers. Because my first talking point is Xavier Worthy and what we do with him if there's reason to panic based on what we saw the last three weeks and especially last week, he had 121 yards in week four when he returned from that injury. Three games since, 125 yards total with one touchdown. Zero games over 11.1 fantasy points. His playing time last week did not really change from the prior handful of games. However, his target share was just 12%. That's his lowest in a full game since week nine of last season. Of course, Rashid Rice was not playing back then. He is now. I have a more optimistic outlook. It sounds like you're concerned. I'm more optimistic. And the reason is this. He is the war room team.

[A]

Yeah, he's on my war.

[C]

Yeah, he is very. Would you say let's, let's do target priority in this offense. Number one is Rashee Rice for sure. Number two, probably Xavier Worthy. It's either Worthy or Kelsey. It's probably worthy.

[B]

I think it's worthy over Kelsey.

[C]

It's probably worthy. This is the NFL's past heaviest offense. They've scored four touchdowns in four consecutive games. They're back. I mean, they're lighting it up. Wow. And they, they hand him the ball too. He's involved as a rusher. So I think there's a lot of reasons for optimism here. Not to mention this week against Washington, top 10 yards, touchdowns and fantasy points to wide receivers. So I'm more optimistic. I have him 25th this week. I still think he's at least a wide receiver. 3. And wouldn't surprise me if, if there's an offense in this league that can support two top 20 receivers. I mean, they're on the short list for sure.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

With the way they're playing.

[A]

No Chargers.

[C]

And they throw the ball.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Well, yeah, they, they can be though, if they want to. So no doubt. I'm. I'm still optimistic if maybe. Is it. Maybe He's a good buy.

[A]

Low right now, as an aside. And I don't know whether this makes his fantasy value better or worse. I'm sort of surprised that we haven't seen Xavier Worthy stretch the field much for Kansas City this season post injury and pre injury because he only played like three snaps, I guess too. So technically both. But remember in the super bowl and again, they were getting. Actually, how was super bowl going?

[C]

I don't remember who won last year. Usually I forget who won the year before by this point. But yeah, I'll never forget that.

[A]

So they were getting lambasted by the Eagles in the second half of the super bowl and it was like The Xavier Worthy 55 yard touchdown show.

[C]

Yeah. Two of them.

[A]

Yeah. So. But part of me does wonder, like when they drafted him, that was part of the discourse was like, yeah, they have this elite deep threat now and they have this quarterback with this incredibly strong arm who can certainly find ways to make him a vertical threat week in and week out. It hasn't really happened. I'll be curious to see whether Xavier Worthy does get some of those shots because they've been recently going to Tyquan Thornton, who is an amazing story and I love the fact that Tyquan Thornton has landed on his feet. But if you think that Tyquan Thornton is the same threat down the field. Xavier Worthy.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

I don't know what to tell you.

[B]

Not the same.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

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[C]

What's up for you Daniel, My second.

[B]

Topic is going to be should we be tempering some expectations here this week on Jalen Warren taking on the Packers? I look at Jalen Warren. We have him inside the top 10 this week coming off a huge game.

[C]

Yep, huge game.

[B]

20 touches, 158 yards. Had four receptions in that game. Good enough for 19.8 fantasy points against the Bengals and he's been pretty consistent so far this year. One of the guys that Mike has liked and talked about a bunch, multiple receptions in every single game. Thirteen or more fantasy points in all but one game this season. The things for me that's not great is that the packers have been pretty good against running backs so far this year. They've allowed the fifth fewest points to running back so far this season. Season 17.3 per game. Only three running backs have Topp nine and a half fantasy points against them and they have only allowed two touchdowns this year. No receiving touchdowns to running back. So for me when I look at him, just what with what this defense is, there's a part of me that feels like, man, I, you know, I think ESPN consensus is like RB10. That feels kind of high for me. That feels like to me I have met running back 13. I'm only three spots behind you guys. Six teams on a buy I think is what I settled on. Like there were. I would rather have him look at against this Green Bay team as a low end RB2 but because it's by Mageddon it feels like he's pushed up this list higher than what I would feel comfortable with. He's more of a high end RB2 this week because of it. But just like previous weeks where I feel like I look at a matchup and I see a guy ranked somewhere, this is a little bit of like temper expectations potentially on this game because of how good Green Bay.

[A]

You nailed this on James Cook, what two weeks ago against the Falcons. I think you might have had another one where you were a little bit less optimistic last week as well. But you're right, like still going to start Jalen Warren.

[C]

Absolutely.

[A]

Jalen Warren goes for 12 fantasy points this Sunday. It's a little bit of we told.

[B]

You so coming out of a big game. Yeah. And when you come out of a big game like that. We've been waiting to see if he gets more usage and his usage has been great though. It has been. Yes. But he's not getting like, he's not getting a boatload more to say like he's getting, you know, he's not getting 85% of the snaps or anything like that. He's still in the 60%.

[C]

No, I mean, well, I mean that's, you know, CMC is lucky to get that though. I mean he had 84% of their carries last week. I mean I think he, if you're just, I'm not saying he's. We're ranking him that high but if you're talking, talking about how running backs are situated like their role in the backfield, there's not many with a better.

[B]

He's got a great role.

[C]

He is Kenny Gainwell as the two who. I mean he had that big game and he has somewhat of a role that's common for a number two to have somewhat of a role. You know Taylor Algero is one in Atlanta. Right. Caleb Johnson's an odd factor.

[A]

You know what's interesting about Caleb Johnson is his Steelers only have three running backs on the roster and he's somehow still RB4 for them. Him.

[C]

Yeah. All right. It's not. It's. Who's three? Calvin Austin. No, I don't.

[B]

There is no.

[A]

They just actually leave it vacant.

[C]

There is no.

[B]

Yeah, he does.

[C]

I mean, they actually do give him like a couple of touches a week, but that's it. Like, that's all he gets. But, I mean, Warren's getting the bulk of the carries, which is new for him. You know, that was something that I feel like I was not. I missed in the off season until late till like August, which was the reason he never. And we. We acknowledge it, but we didn't spend enough time on. It was like the reason he didn't play much his first few years in the league was because Najee Harris was the only running back to not miss a game for those four seasons, the only one in the NFL. So he never really got that opportunity. But he's handling a bulk of the carries and he's heavily involved as a pass catcher in an offense, by the way, that's been pretty good. Aaron Rodgers has thrown four touchdowns twice already this season and. Revenge game this week.

[A]

No, not a revenge game, according to Aaron.

[B]

Aaron said it's not a revenge game.

[C]

It's a revenge game, guys. Okay? Mike Clay says it is four touchdowns in week one against the Jets. You're come on over.

[B]

Under four touchdowns this week.

[C]

And we know, we know it's different. Okay. Like, you could say whatever you want. It's. It's a little different, right? I mean, of course it's a little bit different.

[A]

It would be.

[C]

Aaron.

[A]

More different if it was there in Green Bay. That being said, that's fair. It is different. This is an October. What's the date today? The 23rd. October 23rd. Prediction. Does Aaron Rodgers play again next year?

[C]

I heard. I saw the report yesterday that they want him back for next year. It kind of depends on how the year goes.

[A]

But it's already going well.

[C]

It's going well so far. But what if things start falling apart and then they switch to the Ravens?

[A]

I mean, listen, if they finish 8 and 9 and the Ravens come back and win the division or the. Or the Joe Flocko lead Bengals win the division. I still think if they're eight, nine, it's like, hey, we're close enough that if we do a little bit of window dressing this offseason, we'll be right back in the playoffs.

[C]

Yeah, I think there is what else.

[A]

Are you going to do?

[C]

There's more of a chance of it than if they were like right now, like 1 and 4, 2 and 3. Yeah. Like he's playing well and, and they're, they're, you know, doing well as a team. I do have a question, though, because you brought him up. Can I just randomly disrupt this pod for one second?

[B]

As long as I get to say I just. I'm excited for Aaron Rodgers to go 9 and 8 on the Steelers because that's just what the Steelers are going to do.

[C]

This.

[B]

They're going to go 9 and 8.

[A]

You might go 8, 8 and 1.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. Like that's. But sure, bring Aaron Rodgers back if that's what you want.

[C]

Yeah, absolutely. Joe Burrow, like the latest report is he. They're aiming for the final three games of the season. So he's been dropped in some leagues. His people like he's done for the year. I am sitting on an IR where I need that IR spot in a league where I actually ended up trading for Drake May. So I'm kind of fine there. But, oh, look at me.

[A]

I trade for a tough quarterback.

[C]

But seriously, do we hang on to Burrow? I mean, once he. I feel like I lean.

[A]

No.

[C]

You don't think so. You don't think you would start him though? It's. I mean, it is the fantasy championship.

[B]

I hear what you're saying.

[C]

I don't.

[B]

I think I wouldn't hang on to him, but I would ear my market date. I would put a reminder in my calendar and if two weeks before or three weeks before, whatever, and I've got an open IR spot, then I don't mind going out and grabbing him. But I don't think I'm going to use my IR spot for the entirety of the season on Joe Burrow.

[A]

You can do it sooner if you're a person that's still stashing Joe Mix in your IR spot.

[B]

There you go. Just.

[A]

Yeah, the October update that was supposedly going to happen.

[B]

That one we're not holding out hope for.

[A]

I think Nick Casarios, the GM of the team, I think said it was like October 2nd or 3rd. He was giving an update. He was given a press conference. Excuse me. And he was like, yeah, we'll have one for you here soon. And we still haven't heard one. So maybe there is no update coming.

[C]

Or no update is the update.

[A]

Yes, no update.

[C]

That's right. Bengals, week 16. So this will be your semifinals, most likely, Miami.

[B]

Oh, love that.

[C]

Week 17, your championship on the line Arizona. So he startable both of those weeks. So I think it might depend too on your situation. Like if you have a Josh Allen, Jalen hurts, Lamar Jackson, you might think, eh, I don't really need to do it. But if you're starting like Baker Mayfield or you know, some like mid to back end QB1, you might get an edge by hanging on to him. And sure. And he's the kind of guy, this doesn't always apply, but he's the kind of guy, when he comes back, you could plug him right in. Like he may come in and throw for 340 yards immediately, especially against Miami at the end of the year. So.

[A]

No, hold on. You know, I don't think you should be adding him in any league.

[B]

Miami might legitimately get relegated by the time we get to there.

[A]

They could have a CFL team trade from Micah Parsons.

[C]

Sorry, I just got. Hold the other part.

[A]

Continue talking, talking about don't add him.

[C]

Just the other part of this is if Cincinnati is eliminated that he probably won't come back. So. Oh, he need to be competitive.

[A]

It's a good point there. I definitely wouldn't.

[C]

So you shouldn't.

[B]

Yeah, don't add them.

[C]

They actually play week 15. If he comes back a week earlier, they have Baltimore and we'll see. I mean, so far sounds like a.

[B]

Great matchup now, but they might be.

[C]

Better by then, but so far, yeah, so bad.

[B]

Yeah. Nice.

[C]

All right, Well, I was thinking about that yesterday and I just randomly, randomly popped into my head.

[B]

So field is just added, in fact.

[A]

Okay, got it. Yeah, we're all good.

[B]

Okay. Got it. Good. All that to say, I think maybe Jalen Warren just tempered expectations this week.

[C]

Okay. Disagree all in.

[B]

How many fan. What is your projection on him?

[C]

My projection for him is. Let's see. Let's see how many points I got. But I, I mean, I have him high of him like RB.

[B]

Give him like nine. I think. You have him at nine.

[C]

Yeah, I'm at nine right now. I have him projected with 16 points.

[B]

I couldn't put him ahead of James Cook. I couldn't. Like there were a couple guys that I felt like he's, he's. He's not there, but still running back 13. I'm just tempering expectations. All right.

[C]

Another guy whose targets have just disappeared the last couple.

[B]

That's been an interesting one.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And his rushing yards.

[C]

Yeah, that too. Yeah. He's been down the last couple. He'll get his rushing.

[A]

He will. Yes. The Bills have to go. They have a little Bit of an identity crisis the past couple of weeks.

[C]

They are.

[A]

All right, let's keep moving here. Is it me?

[B]

Yes, it is.

[A]

Okay, we talked about this coming out of last week, so let's resurface the conversation as we get ready to make a choice this upcoming weekend. How are we assessing the Panthers backfield going into week eight? So just a reminder on how things shook out last week. Chuba Hubbard started the game.

[B]

Yes, he did.

[A]

It wasn't like one play and then Rico Dowdle like he had the opening drive. He held the lead in snaps 54% to 46%. Rico Dowdle had 17 carries to Chuba's 14. He turned those 17 carries into 79 yards. Chuba turned his 14 carries into 31 yards.

[B]

That's not as good.

[A]

Clearly. Clearly Rico Doubta was a more effective player. Even if his snap snap total was lower than Chuba Hubbards. If ever there was a game where you could maybe start both of them and feel like, hey, we could actually get something here. Especially during Bobageddon.

[B]

Six.

[C]

Six teams. Yeah.

[A]

Probably against the Bills on Bymageddon week as the Bills are bottom six in terms of running back fantasy points per game allowed. They're second to last in rushing yards allowed. And I know that Andy Dalton is a representative backup quarterback.

[C]

Right.

[A]

He is not, you know, a bottom five backup replacing Lamar Jackson. But if you have a backup quarterback in, isn't there part of you that says to yourself, let's try to keep things simple, control the clock, run the football effectively, lean into the area of our offense that has given us this gigantic spark during this three game winning streak?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

If ever there was a week to do it, this feels like it. I am ranking Dowdle slightly ahead of Chuba Hubbard, but Hubbard probably will start this game once again. And it wouldn't surprise me if that 17 to 14 carry edge actually goes to Chuba instead.

[C]

Yeah, it very well could. But the snap split was kind of incidental. Like what they did was just rotated one game.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

If you look at the first half, Dowdle was way behind in snaps. And the reason was when Hubbard was on the field, the drives were really long and then Dowdle would be out and it would be a short drive. And it's not like he was. It was his fault. He was playing fine. It's just the way it worked. They were just like back and forth, back and forth. So. And then Dowdle really close the gap in the second half because it just went the other direction. So he could. It could. You're right. I mean, Hubbard could have an edge in carries this week. It could be close in targets. But Dowdle could end up playing seven more snaps. So it could go either way. At this point, it's basically 50, 50. That's their plan.

[A]

I'm giving the edge to the player who has been more effective.

[C]

Agreed, 100%.

[A]

And maybe Cuba is still like a little bit limited. Even if he's not on the injury report. He was off the injury report by the end of last week. He had no game status. He was going to play. Maybe that calf is still at least somewhat bothersome. And so that could explain his relative struggles last week. It was also his first game in three weeks. Rico's got these fresh legs. Either way, if I had to choose between one of these two players, which some people might have to choose, I would give the lean towards Rico Dowdle. But I think both of them are usable in this buymageddon week.

[B]

I am with you on that and I still think about. I feel so bad for Jonathan Brooks not being able to be out here. They have another running back though. Like they're gonna have to figure out in the future what are they gonna do? Cause they got two good guys so far this year that they're gonna figure out.

[A]

But outdoors are free agents, so we'll see.

[B]

Hopefully Jonathan Brooks can come back healthy.

[C]

Some attention on the market.

[B]

He should.

[C]

He should.

[A]

He totally should. That might be. The new wave of running back contracts is just one year deals for these guys who are good enough to be starters but not dominant. He has been dominant.

[C]

Dobbin sort of deal.

[A]

Dobbin, Dowdle, Javonte Williams, all those.

[B]

It was cheap though, wasn't it?

[A]

Didn't you say that coming year five to six million dollars dowdles wasn't. I guess that's one year up to six million.

[C]

Up to six for Dow. Yeah.

[A]

Devonte Williams was one year up to three million dollars.

[B]

I'll take a cheap NFL deal, guys, for what it's worth. Like I'm.

[A]

I would gladly sign up. I will out of the goodness of my heart. For all of us. We'll take $6 million.

[B]

I'll do that. I'll sign up. I'll be a special teamer for 6 million for sure. All right, Mike, Clay, you're up next.

[C]

All right, guys, I'm going to talk through some quarterback. I'll say fringe starters, but these at least two of these guys are definite starters. I'm going to start with a guy who's probably the fringiest of fringe starters this Week Dart. He has been really good. Had exactly two touchdowns in his first three starts. Had four last week in that game or he had. He had exactly two in his first three last week. He made the leap to four. So it was a kind of a leap forward for him. Also career and passing yards. And that was offset by a dip in rushing yards. Only at 11 after he had 50 plus in his first three games. I think at the end of the day it's going to meet in the middle. He's going to do some as a rusher. He's going to. I think I'm not doing it on purpose.

[B]

For those listening at home. Mike did the. Yeah, it was like, I don't know what to do with my hands.

[C]

It's gonna. It's gonna even out. That was cute. Can't do it now. No, you nailed it. But yeah, guys, three top tens in four tries so far. Top three each of the last two weeks. He's playing fine. His passing efficiency has been okay. Pretty good for a. A rookie quarterback, but I think better. He's facing the Eagles.

[A]

He deserves some credit. It better than fine.

[C]

Better than. Relative to a rookie quarterback. Yes, he's better. He's been a good quarterback. Yeah. Yeah, me too. No doubt about it. But the Eagles have only allowed seven passing touchdowns so far this season. But Dart, on the other hand, had 23.6 against most of the. Most of it on the ground a couple weeks ago. I think we may have been there. Was that a dream?

[A]

Yeah, that wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare.

[B]

This is one of those weird scenarios too, where they play like the same team twice in like twice in three weeks. I agree.

[C]

I kind of agree. But I think it's an interesting measuring stick for both teams. So I want to see the Eagles come out and actually show they're the better team this week against like, how.

[B]

Quickly did you learn from what happened in that game rather than be like, oh, that was at the beginning of the season. They're a totally different team now.

[A]

You should be.

[C]

I am curious to see how the Eagles perform in this one.

[B]

Absolutely.

[C]

Anyway, I have him at 12. Yeah. So I think he's a borderline starter. The Eagles are still a very good like it.

[B]

I think he's a starter as well.

[C]

That start I got two more, but this guy I have top five. My favorite streamer for the week, Bo Nicks. Yes. Bo Nix.

[A]

You had me at the Dallas Cowboys. That's right.

[C]

I mean, the Dallas Cowboys had. Knicks actually had a very slow start. One weekly finished better than 12th before last week. Yeah, that was it. So had the big fourth quarter. Really. He's had one really good quarter this year to be.

[A]

He's the J.J. mcCarthy of quarterbacks that have actually been on the field all year.

[C]

Good call. That's. That's very well said. Top 12 in all the passing categories, top 10 in all the rushing categories. So the volume's still been there for Bo Nicks. That gives me some optimism. But. But much like last year, off to a little bit of a slow start. But like we said, every quarterback that has faced Dallas has at least 17.7 fantasy points. So onyx a great play this week, as is Daniel Jones.

[A]

Daniel Dimes, breakout players.

[C]

Maybe the MVP favorite right now.

[A]

It's been amazing.

[C]

I mean, I called him short list.

[A]

Mahomes dj I think right now the MVP conversation surrounds through seven weeks. Daniel Jones, Baker Mayfield and Drake May based off the first seven games. If you go to all the books, including ESPN bet, you'll notice that Patrick Mahomes is the betting favorite for the NFL mvp. The reason why is they're projecting what the rest of the year will look like. And Mahomes could certainly be the MVP if they go 13 and 4.

[B]

Has anyone ever won both MVP and comeback player of the year in the same year? And could Daniel Jones be that guy this year?

[A]

I don't know. But what is Daniel Jones coming back from?

[B]

And I remember this. They changed the award. It needs to be like a.

[C]

They. No, they said they suggested that, but they can't force.

[A]

Didn't Sam Darnold win it last year?

[C]

Yeah. Yeah. Didn't he? Yeah, I think so.

[A]

It came back from purgatory. Like, is that a.

[B]

Was that. No, Joe Burrow won it last year, didn't he? Didn't Joe Burrow one comeback player of the year after coming back from injury and then put up an amazing season?

[C]

Yeah, I don't remember. But it was two years ago. Was one that was. Was it like Joe Flacco or something? One of two.

[A]

Who.

[C]

Who won it two years ago? Were they only played like six weeks, Right.

[A]

Like.

[C]

Oh, but there was a year.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Anyway, it's possible.

[A]

NFL comeback player of the year a couple of years ago for Flacco.

[C]

Yeah, that's right. Okay.

[A]

That one.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And last season, do you know who it was last season? Do we have that?

[A]

I, I. Can I make a joke? That's probably unfair.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Like Joe Burrow. He won it in 2023 after coming back from playing for the New York Jets.

[C]

There you go. Joe Flacco. Flacco. Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

[A]

What did you come back from? I was a Jets quarterback.

[C]

Yes, that's right. Yeah. I mean, and honestly, the poor Jets.

[A]

I. Jets fans, I feel so bad for you. Like, I just can't get over it. It's like every time I think there's a glimmer of hope.

[C]

Dude, yeah, me, last year, I mean, that was my lesson learned. Now I understand the life for jets fans.

[B]

That video of that kid, I felt so bad for him. It was like I was born into this and I'm never going to leave it. But I just hate being a Jets fan. It's like, I feel you, man. I felt that way as a Lions fan for a long, long time.

[A]

Won it last year. Nice pick.

[B]

Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

[A]

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[B]

Like, can I ask a question about your three quarterbacks? Mike, if we had to do like a start bench cut on your three quarterbacks for this week, how would you do that?

[C]

Start Bo Nix.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Bench Daniel Jones and I guess Jackson Dart. Just for this week.

[B]

Just for this week.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

We're not actually doing it for the season. I don't know. I mean if Jackson Dart just keeps playing better. I mean their schedule is brutal. Sure. So maybe he's still third in line.

[A]

But dude get the job done against some tough matchups too like the Broncos. Last week was the ultimate fade spot. He went out for four touchdowns.

[B]

That was. I was very unexpected by the way.

[C]

That's maybe that's another topic at some point. But that makes. Makes the kind of the Dallas offense and Dak kind of a fascinating situation this week because they're going into Denver this week and I think Gary that's a tough matchup. I think you play them but have to.

[A]

I don't think you. I mean you have a choice. If I have Dak Prescott as my quarterback. He's been so good that it would hurt me more to see him play and score 22 fantasy points. Agreed. Than not play him and stream somebody else who gets you whatever 2024.

[C]

Just to put a bow on this. Daniel Jones has actually been outside the top 10 that quarterback for the last five weeks.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

Kind of surprising. Maybe he's not the two of those weeks. Yeah. Well this is just fantasy there.

[A]

He's doing fantasy finishes matters.

[C]

Yeah. Rushing touchdowns have been good but yardage has not and that's kind of limited his floor a little bit. But the Titans, they haven't faced a ton of volume but they have struggled against the pass and could be out down. Jeffrey Simmons and Legarius need this week so. And Craig May last week 23 points. So Jones I think is a fine mid range.

[A]

Oh man.

[C]

So a couple.

[B]

Couple guys you talked about putting a bow on it. I'm going to put a bow on your bow.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Because your bow was Bo Nicks. My bow is a guy that needs a bow. His name is Evan Ingram. My question is when you take on the Dallas Cowboys we talk about how suspect their secondary is. Start all the wide receivers against him. What about the tight end spot? Do you think that Evan Ingram this week with six teams on a buy can be a potential starter this week Nobody has given up more passing yards than the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas has also given up the second most passing touchdown. Six touchdowns over two per game. And we always talk about when you look at this 16. Yep.

[A]

Said six I think.

[B]

I'm sorry, did I low. Yeah. Yes.

[C]

No 16.

[B]

Two per game. And then like I said, we always talk about start all your wide receivers against him. I went to look at how have tight ends played against the Dallas Cowboys here. I think the better tight ends have hit. Yeah, Zach Ertz, Dallas Goddard, Tucker Kraft and then I'm going to add in Mason Taylor because he had a big game. But Zach Ertz, Dallas Goddard, Tucker kraft all had 10 and a half or more fantasy points. That's a lot. The lesser tight ends, Cole Comet, Tommy Trimble, Theo Johnson and Jeremy Ruckert all fell short of that line. If I had to put Evan Ingram in one of those two buckets, I'd put him in the Zach Ertz, Dallas Goddard, Tucker Kraft conversation. So I don't think that he is like he's not playing a ton of snaps right now. Honestly, Evan Ingram isn't there. They've got a lot of different people they spread around in that offense and the question sort of is, is there a number two pass catcher period that you want to start against the Dallas Cowboys? If I had to pick one outside of Cortland Sutton, it would be Evan Ingram because of the tight end position and the fact that we've seen decent tight ends be able to make some hay against the Dallas Cowboys.

[C]

Yeah, his usage, playing time targets have rebounded a lot the last few weeks. It was scary early in this week. One was scary and then he got hurt and then it was really scary and then now he seems to have rebounded. So. So I would agree. The problem is, and this isn't really a problem, I mean if you're sorting through these guys with six teams on a buy, you have a lot of options. But this tier of tight ends is still out of control. I have like 12 guys projected for 10 fantasy points at tight end this week from, you know, I craft at the top of that list. But Arande Gadson who plays tonight more and later in Joku Hawkinson, Pitts, Andrews, Otten, Kincaid Schultz, Ingram, Taylor Fannin, Joanne Johnson, Theo Johnson. That's not even Ertz Henry and John who Smith are next. I mean, yeah, that's a lot of same basically. Yeah. So I mean you can feels you can really take a dart on one of these guys and hope they score.

[B]

And that's the reason why I would take it dart. Evan Ingram has been outside I think the top 10 for us more often than not at the tight end position. But this week six teams on a buy again field. You said it earlier, you had me at the Dallas Cowboys. I think this is a reason you could trust a week. You could trust Evan Ingram at the tight end spot if you need them. All Right, that's going to do it for our preview, part one. We'll dive into a second part of the preview tomorrow. Now it's time for the Real Deal presented by Little Caesars. We are picking one player rostered under 60%. If they reach 15 or more fantasy points, come back on Monday for 15% off. Over at Little Caesars, guys, the Real Deal player for this week is going to be old man Joe Flacco, rostered in 21.6% of leagues, projected for 15.4 points taken on the New York Jets. We just talked about it. Come back player of the year revenge game because of the jets. Potentially no. Sauce Gardener still working his way through the concussion protocol. We'll continue to monitor that. But if Sauce doesn't go, that makes the job even easier for Jamar Chase and T. Higgins and all the pass catchers in that offense. Like Bengals sort of. Oh, this is great. I like this. So that our producer put this in here. Bengals orange sort of looks like the Little Caesars orange. So we're also going to go with that as a tie in towards this.

[C]

Get a sticker on their helmet tonight. You know what?

[B]

Why not like, rather than like one of the.

[C]

Flacco's helmet.

[B]

We'll get a little Caesar sticker. Like a little pizza.

[C]

Not tonight or this weekend.

[B]

This weekend. Yeah. We'll get a little slice of pizza there. Last two weeks for what it's worth. 18.76 points versus the packers and 25.9 against the Steelers. We just want 15.

[C]

So Joe Flacco is going to be.

[B]

Our Real deal player of the week this week. Come back on Monday. We'll see how things go.

[A]

All right, Joe. Just got to get the record. One of us has been believing since the moment you got traded to the Bengals. One of us believed.

[B]

One of us believed.

[C]

He's going to do most of this with his legs, right? Or maybe he'll do some of it.

[A]

Did you see him run that read option last week? That was sweet.

[B]

He's not going to throw it from his butt. Mike Clay.

[C]

He's going to. I mean, that's. But that's the thing. We're setting a. It has to be through the air. He's not going to do much with his leg, so we need a lot of passing touchdowns and we'll take it.

[B]

What if Joe Flacco scores a rushing touchdown tonight?

[A]

I hope he does. I will probably shave Daniel's beard.

[C]

Is that on the wheel?

[B]

No, no, that's not on the wheel. Like, it's way I was going to say this, I. I don't really want to do a rushing touchdown board bet with Joe Flacco.

[A]

What if I said if Joe Flacco scores a 25 plus yard rushing touchdown, that would be.

[B]

Then it should be like plus 13,000.

[A]

Right. So shave your beard.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

At that point then you'll be like, fine, I'll.

[B]

Fine, I'll do it. I would do that.

[A]

Some sort of trade off.

[B]

If that happens though, like, that would be the ultimate call of all calls. A 25 yard rushing touchdown for Joe.

[C]

Flock, who accepted that bet. For real. You should find a way to bet it so that you can if something happens. Yeah, I lost my beard, but also I made 10,000 edges.

[B]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

I tell you, my Raheem Sanders pick later might be the long shot of bet.

[B]

All right, I love it. We're going to get there in just a minute, but let's dive into wide receiver, cornerback matchups. Mike, every single week you bring us the playbook. Wide receiver, cornerback is a part of that. An unbelievable thing that you do every single week. Who's your first upgrade for us?

[C]

All right. Yep. I have three upgrades, three downgrades, and then three additional shadows for this week. So we'll keep it nice and simple. Upgrading the Titans receivers headlined by Calvin Ridley and Doubt Ridley plays. Yeah, if. Well, then it'd be Ella Gail Manor, DK at wide receiver and Jefferson. Those kind of guys. So that's who would get the the play there. I O man, are being the top guy.

[B]

But also Tyler Lockett's out in that team. He's cut.

[C]

Yeah, they cut him loose. I bet you he signs with a contender as like their wide receiver. Four or five or something. You don't think so?

[A]

I don't. I'm not sure he gets signed.

[C]

Maybe a practice squad, something like that. Signing something like that.

[B]

Sell houses. He's a realtor.

[A]

He's an awesome human.

[B]

Yeah, he's doing well for him.

[C]

I don't want to see him go out that way though. He was such an underrated player for so long. I hope he lands with a contender adept guy somewhere. Anyway. Anyway, yeah, guys, the Colts, I got. You know what I did? You know what I did there? You know yourself.

[B]

Tell me.

[C]

Tell me. You know why I paused? I was like, I knew I had to go back to this, but in the back of my head I'm just to going through teams for.

[B]

You're just like, who?

[C]

We could go to New England. No, they have, they have like depth with Mac. Yeah. Cowboys.

[B]

Cowboys. That's not bad.

[C]

Anyway, the Colts have led the most fantasy points to wide receivers this season.

[A]

Really? They lead all the time.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Game script is a big factor, but their efficiency has been kind of mid pack so far this season and their top corner Ward is out. So the only thing is these teams did play a couple weeks ago as well and no, no Titans receiver reached 40 yards in that game and Calvin Ridley played so. So a little bit of pause but at the end of the day there's probably going to be added volume here for the pass catcher. So maybe some sleepers including someone like DK or AO man would be a.

[A]

Great pick for long shot this Sunday against Shefty.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, that would be.

[A]

Not to call my own shot.

[C]

Dk. Dk. Yeah. All right. Anyway, next up, don't tell Shefty. All right, I won't. Broncos wide receivers led by of course Corland Sutton against Cowboys. You just kind of talked about this with Evan Ingram and it applies to the receivers as well. The Cowboys allowed the second most fantasy points and an NFL high 12 touchdowns already two wide receivers, they have been better the last couple of weeks. Don't get fooled by that. They played the jets, the Panthers and then last week the commanders who are missing Debo McLaren and Noah Brown, they still allowed 17 plus fantasy points to Garrett Wilson and Tedro McMillan during those games. So still a team that's probably going to be without Trevon Diggs is an upgrade.

[B]

That Ted Royal game was so frustrating to me. Can I Speaker three but he had two touchdowns. That's the thing I wanted more volume in there game.

[A]

I still will take two times.

[B]

I will too. I will too but I'm just complaining.

[C]

No doubt. You gotta gotta work your way through here.

[B]

That's what we do.

[C]

So yeah, we like sitting there. Franklin and Mims more like deep league flex options if you're in a tough spot during by mcgeddon and then finally the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receivers against the Saints led by Emeka Abuka. We're talking Abuka. We're talking Tez Johnson, Sterling Shepherd. The Saints have not faced much wide receiver volume as well because they're often behind in games. But they're still mid pack and fantasy points to the position 8th highest EPA 8th most points to the perimeter as well. And honestly I think they're a little worse than that based on the personnel they're putting out there. So Ibuka and these receivers in a good spot.

[B]

If you were in a tough spot this week, really tough spot. And you needed yourself a wide receiver. And Tez Johnson and Sterling shepherd were available on waivers.

[C]

Tess Johnson, that's who I would go as well. Yeah, he looks good.

[B]

He looks great.

[C]

That touchdown on the bubble screen last.

[A]

Week, one or two yard touchdown.

[C]

Yeah. He was breaking tackles, man, he was awesome. He looked great for a guy that's like 154 pounds or something like that soaking wet. Yes.

[A]

By the way, does he look fast, you guys?

[C]

Yeah, I think he looks. I think he looks really fast on that bubble screen.

[A]

You know what's amazing is Tez Johnson, who looks fast every time I watch him during college. And then he runs the 40, and he ran like a 4, 5, 5.

[C]

4, which is unbelievably slow for someone.

[A]

A guy who's 142 pounds. Like you're expecting 4, 3, 7.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

And I was like, I don't understand this. Like, usually we see guys who look slow on film but run fast in the place. You're like, I got to go back and recalibrate there. It's very rare where a guy looks incredibly fast and you're like, how are you a 4, 5, 5, guy?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I think he might have been wearing ankle weights.

[C]

Oh, is that what it was?

[B]

That's what it was.

[A]

I mean, I can't explain. He went up from 142 to 144lb of those weights, but still, he might.

[B]

Have been wearing a. Like, he might have borrowed someone else's shoes and was wearing a size 8. So it was just like three sizes too big for him.

[C]

He's just more like. Maybe he's more quick than fast, you know?

[A]

Bubbles.

[B]

Bubbles.

[C]

That could be it could be.

[B]

That could be it, Mike.

[C]

All right, guys, you want to talk downgrades? Because we have two big ones this week, potentially. The first one is. This one is a giant queue next to it. Sauce Gardner shadowing Jamar Chase. Yeah, check that, Jay. You can check practice report. If Gardner plays, he will most likely shadow Jamar Chase is going to be one of the best matchups of the season. Sauce has shadowed several times this year. DK Metcalf had 12.3 fantasy points. Mike Evans 13, George Pickens 13.7. Coral and Sutton 2, 2.7 and Tetaroa 6.3. He has been outstanding. So we're obviously downgrading Chase if he plays a little bit. Still starting up a downgrading him a little bit because he's done such a nice job this year. But the secondary receivers here have done a really nice job against the Jets. Only four receivers have 14 points against them this year, and it's been secondary receivers the weeks that Gardner has shadowed Ryan Flournoy. I couldn't do it yesterday. Ryan Flannoy.

[B]

Why even have an R in your name if you don't get to say it? Like, that's the thing. It just makes me feel like I'm supposed to say it.

[C]

There's some names where I need a second. I just need a second to process the name, and then I could say it, but I can't do it with.

[A]

I think this all comes back to, like, you know, generation, like, generations ago. It probably was Flower Noi.

[C]

Yeah, right.

[A]

It's like, you know, the Kelsey brothers, their last name, I think, like, maybe their grandparents were the Kelses.

[B]

Oh, really?

[A]

It's evolved over time.

[B]

It's a Kelsey. You had the E on the end of it. Oh, interesting.

[A]

No, Belichick is. Is Belichic. That's his last name. It's like. Yeah, it's like he's got Croatian roots.

[B]

And I was gonna say that sounds like Polish or something like that. Some eastern Europeans.

[A]

I don't know. I feel like I've heard of several of these.

[C]

Is yours Yattis or something? Like, I don't.

[A]

You know what? Yeah, Yates.

[B]

Is that what you get on people? Do you ever call you Yates? Is Field Yates there?

[A]

People are so confused by my first name that they're like, your name is Yates Field? I'm like, why is Yates more believable as a first name than Field?

[B]

I don't answer spam calls anymore, but when I did, I would always get his Daniel still dope available. And it's like, come on. There's no E at the end.

[C]

I'm in. I'm in team. Two first names. So I could call Clay something.

[B]

Yeah, that's fair.

[A]

Yeah, that makes sense. Although Mike's kind of a random last name.

[C]

Mike? Yeah. Clay Michaels.

[A]

Clay Michaels.

[B]

Oh, there you go. That could be it.

[C]

Yeah. Michaelson.

[A]

Isn't that. No, no, that was. Clay Aiken was the American Idol.

[B]

American Idol. Oh, mama do loved some Clay Aiken back in the day.

[C]

Kelly Clarkson forever. Yeah.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Yeah. She rolls.

[A]

We famously had this debate, Matthew and I, way back in the day. I argued that Kelly Clarkson was the biggest star to ever em from American Idol.

[C]

My favorite. Yeah. Gary Underwood was his, which I think.

[A]

Is Nip Tuck there. Like, they're both unbelievably popular, but, like, Kelly Clarkson. Both of them are still doing it to this day. But, like, Kelly Clarkson's Transcendent music now, no doubt.

[C]

Yeah. She's unreal.

[B]

Reuben Studdard was real good back in the day. I loved Ruben. I don't know if you guys knew Ruben Stuart. All right, no big deal.

[C]

I know Ruben could do a power ranking, but. Yes, yes, we should do that. You just, like, rank random things on the show every day.

[A]

That'd be a great Friday segment.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

All fantasy, everything.

[C]

All right, cool. So that's. We'll keep an eye on Sauce's status. If he plays, we are downgrading Jamar Chase upgrade. And if Sauce is out there, we're upgrading all of the Bengals offense. That will be very.

[B]

Mike, are you willing to put your money where your mouth is and rank T. Higgins ahead of Jamar Chase, knowing that he's going to have a better.

[C]

Matchup if Chase is way up here and we move him down. Higgins is down here. We're moving him up. It's still like this.

[B]

There's still a gap found.

[A]

No update on Sauce Gardner, by the way.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Did not practice yesterday.

[A]

Waiting coordinator talking right now. Who's not being asked much about SAS Gardner.

[C]

I'm leaning, like, cautious pessimism on him playing, but we'll. For now, you know, we're just monitoring. Yeah. Next one, guys. And this one is CD Lamb against Pat. Certain. The second this one is going to happen. And you ready to check this out? Yeah.

[B]

Check this out. Yo, check this out.

[A]

Check this out. Check this out. Check this out.

[B]

Check this out.

[A]

It's time to check this out.

[C]

Yo, check this out.

[A]

The best.

[B]

Dropping the football is always gonna be the best, guys. It is.

[C]

Welcome.

[B]

I thought you were gonna get that.

[C]

Abacus in there on purpose.

[B]

Oh, sure, sure. Yeah.

[C]

You thought I was gonna what, get.

[B]

An abacus somewhere in there? Because you have, like, a little, like, ta sand a time thing.

[C]

We just cut that down to that. I mean, we taped a whole bunch.

[B]

A bunch of things.

[C]

Serious about my art. Okay. All right. Check this out, guys. The Broncos have allowed league lows and yards per target 6.1. Okay. Touchdowns, one. They've allowed one touchdown to receivers this season. And the fewest. Fantasy.

[B]

Who was it, too? Do you know?

[C]

I do not.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Was it. I said, I don't think so. I don't think we play the Lions.

[A]

I just felt like it was still him.

[C]

He's that good.

[A]

Ruben stuttered.

[C]

How about how many wide receivers have scored 20 points against him this year? It's zero. Wow. They have been dominant. Here are the. Here are the results. The fantasy point totals of the Players that patricant has shadowed so far this season. Calvin Ridley, 6.7. Michael Pittman, 8. Quentin Johnson, superstar 14.9. Jamar Chase, 7.3. So he Shadow Chase, 7.3. A.J. brown, 9.3. Garrett Wilson, 4.3. That's 8.4 fantasy points per game.

[B]

Quinton Johnson was the touchdown. Right. Didn't he have that long touchdown against.

[C]

Yes, he did. That's what it was. That's what he got to 14. Yeah. So, yeah, that's 8.4 fantasy points per game. The only one to get to double digits was Johnson, who scored the touchdown. And that was 29 and a touchdown. Yeah, yeah. So it is. So that's. That's kind of like the tricky part of this with CD Lamb. I mean, it's CD Lam. You're going to start him. He's going to be in the slot about 20, 30% of the time. So he will escape certain a bit. And sometimes you'll see those guys get featured on those plays. But there's real bus potential here and there's plenty of evidence of this because superstar number one receivers have been held and checked to single digits against him. So that does make me a little bit nervous. But at the same time, it's probably more of, again, like a DFS thing more than it's a fan, like a regular fantasy thing. Because you can't bench CD Lines.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

And you're starting everybody else against them as well. I mean, you love Jake Ferguson, you love George Pickens. I feel like. Is there anybody. I mean, do you.

[C]

Yeah. Pickens in a good spot on the other side, he'll get Riley Moss. So actually, it's still a tough matchup across the board because again, they've allowed one touchdown to receivers this season. But Pickens in a better spot than lame is he should try to do.

[B]

A thing where every time he shuts down a corner a wide receiver, he says, you got mossed. You know, take it back. Yeah, yeah.

[C]

He has to do that for. No, I'm just kidding.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Michael.

[C]

He's okay. He's a fine start. Dude.

[A]

I saw some stats yesterday, and again, this is why you got to be a little careful on some of these metrics, where it was like, riley Moss is allowing the lowest opposing quarterback rating when the nearest defender. And I was like, that doesn't track what I've seen.

[C]

Yeah, you always need context with corner stats. Cause it's like, yeah, you could be technically the nearest defender, but you were sitting there in zone and the guy, the safety messed up and he goes over the top and goes 80 yards. And then suddenly you were allowing 80 yards per target or something. Like it's.

[B]

You gotta.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And conversely, like, you could be the nearest corner, like 20ft away from a wide receiver and the quarterback could throw an interception right to you. And that would very negatively impact his quarterback.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Guys, I said trigger warnings before you do this nerd crap on the show.

[A]

Half nerdy, you know, not full nerds.

[C]

It's important. You gotta. You gotta have this context. You look so closely at this stuff. So anyway, CD Lamb has been red hot. He actually has exactly 110 or 112 yards in every game he's played this season.

[B]

No way.

[A]

Wow. Is he going back and forth?

[B]

I'll take the under.

[C]

Yeah, well, he's only played what, three full games so far, but still 1:10. 1:12. 112. So anyway, we're starting him, but again, bus potential in this match up. Last one, guys. The Falcons defense has been outstanding against receivers. So we're downgrading Miami's receivers led by Jalen Waddle. I think you mentioned this yesterday. If I'm not mistaken, only two receivers this year have reached 12 points against the Falcons. So if one's going to get there, it's Waddle. But again, they have been very good. So a little bit of a downgrade there. I don't know if we have a full screen, but there are three other shadows. I'm not. Did he say yes or no?

[B]

He did say on a full screen. I do not know if there is a full screen.

[C]

I think it's a lower third.

[A]

We'll find out.

[C]

Well, they are Drake London against Russell Douglas.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

A.J. brown against Paulson. Adibo. They met a couple of weeks ago and AJ Brown did a nice job. Adibo is questionable as well, so we don't even know if he's going to play. And Tele McMillan against Christian Benford. He has all those guys.

[A]

Those are all pluses.

[C]

You're saying these are all neutral? Basically, Benford is a pretty good corner. He got paid. But he has struggled. Like ones against him have done well this year when he shadowed Adibo. Same kind of thing, mixed results. He's. He's good, but he might not play. And then Douglas has not been especially good. But he's their de facto one in Miami. And he has shadowed number ones a couple times. Yeah. So he'll get straight Darnham.

[A]

I mean, has. Has number two receivers or have number two receivers done well against?

[C]

Actually, no. And the reason is Miami Again, no one throws on them. They faced this. They've actually allowed the second or the fewest wide receiver yards per game this season.

[A]

Unbelievable.

[C]

Believe it or not, but they're not very good at it. They just haven't been attacked very much.

[A]

Pounding the rock against them.

[C]

Yeah. So I expect Atlanta receivers have an efficient but maybe a little bit of a lower volume game. If you get. Get six or seven targets out of Drake London, you might be like, I'll take that. Just hope he scores. Yeah. In this one.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

Okay, let's move on.

[A]

Good.

[B]

Go check out the shadow report.

[C]

One more. If Garrett Wilson plays D.J. turner, who's been really good this year, we'll shadow him. But I don't think Garrett Wilson.

[A]

I don't think Garrett Wilson.

[B]

And if Garrett Wilson plays, I still don't know who's going to be quarterback because Torod Taylor was announced as the starter, but then he also was announced to have a knee injury, so I'm not.

[A]

There was some reporting suggest he could start. And then the jets owner took a gigantic. He just completely undercut big Dustin Fields publicly.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And then a day later, double down. We found out that. Well, no, we found out that Tyrod Taylor's got this knee injury. And then on top of that, Justin Fields was like, I did not hear it from Woody Johnson. Let me just say this, Justin Fields, complete class. I know he's not very good, but complete class, man. Very impressed by how he's handled all of this. His faith has really guided them during this time.

[C]

Yeah, no doubt. Then they asked Aaron Glenn about that too, and he was like, what? No, that's nothing. What are you talking about?

[A]

I think the jets need a lot of things right now, including we need to, like, adjust our media strategy.

[B]

Yes, that's fair.

[C]

Like, pretending it didn't happen is not good.

[A]

Like, just like, owner should just go up there and be like, we're working very hard. And the head coach would go up there and say, we are working towards a quarterback decision. There are some factors that will contribute to that. You'll know more later in the week.

[B]

That's fair.

[A]

When you say it's a competitive disadvantage to reveal your starting quarterback when you're zero and seven doesn't hit.

[B]

That's not great. That's not great. Anyways, all right, let's do Thursday Night Football preview. We got Vikings taking on the Chargers. Guys.

[C]

Where do you want to start?

[B]

With this one Field, Jason.

[A]

So I want to note, and I think people probably are aware of this, but because it's a short week. There's not as much coverage of practices. Aaron Jones is eligible to play tonight. He is questionable to play in this game. There's been some suggestions he actually will give it a go tonight. What does that mean for Aaron Jones? What does that mean for Jordan Mason? Does it mean that probably both of these players lose enough value that during buy Magetta they move into flex territory? I wouldn't feel totally confident with Aaron Jones tonight because we haven't seen it. But if you've been desperate and if you have multiple starters on a buy this week and he gives it a go tonight, I could see Aaron Jones getting you somewhere between 8 and 12 opportunities.

[C]

I would agree he's that type of player who he could come back and just play right away. You know, they don't know it's sometimes guys will be limited. But I will say this week one, when they played together, Jordan Mason still kind of dominated the carries. He had a pretty nice edge. I don't expect that to change either way. I think Mason's going to be the lead ball carrier and generally the goal line option. Jones would replace the Xavier Scott role and then some like he'll be involved in maybe takes, you know, a larger share of the carries and then a lot of passing down work. So. I agree with what you just said. I mean if you're in a tough spot, he's a flex. Ideally you leave him on your bench but. But you might not have a choice.

[B]

Yep, doesn't feel great.

[C]

And I'm still starring Mason either way.

[B]

Yeah, I mean you probably have to this week. One of the things that I'm looking at are we ranking Jordan Addison too low. Can you pull up Justin Jefferson's game log on your phone real quick?

[A]

We'll do that. Yes.

[B]

Do you mind? Because I'd love to look at just the last couple of weeks I look at Jordan Addison. I have him as wide receiver 19, you guys have him as wide receiver 24. And it feels like he just a reminder he's only played three games so far this year. Right. Had a three game suspension, came back and has played the last three, four, five and seven.

[A]

So.

[B]

So in week four, can you give me Justin Jefferson stat line real quick.

[A]

10 for 1, 26 for 22.6 fantasy points.

[B]

Okay. And Addison had 4 for 1, 14 for 15.4. So still a good outing. All right, what did he have in week five?

[A]

Seven for one, 23. Good for 19.3 fantasy points.

[B]

All right, so he had five for 41 and a touchdown. That was good for 15.1 fantasy points. Also a good one with Addison. What did he have in week seven?

[A]

Five for 79 for 12.9 each of those games he had at least 10 targets. 10, 11 and 11.

[C]

All right.

[B]

And he had Addison in that game had 9 for 128 and 21.8 fantasy points. So Jordan Addison has scored at least 15 fantasy points in all three of his games this season. And when you look at how he has been with Justin Jefferson on the opposite side, him and Justin have almost scored the exact same number of points over the last three games. He's not getting quite as many targets he has had. You said he's had over 10. Justin Jefferson did in each of those three, Addison had nine, six and 12, which is also pretty good. So I just wonder the gap right now that we have between Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson, if maybe it needs to shrink just a little bit with how Jordan Addison has played to start this season Again, Reminder, he started the season in week four.

[A]

I mean, if you want to move Addison up a little bit, that's okay, but no reason to move when you.

[B]

Say I would have Jefferson down.

[A]

Jefferson is staying where he is.

[C]

Addison averaging more fantasy points per game than Jefferson this season. Yeah. I think what you're saying is Trey Jefferson for Addison.

[B]

Is that what you're saying? I'm saying that Jordan Addison will score more fantasy points tonight than Justin Jefferson. Jefferson.

[C]

Why not?

[B]

Let's have a flow. Let's have a little bit of fun.

[C]

Go for it.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

All right, I'll take that one. I'll take that. All right.

[B]

Mike's ready to jump in. All right. I like it. Perfect.

[C]

Okay. All right. I say that Justin Jefferson will score more fantasy points than Jordan Addison tonight.

[B]

Put on the board.

[C]

All right, Jefferson.

[B]

There we go.

[A]

All right.

[C]

And then this would be a tough one to lose.

[A]

What are you watching, Mike?

[C]

Yeah, am I watching? I talked about it yesterday, but it's worth talking about again. Arande Gotz in the second liked him a lot. I remember in the early Madden days when I was playing on like whatever system it was back then, Super Nintendo.

[B]

I think it was called Rookie is what you were playing on.

[C]

Rookie.

[B]

You didn't play on all Madden.

[C]

No, I. Yeah, when I peaked in like college at my. I played on all Madden. But you're right, most of the time, no, I peak at all pro or something. But I loved Arande Gatson. I used to trade for him all the time. I don't know, for whatever reason, I just liked him. Liked his name, like using him in Madden, whatever it may be. So now his son of course is a tight end. But he has been terrific the last couple weeks, guys. He's a healthy scratch as a fifth round rookie the first two weeks. His snap share has steadily increased each of the last five weeks and last week just went off. I don't know how we benched this guy. After nine targets, seven catches, 164 yards and a touchdown, it's at least seven targets. In three of his five NFL games, he has at least eight targets. Exactly. Seven catches and 68 plus yards in two straight games. That's 17 targets over the last two games. The risk here is that he has one career game over 11.8 fantasy points. That was last week, of course. Small sample, but he's only done it once so that gives me a little bit of pause. But at the same time he's a featured player right along with the three receivers in this offense. They're not getting a lot out of their running game. Tight end is a mess at the back end there. He's definitely a streaming option this week.

[A]

I'll tell you someone who start who's not starting in this week. Who Ronde Gadsden.

[C]

Why isn't his father.

[B]

He's not starting him in fantasy.

[A]

He is not. Yeah. This is from a friend and fellow fantasy analyst Jamie Eisenberg, who I believe is South Florida based, said tweeted yesterday Arande Gadsden is in the father just said on 143wqam that he's benched his son Aronde Gadsden II each of the past two weeks in his fantasy football league quote and he's going to stay there. Dad said to not mess with his son's good fortune the past two games.

[B]

Oh, I like it. Keeping the good juju going.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Well that sounds. That gives me positive news if we're, if we believe in that.

[A]

Shout out to dad playing fantasy football.

[C]

Love that. It was awesome.

[B]

You guys had mentioned or Mike, you had just mentioned that we weren't expecting a lot out of the running backs. We basically got one big game out of Kamani Vidal in which none of us started him because we thought it was going to be a Hassan Haskins game and then we started him the second week and then it was sort of a kind of a crappy game and we kind of got green scripted out. Now this is like the week, the next week in which you can have a chance and it's against the Minnesota freaking Vikings.

[C]

Yeah, they're doesn't feel good. Here's my take. Vidal had a big game a couple weeks ago, didn't last week. There's a reason they invested heavily in running back in the offseason. They already had him on the team and they said, you know what, we're going to go out and spend a first round picking a running back and sign Najee Harris. You're going to be on the practice squad. There's a reason why. So volume is king. We know that he's going to have enough opportunity to be on the RB2 radar, but he's not a much of a needle mover. He's just going to need a couple of breaks to be fantasy relevant. So not. Not a lot of expensive excitement there.

[B]

Are you taking the Vikings or the Chargers?

[C]

I am taking the Chargers. I think I have the Chargers. Let me look. I'll get going.

[A]

Chargers.

[B]

I as well. I'm gonna go.

[C]

I'm pretty sure I have it as a toss up, but I went.

[B]

Another one of those tie games that you have is like 2020 or something like that.

[C]

Exactly. I want to get.

[B]

It's okay. We don't usually do this on the show, Mike, so I understand you're not being totally ready to give us the answer.

[C]

I did, actually. Actually, I have to charge us by 1. 24, 23 for tonight.

[A]

Let's go ahead and hit that Raheem Sanders monopoly fund. I'm very excited because this is the most random pick I've made all season.

[B]

I love it.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So do you want me to save it for last or do you want to get right into it?

[B]

Okay, so we all chose players. I think most of us chose players that are 0.0% rostered.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Just to be safe. Did I collect? Oh, yeah. Where's our bucket?

[B]

You got this bucket here.

[C]

You got to collect money from this.

[A]

I've got 80 bucks right now. I think you're up to what, 40 or 50, 60 bucks like that?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

All right. We a reminder, this Raheem Sanders monopoly fund has hit five of the six last weeks. That it is unbelievable. Which means we're definitely not going to hit for the rest of the season, but we're going to try and give you a couple guys here field if you had to give someone.

[C]

By the way, my guy that I picked is not available to bet anytime touching yet. So hopefully he'll pop up soon. Oh, that's how low it is. I'm only saying that because last week a lot of people tailed it and it went well. So. Okay.

[B]

All Right.

[A]

I don't know whether my guy is available to bet or not, but for the first and perhaps last time in the Raheem Sanders Monopoly fund history, three, I'm going with a fullback. Broncos fullback Nate Adkins.

[B]

Love it.

[A]

Who had three targets last week? Wait, what's the.

[C]

All right, no, no, I mean tight end. Fullback. Yeah, I mean HB He's a fullback.

[A]

He's a fullback. But I mentioned a couple days ago on how Sean Payton cannot help himself. It's like you get near the goal line and J.K. dobbins runs well and then instead you do other things which might include throwing the football to Nate Atkins. I'm going to guess his anytime touchdown number is 25 to 1 at absolute best. It's probably not even available. If it is somewhere ESPN bet, make it available. If not, that's my pick. Nate Adkins.

[C]

All right. I like it.

[A]

High scoring potential game against the Cowboys. I will melt if that one hits.

[C]

Yeah, I like that one. We had. We've had a fullback before, right? Didn't we have Kyle use check at some point?

[B]

Somebody did.

[A]

Oh, dang it. You're right.

[C]

Yeah. All right. Mine is. I'm going to go with another rookie wide receiver who's going to get a little boost in usage this week. He had it last week too. Arian Smith, New York. Ooh, yeah. 0.1% rostered, fourth round rookie. The Bengals have allowed the third most passing touchdown so far this season. Smith has 10 targets so far. Only 24 yards this season. Four targets last week though. One was an end zone target that was very close to him catching it.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

And very similarly the week before, Mumfield had a long wheel route that just missed. That would have been a long touchdown. And then of course he converts a week later. Later. I. Unlike Mumfield, though, I think Smith could see four or five targets where Munfield only saw one. Of course, this assumes Garrett Wilson does not play. So Arian Smith. There you go. Get it done, buddy.

[B]

Put the money in there. You guys get to play with 20s.

[C]

Because no big deal.

[B]

You guys have real money. I still have fives to play with. The player I'm going to go with here is the third tight end fullback that we have chosen this year.

[C]

Well, I mean another one.

[B]

Connor Hayward. No Steelers revenge game narrative. Aaron Rodgers finding a tight end in the end zone. Didn't he find three tight ends for touchdowns just a couple weeks ago, guys?

[C]

And Hayward had like a. They threw him like a 50, 50 ball in the end zone too. I believe in that same game. If I'm not. Yeah.

[B]

So I'm going to go with Connor Hayward rostered in 0.0% of leagues. Connor Hayward at ESPN bet + 1300 for an anytime touchdown. Plus 1300 + 1300. All right, and then our producers. Producers are going to go with Tyler Johnson rostered in 0.0% league. Yep. Another jets receiver that was involved last week. So we'll see how that. Obviously, we're assuming with these picks that if there's no Garrett Wilson, you're going to have to throw the ball to somebody. Right. So we'll see what happens.

[A]

Amazing that we've got two picks for the jets who rarely score touchdowns.

[C]

Yes. That makes me nervous. Yeah. I'm actually surprised no one picked because this was on my list too. Were the Miami tight ends with no Darren Walsh and Tanner. Connor will be their tight ends. Much like early this season. I'm surprised and pick them, but I.

[B]

Just like teams that play football, have an offense.

[A]

Well, you know, indoors. We're trying to find silver linings.

[C]

We're picking guys from bad offenses, but there's a reason they're 0.1%. Right.

[B]

That's right.

[C]

They're in bad offenses.

[A]

As I said a few weeks back, there's never a good justification. There's never a bad justification.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

It's always vibes.

[B]

It's always vibes.

[C]

Fun.

[B]

Yep. All right, that's going to do it for us today. Have fun watching Thursday Night Football tonight. We'll be back tomorrow with part two of our week eight preview. You don't forget to love each other. Be kind to yourself. And today's show was presented by Little Caesars. We'll see you guys tomorrow.

[C]

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[A]

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[C]

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